India’s education system

India is talking about education. After a hot summer dominated by youth protests that toppled the country’s education minister, attention has stayed on the schools, colleges and universities in which almost 300m Indians are enrolled. Rage has grown at a system that Yamini Aiyar of Brown University calls a “misery machine”. In what are probably the world’s most selective exams, tens of millions of poorly taught students compete for a tiny number of golden tickets into elite universities and government jobs. Their families fork out for private coaching, schools and colleges. But for most, it ends in disappointment. Only 7pc of graduates find a formal job within a year, according to Azim Premji University in Bangalore. Most are unemployed for years, thanks to a yawning gap between the number of graduates and jobs.

(Adapted from “India’s Education System Is Failing In New Ways,” published on September 22, 2026, by The Economist)

Australia’s data centres

Australia gets by with a fair dose of luck. Now it wants intelligence, too. It has set about building data centres, the engine rooms of the global drive for artificial intelligence. Investors have plans to pour some $156bn into computing clusters there — eclipsed only by the United States at $1.8tr and China at $295bn. The reasons for this are, as with Australia’s mineral riches, mostly the result of good fortune. But its government wants to make sure that it lasts. This month senior Australian officials travelled to San Francisco to woo American AI labs. Chastened by a growing public backlash over data-centre investment in America and feeling competitive pressure to expand their computing power, AI bosses are looking elsewhere. On September 16th, it was reported that Anthropic had signed a deal to lease a 2.16 gigawatt facility in Australia’s north-east, on par with the largest in the world.

(Adapted from “Australia’s Giant Data-Centre Boom,” published on September 21, 2026, by The Economist)

Paying Mary Poppins well

She works at least 12 hours a day, seven days a week — but then has a week off. She might earn $200,000 a year, which, at that hourly rate, is on a par with a private-equity associate. High pay for long hours on a rota is common on oil platforms, in mines and on container ships. It is increasingly so in another exacting field: caring for the children of the super-rich. A decade or so ago such highly paid gigs were rare, but that has changed. Clients demand nannies who have not only trained at the best academies but also speak several languages, have degrees from elite universities and are willing to travel constantly and put in very long days. And they are willing to pay. However, life for rota-nannies can be gruelling, along with being glamorous.

(Adapted from “Nannying For The Ultra-Rich Is Increasingly Demanding – And Lucrative,” published on September 16, 2026, by The Economist)

Riyadh resumes oil exports

Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports have surged this month despite a sharp escalation in fighting with Iran-backed militants, according to data from the trade intelligence firm Kpler. Riyadh is exporting 6m barrels per day in September, the highest level since the Iran war began about seven months ago. The kingdom’s crude shipments have recovered to the 2025 monthly average. The Saudis have managed to ramp up exports even after they closed the critical East-West oil pipeline this month due to damage it sustained in a drone attack launched from Iraq. Shipments in September have surged nearly 80pc over the 3.4m bpd of crude exported in August. The Saudis have redirected crude oil exports back through Hormuz as the US military has carved out a shipping lane along Oman’s coast. The other Gulf states have relied on this route for months now, though the journey remains dangerous as Iran continues to attack tankers transiting the strait.

(Adapted from “Saudi Arabia Crude Oil Exports Hit Highest Level Since Iran War Began Despite Pipeline Outage,” by Spencer Kimball, published on September 25, 2026, by CNBC)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, September 28th, 2026