Sunday, August 24, 2025

Quick notes: State capitalism | Fistful Of Dollars...


Saturday, August 9, 2025

Quick notes: Neglected ally | Cow abuse...

  • America returns to its neglected ally: For destabilising Iran, America needs land access. This is how the Pakistanis were used during the Afghan wars, targeting the Russians.

    From Iran's nuclear programme to Afghanistan's lithium reserves, Pakistan's unique positioning at the crossroads of America's most pressing strategic concerns has transformed it from a neglected ally into an indispensable partner
    . . . After 25+ years of progress, India-US ties take a U-turn, history repeats


  • "The U.S. is not an ally of India": "The U.S. is absolutely uninterested in India based supply chains. Trump is uninterested in that. He is incapable of long-term strategic relations and any of that. India should not presume that the U.S. will do great favors to India. Thats is not going to happen". . . . listen to him, India. Stop being naive.



  • Trump Wants Big Pie Of India's Economy: They want their companies like Amazon to have more facilities for operations. They want unlimited data flow for Google. So, it is beyond tariff, it is beyond trade. The US wants a big pie of the domestic economy.


  • Experts warn Trump: Caving on Nvidia H20 export curbs may disrupt his bigger trade war


  • Blessed to have engineers at the helm: China is developing nation-spanning network to sell surplus data center compute power


  • Cow abuse: Coca-Cola under fire after undercover investigation reveals disturbing scenes at farm: 'A habitual offender'. Investigators also recorded pregnant and sick cows being whipped, punched, kicked, and beaten with metal objects, including shovels, wrenches, and pipes. The abuse was carried out by various staff, including owners, managers, and ranch hands. . . . blacklist coke!


  • Shut humanities department in STEM institutions:


  • SEBI, Jane Street and India’s Regulatory Dilemma: Watch at 2x



  • Evangelicals lobbied hard for this: Texas law will require Ten Commandments to be posted in every public school classroom


Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Quick notes: Hiring Indians | Baloch and Israel...

Sunday, July 20, 2025

Quick notes: Sinophile | Liveable cities...

  • NITI Aayog loaded with Sinophiles: India's top think tank recommends easing investment rules for Chinese firms. My enemy is my savior


  • Trump, the Sinophile: As Trump courts a more assertive Beijing, China hawks are losing out in a a dramatic reversal.

    In recent years, one of China's biggest requests of US officials has been that the US relax its strict controls on advanced AI chips, measures that were put in place to slow Beijing's technological and military gains. Last week, the Trump administration did just that, as it allowed Nvidia to sell its H20 chip to China... China won by calling Trump’s ‘bluff’


  • Microsoft, the Sinophile: Microsoft using engineers in China to help maintain cloud computing systems for the U.S. Department of Defense.


  • What NITI Aayog doesn't want you to know: How China Has Been Blocking India's UNSC Actions Since The 2000s


  • From Evergrande to BYD: Is China’s EV Dream Crashing? . . . Don't you worry, NITI Aayog is there to rescue China.


  • How can we make India's cities more liveable? Zoho's Sridhar Vembu has a suggestion . . let's focus less on GDP and more on quality of living.


  • How Indian Cities Failed Public Transport: Learn to prioritize people over cars.


  • Saturday, July 12, 2025

    Quick notes: Jane Street | Hydrofoil ferry...

    • Jane Street's cash machine came to an abrupt halt: Foreign funds and proprietary traders using algorithms made $7 billion in the 12 months to March 2024 alone. That bonanza may be coming to an end.

    • Manipulating Indian derivatives markets: How US-based Jane Street siphoned Rs 36,000 cr from Indian markets.

    • Indian casino is a train-wreck: Indian retail investor losses on derivative trades widened in 2024-25 by 41% to 1.06 trillion rupees. India is the world's largest derivatives market, accounting for nearly 60% of the equity derivatives traded globally in April.


    • Prada on backfoot: High Fashion's habit of 'borrowing' from India isn't new. Prada's Kolhapuri chappals are just the latest


    • How America's Debt Spiral Could Spark The Next Crisis: America's debt problem is no longer linear; it is exponential.


    • Ferries are making a comeback: Could the Electric Hydrofoil Ferry change the way we commute? “We see it as a blue superhighway that is still untapped”. Fast, sustainable mode of transit



    • Unicorn: India's Rapido is outpacing global giants like Uber and Ola in user growth, while also achieving profitability . . . A ride-hailing unicorn is gaining users faster than Uber, disrupting the San Francisco titan’s effort to conquer a key growth market  


    • AI's energy problem: Google’s carbon emissions went up again as its AI push continues


    • Distress in Hi-tech jobs: Salesforce CEO Claims Half of the Company’s Work Is Now Done by AI


    • One Way to Win Trump Over: Nominate Him for the Nobel Prize 


    • The ‘Trump Pump’: How crypto lobbying won over a President. For years, cryptocurrency companies had endured a sweeping crackdown in Washington — a cascade of lawsuits, regulatory attacks and prosecutions that threatened the industry’s survival. Mr. Trump wasn’t an obvious sympathizer. He had once dismissed Bitcoin as a “scam.”


    Thursday, July 3, 2025

    Are we being hoodwinked?

    Is this the deal? India, Vietnam and China all get to pay the same 20%.



    What's the point of Quad if Trump equates India-Pakistan? If the only superpower, which calls India an ally, sees the region through an India-Pakistan prism, it is unacceptable. Rather than endorse India's sphere of influence, this undermines it.


    Trump Baffles With Sudden U-Turn on China Buying Iranian Oil: President Trump appeared to undermine years of US sanctions on Iran, giving its biggest customer China the green light to carry on buying its oil. . . . . India restricted from buying Iranian oil while China is free?


    Elon: America is going bankrupt quickly, but everyone is whistling past the graveyard.


    Old pal of Elon Musk has ominous warning for Trump: “I’ve had my share of blowouts with Elon over the years,” neuroscientist Philip Low told Politico. “Knowing Elon the way I know him, I do think he’s going to do everything to damage the president.”


    India caught in the middle: Rare earth curbs to hit EV, RE, defence sectors


    Time for Swadeshi platforms: Congressional staff members were informed that WhatsApp can no longer be used on their government-issued smartphones or other devices.