Oil not a worry in 2024
A well-supplied oil market, along with new investments in oil exploration and production means that pending a major disaster, India will not have to worry about oil prices in the coming year.
A well-supplied oil market, along with new investments in oil exploration and production means that pending a major disaster, India will not have to worry about oil prices in the coming year.
The inaugural summit of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), hosted by India earlier this month, drew special attention given the dramatic strides made in the field in the past year. As it prepares to chair the GPAI in 2024, India can draw on its large workforce, the university system and the technology stack to steer conversations on AI regulation, innovation and deployment towards a balanced and equitable path.
A stabilising economy in Sri Lanka has eased inflationary pressures and foreign exchange liquidity crises in the past year. As economic recovery steps up, Sri Lanka has also sought free trade agreement-led Asian regionalism. However, with presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for 2024 and an opposition that wants to renegotiate the IMF agreement, A lasting economic recovery may be derailed by political risks.
From COP to COP, the discussions focus on climate change and its impacts. But none have yet addressed a critical issue: the definition of a “climate refugee” or climate-related forced migration. Some contend that the issue requires a revision in the 1951 Refugee Convention. But with refugee and migrant flows to the borders of Western democracies, the term “refugee” is often re-framed as a concern about preservation of culture and values.
On November 17, India hosted the Voice of the Global South Summit – the second such meeting this year. While the first summit helped India mould the agenda for its G20 presidency, this latest meeting, convened towards the end of the presidency, was aimed at sustaining the momentum, with the support of developing countries, for the implementation of G20 decisions.
President Xi’s speech at the 3rd BRI Forum for International Cooperation in October 2023 has grabbed the headlines in suggesting a vision for a reset BRI, ten years on. Is it a case of ‘old wine in new bottles’ or something radically different? And what does it mean for African development, the poorest continent on the planet?
The outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war less than a month after the conclusion of the New Delhi Summit has heightened the geopolitical anxieties that hovered over India’s G20 presidency year. As the baton passes to Brazil, purposeful action, careful diplomacy and managing conflicting interests will be key to the implementation of the Summit’s commitments.
Eighteenth century Bombay was home to two Jewish communities: Marathi-speaking Bene-Israel Jews and Judeo-Arabic-speaking Baghdadi Jews. The city was a a major hub for employment, business, religious, community, and cultural life. These activities were formerly dispersed among many hubs across the Middle-East for the Baghdadi Jews, and among the villages of the North Konkan for the Bene-Israel.
By blending Islam, Marxism-Leninism, Arab nationalism, and Third World radicalism during the 1960s, Yasser Arafat succeeded beyond expectations, in impactfully putting the Palestinian question forward for international attention. The spoiler was Hamas, with its jihadi calls for the cause of Palestine and rejection of peace initiatives.
This year, India recovered over 100 stolen antiquities from different countries, part of 324 brought back to the country over the decade. This is part of an increasing global effort to tackle art trafficking. India can use the momentum to strengthen its own legal and policy mechanisms for accelerated recovery, restitution, and conservation of its cultural heritage.