In 58 posts with close to 100k words, we shared a lot in 2024! Explore 2024’s biggest geopolitical shifts, cultural battles, and bold insights with Drishtikone’s year in review. See you in 2025! Happy New Year! Be safe!
When you see Russia get into existential war over Ukraine, or Israel bomb Syria or India battle with Pakistan or Bangladesh, it is not because of some whim. It has a historical and geographical context. That is critical to understand for analyzing geopolitics.
Dive into the shadowy world of the Deep State—its hidden structures, powerful networks, and the far-reaching impact on global events and control.
Mostly, what are decidedly “facts” are peddled and assumed to be “Truths”. Then there is a fight over these fake “Truths”, which were never so to begin with.
Truth is reality – the inviolable. There is no two’s in that. There is only One “version” and one existence of that “reality”.
In Sanskrit, Truth has a synonym – Yatharth, meaning “That, what is”.
If you look closely, only the moment (microsecond) of NOW, fits that definition. This moment, that you are experiencing is One, “That is”, Real, Actual, Inviolable, Unavoidable, and Unchangeable. Not your experience of the moment, mind you. But, THE MOMENT.
Once you “experience” the moment with all your baggage, you have given it a color. Then that moment resides in history of your mind IN THAT COLOR. You have your color. Someone else who witnessed and experienced that moment with you, has her/his own color. What resides as past is colored. Tainted. That is never going to come back nor be experienced again. For the moment that you colored and let go, left a small speck of color of its own in your baggage, which will add another color to that moment IF it were to return back.
That moment you left in the past is called “Fact”. Fact, as in it happened. That it happened is not in question. But is that a reality? Of course not. Reality is that which is REAL. Not that has been “editorialized” by the baggage of your past.
“Facts” thus are the product of earlier “Facts”. There is no “reality” or originality to them.
What has not happened – the Future – is just a conjecture. Past is a “Fact” – colored as it is. Present.. the Now..(the Moment, not its experience) is the only Reality. The only “That, What is”.. the Yatharth!
“Roman emperors wanted obedience, not martyrs. They had absolutely no wish to open windows into men’s souls or to control what went on there. That would be a Christian innovation.” – Catherine Nixey, The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World
Water is the most important commodity for human civilization. All through the human history, societies have developed along the banks of rivers and fresh water resources. As the population pressure rises, so is the scarcity of water hitting every nation. Unbeknownst to most of us, there is a “Virtual Water Trade” happening. The water needed to produce food and other products is used from other countries and those water intensive products are imported rather than produced domestically. The exporters, often poorer nations think it is a great deal for them.. except that it isn’t. Let us get a detailed look at what is happening in this trade.
Virtual Water Trade: Complete Guide on What it is and its impact — drishtikone.com
Virtual Water trade is one of the most important concepts to have been shared in economics. It explains trade in commodities where underlying water is traded.
Now, let us look at the topic of Virtual water trade in India. We look at the various studies with respect to how it is impacting India and what measures need to be taken in terms of the public policy.
Virtual Water Trade in India – A definitive guide — drishtikone.com
Virtual Water Trade in India is going on silently leading to devastating results in the future. The exports of food products should be strictly controlled.
China’s population will fall from 1.4 billion people today to 730 million in 80 years. Meanwhile, in Sub-Saharan Africa, population will triple in size to some three billion people. Nigeria alone will account for nearly 800 million in 2100, which will be second only to India’s 1.1 billion population.
Most countries outside of Africa will see shrinking workforces and inverting population pyramids – which will have profound impact on the global economy.
Rich countries might see measures such as flexible immigration policies and social support for families who want children to boost their working population. The median age of the populations will increase as population of the elderly (those over 80) will rise 6.5 times!
As fertility falls and life expectancy increases worldwide, the number of children under five is forecast to decline by more than 40 percent, from 681 million in 2017 to 401 million in 2100, the study found. At the other end of the spectrum, 2.37 billion people — more than a quarter of the global population — will be over 65 years old by then. Those over 80 will balloon from about 140 million today to 866 million. (Source)
The world is looking at a total population of 8.8 billion in 2100, after it peaks at 9.7 billion around 2064 – given the current trends, despite the fall in populations in many countries. Countries like Japan, Spain, Italy, Thailand, Portugal, South Korea and Poland will see their population fall to half the size today. For example, Japan’s population will fall from a peak of 128 million in 2017 to less than 53 million by the end of the century
Fertility rate: ‘Jaw-dropping’ global crash in children being born – BBC News — www.bbc.com
Maria Konnikova has a Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia University. She transformed herself from a novice to a professional poker player. She has written a book titled “The Biggest Bluff”. In this podcast, she shares what she has learned from poker on life over the years.
Freakonomics Radio – 424. How to Make Your Own Luck — podcasts.google.com
Before she decided to become a poker pro, Maria Konnikova didn’t know how many cards are in a deck. But she did have a Ph.D. in psychology, a brilliant coach, and a burning desire to know whether life is driven more by skill or chance. She found some answers in poker — and in her new book The Biggest Bluff, she’s willing to tell us everything she learned.
Beate Sirota was an Austrian-born Jew raised in Japan. She was educated at the German School of Tokyo for six years, but her parents deemed it “too Nazi” and moved her to the American school. She helped write the Japanese constitution in 1946 ensuring equality for women is enshrined in law.
Beate Sirota Gordon — en.wikipedia.org
Churchill, Manitoba, is a town in Canada where it is customary to leave car doors unlocked in order to provide other residents a quick escape should they come face-to-face with a polar bear.
Manitoba town learns to coexist with polar bears, thanks to radar and unlocked car doors
Born on November 4, 1929 Shakuntala Devi died on April 21, 2013, was known as the “human computer”. Her talent earned her a place in the 1982 edition of The Guinness Book of World Record. Now, her life is being immortalized by Director Anu Menon in a Sony Pictures movie, with the main role being played by Vidya Balan.
The The World premiere of “Shakuntala Devi – The True Story of India’s Math Genius” on 31st July 2020, with an exclusive release only on Amazon Prime Video.
Made-in-India 5G ready: Mukesh Ambani on Wednesday announced that his group’s digital arm Jio is developing a homegrown 5G telecom solution. “Jio has designed and developed a complete 5G solution from scratch. It will be ready for trials as soon as 5G spectrum is available and can be ready for field deployment next year,” Ambani said at Reliance Industries’ annual general meeting. (Source)
Special procurement powers to Army: In view of the border row with China in eastern Ladakh, the defence ministry on Wednesday granted special powers to the three services for individual capital procurement programme worth Rs 300 crore to meet emergent operational requirements, officials said. They said there was no cap on the number of procurement programmes and that each acquisition under the emergency requirement category should not cost more than Rs 300 crore. (Source)
Silencing critics the Beijing way: The authorities in Beijing are so eager to silence critics of the regime that they are now video-calling dissidents in other countries to try and pressure them to toe the party line. And they’re doing it while sitting next to members of the dissidents’ families. (Source)
COVID positive Brazil Prez bitten by Rhea: Brazil’s President is having a rather bad time these days. Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro positive for Covid-19 last Tuesday, after coming down with a fever, and remains quarantined in the Palácio da Alvorada in Brazil. Yesterday, while feeding the giant rhea birds while strolling through the grounds of his official residence, he was bitten by a rather enthusiastic one. (Source)
Did you know that in 2017, the Chinese government had all but bought the 3rd largest port in the US – Long Beach in California? Until the US government woke up to the threat and pushed COSCO of China out of the deal and moved the ownership to a private Australian company? But China is buying up important ports around the globe. Let us get some information on that.
New configuration and dynamics is brewing up in North and South Korea that may have larger ramifications.
Rare Earth Elements (REE) will change and rule the world as oil did in the last century. China dominates that industry like no other. And it uses that monopoly to beat down on its adversaries.
The Great Depression of the 1930s led to World War 2 in a significant manner. Current economic crises and geopolitical battles are converging. What will the coming wars be like? We look at the scenario deeply.
Attack by Hamas took a lot to accomplish. The sudden Chinese bonhomie with Syria and the bringing together of Arab - Sunni and Shia countries and actors by Xi Jinping's regime raises some questions .
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