LyrArc Article Gist
Surjit Bhalla, executive director for India at the IMF, looks at different trajectories of growth in India to 2030 and 2047. He looks at growth for per capital incomes that India can achieve over the next 2 decades to meet the aspirations of a young population of over 1 billion. With next generation technologies and acceleration in growth after certain parameters are met including logistics capabilities, manufacturing in advanced technologies, infrastructure improvements, rule of law in some states, federal and state governments working together, much of the work to achieve per capita incomes similar to Japan and South Korea can be achieved in the next decade by 2035.

LyrArc Article Gist
Kate Bingham, head of the Vaccine Task Force in Britain is commended for her intelligent approach in placing bets on vaccines in different technologies, "four buckets" as she calls them. This includes the Moderna and Pfizer in the mRNA technology and the viral vector Astra Zeneca, J&J vaccines. This approach made the British vaccination drive effective by being supported by a resilient supply system.

The Indian government has supported the effort to get several companies to make the Sputnik Russian vaccine in India in an effort to diversify supplies. Reddy Labs is one of the major manufacturers working on the Sputnik vaccine in 2021.

LyrArc Article Gist
The UAW added 7000 workers to the 18000 already on strike at Ford, GM, Stellantis.The UAW is making progress in its talks on Stellantis on cost of living adjustments and outsourcing, and says it will spare Stellantis from more walkouts. Stellantis also has the least hourly workers of the three US auto companies. Stellantis has operations in Europe and gets half of its profit outside the US. The UAW is also not stopping work at the largest SUV and pickup truck plants that make the most money for the auto companies. The idea is to do only what is needed to achieve its goals of fair pay and benefits for the auto workers.

LyrArc Article Gist
Jimmy Carter holds the record for appointing federal judges in one term- 262 judges, 55 minorities, 42 women. In 1978 a Democratic Congress responded to a federal case backlog by creating positions for 150 more federal judges, all of which would be filled by Carter. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was one of these judges. Carter did not appoint a single Supreme Court Judge yet Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer another of these judges made it to the US Supreme Court.

By comparison for a single term Biden has appointed 235 federal judges. Reagan with 383 and Clinton with 378 hold the record for federal judges appointed  in two terms.

LyrArc Article Gist
The difference in the styles of Wagoner and Henderson who is no 2 at GM. Henderson is direct and has tackled the problems facing GM with more boldness.

LyrArc Article Gist
Kristof of the NYT recalls how his own father was a refugee from Eastern Europe, swam the Danube river to safety, and was given refuge by a family in Oregon. He points to the failure of world leadership in both Washington, Moscow and Arab capitals leading to the conflict in which about half of the Syrian people are dislocated by civil war.

LyrArc Article Gist
Carapaz from Ecuador wins  2024 Stage 17 of the Tour de France in the Alps on a steep climb leaving behind Yates.

LyrArc Article Gist
The danger of new variants emerging with increased mutations is greater with a failure to tackle HIV in African countries says the Science editor of The Guardian. Omicron variant mutations in South Africa shows how this is already happening.

LyrArc Article Gist
The SPD's Peter Steinbruck's criticism of Merkel's handling of the eurozone crisis. Speaking to the Bundestag Steinbruck said Merkel had wasted time and billions of dollars of taxpayers before committing to keep Greece in the eruozone. "You should have held this speech three years ago... Never has Germany been so isolated in Europe as it is today." He said Merkel was not being honest with Germans that to be part of Europe Germany had to take on some of the cost and that it was worth it. Instead she was riding the wave of negative opinion for the eurozone and at the same time trying to keep up Germany's influence in Brussels, creating a perception of a new kind of German "industrial imperialism." This comes as France's president Hollande expressed serious dissatisfaction with Merkel's handling of the eurozone crisis in an interview with reporters of 5 European newspapers in October 2012.

LyrArc Article Gist
China generates 53% of its emissions from coal in May 2024. All the remaining from non fossil sources. Two factors are evident, yet both do not indicate a big fall off in fossil emissions from this point just a plateauing effect with it flattening out. The first is that China is putting in solar and wind at 8 times the level of the US, taking up two thirds of world solar and wind installations. The second is that the one third of emissions from construction and real estate is falling off because that industrial sector has collapsed. Overall the future points to slowing of emissions as China comes only gradually down from that 53%. What happens in China makes a huge impact on climate change. India has also committed to climate change action and meeting targets early under PM Modi so that India as it industrializes will not follow the path of jumping fossil emissions China had. This is useful to know as the US and EU, UK, expand solar and wind. It is important that the US stay committed to climate change action something missing from the Republican platform for 2024. Delaying climate change action will impose huge costs on the US that could be about 1 trillion dollars if it is stalled now and is taken up in 2028. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
GM's new Cruze to be built in April 2010 in the Mahoning valley area of Ohio hit hard by shuttered steel mills, will give 45 mpg. It will be smaller than a Malibu and larger than a Cobalt, and will be built also in Gm's European and Asian markets, so unlike models from before the car will be sold everywhere and being built on the same platform will share common parts and engineering, which is the automakers are now making their cars. GM will spend $150 million in developing the Cruze and an additional $350 million in building the Cruze plant in Ohio. GM's car strategy is now to increase production of the Malibu which had a sales increase of 79% compared to last July, shut down the Cobalt once the Cruze come in 2010, Cobalt sales increased only by 4% this July over July last year, and have a third shift producing the Impala next year in Oshawa, Ontario. Auto figures from Autodata. GM's CEO Wagoner says he sees small cars making a profit for GM as now the new union agreement helps to reduce GM's costs and he sees customers willing to spend more on small cars. This is evident in the way affluent buyers have signed up to buy the Smart car, once shunned there is now a 1 year waiting list, and Daimler is expanding production at its French plant for the Smart car. See the link to the Smart car. The committment by GM to build the plant in Ohio is seen by the UAW union as GM keeping its part of the bargain to bring new models and new cars with new ideas to capture the next generation of customers to GM plants that were seeing a decline like the Lordstown plant area in Ohio....

LyrArc Article Gist
US table tennis champion Lily Zhang and parental pressure to get a real job. Her parents got her into table tennis in the first place.

LyrArc Article Gist
WSJ Editorial Board on Iran strategy to have low level skirmishes and missile attacks for the rest of 2026 and keep Hormuz on ship by ship basis essentially blocked. Most of the oil through Hormuz going to teapot refineries in China, some to Japan and India. Alternative US supplies have to be arranged for India and Japan, nuclear, renewables have to be accelerated immediately as this is the likely scenario. China would have to look for alternate supplies. It is not just the US response, how will China, India and Japan respond to get alternate supplies, how are their governments preparing for this scenario? France announced it is going to go all out on electric cars to cut use of oil.

LyrArc Article Gist
Haberman and Thrush of the NYT provide an account of what happened at the White House when U.S. president Trump met privately with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi to work out a deal on the Dreamers, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, called DACA, that under president Obama allowed 800,000 young immigrants to stay in the country. President Trump had earlier said he would reverse DACA. DACA was setup under an executive order by president Obama in 2012 to allow immigrant children brought in under the age of 16 to stay in the country, with maximum age 30. In 2014 a second executive order by president Obama expanded this to include children under the age of 18, with no maximum age. Both executive orders were opposed by Republicans. In the meeting Chuck Schumer answered Trump's question on delaying or changing Trump's mind on DACA, "what's in it for me?"  Schumer said Democrats would work with Trump on new legislation on border security, but not on funding for a border wall. Trump agreed to work on a deal, including no deportations for a six month period. After different back and forth in the media, typical of the politics in immigration issues, the president says he is ready to work out a deal on DACA, if the Democrats work with him on toughening border security. Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress now agree that steps have to be taken on border security in stages. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Millenials are promoting healthy eating habits in the U.S. as awareness among young people grows about faulty eating habits that have become commonplace in the U.S.  Words such as naturally grown, organic, sustainable, locally sourced are important in the way millennials demand their food, and grocery stores are listening. Millennials are also trying vegan and vegetarian options. Packaging has to be resealable, easy to open and portable. And when it comes to baby food millennials have definite preferences. 

The result is that variety and quality is improving on grocery market shelves.

LyrArc Article Gist
By preventing serious illness in patients two pills for coronavirus from Pfizer and Merck can change the course of this pandemic. Pfizer will give a royalty free license to Medicines Patent Pool, an organization backed by the United Nations for its coronavirus pill. Merck has also given a royalty free license to Medicines Patent Pool for it pill. This organization will then grant a license for the manufacture of the coronavirus pills to poor developing countries. India is included in the list of countries yet China, Russia and Brazil are excluded for the Pfizer license.  Merck has given Indian generics manufacturers approval to make the pill. This will provide supplies of the pill to 105 developing countries, South Africa will also make the pill to provide it at $10 a course in Africa. Pfizer will begin manufacturing of large quantities in 2022 with 50 million planned for 2022 and 21 million in the first half of 2022. Pfizer pill will be made available in 95 countries. The Merck pill is called Molnupiravir. Pfizer pill is called Paxlovid with 30 pills taken over the course of 5 days. Pfizer pill is effective in studies when given to people who had not been vaccinated. It has to be given within 3-4 days of getting coronavirus confirmed through a test which makes testing critical for its use. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
One solution to Ukraine conflict- the idea of "freezing" the conflict in Ukraine on the present lines of control August 14, 2025. European leaders are looking at this idea as DJT tries to reestablish trust with the Russian leader in Alaska.

LyrArc Article Gist
Average US bills for electricity have gone up by over 10% in about 15 states with some rate hikes over 20%, reports the Washington Post. In New Jersey 21%, Virginai 15%. Higher prices in Utah where renewable energy projects cancellation have drawn criticism from Republican governor Spencer Cox. Higher rates also in Indiana, Ohio and Louisiana. Data centers put up by tech companies are taking up huge amounts of energy pushing up rates. Voters believe these tech companies are not paying their "fair share." There is also no clear idea on whether clean energy is pushing up prices of electricity or whether the cancellation of clean energy projects including the ones that make sense  are pushing up electricity prices, with voters going both ways in their perceptions. With a rapidly shrinking gap between India+ Japan and China, the US can finally put to rest the burdens of conflict such as the 1930's Japanese invasion of China, the war after pearl Harbor in the Pacific, the Korean conflict, and the Vietnam conflict in which America and its people shouldered huge burdens. ...