LyrArc Article Gist
At the core 66% of people in the US, UK and in Germany, 77% in France, Italy and Spain  in Pew Research in 2024 see the need for big economic changes. Inequality increase are often automatically seen as correlated with deterioration in standard of living. However in practice cost of living concerns and opportunity to do something about it can move in the opposite direction to inequality increases. Cost of living can improve based on gas and electricity prices and access to housing with lower interest rates independent of whether government is or is not intervening in the economy. Some interventions may not work as in the supply side shocks in prices from Covid lockdowns or simply exhaust people's patience without sufficient timely correction. A disquiet index can also move in a different direction from inequality increases when cost of living raises disquiet levels for people, and cultural issues such as transgender in schools create  additional disquiet. Failure to get bipartisanship may leave inequality issues unresolved as happens with one group student loan borrowers stuck in repayment.  In this sense inequality is only one goal and can be elusive if the overall goal of reducing disquiet index are left unresolved. A better quality of life can be achieved in other ways- as with the effort for "a rising tide lifts all boats." This can include the ripple effect of international politics where issues spill over into the US creating cultural disquiet on campuses as happened in 2024 with Israel Gaza conflict. The interplay of local and international starts adding complexity that adds to disquiet index for people in all levels of society.   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The Naval Innovation and Indeginization Organization of the Indian Navy, NIIO, sets. a new pace and direction for the Indian Navy and its mission in the Indian Ocean. The goal is to use the idea of the Gati Shakti plan to bring together industry, academia, research organizations, government in partnership for adopting 75 indeginized innovations in a few years. In the last year 54% of the Indian defense budget was given to companies within India for product and services, and in the coming year the plan is for it to go up to 70%, according to defense minister Rajnath Singh. This means even aircraft carriers will be be developed and built in India at Indian shipyards using Indian technology.

LyrArc Article Gist
Less noticed climate change action is coming from Brazil. The Amazon deforestation has been slowed since the new administration of Lula took office in Brazil in 2022. Forest loss has dropped by a third in Brazil and half in Colombia says this report in DW.com. One of the big pledges at the Glasgow Climate Summit said to cut deforestation. Tjink of the impact- a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions from transportation come from deforestation and most of it from the Amazon (two thirds from Brazil, Indonesia and the Congo DRC alone). Ending forest loss by 2030 the goal of Glasgow would lead to 18.9 million megatonnes of carbon being removed from the atmosphere (GtCO2e) says the World Resources Institute.

LyrArc Article Gist
Greg Ip of the WSJ says a second term of former president Trump would look very different from the first. Republicans achieved their goal of tax reform in the first two years of that term. Following that trade tariffs ensued against China creating a different environment in world trade. A second term would lead to more action on trade and more tariffs. Ip says the former president could impose tariffs on all Chinese imports and this would lead to retaliatory tariffs from China and be met with EU retaliatory action in a tit for tat manner. The result would be disruption in world trade and affect the world economy. Higher inflation could also be result of such disruptions.

LyrArc Article Gist
Indonesia's GDP increased by 6.5% in 2011. Analysts estimate GDP growth of about 6% in 2012. Exports are stable at about 25-26% of GDP. Consumption is about 55-56% of GDP for 2010 and 2011. Foreign direct investment increased by 20% in 2011 and reached $20 billion for investments in coal mines- to tap Indonesia's natural resources and car and consumer product factories for Indonesia's 240 million people.

LyrArc Article Gist
Nearly half the adults in five counties in the Huntington-Ashland area are obese. This area includes five counties, tow in West VIrginia, two in Kentucky, and one in Ohio, and the area leads the nation in heart disease and diabetes. Poverty rate is 19%. In the old days all those extra calories were used up in work in the coal mining industry and in the locomotive plants and factories.

LyrArc Article Gist
Graphs in this Washington Post report show the success or failure of vaccination drives around the world from the US and Canada to Europe, Brazil, Japan and Africa as of the first week of July 2021. Japan and Africa are far behind Europe and America. By July 4, 59% of Americans were fully vaccinated short of Biden's goal of 70%, according to CDC. Canada, Italy, Germany have passed the US. By making vaccinations mandatory France is working to catchup with Germany and Italy. Canada and UK lead in vaccination drives. 

LyrArc Article Gist
Arun Jaitley is Finance Minister and minister for corporate affairs in the new Modi cabinet. He is a lawyer who practiced before the Supreme Court of India and has represented foreign companies. Under the Vajpayee administration (1999-2004), he was minister of commerce and headed the disinvestment ministry. Jaitley believes in removing bureaucratic hurdles for business and improving governance. He emphasized creating a climate of predictability for business as a priority, and said during the election campaign that the results would send a strong signal to the world business community and domestic investors. The new cabinet is much smaller and brings together related ministries under one minister to improve speed of decisionmaking, coordination and accountability. Piyush Goyal, is the minister in charge of the power and coal ministry. This ministry brings together power, coal and renewable energy under one minister. Goyal is one of the younger ministers with advanced education in American universities. He has a CPA and a law degree, and is a member of the Board at the State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda. Other ministers are Sushma Swaraj as foreign minister, and Rajnath Singh as Home Minister....

LyrArc Article Gist
The SCHOOL survey by eminent researchers shows that that 37% of rural school children in India are dropping out- an alarming piece of information. Only 8% of rural school children have access to online classes regularly. The figure for urban areas in India is 24% of school children having access to online learning regularly. This could have serious consequences. Getting primary and secondary schoolchildren back into classes is an important goal during the pandemic. Online learning has only a limited reach at this time. Many households have no smartphone or only one smartphone that is used by adults. The SCHOOL survey covered 15 states and 1362 sample households. Between 51 and 58% of students had not met their teachers in the preceding month according to the survey.  This also affects nutrition as schoolchildren are missing the midday meals given at school. Midday meals were discontinued with the closure of schools. Overall this report says 97% of parents support reopening of schools. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The launch of 5G is expected to impact every aspect of life in India and act as a transformational force. Mr. Modi said he is happy that school children from rural parts of India, part of a 1.3 billion population, are a part of  this rollout. Students he said were interacting with eminent scientists from the classroom using this technology. He emphasized 4 pillars - cost of device, digital connectivity, cost of data ,and the mindset of Digital First. 

The goal is internet for all. Before 1 gigabyte of data cost Rs 300, now it costs Rs 10.  On average an Indian spends on 14 gigabytes of data a month which costs $150. This means, says Modi, that the poor are saving approximately Rs. 4000 a month. Adding that as the technology is developed locally- "This is not just India's decade, it is the century of India."

LyrArc Article Gist
Continuity and stability mark the choices for the new cabinet in India of PM Modi. Retaining their Ministries are-Jaishankar at the Foreign Ministry, Nirmala Sitharaman at Finance Ministry , Amit Shah at Home Ministry, Rajnath Singh at Defense, Narendra Modi at Atomic Energy and Space Agency and the Personnel, Public Grievances Pensions Ministry, Also continuing are Nitin Gadkari at Roads, Transport and Highways, Piyush Goyal the Commerce Ministry. Prahlad Joshi formerly in parliamentary Affairs is now at the New and Renewable Energy Ministry plus the Consumer Affairs, Food public distribution ministry. Hardeep Singh Puri retains the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Sa Newcomers to Cabinet-Shivraj Singh Chouhan three term Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh in central India is the new Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ministry a critical ministry in a still rural country. Ram Mohan Naidu (TDP &NDA Andhra Pradesh) is the new Aviation Minister Jyotirao Scindia was placed with the Telecom Ministry. Kishan Reddy was given the Coal and Mining Ministry. Lalan Singh close associate of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is the new Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, Dairying and of Panchayati Raj village local government. Sarbananda Sonowal is new Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways with the job of building modern shipping logistics for exports in the way China has done. Ram Vilas Paswan from Bihar at the Ministry of Food Processing. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
This Editorial Board editorial in the WSJ should be titled Ukraine Corruption and Ukrainian people's interests in good governance. The reason is that beyond ensuring that the $187 billion sent by the US is used without corruption and this editorial cites evidence that this is the case through many oversight authorites US and EU has set up- there is the larger interest of the people of Ukraine battered and fatigued by 4 years of war. Corruption becomes an accepted practice in many democracies. Nations such as India that were mired in corrupt practices in state governments are seeing major changes in the last decade with public funds dedicated to infrastructure going to build the new infrastructure India needs to modernize its economy. It is proving that this is possible in Asia, as is shown in Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, China and now India. There is every reason to believe Ukraine can achieve this good governance with sufficient efforts and this is the goal set by the European Union, by Germany, Britain and France, for Ukraine. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
In 2008 a young Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, in 2016  a young Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid, now it is Andrea Pirlo coaching Juventus in 2020. Pirlo in his memoir "I Think Therefore I Play," was clear that the coach's job was not for him. He said then that the coach job was not one he would be enthusiastic about, too much to worry about, and a style of life that was so much like being a player.

The Times looks at a game between Torino and Juventus in the Italian League. Pirlo, a soccer legend in his own right like Zidane, scored some of his best goals before retiring against Torino, and he wins the game 2-1, with Bonucci scoring the final goal.

LyrArc Article Gist
US Naval Blockade Day 10- US stock markets up 4.1% for 4 months, oil price $95 a barrel, prices at pump $4.02 down from $3.94 a month back. If all the US seeks out of an agreement is getting nuclear material out of Iran to keep nuclear weapons out of the Middle East based on 5 decades of war in the Middle East- Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, and now Iraq/ Lebanon- this is to protect the people of the world from nuclear weapons, including China, India, Brazil, Russia, EU and other nations. This was the goal of Democratic administrations also, only the Republican approach is to err on the side of safe and take zero chances on future nuclear escalation while the Democratic administrations were based on trust, trust which is not a sure thing in the Middle East political and cultural environment. Some of DJT comments were bluster, but the basic position is the same- against nuclear proliferation for a safer planet. In this light the Naval Blockade only seeks not to block Iran's path to a prosperous economy and a bright future for its people. Iran's economy is affected in the same way that India's and China's, Africa's is affected, for upwards of 4 billion people compared to 100 million for Iran. Africa, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Indonesia, among the poorest in the world, poorer by far than Iran. The economic impact on this part of the world is not part of Iranian perceptions. The economic impact on Gulf kingdoms an adversary of Iran is by comparison only a small fraction of the impact on the poorest countries. In this situation US is working to support the poorest segments of the Chinese people ( the part of China in the hinterland that is the one third not urbanized) and the Indian people through its cooperation and direct or indirect support. In this perspective the US economy stands as a steadfast support for US policy of fairness and respect for all nations since 1900- US is not one of the colonial powers such as Britain and France who created some of the artificial states Syria, Iraq, out of the remains of the collapsed Ottoman Empire in the interest of their Empires by 1921, and setup regimes in Iran for its oil, that are the source of today's problems and wars. No Empire of Britain and France promised Iran $28 billion as this Nation does today if Iran ships nuclear material out of Iran for a 100 percent shift to a peaceful Middle East that works for the modernization and industrial development of its economies in the interests of the people. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The US president tells the King it was special that all members of Congress stood up for a standing ovation many times- something that in recent years rarely happens. The King "has shown his class" in the last 24 hours says BBC, it is now up to Starmer and the British government, DJT and the Americans to make it count. Notable DJT sharing that the King agreed with him that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. The King also talked about the NATO alliance and its role in keeping the peace for 80 years in the world. In the King's words-  "the international rules that have allowed us to trade and have kept power in balance for 80 years." Adding that the US should not go it alone- "The challenges we face are too great for any one nation to bear alone." However the King is only doing what his is role as monarch to present British interests, and it is important to recall that Britain's interests were once colonial interests around the world, that opposition to these colonial interests led to the Declaration of Independence by Jefferson and Washington in 1776. And caution in Washington's advice to America in Annual messages when it comes to these Empires. Right after 1945 when NATO was created- as it was throughout its Empire in Asia  in 1750-1950- Britain opposed Russia and was the most vocal opponent of Soviet Russia in 1950's and saw NATO in this mission. Times have changed with the emergence of Russia after 1990, China in 1950 and again in 1990's, and America as a world power is best following Washington's advice not to get involved in or inherit the British anti-Russian attitude as it has interests in the Western hemisphere and around the world that require cooperation with other world powers such as Russia, China, India, and Germany to create a peaceful world  and not the kind we have today that puts Russia and China on the wrong side just for opposition, as no powers have any interest in drug and people trafficking in the western hemisphere form places like Mexico and Venezuela, or creating small wars in other parts of the world. A situation NATO as seen by Britain in 1950 as Anti-Russian creates for the US- Lord Hastings Ismay first Secretary General of NATO set British goal for NATO (not the US interests or consistent with George Washington's advice to distance from) in 1949 as "Keep the Russian Out, the US Involved, and the Germans Down." ...

LyrArc Article Gist
News Corp, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, is developing a news aggregation service called Knewz.com, a a website and a mobile app, to enable more independent sites to be able to reach a wider audience. It is intended to give smaller quality sites a chance to reach a broader audience, not happening today because of the presence of algorithm based sites such as Google. The idea is to give more exposure to smaller quality sites neglected by Google. The goal is to highlight deserving news stories, original content, from both progressive as well as conservative sites to give rich content to readers.

LyrArc Article Gist
Andy Jassy joined Amazon in 1997, three years after it was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos. He is credited with the rapid growth of cloud computing into a $51 billion business for Amazon with market share of 28%. He now takes over the role of CEO of Amazon with day to day responsibilities just as Bezos shifts his attention to other opportunities. Jassy shares the traits of inventive spirit and investing heavily in growth opportunities one finds in Jeff Bezos. Careful planning and a long term plan in entering a business and achieving one goal after another as the business accelerates.

LyrArc Article Gist
The first major restructuring and overhaul for modernization of Indian Railways since independence in 1947. The goal is to make Indian Railways an efficient and modern organization that can deliver on technology and compare well with rail systems of Europe and China in its plan for 2030. Central Public Sector Enterprises CPSE will cover all production units of Indian Rail. Indian Railway Construction Limited IRCON will oversee all construction of infrastructure for Indian Rail. 

The Cabinet Secretariat has written to the CEO of the Railway Board calling for monthly reports on the action plan to ensure speedy implementation.

LyrArc Article Gist
China's goal of creating 10 million new jobs each year.

LyrArc Article Gist
This wonderful report in the DW.com looks at what may be the defining game of the Nations League Soccer in 2020- the Germany loss to Spain, Spain winning with 6 goals. It shows pictures of moments for each of 6 goals by Spain and detailed descriptions of each. Coach Joachim Low's strategy for his players of sitting deep in his half so as to remove the possibility of inviting space backfired says DW.com. Toni Kroos of Real Madrid team who was one of the few seasoned players on a new team for Germany put together by Low, says that they tried both being more aggressive in the second half after sitting deep in the first half, and both approaches failed. The Spanish team was well coordinated, faster and tougher throughout the game.  At key moments the Germany defenders were nowhere near the Spanish players as they moved the ball one way and quickly the opposite way the next moment. Ferran scored a hat trick with 3 goals and some of his goal kicks were very quick and fast. As it says here Ferran reacted faster than anyone to score. In three consecutive moments Germany was slow to react to the speed of the Spanish players. For most of the game the Spanish players controlled the ball with pinpoint passing in the midst of many of the German players. It was not that Neuer the German goal keeper was not quick enough, he was beaten by the speed and angles, and the movement of the ball from different directions with Spain's rapid passing. For Spain Ramos, Morata, Ferran, Koke and Rodrigo, Olmo, played a critical role with a German team not looking like this since the 1930's, even though coach Joachim Low had put together a new German team. This could be a formative moment for Germany and coach Joachim Low as the German team looks for its form that eluded it completely this time.  ...

LyrArc Article Gist
This report in ProPublica on October 13, 2020, by Lydia DePillis was written near the end of Robert Lighhizer's term as US Trade Representative.  Bottom Line: It is human behaviour that no country, no kingdom or group will give up its money advantages secured when the opposition was weak or disorganized till the last fight is fought. The British were not giving up India, a source of financing the war against Napoleon in 1800's and then the Industrial Revolution in 1850's, the Dutch were not giving up the financial advantages of their Spices Empire in Batavia (Indonesia). History has shown this. Once gained under a state capitalism Japan was not going to give up its financial advantages gained by the 1980's when the US was weak or disorganized, till the last battle was fought.  Lighthizer who for the relentless Japanese was equally relentless till the goal of fair and level playing field for America was secured. This is true for China today on Liberation Day. This entire report by De Pillis in 2020 shows the Chinese would be relentless in 2020 like the Japanese in the 1980's, the Dutch in Indonesia  in the 18th and 19th century and the British in India in the 19th century and 20th century. China turned Mexico and Vietnam into supply routes into the US market. It continued its efforts to gain US technology in other ways. USTR older officials from the Bush Obama years of failed negotiations with China and endless hours putting together minute details of agreements including the TransPacific Agreement of Obama were not going to like the new approach of Lighthizer so stuck were they with the old approach of no clear goal and not getting an even playing field from China. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The Christian Democrats and the Free Democrats are both working to scrap alaw that says all 22 of Germany's nuclear plants must be shut down by 2022. The preliminary agreement reached between the two parties will allow th reactors to operate for longer till renewable energy cn fill the gap. According to the German Association of Energy 23% of energy comes from nuclear, 42% from coal plants, 15% from renewable energy,14% from naturual gas, and 6% from other sources.

LyrArc Article Gist
Investment in the US in clean energy technologies reached $213 billion in the last 12 months through July 2023 after the climate law was passed by president Biden. The prior year it was $151 billion and the year before that $81 billion. Investment is growing fastest in electric car batteries, EV's, and in solar panels, slower in wind energy. This shows the Biden plan is working and will accelerate in the coming year.