Quick notes: 5G hype | Surveillance state...

• 5G Hype:  India is unlikely to have any substantial coverage of 5G until at least the end of next year, with telecom operators in the country yet to participate in a spectrum auction. But that hasn’t stopped Chinese vendors from bringing 5G-enabled smartphones to the world’s second largest handset market.




• China’s Surveillance State: Thanks to technology, there is a much more robust option for authoritarians in the 21st century: big-data analytics in a digital public sphere. China’s system of cameras linked to facial-recognition databases, which may be able to identify people everywhere they go. For ordinary people, the safe assumption is that if they are in the wrong place at the wrong time, the authorities will know. . . . Sick Man of Asia.



• Demographic warfare: Greeks set up blockades to stop building of new migrant centres. Greece remains the EU’s busiest entry point for refugees and migrants



• Bernie Sanders' disastrous answer:
  
  Cooper: Do you have -- a price tag for all of these things?
  
  Sanders: No, I don't. We try to -- no, you mentioned making public colleges and universities tuition free and canceling all student debt, that's correct. That's what I want to do. We pay for that through a modest tax on Wall Street speculation.
  
  Cooper: But you say you don't know what the total price is, but you know how it's gonna be paid for. How do you know it's gonna be paid for if you don't know how much the price is?
  
  Sanders: Well, I can't -- you know, I can't rattle off to you every nickel and every dime.



• People who drive expensive cars behave worse: Self-centred men who are argumentative, stubborn, disagreeable and unempathetic are much more likely to own a high-status car such as an Audi, BMW or Mercedes



• Nature makes children happier: The meaning and power of trees, water and wind "transcended" the mere senses. Getting in touch with the natural environment is a "tonic" that will cure what ails your soul. Our souls are just parts of Nature's greater "Oversoul."



• Open source licenses: What, which, and why

Quick notes: Han hug | AI for drug discovery...

• Han hug: Chinese vassal state Italy grapples with worst coronovirus outbreak outside Asia. Towns in northern Italy under quarantine, Venice carnival closes.



• Newyork Post: Don’t buy China’s story on coronavirus.. It turns out that snakes don’t carry coronaviruses and that bats aren’t sold at a seafood market. Neither are pangolins, for that matter.



• How China Endangered the World: The international health community has tried to infer from the dubious official daily tallies just how dangerous the coronavirus disease may be for the rest of the world. The bottom line is trust, which appears to be waning inside China and is increasingly unraveling across the public health world. An epidemic cannot be fought and won unless the bonds of trust between governments and people can survive the grief, confusions, emotions, and medical challenges of the battle.
  


• Scientists discover powerful antibiotic using AI: In a world first, scientists have discovered a new type of antibiotic using artificial intelligence. It has been heralded by experts as a major breakthrough in the fight against the growing problem of drug resistance. A powerful algorithm was used to analyse more than one hundred million chemical compounds in a matter of days. The newly discovered compound was able to kill 35 types of potentially deadly bacteria, said researchers.  



• The collected works of E.C.G. Sudarshan: His physics was organically integrated with his Vedanta.



• Talk on dharma by Vojko Kercan, co-founder of the Gopuram Institute.

Quick notes: China bound students | Solar vs coal...

• Study abroad: Chinese lure for Indian students falls under the Coronavirus shadow. . . . Parents protest as Pakistani students stuck in China. . . . . China's latest export -- disease.



• Can solar power compete with coal? In India, it’s gaining ground. Even state-controlled Coal India forecasts a future with much less coal.

It has three of the world’s five biggest solar farms.

📕 Read more: https://t.co/wB9pp1Zm3b pic.twitter.com/O7WiyYxBtu

— World Economic Forum (@wef) February 17, 2020




• Math challenged guy: Michael Bloomberg claims India is bigger contributor to climate change than China.. China emitted 9,302 metric tons of carbon in 2017, the most recent year for which the International Energy Agency has data, while India emitted 2,162 metric tons.. Bloomberg’s move to deflect blame from China was a marked contrast to other candidates.



• Ishta Linga: Muslim man chosen to head new Lingayat Mutt in Karnataka. Two acres of land for the mutt had been donated by Diwan Sharief's parents, who had been influenced by the teachings of Lingayat leaders. "Everyone has supported me. Nobody has opposed me. Going ahead, let the teachings of Basava grow,"



• Rice-fish farming: Compared to fields that only grow rice, rice-fish farming increases rice yields by up to 20%. Rice-fish farming could feed more people than current monocultures while using less of the agricultural chemicals. 
  



• Biodigester: Methane as fuel

Quick notes: Trump visit | Dalit karsevak...

• Drones to wipe out Pak terrorists? India says interested in acquiring US UAV that killed Iranian general.



• Farmers want Modi to avoid unfair trade deals with Trump: The US farm bill 2019 allotted $867 billion as subsidy for American farmers whereas Indian farmers get relatively meagre support.

Allowing import of chicken legs, milk, apple, almond and walnut from America will hit Indian agriculture already reeling under a terrible agrarian distress. These imports will decimate India's poultry industry, hit dairy sector n hill farmers. @PiyushGoyal https://t.co/557V1kjP4H

— Devinder Sharma (@Devinder_Sharma) February 14, 2020




• Jaswant Singh, Mogappair, Chennai: This Tamil-speaking Sikh engineer created a home forest in Chennai




• Story of a Dalit Karsevak:  In Bhanwar Meghwanshi’s village, low caste people joined the RSS in large numbers: “Of the fifty or so children who attended the shakha in my village, most were OBCs—Kumhar, Jat, Gurjar, Mali and so on. He was part of the first attempt at building the Ram temple, in the context of the Rath Yatra in October 1990. Then, he was “exhilarated”, chanting “To die for Ram-ji is such an honour…”. He and his Rajasthani comrades in arms were taught “how to evade the police” and were “told that implements to destroy the structure – hoes, spades, crowbars – would be provided by locals at Ayodhya”.
  
  As the train started to slide out of the station, all the important functionaries slid out of the train.. I saw how one by one, the big folk, the industrialists, the sangh pracharaks, the leaders of VHP and BJP, all excused themselves. Having wished us well, they went back to their homes. Only people like me remained—impassioned Dalits, Adivasis, other young people from the lower castes, and a few sadhus and sants. To take charge of us, some lower-order functionaries tried to put us at ease, don’t worry, these people have other contingents to see off and then they’ll follow us directly to Ayodhya. They were never to come. They were sensible people and went back to their homes. I understood that sensible people always use us, we who are driven by passion; they push us into battle and return to their safe little coops. 
  
  However, Bhanwar Meghwanshi did not draw any conclusion from this episode but went to Ayodhya as a disciplined foot-soldier. He did not listen to his father, a Congress activist who had become sarpanch of his village and who explained to him that RSS needed Dalits primarily to fight against Muslims physically, something upper caste preferred not to do. 
  
  Soon after Bhanwar Meghwanshi fully realised the resilience of caste in the RSS on another occasion: while he had prepared food for Sangh parivar members who were touring his district, they refused to come to his home for eating; instead they took the food with them in order to save time and, they said, feed the village where they going next – but they threw it out on the road. Bhanwar Meghwanshi was shocked:  How can the Sangh do this to me? They don’t believe in untouchability, in caste discrimination, they believe all Hindus to be one, they talk of a united Hindu society, and then this kind of hypocrisy? 
  
  “I resolved to tear the veil of fake harmony from the face of the Sangh and its family of institutions and expose their real face in public”.



• Aabid Surti: India's water warrior.

One man is dedicated to conserving India's water pic.twitter.com/SGwcXUE1SP

— Vala Afshar (@ValaAfshar) February 16, 2020




• Dani P K: The Kerala kid whose 'zero angle' goal went viral

Quick notes: Importing virus | Music therapy...

• Coronavirus scare: India orders checking of Chinese agri, livestock imports



• Music therapy: Indian classical music improves cognitive functions in schizophrenia patients



• Huawei backdoors: US says it can prove Huawei has backdoor access to mobile-phone networks. US hasn't made evidence public but reportedly shared it with UK and Germany. 



• Equifax breach was the work of Chinese state hackers: "Criminal heist of sensitive information of nearly half of all Americans, as well as the hard work and intellectual property of an American company, by a unit of the Chinese military”.



• China tightening its grip on Indian Ocean: China is also determined to squeeze us regionally on J&K, using its “all-weather friend”, Pakistan.



• Cookies crumbling: Chrome browser to restrict advertising cookies. This will lead to “signal loss” for advertisers . . . . Facebook's targeted ads success is due to it's ability to leverage cross-site behavior to better see purchase history/purchase intent. . . . . . How to use Chrome’s tools to protect your privacy while browsing.



• Biochar: A sustainable approach for improving plant growth and soil properties. . . . “Due to the highly porous nature and high surface area of biochar, it improves soil’s ability to hold more water. The fine network of pores within biochar gives room for soil microorganisms to live. This increases the microbial diversity in the soil.”... Adding 0.5-1% biochar to cattle’s feed could reduce methane emissions by up to 17%.
  
  
  
  
• Biodigester: Profit from waste
  
  
  
• जीवन बीत चला: अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी
  
  कल कल करते आज
  हाथ से निकले सारे
  भूत भविष्यत की चिंता में
  वर्तमान की बाजी हारे
  
  पहरा कोई काम न आया
  रसघट रीत चला
  जीवन बीत चला।
  
  हानि लाभ के पलड़ों में
  तुलता जीवन व्यापार हो गया
  मोल लगा बिकने वाले का
  बिना बिका बेकार हो गया
  
  मुझे हाट में छोड़ अकेला
  एक एक कर मीत चला
  जीवन बीत चला।
  

Quick notes: Dark net | Anti-satellite weapon...

• Credit, debit card details of 4 lakh Indians up for sale: A whopping 98% out of a large packet of sensitive credit and debit card details, that have been put up for sale on the dark net, are those of Indian customers



• Anti-Satellite Weapon: India proudly showcases its anti-satellite weapon at an arms bazaar... 13-meter-tall, three-stage missile with solid-rocket motor propulsion.



• Over 10% of the population? You are not a minority. . . kindly support her!

World's third largest and Indians second largest majority. So again, why are they being given minority status????@AmitShah @sambitswaraj @harrywakh
Mazak bana rakha hai https://t.co/TBvYUainoI

— apoorva kulkarni-team modi-shah (@EkAur_ModiBhakt) February 8, 2020




• Rattled by China Inc: Attorney General thinks US should buy controlling stake in Nokia, Ericsson. "From a national security standpoint, if the industrial internet becomes dependent upon Chinese tech, China would have the ability to shut countries off from technology and equipment upon which their consumers and industries depend". . . . . White House dismisses the idea.



• Mike Pompeo: "China’s propaganda starts even earlier than college. China has targeted K-12 schools around the world. Do you know that we have no ability to establish similar programs in China? We should have reciprocity in all things. Today they have free reign in our system and we're completely shut out from theirs... Beijing knows that today’s kids are tomorrow’s leaders." . . . China is also trying to recruit U.S. scientists and academics to share vital secrets, in exchange for monetary gain through their "Thousand Talents Plan," a campaign that has already targeted scientists and professors on campuses such as Virginia Tech and Harvard.



• Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: To the broad-minded, the whole world is family.




• Just What the Doctor Ordered: Take a Yoga class and depression, anxiety improve



• Calibrating Ketosis: If you give your body any more than the absolute minimum amount of protein that it needs, it will immediately break it down into carbs. The point of keto is to force your body to deplete its glucose so it will have to use body fat as a fuel source.



• Why is India exporting granite? China’s coronavirus crisis rattles granite barons.



• Indian cities are turning into "urban heat islands": Potential health hazards due to heat waves apart from pollution.

Quick notes: Auto jobs | Army pensions...

• Job losses coming to auto-sector: The average combustion engine takes about 3.5 hours to make, while an electric motor takes about 1 hour.. A combustion-engine car has 1,400 components in the motor, exhaust system and transmission.. An electric vehicle’s battery and electric motor has only 200 components.. Around 410,000 German jobs are at risk by 2030.



• Vengeful CM: Kia looking to move $1.1 billion plant out of Jagan's Andhra.



• No use in real combat? China says India can’t build an effective missile defense system. "Inadequate capital, unsmooth R&D process, heavy reliance on other countries for key technology and incomplete systems" 



• Populism bites: Army to spend more on pensions than on salaries. Rs 111,294 crore for army salaries, Rs 113,278 crore for army pensions. Funds that could otherwise go towards equipment modernisation



• Ashtavakra Gita: It is in the infinite ocean of myself that the mind-creation called the world takes place.
  
  



• Be Modern and Use Sanskrit to Decolonize Your Mind:  Sanskrit is a wonderful tool to liberate our mind from the two of the most pressing problems of the modern world: addiction and depression. Sanskrit is an analytical and a holistic language. It is both argumentative and sacred. It is good for singing and reciting. Be modern and use Sanskrit to decolonize your mind.



• Slave Thinking: Children penalised for speaking in Kannada 



#Karnataka
Beauty of Govt schools !! It's a government school in one of those remote lambani Hattis in chalkere taluk of chitradurga District. Loved the style of teaching Kannada Gaadegalu using Akshara Maale. 👏👏👏
(2nd half of the video in the thread)@nimmasuresh pic.twitter.com/hBfAGCuLun

— Ashwini M Sripad (@AshwiniMS_TNIE) January 8, 2020





If only I was taught 3-Table like in this #Kannada school.
Not sure about my #math, would have at least got good in #dance by now:).
Wonder which #Karnataka school this is?@readingkafka @neeleshmisra pic.twitter.com/RaUKrFZfFL

— Vasanthi Hariprakash (@vasanthihari) January 21, 2020





• How to end traffic  European cities offer a roadmap for life with fewer cars.. . . . Better bus lanes can fix everyone’s commute

Quick notes: Traffic congestion | Gates Foundation...

• Bengaluru has the worst traffic in the world:  It's official. Bengaluru is the world's most traffic congested city. Mumbai, Pune and New Delhi were the other Indian cities that also featured in top 10.

Cities across the world are banning cars from city centers and major streets.

Why don't Bengaluru, Pune, Mumbai and Delhi, which are in the world's 10 most congested cities, try this remedy?https://t.co/tQjzD40e6K via @wired

— Subhash Kak (@subhashkak1) January 30, 2020




• "Gates-Monsanto Foundation": Bill Gates is continuing the work of Monsanto, pushing GMOs on small farmers around the world




• Fraudulent robocalls from India: DoJ sues US telecom providers for connecting Indian robocall scammers



• Talking Drones: Officials in China have started using drones equipped with speakers to warn citizens to wear masks as coronavirus continues to spread in the country.



• The truth is, China really won the trade war deal: “The Chinese can wait it out. They think in long, long terms, long visions.”



• Strategic Hans: Using forex reserves effectively.

How Geely's Li Shufu spent months stealthily building a $9 billion stake in Daimler.

With more than $ 3 trillion reserve more such cases will happen ? https://t.co/HaxCzhatqE

— Nilesh Shah (@NileshShah68) February 1, 2020



"Much of the intellectual property that underlies Huawei’s current 5G offering came along with the top Nortel scientists in Ottawa."

Maybe the U.S. should have bailed out Nortel back in 09?

"much of the intellectual property that underlies Huawei’s current 5G offering came along with the top Nortel scientists in Ottawa."

— Brad Setser (@Brad_Setser) January 31, 2020




• Facebook is banned  in China: As coronavirus misinformation spreads, Facebook removes posts. Unusual, as FB generally allows fake posts to stay up. Google and FB bow only to the Chinese govt.



• Only Muslims can be victims: “Christians in Pakistan live with this sword of Damocles over their head.”  'To death!' cried one woman prisoner. The other women join in. 'Hanged!' Hanged!'.” 



• A holiday camp for India's captive elephants: Once a year, some of India's captive elephants are whisked off to a "rejuvenation camp", where they are pampered and cared for by their caretakers