STANDPOINT by Atique Naqvi

  Faith is a complex beast! It can make you do anything, and it could be anything — faith in a human, religion, ideology, nation, or even in science. A strong faith in something could make or break people. Is faith an inherent part of human design? How do we define faith? What does faith do? Why do we need it? How does faith affect our life? Is there good or bad faith? Derived from the Latin word   fides   and the old French word   feid   meaning trust and confidence, briefly put, faith is an abstract concept with real-life consequences. On a recent visit to my ancestral village of Saithal in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, I witnessed thousands of people commemorating the martyrdom of Prophet Mohammad’s grandson Hussain in the battle of Karbala. The tragedy of epic proportions that took place in Karbala, Iraq, arguably on October 10, 680 AD is beyond the subject of this write-up. However, the faith-driven individuals from different religions participat...

No business sector would remain immune from the effects of COVID19 or Coronavirus IMF to open its US$1 trillion-vault for emerging economies as investors withdraw US$83 billion from low-income countries By Atique Naqvi The International Monetary Fund is expecting negative global economic growth in 2020 and the organization is ready to deploy US$1 trillion – its full lending capacity – in countries that are seeking financial assistance owing to COVID19. Investors have already removed US$83 billion from low-income and emerging economies since the beginning of COVID19 or Coronavirus outbreak, according to the IMF. Following a conference call with G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, IMF’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said: “The human costs of the Coronavirus pandemic are already immeasurable and all countries need to work together to protect people and limit the economic damage. This is a moment for solidarity, which was a major theme of the meeting...

Cryptocurrencies have gained popularity across the world. Facebook revives Libra plans; Value of global crypto market to reach US$1.6 trillion While the Facebook is re-thinking its plan to launch digital currency Libra, India’s highest court has lifted a ban on cryptocurrency today. India’s Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed trading in virtual currency, cryptocurrency and the likes of Bitcoin. However, the court’s decision might be over-shadowed by the upcoming bill proposed by India’s federal government. The draft bill seeks to prohibit mining, holding, selling, trade, issuance, disposal or use of cryptocurrency in India, and the violation could result in hefty fines and imprisonment of 10 years. For now, the supporters of cryptocurrency may rejoice as the draft bill might come in a distant future and may be toned down a tad bit after Supreme Court’s decision. The court ruled in favor of the Internet and Mobile Association of India, which was representing the inter...

Coronavirus has affected people across the world and the virus has spread quickly. The impact of coronavirus, COVID-19, on global economy would be relatively minor and short-lived as the Chinese economy would return to normal in the second quarter of 2020, said the managing director of International Monetary Fund in Saudi Arabia's capital  city Riyadh. IMF's Kristalina Georgieva made a statement at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting. “While the impact of the epidemic continues to unfold, the World Health Organization’s assessment is that with strong and coordinated measures, the spread of the coronavirus in China and globally can yet be contained and the human tragedy arrested. We are still learning about how this complex virus spreads and the uncertainties are too great to permit reliable forecasting. Many scenarios can play out, depending on how quickly the virus is contained and how fast the Chinese and other affected economies return to n...

Most Indian news organizations are owned by corporations with a diverse business and political interests A large section of Indian news media spreads hate and misinformation every day and tramples upon the country's cultural plurality hurting the image of PM Narendra Modi's government. Prime-time shouting matches on major Indian TV news channels, an overdose of jingoistic nationalism, war-like reporting, compound hate speech, and fear-mongering news reports have made most of the news TV unwatchable. These networks could also be harming Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led federal government in India. The US right-leaning network Fox News pales in comparison to India’s privately-owned and self-proclaimed rightist TV networks such as Republic TV (English, Hindi), Times Now (English), Zee News (Hindi), India TV (Hindi), News India (Hindi) and Sudarshan TV (Hindi). Though Fox News is a little bit fair and a little bit balanced [Fair and Balanced is Fox News’s slo...

Kuwait-headquartered logistics firm Agility released its 11th annual Emerging Markets Logistics Index this week The UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar are among the top 10 logistics markets in the 2020 Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index. China and India lead the list, in first and second places, respectively. The Index, which is based on a survey of 780 supply chain professionals across 50 countries, also revealed that a big majority (64 percent) of respondents see a global recession in 2020, while only 12 percent believe that a recession is an unlikely event this year. Click here for the full story .

Most GCC currencies are pegged to the US dollar Global oil demand is declining; energy efficiency is rising; carbon tax is on the horizon, technology has boosted oil production; the world is entering the age of oil abundance, as a result, the oil-rich Arabian Gulf region is facing the depletion of financial wealth in 15 years. Let’s connect the dots with the help of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) research paper titled, “The Future of Oil and Fiscal Sustainability in the GCC Region”, released on February 6, 2020. Six oil-rich countries - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates – that are a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are also responsible for the one-fifth (20%) of the global oil production. The global oil market is undergoing a huge fundamental change as new technologies are increasing the supply of oil from old and new sources while raising concerns over the environment are seeing the world gradually moving away from oil, s...