New Delhi: Delhi’s pollution is back in a clear spotlight: the Wall Street Journal has a long story on the inefficacy of nearly all of India’s innovative efforts to combat air pollution.
The story brands everything from drones to antismog guns as “band-aid” solutions to a bullet wound.
“But the capital’s problem is particularly striking, with air pollution there costing inhabitants—who include the country’s political elites—nearly eight years of life expectancy,” the WSJ reports. The government’s challenge is to weigh the requirements of public health against the needs of a developing economy.
India hasn’t yet reckoned with pollution, or the large public outcry against it, the report says. “That comes down to a variety of factors, including a low expectation of basic services from the government and a lack of education about the health risks of pollution, experts said,” it explains. The poor don’t have the time or the political capital, while the rich can “blunt the effects.”
State authorities in the two Indian states “driving its economic growth” are planning on drafting new workplace rules to protect white-collar workers, reports Reuters.
Following the death of a young EY executive, the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka have increased scrutiny over labour practices to protect workers in private firms after a string of complaints.
“Maharashtra’s capital is India’s financial hub Mumbai, and Karnataka is home to Bengaluru, India’s ‘Silicon Valley’ where there are hundreds of strategic centres of global firms,” reports Reuters. In both states, labour departments have increased inspections and are considering new proposals to regulate hiring and layoff practices.
While the labour ministry is investigating allegations into workplace practices at EY after the death of a 26-year-old, Reuters reports that an “industry source said firms should honour overtime payment rules and abide by employment contracts, but said the services industry, particularly the IT industry, was feeling the impact of a global slump in demand and required some flexibility in relation to management of workers.”
But moving onto workplaces that might not get the luxury of workplace oversight: Foxconn is all set to start assembling AirPods at a new factory in Hyderabad early next year, making it the second major Apple product to be assembled in India, after the iPhone.
Apple has rapidly expanded its manufacturing network in India “thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s subsidies, a skilled workforce and advances in India’s technological capabilities”, according to Bloomberg.
“India is now a key part of the company’s effort to reduce its dependence on China as tensions flare between Washington and Beijing. Donald Trump’s re-election in the US could further speed that shift beyond China by companies such as Apple,” the report says.
Politico reports that India is now Europe’s top fuel supplier in 2024, replacing Saudi Arabia, but India has been accepting Russian-made oil, which the EU has been purchasing. The new report has sparked anger in the EU, as the purchases from Russia technically help Moscow’s war efforts.
“From January to August, the EU bought fuel worth almost 20 percent more than it did last year from three major Indian refineries working on Russian crude oil,” Politico reports. “While entirely legal, the rise comes despite EU efforts to impose a price cap of $60 per barrel alongside its G7 allies and outlaw direct imports of most Russian oil to the bloc, showcasing just how porous those measures have become in the two years since they were rolled out.”
Brussels is reportedly well aware of this sanctions loophole, which allows the EU to legally buy Russian-origin fuel as long as it’s coming from other countries. The extra cash is no doubt welcomed by Russia. The EU’s fuel imports from India have actually dropped 9 percent in 2024 compared to 2023, but its purchases from India’s three main refineries, the RIL Jamnagar, Vadinar and state-owned New Mangalore facilities, which are “known to process Russian oil rose by a modest 4 percent”.
These three facilities rely on Moscow for crude oil, and so some of it would have been exported to the EU, though it’s not possible to definitively prove how much.
“But the findings are prompting pushback from inside the bloc. Brussels is currently readying its 15th sanctions package against Russia, despite a growing sense of acceptance among some countries that the bloc can do little to stymie Moscow’s exports outside Europe,” Politico reports.
Tributes are also pouring in after Ustad Zakir Hussain’s death in San Francisco Sunday.
The New York Times calls him India’s “national treasure”, a “child prodigy” who began performing tabla concerts at age 7 and touring by age 12. The Washington Post writes that he introduced the tabla to global audiences, and was the greatest tabla players of his generation.
Meanwhile, Aamir Khan has announced via the BBC that he “secretly quit films”. If you didn’t notice, don’t worry—the BBC helpfully adds that you’re not the only one. The decision went unnoticed because so few films were being made due to the pandemic, apparently.
Khan didn’t stay out of films for long, though. He has been promoting his production, Laapataa Ladies, which is now India’s official pick for the Oscars. He had quit films to spend time with his family, but his family convinced him to get back into work. The rest of the freewheeling interview includes his thoughts on the film, the wave of recent international recognition for Indian films, and his own family life. Known to be a workaholic who oscillates between extremes, Khan has also told the BBC that he’s taking more time to work on himself and stop working after 6pm.