Nandagopal Jayakumar Nair

India, the world’s largest democracy, will go to polls next year as it struggles to remedy a faltering economy and rising social unrest. What better time for the country’s 1,400-plus registered political parties to ply its 725 million eligible voters with freebies and cheap essentials, rather than real solutions? Here are some examples of what’s on offer:

Just when the world was starting to expect more transparency from central bankers, two of the world’s most watched technocrats unleashed big surprises.

Stubbornly high inflation has for long beguiled Indian policy-makers. Now there’s an added dilemma: The two main inflation indexes are painting different pictures about price trends in the country.

India subsidizes diesel, cooking gas and kerosene. It’s a heavy burden on the government in the best of times, as it has to compensate state-run oil companies for the loss of revenue. But India imports more than 80% of the crude oil it requires, and with the rupee falling and crude prices rising, the cost of subsidized fuel is now threatening India’s efforts to rein in trade and budget deficits.

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In India, the central bank is widely considered one of the country’s best-run institutions, balancing the financial interests of both rich industrialists and the 826 million citizens living on less than $2 a day. Considering the political pressures it faces, it’s a wonder the bank functions at all. (In a recent global ranking of central bank independence (pdf), the Reserve Bank of India came in last among 89 countries.) But those pressures look likely to fade under the new governor, Raghuram Rajan.

What a difference a month makes. In early August, the Indian rupee was falling like a rock, prompting panicky policy reactions and predictions of doom. Now, sensible policy moves from the Indian central bank, and hopes that the US Federal Reserve will keep its stimulus going for a bit longer, have triggered a 4% gain for the rupee since the beginning of September. And it looks like the going could get a little better still.

Apple made it clear yesterday that it isn’t interested in the low end of the smartphone market. But in India, where the company trails its rivals badly, Apple has in fact been willing to sacrifice margins to boost sales.

With its C-X17 sport utility vehicle prototype unveiled at the Frankfurt Auto Show, luxury carmaker Jaguar is breaking with its uppity past to enter the entry-level luxury market.

Chalk it up, in part, to the Indian government’s desperation for cash: The country’s telecom regulator is finally kowtowing to telecom companies’ demands for cheaper spectrum. The regulator has recommended cutting the government’s minimum price for its next round of auctions by up to 60% (pdf), a blessing for telecom companies squeezed by rising costs, and mobile customers suffering through poor voice quality and dropped calls.

Welcomes don’t get much warmer than this—especially not for central bankers. But Raghuram Rajan, the new governor of the Reserve Bank of India, is being treated like a rock star by the media and a savior by the markets.

If a central banker has no easy solutions to the worst financial crisis in decades and little control over many of his country’s economic problems, he can hardly be blamed for waxing profound about what should be done, while skipping discussion of whether it’s all possible. In his first address as the governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Raghuram Rajan put forth his plan to reform the central bank, fix the financial system and save the rupee. Here’s a quick round-up of Rajan’s agenda:

Australia’s September 7 elections could prove seminal for local car manufacturers. If the ruling Labor party wins, the industry will get an additional 700 million Australian dollars (US$632 million) in subsidies on top of the existing A$5.4 billion support promised for the decade ending 2020. But if the Liberal-National opposition coalition wins, as opinion polls suggest, existing subsidies could be cut by A$500 million by 2015.

The worsening current-account deficit and the falling rupee are driving Indian policy-makers to propose moves that some might consider extreme, if not downright foolhardy.

The Indian rupee’s nightmarish run is set to get a lot worse.  Official figures released today (Aug. 30) revealed that India’s GDP expanded by 4.4% year-on-year in the April-June quarter, falling well short of analysts’ already muted forecasts of 4.7% growth. It’s the weakest pace of growth since the global financial crisis and a far cry from the 8-9% growth that India grew accustomed to in the boom years.

Despite the dire headlines about the plummeting currencies of Indonesia and India, the crisis in Indonesia will be a much easier one to remedy for several reasons. Here’s why:

Actions speak louder than words, especially when it comes to soothing jittery global investors fearing heavy financial losses. Ever since Ben Bernanke’s taper talk triggered a rout in emerging market currencies and equity markets, Indian policymakers have been working overtime to dispel fears of an economic meltdown. But those efforts are being overshadowed by a slew of policy flip-flops and the prospect of a government spending binge ahead of India’s elections next year.

The Arab world’s largest stock exchange has moved one step closer to welcoming foreign investors. Over the weekend, Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) outlined strict disclosure rules for companies listed on the stock market.

What to watch for today

The minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s July meeting confirmed the worst fears of emerging markets: Easy money in the US could start drying up as early as next month. That would make US debt more enticing to investors again after years of record-low interest rates. The ripple effects were felt across the globe. The Indian rupee and Turkish lira set fresh record lows; currencies of Malaysia and Thailand tested multi-year lows; and other markets across Asia fell, including Indonesia’s benchmark index, which is now officially in bear market territory. But there may be more pain in store for emerging markets. Here’s why:

As with its Asian peers India and Indonesia, foreign investment in Malaysia has been hard hit by the mass exodus of money from emerging markets. Its softening currency, swelling national debt and narrowing trade balance make Southeast Asia’s third largest economy a prime target for jittery investors.

Dubai’s property market is on a tear—again. Residential rents are rising fast, investors are lining up to finance new projects, and the outrageous structures ranging from the world’s highest Ferris Wheel to artificial islands are making a comeback. The commercial real estate market is also booming, with available office space expected to increase 19% by the end of 2015. But the construction frenzy continues despite the fact that 31% of the emirate’s office space remains vacant, second only to neighboring Abu Dhabi’s 38%, according to Jones Lang Lasalle (pdf).

The numbers: Surprisingly strong. Best Buy, the world’s largest consumer-electronics retailer, posted a net income of $266 million, or 77 cents a share, from $12 million, or 4 cents a share, a year earlier. Aggressive cost cuts and a $30 million payout from legal settlements drove the company’s largest profit since February 2011. Sales fell 0.4% to $9.3 billion but topped analyst estimates. The stock, which has rallied three-fold since the start of the year, surged 14% in pre-market trading.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.