Tag: Boeing

THE SOUNDS OF INDIA

About: India is a messy, noisy democracy and life can literally take you from the lowest depths of the ocean to the highest mountain peaks. This is my commentary on the sounds made in the process. But, in this article, I digress slightly to write about superhero bravery in the Air by an Indian Pilot, and I return to the sound of India’s Election Commission fighting back on attempts to tarnish its name.

Unbelievable Heroism in the Air

This 30 September 2026, Flydubai, Flight FZ1073, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) Government-owned Airline based in Dubai, was on a regular flight from UAE’s Dubai to Israel’s, Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport. It was a Boeing 737 MAX8 aircraft carrying 174 passengers – almost all Israeli – and 6 crew. The low-cost, non-stop flight normally takes about 3 hours and 25 minutes to reach Tel Aviv. The Captain and main Pilot was Indian National Smit Machchhar, and his co-pilot in the cockpit, was an Omani National Mohammed Hamam Al-Hammami.

The plane departed Dubai at about 6am local time flying west, towards Tel Aviv. About two hours into the flight, Hamam Al-Hammami told Smit Machchhar that he wanted to pray, and got up from his seat. This was not abnormal, and out of respect for the ‘praying’ co-pilot, Smit Machchhar kept looking forward, without turning around. After about five minutes a deadly blow landed on the back of his head sending him into a tizzy. For a moment he thought the aircraft itself had been hit: that something catastrophic had happened. Then the blows kept coming, one after another, and he understood it was the co-pilot who was repeatedly clobbering him with the cockpit emergency crash axe.

The blows blurred Smit Macchchhar’s vision almost completely. He blindly tried to stop the attacker, and could feel the aircraft pitching steeply downward; heard a whooshing sound and passengers screaming. He managed to open the cockpit door once; the co-pilot shut it again, and Smit ended up on the floor. Believing he would die if he did not act, he forced himself, in one last-ditch attempt, back to the door, twisted the inside knob, and opened it a second time, before collapsing. Passengers who sensed trouble, on the dive of the plane, had gathered outside the cockpit and when the door opened they quickly entered, for the rescue.

Captain Smit Machchhar later revealed that he kept chanting the Hindu hymn, Hanuman Chalisa, to keep him going during the brutal attack. The hymn is recited in praise of Lord Hanuman who symbolises strength, devotion, and courage.

In between, Smit managed to signal a General Emergency Code, squawk 7700 ‘general emergency’ before switching to squawk 7500 a code for reporting ‘unlawful interference (hijacking)’. Meanwhile, the aircraft which was cruising at an altitude of about 34,000 feet began rapidly losing altitude and turned sharply to the north. It descended 17,400 feet in just under two minutes.

A squawk is a four-digit International Civil Aviation Organization code that a pilot punches into an airplane’s transponder – that talks to the ground radar – so that Air Traffic Control can identify and track the flight. The word ‘squawk’ itself comes from the World War II identification-friend-or-foe system, code-named ‘Parrot.’During World War II, primary radar only showed a blip. It could not tell a friendly aircraft from an enemy one, which was a serious problem especially at night and on cloudy days. Britain developed an early Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system: a ground station sent an interrogation signal, and a set in the aircraft replied with a coded signal so the radar operator could mark it as friendly. The British system was code-named Parrot, because it ‘repeated’ the signal back, the way a parrot mimics sound.

One of the first to enter the cockpit was Israeli, Plumber by profession, Yaniv Hayun, who along with three other passengers subdued the co-pilot, put him in a chokehold and dragged him out of the cockpit, while he was shouting, “kill me, kill me”. Hayun then pulled the nose-up stick and steadied the diving plane, inspired by watching a TV show called ‘Air Crash Investigation’, which reconstructs real-life air disasters. Another passenger Dr. Shota Musaev, a Dentist and the only Doctor on board, along with others, tied the attacker up using headphone cords and plastic zip-ties. He then tended to the wounded pilot and this effort saved Smit’s life, who was by this time was bleeding profusely.

Two Flydubai pilots who were already on board as passengers-crew travelling to operate the return sector, often called ‘deadheading’-then took control of the plane. The flight briefly entered Jordanian airspace before looping back into Saudi Arabia and making an emergency landing at Tabuk Airport in north-western Saudi Arabia. A large part of the Aircraft’s tail was missing – the rudder was damaged presumably due to the extreme G-forces on the airframe.

This plane was orders of magnitude above the limits and beyond the calculated safety factors built into commercial aircraft and yet it managed to survive. This is genuinely a testament to the 737 Max and modern carbon composite airframes. US President Donald Trump was quick to call Boeing, “A Great Aircraft”. In virtually every historical incident where an airliner got anywhere close to these speeds the tail ripped off the entire rear of the plane. The inherent strength of the airframe is genuinely unbelievable, as are the excellent piloting skills of the Pilots who pulled it out of the dive, which recovery is as impressive as Captain Sully’s famous landing on the River Hudson.

Captain Smit’s skull was broken in the axe attack and he underwent emergency treatment in Saudi Arabia, where doctors reconstructed his skull, before he was flown to the UAE for intensive treatment.

He later spoke to Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi who hailed him as a hero, who acted with the greatest possible courage in saving lives and in avoiding what could have been a unimaginable disaster.

Call it a case of ‘Risk Migration’, that for 25 years, regulators have designed the aircraft cockpit door to stay shut and even had it reinforced after the 9/11 US Twin Tower suicide attacks. On Flight FZ1073, the outcome depended on its opening.

The co-pilot Mohammed Hamam Al-Hammami, 29 years old, was a radicalised Islamic jihadi who was previously sacked by Air-Oman in 2024–2025 for his extremist views and ideology, for regularly browsing extremist websites and expressing support for the Islamic State, jihad, and anti-non-Muslim sentiments during conversations with colleagues. It is absolutely clear that he underwent Islamist radical indoctrination and should never have been on that plane.

He seems to have been hired by FlyDubai without a background check. It never checked with Oman Air where he had worked there for about eight months.

His mother is of Syrian origin, and father is Omani. He visited Pakistan in August 2026 and Turkey in May 2026. His diary notes contained praise for several terrorists, including Osama bin Laden, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and Maulana Masood Azhar.

At the time he was a trainee first officer at Oman’s national carrier. The ban came in 2024, and he was moved into an administrative role. He left the airline in February 2025.

Hamam Al-Hammami filmed El Al and Arkia planes at Dubai Airport on 11 October 2023, just four days after the deadly 7th October attacks on Israel. He intended to carry out a terror attack by crashing a plane into Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport and planned the attack for months before FlyDubai hired him. “I searched and checked which company flies to Tel Aviv, and that’s why I chose Flydubai,” he said. He had planned to carry out the attack during an earlier flight, in July, but aborted the plan when he learnt that a crew member he knew was on board. A backup plan involved crashing the flight into a United States military base in Jordan.

One of the main questions being looked into is how the flight included a pilot from a country with which Israel does not have diplomatic relations.

Captain Smit sustained what doctors called a ‘depressed skull fracture-when a piece of skull has been pressed inward towards the brain it protects. During surgery Doctors made a careful incision to lift the pressed-in fragment, checked the protective membrane around the brain for tears and repaired/reconstructed damages. He is recovering and says he wants to fly again. Smit lives in Dubai with his wife Sonal Machchhar and two children. The 38 years old Captain has over 9750 flying hours including about 6400 hours as pilot-in command.

The outstanding act of Captain Smit Machchhar’s bravery will live on for time to come. It would have been an entirely different story if the plane with all 180 people on board had crashed into Israel or perhaps was shot-down as a defensive mechanism. And this was just a few days away from the anniversary of the brutal Hamas attack of 7 October 2023 when 1200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

One simple act of courage can mean so much and it conks all of us on the head to be alert, mindful, and show the best in us when the stakes are high. Meanwhile, conspiracy theories do the rounds – best left to people’s pig-headed imagination. Did this kind not say that the Man’s first landing on the moon was staged in a studio?

Election Commission of India

Once upon a time, from India’s independence in August 1947 up to 1990, the Election Commission of India (ECI)operated as a hand-maiden of the party ruling at the Centre- mostly the Indian National Congress. If Alice in Wonderland’s Queen of Hearts thundered, ‘off with their heads’, and heads rolled, India’s then Government(s) decided when to hold an Election and the ECI meekly obeyed.

Those were the days of stupendous election malpractices such as, booth-capturing, bribing and intimidating voters, impersonation, intoxicating voters with the ‘spirts of Ireland and Scotland’ -not to mention local, legal (and often illegal) brews- to keep them on a high, use of Government funds and machinery… a long list.

Why, India’s first Prime Minister(PM), Jawaharlal Nehru lost 0 – 12 to Sardar Vallabhai Patel and yet was made PM by Mahatma Gandhi, overruling the voting by members of the State Congress Committees. Hey Ram, that was the earliest instance of, call it Election malpractice, or stealing of votes to manifest one man’s idea! And Elections rolled on, unchecked in a way.

Indelible Ink-usually applied on the index finger of a voter to mark his/her having voted-was first introduced during the 1962 General Elections, and it brought some checks & balances into vote-cheating. Never mind the ink, Jawaharlal Nehru served as PM from 15 August 1947 until his death in May 1964 – 16 years and 286 days.

Then in December 1990, an ex-Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Officer, T N Seshan was appointed Chief Election Commissioner(CEC)- the 10th. He boldly overhauled the ECI bringing in much-needed, vital, path-breaking Electoral Reforms such as, introducing Voter Identification, enforcing election model code of conduct, limiting campaign expenses, etc. In fact, he did nothing but dust off and implement existing Rules. And ever since, subsequent CECs have built upon that foundation to make the ECI one of the best in the World in conducting elections. A mean machine delivering election after election, all these years, without interference from the Government.

Originally, the ECI had only a Chief Election Commissioner – hence the malleability. It currently consists of the CEC and two ‘plain’ Election Commissioners. In a first, two additional Commissioners were appointed in October 1989, but faced ‘sudden death’ in January 1990. Later, in October 1993, two Commissioners were again appointed and the three-member Commission has stuck ever since, with decision-making being unanimous, or in the event of disagreements among the three, deciding by a majority vote.

Over to a slice of history: The fiercely independent, ‘James Bond of the ECI’, T N Seshan famously challenged the equal status of the two other Election Commissioners who were added midway during his tenure from 1990 to 1996. The Supreme Court ruled, in 1996, that all three members hold equal voting power.

The next step in ensuring squeaky-clean elections in India was the introduction of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). These are stand-alone, battery-powered machines that use write-once-read-many memory. This is basically an immutable system where, once data is recorded, the storage medium permanently locks the information so that it cannot be altered or overwritten – no edits or deletions can be done. They do not require network connectivity, and have no wireless or wired components that connect to the internet. The EVMs had iron-clad security features such as locking mechanisms, limits on the rate of voting per minute, and verification of thumb impressions.

Prior to electronic voting, paper ballots were used and counting was done manually. Printing paper ballots was expensive, required substantial resources and time to count. And was susceptible to fraudulent practices such as the use of pre-filled fake ballots. With the coming of the EVMs, elections costs reduced significantly, besides shortening the time required to count votes.

EVMs were first put-to-test in May 1982 in the By-Election of Paravur Assembly Constituency in Kerala in a limited number of polling stations. Nothing changes easily in India, and the use of EVMs was promptly challenged. The case found its way to the Supreme Court, which ruled that existing Rules specified only the usage of paper ballots and forbade the use of any new methods, including electronic voting. And that the manner in which the orders were issued for the use of EVMs was unconstitutional, and the usage of any alternate means must be specified under the Law. This called for an Amendment to the old Rules, which was passed by India’s Parliament in December 1988 and came into force in March 1989. Subsequently, in March 1992, necessary Rules changes were made to legally permit the usage of electronic voting. However, deployment was delayed as a general consensus could not be reached among the various political parties.

In the year 1998, EVMs were used on an experimental basis across 25 State Assembly constituencies during the Assembly Elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi. Result: It was an instant hit and declared an ‘unqualified success’.

In May 2001, EVMs were used in all constituencies for the State Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, and West Bengal. In 2004, in the General Election, the EVMs were used in all 543 Parliamentary Constituencies for the first time. Since then, all State Assembly and Parliamentary Elections were held using EVMs.

To further plug loopholes in the system, in 2013, the Supreme Court directed the ECI to include a paper trail to help verify the vote cast using the EVMs. The ECI then developed EVMs with a Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), which was tested for the first time in the 2014 General Elections. This closed the door on any doubts about the EVMs.

Now, the focus shifted to the voter himself, the Electoral Rolls – who actually votes?

Riding on the long road of Elections, today the ECI is facing a major credibility crisis- in another dimension- over its nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls. This is an exercise periodically undertaken by the ECI to verify and revise Electoral Rolls through house-to-house enumeration, pre-filled forms, and verification of old data. A nationwide SIR process was announced on 27 October 2025; the previous SIR was carried out between 2002 and 2004 – about 20 years ago. And even before that, there were eight SIRs conducted.

For about a year now, Gyanesh Kumar, India’s CEC, has been under intense political pressure over the sweeping revision of the country’s Electoral Rolls under the SIR. The exercise, which began in the State of Bihar last year, has since been extended to cover most of India and more than 13 crore names – mostly dead, shifted to another location, or duplicate – have been struck from draft voter lists across 30 States and Union Territories – roughly 13% of India’s electorate.

The SIR process was challenged by the Opposition Parties (probably, fearing the loss of votes of dead voters – in those days even the dead voted!) in India’s Supreme Court. In May 2026, the Court supremely upheld the legitimacy of SIR and ruled it to be in consonance with India’s Constitution and that the ECI has a constitutional obligation to conduct free and fair elections.

The ECI explained that the SIR is intended to remove duplicate and ineligible entries while ensuring legitimate voters are included. Opposition parties and activists claimed that it disenfranchised eligible voters. The ECI outright rejected accusations that the process is being manipulated for political ends.

This September 2026, an Indian Express Newspaper investigation by journalist Ritika Chopra reported that other two Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi recorded written dissent at least 14 times, over 10 months. This was to decisions supposedly taken without their knowledge-including ‘unauthorised changes to Form 6’, for new voters and centralisation of voter data.

Since the SIR has deleted over 13 crore names from draft rolls, opposition parties cried that this was done unilaterally by CEC Gyanesh Kumar in a way that disproportionately affected minorities, the poor, and young voters. And they demanded his resignation. Protests to this effect were organised in the national Capital.

The ECI released a statement that all decisions were unanimous and lawful and any objections-made out as dissent notes-were merely suggestions in the course of a normal day’s work. It has ordered a software review, eased some verification processes, extended deadlines in certain States, and removed the disputed Form 6 Declaration in States where SIR is completed. It unequivocally said that even ‘a comma’ of Form 6 has not been changed.

Lets go deeper into the meat of the matter.

Form 6 is a statutory application form used by eligible Indian citizens to apply for inclusion in India’s Electoral Rolls. These may be first-time voters who turn 18 years of age, or others who have never enrolled themselves for voting. It requires basic details such as personal information, proof of age and residence, and declarations regarding citizenship and non-registration elsewhere. The form itself is straight-jacketed, prescribed by Rules that can only be amended by the Central Government after consulting the ECI, and notified in the Official Gazette-subject to parliamentary approval.

A controversy arose during the ECI’s SIR of Bihar. The ECI introduced an additional declaration to be submitted along with the ‘untouched’ Form 6 for SIR-related applications. This was not part of the printed/downloadable statutory Form 6, but was added to the online version on the ECINET (online) portal.

Key elements of the declaration involved focus on birth details and supporting documents (one of a list of documents to establish date/place of birth for the applicant and, depending on birth year brackets parents). Later versions (from around July 2026 onward on the online portal) shifted emphasis to linkage with the previous SIR rolls (from the early 2000s in many places). Applicants were asked to choose among options such as, their own name appeared in the last SIR roll; a parent’s or grandparent’s name appeared; neither appeared.

Selecting the first or second option required providing details such as the Assembly constituency, polling booth/part number, and serial number (and sometimes related identifiers like EPIC number or relationship). The field was not always marked mandatory, but online submission could not proceed without completing it. False statements carried warnings of penalties-up to one year imprisonment, fine, or both.

The ECI maintained that Form 6 itself was never amended: only an additional SIR specific declaration was attached for the duration of the exercise; the Bihar SIR order (including the initial declaration) had the full Commission’s approval and was upheld by the Supreme Court in its 27 May 2026 judgment; the declaration was an additional requirement, not a change to Form 6, and that ordinary statutory forms apply outside SIR periods.

On 5 October 2026, the Chief Justice of India clarified that the Court had not approved any modified Form 6. The bench said it would examine ECI records to determine who authorised any changes and what exactly was modified.

The ECI reiterated that it had not altered the original Form 6 and that the SIR declaration was separate; it also issued fact-checks describing certain opposition claims as misleading. It withdrew the additional declaration from the online portal in states where SIR had concluded, while it continued in places where the exercise was ongoing.

The ECI continues to distinguish between the unchanged statutory Form 6 and temporary SIR-linked additional requirements. Critics focus on the lack of formal rule amendment, internal objections, practical burdens on new voters, and the precise scope of what the Court previously upheld.

Whether attaching the SIR declaration (especially in its later online form) amounted to an unauthorised or illegal amendment of the statutory Form 6 is contested-internally within the ECI, by opposition parties and some former officials, and in petitions before the Supreme Court. No final judicial determination that it was illegal has been made; the matter is pending examination of the records and the validity of the specific requirements.

In these circumstances, it’s worthwhile to dig into the career of the CEC-Gyanesh Kumar. What does he bring to the table – to the ballot?

For most of his 36-year career in India’s bureaucracy, the 62-year-old Gyanesh Kumar built a reputation for getting difficult things done. Now he faces a rather different challenge: defending how his own institution makes decisions.

Gyanesh Kumar hails from the State of Uttar Pradesh. He completed his BTech in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology- Kanpur (one of the very best in the country) and then pursued Business Finance at the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India before studying Environmental Economics at Harvard University, USA. He cleared the Civil Services Exam and entered the IAS in 1988, in the Kerala State cadre.

He began his career as an Assistant Collector in Ernakulam, then Sub-Collector of Adoor, followed Secretary of the Kerala Public Works Department. Leaving Kerala, he became Joint Secretary in the Department of Defence Production Secretary in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Ministry of Co-operation.

In 2016, Gyanesh Kumar joined the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) division of the Home Ministry. Three years later, in 2019, he was involved in drafting the J&K Reorganisation Bill which culminated in revoking Article 370 (recall, this gave J&K a special status, disjointed from the rest of India). J&K was bifurcated into two distinct Union territories: J&K – with a Legislative Assembly, and Ladakh – without a Legislative Assembly, hence directly administered by the Central Government.

In 2019, India’s Supreme Court cleared the way for a temple of Lord Ram to be built in Ayodhya at a site that had been disputed by Hindus and Muslims for decades. Gyanesh Kumar, who was then an additional secretary in the Home Ministry, headed the team responsible for implementing the court’s ruling, including setting up the Trust that would oversee the temple’s construction.

The assignments were very different, but both demanded a particular bureaucratic skill of taking decisions of enormous political consequence and working out how the machinery of government would put them into effect. Gyanesh Kumar retired from the Civil Services in January 2024. Less than two months later, he was appointed an Election Commissioner – a day before the timetable for India’s general election was announced. In February 2025, he became Chief Election Commissioner.

He was the first CEC appointed by the President of India under a new law in 2023 in which a three-member Selection Committee recommended a name to the President of India. A Search Committee headed by the Union Law Minister shortlists five candidates, which it puts forward to the Selection Committee. The Selection Committee consisting of the Prime Minister (Chairperson), Leader of the Opposition, and a Union Cabinet Minister(nominated by the PM) makes a final choice by majority vote.

In February 2025, Gyanesh Kumar was selected by such a panel, consisting of Narendra Modi- PM, Amit Shah-Union Home Minister, and Rahul Gandhi- Leader of the Opposition. Only Rahul Gandhi opposed Kumar’s appointment (he even asked for it to be deferred while the Supreme Court considered challenges to the new law). But the majority vote saw Gyanesh Kumar through.

The ECI is one of India’s best autonomous Institutions handling the awfully difficult task of conducting Elections, and it is being besmirched by a kind of people who want a return to the old ballot system in which they have been swimming all the years and presumably won Elections on their choice.

Three Cheers to Captain Smit Machchhar- for showing exemplary bravery and indomitable spirit in the skies; and to the Election Commission Of India – for working hard in the cesspool of Indian Politics to clean India’s dirty Electoral Rolls, where draining the swamp isn’t an option.

FREEWHEELING

About: A break free commentary on events on our Planet, anchored on the news of the world. Any comments beyond the story, are entirely mine, without prejudice -take it or leave it. This is a run from 15 April 2025 to 22 April 2025: Boeing on China ground; making the West great again; war & peace; death of a Pope; roof collapse; the biology of sex; and possible new life in our Universe.

Boeing in China: Stuck on the Ground

US President Donald Trump rockets up the Tariff War imposing an astounding 250% tariff on Chinese goods entering America. Earlier in a tit-for-tat, Tom & Jerry play, China plainly cancelled its Plane Orders on Boeing. China’s Airlines were ordered not to take further deliveries of Boeing’s jet planes made in America. China’s top three Airlines, Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines are due to take delivery of 45, 53, and 81 Boeing jets respectively between 2025 and 2027. Now, this could result in Boeing flying-out these planes to other countries. The COVID pandemic had set the Aircraft Industry years behind in manufacturing aircraft and this was a comeback period.

Boeing’s rival Airbus, based in Europe, holds a dominant position in the Chinese market. But Airbus is not in a position to meet all of China’s Orders.

China should take a Boeing flight to Washington with a hand-shake plan and negotiate a deal with Trump to shake up the skies.

Make the West Great Again

Then it was the turn of Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni – she’s a superstar-to catch a flight to Washington, for trade talks. Was the European Union looking? And was it on a Boeing or an Airbus?I missed that part of the flight!

Meloni called on Trump to form a historic alliance between Italy and the US. She acknowledged the rift between the US and Europe, but said now’s the time to fix it. Then came the invitation: “I want to thank President Trump for having accepted an invitation to pay an official visit to Rome, and consider the possibility in that occasion to meet also with Europe.” And she closed with the line that said it all: “The goal for me is, ‘Make the West Great Again.’

Talk straight, drop the drama, and find common ground. Is China listening?

I reckon the Oval Office must be wearing-out thin-with all that inflow and outflow of footfalls!

Wars

With Donald Trump being inaugurated in January this year, his promises on ending the Israel-Hamas War and the Russia -Ukraine War seemed to be working in the beginning. And cheers could be heard. But in a near about a U turn, for the worse, the wars have got into a ‘cushy slot’ (for the perpetrators – Hamas & Russia)and are progressing at their own sound pace.

Sudden: Easter Peace

The United States is almost giving up on bringing about a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine War after negotiations were not translating into tangible outcomes. Ukraine had previously offered a 30-day ceasefire, which was shrugged-off by Russia, and it went on with the fighting as if it heard nothing.

Now, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a brief Easter ceasefire: a declaration met with skepticism in Ukraine as the war enters a crucial phase, and US-led negotiations stall.

The timing, the brevity, the sudden, unilateral nature of it all seemed just a knee-jerk effort. If Ukraine and its allies needed proof of Moscow’s wild cynicism when it comes to peace, the announcement provided just that.

Putin said ‘all hostilities’ would halt between 6 pm, Moscow time on 19 April, Saturday and midnight on 21 April, Monday. ‘We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example,’ he said, adding that the truce would help Russia determine how sincere Ukraine is about wanting to reach a ceasefire. However, just hours after the announcement, Ukrainian officials accused Russian forces of ‘not-stopping’ and continuing the fighting.

Unwavering Israel

Yet again, Hamas has rejected Israeli’s most recent ceasefire offer, instead calling for a comprehensive proposal to end the war. The rejection prompted Israeli lawmakers to issue calls for an immediate escalation in Gaza, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to unleash ‘hell’ and pursue ‘complete victory’.

The Israeli ceasefire proposal did not guarantee an end to the war and called for a disarmament of Gaza, both of which have been red lines for Hamas. The terrorist organization refuses to give up its weapons and demands that any proposal includes a ‘permanent end’ (that’s awfully hard to define?) to the war.

The Israeli plan called for a 45-day truce, during which the two sides would aim to negotiate a permanent ceasefire. Under the proposal, the remaining 59 hostages would be released in stages, starting with American-Israeli Edan Alexander on the first day of the truce as a ‘special gesture’ to the US. A further nine Israeli hostages would be released in two stages in exchange for 120 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and more than 1,100 detainees held without charge since 7 October 2023. The proposal also demands that Hamas provide information about the remaining living Israeli hostages. This in exchange for information about the Palestinian detainees, and the release of the bodies of 16 deceased Israeli hostages, for the remains of 160 deceased Palestinians held by Israel.

In keeping with its style of working, The United Nations issued a dire warning over the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, saying lifesaving supplies were nearing ‘total depletion’ due to Israel’s blocking of aid entering the Gaza.

Roof Collapse

In one of the deadliest non-natural disasters in the history of the Dominican Republic, the roof of the iconic Jet Set Nightclub in Santo Domingo collapsed in the early hours of 10 April 2025 morning, with at least 500 people inside. Over 200 died and another 150 were injured-about 190 were rescued alive. The collapse happened during a performance of merengue (a Caribbean style of dance, music) artist Rubby Perez and his orchestra. The dead included Perez whose body was recovered from the scene. Two former Major League Baseball players are also among the victims.

The Jet Set Nightclub Building began as a movie theatre in 1973 and was converted into the Nightclub in 1994. It underwent renovations in 2010 and 2015 featuring 2-storey high ceilings over an expansive open dance floor, which could hold 1000 standing and 700 seated visitors. The building had large air-conditioners and electric generators on the roof-top and large stage lighting and loudspeakers mounted in the ceiling. Top Heavy? In the year 2023, the roof caught fire after lightning struck an electric generator, but was deemed structurally safe by firefighters. Experts say that the roof was inadequately supposed by columns on the sides, and could have collapsed under its own weight.

Santo Domingo is the capital of the Dominican Republic, an island country in the Caribbean Sea, and one of the Caribbean’s oldest cities.

The Pope Dies

The head of the Roman Catholic Church and the spiritual leader of catholics worldwide, Pope Francis died at the age of 88, on 21 April 2025, Easter Monday, at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta. He had been the ‘Peoples Pope’ for a reformative 12 years. And in recent times, he was going through a prolonged period of illness, struggling to carry out God’s work.

Roman Catholics believe the Pope represents a direct line back to Jesus Christ. And is considered a living successor to St Peter, who was chief among Christ’s initial disciples, the Apostles. That gives him unhindered power and to make decisions on issues of faith and morality over the entire Catholic Church. He is an important source of authority for the world’s roughly 1.4 billion Catholics.

In addition to consulting the Bible for guidance, Catholics also turn to the teachings of the Pope for finding their way through the vicissitudes of life.

About half of all Christians worldwide are Roman Catholics. Other divisions, including Protestants and Orthodox Christians, do not recognise the Pope’s authority. The Pope lives in Vatican City, the smallest independent state in the world, surrounded by the Italian capital, Rome. The Pope does not receive a salary, but all his travel and living expenses is paid for by the Vatican.

A papal funeral is traditionally an elaborate affair, but Pope Francis recently approved plans to make the whole procedure less complex. Previous Popes were buried in three nested coffins made of cypress, lead, and oak. Pope Francis has opted for a simple wooden coffin lined with zinc. He has also scrapped the tradition of placing the Pope’s body on a raised platform-known as a catafalque-in St Peter’s Basilica for public viewing. Instead, mourners will be invited to pay their respects while his body remains inside the coffin, with the lid removed. Francis will also be the first Pope in more than a century to be buried outside the Vatican. He will be laid to rest in the Basilica of St Mary Major, one of four major papal basilicas in Rome. A basilica is a church which has been granted special significance and privileges by the Vatican, and the major basilicas have a particular connection to the Pope.

The Pope’s death will set in motion a centuries-old ‘smoking’ process of electing a new Pope – chosen by the Catholic Church’s College of Cardinals: all men, appointed directly by the Pope and who are usually ordained Bishops. There are currently 252 Catholic Cardinals, 138 of whom are eligible to vote for the new Pope. The others are over the age of 80, which means they cannot take part in the election, although they can join in the debate over the selection.

During the time between the Pope’s death and the election of a new Pope, the College of Cardinals governs the Church.

The cardinals will be summoned to a meeting at the Vatican, followed by the Conclave, as the election is known, which is held in strict secrecy – no phones, no contact or communication with the outside world. The Conclave will be inside the famous Sistine Chapel – the ceiling and upper walls of which is painted by Michelangelo. The intent is that the Holy Spirit guides the election, free from politics or outside influence.

Individual cardinals vote for their preferred candidate until a winner is determined, a process, which can take several days. Each Cardinal writes the name of his chosen candidate on a ballot, folds it, and places it in a chalice on the altar. Then they pray, “ I call as my witness Christ The Lord who will be my judge”. A two-thirds majority is required to elect a Pope. After each round of voting, the ballots are burned. Chemicals are added to the smoke to signal the outcome. Black-no decision; white – we have a Pope. In previous centuries, voting has gone on for weeks or months. Some cardinals have even died during Conclaves.

The only clue on the progress of the election is the smoke that emerges twice a day from burning the cardinals’ ballot papers. Black smoke signals failure. The traditional white smoke means a Pope has been chosen. After the white smoke goes up, the new Pope normally appears within an hour on the balcony overlooking St Peter’s Square. A senior cardinal participating in the Conclave will announce the decision with the words “Habemus Papam”-Latin for “We have a Pope”. He will then introduce the new Pope by his chosen papal name, which may or may not be his original given name. Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, but he chose a different name for his papacy in honour of St Francis of Assisi.

The Pope/Pontiff/Holy Father then gives his first blessing, Urbi et Orbi (to the City and to the World). The bells of St. Peter’s ring and Christians around the world rejoice.

Of the 266 Popes chosen to date, 217 have been from Italy.

I hope to see a new Pope who would be meaningfully conservative, following strict Church doctrine, spreading the teachings of the Bible, and diligently minding the welfare of ‘His Flock’ all over the world.

The Biology of Sex

We, modern humans, have been living on Earth for more than three hundred thousand years and often the basic definitions of male-who is a man, and female-who is a woman, become fuzzy, lost in translation, and get challenged, confusing too. To complicate things we have people sliding in-between calling themselves transgenders.

This April, the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court, tasked with the legal definition of a woman under the UK’s Equality Act, ruled that the law defines women as people born biologically female. Wonder what took them so long to get into the X & Y chromosomes of sex? The five judges sitting on judgement gave an unanimous decision – woman in the Equality Law refers to biological women-based on biological sex. That means holders of a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC)- trans women – are not women in the eyes of the law. It makes it awfully clear that if a space or service is designated as women only, a person who was born male but identifies as a woman does not have a right to use that space or service.

This is a huge win for ‘real’ women, ‘real’ men, and sanity in the UK and the West. And has far-reaching consequences for the transgender community-it could restrict trans women from single-sex spaces such as toilets, prisons, and rape centres. Also leading to change in gender rules in various sports.

Going back to the reason why we are here.

In the year 2018 a law passed by the Scottish Parliament called for 50% female representation on the boards of Scottish Public Bodies. Its definition included trans women whose gender is legally affirmed with a GRC. This resulted in a campaign by, ‘For Woman Scotland (FWS)’ to challenge the law in court saying the Scottish Govt had overstepped its powers by effectively redefining the meaning of a woman. The FWS lost the case, it had filed, in a Scottish Court in 2022, but was allowed to take the matter to the UK Supreme Court, which then made the ‘biological’ judgement. Science indeed works!

Harry Potter Author, J K Rowling, a prominent supporter of the Group, said the verdict protected the rights of women and girls across the UK. It took three extraordinary tenacious Scottish women of the FWS, with an army behind them, to get this case heard in the Supreme Court. And win. You better not mess with Scottish Women!

To refresh our Biology Lessons: Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes (46 in total): one set comes from each biological parent. Out of the 23 pairs, one pair is the sex chromosomes, called the X and Y chromosomes. People with XX are assigned female at birth while people with XY are assigned male at birth. Though rare, other combinations of sex chromosomes are possible. The other 22 pairs are autosomes or non-sex chromosomes.

Biology has definitive answers to X and Y issues. No doubt at all.

Planet K2-18b

Biology is suddenly leaning-in everywhere. This real science is back with a bang?

Scientists, Astronomers in particular, are always up to crazy things. Inventing completely out-of-the-box or discovering something we never knew about.

In keeping with the science of things, a team of astronomers detected what they cautiously call the most promising signs to date of a possible bio-signature, or signs of past or present life linked to biological activity, on an Exoplanet named K2-18b. No definitive declaration as yet!

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, the team detected chemical fingerprints within the atmosphere of K2-18b that suggest the presence of Dimethyl Sulfide (DMS) and potentially Dimethyl Disulfide (DMDS). On Earth, both molecules are only produced by microbial life, typically marine phytoplankton.

K2-18b, located 124 light-years from Earth, could be a Hycean world: a potentially habitable planet entirely covered in liquid water with a hydrogen-rich atmosphere. Leading the study is Nikku Madhusudhan, Professor of Astrophysics and Exoplanetary science at the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy. Madhusudhan and his colleagues first theorised the concept of Hycean worlds in 2021 after determining there may be liquid water oceans on K2-18b.

The planet is located within the habitable zone of its star, meaning that the world is at just the right temperature and distance from the star to host liquid water on its surface.

However, other experts believe that while the results promise excitement, confirming the existence of life beyond Earth-and even deciding what type of exoplanet K2-18b is-will take much more time and data. Astrophysicist Sara Seager, a professor of Physics, Planetary Science, Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said independent teams have completely different interpretations of the planet itself.

Hycean refers to a newly proposed type of exoplanet, a portmanteau of ‘hydrogen’ and ‘ocean’. These are thought to be planets with vast liquid water oceans, like Earth, but also have thick hydrogen-rich atmospheres. They are larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune, making them a type of super-Earth or mini-Neptune. Hycean worlds are envisioned as having a significant amount of water, potentially covering the entire planet, similar to Earth. However, they also have a much thicker hydrogen-rich atmosphere than Earth, which could be a significant factor in their habitability.

Meanwhile, how do we get to K2-18b? We need another kind of Elon Musk to get the job done.

More biologically revealing stories coming-up. Find your own space with white, ‘smoking hot’ Freewheeling.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2024-35

About: the world this week, 25 August to 31 August 2024: a cool Israeli hostage rescue; the tale of Ukraine’s F-16s; the father of Telegram; caught in Space; and India at the Paris Paralympics 2024.

Everywhere

Israel Rescues

Last week, ceasefire talks to end the war in Gaza appeared pregnant, with a result almost swelling in sight, in sure-footed talks, which took place in Cairo, Egypt. However, an agreement could not be reached, and it was a return to ‘business of war-as usual’. Neither Hamas nor Israel agreed to several compromises presented by mediators. In the end, of course, the talks were described as ‘constructive’; and the process will continue, hoping for a break-through, some day.

This week, Israel launched ‘pre-emptive’ strikes to thwart a probably much larger Hezbollah barrage of rockets and drones, than the hundreds it launched into Israel this Sunday. Israel’s military ferociously struck Hezbollah launch sites with around 100 jets in one of the biggest clashes in more than 10 months of border warfare with the Lebanon-based, Iran-backed Hezbollah-a diehard supporter of Hamas.

Also, this week, Israeli special forces rescued a hostage, Kaid Farhan Elkadi, 52 – a Bedouin Arab who was kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October 2023- in a complex operation in the southern Gaza Strip. Acting on intelligence, while combing a network of tunnels in southern Gaza, Israeli forces found the hostage, alone, without his Hamas captors. Elkadi is the eighth hostage to be rescued alive in Gaza by Israel since the beginning of the war, in four separate operations-but he is the first to have been rescued alive from inside Hamas’ tunnel network underneath Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israel has agreed to a series of pauses in the fighting in Gaza, in September to allow young children in Gaza to be vaccinated for polio.

Juice & Moonfish

Over many months, Ukraine had lobbied hard to secure the United States made F-16 Fighter Aircraft to boost its defences (and also to strike at Russia). And finally, a few weeks ago, the F-16’s did arrive.

Two Ukraine Pilots had become the face of the campaign to get the F-16s. One was Oleksiy Mes, known as ‘Moonfish’ and the other was, Andriy Pilshchikov, known by the call sign ‘Juice’. It was an uphill battle, but Juice and Moonfish pulled through it together. They were young and enthusiastic, spoke good English and were willing to fight to get the US jets into Ukrainian skies. Flying the F-16 was their dream and when Juice died in a plane crash during a combat mission last August, Moonfish made it his goal to fulfil it.

This week, Moonfish himself was killed in a F-16 crash while repelling one of the biggest ever aerial attacks by Russia on Ukraine. The death of Moonfish is a major blow, as he was one of the few pilots trained to fly the ‘just-arrived’ F-16’s. The Ukrainian Defense Forces do not believe pilot error was behind the incident. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Ukrainian Air Force used the F-16 to destroy missiles and drones launched by Russia on Monday.

Rest in peace, Juice & Moonfish.

Telegram’s Father

Telegram is a messaging application boasting over 900 million users. It was founded by Pavel Durov-who is also its CEO-in the year 2013. Telegram is ranked as one of the major social media platforms alongside Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and WeChat. It is hugely popular in Russia, Ukraine, and other former Soviet Union countries.

Pavel Durov, 39, was born in Leningrad, Russia, and graduated from St. Petersburg State University. He now resides in Dubai, where Telegram is headquartered. And he is a dual citizen of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and France.

Telegram was banned in Russia in 2018, after Durov refused to hand over user data to the government. But, subsequently the ban was lifted in 2021. This served to ‘telegram’ tensions between Durov and various national governments over data privacy and content control. Durov left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with Russia’s demands to shut down opposition groups on the VK (VKontakte – meaning, In Contact) social network he founded when he was 22. He quit VK after a dispute with its Russia-linked owners and turned his focus on Telegram, which he founded with his brother Nikolai Durov. Given Pavel Durov’s social media skills, he is often cast as, ‘Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg’.

Telegram, has faced significant scrutiny over its moderation practices. It has been criticised for not effectively dealing with criminal activities and illegal content. Specifically, there are accusations that Telegram has been used to facilitate drug trafficking, distribute child sexual content, and commit fraud. Despite these claims, Telegram has consistently denied any failures in its moderation processes. The company argues that it does its best to comply with legal requirements and to maintain a safe platform for users. Telegram offers end-to-end encrypted messaging and allows users to create channels to disseminate information to followers. Its apparently unbreakable encryption has made Telegram a haven for extremists and conspiracy theorists.

This week, Telegram was in the spotlight after Pavel Durov was arrested when his private jet landed at Le Bourget Airport, north of Paris. French investigators had issued a warrant for Durov’s arrest as part of an inquiry into allegations of fraud, drug trafficking, organised crime, promotion of terrorism, and cyberbullying.

The allegations are that he failed to properly moderate the app’s content, allowing it to be used for illegal activities. And that Durov did not act to curb the criminal use of his platform. Telegram’s ability to let users create large groups and channels is part of what makes it popular, but it also means that harmful content can spread more easily.

This situation is unusual because, while social media leaders often face criticism from governments, it’s rare for one to be arrested over content issues.

In April 2014, Durov publicly refused to hand over data on Ukrainian protestors to Russian security agencies, and to block, the now dead, Russian Opposition Leader Alexi Navalny’s VK page. In 2024, Durov said Telegram should remain a neutral platform and not a player in geopolitics.

Pavel Durov is a libertarian, teetotaller, and vegetarian; he maintains an ascetic lifestyle and promotes freedom from personal possessions. He is not married. And claims to have fathered more than 100 children through sperm donation in 12 nations, since the year 2010. That’s an ‘encrypted Father’ written all over!

Caught in Space

The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest human made object ever to orbit Earth with a pressurised volume of approximately 900 cubic metres and a mass of over 400 metric tons. The ISS has been in orbit for about 25 years, and over 270 Astronauts have visited the Station during various periods. It can carry a crew of between 3 and 13, depending on the number of people and passenger vehicles during handover periods. It continually hosts a crew of seven.

Like a Lego set, each piece of the ISS was launched and assembled in space, using complex robotics systems and humans in spacesuits connecting fluid lines and electrical wires. Building the ISS required 36 US Space Shuttle assembly flights and 6 Russian Proton and Soyuz rocket launches. More launches are continuing as new modules are completed, become part of the ever ‘growing’, gigantic orbiting complex.

The ISS’s greatest accomplishment is as much a human achievement as it is a technological one-how best to plan, collaborate, and monitor the varied activities of the Program’s many organisations. An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the ISS. The main are, the USA, Russia, Japan, among others. It is also the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

ISS orbits at an altitude of between 370 and 460 km above Earth. It tends to fall towards Earth continually, due to atmospheric friction and requires periodic rocket firings to boost its orbit and get back on track. The ISS has an orbital inclination, which enables it to fly over 90% of the inhabited Earth.

Over the years, America’s NASA has been hooking up with private players to achieve its Space goals and ‘to spread the technology, and the risk’. To that end, Boeing and SpaceX came in handy: both were awarded billion-dollar contracts to provide commercial space flights for NASA’s astronauts.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX was quick off the starting blocks. In 2012, SpaceX’s Dragon cargo spacecraft made history when it became the first private spacecraft to berth with the ISS. And in March 2019, its Crew Dragon-the company’s spacecraft designed to carry astronauts into space- completed its first test mission to the ISS. Since then, Dragon has continued carrying cargo to the ISS. In 2020, SpaceX launched two NASA astronauts to the ISS aboard the Crew Dragon, making SpaceX the first private spaceflight company to send a crewed spacecraft to space. Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken left Earth for the space station on 30 May 2020 and safely returned home on 2 August 2020.

Meanwhile, the other kid in Space, Boeing was testing its Starliner Capsule and, finally getting its act together, launched Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, to the ISS, aboard the Starliner Capsule on 5 June 2024. Starliner’s launch to orbit was not perfect, having been delayed due to a minor helium leak, but its docking to the ISS was what most worried operators. Basically, during docking, the capsule experienced malfunctions in 5 of its 28 reaction control thrusters. Starliner also experienced problems on its way to the ISS, including helium leaks, which pushes fuel into the propulsion system. Several thrusters also did not work properly. Both NASA and Boeing therefore decided to extend the Starliner astronauts’ stay aboard the ISS while they troubleshooted the complication. And a solution hasn’t yet been defined. Safety is of concern because of a key issue with Starliner’s propulsion system-namely, its thrusters.

This week, NASA announced its final decision on the return of Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore aboard the ISS whose original eight-day space jaunt had turned into a nebulous multi-month excursion. They will return home not earlier than February 2025. Furthermore, NASA and Boeing jointly decided that Williams and Wilmore will not head back to Earth aboard the same Starliner capsule that brought them to the ISS. Rather, they will climb aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon for their descent back to Earth. A vessel dedicated for the purpose, the Crew-9 mission, will be modified to accommodate the Starliner astronauts. That capsule will only launch with two crew members in order to create space for Wilmore and Williams when the time comes to return to Earth, and it will also be reconfigured to carry more cargo, personal items, and Dragon-specific spacesuits for the Starliner duo.

SpaceX has since completed nine such flights with its Crew Dragon. Crew-9 would mark the tenth. Meanwhile, Boeing’s Starliner will return to Earth ‘un-crewed’, when it is technically ready to make the return journey home.

With the mission extended, a steady supply of oxygen and food is critical. NASA regularly conducts resupply missions delivering the essentials. Prolonged life in space accelerates destruction of red blood cells, which leads to anaemia. To combat the effects of weightlessness the crew follows a rigorous exercise routine called the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device, which simulates weightlifting to help maintain muscle and bone health.

Where is India in all of this? Only one Indian has ever been in Space until now, Rakesh Sharma, who flew in a Soviet Spacecraft, Soyuz T-11, in 1984 and spent 8 days in Space, aboard the Russian Spacecraft.

Recently, India’s Subhanshu Shukla and Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair were selected for the first ISRO-NASA mission to the ISS scheduled after October this year. Shukla will be the ‘Prime Astronaut’ (Nair will be the back-up) for the Axiom-4 Mission by a private space company called Axiom Space that will be launched by a SpaceX rocket. The Axiom Spacecraft would remain docked with the ISS for 14 days carrying cargo and supplies, besides the load of 4 Astronauts-Shukla from India and three others from Poland, Hungary, and the USA.

India at Paralympics 2024

It’s now customary that the country, which hosts the regular Summer Olympics also hosts the Paralympics, in the same year, following a formal agreement between the International Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee, to this effect.

With Paris having successfully conducted the Summer Olympics, it is now running the Paralympics between 28th August and 8th September, at venues in and around Paris.

India’s armless archer Sheetal Devi finished second in the women’s individual compound open ranking round with a stunning performance to directly make a round of 16 entry. Sheetal Devi, 17, from the State of Jammu & Kashmir who shoots with her legs-as she was born without arms-scored a total of 703 points out of a possible of 720. She was second, just one point behind Turkey’s Oznur Girdi who scored 704 points.

India won its first Gold Medal through Avani Lekhara in the 10m Air Rifle SH1 event. She becomes the first ever Indian athlete (male or female) to win back-to-back Gold Medals-in Tokyo 2020 and now in Paris 2024. She is also the first to win three Paralympic medals. She was 11 years old when a car accident left her with a spinal cord injury resulting in paralysis from waist down. Continuing with shooting, Manish Narwal won silver in the Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 Final. He suffers from a congenital infirmity in his right hand since childhood. Then, Mona Agarwal clinched bronze in the 10m Air Rifle. She is handicapped by Polio and cannot walk, confined to a wheelchair.

On the track, India’s Preeti Pal won a bronze in the women’s 100m final- the first for India in Paralympics track history. She suffers from an irregular leg posture since childhood. Six days after she was born, her body had to be plastered because of her weak legs and being prone to infections.

That’s Gold, Silver, and Bronze(s) for India!

More shooting stories coming up in the weeks ahead. Stay armed with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2021-25

About: the world this week, 13th June to 19th June 2021, Israel’s new ‘Iron Dome’, Aeroplanes, Biden-Putin Summit, Tennis, Euro Football, new Diamonds, and old movies.

Everywhere

Israel’s New Prime Minister

After 12 long years punctuated with steady hiccups, Israel got itself a new Prime Minister.

Naftali Bennett,49, was sworn in as Israel’s 13th Prime Minister (PM)this Sunday, taking over from Binyamin Netanyahu (Bibi), who stood strong like Israel’s famous Iron Dome, shooting down all attempts to dislodge him, until now. Bibi got so used to his hot seat in Parliament that after shaking hands with the new PM he ‘missile-d himself’ to his old seat and had to be gently diverted to find a new one.

Israel has always struggled with individual Parties winning an absolute majority – that’s number 61 – and it was coalition politics that ruled most of the time. Never short of tall Leaders with the crystal clear purpose of ensuring that Israel survives and thrives in an Ocean of Arabs, coalition governments, despite internal abrasion, always delivered the goods-the fights!

The new ‘Rotation Government’ won a razor-thin confidence vote, on 13th June, in Israel’s Parliament, The Knesset, with 60 votes for and 59 votes against.

Naftali Bennett had stitched together an extraordinary coalition of eight Parties comprising the entire ideological spectrum of Israel, ranging from ultra-nationalists, centrists, left-wing and Arab-Israeli parties, following the Legislative Elections in March 2021. Himself a former aide to Netanyahu, while in the Likud Party, Bennett is the leader of a nationalist party, Yamina, which is one of the smallest in the new coalition. He positioned himself between those loyal to Netanyahu and those opposed to him and when Yair Lapid, the Leader of the Opposition and the head of the Yesh Atid Party, offered Bennett the first two years of the new Prime Minister’s term, a rotation deal was struck. Yair Lapid will hopefully take-over after two years, if the bits & pieces government lasts that long.

Naftali Bennet is the youngest son, of three, born to Jewish immigrants from the United States who settled down in Israel. He is married to Gilat, a professional Pastry Chef and a Parent Counsellor, and the couple have four children.

Bennet served in the Israeli Defence Forces commanding many combat operations. After his service period, while remaining a Reserve, he became a Software Technical Entrepreneur and went on to make millions before entering politics. He brings to the table working experience as Minister of Diaspora Affairs, Minister of Education, and Minister of Defence. That’s an Iron Dome in itself.

He is a strong advocate of the Jewish Nation State insisting on Jewish historical and religious claims to the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

Tough times lie ahead for the Palestinian Terrorists if they try to whack Israel. In fact, they tried a trick this week, launching fire balloons into Israel, and got what they hoped for, air-strikes in the Gaza.

Airbus & Boeing

The two biggest aircraft manufacturers in the world are Airbus-made in the European Union (EU)-and Boeing-made in the United States of America (USA). Most fliers must have flown more often in one of them than in any other Aircraft.

The competition between Boeing & Airbus was so intense that over the years Governments started unfairly propping up their respective flagship plane-makers by providing subsidies and imposing tariffs. And this trade-war kept flying for near about 17 years.

Then, The World Trade Organisation (WTO) noticed, and in parallel cases, in separate rulings in 2019 and 2020, ruled that the EU and the USA provided illegal support and violated trade rules in keeping their respective Aircraft manufacturers in flight.

This week the EU’s European Council (EC) President Ursula Von Der Leyen and US President Joe Biden met at a summit in Brussels, and the US and the EU have agreed a truce in the 17-year trade dispute over subsidies for Boeing and Airbus.

Under the agreement, both sides will lift taxes on goods, including wine, cheese and tractors, for five years. The tariffs, imposed by both sides as punishment in the escalating dispute, had already been suspended in March this year, while they tried to resolve matters.

Meanwhile, China-supported by Russia-began scaling and ramping-up its plane-making skills and is beginning to pose a stern challenge. China’s Comac is already in the final stages of developing the C919-a plane designed as a direct rival to Airbus’ A320 Neo and the Boeing 737 Max. In the Long term, it has a partnership with Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation, to develop a larger, wide-body jet.

That’s stiff competition flying in the air. And China is everywhere.

A Little More of Less Space

Taking-off from the Airbus-Boeing drama, and perhaps to get a better perspective, from above, this week, China successfully launched three of its Astronauts into Space through its Shenzhaou-12 Spaceship. And six and half hours later the Astronauts docked with and cooly entered the country’s under-construction Space Station.

In other Space News, Mauritius launched its first ever Satellite, MIR-SAT 1, piggy-backing on SpaceX’s Falcon-9 Rocket, from the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, USA.

Isn’t Space getting crowded? Time to build Street Lights out there?

Biden & Putin

The Villa La Grange is an 18th century storied manor house, at the centre of the Parc La Grange – one of Geneva’s largest and most popular parks – and located on the shores of Lake Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. The site is known for lush green gardens and its role as a ‘mystical setting’ for many important moments in the struggle between war and peace in this world. The Villa’s, over 15,000 works Library is the only room holding on to the original decorative features and serves as a perfect backdrop for looking into one’s eyes and seeing the soul – how deep is my love?

This Wednesday, the Villa hosted a face-to-face meeting between the US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the Library. This was to talk things over and thaw the ice-cold relations between them. The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov were also in the Library, at arms length, reading the book titles.

The meeting, being a first, between the two as heads of their countries was a cordial sizing-up one, straying into arms control, browsing into cybersecurity (we didn’t hack anything, said Putin), gunning for release of prisoners, agreeing on return of Ambassadors to their seats, starting nuclear talks, and touching upon the imprisonment of Russia’s Leader of the Opposition, Alexei Lavalny (he broke the law, said Putin).

Both leaders stayed rooted in their positions and became part of the lush green landscape. We have to look for greener pastures, elsewhere!

French Open 2021

The French Open, after a ‘pressing mental struggle’ at the start, picked up and delivered powerful games of Tennis on the clay courts of Roland Garros, raising dust.

On the Women’s side unseeded Czech, Barbora Krejcikova 25, beat Russian, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova,29, to win the Women’s title, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4. This was her first Grand Slam Singles title. That wasn’t all, Barbora Krejcikova teamed-up with Katerina Siniakova to win the Women’s Doubles title too, one of the few do so in one Tournament. Overall, Barbora now has seven Grand Slam Titles under her belt having previously won doubles and mixed- doubles Titles.

Barbora lost her coach, Jana Novotna – a 1998 Wimbledon Champion – to cancer in 2017. And was sure she was proudly looking at her from up above and volleying her the blessings.

In the Men’s Game, Serbian Novok Djokovic beat Greek Stefanous Tsitsipas to win his 19th Tennis Grand Slam Title. Two other old warriors were waiting for him at that level: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal with 20 Grand Slam titles each. Djokovic had just one Grand Slam Title to his name in 2010, and he has been sprinting like hell, to get this far.

I watched the finals and was impressed with Tsitsipas. He has a terrific a backhand, but was let down by his forehand, drop shots, unforced errors, and his nerves. He should look up to ice-cool Bjorn Borg, who was on stage to present the Trophies. I’m sure we’ll see him winning more Titles in the years to come.

UEFA Euro 2020 (2021)

The Union of European Football Associations (UEPA) is the governing body of European football and the umbrella organisation for 55 national associations across Europe. It holds the Euro Football Championship every year.

Last year, Euro 2020 was scheduled from 12 June to 12 July 2020, but got postponed – by a whole year – due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year it is being held between 11 June and 11 July 2021 in eleven host cities across the continent for the first time in the 60-year history of the Tournament. And it retains the name ‘UEFA Euro 2020’. Why not?

On the second day of Euro 2020 it suffered a heart-attack when Danish footballer Christian Eriksen suddenly collapsed on the pitch during Denmark’s game against Finland. Turns out he had a cardiac arrest. The Emergency Medical Services team was quick to act and CPR (CardioPulmonary Resuscitation) was started straight away on Eriksen, followed by use of an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) which saved him. He was moved to a hospital and has crossed the danger zone. It’s unclear how a cardiac arrest can suddenly occur to a healthy person and player at this sporting level of football.

Pain in Spain

The Canary Islands (Canaries) is a Spanish archipelago off the coast of northwestern Africa in the Atlantic Ocean, known for their black and white sand beaches. The Islands once contained dogs (canes) of very large size and the original inhabitants used to worship dogs.

Tenerife is the largest Island and its coast is the scene of a horrific, monstrous crime, which brought a shaken Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to say, ‘the whole country is in shock’.

Tomas Gimeno and Beatriz Zimmermann had dated since they were teenagers, but broke up last year during the pandemic. Between them, they had two children, Olivia, six years old, and Anna, just one year old.

Anna and Olivia went missing on 27 April 2021 after Tomas arranged to spend an afternoon with them. He is also missing, presumed dead. A judge was then called to investigate.

The investigating judge says that Tomas most likely murdered his daughters to ‘cause the greatest pain imaginable to their mother’. He killed his daughters in his house on the day they went missing, put them in bags, drove to the Port, sailed his boat to the deep waters off the coast of Tenerife and threw them overboard, after weighting the bags down with heavy objects. He did this after announcing to his ex-wife and his relatives that he was leaving with Olivia and Anna and that they would never be seen again. The next morning the boat was found drifting at sea.

After 44 days of searching, Olivia’s body was found in a bag at a depth of 1000m. A bag next to it was empty. And the body of Anna is yet to be found.

Tomas had left his pet dog, bank cards with the PIN numbers, and car keys at his parents’ house. He gifted his new girlfriend USD 7500 in cash with a goodbye letter.

The investigation says that Tomas would often send his ex-wife insulting and offensive messages after both had moved on to form new relationships.

The incident has sparked nationwide protests in Spain against gender based violence, given Spain’s scorecard on this aspect. Since the year 2013, Spain has seen 39 minors killed either by their father, or a partner, or former partner of their mother.

In another story, a Spanish Man, Alberto Sanchez Gomez, aged 28 was sentenced to 15 years in prison for ‘killing and eating’ his mother, two years ago.

Police arrived at the home in Eastern Madrid in February 2019 after a friend raised concerns about the mother, Maria Soledad Gomez, who was in her 60s. Sanchez had strangled his mother during a dispute, then dismembered and ate parts of her body over the following two weeks, feeding some to his dog.

Unbelievable, what’s becoming of us humans? Return of the Cannibals?

Diamonds Are Forever

Diamonds are formed over billions of years under conditions of intense heat and pressure in the Earth’s crust and are normally found at a depth of between 150 and 200 kilometres (km) below the Earth’s surface.

Rough diamonds are usually classified as being gem-quality, near-gem or industrial-quality, depending on their colour, clarity, size and shape.

The largest diamond discovered in the world is the 3,106 carat Cullinan Diamond found in South Africa in the year 1905. The Cullinan was subsequently cut into smaller stones, some of which form part of British Royal Family’s Crown Jewels.

The second largest discovery is believed to be the Lesedi La Rona, a 1,109-carat stone found by Canadian firm Lucara Diamond at the Karowe mine in Botswana, Africa, in 2015.

Now, what is considered to be the third largest gem-quality diamond ever found is a 1,098-carat stone that has been unearthed in the Jwaneng Mine, also in Botswana, about 120 km from the country’s capital, Gaborone. The mine is operated by Debswana, a diamond company jointly owned by Botswana’s Government and the De Beers Group.

The Jwaneng Mine was opened in 1982 and usually yields between 12.5 million and 15 million carats of diamonds a year. This month’s find is the largest gem unearthed by the company since diamonds were first discovered in Botswana in 1967.

The diamond was presented to President Mokgweetsi Masisi this Wednesday.

Reminds me of India’s very own famous Kohinoor Diamond, mined in Golconda, Andhra Pradesh, which was one of the largest cut diamonds at about 105 carats.

It is now with the United Kingdom, gifted-away by India’s then Kings, to the British and on display at the Jewel House, Tower of London, London. It’s a never-ending story, ‘We’ll get the Kohinoor back to India’

Please Yourself

‘Love and work, work and love, that’s all that there is’. You’re never wrong to do the right thing’.

Over the weekend I watched the perky generation-gap fable, The Intern, the 2015 film starring Robert De Niro-as Ben Whittaker- and Anne Hathaway-as Jules Ostin- Rene Russo-as Fiona, written and directed by Nancy Meyers.

A retired 70 years old, clean-image widower,Ben, of the yesteryear analogue workforce joins as a Senior Intern at a digital online Fashion Retailer. He goes on to sparkle wisdom on work-life balance, on the overloaded, constantly texting, and emailing young Founder, Jules, who has a very young daughter and a stay-at-home husband. He scintillates even better and has the juices oozes through every pore, after being beautifully massaged by Office Masseuse, Fiona. Ben even finds a wild analogue solution to recall an obnoxious email sent by Jules to her mother – he forms a gang to physically steal the computer from the mother’s house before it can be opened to read mail!

Watch it for the wonderful chemistry between De Niro and Anne Hathaway and massage physics between De Niro and Rene Russo. And how to set-up a new Facebook Account. If you have a problem, just call Jules!

What I saw and was inspired by was, the impeccable dressing of Ben with his die-hard ‘cannot be found these days’ leather briefcase, awesome tie-collection, and supremely calm and dignified demeanour. He was the online Fashion Company’s best offline mascot, if ever there was one!

Have a great week ahead. Dress to kill. Remember, tuck-in, button-up, and wear that tie- may earn you more than a massage!