About Grandpa and my ancestry

My Meditations    <<< Previously

Grandpa’s birthday falls on 12th of June, and he turned 83 in 2012. He was born in 1928. Amma tells her age to be 7-8 years younger than him. Her UIDAI card has the year 1936.

Level 1: 
Lalu None Rai (grandpa tells "all that he used to do was sit at the temple, next to the entrance to the main central hall")

Level 2: Ganwar Lal

Level 3:
3.1. Ugrasen Jain, he was the eldest of the three brothers. He had done BA, LLB.

3.2. Phool Chand Jain 
Phool Chand Jain was grandpa’s father. He passed away in 1978.

3.3. Maksoodan Lal. He was the youngest of the three.
    
HOMETOWN: Gohana (near Sonepat), Haryana 
Son: Vinod Jain 
Hem Chand Jain sold his part of the property (backyard and some neighboring portions) from the Haveli in Gohana to Vinod Jain. 
Amma tells: Phool Chand Jain had asked your grandfather and Hem Chand Jain for their expectations from him as in "bol tu kya lega?". Grandfather said he does not want anything. Hem Chand Jain asked for backyard from the property.

Level 4:
4.1. Digamber Prasad Jain. He was the eldest in two brothers. He was elder by an year. 
Studied BA, LLB (Civil), and later went to Tis Hazari Court, Delhi.

4.2. Hem Chand Jain [Lives in Tri Nagar, Delhi, India]

Phool Chand Jain had set up the house in Tri Nagar around the time of 1958, and grandpa and Hem Chand Jain settled here in Tri Nagar around then.

About Gohana

Gohana is a sub-division/tehsil, a town and a municipal committee in Sonipat district in the Indian state of Haryana.
Geography: Gohana is located at 29.13°N 76.7°E. It has an average elevation of 225 meters (738 feet).
Demographics: Gohana town is situated in Sonipat district of Haryana. It is a main sub-division of more than 300,000 populations now in year 2011, has its own municipality and a constituency for Haryana Vidhan Sabha. Villages in Gohana (Subdivision) are around 86.It is located in west from District Sonipat. From the district, its distance is 40 km. Earlier it was part of Rohtak district. [Ref: May 20, 2021 (Wikipedia)]

~ ~ ~

Gohana is a city and a municipal council, near Sonipat city in the Sonipat district of the Indian state of Haryana. 
Gohana city is situated in the Sonipat district of Haryana. It is the main subdivision with a population of more than 300,000 (as of 2011). It has its own municipality and a constituency for Haryana Vidhan Sabha. There are around 86 Villages in Gohana. [Ref: Wikipedia, 2022-Oct-4]



Level 5:

Babaji’s mother was a native of Sonepat, Haryana. Babaji’s parents had lived in Gohana, Haryana.
Grandma’s family lived in BADSHAHPUR (near Gurgaon), Haryana. Amma was ten when her family moved to Delhi in around 1947. Amma tells of the Hindu-Muslim riots happening around the city during that time of country’s independence.
After marriage, amma moved to Gohana where babaji’s family lived. Babaji was practicing in Delhi, and used to visit Gohana to see his family often. Four of six children had their birth in Gohana, only Rekha buaji and Manju buaji were born in Delhi.

Jainism and its influence on my grandparents

Amma has always been very religious and holds very strong belief in God and Jainism. She went to a Jain school as a child, and she didn’t do schooling after fifth standard. At the Jain school, she was taught all the prayers, the rituals, the beliefs, rules and practices of Jainism. Her school wasn’t a separate body, but in conjunction with the temple.
She has a small metallic tray that was distributed in her school on the occasion of first republic day of our country, Jan-26-1951.

Babaji’s family had always held positions in the management of the temple. Phool Chand Jain was the president of the temple management body, and his cousin brother, Padam Jain had some prominent position in the management. Babaji’s distant-cousin and Padam Jain’s son became temple’s cashier later.

Around in 1950, when babaji got down with serious illness, which he recollects as TB, Phool Chand Jain went to Ayodhya to bring and set up the orange-marble idol of Lord Mahavira in the temple. The central main idol is about 900 years old, from the times of TUGHLAQ'S rule in Delhi, 1200 AD. There is a saying, ‘the older the temple, the more are the powers in it’. The idol that Phool Chand Jain brought is kept in the left section of the temple, and at about three feet, the idol is the largest idol present there, the main idol is about two feet high. The main hall in the temple is itself not very large, with the three sections covering an area of about 8-by-4 meters-squared.

Manu Apartments

Mavilla apartments put up silver-jubilee banner, society was 25 years old (1987-2012).
As amma tells, the cost of the flat in Manu Apartments had come up to be 4 Lacs (0.4 million INR). That should be the cost to investor buyers.

30-40 years ago: babaji had registered in the court with a person for the land for the lawyers for some R200 and since then they had be giving the installments as were required until the flats were ready. He got lucky in the draw and got the first flat, the flat number one.

The flat now stood at 15 million INR as the base value for the owners. Otherwise, its present let-out sale price for a buyer will be over 30 million. That is 90 times the investment value for the flat 25 years ago.

Family Tree (Incomplete)



Dates of birth, marriages and deaths of other relations.
				
Name: Digamber Prasad Jain	
DOB: 1929-Jun-12	
Married to: Darshan Mala Jain	
Date of marriage: 1955-Feb-7	
Passed Away: 2021-Feb-19 
Relation: Grandfather

Name: Darshan Mala Jain	
DOB: 1936 or 1937. It could be Oct or Nov on the day of Hoi festival.
Married to: Digamber Prasad Jain	
Date of marriage: 1955-Feb-7	
Note: Maina mausiji was born on 20-nov as per what she gave in the government-papers in Gujarat randomly.
Relation: Grandmother

Name: Shail Bala Jain	
DOB: 1956-Sep-5			
Nickname: Maalo or Maalu
Note: Shail Bala died at the age of 6/7, in the first standard. She succumbed to the high fever of about 107 Fahrenheit; it had reached her brains. I never knew her name until I was 20, I had heard of her when I was third and her story had found a place in my head right around that time, but without any description of anything, no facts, nothing at all, and just a story.

Name: Viresh Chandra Jain	
DOB: 1958-Nov-27 (0400)	
Married to: Sadhana Jain	
Nickname: Babbu / Sheru / Sheru Mohammed
Passed Away: 2012-Apr-24
Relation: Father

Name: Sadhana Jain
DOB: 1965-Sep-05
Married to: Viresh Chandra Jain		
Relation: Mother

Name: Kumkum Jain
DOB: 1960-Oct-26	
Married to: Anil Kumar Jain	
Nickname: Baby / Kammo
Relation: Badi Bua Ji

Name: Yashvir Singh Jain
DOB: 1962-May-21
Married to: Seema Jain
Date of marriage: 1991-Dec-7
Nickname: Neetu / Notli
Relation: Chacha Ji (Uncle)

Name: Seema Jain	
DOB: Sep-24	
Married to: Yashvir Singh Jain	
Date of marriage: 1991-Dec-7	
Relation: Chachi Ji 

Name: Rekha Jain
DOB: 1964-Mar-21
Married to: Rajiv Jain
Date of marriage: Feb-17
Nickname: Toti
Relation: Bua Ji 

Name: Manju Jain	
DOB: 1966-Nov-03	
Married to: Salil Jain	
Date of marriage: 1997-Nov-22	
Relation: Bua Ji 

Name: Ankur Jain
DOB: 1989-Sep-19			
Relation: Cousin (Son of Kumkum Jain)

Name: Anu Jain	
DOB: 1990-Sep-06
Nickname: Bulli
Married to: Tushar Jain 

Name: Ashish Jain
DOB: 1991-Dec-18
Nickname: Bhala, Bhalai, Bhalu
Relation: Myself 

Name: Prashant Jain	
DOB: 1992-Jan-20
Nickname: Munna

Name: Shruti Jain
DOB: 1993-Sep-03			

Name: Rashmi Jain	
DOB: 1993-Apr-08			

Name: Srishti Jain
DOB: 1994-Oct-22			
Nickname: Gudiya / Gulgul

Name: Smita Jain	
DOB: 1995-Apr-08			
Nickname: Lily

Name: Sameer Jain	
DOB: 1998-Jan-08

Name: Prachi Jain
DOB: 1999-Apr-29
Nickname: Puchchi / Poochi

Name: Anushka Jain	
DOB: 2007-Jan-30			
Nickname: Chhutki, Gudiya

Grandma's Family Tree



Grand Uncle's (Hem Chand Jain) Family Tree

He still stays in Tri Nagar (House Number 1142, Street 75) and is now a great grand father of the daughter of Mayank.



Tags: Journal,Behavioral Science,Medicine,Emotional Intelligence,Psychology,

India's young are more educated than ever. So why are so many jobless?

See All on Politics    <<< Previously

India's youth story is a study in contradictions - of abundance and scarcity, promise and drift.

As the British economist Joan Robinson once quipped, whatever "you can rightly say about India, the opposite is also true".

Few studies illustrate that paradox more crisply than the latest State of Working India report by Azim Premji University.

Start with the headline number: 367 million young people between the ages of 15 and 29 - the largest youth population in the world, and making up a third of India's working-age population.

Of them, 263 million are not in education and constitute the potential workforce.

It is an enviable demographic bulge, the kind that powered East Asia's economic miracles. Yet, beneath this statistical bounty lies more troubling arithmetic.

There is, at first glance, reason for optimism.

Over four decades, the country has transformed its educational landscape, the report finds.

Enrolment in high school and colleges has surged, broadly keeping pace with India's development levels. Gender gaps have narrowed. Caste barriers, though far from erased, have reduced.

Between 2007 and 2017, the share of students from the poorest households enrolled in higher education rose from 8% to 17%.

A far more educated and connected generation is entering the labour market. Young workers are moving out of agriculture faster than older cohorts over the long term, finding opportunities in manufacturing and services.

On paper, this looks like the making of a classic demographic dividend.

"Never before have so many young Indians been as educated and as connected," the report says.

The bad news: the transition from education to employment remains stubbornly broken.

Graduate unemployment in an increasingly challenging labour market is strikingly high. The last half decade has not generated salaried jobs in adequate numbers, the report finds.

Nearly 40% of graduates aged 15-25 - and 20% of those aged 25-29 - are jobless, far higher than among the less educated, the report finds. Only a small share secure stable, salaried jobs within a year.

Part of this reflects how labour markets evolve over a life cycle. As Rosa Abraham, economist and lead author of the report, told me: "When you're young, you wait - and report unemployment."

Track the same cohort over time and joblessness falls; by their late 20s, many are working, says Abraham.

Early joblessness, she argues, reflects an "aspiration-availability mismatch" combined with the ability to wait. Over time, "you mellow, build networks and take what you can", often in the private sector.

This is not a new problem.

In 1969, British economist Mark Blaug published a book called The Causes of Graduate Unemployment in India, tracing a gap between education and jobs that had been evident since the 1950s. And between 1983 and 2023, graduate unemployment remained stubbornly high at around 35-40%.

What has changed is the scale. India now produces about five million graduates a year - but since 2004-05, barely 2.8 million annually have found jobs, with even fewer securing salaried work.

The broader labour market tells a similarly mixed story.

In the two years after the pandemic, India added 83 million jobs, lifting total employment from 490 million to 572 million, with gains for both men and women, the report finds.

Yet nearly half were in agriculture - dominated by women and typically marked by low productivity and disguised unemployment.

In other words, the economy has been creating work, but not the kind that transforms livelihoods.

Women's employment is rising - but here, too, the picture is split.

At one end, a small but growing cohort of educated and skilled women is entering salaried roles in IT, automobile manufacturing and business services. The shift is especially pronounced in states such as Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, says Abraham.

At the other, far larger end, most of the increase is in self-employment and unpaid or home-based work, often within households or family enterprises. This signals necessity rather than opportunity.

The result is a statistical rise in participation that masks a qualitative divide: opportunity at the top, compulsion at the bottom.

Education has expanded rapidly - especially higher education, driven largely by private providers - but not without trade-offs.

The number of colleges and universities has surged from about 1,600 in 1991 to nearly 70,000, with a 150% jump in the 2001-10 decade alone. Around 80% are now private, a sharp shift from the 1950s-80s when the sector was evenly split.

Access has widened, but quality is uneven, with faculty shortages and stark regional gaps. Participation from poorer households has risen, yet professional courses such as engineering and medicine remain costly. Vocational training has expanded - largely through private institutes - but its link to jobs remains weak, the report says.

There are also signs of strain beneath the surface.

Since 2017, the proportion of young men in higher education has fallen - from 38% in 2017 to 34% by late 2024 - as more cite the need to support household incomes, the report finds.

"A growing share of these men - now including graduates - are supporting family incomes by working on family farms or businesses. This used to be largely women's work. It's a worrying shift," says Abraham.

Migration has become a crucial coping mechanism.

Young workers move from poorer states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to more prosperous but ageing regions like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, chasing opportunity where it exists.

This churn helps balance disparities, but also underscores them. India's labour market remains a patchwork of uneven opportunities, the report says.

Clearly, India has expanded education, improved access and built capacity. But it has not yet aligned these gains with the creation of productive, well-paying jobs at scale.

Many economists say India's growth model helps explain the bind.

Unlike much of East and South-East Asia, which relied on export-led manufacturing to absorb low-skilled workers, India's expansion has been driven by skill-intensive services - IT and communications in particular. Export-led manufacturing, by contrast, has remained weak.

The result is a lopsided labour market: opportunities for the educated, but too few pathways for everyone else.

Time, moreover, is not on India's side.

With a median age of 28 and nearly 70% of its population of working age, the country remains one of the youngest in the world.

But this advantage is peaking, the report warns.

From around 2030, the share of working-age Indians will begin to decline as the population ages, closing the window that has long underpinned hopes of a demographic dividend.

The challenge, then, is not simply to create jobs, but to create the right kind of jobs- at scale and at speed. Artificial intelligence could reshape entry-level white-collar work, adding fresh uncertainty to India's already fragile school-to-jobs pipeline.

"The extent to which this large, increasingly educated and aspirational cohort is productively absorbed into the labour market will determine whether this massive and continuing demographic dividend translates into an economic dividend," the report says.

The policy prescriptions are well known: more salaried jobs, closer alignment between education and industry, smoother school-to-work transitions and stronger social protection for informal and migrant workers.

The deeper question, possibly, is one of direction, economists say.

What kind of economy is India building - one that can match rising aspirations with real opportunity, or one that leaves millions navigating underemployment and drift?

Ref: BBC

When Silence Becomes Policy -- Media Control and the CAPF Promotion Battle

See All News by Ravish Kumar
<<< Previously

Namaskar.
There are times when a question appears simple, but behind it lies an entire structure of power, silence, and control. Today’s question is one such: Can an IPS officer become the chief of the Army? The immediate answer is no. Then why is it acceptable that officers from outside the cadre head India’s Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs)?

This is not merely a service-related dispute. It is a window into two deeper issues: the shrinking space of media and the quiet erosion of institutional justice.

---

I. The Quiet Capture of Media

There was a time when media functioned as a bridge between power and people. Today, that bridge is either broken—or worse, controlled.

When media weakens, it is not just journalism that suffers. It is the public voice that gets erased.

As observed, the decline of independent media does not mean the disappearance of platforms—it means the disappearance of accountability. Governments stop caring about headlines because headlines stop carrying consequences.

You can test this yourself. Whether a report about injustice gets published or not, does it change anything anymore?

Social Media Is Not a Substitute

There is a comforting illusion: that social media can replace journalism. That trends, reels, and podcasts can compensate for institutional silence.

They cannot.

Because:

• Accounts can be blocked.

• Content can be removed.

• Narratives can be manipulated.

And importantly, these actions are often carried out through administrative orders—by the very system meant to uphold democratic values.

The Role of Officials

A troubling dimension is the participation of officials in this ecosystem. The argument that they are “just following orders” does not hold. There is growing evidence that many act with ideological alignment, not merely obligation.

Silence of the Elite

Another silence is equally loud: that of retired bureaucrats.

Thousands of officers have served within democratic institutions. They rose through a system built on neutrality and fairness. Yet, when media freedoms shrink, many remain silent.

Can one fight for their own rights while ignoring the erosion of others’ rights?

This contradiction sits at the heart of today’s crisis.

---

II. The CAPF Promotion Issue: A 15-Year Struggle

Let us now come to the second issue—the one that brought this discussion into focus.

Officers of CAPFs like CRPF, BSF, ITBP, and CISF are not ordinary employees. They are recruited through UPSC, trained rigorously, and serve in some of the toughest conditions—from insurgency zones to border security.

Yet, their career progression tells a different story.

The Core Problem

The grievance is simple:

• Senior leadership positions in CAPFs are often filled by IPS officers on deputation.

• Officers from within the CAPF cadre wait years—sometimes decades—for promotions that may never come.

This leads to:

• Loss of morale

• Financial disadvantage

• Institutional imbalance

A Legal Battle Won—But Not Implemented

CAPF Group A officers fought this issue in courts for over 15 years.

• 2016: Delhi High Court ruled in their favor

• 2019: Supreme Court upheld the decision

• 2025: Supreme Court again affirmed that CAPF officers deserve fair promotion and recognition

The Court directed:

• Recognition of CAPF officers as an organized service

• Gradual reduction of IPS deputation to senior posts

• A timeline of two years for implementation

Yet, despite repeated judicial backing, implementation remains elusive.

Government’s Response

Instead of implementing the judgment:

• More IPS officers were encouraged for central deputation

• New administrative conditions were introduced

• A proposal for legislation emerged that could override the court’s direction

If such a bill passes, it could permanently institutionalize the very imbalance the courts sought to correct.

The Fear Factor

Perhaps the most telling aspect is this:
CAPF officers are circulating unsigned letters.

No names. No signatures. Only concerns.

This is not anonymity—it is fear.

It suggests an environment where even officers of the state hesitate to speak openly.

---

III. The Larger Systemic Pattern

This issue cannot be seen in isolation.

Consider another example mentioned in public discourse: repeated extensions to certain top officials, despite judicial concerns about tenure norms. Such decisions affect the career progression of many others—but rarely face collective resistance.

The pattern becomes clear:

• Rules bend for some

• Rights stall for others

And the system absorbs this imbalance silently.

---

IV. Why This Matters Beyond CAPF

This is not just about promotions.

It is about:

• Institutional integrity

• Respect for judicial authority

• Equality within services

And most importantly:

• Whether justice, once granted, will actually be delivered

Because if a Supreme Court judgment requires years—and still struggles to be implemented—what hope remains for those without access to courts?

---

Facts

• CAPF officers are recruited through UPSC and serve in high-risk environments across India.

• Senior positions in CAPFs are often filled by IPS officers on deputation.

• CAPF Group A officers fought a legal battle for over 15 years regarding promotion rights.

• Delhi High Court (2016) and Supreme Court (2019, 2025) ruled in their favor.

• Supreme Court directed recognition of CAPF as an organized service and reduction of IPS deputation.

• Government has considered legislative intervention that may override court directives.

• Media independence has declined, reducing accountability pressure on governance.

• Social media platforms are subject to administrative control and content restrictions.

---

Criticisms

• Government prioritizing control over compliance with Supreme Court judgments

• Legislative intent being used to bypass judicial decisions

• Home Ministry enabling structural inequality within CAPF leadership

• Mainstream media failing to question power and amplify critical institutional issues

• “Godi media” avoiding direct accountability questions to political leadership

• Bureaucrats participating in suppression of dissent under the excuse of “orders”

• Retired officials remaining selectively vocal—silent on media freedom, active on personal interests

• Political class across parties responding only when convenient, not consistently

• Administrative culture fostering fear where even senior officers avoid signing statements

• System rewarding proximity to power over merit and service experience

---

When institutions weaken, the first casualty is truth. The second is justice. And by the time the third arrives, silence has already become policy.

When War Reaches Your Portfolio (Day 20 of US-Iran War)

See All News by Ravish Kumar
<<< Previously     Next >>>

The Day the Screen Turned Red

Today the market did not merely fall. It exposed something.

The Sensex fell nearly 2,500 points and closed at 74,207.24, while the Nifty dropped to 23,002.15. Reuters reported this as the steepest fall in Indian shares in nearly two years, driven by the oil spike, attacks on Middle East energy infrastructure, and broader fear in global markets. Around ₹13 trillion in market value was wiped out in a single day. But behind these numbers there is another question: when the market falls because war is spreading through oil routes, refineries, and fuel supply chains, what exactly is falling with it—only money, or also certainty? Reuters+1

And this is where the matter becomes interesting. Because market news is often presented as if it belongs only to a small, insulated class. Yet the anxiety described here is no longer limited to a few traders staring at screens. It is the anxiety of ordinary salaried people, small investors, SIP holders, office-goers, and families who have been told for years that participation in the market is the new sign of intelligence, modernity, and ambition. The unease, the questions, the sarcasm, and the sense of political silence that surround that anxiety form the heart of this piece.

The Investor and the Citizen

India is no longer a country in which the market can be discussed as somebody else’s playground. The Economic Survey 2025-26 said that by December 2025, total demat accounts had crossed 21.6 crore, and unique investors had crossed the 12-crore mark in September 2025. As of February 28, 2026, CDSL alone reported 17.82 crore investor accounts, while NSDL reported 4.41 crore active client accounts. Together, that is well over 22 crore accounts. India Budget+2cdslindia.com+2

So when the market cracks, it is no longer enough to say that “Dalal Street is nervous.” The street has entered the home. It sits in the phone. It sits in the lunch break. It sits in the office washroom where someone secretly checks an app for the sixth time in one hour. It sits in the silence of someone who does not want to tell the family how much the portfolio is down. It sits in the false dignity with which one says, “Long term hai,” while the stomach is already sinking.

And then another question rises, one that television almost never asks. If war can damage your wealth, raise your fuel bill, weaken your currency, and darken your future, then why is the public conversation on war so shallow? Why are the loudest studios always full of applause and almost empty of consequence? Why is patriotism always televised, but loss always privatized?

War Does Not Stop at the Border

Reuters noted that even if the conflict eases, high energy prices may persist because infrastructure damage does not disappear with a headline. India, heavily dependent on crude imports, remains vulnerable to exactly this kind of shock: higher oil, inflation pressure, currency strain, and weaker consumer demand. Reuters also reported that foreign investors have pulled billions from Indian equities as the conflict deepened and benchmarks entered correction territory. Reuters+1

This is why war should not be spoken of as spectacle. A missile may land far away, but its shadow travels. It reaches the refinery, then shipping lanes, then crude prices, then transport costs, then household budgets, then the market, then your mutual fund statement. That is how geopolitics becomes domestic life. Not all at once. Step by step. Invoice by invoice.

And still, notice the public mood carefully. Many people who celebrate a rising market as proof of national greatness become strangely philosophical when it falls. Suddenly everyone becomes patient. Suddenly every loss is “temporary.” Suddenly the citizen becomes a monk and the financial advisor becomes a poet. When the market rises, it is governance. When it falls, it is global conditions. When profit comes, power takes credit. When pain comes, the public is told to wait.

The New Religion of Smartness

The other part of the story is retail money. AMFI’s February 2026 monthly note said the mutual fund industry’s assets under management rose to ₹82.03 lakh crore, total folios reached 27.06 crore, equity funds saw positive inflows for the 60th consecutive month, and SIP collections in February were ₹29,845 crore. AMFI India+1

This tells you something important. The Indian saver has not merely entered the market; he has been trained to distrust caution. Fixed deposits are presented as old thinking, restraint as backwardness, and patience as a failure of ambition. “Be smart,” people are told. “Make your money work.” But no one explains, with equal force, that the market is not only a machine of returns; it is also a machine of fear, contagion, leverage, and mass suggestion.

So a citizen who should have been asking questions about institutions, accountability, media conduct, freedom, and the cost of war is instead refreshing an app and calculating whether the loss should be read in percentages or in rupees. This is not merely a financial condition. It is a political condition.

What the Falling Market Reveals

A falling market is not just a financial event. It is a truth-telling event.

It tells you how deeply war travels. It tells you how fragile confidence is. It tells you how quickly patriotic noise disappears when money begins to burn. And it tells you that if public debate keeps treating war as performance and markets as morality, then ordinary people will continue to pay twice—first as citizens, then as investors.

That is the real fall. Not only of the index. Of seriousness.

Facts

• On March 19, 2026, the Sensex closed at 74,207.24 and the Nifty at 23,002.15 after a sharp selloff tied to oil and Middle East tensions. Reuters

• Reuters reported that about ₹13 trillion in market value was wiped out in that fall. Reuters

• The Economic Survey 2025-26 said total demat accounts had crossed 21.6 crore by December 2025, and unique investors crossed 12 crore in September 2025. India Budget

• As of February 28, 2026, CDSL reported 17.82 crore investor accounts and NSDL reported 4.41 crore active client accounts. cdslindia.com+1

• AMFI’s February 2026 monthly note said mutual fund AUM reached ₹82.03 lakh crore, folios reached 27.06 crore, and SIP contributions for the month were ₹29,845 crore. AMFI India+1

Criticisms

• Governments are happy to enjoy the political glow of a rising market, but suddenly become humble students of “global factors” when the market crashes.

• Television news has made war look like theatre and stripped it of its most honest meaning: rising prices, broken supply chains, and ordinary insecurity.

• Political leaders invoke nationalism cheaply while the actual bill of conflict is quietly transferred to households, commuters, consumers, and small investors.

• Financial culture has shamed caution and glorified exposure, turning millions of new entrants into participants without preparing them for fear, volatility, and loss.

• Large sections of the media have trained citizens to celebrate the index but not to question the institutions, freedoms, and democratic norms that matter far more than the index.

When War Targets Energy (Day 20 of US-Iran War)

See All News by Ravish Kumar
<<< Previously    Next >>>

The war has crossed a line

There was a time when governments could pretend that war was about borders, bases, and military installations. That pretense becomes harder to sustain when gas fields, refineries, export terminals, and energy corridors become targets. On March 18 and 19, this conflict moved decisively into that terrain: Israel struck Iran’s South Pars gas field, and Iran retaliated across Gulf energy infrastructure, including Qatar’s Ras Laffan industrial complex. Once that happens, the war stops being only a military story. It becomes a household story. It enters kitchens, factories, transport bills, fertilizer costs, and the monthly anxieties of ordinary families. Reuters+2Reuters+2

Refinery versus refinery

South Pars is not just another energy site. It is part of the world’s largest gas reserve, shared by Iran and Qatar, and it supplies roughly 80% of Iran’s natural gas. Ras Laffan is not just another industrial city either; Qatar’s LNG system accounts for about a fifth of global LNG exports. So when South Pars is hit, and Ras Laffan is struck in return, this is not symbolism. This is not a warning shot. This is the battlefield being shifted from soldiers to systems. And systems do not bleed only where they are bombed. They bleed through markets, shortages, insurance costs, shipping routes, and electricity prices across continents. AP News+2Reuters+2

Trump looks less in control, not more

Donald Trump said the United States and Qatar were not involved in the attack on South Pars and warned Iran against hitting Qatar. But the problem for Trump is no longer the wording of one statement. The problem is credibility. Reuters reported that Trump had been warned Iranian retaliation against Gulf allies was a likely possibility, and other reporting has raised serious questions about how much Washington knew about the strike on South Pars before it happened. That is why the image emerging here is not of a leader restraining war, but of a leader trying to narrate a war whose escalation is outrunning his public claims. When the president says he wants restraint but the map shows widening fire, people stop listening to the sentence and start looking at the flames. Reuters+2Reuters+2

The Gulf cannot hide behind ambiguity

The Gulf states are discovering that proximity to American power does not equal immunity from war. Qatar condemned the attack on its territory and expelled Iranian diplomats after the strike on Ras Laffan. Saudi Arabia said it reserved the right to military action after attacks on Riyadh and energy sites. These are not small reactions. They show that once energy infrastructure becomes legitimate target practice in a regional war, nobody can confidently stand on the side and say, “This fire will stop before it reaches us.” It will not. The logic of escalation does not respect diplomatic hedging. It only asks: what hurts the other side most? Reuters+1

India is not a distant spectator

Many Indians may still hear this as a faraway war. It is not. India imports more than 90% of its oil and about half of its gas, and Qatar is one of its major LNG suppliers. Reuters reported on March 19 that India is already assessing domestic availability, monitoring inventories more closely, and preparing to prioritize internal demand. The economic signs are already visible: Brent briefly crossed $119 a barrel, the rupee came under fresh pressure, and Indian equities suffered a sharp fall. This is what modern war looks like. It does not wait for soldiers to arrive at your border. It reaches you through the price board, the cylinder booking, the freight bill, and the weakening currency. Reuters+3Reuters+3Reuters+3

The official story is collapsing

And yet political language still behaves as if this is manageable. It is not. In the United States, public backing is weak: an Economist/YouGov poll conducted March 13–16 found 56% opposed the war with Iran, 64% opposed sending ground troops, and 61% wanted the war ended quickly even if U.S. objectives were not fully achieved. That means the politics of this war are already lagging behind its consequences. Citizens are being handed escalation while being offered slogans. The media, too, often helps this deception by reducing the crisis to missiles and leaders. But the real headline is not only who struck whom. The real headline is this: energy has become the hostage, and the public will be made to pay the ransom. Cloudfront

Facts

• Israel struck Iran’s South Pars gas field on March 18, 2026, marking a major escalation in the conflict. Reuters+1

• South Pars is part of the world’s largest gas reserve shared by Iran and Qatar, and it supplies around 80% of Iran’s natural gas. AP News

• Iran retaliated with attacks on Gulf energy sites, including Qatar’s Ras Laffan industrial city, as well as facilities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait. Reuters+2Reuters+2

• Qatar’s LNG system accounts for about 20% of global LNG exports, making any disruption there a global energy shock. Reuters+1

• On March 19, Brent crude briefly rose above $119 a barrel after the attacks on regional energy infrastructure. Reuters+1

• An Economist/YouGov poll from March 13–16 found that 56% of Americans opposed the war with Iran, while 61% said it should be ended quickly even if all objectives were not met. Cloudfront

Criticisms

• Donald Trump cannot act like a helpless commentator when his own administration’s warnings, positioning, and contradictory messaging helped create the very chaos he now pretends merely to describe. Reuters+1

• Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has pushed this war into a more dangerous phase by turning energy infrastructure into a battlefield and making civilian economies part of military escalation. Reuters+1

• Gulf governments cannot speak in selective moral language after retaliation lands on their soil while remaining softer, vaguer, or more strategic about the strikes that widened the war in the first place. Reuters+1

• Western leaders who speak of restraint without clearly naming the escalatory logic of these attacks are not preventing disaster; they are managing its public relations.

• News organisations that present this mainly as a contest of military moves are failing the public. This is also a story about inflation, fuel, food, currency pressure, industrial stress, and the transfer of war’s costs onto ordinary people.