Quick notes: 'Peaceful' rise | Pre-emptive surrender...

• China desperately wanted India's EV market: And India gifts it just that. China's BYD to build first EV plant in India amid rising global trade barriers... 'Hindu nationalist' sarkar falls for China's fake moves to restore peace on border. Global EV domination is key to China's "peaceful rise".



• India's pre-emptive surrender: "In comparison to other major economies, India's pre-emptive surrender on multiple trade fronts - without the US imposing a single country-specific tariff - makes it appear exceptionally vulnerable to pressure tactics."



• Trying to please Trump: Indian govt to abolish ‘Google tax’ amid Trump’s tariff threat



• Is Elon Musk helping China? Rubio sponsored the UFLPA, and he is a well-known China hawk. But Musk has business ties to China through his auto company Tesla. It sources batteries from battery maker CATL. Tesla recently wrote the administration warning the tariff war could make its cars more expensive.



• Trump's Auto Tariffs: Why Tesla is the biggest winner. . . Dated: Musk opposes US tariffs on Chinese EVs



• Why is X suing the Indian govt as Musk woos Modi? Because Modi is bending to everybody and his brother-in-law. The lawsuit comes as Musk edges closer to launching both Starlink and Tesla in India.



• Trump and China: "He doesn't have strong issues with China's authoritarian system. He doesn't really have issues with China's regional aggression as long as those regional aggressions do not immediately threaten American interests."



• Raag Yaman: Pt.kaivalyakumar Gurav




• Cable cutter: China’s cable cutter could sever 95% of world communications, work at extreme depths



• Huawei-linked firm makes an impressive debut: China’s SiCarrier surprises chip industry by unveiling extensive range of chip equipment at SEMICON 2025, potentially breaking ASML’s dominance



• Tesla killers: China is racing to unleash its super-smart cars



• China's clout: Trump floats reducing tariffs on China to secure TikTok deal

Quick notes: What Musk wants | WTO is toast...

• What Musk Really Wants: India’s appeasement of Trump comes to nought.. All this touchy-feely diplomatic propaganda masked what Musk really wants from India — that his Starlink be allowed to enter the Indian market via an administrative allocation of spectrum (as opposed to the hefty sums paid by the existing Indian players through competitive bidding), a reduction in import duties on electric vehicles, especially Tesla and a possible collaboration between Space X and ISRO.



• Forever indebted to our colonial masters: UK and India relaunch trade talks in Delhi. . . "Oxford seat for my daughter and you get to loot India again, deal?". . . . UK's richest 10% extracted $33.8 trillion from India during colonialism
  
  



• Darshan devo Shankar: Raag Yaman Kalyan bandish. Rahul Ranade, Navin and Chirag Solanki.




• ‘The WTO is toast.’: What happens to global trade now. The free trade promise of consumers buying from the lowest-cost producers could be imperiled.



• Trouble for China: Any deep understanding between the US and Russia will erode China’s influence at the high table. . . Checkmate Xi?



• What If China, America Make Up?: Possibility of America and China reaching some level of tactical accommodation. . . Trump Says New China Trade Deal ‘Possible’.



• The world's deadliest dam failures have occurred in China:

My column: The world's deadliest dam failures have occurred in China. And if a powerful earthquake caused China's super-dam to collapse, millions downstream could die, largely in India's populous Brahmaputra Valley. Yet India has said little on the threat. https://t.co/5AKxJZPRsG

— Brahma Chellaney (@Chellaney) January 29, 2025




• Raja Koduri on Intel's "cancel" culture: Intel’s ex-exec Raja Koduri says “You don’t learn without shipping”; gives a rundown into what’s wrong with Team Blue and how Intel is held back by bureaucratic snakes



• Hand in the cookie jar: Meta claims torrenting pirated books isn’t illegal without proof of seeding



• China's bicycle revival: "Automobiles, as a transportation method, have their limits".

Quick notes: Trade deal | Muslim refugees...

• Is it India's job to rescue her colonial masters? The UK economy is in shambles. India's economy is expected to double in GDP in the decade. India-UK trade deal - one-way street?
  
  The report of the House of Lords International Agreements Committee is replete with sermonising text. It observes, “India has a notoriously difficult business environment— corruption levels are high, business permits are difficult to obtain, tax and customs processes are complex, levels of contract enforcement are low, and IP protections are limited.”
  
  It also points out that the UK Government “has not been specific about the importance it will give to human, environmental and other rights and protections, nor (in most cases) about its red lines.”


.@RajivMessage explains the shortcomings of exporting India's manpower to help build foreign technology companies. He also emphasizes the need for #atmanirbhar in #research & #development as well. #aiandpower @NITIAayog
Watch the full conversation here- https://t.co/O0Y4HjKPKf pic.twitter.com/pSdZzh1N7W

— Infinity Foundation (@InfinityMessage) August 4, 2021





• Muslim refugees unwelcome in the Caliphate: Turkey deports hundreds of Syrian refugees. 'Taken to the border and forced to cross at gunpoint.'



• Cyber Jihad: Turkey secretly helped Pakistan in setting up a cyber army to shape public opinion and influence the views of Muslims



• Pope Francis: "Even nuns watch porn". He advised the group to "delete this from your phone, so you will not have temptation in hand".



• Drug manufacturing in India: Unregulated, out of control. Unlike other regulators like the TRAI and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) does not have any statutory backing.



• Ubuntu on RISC-V, under $20 computer: At the heart is a 1 GHz Allwinner D1 XuanTie C906 single-core processor based on RISC-V architecture



• Why You Should Avoid Vegetable Oils We were told to use more vegetable, seed and bean oils (like soybean, corn, safflower, canola). Now we know this advice was completely wrong.




• Tennis is mad at Pickleball mania: Pickleball is more accessible and fun than tennis. An 'addictive' game that won't stop growing

Quick notes: Globalists | Passive vaccine...

• Globalists May Soon Become an Extinct Species: Free trade is rare. Historically, it has been largely confined to periods when a major global power promoted the free exchange of products in its own enlightened self-interest. That was true of Great Britain in the 19th century after it spearheaded the Industrial Revolution and wanted to insure the easy flow of raw materials for its factories from abroad and foreign markets for their output. After World War II, Americans used trade to rebuild Western Europe and Japan to counter the Soviets.



• Israeli company working on ‘passive vaccine’:  “People that are exposed to a virus develop antibodies for that virus.. If patients who have recovered from the disease and are in convalescence donate plasma, there is a very good likelihood that in that plasma there are going to be antibodies.”



• Imported? Or returning home? Beijing hit by record imported coronavirus cases, no China transmissions



• Phoren returned: And entitled.

Isko Bolte hai entitlement. See this video and remember their faces( if you know them, publicly shame them), these are the people who just for their comfort want other Indians to suffer from the disease they(might) are carrying. Haramis pic.twitter.com/RXNeYfuDCA

— मिर्चा ग़ालिब (@mirchagalib) March 18, 2020




• Kumaoni folk नमस्ते करना:
    चैनीज़ माल है, थोडा ही टिकगा
    यू.ही गर्मी बढेगी, खुद ही मिटेगा 




• Where Ties With China Are Close, the C-virus Follows: Italy was the first (and only) G-7 nation to sign onto the Belt and Road Initiative. The cities hardest-hit by the virus, Milan, Venice, and Bergamo, have sister-city agreements with China. The Iranian regime has had a comprehensive strategic partnership with China since 2016. The Islamic Republic allowed flights in and out of four major Chinese cities until the end of February.



• Japanese Flu Drug 'Effective': Avigan, also known as Favipiravir, is effective in helping Wuhan Virus patients recover, China said. But a Japanese health ministry source suggested the drug was not as effective in people with more severe symptoms. In 2016, the Japan supplied Favipiravir as an emergency aid to counter the Ebola virus outbreak in Guinea. 



• Terminology: Isolation/Quarantine/Social Distancing.

To clarify:

Isolation = you have tested positive for the virus

Quarantine = you have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus & are waiting to see if you develop symptoms

Social distancing = something everyone can do to reduce the risk of transmission

— Renée Yoxon (they/them) (@reneeyoxon) March 14, 2020

Quick notes: Spin is off | Trade war lost...

• “Sheltering Minority Refugees Act”: This govt simply does not understand the art of telling its story and managing the narrative internationally.

India creates an act for sheltering persecuted minorities.

It is slammed in global media for “persecuting” minorities. 🙄

Language is key to narrative.

E.g. what if it had called the act, more accurately —“Sheltering Minority Refugees Act” instead of #CitizenshipAmendmentBill? https://t.co/SuQSd5vLlx

— Sankrant Sanu सानु संक्रान्त ਸੰਕ੍ਰਾਂਤ ਸਾਨੁ (@sankrant) December 10, 2019




• KKKaangress foments unrest: Joins hands with Breaking India forces. 



• Economy in a mess: States say Centre close to sovereign default.



• Mohandas Pai: BJP's big disconnect with South and East India




• Unified Payments Interface: Google thinks India’s UPI can become a global model.



• Trump lost the trade war: China stood firm and won. The sad truth is that the U.S. will continue to run huge wealth and technology transfers to China financed by America’s increasing net foreign debt that will show as net foreign assets on China’s books.
  
  

  That's certainly how the Chinese see it. Trump tried to bully them; they hung tough; and are basically ending up where they started, buying agricultural products while selling us increasingly sophisticated manufactured goods 2/ https://t.co/akDz4MGiIz

  — Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) December 15, 2019

  
  If losing some $17 billion in agricultural exports to China due to the trade war was tough for farmers, imagine a much larger market, with China taking some $50 billion away from American agribusiness in the future should relations deteriorate.
  
  This is not France versus Germany. This is a capitalist democracy versus a Frankenstein economy that’s one-part capitalist, one part state-controlled, and run by a single political party — the Communist Party — long considered the enemy of Western democracies.

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:

Ashamed to be called an Indian

Last Night on Indian Street near Journal Square New Jersey

Hats off to NJ Police handling the mess Very professionally 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/39nVmGaejO

— sANDhya (@DhooDala) October 28, 2019




• Energy storage without batteries: Pumped hydro storage, Power-to-hydrogen, Thermal storage...

Quick notes: RCEP trap | GM Mosquito...

• RCEP trap: Beijing desperately needs preferential access to markets such as India due to its tariff war with the US. This is a major driving force behind RCEP. Even without a Free Trade Agreement, Chinese goods swamp Indian markets.



• String of pearls: Deals with Thailand, Bangladesh show China's rise as warship exporter. The largest user of Chinese weapon systems in India's neighbourhood has been Pakistan 



• Point-of-Presence: China has been 'hijacking the vital internet backbone of western countries'



• Unforeseen outcomes: GM Mosquito project has gone wrong, failed experiment may have strengthened wild bugs. Not only did numbers bounce back up in the months after the test, but some of the native bugs had retained genes from the engineered mosquitoes.



• Independent India's biggest failure: India fails to feature in the top 300 World University Rankings 2020 list



• Making a mockery of FDI norms: Indian's top trader body seeks ban on Amazon, Flipkart's festive season sale. “By offering deep discounts ranging from 10% to 80% on their e-commerce portals, these companies are clearly influencing the prices and create an uneven level playing field which is in direct contravention of the policy”.



• Mahishasura Mardini Stotram by Jannat Nazir: 




• Soybean oil is more obesogenic and diabetogenic than sugar or coconut oil.

Soybean oil is more obesogenic and diabetogenic than fructose (sugar) or coconut oil in mice.

Yes, indeed, the soybean oil that they put in everything.

Soybean oil, which health experts say is healthier than meat.https://t.co/pPl603B1jQ

— P. D. Mangan 🇺🇸 (@Mangan150) August 30, 2019





One of my favourite things about the USA is the sheer number of different flavours of diabetes available. 😂 pic.twitter.com/SrT5UnBxSp

— ZUBY: (@ZubyMusic) September 13, 2019




• BKS Iyengar: Yoga is universal

Quick notes: Duopoly, Ghar-wapsi queen...

• The East-India duopoly: Flipkart, Amazon to team up against govt's e-commerce policy 



• Outflow of foreign funds:  Foreign Portfolio Investors withdrew a record Rs 80,919 cr from Indian markets during 2018, almost double the amount witnessed during the 2008 global recession.



• Esther Dhanraj: Ghar Wapsi queen takes on soul vultures. .  (do share)




• You failed us:

Sri @narendramodi, this may mean your chances of winning in 2019 have evaporated too. People like me will still vote for you, but our hearts won't be in it. You failed us on Rte, textbooks, dahi handi, Diwali, Sabarimala, every Hindu cause. Back to #NehruvianStalinism. Cry, india

— राजीवः श्रीनिवासः (@RajeevSrinivasa) January 2, 2019




• This will cost you:

This silence on #Sabarimala issue will cost @narendramodi , sorry to say this openly, waiting for Courts to deliver favorable judgement will not help fix this issue.
Constitution, which is written for Christians, does not protect Dharmic society.
Wake up atleast NOW.

— रंगा - ரங்கா (@ranganaathan) January 2, 2019




• Bengal University to launch course on drone tech: The main hurdle is lack of faculty members. 



• Trans-Pacific Partnership: The world is moving forward without the US.



• Focus on “China, China, China”: Acting U.S. defense secretary Shanahan 



• The Sacred India Gallery:

Quick notes: Confessions, Data storage rules...

• Padre abuse: Confessions in churches being misused, govt should end it, says national women’s panel



• US companies lobbying against data storage rules: The RBI in April said payments data should be stored "only in India" within six months for "safety and security"



• Trump's trade-war is helping China: To shield US farmers from his trade war, Trump is giving taxpayers’ money to China 



• Modicare: Nehruvian socialism back with vengeance. Market distorting rather than fixing underlying prob. As 'Modicare' deadline nears, major states hold out.

Command & control Nehruvian socialism back with vengeance. Market distorting rather than fixing underlying prob: subsidize for those in need https://t.co/CmEUXwGff4

— Rupa Subramanya (@rupasubramanya) April 21, 2017




• India's higher education struggling: Faculty vacancy in IITs is 34%, while that in engineering colleges—which are seeing a decline in preference — is 5%.



• Tech addiction: Silicon Valley engineered tech addiction, and it’s Indians who are paying the price



• Rescued Thai boys ordained as novice Buddhist monks: Their time in the temples will include meditating, praying, and performing charitable deeds. 



• Vittu rayacha nagari pandhari:

'Level playing field' and such fables

Market access for Indian agricultural produce has been a major point of contention in bilateral relations. While India has brought down tariffs on agricultural products of interest to the US, the US has not reciprocated.
In the budget of 2011-2012 the government had reduced basic customs duty on raw pistachio and bamboo on the US’ request for more market access for these products.
In April 2007, the US had given a green signal to import mangoes from India after treating it with radiation, which has turned out to be a costly affair for the exporters.

Business Standard: Fruit diplomacy to get a push

Indian Mango exports, which started in 2007 in bargain of the access to the US Harley Davidson bikes to Indian market, is seeing a continuous decline over past three years. Exchange rate disadvantage Indian exporters face in competition with their Pakistani peers; high freight charges and lack of irradiation facilities in India are at blame.
Indian mangoes losing American market to Pakistan

China OK, India not OK for Obama's pick

New U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said he expected growing trade problems with India to be a major early focus of his tenure.

Reuters: New U.S. trade chief focused on India

Retail: Think Outside The Big Box

The “Walmart effect,” as defined by US investigative reporter Charles Fishman, occurs when “Wal-Mart, or any big-box retailer, comes into town, reshapes shopping habits, and drains the viability of traditional local shopping areas or mom-and-pop shops.” Walmart and its peers redefine the markets that they enter, changing consumption habits over time, and this factor combined with the company’s ability to underbid other retailers, means inevitable economic displacement for those involved in the existing system.

Not only are small retailers put out of business when large retailers like Walmart enter; in some instances modern retail may also create fewer jobs than it destroys.

PDF: Walmart’s Global Track Record and the Implications for FDI in Multi-Brand Retail in India

FT: Retail: Outside the big box

LeeKuanYew Wants India in Wider FTA

Former Chairman of Singapore wants India drawn into a wider Free Trade Agreement with other Asian countries in order to counter the rise of China.

China Manipulating Trade Organizations

China is playing a blatant double game in currency and trade, exploiting the differences between international bodies created to oversee such behavior.

Obama Goes to China with Begging Bowl

Obama has to now go to China with begging bowl in hand. Notice how the Chinese are now able to interrogate the Americans on their domestic policies. They can haul up the President's budget director for questioning on his healthcare plans. I'm surprised they haven't demanded an audit of US military spending, which is a significant contributor to the deficit.

We could similarly ask them about US funding to Pak. After all, we're helping to finance that.

China's New Game on Trade

China may have found a way out of its dollar trap - leaving the dollar behind to pursue commodities.

Obama's fellow Nobel-winners like Paul Krugman were cockily boasting that "if you owe the bank a hundred thousand dollars, the bank owns you - but if you owe the bank a hundred billion dollars, you own the bank." This was being used by some profligate lefty Americans to justify a false sense of confidence and complacency.

Not so fast, Kruggy baby. The bankers didn't get to be bankers in the first place by being a bunch of suckers. You can't trap such people so easily, and the latest Chinese moves are showing that they are wily enough to move back to the barter system if necessary. Capitalist lenders, including the Chinese, seem to know more about the value and nature of capital than perpetually indebted borrowers do, and they understand that tangible goods are ultimately what the value of all money is based upon (commodities being the most fungible of tangible assets.) The American fiat economy is about to learn a harsh lesson.

But what will India do?

India Outperforms China in Auto Exports

India is outperforming China in automotive exports. This shows that India doesn't have to come up by making lots of plastic dogshit, like China does. India can focus on value-added manufacturing, including supplying OEM systems. This will specialize India towards the upper end of the market. India can be the Target to China's Wal-Mart.

Tata Nano Passes European Crash Tests

This is Tata Nano being subjected to a crash test in UK:







I think the results are pretty impressive. The Nano's light weight obviously gives it lesser inertial mass and momentum in a collision. It's aiming for a 4-star rating. Very good for a small car.

More on the Tata Nano passing European frontal and side-impact crash tests:

http://www.ae-plus.com/Technology%20News/tn-089.htm

What the Doha failure means

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080729.wcosimp0729/BNStory/specialComment/home
Though this article talks about the Canadian stand at the talks - you can generalize it to the rest of the "developed" world. On balance - the failure to arrive at trade agreement on farm-food products is a good thing

I have long supported agriculture as India's core strength (lots of arable land, sunshine and water - the last now threatened by The Hans) - however, I am beginning to think that food as an international trade commodity might not be such a good idea. Here is why ....

Prior to 1850 CE (thereabouts) India was an agricultural and economic superpower because of the natural endowment already mentioned, a vast, primarily agriculture-based population and IPR (seeds etc.). Most importantly there was no one else that had the same. Now there is - the Yanks.

I love America - but don't want agri-trade when they are involved. Less than 2% of American depend on agriculture for livelihood - so the Yanks have every incentive to mindlessly screw mother nature and increase productivity (including through the use of Genetically Modified Food - yet another American Horror). If agri-trade ends up as a pissing match between India and the US - the Yanks will win - not because they are better prepared or equipped - it is because they are more prepared to stoop lower. We cannot afford to - as a lot of Indians depend on farming for survival.

Perhaps the better thing to do is to start an Organic Food-for-Oil exchange. Even the Arabs are rational enough to know they have to eat - India can lower the cost of imports and wean the oil producers away from Chinese influence (China is in a farm crisis due to environmental degradation)