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  Can India become the Centre of the New World Order? Compiled By: Subham Sarkar Image Credit: The Telegraph, UK The past couple of months saw two global events which squarely positioned India as a key global geo-political player. First was the BRICS Summit in South Africa, where 6 new member countries were added to BRICS and their choices show a strong India imprint (despite of China)! Also, the successful Moon South Pole landing during the event (first ever in human history), was like India had choreographed the BRICS event with PM Modi like a global statesman dedicating this success as for the entire world (and not just for India)! Second was the much bigger and grander G-20 Summit in India. Bamboozling the naysayers (external and internal pundits to politicians) to subversions (like a particular Head of State of a new superpower skipping the event), India under PM Modi proved everyone wrong with a successful G-20. Be i
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  Rare Earth Metals (Episode 3) – “The Empire Strikes Back!” Image Credit: SeekPNG In my previous two articles on this topic of Rare Earth Metals ( “The War for World Domination” dated July 24, 2022 and “The Race is Very Much On” dated May 1, 2023), I had focused on China and India , respectively. For those who missed them or wants a refresher, here are the links - https://industry4o.com/2022/07/28/rare-earth-metals-the-war-for-world-domination/ and https://industry4o.com/2023/05/02/rare-earth-metals-the-race-is-very-much-on/ , respectively. I had concluded my previous article of this series (Episode 2) with “In my next article of this series (Episode 3), I plan to cover further developments in this sector which I will be tracking, with a focus on what the US has been planning and doing. Watch this space!” Well, I felt given the rapid pace at which this race is unfolding, it’s time to keep abreast with the momentum with a follow-on article to take stock on recent dev
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  Quantum Computing – “This Hype is for Real!” Image Credit: GMO Research Is Quantum Computing the Big Leap for Mankind? Will it take us to “Where no man has gone before”? “The world has been changing even faster as people, devices, and information are increasingly connected to each other. Computational power is growing and quantum computing is quickly being realized. This will revolutionize artificial intelligence with exponentially faster speeds. It will advance encryption. Quantum computers will change everything, even human biology.” ― Stephen Hawking The field is however relatively new! David Deutsch (now aged 69), became known as the “ father of quantum computing ” after proposing an exotic machine to test the existence of parallel universes! His paper in 1985 paved the way for the rudimentary quantum computers scientists are working on today. Big Tech as usual moved in pretty much quickly and wants a big share of the quantum pie! IBM, Google, Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, Intel
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Rare Earth Metals (Episode 2) – “The Race Is Very Much On!”

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  Image Credit: www.huntingfishing.com In my previous and first article on this topic (Rare Earth Metals – “The War for World Domination”, dated July 24, 2022 ), I had focused on how China was galloping away towards the winner’s podium of the Rare Earth Metals Race . For those who missed it or wants a refresher, here is the link - https://industry4o.com/2022/07/28/rare-earth-metals-the-war-for-world-domination/ In that article I had however also concluded that “ It will be interesting to see how countries like the US, Russia, Japan, the EU, India, etc. ( in isolation or in alliances ) will play out their parts in this resource war. More on that, in another blog”. Well, I felt it is time for a follow-on article to take stock on how the race has been shaping up over the past year. In this second episode of the series on Rare Earth Metals Race, I will be focusing on India - the proverbial elephant who seems to be waking up from a deep slumber, and maybe a bit groggy still ? An Al
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Decoding the Rise (and Imminent Fall?) of Xi

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  Image Credit: Sound Cloud To decode the phenomenon called Xi, one must travel back in time - a few centuries back! Till the 16 th century , the dominant trade between major nations then used to be based on the Ancient Silk Route , covering China, India, Persia (modern day, Iran) and Europe via Turkey (gateway to Europe). China (under the Ming dynasties) and India (under the Gupta, Maurya and Chola dynasties) were the 2 most important players and had the largest GDPs amongst countries during those days. Fast forward to 17 th and 18 th centuries , that era saw significant advances in ship building and maritime activities. While China and India continued their overall hold of the world trade share, smaller European nations like the Dutch, the Portuguese, the Spaniards and the English opened up new trade routes to Asia and Africa, and also led to the discovery of America! However, the biggest disruption came with the Great Industrial Revolution in the 1800s led by Great Britai
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Relatively Unknown Stories of INS Vikrant during the 1971 War

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(This article was compiled by my wife (SABARI SARKAR), in memory of her uncle (Late VADM B R Choudhury). It is a well-known fact that INS Vikrant (India’s first aircraft carrier) played a pivotal role in the Indo-Pak War of 1971, that led to the Liberation of Bangladesh (then-East Pakistan). It’s mighty presence in the Indian Ocean through to the Bay of Bengal and the naval blockade of East Pakistan, ensured that Pakistan was not able to send replenishment of arms and soldiers to Bangladesh via sea routes. Below are some interesting facts regarding the INS Vikrant that has become part of Indian Navy’s folklore (and has been gleaned from the public domain): When Russia (then USSR) came to India’s rescue against the combined might of the US, Britain, China & Pakistan In 1971, as India faced an unacceptable refugee burden, it faced a dire situation. The US and Britain as well as China were on Pakistan's side in the upcoming conflict. As a counter-strategy, on August 9, 19
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