Trump: India Can Check Pakistan

US presidential candidate Donald Trump wants to de-nuclearize Pakistan, and thinks India could be key to keeping Pakistan in check:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Indias-the-check-to-Pakistan-Trump/articleshow/49098689.cms

rajeev column in swarajya about silicon valley style innovation in india

http://swarajyamag.com/economy/can-indias-model-follow-the-silicon-valley-path-should-it/

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sent from samsung galaxy note3 neo, so please excuse brevity

stop feeding the crocodile, says rajiv malhotra

http://swarajyamag.com/politics/stop-feeding-the-crocodile-the-ivy-league-syndrome/

A new humanities discourse around India has to be created from scratch. The existing one, is beyond repair. 

Recently, Narendra Modi's visit to Silicon Valley was attacked in a petition by US-based academicians led by scholars like Wendy Doniger and Sheldon Pollock. Over 80 per cent of the signatures were by Indian 'sepoys' joining the bandwagon. As a rejoinder, there emerged two counter petitions supporting Modi, each signed by much larger numbers of US-based academicians, who were also mostly Indians. This clash between the two camps of Indians is important to analyse because they represent two entirely different constituencies.

and here's my old piece on a similar thread:fear of engineering http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/nov/01rajeev.htm

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sent from samsung galaxy note3 neo, so please excuse brevity

From IAF Cutbacks, A Possible Defence Gap?

India has been cutting back on combat jet procurements, as per the more recent announcements in relation to Russia and France - but will that create a vulnerability that neighbors like China or Pakistan could take advantage of?

http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/2015/09/21/Indias-incredible-shrinking-air-force.aspx

I'm sure the disloyal Congress Party would like nothing more than another Kargill to crow about. If they thought they could get away with it, their people would even quietly ask the Chinese to attack, in the hopes of scoring a political embarrassment.

Hardik Patel, Latest Agent-Provocateur

Hardik Patel seems to be the newest demagogue and agent-provocateur after Arvind Kejriwal, aggressively trying to instigate mob violence over the issue of caste quotas to create instability in Gujarat. It's not merely ironic, but overwhelmingly obvious that quotas are a creation of the Left, and not of the BJP - and yet the flunker Hardik has targeted BJP with his anti-quota agitation.

As the Modi govt does the right thing by bringing to bear overwhelming state force against these obvious agent-provocateurs, the same Left-wing opportunists who like to claim that Modi did nothing to stop riots in Gujarat, are now pulling a 180 to complain about Modi's heavy-handedness against the current rioters in Gujarat. Yet of course none of these Lefties will comment on whether they support Hardik's cause.

I'm reminded of the underhanded tricks played in Egypt's elections. Because Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsy was in a position to sweep the Egyptian elections, the kleptocratic establishment backed the rise of an ultra-fundamental Salaafist party to steal votes away from Morsy and weaken his electoral victory.

Congress has tried to use Patels against Modi before, such as in the previous Gujarat elections when Modi stood for re-election. Likewise, their hands would seem to be all over the latest hijinks being seen in Gujarat. As the Romans used to say - Cui Bono - Who profits?

It's amazing that more Patels aren't speaking out against Hardik Patel and his crooked poliical opportunism.

Quick notes: Diesel trouble, Mining royalties...

• $18 Billion: VW Group faces potential fines of up to $18 billion for violating emissions rules with diesel engines.



• Mining royalties capped at 10% for new miners: Mineral-rich states have been demanding the DMF contributions be kept at higher levels for the benefit of the affected people.



• 5MB Hard drive:

Several men carrying a 5MB IBM Hard Drive, 1959 #history #ibm pic.twitter.com/MWXwqD9KJ3

— Muireach Hatfield (@SEOExpert2020) September 18, 2015

 

GSLV-D6 Onboard Camera Footage

Here's a short video I found featuring onboard camera footage from the recent GSLV-D6 flight. This is the first time onboard camera footage has ever been released by ISRO to the public. The footage features a view from an internal camera mounted inside the cryogenic upper stage looking downward past the engine bell towards the stage below. It's similar to the kind of scenes made famous from NASA's Apollo footage of Saturn-V stage separations during ascent.



So you'll see more action from 0:30s onward, where the cryogenic upper stage separation occurs. You can see the lower stage being discarded and falling back toward the Earth. We then also see the ring-like interstage which gets discarded -- as it floats away, you can see a small white disc to the right of it, which is actually the Moon.

http://www.frontline.in/the-nation/cryogenic-success/article7655369.ece?homepage=true


Meanwhile, work continues on the Chandrayaan-2 mission planned for 2017, which will send a lunar lander and rover to the Moon's surface. Here are comments from ISRO chief Dr S Kiran Kumar:

State-wise Economic Rankings

We all hear about India's place on various country ranking lists for economic performance, investor friendliness, ease of business, corruption, etc. But the fact is that these nationally-averaged statistics don't show the regional variation that exists from place-to-place across India. The Indian Commerce Dept is now publishing regional/state-based statistics which show the leaders and laggards within India on a state-by-state basis:

http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21664982-ease-and-unease-doing-business-india

There need to be more good ways to clearly identify the winners and losers, which will allow investors to route their capital to the most promising contenders, so that the laggards will also feel the pressure to reform themselves. India's economy and population are very large, and there are some jewels which shine out from the sea of crap. These gems present valuable opportunities for good return on investment, and are more capable and worthy of attracting foreign investment.

After all, why should everybody suffer because the laggards are bringing the entire average down?

Quick notes: Cyber-defense, Megapolis...

• Cisco router break-ins bypass cyber defenses: So far 14 instances of the router implants in India, Mexico, Philippines and Ukraine have been found. "This is the ultimate spying tool, the ultimate corporate espionage tool, the ultimate cybercrime tool," DeWalt said.. Routers are attractive to hackers because they operate outside the perimeter of firewalls, anti-virus, behavioral detection software and other security tools that organizations use to safeguard data traffic. 



• Megapolis: The story of transformation in Sri Lanka



• River linking: Andhra Pradesh links Godavari with Krishna



• The Hindu on Modi's Silicon Valley visit: On pro-Modi.... and on anti-Modi. 



• Welcome move: Foreign lingo may go in CBSE schools



• Maharashtra: Only Marathi-speaking people to get autorickshaw permit



• What makes you you: You are not your brain or your body



• Skip the Anti-Bacterial Soap: Regular Suds Work Just as Well



• Academic fraud:

Scholar Harsh Gupta exposes an academic fraud. https://t.co/6NLtv90X2j

— Prasanna Viswanathan (@prasannavishy) September 16, 2015

Quick notes: Language exchange, Tulsi genome...

• Make it an equal exchange: India, Germany to teach each others’ language



• Indian scientists decode Tulsi: The genome map will help in making new medicines using the plant.



• Save the bats, save the corn: Scientists and farmers have known for a long time that bats were a valuable contributor to the agricultural landscape, eating pests that would otherwise be eating crops.



• Boeing plans to finish some 737 jetliners in China: Boeing's China facility would paint 737 aircraft, conduct flight testing, and perform some interior installation.



• The daredevil fighter pilot who survived a Pakistani bullet. An Indian Prisoner of War escape story



• Hindu Wedding: Popular videos

Can Blockchain Tech Boost E-Commerce?

In an era where the US Federal Reserve and other central banks everywhere are increasingly intervening to manipulate monetary valuations, can a shared ledger technology used by the much ridiculed crypto-currency Bitcoin find new life as a facilitator of E-commerce?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2015/09/09/bitcoins-shared-ledger-technology-moneys-new-operating-system/

http://www.mobilepaymentstoday.com/articles/the-blockchains-future-opportunities/

http://www.wsj.com/articles/visa-nasdaq-others-invest-30-million-in-bitcoin-related-startup-1441827120

http://bravenewcoin.com/news/blockchain-tech-startup-chain-inc-hits-the-wall-street-motherload/

India's rapidly evolving mobile economy is going to make digital money more important. Will socialists and other control freaks tolerate the use of e-currencies that exist outside of state control? As Jaitley has alluded to, the elimination of cash and the rise of digital transactions means elimination or curtailment of the black economy. But what ways will socialists and hawala-types find to throw a wrench in the works?

Trump vs Iran

India will be affected if Donald Trump becomes President of the United States - particularly in regards to Trump's antagonism towards Iran. Indeed, there is no country on the planet whom Trump hates more than Iran:

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/trumps-bluster-on-iran

Meanwhile, India is dependent upon Iran for its Central Asian security policy. Christine Fair of Georgetown University has argued for greater US acceptance of Indo-Iranian cooperation:

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/when-it-comes-afghanistan-america-should-ditch-pakistan-iran-13788

If Trump becomes president, we'd better watch out for him attempting some radical things, including ditching the recent detente policy towards Iran in favour of him patching up relations with Pakistan, which would neither be in America's nor in India's best interests.

Quick notes: Heart in the gut, US-bound Doctors...

• Stomach Bacteria Shape Cardiac Health: Bacteria living in a person's gastrointestinal tract can influence the health of their heart by affecting their weight, blood lipids and cholesterol levels



• Return to India: Govt may not issue US-bound Doctors the "No Obligation To Return To India" certificate any more.



•  'Around 7-8 men raped us in a day sometimes': Nepalese rape victims rescued from Saudi diplomat's house speak out



• Arab 'refugees': US to increase number of refugees by 5K next year



• Hate crime: Elderly Sikh-American brutally assaulted in US, called 'Bin Laden'



• India needs multi-lingual policy: Current language policy of the European Union holds a classic testimony on how linguistic diversity should be celebrated and not cursed.



• Cleaner way: Gurgaon to mark September 22 as 'car-free day'



• Wetland destruction: Govt. cancels allotment of land for thermal plant, resumes land to the same company for setting up industrial zone.



• Get grounded: Meditation Techniques For People Who Hate Meditation

Quick notes: Soldier's general, Pilfering Indian treasures...

• The real hero of 1965 war: Lieutenant General Harbakhsh Singh, GOC, Western Command, disobeyed the then army chief and took on a superior Pakistani armoured column.
  
  In his book In the Line of Duty: A Soldier Remembers, General Harbakhsh has written: 'Late at night on the 9th of September, the chief of the army staff rang me up... his advice was that to save the whole army from being cut-off by Pakistan's armour push, I should pull back to the line of the Beas river. Pulling back to the Beas would have meant sacrificing prime territory in Punjab including Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts and would have been a far worse defeat than that suffered at the hands of the Chinese in 1962.'  The move would have also resulted in bidding goodbye to the entire state of J&K and the army's 15 Corps that had performed extremely well over there.



• The Subhash Kapoor case and the plundering of India's past: The mentality of colonialism which in essence says: 'We have a right to these objects; they are the world's patrimony not just one nation's patrimony. We are better able to protect them than the natives.' That's the kind of attitude with which these things have been traditionally acquired by American, British and other institutions. 



• How India's tax system helps cigarettes flourish: Cigarettes were 175 per cent more affordable in 2011 than in 1990, according to the WHO, all because real incomes have been growing at a faster clip than taxes on cigarettes. Cigarette-price rise = demand drop.  It’s a simple equation, which can greatly help stub out smoking, according to the WHO.



• Ummah Impotence:

While the believers pray for the miserable Syrian refugees, the non-believers provide them food and shelter. pic.twitter.com/9X4arOrC3O

— RSS (@RSS_Org) September 7, 2015

Quick notes: BankMobile, GenZe...

• Banking revolution: A mobile app launched by Indian-American banker Jay Sidhu and his daughter Luvleen can revolutionise the global banking industry.
  
  BankMobile has succeeded in becoming the fastest growing bank in the nation. Average deposits per branch have grown by an unheard of 500% per year and deposits have soared to 5.6 Billion. Every customer has a dedicated personal banker and a litany of fee free services from nationwide ATM access to text based P2P and Picture Bill Pay. You can lock or unlock your debit card with a single swipe and check your balance without the hassle of a full login process.



• Manipulation in NSE: Loophole helping a few speculators?



• GDP: India Will Overtake France In 2017: Merrill



• Jaguars Are About to Get a Lot Cheaper: XE sedan starting at $34,900. Looks like a potent threat to BMW 3-series.



• GenZe: Mahindra to debut in US market with scooter

Quick notes: No bull, Indian paparazzi...

• Jim Rogers was hardly ever an India bull: Rogers has always been an India skeptic -- going so far as to predict the country will break up in 30-40 years in his book.



• Voyeurism and paparazzi have gone upstream in the India media: If you want gossip, you are spoilt for choice. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to.



• Haters gonna hate: Why US academics lecturing Silicon Valley on Modi is both arrogant and comic.



• Kaangress haven: Seven-fold increase in Karnataka farmer suicides.



• One-day strike: Economy loses Rs 25,000 crore. "A big jolt would accrue to the export cargo thereby throwing crucial delivery schedule to haywire".

Trade unions' strike: we have only 8% workers in formal sector; majority of them are in government. Do unions want status quo? 2/8

— Jayaprakash Narayan (@JP_LOKSATTA) September 2, 2015




• An idea whose time has come: Nationalize Church property including schools.

Yes, Mexico nationalized Church property, got back the vast land it controlled. http://t.co/oCPUexQAzM @colbair pic.twitter.com/U9FqSD6uqP

— Sankrant Sanu सानु (@sankrant) September 1, 2015

Jim Rogers Quits India

Flamboyantly media-minded investor Jim Rogers has abandoned his stake in Indian equities, saying that Modi's govt has failed to deliver on expectations:

http://www.livemint.com/Money/Hii5NshplbswnJpcb0cHgM/Jim-Rogers-exits-India-says-one-cant-invest-just-on-hope.html

"God gave you everything. And then, he also gave you Delhi to mess it all up"- Jim Rogers

Well, even though Rogers is over-hyped (not least due to his own efforts), I think it's good for Modi and Jaitley to keep hearing the chorus of disappointees, because this will force them away from any "India Shining" reverie, and compel them to face ugly realities. The disloyal opposition (Congress Party & Co) are hell-bent on blocking any and every possible reform legislation. The new reformist Modi-Deng era cannot fully proceed while the old Sonia-JianQing still continues to tarry around and cause political mischief. Like a system undergoing phase-change, India's economic temperature will likely stay plateau'd until a political transition has been fully completed.

But since India's less globally-integrated economy also has significant thermal mass / inertia, the gathering global slowdown may take more time to affect it than other countries. Some Indian exporters will be hit, but old-economy Indian companies may still continue enjoying their captive markets.

Furthermore, it's legitimate to consider whether a gathering global recession might send more customers towards India's cheaper labor costs. After all, even while decision-makers are more risk-averse in a recessionary climate, competitive pressures will still always exist, and Indian service-providers aren't such an unknown quantity to the world as in the past. So even the squeeze of economic downturn may itself push customers towards a cheaper Indian option. India's manufactured goods are generally on the lower-end, and these may find greater appeal among those with whom money is tighter.

please sign change.org petition if you are US faculty, alumni/ae

Hello,

I just signed the petition, "Members and Alumnae of American Universities: Oppose Prejudice and Fear-mongering in the "Faculty Statement on Narendra Modi's Visit"."

I think this is important. Will you sign it too?

Here's the link:

http://www.change.org/p/members-and-alumnae-of-american-universities-oppose-prejudice-and-fear-mongering-in-the-faculty-statement-on-narendra-modi-s-visit

Thanks,

prof rajeev

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sent from samsung galaxy note3 neo, so please excuse brevity

Quick notes: Sureshbhai Patel, El Niño...

• How about a big fat civil suit? Trial begins for Alabama officer in encounter that paralyzed Sureshbhai Patel, an unarmed 57-year-old Hindu.



• India crawls in front of foreign speculators: Full MAT relief for FIIs



• New tech for Darshan: Not just Holy, Tirumala is turning smart too



• Mission Indradhanush: India has eliminated tetanus as a mass killer, one year after getting rid of polio.



• Artificial state: "Since its founding in 1947, Pakistan has remained an artificial state that is uncertain of itself. The country is under major geopolitical stress -- in large part because of its rivalry with India. The expansion of its influence over Afghanistan is important to Pakistan because it gives it a feeling of strength."



• Water scarcity: El Niño dries up the monsoon, could have impact next year too




• El Niño weather pattern: El Niño May Bring Record Heat, and Rain for California.... video: El Niño, How It Happens



• Global weather: A Very Early Yet Highly Accurate Guide to This Coming Winter

Loving this El Nino GIF from NASA. 1997 on the left, 2015 on the right. pic.twitter.com/OiOKGxS9TC

— Angela Fritz (@angelafritz) August 13, 2015