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The Afghan School in Kabul run by former Taliban officials for girls and boys is one of the best schools in Kabul. Boys and girls attend chemistry classes together. Taliban officials see the schools as a bridge between madrassas and modern schools, and now accept the idea that as long as Islamic ideals are respected girls should go to school like boys. A former Taliban foreign minister- of the government the U.S. ousted under president Bush- now helps his daughter with homework. The changes in neighboring Pakistan where the government of Nawaz Sharif is pushing modern ideas and technological development are likely to push progress in Afghanistan as well- this happens as the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan. The U.S. leaves a region hungry for progress as new governments pushing technological development supported by business emerge in Pakistan and India in 2013-2014. Unfulfilled promises of economic development are at the forefront of people's minds. A transformation as large as the shift from communism in China to state run market economy and the technological and economic transformation that followed is now at its early beginnings in the region. This shift would be from religious strife and socialist structures to a market economy....

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At this rate China and India will through the time young people are being encouraged to pursue reading and education- and through strictly regulated social media and videogames in China and TikTok banned in India- move in the direction of developed nations and the US with 150 million users of TikTok be moving in the other direction where Brazil 126 million users and Indonesia 99 million users are. This report in MIT Technology Review says in 2022 the children and teenagers in America spent 103 minutes on TikTok. Tiktok and Facebook split the social media market with about 5 billion minutes each. If users are on both this could give an average of 206 minutes or over 3 hours a day. Consider that there is a Chinese version Douyin. In China its version of TikToK is strictly regulated for a long time now and nowhere poses the kind of threat to education, reading and building a better educated population in China than in the US. Is that a conspiracy. No, says MIT Technology Review, it is because how quickly and forcefully the Chinese governments regulates digital platforms.  It a clear failure of the US Congress and the federal government that has led to this situation where this may be the first generation of young people that are less prepared for civic responsibilities and are from the amount of time dedicated to social media spending less time on reading to to be knowledgeable, and reading in general for education.  In China action is swift. Take for example video games and addiction. In 2021 the rule was put in that children under 18 could only play video games between 8.00 pm and 9.00 pm on weekends and holidays. They are blocked from using outside of these hours. China is looking for new measures that require creators to obtain a license, and for ways for the government to regulate the social media algorithms themselves.  ...

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A Japanese scientist at Princeton University has done work since the 1960's to show that increased level of carbon dioxide lead to increased temperatures on the surface of the earth. Syukuro Manabe at Princeton was honored for this work with the Nobel Prize in Physics. Also honored is a German scientist Hasselmann who showed the connection between weather and climate with his own model. His research shows methods for attributing various impacts on climate of human activity and natural phenomena. Also honored is Italian scientist Parisi for his work on complex systems uncovering patterns in disordered complex materials.

Today's understanding of how the use of coal and other fossil fuels at the scale done in China, Europe, US and India is affecting the climate comes from the work of these three scientists.

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Brazil's economy is forecast to contract by 2% in 2015, the currency has lost about one third its value and the stock market is down 22% in the last year. This follows the decline in demand for Brazil's commodities exports as China growth slows down. Experts say Brazil is now seeing another boom bust cycle similiar to boom-bust cycles in the past, such as the 1966-73 boom followed by years of hyperinflation and stagnation. Brazil's exports to China declined 17% in the first 7 months of 2015. The crisis is in many ways similiar to crises in other emerging markets dependent on commodities exports. The resources boom leads to overvaluation of the currency, and decline in development of manufacturing away from dependence on commodities exports. Other errors rise from complacency and politics prevalent in such periods. These errors include mismanagement of resources with poor resource allocation decisions such as spending on soccer stadiums in cities in the northeast while basic bus services remained underfinanced in large urban areas, large overspending by the government using state owned bank BNDES to offer rates at below market rates, a credit fueled boom and credit card binge for households, and a reversal of capital flows from the U.S. and Europe with the sharp decline in investment climate. There is a severe loss of confidence in the government of Dilma Rousseff with her approval rating as low as 8%. Corruption scandals at Petrobras show close links between the Workers Party of Rousseff and executives, with about $2 billion in misused funds. Brazil, like other emerging markets such as Russia and India, have taken some lessons from the 1997 financial crisis by setting aside large foreign exchange reserves for a crisis. Brazil's reserves of $397 billion help it cushion the effects with funding of the safety net and support to industries to avoid large layoffs. Other problems not tackled as in Mexico, India, and other emerging markets, are the weak educational system, and poor infrastructure, that create bottlenecks for growth. Brazil could face a lost decade after the debt overhang, decline in foreign investment and commodity export generated revenues. ...

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Policy on China in the second year of the DJT Administration- shift from adversary positions to cooperation. A shift in policy after the meetings with Chinese leaders Xi and Wang Yi at Busan, South Korea in 2025. WSJ Analysis looks at what happened in the first term of DJT, the Biden Administration that followed and in 2025 in US-China relations and how the posture changed, how Xi and his team built rapport with DJT and his team over the tumultuous period in 2025. US turned to Xi in getting Iran to the table for negotiations in Islamabad meetings after the month long effort to take out Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program infrastructure. This was arranged in the early hours of Tuesday April 7th 2026. Throughout the US air campaign in Iran China pursued the policy it had set at Busan of not letting it affect US- China relations and the DJT visit to Beijing believing it sets the basis for the future course of US- China that affects the whole world beyond regions such as the Middle East where little headway has been made in bringing about peace. China US, EU, India, Brazil, Latin America, Africa, Indonesia, make up most of the world's population and China remains focused on ensuring the US and China can through their cooperation maintain peace in the world overall. This is reflected in this statement of China's Foreign Ministry on Busan meeting as the beginning of something new and big for the world- "Over the past seven decades and more, we have been working from generation to generation on the same blueprint to make it a reality. We have no intention to challenge or supplant anyone. Our focus has always been on managing China’s own affairs well, improving ourselves, and sharing development opportunities with all countries across the world. And that is an important secret to our success. China will further deepen reform across the board, expand opening up, and promote higher-quality economic growth while achieving an appropriate increase in economic output, and advance well-rounded human development and common prosperity for all. This will also expand the space for cooperation between China and the United States." This relates to China's worst fear, worst nightmare - that before it can become a fully developed economy for 1.4 billion people it would find itself in the situation that faces Japan of an aging society and weak growth something Japan faces as a fully developed economy much smaller of 120 million people. Japan per capita GDP is at $36,000 2.5 times China's at $14,000 and about a fifth of Germany's at $64,000, about a seventh of the USA at $92,000. So that if China does not continue along the path of development it has followed since 1990 working with the US and EU it faces the prospect of losing forever the prospect of joining Japan and fall into lower than middle income status when large parts of the interior of China a third of its economy that is rural are still living in poor economy status with per capita GDP of $3500, which is 8% of the GDP per capita of the poorest state heavily rural state of Mississippi in the US. Even Shanghai and Beijing with about $32,000 per capita GDP are only about 58% of the per capita GDP of Louisiana in the bottom one third of US states. Xi Wang Yi, Lifeng are doing what China must do to compete with advanced US and European economies and Japan- continue to work with the US on the development model that has worked the best for China since 1990. It is not about supplanting anyone China is serious when it says here- "Over the past seven decades and more, we have been working from generation to generation on the same blueprint to make it a reality. We have no intention to challenge or supplant anyone. Our focus has always been on managing China’s own affairs well, improving ourselves, and sharing development opportunities with all countries across the world." ...

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States in America's Deep South have a much lower rate of people having taken one shot of vaccination, in the 30-40% range by May 2021. This report says states such as Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and others in the South are at risk of seeing a new wave of the coronavirus  because people will spend more time in airconditioned spaces in the summer. In contrast to the north with cold winters and indoor heated spaces people in the southern states can spend more time outdoors because of the warmer weather in winter. This may have protected southerners during the winter and spring months. This may reverse with more time spent in airconditioned indoor spaces in close proximity where the coronavirus infections can increase. This report comes as new reports show the Indian coronavirus variant becoming more prevalent in the UK and other countries. This variant spreads about 50% more rapidly than an earlier UK variant, say experts. Another analysis in The Times of London shows that the imperceptible rise phase of the new coronavirus variants is the most dangerous part of the coronavirus as it dulls the sense of danger in the population that makes it take notice and prepare countermeasures early enough. India is an example of how this can happen as the sudden rise actually started with a first imperceptible increase in March and early April 2021 that changed into a rapid escalation of the virus in the population by May 2021. The vaccinations give a strong sense of confidence, however the vaccination rates vary widely state by state in the US. ...

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Britain's prime minister Johnson has gained approval for 16 billion military buildup for naval and other buildup for the next 4 years. It was apparent for some time during the administrations from Blair through the financial crisis driven by banks under Cameron, that Britain had lost its resolve to have a strong military capability. This was evident in its handling of Hong Kong, from the transfer to its weak response to the situation in Hong Kong as participatory democracy failed in Hong Kong. During the period after the second world war Britain failed to bring participatory democracy in Hong Kong under its rule. Labour and Conservative administrations made no effort even as participatory democracy was brought to large parts of Asia and Africa through independence, following democratic elected legislatures in the period between two wars in India and Ceylon. No such effort was made in Hong Kong leading to questions about its own commitment to the principles when China introduced its own government in Hong Kong by changing legal structures.  Britain lacked the military capability and its partnership with France and the U.S. was also weaker because of other distractions from middle east conflicts and internal problems. This is now changing with the military capability buildup for the next 4 years. This is happening as France under Macron takes a new posture in its battle to defend the ideals of its Republic, and rebuild its manufacturing capabilities. ...

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Cyclone relief efforts described here saved 1 million people with a well planned and executed evacuation in the poor state of Odisha in India. Plans were set with hundreds of shelters built along the coast line after the previous cyclone. This story shows how this was done.

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The Sri Lankan economy, jobs and growth are affected by economic relations with India, loans and assistance from India, and from investment from India in the 2025 period. USAID plays very little part in jobs and growth. This is true of other countries.  In the past the USAID was seen as part of the activity of the State Department overseas yet kept separate so that aid would not be based on US diplomatic activity. Over time it became a place which supported what critics call bureaucrats pet projects in developing countries. Many developing nations have advanced in their development and no longer need USAID projects, this includes India, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Brazil, Chile, and parts of Africa. Because development aid was at one time critical as in the period when John Kennedy came to office in the Cold War with the Soviet Union, many nations in Asia and Africa were just becoming independent there was a sense from that time that its acitvity and budget was somehow both independent of the State Department and sacrosanct. As a result it became a target of critics and did not advance the US interests overseas as the US Information Service, the VOA Voice Of America and other agencies have done. A country's development no longer depended on USAID. Why does it need to be separate when it should advance US goals and interests around the world which are benevolent- consider that it is the US that helped build up the Chinese economy and still provides it with a large market. ...

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Anders Rasmusen, NATO Secretary General 2009-2014, says it is dangerous for Europe to remain a bystander in the Indo-Pacific. He says the Social Democrats and Greens in Germany, and the Nordic countries including Denmark do not support the policies of the outgoing administration of chancellor Merkel in relations with China. Rasmussen was prime minister of Denmark from 2001-2009. The current prime minister of Denmark, is the leader of the Social Democrats and won the election in 2019 to become prime minister. In the recent German election the Social Democrats were the largest party in parliament and expected to form a government with the Greens party. The situation in the world is changing rapidly in 2020-2021 the years of the coronavirus pandemic. Supply chains are being restructured. The Danish prime minister is on a 3 day visit to India. The Biden administration is committing to spending $3.5 trillion for the renewal of the American economy and for families and workers. America is committed to it role as a leader of the free world, protecting its technologies and strengthening its industries, building respect for workers and families. ...

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Knowing the thinking and mood of the younger generation of engineers programmers and other staff is critical. They are more optimistic and impatient about things so companies have to move quickly to change things to retain talent. The other major change is the number of young women that are joining. Nasscom the software industry association in India says that last year this was 35% and will rise to 45% by 2010. This is amazing rise considering that it started from very low numbers and these young women are more vocal than the men. It means companies have to keep their minds open to gender issues and respond. Giving young people a voice in the affairs of the company, giving them achance to be not lost in the crowd, a shot at challenging assignments for the talented, some kind of inhouse training program in management and in other areas so that they can keep upgrading their education and value to the company, some peers and superiors assigned to mentor new employees, hiring from smaller cities so that those who want to be near family can do so and have higher loyalty than with chasing high level talent in bigger cities and supplementing with good inhouse training , are a list of some of the things being tried by companies. ...

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Epidemic of betel nut addiction that affects China is the subject of this report in The Times. Chinese doctors study in 2017 shows that oral cancer patients related to use of the betel nut for chewing in recreational use could reach 1 million b y 2030. Betel nut is being banned in some cities. Advertising of betel nut online or on television is now banned. Over $10 billion is made by the betel nut producers and it has become a part of the local economy in the province of Hunan says this report. This shows the problems of public health that remain to be tackled in China, as well as India, after achievements in sanitation tackled the basic problems of disease. Tobacco use is a major problem in both countries, and a major danger to public health, with awareness happening only now.

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India plans 10 million daily vaccines by the middle of July 2021 as it pushes forward with an aggressive vaccination strategy for the large population of 1.2 billion people. Daily covid cases have dropped to about 150,000 as the intensity of the current wave declines.

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The Biden administration is the first administration in decades to do this to protect American industry and industry of other manufacturing capable nations such as India, in effect protecting a whole new supply chain that allows all to participate but non to dominate unfairly. The Bush, Trump, Obama administrations failed to do this. A concern most economists and many business leaders fail to understand to the great misfortune of America's workers and communities and workers and communities in other nations. As the US restricted flow of technologies in advanced chips to China to protect its tecnologies, China is investing $40 billion in mature chips. The Biden administration is now shifting its attention to mature chips technologies to protect American chip industry and prevent overproduction of mature chips in China for export leading to dumping of the product in the US and hitting the domestic chip industry hard.

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A riverside project on the banks of the Sabarmati in Ahmedabad gives the city of 10 million a new look. The project is similar to ones on the Thames in London and Seine in Paris bringing new park space and areas for of public space for a rapidly growing city. Guardian Cities is looking at 15 new cities with population growing to exceed 10 million by 2035- from Tehran, Iran, to Luanda, Mozambique, Hyderabad, India, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Surat, India, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Chengdu, China, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The way this was done was to develop a self financing model. This was the work of architect Bimal Patel who proposed selling 14% of riverfront land of 200 hectares to recover costs. The Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation spent 161 million dollars to build new housing for 11,000 displaced families who worked in squatter type housing on the riverbanks as domestic workers, clothes washers. The riverbed had become for decades a dumping ground for city waste. The goals were to provide access for public to the river front and clean up the water with water treatment plants. Bimal Patel calls the project one of three generations as  will take another three years for new water treatment plants. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation bears the cost of about $220 million. The famous Sabarmati Ashram of Mahatma Gandhi lies along this riverfront and it gives this sacred space in India's history, the home of Mahatma Gandhi for many years in the struggle for independence, a healthier, brightened space along the river. ...

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Sundar Pichai is known for managing the development of the Chrome operating system. He later assumed responsibilities for the Android mobile operating system. He is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur, India, has a masters degree from Stanford University and a MBA from the Wharton School. He joined Google in 2004. He has a low key style and prefers to smooth over differences, and build good relationships to move important projects forward. Google Founder Larry Page says Pichai has a great ability to see what's ahead and get teams mobilized around the big stuff for Google. He has assumed responsibilities for most Google areas in Oct. 2014, leading to the CEO position in a planned transition.

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Merkel say to Gemany in a weekly video message that "the danger posed by coronavirus remains serious. "Take it seriously because the situation is serious." It requires everyone to act responsibly. "By following the rules for social distancing, hand hygiene, facial coverings, every one of us contributes to our shared destiny, " she said. It is a message that should resonate in the U.S. India, Brazil and other countries hit hard by the virus. Germany's cases are approaching 200,000 with fresh outbreaks in some areas. Reopening everywhere creates new risks, vigilance is essential.

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Brazil president Lula at COP30 Belem, Brazil- mixing oil drilling plans with plans for climate change for Amazon forests. This is not a contradiction in today's world as many nations including China, India are depending on coal and moving forward with solar and wind energy, and the US is also drilling for oil and it's private sector continues moving forward on renewable energy. In 2025 cost of living action for working class families means getting cheaper sources of energy, and at the same time climate change requires new invention and scientific advances in developing solar, wind, nuclear and other renewable energy. US Biden administration accepted this combination approach and it is also practiced under the current US Republican administration with different degrees of emphasis to meet current and future challenges in the best way possible.

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Dr Norman Borlaug passes away at 95. He was a plant scientist who invented special rust fungus resitant varieties of wheat through work for the Rockefeller Foundation in Mexico. In this work he used the climate of the Sonoran desert and the Mexican highlands to develop this rust resistant wheat variety. He came up with asmaller wheat plant which with fertilizer counld increase yields enormously. Brough up in Minnesota of Norwegian parents, he studied in aone room schoolhouse and pursued his doctorate in plant sciences at the University of Minnesota during the depression. At this time he saw hungry people in Minneapolis, and this stayed with him as he was persuaded to take up the job with the Rockefeller Foundation in Mexico after working at Du Pont. Mexico meant dismal conditions and vast amounts of travel between the desert and the highlands. But his unflagging persistance and good humor in these difficult conditions led to results with the new varieties of wheat. This was then used in Mexico and later in India and Pakistan in the 70's with the wheat crop in 1968 maring the beginning of ther green revolution. ...

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The cost is $117 million the number of students estimated at 20,000 who can be educated in this way who cannot afford the high tution fees at the universities in Minnesota including the University of Minnesota system. In opposing access to higher education the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board also reflects the views of billionaire owners out of touch with the people of America and the Nation. The WSJ Editorial Board says nothing about the egregious situation today shown on its pages of capital allocation that has gone upside down and scary. For example it showed in one week : $110 million capital allocated to invent a better golf ball $700 million lost in capital allocated by investment funds in a facial lotion brand that uses natural ingredients. This is just to cite 2 of thousands of such capital allocations many of them shown on Lyrarc.com as examples of poor and egregious scary capital allocation for a nation built on fairness and building opportunities for workers and families through the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. The very investment that differentiated America and Europe from the feudal societies of China and India that self destructed in the 20th century after enormous suffering for hundreds of millions of the Chinese and Indian people. Isn't this like turning ones back on the Advantages that accrued to Europe and America from its wise investments and turning one's back on the Enlightenment in Europe and America itself? This is the statement to be found on the Minnesota Office of Higher Education- "Beginning in fall 2024, the North Star Promise (NSP) Scholarship program will create a tuition and fee-free pathway to higher education for eligible at eligible Minnesota residents at eligible institutions as a "last-dollar" program by covering the balance of tuition and fees remaining after other scholarships, grants, stipends and tuition waivers have been applied. By making college accessible and affordable, NSP is intended to have a positive impact on multiple fronts: Help stabilize enrollment at Minnesota public institutions of higher education; Serve as an economic driver for Minnesota by educating qualified workers who are much needed to fill vacancies in the state's labor force; Create a viable higher education path for Minnesota residents who may have previously thought education was not a possibility for them. We estimate this program will impact 15,000-20,000 students in the first academic year." The cost estimate at $117 million a year . ...

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Inflation is a problem in developing countries of Asia, Africa and the Arab world. Zhu Min, a Chinese economist pointed out the significant impact of a rise in food prices in India and China. Food makes up 47% of the basket of products used for India's consumer price index and 34% for China. Rising food prices hurt the poorer sections of the Indian people, said Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro. This could result in political uncertainty. A rise in prices in Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt is leading to street protests.

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The Bharatiya Janta Party wins state elections in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, two large states in the north and central part of the country. The Aadmi Common Man party does well in New Delhi elections. The Congress party sees a large loss of seats in all three major election states. The ruling national Congress party sees its support erode as a result of corruption and mismanagement of the economy, and younger voters dissatisfied with the party.

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The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council in India lowered the growth rate for the current fiscal year through March to 7.1%. Growth is expected to improve in the next fiscal year to 7.5%-8.0%. C. Rangarajan, the head of the advisory group says he sees the fiscal deficit exceeding the budgeted target of 4.6% of GDP. One panel member says the fiscal deficit target could be exceeded by as much as 1%. Rangarajan emphasized the need to cut subsidies and raise some indirect taxes. India's central bank governor, Subbarao, also emphasized the need to cut subsidies and reduce the deficit in a recent interview with Wall Street Journal reporters Frangos and Jain, Feb. 14, 2012. Lower foreign investment, and reduced credit after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI, India's central bank) increased rates repeatedly, and lower exports due to the eurozone crisis, have reduced the growth rate. The panel expects inflation of 6.5% in March 2012, which Mr. Rangarajan considers to be high. Deputy Governor of the RBI, K.C. Chakrabarty says 7% growth is reasonable under the conditions, as inflation has to be lowered to below 5% to accelerate growth to 9%. Chakrabarty does not see any quick turnaround in growth rates in the next fiscal year with all the headwinds facing the Indian economy....