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A phone call took place between president Biden and pm Modi of India on a closer US- India strategic technology partnership following India's making the largest commercial aircraft deal in history for purchase of 470 planes from Airbus and Boeing. The White House says the sale will support over 1 million jobs in 44 states. It also deepens the ties between India and the US.

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India stands true to the principles of Mohandas Gandhi and joins Pope Francis in strongly condemning the killing of innocent civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as Gandhi would have done in his own way when he even paused the nonviolent struggle against the British after the burning of police stations in British India. Of no less significance is the danger of food insecurity caused by the war in Asia, Africa and Latin America which India is meeting. India is America's true partner in the free world in a way that even Germany, France, even Britain fail to be now that we know Merkel's policy "errors" and Macron's lofty ambitions for Europe, emboldened Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. American and German business integration of the American and German economies with China may also have emboldened Russia and China in their perceptions of world affairs that directly conflict with China's Buddhist history, Gandhi's view of the world, and India as the land of the Buddha.  Mr. Biden will talk with Modi about the invasion of Ukraine , the Indo-Pacific, and the building of strong India-US partnership. A major issue that has not been discussed at this level is the challenge India is facing and meeting of food security after the war in Ukraine. Pakistan, Sri Lanka and many developing countries are feeling the effects of the war with soaring food prices denying access to basic necessities in these countries. This extends to countries from Asia to Africa and Latin America affecting hundreds of millions of people.  India is providing food assistance following its effort to share vaccines in a remarkable effort that has not received the world's attention. Vaccination for over a billion people in India has taken place in one of the significant achievements during the pandemic. This was combined with food security assistance to hundreds of millions of people in India in India's population of 1.2 billion people. India is now in a position to meet some of the world's food needs with its own efforts in agricultural production. In this way the role played by the US since World War II for peace and security is being met by India as a significant partner in the free world, and in a way this is returning the kind of help the US offered India during the period of famine in the sixties. US president Biden understands this as he will discuss "mitigating the destabilising impact on global food supply and commodity markets" of the war in Ukraine. These are the hidden costs of the war that are not less painful than the gory war scenes unfolding today in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and because they are about food they are of no less importance. ...

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In a remarkable statement of how he sees India in 2022 US president Biden goes all out- "There's so much that our countries can and will do together, and I am committed to making the US-India parnership among the closest we have on Earth." "The closest we have on Earth" is a statement of how the US and India partnership should be given the work of Mohandas Gandhi and its leaders in the nineteenth and twentieth century including Vivekananda, and India's history as the home of Buddhism and the Vedanta. No one has ever put it in such words till Biden in his outspoken way and style. 

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WSJ interview with Narendra Modi before he meets Joe Biden at the White House. This interview talks about India seeking larger role in world affairs, about Indian democracy. Seen from inside India the perspective is different. India is at the same stage where China was in 1990-2000 with the rising aspirations of a billion people, Japan in the Meiji period in 1900. It is all about jobs, investment, technologies and manufacturing on a scale that surpasses China in that period with newer technologies to meet the rising aspirations of 1.4 billion people. China's trade with the US was three times higher than the Indian trade with the US in 2022, India desperately wants to catch up and fast. The Danish ambassador to India was asked what he saw in India today and he said it was the rising confidence of people that struck him most. The digitalization that has changed the way government benefits are provided to 1.4 billion people and opened bank accounts for all, provided delivery of services to all parts of the population. The infrastructure that is being built at breakneck pace, and new colleges and universities expanding access to quality education, healthcare.   ...

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Greg Ip says in WSJ that China turned to lender after 2010 and financed loans for development, for roads, highways and infrastructure in Asia and Africa. Between 1970 and 1990 the World Bank was extensively involved in infrastructure projects, by 1990 it retreated from this role and China after 2010 was lending at double the rate of the World Bank for it Belt and Road Initiative programs. At G20 New Delhi, India, Biden and Modi, leaders of Brazil, and South Africa, agreed on advancing the World Bank's loan capacity by $100 billion for next decade under leadership of Ajay Banga. Thjis is happening at the meeting of finance leaders in Marrakech, Morrocco in 2023. The IMF and the World Bank were set up after World War II under the agreements signed at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, as postwar finance system. The IMF was to serve as lender to countries facing short term finance crises, and the World Bank to finance development in poor countries such as India, Indonesia and after 1990 China. The largest borrowers from the World Bank were India, China and Indonesia. India is at $37 billion loans outstanding in 2021, China at about $21 billion after repaying much of its loans. By 2010 Brazil, Mexico, China and India had shifted to international capital markets for development support. Total outstanding debt of World Bank is $460 billion in 2021. ...

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The Quad meeting of the US, Australia, Japan and India took place in Hiroshima, as shown here. The leaders expressed their deep concern over the economic effects of the Ukraine war, including "food, fuel and energy security, critical supply chains. The meeting was to take place in Sydney, Australia, but was cancelled due to debt talks taking place between Biden and Republicans in the US Congress. The next Quad meeting is in India in 2024. Biden will meet pm Modi in the US June 22. PM Modi also meets Macron on Bastille Day in Paris on 14 July as a special guest of France.

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Biden's hard work and going into details and seeing that projects are delivered on time and in quality for the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law will make him an enduring president in the 21st century. Tyler Pager gives this report on the Biden style of making decisions and of getting things done on time that are making a big difference for the ease of living for all Americans.  Of Biden using his 36 years of negotiating in the Senate more than any Congressman including LBJ who only had 12 years, and the hard work from someone who commuted by Amtrak for all those years and attended to every detail. For the president who started out as county councilman in Delaware details matter, he looks into the details of rebuilding infrastructure by delivering projects on time and on scale. In late 2022 Tyler says Biden checked into the details of delays and wanted specifics which projects were not delivered on time for the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law passed a year earlier. Seeing this only one leader comes to mind prime minister Modi of India who is faced with a huge task of infrastructure projects and investments that are intended to make India the third largest economy in the world. Modi like Biden uses his experience of getting into details and checking that work is delivered on time, putting in the hard work in earnest, from Modi's work with state projects in Gujarat when he led the state for 15 years as chief minister. ...

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Many people ask how prime minister Modi can maintain a high level of energy while having such a busy schedule. Modi had 20 meetings in 65 hours in his 3 day trip to the US. Many of these meetings were important ones, including one with Quad leaders, meeting with Mr. Biden, his speech at the United Nations, meetings with US CEO's.

Modi drinks a lot of water to stay hydrated. He also tunes his body and sleep cycle to the time zone of the destination. Yoga, exercize, and good nutrition habits, also play a part in Modi's ability to maintain that level of energy. Concentration, discipline, determination, play a part in how he handles work.

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Increasing cooperation in fast rail, clean energy, semiconductors and defense manufacturing between India and Japan following the visit of prime minister Kishida of Japan to India. The plans for Japanese investment in India will be accelerated with this visit. PM Modi will visit Hiroshima for the G-7 summit. As India's development accelerates it is likely to make the G-7 the G-8 summit in coming years. The unity of purpose shown by Biden and Trudeau in Canada is seen today between Kishida and Modi in India. This follows the close relationship Modi had with prime minister Abe of Japan. Kishida was foreign minister in Abe's government.

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WSJ's reporters Meichtry, L, Pokharel, and Soon look at the extraordinary rise of Gautam Adani through his efforts to develop reclaimed land at Mundra port in the state of Gujarat. Adani who started with a small family owned plastics maker in Ahmedabad developed Mundra port around 2001 with the help of the Modi administration. Modi saw the electricity shortages in Gujarat as an opportunity to tackle India's chronic electricity shortages. Adani's early development of a deep water port at Mundra offered both Modi and Adani the opportunity to tackle the electricity shortages by bringing coal in large ships to Mundra in the way that China was already doing by 2005 in its own efforts at industrialization. So deeply immersed was India under the Congress Raj of licenses and closed economy that India's established business failed to see what China was doing to break into the ranks of industrialized nations. India's first prime minister Nehru had build a command economy where not much happened without government licenses and approval often riddled unwittingly with corruption. Modi needed someone outside the established companies operating under the Congress Raj command economy and with a vision of an India with abundant electricity to take the risks Chinese companies were taking to build an entirely new economy. By 2005 Guangzhou was importing coal with large ships from Indonesia and Australia. State owned companies moved slowly and would take years to develop the port capacity. Using China's example Modi pushed ahead with Adani on a rapid time delivery making Mundra a Special economic Zone and helping to connect Indian Railways to the port of Mundra for coal deliveries. Adani Enterprises built the thermal power plants near Mundra and build electricity transmission lines on a rapid mission mode giving Gujarat abundant electricity supplies and giving Gujarat state in northwestern India a great leap forward in the way China was already doing right in front of everyone's eyes by 2005 with world class ports built at Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzen, Hong Kong and logistics connections set with the help of Maersk.  Maersk is now doing the same for modern logistics in India in collaboration with the Modi administration.  Modi and the younger generation of aspirational youth in India see a New India that can break into the ranks of the largest industrialized nations with world class infrastructure in the way China has done, and use new technologies with innovation that will speed up the process in a way that the world has never seen. A quick look at Mundra Port in Wikipedia shows the timeline, It starts in 1998 when Adani Port Ltd was setup and Mundra port work began, 2002 the port integrated with Indian Railways, 2003 when it was made a Special Economic Zone by the Modi government in Gujarat, 2007 when IPO of 40 million shares at price band of around Rs 400 was done.  The Biden administration and the Trump administration support India's efforts to build a new modern economy with a rapid shift to renewable energy. As India is building the ports and logistics with the help of Maersk and other companies in the European Union, president Biden is working with prime minister Modi to build a new supply chain that removes the overconcentration of manufacturing and supply chain logistics in China. This means new ports with the latest technologies in India to handle shipment to the US and the EU. Jake Sullivan set out the goals for president Biden to accomplish this task in meetings with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval this week on iCERT. President Biden and Republicans, Germany and the EU, see India as a critical part of the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies, and the new supply chain. For the Adani Group the IPO pause offers an opportunity to do what Nirmala Sitharman has done in the Indian Budget this week- build a stable growth path ahead for the long term in line with India's Amrit Kal the next 25 years to centenary of freedom in 2047. Nirmala Sitharaman set a goal of rapid capital spending and investment increasing capital spending in 2023 by 33% in 2023 over 2022, yet maintaining a stable fiscal path by keeping the deficit below 6%. ...

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The Times looks at whether female leaders are better in handling situations like the pandemic. When it looks at all the information without cherry-picking this report says they are no better than male leaders. Sanna Marin of Finland and Angela Merkel are not better than a Biden or a Modi.

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In the meeting in the Oval Office Biden and Modi had this to say about India US relations. Modi called it a "transformative" decade. Mr. Biden called it a "new chapter" in ties, taking on tough challenges in coronavirus vaccines for the rest of Asia outside India and China, tackling climate change, and ensuring rule of law in the Indo-Pacific region.  Biden's view- "I think that the relationship between India and the US, two of the largest democracies in the world, is destined to be stronger, closer, tighter, and I think it can benefit the whole world." A look at the US under the Biden administration shows a US that is very different from that of the US in the period of presidents since Harry Truman when he met Jawaharlal Nehru at the White House in October 1949. Biden sees the US needing renewal of its infrastructure, reviving worker incomes and families, regaining its leadership of the free world, for its role and place in the world. Throughout the period 1949 to 2020 for 70 years India was never seen as a modernizing nation of 1.2 billion people. For most of this period it lacked the good governance and speedy implementation of modernization of economy that is essential for a truly good relationship. By releasing the potential of the younger generation in a country where people under 35 years form the major part of the population, with good governance and development agenda, the Indian prime minister has changed the entire dynamics of the India US relationship. This is happening in the way China had done in its relationship with the US after 2000 by modernizing the country. India is now the country with huge potential and the country the US sees as helping it build its own role and place in the world. The sheer size of India and its population with countries around it in the east such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam with shared values in south and southeast Asia bring together a population of close to 2 billion people much larger than China, to determine the direction of Asia.  This is the new chapter that president Biden has in mind, and it is also the "transformative decade" in the eyes of prime minister Modi as India finally puts behind it years of bad governance, and speeds up modernizing its economy.   ...

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The Biden administration's har ghar jal effort, clean drinking water in every home. The Modi administration has made its mark by har ghar jal, drinking water from taps for every home in a country of 1.3 billion people. The US Biden administration will be ensuring the same for clean drinking water free of harmful disease causing chemicals including PFAS contamination. PFAS chemicals are forever chemicals that take a long period to break down. Even lower levels of toxic chemicals can be seriously harmful, says the Biden administration.The head of the Environmental Protection Agency leads this effort by putting 1 billion dollars from last years approved spending into the plan for clean drinking water. 2021 approved spending for Workers and Families plan of Biden has $10 billion for preventing PFAS contamination. Of this the first $1 billion will be made available to affected and most hard hit communities for clean drinking water. Money would go to water quality testing, contractor training and new water treatment systems. In addition Food and Drug Administration agency will tackle testing for food and packaging, Agriculture Department for livestock contamination. Defense Department for checking contamination in military installations. It is a sort of Gati Shakti Master plan that brings in all agencies of government, an approach the Modi administration has adopted for India. One does not have to look far to understand the priorities of the world's two greatest democracies. This is the common struggle in the world's two great democracies to bring a better life for all the people.  "People on the frontline have suffered far too long. That is why Biden is taking aggressive action," says Biden/s man at the EPA Michael Regan.  Mr.Modi says the same thing for har ghar jal campaign for drinking water for 1.3 billion people. ...

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This report in WSJ by Thomas, Hughes and Wise says despite the concerns about Biden he is tied with Trump at 46% in a recent Ipsos Wash Post survey of voters. Lyrarc.com's Analysis of readers comments of WSJ, NYT and Wash Post reports on Biden for the last week show that most readers support Biden and see the media overreaching and lacking balance and good judgement in reporting. This report also shows 42% of Democrats support Biden continuing his candidacy. There is clearly misinformation with 4 specific examples of gross distortion of images of the president spread online, cited in reports. A true grass roots assessment would show a large majority of Democrats support the president once the dust has cleared. Lyrarc's assessment of the President at the NATO press conference Q and A gives the president a 9 out of 10 for the sharpness and ability to handle a huge number of details and complex policy issues, and for his delivery and viewer comprehension. Biden explained complex issues in simple plain English which also stands out. On the same day India's Modi said he was glad to be welcomed by Australia when he was in Vienna, Austria, with its chancellor, correcting it immediately. No one mentioned it even though it happened twice for Modi. Media made it their headline for Biden for similar mixing up and immediate correction. Going over complex issues for 60 minutes with 9 reporters in A+ fashion- no mention at all by the Media. In Movement for Global Literacy we cited the low degree of confidence and trust in media- only 20% of the American people trust the media such as the TV news shows and the newspapers. To know the true picture go directly to the grassroots and find out in every part of the Union. Lincoln,TR, FSR and Truman all in their own way faced the twisted rhetoric of politicians and the media in their time, yet retained the confidence of Ameica. ...

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This editorial in the WSJ shows the conduct of president Biden to keep all sides of the picture in consideration to bring a peaceful end to the Ukraine war with so far horrendous casualties on all sides, without escalation to new levels. These threats of escalation include nuclear threats. In this sense president Biden has serious responsibilities on behalf of the world separate from opinion on either side of the war, so does Mr. Jinping and Mr. Modi, and the leaders of other parts of the world who have not created the events for this conflict and represent a large part of the world and its peoples who are directly affected and want no further escalation period.

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This podcast in the WSJ shows how agreement was reached for the global corporate minimum tax for 136 countries bringing in holdouts such as Ireland. The global corporate minimum tax is essential for US president Biden's Build Back Better infrastructure spending plan, for Modi's infrastructure plans in India, and for the European Union's infrastructure spending plans, for infrastructure spending around the world, after three decades of neglect of infrastructure building.

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Biden's record on taking America through the pandemic, and getting the largest vaccination program in history like that of prime minister Modi has been forgotten to some extent by the Nation and more by the media than the Nation. Decisions on supply chain concentration in China were made long before Biden for decades since Clinton and Bush, Obama and Trump, which caused the spurt of inflation and cost of living to 9% that has so disconcerted Americans on incomes below $100,000. Biden and Fed chairman Powell brought this down to 3% in 2023. Yet the cost of living in housing and transport has lingering effects that lead to people describing Biden's record in a disparaging way as this title suggest, when it has through investments of trillions in aging dilapidated  infrastructure and in renewable energy, chips, science given America a pathway to a bright vision for the future. It is left to Kamal Harris to communicate this vision and what it offers for America's future. ...

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The experience of J&J and Novavax in vaccine manufacturing shows the importance of vaccine manufacturing and of Quality Assurance in the production of vaccines for coronavirus. The success of Pfizer and Indian companies in vaccine manufacturing shows how important it is to think early and plan early for vaccine manufacturing technologies, personnel and quality assurance. This is also why the US effort, India's billion vaccine target in 6-12 months of planning, is a great effort in thinking ahead of every aspect of vaccines and vaccinating, planning of all details, hard work, by Pfizer, by Indian pharmaceutical companies, and by the Modi and Biden administrations. 

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Adriana Kugler a Labor economist at Georgetown is president Biden's nominee for the Federal Reserve Board. In 2021 she was nominated as Executive Director at the World Bank. Her work is on how labor and social policies can improve the lives of working people, help create jobs, and help the less well off get education and training. Asked about Biden nominating labor economists to top jobs she says-"This is the key issue of our time. This is what we need to fix." As the first Latina in this position at the World Bank, Kugler who is a Colombian-American says, "they view me differently," and have a sense of being heard by someone who understands what it is like ot grow up in a developing country.

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For an institution the size of the World Bank at a time when most of the developing world is suffering from debt burden and climate change, the skepticism on climate change of its head David Malpass was coming under heavy criticism from the Biden White House. He was appointed by president Trump in 2019. He resigned today.