In February 2022, Russia attacked Ukraine&#39;s capital, Kyiv, from the north in an attempt to overthrow President Volodymyr Zelensky&#39;s government. In the months following, artillery bombardment and street fighting continued, with Russia seizing multiple cities.

Russia Invades Ukraine

After a slew of scandals in his term spanning three years, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned from office in July. Johnson was succeeded by Liz Truss, who took over the office in September. 
 
But after 45 days in the office, she resigned, becoming the shortest-serving PM in UK history. Her budgetary plans, at the centre of which were tax cut plans, had crashed the markets, making her lose the confidence of almost all her own MPs. 
 
In the days that followed, Rishi Sunak took over as Britain&#39;s 57th prime minister and vowed to fix the mistakes made by his predecessor, Liz Truss.

UK's political crisis

In April, protests began in the nation following a sharp rise in food and fuel costs. Thousands demanded the resignation of now-ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The people faced long power cuts daily and shortages of basics, including fuel and food. Sri Lanka&#39;s doctors said they were nearly out of life-saving medicines. 
 
Rajapaksa&#39;s government was being blamed for the chronic mismanagement of the country&#39;s finances. In July, protestors stormed Rajapaksa&#39;s home, pushing him to flee the nation before resigning from office.

Sri Lanka economic crisis

In September, 22-year-old Iranian girl Mahsa Amini died after being detained for allegedly violating Iran&#39;s laws requiring women to wear a headscarf. Authorities said she died of illness, but her family claimed she fell into a coma after being mistreated by the police. Sources said the police beat Amini with a baton and banged her head against a vehicle. At her funeral on September 17 in Saqez, women protested by ripping off their hijabs. Protests sparked by her demise have since roped in ethnic minorities and even school children. Thousands of women since then have been showing solidarity by cutting their hair and burning their hijabs in public. 
 
Now, the unrest has spread beyond a women&#39;s right to a movement that is calling for an end to theocratic rule. The protests are now the most broadly supported movement in Iran in over four decades.

Uprising mounts again in Iran

_media/bs/ado/article-speech/123060100002-1693301381922.mp3

The year 2022 is coming to an end and a lot has happened that shaped the world in the year. Let's have a look at some of these significant events

Test

Three decades ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the United States of America as a common man. 
&nbsp; 
&ldquo;At that time, I had seen the White House from outside,&rdquo; he recalled on Thursday, in surroundings a tad different from what he would have faced on the &ldquo;common man&rdquo; visit. 
 
Story of the week 
&nbsp; 
On a state visit to the US, Prime Minister Modi was hosted by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill at an intimate dinner on Wednesday at the White House. On Thursday, he received a colourful White House South Lawn arrival ceremony, including a 21-gun salute, attended by 7,000 guests. He had one-on-one talks with Mr Biden and, later, the bilateral delegation-level talks. 
&nbsp; 
On Thursday, the second day of the Prime Minister&rsquo;s visit, India and the US <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/sky-not-the-limit-for-india-us-partnership-says-pm-narendra-modi-123062300016_1.html">upgraded their strategic partnership</a> with the signing of agreements spanning mega defence deals, semiconductors, critical minerals, critical and emerging technology, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, telecommunications, and space cooperation. 
&nbsp; 
&ldquo;With this visit, Indian firms are announcing more than $2 billion in new investment in manufacturing and solar&hellip; proving that manufacturing in America is back,&rdquo; Mr Biden said. 
&nbsp; 
Mr Modi said &ldquo;even the sky is not the limit&rdquo; for India-US ties. 
&nbsp; 
Mr Biden also said the US would put <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/india-us-plan-to-send-indian-astronaut-to-iss-in-2024-president-biden-123062300021_1.html">an Indian in space</a> in 2024. 
 
A flurry of <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/economy/news/pm-s-us-visit-firms-announce-investments-in-semiconductor-jet-engine-pact-123062200976_1.html">deal announcements</a> followed. General Electric&rsquo;s aerospace arm announced a partnership with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd to make advanced fighter jet engines for the Indian Air Force. Semiconductor giants, Micron Technology and Applied Materials, announced investments totalling $1.22 billion in India. 
&nbsp; 
<a href="https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/corporate-leaders-lawmakers-among-guests-at-dinner-hosted-for-pm-modi-123062300120_1.html">Silicon Valley&rsquo;s biggest names</a> descended on Washington Thursday as Mr Biden sought to strengthen tech industry ties between the US and India at a state dinner honouring Mr Modi. 
&nbsp; 
The day before, <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/elon-musk-says-will-come-to-india-next-year-tesla-may-set-up-shop-in-india-123062100607_1.html">Elon Musk said he planned to visit India</a> next year to explore opportunities in electric mobility and the commercial space sector. Following his meeting in New York with Prime Minister Modi, the Tesla Motors CEO said the company would set up shop in India &ldquo;as soon as humanly possible&rdquo;. 
&nbsp; 
In other news&hellip; 
&nbsp; 
IndiGo, India&rsquo;s largest airline, on Monday placed an order for 500 A320 family planes with Airbus, in the <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/companies/news/largest-ever-deal-indigo-places-order-for-500-a320-family-aircraft-123061900867_1.html">world&rsquo;s largest single-tranche aircraft acquisition</a> by the number of planes, all of them narrow-bodied. The airline operates 13,039 flights a week, 13.3 per cent more than a year ago. 
&nbsp; 
Air India, which had announced its purchase of 470 planes in February &mdash; 250 with Airbus and 220 with Boeing &mdash; put the <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/companies/news/air-india-firms-up-470-aircraft-from-airbus-and-boeing-at-paris-air-show-123062000632_1.html">final seal on the $70 billion deal</a> (at list price) on Tuesday. 
&nbsp; 
At a time when the Reserve Bank of India has been underscoring the need for governance in commercial banks, six of 11 public sector banks <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/industry/banking/non-executive-chairman-post-vacant-in-six-out-of-11-public-sector-banks-123062100563_1.html">do not have a non-executive chairman</a>. Some of these posts have been vacant for more than two years. 
&nbsp; 
Seventeen parties on Friday <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/politics/17-opposition-parties-decide-to-fight-unitedly-against-bjp-in-2024-ls-polls-123062300720_1.html">resolved</a> to set their differences aside and fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections unitedly to defeat the BJP. Addressing a joint press conference, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said the leaders would meet in the next few days to give a final shape to their plan. 
&nbsp; 
Tech that: Word from the world of technology and start-ups 
&nbsp; 
In signs of <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/companies/news/edtech-giant-byju-s-trouble-deepen-deloitte-resigns-as-statutory-auditors-123062200826_1.html">deepening trouble for Byju&rsquo;s</a>, its statutory auditor, Deloitte, resigned and said the edtech major was delaying filing financial statements. Separately, three of Byju&rsquo;s&rsquo; board members reportedly resigned, though the company denied this. 
&nbsp; 
Last heard, Byju&#39;s was <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/companies/news/edtech-major-byju-s-in-talks-with-investors-who-quit-board-to-reconsider-123062300674_1.html">asking the three global investors</a> to reconsider their decision to quit its board. 
&nbsp; 
The opening up of offices is leading to a spike in attrition rates, especially in tech companies. But though more people are quitting jobs across the board, the impact has been <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/economy/news/back-to-office-isn-t-working-well-for-women-attrition-rates-show-123062300717_1.html">particularly hard on women</a>. 
&nbsp; 
Watch it: From <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/shows/the-morning-show">The Morning Show</a> 
&nbsp; 
The meeting between Mr Modi and Mr Musk rekindled the hope Tesla will be in India &ldquo;as soon as humanly possible&rdquo;. Can Tesla do a Maruti for India&rsquo;s EV ecosystem? Watch it <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/shows/the-morning-show/tms-ep461-tesla-motors-new-vs-old-iits-psu-stocks-green-diamonds-2766.htm">here</a>. 
&nbsp; 
What is Suveen obsessing over? 
&nbsp; 
Sometime in 1994, Andre Agassi was looking for a new coach. Nick Bollettieri, who had coached Mr Agassi since he was 13, had quit in not too amicable a fashion and Mr Agassi needed someone who could analyse his game and help him raise it. He and his manager met Brad Gilbert, who was nearing the end of his playing career. 
&nbsp; 
The manager asked Mr Gilbert to analyse Mr Agassi&rsquo;s game. 
&nbsp; 
&quot;You want me to be honest?&rdquo; asked Mr Gilbert. 
&nbsp; 
Please. 
&nbsp; 
&quot;Brutally honest?&rdquo; 
&nbsp; 
Don&#39;t hold back. 
&nbsp; 
Mr Gilbert took an enormous swallow of his Bud Ice and presented &ldquo;a careful, thorough, brutal-as-advertised summary of my flaws as a tennis player&rdquo;, says Mr Agassi in his memoir, Open. 
&nbsp; 
Long story short, Mr Agassi hired Mr Gilbert on the spot and, braving a dip in his game immediately afterwards, went on to have a great run at the top of men&rsquo;s tennis, rising to world number one. 
&nbsp; 
The Bites was reminded of this while admiring a <a href="https://twitter.com/sbikh/status/1670634282900144128?s=20">social post by Sanjeev Bikhchandani</a>, the entrepreneur and investor. In the post, Mr Bikhchandani recalls his convocation at IIM Ahmedabad 34 years ago. The speaker was V Krishnamurthy, the much-respected chairman of SAIL, who said all the right things. 
&nbsp; 
Mr Bikhchandani says he does not remember a word of what Mr Krishnamurthy said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think what he said made any difference to the lives of any of my classmates.&rdquo; 
&nbsp; 
He also recalled the convocation speech of the previous year, delivered by Dr Verghese Kurien, the NDDB Chairman. Dr Kurien was not polite. 
&nbsp; 
He said this was not the Indian Institute of Management, this was the Indian Institute of Management for Shampoo Salesmen, and that the entire graduating class could look forward to a life of selling soap and shampoo. That was the limit of their aspiration and ambition. He called it a colossal waste of talent. He challenged the students to do something more meaningful with their lives and try to make a difference. 
&nbsp; 
&ldquo;By the end of it our ears were burning,&rdquo; says Bikhchandani. &ldquo;But guess which speech we remembered. And some of us did do something different. The class of 1989 has produced the most number of entrepreneurs in the history of IIM-A. Sometimes warm fuzzy convocation speeches don&rsquo;t make lasting impact.&rdquo; 
&nbsp; 
This prompted the Bites to reach out to a professional friend who is on to his third career as a leadership coach. 
&nbsp; 
How important is politeness as a quality in a leader? 
&nbsp; 
The answer included many things. A leader has to inspire people to work towards defined goals, often navigate them from narrow, automated behaviours to something &quot;larger&quot; and &quot;beyond themselves&quot;. For that, the leader will benefit from competence, diligence, integrity, clarity, courage, empathy, deep listening, influence, and vision. 
&nbsp; 
&ldquo;But politeness? I am not sure. At worst, it can arouse suspicion and seem manipulative,&rdquo; said the leadership coach. 
&nbsp; 
Then he added the punchline: &ldquo;The opposite of politeness is not rude; it is straightforward.&rdquo; 
&nbsp; 
This is Suveen signing off. Please send comments, news, or views about anything &mdash; from 21-gun salutes to straightforward leaders &mdash; to <a href="mailto:suveen.sinha@bsmail.in">suveen.sinha@bsmail.in</a>. 
&nbsp; 
(Suveen Sinha is Chief Content Editor at Business Standard)

Russia war to COP27, top events that shaped the world

The year 2022 is coming to an end and a lot has happened that shaped the world in the year. Let's have a look at some of these significant events

More From This Section

India to lose 6,500 millionaires in 2023, Dubai and Singapore top choice

Why are airfares in India soaring and is there a way to beat it?

Expect RBI to start rate cuts by end of FY24: HDFC Bank chief economist

Domestic natural gas prices for May notified; no impact on end consumers

Explore News