A customer troubled me in multiple ways - he has almost created a template for identifying bad customers

1. He returned some of the delivered material. Probably didn't need it anymore or got it cheaper elsewhere. Returns are very costly for the sender. Normally you can't return unless there's some defect.
2. When counted, the actual quantity of material in the return was less than what was claimed by the customer. However, the credit note from me was supposed to be made for the claimed quantity and not the actual received.
3. He called me to tell me that after sending me the return, the balance material that he did keep turned out to be less in quantity than what I said I had sent [net of return]. Meaning he was going to issue me a debit note for the "shortfall". I of course knew that this was a lie, since I always send properly counted material to my customers.
4. When the debit note was received, its amount was higher than the worth of the claimed "shortfall".
5. When it came to getting payment cheques [after the agreed credit period had passed], the customer made me hang for another 15-20 days. Some day he would say that he wasn't at factory, while another day he would say that he forgot the cheques at his home, and so on. Creative excuses. Needed to make 20-25 calls.
6. The day he finally gave the cheques, he made by employee [who had gone to collect cheques] wait for a full 2 hours before giving him cheques.
7. The cheques that were received weren't current - one [smaller one] was dated 10 days hence while the other [larger one] 22 days. Awesome!
8. Icing on the cake - the cumulative amount of the cheques was [somewhat] less than what was supposed to be the final figure!

One should stay away from such black sheep.

Increasingly evident that Trump is Nikki Haley's sugar daddy, and she's his mistress [COMPACTIDEA]

She's blindly supporting him on every matter. She's defending his foreign policy positions, no matter how repulsive some of those might be. She's doing whatever he's asking for. Not too different from a mistress. What's she getting in return? Media coverage, limelight, news headlines, the privilege of being with Trump, most likely an upward political career, and some other stuff as well. How is this different from what an ambitious mistress does?

Turkey looks like a suitable country to which the United Nations headquarters should be relocated [COMPACTIDEA]

• UN headquarters should be relocated outside the US. US frequently refuses to issue visas to those who don't align with its foreign policy, and this is unacceptable for UN. US is also far for many countries.
• Turkey is at the center of the world, much like Dubai, thus easily accessible.
• It is a fairly developed nation.
• Turkey is everything at once - it's Asia, it's Europe, it's Middle East, it's East, it's West.
• Antalya [the city/province] is an ideal candidate to host the UN headquarters. It's beautiful, its weather is good, has a good airport, it is properly connected by international flights, it's already heavily visited by tourists, has top hotels and also roads, it has mountains and plains and sea and waterfalls, and it's also accessible by sea transport.
• UN members will thoroughly enjoy doing important work for the world in the beautiful and picturesque Antalya.

Someone should do a separate United Nations General Assembly resolution and vote condemning America's, Nikki Haley's, and Trump's threats to the world over today's Jerusalem vote [COMPACTIDEA]

It's outrageous that America was able to threaten the entire world with regards to today's UNGA vote on Jerusalem. It's important - and I hope someone gets this idea and does it - that a second resolution be floated for vote. One that vehemently condemns the threats that US, Nikki Haley, and Donald Trump gave to about 180 countries [to either vote in favor of America, or have aid from US cut off]. This is an outrageous and unprecedented threat given to the entire world by America, and America should be tightly slapped by the entire world for imagining that it's about the world.

Oil-producing countries should all rapidly sell their crude before the world switches to alternatives sources of energy [COMPACTIDEA]

Felt this while reading the following text in this FT article:

"Strikingly, the oil fund’s advice for it to be allowed to sell out of petroleum stocks was grounded not in climate change arguments but financial ones. The fund owns about NKr320bn ($38bn) of oil and gas stocks, compared with the NKr350bn value of Norway’s stake in Statoil and about NKr4,000bn in petroleum still in the ground."

So Norway has about 475 billion dollars worth of unsold crude. Add Russia, Saudi, Iran, Venezuela, US, Canada, Iraq, China, Kuwait, Mexico, Brazil, Syria, Libya, and others. There's so much unsold crude oil left in the world. And a change could be just on the horizon - a likely permanent shift of mankind to clean, environment-friendly, and renewable sources of energy to power our planet. Crude oil might become worthless then. Unsold hydrocarbons lurking beneath the ground are better sold today [at whatever price] or else it could be a junk stock tomorrow.

America could secretly be plotting the destruction of Japan and South Korea, under the guise of the threat to itself from North Korea

Whenever America destroys a country - and it has destroyed very many countries in the last several decades - it gets ahead relatively. America turned the flourishing, rich and sprawling nation of Libya into a ruined graveyard, and thus its own position, although constant in absolute terms, improved relatively.

Now. America is extremely jealous of the industrial success of Japan and South Korea. These two nations have posed major challenges to America is every area, from sophisticated electronics to semiconductor manufacturing to shipbuilding to steelmaking to automobiles to robotics. If not for these two powerhouses, American exports - and thus American income - would skyrocket. Forget that America calls these two Asian nations its allies. Bullshit. No one is America's ally. They're all "assets" and "resources" for America. The tension going on between North Korea and America these days seems to me like it has been meticulously designed by America to occur this way, leading eventually to annihilating American bombardment of North Korea, and North Korea's retaliatory destruction of Japan and the South. America's military-industrial complex would get a huge new war to earn billions or maybe trillions from, America itself wouldn't be touched as it sits thousands of kilometers away, and Japan and South Korea would be utterly destroyed by the North, without it looking like America did the destruction of its "allies" [and America would itself destroy North Korea, thus eliminating a threat to its imperial ambitions]. Several of America's objectives would be served. So it seems like it's in America's interest to provoke, tease and threaten North Korea, baiting the North into conducting more and more ICBM/missile and nuclear tests in order to create "sufficient" pretext for invading them [supported in no small measure by America's vast news media propaganda complex, which will "prepare public opinion" for this invasion], and in order to force the North to bombard Japan and South Korea, in order to destroy the factories, industries, institutions and people of these two rivals.

Turning North Korea into an anti-US nuclear state is a brilliant geopolitical win by Vladimir Putin and Russia [COMPACTIDEA]

Moscow has frequently stated that its response(s) to American military buildup near Russia's borders doesn't need to be symmetric, but will in fact usually be asymmetric [and won't necessarily be publicized]. North Korea has quickly turned into a full nuclear state with a credible nuclear deterrent, and this shows that Russia has indeed responded to America's threatening, destabilizing and provocative moves with a masterstroke of its own. It is most likely Russia which has helped North Korea get the ICBM range required to strike anywhere within the US.

Of course, Russia publicly condemns missile and nuclear tests by North Korea. Privately, both Chinese and Russians probably laugh loudly, comforted by the fact that they've successfully nurtured a new nuclear nation against the global hegemony of the United States. This is a major tactical and strategic win by Vladimir Putin, and a much-needed slap on the face of America.

If Russia can somehow get these additional countries into the Eurasian Economic Union, the EAEU will then become a major force in the world

Algeria, Argentina, Azerbaijan*, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, China [and Hong Kong, Macau], Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan*, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico*, Moldova*, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, UAE*, Uzbekistan, Vietnam.

Starred countries will not be easy to get into the Union, either due to conflicts with current members, or due to their existing Western geopolitical alignment/alliances.

Of course, it would've been great to have Ukraine too.

Only BlackBerry and these other brands feel manly - Apple, Oppo, Xiaomi, etc., don't feel or sound manly

Apple might be the most profitable, but it isn't exactly "business" or "professional" enough, as far as the feeling its brand gives. There are only some brands which give this "business", "executive", "professional" and "serious" feeling. Out of GSMArena.com's current list:

• BlackBerry [joint leader in this list].
• Bosch
• Ericsson [the other joint leader].
• Fujitsu
• Fujitsu Siemens
• Microsoft [unlike Apple, the name "Microsoft" gives an executive/professional feeling].
• NEC
• Siemens
• Sony [also feels/sounds quite professional, sophisticated, understated, upmarket]
• Toshiba

It's to be noted here that the type of phones the above manufacturer has historically produced is a different topic from the type of feelings that the brand evokes. So Ericsson might have designed a toy-like mobile phone, but the word Ericsson still sounds serious and businesslike.

Over his long career, John Leahy has caused significant damage to America - and has thus helped the world a lot

• Damage to Boeing/America: Passenger aircraft category could've been almost monopolized by US if Europe hadn't launched Airbus. But any Airbus alone is incomplete and ineffective without its John Leahy. It's Leahy, who, by selling thousands of Airbus planes all over the world over his long and illustrious career, really gave wings to the newborn child that Airbus was, and stole orders, market share and profits from Boeing/America. The cumulative monetary value of the damage he caused to Boeing/America - in terms of lost orders, lost profits, lost jobs, lost foreign policy opportunities and more, could easily be in hundreds of billions of dollars or maybe even in trillions. He shifted this money from US to Europe.
• Help to the world: By creating an effective counterweight to America and Boeing, Airbus/Europe/Leahy helped to sort of "decentralize" and "demonopolize" the world in the commercial airplane market. This is good for the entire world because a world in the hands of America alone would've been heavily leeched and milked by America. Just imagine a world where America refused to supply a spare aircraft part to the presidential jet of the leader of a country because America declared that the leader's "behavior" wasn't right!

Speaking of Leahy, he's a good example of how "stealing" the best men from America can help other nations to compete with America [the way America steals the best from other nations]. Do the same to the US that it does to you - steal their minds and their geniuses and win against America.

So good to see Russia's food and grain exports booming - Russia is now a rightful superpower in this area

And it's good to see Russia earning billions and billions via these food/grain/wheat exports. Russia needs all this money to strengthen itself from within, to invest in R&D, and to stop this world from becoming America's slave. Plus, this is one step towards that much needed diversification for Russian economy - away from its reliance on exports of oil and arms. Corn, barley, oats, and wheat will enrich Russia and bring peace to the entire world by deterring and stopping the American demon. Russia needs to ride this growth wave and also strengthen its position in the related and maybe more profitable markets for dairy/milk/milk powder, butter, cheese, eggs, flour, soyabean, sunflower, sugar, nuts, fruits and vegetables, juices, wild fruits, herbs, mushrooms, berries, and organic agriculture/farming - by using the extra profits these extra exports are bringing in.

"Growth in Russian agriculture and linked sectors could potentially continue to be strong as rising profits allow farm groups to invest in technology and more fertilisers to improve sub-par productivity." [link]

Sort of like a chain reaction. More profits can lead to yet more profits if the extra profits are invested cleverly.

Russia has all the land, water and other natural resources that it needs to become the world's top food exporter in every category.

• Russian grain exports set to hit 45 million tonnes [link]
• Russia Is an Emerging Superpower in Global Food Supply [link]
• Russia Expands Grip on Wheat Exports as Asia Set to Buy More [link]
• Russia Becomes a Grain Superpower as Wheat Exports Explode [link]
• From arms to farming: Russia becomes a grain superpower [link]
• Russia’s food exports outpace arms sales — Putin [link]
• Russian food exports may reach $20bn this year [link]
• Worried about Russia's march on grain markets? It could be worse [link]
• Russian agriculture sector flourishes amid sanctions [link]
• Putin Is Growing Organic Power One T-34 Tank-Tomato at a Time [link]
• Putin wants Russia to become world's biggest exporter of Non-GMO food [link]
• Russia’s Resurgent Wheat Farmers Squeeze U.S. [link]
• How an Oil Giant (Russia) Came to Dominate Wheat [link]
• Europe Is Feeling the Power of Russian Wheat as Exports Drop [link]
• Grain traders grapple with rise of Russian exports [link]
• U.S. Farmers, Who Once Fed the World, Are Overtaken by New Powers [link]
• The Next American Farm Bust Is Upon Us [link]
• Ground Shifts Under Wheat Export Market [link]

Update [29-Nov-18]: Russia has such huge markets of both China and India right next door. Even North Africa isn't too far. Of course, huge and mature markets of Europe and Japan too are nearby though poisonous American politics doesn't allow these countries/regions to be friends with Russia. Russia should try to sell not only raw materials, but also processed and value-added products derived from fundamental raw materials - and this applies to both agricultural and industrial raw materials. This way Russia can ensure that it doesn't just turn into a farming/mining country for others, but a supplier of high-quality products that give Russia higher margins and also more industrialization.

My amazement at the aircraft fleet size of Delta Air Lines and my curiosity about how its CEO spends his day [COMPACTIDEA]

Probably got to know Delta's fleet size [link 1; link 2; link 3; link 4] from some CSeries related news article. Amazed. ~850 planes! How do they manage so many aircraft and employees - pilots, ground staff, airhostesses, etc.? Every day people are absent, people are joining, people are leaving, planes need repairs/maintenance, IT systems need upgrades, and millions of other individual tasks. How in the world do they manage all this complexity smoothly? How does Delta's CEO spend his day? Surely no one tells him about every individual employee absence or every individual plane breakdown. What does he do then to run this mammoth company? Is abstraction the answer?

About time the psychological dominance of Air Force One be crushed by rival nations choosing Airbus A380 as presidential aircraft [COMPACTIDEA]

Enough with Amreeka flaunting its Air Force One. As a declining power, their arrogance should be crushed by someone who chooses Airbus A380 or A380plus as the presidential aircraft. It would feel so good to see Trump feeling nervous while his just-landed Air Force One is still taxiing, and a much bigger presidential A380 of China or India or Iran or Turkey comes in to land, making America's Air Force One look small and weak. In my opinion, these four nations seem like the only ones which have the financial and political ability to buy and operate the A380 as their top plane [especially China, Iran and Turkey].

UK isn't equal to other permanent members of the UNSC now [COMPACTIDEA]

1. In the UNSC, only UK [Britain, England, United Kingdom] doesn't have an independent foreign policy. China, France, Russia and US all have their own foreign policy. UK, like a slave dog, merely follows what's ordered to it by the US.
2. UK, increasingly, seems "left behind" when it comes to raw manufacturing and military power. Unlike China, France, Russia, and US, it cannot even design and manufacture its own aircraft - commercial or military. Even Brazil, Canada, India, Japan and Ukraine can. Its nuclear missiles aren't its own either. Unlike France, it doesn't have any meaningful rocket/satellite/space capabilities. Selling overpriced perfumes and investing other people's money is fine, but a deep, diverse and self-sufficient defence/military industrial base is a must for a nation to claim its place on the United Nations Security Council.
3. These days, the UK seems like a weak and "irrelevant-ish" country as far as statements coming out of it concern. Like a barking dog that hardly anyone is afraid of. More so as it doesn't have its own voice - it merely takes orders from America.

America's so-called allies shouldn't use only American fighter aircraft - there are probably secret kill switches inside [COMPACTIDEA]

Good to see that aside from US-made fighter planes, both Spanish [permanent link] and Italian [permanent link] air forces also own and operate European-built fighter planes. Unlike the Canadians, whose fighter jets are all American [permanent link], the Europeans seem to be wary of depending fully on the [untrustworthy] Americans. The Italians, in addition to flying European-built jets, also operate such an exotic fighter plane as AMX International AMX. Great. In all likelihood, crooked Americans have incorporated covert kill switches into their machines, to be used to remotely and secretly disable the aircraft during times of war [perhaps with plausible deniability as well].

Update [6-Nov-19]: This NYT story from 2009 shows how Americans themselves look at everyone else with complete distrust, when it comes to incorporating foreign-made chips/microprocessors into US defence equipment. But the same Americans want their so-called allies to blindly trust American military gear, and not to inspect it or question it or ask for its source code.

"As advanced systems like aircraft, missiles and radars have become dependent on their computing capabilities, the specter of subversion causing weapons to fail in times of crisis, or secretly corrupting crucial data, has come to haunt military planners. The problem has grown more severe as most American semiconductor manufacturing plants have moved offshore."

"In the future, and possibly already hidden in existing weapons, clandestine additions to electronic circuitry could open secret back doors that would let the makers in when the users were depending on the technology to function. Hidden kill switches could be included to make it possible to disable computer-controlled military equipment from a distance. Such switches could be used by an adversary or as a safeguard if the technology fell into enemy hands."

"According to a former federal prosecutor, who declined to be identified because of his involvement in the operation, during the early ’80s the Justice Department, with the assistance of an American intelligence agency, also modified the hardware of a Digital Equipment Corporation computer to ensure that the machine — being shipped through Canada to Russia — would work erratically and could be disabled remotely."

So basically this NYT story says exactly what my blog posts have said.

Update [25-Apr-20]: Sensible decision by Germany to replace Tornado by buying a mixture of >2/3 of European Eurofighter jets and <l/3 US-made F-18 jets. Former will ensure European industrial base concerns + eliminate possibility of secret kill switches [plus transmission of mission data to USA], the latter will placate USA + continue Germany's nuclear deterrent capability.

Russia shouldn't support imperialist America's aircraft industry by giving it lucrative orders - instead, buy planes from America's rivals

Pobeda is a subsidiary of Aeroflot, and Aeroflot is sort of a state-owned Russian company. And Russia is being hurt and pricked by America in every possible way these days, based on ridiculously phony pretexts and a barrage of totally false allegations. Why then, should Russia give billions of its money to the right arm of the American military–industrial complex - Boeing? The same Boeing that works so hard behind the scenes to demonize Russia so as to sell and deploy weapons against it? It's better that Russian money goes to others and it's better that Russian money nurtures Boeing's rivals.

In my view, Pobeda should've initially leased planes to start operations, and these could've been any model - 737s, A320s, etc. However, purchase orders should've been placed only for the Bombardier CSeries CS300 and Embraer E-Jet E2 E195-E2 planes [assuming airline's route choices can be fulfilled by these planes]. Leased planes should've been used while the Bombardiers and Embraers arrived. If these two planes aren't fit for Pobeda's needs, Pobeda should've bought Airbus A320/A321 planes, but its purchase of Boeing planes isn't good for Russia in any way.

Of course, orders can also be placed for Russia's own Superjet and MC-21, but while the former has limited range and payload, the latter's delivery is still into the future.

Imagining a new Soviet Union, a new USSR, a separate, mini world in itself

West was extremely jealous of the Soviet Union in part because of its colossal size - an incredible >15% of the world's land area was under this single superpower. After the unfortunate breakup of the USSR, West is similarly very jealous of Russia's huge size, and the natural strategic advantages as well as a wealth of natural resources that come along with such size.

No one knows whether the Soviet Union will come back. One cannot say a definite yes, and one can't say a definitive no either. Poland might curse and blame Russia at the top of its voice today, but will this same Poland be a province of a future version of USSR one hundred years from now, no one can say this, just like it's hard to imagine today that the same Poland was central to the Warsaw Pact.

One thing that's certain, however, is that we can at least imagine a new Soviet Union. A new USSR that carries forward the good things from the previous USSR, but that's devoid of its shortcomings. That similarly has the best ingredients from the EU, but not those that make the EU bitter.

Examples:

1. A mammoth, common airline - like Aeroflot - that flies all across USSR and also globally, thus getting huge efficiencies because of its scale.
2. A common air-defence/anti-missile system that benefits hugely from the vast global footprint - both land area and coastal length - of USSR.
1. Due to the massive footprint and also deep land connections to various nations of Europe, Europe would've been kept in check by the missiles and nuclear weapons stationed all across the new USSR.
3. A common currency that becomes a force in the world because of its use by the large cumulative population of USSR.
4. Free trade, free movement of capital and free movement of labor among the 15 constituent nations.
5. Despite the above commonalities, the USSR shouldn't have a central government - instead the 15 constituent nations should have their own governments so that the aspirations of these 15 groups of people are fulfilled.
6. Also, having 15 separate nations increases the political/diplomatic power of the bloc because you get 15 votes instead of just 1. Also, wherever a selection has to be done by random ballot, you have 15 slips there instead of just 1, multiplying your probability of winning the seat.
7. And so on.

Russia shouldn't have let Transaero airline die, and lessons for the future

Russia doesn't have too many large and/or famous brands, especially when it comes to consumer products. This allows the typical ignorant Western news reader [and also journalist] - who has no knowledge of Russia's sophisticated military equipment exports or its best-in-the-world space technologies or its aircraft-manufacturing capabilities - to sling insults such as "...doesn't produce anything that anybody wants to buy...".

This naturally implies that whichever small or large brands Russia does have, it should cherish and nurture and protect those dearly. Like Transaero. It operated for 25 years before going bankrupt, and unfortunately the Russian government didn't save it.

It should've saved it. Because apart from Aeroflot, it was Transaero that had a stellar reputation for safety. From Wikipedia:

"In its 25-year history, Transaero never had an accident resulting in loss of life or a hull loss. In 2014, JACDEC ranked Transaero as the 17th safest airline in the world and the safest airline in Russia."

This reputation, this 17th rank in the world, this zero fatality record, all of it took several years of painstaking work. Shouldn't have been let go just like that. Transaero was flying all across the world [permanent link]. It was spreading its own and Russia's name positively wherever it was flying, transporting customers safely and comfortably. An iconic, valuable and trusted name, built over several years, went down just like that. It's sad. It could've been and should've been prevented at all costs.

For me, only a three years old Apple iPhone model starts to seem like value for money [COMPACTIDEA]

SEE OID 243Z

It's no joke that I go after value for money [VFM] products and services. For me, the latest and greatest iPhone is always a sheer waste of money. It's usually the oldest iPhone model that Apple is still selling [at any point in time] that seems like the most value for money. No matter what someone else says, I know for sure that the iPhone 5s, even today, is a terrific phone [permanent link] for those whose usage is what can be called "normal". Don't upgrade to the latest OS version, or else the phone will become terribly slow. Stay on the original OS the phone comes with, and it'll feel awesome.

Why America is obsessed with not letting Russian-built anti-missile systems getting purchased and installed by different nations [COMPACTIDEA]

"In 1998…I was being constantly visited by the ambassadors of Great Britain, the United States and EU member states. Their message was the same: that the missile system must not be installed in Cyprus because this would create tensions in the region and would undermine, supposedly, the prospects for a peaceful resolution of the Cyprus problem and would pose difficulties to the fulfilment of Cyprus’ EU ambitions."

"Of course, behind these arguments lay the concern, mostly of Britain and the United States, over the capability of the Russian missile system to end the exclusive monitoring of the region by British radars." [link]

US is obsessed about it being the only country in the world with a global missile warning and shield system. US behaves like a fish out of water when there's talk about some country thinking of buying Russia's S-300, Antey-2500, S-400, etc., anti-missile systems. US doesn't want Russia to be able to have radar monitoring of various regions of the world. Neither does it want to give Russia the capability of eventually connecting/integrating its various systems deployed by different countries into a single, global system. So US tries its best to stop different nations from buying a Russian system.

UPDATE:

"US Goes Mental Over Turkey's Deal With Russia on S-400 Supplies - Erdogan" [link]

Funny conspiracy theory - there could be secret deal between US and North Korea to enrich America's military-industrial complex [COMPACTIDEA]

So trump wants hundreds of millions of dollars for himself and his sons. America's military-industrial complex is ready to provide these funds to Trump for free, provided he gives them billions of dollars worth of orders for new military equipment. So Trump secretly calls up Kim Jong-un, and begs him to do a covert deal - America would use its control over world media to artificially create a threat from North Korea, and North Korea would also respond as if it's ready to attack US/Japan/South Korea. The tensions will make it easy to place orders for new weapons, and the military-industrial complex will be showered with billions of dollars, and Trump will be showered with hundreds of millions, and Kim Jong-un himself will pocket tens of millions. Then a few weeks/months later, some public deal will be worked out, and the dust will settle, but the orders will [of course] stay. Everyone is happy!

US has more land area than China - if US population grows substantially, it'll be able to counter China's momentum [COMPACTIDEA]

China is attractive because of its size. China isn't very efficient yet, in the sense that its GDP-per-capita is quite low. US has slightly more land than China, but substantially less population [though substantially higher GDP-per-capita]. US has an opportunity to "contain" China by doubling its population. Double population will produce more and consume more and will massively increase the attractiveness of US as a market [and simultaneously lower the attractiveness of China, because total attractiveness is a zero-sum game]. US, no doubt, is already an attractive market due to its size and efficiency, but if US wants to lower China's increasing attractiveness, it must increase its own "size".

Net neutrality and DTH services for viewing TV channels [COMPACTIDEA]

Net neutrality isn't being followed in case of private DTH services in India. The tariff plans that are currently available from Airtel, Reliance, Sun, Tata Sky, etc., provide higher number of channels for higher monthly rental. This means that if you choose lower rental, some/many channels are just not available to you. This is exactly what net neutrality wants to avoid.

Solution? Give all channels in all tariff plans. Higher monthly rental should allow higher number of viewing hours. But there shouldn't be any limit on which channels are available to whom.

Thoughts on my love for landline phones, and on the voice quality of mobile phone calls in India these days

My feelings for landline [and cordless] phones have grown increasingly positive recently. In India, the voice quality on landline phones is much, much more clear than on mobile phones. Mobile to mobile calls are pure horse shit, while mobile-landline calls are merely acceptable. It's the landline-landline calls that stand out as awesome. Crystal clear sound quality, no disturbance, no weird hisses or noises. You're actually able to peacefully talk and conduct business and convey your thoughts to the other side properly and calmly on a landline-landline call. On mobile-mobile calls, half of your brain is wasted deciphering - through moments of noise, hisses, silence and disturbances - what the other party is trying to say, and this subconsciously confuses your brain and makes it busy and makes you irritated and doesn't allow you to think properly, leading to reduced quality of thoughts and poorer conversations [and thus poorer outcomes]. So many times you have to say "hello, hello, hello" to signal to the other party that you can't hear them. It's sort of torture. This isn't how mobile phone calls are supposed to be. They keep marketing 3G, 4G, etc., but what about the most thing - voice calls?

That's why lately I've started loving landline and cordless phones. No, we aren't ready for a mobile-only world. Landline phones are essential and do things that you just can't currently do on mobile phones - at least not here in India. Fierce competition in the mobile telecom industry and the resultant financial pressure has meant that call quality has taken a nosedive, calls drops have become commonplace, and signal strength has suffered greatly. What's the use of such competition? Even if you're willing to pay 1.25 times the bill, you can't buy guaranteed high-quality voice calls.

Landline phones have another advantage. Plausible deniability. If it's ringing, you don't necessarily have to pick it up [unlike mobile phones which are assumed to be near you]. You can call back later when convenient.

One more benefit of landline phones, which I discovered recently, is that the mobile company "Free" in France offers a cheap monthly prepaid plan to French customers which includes unlimited voice calls free to only landline phones in 80 countries. And guess what, the audio quality of these mobile-to-landline calls is superb. As good as domestic landline-to-landline calls in India. This is how mobile calls are supposed to be. Not the cow shit that mobile calls are currently in India.

Yet another benefit of landline phones is something I discovered recently during the Ram Rahim fiasco. The Punjab government disabled SMS and mobile Internet data services on all mobile phones, but broadband Internet continued to be available uninterrupted via wired connections. Those whose only source of Internet was mobile phones took a hit.

Further, over the last few months, the cellular signal of Airtel has gone down multiple times. During such times, it was either landline phones that came to the rescue, or your secondary mobile phone powered by a different mobile service provider. Redundancy, that is. The service of landline phones, on the other hand, hasn't gone down in at least the last several years.

And who can deny that cordless/landline phones look far more royal, elegant, and professional? And who can deny that cordless/landline phones are more comfortable to hold, especially for long calls? And who can deny that [being geographically immovable and implying the existence of a physical workplace], a landline number feels more "stable" and "corporatish" than a cell number?

Paisa by paisa, rupee by rupee, Narendra Modi is cleverly extracting blood out of the pockets of Indians [RAWDUMP]

"Master Stroke by Modi ji. By increasing Fuel prices every day, We have successfully fooled the Nation. Look no body is questioning us on daily Fuel prices." [link 1] [link 2]

*****

"Luxury cars and SUVs may become more expensive with the Union Cabinet approving an ordinance to raise the maximum compensation cess that can be levied over and above the 28% GST on such cars, from 15 % to 25%." [link 1]

What's the whole point of GST if you're not going to let prices of anything come down. You're only trying to protect and grow your tax collections, which you corrupt people squander and embezzle.

*****

"The Goods and Services Tax Council has decided to increase the effective tax (rate and cess) on certain categories of automobiles to ensure the tax burden on them is similar to that imposed prior to the implementation of GST.

In a media conference held after the GST Council met in Hyderabad on Saturday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said this was in an effort to maintain “equivalence”." [link]

Again, what's the whole point of GST if you're not going to let prices of anything come down? You hide accountability by hiding these wicked changes under the "GST Council" banner.

*****

"Fuel prices rise, govt rules out tax rollback" [link]

"The price break-up for every litre of petrol in Delhi shows that state-run companies charge dealers Rs 30.70. The remaining is in excise duty, dealers' commission and state VAT which takes the price to Rs 70.38." [link]

"India's crude oil basket was at $53 per barrel on September 13, compared to $46 a barrel on June 16. The fall in crude oil prices since 2014 has been offset by an increase in taxes, particularly the central excise duty that was raised 9 times between November 2014 and January 2016. The corresponding tax mop up went from Rs 99,000 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 2,42,000 crore in 2016-17. Additionally, VAT, a component levied by state governments, has been increased in some regions." [link]

"The table below shows that while the retail price of diesel was Rs 57.28 per litre in Delhi on June 2, 2014 – when the international oil price was $106.88 per barrel – it has now reached a very similar price of Rs 58.72 per litre even though international oil prices are at $53.06 per barrel." [link]

"With international crude oil prices falling sharply from the annual average of $105 per barrel in 2013-14 to $46 per barrel in 2015-16 and 2016-17, the Modi government has hiked excise duties on petrol and diesel over nine times in order to encash a windfall. Rather than passing on the benefits of low oil prices to the consumers, the Centre has utilised the petroleum sector for additional revenue mobilisation, which can be seen from Table 2 below." [link]

This government of Narendra Modi is conducting daylight loot of Indian people.

*****

Organization for Opposition to and Demolition of American Hegemony - OODAH [COMPACTIDEA]

Countries that are steadfastly opposed to American barbarism and tyranny need to form an organization. China, Russia, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, North Korea, maybe Belarus, maybe Egypt, maybe Serbia, maybe Algeria, and others. Once such an organization is established, more countries will join - from Africa, South America, Asia and maybe Europe too. The group needs to formulate tactical and strategic methods that will reduce and ultimately end America's global tyranny, from civilian murders, torture, assassinations and endless sanctions to cruel wars, overthrow of governments and theft of oil and minerals. Launch banks that are outside the control of America. Reduce the usage and importance of the US dollar. Prefer and promote non-American products. Reduce tourism to America and shift it elsewhere. Halt brain-drain to America. And so on. Steps need to be taken on an urgent basis under the umbrella of an international organization - OODAH.

Update: It's a shame that I can't easily add Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya to the list of countries which would surely join OODAH. America has cruelly destroyed these three nations, but it has also installed puppets, thus suppressing any public expression of outrage - towards America - from these countries. Such a sad and sorry state.

America openly arms terrorist groups and nations against Russia, so it's okay for Russia to arm anti-US nations [COMPACTIDEA]

US covertly and overtly supplies heavy weaponry to countries and terrorist groups in dozens of countries around the world, either to topple governments or to fight/destabilize Russia, or both. So it's alright for Russia to arm those nations that are against America - Iran, China, North Korea, Syria, Latin American countries like Venezuela, etc. So if Russia has indeed supplied advanced missile engines to North Korea, enabling the latter to reach mainland US, then this is totally alright and justified considering past and continuing US actions.

When it's Hong Kong, Turkey, or Mexico, Outlook.com wants to confirm your identity, but not for Canada - racism and xenophobia are in the blood of Americans [COMPACTIDEA]

Turn on Kaspersky Secure Connection VPN, and the first time you try to auto-sync your Outlook.com accounts [configured in Mozilla Thunderbird] from IP addresses of Mexico, HK or Turkey, Microsoft stops the auto-sync and sends you error messages and asks for further authentication [click on "This was me."]. But when the VPN shows you as coming from Canada, no questions are asked. No further authentication needed. Canada is of course "good". Nothing wrong happening here. Mexico, Turkey, Hong Kong, etc., are alien worlds full of bad guys, hackers, tricksters, fraudsters, and so the login attempt is potentially unsafe. But Canada? The shining beacon of "free" Western world. No hacks. No fraud. Must be all good. So let it pass through smoothly. What a load of racist and xenophobic rubbish in the blood of folks at Microsoft and more broadly America.

To make Russia's future secure, Russian women must start producing more babies

Enough of bullshitting from Western sheep that Russia's economy is smaller than California's or Spain's, that Russia is only a "regional power" which likes to believe that it's a superpower, that Russia doesn't produce anything that anyone wants, and so on. Nonsense. Bullshit. Coming from idiots in the West who just want to remain inside their self-created fantasy that Russia doesn't matter on the global stage. Now, Russia has all the land and natural resources it could ask for. Its women now need to get to work to produce more children - many more actually. More Russians will mean more people who can work, and these extra Russians can set up factories and other businesses in the eastern parts of Russia, which are currently very sparsely populated. More Russians will also mean more scientists, researchers, soldiers, pilots, cosmonauts, engineers, doctors, and so on. More products, more services, more inventions/innovations, more patents, more breakthroughs, more security and more prosperity. Only this way will Russia survive and thrive well into the future, and continue to challenge barbaric regimes such as America, thus ensuring that the globe doesn't get conquered by a single empire.

OTHER TAGS= POPULATION, GDP, ECONOMY SIZE

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably... [COMPACTIDEA]

US is continuing to bullshit the world about the various missile "defence" systems, early warning radars, etc., that it's deploying across the world. These aren't meant to protect from "Iranian missiles" or "North Korean ICBMs", as the US puts it. These are clearly meant to castrate Russian ICBMs and other advanced Russian weaponry that's fully capable of annihilating Continental US. The Americans, in reality, are shit scared and they're putting up sites all over the world to neuter/neutralize that only real and practical existential threat to their global thuggery. If/when contained, the world will never be the same again. America will unleash even more cruel wrath on the rest of the world, and we all might become its slaves.

Why does Intel even create such shitty processors like the Intel Celeron J3060?

The Celeron J3060 is pure horse-shit. There's no adulteration here, except maybe some horse urine was mixed into it. Pure, unfiltered horse waste. You can't browser the Web on this piece of crap [I bought a HP machine with this processor and I repent so badly now]. I repeat, you cannot properly run Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome on this crappy piece of junk. The experience of surfing the Web is so slow and pathetic - scrolling on even Google News is jerky - that one wonders, why did Intel even bother to make this shitty thing? It has two useless cores, each normally clocked at 1.6 GHz, which is way too slow for today's bloated software. Why didn't Intel, instead, give just one core clocked at, say, 3.2 GHz for the same price? I am quite sure that in regular usage, that processor would've felt significantly faster. Pentium 4 641 with HT comes to my mind. This awesome Pentium was launched over 10 years ago, but I'm sure that it's faster than this piece of cow-shit from 2016. It should be a crime to make such utterly disgusting products that don't allow you to do even the most basic task properly - Web browsing.

Update [2-Jul-17]: Instead of making a tower system unit using the J3060 crap, HP should've instead used AMD's A4-4020, which easily beats the J3060. Why should one give a damn to power consumption when the dog-urine J3060 won't let you do even basic tasks, while the A4-4020 will let you do a hell lot more? And the A4-4020 currently sells on Amazon for INR ~2,400, which is quite cheap.

Narendra Modi is steering India ever closer to the poisonous snake that America is - this is a disastrous path for India [COMPACTIDEA]

1. India is buying more and more weapons from the US. Might be because of massive bribes. But leaving our old, trusted friend Russia and pursuing closer military ties with America - the known global terrorist nation - is a disastrous path for India in the long run. Maybe Modi doesn't want to feel like a beggar when he meets Trump in Jun'17, so he is splashing around a few billion dollars in order to raise his self-esteem, but getting close to the most malicious and nefarious nation in the world is a sure recipe for disaster.
1. Ahead Of PM Modi's Visit, US Approves Sale Of 22 Guardian Unmanned Drones To India: Report [link]
2. ‘US approves sale of 22 Guardian drones to India’ [link]
3. Trump approves $2 bn sale of Guardian drones to India ahead of meeting [link]
2. India, which has hitherto bought fighter planes primarily from USSR/Russia, seems poised to buy large number of fighter aircraft from US. This is a terrible development, not just for India but for the entire world. Not only will our money empower the US, further enabling it to carry out its destructive and destabilizing foreign policy, we might also one day yet another vassal of America.
1. Lockheed Martin, Tata Ink Deal To Make F-16 Fighters In India [link]

Geographic isolation allows US to conduct invasions and wars with almost complete impunity

Looking at world map, it’s clear that US enjoys a “natural” advantage as far as its geographic location is concerned. US is “protected” from attacks/invasions by other nations by vast oceans surrounding it. Canada on the top is no threat at all [it’s probably an advantage, ironically], while Mexico to the bottom isn’t an adversary, and the kind of threats the latter poses are different. Not so for Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which are either joined at several places via land [allowing easier entry/exit], or have relatively small water bodies separating them, allowing movement using boats.

This advantage allows US to bomb and destroy other nations in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East with impunity. It’s the Asians, Europeans and Muslim nations which have to bear the consequences of America’s actions. And bear not just America’s relentless bombings. But also what comes after - unstable nations, extremism, uprisings, civil wars, terrorism [much of it also funded by the US] and more.

The only meaningful ways for those who want to take revenge from the US to enter it are via planes or ships. And US makes sure that it very carefully checks the credentials and history/profile of those who come in, thus safeguarding itself from the vengeance of those whose lives US destroyed/destroys. The rest of the world pays dearly though.

Lessons from what has recently happened to Qatar

• America is nobody's ally. No one can or should trust America. It only thinks of itself and works for itself. America isn't coming to the rescue of its so-called "ally" Qatar in any way. America only needed/needs Qatar for the Al Udeid Air Base, for covert supply of "support" to select militant/terrorist groups, for its gas reserves, and to sell expensive fighters, weapons, etc., to Qatar. America is a poisonous snake and the Qataris better realize this now.
• Actually, more than the Qataris, it is Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman, etc., which need to realize - fast - that America is an opportunist, filthy snake. America can and will sting anyone as it sees fit.
• Qatar should've made itself much more stronger than it currently is. Why such a staggeringly low number of fighter jets? This is so weird, that it almost creates a Saudi-US conspiracy theory in my mind! What's the use of such massive wealth if you won't buy the means to defend yourself! Ask Singapore. No neighbor can dare thinking of invading Singapore. Ask Taiwan. China is so much bigger than Taiwan but Taiwan still looks quite well-equipped, relatively.
• And did Qatar forget that it's sitting just next to a giant dragon, Saudi?
• It's important to cultivate relationships - especially military - with multiple powerful nations simultaneously. Qatar should've developed military relationships with China, Russia, Italy, and Sweden too. It should've had equipment from several nations.
• You need your own industrial capability for manufacturing weapons. You can't trust so-called allies - least of all the United States - to be really there for you in your time of need. You need self-made weaponry, free from covert spying devices and other nonsense [see below]. This is the direction in which Turkey, Brazil and India are going, and it's the direction in which America's other so-called allies must go.
• SECRET KILL SWITCHES: Not merely possible / likely, but rather certain that there are secret kill switches embedded into the fancy military toys that US sells to Saudi, UAE, South Korea, etc. These will be used to quietly and instantly disable these toys at the required time. The use of software means that the Arabs/Koreans can never know if/where these are present.
• Global Hawk in South Korea, Apr'20: All but certain that these unmanned planes will: 1) Silently transmit lots of sensitive data back to USA, 2) Contain secret switches enabling USA to control/divert/hijack/kill these machines when needed.
• Update [8-Jul-18]: America has cleverly trapped all its F-35 "partners" with the plane's ALIS system and other spyware. It has forced everyone to accept that all software related to the aircraft will reside in the US and will be loaded/updated from there. Also, your classified/sensitive data will automatically be fed to Lockheed Martin on a regular basis [Norway's concerns here, here, here, here, here, and here], and you can do nothing about it, except quietly grumble. Further, you've enslaved yourself to America because America can now remotely degrade or disable your F-35s as and when it wants. It can introduce corrupted or maliciously-crafted firmware into your toys, and it can alter and control your behavior and your geopolitical decisions by threatening to withhold critical software updates from *your* jets. Welcome to slavery dear Europeans. You will now be far more obedient to your master.
• Update [20-Jan-19]: Any self-respecting country also needs its own software and it's own hardware. All that fancy Cisco networking gear and those colorful Microsoft Windows systems will be weaponized by America in the event of a war [or maybe America already utilizes backdoors in American-made IT products, albeit quietly - analogous to flying under the radar so as to stay undetected]. These systems will go down, these will leak/upload data, and these systems might even spontaneously take destructive actions. [link 1]
• Whatever anyone might say, a nuclear weapon remains the ultimate insurance against nefarious neighbors. Should be acquired, and shouldn't be given up.
• Size matters. If you're tiny, like Qatar is, you need to spend disproportionately to defend yourself. Especially so when you have so much wealth, so much gas/oil, a sprawling news media network, so many well-developed companies.
• You should have something/some things that make those who can control/misuse/manipulate you dependent on you [to discourage them from controlling you]. For example, Qatar Airways, via its significant orders for Airbus and Boeing planes holds meaningful control over Europe and US, and can use this card to push these nations to push Saudi to drop its blockade.

Reliance Jio's free unlimited voice calls feature has led to a flood of useless incoming calls [COMPACTIDEA]

All of us know and bear folks who make useless, spam-like phone calls for just about everything [particularly in business]. Reliance Jio is a boon for such folks. Now the friction of cost is gone. The floodgates are open. Now these people can call you endlessly and irritate you even more :)

The first highly stable Windows releases - Windows 2000 and Windows XP [COMPACTIDEA]

Some might say that this crown goes to Windows NT 4.0, but I've never used it. Back in the late 90s and early 2000s, and particularly since 2001/2002 when I got my first computer, I've installed and used various flavors of the Windows operating system, and that too numerous times - 95, 98/98 SE, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, and so on. I personally feel that Windows 2000 and Windows XP were the first truly stable Windows OSes. Life before these stable OSes was hellish - Windows 98/ME could/would crash any damn moment, taking with it whatever you might have been doing. Installing drivers today is a non-issue, but back then finding the right drivers and installing these was "the" main issue. It's possible that NT 4.0 was relatively stable as well [I used to read about its enterprise-class stability, especially compared to 95 and 98, in computer magazines during my school days]. Back then they also used to praise the rock-solid stability of Linux. But 2000 and later XP and Vista changed all that. The Windows of today, for example 8.1, is so stable that it frequently stays on on my systems for months without any issues.

Iran-North Korea partnership is so obvious [COMPACTIDEA]

Iran has the money/resources [and also determination/intent], while North Korea has the technology [missiles, nuclear]. Iran lacks technology, while the North lacks money/resources. Such an obvious partnership. Iranian scientists should fly to North Korea to learn the designs, the formulas, the technology, and in return Iran should shower the North with cash. A mutually-beneficial alliance between these two nations will keep America's hegemony in check. The key questions here are:

1. Why hasn't such an obvious partnership happened yet?
2. Is such a relationship already brewing under the sheet? [answers question 1]

Update [3-Dec-17]: An extension of the above idea is that the North should also directly supply Iran with its most advanced missiles, such as the new Hwasong-15 ICBM, in a ready-to-use form, to instantly and significantly increase Iran's global missile reach, in order to provide significant deterrent to America. A further extension could be that North Korea should also sell some of its nuclear weapons, deployable on the Hwasong-15, to Iran. This single move will provide a permanent defensive safeguard to Iran, one that America will never dream of breaching.

Microsoft has itself, to some extent, crippled Windows 10 Mobile by giving slower hardware in Lumia smartphones [COMPACTIDEA]

Recently upgraded my Lumia 640 XL to Windows 10 Mobile. Not everything is good. Overall it has been a big step backward. If I could [unfortunately I can't], I would definitely go back to Windows Phone 8.1 [Lumia Denim] in a heartbeat. My phone used to be so fast on 8.1 Denim. My Lumia has become so slow after upgrading the OS. It's almost useless now. Its slowness irritates. Fuck Microsoft. Plus, and this is very important, Windows 10 Mobile isn't better in every sense than Windows Phone 8.1 [Lumia Denim]. The former has lost some features of 8.1 Denim, and some features have become worse due to changes [note that this isn't about being slow due to dated hardware specifications]. Sure, Windows 10 Mobile has many new features, but what's the use of features if the hardware is so slow? It doesn't feel so on 8.1 Denim, but it clearly shows on 10 Mobile. The full power and potential of Windows 10 Mobile simply can't be realized/used because the phone hardware is so pathetically slow. In this sense Microsoft itself is responsible, to some extent, for me not being able to take advantage of Windows 10 Mobile. Also, there is some very good stuff in the Store, but again, I just cannot use any of it due to the deficient hardware. On 8.1 Denim, at least everything ran fast and nothing irritated me.

Not showing him directly, and indirectly reporting a highly demonized image of him - that's how US media makes tyrants out of normal men

Realized this while watching these [1, 2, 3] scenes of Dr. Strangelove. If these videos get deleted, then one of these scenes is at approximately 74 minutes and 30 seconds into the movie. You never get to hear [even a word] or see Dimitri Kissoff, the Soviet Premier. Yet you develop an image of the Premier based on what the US President speaks and the way he reacts. You feel that the Premier drinks excessively, listens to loud music while at work, gets "mad" and "hysterical", and so on [and yet you haven't actually seen or heard the man even once]. The stereotypical image of any Soviet / Russian leader that the US media has carefully implanted in your head - over the decades - quickly gets confirmed, without you ever having seen or heard the man directly.

That's how US media creates tyrants out of normal men. Men who happen to be leaders of nations that are "defiant" to US hegemony. The US media demonizes these men and presents such distorted and twisted images of these men to the public/viewers that stupid Americans/Europeans/Westerners start to believe that these men are so full of evil that they must be annihilated without delay. So they hardly ever show full-length videos of Assad speaking [else you'll get to know the real truth that he's a sensible man and a patriot - whereas it is in reality your own America that is the real monster], and when they do air tiny clips of him, they pick portions and sentences such that the surrounding context gets hidden so that his statements appear evil/devilish without the necessary context [and anything sensible and wise he says is simply not shown]. Same with Saddam and same with the North Korean leader.

Update [10-Mar-20]: Following paragraph in this NYT story is crucial. Alternative link.

"Disputes between intelligence agencies and oversight committees are not unusual. The agencies are frequently reluctant to share direct intercepts of conversations or to allow their individual officers or analysts to provide information directly to the committees. Instead, they prefer to turn over analytical reports that have been reviewed by agency leadership. The committees often press for more raw forms of intelligence."

This practice of only publishing/releasing "processed" analysis rather than raw data is exactly what US media does. Instead of directly airing Assad's interview, for example, they do a news story in which they mix their own allegations, half-truths, lies, spins, and remove vital statements, play with the context, and so on, until a perfectly sensible leader with good judgment and good intentions starts to look like a bloodthirsty tyrant [thus justifying wars].

Update [25-Mar-20]: Donald Trump has effectively solved the above problem by talking directly to the public via Twitter [and Facebook, to a lesser extent], bypassing any middlemen. This has ensured that his unfiltered thoughts/voice/words reach the public without the intermediary "processing" done by the news media complex. This is what other leaders such as Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad need to do, so that the nefarious repackaging/modifications done by Western newspapers are avoided [to some extent].

My respect for the Supreme Court of India has reduced somewhat [COMPACTIDEA]

I've long had a lot of respect for the Supreme Court of India. It has gone down somewhat. Two reasons:

1. Why does the Court think that there can't be corruption inside it? If someone alleges that there's corruption at the Supreme Court, and that certain judges there are corrupt, then instead of investigating the claims, the Supreme Court simply punishes the fellow for "contempt of court"? Smacks of arrogance. Supreme Court shouldn't behave as if it can't be touched and that it can't ever be even partially corrupt. Shouldn't be so short-tempered that anyone alleging anything against the Court immediately invites the Court's [arrogant] wrath. Is the Supreme Court trying to hide something? I personally believe that the possibility of corruption at Supreme Court cannot be ruled out [doesn't in itself imply that corruption necessarily exists there already, just means that the possibility of its existence there cannot be automatically ruled out].
2. Why has the Supreme Court issued a gag order, barring media from reporting any and all of Justice Karnan's statements? Is the Supreme Court afraid and trying to hide something? Does Justice Karnan's allegations of corruption indeed have legs? If so, the SC's desperate-looking actions seem to suggest so.

And my high respect for the Court has come down several notches.

*****

Update [12-Apr-18]: The Supreme Court, in its recent ruling, made it clear that it doesn't want transparency in how cases before it are allocated [to its various judges]. This is a serious violation by the Court itself of the Indian public's right to know how our top court works, and whether there's any corruption going on at the Court. Even the Court itself cannot be above the public it serves. Nor can the CJI be. The CJI is but a man like others, and it cannot and must not be assumed that he cannot ever be corrupt. It's possible that by carefully giving cases to different judges [based on their already known positions on different issues], the CJI, serving the Indian government, affects the outcome of these cases [likely as desired by the government], albeit while being able to claim plausible deniability.