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Southern Indian state of Madras in 1952 and the administration of Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) in 1952 following elections. Madras state at the time consisted of most of what is now southern India, as the Madras Presidency of the British Empire. The first governor general of India Rajaji was brought in to run the state after the Nehru Congress party failed to win an outright majority and the Communist Party and opposition made major gains. Rajaji's administration led to the successful administration of Congress leader Kamaraj still known for its school lunch programs and advancement of education and healthcare in Tamilnadu. Today Tamilnadu faces anew challenge as the upset win by the TVK party under Vijay seeks to take the state in a new direction after mismanagement of the economy  and lack of state-federal coordination under the previous administration of the DMK party. The messy period in India from the 1950's is similar to the messy period in China in the 1950's to the 1970's with the upheavals under Mao. Still China found its way by 1990 as India does today with a commitment to rapid industrialization and modernization,  federal-state coordination on industrial and infrastructure projects at scale and speed. ...

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This Washington Post Editorial Board Opinion asks Europe to get serious about its energy needs and finding alternate supplies than Hormuz, that the US president DJT is sending the right message "Go get your own oil." And this is true also for China, Japan, South Korea and India. What there is no need for is the posturing of these countries when it is China and Japan that are dependent on Hormuz strait and that region for 90% of their imports, not the US which is zero dependent and self sufficient. Germany has shown the way with only 6% of its imports from that region, Italy and Britain have not acted to find other alternate supplies. 

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Iraq as two states in one now dragged into Iran War by Iran sponsored Popular Mobilization Forces that are part of the two state government. It points to a never ending conflict in this region, even after Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. Finding alternative sources of oil and accelerating renewable energy are ways to stay away from the Middle East, easier to accomplish through innovation and rapid progress than sourcing oil from the region.  Irreconciliable differences between religious sects complicated further by the artificial countries created of Syria and Iraq created by the British and French Empires from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire by 1921 are enough reason to stay out of the Middle East conflicts for the US, Russia, India, China, the European Union.  The British and French colonial powers that drew up the map of Iraq and Syria created states with different populations that made no difference to them in 1921, but which create unmanageable and impossible to run states today. This is learning from the bitter experience of 50 years of conflict and wars that led through war distraction to deindustrialization of the US and European Union, and consequently to the tariff wars with China, a process that is still unwinding today. The US is better off developing new oil supplies as it considers another push in renewable energy, the EU, China and India have the resources to make a new push for renewable energy and efficient use of energy similar to Germany and Japan, using additional supplies from the US as a transition point. Imagine combining the energy technological innovation that is a bigger motivation combining the scientific minds and resources of China, Japan, India, the US and Europe, than the dislocation and internal strife inside these countries that is generated from the Middle East -that is itself the legacy of irrational decisions made by colonial powers of the 1920's,  1930's and 1940's that remain a hundred years later- impossible to resolve except by working with new solutions for energy outside of the region. ...

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A video tour of Zhonghanhai Compound of China's leaders and DJT on the tour as guest of president Xi. See the ancient trees including two cypress trees with their trunks growing together called 'Lianli Bai.'

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US strikes on Kharg Island as deadline nears on April 7 2026, on military targets on Kharg. A two week ceasefire is arranged with Pakistan (and China's indirect) mediation. DJT to meet Xi in Beijing May 14-16 could lead to an extension of that ceasefire and oil prices gradually coming down.

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US calls on other nations that depend the most on oil out of the Straits of Hormuz such as China and other nations to guard the Hormuz Straits, as the US considers winding down the war.

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12% for Americas 20% for the world and 46% for China- amount of oil imports coming through Straits of Hormuz. US is self sufficent in oil supplies. China gets 5 million barrels a day through the Straits of Hormuz out of about 16 million barrels a day it uses, about 30% of its total oil needs. Insurers are withdrawing from the market. How will this affect oil supplies and prices? US has offered its financial institutions to offer insurance to all ships going through the Straits of Hormuz and provide assurance with defense escorts for tanker ships navigating the Straits of Hormuz. US will be targeting Iran's capabilities to keep the Straits of Hormuz open so that oil tankers can operate bringing oil from UAE and Qatar to Asia and Europe.

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World War II with Tom Hanks review- good for new generation of young people who have not seen Saving Private Ryan or documentaries made in ,the 70's. There are too many talking heads and not like in the 70's when survivors could give live accounts of what they saw, as they are dead by now. There is good new video footage.  Yet the war is of epic proportions on so many fronts, 20 episodes barely touch the major events of WWII, not to mention the events in Asia and Japan, the events in North Africa and Italy. Each of these areas has separate books in the work of Rick Atkinson who worked on it for a decade. Atkinson is interviewed by Rubinstein on C-SPAN showing that there is new interest in what happened in World War II. For the Asian side of the story the story does not start in 1939, the Japanese invasion and occupation of China is shown from the days after 1914 through the story of Gen. Joe Stilwell who is the American who for half a century to 1945 was America's main representative in China, and Franklin Roosevelt's and America's commanding general in China in the fight against the Imperial Japanese Army. The empathy of Stilwell for the Chinese people and his willingness to risk his life to help is simply amazing- and is something to take away from this book by Barbara Tuchman. There is a lot that America can be proud of in creating a rising tide in Asia that has lifted all boats. ...

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Putin visit to Beijing follows DJT visit by 2 weeks May 2026. China must carefully assess its interests in a trade relationship with the US and the EU, vs good relations with Russia and access to oil and gas supplies.

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Japan's efforts to rebuild Myanmar's economy and infrastructure after decades of stagnation under a military regime.

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Supply chains are unraveling in many industries with the tariffs imposed by president Trump on imports from China, and renegotiated trade deals with South Korea and other countries. The growth in the value of foreign value added was possible with cuts in tariffs in the period after 1990 and the emergence of China as a low cost manufacturer with cheap labor. Foreign value added increased from 20% in 1990 to 30% in 2011. The impact on factory towns and communities in the U.S. of trade in which the U.S. manufacturing declined as it shifted to China resulted in the surge in support for president Trump. The tariffs war with China is an effort to correct this imbalance. The result is a shift in supply chains away from China in some industries and gradual shift in others. Rising wages in China had already resulted in early shifts and the the environmental costs adding to this trend. President Trump temporarily suspended a threatened imposition of duties of 25% on $325 billion of Chinese imports. A renegotiated Nafta agreement with Mexico for automobile production and determination of U.S. based content and wages was designed to reset the relationship with Mexico and the auto supply chain for production in Mexico. A threat of tariffs on European auto imports to the U.S. is set for a decision in November. The trade dispute between Japan and South Korea and threat of tariffs also shows the effect this is having in other countries. With the U.S. looking at its own interest in the global supply chain and its advantage or disadvantage, industries and companies are not free to make decisions based on which country offers the best arrangement and deal for manufacturing. Notions of competitive advantage in the tech race with China are affecting the way the U.S. and European nations are acting. ...

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Big changes are expected in energy markets after 2026 following the end of the war with Iran, the naval blockade and the Hormuz straits closure. Even when the Shipping returns to Hormuz there will be continued uncertainty and prospect of conflict. As a result China, India, Japan and the US and EU will look for new sources of supply in Latin America for oil and gas including in Guyana, Brazil, Argentina, and in Venezuela. This NYT Analysis  confirms the shift to renewables will accelerate after 2026 with 2-3 years return on investment for renewables, and in 2026 wind+solar+nuclear now generating more electricity worldwide than gas. OPEC stranglehold on oil prices is weakening with UAE's exit from OPEC, and the US+ Venezuela+UAE expanding production. This will benefit poorer countries in the world in Asia, Africa and Latin America, Middle Income countries like China and India, as well as US and EU through lower prices for the new overall energy mix, with a higher component of renewables from every year 2027-2030. Lower priced component for oil possibly at $50 a barrel holding steady to 2030. From this perspective Hormuz's importance will decline over this period to the point that the world's wealth sucked up for far too long in the Middle East through the twin mechanisms of  high oil prices and decades of wars will be shifted back to infrastructure in the EU, US, India and China, Brazil and Indonesia. For the poor countries like Pakistan, India, Indonesia, China and others this is a big deal because instead of the wealth going to princes in the Persian Gulf  it will benefit people in Egypt, Arab countries such as Morocco and Tunisia,Turkey, Pakistan and India, China. Long delayed infrastructure rebuilding in US and European Union can now take place.The shift and trend to renewable energy as a major component of the energy mix of over 50%-60% in India could be expected by 2030 and have a major impact on climate change. (India has already crossed 50% of its energy from renewable sources). China will have installed half of the new renewable energy capacity added by 2030 and this too will add to the fight against climate change. Overall this combination of events and changes underway are overwhelmingly constructive and are not anticipated in this way by most of the world's media including the NY, which see slower growth when the opposite is now the case with accelerating and steady growth expected 2027-2030, and 2030-2035. For the US and EU it could not come at a more opportune time with the determination to invest at home and reindustrialize, build new infrastructure, for India to build a modern country by 2040, and for China or Japan not to get stuck in middle income status with continued modernization to 2040. For the poorest countries to work with these major nations to improve standards of living. For the US it also means the end of the border migrations flows that happened in 2025 taken to the next stage in 2026 and 2027 ending all drug flows across its borders with Mexico- as more lives are lost to fentanyl and other illegal drugs substances (1.25 million since 1999) than were lost in the Korean War (36,000 deaths), Vietnam  War (58,000 deaths) and World War 1 (116,000 deaths) World War II (418,000) all 4 wars combined. Issues of unfair trade deindustrialized the US. This coupled with drugs destroyed small towns and communities (that were based on manufacturing and lost factories) across the US for over 3 decades. The tackling of these issues will also add to the general sense of well being of the people in the US- and also in the European Union. The modernization underway in China and India+Indonesia+Brazil is also part of these changes, promise a rising tide that will lift all boats if we continue together to carefully select the right path ahead and chart the course clear eyed and clear on purpose. ...

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 President DJT has several options after SC Tariffs decision -Sections 122 Trade Act of 1972 has 150 day limit and 15% maximum tariff rate, and Sections 232 and 301 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 is specifically designed for China and countries with high trade deficits. DJT pointed out at the press conference following the Supreme Court decision pointed out that he had these options at the beginning in April for tariffs. He chose IEEPA instead because the other options required work that would take several months showing the unfair treatment of the US by other nations. It is likely that the president used IEEPA for speed yet kept open the options to replace it with the option that would work best. The new studies will have been started much earlier in 2025 so that the president can introduce all his tariffs under new arrangements. Another aspect of this is that the president has negotiated Free Trade Agreements with most of the nations that are large trade partners from India, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan to UK, EU, Germany, France with the idea of boosting the US economy with tariffs of 10-15%. ...

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China's breakneck growth was enabled by housing construction, and coal in a way that created problems of climate change. Now China's largest housing developers Evergrande and Country Garden together have a staggering $500 billion in debt and in serious financial trouble in or near default. How will China's government respond? It let Evergrande who had defaulted on debt payments build 300,000 apartments last year, just to protect home buyers. Now it's founder Mr. Xu is taken in for questioning and "illegal crimes." Making sure that the apartments on which people made deposits are built would cost another $72 billion, says Nomura. Yet suppliers, painters, builders and brokers are owed another $390 billion, in one estimate. And foreign creditors are getting together for complicated restructurings. Evergrande had entered wealth management promising 8 or 9% returns and has stopped making payments. All this is affecting public confidence in the future and China's growth story. For decades China depended on housing construction for high growth rates. Now the process is unwinding with both in financial difficulties. This NYT report says that after Evergrande's default, Country Garden failed to make a payment on $200 billion in debt last week and has 400,000 apartments that it sold but has not finished building. ...