US down at 24th.

"Markets can recover from a bad quarter. Political upheaval, runaway inflation or weak institutions are much harder to hedge against." "A new global ranking shows that when safety is the priority, Europe dominates the list - while the United States falls well behind." "Singapore is the only non-European country to make the top 10." The US ranks 24th. BT. This 24th country has gone back to Pacific Command eight years after renaming it Indo-Pacific Command. "The announcement came hours before Mr Modi's engagement with Trump (on the margins of G7), a meeting many described as noticeably less warm than the embraces that once characterised the leaders' relationship. Gone are the stadium rallies and bear hugs." TOI. Back home, veteran Congress leader Pawan Khera told reporters "Let our government come to power. When we recount these 12-15 years, BJP leaders won't be able to step out without security." "People can see the media is being silenced, the organisations are being hijacked, how the Election Commission is in their (BJP's) pocket, how they have trampled the ED and CBI under their feet, how signatures are being forged and how democracy is being mocked." "It is already being documented." DH. A fascist government is unsafe and so are its projects. At Mira-Bhayandar in Mumbai a new four lane double-decker flyover, built at a cost of Rs 1 billion, suddenly narrows to two lanes, without any warning or signage. "In Bhopal, the Rs 180 million Ashbagh Railway overbridge went viral for its dangerously sharp 'near 90-degree turn'. In Lucknow, a railway overbridge appeared to run straight into a house. In Nagpur, images of the Indora-Dighori flyover almost slicing through a balcony at Ashok Chowk sparked outrage. The projects quickly became national memes." HT. "Ever since 2014, when the blissful era of Amrit Kaal began, it is said that the nation has been spared the shame and disgrace of corruption in high places." Now, "We simply do not notice corruption, we do not recognize corruption, we do not report corruption. No reports, no corruption. No intrepid editors, no crusading anchors." Millions have been stolen from the Ayodhya Ram Temple (BBC), the Enforcement Direectorate (ED) has settled 150 cases under the dreaded Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) for modest fines with permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) used AI-generated non-existent material, a Muslim High Court judge received death threats for finding 14 cow-vigilante men guilty of lynching a Muslim man (BBC) and the Bombay HC asked if all citizens are being made slaves of Indian govt., wrote Harish Khera. There is deep suspicion among Indians about the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), which was only deepened by the Supreme Court's refusal to allow an independent audit of the machines (BS). "The 124 FAQs published by the Election Commission of India (ECI) apparently dispel all doubts about the efficacy of machine-based voting. But deeper probing throws up more questions," wrote Venkatesh Nayak. Finally, if anyone is branded a criminal the police often eliminate him in a staged shooting incident, euphemistically known as 'encounters'. In seven years to September 2024, the UP police gunned down 207 criminals, many of whom carried cash rewards. TOI. We don't know India's position on the list of safe countries for investors. Could be embarrassing.