Think-Tanks'Press

The contract is further proof that the observed energy co-operation between Russia and India has been intensifying over the last two years.

To date, Moscow has pursued a policy of controlled and limited openness to foreign investments in its upstream sector, where selected Western companies were granted the right to participate in projects in the Arctic shelf (Eni, Statoil, Exxon Mobil) or in exploration of less significant land-based oil and gas fields (BASF, Total).

By 2030, the costs for the Netherlands could run up to 1.2% of GDP, or 10 billion euros.

And, if we also assume innovation is trade-induced as recent examples in the literature have shown, then the Brexit-related costs of 10 billion euros could increase with another 65%.

Should the EU and the UK reach a free trade agreement, the economic consequences of a Brexit for the Netherlands would be reduced by 20%, because one of the important elements of such an agreement would be that NTBs will increase by only 6%, instead of the 13% under WTO regulations.

A new World Bank report says that while the internet, mobile phones and other digital technologies are spreading rapidly throughout the developing world, the anticipated digital dividends of higher growth, more jobs, and better public services have fallen short of expectations, and 60 percent of the world’s population remains excluded from the ever-expanding digital economy.

Digital technologies can transform our economies, societies and public institutions, but these changes are neither assured nor automatic, cautions the report.

Over the last decade, the World Bank Group has invested a total US$12.6 billion in ICTs.

The digital exhaust left by just about everyone online . . . provides businesses, as well as governments and crime syndicates, with a wealth of data to mine and manipulate.

The U.S. defense intelligence enterprise will need to know much more about these disruptive combinations of technologies in order to navigate properly within the confines of a city or a war zone in the future.

A dedicated cadre of knowledgeable analysts will be needed to search for, review, and assess this new stream of collection for early warning of potential threats and for the benefits that could accrue from an awareness of how these new technologies could be used to enhance military intelligence operations and protect the warfighter.

India and the US may not become allies or partners. The former requires a near total commonality of interests and ethos while the latter presumes equality. None of these possibilities exists in US-India bilateral ties.

What we should, therefore, reasonably seek is a long-term understanding, or an arrangement that endures.

There is no gainsaying the fact that the e-commerce market in India is growing at a frenetic pace, a boundless excitement with new ideas and, it seems, a bottomless supply of VC funds.

The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) rules – Indian government does not allow FDI in online retail companies that own inventory and sell directly to consumers – has compelled the largest companies such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and even Amazon in India to pivot to a marketplace (connecting sellers to end consumers) model.