View Articles

Two tragic plane crashes in Azerbaijan/South Korea and now terrorist outrages in Las Vegas and New Orleans take the joy out of New Year's Day but all we can hope that the world will be reinvented with a modicum of rationality when Donald Trump swears the oath to uphold the US Constitution on January 20. The political messiah of MAGA is also a geopolitical/trade time bomb who nominated a Gates for Attorney General and could, like Caligula, make a horse a Senator. Trump has appointed loyalists to run the CIA, DOD, NSA, DNI, FBI and all the intel/security agencies needed to run any self respecting autocracy. In the global markets, Trump 2.0 will suffuse every major asset class. My calls?

Vietnam, the Communist nation with nearly 10 crore population is presently the focus of the big investors of the world including the USA as the nation’s leadership has made a miracle in building a highly skilled youth brigade along with the creation of an investment climate which can compete with the best of the ASEAN members. Vietnam’s economic growth which is estimated at 6.1 per cent in 2024 is expected to go up to 6.5 per cent in 2025 and also remain at the same level or increase in 2026.In 2023, the GDP growth was only 5 per cent.

Farmers have already been protesting against the Centre demanding legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their crops and also implementation of Swaminathan formula C2+50 per cent for calculating MSP so that they could get remunerative price for their produce, where C2 is the comprehensive cost of production which includes the actual cost of production, family labour, imputed rent on owned land, and interest on owned capital.

2024 was a happening year. Happenstance, 2025 also will be. There was a new government at the Centre in 2024 — with the same old Prime Minister and a brand new Leader of the Opposition! In year 2025, there will be a new government in Delhi and the same old Chief Minister, maybe?

At the time of Indian independence in 1947 with GDP at 2.7 lakh crore that is 3% of the world's total GDP, it was a big challenge and horrendous task to meet aspirations of all sections of the society particularly the marginalized ones. Since the number of socially and economically deprived sections was very large, the policies had to be framed which would ensure an inclusive growth. Several schemes were floated for social welfare.

India is witnessing a transformative era in its naval history. On January 15, 2025, the Indian Navy will achieve a historic milestone by commissioning three advanced combat platforms—Nilgiri, Surat, and Vagsheer—on the same day. These platforms signify technological advancement and mark a crucial step in India's journey toward strategic sovereignty. Beyond their operational value, these vessels highlight India's growing influence in shaping the security architecture of the Indo-Pacific region.

ATHENS: First as tragedy, then as farce, and finally as that final season of a mediocre sit-com when every possible trick, even if obviously ridiculous, is used to attract some interest from the audience. This is one way to describe the complete implosion of Syriza, a party that was once thought to be the big hope of the European left.

The year 2024, which has ended, has been a tumultuous one both nationally and internationally. In India, the year began with the State-sponsored installation of the idol at the newly-built but incomplete Ram temple at Ayodhya, a signal from the BJP rulers that the era of Hindutva raj has begun. This was followed by various attacks on opposition leaders through the central agencies, including the arrest of two chief ministers.

The Left wing forces in the Latin American region will be facing major test in the year 2025 as crucial Presidential elections as also the polls to the parliament will be held in four countries, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile and Honduras. Out of the four, excepting Ecuador, the other three countries are being ruled by the Left coalitions. Apart, elections will be held in Argentina but that will not cover the Presidential elections, only elections to the national assembly will be held.

LONDON: As we enter 2025, the exhaustion of liberal centrism across the West is clearer than ever. The return of Donald Trump to the White House. The recent collapse of the governments of France and Germany.