Search Results

Cancers are defined as a collection of diseases in which abnormal cells can divide and spread to nearby tissues. Cancers can arise in many parts of the body – leading to a range of cancer types, and in some cases spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph systems. In 2019, 11.8 million people are estimated to have died from the various forms of cancer. Every sixth death in the world is due to cancer, making it the second leading cause of death – second only to cardiovascular diseases. Cancers are caused by damage to the DNA in human body. These changes are called gene mutations. Gene mutations can build up in cells in the body over time and too many cell mutations may stop working normally, grow out of control and become cancerous. Here is one excellent example. We all know human DNA comprises 23 pair of chromosomes. Cancer originates, in a case for example, when the 22nd chromosome starts fiddling with the 9th chromosome. The 22nd chromosome is one of the smallest and arguably one of the most widely discussed of all human chromosomes. In case of blood cancer (leukaemia) the 22nd chromosome breaks away and curls towards the 9th chromosome and sits with the 9th! The DNA structure gets disturbed and the sitting point gets weak. This creates enough ground for the enzymes to attack the point which leads to profuse multiplication of white blood cells in the bone marrow. This new chromosome is called Philadelphia chromosome and it contains the fused gene BCR-ABL. This gene is the ABL gene of chromosome 9 juxtaposed onto the breakpoint cluster region of BCR gene of chromosome 22. This fusion creates the hybrid protein tyrosine kinase – often termed as the brutal protein – the cause of cancer (illustration below). Cancer is a particularly common cause of death in richer countries where people are less likely to die of infectious diseases and causes of deaths that lead to very early deaths for people in poverty. Rare cancers. Among various rare cancers chronic myeloid leukaemia and Ewing sarcoma affect fewer than 15 people per 100,000 each year. These cancers can affect any part of the body and have different symptoms and risk factors. Lung mesothelioma affects 3,000 people per year in the United States ! Do rare cancers vary with gender (?). Primarily not, as evident from the pictorial diagram below. There are 13 rare cancers listed by World Health Organisation (WHO) and we see most of the variants are common to male as well as to female. Rare cancers account for about 22% of all cancers diagnosed worldwide, disproportionately affecting some demographic groups with an occurrence of less than 6 per 100,000 individuals annually. Many rare cancers in adults, adolescents and children are not curable, and patients and care providers have little option to take therapeutic decisions. The epidemiology of rare cancers is a challenging area of study but is inadequately addressed. Despite efforts mainly in some European nations, a few improvements have been observed in the management of rare cancers. Reasons for this obvious stagnation are multifactorial and are mainly inherent to logistical difficulties in carrying out clinical trials in very small patient populations, hesitation of the pharmaceutical industry to spend in small markets and complexity in creating adequate information for the development of cost-effective drugs. Rare cancers also face specific challenges that include late and incorrect diagnosis, lack of clinical expertise and lack of research interest and development of new therapies. The utilization of nationally representative study findings for the patients’ evaluation may possibly offer chances to find out pathogenesis and prevalence, and this will eventually lead to control and prevention. Currently, advancing targeted therapies offer a great opportunity for the better management of rare cancers. Conducting clinical trials with small patient population, innovative clinical trial approach, prevailing controlling obstacles for international cooperation and financial support for research are the present challenges for rare cancers. Rare cancers are higher than any single frequent cancers such as breast cancer (16%), colorectal cancer (13%), lung cancer (13%) and prostate cancer (12%). Rare cancers in adulthood, adolescence and childhood including haematological tumours are usually improperly interpreted and treated due to lack of understanding and medical expertise. Therapeutic options for rare cancers are still poorly documented and remain essentially empiric. Europe has initiated efforts and it is hoped that other countries, particularly developing countries such as India and other countries will see the importance and potential benefit of studies on rare cancers. Jacob Bryant and his law firm have been doing great work addressing people suffering from rare cancers and other forms of cancer. Please click on the link https://www.lanierlawfirm.com/mesothelioma/ and know more about the good work Jacob and his team are doing! The United States of America is pioneer in documenting cancer cases in USA that provide a very useful data base as reference. Each year, the American Cancer Society estimates the numbers of new cancer cases and deaths in the United States and compiles the most recent data on population-based cancer occurrence and outcomes using incidence data collected by central cancer registries and mortality data collected by the National Centre for Health Statistics. In 2023, 1,958,310 new cancer cases and 609,820 cancer deaths are projected to occur in the United States. Cancer incidence increased for prostate cancer by 3% annually from 2014 through 2019 after two decades of decline, translating to an additional 99,000 new cases; otherwise, however, incidence trends were more favourable in men compared to women. For example, lung cancer in women decreased at one half the pace of men (1.1% vs. 2.6% annually) from 2015 through 2019, and breast and uterine corpus cancers continued to increase, as did liver cancer and melanoma, both of which stabilized in men aged 50 years and older and declined in younger men. However, a 65% drop in cervical cancer incidence during 2012 through 2019 among women in their early 20s, the first cohort to receive the human papillomavirus vaccine, foreshadows steep reductions in the burden of human papillomavirus-associated cancers, the majority of which occur in women. Despite the pandemic, and in contrast with other leading causes of death, the cancer death rate continued to decline from 2019 to 2020 (by 1.5%), contributing to a 33% overall reduction since 1991 and an estimated 3.8 million deaths averted. This progress increasingly reflects advances in treatment, which are particularly evident in the rapid declines in mortality (approximately 2% annually during 2016 through 2020) for leukaemia, melanoma, and kidney cancer, despite stable/increasing incidence, and accelerated declines for lung cancer. In summary, although cancer mortality rates continue to decline, future progress may be attenuated by rising incidence for breast, prostate, and uterine corpus cancers, which also happen to have the largest racial disparities in mortality. Ten leading cancer types are listed above for the estimated new cancer cases and deaths by sex in the United States, 2023. Estimates are rounded to the nearest 10, and cases exclude basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers and in situ carcinoma except urinary bladder. Ranking is based on modelled projections and may differ from the most recent observed data. Is cancer dreadful(?). Is cancer treatment worse than cancer itself? No, neither cancer nor treatment of cancer is so bad as understood in general. Normally, cancer diagnosis gives a feeling of sadness, fear, panic, and distress. In some cases, as case studies have shown, it disturbs normal life paramountly. Today, cancer is not a dreadful disease at all ! It is just like another chronic disease like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, et al. A question is frequently asked whether cancer is curable or not. The answer to everyone is yes, cancer is curable in the early stages. Technical advances enable access to various diagnostic tools like Sonography, Mammography, MRI, Endoscopy, Nuclear Medicine, Tumour Markers and other technologically advanced equipments have facilitated early diagnosis. With the help of intervention radiology, one can aspirate tumour cell from deep-seated tumours for diagnosis. Cancer can be detected before it attacks, it can be monitored and estimated through Artificial Intelligence (AI). Please visit www.cheekychatur,com and read the article THE RISE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, HOW IT LOOKS 100 YEARS FROM NOW for an engrossing take on cancer. The global map above shows the mortalities of common cancer forms in males and females as estimated by World Health Organisation (WHO).

Manipur is a state in north-east India with a population of around three million. It has been embroiled in a fresh ethnic conflict since May 2023, fought between the majority Meitei community and the minority Kuki tribe. India’s north-eastern states have a history of ethnic rivalries dating back to before the country became independent in AD 1947. In Manipur, violence has erupted between the Meitei and the Kuki communities several times before. What is the cause of such rife (?). Tensions had been simmering between the two communities recently, driven in part by the vicious Meitei largesse. The state government has been accused of pursuing policies that discriminated against Kukis, including forced evictions that threatened the security of their land, and through an attempt to cast them as illegal immigrants. The violence was sparked by a court ruling in March 2023 that granted the majority Meitei scheduled tribe status, entitling them to the same economic benefits and quotas in government jobs and education as the minority Kuki. It also allowed Meiteis to buy land in the hills, where the Kukis predominately live, further fuelling fears that their lands, jobs and opportunities would be taken away. This prompted protests, mostly by Kuki student groups, which were met with violence and by early May, it had escalated into a full-blown civil disruption. So far, more than 180 people have died, almost equal number of people wounded in the violence and more than 60,000 have been displaced. It has become a state concern to bring the violence under control. We want a separate state. The clashes have strengthened a longstanding demand by the Kukis for their own separate state. Kuki groups say the violence has proved they can no longer live safely under the oppressions of a Meitei-dominant state and have pledged they will not stop fighting until their own state is granted. The Meitei community and the state government fiercely oppose the creation of a separate Kuki state. Everything is destroyed, there is nothing left. Sitting in a corner of a makeshift relief camp in Imphal's Pangei area, Basanta Singh tries hard to hold back tears as he talks. Singh, along with his wife and two children, had to run for their lives from the Saikul area in India's northeastern state of Manipur when ethnic clashes erupted here last week. Mr. Singh belongs to the Meitei community and had been living in the hilly Saikul area - largely inhabited by the indigenous Kuki community - for over two decades. He ran a grocery store there. When clashes began, he was advised by his Kuki friends to move out to a safer place. We have lived there for so long. We were on good terms with the Kuki people there, he says. The goodwill Mr. Singh thought he shared with the Kuki community did not prevent his shop from being looted by the mob. I had no option but to run. This is a civil war What is the history of the Kukis, the Nagas and the Meiteis. History says the Kukis and the Meiteis originated from the land Zomia – a huge massif of mainland Southeast Asia running from the Central Highlands of Vietnam westward all the way to northeastern India and including the southwest Chinese province of Yunnan, Guizhou and western Guangxi. It is beautifully explained in the eponymous book on the history of highland people The Art of Not Being Governed : An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia by James C. Scott from the Yale Agrarian Studies Series. Professor Scott explains, for two thousand years the disparate groups that now reside in Zomia have fled the projects of the organised state societies that surround them – slavery, conscription, taxes, corvee labour, epidemics and warfare. They were hounded by a very unfriendly environment, each day uncertain not knowing whether they would live the day or die ! It is estimated that around 1500 AD there were frequent military intrusions against hill people under the Ming and Qing dynasties and culminating in the unprecedented uprisings in southwestern China in the mid nineteenth century that left millions seeking refuge towards south of southwest China. In effect, Zomia, Professor Scott contends, has been peopled by runaways from several state-making projects in the valleys, most particularly Han state making projects; bound in the hills they acquired and shifted their ethnic identities to stave off further brutalities. Far from being remnants left behind by civilizing societies, they happened to be, Scott writes, as it were barbarians by choice, people who have deliberately put distance between themselves and lowland, state centres and other social structures. Fuelling factors were the atrocities of Ming and Qing. The Ming (AD 1368-1644) and Qing (AD 1644-1911) dynasties resorted to mass killings, beheadings and other forms of brutalities that compelled large demographic shift from South west China towards the states of Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram further squeezing towards Bangladesh and Myanmar. Beheadings. In the Taiping capture of Nanjing in AD 1853 the Qing governor general conducted mass execution of tens of thousands of suspected rebel sympathisers with 63 beheadings in a four-minute span !! Woeful lives of Chinese Christians. In celebrated instances, the demonizing process was turned against foreign missionaries in the so-called Tianjin massacre of AD 1870, the series of violent anti-foreign crowd actions in the Yangzi valley in the early 1890s, and murders of Chinese Christian converts during the Boxer uprising of AD 1900. Settlements. The terrorised population, who were able to flee, settled as tribals in the hills and plains of Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Bangladesh and Myanmar. During those early settlements population thrived on different cultural existence, some came down to the plains and others settled in the hills with a belief that as early as AD 1900 they grouped as tribals and with time the tribes were separated as Meiteis and Kukis – the latter naturally being the Chinese Christians surviving the Qing and Ming onslaughts. The plains were filled early. The flow of mass to the plains were much more and from much early periods than the Chinese Christians who were wandering tribes taking time to settle in the hills of Manipur. Is there a Chinese hand in Manipur violence(?). Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Anil Chauhan says yes. He says Manipur had armed forces deployed for counter insurgency operations since 2020 AD but much of the force had been re-deployed in northern India and almost 25,000 armed force from Assam Rifles were taken away from Manipur area since the insurgency situation normalised. There you have it, the elephant in the room. It is China. This is one major strand in the Chinese connection to Manipur. Because of China’s aggressive land grabbing activities in the border areas in the North there has been a security vacuum in Manipur which did not go unnoticed in Beijing. Myanmar, the Brutus. China had been goading Myanmar into such violence and much of the militant forces have been infiltrating through Myanmar and seeing the easy border it has with Manipur (map above) the militancy has been on the rise due to Myanmar giving safe haven to the militants in Manipur. Myanmar and China hand in glove. But why(?). The relations between Myanmar and China have been a roller coaster ever since Myanmar became one of the first non-communist countries to recognize the People’s Republic of China in AD 1949. But things began to change in the late 1980s when Myanmar faced increased western-led economic sanctions after a coup in AD 1988 and shortly after it, Myanmar introduced a number of economic reforms. It was under these conditions that the China–Myanmar relations started gaining momentum. Bilateral trade. In terms of bilateral trade, China is the largest trading partner of Myanmar. It occupies the largest share in both imports and exports of Myanmar. According to data from 2019, the bilateral trade stands at about USD 12 billion out of the approximately USD 36 billion trade it conducts in total. In 2019, China occupied a 32% share in its exports and a 34.7 % share in its imports far ahead of any other country including India which doesn’t even break into the top 5 in either category despite sharing a lengthy land border. Since 2001 AD, Myanmar imports its largest share of goods from China, mainly machinery, metal products, vehicles, and telecommunication equipments (illustration above). In Myanmar’s exports to China, there are some goods which are important to China. For instance, refined tin that China imports from Myanmar is used for circuit-board soldering. 30-35% of the overall tin concentrate required to produce refined tin comes from Myanmar despite China having the largest tin resources in the world (?). Similar is the case of rare earth metals, which is a group of 17 minerals used in manufacturing consumer electronics and military equipment. Myanmar accounts for around 13% of the global production and more than half of China’s domestic supplies. The majority of the exports to China, though, consists of oil and gas which make up around 32% of exports to China. So, it is not solely an Indian problem, it is an India-China-Myanmar problem. Yes, there you are. If you look closely and, in more detail, than listen to what the newspapers and TV channels are blabbering, it is China doing a Pakistan and it has been, for long, Beijing’s norm to annoy India by all means. It will not happen my friend. Just like the achievements of Chandrayaan-3 cannot be replicated by the Chinese-Russian (Russia is a failed state, killed its own army chief) effort to place Luna-25 on the moon, just like the enormously popular G-20 summit in Kashmir flourishing in spite of Chinese rumblings, just like India grabbing the demographic sweet spot overthrowing a growling China. Just like US President Joe Biden’s visit (Sep 7-10) to India being utilised(?) to reprimand Beijing to stop this tomfoolery and halt arms supplies to Myanmar, undo the stupid skirmishes that can blow into a dirty and squalid civil disruption !

The date is unforgettable. April 2, 2011 India won the 50-over World Cup beating Sri Lanka at home. We never won a World Cup after 2011 and it has been 12 years another chance has been bestowed on us, in this sprawling time Indian Board has grown by leaps and bounds commercially but as a cricket playing unit Indian Team – or Team India as we call it – has been found wanting in skills and strategy needed to win a World Cup. The verve has gone since and we never play as champions these days. None of the players in the above picture plays for India at present except Virat Kohli – it can be seen a very young Virat (see arrow) with dream in his eyes and a joy that says after 2011 there would be many more trophies, just as the one he is party to, but alas the time did not come to hold aloft another memento of excellence, the time did not come for having another snap with every player ecstatic with joy saying – we are the Champions!! What has happened to Indian cricket (?). There are lot of questions which remain unanswered. But for now, let us concentrate on the World Cup itself. The 2023 ODI World Cup (WC) will be played in India between October 5 through November 19, 2023. Ten participating teams will vie for the Cup. India, Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Netherlands will play between them in League format and the top four would go to the semi-finals. To the best of predictions, who would be the most likely top four(?). The top three spots will be occupied by England, Australia and South Africa. For the fourth spot teams India, Pakistan and New Zealand will have to fight it out. Since it is a league format advantage of being in a certain group would not be there. It will be very difficult for India to wade out challenges from Pakistan, and New Zealand (if not other teams) as both the teams are regrouping well after suffering injuries to some of their key players and almost all the players, more or less, are fit for the grind. MyPersonal Peep. But in India’s case the scenario is the opposite. Players like Risabh Pant, K.L. Rahul, Shreyas Iyer are still languishing with injuries. Jasprit Bumrah has shown some light. His stint in Ireland brings hope to the Indian camp ! The highest weightage goes to England to win the 2023 World Cup !! Because the English team is loaded with excellent performers. Almost all of them have played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and we have seen the skill set. To me, England is the 2023 World Cup winners. They won in 2019 edition as well. The Squad of 15. Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes. Ben Stokes comes out of retirement from ODI at the expense of one of the most promising cricketers of the side – Harry Brook. Jos Buttler. Jos remains one of the best and most sought-after white ball cricketers in the present cricketing era. He has stitched a winning team with its key attributes just enough to bring England the 2023 World Cup ! MyPersonal Peep. I watch keenly the English cricket league Hundred and I see Jos in pristine form, the way he is batting can spell doom to any cricket team. He plays for Manchester Originals in the Hundred and the languid ease with which his strokes tear into the opposition fielders is a treat to watch. Jos Buttler is hot cake in white ball cricket. Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals (RR) is all set to offer a lucrative multi-year contract to England's limited over skipper Jos Buttler, British newspaper Telegraph reported. Jos reportedly earns USD 12.5 million per IPL season and is set to increase. Jos also plays for Paarl Royals in South African SA20 League and for Barbados Royals in Caribbean Premier League. Buttler has proved to be a run-machine for RR, having scored five tons and 18 half-centuries in 71 matches since joining them in 2018. So, this is the calibre of leadership in the English camp !! Do you have any questions (?). The next weightage goes to Australia to win the 2023 World Cup !! Pat Cummins leads the side with Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David warner, Adam Zampa. Surprisingly, Marnus Labuschagne, one of their best talents, does not get a look in !! Amongst the best. Mitch Marsh and Adam Zampa, together remain the best prospect, along with Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell who can win the 2023 World Cup for Australia ! MyPersonal Peep. I have seen Mitch Marsh play one of the finest Ashes innings in 2023. His defiant approach to batting in the just concluded Ashes series in England was very refreshing and different. He is equally as at ease in Test matches as in white ball cricket. Mitch has been playing for Delhi Capitals in IPL and there are some very brave knocks to his account ! He is a leadership material. Mitch Marsh will be the white ball captain on its tour to South Africa. The compacted Ashes series and the World Test Championship has been a heavy load on the players and we are taking a conservative approach to the build up to the World Cup says national selection panel chair George Bailey. Critical to WC 2023, as I see it, the cunning of Adam Zampa will play a pivotal role on the turning pitches though the pitches in India, as he says, offer less bounce it is his guile that sees him through. He has a pinch of Shane Warne in his action and has the hallmark of a great spin bowler. Adam also plays for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. A fascinating talent! Welcome aboard Zampa. So, these four have proven track record in white ball cricket and can be singled out as the most important set of explosive players who can spoil the English party in WC 2023. The third team with very good talent set is South Africa. At the time of writing this piece the South African Board had not named the provisional set of players for the WC 2023. But who are these rocketeers(?). The strongest set of players who will take the South African team to the semis are Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klassen, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje. All have been playing consistently in the IPL. The most exciting talent as a batsman will be Heinrich Klassen – as English crowd have seen him belting bowlers with consummate ease in the Hundred. His stroke playing ability is enormous and killing ! MyPersonal Peep. Klassen with David Miller will form an explosive combination, on their day they can annihilate any bowler on earth and if these set of players get going then it will be very hard to put them down. Among the bowlers Kagiso Rabada is unputdownable !! His lithe figure and silent approach to the crease delivering a menacing inswinger puts him in the bracket of the best. He is a very silent, well mannered South African, never seen to express joy or sorrow on the field, calmly goes about his business. A respected fast bowler who almost always delivers. The fourth team can be India but it has to tick lot of boxes. The home team with lot of advantages is expected to do wonders on the field. Team India will carry expectations of a billion Indian cricket loving crowd eager to see their favourite team crunch the opposition to size and come out victors. They want to see Inda lift the coveted 2023 ODI World Cup !! But how this dream can come true(?). Plain and simple every player needs to buck up. And on all fronts. MyPersonal Peep. Two cricketers, who have the ability to take India to the WC2023 semi-final, are Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jasprit Bumrah. Yashaswi can really set the tempo for a match winning total and could be utilised as an opener. But Jasprit holds the key. When M.S. Dhoni in April 2011 lifted the ODI World Cup, one youngster was all of 18 years of age and dreaming of donning India colours someday. He was farther along the line in January 2016 when he earned his first ODI cap. For him it was a shoestring deluxe, getting to roam the expansive hotel boulevards, backpacking fellow cricketers, stashing tasty sandwiches at tea breaks and scanning theatres for a go at his favourite stars ! It was so fun on the field and for every cricketer a pure discovery with bursts of activity in the longueurs of glorious Australian crowd, the green grass telling many stories of achievements and failures; the trees where the leaves glow with that golden green, the sun that illuminates the gold chain albeit staying gentle on the neck. That was Jasprit Bumrah for you making his ODI debut against Australia in Sydney !! What India needs to do (?). India needs to fire on all four cylinders. And there is one man who can stop the opposition from scoring runs freely – Jasprit Bumrah. He is to the Indian team what Jos Buttler is to English and Mitch Marsh is to the Australian team – indispensable and critically important ! The Rohit Sharma led team has many strengths, it is a sound mix of talent and experience. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have to click in many more matches than they are at present and the batting has to be different and vibrant with the inclusion of Yashasvi Jaiswal. Shubman Gill is another player who can play an excellent innings under stress – both are of a different ilk and India expects them to fire a lot. My best 16. India has not announced its World Cup squad at the time of writing this content. My best 16 are Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, K.L. Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Md. Shami, Md. Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh. MyPersonal Peep. Along with Jasprit’s excellence, the Indian dressing room desperately needs the positivity and courage of a Ben Stokes !! The verdict. India stands a 30-70 chance to make the semi-finals, although painful to write this but unless something extraordinary happens Team India has a 30% chance. We all wish the Indian team good luck and hope this time they will bring the ODI World Cup to India. We will wait till November 19 for the magic to happen. Play brave and win the Cup !

You know the central conceit of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, of course you do. A lad of sun kissed beauty is presented with a stunning likeness of himself. Disturbed at the notion that he will grow old while the painting doesn’t, he locks it away - where it is the portrait that ages and uglifies while Dorian stays boyish and beautiful. The story has come to many Britons’ mind as the foulness of British politics becomes even harder to ignore in the land of cricket whites and orderly queues. The New York Times and Der Spiegel report in bewilderment on a country with pockets of deep poverty and unslaked anger and again rasps in a hoarse voice. The horror was hidden all along. Now it is all out in the open. In one of the richest societies in human history, inhabitants are starting to twig that by 2030 or thereabouts they will earn less per head than the Poles they so recently patronised. The British rulers have trumpeted every false success while ugly facts have been waved away as anomalies : from the former manufacturing suburbs and towns turned into giant warehouses of surplus people, to the fact that 15% of adults in England are on antidepressants. We are winning the global race, claimed James Cameron, even as the population’s life expectancy fell far behind other rich countries. We shall not stunt future generations with debt, he boasted, as the five-year-olds of Britain became the shortest in Europe. Has Britain become a poor country !! Labour leaders used World Bank data to warn that, without a change in leadership, Britain's economy will be overtaken by its eastern European rivals over the coming few decades. It is not rocket mathematics for the Englishmen to find out that their economy would fall behind vibrant Poland by the end of decade. The data showed that GDP per capita in 2021 was USD 50,522 in Britain and USD 34,915 in Poland, and that Poland - should it maintain its 3.6% average annual growth - will overtake Britain by 2030. Romania, with 3.8%, and Hungary, with 3%, would overtake Britain by 2040 !! All of these are quite evident from the below graph. Britain’s GDP more or less remained stagnant in the period 2011 through 2017 with Govt. debts more than 80% of GDP at any point in time during this period. The rot did start from 2016 itself. In 2020 under Boris Johnson Govt. debt rose to unfathomable 102.6% of GDP !!! (GDP growth in %, GDP per capita in USD, Govt. debt shown as % of GDP). The increase in total debt came after government borrowing soared to 20 billion pounds in May, pushed higher by the cost of energy support schemes, inflation-linked benefit payments and interest payments on debt. (Please visit www.cheekychatur.com for article on Venezuela and know more about GDP). The Finance Secretary was nevertheless very quick to defend the borrowings. We rightly spent billions to protect families and businesses from the worst impacts of the pandemic and Putin’s energy crisis. But it would be manifestly unfair to leave future generations with a tab they cannot repay. That’s why we have taken difficult but necessary decisions to balance the books in order to halve inflation this year, grow the economy and reduce debt. Topsy turvy. The fairytale ride had become topsy turvy, gone horribly wrong !! There is a seething discontent among the Englishmen waiting to explode. Finance Ministry’s calculations are based on the assumption that Britain’s gross domestic product (GDP) continues to grow at an average of 0.5% annually in real terms. But IMF projections define Britain’s GDP growth as pretty haywire with practically no growth in 2024 and GDP growth actually decreasing from 2025 through 2027 !! (GDP per capita in USD). (Please visit www.cheekychatur.com and read article on Venezuela to know more about GDP. Go through the first article and tap See All at end of article to see all the remaining contents). Poverty. By early 2000 approximately 14.5 million people (26%) were living in poverty in Britain according to PSE Survey. The poverty rates have risen sharply since the early 80’s. Between 1983 and 1990 the number of households living in poverty increased from 14% to 21% of the population! About 8 million people cannot afford one or more essential household goods, such as fridge, a telephone or a carpet, to repair electrical goods or furniture when they wear out. Almost 7.5 million people are too poor to be able to engage in common social activities considered necessary : visiting friends and family, attending weddings and funerals or having celebrations. A third of British children go without three meals a day, denied having toys to play, are not part of school activities and do not have adequate clothing. About 6.5 million adults go without essential clothing, such as warm waterproof coat or jacket because they have no money. Around 4 million people are not properly fed by today’s standards. They do not have enough money to afford fresh fruits and vegetables or two meals a day for example. Over 10.5 million people suffer from financial insecurity. They cannot afford to save, insure their house contents or spend even small amounts of money themselves. Where the money is going my friend (?). Since 2020, food prices have soared more than 20%, and the supermarket chains Tesco and Sainsbury have enjoyed their best profit margins in a decade. Multinational companies such as PepsiCo, Proctor & Gamble and Nestlé – the world’s largest food and beverages company – have cruised through the years promising shareholders bumper dividends while profits remain intact. And consumers of services from insurance to mobile phones, mortgages to energy have seen bills soar even as providers clock up huge profits. Increasingly, the question is being asked - why it is that so many businesses have appeared to maintain or improve their results during a cost-of-living crisis in which households have suffered one of the worst periods of falling real incomes in a century? Are we living in rip-off Britain? The clamour to find out whether Britons are being ripped off forced the Commons to call in the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the energy, water and communications watchdogs pressing them on whether there is a profiteering problem in their sectors, and on what they are doing about it. Yes, the English population are in the clutches of a rip-off Britain !! It is a sin to cloud reality with absurd unrealities. Sin is a thing that writes itself across a man’s face Dorian is told. If a wretched man has a vice, it shows itself in the lines of his mouth, the droop of his eyelids, the moulding of his hands. But you Dorian, with your pure, bright, innocent face and your marvellous untroubled youth, I cannot believe anything against you. The picture of Dorian, which would have revealed the grotesque truth, is hidden away, so too has the United Kingdom avoided admitting its ills. Even now in a country where patently so little works for people who rely on work for their income, the Nigels, the Jeremys, and the Starmers – all push growth and jobs as the remedy for what ails Britain. Yet the growth in Britain is falling not because of Ukraine or Covid or Brexit but because of the fact that the economy has become ever more stagnant and dependent on debt. It is fatuous to pretend that it is going to turn around through magicking Britain into AI free-for-all or a jolly green industrial giant – one in four employees are on low weekly wages – either because the pay is too low or the hours are not enough; the average real wage has flatlined for many years. Politics of poverty gets its ugly face popped out in the fascinating book When Nothing Works – From Cost of Living to Foundational Livability - by Luca Calafati, Julie Froud, Colin Haslam, Sukhdev Johal and Karen Williams. It is an essential text for all English people to understand British Government in all its joking mimicry; the polarised politics of a highly unequal and increasingly stagnant society. Well then, what is to be done now (?). Today, as Britain is in such doldrums, the actions to be taken to revive productivity and assist the population developing confidence in British polity should be the prime agenda on every British minister. It should occupy the front pages of every newspaper and bulletin. Yet it is being almost wholly ignored as English largesse quarrel about equality, obesity, trans rights and other ephemera. The discussions should hinge on how to come out of one of the lowest productivities in the developed(?) world. Clearly the Britons are generating less stuff per hour ! Slovenes are overtaking UK now and Poles are on course to do so in the 2030s. South Koreans, who had a third of British income per head recently have already surpassed Britain. Yet the Government refuses to acknowledge, let alone address, the causes of this grand decline. But this is some relief - amidst all this Britain’s GDP becomes less shocking to glare at if we compare with that of USA period to period. The GDPs of Britain and USA have been plotted between 2008 through 2021 along with the GDP of India. And what we see (?). Apart from the year 2020 the GDPs of Britain and USA have friendly cohesion and the similarity in the curves is very striking, but USA, by all counts, is a different kettle of fish ! India’s GDP has always been high, (except in 2020 when due to Covid pandemic Delhi had a horrendous task of saving its population from the dreaded virus), more so because it was growing at a fast pace and the two already developed countries had reached a plateau from where further growth, as one looks up to India’s, calls for a massive change in policy and fresh drive. The British Government has to take a different drive, a drive which they are very reluctant to take. A grim task ahead, we can all understand that but then the British white collars and blue bloods have to shed their Dorian faces and come all prepped up for an ugly face off with their working population, the huge swathe of innocent people - who always believed in their prime ministers, their home ministers, their finance secretaries, and the self-ordained lords of the Banks - are so bitterly disappointed with them and with their two hooded faces that, now, these plainspeak, disgruntled Britons have chosen an Asian as their premier who, with hope surmounting over all hopes, would see them through, guide them, resurrect their lost pride and bring happiness to their sweet homes !! So be it, Rishi Sunak. We wish you all the very best.

Mohsina, a science graduate living in Srinagar came running to his brother Abdullah Sheikh, beaming with joy !! What happened sis(?) you look overjoyed. Yes, I am and you know why(?). Oppenheimer has hit the halls, my friends have seen it, I also want to go, brother please join me, I am dying to see Cillian Murphy. You are dying to see Cilian Murphy – mother will cut you to pieces. Nothing will happen bro, please, please – Mohsina keeps on pestering. Let me see – smiled Abdullah wryly. That evening Mohsina and Abdullah went to see film Oppenheimer and came back home very, very happy. Hollywood writer, director Christopher Nolan's latest opus, Oppenheimer, is drawing youngsters in droves and running to packed shows at Srinagar. It is a different Srinagar now from what we had known for years. Peace has come back to the valley and Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor has been tasked to oversee all operations which would help Jammu and Kashmir operate in a manner all other states of India go about doing their business. Many concrete steps have been taken in this direction. Holding the G20 Summit in Srinagar has been a concrete step towards achieving that goal !! Landmark Meeting. The world saw India holding its 3rd G20 Tourism Working Committee Meeting between July 22 through 24, 2023 at Srinagar – the erstwhile capital of Jammu & Kashmir. G20 comprises of countries Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States of America (USA), the European Union, China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Bangladesh and United Arab Emirates (UAE) were the guest countries. Pakistan is not a member of G20, but it kept whining through its Foreign Office. India’s irresponsible move is the latest in a series of self-serving measures to perpetuate its illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir in sheer disregard of the United Nation Security Council resolutions and in violation of the principles of the UN Charter and international law. Absentees. China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey did not participate. We do not bother what Pakistan has to say but China has been for quite long an eye in the storm for India, China’s idea to control trade along the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal has stirred diplomatic relations between the two countries. Saudi Arabia exports USD 40 billion worth of crude oil and it has withdrawn from the G20 Summit at the behest of China and it is there for everybody to see (infographic below). For an expert and detailed content on China’s Belt Road Initiative and its eagerness to control the oil routes please visit www.cheekychatur.com and read the article What if Pakistan sells POK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) to China. India has won the diplomatic battle with China and Pakistan by successfully putting on the table confirmed participations of UAE, Brazil, USA, UK to name a few. Because these countries have come to Kashmir Summit in spite of China’s abhorrence – notwithstanding their balance sheet with China on oil exports being quite strong. Why China wants India to become weak and perish (?). Because China, Russia and India would make a Terrible Three. Sir Isaac Newton was baffled with the three. He was already famous for discovering how gravity holds the universe together and for using that knowledge to predict the movements of celestial bodies, such as the moon’s path around the Earth. Now, by taking the sun’s gravitational tugs into account, he sought to improve his lunar predictions. Instead, it made them worse. The interval from two to three can produce a counterintuitive jump in complexity, as Newton found to his dismay. The setback, Newton’s friend Edmond Halley reported, made his head ache, and kept him awake so often, that he would think of it no more. Newton felt his defeat so keenly that he recalled it more than once in his old age. The three Nations. Famous in science and science fiction for orbital perturbations and chaotic phenomena, it’s recently become a concern of atomic experts and military planners. As China, Russia and India rapidly expand its nuclear arsenal, the experts warn that the world of atomic superpowers is about to escalate to three from two. Threes are inherently problematic. Things get tricky. Surprisingly, the jump in disorganisation also shows up in the world’s oceans and atmosphere — in whirlpools and maelstroms, tornadoes and hurricanes. If two of the swirling bodies get close, they move ahead in straight lines or circle each other. With three, things immediately get more complicated, says a specialist in fluid dynamics at New York University in the US. They can collapse into each other. It gets very disordered and unpredictable. There’s a huge difference. China deeply feels that the Terrible Three actually works, and if India continues to explode economically (Please visit www.cheekychatur.com and go through the article India’s Demographic Sweet Spot) one country’s economy could veritably collapse into another and with Russia imploding Beijing cannot expect it to be weak on any front !! It dearly wants Saudi Arabia (an absentee from the Summit) and Russia to be cohesive to China and avoid India sizing up Beijing’s economy. With the confidence that India has become a Superpower, the G20 Summit has changed how the World would see India and Kashmir. This has been the biggest meet in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 doing away with special status given to Kashmir citizens. There has been a huge uproar after the abrogation but with time the people of Kashmir would well come to terms with the new predicament which surely is in their favour – and how they can forget the rampant extremist activism they took along with them, families and homes blown away by bombs, pro-Pakistan infiltrators posing as leaders of Kashmir and playing havoc with their simple ways and challenging economic conditions. Let these leaders fume in anger and let Pakistan chip in with anti-India slogans on the streets. No worries. The fact of life is today the Mohsinas and the Abdullahs are very happy the way Kashmir is panning out and they want it to stay it that way because they have also become part of a huge young demographic force of India, the super power !! What a masterstroke !! Benefits flowing from the Kashmir G20 Summit. Significant boost to the tourism industry. The tourism sector is the backbone of the economy of Jammu and Kashmir. A record number of tourists are expected to visit Kashmir this year also. The May 22-24 event, taken place at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) on the banks of the famous Dal Lake in Srinagar, is expected to have a positive impact on the tourism industry and the trade sectors of the region. The summit is expected to create job opportunities for locals in the handicraft and tourism segments, providing a much-needed boost to the local employment market and help reduce poverty in the region. The summit has created new infrastructure facilities, such as hotels, restaurants, and transportation, which provides an opportunity to the local businesses to benefit from the development. Boost to Film Tourism. On the side-lines of the summit, a major event is also held to highlight film tourism, which the Kashmir administration has been promoting in a big way the last few years. The film tourism event is to showcase film shoot offerings to the visiting delegates with a focus on a single-window clearance and other facilities to foreign crews. While deliberations during the three-day summit was held in Srinagar, the foreign delegates had also been taken on a sight-seeing tour to the ski resort of Gulmarg. Benefits from interest shown by Multinationals in investing in Jammu and Kashmir. Numerous corporate leaders, expats, businessmen, and diplomats from Middle Eastern countries have toured Jammu and Kashmir in the past few months to explore opportunities for investment in the region, much to Pakistan’s disappointment. The interest shown by multinationals in investing in Jammu and Kashmir has probably prompted India to decide on hosting the G-20 summit in these serene surroundings. But there are concerns. United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Fernand de Varennes, said that in 2021 he and other independent experts of the UN had expressed grave concerns to the Indian government that the loss of political autonomy and the implementation of new domicile rules in Jammu and Kashmir could alter its demographic composition. On all counts this seems to be occurring on the ground, in a repressive and sometimes brutal environment of suppression of even basic rights, Varennes said. He also said that there have been reports that a significant number of population from outside the region moving into Kashmir has led to dramatic demographic changes in Jammu and Kashmir to overwhelm native Kashmiris in their own land. Can I request something Mr. Varennes (?). My request to Mr. Varennes is to peep outside India and compare the atrocities Russia is impounding on Ukraine, the human right violations there and what United Nations is doing about it except for assorting forces from different countries and sending them to face Russian bombs. Why President Zelensky is very very annoyed with United Nations, with the feeble hands of UN not enough in extending help which could have been stronger but is not anywhere near it. Mr. Varennes must answer Pakistan’s plight and how Taliban has been a big brother to Islamabad and how China is gobbling up Pakistan’s economy which is so weak that it might sink into China in the years to come. Well, Sir Newton you have a point !! Note : The names Abdullah Sheikh and Mohsina are arbitrary and do not resemble any person(s) dead or alive.

It was a Sunday afternoon and we all in the Family were watching the movie Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway (Netflix). It led us to an animated discussion as the movie left asking ourselves why the laws are so stringent on child care in Norway ? Film Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway was released on March 17, 2023. The Hindi language movie is directed by Ashima Chibber and it is an Emmey Entertainment, Zee Studios production based on the real-life account of an immigrant Indian mother who battled against an entire country to take custody of her own kids. Sagarika Chakraborty, based on whom the movie has been made, has authored an autobiography The Journey of a Mother narrating her legal battle. The book has details of the struggle of Sagarika when her world came crashing down, few years after she became mom to two kids, as Norwegian government forcibly removed them from her care. The book was published in 2022. It is a sordid drama of enacting a law which never stood ground on any part of the world other than the Scandinavian countries. But why it is so ? Linda Pressly of BBC World Service, Tysfjord summarises why the law happened. March 2018. Norwegian police have documented 151 cases of sexual abuse, including child rape, in one small community of 2,000 people, north of the Arctic circle. The offences occurred over decades - between the 1950s and 2017 - but were only recently uncovered. How could such serious sex crimes go unchecked for so long? One of the victims, Nina Iversen, says she has always been someone who talks - and has often talked about what happened to her when she was growing up in Tysfjord. I always spoke about it. From when I was 14 years old, I thought I'll write a book about this abuse - I'm going to stop it. But of course, I wasn't able to. I told everyone, she says. But to be listened to, you had to have the right background. Someone like me, who comes from a poor family, just got ignored. When she was a teenager, young people confided in each other about the sexual abuse they had experienced, but adults would not listen. We were called whores and liars. There were many of us who were treated like that. And we were spat on if we tried to talk about it, she remembers. Iversen's abusers were her relatives, so as a child she lived family life in a perpetual state of terror. Now 49, she no longer lives in Tysfjord, but says she still doesn't feel safe. Tysfjord. A remote community dominated by a 900m-deep fjord, Tysfjord is split in two - one part, Drag, lies on the western shore, and the other, Kjopsvik, on the eastern. A car ferry ploughs its way back and forth between the two. About half of those living here are from the indigenous Sami community - some of Scandinavia's earliest inhabitants, who live in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. But Sami people accounted for about two-thirds of the 83 victims and 92 perpetrators identified in the police report on sexual abuse, and discrimination and racism had an impact on how the story played out. Shock. So, it is child abuse, child abduction, child pornography, female abuse and female prostitution all rolled in one. Did the authorities go overboard in case of Mrs. Chatterjee ? What we saw in the film. Did Mrs. Chatterjee, who was a loving mother, deserve the forcible takeover of her children by the Child Protection Authorities ? Definitely not. Ei, eta ki hoche ? We were not amused by the way the guys romped into the Chatterjee house and snatched the children from the mother. We all know the Mother is universal across the World !! La madre es universal en todo el mundo ! Misuse of Law. The Norwegian authorities took the children from Mrs. Chatterjee because – what later in court the officers spoke in front of the Norwegian Judge – they felt the mother was not breast-feeding the younger child and she was not capable of parenting the two children. Relief at Indian court. Finally, Mrs. Chatterjee knocked the Indian courts and in spite of best efforts from the Norwegian government to bring the children back to Norway – they had sent a representation to India to fight the case, as the Judge was not smitten by greed or otherwise - Mrs Chatterjee got her children back which forced the husband and his Family to back out. Now, let us talk about the Norwegian laws, what are they doing. Norwegian Ministry of Children and Equality The Rights of the Child in Norway, 2016 : a United Nations Initiative. Article 347, Investigation - which says, Amendments were approved in 2016 that expand the police’s ability to use coercive means, including monitoring communications and reading data, when investigating cases of serious human smuggling, human trafficking, deprivation of liberty, and images of child abuse. Article 357 says - Extradition and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. Norway participates in extensive cooperation on extradition, including in cases involving the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Norway also actively contributes to fighting crime through other types of mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. So yes, the laws are there and for good reasons, though the execution is left much to be desired. Mrs. Sagarika Chakraborty – on whom the film is based – was left literally crying for help in Norway but no officer was upright enough to understand that the immigrant mother and her behavioural pattern towards their children could be different from that of a Scandinavian mother. Do you agree ? But how India fares on these parameters(?). India's police and other law enforcement agencies are using a US-based centralised reporting system on child pornography and child sexual abuse for dealing with cases related to them in the country and nab the offenders. The access to one lakh-plus Tipline reports prepared by America's National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has helped check the growing number of cases of child pornography and child sexual abuse across the country. When a citizen gives a tip about a crime to law enforcement agencies through a dedicated number or website, it automatically gets converted into a report for action making it as 'Tipline report.' The agencies never ask the caller's name or any other identity, and he or she can remain anonymous. But it is not enough !! United Nations unveils a global index every year to know which nation is doing what regarding child care. Kids Rights. The KidsRights Index is an initiative of the KidsRights Foundation, in cooperation with Erasmus University Rotterdam, Erasmus School of Economics and the International Institute of Social Studies. It comprises a ranking of all UN member states that have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and for which sufficient data is available, as of 2023 a total of 193 countries are part of the Index. Data collection and analysis presents a complex and gloomy picture across the world. This year Sweden has jumped to number one overtaking Iceland who held numero uno slot for the past four years !! The KidsRight Report 2023 shows that under-5 mortality rates have risen in Madagascar and Niger. Likewise, the rates of child labour have tripled in some countries including Belarus, Colombia and Venezuela. Norway is ranked 9th, Denmark 7th and India 115th. Sweden is followed by Finland at 2nd, Iceland at 3rd, Luxemburg at 4th and Germany at 5th. Urge to strengthen profits takes the English kids to the gallows. New children’s care homes are being disproportionately placed in cheaper and more deprived parts of England, according to a report from the Guardian. Over the past five years the number of children’s care homes located in areas with the cheapest house sale prices has risen almost three times faster than in the most expensive places. Among the regions with big increases in homes was the north-west, including in parts of Blackpool and Burnley and other northern cities such as Bradford. Children’s services directors warned that the trends were driven by the blatant profiteering of private care providers, targeting cheap housing and local labour. Likewise, India with other economically vibrant countries have a lot to do to ensure the children are protected and taken care of. If India is hitting demographic sweet spot, care for children is inherent to the blossoming of the Nation as we strive to be one !! Norway’s obsession with Child Protection Laws is painful and at times bereft of common sense. It is high time the country mends its laws so that we do not get the opportunity to witness another Mrs. Chatterjee’s plight so poignantly described in the film. Respect. With all due respect to the Nina Iversen’s, Mrs. Chatterjee’s and the Sagarika Chakraborty’s of the world we are utterly disappointed to see these brutalities and hope the new laws are going in the right direction and the day is not far off when Nina will no longer live in fear and mothers would not hesitate to travel to Norway and other countries with their children !! Especially Indian mothers. From the Author : Dear reader, please go through the global map shown in this article and ascertain if your country needs more laws to protect the children. Thank you.

The Ashes – the crowning epithet of cricket rivalry. The above picture sums it all. Pat Cummins throws his bat and helmet in glee as Australia win the first Ashes test against England at Birmingham. The match was full of ups and downs, highs and lows. It was the first match in the 2023-25 WTC cycle and Australia collected 10 vital points as against England’s 2. Australia strode well with its key players. And what a match it was. Usman Khawaja – who recently confessed he felt he did not belong as close to the Australian dressing room as he wanted to be – was at peace with himself and strode tall among all the players of Australia and England with his masterful knocks of 141 and 65 !! English bowling lacked quality on the placid Birmingham pitch. Ollie Robinson’s 77 mph friendly dollops looked as if Usman was practising at nets toying with placements – a gentle nudge on the offside or a startling flick to midwicket – often tells the mindset and the skill bank of the Aussies pitted against a shaking Ollie Pope, for one, whose crying face looked akin to a swimmer who forgot to swim amongst a swathe of performers passionately eager to show off their skills – the swinging yorker from Cummins shattering his citadel. So brutal was the annihilation that Pope would lose a few nights’ sleep awakened by the crushing sound of the ball hitting the stumps; and the Ollies are stars ! Right(?). But yes, he is Ben Stokes’ go-to man, he needs to sleep well. Bazball and Brexit. England, in all its glory, is weighed down by the new coinages, it seems – be it cricket sport or governance of the nation. Is Brexit good for United Kingdom(?) or Bazball for cricket(?)– no and yes, there is no looking back as for Brexit how improbable a proposition it might seem to the Commons now. Looks like the House would never get in order. But Bazball will. Bazball has its positives, but what is Bazball? As a game of cricket Bazball is highly entertaining. It ensures Test cricket - till recently snubbed as five days of waste – produced results and Stokes’ encouraging declaration in the first innings, 393 for 8 declared in the first Ashes Test, (many thought the innings should have had its own set of legs to travel a bit longer), paved the way for a stunning finish. England lost the Test match but Ben Stokes, the English captain, won many hearts for stoking a debate: was the declaration good for cricket(?). Of course, it was. ECB’s (England and Wales Cricket Board) Bazball had done the trick, Test cricket had become exciting! If this is not brilliant cricket then what is. I am coming to the marketing skills of ECB later, who surely and steadfastly guided the Ashes brand of cricket – men’s as well as women’s – to a very entertaining level and now women’s Ashes series has become as hair raising a drama as the men’s, the scales are different though but the values are enormous. Crowds are sweeping the grounds; its revenue model has lit up and what not. ECB can triumphantly hand over the cricketing world a case study to adapt and learn! But now let us move to another part of the world where cricket is worshipped, its players enamoured. India. Does Indian cricket need marketing? Prima facie no. Why? Because the cricket loving crowd of India throng the stadiums in thousands generating revenues unmatched by any other cricketing board. The movers and shakers, IPL. The Indian Premier League is the crowning glory of Indian cricket. It lords over all other sport in India. Such is the stature of these lords that they tend to escape all scrutiny - for example; would the cricket playing guys be meted to such nonchalant inattention and repugnance as the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) boys and girls (no pun intended)? Would the MeToo movement scissoring Indian cricket players, if at all, face the same apathy as these hapless grapplers are facing now(?). Definitely not. Cricket is a religion in India and the Board is getting richer by each passing year, courtesy IPL. Built on the EPL (English Premier League) model IPL brings a lot of revenue to BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) coffers. The rich Board is blinded by cash !! But cash cannot produce quality cricket players. Have you noticed. In EPL, being one of the strongest football leagues in the world, how many players England have of the calibre of a Lionel Messi, a Cristiano Ronaldo or a Kylian Mbappe(?) None. The bitter truth is we are not producing cricket players of a very high quality in spite of IPL likewise England is not producing world class footballers in spite of EPL. Does it ring a bell(?). It sure does. It is high time one listened to it! So crushingly good Leagues are not producing crushingly good players for their countries. How many Indian players in the IPL drew the same attention as that of a Jos Buttler, a Harry Brook, a Liam Livingstone, a Trent Boult or a Faf Du Plessis(?). Very few. Does it ring a bell(?). It sure does. Lost. In between the Aussie cricket supremacy and Bazball glow Indian cricket somewhere has lost its way. Star cricketers don’t play domestic cricket, do not face the grind and as a result have lost the bright sheen in their armoury. In a striking contrast the Australian cricket has everything that Indian cricket does not have, sledging included. For all wise men to sit up and take notice, Australia’s domestic cricket is neither IPL-esque nor its football EPL-ish. There has not been a brighter basket of talented cricketers than the Australians at the moment. The result is there for all to see. Well, well, well. One has to look at the WTC (World Test Championships) Final, June 7-11,2023. India lost by 209 runs. Picture below sums up. India was thoroughly outplayed by the brilliant Aussies, things were so bad that we sitting in India were praying when the match would end, when we would blank out our TV sets - for us the ignominy was awful, unwatchable !! And now the Indian Board needs to wake up from its sweet slumber. Our Virat Kohlis, Rohit Sharmas and Ravinder Jadejas have crossed the better part of their thirties and money from IPL has stymied their hunger for playing and performing for the country. If corrective action is not taken forthwith Indian cricket will perish slowly but surely. To BCCI. If you still do not budge, please continue at your own peril. The marketing skills of ECB. Finally, the Women’s Ashes is not an after-thought – and the fans are flooding in. Ten years ago, a TV advert would be an unmitigated disaster but it seems ECB has woken up(?) and more than 75,000 tickets have been sold. Do we hear anything about Women’s cricket in India(?). The matches are very few and far between. But look at the billboard below ! Two England Teams, Two Ashes Rivalries, One Landmark Moment. ECB kept on keeping the spectator wide awake by increasing visibility. And ECB wins. Historically, England Women’s internationals haven’t been at the top of the list of matches ECB had scheduled and it’s usually been left fairly late. Doing it early and alongside the men was a very conscious decision, to make sure that this Ashes summer would very much be seen as a men’s and women’s Ashes season combined. Picture perfect. It cannot get better than this. Usman Khawaja is seen in a very happy space with his family after winning the Man of the Match award for his heroics in the first Test. This article has been written just after Australia won the first Ashes Test and going one up in the five-match series ! Bingo.

Let us start with an event which shows Artificial Intelligence (AI) at its best. A Dutchman, paralyzed at his legs – Gert-Jan Oskam – is now able to walk vibrantly using only his thoughts. The scientific breakthrough happened with the help of two implants that restored communication between the man’s brain and spinal cord, giving him a freedom that he did not have before. Accident. Oskam has been paralyzed at his legs for more than a decade. It happened after he suffered a spinal cord injury during a bicycle accident. Using this new technology, he can now walk naturally, take on difficult terrain and even climb stairs. How it all happened. The path breaking research on AI combined the spinal implant with the new technology called brain-computer interface. This was implanted above the part of the brain that controlled leg movement. The interface had the ability to decode brain recordings in real time. That allowed the interface designed by researchers at France's Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) to work out how the patient wanted to move his legs at any moment in real time. Whoa !! What is Artificial Intelligence. According to the father of Artificial Intelligence John McCarthy, it is the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programmes. Artificial Intelligence is a way of making a computer, a computer-controlled robot, or a software which thinks intelligently in the same manner the intelligent humans think. AIs are skilled to find out how human brain thinks, how humans learn, decide, and work while trying to solve a problem and then use these outcomes to frame the basis of intelligent softwares and systems. The problem of Gert-Jan Oskam. To understand that we have to take note of how paralysis works. Paralysis occurs when a nervous system is unable to make voluntary muscle movements. The modus operandi. Uninjured nerves send signals to muscles. Those signals make muscles move. When humans are paralyzed, or have paralysis, they can’t move certain parts of their body. There is a problem with the nervous system in the body’s command and communication system. Normally the nervous system sends signals from the brain throughout the body, telling what to do. If something damages the nervous system, messages can’t get through to muscles. When AI was introduced into the system of Oskam it created Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) to help him. Who invented Artificial Neural Network – the veritable life saver? The inventor of the first neurocomputer, Dr. Robert Hecht-Nielsen, defines a neural network as a computing system made up of a number of simple, interconnected processing elements, which process information by their dynamic response to external inputs. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) have the ability to think, re-think and improve upon the responses it has already created based on the external factors!! It will go on changing and improving the network to yield optimum results. The logic of ANN. The logic of ANN is based on the belief that working of human brain can be understood by making the right connections and can be imitated using silicon and wires as living neurons and dendrites. The human brain is composed of 100 billion nerve cells called neurons. They are connected to other thousand cells by axons (picture above). Stimuli from external environment or inputs from sensory organs are accepted by dendrites. These inputs create electric impulses, which quickly travel through the neural networks. A neuron can then send (or does not send) the message to other neuron to handle the issue at hand. The versatility of AI will engulf human kind for ages to come. Take this brilliant example. We know that every human possesses 23 pairs of chromosomes that are foundations of our DNA curled in a double helix structure. The demeanour of 22nd chromosome is puckish, a little impish. It is one of the smallest and arguably one of the most widely discussed of all human chromosomes. In case of blood cancer (leukaemia) the 22nd chromosome breaks away and curls towards the 9th chromosome and sits with the 9th! The DNA structure gets disturbed and the sitting point gets weak. This creates enough ground for the enzymes to attack the point which leads to profuse multiplication of white blood cells in the bone marrow. This new chromosome is called Philadelphia chromosome and it contains the fused gene BCR-ABL. This gene is the ABL gene of chromosome 9 juxtaposed onto the breakpoint cluster region of BCR gene of chromosome 22. This fusion creates the hybrid protein tyrosine kinase – often termed as the brutal protein – the cause of cancer. Artificial Intelligence can play a big role to stem the rot. Every human being does not suffer from cancer. The breakage of chromosome 22 and 9 happens when in specific cases the area of chromosome 9 is by nature weak for target cancer human (nicknamed Ollie, let us assume) as compared to another human (nicknamed Pepe) whose chromosome 9 is relatively stronger in the DNA structure. What Ollie can do? Ollie can deposit regular DNA samples to a Lab where it is fed to an AI controlled ANN system and the neural computer can actually predict the probability of Ollie’s 9th getting raided by the 22nd. The degree of probability (45% or 90%) will help the doctor to start medication even before cancer has stepped in by prescribing medicines which would stop chromosome 22 to sit alongside 9 and create that brutal protein, spelling doom. Artificial Intelligence and the Future of It. AIs have made a big mark in the field of predictive mathematics among others. Take the example of the Poincare Conjecture (conjectures are conclusions or propositions that are proffered on a tentative basis without proof). AI has been able to solve the complex Poincare Conjecture through the Hamilton-Perelman algorithm. It has extensively used the techniques of Ricci Flow. What is Riici Flow. It describes a continuous deformation of a Riemannian geometry from short distance to long distance. A simple example of a Ricci flow is that starting from a round sphere, the sphere will evolve by shrinking homothetically to a point in definite time. In 1904 Poincare raised the question whether a 3-dimensional sphere holds the same characterisation in dimension-3! It remained unsolved for very long time until Perelman’s mathematics were put into AI structured equations. AI and the study of Black Holes. Here, interestingly, astronomers used machine learning to improve the Event Horizon Telescope’s first Black Hole Image. It helped to understand Black Hole behaviour and also helped to test the underlying gravitational theories engulfing the black holes. Below is the Artificial Intelligence aided stunning, high-definition view of M87’s Big Black Hole !! The other uses of artificial intelligence are to understand the intricacies of Structural Buildings. AI is being used to create more efficient and accurate designs, optimize construction processes, predict and prevent structural failures. Many benefits of using AI in structural engineering, for example, is by automating the design process and focus on more creative and innovative tasks. And what not! Artificial Intelligence 100 years from now. Difficulties and impairments. In 100 years from now, the technology will advance to a stage where it will offer equal opportunities and comforts to people with different degrees of difficulties and impairments. Disaster handling and recovery. Today, in situations such as natural disasters, the human cost involved in relief work is monumental. With the advancement in AI, robots and drones can potentially reach affected areas and work efficiently and wonderfully saving lives. Safety and autonomy. Some research suggests that by the year 2119, most of the decisions in life will be taken by AI. The way researchers are thinking, AI would be better trained and better equipped to take professional decisions resulting in a better and safer world. But there are concerns: Advancements in AI for lethal weapon development can cause many unfortunate situations. Battles and wars would be more menacing and human mortality would increase manifold. Humans would be plucked off from real world. We might as well live in a bubble, in a virtual world surrounded by machines and artilleries never knowing who would my next neighbour be and how I work to survive in my own bubble. Machines would be taking lot of human jobs. Many of the human jobs would be taken over by robots. Human creativity would be at its lowest. The man-machine friendship would die and one would not be surprised if robots created by humans start annihilating humans. Sam Altman, CEO of Open AI and creator of ChatGPT is optimistic when he says AI will create new jobs but some old ones may die fast. By the year 2119, future will be way different than we can see and imagine currently. With such great advancements in technology - automated cars, space travels and what not it would be interesting to note how humanity would respond under these troubled circumstances. Constantly interacting with machines would make us machines(?), how our children would adapt, whether marriages would be between two machines(?). Will humans would still be humble and polite or be cruel and ravenous? A basket of worries !! Time will tell. On the contrary, times ahead could be much better than what we have now, the times we never imagined would come to us!! Note: The names Ollie and Pepe are purely imaginary and do not have any resemblance to any person(s) dead or alive.

It was the 1970’s and I happened to be in Mumbai with my friends Mukesh and Samantha – we were in our teens and it was a short trip to the dream city – when Samantha jumped from her seat saying “look, The Godfather has hit the halls”. We saw The Godfather that day and never forgot the immense cinematic power of the film. One shot that is etched in my memory is when Michael Corleone murders Virgil Sollozzo and Captain Mark McCluskey at an Italian American Restaurant. And we were cinematically baptised to the workings of the immensely powerful Italian American mafia and their modus operandi !! That single shot propelled Al Pacino (Michael Corleone) to one of the greatest stars of American cinema, the shot was the first one given to Al Pacino on the condition that if he failed, he would be replaced by other actor as the role of Michael Corleone was central to the film. Al Pacino was utterly nervous before taking the camera as one wrong would wreck his career. The Background of the shot. Don Vito Corleone (father of Michael Corleone) had made a name of himself in the rugged terrain of organised crime in America. The rival team of the Five Families made a fool proof plan to assassinate Vito Corleone. As luck could have it Vito survived. The Revenge. The Corleone family was an established name and they would not take this humiliation lying down. Over dinner the Corleone family decided that Michael would be taking the ownership of eliminating those who had tried to kill his father. Things were not easy as local police was corrupt and after great effort Michael was able to call the culprits to a restaurant. In the course of having dinner Michael grabbed the revolver (which was hidden in the bathroom and Michael had to excuse himself to get hold of it) and executed Virgil Sollozzo and Captain Mark McCluskey at Louis’ Italian American Restaurant in the Bronx (picture above). The moment was a turning point in many ways. It captured Michael’s transformation from war hero to mobster. Nothing can express more succinctly the immense desire for revenge than this defining scene from The Godfather – written by Mario Puzo, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Albert Ruddy. It made Al Pacino a global star overnight and guaranteed Paramount Pictures millions of dollars in profits followed by a flattering array of Academy Awards at the Oscars. Why Godfather. The film exposed the intricacies of the Mafia modo de proceder to the millions and millions of global audiences and so authentic was the rendition of the characters that it stunned everyone who saw it and showered their love for the film filling theatres in droves. The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organised crime group. The organization is often referred to by its members as Cosa Nostra and by the American government as La Cosa Nostra. The organization gradually evolved into a separate entity partially independent of the original Mafia in Sicily, and it eventually encompassed or absorbed other Italian immigrant and Italian American gangsters and Italian American crime groups active in the United States and Canada that were not of Sicilian origin. In North America, it is often colloquially referred to as the Italian Mafia or Italian Mob, though these terms may also apply to the separate yet related Sicilian Mafia or other organised crime groups in Italy or ethnic Italian crime groups in other countries. The core nucleus. There were five New York City Mafia families, known as the Five Families: the Gambino, Lucchese, Genovese, Binanno and Colombo families. These Italian American Mafia families had long dominated organized crime in the United States. Each crime family had its own territory and operated independently, while nationwide coordination was overseen by the Commission, which consisted of the bosses of each of the strongest families. Though the majority of the Mafia's activities were contained to the North-eastern United States and Chicago, they continued to dominate organized crime in the United States, despite the increasing numbers of other crime groups. Why Sicily happens to be the epicentre of organised crime, mafia or the mafiosi? Because it is perhaps the most conquered territory in history as so many empires and countries had invaded and taken over control of the island from time to time. One glaring example is, on July 10, 1943 (World War II) American, British and Canadian troops landed in Sicily under the overall command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower of United States of America. These invasions dealt a cruel blow to the Sicilian locals. One atrocity led to another and as a result these locals would band together into clandestine groups and keep things running as usual forming a shadow government. Venting acrimony there was a deep-rooted desire to rule and revenge on the sprawling lands of Italy and America. These groups were the seeds that formed the modern Mafia. The social – psychological bubbles. The effects of the Mafia have been extensively studied from sociological, economic, and historical points of view. However, little research has investigated the influence of the Mafia on individuals and communities in terms of its psychological and social impact. In order to contribute to the advancement of our understanding of the psychological effects of the Mafia on individuals and communities and to promote a participative process of social change, a group analytic intervention was conducted within a Community Based Participatory Research carried out in Corleone, a small Sicilian town with a historically recognized role in the evolution of the Mafia, as well as in the fight against its control. And the research gives a telling story. The Mafia maintained monopoly of violence and the control of a territory since it illegally ensured several services that State was unable to provide to citizens. It also required a lifelong allegiance to its membership, violence was used to ensure absolute obedience of the affiliates and punished those who betrayed or disrespected the rules and the authority of the group. The Mafia does exist even today. The Italian American Mafia is still around in the United States of America. However, it is a shadow of its former vicious self. The 70’s and the 80’s saw a string of federal prosecutions which severely curtailed its activities. The Mafia is currently most active in North - eastern United States with the heaviest activity in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and New England. After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, the American Mafia abandoned its bootlegging operations and settled into gambling, labour racketeering, loan-sharking, narcotics distribution and prostitution rings. On a lighter note. The gripping story of what the producer of The Godfather Albert Ruddy encountered while making the film is poignantly described in the ten - episode series The Offer (Netflix). The American Mafia opposed to the making of the film, gangster Joe Colombo (played by Giovanni Ribisi) almost ruined it but later Ruddy made friends with Joe Colombo and the film was made. It is available in Paramount Plus (USA) and will be streamed again on Prime Plus UK from June 22,2023. Can you believe it. Michael Corleone’s sister Connie was ill treated by her husband in the entire film as shown. What is interesting is in reality the actor (played by Gianni Vito Russo) misbehaved with Connie (Talia Shire) on the sets and when it was reported Ruddy took a stance. In the scene where Sonny (Michael’s elder brother) goes to give Vito Russo a solid thrashing when Connie cried for help, Francis Ford Coppola and Ruddy actually instructed Sonny (James Caan) to thrash and give a solid beating to Vito Russo while on live camera for his misbehaviour. The audience saw a real beating of Vito Russo by James Caan !!

Venezuela’s descent into economic and political chaos in recent years is a cautionary tale of the dangerous influence that resource wealth can have on developing countries. Venezuela, home to the world’s largest oil reserves, is a case study in the perils of becoming a petrostate. Since it was discovered in the country in the 1920s, oil has taken Venezuela on an exhilarating but dangerous boom-and-bust ride that offers lessons for other resource-rich states. Decades of poor governance have driven what was once one of Latin America’s most prosperous countries to economic and political ruin. Figure-1 Venezuela is often called a failed petrostate. Because being oil the single most dominant factor in the country’s fortunes a rapid fall in oil prices is hard to manage and the country’s economy spins out of control. Venezuela’s oil prices fell from USD 100 a barrel in 2014 to USD 30 a barrel in early 2016 triggering an economic collapse with output shrinking by three quarters and hyperinflation leading to scarcity of basic goods. What is a petrostate. A petrostate is a nation where the government is highly dependent on fossil fuel income. Power is often concentrated inviting widespread corruption. Petrostates are vulnerable to Dutch Disease (a term coined in the 1970’s after the Netherlands discovered natural gas in the North Sea), where a government develops an unhealthy dependence on natural resource exports. Let us Study Venezuela’s economy in a bit more detail. Venezuela’s gross domestic product shrank precariously between 2014 and 2021 (Figure-1)spelling doom to this oil rich nation which once was dominating oil supplies across the world! What is Gross Domestic Product. GDP is the total of all value added created in an economy. The value added means the value of goods and services that have been produced minus the value of the goods and services needed to produce them, which is called intermediate consumption. Negative GDP. If a country’s gross domestic product declines it is indicative of a recession in the business. Negative growth rates are often accompanied by declining real income, increasing unemployment and reduced production. History of Venezuela’s Riches to Rags Story. In 1922 Royal Dutch Shell geologists at La Rosa Maracaibo Basin struck oil which blew out to a mind boggling one hundred thousand barrels per day!! It further exploded to 137 million barrels under dictator General Juan Vicente Gomez. Then Dutch Disease set in and the Hydrocarbons Law was established. By 1940 Venezuela was the third largest producer of crude oil in the world with more than 27 million tonnes per year - just slightly less than the production in the USSR. In 1941, Isaias Angarita, a former army general, was indirectly elected president. One of his most important reforms during his tenure was the enactment of the new Hydrocarbons Law of 1943. This new law was the first major political step taken toward gaining more government control over its oil industry. Under the new law, the government took 50% of profits. Once passed, this piece of legislation basically remained unchanged until 1976, the year of nationalization, with only two partial revisions being made in 1955 and 1967. In 1944, the Venezuelan government granted several new concessions encouraging the discovery of even more oil fields. This was mostly attributed to an increase in oil demand caused by an ongoing World War II, and by 1945, Venezuela was producing close to 1 million barrels per day. Being an avid supplier of petroleum to the Allies, Venezuela had increased its production by 42 percent from 1943 to 1944 alone. Even after the war, oil demand continued to rise due to the fact that there was an increase from twenty-six million to forty million cars in service in the United States from 1945 to 1950. The mobilisation of oil profits into the state was further strengthened through Punto Fijo Pact where there was an effort to distribute riches democratically. Also, as a positive step Venezuela joined OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) along with Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. In time Qatar, Indonesia, Libya, UAE, Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador, Gabon, Angola, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Congo joined OPEC. It gave them to fix oil prices and buy assets and increased oil companies’ income tax to 65% of profits. The Boom Happened. In 1973 OPEC embargo to countries backing Israel in the Yom Kippur War spiralled prices to an extent Venezuela found its per capita income amongst the highest in Latin America. And then the Doom. Sadly, the global oil prices plummeted in the 1980’s, economy contracted and inflation soared. In order to mobilise funds Venezuela knocked the doors of International Monetary Fund (IMF). The popular era, the Chavez era. Venezuela was redeemed to some extent by populist leader Hugo Chavez when he was elected president in 1998. He did good work but lasted only till 2013. And by that time petroleum reserves dwindled and government debt more than doubled. People of Venezuela became Disappointed and Restless. Seeing the catastrophic decline in quality of life people started fleeing the country as inflation soared to unexpected levels. To assuage the oil price decline which began back in 2014, President Maduro printed more currency, resulting in inflation as high as 700%. The normal day to day offerings were hard to come by and the nation was literally starving! What is inflation. In simple terms inflation is an increase in the general price levels of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services – inflation corresponds to a reduction of purchasing power of money. The common measure of inflation is the inflation rate, the annual percentage change in general price index. For example, goods which can be purchased in India at 100 indian rupee would cost 355071 Venezuelan bolivar fuerte! Figure-2 Migration. Since 2014 6 million Venezuelan refugees have fled to neighbouring countries and beyond, where some governments have granted them temporary residency. Maximum exodus had been to Peru, Colombia, the USA and Spain (Figure-2). Though during pandemic, as they lost their jobs, some refugees came back to Venezuela. The woes continued as oil prices tumbled again. In mid-2014 global oil prices went down once again and Venezuela’s economy went into free fall. Chavez had died of cancer and the new leader Maduro was corrupt and he resorted to manipulation, censorship. He won election through unfair means in 2018, among widespread opposition of sixty countries including USA Maduro was discarded and Juan Guaido was recognised. But he was a weak leader and Maduro overpowered him. Sanctions. USA imposed sweeping sanctions against Caracas and oil was barred from Venezuela crippling its economy, though support from China, Cuba, Iran, Russia and Turkey kept it afloat. Lifeline, the Ukraine War. In November 2022 in order to offset rising global energy prices USA allowed oil giant Chevron to resume limited operations in Venezuela and Maduro was warned to behave to the liking of Washington. How Venezuela compares with India and USA in the same era. In the graph (Figure-3) the GDP figures of Venezuela has been plotted from 2008 through 2021 along with two economically established nations – India and the USA. The figure sums up the mismanagement and short sightedness of the leadership of Venezuela – which never bordered on brilliance and never eschewed of getting wild and sketchy after owning so much of wealth, a future escaped their foresight – resulting in catastrophe and cacophony. Can anyone believe that Venezuela boasted a GDP in 2008 higher than that of India and the USA!! GDP nosedive. In 2020 Venezuela’s GDP nosedived to a cruel (-)30%. Thanks to intervention from USA and other countries we expect Venezuela’s GDP would again rise to comfortable levels and would most likely show 7% in 2023 (Figure-1). Figure-3 World Economic Forum comments on Macroeconomic Stability of Venezuela. The Macroeconomic Stability describes a country’s efforts to curb inflation and successfully manage its public debt load. Venezuela receives an overall progress score of (0) in this category out of a possible 100. That in turn translates into a rank of 141st out of the 141 countries included in the study. Venezuela’s performance in specific areas of the Macroeconomic Stability shows the greatest room for improvement in terms of inflation rate, where it has a progress score (ranging from a poor mark of zero to a top mark of hundred) of zero, resulting in a rank of 141st out of 141 countries and in terms of debt dynamics where it has a progress score of zero that results in a rank of 140th out of 140 countries. This is horrendous by any stretch of imagination!! But there is still hope. Just as ocean approaches the pebbles to take some of them away – no matter the shining stones dart up refusing to bulge – by cajoling how it takes some of them; we all wait with bated breath for Venezuela to stand on its feet shining and running – refusing the ocean of notoriety to wash this great nation away into oblivion. In time there would be no inverted boats with fishermen having nothing to fish but stare at the future – what it beholds – how the days would go, what food they have to feed their families, what clothes would they purchase for their daughter’s birthday, what earnings would they have to pay off their rented houses. What would happen to the hospital bills of Alberto! All worries would go one day, so we believe and so we pray.

India announced discovery of 5.9 million tonnes of lithium reserves located in Salal-Haimana area of Reasi district within the region of Jammu and Kashmir. The nonferrous metal is a key material for the lithium-ion batteries used most often in electric cars and for storing energy from renewable power generators like solar and wind. India is preparing to extract and refine raw lithium and will begin lithium auctions to private operators. This will reduce its dependence on mineral imports from other countries, accelerate the development of the country’s electric vehicle sector and enjoy a newly opened avenue for India to meet its internal clean-tech and clean-energy goals. Exhibit-1 Where the reserve has gone? Lithium, as well as the first and second lightest chemical elements (hydrogen and helium, respectively), are the only elements created at the birth of the universe, according to NASA. However, according to the Big Bang Theory, the universe should hold three times as much lithium as can be accounted for in the oldest stars, an issue called the missing lithium problem. This missing lithium discovery was first made in the 1980s, according to Pasquale Serpico, a cosmologist at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the University of Savoy Mont Blanc in France. It created an argument, Serpico said, between what the Big Bang data and the observations of stars were telling researchers about lithium's abundance. Researchers recently found a giant star holding 3,000 times more lithium than normal giants, reported in August 2018 in the journal Nature Astronomy. They came up with two possible explanations: the giant star swallowed its planet, absorbing the onboard lithium, or, the lithium may have formed inside the star, reaching its surface before the heat of the deep layers vaporized it. Where Lithium is used? Lithium-ion batteries are the key to lightweight, rechargeable power for laptops, phones, electric vehicles (EVs) and other digital devices. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Argentina and Chile increased their lithium production 15 percent each in 2014 alone to meet the growing demand. Worldwide, production jumped 6 percent that year. Lithium-ion batteries are currently used in most portable consumer electronics such as cell phones and laptops because of their high energy per unit mass relative to other electrical energy storage systems. They also have a high power-to-weight ratio, high energy efficiency, good high-temperature performance, and low self-discharge. Most components of lithium-ion batteries can be recycled, but the cost of material recovery remains a challenge for the industry. Most of today's all electric vehicles use lithium-ion batteries, though the exact chemistry often varies from that of consumer electronics batteries. Research and Development are on to reduce their relatively high cost, extend their useful life, and address safety concerns in regard to overheating. Will sure do!! Greenbushes in Australia has the largest lithium production, 40% of the 55,000 tonnes of lithium mined in the country in 2021, but there are several others close behind. In total, there are four other hard-rock lithium operations in Western Australia's legacy mining regions around Kalgoorlie in the east and the Pilbara in the state's far north. A sixth – the only lithium mine outside Western Australia – is an open-cut mine near Darwin in the Northern Territory, which began operation in early October 2022. Two other mines are in planning with other proposals at various stages of development. Their combined output allowed Australia to supply roughly half the world's lithium in 2021. Its next biggest suppliers are Chile and China, which both draw their lithium from brine pits. Over the next few years this is expected to change as the countries in South America's lithium triangle – Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, which together hold the majority of the world's known lithium resource – boost their production. Chile currently holds more than 40% of the world's reserves. Next in terms of resources is Bolivia with 24% of the world's reserves, and Argentina with 21%, though neither yet contribute significantly to global production. As anticipated, Australia continues to lead in Lithium exports. Top five known reserves account for 16.2 million tonnes. Chile has the world’s largest known reserves with 8 million tonnes, followed by Australia’s 2.7 million tonnes, Bolivia’s 2.5 million tonnes, Argentina’s 2 million tonnes and China’s 1 million tonnes. Above is a magnified cut out of the larger global lithium mines map shown earlier as Exhibit-1. The map has several dots, each dot is an operational mine area. The numbers on the dots are the areas located in different countries. You can see the upper half consisting primarily of India, Afghanistan and China, dotted with numbers 66 to 76. India does not figure in these dots as evident from the Table on the right; lithium being found only in China and Afghanistan. Australia is in the lower half with dots 77 to 87 and has an abundance of lithium. So now India has got the mine, what next? Not everyone is so bullish. Villagers in Reasi, the lush Jammu district where the lithium is found, told they worry about the destructive potential of largescale lithium mining on the glacier-packed Himalayan Mountain ranges. Residents are of the opinion that the introduction of miners and machines could lead to government land grabs thus displacing the population. Many have brought these concerns to government officials - additionally voicing fears that security needs for mineral operations will bring more trouble in the region. Electric Vehicle is the future. But the Indian government is keen to bring on the table benefits of the resources as quickly as possible. One could be reminded of Delhi’s pledge to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2070 made at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). India will have to significantly boost electric vehicle (EV) adoption and become an alternative to China as a producer of lithium-ion batteries, both for domestic consumption - India is the world’s fourth largest auto market - and for eventual export. If successful, India could replicate its success in exporting low displacement motorcycle and scooters to the developing world. Until now, one of the key long-term challenges to India’s aspirations appeared to be raw lithium sourcing. Strikingly, country now has domestic resources capable of meeting current and future demand. Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has established an ambitious target of energy self-sufficiency for India which is able to satisfy only a small fraction of its oil consuming demands guided by domestic production (16.5 %): a figure which is considerably less than that of China (27.4 %) and Europe (28 %). Geology of Lithium. In young landscapes of South America, lithium is found at the bottom of crusted salt lakes at high altitudes. Geology of Australia is more ancient with its lithium bearing pegmatite deposits found across the county, in chunks of landmass that collided over hundreds of millennia to form the continent of Australia. These regions include the Pilbara and Yilgarn cratons (continental rocks that have been stable for over a billion years) in Western Australia, Pine Creek Province in the Northern Territory, the Georgetown region in Queensland and central Victoria. Raw lithium gets refined after mining. The refining process carries environmental risks as it is energy sapping and chemically intensive. However, the process of extracting lithium is not much different than other forms of metals mining. Search for Lithium. When an economically viable resource is identified, the surface is cleared, the earth is scraped away, the rock blasted and the rubble hauled off for processing into concentrate. Each hard rock deposit is its own unique beast. At a higher-grade deposit, you dig up less rock compared to lithium produced. That is the economy. The World knows that we need to decarbonise as soon as possible and critical minerals like lithium and a whole heap of these are part of that pathway. But we also know the mining of these minerals is environmentally destructive. How lithium found in India is different. Lithium found in India is of a higher grade. Against the normal grade of 220 parts per million (ppm) the lithium found in Jammu and Kashmir is of 500 ppm plus grading. With 5.9 million tonnes stockpile it will surpass China in its availability. The Lithium market and India going forward. India currently imports all of its lithium-ion batteries from China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Vietnam and spent INR 267,000 million on these imports from 2018-19 through 2020-21. Imports will continue till the domestic reserve is fully commercialised. Leverage. We have an ace up our sleeves. No chance will be given to fumble as these advances are intricately related to gaining global leadership, one must sharpen its wits as this very talented nation is approaching demographic sweet spot – one of the many pillars identified by World Economic Forum necessary for gaining economic superiority – and marching towards being the best. Suggested reading: Please visit www.cheekychatur.com for an engrossing take on India’s Demographic Sweet Spot written by the same author.

The most celebrated of sports injuries in recent times is that of Jasprit Bumrah (if we zero in on cricket) and to a lesser extent of Shreyas Iyer. Yes, both went to New Zealand for surgery to remove niggling back pain that have haunted them for quite some time and were on the brink of being brushed off their sports careers but for timely assist from BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India). It is still early days for Jasprit and Shreyas before they say good bye to their injuries; we all wish them to do that! Lower back injury: Lower back injury can be difficult to diagnose as there are so many structures and tissues in this area. Bowling requires a lot of movement, extension and rotation, which places the back under pressure. Repetitive movements can cause low back pain to gradually worsen over a season. Muscle strains are not uncommon, as are herniated or slipped discs. Young bowlers are at a risk of stress fractures, where the repetitive loading of the lumbar spine (lower back) leads to bone damage. Symptoms usually include pain in the lower back, which can become worse when standing or arching backwards. For more information on Sports and Concussions read this wonderful article by Marasco & Nesselbush. Click here. How to treat it: A structured rehabilitation programme with a physiotherapist and Pilates sessions can help manage the condition and ease symptoms. Surgery is the most difficult remedy. In 2023 edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) Reece Topley of franchise Royal Challengers, Bangalore (RCB) had to be taken away while fielding as he concussed over the fence whilst stopping a ball reaching the ropes (boundary), which finally he was never able to – and as a trophy for his efforts collected a horrible shoulder injury fast forwarding his air ticket to London. Reece, sitting in his hospital bed, must be recapturing the whole chain of events over and over again, how that split second misfield had brought him heaps of misfortune. He was Jos Buttler’s goto man when England desperately needed a breakthrough in white ball cricket encounters. Shoulder injury. The rotator cuff is a set of four muscles which help to stabilise the shoulder joint. Any damage is likely to make bowling, fielding and batting painful. Repetitive movements can lead to an overloading of tissue. As bowlers and fielders use their shoulders a lot, they are at risk of rotator cuff injuries. If one has a tendon injury, one will usually experience a gradual ache down the upper arm, whilst muscle strains are common with a sudden sharp movement. How to treat it: A lack of flexibility and strength can lead to a greater risk of injury. This can be improved by a structured rehabilitation programme from a physiotherapist. If the problem persists, surgery is a sure option. Tennis players often encounter tennis elbows – an elbow injury by dint of immense work load the players put on their elbows shooting cross court winners! Sachin Tendulkar – often called the god of cricket - famously or rather infamously gathered tennis elbow injury as he used one of the heaviest bats in the international batting fraternity. The legendary Viv Richards had a heavy bat too but his muscular strength was demonic – he used to wield his bat like a pen sketching innumerable monumental batting masterpieces which the world still remembers in awe! Sachin was his close second in pulling off many eventful innings – all of them strokes of a maestro. Strangely enough though Sachin had his share of injuries Viv almost did never have. Venus Williams, Bjorn Borg, Aleksandra Wozniak, Andy Murray, Juan Martin Del Potro. Do you know what is common among these star players? All had tennis elbow injuries at some point in their careers. How to treat it: If the symptoms are related to tennis, let the experts evaluate the tennis technique or the movements involved with the tasks to determine the best steps to reduce stress on the injured tissue. Injections. The doctor might suggest injecting platelet-rich plasma into the painful tendon. Dry needling — in which a needle pierces the damaged tendon in many places — can also be helpful. Ultrasonic tenotomy. Under ultrasound guidance, a doctor inserts a special needle through the skin and into the damaged portion of the tendon. Ultrasonic energy vibrates the needle so swiftly that the damaged tissue liquefies and can be suctioned out. Surgery. In concerned individuals when the symptoms have not improved after six to twelve months of extensive non-operative treatment, surgery is advisable to remove damaged tissues. Such procedures can be performed through a large or through several small incisions. Post surgery care is vital to complete recovery. Such injuries (sprains and strains, knee dislocations, shin bone shear, rotator cuff dislocations, fractures) do happen across all sport; Basketball, Football, Soccer, Baseball, Ice Hockey, Golf and Snow-skiing to name a few. Concussions happen in a heap amongst ice hockey players whereas basketball causes most of the above-mentioned injuries. Snow skiing injuries could be fatal – we still are not sure whether Michael Schumacher would ever race on wheels –and there are innumerable golf injuries which turned out to be more dangerous than what met the eye. Ask Tiger Woods. Timely care. While care leads to more bread and butter, absence of it brings misery to these wonderful sports people! We are happy that the latter is few and far between. Get more valuable information here Mild Traumatic Brain Injury or Concussion & Sports | Marasco & Nesselbush (m-n-law.com)