A video shared by a woman comparing life in India to that in European countries has sparked mixed reactions on social media. While the clip was intended as a counterpoint to what she called the “constant negativity” about India online, many viewers felt it painted an overly romanticised picture of the country.

In the now-viral video, Vaishali Dutt, an NRI, listed several aspects of daily life in India that she believes are better than in Europe. Among them: doorstep grocery deliveries, seamless digital payments via UPI, and accessible healthcare services.

She also claimed India felt “safer” than some Western countries, citing an incident in which her purse was stolen in broad daylight while she was abroad.

“Before you come for me in the comments, hear me out,” she wrote in the caption. “This is just a response to all the negative stuff I keep seeing online about India. Yes, there are issues, but let’s not ignore the good. And no, I’m not moving back just yet… but one day? For sure!”

Social media reacts

While some users appreciated her effort to highlight the positives of living in India, others accused her of overlooking serious issues such as infrastructure, pollution, and gender safety.

A user wrote, “Groceries delivered in 10 minutes is not a flex, it is the availability of cheap labour for exploitation. You need to earn a lot more in India to deserve the healthcare you spoke about Even though it’s fast. But yes, let’s stay in our bubble because who needs reality checks.”

Another wrote, “Why are NRI’s SOOOOO eager to glorify India? If you love INDIA soooo much, why you not here? Eh? Come back no.. work here no.. enjoy the LOWER SALARIES.. because UPIIIIIII and ZEPTOOOO. But no, you’ll move out of India and THEN glorify the exploitation of the lower class by India, in the name of QUICK DELIVERIES. There’s something called DIGNITY OF LABOUR… go ask your delivery people in Germany, and then let’s talk about the same state of that labour, in INDIA. Nationalism while being outside, so convenient.”

“India is behind in infrastructure, cleanliness and public manners. Address this and we are first world,” the third user wrote.

The video has since sparked a wider conversation around how NRIs perceive India, and the fine line between patriotism and selective comparison.

US-India Trade Deal: Amid ongoing trade talks with the Donald Trump administration, Indian officials are expecting to secure a deal with lower tariff rates than Indonesia, a report said on Thursday.

As per the Bloomberg report quoting an unnamed officer in New Delhi, India is seeking a more favourable tariff rate than Indonesia and Vietnam as it races to meet the August 1 deadline, following which it may have to pay the US a 26 per cent tariff on its exports to Washington.

Donald Trump on Tuesday said he will impose a 19 per cent tariff on Indonesia, and will be able to ship American goods to the country tariff-free. This was down from the initial 32 per cent that was announced in April. For Vietnam, the tariff came down to 20 per cent.

The US and India are working toward a deal that would reduce proposed tariffs to below 20 per cent, Bloomberg had earlier reported. A team of negotiators are present in Washington to discuss tariff rates.

New Delhi is hoping for a tariff that would give it a competitive advantage against its peers in the region, the report said quoting officials.

India is confident that its trade deal with the US will be better than that of Indonesia and Vietnam, as America doesn’t view it as a transshipment hub like other southeast Asian countries. The negotiations so far suggest India’s tariff rate would be better than those countries, one of the officials told Bloomberg.

Trump teases US-India trade deal

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday hinted at reaching a new trade deal with India soon. While adding “maybe”, he said that currently the US is in negotiations with India.

“We have another one (deal) coming up, maybe with India… We’re in negotiation,” Trump said.

“We have some pretty good deals to announce… We’re very close to a deal with India where they open it up,” he added.

This came a day after the US President said his administration is working on a deal that gives it access to the Indian markets.

“We’re going to have access into India. And you have to understand, we had no access into any of these countries. Our people couldn’t go in. And now we’re getting access because of what we’re doing with the tariffs.”

The Indian equity market is now the fourth- most preferred market in Asia with Taiwan and Korea benefiting from the resurgent semiconductor cycle, BofA Securities’ latest Asia Fund Manager Survey noted on country allocations.

 “Japan remains the most favourite market by a distance, followed by Taiwan and Korea, with India slipping to the fourth spot,” the survey found. While Korea gains additional upside from hopes surrounding its new leadership’s policy reforms, China allocation dropped again with only Australia and Thailand behind it in the pecking order,”  the Survey said.

Among the sectors in India, investors are keen on consumption and infrastructure plays. “IT services is out of favour, mirroring our India IT services Indicator’s plunge to a 20-month low last month,” BofA Securities observed adding that small/mid-caps themes are on top of investors’ minds.

In the Asia ex-Japan portfolio, participants are growth-biased and overweight in semiconductors, software, tech hardware, and banks, while avoiding materials, energy, industrials, and real estate, the survey revealed. In Japan, banks, beneficiary of higher rates, remain the most preferred sector, followed by semiconductors. The survey noted, “Investors prefer value tilt over growth but they do not see a definite market-cap size segment that will outperform.” China’s AI/semis remains the most favored theme.

Investor concern over President Trump’s trade war posturing is fading fast, even as he broadens the conflict, the survey said. “A striking 70% of the participants view the potential hit to Asian economies/markets as only slightly negative – marking the most optimistic reading since December,” it said.

In addition, lingering hopes for a trade deal and synchronized monetary easing are supporting the recovery in the growth outlook, it said noting that 85% of the 34 major central banks are cutting rates. “Currently, a net 31% anticipate a weaker global economy, a notable improvement from April’s reading of 82%, while a net 26% foresee a weaker Asian economy, a significant progress from 89% at the lows in April,” it said.

NEW DELHI: The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has busted an ISI-China-Canada linked international drug cartel and arrested a notorious Indo-Canadian gangster, Opinder Singh Sian aka Thanos, running a global fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficking ring from British Columbia.According to court documents reviewed by TOI, Sian was arrested in Arizona on June 27 after his role in smuggling methamphetamine to Australia and chemicals for fentanyl into the US via Canada was established. The investigation, which kicked off in 2022, and a recently unsealed affidavit in a US court, has revealed that Sian, had operational ties with chemical suppliers linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) besides the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico.The DEA had mounted an undercover operation to trap Sian after his dubious ties came to fore in 2021-2022 in the aftermath of a preliminary inquiry conducted regarding a tip from a Turkish intelligence agency. Singh was at the time a known senior member of the notorious ISI-backed ‘Brothers Keepers’ gang which mostly has foot soldiers from Punjab in India, many of whom are Canadian citizens. The gang, which has lent its support to the cause of so-called Khalistan on many occasions, was also seen active in commemorations rallies in support of Air India bombing mastermind Talwinder Singh Parmar and others, sources said.According to Canadian police, the group deals in bulk trafficking of cocaine, MDMA, heroin, fentanyl and methamphetamine besides arms trafficking, murder, extortion and armed robbery. In his early days, Sian was wounded in a shooting in Aug 2008 that left his friend Gurpreet Sidhu dead and survived another bid on his life in May 2011, marking his rapid rise in Canada’s underworld. The now-released court documents state that Sian had arranged for a meeting between a confidential US undercover source, known as “Queen”, and a Chinese cartel man named Peter Peng Zhou in Vancouver in 2023. Zhou, ran a trucking company with an Indo-Canadian associate, revealed that he could “receive fentanyl precursor chemicals from China into Vancouver and “send 100 kilos of chemicals per month to Los Angeles” using his trucking company.Sian and Queen, the DEA said, held multiple meetings and were in contact through chat application Threema to coordinate multiple deliveries. Specifically, Sian made four drops of methamphetamine (over 500 pounds) in southern California before the DEA moved for his arrest. The DEA agents were subsequently able to identify multiple characters involved in the network, which ranged from Turkey to Dubai. Sian, the DEA submitted, was also found linked to the notorious Kinahan crime family which is linked to Hezbollah.

Sooner than later, India will have to make a choice where it stands. Perhaps more important, what India stands for.

The Narendra Modi government’s policy of multi-alignment brought good results for the country’s foreign policy for most of Modi’s time as prime minister. But with Donald Trump acting like a bull in the china shop of world order, multi-alignment, at its best, has exhausted all possibilities. It was inventive while it lasted.

India needs a new foreign policy. Exposed to the scorching heat of Trump’s assaults on the existing order, the old policy is now like wine that tastes of wet cardboard. It emits an aroma similar to spoilt vinegar. The existing policy is no longer sustainable.

Repackaging it in shimmering new Bohemian crystal will not make the old wine any better. It will not be potable, although the new bottle may draw praise. The old policy must be discarded. Or else, South Block will be stranded by the receding tide of history.

In six months, Trump has decisively pulled the world away from multilateralism or even from plurilateral ways of advancing foreign policy. This may change if Trump does not complete his term for any reason, or if the next US president is either a Republican in the conventional mould or a Democrat. But India cannot wait for that. The challenge of adapting the country’s foreign policy to the new global realities is urgent. Every single day’s delay entails opportunity costs for 1.4 billion Indians whose aspirations, no longer circumscribed by the nation’s borders, are at stake.

India’s biggest contribution at the recent BRICS summit in the enchanting city of Rio de Janeiro was to propose a new expansion of that acronym. As India prepares to succeed Brazil as BRICS chair, Modi told his co-leaders at the summit: “Our goal will be to redefine BRICS as Building Resilience and Innovation for Cooperation and Sustainability.” That means BRICS will no longer be Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa. But in the Trump era, it falls short of hard bargains and transactional foreign policy. Modi is obsessed with catchy acronyms—his administration is peppered with them.

The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) on Wednesday expressed “serious concerns” over the preliminary probe report on the Air India plane crash on June 12 that killed 260 people in Ahmedabad. “At the outset, we would like to register our dissatisfaction with the exclusion of pilot representatives from the investigation process. We also firmly object to the way in which the preliminary report has been interpreted and presented publicly,” FIP wrote.

The government has emphasised that the 15-page document is only a preliminary report, as the investigation is still ongoing.

Read | Air India plane crash: Expert reveals what went wrong moment before tragic accident, says, ‘wasn’t a pilot error’

However, specific details mentioned in the report have triggered strong reactions from the pilot community. One particular exchange noted in the report shows one pilot questioning the other about a possible fuel cut-off, to which the second pilot reportedly denied initiating it. Investigators are now examining whether the fuel control switch was indeed moved from RUN to CUTOFF and back within seconds of takeoff — and if so, why.

“The report, as released, lacks comprehensive data and appears to rely selectively on paraphrased cockpit voice recordings to suggest pilot error and question the professional competence and integrity of the flight crew. This approach is neither objective nor complete. We therefore urge our members and the general public not to lend credence to such premature conclusions,” the pilots’ body added.

Also Read: Air India AI171 crash report details cockpit situation: The ‘01 seconds’ that led to Mayday call

Earlier, the Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA) also slammed the investigation, alleging that it was “being driven in a direction presuming the guilt of pilots.”

“Assigning blame before a thorough, transparent, and data-driven investigation is both premature and irresponsible. Such speculative commentary undermines the professionalism of highly trained crew members and causes undue distress to their families and colleagues.”

Also Read: Air India AI171 plane crash: Boeing reacts after AAIB releases initial report — Read full statement

It called upon media outlets, influencers, and institutions to “refrain from disseminating partial narratives or making unfounded assumptions. Aviation safety demands a steadfast commitment to facts, integrity, and due process.”

India’s aviation regulator, the DGCA, on Monday instructed airlines to inspect the fuel switch locking system in their Boeing 787 and 737 aircraft, PTI reported. Over 150 Boeing 737s and 787s are currently operated by Indian carriers. Airlines such as Air India, Air India Express, Akasa Air, SpiceJet, and IndiGo have these aircraft types in their fleets.

By Ojasvi Gupta

The government will provide training on artificial intelligence to over 550,000 village level entrepreneurs who run Common Service Centres for free, Electronics and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday. Speaking at the 16th foundation day of the Common Service Centre (CSC), the minister said that he would plan creating a unified integrated service to ease any inconvenience caused to the VLE’s.

“All of you would be given free AI training under the AI mission under which we have targeted upskilling around 1 million. Around 550,000 of VLE would be given preference in this,” Vaishnaw said.

The IndiaAI Mission, with a budget of Rs 10,371.92 crore, aims to drive AI innovation across the country. The mission focuses on building AI computing infrastructure, developing indigenous AI capabilities, attracting AI talent, and financing AI startups.
Common Services Centres (CSCs) are a strategic cornerstone of the Digital India programme, established in 2006 under MeitY.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) stated that it had detected 18 Chinese military aircraft, seven naval vessels, and two official ships operating around Taiwan until 6:00 a.m. (local time) on Wednesday.
According to Taiwan’s MND, 6 out of 18 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ).

In response to China’s action, Taiwan’s armed forces deployed aircraft, naval ships, and coastal missile systems to monitor the situation.

“18 PLA aircraft, 7 PLAN vessels and 2 official ships operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 6 of 18 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern ADIZ. We have monitored the situation and responded,” Taiwan’s MND posted on X.

India’s economy is showing signs of entering what economists often call a “Goldilocks” phase — neither too hot nor too cold — marked by moderate, sustainable growth coupled with subdued inflation. The term “Goldilocks economy” is taken from the children’s story ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’, in which Goldilocks tries three bowls of porridge, finding one too hot, one too cold, and one just right from which she eats it all.

In economics, it describes an ideal state where the economy is neither too hot nor too cold, a steady economic growth that prevents downturn but not so much growth that inflation rises too high. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), along with the central government, appears increasingly confident in steering the economy toward this delicate balance through calibrated monetary and fiscal actions. Recent developments, including comments from RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra on July 15 and continued downward surprises in inflation data, suggest that India’s Goldilocks scenario could be brightening.

Inflation cooling faster than expected

Retail inflation in June 2025 came in at just 2.1%, far below the RBI’s earlier full-year projection of 3.7%. The average inflation for the April-June quarter stood at 2.7%, again undershooting the RBI’s estimate of 2.9%. If current trends continue, July inflation could dip below 2%, and full-year inflation may settle close to 3%, significantly beneath the RBI’s comfort band midpoint of 4%.

This unexpected disinflation, largely driven by easing food prices, stable energy costs, and improving supply chains, strengthens the case for further monetary easing. RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra has said the central bank may consider cutting rates if both inflation and growth continue to soften, indicating that inflation could fall below the full-year forecast of 3.7 per cent. The monetary policy committee’s neutral stance, he said, provides room to respond as conditions evolve. “If inflation and growth both trend lower, it could justify a policy rate cut,” Malhotra said in an interview to CNBC TV18 yesterday. “But it depends on how the data develops. We are still in the process of updating our projections.” Importantly, the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) neutral stance gives it the room to remain data-driven and agile in responding to evolving macroeconomic conditions.

Room for more rate cuts

The RBI has already made two consecutive rate cuts, including a surprise 50 basis points cut in June. While market expectations had tilted toward a pause in the upcoming August policy review, the new inflation numbers may compel the MPC to reassess.Many economists, including Kunal Kundu of Societe Generale, believe that the RBI now has ample justification for two more 25 basis point cuts, which would bring the repo rate to 5.0%, a level that could both sustain demand and preserve financial stability. Such a stance aligns well with the RBI’s updated objective: supporting growth without compromising on inflation credibility.Gaura Sen Gupta, Chief Economist, IDFC First Bank, Mumbai, said, “The moderation in inflation is led by a decline in food inflation. Core inflation remains range-bound at 4.5%. The outlook for inflation remains favourable with strong start to Kharif sowing. Meanwhile, daily prices indicate moderation in vegetables prices month-on-month in July. We continue to expect CPI inflation to average at 3% with downside risk. This is below RBI estimate of 3.7% in FY26. There is space for one more 25bps cut in October or December.” Garima Kapoor, Economist, Institutional Equities, Elara Securities, Mumbai, said, “We expect full year CPI inflation to remain below the RBI’s full-year estimate of 3.7%, and hence do not rule out the possibility of another rate cut post the end of monsoon.”

Radhika Rao, Senior Economist, DBS Bank, Singapore, said, “June inflation rose by the slowest pace in six years, in line with our forecast at 2.1% year over year vs 2.8% the month before. Despite the sequential rise in perishables, especially vegetables, the broad food basket remained on a disinflationary path led by cereals and pulses, keeping headline inflation in check. The weak June inflation reading will feed into expectations that the RBI MPC could warm up to further cuts in this cycle.”

Growth holding steady amid global headwinds

India’s GDP growth remained steady at 6.5% in FY2024-25, and the RBI projects a similar trajectory for the current fiscal year. This resilience is noteworthy, especially when set against a backdrop of global uncertainty, including lingering trade tensions, geopolitical volatility and subdued external demand. The June RBI bulletin acknowledged these risks, citing the precarious global environment, ongoing supply-side fragilities, and the risk of fresh geopolitical shocks. Yet, India’s macro fundamentals — strong domestic demand, moderate fiscal deficit and a relatively stable external position — provide a firm cushion. The Ministry of Finance, in its May economic review, while cautioning about external vulnerabilities, struck a tone of cautious optimism: “These could be nervous but exciting times for the Indian economy.”

One key opportunity on the horizon is the potential India-US trade agreement, which could become a significant tailwind for Indian exports. In an environment where global trade has been marred by uncertainty and protectionism, a bilateral deal with the world’s largest economy could unlock market access, investment flows, and technology transfer.

Despite positive domestic signals, Indian policymakers remain appropriately cautious. The RBI’s emphasis on flexibility and data-dependence is crucial, given that global conditions remain volatile. Any sudden surge in oil prices, a flare-up in geopolitical tensions, or reversal of global capital flows could derail progress. The reference by the finance ministry to the need to “ride the tide” signals the importance of nimble policymaking, not just in monetary terms but also via targeted fiscal interventions, trade strategy and regulatory reforms. India’s continued emphasis on supply-side improvements, from logistics and energy to skilling and MSME support, will be vital to strengthening the Goldilocks moment.

The stars seem to be aligning for India. Falling inflation, stable growth, a proactive central bank, and possible India-US trade deal as well as other trade agreements, all suggest that the country is moving closer to an optimal policy equilibrium. The key now lies in execution, ensuring external risks are managed deftly and reform momentum is not lost. If India plays its cards right, this Goldilocks phase could serve as a launchpad for a sustained, inclusive and stable economic expansion, positioning it as one of the few large economies able to navigate an increasingly turbulent global landscape with confidence and poise.

(With agency inputs)

SC asks producer of film ‘Udaipur Files – Kanhaiya Lal Tailor Murder’ to await decision of the statutory body of Union govt, which is scheduled to consider today objections to its release by Maulana Arshad Madani, who alleged that the movie vilifies the entire Muslim community.