Sept 13th: Granules India rises the way you rise after your boss' yelling
Sept 12th: The billion dollar Bangladesh bank heist explained
Sept 11th: Should prisoners be allowed to vote?
Sept 10th: Switzerland's neutrality explained
Sept 3rd: India's bank consolidation explained
Sept 2nd: Four horsemen of South Korea's economy
Aug 30th: Inside the Most Ambitious Push Yet to Make iPhones Outside China
Aug 29th: Brexit Drama!
Aug 27th: Chaddi Buddies of G7 explained
Aug 26th: Amazon is burning & why it matters to you
Aug 22nd: Mosquitos - human kind's biggest foe
Aug 21st: Biggest pollution you probably never heard of
Aug 20th: Trump wants to buy Greenland. Can he?
Aug 18th: Iran just broke its nuclear deal
Aug 16th: Recession is coming
Aug 15th: How Banks & Doctors analyze voice to track criminals & diseases
Aug 14th: Russia’s nuclear-powered doomsday missile, explained
Aug 13th: How a 6,000 year old Dog cancer can cure Human cancer
Aug 12th: Save Climat? Bury the Problem (carbon)
Aug 8th: Micronations Explained
Aug 7th: Japan just pushed the world in an ethical quandary
Aug 6th: Real life Farmville of South Africa explained
Aug 5th: The situation in Kashmir explained
Aug 2nd: The puzzling mass migration of Ugandans to India explained
Aug 1st: Why you are now competing with Cows for sugar
July 5th: Japan & South Korea are now in a trade war. Biggest Victim: Samsung
July 4th: 700 kids in Pakistan now have HIV due to reused syringes
July 2nd: Franchising Model Explained
July 1st: The US border crisis is getting worse
June 26th: Tale of 2 Govts
June 23rd: US & Iran might be going to War - here's why
June 22nd: Amazon's "surveillance" as a service" explained
June 21st: Why airlines delay flights on purpose
June 20th: FB's Crypto - LIBRA decoded
June 19th: Why newspapers are dying all over the world except India
June 18th: Why Afghanistan is becoming the cricket world’s favorite. HINT: Geo Politics!
June 17th: Why Israel is a Tech capital in the world
June 14th: China's 996 work regime explained
June 13th: Why China has banned all mentions of Tiananmen Square
June 12th: Why UK had to handover HK to China over a math issue
June 11th: Why people in HK are protesting
June 10th: We are being watched!
June 7th: NYC Cabbies are the biggest threat to Uber
June 6th: Connection between Akshay Kumar & US Court System Explained
June 4th: Reason behind US' oil boom explained
June 3rd: Amber Alerts Explained
June 1st: Why One Day Shipping is a Curse
May 30th: Theresa May has BREXITED the house
May 29th: Mozambique's Scandal Explained
May 28th: How China will be rating it's 1.3B people
May 27th: How Money Gets Laundered
May 24th: Facebook is launching it's own Cryptocurrency
May 23rd:Why Apple could soon be banned in China
May 22nd: It's Amazon employees, not Alexa, that have been listening to you
May 21st: Netflix has 175 days to fight off the biggest battle in its history
May 20th: How Google’s privacy changes are mostly marketing
May 19th: President Trump's Immigration Plan Explained
May 17th: A ticking time bomb within our Banking system
May 16th: Softbank - the biggest & baddest VC explained
May 15th: Singapore’s Fake News Law and its impact on Asia Explained
May 14th: Masala Bonds explained (yup you read that right!)
May 13th: Direct Listing for IPOs explained & why it's so important for Indian startups
May 12th: Why Spain experienced a decline in Child Birth after instituting Paternity Leave
May 11th: Malaysia's 1MDB Scandal Explained
May 10th: China Taiwan Dushmani Explained
May 9th: Why LinkedIn is introducing emojis
May 8th: How China is changing the music we listen to
May 4th: AWS and How it is making Amazon a Trillion+ Dollar Company
May 3rd: How VCs collect and make all that cash money
May 2nd: Why a fleet of tankers is hoarding oil in massive amounts
May 1st: Smuggling empire of Kalee Mirch explained
April 30th: India's eCommerce policy explained
April 29th: Pepsi is suing Indian farmers
April 27th: Australia is killing 2 million cats
April 23rd: Indonesia is having a Ghajini moment
April 22nd: India x Iran: Match made in Oil
April 20th: Indigo makes me Crime Master Go Go
April 19th: Jet Airways downfall explained & why airlines can never be profitable
April 18th: "Change Nahi Hai? Accha Whatsapp will do!"
April 17th: A Ruia-Mittal-Ruia Steel Triangle
April 16th: TV, Shirt, Fan - How our political parties came up with their symbols?
April 15th: How a cat brought down Julian Assange - founder of Wikileaks
April 13th: Why the most valuable company in the world is going public
April 12th: Why we need to thank the British for vada pavs and samosas
April 11th: Why every single foreign company is interested in our rural folks
April 10th: How Syrian War went from a peaceful protest to one of the deadliest civil wars of our times
April 9th: Who is buying the World's garbage? Hint: China!
April 8th: Payday Loans Explained
April 6th: Commonalities between Atheism and Religion
April 5th: WWE Empire Explained
April 4th: How Indian music streaming services are getting ready to fight Spotify
April 3rd: Why price of a banana in India is almost same as that of in US
April 2nd: Why Ireland plays a key role in successful BREXIT
April 1st: BREXIT Explained
March 30th: How algos of dating apps work
March 29th: Everything you ever wanted to know about Mission Shakti
March 28th: How China is turning Ethiopia into an outsourcing hub
March 27th: How 3 Indian Brothers seized South Africa & drained it of $7 billion
March 26th: Facebook: making life hard, one update at a time
March 25th: Sri Lanka's 26 yr old Civil War Explained
March 22nd: 2G Scandal Explained
March 21st: Kasauti Loans Ki - Why Mukesh bhai paying Anil bhai's loans won't end all problems
March 20th: Phone Kyun Nahi Lag Raha? India's Telecom Spectrum Allocation Explained
March 19th: The story of India's biggest Banking IPO starts with Rural Women!
March 18th:Why China & India want a piece of Bangladesh Stock Exchange
March 16th: Why there might not be a "Olympics 2032"
March 15th: No one messes with the Shaadis - not even Google!
March 14th: The biggest election of the world explained
March 13th: What does Shaadi.com have in common with Bjorn Borg (former world No.1 tennis player)?
March 12th: How Somalian Pirates make money
March 11th: Why Apple couldn't do anything with it's cash, until now
March 9th: How Apple has $285 Billion in cash all through paying negligible taxes
March 8th: How Bing is actually not a failure for Microsoft
March 7th: The race to control your Internet
March 6th: How Norway is both the cleanest & dirtiest country in the world
March 5th: Why millions of Ugandans are quitting the internet
March 4th: Will the real Brit shady please stand up?
Granules India - an Indian pharmaceutical manufacturing company based in Hyderabad, makes off-patent, over-the-counter drugs like Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, (THINK – ingredients that go in your Crocin) on a global scale. Yesterday, it witnessed a 6% jump in its stock price – this is HUGE. This is why it happened –
I don’t have a Pharmacy degree, so break the jargon Munna Bhai style please
Fine but please no jadoo ki jhappis! Three terms are KEY to Granules existence:
Hmm so why did it bounce up by 6% yesterday?
In order to be able to sell medicines (and raw materials that go into medicines) in the US, companies need to get an approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. Yesterday, Granules India told BSE that USDA checked out it’s biggest factory (located in Bonthapally, Telangana) and gave it a clean & clear/ fair & lovely report from the USDA with just 1 item to fix.
This sent the stocks soaring because the US is one of the biggest markets and by now getting permission to sell and expand its business in the US, Granules India will make more revenue in the future. Soooo stockbrokers started buying the stock NOW to reap the benefit in the future and thus, increasing its stock price by 6%
Bottomline:
This is just an early sign of growth for Granules India. The real success will come when it starts expanding its business within the US. But we hope this gyaan helped you understand the interesting world of off-patent, over-the-counter drugs.
Disclaimer:
We do not own any Granules India stock. Although, we did have some crocin to get over the headache that started when we began brainstorming which Munna Bhai image to display!
I don’t have a Pharmacy degree, so break the jargon Munna Bhai style please
Fine but please no jadoo ki jhappis! Three terms are KEY to Granules existence:
- Off-patent: A patent is basically a form of legal intellectual contract that gives the owner the right to exclude others from making, using and selling the patented item for years. Off-patent essentially removes this roadblock for Granules and it can make as much as possible of the off-patent drugs without being worried of getting sued.
- Over-the-counter drugs: These are medicines that you can buy from your local medicine wala without needing a doctor’s note for it (e.g. crocin). Over the counter drugs are widely and easily sold because they take care of day to day pains like headaches. By making the raw materials for over the counter drugs, Granules India is able to sell a lot more (and also make a lot more $$$) vs. other niche pharmaceutical manufacturers.
- Global: By selling these raw materials globally – it helps make crocin equivalent over the counter medicines for countries like Brazil, Vietnam, Canada, Japan, etc.
Hmm so why did it bounce up by 6% yesterday?
In order to be able to sell medicines (and raw materials that go into medicines) in the US, companies need to get an approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. Yesterday, Granules India told BSE that USDA checked out it’s biggest factory (located in Bonthapally, Telangana) and gave it a clean & clear/ fair & lovely report from the USDA with just 1 item to fix.
This sent the stocks soaring because the US is one of the biggest markets and by now getting permission to sell and expand its business in the US, Granules India will make more revenue in the future. Soooo stockbrokers started buying the stock NOW to reap the benefit in the future and thus, increasing its stock price by 6%
Bottomline:
This is just an early sign of growth for Granules India. The real success will come when it starts expanding its business within the US. But we hope this gyaan helped you understand the interesting world of off-patent, over-the-counter drugs.
Disclaimer:
We do not own any Granules India stock. Although, we did have some crocin to get over the headache that started when we began brainstorming which Munna Bhai image to display!
The Bangladesh Bank robbery, also known as the Bangladesh Bank cyber heist, took place in February 2016, when thirty-five fraudulent instructions were issued by security hackers via the SWIFT network to illegally transfer close to US $1 billion from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York account belonging to Bangladesh Bank. Here is how the heist went down
Firstly, what is SWIFT?
SWIFT is a group that operates a trusted and closed computer network for communication between member banks around the world. It is based in Belgium.
What Happened?
Five of the thirty-five fraudulent instructions were successful in transferring $101 million, with $20 million traced to Sri Lanka and $81 million to the Philippines. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York blocked the remaining thirty transactions, amounting to $850 million, due to suspicions raised by a misspelled instruction (“Foundation” was spelled as “FANdation”)
All the money transferred to Sri Lanka has since been recovered. However, as of 2018 only around $18 million of the $81 million transferred to the Philippines has been recovered.
How did they discover this heist?
Thanks to a printer "error" Bangladesh Bank discover the heist. The bank's SWIFT system is configured to automatically print out a record each time a money transfer request goes through. The printer works 24 hours so that when workers arrive each morning, they check the tray for transfers that got confirmed overnight. But on the morning of Friday February 5, the director of the bank found the printer tray empty. When bank workers tried to print the reports manually, they couldn't. The software on the terminal that connects to the SWIFT network indicated that a critical system file was missing or had been altered.
When they finally got the software working the next day and were able to restart the printer, dozens of suspicious transactions spit out. The Fed bank in New York had apparently sent queries to Bangladesh Bank questioning dozens of the transfer orders, but no one in Bangladesh had responded.
Bangladesh Bank managed to get Sri Lankan bank to cancel the $20 million that it had already received and reroute that money back to Bangladesh Bank's New York Fed account. But the $81 million that went in the Philippines was gone. It had already been credited to multiple accounts—reportedly belonging to casinos in the Philippines.
Bottomline:
If this does not sound like a movie that needs to be made by Bollywood RIGHT NOW, then we completely disown our relationship with you!
Firstly, what is SWIFT?
SWIFT is a group that operates a trusted and closed computer network for communication between member banks around the world. It is based in Belgium.
What Happened?
Five of the thirty-five fraudulent instructions were successful in transferring $101 million, with $20 million traced to Sri Lanka and $81 million to the Philippines. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York blocked the remaining thirty transactions, amounting to $850 million, due to suspicions raised by a misspelled instruction (“Foundation” was spelled as “FANdation”)
All the money transferred to Sri Lanka has since been recovered. However, as of 2018 only around $18 million of the $81 million transferred to the Philippines has been recovered.
How did they discover this heist?
Thanks to a printer "error" Bangladesh Bank discover the heist. The bank's SWIFT system is configured to automatically print out a record each time a money transfer request goes through. The printer works 24 hours so that when workers arrive each morning, they check the tray for transfers that got confirmed overnight. But on the morning of Friday February 5, the director of the bank found the printer tray empty. When bank workers tried to print the reports manually, they couldn't. The software on the terminal that connects to the SWIFT network indicated that a critical system file was missing or had been altered.
When they finally got the software working the next day and were able to restart the printer, dozens of suspicious transactions spit out. The Fed bank in New York had apparently sent queries to Bangladesh Bank questioning dozens of the transfer orders, but no one in Bangladesh had responded.
Bangladesh Bank managed to get Sri Lankan bank to cancel the $20 million that it had already received and reroute that money back to Bangladesh Bank's New York Fed account. But the $81 million that went in the Philippines was gone. It had already been credited to multiple accounts—reportedly belonging to casinos in the Philippines.
Bottomline:
If this does not sound like a movie that needs to be made by Bollywood RIGHT NOW, then we completely disown our relationship with you!
This past election, while 900 million of us exercised our fundamental right to vote, nearly 400,000 were denied these rights. WHY? Because they are currently serving time in our prisons. Here’s a question for you - Do you think prisoners should be allowed the right to vote?
Brief background:
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations urges every country to provide voting rights to all adults, with no bar for age, gender or status of incarceration (i.e. prison status)
While most countries do allow prisoners to vote, India is one of the few ones that does not. The Representation of the People Act, 1951, states that "No person shall vote at any election if s/he is confined in a prison, whether under a sentence of imprisonment or is in the lawful custody of the police” However, an amendment to the General Elections handbook in 2014, now allows detainees the right to vote as long as they are not under-trial or are offenders. Problem is no vote has as yet been cast from inside a prison or by a prisoner.
Now that you have the background, lets go into the case FOR and AGAINST:
The case FOR:
Mind you when we talk about prisoners over here we are not talking about the small section of prisoners – corrupt politicians. We are talking about the majority who are in jail because of offenses like robbing and stealing.
The case AGAINST:
Parliament uses the following logic:
Bottomline:
You clearly know where we stand, but would love to hear from you on where do you stand. Feel free to send us an email at hello@nandoo.in! Would love to hear your opinions!
Brief background:
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations urges every country to provide voting rights to all adults, with no bar for age, gender or status of incarceration (i.e. prison status)
While most countries do allow prisoners to vote, India is one of the few ones that does not. The Representation of the People Act, 1951, states that "No person shall vote at any election if s/he is confined in a prison, whether under a sentence of imprisonment or is in the lawful custody of the police” However, an amendment to the General Elections handbook in 2014, now allows detainees the right to vote as long as they are not under-trial or are offenders. Problem is no vote has as yet been cast from inside a prison or by a prisoner.
Now that you have the background, lets go into the case FOR and AGAINST:
The case FOR:
Mind you when we talk about prisoners over here we are not talking about the small section of prisoners – corrupt politicians. We are talking about the majority who are in jail because of offenses like robbing and stealing.
- Respecting and supporting prisoners is effective in allowing them to integrate later. Would you want to integrate with a society that doesn’t care about you? Integration is important. It allows ex-prisoners to live a dignified life, reduces crime in society, and reduces enforcement and prison costs for the society.
- Taking the ability to vote away can motivate people to imprison a minority in order to reduce their power. What you can do is create a law that incriminates something that’s pretty normal and then focus police on that minority. For example, in the US, African Americans are more often imprisoned for possession of weed in comparison to non African Americans, even though both groups use the same amount of it. After they are released, they still can’t vote.
The case AGAINST:
Parliament uses the following logic:
- Logistics: E.g. in one jail you have criminals from many areas. In Tihar jail, we can have criminals from almost all parts of India. So, it will be difficult for the police to take all of them for different areas of voting in a safe manner. COUNTER: they could bring the ballots to the prison
- Influence bias: If prisoners are allowed to take part in voting process, they can influence the voting pattern through fear in others mind. COUNTER: That must have been the case in the past but in today’s 21st century, the real problem with getting influenced is from ridiculous reporters, news channel and fake news from Facebook & Whatsapp vs. a prisoner sitting in Tihar jail trying to exercise his/her human rights.
Bottomline:
You clearly know where we stand, but would love to hear from you on where do you stand. Feel free to send us an email at hello@nandoo.in! Would love to hear your opinions!
Switzerland – is one of the most neutral of all countries in the world. Neutrality basically means that Switzerland won’t get involved in armed conflicts between other countries. It did not participate in World War I nor in World War II which is why when it joined the UN, the Swiss were even more aghast & distraught.
Some background on Swiss neutrality
Switzerland was not always a neutral country but was forced into this due to two factors:
Adopting this neutral stance to everything worked wonderfully for Switzerland and is one of the reasons why the World Health Organization (WHO) is HQ-ed in Geneva (because it can create impartial health policies for the world). However, this neutrality took a severe hit two times:
1.) WWII:
Wait, what did they do in WW II?
Ummm nothing – no seriously – they didn’t join the allied forces (comprising of UK, US, France) nor the axis forces (comprising of Germany, Italy, Japan). Because none of these countries had initiated a war with Switzerland, there was no reason for them to participate in the biggest war experienced by the world. However, they continued their trade relations with both the allied and axis countries to the point of supplying arms & ammunition to Nazi Germany. This particular trade deal with Germany back then is still seen as the ugly black mark of Switzerland’s otherwise applauded policy of maintaining neutrality and opened the doors for them to start reconsidering exceptions to the neutrality.
And so they came up with the approach of neutrality in politics but solidarity in everything else (as in, wont supply arms and ammunitions or undertake trade with countries that are causing significant damage to humanity and society) But this also back fired when the Cold War started…
2.) Cold War:
So, what did they do in Cold War?
Too much! The thing is, the United Nations was formed as an aftermath of WW II - essentially to prevent another world war from ever taking place. Switzerland decided to not join it because they were like “Well we are neutral af so no need for us to join these organizations”
Enter - Cold War. It started in 1960s between Russia and USA (and by the way is called Cold War because even though they did not fight like the actual war, they did a lot of passive-aggressive natak with each other – similar to your current relationship with that one worst/best frenemy of yours! We will cover it some other time) Anyway, so during the Cold War, Switzerland tried to intervene too much between US and Russia because of its neutral status (and also to gain some popularity back with the global countries especially because of the boo-boo done with Nazi Germany). But in its efforts to help out, it ended up damaging the relation between US and Russia a lot more leading to crisis in the middle east that caused the world to start a potential WW III. Luckily, the damage subsided, Cold War ended and Switzerland realized that it is not as well equipped to be neutral as it thought it was.
And so finally, in early 2000s after a lot of back and forth, it finally joined the United Nations.
Bottomline:
One super ironic thing we came across while researching this story was that Switzerland, which wants nothing but neutrality and ultimately peace in the world, is in fact one of the biggest suppliers of arms and ammunition in the world! Something to think about and take your mind away from our missed lunar mission.
Some background on Swiss neutrality
Switzerland was not always a neutral country but was forced into this due to two factors:
- External: With a very tiny population and literally NO raw materials to grow, Switzerland relies heavily on its neighboring countries for almost every raw material needed to run its industries. And so, Switzerland realized very early on that if they start taking sides between warring neighbors, they will be severely impacted by it.
- Internal: Switzerland is comprised of various smaller communities, that speak their own languages and follow their own cultures (similar to how we have so many castes and cultures in India). These communities used to fight a lot amongst one another and so implementing a blanket neutrality approach to everything was a way to prevent these communities from fighting and destroying Switzerland.
Adopting this neutral stance to everything worked wonderfully for Switzerland and is one of the reasons why the World Health Organization (WHO) is HQ-ed in Geneva (because it can create impartial health policies for the world). However, this neutrality took a severe hit two times:
1.) WWII:
Wait, what did they do in WW II?
Ummm nothing – no seriously – they didn’t join the allied forces (comprising of UK, US, France) nor the axis forces (comprising of Germany, Italy, Japan). Because none of these countries had initiated a war with Switzerland, there was no reason for them to participate in the biggest war experienced by the world. However, they continued their trade relations with both the allied and axis countries to the point of supplying arms & ammunition to Nazi Germany. This particular trade deal with Germany back then is still seen as the ugly black mark of Switzerland’s otherwise applauded policy of maintaining neutrality and opened the doors for them to start reconsidering exceptions to the neutrality.
And so they came up with the approach of neutrality in politics but solidarity in everything else (as in, wont supply arms and ammunitions or undertake trade with countries that are causing significant damage to humanity and society) But this also back fired when the Cold War started…
2.) Cold War:
So, what did they do in Cold War?
Too much! The thing is, the United Nations was formed as an aftermath of WW II - essentially to prevent another world war from ever taking place. Switzerland decided to not join it because they were like “Well we are neutral af so no need for us to join these organizations”
Enter - Cold War. It started in 1960s between Russia and USA (and by the way is called Cold War because even though they did not fight like the actual war, they did a lot of passive-aggressive natak with each other – similar to your current relationship with that one worst/best frenemy of yours! We will cover it some other time) Anyway, so during the Cold War, Switzerland tried to intervene too much between US and Russia because of its neutral status (and also to gain some popularity back with the global countries especially because of the boo-boo done with Nazi Germany). But in its efforts to help out, it ended up damaging the relation between US and Russia a lot more leading to crisis in the middle east that caused the world to start a potential WW III. Luckily, the damage subsided, Cold War ended and Switzerland realized that it is not as well equipped to be neutral as it thought it was.
And so finally, in early 2000s after a lot of back and forth, it finally joined the United Nations.
Bottomline:
One super ironic thing we came across while researching this story was that Switzerland, which wants nothing but neutrality and ultimately peace in the world, is in fact one of the biggest suppliers of arms and ammunition in the world! Something to think about and take your mind away from our missed lunar mission.
On Friday, our Finance Minister announced the government’s decision to merge 10 state-owned banks to create four large entities or lenders. Here are all your pressing questions answered!
How does consolidation help?
For years, expert committees have recommended that India should have fewer but bigger and better-managed banks to ensure efficiency of operations, wider reach and greater profitability. The logic is that rather than having several of its own banks competing for the same pie (in terms of deposits or loans) in the same narrow geographies, leading to each one incurring costs, it would make sense to have large-sized banks.
It’s like instead of having 10 bhaaji-walas on the same road, lets have 4 mega bhaaji walas who can offer “better prices” for the said bhaaji. But you know what the problem with this is right - all of a sudden the price of 1 aloo just increased because competition in the market has decreased. In the bank consolidation terms - yes, it will bring about efficiencies for the banks BUT because of lesser options, rates offered to consumers like us might take a dive.
It has also been argued that such an entity will then be able to respond better to emerging market trends or shifts and compete more with private banks. The Finance Minister has said that the proposed big banks would be able to compete globally and improve their efficiency once they lower their cost of lending and improve lending. But just note - none of India’s banks including the largest, SBI, figures in the list of the top 50 global banks. So that may be a long way away to go. Also, not sure about you, but a bigger company doesn't bring to mind efficiency more so the opposite - bigger companies have more inefficiencies and bureaucracies to deal with. So verdict is still TBD on the consolidation front.
How does the consolidation help the government?
For over decades starting from 1992, the government has been the biggest shareholder of over 25 state banks and has had to provide capital for them. To grow, lend more and plan for loans that could go bad, the banks often need a higher amount of capital to set aside. With the government not willing to lower its equity holdings and with a large slice of the capital being set aside to cover for bad loans, which have swelled over the last few years, the burden of infusing capital rests on the majority shareholder - the central bank.
This means marking a large amount of money almost every year during the last few years in the Budget for many banks at a time when there is a huge demand for funds for education, health and other programs. By reducing the number of banks to a manageable count, the government must be hoping that the demands for such capital infusion will be lower eventually with increased efficiencies and with more well managed banks. It will also help that the government can focus now on fewer banks than in the past.
What are the potential downsides of such a merger?
Smooth integration of operations always poses a risk, especially with the prospect of resistance from staff and unions in the entities being merged. There are issues like cultural fit, redeployment of staff, and fewer career opportunities for many in a merged entity.
But the biggest risk is the creation of what is known as systematically important institutions which simply means that because there are such fewer banks now, they will play a major role in the economy and if one falls, the others might come crashing down leading to wide economic meltdown (P.S. this is what happened to the US when it went through it's recession in 2008)
Bottomline:
The consolidation of banks is more helpful for the Govt. rather than direct consumers. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise!
How does consolidation help?
For years, expert committees have recommended that India should have fewer but bigger and better-managed banks to ensure efficiency of operations, wider reach and greater profitability. The logic is that rather than having several of its own banks competing for the same pie (in terms of deposits or loans) in the same narrow geographies, leading to each one incurring costs, it would make sense to have large-sized banks.
It’s like instead of having 10 bhaaji-walas on the same road, lets have 4 mega bhaaji walas who can offer “better prices” for the said bhaaji. But you know what the problem with this is right - all of a sudden the price of 1 aloo just increased because competition in the market has decreased. In the bank consolidation terms - yes, it will bring about efficiencies for the banks BUT because of lesser options, rates offered to consumers like us might take a dive.
It has also been argued that such an entity will then be able to respond better to emerging market trends or shifts and compete more with private banks. The Finance Minister has said that the proposed big banks would be able to compete globally and improve their efficiency once they lower their cost of lending and improve lending. But just note - none of India’s banks including the largest, SBI, figures in the list of the top 50 global banks. So that may be a long way away to go. Also, not sure about you, but a bigger company doesn't bring to mind efficiency more so the opposite - bigger companies have more inefficiencies and bureaucracies to deal with. So verdict is still TBD on the consolidation front.
How does the consolidation help the government?
For over decades starting from 1992, the government has been the biggest shareholder of over 25 state banks and has had to provide capital for them. To grow, lend more and plan for loans that could go bad, the banks often need a higher amount of capital to set aside. With the government not willing to lower its equity holdings and with a large slice of the capital being set aside to cover for bad loans, which have swelled over the last few years, the burden of infusing capital rests on the majority shareholder - the central bank.
This means marking a large amount of money almost every year during the last few years in the Budget for many banks at a time when there is a huge demand for funds for education, health and other programs. By reducing the number of banks to a manageable count, the government must be hoping that the demands for such capital infusion will be lower eventually with increased efficiencies and with more well managed banks. It will also help that the government can focus now on fewer banks than in the past.
What are the potential downsides of such a merger?
Smooth integration of operations always poses a risk, especially with the prospect of resistance from staff and unions in the entities being merged. There are issues like cultural fit, redeployment of staff, and fewer career opportunities for many in a merged entity.
But the biggest risk is the creation of what is known as systematically important institutions which simply means that because there are such fewer banks now, they will play a major role in the economy and if one falls, the others might come crashing down leading to wide economic meltdown (P.S. this is what happened to the US when it went through it's recession in 2008)
Bottomline:
The consolidation of banks is more helpful for the Govt. rather than direct consumers. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise!
Brief background the 4 horsemen is a reference from the bible where towards the end of the world, four riders on white, red, black and pale horses show up representing plague, war, famine, and death, respectively. In modern day, the term “four horsemen” is used as a reference for any four troubled areas in the future.
Okay back to South Kroea, the President- Moon Jae-in this week made a public display of personal support for Korean companies by investing an unspecified quantity of his own money in a local equity fund. However, Investors would be unwise to follow President Moon’s example and buy the country’s stocks. There are 4 main challenges (horsemen) that stand out making it a tough market to invest in:
1. US x China Trade Wars: the country’s status as a trade and manufacturing hub exposes it more than most to the U.S.-China trade war. The impact would be a result of the US reducing imports from China, which in turn buys intermediate – producer or semi-finished – goods from South Korea. Those goods accounted for 78.9% of its total exports to China last year.
2. Microchips: South Korea is a major exporter of microchips, sales of which would be weak even without trade tensions amid falling global demand for automobiles, smartphones and personal computers. After years of rapid growth, the global smartphone market is shrinking as consumers wait for the next game-changing feature and some of the biggest markets reach saturation (i.e. no need to buy a new phone because guess what, just bought a new one last year!). That’s bad news for the technology giants. Apple Inc. cut its sales forecast for the first time in almost two decades while industry leader Samsung Electronics Co. is looking at innovations such as foldable screens to counter its own weaker sales. Which means- less phones to be shipped – meaning less phones to make – meaning – less microchips needed!
3. Domestic Economy: The economy is experiencing something called as “Wage Inflation” or Rapid increases in income levels. Wage inflation comes when demand for employees is the highest and unemployment rate is falling. With fewer people available to work, employers are forced to increase wages to attract and maintain talent. A knock-on effect from rising wages is that some small firms have to dip into the less talented work pool, reducing productivity which will impact the economy is the short term future.
4. South Korea x Japan Trade Wars: Finally, South Korea is engaged in a personal economic conflict with the government of Japan. On this last front, the investment fund President Moon picked—the NH-Amundi Victorious Korea Equity Fund—is a bad sign. The Fund (NH-Amundi) invests in domestic firms that are directly impacted by Japan’s actions as part of this trade war. This suggests, the President isn’t about to de-escalate the situation. Also, for a recap on the South Korea x Japan Trade Wars, check out our old gyaan here!
Bottomline:
We are not stock pickers, so the above is a hypothesis on what could be coming in South Korea. However, what is important to note from this gyaan is that just because a person says s/he is going to personally invest in something to give their personal assurance to you, shouldn’t make it a right decision. ALSO, should government officials be allowed to invest in stock market/ companies and make a declaration about it? Imagine if we find out that PM Modi is going to invest his personal funds in our real estate companies – should that be allowed? Another thing, we hope you learned from this gyaan is just background info about South Korea & the four horsemen!
Okay back to South Kroea, the President- Moon Jae-in this week made a public display of personal support for Korean companies by investing an unspecified quantity of his own money in a local equity fund. However, Investors would be unwise to follow President Moon’s example and buy the country’s stocks. There are 4 main challenges (horsemen) that stand out making it a tough market to invest in:
1. US x China Trade Wars: the country’s status as a trade and manufacturing hub exposes it more than most to the U.S.-China trade war. The impact would be a result of the US reducing imports from China, which in turn buys intermediate – producer or semi-finished – goods from South Korea. Those goods accounted for 78.9% of its total exports to China last year.
2. Microchips: South Korea is a major exporter of microchips, sales of which would be weak even without trade tensions amid falling global demand for automobiles, smartphones and personal computers. After years of rapid growth, the global smartphone market is shrinking as consumers wait for the next game-changing feature and some of the biggest markets reach saturation (i.e. no need to buy a new phone because guess what, just bought a new one last year!). That’s bad news for the technology giants. Apple Inc. cut its sales forecast for the first time in almost two decades while industry leader Samsung Electronics Co. is looking at innovations such as foldable screens to counter its own weaker sales. Which means- less phones to be shipped – meaning less phones to make – meaning – less microchips needed!
3. Domestic Economy: The economy is experiencing something called as “Wage Inflation” or Rapid increases in income levels. Wage inflation comes when demand for employees is the highest and unemployment rate is falling. With fewer people available to work, employers are forced to increase wages to attract and maintain talent. A knock-on effect from rising wages is that some small firms have to dip into the less talented work pool, reducing productivity which will impact the economy is the short term future.
4. South Korea x Japan Trade Wars: Finally, South Korea is engaged in a personal economic conflict with the government of Japan. On this last front, the investment fund President Moon picked—the NH-Amundi Victorious Korea Equity Fund—is a bad sign. The Fund (NH-Amundi) invests in domestic firms that are directly impacted by Japan’s actions as part of this trade war. This suggests, the President isn’t about to de-escalate the situation. Also, for a recap on the South Korea x Japan Trade Wars, check out our old gyaan here!
Bottomline:
We are not stock pickers, so the above is a hypothesis on what could be coming in South Korea. However, what is important to note from this gyaan is that just because a person says s/he is going to personally invest in something to give their personal assurance to you, shouldn’t make it a right decision. ALSO, should government officials be allowed to invest in stock market/ companies and make a declaration about it? Imagine if we find out that PM Modi is going to invest his personal funds in our real estate companies – should that be allowed? Another thing, we hope you learned from this gyaan is just background info about South Korea & the four horsemen!
A brief background on Foxconn – it makes parts for iPhone, Xiaomi, Samsung, Amazon Alexa speakers and soon Google speakers. It is stated that 1 out of every 3 electronics used by ANY HUMAN in this world has some touch point at a Foxconn factory. So yeah it’s a pretty big deal!
Problem is – the trade war going on between China and US has added pressure on US companies (i.e. Apple, Amazon, Google) to start producing their electronics outside of China. Given all these companies rely heavily on Foxconn – a Taiwan based company which up until now, had all of its factories in China, Foxconn is now under pressure to decrease its reliance on China.
Enter India – more specifically, Sri City and Sriperumbudur in Andhra Pradesh. Slight side note – not sure about you, but we had NO idea that these cities even existed in Andhra Pradesh!
Hmmm am super proud to hear this but Nandoo, why Andhra Pradesh?
Two reasons:
Foxconn’s plant employs almost 15,000 workers and about 90% of them women. Why women? Again two reasons:
India has been given a golden opportunity to aid the world get over their reliance on China while also uplifting swaths of its own society. Only thing is – we have to make sure we get it right the first time and don’t have any screw ups on the way to getting there because guess what, there are a lot of other countries that would be more than happy to take over this role from us! Soooo no pressure!
Problem is – the trade war going on between China and US has added pressure on US companies (i.e. Apple, Amazon, Google) to start producing their electronics outside of China. Given all these companies rely heavily on Foxconn – a Taiwan based company which up until now, had all of its factories in China, Foxconn is now under pressure to decrease its reliance on China.
Enter India – more specifically, Sri City and Sriperumbudur in Andhra Pradesh. Slight side note – not sure about you, but we had NO idea that these cities even existed in Andhra Pradesh!
Hmmm am super proud to hear this but Nandoo, why Andhra Pradesh?
Two reasons:
- “Make in India”: PM Modi’s initiative to make India a manufacturing powerhouse – similar to China, is what has motivated a lot of foreign companies to enter India for manufacturing. The plan is to expand India’s $25 billion phone manufacturing to $400 billion by 2024. However, don’t assume this will be a pretty straightforward path to success. A mere 700,000 electronics manufacturing jobs have been created since Make in India started. Skilled workers such as industrial designers are in short supply, and there isn’t yet much of a supplier network providing crucial components such as batteries, semiconductors and processors. Additionally, for a successful manufacturing process, you need the infrastructure which will require the Indian government and private sector to invest heavily in roads, rails, ports and other infrastructure. When China did it, global supply chains were fragmented and there wasn’t another China. And so India will not only have to get it right but we have to get it right in a way to better China. China also had the benefit of being able to grow without worrying too much about the environmental impact. With concern about climate change growing, that’s not going to fly these days.
- Andhra Pradesh as a SEZ (i.e. Special Economic Zone): All this means is that the AP govt. has given significant tax breaks for factories to come to AP and create jobs. For instance, Foxconn gets free water, electricity and land to build its factories.
Foxconn’s plant employs almost 15,000 workers and about 90% of them women. Why women? Again two reasons:
- Experience from China: Female factory workers are commonplace in China, but unusual in India, where rural women are typically consigned to unpaid household or farm work. Women in this region weren’t even allowed to work at night in factories until the local government and the courts intervened four years ago.
- A more sadistic outlook: because it is not common practices to hire women for manufacturing jobs, they are less likely to switch jobs for something else and are more appreciative of the opportunity given to them which means – they won’t quit for other jobs. Regardless, still believe this is a very positive step towards equality!
India has been given a golden opportunity to aid the world get over their reliance on China while also uplifting swaths of its own society. Only thing is – we have to make sure we get it right the first time and don’t have any screw ups on the way to getting there because guess what, there are a lot of other countries that would be more than happy to take over this role from us! Soooo no pressure!
On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked Queen Elizabeth II to suspend — otherwise known as “prorogue” — Parliament until October 14, in what very much looked like an attempt to prevent members of Parliament (MPs) from blocking a no-deal Brexit before the October 31 deadline. A no-deal Brexit basically means UK would leave the European Union without any plan in place.
The queen has approved Johnson’s request, which was mostly a formality anyway. (There was practically no chance that the queen, who stays above the political discussion, would deny Johnson’s request, though technically she could have. PS Go watch “The Crown” on Netflix for more deets on how the crown cannot control the government.) Now Parliament will be suspended for five weeks, from September 9 at the earliest, or September 12 at the latest, until October 14.
Here’s what this means in practice: Members of Parliament will now have a very narrow window to
Leaving the EU without a deal is something Johnson has said he’s willing and ready to do, but MPs largely oppose that route because of the potential economic fallout.
Johnson has denied that putting Parliament on a five-week break as the United Kingdom is in the middle of a national crisis over Brexit has anything to do with the national crisis over Brexit… umm yeah! Not many MPs are buying Johnson’s excuse. Some are accusing him of flinging the UK into a constitutional crisis.
Proroguing Parliament is a totally normal thing that happens…
but in recent decades, it has usually lasted just a week or two. As for what this all means for Brexit, and UK politics — no one really knows. The idea is pretty much to give Parliament less time, so it has less opportunity to make mischief. Back in the Theresa May days, Parliament thrice rejected the Brexit divorce agreement and couldn’t agree on an alternative Brexit plan.
Even more critically, if Johnson does, miraculously, come back with a new Brexit deal (or somehow tries to rebrand May’s deal), it will give Parliament very, very little time to consider alternatives. MPs will likely have little choice at that stage but to back Johnson’s Brexit plan, if he has one, or they’ll risk being responsible for pushing the UK off the no-deal cliff. Essentially, the shorter timeline would narrow Parliament’s options — it’s Johnson’s (hypothetical) deal or no deal at all.
Bottomline:
The conundrum, of course, is that most of Parliament doesn’t want a no-deal scenario. The UK is extracting itself from a decades-long trading relationship, with unpredictable economic and political consequences
The queen has approved Johnson’s request, which was mostly a formality anyway. (There was practically no chance that the queen, who stays above the political discussion, would deny Johnson’s request, though technically she could have. PS Go watch “The Crown” on Netflix for more deets on how the crown cannot control the government.) Now Parliament will be suspended for five weeks, from September 9 at the earliest, or September 12 at the latest, until October 14.
Here’s what this means in practice: Members of Parliament will now have a very narrow window to
- debate, scrutinize, and pass a Brexit deal if there’s one on offer
- stop the UK from exiting the European Union without an agreement in place on October 31.
Leaving the EU without a deal is something Johnson has said he’s willing and ready to do, but MPs largely oppose that route because of the potential economic fallout.
Johnson has denied that putting Parliament on a five-week break as the United Kingdom is in the middle of a national crisis over Brexit has anything to do with the national crisis over Brexit… umm yeah! Not many MPs are buying Johnson’s excuse. Some are accusing him of flinging the UK into a constitutional crisis.
Proroguing Parliament is a totally normal thing that happens…
but in recent decades, it has usually lasted just a week or two. As for what this all means for Brexit, and UK politics — no one really knows. The idea is pretty much to give Parliament less time, so it has less opportunity to make mischief. Back in the Theresa May days, Parliament thrice rejected the Brexit divorce agreement and couldn’t agree on an alternative Brexit plan.
Even more critically, if Johnson does, miraculously, come back with a new Brexit deal (or somehow tries to rebrand May’s deal), it will give Parliament very, very little time to consider alternatives. MPs will likely have little choice at that stage but to back Johnson’s Brexit plan, if he has one, or they’ll risk being responsible for pushing the UK off the no-deal cliff. Essentially, the shorter timeline would narrow Parliament’s options — it’s Johnson’s (hypothetical) deal or no deal at all.
Bottomline:
The conundrum, of course, is that most of Parliament doesn’t want a no-deal scenario. The UK is extracting itself from a decades-long trading relationship, with unpredictable economic and political consequences
Wait Nandoo, before you go into this, did no one had other ideas for a name?
Well the chaddi buddies was made up by us BUT yes we get your point! Who knows and it does make us wonder. It's, shockingly, made up of seven countries that are democratic, wealthy, and industrialized. The exclusive club members are the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK.
I've also heard of G8. Is that a different thing?
The OG group started in the '70s and became the G8 after inviting Russia to join in the late '90s. Then Russia got kicked out in 2014 after it annexed Crimea, a decision the other members clearly opposed. The group holds a summit once a year and let's just say, everyone brought along their political baggage for the trip this time around.
A lot of topics came up. Let's dive in:
China…On Friday, Trump announced he would raise tariffs on Chinese imports and seemed prepared to invoke a law giving him the authority to force US businesses to leave China. During the summit, Trump was asked about the trade war and said he had "second thoughts." The White House later said his answer was misinterpreted and that he actually regretted not raising the tariffs higher. Then things shifted again when Trump said the two countries are going to restart trade talks.
The Amazon rainforest…French President Emmanuel Macron said the leaders are close to an agreement on how to help fight the Amazon fires and try to repair the damage. This came after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro faced international outcry, and changed his mind to authorize sending armed forces to fight the fires.
Brexit…Yesterday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said if there's a no-deal Brexit, Britain will no longer owe the EU the 39-billion-pound divorce bill agreed by his predecessor, Theresa May. And he said this right before he met with the European council president. Awkward.
Russia…Trump still wants to let Russia back into the club. The outgoing Italian prime minister reportedly is all for it, Japan's trying to stay neutral, everyone else is still saying 'absolutely nyet.' And now, for the element of surprise...
Bottomline:
The G7 summit is usually a preview for big issues that'll come up over the next year. Meaning there are a ton of things on world leaders' to-do lists. TBD if they're able to solve them by the time the next summit comes around.
Well the chaddi buddies was made up by us BUT yes we get your point! Who knows and it does make us wonder. It's, shockingly, made up of seven countries that are democratic, wealthy, and industrialized. The exclusive club members are the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK.
I've also heard of G8. Is that a different thing?
The OG group started in the '70s and became the G8 after inviting Russia to join in the late '90s. Then Russia got kicked out in 2014 after it annexed Crimea, a decision the other members clearly opposed. The group holds a summit once a year and let's just say, everyone brought along their political baggage for the trip this time around.
A lot of topics came up. Let's dive in:
China…On Friday, Trump announced he would raise tariffs on Chinese imports and seemed prepared to invoke a law giving him the authority to force US businesses to leave China. During the summit, Trump was asked about the trade war and said he had "second thoughts." The White House later said his answer was misinterpreted and that he actually regretted not raising the tariffs higher. Then things shifted again when Trump said the two countries are going to restart trade talks.
The Amazon rainforest…French President Emmanuel Macron said the leaders are close to an agreement on how to help fight the Amazon fires and try to repair the damage. This came after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro faced international outcry, and changed his mind to authorize sending armed forces to fight the fires.
Brexit…Yesterday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said if there's a no-deal Brexit, Britain will no longer owe the EU the 39-billion-pound divorce bill agreed by his predecessor, Theresa May. And he said this right before he met with the European council president. Awkward.
Russia…Trump still wants to let Russia back into the club. The outgoing Italian prime minister reportedly is all for it, Japan's trying to stay neutral, everyone else is still saying 'absolutely nyet.' And now, for the element of surprise...
Bottomline:
The G7 summit is usually a preview for big issues that'll come up over the next year. Meaning there are a ton of things on world leaders' to-do lists. TBD if they're able to solve them by the time the next summit comes around.
The South American country has had more than 74,000 fires this year, an 84% increase from last year. That's the most since the country started keeping tabs in 2013. More than half of those fires have been in the Amazon, which is an especially big problem for the environment.
And that's because…
It's crucial in the fight against climate change. The Amazon is the world's largest rainforest (about half the size of the US), and home to about 10% of the world's plant and animal species. It's sometimes referred to as the planet's lungs since it produces about 20% of the world's oxygen. And without it, climate change could move faster.
What's going on with the fires?
Before we get into that, let's rewind back to January, when Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took office. He campaigned on exploring economic opportunities in the Amazon – something that got him support from farmers. And ever since taking office, he's rolled back protections for the environment – including giving less money to Brazil's environmental protection agency and making it harder for the agency to hand out fines. During the past few months, deforestation has skyrocketed in Brazil.
So that's to blame?
Well, a lot of these fires were reportedly started by loggers, who may have burned the land for things like agricultural use and let those fires get out of hand. And the fires have been going on for a couple weeks. Critics of Bolsonaro – including NGOs and environmentalists – blame him, saying his policies have made it easier for loggers to do this. But if you ask Bolsonaro, he'd say 'blame it on the NGOs.' Without providing evidence, he said he thinks they might have caused the fires to make his government look bad. Interesting to note: the head of the country's space agency was fired after his agency reported that deforestation increased 88% this June compared to a year earlier.
Bottomline:
Bolsonaro has only been in office for about eight months and his changes to environmental protections are already starting to show. Environmentalists and countries worldwide are worried about the danger of prioritizing business and development over the environment. And these fires don't seem to be going away anytime soon.
And that's because…
It's crucial in the fight against climate change. The Amazon is the world's largest rainforest (about half the size of the US), and home to about 10% of the world's plant and animal species. It's sometimes referred to as the planet's lungs since it produces about 20% of the world's oxygen. And without it, climate change could move faster.
What's going on with the fires?
Before we get into that, let's rewind back to January, when Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took office. He campaigned on exploring economic opportunities in the Amazon – something that got him support from farmers. And ever since taking office, he's rolled back protections for the environment – including giving less money to Brazil's environmental protection agency and making it harder for the agency to hand out fines. During the past few months, deforestation has skyrocketed in Brazil.
So that's to blame?
Well, a lot of these fires were reportedly started by loggers, who may have burned the land for things like agricultural use and let those fires get out of hand. And the fires have been going on for a couple weeks. Critics of Bolsonaro – including NGOs and environmentalists – blame him, saying his policies have made it easier for loggers to do this. But if you ask Bolsonaro, he'd say 'blame it on the NGOs.' Without providing evidence, he said he thinks they might have caused the fires to make his government look bad. Interesting to note: the head of the country's space agency was fired after his agency reported that deforestation increased 88% this June compared to a year earlier.
Bottomline:
Bolsonaro has only been in office for about eight months and his changes to environmental protections are already starting to show. Environmentalists and countries worldwide are worried about the danger of prioritizing business and development over the environment. And these fires don't seem to be going away anytime soon.
The deadliest killer in human history might not be guns or bombs, cancer or car accidents. It’s a pesky insect that most of us don’t think twice about: the mosquito.
Over the course of 200,000 years, 108 billion people have lived on Earth. And nearly half, 52 billion, have been killed by mosquitoes. The impact of this disastrous insect has shaped civilization far beyond our expectations.
Since the dinosaur era, the incredibly resilient mosquito has been a carrier of malaria, yellow fever, Zika, and a slew of other diseases that have ravaged human populations, with people in Africa bearing the greatest tolls.
What makes mosquitoes unique as a deadly foe to humankind?
The mosquito is a nearly universal animal. We have 110 trillion across nearly all of the planet, and we’ve had them for over 100 million years. So the mosquito is global, unlike other insects and because they have been around for SO long, they are immune to most of the pesticides we have created for them. In addition, they procreate (make babies) like crazy! So if you kill one, there are already 100 out there to take over.
But most importantly, they have the ability to transmit a multitude of viruses. While most insects stick to spreading 1-2 viruses which lead to 1-2 typical disease or issue, mosquitos carry multiple viruses at the same time. Pretty multi-talented – kind of like Akshay Kumar and his many faceted roles!
Oh and get this, did you know mosquitos have been used in military operations - the Nazis purposely flooded Rome and Naples with malaria mosquitoes during WWII. Insane right?
So Nandoo, is there anything good about mosquitoes?
We don’t know for certain. We do know that they don’t ingest waste like other insects, they don’t aerate the soil like other insects. Obviously other animals eat them, but not as an indispensable food source. And they do pollinate, because the males drink nectar, but they don’t pollinate the ways bees do. And only the females bite.
Should we eradicate mosquitoes completely?
We forget that we’re one animal of a ton that live on this planet, and we share this global village. Sometimes we’re driven by our own ego to think we’re above other animals on the planet, which is not the case. The mosquito and other insects are reminders that we’re not as mighty as we may think we are.
There’s certainly a moral argument to be made that they devastate human populations and we should try to eradicate the diseases. Biologically, there’s an argument one way, but morally, there’s an argument the other way. This is something that scientists and biologists have been thinking about.
Bottomline:
Put some odomos and go out! Also, did you know that mosquitos actually prefer blood type O over A or B! So if you have that, rest in peace my friend!
Over the course of 200,000 years, 108 billion people have lived on Earth. And nearly half, 52 billion, have been killed by mosquitoes. The impact of this disastrous insect has shaped civilization far beyond our expectations.
Since the dinosaur era, the incredibly resilient mosquito has been a carrier of malaria, yellow fever, Zika, and a slew of other diseases that have ravaged human populations, with people in Africa bearing the greatest tolls.
What makes mosquitoes unique as a deadly foe to humankind?
The mosquito is a nearly universal animal. We have 110 trillion across nearly all of the planet, and we’ve had them for over 100 million years. So the mosquito is global, unlike other insects and because they have been around for SO long, they are immune to most of the pesticides we have created for them. In addition, they procreate (make babies) like crazy! So if you kill one, there are already 100 out there to take over.
But most importantly, they have the ability to transmit a multitude of viruses. While most insects stick to spreading 1-2 viruses which lead to 1-2 typical disease or issue, mosquitos carry multiple viruses at the same time. Pretty multi-talented – kind of like Akshay Kumar and his many faceted roles!
Oh and get this, did you know mosquitos have been used in military operations - the Nazis purposely flooded Rome and Naples with malaria mosquitoes during WWII. Insane right?
So Nandoo, is there anything good about mosquitoes?
We don’t know for certain. We do know that they don’t ingest waste like other insects, they don’t aerate the soil like other insects. Obviously other animals eat them, but not as an indispensable food source. And they do pollinate, because the males drink nectar, but they don’t pollinate the ways bees do. And only the females bite.
Should we eradicate mosquitoes completely?
We forget that we’re one animal of a ton that live on this planet, and we share this global village. Sometimes we’re driven by our own ego to think we’re above other animals on the planet, which is not the case. The mosquito and other insects are reminders that we’re not as mighty as we may think we are.
There’s certainly a moral argument to be made that they devastate human populations and we should try to eradicate the diseases. Biologically, there’s an argument one way, but morally, there’s an argument the other way. This is something that scientists and biologists have been thinking about.
Bottomline:
Put some odomos and go out! Also, did you know that mosquitos actually prefer blood type O over A or B! So if you have that, rest in peace my friend!
So oil & gas companies like Chevron and Shell, are now entering the field of making plastics. WHY? Because the decreasing oil and gas prices (generally across the globe) is putting a damper on their current revenue and the eventual replacement of fossil fuels by clean energy will completely erode their existing business model
And so to diversify, they are now entering the field of making plastics. HOW? Simple - a process known as “ethane cracking” where ethane gas, once seen as an unusable byproduct of gas extraction, can be molecularly “cracked”—its carbon and hydrogen atoms rearranged—to form ethylene, the main building block of plastic.
In a world where buying new plastic is often cheaper than using the recycled plastic, the new product will likely find an eager manufacturing market. The vast majority of that plastic, like the vast majority of all plastic made up to now, will likely not be recycled. And it will exist virtually forever, crumbling into microplastics that show up most everywhere scientists look for them for centuries to come.
All this doom and gloom starts with tiny plastic pellets.
You know those small, tiny circles that are found in packaging when you buy fragile? Also called as “nurdles” they are a massive source of plastic pollution, escaping into the environment before they have a chance to be molded into a useful shape.
Short of any more specific quantification, researchers do know that pellets account for a whole lot of the world’s total plastic pollution. Some estimates suggest half of all microplastics might actually be these pre-production pellets.
Nurdles are about the size of a piece of kaccha daal. And like anything tiny and round, they are tough to keep track of. They roll away. They tumble into waterways. The wind can blow them around. In the vicinity of plastic manufacturing or packaging plants, nurdles have been documented spilling onto the ground and tumbling out of water discharge pipes.
Manufacturers often use vacuums, to move the pellets from place to place. Wherever those vaccums connect and disconnect—to fill train cars or trucks for shipping, for example—pellets are known to spill out. And once they’re on the ground workers won’t put them into the manufacturing process, because they’re contaminated with dirt – as if they are actually real daal!
And here comes the environmental damage
Residents in Durban, a city on South Africa’s east coast, are learning about this industrial raw material the hard way. Last month, a container full of nurdles washed off a ship belonging to the Mediterranean Shipping Company into port waters during a thunderstorm ― an event so destructive it’s been compared to an oil spill. The city’s beaches are now overrun with the pellets
Nurdles pose significant dangers for wildlife. Marine animals ― including fish, turtles and birds ― mistake the pellets for food, leading them to become malnourished or starved. They also attract chemical pollutants, releasing toxins into the animals that eat them and increasing the risk that those toxins will enter the human food chain.
Bottomline:
Nurdles are just one example of how the global economy is addicted to plastic ― and how we ignore the terrible damage it causes. Some 6.3 billion metric tons of plastic have entered the global waste stream since large-scale production began in the 1950s, and around 79 percent of that is now buried under our lands. Problem with nurdles is – they look tiny & cute and so folks just ignore it but the reality is – they are the most deadliest of the plastic pollution!
And so to diversify, they are now entering the field of making plastics. HOW? Simple - a process known as “ethane cracking” where ethane gas, once seen as an unusable byproduct of gas extraction, can be molecularly “cracked”—its carbon and hydrogen atoms rearranged—to form ethylene, the main building block of plastic.
In a world where buying new plastic is often cheaper than using the recycled plastic, the new product will likely find an eager manufacturing market. The vast majority of that plastic, like the vast majority of all plastic made up to now, will likely not be recycled. And it will exist virtually forever, crumbling into microplastics that show up most everywhere scientists look for them for centuries to come.
All this doom and gloom starts with tiny plastic pellets.
You know those small, tiny circles that are found in packaging when you buy fragile? Also called as “nurdles” they are a massive source of plastic pollution, escaping into the environment before they have a chance to be molded into a useful shape.
Short of any more specific quantification, researchers do know that pellets account for a whole lot of the world’s total plastic pollution. Some estimates suggest half of all microplastics might actually be these pre-production pellets.
Nurdles are about the size of a piece of kaccha daal. And like anything tiny and round, they are tough to keep track of. They roll away. They tumble into waterways. The wind can blow them around. In the vicinity of plastic manufacturing or packaging plants, nurdles have been documented spilling onto the ground and tumbling out of water discharge pipes.
Manufacturers often use vacuums, to move the pellets from place to place. Wherever those vaccums connect and disconnect—to fill train cars or trucks for shipping, for example—pellets are known to spill out. And once they’re on the ground workers won’t put them into the manufacturing process, because they’re contaminated with dirt – as if they are actually real daal!
And here comes the environmental damage
Residents in Durban, a city on South Africa’s east coast, are learning about this industrial raw material the hard way. Last month, a container full of nurdles washed off a ship belonging to the Mediterranean Shipping Company into port waters during a thunderstorm ― an event so destructive it’s been compared to an oil spill. The city’s beaches are now overrun with the pellets
Nurdles pose significant dangers for wildlife. Marine animals ― including fish, turtles and birds ― mistake the pellets for food, leading them to become malnourished or starved. They also attract chemical pollutants, releasing toxins into the animals that eat them and increasing the risk that those toxins will enter the human food chain.
Bottomline:
Nurdles are just one example of how the global economy is addicted to plastic ― and how we ignore the terrible damage it causes. Some 6.3 billion metric tons of plastic have entered the global waste stream since large-scale production began in the 1950s, and around 79 percent of that is now buried under our lands. Problem with nurdles is – they look tiny & cute and so folks just ignore it but the reality is – they are the most deadliest of the plastic pollution!
U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly expressed an interest in buying Greenland, the world’s biggest island and a self-ruling territory of Denmark. While the seriousness of his intentions is unclear -- and the initial response from the other side of the imagined transaction was a sturdy "no" -- the story raises questions as to whether such a transaction is even feasible.
Why would Trump want to buy Greenland?
A real estate man before his turn to politics, Trump has a history of analyzing geopolitical issues through the lens of a property developer. During his 2018 meeting with Kim Jong Un, for example, Trump spoke of the potential he sees for beach hotels and flats in North Korea.
Why is Greenland interesting for the U.S.?
Besides being bigger than Mexico and Saudi Arabia, Greenland has abundant resources and a strategic location near the warming Arctic. Located in the northern Atlantic Ocean between Europe and America, the island has long been a connection of tensions among the U.S., Russia, Canada, Denmark and Norway. It’s already home to a U.S. air base and radar station. More recently, Denmark stopped China from gaining a foothold on its territory by agreeing to co-fund the construction of two new airports.
Is the idea totally outlandish?
Until a century ago, these kinds of transactions were not unusual: The U.S. bought the territory of Louisiana from France for $15 million in 1803, and Andrew Johnson is remembered as the president who oversaw the acquisition of Alaska from Russia in 1867. There’s even a precedent involving Denmark. The government in Copenhagen sold what are now known as the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1917. There are in fact plenty of other islands for sale, but they tend to be smaller and located in warmer climates.
How much would Greenland cost to buy?
Since the 830,000 square-mile-island isn’t currently on the market, there are no valuations available. However, for a sense of how much it might be worth, it’s worth noting that its gross domestic product totaled just over $2.7 billion in 2017. The island receives an annual subsidy of about $500 million from Denmark. For perspective, the purchase price of Alaska in 1867, $7.2 million, would translate to just $125 million today -- which most would agree would be quite a bargain.
How would Trump go about buying Greenland?
It’s unclear. Denmark technically can’t sell Greenland because its home-rule law of 2009 “clearly states that Greenlanders are their own people.” Trump’s best hope would be for the territory to gain independence and then choose to arrange a sale to the U.S. As it turns out, breaking away from Denmark has been discussed in Greenland, where advocates of independence have touted 2021, the 300th anniversary of colonization, as a possible leave date. One argument in favor of independence is that Greenland should have a closer association with North America, which is much nearer than Denmark.
Bottomline:
Skeptical Trump advisers have told him they will investigate the matter further, but only because they’d rather not tell him that the purchase is impossible. But Trump will have an opportunity to discuss the matter personally with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen when the two meet in Copenhagen on Sept. 2-3.
Why would Trump want to buy Greenland?
A real estate man before his turn to politics, Trump has a history of analyzing geopolitical issues through the lens of a property developer. During his 2018 meeting with Kim Jong Un, for example, Trump spoke of the potential he sees for beach hotels and flats in North Korea.
Why is Greenland interesting for the U.S.?
Besides being bigger than Mexico and Saudi Arabia, Greenland has abundant resources and a strategic location near the warming Arctic. Located in the northern Atlantic Ocean between Europe and America, the island has long been a connection of tensions among the U.S., Russia, Canada, Denmark and Norway. It’s already home to a U.S. air base and radar station. More recently, Denmark stopped China from gaining a foothold on its territory by agreeing to co-fund the construction of two new airports.
Is the idea totally outlandish?
Until a century ago, these kinds of transactions were not unusual: The U.S. bought the territory of Louisiana from France for $15 million in 1803, and Andrew Johnson is remembered as the president who oversaw the acquisition of Alaska from Russia in 1867. There’s even a precedent involving Denmark. The government in Copenhagen sold what are now known as the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1917. There are in fact plenty of other islands for sale, but they tend to be smaller and located in warmer climates.
How much would Greenland cost to buy?
Since the 830,000 square-mile-island isn’t currently on the market, there are no valuations available. However, for a sense of how much it might be worth, it’s worth noting that its gross domestic product totaled just over $2.7 billion in 2017. The island receives an annual subsidy of about $500 million from Denmark. For perspective, the purchase price of Alaska in 1867, $7.2 million, would translate to just $125 million today -- which most would agree would be quite a bargain.
How would Trump go about buying Greenland?
It’s unclear. Denmark technically can’t sell Greenland because its home-rule law of 2009 “clearly states that Greenlanders are their own people.” Trump’s best hope would be for the territory to gain independence and then choose to arrange a sale to the U.S. As it turns out, breaking away from Denmark has been discussed in Greenland, where advocates of independence have touted 2021, the 300th anniversary of colonization, as a possible leave date. One argument in favor of independence is that Greenland should have a closer association with North America, which is much nearer than Denmark.
Bottomline:
Skeptical Trump advisers have told him they will investigate the matter further, but only because they’d rather not tell him that the purchase is impossible. But Trump will have an opportunity to discuss the matter personally with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen when the two meet in Copenhagen on Sept. 2-3.
PS: Our fav MC comes back to audio gyaan starting tomorrow! She’s been out taking care of her family for the past few days.
What's the deal with the deal?
Back in 2015, Iran and the US – along with Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China – signed a deal that dropped a lot of sanctions against the country in exchange for Iran limiting its nuclear program. Last year, President Trump pulled the US out of what he called "the worst deal ever." Since the US's withdrawal, it's hit Iran with sanctions, hurting the country's economy.
I am guessing, Iran wasn't too happy about that.
Correct. Earlier this year, Iran's president announced the country would stop complying with some parts of the deal. And warned that it would forget about other parts if the other signatories don't protect Iran's oil and banking sectors from sanctions. European officials tried but it was too little, too late.
So what's Iran up to now?
As of yesterday, Iran said its stockpile of low-enriched uranium is past the maximum amount allowed according to the deal. The UN's nuclear watchdog confirmed it – making this the country's first major violation. Iran claims it's not a full breach of the deal, and more a reaction to the US walking away from it.
If I wanted to explain enriched uranium to someone, I'd say...
That it can be used for a lot of things, depending on how enriched (aka how concentrated) the uranium is. Lower enriched uranium is used for peaceful purposes like electricity (think: nuclear power plant). Higher enriched uranium is used for not-so-peaceful purposes like nuclear weapons. That help?
Yes. What's Iran have?
The low kind...for now. But yesterday, Iran's foreign minister said the "next step" is to break into higher-enriched territory. He added that the situation is "reversible," but that it's on Europeans to give them a reason to back off. So far, Europe is telling Iran to walk back this breach and stay committed to the deal.
Bottomline:
When it comes to dealing with nuclear powers, the US has thrown out the playbook. Pulling out of the 2015 nuclear deal and reinstating sanctions were Trump’s way of pressuring Iran. What we've seen since is Iran saying 'we're not backing down that easy.'
What's the deal with the deal?
Back in 2015, Iran and the US – along with Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China – signed a deal that dropped a lot of sanctions against the country in exchange for Iran limiting its nuclear program. Last year, President Trump pulled the US out of what he called "the worst deal ever." Since the US's withdrawal, it's hit Iran with sanctions, hurting the country's economy.
I am guessing, Iran wasn't too happy about that.
Correct. Earlier this year, Iran's president announced the country would stop complying with some parts of the deal. And warned that it would forget about other parts if the other signatories don't protect Iran's oil and banking sectors from sanctions. European officials tried but it was too little, too late.
So what's Iran up to now?
As of yesterday, Iran said its stockpile of low-enriched uranium is past the maximum amount allowed according to the deal. The UN's nuclear watchdog confirmed it – making this the country's first major violation. Iran claims it's not a full breach of the deal, and more a reaction to the US walking away from it.
If I wanted to explain enriched uranium to someone, I'd say...
That it can be used for a lot of things, depending on how enriched (aka how concentrated) the uranium is. Lower enriched uranium is used for peaceful purposes like electricity (think: nuclear power plant). Higher enriched uranium is used for not-so-peaceful purposes like nuclear weapons. That help?
Yes. What's Iran have?
The low kind...for now. But yesterday, Iran's foreign minister said the "next step" is to break into higher-enriched territory. He added that the situation is "reversible," but that it's on Europeans to give them a reason to back off. So far, Europe is telling Iran to walk back this breach and stay committed to the deal.
Bottomline:
When it comes to dealing with nuclear powers, the US has thrown out the playbook. Pulling out of the 2015 nuclear deal and reinstating sanctions were Trump’s way of pressuring Iran. What we've seen since is Iran saying 'we're not backing down that easy.'
Okay so some basics first - Bonds are like loans that institutions – like governments and companies – give out to raise money. In exchange, you get a promise that you'll get paid back in a certain time plus interest. The return is called the yield.
On a regular day, long-term bonds (for example: a decade) pay out more than short-term bonds (for example: months to a few years). Let's put it this way: if you were to lend someone $100 plus interest, you're likely to demand to be paid back more in return if you lend them money for 10 years, rather than for two years. The same goes with bonds.
Reason we are talking about this is because yesterday, the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note fell below that of the two-year one. And that's not a good thing. It means roles were reversed for the first time since 2007.
And this is alarming because?
Because when this has happened in the past, a recession followed.
Ummm How soon after?
Within about one or two years. This happened in 2007, before the Great Recession. And before multiple recessions before that. Following yesterday's news, the stock market ended up taking a tumble.
I know you'll tell me why but I'll ask anyway...Why?
Investors are nervous about a lot of things right now including the US-China trade war and the fact that the German economy isn't doing so hot. When investors are worried, they tend to start selling riskier investments – like stocks – and begin shifting their money to safer investments – like bonds – because it helps protect their money in case things take a turn. The domino effect of more money flowing from stocks to bonds is that stock prices drop. Case in point: the global stock market had its biggest drop of the year.
So, time to freak out?
Some financial experts say 'yes...look at history.' Others say 'chill the F out' and that there aren't enough things pointing to a recession right now. And also, that the US economy is still going strong (think: unemployment is low, consumer confidence is high). President Trump says this whole thing is the Federal Reserve's fault.
Bottomline:
So before you panic, lets take a deep nandoo BREATHE. Whether it's a signal of bad times ahead remains to be seen. But what we know now: if you have any investments, your wallet might've taken a hit yesterday.
On a regular day, long-term bonds (for example: a decade) pay out more than short-term bonds (for example: months to a few years). Let's put it this way: if you were to lend someone $100 plus interest, you're likely to demand to be paid back more in return if you lend them money for 10 years, rather than for two years. The same goes with bonds.
Reason we are talking about this is because yesterday, the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note fell below that of the two-year one. And that's not a good thing. It means roles were reversed for the first time since 2007.
And this is alarming because?
Because when this has happened in the past, a recession followed.
Ummm How soon after?
Within about one or two years. This happened in 2007, before the Great Recession. And before multiple recessions before that. Following yesterday's news, the stock market ended up taking a tumble.
I know you'll tell me why but I'll ask anyway...Why?
Investors are nervous about a lot of things right now including the US-China trade war and the fact that the German economy isn't doing so hot. When investors are worried, they tend to start selling riskier investments – like stocks – and begin shifting their money to safer investments – like bonds – because it helps protect their money in case things take a turn. The domino effect of more money flowing from stocks to bonds is that stock prices drop. Case in point: the global stock market had its biggest drop of the year.
So, time to freak out?
Some financial experts say 'yes...look at history.' Others say 'chill the F out' and that there aren't enough things pointing to a recession right now. And also, that the US economy is still going strong (think: unemployment is low, consumer confidence is high). President Trump says this whole thing is the Federal Reserve's fault.
Bottomline:
So before you panic, lets take a deep nandoo BREATHE. Whether it's a signal of bad times ahead remains to be seen. But what we know now: if you have any investments, your wallet might've taken a hit yesterday.
The sound of your voice is becoming a new type of fingerprint.Increasingly sophisticated technology that detects nuances in sound inaudible to humans is capturing clues about people’s likely locations, medical conditions and even physical features.
Law-enforcement agencies are turning to those clues from the human voice to help sketch the faces of suspects. Banks are using them to catch scammers trying to imitate their customers on the phone, and doctors are using such data to detect the onset of dementia or depression.
That has created new possibilities for health care, finance and criminal justice organizations while also raising fresh privacy concerns, as consumers’ biometric data is harnessed in novel ways.
So how do they do that?
Researchers measure dozens of voice-quality features—such as raspiness or tremor—that relate to the inside of a person’s vocal tract and how an individual voice is produced. They then detect so-called microvolumes of air that help create the sound waves that make up the human voice. The way they resonate in the vocal tract, along with other voice characteristics, provides clues on a person’s skull structure, height, weight and physical surroundings! Crazy right?
How Banks use your voice?
Some banks like HSBC examine factors like the pitch, rhythm and dialect of speech as well as vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure. Their voice-biometric and recognition software is designed to detect the gender, age and linguistic background of callers and whether a voice is authentic or recorded. It helped one other bank determine that a single person was responsible for tens of millions of dollars of theft, or 18% of the fraud the firm encountered in a year!
How Doctors use your voice?
In medicine, measuring slight changes in voice is starting to help doctors detect the onset of diseases like Parkinson’s or more quickly measure the usefulness of treatments for illnesses like depression, researchers say.
One healthcare company in Boston asked more than 4,000 people to download a smartphone app and answer prompts designed to make them generate many different sounds. From those audio samples researchers identified and grouped features like rhythm, melody and how precisely the person articulates words.
Slower speech, for example, could indicate fatigue or sorrow at one point in time, but over longer periods could signal something more severe. That voice-based data isn’t yet robust enough to base medical decisions on alone, but is being used alongside clinical trials for drugs to treat depression.
Bottomline:
In all of this great discussion, one crucial thing is missing – when companies use your voice for X, Y and Z research, are they explicitly taking your consent to do so? Not that I would like to shield my beautiful voice from research, but I would still like to be ASKED before anyone uses it!
Law-enforcement agencies are turning to those clues from the human voice to help sketch the faces of suspects. Banks are using them to catch scammers trying to imitate their customers on the phone, and doctors are using such data to detect the onset of dementia or depression.
That has created new possibilities for health care, finance and criminal justice organizations while also raising fresh privacy concerns, as consumers’ biometric data is harnessed in novel ways.
So how do they do that?
Researchers measure dozens of voice-quality features—such as raspiness or tremor—that relate to the inside of a person’s vocal tract and how an individual voice is produced. They then detect so-called microvolumes of air that help create the sound waves that make up the human voice. The way they resonate in the vocal tract, along with other voice characteristics, provides clues on a person’s skull structure, height, weight and physical surroundings! Crazy right?
How Banks use your voice?
Some banks like HSBC examine factors like the pitch, rhythm and dialect of speech as well as vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure. Their voice-biometric and recognition software is designed to detect the gender, age and linguistic background of callers and whether a voice is authentic or recorded. It helped one other bank determine that a single person was responsible for tens of millions of dollars of theft, or 18% of the fraud the firm encountered in a year!
How Doctors use your voice?
In medicine, measuring slight changes in voice is starting to help doctors detect the onset of diseases like Parkinson’s or more quickly measure the usefulness of treatments for illnesses like depression, researchers say.
One healthcare company in Boston asked more than 4,000 people to download a smartphone app and answer prompts designed to make them generate many different sounds. From those audio samples researchers identified and grouped features like rhythm, melody and how precisely the person articulates words.
Slower speech, for example, could indicate fatigue or sorrow at one point in time, but over longer periods could signal something more severe. That voice-based data isn’t yet robust enough to base medical decisions on alone, but is being used alongside clinical trials for drugs to treat depression.
Bottomline:
In all of this great discussion, one crucial thing is missing – when companies use your voice for X, Y and Z research, are they explicitly taking your consent to do so? Not that I would like to shield my beautiful voice from research, but I would still like to be ASKED before anyone uses it!
A doomsday weapon promoted by Russian president Vladimir Putin lost some of its sheen after seven people were killed during a test accident last week.
The incident represents the most serious release of radiation since the 2011 Fukushima incident, and the Russian government reportedly ordered the evacuation of residents from the surrounding areas after downplaying the danger for several days. The development brings to light the dangers of world powers seeking to expand their nuclear arsenals.
Wait, what’s a nuclear-powered missile?
One popular way militaries deliver explosives is with a cruise missile, which you can think of as a jet engine with a bomb on the front. The jet engine flies the bomb to its target, often at very high speed and low altitude to help avoid air defenses. These can only carry so much fuel, limiting their range. If the jet engine on a missile was instead driven by a nuclear reactor, a missile would theoretically be able to fly almost indefinitely, with unlimited range. A missile like this could fly for days or weeks to sneak up on its targets, from the other side of the world if necessary.
However, designing one of these is hard work. The US tried during the Cold War. But the effort, known as “Project Pluto,” couldn’t find a safe place to test the flying nuclear reactor, which sprayed radioactive material out its back.
What happened during the Russian test?
Russia has claimed since 2017 that it has a working nuclear-powered missile, which it calls the 9M730 Burevestnick. But US officials and independent experts, who call it the SSC-X-9 Skyfall, are skeptical. After a 2017 test, Russia released a brief video of the missile in flight, but it didn’t show the weapon flying long enough to prove that the propulsion system was really working.
Then, on Aug. 8, the deadly accident took place near a Russian military base in Nenoska, a small town in northwestern Russia. Senior Russian officials attended the funeral of five of the seven scientists on Monday, calling them heroes. It’s not clear what specifically went wrong, but evidence points to an explosive accident during or after a hold-down test of the missile’s engine on an offshore platform.
Russia itself has hesitated in its official response, to not scare people and make them think of this as the Chernobyl disaster.
What now?
The weapons system itself is probably not going to work any time soon so I guess we have a few more years to live before any other super power comes up with a fully functional missile.
Bottomline:
Besides the increased risk of actual nuclear war and the immediate dangers of test accidents, society is still reckoning with the unexpected costs of testing nuclear weapons.
The incident represents the most serious release of radiation since the 2011 Fukushima incident, and the Russian government reportedly ordered the evacuation of residents from the surrounding areas after downplaying the danger for several days. The development brings to light the dangers of world powers seeking to expand their nuclear arsenals.
Wait, what’s a nuclear-powered missile?
One popular way militaries deliver explosives is with a cruise missile, which you can think of as a jet engine with a bomb on the front. The jet engine flies the bomb to its target, often at very high speed and low altitude to help avoid air defenses. These can only carry so much fuel, limiting their range. If the jet engine on a missile was instead driven by a nuclear reactor, a missile would theoretically be able to fly almost indefinitely, with unlimited range. A missile like this could fly for days or weeks to sneak up on its targets, from the other side of the world if necessary.
However, designing one of these is hard work. The US tried during the Cold War. But the effort, known as “Project Pluto,” couldn’t find a safe place to test the flying nuclear reactor, which sprayed radioactive material out its back.
What happened during the Russian test?
Russia has claimed since 2017 that it has a working nuclear-powered missile, which it calls the 9M730 Burevestnick. But US officials and independent experts, who call it the SSC-X-9 Skyfall, are skeptical. After a 2017 test, Russia released a brief video of the missile in flight, but it didn’t show the weapon flying long enough to prove that the propulsion system was really working.
Then, on Aug. 8, the deadly accident took place near a Russian military base in Nenoska, a small town in northwestern Russia. Senior Russian officials attended the funeral of five of the seven scientists on Monday, calling them heroes. It’s not clear what specifically went wrong, but evidence points to an explosive accident during or after a hold-down test of the missile’s engine on an offshore platform.
Russia itself has hesitated in its official response, to not scare people and make them think of this as the Chernobyl disaster.
What now?
The weapons system itself is probably not going to work any time soon so I guess we have a few more years to live before any other super power comes up with a fully functional missile.
Bottomline:
Besides the increased risk of actual nuclear war and the immediate dangers of test accidents, society is still reckoning with the unexpected costs of testing nuclear weapons.
Most dogs with cancer can trace the cells to 6,000-year-old cancer cells - these ancient cells were once part of a dog that roamed the frozen Siberian grassland, a husky-like creature that lived in the time before humans invented the wheel or the plow. Then they mutated, finding a way to evade the canine immune system, a way to outlive their body by finding another. This cancer dog parasite still thrives today, the only remnant of that now-extinct Siberian dog race.
For millennia, it has been jumping between bodies, spreading like a virus around the world. Canine transmissible venereal tumor, or CTVT, is now found in modern dogs from Malawi to Melbourne to Mumbai. It’s the longest-lived cancer known to humans. But until now, no one had looked deeply into its DNA to trace its evolutionary origins and discover the secrets of its viral success.
Back to Human Cancer
There are more than 200 known driver genes in humans, the genes that when mutated increase cancer cell fitness. In CTVT, though, a research team found only five such mutated driver genes that cause cancer.
Here’s the interesting part- in Dogs, the CTVT cells contain on average 38,000 mutations of those 5 genes. And what’s even more interesting is that, a research team found out that with thousands of years to optimize their fitness, CTVT cells haven’t gotten more aggressive. In fact, the opposite happened. Today, most cases of CTVT can be cured with a single dose of chemotherapy. Evolution actually tamed the cancer.
This discovery – of how evolution can actually tame cancer cells, has now given rise to a new strategy for limiting the effect of cancer and is called adaptive therapy. What adaptive therapy does is that it artificially starts the evolution of the cancer cells in humans and instead of regularly bombarding the cells with chemotherapy, it sends out radiation at varied intervals of time.
Of course, this is no way has proven to completely get rid of cancer. BUT, it has shown positive results of suppressing the effects of cancer on human cells.
Bottomline:
While there is no known cure for cancer yet, scientists are beyond thrilled that man’s best friend is now providing the solution of prolonging our lives hopefully cancer free! Gotta love dogs!
For millennia, it has been jumping between bodies, spreading like a virus around the world. Canine transmissible venereal tumor, or CTVT, is now found in modern dogs from Malawi to Melbourne to Mumbai. It’s the longest-lived cancer known to humans. But until now, no one had looked deeply into its DNA to trace its evolutionary origins and discover the secrets of its viral success.
Back to Human Cancer
There are more than 200 known driver genes in humans, the genes that when mutated increase cancer cell fitness. In CTVT, though, a research team found only five such mutated driver genes that cause cancer.
Here’s the interesting part- in Dogs, the CTVT cells contain on average 38,000 mutations of those 5 genes. And what’s even more interesting is that, a research team found out that with thousands of years to optimize their fitness, CTVT cells haven’t gotten more aggressive. In fact, the opposite happened. Today, most cases of CTVT can be cured with a single dose of chemotherapy. Evolution actually tamed the cancer.
This discovery – of how evolution can actually tame cancer cells, has now given rise to a new strategy for limiting the effect of cancer and is called adaptive therapy. What adaptive therapy does is that it artificially starts the evolution of the cancer cells in humans and instead of regularly bombarding the cells with chemotherapy, it sends out radiation at varied intervals of time.
Of course, this is no way has proven to completely get rid of cancer. BUT, it has shown positive results of suppressing the effects of cancer on human cells.
Bottomline:
While there is no known cure for cancer yet, scientists are beyond thrilled that man’s best friend is now providing the solution of prolonging our lives hopefully cancer free! Gotta love dogs!
We know Climate Change is one of those things that quite a few people roll their eyes to because they don’t know how to stop it or understand the mumbo jumbo stats thrown. But we give you a Nandoo promise that this WILL be an interesting article and something you will actually enjoy.
Okay here goes – climate change has been in the news a lot lately because the UN came out with a report that outlined how human-caused climate change is dramatically degrading the Earth’s land and creating a vicious cycle which is already making food more expensive, scarcer and less nutritious.
One of the biggest source of this climate change is heavy emissions of Carbon Dioxide (CO2). And oil/ petrol, the most abundantly used fossil fuel on the planet, is also the dirtiest in terms of how much heat-trapping CO2 it spews into the atmosphere when you burn it.
One possible way of dealing with oil’s globe-warming effect is to capture the CO2 and bury it deep underground in a process known as carbon capture and sequestration, or CCS. And this is precisely what Australia is doing to decrease it’s carbon footprint.
Australia is asking Chevron – one of world’s largest oil drilling & refining companies, to bury the carbon dioxide released from Western Australia’s Gorgon site to decrease the damage Australia’s oil refining industry is having on the Ozone.
This project is of extreme significance for our world – because Australia with 0.3% of the world's population, produces 1.3% of the world's greenhouse gases making it one of the highest per capita emitters of carbon dioxide in the world.
Hmm but by burying the CO2 ,we are not technically solving the problem are we?
Correct – while burying the CO2 will prevent it from reaching our atmosphere, opponents of CCS argue that one of the dangers of burying carbon are earthquakes caused by built up pressure underground.
Geologists argue that yes, the chances of earthquake will definitely increase, however, they would be of tiny sizes, causing minimalistic damage. And if you want to completely avoid them, they suggest that this CO2 be buried in the very oil/gas field from which oil had been extracted in the first place. Reason being, the pressure has already been lowered due to the extraction, so filling it with CO2 will bring the pressure back up and balance it out. Thus, not causing any rise in pressures.
Bottomline:
While earthquakes are definitely a side effect of CCS but if that’s the worst consequence of keeping a lid on global temperatures, it might well be worth it. Wouldn’t you agree?
Okay here goes – climate change has been in the news a lot lately because the UN came out with a report that outlined how human-caused climate change is dramatically degrading the Earth’s land and creating a vicious cycle which is already making food more expensive, scarcer and less nutritious.
One of the biggest source of this climate change is heavy emissions of Carbon Dioxide (CO2). And oil/ petrol, the most abundantly used fossil fuel on the planet, is also the dirtiest in terms of how much heat-trapping CO2 it spews into the atmosphere when you burn it.
One possible way of dealing with oil’s globe-warming effect is to capture the CO2 and bury it deep underground in a process known as carbon capture and sequestration, or CCS. And this is precisely what Australia is doing to decrease it’s carbon footprint.
Australia is asking Chevron – one of world’s largest oil drilling & refining companies, to bury the carbon dioxide released from Western Australia’s Gorgon site to decrease the damage Australia’s oil refining industry is having on the Ozone.
This project is of extreme significance for our world – because Australia with 0.3% of the world's population, produces 1.3% of the world's greenhouse gases making it one of the highest per capita emitters of carbon dioxide in the world.
Hmm but by burying the CO2 ,we are not technically solving the problem are we?
Correct – while burying the CO2 will prevent it from reaching our atmosphere, opponents of CCS argue that one of the dangers of burying carbon are earthquakes caused by built up pressure underground.
Geologists argue that yes, the chances of earthquake will definitely increase, however, they would be of tiny sizes, causing minimalistic damage. And if you want to completely avoid them, they suggest that this CO2 be buried in the very oil/gas field from which oil had been extracted in the first place. Reason being, the pressure has already been lowered due to the extraction, so filling it with CO2 will bring the pressure back up and balance it out. Thus, not causing any rise in pressures.
Bottomline:
While earthquakes are definitely a side effect of CCS but if that’s the worst consequence of keeping a lid on global temperatures, it might well be worth it. Wouldn’t you agree?
Not sure if it’s the rains or the economy or the news but lately I have been feeling the urge of having my own nation with my own rules and everything decided by me (YES I know I sound like the Queen from The Crown but hey if she can do it, why not mere peasants like us?!)
Well, if you are like me, your wish has just been granted! Introducing Micronations!
Micro, whaaaatttt?
Micronations (also called Micro Nations) are the smallest form of official nationhood. Usually they are nations which hold little or no land, but have laid claim to independence and territory. Most of these are actually unrecognized by the major countries of the world.
In most cases, Micronations are attempts at creating new countries. They often declare control over land that actually exists, often tiny, isolated islands, or other areas undeveloped by major world powers. Like other countries, many Micronations have declared independence, adopted constitutions, sought diplomatic recognition, appointed ambassadors, displayed national flags, issued stamps and even gone as far as issued passports, and their own currency!
Think of it this way: if Alibaug near Mumbai OR Daman/ Diu near Gujarat were completely untouched and no one was living there, you could have technically gone and made it your “nation” Of course in a country like ours it’s tough but you get the picture!
Wait but are these always teeny/tiny nations?
Actually, Micronations come in all sizes – from small established ones, such as the Island of Antigua with a population of 100,000 people, to nations which may have as few as one citizen.
There are 4 main types of micronations:
Bottomline:
I guess the only bottomline for this is – where there is will, there is a way?! Also, not sure about you but we had NO idea that Israel & Vatican City are technically micronations. Is it too bad to compliment ourselves because honestly, thanks to you all, every gyaan we write, we learn something new!
Well, if you are like me, your wish has just been granted! Introducing Micronations!
Micro, whaaaatttt?
Micronations (also called Micro Nations) are the smallest form of official nationhood. Usually they are nations which hold little or no land, but have laid claim to independence and territory. Most of these are actually unrecognized by the major countries of the world.
In most cases, Micronations are attempts at creating new countries. They often declare control over land that actually exists, often tiny, isolated islands, or other areas undeveloped by major world powers. Like other countries, many Micronations have declared independence, adopted constitutions, sought diplomatic recognition, appointed ambassadors, displayed national flags, issued stamps and even gone as far as issued passports, and their own currency!
Think of it this way: if Alibaug near Mumbai OR Daman/ Diu near Gujarat were completely untouched and no one was living there, you could have technically gone and made it your “nation” Of course in a country like ours it’s tough but you get the picture!
Wait but are these always teeny/tiny nations?
Actually, Micronations come in all sizes – from small established ones, such as the Island of Antigua with a population of 100,000 people, to nations which may have as few as one citizen.
There are 4 main types of micronations:
- Established states: These are actually recognized by major world countries as an established micronation. Famous examples include Antigua & Vatican City.
- Exiled states: These are micronations which have a govt. but have lost their sovereignty or are fighting for it. Good example of this is Tibet – which wants to be independent but China won’t let it.
- Unrecognized state: These are organized due to racial, political or social factions usually because their needs are not being met by existing political and national situations. A well-known example of an "unrecognized state" is the modern state of Israel, which was founded after WWII to restore the Hebrew people to their traditional homeland, even though the ancient government of Israel had not survived the previous centuries in exile.
- Model state: These Micronations are experiments in political science. These may range from practical attempts at finding a new "landed" nation, to hypothetical theory scenarios. An example of a high profile model state is the nation of Oceana, which was an attempt to colonize abandoned ocean platforms off the coast of Britain. Oceana minted its own money, issued passports, and actually managed to be recognized by a few UN nations.
Bottomline:
I guess the only bottomline for this is – where there is will, there is a way?! Also, not sure about you but we had NO idea that Israel & Vatican City are technically micronations. Is it too bad to compliment ourselves because honestly, thanks to you all, every gyaan we write, we learn something new!
A landmark rule change could be interpreted as a victory for scientific progress — or a case study in immorality: a researcher in Japan plans to take advantage of the country’s recently relaxed guidelines to create human-animal embryos and bring them to final term.
Hiromitsu Nakauchi, who leads research groups at the universities of Tokyo and Stanford, intends to insert human stem cells into rat and mouse embryos, and then implant the embryos into surrogate animals. The ultimate goal is to see whether human organs can be grown in larger animals, such as pigs and sheep, to ultimately use them for transplantation purposes.
Human-animal mixtures are not a new idea. Most of this research has put a tiny human tissue in mice or rats, or inserted human stem cells into emptied animal embryos. But it has always been lopsided - containing either mostly human or animal tissue, rather than being 50:50 hybrids.
Mixed embryos are destroyed after a limited time, usually 14 days. Mandated destruction protects against potentially nightmarish consequences: inserted human cells drifting to the animal’s brain and producing a beast with partly human cognition; or bedding down in the reproductive system to form human eggs or sperm.
That is why the National Institutes of Health in the US abruptly stopped bankrolling “interspecies mix” studies in 2015, although private money enabled work to continue. I know you think this sounds too Bollywoody but do you really want to take the chances?
So back to why Prof. Nakauchi’s research is scary:
Prof Nakauchi eventually wants to nurture a human organ, such as a pancreas, inside a host animal. The plan would be to take a pig, engineered to lack its own pancreas, and inject it with human stem cells. The hope is that the human cells will step in to fill the void and grow a human pancreas inside the animal that could be removed and transplanted.
The spin-offs could be transformative for the estimated 114,000 people just on the pancreas transplant waiting list. Imagine then replicating this process for organs like kidney, liver, etc. The number of lives that can be saved through this. But there is a big ethical question that needs to be answered: we get it that there are TON of industries out there whose sole job is to raise animals so that they can be killed for meat. However, have we reached a point where we believe it is acceptable to grow an animal for the sole purpose of using it to grow human organs?
Bottomline:
While the research will definitely have far reaching impacts on the people whose lives are dependent on organ transplants. However, have we as a society decidedly reached a stage where we agree that human rights trump animal rights?
Hiromitsu Nakauchi, who leads research groups at the universities of Tokyo and Stanford, intends to insert human stem cells into rat and mouse embryos, and then implant the embryos into surrogate animals. The ultimate goal is to see whether human organs can be grown in larger animals, such as pigs and sheep, to ultimately use them for transplantation purposes.
Human-animal mixtures are not a new idea. Most of this research has put a tiny human tissue in mice or rats, or inserted human stem cells into emptied animal embryos. But it has always been lopsided - containing either mostly human or animal tissue, rather than being 50:50 hybrids.
Mixed embryos are destroyed after a limited time, usually 14 days. Mandated destruction protects against potentially nightmarish consequences: inserted human cells drifting to the animal’s brain and producing a beast with partly human cognition; or bedding down in the reproductive system to form human eggs or sperm.
That is why the National Institutes of Health in the US abruptly stopped bankrolling “interspecies mix” studies in 2015, although private money enabled work to continue. I know you think this sounds too Bollywoody but do you really want to take the chances?
So back to why Prof. Nakauchi’s research is scary:
Prof Nakauchi eventually wants to nurture a human organ, such as a pancreas, inside a host animal. The plan would be to take a pig, engineered to lack its own pancreas, and inject it with human stem cells. The hope is that the human cells will step in to fill the void and grow a human pancreas inside the animal that could be removed and transplanted.
The spin-offs could be transformative for the estimated 114,000 people just on the pancreas transplant waiting list. Imagine then replicating this process for organs like kidney, liver, etc. The number of lives that can be saved through this. But there is a big ethical question that needs to be answered: we get it that there are TON of industries out there whose sole job is to raise animals so that they can be killed for meat. However, have we reached a point where we believe it is acceptable to grow an animal for the sole purpose of using it to grow human organs?
Bottomline:
While the research will definitely have far reaching impacts on the people whose lives are dependent on organ transplants. However, have we as a society decidedly reached a stage where we agree that human rights trump animal rights?
Have you ever played Farmville and thought – wow, I wish I could play this in real life too but ofc without the actual farming & labor? Well, there is now an app for that!
For those of you who are not familiar with Farmville- it was a famous game to play on FB wherein you would be involved in all aspects of farmland management like plowing the land, planting, growing and harvesting crops as well as raising livestock like cows and sheep.
So back to our story – a South African company called Livestock Wealth lets investors, eager to benefit from the rising beef demand, buy shares in a cow from their mobile phones for as little as 576 rand (or Rs 2,740)
Self titled as “crowd farming” the company connects investors with small scale farmers wherein the investors (like you and me) can buy our own cow and receive interest rates of between 5% and 14% depending on the cow.
Launched in 2015 with 26 cows, the project now includes more than 2,000 cows and has taken in around $50 million rand (or Rs. 237 crore) with 10% of investors coming from outside of South Africa! (HINT: if the declining Indian stock market is giving you the hibbie jibbies, this might be an investment option for you – YES you can now finally be a gai-wala/ wali!)
Hmm but Nandoo WHY COWS?
Well, because cattle have long been considered a measure of wealth across Africa. So much so that nearly 51% of Africa’s agricultural economy is dependent on livestock – as in milk, milk products and meat products from cows, sheep, etc.
Why are you covering this?
Two main reasons – we know our Nandoo-ers LOVE to hear about interesting things from all over the world but more importantly, given how big livestock industry is in India and we are a predominantly agrarian market, we wanted to share this business idea with all those interested/ itching to start a business but don’t have a dhaasu idea yet.
Bottomline:
So here is your dhaasu idea – get all the farmers on your network where the capital they require for growing crops & livestock is pooled in from individual investors (like us). This way the farmer has a steady cash coming in, can take care of their farm, the DON’T have to take crazy loans that cause significant distress in their lives and lastly, the investor ends up getting good returns on their investment because agriculture plays a major role in our economy!
For those of you who are not familiar with Farmville- it was a famous game to play on FB wherein you would be involved in all aspects of farmland management like plowing the land, planting, growing and harvesting crops as well as raising livestock like cows and sheep.
So back to our story – a South African company called Livestock Wealth lets investors, eager to benefit from the rising beef demand, buy shares in a cow from their mobile phones for as little as 576 rand (or Rs 2,740)
Self titled as “crowd farming” the company connects investors with small scale farmers wherein the investors (like you and me) can buy our own cow and receive interest rates of between 5% and 14% depending on the cow.
Launched in 2015 with 26 cows, the project now includes more than 2,000 cows and has taken in around $50 million rand (or Rs. 237 crore) with 10% of investors coming from outside of South Africa! (HINT: if the declining Indian stock market is giving you the hibbie jibbies, this might be an investment option for you – YES you can now finally be a gai-wala/ wali!)
Hmm but Nandoo WHY COWS?
Well, because cattle have long been considered a measure of wealth across Africa. So much so that nearly 51% of Africa’s agricultural economy is dependent on livestock – as in milk, milk products and meat products from cows, sheep, etc.
Why are you covering this?
Two main reasons – we know our Nandoo-ers LOVE to hear about interesting things from all over the world but more importantly, given how big livestock industry is in India and we are a predominantly agrarian market, we wanted to share this business idea with all those interested/ itching to start a business but don’t have a dhaasu idea yet.
Bottomline:
So here is your dhaasu idea – get all the farmers on your network where the capital they require for growing crops & livestock is pooled in from individual investors (like us). This way the farmer has a steady cash coming in, can take care of their farm, the DON’T have to take crazy loans that cause significant distress in their lives and lastly, the investor ends up getting good returns on their investment because agriculture plays a major role in our economy!
Parts of India-administered Kashmir have been placed under lockdown and local politicians have been house arrested as tensions intensify in the disputed region following a deployment of 10,000 troops by the Indian government.
But why exactly were the troops deployed in the first place? To prevent a potential fallout that might be caused IF two J&K related articles in our constitution repelled – Article 35A and Article 370
What is Article 370?
It was basically put in place during independence (and partition from Pakistan) during which J&K was officially integrated within the rest of India. Article 370 essentially states that the Parliament needs the J&K government's nod for applying laws in the state — except defense, foreign affairs, finance, and communications. It also allows special privileges to the citizens of J&K which are different from the rest of the country – for instance, only J&K citizens (and not citizens of any other state) can buy property in the state
What is Article 35A?
Article 35A gives the J&K government power to decide who are 'permanent residents' of the state. It gives them special rights and privileges regarding employment with the state government, acquisition of property in the state, settling in the state, and the right to scholarships and other forms of aid that the state government provides. It also allows the state legislature to impose any restrictions upon persons other than the permanent residents regarding the above.
What will happen if both are repealed?
In most simplistic terms, if both the provisions are repealed, J&K will be subjected to the laws, provisions that all other states are subjected to – as in freedom of movement, living and owning property by any Indian regardless if they are “permanent residents” of J&K.
Given how sensitive this topic is and also because these provisions have been in place for over 65 years now, riots will be expected.
Why is the Govt. trying to repeal these provisions?
No clue on the timing tbh. The official statement from BJP is that these provisions are roadblocks not only to the integration of the state with the rest of the country but also in the development of J&K. But why exactly do they want to remove these provisions RIGHT NOW is extremely unclear.
Bottomline:
This story is still under development and a lot more will be uncovered as it progresses. One early indication, that we personally suspect, is that this has something to do with “property buying” ability of all Indians (or some particular builders) in J&K. WHY? Because in almost all the reports we read and all the analysis we conducted, both of 35A and 307 are extremely focused on who can be called a “permanent resident” of J&K and based off that, the type of property that can be purchased by them.
But why exactly were the troops deployed in the first place? To prevent a potential fallout that might be caused IF two J&K related articles in our constitution repelled – Article 35A and Article 370
What is Article 370?
It was basically put in place during independence (and partition from Pakistan) during which J&K was officially integrated within the rest of India. Article 370 essentially states that the Parliament needs the J&K government's nod for applying laws in the state — except defense, foreign affairs, finance, and communications. It also allows special privileges to the citizens of J&K which are different from the rest of the country – for instance, only J&K citizens (and not citizens of any other state) can buy property in the state
What is Article 35A?
Article 35A gives the J&K government power to decide who are 'permanent residents' of the state. It gives them special rights and privileges regarding employment with the state government, acquisition of property in the state, settling in the state, and the right to scholarships and other forms of aid that the state government provides. It also allows the state legislature to impose any restrictions upon persons other than the permanent residents regarding the above.
What will happen if both are repealed?
In most simplistic terms, if both the provisions are repealed, J&K will be subjected to the laws, provisions that all other states are subjected to – as in freedom of movement, living and owning property by any Indian regardless if they are “permanent residents” of J&K.
Given how sensitive this topic is and also because these provisions have been in place for over 65 years now, riots will be expected.
Why is the Govt. trying to repeal these provisions?
No clue on the timing tbh. The official statement from BJP is that these provisions are roadblocks not only to the integration of the state with the rest of the country but also in the development of J&K. But why exactly do they want to remove these provisions RIGHT NOW is extremely unclear.
Bottomline:
This story is still under development and a lot more will be uncovered as it progresses. One early indication, that we personally suspect, is that this has something to do with “property buying” ability of all Indians (or some particular builders) in J&K. WHY? Because in almost all the reports we read and all the analysis we conducted, both of 35A and 307 are extremely focused on who can be called a “permanent resident” of J&K and based off that, the type of property that can be purchased by them.
So this is another interesting research that we came across this week – apparently there has been a super duper uptick in the number of Africans – Ugandans to be exact, migrating to India.
Now before you start imagining actual Africans moving to India PAUSE – we thought the same but the research talks about Indians who were born & brought up in Uganda that are moving back to the motherland in droves.
Back up, there are Indians in Uganda?
Son you got no clue – Indians are EVERYWHERE! Wouldn’t be surprised if we are in North Korea too (pretty sure there would be a small samosa shop next to Kim’s office!)
Anyway, bit of history of Indians in Uganda – you see in the 1890s, around 40,000 Indians, mostly Punjabis, were brought in to Uganda as immigrant workers to build the Uganda Railway connecting Mombasa in Kenya to Kampala in Uganda. But then in 1972, they were forced to leave the country on the orders of the military ruler – Idi Amin, who accused Indians of “milking” Uganda’s money away from the locals. However, in 1980s and 1990s they returned back when the military ruler was removed and since then have contributed significantly in the country’s progress.
That brings us to 2019, apparently according to the 2011 census report, the number of Ugandans moving from Uganda to India jumped from 694 in 2001 to 151,363 in 2011!
And yes, you are probably like why are we talking about 2011 when it is 2019, right? Thing is the Govt. released parts of the 2011 census this week and within that, this Uganda number stood out. For those of you who need a refresher on the census – it’s an extremely exhaustive exercise conducted every 10 years. Last one was done in 2011 and next one will be in 2021.
Woah a ~22,000% increase in Ugandans moving to India in 10 years?
Actually, not quite. You see a lot of census and migration experts believe that the Govt. has conducted a boo boo in counting these numbers. WHY?
Double Counting! Hear us out - We do agree that Ugandans are migrating back to India. However, we don’t believe that they are doing so in such massive numbers. Thing is, the census questionnaire is a short document and census-takers have to write the name of the country on the sheet if people report their place of last residence as being outside India. These sheets are then scanned and a computer software tabulates the data to generate tables. These spreadsheets are then uploaded to the web and disseminated into data pools. There is so much manual work involved that there is a good chance a lot of them were double counted.
If you are thinking, wow Nandoo you are so smart for figuring this out, we gotta be modest – one of the census authorities did actually come out and say there is a good chance of “double counting” in Uganda migration data soooooo can’t take all the credit!
Bottomline:
Other than math issues, we hope the most fascinating part of this gyaan for you was the India x Uganda connection! We had no idea of this history and now feel slightly smarter than we did last week!
Now before you start imagining actual Africans moving to India PAUSE – we thought the same but the research talks about Indians who were born & brought up in Uganda that are moving back to the motherland in droves.
Back up, there are Indians in Uganda?
Son you got no clue – Indians are EVERYWHERE! Wouldn’t be surprised if we are in North Korea too (pretty sure there would be a small samosa shop next to Kim’s office!)
Anyway, bit of history of Indians in Uganda – you see in the 1890s, around 40,000 Indians, mostly Punjabis, were brought in to Uganda as immigrant workers to build the Uganda Railway connecting Mombasa in Kenya to Kampala in Uganda. But then in 1972, they were forced to leave the country on the orders of the military ruler – Idi Amin, who accused Indians of “milking” Uganda’s money away from the locals. However, in 1980s and 1990s they returned back when the military ruler was removed and since then have contributed significantly in the country’s progress.
That brings us to 2019, apparently according to the 2011 census report, the number of Ugandans moving from Uganda to India jumped from 694 in 2001 to 151,363 in 2011!
And yes, you are probably like why are we talking about 2011 when it is 2019, right? Thing is the Govt. released parts of the 2011 census this week and within that, this Uganda number stood out. For those of you who need a refresher on the census – it’s an extremely exhaustive exercise conducted every 10 years. Last one was done in 2011 and next one will be in 2021.
Woah a ~22,000% increase in Ugandans moving to India in 10 years?
Actually, not quite. You see a lot of census and migration experts believe that the Govt. has conducted a boo boo in counting these numbers. WHY?
- Mathematical reason: Because more than 77,000 of these Ugandan immigrants/return migrants reported in the 2011 census they had been in India for more than ten years. But the 2001 census registered only 694 such people in total.
- Demographic reason: Unlike a century ago, the Punjabi connection is minuscule. Most of the Ugandans that have come back reported to have moved to Bihar and UP which last we checked is not Punjab!
- Geopolitical reason: While a lot of parts of Africa are not experiencing economic growth, Uganda is not one of them. There is also no negativity or biases against Indians there anymore which would want to make them move back to India. Lastly, if you counter by saying well our economy is doing GREAT, we agree BUT in 2011 and pre 2011 (when the census was taken) it was not quite as hot as it is right now!
Double Counting! Hear us out - We do agree that Ugandans are migrating back to India. However, we don’t believe that they are doing so in such massive numbers. Thing is, the census questionnaire is a short document and census-takers have to write the name of the country on the sheet if people report their place of last residence as being outside India. These sheets are then scanned and a computer software tabulates the data to generate tables. These spreadsheets are then uploaded to the web and disseminated into data pools. There is so much manual work involved that there is a good chance a lot of them were double counted.
If you are thinking, wow Nandoo you are so smart for figuring this out, we gotta be modest – one of the census authorities did actually come out and say there is a good chance of “double counting” in Uganda migration data soooooo can’t take all the credit!
Bottomline:
Other than math issues, we hope the most fascinating part of this gyaan for you was the India x Uganda connection! We had no idea of this history and now feel slightly smarter than we did last week!
India is a hyper competitive country. I mean think about it, there are a 1.2 billion of us with limited resources. So everyone you see & meet is technically your competition fighting for the same limited resources. I know we exaggerate bit but you get the point. But you know, we were okay with this competition because it helped us become “Indians”. Here’s the problem, COWS (yes, you read that right) have now been added to this competition mix. You are now competing with mata cow for sugar. Here’s a story we never thought we would be writing!
Huh? Nandoo, what’s happening?!
India’s second-biggest sugar producing region – Maharashtra, is facing an unusual situation: Attractive returns in the cattle-feed market are prompting farmers to sell sugar cane as fodder (i.e. cow food)
This has caused the sugar output for us humans to drop by 4.3 million tons! And you are probably like, GOOD who wants to consumer that much sugar anyway, think again – 4.3 million tons of sugar equals to not drinking 10,000 crores of cutting chai. Here’s the math if you doubt us:
Okay okay Nandoo but why is all this sugar cane going to Cows?
Thing is farmers are getting paid a LOT more for selling their sugar cane as cattle feed vs. from the sugar processing plants. Sugar cane prices, which are fixed by our government, generally stay above fodder prices, except in some unusual years when poor rains boost prices of cattle feed ingredients. And yes, even though it has been raining like crazy lately, that has not factored in yet and so the prices for fodder are higher than prices for sugar because Maharashtra was facing several months of dry weather leading to decrease in output of fodder and thus, increase in prices.
Bottomline:
Now you have it – we are competing with Cows for sugar and next time you enjoy that cutting – think of the 27 crore people who won’t be able to do “aaahhh” the way you do after finishing it!
Huh? Nandoo, what’s happening?!
India’s second-biggest sugar producing region – Maharashtra, is facing an unusual situation: Attractive returns in the cattle-feed market are prompting farmers to sell sugar cane as fodder (i.e. cow food)
This has caused the sugar output for us humans to drop by 4.3 million tons! And you are probably like, GOOD who wants to consumer that much sugar anyway, think again – 4.3 million tons of sugar equals to not drinking 10,000 crores of cutting chai. Here’s the math if you doubt us:
- Each cutting requires 2 table spoons of sugar which equals to 40 grams
- 4 million tons of sugar equals to 4000000000000 grams
- 4000000000000 grams dividend by 40 comes to 10,000 crores (BOO YA!)
- Which also equals to 27 crore people not drinking cutting chai every day for a whole year!
Okay okay Nandoo but why is all this sugar cane going to Cows?
Thing is farmers are getting paid a LOT more for selling their sugar cane as cattle feed vs. from the sugar processing plants. Sugar cane prices, which are fixed by our government, generally stay above fodder prices, except in some unusual years when poor rains boost prices of cattle feed ingredients. And yes, even though it has been raining like crazy lately, that has not factored in yet and so the prices for fodder are higher than prices for sugar because Maharashtra was facing several months of dry weather leading to decrease in output of fodder and thus, increase in prices.
Bottomline:
Now you have it – we are competing with Cows for sugar and next time you enjoy that cutting – think of the 27 crore people who won’t be able to do “aaahhh” the way you do after finishing it!
While the trade war between US & China is finally over, a different one is rearing its head. This time between Japan & South Korea.
Tokyo said Monday it is restricting exports of certain materials crucial for the production of chips and flexible smartphone displays to South Korea, in the name of security concerns. Japanese companies have dominated the supply of these materials—around 70% to 90% market share—so severe restrictions to supply will deal a heavy blow to Korean chip makers – biggest one being SAMSUNG! GASP!
Why is Japan doing this?
Japan is likely flexing its muscles in response to escalating clashes between the two governments over World War II history, particularly after a Korean court’s ruling last October that a Japanese company must compensate South Koreans for forced labor during the war. Little background – you know how Brits ruled us and made us fight their war in World War, Japan did the same to South Koreans. Except South Koreans are now asking Japan to pay back for all the work South Koreans had to do in fighting Japan’s deadly World War.
So should I start saying my goodbyes to my Samsung or wait it out?
Yeah def wait it out – you see, the move by Japan could mean delays—approving exports of these materials to Korea could take about 90 days—but a total ban is very unlikely. That’s because Korean chip makers control more than half of the global memory-chip market, so a significant disruption to their operations will come back to bite Japanese companies too (meaning if America gets bothered by this disruption, Japan would have to start playing nice)
Another thing is that, chip makers like Samsung, typically keep two to three months of inventory for important materials, so the new restrictions could be unwanted nuisances, but not fatal.
Bottomline
Don’t know about you, but we find it SUPER fascinating how at the end of the day, all these policies and reactions by countries to each other are just basic, primal moves – you don’t give me X, I will take away Y from you. And what’s even more fascinating is how they have to play nice with each other if their frenemy-giri starts affecting global trade.
Another bottomline, don’t worry about Samsung – you and your phone and the company will be okay!
Tokyo said Monday it is restricting exports of certain materials crucial for the production of chips and flexible smartphone displays to South Korea, in the name of security concerns. Japanese companies have dominated the supply of these materials—around 70% to 90% market share—so severe restrictions to supply will deal a heavy blow to Korean chip makers – biggest one being SAMSUNG! GASP!
Why is Japan doing this?
Japan is likely flexing its muscles in response to escalating clashes between the two governments over World War II history, particularly after a Korean court’s ruling last October that a Japanese company must compensate South Koreans for forced labor during the war. Little background – you know how Brits ruled us and made us fight their war in World War, Japan did the same to South Koreans. Except South Koreans are now asking Japan to pay back for all the work South Koreans had to do in fighting Japan’s deadly World War.
So should I start saying my goodbyes to my Samsung or wait it out?
Yeah def wait it out – you see, the move by Japan could mean delays—approving exports of these materials to Korea could take about 90 days—but a total ban is very unlikely. That’s because Korean chip makers control more than half of the global memory-chip market, so a significant disruption to their operations will come back to bite Japanese companies too (meaning if America gets bothered by this disruption, Japan would have to start playing nice)
Another thing is that, chip makers like Samsung, typically keep two to three months of inventory for important materials, so the new restrictions could be unwanted nuisances, but not fatal.
Bottomline
Don’t know about you, but we find it SUPER fascinating how at the end of the day, all these policies and reactions by countries to each other are just basic, primal moves – you don’t give me X, I will take away Y from you. And what’s even more fascinating is how they have to play nice with each other if their frenemy-giri starts affecting global trade.
Another bottomline, don’t worry about Samsung – you and your phone and the company will be okay!
We all have a lot of intense feelings regarding Pakistan. It will be hard to keep those feelings aside as you read this because the focus of today’s Gyaan is on children.
Unsafe, but common, practices such as reusing syringes has caused hundreds of Pakistani children to be infected with HIV, according to a World Health Organization team investigating an outbreak in a poor southeastern town.
The infections first surfaced in late April, when a local doctor in Ratodero, a town of more than 330,000 people, raised alarm bells about children mysteriously testing HIV positive. As a result, the government decided to offer screenings to the entire town.
Out of the more than 27,000 people who volunteered for HIV screening in Ratodero, 798 had tested positive. Of the infected, most were children under the age of 5. Also, before the screening, a little more than 1,000 children were registered as HIV positive in the entire country, according to the WHO, now that number has doubled within a month.
That’s extremely horrible, has the culprit been caught?
Well, the police has arrested a Ratodero pediatrician, Muzaffar Ghangro, alleging that his reuse of syringes was the source of the infections. Dr. Ghangro’s lawyer said his client is innocent. He has been charged with medical malpractice.
In its presentation, the WHO-led team concluded “it is not possible to exclude the role of many other clinics, hospitals, and unlicensed health-care providers, considering the universally poor injection and blood-safety practices,” raising questions over how widespread the problem could be across Pakistan.
Health authorities in Sindh, a province of about 48 million people that includes Ratodero, closed more than 500 clinics run by unlicensed doctors after the infections surfaced. They also shut down three unregistered blood banks in Larkana, the district where Ratodero is located.
Good but will the kids be okay?
Not really, because to treat them you need antiretroviral drugs and Pakistan doesn’t have enough of them. So the govt. has decided to allocate $6.5 million dollars to help these children have medicines for the rest of their lives but a lot of international organizations are skeptical if Pakistan will actually be able to fund it and/or keep its promise.
Bottomline:
WHO authorities believe they have just scratched the surface and expect a lot more children will be found with the HIV infection as they conduct their research across the country.
For YOU – I know we don’t live in Pakistan and have better lives BUT the practice of reusing needles & syringes exists in India as well. Next time you go to a doctor, make sure that s/he is a licensed professional AND the injection they are giving you/ your family is brand new and not used.
Unsafe, but common, practices such as reusing syringes has caused hundreds of Pakistani children to be infected with HIV, according to a World Health Organization team investigating an outbreak in a poor southeastern town.
The infections first surfaced in late April, when a local doctor in Ratodero, a town of more than 330,000 people, raised alarm bells about children mysteriously testing HIV positive. As a result, the government decided to offer screenings to the entire town.
Out of the more than 27,000 people who volunteered for HIV screening in Ratodero, 798 had tested positive. Of the infected, most were children under the age of 5. Also, before the screening, a little more than 1,000 children were registered as HIV positive in the entire country, according to the WHO, now that number has doubled within a month.
That’s extremely horrible, has the culprit been caught?
Well, the police has arrested a Ratodero pediatrician, Muzaffar Ghangro, alleging that his reuse of syringes was the source of the infections. Dr. Ghangro’s lawyer said his client is innocent. He has been charged with medical malpractice.
In its presentation, the WHO-led team concluded “it is not possible to exclude the role of many other clinics, hospitals, and unlicensed health-care providers, considering the universally poor injection and blood-safety practices,” raising questions over how widespread the problem could be across Pakistan.
Health authorities in Sindh, a province of about 48 million people that includes Ratodero, closed more than 500 clinics run by unlicensed doctors after the infections surfaced. They also shut down three unregistered blood banks in Larkana, the district where Ratodero is located.
Good but will the kids be okay?
Not really, because to treat them you need antiretroviral drugs and Pakistan doesn’t have enough of them. So the govt. has decided to allocate $6.5 million dollars to help these children have medicines for the rest of their lives but a lot of international organizations are skeptical if Pakistan will actually be able to fund it and/or keep its promise.
Bottomline:
WHO authorities believe they have just scratched the surface and expect a lot more children will be found with the HIV infection as they conduct their research across the country.
For YOU – I know we don’t live in Pakistan and have better lives BUT the practice of reusing needles & syringes exists in India as well. Next time you go to a doctor, make sure that s/he is a licensed professional AND the injection they are giving you/ your family is brand new and not used.
You know you go to that Subway or McDonalds and get irritated with the crowd or service or quantity of food (we ALL know that one person who counts the number of French fries and goes back to tell the McD guy/gal that there are 4 missing fries – no its not me, yes it could be my sister!) Anyway, we digress, but you know how you walk away thinking – McD/ Subway are such big companies, why cant they be better with all this money they are making?
100% agree with everything you feel with one minor caveat – the McD/ Subway you go to, are not technically owned by McD/ Subway. They are owned by franchise owners – as in regular uncles & aunties who are operating these restaurants and pay a royalty fee to McD/ Subway for allowing them to use their brand names and get recipes for their food.
Basics of Franchising:
The franchisor (let’s say McD in this case) provides the franchisee (let’s say Ashok uncle in this case) with many forms of business support, while also exercising control over some elements of Ashok uncle’s operations as needed, to protect McD’s intellectual property and ensure that Ashok uncle adheres to its brand guidelines – as in doesn’t end up calling McVeggie as McWedgie or doesn’t turn the yellow M into a blue W
In exchange for the use of the intellectual property and the provision of business support, Ashok uncle usually pays McD a one-time initial franchise fee and a continuing royalty fee. McD plays little to no role in the day-to-day management of Ashok uncle’s business because Ashok uncle is an independent operator, not a joint employer with McD. Which means, next time the bathrooms in McD are disgusting – its not McD’s fault but Ashok uncle’s fault.
And so while McD may provide guidance on human resources best practices, for example, Ashok uncle is free to hire, compensate, schedule, set employment standards and practices, and discipline their staff without any input from McD. While features like uniforms and food preparation processes are part of the system's brand standards, the rate of pay or the hours scheduled fall under control of Ashok uncle. Yes, so he can technically hire his watchman as the main cook for his McD as well!
Are all fast food restaurants franchisees?
Nope, not all but most are – McD, Subway, KFC, Burger King, Dominos, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and a LOT more are all examples of franchising model. Two companies which are not are Chipotle and Starbucks. Both these companies want to maintain a level of control on how they come across to their customers and want to make sure that all locations match the quality and standards that they expect. While that is great for customers like us, issue with not franchising is that these companies take longer to expand their locations because they need to do a lot of ground work before setting up.
Bottomline:
Next time you are missing 3 fries or 2 wedges from your McD order, complain to Ashok Uncle at www.WhereMyFriesAtAshokUncle.in
100% agree with everything you feel with one minor caveat – the McD/ Subway you go to, are not technically owned by McD/ Subway. They are owned by franchise owners – as in regular uncles & aunties who are operating these restaurants and pay a royalty fee to McD/ Subway for allowing them to use their brand names and get recipes for their food.
Basics of Franchising:
The franchisor (let’s say McD in this case) provides the franchisee (let’s say Ashok uncle in this case) with many forms of business support, while also exercising control over some elements of Ashok uncle’s operations as needed, to protect McD’s intellectual property and ensure that Ashok uncle adheres to its brand guidelines – as in doesn’t end up calling McVeggie as McWedgie or doesn’t turn the yellow M into a blue W
In exchange for the use of the intellectual property and the provision of business support, Ashok uncle usually pays McD a one-time initial franchise fee and a continuing royalty fee. McD plays little to no role in the day-to-day management of Ashok uncle’s business because Ashok uncle is an independent operator, not a joint employer with McD. Which means, next time the bathrooms in McD are disgusting – its not McD’s fault but Ashok uncle’s fault.
And so while McD may provide guidance on human resources best practices, for example, Ashok uncle is free to hire, compensate, schedule, set employment standards and practices, and discipline their staff without any input from McD. While features like uniforms and food preparation processes are part of the system's brand standards, the rate of pay or the hours scheduled fall under control of Ashok uncle. Yes, so he can technically hire his watchman as the main cook for his McD as well!
Are all fast food restaurants franchisees?
Nope, not all but most are – McD, Subway, KFC, Burger King, Dominos, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and a LOT more are all examples of franchising model. Two companies which are not are Chipotle and Starbucks. Both these companies want to maintain a level of control on how they come across to their customers and want to make sure that all locations match the quality and standards that they expect. While that is great for customers like us, issue with not franchising is that these companies take longer to expand their locations because they need to do a lot of ground work before setting up.
Bottomline:
Next time you are missing 3 fries or 2 wedges from your McD order, complain to Ashok Uncle at www.WhereMyFriesAtAshokUncle.in
Background:
In early 2018, President Donald Trump announced a "zero tolerance" policy which means anyone found to enter the US illegally will be sent to jail. Most of this illegal immigration happens at the southern border US shares with Mexico. Because children cannot be put in jail with their parents, they were separated from their families.
As a result, more than 2,300 children were removed at the border between 5 May and 9 June 2018. The policy - which the administration initially defended as necessary to deter illegal immigration - sparked outrage in the US and internationally and so was shut down by end of June 2018.
So what's happening now?
Problem is, there are still thousands of kids who need to be reunited with their families and have been living in the camps created by US Border patrol.
Reports came out yesterday about the conditions for these children at two Border Patrol facilities in Texas. Doctors and lawyers who've reportedly visited the facilities say kids are sleeping on the floor and lacking adequate food, clean clothes, and supervision. That young kids are caring for toddlers. And that guards created a "child boss" who had to keep kids in line in exchange for more food.
WTFFF.
Wait, there’s more - Some kids said they hadn't been able to shower in almost a month. And were too hungry to sleep through the night. One doctor said that teens were not able to wash their hands, which she described as "identical to intentionally causing the spread of disease." Speaking of, there are reports of lice outbreaks. In one reported incident, guards punished kids who lost a lice comb by taking away their blankets and mats.
Wait what?!
That's what everyone said. Since these reports came out, many kids were relocated. But yesterday, about 100 kids were sent back to one of these concerning shelters. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is apparently denying that things are as bad as these reports say, and claims it's not low on supplies. But it has been asking Congress for help.
Bottomline
Some in Congress are blaming the Trump administration for its treatment of children. The Trump admin has blamed Congress for not giving funding to run these facilities. In the meantime, children are suffering.
In early 2018, President Donald Trump announced a "zero tolerance" policy which means anyone found to enter the US illegally will be sent to jail. Most of this illegal immigration happens at the southern border US shares with Mexico. Because children cannot be put in jail with their parents, they were separated from their families.
As a result, more than 2,300 children were removed at the border between 5 May and 9 June 2018. The policy - which the administration initially defended as necessary to deter illegal immigration - sparked outrage in the US and internationally and so was shut down by end of June 2018.
So what's happening now?
Problem is, there are still thousands of kids who need to be reunited with their families and have been living in the camps created by US Border patrol.
Reports came out yesterday about the conditions for these children at two Border Patrol facilities in Texas. Doctors and lawyers who've reportedly visited the facilities say kids are sleeping on the floor and lacking adequate food, clean clothes, and supervision. That young kids are caring for toddlers. And that guards created a "child boss" who had to keep kids in line in exchange for more food.
WTFFF.
Wait, there’s more - Some kids said they hadn't been able to shower in almost a month. And were too hungry to sleep through the night. One doctor said that teens were not able to wash their hands, which she described as "identical to intentionally causing the spread of disease." Speaking of, there are reports of lice outbreaks. In one reported incident, guards punished kids who lost a lice comb by taking away their blankets and mats.
Wait what?!
That's what everyone said. Since these reports came out, many kids were relocated. But yesterday, about 100 kids were sent back to one of these concerning shelters. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is apparently denying that things are as bad as these reports say, and claims it's not low on supplies. But it has been asking Congress for help.
Bottomline
Some in Congress are blaming the Trump administration for its treatment of children. The Trump admin has blamed Congress for not giving funding to run these facilities. In the meantime, children are suffering.
Not Super Positive: The Czech Republic's prime minister
The Story
Yesterday, the Czech Republic had its biggest protests since 1989.
1989, was’t that like a gazillion years ago?
Yup, exactly cuz you are awesome at Math but we're talking about the fall of communism there. Since then, the country joined the EU and made a name for itself exporting cars. Two years ago, billionaire Andrej Babiš became prime minister in a rise to power some have compared to President Trump's. But he's been accused of fraud over EU subsidies for his business. He also recently replaced the justice minister – who could charge him for fraud – with an ally. Ever since police recommended charges against him weeks ago, people have been turning out to protest what they see as eroding democratic norms. Yesterday, an estimated 250,000 turned out in Prague, calling on him to resign.
Bottomline
Babiš may be in trouble but his party is still considered popular. A no-confidence vote this week is expected to fail. But protesters aren't giving up – they're scheduling another meet-up for this fall to coincide with the anniversary of the fall of communism.
Positive: Ethiopia's gov
The Story
Ethiopia's leadership is watching its back after a failed coup.
Kya bola?
Last year, the country's prime minister resigned after years of anti-government protests. The ruling party selected Abiy Ahmed to take his place. He's since tried to make some big changes: opening up the country's economy to investors, releasing thousands of political prisoners, and making peace with Eritrea (their version of Pakistan) But in his short tenure so far, he's already been in danger multiple times. And over the weekend, attacks in various parts of the country left four people dead – including the country's army chief and a regional governor – in what the gov called an attempted coup. The high-ranking military officer who's accused of spearheading the attacks was reportedly working to inflame ethnic tensions and is believed to still be missing.
Bottomline
Many have embraced Abiy's political and economic reforms. But as he's tried to make the country less authoritarian, it's left the door open to a rise in ethnic tensions. Since Ethiopia is Africa's second-largest country and a key US ally in the fight against terrorism in the region, the US is invested in seeing how this turns out.
The Story
Yesterday, the Czech Republic had its biggest protests since 1989.
1989, was’t that like a gazillion years ago?
Yup, exactly cuz you are awesome at Math but we're talking about the fall of communism there. Since then, the country joined the EU and made a name for itself exporting cars. Two years ago, billionaire Andrej Babiš became prime minister in a rise to power some have compared to President Trump's. But he's been accused of fraud over EU subsidies for his business. He also recently replaced the justice minister – who could charge him for fraud – with an ally. Ever since police recommended charges against him weeks ago, people have been turning out to protest what they see as eroding democratic norms. Yesterday, an estimated 250,000 turned out in Prague, calling on him to resign.
Bottomline
Babiš may be in trouble but his party is still considered popular. A no-confidence vote this week is expected to fail. But protesters aren't giving up – they're scheduling another meet-up for this fall to coincide with the anniversary of the fall of communism.
Positive: Ethiopia's gov
The Story
Ethiopia's leadership is watching its back after a failed coup.
Kya bola?
Last year, the country's prime minister resigned after years of anti-government protests. The ruling party selected Abiy Ahmed to take his place. He's since tried to make some big changes: opening up the country's economy to investors, releasing thousands of political prisoners, and making peace with Eritrea (their version of Pakistan) But in his short tenure so far, he's already been in danger multiple times. And over the weekend, attacks in various parts of the country left four people dead – including the country's army chief and a regional governor – in what the gov called an attempted coup. The high-ranking military officer who's accused of spearheading the attacks was reportedly working to inflame ethnic tensions and is believed to still be missing.
Bottomline
Many have embraced Abiy's political and economic reforms. But as he's tried to make the country less authoritarian, it's left the door open to a rise in ethnic tensions. Since Ethiopia is Africa's second-largest country and a key US ally in the fight against terrorism in the region, the US is invested in seeing how this turns out.
PS - no Audio Gyaan today because I am literally at an airport and if I start recording about war - the passengers around me are DEF going to kick me out! So as much as we love you - we don't love you as much as being kicked out of an airport! 😂
Overview
So a bit of a back story before we go in- The two countries have had bad blood since the '70s, when Iranian revolutionaries kicked out their US-backed ruler - Shah and took the US embassy hostage. A new Islamist, anti-US gov came to town. If you want to know more about this check out the Ben Affleck movie Argo – it goes in the details of the above episode and is a MUST watch!
Anyway, in the decades since then, things have gone from bad to worse. Think: Iran threatening to develop nuclear weapons. In 2015, the US and several other governments signed a deal to pull the breaks on Iran's nuclear program. But President Trump has said the deal doesn't go far enough. So he pulled the US out of it. And has been reimposing sanctions on Iran that are squeezing its economy.
I feel that has already been covered multiple times, what’s the deal this time?
Well, a few weeks ago, the US said it received threats from Iran against US troops and sent an aircraft carrier and bombers to the region. There have since been attacks on oil tankers nearby that the US has blamed on Iran. This week, the US said it's sending 1,000 more troops. Meanwhile, Iran's economy is apparently suffering. It says it's days away from violating the terms of the nuclear deal and gave European countries until next week to give it a reason to stay in it.
Okayyyy but what happened in the past 24 hours?
Yesterday, Iran shot down an unmanned military drone it says was over its airspace. The US denies it was intruding into Iranian territory. Since then, Trump called it a "very big mistake" said that the public will "find out" whether the US intends to respond. But then he seemed to want to de-escalate. He said someone "loose and stupid" in Iran was responsible for shooting down the drone. Then we found out about the airstrike.
What airstrike?
Reports came out yesterday that the US had called for a retaliatory military strike against Iran. Then called it off. By that time, the operation was reportedly underway in its early stages. Think: planes in the air, ships right where they needed to be. As late as 7pm ET last night, the US was apparently still getting ready to launch a strike against Iran. The attack was reportedly set for before dawn today.
SHEEEETTTTTTT
Yeahhh – that’s correct. Because an airstrike isn't like an Ola i.e. you can't easily call one and then cancel a minute later if you changed your mind. Which means the US is super prepared and was THIS close to starting a war with Iran!
So what happens now?
It's still not clear why the strike was called off and whether it was called off indefinitely. In other words: it could still happen.
Bottomline:
Trump has campaigned in part on getting the US out of foreign wars. But there are people in his administration who feel differently, and want to go hard on Iran. Yesterday's change of plans - was a case study in that tension. And what happens as a result of this could impact the lives of hundreds of millions of people in both countries. PS – if a war with Iran happens, the global economy will DEF start the process of entering a recession. WHY? Because the US dollar will start weakening causing a chain of command that would start affecting every single trade other than the price of Gold (which will start rising aggressively)
Overview
So a bit of a back story before we go in- The two countries have had bad blood since the '70s, when Iranian revolutionaries kicked out their US-backed ruler - Shah and took the US embassy hostage. A new Islamist, anti-US gov came to town. If you want to know more about this check out the Ben Affleck movie Argo – it goes in the details of the above episode and is a MUST watch!
Anyway, in the decades since then, things have gone from bad to worse. Think: Iran threatening to develop nuclear weapons. In 2015, the US and several other governments signed a deal to pull the breaks on Iran's nuclear program. But President Trump has said the deal doesn't go far enough. So he pulled the US out of it. And has been reimposing sanctions on Iran that are squeezing its economy.
I feel that has already been covered multiple times, what’s the deal this time?
Well, a few weeks ago, the US said it received threats from Iran against US troops and sent an aircraft carrier and bombers to the region. There have since been attacks on oil tankers nearby that the US has blamed on Iran. This week, the US said it's sending 1,000 more troops. Meanwhile, Iran's economy is apparently suffering. It says it's days away from violating the terms of the nuclear deal and gave European countries until next week to give it a reason to stay in it.
Okayyyy but what happened in the past 24 hours?
Yesterday, Iran shot down an unmanned military drone it says was over its airspace. The US denies it was intruding into Iranian territory. Since then, Trump called it a "very big mistake" said that the public will "find out" whether the US intends to respond. But then he seemed to want to de-escalate. He said someone "loose and stupid" in Iran was responsible for shooting down the drone. Then we found out about the airstrike.
What airstrike?
Reports came out yesterday that the US had called for a retaliatory military strike against Iran. Then called it off. By that time, the operation was reportedly underway in its early stages. Think: planes in the air, ships right where they needed to be. As late as 7pm ET last night, the US was apparently still getting ready to launch a strike against Iran. The attack was reportedly set for before dawn today.
SHEEEETTTTTTT
Yeahhh – that’s correct. Because an airstrike isn't like an Ola i.e. you can't easily call one and then cancel a minute later if you changed your mind. Which means the US is super prepared and was THIS close to starting a war with Iran!
So what happens now?
It's still not clear why the strike was called off and whether it was called off indefinitely. In other words: it could still happen.
Bottomline:
Trump has campaigned in part on getting the US out of foreign wars. But there are people in his administration who feel differently, and want to go hard on Iran. Yesterday's change of plans - was a case study in that tension. And what happens as a result of this could impact the lives of hundreds of millions of people in both countries. PS – if a war with Iran happens, the global economy will DEF start the process of entering a recession. WHY? Because the US dollar will start weakening causing a chain of command that would start affecting every single trade other than the price of Gold (which will start rising aggressively)
Okay so before we address Aaj Ka Gyaan, yesterday’s experiment was following:
On June 20th, we had written we would cover “The strange story of how Euro was created” on June 21st BUT on June 21st, we instead covered “Why airplanes prolong your trips on purpose” The experiment was to see if folks noticed/ got excited about “Tomorrow’s Gyaan” as much as they did for “Aaj Ka Gyaan”! Sorry, we did not respond back to your messages because we didn't want to ruin the surprise. But rest assured, now that the secret is out - we will be emailing each & everyone of you!
Quite a few (nearly 3K) of you thought it was something to do with getting paid by Redbus for an ad or something. While we feel flattered that you think Redbus would want to work with us at this young stage of Nandoo, we would never do ads on Gyaan without clearly telling you it was an ad.
We had two folks who thought that the entire experiment was that we were providing fake news all along and testing to see if anyone can trust us – PHEW that was DARK and DEF one of the most hard core ones! Don’t think we have to clarify but – no baba we are not giving fake news! All our Gyaan is easily google-able! We just break down the complex-ness of it in an easy way!
Okay now, without further ado, the winnnerrrr isssssss..........Kalpana Khambetkar (she was the first one to respond with the correct answer and that’s why she gets the crown!)
So ALL of you will be referred to as Khambetkar-ers today! Here goes – HELLOOOOO KHAMBETKAR-ERSSSS!
Let’s get right into the Gyaan today, Khambetkar-ers (I think I can get used to calling you this!)
The story:
So Amazon already has extensive surveillance capabilities through 4 of its main products:
But recently, Amazon went a step further and won the patent for an “unmanned aerial vehicle that can perform surveillance action at a property of an authorized party” – they are basically talking about using Drones for surveillance and claim this would be superior to camera based surveillance products because no one will be able to destroy or damage them.
But why would Amazon want to sell “surveillance as a service”
Khambetkar-er, if you think about it – it is kind of the next logical step for it. Amazon already delivers packages using drones in quite a few cities (coming to India shortly) and by getting this patent to provide surveillance, they can go a step further and sell you the service of taking care of your house, when you are away or sleeping. So kind of like your night chowkidar except in this case, the chowkidar is not sleeping at night with headphones in their ears! (you know what we are talking about!)
Not sure which side of the debate you stand on – on one side, yes having technology (vs. humans) taking care of your security is more accurate & trust worthy BUT on the other side, knowing that the company has history of listening onto you and even sharing your personal information with other folks without consent is a bit annoying. Good thing is – all of this is still being run in small experiments in smaller cities in US. By the time it reaches India, they would have hopefully had their issues ironed out!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan
NO GYAAN TOMORROW!! Enjoy Sunday with friends & family and have a super duper fantastic Sunday ahead!!!!
On June 20th, we had written we would cover “The strange story of how Euro was created” on June 21st BUT on June 21st, we instead covered “Why airplanes prolong your trips on purpose” The experiment was to see if folks noticed/ got excited about “Tomorrow’s Gyaan” as much as they did for “Aaj Ka Gyaan”! Sorry, we did not respond back to your messages because we didn't want to ruin the surprise. But rest assured, now that the secret is out - we will be emailing each & everyone of you!
Quite a few (nearly 3K) of you thought it was something to do with getting paid by Redbus for an ad or something. While we feel flattered that you think Redbus would want to work with us at this young stage of Nandoo, we would never do ads on Gyaan without clearly telling you it was an ad.
We had two folks who thought that the entire experiment was that we were providing fake news all along and testing to see if anyone can trust us – PHEW that was DARK and DEF one of the most hard core ones! Don’t think we have to clarify but – no baba we are not giving fake news! All our Gyaan is easily google-able! We just break down the complex-ness of it in an easy way!
Okay now, without further ado, the winnnerrrr isssssss..........Kalpana Khambetkar (she was the first one to respond with the correct answer and that’s why she gets the crown!)
So ALL of you will be referred to as Khambetkar-ers today! Here goes – HELLOOOOO KHAMBETKAR-ERSSSS!
Let’s get right into the Gyaan today, Khambetkar-ers (I think I can get used to calling you this!)
The story:
So Amazon already has extensive surveillance capabilities through 4 of its main products:
- Echo – so that they can hear you! (psstt… we have already covered how Amazon employees were recently found to be listening onto people’s conversations)
- Ring – so that they can see you. If you don’t know what Ring is – it’s basically a smart doorbell that sends a video feed that you can check and answer from phone to let people in or not.
- Neighbors – a crime-reporting social network that encourages members to upload videos straight from Ring security cameras and tag posts with labels like “Crime”, “Suspicions” , etc.
- Key – this service allows Amazon to have a key of your house so that they can deliver the products straight in your living room. It’s only available in US and YES, there are quite a few folks who use it! (They have clearly never lived in India!)
But recently, Amazon went a step further and won the patent for an “unmanned aerial vehicle that can perform surveillance action at a property of an authorized party” – they are basically talking about using Drones for surveillance and claim this would be superior to camera based surveillance products because no one will be able to destroy or damage them.
But why would Amazon want to sell “surveillance as a service”
Khambetkar-er, if you think about it – it is kind of the next logical step for it. Amazon already delivers packages using drones in quite a few cities (coming to India shortly) and by getting this patent to provide surveillance, they can go a step further and sell you the service of taking care of your house, when you are away or sleeping. So kind of like your night chowkidar except in this case, the chowkidar is not sleeping at night with headphones in their ears! (you know what we are talking about!)
Not sure which side of the debate you stand on – on one side, yes having technology (vs. humans) taking care of your security is more accurate & trust worthy BUT on the other side, knowing that the company has history of listening onto you and even sharing your personal information with other folks without consent is a bit annoying. Good thing is – all of this is still being run in small experiments in smaller cities in US. By the time it reaches India, they would have hopefully had their issues ironed out!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan
NO GYAAN TOMORROW!! Enjoy Sunday with friends & family and have a super duper fantastic Sunday ahead!!!!
Has it ever happened to you – your flight is like 2 hours late in terms of departing but miraculously reaches your destination on time? We sit and say “Wow, kya Rajnikanth-type pilot hai!” But guess what – the pilot is not operating at Rajnikanth level – the actual airline makes the flight longer on purpose and so when situations such as delays happen, they still reach on time.
Meet Schedule Creep
Also known as the secret that airlines don’t want you to know about – schedule creep or padding is the extra time airlines allow themselves to fly from A to B. Because these flights were consistently late, airlines have now baked delays experienced for decades into their schedules instead of improving operations.
There is a mega problem with this: not only does your journey take longer but creates the illusion of punctuality means there’s no pressure on airlines to become more efficient, meaning no pressure to make any effort to decrease the air pollution or the carbon footprint. This issue is so bad that nearly 30% of all flights arrive more than 15 mins late every day despite the padding!
It’s like that late latif friend of yours – Latifa – who is always late – so much so that you tell her you are meeting at 2:30 when in reality everyone is meeting at 4:30 and GUESS WHAT – LATIFA IS STILL LATE! (Sorry we have a lot of pent up anger against latifa!)
Clearly everyone wants to reach their destination as quickly as possible, so why does Schedule Creep even exist?
One word – Antiquated Technology (okay 2 words but you get the point!) Thing is airlines have their pre-historic codes set to airlines flying in perfect weather condition. However, since a perfect weather condition never exists in real life and codes cannot be updated without bringing the entire system down, the airlines just go on adding times to the original code (if you are shaking your head with disbelief, we are with you!)
The other problem to this issue is a very high number of flights – there is a lot of air traffic due to the number of flights flying so all that traffic also causes the delay causing the need for schedule creep.
So what does all this mean for passengers?
Nothing – sit quietly and eat your peanuts while the flight lands whenever it wants to land! The other alternative is to take a RedBus if you are a fan of the movie Bombay to Goa and enjoy some samosas on the way!
PS – we just ran an experiment on you and there is a hint in this Gyaan (muhahaha!). If you can figure out what the experiment was, instead of calling our members Nandoo-ers tomorrow, we will be calling them by your name! Email us at hello@nandoo.in to get nearly 500K members be called by your name!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan: Amazon is starting a new category – “surveillance as a service”
Meet Schedule Creep
Also known as the secret that airlines don’t want you to know about – schedule creep or padding is the extra time airlines allow themselves to fly from A to B. Because these flights were consistently late, airlines have now baked delays experienced for decades into their schedules instead of improving operations.
There is a mega problem with this: not only does your journey take longer but creates the illusion of punctuality means there’s no pressure on airlines to become more efficient, meaning no pressure to make any effort to decrease the air pollution or the carbon footprint. This issue is so bad that nearly 30% of all flights arrive more than 15 mins late every day despite the padding!
It’s like that late latif friend of yours – Latifa – who is always late – so much so that you tell her you are meeting at 2:30 when in reality everyone is meeting at 4:30 and GUESS WHAT – LATIFA IS STILL LATE! (Sorry we have a lot of pent up anger against latifa!)
Clearly everyone wants to reach their destination as quickly as possible, so why does Schedule Creep even exist?
One word – Antiquated Technology (okay 2 words but you get the point!) Thing is airlines have their pre-historic codes set to airlines flying in perfect weather condition. However, since a perfect weather condition never exists in real life and codes cannot be updated without bringing the entire system down, the airlines just go on adding times to the original code (if you are shaking your head with disbelief, we are with you!)
The other problem to this issue is a very high number of flights – there is a lot of air traffic due to the number of flights flying so all that traffic also causes the delay causing the need for schedule creep.
So what does all this mean for passengers?
Nothing – sit quietly and eat your peanuts while the flight lands whenever it wants to land! The other alternative is to take a RedBus if you are a fan of the movie Bombay to Goa and enjoy some samosas on the way!
PS – we just ran an experiment on you and there is a hint in this Gyaan (muhahaha!). If you can figure out what the experiment was, instead of calling our members Nandoo-ers tomorrow, we will be calling them by your name! Email us at hello@nandoo.in to get nearly 500K members be called by your name!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan: Amazon is starting a new category – “surveillance as a service”
Yes yes, we know we mentioned we would be talking about reverse stock splits – but guess what! We forgot that we had already covered that story. And so in the momentum of financial news, we decided to go with decoding another interesting story – FB’s new Cryptocurrency called Libra!
What is Libra? Also, I am a Libra so should I be worried?
Expected to be launched in 2020, Libra is a blockchain-based digital coin that will let Facebook users to send and receive money or to pay for services. The goal is for Libra to be used outside of the social network as well: Consumers may eventually be able to use it to pay for a cab or a cup of morning coffee.
And if you are actually a Libra – then you have been forewarned 🤣
What’s Libra’s appeal?
Libra aims to offer a way for the world’s 1.7 billion unbanked adults to pay for goods and services and to send money to others for low fees. Merchants around the world are envisioned letting people convert cash into digital Libra coins, which then could be deposited into digital wallets to be used for payments.
Why are Facebook and its partners doing this?
The social network’s revenue growth has slowed in recent years, and it’s looking for new ways to make money outside of advertising. Libra could potentially unlock new revenue opportunities in payments and commerce. Facebook’s partners in the Libra project, such as Visa Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc., have their own motivations as well: If Libra disrupts its payments business, Visa, for instance, likely wants to at least be a part of the disruption.
What’s most likely is that Libra coins will initially be used to store the savings of people in emerging economies that suffer from high inflation, such as Venezuela. Traders may also exchange Bitcoin or Ether for Libra in times of high volatility for crypto. You see Libra is a stable coin - that means, it is pegged to the US (if you are in America), Euro (if you are in Europe) basically any currency that is your home currency. This means that Libra will technically not face the super highs and super lows of Bitcoin, making Libra stable.
Are there any other risks users should consider?
Yes, many. The project is already running into political opposition: French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has expressed concern about Libra’s use in money laundering and terrorism finance. And as with any cryptocurrency, there’s also the risk of hacks or other types of attacks. It does sound like that doesn't it. And given its track record (see: privacy scandals, spreading fake news, election interference) people are feeling hesitant to trust Facebook with their money. Also, financial regulators will be keeping a close eye on whether it could enable money laundering or drug dealing. But Facebook is saying 'we got you.'
Bottomline:
Libra is considered one of the biggest attempts by a mainstream company to dip its toes in the crypto pond. If it works. But one thing Facebook has going for it is its more than 2 billion users on its platform and other services. So that'll probably help.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan: The strange story on how the Euro got created explained
What is Libra? Also, I am a Libra so should I be worried?
Expected to be launched in 2020, Libra is a blockchain-based digital coin that will let Facebook users to send and receive money or to pay for services. The goal is for Libra to be used outside of the social network as well: Consumers may eventually be able to use it to pay for a cab or a cup of morning coffee.
And if you are actually a Libra – then you have been forewarned 🤣
What’s Libra’s appeal?
Libra aims to offer a way for the world’s 1.7 billion unbanked adults to pay for goods and services and to send money to others for low fees. Merchants around the world are envisioned letting people convert cash into digital Libra coins, which then could be deposited into digital wallets to be used for payments.
Why are Facebook and its partners doing this?
The social network’s revenue growth has slowed in recent years, and it’s looking for new ways to make money outside of advertising. Libra could potentially unlock new revenue opportunities in payments and commerce. Facebook’s partners in the Libra project, such as Visa Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc., have their own motivations as well: If Libra disrupts its payments business, Visa, for instance, likely wants to at least be a part of the disruption.
What’s most likely is that Libra coins will initially be used to store the savings of people in emerging economies that suffer from high inflation, such as Venezuela. Traders may also exchange Bitcoin or Ether for Libra in times of high volatility for crypto. You see Libra is a stable coin - that means, it is pegged to the US (if you are in America), Euro (if you are in Europe) basically any currency that is your home currency. This means that Libra will technically not face the super highs and super lows of Bitcoin, making Libra stable.
Are there any other risks users should consider?
Yes, many. The project is already running into political opposition: French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has expressed concern about Libra’s use in money laundering and terrorism finance. And as with any cryptocurrency, there’s also the risk of hacks or other types of attacks. It does sound like that doesn't it. And given its track record (see: privacy scandals, spreading fake news, election interference) people are feeling hesitant to trust Facebook with their money. Also, financial regulators will be keeping a close eye on whether it could enable money laundering or drug dealing. But Facebook is saying 'we got you.'
Bottomline:
Libra is considered one of the biggest attempts by a mainstream company to dip its toes in the crypto pond. If it works. But one thing Facebook has going for it is its more than 2 billion users on its platform and other services. So that'll probably help.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan: The strange story on how the Euro got created explained
We heard you LOUD and CLEAR when we saw those Chanakya reviews/ emails from all of you. ALSO, thanks a TON for the bday wishes! It was my 30th and while I am supposed to feel older and wiser, thankfully it’s only the wiser that I feel! Okay, enough timepass, we feel that today’s story is also mind-blowing. Our goal at Nandoo is to share something super interesting with you and every time we do that, feels AMAZING!
Background on newspapers:
Do you know how newspapers make most of their money?
Reason global newspapers are dying is:
With the advent of online news, these classified ads are moving digital. Think about it – its so much more easier for a classified ad owner (e.g. your maami who is trying to marry her son) to post that ad online vs. reach out to someone at the print newspaper’s office. And so, given almost all news globally is read online, the newspapers no longer have classified money coming in, which means they cannot pay the salaries of good reporters, which means they don’t have great, breaking news to report on, which means their subscriptions are dwindling which finally means they are going bankrupt or are close to. So what happens to these newspapers? – Tech billionaires end up buying them (e.g. Washington Post was recently bought by Jeff Bezos of Amazon). These folks buy up these newspapers not because they are profitable but because they want to do good for the society (and also control the kind of news that gets out about them)
So why are Indian newspapers not dying:
One reason – our GAZILLION LANGUAGES! Only 10% of India reads news in English. And all those English news can be found online. HOWEVER, did you know that Hindi followed by Telugu are the top most languages in which news is read? Thing is, as advanced as the internet & computer systems are, not a lot of Hindi & Telugu sites have propped up online. Which is why Indian newspaper (especially the regional ones that are in specific regional language) are thriving and even experiencing growth of nearly 15% per year while their English language counterparts are slowing down. And so, Classified have stuck with these regional newspapers and haven’t bailed to go online YET
YET because if you want to start your own startup – think about doing something in one of the local languages – you will most likely see a lot of success.
Bottomline:
We were extremely, pleasantly surprised that Classified like those Bharat Matrimony ads play such an important role in keeping the lights up for newspapers and not the money we pay as newspaper subscribers! We hope we were able to impart some Gyaan to you too!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan: Why companies do reverse stock splits – main reason – to fool you
Background on newspapers:
Do you know how newspapers make most of their money?
- Nope, it’s not the money you pay them so that the newspaper wala drops off the papers daily
- Nopppee, it’s also NOT those rolex ads that you see on the cover of Times of India instead of breaking news
- They make most (nearly 80% of their money) from Classified ads – yup that page where you see super small ads for matrimony, surgeries, apartment rentals, job postings, etc. (If any of you guessed this you will get 5 virtual hugs from us – just send an email with hugs as title!)
Reason global newspapers are dying is:
With the advent of online news, these classified ads are moving digital. Think about it – its so much more easier for a classified ad owner (e.g. your maami who is trying to marry her son) to post that ad online vs. reach out to someone at the print newspaper’s office. And so, given almost all news globally is read online, the newspapers no longer have classified money coming in, which means they cannot pay the salaries of good reporters, which means they don’t have great, breaking news to report on, which means their subscriptions are dwindling which finally means they are going bankrupt or are close to. So what happens to these newspapers? – Tech billionaires end up buying them (e.g. Washington Post was recently bought by Jeff Bezos of Amazon). These folks buy up these newspapers not because they are profitable but because they want to do good for the society (and also control the kind of news that gets out about them)
So why are Indian newspapers not dying:
One reason – our GAZILLION LANGUAGES! Only 10% of India reads news in English. And all those English news can be found online. HOWEVER, did you know that Hindi followed by Telugu are the top most languages in which news is read? Thing is, as advanced as the internet & computer systems are, not a lot of Hindi & Telugu sites have propped up online. Which is why Indian newspaper (especially the regional ones that are in specific regional language) are thriving and even experiencing growth of nearly 15% per year while their English language counterparts are slowing down. And so, Classified have stuck with these regional newspapers and haven’t bailed to go online YET
YET because if you want to start your own startup – think about doing something in one of the local languages – you will most likely see a lot of success.
Bottomline:
We were extremely, pleasantly surprised that Classified like those Bharat Matrimony ads play such an important role in keeping the lights up for newspapers and not the money we pay as newspaper subscribers! We hope we were able to impart some Gyaan to you too!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan: Why companies do reverse stock splits – main reason – to fool you
Before we go into this story, we must say that we had the MOST amazing time researching and writing it. There are only a few stories that make you wonder “WOW, politics is shady!” Okay so here goes
Background:
Afghanistan was invaded by Soviet Union (now called as Russia) in 1979. This war lasted for 10 years and during this time, the Afghanis split – a group called as Pashtuns went to Pakistan to get shelter while the Tajiks went to Uzbekistan. In Pakistan, the Pashtuns learned cricket in their refugee camps (because Cricket is a big deal for them even though they are bad at it – sorry had to do that!) while the Tajiks learned football in their refugee camps as that is what the Uzbeks played.
After the war, both groups came back to Afghanistan and because there were more Pashtuns than Tajiks, they took over the Afghani govt. and started making cricket as part of the national sport.
Cut to today – Afghanistan – a country that has mostly been war torn is slowly becoming less and less scary and sees a path to better civilization and life in the near future. Oh and it also happens to have large reserves of natural resources that have been untouched by anyone. Natural resources that can help any country and the companies of those countries excel by 100x and meet the energy demands of its people.
You must be like “Arree but what does any of this have to do with the title!”
Yes yes, we are getting there – okay so here goes:
1.Why are Asian countries extra supportive of Afghani cricket?
To decrease the West’s influence on Afghanistan & its resources.
2.Why is India extra extra supportive of Afghani cricket?
To counter Pakistan – dushman ka dushman is FRANDDDD
Bottomline: Not sure about you but we were mind-blown by all this political chanakya-giri that goes on at such high levels! If you think this was interesting and equally mind blown, leave us a review on Playstore saying “Chanakya-giri 4 lyfeeee” we will get the message and can source more such articles for you!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan: Why newspaper industry is dying across the world except India
Background:
Afghanistan was invaded by Soviet Union (now called as Russia) in 1979. This war lasted for 10 years and during this time, the Afghanis split – a group called as Pashtuns went to Pakistan to get shelter while the Tajiks went to Uzbekistan. In Pakistan, the Pashtuns learned cricket in their refugee camps (because Cricket is a big deal for them even though they are bad at it – sorry had to do that!) while the Tajiks learned football in their refugee camps as that is what the Uzbeks played.
After the war, both groups came back to Afghanistan and because there were more Pashtuns than Tajiks, they took over the Afghani govt. and started making cricket as part of the national sport.
Cut to today – Afghanistan – a country that has mostly been war torn is slowly becoming less and less scary and sees a path to better civilization and life in the near future. Oh and it also happens to have large reserves of natural resources that have been untouched by anyone. Natural resources that can help any country and the companies of those countries excel by 100x and meet the energy demands of its people.
You must be like “Arree but what does any of this have to do with the title!”
Yes yes, we are getting there – okay so here goes:
1.Why are Asian countries extra supportive of Afghani cricket?
To decrease the West’s influence on Afghanistan & its resources.
- But Kyun? Because for far too long they have been in the shadows of the western countries and finally have a chance to get first cut at economy-boosting natural resources that the West would have probably robbed.
- And How? When you think of even us – doesn’t matter Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Tamilian, Punjabi or Telugu – when a match is on we put all religious differences aside and cheer for the team as one nation. Asian countries (e.g. India, Australia) want to create the same kind of emotions within the Afghanis. This way, they start identifying with cricket as their country uniting sport (and not football) and thus, start associating themselves with Asian countries (and not West) as having more in common with them to ultimately allow same Asian countries to be trade partners (e.g. give contracts for mining, etc.) vs. the Western ones.
2.Why is India extra extra supportive of Afghani cricket?
To counter Pakistan – dushman ka dushman is FRANDDDD
- But Kyun? You see, even though Pakistan allowed Afghanis to get shelter, Afghanistan & Pakistan are actually not friends. Because after the Soviet War, Pakistan tried and succeeded in engulfing major parts of Afghanistan’s territory!
- And How? Because Afghanistan shares a border with Pakistan, India is super duper keen (and already has to some extent) placed our military forces in Afghanistan to counter Pakistan at the drop of a hat. And so, to let us continue doing this, we have funded a TON of non-profit development projects in Afghanistan and because Cricket is of such dear importance to the Afghan central govt. that we have allowed Afghan cricketers to come to Noida and practice their skills as well. The best analogy for this is – you want to keep an eye on your dushman PAK-esh and the perfect way to do this is by installing cameras facing in Pakesh’s house. Now it just so happens that your other neighbor AF-eena has the best view into Pakesh’s house so you get Afeena some mithai and continuously support her hobbies in exchange for using her house to keep an eye on Pakesh – Got it?
Bottomline: Not sure about you but we were mind-blown by all this political chanakya-giri that goes on at such high levels! If you think this was interesting and equally mind blown, leave us a review on Playstore saying “Chanakya-giri 4 lyfeeee” we will get the message and can source more such articles for you!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan: Why newspaper industry is dying across the world except India
Background:
Silicon Wadi – a cluster of cities in Israel with the highest concentration of Tech companies and startups on earth. It’s home to Waze, Wix, Fiverr and is the fifth ranked nation when it comes to filing the most number of patents per capita. It is also ranked the 4th most startup-friendly nation in the world – behind US, UK and Canada. Difference is, those countries are not next door to the Syrian civil war. 30 members of the United Nation still do not recognize the existence of Israel – including most of it’s neighbors. In fact, if you travel to Israel, the Israeli customs will not stamp your passport but a separate paper because stamping your passport will ban you from going to 8 different countries.
But despite all of this – despite the unfriendly neighbors, the constant threat of terrorism, and having a population size of only 8 million people, Israel creates some of the most successful tech companies & entrepreneurs in the world.
HOW has it been so successful?
Bottomline: Fear of failure stifles one to accept the mundane and not reach for their true destiny. Of course a lot of folks are happy with what they have but given how we are, a storm is brewing with the Indian millennials to tread on paths unknown – okay end of philosophical talk!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan: Why war-torn Afghanistan is now a darling of the cricketing world
Silicon Wadi – a cluster of cities in Israel with the highest concentration of Tech companies and startups on earth. It’s home to Waze, Wix, Fiverr and is the fifth ranked nation when it comes to filing the most number of patents per capita. It is also ranked the 4th most startup-friendly nation in the world – behind US, UK and Canada. Difference is, those countries are not next door to the Syrian civil war. 30 members of the United Nation still do not recognize the existence of Israel – including most of it’s neighbors. In fact, if you travel to Israel, the Israeli customs will not stamp your passport but a separate paper because stamping your passport will ban you from going to 8 different countries.
But despite all of this – despite the unfriendly neighbors, the constant threat of terrorism, and having a population size of only 8 million people, Israel creates some of the most successful tech companies & entrepreneurs in the world.
HOW has it been so successful?
- Unfriendly neighbors + Lack of natural resources = Need to Innovate for Survival – Israel’s immediate neighbors are — clockwise starting at the north — Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. Slightly farther away are Turkey, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. Finally, there is the rest of the Gulf and Iran, all within striking distance. All of the countries listed are Arab (except Iran and Turkey) and all of them have in the past declared war against Israel at least once. Most are members of the Arab League, which until about 2000 had an official position vowing "no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it." To add to this, Israel is pretty arid and so does not have much natural resources of its own. With unfriendly neighbors who you can’t trade with and a land that is not fertile, that leaves the country forced to innovate as it is now a matter of survival
- Chutzpah – pronounced as HUTZ-PAA is the Hebrew word for being audacious and dare-devil types. Not sure if it comes from having unfriendly neighbors or the fact that every Israeli has to do mandatory military service (3 years for men & 2 years for women) but chutzpah has brought about a feeling of never being afraid to fail within the Israelis. Now this is CRITICAL when you are running a startup or building an empire. Unlike Asian countries, wherein there is the need to save face by not failing – which leads to not wanting to take risks, Israelis are not afraid of failures which leads to a lot more startups getting created. PS If you don’t know what we are talking about the Asian thing of saving face, go tell your Kaka, Kaki, Mama, Mami, Daadi that you are thinking of starting a startup, they will shut you down faster than they shut the TV down when a kissing scene pops up!
Bottomline: Fear of failure stifles one to accept the mundane and not reach for their true destiny. Of course a lot of folks are happy with what they have but given how we are, a storm is brewing with the Indian millennials to tread on paths unknown – okay end of philosophical talk!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan: Why war-torn Afghanistan is now a darling of the cricketing world
The Story:
Few issues have proven more divisive of late in Chinese technology circles than the pervasive culture of extreme overtime, known for years by the punchy moniker “996.” The three digits describe a punishing schedule of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. That’s 72 hours a week, often with no extra pay
Why is it a hot-button topic now?
Because China’s richest man -- Jack Ma, co-founder of the e-commerce giant Alibaba Group -- backed the regime as the gold standard. “To be able to work 996 is a huge bliss,” he wrote in an online post in April, arguing that great achievement came only with great sacrifice
What’s the big deal?
The phenomenon isn’t unique to China, of course. In Silicon Valley the likes of Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook Inc. offered free food in part to encourage employees to work longer hours, especially around product-launch deadlines. A few publicized cases of Chinese tech workers dying suddenly in recent years has added to the public furor, even if direct connections to overwork weren’t established. But aside from any health effects, tech companies that encourage — or mandate — a 996 culture without proper compensation are violating China’s labor laws, which generally cap the workweek at an average of 44 hours. In addition, a corporate culture built on the precept “Enthusiasm -- or Else” can make it a lot tougher to tell who’s faking. Crazy hours often encourage procrastination, as employees stretch or put off their work to last longer, to give the appearance of dedication.
Is this the beginning of the end?
DEF not. Advocates of 996 point to the Chinese tech sector’s phenomenal growth of the past decade, a rising tide that benefits employees as well. Digital serfs may see working at these successful firms as a privilege, and putting in extra hours for nothing as evidence of loyalty and devotion. Many hope to follow in the footsteps of internet billionaires such as Alibaba’s Ma and Pony Ma, co-founder of gaming and social media giant Tencent Holdings Co.
In fact, “997” -- seven days a week -- has come to be expected in some quarters. Some Chinese even joke about a new work ethic “007,” or midnight (00:00) to midnight, seven days a week.
Nandoo, my boss makes me do this sheeeeeettt
Well yeah at least now you know where your boss gets the inspiration from! If you or a friend of yours are doing the “996” there are 3 things that you could do:
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Last China Coverage: China’s Belt & Road initiative (better known as plan to conquer the world) explained!
Few issues have proven more divisive of late in Chinese technology circles than the pervasive culture of extreme overtime, known for years by the punchy moniker “996.” The three digits describe a punishing schedule of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. That’s 72 hours a week, often with no extra pay
Why is it a hot-button topic now?
Because China’s richest man -- Jack Ma, co-founder of the e-commerce giant Alibaba Group -- backed the regime as the gold standard. “To be able to work 996 is a huge bliss,” he wrote in an online post in April, arguing that great achievement came only with great sacrifice
What’s the big deal?
The phenomenon isn’t unique to China, of course. In Silicon Valley the likes of Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook Inc. offered free food in part to encourage employees to work longer hours, especially around product-launch deadlines. A few publicized cases of Chinese tech workers dying suddenly in recent years has added to the public furor, even if direct connections to overwork weren’t established. But aside from any health effects, tech companies that encourage — or mandate — a 996 culture without proper compensation are violating China’s labor laws, which generally cap the workweek at an average of 44 hours. In addition, a corporate culture built on the precept “Enthusiasm -- or Else” can make it a lot tougher to tell who’s faking. Crazy hours often encourage procrastination, as employees stretch or put off their work to last longer, to give the appearance of dedication.
Is this the beginning of the end?
DEF not. Advocates of 996 point to the Chinese tech sector’s phenomenal growth of the past decade, a rising tide that benefits employees as well. Digital serfs may see working at these successful firms as a privilege, and putting in extra hours for nothing as evidence of loyalty and devotion. Many hope to follow in the footsteps of internet billionaires such as Alibaba’s Ma and Pony Ma, co-founder of gaming and social media giant Tencent Holdings Co.
In fact, “997” -- seven days a week -- has come to be expected in some quarters. Some Chinese even joke about a new work ethic “007,” or midnight (00:00) to midnight, seven days a week.
Nandoo, my boss makes me do this sheeeeeettt
Well yeah at least now you know where your boss gets the inspiration from! If you or a friend of yours are doing the “996” there are 3 things that you could do:
- Buy adult diapers – you will need it!
- Get a sleeping bag – space under your desk is now your bed
- Do the Nandoo for 10 mins (you like how we did this super subtle plug about us?!)
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Last China Coverage: China’s Belt & Road initiative (better known as plan to conquer the world) explained!
Background:
The Tiananmen Square protests were student-led demonstrations calling for democracy, free speech and a free press in China (pssst.. those sitdon’t exist in China). The protests were halted in a bloody crackdown, known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, by the Chinese government on June 4 and 5, 1989.
Why did the protests take place in the first place?
Well, students, initially marched through Beijing to Tiananmen Square following the death of Hu Yaobang. Hu, a former Communist Party leader, had worked to introduce democratic reform in China. In mourning Hu, the students called for a more open, democratic government. At issue was a frustration with the limits on political freedom in the country—you see China had gone from being ruled by an emperor (Qing Dynasty) to a single government party (the Communist Party) with no room for political debate. And students believed that because of this one-party system, there were no new ideas that could be created with regards to getting better jobs & decreasing poverty in the country back then.
By the end of May 1989, more than one million protesters had gathered in Tiananmen Square. They held daily marches and vigils, and images of the events were transmitted by media organizations to audiences in the United States and Europe which led to added pressure on China.
And so At 1 a.m. on June 4, Chinese soldiers and police stormed Tiananmen Square, firing live rounds into the crowd. Although thousands of protesters simply tried to escape, others fought back, stoning the attacking troops and setting fire to military vehicles. Reporters and Western diplomats there that day estimated that hundreds to thousands of protesters were killed in the Tiananmen Square Massacre, and as many as 10,000 were arrested.
What’s ironic is that Tiananmen Square gets its name from “Gateway of Heavenly Peace” as the Chinese believe that location marks the enterance to the so-called Forbidden City (i.e. heaven)
Hmm but why did China ban & censor everything related to these protests?
The Communist Party of China forbids discussion of the Tiananmen Square protests some examples include:
WHY? Because they don’t want the new generation or any other group in China to get inspired and do a repeat of the protests. They want citizens to follow certain ways and those ways include not being violent or fighting back against the government in any form. Now you know why free birds like Hong Kong-ers are protesting & pissed with China?
Tomorrow’s Gyaan
China’s 996 policy explained. HINT: you might be living it too!
The Tiananmen Square protests were student-led demonstrations calling for democracy, free speech and a free press in China (pssst.. those sitdon’t exist in China). The protests were halted in a bloody crackdown, known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, by the Chinese government on June 4 and 5, 1989.
Why did the protests take place in the first place?
Well, students, initially marched through Beijing to Tiananmen Square following the death of Hu Yaobang. Hu, a former Communist Party leader, had worked to introduce democratic reform in China. In mourning Hu, the students called for a more open, democratic government. At issue was a frustration with the limits on political freedom in the country—you see China had gone from being ruled by an emperor (Qing Dynasty) to a single government party (the Communist Party) with no room for political debate. And students believed that because of this one-party system, there were no new ideas that could be created with regards to getting better jobs & decreasing poverty in the country back then.
By the end of May 1989, more than one million protesters had gathered in Tiananmen Square. They held daily marches and vigils, and images of the events were transmitted by media organizations to audiences in the United States and Europe which led to added pressure on China.
And so At 1 a.m. on June 4, Chinese soldiers and police stormed Tiananmen Square, firing live rounds into the crowd. Although thousands of protesters simply tried to escape, others fought back, stoning the attacking troops and setting fire to military vehicles. Reporters and Western diplomats there that day estimated that hundreds to thousands of protesters were killed in the Tiananmen Square Massacre, and as many as 10,000 were arrested.
What’s ironic is that Tiananmen Square gets its name from “Gateway of Heavenly Peace” as the Chinese believe that location marks the enterance to the so-called Forbidden City (i.e. heaven)
Hmm but why did China ban & censor everything related to these protests?
The Communist Party of China forbids discussion of the Tiananmen Square protests some examples include:
- Textbooks have little, if any, information about the protests.
- After the protests, officials banned controversial films and books, and shut down many newspapers including burning nearly 32 million books and 2.4 million videos
- Access to media and Internet resources on the subject are so restricted that during the 30th year anniversary of the massacre, China banned Wikipedia in all languages in China! Yeah – WIKIPEDIA!
WHY? Because they don’t want the new generation or any other group in China to get inspired and do a repeat of the protests. They want citizens to follow certain ways and those ways include not being violent or fighting back against the government in any form. Now you know why free birds like Hong Kong-ers are protesting & pissed with China?
Tomorrow’s Gyaan
China’s 996 policy explained. HINT: you might be living it too!
The Story:
Britain first took over Hong Kong island in 1842, after defeating China in the First Opium War.
In 1898, to enforce its control of the area, the UK leased additional land, known as the New Territories, promising to return them to China in 99 years. Why 99 years you may ask – well the person drafting the treaty thought that 99 years was a LOT of time and given how things were going back then, with wars and all, thought that the world would be over by then! He thought he was being sly but unfortunately it’s just a math miscalculation
Anyway, Hong Kong developed rapidly under UK rule, becoming one of the world's major financial and business centers. Then in 1982 (99 years later) London and Beijing began the difficult process of negotiating the territory's return to Chinese rule.
Hong Kong had developed a vastly different political and economic system from mainland China, which since 1949 had been under authoritarian one-party Communist rule and so Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Region. This means it has:
How is Hong Kong ruled now?
You know how in India we have a PM and President, well the leader in HK is called a Chief Executive who is elected by a 1,200-member election committee. A majority of the members of this committee are viewed as pro-Beijing.
And because of this, Political activists argue that the election process gives Beijing the ability to screen out any candidates it disapproves of. And so, this issue has led to a lot of protests – read yesterday’s Gyaan here to understand the latest protest.
What will happen after 2047?
Well, that’s 3 years before Love Story 2050 (get it - the PC x Harman Baweja “blockbuster”) but for HK that's the date after which mainland China is no longer obliged to grant the autonomy agreed on with Britain before the handover.
And so, Hong Kong's future beyond 2047 remains unclear. While there are some who call for full independence, China has ruled out that option making it very obvious that once 2047 comes, HK will most likely be a normal province of China which will DEF lead to a TON of protests!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Why China erased the Tiananmen square massacre from all of it’s books
Britain first took over Hong Kong island in 1842, after defeating China in the First Opium War.
In 1898, to enforce its control of the area, the UK leased additional land, known as the New Territories, promising to return them to China in 99 years. Why 99 years you may ask – well the person drafting the treaty thought that 99 years was a LOT of time and given how things were going back then, with wars and all, thought that the world would be over by then! He thought he was being sly but unfortunately it’s just a math miscalculation
Anyway, Hong Kong developed rapidly under UK rule, becoming one of the world's major financial and business centers. Then in 1982 (99 years later) London and Beijing began the difficult process of negotiating the territory's return to Chinese rule.
Hong Kong had developed a vastly different political and economic system from mainland China, which since 1949 had been under authoritarian one-party Communist rule and so Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Region. This means it has:
- its own legal system
- multiple political parties
- rights including freedom of assembly and free speech
How is Hong Kong ruled now?
You know how in India we have a PM and President, well the leader in HK is called a Chief Executive who is elected by a 1,200-member election committee. A majority of the members of this committee are viewed as pro-Beijing.
And because of this, Political activists argue that the election process gives Beijing the ability to screen out any candidates it disapproves of. And so, this issue has led to a lot of protests – read yesterday’s Gyaan here to understand the latest protest.
What will happen after 2047?
Well, that’s 3 years before Love Story 2050 (get it - the PC x Harman Baweja “blockbuster”) but for HK that's the date after which mainland China is no longer obliged to grant the autonomy agreed on with Britain before the handover.
And so, Hong Kong's future beyond 2047 remains unclear. While there are some who call for full independence, China has ruled out that option making it very obvious that once 2047 comes, HK will most likely be a normal province of China which will DEF lead to a TON of protests!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Why China erased the Tiananmen square massacre from all of it’s books
The Story
Hundreds of thousands of people in Hong Kong protested a potential new law yesterday. Organizers say more than 1 million people turned out to protest a bill that would let suspects of certain crimes be extradited to mainland China.
Hmm, but why China?
Because Hong Kong is a semi-autonomous Chinese territory (i.e. China kinda-sorta rules it). Even though Hong Kong has its own legal and political systems, many have been wary of China's influence over the region through the years – especially since President Xi Jinping has taken office. WHY? Well because he's taken a harder stance against dissent in Hong Kong – which has typically been a safe haven from China's communist rule. If you didn't know side note (and also our topic for tomorrow, how China ended up gaining control over Hong Kong from the British because of a math issue!)
Hm. So what are protesters saying about the bill?
They're worried it would give China more control over the region. And because the Chinese legal system is seen as secretive, some think that suspects could be tortured or face other human rights abuses. Businesses are also concerned that the bill could harm Hong Kong's reputation as an international financial center, since its legal system would be more closely tied to China's.
What's the world saying about it?
Countries like the US, India, the UK, and Canada have said they're concerned about the proposal. And US lawmakers said this could "negatively impact"its relationship with Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Hong Kong says that only serious crimes would fall under this law, and it wouldn't apply to political crimes. That it would monitor cases of potential abuse for those that are extradited. And that it wouldn't let the city's reputation take a hit.
So how likely is it that this will actually take effect?
It seems that the government has enough votes to pass it – and it could vote on it sometime this month. Soooooo it is likely that more such protests will be coming about in HK more frequently
Tomorrow's Gyaan:
How the Brits had to hand over HK to China due to a math issue
Hundreds of thousands of people in Hong Kong protested a potential new law yesterday. Organizers say more than 1 million people turned out to protest a bill that would let suspects of certain crimes be extradited to mainland China.
Hmm, but why China?
Because Hong Kong is a semi-autonomous Chinese territory (i.e. China kinda-sorta rules it). Even though Hong Kong has its own legal and political systems, many have been wary of China's influence over the region through the years – especially since President Xi Jinping has taken office. WHY? Well because he's taken a harder stance against dissent in Hong Kong – which has typically been a safe haven from China's communist rule. If you didn't know side note (and also our topic for tomorrow, how China ended up gaining control over Hong Kong from the British because of a math issue!)
Hm. So what are protesters saying about the bill?
They're worried it would give China more control over the region. And because the Chinese legal system is seen as secretive, some think that suspects could be tortured or face other human rights abuses. Businesses are also concerned that the bill could harm Hong Kong's reputation as an international financial center, since its legal system would be more closely tied to China's.
What's the world saying about it?
Countries like the US, India, the UK, and Canada have said they're concerned about the proposal. And US lawmakers said this could "negatively impact"its relationship with Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Hong Kong says that only serious crimes would fall under this law, and it wouldn't apply to political crimes. That it would monitor cases of potential abuse for those that are extradited. And that it wouldn't let the city's reputation take a hit.
So how likely is it that this will actually take effect?
It seems that the government has enough votes to pass it – and it could vote on it sometime this month. Soooooo it is likely that more such protests will be coming about in HK more frequently
Tomorrow's Gyaan:
How the Brits had to hand over HK to China due to a math issue
Excuse me?
Meet, facial recognition. It's tech used to identify people and could be used in security systems for crowded places (think: malls, airports, schools). Aka "Minority Report" IRL. The tech is already being used by some law enforcement agencies across the country – supporters say it helps police find suspects accused of everything from petty to violent crime. But researchers have pointed out that the tech can be flawed and reflect racial biases . There are also concerns over how accurate the tech is and how it could threaten things like privacy and even free speech.
I have a few red flags.
You're not alone. Last year, Microsoft said it wants Congress to start regulating it because it thinks the tech could get out of hand. And Amazon shareholders are pressuring the company to stop selling facial recognition tech to the gov. Last month, San Francisco became the first major city to ban the use of facial recognition technology by police and other local agencies. Other cities are considering doing the same. Now, lawmakers are saying 'let's take a look.'
At my face? Or the tech?
The tech. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform has been holding hearings with reps from the government agencies that use the tech. Yesterday, we learned that the FBI has access to around 640 millionphotos it can search through (think: driver's licenses, passports, mugshots) – reportedly making it one of the largest facial recognition databases. Lawmakers aren't happy. They want agencies to follow a handful of recommendations from 2016 related to protecting privacy and improving accuracy of the tech. And agency reps will be summoned in the next two months to see if any progress has been made.
Bottomline
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been calling for regulation of the tech industry for a while now. So this follows a trend. This week alone the gov stepped up its oversight – and some companies could face investigations over antitrust issues (hi Apple, Amazon, and Google). Facial recognition is just the latest example of lawmakers wanting to keep a closer eye on technology.
Meet, facial recognition. It's tech used to identify people and could be used in security systems for crowded places (think: malls, airports, schools). Aka "Minority Report" IRL. The tech is already being used by some law enforcement agencies across the country – supporters say it helps police find suspects accused of everything from petty to violent crime. But researchers have pointed out that the tech can be flawed and reflect racial biases . There are also concerns over how accurate the tech is and how it could threaten things like privacy and even free speech.
I have a few red flags.
You're not alone. Last year, Microsoft said it wants Congress to start regulating it because it thinks the tech could get out of hand. And Amazon shareholders are pressuring the company to stop selling facial recognition tech to the gov. Last month, San Francisco became the first major city to ban the use of facial recognition technology by police and other local agencies. Other cities are considering doing the same. Now, lawmakers are saying 'let's take a look.'
At my face? Or the tech?
The tech. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform has been holding hearings with reps from the government agencies that use the tech. Yesterday, we learned that the FBI has access to around 640 millionphotos it can search through (think: driver's licenses, passports, mugshots) – reportedly making it one of the largest facial recognition databases. Lawmakers aren't happy. They want agencies to follow a handful of recommendations from 2016 related to protecting privacy and improving accuracy of the tech. And agency reps will be summoned in the next two months to see if any progress has been made.
Bottomline
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been calling for regulation of the tech industry for a while now. So this follows a trend. This week alone the gov stepped up its oversight – and some companies could face investigations over antitrust issues (hi Apple, Amazon, and Google). Facial recognition is just the latest example of lawmakers wanting to keep a closer eye on technology.
Am sure you all have heard of/ seen pictures of and/or sat in one of those iconic yellow cabs in New York City. Those cute, super NYC yellow cabs are actually a ticking time bomb for Uber. Here’s why
Background
There is thing called as Taxi Medallions – they are basically a set number of licenses issued by the local NYC city government to control the number of taxis as well as make sure only legit people are riding those taxis. You see back in 1930s taxis were extremely popular in the city, and the government realized they needed to make sure drivers weren’t psychopaths luring victims into their cars. So, New York City required cabbies to apply for a taxi medallion license. Given the technology available in the 1930s, it was a reasonable solution to the taxi safety problem, and other cities soon followed suit.
But the taxi medallion requirement had an unintended consequence - it made taxis scarce. The “right” to drive a taxi become very valuable as demand surpassed supply. When this medallion system was introduced in New York City in 1937, there were 11,787 issued. That number remained constant until 2004. Today there are 13,150. As demand for taxis has increased with supply relatively fixed, the cost of the medallion in New York City has skyrocketed to over a million dollars a year.
But Nandoo, why are people paying all this money to ride taxis?
Well technically it’s not the cabbies who are paying a million dollars to ride the cabs. Wealthy folks bid on the licenses because they see it as an investment (which kinda makes sense since there are only a limited number of licenses and demand for taxis in NYC is always high). And these wealthy folks then sell pieces of these licenses to various cab drivers who then have to pay “rent” for the right to drive a cab. Some of these “rents” are as high as $5,000 a month!
Hmmm but how is this related to Uber?!
The one thing Uber did was it gave the ability to anyone with a car and a smartphone to become a “cab driver” – thus directly competing against actual taxi drivers and more importantly, the medallion owners who have spent a TON of money to have the right to drive taxis in NYC. Now the medallion industry is a 89 year old industry with deep powerful political connections (hellooooo lobbying!) Given the politicians rely heavily on the taxi drivers for votes and medallion owners for campaign donations, politicians are swayed into making a decision wherein Uber and other cab-hailing apps would have to limit their core services in NYC - their biggest market in Northern America. Oh and if this happens in NYC, other cities with powerful taxi lobbies are not far away causing the domino to start crumbling.
So what is Uber doing to fight this?
Uber Eats! There is no medallion business when it comes to delivery. Food delivery is also a thing that people tend to do often (not as often as ride a cab but still close enough!). They already have the logistics & infrastructure for it, why not start delivering food? And then furniture or plants or pets or patients in the future! This way, even if a day comes when the medallion owners & taxi drivers win, Uber will still continue making revenue – just from other streams!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Why airport security is so horrid. Hint: Thanks to Amrika!
Background
There is thing called as Taxi Medallions – they are basically a set number of licenses issued by the local NYC city government to control the number of taxis as well as make sure only legit people are riding those taxis. You see back in 1930s taxis were extremely popular in the city, and the government realized they needed to make sure drivers weren’t psychopaths luring victims into their cars. So, New York City required cabbies to apply for a taxi medallion license. Given the technology available in the 1930s, it was a reasonable solution to the taxi safety problem, and other cities soon followed suit.
But the taxi medallion requirement had an unintended consequence - it made taxis scarce. The “right” to drive a taxi become very valuable as demand surpassed supply. When this medallion system was introduced in New York City in 1937, there were 11,787 issued. That number remained constant until 2004. Today there are 13,150. As demand for taxis has increased with supply relatively fixed, the cost of the medallion in New York City has skyrocketed to over a million dollars a year.
But Nandoo, why are people paying all this money to ride taxis?
Well technically it’s not the cabbies who are paying a million dollars to ride the cabs. Wealthy folks bid on the licenses because they see it as an investment (which kinda makes sense since there are only a limited number of licenses and demand for taxis in NYC is always high). And these wealthy folks then sell pieces of these licenses to various cab drivers who then have to pay “rent” for the right to drive a cab. Some of these “rents” are as high as $5,000 a month!
Hmmm but how is this related to Uber?!
The one thing Uber did was it gave the ability to anyone with a car and a smartphone to become a “cab driver” – thus directly competing against actual taxi drivers and more importantly, the medallion owners who have spent a TON of money to have the right to drive taxis in NYC. Now the medallion industry is a 89 year old industry with deep powerful political connections (hellooooo lobbying!) Given the politicians rely heavily on the taxi drivers for votes and medallion owners for campaign donations, politicians are swayed into making a decision wherein Uber and other cab-hailing apps would have to limit their core services in NYC - their biggest market in Northern America. Oh and if this happens in NYC, other cities with powerful taxi lobbies are not far away causing the domino to start crumbling.
So what is Uber doing to fight this?
Uber Eats! There is no medallion business when it comes to delivery. Food delivery is also a thing that people tend to do often (not as often as ride a cab but still close enough!). They already have the logistics & infrastructure for it, why not start delivering food? And then furniture or plants or pets or patients in the future! This way, even if a day comes when the medallion owners & taxi drivers win, Uber will still continue making revenue – just from other streams!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Why airport security is so horrid. Hint: Thanks to Amrika!
Background:
A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a lawful proceeding in which a jury makes a decision on the verdict of the case. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions.
Jury system is what is used in the US and bench trial is used in India. Reason US still relies on juries is because when the US received it’s independence from the UK (yup, we ALL have been ruled by the Brits!) they decided that it should be the common men & women who have been affected by the trials & tribulations of the Britishers that should decide the fate of these Britishers vs. learned folks who would otherwise sympathize with them. And so, to bring true justice, jury trial was instituted in the United States.
Interesting Nandoo but how is this connected to Aki?!
Jury System existed in India during Nehruvian times. However, the Nanavati case (yup same as Rustom movie with Akshay & Ileana) let to its abolition. And literally that little bit is the Akshay Kumar connection!
If you don’t know about the movie Rustom, here are the case details: Nanavati had killed a person named Ahuja who was having an affair with Nanavati’s wife Sylvia. The Jury had accepted that Nanavati had killed Ahuja out of rage. However, Nanavati was a Navy officer and the jury had tremendous respect for military officers. The respect doubled when they saw that a young man from a wealthy family had left his comfortable life to accept harsh life of Military. And Ahuja had been proven adulterer (which still does not justify his death)
Now the Jurors were in dilemma – to call Nanavati guilty would mean his death while to call him innocent would mean his life. The crime of Nanavati was not motivated for economic gains nor Nanavati was a career criminal. And he was a respectable Navy officer. And so the jury decided to let him go free. And this is why the jury system was abolished- the Nanavati case was an extremely publicized case in the Indian newspapers back then (think Vijay Mallya times Nirav Modi times Anil Ambani coverage multiplied by a billion!) And the Supreme court came to the conclusion that juries can be manipulated by emotions & media and so it should be an expert (like a judge) who should be managing & sentencing verdicts in cases. And this is how we came about with the current justice system where a judge (and not jury of peers) decide our fate.
Hmm Nandoo if the jury can be manipulated why does the US still use it?
Humans are emotional and can be swayed in any direction based on emotional manipulation. And so, leaving the decision of someone's fate on one person vs. a number of people seems more appealing to the US court system. WHY? because the chances of manipulating a bunch of people is lower than that of manipulating one person. That being said, there are still case studies on how juries react in her mentalities & can be easily manipulated as a group. Regardless, for now, the US is sticking with it's jury trial while we are sticking with our bench trial as we assume that the education of the judge will prevent them from becoming emotional and continue remaining impartial. Does education really help with that? Not sure but thats the "formal" answer for now.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Why Uber’s biggest threat is NYC’s taxi drivers
A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a lawful proceeding in which a jury makes a decision on the verdict of the case. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions.
Jury system is what is used in the US and bench trial is used in India. Reason US still relies on juries is because when the US received it’s independence from the UK (yup, we ALL have been ruled by the Brits!) they decided that it should be the common men & women who have been affected by the trials & tribulations of the Britishers that should decide the fate of these Britishers vs. learned folks who would otherwise sympathize with them. And so, to bring true justice, jury trial was instituted in the United States.
Interesting Nandoo but how is this connected to Aki?!
Jury System existed in India during Nehruvian times. However, the Nanavati case (yup same as Rustom movie with Akshay & Ileana) let to its abolition. And literally that little bit is the Akshay Kumar connection!
If you don’t know about the movie Rustom, here are the case details: Nanavati had killed a person named Ahuja who was having an affair with Nanavati’s wife Sylvia. The Jury had accepted that Nanavati had killed Ahuja out of rage. However, Nanavati was a Navy officer and the jury had tremendous respect for military officers. The respect doubled when they saw that a young man from a wealthy family had left his comfortable life to accept harsh life of Military. And Ahuja had been proven adulterer (which still does not justify his death)
Now the Jurors were in dilemma – to call Nanavati guilty would mean his death while to call him innocent would mean his life. The crime of Nanavati was not motivated for economic gains nor Nanavati was a career criminal. And he was a respectable Navy officer. And so the jury decided to let him go free. And this is why the jury system was abolished- the Nanavati case was an extremely publicized case in the Indian newspapers back then (think Vijay Mallya times Nirav Modi times Anil Ambani coverage multiplied by a billion!) And the Supreme court came to the conclusion that juries can be manipulated by emotions & media and so it should be an expert (like a judge) who should be managing & sentencing verdicts in cases. And this is how we came about with the current justice system where a judge (and not jury of peers) decide our fate.
Hmm Nandoo if the jury can be manipulated why does the US still use it?
Humans are emotional and can be swayed in any direction based on emotional manipulation. And so, leaving the decision of someone's fate on one person vs. a number of people seems more appealing to the US court system. WHY? because the chances of manipulating a bunch of people is lower than that of manipulating one person. That being said, there are still case studies on how juries react in her mentalities & can be easily manipulated as a group. Regardless, for now, the US is sticking with it's jury trial while we are sticking with our bench trial as we assume that the education of the judge will prevent them from becoming emotional and continue remaining impartial. Does education really help with that? Not sure but thats the "formal" answer for now.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Why Uber’s biggest threat is NYC’s taxi drivers
Lil’ Back story:
So there is something called as Mineral Rights Private Ownership – what that basically means is if you end up finding oil, diamonds, gold (i.e. any raw materials of important value) under the land on which your house is build, it should belong to you – the private owner of the land. EXCEPT in India – those minerals belong to the state – i.e. the state government where you are living. Doesn’t matter if you are the land owner. WHY? Because when the British left us, they gave the ownership of the land to all the princely states which then turned out to be the states that we live in.
Hmm Nandoo, interesting but why are you telling me this?
Yes, yes we are getting to the point – so you know how we are covering 6 interesting topics across 6 days on 1 country – US for this time?
Well, the US is the only country in the world which allows for Mineral Rights Private Ownership – which means if you find oil under your land, it is yours! You can sell it however you want to!
Why is this relevant to this story?
Well because US is now the #1 Oil producer in the world – beating both Russia and Saudi Arabia. WHY? Because of Private Ownership of Mineral Rights – you see, to become oil independent and not rely on any outside countries for their oil supplies, the US passed a regulation that allowed regular folks to scan and mine for oil if they find it under their land OR sell it to private oil companies and receive royalty for all the oil that gets pulled & sold. Either way, if you live under a land that has oil, you are making $$$$. It’s a win-win for both the land owner as well as US that has now raced to the top of the leader board with it’s oil production!
Coming back to India, what is the situation again?
Tricky to say the least. If it’s an offshore oil, mineral deposit (i.e. in the oceans and seas) then it belongs to the Central Govt. If it’s an onshore oil, mineral deposit (i.e. under your land) then it belongs to the State Govt. UNLESS, you get the license to get the deposits out, you can get them cleaned and distilled from the earth’s sediments and you have paid for the minerals to the State Govt – ALL of which either cost a gazillion dollars OR are so bureaucratic that it will never happen for you!
Bottomline:
Mineral rights is a very interesting topic especially when it involves finding, selling & making money from oil. While our mineral rights ownership are not citizen friendly, it might help that we do not have that much oil set up under our land in the first place – so I guess that’s a good thing?
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
What Lobbying is & How it became a $3B industry in the US
So there is something called as Mineral Rights Private Ownership – what that basically means is if you end up finding oil, diamonds, gold (i.e. any raw materials of important value) under the land on which your house is build, it should belong to you – the private owner of the land. EXCEPT in India – those minerals belong to the state – i.e. the state government where you are living. Doesn’t matter if you are the land owner. WHY? Because when the British left us, they gave the ownership of the land to all the princely states which then turned out to be the states that we live in.
Hmm Nandoo, interesting but why are you telling me this?
Yes, yes we are getting to the point – so you know how we are covering 6 interesting topics across 6 days on 1 country – US for this time?
Well, the US is the only country in the world which allows for Mineral Rights Private Ownership – which means if you find oil under your land, it is yours! You can sell it however you want to!
Why is this relevant to this story?
Well because US is now the #1 Oil producer in the world – beating both Russia and Saudi Arabia. WHY? Because of Private Ownership of Mineral Rights – you see, to become oil independent and not rely on any outside countries for their oil supplies, the US passed a regulation that allowed regular folks to scan and mine for oil if they find it under their land OR sell it to private oil companies and receive royalty for all the oil that gets pulled & sold. Either way, if you live under a land that has oil, you are making $$$$. It’s a win-win for both the land owner as well as US that has now raced to the top of the leader board with it’s oil production!
Coming back to India, what is the situation again?
Tricky to say the least. If it’s an offshore oil, mineral deposit (i.e. in the oceans and seas) then it belongs to the Central Govt. If it’s an onshore oil, mineral deposit (i.e. under your land) then it belongs to the State Govt. UNLESS, you get the license to get the deposits out, you can get them cleaned and distilled from the earth’s sediments and you have paid for the minerals to the State Govt – ALL of which either cost a gazillion dollars OR are so bureaucratic that it will never happen for you!
Bottomline:
Mineral rights is a very interesting topic especially when it involves finding, selling & making money from oil. While our mineral rights ownership are not citizen friendly, it might help that we do not have that much oil set up under our land in the first place – so I guess that’s a good thing?
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
What Lobbying is & How it became a $3B industry in the US
Hello Nandoo-ers! Happy Monday! We are going to do something different this week – we will be covering six interesting/ unique items across the next six days of one country. Given a lot of us have either lived/ are from US, we thought why not start with good ol’ Amrika!
The Story:
Amber Alerts Explained
There is a system in the US, wherein if a child in your location goes missing/ is kidnapped, your phone will start beeping super loudly and you will see a message across your screen which explains the description of the child and/or the abductor. This system is called Amber Alert.
The Origins
The Amber Alert program is an urgent bulletin system established in the United States — and since adopted in Canada. The first Amber Alert system was established in 1996 in Texas after a nine-year-old girl, Amber Hagerman, went missing. She was riding her bicycle near home when she was kidnapped and murdered. The killing remains unsolved.
The Benefit
Speed is a factor in child safety - In cases of abductions, children are three times as likely to be murdered, often within the first six hours. Amber alerts have been credited with exceptionally fast rescue of abducted children, with most kids being returned within the first 3 hours. HOW? Well if your phone is beeping super loudly, you are more than likely to take a look at it and when you read the description of the kidnapper, you are more than likely to report it.
The Doubts
A few critics suggest that too many Amber alerts could water down their impact and create apathy within the public. WHY? Because Fewer alerts and strict enforcement of guidelines mean that the public respond better because they understand alerts are issued only after serious consideration
State in India:
A child goes missing in India every 8 minutes. 1 lakh children go missing each year and over 45% of these kids are never found. While India does not have a formal, government run system like Amber alert, there are quite a few grassroot NGOs that are assisting with this issue - CHILDLINE 1098, Track the Missing Child & KhoyaPaya are to name a few
However, to tackle this issue, we need a formal system that works with leading tech firms in India to create a cohesive and strategized response system. There is currently a petition being organized to get signatures and then push the Ministry of Women & Child Development to implement the Amber Alert program. If you are interested and think this would be a worthy cause, please do make sure to sign the petition at this link.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Why US underwent a massive Oil production boom. HINT: it’s all because of farmers
The Story:
Amber Alerts Explained
There is a system in the US, wherein if a child in your location goes missing/ is kidnapped, your phone will start beeping super loudly and you will see a message across your screen which explains the description of the child and/or the abductor. This system is called Amber Alert.
The Origins
The Amber Alert program is an urgent bulletin system established in the United States — and since adopted in Canada. The first Amber Alert system was established in 1996 in Texas after a nine-year-old girl, Amber Hagerman, went missing. She was riding her bicycle near home when she was kidnapped and murdered. The killing remains unsolved.
The Benefit
Speed is a factor in child safety - In cases of abductions, children are three times as likely to be murdered, often within the first six hours. Amber alerts have been credited with exceptionally fast rescue of abducted children, with most kids being returned within the first 3 hours. HOW? Well if your phone is beeping super loudly, you are more than likely to take a look at it and when you read the description of the kidnapper, you are more than likely to report it.
The Doubts
A few critics suggest that too many Amber alerts could water down their impact and create apathy within the public. WHY? Because Fewer alerts and strict enforcement of guidelines mean that the public respond better because they understand alerts are issued only after serious consideration
State in India:
A child goes missing in India every 8 minutes. 1 lakh children go missing each year and over 45% of these kids are never found. While India does not have a formal, government run system like Amber alert, there are quite a few grassroot NGOs that are assisting with this issue - CHILDLINE 1098, Track the Missing Child & KhoyaPaya are to name a few
However, to tackle this issue, we need a formal system that works with leading tech firms in India to create a cohesive and strategized response system. There is currently a petition being organized to get signatures and then push the Ministry of Women & Child Development to implement the Amber Alert program. If you are interested and think this would be a worthy cause, please do make sure to sign the petition at this link.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Why US underwent a massive Oil production boom. HINT: it’s all because of farmers
For the longest time, Amazon Prime’s free two-day shipping was everyone’s FAV – aunties, uncles, mamas, mamis – all would sit by the dining table and talk about how amazing their recent Amazon purchase was (and by amazing how much they saved!)
You could order anything—at any time of day—and rest assured it’d be delivered within two days. Doesn’t matter what it was—light bulbs, dog food, extension cord. It was amazing. Until two days just wasn’t fast enough.
The truth many retailers need to face today is that shoppers want to not just buy but receive their stuff just as quickly as digital transformation is happening. Shoppers now find themselves filtering items for one-day shipping, then same-day delivery. And it looks like Amazon—not to mention big stores like Walmart—were paying attention.
With an $800-million-dollar investment in technology, fulfillment and logistics, Amazon one-day shipping is now standard for Prime members, the race for customer loyalty in retail is getting even more expensive.
Amazon, is by far top dog when it comes to keeping customers connected to the digital shopping cart - Stats on Amazon loyalty show 95% of current Prime members would definitely or probably renew their memberships. Yes, Amazon’s customer loyalty is so strong that there is a sizeable chunk of the population that won’t shop anywhere else when it comes to online retail.
In that sense Amazon one-day shipping isn’t about improving customer loyalty, it’s about keeping it.
Here is the problem:
Amazon & Walmart have a gazillion dollars lined up. But smaller digital ecommerce players don’t – and so by making consumers addicted to one day shipping, Amazon (and Walmart) are making it virtually impossible for smaller players to compete and garner the same type of loyalty & fanaticism that both these companies can afford to have.
Bottomline:
Question for you to ponder over: How can non-Amazon retailers continue to compete with Amazon, and what can they learn from Amazon’s customer loyalty efforts (even if their budgets are much smaller)?
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
No Gyaan tomorrow! Enjoy Sunday with family & friends. Oh and make sure you keep that phone away – especially away from that Amazon prime shopping!
You could order anything—at any time of day—and rest assured it’d be delivered within two days. Doesn’t matter what it was—light bulbs, dog food, extension cord. It was amazing. Until two days just wasn’t fast enough.
The truth many retailers need to face today is that shoppers want to not just buy but receive their stuff just as quickly as digital transformation is happening. Shoppers now find themselves filtering items for one-day shipping, then same-day delivery. And it looks like Amazon—not to mention big stores like Walmart—were paying attention.
With an $800-million-dollar investment in technology, fulfillment and logistics, Amazon one-day shipping is now standard for Prime members, the race for customer loyalty in retail is getting even more expensive.
Amazon, is by far top dog when it comes to keeping customers connected to the digital shopping cart - Stats on Amazon loyalty show 95% of current Prime members would definitely or probably renew their memberships. Yes, Amazon’s customer loyalty is so strong that there is a sizeable chunk of the population that won’t shop anywhere else when it comes to online retail.
In that sense Amazon one-day shipping isn’t about improving customer loyalty, it’s about keeping it.
Here is the problem:
Amazon & Walmart have a gazillion dollars lined up. But smaller digital ecommerce players don’t – and so by making consumers addicted to one day shipping, Amazon (and Walmart) are making it virtually impossible for smaller players to compete and garner the same type of loyalty & fanaticism that both these companies can afford to have.
Bottomline:
Question for you to ponder over: How can non-Amazon retailers continue to compete with Amazon, and what can they learn from Amazon’s customer loyalty efforts (even if their budgets are much smaller)?
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
No Gyaan tomorrow! Enjoy Sunday with family & friends. Oh and make sure you keep that phone away – especially away from that Amazon prime shopping!
Here’s the refresher:
In 2016, the UK voted to Brexit (aka British exit) from the EU. Then-PM David Cameron (who was anti-Brexit) stepped down and May took over the job to figure out how to actually make the breakup happen. But this year, lawmakers voted down her Brexit deal…three times. The UK was supposed to leave the block in March, but the deadline got pushed off until October. Earlier this week, May said that she wanted lawmakers to vote on her plan for a fourth time. And that if it passed, she'd hold a vote in Parliament on whether to hold a second Brexit referendum – but nobody bought her offer. Today, she said she's "done everything I can" to deliver Brexit, but that "sadly I have not been able to do so." So she'll resign as leader of her party on June 7, but will stay on as PM until a successor is chosen.
She has not even left the building and the race for her successor has already began – talk about GOT moves!
Potential options include Boris Johnson, a pro-Brexit former foreign secretary, and Dominic Raab, the former Brexit secretary. The new PM could attempt to figure out a deal that makes UK lawmakers and the EU happy. Or could move forward with a no deal exit, which could lead to serious trade confusion and chaos.
Here's how all this will impact you but more importantly your wallet:
Bottomline:
Brexit news might make you feel like when that person you aren’t even dating tells you it’s over: pretty confused. All eyes are on Prime Minister Theresa May and what happens next. In the meantime, try to block out the noise if new developments rock stock prices. And maybe book that vacation you’ve been thinking about to see Big Ben.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Walmart one-ups Amazon: Free. One-day. Shipping
In 2016, the UK voted to Brexit (aka British exit) from the EU. Then-PM David Cameron (who was anti-Brexit) stepped down and May took over the job to figure out how to actually make the breakup happen. But this year, lawmakers voted down her Brexit deal…three times. The UK was supposed to leave the block in March, but the deadline got pushed off until October. Earlier this week, May said that she wanted lawmakers to vote on her plan for a fourth time. And that if it passed, she'd hold a vote in Parliament on whether to hold a second Brexit referendum – but nobody bought her offer. Today, she said she's "done everything I can" to deliver Brexit, but that "sadly I have not been able to do so." So she'll resign as leader of her party on June 7, but will stay on as PM until a successor is chosen.
She has not even left the building and the race for her successor has already began – talk about GOT moves!
Potential options include Boris Johnson, a pro-Brexit former foreign secretary, and Dominic Raab, the former Brexit secretary. The new PM could attempt to figure out a deal that makes UK lawmakers and the EU happy. Or could move forward with a no deal exit, which could lead to serious trade confusion and chaos.
Here's how all this will impact you but more importantly your wallet:
- You might spend less on vacation. The pound’s gotten pounded (sorry) from all the Brexit drama. That’s actually good news if you’ve got a trip to the UK coming up. A stronger INR compared to pound means your money goes further in the UK. Another round of tea on you.
- Indian companies could take a financial hit. A weaker pound means Indian products are more expensive for consumers in the UK. Which could cause sales to go down. A lot of Indian businesses also use the UK as a token mutual friend for trade with the EU. Without that connection, global trade gets even more complicated. Not exactly what anyone needs right now.
- Stock prices might be a little shaky. When UK citizens first voted to give Brexit a thumbs up in June 2016, global markets freaked out. Then they calmed down. As a general rule, the stock market hates uncertainty. Especially when the health of businesses is at stake. PSA: Stock prices jump around all the time. Not letting that make you motion-sick is part of playing the investing game well. Over the long run, the stock market has always trended up up and up.
Bottomline:
Brexit news might make you feel like when that person you aren’t even dating tells you it’s over: pretty confused. All eyes are on Prime Minister Theresa May and what happens next. In the meantime, try to block out the noise if new developments rock stock prices. And maybe book that vacation you’ve been thinking about to see Big Ben.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Walmart one-ups Amazon: Free. One-day. Shipping
Hold up Nandoo, ofc I KNOW where Mozambique is, but my brother is a dumbass, can you please – FOR HIM, tell us again where Mozambique is?
Of course – Mozambique is a super tiny African country in the Southeast of Africa. It’s top right of South Africa, location wise. It’s famous for two things:
The Story:
Six years ago, 3 government – owned Mozambican companies started taking out private loans worth $2B to fund tuna-fishing. But here’s the problem, the Govt. “forgot” to declare $1.2B of this loan when it was getting audited by the IMF – International Monetary Fund – basically an international organization that gives loans to poor countries for redevelopment and should be notified of all previous loans.
When the IMF found out, ~$850M of that loan seemed to be unaccounted for – as in, no one knows where it went.
Nandoo, how is this possible, how can money just disappear
Well by disappear, we mean it went into the pockets of politicians and investment bankers from Credit Suisse who helped the country get the loan in the first place. If this sounds super duper familiar to you, well because it is – we covered the same topic but for Malaysia and India here (except ofc, you know our scandal was the biggest & baddest one!)
Accha toh abh kya hoga?
You know all that oil that Mozambique found in the northern parts? Well, it’s probably going to be sold off to the hedge funds & private corporations that loaned out the money to Mozambique if they don’t account for the money lost AND pay back the loan with interest. You see what the issue with this is right – a handful of people pocketed the money that should have been used for the upliftment of a downtrodden country and now the very people of this downtrodden country have to suffer further because their one golden opportunity to get out of poverty might be sold off to pay for the crimes committed by a handful
Bottomline
People in power suck – that’s it!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Why UK’s Theresa May has quit and “brexited” herself out
Of course – Mozambique is a super tiny African country in the Southeast of Africa. It’s top right of South Africa, location wise. It’s famous for two things:
- On a serious note – A 16-year civil war that ended in 1992 and claimed the lives of 1 million people which then turned it into one of the world’s poorest nations. BUT it just discovered oil deposits in the north, so it soon might start getting richer
- On a lighter note – if you are a fan of Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) then he did a movie called Johnny English – a very Mr. Bean type spy who messes up everything – including a messed up mission in Mozambique which still gives him the jitters. Watch: Johnny English and Johnny English Reborn right after you are done with this Gyaan. YES – even if you are at work!
The Story:
Six years ago, 3 government – owned Mozambican companies started taking out private loans worth $2B to fund tuna-fishing. But here’s the problem, the Govt. “forgot” to declare $1.2B of this loan when it was getting audited by the IMF – International Monetary Fund – basically an international organization that gives loans to poor countries for redevelopment and should be notified of all previous loans.
When the IMF found out, ~$850M of that loan seemed to be unaccounted for – as in, no one knows where it went.
Nandoo, how is this possible, how can money just disappear
Well by disappear, we mean it went into the pockets of politicians and investment bankers from Credit Suisse who helped the country get the loan in the first place. If this sounds super duper familiar to you, well because it is – we covered the same topic but for Malaysia and India here (except ofc, you know our scandal was the biggest & baddest one!)
Accha toh abh kya hoga?
You know all that oil that Mozambique found in the northern parts? Well, it’s probably going to be sold off to the hedge funds & private corporations that loaned out the money to Mozambique if they don’t account for the money lost AND pay back the loan with interest. You see what the issue with this is right – a handful of people pocketed the money that should have been used for the upliftment of a downtrodden country and now the very people of this downtrodden country have to suffer further because their one golden opportunity to get out of poverty might be sold off to pay for the crimes committed by a handful
Bottomline
People in power suck – that’s it!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Why UK’s Theresa May has quit and “brexited” herself out
China wants to grade its 1.3 billion people based on how good or bad of a citizen they've been. Critics of China's plan have pointed to the Black Mirror episode where everyone gets rated in their daily interactions. You wanna a cookie with that? It's on the house.
Minor difference from Black Mirror:
In China's version, your friends or colleagues wouldn't grade you - that would be done by the state. A dozen cities are already testing different systems with the government aiming to create a nationwide network by 2020.
Here’s the quick take:
China’s social credit system was first outlined in a 2014 government document where the guiding ideology of the social credit system is described as
"Keeping trust is glorious and breaking trust is disgraceful." The idea is to use the central and local government information to blacklist millions of people from doing things like booking flights and taking high-speed train trips.
How citizens are judged in the trials varies from place to place. For example, in Hangzhou donating blood or voluntary work is seen as "pro-social", while violating traffic laws counts against someone's standing.
In Zhoushan, cell phone usage while driving or walking dogs without leashes hurts your credit rating. In Yiwu, your score can be boosted by helping the elderly or protecting public property. Even foreigners are subject to scrutiny. In Yiwu, a bad credit score can result in visas and residence permits being denied or revoked.
It's still unclear how exactly the program will work nationally, but unsurprisingly technology is helping to make it all possible. There are doubts, however, that China will be able to combine diverse local networks into a universal system. So far, the reaction to the trials has been mixed.
Criticism has been harsher overseas. Rights groups see the social credit system as a sinister move to expand the state's already tightening control over China's people and even what they think.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Mozambique’s Scandal Explained
Minor difference from Black Mirror:
In China's version, your friends or colleagues wouldn't grade you - that would be done by the state. A dozen cities are already testing different systems with the government aiming to create a nationwide network by 2020.
Here’s the quick take:
China’s social credit system was first outlined in a 2014 government document where the guiding ideology of the social credit system is described as
"Keeping trust is glorious and breaking trust is disgraceful." The idea is to use the central and local government information to blacklist millions of people from doing things like booking flights and taking high-speed train trips.
How citizens are judged in the trials varies from place to place. For example, in Hangzhou donating blood or voluntary work is seen as "pro-social", while violating traffic laws counts against someone's standing.
In Zhoushan, cell phone usage while driving or walking dogs without leashes hurts your credit rating. In Yiwu, your score can be boosted by helping the elderly or protecting public property. Even foreigners are subject to scrutiny. In Yiwu, a bad credit score can result in visas and residence permits being denied or revoked.
It's still unclear how exactly the program will work nationally, but unsurprisingly technology is helping to make it all possible. There are doubts, however, that China will be able to combine diverse local networks into a universal system. So far, the reaction to the trials has been mixed.
Criticism has been harsher overseas. Rights groups see the social credit system as a sinister move to expand the state's already tightening control over China's people and even what they think.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Mozambique’s Scandal Explained
The Story:
Let’s say you’ve given up your law-abiding lifestyle to pursue a life of crime- you’ve just made your first big hit, perhaps from selling drugs, taking a bribe, or other corrupt acts.
Thing is you can't just spend it or deposit it in your bank account without attracting attention from authorities. That money trail might serve as evidence of the crime you committed. So you need to get that dirty money clean.
There are three steps to any money laundering scheme:
So what are the options?
Bottomline:
If you really want to, there are multiple ways to launder money. Unfortunately for you, there’s no guarantee that you won’t get caught and given all our luck & just general un-savviness, literally n0 chance we would be able to pull any of this off!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
How China plans to rate it’s 1.3 billion people
Let’s say you’ve given up your law-abiding lifestyle to pursue a life of crime- you’ve just made your first big hit, perhaps from selling drugs, taking a bribe, or other corrupt acts.
Thing is you can't just spend it or deposit it in your bank account without attracting attention from authorities. That money trail might serve as evidence of the crime you committed. So you need to get that dirty money clean.
There are three steps to any money laundering scheme:
- Placement, where funds are moved from direct association with the crime
- Layering or disguising the money trail to foil any authorities
- Finally, integration, where the funds are once again available to spend without worry of being caught.
So what are the options?
- Shell Company: It's fairly easy and there are plenty of law firms who can help. It should take them only a bit longer than signing up for a new email address. Launderers may turn to historic tax havens like Switzerland, or places where you can set up anonymous shell companies like the Cayman Islands or the U.S. states of Delaware and Nevada. Once a shell company is established, make up some fake transactions for goods or services that you pay for with your dirty money. Suddenly that dirty money looks legitimate. It also helps to find people who work in banking who don't care if you're a shady client. After the fall of the Soviet Union launderers sought out weak spots throughout Europe where oversight was poor. Billions have been funneled through banks in Cyprus, Malta and the Baltic nations of Estonia and Latvia.
- Stock Market: If you prefer to use the stock market you can try a technique called mirror trading. In this method you use your money to purchase shares. And then you sell same shares worth the same amount somewhere abroad. The trades functionally cancel each other out, but you've successfully turned your rubles into clean euros. A similar method is a back-to-back deal, where, say, a Russian takes out a loan in one country, say Austria, that's guaranteed by a deposit of dirty money back home in Russia. She then defaults on the loan, the bank in Austria seizes the Russian deposit, but she still ends up with the proceeds of the loan in Austrian Euros with no strings attached.
- Casinos: Another method of money laundering is mixing dirty money in with clean. Cash businesses like restaurants and casinos are particularly attractive to launderers. A common scheme is to buy a bunch of casino chips, make a few small wagers, then cash everything else out as winnings. Or, you can just own the whole casino. Macau has been beset by laundering schemes despite China's repeated attempts to stop it.
Bottomline:
If you really want to, there are multiple ways to launder money. Unfortunately for you, there’s no guarantee that you won’t get caught and given all our luck & just general un-savviness, literally n0 chance we would be able to pull any of this off!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
How China plans to rate it’s 1.3 billion people
The Story
It is planning to set up a digital payments system in about a dozen countries by the first quarter of 2020. The social media giant wants to start testing its crypto-currency, which has been referred to internally as GlobalCoin.
Sooooo...How will Facebook's Crypto work?!
Facebook wants to create a digital currency that provides affordable and secure ways of making payments, regardless of whether users have a bank account. The social networking site, which owns WhatsApp and Instagram, is hoping to disrupt existing networks by breaking down financial barriers, competing with banks and reducing consumer costs
Nicknamed Project Libra, Facebook's plans for a digital currency network. The project will see it join forces with banks that will enable people to change dollars and other international currencies into its digital coins. Facebook is also reportedly in talks with a number of online merchants to accept their currency as payment in return for lower transaction fees.
Here's the problem though-
It's not the first time Facebook has dabbled in digital currencies. A decade ago, it created Facebook Credits, a virtual currency that enabled people to purchase items in apps on the social networking site.However, Facebook ended the project after less than two years after it failed to gain traction. However, the biggest test is likely to be whether people will trust the social networking giant enough to start changing their cash for the digital coin. Facebook is in the initial phase of engaging with governments, central banks and regulators, and insiders admit that launching any crypto currency network by the start of next year is ambitious.
Bottomline:
While we are sure Facebook has good intentions for starting its crypto currency, it still doesn't explain why it needs to create its own currency when it could just integrate with PayPal or another digital wallet. It could be that facebook is trying to get deeper into its user's daily habits and be more intertwined.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
No Gyaan! Have a FANTASTIC SUNDAY and spend super quality time with fam & friends!
It is planning to set up a digital payments system in about a dozen countries by the first quarter of 2020. The social media giant wants to start testing its crypto-currency, which has been referred to internally as GlobalCoin.
Sooooo...How will Facebook's Crypto work?!
Facebook wants to create a digital currency that provides affordable and secure ways of making payments, regardless of whether users have a bank account. The social networking site, which owns WhatsApp and Instagram, is hoping to disrupt existing networks by breaking down financial barriers, competing with banks and reducing consumer costs
Nicknamed Project Libra, Facebook's plans for a digital currency network. The project will see it join forces with banks that will enable people to change dollars and other international currencies into its digital coins. Facebook is also reportedly in talks with a number of online merchants to accept their currency as payment in return for lower transaction fees.
Here's the problem though-
It's not the first time Facebook has dabbled in digital currencies. A decade ago, it created Facebook Credits, a virtual currency that enabled people to purchase items in apps on the social networking site.However, Facebook ended the project after less than two years after it failed to gain traction. However, the biggest test is likely to be whether people will trust the social networking giant enough to start changing their cash for the digital coin. Facebook is in the initial phase of engaging with governments, central banks and regulators, and insiders admit that launching any crypto currency network by the start of next year is ambitious.
Bottomline:
While we are sure Facebook has good intentions for starting its crypto currency, it still doesn't explain why it needs to create its own currency when it could just integrate with PayPal or another digital wallet. It could be that facebook is trying to get deeper into its user's daily habits and be more intertwined.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
No Gyaan! Have a FANTASTIC SUNDAY and spend super quality time with fam & friends!
The Story
Not sure if you are aware but the US and China are officially in a trade war
Nandoo, I am so sick & tired of hearing of US & China. I thought this was about Apple!
Yes yes, so the thing is, Trump-ji is hella pissed that most low-level jobs in the US have been moved to China. WHY? Because the people who lost these low-level jobs are technically the people who voted for Trump and since the 2020 re-elections are soon on their way, Trump wants to make sure that his peeps think he is fighting for them
So he has started a trade-war with China with the main target being Huawei
Wait, Huawei, why does that name sound familiar?
You have such great memory! Remember 2 months back when we had just started with Gyaan and one of the earlier stories was the ‘Race to Control your internet?’ and we had specifically asked you to play the Bollywood movie RACE background track while reading it? Well that was when we covered Huawei and to give you a quick summary – it is closest to creating 5G wifi beating all other US companies.
Okay so as part of this trade war, Trump’s like “I don’t like you China and I don’t like your biggest Tech company Huawei, so I am going to ban all products of Huawei from the US and ask all US companies from working with this Huawei!” Essentially Huawei is on the black-list!
Problem is, taali claps with 2 hands!
Here’s the thing, China can do the same thing as US & when it does, it will hurt US a lot more. WHY? Because Apple – the crown jewel of US Tech companies not only gets almost all of its raw materials from China but also manufactures 99.99% of all its products there. More damaging is the fact that for Apple, China is it’s second largest market, after US, and it relies heavily on the Chinese consumers to buy all the “I” products – iPad, iPhone, iPods, iHome, iCe Cream?! (you get the point!)
Unfortunately, the cracks are already showing
Given the ban on Huawei, Chinese consumers are getting super sentimental & patriotic and have slowly started trading in their iPhones to replace them with Huawei phones and also in a lot of cases, stopped buying the iPhones altogether. Despite just a super small population of Chinese consumers undertaking these steps, it is still going to impact Apple and decrease it’s revenuw for the upcoming quarter by a crazy 29%! And that’s only with a tiny size of consumers – imagine what will happen if China passes the “Apple Ban”!
Bottomline:
The US x China Trade war is definitely going to have global impact with companies on both sides of the region feeling the pressure. But when one door closes, another opens – am sure the folks at Apple are aware of this happening and so they have started re-aligning their efforts to their 3rd biggest market – INDIA! Wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing a lot more offers & ads for iPhones everywhere we look!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Last but not least, F of FAANG – Facebook unraveled!
Not sure if you are aware but the US and China are officially in a trade war
Nandoo, I am so sick & tired of hearing of US & China. I thought this was about Apple!
Yes yes, so the thing is, Trump-ji is hella pissed that most low-level jobs in the US have been moved to China. WHY? Because the people who lost these low-level jobs are technically the people who voted for Trump and since the 2020 re-elections are soon on their way, Trump wants to make sure that his peeps think he is fighting for them
So he has started a trade-war with China with the main target being Huawei
Wait, Huawei, why does that name sound familiar?
You have such great memory! Remember 2 months back when we had just started with Gyaan and one of the earlier stories was the ‘Race to Control your internet?’ and we had specifically asked you to play the Bollywood movie RACE background track while reading it? Well that was when we covered Huawei and to give you a quick summary – it is closest to creating 5G wifi beating all other US companies.
Okay so as part of this trade war, Trump’s like “I don’t like you China and I don’t like your biggest Tech company Huawei, so I am going to ban all products of Huawei from the US and ask all US companies from working with this Huawei!” Essentially Huawei is on the black-list!
Problem is, taali claps with 2 hands!
Here’s the thing, China can do the same thing as US & when it does, it will hurt US a lot more. WHY? Because Apple – the crown jewel of US Tech companies not only gets almost all of its raw materials from China but also manufactures 99.99% of all its products there. More damaging is the fact that for Apple, China is it’s second largest market, after US, and it relies heavily on the Chinese consumers to buy all the “I” products – iPad, iPhone, iPods, iHome, iCe Cream?! (you get the point!)
Unfortunately, the cracks are already showing
Given the ban on Huawei, Chinese consumers are getting super sentimental & patriotic and have slowly started trading in their iPhones to replace them with Huawei phones and also in a lot of cases, stopped buying the iPhones altogether. Despite just a super small population of Chinese consumers undertaking these steps, it is still going to impact Apple and decrease it’s revenuw for the upcoming quarter by a crazy 29%! And that’s only with a tiny size of consumers – imagine what will happen if China passes the “Apple Ban”!
Bottomline:
The US x China Trade war is definitely going to have global impact with companies on both sides of the region feeling the pressure. But when one door closes, another opens – am sure the folks at Apple are aware of this happening and so they have started re-aligning their efforts to their 3rd biggest market – INDIA! Wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing a lot more offers & ads for iPhones everywhere we look!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Last but not least, F of FAANG – Facebook unraveled!
Body:
Tens of millions of people use smart speakers and their voice software to play games, find music or trawl for trivia. Millions more are reluctant to invite the devices and their powerful microphones into their homes out of concern that someone might be listening.
Sometimes, someone is.
Nandoo, stop being so Detective Byomkesh-y and tell us the story!
A report has come out that Amazon has been employing thousands of people around the world that listens to voice recordings captured in Echo owners’ homes and offices. The recordings are transcribed and then fed back into the software as part of an effort to eliminate gaps in Alexa’s understanding of human speech and help it better respond to commands.
The team comprises a mix of contractors and full-time Amazon employees who work in outposts from Boston to Costa Rica, India and Romania. They work nine hours a day, with each reviewer going through as many as 1,000 audio clips per shift,
Sometimes they hear recordings they find upsetting, or possibly criminal. Two of the workers said they picked up what they believe was an assault. When something like that happens, they may share the experience in the internal chat room as a way of relieving stress. Amazon says it has procedures in place for workers to follow when they hear something distressing, but several employees said that, after requesting guidance for such cases, they were told it wasn’t Amazon’s job to interfere.
Wait, how is this possible?
The way Alexa (and all smart speakers) work is – they are constantly listening to you. WHY? Because they are waiting to hear the wake word – “Alexa” for echo speakers or “Okay Google” or “Hey Siri” for Apple. When the wake word is detected, the light ring at the top of the Echo turns blue, indicating the device is recording and beaming a command to Amazon servers.
The software then learns as it goes, by spotting patterns amid vast amounts of data. The algorithms powering the Echo and other smart speakers use probability to make educated guesses. If someone asks Alexa if there’s a Gujarati place nearby, the algorithms know the user is probably looking for a restaurant, not a church or community center.
Then why hire humans to listen?
You see sometimes Alexa gets it wrong—especially when dealing with new slang, regional colloquialisms or languages other than English. In French, avec sa, “with his” or “with her,” can confuse the software into thinking someone is using the Alexa wake word. Hecho, Spanish for a fact or deed, is sometimes misinterpreted as Echo. And so on. That’s why Amazon has recruited human helpers to fill in the gaps missed by the algorithms.
Okay Nandoo, so what should we do?
Well, honestly, nothing – if you like privacy and get freaked out thinking about people listening to your conversations, then the best thing is to not buy smart speakers. But just know – in this digital age, someone or the other IS listening to your conversations…. Including your MOTHER! (I think that’s the scariest part of all!)
Tomorrow’s Gyaan
Apple explained!
Tens of millions of people use smart speakers and their voice software to play games, find music or trawl for trivia. Millions more are reluctant to invite the devices and their powerful microphones into their homes out of concern that someone might be listening.
Sometimes, someone is.
Nandoo, stop being so Detective Byomkesh-y and tell us the story!
A report has come out that Amazon has been employing thousands of people around the world that listens to voice recordings captured in Echo owners’ homes and offices. The recordings are transcribed and then fed back into the software as part of an effort to eliminate gaps in Alexa’s understanding of human speech and help it better respond to commands.
The team comprises a mix of contractors and full-time Amazon employees who work in outposts from Boston to Costa Rica, India and Romania. They work nine hours a day, with each reviewer going through as many as 1,000 audio clips per shift,
Sometimes they hear recordings they find upsetting, or possibly criminal. Two of the workers said they picked up what they believe was an assault. When something like that happens, they may share the experience in the internal chat room as a way of relieving stress. Amazon says it has procedures in place for workers to follow when they hear something distressing, but several employees said that, after requesting guidance for such cases, they were told it wasn’t Amazon’s job to interfere.
Wait, how is this possible?
The way Alexa (and all smart speakers) work is – they are constantly listening to you. WHY? Because they are waiting to hear the wake word – “Alexa” for echo speakers or “Okay Google” or “Hey Siri” for Apple. When the wake word is detected, the light ring at the top of the Echo turns blue, indicating the device is recording and beaming a command to Amazon servers.
The software then learns as it goes, by spotting patterns amid vast amounts of data. The algorithms powering the Echo and other smart speakers use probability to make educated guesses. If someone asks Alexa if there’s a Gujarati place nearby, the algorithms know the user is probably looking for a restaurant, not a church or community center.
Then why hire humans to listen?
You see sometimes Alexa gets it wrong—especially when dealing with new slang, regional colloquialisms or languages other than English. In French, avec sa, “with his” or “with her,” can confuse the software into thinking someone is using the Alexa wake word. Hecho, Spanish for a fact or deed, is sometimes misinterpreted as Echo. And so on. That’s why Amazon has recruited human helpers to fill in the gaps missed by the algorithms.
Okay Nandoo, so what should we do?
Well, honestly, nothing – if you like privacy and get freaked out thinking about people listening to your conversations, then the best thing is to not buy smart speakers. But just know – in this digital age, someone or the other IS listening to your conversations…. Including your MOTHER! (I think that’s the scariest part of all!)
Tomorrow’s Gyaan
Apple explained!
The Story:
Netflix has changed how we watch TV, no more waiting at 10 pm to watch Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki (ofc your mom and baa and DEF not for you!). Why wait when you can watch everything at any time you want! They have introduced the concept of Binge watching as well as who can forget – Netflix & Chill! Umm if you don’t know what Netflix & Chill is, ask your 21year old brother!
Anyway, the most important strategy for Netflix has been original content – finding good, quality TV shows & movies that it exclusively owns – Hello Sacred Games! It loves original content so much that is has spent nearly $12 billion JUST LAST YEAR to develop original content. It is borrowing heavily to continue creating a lot more original content so much so that it has now become the biggest creator of original content in the Western hemisphere.
The problem is that no matter how much Netflix spends, it has no chance to catch up with its biggest rival…
Hello Disney!
The Walt Disney Company (DIS) is one of America’s most iconic companies. Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse way back in 1928. Over the following eight decades the company built an empire. Over 160 million people visited its theme parks last year. And it’s among the world’s largest media companies.
But over the past decade a core part of its business has been disrupted. More than a third of Disney’s revenue comes from its cable business. You see Disney owns leading sports network ESPN and makes money delivering this content to millions. As you can imagine, Netflix has hit this business hard. Disney’s cable business has stagnated over the past seven years.
But in about 175 days, Disney is set to launch its own streaming service called Disney+.
Oh And it’s pulling all its content off of Netflix. This is a big deal. WHY? Because Disney owns Marvel, Pixar Animations, Star Wars, ESPN, National Geographic, Modern Family, and even The Simpsons. Not to mention all the classic characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. In six of the past seven years, Disney has produced the world’s top-selling movie. Here’s a list of the five highest-earning movies of 2018:
Picture this…
Disney puts a blockbuster like Avengers Endgame on its platform the same day it opens in theaters. After a few weeks it’s no longer in theaters. You can’t buy it. You can’t rent it. The only way to watch is to subscribe to Disney’s steaming service, Disney+.
Another example, imagine the only place your children or grandchildren will be able to see Toy Story 4 and Frozen 2 may be on Disney+. Can you imagine how many parents will sign up for this?
Disney has shown it can produce movies and shows people want to watch. No competitor comes within 1,000 miles of Disney’s world of content – not even Netflix!
Bottomline:
Disney+ will launch in 175 days and the war between Netflix & Disney is going to boil down to quantity vs. quality. Disney will launch with only 4,000 movies and tv shows which is only 10% of what Netflix currently has. But quality wise, it will be far superior to what Netflix currently has – after all it owns all the Avengers yes unfortunately even Hawk Eye!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Amazon uncovered!
Netflix has changed how we watch TV, no more waiting at 10 pm to watch Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki (ofc your mom and baa and DEF not for you!). Why wait when you can watch everything at any time you want! They have introduced the concept of Binge watching as well as who can forget – Netflix & Chill! Umm if you don’t know what Netflix & Chill is, ask your 21year old brother!
Anyway, the most important strategy for Netflix has been original content – finding good, quality TV shows & movies that it exclusively owns – Hello Sacred Games! It loves original content so much that is has spent nearly $12 billion JUST LAST YEAR to develop original content. It is borrowing heavily to continue creating a lot more original content so much so that it has now become the biggest creator of original content in the Western hemisphere.
The problem is that no matter how much Netflix spends, it has no chance to catch up with its biggest rival…
Hello Disney!
The Walt Disney Company (DIS) is one of America’s most iconic companies. Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse way back in 1928. Over the following eight decades the company built an empire. Over 160 million people visited its theme parks last year. And it’s among the world’s largest media companies.
But over the past decade a core part of its business has been disrupted. More than a third of Disney’s revenue comes from its cable business. You see Disney owns leading sports network ESPN and makes money delivering this content to millions. As you can imagine, Netflix has hit this business hard. Disney’s cable business has stagnated over the past seven years.
But in about 175 days, Disney is set to launch its own streaming service called Disney+.
Oh And it’s pulling all its content off of Netflix. This is a big deal. WHY? Because Disney owns Marvel, Pixar Animations, Star Wars, ESPN, National Geographic, Modern Family, and even The Simpsons. Not to mention all the classic characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. In six of the past seven years, Disney has produced the world’s top-selling movie. Here’s a list of the five highest-earning movies of 2018:
- Avengers Infinity War
- Black Panther
- Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
- Incredibles 2
- Bohemian Rhapsody
Picture this…
Disney puts a blockbuster like Avengers Endgame on its platform the same day it opens in theaters. After a few weeks it’s no longer in theaters. You can’t buy it. You can’t rent it. The only way to watch is to subscribe to Disney’s steaming service, Disney+.
Another example, imagine the only place your children or grandchildren will be able to see Toy Story 4 and Frozen 2 may be on Disney+. Can you imagine how many parents will sign up for this?
Disney has shown it can produce movies and shows people want to watch. No competitor comes within 1,000 miles of Disney’s world of content – not even Netflix!
Bottomline:
Disney+ will launch in 175 days and the war between Netflix & Disney is going to boil down to quantity vs. quality. Disney will launch with only 4,000 movies and tv shows which is only 10% of what Netflix currently has. But quality wise, it will be far superior to what Netflix currently has – after all it owns all the Avengers yes unfortunately even Hawk Eye!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Amazon uncovered!
To recap from yesterday’s Gyaan – we are doing something different – we will be covering FAANG for the next 5 days – not saap but Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google and one interesting thing each of these companies are doing that is either shielded or not that well covered in the media.
The Story:
Google holds an annual I/O conference where it announces all the upcoming features & exciting projects it has been working on. One such feature is their Privacy Update – which essentially allows users to block cookie tracking. This has been very well received by users especially since there has been so much data & privacy-related discussions.
Nandoo, Cookies mane?
Well, Cookies are tiny files websites place on your computer that allow companies to keep you logged in or see which websites you visit. They also allow advertisers to track you from site to site, sending you ads for shoes on, say, a news site, if you earlier happened to be searching for shoes on Amazon or Flipkart.
Here's the catch:
Google’s privacy measures will only be effective if people opt to use them. Research has shown that the vast majority of people don’t update their browser settings. Most people don’t change the settings on any of their devices, meaning that what a manufacturer or product maker decides to include is what most people will experience.
Also, cookies, it’s worth noting, are not that effective in the first place - using cookies to track people across sites is a complicated and imperfect procedure – because if you think about it, a lot of times you still see ads for items that you have already bought making you question why you are STILL seeing ads for that expensive shopping mistake you undertook!
Advertisers have already been moving to other tracking mechanisms, especially as people have shifted their internet use to mobile, which btw doesn’t really use cookies.
Also, Google will still continue making money by selling your data – HOW?
Here’s how: Google, the world leader in online advertising, doesn’t need cookies to track you around the web. It can follow you across its services and devices as well as outside sites and apps that use Google tools, like AdSense, Analytics, or even YouTube – which is basically almost all sites that use Google Analytics to see how their websites are working!
So why do anything for privacy at all?
Tech is becoming a very competitive space with almost all companies – Facebook, Amazon, Google, working in each other’s space. The end of the day is to make users feel comfortable and make them feel that they are secure. Every user somewhat knows what cookie is – we have all been irritated by those pop ups, so if a big, mega giant says “no mo cookies!” commoners get what’s happening and start feeling more comfortable. But YOU are not a commoner but a Nandoo-er and you know to think out of the box is the only way to survive!
Bottomline:
Make sure you allow “cookie blocking” when the Google Privacy update goes out but don’t expect much when it comes to preserving your privacy!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
The FAANG saga continues with Netflix – stay tuned!
The Story:
Google holds an annual I/O conference where it announces all the upcoming features & exciting projects it has been working on. One such feature is their Privacy Update – which essentially allows users to block cookie tracking. This has been very well received by users especially since there has been so much data & privacy-related discussions.
Nandoo, Cookies mane?
Well, Cookies are tiny files websites place on your computer that allow companies to keep you logged in or see which websites you visit. They also allow advertisers to track you from site to site, sending you ads for shoes on, say, a news site, if you earlier happened to be searching for shoes on Amazon or Flipkart.
Here's the catch:
Google’s privacy measures will only be effective if people opt to use them. Research has shown that the vast majority of people don’t update their browser settings. Most people don’t change the settings on any of their devices, meaning that what a manufacturer or product maker decides to include is what most people will experience.
Also, cookies, it’s worth noting, are not that effective in the first place - using cookies to track people across sites is a complicated and imperfect procedure – because if you think about it, a lot of times you still see ads for items that you have already bought making you question why you are STILL seeing ads for that expensive shopping mistake you undertook!
Advertisers have already been moving to other tracking mechanisms, especially as people have shifted their internet use to mobile, which btw doesn’t really use cookies.
Also, Google will still continue making money by selling your data – HOW?
Here’s how: Google, the world leader in online advertising, doesn’t need cookies to track you around the web. It can follow you across its services and devices as well as outside sites and apps that use Google tools, like AdSense, Analytics, or even YouTube – which is basically almost all sites that use Google Analytics to see how their websites are working!
So why do anything for privacy at all?
Tech is becoming a very competitive space with almost all companies – Facebook, Amazon, Google, working in each other’s space. The end of the day is to make users feel comfortable and make them feel that they are secure. Every user somewhat knows what cookie is – we have all been irritated by those pop ups, so if a big, mega giant says “no mo cookies!” commoners get what’s happening and start feeling more comfortable. But YOU are not a commoner but a Nandoo-er and you know to think out of the box is the only way to survive!
Bottomline:
Make sure you allow “cookie blocking” when the Google Privacy update goes out but don’t expect much when it comes to preserving your privacy!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
The FAANG saga continues with Netflix – stay tuned!
Okay Nandoo, let's hear it. Should I still apply for that Canadian PR or not?
Unclear yet - Yesterday, Trump announced he wants to move the US from a family-based immigration system toward a merit-based one.
What does that mean in practice?
It's a plan that preferences high-skilled workers. If it passes, the US would hand out the same number of green cards it does now – about a million per year. But the proportion would change.
Proportion?
Right now roughly 12% of green cards are granted based on employment and skills. Trump wants to bump that figure up to 57%. And factor in age, ability to speak English, educational background, and whether a US job offer is on the table. He says this will help the US economy by letting "the best and brightest" come to the US. And says that current policies "discriminate against genius."
Nandoo my math is slightly weak but, I am assuming that affects the other percentages?
Correct. Trump wants to cut in half the amount of green cards for people with family already in the country. And prioritize immediate family members (like spouses and children) instead of extended family members (like parents). Also getting cut down: green cards for humanitarian reasons. And the elimination of the diversity lottery.
Acchaa, so what are the next steps?
Well his party (Republicans) haven't endorsed Trump's plan yet. And Democrats are already criticizing it. In short, there's no clear path through Congress. But Trump has already said he's not concerned and will push it through after next year's election if he has to.
Bottomline:
It sounds a lot like Trump is getting ready for his reelection in 2020. While it does sound pro-immigration for skilled employees, it is still all up in the air given he may or may not win in 2020 again. So bottomline of this story is - its all up in the air!
Tomorrow's Gyaan:
We will be doing something different – we will be covering FAANG – Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google, over the course of next 5 days. We will go deep into one interesting thing that each of these companies are doing that is shielded from the general public but has vast impacts nonetheless. Super excited to share these with you!
Unclear yet - Yesterday, Trump announced he wants to move the US from a family-based immigration system toward a merit-based one.
What does that mean in practice?
It's a plan that preferences high-skilled workers. If it passes, the US would hand out the same number of green cards it does now – about a million per year. But the proportion would change.
Proportion?
Right now roughly 12% of green cards are granted based on employment and skills. Trump wants to bump that figure up to 57%. And factor in age, ability to speak English, educational background, and whether a US job offer is on the table. He says this will help the US economy by letting "the best and brightest" come to the US. And says that current policies "discriminate against genius."
Nandoo my math is slightly weak but, I am assuming that affects the other percentages?
Correct. Trump wants to cut in half the amount of green cards for people with family already in the country. And prioritize immediate family members (like spouses and children) instead of extended family members (like parents). Also getting cut down: green cards for humanitarian reasons. And the elimination of the diversity lottery.
Acchaa, so what are the next steps?
Well his party (Republicans) haven't endorsed Trump's plan yet. And Democrats are already criticizing it. In short, there's no clear path through Congress. But Trump has already said he's not concerned and will push it through after next year's election if he has to.
Bottomline:
It sounds a lot like Trump is getting ready for his reelection in 2020. While it does sound pro-immigration for skilled employees, it is still all up in the air given he may or may not win in 2020 again. So bottomline of this story is - its all up in the air!
Tomorrow's Gyaan:
We will be doing something different – we will be covering FAANG – Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google, over the course of next 5 days. We will go deep into one interesting thing that each of these companies are doing that is shielded from the general public but has vast impacts nonetheless. Super excited to share these with you!
Yes, we know this story sounds pretty ominous & not something you want to know when you are trying to enjoy your Saturday. BUT we think its super important and you should rather be well informed than be caught off-guard.
The Story:
Here goes – there are something called as NBFCs – Non Bank Financial Corporations – essentially corporations which act like a bank but are not technically a bank because they do not manage savings. One of the main functions they perform is provide loans to consumers who have difficulties in getting loans from banks. Companies like Reliance Capital, Dewan Housing Finance are some examples of NBFCs. There are a total of 11,000 NBFCs in India.
But here is the issue
To have the money to give loans to consumers, they themselves take loans from banks. Problem is, the loans they borrow from banks are on a shorter duration than the loans they provide to the end consumer. For instance, lets say Reliance Capital gives you a loan of 1 crore to buy a car with the loan to be repaid in 5 years. To give you this 1 crore, Reliance Capital goes to a bunch of banks and borrows money from them. Problem is the banks tell Reliance that it has to pay the money back in 3 years time – now you see the problem. To pay the 1 crore back to Bank X, Reliance has to borrow 1 crore from Bank Y because the 1 crore given to you will come in 5 year’s time frame.
This whole practice is called Shadow Banking – NBFCs that are acting like banks but have significant debt exposure to real banks.
First signs of crisis:
Mumbai-based Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS), a three-decade old lending giant, which has helped finance projects worth $25 billion (Rs1.75 lakh crore) across the country, recently ran out of money. The situation became so dire that it was even compared to the 2008 Financial Crisis that started in US. The government had to step in and supersede the board to avert a blow up.
Since then, though, the cracks in the system have only become wider. WHY? Because ever since IL&FS had that issue, banks have gotten scared and have decided to stop lending to NBFCs. So now, all those NBFCs that need to pay back loans to other banks do not have the money to pay them back which could trigger a NUMBER of bankruptcies across the banking sector – this is the LAST thing we want as this will impact everyone and will resemble the financial crisis that came about in the US.
What can you do:
Not much to be honest – RBI (Reserve Bank of India) has decided to step in and ease the monetary policy in order to help out the NBFCs with their liquidity or cash issue. Early signs are yet to show but given that our financial authorities are aware & taking action is a step in a positive direction.
Bottomline:
NBFCs are facing a significant cash crunch and need the support of our banking regulators to start easing the issues facing. If not, they might start going bankrupt which will then trigger a wide-spread liquidity crunch across our entire banking sector. As a consumer, you do not have much power to help this but your knowledge is powerful and will help you make smarter decisions if/when the cracks turn into gigantic holes.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
No Gyaan tomorrow! Enjoy Sunday with your family & loved ones!
The Story:
Here goes – there are something called as NBFCs – Non Bank Financial Corporations – essentially corporations which act like a bank but are not technically a bank because they do not manage savings. One of the main functions they perform is provide loans to consumers who have difficulties in getting loans from banks. Companies like Reliance Capital, Dewan Housing Finance are some examples of NBFCs. There are a total of 11,000 NBFCs in India.
But here is the issue
To have the money to give loans to consumers, they themselves take loans from banks. Problem is, the loans they borrow from banks are on a shorter duration than the loans they provide to the end consumer. For instance, lets say Reliance Capital gives you a loan of 1 crore to buy a car with the loan to be repaid in 5 years. To give you this 1 crore, Reliance Capital goes to a bunch of banks and borrows money from them. Problem is the banks tell Reliance that it has to pay the money back in 3 years time – now you see the problem. To pay the 1 crore back to Bank X, Reliance has to borrow 1 crore from Bank Y because the 1 crore given to you will come in 5 year’s time frame.
This whole practice is called Shadow Banking – NBFCs that are acting like banks but have significant debt exposure to real banks.
First signs of crisis:
Mumbai-based Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS), a three-decade old lending giant, which has helped finance projects worth $25 billion (Rs1.75 lakh crore) across the country, recently ran out of money. The situation became so dire that it was even compared to the 2008 Financial Crisis that started in US. The government had to step in and supersede the board to avert a blow up.
Since then, though, the cracks in the system have only become wider. WHY? Because ever since IL&FS had that issue, banks have gotten scared and have decided to stop lending to NBFCs. So now, all those NBFCs that need to pay back loans to other banks do not have the money to pay them back which could trigger a NUMBER of bankruptcies across the banking sector – this is the LAST thing we want as this will impact everyone and will resemble the financial crisis that came about in the US.
What can you do:
Not much to be honest – RBI (Reserve Bank of India) has decided to step in and ease the monetary policy in order to help out the NBFCs with their liquidity or cash issue. Early signs are yet to show but given that our financial authorities are aware & taking action is a step in a positive direction.
Bottomline:
NBFCs are facing a significant cash crunch and need the support of our banking regulators to start easing the issues facing. If not, they might start going bankrupt which will then trigger a wide-spread liquidity crunch across our entire banking sector. As a consumer, you do not have much power to help this but your knowledge is powerful and will help you make smarter decisions if/when the cracks turn into gigantic holes.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
No Gyaan tomorrow! Enjoy Sunday with your family & loved ones!
Side side note- If you do not know Adnan Sami – stop everything you are doing and google “Adnan Sami before after weight loss”. Sadly, it’s not Nandoo that did that to him but how awesome would have been if we could take the credit!
The Story:
Softbank – which has invested in Uber, WeWork, Flipkart, PayTm, OYO, NVIDA, ARM Holdings and a bunch more companies, is actually just a telephone service provider in Japan. And no, before you start thinking, hmmm Japam mein phone bills bahut tagde hoge for Softbank to have all this money to invest a gazillion dollars in all these startups, that is DEF not the case.
You see Softbank has a very visionary CEO, who goes by the name of Masayoshi Son – he is Korean by origin but born & brought up in Japan (which btw is very similar to an Indian being raised in Pakistan or vice versa – Japan & Korea DO NOT get along at all. We will cover the reason why some other time!) Masa (as he is called) is so visionary that he had the foresight to invest early. Some examples include:
Without these investments, Softbank i.e. just the phone service provider, is not actually that highly valued.
Nandoo, tell me, where did the money come from to invest in Oyo, Flipkart, and all these other unicorns
Oh right – so given Masa’s intuition in finding & investing in crazily amazing companies, he approached the Saudis and was like “What up homie- I want some monies to become a global VC. Can you invest in my fund?” and the Saudis were like “Yeah Bro, I got all this Oil money that I don’t know what to do with anymore even after buying all these Lambos for my cops. Here I give you $100 Billion! Will that be enough?” Wouldn’t be amazing if we ALL had friends like these! Of course we exaggerate when we say all $100 Billion came from Saudis – it was only $94B from them but you get the picture!
Anyway, so with this money, Masa started the Softbank Vision Fund – a $100 Billion investment fund that invests in future, jaw-dropping, society-changing, earth-shattering tech-focused startups.
Here’s the main issue with Softbank – a lot of other VCs think that Masa probably got lucky with his two bets so it is dangerous to give him so much money where he goes around left-right-center investing in companies and hyping up valuations of otherwise unimportant companies. Some could say that these VCs are probably jelly or spot-on right. Either way, time will tell. They did approach us but we were like umm Masa, we don’t do chillar change – come talk to us when you got $1000 Billion!
Bottomline:
Next time someone talks about the Softbank Vision Fund, you now know how it came about, where it gets its money from, who is the main decision maker & how it should NOT be confused with Softbank the company
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
A ticking time bomb within our Banking system.
The Story:
Softbank – which has invested in Uber, WeWork, Flipkart, PayTm, OYO, NVIDA, ARM Holdings and a bunch more companies, is actually just a telephone service provider in Japan. And no, before you start thinking, hmmm Japam mein phone bills bahut tagde hoge for Softbank to have all this money to invest a gazillion dollars in all these startups, that is DEF not the case.
You see Softbank has a very visionary CEO, who goes by the name of Masayoshi Son – he is Korean by origin but born & brought up in Japan (which btw is very similar to an Indian being raised in Pakistan or vice versa – Japan & Korea DO NOT get along at all. We will cover the reason why some other time!) Masa (as he is called) is so visionary that he had the foresight to invest early. Some examples include:
- Giving Jack Ma (founder of Alibaba) a $100M check for 27% stake of his company during Alibaba's early days. That investment is now worth $132 BILLION – not a typo – its B and not an M
- Investing super early in Yahoo Japan that led his $70M check turn to $8B – yeah kind of underwhelming when compared to Alibaba investment but nevertheless impressive! How impressive – 8 Kylie Jenner worth! BOOM we had to!
Without these investments, Softbank i.e. just the phone service provider, is not actually that highly valued.
Nandoo, tell me, where did the money come from to invest in Oyo, Flipkart, and all these other unicorns
Oh right – so given Masa’s intuition in finding & investing in crazily amazing companies, he approached the Saudis and was like “What up homie- I want some monies to become a global VC. Can you invest in my fund?” and the Saudis were like “Yeah Bro, I got all this Oil money that I don’t know what to do with anymore even after buying all these Lambos for my cops. Here I give you $100 Billion! Will that be enough?” Wouldn’t be amazing if we ALL had friends like these! Of course we exaggerate when we say all $100 Billion came from Saudis – it was only $94B from them but you get the picture!
Anyway, so with this money, Masa started the Softbank Vision Fund – a $100 Billion investment fund that invests in future, jaw-dropping, society-changing, earth-shattering tech-focused startups.
Here’s the main issue with Softbank – a lot of other VCs think that Masa probably got lucky with his two bets so it is dangerous to give him so much money where he goes around left-right-center investing in companies and hyping up valuations of otherwise unimportant companies. Some could say that these VCs are probably jelly or spot-on right. Either way, time will tell. They did approach us but we were like umm Masa, we don’t do chillar change – come talk to us when you got $1000 Billion!
Bottomline:
Next time someone talks about the Softbank Vision Fund, you now know how it came about, where it gets its money from, who is the main decision maker & how it should NOT be confused with Softbank the company
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
A ticking time bomb within our Banking system.
The Story:
Singapore has passed a controversial bill that could equip the government with extensive powers to police online media and free speech. The bill has caused concerns through its potential to stifle free speech since a key feature enables the government, and in factor any minister, to force “corrections” to be added to online content that is deemed to be “false.”
Interesting, tell me more!
Beyond media, the flex also extends to social media. According to the law, those found to be “malicious actors” face a fine of up to SG$50,000 ($37,000) or five years in prison for their content. If posted using “an inauthentic online account or a bot,” the fine jumps to a maximum of SG$100,000 ($74,000) or a potential 10-year jail term. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter face fines of up to SG$1 million ($740,000) for their role in such situations….. so bye bye Memes!
Could the bill police private chats?
Great question Nandoo-er! And this is going to be tricky for the Govt to monitor because chats (e.g. Whatsapp) are encrypted which means no one can snoop in and read them. So not sure if Whatsapp, Telegram, etc. will modify their encryption to accommodate this law. Our guess is they will not but you never know!
Why the Govt. thinks this as a positive law?
The Singaporean govt. is essentially saying that this law will significantly stop promotion and spread of fake news (e.g. By saying Nandoo 10 times, Priyanka Chopra will appear. REAL news is you just have to say Nandoo 7 times for PC to appear!)
Why the Singaporeans think this as a negative law?
Singaporeans believe that this law will extend to curtailing dissent as well. As in, if someone posts their frustration with the Govt. on a social media platform, the Govt. could construe it as “fake news” and come attack the citizen instead of fixing itself. So no more talks of corruption, lack of political leadership can be discussed which ultimately stifles free speech
What’s next?
Well the bill will go through final approval in a few months and is most likely to get passed and turned into a law. Guess we will just have to wait and watch to see the actual damage it will cause.
Bottomline:
What’s important is that if Singapore is successful in passing this bill as a law, a LOT more Asian countries (including India) will follow suit and pass similar laws in their respective countries. If this happens in India – then BYE BYE Nandoo-ers! It was GREAT knowing you – as much as we LOVE you, we def do not love the idea of going to jail – the daal is wayyy too much kaali in there!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
SoftBank, the most powerful — and controversial — startup investor, explained
Singapore has passed a controversial bill that could equip the government with extensive powers to police online media and free speech. The bill has caused concerns through its potential to stifle free speech since a key feature enables the government, and in factor any minister, to force “corrections” to be added to online content that is deemed to be “false.”
Interesting, tell me more!
Beyond media, the flex also extends to social media. According to the law, those found to be “malicious actors” face a fine of up to SG$50,000 ($37,000) or five years in prison for their content. If posted using “an inauthentic online account or a bot,” the fine jumps to a maximum of SG$100,000 ($74,000) or a potential 10-year jail term. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter face fines of up to SG$1 million ($740,000) for their role in such situations….. so bye bye Memes!
Could the bill police private chats?
Great question Nandoo-er! And this is going to be tricky for the Govt to monitor because chats (e.g. Whatsapp) are encrypted which means no one can snoop in and read them. So not sure if Whatsapp, Telegram, etc. will modify their encryption to accommodate this law. Our guess is they will not but you never know!
Why the Govt. thinks this as a positive law?
The Singaporean govt. is essentially saying that this law will significantly stop promotion and spread of fake news (e.g. By saying Nandoo 10 times, Priyanka Chopra will appear. REAL news is you just have to say Nandoo 7 times for PC to appear!)
Why the Singaporeans think this as a negative law?
Singaporeans believe that this law will extend to curtailing dissent as well. As in, if someone posts their frustration with the Govt. on a social media platform, the Govt. could construe it as “fake news” and come attack the citizen instead of fixing itself. So no more talks of corruption, lack of political leadership can be discussed which ultimately stifles free speech
What’s next?
Well the bill will go through final approval in a few months and is most likely to get passed and turned into a law. Guess we will just have to wait and watch to see the actual damage it will cause.
Bottomline:
What’s important is that if Singapore is successful in passing this bill as a law, a LOT more Asian countries (including India) will follow suit and pass similar laws in their respective countries. If this happens in India – then BYE BYE Nandoo-ers! It was GREAT knowing you – as much as we LOVE you, we def do not love the idea of going to jail – the daal is wayyy too much kaali in there!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
SoftBank, the most powerful — and controversial — startup investor, explained
The Story:
Your eyes are not giving you a dhoka – you read that right – there is something called as Masala Bond and it plays a critical role in making the Indian rupee look good in international markets!
Umm…What are Masala Bonds?
Masala Bonds are rupee-denominated debt initiated by Indian entities in foreign markets. Masala i.e. spices was the term used by International Finance Corporation (IFC) to popularize the culture and cuisine of India on foreign platforms. The objective of Masala Bonds is to fund infrastructure projects in India, fuel internal growth via borrowings and internationalize the Indian currency.
Okay but I don’t understand how it helps in making the Rupee look good
So here's how it works - imagine you have an American friend named Joe and you want to raise money to fund your company's growth. Now you could do two things - you could go to your Mama, Mami, Kaka, Kaki for the monies but risk getting all that emotional atyachaar and side looks for asking for money. OR you could go to your friend Joe (who is RICH) and tell him - "Yo Joe, can I get some paisa from you? And instead of me paying you interest in dollars, I will do that in RUPEES!" Joe says "Yeah brooooo totally (not sure why Joe has an Indian accent but we digress)" Now the ONLY reason Joe would agree to this is because he thinks there is value in Indian currency going up up up in the future. That's why he is more than open to loaning you money but open to be paid back in rupees vs. dollars. Makes sense? Oh and Joe has a caveat - "Bro I will only give you the money if you call this bond Masala bond!"
The reason Masala Bonds are important to make the rupee look good is because if a lot more people like Joe - i.e. his mom, dad, uncle, aunty, girlfriend, boyfriend (Joe does not discriminate!) then it shows to the rest of the world that the Indian rupee has some upside in the future and they will start wanting to get those bonds as well.
In real world - replace Joe with different international countries. Currently, these bonds are listed on the London Stock Exchange and HDFC, NTPC & Indiabulls are among Indian corporates which have raised funds via this option.
Hmmm but why Masala, they could have literally named it anything else!
We know – we thought so too! But if it makes you happy, there is Dim Sum bonds issued by Chinese Companies, Samurai Bonds for Japanese companies – you get the drill. On a side note, not sure about you but the names of these bonds has a sort of stereotyping tone to it. Hey but at least we were not called the Bollywood Bonds!
Interesting fact
The first Masala bond was introduced in 2014 to fund some infrastructure projects in India. The second such bond was issued in 2015 and was called Green Masala Bond (NOTHING to do with hari meerch) and was used to fund climate change protection initiatives in India
Bottomline:
There are SO many unique and interesting financial instruments with even more interesting names, that exist across the globe. Regardless of all these differences, they all of them have the same one thing in common – use money to make more money!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Singapore’s Fake News Law and its impact on Asia
Your eyes are not giving you a dhoka – you read that right – there is something called as Masala Bond and it plays a critical role in making the Indian rupee look good in international markets!
Umm…What are Masala Bonds?
Masala Bonds are rupee-denominated debt initiated by Indian entities in foreign markets. Masala i.e. spices was the term used by International Finance Corporation (IFC) to popularize the culture and cuisine of India on foreign platforms. The objective of Masala Bonds is to fund infrastructure projects in India, fuel internal growth via borrowings and internationalize the Indian currency.
Okay but I don’t understand how it helps in making the Rupee look good
So here's how it works - imagine you have an American friend named Joe and you want to raise money to fund your company's growth. Now you could do two things - you could go to your Mama, Mami, Kaka, Kaki for the monies but risk getting all that emotional atyachaar and side looks for asking for money. OR you could go to your friend Joe (who is RICH) and tell him - "Yo Joe, can I get some paisa from you? And instead of me paying you interest in dollars, I will do that in RUPEES!" Joe says "Yeah brooooo totally (not sure why Joe has an Indian accent but we digress)" Now the ONLY reason Joe would agree to this is because he thinks there is value in Indian currency going up up up in the future. That's why he is more than open to loaning you money but open to be paid back in rupees vs. dollars. Makes sense? Oh and Joe has a caveat - "Bro I will only give you the money if you call this bond Masala bond!"
The reason Masala Bonds are important to make the rupee look good is because if a lot more people like Joe - i.e. his mom, dad, uncle, aunty, girlfriend, boyfriend (Joe does not discriminate!) then it shows to the rest of the world that the Indian rupee has some upside in the future and they will start wanting to get those bonds as well.
In real world - replace Joe with different international countries. Currently, these bonds are listed on the London Stock Exchange and HDFC, NTPC & Indiabulls are among Indian corporates which have raised funds via this option.
Hmmm but why Masala, they could have literally named it anything else!
We know – we thought so too! But if it makes you happy, there is Dim Sum bonds issued by Chinese Companies, Samurai Bonds for Japanese companies – you get the drill. On a side note, not sure about you but the names of these bonds has a sort of stereotyping tone to it. Hey but at least we were not called the Bollywood Bonds!
Interesting fact
The first Masala bond was introduced in 2014 to fund some infrastructure projects in India. The second such bond was issued in 2015 and was called Green Masala Bond (NOTHING to do with hari meerch) and was used to fund climate change protection initiatives in India
Bottomline:
There are SO many unique and interesting financial instruments with even more interesting names, that exist across the globe. Regardless of all these differences, they all of them have the same one thing in common – use money to make more money!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Singapore’s Fake News Law and its impact on Asia
The Story:
Before we go into the difference between IPO and Direct Listing, there are predominantly two main reasons why companies go public:
Difference between IPO and Direct Listing:
Getting back to Indian startups:
Till now, Indian companies rarely go public on foreign stock markets. They are reserved to Indian exchanges (e.g. BSE, NSE) to go public on. However, given the recent surge in the number of unicorns in India and the excitement around Tech IPOs in general, SEBI (Security Exchange Board of India) has proposed that select Indian companies WILL be able to launch their shares on foreign exchanges in a Direct Listing format. To be qualified to go the direct listing route on Foreign Exchanges, a company MUST have at least 10% of shares listed on the Indian stock exchange and issue at a minimum of Rs. 1,000 crore in shares on Indian Stock Exchange.
Bottomline:
Depending on whether you are an entrepreneur or not, if the company you own/ follow goes Direct Listing route on Foreign Exchanges, it is positive for you because the demand for this stock will be even more high given exposure to foreign exchanges. So it’s a win-win for both the entrepreneur as well as the shareholders. So if our direct listing policy goes in place, it should be pretty positive for the community.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Masala Bonds explained (yup you read that right)
Before we go into the difference between IPO and Direct Listing, there are predominantly two main reasons why companies go public:
- Raise More Money Quickly i.e. Since anyone can buy, you can sell a lot of stock right away rather than go to individual investors and ask them to invest
- Liquidity i.e. to monetize shareholders — including employees and investors/backers. Following going Public, it becomes easier for investors, employees to cash out and be rewarded for trusting in & helping the company grow
- BONUS: Ego i.e. Look at ME – my company just went Public, YAY am so AWESOME!
Difference between IPO and Direct Listing:
- IPO or Initial Public Offering: In this process, the company works with an underwriter to initiate the IPO process for which the underwriters then charge a heft commission. Firms like JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are examples of underwriters. Essentially what they do is, they help the company decide the price at which it should go public, fill out all the regulatory paperwork but more importantly, they guarantee to buy the company’s shares and then sell it to various investors through their distribution network. This is the biggest value add they bring because, for companies that are not sure how their shares would be received in the market, it is a safe bet going the underwriter route because the company gets a guaranteed rate by the underwriters, regardless if the price of the stock goes down significantly on the first day of launch. And this is why underwriters charge anywhere from 2% to 8% in fees.
- Direct Listing: In this process, the company sells shares directly to the public without any middle-men/women involved. Of course, this means that the company has to rely on its own team significantly when it comes to filling out the paperwork and pricing the shares. This route is mostly chosen by companies that have significant excitement around them (e.g. Google, Spotify, Slack) i.e. companies that the general public have heard of and are super excited to buy shares of. This way, guaranteeing that the shares will be well received and wont be a flop.
Getting back to Indian startups:
Till now, Indian companies rarely go public on foreign stock markets. They are reserved to Indian exchanges (e.g. BSE, NSE) to go public on. However, given the recent surge in the number of unicorns in India and the excitement around Tech IPOs in general, SEBI (Security Exchange Board of India) has proposed that select Indian companies WILL be able to launch their shares on foreign exchanges in a Direct Listing format. To be qualified to go the direct listing route on Foreign Exchanges, a company MUST have at least 10% of shares listed on the Indian stock exchange and issue at a minimum of Rs. 1,000 crore in shares on Indian Stock Exchange.
Bottomline:
Depending on whether you are an entrepreneur or not, if the company you own/ follow goes Direct Listing route on Foreign Exchanges, it is positive for you because the demand for this stock will be even more high given exposure to foreign exchanges. So it’s a win-win for both the entrepreneur as well as the shareholders. So if our direct listing policy goes in place, it should be pretty positive for the community.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Masala Bonds explained (yup you read that right)
The Story:
So this will be a quick Gyaan – reason Spain is experiencing this: men don’t want to take care of babies. Done! See you all tomorrow! Okay just kidding, but how pissed would you have been if we just ended at that!
The Study:
In March 2007, Spain introduced a national policy granting most new fathers two weeks of fully paid paternity leave. The policy proved exceptionally popular, with 55% of men eligible in the first year opting to take the paid time. The amount of leave covered by the program was doubled in 2017 and expanded to five weeks in 2018, with additional increases expected between now and 2021.
The Outcome:
Economists studying the effects of the original 2007 policy examined what happened to families and heterosexual couples that had children just before and just after the program began. And found an interesting outcome: Fathers who participated in the paternity leave, were found to remain extra engaged with childcare after their paternity was done which ultimately helped the mothers in dividing up the work involved in raising a child and helping them to get back to the workforce instead of quitting and staying at home to raise the child.
The Surprising Outcome:
Economists also found that Fathers that participated in paternity leaves were also less likely to have more kids in the future. WHY? Because spending more time with their children—or the prospect of having to do so—may have made men more acutely aware of the effort and costs associated with childrearing, and, as the researchers put it, “shifted their preferences from child quantity to quality.” At the same time, women started showing preferences for slightly larger families—perhaps a sign that having more children seemed more desirable with a slightly more equitable balance of labor at home.
Bottomline:
Now correlation DEF isn’t causation, and it’s possible that other factors weighed more heavily than paternity leave on men’s family preferences. The global financial crisis, for example, hit Spain in full force about a year after the leave policy was introduced. So we definitely cannot say with 100% certainty that the paternity leave caused this decline, however, it’s an interesting wrinkle to consider when analyzing future declines of child birth.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Direct Listing for IPOs explained and why this is important for Indian startups
The Story:
Here’s the thing, Malaysia’s state-owned investment fund, 1MDB, was supposed to promote development. Instead, it has spurred a criminal and regulatory investigations around the world. To give you a quick gist, of the $8 billion raised for it, nearly $4 billion was pocketed – But guess what, its still a baby when you compare it to our 2G scandal which was $40 Billion being siphoned off! Check our Gyaan archives for more deets on it.
Back up, 1MDB sounds like some storage capacity, can you tell me what it means?
It’s a government investment company which also goes by the name of 1 Malaysia Development Bhd. 1MDB wanted to revitalize Malaysia by building a new financial district, revamping its power plants – you know things that will bring in more better paying jobs and boost the economy. But an initial red flag was that 1MDB failed to attract foreign investment and so, it had to start raising debt. Quick side note - debt raising is basically a country promising to pay the money back from the increased taxes it will collect when the said paying jobs roll in. You should almost always focus on getting investment vs. debt when looking for funding – country or individual.
Anyway, it raised nearly $8 billion in debt from a TON of foreign countries with Goldman Sachs playing the lead broker for 1MDB.
Hmmm okay so what happened then?
Well, the Govt. put a businessman by the name of Low Taek Jho (known as Jho Low and NOT to be confused with J Low!) in charge to properly diversify the funds raised in project. And Jho Low DID diversify the funds – just in the bank accounts of Malaysia’s ministers, PM and his own personal account.
Interesting and where is all this money?
Scattered all over the world in various shell accounts of these minsters. Quite a few went into the Fendi, Gucci & Prada bags bought by the PM’s wife. The PM’s son went an extra mile and invested $60 million in the Wolf of Wall Street movie and Jho Low was like “hold my cutting” and went above & beyond by buying a $200M super yacht that did nothing by just chilled on the waters of Bali – ALL of this at the expense of Malaysia’s tax payers!
Nandoo this sounds like chillar, why are you covering this?
YES – it is chillar compared to the $40 billion involved in our 2G scandal (YAY us?) but the problem with 1MDB is that these folks borrowed money from foreign countries – like Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, US, Germany, etc. And these countries are hella mad and going Rihanna mode with “B!^%$ better have my money!” as in – I don’t care what your ministers did with all this money, I want MY money back or else…And so, Jho Low, PM, his fam and all other ministers are basically screwed with multiple international cases against them. While they wont be able to give the money back, they are in for some deep sheeet
Bottomline:
When you deal with global investments, you better be ready to pay up. If you think about it, one “good” thing with 2G scandal was that it involved only Indians and Indian ministers. No foreign party was involved which means, when things got crazy, nothing super terrible happened to anyone.
Monday's Gyaan:
Why Spain experienced a decline in child birth after instituting Paternity Leave
Here’s the thing, Malaysia’s state-owned investment fund, 1MDB, was supposed to promote development. Instead, it has spurred a criminal and regulatory investigations around the world. To give you a quick gist, of the $8 billion raised for it, nearly $4 billion was pocketed – But guess what, its still a baby when you compare it to our 2G scandal which was $40 Billion being siphoned off! Check our Gyaan archives for more deets on it.
Back up, 1MDB sounds like some storage capacity, can you tell me what it means?
It’s a government investment company which also goes by the name of 1 Malaysia Development Bhd. 1MDB wanted to revitalize Malaysia by building a new financial district, revamping its power plants – you know things that will bring in more better paying jobs and boost the economy. But an initial red flag was that 1MDB failed to attract foreign investment and so, it had to start raising debt. Quick side note - debt raising is basically a country promising to pay the money back from the increased taxes it will collect when the said paying jobs roll in. You should almost always focus on getting investment vs. debt when looking for funding – country or individual.
Anyway, it raised nearly $8 billion in debt from a TON of foreign countries with Goldman Sachs playing the lead broker for 1MDB.
Hmmm okay so what happened then?
Well, the Govt. put a businessman by the name of Low Taek Jho (known as Jho Low and NOT to be confused with J Low!) in charge to properly diversify the funds raised in project. And Jho Low DID diversify the funds – just in the bank accounts of Malaysia’s ministers, PM and his own personal account.
Interesting and where is all this money?
Scattered all over the world in various shell accounts of these minsters. Quite a few went into the Fendi, Gucci & Prada bags bought by the PM’s wife. The PM’s son went an extra mile and invested $60 million in the Wolf of Wall Street movie and Jho Low was like “hold my cutting” and went above & beyond by buying a $200M super yacht that did nothing by just chilled on the waters of Bali – ALL of this at the expense of Malaysia’s tax payers!
Nandoo this sounds like chillar, why are you covering this?
YES – it is chillar compared to the $40 billion involved in our 2G scandal (YAY us?) but the problem with 1MDB is that these folks borrowed money from foreign countries – like Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, US, Germany, etc. And these countries are hella mad and going Rihanna mode with “B!^%$ better have my money!” as in – I don’t care what your ministers did with all this money, I want MY money back or else…And so, Jho Low, PM, his fam and all other ministers are basically screwed with multiple international cases against them. While they wont be able to give the money back, they are in for some deep sheeet
Bottomline:
When you deal with global investments, you better be ready to pay up. If you think about it, one “good” thing with 2G scandal was that it involved only Indians and Indian ministers. No foreign party was involved which means, when things got crazy, nothing super terrible happened to anyone.
Monday's Gyaan:
Why Spain experienced a decline in child birth after instituting Paternity Leave
Taiwan, home to 23M people, is an island off the southern coast of China that has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949. China views the island as a province, while Taiwan—a territory with its own democratically elected government—think of themselves independent of mainland China.
Nandoo what is this Chinese Kichhdi, I don’t understand!
SO the thing is the KMT (party that rules Taiwan) used to rule China for more than two decades. But then in 1949, it was overthrown by the Communist Party and so the party leaders from KMT fled to Taiwan and named it “Republic of China” (not to be confused by Mainland China). And so when Taiwan says it is “part of China” it refers to the Republic of China – NOT the Mainland China.
I swear we are not making this confusion up!
If this was not enough, there is another complication
You see, from 1895 to 1945, Taiwan was ruled by Japan which captured it from mainland China. The Japanese ruled Taiwan extremely brutally and when the KMT came to Taiwan, they continued with the brutal rule despite having no connection with Japan. Taiwan has since become a democracy, but resentment of the KMT runs deep among many of those who were living on the island before the KMT took refuge, and the descendants of such people.
Given the Taiwanese have weak to no connections with Mainland China, a lot of Taiwanese are pushing to abandon any and every link to China and the term “China” and declare full independence. So just when you had figured out the difference between People’s Republic of China (i.e. Mainland China) and Republic of China (i.e. Taiwan) forget that because Taiwan would like to be called Taiwan only!
Wait, there is MORE confusion
There is thing called as One China Policy – what that means is the Chinese Govt. says that there is only 1 China – no Taiwan, no nothing. And because it is such a massive super power, it expects every other country to acknowledge this 1 China Policy. So much so that when a new world leader gets elected and if the Taiwenese Govt. officials call them to congratulate, the world leader is not allowed to answer this call because answering so will signal that Taiwan exists – when in reality they need to pretend it doesn’t! BIG FACE PALM!
Bottomline:
China, Taiwan relations are definitely very complex and when you refer to a Taiwanese as Chinese, just note you are most likely offending them. So be mindful when you meet an Asian who you think might be from China. Instead of asking “Are you Chinese?” . Always a safe question: “Are you from Mainland or Taiwan?”
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Malaysia’s 1MDB Scandal Explained
Nandoo what is this Chinese Kichhdi, I don’t understand!
SO the thing is the KMT (party that rules Taiwan) used to rule China for more than two decades. But then in 1949, it was overthrown by the Communist Party and so the party leaders from KMT fled to Taiwan and named it “Republic of China” (not to be confused by Mainland China). And so when Taiwan says it is “part of China” it refers to the Republic of China – NOT the Mainland China.
I swear we are not making this confusion up!
If this was not enough, there is another complication
You see, from 1895 to 1945, Taiwan was ruled by Japan which captured it from mainland China. The Japanese ruled Taiwan extremely brutally and when the KMT came to Taiwan, they continued with the brutal rule despite having no connection with Japan. Taiwan has since become a democracy, but resentment of the KMT runs deep among many of those who were living on the island before the KMT took refuge, and the descendants of such people.
Given the Taiwanese have weak to no connections with Mainland China, a lot of Taiwanese are pushing to abandon any and every link to China and the term “China” and declare full independence. So just when you had figured out the difference between People’s Republic of China (i.e. Mainland China) and Republic of China (i.e. Taiwan) forget that because Taiwan would like to be called Taiwan only!
Wait, there is MORE confusion
There is thing called as One China Policy – what that means is the Chinese Govt. says that there is only 1 China – no Taiwan, no nothing. And because it is such a massive super power, it expects every other country to acknowledge this 1 China Policy. So much so that when a new world leader gets elected and if the Taiwenese Govt. officials call them to congratulate, the world leader is not allowed to answer this call because answering so will signal that Taiwan exists – when in reality they need to pretend it doesn’t! BIG FACE PALM!
Bottomline:
China, Taiwan relations are definitely very complex and when you refer to a Taiwanese as Chinese, just note you are most likely offending them. So be mindful when you meet an Asian who you think might be from China. Instead of asking “Are you Chinese?” . Always a safe question: “Are you from Mainland or Taiwan?”
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Malaysia’s 1MDB Scandal Explained
Hint: It’s all to get you!
Umm Nandoo, I don’t like nor get your creepy talk
Okay let’s back up, LinkedIn, is the world’s largest professional networking site. It allows both employees and employers to create profiles and connect with each other & network with the ultimate goal of building professional relationships that can then be leveraged for either securing a future job, business deal or both.
It counts nearly 610 million registered members from across 200+ countries on its platform. It has been so successful in bringing people together in an online professional setting that Microsoft bought it for $26.2 billion – that’s billion with a B (also equal to 26.2 Kylie Jenners – you know cuz she is a BILLIONAIRE and our Nandoo-ers absolutely HATE it when we do Kardashian/ Jenner references and we LOVE to bother them sometimes!)
Okay back to the story – so why is LinkedIn adding emojis in a professional setting?
Well because 10% of its user base is Indian and what they have noticed is that most Indians just create their profiles on LinkedIn and then never come back to read articles or network with others. That’s 61 million profiles that are not doing anything actively on LinkedIn’s platform which LinkedIn is obviously not too happy about.
In comes Facebook – the world’s largest family feud site (you know because when you don’t like the post that your maami puts up, you know your mom is getting a call about the heinous crime you have committed!) Anyway, Facebook, like LinkedIn, also counts 10% of its user base from India but unlike LinkedIn, Facebook has significant level of engagement from its Indian user base.
WHY? EMOJIS – apparently Facebook has found out that by adding like emoji reactions to posts, Indians tend to be more engaged on its platform & create more posts. LinkedIn, in an effort to shore up engagement from Indians, has now decided to add similar emoji reactions for each post. This way if you post an update about your new job or an article you read and get 20-30 clap, hearts or some other random emoji as a reaction, you will be more likely to post additional things in the future.
Bottomline:
Personally, it feels a bit annoying to see companies think of us as children who would be more engaged on their platforms if emojis were added. But like all decisions made by Tech companies, this too is based on data and if in fact the data is right, it is a good signal for us to up our online maturity level and come across as the intelligent beings that we actually are – I mean come on, for god’s sake, the number 0 was discovered by us! Bet Aryabhata didn’t get motivated by a heart emoji to discover 0!
Tomorrow's GYAAN:
Taiwan x China Dhushmani explained
Umm Nandoo, I don’t like nor get your creepy talk
Okay let’s back up, LinkedIn, is the world’s largest professional networking site. It allows both employees and employers to create profiles and connect with each other & network with the ultimate goal of building professional relationships that can then be leveraged for either securing a future job, business deal or both.
It counts nearly 610 million registered members from across 200+ countries on its platform. It has been so successful in bringing people together in an online professional setting that Microsoft bought it for $26.2 billion – that’s billion with a B (also equal to 26.2 Kylie Jenners – you know cuz she is a BILLIONAIRE and our Nandoo-ers absolutely HATE it when we do Kardashian/ Jenner references and we LOVE to bother them sometimes!)
Okay back to the story – so why is LinkedIn adding emojis in a professional setting?
Well because 10% of its user base is Indian and what they have noticed is that most Indians just create their profiles on LinkedIn and then never come back to read articles or network with others. That’s 61 million profiles that are not doing anything actively on LinkedIn’s platform which LinkedIn is obviously not too happy about.
In comes Facebook – the world’s largest family feud site (you know because when you don’t like the post that your maami puts up, you know your mom is getting a call about the heinous crime you have committed!) Anyway, Facebook, like LinkedIn, also counts 10% of its user base from India but unlike LinkedIn, Facebook has significant level of engagement from its Indian user base.
WHY? EMOJIS – apparently Facebook has found out that by adding like emoji reactions to posts, Indians tend to be more engaged on its platform & create more posts. LinkedIn, in an effort to shore up engagement from Indians, has now decided to add similar emoji reactions for each post. This way if you post an update about your new job or an article you read and get 20-30 clap, hearts or some other random emoji as a reaction, you will be more likely to post additional things in the future.
Bottomline:
Personally, it feels a bit annoying to see companies think of us as children who would be more engaged on their platforms if emojis were added. But like all decisions made by Tech companies, this too is based on data and if in fact the data is right, it is a good signal for us to up our online maturity level and come across as the intelligent beings that we actually are – I mean come on, for god’s sake, the number 0 was discovered by us! Bet Aryabhata didn’t get motivated by a heart emoji to discover 0!
Tomorrow's GYAAN:
Taiwan x China Dhushmani explained
Answer: TikTok
Background:
We think that most of our Nandoo-ers already know what TikTok is but those of you haven’t used it/ don’t know it- here is a simple overview: The app, which operates mainly via its homepage, displays an endless flow of 15-second videos. Everyone from users with 5 million followers to those who just joined the app have the opportunity to be seen, liked, and propelled into virality. The discovery of content on the app doesn’t rely on a follower count like other social media services, but rather trending hashtags, inside jokes, and a shared feed that promises everyone an equal chance at fame. And this is the crux of its popularity- anyone can be famous #apnatimeayega
Now here’s the masala of the story:
TikTok, with 1 billion users, while gives the platform for anyone to be famous, those who DO become famous have one thing in common- A specific type of music selection. Songs that lend themselves to physical humor, and have lyrics that can be easily mimicked, are growing in popularity.
Our case study:
A 19 year old Atlanta rapper who goes by the name of Lil Nas X. In Dec 2018, he came out with a song called as “Old Town Road”. It’s a typical country song but was rejected by the Country music association for not being in touch with the roots (you know how people can get passionate and territorial for kishore kumar type songs, imagine same thing but with country music in mix)
Given he is 19 (and so knows how to use social media) he pushed the song out on TikTok and created memes around it. After doing this for a few months, it picked up as a viral hit especially with TikTok users doing a video where they would drink “ ye ye juice “ to make themselves turn into cowboys (you honestly have to watch it to understand- it’s pretty funny and simple at the same time)
Anyway, long story short, as soon as TikTok picked it up, the song went viral and Lil Nas became got featured on Billboard Hot 100 (which is VERYYY difficult to get— imagine your 3 min Youtube video getting you a Filmfare best debut award.... )
What has this resulted to?
Aspiring rappers hoping to make it big have now started making songs that have humor as well as meme-like quality with hopes of getting to Lil Nas levels.
What this means for you?
You might soon get bombarded with a LOT more weird songs but hang in there- when there is social media involved, there is always a shelf life to the trend and this trend might soon pass!
Bottomline:
Given TikTok’s success and vitality factor, singers are now focused on creating songs which can be meme-fied or have some fun element, making the music choices you can listen and enjoy limited!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Why LinkedIn has added emojis to its platform
Background:
We think that most of our Nandoo-ers already know what TikTok is but those of you haven’t used it/ don’t know it- here is a simple overview: The app, which operates mainly via its homepage, displays an endless flow of 15-second videos. Everyone from users with 5 million followers to those who just joined the app have the opportunity to be seen, liked, and propelled into virality. The discovery of content on the app doesn’t rely on a follower count like other social media services, but rather trending hashtags, inside jokes, and a shared feed that promises everyone an equal chance at fame. And this is the crux of its popularity- anyone can be famous #apnatimeayega
Now here’s the masala of the story:
TikTok, with 1 billion users, while gives the platform for anyone to be famous, those who DO become famous have one thing in common- A specific type of music selection. Songs that lend themselves to physical humor, and have lyrics that can be easily mimicked, are growing in popularity.
Our case study:
A 19 year old Atlanta rapper who goes by the name of Lil Nas X. In Dec 2018, he came out with a song called as “Old Town Road”. It’s a typical country song but was rejected by the Country music association for not being in touch with the roots (you know how people can get passionate and territorial for kishore kumar type songs, imagine same thing but with country music in mix)
Given he is 19 (and so knows how to use social media) he pushed the song out on TikTok and created memes around it. After doing this for a few months, it picked up as a viral hit especially with TikTok users doing a video where they would drink “ ye ye juice “ to make themselves turn into cowboys (you honestly have to watch it to understand- it’s pretty funny and simple at the same time)
Anyway, long story short, as soon as TikTok picked it up, the song went viral and Lil Nas became got featured on Billboard Hot 100 (which is VERYYY difficult to get— imagine your 3 min Youtube video getting you a Filmfare best debut award.... )
What has this resulted to?
Aspiring rappers hoping to make it big have now started making songs that have humor as well as meme-like quality with hopes of getting to Lil Nas levels.
What this means for you?
You might soon get bombarded with a LOT more weird songs but hang in there- when there is social media involved, there is always a shelf life to the trend and this trend might soon pass!
Bottomline:
Given TikTok’s success and vitality factor, singers are now focused on creating songs which can be meme-fied or have some fun element, making the music choices you can listen and enjoy limited!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Why LinkedIn has added emojis to its platform
Before we go into the story of how AWS was created and why it will make Amazon a trillion dollar company, let’s get down to the basics
Cloud computing:
The cloud allows companies to drastically cut on capital expenditure because they don’t have to buy their own network equipment, servers, and storage solutions anymore. Using the cloud’s business models you just pay for the resources that you actually use (pay as you go).
In the old world you had to do extensive research into the right equipment that would hopefully meet all of your demands. Then you had to order the hardware, which would take another month, and then someone had to install and configure the equipment. Provisioning a bunch of servers would easily take a few months.
Today, companies can provision a cloud server in just a few minutes and scale the amount of resources up and down as demand fluctuates. This kind of flexibility democratizes access to compute resources and allows anyone with the right idea to build it and scale it millions of users without spending a dime up-front.
In comes AWS
It began way back in the 2000 timeframe when the company wanted to launch an e-commerce service called Merchant.com to help third-party merchants like Target or Marks & Spencer build online shopping sites on top of Amazon’s e-commerce engine. It turned out to be a lot harder than they thought to build an external development platform, because, like many startups, when it launched in 1994, it didn’t really plan well for future requirements. Instead of an organized development environment, they had unknowingly created a jumbled mess. That made it a huge challenge to separate the various services to make a centralized development platform that would be useful for third parties.
So it started cleaning up its own platform and compartmentalize it so that it could then “rent” this platform to other online companies for utilization. And this is how AWS came into play – it now hosts such stellar companies as Netlfix, Airbnb and Nandoo so that they can focus on building amazing experiences for their clients while not worrying about expanding their technology infrastructure to meet client demands. All of this is handled by AWS.
So why is AWS so important for Amazon?
If you think of it, running an ecommerce company has significantly low profit margins. WHY? Because if your prices are high, consumers will go elsewhere. And because Amazon is so hyper focused on making sure customers are always satisfied, its profit on selling products is super low. And this is where AWS comes in. If you think of AWS in the simplest of terms, all Amazon has to do is extend its server space to other companies and charge them rent for doing so. Other companies are in no position to build their own cloud networks because it takes significant investment, time and talent to do so. (Same reason why you buy a car vs. build one on your own). Amazon currently owns 40% of the cloud computing market and its nearest competitor – Microsoft, is at 16%. And given that Cloud hosting has become the standard to building new businesses and scaling existing ones, Amazon is in the perfect place at the perfect time to catapult to a trillion dollar!
Bottomline:
One thing to always know is that creating services for businesses is always a very lucrative strategy. WHY? Because once you get the business client, it is a very sticky business with business clients rarely leaving you for a competitor given the high switching costs (unless ofc you mess up royally). Additionally, given business needs are always evolving, they will almost always rely on you for the growth. Why are we talking about all this? Because that is exactly what AWS’ strategy is – it is being used by 40% of the business across the WORLD and its only going to grow further as these businesses grow.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Why honeybees are being stolen!
Cloud computing:
The cloud allows companies to drastically cut on capital expenditure because they don’t have to buy their own network equipment, servers, and storage solutions anymore. Using the cloud’s business models you just pay for the resources that you actually use (pay as you go).
In the old world you had to do extensive research into the right equipment that would hopefully meet all of your demands. Then you had to order the hardware, which would take another month, and then someone had to install and configure the equipment. Provisioning a bunch of servers would easily take a few months.
Today, companies can provision a cloud server in just a few minutes and scale the amount of resources up and down as demand fluctuates. This kind of flexibility democratizes access to compute resources and allows anyone with the right idea to build it and scale it millions of users without spending a dime up-front.
In comes AWS
It began way back in the 2000 timeframe when the company wanted to launch an e-commerce service called Merchant.com to help third-party merchants like Target or Marks & Spencer build online shopping sites on top of Amazon’s e-commerce engine. It turned out to be a lot harder than they thought to build an external development platform, because, like many startups, when it launched in 1994, it didn’t really plan well for future requirements. Instead of an organized development environment, they had unknowingly created a jumbled mess. That made it a huge challenge to separate the various services to make a centralized development platform that would be useful for third parties.
So it started cleaning up its own platform and compartmentalize it so that it could then “rent” this platform to other online companies for utilization. And this is how AWS came into play – it now hosts such stellar companies as Netlfix, Airbnb and Nandoo so that they can focus on building amazing experiences for their clients while not worrying about expanding their technology infrastructure to meet client demands. All of this is handled by AWS.
So why is AWS so important for Amazon?
If you think of it, running an ecommerce company has significantly low profit margins. WHY? Because if your prices are high, consumers will go elsewhere. And because Amazon is so hyper focused on making sure customers are always satisfied, its profit on selling products is super low. And this is where AWS comes in. If you think of AWS in the simplest of terms, all Amazon has to do is extend its server space to other companies and charge them rent for doing so. Other companies are in no position to build their own cloud networks because it takes significant investment, time and talent to do so. (Same reason why you buy a car vs. build one on your own). Amazon currently owns 40% of the cloud computing market and its nearest competitor – Microsoft, is at 16%. And given that Cloud hosting has become the standard to building new businesses and scaling existing ones, Amazon is in the perfect place at the perfect time to catapult to a trillion dollar!
Bottomline:
One thing to always know is that creating services for businesses is always a very lucrative strategy. WHY? Because once you get the business client, it is a very sticky business with business clients rarely leaving you for a competitor given the high switching costs (unless ofc you mess up royally). Additionally, given business needs are always evolving, they will almost always rely on you for the growth. Why are we talking about all this? Because that is exactly what AWS’ strategy is – it is being used by 40% of the business across the WORLD and its only going to grow further as these businesses grow.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Why honeybees are being stolen!
Story:
There is a lot of hype around VCs and fundraising and unicorns so we thought why not go deep into how these VCs actually make and get all that money for finding the next unicorn!
Here's the thing:
Venture capital firms aren’t themselves flush with permanent cash. They leverage their General Partners’ connections, experience, and track record to raise millions of dollars every two or three years in a “fund” from what are called limited partners — institutions or individuals that are supposed to have “limited” operational influence in the firm, beyond bankrolling it. (It is general partners — or the VCs — that actually run the fund.) Think of the General Partners as managers of the Fund and Limited Partners as Money Men/Women of the Fund
The VCs then go out and invest in either a particular strategy (e.g. seed, early stage, late stage) or in a particular type of company. While the limited partners occasionally do directly invest in startups, these institutions rarely have relationships with entrepreneurs and so they generally need VCs to do the deals for them.
The Fund itself makes money…
By investing early in a startup company’s life, when success is not at all assured. In exchange for investing capital to help the company grow, the fund receives an ownership interest in the company. Because in the early days a company will not be worth very much, the fund’s ownership interest will be worth exactly what it paid. But as the company grows and becomes more valuable, the value of the fund’s corresponding percentage grows as well.
Ultimately, the company will be either sold to a larger company (at a higher price) or begins to sell shares through the public stock market (going public with an IPO). In either case, the venture capital fund sells the shares that it owns, for more money than it originally paid for them.
The General Partners of the Fund make money…
When the fund itself makes money from a successful exit (as above), the first thing that happens is that the original investments are returned to the Limited Partners, and then after that, 80% of profits are paid to the Limited Partners, but 20% of the profits are retained by the General Partners and this is how they make their money.
In addition, every year, the General Partners of the fund, are entitled to pay themselves 2–3% of the total amount of the fund to pay their expenses and salaries. (In many, if not most, cases, this management fee can significantly exceed the “earned” amount from the “carried interest”)
Bottomline:
If you are an entrepreneur and/or have one in your family is who is struggling to raise funding just remember – VCs have to do the same exact fundraising exercise to raise money and face similar NOs that an entrepreneur faces!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
How Amazon’s Cloud Computing Service – AWS actually works and why it is going to make AMZN a Trillion Dollar Company super soon!
There is a lot of hype around VCs and fundraising and unicorns so we thought why not go deep into how these VCs actually make and get all that money for finding the next unicorn!
Here's the thing:
Venture capital firms aren’t themselves flush with permanent cash. They leverage their General Partners’ connections, experience, and track record to raise millions of dollars every two or three years in a “fund” from what are called limited partners — institutions or individuals that are supposed to have “limited” operational influence in the firm, beyond bankrolling it. (It is general partners — or the VCs — that actually run the fund.) Think of the General Partners as managers of the Fund and Limited Partners as Money Men/Women of the Fund
The VCs then go out and invest in either a particular strategy (e.g. seed, early stage, late stage) or in a particular type of company. While the limited partners occasionally do directly invest in startups, these institutions rarely have relationships with entrepreneurs and so they generally need VCs to do the deals for them.
The Fund itself makes money…
By investing early in a startup company’s life, when success is not at all assured. In exchange for investing capital to help the company grow, the fund receives an ownership interest in the company. Because in the early days a company will not be worth very much, the fund’s ownership interest will be worth exactly what it paid. But as the company grows and becomes more valuable, the value of the fund’s corresponding percentage grows as well.
Ultimately, the company will be either sold to a larger company (at a higher price) or begins to sell shares through the public stock market (going public with an IPO). In either case, the venture capital fund sells the shares that it owns, for more money than it originally paid for them.
The General Partners of the Fund make money…
When the fund itself makes money from a successful exit (as above), the first thing that happens is that the original investments are returned to the Limited Partners, and then after that, 80% of profits are paid to the Limited Partners, but 20% of the profits are retained by the General Partners and this is how they make their money.
In addition, every year, the General Partners of the fund, are entitled to pay themselves 2–3% of the total amount of the fund to pay their expenses and salaries. (In many, if not most, cases, this management fee can significantly exceed the “earned” amount from the “carried interest”)
Bottomline:
If you are an entrepreneur and/or have one in your family is who is struggling to raise funding just remember – VCs have to do the same exact fundraising exercise to raise money and face similar NOs that an entrepreneur faces!
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
How Amazon’s Cloud Computing Service – AWS actually works and why it is going to make AMZN a Trillion Dollar Company super soon!
Story:
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is preparing to roll out a landmark set of regulations that will cost carriers at least $15B per year. IMO Sulfur 2020 (IMO 2020) will limit the sulfur content of ships’ oil and have far-reaching consequences throughout the environment and the global economy. This is a positive step towards decreasing global warming and the regulations will go in effect starting Jan 1st 2020
Huh?! Maritime, Sulfur.. what?
Let’s back track – You know how we fill petrol/ diesel in our cars and scooters to go from point A to point B? The same way, container ships that transport goods and services across the world need to fill up with oil to be able to operate. Currently, they use high-sulfur content oil (~3,500x more sulfur than typical car diesel) producing so much sulfur oxide that causes asthmas, lung diseases and if left unchecked, will lead to 570,000 premature deaths by 2020!
So the IMO is like enough is enough, we are going low sulfur – enter IMO Sulfur 2020 which mandates that all these container ships use Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) that contains almost no sulfur. LNG is literally regular oil that has been cooled at super low temperatures to break down sulfur concentration.
Nandoo, I feel you are full of misleading titles – what does this have to do with hoarding oil?!
Oh right – getting back to hoarding of oil, the thing is, when oil is involved, people get super creative when it comes to making money. So here’s what’s happening – since the IMO Sulfur 2020 policy is scheduled to go in effect in January 2020, a LOT of traders have started buying LNG in bulk, in advance, and started storing it by the Strait of Malacca – a small piece of land between Singapore & Malaysia. WHY? So they can sell this LNG at super high prices when the policy goes in place in Jan and demand for it will rise sharply.
Why is storage taking place at Strait of Malacca?
Believe it or not, it is the perfect in-between spot that connects West, Middle East and Asia creating an optimal waterway route to go in either direction. And since there is already so much traffic that is passing through this Strait, the traders are like “meh, why not just store the oil there. As it is, they will be passing through it.”
Bottomline:
IMO Sulfur 2020 is a significant policy that will make a huge, positive impact in curbing the proliferation of global warming especially since maritime (container ship) fueling accounts for almost 5% of global oil demand. It is also likely that this policy will pass through without a lot of hiccups because it is backed by a super power which goes by the name of USA – which just happens to be the world’s largest producer of LNG.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
We will trace where all these VCs are getting their monies to invest in startups.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is preparing to roll out a landmark set of regulations that will cost carriers at least $15B per year. IMO Sulfur 2020 (IMO 2020) will limit the sulfur content of ships’ oil and have far-reaching consequences throughout the environment and the global economy. This is a positive step towards decreasing global warming and the regulations will go in effect starting Jan 1st 2020
Huh?! Maritime, Sulfur.. what?
Let’s back track – You know how we fill petrol/ diesel in our cars and scooters to go from point A to point B? The same way, container ships that transport goods and services across the world need to fill up with oil to be able to operate. Currently, they use high-sulfur content oil (~3,500x more sulfur than typical car diesel) producing so much sulfur oxide that causes asthmas, lung diseases and if left unchecked, will lead to 570,000 premature deaths by 2020!
So the IMO is like enough is enough, we are going low sulfur – enter IMO Sulfur 2020 which mandates that all these container ships use Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) that contains almost no sulfur. LNG is literally regular oil that has been cooled at super low temperatures to break down sulfur concentration.
Nandoo, I feel you are full of misleading titles – what does this have to do with hoarding oil?!
Oh right – getting back to hoarding of oil, the thing is, when oil is involved, people get super creative when it comes to making money. So here’s what’s happening – since the IMO Sulfur 2020 policy is scheduled to go in effect in January 2020, a LOT of traders have started buying LNG in bulk, in advance, and started storing it by the Strait of Malacca – a small piece of land between Singapore & Malaysia. WHY? So they can sell this LNG at super high prices when the policy goes in place in Jan and demand for it will rise sharply.
Why is storage taking place at Strait of Malacca?
Believe it or not, it is the perfect in-between spot that connects West, Middle East and Asia creating an optimal waterway route to go in either direction. And since there is already so much traffic that is passing through this Strait, the traders are like “meh, why not just store the oil there. As it is, they will be passing through it.”
Bottomline:
IMO Sulfur 2020 is a significant policy that will make a huge, positive impact in curbing the proliferation of global warming especially since maritime (container ship) fueling accounts for almost 5% of global oil demand. It is also likely that this policy will pass through without a lot of hiccups because it is backed by a super power which goes by the name of USA – which just happens to be the world’s largest producer of LNG.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
We will trace where all these VCs are getting their monies to invest in startups.
Story:
Remember, for yesterday’s GYAAN, we mentioned that today we would cover some of the shady ways international companies are circumventing India’s trade policies? Well, hold on to your mirchi!
Nandoo, Kalee mirch empire?! Tell me more ya!
So brief backstory: We all know that Indians LOVEEE Kalee Mirch also called Peppercorn (if you didn’t know, then you have DEF never eated Indian food and so should probably move to Mars because last we checked there were no Indian dhabbas there!) Indians love peppercorn so much so, that almost all the peppercorns that we grow in the country are used up by us to make masala daar dishes. It has reached a point where the demand for peppercorns has now surpassed it’s supply.
Part two of the backstory: India is an agrarian economy – i.e. 68% of Indians rely either directly or indirectly on agriculture for their income and so the Government has instituted price fixes on certain crops that bring in a lot of cash money for farmers. Given it’s demand, peppercorn is one such crop where the Govt. mandates it be sold at a certain price to help the farmers earn a livelihood.
Where there is cash money involved, there is always a catch.
You guessed it right – here is the catch – to make sure that only Indian farmers benefit from these price fixes, the Government implements tariffs on imports from other countries.
And here comes the catch
Because Vietnam is the largest producer of peppercorns and it is super cheap for them to make it, they have started shipping their peppercorns to Sri Lanka where it is certified as “Product of Sri Lanka” and then shipped to India. This way, they end up selling Peppercorns in India at super high prices (which have been decided by the Indian Govt) and don’t have to pay high import taxes (thanks to Sri Lanka’s tarrifs). Ka-ching Ka- ching
This is horrible. Why doesn’t the Govt. do something?
See the thing is, for Sri Lanka, India is the biggest exporter of most machinery, building & construction products and weapons. What this means is that, we make a LOT of money from Sri Lanka when we sell them machinery type equipment. Which means we don’t want to rock the boat and call them out on smuggling in peppercorns because in the grand scheme of things it is only a small amount when compared to the money we make by selling them our stuff.
Bottomline:
Things will always get super creative when different tax rates or prices for different types of groups are involved. Most of the times, the main party (India in this case) is aware of these creative loopholes but chooses to not act on it due to a different bigger picture. Our goal should be to understand what the bigger picture is.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Why a fleet of tankers is hoarding up oil in massive amounts
Remember, for yesterday’s GYAAN, we mentioned that today we would cover some of the shady ways international companies are circumventing India’s trade policies? Well, hold on to your mirchi!
Nandoo, Kalee mirch empire?! Tell me more ya!
So brief backstory: We all know that Indians LOVEEE Kalee Mirch also called Peppercorn (if you didn’t know, then you have DEF never eated Indian food and so should probably move to Mars because last we checked there were no Indian dhabbas there!) Indians love peppercorn so much so, that almost all the peppercorns that we grow in the country are used up by us to make masala daar dishes. It has reached a point where the demand for peppercorns has now surpassed it’s supply.
Part two of the backstory: India is an agrarian economy – i.e. 68% of Indians rely either directly or indirectly on agriculture for their income and so the Government has instituted price fixes on certain crops that bring in a lot of cash money for farmers. Given it’s demand, peppercorn is one such crop where the Govt. mandates it be sold at a certain price to help the farmers earn a livelihood.
Where there is cash money involved, there is always a catch.
You guessed it right – here is the catch – to make sure that only Indian farmers benefit from these price fixes, the Government implements tariffs on imports from other countries.
- South American countries (like Brazil) have to pay import taxes of 70%
- ASEAN countries (like Cambodia and Vietnam) have to pay import taxes of 52%
- But Sri Lanka gets a pass and has to pay an import tax of ONLY 8%
And here comes the catch
Because Vietnam is the largest producer of peppercorns and it is super cheap for them to make it, they have started shipping their peppercorns to Sri Lanka where it is certified as “Product of Sri Lanka” and then shipped to India. This way, they end up selling Peppercorns in India at super high prices (which have been decided by the Indian Govt) and don’t have to pay high import taxes (thanks to Sri Lanka’s tarrifs). Ka-ching Ka- ching
This is horrible. Why doesn’t the Govt. do something?
See the thing is, for Sri Lanka, India is the biggest exporter of most machinery, building & construction products and weapons. What this means is that, we make a LOT of money from Sri Lanka when we sell them machinery type equipment. Which means we don’t want to rock the boat and call them out on smuggling in peppercorns because in the grand scheme of things it is only a small amount when compared to the money we make by selling them our stuff.
Bottomline:
Things will always get super creative when different tax rates or prices for different types of groups are involved. Most of the times, the main party (India in this case) is aware of these creative loopholes but chooses to not act on it due to a different bigger picture. Our goal should be to understand what the bigger picture is.
Tomorrow’s Gyaan:
Why a fleet of tankers is hoarding up oil in massive amounts
The Story
Here’s the thing – there are two main players fighting for your wallet – Flipkart and Amazon. Yes, yes there are a ton of other players (e.g. AJIO, PayTm Mall, Myntra, etc. ) but none of them compare to the bandwidth at which both these companies are operating. Both of them want you to buy everything from their respective platforms. And this competition has gotten so crazy (not crazier than choosing which SOTY is the worse!) that the Government has decided to step in and sort of control it.
Enter – India’s eCommerce Policy.
This policy is super vast and for those Nandoo-ers interested in learning more, attached is the link to the 42 page, jargon filled version. It covers everything from Data protection to online infrastructure development but in this GYAAN we will cover only 1 thing: Marketplaces i.e. Online Baazaars (not to be confused with the Saif x Radhika Apte movie #KhemChoMajama)
What’s in a name? A lot apparently.
The main argument of the policy is that the current “marketplaces” in India are not technically marketplaces. To be a marketplace, an ecommerce platform has to provide a technological platform for the buying and selling of goods, and acts as a “facilitator” between a vendor and consumer – i.e. they should be focused on bringing together buyer and seller and not do anything else other than provide a platform
Issue is, existing “marketplaces” act in an inventory model – wherein they buy 80% of the products from their own companies and sell it to consumers. This impacts all those small sellers who are trying to sell similar products as Amazon & Flipkart owned companies. This is where the problem lies and one of the genesis of the eCommerce policy.
Meat (or Potatoes if you are shudh vegetarian) of the policy is around 5 main things.
What does this mean for you?
Bottomline:
Net-net, it is positive for consumers but more importantly very positive for the small shops that want to sell items on Amazon, Flipkart, etc. but were getting pushed out because they were not owned by these "marketplaces". The Indian e-commerce market is expected to hit $200 billion by 2026 (that’s 200 Kylie Jenners!) and India wants to make sure that it is a level-playing field for every player who wants to capture this market.
Tomorrow’s GYAAN:
We will uncover how international companies have taken sorta shady ways to get into India and circumvent the rules of FDI.
Here’s the thing – there are two main players fighting for your wallet – Flipkart and Amazon. Yes, yes there are a ton of other players (e.g. AJIO, PayTm Mall, Myntra, etc. ) but none of them compare to the bandwidth at which both these companies are operating. Both of them want you to buy everything from their respective platforms. And this competition has gotten so crazy (not crazier than choosing which SOTY is the worse!) that the Government has decided to step in and sort of control it.
Enter – India’s eCommerce Policy.
This policy is super vast and for those Nandoo-ers interested in learning more, attached is the link to the 42 page, jargon filled version. It covers everything from Data protection to online infrastructure development but in this GYAAN we will cover only 1 thing: Marketplaces i.e. Online Baazaars (not to be confused with the Saif x Radhika Apte movie #KhemChoMajama)
What’s in a name? A lot apparently.
The main argument of the policy is that the current “marketplaces” in India are not technically marketplaces. To be a marketplace, an ecommerce platform has to provide a technological platform for the buying and selling of goods, and acts as a “facilitator” between a vendor and consumer – i.e. they should be focused on bringing together buyer and seller and not do anything else other than provide a platform
Issue is, existing “marketplaces” act in an inventory model – wherein they buy 80% of the products from their own companies and sell it to consumers. This impacts all those small sellers who are trying to sell similar products as Amazon & Flipkart owned companies. This is where the problem lies and one of the genesis of the eCommerce policy.
Meat (or Potatoes if you are shudh vegetarian) of the policy is around 5 main things.
- Marketplaces cannot buy more than 25% from a single vendor
- Marketplaces will not mandate any seller to sell any product exclusively on its platform only
- Marketplaces will not directly or indirectly give discounts on products
- Marketplaces will have to submit a compliance report to the Reserve Bank of India every year.
What does this mean for you?
- YASS - MORE variety for you when it comes to products
- YASS - MORE variety for you when it comes to products because now stuff you buy only on Amazon will be available on Flipkart and vice versa
- NAAAHIIIIII – No more mega, bumper discounts especially for smart phones
- BLEH – Doesn’t matter to you because you won’t have to do all that paperwork!
Bottomline:
Net-net, it is positive for consumers but more importantly very positive for the small shops that want to sell items on Amazon, Flipkart, etc. but were getting pushed out because they were not owned by these "marketplaces". The Indian e-commerce market is expected to hit $200 billion by 2026 (that’s 200 Kylie Jenners!) and India wants to make sure that it is a level-playing field for every player who wants to capture this market.
Tomorrow’s GYAAN:
We will uncover how international companies have taken sorta shady ways to get into India and circumvent the rules of FDI.
The Story
Yup! You read that right – Pepsi is suing Indian farmers – potato farmers to be exact
Ummm.. but that makes no sense – is it some anti-carbs campaign?!
No no – nothing against carbs! PepsiCo is suing four farmers in India for copyright infringement, claiming they were growing a variety of potatoes trademarked by the company for exclusive use in its Lays potato chips
So essentially, what happened was, Pepsi had commissioned select farmers to farm and grow specific potatoes that can then be used for Lays (yup Pepsi owns Lays). Some other farmers got extra enthusiastic and decided to start growing the same variety of potatoes which made Pepsi pissed off and thus, the lawsuit.
Rough. What happens next?
The lawsuits were filed earlier this month by the company's Indian subsidiary, and will be heard by a district court in the western Indian state of Gujarat on Friday.
Farmer unions and activists are fighting back against the food and beverage maker, marking the latest battle in India between local businesses and big global players. Small Indian retailers have been protesting against companies like Walmart and Amazon— claiming the American retailers are unfairly destroying their business — and even succeeded in getting the government to put in some restrictions.
PepsiCo is apparently India's largest potato buyer and amongst the first companies to work with thousands of local farmers to grow a specific protected variety of potatoes for it. In this instance, we took judicial recourse against people who were illegally dealing in our registered variety.
Farmers' associations and activists in India called on the Indian government to step in and take action against PepsiCo. In a letter to the government published earlier this week, they said the farmers' rights to grow and sell trademarked crops are protected under India's agricultural laws. The letter also claims PepsiCo sent private detectives to the accused farmers posing as potential buyers, secretly recording video of them and taking samples of the potatoes.
PepsiCo did not comment on those allegations.
Woah. Did they use FB Live or IG Stories…
Unclear for now but we are on it LOL! But this spying stuff has resulted in a case leading to Pepsi working against food sovereignty and the sovereignty of the nation! We will uncover as this case progresses.
Yup! You read that right – Pepsi is suing Indian farmers – potato farmers to be exact
Ummm.. but that makes no sense – is it some anti-carbs campaign?!
No no – nothing against carbs! PepsiCo is suing four farmers in India for copyright infringement, claiming they were growing a variety of potatoes trademarked by the company for exclusive use in its Lays potato chips
So essentially, what happened was, Pepsi had commissioned select farmers to farm and grow specific potatoes that can then be used for Lays (yup Pepsi owns Lays). Some other farmers got extra enthusiastic and decided to start growing the same variety of potatoes which made Pepsi pissed off and thus, the lawsuit.
Rough. What happens next?
The lawsuits were filed earlier this month by the company's Indian subsidiary, and will be heard by a district court in the western Indian state of Gujarat on Friday.
Farmer unions and activists are fighting back against the food and beverage maker, marking the latest battle in India between local businesses and big global players. Small Indian retailers have been protesting against companies like Walmart and Amazon— claiming the American retailers are unfairly destroying their business — and even succeeded in getting the government to put in some restrictions.
PepsiCo is apparently India's largest potato buyer and amongst the first companies to work with thousands of local farmers to grow a specific protected variety of potatoes for it. In this instance, we took judicial recourse against people who were illegally dealing in our registered variety.
Farmers' associations and activists in India called on the Indian government to step in and take action against PepsiCo. In a letter to the government published earlier this week, they said the farmers' rights to grow and sell trademarked crops are protected under India's agricultural laws. The letter also claims PepsiCo sent private detectives to the accused farmers posing as potential buyers, secretly recording video of them and taking samples of the potatoes.
PepsiCo did not comment on those allegations.
Woah. Did they use FB Live or IG Stories…
Unclear for now but we are on it LOL! But this spying stuff has resulted in a case leading to Pepsi working against food sovereignty and the sovereignty of the nation! We will uncover as this case progresses.
So let’s get one thing straight – Australia does not have any anit-cat agenda! The real problem is that these cats — which were introduced by the first European settlers — have become a huge threat to native wildlife. They're blamed for the extinction of several species unique to the country. Like many invasive species, they're a little too good at killing the locals — and as they thrive and breed, the problem is only getting worse.
And to no surprise, many people are upset about this
Thing is because we domesticate cats, branding them as dangerous pests can be a tough pill to swallow. Even in Australia, pet cats are A-OK — as long as they're neutered, microchipped, and not allowed to roam around hunting.
Thing is Australia is home to around 50,000 species that are no where found in the world. They have lost nearly 29 unique Australian mammals over the last 200 years – which sounds low but in reality represents 35% of the world’s mammal extinction!
And much of this, has been blamed on the fast proliferation and adept hunting skills of the feral cat population. Feral cats have been fingered as direct threats to at least 124 of the country's already threatened species.
This situation is so bad that scientists estimate that Australia is home to about 20 million feral cats, and that they kill an average of five animals — bugs, lizards, small mammals and birds, and so on — each night.The killing of 2 million will focus on cats living in remote desert areas, where wildlife is most threatened.
Bottomline:
Of all the articles written for Nandoo, this has been by far the most controversial one. WHY? because essentially there is a government out there which is figuring out the justification of killing of one species for the living of another. And it’s not that we are cat people– look at our mascot, we are a DOG family but still the whole notion of making the decision on who lives and who doesn’t is something that is pretty eerie. Imagine if that same principle was applied to human life, how would it feel then?
And to no surprise, many people are upset about this
Thing is because we domesticate cats, branding them as dangerous pests can be a tough pill to swallow. Even in Australia, pet cats are A-OK — as long as they're neutered, microchipped, and not allowed to roam around hunting.
Thing is Australia is home to around 50,000 species that are no where found in the world. They have lost nearly 29 unique Australian mammals over the last 200 years – which sounds low but in reality represents 35% of the world’s mammal extinction!
And much of this, has been blamed on the fast proliferation and adept hunting skills of the feral cat population. Feral cats have been fingered as direct threats to at least 124 of the country's already threatened species.
This situation is so bad that scientists estimate that Australia is home to about 20 million feral cats, and that they kill an average of five animals — bugs, lizards, small mammals and birds, and so on — each night.The killing of 2 million will focus on cats living in remote desert areas, where wildlife is most threatened.
Bottomline:
Of all the articles written for Nandoo, this has been by far the most controversial one. WHY? because essentially there is a government out there which is figuring out the justification of killing of one species for the living of another. And it’s not that we are cat people– look at our mascot, we are a DOG family but still the whole notion of making the decision on who lives and who doesn’t is something that is pretty eerie. Imagine if that same principle was applied to human life, how would it feel then?
Ummmm, Nandoo I don't get it.
The world's fourth-largest country headed to the polls last week – and the race for president is a rematch between the candidates who faced off in 2014.
Oh acchaa. Who are they?
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and ex-military commander Prabowo Subianto. Widodo's a former furniture salesman and political outsider who grew up in the slums. He was first elected in 2014 on a promise of hope and change, reminding people of former President Obama.
Did he live up to that?
Depends who you ask. He's expanded health care for the poor and built up infrastructure. But he's been criticized for not cracking down hard enough on corruption. And many are frustrated over the economy as well as ongoing human rights abuses there against LGBT people.
Got it. Tell me about the other guy.
Subianto's former father-in-law was a dictator who was ousted in 1998. And despite his elite background, he's now pitching himself as a populist, religious conservative – reminding people of President Trump. Subianto's campaign focused on fixing the economy and appealing to nationalist sentiment. He was once kicked out of the military over human rights abuses. And some are concerned about his ties to Islamist groups as well as his potential for rolling back democratic reforms.
Who's gonna win?
Early results show that Widodo has the lead, but it's unclear if it'll wind up being a close race in the end. Subianto lost by only six points in 2014. Official results aren't expected until May.
Bottomline:
Authoritarian rule is on the rise in Southeast Asia (see: Vietnam, Cambodia). But Indonesia is holding strong as the third-largest democracy in the world. And this election is no small task. There are 193 million eligible voters on more than 17,000 islands that make up the country – and it's the first time presidential and parliamentary elections are happening there simultaneously.
The world's fourth-largest country headed to the polls last week – and the race for president is a rematch between the candidates who faced off in 2014.
Oh acchaa. Who are they?
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and ex-military commander Prabowo Subianto. Widodo's a former furniture salesman and political outsider who grew up in the slums. He was first elected in 2014 on a promise of hope and change, reminding people of former President Obama.
Did he live up to that?
Depends who you ask. He's expanded health care for the poor and built up infrastructure. But he's been criticized for not cracking down hard enough on corruption. And many are frustrated over the economy as well as ongoing human rights abuses there against LGBT people.
Got it. Tell me about the other guy.
Subianto's former father-in-law was a dictator who was ousted in 1998. And despite his elite background, he's now pitching himself as a populist, religious conservative – reminding people of President Trump. Subianto's campaign focused on fixing the economy and appealing to nationalist sentiment. He was once kicked out of the military over human rights abuses. And some are concerned about his ties to Islamist groups as well as his potential for rolling back democratic reforms.
Who's gonna win?
Early results show that Widodo has the lead, but it's unclear if it'll wind up being a close race in the end. Subianto lost by only six points in 2014. Official results aren't expected until May.
Bottomline:
Authoritarian rule is on the rise in Southeast Asia (see: Vietnam, Cambodia). But Indonesia is holding strong as the third-largest democracy in the world. And this election is no small task. There are 193 million eligible voters on more than 17,000 islands that make up the country – and it's the first time presidential and parliamentary elections are happening there simultaneously.
The Story:
India and Iran have successfully finalized a deal which will allow India to lease Iran’s Chabahar port to send goods to land-locked Afghanistan and Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, etc.) by by-passing Pakistan
Tell me more:
Till now, the only way India could conduct trade with Afghanistan & Central Asia was by passing through Pakistan. Given our history, Pakistan hasn’t been a friendly partner which created India & Iran to start a partnership and keep Pakistan out of it. Also, the fact that Iran has a lot of oil to give us is an added bonus!
Wait, Why is this important?
Other than the oil, India is soon becoming a super power and to be a successful super-power you need a lot of lesser fortunate countries to support you. This happens by undertaking trade with them. China has been muscling its power by building partnerships with multiple Central Asia countries via Pakistan. Not to be left behind, India is undertaking similar strategy but by going through Iran.
Doesn’t the US not like Iran?
Yes, and so does Israel, & Saudi Arabia – the other super powers that have great relations with us.
Guess when you are the most popular person in the school, you can get away with anything!
PS:
Our servers were being a pain in the a$$ which caused this Gyaan to get delayed. Thinking next time, we will just do a feature on the servers and how Amazon has become the world's BIGGEST tech supporting all other startups. What do you think?
India and Iran have successfully finalized a deal which will allow India to lease Iran’s Chabahar port to send goods to land-locked Afghanistan and Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, etc.) by by-passing Pakistan
Tell me more:
Till now, the only way India could conduct trade with Afghanistan & Central Asia was by passing through Pakistan. Given our history, Pakistan hasn’t been a friendly partner which created India & Iran to start a partnership and keep Pakistan out of it. Also, the fact that Iran has a lot of oil to give us is an added bonus!
Wait, Why is this important?
Other than the oil, India is soon becoming a super power and to be a successful super-power you need a lot of lesser fortunate countries to support you. This happens by undertaking trade with them. China has been muscling its power by building partnerships with multiple Central Asia countries via Pakistan. Not to be left behind, India is undertaking similar strategy but by going through Iran.
Doesn’t the US not like Iran?
Yes, and so does Israel, & Saudi Arabia – the other super powers that have great relations with us.
- US is with Iran cuz it will not give its oil to them
- Israel is with Iran cuz it supports Palestine – Israel’s arch enemy
- Saudi Arabia is with Iran because Saudi Arabia is a Sunni Muslim country vs. Iran is a Shia Muslim country (Sunnis & Shias do not get along at all)
- US wants to sell its Tech to us given our rise in digital usage
- Israel wants to sell its weapons to us given our rising conflicts with Pakistan & China
- Saudi Arabia wants to sell its oil to us given our vast expansion in industrialization
Guess when you are the most popular person in the school, you can get away with anything!
PS:
Our servers were being a pain in the a$$ which caused this Gyaan to get delayed. Thinking next time, we will just do a feature on the servers and how Amazon has become the world's BIGGEST tech supporting all other startups. What do you think?
We heard you all loud & clear and LOVED the enthusiasm for this article, so here goes! Today we will look at how IndiGo has managed to sustain profits (most of the times) compared to all other airlines.
Background: If you remember yesterday’s GYAAN, we mentioned there were 4 main things that made running an airline a veryyyyyy sh*tty business (once again, that’s Sh*tty and not Shetty!) To recap:
1.) Dealing with other monopolies: Airbus & Boeing are literally the ONLY two companies that create planes. So, they can charge ANY amount they want. To give you an example a Boeing 777 costs ~$320 million!
2.) High Fixed Costs: Other than the costs associated with buying a plane, there are high fixed costs associated with STAFF and FUEL. This is how IndiGo tackles it:
3.) Govt. Intervention: because it relies so heavily on data, it is in a very unique position to map every singly passenger journey. It then shares part of this data with the control room of various airports to help them improve their infrastructure thus, making them sort of a favorite with the agencies that run those airports. This way, if an airport has to decide who to send first for takeoff, chances are, they will most likely pick IndiGo over others. This also goes back and helps IndiGo keep its fuel costs low because now the planes are not wasting time on the runway & burning precious fuel.
4.) Competition: All these savings are then passed to customers thus making IndiGo the lowest airline carrier in India! And given how price is the ONLY differentiating factor for a passenger to choose an airline, IndiGo ends up becoming a fan favorite.
And here we are, by implementing the above & quite a few other tactics (e.g. not serving food on planes, making sure the airline crew flying always ends up back home thus saving their hotel & lodging costs, etc.) IndiGo went from being a no-name brand to India’s largest airline carrier by passengers! Also to note, while it has made significant profits over the years, it has been experiencing a bout of losses over the past 2 years – they are definitely not as bad as what Jet & Kingfisher faced, but this goes on to show, once again – airlines is a SHITTY business!
Background: If you remember yesterday’s GYAAN, we mentioned there were 4 main things that made running an airline a veryyyyyy sh*tty business (once again, that’s Sh*tty and not Shetty!) To recap:
1.) Dealing with other monopolies: Airbus & Boeing are literally the ONLY two companies that create planes. So, they can charge ANY amount they want. To give you an example a Boeing 777 costs ~$320 million!
- IndiGo’s response: Sale and Leaseback. What does this mean? Well essentially, IndiGo buys up airplanes in bulk (Airbus A320 in their case), sells it to holding firms and then leases the same plane by paying rent on them. Why does it do this? Well it costs a lot of money upfront to buy the planes. However, once you buy it in bulk, you get it at a discounted price. By selling it to a holding firm (whose sole purpose is to find diverse investment opportunities to make more money), IndiGo can recoup its purchase cost and only has to pay monthly rent for the planes used. IndiGo does this only for 6 years and then restarts the cycle of buying, selling & leasing. This way, it doesn’t suffer a major cash outflow when it purchases the plane AND can keep its fleet fresh (with low depreciation) by changing it every 6 years
- Fun fact: You must be thinking, why don’t the holding firms just buy the planes from Airbus or Boeing in the first place – well because they are not in the aviation business, they do not know which airline is going to open which new route and so do not want to end up in a situation where they have too many planes for too little lease demand. By participating in a sale & leaseback program, they get guaranteed payouts for their “loan” for 6 years
2.) High Fixed Costs: Other than the costs associated with buying a plane, there are high fixed costs associated with STAFF and FUEL. This is how IndiGo tackles it:
- Staff: IndiGo buys only ONE type of airplane – WHY? Because this way, it has to train all their staff only once and don’t have to spend time (which equates to money) in retraining them for different models of planes. This way, an airline crew flying from Ahmedabad to Delhi, can be easily placed on a flight from Mumbai to Sri Lanka without needing any additional training thus, saving time which means saving money!
- Fuel: like all other airlines, it uses hedging to lock in the rates of future fuel prices. However, what IndiGo does differently is that it monitors every single movement of their flights – from what time they leave to what time they land to the time it takes for passengers to line up, enter the plane, belt up and take off. Every single movement is so precisely timed, that they then use that data to further fine tune their flights’ arrivals & departures to make sure that planes are mostly up in the air and avoid burning fuel while chilling at the runway caused by delays
3.) Govt. Intervention: because it relies so heavily on data, it is in a very unique position to map every singly passenger journey. It then shares part of this data with the control room of various airports to help them improve their infrastructure thus, making them sort of a favorite with the agencies that run those airports. This way, if an airport has to decide who to send first for takeoff, chances are, they will most likely pick IndiGo over others. This also goes back and helps IndiGo keep its fuel costs low because now the planes are not wasting time on the runway & burning precious fuel.
4.) Competition: All these savings are then passed to customers thus making IndiGo the lowest airline carrier in India! And given how price is the ONLY differentiating factor for a passenger to choose an airline, IndiGo ends up becoming a fan favorite.
And here we are, by implementing the above & quite a few other tactics (e.g. not serving food on planes, making sure the airline crew flying always ends up back home thus saving their hotel & lodging costs, etc.) IndiGo went from being a no-name brand to India’s largest airline carrier by passengers! Also to note, while it has made significant profits over the years, it has been experiencing a bout of losses over the past 2 years – they are definitely not as bad as what Jet & Kingfisher faced, but this goes on to show, once again – airlines is a SHITTY business!
Remember day before yesterday when we covered the Ruia-Mittal-Ruia Steel Triangle, not sure if you remember but we had predicted that this Essar deal was a small drop in the bucket and many more bankruptcies were going to come out due to the bad loans provided by Indian banks at the tune of Rs. 8,00,000 crores
Yes Nandoo, you are mahan! Now can you tell me why are you bragging about yourself?!
Well, that is one of the main reasons Jet Airways has stopped operating – it cannot repay it’s $1.2 billion loan (with a B and also equal to 1.2 Kylie Jenners!) and banks do not want to entertain any more cash infusion to keep it afloat
But here is something that a lot of folks are missing – Running an airline is a sh*tty business (that’s Sh*tty not Shetty) with no hopes of ever making money. Here’s why:
So why do people want to create airlines in the first place?
Honestly, we can’t think of one reason other than the fact its more to show prestige & success. If you think about it, on average it takes roughly $320M to start an airline (that’s the price of 1 Boeing 777) so unless your are a Govt (building an airline to serve your people) or a rich family (think Richard Branson, Vijay Mallya (when he was rich) or Wadias who have so much money that losing some in airlines is no big deal as long as it gives you the glamour that comes with it) there is no real reason for you to be motivated to enter this space. In fact, Richard Branson has a famous saying about starting an airlines "If you want to be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline"
That being said, Indigo is a completely different story and probably one of the only airlines in India making money & staying profitable for the long haul. If you want us to cover this for tomorrow’s Gyaan, leave us this message on Playstore: “Indigo makes me Crime master GoGo” we will get the signal. You can leave it anonymously too if you are too ashamed of the Shakti Kapoor association!
ALSO, this is NOT an ad for Indigo – we are not cool enough to get people to pay us!
Yes Nandoo, you are mahan! Now can you tell me why are you bragging about yourself?!
Well, that is one of the main reasons Jet Airways has stopped operating – it cannot repay it’s $1.2 billion loan (with a B and also equal to 1.2 Kylie Jenners!) and banks do not want to entertain any more cash infusion to keep it afloat
- We are SORRY for predicting this
- We are NOT SORRY for the Kardashian reference!
But here is something that a lot of folks are missing – Running an airline is a sh*tty business (that’s Sh*tty not Shetty) with no hopes of ever making money. Here’s why:
- Dealing with other monopolies: Airlines have to deal with other monopolists who can charge high prices. Examples of these monopolies:
- Boeing and Airbus are two of the only companies that make large airplanes.
- Only three companies make wifi systems for planes
- While 5 companies manage global freight which fill airlines’ cargos
- High fixed costs: which make it hard to adjust to changes in demand. If Jet Airways wants to buy a Boeing 777 to offer more flights, it needs to spend over 10% of its profits to be able to recoup its investment over the next 25+ years. But when events like 9/11 lead to less people flying, Jet can’t easily sell its extra 777. It either has to ground it or fly half-empty planes.
- Government intervention: While most airlines are private (i.e. not owned by the government), the Govt. still runs or regulates the airports. This creates bureaucracy in the airports and causes delays to fly planes which directly affects the bottom line – for example, let’s say if Delhi airport LOVES Air India, it is most likely going to give the best takeoff and landing slots to Air India first and then to Jet. This causes Jet & its passengers to hang in the runway till Air India and all other favorite airlines take off, causing delays to Jet’s plane which then reaches late, which then leaves late from the other end – essentially causing everything to be late and delayed and irritating. Which THEN causes Jet to cancel its other flights & make passengers pick other airlines going forward. Bit complicated but you get the point.
- Competition: airlines are not monopolistic enough. There are quite a few airlines out there and all of them offer a similar experience with honestly, just the price being the only metric most customers care about I.e. you don't care if on your flight from Mumbai to Delhi you get offered potato chips with chutney sandwich if the flight is literally Rs.500 cheaper than all other airlines (with those savings, I will pack my chutney sandwich from home, thank you very much!)
So why do people want to create airlines in the first place?
Honestly, we can’t think of one reason other than the fact its more to show prestige & success. If you think about it, on average it takes roughly $320M to start an airline (that’s the price of 1 Boeing 777) so unless your are a Govt (building an airline to serve your people) or a rich family (think Richard Branson, Vijay Mallya (when he was rich) or Wadias who have so much money that losing some in airlines is no big deal as long as it gives you the glamour that comes with it) there is no real reason for you to be motivated to enter this space. In fact, Richard Branson has a famous saying about starting an airlines "If you want to be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline"
That being said, Indigo is a completely different story and probably one of the only airlines in India making money & staying profitable for the long haul. If you want us to cover this for tomorrow’s Gyaan, leave us this message on Playstore: “Indigo makes me Crime master GoGo” we will get the signal. You can leave it anonymously too if you are too ashamed of the Shakti Kapoor association!
ALSO, this is NOT an ad for Indigo – we are not cool enough to get people to pay us!
The Story:
Am sure all the WhatsApp experts in your fam (chacha, chachi, mama, mami, buva, daadi - you know the usual suspects) know that WhatsApp now has a new payments feature especially created fo India that will allow people to send money to other WhatsApp users. So get ready to pay the local temple beggar in WhatsApp!
Tell me more:
Entry of WhatsApp makes it the 15th most prominent e-wallet to exist in India. The reason all these companies are fighting to create e-wallets is because by 2022, it is expected that the Indian e-wallet industry will zoom to Rs. 30,000 crore!
But the thing is, none of these e-wallets charge anything. For instance, when I send Rs. 25 to my banana walla using Google Tez, he ends up getting Rs. 25 and not Rs. 22! So why is it that despite an expected industry size of Rs. 30,000 crore and not a rupee to be made, these companies are going out of their way to make our lives easier? It definitely is not because they are charitable!
You see the goal for each of these e-wallets is to become a one-stop platform for all of your digital needs – shopping, banking, payments, grocery services, delivery, social media, communications, etc. Reason being, the more you become dependent on one platform for a variety of services, the harder it will be for you to leave that platform. And the harder it is for you to leave the platform, the more they can charge you for other services.
For instance, lets say by 2022, Paytm, WhatsApp, Google Tez all offer you a lot of different services but you prefer Paytm over all other platforms. Lets say, you are out of dish detergent so you go on Paytm and order Nirma. The Paytm Nirma is Rs.2 more than the WhatsApp Nirma but since you are a big Paytm user, you have free shipping that other platforms don’t give you. In 8 out of 10 cases, you will end up buying the pricier Nirma.
Paying an extra Rs. 2 is not a big deal for you due to the convenience attached to it. However, lets say if 10,000 people bought the same Paytm Nirma that very day, thats Rs. 20,000 in profit for Paytm for a day. If we assume 10,000 people buy Paytm Nirma everyday that will equal to Rs. 73 lakhs in a year just by charging Rs. 2 extra in Nirma! And this is with a small sample size of only 10,000 people!
Anyway, the above scenario is a long ways to go - The tech companies have only scratched the tip of the iceberg to figure out how to create a one-stop convenient platform.
In the meantime, you should be happy that come Diwali, instead of getting 87,954,328 Shubh Diwali WhatsApp messages, you could end up getting some money!
Am sure all the WhatsApp experts in your fam (chacha, chachi, mama, mami, buva, daadi - you know the usual suspects) know that WhatsApp now has a new payments feature especially created fo India that will allow people to send money to other WhatsApp users. So get ready to pay the local temple beggar in WhatsApp!
Tell me more:
Entry of WhatsApp makes it the 15th most prominent e-wallet to exist in India. The reason all these companies are fighting to create e-wallets is because by 2022, it is expected that the Indian e-wallet industry will zoom to Rs. 30,000 crore!
But the thing is, none of these e-wallets charge anything. For instance, when I send Rs. 25 to my banana walla using Google Tez, he ends up getting Rs. 25 and not Rs. 22! So why is it that despite an expected industry size of Rs. 30,000 crore and not a rupee to be made, these companies are going out of their way to make our lives easier? It definitely is not because they are charitable!
You see the goal for each of these e-wallets is to become a one-stop platform for all of your digital needs – shopping, banking, payments, grocery services, delivery, social media, communications, etc. Reason being, the more you become dependent on one platform for a variety of services, the harder it will be for you to leave that platform. And the harder it is for you to leave the platform, the more they can charge you for other services.
For instance, lets say by 2022, Paytm, WhatsApp, Google Tez all offer you a lot of different services but you prefer Paytm over all other platforms. Lets say, you are out of dish detergent so you go on Paytm and order Nirma. The Paytm Nirma is Rs.2 more than the WhatsApp Nirma but since you are a big Paytm user, you have free shipping that other platforms don’t give you. In 8 out of 10 cases, you will end up buying the pricier Nirma.
Paying an extra Rs. 2 is not a big deal for you due to the convenience attached to it. However, lets say if 10,000 people bought the same Paytm Nirma that very day, thats Rs. 20,000 in profit for Paytm for a day. If we assume 10,000 people buy Paytm Nirma everyday that will equal to Rs. 73 lakhs in a year just by charging Rs. 2 extra in Nirma! And this is with a small sample size of only 10,000 people!
Anyway, the above scenario is a long ways to go - The tech companies have only scratched the tip of the iceberg to figure out how to create a one-stop convenient platform.
In the meantime, you should be happy that come Diwali, instead of getting 87,954,328 Shubh Diwali WhatsApp messages, you could end up getting some money!
The Story:
Lakshmi Mittal – CEO of Arcelor Mittal and Rewant Ruia of NuMetal were competing to buy Essar Steel from Shashi Ruia... and you thought K-serials were complicated!
Tell me more:
The Indian banks have been under a lot of pressure from the Central bank for providing bad corporate loans – a.k.a loans that corporations cannot pay back (similar to the whole Nirav Modi case). So in order to clean up their books, the banks are asking all these bad loan owners to pay back in 180 days or else be taken to a Bankruptcy court. One such loan was given to Essar Steel…for Rs. 47,500 crore only (…still don’t understand why people write ONLY after a big amount, but I digress!)
Now the Ruias think of Essar Steel as their crown jewel. So the younger Ruia (Rewant) partnered up with a Russian Bank to form NuMetal and has made a bid to buy out Essar Steel. But wait… kahani mein twist…in comes Lakshmi Mittal. He is a Steel Tycoon who is also one of the richest Indians in the UK (he hired SRK to dance at his daughter’s wedding!). He has steel factories all over the world except for India and has a dream to one day own a factor in India! And this, my friends, is the cause of all this confusion. The bidding was still going on and the winner was just recently recognized.
And the winner is...
Alas, unlike K-serials, this serial came to an end on 20th September 2018, when Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the acquisition of debt-ridden Essar Steel by a consortium of ArcelorMittal and Japan’s Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation by offering Rs 42,000 crore upstaging a Rs 37,000 crore bid by Russia’s VTB Group-backed Numetal.
But wait Nandoo, I thought the loan was for Rs. 47,500 crore?!
Yes it was BUT given that Essar can't pay up - the banks are willing to accept any amount possible and that's how the Mittals ended up buying a corporation worth at least Rs. 47,500 crore for Rs. 42,000 crore ONLY (i.e. savings of Rs. 5,500 crore ONLY!)
Arreee but why will the bank let go of so much money if they want the money in the first place?
Well, if you take a step back for a minute, the bigger problem in this picture is that the banks have given a total of Rs. 8,00,000 crore of bad loans. So this Essar deal is a very small drop in the bucket. What the future is going to hold is a lot of these types of similar buyouts – where established companies cannot survive any more due to bad loans and bigger sharks swoop in to buy them up at discounted prices. WIN for the sharks and a LOSS for the banks!
Interesting Fact:
For our Nandoo-ers who live in Mumbai, fun fact for you - the founder of Ruia College – Ramnarian Ruia, is NOT associated with the Ruias of Essar Steel! They just happen to be from the same town in Rajasthan with same surnames… and here you thought all Ruias were related -_-
Lakshmi Mittal – CEO of Arcelor Mittal and Rewant Ruia of NuMetal were competing to buy Essar Steel from Shashi Ruia... and you thought K-serials were complicated!
Tell me more:
The Indian banks have been under a lot of pressure from the Central bank for providing bad corporate loans – a.k.a loans that corporations cannot pay back (similar to the whole Nirav Modi case). So in order to clean up their books, the banks are asking all these bad loan owners to pay back in 180 days or else be taken to a Bankruptcy court. One such loan was given to Essar Steel…for Rs. 47,500 crore only (…still don’t understand why people write ONLY after a big amount, but I digress!)
Now the Ruias think of Essar Steel as their crown jewel. So the younger Ruia (Rewant) partnered up with a Russian Bank to form NuMetal and has made a bid to buy out Essar Steel. But wait… kahani mein twist…in comes Lakshmi Mittal. He is a Steel Tycoon who is also one of the richest Indians in the UK (he hired SRK to dance at his daughter’s wedding!). He has steel factories all over the world except for India and has a dream to one day own a factor in India! And this, my friends, is the cause of all this confusion. The bidding was still going on and the winner was just recently recognized.
And the winner is...
Alas, unlike K-serials, this serial came to an end on 20th September 2018, when Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the acquisition of debt-ridden Essar Steel by a consortium of ArcelorMittal and Japan’s Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation by offering Rs 42,000 crore upstaging a Rs 37,000 crore bid by Russia’s VTB Group-backed Numetal.
But wait Nandoo, I thought the loan was for Rs. 47,500 crore?!
Yes it was BUT given that Essar can't pay up - the banks are willing to accept any amount possible and that's how the Mittals ended up buying a corporation worth at least Rs. 47,500 crore for Rs. 42,000 crore ONLY (i.e. savings of Rs. 5,500 crore ONLY!)
Arreee but why will the bank let go of so much money if they want the money in the first place?
Well, if you take a step back for a minute, the bigger problem in this picture is that the banks have given a total of Rs. 8,00,000 crore of bad loans. So this Essar deal is a very small drop in the bucket. What the future is going to hold is a lot of these types of similar buyouts – where established companies cannot survive any more due to bad loans and bigger sharks swoop in to buy them up at discounted prices. WIN for the sharks and a LOSS for the banks!
Interesting Fact:
For our Nandoo-ers who live in Mumbai, fun fact for you - the founder of Ruia College – Ramnarian Ruia, is NOT associated with the Ruias of Essar Steel! They just happen to be from the same town in Rajasthan with same surnames… and here you thought all Ruias were related -_-
Given India is experiencing only the BIGGEST elections in the world, we thought of doing something interesting and understand WHY & HOW our political parties came up with their symbols! (Psstt...if you want a quick read on how the dates of our elections get decided, check out our previous Gyaan here - HINT: it's all based on Kharif & Rabbi seasons!)
Theek hai Nandoo but promise pakav mat banana:
In addition to the National elections, there are THOUSANDS of parties that are running for upcoming Lok Sabha elections as well. If you are reading this Gyaan, congratulations, you can read! But there are nearly 25% Indians who are illiterate however, would still like to vote. So what to do for them? EASY - symbol laga do!
So of course you are well aware of the main movers & shakers - BJP (Lotus), Congress (Hand), BSP (Elephant) Aam Aadmi Party (Jhaadoo) - it's pretty funny but if you think about it - by keeping the symbols recognizable, it becomes VERY easy for the locals to identify the party they want to vote for just by it!
Hmmm interesting, tell me a bit of back story on this:
Well, this all started in 1951 - our very first election as an independent nation. During this time, only 16% of India's population was literate and so, the Election Commission took it upon themselves to devise a clever strategy which ensures maximum voter turnout and voting. Enter: Symbols. The Election Commission figured it would be best to use images of regular, commonly used objects and so they hired the Late MS Sethi to sketch them up.
From 1951 - 1992 (when he retired), Mr. Sethi drew up everything from an envelope to a cricket bat to a whistle to a frock to a tea kettle to even a cauliflower! After his retirement, the government discovered the magic of Clip Art (found in WORD) and started adding images from there in their election symbol database. However, to this day, Mr. Sethi's work still continues to remain the cornerstone of the Indian Election Machine!
Sooooo how does this work?
Well, if you and your besties decide to start a new political party (let's say Nandoo Amazing Party) you can't just create your own symbols BUT have to go on the Election Commission website and pick one of the many available symbols. Here is the gem of the document and below are some images for you to enjoy!
Theek hai Nandoo but promise pakav mat banana:
In addition to the National elections, there are THOUSANDS of parties that are running for upcoming Lok Sabha elections as well. If you are reading this Gyaan, congratulations, you can read! But there are nearly 25% Indians who are illiterate however, would still like to vote. So what to do for them? EASY - symbol laga do!
So of course you are well aware of the main movers & shakers - BJP (Lotus), Congress (Hand), BSP (Elephant) Aam Aadmi Party (Jhaadoo) - it's pretty funny but if you think about it - by keeping the symbols recognizable, it becomes VERY easy for the locals to identify the party they want to vote for just by it!
Hmmm interesting, tell me a bit of back story on this:
Well, this all started in 1951 - our very first election as an independent nation. During this time, only 16% of India's population was literate and so, the Election Commission took it upon themselves to devise a clever strategy which ensures maximum voter turnout and voting. Enter: Symbols. The Election Commission figured it would be best to use images of regular, commonly used objects and so they hired the Late MS Sethi to sketch them up.
From 1951 - 1992 (when he retired), Mr. Sethi drew up everything from an envelope to a cricket bat to a whistle to a frock to a tea kettle to even a cauliflower! After his retirement, the government discovered the magic of Clip Art (found in WORD) and started adding images from there in their election symbol database. However, to this day, Mr. Sethi's work still continues to remain the cornerstone of the Indian Election Machine!
Sooooo how does this work?
Well, if you and your besties decide to start a new political party (let's say Nandoo Amazing Party) you can't just create your own symbols BUT have to go on the Election Commission website and pick one of the many available symbols. Here is the gem of the document and below are some images for you to enjoy!
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been caught by the British Police force from the Ecuadorian embassy and will now be extradited to the US where he will face the court for leaking secret government documents. Wikileaks publishes secret information, news leaks and classified information about countries all over the world. They think of them as the Wikipedia of government secrets. So you can imagine why a lot of people like as well as hate them!
Waittttt, why does Julian have so many countries after him - can you back up a little?
You thought that was too many countries - take a look at this - Julian Assange is originally from Australia but is wanted by Sweden (for sexual assault) and by US (for leaking government secrets) but was living in the Ecuadorian embassy in the UK since 2010.
It all started in 2010, when an Ex- US Army Intelligence analyst, Chelsea Manning, send hundreds of thousands of confidential documents on things like abuse of detainees by the US soldiers in Iraq. This was the largest leak of classified data in the US history and for that Chelsea Manning was sentenced for 35 years in prison for violation of Espionage act (she later got out after 7 years for good behavior and co-operation). However, since Julian Assange was the man behind publishing all these documents on Wikileaks, he soon came under the US govt.'s radar.
At this time, he was in Sweden and trying to get out of it over allegations of sexual assault and rape from two women. So in 2010, he left the country for UK in the midst of all this investigation. Sweden was super pissed with this and issued an international arrest warrant for him. And so all this let to Assange getting arrested in the UK in 2012. However, since he didn't want to be a prisoner he sought out for political asylum from Ecuador.
What is political asylum and why Ecuador?!
Political asylum is basically asking a different country to protect you from your own country or another country. Why Ecuador is because Ecuador was unhappy with United States since they felt US was trying to be a little extra involved in the Latin America politics and so to irritate them, they decided to grant political asylum to Assange. Ever since 2012, he has been living in the Ecuadorian Embassy in the UK (Psstt... when you enter any embassy, you are technically in their land. So next time your brother wants you to take him to the US but if the flight tickets are expensive, just take him to the US embassy in India!)
Hmmm interesting, so what changed now, why is he all of a sudden arrested?
Because he is a filthy guest! No, seriously, we are not joking! The Ecuadorians withdrew his asylum for being a "spoiled brat" and accusing him of lacking basic roommate skills - like keeping his space clean, cleaning after his own cat. Apparently his cat would go around pooping in the embassy and he wouldn't even clean up after that ! The underlying reason was Ecuador has now had strained relations with both UK and US and it wants to make up for it and so giving up Assange was the first olive branch.
Bottomline:
If he is extradited to the US, he faces 5 years in prison for publishing US's govt. secrets. He might face additional charges because he has been involved in a lot of other sorts of US government leaking as well. But one main point in all of this is that this is a case of national security vs. press freedom - Some are calling him a journalist while US & most other countries are labelling it as espionage. More to come as this story unfolds!
PS: THIS is his cat! Never trust a cat with a tie! And here are more pics of the cat, in case you are interested!
Waittttt, why does Julian have so many countries after him - can you back up a little?
You thought that was too many countries - take a look at this - Julian Assange is originally from Australia but is wanted by Sweden (for sexual assault) and by US (for leaking government secrets) but was living in the Ecuadorian embassy in the UK since 2010.
It all started in 2010, when an Ex- US Army Intelligence analyst, Chelsea Manning, send hundreds of thousands of confidential documents on things like abuse of detainees by the US soldiers in Iraq. This was the largest leak of classified data in the US history and for that Chelsea Manning was sentenced for 35 years in prison for violation of Espionage act (she later got out after 7 years for good behavior and co-operation). However, since Julian Assange was the man behind publishing all these documents on Wikileaks, he soon came under the US govt.'s radar.
At this time, he was in Sweden and trying to get out of it over allegations of sexual assault and rape from two women. So in 2010, he left the country for UK in the midst of all this investigation. Sweden was super pissed with this and issued an international arrest warrant for him. And so all this let to Assange getting arrested in the UK in 2012. However, since he didn't want to be a prisoner he sought out for political asylum from Ecuador.
What is political asylum and why Ecuador?!
Political asylum is basically asking a different country to protect you from your own country or another country. Why Ecuador is because Ecuador was unhappy with United States since they felt US was trying to be a little extra involved in the Latin America politics and so to irritate them, they decided to grant political asylum to Assange. Ever since 2012, he has been living in the Ecuadorian Embassy in the UK (Psstt... when you enter any embassy, you are technically in their land. So next time your brother wants you to take him to the US but if the flight tickets are expensive, just take him to the US embassy in India!)
Hmmm interesting, so what changed now, why is he all of a sudden arrested?
Because he is a filthy guest! No, seriously, we are not joking! The Ecuadorians withdrew his asylum for being a "spoiled brat" and accusing him of lacking basic roommate skills - like keeping his space clean, cleaning after his own cat. Apparently his cat would go around pooping in the embassy and he wouldn't even clean up after that ! The underlying reason was Ecuador has now had strained relations with both UK and US and it wants to make up for it and so giving up Assange was the first olive branch.
Bottomline:
If he is extradited to the US, he faces 5 years in prison for publishing US's govt. secrets. He might face additional charges because he has been involved in a lot of other sorts of US government leaking as well. But one main point in all of this is that this is a case of national security vs. press freedom - Some are calling him a journalist while US & most other countries are labelling it as espionage. More to come as this story unfolds!
PS: THIS is his cat! Never trust a cat with a tie! And here are more pics of the cat, in case you are interested!
If you don't know yet, Saudi Arabia's national Oil (similar to what we call petrol/ diesel) company - Aramco, has plans of going public sometime this year. If it goes public, it will raise $1.5 trillion for literally just 5% stake in the company - that makes the total valuation of Aramco at $30 Trillion (just $1trillion short of Nandoo's evaluation, but don't worry it will get there :P)
WOW Nandoo - firstly khayali pulav about your valuation but more importantly, why is this IPO so important?
Here's why - all the wealth in Saudi comes from one thing- Oil- they dig it up, refine it and then sell it across the world, get paid a TON of money in return and then use that money to buy lamborghinis as police cars (don’t know about you, but we would become a Saudi pandu in a heart beat just to be in that lambo!)
Anyway, till now, their oil business has been privately held- meaning no outsider can question them about their financials nor can anyone dictate how much oil they need to produce on a regular basis…
So, despite all this freedom, why do they want to stop and go public!?
One reason- Venezuela! The South American country was very similar to Saudi in its hey days- had copious amounts of oil that they sold to the world and then used that money to fund social programs such as free healthcare, education, basic income for the poor.
But then came US – and once the US discovered that they had a TON of natural gas (similar to oil) reserves too they started producing and selling it which increased the supply more than the demand. This ultimately caused the price of global oil to collapse significantly! Since Venezuela only relied on Oil for all of its income and the prices started decreasing, they couldn’t pay for any services and started losing all their savings.
Cut to 2018- Venezuela- which used to be one of the top 25 prosperous countries in the world, is now poorer than Bangladesh!
Fortunately for the Saudis, this decline in price didn’t impact significantly since they had a lot more savings and a lesser population than Venezuela to take care of.
However, they don’t want to end up like Venezuela, which is why they have decided to give up power and make their Oil empire public- meaning they will get a BIGGGGG payout (worth $ 1.5 trillion!) as soon as they go public and will then use that money to promote and create new industries that they can rely on when the oil supply dries up.
WOW Nandoo - firstly khayali pulav about your valuation but more importantly, why is this IPO so important?
Here's why - all the wealth in Saudi comes from one thing- Oil- they dig it up, refine it and then sell it across the world, get paid a TON of money in return and then use that money to buy lamborghinis as police cars (don’t know about you, but we would become a Saudi pandu in a heart beat just to be in that lambo!)
Anyway, till now, their oil business has been privately held- meaning no outsider can question them about their financials nor can anyone dictate how much oil they need to produce on a regular basis…
So, despite all this freedom, why do they want to stop and go public!?
One reason- Venezuela! The South American country was very similar to Saudi in its hey days- had copious amounts of oil that they sold to the world and then used that money to fund social programs such as free healthcare, education, basic income for the poor.
But then came US – and once the US discovered that they had a TON of natural gas (similar to oil) reserves too they started producing and selling it which increased the supply more than the demand. This ultimately caused the price of global oil to collapse significantly! Since Venezuela only relied on Oil for all of its income and the prices started decreasing, they couldn’t pay for any services and started losing all their savings.
Cut to 2018- Venezuela- which used to be one of the top 25 prosperous countries in the world, is now poorer than Bangladesh!
Fortunately for the Saudis, this decline in price didn’t impact significantly since they had a lot more savings and a lesser population than Venezuela to take care of.
However, they don’t want to end up like Venezuela, which is why they have decided to give up power and make their Oil empire public- meaning they will get a BIGGGGG payout (worth $ 1.5 trillion!) as soon as they go public and will then use that money to promote and create new industries that they can rely on when the oil supply dries up.
What is the only thing in common with a Samosa, a Bhaji, a Vada Pav and a Masala Dosa? (Other than ofc, they are mostly unhealthy) – POTATO otherwise known as aloo urff Baṅgāḷādumpa urff batata – It is so important to our life that there have been not one, not two but THREE item numbers created about it:
But did you know, that the trusted potato, would have never been part of our lives had it not been for the British?
Nandoo, these are all sadela songs but tell us more!
Apparently when the British East India company showed up in India in 17th century, they realized that even though Potatoes could be found in India, very few Indians were actually growing it or even eating it (guess we were all about that no carbs diet back then?!)
To jumpstart consumption and production of potatoes, according to the India Office Records in the British Library, in 1797, the British did the following in different parts of the country:
Hmmmm but why were they soooo obsessed with us eating the aloo?!
Well, they technically didn’t care if we ate the potato or not, all they wanted to do was make sure we were growing it rapidly. WHY? Because potato was a super hot commodity in Europe at the time since the Europeans believed that those who ate potatoes would start looking good and attract the most attractive partners. So to supply more & more potatoes to Europeans who were willing to pay a LOT of money for it, the British pushed Indians to start growing them.
Bottomline:
The reason we are so obsessed with potatoes can be traced down to Europeans wanting to get the hottest man/woman for themselves. Think about that the next time you eat that Samosa!
- Specimen A: Akshay Kumar & Juhi Chawla Hit - Jab Tak Rahega Samose Mein Aaloo
- Specimen B: Govinda & Karisma Kapoor - Main Toh Raste Se Ja Raha Tha.. Bhel Puri Kha Raha Tha – okay fine not particularly about Potato but Bhel Puri has potato in it!
- Specimen C: Himesh Reshammiya & Urmila Matondkar – Tandoori Nights – YES! they are talking about Aloo tandoori!
But did you know, that the trusted potato, would have never been part of our lives had it not been for the British?
Nandoo, these are all sadela songs but tell us more!
Apparently when the British East India company showed up in India in 17th century, they realized that even though Potatoes could be found in India, very few Indians were actually growing it or even eating it (guess we were all about that no carbs diet back then?!)
To jumpstart consumption and production of potatoes, according to the India Office Records in the British Library, in 1797, the British did the following in different parts of the country:
- in Bengal they started providing free seeds to farmers so they would start cultivating potatoes
- In Bombay (now Mumbai), they exempted potatoes from any taxes
- In Madras (now Chennai), they held contests for the “best” potato and the winners were awarded a silver medal
- Across the nation, the British began providing Rs. 10 to all those farmers who would grow the potatoes
Hmmmm but why were they soooo obsessed with us eating the aloo?!
Well, they technically didn’t care if we ate the potato or not, all they wanted to do was make sure we were growing it rapidly. WHY? Because potato was a super hot commodity in Europe at the time since the Europeans believed that those who ate potatoes would start looking good and attract the most attractive partners. So to supply more & more potatoes to Europeans who were willing to pay a LOT of money for it, the British pushed Indians to start growing them.
Bottomline:
The reason we are so obsessed with potatoes can be traced down to Europeans wanting to get the hottest man/woman for themselves. Think about that the next time you eat that Samosa!
In 2017, Barclays announced its partnership with India Post (our local post office) to provide cash management and money transfer services to India’s unbanked customers – those who predominantly live in rural areas and don't have bank accounts. However, Barclay’s is not the only one, another global player – Amazon(naam toh suna hoga) is spending billions to woo the same rural customers and so was Facebook till it got shut down by the govt….and mind you – none of this is out of the goodness of their hearts!
Tell me more:
Before we go into why everyone and their Pappa are trying to woo the rural kisan, let’s just do a quick take on what exactly they are doing:
Okay so now that you know how these companies are all working super hard to impress our rural folks here is the reason why – India is going to go through the same revolution as China did – wherein the lower middle class and rural folks became upper middle class prada-wearing wealthy folks!
All of these global companies have learned their lessons of not betting on China. They do not want to repeat the same mistake and so are positioning themselves strategically so that when the rural folks become maldaar, they continue using these services as they would have become part of their habits by then. Plus – you know how hard it is to open & close a bank account – rich or poor, no one wants to do that because it’s a nightmare!
Tell me more:
Before we go into why everyone and their Pappa are trying to woo the rural kisan, let’s just do a quick take on what exactly they are doing:
- Barclays: literally has only 6 branches in all over India and instead of creating more branches (and spending money to do the same), they are instead partnering with the Indian Post office. Why? Because India Post already has branches far out in the rural areas and the local rural folks trust their local post office like crazy over a UK bank. Through this partnership, Barclays will help the rural folks with basic cash management (e.g. checking and savings account) and money transfer (e.g. Ramu can send money to Shyamu easily)
- Amazon: has built a streamlined mobile app so it doesn’t crash on cheaper phones (or CHI-phones a.k.a. Chinese iPhones!) used by rural folks in small villages. It has also loaded up its online store with tens of thousands of eclectic products – Churan – ✅; Pitanjali – ✅, Maggii – OF COURSE! But most importantly…it has also become a kabaddiwala for the rural folks – knowing they don’t have much cash on hand, Amazon has created a program where it allows the rural folks to trade in old appliances and get discounts on new ones!
- Facebook: most controversial of all. Facebook basically wanted to provide “Free Internet” to everyone in India but especially to those in rural areas. You think that’s a good idea, don’t you? Well here’s the catch – the “Free Internet” would allow the users to browse only Facebook and a few other Facebook owned websites….so yeah, it was def free, but only limited to Facebook! It’s like I will give you 10 rupees but you can only use it to buy only my products! Also last time we checked, we have never learned anything useful on Facebook (except for the pokes!) Additionally, if you think having your Uncle, Aunty, Papa, Mummy all over Facebook is annoying, multiply that with 345,678,903uncle, aunties, papas, mummies – yeahhh you are VERY welcome for putting that fear in you!
Okay so now that you know how these companies are all working super hard to impress our rural folks here is the reason why – India is going to go through the same revolution as China did – wherein the lower middle class and rural folks became upper middle class prada-wearing wealthy folks!
All of these global companies have learned their lessons of not betting on China. They do not want to repeat the same mistake and so are positioning themselves strategically so that when the rural folks become maldaar, they continue using these services as they would have become part of their habits by then. Plus – you know how hard it is to open & close a bank account – rich or poor, no one wants to do that because it’s a nightmare!
What began as a peaceful uprising against Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, eight years ago, has now become a full-scale civil war that has left more than 340,000 people dead and a completely devastated country
Tell me more:
Syria – considered the birthplace of modern civilization, used to be a peaceful place for a long time. It was also a place that did not have enough money to tackle and carry on a 8 year long deadly war….so what exactly went wrong?! Lets find out:
2011 saw the rise of Arab Spring – where leading Arabic nations (i.e. Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen) rose up & overthrew their dictators. Syrians – unhappy with their President, did the same but started out with simple street protests. Knowing that he would lose his Presidency, Syrian President Bashar Al Assad – decided to turn the protest movement from a political struggle into a military one, where his control of the army meant he would be able to kill his way to victory.
He began slaughtering the protestors and in order to fight back, the protestors picked up weapons as well. And this is where things started crumbling and everyone and their moms got involved in this fight!
Where does India stand on this?
Well, so far we have not involved ourselves in the war, however, India is in favor of the Assad government! Why you ask? India believes that letting the protestors & rebels win, will influence other smaller Arab countries and all this chaos in middle east will jeopardize ding ding ding – you got it right - OIL. And since India has to depend significantly on oil imports, we cannot afford to have that flow jeopardized.
Bottomline: What started as a peaceful protest to overthrow a dictator President has now turned into one of the worst civil wars and a proxy fight between Iran & Russia on one end and America & it’s Gulf allies on the other, whose outcome is of vital significance for both sides. More to come as this war enters it's 8th year...
Tell me more:
Syria – considered the birthplace of modern civilization, used to be a peaceful place for a long time. It was also a place that did not have enough money to tackle and carry on a 8 year long deadly war….so what exactly went wrong?! Lets find out:
2011 saw the rise of Arab Spring – where leading Arabic nations (i.e. Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen) rose up & overthrew their dictators. Syrians – unhappy with their President, did the same but started out with simple street protests. Knowing that he would lose his Presidency, Syrian President Bashar Al Assad – decided to turn the protest movement from a political struggle into a military one, where his control of the army meant he would be able to kill his way to victory.
He began slaughtering the protestors and in order to fight back, the protestors picked up weapons as well. And this is where things started crumbling and everyone and their moms got involved in this fight!
- Iran: Syria’s friendship with Iran goes back to 1980 and is critical to Iran’s regional ambitions. It uses Syria’s government to sell weapons and other goods to Lebanon and Gaza. In return, Syria gets military and political assistance from Iran. So when the protestors began fighting President Assad and in a lot of cases winning, Iran got nervous that they would lose an ally in Syrian government and so they started giving weapons to Assad to boost up his fight.
- Saudi Arabia & Qatar: The gulf states have always hated Iran (Gulf States are Sunnis and Iran is Shia). And so when they saw Iran helping Syria fight this war, they decided to start arming the protestors because it would lead to the downfall of the Syrian government which would lead to weakening of Iran’s allies.
- Russia: Russia’s ties to Syria goes all the way back to the Cold War. The former Soviets Union literally built modern Syrian military! Between 2006 and 2010, 48 percent of Syrian arms imports came from Russia. Assad’s defeat, then, would have been a major strategic blow to Vladimir Putin’s regime — which has ambitions of restoring Russia’s Cold War status as a great power with global influence. So Russia joined in and started supporting Assad and giving him a lot more ammunition to bring the protestors down!
- US: The most defining moment when US decided to step in was when Assad’s forces launched sarin gas — a horrifying and deadly chemical weapon — into the Damascus suburb of Ghouta, killing up to 1,423 people. Most of the dead were civilians. And so in 2017, the US government launched 59 air missiles at a Syrian military camp thus, marking its entrance into one of the deadliest civil wars ever.
Where does India stand on this?
Well, so far we have not involved ourselves in the war, however, India is in favor of the Assad government! Why you ask? India believes that letting the protestors & rebels win, will influence other smaller Arab countries and all this chaos in middle east will jeopardize ding ding ding – you got it right - OIL. And since India has to depend significantly on oil imports, we cannot afford to have that flow jeopardized.
Bottomline: What started as a peaceful protest to overthrow a dictator President has now turned into one of the worst civil wars and a proxy fight between Iran & Russia on one end and America & it’s Gulf allies on the other, whose outcome is of vital significance for both sides. More to come as this war enters it's 8th year...
Just 15 miles outside Beijing – there is a building 8 to 12 floors tall. Height wise it is like all buildings but construction wise it is different – its made of piles and piles of garbage (okay fine that was our filmy way of saying there is a shit ton of garbage outside Beijing which is in a super duper tall pile!)
Thanks to this garbage, nearly 160,000 citizens of the city are employed – they collect, sort and resell the city’s 25 thousand ton of garbage a day. This garbage consists of Chinese stuff but also garbage from Germany, UK, US, etc. WHY? Because China has been buying the world’s garbage for decades. Since 1988, it has imported almost 50% of ALL the plastic waste.
So why is China buying all the garbage up?
It all comes back to SHIPPING CONTAINERS – if you are a regular Nandoo-er, you will know the story behind shipping containers and how because of them price of a banana is almost the same in India & US. (if you haven’t read that GYAAN yet, check it out here). Anyway, China is the number one source of imports to US every week 100s of container ships make their way from a port in China (e.g. HK, Shanghai) towards American West Coast (i.e. SF) They deliver cars, sofa, etc. but the US does not send a lot back and in order to avoid containers coming back empty, China asks the US to put their recyclable garbage in it and send the containers back. This of course for a fee which the US happily pays and this way China makes its shipping containers usage very efficient.
Reason China is so interested in collecting garbage is because they have a high demand for raw materials. And since labor is cheap (given the population), sorting through garbage to find recyclable items which can be used to make electronics or other products is actually a good deal for them – another way they can keep prices of the items they sell so low. This is such a profitable business that a lady by the name of Zhang Yin has been nicknamed the Queen of Garbage is one of world’s richest women – her net worth is higher than that of Zara's co-founder’s!
Sounds like everything is going rosy …umm stinky?!
Kinda - It worked so well that everyone just assumed that this would go on forever. But then in 2017, China announced that, starting 2020, it is not going to collect and buy the world’s garbage because it now has its own garbage to deal with. Plus, now that it is an actual super power, collecting other people’s garbage doesn’t jive well with its image.
Many countries will have no place to put their own garbage. Ireland, which exports 95% of its garbage to China faces a near crisis. Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia have proclaimed that they will be open to accepting but given how tiny these countries are, they will eventually run out of space as well.
Guess we just have to wait it out for Elon Musk to build his spacecraft and transport us all out to Mars. Ek Mahal ho Sapno Ka….per Mars pe!
We came across two interesting facts while researching this article:
Thanks to this garbage, nearly 160,000 citizens of the city are employed – they collect, sort and resell the city’s 25 thousand ton of garbage a day. This garbage consists of Chinese stuff but also garbage from Germany, UK, US, etc. WHY? Because China has been buying the world’s garbage for decades. Since 1988, it has imported almost 50% of ALL the plastic waste.
So why is China buying all the garbage up?
It all comes back to SHIPPING CONTAINERS – if you are a regular Nandoo-er, you will know the story behind shipping containers and how because of them price of a banana is almost the same in India & US. (if you haven’t read that GYAAN yet, check it out here). Anyway, China is the number one source of imports to US every week 100s of container ships make their way from a port in China (e.g. HK, Shanghai) towards American West Coast (i.e. SF) They deliver cars, sofa, etc. but the US does not send a lot back and in order to avoid containers coming back empty, China asks the US to put their recyclable garbage in it and send the containers back. This of course for a fee which the US happily pays and this way China makes its shipping containers usage very efficient.
Reason China is so interested in collecting garbage is because they have a high demand for raw materials. And since labor is cheap (given the population), sorting through garbage to find recyclable items which can be used to make electronics or other products is actually a good deal for them – another way they can keep prices of the items they sell so low. This is such a profitable business that a lady by the name of Zhang Yin has been nicknamed the Queen of Garbage is one of world’s richest women – her net worth is higher than that of Zara's co-founder’s!
Sounds like everything is going rosy …umm stinky?!
Kinda - It worked so well that everyone just assumed that this would go on forever. But then in 2017, China announced that, starting 2020, it is not going to collect and buy the world’s garbage because it now has its own garbage to deal with. Plus, now that it is an actual super power, collecting other people’s garbage doesn’t jive well with its image.
Many countries will have no place to put their own garbage. Ireland, which exports 95% of its garbage to China faces a near crisis. Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia have proclaimed that they will be open to accepting but given how tiny these countries are, they will eventually run out of space as well.
Guess we just have to wait it out for Elon Musk to build his spacecraft and transport us all out to Mars. Ek Mahal ho Sapno Ka….per Mars pe!
We came across two interesting facts while researching this article:
- Americans make up 4% of world population but they produce around 25% of world’s garbage.
- Packaging from Amazon boxes makes up about 1/3rd of the total garbage
Today’s Gyaan is a bit about financial literacy. Over the few months that we have been around, we have received tremendous love & support from you all – our amazing Nandoo-ers. We have started thinking of you as family and so, like a family takes care of one another, we want to do the same for you – take care of you by highlighting & discussing a new financial product that has been recently introduced in India – Payday loans
Nandoo, bus kar yaar, enough with the senti-stuff! Now tell me what a Payday loan is!
Payday loans are short-term but super duper high interest loans. A typical example for applying for payday loans is when you don’t have enough money coming in but need to pay for expenses right away– like let’s say you need to pay rent in 5 days but your salary doesn’t kick in till 25 days and you don’t have enough savings.
There are 2 criteria that you need to meet to get a payday loan:
Hmmmm, but to me it looks like they are helping out someone in need, I don’t see the issue with Payday loans yet
Well let us run a scenario for you – Rahul loves Simran but has found out that her Bauji is taking her to Punjab to get married. Rahul, because he is a lafanga, does not have the money to buy a plane ticket to Punjab – so he goes to a Payday loan provider and shows his income from posting IG posts as his income. Here is the exchange that takes place:
Rahul: Hi, my name is Rahul, I am an IG model and that’s how I make money – see here all my monies. I need Rs. 10,000 to buy a one-way ticket to Punjab to stop the love of my life from getting married
Lender: Woah sounds serious. My name is Kiran and I am more than happy to give you Rs. 10,000 for your ticket to Punjab – although I must say that’s a lot of money for a one way domestic flight, but your call! Anyway all you have to do is pay me Rs. 1,500 in fees to apply for this Payday loan and quickly sign these 500 pages that you don’t need to read through.
Rahul: Kkkkkkkkkirannn (sorry don’t know why I did that!) here’s Rs.1,500 from the very little money I already have and here is my autograph
End of Scene 1 : Rahul gets his money, goes to Punjab, tries to be cute, dances, eats, fights and finally gets Simran – all of this takes around 2 weeks (yeah he is soo charming that Bauji, who had nothing but nafrat for him, finally gives in!)
Start of Scene 2: Rahul moves in with Simran and is super happy with his life with her. But uh oh, gets a notification that Rs. 1,500 have been deducted from his bank account. He panics and calls the Kiran:
Rahul: Kkkkkkkkkirannn (I NEED to stop doing that!) I just got charged Rs. 1,500 from you guys. I thought my loan was due in 30 days – like all other loans. What’s going on boo?
Kiran: Oh my bad, guess you should have read the 500 pages which you signed – essentially a payday loan is different – our term limit is not 30 days but 20 days – i.e. you gotta pay up your loan in 20 days OR else, we will charge you a fee to renew your loan and extend the loan out
Rahul: hold up, you are telling me, this Rs. 1,500 charge I got is not even to repay the loan?! It’s just a fee to renew the loan for the next term of 20 days?
Kiran: Yup, that’s exactly right and exactly what I said – unless you like to repeat things people say!
Rahul: Ffffffiiishhhh my money doesn’t come in for another 20 days, how much will I have to pay you by then?
Kiran: Well, let’s see, the interest on the loan is 1% per day (yeah you really should have read the documents) and from the time you got the loan till you pay up, it would be been 40 days so that comes to:
So what is the moral of this?
I know we sound like your parents/ grandparents when we say this but always stay within your means - don’t ever sign up for a PayDay loan unless there is an absolute emergency – like a surgery or something related to hospitals. Many folks take payday loans to finance a vacation or buy sh*t they don’t need.
And if you ever end up taking a PayDay loan, please please please make sure to read ALL the terms and conditions and get all questions answered. At least you will be mentally prepared
If you are interested in all the research around Payday loans, read this super interesting research here
Nandoo, bus kar yaar, enough with the senti-stuff! Now tell me what a Payday loan is!
Payday loans are short-term but super duper high interest loans. A typical example for applying for payday loans is when you don’t have enough money coming in but need to pay for expenses right away– like let’s say you need to pay rent in 5 days but your salary doesn’t kick in till 25 days and you don’t have enough savings.
There are 2 criteria that you need to meet to get a payday loan:
- You need to have a job – doesn’t matter what type, as long as you have money coming in
- You need to be breathing – they don’t extend the loans to zombies, atleast not yet…
Hmmmm, but to me it looks like they are helping out someone in need, I don’t see the issue with Payday loans yet
Well let us run a scenario for you – Rahul loves Simran but has found out that her Bauji is taking her to Punjab to get married. Rahul, because he is a lafanga, does not have the money to buy a plane ticket to Punjab – so he goes to a Payday loan provider and shows his income from posting IG posts as his income. Here is the exchange that takes place:
Rahul: Hi, my name is Rahul, I am an IG model and that’s how I make money – see here all my monies. I need Rs. 10,000 to buy a one-way ticket to Punjab to stop the love of my life from getting married
Lender: Woah sounds serious. My name is Kiran and I am more than happy to give you Rs. 10,000 for your ticket to Punjab – although I must say that’s a lot of money for a one way domestic flight, but your call! Anyway all you have to do is pay me Rs. 1,500 in fees to apply for this Payday loan and quickly sign these 500 pages that you don’t need to read through.
Rahul: Kkkkkkkkkirannn (sorry don’t know why I did that!) here’s Rs.1,500 from the very little money I already have and here is my autograph
End of Scene 1 : Rahul gets his money, goes to Punjab, tries to be cute, dances, eats, fights and finally gets Simran – all of this takes around 2 weeks (yeah he is soo charming that Bauji, who had nothing but nafrat for him, finally gives in!)
Start of Scene 2: Rahul moves in with Simran and is super happy with his life with her. But uh oh, gets a notification that Rs. 1,500 have been deducted from his bank account. He panics and calls the Kiran:
Rahul: Kkkkkkkkkirannn (I NEED to stop doing that!) I just got charged Rs. 1,500 from you guys. I thought my loan was due in 30 days – like all other loans. What’s going on boo?
Kiran: Oh my bad, guess you should have read the 500 pages which you signed – essentially a payday loan is different – our term limit is not 30 days but 20 days – i.e. you gotta pay up your loan in 20 days OR else, we will charge you a fee to renew your loan and extend the loan out
Rahul: hold up, you are telling me, this Rs. 1,500 charge I got is not even to repay the loan?! It’s just a fee to renew the loan for the next term of 20 days?
Kiran: Yup, that’s exactly right and exactly what I said – unless you like to repeat things people say!
Rahul: Ffffffiiishhhh my money doesn’t come in for another 20 days, how much will I have to pay you by then?
Kiran: Well, let’s see, the interest on the loan is 1% per day (yeah you really should have read the documents) and from the time you got the loan till you pay up, it would be been 40 days so that comes to:
- Principal: Rs. 10,000
- Interest: Rs. 4,000
- Fees: Rs. 3,000
- Total spent to stop Simran’s wedding: Rs. 17,000 (when in reality it should have cost him Rs.10,000)
- Satisfaction of being with Simran: Priceless?!
So what is the moral of this?
I know we sound like your parents/ grandparents when we say this but always stay within your means - don’t ever sign up for a PayDay loan unless there is an absolute emergency – like a surgery or something related to hospitals. Many folks take payday loans to finance a vacation or buy sh*t they don’t need.
And if you ever end up taking a PayDay loan, please please please make sure to read ALL the terms and conditions and get all questions answered. At least you will be mentally prepared
If you are interested in all the research around Payday loans, read this super interesting research here
We know that Religion is a veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy sensitive subject in India (please see the number of ‘Y’s in ‘VERY’ above!)
So before we go into this article, we want to make one thing super clear - we are not trying to do any apmaans of any religion instead we are taking a scientific approach in the similarities between Atheism & Religion – two opposite sides of the coin.
We thought of covering this article because – it’s Saturday, so lets do something fun (yes, this is the idea of fun for us! #nojudgements) and also because we recently found out that there are almost 3 million people in India who identify themselves as atheists (can only imagine the number of tamachas they must have received from parents!)
Nandoo, teri bakwaas ka judgement mein baadme karungi/ karunga, but first tell me what Atheism means?!
Atheism is, in the broadest sense, the absence of belief in the existence of deities or gods. It is very common to hear an atheist say “I don’t believe in God” but in reality, what they mean is “I don’t believe that God actually exists because I haven’t seen proof of it”
Hmmm okay, now talk about your bakwaas of how it’s similar to other religions
One thing that is very common in Buddism, Jainism and some sects of Hinduism is something called as Agnosticism, which is the view that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is neither believable nor unbelievable and more importantly, doesn’t matter when it comes to enlightenment.
Here’s why:
Okay so what was the point of this article?
Thing is, in today’s political climate, things have become too tense especially around religion. And more likely than not, the conversation around religion is “if you are not religious, you are a black sheep & should be punished” and we wanted to take a step back to show you that our religions don’t dictate that, it is the society that dictates that!
Okay end of this woke-ness, now go and have a FANTASTIC Saturday!!!!
PS: Few Nandoo-ers mentioned that we should start including links to additional info on the topics that we cover and so starting this article, we have done just that. Thank you SOOOO much for being such an invaluably amazing community! If you have any other suggestions to make GYAAN even more awesome, please do not hesitate to email us at hello@nandoo.in! We LOVE LOVE LOVEEEE hearing from fellow Nandoo-ers!
So before we go into this article, we want to make one thing super clear - we are not trying to do any apmaans of any religion instead we are taking a scientific approach in the similarities between Atheism & Religion – two opposite sides of the coin.
We thought of covering this article because – it’s Saturday, so lets do something fun (yes, this is the idea of fun for us! #nojudgements) and also because we recently found out that there are almost 3 million people in India who identify themselves as atheists (can only imagine the number of tamachas they must have received from parents!)
Nandoo, teri bakwaas ka judgement mein baadme karungi/ karunga, but first tell me what Atheism means?!
Atheism is, in the broadest sense, the absence of belief in the existence of deities or gods. It is very common to hear an atheist say “I don’t believe in God” but in reality, what they mean is “I don’t believe that God actually exists because I haven’t seen proof of it”
Hmmm okay, now talk about your bakwaas of how it’s similar to other religions
One thing that is very common in Buddism, Jainism and some sects of Hinduism is something called as Agnosticism, which is the view that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is neither believable nor unbelievable and more importantly, doesn’t matter when it comes to enlightenment.
Here’s why:
- Buddhism: The Buddha himself rejected the idea of a creator god, and Buddhist philosophers believe that an eternal god is nothing but a distraction for humans seeking enlightenment. While Buddhism does not argue that gods don’t exist, gods are seen as completely irrelevant to those who strive for enlightenment
- Jainism: While Jains believe in an eternal soul, or jiva, that can be reborn, they do not believe in a divine creator. According to Jainism, the universe is eternal, and while gods may exist, they too must be reborn, just like humans. The gods play no role in spiritual liberation and enlightenment; humans must find their own path to enlightenment with the help of wise human teachers
- Sankhya: is that part of Hinduism on which Yoga was constructed. This school of thought believes that humans can achieve liberation for themselves by freeing their own spirit from the realm of matter i.e. by not depending on a supernatural deity or God.
Okay so what was the point of this article?
Thing is, in today’s political climate, things have become too tense especially around religion. And more likely than not, the conversation around religion is “if you are not religious, you are a black sheep & should be punished” and we wanted to take a step back to show you that our religions don’t dictate that, it is the society that dictates that!
Okay end of this woke-ness, now go and have a FANTASTIC Saturday!!!!
PS: Few Nandoo-ers mentioned that we should start including links to additional info on the topics that we cover and so starting this article, we have done just that. Thank you SOOOO much for being such an invaluably amazing community! If you have any other suggestions to make GYAAN even more awesome, please do not hesitate to email us at hello@nandoo.in! We LOVE LOVE LOVEEEE hearing from fellow Nandoo-ers!
Not sure about you, but we LOVEDDDDD trading those WWE cards with our friends – you know the ones with the wrestler’s image and his stats behind. Hulk Hogan was the BEST while The Warlord was the WORST! (If you don’t know what we are talking about, you are DEF someone born after 2000!)
Anyway, regardless if you played with the WWE cards or not, we are pretty sure you have heard of WWE or World Wrestling Entertainment – you know the show which is responsible for Wrestlemania, Suplex City, RAW i.e. professional wrestling.
If you are NOT a WWE fan, you will still enjoy this article – trust us!
Today we will be covering how WWE – one of the biggest sports brands in the world & valued at $7 billion, built a monopoly in professional wrestling on the backs of its wrestlers.
Rise of WWE:
WWE was formed in 1952 but it actually became prominent when Vince McMahon – the current CEO of WWE, bought the company from his father in 1982. In 1982, there were almost 53 other professional wrestling companies and McMahon went on an expansion spree- either taking over the management of these companies or eliminating them through competition and sneaky tactics. This method paid off, making WWE, the sole global professional wrestling brand by 1992.
Wrestlers as Independent Contractors:
In those days, since there was so much competition from other wrestling organizations, the professional wrestlers that worked for WWE, worked as Independent contractors – which means in addition to working with WWE, they were allowed to work with other wrestling organizations because they were hired as contractors.
While the upside of working as an independent contractor is that you get the option to work with other companies without breaking any laws, the downside is that the company does not have to pay for your health insurance, pension, maternity or paternity leave, or any injuries incurred while working for them. This made sense in 1982, when there were a ton of competitors for WWE, it doesn’t now when WWE is the ONLY place a wrestler works!
You think your boss was bad…
WWE continues to hire Wrestlers as Independent Contractors to keep their overhead costs down. The problem with this is that they have excused themselves of any injuries that wrestlers undergo while working for WWE. This has resulted in dozens of former wrestlers getting addicted to drugs to manage the pain they have undergone from several years of putting their bodies through intense fights, leading to drug overdose for quite a few or early deaths from other injuries.
While other professional sports leagues have off-seasons for athletes to rest their bodies, WWE performers work most of the year, sometimes even through serious injury otherwise they lose their spots in the lineup. Other leagues have unions to vouch for their players’ rights; pro wrestlers have no such advocates, and previous unionization efforts have been squashed by McMahon. And you thought your boss was bad because s/he made you stay late that one day!
So what can you do?
One minor thing but it can go a LONG way – if you ever have the opportunity to watch a WWE game live in action, make sure to make a sign that reads “ Get your Wrestlers Health Insurance” this can go next to the sign of “Paul Heyman is the REAL DEAL” 🤣
Anyway, regardless if you played with the WWE cards or not, we are pretty sure you have heard of WWE or World Wrestling Entertainment – you know the show which is responsible for Wrestlemania, Suplex City, RAW i.e. professional wrestling.
If you are NOT a WWE fan, you will still enjoy this article – trust us!
Today we will be covering how WWE – one of the biggest sports brands in the world & valued at $7 billion, built a monopoly in professional wrestling on the backs of its wrestlers.
Rise of WWE:
WWE was formed in 1952 but it actually became prominent when Vince McMahon – the current CEO of WWE, bought the company from his father in 1982. In 1982, there were almost 53 other professional wrestling companies and McMahon went on an expansion spree- either taking over the management of these companies or eliminating them through competition and sneaky tactics. This method paid off, making WWE, the sole global professional wrestling brand by 1992.
Wrestlers as Independent Contractors:
In those days, since there was so much competition from other wrestling organizations, the professional wrestlers that worked for WWE, worked as Independent contractors – which means in addition to working with WWE, they were allowed to work with other wrestling organizations because they were hired as contractors.
While the upside of working as an independent contractor is that you get the option to work with other companies without breaking any laws, the downside is that the company does not have to pay for your health insurance, pension, maternity or paternity leave, or any injuries incurred while working for them. This made sense in 1982, when there were a ton of competitors for WWE, it doesn’t now when WWE is the ONLY place a wrestler works!
You think your boss was bad…
WWE continues to hire Wrestlers as Independent Contractors to keep their overhead costs down. The problem with this is that they have excused themselves of any injuries that wrestlers undergo while working for WWE. This has resulted in dozens of former wrestlers getting addicted to drugs to manage the pain they have undergone from several years of putting their bodies through intense fights, leading to drug overdose for quite a few or early deaths from other injuries.
While other professional sports leagues have off-seasons for athletes to rest their bodies, WWE performers work most of the year, sometimes even through serious injury otherwise they lose their spots in the lineup. Other leagues have unions to vouch for their players’ rights; pro wrestlers have no such advocates, and previous unionization efforts have been squashed by McMahon. And you thought your boss was bad because s/he made you stay late that one day!
So what can you do?
One minor thing but it can go a LONG way – if you ever have the opportunity to watch a WWE game live in action, make sure to make a sign that reads “ Get your Wrestlers Health Insurance” this can go next to the sign of “Paul Heyman is the REAL DEAL” 🤣
If you are a regular Gyaan reader, you already know that Spotify is live in India albeit with an incomplete service (Psstttt…they can’t play Cardi Ben and Bruno bhai due to a fight with Warner Records who owns their songs)
Despite that, our Indian music services i.e. JioSaavn and Gaana are getting ready to fight this war out to make sure that they continue holding their strong foothold on the Indian music streaming space.
Hmmm but Nandoo I just wana listen to “Aankh Maare” on an infinity loop and don’t care about who provides me with that!
Oh, we are sure you don’t care but these companies do – WHY? Because India just reached 5 billion streams/month and will hit 50 billion streams/month by end of 2020. You know what this means – basically whoever controls the majority of these streams will ding ding ding, get the majority of the ad revenue - Yup, it’s all about paisa!
Interestinggg so what are these companies doing to stay competitive?
Different version of leveraging power of Indian-ness
This being said, the entrance of Spotify in India is a GREAT thing for us - Indian Consumers - because it has added more options and is forcing the existing players to clean up shop and provide an excellent quality of service to us
Now you can go back to playing “Aankh maare” on your infinity repeat loop!
Despite that, our Indian music services i.e. JioSaavn and Gaana are getting ready to fight this war out to make sure that they continue holding their strong foothold on the Indian music streaming space.
Hmmm but Nandoo I just wana listen to “Aankh Maare” on an infinity loop and don’t care about who provides me with that!
Oh, we are sure you don’t care but these companies do – WHY? Because India just reached 5 billion streams/month and will hit 50 billion streams/month by end of 2020. You know what this means – basically whoever controls the majority of these streams will ding ding ding, get the majority of the ad revenue - Yup, it’s all about paisa!
Interestinggg so what are these companies doing to stay competitive?
Different version of leveraging power of Indian-ness
- App in multiple Bhashas : Both JioSaavn and Gaana have multiple versions of their apps in the various Indian languages to accommodate our super diverse dialect. Why create one app in multiple languages? Because 70% of the traffic for streaming comes from non-Tier1 & Tier 2 cities – which means to cater to them, you have to make your app available in non- English versions. Spotify, being from Sweden, cannot create a Telugu app that quickly!
- Focus on the Punjabi, yaar: Surprisingly, after Hindi and English songs, demand for Punjabi songs is the highest in India. And so, all Indian companies have entered into exclusive partnerships with Punjabi song writers & rappers to release their songs on their apps vs. Spotify. The Indian services are now learning from the success of creating original and exclusive Punjabi content and replicate it for other languages like Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Bhojpuri. Once again a leg up for Indian services because we DEF cannot see Spotify launching Bhojpuri songs any time soon!
- Being Indian…even with Data: With a hyper focus & consumption of Indian songs, our Indian streaming services are in well position to use this data to recommend other similarly tuned Indian songs whereas Spotify, which mostly relies on Western music won't be able to achieve that feat right away.
This being said, the entrance of Spotify in India is a GREAT thing for us - Indian Consumers - because it has added more options and is forcing the existing players to clean up shop and provide an excellent quality of service to us
Now you can go back to playing “Aankh maare” on your infinity repeat loop!
Banana is one of the most important crops in developing countries – they are nutritious, naturally packaged and dirt cheap. But they are extremely picky to grow – they require extremely rich soil, protection from wind and lots and lots and lots of water. They can really only grow in the Banana Belt – about 30 degrees north and south of equator – Brazil, China, India and Africa.
India is one of the biggest exporters of Banana but what is interesting is that the price of banana in India (Rs. 5-6) is roughly the same as that in US (Rs. 7-8) despite the fact that US cannot produce bananas.
Answer: SHIPPING CONTAINERS - the price of everything we buy (that is imported) is 95% dependent on the container that brings it. Of course, customs, foreign exchange, etc. do play a role but we will be focusing only on shipping containers for today’s gyaan!
First let’s rewind:
There are many ways to get goods from one place to another – planes are fast, trucks are precise and trains are efficient. But water is by far the cheapest. WHY? Because there are no roads to build or signals to stop at and once a ship starts moving it requires very little attention. Some of the biggest ships in the world are manned by as few as 13 crew members.
The initial issue with ships used to be that loading and unloading cargos used to take forever and in some cases almost the same time as the sailing time. This is because laborers had to manually carry, lift and load all the cargos on the ship and repeat the same when unloading. For example, a journey from New York to Europe would take 12 days but loading & unloading the cargos would take 7 days! This is 7 days that the ship is not being utilized to ship other things and make money. A study conducted by a shipping company found that every 1 second spent in loading & unloading would cost companies Rs. 2.5 lakhs/ year – yup you read that right!
Am sure you know, we live in a society where money talks – after this research came out, the shipping process took a 180 turn - fully automated and dependent on containers!
But Nandoo, why Containers?
You know how your Mom puts the khakras, chakris, chevda and sev all in one dabba so she can save space in the kitchen and knows what to open when she wants to serve snacks? That’s the same case for Containers – you can put multiple, varied items in a container thus saving space on the ship and making sure that the ship is always fully filled efficiently.
Automation because now that the containers are all of one size and one shape, it is easy for cranes to quickly & easily pick up containers and load them up on ships – thus removing the overhead costs that come with using laborers!
Hmmm, I get all of this but I still don’t get why Banana costs almost the same in India & US!
So labor to pick bananas from fields of India is pretty cheap (unfortunately for the farmer). Once picked, they are loaded on containers which are sealed and then moved to ports via trucks. They are then moved onto a ship which is also carrying containers of Wheat, Sugar, Rice, Minerals, etc. Once the ship reaches US, cranes automatically remove the containers and put them on trucks. This way – by combining multiple containers on a ship in an efficient manner and reducing the overhead costs by employing as little manpower as possible, the price of banana can remain almost same in the US.
India is one of the biggest exporters of Banana but what is interesting is that the price of banana in India (Rs. 5-6) is roughly the same as that in US (Rs. 7-8) despite the fact that US cannot produce bananas.
Answer: SHIPPING CONTAINERS - the price of everything we buy (that is imported) is 95% dependent on the container that brings it. Of course, customs, foreign exchange, etc. do play a role but we will be focusing only on shipping containers for today’s gyaan!
First let’s rewind:
There are many ways to get goods from one place to another – planes are fast, trucks are precise and trains are efficient. But water is by far the cheapest. WHY? Because there are no roads to build or signals to stop at and once a ship starts moving it requires very little attention. Some of the biggest ships in the world are manned by as few as 13 crew members.
The initial issue with ships used to be that loading and unloading cargos used to take forever and in some cases almost the same time as the sailing time. This is because laborers had to manually carry, lift and load all the cargos on the ship and repeat the same when unloading. For example, a journey from New York to Europe would take 12 days but loading & unloading the cargos would take 7 days! This is 7 days that the ship is not being utilized to ship other things and make money. A study conducted by a shipping company found that every 1 second spent in loading & unloading would cost companies Rs. 2.5 lakhs/ year – yup you read that right!
Am sure you know, we live in a society where money talks – after this research came out, the shipping process took a 180 turn - fully automated and dependent on containers!
But Nandoo, why Containers?
You know how your Mom puts the khakras, chakris, chevda and sev all in one dabba so she can save space in the kitchen and knows what to open when she wants to serve snacks? That’s the same case for Containers – you can put multiple, varied items in a container thus saving space on the ship and making sure that the ship is always fully filled efficiently.
Automation because now that the containers are all of one size and one shape, it is easy for cranes to quickly & easily pick up containers and load them up on ships – thus removing the overhead costs that come with using laborers!
Hmmm, I get all of this but I still don’t get why Banana costs almost the same in India & US!
So labor to pick bananas from fields of India is pretty cheap (unfortunately for the farmer). Once picked, they are loaded on containers which are sealed and then moved to ports via trucks. They are then moved onto a ship which is also carrying containers of Wheat, Sugar, Rice, Minerals, etc. Once the ship reaches US, cranes automatically remove the containers and put them on trucks. This way – by combining multiple containers on a ship in an efficient manner and reducing the overhead costs by employing as little manpower as possible, the price of banana can remain almost same in the US.
Quick background: Northern Ireland is part of the UK & shares a border with Ireland (part of the EU). For decades, there has been violence between Northern Ireland and Ireland – especially around their border. Because few groups in Northern Ireland want to be part of Ireland while few groups don't want to be part of it. It's all centered around religion - Catholicism (who want to reunite with Ireland) and Protestants who want Northern Ireland to remain with UK. UK obviously wants Northern Ireland to stay with them.
Hmmm okay so what are the UK's options:
May's Deal: Half BREXIT half not - It keeps the UK tied to EU's trade rules until they figure out what to do about Northern Ireland. Lawmakers rejected it... 8 times! Even though May said she will step down if lawmakers approve her plan! Since they cannot come to a conclusion, it has triggered ....
... a NO-DEAL BREXIT - which means the UK will be leaving the EU without any plan of action. A lot of them are worried that it will lead to chaos from travel to trade. Most of UK wants to avoid this so they have been....
...Hitting the SNOOZE button - what does this mean? The EU has agreed to push the deadline out till April 12th for UK to figure it's stuff out with the FINAL date being May 22nd when the UK HAS to leave the EU. If the UK doesn't figure anything out till then, then there is 100% guarantee of chaos across all of UK
Interesting, given that not a lot of people are voting down on Theresa May's plans, can they just revote to stay in EU?!
Almost a million people marched the streets last weekend to force their government to revote. In the past, the UK lawmakers have declined to do a revote but given how things are it might be on the cards
The date to watch out for this is 22nd May - to see what exactly will happen with UK, EU and the rest of the world! Don't worry, we will keep it covered for you!
Hmmm okay so what are the UK's options:
May's Deal: Half BREXIT half not - It keeps the UK tied to EU's trade rules until they figure out what to do about Northern Ireland. Lawmakers rejected it... 8 times! Even though May said she will step down if lawmakers approve her plan! Since they cannot come to a conclusion, it has triggered ....
... a NO-DEAL BREXIT - which means the UK will be leaving the EU without any plan of action. A lot of them are worried that it will lead to chaos from travel to trade. Most of UK wants to avoid this so they have been....
...Hitting the SNOOZE button - what does this mean? The EU has agreed to push the deadline out till April 12th for UK to figure it's stuff out with the FINAL date being May 22nd when the UK HAS to leave the EU. If the UK doesn't figure anything out till then, then there is 100% guarantee of chaos across all of UK
Interesting, given that not a lot of people are voting down on Theresa May's plans, can they just revote to stay in EU?!
Almost a million people marched the streets last weekend to force their government to revote. In the past, the UK lawmakers have declined to do a revote but given how things are it might be on the cards
The date to watch out for this is 22nd May - to see what exactly will happen with UK, EU and the rest of the world! Don't worry, we will keep it covered for you!
Little bit of background information:
In the 1950s, Europe wanted to make sure World War 2 never happened again and so a few countries got together to build closer economic and political ties to maintain peace and economic stability in the region. This group was called the European Economic Community - since that's not a fun name, they started calling themselves EU. It has 28 countries with UK joining the EU gang in 1970.
What does it mean to be part of EU?
Well they all belong to a single market i.e. they can buy and sell goods to each other without getting customs involved, they can travel in and out of the countries without visas and they also look out for one another when it comes to security issues - like co-ordinating international arrests (unfortunately they have been unsuccessful in catching 1 person - DON - kyun ki Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahi, na mumkin hai - LAST PJ WE PROMISE!)
Sounds very rosy, problem kya hai ?!
Well, UK - lately, there has been a growing push within UK to leave EU. WHY? Immigration. You see after the Soviet Union fell apart in the early ‘90s, a bunch of Eastern European countries started joining the EU. People there started moving to the UK and other wealthy EU countries and thus increasing the competition for low-paying jobs in UK - this is something that a lot of working-class UK citizens are not happy about!
Things took a sharp turn in 2013 when the PM - David Cameron, became very irritated by people pressuring him to leave UK. So he basically said - if you vote for me in the re-elections, I will call for a people's vote to decide if we should stay in EU or not. Anyway, long story short, he got re-elected and then, in 2015, asked people to vote if they wanted to stay in EU or not i.e. BREXIT - Britain's Exit
And what did the people decide?
This was literally the biggest LOL the world has ever seen - 52% of UK citizens voted FOR BREXIT but what is WORSE is that a Google report showed that most people didn't even know what they were voting for and were actually googling "What is Brexit" after casting their votes!! *insert facepalm* Also, cannot believe this is the type of folks who ruled us for ~200 years!
WOW! Okay so what’s happening now?
Well PM Cameron resigned because he was (and is) still against Brexit, and a new PM Theresa May took over to deal with the fallout. The EU told UK to pack up it's bags and leave EU by 12th April, 2019. May's job is to figure out what exactly to pack in the UK bags for a clean exit from EU.
This is way too much of high blood pressure for me - is UK packed already or will it be kicked out on 12th April?
Well, almost there but there is a MAJOR thorn in a successful UK exit from EU and it goes by the name of IRELAND! Unless and until UK figures out the Ireland situation, they wont be able to leave EU in a clean manner.
Bas kar Nandoo, tell me the Ireland suspense already!
Yeh episode cover hoga kal - Log back in and we will tell you exactly what the Ireland issue is and why PM Theresa May will lose her job over it
In the 1950s, Europe wanted to make sure World War 2 never happened again and so a few countries got together to build closer economic and political ties to maintain peace and economic stability in the region. This group was called the European Economic Community - since that's not a fun name, they started calling themselves EU. It has 28 countries with UK joining the EU gang in 1970.
What does it mean to be part of EU?
Well they all belong to a single market i.e. they can buy and sell goods to each other without getting customs involved, they can travel in and out of the countries without visas and they also look out for one another when it comes to security issues - like co-ordinating international arrests (unfortunately they have been unsuccessful in catching 1 person - DON - kyun ki Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahi, na mumkin hai - LAST PJ WE PROMISE!)
Sounds very rosy, problem kya hai ?!
Well, UK - lately, there has been a growing push within UK to leave EU. WHY? Immigration. You see after the Soviet Union fell apart in the early ‘90s, a bunch of Eastern European countries started joining the EU. People there started moving to the UK and other wealthy EU countries and thus increasing the competition for low-paying jobs in UK - this is something that a lot of working-class UK citizens are not happy about!
Things took a sharp turn in 2013 when the PM - David Cameron, became very irritated by people pressuring him to leave UK. So he basically said - if you vote for me in the re-elections, I will call for a people's vote to decide if we should stay in EU or not. Anyway, long story short, he got re-elected and then, in 2015, asked people to vote if they wanted to stay in EU or not i.e. BREXIT - Britain's Exit
And what did the people decide?
This was literally the biggest LOL the world has ever seen - 52% of UK citizens voted FOR BREXIT but what is WORSE is that a Google report showed that most people didn't even know what they were voting for and were actually googling "What is Brexit" after casting their votes!! *insert facepalm* Also, cannot believe this is the type of folks who ruled us for ~200 years!
WOW! Okay so what’s happening now?
Well PM Cameron resigned because he was (and is) still against Brexit, and a new PM Theresa May took over to deal with the fallout. The EU told UK to pack up it's bags and leave EU by 12th April, 2019. May's job is to figure out what exactly to pack in the UK bags for a clean exit from EU.
This is way too much of high blood pressure for me - is UK packed already or will it be kicked out on 12th April?
Well, almost there but there is a MAJOR thorn in a successful UK exit from EU and it goes by the name of IRELAND! Unless and until UK figures out the Ireland situation, they wont be able to leave EU in a clean manner.
Bas kar Nandoo, tell me the Ireland suspense already!
Yeh episode cover hoga kal - Log back in and we will tell you exactly what the Ireland issue is and why PM Theresa May will lose her job over it
Given its Saturday, we thought of taking it chill and doing a fun piece! Dating apps are picking up in India and we thought what all other aunties are thinking – “how can an app do a better job than ME in finding a good rishta for hamara/hamari Anu!?”
That got us thinking – are dating algos seriously better than the Indian traditional algos of aunties & astrologers?!
Here we break down the two-step algos that run some of the most prominent dating apps in India:
Step 1: Base Score
to find this base score, dating apps use an Elo rating - this is same as what is used in Chess to rank players. The way this works is – everyone gets a base score to start off with. This score is mostly dependent on how many “swipe rights” you get. The more swipe rights you get, the higher your score becomes – but here is the twist – the more “swipe rights” you get from other people who have gotten a lot of “swipe rights” your score increases at a more aggressive level. The only factor this rating uses is your “picture” and your “location”. So doesn’t seem quite right when it comes to finding “true love”- I mean what if Princess Charming/ Prince Charming lives in Bandra (Mumbai) but you happen to be in Haflong (Assam) ?! This is where Step 2 comes in play.
Step 2: Perfect Match
For this, dating apps use the Gale-Shapley Algo - it is a bit more complex so stay with us: the Gale-Shapley Algo also known as “Stable Marriage Algo” is based on the theory that an ideal couple is the one with no other options and when this equilibrium exists, a stable marriage is formed – Yes, yes it sounds very bleak and takes away the rosiness in finding love – but this is Maths and it has ALWAYS been bleak!
This is how this algo works – imagine a world where there are equal number of men & women. Of course the women will prefer to be with someone like a Ranveer Singh while the men would prefer Deepika Padukone
But if I get matched with Deepika Padukone, there is a problem – it will most likely end in a divorce – WHY because a smarter, better looking, more successful guy (*cough* *cough* Ranveer) will come along and she will fall in love with him and leave me and take away my 3 French bulldogs with her! (NO I have NOT planned a life with Deepika in my head!)
So what I want is an equilibrium - where for my significant other I am the best option and for me, they are my best option i.e. a stable pairing. This can only happen when you have no other options and so what dating apps do for the score for Step #2 is, they see your behavior patterns in terms of dislikes and match it with people with similar patterns in their dislikes. This way, when you go through ALL the dislikes, the only option you have is the other person who has also run out of options like you.
WOW Nandoo, thanks for ruining my outlook for finding love
We are SORRY that is not our intention – the great thing about dating apps is it makes relationships & finding love easier. However, you should know that when you get into these dating apps – that there is a lot more math, science, algos involved vs. just pure “cupid’s arrow”
For a true cupid’s arrow experience, ask your friends (NOT AUNTIES) to set you up with their friend – because only a friend would know your likes & dislikes thus, becoming the perfect outsourced algo for your love life!
That got us thinking – are dating algos seriously better than the Indian traditional algos of aunties & astrologers?!
Here we break down the two-step algos that run some of the most prominent dating apps in India:
Step 1: Base Score
to find this base score, dating apps use an Elo rating - this is same as what is used in Chess to rank players. The way this works is – everyone gets a base score to start off with. This score is mostly dependent on how many “swipe rights” you get. The more swipe rights you get, the higher your score becomes – but here is the twist – the more “swipe rights” you get from other people who have gotten a lot of “swipe rights” your score increases at a more aggressive level. The only factor this rating uses is your “picture” and your “location”. So doesn’t seem quite right when it comes to finding “true love”- I mean what if Princess Charming/ Prince Charming lives in Bandra (Mumbai) but you happen to be in Haflong (Assam) ?! This is where Step 2 comes in play.
Step 2: Perfect Match
For this, dating apps use the Gale-Shapley Algo - it is a bit more complex so stay with us: the Gale-Shapley Algo also known as “Stable Marriage Algo” is based on the theory that an ideal couple is the one with no other options and when this equilibrium exists, a stable marriage is formed – Yes, yes it sounds very bleak and takes away the rosiness in finding love – but this is Maths and it has ALWAYS been bleak!
This is how this algo works – imagine a world where there are equal number of men & women. Of course the women will prefer to be with someone like a Ranveer Singh while the men would prefer Deepika Padukone
But if I get matched with Deepika Padukone, there is a problem – it will most likely end in a divorce – WHY because a smarter, better looking, more successful guy (*cough* *cough* Ranveer) will come along and she will fall in love with him and leave me and take away my 3 French bulldogs with her! (NO I have NOT planned a life with Deepika in my head!)
So what I want is an equilibrium - where for my significant other I am the best option and for me, they are my best option i.e. a stable pairing. This can only happen when you have no other options and so what dating apps do for the score for Step #2 is, they see your behavior patterns in terms of dislikes and match it with people with similar patterns in their dislikes. This way, when you go through ALL the dislikes, the only option you have is the other person who has also run out of options like you.
WOW Nandoo, thanks for ruining my outlook for finding love
We are SORRY that is not our intention – the great thing about dating apps is it makes relationships & finding love easier. However, you should know that when you get into these dating apps – that there is a lot more math, science, algos involved vs. just pure “cupid’s arrow”
For a true cupid’s arrow experience, ask your friends (NOT AUNTIES) to set you up with their friend – because only a friend would know your likes & dislikes thus, becoming the perfect outsourced algo for your love life!
On Wednesday, India joined the “Super League” status as it became only the 4th country in the world to acquire ASAT (Anti-Satellite) technology. US, Russia and China are the other countries who have been successful with ASAT missions. So today, we will talk about what exactly does ASAT mean and how does it work.
Nandoo promise:
I know, I know - mission, satellite, ASAT – all sounds very technical & pakaav. We guarantee you that you won’t need a Physics degree to understand this! We will make it very Nandoo-esque so you can understand it very well and will henceforth be only called as “Einstein of the Fam” – You are Welcome!
We have a MAJOR favor from you – we want to build a super strong community of Nandoo-ers where we can share insider tidbits of behind the scenes work, how we operate and get your feedback on making Nandoo better on an instant basis. And so, would LOVE to connect with you on IG (we promise we won’t be like your Uncle/Aunty who stalks your pics and then complains to Mummy/ Papa about it!). If it is okay with you – can you follow us on IG here and we will follow you back? This way we can have a small, happy Nandoo family!
Okayyyy sooo ASAT – What?!
ASAT is short form of Anti-Satellite– these are space weapons designed to destroy enemy satellites for strategic military purposes. What is interesting is that, ASAT system has not yet been used in any wars, it is mostly used to signal other nations (and enemies) that your country is not to be messed with – it’s like Ranveer Singh’s doles – we have never seen him fight anyone in real life yet BUT we know not to mess with him due to the said doles!
There are 3 types of ASAT:
Another interesting thing we did with Mission Shakti, was that unlike tests undertaken by other nations, we kept the attack to low-orbit earth. WHY?
By keeping the attack at low-orbit, India made sure that all the kachra from the collision (also called Space Debris), falls back to earth and doesn’t float in space. WHY – because if the debris went on floating in space, next time we launched a missile, there would be very high chances of the future missiles bumping into one of those space debris (which are sturdy & floating at high speed), leading to severe damage.
All these space debris will fall back on earth (in India) in the next month – so make sure you walk around with a Steel Umbrella for the next month atleast! Oh and if you DO get hit by a space debri – please email Rakesh Roshan to sell your story for Koi Mil Gaya part 2 – Koi Gul Ho Gaya!
Nandoo promise:
I know, I know - mission, satellite, ASAT – all sounds very technical & pakaav. We guarantee you that you won’t need a Physics degree to understand this! We will make it very Nandoo-esque so you can understand it very well and will henceforth be only called as “Einstein of the Fam” – You are Welcome!
We have a MAJOR favor from you – we want to build a super strong community of Nandoo-ers where we can share insider tidbits of behind the scenes work, how we operate and get your feedback on making Nandoo better on an instant basis. And so, would LOVE to connect with you on IG (we promise we won’t be like your Uncle/Aunty who stalks your pics and then complains to Mummy/ Papa about it!). If it is okay with you – can you follow us on IG here and we will follow you back? This way we can have a small, happy Nandoo family!
Okayyyy sooo ASAT – What?!
ASAT is short form of Anti-Satellite– these are space weapons designed to destroy enemy satellites for strategic military purposes. What is interesting is that, ASAT system has not yet been used in any wars, it is mostly used to signal other nations (and enemies) that your country is not to be messed with – it’s like Ranveer Singh’s doles – we have never seen him fight anyone in real life yet BUT we know not to mess with him due to the said doles!
There are 3 types of ASAT:
- Kinetic-Kill Vehicle: This type of ASAT, does not use any explosives/bombs in it. It relies on the enormous force of a high-speed collision (takkar). First, they wait until the satellite is directly overhead and then they fire off a medium-range missile. Given the ASAT is strong and moving at super-fast speed, the collision with it destroys the attacking satellite. China uses this type of ASAT
- Hunter-Killer Vehicle: In this type of ASAT, missile is fired when the target is directly overhead and instead of depending on a head-on space collision, the satellite uses radar to close in on its target. Once it gets within 10 kms distance, it self-blows up and releases damaging shrapnel (like screws & pins but hundreds of thousands of those). This system is used by Russia and is not always successful.
- Heat-guided, Kinetic Vehicle: Issue with Type #1 and Type #2 is that they can attack targets ONLY when the target is directly overhead. The third type – Heat guided, Kinetic kill – can be shot from any angle. Once the missile is launched, it then collides with the target with enormous force to destroy it (same as a kinetic kill). This is the type that is used by US and also the type that we used on Wednesday for Mission Shakti
Another interesting thing we did with Mission Shakti, was that unlike tests undertaken by other nations, we kept the attack to low-orbit earth. WHY?
By keeping the attack at low-orbit, India made sure that all the kachra from the collision (also called Space Debris), falls back to earth and doesn’t float in space. WHY – because if the debris went on floating in space, next time we launched a missile, there would be very high chances of the future missiles bumping into one of those space debris (which are sturdy & floating at high speed), leading to severe damage.
All these space debris will fall back on earth (in India) in the next month – so make sure you walk around with a Steel Umbrella for the next month atleast! Oh and if you DO get hit by a space debri – please email Rakesh Roshan to sell your story for Koi Mil Gaya part 2 – Koi Gul Ho Gaya!
Overview:
China, once the country where every other country outsourced their homework too, has become so good (and expensive) at this outsourcing game that it has now begun outsourcing it’s own work to Ethiopia!
If all goes well, Ethiopia will soon become an outsourcing powerhouse in making fast fashion (i.e. your hoodies, tops, jeans from H&M, Forever21, etc)
Interesting....Tell me more:
Let’s step back to understand this process – The way "Fast Fashion" works is designers from these companies go to fashion weeks (e.g. NYC, Paris, Tokyo, Mumbai, etc.), quickly "recreate" (i.e. copy) these designs, send them to one of their outsourced factories (mainly in China) which then starts producing the garments very very veryyy quickly - that's where the name "fast" in fashion comes from.
Clothes from Zara, H&M, Gap, Guess, Forever 21 etc. all are fast fashion retailers. Quick & lesser expensive is the name of the game which is why retailers from US, Europe and all other first world countries would go to Asian countries such as China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh to make them. This was back in the 90s and early 2000s.
Hmmm, so how does Ethiopia fit in?
You see China has become pretty well off and so now, instead of making the clothes, it wants to oversee making of the clothes because that’s where the money is – and this where Ethiopia comes in. The African country has seen some severely dire times and is ready to turn a new leaf. It has studied the effects of globalization and wants to create global manufacturing factories to bring employment for it’s people.
Only problem is, Ethiopia doesn’t have the money to build these factories
So what does China do? The Chinese gave a loan of $10 billion to Ethiopia to build these clothes manufacturing factories – but here is the catch – the Ethiopians will have to give first priority of running these factories to the Chinese manufacturers with the added clause that these Chinese manufacturers will not be asked to pay taxes on any profits for the next 5 years!
This is good and bad in a way:
China, once the country where every other country outsourced their homework too, has become so good (and expensive) at this outsourcing game that it has now begun outsourcing it’s own work to Ethiopia!
If all goes well, Ethiopia will soon become an outsourcing powerhouse in making fast fashion (i.e. your hoodies, tops, jeans from H&M, Forever21, etc)
Interesting....Tell me more:
Let’s step back to understand this process – The way "Fast Fashion" works is designers from these companies go to fashion weeks (e.g. NYC, Paris, Tokyo, Mumbai, etc.), quickly "recreate" (i.e. copy) these designs, send them to one of their outsourced factories (mainly in China) which then starts producing the garments very very veryyy quickly - that's where the name "fast" in fashion comes from.
Clothes from Zara, H&M, Gap, Guess, Forever 21 etc. all are fast fashion retailers. Quick & lesser expensive is the name of the game which is why retailers from US, Europe and all other first world countries would go to Asian countries such as China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh to make them. This was back in the 90s and early 2000s.
Hmmm, so how does Ethiopia fit in?
You see China has become pretty well off and so now, instead of making the clothes, it wants to oversee making of the clothes because that’s where the money is – and this where Ethiopia comes in. The African country has seen some severely dire times and is ready to turn a new leaf. It has studied the effects of globalization and wants to create global manufacturing factories to bring employment for it’s people.
Only problem is, Ethiopia doesn’t have the money to build these factories
So what does China do? The Chinese gave a loan of $10 billion to Ethiopia to build these clothes manufacturing factories – but here is the catch – the Ethiopians will have to give first priority of running these factories to the Chinese manufacturers with the added clause that these Chinese manufacturers will not be asked to pay taxes on any profits for the next 5 years!
This is good and bad in a way:
- The Good: Ethiopians now have employment by working in these factories and are able to make a much higher wage than farming.
- The Bad: Ethiopia has taken a $10 billion loan from China to build a lot of things (including these factories) but has no solid source of income to pay off these loans as it cannot tax the manufacturers for the next 5 years and it HAS to work with these manufacturers on the first priority basis.
So we all know that Virushka went to South Africa for their honeymoon, but did you know that 3 Indian brothers practically ran & controlled South Africa till 2018? Hoping you nodded "NO" and guess what - we didn't know too so super pumped to discuss the rise & fall of the Gupta Brothers
Side Note: Alsoooo how CLEVER is this illustration- Jo Bros & Gupta Bros! You know how humble we are and NEVER like to compliment ourselves but this time we have to say it, "Shabasshh Nandoo, MF Hussain ko bhi side pein kar diya aaj!"
Background:
Shiv Kumar Gupta – a spice trader from Saharanpur sent his 3 sons in 3 different directions to seek fortunes in the 1990’s – Ajay went to Delhi, Rajesh to China and Atul to South Africa. Despite being downtrodden, South Africa was experiencing a renaissance – money was flowing freely and with abundant natural resources, the country was ripe for progress.
Atul started selling shoes but soon realized that the newly rich Africans were more interested in buying computers vs. shoes (not a surprise since our bhajiwalas are also same- he may not have a roof over his head, but he WILL have a cellphone!)
Rise of Gupta Brothers:
In the 1990s, South Africa was looking into developing partnerships with other developing countries and decided to send a convoy to India. While doing research about India, the deputy Prime Minister, came across Atul – an enterprising Indian who was very ambitious but more importantly, vested into South Africa’s progress.
Once Atul was exposed to the government, he soon became BFFs with almost all the politicians including Zuma- who would soon rise to power to become the President of South Africa. Atul brought his other two brothers to South Africa and they began trading in government contracts.
Their downfall & ultimately Zuma’s, were triggered by 3 incidences that extremely pissed the South Africans:
These were just 3 incidences that have been explored deeply. There are records of many more which articulate how, instead of using bullets, the Gupta brothers used bribes to get lucrative contracts & favors from the Govt., thus draining their National Treasury (where all tax payers' money is collected) of $7 billion!
It's not that South Africa is a super rich nation and has a ton of money to throw around - the country is still reeling from the after effects of apartheid (system of segregation & discrimination on grounds of race) and has a lot of societal & civil issues to resolve.
And so when the South Africans found out how Zuma was wasting money on the Guptas (the way you do in Starbucks), the South Africans were pissed off and couldn’t take it anymore!
This outburst caused Government to ask Zuma to “Nikal jao hamare ghar se!” And this is how President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, had to resign from his position after almost 10 years of running the country.
Sooo... What’s gonna happen to the Gupta brothers?
NOTHING! They will most likely be given amnesty for ratting out all the other corrupt politicians… and this is the circle of life we live in!
Side Note: Alsoooo how CLEVER is this illustration- Jo Bros & Gupta Bros! You know how humble we are and NEVER like to compliment ourselves but this time we have to say it, "Shabasshh Nandoo, MF Hussain ko bhi side pein kar diya aaj!"
Background:
Shiv Kumar Gupta – a spice trader from Saharanpur sent his 3 sons in 3 different directions to seek fortunes in the 1990’s – Ajay went to Delhi, Rajesh to China and Atul to South Africa. Despite being downtrodden, South Africa was experiencing a renaissance – money was flowing freely and with abundant natural resources, the country was ripe for progress.
Atul started selling shoes but soon realized that the newly rich Africans were more interested in buying computers vs. shoes (not a surprise since our bhajiwalas are also same- he may not have a roof over his head, but he WILL have a cellphone!)
Rise of Gupta Brothers:
In the 1990s, South Africa was looking into developing partnerships with other developing countries and decided to send a convoy to India. While doing research about India, the deputy Prime Minister, came across Atul – an enterprising Indian who was very ambitious but more importantly, vested into South Africa’s progress.
Once Atul was exposed to the government, he soon became BFFs with almost all the politicians including Zuma- who would soon rise to power to become the President of South Africa. Atul brought his other two brothers to South Africa and they began trading in government contracts.
Their downfall & ultimately Zuma’s, were triggered by 3 incidences that extremely pissed the South Africans:
- Indian Wedding: Seriously, there is always the twist of an Indian wedding! To celebrate his niece’s wedding, Atul had all his kakas, kakis, mamas and mamis fly from India to South Africa and land not in the regular airport BUT the one used exclusively by President Zuma…. this is like imagine if NaMo created an Airbnb Host Profile and airbnb-ed his PM residence to his besties!
- Selfie Game Strong: The brothers asked the Head of Advertising for the Govt. to allocate their entire advertising budget of Rs. 330 crore to promote the Gupta’s businesses…. Mind you - this money comes from the taxes paid by South Africans!
- Aila, Boost is the secret of my energy: Despite having abundant coal and renewable energy in South Africa, Zuma decided to sponsor creation of Nuclear Energy for a price tag of Rs. 44,800 crore (not gonna lie, don’t even know how many zeroes go in that amount!) And no surprise, he awarded that contract to the Gupta brothers!
These were just 3 incidences that have been explored deeply. There are records of many more which articulate how, instead of using bullets, the Gupta brothers used bribes to get lucrative contracts & favors from the Govt., thus draining their National Treasury (where all tax payers' money is collected) of $7 billion!
It's not that South Africa is a super rich nation and has a ton of money to throw around - the country is still reeling from the after effects of apartheid (system of segregation & discrimination on grounds of race) and has a lot of societal & civil issues to resolve.
And so when the South Africans found out how Zuma was wasting money on the Guptas (the way you do in Starbucks), the South Africans were pissed off and couldn’t take it anymore!
This outburst caused Government to ask Zuma to “Nikal jao hamare ghar se!” And this is how President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, had to resign from his position after almost 10 years of running the country.
Sooo... What’s gonna happen to the Gupta brothers?
NOTHING! They will most likely be given amnesty for ratting out all the other corrupt politicians… and this is the circle of life we live in!
Wait, what's going on?
Facebook has decided to move away from it's "sharing is caring" vibes to focus on private, group chats.... which means MORE fam groups for you to be included in which otherwise means more groups for you to mute!
Hang on, I don't care about this - I hardly go on FB, IG is my jammmmmm
Well yeah then it applies to you as well. WHY - because Facebook owns Whatsapp & Instagram and so it's focus on privacy & private chats wont be limited to only FB - it will extend out to IG, Whatsapp as well.
Hmmmm... why the sudden switch in strategy?
2018 was one of the WORST years for Facebook & specifically Mark Zuckerberg. A few highlights:
Woah.. okay makes sense why they want to switch over to privacy!
So what does this mean for all of us - nothing for now - Zuck has said it will take them a few years for the turnaround. But what is interesting is that he wants ALL of FB products - Whatsapp, Messenger, IG DM to work seamlessly with one another and make them private, secure, deletable.
MOST IMP QT FROM MY FAM: What will happen to my Uncle/ Aunty's FB posts?!
They are all secure for NOW! But tell them to start creating a real life board to "post" articles on because their beloved wall kal ho na ho....
Facebook has decided to move away from it's "sharing is caring" vibes to focus on private, group chats.... which means MORE fam groups for you to be included in which otherwise means more groups for you to mute!
Hang on, I don't care about this - I hardly go on FB, IG is my jammmmmm
Well yeah then it applies to you as well. WHY - because Facebook owns Whatsapp & Instagram and so it's focus on privacy & private chats wont be limited to only FB - it will extend out to IG, Whatsapp as well.
Hmmmm... why the sudden switch in strategy?
2018 was one of the WORST years for Facebook & specifically Mark Zuckerberg. A few highlights:
- March: it came out that a UK based consultancy firm - Cambridge Analytica, had used FB to access data of 87 million users globally, without their knowledge and then targeted them with specific ads to influence their voting. If you think this is a US/ Europe problem, think again - Cambridge Analytica's services were used for the 2010 Bihar elections!
- May: UN human rights experts investigating the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar said that Facebook played a critical role in spreading hate speech.
- September: It was revealed that FB was in violation of GDPR regulations and could face fine of around $1.65 billion
- October: they faced one of the biggest security hacks of all times which led to hackers stealing email addresses and phone numbers of almost 30 million users.... next time you get those calls about getting a liposuction- blame FB and not your health!
- November: Desperate for data on competitors, it was revealed that FB had been secretly tracking phone activity by paying users to install a different version of FB app which allowed the company to suck in all of the user's phone and web activity.
- December: FB disclosed they had a bug in the system that exposed private photos of users to app developers and almost 7 million users were impacted by this.... yeah no big deal!
- BONUS January '19: It was revealed that FB had stored passwords in simple text format - which means if your password for FB is NANDOO_IS_AWESOME_123 then instead of encrypting it, they had kept the message as is - making it even more easy for anyone to access your account! So make sure you change your FB password pronto!
Woah.. okay makes sense why they want to switch over to privacy!
So what does this mean for all of us - nothing for now - Zuck has said it will take them a few years for the turnaround. But what is interesting is that he wants ALL of FB products - Whatsapp, Messenger, IG DM to work seamlessly with one another and make them private, secure, deletable.
MOST IMP QT FROM MY FAM: What will happen to my Uncle/ Aunty's FB posts?!
They are all secure for NOW! But tell them to start creating a real life board to "post" articles on because their beloved wall kal ho na ho....
Wait, Sri Lanka was in war for 26 years?!
Yupppp! For more than 26 years the island nation of Sri Lanka tore itself apart in a brutal civil war. At the most basic level, the conflict goes back to ethnic tension between Sinhalese and Tamil citizens.
Tell me more
Lets get the basics – Sri Lanka is predominantly a Buddhist country – 70% of the population is Sinhalese (constituting of Buddhists) and the rest are Tamils (constituting of Hindus, Muslims & Christians). The Sinhalese and Tamils have been at odds since 18th century when the British ruled both India & Sri Lanka.
The Sinhalese initially came to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century on their own but the Tamils were brought over by the British as laborers to work on coffee, rubber and tea plantations. Instead of repaying the Tamils with money, the British instead decided to open up schools in the northern parts (where the Tamils lived) – how generous?!
Soon the Tamils started becoming more educated than the Sinhalese and so the British started giving them better positions in the local government. This irked the Sinhalese since it was technically their country but the Tamils were taking away the better jobs.
Anyway, long story short, as soon as the British left Sri Lanka in 1948, a newly independent Sri Lankan government, comprising mostly of Sinhalese, decided to take away the citizenships of almost all Tamils (~700,000 people!) Oh and mind you, they were not given ‘real citizenship’ till like 2003! They made Sinhaelese the official language and drove all Tamils out of their civil service jobs.
After decades of tension, an ethnic war finally broke out in 1983 which went on till 2009. During this war, a lot of countries such as India, Norway, US, Germany intervened to stop the carnage. It was so bad that when India sent troops to support the government (aka Sinhalese), the Tamils sent a suicide bomber to India who ultimately assassinated our then Prime Minister – Rajiv Gandhi.
So what caused this civil war to ultimately end?
9/11 - soon after the planes hit the Twin Towers in New York, it stopped almost all of US’ efforts to help all other countries with their wars. The September 11 attacks and the subsequent War on Terror made it difficult to get any overseas funding and support. And so, since money and warfare stopped coming in, both the parties ultimately decided that they could not continue fighting and called a truce.
When all of this mayhem ended, almost 200,000 people had died!
And so, when in May 2018, a state of emergency was declared in Sri Lanka due to boiling tensions between the two camps, it panicked a lot of Sri Lankans because it was a reminder of the 26 year long hell they had to live through. Thankfully, everything is back to being all pristine and serene. Next time you visit Sri Lanka, here is a little history lesson for you to ponder over.
Yupppp! For more than 26 years the island nation of Sri Lanka tore itself apart in a brutal civil war. At the most basic level, the conflict goes back to ethnic tension between Sinhalese and Tamil citizens.
Tell me more
Lets get the basics – Sri Lanka is predominantly a Buddhist country – 70% of the population is Sinhalese (constituting of Buddhists) and the rest are Tamils (constituting of Hindus, Muslims & Christians). The Sinhalese and Tamils have been at odds since 18th century when the British ruled both India & Sri Lanka.
The Sinhalese initially came to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century on their own but the Tamils were brought over by the British as laborers to work on coffee, rubber and tea plantations. Instead of repaying the Tamils with money, the British instead decided to open up schools in the northern parts (where the Tamils lived) – how generous?!
Soon the Tamils started becoming more educated than the Sinhalese and so the British started giving them better positions in the local government. This irked the Sinhalese since it was technically their country but the Tamils were taking away the better jobs.
Anyway, long story short, as soon as the British left Sri Lanka in 1948, a newly independent Sri Lankan government, comprising mostly of Sinhalese, decided to take away the citizenships of almost all Tamils (~700,000 people!) Oh and mind you, they were not given ‘real citizenship’ till like 2003! They made Sinhaelese the official language and drove all Tamils out of their civil service jobs.
After decades of tension, an ethnic war finally broke out in 1983 which went on till 2009. During this war, a lot of countries such as India, Norway, US, Germany intervened to stop the carnage. It was so bad that when India sent troops to support the government (aka Sinhalese), the Tamils sent a suicide bomber to India who ultimately assassinated our then Prime Minister – Rajiv Gandhi.
So what caused this civil war to ultimately end?
9/11 - soon after the planes hit the Twin Towers in New York, it stopped almost all of US’ efforts to help all other countries with their wars. The September 11 attacks and the subsequent War on Terror made it difficult to get any overseas funding and support. And so, since money and warfare stopped coming in, both the parties ultimately decided that they could not continue fighting and called a truce.
When all of this mayhem ended, almost 200,000 people had died!
And so, when in May 2018, a state of emergency was declared in Sri Lanka due to boiling tensions between the two camps, it panicked a lot of Sri Lankans because it was a reminder of the 26 year long hell they had to live through. Thankfully, everything is back to being all pristine and serene. Next time you visit Sri Lanka, here is a little history lesson for you to ponder over.
Ummmm so researching for this article took us 8 hours! WHY – because Indian laws & verdicts are written in such complex manner that, we had to stop by and get a law degree in the middle to figure all the mumbo jumbo! You are welcome - You can pay us for our law school by writing “Nandoo Mahan Hai” in Playstore - Okay now to the 2G scandal – get your popcorn ready:
The 2G scandal is the biggest & baddest scandal in history of India - it cost us ~$40 billion in lost revenue! That’s like 40 Kylie Jenners (yes I know you are disappointed with our choice of Kardashian joke but guess what, we are lawyers now!)
Oh and the WORST of all of this – almost every single person who was charged in this scandal is walking freely – why? Because the courts agreed that this DEF was a scandal but they did not find enough evidence to put the accused behind bars. Sooo yeah….
Recap
You remember how we had mentioned two posts ago how spectrums are owned by the Govt. and they are sold on an auction basis to TelCos (as in whoever bids the highest price, gets the spectrum)? This money is then used by the Govt to build roads, schools, hospitals, etc.
Now here is the twist – in 2008 the minister in-charge decided to change it up and made spectrum selling on a ‘first come first basis’ (meaning if Nandoo showed up first, we could technically be owning the spectrum!). He also priced the spectrum at 2001’s prices.
That’s it? That’s the whole 2G scandal?!
Ummm yeah………just kidding! It’s more complicated than that.
This is how the scandal started: The minister in charge – let’s call him Raja Babu – told his friends to start their own TelCo. Now this new TelCo was only on paper – as in – they registered their company as a TelCo but did not provide any service of a TelCo.
Next, Raja Babu told his fraaands, in advance, when he will start the bidding process and told them to buy Titan watches and show up on time so they can be “first come” to be “first served”. This is problematic because he shared the timing of the bidding before all other companies found out.
Result of this was that,
Raja babu’s friends were able to buy the best spectrums first at 2001’s prices and paid $350 million for it because they were at the 2001 rates. Next, his friends then went to real TelCos and sold them their new spectrums at 2008 prices which came to $40 billion!
Just to sink that thought further: By selling OUR (yes our because it belongs to the citizens!) spectrum at 2001’s prices, India received $350 million for something that was supposed to be valued at $40 billion
How did this scandal break out?
So re-selling spectrum licenses is not technically illegal, so the reselling did not trigger any alarms. What raised the alarms was that when the Exchequer of India (basically our country’s Munimji i.e. Accountant) was balancing the books, they came across the fact that the spectrums were sold at 2001’s prices.
But why Nandoo, whyyyyy did Raja Babu do all this?
Well, “most likely” to get a cut from his friends (we say most likely because the courts did not have evidence to prove this…. *eye roll*)
But what is most baffling in all of this was how 1 minister, with some powerful connections, was able to manipulate the system.
We hope you noticed we didn’t mention any of the political parties involved because our goal is to simply explain the scandal and not accused of biasing one way or another!
Anyway, have SOOOO much fun this weekend and get good rest! We will see you Monday!
The 2G scandal is the biggest & baddest scandal in history of India - it cost us ~$40 billion in lost revenue! That’s like 40 Kylie Jenners (yes I know you are disappointed with our choice of Kardashian joke but guess what, we are lawyers now!)
Oh and the WORST of all of this – almost every single person who was charged in this scandal is walking freely – why? Because the courts agreed that this DEF was a scandal but they did not find enough evidence to put the accused behind bars. Sooo yeah….
Recap
You remember how we had mentioned two posts ago how spectrums are owned by the Govt. and they are sold on an auction basis to TelCos (as in whoever bids the highest price, gets the spectrum)? This money is then used by the Govt to build roads, schools, hospitals, etc.
Now here is the twist – in 2008 the minister in-charge decided to change it up and made spectrum selling on a ‘first come first basis’ (meaning if Nandoo showed up first, we could technically be owning the spectrum!). He also priced the spectrum at 2001’s prices.
That’s it? That’s the whole 2G scandal?!
Ummm yeah………just kidding! It’s more complicated than that.
This is how the scandal started: The minister in charge – let’s call him Raja Babu – told his friends to start their own TelCo. Now this new TelCo was only on paper – as in – they registered their company as a TelCo but did not provide any service of a TelCo.
Next, Raja Babu told his fraaands, in advance, when he will start the bidding process and told them to buy Titan watches and show up on time so they can be “first come” to be “first served”. This is problematic because he shared the timing of the bidding before all other companies found out.
Result of this was that,
Raja babu’s friends were able to buy the best spectrums first at 2001’s prices and paid $350 million for it because they were at the 2001 rates. Next, his friends then went to real TelCos and sold them their new spectrums at 2008 prices which came to $40 billion!
Just to sink that thought further: By selling OUR (yes our because it belongs to the citizens!) spectrum at 2001’s prices, India received $350 million for something that was supposed to be valued at $40 billion
How did this scandal break out?
So re-selling spectrum licenses is not technically illegal, so the reselling did not trigger any alarms. What raised the alarms was that when the Exchequer of India (basically our country’s Munimji i.e. Accountant) was balancing the books, they came across the fact that the spectrums were sold at 2001’s prices.
But why Nandoo, whyyyyy did Raja Babu do all this?
Well, “most likely” to get a cut from his friends (we say most likely because the courts did not have evidence to prove this…. *eye roll*)
But what is most baffling in all of this was how 1 minister, with some powerful connections, was able to manipulate the system.
We hope you noticed we didn’t mention any of the political parties involved because our goal is to simply explain the scandal and not accused of biasing one way or another!
Anyway, have SOOOO much fun this weekend and get good rest! We will see you Monday!
There are three main players in this:
It takes a lot to run and operate a TelCo spectrum (check Archives) and so most TelCos take loans from banks as well as their partners. RCom took a loan of Rs. 4,500 crore from banks like SBI and one of it’s partner Ericsson. Only difference is:
Problem is, when a company goes bankrupt, firms that have provided secured loans get paid first. But TWIST – in our story, Ericsson got paid first!
Kyun?
So when JIO (hi special appearance!) came out with its crazy internet deal, all other TelCos suffered major losses. RCom was like ummmm sorry Paro (Ericsson) & Chandramukhi (SBI), I am not making any money cuz of Jio and so can’t pay either of you back, but I still love you both equally!
Paro, being an independent woman, was not going to take this lightly. She went to India’s Bankruptcy courts & was like tell Devdas to pay up or go to jail. Deva got nervous and was like ugh fine, I will do the following – I will get a partnership deal with JIO (cuz of bhaichara) and the money I make from it, I will pay you!
Cut to a few months later, Jio was like naah, I don’t want to work with Deva anymore. So Paro & Chandramukhi went to court again. This time Deva agreed that he will let Chandramukhi sell his assets & pay up Paro from whatever money he has.
Deva went one step further – he basically convinced Chandramukhi to do an out of court settlement. Chandramukhi, being crazy in love with Deva, agreed to it.
Problem is, selling assets (especially TelCo assets) takes a LONGGGGG time and so Deva was able to pay Paro a portion of what he owed. Then, Deva being very smart, went to the courts and was like “Judge saab, see I paid Paro portion of the money I owed her, can you please stop Chandramukhi from selling my assets as a result of this good faith?”
Paro was like “Over my dead body! You still owe me a LOT!” And so came another case, by just Paro this time, which made Deva personally guarantee that he will pay up all her money. The due date for paying all this was 19th March 2019. Deva didn’t have any money and so had to go to jail now but waittttt enter: JIO (hi special appearance again!) who decided to pay all of Deva’s debt to Paro and that’s how Paro got paid
Why did Paro get paid before Chandramukhi despite being an operational loaner?
Because:
Ummm what happens to Chandramukhi?
Well, she’s in a tough situation because Deva’s assets are taking a WHILE to sell (most likely will be bought by JIO) and there won’t be any price war which means the price at which JIO will end up buying Deva’s assets will be super low and Chandramukhi won't end up with a lot of money in return.
Also, Deva wants to now do an “in-court” settlement which means, Chandramukhi is back to square one with Deva
Also, also there are talks that the spectrum that Deva owns, technically belongs to the Government, so Chandramukhi does not have the right to sell that ----if that happens, it’s pretty bad!
Phew! Obviously this is an over-simplified version of what exactly happened but at least now you have a good gist of the RCom saga and can make interesting conversations at work!
Stay tuned - 2G scandal coming in tomorrow!
- Devdas: RCom
- Paro: Ericsson
- Chandramukhi: State Bank of India (SBI) and all other banks that provided loans to RCom
- Special Appearance: JIO
It takes a lot to run and operate a TelCo spectrum (check Archives) and so most TelCos take loans from banks as well as their partners. RCom took a loan of Rs. 4,500 crore from banks like SBI and one of it’s partner Ericsson. Only difference is:
- Banks gave RCom secured loans which means if RCom were to go bankrupt, the banks would get the money from selling everything RCom owns (e.g. property, assets, etc.)
- Ericsson gave RCom operational loan which means instead of giving outright money to them, Ericsson was like “Theek hai, take these pipes & towers for free for now but pakka pay me later, okay?”
Problem is, when a company goes bankrupt, firms that have provided secured loans get paid first. But TWIST – in our story, Ericsson got paid first!
Kyun?
So when JIO (hi special appearance!) came out with its crazy internet deal, all other TelCos suffered major losses. RCom was like ummmm sorry Paro (Ericsson) & Chandramukhi (SBI), I am not making any money cuz of Jio and so can’t pay either of you back, but I still love you both equally!
Paro, being an independent woman, was not going to take this lightly. She went to India’s Bankruptcy courts & was like tell Devdas to pay up or go to jail. Deva got nervous and was like ugh fine, I will do the following – I will get a partnership deal with JIO (cuz of bhaichara) and the money I make from it, I will pay you!
Cut to a few months later, Jio was like naah, I don’t want to work with Deva anymore. So Paro & Chandramukhi went to court again. This time Deva agreed that he will let Chandramukhi sell his assets & pay up Paro from whatever money he has.
Deva went one step further – he basically convinced Chandramukhi to do an out of court settlement. Chandramukhi, being crazy in love with Deva, agreed to it.
Problem is, selling assets (especially TelCo assets) takes a LONGGGGG time and so Deva was able to pay Paro a portion of what he owed. Then, Deva being very smart, went to the courts and was like “Judge saab, see I paid Paro portion of the money I owed her, can you please stop Chandramukhi from selling my assets as a result of this good faith?”
Paro was like “Over my dead body! You still owe me a LOT!” And so came another case, by just Paro this time, which made Deva personally guarantee that he will pay up all her money. The due date for paying all this was 19th March 2019. Deva didn’t have any money and so had to go to jail now but waittttt enter: JIO (hi special appearance again!) who decided to pay all of Deva’s debt to Paro and that’s how Paro got paid
Why did Paro get paid before Chandramukhi despite being an operational loaner?
Because:
- love is blind – Chandu should have never agreed to an out of court settlement
- Deva partially paid Paro and Paro pushed back to get fully paid and since she was the only one on the new court case, Deva had to pay only her (not Chandu!)
Ummm what happens to Chandramukhi?
Well, she’s in a tough situation because Deva’s assets are taking a WHILE to sell (most likely will be bought by JIO) and there won’t be any price war which means the price at which JIO will end up buying Deva’s assets will be super low and Chandramukhi won't end up with a lot of money in return.
Also, Deva wants to now do an “in-court” settlement which means, Chandramukhi is back to square one with Deva
Also, also there are talks that the spectrum that Deva owns, technically belongs to the Government, so Chandramukhi does not have the right to sell that ----if that happens, it’s pretty bad!
Phew! Obviously this is an over-simplified version of what exactly happened but at least now you have a good gist of the RCom saga and can make interesting conversations at work!
Stay tuned - 2G scandal coming in tomorrow!
If you still haven’t received a WhatsApp forward from your Pappa/ Kaka/ Mama/ Grandpa about how “March 18th is National Sibling Day because Mukesh Ambani rescued Anil Ambani” OR haven’t seen #MukeshNitaSaveAnil memes on Twitter yet, you are DEFFFF using MTNL/BSNL internet!
Today’s GYAAN won’t be focused on bhai-bhai love OR history of the Ambanis OR the fact that paying this 1 loan off, will end the RCom troubles (HINT: It wont and we will cover it after holi!)
Instead, today’s GYAAN is going to be on how internet spectrums are controlled in India & how it is a cut-throat, monopolistic process. WHY internet spectrums? Because that is what RCom is into (and so is JIO)
Okay couple of terms to learn (We promise it will be muchhhh better than your CET classes – #ScienceStudentJoke )
Spectrum: it’s basically range of radio-waves that are used for things like FM, AM Radio, Wi-Fi, Whatsapp, FB etc. Think of Spectrum as a gaddi. 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE, etc. are different spectrum types
Frequency: decides how much information & speed of a spectrum can be packed in the gaddi of spectrum.
Bands: these are lanes on which Spectrums "drive" and are regulated by Government. WHY? If anyone could broadcast signals at any frequency (i.e. drive at any speed &in any direction), there would be total chaos, and it would lead to a lot of interference, effectively rendering the spectrum useless for any kind of meaningful communication. That's why the spectrum gets divided into bands by the government.
Okay so now that you know the lingo, here is how spectrum distribution works in India:
A telecom company that wishes to offer it's services must purchase a Unified Access Services (UAS) license to operate. The UAS is valid for a period of 20 years.
The first telecom spectrum auction in India was held in 1994. All was well & good till the Govt. decided to get rid of Auctions in 2001 and implement something called as Administrative Allocation model - Under this model, the government would select companies that it deemed were best equipped to develop India's telecom infrastructure. It's literally the same concept as when your boss decides that Sushil is the best person for the job BECAUSE he wears a bow tie to work!
This policy is thankfully no longer in place but to give you an idea of the damage it did - Reliance had paid ₹12.25 crore and ₹58.49 crore in 1995 for a type of spectrum for 2 locations but in 2004, Airtel was allocated the same amount of spectrum in the same locations for ₹1 crore and ₹4.4 crore respectively - causing significant losses to the Indian Govt.!
Psshhhh: This was the genesis of the 2G Spectrum Scandal!
Today’s GYAAN won’t be focused on bhai-bhai love OR history of the Ambanis OR the fact that paying this 1 loan off, will end the RCom troubles (HINT: It wont and we will cover it after holi!)
Instead, today’s GYAAN is going to be on how internet spectrums are controlled in India & how it is a cut-throat, monopolistic process. WHY internet spectrums? Because that is what RCom is into (and so is JIO)
Okay couple of terms to learn (We promise it will be muchhhh better than your CET classes – #ScienceStudentJoke )
Spectrum: it’s basically range of radio-waves that are used for things like FM, AM Radio, Wi-Fi, Whatsapp, FB etc. Think of Spectrum as a gaddi. 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE, etc. are different spectrum types
Frequency: decides how much information & speed of a spectrum can be packed in the gaddi of spectrum.
- High Frequency Spectrums – are gaddis like Tesla that are veryyyy fast, can pack in a lot of data/ information BUT their coverage is low because they can’t travel fast due to quick energy depletion caused due to all that speed.
- Low Frequency Spectrums – are gaddis like Tata Nano that are slower than Tesla, cannot pack much data BUT have very good coverage because they can travel far & wide due to slow energy depletion. If you want to start your own TelCo, you want to use low frequency spectrums. This way, your customers have access to phone calls, etc. even when they are inside a building or underground.
Bands: these are lanes on which Spectrums "drive" and are regulated by Government. WHY? If anyone could broadcast signals at any frequency (i.e. drive at any speed &in any direction), there would be total chaos, and it would lead to a lot of interference, effectively rendering the spectrum useless for any kind of meaningful communication. That's why the spectrum gets divided into bands by the government.
Okay so now that you know the lingo, here is how spectrum distribution works in India:
A telecom company that wishes to offer it's services must purchase a Unified Access Services (UAS) license to operate. The UAS is valid for a period of 20 years.
The first telecom spectrum auction in India was held in 1994. All was well & good till the Govt. decided to get rid of Auctions in 2001 and implement something called as Administrative Allocation model - Under this model, the government would select companies that it deemed were best equipped to develop India's telecom infrastructure. It's literally the same concept as when your boss decides that Sushil is the best person for the job BECAUSE he wears a bow tie to work!
This policy is thankfully no longer in place but to give you an idea of the damage it did - Reliance had paid ₹12.25 crore and ₹58.49 crore in 1995 for a type of spectrum for 2 locations but in 2004, Airtel was allocated the same amount of spectrum in the same locations for ₹1 crore and ₹4.4 crore respectively - causing significant losses to the Indian Govt.!
Psshhhh: This was the genesis of the 2G Spectrum Scandal!
In a time when almost all banks in India are undergoing significant duress, Bandhan Bank has emerged in a league of it’s own. Started less than three years ago, Bandhan has emerged as a leader in Microfinance and was one of India’s biggest banking IPO with the company valued at Rs. 40,000 Crores! Here’s its story...
Tell me more:
Back in the day, banks were completely against providing loans to borrowers who had no credit history (kind of makes sense because it is risky to give out a loan to someone who doesn’t have any records of paying back a loan) So villagers and rural folks began going to Zamindaars who would charge exorbitant interest rates (anywhere from 50% – 150%) which made it even more difficult for the rural folks to pay back their loans.
All of this changed in 2001 when Chandra Shekhar Ghosh started Bandhan Bank. Ghosh – the son of a sweet shop seller, who had been born into poverty knew the value of education and supporting rural India. And so, after having worked at multiple international non-profits and moved by the plight of women entrepreneurs, he decided to start his own Microfinance institution
What's a Microfinance Institute?
It’s a type of banking/loan service that is provided to unemployed or low-income individuals who otherwise have no other access to financial services. The way these operate is that they give a loan to a community who then keep each other honest to pay back the loan due to social pressure. For instance, if I loan you, Asmita and Rupali 500 rupees each for your respective fun fare stalls and make you all promise me to pay back Rs.550 each, you all will work together to help and make sure each of you can pay back Rs. 550. Because come next year, you know you will not get a loan if one of you failed to repay back this year!
Why does Microfinance focus on women entrepreneurs?
Studies have shown that women are the ‘change’ agents of the family since women spend a greater percentage of their income on the welfare of their households than do men. As a consequence increases in women’s incomes improve the health, nutritional and educational status of other household members, particularly children.
Anyway, long story short, Bandhan went from a regular institution to a Bank in 2013 after securing a banking license. This allowed it to provide a large variety of micro loans across a large number of rural areas in India. To the point that by 2016, it was netting profits of Rs. 270 crore with deposits of Rs. 1,200 crore! Guess it pays to do good in the society
Tell me more:
Back in the day, banks were completely against providing loans to borrowers who had no credit history (kind of makes sense because it is risky to give out a loan to someone who doesn’t have any records of paying back a loan) So villagers and rural folks began going to Zamindaars who would charge exorbitant interest rates (anywhere from 50% – 150%) which made it even more difficult for the rural folks to pay back their loans.
All of this changed in 2001 when Chandra Shekhar Ghosh started Bandhan Bank. Ghosh – the son of a sweet shop seller, who had been born into poverty knew the value of education and supporting rural India. And so, after having worked at multiple international non-profits and moved by the plight of women entrepreneurs, he decided to start his own Microfinance institution
What's a Microfinance Institute?
It’s a type of banking/loan service that is provided to unemployed or low-income individuals who otherwise have no other access to financial services. The way these operate is that they give a loan to a community who then keep each other honest to pay back the loan due to social pressure. For instance, if I loan you, Asmita and Rupali 500 rupees each for your respective fun fare stalls and make you all promise me to pay back Rs.550 each, you all will work together to help and make sure each of you can pay back Rs. 550. Because come next year, you know you will not get a loan if one of you failed to repay back this year!
Why does Microfinance focus on women entrepreneurs?
Studies have shown that women are the ‘change’ agents of the family since women spend a greater percentage of their income on the welfare of their households than do men. As a consequence increases in women’s incomes improve the health, nutritional and educational status of other household members, particularly children.
Anyway, long story short, Bandhan went from a regular institution to a Bank in 2013 after securing a banking license. This allowed it to provide a large variety of micro loans across a large number of rural areas in India. To the point that by 2016, it was netting profits of Rs. 270 crore with deposits of Rs. 1,200 crore! Guess it pays to do good in the society
Back in 2018, Bangladesh agreed to sell 25% of the Dhaka Stock Exchange to China’s Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SSE) rejecting a rival bid from India’s National Stock Exchange (NSE). China’s SSE offered more money than India’s NSE, marking a second successful acquisition by China’s SSE after acquiring 40% of Pakistan Stock Exchange in 2016.
Sooo do we care Bangladesh chose China over us?
Well yes! India has been Bangladesh’s strongest ally – from helping it separate from Pakistan and declaring independence in 1970s to most recently, providing a $4 billion aid package to support the influx of Rohingya refugees. Bangladesh is also very well aware of the growing tension between India & China and so to choose India’s rival is being a bit too bold. Yes, you can argue that a lot more money was involved but given how we Indians are sentimental and value long-term relations, the government is not super happy with this!
So what’s the big deal with Dhaka Stock Exchange? Do they have better traders than my Gujju stock broker?
It’s not that the Dhaka Stock Exchange is this stellar stock exchange, but it is about establishing dominance.
Both India & China are pushing for complete geo-political influence across Middle East & Asia by investing in not only physical infrastructures (e.g. India helping build port in Iran while China doing the same in Pakistan) but also financial infrastructure (e.g. China buying stake in Dhaka exchange, Pakistan Stock Exchange and also bidding for Philippines Stock Exchange).
The end goal is to consolidate all this influence & power in both physical and financial infrastructures in Asia to then use it to direct global policies on Asia’s behalf that would best suit the dominant country!
Interesting Fact:
One of the biggest reasons that triggered Bangladesh (formerly known as East Pakistan) to separate out from Pakistan was that Pakistan would not acknowledge Bengali as an official language. This pissed the East Pakistanis for whom it was their mother tongue and so they decided to cut all ties and start fresh on their own!
Sooo do we care Bangladesh chose China over us?
Well yes! India has been Bangladesh’s strongest ally – from helping it separate from Pakistan and declaring independence in 1970s to most recently, providing a $4 billion aid package to support the influx of Rohingya refugees. Bangladesh is also very well aware of the growing tension between India & China and so to choose India’s rival is being a bit too bold. Yes, you can argue that a lot more money was involved but given how we Indians are sentimental and value long-term relations, the government is not super happy with this!
So what’s the big deal with Dhaka Stock Exchange? Do they have better traders than my Gujju stock broker?
It’s not that the Dhaka Stock Exchange is this stellar stock exchange, but it is about establishing dominance.
Both India & China are pushing for complete geo-political influence across Middle East & Asia by investing in not only physical infrastructures (e.g. India helping build port in Iran while China doing the same in Pakistan) but also financial infrastructure (e.g. China buying stake in Dhaka exchange, Pakistan Stock Exchange and also bidding for Philippines Stock Exchange).
The end goal is to consolidate all this influence & power in both physical and financial infrastructures in Asia to then use it to direct global policies on Asia’s behalf that would best suit the dominant country!
Interesting Fact:
One of the biggest reasons that triggered Bangladesh (formerly known as East Pakistan) to separate out from Pakistan was that Pakistan would not acknowledge Bengali as an official language. This pissed the East Pakistanis for whom it was their mother tongue and so they decided to cut all ties and start fresh on their own!
...And No, it's not because the world will end by then! Although, given how SpaceX is progressing and pollution is not quitting, won't be surprised if we end up migrating in Mars....Jadoo mein aa raha huuuuuu!
Ughhh, enough with the Jadoo jokes! What's going on with the Olympics?!
Slight back story - the last Olympics were held in South Korea for the Winter 2018 season. The Koreans spent 85,000 crore (or 1/3rd of Mukesh Ambani's net worth!) for a 40,000 seater stadium. It used this stadium 4 times and is now going to demolish it. Why? Because the area where the stadium was built, itself has a population of 40,000 - which means, to use this stadium in the future, every single resident will need to attend events there. And it's not that Korea has a lack of small stadiums that it needs this one as well.
Hmmm, why can't they just break it down into smaller stadiums?
Great question! Because breaking them apart to accommodate smaller concerts or events, costs almost the same (it cost London the exact same amount to convert their Olympic stadium into a soccer field as it did to make the Olympic stadium in the first place!)
Okay, but what about all the revenue that comes in by all the tourists visiting those countries later?
Ermm, not exactly (sorry for being such a debbie downer today!) A study conducted by sports economists, found that other than Barcelona, no other Olympic city has ever seen a tourist bump beyond the games themselves. a.k.a. once the games are done, tourists don’t go back to visit that city ever again!
Things have become so bad, that when the Olympics committee shortlisted Paris and Los Angeles for hosting the 2024 Olympics, they decided to award Paris the 2024 contract and Los Angeles for the 2028 one in the fear that by 2028, no city would ever pitch to be a host city!
Unless a sustainable solution (such as rotating the host cities so that they get the most out of their investments) is established, hosting the Olympics may soon stop existing!
Interesting Fact:
Olympics never used to cost so much! In 2000, when Sydney hosted the summer olympics, the final bill came to Rs. 30,000 crore only. However, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the cost of security at the Olympics skyrocketed. Greece was the first country to host the Olympics right after 9/11 (in 2004) and ended up with a final bill of Rs. 90,000 crore and that was all to protect the games from any terrorist attacks. After that, the prices have continued rising significantly – from Rs. 258,000 crore for the Beijing Summer Olympics to Rs. 300,000 crore for the Sochi Winter Olympics!
Ughhh, enough with the Jadoo jokes! What's going on with the Olympics?!
Slight back story - the last Olympics were held in South Korea for the Winter 2018 season. The Koreans spent 85,000 crore (or 1/3rd of Mukesh Ambani's net worth!) for a 40,000 seater stadium. It used this stadium 4 times and is now going to demolish it. Why? Because the area where the stadium was built, itself has a population of 40,000 - which means, to use this stadium in the future, every single resident will need to attend events there. And it's not that Korea has a lack of small stadiums that it needs this one as well.
Hmmm, why can't they just break it down into smaller stadiums?
Great question! Because breaking them apart to accommodate smaller concerts or events, costs almost the same (it cost London the exact same amount to convert their Olympic stadium into a soccer field as it did to make the Olympic stadium in the first place!)
Okay, but what about all the revenue that comes in by all the tourists visiting those countries later?
Ermm, not exactly (sorry for being such a debbie downer today!) A study conducted by sports economists, found that other than Barcelona, no other Olympic city has ever seen a tourist bump beyond the games themselves. a.k.a. once the games are done, tourists don’t go back to visit that city ever again!
Things have become so bad, that when the Olympics committee shortlisted Paris and Los Angeles for hosting the 2024 Olympics, they decided to award Paris the 2024 contract and Los Angeles for the 2028 one in the fear that by 2028, no city would ever pitch to be a host city!
Unless a sustainable solution (such as rotating the host cities so that they get the most out of their investments) is established, hosting the Olympics may soon stop existing!
Interesting Fact:
Olympics never used to cost so much! In 2000, when Sydney hosted the summer olympics, the final bill came to Rs. 30,000 crore only. However, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the cost of security at the Olympics skyrocketed. Greece was the first country to host the Olympics right after 9/11 (in 2004) and ended up with a final bill of Rs. 90,000 crore and that was all to protect the games from any terrorist attacks. After that, the prices have continued rising significantly – from Rs. 258,000 crore for the Beijing Summer Olympics to Rs. 300,000 crore for the Sochi Winter Olympics!
Okay so you already know that the shaadis are a mega business in India - if you did not know this, then you are clearly not Indian and/or from outer space, in which case - WELCOME BACK JADOO, bit of a bad timing since we are experiencing rains, so not that much dhoop
Sorry we digress, back to the main story - Google finally settled its fine with Competition Commission of India (CCI) which mandated Google pay up Rs. 136 crores for "search bias" and abuse of it's dominant person.
Okayyyy but what does this have to do with Shaadis?!
In 2015, Bharat Matrimony complained to the CCI that Google sold keywords, related to its website, to competitors like Shaadi.com & Jeevansaathi.com.
The CCI obviously did not take this lightly because, like our title suggests, no one messes with the Shaadis! The case finally wrapped up with the verdict that Google had to pay Rs. 136 crores – which represents around 5% of its India revenues.
This is not technically a big fine for Google and it can very well pay it off. However, doing so opens the doors for other countries, companies & governments with opening similar cases against Google, which it cannot afford. So this case is kind of historic in the sense that other companies/governments/countries will be able to cite this case for their cases!
Interesting Fact:
The founder of BharatMatrinomy.com actually met his wife through his own website! That’s like if Raakhi Savant found a husband on a TV show based on her own Swayamvar…oh wait, that actually did happen!
Sorry we digress, back to the main story - Google finally settled its fine with Competition Commission of India (CCI) which mandated Google pay up Rs. 136 crores for "search bias" and abuse of it's dominant person.
Okayyyy but what does this have to do with Shaadis?!
In 2015, Bharat Matrimony complained to the CCI that Google sold keywords, related to its website, to competitors like Shaadi.com & Jeevansaathi.com.
The CCI obviously did not take this lightly because, like our title suggests, no one messes with the Shaadis! The case finally wrapped up with the verdict that Google had to pay Rs. 136 crores – which represents around 5% of its India revenues.
This is not technically a big fine for Google and it can very well pay it off. However, doing so opens the doors for other countries, companies & governments with opening similar cases against Google, which it cannot afford. So this case is kind of historic in the sense that other companies/governments/countries will be able to cite this case for their cases!
Interesting Fact:
The founder of BharatMatrinomy.com actually met his wife through his own website! That’s like if Raakhi Savant found a husband on a TV show based on her own Swayamvar…oh wait, that actually did happen!
Hint- it is the country you are living in!
Before we go into this hot topic– let us set the stage first – we will not be advocating who or which party to vote for. We will however, be advocating that you go out and vote - voting is a citizen’s civic responsibility and is also your opportunity to make your voice heard. Patriots have fought and died so that we can have the right to vote and so just make sure you vote!
Okay now that we are done giving you this emotional atyachaar (we will be repeating this closer to voting dates!)
We wanted to go into the details of the world’s biggest general elections ever!
A fun stat: 90 crore Indians have registered to vote, this size is same as:
Great, but why are the elections taking place over 39 days vs. getting it over in one day?
Given 90 crore people will be voting, security is the most important factor. And so, te reason for phased elections is only one – to prevent loss of lives. Confused? Well, we do have a history of pre-poll and poll day violence (if not in the cities, definitely in the villages & rural parts) and by keeping the elections phased, the country can move the military resources in an efficient manner without causing any blood-shed.
Fineeeee, but then why hold them from April 11th – May 23rd? This kinda/sorta ruins my summer vacay plans!
Well, you do remember we are predominantly an agricultural economy, right? (sorry Techies, you are not that important!) Most of our population is involved in some form of agricultural activity and since one of the biggest mandates for election is to make it accessible for as many people as possible, April – May is the only time frame that works. WHY?
Remember in school, we had to learn/ mug up about Kharif and Rabi seasons?! To recap,:
Wow Nandoo – you are just soooo good and amazing and mind-blowingly great and clearly the most superior being!
Jeeeeee thanks! You make us blush …also tell us something we don’t know! :P
Before we go into this hot topic– let us set the stage first – we will not be advocating who or which party to vote for. We will however, be advocating that you go out and vote - voting is a citizen’s civic responsibility and is also your opportunity to make your voice heard. Patriots have fought and died so that we can have the right to vote and so just make sure you vote!
Okay now that we are done giving you this emotional atyachaar (we will be repeating this closer to voting dates!)
We wanted to go into the details of the world’s biggest general elections ever!
A fun stat: 90 crore Indians have registered to vote, this size is same as:
- 150 times the size of Norway’s total population
- Total number of people with iPhones on Earth
- Net worth of Kylie Jenner, if every one of these registered voters were given $1 (don’t worry, we just slapped ourselves for making a Kardashian reference!)
Great, but why are the elections taking place over 39 days vs. getting it over in one day?
Given 90 crore people will be voting, security is the most important factor. And so, te reason for phased elections is only one – to prevent loss of lives. Confused? Well, we do have a history of pre-poll and poll day violence (if not in the cities, definitely in the villages & rural parts) and by keeping the elections phased, the country can move the military resources in an efficient manner without causing any blood-shed.
Fineeeee, but then why hold them from April 11th – May 23rd? This kinda/sorta ruins my summer vacay plans!
Well, you do remember we are predominantly an agricultural economy, right? (sorry Techies, you are not that important!) Most of our population is involved in some form of agricultural activity and since one of the biggest mandates for election is to make it accessible for as many people as possible, April – May is the only time frame that works. WHY?
Remember in school, we had to learn/ mug up about Kharif and Rabi seasons?! To recap,:
- In the Kharif season, farmers are sowing seeds from end of May to July and harvesting from Sept. to Oct
- In Rabi system, they are sowing from Oct. to Dec. while harvesting from Feb. to mid-April (please don’t ask us what crops are grown in either of those seasons – our mugging skills were not that strong!)
- This leaves only mid- April to mid-May as the most idle time to hold the elections & get the biggest turnout possible
Wow Nandoo – you are just soooo good and amazing and mind-blowingly great and clearly the most superior being!
Jeeeeee thanks! You make us blush …also tell us something we don’t know! :P
Answer: LOVE COMMANDO!
Hold up, what?!
Let’s back up – we are sure you already know that inter-caste marriage is still something a lot of older people are not cool with in India. If you didn’t know, here are two easy ways to find out:
We are joking about this right now but the reality for some is extremely severe – anything from getting falsely jailed to forcible marriage to the most heinous of all – honor killing.
This is where Love Commando steps in:
Love Commando is a group of journalists, businessmen & women, lawyers and human rights activists who runs secret shelters for eloped couples, where they can stay until they gain financial independence. As of 2018, they had around 1 lakh members, 500 shelters and received, on average, 300 calls/day. Main goal of this group is to put a stop to honor killings. They don’t charge the couples anything but in return ask for their help with the chores of the shelter.
Great, how does this connect with my boi Bjorn?!
Oh right, because it is a non-profit, it has been funded by both Shaadi.com and Bjorn Borg to promote love (in case for Bjorn) and hassle-free shaadis (for Shaadi.com). They were also featured on Satyameva Jayate with Aamir for their work.
Cool, but why are we talking about this now?
One thing you should know of Gyaan, there is always a negative side to all stories & unfortunately, that’s the case with this one as well - the cofounder of Love Commando was recently arrested & sent to prison for allegedly confining couples against their will & making them live in inhuman conditions.
Is this true?!
Maybe or maybe not since they have experienced complaints in the past made by parents of the couples rescued. This time around, it is different because the complaints have been made by few couples themselves so the police is undertaking a thorough investigation by interviewing all sides. Till then, if you or anyone you know is facing issues with this, please reach out to Dhanak – a similar NGO that supports couples undertaking inter caste marriages. They can be reached at queries.dhanak@gmail.com and will respond back within 24 hours.
Hold up, what?!
Let’s back up – we are sure you already know that inter-caste marriage is still something a lot of older people are not cool with in India. If you didn’t know, here are two easy ways to find out:
- Open Star Plus & watch ANY K-serial for 5 mins
- Tell your Kaaki/ Maami/ Daadi how you would LOVE to have an inter-caste marriage
We are joking about this right now but the reality for some is extremely severe – anything from getting falsely jailed to forcible marriage to the most heinous of all – honor killing.
This is where Love Commando steps in:
Love Commando is a group of journalists, businessmen & women, lawyers and human rights activists who runs secret shelters for eloped couples, where they can stay until they gain financial independence. As of 2018, they had around 1 lakh members, 500 shelters and received, on average, 300 calls/day. Main goal of this group is to put a stop to honor killings. They don’t charge the couples anything but in return ask for their help with the chores of the shelter.
Great, how does this connect with my boi Bjorn?!
Oh right, because it is a non-profit, it has been funded by both Shaadi.com and Bjorn Borg to promote love (in case for Bjorn) and hassle-free shaadis (for Shaadi.com). They were also featured on Satyameva Jayate with Aamir for their work.
Cool, but why are we talking about this now?
One thing you should know of Gyaan, there is always a negative side to all stories & unfortunately, that’s the case with this one as well - the cofounder of Love Commando was recently arrested & sent to prison for allegedly confining couples against their will & making them live in inhuman conditions.
Is this true?!
Maybe or maybe not since they have experienced complaints in the past made by parents of the couples rescued. This time around, it is different because the complaints have been made by few couples themselves so the police is undertaking a thorough investigation by interviewing all sides. Till then, if you or anyone you know is facing issues with this, please reach out to Dhanak – a similar NGO that supports couples undertaking inter caste marriages. They can be reached at queries.dhanak@gmail.com and will respond back within 24 hours.
When we say “pirates”
Make sure you erase all images of Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan in bad wigs trying to dance to Suraiyya. If you cannot erase these images, please email us ASAP to get our chashmawalla uncle’s whatsapp number (he was very nice & gave us our money back for the soda glasses used for the BING article!)
Somalian pirates run one of the most organized networks in the world consisting of a stock market, chain of command, experienced negotiators AND see a profit margin of over 30% (take that Apple!)
“Soooo obviously I know everything about Somalia but my idiotic brother doesn’t, can you give a refresher for him?”
Of course! Oh & we ourselves didn’t know much about Somalia before this article, so no shame if your “brother” doesn’t know too. Okay so Somalia is one of the toughest places to live on earth – they have a civil war going on for nearly 3 decades now, they are suffering from drought (water shortage), famine (food shortage) and despite having the longest coastline in Africa, cannot fish because all of their water has been polluted due to foreign companies illegally dumping their toxic waste in their waters.
This leaves only one option – pirating (arrghhhh…)
An average ransom for pirating a ship gets them anywhere from $2.7M to $6M. But to get the ransom, there is a lot of thinking involved:
Why don’t these ships just get expensive body guards on the ship for protection:
Because ALL of these ships have something called as Kidnapping & Ransom insurance – which means, if ever anything like this happens, they will get most of their money back from the insurance company. There is always a chance of the on-ship bodyguards failing to fight the pirates back but there is always the guarantee that the insurance company will pay back.
Make sure you erase all images of Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan in bad wigs trying to dance to Suraiyya. If you cannot erase these images, please email us ASAP to get our chashmawalla uncle’s whatsapp number (he was very nice & gave us our money back for the soda glasses used for the BING article!)
Somalian pirates run one of the most organized networks in the world consisting of a stock market, chain of command, experienced negotiators AND see a profit margin of over 30% (take that Apple!)
“Soooo obviously I know everything about Somalia but my idiotic brother doesn’t, can you give a refresher for him?”
Of course! Oh & we ourselves didn’t know much about Somalia before this article, so no shame if your “brother” doesn’t know too. Okay so Somalia is one of the toughest places to live on earth – they have a civil war going on for nearly 3 decades now, they are suffering from drought (water shortage), famine (food shortage) and despite having the longest coastline in Africa, cannot fish because all of their water has been polluted due to foreign companies illegally dumping their toxic waste in their waters.
This leaves only one option – pirating (arrghhhh…)
An average ransom for pirating a ship gets them anywhere from $2.7M to $6M. But to get the ransom, there is a lot of thinking involved:
- Identify the target: The ideal victim for Somalian pirates is a ship coming from a rich country, moving slowly and expected to pass African coast (which is most ships originating from US or Europe). The objective of the attack is not the goods of the Ship – it is actually the crew. The Somalian pirates are known to never touch the oil, shipments, etc. on the ship BUT always go for the crew because they know that the crew is the most important asset for the shipping company.
- Financing: A single attack costs around $30,000 or Rs.21 lakhs upfront. This is a HUGE amount for Somalians so they reach out to wealthy individuals through their informal stock market for financing. (obviously a bank is NOT going to give them a loan for this. Also, side note – imagine telling the bank teller why you can’t give your Aadhar number to them for the said loan!)
- Attack: Somalians generally have 2 medium size boats with 8-10 people/ boat and they start following the large ship. Of course, the ship will try to steer coast and fight back but the Somalians have AK-47s with them, so there is no match. Once they get on the main ship, first thing the pirates do is cut the communication and take the ship to the nearest port. Once there, the negotiations begin which take LONG – In general, the negotiations take anywhere from 300 – 500 days with every passing day, the value of crew going up.
- Final Result: the shipping company would never leave their crew behind (imagine the press if people found out that this company let their crew die by Somalian pirates. No one would want to work for them AND they would go out of business!) Once negotiations are done, money is delivered via a helicopter in a water proof case and the pirates leave the ship.
- Original Investors: roughly 30% of this loot goes to them
- Port: that allowed the pirates to dock the ship: they get 10% for looking the other way & not reporting the pirates
- Rest to the Pirates: the rest of the 60% stays with them and is spread evenly among all.
Why don’t these ships just get expensive body guards on the ship for protection:
Because ALL of these ships have something called as Kidnapping & Ransom insurance – which means, if ever anything like this happens, they will get most of their money back from the insurance company. There is always a chance of the on-ship bodyguards failing to fight the pirates back but there is always the guarantee that the insurance company will pay back.
Recap
To recap from Saturday's Gyaan, Apple makes a ton of money through selling great products but all of it is stashed in Ireland to avoid paying taxes. This is how they have been able to have $285B in cash – higher than the combined GDPs of Kenya, Ethiopia, Croatia & , Sri Lanka
Okay so back to today’s Gyaan
Given Apple makes $1,444 per second, it's cash pile is growing exponentially. BUT, this growing cash pile is no good because it is all in Ireland and if they bring it over to the US (where they are based) to spend or use it, they will get taxed! It’s like having the world’s largest bank account but with no ATM machine to withdraw from.
This problem gets worse:
To regular folks, this is a GOOD problem to have – money in the bank account is money I can use when I have rainy days or for future trips. But Apple is no ordinary person – it is a publicly traded company and publicly traded companies have shareholders (i.e. people who have bought shares of the company and through that have become partial owners of the company)
The reason people buy shares is because they want to see the value of their share grow. Money sitting idly is money that is not being invested to grow more money for future.
But when there is $285 Billion involved there is always exception
Here is the good news (for Apple!) – they have successfully worked with the Trump administration to bring down the corporate tax rate. This means Apple will now be paying rather nominal amount (still in billions but single digit which is literally loose change for Apple!) and will be bringing back $218 billion of its cash to US.
What does Apple plan to do with this?
Two main things: Invest in research to build more unique products & patents and acquire smaller companies (ahem, it will be hard but we are open to an acquisition at the nominal amount of $3 billion only)
To recap from Saturday's Gyaan, Apple makes a ton of money through selling great products but all of it is stashed in Ireland to avoid paying taxes. This is how they have been able to have $285B in cash – higher than the combined GDPs of Kenya, Ethiopia, Croatia & , Sri Lanka
Okay so back to today’s Gyaan
Given Apple makes $1,444 per second, it's cash pile is growing exponentially. BUT, this growing cash pile is no good because it is all in Ireland and if they bring it over to the US (where they are based) to spend or use it, they will get taxed! It’s like having the world’s largest bank account but with no ATM machine to withdraw from.
This problem gets worse:
- To pay American bills, Apple has to take American loans despite having the cash to pay for those bills
- That cash is just chillin’ in Ireland – i.e. money is not making money.
To regular folks, this is a GOOD problem to have – money in the bank account is money I can use when I have rainy days or for future trips. But Apple is no ordinary person – it is a publicly traded company and publicly traded companies have shareholders (i.e. people who have bought shares of the company and through that have become partial owners of the company)
The reason people buy shares is because they want to see the value of their share grow. Money sitting idly is money that is not being invested to grow more money for future.
But when there is $285 Billion involved there is always exception
Here is the good news (for Apple!) – they have successfully worked with the Trump administration to bring down the corporate tax rate. This means Apple will now be paying rather nominal amount (still in billions but single digit which is literally loose change for Apple!) and will be bringing back $218 billion of its cash to US.
What does Apple plan to do with this?
Two main things: Invest in research to build more unique products & patents and acquire smaller companies (ahem, it will be hard but we are open to an acquisition at the nominal amount of $3 billion only)
Body:
Some numbers for you
Do you like sandwich?
You are probably thinking, “Ugh what kind of a stupid question is this? Of course I LOVE SANDWICH, especially samosa sandwich!” Well, the way Apple has accumulated $285 billion in cash is through a special sandwich called a Double Irish Sandwich.
Let’s back track a bit – it doesn’t matter if a product is made in Sri Lanka, Antarctica or Mars – the company HAS to pay taxes in the country where they make their profits by selling their product.
And this is where Apple’s smartness comes in…
Easiest way to pay less taxes, is to “show” less profits. Now all of Apple’s products are dependent on it’s patent. What Apple has done is, it has opened an Apple subsidiary in Ireland and made this Ireland subsidiary the owner of patents which then “rents” out the patent usage to other Apple subsidiaries for a “fee”.
What this means is, let’s say when Germany asks Apple to pay taxes on the profits made by selling iPhones in Germany, Apple basically says “Ummm sorry, we actually did not make that much profit because we have to pay this money back in fees to our patent owner in Ireland” which by the way is APPLE itself!
Okay so we know how Apple gets away paying a lot in taxes to the country in which it sells its products. But what about Ireland, surely they would charge something?
Naah, not really - to avoid paying taxes in Ireland, Apple uses a really clever loophole in Ireland’s tax code – it flashes all this money in Netherlands for like a minute and then sends the money to another Ireland subsidiary to make it 100% tax free. This is the Double Irish Sandwich – the pav are the two Ireland subsidiaries and samosa is the Netherlands subsidiary.
Why would Ireland tolerate this?
Well, Ireland is super tiny and other than cows & pasturelands, they don’t have much going on. So my allowing Apple to do this, they are getting jobs in return. HOWEVER, due to increased pressure by the European Union, Ireland is now working to remove this loophole to make Apple at least pay Ireland taxes. But none of this will be in effect till 2020, so Apple has quite some time to figure out it’s next dish – maybe a Caribbean Biryani this time?
Some numbers for you
- Apple makes $1444 or Rs. 1 lakh every second
- It’s bank balance is higher than the combined GDPs of Kenya, Ethiopia, Croatia & Sri Lanka
Do you like sandwich?
You are probably thinking, “Ugh what kind of a stupid question is this? Of course I LOVE SANDWICH, especially samosa sandwich!” Well, the way Apple has accumulated $285 billion in cash is through a special sandwich called a Double Irish Sandwich.
Let’s back track a bit – it doesn’t matter if a product is made in Sri Lanka, Antarctica or Mars – the company HAS to pay taxes in the country where they make their profits by selling their product.
And this is where Apple’s smartness comes in…
Easiest way to pay less taxes, is to “show” less profits. Now all of Apple’s products are dependent on it’s patent. What Apple has done is, it has opened an Apple subsidiary in Ireland and made this Ireland subsidiary the owner of patents which then “rents” out the patent usage to other Apple subsidiaries for a “fee”.
What this means is, let’s say when Germany asks Apple to pay taxes on the profits made by selling iPhones in Germany, Apple basically says “Ummm sorry, we actually did not make that much profit because we have to pay this money back in fees to our patent owner in Ireland” which by the way is APPLE itself!
Okay so we know how Apple gets away paying a lot in taxes to the country in which it sells its products. But what about Ireland, surely they would charge something?
Naah, not really - to avoid paying taxes in Ireland, Apple uses a really clever loophole in Ireland’s tax code – it flashes all this money in Netherlands for like a minute and then sends the money to another Ireland subsidiary to make it 100% tax free. This is the Double Irish Sandwich – the pav are the two Ireland subsidiaries and samosa is the Netherlands subsidiary.
Why would Ireland tolerate this?
Well, Ireland is super tiny and other than cows & pasturelands, they don’t have much going on. So my allowing Apple to do this, they are getting jobs in return. HOWEVER, due to increased pressure by the European Union, Ireland is now working to remove this loophole to make Apple at least pay Ireland taxes. But none of this will be in effect till 2020, so Apple has quite some time to figure out it’s next dish – maybe a Caribbean Biryani this time?
Here is something that you have probably never heard anyone say
“Great question, why don’t you BING it?!”
PS: if you know someone who has said this, please call the helpline 1-800-SAVE-MY-FRIEND because clearly they are going through something traumatic to be using BING
Microsoft launched BING in 2009 to compete against Google.
They spent millions and millions of dollars in redesigns, even paid people to use it but still never found a concrete base to compete against Google. So why not just kill the service all together? Well, because Bing actually makes money for Microsoft and by money we mean $5 BILLION/ year! Oh and it is profitable!
We know what you are thinking
It’s time to go to the chashmawalla and get my eyes checked because clearly I am reading all wrong. That’s what we thought too! And after buying 3 different soda glasses, the answer is still the same – 23% of the world (and 7% of Indians) use BING for their search!
But WHY?
One simple reason: Laziness
Bottom line:
Next time you think you are a Google – user, look around the room to see if you have any Alexas because guess what, you just became a Bing-er! Anyway, if you could please excuse us – we have to go back to the chashmawalla uncle & convince him to take back these soda glasses.
“Great question, why don’t you BING it?!”
PS: if you know someone who has said this, please call the helpline 1-800-SAVE-MY-FRIEND because clearly they are going through something traumatic to be using BING
Microsoft launched BING in 2009 to compete against Google.
They spent millions and millions of dollars in redesigns, even paid people to use it but still never found a concrete base to compete against Google. So why not just kill the service all together? Well, because Bing actually makes money for Microsoft and by money we mean $5 BILLION/ year! Oh and it is profitable!
We know what you are thinking
It’s time to go to the chashmawalla and get my eyes checked because clearly I am reading all wrong. That’s what we thought too! And after buying 3 different soda glasses, the answer is still the same – 23% of the world (and 7% of Indians) use BING for their search!
But WHY?
One simple reason: Laziness
- Power of Defaults: 82% of the world’s computers use Windows which is obviously not that surprising. But with this, comes the default settings – i.e. Microsoft makes BING the default search option when you browse the internet on your PC. Most people do not care enough to change their default settings OR do not know how to change it, thus making BING their de facto search engine.
- Smart Devices: Amazon’s Alexa Devices – Echo, Echo Dot, Echo button, all use BING for their search. So when you say “Alexa, what is today’s weather?” Alexa is actually bing-ing it! WHY you ask? For one simple reason – the Enemy of my Enemy is my Dost! Google & Microsoft are clearly not friends and given Amazon is competing with Google in shopping & home devices, Amazon would rather leave its search queries with Bing than feed it to Google and make Google stronger. Till date, 100 million Alexa devices have been sold which means a gazillion more BING searches enabled, making BING hot for advertisers to market on.
Bottom line:
Next time you think you are a Google – user, look around the room to see if you have any Alexas because guess what, you just became a Bing-er! Anyway, if you could please excuse us – we have to go back to the chashmawalla uncle & convince him to take back these soda glasses.
Please Note: while reading this, we STRONGLY urge you play the background music of RACE the movie (yup the one with Saif, Bips & Kat) for additional dramatic effect!
Okay back to the story
The East (China) & West (USA) are in a bitter war to control the World’s internet and whoever gets to implement 5G will be the leading contender for the next 50 years at least.
Back up, 5G what?! Nandoo, we JUST got 4G!!!
Yes 5G as in # 5 & G maane Genius (sorry last PJ!) 5G means extremely fast download speeds & network response times that’ll make us feel like we’re living that Jetsons life. Think: autonomous cars communicating in real time on the road, doctors performing surgery remotely. Developing 5G is something all countries have put at the top of their to-do lists.
Autonomous cars?! Have you seen the state of our traffic?!
Precisely! With autonomous cars, imagine no traffic because thanks to a 5G connection, your car will be able to communicate with all the other driverless cars on the road and will be able to self- manage the traffic.
How is this different from 4G again?
Each new generation of wireless tech has been stronger, better, faster. 3G meant your phone was finally connected to the internet. 4G meant streaming Netflix whenever, wherever. 5G could be up to 100 times faster than 4G!
Okay so why are East & West fighting? This sounds like a good thing for everyone, right?
5G is a physical network of switches and routers. But it is more reliant on layers of complex software that are far more adaptable, and constantly updating, in ways invisible to users — similar to how your phone automatically updates when a new version of Android is out. That means whoever controls the 5G network, controls the information flow — and may be able to change, reroute or copy data without users’ knowledge.
So who is winning?
China currently has a lead over building the 5G network & has been pitching to a LOT of countries (e.g. Canada, Germany, UK) to help them build their 5G network. US, on the other hand, has been pushing back aggressively saying that if China ends up building the network for these countries, there is a strong chance that China will use all this information flow to spy on the governments of these countries. Given US counts Canada, Germany, UK as allies, it has been successful in pushing China from building these countries’ 5G networks…FOR NOW, but only time will tell who ends up winning this race!
Okay back to the story
The East (China) & West (USA) are in a bitter war to control the World’s internet and whoever gets to implement 5G will be the leading contender for the next 50 years at least.
Back up, 5G what?! Nandoo, we JUST got 4G!!!
Yes 5G as in # 5 & G maane Genius (sorry last PJ!) 5G means extremely fast download speeds & network response times that’ll make us feel like we’re living that Jetsons life. Think: autonomous cars communicating in real time on the road, doctors performing surgery remotely. Developing 5G is something all countries have put at the top of their to-do lists.
Autonomous cars?! Have you seen the state of our traffic?!
Precisely! With autonomous cars, imagine no traffic because thanks to a 5G connection, your car will be able to communicate with all the other driverless cars on the road and will be able to self- manage the traffic.
How is this different from 4G again?
Each new generation of wireless tech has been stronger, better, faster. 3G meant your phone was finally connected to the internet. 4G meant streaming Netflix whenever, wherever. 5G could be up to 100 times faster than 4G!
Okay so why are East & West fighting? This sounds like a good thing for everyone, right?
5G is a physical network of switches and routers. But it is more reliant on layers of complex software that are far more adaptable, and constantly updating, in ways invisible to users — similar to how your phone automatically updates when a new version of Android is out. That means whoever controls the 5G network, controls the information flow — and may be able to change, reroute or copy data without users’ knowledge.
So who is winning?
China currently has a lead over building the 5G network & has been pitching to a LOT of countries (e.g. Canada, Germany, UK) to help them build their 5G network. US, on the other hand, has been pushing back aggressively saying that if China ends up building the network for these countries, there is a strong chance that China will use all this information flow to spy on the governments of these countries. Given US counts Canada, Germany, UK as allies, it has been successful in pushing China from building these countries’ 5G networks…FOR NOW, but only time will tell who ends up winning this race!
Has this every happened to you
You walk outside, take a deep breathe to clean up your mind, but this is almost always followed by vigorous kutta khaasi which is then followed by random uncles/aunties running towards you and hitting you on the back (oh yeah because THAT will stop your coughing!) Every time this happens to me, I want to teleport myself to a clean country in the world to:
1.) Breathe in fresh air
2.) Get away from all these uncles & aunties
One such clean country is Norway
It is so clean that it has consistently been ranked in the top 10 cleanest countries of the world for the past 10 years. It stays clean in two ways:
1.) They rely on clean energy: 99 % of their energy comes from Hydro Power (i.e. Dams) vs. Coal
2.) The provide crazy incentives for using clean products: for instance, free charging for electric cars, no sales tax for buying electric cars, etc. making Norway the biggest adopter of electric cars in the world.
All these incentives & subsidies are paid out of Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund
Quick side note – you know how you create an investment portfolio by investing your income in mutual funds, stocks, bonds, etc? When a country does the same exact thing, their investment portfolio is just called as a Sovereign Wealth Fund. Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund is worth $1Trillion and the income to invest in this portfolio comes from one main source – Selling Oil (i.e. petrol) to other countries.
Sooo is daal mein kuch kala hai ya daal kali hai?!
Well, technically they are not polluting the earth per se because they rely on clean energy BUT by selling oil to other countries which then burn it, they are contributing significantly to the deterioration of climate.
Wait…It gets more tricky
You know how the rise in earth’s temperature is causing melting of the ice caps? Well that is kind of good for them because the melting waters are opening up new shipping routes to make that are making it even more cheap for Norway to sell oil to countries in Asia!
Bottomline
One on hand, Norway is this super clean, green, fully electric, sustainable society BUT it can only afford to be this way because it continues making a lot of $$$ by selling oil & thus contributing to earth’s climate deterioration.
Something to think about!
Body: You know how when your Mama forwards you that “12 ways to make your Bowel Movements smooth” on FB Messenger OR your Kaka forwards you that long-ass message on Whatsapp but it is all in Gujarati and you can’t read Gujarati?! And you kinda, sorta wish and pray that Whatsapp and FB gets banned or blocked for them because you are overwhelmed by this bombardment – well Uganda just did something about that!
Social Media tax… say whatttt??? In July 2018, the Ugandan government introduced a “social media” tax to reduce the gossip (most likely forwards!) and started charging 200 Ugandan shillings (around Rs.4) a day to use platforms like Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, etc. Now on the face of it, this seemed like a good idea right –Well not quite, since July of 2018, almost 2.5M Ugandans have stopped using the internet!
And this is bad because – think about it, if you are well to do, spending Rs.4/day to use your favorite sosh meed is not an issue. But if you are not making a lot of dough (like most of Uganda’s population) every single shilling adds up. What’s worse is that, because Uganda doesn’t have good formal banking system, whatsapp & FB messenger have become their defacto means of commerce and this tax is now impacting the livelihood of poor Ugandans.
Well, but at least the Govt. has made some revenue on the tax right? Ummm not quite, instead of paying the tax, most Ugandans have decided to stop using the internet all together! A lot of human rights advocates are calling this an attempt to restrict free speech because among those forwards that people send, there are messages which are pretty critical of their government & of course their President is not super happy about that!
Bottomline – This is not the first time Uganda has restricted social media access of its citizens and with less than two years to the next election, and a confirmation that the president will be running for another term, we can only expect even more restrictions on the free flow of information
Background
You know how we all thought that we were finally in a day & age where no one owned anyone. Well, that’s clearly not true. The UK has been ordered to hand back the Chagos Islands to Mauritius “as rapidly as possible” after the United Nations ruled that continued British occupation of the remote Indian Ocean archipelago is illegal.
Hold up, Chagos, Archipelago, Mauritius ermmm what?
Let’s back track. We all know about the British Empire– you know when they literally took over the entire world (just like 7 Rings has literally taken over all of YouTube). Anyway, Mauritius, the tiny island in Indian Ocean, used to part of this Empire. Now, if you don’t know anything about Mauritius, there are two things to know:
Okay back to story, The Chagos was a natural paradise. The 1,500 islanders who lived there were self-sufficient with an abundance of natural produce. There were thriving villages, a school, a hospital, a church, a railway and an undisturbed way of life - until 1965.
Wait, tell me what happened in 1965?
The US wanted to set up military presence in the Indian ocean (because why not!) and they approached the UK and asked them to give them access to Chagos in return for regular haftas/ rent.
So what did the UK do
They grabbed the islanders, put them on a ship and dumped them in the Seychelles, where they were then held in prison cells, and then relocated to Mauritius, where they were taken to a rundown buildings with no water or electricity.
What is Chagos now?
Chagos has now become home to one of the biggest US military bases, with more than 2,000 troops, two bomber runways, 30 warships, facilities for nuclear-armed submarines and a satellite spy station. Iraq and Afghanistan were bombed from this former paradise. Following 9/11, people were jailed and tortured there.
So why are we talking about this now?
The recent verdict from UN has brought a PR back-lash to UK’s credibility as a global leader and a new hope that the island will finally get its freedom after nearly 209 years of rule.
You know how we all thought that we were finally in a day & age where no one owned anyone. Well, that’s clearly not true. The UK has been ordered to hand back the Chagos Islands to Mauritius “as rapidly as possible” after the United Nations ruled that continued British occupation of the remote Indian Ocean archipelago is illegal.
Hold up, Chagos, Archipelago, Mauritius ermmm what?
Let’s back track. We all know about the British Empire– you know when they literally took over the entire world (just like 7 Rings has literally taken over all of YouTube). Anyway, Mauritius, the tiny island in Indian Ocean, used to part of this Empire. Now, if you don’t know anything about Mauritius, there are two things to know:
- It consists of several islands (Chagos being one)
- Yeh Ladka Hai Deewana from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was shot there
Okay back to story, The Chagos was a natural paradise. The 1,500 islanders who lived there were self-sufficient with an abundance of natural produce. There were thriving villages, a school, a hospital, a church, a railway and an undisturbed way of life - until 1965.
Wait, tell me what happened in 1965?
The US wanted to set up military presence in the Indian ocean (because why not!) and they approached the UK and asked them to give them access to Chagos in return for regular haftas/ rent.
So what did the UK do
They grabbed the islanders, put them on a ship and dumped them in the Seychelles, where they were then held in prison cells, and then relocated to Mauritius, where they were taken to a rundown buildings with no water or electricity.
What is Chagos now?
Chagos has now become home to one of the biggest US military bases, with more than 2,000 troops, two bomber runways, 30 warships, facilities for nuclear-armed submarines and a satellite spy station. Iraq and Afghanistan were bombed from this former paradise. Following 9/11, people were jailed and tortured there.
So why are we talking about this now?
The recent verdict from UN has brought a PR back-lash to UK’s credibility as a global leader and a new hope that the island will finally get its freedom after nearly 209 years of rule.