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Sadanand Dhume points out the change in women's fertility rate that will add one more factor to improvement in the quality of life and access to resources in India. This comes as development projects, infrastructure, logistics, is being built in the north at a pace unprecedented in history. Women's fertility rate has dropped below the replacement rate of 2.1 in India. Because of the youthful population with median age of 28 in India population will peak at 1.6 billion in 2050 making India the largest country by population in the world- with one in 6 people on the planet in India. From a fertility rate of 6 in 1960 in India, with each woman having 6 babies, it is down to 3 by 2005 and 2 in 2021. This shows the effect of sustained development over time, which is also evident in agricultural production where India is now self sufficient in food. For many years the Hindi speaking heartland suffered from poor governance and mismanagement of the economy- the region that covers Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh has a population of 250 million, Bihar 131 million and Madhya Pradesh 86 million, for a total of 467 million about the size of North America or the European Union. It is this region that is now pushing a development agenda today more than any other region in India with the joint effort of both the federal and state, local, governments in a way that is unprecedented in Indian history. Because of the Gati Shakti Master Plan, Atman Nirbhar Make in India Plan, and push for local is vocal, the infrastructure efforts in building roads, highways, airports and logistics, the advances in digitization and use of new technologies, there is an added boost with new synergies in this development effort. A new airport and logistics setup at Noida in Uttar Pradesh will be the largest in Asia, a new Ganga Expressway is planned, and many development projects are being launched in Varanasi, Prayagraj and other cities in UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh. Leaders at the federal level Mr. Modi, Mr. Piyush Goyal, and at the state level Mr. Adityanath, are pushing the development projects at a pace that will make these areas the fastest developing in India, and quite possibly the world, in a the next 3-5 years. ...

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The emergence of the Greens Party in Germany as a party that could govern at the federal level. In Baden-Wurttemburg, a western state with many large companies, the Greens emphasized foresight and pragmatism to win the election. Analysis by ARD broadcster suggests 145,000 voters from CDU migrated to the Greens after corruption scandals led to resignation of CDU members in the Bundestag. One of the problems The Greens face is the relative youth of leaders at the federal level. Robert Habeck is 51 years and Annalena Baerbock is 40 years.  For Angela Merkel who retires in the autumn, and the CDU with its new leader Armin Laschet, the results are a bit of a shock. The CDU gained about 24 to 28% of the vote in 2 state elections. The SPD socialist party was at about 16%. So that the 2 parties that governed Germany since 1950 are combined now at about 40%-42% of the vote.  New coalitions will be formed in the future that include The Greens as a major political party. SDP's Scolz clearly welcomed this idea saying that it is now possible to form a government without the CDU. For Germany the coronavirus years 2020-2021 mark the beginning of a new period that may no longer include the CDU or Merkel in government. Popular fatigue with the Christian Democrats and search for new alternatives for Germany now make a new Greens led coalition a distinct possibility. ...

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Most people would not guess or recognize that this place where elderly people in society were treated shabbily is a country in northern Europe, and a country where citizens pay high taxes for precisely better healthcare across different age groups. Sweden is where about half of the 6000 people dead from coronavirus were elderly people.  Over the last two decades Sweden has cut hospital capacity and discouraged elderly people from entering hospitals during the early period of the pandemic, says this report in the NYT. The for profit nursing homes in the centre of Stockholm were unable to cope. Having turned the work in these homes to low wage workers, it put these workers and the elderly at risk with lack of staff, lack of adequate PPE oreven  basic masks, says this report in NYT.  One of the lessons of this pandemic is the failure not just in turning over manufacturing of health care equipment and pharmaceuticals to China, but also turning over the basic care of elderly to for profit institutions that were totally unprepared and could not give elderly the dignity and care they deserve. Year of cuts to public services and health services now showed in a glaring way what can happen when this is done. It has lessons for countries from Europe to North America, and to Latin America, India and other Asian countries as they redesign policy and allocate resources to public services in the next 10-20 years. ...

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U.S. president Trump set up a separate task force called the Great American Revival Industry Groups. He read each of the names out loud during his press conference on Monday, a list of about 200 industry leaders from all the main industry groups, many of whom he personally knows. The first meeting of this group met in a hour long call with about 35 participants.  Most of the leaders praised the strong action taken by the president. On the task of reopening the economy the participants told president Trump that current testing levels were inadequate for effectively reopening the economy.  This is the first of four calls the president plans to make and included leaders from banking, retail, hospitality,  and food industries. The tasks facing the task force are to provide advice on how to reopen the economy and how to respond to the economic damage.  The U.S. president decided to set up this task force after talking to his friends in the business world so that he could get the broadest possible range of advice and thinking. Dr. Fauci, the leading helth expert on the president's team along with Dr. Birx, said on April 14 that reopening would require testing and virus tracking that was efficient and reliable and that the U.S. was not there yet. U.S. has conducted about 3 million tests. Health experts say there should be millions of tests per day before people can return to work. ...

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Britain's prime minister Johnson has gained approval for 16 billion military buildup for naval and other buildup for the next 4 years. It was apparent for some time during the administrations from Blair through the financial crisis driven by banks under Cameron, that Britain had lost its resolve to have a strong military capability. This was evident in its handling of Hong Kong, from the transfer to its weak response to the situation in Hong Kong as participatory democracy failed in Hong Kong. During the period after the second world war Britain failed to bring participatory democracy in Hong Kong under its rule. Labour and Conservative administrations made no effort even as participatory democracy was brought to large parts of Asia and Africa through independence, following democratic elected legislatures in the period between two wars in India and Ceylon. No such effort was made in Hong Kong leading to questions about its own commitment to the principles when China introduced its own government in Hong Kong by changing legal structures.  Britain lacked the military capability and its partnership with France and the U.S. was also weaker because of other distractions from middle east conflicts and internal problems. This is now changing with the military capability buildup for the next 4 years. This is happening as France under Macron takes a new posture in its battle to defend the ideals of its Republic, and rebuild its manufacturing capabilities. ...

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Polls before the election show the SPD Social Demcorats, Greens and the Die Linke combined have a small majority of votes in German elections. Die Linke is the left party from the days of the party that ruled the GDR German Democratic Republic or East Germany under communist rule. In Berlin, Bremen, and the east German state of Thuringia the Social Democrats SPD, Greens and De Linke have formed coalition governments. With the emergence of right wing AfD in East Germany, the De Linke has emerged as an alternative to the established parties and the AfD in eastern Germany. Federal governments are difficult to form with the De Linke because of historical opposition to NATO. This may change as two younger leaders are now leading the party and in other policies there is similarity between the democratic socialist views of De Linke, SPD and the environmental policies of the Greens. FDP policy has generally not favored policies that favor working class, infrastructure investment, childcare and other issues important to voters in this election. This leaves the De Linke as a more likely alternative for a Greens SPD coalition partner if it can change to be flexible about its views on NATO. Today policies of president Biden in the US are also friendly to workers and families. This makes such a coalition possible if the socialist parties of the De Linke change to get things done instead of staying on the fringes of government. ...

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The former Chief Election Commissioner of India, Mr. S.Y Quraishi, looks at the 2019 Nigerian elections. Nigeria has about 47% of the population of West Africa. Muslims and Christians are almost equal in numbers and there are 300 ethnic groups. About 82.3 million voters were registered to vote. Quraishi sees the 41% registered voters to be disproportionate to the total population. In India about 62% of the total population is registered to vote. The Independent National Election Commission (INEC) chairman, Mr. Mahmood Yakubu, says security, fake news, hate  speech, and expenditure control are the top issues. Postponement, delays and chaos at polling stations contributed to a historic low turnout, 35.6% compared to 44% in 2015. Police presence was discreet and needed for the elections. A coalition of 70 civic organizations monitored the elections and contributed to its credibility. In Lagos there were 1.1 million valid votes. India has strong interest in Nigeria's democracy. Over 135 Indian companies have operations in Nigeria, including  State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, Tata, Bajaj, Birla, Kirloskar, Mahindra. The election commissions of the two countries have met yet there is need for more engagement. About 50,000 Indians live in Nigeria. By continuing the process established by the two earlier elections including a peaceful transition from Mr. Goodfellow to Mr. Buhari, Nigeria is strengthening the democratic process. In continuing the fight against corruption, building infrastructure, the difficult process of modernization and development is taking place even with difficult economic conditions. ...

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The local elections in Britain in 2019 show voter dissatisfaction with the mainparties. Both Conservatives and he Labour party each took 28% share of the vote. The big winners were the centrist Liberal Democrats with 19% of the vote. The Greens party also was a winner in the vote. About 8400 seats were up for election in this vote. Conservative party lost 1300 seats. The Labour Party disappointed because it was expected to win more seats as Conservatives did well in the last election in 2015, by winning 81 seats. The Liberal Dems and the Greens won 850 seats between them.  The stridently pro-Brexit Nigel Farage Independence Party did not put up candidates and a anti-Brexit party called ChangeUK also did not have candidates. Both will field candidates in the European elections causing the main parties to lose even more of their support that has dropped to 28%. This means Labour party leaders Corbyn and McDonnell might continue negotiations with Theresa May on Brexit plan. But as Rachel Sylvester reports in The Times today with May lacking support from her Conservative Party, her tenure as prime minister uncertain, there is little incentive for Labour leaders to go against the wishes of a majority of Labour MP's, voters, and members who are against Brexit. Corbyn also want to focus coming elections on austerity not Brexit. So this is not on Labour's agenda. Sylvester says a confirmatory referendum is looking like the only way out of the mess.    ...

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What is not thought possible, water poverty in America in 2020, in this Guardian report, as millions of ordinary Americans face increasing bills for running water in their homes. More than 4% of household income for water bills annually is considered unaffordable and more than 6% for energy. This is more important today as coronavirus makes running water essential for fighting the pandemic. The source of the problem is aging infrastructure, environmental cleanups, changing demographics, climate emergency. Cities include New Orleans, Santa Fe, Cleveland, Fresno, Tucson and Austin where low income residents face rising costs and water shutoff or even lead to homelessness from unpaid bills. It also is a problem in places such as San Diego and Seattle, with 13% of low income people in Seattle struggling to afford water. Federal funding peaked in 1977 and has fallen since leaving local utilities to raise the money for infrastructure and upgrades for chemical contaminants, and other climate issues. About 90% of these local utilities are really municipally owned at the city level and a few large companies. At least $35 billion is needed for water upgrades for infrastructure and quality each year for 20 years- $700 billion. WIth these kinds of needs America has no room for foreign wars in remote places, and no room for offshoring its vital industries that removes the tax base for cities and states and the federal government affecting not just jobs and livelihoods but the very basic infrastructure itself.  ...

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WSJ looks at how businesses are coping and how the government and the financial institutions are trying to make handling the stress of coronavirus easier and recovery easier. Bedrock is one of the financial firms that is forgiving rent for small bookshops, retailers, restaurants, gyms and other stores in Detroit, Michigan. Bedrock owns 50% of the leasable commercial real estate space in Detroit's 1.4 square mile downtown business district. In all it covers about 40% of downtown Detroit and retail. A similar program is underway in Seattle with help from Amazon. This story shows how Mr. Cullen who is Bedrock's CEO is doing this. He reports to Mr. Gilbert, a billionaire, who is also owner of Quicken Loans lender, Cleveland Cavaliers sports team. Mr. Gilbert is recovering from a severe stroke he had this year. This makes the job harder for Cullen as he has to seek approval from Mr. Gilbert and show this is something that will also benefit Mr. Gilbert. This will make recovery in Detroit easier. He says Detroit suffered badly in the 2008 economic crisis, and he does not want to see this happen again. Fortunately Mr. Gilbert, who is in therapy, has approved the action of Mr. Cullen. Cullen has to show that out of work local people in Detroit and empty storefronts hurts Mr. Gilbert as well as Detroit. So both come out winners from forgiveness for rent for a couple of months.   ...

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Before the first lockdown in March 2020 for the pandemic prime minister Modi stated in his nationwide address that the choice was to take action now or for India to go back 21 years. Following the lockdowns and as India prepares for the largest vaccination program in the world for 1.3 billion people, the Indian economy is on the road to recovery. Here Mr. Rajnath Singh, a senior minister in the administration says the Indian economy will return to pre-covid levels by the end of this fiscal year, in a sharp reversal from previous forecasts.

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The NYT gives a graphic visual that shows what is in the biggest climate bill in history. The bill reduces health care cost, changes taxation of corporations paying little or no tax, and invests in renewable energy. It also reduces the deficit by $300 billion. Common sense approaches such as Medicare negotiating with pharmaceutical companies for medicines it buys for the public are also put into law - an egregious fault of the way politics was distorting fairness in America is corrected, saving taxpayers about $100 billion that is then invested in tackling climate change and assisting clean manufacturing of renewable energy.

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"Today's era is not an era of war, and I have spoken to you on the phone about this." Modi tells Putin at a meeting this week with the Russian leader. And Putin's reply "I know your position on the conflict in Ukraine and the concerns that you constantly express. We will do our best to stop this as soon as possible. Only unfortunately the opposing side, the leadership of Ukraine, announced that it wants to achieve its goals by military means  as they say "on the battlefield."

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The WSJ gives this report as the Georgia Case Explained with a day by day account of what happened and who was involved in the crucial days of November and December before January 6. Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General William Barr held firm that the fraud claims were wrong. Barr first rejected them on December 1, 2020 in a meeting with Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump calls Georgia Secretary of State asking for 11,780 more votes, one more than the votes gained by Biden to win Georgia in the account of events that took place that have been reported.

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Children's aid UNICEF shows a photograph of a young girl on top of a garbage heap taken by Arez Ghaderi, as the photograph of the year for 2016. It was taken in Iran at the border with Afghanistan, for Balochi tribe, with a bullet riddled school in the background. The second prize went for a picture of faces of children at a Greek refugee camp as they wait for a a film showing at a makeshift cinema. In both pictures the children seem happy and smiling, the opposite of the picture around them.

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Merkel say to Gemany in a weekly video message that "the danger posed by coronavirus remains serious. "Take it seriously because the situation is serious." It requires everyone to act responsibly. "By following the rules for social distancing, hand hygiene, facial coverings, every one of us contributes to our shared destiny, " she said. It is a message that should resonate in the U.S. India, Brazil and other countries hit hard by the virus. Germany's cases are approaching 200,000 with fresh outbreaks in some areas. Reopening everywhere creates new risks, vigilance is essential.

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With gasoline prices at $4.66 a gallon, $1.45 higher than the national average California governor Newsom is accepting a change to slow the transition to alternative fuels. Many refineries in California are planning to close. Relations between Chevron and the state government are improving but there is a long way to go to make a smoother transition to giving price relief to the public with the declining production in the state over two decades. In 1990 California oil production was at about 900,000 barrels a days by 2000 this had dropped to 700,000. By 2025 about 300,000 barrels a day.

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Football Interview: Eder Sarabia and Setien -Elche Football Club in Communidad Valenciana, a small club, eighth in La Liga, with a Bilbao born coach. A story of resilience, being honest and a good person, playing football the right way. Eder calls it "jatorra," from a Basque word. His career ended at age 24, following his mother's advice he studied engineering. He developed another career by coaching youngsters in Basque country feeder clubs. Followed Setien to Las Palmas, Real Betis, and to Barcelona for a year, and was made coach at Elche in Communidad Valenciana.

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The astonishing and strange case of wellness and productivity being linked to nicotine pouches for tech workers. It reflects on the condition of the so called "Tech" industry of today. Scientific and technological change was the basis of advanced economies since the 19th century, today's so called "Tech" has misappropriated the name for things like social media in the last 2 decades of American decline which have nothing to do with scientific advancement, and are piggybacking on existing technologies for products that actually harm education, mental health and building healthy societies.

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Ashes Test at MCG 2025 Day One shocker -20 wickets fall on this cricket pitch in Melbourne, Australia. England bowl out Australia for 152 then get bowled out themselves for 110- in just 1 day. Before the coin was tossed there was dismay at England's performance. Now there are questions about how many of the 94,000 fans at the MCG cricket grounds will stay for the rest of the match. The series is settled. Not since 1901 have so many wickets fallen on 1 day in the Ashes at the MCG cricket grounds.

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S&P drops France's credit rating one notch from its AAA credit rating on Jan. 13, 2011. Italy, Spain and Portugal were also downgraded.

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The in-house manufacturing approach has benefitted Lenovo. This was especially evident during the flooding in Thailand when PC manufacturers were faced with a shortage of hard drives. Because Lenovo assembles its own computers unlike competitors Dell and H-P, it was able to move quickly to focus on products for which hard drives were available and emphasize high profit margin products. The additional flexibility and speed helped Lenovo increase market share from 13.7% to above 14% in the 4th quarter of 2011, and ship 13 million computers. H-P experienced a market share decline to 16% in the 4th quarter 2012 from 18% the prior quarter. Profit for Lenovo after several years of losses was $473 million for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012. Lenovo co-founder Liu Chuanzhi and Mr Yang took control in 2009 and refocussed the company on China and emerging markets leading to increasing sales. Mr. Yang has been with the company since 1988, when it was not called Lenovo. He became CEO in 2001 and recently he has taken the post of CEO and chairman. Yang's four year plan in 2009 was focussed on increasing its network of resellers in China to the point that even in rural areas customers could reach a Lenovo store with customer service. At meetings in 2009 the decision was taken to increase in-house manufacturing to 50% from 30%. Lenovo hoped to gain an advantage with its own manufacturing capabilities in working closely with suppliers to come up with differentiation in key components such as display screens, battery and storage, and improve existing products for a market edge. Lenovo is also promoting its brand with increased advertising to promote customer acceptance of the brand....

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Most of the reporting on Ukraine follows the war. Questions are asked how will this conflict end? This report in Der Spiegel is one of the rare reports that looks at the Ukrainian economy with images and reporting from the ground that answer that question. If the Ukrainian economy is surviving in 2023 then Ukraine will continue long after a peace settlement is reached. It shows for instance that supermarket shelves are well stocked. It shows energy from half a million generators keeps the lights on and companies working in Ukraine. The steel industry is mostly destroyed yet the software industry continues to grow. Unemployment is 30% even after hundreds of thousands of younger Ukrainians are at the war front. Of about $62 billion promised by US and European countries about $31 billion has actually been transferred to Ukraine. The IMF has created an exception for aid to Ukraine with offices in Kviv and Brussels. All defense needs are covered from the Ukraine budget. Before the invasion in Feb 2021 defense took up 9% of the budget, now it takes up 42% of the budget. Another 16% for public security. For social benefits 16%, and another 26% for other expenditures. By having an economy that is functioning and life even in light from generators and solar energy, with supermarkets well stocked and providing office space for workers, with aid mechanisms working. Ukraine has already emerged as part of Europe, tried, tested and come through adversity of the worst sort. It is supposed to join the European Union, yet Der Spiegel says it is already tightly integrated into the EU. Its power grid was integrated with the EU power grid before the war, and nuclear power was sent to the EU from Ukraine before Russian attacks on the nuclear plant. Then transmission lines brought energy to Ukraine from the EU. The EU takes in 80% of Ukraine agricultural exports compared to 20% before the war. Even at the risk of lower prices and hurting farmers in Poland, the Polish government has allowed large imports of agricultural products into Poland. The close links with countries of the EU that share a border with Russia have increased. The problems now are that Ukraine after this war will have severe shortage of manpower. Already with the fall of the Soviet Union Ukraine lost about 8 million people and population was 44 million before the war. About 8 million people moved to Ukraine in the one year following Russian invasion. Of this 1.5 million stayed in Poland, the rest went on to other countries in the EU or returned. The countries such as Germany, Finland, Czech Republic have labor shortages of their own and encourage refugees to stay. Rebuilding is estimated to cost $131 billion. Yet as is evident in Poland after most of the damage from the second world war in Poland it was rebuilt using modern technology. Ukraine survives, its life goes on, is the message from Der Spiegel. In this way the war's outcome is already evident. Much of it comes from the European Union having sensed that attacks made with impunity would endanger all of the European countries when made by any dominant power. This is also what Cambridge historian Brendan Simms has shown about European history for the past 500 years in History of Europe- The struggle for Supremacy 1452 to the present. No one country says Simms was able to act with impunity and pose athreat to its neighbors as all other countries in Europe rallied to prevent this. This war is no exception.   ...

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Progressive caucus in the US House of Representatives led by Pramila Jaypal, a first time Indian American Congresswoman defeats an attempt by Josh Gottheimer of the Problem Solvers caucus to separate much of the president Biden's agenda in health, education and social policy and risk it being defeated by Senators Manchin and Sinema in the US Senate. Without the efforts on child care, education and health, climate change and social services part of the Biden Workers and Families Plan much of the Biden agenda would remain unfinished and Democratic party promises not kept. This also means that Manchin a Senator from West Virginia with a population of 1.8 million and Arizona with a population of 7.2 million, both conservative leaning Democrats could sink the entire agenda of president Biden to support American families and workers for a population of 331 million people. That two states with a population of less than 3% of the American population could sink the entire agenda of president Biden shows how fragile a situation has been created within the Democratic party to support workers and families even during the pandemic following the leadership of Carter, Clinton, and Obama Ms. Jaypal, a three term Congresswoman from Seattle, Washington state, was first elected in 2016 with an endorsement from Bernie Sanders who was the Democratic Party's leading candidate for president till the late stages of the 2020 US presidential primaries. Bernie Sanders says of Jaypal- "I think she is doing an extraordinary job. And I think the Progressive Caucus is doing an extraordinary job." Sanders founded the Progressive caucus after getting elected to the Senate from Vermont 30 years ago. Even though it is hard to imagine the Democratic party being the Democratic party without bold policies in climate change, affordable housing, reducing income disparities,  investing big in childcare, education and healthcare, attempts were being made to sink the entire Democratic party and national agenda going back to Franklin Roosevelt. Jaypal is described in the WSJ as diplomatic and firm, saying "I am so proud of our caucus; I have never seen our caucus so strong. And I am a very good vote counter also." Fifty members of the 100 member Progressive Caucus held firm in support of president Biden's original agenda without which the president would have little to show in keeping promises he made to the American people in the election and little to differentiate him from Mr. Trump who also supported infrastructure spending. Separating the infrastructure bill would have risked sinking Mr. Biden's plan for recovery of America from the pandemic and the devastating policies pursued by American presidents in the last two decades. Policies by previous presidents that have impoverished the country, created huge income disparities, weakened America in the world in trade and technological leadership, and wasted resources in foreign wars. There are no centrists or far left- these are just labels. When Ms Japal said "Let's just remember the Speaker (Nancy Pelosi) is a great champion of this agenda. I think she was trying to do as much as she could to get this done," she could have said it is Mr. Biden's own agenda pushed forward with conviction to help workers and families during the pandemic, and build a solid American recovery, restore American leadership in the world. Pramila Japypal is the first Indian American woman in the US Congress, and one of only two dozen naturalized American citizens in the US Congress. That she could play such a critical role for good in the US Congress shows that with the right convictions, determination, experience, much can be done for the common good in America and the world.   ...