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Net Zero - A Solar Dilemma

  Net Zero - A Solar Dilemma  Being unfamiliar with this term I wanted to know what it meant. I was told that it was coined by those who were in a hurry to save the planet with someone else’s money. Upon further probing I discovered that it aims at achieving some kind of a balance between CO2 emission & absorption. CO2 being bad for the environment we must urgently deal with coal fired power plants, the champion emitter which deserves to be shut down quickly and promptly replaced by RE (renewable energy) like solar, wind, hydrogen, nuclear etc.  In India solar is a hot favourite. Government has ambitious investment plans to build huge solar power plants across the country. I therefore decided to beef up my somewhat sketchy knowledge by viewing material on social media. What I understood was that China dominates the world's solar market with 70% share in technology, panels, modules, cells, minerals mining & refining and electronic controllers. Therefore the world, ...
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Air Crash

Air crash With deep distress we read a media report on the death of Gen & Mrs Rawat with 11 others in a helicopter crash this afternoon. A tragic end to an illustrious career of a top General of our nation. Our condolences to the bereaved family members. What distresses us is the regularity with which planes of the Indian Airforce & other allied service arms crash. Neither political or defense leaderships or public at large seems to be worried about the terrible flight safety record of IAF. It doesn't evoke a single comment from the leftists, rightists or the anarchists in our society! We thought that 2014 would be a watershed moment & armed forces will be strengthened, made to perform & held accountable. No such luck; as had happened pre 2014, political leadership's interest in defense matters ends with purchase of weapons & perhaps goodies that follow to be enjoyed at leisure. In my Sept 2021 post ( https://www.facebook.com/100017487579519/posts/8320321107...
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China - Taiwan - India

India could have been a deterrent to China but for incompetence of leadership from 1947 to date & lack of public interest/knowledge in geopolitics. There is more expertise in theatrics rather than anything of substance among our leaders. Defense Minister tieing Rakhi to Chinese soldiers & Chinese making Shaheeds of 40 Indian soldiers or making Chinese leader sit on a swing in Sabarmati are the high points of Indian disfunctional diplomacy. That is why not only historically but even now India is seen as a soft target, very easy to trifle with.  China on the other hand rose from the ashes of civil war, Japanese occupation, atrocities, broken infrastructure & ruined cities to fight the US in the Korean war from 1950-53 & challenged India from the early 1950s. Today it ranks as an industrial, economic, technological & military superpower. There is a tendency here to ascribe China's rise to dictatorial communism. May be so to an extent but not entirely. Otherwise cou...
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Public Scrutiny of Defence

https://www.facebook.com/100017487579519/posts/832032110723034/?app=fbl
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Hornet's Nest

Indian investment in Afghanistan! Has all that India invested in Afghanistan gone down the drain? It would appear so. Exact amount is not known but one media report mentions a tidy sum of Rs 23000 crs, including Rs 2200 crs for Salma Dam near Herat city. Wonder whose diplomatic dynamism caused such a huge loss to Indian taxpayers? Is it not enough for us to subsidise Indian farmers, backwards, toilets for assorted poor, NPA of the rich and powerful so that we must now subsidize Afghans? Who has blown our scarce resources on bloodthirsty tribals and crazed Mulla's in a hornet's nest? Who made us lose our money?
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Value of Rupee

Value of Rupee Value of currency is inversely proportional to the degree of a leader's incompetence, policy of reservations, corruption, freebies, loan waivers, crony capitalism & sheer crookedness. These qualities are not the monopoly of any one political party, but have been the core values of all. Hence nosedive of Indian rupee from near parity with US $ in 1947 to precipitous fall to Rs 74 now.  War ravaged countries like Japan, China, Thailand and many more have seen their currencies rise ever so often. In the 1980s one Indian Rupee was equal to 2 Thai Bahts. Now one Baht equals 2.22 Rupees.  Anyone sneezes anywhere & our rupee catches cold! Why so? Is the quality of leadership post independence responsible for taking away the shine of our beloved Rupee? Conversely, have the leaders in the neighbourhood done better in managing affairs of their countries bringing economic prosperity with strong exports and currencies? Perhaps they spent more time at home for hands-...
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Right, Center & Left

Right, Center & Left Late Hugo Chavez destroyed a beautiful, resource rich & prosperous country like Venezuela, giving humongous freebies & reservations to buy votes. His successor Nicolas Maduro continued this policy rendering the country corrupt, bankrupt, lawless, and violent. We have our own Chaves-Maduro combine almost everywhere, at the centre as well as in every state. Will we ever win freedom from our Chavez-Maduro duos? We infact have a triple whammy, our leftists are leftists, centerists are leftists & and the rightists are also leftists. Everyone has the same formula for winning elections.
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