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The Indian defence manufacturing sector has advanced significantly, largely due to the government’s ‘Make in India’ policy and emphasis on self-sufficiency. But difficulties that can hinder development in 2024 need to be addressed. So like all significant nations, India has an Army, Navy and Air Force and these wings need among other essentials, ground vehicles, naval vessels, C4ISR, fixed-wing aircraft, rotary-wing aircraft, weapons and ammunition, protection and training and unmanned systems.

India has one of the largest defence industrial bases (DIB) on the planet; an extensive network of research and development (R&D); as well as, production entities. The DIBs employ scientists, engineers and other professionals. But the dominance of the public sector has resulted in lacklustre performance. Therefore, India’s continued reliance on external sources, a dependence that remains a cause of concern. India, in times of crisis, has found itself reaching out to friendly nations for emergency procurements.

The trade union movement in India may be heading for a year of reckoning in 2024. The first half of the year will see much intensified, aggressive, and confrontational protests against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led ruling establishment, especially till the Lok Sabha General elections conclude by May end. The course of the movement in the second half of the year would depend on the decision of the elected government on implementation of the four controversial labour codes, hitherto deferred by the Centre due to stiff resistance from the workers’ unions.

Imperialist hegemony over the third world is exercised not just through arms and economic might but also through the hegemony of ideas, by making the victims see the world the way imperialism wants them to see it. A prerequisite for freedom in the third world therefore is to shake off this colonisation of the mind, and to seek truth beyond the distortions of imperialism. The anti-colonial struggle was aware of this; in fact the struggle began with the dawning of this awareness. And since the imperialist project does not come to an end with formal political decolonisation, the education system in the newly independent ex-colonies must continuously aim to go beyond the falsehoods of imperialism.

Israeli defence forces continue bombing Gaza and blasting Hamas terror tunnel complexes, but what about the plan to flood underground tunnels with seawater? Nobody knows other than land weary Israeli ground forces who are religiously targeting tunnel networks, believing Hamas Chieftains still live in them and that there are pads for top Hamas functionaries many of whom ended up as corpses in the underground web.

Never having led a sporting side to a playing field, no eyebrows were raised among the fans of actor-turned-politician Vijaykanth when he became better known as “Captain” in the worlds of films and politics in Tamil Nadu. The honorific has stuck to him since 1991 on the release of his 100th film, 'Captain Prabhakaran'.

On January 23, Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma announced a decision of the state cabinet to begin a major statewide drive to curb child marriages in the state.

On Monday, an eighteen-year-old Israeli named Tal Mitnick quoted on Twitter/X a particularly striking verse of “Have You Been to Jail for Justice?”, written by the late folk singer Anne Feeney. The song starts with a blunt statement that “laws are made by people” and “people can be wrong.” The lyrics continue with examples like laws against unions and laws allowing child labor in coal mines and laws denying women the right to vote. The conclusion is as simple as it is undeniable. Some laws need to be broken.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is embarking on his second walkathon, ‘Bharat Nyay Yatra', from Manipur in the north-east to Mumbai in western India, covering 14 states and 85 districts, beginning January 14. Rahul is undertaking this gruelling mission just after a year of the culmination of his first spirited walk, the Bharat Jodo Yatra, on January 30 in Kashmir.

Priyanka Gandhi, a severe critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is the latest political personality to be brought under the yoke of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a case of, what else, money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). It is for the judiciary to decide the legitimacy of the case, but there is no doubt of a political impact on the fortunes of the Congress. Even PM Modi will feel the ramifications.