作者： bharat.cn

• A wave of bizarre onion-related violence has prompted many humorous memes under #OnionCrisis
• But as prices of the staple vegetable soar, this may be a sign of political turbulence ahead, within India’s borders and beyond

When Saravana Kumar sold 20 smartphones within two days in the tiny town of Pattukottai it was a major cause for celebration – and confirmation of a maverick marketing strategy.
Kumar would usually struggle to sell two handsets a day, but this time those smartphones were flying off the shelves and all because of the free gifts he was giving away with each model.
Those gifts were not headphones, or covers, or cash-back coupons, but something his low-key shop wouldn’t usually even keep in stock: a kilogram of onions.
As soon as Kumar had advertised he would be doling out the vegetables free of charge to smartphone buyers, business began to boom – making his STR Mobiles store the latest setting in a series of tragicomic episodes that have catapulted onions to the top of the economic agenda in India and beyond.
Onion prices in the country have soared tenfold this year, sparking a nationwide outcry, questions in parliament, a spate of bizarre onion-related crime and dozens of viral memes as the outraged citizens of the world’s second most populous nation find themselves unable to afford their staple food.
A kilogram of onions now costs one-third of an average Indian’s daily income, having hit a record high of 200 rupees (US$2.79) per kilogram after unseasonal downpours in key onion-growing states left crops damaged.
And that spells trouble for the leaders of a nation where such spikes have been enough to topple governments in the past.

Back in the Kumar household, there has been a foretaste of the public’s anger.
“My wife is quite upset with me that I was giving away onions for free when prices are rocketing. But it’s a marketing strategy for my small business venture and it paid off, ” says Kumar, adding that he plans to gift the leftover onions to his wife.
Whether or not that placates Mrs Kumar, the rest of the Indian public may well be less forgiving.
In recent days half a dozen onion-linked robberies, assaults, fist-fights and attacks on trucks carrying the vegetable have been reported across the country.
Politicians have been quick to spot an opportunity, with opposition parties rallying in the streets wearing onion garlands and offering onions as wedding gifts.
Such scenes are a political nightmare for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is already under fire for a lacklustre economic performance, and some critics suggest signs of panic are setting in.
A few state governments have started selling onions at a subsidised price while analysts believe the onion crisis was behind the Reserve Bank of India’s surprise move to hold rates steady last week.
There are even signs the crisis is having an impact internationally. India is the world’s second-largest onion producer and makes US$360 million annually by exporting its surplus, but in light of the price rises the government has moved to ban exports of the vegetable and is rushing to import from places like Turkey and Egypt.

One of five perpetrators of a notorious rape and murder in India has made a bizarre last-ditch effort to dodge death penalty, insisting that India’s poor air quality has already shortened his lifespan enough.
The absurd petition, written in rudimentary English, was recently submitted to the Supreme Court through the inmate’s lawyer.

“Everyone is aware of what is happening in [New Delhi] with regard to water and air. Life is going from short to [shorter], then why the death penalty?” asked the convict, Akshay Singh, adding that air in the city is “like a gas chamber” and “full of poison.”

And terrible grammar. This Petition should be rejected just for the abhorrent usage of English.

The inmate also cited Hindu religious texts, arguing that “people lived for thousands of years” previously – he did not specify when – and that average lifespans had steadily fallen. “When age is reducing, why [the] death penalty?” the convict reasoned.

The appeal is unlikely to be accepted by the court, having rejected all of Singh’s previous attempts to overturn his execution, granting only temporary delays to date.

Singh, along with four others, was convicted for the rape, torture and murder of a 23-year-old paramedic student, attacked by the gang as she traveled on a New Delhi bus late one night in 2012. The victim, who came to be known by the nickname “Nirbhaya” (“fearless”), survived the initial assault, but succumbed to severe internal injuries some 12 days later. Her death sparked widespread outrage across India, culminating in mass demonstrations calling for the men’s execution, which even sparked clashes with riot police in New Delhi.

While anger among Indians persists seven years on from the heinous crime, the reaction to Singh’s outlandish appeal ranged from hatred to hilarity online, with netizens venting their rage at the killer – and critiquing his bad grammar.

日本经济研究中心日前发布了以亚太地区15个国家和地区的81个主要城市为对象、截至2035年的经济增长展望。该中心预测称，目前仅为日本一半左右的印度名义国内生产总值（GDP）到2029年将超越日本，印度将成为经济规模超过日本、居世界第3位的大国。2035年印度的GDP将达到10万亿美元规模。

作为印度高增长的火车头而受到期待的是大城市的人口增长。在2035年人口排在前10位的城市中，孟买排在第4位，德里排在第5位，分别比2015年增加4成以上，排名提高。

新兴企业的增长也值得期待。从未来有望受关注的115家企业（未上市、企业估值在10亿美元以下）的国家和城市分布来看，作为初创企业聚集地而闻名的班加罗尔等印度城市占到近1成。

从2035年各城市的GDP（名义值）来看，前10大城市中有5个美国城市，其中纽约排在第1位，洛杉矶居第3位，芝加哥居第6位，旧金山居第8位，达拉斯居第9位。在日本城市中，东京排在第2位，大阪排在第10位。

中国城市也将飞跃发展。截至2015年没有中国城市进入前十，但在2035年的预测中，上海跃居第4位，北京跃居第5位，深圳跃居第7位。调查负责人指出，“在中国，无人机和纯电动汽车开发等新产业正在成长”。

日本经济研究中心作为“亚洲经济中期预测”，每年发布一次各国和地区的增长率展望。