THE PALESTINE QUESTION NOBODY IS ASKING:

Under the UN Partition plan of 1947, Israel was given 62% of the area of undivided Palestine (25k km², half desert).

So the Arabs got 38% of the area?
That's roughly 9.5k km²?

So why is today's Palestine only 6k km²?

Here's why: They could have easily accepted the Palestinian state in the rest of the 1947 territory, but no, 23 Arab countries didn't want ONE Jewish state in their midst.

So on 15 May 1948, barely a day after the new sovereign State of Israel is formed, they all gang up on Israel

For sepoys who think India is pursuing a "muscular Hindu Nationalist" foreign policy now, here's a flashback:

In May 1998, after the Pokhran II Tests, there was uproar. The Big Boys were upset Indian intelligence had pulled off something the US had twice leaned on India against. The existing nuclear powers screamed bloody murder. UN Security Council Resolution 1172 was adopted with ALL the 5 Permanent Members unanimous in their condemnation.

Nothing surprising, the wind WAS blowing the anti India way 🤷‍♂️

However look at the 10 non Permanent members:

Unpopular Opinion: Much as the furore over #UdhayanidhiStalin's contemptible comments rages, it's not going to dent their electoral prospects one bit, on its own.

Here's why: Fact is worse has been said about Hindus for 80 years in TN. The people saying that have only gone from strength to strength in the electoral arena.

The Hindu-hating once-fringe is now the mainstream, entrenched in most walks of life.

UPI SUBSIDY - What the nattering nabobs of digital negativity selectively hide: There's a figure doing the rounds put out by the Govt, that they spent ₹1,044 crores last year to ask banks make our UPI transactions free.

Here's why, for all the rumours of UPI carrying a fee going forward, it may never see the light of day.

This is a metal mask that was worn during slavery in the West.

There were 3 main reasons: 1) To avoid s|aves eating the harvested fruit like apples, pineapples, oranges, cashews, bananas, sugar, etc. out of hunger, however they were forced to work consistently on all plantation farms.

FUEL PRICES AND WHAT THE OPPN WON'T TELL YOU:

Let's start from basics
1. Crude Oil Price: $ 70.67/barrel(≈ 159 l)
2. That's ₹32.39/litre of crude oil
3. Cost of refinery processing = ₹3.6/litre

It therefore goes to petrol pump @ ₹ 35.99/litre

This is the important bit👇 4. Central Taxes: ₹32.9/l
5. Commission to petrol pump dealers: ₹ 3.79/l

Total (before state VAT): ₹72.68/litre

State VAT (E.g. Delhi: 30%): ₹21.81

And THAT, is how you pay a total of ₹94.49 per litre of petrol.

Enough of the nonsense that the Prime Minister has to do press conferences. Where in his JD is it written?
(Sounds like the complaint of a manager who always does appraisals based on out-of KRA metrics 😂)

Here's why it's nonsense: To make the PM and his Cabinet colleagues accountable, the makers of our Constitution took inspiration from the British Parliament system, and introduced Question Hour as the opening session of a day's Lok Sabha proceedings.

One of the achievements #Modi is mocked for highlighting is one that many of us take for granted - a bank account -
As a nomad who lived out of suitcase in the nascency of netbanking, I know how hard it was to pay a simple BSNL bill when they didn't have online banking yet

https://twitter.com/PMOIndia/status/1276755518132903936

My college was so strict they wouldn't let us out except on Sundays, so paying it myself was ruled out.
My parents couldn't pay as they were in another State and BSNL there wouldn't collect bills meant for here!

In an earlier thread 👇(written 6 months before #Pulwama) I tried to get into this Most Favoured Nation thingy and why India should immediately strip #Pakistan of that status - economically and geopolitically

Let's try #China now.Would it make sense to revoke China's MFN status?

https://twitter.com/Rnb129/status/1046348752229826560

For starters, India seems to enjoy being the punching bag of the world- affectionately called "becoming Vishwaguru" by many in the administration.

God alone knows why India never revoked MFN for Pakistan till Pulwama while Pakistan hasn't made India MFN SINCE DAY 1 OF WTO (1996)

Some people are so clueless, or deliberately treacherous, that they don't call out the #GalwanValley attack for what it is - UNPROVOKED attack on an Indian CO coming to talk peace. You think our journos won't know this?

And yet, they ask where's Modi's nationalism or his 56"! Remember, there was NO gunfire in the #GalwanValley incident. It was close combat. The CO goes to talk. His party of 20 is attacked with cement and iron rods laced with barbed wire. The CO got struck in the eye and fell into the ravines. Another fell after a hit to the head

Slightly non-populist take on his whole hand-wringing over @Twitter and FB policing online content. 👇

It's their platform. They get to decide what stays and what goes. It's there in the Terms and Conditions. You signed up for it. Now you can't whine! #TwitterPurge If I lent you a car, and said do whatever, but don't go from City X to City Y, would you shut up and conform, or say that violates your freedom of movement?

I give you my car, I set the rules.
Same goes for a SM company's online servers. #TwitterFactCheck

My timeline is flooded with people pummeling Sanjay Manjrekar for his partisan commentary in the #IPL2019Final. While he could control the urge to keep dissing someone or the other to feel good, should commentators mandatorily be neutral? A few thoughts on that:
@adikulk Why do we need commentary at all when we understand the game? As Richie Benaud put it, the viewer is not an idiot and can see what's going on. If what you want to say does not add to the viewer's experience, shut the hell up!
#IPL2019Final