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18th BRICS SUMMIT:OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

  EVOLUTION OF BRICS  Although the idea of BRIC was originally mooted by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O Niell in 2001to highlight the global prospect of fast growing markets of economies like Brazil, Russia, India and China, the first meeting was held 2006 in New York and after that first summit was held in Russia in 2009.South Africa joined in 2010- 11,making the group as BRICS. and by 2024 -25 the organization was expanded with the new entry of  countries like Iran,Egypt. Ethiopia, the  UAE,and Indonesia . As of now the  BRICS + countries are able to design policies and strategies to bolster global supply Chains  boost resilience against pandemic and climate change. Leaders are also voicing concerns against weaponisation of currencies and tariffs, weaponisation of critical minerals and technology.  18th BRICS SUMMIT  The 18th BRICS Summit was  hosted by India on 12-13 September 26  amidst crucial geopolitical risks and uncertainties. Of...

LESSONS FROM NEPAL FLASH FLOODS

GLACIERS AND FLASH FLOODS  On 26th August morning 2026 a series of  flash floods hit and terribly destroyed the Gyirong  check post on the China-Nepal border .Due to the impact it struck dozens of settlements along the 72km stretch of the of the Trishul river in Nepal.The perciptating geological event has believed to be the  outcome of  collapse of a enormous glacier slab that caused unprecedented chain reaction which  plunged kilometers below. Resultant flash floods and mud slides thatoccured  around not only  in Nepal but also along China Nepal border connecting Rasuwa district of Nepal and Gyrongo county.Almost the entire market towns like Betrawati,were buried  under debris of thick mud and different 9000types of residuals, submerging buildings up to  upper floors. The crossing between  China and Nepal territory has been very vital in providing bulk of  economic activities ranging from daily traffic related to trade,tourism...

ONE DECADE OF UPI REVOLUTION IN INDIA

UPI REVOLUTION IN INDIA UPI was the result of a vision to create a cash less economy and make banking accessible to everyone. Accordingly NPCI with support of the RBI and Indian banks designed UPI to be fast,simple and secure.India's Digital payments program was launched by National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI)in August 2016.It had established India's Unified Payment Interface (UPI) a real round the clock payment system in the country that enabled persons to receive and make payments directly between bank accounts instantly.By developing UPI, NPCI  removed the need to share bank details including account numbers and IFSC codes etc as done earlier for every transaction. The transaction is made by creation of UPI ID (VPA) and that links to your bank account. After that a secure 4 or 6 digit personal identification number is made to authorise each payment. QR codes can be utilised to pay instantly without entering any manual DC.UPI transfer of work can be done any time incl...

INDIA @ 80 :RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT OUR DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE.

 GDP GROWTH  India as a democratic  nation and largest populated country of the globe , reached the 79th year of independence in  August 2026. We have to examine how far we have  achieved the desired goals in growth, education, employment,external sector and sustainable ecological development Apprehensions are there that despite favourable GDP growth, employment generation is not sufficient enough to achieve better distribution of income and wealth and to keep pace with increasing workforce and achieve a sectoral mix that can increase both output and employment. According to Anantha Nageswaran Chief Economic Advisor  Indian economy will sustain a growth rate of 6.3%to 6.8% in the medium term driven by favorable monetary policy, tax relief,and strong monsoon.However expectations hinges that In the long-term India can achieve the target of $ 30 trillion economy  by 2047 if it sustain approximately 12% annual growth rate  in  dollar terms. ...

UNCHANGED REPO RATE : IS IT A DOVISH MONETARY POLICY?

AUGUST MONETARY POLICY After a detailed assessment of evolving macroeconomic and financial conditions and the outlook , the 62nd meeting of RBI's Monetary policy Committee held under the Chairman ship of  RBI Governor during August 3-5  2026 unanimously decided to keep policy  rates unchanged .Accordingly repo rate under liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) remained intact at 5.25% ,consequently the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate 5.00%, further the marginal standing facility(MSF) rate and bank rate remained at 5.50%. Further MPC  decided to continue with the neutral stance.This is the fourth consecutive policy review in which the repo rate remained unchanged. RBI  Governor also  observed that Central Bank does not see itself the  policy either Dovish or Hawkish. RBI also raised its GDP growth projections by 10 basis points to 6.7% for 2026-27 despite inflation risks that have been building up since the occurrence of West Asia Crisis. RBI also lowe...

GEOECONOMICS AND GLOBAL ENERGY SECURITY

 GEOECONOMICS AND ENERGY Geoeconomics has been shaping global energy supplies from different countries and  sources.Geoeconomics studies the combination of economic and geographic factors impacting international trade, investment and factor mobility.Accordingly government policies are largely guided by geoeconomics  and frequently geopolitics and geoeconomics are used interchangeably.In effect geoeconomics is " the geostrategic use of economic power" .It has been observed that the post cold war resurgence of Geoeconomics has been influenced by largely Washington led  global economic integration, charecterised by neoliberal capitalists conventions that have transformed the foundations of global security, foreign policy and statecraft.In energy sector also  shifting is taking place from traditional fossil fuel exporters to countries supplying renewable energy technologies and  critical material supply chains.Historically energy security were dependent on oil ...

HOW FAR INDIA UK CETA IS DIFFERENT?

CETA  India- UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement came into effect from July 15th 2026 making revolutionary change in bilateral trade between two countries.Most  significantly eliminating 99% of  tariff of Indian exports to the United Kingdom. Formalisation of  CETA and the Free Trade Agreement  (FTA)will reach the goal of bilateral trade  beyond US $100 billion by 2030 .Moreover India-UK Vision 2035 require prerequisites like Free Trade Agreement, Bilateral  Investment Treaty,, cooperation in Artificial Intelligence, International Solar Alliance ,Net Zero and Innovation Virtual  Centre. The benefits of the agreement can be classified into four namely 1Market Access  As India secures Zero  duty access  for 99% of it's exports to UK,it covers  nearly 100% trade value.Major beneficiary segments include  textiles, leather, footwear, gems& jewellery, marine and engineering goods etc, along  with concessions...