Ep. 185: The Epstein Files simply show elite depravity

reminded of "the great Gatsby", "eyes wide shut"," salo: 120 days of Sodom". the rich and powerful are indeed different from you and me.

https://open.substack.com/pub/rajeevsrinivasan/p/ep-185-the-epstein-files-simply-show?r=66qfh&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

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).
  
  
  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

Gallery of dolts

Posting after a long gap. By now, it is abundantly clear that Modi has surrounded himself with a cabal of self-aggrandizing, largely incompetent loudmouths—endless talk, little to no substance.

This isn’t intended to be a detailed or carefully crafted post, just a few irritants worth calling out.

Take Ashwini Vaishnaw, for example, who repeatedly boasts about initiatives such as indigenous fuel-cell–powered trains. It’s hard to see what problem this actually addresses. Electric traction already exists; the real technological challenge lies in miniaturizing and adapting such systems for automobiles, not in grandstanding about trains.

Here he is once again regurgitating the same “four pillars” rhetoric for the nth time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT3B9XC3m_w

Then there’s Amitabh Kant, who once proudly proclaimed that Aarogya Setu was the most downloaded app in the world—as if that were an organic achievement, rather than the result of forcing everyone to install it.

Dharmendra Pradhan, Nirmala Sitharaman, Gadkari...:(

Overall, this administration has let the economy down and has not meaningfully advanced Hindutva either. There may be no credible alternatives, but that only makes the situation all the more dispiriting.

Many, many disappointments from this lot :(

More later.

 

the india EU FTA is not going to save either india or the EU

https://open.substack.com/pub/rajeevsrinivasan/p/ep-184-the-india-eu-fta-triumph-of?r=66qfh&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

geopolitics around venezuela, NATO, greenland, etc.

https://open.substack.com/pub/rajeevsrinivasan/p/iitmaa-fireside-chat-ep-01-a-masterclass?r=66qfh&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Quick notes: University rankings | H200 chips...

• World University Rankings 2026: China shows remarkable progress. Apart from IISc, no other Indian university managed to secure a top 100 position in any subject area.



• THE Subject Rankings 2026: While the US and UK institutions clinched the top ranks, China showed increasing strength, bagging seven top 10 positions across subjects. . . . . How India is failing its educated youth.



• 'Vishwaguru' is nowhere: From Malaysia to Germany: 10 countries where international students are heading beyond the Big Four... India continues to lag behind Asian peers such as China, Hong Kong and South Korea, Japan and Singapore in research-related performance.

Harvard is number one for Engineering in our latest subject rankings, thanks to its outstanding research environment.

Explore the full table: https://t.co/MZ9efPts8q @Harvard #THEUniRankings pic.twitter.com/4kh1gzPkro

— World University Rankings (@THEworldunirank) January 21, 2026




• “Like Selling Nuclear Weapons to North Korea”: Anthropic CEO blasts U.S. decision to approve NVIDIA’s H200 AI chip exports to China. . . Congress wants veto power over Trump administration for AI chip export



• Why the tech world thinks the American dream is dying: The argument is that tech companies (and their leaders) will become a class unto their own with infinite wealth. No one else will have the means to generate money for themselves because AI will have taken their jobs and opportunities.



• How ASML Conquered The Chip World: Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography - the insane machines that make the most advanced computer chips.




• With TACO help: Chinese EVs blow past Tesla and tariffs en route to global reign... Another record month for EV sales in China!. . . As Trump talks tariffs, his Argentine ally welcomes a first shipload of Chinese EVs



• Erdogan is no Modi: Turkey now buys more Russian oil than India. . . . . RM: "There is no morality or friendship factor, regardless of verbal praise or hugs. Only pragmatic self interest. Hello India! The battlefield is not emotional feel good victories in social media".

TRUMP’S ALGORITHM AND INDIA:
1. There is no morality or friendship factor, regardless of verbal praise or hugs. Only pragmatic self interest. Hard Realism. Soft power is irrelevant.
2. Policy driven by MAGA base & CIA.
3. Desire to “change history” using hypermasculinity.
4. USA…

— Rajiv Malhotra (@RajivMessage) January 6, 2026




• UK considering social media ban for under 16s: The world's first social media ban for young people took effect in Australia in December 2025, prompting other countries, including the UK, to consider following suit.



• Is avoiding carbs and sugar the key to a healthy old age? No, the secret to longevity is NOT skipping carbs. Let's see what the actual data says: the world's longest-living groups (Okinawa, Sardinia, Ikaria, Nicoya, Loma Linda) eat a great amount of carbs.
  
  Okinawans previously ate 85% carbs, and sweet potatoes and rice were their main source. Sardinians eat sourdough bread daily. These people are turning 100+ years old eating carbs in every single meal. The key isn't eliminating carbs - it's eliminating processed garbage. Sugar? Yes, added sugar is something to avoid.



• 5000 year-old heritage city cannot escape ugly bikAss: Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi - the ancient & most sacred cremation ground for Hindus being bulldozed in the name of ‘redevelopment’.

the center doesn't hold. things fall apart

https://open.substack.com/pub/rajeevsrinivasan/p/ep-183-things-fall-apart-the-center?r=66qfh&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Venezuela, Greenland, Fortress America: the end of globalism means a nasty interregnum is upon all of us. tough times especially for emerging powers like India.

The long-predicted end of the "liberal, rules-based international order" seems to be upon us, with a definite fin-de-siecle feeling.