Quick notes: Ditching windows | Dr Kurt Tank...

• Digital sovereignty push: France is ditching Windows for Linux... when will India do this? Claude is there to make the process smooth.



• Dr Kurt Tank and the Marut program:




• “If we can’t build it, host a summit”: India's technological progress occurs primarily in keynote presentations

Watching India pitch itself as a “rule-setter” in AI is a reminder that geopolitics now includes a new category:
Countries whose technological progress occurs primarily in keynote presentations.

India doesn’t have an AI industry, but they have an AI narrative:
“If we can’t build… pic.twitter.com/XnhLmwu2yk

— 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 (@OopsGuess) February 23, 2026




• R&D poor nation: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) proposed Rs 28,169 crore but received Rs 21,632 crore at the budget estimates stage — a reduction of nearly Rs 6,500 crore. The ministry proposed Rs 13,000 crore for the semiconductor programme but received Rs 8,000 crore at the budget estimates stage.



• A giant leap for our energy sector: India is now only the second country after Russia to operate a commercial-scale FBR. Parallel development of the third stage to leverage India’s vast thorium resources, a vision conceived by Dr Homi Bhabha.

16/

China has been trying to build a Fast Breeder Reactor for 20 years.

They've spent billions.
Bought Russian technology.
Hired foreign experts.

Their CFR-600 is still being commissioned.

India built theirs:
✅ Indigenously - no foreign reactor design
✅ With domestic…

— CA Vivek Khatri (@CaVivekkhatri) April 7, 2026




• Meta must face youth addiction lawsuit: "...designing a social media platform that capitalizes on the developmental vulnerabilities of children or by affirmatively misleading consumers about the safety of the Instagram platform" . . . . Yoga can reduce gaming addiction.



• Sweden goes back to basics, swapping screens for books in the classroom: Studies have linked heavy digital use to reduced comprehension and memory retention as well as eye strain. . . Sweden’s Education Recalibration



• Non whites are non Americans:

Trump’s lawyers can’t even say for sure if Native Americans are citizens by birth.

This administration is disgusting! pic.twitter.com/GT4iG8tvU2

— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) April 1, 2026




• Pakistan’s solar boom shielding it from worst of Iran war crisis: A quarter of Pakistani households are now using solar panels. This insulates millions of families from the energy supply crunch prompted by the US-Israel war on Iran.



• India no Vishwaguru: Acharya S.N. Goenka's interview

Quick notes: SEZ flop | Imported waste...

• Why Indian SEZs failed: India's SEZ "reforms" largely centered around concessions to favored businesses--tax sops and cheap real estate—rather than a fundamental reset of India’s convoluted and restrictive rules for doing business. If low taxes were all that mattered for attracting investment, any poor country could entice global manufacturers by slashing taxes. Clearly, good governance and strong rule of law matter a great deal more to such businesses.
  
  Whereas the Shenzhen agglomeration alone sprawls across 2,000 square km, all of India’s SEZs put together occupy less than 500 square km. Larger zones benefit from several spillover effects: They attract clusters of businesses, encourage knowledge transfers from foreign to domestic companies, and spread employment, infrastructure and development to neighboring regions. India’s zones are too small to do the same.



• Banned Chinese apps re-enter in new avatars: India is too lucrative a market to lose for Chinese companies and they would make every effort to return. “If the app ban doesn’t subside in a few months, banned apps in new avatars will crop up.



• Battlefront at minus 40 Celsius: The Eastern Ladakh area witnesses the harshest winters where temperatures normally dip to minus 35 degrees in the night during winters coupled with high-speed freezing winds.
  



• China's unmanned plateau helicopter makes maiden flight: The AR-500C drone will be used in missions including reconnaissance and communication relay, with optional functions including electronic disruption, target indication, fire strikes, cargo delivery, and nuclear radiation and chemical contamination reconnaissance.



• Sri Lanka returns hazardous waste to UK: Several other countries in the region have recently begun to return waste imported from foreign countries.  In January, Malaysia returned 42 shipping containers of illegally imported plastic waste to the UK.



• "Detox My Fashion": Textile dyeing is one of the most polluting aspects of the global fashion industry, devastating the environment and posing health hazards to humans. The discharge is often a cocktail of carcinogenic chemicals, dyes, salts and heavy metals that not only hurt the environment, but pollute essential drinking water sources.



• Make these in India: Bollinger plans to make new electric Deliver-E van with 200 miles of range
  
  
  


• EU's China weak spot: Germany had been particularly reluctant to speak out on Hong Kong repression as it hoped to secure an investment deal with China by year's end.



• “We took a page from Big Tobacco’s playbook”: Tobacco companies initially just sought to make nicotine more potent. But eventually that wasn't enough to grow the business as fast as they wanted. And so they added sugar and menthol to cigarettes so you could hold the smoke in your lungs for longer periods. At Facebook, we added status updates, photo tagging, and likes, which made status and reputation primary and laid the groundwork for a teenage mental health crisis. To continue to grow the user base and in particular, the amount of time and attention users would surrender to Facebook, they needed more.



• May his ilk grow: A ray of hope for the vernacular

@sankrant I have started teaching computer programming/coding in Gujarati via weekly facebook live sessions. Page: https://t.co/ogwz8FZQyN Thank you for re-igniting that flame in me :) 🙏

— चिराग: Chirag Patel (@chipmap) September 24, 2020

Quick notes: Anonymous sources, Refugee ban...

• "Anonymous IAF sources": Who is trying to sabotage LCA-Tejas? Groups who would like  to see Indian innovation and manufacturing fail.




• Rafale puzzle: Why did Modi bypass the Cabinet before he committed India to the Rafale deal?



• Smog free: Chennai firm to tackle stubble burning menace in Punjab



• Dated news: Indian firm makes carbon capture breakthrough. The inventors of the new process are two young chemists from IIT Kharagpur. They failed to find Indian finance and were welcomed instead by the UK govt, which offered grants and the special entrepreneur status that whisks them through the British border. 



• Some German Cities Ban New Refugees: Most mainstream parties want to limit more from entering Germany.... Peace vs Love: Islamists target Christian converts in German refugee centers... Pew Research: The growth of Germany’s Muslim population.... Liberal spin: European Muslims will be instrumental in saving the continent’s aging population



• 100 KM on a single charge: Iconic Vespa Scooter gets brand-new electric powertrain 



• BMW wants to build a “hyperloop” for electric bicycles: An elevated network of covered bicycle highways that would wind their way through congested Chinese cities.



• Cycleway in Air:




• CS-Playground-React: An app that makes learning algorithms and data structures way more fun



• For some, Hindutva is all about history debates:

Dear @RSSorg -if you lose the present, you cant win the past. Engage with #core people. Dont come to us in state of utter panic.

— Reality Check India (@realitycheckind) November 9, 2017

Quick notes: Asylum seekers, Punjab's reality...

• Germany's 'asylum seekers': German women report string of sexual assaults by Mohammedan gangs.



• Tragic reality of today's Punjab:

My sources saying SP had gone there to finalise a drug deal. Smugglers turned out to be terrorists n hitched a hike https://t.co/jvV5vnvAGJ

— Sanjay Dixit, IAS (@Sanjay_Dixit) January 5, 2016




• Marxist yoga: While CPI (M) leaders challenged allegations that the academy and the yoga programme were politically-motivated, the line-up of party leaders watching the demonstration gave the lie.



• Defrocked! Catholic Church to Crack Whip on 'Pervert' Priests



• Southeast Asia's longest tunnel to come up in J&K: 14 KM Zojila tunnel to cost Rs10,050 crore. The 6.5 km long Z-Morh tunnel to cost Rs2,716.90 crore. ..Compare this against the cost of Bullet train.



• Electric buses: Plan to convert 1.5 lakh state transport corporation buses into electric ones in a phased manner.



• Battery tech: Automotive Research Association of India and Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre to jointly design and develop car batteries and offer the technology for mass production



• 'Do Your Cars Emit Oxygen?' Supreme Court Ticks Off Mercedes, Toyota 



• $18 billion in potential fines: US sues VW over emissions-cheating software in diesel cars



• Delhi fights pollution:

Driving around India Gate virtually every car has an even number. The Cassandras must be dying of heartburn. Saddi Dilli fighting pollution

— Rahul Kanwal (@rahulkanwal) January 4, 2016

Poodle Singh gets an F from German media

An editorial in the highly circulated German national newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine screamed:

“India has never had it so bad. Stealing in government has never been this brazen. Government officials are now so audacious in their corrupt practices that they do not give a damn about who is watching”.
 “Supreme Court directives are routinely flouted. Crime rates are up and security of life including women’s safety, which is the first responsibility of every government, is at its lowest ebb. India must then be more than qualified to be called a failed state.”

In the Manager magazine, one of Germany’s leading glossy business journals, an article said:

“Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has a natural inclination to be a follower, not a leader. India is a country where merit and integrity have no value and the country continues to sink beneath the suffocating weight of mediocrity and unrestrained, rampant greed. The majority of citizens feel excluded and disrespected at all levels of their daily lives. The youth of the country that make majority of the populace clearly feel helpless and many are pushed to take to misdemeanour and crime.”

The German business newspaper Handelsblatt wrote:

“For India, it seems clear that the hope of becoming one of the best twenty economies in the world will only remain a daydream. Corruption is the bane of the society. The Government knows this and the crusade against corruption is being handled with kid gloves.”

 

BusinessLine: India’s never had it so bad

Europe crawls, fearful of China

The EU's anti-dumping duties on Chinese solar panels is the largest trade case the Commission has undertaken, with around 21 billion euros of China-made solar panels sold in the EU. Germany initially supported plans for duties, and it was a German company, Solar World, which first raised the complaint against the Chinese. But fearful of losing business in China, Germany, Britain and the Netherlands are among those who oppose sanctions.

Reuters: EU duties on Chinese solar panels losing member state support

Barter Economy Matures

Time magazine declared this new form of consumption to be one of the 10 great ideas that will change the world. The new thing about collaborative consumption is that it can achieve a broader impact with the Internet as both a stage and a platform. The web professionalizes swapping and allows it to develop into an independent branch of the economy. 

Spiegel: Barter Economy Matures from Niche to Trend

• Barter Deals Flourishing 

Hitler Has a Following in India

To the extent that German history is taught it’s in the context of “the view that had Hitler not weakened the British Empire by the Second World War, the British would have never voluntarily left India.” 

The country’s Jewish community—some 5,300 people—is one of a few in the world to have never been persecuted by their countrymen.  Solomon Sopher, president of the Baghdadi Jewish community in Mumbai, agrees: “We have never been persecuted by any caste or creed. Not even by the Muslims.” He adds that Indians are prone to “hero worship” of strong military leaders. 

Business Week: Hitler Has a Following in India

Exports Soar.. Jobs Galore

Their capitalism is not dictated by speculators. They have little faith in all that financial wheeling dealing with dubious economic value. They rely on good old fashioned Engineering, Research and Development. They charge 28% on capital gains tax, but they aren't doomed.

German Exports Soar above One Trillion Euros

Germany appears to be an island of tranquility on the labor market too. Despite growing recession fears, there were more open positions available in November than ever. After a brief lull in Sept. and Oct., demand for workers climbed to a record high, the Federal Employment Agency (BA) reported.

European Union observers at Binayak Sen trial

http://www.hindustantimes.com/EU-observers-likely-to-witness-Binayak-Sen-s-trial/Article1-653653.aspx

The European Union wants to send "observers" to attend Xtist
activist Binayak Sen's trial.
And GOI and the BJP state government of Chattisgarh meekly acquiesce to their belligerent request!!

Exactly what locus standi does the European Union have in this case, which pertains to India's national security and sovereignty - threatened by the poisonous "activism" of this alleged "Maoist".

The so-called "Maoist", an alumnus of Christian Medical college, Vellore, Tamil Nadu - and a christist convert - is actually a pawn of Christist missionaries. Civilian "activists" like "Binayak Sen" (sic) are critical elements in the Christist church's strategy of replicating
"liberation theology" in India, originally used to subvert socialist regimes in Latin America - but intended to subvert the sovereignty of the Indian nation - all the while operating under a "Maoist" Burka.

"Maoist", my foot. Since when did Communists start believing in religion? And why do Christist hatemongers like John Dayal, Cedric Prakash et al lead demonstrations in favour of an alleged "Maoist". The whole episode STINKS of a Christian conspiracy to acquire dominion over India. The christist hyena godmen have tasted blood after their success in Nepal - the top Nepalese "Maoists" being converted christists.

The European Union's true objectives of Christian evangelism and hegemony over a developing nation with vast resources such as India stand exposed.

The European Union should be asked to issue an unqualified apology for 1) the colonial legacy in India of several EU members 2) the christist inquisition perpetrated in Goa by the Portuguese.

The EU should also be told to
1) cease all material and moral support to christist evangelical groups on Hindu bhoomi. Their continued presence constitutes an act of war.
2) Pay war reparations to India for colonial loot, to the tune of $10 trillion.

Anti-national traitors such as "Binayak Sen" and Susan "Arundhati" Roy would be summarily executed by a firing squad in a true Maoist paradise like the People's Republic of China.

I do believe that the anatomically deficient Indian Psec Dhimmis can learn a few lessons from the Chinese, at least to the extent it pertains to
safeguarding national interest and dealing with anal Europeans.

German MP Rejects Sharia and the 'MultiKulti' Cult

An MP from the German ruling coalition speaks against Sharia and the charade of 'multikulti' pseudo-secularism in his country. Notice how the interviewer tries to slant her questions against him:

'Multiculturalism Has Failed,' Says Germany's Merkel

German PM Angela Merkel has openly said what the rest of us already know: multiculturalism has failed as a social model. She made her comments specifically in response to a question about Germany's Muslim population. Merkel was alluding to the fact that Muslim immigrant populations refuse to integrate or assimilate to any wider surrounding society.

GM Reversal on Opel: Pyrrhic Victory?

Thwarting the GM sale of Opel to a German-Russian consortium was a key goal of the Atlanticist lobby, to block Russo-German industrial consolidation. They have now won a victory in accomplishing this, through the use of Whitehouse intervention in appointing boardmembers to GM. The Germans are of course quite angry, while the Russians aren't too pleased either.

It remains to be seen how long their celebration will last though, as the hard realities of the business world catch up to them. Like the Muslims, the Atlanticists aren't very savvy at business.

GM Suddenly Reneges on Opel Deal

GM suddenly backs out of its deal with the German govt on its planned sale of Opel to a German-Russian consortium of Magna and Russia's Sberbank. It seems very strange that the new boardmembers appointed by the US govt have quickly moved to scuttle such a long-awaited deal. It looks like All The President's Men were given their marching orders from above.

And now the Germany That Can Say 'No'

It looks like the list of countries wanting to say 'no' to the United States is growing. Now the new German coalition govt is saying that they want the US to remove all of its nukes from German soil.
No bases in Japan, no nukes in Germany - what's a poor Yankee to do?

Apparently, the only ones extending a smile to American forces are the Pathans busily sharpening their knives.

Germans Thwart Atlanticist Agenda

With its mature behavior, Germany is showing how it has learned lessons from the long and bloody history of European rivalries, by refraining from yet another round of ganging up on Russia. Time and time again, the Germans have participated in such feuds in the past, only to find themselves left out on a limb, at daggers drawn with everyone else. They therefore may be able to appreciate more than most, a need to damp down the latest tit-for-tat cycle of confrontation being led by the Atlanticist hawks trying to demonize Russia.

We Indians should support such sober attitudes by the Germans, because it helps to reduce the influence of the Atlanticists and their irredentism. If the Atlanticist hawks can be politically marginalized on both sides of the Atlantic, then their pro-jihadist games will also be curbed. We don't need them to destabilize our subcontinent any further, and they've already had a long run in messing up Europe.

Here is what Deutschland thinks of Bharat...

"The rise of India has come as a surprise to Germany," said Joachim Beck from the Institute for Asian Studies at the German Institute of Global and Area Studies. "It has been so accustomed to seeing India as poor, as an unstable, multifaceted country. The German government never thought India could become a world power in economic and political terms."

Atleast they are finally waking up. Article