LyrArc Article Gist
The Indian Supreme Court Bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and JB Pardiwala rejected a petition of 14 political parties in India for guidelines to prevent avoidable arrest of political opponents, saying it is asking for special immunity for politicians.

"Ultimately a political leader is also a citizen, and as a citizen he or she is amenable to the same law."

"Once we accept that political leaders stand absolutely on the same footing as citizens of the country, they will face the same due process of law and are not entitled to a higher immunity than what is available under law."

"You (political parties) say there is selective targeting of opposition leaders. But at the same time you say you do not want any special treatment of politicians as they are only citizens of the country, they will face the same due process of law and are not entitled to higher immunity than what is available under law."

LyrArc Article Gist
Shorter term gaps in Indian air force defenses along the border are discussed with Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari in the Times of India, including the number of aircraft at the border areas.

LyrArc Article Gist
US secretary of state Anthony Blinken meets Indian foreign minister Jaishankar, and prime minister Modi in New Delhi. India and the US are working together on how to make vaccine supplies accessible and affordable in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. To promote the vaccination drive in India the US announced an additional $25 million to the $200 million announced earlier, during Anthony Blinken's visit to New Delhi. Post pandemic economic recovery was also a subject of discussions. Blinken thanked Jaishankar for collaborative discussion on many points, including security in the Indo-Pacific region. He went on to say that "the US welcomes India's emergence as a leading global power." Blinken also said that the future in the 21st century will be written in the Indo-Pacific region.  Blinken thanked Jaishankar for the collaborative discussions on many topics, including trade and economy, and how to promote greater bilateral investments to deepen commercial ties. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
US vice president Kamala Harris's grandfather was in the Indian Civil Service and was sent to Zambia as an adviser to president Kenneth Kaunda to help with settlement of refugees fleeing Southern Rhodesia during apartheid. She revisits Lusaka and the place where she lived.

LyrArc Article Gist
After a sudden surge in the beginning of May the coronavirus wave in India, its second wave, is decreasing. It is 186,000 new coronavirus cases on May 27, down from over 350,000 at the peak. In India's largest state Uttar Pradesh with a population of 210 million the coronavirus cases have dropped sharply to 4000 a day. New coronavirus cases in Delhi and Bombay are around 1000 a day. The Indian government has moved quickly to tackle this wave with decisive action to meet the sudden surge in May 2021. For the rest of 2021 and into 2022 the most important action by the Indian government has been to create a government sponsored effort of India's entire pharmaceutical company sector to reunite in production of over 2 billion vaccine doses by December 2021. After independence in 1947 one of the steps taken by India with great foresight was to create a strong pharmaceutical sector with fair and transparent pricing of basic drugs and vaccines. Something that does not exist in this manner and scale anywhere else in the world. Today this is giving India a tremendous asset in the fight against coronavirus. India is already the largest producer of vaccines in the world, the new effort will make give it a decisive advantage in meeting not only India's but the world's need for new vaccines. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The U.S. perception that the shadows from the period of non-alignment in the Nehru era still linger in Indian policy, a sort of ambivalence that has denied India's true potential as an alliance partner for the free world. A perception in the U.S. that has not seen the true potential of the largest population in the world of 1.5 billion people in India and Bangladesh has also colored perception of the relationship. This population is now at a point at which a broad based development is not only possible (sab ka vikas sab ke sath) but also moving at an accelerated pace. With a combination of cumulatively increasing inputs of technology, capital, land and educated labor force this is now at the potential of becoming a very doable world changing event by 2035- a $20 trillion economy by doubling every 5 years based on renewable energy and dedicated to health, education and development. What makes this a world changing event is the opportunity to meet the aspirations of about 2 billion people in India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and surrounding nations, offering new hope for Africa and Latin America. For this the U.S. commitment cannot have any traces of ambivalence, and the Indian commitment cannot have any traces of ambivalence. India needs one more change in its perceptions - to realize that for the first time in its history that this is within its reach. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
As the FT notes in a separate story the problem is that there are too few businessmen with the capacity for execution, managing debt capital effectively, and vision for areas in which there is huge unfulfilled demand in India such as electricity (thermal power plants) and renewables  (solar), logistics (ports modernization). To achieve the 450 GW goal for India in renewables Modi still needs execution and speed, to bring electricity to every home thermal power based on coal. The speed with which this Indian company managed the shift is also rare. Another company accomplished similar goals in connecting India in 4G- Jio.  This FT report looks at how this Indian company was able to navigate the seas and rocky shores as it built up debt of $30 billion. During the pandemic this venture spirit continues with the help of companies such as Total of France which acquired a 20% stake in Adani renewables. With such investments the French have a stake in renewables, defense an other areas of the Indian economy, as India pursues global finance to fund its development, a commitment to India's resilient development renewed by Mr. Macron of France this week and to be renewed by Mr. Biden in his meeting with the Quad 4 countries on September 25. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
With foreign exchange reserves of $677 billion India is well placed to deal with the effects of the Ukraine conflict. The economy is better placed than European economies, says Governor Shantikanta Das of the Indian central bank, the RBI. The RBI and the Monetary Policy Committee see no risk of stagflation in India, Mr. Das says.

LyrArc Article Gist
DJT arrives in Beijing China May 13 2026. Topics that will be discussed are - the Iran War and how to resolve it, trade with China, tariffs, and US Taiwan policy. China continues to run trillion dollar surplus in trade with the world with lower trade surplus with the US after DJT tariffs. From $295 billion in 2024 under Biden the new DJT administration with DJT, Bessent and Jamieson has lowered this to $202 billion by 2026. In that same period the world trade surplus of China has increased from $992 to $1.19 billion. It is not clear whether some of the drop in the US figures is from China sending product through channels to Mexico and Vietnam that is then shipped to the US. DJT showed results in his policies by lowering the trade imbalance by 32%, while trade imbalance with the rest of the world has worsened (increase in trade surplus of China) by 20%. What does this show? We can safely assume that excessive trade imbalances are not in either China, EU, or America's interest. China increases trade and political friction by doing so, and it leaves its own policy weak by overdependence on exports, too little effort to increase domestic consumption and living standards.  FOr the US and EU trade imbalances with China of over $1 trillion reflect misguided policy at the top by US and EU decision makers and governments. By exposing their manufacturing base they are losing valuable jobs by the millions and creating a situation where the few with good jobs in select industries live in large cities and the rest of the country in smaller towns and rural areas suffering from lack of amanufacturing base. This weakens the investment base for public services and leads to lack of investment ininfrastructure. This is called deindustrialization which the DJT and Biden administrations both fight hard to reverse for the last 10 years since the disastrous years of the Obama and Bush administrations 2000-2016. For this reason we can say a good Republican is as good as a good Democrat, a bad Republican is as bad as a bad Democrat, political labels are just that labels. The media in US and EU are on a wrong footing and still fail to cover this the way it should be covered to shake off the lethargy in public sentiment in the US so that a rapid drive to reindustrialize and build new new infrastructure on top of the old that was built after World War 1 can take place. In today's world India is stepping up with major infrastructure building just as the US and EU ramp up their rebuilding.  ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Greg Ip in the WSJ says India is shifting towards  becoming an important partner with the US and the European Union in trade under the Modi government. This report reflects the situation upto 2021 and the changes in Indian and American perceptions during the pandemic. It does not reflect the rapidly evolving situation under president Biden.US president Biden and Jake Sullivan National Security Advisor see rapidly expanding US trade and investment in India. The recent Raisina Dialogue  brings together 26 countries- named after Raisina Hill in New Delhi where India's administration is located- in dialogue with Indian leaders. Finance Minister Sitharaman in an interview at Raisina Dialogue stated that Janet Yellen, US Treasury Secretary, was with her during a G-20 meeting, and Yellen called for friendshoring- foreign investment in democracies that respect the rule of law and provide the right conditions for investment. The right conditions are now being created in India, including infrastructure and logistics, trade practices, and assistance to foreign companies, to invest in Indian manufacturing. The conditions are being created for shifting significant number of manufacturing facilities to India in a complete redesign of the supply chain. A look at the period 1950-2015 in US-EU India relations says little of the newly evolving situation in trade in the way that looking at the US-EU China relations 1950-1990 during the Cold War would tell one little about how that relationship evolved in trade after 1990 in the 1990-2019 period for massive trade with China. The pandemic and the inflation from existing supply chain bottlenecks has led to a realization in US-EU that the existing concentration of manufacturing in one country  was a mistake and is a serious problem that needs correction.  This means an acceleration in the effort to build rapidly over the next 5-10 years a strong US-EU manufacturing presence in India for advanced technologies. India under prime minister Modi is creating the infrastructure and logistics for this to happen with large domestic investment, the help of Denmark's Maersk in port logistics, and from other countries.  Fo India manufacturing and infrastructure building is the only way to create the jobs needed to meet the aspirations of its young population. For the US-EU the redesign of the supply chain is the highest priority to cut inflation, remove potential bottlenecks, and provide a stable supply chain.    ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The odd situation in India where 50% of 43,000 coronavirus cases on July 28 are in just 1 state in the southwestern side of India on the Malabar coast. The next state is Maharashtra with 6000 cases and other states have about 2000 cases each including Andhra Pradesh.

LyrArc Article Gist
India's New Education Policy completes its first year of implementation.  Multiple entry points for studies so that students can change disciplines and try new areas of study - offers opportunities in a broad array of disciplines, and new combinations of disciplines to open new pathways to knowledge and work in a future economy. This encourages  students to try new areas of study and not be stuck in one course of study. Engineering and science taught in different Indian languages. 18 Engineering colleges in 8 states in India now offer engineering and science studies in Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, and Bangla. India has a rich diversity of languages and this opens up opportunities for students who do better in their own home languages and brings opportunities to more people. Prime minister Modi emphasized the new approach has advantages- by breaking free of old conceptions of education, preparing for a New India in which youth of the country make their own systems, assure young people that the future is theirs to make. He stated that the New Education Policy is part of the endeavour of nation building, and the fate of India, how far and what height is achieved depends entirely on education received.   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The India China border clashes in the Tawang area of Arunachal are covered in this discussion by experts in United States Institute of Peace. The Tawang area it says is unique because of connections with the Dalai Lama of Tibet and China has special concerns about this area that go back to its invasion of Tibet in the 1950's soon after the British left India and the civil war in China ended with Mao and Communist China in 1949 taking control with the defeat of the Japanese. That chaotic period and Indian unpreparedness along a border that stretches for as long as the US border with Mexico. The lack of Indian infrastructure and roads and military modernization from that period to the last decade is now being corrected on the Indian side in an accelerated effort. Global trade and the economic needs of China in relation to the US, and India's efforts to focus on modernization, common challenges of climate change and pandemics, are leading to a new dimension that is being recognized by all sides. This limits the extent of the clashes and the swift return to normalcy of sorts. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Surjit Bhalla, executive director for India at the IMF, looks at different trajectories of growth in India to 2030 and 2047. He looks at growth for per capital incomes that India can achieve over the next 2 decades to meet the aspirations of a young population of over 1 billion. With next generation technologies and acceleration in growth after certain parameters are met including logistics capabilities, manufacturing in advanced technologies, infrastructure improvements, rule of law in some states, federal and state governments working together, much of the work to achieve per capita incomes similar to Japan and South Korea can be achieved in the next decade by 2035.

LyrArc Article Gist
The South Korean defense minister visits New Delhi and emphasizes the crucial importance of freedom in the Indo Pacific region. Few remember the commitment and sacrifice of Indian veterans in the Korean war.  A postage stamp from that period shows Indians played a key role for peacekeeping after the end of the war. Suh Wok will open India Korea friendship park in Delhi Cantonment. India and South Korea will strengthen their defense relationship with joint manufacturing of defense systems.

LyrArc Article Gist
Raul Castro of Cuba indicted by the US Justice Department May 20, 2026 for Cuban Americans killed when civilian flights helping Cuban refugees in the waters near Cuba were shot on orders from Raul Castro, as minister of defense. Only towards the end of this news report by Perry Stein and Karen De Young of the Washington Post is it clear that this indictment is on Cuba Independence Day March 20, which in 1902 marks the setup of the Republic of Cuba, at the end of the US military takeover of Cuba from the Spanish during the Spanish American War. Cuba under Castro does not use this day but the day of the Communist takeover in 1959 of January 1, and celebrates as Day of the Revolution, July 26, the day when the attack on the Moncada military barracks started the Revolution against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. Only the Obama administration similar to its failures in addressing the Iran nuclear weapons crisis refused to recognize 1902 date as the Cuban Independence Day, all other administrations before did. Under the Monroe Doctrine of 1824 the US clearly considered Latin America as its neighborhood and would not accept any foreign power in its neighborhood, making the Platt amendment attached to the Cuban 1902 Constitution permitting US intervention simply an addition. That the Monroe Doctrine was proven right in 2 ways is not mentioned by the Washington Post or by the elite media. What it did was to prevent European colonial powers from intervening and restoring colonial type rule to Spanish colonies in Latin America. It was welcomed by the British as it had no such designs, objected to by the Spanish Dutch and the French who had such designs for their colonial Empires. It was resented by Cubans naturally but Cubans did not consider that US is the only power who even when it pushed the Spaniards out of Cuba and Philippines in the Spanish American War of 1900 after centuries of Spanish occupation, the only power who prepared Cuba for Independence within 4 years in 1898. Which European colonial power could do this? The other reason for the Monroe Doctrine is in the Platt Amendment attached to the Cuban Constitution which committed the Cuban government to implement and maintain programs the US introduced to control yellow fever and infectious diseases. In 1934 FDR removed the Platt Amendment under a "Good Neighbor Policy. It is the relaxation of the Monroe Doctrine by future American adminstrations that has brought so much suffering and pain to North America, for the US and Mexico with illegal immigration and drugs, corrupting governance in Mexico and creating social political strife in the US, more deaths from drugs than the Vietnam, Korean and WWI combined. Today's Cuba's economy and the Venezuelan economy that copied Cuba's example has completely collapsed, one fourth of the people left the country taking with them the vitally important skills, and leading to economic hardships for the people. This would not have happened if the Monroe Doctrine implemented under the Good Neighbor ideas of FDR and the Alliance for Progress of JFK was kept in place. This shows that Cuba's Independence happened when the Americans supported Cuban rebels fighting for independence in 1898 just as the Indian Independence was won in 1947 from the British under Labour's PM Clement Attlee in 1945 taking action. Four years of American rule in Cuba to prepare it for independence as a transition is far better than 4 centuries of Spanish rule, and 2 years of British rule as a transition 1945-1947 under Attlee (who replaced Churchill in 1945 and setup the NHS) is better than 2 centuries of British colonial rule. In this sense America is with the Cuban people, just as the average British public and working class is with the Indian people.   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The clash in Arunachal Pradesh comes from new Chinese roads in the area of the Line of Actual Control in the Tawang area. This Times of India shows the specific area and how the new Chinese capabilities replacing dirt roads with sealed roads is leading to clashes such as the one on December 9. India is only beginning serious infrastructure and roads in this region and in the entire border region with China in this decade. The coming decade will see an acceleration of India's efforts.

LyrArc Article Gist
India's Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar tells the 96th Meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi that the word 'Bharat' meaning India from a centuries old expression means a belief and an attitude. "To me, Bharat is actually a belief and an attitude for me, Bharat has an economic dimension. It has a political meaning. It has cultural, social, I would say even personal expressions.. At the end of the day it means don't let other people define you. Try and define yourself. That it has to come from itself because the very term Bharat which is so laden with symbolism actually captures centuries of what we are all about as a people."

LyrArc Article Gist
Tensions on the India China border as India builds roads and infrastructure in the mountainous Himalayan area close to the border in Ladakh to match the Chinese buildup of roads in the region over the last decade. India has also built up its troop presence in the region to match China's troop presence along the border in Ladakh.

India has supported a call from Australia for an investigation into the early origins of the coronavirus. The call was supported by many countries around the world and by the U.S., Japan and France. The 350,000 deaths from coronavirus and the 5.5 millions confirmed cases, the economic damage, most of them in western nations in North America and Europe, have  led to growing tensions between China and the rest of the world. 

LyrArc Article Gist
The effects of the Modiji development guarantee and "Sab Ka VIkas, Sab Ka Saath," in the Indian states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhatisgarh. In the Hindi speaking heartland and the northwest and west including Gujarat and Maharashtra it gives a new momentum to development efforts for the modernization of India. This helps set the roadmap for development  through 2024 and the years ahead. Compared to China the problems in India are how to integrate scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in a complex social fabric into the economic development efforts.

LyrArc Article Gist
It is important for a correct sense of the Middle East to see these British Arab states from Kuwait to UAE and Qatar in the context of British India if one is to see them as part of the modern world as India is. This is now US policy under DJT and has been under Biden for a peaceful economically advanced region. A third of Arabian peninsula Arab protectorates were run from British India from 1800 onwards. The Interpretation Act of 1889 listed the states under British India in the Arabian peninsula including Kuwait, Bahrain, Aden now Yemen, Oman, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and they were listed along with Jaipur, Hyderabad and Bhawalpur. British Prime minister Clement Attlee wanted to give independence to these Arab states along with the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. But this did not happen till 1971. In 1937 the first of many separations from the British Empire in India of Arab states was announced. Aden, now Yemen, was separated from the British Empire in India to the Colonial Empire. British Empire authorites in Delhi never wanted to administer these Arab states even though the British Indian Political Service ran each of these states till 1971. They were very poor and lacking basic infrastructure, things changed only after the discovery of oil in late 1930's. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Black and white pictures of the legendary Indian hockey player Dhyan Chand who took India to gold medals in hockey in 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympic games. Each time with stick skills and persistence in the field. Like Vinoo Mankad in Indian cricket Dhyan Chand goes back to a period long forgotten. Mankad belonged to the period just after independence 1946 -1959, Dhyan Chand goes back to the period under the British Empire. His birthday August 29 is now India's National Sports Day. The Khel or Games Ratna Award is now named after him. National Stadium in New Delhi is now Dhyan Chand Stadium. The name evoked much pride during the 1920's and 1930's when India was still struggling for independence and striving to become a new nation.

LyrArc Article Gist
The lack of a light combat helicopter to reach high elevations was sorely felt during India's Kargil War in 1999. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited started developing this type of helicopter for ultra-high regions such as Ladakh and Siachen Glacier in 2006. The Indian Cabinet Committee has approved the purchase of 15 LCH Helicopters from HAL.

LyrArc Article Gist
Indian scientists say that the breakup of the Chamoli glacier in winter is the result of shrinking glaciers in the Himalayan region, and the effect of warming temperatures, and less precipitation. Global changes in temperatures are affecting the Himalayan mountains, as they are affecting other parts of the world. The breakup of the glacier has caused extensive damage and loss of life in Uttarkhand state, India, in Joshimath area.

LyrArc Article Gist
The work done by millions of BJP party workers during the pandemic in India is the subject of this story on its foundation day approaching 50 years. Under Modi the vision of Vivekananda and Gandhi has found a new place in the BJP says one of its workers Anil Baluni.