'As we enter 2025, it must be acknowledged that there is a convergence of capital, influential people (from business and politics) and technology deciding the destiny of others in the name of pride, patriotism, nationalism, nation building, all of it thinly veiled disguises for personal profit and glory,' asserts Shyam G Menon.
Prices may go up because of higher energy costs, caused by the rise in shipping charges, with commercial vessels taking a longer route to avoid the troubled Red Sea region, the finance ministry said on Monday. Iran-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen are repeatedly attacking ships in the Red Sea. While the global economy is grappling with challenges such as sticky inflation, sluggish growth, and mounting fiscal pressure, India's external sector could face "potential risks" due to the ongoing geopolitical tensions, according to the finance ministry's report on the review of the Indian economy.
India's crude oil imports from Russia fell for a second straight month in January to its lowest in 12 months but the nation's insatiable appetite for Russian crude remains for the long term, according to data from energy cargo tracker and industry officials. Russia supplied 1.2 million barrels per day of crude oil to India in January, down from 1.32 million barrels in December and 1.62 million barrels in November 2023, according to data from energy cargo tracker Vortexa. Russia however continues to remain India's top oil supplier, accounting for a little less than a quarter of 4.91 million barrels a day of oil that the world's third largest energy consumer imported in January.
What is being exposed is we have no real doctrine and no idea how to deal with the world, asserts Aakar Patel.
Lisa Curtis, who served as deputy assistant to President Trump and as National Security Council senior director for South and Central Asia from 2017 to 2021, said she expected the same bumps for India and the US, as in Trump's first term, including tariff, dependence on Russia over arms supply and oil purchase from Iran. Curtis, however, said both countries could never enter an alliance but develop a partnership that is "short of an alliance". She hoped them to achieve a cooperation that deters China, but also prepares both countries in case of a crisis or conflict, be it in the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, or another flare-up on the India-China border.
Russia unleashed 35 kamikaze drones on Ukraine as many people slept, hitting critical infrastructure in and around Kyiv.
Zelenskyy says that despite Russia's claim it is attacking only military targets, civilian sites also have been struck.
Biden, while not ruling out the meeting Putin at G20 meet, said that there are conditions attached.
The White House is planning another set of sanctions on Russia. This is likely to be announced on Wednesday.
United States President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he understands the Russian feeling with NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) being on their doorstep.
On the Sensex chart, all 30 shares closed with gains -- with Bajaj Finance, SBI, Bajaj FinServ, L&T and Titan rising as much as 5.13 per cent. The BSE gauge Sensex zoomed past the 58,000-mark by rebounding over 1,700 points and the Nifty recaptured the 17,000-level on Tuesday after a massive plunge in the previous session. The 30-share Sensex surged 1,736.21 points or 3.08 per cent to end at 58,142.05 - recouping the losses suffered on Monday. Likewise, the NSE Nifty soared 509.65 points or 3.03 per cent to settle at 17,352.45.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks in Russian during an address in Kyiv, Ukraine, February 24, 2022 in this still image taken from video. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/via Reuters TV/Handout via REUTERS
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday monitored drills of the country's strategic nuclear forces involving multiple practice launches of ballistic and cruise missiles, the Kremlin said.
The only crime that I committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it, Trump said.
Denmark is opposed to Russian athletes participating in the Paris Olympics next year even under a neutral flag
Dalal Street had a roller coaster ride in 2024 from shattering record after record to facing heavy correction off-late but equity markets still rewarded investors with positive returns, driven by a surge in domestic fund flows and a resilient macro landscape. The first half of the year saw robust corporate earnings, a surge in domestic flows, and a resilient macro landscape, driving the Nifty to an all-time high of 26,277.35 in September 2024, according to Motilal Oswal Wealth Management.
The top diplomats of Quad nations on Friday denounced as "inadmissible" any use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war and strongly opposed any "unilateral actions" that seek to change the status quo in the South and East China Seas, a region that has witnessed increasing Chinese military offensive.
Senior United States intelligence officials said Russia trained and equipped separatists responsible for the shooting down of MH17 with a surface-to-air missile over Ukraine, but noted that the rebels may have targeted the plane presuming it to be a Ukrainian military jet.
The Russian missile strikes were in retaliation for the blast on a key bridge in Crimea.
In days of smart, networked technology and no shame over collateral damage, what will blow up next -- cars, mobile phones, TV sets, refrigerators? And where?, asks Shyam G Menon.
Billionaire philanthropist George Soros believes the turmoil at Gautam Adani's business empire may weaken Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hold on the government -- a statement which was strongly countered by BJP as an attack on Indian democracy.
Exhausted but elated, around 600 Indian students, who waged a tough battle for survival before being pulled out of war-battered Ukrainian city of Sumy, are now on way to Poland on a train from where they will be flown back home likely on Thursday.
Reports suggest that Russia's biggest oil company, Ukraine's international airport as well as global shipping firm AP Moller-Maersk have been impacted by the attack.
'The consensus was that the debate was between looking backward and looking forward.' 'Trump, with his great enamourment of his own 'achievements,' was obviously looking backward, while Harris, nearly 20 years his junior, was focussing on the future, with hope,' notes Shreekant Sambrani.
Putin's idea was to attack his neighbouring country, he has to stop and then only we can find a solution, said the German ambassador.
It also said that the UK's decision to expel 23 Russian diplomats in retaliation for the alleged attack was a 'just response'.
'When human beings develop these dangerous toys and leave their control in the hands of aggressive megalomaniac politicians, the threat of a nuclear holocaust is always lurking on the horizon.'
Prganisers will be on high alert to ensure the event goes off safely.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday denounced Western powers for not approving necessary decisions against Russian military operations in Ukraine and also not saving the country from the missiles and bomb attacks.
The oil industry experienced three upheavals between 1973 and 1991, which seem to be etched in the memory of the industry's decision makers. Naturally, at the sign of a new crisis, the decision makers like to dip into those tumultuous decades to find ways to deal with the new shock, in addition, of course, to expert reports and forecasts. So, the industry bigwigs turned the pages of history to get a peek into the future of oil price movements after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Israel attacked Gaza in 2023, Iran-linked Houthi rebels pounded tankers crossing the Red Sea in support of Palestine the same year, and Iran rained missiles on Israel in 2024.
Stepping up his attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party government, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has alleged that the structures of Indian democracy are under 'brutal attack' and there is a full-scale assault on the institutions of the country.
Dayana Yastremska upset of twice former champion and 18th seed Victoria Azarenka.
Addressing mediapersons after the investiture ceremony of ARTRAC, Singh said the Army has to understand and study these scenarios so that it is prepared if it has to undergo a similar situation tomorrow.
Putin on Thursday announced that the ceasefire will allow Orthodox Christians to attend services in Church on Christmas, according to the statement released by Kremlin on its website.
Equity investors became richer by over Rs 7.21 lakh crore as stock markets continued the rally for the second day on Wednesday. The 30-share BSE Sensex opened in the green on Wednesday and further jumped 1,469.64 points or 2.75 per cent to 54,893.73 during the day. It finally settled at 54,647.33, higher by 1,223.24 points or 2.29 per cent amid reports of diplomatic efforts to end Russia's attack on Ukraine. On Tuesday, it settled at 53,424.09, higher by 581.34 points or 1.10 per cent.
Russia vetoed the United States-sponsored resolution on Friday that 'deplored in the strongest terms' Russia's 'aggression' against Ukraine and asked Moscow to immediately stop its attack on that country.
China has signalled that it will prevent India from assuming leadership of the Global South, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Kyiv is no stranger to official visits, but this one is different. The fact the US President is meeting Ukraine's leader in the heart of the capital in the middle of a full-scale conflict is significant and symbolic.
The cancellation of UGC-NET, amid the raging row over NEET, led to questions being raised over National Testing Agency's (NTA) capability to conduct exams of larger magnitude.
'The staff student ratio in Kerala medical colleges is already compromised as in the last few years, the Kerala government has taken a decision to admit maximum number of students in all the medical colleges.'
