What I read (& found interesting) last week…

This week I am going to be lazy and so you will just have to do with a collections of interesting articles/tweets from the last two weeks.

Noah Smith has a blog series running on China which started off with this piece: Where China is beating the world. He followed it up this week with an analysis of why “Real estate is China’s economic Achilles heel*”.

As a trivia aside, some of you may know that ShriKrishna too had a heel which the only part on his body that could be harmed – and in fact he died in his mortal form due to an arrow that struck his heel. The place where this is believed to have happened is in Gujarat (Bhalka Teerth).

Next a well-written NYT story on Andrew Tate and how he may have finally met his nemesis in Romania

And finally, I would recommend this podcast by Sankrant Sanu on the Khalistani movement, its origins and the history behind. Sankrant Sanu hardly needs an introduction but if you do not know much about him, head over to this site.

What else?

Surprising fact that I learned today: GHG emissions during production of an electric car are 70% higher than a petrol one. Reason? Batteries. As Rowan Atkinson (aka Mr Bean) says, “(It’s) a perverse choice of hardware” to fight the climate crisis.

Sumit on Twitter has pointed out that it is not so simple – or straightforward.

Finally, here’s a nice, crisply articulated article picking up the nuances of immigration, specific to the UK: The link between growth and immigration: unpicking the confusion. Is anyone aware of a similar study/research on the economic impact of migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar into India?

Some other interesting things I found it in the last few days:

  1. The Indian Constitution which I had always thought of as a dull drab document heavy in prose, is actually beautifully illustrated. The artist is Nandlal Bose who was the Principal of Kala Bhavan in Shantiniketan.
  2. A well-written, short backgrounder for the curious on Sengol that was much in the news reccntly: The saga of Sengol. Also: ‘Sengol, the Rajadanda, is a 1300 years old tradition’.
  3. And the lady who probably should be thanked for bringing this hugely symbolic object to national attention How a letter from classical dancer Padma Subrahmanyam brought Sengol back to life  

That’s it for now. I hope to be back with something more substantive (and interesting!) next week.

B Shantanu

Political Activist, Blogger, Advisor to start-ups, Seed investor. One time VC and ex-Diplomat. Failed mushroom farmer; ex Radio Jockey. Currently involved in Reclaiming India - One Step at a Time.

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