Latest news with #MilanVaishnav
Boston Globe
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Fog of war thickens as India and Pakistan trade blame and accusations
Over three nights of conflict, each country has portrayed the other as the aggressor, trading blame for civilians coming under fire along the Line of Control that separates Indian- and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and for apparent drone and missile attacks. On Friday, Pakistan's military said it had shot down a total of 77 drones in the conflict so far, while India's defense ministry said Pakistan targeted 36 locations (including civilian infrastructure) with almost 400 drones — many of which were shot down. India admitted some of its soldiers had been killed, without providing further details. India's defense ministry also said on Thursday it 'neutralized' an air defense system in Lahore — a Pakistani city of 14 million people — and targeted other similar systems. Islamabad has denied attacking any locations across its border. Advertisement Some of the most significant claims — with Pakistan saying it killed up to 50 Indian soldiers along the Line of Control and India's defense minister telling political leaders that India killed 100 'terrorists' during Wednesday's attacks — remained difficult to independently verify. 'There is so much fog of war now,' said Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 'The full picture may never really emerge.' Michael Kugelman, a South Asia analyst, noted a 'very high volume of particularly egregious fake news' in government-aligned Indian media outlets. (India fell to 151st position in the World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders this year, down from 136th place a decade ago. Pakistan is ranked 158th.) Indian media outlets have over the past 24 hours claimed that Delhi has damaged or destroyed Pakistan's main port in Karachi; captured the Pakistani capital, Islamabad; that Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir may have been arrested; and that militants are taking over Quetta, a city of around 1.6 million in southwestern Pakistan. 'This is the type of fake news that pretty much everyone would know is not true,' said Kugelman, adding that the continued hostilities are a bad sign for how the crisis could play out. 'There was the option not to send any missiles or drones into the other country, but the fact that that did happen suggests that each side is not ready to step back from the brink,' he said. Several Indian right-wing accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers have sought to add another dimension to the conflict, framing it as 'information warfare' and urging Indians to amplify any news damaging to Pakistan — regardless of its accuracy. Advertisement Social media accounts in both India and Pakistan have circulated visuals unrelated to the current conflict, trying to pass them off as evidence of their country's dominance. Visuals being shared online that were presented as evidence of fighting included those of a February plane crash in Philadelphia, and visuals from the Israel-Gaza war In one instance, footage from a popular military video game was shared by users on both sides of the border, with one Indian account garnering more than 2 million views. Several claims of hacking also appeared online — with both the Pakistani Economy Ministry and the Karachi Port Trust saying their X accounts had been hacked, after their accounts published posts suggesting Pakistan had endured 'heavy losses' or that the port had been damaged. Along with the misinformation and unverified claims, the Indian government also took measures to block enormous amounts of information. An independent online news organization, the Wire, posted on X on Friday that the government had blocked its entire website, calling the move 'blatant censorship at a critical time for India.' The Global Government Affairs team at X said late Thursday it had received orders from the Indian government to block more than 8,000 accounts in the country. For many accounts, X said, the government did not specify which posts violated local law; for others, it did not provide any evidence at all. India's Information and Broadcasting Ministry issued an advisory on Thursday for streaming platforms to discontinue web series, films, and songs from Pakistan. Rajesh Rajagopalan, an international politics professor from Jawaharlal Nehru University, said that the level of censorship in India during this ongoing conflict is 'specific to this administration.' Advertisement 'There is an effort to massage the information and not let out information that might not look good,' he said. Experts warn that heightened nationalistic sentiment among the public not only fuels misinformation but also amplifies extreme voices, crowding out measured perspective or those advocating peace. 'The short-term impact is that if the social media discourse gets out of hand, then you have the government being forced to do certain things which it might not otherwise do in typical statecraft, because now blood has to be spilled, and that's the advantage for extreme elements,' said Joyojeet Pal, an associate professor at the University of Michigan who studies misinformation. The United States and China have called for a diplomatic solution, but it was unclear who would lead those efforts. In a Thursday night interview with Fox News, Vice President JD Vance said the United States wants de-escalation but emphasized it is 'fundamentally none of our business,' adding that Washington will not get involved in a conflict it cannot control.
Time of India
04-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Two Trades for Today: An FMCG major for 3.5% gain, a large-cap oil refinery stock for 6% rise
The markets continued consolidating for the third day in a row and closed Friday on a flat note. The markets saw a stronger-than-expected start and trended higher, forming its high point in the morning session. However, by afternoon, the Nifty had given up all its gains and had also slipped into the negative zone, forming its day's low point. The remainder of the session was spent in a very narrow range. The headline index closed with a minor gain of 12.50 points (+0.05) While the markets continue consolidating at current levels, some defensive plays are evident. This FMCG major is gradually inching higher; it is expected to extend its current upmove over the coming days. ITC Limited (ITC) suffered a sharp corrective move after the stock traded in a range between November and February of last year. It made a strong attempt to put a base in place by the end of February; since then, it has gradually trended higher. Currently, it is trading above two of its three key moving averages. Additionally, it has closed above its 20-period MA as well. Live Events The daily MACD is bullish and stays above its signal line. The RSI also stays neutral and does not show any divergence against the price. The surge that led the stock cross above the 20-DMA has come on much higher-than-average volumes. The RS line is trending sideways indicating the stock trading in line with the broader markets. It has crossed above its 50-period MA. The stock is seen improving its relative momentum while inside the lagging quadrant of the RRG. The extension of the current upmove is likely to sustain and take ITC higher to Rs. 445. A close below Rs. 422 must be used as a stop-loss for this trade. Milan Vaishnav, CMT, MSTA, is a Technical Analyst. Indian Oil Corporation Limited This large-cap oil refinery stock broke out from the horizontal trendline resistance. This could trigger a potential upmove in the stock by close to 6%, and this makes the current levels attractive to enter with a favorable risk-reward ratio. After forming a brief triple-top at Rs. 183 in September last year, the stock price of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) witnessed a corrective decline. The downtrend continued until it formed a bottom at Rs. 110 in March this year and showed signs of a rebound. While moving higher, the stock crossed above the 50-day and 100-day MA, indicating that the intermediate trend had turned bullish. Recently, the stock broke out from the horizontal trendline resistance, inviting buying opportunities. This price action has been backed by increased volume, supporting bullishness. The Relative Strength Index (RSI), a lead indicator, observed a bullish divergence. The price had formed a lower bottom in March, but the RSI formed a higher low, adding further bullishness to the stock. PSAR continues to remain in buy mode. Thus, the formation of higher tops and higher bottoms, breakout from the resistance level, increased volumes, and PSAR in a buy mode lays the ground for a potential upmove in the stock by 6%. Any move below Rs. 137 should be considered for moving out of the stock. Foram Chheda, CMT, is a Technical Research Analyst.
Gulf News
25-04-2025
- Business
- Gulf News
Indian rupee, stocks hold firm as tensions rise over Pahalgam
Dubai: The Indian rupee and stock markets have managed to hold the line in the last 38 hours even as political tensions escalate over the brutal killing of tourists in Pahalgam, Kashmir. The Indian rupee is sticking to 23.1 levels against the dirham, which is more or less the same level since April 17. "It was expected that some softening of the INR would happen - but so far, there is no trace of that," said an FX analyst. As for Indian stock markets, foreign institutional investor inflows have 'actually strengthened', according to market analysts during the period. FII fund movement trends are hyper-critical for emerging markets such as India, especially at times of intense crisis, whether over the economy or otherwise. FII were net buyers with net inflows at Rs82.51 billion - this is the 'highest in seven consecutive days of net positive FII inflows'. Currently, the benchmark BSE index is just over 80,000, from a 0.28% gain. (The BSE's 52-week high is 85,978, while the low is 70,234.) 'The renewed tensions after Pahalgam have failed to deter the buoyancy that has returned to Indian stocks after the initial jitters at the beginning of this month over US tariffs,' said Milan Vaishnav, founder and Technical Analyst at 'From the low of 21,743 formed on April 7, the Nifty has rebounded by nearly 2,500 points. It is currently consolidating without showing any signs of a major retracement.' 'There are no signs of a let-up even with the latest tensions. We believe Indian equities are likely to relatively outperform their global peers, but with some corrective movements.' The BSE is up 2.1% in the year to date. Mutual funds' performance Indian expats in the UAE and Gulf have also have sizable presence in Indian stocks through mutual funds and other investment plans. So far, mutual funds have been net sellers, but with relatively small amounts. On Thursday (April 24), the net outflow was Rs5.35 billion, which is rated marginal. India-US trade deal There is 'continued buying interest from foreign institutional investors, and optimism surrounding a potential India-US trade deal after the US Treasury Secretary said that India can be first to sign a trade deal," said Vikas Jain, Head of Research at Reliance Securities. "FIIs have been net buyers for seven consecutive sessions—their longest streak since December 2023—injecting nearly Rs300 billion into the market during this period.
