Headline July 05, 2018/ ''' ZERO -*[STUDENTS]*- GAME "'

''' ZERO -*[STUDENTS]*- GAME "'

ZERO SHOULD TERRIFY the hell out of Ya all! ''Zilli, what ya think? Do you think the ''International Court of Justice"' would consider the claim and the case?

"NO, they won't! 'Dead on arrival,' as this very learned professor Manil Suri, the author ''The City of  Devi," would put it.

"Worth a try?............  Merium, Rabo, Seher, Zilli,  Dee, Haleema, Saima, lawyer Zainab Khan, Eman, Hussain, Shahzaib? Jordan? Toby/China?............

OF COURSE, the exercise was pure fantasy for many reasons; any compensatory schemes would be dead on arrival based on the mention of ''reparations."

And yet it highlighted the fact that there were cultures and peoples that patented zero, whose descendants may not be doing well as well now.

*If not financial recompense, is at least some enhanced ethical responsibility toward them owed?* 

If so, the primary onus might fall on tech companies, arguably the biggest users of this resource.

Right now, their prize target is India, with Microsoft, Google and Facebook all vying bring its enormous population online.

These giants might point out that they're already being altruistic by offering free connectivity. through schemes that will plug in rural areas, vitalize the economy and transform the country - and just happens to ADD-

Hundreds of millions of potential customers to their roster for a variety of ads and e-products.

Could it be a coincidence that Microsoft, for instance, has also been investing heavily in future cloud services, cybersecurity and and e-commerce for India?

Think of it. The companies will use the indigenously developed resource of zeros and ones {the Arabs got their numerals from India, after all}, package them into new services and products, and see them back.

India has lived through such irony before.

The British Empire took her raw material/cotton and sold it back as finished garments, destroying the local textile industry and helping lower India's share of the world gross domestic product to 3 percent from 23 percent.

Fortunately, the parallel founders. The finished e-products that mostly be manufactured in India, even if backed by foreign investment.

Also, the country is wiser : it will not succumb easily to a new cyber-colonialism.

Last year, under a broader "net neutrality" decision, the government banned Facebook's "Free Basics"plan, which offered free Wi-Fi but only to websites of the company's choosing [Facebook undeterred is already marketing a replacement].

This year it also declined a bid from Microsoft to offer connectivity through old television bands. Instead, under pressure from Indian cellular operators, the bands will be auctioned off.

Whether Indian tech companies will prevail remains to be seen. What's clear is that vigorous market competition is underway to control all those zeros and ones.

Despite my liberal student group's disapproval, zero encourages capitalistic forces after all.

In fact, zero is essential to much of human endeavour; it has become a fundamental part of our legacy, too seemingly immutable for any kind of compensatory reckoning.

And yet the Bakhshali manuscript reminds is that zero wasn't always at hand.

Rather, it was the intellectual product of cultures perhaps far different from our own, of peoples and regions that may have subsided but could once again rise to dominance.

With respectful dedication to Mankind, Leaders, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya  all ''register'' on  wssciw.blogspot.com - The World Students Society - for every subject in the world and Twitter - !E-WOW! - the Ecosystem 2011:

'''' 0-0-0 ""

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless