Quick notes: GaN technology | Xiaomi SU7...

• DRDO's GaN technology breakthrough: Denied access to compound chip technology by foreign powers, Indian scientists, operating in tandem from Delhi and Hyderabad, crack the code to make Gallium Nitride (GaN) monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs).
  + How GaN is revolutionising key industries.
  
  
  India is no longer dependent on foreign powers for these high-value, cutting-edge chips. Instead, it broke into a select group of six nations—the US, France, Russia, Germany, South Korea and China. . . . . Defense as well as commercial applications!



• UK FTA was terrible. EU FTA is worse: India gives away market access for nothing. Once CBAM takes effect India will be immensely disadvantaged.

Major concession on Machinery/Electrical equipment. India already runs a $16 billion deficit with EU in it. 0% tariff means domestic mfg in this sector will likely never take off. One hopes that exports from labour intensive sectors go up enough to make up for it. https://t.co/Xl1ZozajOH

— Diva Jain (@DivaJain2) January 27, 2026




• WSJ: I test drove a Chinese EV. Now I don’t want to buy American cars anymore.
Marques Brownlee's negative reviews had bankrupted some automakers in the past.



• Ford CEO Jim Farley: Praises his Xiaomi SU7. 'I don't want to give it up'
  
  Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe: "Chinese are ahead, even more than expected"



• Foolish NRIs: The overconfidence of the Indian settler in the pre-MAGA days led to excesses. Such as the 90-foot-tall statue of Lord Hanuman, dubbed by some over-clever NRIs who installed it, as the “Statue of Union” in Sugar Land, Texas.
  
  Besides being considered an eyesore by the enraged local Texans, it is a goad for the Christian Nationalists of the American south and southwest that make up the MAGA flock. So far they have restricted themselves to mocking the Monkey God, reviling Hindus as savages, Hinduism as satanic, and Hindu religious symbols as an affront to Christianity. Soon they may take a hammer to the statue, and run the Indians out of town.
  
  Two Indian jewelry stores raided in Texas



• Trump betrayed the Kurds?: Tell me something new.

Meet America’s 🇺🇸 newest allies in Syria, brought to you by @USAMBTurkiye.

The Kurds were betrayed for these Islamist barbarians.

Congrats. pic.twitter.com/uPUr4TCIB4

— Diliman Abdulkader (@D_abdulkader) January 25, 2026




• No headscarves in Kosovo's public school classrooms: Over 95% of the population of Kosovo is Muslim.



• Why are strokes rising among young adults?: Stroke deaths are climbing among people ages 25 to 34, even as overall cardiovascular deaths return to pre-COVID levels.



• The scientific case for ping-pong: Why athletes — and you — should play more table tennis



• How Ancient Is Indian Music? Dr. Raj Vedam on the history of Indian music

Quick notes: Kurd slaughter | RCEP bait...

• Kurds may be wiped out before Turkey sanctions happen: “Reestablish safe zones to protect Kurds and prevent the reemergence of ISIS before it’s too late”.

Among the dirty little secrets of how Turkey wages war in Syria is that it’s not just Turkish soldiers poring over the border. It’s also allied rebels whose behavior isn’t so different from ISIS. This horrific video shows how they kill Kurds: https://t.co/iZTbeSxvwc via @NYTimes

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) October 12, 2019




• 'You are leaving us to be slaughtered': Military leader of Syrian Kurds tells US

Not long ago, Kurdish female fighters were dancing in Raqqa after defeating ISIS. Today, America is allowing Turkey to attack and kill these same, incredibly brave women & their families. #KurdsBetrayedByTrump or more accurately, betrayed by America. pic.twitter.com/1jkclGXryL

— Godfrey64 #FBPE (@Godfrey642) October 10, 2019




• Did we betray the Kurds for Trump Towers?: Donald Trump's longtime business connections in Turkey back in the spotlight

Thank you Prime Minister Erdogan for joining us yesterday to celebrate the launch of #TrumpTowers Istanbul!

— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) April 20, 2012


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I repeat. Reports indicate Turks visited Pakistani nuclear weapons sites last year. Turks want nuclear weapons.
Turkish President Erdogan will visit Pakistan on Oct 23 to cement relations & to extend full support to Pakistan’s stance on the Kashmir issue. https://t.co/xCZdjwFdV5

— Lawrence Sellin (@LawrenceSellin) October 12, 2019




• India rejects RCEP e-commerce chapter: Acceptance would have prevented it from implementing the rules on data localisation. . . . “No Party shall require a covered person to use or locate computing facilities in that Party’s territory as a condition for conducting business in that territory,” reads the wording in the draft chapter.



• Swadeshi Jagran Manch Is Right: The RCEP is not for India. Very often, we get into bad deals because of the fear of being left out in the cold. In theory, FTAs are good for everybody; in practice, they are often tilted towards manufacturing powers to the detriment of services powers. India has a huge trade deficit of over $50 billion with China precisely because of this. We export only low-value added products, while we import higher-value products, and our services industry has been kept out substantially through non-tariff barriers.
  
  FTAs are not an either/or option for us. We can substitute FTAs with bilateral deals that are renegotiable based on actual results over the coming years. These can later be converted to FTAs once the benefits are seen as two-way.



• Xi in Nepal with promises and pressure: China has been pressuring Nepal to sign an extradition treaty, one that leaves Tibetans fleeing Chinese oppression via Nepal with less hope of escape.



• Affordable EV? Tata Nexon EV gives India an affordable domestic-brand electric car



• Women transform rural Vellore: How an army of women in Vellore resurrected a river that once served as their lifeline




• US sanctions Gupta family over widespread corruption: Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh Gupta immigrated to South Africa (from Uttar Pradesh) in the 1990s, and due in large part to their generous donations to a political party and their reportedly close relationship with former South African President Jacob Zuma, their business interests expanded. The family has been implicated in several corrupt schemes in South Africa, allegedly stealing hundreds of millions of dollars through illegal deals with the South African govt, obfuscated by a shadowy network of shell companies and associates linked to the family.