By Nitya Chakraborty It is now official. After waiting for a few days since Donald Trump diluted the U.S. tariff rates for China and announced his intention for talks, China confirmed on Wednesday morning that a high level Chinese negotiating team will be visiting Switzerland for four days beginning May 9 to hold talks with […]
By Nitya Chakraborty Ten days have passed since the gruesome killings of 26 people at Pahalgam on April 22. In the following days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a lead to the boiling mood of the nation by announcing a number of measures, including the suspension of the 1960-signed Indus Water Treaty, followed by Pakistan’s […]
By Nitya Chakraborty Chinese President Xi Jinping has won the first round in the protracted battle against Donald Trump over his declaration of tariff war against China. After waiting for long three weeks for a personal call from XI Jinping offering talks to discuss the proposed tariff hikes, Trump partially retreated on Tuesday when he […]Matein Kalid Only the poetic genius of an Irishman can do justice to the epic Big Boy sumo wrestling match in history – between Shogun Trump and Sensei Powell-san as panic spreads at the speed of light across the digital arteries of the global banking village. W.B. Yeats’s immortal versus echo in my brain – things fall apart, the center cannot hold, mere anarchy is loosed upon […]
By Kalyani Shankar The Bihar polls at the end of the year are pretty unpredictable. As of now, there will be no cakewalk for the BJP, RJD, Congress or the JD(U). The churning is quietly taking place in Bihar politics. There could be a potential shift in power dynamics. The BJP, playing second fiddle to […]
By Nitya Chakraborty Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser to the interim government Dr. Muhammad Yunus is presently in the midst of his diplomatic triumph by successfully outreaching to the major countries of the world including the two super powers. After having a major success in getting all the support from the Chinese President Xi Jinping during his […]
By Nitya Chakraborty Though there is a 90 day pause in Trump’s latest unilateral imposition of reciprocal tariffs on most of the countries, the trade war between the USA and China, the two largest economies of the world is in full steam imparting tremors in global trade and economy. Close advisers of Trump were expecting […]Matein Khalid Thank God last night was just a manic Monday and not Black Monday, even though I saw doomsday options trade in the index futures market on Sunday night and the VIX was 60 at the open. This is 100% evidence that some major financial institution is in distress because 60 VIX is a 3-sigma event that I have seen only in 9/11, the GFC and […]
Matein Khalid In a financial panic, investors sell what they can and not what they must. So the most ominous data points for me is the dramatic widening in US corporate credit/high yield spreads, which means Mr. Market is now certain that default risk will strangle capital markets as varied as auto finance, subprime mortgages, student loan and credit card receivables. The widening of Asian sovereign credit […]
India’s Supreme Court has raised concerns over a directive from the Delhi High Court that ordered the removal of a Wikipedia page detailing the defamation lawsuit filed by news agency Asian News International against the Wikimedia Foundation. The apex court questioned the necessity of such an order, emphasizing the importance of judicial tolerance towards public commentary on legal proceedings.
The dispute originated when ANI initiated legal action against Wikipedia, alleging that certain edits on its Wikipedia page described the agency as a “propaganda tool” for the central government. ANI contended that these descriptions were defamatory and sought their removal. In response, the Delhi High Court directed Wikipedia to disclose the identities of the individuals responsible for these edits. When Wikipedia did not comply, ANI filed a contempt petition, leading the High Court to order the takedown of the Wikipedia page titled “Asian News International vs. Wikimedia Foundation,” deeming its content potentially contemptuous and an interference with court proceedings.
During the Supreme Court hearing, Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan expressed reservations about the High Court’s directive. Justice Oka remarked, “We can understand if there is a contempt, and contempt is proved pursuant to notice. Somebody wants to purge the contempt, so he removes that content. But to tell somebody to remove something because there is some criticism of what the Court has done, that may not be correct.” The bench highlighted the necessity for courts to be receptive to public scrutiny and criticism, especially in the digital age where information dissemination is rapid and widespread.
By Sushil Kutty Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is adamant that nobody (does “nobody” include Congress?) can “change the Constitution drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar” and that nobody “can finish reservation” either. The question then boils down to can anybody give Muslims reservation, i.e., reservation on the basis of religion? The Constitution says ‘no’. The Congress leaves […]Imagine you’re preparing for an important event, let’s say a wedding. You have to prepare the location, invitations, menu, dress code, and all sorts of other details. But when you think about this day, there is one thing you can’t imagine it without. And, of course, these are flowers. There are many cultures, traditions and ceremonies in the world, but flowers are the main attribute of nearly […]
By Nitya Chakraborty Is the Bangladesh Army going to take over control of their politically turbulent country, either from front or behind, to precipitate the holding of early elections? This question is being raised by the seasoned political observers in Dhaka, as the whole of last week was dominated by highly controversial posts on Facebook, […]
By Nitya Chakraborty Bangladesh has officially sought a meeting between their head of interim government Dr. Mohammad Yunus and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the coming BIMSTEC meeting at Bangkok on April 2-4 next. Both countries are members of BIMSTEC. As per present schedule, both have confirmed their presence at […]
By Nitya Chakraborty Sidelined by the Trump 2.0 administration and rebuffed by India, Bangladesh interim government is exploring all avenues to rejuvenate the country’s ailing economy by expanding its trade and investment relationship with Pakistan and China. The objective is to reduce the dependence on India in major areas where the outsourcing is possible from […]
By P. Sudhir The US President Donald Trump, in his first address to the US Congress following his election, has threatened to impose tariffs on countries that he considers are taking advantage of US trade policies. In his list is India, along with Canada, Mexico, China, Brazil and the European Union. Trump has repeatedly named […]Donald Trump’s economic policies generate excitement, but they often contain internal contradictions that make navigating financial decisions more challenging. Investors and businesses are left in an environment of uncertainty, where competing policy objectives create unpredictability. This is why expert financial advice is more important than ever—because when the strategy of the world’s largest economy pulls in different directions, the risks and opportunities shift rapidly. Take tariffs, for […]
By Nantoo Banerjee Returning empty-handed and crestfallen from his meeting with United States President Donald Trump, popular satirical comedian turned Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky looks more like a totally confused person now. He doesn’t know whom to trust — highly peeved US President Donald Trump or the leaders of the EU-UK combine, the backstage instigators […]Matein Khalid There is no economic reason why OPEC+ chose to add barrels to the global oil market at a time when bearish psychology and positioning dominates trading as attested by the plunge in speculative long positions in both the West Texas Intermediate and Brent IPE futures contracts. The only explanation is that both Saudi Arabia and Russia faced political pressure from a Trump White House that […]
By Nitya Chakraborty How is China, the second largest economic and military power of the world after the United States is planning to confront the second term U.S. President Donald Trump’s resurgence disrupting the so long established global order to impose his total domination on international politics? Every political analyst is looking at the current […]Matein Khalid 2024 was the annus horribilis for luxury stocks as the Dragon Empire’s cultural DNA under Xi Dada pivoted to Maoist austerity, inflation hit the mass affluent wannabe Gatsbys of Europe and boonie America and Incredible India’s bling-bling badshahs and bhabhijis discovered the hard way that the speculative stock market mania on Dalal Street can and did end in tears. Obviously, Gandhian values are not exactly […]
By Nitya Chakraborty The U.S. President Donald Trump has fired his missile on Europe, especially, France, UK and Germany by suspending arms aid to Ukraine after categorically making it clear that President Zelensky has to agree to the peace and security deal proposed by Trump on Friday in the White House meeting. The deal is […]
By Nitya Chakraborty Democratic rights activist Jagdeep S. Chhokar in his recent piece in the news portal The Wire mentions of his four conclusions on the state of Indian polity in the present stage after the BJP sweep in Delhi assembly polls. His four concluding points are- first, the BJP is almost achieving an opposition-free […]Matein Khalid Had Warren Buffett, oracle of Omaha, been born North Indian, he would have summarized Wall Street’s temper tantrum since last Friday with his famous observation “only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming nanga punga (naked)”. When history’s most iconic value investor ran up $300 billion in cash, I knew that the tide had run out for this deliciously profitable but […]
