Quick notes: Drone wars | Go local...

• Drone wars are here: Do we expect China to sit on the fence, like in 1971? China produces 1000 drones every day and we don’t even make 100 in one year that too mainly assembled by private firms.

...cont'd

A drone gun is capable of jamming radio, GPS & mobile signal, forcing the drone to ground in good time before damage.

A Bengaluru-based private company, BEML & ECIL working on counter-drone weapons. ATHENA or Advanced Test High Energy Asset, will soon be operational.

— Kiran Kumar S (@KiranKS) September 30, 2019




• Behind India's rotten economy: India has had to forego revenue to the tune of Rs 7,327 crore for its FTA with South Korea and Rs 4,053 crore for the trade deal with Japan. Total revenue foregone may hit as high as Rs 60,000 crore for the proposed RCEP deal once it goes live. Who is benefitting from India's Free Trade Agreements? Go Local!

Friends #Diwali and #Dussehra is around. Buy from people who in return can celebrate their festival. Go local. pic.twitter.com/yLRf8GKC2d

— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) September 29, 2019




• Bypassing Belt and Road: EU, Japan sign deal to link Asia. Setback for China's debt-trap diplomacy



• Prof Subhash Kak's brilliant ideas to promote Sanskrit:

Proposal to make Sanskrit more popular in colleges:

Devise an undergraduate degree in Sanskrit that has 4 courses on applied computer science:

1. Python and PHP
2. Discrete structures
2. Databases
3. Networks

Graduates will be able to work at many jobs in the IT field.

— Subhash Kak (@subhashkak1) September 25, 2019




Constructive idea to revive Sanskrit in India:

Produce abridged versions of 100 world classics (novels and stories) in सरल संस्कृत and publish them on the Web & in print. (with a glossary)

That would allow students to immerse themselves in Sanskrit in an enjoyable way.

— Subhash Kak (@subhashkak1) September 29, 2019




• Gene mutation: The modern humans who came out of Africa to originally settle Europe are presumed to have had dark skin. Then, the first farmers from the Near East arrived in Europe; they carried both genes for light skin. As they interbred with the indigenous hunter-gatherers, one of their light-skin genes swept through Europe.
  
  Another mutation took place about 6,000-10,000 years ago that resulted in the emergence of blue eyes.
  
  Interestingly, both these gene mutations can be traced to India and Middle East. So, it’s fair to ask if people with light skin and blue eyes did originate from India or Middle East some thousands of years ago?



• Excessive Hype : Just because something is new it doesn’t mean it will change your life or alter the tech landscape entirely. One example of this is the new 5G wireless service.



• “World’s largest fighter jet ecosystem” : Lockheed to begin supplying F-16 wings from Indian plant in 2020