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Good evening, This is my last day of writing the Evening Expresso, a newsletter I’ve truly enjoyed curating, writing, and bringing to you over the past 11 months or so. So, before I get the edition going one last time, a big thank you to you, the reader, for your unwavering support and encouragement throughout this journey—your feedback, occasional brickbats, and of course, suggestions. Personally, it has been an absolute privilege to step outside my comfort zone to explore, research, and write about topics I never thought I could (think economics!). So, once again, many thanks for reading this newsletter and making this experience worthwhile. It’s been hella fun! 🫡 On that note, let’s dive in 👇🏽
📝 The Debrief
India went all in on Donald Trump. However, things have changed over the past few months
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the White House in February to meet the newly inaugurated President Donald Trump, there was a lot of hope and optimism in the air that both leaders could elevate India’s already-robust relationship with the United States to even greater heights. This was despite Trump’s broadsides as a candidate, singling out India for its high tariff rates, even labelling the country “Tariff King” during his campaign stumps, much like he did in his first term as President. On Wednesday, however, things took a turn for the worse, with the same Trump slapping a 25% tariff on India’s exports to the US, while also describing India’s trade policies as “most strenuous and obnoxious.” He went a step further, labelling India’s economy as “dead”, along with Russia, a statement that hasn’t gone down well with the South Block. What explains Trump’s pivot? Not so friendly fire: As this newsletter noted earlier, Trump has been gradually drifting away from “friend” India, and towards a traditional US ally in Pakistan for a bunch of reasons. We observed Pakistan’s eager embrace of cryptocurrency, which is increasing its proximity to Trump’s family, its rare earths offer to the US as a key factor, and a Nobel Peace Prize nomination by its government as a means to woo the President and reset frayed ties. Trump, on Wednesday, kept his side of the bargain by claiming to work closely with Islamabad to develop Pakistan’s “massive oil reserves.” On Thursday, he announced a 19% tariff on US imports from Pakistan, less than India’s 26%. These may appear as Trump’s attempts to test New Delhi’s resolve. Still, his oft-cited claim of allegedly intervening to secure a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, now repeated by the White House (with a bizarre claim to the Nobel), has not gone down well with the Indian public, and more so with Prime Minister Modi conveying this to him during a June phone call. Russian roulette: Trump hasn't taken kindly to India’s energy and military partnership with Russia, resulting in an additional penalty to the 25% tariff. In the six months since he took office, Trump has grown frustrated with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, even as he publicly berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House. A lot has changed since then. Change of course: Trump is increasingly under pressure from his own Republican caucus, particularly Senators such as Lindsey Graham, to support Ukraine and send more weapons to Kyiv. Graham also warned India last month over its purchase of Russian oil, threatening to “crush” its economy with steep secondary tariffs. Reuters reported on Thursday that India’s publicly-owned oil refiners paused crude purchases from Russia last week, even before Trump announced his penalty. And then, there’s the BRICS bloc, of which India is a constituent alongside China and Russia, another subject of Trump’s constant ire and tariff tantrums.
✍️ From our newsroom
More skeletons: Narendra Vikramaditya Yadav, who posed as a UK cardiologist “Dr John Camm”, is at the heart of a chilling scandal in Madhya Pradesh. Assembly records reveal that the last five patients he operated on at Damoh’s Mission Hospital died on the day of their angioplasty. Yadav, arrested in Uttar Pradesh in April, allegedly performed 12 such procedures between January 2 and February 11. Three patients died after the procedure, two during it, and all five final cases—ranging from 51 to 75 years old—ended fatally. Yadav resigned on February 11 and reportedly left with a portable echo machine. Now, as my colleague Anand Mohan J reports from Bhopal, the government is taking stock, albeit belatedly. MP Deputy CM Rajendra Shukla told the Assembly that the hospital never informed regulators about his appointment, and therefore, his credentials were never scrutinised. The government says it has now acted against senior Damoh health officials for negligence.
Also read: The long con: How Narendra Yadav became Dr John Camm
🔎 Need to know
You’ve been served: The Enforcement Directorate has summoned industrialist Anil Ambani as part of an ongoing money laundering probe into an alleged Rs 3,000-crore bank loan fraud. The summons follow four days of searches at multiple Mumbai locations linked to Ambani, who heads the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.
Club of two: Tech giant Microsoft joined Nvidia in reaching the hallowed $4 trillion market capitalisation on Thursday. Microsoft’s valuation touched $4.01 trillion, largely thanks to its stellar earnings, which boosted shares by nearly 4.5 per cent. Microsoft's market cap hit the $3 trillion mark 18 months ago, while Nvidia topped the mark earlier this month. Moving on: Former US vice president and Democratic nominee for the 2024 Presidential election Kamala Harris will not run for California’s governor next year. She is, however, releasing a memoir detailing her campaign, titled 107 Days, in September.
🎙️Expresso Playlist
In today’s Playlist, here’s an excellent collection of the 100 best podcasts by Time Magazine. Some Playlist faves here too. Thank me later!
✋🏽 One last thing
I am going to end this edition with a fascinating long-read in The Atlantic, which deep dives into NASA’s decline and how it may have ceded space (pun not intended) to Elon Musk.
PS: Have a fantabulous weekend, and once again, thank you for being part of this journey. If you do wish to keep in touch, I can be reached here on email, and here on LinkedIn. Signing off, Venkat Ananth |
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