Quick notes: War coverage | Rupee trade...

• White man killing white man?: No way! He should kill only colored people. “It’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blonde hair and blue eyes being killed every day with Putin’s missiles and his helicopters and his rockets”. The BBC presenter responded: “I understand and of course respect the emotion.”

  [Thread] The most racist Ukraine coverage on TV News.
  
  1. The BBC - “It’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed” - Ukraine’s Deputy Chief Prosecutor, David Sakvarelidze pic.twitter.com/m0LB0m00Wg

  — Alan MacLeod (@AlanRMacLeod) February 27, 2022

  
  Sandhya Jain on 'dog does not eat dog': Hitler's unforgivable sin was that he breached the tacit accord of the White Colonial People (that dog does not eat dog) and practiced imperialism upon the White Christian peoples, bringing France, Austria, Poland, and virtually all of Europe under his heel. His invocation of a mythical non-Christian, Aryan ancestry for the German people must have enraged the epoch's dominant colonial power, Great Britain, which took pride in its Anglo-Saxon origins.



• India mulls rupee trade accounts with Russia: To soften the blow of western sanctions on Russia... India also used it with Iran after it came under Western sanctions for its nuclear weapons program.
  

  India will need its own SWIFT, Youtube, Facebook etc
  
  Everything can be weaponized overnight and it doesn't have to be a major war. An increasingly woke west can choose its justifications on a whim. A protest of 100 people in Bhubaneshwar can be called "exactly like 1930s"

  — Opinion Bakery (@IndiaSpeaksPR) February 27, 2022




• Turkish drones: Ukrainian employs Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone to pummel Russian forces in Kherson region



• Han hug: Sri Lanka on the brink of bankruptcy: Consumers hit hard by soaring inflation, food shortages



• Anjaneyasana: Low lunge pose




• Dry January was more popular than ever: 35% of legal-aged US adults skipped alcohol for the entire month — a trend that's growing in popularity as drinkers look to reset their bodies in the New Year.

india, or bharat, rising?

india rising, or bharat rising. a continuing series of episodes on bharatTV considering various aspects of india's growth. please watch and comment.

panelists: nivedita haran, retd. IAS, narayanan komerath, retd. prof aerospace engineering, georgia tech, and me, columnist and adj faculty, iims.

ep 1: capacity building: https://youtu.be/-qwmUJS0vZE

ep 2: human capital: https://youtu.be/6bVVasJ_vjY

Europeans Gather in New Delhi to Take a Stand

Our fellow democracies from Europe are staging a gathering in New Delhi to persuade us on their Ukrainian cause:

We could really use NAM right now, to ward off such pressures.

It feels like there's no NAM anymore, even though the Cold War has now come back with a bang. We were told by the West that there's no longer any need for NAM, since Cold War was over. But now the Cold War is back - so why isn't there a reason for NAM?

Now would be a great time for NAM to reassemble and speak up loudly, while framing this crisis in Non-Aligned terms. Having them speak up more would allow India to say less.

NAM was founded in Belgrade in 1961, in the heart of Central Europe. Having them meet there to speak up loudly now would put the ball right back in Europe's court.

Ep. 62: The meta-narrative about India’s non-involvement in the Ukraine imbroglio

https://rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com/p/ep-62-the-meta-narrative-about-indias?r=66qfh&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Quick notes: NATO expanders | Semiconductor pitfalls...

• America and 'NATO expanders' revived the Cold War: Not many paid attention to the expansion of NATO in the late 1990s and early 2000s to countries in Eastern and Central Europe. “At that time, we were working closely with Russia and they were beginning to get used to the idea that NATO could be a friend rather than an enemy … but they were very uncomfortable about having NATO right up on their border and they made a strong appeal for us not to go ahead with that.”
  
  “Don’t people understand? Our differences in the Cold War were with the Soviet Communist regime. And now we are turning our backs on the very people who mounted the greatest bloodless revolution in history to remove that Soviet regime. And Russia’s democracy is as far advanced, if not farther, as any of these countries we’ve just signed up to defend from Russia.”



• Semiconductor pitfalls: The fact that the world’s third-largest, GlobalFoundries Inc., can barely string together a few quarters of profit highlights the pitfalls even for those with years of experience.



• Needless suffering: Animal welfare fight reaches McDonald's boardroom. With Carl Icahn teaming up with the Humane Society, McDonald’s Corp. is facing the most high-profile attack on its animal-welfare policies to date.



• Sunlight for COVID patients: "Vitamin-D is just a marker of the real thing -- sunlight exposure".




• Toxic modesty of hijab: French bill banning hijabs in sports events moves to National Assembly.



• Commie-Khalistani-concoction: Far-Left ‘Defund the Police’ champion Jagmeet Singh leads support of Trudeau crackdown



• Used Carpets, Mattresses: Sri Lanka returns 3,000 tonnes of garbage to UK. . . . . India should learn

Trudeau keeps emergency powers for "future blockades"

Dictator refuses to give up power: Trudeau keeps emergency powers even after blockade ends.

Governments claiming the authority to *freeze people's bank accounts* because they want to crush a protest movement is tyrannical and obscene. If you would oppose China or Russia doing it, you must oppose Canada doing it.

Very glad @CanCivLib exists.https://t.co/wXBCLdtlbt

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 20, 2022

If the streets are clear why is the Govt not revoking the emergencies act? pic.twitter.com/VAlOIC3AuF

— Michelle Ferreri (@mferreriptbokaw) February 21, 2022

Any politician thinking of voting for @JustinTrudeau’s Emergencies Act declaration: If you think he will not use these powers to go after every political opponent -to track their donations, their calls, & criminalize them- you just might be naïve enough to support these measures

— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) February 21, 2022

The blockades have fallen - and the government’s primary justification for invoking the Emergencies Act is gone.

We are calling for the government to immediately revoke the declaration of a public emergency.https://t.co/KNuRr5k9uM

— Canadian Civil Liberties Association (@cancivlib) February 21, 2022

The Long Game: China’s Grand Strategy to Displace American Order

German Caution Over Ukraine-Russia Conflict -

Germany is more cautious than America about wantonly fanning flames of war between Ukraine & Russia, having more intimately experienced the consequences of repeated wars in Europe. India too is not keen on seeing continued confrontation that drives Russia into the arms of China, while also driving up world oil prices further. There may be benefit in middle powers like Germany, India and France coordinating their de-confliction efforts, since they are the world's 4th, 6th, and 7th largest economies respectively, adding up to significant heft of their own.

Ottawa Threatens to Seize & Potentially Euthanize Truckers' Pets

Authorities in Ottawa have begun to warn protesters that those who are arrested while with their pets may see their pets seized by the govt. Animals which continue to be unclaimed more than 8 days after seizure will be declared 'relenquished' (ie. abandoned), which could potentially result in them being euthanized. 

Attention animal owners at demonstration

If you are unable to care for your animal as a result of enforcement actions, your animal will placed into protective care for 8 days, at your cost. After 8 days, if arrangements are not made, your animal will be considered relinquished. pic.twitter.com/OkbXc8RE3c

— Ottawa By-law (@OttawaBylaw) February 17, 2022

Notice the conspicuous and absolute silence of the Biden Whitehouse on the declaration of Emergency martial law rule in Canada -- not even a word. If this had happened in India, it's a certainty that the US govt would be commenting upon it with dismay. There's the possibility that Trudeau is doing this with backing from the Whitehouse. I'm wondering if a worried Biden may have called up Trudeau and asked him to take strong action to immediately end this protest rebellion, lest it spread south of the border to cause even larger political headaches for Biden's already unpopular govt. With that in mind, it's no wonder that Trudeau is having police use heavy-handed measures up front.

the justin sud rejine :-)

as trudeau self-destructs, let me #replug my piece on the #wokecentury that came and went in a flash, although it has imposed huge costs on the #anglosphere.

 https://rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com/p/ep-57-did-the-woke-century-come-and?r=66qfh

Republic World Covering International Issues

With the fall of CNN and other so-called "mainstream media" (MSM) in the West, and with their credibility in tatters among their home audiences due to becoming flagrant mouthpieces, there's a clear opportunity for India's english-language media (ELM) to move in to fill their vacant shoes. This can be part of our next-level IT revolution. We can also provide significant cost advantages in content production. The problem is that our people are nowhere near as polished or as educated as we need to be, in order to passably fill in.

While I'm glad that Republic World has now started providing coverage on international issues, I was unhappy with Arnab's performance in moderating in the above debate. His knowledge was obviously much below that of his guest panelists, and meanwhile he kept resorting to his usual loud pushy fish-market haggler style. Likewise, even when watching WION, I notice their bad pronunciation, their halting recitation from the teleprompter, and even incorrect titling on news reports. Anchors need coaching, and the production pipeline needs more quality checking. External consultants need to be brought in, if necessary, until we can cultivate stronger domestic expertise. To meet the needs and tastes of international audiences, we really need to step up our game in order not to lose the opportunity.

Trudeau Puts Canada Under 'Emergency'

This is a preview of what Justin's long lost cousin Rahul Gandhi would do if he was prime minister of India.

Canada no longer supports basic right to protest

Trudeau assumes dictatorial powers: The same guy that preached India on the "the importance of dialogue” has declared a rare peacetime emergency, in Canada. The Emergencies Act is intended to deal with threats to sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.

His government will also broaden its powers to target crowd-funding sites supporting the protests, authorize Canadian banks to freeze their accounts and suspend insurance on vehicles in the protests.

What Xi Wants - Stephen Kotkin on Chinese Communist Party

The fuller interview with Prof Kotkin can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul1gsIdlJFs

The Great Delusion of Liberal Hegemony (John Mearsheimer)

John Mearsheimer: Why Ukraine is the West's Fault

"Russia's Twilight Approaches" - Peter Zeihan on Ukraine and Central Eurasia

Quick notes: Digital rupee | Budget space travel...

• Digital rupee needs more thought and less haste: A digital rupee may well be a boon. Rushing the implementation of what should ideally be a multiyear project may be fraught with unnecessary risks. Even with China, there is no national rollout date yet.



• Made in China: Hyderabad's 'Statue of Equality' was made in China. Casting works were carried out in China and the statue was brought here in 1,600 pieces.



• China encroaching along Nepal border: It is the first time there have been official claims from Nepal of Chinese interference in its territory.



• India Is Doing Space Travel, on a Budget:




• Dairy-tech startup: Bangalore-based Stellapps has created a step counter for cows. Healthier cows produce more milk, and by tracking and better managing their animals, farmers can increase yields.



• Garhwal mountain range is the most fragile ecosystem: "We should not construct dams and hydropower projects or any other construction very close to these ecosystems. We have to be extremely careful that these are far below fragile glaciers and steep slopes".



• Woke factories: 40.1% of Indian students pursue humanities while 19% of students pursue technical courses.




• Wall Street in bed with China: Wall Street titan launched a $100 million plan to create a global education scholarship program in China to rival the Rhodes Scholarships.



• Pakistan’s ‘good Taliban-bad Taliban’ strategy backfires: Pakistan’s “long game” strategy of having a weak, Islamist power in Kabul is likely to implode with forbidding consequences for regional security.



• European Chips Act: The EU looks to boost its chip industry and cut its dependence on US and Asian supply.

Redfish Documentary - "Kashmir: Palestine in the Making"

Redfish is a producer of online content, including documentaries, and is a subsidiary of Russia Television (RT), which is funded by the Russian govt. Since Russia & Britain are adversaries, then Russia's RT and its subsidiary Redfish try to hook up with radical British Leftists, seeing them as useful malcontents who can attack & disparage British society from within. Unfortunately, these radical British Leftists are also in bed with Islamists, and they all see India / Hindus as evil fascists. Their views then show up in hateful "documentaries" created by Redfish, which caricature India and Hindus.

CNN is Collapsing

Devas - From Scam to the Supreme Court - What Really Happened - Financial Analyst Sriram Seshadri

@ 25:43 - "the name of the person who thought of this stuff" -- Chidambaram?

He's the only one cunning enough to quickly dream up such duplicity on the fly.

Tractors, Truckers and Trudeau

Imagine Narendra Modi repeating Trudeau's own words to him, only replacing India with Canada, and farmers with truckers. Here is how such a statement would read:

“I would be remiss if I didn’t start also by recognising the news coming out of Canada about the protest by truckers. The situation is concerning and we’re all very worried about family and friends (after all, a substantial chunk of the trucking business in Canada is run by people of Indian-origin and surely the Modi govt which takes great interest in well-being of the diaspora would be ‘very worried’). I know that’s a reality for many of you. Let me remind you, India will always be there to defend the right of peaceful protest. We believe in the importance of dialogue and that’s why we’ve reached out through multiple means directly to the Canadian authorities to highlight our concerns.”

 

Tractors, Truckers and Trudeau: The Hypocrisy of Western Politicians Stands Exposed


What is Trudeau afraid of?

Why is Justin Trudeau still in hiding?

I wanted to see for myself what Justin Trudeau was so afraid of.

The legacy media doesn’t want you to see this video.#TruckersForFreedom pic.twitter.com/rfKoCVijqr

— Harrison Faulkner (@Harry__Faulkner) February 4, 2022

Check how quickly Trudeau and the Liberal media painted the truckers as white supremacists.

Soros Criticizes Xi for Handling of China Economy, Virus

Just remember that old George is probably shorting China even as he speaks these obvious truths.

Quick notes: Forest schools | Light therapy...

• Learning from nature: Scandinavian-style forest schools are booming in Europe and the US – and spreading in Asia, too.



• Privacy hits Zuck's pocket: Apple iOS privacy change will decrease Facebook’s sales this year by about $10 billion.



• ‘Sold by Amazon’ program shut down: Amazon shuts down ‘Sold by Amazon’ program in the US following antitrust investigation. Amazon engages in unlawful price-fixing and restrained competition in order to maximize its profits.



• Chenab Rail Bridge: Highest railway bridge in the world




• TVS acquires 75 percent stake in Swiss e-Mobility Group: TVS is focusing on building a portfolio of premium and tech-driven brands, including Norton Motorcycles and eGO Movement.



• Eco-friendly alternative to fertilizer: You can swap your fertilizer for black-eyed peas



• Mindfulness: The 10-minute hack that is as ‘good as 40 minutes extra sleep’



• Light Therapy and Melatonin: Optimize Health and Immunity with Sunlight.
  1. View early morning sunlight.
  2. Get more light throughout the day. Preferably sunlight.
  3. Minimize bright light (screen time) after sunset.
  4. There is more to sunlight than Vitamin-D
  5. Oral melatonin is not a substitute
  6. Oral Vitamin-D is not a substitute
  7. LED bulbs bad - no Near-Infrared-Radiation. Incandescent bulbs better.




• Only Hindus can be "communal": Why is secular France doubling funding for Christian schools in the Middle East?



• Can Erdogan mediate a deal between Russia and Ukraine? Moscow is angered by Turkey providing Ukraine with combat drones.
  
  Drone Superpower: How Turkey became a drone superpower.

China Makes PLA Soldier from Galwan Its Olympic Torchbearer

In a direct slap to India's face, China has made a PLA soldier from Galwan its torchbearer at the Olympic games being hosted by it:

Xi Jinping is a cornered dictator afraid of being ousted from power by his dissatisfied partymen in the CCP. Therefore Xi has decided to stir up tensions with India in order to wrap himself in the flag of nationalism, and thus save himself politically. India should directly call out his gamesmanship and pull out of the Chinese Olympic games. India has been foolish in backing away from the diplomatic boycott of these games by other countries, and is now seeing the negative results of its appeasement.