Freedom, fuel, and linguistics
Heya!
Another week, another few hundred bombs. But hey, I am not going to bore you with that... yet. I made an observation this week. I mean in last week's issue I was already referring to the ongoing conflict as the West Asia conflict because that is what I was reading everywhere. But the realisation came this week.
Indian outlets, at least the credible ones, are referring to the conflict as 'West Asia conflict'. Not 'Middle East conflict'. But of course I had go and check. So I googled West Asia, filtered for 'news' and went all the way to page 6 on Google. All Indian news outlets. Then I repeated the same with 'Middle East' as the search term. Similar stories, but Global North news outlets this time. You are wondering where I am going with this. Fair.
For a long time it has bugged me, and I know there are scholars who have pointed this out as well, that 'Middle East' is a colonial term. East for whom? In the same vein the term 'orient' is often used for East Asia. "Oriental" derives from the Latin orientālis meaning "eastern", stemming from oriens meaning "rising sun" or "east". So east of Europe/Latin speaking countries/our colonisers.
Haah! So I am very proud to see Indian news outlets ditching this colonial language. Reclaiming a bit of ourselves while madmen act like they own the world and all the resources within it.
I don't know about you but I am taking whatever wins I can get here.
Yes, you are free to go now. Your linguistic class is over.
Have a good week ahead and be unapologetically post-colonial!
Just the gist
Sonam Wangchuk (or Phungsuk Wangdu, IYKYK) has finally been released from prison where he was being kept for the last 170 days because of "a misunderstanding". Vibes.
Wangchuk was imprisoned after violence erupted in Leh in September 2025 during a protest led by him demanding statehood for Ladakh. The central government that detained him under the National Security Act (NSA) for "inciting violence" has not been able to provide substantial (ready 'absolutely any') proof linking him to the violence. They have, as a result, revoked his detention. His release is also coming a week before the Supreme Court hearing that challenges the NSA order.
➡️ Makes you wonder. Is this the Centre saving face because they did not have a case to defend? Bully while you can get away with it? Good news is that an innocent man who has consistently worked towards the betterment of the nation is no longer imprisoned. One political prisoner out, several more to go.
🔗 Looking back at the good times
Pride comes before a fall. India is seeing this proverb come true in real time. Three weeks. That's how long India's moment lasted. Budget, EU trade deal, US tariff rollback, AI summit, low inflation, 7.6% growth. All this in the month of February. Then came the fall. The US and Israel attacked Iran, Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz, and here we are.
Morgan Stanley said India's trailing 12-month market performance is "almost the worst in history." The Sensex and Nifty are down 5.6% since the war started — and that's after a 3% bounce this week.
It gets worse before it gets better. The war is affecting fuel prices and the queue of sectors about to report bad news is long: oil marketers, any sector that uses fuel as an input such as fertilisers, paints etc., airlines slapping fuel surcharges on tickets while IndiGo watches 20% of its revenue geography catch missiles, anything that runs on fuel or makes things from it. Banks are the slow-moving threat but naturally if businesses start going under, loans follow.
➡️ RBI is set to meet on April 8 to decide on the interest rate and economists are predicting higher inflation and lower growth. But one thing that is clear is that those with Mutual Funds and Systematic Investment Plans (SIP) should keep them to maximise the returns in the long run.
With LPG prices spiking and cylinder refill waits stretching to 25 days, here's a piece of news that is timely and hopeful.
Scientists at Pune's CSIR-NCL have developed a domestic alternative that can be blended directly into your existing gas cylinder with zero modifications to your stove. It's called Dimethyl Ether (DME) and the interesting bit is that it comes from methanol, which can itself be made from coal, agricultural waste, or captured CO2. All things India has in abundance (coughs in high AQI). Even a modest 8% DME blend in LPG cylinders would meaningfully cut how much India needs to import, and at scale, the savings are estimated at Rs 9,500 crore a year! Gotta give it to Indian ingenuity. Almost as good as Modi making tea from gutter gas.
However, India currently imports methanol partly from Iran, which is a circular problem given the current crisis. But in the long run the whole point is to build domestic methanol production so the supply chain stays home.
The technology works, has been tested at semi-pilot scale, and the blending has been validated with the LPG Equipment Research Centre.
➡️ If India seriously pursues domestic DME production, it's a long-term positive for energy security and a potential headwind for LPG importers. Moving in this direction is great for India's energy security as it is heavily dependent on several challenging regions for its energy supply at the moment and has found itself blackmailed into agreements due to that.
Wednesday and Thursday this week were not normal news days.That said, what is a normal news day anymore anyway.
Israel struck South Pars, the world's largest natural gas field. If we are to believe Trump, it was because Israel was 'angry'. Some tantrum, this.
Iran responded by firing missiles at Ras Laffan, the world's largest LNG export facility. Both are now on fire, extensively damaged, and out of service. Crude oil is at $118, up over 50% from pre-war levels. Natural gas prices have gone up too.
Until now, the crisis was a transit problem with tankers stuck in the Strait of Hormuz. This week it became a supply problem. The production infrastructure itself is being destroyed.
For India, this is as direct as it gets. Qatar is India's single largest source of LNG, 41% of all imports, almost entirely through Ras Laffan, which is now in ruins. 90% of India's LPG comes through the Strait of Hormuz. 88% of its crude is imported. There is no version of this conflict that doesn't hurt India badly, and the longer it runs, the worse the damage compounds.
➡️ If you are remitting money to India, watch the exchange rate. As of Friday, the 20th it is at 1EUR = 108INR or 1USD = 93INR. Now is as good a time as any to transfer those funds. Or you could wait. But also, don't wait too long.
In the neighbourhood
🔗 Because one war is not enough
Pakistan bombed a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul on Monday, killing 400 people. Afghanistan, governed by the Taliban, is now in open conflict with its neighbour. This is the same Taliban that Pakistan spent decades funding, sheltering, and celebrating. Imran Khan literally posted about their 2021 return to power as a victory.
This being the second time in less than a month that the two countries have taken shots at each other. Important to note that the previous one, three weeks ago was also initiated by Pakistan.
The short version of a very long history: Britain drew the Durand Line in 1893 to buffer Russian ambitions, splitting Pashtun communities arbitrarily across what became the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Pakistan inherited this mess in 1947 and spent the Cold War doubling down on it, funding Mujahideen fighters, supporting the Taliban, developing a doctrine called "Strategic Depth" that essentially meant keeping Afghanistan friendly and pliable. The CIA poured $20 billion into the same project during the Soviet war. It worked, until it didn't.
The specific problem today is the TTP, which Pakistan claims is operating from Afghan soil with Taliban support. The Taliban deny it, but the TTP has pledged allegiance to Taliban leadership, which makes that denial complicated. Pakistan is now bombing a country run by people it helped create, to stop attacks by people inspired by those people. The irony would be funny if 400 people hadn't just died.
Over 400 Afghan soldiers and 55 Pakistani soldiers have been killed since February. A UN-reported ceasefire from October lasted four months.
➡️ Pakistan's instability has a way of becoming India's problem. A Pakistani state stretched between a war on its western border, an economic crisis, and its traditional obsession with India is an unpredictable neighbour. File this one under slow-burn risks.
Okay lovelies, that is it for this week.
Your girl is exhausted! :D
