When the people who run your press run the president, the whole world is in peril. Isn’t it funny how the very essence of what makes us free, can be used to enslave us? Take the summit between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, for instance. Even a surprisingly positive and hopeful moment in history can be transformed into...
Eager to enhance its negotiating leverage with the United States and Europe, Iran is projecting imminent membership of the China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in much the same way it pushed the signing of a much-touted 25-year cooperation agreement with the People’s Republic that has yet to have any real legs. Converting Iran’s SCO observer sta...
Do not “pursue an investigation into the origin of COVID-19 because it would ‘open a can of worms’ if it continued”. This was the instruction given by the US State Department to its investigators over a year ago, as reported by Vanity Fair in a long piece on Lab Leak. State Department investigators were warned against “digging in sensitive places” and repeat...
One year ago, on 15 June 2020, there was a clash between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley that was both heroic and unprecedented in nature. Its unique place in military history is derived from a number of factors. Firstly, it involved hand-to-hand fighting with primitive hand-made weapons such as spiked clubs, staffs, kirpans (short daggers car...
New research shows that the coronavirus spike protein from COVID-19 vaccination unexpectedly enters the bloodstream, which is a plausible explanation for thousands of reported side-effects from blood clots and heart disease to brain damage and reproductive issues, a Canadian cancer vaccine researcher said last week [May 2021-Ed]. “We made a big mistake. We ...
The kingdom has recently expanded its challenge to the smaller Gulf states by seeking to position Saudi Arabia as the region’s foremost sport destination once Qatar has had its moment in the sun with the 2022 World Cup as well as secure a stake in the management of regional ports and terminals dominated so far by the UAE and to a lesser extent Qatar. ...
(1) King Sibi, the ancestor of Emperor Rama of Ayodhya was associated with the region of the upper reaches of River Swat in Pakistan. That region was home to wise people of those times who were engaged in Vedic rites. (2) Among the descendants of King Sibi, the lesser known or unknown branch is that of Cholas. Taking up the name of Sibi as Sembiyan for his l...
Last week in Saint Petersburg, Russia, one of the most important economic forums of recent times was held (June 2-5, 2021 – Ed). It was the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). Although attended, in person or electronically, by representatives of more than 170 countries across the world, it barely attracted a mention in the western mainstre...
When Joe Biden was running his election campaign for presidential election, he targeted Donald Trump for his ‘trade war’ with China, calling it a ‘disaster’ for the US businesses and agriculture. Biden aimed to reverse Trump’s China policy and promised to start an era of ‘engagement’ through intensive diplomacy. However, the Biden administration has already ...
Some inscriptions written in Brahmi or Kharoshthi are found to indicate an unspecified era. Scholars refer to it as the Old Śaka with some of them linking with it the Jyothisha Siddhanta of Bhaskara II. Since Siddhantic tradition adheres to the Śaka era of Kali Yuga, it is blatantly wrong to suggest that Bhaskara had given the date of...
Indo-Sri Lanka Accord was not to “control” Sri Lanka, as you call it. The Accord document indicates its objectives were three-fold: 1] To ensure Sri Lanka does not offer any space to powers inimical to India. 2] To reassure Sri Lanka that India stood for a unified Sri Lanka and as a corollary does not support independent Eelam. 3] To ensure Sri Lanka recogni...
On May 28, the administration of the Suez Canal once again had to take emergency measures to unblock this highly congested global transportation artery. The 353-meter-long container ship Maersk Emerald ran aground due to engine problems. And although, as stated on the Facebook page of the Suez Canal Authority, they “promptly dealt with a sudden problem of on...
Having described the general results of the visit of the President of South Korea to the United States, we would like to take a closer look at what was the reaction of Beijing to the clearly visible anti-Chinese visit and how in Seoul they diligently pretend that “there was nothing like this and we will not get anything like that.” You may recall that, alth...
The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in late 2019 and continues through 2021, has led to an economic downturn worldwide caused by reduced movement of people and goods due to quarantine measures, which has inevitably resulted in a drop in trade, production and business shutdowns. This has affected virtually all areas of the economy in all states and is fully tr...
The Indian Army Chief, General MM Naravane, visited Kashmir over two days on June 2-3, 2021, which coincided with 100 days of ceasefire between India and Pakistan. The significance of the visit can be gauged from the prevailing relations between India and Pakistan. This is the time of year when fundamentalist forces of Pakistan, with complete support of th...
When the Brexit Referendum (remember that? – it was five years ago, and seems like half a lifetime) was won by the Leave campaign there was much talk about which other countries might follow the UK’s lead and try and leave the EU. Italy and France, with their successful populist movements, were suggested alongside newer and poorer members such as Slovakia an...
When the US president Joe Biden recently waived sanctions on the company overseeing the Nord Stream 2 project, it came as a surprise to many. The decision was largely seen as the Biden administration’s way to ‘normalise’ US ties with Germany after their bi-lateral relations having been very consistently torpedoed by the Trump administration. But the question...
The Syrian Arab Republic has just held a presidential election despite the hostility of the West, which still wishes to both dismember it and overthrow it in favor of a transitional government along the lines of Germany and Japan at the end of World War II [1]. The election was fair according to international observers from all countries with embassies in Da...
Many would consider the passing of the controversial Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill by the Sri Lanka parliament, with a comfortable margin on May 20, as a victory for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. President Rajapaksa’s personal reputation was at stake after Supreme Court scrutiny found both constitutional and procedural anomalies with the draft. ...
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs has, in a landmark directive, told mosques to limit the use of loudspeakers for religious discourses. A circular has been issued by Abdul Latif Al Sheikh, Minister of Islamic Affairs, allowing the use of loudspeakers only for Azan (call for prayer) and Iqamat (second call for prayer). Furthermore, the volume must...