PSLV C-39 Mission Failure

The PSLV C-39 mission appears to have ended in failure, with payload lost as the heat shield failed to separate on command, and ISRO cutting the webcast soon after that point.

http://www.news18.com/news/india/isros-attempt-to-launch-eighth-navigation-satellite-from-sriharikota-fails-1506307.html

This ends ISRO's run of 36 consecutive successful launches with PSLV over the past 20 years.

China May Renege & Provoke Again

Following the end of the recent confrontation, China seems to revising its stance and not ruling out more provocations:

India Achieves Goals, Lets China Claim 'Victory'

Even while China tries to claim victory, it appears India achieved it's aims in the resolution of the Doklam confrontation:

http://www.ndtv.com/opinion/doklam-a-big-win-for-pm-modi-but-a-big-vulnerability-is-clear-1742900

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/08/30/who-blinked-in-china-india-military-standoff/

http://www.economictimes.com/news/defence/know-about-indias-real-life-james-bond-who-stared-china-down-at-doklam/articleshow/60290358.cms

Indian SC Ruling Undermines Cohesion

India's Supreme Court ruling undermines the foundations of India's social fabric:

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/450884/india-court-privacy-ruling-corrodes-societal-glue

China Investing $57Bn in Pakistan

Chinese are showing up in Pakistan in growing numbers as their country invests $57 billion in Pakistan:

http://fortune.com/2017/08/28/china-invests-pakistan/


Meanwhile, Chinese investment in Africa seems to have peaked, as more return home from there:

https://www.ft.com/content/7106ab42-80d1-11e7-a4ce-15b2513cb3ff

Fwd: Why Dera Sacha Sauda draws followers by Sanjeev Nayyar in Rediff.com

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sanjeev Nayyar

Why Dera Sacha Sauda draws followers

By Sanjeev Nayyar

28 August 2017

http://www.rediff.com/news/special/why-dera-sacha-sauda-draws-followers/20170828.htm

 

The backward classes and poor were left out of the prosperity ushered in by the Green Revolution.
The need for a support system and to be part of a larger community was felt.
It is this vacuum that deras like Sacha Sauda filled.
They made the poor feel secure, cared for, loved, provided a support system and gave them dignity, says Sanjeev Nayyar.

 

The violence and deaths that followed Gurmeet Ram Rahim's arrest were unfortunate. My heart goes out to the poor who lost their near and dear ones and those who were injured in the violence.

The question one has heard asked over the weekend is how and why a convicted rapist like Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, a Jat Sikh, has amassed such a huge following.

The honest answer, however, must start with British rule.

The British were grateful to the Sikh princes for assistance received during the 1857 mutiny, and seeing the bravery of the Sikh armies realised they could be an effective buffer between Afghanistan and India.

They replaced Bengali soldiers with loyal Sikhs and Punjabi Muslims, but insisted that only those Sikhs who sported the five Ks, or symbols of Sikhism, could join the army.

Since it was mainly Jat Sikhs who sported the five Ks then, they were the biggest beneficiaries.

The British enforced rigid occupational boundaries by creating 'traditional agriculturists', 'martial races' and 'trading castes'.

The Jats were classified as traditional agriculturists and came to dominate the ownership of land as well.

The other dominant community, Khatris or Kshatriyas, took to education and business. They had also been landholders till the Punjab Land Alienation Act of 1900 forbade them to do so as they were declared a 'non-agricultural' tribe.

Many families got around this artificially imposed caste barrier by raising one or more son as a Sikh, chiefly by having them adopt the name Singh and grow hair/beard to match.

British policy supported forces that divided Punjab into Hindu and Sikh http://www.esamskriti.com/e/History/Indian-History/How-The-British-Divided-Punjab-Into-Hindu-And-Sikh-1.aspx

Their objective was met with the passage of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee Act in 1925, which resulted in the Akalis having control over gurdwaras in Punjab, and heralded the irrevocable tradition of mixing religion and politics in Punjab.

It also made Jat Sikhs a powerful community.

Backward classes were declared a non-agricultural caste. Thus, they could not own land and had to work as farm labour.

Punjab and Haryana became states in 1966.

Power invariably alternated between the Akalis and Congress in Punjab. However, irrespective of the party, Jats ruled Punjab.

In spite of backward classes believed to constitute over 30 per cent of the state's population, Jats were the dominant political class.

The Green Revolution of the late 1960s benefited Jats the most as they were the dominant agricultural caste.

In the prosperity that followed, the backward classes and poor were left out.

To add to their woes was the insecurities caused by the extremely violent Khalistan movement of the 1980s.

Deras existed earlier too, but the external environment increased the insecurity. The need for a support system and to be part of a larger community was felt.

It is this vacuum that deras like Sacha Sauda filled.

They made the poor feel secure, cared for, loved, provided a support system and gave them dignity.

Put yourself in the shoes of a poor devotee.

It is natural for the poor to seek the blessings of the guru who helps them.

Remember, it is in the DNA of Indians to consciously surrender to a person who they call their guru.

Why does Dera Sacha Sauda have such a huge following?

According to an August 24, 2017 report in Chandigarh's Tribune newspaper, the reasons are four-fold (external link). http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/why-dera-sacha-sauda-attracts-such-huge-following/456843.html

One, identities of caste and religion cease to exist in the dera.

Two, the humble ranking of dera management. A state is divided into zones, with each zone headed by a man called Bhangi Das.

Three, subsidised food and free rations.

Four, many districts close to Sirsa in Haryana are plagued by knee problems and cancer due to bad quality of water. The dera provided free treatment.2

Remember, Indian religions are not organised and rigid, but amorphous. So people across the country have always flocked to sants in their region.

Within a common spiritual framework, the guru's organisations provided spiritual and emotional support to its followers.

According to a scholar and long-time resident of Jalandhar, "Deras have done outstanding work in social, educational, medical and spiritual fields. The quantum of work done in the last 20 years far exceeds that of religious organisations."

Also, members of a dera become part of a larger community network. It helps them in business dealings, social engagements and even in finding life partners.

Conservative Sikhs oppose deras for many reasons. A person going to a dera invariably does not visit a gurdwara.

Two, there is a financial angle. The money and food-grain that would be donated to a langar at gurdwaras now goes to the dera.

While the orthodox believe in the Guru Granth Sahib as the guru, the deras focus on a personal guru without denying, in any way, the importance of scriptures.

Tension between conservative Sikhs and backward class deras resulted in the murder of Guru Sant Rama Nand in Vienna in 2009.

He belonged to the Dera Sach Khand, inspired by the 15th century spiritual leader Ravidas whose followers belong to the backward classes.

Thousands of followers went on a rampage (external link) in Punjab after the murder. http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2009/05/26/is-caste-behind-the-killing-in-vienna-and-riots-in-punjab/

Sacha Sauda is not the only dera opposed by conservative Sikhs. Radhasoamis are also opposed because they too believe in a personal guru, and ask disciples to do simran of panj nam (five names) which they keep a secret.

They rely on the bani (word) of the Guru Granth Sahib (as also that of Saar Bachan) in satsang, but do not follow the way of devotion observed in gurdwaras.

However, whatever may be the history, violence by the followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.

But, for a lasting solution, we must understand why devotees are willing to lay down their lives for their guru, rather than seeing the violence through the urban English-speaking prism.

It is debatable if the police would have fired on protestors if they were residents of south Mumbai/Delhi, sectors 2 to 11 of Chandigarh, or students of JNU.

Remember, when a rally to protest the violence against Myanmar's Rohingyas at Mumbai's Azad Maidan turned violent on August 11, 2012, in which vehicles and broadcast vans were torched, policewomen were molested, and weapons were snatched from the police, the state government of the day did not allow the police to open fire on the violent rioters. http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-pix-mumbai-protest-turns-violent-vehicles-torched/20120811.htm

This is what former Mumbai police commissioner Julio Ribeiro had to say about the incident (external link). http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/column-what-really-happened-at-azad-maidan-on-august-11-1731988

Now let us look at the political aspects of the dera.

As India liberalised and with the advent of the cell phone, the new generation of backward classes felt confident enough to break free from the Jat-dominated politics of Punjab and Haryana.

With awareness dawned the realisation of the power of their votes.

Jat politicians too sensed the change.

So around 2007, the Haryana and Punjab chief ministers, namely Om Parkash Chautala and Parkash Singh Badal, visited the Sacha Sauda's Sirsa headquarters.

Five years later, Captain Amarinder Singh again sought the baba's 'blessings'.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, a late comer in Haryana's political game, too adopted the same strategy.

So every political party has wooed the Jat Sikh Baba.

The mixture of religion with politics, which started with the passing of the SGPC Act in 1925, continues to this day.

In fact, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was provided Z-plus security by the United Progressive Alliance government.

Note that it was competitive vote-bank politics between the Akalis and the Congress that gave rise to Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and a major reason for the terrorism that engulfed Punjab in the 1980s.

Having realised the power of their votes, the poor wanted to break the Jat hegemony over politics.

They tasted blood in Haryana when the BJP appointed M L Khattar -- a non-Jat -- as chief minister.

Unable to deal with loss of power, some hit back through the violent Jat agitation in Haryana.

The Congress in Punjab and the SGPC dislike the Dera Sacha Sauda for various reasons.

One, the Dera supported the BJP-Akali combine in the last assembly election.

Two, in a caste-ridden Punjabi society, 'dera life provides an equal status to all castes'.

Three, the dera unites Hindus and Sikhs, something that conservative Sikhs are against.

Prem Insaan, a resident of Bathinda, said, "Different communities and castes have their own temples and gurdwaras in Punjab and Haryana, but at our dera all are equal."

"The dera advocates humanity. We may be Hindu, Sikh or anything else, but we have failed to end caste divisions in society."

During the recent violence Captain Amarinder Singh has presented himself as an able administrator in comparison to Haryana's Khattar.

Breaking the back of this dera would please the SGPC and conservative Sikhs no end.

Recent events have to be viewed against this backdrop.

The Congress is working to a plan. It desperately wants to win back Haryana, a state where land is highly valued.

After the BJP outsourced Punjab to the Akalis, its supporters had no option but to vote for the Congress.

Unless the BJP becomes active in Punjab and has a chief minister in Haryana who understands that religion and power are intertwined in Punjab and Haryana and finds a way to counter the Jats, the Congress will return to power in 2019.

The affluent classes and political parties must bring the backward classes into the mainstream.

Sanjeev Nayar is an independent columnist, founder, www.esamskriti.com and author of How the British sowed the seeds for the Khalistani Movement before the Indians took over.
He tweets @sanjeev1927

 

--

sent from samsung galaxy note3 neo, so please excuse brevity

China Claims Victory in Doklam

China claims victory over India in Doklam dispute, as India agrees to withdraw troops:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41070767

Doklam Analyses

Different foreign analyses on the Doklam standoff:

why accelerators etc are not that useful

https://inc42.com/entrepreneurship/accelerators-incubators-mentors/?utm_source=Inc42+Main&utm_campaign=ce54c2943e-Daily_Newsletter_300&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_849f9683a8-ce54c2943e-107306461

--

sent from samsung galaxy note3 neo, so please excuse brevity

most innovative companies, per forbes

https://www.forbes.com/innovative-companies/list/#tab:rank

--

sent from samsung galaxy note3 neo, so please excuse brevity

With Amazon buying Whole Foods to make a play to dominate the grocery business, I wonder if Indian e-tailers like Snapdeal or Flipkart will take a fresh look at groceries as part of their competitive strategies:


http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/25/technology/business/amazon-whole-foods-strategy/index.html

New Trailer for Blade Runner 2049

Ryan Gosling teams up with Harrison Ford in the continuation of the Replicant saga:




It's interesting to note that director Ridley Scott's other famous movie franchise, Alien, is also set in the same story universe as Blade Runner. The Tyrell Corporation which manufactures Replicants in the Blade Runner storyline is apparently a competitor to the Weyland-Yutani Corporation which manufactures the androids in the Alien storyline.

Quick notes: Right-of-way, Killbots...

• Muharram has right-of-way: Mamata Banerjee says no Durga idol immersion on Muharram



• Ghar wapsi in quota case: Conversion good, ghar-wapsi bad according to All India Catholic Union and John Dayal.



• Overdue: OBC list to be sub-categorised



• Chinese threat: India tightens power grid, telecom rules. Local firms have long argued against Chinese involvement in the power sector, raising security concerns and saying they get no reciprocal access to Chinese markets.



• China role in floods? "There was no unnatural rain in neighboring Arunachal Pradesh to trigger such a massive flooding in Assam. We need to know where the water came from. There was also no warning from China. Unnatural release of river water could be a ticking hydrogen bomb".



• Killbots: Elon Musk urges the UN to limit AI weapons



• HCCI Explained:




• Lesson for Modi Sarkar: Economists still can’t decide whether the minimum wage is a good thing. A recent study found that a sharp rise in the minimum wage in Seattle led to job losses and fewer hours for low-wage workers—exactly what supply and demand theory would predict



• Targeting India, specifically women:

Both tobacco industry and liquor industry are now targeting India, & specifically women, for growth. https://t.co/ErZb6ys0nY

— Oldtimer (@auldtimer) August 19, 2017

TV Series: Salvation

Over the summer, I've really been enjoying the new TV series Salvation - it's my next favorite after Game of Thrones. The story is about a group of people trying to avert disaster after the discovery that the Earth is in imminent danger from an asteroid collision.

http://deadline.com/2016/10/salvation-cbs-summer-drama-series-alex-kurtzman-1201839868/







The show is styled as a Tom Clancy-esque techno-thriller and is very well-written, with fast-pacing, lots of plot twists and intrigue adding to the suspense. It also has a surprising amount of references to current politics and culture, including an Elon Musk type of hero with a powerful rocket and a vision for Mars colonization, tensions between the superpowers, a volatile US president snarling against the "Deep State", and even covers ISRO cooperating with NASA. The casting for the show is also very good, and even includes some young Indian-American actors in the mix. Microsoft and Amazon are among the sponsors of this TV production.

Fwd: The way around China+Afghan reality check+Floods in India+Drones and UAV Swarming+US misreads rhetoric for reality on North Korea

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sanjeev Nayyar

1. Trump's Independence Day gesture has political implications': Why India-US talks are 'rattling' China 22.8.17 by Kanwal Sibal

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-4810884/Why-India-talks-rattling-China.html#ixzz4qT9m1Q8l

 

2. The way around China 24.8.17 by G Parthasarathy http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/the-way-around-china/456447.html

Across India's eastern shores, China has outmanoeuvred the US, Japan and India by strengthening its political and economic influence in the economic and political policies of Aung San Suu Kyi. It is set to build the strategic port of Kyaukpyu in the Bay of Bengal, while shaping its maritime silk road by taking over Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka. Riding on hubris, China, however, gravely miscalculated what the response of India and Bhutan would be to its intrusion in Doklam.

In the meantime, imaginative diplomacy is required to ensure China is given a face-saving way out from its present predicament.'

 

3. Modi makes a suprise call in Debua 24.8.17 https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/modi-makes-surprise-call-pm-deuba-new-delhi/

 

4. Trump pressures Pakistan and engages India in new Afghan strategy: experts 24.8.17 http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0824/c90000-9259673.html

 

5. Afghan reality check 23.8.17 by zamir akram https://tribune.com.pk/story/1488463/afghan-reality-check/

 

6. Floods in India: A challenge for governance and diplomacy 22.317 by rakesh kr sinha http://www.indiandefencereview.com/news/floods-in-india-a-challenge-for-governance-and-diplomacy/

 

7. Drones and UAV Swarming – more dimensions 23.8.17 by lt gen prakash katoch http://www.indiandefencereview.com/news/drones-and-uav-swarming-more-dimensions/

 

8. US misreads rhetoric for reality on North Korea 24.8.17 by m austin https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/International-Relations/US-misreads-rhetoric-for-reality-on-North-Korea

Pyongyang is attempting to split the U.S. from its allies and partners. Ri promised explicitly in a recent statement that no other countries will be targeted by the North's nuclear weapons, unless they join a U.S.-led military attack.

 

9. Playing India separation card a poor choice 24.8.17 http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1062788.shtml

 

10. India shouldn't see Nepal's economy as a strategic battlefield against China's influence 23.8.17 http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1062835.shtml

'If India puts the wrong geopolitical interpretation on economic cooperation between China and Nepal, it will pay a heavy price to win support from the smaller Himalayan country. The economic strength of India, whose GDP is about just one-fifth of that of China, may not be enough to win the competition against China in striving for Nepal's support.'

 

Warm Regards
sanjeev nayyar
to unsubscribe write back

--

sent from samsung galaxy note3 neo, so please excuse brevity

silicon valley is now facing a huge housing crisis

https://www.ft.com/content/82bc282e-8790-11e7-bf50-e1c239b45787

--

sent from samsung galaxy note3 neo, so please excuse brevity

Fwd: "Vanishing Hindus of India" - Dr. Saswati Sarkar

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rajiv 

Good research and excellent presentation on how Residual India is being de-hinduised.

"Vanishing Hindus of India" by Dr. Saswati Sarkar

https://youtu.be/Wr6wrcUzQt4

Hindu Memorial Day observance, Aug. 19th, 2017

Organized by Hindu Mahasabha of America

--
Rajiv Varma
Tel.  +1 (832) 736-5643 | rajiv555 @ yahoo . com | http://www.facebook.com/rajiv555

--

sent from samsung galaxy note3 neo, so please excuse brevity

cambrige university bows to han censorship; later they did rescind

CUP acceded to han threats, but belatedly, after much loss of face, reversed the decision. 

what it means:

1. an intolerant and aggressive group (eg hans or jihadis) always gets their way

2. money talks. brits have no money and will prostitute themselves eagerly

https://qz.com/1056938/cambridge-university-press-china-quarterly-complies-with-censorship-removes-300-articles-on-topics-like-tiananmen-and-tibet-in-china/

--

sent from samsung galaxy note3 neo, so please excuse brevity

americans binge-drinking to death: leftie agenda for indian women too

there's a virtual epidemic of women getting blitzed (also older people) in the US, which is probably as good a sign as any of a nation and a civilization in decline. 

lefties want 'liberated' indian women to follow.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-alcohol-idUSKBN1AP1VG

--

sent from samsung galaxy note3 neo, so please excuse brevity

good to see a dissenting view on how hans are going to rule the world

http://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/world-economy/could-the-worlds-new-superpower-be-on-the-verge-of-collapse/news-story/46a688923e23434cb8bb32e8fa576b74

--

sent from samsung galaxy note3 neo, so please excuse brevity

hindus most educated in the US

yet our income doesn't even begin to match the huge educational advantage. this must mean glass ceilings, racism and bigotry. 

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/04/the-most-and-least-educated-u-s-religious-groups/?utm_content=buffer1cc91&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

--

sent from samsung galaxy note3 neo, so please excuse brevity

why we should worry about #nuclear fallout and second order effects

https://medium.com/freeman-spogli-institute-for-international-studies/why-we-should-start-worrying-about-nuclear-fallout-d55ec51b0518

--

sent from samsung galaxy note3 neo, so please excuse brevity

Data Science, AI, and Stock Markets

Here's an old by interesting article on Do-It-Yourself personal algorithmic trading:

https://www.ft.com/content/0a706330-5f28-11e6-ae3f-77baadeb1c93


What was interesting is how it's spurring Mathematicians, Data Scientists, and AI programmers to come up with algorithms and strategies to beat the stock market. There's a direct financial reward and profit motivation here.

Rajeev was talking about how India is behind on AI - well, maybe financially incentivized pursuits like this could be a way to get the naturally competitive Indians into developing their AI talents. It could be a way to tap our natural human resource talent pool for beneficial progress.

Quick notes: India's help, Pakis rattled...

• Trump’s Request for India’s Help Rattles Pakistan: “By inviting India to be more active in Afghanistan, Trump has confirmed the worst fears of Pakistan’s generals”.



• Afghan women in 1972: This 1972 photo of women in Afghanistan helped persuade Trump to commit to war in Afghanistan
  



• Comment on NYT: "Where did you get the bit about the US paying billions to India? A quick google search should help clear this up. India has spent billions of its own in Afghanistan to build roads and infrastructure" - nytcalif.



• India already helps: India has given $3 billion in assistance since the Taliban government was toppled by coalition forces in 2001. And over the years India, Afghanistan’s biggest regional donor, has built more than 2,500 miles of roads, dams, hydropower plants and the country’s new parliament building

India already gives Afghanistan billions in aid. Now Trump says India must 'help us more.' https://t.co/3le2UakUgH

— Annie Gowen (@anniegowen) August 22, 2017




• Another Comment on NYT: Pradeep Bangalore, India: Thin ray of hope for India always comes from Republicans. Right from JFK, Democrats have unpleasant relationship with New Delhi. Bill Clinton's obsession with Kashmir followed by hard sanctions post nuclear tests hurt Indians. Obama's failure to throttle strategic partnership has propelled Indians to hope the hard hitting current President will do some constructive damage to Pakistan vis-a-vis declaring it a paraiah state.
  
  Republicans however, other than Nixon, have not failed to recognize India as a strategic Partner. Regan's negotiations to help India find nuclear suppliers is not forgotten. Bush Jr accepted India as a nuclear power by concluding 123 agreement, a watershed moment for India's strategic posture.

Fwd: Lutyens moles work to damage PM Modi - Madhav Nalapat

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Nic

In case you hadn't seen…

 

http://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/7718-lutyens-moles-work-damage-pm-modi

 

Lutyens moles work to damage PM Modi

By Madhav Nalapat | New Delhi | 18 December, 2016

… According to the Lutyens duo, "out of 11 senior bureaucrats who were involved for 17 weeks prior to 8 November in the planning of the currency switch", two are still "100% loyal to the Lutyens Zone" and therefore gave the government "advice that will boomerang on the government". An example was the decision to replace the Rs 1,000 denomination note with a Rs 2,000 substitute. This "went against the logic of the metric system, where the deferred number mathematical theory points to 1, 2, 5 and 10". It was pointed out by the strategists that throughout the globe, 1, 2, 5 and 10 (i.e. 10, 20, 50 and 100 or 100, 200, 500, 1000) are used to fix the value of currency. "By arbitrarily fixing 2000 and 100 as the two effective bands, the first has become useless in several transactions, while the latter is being hoarded", a Lutyens Zone strategist pointed out, adding that the particular civil servant who recommended the Rs 2,000 note and withdrawal of the Rs 1,000 note "would get a Governorship when we take office by mid-2019 latest". …

 

 

Virus-free. www.avast.com

--

sent from samsung galaxy note3 neo, so please excuse brevity

Fwd: V. Ramachandran, the Noted Neuroscientist, In Conversation with Rajiv Malhotra

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rajiv Malhotra

Please subscribe to my YouTube channel: CLICK                                                                  CLICK FOR VIDEO: V. Ramachandran, the Noted Neuroscientist, In Conversation with Rajiv Malhotra     V. Ramachandran is considered one of the foremost neuroscientist in the world. He has made numerous path-breaking scientific discoveries to his credit. This episode is the first of hopefully many more conversations between these two very creative individuals exploring the frontiers of mind science.       On YouTube: CLICK   On Facebook: CLICK   Please watch and post your comments.   To help us continue this innovative and provocative alternative to mainstream media please donate to our tax-exempt foundation in USA or in India. DONATE   Regards, Rajiv Facebook: @RajivMalhotra.Official YouTube: www.youtube.com/RajivMalhotraOfficial Twitter: @RajivMessage

This message was sent to Rajeev.srinivasan@gmail.com from rajivmalhotra2011@gmail.com

Rajiv Malhotra
Infinity Foundation
174 Nassau Street #400
Princeton, NJ 08542

Manage Your Subscription

--

sent from samsung galaxy note3 neo, so please excuse brevity

Fwd: "Is Templeton Foundation Digesting Vedanta into Christianity?"

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rajiv Malhotra

Please subscribe to my YouTube channel: CLICK                                                                  CLICK FOR VIDEO: "Is Templeton Foundation Digesting Vedanta into Christianity?"  Dr. Ravi Ravindra, Templeton Advisor and Philosopher of Science & Religion In Conversation with Rajiv Malhotra       Dr Ravi Ravindra has played a critical role in education Templeton Foundation & other Christian intellectuals on how to digest Vedanta ideas to boost and reinvent Christianity in a scientific manner. Rajiv Malhotra brings this out systematically, and both sides discuss the pros/cons of this.       On YouTube: CLICK   On Facebook: CLICK   Please watch and post your comments.   To help us continue this innovative and provocative alternative to mainstream media please donate to our tax-exempt foundation in USA or in India. DONATE   Regards, Rajiv Facebook: @RajivMalhotra.Official YouTube: www.youtube.com/RajivMalhotraOfficial Twitter: @RajivMessage

This message was sent to Rajeev.srinivasan@gmail.com from rajivmalhotra2011@gmail.com

Rajiv Malhotra
Infinity Foundation
174 Nassau Street #400
Princeton, NJ 08542

Manage Your Subscription

--

sent from samsung galaxy note3 neo, so please excuse brevity

Jaitley: New Bankruptcy Laws Should Protect Assets, Not Destroy Them

As Arun Jaitley has explained, India's new insolvency laws must protect the valuation of assets, rather than wastefully letting assets lose value:


https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2017/08/20/arun-jaitleys-right-indias-new-insolvency-laws-protect-business-assets-not-destroy-them/

How we clean up the inevitable mistakes in an economy is important and as Jaitley says, doing so before business assets devalue to nothing is the point and purpose of an insolvency and bankruptcy system--India's system is getting better by being faster.

NRI Kids Turning into Lefty Street Trash

CNN had a recent feature story on the Antifa movement ("Anti-fascist"), and they showed yet another lost generation embracing street violence as their calling. What caught my attention was some NRI kid they did a profile on:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/18/us/unmasking-antifa-anti-fascists-hard-left/index.html

Quick notes: Competing over Nepal, Ancestry testing...

• Nepal uses India-China rivalry to fund its railway network: Delhi is funding the reconstruction of the Janakpur line that will allow it to connect to the rest of the subcontinent's expansive rail network. Beijing pledged USD 8.3 billion to build roads and hydropower plants in Nepal, dwarfing India's commitments of USD 317 million.  Feasibility studies are also underway for a Beijing- backed railway connecting Kathmandu to Lhasa in Tibet, cutting straight through the Himalayas at an estimated cost of $8 billion. 



• China refuses to share hydrological data: China has also blocked a tributary of the Brahmaputra river in Tibet as part of the construction of its hydro project, which is causing concern in India.



• Leaking data: Government asks 21 smartphone makers, most of them Chinese, to share security information. 



• Defense tech: China's making major progress with its aircraft carrier tech



• Racial purity: White supremacists have stumbled into a huge issue -- Genetic Ancestry Testing



• Violation of anti-smoking laws: Govt threatens Philip Morris with ‘punitive action



• Winning the meeting:

Après Bannon, le Déluge?

Departing Whitehouse strategist/advisor Steve Bannon has given an interview saying the Trump presidency "is over":




Bannon's friends are saying that he's now ready to "go nuclear", unleashing attacks on other Trump advisors and GOP moderates who are insufficiently reform-minded and too entrenched in status quo politics:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/bannon-unleashed/537381/

“He’s going nuclear,” said another friend. “You have no idea. This is gonna be really fucking bad.”

This could work in India's favor, given that America's status quo politics, including its Deep State, are totally anchored in Atlanticism, giving priority to perpetual confrontation with Russia over real dangers like the twin threats of rising Islamist militancy and Chinese hegemony.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/18/why-bannon-lost-globalists-won-215506

Steve Bannon Out at Whitehouse

Donald Trump has removed Steve Bannon from his role in the Whitehouse administration:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-decides-to-get-rid-of-white-house-chief-strategist-stephen-bannon/2017/08/18/98cd5c40-8430-11e7-902a-2a9f2d808496_story.html


This is too bad - like Flynn, he had an ideological tilt that was very beneficial for India, including a strong tilt against Islamic fundamentalism and Chinese expansionism.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/08/17/think-what-you-want-about-steve-bannon-but-hes-got-a-good-point-on-china/


His departure could mean a deepy and possibly fatal wound for the Trump administration, since Bannon was a key favorite among the nationalists who form Trump's base. Bannon had apparently already submitted his resignation on August 7, so his recent leaked remarks to the media were made in the wake of his own departure decision. Breitbart's news site are of course close surrogates of Bannon, so their reaction is likely to be highly critical of Trump.

On the other hand, Bannon will be back to cultivating his media-driven movement again:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bannons-next-move-a-return-to-breitbart-news-with-more-reach-than-ever/2017/08/18/3502d18c-843e-11e7-b359-15a3617c767b_story.html

https://www.axios.com/bannons-next-move-2474479917.html

India Supplying BrahMos to Vietnam

In a bold move, the Indian govt has decided to sell the BrahMos supersonic anti-ship cruise missile to Vietnam, and the first batch has already been received by them:

http://defenceaviationpost.com/brahmos-chinese-backyard-vietnam-acquires-supersonic-cruise-missiles-india/





BrahMos is a 1-shot-1-kill weapon -- once the missile comes into detection range, the target has less than 6 seconds to react.

https://bharatkarnad.com/2017/08/18/finally-vietnam-has-the-brahmos/

Bannon Trying to Re-Shape USA's Asia Policy

Trump's policy strategist Steve Bannon is trying to re-shape America's policies towards Asia, as he works to oust those whom he feels represent the status quo:

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/08/bannon-interview-thornton/537189/

“I’m changing out people at East Asian Defense; I’m getting hawks in,” Bannon told The American Prospect, a liberal magazine, in a candid interview. “I’m getting Susan Thornton [acting head of East Asian and Pacific Affairs] out at State.”
At issue in the interview are Bannon’s views toward China—“We’re at economic war with China”—and what he sees as its inadequate help reining in North Korea. (“On Korea, they’re just tapping us along. It’s just a sideshow.” He also said he doesn’t believe there’s a military solution for North Korea.)

http://www.politico.eu/article/steve-bannon-white-house-vows-to-shake-up-staffing/

“To me,” Bannon said, “the economic war with China is everything. And we have to be maniacally focused on that. If we continue to lose it, we’re five years away, I think, 10 years at the most, of hitting an inflection point from which we’ll never be able to recover.”
Pushing his get-tough-with-China approach is “a fight I fight every day here.” At least part of his strategy, he said, would be to change out staff members at the State Department and Department of Defense, specifically naming one official he planned to remove.

http://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2107132/bannon-says-us-being-crushed-china-economic-war-he

https://www.ft.com/video/223f875c-cb61-4a71-aace-b94d52e312a4

China State Media Lampoons Indians

China's official state news service, Xinhua, has put out a video featuring an ethnic caricature of Indians while discussing the issue of the Doklam dispute:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/08/17/chinese-state-media-made-a-racist-video-about-india-and-is-censoring-its-critics/

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-40957719

The video features a Chinese actor in costume mimicking an Indian accent

Stay classy, China. 😒


Meanwhile, Congress mouthpiece Prem Shankar Jha attempts an even worse caricature:

https://thewire.in/168526/narendra-modi-india-bjp-shah/

China Border Threat

Another Chinese border incursion has occurred - this time in Ladakh:

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/at-ladakh-lake-india-china-stand-off-lasted-2-hours-10-facts-1738087


Brahma Chellaney warns that China certainly wants war:

http://www.dailyo.in/politics/china-war-xi-jinping-doklam/story/1/18991.html

Quick notes: Chinese imports, Beef in cereal...

• Imports of electronics and IT products from China:  "Many of the devices transmit, or store, data back into Chinese servers, which could pose a security risk. Also, online transactions using many of these devices and platforms can be tracked back to Chinese servers, which can create security issues for the country".



• Sigh!: India’s exports to China include iron ore, cotton yarn, petroleum products, copper and chemicals, while imports include telecom instruments, electronic components, computer hardware, industrial machinery and chemicals.



• Hindus offended: Gelatin derived from beef is used in a variety of Kellogg cereal products.



• White Jesus: Too many Christian pastors are silent on Charlottesville violence



• Sikhs in America: For more than a century, Sikhs in the U.S. have faced hate and violence.



• On Hinduism:

  Hinduism gave itself no name, because it set itself no sectarian limits; it claimed no universal adhesion, asserted no sole infallible dogma, set up no single narrow path or gate of salvation; it was less a creed or cult than a continuously enlarging tradition of the God ward endeavor of the human spirit. An immense many-sided and many staged provision for a spiritual self-building and self-finding, it had some right to speak of itself by the only name it knew, the eternal religion, Santana Dharma.
  
  Now just here is the first baffling difficulty over which the European mind stumbles; for it finds itself unable to make out what Hindu religion is.... How can there be a religion which has no rigid dogmas demanding belief on pain of eternal damnation, no theological postulates, even no fixed theology, no credo, distinguishing it from antagonistic or rival religions? How can there be a religion which has no papal head, no governing ecclesiastic body, no church, chapel or congregational system, no binding religious form of any kind obligatory on all its adherents, no one administration and discipline? For the Hindu priests are mere ceremonial officiants without any ecclesiastical authority or disciplinary powers and the Pundits are mere interpreters of the Shastra, not the law-givers of the religion or its rulers.
  
  How again can Hinduism be called a religion when it admits all beliefs, allowing even a kind of high-reaching atheism and agnosticism and permits all possible spiritual experiences, all kinds of religious adventures? -- Sri Aurobindo, India's Rebirth

Quick notes: Border patrol, HCCI engine...

• What next on the border? China would face significant military disadvantages in mounting a frontal attack to evict Indian troops from Doklam. As a face-saver, the PLA might choose to occupy another strategic border pass, such as the 17,500 foot Lipulekh on the India-China-Nepal tri-junction.



• Nepal moves closer to the dragon: Former PM K P Oli is the leader of anti-India constituents in Nepal.



• India ill-prepared to handle Chinese cyber attacks:  "Our government is not yet capable of understanding this level of attacks".



• Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition: Mazda says it has made a long-awaited breakthrough in engine technology



• SoftBank Vision Fund: Flipkart now has a $4 billion war chest to take on Amazon



• Operation Sanctuary: Paki child sex network convicted



• Tanmoy Ray: Beginners Guide to Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, NLP, Deep Learning, Big Data Analytics and Blockchain



• Raga Jaijaiwanti: Kesarbai Kerkar

Sundar Pichai - Google's Own Manmohan Singh?

In a scathing piece in the New York Times, columnist David Brooks says that Google CEO Sundar Pichai should step down following his firing of an employee for remarks on women during a discussion of why certain groups (eg. women) are less prevalent in the software industry:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/11/opinion/sundar-pichai-google-memo-diversity.html

"....this episode suggests he should seek a nonleadership position."

Gee, that sort of sums up how exasperated Indians felt with Manmohan Singh.

US Trade Crackdown on China Coming

The Trump admin is about to launch a series of measures against China as part of a trade crackdown on the country, spurred in part by Beijing's lack of effort in bringing its client North Korea to heel:


http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/11/trumps-china-trade-crackdown-coming-monday-241558


India should watch and take notes on the effectiveness of US measures against China, given the latter's role as Pakistan's military patron (and now economic patron as well).