India’s Data Blackout- From Census to Covid Deaths https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfD9mveLNGk  |castecensus  Why is the government suppressing crucial data? Census of 2021 not done, undercounting of Covid deaths, consumer expenditure survey findings junked, controversy over GDP calculations! Even the institutions responsible for data collection are being undermined. Is the government hiding data to evade accountability? 

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https://theprint.in/opinion/the-psychological-condition-that-binds-modi-gandhi-and-kejriwal/34281/  This is a remarkable coincidence, the three most important players in our national politics referring to themselves in the third person with an air of grandeur. In my recollection we had never seen this in the past — definitely not in the nearly four decades that I have watched politics. Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, V.P. Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani, Sonia Gandhi, all mass leaders, never spoke like this. Nor did Nehru and Gandhi... the practice of referring to yourself in the third person is indeed recognised by psychology and is called “illeism”. ..Illeism is a symptom of discomfort with the self… narcissistic wounds are being defended by identifying with a grandiose false self while the true self is fragile…”

Winner-takes-all is a feudal mindset and it was reflected in the BJP’s cussed denial of the Leader of Opposition (LoP) post to Congress, even if it fell below the minimum number of MPs needed. Similarly, Rahul Gandhi’s Congress is too arrogant to respect either the logic of the people’s mandate giving the BJP 282 seats in the Lok Sabha, or humility to accept the reality of its own 48. Kejriwal, with social media and TV prime time as his force-multipliers, functions with utter disdain of the other two.

Modi’s 1st year as a coalition PM: 11 points where he was right, indifferent or wrong & 3 challenges https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2UMeUs5vUY 

Social platforms have transformed how we communicate, often encouraging users to share without reflection. Rather than appealing to our reasoning faculties, these systems exploit cognitive biases, fostering addictive behaviours that erode our capacity for focused thought. This manipulation of attention has far-reaching implications, not only for individual cognition but also for collective autonomy.

https://theleaflet.in/digital-rights/in-the-age-of-algorithm-we-must-revitalise-the-conversation-on-the-freedom-of-thought 

Justice Anthony Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court once noted, “Minds are not changed in streets and parks as they once were. To an increasing degree, the more significant interchanges of ideas and shaping of public consciousness occur in mass and electronic media”. This observation underscores a shift from traditional public discourse to algorithmically mediated interaction, where information flows are technology driven.

A darker potential looms in the prospect of technologies capable of influencing, interpreting, or even controlling thought itself—akin to the phenomenon of “Doublethink”, to borrow from  Orwell’s ‘1984’, where individuals were compelled to abandon personal perception in favour of officially sanctioned narratives. In such a world, privacy of thought vanishes, replaced by surveillance so pervasive that even dreams or diary entries could incriminate.

The United Nations raised red flags in 2021 about the ethical risks of emerging neurotechnologies designed to decode, predict, or alter human thought. Companies like Meta and Neuralink are racing to develop brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that can convert neural activity into digital output in real-time. 

These systems could allow users to control devices with their thoughts but they also risk breaching the last bastion of human freedom: the mind itself. 

Despite its critical importance, the right to freedom of thought (‘FoT’) remains underdeveloped in both law and discourse.

Importantly, safeguarding FoT is not just the duty of governments. Citizens, too, must recognise its value. Thinking critically is neither easy nor always comfortable. It requires effort, courage, and openness to uncertainty. 

As noted, “Relatively few people want to think. Thinking troubles us; thinking tires us.” But the cost of neglecting this right may be far greater. If freedom of thought is eroded by invasive technologies, coercive platforms, or passive disinterest we risk losing not only our dignity and democracy, but our humanity itself. As we navigate the complexities of the digital age, we must ensure that the last refuge of freedom “the human mind” remains protected from prying eyes and manipulative hands.

by Mahima Garg

02/06/2025

India's Adani denies sanctions evasion or Iran LPG trade after WSJ reports US probe https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indian-billionaire-gautam-adani-comes-under-new-scrutiny-us-prosecutors-wsj-2025-06-02/ By Reuters June 2, 2025

 America में अब नए केस में भंयकर फंस गए Adani, जांच शुरू!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyCyhBIwPNY Ashok Wankhede | Ashish Chitranshi
The News Launcher

https://nypost.com/2025/06/02/business/indian-billionaire-gautam-adani-facing-new-doj-probe-over-iran-oil-trading-report/

https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/oil-and-gas/gautam-adani-under-new-scrutiny-from-us-prosecutors-wsj-reports/121574958 

The curious India tourism paradox. Domestic pilgrims opt for luxury, foreigners go budget https://theprint.in/ground-reports/the-curious-india-tourism-paradox-domestic-pilgrims-opt-for-luxury-foreigners-go-budget/2640086/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-intl ..  Udit Hinduja 29 May, 2025  Once seen as the preserve of pensioners or the devout poor, pilgrimage travel has gone mainstream. College students, middle-class families, and high-end travellers alike are scrambling to book temple-centric trips, from Kedarnath in Uttarakhand to Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu. A post-Covid reality check and pivot toward faith, government-led temple-infrastructure development and better access to pilgrimage cities is redefining India’s tourism sector

India’s pilgrimage business is booming, with choppers for the rich and dorm beds for the poor. But the days of wooing foreigners to the Taj, Jaisalmer, and Palace on Wheels are over. In Modi’s decade, the priority has shifted to the domestic base. 

Real Estate Expert: Billionaire Narratives, Financial Illusions & Real Estate Crisis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLAeULdaTBc  - Ravi Sinha

 the struggles of domestic investors, exposes the real estate crisis, and tackles the ever-growing wealth inequality. 🏠📉
From the rise of financial influencers to the political forces shaping India’s future, 

Was it dignified for the Haryana SWC to latch on to an incident that has nothing to do with gender, and nothing to do with any form of sexist biases? https://thewire.in/women/national-commission-for-women-state-renu-bhatia 

At the time, Mohini Giri, Padma Seth and Syeda Hameed were members of the National Commission for Women. The NCW and the state women’s commissions used to be nationally acclaimed for the way they fearlessly questioned people sitting in the highest citadels of power on gender issues. 

Now, an apex body that has been constituted to safeguard the rights of women chose to single out a Muslim academician who pointed out the symbolism or ‘optics’ that was used by the government in showcasing a Muslim woman as upholder of ‘Operation Sindoor’. He was speaking truth to power by saying that you have singled out a woman and Muslim woman to show your ‘tehzeeb’ but what have you done for the millions of Muslim women (and men) who are being abused, tormented and vilified in your state and all over the country? 

by Syeda Hameed

27/05/2025

THE TYRANNY of STRUCTURELESSNESS https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm by Jo Freeman aka Joreen  Audio : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ttKaxy3OgE

The informal groups' vested interests will be sustained by the informal structures which exist, and the movement will have no way of determining who shall exercise power within it. If the movement continues deliberately to not select who shall exercise power, it does not thereby abolish power. All it does is abdicate the right to demand that those who do exercise power and influence be responsible for it. If the movement continues to keep power as diffuse as possible because it knows it cannot demand responsibility from those who have it, it does prevent any group or person from totally dominating. But it simultaneously insures that the movement is as ineffective as possible. Some middle ground between domination and ineffectiveness can and must be found.

(The movement) now needs I to establish its priorities, articulate its goals, and pursue its objectives in a coordinated fashion. To do this it must get organized -- locally, regionally, and nationally.

some principles .. essential to democratic structuring 

1) Delegation of specific authority to specific individuals for specific tasks by democratic procedures. 

2) Requiring all those to whom authority has been delegated to be responsible to those who selected them. 

3) Distribution of authority among as many people as is reasonably possible. 

4) Rotation of tasks among individuals. 

5) Allocation of tasks along rational criteria. Ability, interest, and responsibility have got to be the major concerns in such selection.

6) Diffusion of information to everyone as frequently as possible. 

7) Equal access to resources needed by the group. 

Olive Jones about the Renaissance intentional community in New Zealand 

I- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CyHKVc95oo

II - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y_2zuEKAaM 

III - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-F2i-2ssxU

IV - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKOmNWKSZNs

Clearly, India’s ‘strong leader’ is caught between his aspiration to emerge as national war hero and thus sweep the polls with a two-thirds majority on the one hand and be a trusted Trump buddy on the other. https://thewire.in/politics/modi-silent-maun-ceasefire-trump-response-public-relations 

The Wire had in these columns narrated how Narendra Modi had often lampooned his predecessor as ‘Maunmohan’ Singh but how he had himself sought the cover of silence as prime minister. Since then, there is a lengthening list of Modi’s silences on crucial issues facing the nation. The latest entry on the list is the total maun on Donald Trump’s repeated claims that he had forced a ceasefire on India and Pakistan.

by P. Raman

28/05/2025