Hacker News: n_t

New comment by n_t in "Facebook is blocking Canadians’ posts on the assassination of a BC Sikh leader"

n_t — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 19:09:40 +0000

Since this will soon become heated and full of misinformation, here are some details-

1. PM Trudeau called emergency session over "credible" allegations but no actual evidence. The leader of opposition has also called out lack of evidence.

2. Canada expelled a key Indian diplomat but not nothing more - basically diplomatese - https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/18/americas/canada-hardeep-s...

3. India issued statement calling allegations as baseless and irresponsible - https://bit.ly/3EHtuwe

4. India too immediately booted out key Canadian diplomat. Diplomat was so angry he almost slammed car door on a journalist (https://x.com/ANI/status/1703997495318352108?s=20)

5. PM Trudeau seems to realize he has worsened relations with no credible evidence - https://www.reuters.com/world/canada-pm-not-trying-provoke-i...

As for background, India considers two countries as those which harbors terrorists active against India - Pakistan and Canada. Canada has harbored "Khalistani" terrorists (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India_Flight_182) for long. Recently these "khalistani" (mind you, not Sikhs) have started threatening Indian diplomats (https://x.com/AdityaRajKaul/status/1676496624519122950?s=20) and attacked Indian properties and temples in Canada/UK. India recently started taking harder stance on push back on both Canada and UK for safety of it's nationals.

New comment by n_t in "‘Everything is gone’: entire Indian villages burned in ethnic violence"

n_t — Wed, 10 May 2023 03:39:51 +0000

Just one example from recent past. The Wire is considered "reputable" english online news source but multiple times they have been caught fabricating grave evidence (even criminal) to plant stories against BJP (supposedly Hindu political party). Here was their latest gaffe https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/23/23419366/the-wire-meta-i.... Had it been any other country, such outlet would have been criticized to oblivions if not under legal action. But no! they are still the doyens of truth :) If BJP (current ruling party) even sneezes in their general direction, your ears will fall off hearing about fascism in India, even on HN :D

New comment by n_t in "‘Everything is gone’: entire Indian villages burned in ethnic violence"

n_t — Wed, 10 May 2023 03:25:20 +0000

You referring to this? https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/the-left-massacre-of-...

New comment by n_t in "‘Everything is gone’: entire Indian villages burned in ethnic violence"

n_t — Wed, 10 May 2023 03:14:10 +0000

Thanks for your question. Curiosity is first step towards knowledge. I wish I was eloquent enough to put decades of history in few words. Best I can do is point you towards this book https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57313237-sanghi-who-neve.... Note, anything even remotely exposing the issue will be immediately tagged as nationalist, BJP, RSS, Modi etc. The book only is about personal experience of one media person, and doesnt dig deeper into what brought media into this state. It can be starting point and you can follow the references further.

New comment by n_t in "‘Everything is gone’: entire Indian villages burned in ethnic violence"

n_t — Wed, 10 May 2023 02:50:27 +0000

We cant be more diametrically opposite. I was in US now in India and didn't vote for Modi :D But what does that link add to point I raised? Looking at Baghel's wikipedia page, he is typical politician jumping parties to be in power. He'll say whatever suits his position. And if you want to pin it on RSS, at least cite their chief's position instead of a politician who has nothing to do with RSSS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvR8Gy8TDsQ (same thing is what media typically does, use sound bites from unofficial sources).

My only request was to look beyond headlines which (I claim) are biased and do logical analysis. Not here to debate or convert your ideologies.

New comment by n_t in "Internet disrupted in Pakistan amid arrest of former PM Imran Khan"

n_t — Wed, 10 May 2023 01:53:56 +0000

There is a company called Google just for this. But you can begin digging the rabbit hole here, which has more links https://www.reddit.com/r/pakistan/comments/mpd7cm/pakistan_a...

@dang wants this to stop, so i'll respect that and wont be back in this thread. But do put a link from india's textbook which spews hatred against Pakistanis or muslims? Please enlighten me.

New comment by n_t in "Internet disrupted in Pakistan amid arrest of former PM Imran Khan"

n_t — Wed, 10 May 2023 01:41:24 +0000

I appreciate your moderation. This was not flame war, I even gave well cited references for OP to read. I also never attack anyone personally, but I do want them to be more informed.

New comment by n_t in "Internet disrupted in Pakistan amid arrest of former PM Imran Khan"

n_t — Wed, 10 May 2023 00:46:44 +0000

Please don't obfuscate things here. Both OP and I are talking about Pakistani state. We all are aware that individual (particularly sane ones) have minimal control on government policies.

New comment by n_t in "‘Everything is gone’: entire Indian villages burned in ethnic violence"

n_t — Wed, 10 May 2023 00:33:09 +0000

I'm from India, I beg to differ. Despite all the cacophony of news channels, it is much less lawlessness now, partly because people are more aware and focused on their lives.

However, to your point "destroy a portion of the population in the race to put India on the global map." I encourage you do dig deeper than what english media reports and find the truth yourself. For example, the reason for this violence is two tribal communities, X & Y in hilly area. X was enjoying benefits of reservation, while Y had shared same past and situations. Y went to court asking to be included for reservation as schedule tribe, which court agreed to. Immediately, rioting starts. Can you come up a logical reason why Y would create ruckus instead of celebrating these benefits? Now read the news again and fill in who is X and who is Y.

New comment by n_t in "‘Everything is gone’: entire Indian villages burned in ethnic violence"

n_t — Wed, 10 May 2023 00:21:48 +0000

Even this news report could not call it attack on minority (though they surreptitiously use images to build that notion), because reality is just the opposite - it is Christian tribes attacking local Hindus.

India has similar to affirmative action law (called reservation) which provides certain castes and tribes up to 60% of allocation in various governmental programs (like admission in university, promo in govt jobs, etc.)[0]. Kuki tribe (now all Christians) had this reservation for long but Metei (local Hindus who also qualify for Scheduled Tribe in that region) were demanding them to be included too. Recently, judicial court gave Meitei right to be included in this reservation system [1] and Kukis started rioting against it. The attack has been primarily from Kukis to displace Meitei from this region, and hence not share reservation quota. (um! does genocide ring a bell? probably not because genocide of Hindus in India is common thing. See Kashmir[2], Kerala[3], and currently going on in West Bengal).

I'll also add that in India, English media is very heavily biased against Hindus so one has to read regional language news or social media to find unbiased (unfortunately, unfiltered too) reports. To answer what you are thinking next - you can prove it yourself! Just compare what English dailies/channel report vs twitter layperson and regional newspapers do with evidence. Not just for this, for any (seemingly never-ending) forthcoming incidences.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reservation_in_India [1] https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/manipur-... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exodus_of_Kashmiri_Hindus [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malabar_rebellion

New comment by n_t in "Remembering Benares"

n_t — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 01:59:16 +0000

Seriously, someone please stop this madman Modi! In 1989, Benares was vibrating with romantics (aka poor/cramped/unsanitary) where I could take pictures of poor but smiling people and write captions like "happiness is not about money". Modern India has ruined everything - no abject poverty, everyone has cellphones, no collapsing ruins of ancient uncared temples, etc. Modi, please stop!

Ask HN: What product/solution will your business happily pay for?

n_t — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 16:09:33 +0000

Was recently asked this by a young entrepreneur, so thought of crowdsourcing the question so that wider audience benefits. Please provide real challenge/issues faced by your business/corp, which could be solved by an individual or a small team.

Ask yourself -

1. Is this a problem I see my company repeatedly encounter?

2. Is this a problem which is not a company priority or worth ROI for any employee?

3. Will the company listen up if someone pitches the solution?

4. Will the business pay if the solution really fits the requirements?

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34741576

Points: 5

# Comments: 0

New comment by n_t in "Internet Archive takes down upload of BBC’s Modi documentary"

n_t — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 17:07:48 +0000

It is not, it is just more and more attack on Modi whenever some critical elections are impending. I'd claim that India has never been more democratic. Every side is free to not just talk but shout on top of their lungs, Indian judicial system still works, journalist and media (despite being absolute junk and corrupt) still function on their own. Now, there are incidences here and there, but these are exceptions not the rule and my claim is that by and large India is most democratic country. Given true democratic nature of India, whoever didn't like these exceptions (from either side of political fence), cry foul loudest. Whoever controls media better, appears to be having majority voice.

Indian politics is different than other countries, even within South Asia, I'd say. It was dominated by one single political party (Indian National Congress or INC) headed by a single family. In fact, it is funny that English media blames Modi to be authoritarian, who is duly elected both by people and within his party, compares to INC which is actually autocratic (It's always one Nehru family which is head of party and has first right to be PM if in power). However, since 2014, INC been uprooted with Modi's rise. While INC believed in status-quo approach (hence, no progress of India since 1947 until 2000s and was considered to be extremely corrupt), Modi completely turned political game over. Almost 45% of India voted for Modi's party, BJP in last election (total 800million voters). He has exceptional work ethics, both opponents and supporters admire his integrity and dedication towards serving India (Modi calls himself prime servant instead of prime minister). People on ground can see changes his party has ushered, like transportation infrastructure, digitization, focus on cleanliness and environment and much more. Sure, Modi is also head-strong may be even adamant. But given what India's state was with respect to corruption and rotten state affairs, probably this attitude was needed to bring the change. I'm glad that given mass support he enjoys and adamancy he has, Modi is not the authoritarian, some Indian elites claim to be and uses his power for development of India.

New comment by n_t in "Ask HN: Has anyone here turned around their life in their 40s?"

n_t — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 04:03:50 +0000

Lot of good comments already, but then different personalities respond to different things so suggesting another approach. Stop thinking about success or career or even your happiness, instead invest in "fulfilment" of your life. That could mean different thing to different people, but I recommend doing something for someone else - no expectations, no desire for recognition, no desire for any returns! just do it! Take it as a challenge! Just one simple thing, with nothing in it for you! That might mean help a student with class/project/direction, or help an elderly in tech support, or help no-name mom-pop store with their tech support. Essentially, find something or someone local and help them with whatever you know. Don't overdo it, don't go completely out of your way, don't analyze what and how of it. Just do whatever you can in a manageable way.

If you go that far and feel satisfied, then start looking for more engagement and what else you can do, but this time with more involvement. If it sounds cliched or bookish, don't bother about it and try other suggestions. Key is to find what clicks with your personality and not necessarily what world's view is about life.

New comment by n_t in "Amazon One – Palm recognition for Amazon Go"

n_t — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 11:45:22 +0000

I think they are saying that humans cannot associate palm prints to an individual, unlike face (or even eyes in certain cases). It's just security by obscurity kind of thing but yes, not very convincing argument for privacy.

New comment by n_t in "How Akbar came to love books despite never learning to read (2019)"

n_t — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 07:56:29 +0000

I hear what you are saying but don't agree that "let's brush it under carpet" approach would be a mature one. My assessment is that current religious problems in India exist because there was no closure on hindu-muslim issues which started with Mughals and ended with partition. No political or religious leader addressed this issue with genuine concern and acknowledgement of history. Instead, all (including Gandhi to current politicians) took ostrich approach to deny the rift with slogans of unity, while pressurizing Hindus to forget-and-forgive since it appeals more to Hindus. This eventually gave rise to "pseudo-secularism" in India which is essentially anti-Hindu but pro-Islam stance. It is my opinion that due to this, distrust between Hindus and Muslims still lingers on and always will. Better approach would have been a proper closure of all the violence, conversions, atrocities, etc of past and then focus on moving on. And finally, mature approach would have been to figure out what is proper closure?

New comment by n_t in "How Akbar came to love books despite never learning to read (2019)"

n_t — Tue, 08 Sep 2020 14:00:19 +0000

Despite the hype, Akbar was not tolerant at all. Like most Muslim kings in India, he was heavy-handed towards Hindus but was also towards Shia Muslim [1]. He ordered numerous massacre of Hindus (e.g. massacre in Garha in 1560 AD[2], order to weight Janeu - a cotton thread worn by hindus - of killed Hindus which weighed 200kg [3], rewarded Abd al-Qadir Badauni with gold coins who soak his Islamic beard in Hindu infidel blood [4]), had many Hindu temples razed/looted and destroyed, among many other things. Despite many facts, AFAICT, India is only country which portrays its invaders and looters as heroes.

[1] ’Akbar and His India’ by Irfan Habib [2] The SAGE Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives edited by Paul Joseph [3] Emperors of the Peacock Throne: The Saga of the Great Mughals By Abraham Eraly [4] Source: The Legacy of Jihad:Islamic Holy War & the Fate of Non-Muslims edited by Andrew G. Bostom

New comment by n_t in "Write a mini-Redis in Rust: learn async programming with Tokio"

n_t — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 04:58:28 +0000

What are good resources to learn async concepts? Is there some resource which covers past and present across various languages? A resource which would conceptually cover - sync, async, blocking, non-blocking, threading, event loop/reactor, coroutines, futures/promises, async/await, fibres/green-threads, etc.

New comment by n_t in "What I learned from doing over 60 technical interviews in 30 days"

n_t — Sat, 01 Aug 2020 06:12:07 +0000

> "Since your interviewer is a friend, a buddy, a team member who’s on your side and means well for you (Refer to 4), talk to them while you're figuring it out."

I strongly disagree with this. It is true in theory but doesn't work in practice. Most FAANG interviewers are looking for a fast optimal solution. Unless you are interviewing for very junior role, if you take hints from interviewer, it'll likely go against you.

New comment by n_t in "Who Is History’s Worst Political Adviser?"

n_t — Fri, 03 Jul 2020 03:27:41 +0000

> a high-flyer who had enjoyed several brushes with scandal in the past, mainly for rubbing people up the wrong way. Nevertheless, he had his admirers (snip) who thought he was ‘generous and very clever’, ‘an extremely reasonable man’ – just what the stuffy civil service needed at a time of change and rising pressure from Byzantium’s neighbours. Few others saw it that way. Many bristled at Nikephoros’ tactless and aggressive behaviour, at the way he locked others out of important decisions and limited access to the ruler. He was accused, too, of giving his friends a leg up and showing them favours they had not earned and did not deserve. He was arrogant, clumsy and scorned those who criticised him.

Oh man! I was unsure if I was reading about long gone Roman advisor or one of our contemporary ;)