Author | Lightnews

How the Smart Cities Mission represents another nail in the coffin of local democracy in India

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Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · 21d

#SmartCityMission represents another nail in t coffin of #India's #LocalDemocracy rather than its executioner. SCM has come to an end & t future of SPVs is uncertain

Implementing projects through SPV AlteredBalance between levels of govt with a CentralisingVision & control
scroll.in/article/1087...

Implementing projects through Special Purpose Vehicles altered the balance between the levels of government with a centralising vision and control.

Survey reveals gaps in Bengaluru’s healthcare service for the elderly

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Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · 25d

Survey reveals gaps in #Bengaluru’s #HealthcareService for the #elderly

Covering 13 #PublicHealthFacilities, found poor #PhysicalAccessibility, cumbersome #RegistrationProcesses, & illogical OperatingHours as major stumbling blocks for t elderly

#GeriatricCare
www.deccanherald.com/india/karnat...

The survey, covering 13 public health facilities (PHCs), found poor physical accessibility, cumbersome registration processes, and illogical operating hours as major stumbling blocks for elderly perso...

www.deccanherald.com

Do strong friendships slow down ageing? Science says yes

Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · 28d

Do #StrongFriendships slow down #ageing?
Study finds that people who build strong, supportive relationships over their lifetime don’t just feel younger—their bodies may actually AgeMoreSlowly

#AgeingWell means staying healthy & staying connected—they’re inseparable
www.firstpost.com/health/stron...

A new study has found that people who build strong, supportive relationships over their lifetime don’t just feel younger, but their bodies may actually age more slowly. Published in the journal Brain,...

www.firstpost.com

How our minds trick us into thinking we are being greener than we really are

Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · Sep 25

How our #minds #trick us into #thinking we are being #greener than we really are

This #MentalGlitch is called the #NegativeFootprintIllusion, & it matters for how we #shop, how #businesses #market themselves & how govts #design #ClimatePolicies

#SummativePriming
theconversation.com/how-our-mind...

Adding “green” products to your food basket doesn’t reduce its carbon footprint – even though we think it does.

Nepal’s ‘Gen Z revolt’ is taking Sri Lanka’s path of relative calm to restoring democracy

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Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · Sep 25

#Nepal’s #GenZrevolt is taking #SriLanka’s path of relative calm to #RestoringDemocracy

Like t #SriLankanArmy, t #NepalArmy has played a commendable role in t formation of t interim government

Unlike t #BangladeshiArmy, it is not trying to call the shots

#PoliticalUnrest
scroll.in/article/1086...

The Himalayan country’s military has not tried to seize control, unlike in Bangladesh where the army is trying to call the shots and political unrest continues.

Collapse of critical Atlantic current is no longer low-likelihood, study finds

Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · Sep 3

Collapse of a critical #AtlanticCurrent— the #AtlanticMeridionalOverturningCirculation (Amoc) can no longer b considered a low-likelihood event

#Amoc could eventually shut down if drastic #CarbonEmissions cuts don’t arrive over t next few decades

#Climate #Ocean
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Scientists say ‘shocking’ discovery shows rapid cuts in carbon emissions are needed to avoid catastrophic fallout

www.theguardian.com

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Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · Aug 29

#Politicians keep using #songs on #SocialMedia

What if an #artist doesn't like it?

In many #European countries #AuthorsRights include not only #FinancialProtections, but also #MoralRights

In the #US, #CopyrightLaw operates primarily within an #EconomicFramework

#Memes
www.npr.org/2025/08/28/n...

Politicians keep using songs on social media. What if an artist doesn't like it?

Having a song go viral is usually good news for an artist. But as politicians become more social media savvy and jump in on viral trends, how can musicians respond if they don't like the way a party o...

www.npr.org

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Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · Aug 15

#Trump’s bullying of #India Is straight from Xi’s #playbook

By using #tariffs as a #ForeignPolicyTool, the US president is legitimising #China’s own acts of economic coercion

#EconomicCoercion is exactly what the #US & its #allies have long despised about #Beijing
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Trump’s Bullying of India Is Straight From Xi’s Playbook

By using tariffs as a foreign policy tool, the US president is legitimizing China’s own acts of economic coercion.

www.bloomberg.com

Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · Aug 14

🇮🇳 Happy Independence Day

Celebrating the 79th Independence Day of India and 78 years of Independence

#India #IndependenceDay #Freedom #IndiaAt78 #IndependenceDay2025

An image which has an artistic Indian Flag in the top background with the text below reading

Happy Independence Day

And then the subtext reading

Freedom is a gift we must protect with unity, courage, and responsibility!

Right next to it is a girl child running with the Indian tricolour flag aloft in her hand

Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · Aug 12

What #India’s passionate support for an assassinated #CongoleseLeader #PatriceLumumba says about today’s WorldOrder—reflects a time when 🇮🇳 was closely involved in t LiberationStruggles in #Africa through t state, t activities of SolidarityOrganisations & individuals
📸Scroll
scroll.in/article/1084...

A pic of Patrice Lumumba waving with the text as follows below it:

In the 1960s, the US, Belgium and a pliant UN helped overthrow Patrice Lumumba whose ideas of African unity and independence were seen as dangerous by the West.

Colour picture of Patrice Lumumba who had been murdered just a year after being elected Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo on June 30, 1960, when the country gained independence from Belgium.

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Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · Aug 10

#Elections are the guts of a #democracy. And #VoterRolls, in turn, are the guts of an #election

Seven decades later, the widespread impression that the whims of #officers – and #politicians – are now deciding voter rolls is severely damaging to the idea of #IndianDemocracy
scroll.in/article/1085...

Forget jobs, AI is taking away much more: Creativity, memory and critical thinking are at risk. New studies sound alarm

Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · Aug 8

AIproficiency comes from #CriticalThinking, #AnalyticalReasoning, #CreativeProblemSolving, & #EmotionalIntelligence —abilities that allow humans to MakeMeaning from what #AI outputs & to question what it CannotUnderstand

OverReliance on AI may weaken #HumanSkills
m.economictimes.com/magazines/pa...

Artificial intelligence tools are becoming more common. Studies show over-reliance on AI may weaken human skills. Critical thinking and emotional intelligence are important. Businesses invest in AI bu...

m.economictimes.com

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Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · Aug 7

Who really pockets #India’s #RussianOil windfall?

Despite #oil being #deregulated on paper, RetailPrices are effectively administered

Govts prefer #HighPrices to secure steady #TaxRevenues, while OMCs justify margins by citing past under-recoveries on #LPGsubsidies
www.moneylife.in/article/who-...

Who Really Pockets India’s Russian Oil Windfall?

India’s Russian oil imports tell a striking story in numbers. Over the past two years, India has been importing crude oil at discounts ranging from 25% to 50%, amounting to US$5–USUS$30 per barrel bel...

www.moneylife.in

Top 10 safest cities in India 2025: Mangalore leads, Delhi ranks at the bottom

Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · Aug 7

#Mangaluru( #Kudla) has been ranked as the #SafestCity in #India, praised for its LowcrimeRates & strong civic infrastructure —GloballyRanking #49

#Vadodara, #Ahmedabad, & #Surat—rank next

#NewDelhi, #Noida & #Ghaziabad r ranked among the most #UnsafeIndianCities
indianexpress.com/article/tren...

Top 10 safest cities in India 2025 list: In Gujarat, three cities—Vadodara, Ahmedabad, and Surat—ranked in the top 10 safest Indian cities with safety scores of 69.2, 68.2, and 66.6, respectively.

indianexpress.com

Instagram introduces features that feel oddly familiar

Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · Aug 7

#Meta’s latest features r straight out of 2017

#Instagram introduced 3 features to make it feel more #social
1 #FriendMap that shows u where ur friends r in real-time (if they opt in)
2 #Reposts
3 #FriendsTab in #Reels that shows what the people you follow r watching & liking
qz.com/meta-instagr...

The social media app's latest “features” include a Snap Map clone, TikTok-style reposts, and a friend activity tab you might have seen before

qz.com

Karnataka records 981 farmer suicides in 16 months, BJP, Congress trade blame

Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · Aug 4

#Karnataka records 981 #FarmerSuicides in 16 months

Of these, 825 have been confirmed as eligible #farmer suicides, while 138 were due to other causes

#Haveri tops list; four districts report zero suicides

While the political blame game continues, farmers suffer

www.indiatoday.in/india/karnat...

Karnataka reported 981 farmer suicides between 2024 and mid-2025, with Haveri topping the list, as per official government information. BJP blamed the Congress for neglect, while Congress pointed fing...

www.indiatoday.in

How Indian traditions and the mandala influenced Carl Jung’s philosophy

Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · Aug 1

How #IndianTraditions & #mandala influenced #CarlJung’s #philosophy

In India—he saw parallels in #Tantra’s embrace of life’s dualities—as seen in #Kali’s destructive yet regenerative imagery—which accepts all existence

Today #ShadowWork informs #TraumaTherapy

#Journaling
scroll.in/article/1085...

In today’s polarised era, his core concepts such as the integration of opposites and the quest for wholeness have deep resonance.

Sam Altman warns there's no legal confidentiality when using ChatGPT as a therapist | TechCrunch

Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · Jul 31

"People use #ChatGPT as a #therapist, #LifeCoach & talk all PersonalThings"

#SamAltman warns
"one of the problems of not yet having a legal or policy framework for #AI is that there’s #NoLegalConfidentiality for users’ conversations"

#UserPrivacy #DataPrivacy #OpenAI
techcrunch.com/2025/07/25/s...

In response to a question about how AI works with today's legal system, Altman said one of the problems of not yet having a legal or policy framework for AI is that there's no legal confidentiality fo...

techcrunch.com

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Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · Jul 28

#Hawaii is releasing #MaleMosquitoes having a strain of bacteria called #Wolbachia— causing NonViableEggs when they mate with wild females

This will help control the #InvasiveMosquitoPopulation, which is decimating #NativeBirdPopulations with #AvianMalaria

#conservation
www.cnn.com/science/hawa...

Thousands of mosquitoes are being dropped by drone over islands in Hawaii. Here’s why | CNN

Native Hawaiian honeycreeper birds are being wiped out by avian malaria. Scientists think they can battle the problem by releasing more mosquitoes.

www.cnn.com

ICJ delivers an unambiguous order on states’ responsibilities to halt climate change

Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · Jul 25

#ICJ delivers an unambiguous order on #states’ responsibilities to halt #ClimateChange

This lays a stronger #legal foundation for #ClimateAccountability, offering a vital lifeline to #FrontlineCommunities & nations, with far-reaching consequences for #ClimateLitigation
🌏

scroll.in/article/1084...

The United Nations’ judicial organ paved the way for states to be held accountable for fossil fuel emissions and the resultant climate harm.

Farewell to summer? ‘Haze’ and ‘trash’ among Earth’s new seasons as climate change and pollution play havoc

Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · Jul 23

Earth’s new seasons!

#Haze & #trash among #Earth’s new #seasons as #ClimateChange & #pollution play havoc

Seasons are more than just divisions of #time–they are our connection with #nature

#HumanActivity is rapidly transforming t once reliable #SeasonalPatterns
theconversation.com/farewell-to-...

Seasons are more than just divisions of time – they are our connection with nature.

Cognitive warfare: why wars without bombs or bullets are a legal blind spot

Amith Hegde @amithhegde.bsky.social · Jul 21

#CognitiveWarfare can ultimately incite violence based on #FalseInformation or cause injury & death by secondary effects. As it doesn’t directly use bombs or bullets, it exists in a #LegalVacuum

Experts argue we should reconsider what #threats mean in #ModernWars
theconversation.com/cognitive-wa...

When a foreign power floods your media with false health alerts designed to create panic, isn’t that as threatening as a military blockade?