Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Quick notes: Ghar wapsi | Securing the Northeast...

  • "His job is to protect his Godhood": Amazing talk by Mary Suresh Iyer, ex-Christian

  • . . If possible, watch at 1.5 speed . .

  • Trying to escape justice: Catholic church attempts to stop one of its own priests from suing it for child abuse


  • Ahom warriors defeated the Mughals 17 times: Support the brave Assamese. They are our best bet to secure the Northeast. Bad idea to make them a minority in their own land. At the least, make sure Bengalis learn Assamese language and assimilate.

  • The Nambi Narayanan Story: The motive for the fake spy scandal against him and the five others remains a mystery. Was it a conspiracy by rivals to scuttle India's development of cryogenic tech?


  • Chinese espionage: Harvard professor charged with hiding China ties. Officials have repeatedly warned about China's ambitious Thousand Talents program. “No country poses a greater threat to our national security and economic prosperity than China. Their goal is to replace the U.S. as  world superpower, and they are breaking the law to get there”. 


  • BSL-4 biolab in Wuhan: How possible is it that the Wuhan coronavirus originated from Wuhan's maximum-security biolab? . . . . . Does China have a clandestine offensive biological weapons (BW) program? . . . . False rumors circulating on the Chinese internet claim the virus is part of a U.S. conspiracy to spread germ weapons.


  • Rolls-Royce plans mini nuclear reactors: One 16th of the size of a major power station


  • Religion of Peace: How Sikhs saved their women from Muslim mobs during Partition of 1947



  • Victimhood is a Mohammedan Birth-Right: How can a Hindu or a Sikh or a Buddhist ever be a victim? That will make Allah angry.


Friday, January 24, 2020

Quick Notes: Gopuram institute | Japan bound...

  • Gopuram Institute of Vedic Culture: Vojko Kercan from Slovenia



  • Walking the talk: Graying Japan, with its declining birth rates, has signalled its intention to let in over 5 lakh skilled foreign workers by 2025, and Indians are lining up. "Learning Japanese grammar was easy as it is pretty similar to Tamil grammar".


  • How India Can Defeat China in Conflict: “By attempting to defend the entire border, India will effectively defend none of the border.” India options include more investment in offensive cyberwarfare, long-range precision weapons, hypersonic anti-ship missiles, maritime surveillance and anti-satellite technology. Rather than expensive surface ships like aircraft carriers, India should focus on submarines.


  • World-beating skills: Reliance is India's answer to Exxon, AT&T, Amazon, all rolled into one. "What has impressed most is the strategic vision and execution ability of Reliance management to enter and 'win' in areas outside of core business."


  • India's Chip Manufacturing Dilemma: India is spending more on electronic imports than on oil. The first semiconductor  manufacturing unit can cost $14.7 Billion (100B INR). No Indian company can take this risk. And MNCs are unwilling to invest due to poor infrastructure and skills.


  • Sexual-grooming Jihad: Wahid used to befriend several high school and Plus-Two girls on ShareChat, where he also met the victim. 


  • Mohan Bhagwat has a point: Intervention is required to slow population growth. Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao programme can go a long way to reduce the number of children a woman bears.


  • Vikas gone wrong: U.S. drinking water widely contaminated with 'forever chemicals'.


  • Pursuit of Profits: People still want plastic bottles, says Coca-Cola



Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Quick notes: Soybean oil | Tonbo imaging...

  • Soybean oil causes genetic changes in the brain: Sold in grocery stores as Vegetable Oil, America's most widely consumed oil impaired the ability of around 100 genes in the brain’s hypothalamus region in mice. Consumption of soybean oil was earlier found to cause obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes in mice.


  • Fortifying military bases: An Indian startup’s “sharp-eye” technology can prevent Uri-like militant attacks.

    Founded in 2008 by Arvind Lakshmikumar along with his colleagues, Tonbo makes advanced imaging and sensor systems. “Nature shows us that multiple eyes are better than one eye. It is why we’ve all been endowed with two. The question we asked ourselves as we started the company was, could we borrow from biology to build better cameras for the military?”

    Remarkable entry of an Indian startup into the largely murky, insular world of Indian defense, which normally is ill-disposed to startups.


  • Vikass not working for everyone: India's richest 1% hold four times more wealth than 70% of poor. "Our broken economies are lining the pockets of billionaires and big business at the expense of ordinary men and women". 


  • Trade-distorting subsidies: US, EU and Japan take aim at China with proposed WTO rules targeting state subsidies


  • Did China Steal Iron Dome From Israel? Chinese hackers have stolen technical data for the Iron Dome rocket-defense system from Israeli computers.


  • Patna Riverfront: Namami Gange



  • India talks, China acts: China to ban bags and other single-use plastic items. . . . . . Malaysia returned 150 containers of trash to the rich countries that sent them.


  • China embraces Battery-Swapping for EVs: A battery-swapping system would not only potentially save time for drivers, it could also lower the upfront prices of buying electric vehicles. That’s because consumers would be able to purchase the car and the batteries separately, or possibly just lease the batteries. 


  • Facebook is banned in China: Facebook Apologizes for Mistranslation of Xi Jinping’s Name




Friday, January 17, 2020

Quick notes: Love jihad | Diabetes drug...



Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Quick notes: Arrested landing | China R&D...

  • Triumph of indigenous technologies: Landing on an aircraft carrier deck is the ultimate and most daunting challenge for a fighter pilot. With this Tejas landing, India enters a select group of nations with the capability.. ADA says it is targeting the first flight of Tejas Mark-2 by 2025-26 and induction into service by 2031



  • How China took pole-position in 5G tech: Companies from China own 36% of all 5G standard-essential patents. U.S. firms, by contrast, including Qualcomm and Intel, hold just 14% of critical 5G patents. Telecom companies around the world—including those operating in places where Huawei gear might be off-limits—will have to pay royalties to Huawei to license that tech. “It means guaranteed revenue”.

    Huawei’s prowess stems partly from the fact that it now regularly outspends its rivals in R&D, a fact that has alarmed some policy makers in Washington. In 2017, the company spent $13 billion on R&D, more than its chief rivals, Ericsson and Nokia combined.

    Some of Huawei’s proposals are now fundamental building blocks of 5G. They include one highly prized technique called “polar coding,” a method for correcting errors in data transmission. Huawei poured resources into developing it, and polar coding became a rallying cry for Huawei and its Chinese peers at standards meetings.


  • Radiation from phones: Xiaomi, OnePlus phones emit maximum radiation, Samsung phones emit the least.. . . . .  The inconvenient truth about cancer and mobile phones.


  • Bezos faces protests from Indian traders: Traders have waged a battle against online retailers Amazon and Flipkart, accusing them of deep discounts and flouting India’s foreign investment rules.


  • 70% of Amaravati prone to floods: IIT-Madras says cost of construction in the area would be very high due to the pile foundation required to be laid. The raft foundation with basement was not advisable due to the groundwater level at 2.50 metres to 5 metres below the ground level. 


  • #DeleteFacebook:



Friday, January 10, 2020

Quick notes: Lies are cool | Binge watching...

  • Pursuit of profit: Facebook says it’s cool with lies in political ads


  • Addicted generation: Sleep deprivation from bingeing on Netflix, Amazon Prime causing health decline in India.


  • China roundup:
    - Peaceful rise: China tried to threaten Taiwan by weaponizing tourism.
    - Han espionage: Chinese “tourist” accused of espionage in the US.
    - See no evil: Pope keeps silent on persecution of Uighurs.
    - Corporate espionage: 5G is where China and the west finally diverge.
    - EUV tech: US pressed Dutch hard to cancel China chip-equipment sale


  • Nasima Akter, fearless surfer: They tried to force her into prostitution. Instead, she hit the waves.



  • Confessions of a slaughterhouse worker: "When I was a child I dreamed of becoming a vet. Instead, I ended up working in a slaughterhouse. Cows being brought in would get scared and panic, which was pretty terrifying for all of us too. There were countless occasions when, despite following all of the procedures for stunning, slaughterers would get kicked by a massive, spasming cow as they hoisted it up to the machine for slaughter.". 
  • ‘Green measles’ problem: Fragmentation of India's forested zones with no corridors connecting them. Many of these reserves, like Panna, had no tigers left in them. 


Sunday, January 05, 2020

Quick notes: e-yuan | Young scientists...