TMS Ep476: India-France ties, India's river system, gold price, Project 75i

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in France for a two-day visit. Apart from attending Bastille Day military parade as a guest of honour, he is expected to seal some crucial deals too. Purchase of 26 Rafale-M fighter jets is likely to be one of them. What else is on the table? And what does Modi’s visit mean for India-France ties? 

Back home, rivers in north India are in a spate. Most of them are flowing close to the danger mark, inundating low-lying areas and leaving thousands homeless. Parts of the national capital are also submerged in Yamuna water. So are we failing to manage the river systems? 

It is not just the rivers. Rains are also, in a way, fuelling the vegetable prices. Retail inflation has reversed the downward march and has jumped to 4.8% in June. And amid the fresh talks of interest rate hikes, gold prices have corrected about 7% in two months. It had touched lifetime highs in May. But is there more downside to this correction? Or should one start accumulating gold at current levels? 

Benchmark indices, meanwhile, have been soaring high for a while now. And some defence-related stocks are shooting through the roof. Stock of Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders has more than doubled this year. And it hit a record high on Thursday amid news that India may sign an agreement with France to build more submarines. The country has built a fleet of submarines under Project 75. And it now plans to build a fleet of advanced subs under Project 75 (India).