BRICS Opinion

Fidel Castro was a staunch ally of nationalist, anti-colonialist and pro-independence African leaders like Nelson Mandela [Xinhua]
The 20th Century’s last great revolutionary, Cuba’s Fidel Castro, died on November 25.
And the age of revolution died with him.
Loved and respected by many, hated by some, there is no questioning that Fidel played a pivotal role in shaping the world in which we currently live.
François Hollande, president of France, called him a “towering figure of the 20th Century”. And so he was.

On November 8, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that ‘the 500 rupee and 1,000 rupee currency notes presently in use will no longer be legal tender from midnight’.
This step of demonetisation was taken ostensibly for curbing black money and counterfeit currency notes.
As per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) figures, the higher denomination notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 constitute 86.4 per cent of the total currency in circulation in the economy, by value. Therefore, with the stroke of a pen, the government nullified 86 per cent of the currency in the economy.

Modern history will record November 8, 2016 as the day when the United States of America officially decided to vote for a global retreat – from the heady rhetoric of ‘Let’s make the world a better place’ to “Let’s make America great again”.
Americans have voted for building a wall to protect what they have, against the dream of global dominance. This surely marks the end of the uni-polar world as we know it.

At the recent United Nations General Assembly in New York, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon predicted the Paris climate agreement would enter into force before 2017, announcing 60 countries had now ratified its terms. Last week, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank welcomed an influx of finance ministers and central bankers, to its annual meetings in Washington DC.

BRICS is still in the age of adolescence: it has been 15 years since the term was invented and 10 since the virtual reality became a physical reality. BRICS meeting its semi-anniversary not in the best shape. It is true that economically only India can boast more or less dynamic growth; however it is still mired in poverty with many social problems and economic regulations far from ideal. China has not overcome the basic structural problems of its economy and growth is slowing; Russia is in the midst of a prolonged economic slowdown.

After getting off to a good start in Goa, India, the 8th BRICS Summit in its final meetings today is rewriting global political and economic narratives. The gathering of five (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) of the world’s big movers and shakers of the global political economy promises to reshape the structure of international relations.

When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met for their bilateral on the sidelines of the 8th BRICS Summit in Goa two issues dominated. One was the Chinese resistance to India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
The other was China’s refusal to support UN action against terrorists living under state protection in its ally Pakistan, who were involved in the attack on the Indian Parliament in New Delhi in 2001 and the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in 2008.

Considering their enormous growth potential, the considerable size of their domestic markets and a stable political scenario, four countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – were selected by Goldman Sachs’ chief economist Jim O’Neill in the beginning of the last decade and they were collectively called BRIC.
The first summit of these countries was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia in June 2009.
South Africa (the ‘S’ in the BRIC) joined them formally at the third summit in 2011 and the ‘powerful coalition’ of BRIC bloc became BRICS.

On the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hangzhou, President Xi Jinping and President Barack Obama had, probably, their last meeting between heads of state, as the White House is going to have a new host in months. As usual, the two presidents achieved consensus on a lengthy list of bilateral and multilateral cooperation opportunities. After the meeting, the US team has even signaled a potential partnership in jointly forging a peacekeeping force of the developing countries.

The decline of the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa started in 2009 when President Jacob Zuma won the presidential elections with 65.9 per cent of the votes, compared with the two-thirds majority win by his predecessor Thabo Mbeki.
In his second term, support for the ANC declined further when Zuma won by 62.16 per cent.
Local government elections are held every five years, and generally two years after the national elections. This is a time when South Africans elect members of their district, metropolitan and municipal councils.