Quick notes: Afghan base, Blue light...

• China Building Military Base In Afghanistan? The base would host troops from the People’s Liberation Army that would train Afghan troop



• Security concerns: Now Japan considers ban on Huawei and ZTE networking hardware. Huawei is the world's biggest supplier of mobile network infrastructure, ahead of Ericsson and Nokia.



• Blue light has a dark side: Link between exposure to light at night and some types of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. 



• Helping the vernacular: Google makes aggressive push in local language adoption in India. Developing a slew of new products that are mostly India-specific. 



• Prof. Scott Galloway on Amazon's unfair advantage:

According to Scott Galloway Amazon is using an unfair advantage in dominating its competitors pic.twitter.com/OlWZvmzmLo

— Business Insider (@businessinsider) August 30, 2018




• Retail giant: Data from states shows thousands of Amazon employees are on food stamps



• UK Exporting Naan To India? "Selling naan breads in India from a company based in Dunstable would once have been unthinkable".

Quick notes: Business incubator, Stolen idols...

• Bhamashah Techno Hub: India’s largest business incubator launched in Jaipur. Seating for 700 startups. All facilities will be available free of cost for startups. It also hosts a digital museum and a tinkering lab for development of products, adaptive learning, and computational thinking



• India made 160 kmph train: Semi-high speed 'Train 18' to be rolled out for testing in Sept 



• S Vijay Kumar: An unlikely detective is fighting to bring back India’s stolen idols ... India Pride Project urges UK to ‘give back illegal Indian artefacts’



• Western Ghats: Super Sponge: Kerala flood of 2018 less intense than deluge of 1924: So why was damage as great? ... Partly a man-made calamity



• Weed Killer in your breakfast: Popular oat cereals, oatmeal, granola and snack bars come with a hefty dose of the weed-killing poison, Glyphosate, a herbicide linked to cancer...  Glyphosate use in India increased 1500% since genetically modified crops were introduced.

They got Indians to replace ghee with seed oils, which were marketed as 'low cholesterol' and 'healthy'. Oils made from sunflower, oil, peanuts which are foreign to India.

Now it turns out seed oils are far worse than imagined. While cholesterol is goodhttps://t.co/CTjGw0L4Z2

— Vanara (@AgentSaffron) August 23, 2018




• Ek nishad bihagda:




• Telangana: Priests at Hindu temples to get salaries at par with govt staff



• Detention and indoctrination program on Uyghurs: Has China simply become too powerful for the world to protest its human rights abuses? “Business speaks louder than a humanitarian crisis”.

Quick notes: Padres power, Free tution...

• You connect the dots:
  

  > Dec 2013 - Kerala cardinals meet Sonia over green recommendations: Church leaders have been spearheading agitations against restricting commercial activities in ecologically sensitive areas.
  
  > Jayanthi Natarajan's sin: After my removal as Minister, there was widespread coverage in the Kerala media that my removal was because I had notified the order on protection of the Western Ghats, the Kasturirangan Committee report, on December 19, 2013, (just one day before my removal).  My successor Shri Moily, put my orders on hold.
  
  > P T Thomas's sin: I was dropped because I stood for Western Ghats conservation: P T Thomas




• Ganga drying up in summers due to groundwater depletion: “The trend can lead to disastrous effect on the riverine ecology and lead to food scarcity for 115 million people in the Ganga basin.”



• Tamil Nadu's role: Had TN started releasing water from the dam into Kerala when it had reached the critical level of 139 feet, the crisis could have been averted to some extent, officials said. “The 3 feet make a lot of difference. They contain 792 million cubic feet of water, which when released translates into a flow of about 9,000 cusecs, which got added to the flow caused by the rain”.



• Second tunnel in Mullaperiyar dam? “The maximum drawal from the dam through the tunnel is 2,300 cusecs. If this quantum is further increased with an additional tunnel, TN can evacuate more water during monsoons”.



• This is what causes floods and droughts:

This is how India completes the unfinished colonisation mission the British left incomplete in 1947. This is what causes floods and droughts. This is what aggravates climate change. This is how contractors get rich and ordinary people get impoverished. https://t.co/LU4TTZp8IM

— Bittu Sahgal (@BittuSahgal) August 18, 2018




• NYU Makes Tuition Free for All Medical Students: School officials worry that rising tuition and soaring loan balances are pushing new doctors into high-paying fields and contributing to a shortage of researchers and primary care physicians.



• US tech giants plan to fight India's data localisation plans: They plan to intensify lobbying efforts against stringent Indian data localisation requirements, which they say will undermine their growth ambitions in India.
  
  
• The Exercise That Helps Mental Health Most: Team sports, yoga and tai chi have the biggest positive impact on mental health, a large new study concluded. Team sports may have an extra benefit because of the social component, and yoga promotes mindfulness, which is often touted as beneficial for mental health.
  
  

Swami Lakshmananda

Remembering Swami Lakshmananda on the 10th anniversary of his martyrdom..

The day was Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna; a day celebrated across India.  A group of armed men had descended upon the girls school, lobbing grenades and firing machine guns into the air. The headmistress of the school was gunned down as she attempted to shield the life of her mentor, the 82 year old monk and founder of the school, Swami Lakshmananda . A visiting parent along with two junior monks were also killed as the young students fled for their lives.

Brannon Parker's investigation into the nefarious designs of Maoists and Missionaries in tribal areas:

"A true renaissance man, the late 82 year old Swami Lakshmananda taught the Tribals organic farming and proper animal care. He opened free day & night schools for children and adults. He opened free clinics and accompanied frightened Tribals fighting for their lands to court hearings and Govt offices. He turned the people from alcoholism towards productivity. However he was assassinated as he prepared to celebrate Krishna's Birthday at one of the many free schools he had built. Kandhamal exploded into violence as the Kandha people reeled under the shock and terror of the assault.

After my first investigation into the Kandhamal crisis I wrote a 450 page report entitled 'Orissa in the Crossfire-Kandhamal Burning' Read online here http://www.scribd.com/doc/34732553/OR...




I went back for a follow up investigation in 2011. What follows is Part 1 of over 13 HOURS OF INTERVIEWS, unedited and raw. These are not interviews with merely the experts alone but are first-hand accounts from the native tribal people themselves. Hear them share their direct testimony and recollections of events as they actually happened. Learn of the ongoing efforts to dis-inherent them from their lands, their cultures and in many cases their very lives.

This investigation includes a 3 hr interview with the late Justice S C Mohapatra, who headed the Commission probing the 2008 Kandhamal violence, interviews with Orissa Govt Minister and KandhaTribal Manoj Pradhan and Kandha Tribal Chief Lambodar Kanhar among other community leaders.

Odisha, Commonly known as Orissa, has a history going back thousands of years, Odisha was once an ancient maritime power that conducted trade from Rome to Japan. To this day festivals like Bali Yatra and Japan's Ulumbana Festival remain as testaments to Odisha's ancient and broad cultural influence.

Odisha is home to a majority of India's Tribal people. The Kandha people of Odisha are one of India's major tribal groups and they are centered in the Kandhamal District. This region of Kandhamal was once home to some of the most ancient Shiva and Buddhist temples and monasteries in the world. The famous Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Huen Tsang traversed the Kandhamal trail on his way to the Buddhist sites of Bihar in the year 436 AD.

Regrettably Orissa's indigenous cultures have long been the target of various vested interests. In recent times foreign funded Maoists terror groups and foreign religious groups have ravaged the social fabric of the region. Recognizing the ongoing threats to the tribal people various Hindu groups and leaders have dedicated their resources towards the upliftment of India's Tribal communities.

One such Hindu leader was Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati. He Created an Indigenous Cultural Renaissance in Orissa's Kandhamal District. He restored many ancient tribal holy places and schools. Swamiji established Radha Krishna temples throughout the region along with over 380 Kirtan groups.

Swami Lakshmananda stated in a 2008 interview. "I was attacked on January 26, 1970. I had to hide myself in a school for over three hours. Nobody came to my rescue. Then I thought that so many Hindus were there as I was attacked but no one came forward at the time of the attack. It was then that I vowed to reignite the light of conviction in the hearts of the Hindus. I established Srimad Bhagavat classes, Radha Krishna deities and opened evening prayer and choir centers. I taught the people how to farm properly, how to worship Mother Cow and how to protect the forests."

He was later assassinated as he prepared for Janmashtami celebrations in August 2008 by Maoists and Christian Terrorists at a Girl's School he founded.The day chosen for his assassination was also seen as an intentional provocation. The day was Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna; a day celebrated across India. The location of the assassination also caused great anguish to the tribes people. A group of armed men had descended upon the girls school, lobbing grenades and firing machine guns into the air. The headmistress of the school was gunned down as she attempted to shield the life of her mentor, the 82 year old monk and founder of the school, Swami Lakshmananda . A visiting parent along with two junior monks were also killed as the young students fled for their lives. Orissa was stunned and the entire State went into mourning.

The World Remained Silent and instead focused on the predictable response of his enraged followers-The Kandha Tribals-the most warlike tribe in Indian history. I was able to expose the false narrative that had been developed by the media. The US State Dept revised its take on the crisis in conjunction with my report stating, 'The underlying causes that led to the violence have complex ethnic, economic, religious, and political roots related to land ownership and government-reserved employment and educational benefits.'

Quick notes: Inappropriate contact, Christian Right...

• Never say”rape”; say “inappropriate contact”: The Catholic Church’s seven-point system for covering up abuse



• Turkey today, India tomorrow?: Seeking Brunson’s release has been a major cause for the powerful evangelical community in America and Trump needs all the help he can get from the Christian right to prevent a Democratic landslide in congressional elections this November.



• Anti-Gadgil campaign proved disastrous for Kerala: “The church was spreading rumours and was engaged in fear mongering during the anti-Gadgil campaign. The MP who took a bold stand in favor of the report had to face the ire of the church and did not contest again. Joice George of the anti-Gadgil campaign contested and won the elections in 2014 from Idukki. Neither the church nor the MP did suffer due to the monsoon fury. It was the common lot who lost their lives and all their belongings in the landslides and floods. Pick all the operative parts of the Gadgil report and implement them in toto. Or else disaster is round the corner.”



• Turning blessing into curse: Kerala had lost 906,440 hectares of forest land between 1973 and 2016. This was more than 50% of the present forest area. The Modi govt is yet to take a call on the reports of the two committees. 



• Silent Valley -- testimony of an ecological triumph: When the Kerala govt sent its minister to Delhi in 1976 to get clearance for the hydel project that would submerge 240 sq km of area along the Western Ghats that formed one of the most ecologically diverse forests on the planet, one man's telegram saved the copious forest. Dr V.S. Vijayan, then a scientist at Kerala Forest Research Institute, sent a telegram to the Union Power Ministry to put on hold the sanction till the KFRI ecological impact report was received. The ministry consented and the rest is history. Silent Valley stands as a testimony of an ecological triumph.



• Atalji departs:

When Vajpayee ji lost in 2004, many of us cried a little ...when PM Modi was fighting elections many of us were reminded of mistake made by not working hard enough to get second term for Atal ji. This is what Atal's tenure meant for all of us.

— अंकित जैन (@indiantweeter) August 16, 2018





India's biggest misfortune was NDA loss in 2004. It allowed Congress to benefit from Vajpayee's hard work and claim credit.

— R Jagannathan (@TheJaggi) August 16, 2018

Quick notes: Citizen's data, Sinking Jakarta...

• India looks to curb U.S. tech giants’ power: India wants to slap new rules on Amazon, Google, Facebook and other firms, using a page from China's playbook to take control of citizens' data. Draft rules call for companies to store local user data in India and make it accessible to govt.



• Jittery Islamabad: India to help build a dam in the Kabul river basin in Afghanistan. Islamabad views the proposed dam, as well as similar projects on the Kabul river and its tributaries in Afghanistan, reducing the flow of water into Pakistan.



• Jakarta, the fastest-sinking city in the world: When groundwater is pumped out, the land above it sinks as if it is sitting on a deflating balloon - and this leads to land subsidence.



• Swachh Bharat should recruit these: A crew of crows has been trained to pick up trash



• Poison or cure? Arsenic can help treat cancer, study finds. That’s ironic because arsenic itself is a carcinogen



• Major Success: India's missile defenses can now take on decoys. That's a Really Big Deal.



• Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar: The man behind Nasa's mission to touch the Sun. "Chandra, as he was popularly known, is another astrophysicist with his name tagged to a space mission, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory," 

Quick notes: Superconductivity, Bank information...

• Superconductivity at room temperature and pressure:  Did IISc team just make the 'greatest Indian discovery after Raman effect'?



• Facebook wants your banking information, too: Banks are worried about the breadth of information being sought.



• Indra Nooyi: “Whether you are from the IITs or the IIMs, the Indian education system dishes to foreign companies the best and the brightest. In today’s world, as we CEOs look for truly global leaders who can pilot through all of the volatility in the world, Indian leaders are rising to the top. So every time we go out to look for leaders there are usually four or five people who have been educated in the IITs or the IIMs that show up.
  
  So the big question that I keep asking myself is if people who have been educated in India always bubble up to the top then why is it that these leaders want to leave India? Doesn’t India need these leaders? Even if they leave India, shouldn’t there be a round trip ticket for them to come back to India, so they can help India get to a better place. So I think one of the big issues we should talk about is not just lessons in leadership or what the leaders need to do today but what can India do to bring those leaders back to India, so India itself can become an even more powerful economy going forward.” 



• Certified pSecular: Andhra govt officially organizing Jesus event..?

Andhra government officially organizing Jesus event in Delhi and resident commissioner is actively involved in the event.#Secularism is at peak. pic.twitter.com/lTMyEAL5sr

— Shubham Verma ( आर्य शुभम् वर्मा ) (@THESHUBHAMV) August 7, 2018




• Lithuanian and Sanskrit:
  Sanskrit: Kas tvam asi? Asmi svapnas tava tamasi nakte. Agniṃ dadau te hridi tada viśpatir devas tvam asi.
  Lithuanian: Kas tu esi? Esmi sapnas tavo tamsioje naktyje. Ugnį daviau tau širdy, tada viešpatis dievas tu esi.
  English: “Who are you? I am a dream in your dark night. I gave you fire in heart, then you become a God”.



• Bolava Vitthal - Ranjani Gayatri

Quick notes, Peaceful fall, Garuda Vishnu...

• After peaceful rise: Can China fall peacefully? ... China’s growth will decline sharply in the coming decade, from 7.7% to 3.9%. (To put these numbers in perspective, China grew at an average annual rate of 10.2% from 1980 to 2011.) 



• Give us all the territory: China’s outrageous offer to India for settling the border dispute



• Rotary Wing UAV: HAL demonstrates 10-kg "helicopter UAV".



• Poor quality panels spoil our solar party: Today, around 90% of solar panels used in India are imported from countries such as China and Malaysia since they’re cheaper than the locally-made ones that India is pushing for now. But even the home-made ones aren’t top-notch, with even the government admitting that they use “obsolete technology.”



• Burqa is haram: First woman fined in Denmark for wearing full-face veil



• Bali's Garuda Vishnu park:





• Garuda Vishnu:

Suasana GWK pada saat bulan purnama 28 Juli 2018. Saksikan dan rayakan bersama kami, upacara Bulan Purnama (Full Moon) di GWK pada tanggal 26 Agustus. Dapatkan diskon 50% tiket masuk GWK dari program Melali hanya dengan membawa kartu identitas (KTP domisili Bali) atau kartu pelajar (sekolah/universitas Bali). ___________ The GWK's scenery on full moon. Watch and celebrate with us the Full Moon ceremony at GWK on August 26th. Get 50% off GWK's admission ticket with bring your identity card (place of residence in Bali) or student card (school or university in Bali) to GWK and get the discount. This program is only valid when Full Moon Ceremony. #gwk #gwkbali #balinese #balilife #balineseculture #lovebali #baligasm #balibible #balineseart #culture #bepartofgwkhistory #visitbali #indtravel #wonderfulindonesia #landmarkbali #budaya #budayabali #infiatravel #travel #traveling #fullmoon #melali #discount #bulanpurnama

A post shared by GWK Cultural Park (@gwkbali) on Jul 31, 2018 at 7:42pm PDT

Quick notes: Choking India, Akshay Venkatesh

• The hard numbers: How Chinese goods are choking Indian industry and economy... In the life-saving drugs category, the dependence on Chinese imports is as much as 90%. China has increased the prices of bulk drugs 11-fold, or 1,200%, during last two years.



• Stop this dependence on China: India recalls rabies vaccines made by tainted China firm



• From trade war to currency war: The yuan's recent depreciation is nothing less than an import tariff of 7 percent across the board, not just a retaliatory tariff on selected US goods



• Check on predatory pricing: India’s e-commerce policy may end the Flipkart-Amazon discount war



• A number theorist who bridges math and time: Akshay Venkatesh wins a Fields Medal for his “profound contributions to an exceptionally broad range of subjects in mathematics.”



• Facebook: A way for you to feel jealous of people you haven’t seen in years.”