Announcements almost every other day compel us to believe that India is now the fifth largest economy in the world; that India will be a $5 trillion economy very soon; that India will be the third largest economy of the world in 2027, and that India will become a developed nation in 2047.
Caste dynamics often play a pivotal role, especially in a state as politically significant as Uttar Pradesh.
The hunt for the origins of Covid-19 has for the past four years been a tangled web of politics, power struggles, and international finger-pointing.
the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) refused to recognise the current geological time as the Anthropocene (Human) Epoch because adding an Anthropocene Epoch ~ and terminating the Holocene Epoch ~ was not supported by geological standards used to define epochs.
There is a raging memefest in the Arab world about the Jordanian King Abdullah II. One of the most caustic meme images is of the Arab King wearing an Israeli Military uniform.
Instability within the country has already hit Pakistan’s financial markets. Hoping to gain popularity and stave off the challenge, Imran announced a reduction in oil prices, alongside a slew of other schemes which his government can ill afford and which are against existing agreements with the IMF. This is adding to economic uncertainty as further financial assistance from IMF may be blocked leading to Pakistan defaulting on payments.
Saudi Arabia’s human rights record has been under increasing scrutiny from rights groups and Western allies ever since the killing of the Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, in 2018. The kingdom has faced strong criticism of its restrictive laws on political and religious expression, and the implementation of the death penalty, including for defendants arrested when they were minors.
Already, the Chinese are subject to elaborate, state-mandated tracking of their movements. In locked-down areas, they endure poor access to food, necessities, and medical help. In port cities and border areas, which have faced frequent shutdowns, there is great disruption of economic activity. Migrants have been left stranded at borders.
No less important is the role played by dirty money. The phenomenon is not confined to the US only. Today a global economy of dirty money is undermining democracy across the world. The US is ruled not by Democrats or Republicans, but by free market plutocrats. The biggest threat is not that Donald Trump will steal the next presidential election, but that he may win it hands down
Sadly, it seems rather unlikely that I would receive the remarkable windfall from Nigeria any time soon. My hope to sit bare-chested in sunny Cayman Islands and sip numberless Piña Coladas looks – to quote a metaphor from my dear uncle who too, like Daniel Ziwaga, liked gin and-tonic and died of acute cirrhosis – like a derelict liver.
