Tag: trump

FREEWHEELING

About: A break free commentary on events on our Planet, anchored on the news of the world. Any comments beyond the storyline, are entirely mine, without prejudice -take it or leave it. This is a run of events from 15 August 2025 to 31 August 2025: Trump & Putin; Trump & Europe; India’s dogs; Israel goes all-out; Putin-Modi-Xi axis.

Trump-Putin: Alaska Stays Cold

United Sates President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met across the Bering Strait in Alaska – almost a Putin swag walk from Russia. A reminder that that America and Russia are so awfully close – just a Strait away.

The Summit was broadcasted as a vital step towards peace in Ukraine and the blue background banner of the Trump-Putin Press briefing had the title, ‘Pursuing Peace’.

Trump waited for Putin on the red carpet, clapped a ‘welcome back to the world stage’ message, and shook hands before Putin accepted a lift in Trump’s armoured Presidential Limousine. Ever since Russia’s war on Ukraine, Putin had almost become a pariah- sanctioned and shunned by the West. And this was probably his comeback moment. That broad laugh on the back-seat of The Beast said it all.

There was no cease fire announced on the Russia-Ukraine War and the talks ended sooner than expected with Putin gathering all his English and telling Trump, ‘Next time in Moscow’. In Trump parlance, “There were many points that we agreed on” and adding that great progress had been made in an extremely productive meeting, ending with “We didn’t get there”.

The wide grins, firm hand-shakes, and B2 Stealth Bombers ‘guarding Putin’s head’ were the key takeaways. I reckon tomorrow is another day!

Back to School

Following the Alaska Summit, Trump called over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House for a chat on the next steps. Zelensky needed armour and several European leaders who also flew to Washington to attend the meeting provided exactly that. The scene of all of them seated in the Oval Office was much like a School principal meeting with his School Teachers, was a memorable photo – one that would hang around for a long time to come. Peace or no-peace.

Given his trenchant previous visit to the Oval Office in February, the Ukrainian President went to considerable lengths to charm his American host – including a flurry of six ‘thank yous’ within the first few minutes of the meeting. This time, Zelenksy was wearing a dark suit rather than his traditional military garb, which caused Trump to quip, “all dressed up today”.

Again, nothing significant was achieved beyond the Super Star gathering of Heads of European Countries. There was no concrete commitments to security guarantees or steps towards a peace deal. Trump told Zelensky the US would help guarantee Ukraine’s security in any deal to end the war, without specifying the extent of any assistance. Trump did not offer US boots on the ground.

The Next would probably be a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelensky to find that elusive, shielded cease fire button. President Donald Trump said he thought it’d be better if President Zelensky and Russian President Putin meet without him. That sure is Great Thinking.

Israel

In the Israel-Hamas War, Israel has scaled-up the offensive and is going all-out in seizing control of Gaza City and hoping to rescue the remaining 48 hostages in the process. Preparations are underway to fully capture Gaza’s biggest city after nearly two years of war, despite warnings the campaign will have disastrous and unbearable consequences for Palestinians in the besieged region.

The bodies of two hostages, Ilan Weiss and Idan Shtivi, who were killed in the 7 October 2023 savagery by Hamas, have been recovered on 29th August. Initially, Idan Shtivi could not be identified, but after analysis at Israel’s Institute of Forensic Medicine, it was confirmed. Weiss’ wife and daughter were kidnapped on 7th October, but released during the first ceasefire in November 2023.

Israel’s pain grows every day.

India’s Dogs

In recent times, India’s Supreme Court has been barking louder than ever before. And what better opportunity when the issue of stray street dogs, prowling the streets of New Delhi and The National Capital Region, stands before it on all legs! It ordered all of them to be caught and housed in Dog Shelters. Stories of children and all kinds of people being attacked by street dogs, blood flowing on the streets, and the scare of Rabies was the sound in the air.

The Dog-lovers, instead of putting their tails between their legs, began squealing and fighting for the right of dogs to bite and to be fed.

This is a comprehensive failure of the administration, which should have kept the dogs under leash. In India, everything goes to the Supremes. What next, I go to court on a sewage overflow?

Then in a second coming, the Supreme Court modified its previous Order directing that all healthy stray dogs be sterilised, vaccinated, and returned to their original locations, in line with the Animal Birth Control Rules. Rabid or aggressive dogs, however, are to be kept in separate facilities. The court also ‘nudged’ the creation of feeding areas for dogs in each ward.

That sure was a denouement. Long live the dog in the Country of the Dogs?

India’s Honest Elections

India’s Leader of the Opposition decided that he cannot win elections without fraud and challenged the Election Commission of India on its cleanliness. A Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is being conducted in the State of Bihar -ahead of Legislative Elections in November this year. And of course, it was challenged in the Supremes, which barked rightly and said ‘go ahead’. And it said that it’s actually an inclusive exercise. The opposition called it ‘vote dacoity’ and that the exercise is being used to manipulate the vote list in favour of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

If indeed that was the case, then how did the BJP fall short of a majority in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, and how did the Opposition clean-sweep some States? Tamil Nadu, for example!

The SIR Electoral Roll is a unique voter list verification process, and its importance is ensuring accurate, fraud-free elections through comprehensive voter validation. The process is still ongoing, with the first draft already published.

In the first findings, about 22 lakh names have been marked as deceased, 7 lakh voters were found registered in more than one place, and about 35 lakh people were untraceable or had permanently moved away.

Such is the scale of fraud: certainly this needs to be brought under control and voter data updated to make elections more accurate and meaningful.

Tariffs and India

US tariffs of 50% -among the highest in the world -on goods from India kicked-in from Wednesday, 27 August, as Donald Trump sought to punish India for buying Russian oil and weapons.

India shrugged-off the Trump Tariff mania and cooly continued its purchases, calling the tariffs unfair and vowing to choose the best deal on buying oil to protect its people. But fears lurk that exports and growth could suffer with India trying to improve its ‘world’s fifth largest economy’ status. The US was, until recently, India’s largest trading partner.

The tariff setback has sent India into (fire) fighting mode, with an aggressive positive stance.

Earlier this month, India’s Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi promised to cut taxes to mitigate the impact of the tariffs, which will disrupt millions of livelihoods across the country’s export-driven industries that supply everything from clothes to diamonds and shrimp to American consumers. He used his 15th August Independence Day Address, from the ramparts of Delhi’s Red Fort, to drive home confidence and healthy fight-back measures.

PM Modi promised Next-Generation Goods & Service Tax (GST) reforms by Diwali-a Diwali gift in the form of a massive tax bonanza- which will reduce taxes on daily essentials, benefiting MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Scale), local vendors, and consumers, while simultaneously stimulating economic growth and creating a more efficient, people-friendly economy. Modi also urged small shop owners and businesses to put up boards of ‘Swadeshi’ or ‘Made in India’ outside their stores. “We should become self-reliant-not out of desperation, but out of pride,” he said. “Economic selfishness is on the rise globally, and we mustn’t sit and cry about our difficulties, we must rise above and not allow others to hold us in their clutches.”

A Task Force for Next-Generation Reforms will be formed, which will evaluate all current laws, rules, and procedures related to economic activities. The Task Force will work within a set timeline to: reduce compliance costs for startups, MSMEs, and entrepreneurs; provide freedom from fear of arbitrary legal actions and ensure laws are streamlined for ease of doing business.

Over the past years, India has undertaken a historic wave of reforms, abolishing over 40,000 unnecessary compliances, and repealing more than 1,500 outdated laws. Dozens of other laws were simplified in Parliament. In the recent session alone, over 280 provisions were removed, making governance simpler and more accessible to the people.

A High-Powered Demography Mission will be launched aimed at ensuring India’s unity, integrity, and security, tackling both strategic and social challenges.

India will launch ‘Made in India’ semiconductor chips by the end of 2025, reflecting the nation’s growing strength in critical technology sectors.

And in a grande finale rebuff to Trump’s flagrant behaviour, PM Modi visited China to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). The meeting was in China’s port city of Tianjin. Putin called Modi his ‘dear friend’ and gave him a lift in his armoured limousine. Lots of armoured lifts and rides these days!

China and India are the biggest buyers of crude oil from Russia. And despite Trump, there is no sign that India or China are going to stop buying cheap oil, anytime soon.

PM Modi welcomed recent efforts aimed at stopping the war in Ukraine, which he hoped would end as soon as possible. And reaffirmed his support for a peaceful settlement during a telephone conversation with Ukraine’s President Zelensky.

Well, if PM Modi can magically bring about a ceasefire, literally out of the Magician’s Turban, he will give Trump a run for his Nobel Peace Prize ‘case-building’.

More wagging and biting stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Stay solid with Freewheeling.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2024-17

About: the world this week, 21 April 2024 to 27 April 2024: the world’s war-front; India’s Charged Elections; an Ex-President’s Woes; and India’s moves in World Chess.

Everywhere

On the World’s War-front

Israeli strikes intensified across Gaza in some of the heaviest shelling in weeks, and the Israeli army ordered fresh evacuations in the north, warning civilians they were in a dangerous combat zone. Non-stop bombardments also continued in the Central and Northern parts – mostly strikes by air and shelling from tanks on the ground.

Meanwhile, the Hamas psychopaths published a new propaganda video of a hostage, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, showing the 23-year-old Israeli-American saying he has been held captive for nearly 200 days. Hersh is seen in the video missing one of his hands. It was blown off from the elbow down when terrorists lobbed grenades into a shelter, where he and others who tried to escape the 7 October 2023 Nova party massacre., were hiding.

On another front, Israel’s military is poised to evacuate Palestinian civilians from Rafah and assault Hamas hold-outs in the southern Gaza Strip city, despite international warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel is clearly moving ahead with a ground operation. Israel’s Defence Ministry bought 40,000 tents, each with the capacity for 10 to 12 people, to house Palestinians relocated from Rafah in advance of an assault.

In a new streak of ever-growing wokeism in America, mass chaos broke out at college campuses across the United States of America as pro-Palestine protests intensified. Columbia, Harvard, University of Southern California, University of Texas at Austin, and others were swarmed by protesters. Harvard Yard was also been taken over by pro-Palestine protesters who set-up camp after the university threatened to take action. Police had a tough time managing the footloose, unruly, university students as protests turned violent.

Their support should naturally be for Israel and a shout-out to release the over 130 hostages in the captivity of the terrorist Hamas.

In the other warfront in Europe, far from the trenches, at orderly new centres across Ukraine, civilian recruiters armed with laptops and info packs offer patriotic volunteers opportunities to join the war. As Ukraine’s efforts to conscript enough men to fight Russia are stymied by public scepticism, defence officials and military units are embarking on a multi-pronged charm offensive to recruit a citizens’ army to resist the invasion. Candidates can select their precise unit and roles suiting their skills, as well as how long they will serve.

On city streets, billboards of Ukrainian soldiers implore citizens to join up and defend their homeland, offering QR codes for convenience. For e.g., online, the 93rd Mechanised Brigade assures countrymen that ‘everyone can do it!’ in a glossy video campaign showing civilians, such as a chef and tractor driver, switching to analogous army roles as battlefield cook and tank driver.

On another front in Iran, the same day it launched its first ever direct attack on Israel, it embarked on a less-noticed confrontation at home. Police were ordered in several cities to take to the streets to arrest a growing number of women accused of flouting its strict Islamic dress code. Under Iran’s sharia, or Islamic law, women are obliged to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes. Offenders face public rebuke, fines, or arrest.

India’s Super-charged Election

This week, on 26th April, India passed the second phase of General Elections-Lok Sabha Elections 2024 -to elect a new Government at the Centre for the next five years. A total of 88 constituencies across 13 states and a Union Territory voted in this phase. The votes were cast in all 20 Lok Sabha seats of Kerala, 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, 8 seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, 6 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 5 seats each in Assam and Bihar, 3 seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and one seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu & Kashmir.

This week the high-pitch, ever-decibel growing election campaign revolved around the Congress Party’s wild thinking of introducing ‘Inheritance Tax’ in India. This on the lines of that in America, where the children inherit 45% of the family wealth, on the death of the family wealth creator, and the Government grabs the balance 55%. This comes in the backdrop of the Congress Party’s Election Manifesto talking about tackling growing inequalities in wealth and income through suitable change in policies. Also as a prelude, economic and institutional surveys along with a caste census would be conducted to ‘redistribute’ wealth.

We all know growth is the only way to reduce inequality, but the Congress seems to have other ideas.

Surely a regressive kind of thinking, and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seized the opportunity to take the Grand Old Party of India to the cleaners. The Congress was forced to ‘disown’ a statement made by its overseas In-charge. But I reckon no one was listening – with people looking at safeguarding their wealth.

Another talking point was former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh having said in the year 2009, that ‘minorities, especially poor Muslims, should get priority when it comes to the nation’s resources’. Haunting times for the Congress, indeed.

With five more phases to go we can expect more fireworks in the days to come.

This week the Supreme Court of India rejected a plea for 100% verification of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) Slips with the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). This comes in the background of the various parties in India – especially the opposition – crying for a return to the old Paper Ballot and Manual Counting System. It also rejected a plea to allow the voter to take the VVPAT slip and deposit it in a ballot box. And it rejected the plea to revert to Paper Ballot Voting.

The Supreme Court added some strictures such as the sealed containers of the Symbol Loading Units should be kept in storerooms with the EVMs for least 45 days post-declaration of results. And gave some futuristic ideas such as, exploring the possibility of machine-counting of VVPAT slips.

Once a voter presses the vote button on the EVM- Ballot, a printed slip is generated in the adjacent VVPAT machine. This shows the choice of the voter, and as is visible for 7 seconds – after which it drops down into a sealed compartment. This enables the voter to confirm that his vote has been recorded correctly.

EVM’s were first used in the State of Kerala in 1982 and progressively used all over India, starting in the late 1990s. The VVPAT was added in 2013 to confirm that electronic voting is accountable and reliable. The EVM was developed for the Election Commission of India by the Government owned Electronics Corporation of India and Bharat Electronics. EVMs are standalone machines built with ‘write once read many (WORM)’ -information once written cannot be modified- are self-contained, battery powered and do not need any networking capability. They do not have any wireless or wired internet components and interface. Hence, impossible to hack or manipulate.

Donald Trump’s Woes

In America, The US Supreme Court weighs Ex-President Donald Trump’s bid for immunity from prosecution. The Supreme Court’s conservative justices signaled support on Thursday for US Presidents having some level of protection from criminal charges for certain acts taken in office as it tackled Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution for trying to undo his 2020 election loss.

Trump, seeking this year to regain the White House, appealed after lower courts rejected his request to be shielded from four election-related criminal charges. This was on the grounds that he was serving as President when he took the actions that led to the indictment.

With a colourful variety of cases piled-up on him, Donald Trump is spending a lot of time in the Courts. And seems to be enjoying it.

World Chess and India’s Moves

These days hardly a move is made in the world of Chess without an Indian being behind it. This week, India’s 17-year-old Grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest player to win the men’s chess tournament after a draw against his opponent Hikaru Nakamura, in the final day of the 2024 Candidates Tournament held in Toronto, Canada, from 3rd April to 22nd April. It’s an eight-player chess tournament, held to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2024. The event was held alongside the Women’s Candidates Tournament.

Gukesh effectively wrapped up victory in the tournament after American Fabiano Caruana blundered a winning position against Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi to be held to a draw.

The previous youngest winner of the men’s Candidates Tournament was Garry Kasparov, who was 20 when he prevailed in 1984, a year before winning the world champion title against fellow Russian Anatoly Karpov.

Gukesh, who was one of three Indian players in the tournament, will face China’s Ding Liren for the title later this year. World No 1 Magnus Carlsen, a five-time classical chess world champion, relinquished his title last year, citing a lack of motivation.

Gukesh became a Grandmaster at the age of 12, the third youngest person to have done so. If he beats Ding Liren this year, he will become India’s second world chess champion after Viswanathan Anand who won the title five times.

China’s Tan Zhongyi dominated the women’s tournament and will face her compatriot Ju Wenjun for the world title.

Gukesh lives in Chennai, Tamil Nadu studying at the Velammal Vidyalaya school, Mel Ayanambakkam, Chennai. His father, Dr Rajinikanth, is an Ear, Nose, and Throat surgeon, and his mother, Dr Padma, is a microbiologist.

Gukesh won the Under-9 section of the Asian School Chess Championships in 2015, and the World Youth Chess Championships in 2018 in the Under-12 category. He also won five gold medals at the 2018 Asian Youth Chess Championships, in the U-12 individual rapid and blitz, U-12 team rapid and blitz, and the U-12 individual classical formats. He completed the requirements for the title of International Master in March 2017 at the 34th Cappelle-la-Grande Open.

On 15 January 2019, at the age of 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days, Gukesh became the then second-youngest grandmaster in history, only surpassed by Sergey Karjakin with 17 days. Since then the record was beaten by Abhimanyu Mishra, making Gukesh the third youngest.

More fighting stories coming in the weeks ahead. Make your moves with World Inthavaaram.