BANGALORE -- Hair tucked into a surgical cap, eyes hidden behind thick-framed magnifying glasses, Devi Shetty leans over the sawed open chest of an 11-year-old boy, using bright blue thread to sew an artificial aorta onto his stopped heart. As Dr. Shetty pulls the thread tight with scissors, an assistant reads aloud a proposed agreement for him to build a new hospital in the Cayman Islands that would primarily serve Americans in search of lower-cost medical care. The agreement is inked a few days later, pending approval of the Cayman parliament.

:: via wsj.com

Speaking at a meeting of legal eagles, Jethmalani poured vitriol on Wahhabi sect of Islam, spewed fire at jihadis and poked fun at their idea of god — until finally, the Saudi ambassador staged a walkout. Jethmalani, who is not known for his diplomatic skills, kicked up the row at an international conference on terrorism, by taking on Wahhabism. He criticized the jehadi doctrine, which allegedly propagates, in his words, the belief that martyrs would ‘‘get a place in heaven and the company of the opposite sex there’’. He wondered aloud about the almighty’s ‘‘job in heaven’’. He went on to warn the government and the international community against trusting god when it comes to fighting terrorism. ‘‘He will not help as he is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease,’’ Jethmalani quipped. Soon enough, Saudi ambassador Faisal-al-Trad was seen walking out of the conference, apparently offended by the remarks.

:: via indiatimes.com

In honor of this week’s Food Issue, I dove into Patricia Tanumihardja’s “The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook.” The title appealed to me because I suspected that an Asian grandmother’s cooking would be far tastier than my well-meaning Russian-Canadian Jewish grandmother’s (memories of watery chicken soup and moldy cakes). The success or failure of a grandmother-themed cookbook seems heavily dependent on whatever culture that grandmother hails from. Tanumihardja writes in her introduction that she “never really knew her grandmothers.” Yet this book, subtitled “Homecooking From Asian American Kitchens,” is clearly a paean to the role grandparents play in passing on the culinary traditions of their ancestral culture.

:: via newyorker.com

The environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, said if the world abandoned beef consumption, emissions would be dramatically reduced and global warming would slow down. "The solution to cut emissions is to stop eating beef. It leads to emission of methane which is 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide," he said. His comments follow a call last month by Lord Stern, the author of a British Government study on climate change, for people to give up eating meay to reduce emissions. "Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases," said Lord Stern. "It puts enormous pressure on the world's resources. A vegetarian diet is better."

:: via telegraph.co.uk

BANGALORE: When Iskcon sent an email to donors abroad, seeking donations for their successful Akshaya Patra, with details of how many children the scheme was feeding every day, they are supposed to have received a reply, asking to reconfirm the 1 million number -- it could not be that high, was the doubt. The missionaries who pioneered the model and made it the success it is, had to reaffirm that indeed, they were feeding over a million children, every single day. At last count, Akshaya Patra was feeding 11,86,206 children all over the country, apart from senior citizens, expectant and nursing mothers, and jail inmates in Bangalore. Chanchalapathi Dasa, vice-chairman of Akshaya Patra Foundation, tells `The Times of India' that they have been getting invitations to start a kitchen from countries like Kenya, Cambodia, Indonesia, Uganda and others. "But the first priority is India, and to fulfil invitations from within the country," he says.

:: via indiatimes.com

That led to one of the report’s most surprising findings: Only a third of those polled thought democracy was the best system for Pakistan, equal to the number that preferred Islamic law, in what David Martin, director of the British Council in Pakistan, called “an indictment of the failures of democracy over many years.” Only 1 in 10 said they were “very interested” in political events in Pakistan, while more than a third said they were not interested at all. The highest-ranking institution was Pakistan’s military. Sixty percent of those interviewed said that they trusted it. Second highest was religious educational institutions, trusted by about 50 percent of respondents.

:: via nytimes.com

India has approved plans for a huge increase in the amount of electricity it generates from solar power. It aims to boost solar output 1,000-fold over 12 years from its current negligible level. Its 20 gigawatt target would power several big cities. The government wants to reduce India's dependence on coal and boost the export industry for solar power equipment. Critics say solar power will supplement - and not replace - fossil fuels even under India's most ambitious plans. Concerns over land "The cabinet gave its approval for launching of the Jawaharlal Nehru national solar mission, Solar India," Information Minister Ambika Soni said in Delhi. The $19bn (£12bn) three-phased plan aims to boost solar power output across the country from close to zero to 20 gigawatts by 2022. It is hugely ambitious and has been welcomed by the country's renewable energy suppliers, although some say it is unclear where the money will come from, says the BBC's technology correspondent Mark Gregory.

:: via bbc.co.uk

Driving through Bangalore’s Whitefield, it’s easy to miss MediVed Innovations’ office tucked away in a corner building. But there’s something about the work it does that makes the tech revolution pale in comparison. MediVed’s facilities make pacemakers, which while in existence for years, have been difficult to produce. MediVed is among a clutch of mid-sized Indian companies which includes Trivitron Healthcare and Opto Circuits who are taking on global leaders like Johnson & Johnson, Boston Scientific and Hologic with affordable alternatives to life-saving medical equipment. MediVed plans to test the waters in Greece, Balkans, and China next year, while Opto further makes inroads in the US market while increasing its manufacture of the lucrative ‘invasive’ products.

:: via indiatimes.com

President Barack Obama’s departure for his first trip to Asia as president was delayed by a day to allow him to attend the memorial service for victims of the Fort Hood massacre. The delay symbolized well the tension between America’s two destinies. The United States would like to link more closely with the Asia-Pacific century that it has sparked. Yet it is constantly held back by its tragic involvement with the Islamic world. The biggest strategic mistake America made in the 20th century was to interweave the destiny of 300 million Americans with the fate of 1.3 billion Muslims.

:: via nytimes.com

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