If only there wasn't pervasive corruption in defence procurement, the Indian Air Force would be so much more powerful

ALSO SEE OID 244Z

• Not wrong to say that when it comes to procurement of military equipment, bribery, corruption and squandering of rare cash on needless "capabilities" are things that are present throughout the world - like an epidemic - irrespective of whether a country is developed or developing [don't fool yourself into thinking that defence spending in an advanced nation like America doesn't involve corruption - there's probably much more corruption in America than in India].
• After centuries of loot by the British [and other Europeans], India is a poor nation and ideally we cannot afford to waste any money. However, as written above, overpriced procurement of fighter aircraft, missiles, tanks, etc., is a widespread phenomenon throughout the globe, and obviously India too has wasted and is wasting its precious money on equipment that isn't the best bang for the buck.
• Examples include Dassault Rafale, Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules, Boeing P-8I Neptune/Poseidon, etc.
• India's focus should be on buying high-value aircraft, rather than getting attracted to the most powerful ones [which are usually very expensive and not suited for constrained Indian budgets].
• India's second focus should be on buying Indian-designed and/or Indian-made planes, so that our own aircraft-manufacturing industrial capabilities get evolved [even if this means pains for some years or decades].
• Thirdly, from a geopolitical standpoint, India should also focus on buying fighter jets and other equipment from our decades-old trusted friends Russia and Japan, as well as our other emerging partners from developed and developing countries [Brazil, South Africa], rather than relying on nefarious, opportunistic and unreliable countries such as the US and UK.
• Fourthly, where possible, acquire modern, clean-sheet designs with latest technologies [such as Kawasaki C-2 and Kawasaki P-1].
• Following aircraft seem suitable based on the above focus areas:
• Yakovlev Yak-130, AHRLAC Holdings Ahrlac, Dornier Do 228, Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano, Textron AirLand Scorpion [American but high value], HAL Tejas, Embraer KC-390, Saab JAS 39 Gripen, Saab Swordfish, Mikoyan MiG-35, Sukhoi Su-35, Kawasaki C-2, Kawasaki P-1 [link], Beriev Be-200, Beriev A-100, etc.
• Continue buying existing high-value yet capable planes such as Ilyushin Il-76, Ilyushin Il-78, Sukhoi Su-30MKI, etc.
• This is obviously an ideal scenario. Neither the sellers nor the buyers [Indian ministers] will let "value buying" happen. When everyone wants corruption, it's obviously going to happen.

If not for America's nefarious geopolitics, there's no reason why Iran too cannot become a large hub for global aviation, connecting East, West and more (like Emirates, Qatar, and Etihad) [COMPACTIDEA]

One look at the map of the Middle East makes it clear that if geographic location's "lottery" is the reason why Emirates of Dubai, Qatar Airways of Qatar, Etihad of UAE, Turkish of Turkey, etc., are able to act as hubs in the global airline industry, then there's no reason why Iran too cannot and should not be able to [similarly] become a hub for commercial international flights [also applies to Saudi, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and some others]. It's only the highly destructive and nefarious geopolitical games played by the US that stop Iran from realizing its full potential - geographic, manpower, industrial, and more.

It's a mistake to think that just because China imports a lot less from America than the other way round, America can somehow hurt China more

US exported ~130 billion USD worth of stuff to China in 2017. The reverse flow was ~505 billion. News stories are filled up with analyses / claims / declarations / opinions that because of this huge imbalance - in China's favor (??) - the US has an upper hand in the ongoing US-China trade war [ironically, it's this trade imbalance itself which has caused the trade war in the first place], and that America can somehow hurt China more. The argument is that China can't match dollar-for-dollar the tariffs that the US continues to impose on imports from China [because China imports so little, relatively], and so it'll quickly "run out" of the current Chinese response of imposing matching tariffs on imports from America [once American tariffs cross 130 billion worth of goods imported from China].

Not entirely correct actually. 130 billion is just the direct, visible imports figure. There's another *massive* category of indirect "imports" from America - the locally-made American products that Chinese consumers buy *so prolifically* [Starbucks, GM cars, Apple's iPhone and other iProducts, Boeing airliners, etc.]. Example follows:

"General Motors now sells many more cars in China than it does in the United States...". - [link]

Not sure if America or Donald Trump realizes this, but it's quite easy for the Chinese leadership to *really, really* hurt American companies and thus America by mobilizing its population against American products - whether directly imported or manufactured and sold locally - in the name of retaliation and patriotism. Trump and his team will quickly crumble to their knees under unbearable pressure from Corporate America if the Chinese leadership one day decides to encourage its citizens to vigorously boycott American products and services in favor of goods from German, British, French, Italian, South Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese, Indian, Australian, Spanish, Mexican, Russian, Swiss, Swedish, Canadian, and other developed / powerful nations' companies. The point behind listing the names of these nations is that there are many other developed or otherwise large / consequential countries in the world which'll be more than happy to provide substitutes for American goods and services.

America shouldn't overestimate its power, or underestimate a mighty country like China's. The eras of America hegemony, and of abuse of the rest of the world are ending fast.

Update [May'19]: A comment on a FT article.

Russia must seize the moment - the 2018 FIFA World Cup - and convert each of the foreign visitors into a psychological soldier who will forever speak good of Russia

Western news media is vile. They report selectively. They don't report stuff that doesn't fit their agenda, their goals [which is basically promoting the imperialist foreign policy of their home nations]. They act as a middleman between those leaders/rulers who they want to demonize, and thus general public - thus presenting a highly distorted image of the leader/ruler to the public and making him a sort of demon in their eyes. They don't allow you to see or hear him directly - lest you see clearly that Western media is lying. This isn't very different from a man-in-the-middle attack.

Russia must fully utilize this moment it has got - the FIFA World Cup - to send back home "soldiers" who will speak well of Russia. Russia must convert the foreign fans and visitors who have come here for the games into Russia-lovers who will, for their entire lifetimes, spread positive messages about Russia and attack Western media's false reporting. Russia has got this moment where it can speak directly to the people of the world - right here in Russia - completely bypassing Western media which doesn't let Westerners directly see or hear Russia/Russians.

The logos of Hyundai and Renault are fundamentally and absolutely uninspiring, and need to be changed [COMPACTIDEA]

This thought is originally from Jan'16.

The issue with logos of Hyundai and Renault is that these aren't artistic or tasteful. These very "ordinary", school-grade logos might have been fine for these two companies when they were small, but today these low-class logos are actually hurting these companies and becoming an impediment to the companies acquiring a premium image in the hearts and minds of the public. Further, these logos are so immature that they can't ever "grow" into premium logos in your mind.

In contrast, look at logos of Alfa Romeo, Lister Cars, or BMW's M. So artistic, elegant, tasteful, and you feel that they're premium even without knowing about the brand.

Bizarre voting seen for FIFA 2026 bids - no logical explanations visible [COMPACTIDEA]

While I had expected and predicted that the United 2026 bid would win, I hadn't expected the following weird votes.

• America was able to successfully milk votes from many of the nations it has destroyed or helped to destroy - Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, etc. Was this because there are puppets here or was it because of covert threats?
• Why does American Samoa get to vote when it is among the "unincorporated territories of the United States". US territory voting for US?
• Several African nations didn't vote for their fellow African brother Morocco - Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, etc. Was this out of fear of Trump, or maybe some sort of intra-continent rivalry?
• Several Muslim nations didn't vote for their fellow Islamic brother Morocco - Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, UAE, etc. Was this out of fear of Trump or religious differences?
• Taiwan ["Chinese Taipei"] voted for Morocco? It's supposed to be a vassal of America!
• China voted for Morocco, yet Hong Kong and Macau [both of which weirdly get to vote separately] voted for America and Morocco, respectively??
• Russia for America???
• Venezuela has been literally destroyed by America, and yet they voted for America???? Are these people fools?

Quick thoughts on Kim Jong-un's air travel to Singapore [RAWDUMP]

• Good that he flew on an Air China plane. US won't dare to shoot down a Chinese plane.
• Especially not the one that carries the Chinese Premier or Xi Jinping himself.
• Also good that he also flew two of North Korea's own Ilyushin planes [Il-62M and Il-76] to Singapore. Creates uncertainty about in which one he might be [raises safety], and also increases his prestige.
• Use of prestigious Chinese plane for Kim's flight - in particular the one that the Chinese Premier or Xi Jinping himself uses - raises rather than reduces Kim's prestige.
• Arrival of multiple planes from both China and North Korea decently balances the power that's projected by the arrival of American planes.
• Presence of Chinese aircraft sends a clear message to US and to the world that China is very much involved and present in this summit.
• Kim Jong-un must never give up his nuclear weapons else will be certainly meet the fate of Saddam and Gaddafi, or maybe worse. He must understand, remember, and continually remind himself that Americans and some of their so-called "allies" are among the worst scum our planet has. They're bloodthirsty monsters without souls who can keep killing and destroying endlessly to grab resources and power.
• Russia too should've sent one or two aircraft in support of Kim Jong-un, and to show what West calls "solidarity". The presence of massive Russian Il-96 and Il-76 airplanes would've raised the prestige of both North Korea and Russia, and would've made America look weaker and more isolated. Or maybe Russian and Chinese fighter jets could've escorted the Air China aircraft - again, this would've sent a clear message.

Why doesn't Flipkart sell Domino's pizzas, movie tickets, bicycles, bikes, mopeds, and even flight tickets, hotel rooms and train reservations?

The broader point here is that Flipkart has that immense "footfall" every seller craves for. And there are some product categories that seem like Flipkart can quickly and easily add these to its online store to further monetize this footfall. In particular, products that are more "fixed/standard" and whose prices are more or less constant [like pizzas or garlic bread or movie tickets] are even easier for Flipkart to sell than, say, dynamically-priced airline tickets [whose prices are fetched in real-time from global reservation systems]. It should be quite easy for Flipkart to collaborate with Domino's or Pizza Hut [or both? Or is collaborating with only one more profitable?] to create a sort of dedicated "store-within-a-store" where Flipkart users can quickly and seamlessly order food stuff for home delivery or manual pickup. It should even be possible to "gift" a pizza to someone sitting anywhere in India where this service is available. The possibilities are endless.

Many of Japan's high-tech industries and companies are in ill health - so they're up for grabs by China and China should quickly milk these [COMPACTIDEA]

It's no secret that developing an end-to-end semiconductor industry at home is China's dream. US won't allow China to buy any US high-tech firm. Europe too is closing its doors. Japan seems like it's still up for grabs. China should acquire as many Japanese microprocessor firms as possible before anti-China laws get enacted [at the behest of America]. Many of the major Japanese firms with high-end technology are in a poor financial state currently, and in great need of Chinese money. Both sides are needy. No reason a marriage shouldn't take place.

Reliance Jio should entirely kill its current shitty lineup of LYF smartphones and resell popular phones of top Chinese and even Korean makers under its own brand [COMPACTIDEA]

Current phones by Reliance's LYF are pure shit. Nothing less. For INR 20K they give you pure horse-shit. Same for INR 10K or 7K or any other price point. At these prices, Chinese smartphone sellers - Huawei/Honor, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Gionee and even Lenovo and Moto/Motorola - simply create magic. Phones such as Redmi Note 5, Redmi Note 5 Pro, Redmi 5, Honor 9 Lite, Honor 7X, Redmi Note 4, Redmi Y1 Lite, Redmi 5A, Mi A1, etc., are pure gold [relatively speaking, at their respective price points, compared to phones from other manufacturers at similar price points], with which no current LYF phone can hope to compete. It's better to kill the entire current lineup of LYF phones. Instead, Reliance should resell popular Chinese phones via its own online and offline distribution channels. Even select Korean phones - from LG and Samsung - offer good value for money and should be resold by Reliance, either as standalone handsets or bundled with long-term Jio subscriptions.