June 2025 – Page 2 – Thought Canvas

Global Market Weekly Review: Geopolitical Tensions and Central Bank Divergence Dominate the Week Ending June 20, 2025

Finance The Week That Was / By Swapnil Bhatnagar

The week ending June 20, 2025, was characterised by a tense tug-of-war between escalating geopolitical risks in the Middle East and a widening divergence in monetary policy among the world’s major central banks. Global equity markets struggled for clear direction as investors grappled with these conflicting forces. A palpable flight to safety was evident across asset classes, with heightened volatility, a stronger U.S. dollar, and a surge in gold prices. This risk-off sentiment was primarily fueled by an intensifying conflict between Israel and Iran, which overshadowed economic data and corporate earnings for much of the week.

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The Mesmerising World of Pattern Art: A Journey Through Repetition, Rhythm, and Rhyme (Without the Words)

Art / By Swapnil Bhatnagar

Look around you. Seriously, take a moment. What do you see? Chances are, you’ll spot a pattern somewhere in your immediate field of vision. It could be the weave of the fabric on your chair, the repeating tiles on the floor, the arrangement of leaves on a plant outside, or even the pixel grid of the screen you’re reading this on. Patterns are everywhere, woven into the very fabric of our universe, from the microscopic symmetry of crystals to the grand spirals of galaxies.

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Paubha Paintings: Nepal’s Sacred Artistic Heritage

Wednesday Edition / By Swapnil Bhatnagar

Paubha: A Sacred Canvas of the Kathmandu Valley

A. Defining Paubha: More Than Just a Painting

Paubhā (Devanagari: पौभा) is a traditional form of religious painting created by the Newar people of Nepal, indigenous to the historic Kathmandu Valley. These intricate artworks typically depict deities, mandalas, or sacred monuments and are primarily intended to aid practitioners in their meditation and spiritual observances. The very name “Paubhā” is believed to be a derivative of the Sanskrit term ‘Patrabhattaraka,’ where ‘Patra’ signifies sheets or paper, and ‘Bhattaraka’ represents gods and goddesses. Together, this translates to “divine in flat form,” underscoring the profound belief that these paintings are not mere representations but are imbued with the sacred presence of the depicted divinities. This etymology offers a direct window into the core function and esteemed status of Paubha: it is conceived as a tangible manifestation of the divine on a two-dimensional plane, transforming the artwork into a holy object in its own right.

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The Great Indoors (and Nearby Outdoors): Why Staycations and Local Travel Are Having Their Moment

Lifestyle, Outdoor Living, Travel / By Swapnil Bhatnagar

For years, the allure of exotic, far-flung destinations dominated our travel fantasies. We dreamt of white-sand beaches halfway across the world, bustling metropolises on different continents, and epic journeys that required passports, long flights, and significant savings. And while that kind of global exploration will always hold a special place in our hearts (and on our Instagram feeds), there’s been a palpable shift in recent years. A quiet revolution, perhaps, bringing travel back to basics, back to our backyards, and back to the incredible places that are just a short drive, train ride, or even walk away.

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IT Industry Weekly Analysis: The AI Gauntlet, Apple’s Redesign, and Market Tremors (Week Ending June 13, 2025)

IT Weekly Review / By Mudit Bhatnagar

The technology industry experienced a week of strategic divergence and intensifying competition, defined by pivotal announcements that will shape the market for years to come. In the data centre, the long-uncontested reign of Nvidia in artificial intelligence hardware faced its most direct and credible challenge to date, as AMD threw down the gauntlet with a full-stack assault on the AI ecosystem. In the consumer space, Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference marked a calculated pivot away from the industry’s feverish AI arms race, placing a bold bet on a radical user experience redesign as its core competitive advantage. These high-stakes maneuvers unfolded against a backdrop of escalating cyber threats, where AI itself has become a new battleground, and a volatile market where geopolitical tensions are now a primary variable in corporate strategy. This report deconstructs these key events, analysing their underlying drivers and far-reaching implications for the future of the IT landscape.

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Global Markets Rocked by Geopolitical Shockwave: Weekly Review for June 13, 2025

Finance The Week That Was / By Swapnil Bhatnagar

The week ending June 13, 2025, will be etched in the memory of global investors as a stark reminder of the primacy of geopolitical risk. What began as a period of cautious optimism, carefully constructed on a foundation of encouraging inflation data from the United States and dovish central bank policy in Europe, was violently upended in the final trading session. The narrative of the week, and potentially the weeks to come, was irrevocably redefined by a single, seismic event: reports of Israeli military strikes on nuclear and military facilities within Iran.1

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