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The key purpose of learning a language is to communicate with people in other parts of the country, says Venkaiah Naidu, vice president of India 2017-2022. He himself from Nellore in Andhra Pradesh speaks both Telugu his mother tongue, and over the years learned Hindi so that he could talk to people all over India. Even in Europe there are countries with several languages. Switzerland is a land composed of cantons with areas that speak German around Zurich, French Geneva, and Italian around Lugano. Children learn a second language and in German speaking areas children also learn German in both High German and standard German because dialects of German are common.  English is often the chosen language in German speaking areas as the second language after the mother tongue which happens in India. It is a good idea to learn as many languages even if one is not as proficient in all so that one can communciate and travel freely. In India the north has extensive use of Hindi- in the states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh Hindi is the language used, and even in Gujarat, and north east one can communicate in Hindi, so that a southerner can do well just by learning Hindi to communicate and travel freely in all parts of the country. For a Northerner the challenge remains on which language to learn between Tamil for the Madras region, Telegu for the Hyderabad and Vizag region, Karnataki for the Bangalore region, and Malayalam for the Thiruvanathapuram region. At some point in India's future a common script should be adopted for all Indian languages so that only the language pronunciation and vocabulary not the script itself has to be studied . This would make reading and writing easier once one knows the meaning of words. This is the situation in European Union where the languages can be learned without having to learn a different script and is written in the same script as English is using Latin alphabet. Turkey introduced the Latin alphabet to modernize the country and increase literacy in 1928. In India this would make it possible for northerners to learn a southern language and southerners to be able to learn Hindi without difficulty with the script in reading and writing, and in travel across the country. Venkaiah Naidu says about learning more than 2 languages mother tongue and English- learning another tongue such as Hindi makes it possible to do a lot more. "If you want to grow, if you want to communicate your ideas to a larger section of the people, you must know their language." One does not always get it right the first time, but the effort over the years can lead to so much wider exposure to different ideas in a multilingual world. ...

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A very useful video from DW.com on how not to bring the virus contamination from grocery stores and supermarkets, shopping areas, into ones homes. It gives 7 useful tips that can help one manage this risk.

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Plant based foods are good for health, and good for fighting climate change. When choosing vegetables and fruits pay a lot of attention to seasonality. One can also take inspiration from other cuisines- Lebanese, Israeli, Mediterranean, Italian, Japanese, Indian. Plant based including millets are anything but boring. In fact Indian cooking experts used millet and plant based in the G20 cuisine in India recently for all guests. There is a lot of room for creativity in the cooking.

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A look at gangsterism under the Koumintang government and the gangsterism prevalent at local government levels in China today. And the way in which the central government is trying to accomodate petitioners and complaints of corruption and misuse of power. There is aperception that only if the central government knows about the abuses that these would be corrected. However the central government has not been able to control corrupt local officials working in collusion with gangster elements and the police. As long as economic growth is high the central government can risk ignoring the problem and send petitioners back home.

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Germany - France quarterfinals UEFA soccer 2025 1-1 Germany winning on penalties. With great saves, about 9 before penalty kicks, and one save of an own goal towards the end from German goal keeper Ann Katrin-Berger. Also part of the game was a puzzling hair pull by a German player of the French captain in front of all the cameras and the stadium that led to apenalty that France converted. In this unusual game there were 2 French goals that were called offside by the umpires. The German game involved more physicality with many fouls and injured players. Though the possession was very one sided France having possession about 70% of the time and many attempts by French players at the German goal, somehow the German team's defense held together without it's  red carded player.

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Ancient grains are a way out of the shortage of supplies of wheat from Ukraine and Russia. Ancient grains are also healthy grains providing good nutrition in their own right and should be promoted for their health benefits. These grains are millet, einkorn, emmer, and a new perennial grain called Kernza from Kansas. DW.com looks at how this can be done.

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Some excellent ways to cope with growing stress and anxiety during coronavirus and the elections. The important thing is to move to something else, to take a break and think of something beautiful. A short burst of exercize, a walk can be very helpful. Practice rhythmic yoga type breathing. Try doing some other things that are on your work list.

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This WSJ report shows ways in which companies are attracting and retaining employees by building homes. One company shown here is building the homes to keep costs down using subcontractors. Costs are kept down so that houses can be built at $200,000, to make them affordable at $1000 a month mortgages for workers earning $40,000 to $100,000.

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Democrats feel the landscape has shifted in their favor for the midterms in 2022 after the US Supreme court ruled against abortion in its Roe vs Wade decision. Democrats feel they can now appeal to more women and to independents and that this issue has energized some of its campaign base. The Kansas vote affirming abortion rights has further energized Democrats.

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The Indian Express looks at the impact on children for learning and education of the coronavirus pandemic. More children in areas that have lagged behind economically are unable to read in second grade. In some states the number of children who are not able to read second grade text has more than doubled. This can be seen across other grades.

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Unlimited water can be drawn from wells in Arizona. How this is affecting the state's water supplies under the ground is shown here in the NYT- with alfalfa grown to ship to Saudi Arabia.

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For the 100,000 employees of Vodafone the pandemic has lessons for creativity, flexibility and innovating in work habits. In 2 weeks 95% of the employees worked remotely. Now Vodafone experts say that individual projects and tasks make up 60% of work which can be done remotely. Only 40% of tasks require working in a team setting with other people. The 60% done individually can be done in a remote setting making it necessary to to adopt a flexible approach for best results. Here Nick Read, Vodafone CEO, says because of London's unique setting and exceptional access to the talent pool this will always be a good office location as a central office. Yet the new concept is for hubs all over the country so that Vodafone can tap into talent across the nation in diverse parts of the UK. Mr. Read looks at the views of employees and says this period has shown enhanced productivity with remote working. The additional challenge of balancing family and work can create some stress, and Vodafone has taken some steps to tackle this. It provides guidance to employees on how to handle work in a remote setting, limits meetings to 20 minutes with long separation between meetings. Vodafone is now designing offices in European locations based on what it has learned during the pandemic. In the Netherlands it is splitting the office and remote work 50-50 based on Vodafone's new understanding of the value of remote work. The expansion of the work day as employees handle other tasks, has to be handled well with some structure. The German idea of Feierabend, or end of working day, calling for a set time to disconnect the work day and do something else cycling, exercizing, something fun and relaxing to disconnect, is shown in Lyrarc. Other articles on working remotely in Lyrarc show that limiting intense concentration work to 4-5 hours is a good way to be at your best in productive work. This is because an 8 hour work day at the office has many distractions, meetings and interactions. The office work day has much shorter stretches of concentrated work than we think. ...

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What airlines can do to prevent travelers taking flights when they are sick just because they cannot afford the higher fares for a future date. This poses a risk both for airline employees and for the other passengers.

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Texas under new state law S.B. 4 can  impose criminal penalties of upto 6 months in jail on non citizens who illegally enter Texas from Mexico. It allows state judges to order deportations to Mexico- without Mexico's consent- and allows local law enforcement to carry out the orders. The US Supreme Court upheld the US Court of Appeals 5th Circuit decision that says the law S.B. 4 passed in Texas can be enforced temporarily till it is submitted to the Court for final decision. Both Biden and Trump have visited the Texas border with Mexico. This was after Biden and Schumer passed a immigration bill 70- 30 in the Senate which Jim Lankford  Republican of Oklahoma had negotiated with Democrats. Biden said he would sign it to close the border- it would also change parole and asylum law to stop large illegal migration entirely. The former president intervened to stop passage in the House to keep the issue alive for 2024.

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During the debate on the name of the country in the Constituent Assembly in 1948 the wording was to be changed from "India, that is Bharat, is a Union of States" to "Bharat, that is India, is a Union of States." This was suggested by Kamalapathi Tripathi and Kamath. At some point in history the Union can only be "Bharat." Why? Because for the hundreds of millions that Gandhiji led in the Independence Movement it was for the idea of Bharat and freedom that they were fighting for. Freedom could only be defined in the word Bharat. It can be argued that Gandhiji and Sardar Patel, Nehru left it as "India, that is Bharat" so that at some point it would be changed once the country had taken Gandhiji's movement of "We, the People" to the next step lifting up the hundreds of millions of people from poverty and illiteracy, a process that is Gandhi 2.0 happening today.

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The debate in the U.S. Congress about whether pandemic jobless benefits are deterring people from returning to work. Are extra $600 weekly payments affecting the way people return to work. The surge in the pandemic in many states in July could also be a factor. The extra weekly jobless benefits amount to about $18 billion a week and are set to expire unless Congress renews them.

The enhanced payments of about $15 an hour in the U.S. for a 40 hour week amount to $600, before regular state unemployment benefits are added in. Researchers say 68% of unemployed workers receive more benefits than they did working. Some of this added benefit during the pandemic helps people to stay home for work that involves contact with people such as in travel and food increasing risk of spread, which can be a good investment in prevention. In other work such that involves no contact or which can be done from home, there is good reason for incentives for gradual return to work.

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The New Popular Front in France is a group of socialist partties that include the Socialist Party of former president Mitterand, the France Unbowed of Jean Melenchon, other left parties, and the Greens. NFP has put out its economic plan for France, RN National Rally has not. NFP puts out the details that can make it possible to raise the minimum wage in France to euros 1600 a month. And to invest in France's aging infrastructure the way Biden is doing in the US. About $100-$150 billion needed for the economic plan would come from contributions and taxes of the wealthiest similar to Biden's plan in the US. It also rejects the so called neo liberal thinking and culture that has become entrenched in France, in Europe and in the US where infrastructure is failing, public services are failing yet the wealthiest are not paying their fair share in taxes so that the countries of Europe and America can be rebuilt and renewed, to provide a better life for all.

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Germany plans to install 300 gigawatts of solar energy by 2030. To do this it is accelerating the installing of solar panels on balconies and buildings. One product is appealing to buyers who see it as easy to install as Italian laundry hung out to dry on a balcony. These are solar panels that one can buy for 200 euros take them home, hang them like laundry over a balcony and plug it into a wall socket. The energy generated from the sun is then fed into the home and can be used to power a refrigerator or other appliance. Already in the first 6 months of 2024 half a million were sold equivalent to 9 gigawatts of energy from solar. Germany passed laws blocking landlords from preventing installation of solar panels on homes. A startup in Dusseldorf is shipping solar panels made of this kind in China to places all over Germany and Austria. Chinese solar panels are cost effective costing less than EU made solar panels.

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It is Tuesday afternoon in Volant, Pennsylvania, population 126 residents and a Minnesotan Walz is talking to farmers in rural parts of the state, farmers trudging their way to see him. In this part of midwestern America there is anxiety about the cost of living, about immigration, and about a way forward. It is here in Beaver County that Biden campaigned in 2008 and in 2020, and Walz is back in 2024 in the closing days to get his message across that America can be tough on immigration, and also invest in renewal by investing in the future, and controlling the cost of living, fighting monopolies and corporations that don't pay their fair share of taxes that can fund America's  rural infrastructure that has been neglected for three decades by both parties till the Biden legislation funding rural infrastructure renewal. This means getting the message out and fighting every step of the way in rural America that needs and deserves respect, says Katie Glueck.

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The WSJ calls it a chaotic runup while conceding that the stated purpose was clearly to stop fentanyl and migrants coming across the US land Borders with Canada and Mexico. In reality its purpose is clear and it is the recalcitrant positions of Canada and Mexico and the failure of previous administrations since Clinton-Bush-Obama to act forcefully in the face of such an attitude that was the problem. Of what amounts to indifference from Canada and Mexico to fentanyl flows  and the destroying of America, that made it imperative for America to use all the powers at its disposal to get action to stop fentanyl and migrants.  These powers at America's disposal include economic power tariffs being one, and other powers as necessary, as no nation can long endure such indifferent attitudes to harm done against another for long. It is a lesson for America that what TR called carrying a big stick can be a problem when there is the complete opposite taking place.     ...

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Picture of a weather sign outside a Pharmacy in Paris shows the heat wave hitting Europe- the Temp. 44 degrees C. This is 111 degrees Fahrenheit. In places loike Seville, Spain the temperature can get even hotter. Europe is woefully under airconditioned with many hospitals and public facilities lacking airconditioning. The US is far ahead in airconditioning. Conservative parties in Europe are accusing the liberals in power of not doing enough. In London Sadiq Khan is Mayor and housing construction rules require considering other cooling design options before putting in air conditioning. Some members of parliament call this "ridiculous."  In France the opposition parties say the government "is out of touch." Consider government views in France. Energy minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher says heat from large-scale air conditioning would make heat waves worse. “It’s a bad solution, We should air-condition for vulnerable people to give them a break, but on the other hand we shouldn’t do it everywhere.”  ...

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The Bishop of York presents the Church's position that it needs time to pause and reflect- as people within the church can read the Christian scripture differently and understand tradition and lived human experience to arrive at different conclusions. That there are more differences than the Church of England was ready to admit. After three years of experimentation the Church of England is stopping the "Living in Love and Faith" program in a vote 252 votes to 132 votes. The General Synod of Bishops conclusion is that consensus cannot be reached. In the words of Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York- “This is not where I want us to be and not where we hoped we would be three years ago … I know that many of you are feeling angry and disappointed. There is a lot of pain and that pain cuts across so called ‘party lines’ or theological convictions held.” But, “knowing how divided we are on these issues, we haven’t been able to find further ways forward that honour the consciences of those who, faithfully led by their conscientious reading of scripture and their understanding of tradition and of lived human experience, arrive at different conclusions”. The bishops and the synod, he says are “more deeply divided than I think we knew – or admitted."   ...

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WHO estimates $1 trillion in costs from mental health issues, from depression and anxiety disorders each year in the lost productivity for the global economy. The cost of mental health productivity loss is huge. Here a knowledgeable researcher and expert tells us that psychological avoidance makes things worse. If we are trying to squash discomfort hastily we are avoiding. It becomes a crutch says Luanna Marques, author of several books and a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, a crutch that rather than alleviate anxiety exacerbates it. Understanding the patterns of avoidance its process is the first step. Science induced ways can help us sort this out. Reacting only makes things worse, it fuels the fire leading to even more problems like operating a pressure cooker without a valve. Replying hastily to an email that upsets us or raise our voices without considering the consequences. Retreating is an act of moving away or pulling back from anxiety inducing situations. This only tends to increase anxiety as the underlying situation is still there. Then there is Remaining which is sticking to the status quo to avoid the discomfort of change, such as clinging to a job or a relationship even when we know it is not good for us. Marques suggests three science based methods to fight all this, and fight psychological avoidance the powerful enemy. First Shifting by checking in with our thoughts, particularly when anxiety comes knocking. In these moments we often have black and white distorted thoughts when we are telling ourselves something is such and such. Shifting is taking off the dark, monochrome glasses and seeing the world in color again, says Marques. She asks one to challenge your thoughts, clean out your lenses. One says- I have a lot to bring to relationships, I have had successful relationships in the past. One can now sleep better at night and set you on a journey to follow what matters most to us. The opposite of avoiding she says is Approaching, which is not charging at your fears head-on, but taking a step that feels manageable. One asks oneself what is one small step I can take towards my fears and anxiety to overcome avoidance. Even the smallest step can rewire our brain. Aligning is living a values driven life, says Marques. The daily actions now align with what matters most to us- our values in life. In intense anxiety emotions not values dictate our actions. To lead a values driven life we need to first identify with our values, for health, family, work, or anything else. Then we dedicate time and effort to our values. In conclusion it is not about being fearless , but about not letting fear dictate our lives, says Marques in this excellent approach she has given. ...

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G20 meetings in several Indian cities in 2023 include Srinagar. The meeting in J&K was a G20 Tourism working group meeting that will look at ways tourism can help boost the economy of J&K and create employment.

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Adults 50 years and older can now get a second booster shot four months after receiving the first booster shot. FDA and CDC authorized the shots for 65 years and older and people 50 years and older with immuno compromised conditions.