Autograph for Biden.

"US President Joe Biden...asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his autograph after discovering how he has been managing large crowds, according to sources." India Today. "When US President Joe Biden walked up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Quad meeting, one of the points he made was the large number of requests he was getting from prominent citizens to attend the Indian leader's programs during his next month state visit to Washington DC, officials said." "You are causing me a real problem," Biden said to Modi. "Everyone in the whole country wants to come. I have run out of tickets. You think I am kidding? Ask my team. I am getting phone calls from people I have never heard of before. Everyone from movie actors to relatives. You are too popular." ET. Heady stuff. Nectar for the ego. Australia was not to be left behind. "Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese heaped praise on Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, likening him to rock star Bruce Springsteen in a gushing introductory speech at a stadium." CNN. Springsteen is an enormously popular American singer and songwriter known as "The Boss". wikipedia. "The last time I saw someone here was Bruce Springsteen, and he didn't get the welcome that Prime Minister Modi has got." "Prime Minister Modi is the boss!" he added, to thunderous applause. Just days before the "thunderous applause", "Two Australian universities - Federation University in Victoria and Western Sidney University in New South Wales - have separately announced bans on the intake of Indian students from some Indian states citing concerns over a rise in fraudulent visa applications." The banned states are Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier the same states were banned as, "At least five Australian universities have placed bans or restrictions on students from some Indian states, amidst a surge in fraudulent applications from South Asia seeking to work - not study - in this country, according to a media report." ET. This when, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said in the era of Amrit Kaal, the country is forging new definitions and creating a new order." AIR. 'Amrit' means 'nectar for eternal life' and 'kaal' means 'era'. Gujaratis, from Modi's home state of Gujarat, are paying $70,000- $75,000, a small fortune in India, to people smugglers to escape to the US. DW. Some are paying with their lives as well. It seems that Gujaratis are not satisfied with the bountiful Amrit Kaal they are receiving. How ungrateful! Meanwhile, "In a new report, the Daily Mail has reported that violent ethnic clashes that took part in Leicester, UK last year were allegedly 'stoked by Prime Minister Modi's Hindu nationalist party'." The Wire. In the latest NDTV-CSDS Survey, "Twenty-seven percent of those surveyed attributed Modi's popularity to his oratory, and only 11 percent to his policies." DH. After all, "You can fool some of the people all of the time" (Abraham Lincoln). Sadly, elections are won by fools.