Modi’s Moment, Hong Kong Heat, Rice Risk: Saturday Asia Briefing

Your guide to the weekend’s events

(Bloomberg) — This weekend in Asia, the focus is on the G-20 summit in New Delhi, and there couldn’t be a better time for India to be in the limelight. A record stock-market valuation and surging foreign inflows are the backdrop to the gathering of world leaders. Here’s what you need to know.

  • Modi enjoys a $3.8 trillion market moment 
  • G-20 sees risks from ‘cascading crises’
  • Fighter jets and drones turn India into a fortress 
  • Modi disappointed that China, Russia skip the meeting
  • G-20 near an agreement on climate change action

Here’s what else is going on in the region. 

China’s consumer prices crept out of deflation in August in a sign that the worst may be over for some parts of the economy. Still, growth in services activity — a main driver of the post-Covid rebound — eased, indicating more policy support may be needed.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping lauded “the superiority of socialism” as he visited areas in northern China that were hit by deadly floods this summer. “When trouble occurs at one spot, help comes from all quarters, and the state gives its full support,” he was quoted as saying.

Residents of Hong Kong will be pleased to hear that. While Xi was inspecting repairs in the north, Hong Kong endured its heaviest rain on record, which could cost the territory more than $100 million. More disasters are likely as the city gets hotter and wetter.

The staple food for half the world’s population is flashing a warning for inflation. Surging rice prices in the Philippines are raising concern that the fallout from India’s export restrictions will reverberate around the globe.

A Patek Philippe watch worth millions that was given to John Lennon by his wife Yoko Ono shortly before his assassination in 1980 has surfaced in Geneva after having disappeared for years, sparking a legal dispute over who is the rightful owner.

One EV maker aiming for an IPO after merging with a blank-check company has 75 years of brand heritage and James Bond behind it. Lotus, the British sports-car maker owned by China’s Geely, has unveiled the Emeya, a sedan that clocks 0-100 kph in 2.8 seconds.

Finally, there’s a small island off the US east coast that’s been rumored to be the origin of Lyme disease and the Montauk Monster, and made a cameo in The Silence of the Lambs. Some call it the Area 51 of the East Coast. Here’s what’s happening on Plum Island.

Have a discreet weekend.

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