India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1. If activities since then are any indication, it will be quite a ride over the next 11 months. Beginning December 4, New Delhi hosted four back-to-back preparatory meetings in three cities: The G20 Sherpa meeting in Udaipur; the development working group meeting in Mumbai; and meetings of two panels — finance and central bank deputies and framework working group — in Bengaluru. These events, attended by, among others, representatives of … [Read more...]

  Finance ministers, economists and representatives of 180 countries convened in Washington DC earlier this month for the first in-person annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank Group since the onset of Covid-19 in 2020. With the global economy on shaky ground, the mood was sombre. Days before the event, World Bank president David Malpass warned, “A series of harsh events and unprecedented macroeconomic policies are combining to throw development into crisis. … [Read more...]

    A viral video showing a woman hurling racial abuse at four Indian-American women outside a restaurant in Plano, Texas, sparked outrage on social media. “I hate you f*****g Indians,” the woman, who was arrested later, shouted. “Oh, these f****** Indians! They come to America because they want a better life. They obviously are not leading a great life in India.” The incident happened less than two months after an armed man showed up at the Seattle home of … [Read more...]

  As a significant demographic, they must speak out on race relations, engage other minority groups and civil rights organisations, and use our formidable resources to work for racial equality and justice for all in the US. A viral video showing a woman hurling racial abuse at four Indian-American women outside a restaurant in Plano, Texas, sparked outrage on social media. “I hate you f*****g Indians,” the woman, who was arrested later, shouted. “Oh, these f****** Indians! They … [Read more...]

  On July 14, the United States (US) House of Representatives passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would strengthen the US-India “defense partnership” and proposed waiving any sanctions against India triggered under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) which penalises countries that engage in significant defence transactions with Russia, Iran or North Korea. This amendment was authored by Ro Khanna, an … [Read more...]

 The 2+2 Dialogue between United States (US) secretary of state Antony Blinken and secretary of defense Lloyd J Austin and India’s defence minister Rajnath Singh and foreign minister S Jaishankar on April 11 provided a platform for the two countries to reaffirm the strength of their “partnership” at a time when the India-US relationship has been under pressure due to India’s neutral position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The 2+2 Dialogue between United States (US) secretary of state … [Read more...]

    The brazenness with which Russia attacked Ukraine signals that the multipolar world order Moscow and Beijing are seeking may be near — or already here. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has seemingly upended the three-decade-long, post-Cold War, international order which the United States (US) dominated. Russia and China have been calling for a new world order, not dominated by a single power, and they want to be at the top of that order. The brazenness with which Russia … [Read more...]

      The failure to recognise the contributions of Khorana this year . The origin of the PCR test, one of modern medical science’s best tools in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, traces its beginnings to Khorana’s foundational research on the ribonucleic acid gene. Har Gobind Khorana was an Indian American who shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine and was awarded the National Medal of Science in the United States (US). His 100th birth anniversary passed … [Read more...]

  On December 9-10, United States (US) President Joe Biden convened the first Summit for Democracy virtually. Roughly 100 leaders participated in the summit. The main goal for this forum was to bolster democracy worldwide at a time when it has retreated in many countries, including in the US. The summit had three major themes: Fighting authoritarianism, tackling corruption, and promoting human rights. Why did the Biden administration convene this event? What necessitated it? The first … [Read more...]

    The past five years have been phenomenally good for Facebook’s bottomline. Its market cap has nearly tripled since November 2016. In the most recent quarter, Facebook’s profit grew 17% to $9.19 billion. However, from a public relations standpoint, the years since 2016 have been difficult for Facebook, as its business practices have been scrutinised the world over. The recent release of a trove of whistleblower documents, dubbed the Facebook Papers, was so damaging that … [Read more...]