India Last Week #76
A round-up of research & reportage on India across climate, energy, foreign policy, politics & more over the last week
Climate, Energy & Environment:
“Russia’s crude shipments are holding steady even as pressures intensify on the country’s critical oil trade. China is once again the biggest buyer of Moscow’s barrels as its purchases rise while flows to India plunge to the lowest in more than three years… Deliveries of Russian crude into Indian ports continued to fall last month, dropping to about 1.12 million barrels a day from 1.2 million in December, to leave the January import figure at the lowest since November 2022… The hurdles facing exporters could soon get even higher, if India follows through on an apparent deal with the US, potentially imperiling the Kremlin’s war chest… The drop in flows to India has been offset by an increase in the amount being delivered to China. Tracking data show 1.65 million barrels a day of crude offloaded at Chinese ports in January. That’s the most since March 2024 and the second-highest monthly total since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The tankers seen idling near Oman in recent weeks have largely dispersed. Most have now headed to Indian ports after delays of as long as six weeks, while two have headed through the Strait of Malacca to China.” Read more: Julian Lee, Bloomberg
“India had to curtail 2.3 TWh of solar generation between late May and December 2025, including 0.9 TWh in October alone, according to a new report from energy think tank Ember. The report states that a combination of forecast error, low daytime demand due to unusually mild temperatures, and rising solar generation led to periods of daytime oversupply in 2025… “Weaker-than-forecast daytime demand coincided with continued solar expansion, resulting in periods where cumulative supply was higher than demand,” the report explains. “This was because enough coal capacity had to remain online to meet the evening demand, with the mismatch leading to grid security concerns.”… Ember’s report adds that transmission constraints are the largest cause of solar curtailment nationally, and represent the largest risk to new projects as they are not guaranteed to be compensated financially. The think tank estimates that affected solar generators received an estimated INR 5,750 million – INR 6,900 million ($63 million – $76 million) in compensation through emergency Tertiary Reserve Ancillary Service (TRAS) mechanisms.” Read more: Uma Gupta, PV Magazine
“Since emerging as the world’s No. 2 producer of steel eight years ago, India has ramped up its exports to Europe. By some estimates, upwards of 60% of the country’s steel exports now head to the European Union… The EU’s world-first carbon tariff — known as the carbon border adjustment mechanism — took effect this month, forcing companies in the bloc to pay levies on certain imports based on how much planet-warming pollution was emitted during their manufacturing. That means metal from Indian steelmakers — which rely heavily on coal — will come in at a much higher price in the EU… Coal dominates the steelmaking process in much of the world, and especially in India. The traditional method for producing the metal relies on a coal-fired blast furnace to refine iron ore into iron, which is then forged into steel in a basic oxygen furnace. That two-step process accounts for 43% of India’s steel output, according to a June report from Johns Hopkins University’s Net Zero Industrial Policy Lab… Some steelmakers in India have begun to build out the infrastructure for direct reduced iron, a cleaner method of making iron than relying on coal-burning blast furnaces. But in contrast to American or European DRI facilities, which typically use natural gas or hydrogen, Indian DRI plants often use coal as the input.” Read more: Alexander C. Kaufman, Canary Media
“Among the world’s top energy consumers, no country is more price sensitive than India. Few are as vocal in airing their misery when costs surge. Currently, though, everyone in New Delhi feels rather relaxed. Ask government officials and industry executives, many are convinced oil, gas and coal have become a buyer’s market — perhaps for good. The sentiment echoes the reality of the market. Oil prices, for example, have fallen to about $65 a barrel, half the level they reached in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. And that’s in today’s money; in real terms, adjusted for inflation, oil is as cheap as it was in the mid-1980s. Coal and gas prices are also down significantly… “The good news is that there’s more, and more, and more energy coming into the global market,” Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s top energy official, told me last week… Looking ahead, India is betting that the growth in Chinese demand for fossil fuels will slow dramatically in the next few years, and certainly from 2030, creating room for India to increase its own consumption of oil, gas and coal without straining the global commodity market.” Read more: Javier Blas, Bloomberg
“The global collapse in Copper Treatment and Refining Charges (TCRCs) has sent shockwaves through India’s copper smelting sector, exposing critical vulnerabilities which threaten the economic viability of domestic refineries at a pivotal moment for the nation’s industrial ambitions. TCRCs—the fees charged to smelters for processing copper concentrate into refined metal have plummeted– dropping from $80-$90 per tonne in early 2024 to near-zero and negative territory by mid-2025 in some cases globally, which has forced Indian operators to pay for the privilege of processing ore… Mining interruptions in key copper-producing countries such as Peru, Panama, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, combined with Indonesia’s export ban on copper concentrates, have severely constrained ore availability… The impact on Indian copper smelters, heavily dependent on imported concentrates, has been intense. Companies face tightening margins as TCRCs shrink, undermining profitability and threatening their operational sustainability. The margin shrinkage also reflects India’s 90 per cent reliance on imported copper concentrate… The clean energy industry in India faces strategic risks as a result of this copper shortage. The nation’s aspirations for a clean energy transition depend on domestic refining capacity because copper is essential to renewable energy infrastructure, including high-voltage grids, electric vehicles, and solar systems.” Read more: Vikas Singh, Manufacturing Today
Economy:
“Free trade agreements (FTA) are often justified as stepping stones toward broader trade liberalisation. By committing governments to phased tariff elimination, FTAs are presumed to weaken protectionist interests and pave the way for deeper integration through lower Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) barriers. A long literature, however, questions this optimism… This paper argues that the stepping-stone versus stumbling-block distinction understates a more fundamental problem. Once tariffs are phased out under an FTA, governments may preserve protection through instrument substitution — the strategic deployment of trade remedies, regulatory standards, and administrative controls that reproduce the effects of tariffs without formally violating treaty commitments… After nearly a decade of disengagement, India has re-entered the FTA landscape, signing or concluding agreements with the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Oman, and the European Union… Experience under earlier agreements reveals a recurring pattern in which tariff concessions are announced, implemented, and then quietly neutralised. India’s experience under the ASEAN-India Trade in Good Agreement (AITIGA) is illustrative. Although the agreement entered into force in January 2010 with commitments to eliminate tariffs on a wide range of intermediate inputs, India initiated anti-dumping investigations on 54 ASEAN-linked products between 2010 and 2024, imposing 80 product-country duties.” Read more: Abhishek Anand and Naveen Joseph Thomas, O P Jindal Global University
“The government continues on its fiscal consolidation path under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) framework, targeting a reduction in fiscal deficit while maintaining a focus on capital expenditure as a driver of medium-term growth. However, the current budget also reflects emerging pressures: revenue growth has slowed, tax buoyancy has weakened relative to nominal GDP, and revised estimates for FY 25-26 indicate lower than expected receipts and muted expenditure compared to initial projections… The last two years saw social sector expenditures reaching their lowest levels in FY 24-25, with their share in total expenditure and GDP remaining below even pre-pandemic levels. In fact, Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSSs), once the Union government’s primary vehicle for welfare delivery, have seen their share in overall transfers and GDP decline over time, reflecting both fiscal consolidation pressures and shifts in how resources are channelled to states. At the same time, the recommendations of the Sixteenth Finance Commission (XVI FC) reshape the fiscal federal landscape for the coming five-year period… The Commission has also significantly increased the quantum of grants recommended for rural local governments (84 per cent) while those for urban local governments have increased nearly three-fold. This reflects a growing recognition of the current transition towards urbanisation and the role of local governments in delivering public services and infrastructure.” Read more: Sharad Pandey and Avani Kapur, Foundation for Responsive Governance
“India's government on Sunday handed a major win to Apple y allowing foreign companies to provide machines to their contract manufacturers in certain areas for five years without any tax risk. Apple has been growing in India in recent years as it diversifies beyond China. Counterpoint Research says iPhone’s share of the Indian market has doubled to 8% since 2022… Apple had been lobbying India’s government to modify its income tax laws to ensure the company is not taxed for ownership of the high-end iPhone machinery it provides to its contract manufacturers. In India, unlike China, Apple was concerned that if it paid for machines for its contract manufacturers, Indian law could consider that a so-called "business connection" and impose taxes on its iPhone sales profits… India on Sunday said that “to promote manufacturing of electronic goods for a contract manufacturer”, it is making certain law changes to ensure that mere ownership of machines by a foreign company does not lead to taxes on it… The move could prompt Apple and other companies to invest rapidly in the electronics manufacturing space by taking over initial expenses for pricey machines, reducing the initial cost burden on contract manufacturers they partner with.” Read more: Nikunj Ohri and Aditya Kalra, Reuters
“India’s productivity performance, measured by output per additional worker, has been uneven. Services have delivered strong productivity gains, benefiting from advances in adoption of digital technology and their integration into global value chains. Manufacturing, however, has seen only small productivity growth, while agriculture—still employing over 40 percent of the workforce—remains far less productive than other sectors… India’s unusually large share of very small firms is one reason manufacturing productivity has fallen behind. Nearly three quarters of factories employ fewer than five paid workers—almost double the US share… These challenges reduce India’s aggregate productivity. Many of these enterprises remain small for decades due to complex compliance requirements, rigid labor regulations, and product market rules that discourage growth… Another factor underlying India’s subdued manufacturing productivity is that business dynamism remains low. The frequency of new business creation and when firms close or exit a market is far lower than in economies such as Korea, Chile, or the United States… Further, a sizable share are zombie firms, which don’t generate enough earnings to cover their borrowing costs yet are continuing to absorb capital and labor.” Read more: Harald Finger and Nujin Suphaphiphat, IMF
“As the Finance Minister wrapped up her Budget speech, all I could think was: While there are schemes galore, where is the growth, where are the jobs? Two budgets ago, the FM announced Employment Linked Incentives — a Rs 2 lakh crore package promising 4.1 crore jobs. Cabinet approval took a year; the schemes became operational only in August 2025. We are still waiting for evidence of a single new job… The Production Linked Incentive scheme tells a similar story. Of Rs 1.97 lakh crore committed across 14 sectors, barely 12 per cent has been disbursed. Apple’s contract manufacturers absorbed three-quarters of mobile incentives; domestic players missed targets… Meanwhile, a CAG report revealed that under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana — Rs 10,000 crore spent on skilling one crore youth — 94.5 per cent of beneficiary bank accounts were invalid, blank, or dummy. Ninety lakh ghost accounts… The government thinks industrial policy works like providing gas cylinders — campaign mode, where you put up resources, implement once and announce it on television. But serious industrial policy is maintenance mode — persistent, iterative, demanding deep expertise over years. Centralisation in the PMO means policy is driven by generalist bureaucrats with neither the training nor the incentives to get it right.” Read more: Rohit Lamba, Indian Express
Foreign Policy & Security:
“In early September, shortly after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a chummy meeting with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in China, he dispatched his national security adviser to Washington to help smooth over fraying ties… Doval told Rubio that India wouldn’t be bullied by US President Donald Trump and his top aides, the people said, and would be willing to wait out his term, having faced other hostile US administrations in the past. But New Delhi wanted Trump and his aides to dial down their public criticism of India so they could get relations back on track, Doval said in the meeting… It wasn’t long after Doval’s meeting, which was previously unreported, that the first signs of an ease in tensions emerged. On Sept. 16, Trump called Modi on his birthday and praised him for doing a “tremendous job.” By the end of the year, the two leaders had spoken four more times on the phone as they inched toward a deal to bring down the tariffs… On Monday, Trump announced he’d reached a trade agreement with Modi that would reduce tariffs on India’s goods to 18%, lower than most of its peers in Asia. A punitive 25% duty that the US leader had slapped on India for buying Russian oil was also scrapped.” Read more: Sudhi Ranjan Sen, Dan Strumpf, and Shruti Srivastava, Bloomberg
“Three private sector companies have been shortlisted to develop and manufacture next generation fighter jets under the Advanced Multirole Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme, with a final winner to be decided within the next three months. Sources said that after a scrutiny of technical bids by seven Indian entities, three companies — Tata Advanced Systems Limited, Larsen & Toubro and Bharat Forge — have been shortlisted, with the remaining companies like state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) out of the race… As per plans, the winner of the competition will work with the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) to produce five prototypes of AMCA. The ministry has allocated an indicative budget of INR15,000 crore for the prototype stage… This is arguably India’s biggest ever military research and development program. The new, fifth generation fighter jet is slated to become India’s mainstay aerial platform from the mid 2030s. After the development, 120 fighter jets are expected to be ordered in the first batch, with deliveries expected to start by 2035.” Read more: Manu Pubby, Economic Times
“In June 2025 Ukraine launched an unprecedented attack deep within the Russian Federation. The covert operation ‘Spider Web’ involved the use of 117 uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) to target airfields across the country… Overall, the ongoing war—alongside the May 2025 India–Pakistan conflict and Israel’s June 2025 military operations in Iran—exhibits the rapidly evolving battlefield that is marked by convergence of technologies and the regular presence of multidomain operations that can cross from the historically predominant air, land and sea domains to the increasingly prominent cyber, outer space and information domains… Meanwhile, in South Asia, following the terrorist attacks near Pahalgam in Indian-controlled Kashmir in April 2025, AI-enabled disinformation could easily have spiralled into an extended conflict, with direct nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan a possibility. In the aftermath of the attacks undertaken by India against alleged terrorist bases in Pakistan, there was a ‘carnival of sensationalism’, with artificially generated content driving false narratives of successes against strategic targets and captured territories broadcast on mainstream media outlets on both sides. The chief of India’s Defence Staff observed that the Indian military devoted substantial resources to countering these as part of the ‘non-contact and multi-domain’ conflict that ‘exemplifies the future of war’..” Read more: Wilfred Wan, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
“Canada and India are tantalizingly close to a 10-year multibillion dollar uranium supply deal that will likely be signed at a heads of state meeting in March, according to sources from both sides at the recently concluded India Energy Week, held in Goa, India, last week… Given its burgeoning economy, India is on a quest for secure uranium supplies as it expands its nuclear power footprint tenfold to 100 gigawatts by 2047, and both sides are looking to partner on that front… At the heart of the supply deal would be Canada’s Cameco Corporation, the world’s largest publicly traded uranium company, based in Saskatchewan province… While confirming talks on a deal involving uranium supplies, the Canadian delegation to India Energy Week also declined to provide specifics potentially involving Cameco, owing to commercial sensitivities. However, speaking at a fireside chat at the event on Wednesday, Canada’s minister of energy and natural resources Tim Hodgson, confirmed recent reports in the Indian media that prime minister Mark Carney would be meeting his counterpart Narendra Modi in Delhi in March to firm up various trade deals, including one on uranium supplies.” Read more: Gaurav Sharma, Forbes
“It’s still mid-winter in the high Himalayas, along the disputed border between India and China. But in New Delhi and Beijing spring has come. Relations, which had been frozen since 20 Indian soldiers were killed in clashes in 2020, have begun to thaw. Bilateral diplomatic visits have resumed and the two militaries have begun meeting again. Most importantly, however, India has begun to re-evaluate China’s role as an economic partner… Capital will begin to cross the border again — and Chinese companies might even be allowed to bid for government contracts, no small thing in a country where the state sector drives much investment activity. This isn’t because China has retreated on the border issue. Far from it; if anything, it is India that has resigned itself to a new status quo, one in which it has lost several strategic advantages… Indian companies’ immediate need for China, however, is not as a destination for their products but as a supply-chain partner. Clothing manufacturers, for example, complain that they can’t produce the cloth they want because they can’t get the necessary equipment and chemicals… This is a fragile spring, however. A renewed flare-up on the border would bring winter back. And there are limits, as well, on how deep integration can possibly go while the Indian private sector sees China only as a source of inputs and not a destination for their goods.” Read more: Mihir Sharma, Bloomberg
People & Politics:
“India’s largest Hindu far-right organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), is no longer working with lobbyists in the U.S. after launching its first known lobbying campaign targeting members of Congress last January. Squire Patton Boggs, the firm that lobbied on behalf of the RSS, terminated the campaign weeks after a Prism investigation detailed the RSS’s lobbying activities, according to public disclosures. The firm also filed several amendments to its lobbying registration and quarterly reports that retroactively changed details about its client… he amended documents, which were filed on Dec. 23 and 29, replace the RSS with an individual named Vivek Sharma. Sharma, who is based in Acton, Massachusetts, is the executive chair of Cohance Lifesciences, a drug manufacturer with major operations in India and the U.S… On Nov. 12, Prism reported that Squire Patton Boggs received $330,000 in the first three quarters of 2025 to lobby officials in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on behalf of the RSS. Public records indicate this was the first time the RSS hired lobbyists in the U.S. A review of congressional disclosure documents by Prism found that the RSS had not been identified as a foreign entity, despite the organization being based in India.” Read more: Biplob Kumar Das and Meghnad Bose, PRISM
“Many upper-caste protestors opposing the University Grants Commission’s new guidelines against discrimination have demanded that the rules be made caste-neutral. But lawyer Disha Wadekar said there is no point to the regulations if they are made caste-neutral. “Then they will have to be gender neutral, they will have to be disabilities neutral, so everyone can file complaints against everyone,” Wadekar told Scroll in an interview on Friday… Wadekar pointed out that the UGC’s Redressal of Grievances of Students Regulations, 2023, which has also been mentioned in the 2026 guidelines, allow any student to file a complaint of victimisation. “So what is this uproar that ‘we don’t have a redressal’?” Regarding claims that the new rules could be misused, Wadekar said that misuse is a symptom of systemic failures in our criminal justice system. “This whole ‘misuse’ narrative about the atrocities act was also based on the fact that there are so many acquittals,” she said, pointing that similarly, in rape cases, only 25% cases reach conviction. “Does that mean that 75% of rape cases are false and are a misuse of the rape law?”.” Read more: Nolina Minj, Scroll
“In a shocking incident, a 91-year-old Mahadalit woman was cremated in the middle of a road in Bihar’s Vaishali district after her family was prevented from reaching the cremation ground due to encroachment on the access path. Sources said the relatives were forced to perform the last rites on the road after some people had encroached on the land leading to the cremation ground… The incident occurred at Sondho Andhari Gachhi Chowk under Goroul police station limits in Vaishali district late on Thursday. The deceased was identified as Jhapi Devi, a resident of Sondho Vasudev village… It was alleged that local shopkeepers had been encroaching on the route for a long time. When the family attempted to move forward with the body, the shopkeepers stopped them… Taking serious note of the incident, Vaishali district magistrate Varsha Singh constituted a committee comprising the sub-divisional officer of Mahua, the deputy superintendent of police, and the block development officer of Goraul to inquire into the matter. It was stated that strict action would be taken against those found guilty after the investigation. Meanwhile, on the directive of the district magistrate, the payment of salaries of the block development officer, circle officer and station house officer of Goroul has been withheld.” Read more: Ramashankar, The New Indian Express
“Budgets are never just about numbers. They’re political documents that reflect not only fiscal priorities but also political calculations. Budget 2026, presented against the backdrop of elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry, is no exception. While GoI has carefully avoided conspicuous election-oriented largesse, distribution and nature of its promises reveal a subtler strategy: using infrastructure, connectivity, and symbolic development to talk to voters in electorally-sensitive states… What ties these cases together is not generosity but selectivity. GoI has largely avoided direct fiscal transfers or welfare expansions that would strengthen states’ capacity to deliver services in the short term. Instead, it has favoured centrally branded capes - railways, corridors, industrial clusters - implemented through central ministries and PSUs… Decision to retain the 41% tax devolution ratio reinforces this pattern. While technically consistent with the Finance Commission’s recommendations, it does little to ease states’ fiscal pressures, especially amid rising welfare demands and constrained borrowing.” Read more: Gilles Verniers, Economic Times
Tech:
“OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, announced plans for a 1-gigawatt (GW) AI data centre in September last year, followed by major AI-related investment announcements from technology giants Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta in the last quarter of 2025. Domestic conglomerates such as Reliance, Adani and the Tata Group are also joining the rush for data centres, which are centralised facilities that house servers and digital infrastructure, powering everything from AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude to cloud services, video streaming and e-commerce platforms… What is more striking, however, is the timing - coming as other parts of the world reassess data centre expansion amid mounting resource and environmental constraints… As of October 2025, India had 153 data centres - up about 10 per cent over the past three years - with a combined capacity of 1.7GW. That capacity is expected to grow fivefold to 8GW by 2030, according to a Jefferies report… However, analysts caution that serious questions remain about the environmental and humanitarian costs of this growth. India already faces acute water stress and constraints on energy supply. Water use by data centres in the country is expected to more than double, from 150 billion litres in 2025 to 358 billion litres by 2030, according to insights from Mordor Intelligence.” Read more: Collin Furtado, Channel News Asia
“Alphabet Inc. is plotting to dramatically expand its presence in India, with the possibility of taking millions of square feet in new office space in Bangalore, India’s tech hub. Google’s parent company has leased one office tower and purchased options on two others in Alembic City, a development in the Whitefield tech corridor, totaling 2.4 million square feet, according to people familiar with the deal… If it does take all of the space, the complex could accommodate as many as 20,000 additional staff, which could more than double the company’s footprint in India, said the people, asking not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. Alphabet currently employs around 14,000 in the country, out of a global workforce of roughly 190,000… US President Donald Trump’s visa restrictions have made it harder to bring foreign talent to America, prompting some companies to recruit more staff overseas. India has become an increasingly important place for US companies to hire, particularly in the race to dominate artificial intelligence… For US tech giants, India offers a strategic workaround to Washington’s tightening immigration regime. The Trump administration has moved to sharply hike the fees for H-1B work visas — potentially to $100,000 per application — making it harder for companies to bring Indian engineers to the US.” Read more: Saritha Rai and Christopher Palmeri, Bloomberg
“The Economic Survey’s observations on compute and AI portend potentially significant developments in the upcoming Budget. First, it flags concerns raised by the Financial Times about off-balance-sheet leverage in global AI investments, alongside skepticism expressed by IBM’s CEO regarding the financial viability of large-scale data center expansion. Second, it highlights that the demands data centers place on water, energy, and finance may be difficult to reconcile with India’s economic and existential realities, where steady access to these basic amenities is still not universal. Taken together, these signals suggest that Budget 2026 is unlikely to offer subsidies or major outlays for data centers. This presents a unique opportunity for India to reimagine its conception of technological sovereignty… A reimagined conception of technological sovereignty for India must begin with trust. Businesses value certainty, even more so in a global environment marked by policy volatility and erratic decision-making. Singapore offers a useful illustration… India could orient itself in a similar direction. Doing so, however, requires resisting the temptation to dilute or reverse institutional and legal commitments once made.” Read more: Meghna Bal, Money Control
“Facebook India Online Services reported a 28.1% increase in net profit to Rs 647 crore for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025, compared with Rs 505 crore in the previous year, according to the company’s financial data accessed by Tofler. Revenue from operations rose 25.0% to Rs 3,793 crore from Rs 3,035 crore a year earlier. Total income increased 25.2% to Rs 3,834 crore from Rs 3,064 crore. Total expenses for the year climbed 22.6% to Rs 2,881 crore, compared with Rs 2,350 crore in the previous fiscal. Employee benefit expenses jumped 36.3% to Rs 649 crore from Rs 476 crore… Gross advertising revenue increased by about 29%, rising from Rs 22,731 crore to Rs 29,392 crore. It paid royalty charges of Rs 23,247 crore, a nearly 30% increase compared with Rs 17,887 crore.” Read more: Economic Times
Watch/listen:
India and the true cost of coal | Financial Times Film
Bonus:
“Over 2,000 men covered in blankets squat, stand, and crowd around a turf, watching a circle-style kabaddi match in Punjab’s Moga district. Brand new tractors, which the winners will take home, are parked adjacent to the ground. Fourteen bare-chested players in Adidas shorts raid through the biting cold whispering “kabaddi-kabaddi”. But it is not the scorers who have the biggest responsibility of ensuring the game goes uninterrupted. The players are being closely watched over by policemen… The 16 December killing of kabaddi player and promoter Kanwar Digvijay Singh alias Rana Balachauria is the latest in a spate of murders dotting Punjab’s kabaddi-verse. It was the fourth murder linked to the kabaddi world in less than a year. Balachauria’s killers came to him with a selfie request and shot him point blank in police presence… Moga is the backyard of Davinder Bambiha—the slain gangster who first earned praise with his game and then instilled fear with his criminal acts. Police have traced the recent killings to the Bambiha gang… What is unfolding on Punjab’s kabaddi turfs is part of a larger shift in the state’s crime landscape. As the gang networks face increased pressure from police, investigators said, illicit money is being routed through hawala and betting apps. Extortion money too is entering the sport.” Read more: Samridhi Tewari, ThePrint
Really solid curation work here. The detail about Doval's Sept meeting with Rubio was especially intresting - that calculated bet on outlasting Trump's term while keeping channels open shows how much India's diplomatic game has matured. I've seen similar plays in corporate negotiatons, where patience and strategic timing matter more than immediate capitulation. The fact that they got tariffs down to 18% whle scrapping the Russian oil penalty suggests the backroom work paid off big time.