??What's wrong with your water? |??BRICS—A new world order in the making?

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Market Watch

?? The Sensex fell 138.74 points to 80,081.98, and the Nifty declined 36.60 points to 24,435.50.

?? Sectorally, IT was up over 2%, while capital goods, power, and pharma dropped 1% each.

ICYMI

• ??Paytm gets National Payments Corporation of India nod to onboard new UPI users months after RBI restrictions. Paytm’s stock closed 7.54% higher today.
• ??Ordering food from Zomato gets costlier as the company hikes platform fees from Rs 7 to Rs 10.
• ??Bombay High Court has granted bail to gangster Chhota Rajan in a 2001 murder case. But he will remain in jail due to other cases.
• ??Israel has claimed to have eliminated Hezbollah’s successor Hashem Safieddine in Lebanon. But continuing its airstrikes, it struck Beirut's Rafik Hariri Hospital resulting in the death of 18 people including 4 children.
• ??McDonald's linked to one death, and dozens of food poisonings in the United States. MAGA finds the timing of the announcement suspicious as this comes one day after Trump’s McD visit despite the outbreak happening one week prior.
• ??Tupperware agrees to $23.5 million in cash sale to lenders amid bankruptcy struggles.
• ??????Eminem takes the stage in US elections and backs Kamala Harris.

??What's in your water?

Water contamination is emerging as a serious public health issue across various parts of India, with alarming reports from Chhattisgarh, Chennai, Karnataka, and Mumbai.

In Chhattisgarh: Water tests in Chhattisgarh revealed high uranium levels, exceeding 100 micrograms per litre, in six districts—this is 3 to 4 times the World Health Organization's 15 microgram per litre limit.

• Samples from Balod and Kanker showed dangerous concentrations, with one borewell testing at 130 micrograms per litre.

In Chennai: A survey by IIT Madras found diarrhoea-causing bacteria in water from 75% of Chennai homes.

• Contaminated water sources include taps, sinks, and water containers, highlighting poor maintenance practices in water purification systems.
• Suzan Kagan, one of the course coordinators of the water quality programme at IIT Madras, noted “Even those using water purifiers might not always be drinking safe and clean water due to inappropriate practices including lack of maintenance,”
• The survey also found that 58% of children under the age of five drink water directly from taps, while 15% rely on treated water systems.
• Among those using treatment systems, 73% rated the water quality as good compared to only 31% among households without any water treatment.

In Karnataka: Four people died after consuming contaminated water in Tumakuru and Vijayanagara districts. The victims, aged between 10 and 60, hailed from two different villages. Ten others are undergoing treatment in hospitals, with one critically ill patient shifted to Hassan.

• The contamination is suspected to have come from the village water tank, causing illness among the residents.

In Mumbai: Amid rising complaints of turbid water, the BMC urged Mumbai residents on Tuesday to filter and boil water before use as a precaution. Continuous rainfall in the Bhatsa reservoir's catchment area caused increased turbidity in the water since Monday.

• The Hydraulic Engineering Department is addressing the issue at the treatment plant and ensuring proper chlorine treatment for clean water.

The big picture: Scientists from the Global Commission on the Economics of Water report that the Earth's water cycle is malfunctioning due to climate change. Freshwater demand is predicted to outstrip supply by over 40% by 2030. This marks the first time in human history the hydrological system is at such critical risk.

Clip du jour

??Kerala students mistake the excise office for the workshop and ask for the matchbox to smoke Ganja.

??BRICS—A new world order in the making?

My favourite story of Goldman Sachs’ nurtured group, Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICS) is how by the end of 2013, BBC was carrying headlines about replacing India with Indonesia in the BRICS ??

• With the ongoing BRICS summit, India’s position as a geopolitical powerhouse has never been clearer. One week ahead of the summit, almost like clockwork, the West with the Five Eyes Intelligence tried to tighten the noose around India and derail its credibility using the Nijjar probe. India emerged strong while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau now stands on shaky ground with politicians calling for his resignation.
• Many believe that the timing of Vikash Yadav's indictment by the US DoJ suggests it is no coincidence given the slow-moving case and omission of Pannun's status as a designated terrorist.

Here’s why BRICS’ expansion and strategic initiatives challenge Western dominance, has the West deeply worried.

Expansion: BRICS has expanded to include new members such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. This expansion signifies an increasing influence and aims to create a more balanced global power structure that is less dominated by Western countries.

• United States’ key ally Saudi Arabia is on the fence about its membership in the grouping.

Alternative Financial Systems: BRICS has established the New Development Bank (NDB) and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) as alternatives to Western-dominated financial institutions like the World Bank and IMF. These initiatives aim to reduce dependence on the U.S. dollar and promote trade in local currencies. Here’s Putin warning the West that it was a ‘great mistake to use dollar as weapon’ ??

• Efforts by BRICS to de-dollarize international trade threaten the dominance of the U.S. dollar, which could undermine U.S. economic influence globally.
• Putin proposed establishing a BRICS investment platform to boost mutual investments among member countries and also suggested the formation of a BRICS grain exchange to ensure fair trade and food security among member nations.
• Earlier in the week, US Presidential Candidate Donald Trump proposed 100% tariffs on countries which plan to abandon the dollar in trade.

Geopolitical Influence: The group seeks to increase its geopolitical clout by addressing global issues such as conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza from a non-Western perspective. This includes opposing Western sanctions and promoting South-South cooperation.

What’s happening | Modi-Xi Bilateral

PM Modi and President Xi Jinping are holding their first official meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, a first since 2019 marking a potential thaw in India-China relations.

• This formal interaction follows an agreement to resume patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), ending a four-year military standoff.

Hi, I’m Sai Deepthi, the editor of this newsletter. I’d love to hear some feedback on the newsletter. WhatsApp me directly and tell me what you think.