The Gifted Heir

IF ABU DHABI is the head then Dubai is the heart of the UAE. If the capital keeps a benevolent eye on the emirates and reins them in when they wander too far from the path of fiscal prudence, the UAE’s most dynamic city is where the action always is. Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum became the crown prince of Dubai in 2008. His first official visit to India in that capacity was long overdue. He is also the UAE’s deputy prime minister (his father is the vice president and prime minister) and defence minister. Behind the symbolism of his gestures lie tangible accomplishments or unambiguous intent. When he waved the UAE’s flag from the top floor of the Burj Khalifa, Dubai had just won the right to host the World Expo 2020. When he presented Prime Minister Narendra Modi a replica of his grandfather’s bisht, or ceremonial outer cloak, he was telegraphing the world where India-UAE relations stand. A multiple world-champion equestrian and a poet, Hamdan bin Mohammed is the present and future of enhanced defence cooperation between India and the UAE under the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. He is also leading his emirate and his country in strengthening bilateral trade ties, with decisions taken on human resource development, manufacturing and opening an India chapter of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce. From Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of UAE and a good friend of India, must have cheered every high-level meeting Hamdan Al Maktoum has had in Delhi. ( By Sudeep Paul)

Noisemaker: G Parameshwara
Minister of Insensitivity

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara is not the first, and regretfully may not be the last, to make an ill-advised statement on the issue of women’s safety. The tendency to dismiss or downplay matters relating to women’s safety reflects a certain callousness and a defensive mindset of people in office. The incident in question is a video of a man following two women and groping one of them in South Bengaluru’s BTM layout, an expensive real estate, going viral. Parameshwara seemed to suggest the odd incident may happen in a big city. Following criticism of his remarks, Parameshwara clarified his statement wasn’t understood. “I want to clarify that my statement was not understood properly… If any woman has been hurt, I express my regret and apologise,” he said. He will hopefully be the wiser now.

The Big Picture

Hong Kong, April 6, 2025: Irony in Chaos A billboard featuring Donald Trump advertises Bitcoin’s record high even as US tariffs were sending shockwaves through financial markets and making the world’s largest cryptocurrency crash.

Ideas
De- Extinction

A biotechnology firm, Colossal Biosciences, recently revealed that it has brought back dire wolves, an ancient species which went extinct more than 10,000 years ago. The firm’s scientists, working with ancient DNA from dire wolves, deciphered its genome, rewrote the genetic code of the common grey wolf to match those of dire wolves, and using domestic dogs as surrogate mothers, brought three dire wolves back into existence. This is a remarkable scientific moment that could transform the way we look at conservation. Not only can other extinct animals be summoned back—the firm is working on bringing back the woolly mammoth, the dodo, and the Tasmanian tiger—scientists could also use the knowledge gained while working on these species to stop endangered animals from slipping into extinction. Scientists, for instance, could employ the techniques used in bringing back mammoths to genetically engineer elephants that can better survive climate change.
Many scientists have however pointed out that while the three creatures look like dire wolves, the company hasn’t, strictly speaking, ‘de-extincted’ the species. Rather, it has produced grey wolves, a modern-day relative of dire wolves, whose genome has been edited to give it some dire-wolf-like traits. The company had edited certain genes in the grey wolf that gives characteristics of the dire wolf. Regardless, this could be a transformative moment in conservation.

Money Mantra
Wise Pickings
Long-term investors must focus on good businesses

IN A WORLD where trade policies are becoming instruments of strategy, tariff risks are not transient—they’re tectonic. Indian investors should treat the current pause not as a breather, but as an opportunity to reposition for resilience. A return to aggressive US protectionism could trigger a broader shift in global trade policy, with other countries erecting their own tariff barriers in response. The resulting uncertainty could weaken global demand, complicate trade financing, and raise compliance burdens for Indian businesses already navigating tight margins and complex logistics.

From an investment standpoint, this means it’s not just about direct tariff exposure. It’s about understanding the second and third-order effects of trade volatility, currency movements, inflation trends, and how sentiment shifts could impact earnings visibility, especially in export-heavy sectors.

Companies that demonstrate strong domestic demand anchors, localised supply chains, and diversified export markets are far better positioned to weather future trade storms. Investors should also consider whether businesses are agile enough to pivot sourcing, reprice contracts, or hedge exposure in a fast-changing trade landscape.
Also, be prepared for a new narrative that is likely to be heard on the street in the next couple of days—that, because of the tariff differential between China and India, Indian companies are now better placed. In some cases, this might be true.

But understand one simple thing: For long-term investors, tariff differential cannot be the reason for buying stocks. It has to be the quality of the product and the need which it fulfills that have to be superior as compared to its global competitor. That should be the deciding factor for buying a stock.
Tariffs today might be lifted tomorrow. But product strength is something which is long-lasting. So, at this time, if one is bullish, one should also be cautious. (By Ramesh Singh)

Viral
AI’s Courtroom Drama

A plaintiff—74-year-old Jerome Dewald—had submitted a video to the New York State Supreme Court’s First Judicial Department to support his argument in an employment dispute with an insurance firm. But when the judge got the video to play, the individual who appeared on it looked nothing like Dewald. In his place instead was a younger figure.The judges turned to each other in confusion and, in a video that has now gone viral, one of them asked, “Hold on. Is that counsel for the case?” “I generated that,” Dewald replied. “That’s not a real person.” What Dewald had done was use an AI-generated avatar to argue his case, probably the first such instance of an AI character being used in a court of law. Dewald later told reporters he had chosen to do so because he struggles with public speaking. The court however did not approve of it. It had Dewald issue a written apology, but allowed him to continue his argument in person.