G k

[Āyudhika @Ayudhika1310]

Thanjavur celebrated the 1041st Sathaya Vizha on October 21–22, honouring the legendary Chola emperor Raja Raja Chola I.

The highlight was a spectacular Natyanjali at the magnificent Brihadisvara Temple, where 1,041 Bharatanatyam dancers performed together as a tribute to the emperor.

This is the beauty of our Dharma 🔥!

[Parimal @Fintech03]

This is a fantastic story of a torn manuscript from Kashmir, the Brahmin families of Odisha who held its missing words, and a father's unfinished work that became his son's 40 year mission.

For 80 years, the only copy of one of India's oldest texts known to scholarship was missing its 1st page.

The text is the Paippalada Samhita of the Atharvaveda. Of the Atharvaveda's many recensions, only 2 survive. For one, a single manuscript was known: a birch-bark copy from Kashmir.

Its 1st leaf was lost and the next few damaged, and large parts of what remained were virtually incomprehensible.

Then in 1957, a Calcutta prof. made an announcement he titled "Announcement of a Rare Find."

Durgamohan Bhattacharyya, travelling through the Puri and Balasore districts of Odisha, had found Brahmin families who still called themselves Paippaladins.

In their homes were palm-leaf manuscripts of the text, far better preserved than the Kashmir copy. This was no museum relic: he saw the tradition alive and in use.

The palm leaves carried exactly what the birch bark had lost: the beginning of the collection. Its opening stanza is recited in daily prayer across India to this day as the 1st stanza of the Atharvaveda. In the one manuscript scholars had, that opening was simply gone.

Bhattacharyya published his edition of the first book in 1964 and died the following year. His son Dipak Bhattacharya took up the work in 1976 and stayed with it for 4 decades.

The complete Paippalada Samhita, all 20 books, appeared in 4 volumes between 1997 and 2016. Work on the text continues today: the "University of Zurich" is building a full digital edition.

Sources: Umberto Selva, Kervan 23 (2019); Arlo Griffiths, ZDMG 153 (2003), pp. 333-370; University of Zurich, Paippalada project; Durgamohan Bhattacharyya, Our Heritage 5.II (1957), pp. 81-86.

Photo 1: The actual damaged Kashmir birch-bark manuscript via University Library of Tübingen, Ma I 421. Public domain.

Photo 2: Father: Durgamohan Bhattacharyya, family archive, via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo 3: Son: Prof. Dipak Bhattacharya, pic from his Felicitation Volume, Abhishek Prakashan, via Exotic India Art.

[G k @geeta1978]

Interesting https://t.co/ImrxNVtLZp

[Muthukrishnan Dhandapani @dmuthuk]

‘I told you so’ is not something to mention cheerfully, especially when what was said is negative.

From the time long term capital gains tax was brought back, I have been tirelessly pointing out how unfair it is to have both STT and long term capital gains tax.

Even when I was a BJP supporter, I criticised how disastrous the 2019 budget was. From that time, I have been consistent in saying that Nirmala Sitharaman is unfit to be a finance minister.

She reduced corporate tax but kept the individual tax rate as it is. In fact, the individual tax rate went as high as 42 percent and is now around 39 percent.

Income tax is paid by a tiny fraction of the population. Still, the amount they pay is more than what all corporates in India put together pay.

Individuals paying cumulatively more than corporates started only during the period of the current Finance Minister. This is a travesty of justice.

This government has no clue about capital markets or risk capital. Prime Minister’s most trusted officer Hasmukh Adhia said making profits from markets requires no effort. Then why do very few create wealth and most get wiped out from capital markets?

Neither Hasmukh Adhia nor Nirmala Sitharaman would have ever invested even a single rupee in capital markets.

All asset classes are not equal because the nature of risk is different. In a capital starved country, risk capital needs to be incentivised.

For those who say it is only the secondary market, without ease of entry and exit in secondary markets, the primary market would cease to exist. And without that, there would be zero risk capital.

The odds of success in trading are already very low. The government has kept increasing STT, making trading unviable.

The government simply does not understand that trading provides two important things for markets: liquidity and price discovery. Without liquidity and price discovery, secondary markets would become practically useless.

Even in 2024, after NDA won the elections, I tagged the Prime Minister multiple times stating that anyone other than Nirmala Sitharaman should be considered for Finance Minister because she would prove to be economically disastrous for the country. And unfortunately, I am proven right.

The Finance Ministry is only good at setting narratives like poverty has been rooted out in India, we would become a developed superpower by 2047, and the latest narrative of how economically powerful we are becoming on a PPP basis.

I have repeatedly shown with data and facts how every single narrative is false and disconnected from reality. The Finance Ministry lives in a completely different reality.

Even developed nations understand how important foreign capital is. But our finance minister said in Parliament it is ok if foreign capital goes away because we have domestic retail investors. Certain statements are coming back to haunt us.

As I have said in the past, it is not that this government did not do anything positive. But given the huge mandate, the last twelve years are wasted opportunities on an overall basis. And the contribution of the Finance Ministry to these wasted opportunities is significant.

For many years, I have been trolled, criticised, and abused for questioning the finance minister and the government’s economic policies.

Now every well meaning individual realises how disastrous the Finance Minister has been for both the economy and capital markets.

My views stand vindicated now. Still, you do not feel happy when your negative views come true.

[Blackp!lled H!ndu @listen2dil]

That is the plan!

[心灵书舫 | SoulSloop @SoulSloop99]

在屠宰场干了5年，告诉你一个秘密：动物今天要死，它们全都知道

我在屠宰场干了整整五年，每天跟猪牛羊打交道，见过的生死场面成千上万。说句掏心窝子的话，没入这行之前，我跟大伙儿一样，觉得牲口嘛，吃吃睡睡，稀里糊涂一辈子，哪懂什么生死。可五年下来，我摸透了它们每一个眼神、每一个动作，才发现自己当初多天真——这些不会说话的家伙，心里跟明镜似的，自己哪天走，清清楚楚。

平日里，待宰圈那叫一个热闹。猪拱猪、羊顶羊，抢食的打闹的，眼神清亮温顺，该吃吃该喝喝，天塌下来都不耽误长膘。可一到屠宰当天，那气氛说变就变，比翻书还快。整圈牲畜像商量好了似的，瞬间安静下来，挤成一团，紧紧挨着彼此，浑身抖得跟筛糠一样。那抖不是冻的，是打骨头缝里渗出来的恐惧。你赶它走，它四只脚死死扒着地，几百斤的大猪平时一轰就跑，那天愣是钉在原地往后缩，好像前面那条通道是鬼门关。老话讲“万物有灵”，我原先半信半疑，后来彻底信了。

牛的表现更让人心里发酸。但凡当天要走的牛，从早上起就不吃不喝，低着头杵在墙角，一动不动。我亲眼见过无数次，大颗大颗的泪珠子顺着牛眼角往下滚，湿漉漉的眼睛望着你，不挣不扎不吼叫，就那么默默流泪。有一回，一头养了好几年的老牛被主人牵来，主人站栏杆外看了一眼，那牛瞬间红了眼眶，直勾勾盯着主人，温顺又卑微，一步三回头地跟着我们走。那画面，我这辈子忘不掉。羊也一样，平时蹦蹦跳跳软软糯糯，临了却异常安静，紧紧偎着同伴发抖。赶别的羊成群往前冲，唯独那天，你推我挤谁都不肯带头，偶尔被单独牵出来的小羊，发出细细的凄厉叫声，不是闹腾，是真害怕。

时间一长，我们工人不用看单据不用记编号，单凭状态就能判断个八九不离十——活蹦乱跳的是来日方长，沉默发抖、不吃不喝、眼神惶恐的，全是今日宿命。你说它们听不懂人话、看不懂流程，怎么就掐得这么准？其实道理不复杂，流水线一开，前面的同伴一个个消失再没回来，后面的全看在眼里；环境里那股肃杀的气息、同类压抑的悲鸣，它们比人敏感百倍。俗话说“蝼蚁尚且贪生”，何况这些大牲口？它们沉默、发抖、流泪，不是傻，是无力回天的绝望。

五年下来，我这心态彻底翻了个个儿。刚入行那会儿年轻心硬，只当是谋生糊口的活儿，见多了也就麻木了。可干得越久，心越软，越觉得该存一份敬畏。走出屠宰场，我再也不糟蹋粮食，每一块肉背后都是一条热烈活过、恐惧过、挣扎过的命。它们从出生到落幕，没做错任何事，却坦然接受了既定的安排。反观咱们，衣食无忧平安顺遂，倒常常为鸡毛蒜皮纠结、为一点得失内耗，想想真有点滑稽。

所以你看，活着本身就是天大的福气。所有的矫情、焦虑、委屈，搁在生死面前，屁都不是。心存敬畏，懂得珍惜，善待万物，大概就是人这辈子最好的修行。说到这儿我倒想问问你——下次端起饭碗的时候，会不会也想起那些沉默发抖的生灵，然后觉得，眼前这口热乎饭，真香？

[Rajiv Malhotra @RajivMessage]

China’s new industrial model is to export manufacturing to other countries in such a way that Chinese AI holds the 30-year experience for further advancement. A more sophisticated form of colonialism. https://t.co/oHelWQBaAR

[Candid comments @DHGaikwad12]

@suchetadalal They will give equipments like bulldozers for breaking homes & stopping protesters. Not for cleaning rivers.

[Moneylife @MoneylifeIndia]

US Banks Block Outside AI Agents Over Fears They Could Access Accounts and Move Money Without Clear Authorisation: Reports
https://t.co/7mtASb1M7U

via Moneylife App. Download Now : https://t.co/DQlsYvFzUv @suchetadalal @Moneylifers @yogtoday

[Hindu Voice @HinduVoice_in]

The British crushed Sannyasi Rebellion by brutal torture.

[Nupur J Sharma @UnSubtleDesi]

Garba is a religious affair. Amruta Fadnavis made a stupid statement, probably inspired by the Bollywood company she keeps. People called her out. She clarified. Ppl continued to mock, including her atrocious singing - as is their right. This FIR business is the most self-defeating step ever.

I didn’t find the need to mention her. But if some people did, they should have certainly not been booked for it. Far worse abuse by the left goes unpunished, but not this?

[James Melville 🚜 @JamesMelville]

Barclays is cutting 5,000 jobs (5% of its workforce) as it moves towards Artificial Intelligence (AI) for work processes. This is another early warning of the huge job losses that AI will drive across so many industries. Deeply worrying.

[Dr. (Prof) Amitav Banerjee, Epidemiologist @amitavb1]

क्या ग्रामीण इलाकों में सेवा न देने के लिए सिर्फ डॉक्टरों को ही दोषी ठहराया जाना चाहिए?
https://t.co/TWiyjZYLYu

[G k @geeta1978]

😳

[Revathi @revathitweets]

When You Are A Fan of Hitler!!!

Journalist Shankar Goud was arrested from his residence yesterday in Hyderabad under seven different sections.

BNS 126(2), 115(2), 351(2), BNS 329, 324, 352, 3(5)

The Allegations?
Wrongful restraint, causing hurt, criminal intimidation, criminal trespass, mischief and intentional insult of Medicover Hospital staff.

A case was filed on 16th October by Medicover Hospital after Shankar covered the protest of @AamAadmiParty leaders at the hospital premises in case of an alleged medical negligence of a two year old toddler Gunashree. There was also a huge protest by family members of a 28-year old advocate who also died in the same hospital.

Why Journalist Shankar?

Journalist Shankar has been relentlessly covering alleged mysterious deaths at Medicover Hospital.

Why is Medicover Special?

Widespread allegations that Medicover Hospitals are owned and operated by CM Revanth Reddy’s family through a series of benamis and shell companies.

Medicover now plans to pursue cases for reputational harm and for false and baseless allegations hurting sentiments of the staff and the doctors.

Gopalpuram Police in plain clothes arrested Shankar from his residence yesterday.

[MediaCrooks @mediacrooks]

Just look at the names of some of the countries ranked better than India in Hunger Index.. Most of them are names you wont hear more than once a year or once of lifetime.. Even Burkina Faso is much better.. Thats the BULLSHYTT Vikas of @NarendraModi https://t.co/5CkszVKGjS

[G k @geeta1978]

Data centres??

[Navroop Singh @TheNavroopSingh]

What happened in Power Sector in Gujarat 🧐

[Ramesh Srivats @rameshsrivats]

The EDF (Export Declaration Form) rules are now in effect, and it seems like RBI and banks have conspired to create a new hell. Or actually 5 hells.

I consult for an American company. Raised October invoice. Received the Inward remittance. And bang! Mail from @HDFC_Bank detailing everything needed before the payment can be processed.

Let me tell you what the 5 hells are:

1. The hell of confusion – RBI clarified last month that the EDF rules do not apply to individuals. But looks like they haven’t told the banks. And CAs also don’t seem to know. There’s no official communication on who is exempt. Last I checked, I was an individual. No company, no LLP. But HDFC still wants me to file the EDF to credit my payment.

2. The hell of complexity – See the attached pic of the form the bank has sent in excel. It has 5 sheets. To be filled and submitted. Some abstruse acronyms like “AD” - no clue what it means. Some fields are mandatory. Some fields are to be filled by the bank. No idea which is what. And it needs a physical signature. Which leads to...

3. The hell of paperwork - They also sent a pdf with a bunch of request letters. I’m supposed to choose the right letter, print, sign, scan and submit. Creating more paper today is incredibly silly. And, I suppose, someone in the bank will have to upload all this somewhere. Reminds me of those hand-filled immigration forms. Pointless.

4. The hell of repetition – At least for me, most of the details are constant. One client, one payment. If it’s a one-time exercise, fine. I’ll grit my teeth and get it done. But no. These details have to be given month after month. Else… no payment will be credited.

5. The hell of unpreparedness – It would have been simple enough for RBI or HDFC to create an online portal for this. With dropdowns, saved formats, contextual help, etc. to at least make this easy. But that would be too convenient, no? So, they’ve chosen to dump the entire burden on the taxpayer.

I have no opinion or understanding of why this is needed. Maybe it is critical information. Okay! But why make the process so confusing and painful?

And poor communication has meant that the banks have just passed on the pain to the exporter, and even CAs can’t help.

Basically RBI & HDFC feel I should consult less, and comply more. Maybe my client will also agree :)

[Sama Hoole @SamaHoole]

In December 1958 the Polish embassy in Beijing refused to let the sparrow killers onto its grounds, so the Chinese surrounded it with drummers and kept the drums going for two days until every bird sheltering in the garden had dropped dead from the air, and the diplomats cleared them up with shovels.

That is how thorough it was. The campaign had been running since the spring. Every village, school and factory was turned out with gongs, pans and firecrackers to keep the sparrows flying until their hearts gave out. Nests were torn from eaves, eggs smashed, chicks killed, and children went through the fields with slingshots and were paid by the bird. The dead came in by the basket, strung on wires, piled on carts, and the totals went up the chain as a harvest. Something close to two billion sparrows in two years. The embassy garden was the last place in the capital with birdsong in it, and the drums got that too.

A zoologist called Zhu Xi had told them before it started that a king had tried this and lost. Frederick the Great of Prussia had put a bounty on sparrows in the 1740s to save his grain and his cherries, and the sparrows went, and the caterpillars they had been eating stripped his orchards to the stalk, and the king cancelled the bounty and paid to have sparrows brought back from neighbouring states and let loose. The whole episode was in the library. The ministry had a figure for what a sparrow ate and no figure for what it did, and a man with the second figure was told to sit down.

The locusts arrived on schedule. Then the grain borers. A sparrow takes a few grains from a field in autumn and feeds its chicks nothing but insects all spring, and with the sparrows gone the insects had the rice and the wheat to themselves. The counties with the most sparrows to lose saw their grain fall the furthest, and the rice and wheat that had been holding the country up went down together.

That was 1959, and the state took its grain quota anyway, on the harvest that had been reported. What was left in the villages was not enough, and the famine that followed over the next three years is the largest in human history: tens of millions dead, the estimates running from fifteen million to forty-five, whole counties in Anhui and Sichuan where the living could not bury the dead. The sparrows were one cause among several and the economists who have gone back to the county records put the bird's share at something over two million people, with another four hundred thousand never born. Two million, from a campaign against a thing that weighs an ounce.

By 1960 the ornithologist Tso-hsin Cheng, who had been cutting open dead sparrows and counting the insects in their stomachs, got the bird struck off the list and bed bugs put in its place. There were almost no sparrows left in China to pardon. So the government did what Prussia had done two centuries before: it bought a quarter of a million sparrows from the Soviet Union and shipped them east in crates, to be released into a country that had drummed every one of their relatives out of the sky.

The animal that does the invisible job is always the one on the ledger as a cost. Take the sheep off a chalk down and the orchids are under scrub in twenty years. Fence the cattle off a Welsh hill and the bracken takes it. Empty a savannah of its herds and the grass goes to fire. All of it written down, all of it in the library, all of it available to the next committee with a figure for what a cow eats.

Beijing paid Moscow for the birds in hard currency. The men who had said so in 1958 were still not allowed to say so in 1960.

[Rati #ProtectWithPen @ratihegde]

Damn! 49% of handling our Savings, our deposits, our transactions and our loans to foreign entities ... Nation will be at the mercy of foreign masters ... colonisation once again & guess who opens the doors from the INSIDE to the new age Invaders?

[Samir Arora @Iamsamirarora]

In California billionaires are leaving the state, selling their homes, cutting all ties due to- one time- taxes. How can taxes not matter?

If US has higher returns but India still wants to compete, why would lower taxes not be one tool - particularly if these taxes are out of line with what foreign investors pay in other countries including when investing in US itself.