STT + LTCG - FPI = ?

"At a press briefing in Bangkok on 15 October, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said India entered the energy shock with strong fundamentals and has responded well to it, and that pressure on its exchange rate should not be read as a sign of failure." "It said benchmark interest rates in advanced economies have climbed to multi-decade highs, pushing up the borrowing costs for emerging markets." ET. Since the rupee is essential for every moment of our lives, from food to education and healthcare, its weakness signifies a weakness of the economy and governance for us. "Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on 13 October that while the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would continue its efforts to curb volatility in the rupee but is not seeking to fix its value, as the currency faces pressure from outside factors." On 12 October, the rupee appreciated 93 paise, logging its steepest single-day gain in more than six months," and on the 13th, "The rupee appreciated 82 paise to 94.96 against US dollar,...supported by various RBI measures aimed at reducing immediate dollar demand and curbing excessive positions in the foreign exchange market." Mint. Since the rupee has jumped from 96.795 against one dollar on 08 October (in. investing.com) to 94.84, nearly 200 paise, to one dollar (xe.com) this morning, isn't the RBI causing more volatility by its actions? One reason for the weakness of the rupee is the selling of Indian equities by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) who sold a net Rs 2.6 trillion worth of equities in the first nine months of 2026. "The Nifty 50 traded at 20.5 times trailing 12-month earnings on 30 September, down from 25 times at the September 2024 market peak. Yet the index fell 18.4% in dollar terms during January-September, underperforming all six global peers," wrote Mayur Bhalerao. In 2025, even as FPIs sold a net $18.9 billion worth of equities, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought a record $90.1 billion worth, nearly five times as much. In 2026, FPIs have net sold $27.8 billion worth till September, while DIIs have bought $64.6 billion. Mint. The problem is that DIIs are investing in rupees while FPIs are repatriating their proceeds in dollars. So the rupee falls. Even worse, DIIs push up the prices of shares, which gives greater returns to FPIs, while the RBI's support of the rupee increases the amount of dollars FPIs get when they convert their rupees to dollars. "For too long have successive governors said RBI does not target any level for the rupee but only manages its market volatility. Few believe that." "The reality is that the domestic currency will not be relieved of pressure so long as global oil prices rule high (India imports almost 90% of its needs), global bond yields harden, capital imports sputter and the dollar index stays high." Mint. One big reason for FPI-selling could be that in July 2004, "Long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax on listed equity was axed, while tax on short-term gains was cut to 10%, but a new STT (Securities Transaction Tax) was levied in lieu of that relief." Since STT is incurred on every transaction, the tax is generated even when shares are being sold at a loss. In 2023-24, the Nifty rose 28% and STT collections rose 35%, while in 2025-26, the Nifty fell 5% but STT still jumped 8%. In 2018, LTCG tax was reintroduced at 10% and increased to 12.5% in 2024, while the tax on short-term gains jumped to 20%, but the STT stayed as it was, wrote S Sreedharan & A Raghavendra M. Naturally, FPIs feel short changed. When the government resorts to extortion, Indians stay captive but foreigners can escape. The IMF said our fundamentals are strong. True, strongly wrong.

They want the same thing.

Like the 1981 horror movie The Hand (wikipedia), the horrific, shadowy 'Foreign Hand' (Indian Currents)  has been haunting Indian governments since shortly after Independence. Even as, "Security agencies have stepped up their vigil over the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement amid intelligence assessments flagging the possibility of foreign interference. Several social media accounts allegedly linked to Pakistan, more than 4,000 social media posts and profiles, and over 500 accounts of being operated from outside India are under scrutiny." "According to intelligence assessments, funds are being mobilized for the movement through various channels." ABP. Pakistan and unnamed others are plotting against this beloved Indian government. What an intelligent assessment! What about BJP's interference in foreign countries? "Overseas Friends of the BJP (OFBJP) was formed about 13 years ago; it has units in USA, UK and Canada. It has been striving to project positive and correct image of India and BJP to the Western world, and correct the distortions and false image of BJP created by its adversaries." BJP. Are they not raising money as well? An American singer Mary Milliben, who has never been to India, but is apparently an ardent supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi (wikipedia) "alleged that the CJP was being funded by US-based donors opposed to PM Modi and urged young Indians to organize peaceful protests against what she described as the party's 'disruptive spirit'." TN. Ms Milliben may relax. The Indian government uses a wide range of weapons from batons to tear gas, from water cannons to pellet guns (Reuters) against unarmed citizens. When the UNHRC expressed concern on mass detentions of protesters, journalists and lawyers and called for restraint (ANI) India's instant brusque response was that its advice was "misplaced" and an "interference in internal matters" (HT). "Detained protesters said that police personnel beat them, hit their private parts, snatched away many of their phones, and deleted photos and videos of the protests from their phone galleries." The Wire. "An NSUI protester from Kerala has alleged that Delhi Police personnel punched him in the face, kicked him in the chest, back and private parts, and strangled him inside a police vehicle after he was detained during protests demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar." He also "alleged that four boys aged 16 and 17 were subjected to similar treatment inside the vehicle, despite not having participated in the protest." India Today. We understand this fascist regime will do anything to hang on to power and as their crimes multiply so does the necessity of staying in control. But why do the police resort to such brutality? The protesters come from the same towns and villages as police personnel, so why the ferocity? Because they want to protect that most prized possession in India - a government job. "A government post offers iron-clad job security, wages well above comparable private sector roles (for instance a government-employed driver may earn four times higher), generous health and pension benefits, high social status and authority even at the lowest rungs of the bureaucracy," wrote Ajit Ranade. Young people spend years appearing for selection examinations for government jobs. In September 2024, 6,000 post-graduates, nearly 40,000 graduates and 120,000 candidates who studied up to Class 12, applied for the post of sweepers "to clean offices in Haryana govt departments, boards, corporations and civic bodies." TOI. The educated protesters rightly blame the government for a jobless economy, leaks of exam question papers (wikipedia) and election fraud. They want a change for a better future. The police understand the regime wants all protests to be crushed, never mind the cost, and will punish anyone seen to be soft on the protesters. Both are fighting for their lives. The regime is destroying both.    

We should offer the fig leaf.

"The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for 2026-27 by 60 basis points (bps) to 7%, citing resilient domestic demand and robust services activity." "In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF also raised its growth projection for FY28 by 30 bps to 7%." BS. India has signed trade agreements with at least 14 countries, known as PTA, CECA, CEPA and CECPA, which are probably not fully free, and Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Thailand. wikipedia. A BTA, or Bilateral Trade Agreement, with the US is frozen. "US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said he did not think there was 'something imminent' on the trade deal with India and the two sides have identified 'the universe of items' that are sticking points." ET. Agreeing with Green, "Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the India-US trade deal talks have hit a plateau, beyond which giving or taking might be 'very,very' difficult." TIE. Trade talks "in the past months have met with complications, most recently a new US law that paves the way for up to 100% tariffs on Indian goods because of New Delhi's purchase of Russia oil." "A deal has also been held back because Washington is yet to complete a Section 301 trade investigation on several nations over alleged excess industrial capacity." Reuters. However, the picture changes fast where US President Donald Trump is involved. "Trump is facing a growing backlash over plans to import diesel from Russia as the Iran war continues to impact global energy prices." "As well as the initial release of 300,000 tonnes of diesel, Trump said Russia would then supply 500,000 tonnes in November and one million more after that." BBC. In an effort to surpass the US economy, "Beijing has been over investing for years, but lately, it has been dumping the excess output it can't sell at home. In the past, export volumes rose with prices; this decade, Beijing has dropped export prices nearly 20%, producing a 40% surge in volume." Combined with weaker imports, China's trade surplus jumped 20% last year to a record $1.2 trillion, wrote Ruchir Sharma. Unfortunately, "The US will remain reliant on China for its rare earths well into the 2030s even as it builds its own mining and processing facilities." "While US output of the two most-commonly used rare earths has more than tripled since Trump returned to office last year, the country can meet only 42% of its demand and within five years will still rely on imports for nearly a quarter of its demand." Reuters. India does not have a rare earth industry nor the efficient productivity to triple production within one year to entice the US. Also, "Events including a US military attack on a ship off Oman that killed three Indian seafarers and India rejecting Trump's repeated claim of brokering a ceasefire with Pakistan have hurt relations." Trump is referring to Operation Sindoor on 7 May 2025, in which India attacked Pakistan  (wikipedia) in retaliation for the terrorist attack at Pahalgam in Kahsmir on 22 April 2025 in which 26 unarmed civilians were gunned down (wikipedia). In August, Air Chief Marshall AP Singh said "India downed five fighter aircraft of Pakistan during Operation Sindoor." newsonair.gov.in. No mention of India's losses. This lack of honesty allows Trump to fill the void with his claims. The trouble is that India does not obey rules. "Licensed categories like aviation are rife with policy puzzles. Asset shifts have been wrapped in riddles in fields like e-commerce and infrastructure." "In recent years, though, India has had a boom in outgoing investments, with both foreign and domestic industrial houses investing abroad." Mint. It will be suicide for Republicans if Trump buys diesel from Russia. India should offer to buy crude from Russia, refine it to diesel and supply the US. We get the crude, Putin gets his cash, Trump gets his diesel and the fig leaf stays in position. Comparing sizes of the leaves will not be allowed. We don't take questions.  

It's not food.

"India's retail inflation quickened to 5.54% in September 2026 from 4.83% in August, driven by a sharp rise in food prices, particularly vegetables, according to government data." "The central bank also raised its inflation forecast for FY27 to 5.2% from 5.0% earlier, citing higher crude oil prices, elevated food costs and the impact of weaker rupee on imported inflation." ET. Emphasis on food prices is a regular cop-out for doing nothing because food prices are supply dependent and monetary policy cannot increase supplies. The big secret is that the government is actively creating shortages of sugar and grains by diverting them for ethanol production to reduce import of crude oil. "Between 2019-20 and 2025-26, ethanol supplied to oil marketing companies grew at approximately 38% annually, while maize production grew at 11.4%, sugarcane at 5.1% and rice at 4.4%." Maize is essential for the poultry industry and diversion of maize to ethanol production is raising prices of eggs and chicken. "The same applies to livestock and diary producers." "The starch and food-processing industries face a similar problem." Indic Collective. As more land is diverted to sugar and maize production there is less for growing vegetables. The precipitous fall of the rupee from 62.33 to one dollar in 2014 (bankbazaar.com) to 96.795 to one dollar on 08 October (in.investing.com), makes imports that much more expensive. In a belated effort to be seen to be doing something the RBI raised the cost of borrowing by a token 25 basis points (bps) to 5.50% last week. TOI. Just as the RBI has failed to control inflation it has failed to control the cost of borrowing for the government. "Indian government bonds tumbled yesterday, with the benchmark 10-year yield posting the biggest one-day rise in over six months," as the "6.94% 2036 bond yield surged nearly 9 bps to 7.3857%, a three-year peak." ET. Clearly, the bond market has no faith in the RBI's ability to control inflation in the medium term. To support the rupee the RBI announced a dollar swap which drew in a total of $136.4 billion, of which FCNR(B) deposits at very high rates of tax-free interest contributed $127.2 billion. Mint. However, the rupee was at 95.11 to one dollar on 31 August, the closing day of the scheme, but continued falling to over 96 to the dollar. mumbaiport.gov.in. Foreign Exchange reserves fell from $785.71 billion on 4 September to $734.6 billion on 2 October, suggesting the RBI had spent about $50 billion on buying rupees to support the currency. BT. When that did not work, the RBI "announced a series of measures to ease pressure on the rupee, tightening rules for foreign exchange derivatives, restricted forward hedging of the currency and mandated that "authorised dealers will have to maintain a cash reserve with the RBI equal to 20% of the rupee equivalent of the notional amount of each eligible transaction." ET. The RBI "announced a special window to meet the entire daily dollar requirements of three public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs). NDTV. As the rupee appreciated to 95.755 on 12 October from 96.755 on 09 October, the RBI restricted the rupee non-deliverable forward window only for hedging. ET. The RBI probably wants to stop banks and companies buying dollars with the stronger rupee for use in the future. Large scale dollar buying will again weaken the rupee. "Prasanna Tantri, associate professor of finance at the Indian School of Business, has warned that India cannot sustain zero real interest rates for too long. He warned that the RBI's efforts to defend the rupee and keep interest rates artificially low through monetary easing risk fueling inflation and undermining financial stability." BT. The RBI failed to defy the 'Impossible Trinity' (wikipedia) and prefers to control the movement of currency while trying to keep the interest rate low and the rupee high. Will it succeed? Depends on foreign investors and the bond market. Stop blaming food. They are not buying it.      

Invent clever lies please.

 "An executive magistrate in Delhi yesterday ordered the release of CJP (Cockroach Janta Party) members Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das after they furnished surety bonds of Rs 50,000 each, undertaking 'to maintain peace and good behavior' for one year." TOI. The magistrate has seen pictures completely opposite to what we have seen. "In scenes rarely witnessed aboard a commercial flight, the CJP's Dipke, Das and Ranka were detained from inside an aircraft shortly after landing in Delhi." "A Delhi Police team, notably comprising mostly women cops, entered the Air India flight from Mumbai within minutes of touchdown and detained the trio as co-passengers looked on and shot videos." India Today. Apparently, their crime was that they intended to protest peacefully against election fraud. On 17 May, "MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) Secretary (West) Sibi George strongly defended India's democratic system, diversity and minority rights during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the Netherlands." ddnews.gov.in. Since Mr Modi did not deny this bold assertion, we can assume this is official. "In India, fundamental rights are considered an essential part of the basic structure of the constitution, which in any case cannot be violated." And, "The right to a peaceful assembly without arms is a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(b) of the Constitution." iPleaders. On cue, "Acting on directions from the Delhi High Court, Delhi Police issued notices to leaders of the CJP,"  involving "allegations of a woman's photographs being doctored into objectionable images, which were circulated online." ET. That might explain the posse of female police officers to arrest the three leaders from the airplane. If any one of the men sneezed or coughed loudly a uniform could burst open and an extremely serious case of 'Outrage of Female Modesty' under Section 354 (LawyersclubIndia) could result. On 10 October, "Delhi Police has deployed more than 35,000 police and paramilitary personnel, set up six designated detention centers and prepared surveillance measures involving body cameras, facial recognition systems, CCTV cameras and drones." The internet was shut down around central Delhi and 45 Metro stations were closed. ET. All incoming mail and express trains arriving in New Delhi and Nizamuddin Stations between 4 am and 2 pm were cancelled. HT. The center of Delhi around Connaught Place and Jantar Mantar was completely sealed off and "By 9 pm, over 67,000 protesters had been detained across Delhi." HT. Traders estimated a loss of up to Rs 20 billion due to the closure of markets in and around Connaught Place. ET. What right has the government to convert our capital city into an internment camp disrupting the life of tax paying citizens of Delhi? "The UN human rights office has expressed concern over mass detentions during large scale protests, urging Indian authorities uphold the right to peaceful assembly and immediately release anyone arbitrarily detained." TNIE. To that, "In a statement, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal described the OHCHR's remarks as unwarranted and an unacceptable interference in country's internal affairs. Mr Jaiswal said that violent responses to protests in India's neighborhood,...had gone unremarked." newsonair.gov.in. Mass arrests, shutting down our right to travel and converting the whole city into an open air prison is not "internal affairs". We call it an infernal affront. Did he just admit that India has become a Pakistan? "The spokesperson highlighted that India is the world's largest democracy, where the right to peaceful assembly is guaranteed by the Constitution and safeguarded by robust institutions, an independent judiciary and a free media." Journalists and media personnel were arrested, and even assaulted, despite showing their IDs and cameras. TOI. There goes the "free media". "Judges of Supreme Court and high courts are, in effect, being appointed directly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi rather than the collegium, said former judge of Madras High Court K Chandru." TOI. So much for robust institutions. We do not object to lying to the world. What we object to is the lies are so barefaced and so obviously silly that it makes a laughing stock of India and Indians. Get someone to invent clever lies. Don't make us look stupid.       

Irrational markets making money.

Four days back, "The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) unanimously voted to raise the policy repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 5.50%, after a detailed assessment of evolving macroeconomic and financial conditions, developments and outlook." Expected Real GDP growth rate was increased from 6.7% to 7.1% for FY 2026-27, while consumer price index (CPI) inflation is expected to be 5.2% and core inflation to be 4.4%. ET. The day before the MPC meeting, "The rupee declined 0.15% to 96.43 per dollar" and the RBI is thought to have supported it. "The currency hit a record low of 96.96 in May." ET. From June to September the RBI raised $136.4 billion from overseas borrowing (DC), which ballooned the forward liability by $200 billion. "Will it be a case of too little too late?" as there has not been much change since its last meeting on 26 August. "Even at the newly-hiked rate of 5.50%, the real policy repo rate is negative, if one accepts the MPC projected rate of inflation during the third quarter (6%) and the fourth quarter (5.7%)," wrote Mythili Bhusnurmath. The Indian rupee has fallen to 96.70 to one dollar since then. xe.com. On 2 October, SBI Research called for immediate "protective guardrails" around the rupee and said, "the balance of risks has 'tilted decisively' towards a 25 bps rate hike." "The report said the global environment argues against waiting, pointing to rate increases by South Korea and Philippines in August and by the US, Japan, the euro area and New Zealand in September amid renewed inflation risks." BT. On 10 October, "SBI Research has called for stronger Reserve Bank of India (RBI) intervention to manage currency volatility," because of "a changing global financial environment, with a resurgent US dollar, uncertainty over the Federal Reserve's interest rate trajectory and rising international bond yields." BT. "In the week ended 4 September 2026, the country's forex reserves touched a record $785.71 billion,' but "by 2 October, reserves had declined to $734.6 billion, according to RBI data. The sharp fall suggests continued intervention by the RBI in the foreign exchange market." When the FCNR (B) scheme was announced in June, the rupee was trading at 95.74 to the dollar but despite huge inflows under the scheme the rupee touched 96.84 against the dollar on 7 October before closing at 96.77. One reason is that "In total, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have sold a massive Rs 2.85 trillion in Indian equity so far in 2026." BT. By selling dollars to support the rupee, the RBI is increasing FPI repatriation as they convert their proceeds. Effectively, India has borrowed dollars at up to 6.5% rate of interest (IDBI Bank) as a gift to FPIs to take more dollars home. "India's central banks governor Sanjay Malhotra said financial markets could be irrational in the short term and several measures suggested the rupee was undervalued." Reuters. In June 2025, the RBI cut its policy rate by a large 50 basis points, for a cumulative reduction of 100 bps in the four months since February  South Indian Bank. With inflation rising and the rupee under pressure, why didn't the RBI raise rates by at least 50 bps, instead of a cosmetic 25 bps, to show it is serious? "It's only in the long run they are able to find the right value (of the rupee)," said Malhotra. Indeed! "In the long run we are all dead," said the famous economist, John Maynard Keynes. Goodreads. Till then markets are making money. Because the RBI is giving them. No need to wait.    

The Silver Anniversary.

Mr Narendra Modi has been continuously in power for 25 years first as chief minister of Gujarat and then as the prime minister of India. "His followers are celebrating. His Cabinet has passed a resolution praising him." Suddenly, a perfect storm seems to be building. The Election Commission and the judiciary are not trusted, inflation is rising, even the 'Godi (lapdog) Media'  (wikipedia) is interviewing Opposition leader Mr Rahul Gandhi, inflation is climbing, the rupee is dropping, the US is humiliating India almost daily, foreign investors (FIIs) selling a cumulative Rs 358.61 billion of Indian equities (NDTV) and, worst of all, young people are laughing at Mr Modi. The Print. Billionaire Elon Musk alleged that, "Starlink was being blocked 'by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the India people'."  "India defended its satellite internet approval process as fair and non-discriminatory." Reuters. Within hours Musk wrote on X, "Starlink is licensed in over 165 countries and has spent five years complying with every single law and requirement of the government of India, so why still no license? Is Ambani the real boss of India?" (NDTV. That is an indirect reference to Mr Modi. While Ambani is safe in India, other Indian companies with business in the US are not. The US suspended eight major technology companies, including Microsoft, Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) from Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) which is a pathway to getting a green card and permanent residency. ET. Vice President JD Vance said that companies were replacing American workers with "foreign indentured servants". Though Vance did not mention India in particular, New Delhi found the remark "deeply offensive and unwarranted". TOI. At home, "India's influential Gen Z-led 'cockroach' protesters are back on the streets - this time seeking electoral reforms and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of manipulating voter rolls." BBC. Shiv Sena UBT Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said, "Before Gyanesh Kumar, Rajiv Kumar was the Chief Election Commissioner." "Rajiv Kumar and Gyanesh Kumar are criminals of the country." He also alleged that "the Election Commission and the system had been 'hijacked' since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah came to power." ABP. The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) called for a protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar today but, "CJP has claimed that Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained upon landing at the Delhi Airport ahead of their planned protest at Jantar Mantar against CEC Gyanesh Kumar." HT. Delhi has been converted into a concentration camp (wikipedia) as "Delhi Police has deployed more than 35,000 police and paramilitary personnel, set up six designated detention centers and prepared surveillance measures involving body cameras, facial recognition systems, CCTV cameras and drones. If it sounds like the war in Ukraine where Russia and Ukraine are using semi-autonomous drones (The Conversation), then the difference is that this is not against a foreign military but against unarmed Indian civilians. Connaught Place, the center of Delhi, has been shut down which, traders say, will cause Rs 20 billion in losses. ET. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke claimed that Mr Modi is "scared of the youth" and is "waging a war against his own people". ET. Mr Modi cannot allow Gyanesh Kumar to resign or be replaced because that would be tantamount to admitting that elections are fraudulent, perhaps including his own. Already foreign envoys such as the US Ambassador, the Australian High Commissioner, the Russian Ambassador and the Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim have met Mr Rahul Gandhi. DC. Mr Modi and Mr Amit Shah must be terrified of being forced out and having to face reprisals for their misdeeds. Also the BJP cadre, whose lucrative posts and impunity for crimes, depend on these two will not allow them to lose power. There are 165 foreign embassies and high commissions in Delhi (wikipedia). How long will they hold Delhi hostage and beat up unarmed protesters? Is that why Mr Modi, who loves photo ops in foreign lands, missed the UN General Assembly meeting in New York for the second successive year in 2026? Bol News. Hoist by his own petard (wikipedia). As it were.    

France in debt.

"Since the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) launched its second campaign, School Thik Karo (repair our schools), on Independence Day, it has encountered resistance of strikingly different kinds across Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states. In West Bengal, a CJP volunteer's school inspection was followed by a violent attack on his family in which his father died;" in Rajasthan the CJP was confronted by a rowdy crowd to prevent them from entering schools and in Maharashtra CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke was booked. The Wire. The government has responded with savage violence to their peaceful protests, including permanently blinding some by indiscriminate firing of pellet guns (BBC) possibly because CJP volunteers are mostly adults who they think will not vote for them anyway. Gen Alpha are schoolchildren (The Print) and the BJP is chary of enraging their parents. Even as school protests have cooled somewhat in India, "Police fired teargas at protesters outside French high schools two days back, as teachers and students took to the streets on the biggest day of what Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu described as the most violent school protests in decades." Reuters. "France has suspended the use of stun grenades for policing student protests that have swept the country, after a 15-year-old's hand was blown off earlier this week." A 14-year-old boy lost some teeth and had his jaw broken when allegedly hit in the face with a tear gas grenade and "Prosecutors also said an investigation for attempted murder had been opened after a 17-year-old protester complained an officer 'held his head underwater' while trying to arrest him near a river." BBC. Stun grenades were invented to incapacitate terrorists without causing physical harm but can cause injuries or kill in close proximity and also cause fires. wikipedia. Treating schoolchildren as terrorists is a new low for President Emmanuel Macron. "More than 6,000 arrests and dozens of injuries have been reported in the clashes, as per Reuters." "French 15-year-olds scored 43 points lower in reading in 2025 than in 2015, according to the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment, the biggest drop among OECD countries. Their mathematics score also dropped the most." HT. In November 2020, "Against the backdrop of student's protest - even in the midst of a COVID lockdown - and increasing police violence and repression, France passed the draconian Global Security Law which would make it an offense punishable by a year in jail and a 45,000 euro fine to film, post, and identify police officers committing violent actions." People's World. In May 2021, "France's top constitutional authority said it had rejected a key article of a new security law that could see prosecutions of people who publish photos or film footage of police officer." The Local. Why are schools in such a poor state in France? Because of Macron. "France is on the edge of a dangerous financial spiral," as it "now pays more to borrow than former crisis hot spots like Greece and Italy." France's debt is now 120% of GDP and the cost of servicing the debt is expected to climb 59% by 2030. Macron released 10 billion euros to mollify the Yellow Vests protests (wikipedia) that began on 17 November 2018 and ended on 28 June 2020. During the Covid pandemic, "Macron responded with massive spending programs to shield companies and households from the fallout."  "Macron also poured tens of billions of euros into a program that capped energy prices after Russia invaded Ukraine." The fiscal deficit has been above 5% for the last three years. WSJ. "Public debt levels have climbed across the world over the past two decades, especially in developed countries." "In the April 2026 edition of its Fiscal Monitor, the International Monetary Fund said, "Policymakers should realize that markets are becoming less forgiving. Over the past few years, investors have increasingly questioned assumptions of unlimited sovereign borrowing capacity - even for large advanced economies," wrote Niranjan Rajadhyaksha. Will the French economy crash? Being part of the euro zone France will be rescued but all the countries will see their borrowing costs rise. Other countries may be blaming Macron in colorful language which may explain his savagery towards schoolchildren. Pellet guns and stun grenades on students. Crime? Asking for a good education. What can be more innocent? 

Drowning in money.

The Finance Ministry's Monthly Economic Review for September 2026 "said the domestic economy continues to show resilience in a challenging global environment." "A strong El Nino could hurt the rabi crop through heat stress and lower soil moisture," and "Elevated crude prices could add to inflation particularly after the US Federal Reserve's 25 basis points rate hikes in September." ET. "Overall food inflation rose to 5.95% in August from 5.52% in July, while headline consumer inflation climbed to 4.82% from 4.45%." "Costlier onions, higher cooking oil prices, a jump in the cost of pulses, and the same shopping list can start becoming noticeably more expensive over time." ET. "The monsoon has failed. Rainfall was 12.6% below normal. In earlier decades, this would have spelt economic calamity and political earthquake." "In 1965, an 18.6% rainfall deficit caused a 3.7% GDP contraction." But in 2009, the GDP grew 8.5% despite a 21.8% rainfall deficit. The monsoon failed in 2014 and 2015 but the "economy soared 7.2% and 8.0% respectively," wrote Swaminathan Aiyar. However, "Despite claims that India's economy has become drought-proof, weak rains remain a key worry." "Inadequate rainfall reduces summer crop yields and leaves inadequate soil moisture for winter sowing." Higher fertilizer prices and lower harvests raise food prices and "Rural purchasing power weakens precisely when households must spend more on essentials. This combination transmits distress beyond agriculture to consumer goods, construction and small businesses. Imports can relieve supply shortages but worsen external finances," wrote Ajit Ranade. The US Federal Reserve raised interest rate by 25 basis points (bps) last month and could hike it once more this year. "The European Central Bank and Bank of Japan have raised rates too." Higher US rate "triggers capital outflows from other markets into the US." This weakens local currencies and leads to imported inflation." Mint. The Reserve Bank of India opened a dollar/rupee swap window for Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR) (B) deposits for banks from June to 31 August. The RBI undertook to sell the dollars back at the buying rate during redemption of the bonds, thus picking up the full cost of hedging any depreciation of the rupee against the dollar. India Macroeconomic Indices. At the end of the window FCNR (B) deposits raised $127.23 billion, while "Overseas Foreign-Currency Borrowings (OFCB) brought in $5.260 billion, and External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) contributed $3.891 billion," for a total of $136.4 billion. DC. As the RBI swapped the dollars for rupees, "Surplus liquidity in India's money market has crossed Rs 11 trillion, leaving RBI to mop up an unusually large pool of cash unleashed by banks' $136 billion mobilisation of foreign currency deposit." CFO. The yield on 10-year government bonds is at 7.247% this morning. in.investing.com. "The 10-year India government bond (IGB) has hardened by around 50 basis points (bps) since the beginning of March, to about 7.20%." And, "it is interesting to see that the rupee is back under depreciation pressure," which "has also confused market participants about why $140 billion will not alleviate pressure." It is because, "The $200 billion forward book is being kept afloat through sell-buy swaps to roll over the dollar liability and maintain 'optimum' reserve levels." This means actual reserves are closer to $550 billion. "The question that begs the central bank is whether a 50 bps rate hike is enough? Will a 100 bps cash reserve ratio be adequate in permanently absorbing the troubling sticky and inflationary excess liquidity created by the FCNR scheme's much celebrated dollar inflows? asked Ajay Marwaha. Cash reserve ratio (CRR) is a portion of deposits collected by banks that must be deposited at the RBI without any interest. Investopedia. This is to reduce money supply. Poor monsoon rains, but it's raining money on the market. Will the RBI drown? And take us with it? 

A difficult ask.

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is undertaken by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to update electoral rolls across India by eliminating deceased, permanently shifted, duplicate and non-citizen individuals while adding newly eligible people, such as those who have turned 18 years of age before the date of the election (Constitution of India). "In June last year, five months before assembly elections in Bihar, the ECI announced an SIR of electoral rolls for the state," and asked people to produce documents to prove their identity. "In July 2025, petitioners including Association for Democratic Reforms and the People's Union for Civil Liberties mounted a constitutional challenge in the Supreme Court," but the judges refused to stay the election. SCO. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won an overwhelming majority with 202 seats out of a total of 243 seats in Bihar, with the BJP being the largest party with 89 seats. wikipedia. However, the SIR in West Bengal became highly contentious as over 9 million, about 12% of the total electorate, were made ineligible, of which around 34%, or 3.11 million, are Muslims who the BJP thinks vote against it. BBC. The BJP increased its seats tally from 77 to 208, out of a total of 294 seats in the assembly, and so achieved absolute majority for the first time ever. wikipedia. Retired IAS officer Gyanesh Kumar was appointed Chief of the three-member Election Commission on 19 February 2025. wikipedia. "An investigation by The Indian Express reported that his two fellow Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders they said had been issued without their knowledge." BBC. "The ECI has termed allegations by Rahul Gandhi that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar illegally and unilaterally changed Form 6 during the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls as 'misleading'." "It also pointed to a Supreme Court judgement of 27 May 2026, saying the court had upheld that order." NDTV. "Form 6 is the statutory application for new registration, not a device to launder wrongful deletion of genuine voters. Making already eligible, previously enrolled voters apply afresh shifts the burden from the Election Commission, which removed them, to citizens." The Wire. Yesterday, "Chief Justice Surya Kant said that any modification for Form 6 - the application citizens use to register as new electors - had not been approved by the top court." TOI. The ECI lied. Four days back, "India's influential Gen Z-led protesters are back on the streets - this time seeking electoral reforms and the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of manipulating voter rolls." BBC. To add to the chorus for Kumar's departure, Keralam has ordered the vigilance and anti-corruption bureau to investigate a World Bank-funded, Rs 2.15-billion road upgrade under the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) that allegedly led to a Malaysian civil engineer's suicide in 2006." A letter by the engineer apparently blamed Kumar, who was the PWD Secretary in Kerala at the time, for asking for bribes. TT. "Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has accused the opposition of executing 'a larger conspiracy to weaken India as a nation'." News18. Typical response of a fascist government which fired pellet guns at unarmed peaceful students protesting against a leak of questions for a selection examination (BBC). This time pellet guns were not used but, "Three female journalists have accused police officers in India of sexual harassment during street protests in the capital Delhi." BBC. The duo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have managed to suppress all criticism by using the police and other agencies to terrorise people but young people have had enough. They are refusing to be terrorised or to be pacified by empty words. Another problem is that no leader in the world uses his office to tour the world like Mr Modi does. pmindia.gov. And the foreign media is reporting extensively on the brutality of the Indian state. Sexual assault on women is especially reviled. The duo would like to suppress protesters with extreme violence and pretend to be law abiding at the same time. A difficult conundrum.    

Dot-com plus subprime, says RBI.

"Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the Indian financial system remained resilient and the economy had navigated the West Asia crisis well, but policymakers needed to stay vigilant." "Malhotra cautioned against stressed valuations, especially those related to AI, elevated debt levels globally, elevated leverage that could spill over to banks and markets in case of tightening of financial conditions, private credit, and cyber risks that have been compounded by AI." ET. In short, a combination of the 'dot-com bubble', in which the soaring share prices of Internet technology companies reached unsustainable levels, leading to a sudden collapse (Britannica), which caused central banks to lower interest rates to stimulate a recovery and this led to a housing boom caused by lending to high-risk borrowers with poor credit rating, camouflaged by credit default swaps, resulting in the sub-prime crisis in 2008 (Investopedia). The Federal Funds rate dropped to 1% on 6 November 2002, rose to 5.25% on 29 June 2006, and dropped to 0% - 0.25% on 16 December 2008 (Forbes), reflecting the boom and bust cycles of the US economy. Market capitalization of AI related companies sounds like fiction, with Nvidia at $5.67 trillion, Alphabet at $4.16 T, Microsoft at $3.84 T, Amazon at $2.71 T, TSMC at $2.45 T and SpaceX at $2.1 T. Bullfincher. "Total US debt has topped $40 trillion for the first time, the Treasury department said, drawing fresh warnings that a fiscal crisis is brewing." Outstanding total public debt stood at $40.047 trillion. Reuters. "Global debt rose by around $7.5 trillion in the first three months of the year to a record high of over $324 trillion, data from a banking trade group showed." "The global debt-to-output ratio continued to move slowly lower, standing at just above 325%. However, in emerging markets (EM) the ratio hit a record high of 245%." Reuters. India is classed as an EM. India's "seasonally adjusted HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to a seven-month high of 55.1 in September after hitting a five-year low of 52.8 in August (below 50 is negative)." "High input costs are adding pressure across transportation, energy and manufacturing activities." "For manufacturers, there is little room to raise prices and protect margins." Mint. "While private consumption gained traction - rising 7.1% in the June quarter against 6.8% a year ago," "new project announcements rose 33% year-on-year (y-o-y) during the April-September (H1) period of fiscal year 2027 (FY27) to Rs 30 trillion." "Manufacturing, once a major contributor to capex, saw a 23.2% decline in new investments," while "intentions in construction and real estate plummeted 31.5%." Mint. While "the listed sector's investments amounted to Rs 12-13 trillion, (averaging about 4% of GDP) in the four years from 2022-23 to 2025-26," "the unlisted corporate sector invests as much as 10% of GDP, or more than two-thirds of aggregate corporate capex," wrote Nikhil Gupta. "While the listed sector's profits are closer to their all-time peak of 5.8% of GDP and its leverage ratio at 17% of GDP was at a two-decade low in 2025-26, the profits of the unlisted sector dropped to a 15-year low of 3.5-4% of GDP, while its debt-to-GDP ratio was at a seven-year high of 33% of GDP in 2025-26." As a result, the listed sector's capex is healthy while the larger unlisted sector has to reduce new investments. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is also down, with net FDI "down from nearly $44 billion in 2020-21 to under $1 billion in 2024-25, even as gross inflows touched a record $94.5 billion," wrote Ashish Dhawan & Piyush Doshi. Is the global economy careering towards an almighty explosion? Should we be concerned here in India? Perhaps, only a little. With a nominal GDP of $4.15 trillion (IMF), compared to Nvidia's market value of $5.67 trillion, and manufacturing contributing only 17% of GDP  (IBEF), the effect on us should be more of a ripple than a wave. Dot-com plus subprime? No problem.        

They can see it.

Last month, "US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping exchanged warm words at a lavish White House state dinner but gave little indication of progress on pressing issues." "Billionaire business leaders and US tech CEOs joined the leaders at the extravagant dinner." BBC. "The two leaders extended a trade truce, exchanged gifts and compliments, and acknowledged the possibility of working together to contain the dangers of AI development." And so, "the Washington trip was relatively uneventful. But for Xi's own ambitions, China didn't need much else." CNN. "Artificial Intelligence, which...Trump has now branded as 'super intelligence' or SI, is reminding more and more of the dangerous Cold War contest between the US and the erstwhile Soviet Russia. With AI companies themselves pointing at possible risk to humanity, it could be even more dangerous than nuclear weapons," so that, "What looked like another tech race between the US and China is turning into a contest over economic power, military capability and technological innovation, with both governments treating the control of AI as a matter of national security." ET. India shares a 3,488 km border with China (mha.gov.in) which, with its advanced technological and defence capabilities, is the greatest existential threat to India. This cloying relationship between the US and China is bad news for us. In addition, "Autonomous technology and defence firm Powerus," with "significant financial backing from...Trump's eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump," "formalized a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and received a limited procurement order from the Ministry of Defence of Pakistan for unmanned aerial systems and associated technical support." This strategic agreement, "signalling a notable warming of defence tech collaboration between Washington and Islamabad," "has heightened geopolitical stakes across the border, drawing serious concern from New Delhi." News 18. This is despite, or maybe because, Pakistan is an 'Iron Brother' of China, whose friendship is 'harder than steel' (CIIS). On the other hand, "Since 2025, India-US ties have been strained following Operation Sindoor, and the Trump administration's tariff announcement." During this time, "India's paid congressional operation in Washington has also shrunk from a multi-firm network to a single account." "Thus when India needed to position its Russian energy imports as an energy necessity forced by the Iran war rather than a policy choice, it had few allies left on the Hill." NDTV. In his speech at the UN General Assemby meeting in September, Trump again repeated his claim that he prevented a war between India and Pakistan after India launched Operation Sindoor on 7 May 2025 (pib. gov.in) in response to a terrorist attack on 22 April 2025 at Pahalgam in Kashmir in which 26 unarmed civilians were gunned down (wikipedia). "The Prime Minister of Pakistan, terrific man, said that Donald Trump was responsible for saving 30 million lives and probably many more than that," Trump said. NDTV. About 10,000 protesters turned up in Mumbai yesterday demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar for deleting voters' names from the election rolls in favor of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). TOI. This has been dubbed 'vote chori' (stealing of votes) and has made Mr Modi's election victories illegitimate. "Foreign diplomats are unable to ignore the new realities." "In this context, the meeting this May between Rahul Gandhi and the heads of missions of 27 European members was an unusual engagement. September witnessed separate meetings with the Australian High Commissioner Philip Green and Russian Ambassador Denis Alipov." US Ambassador Sergio Gor and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim have also met Mr Gandhi, wrote Anil Tyagi. Mr Modi heads a minority government with the support of allied parties in the Lok Sabha. wikipedia. When they start getting jittery the end will begin to come. The countdown has begun. 10,9...      

Anything may happen.

"The US 10-year Treasury yield hit its highest level in 24 years on Thursday (1 October)," as "It rose to as high as 5.342%, surpassing its 2007 peak, and hitting its highest since 2002." Reuters. "French 10-year bond yields have also hit their highest levels since 2002, Britain's 30-year borrowing costs have touched 6% for the first time since 1998 and Japanese bond yields are at multi-decade peaks." "It adds to concerns about governments' rising borrowing and spending needs. The US debt pile has topped $40 trillion, while debt as a share of economic output is at or above 100% across the G7 group of major economies, bar Germany." "Bond yields set the tone for borrowing costs across economies, from government debt to mortgages to student and car loans." Reuters. "Eurozone inflation surged more than expected in September," as "Inflation in the 21 nations sharing the euro currency jumped to 3.8% in September from 3.2% a month earlier, exceeding expectations for a 3.6% in a Reuters poll." However, core inflation, which excludes volatile food and fuel prices, accelerated to 2.5% from 2.4%. Reuters. This might allow the European Central Bank (ECB) to wait and watch before deciding on interest rate. In its last meeting in August, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept its policy rate unchanged at 5.25% for the fourth successive time. Mint. But, the US Federal Reserve Open Market Committee raised the borrowing cost by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4% last month. Higher interest rates in the US, EU and Japan would increase returns and be an incentive for funds to divert their investments to these markets from riskier emerging markets. Already, "India faces a stiff challenge to attract capital flows as the global investment landscape is being reshaped by the artificial intelligence boom, renewed manufacturing ambitions in developed economies and the increasing weaponisation of global supply chains, according to the India Monthly Economic Review." ET. "Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) stepped up selling in Indian equities on 30 September, offloading Rs 101.4841 billion, their biggest single-day outflow in nearly six months." "Domestic institutional investors (DIIs), meanwhile, bought Rs 112.7173 billion, according to the NSE's combined FII/FPI and DII cash-market data." MC. Pressure on bond yields eased somewhat after, "the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said that the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index rose 0.3% in August after a downwardly revised 0.1% gain in July. Core PCE inflation increased 3.0% year-on-year in August after a downwardly revised 3.0% advance in July." ET. "The US economy added 29,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported, well below economists' estimate of 90,000." Unemployment edged slightly higher to 4.2% from 4.1%. ET. The Finance Ministry's Monthly Economic Review for September 2026 expects the economy to grow 7.3% in the second quarter (July-September). "Interest rates in the developed world are rising sharply...and this will spill over into domestic yields. It also expects cross-border capital flows to slow, as higher rates persuade investors to stay in their home markets amid rising global uncertainty." ET. Already, yield on India 10-year government bonds jumped from 6.944 on 8 September to 7.209 on 1 October. in.investing.com. A lot of problems could be solved if the RBI increased its policy rate by at least 50 basis points, which would restore the premium with US rates, tempt foreign investors to return, stop the rupee from falling and reduce imported inflation. Will the RBI do it? Definitely not. The government has a fanatical belief that low interest rates increase economic growth, which gives bragging rights and helps in elections. What happens if problems mount? Just ignore them. It's called "Ram Bharose' (depend on Lord Ram). Will it work? Probably not, but may confuse people. Then claim anything. Confuse them more. Great.

The millions that matter.

Economist Ruchir Sharma ranks 50 emerging and frontier economies. India's score is somewhere in the middle and his favorite line is, "India is a country that consistently disappoints the optimist and the pessimist." ET. According to the M3M Hurun India Rich List 2026, India "has created more than two new billionaires a month for three years running." "According to the list, the combined wealth of the people featured in the rich list stood at Rs 187.5 trillion or $1.96 trillion, which is more than the GDP of countries like Turkiye ($1.64 trillion), Switzerland ($1.15 trillion) and Singapore ($0.66 trillion) among others." However, "To put it in perspective, according to the IMF, India's GDP per capita is $2,813, compared with Singapore's $1,07,760." Mint. "In nearly 250 districts, more than 25% youth (15-29 age group) are neither engaged in any productive work, nor are they pursuing education or any sort of training for work, highlighting a gap in human capital utilisation." "A recent Niti Aayog report pegged the number of NEET (not in employment, education or training) youth in the country at nearly 90 million." TOI. In addition to the chronically unemployed, "Thousands of jobs have been cut across India's global capability center (GCC) ecosystem this year as parent companies push for AI-led efficiencies and tighter workforce structures, even as their Indian units take on bigger technology and product mandates." GCCs employ around 2.4-2.5 million people in more than 2,100 centers. MC. "In India, approximately 8 to 15 million students graduate each year. Yet only 8.5% find jobs that match their qualifications and skills." "It is difficult to ignore the paradox: millions spend years pursuing higher education, but only a fraction eventually enter professions connected to what they studied." ET. "The engineering talent market faces a growing mismatch between candidate supply and hiring demand, with entry level job seekers accounting for 45% of the pool against the requirement of just 28%, a report said." ET. "India requires Rs 168-172 trillion of infrastructure investment through FY31, with Rs 70-80 trillion yet to translate into announced project pipeline, according to a joint report by the National Bank of Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG)." ET. Although 70% of India's electricity comes from coal, "A decade ago India's installed renewable energy capacity was barely 4GW. It now makes up 300GW or 54% of its total 552GW installed capacity - a target that has been achieved five years ahead of schedule." Perhaps too fast because "a bulk of the clean energy that was produced in India was wasted because the country's transmission lines have been dogged by missed targets, with one out of four inter-state projects facing delays of over a year." BBC. "India needs nothing short of 12 million new non-farm jobs annually." "Recent National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, including its 2024 report, show that (i) unemployed persons form a large category among suicide victims; (ii) student suicides have risen; and (iii) a substantial share of suicide victims were Class 10, Class 12 and higher education students," wrote Prof Santosh Mehrotra & Jajati Parida. Billionaires are fine. What about the millions?        

Disbelief creates heroes.

"Inside dense forests of Rajasthan's Baran," "Sahariya women are transitioning from low-wage forest foraging to managing automated packaging units, supplying local produce to a guaranteed institutional market set to achieve an annual target worth Rs 80 million." "The initiative was conceptualised soon after IAS Balmukund Asawa joined as Baran district collector around 6 months ago and visited tribal villages in the Shahabad area of the district." ET. IAS stands for Indian Administrative Service which controls all government administration of the Central and state governments. wikipedia. The IAS is a continuation of the British Indian Civil Service (ICS) which was created by the Government of India Act 1858 and which "transferred the administration of India from the East India Company to the British Crown. Under Crown rule, the ICS emerged as what contemporaries and historians alike called the steel frame of British administration." Pubadmin.Institute. "Among the thousands of civil servants who keep India's vast government machinery running, a small number become unlikely public figures every few years." Recently, the commissioner of Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration Tukaram Mundhe "has led a series of enforcement drives" in which "His team have inspected restaurants and other food businesses, uncovering pest infestations, poor hygiene and expired food." "These actions have made Mundhe a social-media celebrity." "But why are these officers treated as heroes for doing their jobs?" BBC. In Bengaluru, raids on hotels led to the seizure of 132 kg of various types of rotten meat, fish, vegetables and 15 kg of cooking oil. HT. Why has Mundhe become a hero? Because people have suddenly realized that these establishments were serving rotten food because they were not expecting any objection. It means that they could have been doing this for years, maybe decades, with complete impunity. It means previous officers must have been lazy or corrupt. And, it also means that an unknown number of people must have fallen sick, maybe even died, from rotten food. IAS officers curry favor with politicians, are indifferent to the poor and often fudge figures. "Secretaries to the states, who belong to the IAS, often collude with the junior staff, and don't honestly report figures on hunger deaths, malnutrition and usage of toilets, leading to an erosion of accountability," wrote NC Saxena. "Most (IAS) officers assume the trappings of feudal grandeur much like their colonial predecessors but without their efficiency, commitment, or impartiality. Their 'power' props begin with their massive office revolving chairs, with the mandatory white towel - changed regularly - draped over the back for reasons unknown." "These worthless, ironically known as public servant, are largely inaccessible to common people who obsequiously line up outside for redressal of their grievances, sometimes waiting the entire day without getting to see the 'sahib'," wrote Amit Cowshish. Prof Kaushik Basu was the Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India from 2009-2012. wikipedia. "The use of the word, sir, is very common in Indian officialdom." A senior official, he counted, was saying sir "on average 16 times a minute (there was a minister present)." BBC. 'Chamcha' (sycophant) to a minister; arrogant, uncaring and mendacious with the people. Why do we create a hero of someone doing what they are paid enormously for? It's disbelief. Used to the rot.