From IPO highs to earnings lows & how India is reworking oil imports under US pressure
Show more
Show less
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
30 minutes ago
- Indian Express
India does not have the economic leverage vis a vis the US that China does
Between December 2022 and July 2025, China accounted for about 47 per cent of all crude oil and 44 per cent of the coal exported by Russia, as against India's corresponding purchase shares of 38 per cent and 20 per cent. Despite that, US President Donald Trump has slapped India with a 25 per cent 'penalty' for buying Russian energy. This rate, to be effective from August 27, would take the total tariff on Indian goods imported into the US to 50 per cent. China has not only escaped such punishment, but has actually seen a lowering of the duty on its goods from 145 to 30 per cent since May 12. On Monday, Trump extended his trade truce with China for a further 90-day period till November 10. At the same time, his Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, has threatened additional 'secondary tariffs' on India if the outcome of Trump's Friday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin isn't favourable. This blatantly divergent treatment, further eroding the credibility of the current Western sanctions regime, has significantly to do with relative economic leverage — China is seen to possess much more of it. The most visible demonstration of that was when, in early April, it imposed export restrictions on rare earth elements and magnets that are indispensable, whether for auto, aerospace, defence, semiconductor, renewable energy or consumer electronics manufacturing. China could use its virtual global monopoly over the mining and processing of these critical minerals to bring Trump to the negotiating table. Rare earths apart, China also played the trump card of being a massive buyer of US agricultural produce — from soyabean, cotton and coarse grains to beef, pork and poultry meat — sharply reducing the imports of these to signal its capacity for retaliation in any unilateral trade war. On the face of it, India does not have that sort of economic leverage. Barring, say, pharmaceutical products, much of what it exports to the US — readymade garments, gems and jewellery, frozen shrimps, basmati rice or even steel and aluminium — aren't items for which there are no alternative suppliers. Nor are Indian imports of California almonds comparable to the humongous quantities of Midwest US soyabean and corn that China was, until recently, sourcing to feed its swine and poultry birds. Given how much it stands to lose in any prolonged trade war — the worst-affected industries are also the most employment-intensive — the best approach for India to adopt is strategic patience. What the Indian foreign policy establishment and its trade negotiators should emphasise is the country's importance to global economic and regional stability, which aligns with the US's own long-term interests.
Indian Express
30 minutes ago
- Indian Express
As Trump, Putin meet in Alaska, story of how ‘Russian America' came to US
In the early hours of March 30, 1867, US Secretary of State William H Seward signed a $7.2 million deal to acquire Alaska from the Russians. The Alaska Purchase was widely criticised at the time. Newspapers famously called the deal 'Seward's Folly' and referred to the frigid Arctic territory as 'Seward's Icebox' and 'Walrussia'. Yet, when asked by a friend what he considered the most significant act of his career, Seward replied without hesitation: 'The purchase of Alaska… But it will take the people a generation to find it out.' As things turned out, he was right. As the American and Russian Presidents meet in Anchorage on Friday, here's the story of how the US acquired Russian America, and in the process struck gold (and oil). Humans have called Alaska home since at least 14,000 BCE when foraging groups crossed over a land bridge that connected the Chukchi and Seward peninsulae. Then, some 10,000 years ago, sea levels rose and the Americas were cut off from the rest of the world for more than nine millenia. (Scholars have long debated about pre-Columbian contact between the Old and New Worlds, but evidence thus far has been wanting). There is no clear record of when Europeans first visited Alaska, although it is likely to have been some time in the 17th century. It was in the 18th century, however, that two expeditions funded by St Petersburg and led by Vitus Bering, a Danish-born Russian cartographer, returned after exploring the northwestern coast of Alaska. Colonisation began soon after, spurred by the fur trade. 'If it had not been for the sea otter and its beautiful fur, the Russians would have been in no hurry to follow up on Bering's discoveries. Within a few years the hunt for fur led to the enslavement of the native Alaskans called Aleuts, and to the virtual extinction of the sea otter in that part of the world,' historian Daniel Cohen wrote in The Alaska Purchase (1996). The Russian-American Company, Russia's first joint-stock company, officially came into being in 1799 with the mission of establishing new settlements in Alaska and conducting trade. The Russian American colony was based largely on the coast. Operating out of the island settlement of Novo-Arkhangelsk (now known as Sitka), at its peak, Russian America stretched all the way to Fort Ross in California. (The Company sold Fort Ross in 1841). By the mid-19th century, the Russians had hunted most of the bear, wolf, and sea otter populations, valuable for their furs and pelts, to near-extinction. As profits from the once-lucrative fur trade dwindled, Russian America, often referred to in St Petersburg as 'Siberia's Siberia', became an albatross around the neck of the Romanovs, and a drain on state resources. 'The fate of Russian America had become a subject of concern and debate in Russia even before the outbreak of the Crimean War (1853–56),' historian Lee A Farrow wrote in Seward's Folly: A New Look at the Alaska Purchase (2017). But it was the Crimean War, in which Russia suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of an alliance comprising the French, the British, and the Ottomans, that proved to be a final nail in the coffin for Russian imperial ambitions in America. 'In the spring of 1857, Grand Duke Constantine, brother of the new tsar, Alexander II, wrote to Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Gorchakov that Russia should sell its North American territories to the United States,' Farrow wrote. 'The grand duke emphasised the needs of the Russian treasury, the declining value of the colony, and his belief that the Americans were eager to control the whole of North America,' she wrote. It would take another decade of on-and-off negotiations with the Americans for the deal to materialise. By all accounts, Seward's enthusiasm was what made the deal happen. 'Seward was an energetic and ambitious man who yearned to be President… He certainly typified the expansionist mood of mid-nineteenth-century America. Seward didn't want just Alaska; he envisioned the US taking over Hawaii and the Philippines, and to the north Greenland, Iceland, and even Canada,' Cohen wrote. That said, there were some sound economic and geopolitical considerations to make the purchase, even at the time. Many believed that Alaska would help expand commercial relations with Asia, making new ports and routes available for the Pacific trade. Others, like Seward, saw the purchase as a stepping stone to eventually taking over British Columbia. But the true economic value of the colony would gradually be realised over the next century. By the 1870s, with the gold fields in California depleting, some prospectors began making their way to Alaska. A couple of them struck gold on Alaska's southeastern coast in 1880. While gold was never a major source of wealth for the economy as a whole, it helped capture people's imagination, sent many flocking to the frigid north, and made some lucky ones extremely rich. Much more transformative was the discovery of oil — and a lot of it. After a few promising findings in the 1950s, oil prospectors began taking greater interest in Alaska. In 1968, America's largest oil and gas deposit was discovered in Prudhoe Bay, a remote region along Alaska's northernmost coast, profoundly changing Alaska almost overnight. 'Alaska has become established as America's greatest oil province,' Alaska Governor William A Egan said in a 1970 speech, according to an article in NPR. 'Ponder for a moment the promise, the dream, and the touch of destiny.'
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
30 minutes ago
- First Post
Rubio hails India-US ties as he extends warm wishes on Independence Day
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday released a statement wishing India on its Independence Day. In the statement, Rubio hailed strong ties between the 'world's largest and oldest democracies'. India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, The meet with Jaishankar was Rubio's first as secretary of state. Image Courtesy: @DrSJaishankar/X Amid strained ties, the US Department of State released a statment, wishing India on its 78th Independence Day. On Friday, the department released a statement hailing the strong ties between the 'world's largest and the oldest democracies.' In his wishes, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that India and the US share a vision in the Indo-Pacific region and a partnership across different sectors. 'On behalf of the United States, I extend our congratulations and warm wishes to the people of India as they celebrate their Independence Day on August 15,' Rubio said in a statement on Friday. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'The historic relationship between the world's largest democracy and the world's oldest democracy is consequential and far-reaching. Our two countries are united by our shared vision for a more peaceful, prosperous, and secure Indo-Pacific region.' 'Our partnership spans industries, promotes innovation, pushes the boundaries of critical and emerging technologies, and extends into space,' the statement further reads. Rubio insisted that both nations should work together to overcome the modern challenges that the world currently faces. 'Working together, the United States and India will rise to the modern challenges of today and ensure a brighter future for both our countries,' Rubio averred. India-US ties remain strong amid tensions India-US ties have deteriorated significantly after Trump announced nearly 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods. The White House argued that the tariffs were imposed because India purchased Russian oil amid the ongoing Ukraine war, with senior officials in the Trump administration accusing India of helping Russia in the conflict. While economic ties between the two nations have witnessed a strain, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday underlined the importance of defence ties between India and the United States, terming them as a key component of the overall bilateral relationship. 'The India–US defence partnership, underpinned by foundational defence agreements, is an important pillar of the bilateral partnership,' MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a media briefing on Friday. 'This robust cooperation has strengthened across all domains. We are expecting a US Defence Policy Team to be in Delhi in mid-August. The 21st edition of the joint military exercise 'Yudh Abhyas' is also expected to take place later this month in Alaska. Both sides remain engaged to convene the 2+2 Intersessional meeting at the working level towards the end of this month,' he added. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD However, on the recent Human Rights report issued by the US State Department, Jaiswal reiterated India's strong objection, saying such assessments were 'a mix of imputations, misrepresentations and one-sided projections' that showed 'a poor understanding of India's democratic framework, pluralistic society and robust institutional mechanisms for protecting human rights.' Jaiswal also noted that no decision had yet been taken on whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi would attend the United Nations General Assembly next month.
