LyrArc Article Gist
Diesel prices are regulated and subsidized by the Indian government, but gasoline prices are deregulated since 2010, resulting in gasoline costing 64% more than diesel in India. As a result buyers are staying away from gasoline cars and shifting to diesel creating distortions in demand. The government is considering a tax on diesel cars and SUV's of between $3000 to $4600 to correct the distortion. Because lower income people woud be hurt by increasing the price of diesel it continues to be subsidized. Because of the uncertainty car manufacturers are shutting down production to reduce growing inventory of gasoline vehicles. High interest rates of 12% on car loans also reduces demand. Suzuki Maruti sales declined 6% in May 2012, Ford and GM showed sales declines of 14% and 20%. The year ending March 2012 shows Indian car sales growing only slightly by 2.2% to 2 million cars. Sales were rising at 29% only about a year ago. Gasoline costs 68 rupees a liter in New Delhi after a 11.5% increase in May 2012, compared to 41 rupees per liter for diesel. The increase in gasoline prices is a result of the government having difficulty paying the rising imports of oil, costing $141 billion for the year ending March 31, 2012. The sharp slowdown in the car industry and the problems in the energy sector have affected India's growth rate....

LyrArc Article Gist
India is taking a strong stand in talks in Bonn, Germany, for investment funding to tackle climate change and to help areas affected by climate change. Agricultural crop in India is reduced from the heat wave's impact and cities are sweltering from the heat wave. Climate change action is a priority for regions such as India. The Bonn talks are preparatory to another meeting after Glasgow summit. The next summit is in Egypt Nov. 7-18 2022.

LyrArc Article Gist
The 100th radio talk by Mr. Modi will be broadcast on Sunday April 30, 2023. Mann Ki Baat -or What is on my mind and in my heart- is all about women, upward mobility, diversity, about the development story in the everyday lives of ordinary Indians. It is also a documentary on a nation on the move, about a billion and a half people on the move, from small towns and villages to cities across the country. 

LyrArc Article Gist
China's civilian and profit oriented enterprises now work for the military and the People's Liberation Army. The spy balloon program has one individual behind it Beijing academic Wu Zhe, who is a member of the Communist party and has formed several private companies to develop balloons, with several patents on the technology, says this report in WSJ. Four of six companies blacklisted by the Commerce Department have ties to Wu Zhe says this report.

LyrArc Article Gist
Germany's Economic Affairs Ministry and Economy Minister Habeck have called for blocking of the sale of a Dortmund chip production company Elmos to Sweden based Silex, a unit of Sai Microelectronics of China, for 85 million euros. There is now significant debate within the German ministries about the degree of dependence on China. Habeck's move seeks to prohibit the acquisition of Germany technology companies by Chinese competitors on grounds of protecting public order and security.

LyrArc Article Gist
US shale oil companies are returning more cash to investors than investing in increasing oil production in 2022. As oil demand increases with an embargo on Russian oil in Europe, production by US shale oil companies in 2022 has increased only slightly. WSJ reports that 9 out of the largest 10 oil companies in the US returned $9.4 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases in the first quarter of 2022, 54% more than they invested in new oil development.

LyrArc Article Gist
Mr. Donald Trump paid little or no tax for several years, and reported negative income for four of the six years 2015-2020, says this report in WSJ. This is according to tax documents released by a House committee. The tax returns for that period shows adjusted gross income of a negative $53.2 million. The Trumps showed income tax liability of  $750 or less for three of the six years these documents showed, says the WSJ.

LyrArc Article Gist
India celebrates its 74th Republic Day with its achievements in upward mobility, respecting diversity, inclusiveness for women, and promotion of millets, drug free India goals, renewable energy, all on display. It also showed the achievements in saving funds for investment in essential infrastructure by developing its own defense capabilities in manufacturing. The Nari Shakti or women in the armed forces was also on display integrating women into leadership roles in the Navy, Air Force and the Army. 

LyrArc Article Gist
US exports of liquefied natural gas to China surged in 2021 to 17% of al exports. LNG in China's energy mix surged to 8% in 2020 and is even higher in 2021. Facing pressure to peak carbon emissions by 2030, and facing energy shortage in 2021, China is importing more LNG than ever. Prices of LNG have gone up 10 times in 2021 compared to year earlier. China is now the world's largest importer of LNG.

LyrArc Article Gist
The Turkish lira drops sharply on November 23, by 18%. This is likely to worsen inflation that is already at 20% in 2021. This also makes it harder for businesses to pay off foreign currency debt. President Erdogan is following an unconventional policy of cutting interest rates when the currency value is declining. The Turkish central bank is cutting its key policy interest rate. Growth and investment are expected to be affected as foreign investors move away from Turkey. 

LyrArc Article Gist
France's Macron argues that relations of the European Union with Russia that deteriorated with the Ukraine conflict should now be restored. He calls for closer relations with Russia, as Germany under Merkel continues with existing policy and a robust NATO. Merkel sees peace in the Balkans preserved by allowing Balkan countries into the European Union. Macron thinks this is not a good idea and has called NATO brain dead. Merkel and Macron now disagree on goals of NATO.

LyrArc Article Gist
The head of the hospital group that represents 39 public hospitals in the Paris region APHP, Mr. Hirsch, says that by October 24 about 800 to 1000 coronavirus cases in intensive care ICU are expected taking up 70 to 90 percent of capacity in the Paris region.This has placed added urgency to the actions of the French government and tougher measures are expected following the Macron announcement of a curfew in Paris region and eight metropolitan regions in France.

LyrArc Article Gist
The huge problem of collapse facing the Tories, UK Conservative Party, as Britain goes to the polls in 2024. A 15,000 person MRP poll conducted by Survation shows 468 seats for Starmer's Labour party and 98 for Conservatives. So great is the anger in Britain with the Tories in general and how they ran the country for the last decade. Today the Tories lack any clear vision for Britain going forward into the middle of the 21st century.

LyrArc Article Gist
The 153rd birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. October 2 is also the birth anniversary of Lal Bahadur Shastri, India's second prime minister, who is admired for his simplicity and decisiveness. The Hindu also shows the return after Covid of China's Gandhi Jayanti celebration at Chaoyang park with recitation of his famous quotes by Chinese schoolchildren. Yuan Xikun, a famous Chinese sculptor completed the statue of Gandhi on the banks of a lake in serene surroundings in 2005.

LyrArc Article Gist
The head of the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen, says Russia is trying to provoke a world food crisis by attacks on Ukraine ports and infrastructure, and preventing the export of 20 million tons of foodgrains. She said the EU was working to get these foodgrains out of the country. Mr. Scholz, the German chancellor on a visit to Africa, also pointed out that the Russian attacks were having serious effects with food shortages in many African countries.

LyrArc Article Gist
Chile's new Constitution draft document of 499 pages scales back mining, decentralises power and grants social rights. Rewriting the Constitution was one of the demands of protests that lasted for months leading to the election of president Boric. After decades under a constitution written by Gen. Pinochet that favored mining companies and industry Chileans protested the way pensions were organized and the way Chile was run that neglected the working class and middle class families.

LyrArc Article Gist
Documents revealed at a US Congressional hearing show that an executive's memo to Darren Woods Exxon CEO in 2019 called for removal of a reference to "the Paris Agreement" from an announcement by a group that Exxon is part of. Shell is shown to also have internal documents that showed executive's were lacking in support of climate goals even though the company's public position was for supporting climate goals.

LyrArc Article Gist
The US policy of assistance to Israel balanced by the need for deterrance not to lead to regional conflict in the Middle East. The US was close to an agreement with Saudi Arabia and Israel, following earlier accords with UAE and Morocco. These agreements provided a way forward for bringing the Middle East out of a conflict ridden period. Internal divisions in Israeli politics have also played a part in not reaching a lasting settlement of disputes in the region.

LyrArc Article Gist
Ian Jack asks if Johnson's Conservative party can deliver for Britain, can deliver for women, can deliver for climate change, can deliver for health, education and infrastructure, can deliver dignity for workers, deliver for families and children, by looking at the roots of one of its leaders. He looks at Jacob-Rees Mogg and how he sees himself in the bewildering mix of English social classes in St Pancras neighborhood of London where he comes from.

LyrArc Article Gist
In his speech to the Indian  parliament following the Motion of Thanks for the President's address Mr. Modi points to gains in infrastructure, in addressing the pandemic, building India's new role  in the world's supply chain,  Gati Shakti Master plan for development. He says this was a way to make Gandhi's dreams for India to come true by the 100th year of India's independence in 2047.

LyrArc Article Gist
India has managed to keep inflation down to 4.5% compared to US at 7.5%, Sitharaman tells parliament in the Budget session., The Budget is seen as a far sighted document meant to concentrate India's capital investment resources on the infrastructure and other projects that will accelerate India's progress into an advanced industrial nation by 2042. It is also meant to increase employment in every way possible getting industry to do its part in Team India effort.

LyrArc Article Gist
Paul Krugman says the movie Oppenheimer reminds him of the role played by immigrants and intellectuals in the scientific part of the war effort, in radar and atomic research. He describes the role of Isaac Rabi in the cutting edge research at MIT's Radiation Laboratory that gave the US a radar system the German submarines could not detect, leading to protection of the sea lanes and winning the Battle of the Atlantic in 1943. 

LyrArc Article Gist
How Biden's economic ideas for American jobs, union jobs, are taking shape and the role of Jake Sullivan, Janet Yellen, Katherine Tai, Gina Raimondo, in taking these ideas forward is covered by Peter Coy in the NYT. Core challenges Sullivan identified and Biden agrees are the challenge of inequality to democracy, failure of markets to allocate capital efficiently and productively. So badly that two thirds of 4th graders can't meet Reading test proficiency for NAEP.

LyrArc Article Gist
It is a serious problem when big banks such as JP Morgan Chase offer 1-2% in interest on deposits when the Fed has increased market rates to above 5%. The average for all banks is only 0.73%. Consider that JP Morgan Chase made $14 billion in profit in 2022. This reduces the interest earned by the vast majority of average Americans who have savings at American banks and reduces their wealth further increasing inequality in the US.

LyrArc Article Gist
Canada does better with only 28,000 cases of the virus compared to 3 million in the U.S. by early July 2020, 300 infections a day compared to 28,000 a day. Three things Canada got right are its health system that provides universal health care to all Canadians, not having culture wars about accepted practice such as face covering and social distancing, and Trudeau adopting an approach of bringing Canadian opinion around a common fight against the virus.