Safer than the US!

Gen Abolfazi Shekarchi of Iran warned that " 'parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations' worldwide would no longer be safe for its enemies, a threat that signals a potential expansion of targets far beyond conventional battlefields." ET. Iran is officially warning of terrorist attacks, even in countries that are not involved in its conflict with the US and Israel, and may even be friendly with it. In 2012, Iran was blamed for a series of bombings targeting Israeli diplomats in Azerbaijan, India and Georgia (wikipedia) while Thailand witnessed a series of bomb blasts and grenade attacks which injured one of the attackers. Iran admitted its guilt when, "In November 2020, during a 'prisoner swap', Saeed Moradi, Mohammad Hazaei and Masoud Sedaghat Zadeh were exchanged for Kylie Moore-Gilbert," "a university lecturer held in Iran for 2 years." wikipedia. "As many as 30,000 people could have been killed in the streets of Iran on Jan. 8 and 9 alone," so that "it overwhelmed the state's capacity to dispose of the dead. Stocks of body bags were exhausted,..and eighteen-wheel semi-trailers replaced ambulances." Time. They know they will be chopped into bits by Iranians if they lose power and no nation on earth will grant asylum to mass murderers. So, they are willing to sacrifice their nation and strike out blindly, hoping that constant anti-government propaganda by a Trump-hating left-wing media in the US will increase public pressure to stop the conflict. Iran's major oil terminal, and lifeline, is Kharg Island and the US may be considering occupying or blockading the island. BBC. That may involve 'boots on the ground' and US casualties. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that a majority, 55%, of Americans "don't support sending ground troops into the operation against Iran." Fox. And yet, in 2018, only 21% of Americans would support a repeal of the Second Amendment while 60% would oppose it. The Washington Post. The Second Amendment grants the right to own guns because a "Well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State." US Constitution. With a population of about 349 million (worldometer), there are 500 million civilian owned firearms in the US, only 6.06 million of which are registered. ammo,com. As a result, over 42,000 people died of gun-related injuries in 2023, of which 35% were homicide, 56% were suicides and 4% were unintentional shootings. Twice as many people survived gunshot injuries with expensive medical care and long-term disabilities. AHCJ. Surely, it would be much safer for US ground troops in Iran, with protective clothing and support from helicopter gunships and field artillery. Surveys show that about 50% of Americans are below average (Medium), about the same ratio as those who support the Second Amendment and those who oppose US ground troops in Iran. It's the law of averages (wikipedia). It is wrong. Americans love it. 

Luxury boats, no ladders.

 "The Delhi government is procuring two high-end boats with air conditioned cabins at a total cost of around Rs 62 million for VIP inspections of the Yamuna." "The boats should be 13 meters long, 4.3 meters wide and 2.1 meters tall," and "Each vessel will include an open rear deck for VIP public appearances with sofas" and inside, they will have "customized business-class type seats made of vegan leather with exquisite stitching." HT. These seem to be small luxury yachts, which have been used for pleasure by the rich and powerful since the time of the pharaohs. wikipedia. There is no need to inspect the Yamuna River by boat when its contamination is visible from a distance and a sample can be collected from anywhere for analysis. In October 2024, the river was covered with a thick layer of white foam "caused by the reaction between toxins and organic matter, including untreated sewage and industrial waste." TOI. In March 2026, a section of the river was covered with a pink froth due to untreated dyes and waste from illegal industries. HT. The river should be inspected by experts, not VIPs, and "public appearances" implies electioneering. A criminal waste, when a few days ago, "A woman died after drowning when she fell into a drain after the collapse of an iron bridge in Delhi's Roop Nagar." HT. VIPs should have inspected the bridge and the open drain. Two days back, nine members of a family, including three children, died in a fire in a residential-cum-commercial building in Delhi's Palam area. "Three residents jumped from the top floors and are battling for life in hospital." TOI. The building was only four-storey high but the fire engine ladders could not reach the top floor. The people were told not to jump and waited an excruciating 90 minutes before being burnt to death. HT. Locals claimed that rescue operations started an hour-and-a-half later but Delhi Fire Service (DFS) officials claimed that "The first fire tender reached on time and the rescue operations started immediately." TOI. But, they failed to save even one person. Apparently, "The first tender was stuck on the road, blocking the path of others." DFS claims it was because of construction material. Whatever the reason, it was blocking access. Their ladder could reach only the 2nd floor and not the third. In the US and Europe ladders can reach up to 12 floors. CSC Truck. Neighbor Mohit Kumar said that there is a tent house close by which could have provided mattresses for the victims to jump safely but there was no space. HT. A 'tent house' is a business establishment that puts up decorated tents for weddings and festivals and rents out chairs and tables for eating and even mattresses for guests to sleep on. weddingwire.in. Fortunately, Palam is too far from the Yamuna River for VIPs to hear the screams of burning people as they relax on "vegan leather with exquisite stitching". Whatever the cost. In lives or millions.     

In just 18 days.

"India's net direct tax collections grew 7.19% year-on-year to Rs 22.80 trillion as of 17 March 2026, according to the latest provisional data." Net corporate tax collection was Rs 10.91 trillion, non-corporate tax collection was Rs 11.32 trillion and securities transaction tax was Rs 557.17 billion. ET. Since direct taxes accrue from earnings, it means that income of both individuals and companies increased during the year. "The total gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections grew 8.1% to over Rs 1.83 trillion in February this year," compared to Rs 1.69 trillion in February 2025. newsonair.gov.in. Since GST is collected on consumer spending, increased income must have led to increased consumption. The Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell reported that the cost of crude oil fell to $59.92 per barrel in January from $62.2 in December and could fall to $53.31 by March. "In the current fiscal year, higher discounts and lower crude prices have already helped reduce the import bill to $80.9 billion as of November, compared with $92 billion in the same period a year earlier." Mint. Such low prices were partly because, "India imported about 144 billion euros worth of crude oil from Russia since the start of the Ukraine war, a European think tank said." The share of Russian oil jumped from under 1% to nearly 40% of total crude imports. NDTV. The Ukraine war started in February 2022 (wkipedia), since when India has been buying Russian oil at huge discounts. Instead of passing the lower costs to consumers, the government increased taxes on petroleum products, earning over Rs 40 trillion since 2015. ppac.gov.in. Also, the government levied windfall tax on oil refining companies, such as Reliance Industries Ltd which "recorded refining margins of exceeding $12.5 per barrel, while Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy reported margins of $15.2 per barrel." Multiplied by millions of barrels, profits increased by billions. In addition, the government has mandated mixing ethanol in petrol by 10% since 2022, increasing to 20% in 2025. Ethanol, derived from sugarcane, is much cheaper than petrol but Indian consumers have not seen any benefits. The Wire. Unfortunately, "The cost of crude for Indian refiners has soared 93% since the conflict in the Gulf broke out on 28 February and hit $136.56 a barrel." But prices of retail fuel will not be increased, "With elections due in four states and the Union Territory of Puducherry," until 29 April. TOI. Why is our crude basket so expensive when the benchmark Brent crude is at $111.9 per barrel this morning (oil price.com)? Mysterious. With the consumer price index (CPI) inflation at 0.71% in November 2025, real GDP growth rate at 8.5% in the second quarter of 2025-26 and a GDP growth forecast increased to 7.3% from an earlier forecast of 6.8% for FY 2025-26 (pib.gov.in), we were told to celebrate a 'Goldilocks' phase. In just 18 days the tune has changed to one of terror. Goldilocks is a fairy story for toddlers. And toddlers frequently fall as they toddle. Do we really want such an economy?           

No sanctuary anywhere.

President Donald Trump said "no one could have predicted Iranian attacks on other Middle Eastern countries." Apparently he was warned by his advisers. Independent. It's a reasonable assumption. Why would Iran make enemies of all its neighbors? Possibly, because Shia Persian Iran knows it is feared and hated by Sunni Arabs. In 2010, "King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia repeatedly exhorted the United States to 'cut off the head of the snake' by launching strikes to destroy Iran's nuclear program, according to leaked diplomatic cables." Reuters. Although wary of direct involvement, "Gulf Arab states did not ask the US to go to war with Iran, but many are now urging it not to stop short by leaving the Islamic Republic still able to threaten the Gulf's oil lifeline, and the economies that depend on it." Reuters. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has sidelined the Ayatollahs. "According to sources, the IRGC has maintained that is is bound by a 'to-do list'set by the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, effectively disregarding the current government's diplomatic outreach." News18. A dead man can be made to say anything. In January 2026, the IRGC and its Basij militia used live rounds against unarmed protesters, killing 5,000-30,000 (BBC), after the Iranian rial plunged to a worthless value of 1.38 million to one dollar and the inflation rate jumped to 42.2% in December 2025 (CNN). The IRGC know that justice will be swift if they lose power and are refusing to be made scapegoats. Also, they cannot ask for asylum anywhere in the world. Former Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was granted asylum in Saudi Arabia in January 2011 (Britannica) after street vendor Mohamed Bouzizi died by self-immolation, setting off widespread rioting (wikipedia).  Ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his family spend their time shopping while in exile in an elite suburb of Moscow. The Moscow Times. Assad is an Alawite, which is an offshoot of Shia, and so could not find refuge in any Arab country (Britannica) and, as Syrians, compulsory hijab in Iran would have been unacceptable to his wife and daughter (BBC). And so, Russia was the only refuge. Mengistu Haile Mariam of Ethiopia has been hiding in Harare in Zimbabwe since May 1991, after failing to stay in power despite extremely bloody repression. wikipedia. The IRGC are neither black Africans nor Sunni Arabs and no country would want to accept hundreds of murderous thugs. So, it is do or die for them. The biggest traitors are the Europeans. "Europe wants President Donald Trump to end his war in Iran as fast as possible." ET. That would hand victory to Iran which would consolidate its hold on the Strait of Hormuz permanently, thus holding the rest of the world hostage forever. Europe has been freeloading on the US for its own defence, spending small change even as the US spent $980 billion on Nato in 2025. BBC. Europe's present prosperity was established by the US which transferred $13 billion for reconstruction over four years, starting in 1948, including to enemies Germany and Italy. Britannica. Every European nation colonised countries in Asia and Africa which they ravaged mercilessly. wikipedia. With sizable Muslim populations (wikipedia) European politicians will sacrifice Israel for votes. The Green Party in the UK recently won a bye-election in Gorton and Denton by printing anti-Israeli leaflets in Urdu. thejc.com. The US and Israel must exterminate every IRGC and Basij thug from Iran. Help Iran to rebuild. Iranians will be free. The world will be safer.  

AI comes to India.

An equity research shop Citrini recently predicted that AI will end "most white-collar employment by 2028, with dire consequences for the broader economy," wrote Prof Raghuram Rajan. It is possible that a few firms become huge monopolies with few human workers, resulting in unemployment. But, more probably, similar AI models will create competition, prevent monopolies and loss of jobs, and keep prices down. Due to inertia, "although automated telephone exchanges were possible in the 1920s, the last human telephone operator was not replaced until the 1980s." Blind trust in AI could create danger. "AI models are trained on data, and they learn to make predictions by finding patterns in the data." "If the training is incomplete, biased, or otherwise flawed, the AI model may learn incorrect patterns, leading to inaccurate predictions or hallucinations." cloud.google.com. Indians are particularly vulnerable, Already, "India is getting sucked big-time into digital junk on social media platforms even as Western nations are showing signs of plateauing or even declining in this aspect," wrote Chidanand Rajghatta. Once hooked, the platforms begin the process of "enshittification", wrote Cory Doctorow. A large number of students at Delhi University prefer to learn from short videos on YouTube rather than from class lectures or textbooks. Naturally, their concept is faulty, wrote Prof Shobhit Mahajan. "With developments in artificial intelligence (AI), our dependence on phones has gone beyond simple reminders to complex tasks like ordering groceries, sending emails and preparing Excel presentations." "Quick AI searches have replaced in-depth engagements with study material, undermining reasoning and problem-solving skills." "Multiple surveys point to growing digital addiction among adolescents," wrote V Anantha Nageswaran & Shruti Singh. All this so-called progress has been a bonanza for cybercriminals with older people particularly vulnerable. "In the past six years, Indians lost over Rs 529.76 billion to various cyber frauds and cheating cases. fresh data...has revealed." Mint. "In the world of the so-called 'digital arrest' scam, the first tool used by cybercriminals is often not malicious software or phishing links," instead, "Scammers increasingly invoke the names of well-known law enforcement figures to intimidate victims into compliance." ET. Thus, law enforcement officers are being made into accomplices. "One of the fastest-rising professions globally is that of AI trainers, workers who help machine learning systems improve by annotating data, verifying outputs, and providing entry-level feedback." "India has become a key contributor to this emerging workforce." "The median pay for AI trainers in India stands at $12 per hour," while 30% of foreigners earn $15-$20 per hour, nearly 20% earn $50-$75 and "a small elite earns more than $100 per hour." TOI. Perhaps, problems of AI addiction and learning difficulties can be treated by Indian potholes. A 50-year-old woman, diagnosed 'brain-dead' by doctors, was jolted into life when the ambulance conveying her home struck a pothole in UP. TOI. Famous officers used for crime, potholes for resurrection. No wonder AI hallucinates.   

Luxurious black.

"The Bharat Progress Report 2025-26, released by the NXT Foundation, highlights India's rapid economic and technological growth over the year," and "underscores that India became the world's fourth-largest economy in 2025, overtaking Japan with a nominal GDP of about $4.18 trillion." "The country's now on course to become the third-largest economy in the world." ZNews. It may already have attained that level if the shadow economy, known as 'Black Money', is added to the nation's GDP. German economist "Friedrich Schneider places the shadow economy at roughly 23% of GDP in India," while others estimate it at more than 40% of GDP. Real estate is the largest store of hidden wealth, as well as gold, corporate structures and informal transfers. Agricultural income is largely free of income tax. Bajaj Finserve. The top 10% receive 58% of national income, while the top 1% receive about 23%. The top 1% hold 40% of national wealth and the top 10% hold two-thirds. HT. The addition of Black Money increases the wealth at the top and makes the rest poorer by comparison. "India's luxury housing segment has expanded sharply over the past four years, with luxury homes now forming 27% of the country's overall residential supply, up from 16% in 2021, according to data from Magicbricks." MC. Construction of more luxury housing means fewer affordable housing for the vast majority of the population. Alongside, India's luxury car market is expanding at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.16% and is estimated to grow from $1.44 billion in 2025 to $1.52 billion in 2026 and $1.96 billion in 2031. Mordor Intelligence. At Independence, India "adopted an import-substituting industrialization (ISI) economic strategy that assigned the commanding heights of the economy to the State." Economic liberalization was forced on us in 1991 when India had to pledge 47 tons of gold with the Bank of England and 20 tons with the Union Bank of Switzerland to deal with the balance of payments crisis. wikipedia. However, relatively higher tariffs continued to protect Indian industry so that, "Indian companies continued to serve the hapless Indian consumer rather than export. As a result, Indian manufacturing still lags in scale, quality, branding and innovation." With no competition, India spends roughly 0.6% on R&D, while "South Korea spends over 4%, Japan above 3%, Germany around 2.6% and China above 2% of GDP on R&D," wrote Janmejaya Sinha. With manufacturing at 13% of GDP, despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, "queues outside visa application centers for Gulf countries in Delhi show little sign of slowing, with many workers saying economic compulsions leave them little choice but to travel to the restive regions." TOI. If you do not innovate, you plagiarize. And so, "An Indian university has courted controversy at the AI summit in Delhi after an official claimed that a Chinese-made robotic dog was its own invention." BBC. There is no guarantee that increased spending on R&D will produce a game-changing product that will generate wealth. Enjoy black money. Buy a Chinese robot dog.       

Foreigners to decide.

"Iran has allowed two Indian-flagged liquefied petroleum gas carriers to sail through the Strait of Hormuz,..a rare exception to the Iranian blockade that has disrupted global energy supplies." "Shivalik and Nanda Devi are owned by state-run Shipping Corp of India." "India consumed 33.15 million metric tons of cooking gas last year, with imports accounting for about 60% of demand. About 90% of these imports came from the Middle East." Reuters. "India's external balance and government finances could be hit if oil prices stay high for an extended period,..as the Iran war pushes up oil import costs and the subsidies needed to keep key commodities available." Reuters. Subsidies promised by political parties to win elections have already reached gargantuan proportions. "After coming to power in 2014, Mr Modi has expanded India's welfare programs," and "Giant posters of Mr Modi promoting these schemes as his personal 'guarantees' dominate the landscape." "Mr Modi says his government has spent more than Rs 34 trillion ($400 billion) in the past decade, delivering direct cash benefits to low-income households and reaching over 900 million people." BBC. May be a serious understatement. In a study, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) found that "The Union government spent Rs 6.33 trillion on subsidies and transfers in 2023-24, up from Rs 2.76 trillion in 2018-19, a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21%." And "unconditional transfers have grown at 28.8% annually since 2018-19 and projected to reach Rs 4.14 trillion in 2025-26." Besides, "dozens of schemes, pensions, loan waivers, investment promotion subsidies and electricity shortfalls are simply not classified as subsidies,' wrote Aditya Sinha. In a handout to 73.7 formal sector workers, the interest rate for the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) has been fixed at 8.25% for the third year in a row, wrote Ahjit Ranade. This is 300 basis points higher than the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) policy rate which was cut by 125 basis points to 5.25% in 2025 (ET). The interest on EPF forms a floor for interest rates of fixed income instruments and prevents lower borrowing costs. In another handout, Dearness Allowance for government employees is increased twice a year in line with the rise in consumer price index (CPI) inflation and has reached a colossal 60% of basic salary (ET) even though 95% of government employees are paid five times more than in the private sector, according to development economist Karthik Muralidharan. Assam is to hold elections to its assembly by April 2026 (wikipedia) and has announced Rs 9,000 cash transfers to 4 million families under its 'Orunodoi) scheme (ET). The central government has collected over Rs 40 trillion in taxes on petrol and diesel since 2014-15. ppac.gov.in. If the price of oil stays high for some months what will the government do? Cutting subsidies may lose elections, which would be unacceptable to Mr Modi, and increasing the retail price of fuel will increase the cost of transport and raise prices across the board, cut consumption, discourage investment and weaken the rupee even further. Will Mr Modi be held responsible by the people? Our government practices the most severe form of censorship in the world (BBC). And a large section of the population has been brainwashed into 'Bhakts' (devotees) (DH) and live in a state of altered reality. Foreigners know the truth. Our fate is in their hands. A helpless nation.