Ishan Jasuja

Ishan Jasuja

  • Joined: November 8, 2024
  • Articles: 12

India’s GST Reforms: Balancing Simplification, Growth, and Self-Reliance

India is set to overhaul its Goods and Services Tax (GST) system, simplifying its multi-tiered structure into two main rates—5% for essentials and 18% for most goods, with a 40% rate on demerit products. The reforms focus on structural fixes, rate rationalization, and ease of compliance to boost consumption, support MSMEs, and attract global investment. Success will depend on managing Centre–state fiscal tensions and ensuring transparency. If implemented effectively, GST reforms could strengthen India’s self-reliance and secure stable, growth-driven development.

From Restraint to Retaliation: India’s Strategic Suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty

The treaty’s complex dispute-resolution mechanism precipitated several challenges for India’s hydropower projects, such as the Kishenganga and Ratle plants located on the Jhelum and Chenab rivers respectively. The Treaty’s annexure D permits India to only build run-of-river hydroelectric plants on the Indus water system’s Wester Rivers.

Are We Witnessing the End of the Neoliberal World Order?

President Trump’s “Liberation Day” on April 2, 2025 will be remembered as a day that shook the financial world. American stock markets shed nearly $5.4 trillion within 48 hours of the tariff announcements, causing panic among investors worldwide. Despite receiving multiple calls and messages from people predicting complete financial meltdown and watching the media frenzy

Europe on the Brink: The Need to Secure Strategic Autonomy Amid Trumpian Geopolitics

Europe’s challenges are no longer limited to the economic sphere. As was evidenced by Vice-President Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference this year, it faces very real security concerns and vulnerabilities precipitated by an over-reliance on the United States for defense. This has led to a moral hazard, where due to being dependent on American security guarantees

Paradox of Plenty: The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Resource Curse

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been mired in conflict, poverty, and deprivation since the 19th century. The resource curse hypothesis is at the heart of the DRC’s paradox, positing that instead of benefiting from their natural wealth, resource-rich countries often suffer from poor development, weak governance, and slow long-term growth.

The Transformation of China’s Economic Miracle

China’s rapid economic growth is no short of a miracle in the global political economy. Propelled by a rise in population, average hours worked, and labor productivity, China became the world's second-largest economy by 2011. However, its astronomical growth has unambiguously slowed in recent years owing to a myriad politico-economic factors.

Strengthening the Iron Grip: Xi Jinping’s Consolidation of Power in China

​Xi Jinping was re-elected as China’s President in 2023 for an unprecedented third term. His electoral victory resulted from several carefully choreographed and strategic political maneuvers to consolidate his power as China’s paramount leader. Xi’s most explicit exercise of power…