Think Pieces reviewed and written by Lakshmi and Seetha Ram

Feb. 22 is Cat Day, as the Japanese word for two, or "ni," sounds similar to a cat's cry of "nyan" (meow). This year's Cat Day was seen as particularly special, since 2022 brought the total number of twos in the date to six. https://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0008307208  

https://metro.co.uk/2022/02/16/apparently-there-are-six-types-of-procrastinator-which-one-are-you-16116789/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-intl-en

Railways running high-speed trains on elevated tracks: Vaishnaw https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/railways-running-high-speed-trains-on-elevated-tracks-vaishnaw/articleshow/89411224.cms

Railways eyes door-to-door delivery https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/railways-eyes-door-to-door-delivery/articleshow/89580867.cms

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/bjp-candidate-a-godse-supporter-wins/article65075197.ece

Monarch stays mindful of pain amid pandemicTHE JA­PAN TIMES AGENCY The Japan Times 23-Feb-2022 Read more at: https://epaper.japantimes.co.jp/article/281646783580154 This email was sent to you by a user of The Japan Times. The The Japan Times service contains copyrighted material, trade marks, and other proprietary information. Receipt of this email should not be interpreted as grant of any licenses express or implied, to the intellectual property of PressReader, PressReader Inc. or The Japan Times presented. ©2014-2020 The Japan Times, All rights reserved. Terms of Use  |  Privacy Policy

Efforts underway to save Ainu language and cultureThe Japan Times 21-Feb-2022 Read more at: https://epaper.japantimes.co.jp/article/281706913118326 This email was sent to you by a user of The Japan Times. The The Japan Times service contains copyrighted material, trade marks, and other proprietary information. Receipt of this email should not be interpreted as grant of any licenses express or implied, to the intellectual property of PressReader, PressReader Inc. or The Japan Times presented. ©2014-2020 The Japan Times, All rights reserved. Terms of Use  |  Privacy Policy

Efforts underway to save Ainu language and cultureThe Japan Times 21-Feb-2022 Read more at: https://epaper.japantimes.co.jp/article/281706913118326 This email was sent to you by a user of The Japan Times. The The Japan Times service contains copyrighted material, trade marks, and other proprietary information. Receipt of this email should not be interpreted as grant of any licenses express or implied, to the intellectual property of PressReader, PressReader Inc. or The Japan Times presented. ©2014-2020 The Japan Times, All rights reserved. Terms of Use  |  Privacy Policy

A guide for wannabe leadership gurus from TheEconomist https://www.economist.com/business/2022/02/19/a-guide-for-wannabe-leadership-gurus

Can the ed-tech boom last? from TheEconomist https://www.economist.com/business/2022/02/19/can-the-ed-tech-boom-last

India's Omicron wave recedes, but not the risk of premature death from TheEconomist https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/02/17/indias-omicron-wave-recedes-but-not-the-risk-of-premature-death

https://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/the-dramatic-fall-of-an-institution-builder/article65064836.ece

Japan to develop next-gen hydrogen engine for aircraft - The Japan News https://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0008288330

Deriding women's complaints about equal pay is costlyCHRIS HUGHES BLOOMBERG The Japan Times 19-Feb-2022 Read more at: https://epaper.japantimes.co.jp/article/281788517493536 This email was sent to you by a user of The Japan Times. The The Japan Times service contains copyrighted material, trade marks, and other proprietary information. Receipt of this email should not be interpreted as grant of any licenses express or implied, to the intellectual property of PressReader, PressReader Inc. or The Japan Times presented. ©2014-2020 The Japan Times, All rights reserved. Terms of Use  |  Privacy Policy

Investment in health systems needed to ensure securityACHIM STEINER AND KEIZO TAKEMI CON­TRIBUT­ING WRIT­ERS But beyond case counts, variants and interruptions to daily life, COVID-19 has exposed the deep inequities and weaknesses in our health systems.  The Japan Times 19-Feb-2022 Weak global med­i­cal care ex­ac­er­bated the pan­demic, hurt­ing hu­man de­vel­op­ment Read more at: https://epaper.japantimes.co.jp/article/281792812460832 This email was sent to you by a user of The Japan Times. The The Japan Times service contains copyrighted material, trade marks, and other proprietary information. Receipt of this email should not be interpreted as grant of any licenses express or implied, to the intellectual property of PressReader, PressReader Inc. or The Japan Times presented. ©2014-2020 The Japan Times, All rights reserved. Terms of Use  |  Privacy Policy

JR East tests greener hydrogen-hybrid trainThe Japan Times 19-Feb-2022 Read more at: https://epaper.japantimes.co.jp/article/281629603703584 This email was sent to you by a user of The Japan Times. The The Japan Times service contains copyrighted material, trade marks, and other proprietary information. Receipt of this email should not be interpreted as grant of any licenses express or implied, to the intellectual property of PressReader, PressReader Inc. or The Japan Times presented. ©2014-2020 The Japan Times, All rights reserved. Terms of Use  |  Privacy Policy

"At room temperature, there's so much energy bouncing those water molecules around that within picoseconds, any structure that existed is gone," Lord said. "Not only is there no evidence of water memory in practical, everyday life, when you get down to the molecular level and observe any structure that might exist, it's transient, it's gone within a picosecond." https://nautil.us/novak-djokovic-and-the-healing-water-crystals-13904/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-intl-en

The results of the experiments suggest that it doesn't require a lifetime or many lifetimes to see your true nature. https://psyche.co/ideas/to-experience-zen-like-awakening-try-going-the-headless-way?utm_source=pocket-newtab-intl-en

https://www.thedriftmag.com/what-was-the-ted-talk/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-intl-en

Have you read this one? The rising reservoir of global savings, most of which is held in bank deposits, bonds, corporate equity and property, has been fed by three main tributaries: governments hungry for foreign-exchange reserves, penny-pinching households and firms, and workers nearing retirement age. Perhaps most important, people in retirement do not tend to spend everything. Rather, for a number of motives—to avoid outliving their savings, or to provide for heirs, among others—they tend to maintain large stocks of wealth well into retirement. https://www.economist.com/briefing/2022/02/05/why-the-world-is-saving-too-much-money-for-its-own-good  

https://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0008263054 After uncompromising training with his father, an 18-year-old figure skater ascended the Olympic podium, a distinction his father had been unable to achieve a generation earlier. Yuma Kagiyama, a silver medalist in men's figure skating at the Beijing Winter Olympics, is a third-year high school student who has been developing his skill under his father's coaching.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/community-toilets-get-a-makeover/article38407801.ece

Tracing the Arakawa, Japan's most dangerous water sourceALEX K.T. MARTIN CHICHIBU, SAITAMA PREF. STAFF WRITER The Japan Times 07-Feb-2022 While sup­ply­ing Tokyo with drink­ing wa­ter, the river has also been prone to deadly floods over the cen­turies Read more at: https://epaper.japantimes.co.jp/article/281625308710844 This email was sent to you by a user of The Japan Times. The The Japan Times service contains copyrighted material, trade marks, and other proprietary information. Receipt of this email should not be interpreted as grant of any licenses express or implied, to the intellectual property of PressReader, PressReader Inc. or The Japan Times presented. ©2014-2020 The Japan Times, All rights reserved. Terms of Use  |  Privacy Policy

The other threat to democracy | The Japan Times A third symptom is the rise of social-media chatter as a dominant influence on politicians' views and decisions. As a journalist, I personally know prominent leaders who are addicted to Twitter and spend a considerable part of their days on it. Twitter becomes their reality, while their constituents continue to live in the real world. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2022/02/07/commentary/world-commentary/democracy-threat/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2022/02/07/commentary/world-commentary/democracy-threat/?utm_source=pianoDNU&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=72&pnespid=5_CWwpJXuPPL9K_39RSxpeIY5k4J.zBrygZ2RRJro0KVa5pTTJgD2W1Hipw9vqIXJYFQ

Body language in the post-pandemic workplace from TheEconomist ommunication is an essential part of leadership. And body language is an essential part of communication. On these slim pillars rests a mini-industry of research and advice into how executives can influence, encourage and ascend without needing to say a word. The pandemic has made much of it redundant. https://www.economist.com/business/2022/02/05/body-language-in-the-post-pandemic-workplace

A new study finds preschool can be detrimental to children from TheEconomist The new study complicates the picture further. Researchers at Vanderbilt University followed nearly 3,000 disadvantaged Tennessee children, some of whom were randomly assigned places in a free pre-k programme. Like previous studies they found that attending preschool made children better-prepared for kindergarten. But the benefits ended there. Between third and sixth grade, the children who attended preschool did worse on standardised tests, had lower school attendance, racked up more disciplinary infractions and needed more special-education services. https://www.economist.com/united-states/2022/02/03/a-new-study-finds-preschool-can-be-detrimental-to-children

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/aware-of-data-theft-concerns-on-e-passports-says-jaishankar/article38379401.ece

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/explained-when-will-new-vande-bharat-trains-be-launched/article38385706.ece

https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/lata-mangeshkar-the-nightingale-of-bollywood/article38383794.ece

https://youtu.be/VF8RMZZXlWg She immortalized herself by singing songs that we are never tired of listening over and over again  -- Best regards, Seetha Ram

Children who wear face masks all the time see their marks go down 20% - Japan Today The brain needs oxygen. Masked, we get less. It's not a large leap from there to an alarming suspicion. A rapid, general, hopefully temporary intellectual decline is detectable as the third year of the virus begins. College entrance exam results were markedly down in 2021 – 20 points on average from 2020.  https://japantoday.com/category/features/kuchikomi/children-who-wear-face-masks-all-the-time-see-their-marks-go-down-20 ?

Toilet humor with a moral message MARK SCHILLING CONTRIBUTING WRITER The Japan Times 3 Feb 2022 Popran ★★★☆☆ 98 MINS.; JAPANESE; NOW SHOWING Shinichiro Ueda had the great luck to direct a once-in-a-career hit, the 2018 zombie comedy "One Cut of the Dead." Propelled by overwhelmingly positive word-of-mouth, it earned more than a thousand times... read more... © 2003-2021 PressReader Inc. . All rights reserved.

Have you read this one? About nine out of 10 people in the UK now own a smartphone, a figure broadly replicated across the developed world. And we are glued to them - one recent study found that the average person spends 4.8 hours a day on their handset. Yet for a small, but growing number of people, enough is enough.  https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60067032?utm_source=pocket-newtab-intl-en