Think Pieces reviewed and written by Lakshmi and Seetha Ram

Grand theft water and the calculus of compliance | Nature Sustainability Water crises constitute a challenge for humanity. Uncertain supply and growing demand are driving higher water theft, particularly by agricultural users who account for approximately 70% of global use. However, research into water theft is underexplored in all disciplines. This paper provides a conceptual framework and modelling approach designed to improve understanding of both individual and institutional barriers to water theft.  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-0589-3

Business leaders coined the slogan "with corona" to describe their philosophy of reducing risk while living with the virus. Both the Tokyo governor, Yuriko Koike, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe popularized the phrase as a guiding principle for the country's coronavirus response. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/09/world/asia/japan-coronavirus-jleague-soccer.html?referringSource=articleShare

Megacities after coronavirus - Japan Today Prior to the epidemic, the question was whether megacities had become too dominant, leaving other areas behind, and too unaffordable; now it is also whether they have become too unsafe and can recapture their past benefits. https://japantoday.com/category/features/opinions/column-megacities-after-coronavirus-kemp

https://www.thersa.org/discover/videos/rsa-animate RSA Animate The RSA Animate series was conceived as an innovative, accessible and unique way of illustrating and sharing the world-changing ideas from the  RSA's free public events programme . With millions of views and thousands of comments, fans and subscribers, RSA Animates have revolutionised the field of knowledge visualisation whilst spreading the most important ideas of our time. —

Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad speech at Sathya Sai baba Ashram, Prasanthi Nilayam India is certainly a place for science, innovation and technology. But also remember one thing - India is the chosen place on earth for divinity! That will remain the first and the ultimate calling of India.  How do you explain India geographically? You go deep north in the Himalayas and you find Badrinath where Badri Vishal (Lord Vishnu) resides. You go a little east and there you will find Kedarnath where Mahadeva resides. You go deep south to the tip of the Indian Ocean and there is Kanyakumari, the Mahadevi.  You go a little further in this proud land of Andhra Pradesh and you will find Lord Vishnu as Venkateshwara residing in the hills of Tirupati. You go deep east and you have Devi Kamakhya residing in the hills of Assam. You go deep east further and you have Lord Jagannatha residing in Puri. You go deep west and you have Lord Somnath in Gujarat and a little ahead you have Lord Krishna in Dwaraka. They ar...

Bill Gates Says These Are the 2 Questions He Always Asks When Solving Big Problems | Inc.com In reality, it breaks down into three important leadership traits: First, know what you don't know. Then, know where to find information, and finally, be willing to learn. https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/bill-gates-says-these-are-2-questions-he-always-asks-when-solving-big-problems.html

India's First Bullet Train Project May Get Delayed by 5 Years Due to COVID-19 Crisis https://www.india.com/business/indias-first-bullet-train-project-may-get-delayed-by-5-years-due-to-covid-19-crisis-4132506/ https://www-india-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.india.com/business/indias-first-bullet-train-project-may-get-delayed-by-5-years-due-to-covid-19-crisis-4132506/amp/

Speaking into writing relies on a much better human brain than the one we currently possess. Writing is hard. There's a reason it can't be done at the speed of speech, in real time. https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2020/09/05/is-it-possible-to-write-using-speech-to-text-software

 Japan provides a useful lesson. Governments must be careful to ensure that this necessary effort to ensure the survival of small firms in the short term does not permit stagnation in the long term.
Abenomics will almost certainly outlast the prime minister who introduced it.  https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2020/09/03/did-abenomics-work

Governments that have embraced the idea of digitising their services—and invested in them—have performed admirably.  https://www.economist.com/international/2020/09/01/covid-19-is-spurring-the-digitisation-of-government

Travel in China Passes New Milestone With Air-Rail Ticketing Tie-Up - Caixin Global China's rail operator and one of its top three state-owned airlines have rolled out a product integrating their tickets, a first-of-its kind national tie-up connecting the nation's vast air network with its equally vast high-speed rail system that extends into smaller cities. https://www.caixinglobal.com/2020-08-27/travel-in-china-passes-new-milestone-with-air-rail-ticketing-tie-up-101597965.html https://www.caixinglobal.com/2020-08-27/travel-in-china-passes-new-milestone-with-air-rail-ticketing-tie-up-101597965.html?Sfrom=twitter&cxg=web&rkey=4jojc+U9Dvsngy8ZDEibRfFL/E7ci4pKq0K+X1asgd4ooOyN0ND6Xw%3D%3D

Beijing powers up high-speed rail link to Tibet - Asia Times Beijing wants a new quasi-high-speed rail artery being built on the world's highest plateau to be up and running in five to eight years to make the alpine Tibet region more accessible from inland provinces. The call to rev up construction of the Sichuan-Tibet railway was issued during a two-day Communist Party Politburo meeting on Tibet presided over by President Xi Jinping.  The 1,742-kilometer line between Chengdu, capital of the western Sichuan province and a rail transportation hub, and the Tibetan capital Lhasa leads the pack of infrastructure projects either being planned or ready to start.  https://asiatimes.com/2020/09/beijing-powers-up-high-speed-rail-link-to-tibet/

How China's rail network highlights the power of the old to shock | South China Morning Post As the World Bank notes on the release of a recent report on China's rail development: "China's high speed rail development sits somewhere between a shining example of infrastructure planning, and a cautionary tale of unsustainable government subsidy." https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3100215/how-chinas-rail-network-highlights-power-old-shock

Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project May Fail To Meet 2023 Deadline Due To Coronavirus Pandemic https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/mumbai-ahmedabad-bullet-train-project-may-fail-to-meet-2023-deadline-due-to-coronavirus-pandemic-2290713

This year, though, its Doing Business (db) index has itself been ensnared in procedural problems. On August 27th the Bank said that publication of the next set of rankings would be delayed. https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2020/09/05/the-world-banks-business-rankings-mess

Water and Sanitation - How to make public investment work A Handbook for Finance Ministers This Handbook is a call to action for ministers of finance, with inspirational case studies and forward-looking sector perspectives. It is part of an initiative by the Sanitation and Water for All global partnership to provide succinct insights and curated knowledge to ministers working in the water and sanitation sector. https://www.sanitationandwaterforall.org/handbook-finance-ministers-how-make-public-investment-work — Best Regards Seetha Ram

To upgrade the country's railway system, the NDA government has laid the roadmap for long-term partnerships with the private sector. Last year, an empowered group of secretaries headed by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant presided over this subject to expedite the process. The Chairman Railway Board, Secretaries of Department of Economic Affairs, Housing and Urban Affairs and Railway Board Financial Commissioner were other members of the panel. Railway Board's Member (Engineering) and Member (Traffic) were co-opted in the committee as the two subjects are the domains of the two Board Members. The panel also looked into the redevelopment of railway stations through private participation. https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-why-private-firms-are-being-invited-to-run-trains-in-india-6531252/ — Best Regards Seetha Ram https://www.adb.org/publications/handbook-high-speed-rail-quality-life 

"Not many end users are willing to go back to the wet market," said Ms. Goo, adding that her company's sales had roughly doubled during the pandemic. "So I think the whole business model will continue to change." https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/03/world/asia/malaysia-vertical-farm-coronavirus.html?referringSource=articleShare

Highly sensitive PCR tests seemed like the best option for tracking the coronavirus at the start of the pandemic. But for the outbreaks raging now, he said, what's needed are coronavirus tests that are fast, cheap and abundant enough to frequently test everyone who needs it — even if the tests are less sensitive. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/29/health/coronavirus-testing.html?referringSource=articleShare

'Debt trap' diplomacy is a card China seldom plays in Belt and Road initiative | The Japan Times BRI responds to a genuine need in the developing world and China has shown a knack for learning from its mistakes. Done properly, a massive investment project will spread influence and project power. Countries such as Japan, the United States and Australia should be engaged as well, providing funds of course, but also by developing and enforcing a framework that ensures that assistance works as intended. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2020/09/01/commentary/debt-trap-diplomacy-bri-china/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2020/09/01/commentary/debt-trap-diplomacy-bri-china/?utm_source=piano&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=72&pnespid=OtEoil2mfjwALn8hy3cLyLfbgQO_Ntdvso2m

In Myanmar, everyone swears by this natural skin cosmetic When did human beings first decorate their oldest canvas: the body? https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/09/myanmar-everyone-natural-skin-cosmetic-thanaka/ https://www.google.co.jp/amp/s/api.nationalgeographic.com/distribution/public/amp/history/2020/09/myanmar-everyone-natural-skin-cosmetic-thanaka

The riverfront redevelopment model is being copied by several other Indian cities, from New Delhi to Mumbai https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jan/16/a-three-generation-project-riverside-development-divides-indian-city

'Social cryptomnesia': How societies steal ideas - BBC Future When an initially minority view becomes mainstream, what often follows is a society-scale forgetfulness about its originators. This is social cryptomnesia. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200827-social-cryptomnesia-how-society-steals-ideas

Over all, the scientists found, the women's bodies produced more so-called T cells, which can kill virus-infected cells and stop the infection from spreading. Men showed much weaker activation of T cells, and that lag was linked to how sick the men became. The older the men, the weaker their T cell responses. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/health/coronavirus-men-immune.html?referringSource=articleShare

Prepare for the next disaster with mutual support agreements | The Japan Times One thing the COVID-19 pandemic has clearly demonstrated is the interdependence of the world. An epidemic in one country quickly became a regional and then worldwide pandemic.  https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2020/08/31/commentary/japan-commentary/prepare-next-disaster-mutual-support-agreements/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2020/08/31/commentary/japan-commentary/prepare-next-disaster-mutual-support-agreements/?utm_source=piano&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=72&pnespid=Otkwnka.dioAGHf4BsRnHH_ZUTAyDTBcyjgb

Enhancing agriculture potential in developing countries during the COVID-19 crisis - Asia Pathways The major economic loss for agricultural production in much of the developing world is due to post-harvest losses. Major losses result from a lack of infrastructure and post-harvest processing machinery support at the rural level. https://www.asiapathways-adbi.org/2020/09/enhancing-agriculture-potential-developing-countries-during-covid-19-crisis/