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This photo gallery in The Indian Express shows 32 pictures of how International Yoga Day happened in all parts of India from the capital New Delhi to Alfred School in Rajkot where Mohandas Gandhi went to school. It links past to present across India's huge diversity and many states.

PM Modi put Yoga in this way- "The whole universe starts from our own body and soul. The universe starts from us. And Yoga makes us conscious of everything within us, and builds a sense of awareness." India's development in the next decades to come will be driven by a profound sense of what Yoga is and what it is to be a Yogi.

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Of the 104 deportees on the C-17 military aircraft to Amritsar in the Punjab state one third are from Punjab, another one third from Haryana, and one third from Gujarat. India's rapid development towards Vikshit Bharat 2047 means it does not support such illegal migration. The adjoining article in Times of India reports that job scarcity is not the reason- more about governance or social security or a better life. Of the 82 comments on this article in India all do not favor such illegal migration. Indian attitudes in general are in favor only of legal migration and with rapid industrial development of attracting people back to India to develop the nation.

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During the first term of the NDA government two programs were launched to restart the Indian economy- one was Make In India, and the other was Skill India.

This report in Indian Express looks at Skill India, its history and goals, and progress. 

For Skill India to meet its ambitious goals of training "a minimum of 300 million people by 2022" much remains to be done. The quality of training, the active participation of industry and manufacturing in the training, the setup of vocational training of high quality in schools, has to be the focus of new efforts. Lack of results in meeting the needs of unemployed young people, is also because of the lack of growth in the industrial sector. For this to happen getting rid of the problems of non-performing loans has to be speeded up, partly through recapitalization of banks, and partly through other methods. 

 

 

 

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UK Reform Party has taken large donations from cryptocurrency companies. Reform leader Nigel Farage has received a 5 million pound gift from a cryptocurrency firm. What does this mean for cryptocurrency regulation in the UK as a world financial center, if Reform wins a general election and appoints the next Governor of the Bank of England when Andrew Bailey retires in 2028. This is discussed in The Guardian. The banking system of the US, UK and large countries was set up over many years and currency is only issued by a central bank with the financial backing of the nation. Cryptocurrency cannot on the basis of technology take that role without posing risks and destabilizing the financial system. The gradual splitting of society by the information economy, neglect of infrastructure, pharmaceutical pricing, banking speculation as in 2009 crisis, have been eroding some of the basic structures of democracy for the last two decades from within.  The wars in the Middle East policies, and the open borders migration policies, were effects from outside. What this has led to is counter to what one would expect. To fight open borders and the marginalization of some parts of the working class DJT Republicans have used whatever resources were available at the time in the 2024 presidential election. The cryptocurrency firms used this in opportunistic fashion to affect regulation of this currency by supporting the reelection bid of DJT in 2024 by making large donations. This has led to less regulation of cryptocurrency firms. Is this in the best interests of the Nation? Will this destabilize the banking system in ways that have happened before in the deregulation of banks before the 2009 financial crisis? In Britain a new Bank of England governor will be appointed after Andrew Bailey's term expires in 2028. Reform party in UK if elected as government would appoint the next Governor of the Bank of England. Reform's growing popularity is a result of Conservatives and Labour failing to take action on open borders, asylum hotels, and migration policy, following an ECHR code of rights that is inappropriate to such migration. What this means is that unexpected things happen as a result. Cyrptocurrency risks of destabilizing the banking system increase as a result of failure of parties on migration. This could be more destabilizing for Britain because of its role as a financial centre than the industrialized  economies such as Germany, China, and industrializing economies such as India. It poses risks in the US yet Federal Reserve Governor Walsh can exercise his own judgement about cryptocurrency and Congress can exercise oversight, the large banks can act to show the risks of destabilizing that cryptocurrency can pose. For Britain it is particularly dangerous as the US is also an industrialized power compared to Britain's focus on finance alone. Andrew Bailey can ignore lobbying by Reform Party in 2026 (Farage met with the Governor of the Bank of England), yet what happens if Reform appoints the next Governor in 2028? These are questions Britain needs to ponder. It is also why Andy Burnham is Britain's last chance to get things right on migration to the point that the British people feel good and proud of their heritage and history, British neighborhoods across the country feel safe and secure, and Britain shifts to reindustrialize its economy with partners in China and India, the European Union, and the US. A former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Charlie Bean told the BBC about donations of Christopher Harbonne, who has a 13% ownership interest in cryptocurrency firm,Tether. "Stablecoins are only stable if they have the appropriate regulatory environment… But there is right now an unsurprising regulatory race to the bottom amid the potential for greater profits." He added: "When funds are coming from major shareholders of such large financial institutions, there is a clear potential conflict of interest here, for example, in the appointment of a new Bank of England governor. Transparency is one solution." ...

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French Indian business cooperation enters a new phase with Ambition India 2021 that starts on October 29 at the French Senate and in a digital format. French and Indian business and political leaders will participate in this event to build new manufacturing and research relationships.

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George Washington shown in the early parts of the Seven Years War (1756-1763) that drove the French from Quebec and North America. In these early battles Washington fought in the Pennsylvania country near Pittsburgh under the British commanders against the Indians and the French. This taught George Washington many things about a war in America's vast forests, the risks and dangers, the best way to keep on fighting a long war in which the British would eventually fail to prevail. After defeat on 2 nights on frozen ice on a lake fleeing French and Indian forces Washington survives, and grasps the idea of divine providence in the struggle against colonial powers France and then Britain. This prepared Washington for a different strategy in the war against the British, learning from the defeats of the British by Indians in forest conditions with quick offense and quick retreats and no large engagements. The entire war was characterized by this quick offense, strategic retreats, and preserving the American army's strengths, as an approach to conduct the fight. Montgomery tried a direct march on Quebec and failed in the early days of the war of independence against British forces. This also reinforced Washington's strategic approach that the British would only lose in a long drawn out war under certain conditions, to avoid direct engagement with large armies or decisive battles till the right moment. Washington enlisted a young French officer Lafayette as a commander in his army knowing the importance of the French to neutralize the British naval power on the seas. When this stage was reached Washington could quickly move his army north to surprise the British by surrounding their forces under Lord Cornwallis resting at Yorktown, Virginia after being harassed in small engagements by American forces in the South. For that to happen Washington had the logistics feat to accomplish of moving cannon and forces up rivers and forests to the north, something practiced in the Pennsylvania region in the fight against the French and their Indian allies. The early part of the war the engagement with the French and Indians was formative for Washington and is the experience that is covered in the book "Young Washington," now made into a movie. The night spent on the frozen river in Pennsylvania country fleeing the Indians and French and surviving was always for Washington an act of divine protection. It may be also the reason why Washington saw his role not as his own but for a larger purpose, leading to handing over his appointment as commander in chief back to Congress in Annapolis in 1783 after the war had ended and peace treaty was signed. We refer to this as a defining moment in The First Letter from the Editor for Lyrarc.com, reflecting on divine protection and the responsibility that goes with it for the Nation that should never be forgotten. ...

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This Economist article looks at India-China relations and the Wuhan Summit between prime minister Modi and president Xi Jinping. It sees India's reluctance to follow a containment strategy in an historical light from the period in which India followed a non-alignment policy in the early post independence period under prime minister Nehru. During the period of the Eisenhower administration with Secretary of State John Foster Dulles India adhered to a strict nonalignment policy avoiding choosing sides in the Cold War. As a result U.S. policy tilted towards Pakistan during the Eisenhower administration. A balance was restored under president Kennedy, with Adlai Stevenson a close friend of India.  The short Sino-Indian war of 1962 led to a situation in which the U.S. backed India and improvement of relations. A semblance of non-alignment in foreign relations continued under Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi. By 1990 with the opening of the Indian economy to foreign investment, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the integration of China into the global economy, a new period of good bilateral relations with the U.S. and Europe was maintained. In 2017 the potential for a conflict in Doklam, Bhutan revived fears from 1962 in India. In 2018 After the U.S. administration of Donald Trump and Trade Representative Lighthizer imposed trade tariffs on China and restrictions on export of advanced technologies China pursued a policy of conciliatory relations with India. China's relations also improved with Japan and South Korea as the U.S. policy was unanticipated and seen as a significant change that would seriously affect China's economy. India's response was to pursue a policy of good relations with China and the U.S., even as the economies of the U.S. and India were drawn closer in India's pursuit of modernization.  ...

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There are 240 Norwegian and Finnish companies in India, says this report in The Hindu. Nordic countries are providing green technologies to India. At the Nordic-India Summit held in Copenhagen in May 2022, the five Nordic prime ministers and prime minister Modi agreed to intensify cooperation on digitalisation, renewable energy, maritime industries and the circular economy. Denmark is helping India with ports and logistics. Trade ministers of Norway and Finland visiting India together  Feb 9-10 describe the efforts to provide Nordic technology solution in green transition to India. Trade between Norway and India has doubled in the last 3 years and the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund is likely to become on the largest investors in India at $17.6 billion. Vestre us Norway's Minister of Trade and Industry, Skinnari is Finnish Minister of Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade. 

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Prime minister Modi's 5 commitments to get closer to net zero by 2030 will require making ambitious efforts starting from 2021. Modi cited Indian Railways as an example to be followed by the rest of industry and transportation, and homes, for the conversion to clean energy. Indian Railways, he told the COP26 conference, had set ambitious goals to achieve net zero emissions by 2030, cutting carbon emissions by 60 million tons from the 1 billion tons reduction of carbon emission Modi promised by 2030. The ambitious 2030 target of 500 gigawatts of renewable energy, mostly solar using new technologies, is another promise.  This Bloomberg report looks at India's energy mix today which is 44% coal, 25% oil, 6% natural gas, for a total of 75% fossil fuels, and the promise of 50% fossil, 50% renewable and other non fossil fuels hydroelectric, nuclear, that Modi made at COP26 Glasgow. Just as US and Europe, Japan, China have huge challenges ahead to make a massive transformation in record time, India faces the equal need to think clearly and embrace new technologies with speed and scale, and make the investments early for transformation. This is good for India to take on the challenge and venture out to seize the opportunities in new technologies that transform whole industries and a way of living that must be left behind. ...

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Oxfam agency does a study to show the extent of damage done by colonialism in Asia-taking one of three examples India, China and Indonesia with population today of about 3 billion people. British colonial rule in India-from the 1750's to 1950,  estimate is about $34 trillion. It is important because Gandhi's Hind Swaraj (1910) is the result of work done by Dadabhai Naoroji in Poverty and Un-British Rule in India (1901) in coming up with an estimate in the $trillions that showed Gandhi "the extent of the poverty of India." Gandhi's famous letter to the Viceroy in 1923 comes from looking at the British budget for India where little is invested in Indian development much of it going to policing India. An average of $650- $750 per capita income in1600 for both Britain, Netherlands and India, China and Indonesia diverges to $100 in India, China and Indonesia and $10,000 in Britain in 1947. The Dutch and Britain had financed their industrial Revolution that generated most of this prosperity using funds squeezed from taxation, seizure of provincial treasuries,  and unfair trade in India by the British and Dutch East India Companies from 1750 to 1940.  What made this possible is the advance of science and technology that gives the British Navy and the smaller Dutch Navy the edge beginning in the 1600's and maintained for two hundred years to 1800's to defeat the French Navy. And with a leap forward in the Industrial Revolution propelled by science and technology to maintain this edge against all newcomers till 1920's when the US and Japanese Navies contended for superiority. In 1588 the British Navy under Queen Elizabeth had more 400 ton ships and bigger ship guns than the Spanish Empire's Navy under Phillip the Second that dominated Spain, Italy and Germany, and Latin America. This was the turning point the year 1588, when the Spanish Armada was destroyed by the English Navy and by storms in the English Channel. A new book "Armada" by English historians Martin and Parker (2023) shows this as a turning point from which the British and the Dutch started after defeating Spain. There are questions about what led to attitudes towards science and technology moving forward in Northern Europe and stagnating in not just India and China but also in Spain in 1600-1900. One could arguably say and ask how is it that Spain became as poor as India and China by 1900-1950?  Adam Smith (Wealth of Nations) says it is the insulated agricultural valleys of the Ganges and the Yangste river civilizations of India and China that are at fault. Yet one could say this for the Rhine, Danube or the other river based civilizations of Europe. It is primarily the advance of the Renaissance philosophy that opened up thinking in Europe and not in Asia, to ask questions about the world around us, to venture out, to test and experiment then invest capital where Asia and Europe moved apart.      ...

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Oil prices expected to drop from $70 per barrel to $60 per barrel in July 2026 easing oil crisis in advanced and developing nations. A drawdown of inventories by 163 million barrels happened to OECD countries in the 4 months of the Hormuz crisis. Advanced European nations will replenish their inventories starting in the 4th quarter, the US next year in 2027, China with a billion barrels in inventory is not in a hurry to replenish at this time. Factors improving the situation are that the UAE has increased production and sends it though Fujairah that is separate from Hormuz after it left the OPEC oil organization (which sets production quotas for members to control prices). Kuwait is doing the same. Saudis have also increased production routing it away from Hormuz. The advanced countries have learned from the Hormuz crisis. China has changed its oil consumption policy to use it more efficiently one of the big changes from the Hormuz crisis. Instead of importing 10 million barrels a day oil China now imports 6 million barrels a day. China was always a prolific user of oil and as long as oil was plentiful China did not pay enough attention on how to use oil as efficiently as some European nations and Japan are doing. During the crisis the rest of the world including India had time to figure out ways of running their economies using less oil and will continue to do so knowing that Hormuz had allowed one country (Iran) to put the whole family of developing nations in Africa and Asia, Latin America at risk. Hormuz channel itself has opened and about 40-60 ships are making their way through each day. There are risks that Iran will try to close Hormuz again or that the war will restart and this means all nations advanced and developing nations are finding and securing alternative oil supplies. US is also increasing production through its oil base and oil base of its allies, and American plus European oil companies will act to increase supplies and new sources of oil to prevent the world being threatened again in the way it was at Hormuz in 2026. ...

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Key points from the prime minister's Independence Day speech on August 15, 2021, as reported in The Times of India. 

The prime minister concluded by saying that 25 years from now on the 100th anniversary in 2047 the aspirations of today will be presented as accomplishments by the then prime minister. He covered many topics relating to goals for India in the next 25 years, from the environment, small farmers, and infrastructure to hydrogen and renewable energy. The thread running through the entire speech was the aspirations of the Indian people, and of Indian youth, that are irreversibly set and that nothing could stop the Indian people from achieving these aspirations with the goals set high for the first time in 50 years. The impossible had to become the reality with hard work and calm, good humored resolve, not affected by the difficulties on the way.

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A 110 aircraft $15 billion deal is being negotiated by India with Boeing and other manufacturers. This deal requires all aircraft be assembled in India to create jobs, and requires transfer of technology so that India can build up its own defense industry for exports. The U.S. sees India as a counterpoint to China in the Indian Ocean as China expands in that region, and transfer of technology is being done to increase Indian capabilities. In the past India has sourced defense needs including aircraft from Russia, and this is an effort to improve ties with India. Lockheed is considering building F-16 aircraft in India with Indian partner Tata. 

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The navy of the U.S., Japan, India and Australia to join the annual Malabar exercize in the Indian Ocean. The British Navy played a critical part in the Mediterranean, the Cape around Africa, and the Indian Ocean, during the period 1750-1950, and the Indian Navy now inherits this role from the British period.

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Food, medicine, cash, pensions, delivered on a massive scale by India Post's 400,000 workers in the world's largest lockdown of 1.4 billion people. Indian Railways 1 million employees are active in delivering essential supplies and transporting food, essential cargo. With over 150,000 branches and reaching out into every corner of the country, India Post is the largest postal network in the world. The post office has started a special service to deliver medicine. As a bank India Post has over 500 million accounts, many of these accounts having direct payments deposited by the government. Postal workers wearing masks and rubber gloves and with multiple hand sanitizers are shown on Indian television helping citizens in inspirational video of India Post. India has another advantage in being able to get money to the tens of millions in each state, and directing it to areas of the economy that have the largest need- 60% of the banking system is state owned. During the first term the government of prime minister Modi launched an effort to get every Indian a bank account in every part of the country, so that money could be directly deposited in each account. A national ID system was implemented that took the digital information of each Indian. The government is now able to get money directly into these accounts. ...

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The story of Milkha Singh, India's fastest runner, is told wonderfully here in the Indian Express.

Milkha Singh came through a period of life growing up in a poor part of the Punjab, then partition, and finding a place in post independence India on track and field. He joined the army on his third attempt. Finished fourth in the Rome Olympics, just 0.1 seconds behind Pence and with it missing a Bronze medal.

He said after this - that he was taken for an interview, and he could only say in whatever English he knew, "your son has fulfilled his duty, and I demand this from every youngster in the country." This could be the message to all the youngsters in the country that are volunteering for the PM's effort for 100,000 trained healthcare youngsters to help with Covid work in villages and towns throughout India.

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Chancellor Scholz's visit to India with the heads of 12 large German companies and heads of medium size company business associations will lead to increasing economic cooperation between Germany and India. Bilateral trade is about 25 billion dollars. German companies such as Siemens are suppliers of rail locomotives for modernization of India's rail network. Topics for talks include the geopolitical situation in Europe with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, cooperation on climate change, utilization of German technologies, and increasing investment by German companies in India's economy.

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In a remarkable first Indian Air Force will airlift 23 oxygen generating plants from Germany to Indian armed forces hospitals. Oxygen Express trains will run from Vizag to Mumbai and from Bokaro to Lucknow as India takes action to tackle oxygen shortage at hospitals with covid patients in April 2021.

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Michael Boskin, the elder president Bush's chairman of the Council of Economc Advisors was instrumental in setting up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Here he points to the dire need to open up trade between India and Pakistan. Trade today between the two countries is $2.7 billion. Under trade models Boskin says the trade could be 20 times larger, about $50 billion. This would increase benefits and wages in both countries and is badly needed and long overdue.

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Trade deal with India for $190 billion two way trade to double to $500 billion still on in November 2025. DJT says India has cut purchases of Russian energy and Russian oil trades at a large discount from Brent crude. The discount is $20 compared to $13 before Indian and Chinese refiners cut their purchases of Russian crude showing that US strategy was the right one.

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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. ...