U.S. Defense Budget: Mixed signals for the Indo-Pacific

On 28 May 2021, the Biden administration submitted a much-delayed Defense Budget to Congress, asking for $715 billion for 2022, a 1.6% increase over the previous year’s $703.7 billion. This marginal increase highlights the U.S.’s shrinking capacities compared with China, which spends less than a third of the U.S. on defence. This Budget is focussed on challenges in the U.S.’s geographic vicinity, not the administration’s resolve to counter the threat of China from a position of strength.

Courtesy: Gateway House

11 February 2021

Emergence of crypto-currencies

BY Sagnik Chakraborty

With the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2021 set to be introduced during parliament’s on-going budget session, India is now ready to introduce its own official digital currency—following in the footsteps of China and Russia. So far, Indian regulations prohibited the public from trading in crypto-currencies. However, the investor community has an interest in them, as an asset that is not subject to government devaluation, unlike regular fiat currency in circulation. This infographic traces the evolution of crypto-currencies since the launch of Bitcoin in 2009.

Courtesy: Twitter

24 December 2020

Will 1st Fleet trump Biden’s Asia-Pacific?

BY Gateway House

The U.S. Navy Secretary, Kenneth Braithwaite, visited India on 17 Dec 2020. Will this year-end visit culminate in the reactivation of the First Fleet under the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command? The First Fleet, is likely to be an expeditionary fleet - one without a shore-based headquarters and assigned primary responsibility for the Indian Ocean and parts of Pacific Ocean bordering South Asia. Its reactivation will emphasise the strategic importance of this region. It will also relieve the burden of the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet headquartered in Japan, that is deployed for operations in this vast oceanic space.

Courtesy: Gateway House

24 November 2016

Carbon emissions: from intention to action

BY Ishani Shukla

November was a significant month for climate change negotiations: the Paris Agreement of 2015 came into effect, and at this year’s COP22, heads of state reaffirmed their commitment to a plan of action. Gateway House traces the history of climate change negotiations and CO2 emission trends over the last four and a half decades.