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Sunday, 31 August 2025

Four walls don’t make a home!

Four walls don’t make a home!

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India’s turnaround!

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This is a story about elderly people and senior citizens who when displaced from their familiar environment and old friends with whom they openly expressed their feelings and chatted freely. They tend to get isolated, quiet and miss the familiar surroundings. This affects their everyday life, their physical and mental health. It also shortens their life span. Sometimes children and loved ones shift them with good intention but don't realize the harm caused during their twilight years.

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India was partitioned in 1947 into India and Pakistan. Overnight people became refugees. People from both sides were crossing over to the other side. There was chaos; Hindus from the other side crossed over to India, and Muslims on this side crossed over to the other side. Many Muslims stayed back. Similarly, some Hindus, Sikhs, and Christians stayed back on the other side. Suddenly friends became foes. People on either side were being harassed and massacred; over 10 million people lost their lives. This was the darkest chapter in Indian history. And Chopra and family was one of them. An affluent Punjabi family with a big house, property, and business had to leave it all overnight and cross over to the Indian side as refugees. With great difficulty reached the Indian side.

Most of the Hindu refugees, mainly from Punjab, Sind, and other places, were given refuge by the Indian government in different towns and cities. Some were put in barracks, government housing buildings, and other places. Some of the affluent refugees were offered small plots of land to construct houses and live with their own people in some of the suburbs of then Bombay. Chopra and family also got a plot of land to construct a house and live within their community, where they felt at home.

Chopra’s family consisted of his aged mother, wife, and young children—two sons and a daughter. Being a qualified professional, he was able to get some assignments and manage his home. He managed to construct a small house in the plot of land given by the Indian authorities and have a safe roof over his head. Slowly they were able to come to grips with their fate. At least they were happy that all were safe and together. Days passed by, and they were trying to settle down in the new city, new environment, and among new people. Life was not so easy. They remembered the good old days in Punjab, now in Pakistan lost forever. But they had to get on with life.

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Children were attending school, and Chopra was busy with his profession and started doing well. Next, he added a floor to the house. Since Chopra’s aged mother and his wife were not comfortable living in the same house, the family shifted to the top floor, while his aged mother lived on the ground floor. Chopra shared his free time with his mother on the ground floor and his family on the first floor. Now things were going smoothly, and they were settling down in the new place. Years passed by, and Chopra and his family were living a happy and peaceful life. After a couple of years, his aged mother expired peacefully in this house, though longing to see their ancestral house they left behind. The children grew up; the elder son, Akash, got admission in IIT, and the daughter, Asha, and the other son, Arun, would be finishing school in a few years. Time went by, and life was kind to Chopra. They were settled and comfortable in the new city. Slowly they were rebuilding their life from scratch.

As years went by, everything was falling into place. The elder son, Akash, passed out from IIT. The other son, Arun, managed to get admission in an engineering college, and the daughter, Asha, passed the entrance exam and got admission in a medical college in Mumbai. However, as things were going fine, his wife fell ill, and after some months, she too expired. Chopra was devastated. Now he was left alone with his children. The only solace was that he was living in a colony with houses and people who too were refugees like him; some were his old friends. He would share his thoughts and memories with his contemporaries of his native place in Punjab, now in Pakistan. They are all beautiful memories of friends; some of them were Muslims too who grew up with them. Partition had devasted and separated them forever.

Meanwhile, his daughter Asha and elder son Akash were married. The younger son, Arun, went abroad to the USA and later settled there. Years later he too got married there to a foreigner. He lived with his elder son, Akash, and his wife. Slowly he retired from active life and was happy and healthy. Every morning on getting up, he would go down and join his old friends for a chat. Later again in the evening, he would sit with his old friends in the colony and talk about various things, including life in their native Punjab, before crossing over to India as refugees. And how they restarted their life all over again from nothing. This meeting was like oxygen to him to energize life being among his own people. He was enjoying his retired life and was happy that his son had taken over charge of the house.

Age was catching up with Chopra, but he was fit and healthy. His elder son, Akash, who was into business, established himself and was doing well. He had two children, a girl and a boy, who were schooling. With success comes ambition and ideas. With modern residential towers coming up nearby, his son and wife were keen to move into one of the modern towers after living in a modest house for years. They booked a flat in one of the top floors in a nearby tower. Chopra was not keen to shift since coming to Mumbai; with his mother, wife, and children, he had lived in this modest house he had constructed for many years. Besides, people who, like him, had crossed over to India had been staying here as neighbors for decades. And they were the support system for each other in times of need.

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But his son Akash and his wife had made up their minds to shift to the new flat. Finally convincing his father, they shifted to the new flat in a tower on the ninth floor with all modern amenities. Chopra felt lost, isolated and lonely. He couldn’t come down freely to go and meet his old friends, some distance away. In the earlier house, on getting up, he would walk down and chat with his old friends. Here it was all quiet, and the loneliness affected his physical and mental health. Within a few months, he fell sick. He started to sink. Lying on the bed, just staring at the fan and the ceiling, he was thinking about his big house in Punjab, his modest old house here, his friends from Punjab who, like him, came as refugees, and the chats he had with them. Though his son took good care of him and referred him to a reputed doctor and could afford the best of treatment for him, there was no improvement; without realizing that his heart was in the old house, among his old friends, which was like oxygen to him to energize and to keep him fit and healthy.

His son Akash, though educated, sincere, and smart, didn’t realize that a cozy house with four walls is not sufficient especially for the elderly. A man needs a social life too, especially his contemporaries. And almost after a year of shifting to the apartment in the tower, his falling sick, failing health, and struggling to get back to normal, he expired a lonely man. The tall, well-built, smiling man was a shadow of himself in the end.

Shifting or displacing the elderly during their twilight years, even with good intention, from old and familiar surroundings is the worst thing to do; people do more harm to their psyche and their well-being, affecting their physical and mental health, and soon loneliness creeps in, though family and children are with them. But they get busy with their own life and problems without realizing old people get ignored, need company and having no social life or anyone to talk to or interact with them does more harm than any sickness.

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Saturday, 23 August 2025

Tariff Tantrums & Repercussions

Tariff Tantrums & Repercussions

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Social media exposes Pakis!

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Trump’s self-inflicted disaster has started to show negative results. Big names and reputed brands are laying off workers from their plants. Some companies are filing for bankruptcy. Trump’s high tariffs have backfired with price-rise of essential goods and groceries. Trump instead of making America great is taking the country where no other American President has done before.

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Sometime ago I had seen a cartoon of Trump in the guise of Denis the Menace. Looks like his tantrums in the form of additional tariffs remind you of this comic character. But in this case its real. He has lowered the stature of American President around the world with his obsession for taking credit in solving disputes, ceasefire and the Nobel Prize.

There's lot of talk going on about Trump, Tariff and its repercussions. After US President Donald Trump imposes 50% tariffs, there's lot of confusion. Who's going to pay the additional tariff? To explain in layman's lingo, India or the Indian businesses/manufacturers/exporters are not going to pay the tariff.

The American importer will have to bear the additional tariff which is akin to import duty. He will recover the additional tariff from American consumers, thereby making the product more expensive for the Americans. The idea being to discourage imports of these items and give impetus to local manufacturing. Americans will regret of having voted for Trump. Sure to make him unpopular.

The choice for the American importer will be to import the same products from some other country or buy them from the local suppliers if it's available. If the price increases, demand will fall. Americans will lose business. What does America manufacture apart from weapons?

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In India, the impact, there will be no more orders from America. The Indian exporter will have to look for other importers from other countries or slow down production thereby affecting his business for some time. As America was a big market, it will take some time to hunt for a large market to replace it.

Even if American businessmen plan to manufacture locally, the cost should be at least at par the cost of importing them from India, which most likely won’t be possible. With high production cost, high labor and transport cost, it might not be feasible to compete with Indian prices from where it was imported so far. And even if they plan to do what Trump dreams, set-up local manufacturing plants, install the necessary machinery, hire labor, senior staff and technocrats, it will take years to commence production, but at what cost. The product may cost three to four times the cost of importing them. By then Trump will be gone putting America in a mess.

It's a tricky situation from Indian exporters as they need to get orders from other countries to maintain their normal business. For the American importer and Americans to get the same quality products in bulk at competitive prices will be tough. In a way it will be bad for both India and America. And Trump will lose support and become unpopular. As some angry Americans say, Trump is a moron or his advisors are really stupid. Protecting American interests at what cost! New factories in US, new jobs for Americans and products made locally for Americans. The idea may sound good but it’s not practical.

Many business and political analysts and experts are forecasting bad times for American business and economy, and add it's the beginning of the end of American dominance in the world. Carefully cultivated relations with countries by American officials and diplomats will be undone. President Donald Trump's new round of tariffs, which are imposed to pressure foreign countries into favorable trade deals, has sent shockwaves through the targeted countries.

But the move is also hurting the American consumers too. Trump is doing what no other President has done so far. Will any investor or businessman be willing to invest and manufacture products which works out cheaper when imported and gets expensive when made in America. Americans are asking Trump and his advisors, why can’t he understand this simple logic. Either he is over-smart or his advisors are stupid.

With his tariffs and tantrums America will lose too, politically and business wise, many countries are distancing themselves and keeping on hold import orders from America. Already Europe and many countries are upset but are not talking about it openly. Countries like Brazil, India, China are standing up. Sooner or later, others too will stand up to America, and tell him goodbye.

Trumps dislike for BRICS is well-known. Criticizing and calling it names won’t help. Indonesia officially joined BRICS as a full member. The inclusion of Indonesia, a major Southeast Asian economy, expands the bloc’s reach and influence.

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US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on foreign countries to boost America, but the move seems to have backfired on him already. After the tariff announcement in April, the bankruptcies among US companies have increased. In July alone, 71 major companies declared bankruptcy. Trump had imposed a 10% tariff on foreign goods in April, and coincidentally bankruptcies began to rise that same month. In the first half of 2025, 371 large US companies went bankrupt, with 63 companies filing for bankruptcy in June alone. The list includes several popular brands like Forever 21, Joann’s, Rite Aid, Party City, and Claire’s.

Major global and US companies are reportedly passing rising costs onto American consumers, triggering widespread price hikes across multiple industries, from sportswear to electronics, luxury goods, and automobiles. Trump’s Presidency is on shaky ground.

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Friday, 8 August 2025

Trump—the Cowboy President & Pakistan!

Trump—the Cowboy President & Pakistan!

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Below: Thrilling Test series between England and India

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Trump’s love for Pakistan? Many may think, Pakistan’s location, to keep an eye on Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, India and check Chinese influence in Pakistan. This may be partly right but there is something more vital for Americans. Sooner or later Pakistan will be trouble as China,................

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After becoming the president for the second term, Trump showed his good, bad, and ugly side to India, China, and the world. For a few dollars more, he displayed his arrogance and power. An unpopular US president whom the voters regret for having elected him to power. Many believe Trump is the beginning of the downfall of USA dominance in the world. He is making a mockery of the agreements, laws, trade, and high tariff. Americans are slowly realizing they made a grave mistake by electing him again. Soon countries like India, China, Brazil, Mexico, and others will stand up to him and react, which may prove detrimental to the US. It has started happening. Acting as Mr. Know all, his poor knowledge or half-knowledge on serious subjects or his advisors are biased or stupid will eventually lead him to unpopularity and his downfall.

Modi campaigned with 'Dobara Trump', 'Namaste Trump', and 'My Friend Trump' exhibiting his closeness to Trump without realizing politicians and Trump can’t be trusted. In return, got a high tariff, called India a dead economy, and, to further insult, said, we will help Pakistan in oil exploration, and India can import oil from Pakistan. Also, after Operation Sindoor, he invited the perpetrator of the Pahalgam attack, Gen. Munir, for lunch. This exposes Trump’s double standard antics.

American Expert warns, Trump undoing decades of progress. In an article for the Carnegie Endowment, Evan A Feigenbaum, a former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State who worked on Indo-US relations, warned that Trump’s approach could cause long-term harm. He wrote, ‘After more than two decades of bipartisan efforts to strengthen Indo-US ties including progress made during Trump’s first term, the president now seems to be tearing down what took years to build. Recently, Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Indian exports, and now he is threatening to raise tariffs on Indian pharmaceutical exports to 250 per cent.

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How is Trump damaging US-India relations? In a recent interview with CNBC, Donald Trump said he plans to slowly increase tariffs on medicines imported from India. He stated: ‘We’ll start with a small tariff on pharmaceuticals, but within a year or a year and a half, it will go up to 150 per cent, and eventually to 250 per cent, because we want those medicines to be made in US.’ Some call him a moron and some say he is a smart cookie. He may be working for American growth but at what cost, spoiling international relations and equations. And some analysts say he is the beginning of the end of American dominance in the world.

The headlines these days—America is getting savvy with Pakistan. Trump seals oil deal with Pakistan. Some experts say he is doing this as Americans need a launchpad in Pakistan to attack Iran. This may be partly true, but Trump’s love for Pakistan is something more. The announcement of oil exploration is mainly to keep Pakistan in good humor for a few days. After this statement, Pakistanis had great dreams of being rich like the Gulf countries, rolling in money. Some even said, we will lend money to the IMF and leave India far behind, and we will be the top economy of the world. The main reason for this love is somewhere else, given below in this post. Just after a couple of days, the balloon was busted when there was a statement from Trump: Pakistan is buying American oil, at a higher price and the oil tankers will soon reach Pakistan. Pakistanis don’t know what hit them. They are being taken for a ride. And realized that Field Marshal Munir’s American visit and lunch with Trump has proved to be very costly for Pakistan.

Field Marshal Munir has got another invitation from America. Trump wants him to do something more. Remember Nixon and Kissinger in the seventies. A love for Pakistan for their self-interest and Pakistan trying to cash in. The US and Trump cannot be trusted. They are not bothered about terrorist attacks in India nor the loss of life and property. If foreigners, especially Americans, had died in the attacks, the response would have been different. Their self-interest counts paramount. A country where international terrorist Osama Bin Laden was sheltered, found, and killed, and a state with a list of UN-designated terrorists still hiding and active—the US loves Pakistan. Double standard at its best. You will know why.

This is getting interesting! Suddenly America, China, and others love Pakistan. And nobody talks about Pahalgam terrorists but is concerned about attacks in Baluchistan. Remember China screwed America by banning rare minerals when Trump started levying high tariffs. America badly needs these rare minerals for making weapons, mobiles, electric vehicles, and many other things. They even tried to extract it from under the sea. There are reports that apart from China, it's available in Gilgit Baltistan. This is what America wants.

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This area is rich in various mineral deposits, including rare earth minerals. Geological surveys have confirmed the presence of gold, copper, nickel, and cobalt in at least ten newly discovered blocks within the region. Additionally, there are reports of lithium/lepidolite in the Shengus area and widespread occurrences of other minerals like arsenic, bauxite, and iron. These findings suggest the potential for Gilgit-Baltistan to become a significant contributor to Pakistan's mineral wealth.

Gilgit-Baltistan, formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory and consists of the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and between India and China since 1959. And India claims this territory as its own. Here it gets a bit complicated.

Hence the sudden love for Pakistan. Under Pakistan, it will be easy to manage, but with India, it will be difficult. It suits the US and the West. And China wants to deprive America of this, as they have banned its export to the US. And China is trying to exert pressure on Pakistan so that Americans are kept away from this. It won’t be easy for America with India claiming it as its territory and China firm that America doesn’t get the rare minerals. This love affair is sure to get messy.

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