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How does the National Rural Employment guarantee Scheme compare with what Brazil has done under President Lula with the Bolsas Familias program to help rural people with income below the poverty rate? India its reported is looking at the Brazilian program. There the focus is on cash payments with cards like debit cards issued on each individual's name that only that person can use so that the funds cannot be stolen by corrupt intermediaries with the person receiving it having to make sure that his children are in school and vaccinated. The focus there is on nutrition, education and health care especially of the family unit and in this way it has been a success according to the World bank and other experts.

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Problems in putting up the stadiums and other facilities in New Delhi, India, and meeting the deadlines for the Commonwealth Games in 2010. THe problems stem from the many governmental bodies that have responsibilities for development of Delhi, including the federal government that runs the administrative centre of the capital, the Delhi Municipal government and other governmental agencies, and the lack of proper coordination.

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Captain Sumeet Sabharwal 56 years and First Officer Clive Kunder 32 years are the two pilots of Air India Dreamliner that crashed in Ahmedabad iseconds after takeoff in 2025. Preliminary investigation reports in WSJ shows the fuel switches were turned off depriving the plane of fuel in the critical moments of takeoff. The Captain is heard asking why the fuel switches are turned off seconds after takeoff.

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The US and Saudi Arabia are working on a partnership in which the Saudi Public Investment Fund will invest $15 billion to secure mining stakes for metals such as cobalt needed in electric car batteries. The US would buy the supplies from the Saudi owned companies. US is a copartner with India on a new economic corridor infrastructure project that will connect India with the European Union and the US through Saudi Arabia. Saudis will invest $20 billion said MBS, Prince Salman of Saudi Arabia, at the meeting of the G20 in New Delhi alongside Modi, Biden, Scholz, Macron and the heads of the EU. This is a major new project for which the seeds are being put in for future generations.

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The International Monetary Fund estimates global growth in 2021 at 5.5%. It also says that government support to support the economic recovery is essential calling for the strong stimulus being done in the U.S., Europe, Japan, India and other countries.

The IMF also cautions that everything depends on controlling the pandemic. There is special concern for countries in Africa and Latin America where vaccine supplies are needed.

The chief economist of the IMF, Gita Gopinathan, says India will see growth of 11.5% in 2021. The head of the IMF Kristalina Georgieva, says India has acted quickly to control the pandemic, considering the size of the population and its density.  The vaccination drive with 2.3 million healthcare workers vaccinated and 300 million to be vaccinated in the first part of the campaign, Georgieva says shows that steps are being taken for a strong recovery in 2021.

 

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The foreign lobbying by Pakistan and then India in Washington DC for access to the White House using lobbyist firms in the US. This enabled leaders from Pakistan to visit the White House in the US soon after conflict between Pakistan and India erupted over terrorist incident. Terrorist incidents happened in New Delhi and Islamabad in November 2025. The DJT administration may have gained support from Pakistan/Turkey for the Hamas settlement through this lobbying effort. The DJT administration inadvertently put itself in a position of being influenced by lobbying in this case for access to the White House. Following that event China's president Xi Jinping tightened restrictions on rare earths in trade negotiations with the US for a temporary agreement that gives access to the US market. This leaves the issue of illegal fentanyl flows from China and Mexico to the US, important to the US, and of restructuring world trade, also important to the US, major goals of this Republican administration in abeyance.   ...

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Pictures for the opening of the Taj Mahal in India.

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The reopening of the economy is being stalled and lockdowns, restrictions, reinstated in July 2020 as the pandemic surges. The lockdowns are being reinstated in parts of Australia, in Bihar, India and other countries, and in other places such as California restrictions are back in place. Wearing masks in public spaces is also mandatory in Britain and France as prevention measures are being taken. In Japan wearing masks is a habit from before the pandemic. India, the U.S. and Brazil, Mexico are seeing a surge.

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Individual investors reacted strongly to declining prospects for emerging markets with slowing growth, depreciating currencies, corruption and political uncertainty in 2013. As of the beginning of June, retail investors pulled $18.1 billion from emerging market bond funds, about one third of the amount that went in to emerging markets since the financial crisis in 2007, according to fund tracker EPFR Global. Institutional investors have pulled out less, about $9.3 billion, or 10% of their investments in emerging markets bonds since 2007. A similiar pattern is seen for investment in the stock markets of emerging market countries. The U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary expansion helped pull more money into emerging markets such as India, Indonesia, Brazil and Turkey. As the Fed shifts away from these policies in 2013 emerging market countries have large current account deficits and less money to finance imports and debt.

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The Economist makes an important point about the violence, poverty and terrorism in failing states. The failure of civil institutions and civil wars in Africa, have led to complete breakdown. Similiar situations playing out in Afghistan and Pakistan. At the very least says the Economist, "there is evidence that economic growthin countries next to failing states can be badly damaged." Even in South Asia where India has forged ahead with high growth rates, one can say that economic development has not made a significant dent in the poverty, malnutrition and lack of infrastructure across the country. It adds that a weak goverment may lack the wherewithal to identify and contain a pandemic that could spread globally.

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Problems in the power sector that limit India's economic growth. Power plants being built are short of coal and other fuel supplies. Coal supply has not kept up with increase in power plant capacity- coal production increased by a mere 1% in 2011 and power plant capacity increased 11%. The gap between demand and supply for power increased from 7.7% in 2010 to 10.2% in 2011. Coal India which has 80% of production has not invested enough in new mining equipment and technology to rapidly increase production. This combined with higher energy costs for imports and weak infrastructure continues to act as a constraint to economic growth.

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How Instex works and how oil importers India, China and Japan see the need to maintain oil imports. The European side to Instex to pay for imports in Iran.

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Washington Post Analysis and details of Census Bureau trade information in September 2025 -showing the country by country and product tariffs by US and which tariffs are waiting for final trade agreements. China, India and Switzerland, Mexico face high tariffs. UK, EU, South Korea, Japan have made trade agreements with the US, China, India Swiss are still to finalize trade agreements leading to the uncertainty. The North American Trade Agreement is being renegotiated leading to uncertainty for Mexico and Canada which have both benefitted from trade with the US to detriment of US manufacturers.  China has huge surpluses that keep growing over time to $1 trillion ($992 billion) a year in 2024.  DJT Tariffs are designed as a bold step to remake the international trading system so that it does not work to the benefit of other nations gaming the system over decades as US administrations Clinton, Bush, Obama, paid no attention. Trade Deficits and the National Debt are a problem not just the National Debt. On the National Debt Republicans have pushed through cuts in parts of the budget where costs had escalated tremendously. ...

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By March 2012 India's Aadhar project- for unique identification numbers to be given to every citizen of India- will have given out 200 million 12 digit unique ID numbers. Nandan Nilekhani, former head of Infosys, leads the project. The Indian govenment has committed $650 million for the first phase of the project, which has the personal backing of prime minister Manmohan Singh.

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Charan Singh, who is given the Bharat Ratna to honor kisans and farmers of India comes from a generation of leaders in Uttar Pradesh, India's largest state, that includes Govind Vallabh Pant and Lal Bhadur Shastri from agrarian communties in the Ganges plains. This group of younger leaders joined the movement for independence under Gandhi and was elected in the Assembly elections of 1937, the first attempt at self rule in India under the British. He served in the first government of the state under Pant as chief minister. As finance minister in the government he conducted reforms to help farmers, for zamindari (large landholders in the British system) abolition and land ceiling. He became chief minister of the state and was popular with farmers, including Jats, Yadavs, Kurmis and Gujjars. With the socialist movement in the state led by Ram Manohar Lohia creating a new mood in the state in the 1960's posing a challenge to the Nehru government, the first government of parties including the socialists and the Jan Sangh the predecessor to the BJP of today, was formed in 1979 with Charan Singh as prime minister.  ...

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A tenuous peace on the LAC  Line of Control border, with India and China having no agreement on what the border is from British times to this day. International developments today determine the tensions at the border. China still a middle income country with trade and technology tensions in its relationship with the free world, and India seeking to build its manufacturing economy over the next two decades, both countries focused on development.

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Norman Borlaug who achieved what seems impossible, saving hundreds of millions of lives through disease resistant wheat and rice plants that he developed to double the yield in Mexico, India, Pakistan and other countries.

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Weak and poorly equipped public health systems, densely crowded conditions, make coronavirus spread extremely serious in South Asian and African countries. India imposed a complete lockdown of the entire country. South Africa imposed a 21 day lockdown enforced by the military. Decisive and strong action is needed early. Pakistan acted early to quarantine pilgrims entering the country from Iran. Pakistan's government has announced a $20 monthly wage subsidy for poorer households. The average in Africa is 20, according to the UN, and South Asian populations are also very young. Generally hotter climates may offer some offsetting factors to makeup for the lack of strong public health systems. India made major strides in direct deposit to bank accounts of 1.3 billion citizens by the government for many social safety net schemes in the last 5 years. It has also computer records of all citizens under a plan underway for a decade. The nationwide rollout of 4G mobile technologies has connected every citizen including remote areas. This should assist in the identification and isolation of affected areas and people. Other factors that mitigate the spread will be access to medicine when medicine and vaccine is developed for the virus. India has a large pharmaceutical industry, scientific labs and other medical resources similar to South Korea, which should help limit the affected areas and people. ...