Category: Random Draws

Back in April I had written about the old retrofitted Russian aircraft carrier that India was buying (“The War and the Circus“). “In January 2004, India signed a deal to buy the antique and obsolete 1980s-design Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov. Originally the deal was for $1.5 billion but the Russians later said that the retrofitting will take an additional $2 billion. The heap of prettied-up scrap will be delivered to India sometime in 2012, and it will be accessorized with 16 matching MiG-29Ks. The deal was made by the Congress-led UPA government. Pranab Mukherjee and lots of other people got lots of foreign trips out of the deal. The Indian navy big bosses must be looking forward to having another floating deck to strut about on.” Here’s an update on the deal.
Continue reading “Everybody Knows”

In a New York Times editorial titled “Secretary Clinton Goes to India” published 17th July, the writer makes the case that “it is time for India to take more responsibility internationally.” I completely concur. The editorial spells out what India should do. For instance, it points out that India has to ” constrain its arms race with Pakistan and global proliferation.” Excellent advice — but for one small little inconvenient detail. Who exactly is the one that fuels the arms race in the Indian subcontinent?
Continue reading “The NYTimes Lays it on Thick and Heavy”

As my friend Rajan Parrikar wrote when he sent me the link to Microsoft’s Project Tuva, “What times we live in that all of this is now at our fingertips.”
Continue reading “Microsoft’s Project TUVA”

Is China really going to attack India before 2012? Yes, says Bharat Verma, editor of the Indian Defence Review, according to rediff.com

Why? Out of nervousness and to divert attention from its own problems.
Continue reading “Here We Go Again”

It is just a few months short of the 20th anniversary of Loma Prieta earthquake: “a major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area of California on October 17, 1989 at 5:04 p.m. local time. Caused by a slip along the San Andreas Fault, the earthquake lasted approximately 15 seconds and measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale.” [Wiki] I will always remember the exact moment it happened. I was at a trade show at the San Jose convention center, and everything started to shake and things came crashing down. Now I am back in the bay area for a few weeks. Is the ground going to shake?
Continue reading “It’s San Andreas Fault”

I am pretty convinced that one can learn practically all subjects from easily accessible content available for free on the web. This summer I am teaching a development economics course at University of California at Berkeley, Econ171. I will use the web extensively.
Continue reading “Hans Rosling: 200 Years that Changed the World”

A couple of links. One video lecture by David Weinberger. One excellent article by James Fallows.
Continue reading “Weekend links: Stuff worth a look”

R Vaidyanathan has an interesting piece in expressbuzz cryptically titled “The Lost Horizon of the Emperors.” He takes a very big picture view of what’s happening around the world. Big picture painted rather randomly. He starts off with USA’s decline and quickly moves to India and Pakistan. Regarding the decline of the US, he write, “US is going the banana republic way what with a national debt of more than $10 trillion, which is more than 80 per cent of its national income.”
Continue reading “The US Empire in Decline”

It is hard to believe that anyone can be caught with $134 billion worth of bonds in a false-bottomed suitcase. I did a search for “134 billion” and even Google couldn’t believe it.
Continue reading “False bottom suitcases and $134 billion”