US and Iran in Pakistan.

"India...welcomed the ceasefire arrangement between the US and Iran, expressing the hope that the development would pave the way for lasting peace and stability in West Asia." "Meanwhile, India has issued a fresh advisory for its nationals in Iran, urging them to leave the country in view of potential escalation despite the ceasefire." ET. Across the border, "Pakistan has acted as an intermediary between Iran and the US over the last few weeks, passing messages between the two." "Just before 05.00, Pakistan's Prime Minister announced that a ceasefire had been agreed and invited the two sides to meet in Islamabad on Friday, 10 April." BBC. "The Iranian delegation has arrived in the Pakistani capital Islamabad," and "Vice President Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner are set to meet with the Iranian delegation Saturday (today) morning, local time, for Pakistan-mediated talks on ending the war." The Hill. "Islamabad finds itself at the center of a tense diplomatic gamble," "giving the Pakistani capital a rare moment on the global stage." However, "In the hours after the ceasefire was announced by Pakistan, Iranian officials reportedly credited a last-minute push by China with securing their acceptance, a claim soon after validated by Trump." ET. Pakistan is not important, China is. Trump has credited "Field Marshall Asim Munir's counsel for helping avert a wider catastrophe." Because Trump has a "grandiose narcissistic personality" and "Munir delivers obsequiousness, deference and strategic utility, all packaged in a decisive military approach." "Trump has consistently sought to claim credit for preventing a nuclear war between India and Pakistan," and Munir openly thanked Trump for the ceasefire and saving 10 million people, wrote Prof Vinay Kaura. Uncontrolled rage. Because this is contrary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claim in the Lok Sabha that during Operation Sindoor (pib.gov.in), someone in Pakistan phoned and begged, "Stop now, you beat US badly, we cannot take any more.  (NDTV)." Pakistan a friend of the US while Mr Modi is ignored, is intolerable to Bhakts who live in an altered reality (DH). "It's hard to believe now, but US President Donald Trump was once the BJP's (Mr Modi's party) pin-up boy." "It was embarrassing to watch TV anchors declare that the whole world trembled because Trump held a door open for Modi, or that other nations quaked before the power of this supposedly awesome duo." But now, "In India, the same social media fantasists who once sang his (Trump's) praises have now turned viciously against him," wrote Vir Sanghvi. The 'Goldilocks economy' has been upended (Reuters), 11 million graduates constitute 67% of unemployed youth aged 20-29 (DH) and foreign investors have lost interest in  India and pulled out Rs 1.77 trillion in 2026 (NDTV). As PM, Mr Modi is responsible for India's dire situation. Poor Bhakts have been reduced to praising our greatest enemy China (India Today) and abusing Trump. Not easy when facts intrude on their delusion. How to worship Dear Leader. When he is failing.    

The RBI didn't.

"The RBI's six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to keep the benchmark repo rate at 5.25%...The policy stand was retained at neutral." HT. "The repo rate is the interest rate at which the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lends short term funds to commercial banks against government securities... with an agreement to repurchase them later at a slightly higher price. The difference in price reflects the repo rate." Monefy. Banks decide their lending rates based on the repo rate, so a high repo rate reduces borrowing by increasing costs for borrowers and slows the economy, a low rate is expected to encourage economic growth by increasing investment due to lower borrowing costs. The MPC projected real GDP growth at 7.6% in FY 2025-26 and at 6.9% in FY 2026-27. News18. "For the new fiscal year (1 Apr 2026-3 Mar 2027), CPI inflation is projected at 4.6%, with quarterly estimates of 4% in Q1, 4.4% in Q2, 5.2% in Q3 and easing to 4.7% in Q4. Core inflation is projected at 4.4%." ET. In March 2026, "India's federal government ...retained its retail inflation target of 4% with a comfort band of 2%-6%, according to an official notification. The target will remain in place for five years." Reuters. "Zerodha founder and CEO Nithin Kamath has said foreign investor interest in India has 'pretty much died out'," because "India is being seen as geopolitically exposed, especially to an oil shock, while the lack of strong AI-linked plays and weak rupee are also weighing on the sentiment." NDTV.  The RBI listed five dangers to the Indian economy: 1. "elevated crude oil prices could increase imported inflation and widen current account deficit"; 2. higher commodity prices may affect agriculture, industry and services and lower domestic output; 3. risk aversion by foreign funds may tighten liquidity and raise borrowing costs; 4. weaker global growth could reduce exports and inward remittances and 5. increased borrowing costs globally could raise borrowing costs in India. ET. Higher inflation should prompt a higher repo rate while falling output and lower GDP growth demands easing borrowing costs. This uncertainty regarding the effects of the Iran war on the global economy (ET) is the reason for the MPC voting for status quo. Just a few weeks ago, "A rare Goldilocks mix - robust growth, contained inflation, a low current account deficit and ample foreign exchange reserves - has set the economy apart from most peers." But now, "Rupee has depreciated by over 4% - underperforming most EM Asian peers, and foreign portfolio outflows have approached $12 billion in March alone," wrote Sakshi Gupta. As the Indian rupee crashed to 95 to the US dollar (in.investing.com), on 03 April, "The RBI announced new rules capping the open positions banks can hold in the onshore currency market at the end of each trading day (ET)."  "Traders rightly sensed RBI's mandate to cap local banks' end-of-day currency positions at $100 million as a desperate measure." "The market is no longer confident that the RBI will be able to stop the rupee from slipping past 100. After all, when a monetary authority restricts how lenders manage their books, it unwittingly ends up signaling that traditional tools like interest-rate hikes or dollar sales are no longer sufficient. That's when speculators swoop in," wrote Andy Mukherjee. "When in doubt, don't," said Benjamin Franklin (azquotes.com). That's what the RBI did. It didn't.   

How it won.

"Iran and the US agreed to a conditional two-week ceasefire, during which shipping traffic will be allowed through the Strait of Hormuz." US President Donald Trump "said he had agreed to 'suspend the bombing attack of Iran for a period of two weeks", and "Iran has agreed to allow vessels through the Hormuz Strait for two weeks, with their passage coordinated by the Iranian military." BBC. In a huge diplomatic achievement, "Pakistan has acted as an intermediary between Iran and the US over the last few weeks, passing messages between the two." It has a border with Iran and "regularly refers to its 'brotherly' relationship with that country." BBC. "On 16 January 2024, Iran conducted a series of missile strikes in Pakistan." "Two days later, on 18 January, Pakistan conducted a retaliatory series of missile strikes in Iran," "Iran's government condemned the strikes and stated that nine people had been killed, including four children." wikipedia. Kill children of "brotherly relationship". "Iran has the largest Shia majority, with more than 66 million making up nearly 90% of the population." BBC. "About 97% of Pakistanis are Muslims," with Sunnis making up 85%- 90%. wikipedia. On the one hand, in Pakistan, "Over 4000 Shias have been killed by sectarian violence in the past 20 years alone." CSOH. On the other hand, "In India, Shias enjoy constitutional protections that allow them to practice their faith openly. They have representation in politics, access to Shia-specific religious institutions, and the freedom to observe their rituals without fear." News18. The Hazaras, most of whom are Shia, are regularly massacred in Pakistan. The Print. In February 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was hosted at Blair House, the Presidential guest House in Washington  (NDTV), and "PM Modi is the first Indian Prime minister to address the joint session of the US Congress twice. He is also just the second international leader, after Israel Prime Minister Benjamim Netanyahu, to be granted the honor more than once (HT)." And yet, curiously, both Iran and the US chose to trust Pakistan as the mediator and not India. Pakistan's powerful army chief, Field Marshall Asim Munir, has built up a personal rapport with US President Donald Trump." Munir and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Washington following Operation Sindoor, the conflict between India and Pakistan in May 2025, during which, "Sharif praised Trump's 'bold and visionary' intervention, while Munir said the US leader deserved the Nobel Peace Prize for stopping an escalation between the nuclear armed neighbors." ET. The Indian government claimed, "All strikes were executed without loss of Indian assets, underscoring the effectiveness of our surveillance, planning and delivery systems." pib.gov.in. Trump claimed to have stopped the conflict by threatening 200% tariff and said 11 planes were shot down, but "India has consistently denied all claims about any third-party intervention during the armed conflict in May 2025." NDTV. Pakistan has agreed to use World Liberty Financial stablecoin for cross-border transactions (TOI), while Indian media portrayed it as an inducement to Trump's family. Even if we won Operation Sindoor, we have managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The US and Iran trusted Pakistan's duplicity. Pakistan won.

Obesity on candid camera.

"A day after Semaglutide lost patent protection in India, top drug makers including Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharma and Zydus Lifesciences launched generic versions priced 50-90% below the innovator brands, kicking off an aggressive scramble for share in the fast-growing weight-loss and diabetes market." "GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) drugs such as Semaglutide work by mimicking a natural hormone that signals the brain to feel full and slow down digestion, helping one to eat less and lose weight more effectively." Mint. Concerned by likely indiscriminate use of these drugs the Indian government has published a list of their side effects and has made it illegal to sell without prescription. Defining obesity as BMI over 25 kg/m2, it advised, "Obesity is preventable and reversible. To prevent and reduce obesity," people should: Reduce calories from fats and sugars, increase intake of fruits, vegetables,legumes and whole grains, and exercise daily. pib.gov,in. The use of the body mass index (BMI) by doctors is wrong and emphasis on weight-loss diets on social media are examples of bias against fat people and of fat shaming. withinhealth.com. But buying expensive drugs which mimic dieting is not. Strange. "The India GLP-1 receptor agonist market size was estimated at $110.55 million in 2024 and is expected to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 34.3%" to reach $513.1 million by 2030. Grand View Research. However, eye-watering profits will not be limited to pharma companies. As people put on weight the skin stretches, so rapid, significant weight loss leads to loose folds of skin resulting in facial aging (aao.org) and ugly folds elsewhere in the body (Dr John Burns) which need plastic surgery. Should the drugs be continued lifelong? A study at Cleveland Clinic showed that "After 1 year without medication, those in the obesity group regained an average of 0.5% of body weight, and those treating type 2 diabetes lost average 1.3% of body weight on average." Medical News Today. However, 27% switched to another obesity drug, 20% restarted the original drug, 14% continued exercise and diet and less than 1% required bariatric surgery. That is about 68% of the sample. The Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) is considering allowing chemists to sell loose tablets to cut costs for patients who have to buy an entire strip of 10-15 tablets when they may not need more than 5-6. Mint. The chemist will, naturally, keep the part of the strip with the name, price and expiry date so as to be able to sell the rest at a later date. How will anyone know what the patient is taking? At the same time the "Drug Consultative Committee has agreed to make the installation of CCTV cameras at medical stores mandatory." ET. That means no more medical confidentiality as any government official will be able to access information. So, patients and doctors won't know what loose tablets the patient is taking, but the police will. Is that a definition of a 'police state'  (wikipedia)? No wonder, "A nationwide survey of over 1,200 Indian doctors has revealed that more than nine in ten physicians would hesitate to recommend medicine as a career to their own children." India Today. Let politicians, civil servants and the police treat patients as a side hustle. No need for doctors. Everything will be on Candid Camera anyway.   

Iran's strength.

Four days back, "Iran's downing of two US military aircraft marks the first time in more than 20 years that American warplanes have been shot down by enemy fire, underlining Tehran's ability to retaliate despite claims by US President Donald Trump that the country has been 'completely decimated'." The US confirmed that an F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down. "One service member has been rescued, while search operations continue for another." TOI. Three days back, the missing weapons officer "was rescued by US Special Operations Forces in a risky Saturday night mission that took commandos deep into enemy territory." There were no US casualties and "All commandos and the weapons officer returned safely." DH. The rescue mission involved 155 aircraft, including four bombers, 64 fighters, 48 refueling tankers, 13 rescue aircraft, and more, Trump said." Two planes got bogged down in the soil and "were destroyed to keep them out of enemy hands." BBC. This operation values the officer at hundreds of millions of dollars. "One of the biggest miscalculations by Washington and its allies appears to be the expectation that sustained strikes would destabilize Iran internally," "Instead, Iran's power structure has adapted. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has consolidated control and continues to drive both military operations and internal security." MC. Iran has resorted to asymmetric warfare and its "strategy is based around the Shahed, a one-way attack drone costing between $20,000 and $50,000." "Iran has fired thousands of these drones since the war began, combining them with more expensive ballistic missiles in an attempt to overwhelm air defenses." DW. Perhaps, Iran's main strength is its disregard for the welfare of its citizens. Iran's Ministry of Health told Time Magazine that 30,000 protesters were killed on 8 and 9 January alone. Even now, Iran is executing civilians. yahoo.com. Whereas, the US media conduct polls showing that a majority of Americans are against the war, to pressure Trump. pbs.org. The US Department of Defense planned to spend $995.13 billion in fiscal 2026. usaspending.gov. Why spend so much of taxpayer money on defense if it is just for show? With a population of nearly 350 million (worldometer), every citizen could receive over $3000 each, $12,000 for a family of four, if this money was saved. Iran has responded to US attacks by attacking Gulf countries (Reuters), consisting of a large majority of Sunni Muslims. Of the total of over 2 billion Muslims in the world, 1.7-1.8 billion are Sunni and about 200-300 are Shia. Iran and the south of Iraq are mostly Shia. wikipedia. Yet, with more than six times the number, the Sunnis seem to be terrified of Shia Iran. TOI. "An Iranian official on Tuesday (today) called on youths in the country to form human chains around power plants ahead of potential strikes threatened by US President Donald Trump." Fox. It's striking that they are willing to sacrifice ordinary people but not the IRGC or the Basij militia thugs. Was it a request or an order? Will they force ordinary people at gunpoint? They can and may. Inhuman scum. Yet the US media is rooting for Iran. That's how treacherous they are. That is Iran's strength. 

They are Americans.

"Pepsi has announced it is withdrawing as main sponsor of the Wireless Festival in London this summer after news that Kanye West is to headline the three-day event. The US rapper, now known as Ye, has drawn widespread criticism for antisemitic comments he made in recent years and for which he issued an apology in January." BBC. "Wireless Festival is an annual rap and hip-hop music festival that takes place in London England," and Kanye West has been listed among the greatest rappers of all time with 160 million records sold. (wikipedia). As an American company, Pepsi's withdrawal is strange because, "For the past two years, college and university campuses across the US have become hotbeds of antisemitism and intense anti-Israel activism." ADL. Perception matters. In March, "Seven foreign nationals including an American are in NIA custody after a Delhi court granted the anti-terror agency 11 days to investigate an alleged conspiracy to train ethnic armed groups in drone warfare. The six others are Ukrainian nationals." NDTV. "Home Minister Amit Shah...said a group of foreigners...arrested recently by NIA from Kolkata, Lucknow and Delhi did not pose any threat to India, but were trying to use the country as a transit point to Myanmar for terror training." TOI. So we are safe, or are we? Would any other country allow 'terrorist trainers' to use it as a "transit point" and what if radicalized Indians accompanied them to Myanmar and returned after training? Yesterday, "Delhi Police Special Cell and Maharashtra ATS arrested two radicalized suspects in Mumbai, alleging links to Jaish-e-Mohammed and Islamic State. They were allegedly planning a toy car bomb attack  in Delhi." India Today. India does not dare arrest an American. Perception matters. On 12 June 2025, Air India Flight 171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed 32 seconds after take off from Ahmedabad Airport, killing 12 crew members and 229 passengers. One passenger survived. "On the ground, 19 people were killed, and 67 others were seriously injured." wikipedia. A cover up is underway. "Multiple Boeing whistleblowers have revealed several manufacturing defects in the 787s," especially VT-ANB, which was the AI171 Aircraft: "structural gaps, force-fit assembly practices, and water leakage from toilets into electric bays. Then there's the history of 787 incidents: battery fires, control failures, fuel leaks and even fuel switch issues," wrote S Raghotham. India may end up blaming the pilots under American pressure, just as Union Carbide was allowed to walk away with a token payout of $470 million for the deaths of 8,000 and injuries to 558,175 people (wikipedia). Americans can kill thousands of Indians with impunity. Perception matters. On 2 December 2025, the Union Home Ministry revealed in the Lok Sabha that only 335 persons, out of 10,440 arrests under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, had been convicted. The Wire. So, Judges in the Nirav Modi trial in London said "proscribed treatment (torture) to obtain confessions" was "commonplace and endemic". TOI. Where there is no proof, torture is necessary for confessions. Indians a 'Jm Crow' nation? Yes Massa. Perception matters. 

The power to buy.

"After extensive consultation, govt has decided to retain the retail inflation target for the monetary policy committee (MPC) at 4%. For the next five years the tolerance band of 2-6% has also been retained, according to the notification issued by the Finance Ministry." TOI. This allows the MPC of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set low policy rates by ignoring inflation at up to 6%. The flexible inflation target of 4%+/- 2% was first set by the government in 2016 for a five year period and was renewed in 2021. prsindia. org. However, the RBI kept its policy rate unchanged at 4% from May 2020 to May 2022 when it raised the rate by 40 basis points (bps) to 4.40% (BBC) even though the consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate was 6.28% in May 2020, rising to 7.61% in October 2020, and stayed near or above 6% till May 2022 (RI), when it raised rates in an emergency meeting because the US Federal Reserve raised interest rate by 50 bps (bankrate.com). Rising prices mean that the rupee is buying less, or the rupee is depreciating in value. The US targets an inflation rate of 2%, which is the target rate for most developed economies. Brazil targets 4.5%+/-2%, Mexico 3%+/-1%, Indonesia 5%+/-1% and Russia targets 4%. IMF. If the inflation rate in the US (usinflationcalculator.com) stays below that in India the dollar will keep getting stronger against the rupee. The rupee has fallen from 66.46 to one dollar in 2016 (bankbazaar.com) to 92.92 this morning (xe. com), having recovered from 95.220 on 31 March 2026 (in.investing.com). India's foreign exchange reserves fell by $10.3 billion in the week ended 27 March 2026 to $688.1 billion, having fallen by $11.4 billion to $698.4 billion in the week ended 20 March. TOI. Though some of it was because of a fall in the price of gold, most of it was because the RBI sold dollars to support the rupee. In addition, "The RBI's unorthodox move to steady the rupee by forcing a banks to unwind foreign exchange positions beyond $100 million will prevent its slide towards 95," but, "The move will also cause banks with large open positions to lose money." TOI. Following that, the RBI protected the rupee further  "by targeting the rebooking of canceled forex derivative contracts and tightening norms around related party contracts." Mint. "The Indian rupee may weaken to a record 100 per dollar or beyond," as "Analysts at Wells Fargo and Van Eck Associates Corp say elevated oil prices will accelerate the rupee's decline by worsening inflation and the current account deficit." ET. Yield on India's benchmark 10 year bonds is at 7.129% this morning (in. investing. com), greatly raising the borrowing costs for the government. The fall in the value of the rupee from 66.46 to 92.92 against one dollar is a 59.86% drop. The dollar has also lost some value in that period, which means there has been over 65% erosion in the value of the wealth of Indians in the 12 years of this government. And, the ability to buy. That is some achievement.

Taxing sins.

"India's economic outlook remains supported by strong domestic demand and improving high-frequency indicators, but rising geopolitical tensions, particularly in the Middle East, pose significant risks, including possibility of stagflation, according to a report by Morgan Stanley." ET. "India's net Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections rose to Rs 1.78 trillion in March 2026, registering a growth of 8.2% compared to the same period last year, as per official data." Gross GST collections grew 8.8% to Rs 2 trillion. "For the full financial year 2025-26, gross GST collections rose 8.3% year-on-year to over Rs 22.27 trillion, while net GS revenue grew 7.1% to Rs 19.34 trillion." ET. Starting on 22 September 2025, GST rates were reduced to 5%  from 12% on a range of commonly used goods and to 18% from 28% on automobiles, air conditioners, televisions and washing machines. cleartax.in. If collections have increased despite lower rates, it means that demand and sales have surged. Unfortunately, fruit juices, non-alcoholic beverages and carbonated beverages continue to be taxed at 40%. "India's taxation for non-alcoholic beverages stands out as one of the most onerous in the world." "The median global tax rate for carbonated beverages hovers around 18.4%." Also, at 351.9 million tonnes, India had the second largest horticultural production in 2022-23, so lower taxes would increase demand for fruit juices, wrote Aruna Sharma. All these drinks are treated as 'sin' products possibly because, "India is among the top three countries globally with the highest number of children affected by excess weight, with about 41 million aged 5-19 living with high body mass index (BMI), including nearly 14 million with obesity." "The rise is being driven by easy access to calorie-dense foods, sugary drinks and ultra-processed products, along with declining physical activity and increasing screen time." TOI. "A debate around banning social media for children under 16 is gathering momentum in India," as Australia has done, but "Experts, however, warn that such a ban would not be easy in India and could face legal challenges." BBC. Municipalities have to arrange easily accessible playing grounds and swimming pools for children to exercise in. India's middle class is becoming poorer. "A family that lived comfortably on Rs 1 million in 2016 would now need close to Rs 2 million a year." As prices have surged, "Their salary, in most cases, has barely moved. The middle class is on a treadmill, and every year the belt speeds up." BBC. Poverty has a strong indirect relation to obesity in developed countries (Medical News Today) but this phenomenon is now being seen in low and middle income countries as well. As salaries stagnate, both parents have to work to continue the same standard of living, so there is no time to cook. It is easier to order junk food online. What is a greater sin - non-alcoholic beverages, social media, tasty calories without nutrition, or falling salaries? Who should we ask? Government, priests or people. Difficult.