Quick notes: Semi-success | Cancer treatment...

• Semi-success: India approves three chip plants with over $15 billion in investments to realize semiconductor ambitions. Tata Electronics will partner Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp and will focus on 28-nanometer technology.
  
  Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test Pvt Ltd will set up the second plant in Morigaon, Assam with focus on packaging technologies.
  
  CG Power, in partnership with Japan's Renesas Electronics Corporation and Thailand's Stars Microelectronics will set up the third factory in Sanand, Gujarat. All three factories will start construction within next 100 days.



• India makes progress with US$21bn chip proposals: The Indian government, after years of watching from the sidelines of the chips race, now has to evaluate US$21 billion of semiconductor proposals and divvy up taxpayer support between foreign chipmakers, local champions or some combination of the two.
  
  Both Tower and Tata’s facilities would produce so-called mature chips — using 40-nanometer or older technology — that are very widely used in consumer electronics, automobiles, defense systems and aircrafts, the people said.
  
  The Tata Group is also planning to build a 250-billion-rupee (US$3 billion) chip-packaging plant in eastern India that would assemble and export chips.



• Masterclass: Ashwini Vaishnav's masterclass On India's semiconductor ecosystem




• Toy design? India’s homebrew RISC-V CPU goes on sale in new development board. The CPU is 32-bit and operates at up to 100 MHz, using only 256 KB of SRAM. This doesn't come close to competing with modern Raspberry Pi solutions



• The Magic of R+Cu: Tata Institute Claims Success In Cancer Treatment - With "Rs 100 Tablet". The 'R+Cu' when taken orally, generate Oxygen radicals in the stomach which are quickly absorbed to enter blood circulation. The oxygen radicals destroy cfChPs released in circulation and prevent 'Metastases' - The movement of cancer cells from one part of the body to another. The researchers claimed that R+Cu prevents Chemotherapy toxicity.



• Indigenous CAR-T Therapy Cures Patient Of Cancer: In simple language, the therapy includes genetically reprogramming a patient's immune system to fight cancer.



• Magnificent 7 profits now exceed almost every country in the world: The meteoric rise in the profits and market capitalizations of the Magnificent 7 U.S. tech behemoths — Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla — outstrip those of all listed companies in almost every G20 country. Only China and Japan have greater profits when their listed companies are combined.



• America sees surge of Chinese illegal migrants: Chinese migrants often take special “VIP” routes across the jungle that are led by guides working for the Gulf Clan, Colombia’s largest drug cartel, and are quicker and less strenuous for higher prices than the most basic routes.



• #southtaxmovement: Why south Indian states have started a tax movement

Quick notes: Capitulation on LAC | Phone addicts...

• ‘Abject capitulation’ by Indian govt: Military veterans fear that the creation of non-militarised “buffer zones" inside the India-claimed lines at multiple transgression points in eastern Ladakh may help the Chinese Army to force India to agree to its reinterpretation of the LAC.



• Phone Addicts: Indians spend more time on their smartphones daily than the rest of the world. More than 881 million Indians are 'always on' -- those who can't do without their phones.



• Tower proposes $8B Indian wafer fab: Israeli foundry Tower Semiconductor has submitted a proposal to the Indian government to build a 65/40nm wafer fab in India at a cost of US$8 billion



• A Curious Business Model: India will pay 70% of cost but Micron will own 100% of plant.. Micron will hold 100% ownership of a plant that costs $2.75 billion after having invested only $0.825 billion!
  
  If chip-making is India’s goal, the Micron deal won’t deliver it. What we are getting—assembling and testing chips made elsewhere—is the lowest end of the chip-making technology. We are not competing with the US, China, South Korea, or Japan on chip-making but with, for example, Malaysia, which is already streets ahead of us in this sector



• Stay in touch with the earth: For spiritual seekers, the time around new moon is particularly significant to stay in touch with the earth.




• How China Miscalculated Its Way to a Baby Bust: China’s baby bust is happening faster than many expected, raising fears of a demographic collapse. And coping with the fallout may now be complicated by miscalculations made more than 40 years ago. A Moscow-trained missile scientist led the push for China’s policy, based on tables of calculations that applied mathematical models used to calculate rocket trajectories to population growth.



• China cheating? Who knew! /s: Taiwan accuses China of 'cheating' and 'stealing' chipmaking technologies. "They do not really follow the rules. They cheat and they copy, etc. They steal technology."



• Germany’s Days as an Industrial Superpower Are Coming to an End: China is becoming a bigger rival and is no longer an insatiable buyer of German goods. The US is drifting away from Europe and is seeking to compete with its transatlantic allies for climate investment. The final blow for some heavy manufacturers was the end of huge volumes of cheap Russian natural gas.



• Pradip Shivaji Mohite: The Class 9 Dropout Who Is Building Helicopters



• Most charitable person: Jamsetji Tata, the founder of Tata Group, has been recognized as the most charitable person of the past century, having donated a staggering Rs 829,734 crore. This surpasses contributions from other global philanthropists, including Bill Gates, who secured the second position.



• Thorium hope: New Fuel Powers Up India's Green Nuclear Future

Quick notes: TTP attacks | Sober tourism...

• A taste of its own poison: Al-Qaida, Afghan Taliban assist TTP with attacks in Pakistan



• The Rise of Sober Tourism: 50% of travelers were likely to opt for a non-alcoholic drink over a beer or a cocktail. Booze-free vacations gaining momentum.



• Nonalcoholic beers: The hottest beer in America doesn't have alcohol. Athletic Brewing has become the king of nonalcoholic beers.



• The easy way to explain lift : Forget Bernoulli and Newton




• Satya Nadella's first decade as CEO : When he took over as CEO in Feb 2014, Microsoft was mired in mediocrity. Its market cap was just over $300 billion. A decade later, Microsoft's valuation has swelled tenfold, to $3.06 trillion making it the world's most valuable public company.



• Anywhere but India: U.S. plans to invest CHIPS Act money in Vietnamese semiconductor industry



• Defender: India deploys unprecedented Naval might near Red Sea



• “Flip Phone February”: Readers who have taken the plunge said it had improved their lives, marriages and mental health, and offered advice to those going without their smartphones for “Flip Phone February.” “Having the phone away from me has almost made my brain more open to information”. A Practical Guide to Quitting Your Smartphone.



• Ancient Vegetables: What did Indians Eat Before Colonisation?