Bye 2018 - Hello 2019

The year 2018 began with fear of nuclear war as USA and North Korean presidents claimed they had the nuclear launch buttons on their table. The WW III question was, whose button was bigger and more powerful than the other's.

But, by the grace of God, prudence prevailed and by the middle of the year both presidents were seen shaking hands, rather than pressing buttons.

However, one earth one family dance has gone horribly out of sync.  Nations and people have forgotten Pink Floyd's number and have started to build walls around them once again. Globalisation of trade and economics are victims of left-right politics. Erased trade barriers are seen being re-built by the governments.

What has not changed is advent of technology. The www  is growing without boundaries. Be it alibaba, amazon or flipKart, all are seeing growing consumer base in multifolds. On the otherhand, robotization of processes is at acme. Driven by economy of scale, mammoth is achieving extended dimensions.  The motto stands; Citius, Altius, Fortius.

This year, we saw a huge swing in Oil Futures briefly as a scary reminder of how vulnerable we are to energy crunch.

Nature kept reminding us that we were on an overdrive in our usage of resources. Consumerism is OK but not at the cost of the basic necessities like fresh air and water. The environment needs attention. The year 2019 is the penultimate year before IMO fuel regulation kicks-in in 2020. Chaos as usual will herald opportunity.

Wish you all a happy new year, 2019!!