PrairiePundit

 AP: Pakistan has evacuated tens of thousands of people to safer areas after neighboring India released water from overflowing dams and swollen rivers into low-lying border regions, officials said Tuesday. The move came a day after New Delhi alerted Islamabad about possible cross-border flooding, marking the first public diplomatic contact between the two nuclear-armed rivals in months. Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority said it had issued an advance alert to its Punjabi counterparts about a surge in the Sutlej River and the risk of flooding, and that evacuations from various districts in the eastern Punjab province were underway. In a statement, it said rescuers evacuated more than 14,000 people from Kasur, a district in Punjab province, while over 89,000 were moved to safer ground from the city of Bahawalnagar, near the Indian border. ... This is an enormous evacuation effort.  Finding a place for this many evacuees would take a considerable effort.  It ...

  PJ Media: On April 22, the worst terror attack in Indian-administered Kashmir in over a decade unfolded in broad daylight. Twenty-six Hindu tourists were singled out and executed by terrorists. The Resistance Front (TRF)—a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) proxy backed by Pakistan—has taken credit for the horrific attack. TRF, which is backed by Pakistan's intelligence agency (ISI), was co-founded by Hafiz Saeed, one of the co-conspirators of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, in which more than 160 people were murdered. During this week's massacre in Pahalgam, a town in Anantnag district of the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Islamic terrorists singled out non-Muslims to shoot them, according to sources and witnesses. They checked people for circumcision and shot those who were not circumcised. They also asked people to recite "kalma" to identify non-Muslims and shot them—"kalma" in Islam is a declaration of faith and serves as the allegiance to God. Thos...

  Blaze: The Associated Press was forced to withdraw one of its Monday articles after it falsely claimed that U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard called President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin "very good friends." The now-retracted article incorrectly reported that Gabbard said Trump and Putin are "focused on strengthening ties." However, Gabbard was not referring to Trump's relationship with Putin but rather to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Gabbard's misrepresented quotes were taken from an interview with India's NDTV released Monday. "The ties between our two countries, the United States and India, go very, very far back," she told NDTV. "What we're continuing to see is a strengthening of that partnership and recognizing that the mutual interests of both of our countries are centered around peace, prosperity, freedom, and security." "We have two leaders of our two great countries...

 ISW: Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin and Chechen Republic Head Ramzan Kadyrov stated their intent on May 6 for Chechen “Akhmat” troops to replace Wagner Group forces in Bakhmut on May 10. Prigozhin published a letter to Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu on May 6 declaring that Wagner will hand over its positions to Akhmat units at exactly midnight on May 10, when Prigozhin claims Wagner will have entirely run out of combat potential. [1] Prigozhin expressed his confidence that Akhmat forces can capture the remaining 2.5 square kilometers of Bakhmut that remain under Ukrainian control. [2] Kadyrov responded to Prigozhin by stating he has addressed a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin signaling his readiness to take Bakhmut and claimed that Chechen units are already working on a strategy with the Russian MoD for the Chechens to take over Wagner‘s positions. [3] Prigozhin and Kadyrov likely aim to frame the Russian MoD and regular Russian troops as ineffect...

 NY Times: India Is Passing China in Population. Can Its Economy Ever Do the Same? India has a young, vast work force that is expanding as China’s ages and shrinks. But the country’s immense size also lays bare its enormous challenges. India did not make the mistake of the one-child policy that now plagues China.  It has a vibrant population despite the fact that many people from India have migrated to both the US and Europe.  The migration to the US and Britain has been easier because many in India already speak English because of the past history of British rule.  Some of those immigrants have been remarkably successful.

 Legal Insurrection: India is fortifying its borders and bolstering its naval defenses amid the growing Chinese military threats. On Friday, New Delhi commissioned the nation’s first home-built aircraft carrier as it seeks to counter China’s growing naval buildup in the Indo-Pacific. The aircraft carrier “262m (860ft) long and almost 60m (197ft) tall – is the first aircraft carrier India has designed and built on its own. It has the capacity to hold 30 fighter planes and helicopters,” the  BBC  reported. “India’s other aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, can carry more than 30 aircraft.” The launching of a domestically produced aircraft carrier — which takes the number of India’s aircraft carriers up to two — also highlights that New Delhi is moving away from Russia, the country’s largest military supplier. According to some  estimates , about 70% to 85% of India’s military systems are of Russian origin. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu Nationalist “government ha...

  Daily Mail: 'Russia is offering oil at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that': India looks to bail out Putin as it considers taking up Moscow's offer to buy crude oil at a reduced rate amid Western sanctions This suggests that the sanctions are starting to bite on the Russian economy and he is having trouble selling oil at the increased market price.  India is not one of the countries sanctioning Russia 

  Washington Free Beacon: Biden Megadonor Scores $500 Million Federal Loan for Solar Company   Politically connected First Solar also secured $3 billion in loan guarantees from Obama administration Biden is investing in a solar company to be built in India.  It makes about as much sense as Obama's investment in Solyndra.  That was another waste of public money on a solar energy project that failed.  Even if this one doesn't fail it will still just be solar energy which is unreliable and vulnerable to extreme weather events. 

 Breitbart: Walmart announced on Monday that it will triple the value of goods imported from India to the United States by 2027, a pivot away from Chinese suppliers that will add up to $10 billion per year. “As an international retailer that brings value to customers and communities worldwide, Walmart understands that local entrepreneurs and manufacturers are vital to the success of the global retail sector. We see huge potential for Indian suppliers to grow their businesses by leveraging the unique scale and global distribution opportunity Walmart provides,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon  said . “By significantly accelerating our annual India exports in the coming years, we are supporting the Make in India initiative and helping more local businesses reach international customers while creating jobs and prosperity at home in India. It is also a way for Walmart to bring more high-quality, India-made goods to millions of customers all across the world,” McMillon said. “ Make in Ind...

NY Times: Will India Side With the West Against China? A Test Is at Hand The United States and its allies have long wanted India’s help in confronting China. Now, a deadly border clash seems likely to push India in that direction. India has much more in common with the West than it does with China.  It probably rivals the US as a country with the most English speakers.  Their students are eager to attend school in the US.  I continually run into high functioning people of Indian descent in the medical profession in Houston. Why would India side with China when that country has territorial ambitions in India and is killing its troops?

Politico: Donald Trump’s campaign has launched a five-figure digital ad buy targeting an unlikely voting demographic for Republicans: Indian Americans. It’s likely the first time a Republican presidential candidate has spent a large amount of money on ads tailored for Indian American voters, according to five people involved in recent Republican presidential campaigns. The move comes just days after the president flew to India for a political-style rally with over 100,000 cheering fans, earning him wall-to-wall Indian media coverage. But back home, Trump hasn’t polled well with Indian Americans. Still, the group represents a growing voting bloc that registers and votes at high rates, making it a desirable target. And Trump’s team thinks its message on tax cuts and illegal immigration, as well as Trump’s friendship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will play well with some Indian Americans. The ad campaign began Wednesday on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, streaming servic...

Washington Post: U.S., India to sign $3 billion defense deal, Trump says President Trump's trip to India is already paying dividends.  This deal is in addition to a trade agreement in the works for India to buy LNG from a Houston company .  That deal is also worth billions and will do more to limit CO2 production in India's power sector.

Fuel Fix: All eyes in the energy industry will be on Houston liquefied natural gas company Tellurian during President Donald Trump's visit to India. Company officials told the Houston Chronicle that they will have a team in India during the president's visit to the South Asian nation. Details were not available but Trump's visit to the subcontinent comes at a time when Tellurian is working to finalize the details of a $2.5 billion supply deal with India's Petronet LNG by a March 31 deadline. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to receive Trump on Monday. The presidential visit to India comes roughly five months after Modi visited Houston, which was the backdrop for the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Tellurian and Petronet LNG. Headquartered in Houston, Tellurian received a federal permit in April 2019 to build its Driftwood LNG export terminal in Lake Charles, Louisiana. If the facility lands contracts and financing, it will be ab...

Bloomberg/Fuel Fix: Oil supplies from Iraq, the Middle East’s second-biggest producer, are “potentially vulnerable” amid rising political risks in the country and the broader region, the International Energy Agency warned. Crude prices briefly soared to a three-month high above $70 a barrel last week as tensions between the U.S. and Iran erupted in neighboring Iraq, where America assassinated an Iranian general and Tehran struck U.S. military bases in response. Though hostilities faded, the threat of escalation still menaces Iraq, which was already grappling with domestic protests that spread to its oil-rich southern region. Iraq’s oil exports have doubled during the last decade to reach 4 million barrels a day, with half these volumes flowing to China and India, the two major centers of global demand growth, the Paris-based IEA said in its latest monthly report. The country relies heavily on shipping crude through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has periodically threatened to c...

BBC: India cold wave: Delhi reels from coldest day in more than a century Temperatures were near freezing in a city where few have central heating.  Meanwhile, Australia was having record heat and wildfires .

Washington Post: Trump plays unusual role of warm-up act at massive Modi rally in Houston The leaders of the world’s two largest democracies took the stage together before a roaring crowd of tens of thousands of Indian Americans. Trump keeps cutting into the Democrats' base of support with minorities.  As Nikki Haley has demonstrated people of Indian descent have a place in the Republican party.

Fuel Fix: Energy and business ties between the United States and Indian are the spotlight during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's weekend visit to Houston. Hours after landing in the Bayou City, the prime minister held a private roundtable on Saturday evening with CEOs from 16 energy companies at the Post Oak Hotel in Houston's posh Galleria district. Modi's energy roundtable included the signing of a $2.5 billion deal between Houston liquefied natural gas company Tellurian and India-based Petronet LNG. Touted as one of the largest liquefied natural gas deals in U.S. history, Petronet LNG will be investing $2.5 billion in exchange to receive 5 million metric tons of LNG per year from Tellurian's planned Driftwood LNG export terminal in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Among the attendees of energy roundtable were Tellurian CEO Meg Gentle and Lorenzo Simonelli, CEO of the Houston oilfield service company Baker Hughes. ... It likely would not have happened if t...

Forbes: China Emits More Carbon Dioxide Than The U.S. and EU Combined ... ... Cina is not alone in the Asia Pacific region in the growth of CO2 emissions.

Fuel Fix: China's proposed tariffs on certain U.S. petrochemicals are expected to have a limited impact on Gulf Coast exports even as new production capacity comes online to serve growing Asian markets. The proposed tariffs, announced Wednesday, would include low-density polyethylene used in films and shopping bags, as well as PVC, polycarbonates, acrylates and some other chemicals. But they do not cover styrene or ethylene glycol, major U.S. chemicals exports to China used to make plastics, foams and polyester. Jonas Oxgaard, a chemicals analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., a New York investment management and research firm, said most of the chemicals on the list are exported in small volumes to China. Only about 6 percent of low-density polyethylene manufactured in the U.S. is shipped to there, and he noted that much of that volume could be exported to other markets. "India could take every single ton of (polyethylene) that we're currently shipping to Chi...

As she was falling she kicked off her shoes and appeared to regain her balance with the help of others.  Earlier during the trip Clinton insulted the half of the country that did not vote for her.