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Explained Archive

Every Explained article we’ve published, in one place. Filter by category to revisit in-depth breakdowns of the policies, events, and ideas behind the headlines.

From Festival to Fever Pitch: The Transformation of India's Electoral Process

Once a localised celebration of democracy, Indian elections have evolved into high-stakes, professionally managed, and often divisive contests. An examination of the forces driving this change.

Polity

Beyond the Classroom: The Unseen Pressures on India's Teachers

While academic duties are well-known, Indian teachers navigate a complex web of administrative, systemic, and socio-political pressures that impact their professional lives and the quality of education.

Education

India's Green Power Paradox: Why the National Grid is the Biggest Hurdle to Our Cheapest Electricity

With solar and wind power costs plummeting, the focus shifts to the transmission infrastructure's inability to keep pace, creating a critical bottleneck for India's energy transition.

Economy

Beyond Off-the-Shelf: Reimagining India's Drone Strategy

As New Delhi commits $2 billion to domestic drone manufacturing, the challenge shifts from simply buying hardware to building agile partnerships that can keep pace with the rapid evolution of aerial warfare.

Security & Defence

The Graduate's Dilemma: Why India's Economy Struggles to Absorb its Educated Youth

An unprecedented expansion in higher education has met a structural slowdown in job creation, leaving millions of degree-holders underemployed. We explain the complex interplay of skills mismatch, capital-intensive growth, and the impact of automation.

Economy

Decoding NFHS-6: India's Persistent Malnutrition Challenge Amidst Health Gains

The latest National Family Health Survey shows significant improvements in healthcare access, such as institutional births and vaccinations. However, it also reveals a stagnation in child nutrition outcomes, pointing to deeper issues of diet quality, feeding practices, and gender inequality.

Health

Beyond Tariffs: How Non-Tariff Barriers Are Reshaping India's Global Trade Strategy

As global trade diplomacy moves from negotiating customs duties to harmonising complex regulations, India is recalibrating its approach to Free Trade Agreements and domestic industrial policy. We explain the shift, the challenges, and the new strategy.

International Relations

The Price of Care: Deconstructing the Supreme Court's Valuation of Unpaid Domestic Work

A recent Supreme Court judgment sets a significant monetary value on the services of a homemaker, a move with far-reaching implications for law, insurance, and gender justice in India.

Social Issues

India's Innovation Imperative: Beyond 'Jugaad' to a Frontier Tech Ecosystem

As global technology becomes more contested, India faces a critical choice: move from improvisational problem-solving to building a deep, structural ecosystem for creating world-leading technology. Here’s what that entails.

Economy

Liquid Gold or Looming Crisis: Why Water Security is the Cornerstone of a 'Viksit Bharat'

An in-depth analysis of India's integrated water management strategy, its flagship missions, and the persistent challenges on the path to ensuring water for all.

Environment