Quick notes: Slowing AI development | Falling fertility...

• Google CEO: AI development is finally slowing down—'the low-hanging fruit is gone’



• India's crisis in Engineering and management studies: Manufacturing sector has struggled to grow due to increased dependence on imports from China. On the other hand, the service-sector firms are either solving last-mile delivery problems or offering basic services -- sectors that don’t really need higher-order engineering and management capability.



• BikAss ain't working: Why 7 crore new farmers in the last 7 years is bad news: The increase of people taking up farming in the last seven years is the highest in some of India’s poorest states, with usual suspect Uttar Pradesh leading from the front, along with compatriots Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.



• Mohan Bhagwat on falling fertility rate: 'Population below replacement rate risks extinction,' says RSS chief.
  
  
• Naidu & Stalin's push for more babies in AP & TN: A new population crisis with global implications



• Why most Indians choking on smog aren’t in Delhi: According to Swiss firm IQAir, eight of the 10 most polluted cities in the world last year were located in the Indo-Gangetic plains. Delhi receives significant attention due to its position as the capital of India



• Green Great Wall: China completes 3,000-km green belt around its biggest desert - 46-year campaign to encircle its largest desert with trees, part of national efforts to end desertification and curb the sandstorms that plague parts of the country during the spring



• Salmon back in Klamath river: After 100 years, salmon have returned to the Klamath River – following a historic dam removal project in California. "Seeing the videos of the salmon returning home brought me to tears of happiness and relief".



• Hans eating EU alive: German manufacturers warn of the sector's 'formidable crash'
  
  
• Chinese Carmakers Are Trouncing Once-Unbeatable Japanese Rivals: Foreign carmakers used to make combined net profit of $21b on average every year in China, but this fell by one-third in 2023 and then halved again in the first six months
  
  
• Significant edge in air combat: China’s 99% efficient afterburner tech could make it ‘unrivaled in air combat’



• Banning kids from social media: What countries do to regulate children's social media access




• Non-Christians be damned: Texas education board approves optional Bible-infused curriculum for elementary schools