Dear PM @narendramodi, after the surprise incursion from China last summer & the Galwan valley incident, I have been trying to understand China, by studying their history, culture, language etc.

I am no China expert. But here is two cents on why they did what they did. 1/n As with India, China also should be studied based on its current position in its civilisational and historic journey.

And in that journey, there is not a more important theme than this theme of "Unification of China" 2/n

@irah777 @OpIndia_com @BefittingFacts A lot of false equivalences. To begin with this one.

1. The VVPAT that sits in the middle is an active device and one which was connected to an external device like SLU or laptop for symbol loading unlike the BU which was an electromechanical device. @irah777 @OpIndia_com @BefittingFacts Another erroneous assumption on both counts.

1. There is no active verification at the time of voting as irrespective of whether voter has seen the vote or not, the printed slip falls down & gets stored.

2. VVPAT auditing (not verification) during counting is less than 2%.

Some of you might be aware of my curiosity driven project : whatchinareads.com.

Today, I added Science related news section to the website and I came to know that a Chinese academician has applied for emergency use of nebulized inhaled covid vaccine. 1/n Also added another section for academic papers abstracts.

A mine-field of information for those who are interested in the field. Only abstracts though. Those really interested will still have to go to the original site and get the full paper PDFs 2/n

Dear PM @narendramodi, nothing much to say.

I am sure you must be feeling bad that Govt did not do enough in the past one year to prepare.

But please realize that it is still not late for many districts since they are not yet severely affected.

Do focus there as well. 1/n Apart from the team that is dealing with the ongoing full-blown crisis in many places, please create another team to focus on the districts that are yet to be as severely affected.

Start preparation in those districts also on war footing. 2/n

We are connecting an external device to EVM-VVPAT

a) after announcement of election date
b) after publication of candidate list
c) after both stages of randomisation.

No more stand-alone, no more a calculator & none of the process safeguards are effective anymore. @ECISVEEP For a slightly detailed take, please watch

ECI @ECISVEEP, it is a pity that instead of addressing the concerns raised, you are spending huge amount of money to market EVM-VVPAT.

As if it is a product to sell!

No amount of ad can fill the void created by unanswered questions.

Is EVM stand-alone or not? @SpokespersonECI A 20 minute video on my concerns regarding the vulnerabilities of current EVM-VVPAT design.

On how it surrendered the strengths of pre-VVPAT EVM design & also did not bring in the checks of a true VVPAT design. What we have is a jugaad EVM-VVPAT now.

Attended an interactive session in Bhagalpur today. #BiharDiaries Then visit and interaction at Rajoun, Banka. #BiharDiaries

So @ECISVEEP finally to replies to an RTI by @OfficialSauravD on my letter.

They say nothing new.

But this is good. Very good.😋

For now they state as to what they rely on to say EVM-VVPAT is safe.

And all of it can be demolished with ECI's own documents. @SpokespersonECI 1/n Take a good look at the reply once again.

Does @ECISVEEP say that EVM is a stand-alone machine anywhere?

No right?

For they know that their lies have been exposed on that.

You won't hear that argument from @SpokespersonECI anymore. 2/n

Dear PM @narendramodi, please ensure your IT cell employees are given decent wages.

They say that current rate for likes & RTs are very low. And during covid it is getting difficult.

When your side-kick @AmitShah can get his son placed in a luxurious job, this is highly unfair. You make a lot of money from electoral bonds & stuff. But most of it spent on opposition for buying MLAs after elections.

A small portion of it can be used to provide a decent wage to the 1000s who are working day & night for you dear PM @narendramodi. They really need it.

So here is the refined & updated version of Indian News in Chinese Media project.

indiainchina.com.

Better on PC/Laptop.

All articles auto-translated. Date extracted.

What started as a Mandarin+Python project is now a html/css/js/dB project.

Feedbacks most welcome. :) [05-03-2021] - indiainchina.com

ECI @ECISVEEP, this is something explosive uploaded at CEO Karnataka website.

It says that BU is connected to the Printer (VVPAT) & that VVPAT is then connected to the CU.

So the VVPAT which was connected to an external device is what actually casts vote in CU. Is this true? To make it easier for you to take down, please find the link at ceokarnataka.kar.nic.in/pdfs/elections…. A document uploaded on CEO-Karnataka NIC website. @ECISVEEP, @SpokespersonECI any comments?

Taking it down is useless though. It is also archived at web.archive.org/web/2021021412…

ECI @ECISVEEP, is it true that EVM-VVPAT is connected to an external device, SLU, through a 9 pin serial cable?

And SLU is connected to a laptop through a serial cable?

Then what about EVM-VVPAT are stand alone machines not connected to external devices claim @SpokespersonECI? This is from a BEL technical document for M3 VVPAT available at n24parganas.in/LokSabhaElecti…

Now please don’t get this also taken down @ECISVEEP. Why trouble the wayback machine? :)

ECI @ECISVEEP, why a Laptop computer/Desktop PC is required for VVPAT commissioning?

Also, there is an application software!

If EVM-VVPAT is not connected to any external device what is this laptop for?

Please care to explain @SpokespersonECI. This is from BEL VVPAT manual. This is from BEL VVPAT user manual available at itestweb.in/pdy57/sites/de….

Now please don’t take the link down. It is archived. :) @ECISVEEP @SpokespersonECI

Yesterday there was massive protest in Vizag over the proposed privatisation of city's iconic Vizag steel plant.

VSP made good profits every year. Then this Govt came. And it started incurring massive losses.

It was being prepped for this fire sale. #VisakhaUkkuAndhrulaHakku "We have been left with no option but to fight it out till the Centre withdraws the proposal,” D Adinarayana, a trade union leader, said.
siasat.com/vizag-steel-pl…

ECI @ECISVEEP & @SpokespersonECI thinks that not responding to the concerns raised is the best way to deal with EVM-VVPAT vulnerabilities.

But please take a look at this video. It has 5 mn+ views. Questions are reaching far and wide.

And your silence too
Let me tell you this @ECISVEEP. I will not be writing anymore letters seeking reply to the questions raised. Or be going to the court.

I will be taking these questions to public at large to tell my half of the story. Your silence will tell the other half.

“You see a case of domestic violence.

Now if you too are violent at home, you’ll say it is domestic, hence private.

But if you’re confident of own conduct, you’ll say it is violence & hence public.”

My UPSC interview answer in 2011 on whether India should comment on Sri Lanka. Then they asked but isn’t it our principle to not interfere in the internal matters of other countries?

I replied that principle can come from a position of weakness or a position of strength.

First one is from position of weakness while the second from position of strength.

Personal update:

After Galwan Valley incident, out of shame at lack of in-depth understanding of China, its past & designs, I started learning Mandarin Chinese.

Finished all freely/cheaply available courses in Coursera & Udemy in the last 6 months. At around HSK level 5 now. Have been studying it like a small kid. Waking up at 5:30 every day, spending 5-6 hours a day writing and reading, finishing one notebook after the other, using different colors for hanzi, pinyin and English.

Indiscriminate sale of PSUs is not just about sale of national assets, but also an over-smart way to side-step reservation and social justice. Not making a blanket case for or against privatisation. But the clandestine way in which social justice component of public recruitment is taken away, lateral entries, single vacancy advt & indiscriminate sale of PSUs is something that needs to be out in the open & discussed.

Today, petrol price is ~₹90 when crude is ~$56.

In 2013, petrol price was ~₹80 even when crude was ~$100.

If opposition can pick one petrol pump in a city & give 'UPA era discount' to people filling petrol there, it may demonstrate how much this Govt is squeezing them. PS: The insane increase in central excise duty via @jamewils

COVID: More than 85% of respondents lost their jobs or saw their income decreased. - MOTN

Should have been the headline.

Not whether respondents are still happy in an abusive relationship with the PM. 1/n More percentage of people in Italy find their Govt did a good job. More people in Japan find their Govt did a bad job than in Italy or in India. And if we compare actual impact of Covid on these countries, we will realise how far disconnected it is from these ratings. 2/n

Is India in a neopatrimonial phase?

Bratton and van de Walle described some regimes as "neopatrimonial" with key characteristics being clientelism, strong presidents, and the use of state resources for political legitimation. They also don't allow any political competition. I know this might seem irrelevant. But unlike a US which has strong institutions, where a journalist can stand up & counter the President in a PC, we have weak institutions and even weaker individuals manning them. Identifying the phase we are in might point us to solutions too.