Quick notes...: May 2025

Monday, May 26, 2025

GOP versus scholars: America is in danger of experiencing an academic brain drain. Other countries may benefit.

India must decide if it’s ready to welcome back scholars: A perceived threat to academic freedom is prompting many academicians to consider relocating. Countries in Europe have taken swift action on the perceived brain drain from the US. Emmanuel Macron extended an open invitation to the best brains to relocate to France.

Deep tech, shallow pockets: Indian deep tech startups raised only about 3.2% of the total funds funneled into Indian startups since 2014. Unlike e-commerce, ride-hailing or financial services, where revenues kick in from the beginning, startups focusing on deep tech take years to develop and commercialize their products. While Silicon Valley might have become obsessed with startups dealing in robotics, rockets, chips and other complex technologies, such deep tech companies are having a much harder time fundraising in India. . . Frugal tech.

Al-Bakistan: Afghanistan plans to build dams to cut water flow to Pakistan.. . . Pak always wished to turn into Arabia.. their wish is getting fulfilled :)

#FundKaveriEngine trending: Many called on PM Modi to allocate more funds and resources for the Kavera engine, emphasising its importance in the nation's interest. The goal is to end India's dependence on foreign engines for building fighter jets, promoting self-reliance in defence technology.

US DIA Report: China still India's 'primary adversary', Pakistan mere security problem.

Prepare for China conflict: "If India really did lose between two and five aircraft, as most outside analysts believe is the case, the explanation for that appeared to be the superior radar of the Chinese aircraft. I hope Indians are really reflecting upon what does this mean for a potential China-India conflict, not just what does this mean for future India-Pakistan conflicts".

Toxic work culture: Suicide due to work pressure at the OLA Krutrim, the worst place to work.

Self-Reliance looks like this: China's first 6nm domestic GPU with purported RTX 4060-like performance has powered on. . . . . What the U.S. Feared Is Happening: China’s Chip Empire Is No Longer a Fantasy—Huawei and Xiaomi Just Opened a New Front

Kill chain: While a spendthrift IAF invested in prohibitively priced weapons platforms, like the Rafale, the PAF invested in the “kill chain” inclusive of a few J-10Cs, Saab AWACS and mostly long range A2A ordnance.

The PAF has initiated a new method of air warfare — combat aircraft staying well back in their own air space, firing long range air-to-air (A2A) and air-to-ground (A2G) weapons with exceptional support. Rafales cost $250 million each. The fleet of 36 is now depleted.

The US is keen to push the far more useless and expensive F-35 on Modi’s India.

US tariffs come with a side of Starlink: The US is reportedly encouraging countries to adopt Musk’s Starlink in tariff trade talks. India, Lesotho, Bangladesh, and other countries have moved forward with Starlink adoption in recent weeks.

Manufacturing juggernaut in serious trouble: China’s economy on cusp of a deflationary death spiral

Indus water treaty: Holding the Indus Water Treaty “in abeyance” means nothing. Abeyance is not abrogation. It merely means in practical terms that India will be more forceful, first, in exploiting the three eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, before turning its sights on the three western Rivers — the Indus and its two tributaries — Chenab and Jhelum.

So, denying Pakistanis even “a drop” of any of these waters is not a practical proposition in the here and now, and cannot be engineered out of thin air in the near or even mid-term. Constructing the dam infrastructure and system of subsidiary dams, etc on the eastern rivers to divert them fully to flow through India — assuming it is at all, practicable, will take India some two decades to realise. In all this time, the western river waters will be available to Pakistan.

Blended wing aircraft: JetZero Secures $235M U.S. Air Force Contract As United Airlines Eyes 200 Orders For Revolutionary Blended-Wing Aircraft

Setback for domestic chips: Adani pauses talks with Israel's Tower for $10 billion India chip foray. "Did not make strategic and commercial sense for the group".

Indian owned startup in Silicon Valley: These electric motors could help break the world’s dependence on China's rare-earths. Conifer technical lead Yateendra Deshpande spent years helping design some of the world’s most advanced electric motors, including the ones powering Lucid Motors luxury cars. He has worked at Apple on its ill-fated car project. His co-founder, Ankit Somani, worked on data-center designs at Oracle and Google.

Land-grab: 50 Christian farmers embroiled in land dispute join BJP hours after Waqf Bill passed. They have been protesting for several months for revenue rights over their properties, allegedly claimed by the Waqf Board.

Muslim brotherhood: Why is Pakistan deporting Afghans? Not Pakistan's 'jugular vein'?

30% less jobs: Microsoft's CEO reveals that AI writes up to 30% of its code — some projects may have all of its code written by AI

China's next-gen J-36: Tri-Engine Setup, No Tail: Inside China's New Sixth-Gen Fighter Jets