Week 52

Long weekend! 🤩

April 16, 2022

Good Morning,

Welcome! I hope you have your “Subah Kee Chai” ready and you're excited to read your weekly 10-minute digest.  

How is everyone's long weekend going? I know I am buzzing! Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor announced that they got married, and I can tell you every Indian smiled! 

This week was a slow burner, however, it covers a conversation between the US Secretary of State and India's external affairs minister. In addition, Sri Lanka is facing a crisis! And so are the Mumbai Indians...😕 

Next week, Subah Kee Chai will be on holiday due to religious commitments, however, you will receive a newsletter on the 1st of May :) 

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I hope you enjoy today's newsletter and have an amazing Sunday! 

Now let’s get into the news.

Markets

Markets

A

this week, as stock markets were closed on Thursday and Friday due to Mahavir Jayanti and Good Friday. On Wednesday, the three-day losing streak continued, as both indexes ended in the red. Mixed global trends, persistent foreign fund outflows and a major slump in the HDFC twins were major causes of the poor trading session. 

ITC, Sun Pharma, Hindustan Unilever Limited, State Bank of India and NTPC were the top gainers on Wednesday bringing some positivity to the three-day losses. 

On the flip side, however, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Maruti, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, PowerGrid and Kotak Bank were the top losers. 

India's retail inflation rose to a 17-month high at 6.95% in March, while factory output (production) grew only 1.7% in February. 

Lastly, foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth a net INR 3,128.39 crore on Tuesday according to exchange data. 

The stock market will reopen on Monday :) 

#HappyTrading

USA - India (Sweet & Sour)  

Sweet! 

As part of a

, Howard University (And no, that is not a typo for Harvard University) invited US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and India External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Both individuals highlighted the importance of strengthening the educational ties between the United States and India as a method to grow the already strong bilateral ties. 

India and the United States of America intend to establish a new India-US Education and Skills Development Working Group, which will call for joint collaboration of key research projects and promote student opportunities in both nations. The United States is currently home to 200,000 students at various universities across the nation. From Palo Alto to Wall Street, aspiring Indians are here to stay! Growing relations between the two nations is nothing but positivity for budding students eager to secure jobs in this unpredictable job market. 

#StayHungry 

Sour :(

In the same meeting between the Secretary of State and the External Affairs Minister, President Biden's administration struck a mildly disapproving note by unilaterally raising concerns over a rise in

in India. 

That's one way to make the conversation awkward...

Blinken stated that the USA is monitoring a rise in human rights abuses by some government, police and prison officials in India, and called for India to regularly engage in the shared values of protecting democratic values and human rights. India's external affairs minister ignored the statement made, choosing not to lecture a country that has the world's largest incarcerated population, and a high level of racism and human rights abuses. 

Well, now that the finger-pointing competition is over - it is pretty important to realise that public discourse should be used to identify problems, and collectively brainstorm solutions to rectify and eliminate such problems from reoccurring. While international politics is a game of making your nation better than everyone else - sometimes working for what's best for the world is what "politics" should be about! 

"Humanity is an ocean. If a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty" - Mahatma Gandhi 

The Sri Lanka Crisis!  

It is bad...

As mentioned in recent newsletters,

is currently in the midst of an unprecedented economic crisis. The capital city Colombo has stopped external debt payments to ensure the country has enough cash reserves for emergency supplies like fuel, food, gas, medicine and other essential items for its people. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has termed Sri Lanka's debt situation as "unsustainable", as the small island nation has an outstanding debt of nearly USD 35 billion, with about USD 7 billion due shortly. The country's inflation has soared to double digits as well. Tourism is a leading sector in Sri Lanka, however with travel restrictions over the last 2 years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's tourism revenue has been in a free fall. 

India is here to save the day!

India has so far committed USD 1.9 billion to Sri Lanka in loans, credit lines and currency swaps, and is ready to extend the financial support by an extra USD 2 billion to help steer the nation out of this economic catastrophe. 

In addition to the financial support, India has delivered:

1. Over 270,000 metric tonnes of diesel and petrol

2. Around 40,000 tonnes of rice

3. 100 tonnes of nano nitrogen liquid fertilizers

4. Vegetables and daily ration items

5. And, sugar and wheat!

Sri Lanka has witnessed massive street protests in the last few days. The public is angry! And their disdain has forced a number of cabinet ministers to resign. 

As an overarching objective, this economic crisis, while unfortunate, is an opportunity for India to establish a strong presence in Sri Lanka, and help the nation with its needs. 

IPL

Weekly Round-Up 

Almost at the midway point of the IPL 2022 season, and this is how the table is looking. The two debutant teams, The Gujarat Titans and The Lucknow Super Giants are running riot at the top of the table with both teams tied at 8 points, with a game in hand for Gujarat. 

IPL 2022 hosts, the Mumbai Indians are really struggling to find form and our yet to win a game this season. The Chennai Super Kings picked up their first win of the season this week, beating the Royal Challengers Bangalore by 23 runs. 

Rajasthan Royal's starman, Jos Butler continues his strong batting form having scored 272 runs in 5 games, with a batting average of 68 runs. In third, Gujarat Titan's franchise player Hardik Pandya has scored an impressive 228 in 5 games with a high batting average of 76 runs. 

On the bowling front, once again a Royal, Yuzvendra Chahal sits at the top having picked up 12 wickets in 5 games, with a bowling economy of 6.80. Behind him are Avesh Khan (Lucknow Super Giants) and Thangarasu Natarajan (Sunrisers Hyderabad) with 11 wickets. 

Games to keep an eye on this week: 

1. Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders (Monday 18th April) 

2. Lucknow Super Giants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (Tuesday 19th April)

3. Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings (Thursday 21st April) 

#YeAbNormalHai

Other News

1. Tata to sell their

in Tata Power to foreign investors BlackRock Real Assets and Mubadala Investment Company for INR 4000 crore. 

2. On Friday,

, which is one of the world's largest importers of wheat, approved India as a key wheat supplier to the nation. 

3. As per the Indian Meteorological Department, India is likely to witness

during the monsoon season this year. 

4. Thursday (14th April), which was the start of the long weekend, saw the

since March 2020 (pre-pandemic). 

5. The bureau of energy efficiency has chosen

for a green energy pilot project. 

Quiz

Quiz! Quiz! Quiz!

This could be found in something large but nothing small.

Everything begins with it but it doesn't end up in anything at all.

There's more than one in the universe,

And they're always in the best and not the worst.

What is this thing?

Get thinking :) 

See you next week!

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See you next week!

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Quiz Answer: the letter "E"

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Written by: Adnan Bahrainwala