Friday, September 28, 2018

US Schools Banning Yoga

US schools are increasingly banning yoga, on the grounds that this amounts to propagation of a 'non-Christian' belief system in the public education system:

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/09/why-schools-are-banning-yoga/570904/


Unfortunately, this is the logical consequence of attempts by some Indians to claim ownership of yoga as an exclusively Hindu practice (ie. 'take back yoga'). Having pushed for this religious linkage, it is now shrinking the exposure to Indian culture. Likewise, the article mentions that Sanskrit is also taking flak. Is this something Hindus want to see?? Or is it good to see Sanskrit being rejected by others, so that Hindus can "take it back" for their own exclusive usage? You don't see this being done with Kung Fu, or Tai Chi, Karate, etc - but these are not subject to claims of exclusive ownership, even if their origins are recognized.

Quick notes: Rocket women, Alcohol consumption...

  • Rocket woman: How to cook curry and get a spacecraft into Mars orbit.. Can you guide a spacecraft into orbit around Mars and cook for eight people morning and night? Yes, if you get up at 5am, and your name is BP Dakshayani. Here the former head of flight dynamics and space navigation for the Indian space agency explains how she did it - and the housework too.  They became known as the Rocket Women or the Women from Mars.

    Four years ago, the picture of a group of women in saris celebrating as an Indian spacecraft successfully entered Mars orbit shone a light on the role played by women in the country's space programme - among them BP Dakshayani.


  • Machines Are Coming for India’s Unwanted Factory Jobs:  The trouble is finding jobs that Indians actually want. The country’s workers would rather drive for food-delivery services on the breezy, albeit steamy, roads of Mumbai and work in hotels than in factories. Fair enough. Who would want to work in a yarn mill, which needs to maintain a temperature of 33 degrees Celsius? Conditions on other industrial factory floors are likely worse... India's youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24) is one of the highest among large, global economies.


  • Growth creates fewer jobs than it used to: Between 2013 and 2015, total employment actually shrank by seven million. Since 2015 there has also been an absolute decline in job growth.


  • Alcohol intake in India doubles in 11 years: Per capita alcohol consumption in India has more than doubled from 2005 to 2016  


  • Temple land grab: “After acquiring lands from the people in the name of SEZ, and without paying compensation in time to the owners, the State govt allots them to various companies indiscriminately and that the latter do not set up industries on such lands, and all these activities show that there is some big conspiracy behind it. To acquire lands belonging to the temples the govt first resorts to annulling the existing temple boards and appoints persons in-charge in their place to cooperate with it for the purpose.”


  • HamSoham: Seattle Raga Labs with Ganesh Rajagopalan



  • China Pries Technology From U.S. Companies: An audit this year convinced an employee at one foreign auto maker there was “clear evidence of collusion” between the audit team and Chinese auto makers. When the audit began, the person says, inspectors asked for only the blueprints of the electric-vehicle components the foreign company was striving to protect from its Chinese joint-venture partner.  “Somehow they knew exactly the areas to look at,” the person says. “There wasn’t a single question about any of the other very complex systems on the vehicle.” 


  • Islam's True Colors: Chechnya starts concentration camps for gay men, first time after Hitler


  • Pick your battles:


Thursday, September 27, 2018

Pak Issues Arrest Warrant for Journalist Over 26-11 Article

Pakistani journalist Cyril Almeida has been put under an arrest warrant by Pakistani courts over his published interview with then PM Nawaz Sharif, in which Sharif complained about his military's involvement in the 26-11 Mumbai terror attacks:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/26/asia/pakistan-press-freedom-intl/index.html

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Monsanto's Pesticide Found to Harm Honeybees

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup pesticide, may harm honeybees:

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/09/18/1803880115

Indian farmers have eagerly embraced Roundup into their farming.

Saturday, September 15, 2018

Quick notes: Mudra loans, Bogota bikes...


Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Google's Attempts at Election-Rigging

Given the creative machinations of India's Left - including Bollywood - some vigilance against similar games in India may be appropriate.
If Indians can create a NAVIC to free themselves from dependence on GPS, then they should be able to create their own version of Google to maintain their information independence as well.








Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Quick notes: Crude oil bill, Green Sahara...

  • Rupee fall: How rupee has been held hostage to a 70% surge in India's crude oil bill


  • EVs to the rescue? India can save about Rs 1.2 tn worth of forex by switching to e-2 wheelers... only as  clean as the grid powering them.


  • Greening the Sahara: "Large-scale solar and wind farms in the Sahara would more than double the precipitation." 


  • How Congress manages the economy:


  • SS-ADT: The Solid State Active Denial Technology is a non-lethal weapon system which disrupts hostile activities and can deny personnel from remaining in specific areas, without causing permanent physical harm or collateral damage.



  • Section 377: India’s ancient religions are actually very accepting of gay people


Imran Khan Condemned for Axing Ahmadi Economic Advisor

Imran Khan is being widely condemned for axing an economic advisor for being an Ahmadi Muslim:

https://www.ft.com/content/b1862f06-b4c1-11e8-bbc3-ccd7de085ffe


As could have easily been predicted, Imran Khan's "Naya Pakistan" is nothing but a hollow sham.

Thursday, September 06, 2018

Quick notes: Navlekha, LinkedIn spies...

  • Google sees gold in Indian languages: Launches Navlekha, a platform to help Indian language publishers get on the web. It will use AI to render any PDF containing Indian language content into editable text. It also added a new feature to Google Go, its search app, that now lets users listen to web pages in 28 Indian languages. In 2016, it launched the tap to translate programme that lets users translate an image or text to their own native language.


  • Amazon India unveils Hindi website, app: None of India’s other leading e-commerce portals - Flipkart, Snapdeal or Paytm Mall - currently have a local language version of their apps or websites, and the move to launch a Hindi app and website could give Amazon access to tens of millions of new customers in India’s small towns and villages.


  • How cars took over the roads: City streets used to be a public space. Then automakers invented the crime of jaywalking. "In the early days of the automobile, it was drivers' job to avoid you, not your job to avoid them. But under the new model, streets became a place for cars — and as a pedestrian, it's your fault if you get hit."

  • https://www.vox.com/2015/1/15/7551873/jaywalking-history


  • Espionage: Chinese spy agencies are using fake LinkedIn accounts to try to recruit Americans with access to govt and commercial secrets


  • China Wooing Eastern and Central Europe: Overseen by Premier Li Keqiang, the 16+1 platform convenes an annual summit between China and sixteen Central and Eastern European countries. The initiative will “split the continent” and preclude the EU from adopting a unified stance towards China.


  • Coconut  oil:


  • Yoga for prostate health: Baddha Konasana, Supta Padangushtana I and II 


  • Technology: Made in Israel