Is RBI selling gold?

"India aims to attract USD 100 billion in investment and expand explorations acreage to 1 million sq km by 2030," as "India pitched a USD 100 billion upstream investment roadmap and positioned itself as a major destination for global capital at an outreach event on March 24, even as industry leaders warned of geopolitical risks and a complex energy transition." ET. Companies capable of such large investment may be government owned such as Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia), Total (France), Gazprom and Lukoil (Russia) and CNPC (China), while ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and BP are publicly owned with no government control. Quora. Offshore exploration is very expensive. So, will the government be able to change taxes at will, as it does at present? "The government...cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 per liter each," to keep retail prices constant, incurring a revenue loss of Rs 1.70 trillion if it lasts the full financial year. HT. At the same time, "India has reintroduced windfall taxes on fuel exports, setting a levy of Rs 21.50 per liter on diesel and Rs 29.50 on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), according to a government order." ET. The Indian government has earned in excess of Rs 40 trillion from higher taxes on fuel since 2015 (ppac.gov.in) which has been a huge contribution to its revenue. While foreign companies may not care how India taxes its citizens, they will definitely object to any windfall tax as that will adversely affect their profits. "India's foreign exchange reserves declined by $11.4 billion to $698.3 billion for the week ended March 20, according to RBI data." "The fall was primarily driven by a sharp drop in gold reserves, even as foreign currency assets posted gains during the period." cnbctv18.com. The price of gold has dropped from an all-time high of $5,589.38 per ounce on 28 January 2026 (cbsnews.com) to around $4,538 this morning (in. investing.com). Although the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are mum, is it possible that the RBI has sold $13.495 worth of gold from our reserves? "This liquidation outpaced a $2.127 billion rise in foreign currency assets, indicating the RBI may be using gold to manage external pressures or currency defense." "Analysts point out that the RBI's significant forward dollar commitments reduce the real availability of foreign currency assets, potentially pushing effective reserves below vital levels. The RBI's intervention in the spot market to support the rupee, estimated at tens of billions of dollars since late 2024, have limited its capacity to save reserves." whalesbook.com. Remittances from the Gulf, which contribute 38% to total remittances, could fall, putting further pressure on the rupee, according to SBI Funds Management. ET. Will India go bankrupt? It's time the 'godi (lapdog) media' (wikipedia) does what it is supposed to do. Inform the people. The truth.    

Freebies are doubly free.

"The Delhi government has scrapped its plans to procure two air-conditioned boats for VIPs and VVIPs at a cost of Rs 62 million and suspended two senior officials involved in the procurement, minister Parvesh Verma said." HT. The two boats were to be fully air-conditioned, with "a premium aesthetic look with concealed LED lights and ambient lighting", and "customized business class push-back VIP seats" "made of vegan leather with exquisite stitching". HT. It is good to know that our tax money was for "premium aesthetic look" of "vegan leather with exquisite stitching" and not for some proletariat eyesore. Members of Karnataka Legislative Assembly (MLAs) demanded free VIP tickets for Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches, with Congress MLA Vijayanand Kashappanavar "asserting that legislators are 'VIPs' who cannot be expected to queue like ordinary citizens." So what if, "Eleven lives were lost during last year's RCB victory celebrations, and despite multiple inquiries, there has been no closure, no accountability, no punishment." DH. Karnataka state assembly has a total of 224 seats (prsindia.org) and the Karnataka State Cricket Association has promised to provide 2 free tickets to each member as well as "a separate stand in the stadium". News18. Tamil Nadu is to hold elections to its assembly on 23 April 2026 (wikipedia), and so "AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami promised to distribute free refrigerators for all rice ration card holders," double "the monthly cash distribution for women from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 and a one-time relief of Rs 10,000 to cushion the impact of rising prices." Free bus travel for men, same as women. TOI. Get elected by promising freebies and then use that for extorting free tickets for cricket matches. Costs nothing to the politician. So truly free. Meanwhile, "Over the past decade, a silent crisis has been unfolding in middle-class India." Because "borrowing has surged at an unprecedented rate," so that "Indians now carry one of the highest debt burdens in the world, excluding mortgages - surpassing even consumption-heavy economies like the US and debt-fuelled growth stories like China." "Today, non-housing household debt as a percentage of GDP stands at 32% in FY25," and "For borrowers caught in this cycle, the mathematics are brutal: Nearly 40% of annual income is now consumed by debt servicing alone." The Print. Citizens have to suffer in enforced silence because, "The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is now able to directly ensure takedown of news, analysis, comedy, satire or commentary (loosely dubbed as 'content') from the internet." !,11,185 items were blocked in 2024-25, at an average of 290 per day. The Wire. Free freebies as bribes for votes. Free freebies for politicians. No worries - it's doubly free. Citizens will be censored. At 290 per day.    

Can't stop now.

Iran has laid down conditions for ending the war. A complete end to US and Israel's aggression, payment of compensation for damages, ending war on every resistance group and recognizing Iran's sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. NDTV. Apparently, Iran is drafting a new law to charge a toll on every ship that passes through the Strait of Hormuz. Zee News. These conditions should be totally unacceptable for any nation on earth. 'Ending war on every resistance group' means that terrorist groups like the Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis will have a free hand to to attack any country without the fear of reprisal and Iran can charge punitive toll on ships of any country that disagrees with it. "The latest assessments from both Israel and the United States suggest that Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is alive," but "The balance of power appears to favor the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), rather than Khamenei himself." The IRGC is controlling Khamenei. jpost.com. The IRGC position seems to be that, having killed up to 30,000 unarmed protesters in just two days in January 2026 (Time), they are willing to fight indefinitely regardless of how many Iranians are killed or how ordinary citizens suffer. They are probably encouraged by US News media, which admire Iran's strength and the way it has blocked the Strait of Hormuz (CNN), while taunting US capabilities under President Donald Trump. If Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz it will be controlling Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and United Arab Emirates (UAE) because all their trade must pass through the Strait. Map. Except Iraq, with Arab Shias making up about 60% of its population  (wikipedia) and Bahrain with 51% Sunni and 49% Shia (wikipedia), all other countries have large Sunni majorities. It is impossible to imagine that Sunni Arab states accepting domination by Shia Persians. It is no wonder that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been urging Trump to continue the conflict. TOI. Saudi Arabia has built a 1200 Km pipeline from its oilfields in the East of the country to its Red Sea Port of Yanbu which is now loading tankers. ET. Problem with that is that Yemen is at the outlet from the Red Sea into the Indian Ocean and the Houthis may target ships to support Iran. The other solution would be to build a canal to connect the Gulf, from near Kuwait through Saudi Arabia and Oman, to the Indian Ocean like the Suez Canal, which connects the Red Sea and the Mediterranean  through Egypt and the Panama Canal which connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans through Panama (Britannica). But that would take years and cost hundreds of billions of dollars. Finally, "In numerous ayat of the Qur'an, Allah makes clear." that "But whoever deliberately slays a committed Muslim, his requital shall be Hell, therein to abide; and Allah condemns him, and will reject him and will prepare for him awesome suffering." Crescent. Since the IRGC and Basij (wikipedia) are already condemned by Allah just wipe them out. Or supply AK47 guns and RPGs to the protesters and teach them to use them. At least they can defend themselves against IRGC and Basij psychopaths. Must win against Iran. Or else, the Gulf will be closed forever.     

Jobs before gas.

"Oil and Natural Gas Corporation or ONGC is expected to spend about $18-20 billion for hiring deep-water drilling rigs for what could become its largest-ever oil exploration program." "Last month, ONGC floated a tender for these rigs as it looks to accelerate hydrocarbon exploration under the government's Samudra Manthan mission." TOI. It may seem a lot of money but rent for, "Basic offshore oil rigs like jack-ups typically start from $200,000 to $400,000 per day on average for exploratory wells, whereas the most sophisticated deepwater rigs like drillships could cost around $500,000 to $800,000 on a daily basis." Offshore drilling rigs start at $500 million to buy and drillships cost $1 billion to manufacture, so will cost even more. SOSS. Once the rig is in position, drilling may take 15 days to 12 months (Cosco) but there is no guarantee of finding oil at first drilling. "Offshore deep water frontier: 5-15% commercial discovery rate." Offshore established deep water provinces over 20% discovery rate. Quora. Offshore drilling rigs are manufactured abroad (Marine Insight) and will need to be transported to India, although Drillmec has a joint venture with KMOC Kakinada Marine and Offshore Complex Ltd. India (DDT). India imports 90% of our requirement of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and most of it passes through the Strait of Hormuz. The government has invoked the Essential Commodities Act and diverted most of the LPG from the commercial sector to domestic use. "The hotel and restaurant industry, alongside the myriad roadside dhabas (restaurants that serve Indian food) and eateries that dot our highways, provides a lifeline for an estimated 130 million people," wrote Anand Neelakantan. "The gig economy, often touted as the future of Indian labor, is currently in a state of free fall. Over 12 million delivery partners, the backbone of platforms like Zomato and Swiggy, have seen their daily orders drop by 60%." A household can use an electric cooker but restaurants cannot. "By prioritizing the domestic cylinder (of cooking gas) as a political tool, the state is ensuring that while the home stove may stay lit, the kitchen where the breadwinner earns his wage remains empty." "Data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) shows" that "In the first half of FY 2025-26, India produced 6,219 thousand metric tonnes (TMT) of LPG, while consumption stood at 16,200 TMT. Imports filled the gap at 10,731 TMT, translating into an import dependency of around 62%." TOI. The irony is that since 1970 India was said to have a total coastline of 7516.60 Km but using new methodology "the length of India's coastline has been recalculated and is now 11098.81 Km. (shipmin.gov.in. Just a couple of months ago, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra proclaimed that India's economy was in a "rare Goldilocks period" with high growth and low inflation. DD. That was because of the low price of fuel. Will India produce enormous offshore oil and gas? Once the conflict stops prices of oil and gas will drop. Perhaps, we will quietly go back to imports. Until the next time.   

No more Covid, please.

Speaking about the shortage of oil and gas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "During the Covid pandemic, 140 crore (1.4 billion) Indians showed the world how mature our nation is. I am confident that as a nation, we will navigate every situation successfully." The Telegraph. It is shocking that he does not care that, "India likely recorded almost two million extra deaths, in 2021, the deadliest year of Covid-19 pandemic, than it did in the preceding few years." HT. In 2021, a study found, "The Covid-19 pandemic caused excess deaths in India to cross more than four million." "India has officially recorded more than 414,000 Covid-19 deaths so far." BBC. Mocking the dead and the grieving. Unknown thousands died because of a shortage of oxygen as desperate relatives searched for hospital beds and social media was awash with people begging for oxygen cylinders (BBC). On 27 April 2021, "Officially there were seven Covid deaths in Gurgaon. But at the Madanpuri cremation ground, which has been designated for Covid deaths, there were so many bodies that cremations spilled over to the parking lots." TOI. The Holy River Ganga was full of bloated dead bodies  (BBC), possibly because the price of wood was too high for the poor. "The government said "no deaths due to lack of oxygen has been specifically reported by states." BBC. Hope the voters in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, which are to hold assembly elections shortly (wikipedia), were paying attention. The Election Commission of India is empowered to appoint electoral officers at various levels but only in consultation with the State government. "It appears that the ECI has adopted an openly hostile posture, attempting to render incumbent Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a lame duck by ordering wholesale transfers of officers holding key positions in West Bengal." DH. "At least three constitutional functionaries, including the president, have got involved in ruling party's everyday politicking." The Wire. As the constitutional head of state a sycophantic president can do a lot of damage. "On 25 June 1975, the then President Shri Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed issued the Emergency proclamation under Article 352, citing threats from internal disturbances." pib.gov.in. And "when it became certain that he would become India's first citizen, the Giani (Zail Singh) said, with undisguised glee and gratitude, that he would gladly sweep the ground that Indira Gandhi stepped on." The Telegraph. Observing that charges were "based on conjecture rather than evidence", Delhi Rouse Avenue Court discharged former Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and 22 others. DH. As a result of the fake charges, the BJP increased its tally in the assembly election in Delhi in 2025 to 48 seats from just 8 out of 70  (TOI). The BJP government in Assam has already distributed Rs 9,000 each to 4 million women at a cost of Rs 36 billion. ET. Mr Modi distributed Rs 10,000 each to 7.5 million women in Bihar in September 2025 at a cost of Rs 75 billion. TOI. He may have to beat these numbers in the opposition-controlled States of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Will he? Hope voters reject Covid.   

All inclusive growth.

"Stocks rose and oil prices fell sharply after President Donald Trump...said the United States would postpone further strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure, pending the outcome of negotiations." CNN. "The Indians rupee opened stronger this morning (24 March), rising 34 paise to 93.64 against the US dollar, compared with the previous close of 93.98 per dollar." On 21 March, "So far this month, foreign portfolio investors have taken out Rs 936.98 billion from the stock market alone, data combined from NSDL and BSE showed." TOI. As foreign investors repatriate this money in dollars it puts downward pressure on the rupee. "Mutual funds have sold Indian government bonds at a record pace in March so far, " as, "Mutual funds have net sold government bonds worth Rs 356 billion ($3.82 billion) so far this month, a record for any month, clearing house data showed." Reuters. Large number of bonds for sale results in a drop in prices and a consequent rise in yields. "Indian bond yields surged the most in nearly 30 months and ended at their highest since January last year," as the "Yield on the 10-year benchmark government bond jumped 10 basis points to close at 6.83%, CCIL data showed." ET. Higher yield means higher cost of borrowing for the government which would increase the amount it pays in interest. Already, "Data from the Union Budget shows that the government will spend about Rs 14.04 trillion on interest payments, making it the biggest component of total expenditure," while spending on rural development will be Rs 2.73 trillion and on education just Rs 1.39 trillion. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been buying up government bonds to support prices and lower yields. The RBI balance sheet has jumped an unprecedented Rs 5.58 trillion, from Rs 15.58 trillion in March 2025 to Rs 21.34 trillion on 28 February 2026. The RBI aggressively cut its policy rate by 125 basis points (bps), from 6.50% to 5.25% in 2025. indbiz.gov.in. This was done to increase liquidity and bring borrowing costs down. But liquidity has been tight because retail investors migrated to mutual funds from bank deposits in search of higher returns, credit growth has been higher than bank deposit growth (ET) and the RBI has been selling dollars, to prevent precipitous falls in the rupee, thus creating a shortage of liquidity in the system. The RBI will earn interest on the Rs 21.34 trillion worth of bonds from the government which it will transfer to the government as dividend. The government could lend this money to the private sector for building infrastructure thus increasing private sector investment, wrote Madan Sabnavis. How will that work? The private sector will invest only if returns are comparable to, or higher, than other investments. If the RBI is printing money to finance government spending it may lead to inflation, and, finally, it is the government's money going round in circles and is not a surplus for extra spending on infrastructure. If the RBI tries to reduce its bond holding it will lead to a tightening in liquidity, a  drop in prices and a rise in yields. The US Federal Reserve has decided to resume buying $40 billion worth of Treasury bills per month after reducing its balance sheet from $9 trillion in 2022 to $6.6 trillion at present.  Reuters. RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra started his term saying his focus will be on "fostering economic growth, ensuring stability in policy making and expanding financial inclusion." BS. These are political objectives for the elected government. The RBI should control inflation, which erodes the value of the currency, maintain adequate reserves against geopolitical emergencies and protect our money from bank frauds and cybercrime. That will be true growth. Not a political gimmick.        

All about elections.

"A widening conflict in the Middle East could trigger a fresh wave of global inflation if it spreads across supply chains, asset classes and jurisdictions, though India may remain relatively isolated, according to a report by SBI Research." ET. Very reassuring. India is very dependent on remittances from its diaspora who sent $135.4 billion in FY 2025 (pib.gov.in), 38% of which is from Gulf countries. "The cost of crude for Indian refiners has soared 93% since the conflict in the Gulf broke on 28 Feb. and hit $136.56 a barrel a week ago. TOI. Just one month ago, in January, the cost of India's basket of crude fell to $59.92 per barrel from $62.2 in December. Mint. It is not just a question of rising commodity prices, but also the exchange rate of the rupee against the US dollar which determines what we pay for retail fuel. The rupee has plunged from 90.894 to one dollar on 25 Feb. to 93.93 this morning. investing.com. What can the government do? The price of premium petrol has been increased by Rs 2.09-Rs 2.35 per liter by the oil market companies, while "Indian oil Corp Ltd has has raised the price of its industrial fuel by nearly Rs 22, or 25%, to Rs 109.59 from Rs 87.67 per liter. MC. Taking advantage of low prices since 2015, except for a brief spike in 2008  (eia. gov) the government has raked in over Rs 40 trillion from high taxes on retail fuel (ppac.gov.in). Lowering the rate of taxes on fuel will cause a serious shortfall in revenue and raising prices will immediately raise transport cost and increase prices. Assembly elections are to be held shortly in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, states ruled by non-BJP parties (wikipedia), and which Mr Narendra Modi would like to take over to make India a one-party autocracy. Prices will not be increased till elections are over. On the other hand, with India's oil imports at over $136 per barrel and the rupee in free fall, keeping the retail price at the same level will mean almost zero tax collection and cause a serious hole in revenue. In the assembly election in Bihar in November 2025, Mr Modi's party the BJP won the largest number of seats with 89 seats (ECI), after Mr Modi distributed Rs 10,000 each to 7.5 million women at a cost of Rs 75 billion to the taxpayer (TOI). The 16th Finance Commission found that "The Union government spent Rs 6.33 trillion on subsidies and transfers in 2023-24," while unconditional transfers by states are projected to reach Rs 4.14 trillion in 2025-26. There are dozens of other schemes including pensions, loan waivers and free electricity. Total debt of power distribution companies has reached Rs 7.42 trillion, wrote Aditya Sinha. No wonder, yields on the benchmark 10-year government bonds have jumped to 6.830 this morning from 6.661 on 27 February  (investing.com), significantly increasing borrowing costs for the government. Despite, "The Reserve Bank of India net bought bonds worth Rs 195.30 billion ($2.1) in the week ended March 13, against a record Rs 572.10 billion for the week to March 6." ET. It may seem that good times will last forever. But winning elections at any cost is highly immoral. Will Mr Modi have to pay? We really, really hope so.        

Russia can't add to India's product.

"Since 2003, India's economy has expanded at an average annual rate of over 7%. If this momentum continues for the next 20 years, India could cross the high-income threshold, with per capita GDP exceeding $15,000 in 2025 terms." Thus avoiding "the 'middle-income trap' that has stalled economies such as Brazil, South Africa and Turkey." ET. Recently, a small research shop Citrini cause panic "when it outlined a scenario in which AI ends most white-collar employment by 2028, with dire consequences for the broader economy," wrote Prof Raghuram Rajan. However, inertia, competition between companies with similar AI products and AI-assisted increase in human productivity may create new employment. In India, the situation is already critical. "The unemployment rate among persons aged 15-29 years rose to a four-month high of 14.8% in February...according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation." Unemployment for females stood at 17.6% and for males at 13.7%. The Wire. "Between 2004-05 and 2023, while approximately 5 million graduates were added each year, only around 2.8 million found employment," so that, unemployment is at 40% among 15-25 year-olds and at 20% among 25-29 year-olds. ET. "Unlike much of East and South-East Asia, which relied on export-led manufacturing to absorb low-skilled workers, India's expansion has been driven by skill-intensive services - IT and communications in particular." So that "between 1983 and 2023, graduate unemployment remained stubbornly high at 35-40%." BBC. "Over the past three-and-a-half decades, India's software industry has created millions of white-collar jobs, spawning a new middle class driven by high ambition and strong spending power." However, "Some CEOs have even warned that AI could eliminate 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs." On the other hand, "According to Infosys, generative AI might displace 92 million jobs such as front-end developers and testers, but it will create some 170 million new jobs for data annotators, AI engineers and AI leads." BBC. "Hiring from India has grown 24.1% from the United States, 63.7% from the United Kingdom and 61.5% year over year." "Software developers, software testers and user interface specialists remain the most sought-after professionals." And yet, "The median pay for AI trainers in India stands at $12 per hour, far below earnings in advanced economies." TOI. For those not so educated, Russia is hiring "scaffolders, tailors, welders, drillers, cooks and others" and issued 72,000 work permits, or 33% of its foreign worker count, to Indians in 2024. A salary of $700 (around Rs 63,000) per month overcomes any fears about the war with Ukraine. Mint. Russia plans to hire another 40,000 workers from India in 2026. TOI. How can the gross domestic product (GDP) rise to $15,000 per year if millions of Indians are not producing anything? Producing in Russia doesn't count. A fairy tale. Like Goldilocks.     

Safer than the US! Perhaps.

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.