Recently retired Senior Professor of Physics & Astrophysics; Active in Data Analytics using Machine Learning in Astronomy/Finance. Posts carry sarcasm/humour.
Why is Modi “great” according to Trump? In an interview with Axios, Trump appears to answer that question himself. Playing to a domestic audience, he boasts about forcing India to the negotiating table and extracting concessions:
“Modi’s a great leader. And we do a lot of business with them [India], but now we do fair business. They used to really rip us off. I don’t blame them for that. You know, we had stupid politicians that allowed that to happen. But now we do a lot of business. They’re not that happy about it because they used to do a lot better. So Modi’s great.”
Viewed through Trump’s own telling, Modi’s greatness appears to derive from his purported willingness to accept terms that Trump portrays as a victory for the U.S.
That is often the hidden cost of Trump’s praise. When he flatters foreign leaders, it is usually to underscore not their triumphs but his own.
India’s Escapism
Since last year, clear signs have emerged of a fundamental shift in U.S. policy toward India. The indicators are difficult to ignore: the latest U.S. National Security Strategy barely mentions India; the U.S. deputy secretary of state declared from Indian soil that Washington would not allow India to grow into an economic rival; the U.S. assistant secretary of state stated that the principal objective of American policy in South Asia is to prevent any single power from dominating the subcontinent; and Washington recently dropped “Indo” from the name of its Indo-Pacific Command. These developments come amid the declining salience of the Quad and an apparent revival of the term “Asia-Pacific” at the expense of “Indo-Pacific.”
The implication is increasingly difficult to dismiss. Washington no longer appears to view India’s rise as inherently beneficial to U.S. interests. Instead, it is beginning to see India as a potential economic and regional competitor whose power should be managed and constrained. U.S. interest in India is now largely focused on securing greater access to its vast market and gaining greater strategic access.
The 50% punitive tariffs imposed on India last year, efforts to make India more dependent on U.S. or U.S.-aligned energy supplies, the lopsided trade framework agreement of February, and the looming bilateral trade deal all underscore these shifting U.S. priorities.
Yet Prime Minister Modi appears unwilling to acknowledge the writing on the wall. This week he told President Trump that bilateral relations had “progressed significantly” since their last meeting in February 2025. In reality, the relationship has suffered a series of major setbacks during that period. Meanwhile, India’s foreign minister continues to speak of “deepening partnership across domains.”
Rather than acknowledge the implications of Washington’s policy shift, the Modi administration continues to promote a narrative of deepening strategic convergence, thereby deflecting questions — and opposition attacks — about whether its assumptions regarding the U.S. have been overtaken by developments.
This is what veteran journalist and author Kushwant Singh wrote in 2003.
It is a warning that we did not heed for 23 years. It is time we do so now.
Otherwise his prediction, The End of India, is soon going to be in our hands.
How prophetic like the other Sardar PM!
दिनांक 16 जून 2026 को लगभग दोपहर 2:05 से 2:08 बजे के बीच, मैं सहारनपुर से बागपत की ओर दिल्ली-देहरादून इकोनॉमिक कॉरिडोर (Phase-2) पर यात्रा कर रहा था। Km 81+100 के आसपास सड़क किनारे मौजूद कुछ बच्चों में से एक ने मेरी कार पर पत्थर फेंका।
घटना के बाद जब मैंने वाहन रोककर पीछे जाना शुरू किया तो सभी बच्चे वहां से भाग गए। मौके पर Main Carriageway पर भी काफी पत्थर पड़े हुए थे, जिससे आशंका होती है कि अन्य वाहनों को भी इसी प्रकार निशाना बनाया गया होगा।
यह पूरी घटना मेरे डैशकैम में रिकॉर्ड हुई है तथा कॉरिडोर पर लगे CCTV कैमरों में भी कैद होने की संभावना है।
यह नए इकोनॉमिक कॉरिडोर का उपयोग करने वाले यात्रियों की सुरक्षा से जुड़ा गंभीर विषय है। अतः माननीय मुख्यमंत्री श्री @myogiadityanath जी, @UPGovt , @Uppolice , @PoliceShamli@shamlipolice एवं @dm_shamli अनुरोध है कि उपलब्ध CCTV एवं अन्य साक्ष्यों के आधार पर मामले की जांच कर आवश्यक कार्रवाई करें तथा संबंधित बच्चों एवं उनके अभिभावकों को इस प्रकार की खतरनाक हरकतों के प्रति जागरूक करें, ताकि भविष्य में किसी बड़ी दुर्घटना को रोका जा सके।
@nitin_gadkari@hdmalhotra@NHAI_Official@nhai_rodelhi@MORTHIndia@ShishirGoUP@DyCMGoUP@brajeshpathakup@AwasthiAwanishK
👋I have a simple question for @nitin_gadkari.
If I refuse to pay a toll at a toll plaza due to any reasons, does any law in India allow toll goons to surround me and physically assault me or my family, damage my Car in the middle of a highway?
Or should I be fined under the law of land, with a court deciding the punishment through due process?
Or especial provisions of laws are laid for the private toll operators become judge, jury, and executioner on Indian roads?
🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
Indian telecom Reliance is sabotaging access to Telegram for millions of users OUTSIDE India (including the UAE) via a rogue method called BGP hijacking.
The sabotage seems intentional, as Reliance has ignored multiple reports.
This may be part of a competitive war, as Reliance is partially owned by Meta — the company behind WhatsApp.
Network operators are advised to reject unauthorized BGP announcements from Reliance (AS18101) to prevent route hijacks and ensure stable Internet access for their users.
Such abuse of global Internet routing is alarming. I wouldn’t be surprised if Reliance/WhatsApp were also behind the recent lobbying effort to ban Telegram in India.
Over 300,000 people die of drowning each year. In order to protect society, it is now illegal to consume or possess water.
Your government is also considering banning solid food, as it presents a needless choking hazard.
You are not an adult.
You are a baby.
Eat the baby food.
India’s IT ministry banned Telegram for one week because some users shared leaked exam questions.
This punishes 150M+ ordinary Telegram users in India — not the insiders who leaked the exam materials.
And the ban hasn't stopped anything. The leaks just moved to other apps.
Today's Telegram ban is proof of why an indigenous social media or messaging app can never grow in India.
If @durov was Indian, he would be in jail along with his entire team and his entire infrastructure seized because a question paper was supposedly leaked on Telegram. It would have taken a few months to get bail. Line of FIRs stretching to Kanyakumari. Court cases dragging on for a decade or more. TV channels would have gone to town with all kinds of consipracies of how Soros is involved.
We have vaguely written laws, open to the worst interpretation and bureaucratic overreactions. It's not a stable foundation for anyone to build on.
The same applies to now AI. Anyday someone will be offended in this country by anything an indigenous AI generates in text or images and the founders can find themselves in jail and fighting court cases.
At least 20 to 30 crore rural and poor Indians who do not consume internet data but use only voice and sms, will compulsorily be sold data every month, because Airtel and Reliance are above the law, above the state, and definitely above the citizens of this nation.
Rule of Law be damned and thrown in the gutters.
This is capitalism and free markets #NewIndia style.
I run an NGO for tree plantation with 30 active volunteers - all within India.
It had to be registered for transparency of funds, running a current account, receiving donations, auditing the spends and filing ITRs.
RSS has 4 million estimated members, 88,000 shakhas (including many overseas), but is still not registered in India.
There are no audits, no tracking. No one knows how much funds they receive, and how much they spend. They do not file any ITR.
Why?
Turkish businesswoman Canan Çelebioğlu:
We entered India and became the largest ground handling company there.
I was obsessed with India — I called it my second country.
Last year, around May 15th, the Indian government shut us down.
They seized all our equipment, transferred 10,000 employees to another company in a single day — and wiped out a value we had built of perhaps $400–500 million.
Gone in one day.
Put the financial loss aside. That place was built stitch by stitch.
We spent years pushing the government to change policies, to develop the sector.
And I loved India. That's what made it so shocking. It truly devastated us.