2/ Ashley J. Tellis' piece on US-India is well worth reading (as always). Key takeaway: "Trump’s defeat produced palpable uncertainties in New Delhi. One hundred days into Biden’s presidency, these doubts have not been erased, but they have been allayed." carnegieendowment.org/2021/04/27/wel…
3/ On the recent COVID brouhaha, Tellis writes: "Despite early fumbles, the administration’s support for India in managing its current spike in COVID-19 cases will hopefully deflate the unjustified complaints about the U.S. DPA being the principal cause of India’s vaccine woes."
4/ Tellis: "The administration’s emergency response will not offset India’s failure to invest early in expanding its vaccine manufacturing capability, but it will strengthen the buffers that could help to insulate the difficulties that are certain to arise in other dimensions."
1/ Some interesting insights from latest JP Morgan note on COVID crisis in India.
First, while aggregate *reported* cases have stabilized at 350K, seeing a rotation in states (test positivity rates in MH, CH, MP stabilizing while WB, UP, DL rising) markets.jpmorgan.com/research/email…
1/ I've been helplessly watching the humanitarian crisis unfold in India. Friends' anxiety has turned to distress. Distress has turned to panic. Smart people in the US govt are working behind the scenes to help. But it's time for private deliberation to turn into public action.
2/ I'm no expert on public health or humanitarian crises, but I think there are at least four key elements of a response. First, we need to see senior U.S. leadership express solidarity with the Indian people. To Indians and Indian Americans, empathy will be welcome.
3/ Second, the US has the capacity to provide oxygen, ventilators, medication & emergency supplies. The public sector can galvanize private support. If the optics of the US Defense Dept delivering relief is problematic, there are other workarounds, including via 3rd countries.
As is this para on judicial evasion: challenges to important constitutional cases--abrogation of 370, EWS reservations, Aadhaar Act, etc.--remain pending indconlawphil.wordpress.com/2021/04/23/eva…
1/ As a Washington, DC resident for the better part of two decades, I experienced a visceral reaction to the events of January 6. Here's my attempt in @htTweets to make sense of them hindustantimes.com/opinion/americ…
2/ I think there are, for me, 4 big takeaways. First, the Trump era serves as a vivid illustration that institutions are ultimately only as strong as the social norms that underpin them, and the individuals who mobilise to support them hindustantimes.com/opinion/americ…
3/ Second, democratic accountability cannot be limited to the ballot box alone. Desperate talk of the need to protect the country from Trump to avoid further chaos in his final days only underlines the series of missed opportunities to hold him to account. hindustantimes.com/opinion/americ…
1/ Interesting insights on the Indian economy in this note by Sajjid Chinoy. "India has broken the link between COVID proliferation & mobility much earlier & more successfully than many countries." Private sector activity levels jumped back up to 95% of pre-COVID levels by Oct.
2/ This is being complemented by the long-awaited pick-up in central government spending. Even as state government spending continues to contract, central government spending has surged.
3/ "A second phenomenon playing out in tandem, however, is labour market scarring...The recovery appears to be led by capital and profits, not labour and wages."
1/ As the US election nears, our team is surveying Indian-American college students (and a parent) for a study on inter-generational differences in policy/political attitudes. If you're part of a campus organization or would like to get involved, email us: siaa-survey.com
2/ Here's a short video explaining our study's approach and why we think this survey is important:
3/ Or you can check out a short podcast @KhariBiskut, @sameer_nd & I recorded where we talk about our survey effort and what makes it unique: siaa-survey.com