No Comments The protests in Thailand which began in 2018 have continued to this day. The dissenters demanded that the pro-monarchy amendment made to the Crown Property Act be reverted. However, with the protests turning violent, the government and the police resorted to employ riot-control measures and many were jailed under the rarely used Lese Majesté Act.
No Comments The BRI initiated by China was portrayed as a challenge to a unipolar world in favor of multi-polarity, non-intervention in internal matters of other countries, egalitarian and fairer financial structures and institutions along with lasting partnerships for mutual development marked by cooperation not domination. However, BRI has morphed into anything but these objectives.
No Comments Cambodia’s PM Hun Sen launched a sweeping crackdown on his opponents in 2017 charging them with treason and illegal attempt to take power. Most opposition leaders of CNRP were arrested along with their supporters. The opposition charges the PM and his party the CPP of human rights abuses, torture, control of media and corruption. As […]
2 Comments China now dominates the world’s production of new generation batteries that are key to transitioning away from fossil fuels. These new batteries are essential for electric vehicles, power grids, mobile phones and laptop computers to name few.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, if current trends continue, most of them will likely use Chinese batteries, a key element for transitioning away from fossil fuels, and most of those batteries will be lithium Ion because of their high energy per unit mass relative to other electrical energy storage systems.
For the foreseeable future, world will likely need to depend on Chinese supply chains to produce the batteries. Chinese chemical companies accounted for 80% of the world’s total output of raw materials for advanced batteries.
China is focused on controlling the world’s production of lithium ion batteries. Beijing government subsidies and quotas for EV sales appear to have incentivized efforts to corner the electric vehicle supply chain. Chinese entities now control nearly half of global lithium production and 60 percent of the electric battery production capacity. By 2030, Goldman Sachs predicts China could supply 60 percent of the world’s EVs.
Battery metals are becoming the new oil and supply chains the new pipelines. It is still early in this new energy era, and the victors are yet to be determined in the battery arms race. For now Bharat has to take the final lead as world resources are not for domination but for peaceful coexistence which is embedded in Bharat Culture and ethos of ‘Vasudaiva Kutumbakam’ (World is one Family).
No Comments Europe is now dealing with two extremes related to the COVID19 pandemic – The rise in Corona infections on one end with large scale protests against lockdown and COVID19 safety norms at the other. Many countries in the continent are in the grip of protests against fresh lockdown as COVID19 cases continue to rise. Germany […]
No Comments Lord Meghnad Desai, Indian-origin economist and author, has resigned as a member of the UK’s Opposition Labour Party over its failure to effectively tackle racism within its ranks, reports The Daily Guardian. Lord Desai on Thursday said that he was forced to cancel his membership after 49 years after former party leader Jeremy Corbyn was […]
9 Comments History runs at its own pace. It is frustratingly slow and staid sometimes. Darkness and disillusionment seem never ending. But suddenly it races ahead like a Thoroughbred, leaving contemporaries in dismay and historians in disarray. The world is in the midst of such a racing pace today. The Cold War years of the last century, […]
1 Comment Global history of the last many millennia has seen tectonic shifts and changes in the destiny of humans, spanning explorations, discoveries, wars, disease and violence of the kind never heard of before. Many cultures and so called civilizations have come and gone. New Nations have emerged in the last several centuries, especially in the Western […]
1 Comment From viewing India as a third-world country and a minion to becoming a equal partner in many endeavors, the US-India relationship has come a long way. The closeness of political leaders of the two democracies and the increasing cooperation in defence and other fields is an indication of the changing preferences of both the countries […]
No Comments A journalist with a major TV news network shared a video before the polls ended for Bihar, where the journalist speaks to a family in a village. The husband speaking on his voting preference says that he has been a traditional supporter of the ‘lantern’ (RJD symbol) while the wife who is standing next to […]
