Arvind's Newsletter

1.China gains from Trump’s alienation of India: FT Editorial Board

US policy towards New Delhi is harming Washington’s interests, analysts argued, as India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi readied for a summit in China alongside several anti-Western nations.

“The symbolism is powerful: days after the US hit most imports from India with punitive 50 per cent tariffs, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will this weekend make his first visit in seven years to China. Long-standing tensions between New Delhi and Beijing began easing before Donald Trump’s second presidency, and India has played down any link between Modi’s trip and the US tariff barrage. But it is clear that Trump’s actions in recent months have dealt a heavy blow to efforts by successive US governments to build a relationship with India that would act as a bulwark against Chinese domination of the Indo-Pacific.

Trump, who has dismissed India as a “dead economy”, argues that the 25 per cent “reciprocal” tariffs he had already imposed were justified by New Delhi’s hefty trade surplus and highly protected domestic market. But his claim that the additional 25 per cent rate implemented on Wednesday was a response to Indian purchases of discounted Russian oil that were helping to fund Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine will only fuel complaints about US hypocrisy and capriciousness. Until recently, Washington had no objection to such purchases. Nor has Trump taken similar action against China — an even bigger buyer of Russian crude.

New Delhi was already upset about Trump’s deepening embrace of its arch-rival Pakistan. The US president has echoed some of Islamabad’s phraseology on the disputed territory of Kashmir since he claimed to have brokered the ceasefire that ended bloody clashes between the Asian neighbours in May. In June, Trump held a two-hour private lunch in Washington with Pakistani strongman Asim Munir.

It is a remarkable change of approach even for the mercurial president, who has previously described Modi as his “true friend”. In 2020, Trump told a cheering crowd of over 100,000 people in Gujarat that “America loves India, America respects India, and America will always be faithful and loyal friends to the Indian people.”

His U-turn will only help China’s efforts to portray itself as a more reliable international interlocutor. America’s unpredictability will do little to persuade major nations such as India that they should distance themselves from Beijing or Moscow. Read on gift article.

2.India's economy unexpectedly picks up steam, but Trump's tariff effect looms: Mint'

India's economy expanded 7.8% in the April-June quarter of FY26, its fastest expansion in five quarters, beating expectations of economists, aided by strong growth in agriculture, manufacturing, construction and services sectors, according to official data released on Friday.

The median estimate of 22 economists in a Mint poll was for growth to moderate to 6.7% in the first quarter from a robust 7.4% in the preceding three months. The economists had projected GDP growth in the range of 6.2% to 7.0%.

At this pace, India remains one of the fastest-growing major economies, despite an increasingly cloudy export outlook after President Donald Trump's tariff hike.

3.Reliance Jio IPO set for mid-2026 debut; platform crosses 500 mn users: Business Standard

Reliance Jio will launch its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) by the first half of 2026, Chairman Mukesh Ambani announced at the company’s 48th annual general meeting (AGM) on Friday. The move, subject to necessary approvals, is expected to be one of India’s most significant stock market debuts.

“We are aiming to list Jio by the first half of 2026,” Ambani said. “This IPO will showcase Jio’s capability to create value comparable to the world’s leading technology companies and offer a strong investment proposition.

Ambani also announced that Jio has surpassed the 500 million subscriber milestone. The subscriber base has risen from 488 million, as reported in Jio’s FY25 annual report. At the time of the total, 191 million users were from its 5G network, highlighting the rapid adoption of the latest telecom technology.

4.World’s Fastest Deliveries Ignite an Investment Frenzy in India: Bloomberg

“India’s instant commerce revolution is gathering extraordinary pace, fueled by surging demand, rising competition and billions of dollars in global investor capital. Startups are jostling with Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.’s-backed Flipkart to blanket the nation’s cities with small, hyperlocal warehouses and delivery riders — promising groceries, electronics, and in some cases, even gold coins in under 10 minutes.

It’s a model that has burned through mountains of cash — and flamed out — in nearly every other major market. Yet investors are betting that India will be different. With dense cities, low labor costs, and a rising class of more than 730 million digital-first Gen Z and millennial consumers accustomed to instant services, the country may be the one place where 10-minute delivery can finally work at scale.”

SoftBank Group Corp., Temasek Holdings Pte. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. are among global investors — many of whom saw similar models crash in the US and Europe — pouring billions into India’s instant commerce race.

The market is expected to balloon to $100 billion in sales by 2035, from $6 billion now, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. That would make it nearly a fifth of the country’s overall e-commerce sales, up from just 5% today.

Read on Gift article

5.India's road accident deaths crossed 173,000 in 2023; Delhi tops list: Business Standard

Delhi recorded the highest number of road accident deaths in 2023, with 1,457 fatalities from 5,834 mishaps, making it the worst-affected city for the second consecutive year, according to data released by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

The ministry published its ‘Road Accidents in India 2023’ report on Thursday. It revealed that nearly 173,000 people died on Indian roads in 2023, averaging one fatality every three minutes. This represented a 2.6 per cent rise in deaths compared with 2022, while the number of injuries increased by 4.4 per cent to more than 460,000.

Bengaluru recorded 915 deaths, making it the second-worst affected city in the country for successive years. Tamil Nadu reported the highest number of accidents (67,213), while Uttar Pradesh recorded the greatest number of deaths (23,652).

6.Europe to reintroduce sanctions against Iran: AP News

France, Germany, and the UK yesterday began a 30-day process to reimpose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. The penalties—including asset freezes and travel bans—were lifted by a 2015 nuclear deal the US has since left.

The snapback is intended to spur negotiations with Tehran, which suspended cooperation with the UN’s nuclear watchdog after US and Israeli strikes on nuclear facilities in June. Days earlier, the watchdog had reported Iran possessed enough uranium and facilities to build several weapons in violation of the 2015 deal. Europe is calling for Iran to expand UN access to facilities, resume talks with the US, and disclose the location of uranium it is accused of covertly moving this summer.  

Iran called yesterday's move unlawful and threatened to end discussions about resuming UN inspections after this week, permitting the first facility visit since the strikes. The sanctions would further pressure Iran’s struggling economy.

7.South Korea’s fertility rate is plummeting, but the country has emerged as a leader in multiple births: Korea News

 Korea ranks No. 2 globally for multiple births, and No 1 for triplets and beyond; in 2023, twin and triplet deliveries accounted for 5.5% of all births in the country. That same year, though, South Korea’s birth rate fell to a record low, the worst in the world, deepening its demographic crisis.

Experts say the high demand in Korea for fertility treatments — which make having twins or triplets more likely — is behind the surge, The Korea Herald reported. Globally, twins are much more common now compared to the 1900s, as more women use assisted reproductive technology.

8.Massive’ oil reserves? Donald Trump’s energy plan baffles Pakistan: Financial Times

“Since taking office, Donald Trump has pursued a series of natural resource deals with countries eager to get in his good graces. He said that Ukraine held up to $500bn of mineral wealth while the Democratic Republic of Congo dangled a lithium, cobalt and coltan agreement to draw in US support to end a Rwanda-backed separatist insurgency.

But the US president’s claim of “massive oil reserves” in cash-strapped Pakistan, which relies on imports for 80 per cent of its petroleum supply, was his boldest yet, puzzling industry figures, analysts and even officials in the South Asian country.

“Completely out of left field,” said an official at a Pakistani state-owned oil and gas company on the day Trump announced a trade deal with Islamabad, slashing tariffs on Pakistan by 10 percentage points, to 19 per cent.

“There is no mysterious, undiscovered oilfield that is going to put out 1bn barrels,” said another senior official at one of Pakistan’s state-owned oil and gas exploration companies.

The trade agreement was a diplomatic victory for strongman army chief Asim Munir and the military-backed government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, helped by their offer of sweeteners related to cryptocurrencies and critical minerals.

9.'The most ingenious stunt since the Trojan Horse': The Soviet artwork that spied on the US: BBC

A listening device hidden in an artwork in 1945 was undetected by US security for seven years – and it's not the only example of art having been manipulated for subterfuge.

Eighty years ago, during the final weeks of World War Two, a troop of Russian boy scouts presented the US Ambassador in Moscow with a hand-carved Great Seal of the US, at his official residence – Spaso House. The gift symbolised cooperation between Russia and the US during the war, and the US Ambassador W Averell Harriman proudly hung it in his house until 1952.

But unbeknownst to the ambassador and his security team, the seal contained a covert listening device, later dubbed "The Thing" by US technical security teams. It spied on diplomatic conversations, completely undetected for seven years. By using a seemingly innocuous artwork to infiltrate the enemy and gain strategic advantage, the Soviets had pulled off the most ingenious stunt since Odysseus's Trojan Horse. But this is a true story, even if it sounds like the stuff of spy fiction. 

10.The 101 Best Movie Performances of the 21st Century: The Ringer

From Daniel Day-Lewis in ‘There Will Be Blood’ to Mark Wahlberg in ‘The Departed,’ we’re celebrating the best of the best of the past 25 years. How do your favorites stack up?

What you have before you is The Ringer’s ranking of the 101 best movie performances of the 21st century. When we came up with the idea, we didn’t realize how hard it would be to limit the list to that number. That means that a few of our favorites are missing—and assuredly some of yours, too.