Salman Rushdie’s Victory City

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Victory City is an epic chronicle of the rise and fall of Vijayanagar (the capital city of the historic southern Indian Vijayanagara empire), which acquires the name “Bisnaga” through ill-fated attempts at pronunciation by a Portuguese traveler. The story unfolds as a fictional retelling of Bisnaga’s history, premised on the archaeological discovery of the Jayaparajaya, […]Continue Reading

RMB-based trade hasn’t worked out for Moscow

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Although China and Russia have in recent months encouraged companies to settle their trade in the two countries’ currencies to try to end “dollar hegemony,” Moscow has so far avoided keeping the yuan because they are a drag on the market. In a recently-published research report the Bank of Russia, the country’s central bank, explains […]Continue Reading

US-China naval rivalry goes far beyond war ‘games’

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As part of a joint military exercise with the Philippines, the US Navy is slated to sink a mock warship on April 26, 2023, in the South China Sea. The live-fire drill is not a response to increased tensions with China over Taiwan, both the US and the Philippines have stressed. But, either way, Beijing […]Continue Reading

Indonesia’s R&D growing pains

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At the end of January 2023, the Indonesian parliamentary standing committee that oversees energy, research and industry policy called for the president to remove the head of Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Laksana Tri Handoko. This highlights the ongoing challenges faced by the young organization since its inception in 2019. In its short history, […]Continue Reading