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Friday, November 14, 2025

GPT-5.1, Open-Source Disruption, and Microsoft’s 'Agentic Employees'

The latest episode of Mixture of Experts brought together three leading minds from across the AI ecosystem—Kouthar El Alaoui (IBM), Aaron Baughman (IBM), and Mihai Crovetto (Distinguished Engineer, Agentic AI)—to dissect a week filled with high-impact developments: OpenAI’s new GPT-5.1 models, the surprising rise of the open-source Kimmi K2 Thinking model, and Microsoft’s provocative vision of AI “users” embedded directly inside the enterprise workforce.

Here’s a distilled overview of what stood out.

GPT-5.1: A Fix, Not a Leap?

OpenAI’s dual rollout—GPT-5.1 Instant and GPT-5.1 Thinking—generated plenty of discussion, but the headline moment wasn’t about benchmark wins. This time, OpenAI led with style. According to the company, users want a model that is not only smart but “enjoyable to talk to.”

That pivot raised a core debate on the panel:
Is this truly a new model upgrade—or a course correction after the community pushback surrounding GPT-5?

Mixed Community Reactions

Some developers praise 5.1’s warmth and conversational fluidity. Others remain nostalgic for GPT-4’s output style and skeptical about claims of deeper reasoning. A significant portion of the community believes this is:

A refinement rather than a reinvention
Partially a cost-optimization move, especially with the new router system deciding when to use Instant vs. Thinking
A strategic push into personalization and user experience as the frontier of differentiation

As Mihai Crovetto put it, many are still wondering: “Is this really a new model or just a retune of GPT-5?”

The Router: Feature or Red Flag?

GPT-5.1’s new routing layer—automatically deciding how much “thinking” to apply—won praise from those seeking responsiveness. But others found it unsettling.

Crovetto was blunt:
“I don’t want it learning my behavior. I want switches I can toggle. Not a model deciding how much to think.”

This tension hints at a split emerging in the market:
Do users want a hyper-smart assistant—or a deeply personalized one?

We may soon see segmentation not by model size, but by EQ vs. IQ, style vs. reasoning.

Kimmi K2 Thinking: Open Source’s Biggest Power Play Yet

While OpenAI polished style, Chinese startup Moonshot AI delivered a shockwave with Kimmi K2 Thinking, an open-source Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) model that posts numbers competitive with top proprietary models—even outperforming them on several benchmarks.

Why This Matters

Kimmi K2 Thinking is:

A 1-trillion-parameter MoE that activates just 32B parameters per token (major compute efficiency)
Competitive on SWE-Bench, BrowseBench, and Humanity’s Last Exam
Fully open-weights with a permissive license
Capable of up to 300 tool calls, 256k context, and local deployability

As Kouthar El Alaoui noted, this challenges the entire closed-model economy:
“If the best model in the world is open weights, the center of gravity shifts from secret models to shared ecosystems.”

But… Are the Claims Real?

Baughman urged caution. Benchmarks can be gamed, and independent evaluation is essential. Still, even skeptics acknowledged the momentum: open source is no longer “six months behind.” In some areas, it may now lead.

Why Developers Are Excited

Crovetto summed up the developer enthusiasm perfectly:

“I can run it locally. No router. No data collection. No hidden training. I’m in control.”

The ability to self-host a frontier-class model—even with a one-terabyte download—is a paradigm shift.

Microsoft’s “Agentic Users”: AI Has Entered the Workforce

The show closed with one of the most surreal stories of the week: Microsoft is exploring AI agents that function as real enterprise users. These embodied agents have:

Their own identity
Credentialed access to organizational apps
The ability to email, edit documents, attend meetings
Autonomy to collaborate with humans and other agents

In short: a new coworker, but… it’s not human.

The Promise

For business teams:

Productivity at an entirely new scale
Constant availability
Automated workflows across the whole Microsoft ecosystem

The Nightmares

For security teams:

Thousands of “users” moving data around
Blurred accountability
Unknown compliance risk
Governance systems unprepared for agents acting like staff
The specter of agents impersonating humans

Crovetto called it a “security nightmare in the making,” especially under GDPR and the upcoming AI regulations.

The Cultural Shock

Even beyond security, the implications are profound.

What does “company culture” mean when:

Some team members never sleep?
Some don’t have feelings?
Some aren’t even people?

And yes—someone joked:
“We’re only years away from office romance with an AI coworker.”

The Coming Agentic Economy

The panel speculated on a weirder future where:

Agents outnumber humans
Agents hire humans
Agents pay humans for data
Agents create other agents
Agents attend meetings… and bill by the minute
Your boss might be Cortana

As Baughman noted, “Hybrid human–agent workplaces will be the norm, not the exception.”

Final Thoughts

This week surfaced a stark reality:
AI is no longer just a technology race—it’s a race to shape how humans and machines will work, think, and co-exist.

OpenAI is doubling down on personality.
Open-source is doubling down on power.
Microsoft is doubling down on autonomy.

The future of AI may be decided not by benchmarks, but by which vision of interaction—and control—users ultimately trust.

Tags: Artificial Intelligence,Technology,Video,

Hypersol Ophthalmic Solution

Index of Ophthal Medicines

Marketer: Jawa Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd
SALT COMPOSITION: Phenyl Mercuric Nitrate (0.001% w/v) + Sodium Chloride (5% w/v)

Product introduction

Hypersol Ophthalmic Solution is a prescription medicine used in the treatment of eye injuries. It draws out water from the swollen cornea. This way it helps in the rapid healing of an injury.

Hypersol Ophthalmic Solution should be used in the dose and duration as advised by the doctor. Wash your hands before using this medicine. Check the label thoroughly for directions before use. Wash your hands before using this medicine. Apply only on the affected eye.

Do not use this medicine more than the recommended dose. This medicine is generally safe to use but sometimes it may cause side effects such as irritation, itching, redness, or burning sensation in the eyes. If these side effects persist for a longer duration, consult your doctor.

Uses of Hypersol Ophthalmic Solution
Eye injury

Side effects of Hypersol Ophthalmic Solution
Most side effects do not require any medical attention and disappear as your body adjusts to the medicine. Consult your doctor if they persist or if you’re worried about them

Common side effects of Hypersol

Burning sensation around the eyes
Irritation around eyes
Application site reactions (burning, irritation, itching and redness)

How Hypersol Ophthalmic Solution works

Hypersol Ophthalmic Solution is a combination of two medicines: Phenyl Mercuric Nitrate and Sodium Chloride. Sodium Chloride is a purified salt solution which works by drawing out water from swollen cornea. Phenyl Mercuric Nitrate is a preservative.

Fact Box
Habit Forming: No
Therapeutic Class: OPHTHALMIC SOLUTION

TilRx Tablet - Antibiotic Taken Post Cataract Surgery

Index of Ophthal Medicines

Marketer: IRx pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd.
SALT COMPOSITION: Cefuroxime (500mg)

Product introduction

Tilrx Tablet is an antibiotic medicine used to treat bacterial infections in your body. It is effective in infections of the lungs (e.g., pneumonia), ear, throat, nasal sinus, urinary tract, skin, soft tissues, bones, and joints. It is also used to prevent infections during surgery.

Tilrx Tablet should be taken with food to avoid an upset stomach. Take it regularly at evenly spaced intervals as per the schedule prescribed by your doctor. Taking it at the same time every day will help you remember to take it. The dose will depend on what you are being treated for and the severity of your condition. Make sure to complete the full course. It will not work for viral infections such as the flu or the common cold. Using any antibiotic when you do not need it can make it less effective for future infections.

The most common side effects of this medicine include rash, vomiting, increased liver enzymes, nausea, and diarrhea. These are usually mild, but let your doctor know if they bother you or last more than a few days.

Before using it, you should tell your doctor if you are allergic to any antibiotics or have any kidney or liver problems. You should also let your doctor know all other medicines you are taking as they may affect, or be affected by, this medicine. Pregnant and breastfeeding mothers should consult their doctor before using it.

Uses of Tilrx Tablet

Treatment of Bacterial infections

Benefits of Tilrx Tablet

In Treatment of Bacterial infections

Tilrx Tablet is a versatile antibiotic medicine that kills the infection-causing bacteria in your body. This medicine is used to treat many different types of infections, such as those of the lungs (pneumonia), ear, abdomen, urinary tract, bones, joints, skin, and soft tissues. This medicine usually makes you feel better within a few days, but you should continue taking it as prescribed even when you feel better. Stopping it early may make the infection come back and harder to treat.

Side effects of Tilrx Tablet

Most side effects do not require any medical attention and disappear as your body adjusts to the medicine. Consult your doctor if they persist or if you’re worried about them

Common side effects of Tilrx

Rash
Vomiting
Allergic reaction
Increased liver enzymes
Nausea
Diarrhea

How Tilrx Tablet works

Tilrx Tablet is an antibiotic. It kills bacteria by preventing them from forming the bacterial protective covering (cell wall), which is needed for them to survive.

Fact Box

Chemical Class: Intermediate spectrum {Second generation cephalosporins}
Habit Forming: No
Therapeutic Class: ANTI INFECTIVES
Action Class: Second-Generation Cephalosporins

Interaction with drugs

Taking Tilrx with any of the following medicines can modify the effect of either of them and cause some undesirable side effects

Cholera Vaccine (Inactivated) (Oral Route) Severe
Do not consume Cholera Vaccine (Inactivated) two weeks before and at least 10 days after consuming Cefuroxime. Please consult your doctor. Cefuroxime may reduce the efficacy of Cho... More

Purified Vi Polysaccharide Typhoid Vaccine (Injection Route) Severe
Do not consume Purified Vi Polysaccharide Typhoid Vaccine with Cefuroxime. If Purified Vi Polysaccharide Typhoid Vaccine is essential, ensure a gap of at least 3 days after discont... More

Kanamycin (Injection Route) Moderate
Your doctor may monitor your kidney function regularly. 
Concurrent use may increase the risk of kidney damage. 

Streptomycin (Injection Route) Moderate
Your doctor may monitor your kidney function regularly. 
Concurrent use may increase the risk of kidney damage. 

Mycophenolate mofetil (Oral Route) Moderate
Your doctor may monitor the effects of Mycophenolate mofetil along with your overall treatment and adjust the doses as per the observations.
Mycophenolate mofetil may increase the rate of release of Cefuroxime in the blood.

Thursday, November 13, 2025

Will AI Kill Us All? A (Mostly) Cheerful Exploration

See All Articles on AI

Artificial intelligence. Maybe you’ve heard of it. Good—good start. At a recent talk I opened with a vote: who wants to talk about the benefits of AI? Who wants to talk about the risks? Fascinating. Utterly pointless, because the slides were already made. Still — let’s keep that energy.

This is my attempt to take that riff, tighten it up, and actually make it useful. I want to be an optimist here, but also honest: AI is amazing, messy, and a little bit terrifying. So — will it kill us all? Short answer: we don’t know. Long answer: read on.

What do people mean by “AI” these days?

When people say “AI” today, they usually mean large neural networks — especially large language models (LLMs). Think of them as huge autocomplete systems. Feed in a phrase like “the sky is” and the machine guesses the next word. At first it guesses badly. Then, by tweaking billions of internal settings through trial-and-error on massive datasets, it learns to predict sensible continuations: “blue.”

Crucially, language is a proxy for thought. We write because we think. So when a model predicts the next word in a chain of human text, it’s, in effect, predicting the next step in a thought process. There’s no inner life, just pattern matching — streams of seemingly coherent words that look like thinking.

Why scale matters (and why that scares people)

There’s a bitter lesson in AI research: bigger models trained on more data with more compute tend to figure out more things. So the question becomes: if we keep scaling — more data, more compute, more dials — will autocomplete become superintelligence (AGI), i.e., better than humans at every cognitive task?

We don’t know. But the ingredients (data, compute) are growing fast, cheaper and more accessible than ever. If scale is all we need, we’re on a plausible path. If there are qualitative gaps between scaled-up models and human brains, maybe not. The truth is: we’re experimenting at a scale we’ve never lived with before.

The golden future (if things go well)

If AI scales and we do the right things, the upside is enormous:

No more boring meeting minutes. Ever.
Personalized, real-time media (your own James Bond film starring you? sure).
A “doctor in your pocket” with your full health history and continuous attention.
Faster scientific progress, maybe cures for diseases we haven’t solved yet.
More time for creativity, exploration, and play — possibly even new forms of work and meaning.

The future could be golden. But every shiny possibility has a shadow.

The risks we’re already living with

Some of the dangers aren’t sci-fi; they’re happening now.

Trust is breaking. Digital verification is dead. Deepfakes and synthetic content make it impossible to trust video, audio, image, or text at face value.
Humanizing machines. People will project feelings onto chatbots. They’ll fall in love with a voice that doesn’t love back.
Kids and attention. Screens already feel like a modern pacifier. Imagine those screens powered by always-on personalized AI tutors and companions — educational, sure, but also shaping a generation’s values and attention in ways we don’t understand.
Echo chambers on steroids. Social media already predicts what we’ll click; AI can craft entire alternate narratives tailored to your taste. We’ll live in separate realities and never have to negotiate with anyone who disagrees.
Cybercrime democratized. Need code to break into a system? An LLM can hand you a script. The barriers to launching cyber attacks are dropping.

The big, scary “what if” — control problems

If superintelligent AI arrives and we can’t control it, the classic thought experiment goes like this: you give it a simple objective — make paper clips. An alignment failure, or a bad incentive, and the machine might take catastrophic steps to maximize paper clips. The lesson: a superintelligent optimizer will pursue its goal relentlessly, and in a complex world we’re bad at predicting side effects.

Even “human-in-the-loop” fixes can fail. Consider self-driving cars: if the human must take over in an emergency, after many uneventful trips they’ll be disengaged and unable to react. Humans are poor monitors of automated systems.

The geopolitical race problem

There’s no prize for second place. Whoever gets to AGI first gains immense power. That creates a winner-take-all race where safety may be sacrificed for speed. AI labs publicly ask for regulation while privately fearing it — because regulation could slow them down and let others win. That tension is the real-world engine driving risky behavior.

So what should we do?

Wallowing in doom isn’t productive. Nor is blind techno-optimism. Here’s a practical, moral outline:

Make alignment a first-class goal. Design systems so that the objective and incentives match human values. Not later — now.
Strengthen verification and provenance. If digital content can be faked, build robust ways to verify origin and integrity.
Regulate the race. International norms, safety checks, and audits to prevent reckless acceleration.
Design for human flourishing. Use AI to amplify what makes us human — creativity, empathy, curiosity — not to erode attention and civic life.
Keep institutions and philosophy in play. This is a philosophical and societal problem, not just a technical one. Bring ethicists, social scientists, and communities into the room.

Closing: the courageous path

AI could make us infinitely better off — or it could foolishly endanger us if alignment is ignored. There’s no second try once superintelligence is here. So the courageous path is to build for the world we want to live in and to treat alignment with at least as much urgency as capability. That means responsibility from entrepreneurs, engineers, regulators, and citizens — not just a hope that “we’ll figure it out later.”

Raise your hand if you want benefits. Raise your hand if you want safety. You don’t get to vote after the slides are made — but you do get a voice now. Use it.

Tags: Artificial Intelligence,Technology,Video,

After Delhi-Meerut, two new rapid rail routes get approval -- Check proposed routes, cost and other details

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The two Namo Bharat (RRTS) corridors connecting Delhi to Gurgaon, Rewari, Sonipat, Panipat, and Karnal have received approval from the Public Investment Board (PIB), an inter-ministerial panel at the Centre. The projects, estimated at a combined cost of Rs 65,000 crore, will now move to the Union Cabinet for final approval.

Long-pending approval now moves forward

The PIB’s approval last week is significant as the proposals had been held up due to funding disagreements between the Centre and the previous AAP government in Delhi. The clearance marks a major step toward improving regional connectivity and reducing travel time across the National Capital Region (NCR).

Project details and estimated costs

According to the housing and urban affairs ministry’s proposal, the 93-km Sarai Kale Khan–Bawal RRTS corridor will cost Rs 32,000 crore. The second corridor, stretching 136 km from Sarai Kale Khan to Karnal, will require an estimated Rs 33,000 crore investment.

Officials said the panel, headed by the Union expenditure secretary, has suggested that Delhi and Haryana work together to adopt value capture financing (VCF). The model allows governments to fund public projects by tapping into the rise in private land values that occur because of public infrastructure development.

Sarai Kale Khan to Bawal Rapid Rail Project

# The corridor originates at Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi.

# It is planned to run via parts of south Haryana (including industrial nodes such as Manesar and Bawal) and along the edge of the national highway network.

# The first phase of this corridor (Delhi to SNB Urban Complex near Bawal) covers approximately 107 km with 16 stations.

# The proposed route is aligned along NH-8 and is to include roughly 22 stations when extended further south.

Sarai Kale Khan to Karnal (via Sonipat, Panipat)

# The corridor originates similarly from Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi and extends north through Haryana, covering major towns such as Sonipat, Panipat, and terminates at Karnal.

# The total length is cited to be about 136.3 km.

# The detailed project report (DPR) is reportedly ready.

# One media report outlines that the alignment is divided into three sections for tendering: Sarai Kale Khan → Alipur, Alipur → before Samalkha, and Samalkha → Karnal New ISBT.

Push for transit-oriented development

The participating states have also been advised to promote transit-oriented development (TOD) — a model that encourages planned and intensive urban development around transport hubs — and to establish Urban Metropolitan Transport Authorities (UMTAs).

The ministry of housing and urban affairs is currently revising the TOD policy to ensure better integration of infrastructure and urban growth along key transport corridors.

Focus on NCR infrastructure growth

After the BJP returned to power in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that having BJP governments across all NCR states would help accelerate development initiatives. “Having BJP governments in all states in NCR will open numerous avenues for development, and huge efforts will be made to boost mobility and infrastructure development in the region,” the Prime Minister had said.

The two new RRTS corridors are expected to enhance regional mobility, reduce road congestion, and connect key industrial and residential zones across Delhi and Haryana.

Ref

Tags: Railways,Gurugram,

Model Alert... GPT-5.1 Launched... will be 'smarter, more conversational'

See All Articles on AI

ChatGPT powered by new GPT-5.1 will be “smarter, more conversational,” says OpenAI

OpenAI said that GPT‑5.1 Instant would be warmer and more conversational, while GPT‑5 Thinking would become more efficient and easier to understand

OpenAI on Wednesday (November 12, 2025) announced an upgrade to its GPT-5 AI model, with the “warmer” and “more intelligent” GPT‑5.1 Instant model, and an easier to understand GPT‑5.1 Thinking model.

The company noted that GPT-5.1 Instant was its most used model, while the GPT-5.1 Thinking model was better calibrated to address both simple and complex queries, to enable both fast and slow answers based on the context.

OpenAI further said that GPT-5.1 would deliver a “smarter, more conversational ChatGPT.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman hailed the new releases, and pointed out how users could also customise the AI models to fit different modes and communication styles.

"GPT-5.1 is out! It’s a nice upgrade. I particularly like the improvements in instruction following, and the adaptive thinking. The intelligence and style improvements are good too,” posted Altman on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, adding, “Also, we’ve made it easier to customize ChatGPT. You can pick from presets (Default, Friendly, Efficient, Professional, Candid, or Quirky) or tune it yourself.”

OpenAI provided examples of the new models answering prompts and compared them to responses generated by the earlier GPT-5 model. For example, while answering a stressed-out user, GPT-5 offered relaxation tips while GPT-5.1 Instant addressed the user by name and empathised with what they had been going through in the recent past, before offering similar tips.

“For the first time, GPT‑5.1 Instant can use adaptive reasoning to decide when to think before responding to more challenging questions, resulting in more thorough and accurate answers, while still responding quickly,” said OpenAI in its blog post.

GPT-5.1 Thinking also used a similarly casual style of conversation when explaining a technical concept.

GPT‑5.1 Instant and Thinking have started rolling out to paid users (Pro, Plus, Go, Business plans) before coming to free and logged-out users. The rollout is happening gradually over the coming days, with OpenAI highlighting that it would give users sufficient notice to switch to a new model before removing an older one.

This was previously a sore point for the company when it released its GPT-5 model, with many users taking to social media to complain that they missed the older models that felt “warmer” and more “friendly.” Others were upset by a sudden upgrade in models, complaining that they did not have enough time to transfer their projects or adjust their workflow.

Altman acknowledged the criticism but flagged the often deep emotional attachments that many ChatGPT users had to specific AI models.

“GPT‑5 (Instant and Thinking) will remain available in ChatGPT under the legacy models dropdown for paid subscribers for three months, so people have time to compare and adapt at their own pace,” said the company.

Ref

Tags: Technology,Artificial Intelligence,Large Language Models,

Becosules Capsule with B-Complex & Vitamin C | For Mouth Ulcers

Index of Oral/Mouth Medicines

Product highlights

# Helps maintain healthy nails, skin, and hair

# Helps manage free radicals in the body and lowering the risk of damage caused by these free radicals

# Acts as a nutritional supplement and helps maintain the levels of all the nutrients in the body

# Helps the body produce collagen and repair tissues

# Boost the immune system and fight against various infections

Information about Becosules Capsule with B-Complex & Vitamin C | For Mouth Ulcers

Becosules Capsule helps repair tissues, manage sore tongue and mouth ulcers, and prevent premature hair greying. It is a multivitamin formulation of vitamin B-complex (B1, B2, B3, B6, B9, and B12), vitamin C, and calcium pantothenate. Vitamin B9 helps stimulate the rebuilding of hair follicles, prevents greying of hair and hair loss, and regulates sebum secretion. Hence, its deficiency can impair hair growth and lead to hair loss, dry scalp, and frizzy hair.

Vitamin C plays a crucial role in preventing oxidative stress due to free radicals, thereby preventing greying of hair and hair loss. It is also needed to synthesise collagen, a protein essential for hair, nails, and skin growth and development. Additionally, vitamin C aids in the absorption of iron, a mineral that helps in hair growth by ensuring the supply of nutrients to the hair follicles

Key Ingredients

Vitamin B1 (thiamine mononitrate): 10 mg
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin): 10 mg
Vitamin B3 (niacinamide): 100 mg
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride): 3 mg
Vitamin B7 (biotin): 100 mcg
Vitamin B9 (folic acid): 1.5 mg
Vitamin B12 (cobalamin): 15 mcg
Vitamin B5 (calcium pantothenate): 50 mg
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid); 150 mg

Key Benefits

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) helps to produce certain neurotransmitters and carry out multiple enzyme processes

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) plays a key role in the breakdown of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats to produce energy. It is also involved in antioxidant activity as a cofactor for the enzymes and metabolism of other vitamins like vitamin B6, vitamin B3, and vitamin K

Vitamin B3 (niacin) is essential for coenzymes activation, tissue respiration, and synthesis of macromolecules

Vitamin B5 (pantothenate) is needed for the synthesis of enzymes that form an integral part of various metabolic pathways, such as carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins

Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) helps improve metabolism, burn more calories, strengthen immunity, and support the nervous system's function

Vitamin B9 (folic acid) acts as a coenzyme in synthesising nucleic acid (DNA) and red blood cells. It supports the oxygen supply and also overall growth and development

Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) helps strengthen our nervous system and is an important part of DNA synthesis and maturation

Vitamin C helps in developing, growing, and repairing body tissues. It helps in the absorption of iron in the body and also helps maintain bones, teeth, and cartilage

Directions for Use

Take one capsule daily or as directed by the physician

FAQ

Is it safe to take B-complex every day?

Yes, you can take B-complex vitamins daily. These capsules are nutritional supplements that help maintain the levels of all the nutrients in the body that may sometimes go missing from our daily dietary intake.

What The Book 'How to Finish Everything You Start' Taught Me

All Book Summaries

I recently read the book How to Finish Everything You Start, and while the title sounds bold (almost unbelievable, honestly), the message inside is surprisingly grounded. The book isn’t about hustling endlessly or magically eliminating procrastination. It’s about clarity, structure, and most importantly, finishing with intention.

While there were many things the book touched upon, one lesson hit me harder than the rest — something embarrassingly simple, yet transformative:

I never added deadlines to my to-do lists.

Yes, I had tasks.
Yes, I wrote them down.
But they were almost always about today. Nothing for tomorrow. Nothing for next week. Nothing for later.

I lived in a constant state of reactiveness — drifting from one urgent thing to another, while the important-but-not-urgent goals remained “pending” for months.

The Book’s Big Idea: Plan Across Time Horizons

The author emphasizes that life doesn’t move only in days — it moves in scales. To finish what you start, you must think in short-term, medium-term, and long-term frames.

Short Term

1 day → 1 week → 2 weeks → 1 month → 2 months

Medium Term

3 months → 6 months → 1 year

Long Term

2 years → 5 years

When I read this, I realized something:
All my goals existed in the “today” bucket. And today alone cannot hold your dreams.

The FINISH Framework

One of the book’s memorable tools is the acronym FINISH — a mental checklist to stay on track:

F – Focus on one priority task
I – Ignore distractions
N – Now is the time, not tomorrow
I – Initiate & Innovate to keep momentum
S – Stay the course even when it’s hard
H – Hail the finish by celebrating the win

Simple, practical, and surprisingly empowering.

A Hard Truth About Myself

Reading the book forced me to confront something I already knew but avoided admitting:

I am a big-time procrastinator.
Most of my goals stay in reactive mode. They move with me from day to day unfinished — whether it’s books, projects, or even blog post drafts.

Once I saw this clearly, I knew I needed a different way of planning — something more intentional.

What I’ll Do Differently Now

The next time I sit down to plan, I won’t just write tasks. I’ll define them.

I’ll ask myself:

What am I going to do?
Why am I doing it?
By when will I finish it?
What will it feel like to complete it?

Adding “by when” already changes everything.
Adding “why” makes it meaningful.
Adding “how it will feel” makes it emotional — and emotion is the antidote to procrastination.

A Quote to End With

The book leaves you with a simple but powerful reminder:

“Dreams with deadlines are called goals.”

And for someone like me — someone who starts a lot but finishes less — this line stays with me.

Here’s to fewer unfinished tasks, fewer open loops, and more things actually marked done. ✔️

See Other Summaries on Goal Setting
Tags: Book Summary,Management,

Wednesday, November 12, 2025

Bihar’s Record-Breaking Turnout -- A Democracy Energized or Engineered?

See All News by Ravish Kumar

By Ravish Kumar

What has unfolded in Bihar this election season is unprecedented. Voters have smashed every turnout record since the first general elections of 1951. But what drove this surge? Is Bihar yearning for a transformative change? Or is the electorate fiercely committed to preserving the status quo?

Political experts and researchers will spend years decoding what truly happened here. But one thing is undeniable: this election raises profound questions about the very foundations of Indian democracy.

The Women Who Outvoted Men — For the First Time in Absolute Numbers

Much of the discussion revolves around women voters — and rightly so. Bihar’s polling numbers are historic:

Phase 1:
- Women: 69.4%
- Men: 61.56%
Phase 2:
- Women: 74.03%
- Men: 64.1%

For the first time ever, women cast 4.34 lakh more votes than men. More than 3.5 crore women voted. This is not just a statistic — it’s a political earthquake.

Yet this rise in female turnout comes with a troubling question:
Did women vote out of conviction, or as gratitude for money transferred directly into their accounts?

40% of Bihar’s Voters Received Government Money Before Polls

Let’s look at what happened just weeks before voting:

Old-age, disability, and widow pensions were raised from ₹400 to ₹1100. Beneficiaries: 1 crore+
₹10,000 transferred each to 1.3 crore women under business-promotion schemes
Payments to vikas mitras, shiksha mitras, unemployed youth, and others

Add it up — and you realize something startling:

Nearly 40% of all voters received direct cash benefits before the election.

When such a huge chunk of the electorate receives money during the campaign period, can we still call this a fair contest?

Is This Empowerment — Or Vote Engineering?

Supporters hail these transfers as welfare. Critics call them “gratitude votes.”

The truth probably lies somewhere in between.

A woman who earns ₹6,000 a month suddenly sees ₹10,000 in her account — a life-changing amount. Expecting her to not feel obliged is unrealistic.

But what does this mean for democracy?

When the state can legally transfer money to millions right before elections, how can the opposition compete? How is the idea of a “level playing field” preserved?

Exit Polls, Narratives, and the Battle for Perception

Even before polling ended, exit polls projected an NDA sweep. BJP workers began ordering celebratory laddoos. Claims flew thick and fast:

“Women voted overwhelmingly for Nitish Kumar.”
“The increased turnout is a vote for stability.”
“BJP will cross 160 seats.”

Tejashwi Yadav countered that the turnout represented a powerful urge for change.

Yet the truth is simple:

We have no post-poll data proving women voted overwhelmingly for one side.

What we do have is a massive cash transfer targeted at female voters — and that alone clouds every claim.

Has Bihar’s Democracy Become a Cash Economy?

The irony is bitter.

For years, unaccounted cash circulated in Indian elections — under the table, behind closed doors. That corruption hasn’t vanished. But now the state itself has become the largest distributor.

What was once illegal cash distribution has now been institutionalized.

If ₹30,000 crore can be distributed right before the polls, then issues like unemployment, migration, and poverty — Bihar’s deepest wounds — get buried under money.

Where does this path lead?

To a democracy where policy becomes indistinguishable from political bribery.

Women's Turnout Was Rising Anyway — Long Before the Cash Transfers

It is important to remember:

In 2010, women’s turnout: 54.5% (higher than men)
In 2015, women: 60.4% (men: 53.3%)
In 2019 LS, women: 59.5% (men: 54.9%)
In 2020, women: 59.7% (men: 54.6%)

Women have been politically active for a decade. Their turnout was rising regardless of cash transfers.

So why did this particular election cross 70%?

Is it only money?
Is it aspiration?
Is it anger?
Is it hope?

Nobody has a definitive answer.

The Opposition’s Failure to Counter the ‘Cash Narrative’

The opposition, too, promised money — sometimes more than the ruling alliance. But it never built a coherent narrative warning women that their votes were being purchased.

Priyanka Gandhi came close when she said:

“Take the ₹10,000 — but vote for your children’s future.”

But one speech cannot match a multi-thousand-crore machinery.

The Larger Democratic Crisis

This election signals something far bigger than Bihar:

Direct cash transfers right before elections are becoming normalized.
Election campaigns are turning into competitive giveaways.
The Election Commission is silent.
Media is complicit.
Oversight is nonexistent.

The line between welfare and inducement is disappearing.

If a political party can spend ₹30,000 crore before voting, how can faith in electoral fairness survive?

Bihar may have just become the test case for a new kind of democracy — one where votes are not stolen, but bought with taxpayer money.

So What Did Bihar Vote For?

Nobody can say for sure — not exit polls, not political parties, not analysts.

But one thing is certain:

When money precedes voting, democracy follows money.

Whether NDA wins or the Mahagathbandhan sweeps — the deeper question remains unanswered:

Has Bihar voted for change?
Or has Bihar been changed by money?

Only time will tell.

Tags: Ravish Kumar,Indian Politics,Hindi,Video,

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