Best of BS Opinion: India’s data reset responds to cyber and trade pressures

India’s inflation figures arrived this week under a new statistical framework, marking a structural update rather than a routine monthly release. The base year has been shifted from 2012 to 2024, incorporating findings from the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023-2024. The long-delayed review, partly delayed by the pandemic, comes ahead of an upcoming update to the GDP series by the National Statistics Office. Our first editorial comments that for the Reserve Bank of India, which targets CPI inflation of 4 percent with a tolerance margin of two percentage points, the recalibration could change projections in the coming quarters even as policy remains steady at a repo rate of 5.25 percent for now.

Meanwhile, cybersecurity has emerged as the biggest business risk for Indian companies. highlights our second feature article. Nasscom and the Data Security Council of India estimate that more than 400 companies producing cybersecurity products generated $4.46 billion in revenue by 2025, while India has also achieved a Tier-1 ranking in the Global Cybersecurity Index 2024. Yet the scale of attacks remains high. Seqrite recorded more than 265 million cyber attacks in a year, while Check Point Software Technologies reports that Indian companies face more than 2,000 attacks every week. Therefore, stronger coordination between regulators and industry, clearer standards and tighter governance around data and AI remain essential to tackle the growing problem.

Finally, in his review of Suvir Saran’s memoirs Tell my mom I like boys, Highlights of Chintan Girish Modi a story that connects personal history with public questions about identity and law. Saran writes about family, professional ambition and the experience of living openly as a gay man, while the lack of legal recognition for same-sex marriage and adoption in India provides a persistent backdrop. Yet the memoir focuses on work, creativity, and self-acceptance, presenting resilience as a purposeful practice rather than a rhetorical claim.