Politics, Economics, India Investing, Global Macro—🙄; Travel, Food, Wildlife, BioDiversity, Progressive Rock 😎
London, England
Joined October 2017
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Classic Indian state, regulatory, and bureaucratic incompetence on regular display
And all this for exports earnings 😁
Look at the chaos unleashed. Crazy stuff.
RBI’s new forex reporting regime kicked in on Oct 1. On Oct 7, the RBI Governor said individuals earning from overseas services (tutors, freelancers, consultants etc) don’t need to report.
23 days later. No FAQ. No written clarification. Banks still sending freelancers a four-spreadsheet Export Declaration Form. Only 2 of 90 banks have published the mandated SOPs via @SindhuHarih in @businessline
@iam_anandv on ‘Declaration Raj’!
Thread on the RBI EDF from my @91basispoints column with Arjun Raghavendra (Tax lawyer and former IFS)
TLDR - India has moved from license raj to Declaration Raj (AND) everyone works for the government now salary free.
basispointinsight.com/Story/…
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Arvind Chari retweeted
An appropriate way to spend a holiday. Catching up on over 100 years of India's economic history.
At the launch of @CafeEconomics much-awaited book The Ideas That Shaped Modern India and Its Economy.
Waiting to read it.
Arvind Chari retweeted
Congratulations to Ashoke Sen on winning the Oscar Klein award. Here's a Sen story to celebrate
One of my favorite Ashoke Sen stories is when a PhD student wrote a letter to him(this was in the early 90s) as a last ditch effort to understand some concepts that were eluding her.
Unknown to her, Sen was due to visit her institute a week or so later. When Sen arrived, the very first thing he did after checking in was to find the student and answer all her questions.
Arvind Chari retweeted
A story that damages many claims by ECI
@Basantrajsonu and @AshwineSingh report that a Booth level agent of the BIP filed 5359 form 7s to delete people. When the ERO refused to do bulk deletions, the BLA wrote to the ECI. And ECI said, file them
newslaundry.com/2026/10/24/u… #
Arvind Chari retweeted
Ashoke Sen has been awarded the prestigious Oskar Klein Medal for 2026, becoming the first Indian physicist to receive the honour.
Previous recipients include Nobel laureates Chen-Ning Yang, Steven Weinberg and Hans Bethe, who received the medal in its first three years.
Arvind Chari retweeted
Boarding on AI 882 AMD-DEL is delayed by 20 minutes because Supreme Court Judge Vipul Pancholi & wife had to be VIP boarded first. They walk in with a posse of 6 guards + 3 AI staffers. Is this the VIP culture that India’s judiciary advocates? @MLJ_GoI ?
#VIPculture 🚨#lalbatti
Arvind Chari retweeted
Be grateful for this rite of passage and treat it as one more privilege...like standing in lines to get back into voter lists after being knocked off for no apparent reason.
The EDF (Export Declaration Form) rules are now in effect, and it seems like RBI and banks have conspired to create a new hell. Or actually 5 hells.
I consult for an American company. Raised October invoice. Received the Inward remittance. And bang! Mail from @HDFC_Bank detailing everything needed before the payment can be processed.
Let me tell you what the 5 hells are:
1. The hell of confusion – RBI clarified last month that the EDF rules do not apply to individuals. But looks like they haven’t told the banks. And CAs also don’t seem to know. There’s no official communication on who is exempt. Last I checked, I was an individual. No company, no LLP. But HDFC still wants me to file the EDF to credit my payment.
2. The hell of complexity – See the attached pic of the form the bank has sent in excel. It has 5 sheets. To be filled and submitted. Some abstruse acronyms like “AD” - no clue what it means. Some fields are mandatory. Some fields are to be filled by the bank. No idea which is what. And it needs a physical signature. Which leads to...
3. The hell of paperwork - They also sent a pdf with a bunch of request letters. I’m supposed to choose the right letter, print, sign, scan and submit. Creating more paper today is incredibly silly. And, I suppose, someone in the bank will have to upload all this somewhere. Reminds me of those hand-filled immigration forms. Pointless.
4. The hell of repetition – At least for me, most of the details are constant. One client, one payment. If it’s a one-time exercise, fine. I’ll grit my teeth and get it done. But no. These details have to be given month after month. Else… no payment will be credited.
5. The hell of unpreparedness – It would have been simple enough for RBI or HDFC to create an online portal for this. With dropdowns, saved formats, contextual help, etc. to at least make this easy. But that would be too convenient, no? So, they’ve chosen to dump the entire burden on the taxpayer.
I have no opinion or understanding of why this is needed. Maybe it is critical information. Okay! But why make the process so confusing and painful?
And poor communication has meant that the banks have just passed on the pain to the exporter, and even CAs can’t help.
Basically RBI & HDFC feel I should consult less, and comply more. Maybe my client will also agree :)
This is good to see..
Will put other state CEO’s and CROs under scrutiny
कार्यालय मुख्य निर्वाचन अधिकारी, उत्तर प्रदेश
(प्रेस विज्ञप्ति)
विधान सभा निर्वाचन क्षेत्र 127-पीलीभीत की मतदाता सूची में पाई गयी गड़बड़ी के प्रकरण में वर्तमान के साथ-साथ पूर्व निर्वाचक रजिस्ट्रीकरण अधिकारी के विरूद्ध भी होगी विधिक कार्रवाई
दोनों निर्वाचक रजिस्ट्रीकरण अधिकारियों के विरूद्ध विधिक कार्रवाई के अतिरिक्त विभागीय कार्रवाई प्रारम्भ करने के भी निर्देश
मतदाता पंजीकरण केन्द्र के कम्प्यूटर सहायक (वी0आर0सी0 ऑपरेटर) की होगी सेवा समाप्त
लखनऊ, 22 अक्टूबर, 2026।
विधान सभा निर्वाचन क्षेत्र 127-पीलीभीत की मतदाता सूची में दर्ज मतदाताओं के नाम के इपिक नम्बर पर किसी अन्य मतदाता का विवरण प्रदर्शित होने संबंधी शिकायत के संबंध में जिला निर्वाचन अधिकारी, पीलीभीत से विस्तृत जांच आख्या आज प्राप्त हुई।
प्राप्त जांच आख्या के अनुसार विधान सभा निर्वाचन क्षेत्र 127-पीलीभीत के मतदाता पंजीकरण केन्द्र के कम्प्यूटर सहायक (वी0आर0सी0 ऑपरेटर) द्वारा दिनांक 31.05.2026 से 29.08.2026 के मध्य मतदाताओं के विवरण में संशोधन हेतु कुल 13,779 फॉर्म-8 की प्रविष्टि की गयी। जिसमें से दिनांक 16.07.2026 तक कुल 4,717 फॉर्मों तथा शेष 9,062 फॉर्मों की प्रविष्टि दिनांक 17.07.2026 से 29.08.2026 के मध्य की गयी। इन सभी प्रविष्टियों से संबंधित कोई भी फॉर्म अथवा अभिलेख कार्यालय में उपलब्ध नहीं पाया गया। इन 13,779 फॉर्म-8 में से कुल 10,470 फॉर्मों को स्वीकृत एवं 3,309 फॉर्मों को अस्वीकृत किया गया। इस प्रकार 10,470 प्रविष्टियों में गड़बड़ी पायी गयी।
प्रविष्टियों में गड़बड़ी के लिए जिम्मेवार 127-पीलीभीत के मतदाता पंजीकरण केन्द्र के कम्प्यूटर सहायक (वी0आर0सी0 ऑपरेटर) तथा विधान सभा निर्वाचन क्षेत्र 127-पीलीभीत में दिनांक 16.07.2026 तक एवं दिनांक 17.07.2026 से 29.08.2026 तक तैनात निर्वाचक रजिस्ट्रीकरण अधिकारियों (ई0आर0ओ0) को इस प्रकरण में दोषी मानते हुए इनके विरूद्ध लोक प्रतिनिधित्व अधिनियम, 1950 की धारा-32 एवं भारतीय न्याय संहिता की सुसंगत धाराओं के अन्तर्गत विधिक कार्रवाई किये जाने के निर्देश दिये गये हैं। साथ ही प्रकरण में संबंधित सहायक निर्वाचक रजिस्ट्रीकरण अधिकारियों की भूमिका के संबंध में भी गहनता से जांच कर आख्या उपलब्ध कराने के निर्देश दिये गये हैं।
प्रकरण में दोषी पाये जाने के लिए विधान सभा निर्वाचन क्षेत्र 127-पीलीभीत के मतदाता पंजीकरण केन्द्र के कम्प्यूटर सहायक (वी0आर0सी0 ऑपरेटर) की सेवा समाप्ति के आदेश दिये गये हैं। दोनों निर्वाचक रजिस्ट्रीकरण अधिकारियों (ई0आर0ओ0) के विरूद्ध विभागीय कार्यवाही प्रारम्भ किये जाने के निर्देश भी दिये गये हैं।
विशेष प्रगाढ़ पुनरीक्षण-2026 की समाप्ति (दिनांक 10.04.2026) से लेकर दिनांक 21.10.2026 के मध्य मतदाता पंजीकरण केन्द्र के कम्प्यूटर सहायक (वी0आर0सी0 ऑपरेटर) द्वारा मतदाता सूची में नाम जोड़ने हेतु प्रविष्ट किये गये समस्त फॉर्म-6 तथा नाम विलोपित किये जाने हेतु प्रविष्ट समस्त फॉर्म-7 की भी गहन जांच कराकर विस्तृत आख्या एक दिन में उपलब्ध कराने के निर्देश जिला निर्वाचन अधिकारी, पीलीभीत को दिये गये हैं।
इसके अतिरिक्त फॉर्म-8 संबंधी जिन प्रविष्टियों में गड़बड़ी पायी गयी है, उन सभी प्रविष्टियों को नियमानुसार मानक के अनुरूप ठीक कराने की कार्यवाही प्रक्रियाधीन है।
@ECISVEEP
@SpokespersonECI
@ANINewsUP
@PTI_News
@ians_india
@DDNewsUP
@AIRNewsHindi
Arvind Chari retweeted
Mumbai airport now, presumably awaiting other arrivals..
You will likely pay less for jet fuel to top up here, apart from diesel, also cheaper.
Arvind Chari retweeted
But there is the law that says ECI must act against anyone trying to wrongfully delete any one. In this case 200 plus people targetted deletions of Muslim voters.
reporters-collective.in/trc/…
Not at all amused to find the ‘feigning ignorance’ or ‘doesn’t say much’ or feeling ‘repulsive’ type of responses on the Indian express article by those supporting the administration
They know it
Trying a genuine revision of electoral roll and then tried to manage voter lists, back door NRC and disenfranchise
Create a huge issue when there should have been none
And then bungle the response to manage the fallout after uproar
BLO’s and common citizens will suffer this intentional incompetence
As the Election Commission launches a special drive in 20 states to bring back voters “left out” in the SIR, its officers are staring at a unique problem: persuading lakhs, possibly crores, of people to fill Form 6, the “Application Form for New Voters,” which asks them to declare they are applying “for the first time.”
Form 6 is the right route back, and officials say signing it invites no legal action. But people who’ve voted for decades balk at calling themselves new, and many believe the declaration is false.
Against that backdrop, Maharashtra’s CEO has proposed a fix: drop “New Voters” from the title, and let the deleted say they were enrolled before and cite their old EPIC number.
Break by @vallabhozarkarr
indianexpress.com/article/in… via @IndianExpress
question
Why do these firms need Anthropic subscription
Why can’t they use any open source LLM model and customise and create their own internal LLM usage model and build the functionalities they need for their business
I’m sure entities like Accenture should be able to do this
Accenture restricts Claude usage to $29 per month per employee.
Some employees were using $500 to $1000 Claude tokens per month.
So employees will have to work old fashioned way now.
404media.co/accenture-tells-…
Arvind Chari retweeted
Is it possible, is it required and is it time that the countries of the Levant and the Arab peninsula come together to form a committee to redraw their geographical borders and set right the historical wrongs committed by Sykes-Picot?
@DalrympleWill
Arvind Chari retweeted
13 cr is to BJP
What
1.76 lk cr was to Congress
130 million off the rolls says CJP-Congress? Not so - likely closer to 7 million, less than 1 % of those eligible to vote. None should be excluded. True. But a Goebbelsian lie repeated ad nauseam does not convert it into truth.
indianexpress.com/article/op…
Liv52 as it is a dubious drug
and
Now we have spurious LiV52
A medical store owner in Surat was arrested for allegedly repackaging a liver tonic meant for animals and selling it as Liv.52 Drops for children. Police said the product was sold at twice its price, with materials worth ₹31,195 seized during the investigation.
#Surat #MedicalStore #HealthScam #ChildSafety #GujaratNews
13 cr is to BJP
What
1.76 lk cr was to Congress
130 million off the rolls says CJP-Congress? Not so - likely closer to 7 million, less than 1 % of those eligible to vote. None should be excluded. True. But a Goebbelsian lie repeated ad nauseam does not convert it into truth.
indianexpress.com/article/op…
What use are all the EU regulations?
guess they will watch this as well from the sidelines and allow such intentional acts to be carried out with impunity.
There must be some agreement on safety and service level standards which if broken should result in claims and penalties
Credit to Musk to have built such a system that the world, especially in military frontlines, are so dependent on.
Ukraine has benefitted from Starlink but this is the second instance of Musk sabotaging it as well..
EXCLUSIVE: Elon Musk came to Donald Trump with the plan to throttle Ukraine’s use of SpaceX’s Starshield satellite internet network, sources have told the Telegraph.
The tech billionaire made the proposal during the US President’s row with Volodymyr Zelensky over strikes on Russian oil refineries.
‘The reality is that they were both in it,’ a senior source said of Musk’s and Trump’s involvement.
But after a night of carnage in Kyiv caused by the slowdown, Musk was alarmed about the possibility of adverse consumer reaction in Europe.
The SpaceX boss then proceeded to tweet, blaming the US administration, and ultimately, President Trump for authorising the slowdown.
‘He tweeted out that he was innocent and that it was the US administration that did it,’ the source said.