India&MyanmarFinal Courtesy: Ministry of External Affairs
7 October 2020

Consolidating the Myanmar partnership

The visit of Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and COAS Gen. MM Naravane to Myanmar on October 4-5 will advance this vital relationship at a critical time. As the region’s geopolitics change, India’s Neighbourhood First and Act East policy and Myanmar’s deep-seated instinct for a balanced and independent foreign policy, must ensure that the two countries journey together as companion souls.

GS_1 Courtesy: Prime Minister of Japan and his Cabinet
5 October 2020

Yoshihide Suga: blessed by Ganesha

Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga belongs to the Ganesha Group – an amorphous but important group of short time Members of Parliament without political hereditary. Ganesha or Kangiten in Japanese is the symbol of good fortune in business and also a solver of problems. This is certainly an appropriate mascot for the Suga administration, which will need to resolve pending global issues and develop good business partnerships in the coming years.

WhatsApp Image 2020-10-01 at 1.19.17 PM Courtesy: Shutterstock
1 October 2020

The first Trump-Biden contest

As part of our weekly series of podcasts in the run-up to the U.S. elections, in this episode on the first 2020 presidential debate, Ambassador Neelam Deo, Director and Co-founder of Gateway House, on President Trump’s federal tax, how the ongoing pandemic will have an impact on voter’s choice and the potential of such political debates in India

INS_Viraat_front_view Courtesy: Wikipedia
1 October 2020

INS Viraat sails away

Five days before World Maritime Day last week, the former Flag Ship of India’s Western Fleet headquartered in Mumbai – the Aircraft Carrier INS Viraat or R 22 – was towed away to the ship-breaking yard in Alang, Gujarat. This brought down the curtains on Viraat’s glorious career of 58 years at sea. The Indian Navy is awaiting the commissioning of a new aircraft carrier ‘Vikrant’, named after the Indian Navy’s first carrier. Just as it will one day induct another new carrier and name it after the Viraat.

Screenshot 2021-03-03 16.38.17 Courtesy: Gateway House
30 September 2020

Startups and Make in India in Defence

Start-ups are the latest entrants in the defence manufacturing sector. They are getting a bigger role through the Innovations in Defence Excellence programme. The technologies being developed by them will add to the Indian military’s operational and combat capabilities. But beyond the obvious market for the defence forces, there is also the huge homeland security market, in India and abroad which the start-ups can tap into.

shutterstock_1164717811 Courtesy: Shutterstock
30 September 2020

Start-ups in India’s defence sector

Start-ups are the latest entrants in the defence manufacturing sector. They have greater access through the Innovations in Defence Excellence programme. The technologies developed by them will add to the Indian military’s operational and combat capabilities. Beyond the obvious market for the defence forces, there is also the huge homeland security market in India and abroad for the start-ups.

shutterstock_1799297029 Courtesy: Shutterstock
21 September 2020

China wins this TikTok round

With Oracle, Walmart and U.S. venture capitalists now holding the majority of TikTok Global’s shareholding, China’s closed digital world gets a breather, and the possibility of a truly open global Internet, gets a blow. China has won this round.

800px-Emergency_hospital_during_Influenza_epidemic,_Camp_Funston,_Kansas_-_NCP_1603 Courtesy: Wikipedia
17 September 2020

The 1918 ‘flu: India’s worst pandemic

The 20th century’s worst pandemic – Spanish Flu – erupted in March 1918 in Camp Funston (Kansas, U.S.) during the Great War. Much like Covid-19 it spread globally at an astonishing pace. Its Second Autumnal Wave took about 30 million lives in four months, half of those in India. It’s sheer virulence and high mortality makes this virus the correct analogy for Covid-19