fireside chat with anuj gupta on policy

https://rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com/p/iitmaa-fireside-chats-ep-5-masterclass

Quick notes: Emperor Xi | Ground 'drones'...

• Trump’s Pursuit of a Partnership With China Raises Concerns in India: Rubio has a gargantuan task during his visit to Delhi: defuse tensions over Trump’s anti-India aggression and overtures to China. Trump found time to lavish praise on Xi Jinping calling him “a great leader” and “a friend.” The two men, Mr. Trump said, would “have a fantastic future together.”
  
  Trump's comment that he would revisit arms sales to Taiwan has stirred anxiety across Asia and prompted questions about U.S. security commitments. Indian leaders are among those with concerns.
  
  Trump-Xi Bonhomie: Should India Be Uneasy?: A former Indian foreign secretary, a leading China hawk until recently, has advised the Modi govt that a reassessment of Quad is overdue. But it is easier said than done, given the mindset of the Indian elite.



• Xi Is Truly Done Falling For The Great American Bluff: China kept the upper hand during Trump's visit by, amongst other things, Xi Jinping retaining his poise and distance while Trump tried to ingratiate himself with flattery and body language.
  
  At the opening of the formal delegation-level talks, the lining up of the top-most American corporate leaders behind Trump suggested a homage being paid to Xi's China, reminiscent of the kowtowing to the Chinese emperor in the past. Trump was messaging a willingness to explore possibilities of renewed economic interdependence with China.
  
  Addressing Trump at the formal talks, Xi was sententious and demanding. He called on the US to be "partners, not rivals" with China. . . . amusing to see Trump kissing Xi's ass.

India’s compliance, China’s defiance: As New Delhi petitions Washington to renew the sanctions waiver expiring today so it can keep importing Russian oil, Trump says he is considering lifting U.S. sanctions on Chinese refiners buying Iranian crude. China defies American sanctions…

— Dr. Brahma Chellaney (@Chellaney) May 16, 2026




• Christian nationalist push: Trump administration pushes narrative of Christian founding at Rally. . One Nation under Yeshu.



• Trump Is Setting His Sights on Restricting Legal Immigration: A new approach is emerging on legal immigration, one that makes it harder for those abroad to enter the United States, and for those already here on a temporary basis to stay.



• Ground drones taking on dangerous missions: The "Ground Drones" rescuing Ukraine's wounded from the Front Lines



• China Boosts Indian Ocean Ambitions: China despatches thousands of fishing boats to the region for illegal fishing, thus depleting the fish stock of the region.
  
  During Operation Sindoor, hundreds of such boats appeared, possibly to harass the Indian Navy.
  
  Such 'grey zone' activities are conducted to indicate China's intention to enter the region, gather intelligence, create civil-military confusion, exploit lack of preparedness by adversaries or treated as a stop-gap arrangement before full-fledged naval deployments.
  
  Even though China had commissioned the Djibouti naval base in 2017, initially as a logistical support facility at the chokepoint of the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, it is now being expanded to include submarine docking facilities.
  
  China also initiated a number of dual-use ports or maritime facilities -- estimated to be more than a hundred across 46 countries in the region. These are considered to be a counter to the US-led maritime world order as well as to marginalise India in the region.

What Chinese Distant Water Fishing Vessels are doing inside the Exclusive Economic Zones of Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Panama and other South American nations, is surely not industrial fishing. This is a well organised plunder of marine resources, funded and facilitated by… pic.twitter.com/TZR5IRUzzc

— Isabella Anderson (@IsabellaAn67) February 11, 2026




• Supreme Court of India: 'If Parents Are IAS Officers, Why Reservation For Their Children?'



• Beyond just assembling phones: Lava's ₹1,100 Cr bet is to build what's inside. Aims to shift from mere assembly to producing key components domestically. . . a lot can be done even before domestic fabs go live.



• Three Charts:

India Oil Consumption: 2013 to 2024: 5.621M bbl/d for 2024


USD to Indian Rupee - 2013 to 2026:


Brent Crude Price - 2010 to 2026:




• Uber-ize gold: For national necessity & personal prosperity. How a National Gold Library could transform household jewellery into productive capital, strengthen the rupee, and cut imports.



• Ustad Rashid Khan: Raag Shyam Kalyan

IITMAA Fireside Chats Ep. 5: Masterclass by Anuj Gupta on #Policy and How Govt is now a Shaper and Enabler of Business, not a Regulator alone or an Obstacle

https://open.substack.com/pub/rajeevsrinivasan/p/iitmaa-fireside-chats-ep-5-masterclass?r=66qfh&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Quick notes: Royal Enfield | Unlivable cities...

• Put the screens away: The U.S. spent $30 Billion to replace textbooks with screens. The Result: A first generation mentally weaker than its parents.. For the first time in modern history, a generation scores lower than the one that raised it. The reason sits on every school desk in America. Nearly two-thirds of laptop time goes off task



• Made-in-Chennai: Royal Enfield beats Ferrari, Audi to become world's third strongest automotive brand. . . . Brings serious vintage style with a modern 650 twin engine




• Mahindra tractors - Built to last: Why American farmers are sleeping on the $15K Tractor that RULES the world



• Biogas could be LPG hedge in India's dairy belt: If all the 40 million cattle-rearing households were to shift to biogas, the displacement potential is up to ~4 million tonnes of LPG every year. Even if 10 million of them make this transition, it could save up to Rs 2,000 crore annually



• Burden of BikAss: India’s legendary hill towns are sinking. Over development threatens many Himalayan states



• India has 100/100 hottest cities in the world: Cutting trees, filling lakes, and building heat traps in the name of BikAss. "The central government is selling geological vital forest land to corporations. Then they are planting irrelevant trees in irrelevant areas to keep the statistics levelled. Not only that but the factories here run completely without regulations"
"Too bad the mangroves on the west coast, trees on the Aravali hills on the western front of India, the sparse protections it has from the warm winds from the direction of Africa, are going away in the name of "progress" and "infrastructure". Capitalism will absolutely be the death of the human race".



• This $50 Wall Cools Any Home By 25°F: Cheap cooling for dry places



• R&D spend of PSUs is more than private player: The tragedy that is Indian private sector.

R&D spend of HAL is 2000 Cr. More than many private sector companies https://t.co/Krxsgzym8E pic.twitter.com/o1XNT891XQ

— ᛊ Mr. Chan ᛊ (@RohitChan666) January 18, 2026



• Who runs India?: China is run by engineers.. US run by lawyers.. Who runs India?

Highly recommended book. Along similar lines is my analysis:
China is run by engineers
US run by lawyers
Europe by ideologue
Pak run by terrorists
Who runs India?

https://t.co/svYBJvtlb7

— Rajiv Malhotra (@RajivMessage) May 9, 2026



• Service companies are not tech companies: Tragedy of Indian homegrown companies




• There Is a Fire Sale on M.B.A.s: Behind all of the price breaks is softening demand for the traditional two-year M.B.A



• Iran has better universities than India?

Sharif is the #1 university in Iran. Over the last 25 years, it has been in the top 3 destinations of top Olympiad medalists. https://t.co/LAA9f2iTQh pic.twitter.com/lGyGUDLtJY

— Adib (@adibvafa) April 29, 2026



• Singapore vs India: World's densest semiconductor fab cluster.

In semiconductors the little island of Singapore has an incredible story to tell:

- 20+ fabs (India has struggled here..)
- consistent state policy + support since 1960s
- 7% of GDP. pic.twitter.com/dsG8d5j3J6

— Amar Govindarajan (@amargov) April 25, 2026



• Raag Mishra Khamaj: Venkatesh Kumar




• What could possibly go wrong: The Pentagon announces AI deals with OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, and more — LLMs to be deployed on classified Department of War networks ‘for lawful operational use’

"Mark my words"...

Astrologer called it right, for once :) ..his other predictions fell flat, though