Aseem Chhabra brings you the Best of the Berlinale.
From Covid to climate change, Shankar Acharya's look at some of the trends and events that might shape 2022.
Russia and China have a broad consensus today on almost all core issues related to global strategic stability, which is unprecedented in modern history, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The more emphatic denial of any proposal for an OIC foreign ministers meet in Islamabad appears aimed at keeping Pakistan on a leash,' notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
As many as 14,000 runners from across 15 countries will be lining up to take part in a nearly month-long initiative to raise funds for coaches and support staff in various sports amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the organisers said on Thursday. Championed by celebrated national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand, and Arjuna Awardees Ashwini Nachappa and Malathi Holla, 'Run to the Moon' will conclude on July 21 to coincide with the 51st anniversary of man's first landing on the moon.
US President-elect Joe Biden will work towards providing a roadmap to American citizenship for nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants, including over 500,000 from India, and will also establish a minimum admission number of 95,000 refugees annually.
The tea industry, hit by rising costs, falling prices and political unrest in the North Bengal plantations, is especially vulnerable to the COVID-19 lockdown.
Noting that the country could 'well experience the effects of an oil-price shock,' Deloitte said that political instability in West Asia and a payment crisis with Iran are causes for concern.
'It is perplexing to see the leader of the First World with a first rate medical infrastructure come up short on its foresight to handle the pandemic,' notes Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
During a short halt at Tabriz airport in Iran on his way back home, Mukherjee gave Vrishti Beniwali a brief account of the summit, euro zone crisis and what it meant for India.
The key is to act and not wait and watch before the limited window of opportunity shuts, argues Shanthie Mariet D'Souza.
'The most unfortunate part is that after precipitating the crisis situation on Tuesday, the government ducked and took help from Saudi Arabia and the UAE to 'de-escalate' the situation.' 'Make no mistake, this fateful move has grave implications.' 'You don't take help from the wolf to guard the sheep, right?' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Their leaders in the provinces, which have been under the control of Taliban commanders for several months now, speak the language of the bigot. Women are known to have been abducted and enslaved. Several young girls have simply disappeared.
However, with the Munich World Cup being cancelled, sources close to the NRAI said the sport's apex body in India is also under pressure to follow suit, considering the uncertainty arising out of the unprecedented health crisis.
US crude is now more than 17 per cent below its opening price at the start of the month and Brent is down more than 16 per cent.
'India should not be taken by surprise if the Biden administration seeks China's cooperation at some point,' alerts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'If the Russian forces do capture Kyiv and set up some sort of provisional government, they might run into an insurgency, for which the geography is just right, it could prove costly for them.' 'In that event, the whole exercise could turn out to be counter-productive -- and costly in both foreign policy and domestic terms.'
Just one year after taking office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing a challenge that could come to haunt him.
According to a study done by Singapore University of Technology and Design Data, coronavirus will 100 per cent end across the world on December 8.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday said Pakistan stands with Saudi Arabia and will react strongly if there is a threat to its integrity, but kept mum on Riyadh's request for military assistance to fight Houthi rebels in war-ravaged Yemen.
'Misplaced national priorities have brought the economy to a cul-de-sac,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Only a leader with sufficient moral authority with voters can pull off such experiments, notes T N Ninan.
'The prime minister did not think that COVID-19 was a serious challenge as late as March 20.'
India-Israel relations are at a crossroads. Simply chanting old hackneyed mantras on terrorism, secularism, democracy, et al, won't suffice. There is danger of stagnation setting in, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Assume that the rupee will trend lower over the next 10 years as India increases overseas sovereign exposures, and your long-term asset allocation should be geared to deal with this trend, suggests Devangshu Datta
The beginning of the new year is is the right time to buy gold. But invest in gold funds, or bars, and not jewellery.
'In India foreign policy is generally handled by the prime minister.' 'One can clearly see the Vajpayee stamp on all this.' 'Only a person with poetic imagination can weave such a complex web,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Khan also said Pakistan has decided to partner any other country only for peace and named the partnership with the US as the one.
Gold prices are set for another jump before the Easter holidays
IAEA, chief share Nobel Peace prize for efforts to spread non-proliferation of nuclear arms.
President Musharraf will discuss the matter with President Bush in New York.
There was a delay in sowing of kharif onion because of late arrival of monsoon and later floods in many states damaged the crop.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left for China on Tuesday on the second leg of his two-nation tour after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow during which the two leaders pledged to "resolve all outstanding issues" related to the Kudankulam nuclear project.
Pakistan's offer to normalise relations with India is an attempt to buy temporary peace due to its economic and politico-strategic compulsions, notes Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
'If a 'two-front war' develops, Iron Brother may only turn out to be a drag on the PLA, since Pakistan is in no position to wage a war with India,' argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Saudi Arabia's strategic review has UN and nuclear analysts worried, says 'The Guardian'
The US needs to find global support, especially from Russia and China, to make North Korea back down, says Claude Smadja.
