Political

Business

The Far East: The SCS waters between China, and the Philippines simmer with conflict

August 7, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: After Taiwan, it is the Philippines’ turn in the Far East to take exception to the Chinese expansionist moves. The developments mark another Chinese attempt to assert its claims over the territories of the South China Sea (SCS). On Sunday, Manila accused Beijing of water-cannoning its vessels in the SCS […]

Business

Roving Periscope: Ukraine sees the Jeddah peace talks as positive; but it’s negative for Russia

August 7, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: After nearly 18 months of relentless and destructive war, Ukraine has termed the fresh round of peace talks hosted by Saudi Arabia “productive” while Russia has called it a “doomed attempt.” On August 5, the Saudis hosted the National Security Advisors’ Meeting on this matter in their capital Jeddah. NSA […]

Business

Roving Periscope: Russian court sentences Putin’s chief critic to 19 years in jail

August 5, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: A kangaroo court in Russia on Friday convicted imprisoned opposition leader and chief Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny of alleged extremism and sentenced him to a 19-year jail term, the media reported on Saturday. The move came amid a historic crackdown on dissenting voices as Moscow’s assault on Ukraine stretches into […]

Business

The cycle of politics: Ex-Pak PM Imran arrested, barred from polls for 5 years

August 5, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: In Pakistan’s cycle of vendetta politics, everybody knew it was coming. Even former Prime Minister Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi was aware of it —for, he had done exactly the same unto his predecessor, Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, pushing him into jail and then forcing him into self-exile in London, from […]

Business

Pakistan: Apex court dismisses Imran Khan’s plea against the Toshakhana case

August 4, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Friday dismissed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s plea against the Toshakhana case in which he was accused of misusing his office to buy and sell gifts in state possession. The former PM, 70, had received these gifts, worth over USD 6,35,000 (PKR 140 million) during his […]

Business

Roving Periscope: ‘India in defining moment, to grow at 6.7% until FY31’

August 4, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: It is the ‘India Moment’ all over. In fact, the South Asian country is in a defining moment to realize its ambition to become an economic superpower in the next decade, fresh reports have indicated. In its latest report, “Look Forward: India’s Moment,”, the US-based financial information and analytics company […]

Business

Good news: M&S upgrades India, downgrades the US, and China

August 3, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Investment banking and brokerage firm Morgan Stanley has upgraded its views on India’s markets from “equal weight” earlier to “overweight” now as it believes the South Asian nation’s reform and macro-stability agenda supports a strong capital expenditure (capex) and profit outlook. An overweight rating means that S&P expects India’s economy […]

Business

Economy: Services PMI jumps to 62.3 in July, the highest in over 13 years

August 3, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: India’s services activity shot up sharply from a Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) of 58.5 in June to 62.3 in July, a report from the S&P Global Market Intelligence said on Thursday. At 62.3, the July services PMI is the highest point in over 13 years, vis-à-vis the last time’s peak […]

Business

Wooing Taiwan: How China’s bete noire invested USD 2 billion in India?

August 2, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Most countries, including the US and India, have not recognized Taiwan as an independent nation. Until 1971, Taiwan (or the Republic of China, ROC) was the Permanent Member of the UN Security Council. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) replaced it following the passage of a resolution by the UN […]

Business

The Trap of Friendship: China ‘justifies’ passage of CPEC through PoK!

August 1, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Completely ignoring India’s repeated and serious objections to the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passing through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Beijing has termed the mega-project as a “testament of friendship” with Islamabad. Addressing a CPEC celebration event in Islamabad on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping made this remark, despite India’s objections […]