Tuesday, August 11
India plans to launch over 50 spy satellites and add night-time imaging to enhance its national security capabilities, people familiar with the matter said, after New Delhi encountered surveillance blind spots during a border conflict last year with neighbour Pakistan.The Narendra Modi-led administration is also looking to build ground stations overseas to relay information more quickly and comprehensively, said the people who asked for anonymity to discuss confidential matters. These could be in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Scandinavia, they said, though local government approval would be required.Plans are underway to enhance its own satellites with newer technology capable of capturing images in dark, cloudy conditions by moving from electro-optical radar to synthetic aperture ra
India’s long pending free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union is around the corner, with Jefferies saying the proposed deal could materially alter sectoral dynamics for Indian exporters, especially in textiles, autos, electronics and pharma chemicals, while politically sensitive agri and dairy are likely to be kept out.Talks that began in 2007 and stalled in 2013 have seen renewed momentum since 2022, and Jefferies notes that broad agreement on avoiding sensitive items such as agriculture on both sides seems to be culminating in the FTA in the coming few days. The brokerage points out that India’s annual goods trade with the EU is about US$130 billion, similar in size to that with China or the US, with exports to the bloc at an annualised US$75 billion, accounting for 17% of
2025 was the year of the worst underperformance for the Rupee relative to the Asia Dollar index since 2013. The 40 currency trade-weighted REER is now at 97.5 and threatening to move towards levels not seen since 2014.Therefore, there are 2 aspects to consider here: Expectations for overall Dollar movement and idiosyncratic considerations for the RupeeThere are complex geopolitical and macroeconomic considerations at play in 2026, which will determine the way the overall Dollar behaves.1) The US labour market is weakening, but inflation is still high. The market is pricing 2 cuts of 25bps each by the Fed till the end of 2026. Inflation, however, continues to remain sticky and is not showing progress towards the Fed's target. Trump is likely to announce the next Fed chair by the end of Janu
