Quick notes: Make-in-India | Israel's ally...

• Make-In-India? Yes, No, Maybe: India won’t go ahead with building Russian helicopters locally, opting instead for off-the-shelf purchases. IAF needs to make immediate replacements to its fleet of over 320 aging helicopters.



• Has Israel become a top Chinese ally? Not surprisingly, China appears to have a vested interest in the Israeli tech sector, especially its advances in quantum technology. Chinese investment in Israeli technology “could lead to leaks of sensitive technology and cyber-espionage.”



• Ascendant China: Toyota turns to Chinese tech to reach its electric holy grail
  
  Chinese stranglehold: Tesla has concluded that no company in the United States is currently capable of producing artificial graphite to the required specifications and capacity needed for Tesla’s production. It said only mainland China could provide the quantity of graphite it needs to manufacture its batteries.



• IIT Madras faculty founded 94 startups: A startup is aiming to make a new breed of aircraft called hybrid aerial vehicles for vertical takeoff and landing as well as long-distance flight to carry goods and passengers, ultimately leading to air taxi operations. Another working on mini launch vehicles to launch micro- and nano-satellites into space orbits.
  
  A startup aiming to produce micro gas turbines for decentralized power generation and another aiming to convert any kind of waste -- from municipal solid waste to agri waste -- into crude oil are among the notable ones. Another enterprise aims to make earth observation satellites with multi-sensor fusion and edge-computing in space.



• Remittance seeking mindset: Retaining - and attracting - talent is critical for India's future.

A lot has changed / is changing in India. What hasn’t change much is the Government’s remittance seeking mindset.

When GDP was <$1T it made sense to export human capital. With GDP at ~$3T, and India aiming to boost it to $10T+, retaining - and attracting - talent is critical. https://t.co/ZVwygfXpdM

— Rajeev Mantri (@RMantri) November 29, 2021

The Thousand Talents Plan is part of China’s long quest to become the global scientific leader



• New game in town: Ola's electric scooter



• 5G wireless use could prompt flight diversions: The aviation industry and the FAA have raised concerns about potential interference of 5G with sensitive aircraft electronics like radio altimeters.



• Vaccine durability: Antibody levels fall quickly in the months after people get their Pfizer and Moderna shots. The RNA in these vaccines does not last very long in the body. DNA is more stable than RNA, and might allow for a more prolonged, low-level activation of our immune system that provides longer-lasting protection.



• NOT White Man's Burden: UK 'nowhere near' meeting targets agreed at Glasgow climate summit



• The return of ‘naati’ ragi: Karnataka farmers revive forgotten ragi varieties. Hundreds of local ragi varieties disappeared with the arrival of the high-yielding indaf variety of ragi.



• Why soil is one of the most amazing things on Earth: Due to intensive farming, we are losing soil 50 to 100 times faster than it is able to rebuild.




• Global Gateway: BRI rival from EU. Can Europe compete with China?
  
  Why US, EU are pitching an alternative to Chinese ‘hidden debts’
  
  Contaminated fertilizer: Sri Lanka bows to Chinese pressure again