Quick notes: Free-trade champions | Paki exports...
- Beware of Hans bearing Free-Trade gifts: Data show that China itself imposes the largest number of non-tariff measures (NTMs) on India, more than any other country.
- FTA hit on direct taxes: The point often missed is that the govt of the importing country tends to lose that much revenue by way of lost direct taxes (corporate tax on profits, personal/corporate income taxes on salaries, interest and rent) which it could have gathered had these goods been manufactured within India. The govt should levy a withholding tax on imports equivalent to the loss in domestic direct taxes such imports cause.
- China enables Pakistan to become a defense exporter: Myanmar Air Force released pictures of four JF-17s that it had purchased from Pakistan. The deal was facilitated by China, which gave the country credit to eventually acquire 16 JF-17s.. Pakistan discussed future sales to Malaysia and Azerbaijan as well as sales of additional fighters to Nigeria, which now has three JF-17s.
- Drone Swarms: The high-tech future of war. A large number of cheap drones could be very useful for fighter planes.
- The warrior in us: Guru Gobind Singh conceived and implemented the idea of the militant order of the Khalsa—as a brotherhood of soldier-saints, pledged to invoke the name of the almighty, protect the weak, engage in charity and fight oppression. The distinct identity and appearance of the Khalsa ensured that they stood and fought, rather than take the easy way out. This moral binding added to the constant persecution by the Mughals and the experience gained in minor conflicts made the Sikh soldier what he became in the latter half of the 18th century—a war-winning force. For the next century, he was to remain in a state of relentless war, resulting in the Sikhs carving out an empire of their own.
The martyrdom of Banda Singh Bahadur, Guru Gobind Singh’s political and military successor, in 1716 added the proverbial fuel to the fire, further fanning the Sikh ‘warrior’ passions. The warrior spirit sustained and continued to grow. They were able to strike at will, not only at the Mughal armies but also at new invaders from Central Asia.
- Something’s burning: The extensive cultivation of paddy in Punjab and Haryana is central to the problem. Being a water intensive crop (1 kilogram of rice consumes 3,000-5,000 kg of water), the two States have sought to reduce groundwater drawals in the dry April-May period by mandating that paddy cultivation can only begin around mid-June. This has pushed the harvest date by six weeks to October when it is almost time to plant the rabi crop. The fields need to be cleared in a hurry, and stubble and straw burning is simply the fastest and cheapest way to do it
- Life-threatening 'Vikas':
Air pollution has cut short lives of Indo-Gangetic plain residents by
seven years. There has been a 72% increase in pollution from 1998 to
2016 in the region. . . . . . . . PM 2.5 pollutants
are toxic and so small that these beat the body's defences and settle
deep into lungs from where these spread to the bloodstream and other
organs causing inflammation and are linked to asthmatic attacks,
strokes, heart attacks, even dementia.
- Desis Leave New Jersey Streets Dirty:
- Energy storage without batteries:
Pumped hydro storage, Power-to-hydrogen, Thermal storage...
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