Hello, and welcome to the Best of BS Opinion, our wrap of the day’s Opinion page.
Rising government bond yields globally are increasing borrowing costs and could heighten solvency risks for leveraged entities, cautions today’s first editorial. It attributes the bond sell-off to the Iran war and renewed inflationary pressures, mounting government debt, uncertainty over US monetary policy, and strong investment demand, particularly for artificial intelligence infrastructure. With yields rising in Japan, the UK, the US, and India, the editorial argues that emerging economies face the additional risk of global savings being diverted towards developed markets. India, it concludes, will need greater competitiveness to attract foreign direct and portfolio investment.
The second editorial uses Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi to illustrate the changing culture of global football, contrasting Maradona’s troubled career with Messi’s disciplined longevity. Messi has an extraordinary record, including eight Ballon d’Or awards, 125 international goals, six major trophies with Argentina, and the 2022 World Cup triumph, despite a brief retirement from international football in 2016. The editorial follows his journey from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami, arguing that Messi has chosen comfort and family as he approaches retirement. A comparison with Cristiano Ronaldo highlights the difference in their ageing processes: while Ronaldo’s diminishing pace confined him to the penalty area, Messi’s ability to conserve energy, read the game, and conjure decisive moments remained intact.
Swaminathan J argues that effective governance is ultimately about the quality of institutional decisions, not merely boards, committees, policies, or compliance. In banking and NBFCs, where risk and judgement are central, he stresses the need for boards and management to understand how risks interact and for assurance functions to provide independent, timely challenge. Compliance, he says, is only the floor: institutions must also ask whether decisions are prudent and consistent with their risk appetite. As financial businesses become more complex, governance must become more forward-looking, identifying patterns and emerging vulnerabilities rather than reacting to failures. Strong governance, he concludes, enables informed risk-taking rather than risk avoidance.
The surge of foreign investment in India’s defence and space startups demonstrates their growing technological capabilities, but also exposes weaknesses in the country’s foreign investment rules. Minority investors can gain board representation, influence, and access to sensitive technical information without crossing existing ownership thresholds, while foreign capital routed through domestic funds can escape scrutiny. The United States and European Union have responded by widening national-security screening to cover such risks. Ajay Kumar recommends that India should consider a similarly adaptive framework, focused narrowly on strategic technologies and rights that confer influence or information access. The aim should be to protect strategic autonomy without choking innovation.
Neha Kirpal describes Samanth Subramanian’s collection of essays The Web Beneath the Waves: And Other Reports from Our Tangled World as a wide-ranging exploration of the hidden systems, connections, and contradictions that shape modern life. The review notes that its 15 essays span politics, conflict, science, technology, sport, language, and culture, without following a common theme or chronology. Kirpal highlights pieces on the IPL, India’s colonial-era clubs, disappearing languages, real estate, quizzing, and the enduring concerns of young Indians captured in a 1967 documentary. The collection culminates in an absorbing examination of the undersea cables carrying the world’s internet traffic. Despite their disparate subjects, Kirpal argues, the essays illuminate the intricate interconnectedness of everyday life and the forces operating beneath its surface.
