Odysseys on The World

  G7 is a bloc of developed nations, all of which are first-world countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the USA. It was formed in the 1970s to coordinate major economic policies and financial regulation and approach and attempt to resolve global conflicts and crises. It is built on the foundations of democracy, free market capitalism (supporting private company owners), humanitarian laws, and security. So why are two UN veto countries not in the G7? Russia was part of ' G8 '   from 1997 to 2014, and then they were suspended and expelled in 2014 after annexing Crimea from Ukraine (no surprise there). These actions were considered Russia’s defiance of the G7’s core values ( since when does Russia stick to the rules anyway). What about China? It is a single-party authoritarian state (complete rule in the hands of one party) led by the  Communist Party. This goes against the G7’s democratic principles. China also has a state-driven economy with restric...

  The Great Emperor (first a dictator), Napoleon Bonaparte , was almost killed in a stampede of bunnies. Yes, those furry white creatures with the terrified look and pompom-sized tails. The bigger irony of an emperor almost killed by bunnies is that it was during a bunny hunt he organised.  In July 1807, after signing the Treaty of Tilsit, the one that ended the war between France and Russia, Napoleon wanted to celebrate. He asked his chief of staff, Alexandre Berthier , to arrange a rabbit hunt for him and his generals. Berthier skipped across town (no, I'm making this up) to gather thousands of rabbits (no, I'm not making this up). Instead of wild rabbits, he found domestic, farm-raised rabbits. Napoleon and his generals were hoping to have a laugh and a good time killing thousands of bunnies, but when the cages opened, hell broke loose. Instead of scampering in fear, the rabbits thought they were going to be fed. They charged at Napoleon and his generals with a war cry o...

 Pakistan raised the idea that China, as the upper riparian country, might stop the flow of the Brahmaputra after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).  Is this an empty threat from Pakistan, or a real one? Experts dismiss any possibility of China blocking or diverting water, saying that a bigger worry should be that the massive dam (one of the biggest in the world) coming up in a calamity-prone area in China-controlled Tibet (made by China). Nilanjan Ghosh highlights that the Yarlung Tsangpo River (Brahmaputra in Tibet) only forms 10-15% of the Brahmaputra volume, as it is majorly rain-fed in India. "Any attempt to divert the flow would be counterproductive as it would result in upstream floods because of sediment accumulation," said Ghosh, Vice President of Development Studies at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), to India Today Digital. (from India Today Digital)  According to the 2016 book, River Morphodynamics and Stream Ecology of the Qinghai-Tibet Pla...