tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-326288802024-03-13T15:59:58.058+05:30NishantzworldThe Chronicles of NishantNishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.comBlogger558125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-64902710062844455842024-02-26T17:53:00.001+05:302024-02-26T17:53:15.444+05:30Road To Paris – Episode 9<div style="text-align: justify;">We have entered the Olympics Year, and the race for the remaining qualifying spots in heating up. For the Indian contingent, the elations and heartbreaks continue, on the field (and the shenanigans off it).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here is a quick summary of the updates since Episode 8</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Qualifiers</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Shooting</b>: After the 2024 Asian Shooting Championships, India now has a qualifier in every single category for the first time ever. </div><span style="text-align: justify;">Men’s: </span><b style="text-align: justify;">Varun Tomar </b><span style="text-align: justify;">(10m Air Pistol), </span><b style="text-align: justify;">Vijayveer Sidhu </b><span style="text-align: justify;">(25m Pistol), </span><b style="text-align: justify;">Anantjeet Naruka </b><span style="text-align: justify;">(Skeet).</span><br /><span style="text-align: justify;">Women’s: </span><b style="text-align: justify;">Esha Singh</b><span style="text-align: justify;"> (10m Air Pistol), </span><b style="text-align: justify;">Rhythm Sangwan</b><span style="text-align: justify;"> (25m Pistol), </span><b style="text-align: justify;">Raiza Dhillon </b><span style="text-align: justify;">(Skeet)</span><br /><br /><b style="text-align: justify;">Equestrian</b><span style="text-align: justify;">: India have a Quota Place in Individual Dressage through </span><b style="text-align: justify;">Anush Agarwalla</b><span style="text-align: justify;"> – first ever appearance in this particular event.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Sailing</b>: <b>Vishnu Sarvanan</b> earned a Quota Place in Men’s ILCA category</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>In other news</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Badminton:</b> Indian Women won their first ever Badminton Asia Championships. This was also their first ever medal at the event.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Tennis</b>: <b>Rohan Bopanna</b>, at 43 years young, won his first Men’s Doubles Grand Slam title at the Australian Open finally reached No. 1 ranking.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Athletics:</b> 6 Men have now breached the Qualification mark in the Men’s 20km Walk. Only 3 can qualify!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Hockey: </b>Women’s Team fails to reach the Games after finishing 4th in the Qualifiers. A real heartbreak for the team which came so close to a medal at Tokyo.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Wrestling</b>: The mess continues - Elections held, New body elected and then suspended by Govt. An ad hoc committee in place and two separate Nationals held.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Qualification Summary for Team India</b>: Sports: 6, Events 22, Entries:29, Athletes: 44.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Till next time!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Links: <a href="https://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2023/11/road-to-paris-episode-8.html" target="_blank">Episode 8</a> </div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-9102325199736814292024-01-10T19:46:00.001+05:302024-01-10T19:46:14.460+05:30Wisdom in the middle <div style="text-align: justify;">From today's edition of Times of India came this Garfield comic strip.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFcUdzHPdXiw7E0NPEGt49ykdlmCuAvvqNSrS78t9teZCM90xFC0-GO2uHx9CiKoNnsiLNw4W5xw0PaqCUQl02QVwtJbQCGt0OB1uit-_3SL7YZV8JefXvkrsXlTpEJIXHDwlG_Zt05ESzv1QozoLmumjDvmMd98Wr-QQ6_ukHyPJHMCPppmSF/s3744/IMG_20240110_090544.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1462" data-original-width="3744" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFcUdzHPdXiw7E0NPEGt49ykdlmCuAvvqNSrS78t9teZCM90xFC0-GO2uHx9CiKoNnsiLNw4W5xw0PaqCUQl02QVwtJbQCGt0OB1uit-_3SL7YZV8JefXvkrsXlTpEJIXHDwlG_Zt05ESzv1QozoLmumjDvmMd98Wr-QQ6_ukHyPJHMCPppmSF/w400-h156/IMG_20240110_090544.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Quite a relatable one!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And then remembered a few other lines on the subject</div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Bread rises in the yeast and sets in the waist</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>A moment on the lips a lifetime on the hips</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I am in shape, Round is a shape</i></div></i></div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-45688961386670533582023-12-24T21:24:00.001+05:302023-12-24T21:24:05.180+05:302023: The Year Gone By<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgFbSiyop82fMEM5xaKwTMJ4yEnRYes6VG2PAPFed4XrOxDSh-8Q4jrpp47mNZ5Zgpy_FxE6hYyRDPDWF76aAr3njM99PsLDhSwc2DR3glDki8jEWBbGOr6-l3n4AF8Vys4gS0AsZ2_g_hwqTh90wG_UahctJQEKh68BDgmc_sp3TyOVR4eGEtO" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgFbSiyop82fMEM5xaKwTMJ4yEnRYes6VG2PAPFed4XrOxDSh-8Q4jrpp47mNZ5Zgpy_FxE6hYyRDPDWF76aAr3njM99PsLDhSwc2DR3glDki8jEWBbGOr6-l3n4AF8Vys4gS0AsZ2_g_hwqTh90wG_UahctJQEKh68BDgmc_sp3TyOVR4eGEtO" width="320" /></a></div><br />Another calendar year closes out. The world moved on from the Covid19 virus, till at the very end a new wave crept in again. As Professor Moody would say, “Constant Vigilance” – which should ideally be a default setting for everyone. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Anyways here is the list of some events & non-events to remember (or maybe not) the year 2023 AD by.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1. Word of the Year</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a world where AI generated material is becoming more and more visible, “<b>Authentic</b>” being named the word of they year, is hardly surprising. Kudos to <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/word-of-the-year" target="_blank">Merriam-Webster</a> for making this choice.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, Oxford decided to name “<b>rizz</b>” as their word of the year. I have absolutely no clue what that is supposed to be!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><b>2. Terminology of the Year</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Amongst the many risks a flight traveler faced, there was added the risk of being peed upon by a co-passenger! And our enterprising newspapers headlined the culprit as “<b>Urinator</b>”. Talk about the lack of creativity here!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>3. Mystery of the Year</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On a beach in Japan, there mysteriously appeared a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/22/mysterious-metal-iron-ball-sphere-beach-japan-officials-investigate" target="_blank">round metallic object</a>. Speculations on its identity ranged from UFOs to spy satellites to Godzilla eggs. But no clear answer emerged.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, aliens are back in the limelight with “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/close-encounter-with-alien-bodies-mexico-2023-09-16/" target="_blank">alien corpses</a>” displayed in Mexican Parliament and claims of CIA retrieving <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/cias-secret-office-retrieved-ufos-from-9-crash-sites-around-the-world-report-4623579#pfrom=home-ndtv_topstories" target="_blank">UFOs from crash sites</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>4. Much Ado About Nothing</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One fine day, the social media lights up with “news” of name being changed from India to Bharat. After much shouting in online echo chambers, pointless debates, lots of server space taken up, it all turned into a case of “Much Ado About Nothing”. After all, how does one change a name to a name which already is there?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><b>5. Work-life balance debate</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>“Youngsters ought to work 70 hours a week to boost productivity and enhance India's competitiveness”</i> – thus spoke Mr. N R Narayana Murthy and sparked what seems to be a never-ending debate on the (lack of) work-life balance, productivity and compensation. In the process providing ideal material for all the LinkedIn gyaanis. Many of whom seemed to be spending more than 70 hours of their week on this debate.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><b>6. Management Lessons of the Year </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Men’s ODI World Cup provided a full blown opportunity to generate management lessons/takeaways. Glen Maxwell’s 201* vs Afghanistan, Angelo Mathews being timed out, India faltering at the last step, Australia winning (again), Attendance at venues, Pitches, – everything had a life lesson derived from it!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><b>7. The Armchair Experts Edition</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They know everything. Any event which hits the headlines also generates a bunch of social media experts. Geopolitics, economics, commodity prices – these are passe. They also operate in niche zones – e.g., Deep-sea diving (the Titan tragedy), Generative AI (Chat GPT), Lunar geology (Chandrayaan landing), Mercenary armies (Wagner group), Short selling (Adani-Hindenburg), Tunnel rescue(Uttarakhand) .</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><b>8. When a Prophecy Actually Came True</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>#AbkiBaarSauPaar</b></i> – that was the Broadcasters’ tagline for the Asian Games. Quite an aspirational statement, given that India’s best tally till date had been 70 medals. But at the Hangzhou Games, India reached 107 medals! Now, wondering what projections these oracles at Sony make for Paris Olympics!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><b>9. The Dirtiest Match </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">World & Olympic medalists on the streets against the Wrestling Federation. The impasse continued. There had to be a solution to it. Nobody in the powers to be even tried. It was definitely not what anyone wanted to see. And the worst bit, it is still not over. Getting suspended by United World Wrestling, Elections held and the sports ministry suspending the newly elected federation within days. Something is totally rotten here.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><b>10. The Chess Siblings</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Praggnanandhaa & Vaishali – the first brother-sister duo to become Chess Grandmasters. Both will be appearing in the respective Candidates tournament next year. What a feel-good story.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">So this was a bit of 2023. Wishing all readers a Very Happy 2024!</div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-18822942436385366952023-12-17T20:06:00.000+05:302023-12-17T20:06:04.150+05:302023 - TYIL<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>The more I learn, the more I realise that I know nothing.</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As another year draws to a close, its time for making of the lists. So without much of a preamble presenting the list of random, totally trivial, and mostly pointless, but fun (at least for me) stuff that I learnt through another year of trawling though the inter-webs and other such endeavors, and most importantly remembered to jot down,</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ol><li>India’s first <b>Christmas Cake</b> was baked by Mambally Bakery in Kerala in 1883. (<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-64062202" target="_blank">BBC</a>)</li><li><b>Hatsuyme</b> – Japanese term for the first dream you have in the new year, which is said to predict how the rest of the year goes! (<a href="https://kokoro-jp.com/culture/1876/" target="_blank">Kokoro</a>) </li><li><b>Returning Soldier effect</b> – More boys are born during and after wars (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Returning_soldier_effect#:~:text=The%20Returning%20soldier%20effect%20is,factors%20influencing%20human%20sex%20ratio" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>). <i>Given the multiple prolonged wars currently going on, could be another validation of this theory.</i></li><li><b>Samosas</b> are banned in Somalia, apparently because their triangular shape in Christian and it is a western food! (<a href="https://www.news18.com/buzz/why-samosas-are-banned-in-this-african-country-6604807.html" target="_blank">News18</a>) <i>Somalis are missing out on a delicacy.</i></li><li>In 1976, Airbus managed to get an order of 3 A300s from Indian Airlines. The deal clincher – their Chief Executive Bernard Lathiere was born in Calcutta and showed a picture of himself when he was 3 years old with Gandhiji to the then Indian Airlines top boss, Air Chief Marshal PC Lal. (Source: Business Wars <a href="https://wondery.com/shows/business-wars/" target="_blank">Podcast</a>)</li><li><b>Tennis Sets</b>: 6-0 is bagel, 6-1 is breadstick, conceding 0 points – Golden Set, 1 point – silver & 2 points – Bronze Set (<a href="https://www.macmillandictionary.com/buzzword/entries/bagel.html#:~:text=Background%20%E2%80%93%20bagel&text=Use%20of%20the%20word%20in,breadstick%20resembles%20the%20number%201)" target="_blank">Macmillan Dictionary</a>), (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_set" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>) </li><li>In colonial times, the roads were illuminated by gas lights which were lit using kerosene. Hence <b>kerosene </b>became colloquially <b>ghaslet</b>.</li><li><b>Skeumorph</b> - a derivative object that retains ornamental design cues (attributes) from structures that were necessary in the original to to make something new feel familiar in an effort to speed understanding and acclimation. E.g. Floppy Disk as Save button, the telephone receiver as phone icons etc. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeuomorph" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>) </li><li><b>Terminator Line</b> – the line that divides the day & night sides of a planet. Also called twilight zone. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminator_(solar)" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>).</li><li><b>Jasper & Jinx </b>– that was the original name given to <b>Tom & Jerry</b>, which was actually the name of a drink! (<a href="https://www.eatmy.news/2021/07/why-jasper-and-jinx-was-changed-to-tom.html" target="_blank">Link</a>) </li><li><b>Batukeshwar Dutt</b>, who alongwith Bhagat Singh, threw bombs in the Assembly, later co-wrote the movie Shaheed, based on Bhagat Singh’s life and received the National Award for Best Screenplay. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaheed_(1965_film)#cite_note-13thaward-2" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>) </li><li><b>Einstein Shape</b> – A shape that can be arranged in a tile formations that never repeats! (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/apr/03/new-einstein-shape-aperiodic-monotile" target="_blank">Guardian</a>) </li><li><b>Jaquar </b>brand is named after the founder’s grandmother Jai Kaur (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaquar#1986%E2%80%932009" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>) </li><li><b>Cappuccino </b>- means little hood and is named after the colour of the hood worn by the monks in Italy (<a href="https://thecoffeeuniverse.org/little-hood-no-sprinkles/" target="_blank">The Coffee Universe</a>) </li><li><b>Emirp </b>- A prime number whose digits when reversed is also a prime number, e.g., 17 & 71, 13 & 31. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirp" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>) </li><li>The term “<b>mugger</b>” comes from magarmachh! One of the collateral effects of colonization! (<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mugger" target="_blank">Merriam-Webster</a>) </li><li><b>Mickey Mouse </b>has a sister – Mrs. Amelia Fieldmouse!</li><li><b>Münchausen Numbers</b> - They can be written as the sum of each of its digits raised to the power equivalent to the digit itself, resulting in the same number. e.g., 3^3+4^4+3^3+5^5=3435</li><li><b>Capitonyms</b> – Words which change their meaning if the first letter is capitalized. E.g. March & march; Lent & lent etc. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitonym#:~:text=A%20capitonym%20is%20a%20word,capital%20with%20the%20suffix%20%2Donym." target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>) </li><li>The <b>Hollywood Sign</b> was originally “HOLLYWOODLAND” and as an advertisement for new property in the area.</li><li>Letters to India’s Antarctic Station are routed through <b>Panaji post office</b>. Just who came up with this interesting idea of Goa & Antarctica sharing a pin code!</li></ol>This as 2023. Hoping to build on in 2024 with some better noting down techniques.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">P.S. Lists from <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2019/12/2019-tyil.html" target="_blank">2019</a>, <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2020/12/2020-tyil.html" target="_blank">2020</a>, <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2021/12/2021-tyil.html" target="_blank">2021 </a>& <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2022/12/2022-tyil.html" target="_blank">2022</a>.</div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-79734515318400231872023-11-24T18:21:00.002+05:302023-11-24T18:21:18.969+05:30Road To Paris: Episode 8<p style="text-align: justify;">Its been a while since the last post in this series. In the interim, there has been major progress as well as quite few heartbreaks in the Indian sporting arena, particularly in terms of qualifying for Paris 2024. Here is a quick summary:</p><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Qualifiers</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><b>Wrestling: Antim Panghal</b> qualifies in 53 KG Women’s category after winning a Bronze medal at the World Championships. This was an event where the Indian contingent played under the World Wrestling flag as the Wresting Federation is currently suspended due to still ongoing shenanigans.</li><li><b>Boxing: Nikhat Zareen</b> (50 KG), <b>Preeti Pawar</b> (54 KG), <b>Parveen Hooda</b> (57 KG) & <b>Lovlina Borgohain</b> (75 KG) have earned Quotas at the Asian Games.</li><li><b>Hockey: </b>Men’s Team qualifies for the Olympics by winning the Asian Games Gold medal</li><li><b>Athletics: Kishore Jena</b> joins Neeraj Chopra in Men’s Javelin Throw</li><li><b>Shooting:</b> Quite a few Quota places earned at the Asian Shooting Championships - <b>Arjun Babuta</b> (10 m Air Rifle), <b>Sarabjot Singh</b> (10m Air Pistol), <b>Anish Bhanwala</b> (25m Rapid Fire Pistol) in the Men’s section and <b>Tilottama Sen</b> (10m Air Rifle), <b>Manu Bhaker</b> (25m Pistol), <b>Shriyanka Sadangi</b> (50m Rifle 3 Positions) in the Women’s section</li><li><b>Archery: Dhiraj Bommadevara</b> earned a Individual Quota at the Asian Championships</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Now for the Heartbreaks</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It has been the end of the qualifying journey for Football, Rugby, Handball India’s Men’s Football Team have failed to qualify after being knocked out in the 1st round of Asian Cup U-23 Qualifiers</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Asian Games Perspective</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">India had their best ever Asian Games performance in terms of the medals, hitting a century. The Indian contingent actually lived up to the Broadcaster's hype of <i>Abki Baar Sau Paar</i>! Overall, a good feel-good factor. However, for a perspective, here is the Indian medals Tally for the Olympics events only.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; text-align: center; width: 277px;">
<tbody><tr style="height: 14.5pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="background: #C5D9F1; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.0pt;" valign="top" width="85">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Discipline<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #C5D9F1; border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Gold<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #C5D9F1; border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Silver<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #C5D9F1; border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Bronze<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.0pt;" valign="top" width="85">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Archery<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">0<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.0pt;" valign="top" width="85">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Athletics<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">6<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">14<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">9<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.0pt;" valign="top" width="85">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Badminton<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">0<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.0pt;" valign="top" width="85">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Boxing<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">0<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">4<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.0pt;" valign="top" width="85">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Equestrian<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">0<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.0pt;" valign="top" width="85">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Hockey<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">0<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.0pt;" valign="top" width="85">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Golf<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">0<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">0<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.0pt;" valign="top" width="85">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Rowing<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">0<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">2<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">3<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.0pt;" valign="top" width="85">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Sailing<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">0<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">0<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.0pt;" valign="top" width="85">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Shooting<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">2<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">5<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">4<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 11;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.0pt;" valign="top" width="85">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Tennis<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">0<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 12;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.0pt;" valign="top" width="85">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Wrestling<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">0<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">5<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 13; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="background: #C5D9F1; border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.0pt;" valign="top" width="85">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Total<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #C5D9F1; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">12<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #C5D9F1; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">26<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #C5D9F1; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 48.0pt;" valign="top" width="64">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">30<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Qualification Summary for Team India: Sports: 6, Events 22, Entries:29, Athletes: 44</b></p>Till next time! <br /><br /><div>Links: <a href="https://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2023/08/road-to-paris-episode-7.html">Episode 7</a>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-63475380421437269512023-09-12T19:13:00.007+05:302023-09-12T19:13:47.315+05:30BookMarks #116: Freedom at Midnight<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Title</b>: Freedom at Midnight</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Authors</b>: Larry Collins & Dominique Lapierre</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Genre</b>: Non-fiction, History</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Published</b>: 1975</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>BookMarks</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The book gives a narrative of the last year of the British Raj from the appointment of Lord Mountbatten as Viceroy of India, to Partition and Independence and Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. The book is at times intriguing, at others gossipy and sometimes filled with gruesome passages presenting the story of those turbulent times.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What is obvious is that it is written from a British perspective. They are presented in a kindly light, traders who somehow ended up ruling the country and never as oppressors. All problems are those of the natives, who couldn’t govern themselves! Talk about whitewashing of history.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hence, it is best read as Mountbatten’s memoirs and perspective rather than as a work of just history.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A few passages and assertions which stood out for me</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>Mountbatten’s claim that if he had been aware of Jinnah's poor health, he may have delayed the deadlines for independence and Partition might not have happened.</li><li>The weighing machines at the railway platforms! Those are finally gone.</li><li>Book banned in Pakistan because it referenced Jinnah having bacon with eggs for breakfast!</li><li>'<i>Trade not territory</i>', the Company's officers never ceased repeating, was their policy. Yet they ended up ruling and exploiting an entire sub-continent!</li><li>'<i>The difference between what we do and what we could do would suffice to solve most of the world's problems.</i>': Gandhi</li><li>The eccentricities of Indian maharajas - none more than Kapurthala who decided he was reincarnation of Louis XIV and declared French as his court language</li><li>What an arduous task dividing the possessions between countries must have been. Yet, in one aspect there was no debate - <i>Wine cellars always went to Hindu India and Moslem Pakistan received a credit for what they contained</i>.</li><li>The masses from the villages heading towards Delhi on Independence Day - <i>Tributaries of an immense and triumphant stream, they flowed with the dawn towards the centre of their rejoicing capital to celebrate in its streets the end of a colonization most of them had not even known.</i></li><li>Gandhi's idea of self-contained village ideas vs industrialization. Something of Aatma-nirbhar Bharat was still there.</li><li>After Independence people refused to pay bus fares, assuming they should now be free.</li><li>£2000 – Cyril Radcliffe’s fee for dividing the countries, which he returned!</li><li><i>Everywhere the many and the strong assaulted the weak and the few - </i>Still holds true!</li><li>Reading the butchery of the trains was just like the dooms scrolling during Covid times. Wanted to but just couldn't stop. What had gotten into the people.</li><li>Khadi wearing politicians - <i>evidence that the man under it reveres at least the memory if not the message of the man who espoused it</i>.</li><li>The tragedy of Buta Singh Overall, a difficult read. </li></ul>Many of the passages are eye-openers. Also, in today’s times, it is easy to see how selective reading of events & confirmation bias can just swing the opinion of the masses. Constant vigilance is the need of the hour to prevent the recurrence of the brutality of those times.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Previously on BookMarks</b>: <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2023/07/bookmarks-115-dream-with-your-eyes-open.html" target="_blank">Dream With Your Eyes Open</a> </div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-46161356143585345512023-08-30T16:23:00.008+05:302023-08-30T16:40:05.441+05:30Road To Paris - Episode 7<div style="text-align: justify;">As we celebrate the National Sports Day, the story of Indian sport continues in an all-too-familiar fashion. Every cloud will have a silver lining and every silver lining will have a cloud! On one hand we have our first-ever Athletics World Championships Winner in Neeraj Chopra (the man continues his trail-blazing journey) and on the other the Wrestling Federation is suspended putting on hold many Olympic dreams!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since the last episode, there have been a substantial increase in the number of Quotas earned by Indian sportspersons.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Qualifiers:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Athletics</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><b>Murali Sreeshankar</b> in Men’s Long Jump crossed the Olympic qualification mark on way to winning a silver at the Asian Athletics Championships</li><li><b>Avinash Sable</b> in Men’s 3000m Steeplechase crossed the Olympics qualification mark in the Swedish Diamond League event.</li><li><b>Neeraj Chopra</b> in Men’s Javelin Throw crossed the mark with his first throw in the World Athletics Championships Qualifying. And later on went on to be crowned India’s first ever World Champion in Track & Field.</li><li><b>Parul Chaudhary</b> reached the World Championships Final in the Women’s 3000m Steeplechase, created a new National Record and booked an Olympics berth for herself while finishing a creditable 11th.</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Shooting: </b>4 Quota places earned at the World Shooting Championships</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><b>Mehuli Ghosh</b> finishes 3rd in the 10m Air Rifle.</li><li><b>Akhil Sheoran</b> finished 3rd in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions joining Swapnil Kusale at the event.</li><li><b>Sift Kaur Samra</b> earned a Quota Place in the Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions.</li><li><b>Rajeshwari Kumari </b>earned a Quota in Women’s Trap Shooting</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;">India currently has Quota places in both Men’s & Women’s 10m Air Rifle, thus likely to get a Mixed Team Berth also. Special mention for Tilottamma Sen who finished 4th in 10 m Air Rifle but could not get a Quota due to new ISSF rules giving only one place per country at one event!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>In Other News</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>The Indian <b>men’s 4x400m relay </b>was a pleasant shock in the World Championships finishing 2nd in the Semis and 5th in the Finals, creating a new Asian Record and giving a mighty scare to many of the favorites. Although it is disappointing to see the Indian women’s relay team no longer the force they were.</li><li><b>Neeraj Chopra</b> is a true pioneer. Evidence is compatriots Kishore Jena and DP Manu finishing 5th & 6th respectively in the World Championships Final. What a sight it was to have 3 Indians competing in a single event till the very last stage!</li><li><b>Hockey</b> – Indian Men’s team comfortably won the <b>Asian Champions Trophy</b>, a good precursor for the upcoming Asian Games which also serves as the Olympic Qualifying event.</li><li><b>Badminton - </b>HS Prannoy continued the Indian medal winning streak going on since 2011 at the Badminton World Championships with a Bronze.</li><li><b>Archery</b> – No luck for India’s recurve archers at the Olympics qualifiers, but more chances are coming up.</li><li><b>Basketball</b> – Men’s pre Olympics Qualifiers – India finished 3rd and missed out on qualifying for the Olympics qualifiers.</li><li><b>Handball</b> – The Women’s team finished 5th in the Asian Qualification tournament and are out of the running.</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Now for the Clouds</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><b>Doping menace</b> continues with Dutee Chand suspended for 4 years for doping violations & Bhwana Jat for 2 years for missing tests.</li><li><b>Wrestling</b> - The saga keeps getting murkier. Now other wrestlers have jumped into action claiming bias in direct selection of the likes of Bajrang Punia & Vinesh Phogat. Courts getting involved in the selection matters does augur well for anyone. Meanwhile the Wrestling Federation of India got suspended thus jeopardizing the Quota places at the World Championships.</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile the qualification race is heating up. Till next time. Next post will be after the Asian Games.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Qualification Summary for Team India</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sports: 2, Events 12, Entries:15, Athletes: 15 </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Links: <a href="https://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2023/05/road-to-paris-episode-6.html" target="_blank">Episode 6</a> </div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-6638673863704668342023-08-14T17:46:00.003+05:302023-08-14T18:05:45.719+05:30India @ 76<div style="text-align: justify;">A couple of days back an SMS arrived.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>“Har Ghar Tiranga is back. 13-15 Aug bring home & fly Tiranga with pride! Upload selfies on <a href="http://harghartiranga.com">harghartiranga.com</a></i>”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdiq3MbuHcAoy4dQ3Ed0bl5w1OwEetOlyLDJcX4P3ESGMvKmB9IqHoIz59PqWL0c-NfGXRXHxPrW52MMF4QWKQI7nQgfN4nnb_y69PtdlbhqZIdu-hkEvIl7PKRVJToQuGrj7tiwFFksA8gvfJD0-KZydAWffrbNPXKyWRuf-A9iP2SYeskXbl/s1600/Har-Ghar-Tiranga_Web-banner.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="1600" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdiq3MbuHcAoy4dQ3Ed0bl5w1OwEetOlyLDJcX4P3ESGMvKmB9IqHoIz59PqWL0c-NfGXRXHxPrW52MMF4QWKQI7nQgfN4nnb_y69PtdlbhqZIdu-hkEvIl7PKRVJToQuGrj7tiwFFksA8gvfJD0-KZydAWffrbNPXKyWRuf-A9iP2SYeskXbl/w400-h119/Har-Ghar-Tiranga_Web-banner.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Yes, its that time of the year, when amongst other things this blog gets a post on all things India. (Here is the <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2022/08/india-75.html" target="_blank">2022 edition</a>) </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Interestingly, I am also halfway through the book, “Freedom at Midnight”. 76 years have gone by, but many of those issues remain continue and can be traced back to those fateful last days of the British Raj. Bipartisan politics, communal violence, hope and worries for the coming days, history finds new own ways to repeat itself!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">[<i>An aside - Wouldn't it be the mother of all ironies, if Scotland is separated from the United Kingdom under the watch of Rishi Sunak and Humza Yusuf?</i>]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Returning to the present.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">India has overtaken China as the most populous country in the world. Or maybe not. After all, the Census exercise has not been done since 2011, another collateral victim of the Covid-19 pandemic.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The effects of Climate Change are becoming more and more visible. On one hand, the monsoons are creating havoc on the urban infrastructure, while other parts of the country are reeling in drought. The seasons are becoming increasingly erratic. The hilly regions are even more at risk, as highlighted by the "sinking" of the town of Joshimath. Given the vast population, and its ever-growing energy requirements, drastic action is required on the climate front. While the government has stated ambitions of Net Zero by 2070, it might be a case of too little too late! Tthe discovery of lithium prospects in Jammu could become play an important role in this climate battle.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">India has the G20 presidency. That means almost every city has got some G20 event happening across the year. Which also means there are weird (yet also cute looking) G20 banners and posters on every road and street!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The General elections are coming. That unfortunately implies more political mudslinging, further rejigging of alliances, lots of Aya Rams & Gaya Rams and more hatemongering. The race to the bottom in the political discourse will be heightened (or lowered). The political game of thrones will be on full swing till mid next year, till we finally get a government in place!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the interim, the actual governance may go for a toss, with everyone looking to extract their pound of flesh from every event. Just look at the online battleground that the Manipur issues have become, while actual on-ground issues continue to be unresolved. Similar is the case of the Wrestling saga. In a country, where sporting heroes are still in short supply, seeing the visuals of some of the most decorated sportspersons sitting on dharna and being dragged around by the authorities was disturbing. And for the public opinion, whose side you stand on is defined by your political inclination. Just continuing the trend of everything being politicized and sharply polarized.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Lets hope the individual common sense stays in the heavily politically charged coming months!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is a big Men’s ODI World Cup coming up and somehow BCCI has bungled up the event scheduling and ticketing. What a fall from the days of Dalmia & Bindra. Although, they also deserve plaudits for starting (finally) the WPL and providing pay parity for international games. Amidst all the chaos, they still are the best-run sporting organization in the country. Speaks more of the incompetence of the other sports bodies, which for some reason or the other keep getting themselves banned by the global federations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, despite the Hindenburg report, the stock markets continue their bull runs, reaching new highs, and providing a pretty good silver lining amongst the political & environmental crowds. Although it all could be just a bubble waiting to be burst.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Overall, not a rosy picture but to end on a good note. “Naatu Naatu” won an Oscar providing the first truly Indian Oscar winners (earlier ones were all for external projects). It was a pleasant surprise to see this foot-tapping chart-topping song reach such popularity!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On that musical note. Happy Birthday India! Jai Hind!</div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-15835596245506417312023-07-10T19:00:00.007+05:302023-07-10T19:00:45.322+05:30BookMarks #115: Dream with Your Eyes Open<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Title</b>: Dream with Your Eyes Open: An Entrepreneurial Journey</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Author</b>: Ronnie Screwvala</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Genre</b>: Non-fiction, Memoirs, Entrepreneurship</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Published</b>: 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>BookMarks</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Dream with Your Eyes Open” is not exactly an autobiography but more of a collection of lessons learnt in what goes in making a successful entrepreneur. The book narrates the author’s learnings from his various ventures starting from his childhood, like selling balcony seats at his family home to get a glimpse of the stars at a premiere, starting a theatre group, a toothbrush production company and multiple ventures into the media space! And all along he passes on the learnings he has acquired from his experiences from the struggles, the success and most importantly the failures.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here are a few nuggets taken from the book about entrepreneurship</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><u>Entrepreneurship is a journey, not an outing.</u></li><li>Entrepreneurship is about living life on your own terms.</li><li>Dream huge and dream with your eyes open</li><li>Risk means pushing the envelope when others want to take the safe route, and caring more about potential rewards than possible losses.</li><li>As long as you have the hunger to succeed, innate confidence in yourself and in your abilities, the guts and conviction to take sensible risks and a can-do attitude, you will prevail.</li><li><u>Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone.</u></li><li>Entrepreneurship in a nutshell: action and reaction; understanding, confronting and transcending fear; working, disrupting and succeeding; trying and failing. And then laughing about it all later, while absorbing lasting life lessons.</li><li>When you start from scratch, you’ve got nothing to lose.</li><li><u>Deep knowledge comes from doing.</u></li><li><u>Authenticity is at the heart of effective communication.</u></li><li>The importance of acquiring domain knowledge—or at least the ability to ask the right questions if you want to succeed in a new initiative at scale.</li><li>Failure is inevitable. One of the hardest and most enduring lessons everyone in business learns is that not all great ideas succeed. Plan for failure. Embrace failure. But understand that failure is a comma, not a full stop.</li><li>Failure can be a stronger motivator than success.</li><li>Failure is more interesting and instructive than success.</li><li>You’re not answerable to anyone but yourself.</li><li>Level your gaze beyond the horizon. Life is too short to allow others to make you feel inadequate.</li><li>Do what needs doing. Figure out what went wrong and fix it.</li><li>Plan for success and insist on survival. To survive is to give yourself a fighting chance to succeed.</li><li>Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.</li><li>Exits are about creating value and letting go when the need and opportunity arise.</li><li>Focus occurs in the present.</li><li>Most success springs from feeling joyous and confident, believing one can accomplish almost anything—and sporting victories contribute to such euphoria. The day India wins big at the Olympics and becomes a global player in sports, we will already have become an economic superpower.</li><li><b><u>It's all possible.</u></b></li></ul></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">Overall and engaging read. It also helps that the Ronnie Screwvala’s journey has already been in the public eye. So getting to know the background of these ventures makes it more interesting. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Previously on BookMarks</b>: <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2023/06/bookmarks-114-endgame.html" target="_blank">Endgame</a> </div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-65824989679893320932023-06-19T19:01:00.004+05:302023-06-19T19:01:38.938+05:30BookMarks #114: Endgame<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Title</b>: Endgame: An Insurgency on Wall Street</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Author</b>: Sheelah Kolhatkar</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Genre</b>: Non-fiction, Finance, Real events</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Published</b>: 2023</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>BookMarks</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Invested money was likely to appreciate much more rapidly than income in the future, which would only increase the gap in wealth between those who already had money and those who didn’t</i> </div><div style="text-align: center;">- Thomas Piketty (Capital in the Twenty-First Century)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Endgame narrates the events surrounding the short squeeze and unprecedented rise in the share price of Game Stop stock in 2021.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is a short volume. The subject is interesting, the protagonists are interesting, there is lot of history built up, it is a fight of the underdog against a rigged system. And yet, somehow the book just falls flat. The narrative seems abandoned and hurriedly finished at the same time. While we learn about a few characters, the book seems more like an extended trailer rather than an entire movie!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Previously on BookMarks</b>: <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2023/06/bookmarks-113-landmark-judgments-that.html" target="_blank">Landmark Judgments that Changed India</a> </div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-1089943490507234112023-06-14T16:56:00.008+05:302023-06-14T16:56:44.105+05:30BookMarks #113: Landmark Judgments that Changed India<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Title</b>: Landmark Judgments that Changed India</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Author</b>: Asok K Ganguly</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Genre</b>: Non-fiction, Law</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Published</b>: 2015</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>BookMarks</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As the title says, the book focusses on some of the key cases which provided landmark precedents and brought the Constitution into its current shape. Over the years, the judiciary through its interpretations has adapted the legal system from its British origins to one more suitable for India.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The major cases discussed in the book include (a) Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, which limits the power of Parliament to amend the Constitution; (b) Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India which defined personal liberty; (c) Golaknath v. State of Punjab, where it was ruled that amendments which infringe upon fundamental rights cannot be passed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Following are some of the highlights from the book</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><b>Definition of Constitution</b>: The set of the most important rules and common understandings in any given country that regulate[s] the relations among that country’s governing institutions and also the relationship between those governing institutions and the people of that country.</li><li><i>The Constitution is the autobiography of a nation</i> - it articulates the conscience of the nation in particular and of mankind in general. This voice is most eloquent in the judgments of the constitutional courts.</li><li>The Indian Constitution is based on three fundamentals, which form the core of constitutionalism. They are: (1) A written Constitution, (2) A chapter on fundamental rights, and (3) Limited government</li><li><i>In all representative democracies that the government is one of laws and not of men.</i></li><li>The book emphasizes the role of <u>due process and precedence</u>. As it states, the law is uncertain. It does not cover all the situations, where the decision may go either way. Hence the need to follow the due process always.</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Overall, an interesting read on how some judgements have played a key role in shaping the Constitution. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Previously on BookMarks</b>: <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2023/05/bookmarks-112-learning-how-to-fly.html" target="_blank">Learning How to Fly</a> </div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-38261543899405730322023-05-26T17:00:00.002+05:302023-08-30T16:12:02.610+05:30Road To Paris – Episode 6<div style="text-align: justify;">Since Episode 5, there has been some activity but no major progress on the qualifiers front. Here is a brief recap of the past two months.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Football: </b>In the Round 1 of Women’s Asian Qualifiers – India beat Kyrgyzstan 4-nil & 5-nil to qualify for the 2nd Round, whose matches will be held in Oct-Nov ’23. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Boxing: </b>At the Men’s World Championships: India won 3 Bronze medals, their best-ever performance via <b>Deepak Bhoria</b> (Flyweight), <b>Mohammad Hussamuddin</b> (Featherweight) and <b>Nishant Dev</b> (Light Middlewight). The first two are also in Olympics weight category</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Weightlifting:</b> At the Asian Championships, <b>Bindyarani Devi</b> got a Silver medal in the 55 kg category, while <b>Jeremy</b> got a Snatch silver in the 67 kg.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Athletics: </b>There has been a flurry of activity on the track and field with quite a few athletes making an appearance across the globe. <b>Neeraj Chopra</b> (is it a surprise) started his season with a World Lead throw winning the Diamond League opener and became the first ever India athlete to top the IAAF rankings!</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>And off the track</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Wrestlers vs Wrestling Federation saga continued and got murkier. The agitation continues with neither the wrestlers nor the Brij Bhushan Singh backing off. Careless and casual comments from those in charge are also not helping. This really needs an early resolution.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile the qualification race is heating up. Till next time!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Qualification Summary for Team India: Sports: 2, Events 5, Entries:7, Athletes: 7 </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Links</b>: <a href="https://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2023/03/road-to-paris-episode-5.html" target="_blank">Episode</a> 5 </div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-39199353674212931752023-05-17T14:51:00.000+05:302023-05-17T14:51:00.199+05:30BookMarks #112: Learning How to Fly<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Title</b>: Learning How to Fly: Life Lessons for the Youth</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Author</b>: APJ Abdul Kalam</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Genre</b>: Non-fiction, Memoirs, Compendium</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Published</b>: 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>BookMarks</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I am born with wings So, I am not meant for crawling, I have wings, I will fly.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The book is a collection of speeches given by Dr. Kalam in his interactions with students across India and the world. As always, simple but inspirational words. Here are a few bookmarked items from the book.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>The <b>tools for life</b>: have a great aim in life, continuously acquire the knowledge, work hard and persevere to realize the great achievement. Finally, how to manage failures and success in life. And you will definitely succeed in all your missions. It does not matter who you are.</li><li><b>Knowledge = Creativity + Righteousness + Courage</b></li><li>Learning gives creativity, Creativity leads to thinking, Thinking provides knowledge, Knowledge makes you great.</li><li><b>Goal </b>- I realize that aiming small is a crime. If something important is at stake, the human mind gets ignited and the working capacity gets enhanced manifold.</li><li>The <b>culture of excellence</b> is driven by innovation and creativity. A nation’s economic development is powered by competitiveness. Competitiveness is powered by knowledge. Knowledge is powered by technology. Technology is powered by innovation. Technology and innovation are powered by resource investment.</li><li>The important aspect of <b>creativity</b> is seeing the same thing as everybody else but thinking of something different.</li><li><i>The important elements that constitute a nation are: being disease free; high earning capacity; high productivity; harmonious living and strong defence</i> - Thiruvalluvar. How can all these elements be provided to citizens of every nation?</li><li><u>We learnt, dreamt, experimented, failed, recovered and succeeded.</u></li><li>The test of a human being is in accepting the failure and to keep trying until he or she succeeds.</li><li>What worked yesterday, will not work today.</li><li>Leaders must have a vision…a passion to realize the vision…be able to travel into an unexplored path…know how to manage success and failure…have the courage to take decisions…and be transparent in every action. Leaders must work with integrity and succeed with integrity.</li><li>A culture that values wellness and healing will create a flourishing society—productive, creative, healthy and peaceful.</li><li><u>Excellence happens not by accident. It is a process.</u></li><li>Science is an eternally evolving enterprise. It is a never-ending journey across generations of committed researchers. Science thrives when it converges to solve pressing challenges of the world and this is the 21st century requirement from engineers.</li><li>Coming into contact with a good book and possessing it, is indeed an everlasting enrichment.</li><li>It says for those who do ill to you, the best punishment is to return good to them.</li><li>Your beliefs become your thoughts Your thoughts become your words Your words become your actions Your actions become your habits Your habits become your values Your values become your destiny.</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Simple & actionable words, to be put to use in life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Previously on BookMarks</b>: <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2023/05/bookmarks-111-krishna-man-and-his.html" target="_blank">Krishna - the Man and His Philosophy</a> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">By Dr. Kalam: <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2022/09/bookmarks-106-my-journey.html" target="_blank">My Journey</a> </div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-69832054333764523602023-05-03T18:46:00.007+05:302023-05-03T18:46:49.395+05:30BookMarks #111: Krishna – the Man and His Philosophy<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Title</b>: Krishna – The Man and His Philosophy</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Author</b>: Osho</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Genre</b>: Non-fiction, Philosophy, Religion</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Published</b>: 1991</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>BookMarks</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The book is compilation of talks given by Osho on Lord Krishna, the Bhagavad Gita and contrasts with Jesus Christ, Gautam Buddha and Mahavira. The narration is in a Question & Answer format and covers the course of a few days as Osho talks to his followers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Some of the messages are:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;">On God & the world:<i> God and the world are not two separate entities. They are like body and soul. The visible part of the soul is known as the body, and the invisible part of the body is called the soul.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On war:<i> Confronted with the challenge of war, man's brain begins to function at its highest level and capacity. In times of war man's intelligence takes a great leap forward, one it would ordinarily take centuries to make. All our cooperative efforts and institutions are the products of war. It is called cooperation for conflict.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Individual vs collective:<i> If you want some evil act to be done, you will find it easier through a group than through an individual. The law of evolution doesn't apply on individual it applies on group</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>All great persons are born ahead of their time, and all insignificant people are born after their time. It is only mediocre people who are born in their time.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>We worship those who perplex and defeat our ability to understand them.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>If one has wealth, one can have the suffering of his choice</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Happiness and suffering are like clouds passing through the sky. They come and go.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Nobody has any difficulty finding in the Gita what he wants to find.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>They say that man has only to remember what he has forgotten. has to remember who he really is, who he is right now. He does not have to do a thing except recollect what he has forgotten.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Everyone is unique:<i> Everybody has his own karmas to fulfill, and they will go through them. Everyone is unique and different. God is a creator, not a technician, and he only creates original things, first-hand things. To be oneself is the only virtue and to be another is a sin. </i><i>Imitation is wrong. It is ironic that we imitate those who never imitated others.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>The story of a great person can never be historical, it is always poetic, mythical, mythological. It is so because it is written retrospectively.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>To live on this planet problems will always be needed, because it is through our struggle with problems that we grow and mature.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Work:<i> Work for what? Why does man work? Man works so he can live. And what does living mean? To live means to celebrate life. We work so that we can have a moment of dance in our lives. Really, work is just a means to celebrate life. But the irony is that the way we live there is no leisure left to sing and dance and celebrate life. We turn means into an end; we make work the be-all and end-all of life. And then life is confined between two places, our home and the office. Home to office and back home is all we know of life. (</i>In the WFH environment, even that “to” has gone missing<i>.)</i></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Everyone is mad with running and reaching somewhere. And no man knows where this "somewhere" is.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Entertainment and celebration are never the same. In celebration you are a participant; in entertainment you are only a spectator.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On future:<i> Man is an animal who makes promises. We are captives of the future, we live in future hopes. Man wastes all his todays in the hope of a tomorrow that never came.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>The meaning of a word does not, as is usually believed, come from the dictionary.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Life begins where logic ends.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>That which attracts you is not your type; it is the opposite of your own nature, because the opposite attracts. Opposites are complementary to each other.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>One who clings to his past cannot come to truth, because truth is always now and here, it is in the moment. Truth has nothing to do with the past nor with the future. Truth is really timeless, and one who lives in the past can never be in the present. Truth and time don't walk together."</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>That which helps life grow, flower and dance ecstatically is religion. And that which impedes life's growth, which distorts and stifles life's flowering, which smothers life's joy and festivity is irreligion.</i></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Some simple explanations and some complex ones. Do not necessarily agree with all of them, but he does present and interesting perspective. No wonder Osho was so wildly followed. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Previously on BookMarks</b>: <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2023/02/bookmarks-110-importance-of-being.html" target="_blank">The Importance of Being Earnest</a></div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-5938455187952527352023-03-26T22:37:00.008+05:302023-03-26T22:40:46.743+05:30Road To Paris: Episode 5<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmRBzLsAiG_4JEZqYdW9dmCYNj4EpshNTL2STsHyjQ0dgfOlj8FCJt1jvhRYp5rF9tku9YPf10voi4LOTWes4jWLzUmVeSEGYkUZk3EE1QPJsuE_6wyGIQ0CL6bIaqbHCWKSSOuim5BMK-cDbbUIeZz_-CAL6wYV2Zswf-6zUsi-VDEvWe8g/s4096/20230208_231923.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2304" data-original-width="4096" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmRBzLsAiG_4JEZqYdW9dmCYNj4EpshNTL2STsHyjQ0dgfOlj8FCJt1jvhRYp5rF9tku9YPf10voi4LOTWes4jWLzUmVeSEGYkUZk3EE1QPJsuE_6wyGIQ0CL6bIaqbHCWKSSOuim5BMK-cDbbUIeZz_-CAL6wYV2Zswf-6zUsi-VDEvWe8g/s320/20230208_231923.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Well, it’s been a while since the last episode of the Road to Paris series. There have been quite a few developments in the journey. Here is a look at the major ones in the past 5 months.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Quota Places</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Athletics</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><b>20 km Walk (M)</b> – <b>Akashdeep Singh</b> breaks the National record to beat the Olympics qualifying standard. He was joined by <b>Vikash Singh</b> & <b>Paramjeet Bisht</b>, making it max qualifiers in a single event for India!</li><li>20 km Walk (W) – <b>Priyanka Goswami </b>qualifies for the Olympics for the second time in a row.</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>In other news</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Highs</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><b>Boxing</b>: <b>Nitu Ghanghas, Saweety Boora, Nikhat Zareen & Lovlina Borgohain</b> became World Champions, although the field was slightly depleted. Unfortunately, only Nikhat and Lovlina are in Olympics weight categories.</li><li><b>Weightlifting</b>: <b>Mirabai Chanu</b> lifts the Silver Medal in World Weightlifting Championships.</li><li><b>Manika Batra’s</b> bronze medal at the Asian TT championships after a disappointing run at the Commonwealth Games – seems to be back on track to success</li><li>The <b>Women’s Hockey Team</b> won the Nations Cup and qualified for the next season of Pro Hockey League. They had finished 3rd last time in the Pro Hockey League, so should not have been sent to the qualifiers in the first place!</li><li>The <b>Badminton</b> team won a Bronze medal at the Mixed Asia Teams Championships, while Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand duo proved that their last year’s run in the All England Championships was no fluke by again reaching the semi-finals this year.</li><li><b>Tennis: Rohan Bopanna</b> became the oldest man to win an ATP 1000 series event. At 43, he is still going strong but does he have a partner for the Paris Games. Meanwhile <b>Sania Mirza</b> has called time on her glittering career. And there is no successor for her.</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Disappointments</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Men’s Hockey Team finished 9th in a Home World Cup.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Controversies</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The battle between the top wrestlers and the Wrestling Federation. Hopefully a rigorous probe will result in a clearing out this mess!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So as usual, with Indian sports it has been a case of some good, some bad, and some downright ugly! Hopefully we will have better tidings in the next edition.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Till Next Time!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Qualification Summary for Team India: Sports: 2, Events 5, Entries:7, Athletes: 7</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Links</b>: Road To Paris: <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2022/10/road-to-paris-episode-4.html" target="_blank">Episode 4</a> </div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-87294259316525456432023-03-25T19:52:00.000+05:302023-03-25T19:52:23.033+05:30Learn N Blog #25: The IPCC Report<div style="text-align: justify;"><i>“Our world needs climate action on all fronts: everything, everywhere, all at once.” -</i> António Guterres, on the release of the 6th IPCC Report.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr. Guterres has been known to use cultural references in talks on Climate Change. Remember the “Highway to Hell” reference during COP27!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>“There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all….the choices and actions implemented in this decade [i.e., by 2030] will have impacts now and for thousands of years”</i> – This is the key messages from latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). And hence the call from action by Mr. Guterres.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">IPCC has been publishing the reports on Climate Change since early 1990s. Following is a brief history of the reports, their findings & imapct.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1st Report (1992)</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Finding:</b> predicted a global temperature rise of about 2C by 2025, compared with the period before the industrial revolution that sparked the mass burning of fossil fuels. (In 2023, the rise is 1.4C.)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Impact:</b> Creation of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>2nd Report (1995)</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Finding:</b> Climate change is likely to have wide-ranging and mostly adverse impacts on human health, with significant loss of life. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>An Appeal:</b> Where there is a lack of full scientific certainty, [countries] should: ‘<i>take precautionary measures to anticipate, prevent or minimize the causes of climate change and mitigate its adverse effects</i>’.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>3rd Report (2001)</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Finding:</b> There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>A Warning</b>: Impacts of climate change will fall disproportionately upon developing countries and the poor persons within all countries.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>4th Report (2007)</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Finding: </b>Delayed emission reductions significantly constrain the opportunities to achieve lower stabilization levels and increase the risk of more severe climate change impacts. The evidence leads to a simple conclusion: the benefits of strong and early action far outweigh the economic costs of not acting … delay would be dangerous and much more costly. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Impact</b>: IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. However, the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 put the report on its backburner. Hope the same doesn’t hit the 2023 report!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>5th Report (2014)</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Finding</b>: Human influence on the climate system is clear. Recent climate changes have had widespread impacts on human and natural systems [and] many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Impact</b>: The report laid the scientific ground for the UN’s Paris agreement in 2015, which for the first time spurred most nations to cut emissions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Special Report (2018)</b>:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Finding</b>: Contrasted the stark difference between 1.5 & 2.5 C temperature difference</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>6th Report (2023)</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Key messages: </b>In the near-term, global warming is more likely than not to reach 1.5C even under a very low emission scenario. And any given future warming level, many climate-related risks are higher than [previously] assessed. “Without a strengthening of policies, global warming of 3.2C is projected by 2100.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Three signposts</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ol><li>Climate crisis is fundamentally a <u>crisis of injustice</u>: “The 10% of households with the highest per capita emissions contribute 34-45% of global consumption-based emissions, while the bottom 50% contribute 13-15%.” The climate emergency cannot end without addressing the inequalities of income and gender for the simple reason that “social trust” is required for “transformative change”.</li><li><u>Any new fossil fuel developments are utterly incompatible with the net zero emissions required</u>. “Projected CO2 emissions from existing fossil fuel infrastructure without additional abatement would exceed the remaining carbon budget for 1.5C,” the report says. It implies that the oil, gas and coal projects already in operation will lead to rise beyond 1.5C, unless carbon capture technology works at scale (yet unproven).</li><li><u>Need for technology and finance</u>: “Feasible, effective, and low-cost options and adaptation are already available.” Solar and wind power, energy efficiency, cuts in methane emissions and halting the destruction of forests are the key ones.</li></ol></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The report acknowledges the daunting task at hand. “<i>The systemic change required to achieve rapid and deep emissions reductions and transformative adaptation to climate change is unprecedented in terms of scale [and] near-term actions involve high up-front investments.</i>” While money is key the report concludes “<u>the costs of climate action are clearly lower than the damages climate chaos will cause</u>.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Given the dire warnings, as Mr. Guterres says, tackling climate change will require actions (policy, technology, monetary) <u>everything, everywhere, all at once</u>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Links:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>IPCC Report: <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/ " target="_blank">IPCC</a> </li><li>Reports Timeline: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/20/from-climate-change-certainty-to-rapid-decline-a-timeline-of-ipcc-reports" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> </li></ul><div>Previously on Learn N Blog: <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2023/03/learn-n-blog-24-ozone-depletion.html" target="_blank">Ozone Depletion & Rejuvenation</a> </div></div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-67804573110737205732023-03-19T11:59:00.013+05:302023-03-19T12:02:01.949+05:30Learn N Blog #24: Ozone Depletion & Rejuvenation<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Rio Declaration</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Kyoto Protocol</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2015/12/cop21-global-climate-deal.html" target="_blank"><i>Paris Climate Accords</i></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2023/03/learn-n-blog-22-global-methane-pledge.html" target="_blank"><i>Global Methane Pledge</i></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Net Zero Pledges</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I always wonder if these myriad conferences and agreements on climate have ever had any real impact on the world. Most climate conferences seem to be about making the right noises and then coming back next year to do more of the same!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, while there is skepticism about the real impact of these conferences and agreements, there is one area in which collective action has yielded the desired results. The “hole” in the Ozone layer over Antarctica is now shrinking and this is attributed directly to the results of the Montreal Protocol of 1987.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Ozone Depletion</b>: observed in the 1970s, there was a depletion of ~4% in the total amount of Ozone in the Earth’s atmosphere.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Antarctic Ozone Hole</b>: Discovered in 1980s, it is not exactly a hole, but rather a reduction in the amount of ozone in different regions of the atmosphere over Antarctica. The reduction is not uniform. Similar “holes”, but of much smaller size have also been observed in the Arctic and Tibet.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Chief Causes</b>: Increased amount of chemicals emissions – chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) present in refrigerants. These compounds when released, eventually break down the atmospheric Ozone into Oxygen.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Impact of Ozone Depletion</b>: The Ozone layer prevents the harmful Ultra-violet rays from entering the earth’s atmosphere. With its depletion, it would lead to increased incidences of skin cancer, sunburns, cataracts and blindness in humans, increased temperatures globally, reduced crop yields etc.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Montreal Protocol, 1987</b>: required countries to stop producing substances that damage the ozone layer, such as CFCs. The Montreal Protocol happens to be the only Treaty ratified by all UN members!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Impact of the Montreal Protocol</b>: Post the ban on CFCs production in accordance with the Montreal Protocol from 1989 onwards, there has been a steady change in the atmospheric ozone. The depletion stopped in mid-1990s and the levels have been recovering. Currently, the hole in the Ozone layer has been the smallest since its discovery in 1980s. And as per current projections, the Ozone Layer is expected to completely regenerate by 2045! Truly, a remarkable success case.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As per UNEP, this has also helped in avoiding 0.5C of global warming by 2050!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Other Causes of Changes</b>: There are seasonal changes to the amount of Ozone in the atmosphere. The depletion is greatest during spring and lowest in winter (when there is hardly any light) Major volcanic eruptions can also cause change in the composition. E.g., the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption of 2022 could have reversed the decline in the growth.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Challenge</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It took 4 decades for the damage to take place and another 7 decades+ to reverse it. Hope that we have not reached the irreversible stage in other areas!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, there is one more challenge – the deniers. Every claim is denied backed by counter-research which seems equally credible. Whether the ozone layer is depleting, or it is caused by CFCs, or if ozone depletion does any damage – all of these have been disputed subjects by both scientists and the lobbyists.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><b>A Case of Optimism</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The reversal of the Ozone depletion through collective action does present a case of hope for the larger issue of Climate Change as well. While it took 4 decades for the damage to be noticed, its reversal is taking much longer. Just showing the scale of the task at hand. But at least, we have an example of how to yield the right result - Identifying the source and then collectively taking the corrective action to prevent permanent damage!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">P.S. Unintentionally this post is getting published on the day Google is celebrating the birthday of Mario Molina, who discovered the harmful effects of CFCs on the Ozone layer, with a <a href="https://www.google.com/doodles/mario-molinas-80th-birthday" target="_blank">doodle</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Links:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>Global Climate Agreements: <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/paris-global-climate-change-agreements" target="_blank">CFR</a> </li><li>Monitoring the Ozone Layer: <a href="https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/monitoring-ozone-layer" target="_blank">Atmosphere</a> </li></ul><div>Previously on Learn N Blog: <a href="https://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2023/03/learn-n-blog-22-global-methane-pledge.html" target="_blank">The Global Methane Pledge</a></div></div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-88633828558626363602023-03-12T17:27:00.005+05:302023-03-19T11:47:47.665+05:30Learn N Blog #23: Global Methane Pledge<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>What Is It? </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The <b>Global Methane Pledge</b> aims to reduce methane emissions to bring down the global temperature increase.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>When was it launched?</b> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">November 2021, in Glasgow at COP26</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>What do the participants have to do?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Participants joining the Pledge agree to take <u>voluntary actions</u> to contribute to a collective effort to <u>reduce global methane emissions by at least 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030, which could eliminate over 0.2˚C warming by 2050</u>. This is a global, not a national reduction target.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Participants also commit to moving towards using the highest tier IPCC good practice inventory methodologies, as well as working to continuously improve the accuracy, transparency, consistency, comparability, and completeness of national greenhouse gas inventory reporting under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement, and to provide greater transparency in key sectors.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Pledge aims to catalyze global action and strengthen support for existing international methane emission reduction initiatives to advance technical and policy work that will serve to underpin Participants’ domestic actions. The Pledge also recognizes the essential roles that private sector, development banks, financial institutions and philanthropy play to support implementation of the Pledge and welcomes their efforts and engagement.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>What are the Action Areas?</b> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is a wide ranging field covering improved emissions measurement and tracking, reducing food & water wastage, policy changes to regulating emissions from various industries especially oil & gas</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Who are participating?</b> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Approximately 150 countries have taken the pledge including USA and EU.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Who are the Notable Absentees?</b> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">China, India, Russia – 3 of the Top 5 methane emitters have NOT taken the pledge!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Why India did not sign?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The chief reasons given by the Indian govt are</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>Methane emissions are survival emissions in India and not ‘luxury’ emissions, as in the case of the West.</li><li>Agriculture is not included in India’s emission intensity target</li><li>Shifting of CO2 reduction burden to methane reduction: CO2 the predominant gas responsible for climate change has a lifetime of 100-1,000 years, while methane has 12 years</li><li>Low global contribution to methane emissions by the Indian livestock</li><li>Methane Pledge outside the ambit of the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>So will the Pledge work?</b> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Wait and watch. Like every climate related announcement and signing, this also needs time for any actual impact to be visible! However, given that some of the biggest countries have not taken the pledge is seems another case of more words than actions. However, not taking the pledge doesn’t mean these countries are not taking any action in this regard and vice versa. And given that actions are voluntary, there is no compulsion on even those taking the pledge to take any real action.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Links:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><span style="text-indent: 18pt;">Global Methane Pledge: <a href="https://www.globalmethanepledge.org/" target="_blank">Home Page</a> </span></li><li>IEA Methane Tracker: <a href="https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/data-tools/methane-tracker" target="_blank">IEA</a> </li><li>India not signing the pledger: <a href="https://www.dhyeyaias.com/current-affairs/daily-current-affairs/why-india-refused-to-sign-the-methane-pledge#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20Global%20Methane,global%20human%2Dcaused%20methane%20emissions" target="_blank">Link</a></li></ul>Previously on Learn N Blog: <a href="https://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2023/03/learn-n-blog-22-energy-trilemma.html" target="_blank">The Energy Trilemma</a></div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-36157560096444943962023-03-05T14:30:00.005+05:302023-03-05T14:30:54.061+05:30Learn N Blog #22: The Energy Trilemma<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>What is it?</b></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">the need to find balance between energy security, affordability, and sustainability and its impact on everyday lives.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Who coined it? </b></div></b></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">The World Energy Council in 2010. The Index is prepared annually.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>What are the Three Elements?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><b>Energy Security</b> measures a nation’s capacity to meet current and future energy demand reliably with minimal disruption to supplies from any disruption.</li><li><b>Energy Equity</b> assesses a country’s ability to provide universal access to reliable, affordable, and abundant energy for domestic and commercial use.</li><li><b>Environmental Sustainability</b> of energy systems represents the transition of a country’s energy system towards mitigating and avoiding potential environmental harm and climate change impacts.</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbTH9UZ4CAuR4DRMVuoU2jImnVU7zuyUVdaOKSMv_oYMudmWz36nwEnB2vPOn3icpgq3gVxE_JgAYvYKP7pb8dZ3wv0I_0gm01XMF_4oL0-PyZYjKf9JmmhdcRFG12QvLI7JAqmf4eBpzSiUWTnnT6vDJDMhaT3ixAVcmpQjxztA39ZgY5UQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="201" data-original-width="251" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbTH9UZ4CAuR4DRMVuoU2jImnVU7zuyUVdaOKSMv_oYMudmWz36nwEnB2vPOn3icpgq3gVxE_JgAYvYKP7pb8dZ3wv0I_0gm01XMF_4oL0-PyZYjKf9JmmhdcRFG12QvLI7JAqmf4eBpzSiUWTnnT6vDJDMhaT3ixAVcmpQjxztA39ZgY5UQ" width="300" /></a></div><br /></b><b>Why the focus?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It’s a balance between short-term pain (definitely) and long-term gain (hopefully). How countries can aim for Net Zero Ambitions while keeping the current energy security in mind. The situation has been exacerbated by the combined impact of the Covid19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns followed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The consequent global supply chain disruptions, increased living costs and global recession fears have just added to the uncertainty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Countries are looking at securing their own energy resources at the cheapest price. Hence Russian oil is still available at a discount for the willing buyers, coal production has been increased, plans to phase out nuclear power plants have been shelved, there is increased capital expenditure on hydrocarbons as well as renewables! Regulations are being modified to increase the scope of what counts as “clean energy”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">All this to resolve the energy trilemma. It’s not an easy task and there is no one-size-fits-all solution either. After all, each country has their own varied requirements and available resources. And they will have to take their own measures to attain Net Zero!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Links:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>Online tool to track energy trilemma index for each country: <a href="https://trilemma.worldenergy.org/" target="_blank">World Energy</a> </li><li>Gas & Nuclear are Green Energy: <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/06/europe-natural-gas-nuclear-are-green-energy-in-some-circumstances-.html" target="_blank">CNBC</a> </li></ul><div>Previously on Learn N Blog: <a href="https://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2023/02/learn-n-blog-21-lithium-reserves.html" target="_blank">Lithium Reserves Estimation</a></div></div></div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-90174507012854892762023-02-26T12:25:00.001+05:302023-02-26T12:25:06.588+05:30Learn N Blog #21: Lithium Reserves Estimation<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXhRlleimfsA0gfE2FqCUTL0bZLzDyzK8YAvPXGS1WVocdwRVLuRcODsRG47SsMZV9dWPcFp3DFB1mc61szCGK2ANwuSMzkcMIG_IdVqJ_AfTw-cfu_GNwiE3-5UaTB-8H2ofW9_qPu7tarpfn5iMohNiAa8VidYqzO7s0t-7jp0b1t4uziw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="277" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXhRlleimfsA0gfE2FqCUTL0bZLzDyzK8YAvPXGS1WVocdwRVLuRcODsRG47SsMZV9dWPcFp3DFB1mc61szCGK2ANwuSMzkcMIG_IdVqJ_AfTw-cfu_GNwiE3-5UaTB-8H2ofW9_qPu7tarpfn5iMohNiAa8VidYqzO7s0t-7jp0b1t4uziw" width="320" /></a></div><br />Recently, the Geological Survey of India announced the presence of 5.9 MMT of Lithium resources in Jammu & Kashmir. Such quantities would make India the 7th largest in terms of Lithium resources globally. Given the pivotal role played by Lithium in the energy transition, this news was bound to make a big splash.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, there is a caveat. These are inferred resources and will take many more studies to progress to Indicated and then finally to Measured reserves. With a two-decade background in oil & gas, I can safely state that estimating a reserves number is fraught with uncertainty at every stage. Which is why any reserves estimates are provided along with a probability factor giving the degree of confidence in the estimate. The amount and degree of confidence in the reserves changing with each additional study as well as technological advancements in both extraction and applications.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As per The United Nations Framework Classification (UNFC) classification the finds are in four stages,</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><b>G4: Reconnaissance</b> – mapping of resources</li><li><b>G3: Prospecting</b> – quantitative inference based on geological, geophysical & geochemical analysis</li><li><b>G2: General Exploration </b>– studies to determine the shape, size & grade of the minerals</li><li><b>G1: Detailed Exploration </b>– characteristics are determined to a higher degree of accuracy</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The finds in Jammu & Kashmir are still at G3 stage, which implies a lot of exploration work is still to go understand the commerciality and development of the mines. And it took over 2 decades to move from G4 to G3 stages. So, while interesting, we are too early in the exploration lifecycle to determine the commercial value of these mines (if any). And this is without even taking factors like politics, local issues and environment concerns into account!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Links</b>:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>Global Lithium Reserves - <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1253739/lithium-reserves-worldwide/#:~:text=Global%20lithium%20reserves%202010%2D2022&text=In%202022%2C%20the%20total%20estimated,group%20on%20the%20periodic%20table" target="_blank">Statista</a> </li><li>Mining India's Lithium Reserves - <a href="https://qz.com/india-needs-tech-transfers-to-mine-its-lithium-reserves-1850135644" target="_blank">QZ</a> </li></ul>Previously on Learn N Blog: <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2022/12/learn-n-blog-20-off-15th-december.html" target="_blank">Off 15th December</a></div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-12026292419951192812023-02-19T17:39:00.006+05:302023-02-19T17:39:42.575+05:30The Oil & Gas Industry: What Next?<div style="text-align: justify;">Before we look ahead, first a look back at some of the key Events which shaped the Oil & Gas Industry After all, the industry does run on History Matching Models!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBFE4ZRYXaiFYu7xdjhZ4YbkTlsHXi-NUtB05xMkgeHd_yGAJWeiDKSsE5sIfcbTIFhYCUCiPdemCdtciXsLWzCCzY5TnIXP8Qh3bPnN0udjO2ZiYj5r0ogxIn9lx0DXErrcWKcnqv0ZVWf_SQ5TmD-AfEo-TILMugfK4Gy6-k8_C0jhnMkA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="276" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBFE4ZRYXaiFYu7xdjhZ4YbkTlsHXi-NUtB05xMkgeHd_yGAJWeiDKSsE5sIfcbTIFhYCUCiPdemCdtciXsLWzCCzY5TnIXP8Qh3bPnN0udjO2ZiYj5r0ogxIn9lx0DXErrcWKcnqv0ZVWf_SQ5TmD-AfEo-TILMugfK4Gy6-k8_C0jhnMkA" width="320" /></a></div></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1859</b>: Drake’s well – considered the start of the modern Oil & Gas industry<br /><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1911</b>: Winston Churchill, then First Lord of Admiralty, ordered the entire British naval fleet to be converted from being coal powered to oil powered. A seemingly unwise decision at the time, as coal was mined within the British Isles while oil was imported. The decision was vindicated in the World Wars and amongst its side results led to the creation of bp and also drew up the maps of the modern Middle East.<br /><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1933</b>: Standard Oil of California managed to outbid the Anglo-Persian Oil Company of Britain for an entry into Saudi Arabia. An event with huge geopolitical ramifications. Later the company would become Aramco.<br /><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1959</b>: A meeting between the Saudi Oil Minister, Abdullah Tariki and Venezuela’s Minister of Mines & Hydrocarbons, Juan Pablo Perez Alfonso on the sidelines of the Arab Oil Congress in Cairo, which eventually led to the creation of OPEC.<br /><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1983</b>: The New York Mercantile Exchange introduced the Futures Trading in crude oil. A decision which broke up the hegemony of the likes of OPEC and major companies in determining the price of crude oil. A few years down the line it also resulted in quirks like crude oil trading in the negative!<br /><br /><b>1997</b>: Nick Steinsberger, successfully applied the fracking technology to extract oil & gas from shale – the technological development needed for the US Shale boom considerably reducing its dependence on external crude supply.<br /><br /><b>2015</b>: COP21 and Net Zero targets - countries agree in principle to reducing their emissions to stop the average global temperatures rising beyond 1.5 C.<br /><br /><b>2020</b>: Covid-19 pandemic brings the world to temporary halt, drastically reducing demand. Certain analysts even conclude that “peak oil demand” has been reached (how wrong were they!)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>So what next? </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On one hand, Climate change concerns and net zero ambitions – there could be a sudden decision to switch the transport fuel from crude oil based to electric and/or hydrogen based and for power generation to renewables/nuclear etc. On the other. increasingly strained global supply chains may lead to increased exploration within currently oil deficient countries.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And I get a feeling that both paths will go hand-in-hand for the coming few years. Not sure when the divergence for one or the other will take place. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Certainly, interesting times ahead for the industry!</div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-47185415661094267672023-02-10T16:19:00.003+05:302023-02-10T16:19:24.838+05:30BookMarks #110: The importance of Being Earnest<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Title</b>: The Importance of Being Earnest</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Author</b>: Oscar Wilde</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Genre</b>: Play, Fiction, Satire</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Published</b>: 1895</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>BookMarks</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“The Importance of Being Earnest” is a satirical play by Oscar Wilde. The lead characters invent relatives to get out of social obligations, and somehow end up realizing that their facades were truths</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Overall, a short, and funny read.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A few lines which stood out from the play</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><i>The truth is never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility!</i></li><li><i>Everybody is clever nowadays. You can’t go anywhere without meeting clever people. The thing has become an absolute public nuisance. I wish to goodness we had a few fools left. -</i> Was this a foreboding of the LinkedIn gyaanis to come some 120 odd years later!</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Previously on BookMarks: <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2023/02/bookmarks-109-mossad.html" target="_blank">Mossad</a> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">By Oscar Wilde - #88 <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2021/10/bookmarks-88-picture-of-dorian-gray.html" target="_blank">The Picture of Dorian Gray</a> </div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-5131373461651550182023-02-04T22:47:00.002+05:302023-02-04T22:47:14.060+05:30BookMarks #109: Mossad<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Title</b>: Mossad - The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Authors</b>: Michael Bar-Zohar & Nissim Mishal</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Genre</b>: Non-fiction, History, Politics</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Published</b>: 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>BookMarks</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mossad - the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations, and its motto chosen from Proverbs 11:14: "Without stratagems would a people fall, and deliverance is in a wise counsel."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The book gives an account of the major missions carried out by Mossad over the years. There is a marked change in the nature of missions - bringing Jews home safely from across the globe, finding Nazi war criminals, kidnapping a MIG21, defending Israel against its many enemies including nipping nuclear threats in the bud, avenging terrorist acts, even finding a young boy kidnapped by his own family etc.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are quite a few great stories, they are mostly somber but the one about how they landed up with Khruschev's speech denouncing Stalin was quite funny!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is also an account of how each ramsad (head of Mossad) played a role in shaping the institution. There is also a glimpse of the power dynamics constantly at work between the multiple agencies including the political government!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A few notable quotes from the book</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><i>The dirtiest actions should be carried out by the most honest men.</i></li><li><i>spare no effort, no means, and no sacrifice, to bring our people back home.</i></li><li><i>Sometimes the missions to bring home a nation's own are the most meaningful.</i></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Reading about the high regard for MIG 21 globally comes as a surprise given the high frequency of crashes the past few years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Overall, a pacy and engaging read providing a glimpse into the inner workings of one of the world’s premier intelligence agencies! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Previously on BookMarks</b>: <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2022/12/bookmarks-108-dying-to-meet-you.html" target="_blank">Dying to Meet You</a> </div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-46818327190793218102022-12-29T22:53:00.010+05:302022-12-29T22:57:43.485+05:302022: The Year Gone By<div style="text-align: justify;">After the horrors of 2020 & 2021, Covid-19 was finally off the main headlines in 2022. It’s still not over though with the year bookended by the Omicron wave at the beginning and apprehensions of a new wave emerging from China (where else) at the end. The war maybe be under control but battles are still raging on. While we wait and watch, hopefully much better prepared, here is a recap of some major (and not major) events to look back upon (or maybe not)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1. News Event of the Year: Russian invasion of Ukraine</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On 24th Feb ’22, Russia invaded Ukraine. It’s been 10 months, but the battle rages on with territories gained, wrested back and lost again. Apart from the actual battle on the field, there was another one being fought online between two propaganda machines. After a while, no one was quite sure of what was happening on the ground. Only one thing was clear - the human cost was huge and so has been the military spend. There have been economic sanctions and sports bans imposed. Yet the war keeps going on and on. And as a collateral damage, it has spawned arm-chair geopolitical experts, with most having a minor expertise in petroleum economics as well.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>2. Designation of the Year: Chief Twit</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Elon Musk acquired Twitter (rather was forced to buy after having announced his intent to buy), announced himself as Chief Twit and turned Twitter into a dark comedy channel. Proclaiming free speech, then banning accounts which he did not like, changing policy, firing people and then trying to rehire them, restoring banned accounts, finding himself being voted out as CEO on a poll he conducted! More than the company – he has become a non-stop source of amusement!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>3. Work Jargon of the Year</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Be “<u>Extremely Hardcore</u>” – the ultimatum given by the “Chief Twit” to the remaining Twitter staff. The deadline passed and far less people remained (What A Surprise!).</div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the other end of the spectrum was trend of “<u>Quiet Quitting</u>” – where workers did only what was supposed to be done and not more (Again, What a surprise!).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>4. Management Course of the Year: The Football World Cup</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">From being the “beautiful game” football evolved into a full course in management, with every match, every play, every goal scored, every shot saved, the actions of players, coaches, the watching dignitaries being dissected and ending up as a “what life lessons you can draw from them”? post on LinkedIn.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>5. The fall & fall of Big Tech</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There were the antics of Musk, the single day drop of $ 230 Billion in valuation of Meta, large layoffs at Amazon & Meta, Elizabeth Theranos (once touted at the next Steve Jobs) sentenced to 11 years jail and finally Sam Bankman-Fried – from appearing on Fortune magazine as the next Warren Buffett to be arrested a few weeks later for what could potentially be the biggest financial fraud! Tech industry was in turmoil to say the least!</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And then there was the bizarre case of Chitra Ramkrishna who was running NSE based on advise of a “<a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/markets/stock-markets/inside-the-mind-of-chitra-ramkrishna-she-took-guidance-from-an-unknown-himalayan-yogi-to-run-nse/article65037214.ece" target="_blank">Himalayan Yogi</a>” who communicated with her via email! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>6. The Eyjafjallajökull of the Year</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Remember the volcano with the most exotically unpronounceable name which disrupted European airline traffic in 2010. It found its successor in 2022. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Hunga_Tonga%E2%80%93Hunga_Ha%CA%BBapai_eruption_and_tsunami" target="_blank">Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai</a> Volcanic eruption which cut off Tonga from the rest off the world and caused damages worth ~$ 90 Million in a country whose total GDP is less than $ 500 Million</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>7. The New Fad of the Year - Wordle</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There was Wordle, a fun game. You play it and then spam the whole world with your grid of grey, yellow & green! It also spawned variants, more numerous than even the covid variants! It may be off the headlines as the year progressed but remains fun!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgj3cgB6eeY4vKeeE285pO2F6mibzD4plduk2N1r2Vlb8uJpd1RPwhOYncIIxvM25r2g7Uyl3bwCu1Y_fi2gtpFJB1qTjPjb0jA89zKZzQOD9HewgemHuI3UzJvM3Nd5LXlgqbJfUUBy4JqP-mxgguLQ9HflLHQzYOM662jnyag8IGv__FzIw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="975" data-original-width="1300" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgj3cgB6eeY4vKeeE285pO2F6mibzD4plduk2N1r2Vlb8uJpd1RPwhOYncIIxvM25r2g7Uyl3bwCu1Y_fi2gtpFJB1qTjPjb0jA89zKZzQOD9HewgemHuI3UzJvM3Nd5LXlgqbJfUUBy4JqP-mxgguLQ9HflLHQzYOM662jnyag8IGv__FzIw" width="320" /></a></div><b>8. Lost & Found of the Year: Endurance</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">1915 - Ernest Shackleton’s ship <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endurance_(1912_ship)" target="_blank">Endurance</a> sinks off Antarctica.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">2022 - 107 Years later, it is found again, resting in the depths of the ocean</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>9. Book of the Year: Ret Samadhi</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Geetanjali Shree’s novel became the first Hindi novel to win the International Booker Prize. Now for a twist in the tale. On Amazon, the original Ret Samadhi is available cheaper than its translation Tomb of Sand!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>10. Vegetable of the Year: The Lettuce</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Why not, after all it outlasted a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Truss_lettuce" target="_blank">Prime Minister.</a> So short was Liz Truss's term, that her biography had to be updated before it could be published! But she did oversee a regime change during her brief stint.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>11. Quote of the Year: “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-60614274" target="_blank">I am Mr. McAdams</a>”</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w-373Jqxg5w" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So this was a bit of 2022. Wishing all readers a Very Happy 2023!</div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32628880.post-20793118272509928082022-12-25T19:18:00.000+05:302022-12-25T19:18:05.233+05:302022 - TYIL<div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>The more I learn, the more I realize that I know nothing.</b></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>This Year I Learnt (#TYIL)</b></div><div>Another year draws to a close. And as has become a tradition, made a list of random factoids learnt during the year. Mostly encountered while trawling the interwebs, others via TV, movies & books and some through various Quizzing platforms/leagues.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ol><li><b>Creatcoeus Period</b> in the Geological Time Scale comes from Creta, Latin for Chalk (the softest stone) (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/feb/23/rock-of-ages-how-chalk-made-england-geology-white-cliffs" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>). </li><li><b>Erdos-Bacon Number</b>: sum of one's Erdős numbe, which measures the "collaborative distance" in authoring academic papers between that person and Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős, and one's Bacon number, which represents the number of links, through roles in films, by which the person is separated from American actor Kevin Bacon. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erd%C5%91s%E2%80%93Bacon_number" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>) <i>Why the need for such a number combining disparate fields is a mystery though!</i> </li><li><b>Graham Number</b>: measures a stock’s fundamental value as {22.5*(Earnings Per Share)*(Book Value Per Share)}^(1/2). Any stock trading below the Graham number is considered undervalued. (<a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/graham-number.asp" target="_blank">Investopedia</a>) <i>A good rule of thumb for investors but need to consider in many more factors.</i></li><li><b>Harshad Number</b>: A number which is divisible by the sum of its digits e.g. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,18,20,21 and so on. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harshad_number" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</li><li><b>Lindy Effect:</b> the idea that the older something is, the longer it is likely to be around (<a href="https://www.wealest.com/articles/lindy-effect" target="_blank">Wealest</a>). <i>A decent measure for judging works of arts, books, popularity of movies etc.</i></li><li><b>Cantillion Effect: </b>the change in relative prices resulting from a change in money supply (<a href="https://www.swfinstitute.org/news/89070/what-is-the-cantillon-effect-and-why-its-even-more-important-now" target="_blank">SWFI</a>)</li><li><b>Weismann Score: </b>Performance Metric for lossless compression applications. Fun part - its a fiction metric developed by a Stanford University professor for the show Silicon Valley (from which I learnt about it) (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weissman_score#:~:text=The%20Weissman%20score%20is%20a%20performance%20metric%20for%20lossless%20compression%20applications.&text=It%20compares%20both%20required%20time,according%20to%20the%20data%20type." target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>) </li><li><b>Allen Curve: </b>represents the exponential drop in frequency of communication between engineers as the physical distance between them increases. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_curve" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>) <i>Wonder how this holds with increased WFH!</i></li><li><b>Virtual Water Content: </b>volume of freshwater used to produce the product, measured at the place where the product was actually produced. (<a href="https://www.watercalculator.org/footprint/what-is-virtual-water/" target="_blank">Water Calculator</a>)</li><li>Argentina and Uruguay’s first sporting encounter was a game of cricket (not football), in 1868 predating the Ashes by 9 years! (<a href="https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/book-review-evita-burned-down-our-pavilion-1294044" target="_blank">Cricinfo</a>)</li><li><b>Geomythology:</b> study of etiological oral traditions created by pre-scientific cultures to explain—in poetic metaphor and mythological imagery—geological phenomena such as volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, fossils, and other natural features of the landscape (<a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210507-the-myths-that-hint-at-past-disasters" target="_blank">BBC</a>) <i>at times the entire subject of geology seems a myth and not a science!</i></li><li><b>Stendhal Syndrome: </b>visitors to Florence suffer psychological breakdowns after being overwhelmed by the city's abundance of great art! (<a href="https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220110-stendhal-syndrome-the-travel-syndrome-that-causes-panic" target="_blank">BBC</a>) <i>I guess another of first world problems.</i></li><li>Stephen Wilhite invented <b>the gif </b>in 1987. The first gif was a flying airplane. (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/mar/24/stephen-wilhite-gif-inventor-dies" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>) </li><li>Palm Oil is known as <b>Red Gold. </b>(<a href="https://theconversation.com/red-gold-the-rise-and-fall-of-west-africas-palm-oil-empire-179112" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>).</li><li><b>Jennifer Joseph: </b>model for the Columbia Pictures logo. A real person whose image is familiar across the world but name is not (<a href="https://www.who2.com/bio/jennifer-joseph/" target="_blank">Link</a>) </li><li><b>Enigmatology:</b> the study of puzzles; Will Shortz is the only known person to hold a college degree in this subject (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Shortz" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>) </li><li>There are more Indians than Qatari citizens living in <b>Qatar</b>! Qatar’s demographics are quite interesting (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Qatar#By_nationality" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>) </li><li><b>Hofstadter’s Law: </b>It takes always longer than you expect. Named from Dr. Richard Hofstater who also lends his name to Leonard’s character in The Big Bang Theory. (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Hofstadters-law#:~:text=Hofstadter's%20law%20is%20the%20observation,is%20increased%20to%20compensate%20for" target="_blank">Techtarget</a>) </li><li><b>Overshoot Day:</b> the date when humanity has used all the biological resources that Earth regenerates during the entire year. In 2022, it fell on July 28th. (<a href="https://www.overshootday.org/" target="_blank">Overshoot Day</a>)</li><li>MCC (Marylebourne Cricket Club) were the custodians of the rules of Tennis in the 19th century! (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/sports/tennis#ref29701" target="_blank">Britannica</a>) <i>Wondering if there is "spirit of tennis" also?</i></li><li>The world’s <b>loneliest tree </b>– an isolated spruce on an island in New Zealand (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/06/scientists-hope-worlds-loneliest-tree-will-help-answer-climate-questions" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>)</li><li><b>The Ghan:</b> longest passenger train in regular service, runs from Darwin to Adelaide, in Australia (<a href="https://www.australian-trains.com/ghan" target="_blank">Link</a>) </li><li><b>Operation London Bridge: </b>The funeral plan for Queen Elizabeth II, with the phrase “London Bridge is Down” announcing her passing. The plan was first prepared in 1960s with constant updates as the years went by (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_London_Bridge" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</li><li><b>Nora Polley: </b>1st Indian woman to participate in the Summer Olympics (Tennis, 1924) (<a href="https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Nora_Polley" target="_blank">Link</a>)</li><li><b>One Piece</b> by Ilan Manouach: the longest single volume book (21,450 pages) and also physically impossible to read and hence is sold as a sculpture rather than a book! (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/sep/20/longest-single-volume-book-in-the-world-goes-on-sale-and-is-impossible-to-read" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>) </li><li><b>Streisand Effect:</b> the attempt to suppress something only brings more attention or notoriety to it (<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/words-were-watching-streisand-effect-barbra" target="_blank">Webster</a>)</li><li>Stone House, the meaning of <b>Zimbabwe </b>in the local Shona language. (<a href="https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220925-the-ancient-remains-of-great-zimbabwe" target="_blank">BBC</a>) </li><li><b>The Smiley Company</b> owns the trademark for the smiley image, which was created by Harvey Ball. And it is currently a $ 500 Million business. (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/sep/25/fifty-years-and-500m-dollars-the-happy-business-of-the-smiley-symbol" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>)</li><li><b>Meme</b> was coined by Richard Dawkins in his book “The Selfish Gene” by shortening the Greek word mimeme. (<a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220928-the-surprising-power-of-internet-memes" target="_blank">BBC</a>)</li><li><b>The Great Emu War: </b>In 1932, over a 6-week period, Australia waged a war against the emus and lost. The emu population survived the battle against Australian artillery and continued with its crop destructive ways! (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>) </li><li>And the Chinese fought a battle against <b>Sparrows </b>(1958-62), seemingly won and realized that not having sparrows was more harmful to the crops (due to increased insect population) and ended up importing 250,000 sparrows from Soviet Union! (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_campaign" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</li><li>The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” and The Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” were recorded on the same piano (<a href="https://www.thevintagenews.com/2019/03/25/piano/?chrome=1" target="_blank">Link</a>) </li><li><b>Enheduanna:</b> the world’s first known named author, who lived around 5,000 years ago (<a href="https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20221025-enheduanna-the-worlds-first-named-author" target="_blank">BBC</a>)</li><li><b>Bihar </b>was the first state formed in India, in 1912! Maps changed later with first Odisha and later Jharkhand being carved out of it though (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_state_foundation_days" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>) </li><li>The “<b>Iron Law of Megaprojects</b>” - Over budget, over time, under benefits, over and over again. (<a href="https://towardsdatascience.com/the-iron-law-of-megaprojects-18b886590f0b" target="_blank">Link</a>) </li><li><b>Khaki </b>colour originated in the British Indian Army. The word Khaki originated from Urdu and means soil-coloured. (<a href="https://www.heddels.com/2019/05/history-khaki-anything-drab/" target="_blank">Link</a>) </li><li><b>Dora the Explorer</b> is a 7 year old girl and 5 feet 2 inches tall! I know it’s a fictional character but still that's one tall kid! (<a href="https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/dora-the-explorer-tall-nicktoon/#:~:text=For%20those%20wondering%2C%20Dora%20is,fictional%20character%20being%20weirdly%20tall." target="_blank">Comicbook</a>) </li></ol></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">This was 2022. Hoping to build on in 2023.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">P.S. Lists from <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2019/12/2019-tyil.html " target="_blank">2019</a>, <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2020/12/2020-tyil.html" target="_blank">2020</a> & <a href="http://nishantzworld.blogspot.com/2021/12/2021-tyil.html" target="_blank">2021</a></div>Nishanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16203681110201632111noreply@blogger.com0