https://www.business-standard.com/economy/news/india-russia-term-deal-talks-for-crude-oil-on-hold-amid-us-restrictions-125011400998_1.html  last week’s sanctions on Russian oil and gas entities by the United States have put the talks on hold. Official sources have said the government is preoccupied with analysing the sanctions, which may cut off India’s access to discounted Russian crude and force it to buy at market prices. “Any deal in the current geopolitical climate requires careful planning and lengthy discussions so that shipments do not suddenly stop due to sanctions. But the escalating sanctions have complicated the matter,” an official source said.

  अमरीका की आग दुनिया पर क्या असर डालेगी ? क्या "राष्ट्रपति ट्रंप" दुनिया को प्रलय की तरफ धकेल देंगे?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyWnPzI6RwU Abhisar Sharma

What we know about LA fires victims https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxe6lzvx9wo  David Mercer and Seher Asaf

A big pile of ash': Devastated LA residents return to ruined homes 14 January 2025 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxe6lzvx9wo 

What our PM has to say about Climate Change: https://youtu.be/eyWnPzI6RwU?t=743

Centre clears oil exploration in disputed Assam-Nagaland border area of Hoollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, Jorhat https://mokokchungtimes.com/centre-clears-oil-exploration-in-disputed-assam-nagaland-border-area-of-hoollongapar-gibbon-wildlife-sanctuary-jorhat/

According to the minutes of the NBWL meeting, a team comprising officials from the Union Environment Ministry, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), and the Assam Forest Department inspected the project site, located approximately 13 km from the sanctuary, on November 15. The inspection committee found that exploratory drilling would cause minimal damage but stated that commercial drilling would not be permitted. Vedanta Group provided written assurance that no commercial drilling will take place at the site.

However, a senior official from the ministry noted that exploratory drilling is a crucial first step in hydrocarbon extraction, which may eventually lead to commercial drilling. Another official added that the inspection committee’s report advised against any oil or gas extraction from within the ESZ, even if reserves are discovered.

Officials also confirmed that Vedanta Group has committed to using exploration solely for identifying hydrocarbon reserves, and any extraction, if reserves are found, will take place outside the ESZ. The company further assured that no hazardous substances would be used during exploration. The Hoollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary spans 20.98 sq km, while its ESZ extends to 264.92 sq km. This expansive ESZ ensures connectivity between the sanctuary, the Dissoi Valley Reserve Forest, and forested areas in Nagaland—vital for the seven primate species residing in the region. The sanctuary is already under strain from human activities, and a proposal to electrify a railway line passing through the sanctuary was recently recommended by the Standing Committee. 

https://www.constructionworld.in/policy-updates-and-economic-news/centre-approves-drilling-in-assams-eco-sensitive-sanctuary/67565

 Guardians of the Gibbons: can India save its only ape species from extinction? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwJWIecrx9o
The Guardian

 Modi govt’s aversion to data: A decade of missing numbers  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BuhnZp7Dnc
The News Minute Data is essential for effective governance—it informs decisions, tracks progress, and holds authorities accountable. But what happens when the government stops sharing data? From census delays since 2011 to missing statistics on crime, education, health, and more, an IndiaSpend’s investigation reveals that 16 critical datasets and 9 Union ministry annual reports are delayed, some for years.

Inside Modi Govt’s War Room to Whitewash Global Indices  https://www.reporters-collective.in/trc/inside-modi-govts-war-room-to-whitewash-global-indices   The Reporters’ Collective investigation has revealed that it is part of a “whole-of-government approach” devised by the Prime Minister’s Office to closely monitor 30 global indices and reach out to agencies that publish the indices to convince them to change their parameters – what they measure –  if India is doing badly in their reports, which it often does. he ministry responsible for tracking the index began compiling all such arguments and then triggered the lobbying machinery. The government gets in touch with the publishing agency to force them to “course correct”. For that it could use Indian missions abroad to talk to the publishers. Documents show the missions talked to publishers of Global Gender Gap Index, Democracy Index and Global Competitiveness Index. 

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/eiu-not-sharing-info-on-democracy-index-govt-101629050360548.html  The Union government tried to engage with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) headquartered in London, following the latter’s “Democracy Index” ranking of India that categorised India as a “flawed democracy”, 

Critical Data Remain Elusive, As 2024 Comes To A Close https://www.indiaspend.com/data-gaps/critical-data-remain-elusive-as-2024-comes-to-a-close-936492 
16 critical datasets are delayed, nine ministries are yet to release their annual reports and the Census is now three years overdue, affecting policy-making and weakening transparency

https://infogram.com/crucial-datasets-in-india-1h1749w3ymknq2z table of crucial dataset 

 Suspension of IIPS director sparks allegations of government interference in academic sphere https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/suspension-of-iips-director-ks-james-part-of-a-larger-pattern/article67205268.ece
Academics fear the suspension is part of a government plan to silence K.S. James, who resisted political pressure to manipulate data.

Will you work for 90 hours?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkEWh8cRD9Q    Ravish Kumar Official Jan 10, 2025  L&T Chairman SN Subrahmanyan Asks Employees To Work 90 Hours A Week  A video of L&T Chairman SN Subrahmanyan is going viral in which he is saying that he regrets that he is not able to get people to work on Sundays. There are many memes going around on social media on his proposal to work for 90 hours a week. Actually, in the last several years, you have been reduced to sending only memes and good morning messages. There is either no job or it is low salary, inflation is at its peak and savings are going down. But you are pushing memes and blowing away every worry. All the questions have already disappeared from the media, the remaining work has been completed by the memes. Stop for a while and think how much space is there for you and your rights in such a proposal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po8vzTSTkmk    | N18L CNN-News18 Dilip Cherian seem to be "normalising" it.. Saying that many people do work like that especially start-ups.   After inviting sharp criticism for its chairman SN Subrahmanyan's idea of a 90-hour workweek, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) defended his remarks saying that 'extraordinary outcomes require extraordinary efforts'. 'We believe this is India’s decade, a time demanding collective dedication and effort to drive progress and realize our shared vision of becoming a developed nation. The Chairman’s remarks reflect this larger ambition,' the company said in a statement.

Read more …

Zuckerberg ends fact-checking on Meta's Facebook, Instagram: Why it could lead to a flood of misinformation https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/mark-zuckerberg-fact-checking-meta-facebook-instagram-misinformation-13850856.html?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-intl January 8, 2025, Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta has announced that it will end its fact-checking programme in the US, citing that the checkers have become ‘too biased’. While some believe the move is an attempt by the tech mogul to appease US President-elect Donald Trump, others have slammed it, calling it an ‘abdication of responsibility’ 

Interview: Releasing Nicobar report would be like ‘opening can of worms’, says anthropologist https://scroll.in/article/1077603/interview-releasing-nicobar-report-would-be-like-opening-can-of-worms-says-anthropologist  A largely uncontacted tribe of about 250 people, the Shompens live on the Great Nicobar island, the southernmost landmass of India. In 2021, the Modi government announced plans to develop a massive infrastructural project on the island at a cost of Rs 72,000 crore, which many fear could endanger the island’s native tribal communities and unique flora and fauna. Pandya submitted a video report to the administration, which included interviews he had conducted with members of the island’s tribal communities, the Shompens and the Nicobarese, as well as settlers from the mainland who had been living there for decades. “We never heard from the administration after that,” Pandya told Scroll.

The Shompens have the argument that it will destroy the area’s soil regeneration system. Each part of the forest is associated with streams of the Galathea and Alexandra rivers crisscrossing the island. When the river overflows in the rainy season, the alluvial soil is deposited downstream, which makes it possible for Shompens to regenerate their tapioca gardens and horticultural plots.

Government reports used to call Shompens “shy”. Hostile Jarawas, aggressive Sentinelese, docile Onges – these are the terms reports used. Why would the Shompen be shy? These are all the categories created because of the way [the administration] interacted with them and the way it suits the scheme of our development. Shompen are aware of the outside world and are articulate that they do not want the outsiders here. And that’s why they became “shy”.

 America and Africa | Michael Hudson's Opinion on National Debt   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT4wcvXAo7g why national debt is having such a severe impact on African nations while America remains a world power despite her own debts. 

Youtube transcribe:  what makes african and third world debt different from the american debt?
number one america is never going to pay its debts. its debts are in its own currency we can simply print it 

the african debt is not in its currency the african debt is in u.s dollars africa has to earn the u.s dollars and the only way it can earn the us dollars and  not be assassinated for growing its own food and becoming independent   and
doing something that the united states does not like

The principle underlying the foundation of the world bank and the IBRD research is that no country should grow its own food. africa
and the third world should only grow export crops to export in order to have an oversupply of cocoa and other tropical raw materials to keep
down the price.   they must buy their grain from the united states or europe so that if they do something that we don't like we can do what america tried to do to china in the 60s. We can sanction them we can say we're going to starve you we're going to not export any grain to you  foreign debt in dollars means that they have to somehow sell something that the united states wants not what they want.

i think the the most evil organizations in the world today are the the world bank and the international monetary fund and my book
super imperialism that i wrote in 1972  is all about that . the largest purchasers of the book uh were the defense department and the CIA. ciathe organization i worked for was given a seventy five thousand eighty five thousand dollar defense department contract for me to come to
explain to them how american imperialism worked 

 i had written the book thinking that socialists and third world countries would do something about it and indeed
...
there's also something we're suffering from in africa the devaluation of currency as another way of the evaluation of the currency
currency as a way of keeping us dependent continuously. when a country devalues a currency what are they devaluing. 
there's a world price for grain a world price for aluminum a world price for raw materials.   the only thing that they can really devalue is the price of their labor. So when africa or latin america or greece is told to devalue the currency what that means is pay labor less. you have to squeeze out more to pay the top of the economic pyramid . to suck it all up out to the top ten percent or one percent or zero point one percent .

So devaluation is basically an anti-labor uh policy to prevent a domestic market and prosperity from developing . That is why the
china and russia are saying we don't want to be part of the dollar area.  We want our own currency that we will only borrow in our own debt.

#Israel है आतंकियों का समर्थक, #India भी निशाने पर, #Trump कर सकते हैं #Iran पर हमला | EP- 5657  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMMgWgcXsFk  6th Jan 2025  Syrian people will raise their vioce against HTS, Al-Qaeda and ISIS terrorists. Israel has helped in the overtrow of bashar Al-Assad government in Syria. Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah are keeping up their attacks against occupied Palestine, known as Israel. Israel can support terrorists in kashmir for destablising India. Feroze Mithiborwala, a renowned pro-Palestine activist, has discussed the issues candidly.