Sadgati, Avenash Datta. Former Country Head Programme, HelpAge India. Integral part of journey with elders – young old, middle-old, old-old; active, assisted, dependent; and elders for elders; helping the aged, caring the aged; homestays, ashrams; policy, advocacy, care, and emergencies.
Sadgati, Ajit Pawar, 66 [22 July 1959 – 28 January 2026]. Deputy chief minister, Maharashtra. Nephew of Sharad Pawar. Succumbed to helicopter crash. His spouse, Sunetra Pawar succeeds him as President of NCP, and Deputy chief minister. The calls of merger reconciliation between the two factions of NCP – one led by Sharad Pawar, and the other by Ajit earlier, now Sunetra – may get stalled.
EU-India Free Trade (goods and services) Agreement. Dubbed the ‘mother of all deals’ – may be affecting 2 billion people. After two decades of negotiation. Tariffs on 96.6% of EU goods exported to India will be eliminated or reduced including for agri-food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, machinery, medical devices, avionics and automotive industries. Cheaper wines and spirits in India! 99.5% goods exported to the EU from India will also have reduced tariffs including for fisheries, chemicals, textiles, footwear and pharmaceuticals. However, the deal doesn’t include comprehensive provisions on labour rights, environmental standards or climate commitments.
While it seeks deepening EU–India cooperation in the digital economy, it retains the rights for each party to regulate for public policy, privacy, and security. It includes rules on software source code protection; online consumer protection; and spam prevention. It agrees on the effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property (IP) rights – copyright and related rights; trademarks; designs; trade secrets and undisclosed information; and plant varieties. It creates a framework to cooperate on strengthening policies and defining programmes that contribute to the development of sustainable, inclusive, healthy and resilient food systems and to jointly engage in the transition towards sustainable food systems. It commits EU and India to work together on climate change issues, including sustainable management of natural resources, and shift to a circular and resource-efficient economy. It makes trade and investment in low carbon goods, services, and technology easier. For preventing, limiting, minimising or remediating environmental damage, mitigating climate change.
It requires respect to principles – freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining; elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour, child labour; non-discrimination at work; and a safe and healthy working environment. Advancing women’s economic empowerment and gender equality. Sustainability. The commitments are legally binding and enforceable through a dedicated consultation mechanism.
100 years of Schrödinger equation. Erwin Schrodinger. This equation allows us to describe the behavior of the smallest particles: not where they are, but how likely it is that they are at a certain position. This equation forms the foundation of quantum physics and quantum chemistry and has revolutionized science and society. Without it, there would be no computers, solar cells, GPS, or smartphones, among other things. In 1933, Schrödinger received the Nobel Prize for his work. His book ‘what is life’, a science book, we should not miss reading. Order from disorder – most physical laws on a large scale are due to chaos on a small scale. The carrier of hereditary information has to be both small in size and permanent in time. Life maintains a highly ordered state. It sustains by causing a net increase in disorder in the Universe. To increase the complexity on Earth—as life does—free energy is needed, provided by the Sun. Can we appreciate ‘life’, play of order, disorder?
Yes, we can. If we coexist, flowing. In order at large. In N? sankulakramayoga for 7L.