My younger brother’s daughter shares her birthday today, 23rd Jan, with David Hilbert who was born in 1862. Hilbert compiled a list of 23 unsolved problems in mathematics in 1900. “This is generally reckoned the most successful and deeply considered compilation of open problems ever to be produced by an individual mathematician.” Hmm. Born 23rd Jan; compiled 23 problems. Coincidence? I think not. 🙂
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Month: January 2007
In Spite of the Gods
A NY Times book review (Hat tip: Pankaj Narula) begins with a classic gambit: “All eyes are on China as it races to become the world’s next great power. Smart bettors would be wise to put some money on India to get there first, and Edward Luce explains why in “In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India,” his highly informative, wide-ranging survey.”
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The Still Point of the World
T.S.Eliot’s poem Burnt Norton begins with
Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable.
Talk on Entrepreneurship at XIMB
“He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils, for time is the greatest innovator.” With that quote from Francis Bacon (1595) I introduced the topic of “Innovation and Entrepreneurship” at the XIMB’s (Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar) conference on “Innovation and Entrepreneurship.” I was asked to give the concluding keynote talk on 13th Jan.
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RISC at XIMB
I spoke about RISC at the “International Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship” at XIMB last Saturday, Jan 13th. It was a brief talk and was largely based on a document that I had done for an infrastructure report published this month by OUP. Even though the document is quite brief, I think it does a good job of describing RISC. The rest of this post is the “what, why, how” of RISC—Rural Infrastructure and Services Commons.
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Konark and Beyond
“We shall do such things, what they shall be I know not, but they shall be the terror of the earth”. That’s Shakespeare’s King Lear making his new year’s resolutions, I suppose. My more modest goals are to blog more regularly, and avoid matters related to religion and politics. How one can reasonably comment on the economy without reference to R & P is a mystery to me. But I shall strive.
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Innovation and Entrepreneurship at XIMB
“Be Indian, fly Indian” could have been the subliminal message that they wanted to convey when they (whoever they are) decided that it would be good to change the name of the airline to “Indian” from “Indian Airlines.” As I have pondered that change of name before on this blog, I will move on. I only mention this because yesterday I was flying Indian to get from Mumbai to Bhubaneswar. I am attending the “International Conference on Entrepreneurship and Innovation” at the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar.
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Goodbye and Thanks for all the Noodles
This post will make no sense to most people who have not had the experience of being an impoverished student in the US. Very few who read this blog can relate to Top Ramen. But for those of you who do, I am sure you would be saddened to learn of the passing of Momofuku Ando, who died in Ikeda, near Osaka, at 96, the inventor of ramen, according to this appreciation in the NY Times. [Hat tip: Shrikant.] Mr Ando invented ramen noodles way back in 1958.
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Blogspot Censored?
If you have been unable to access blogspot today (as I have been), then here is a work around. Use Anonymouse.org.
This public service announcement has been made possible by a grant from the Freedom Foundation (which hopes to have an office in India in a few centuries.)
Minds Without Fear
The Atlantic Monthly recently published a list of The Top 100 most influential Americans. Arguably, many on that list would also make it into a list called “The Top 100 Most Influential People” as well. Indeed, the modern world is defined and shaped by many on that Atlantic Monthly list. It is remarkable how much the world of today (both good and bad) owes to those who were, and are, Americans. In every broad area of human endeavor—science, technology, politics, economics, law, medicine, education, literature, architecture—Americans have made seminal contributions.
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Atanu Dey : Life is a Random Draw 