In a piece I had written for the Indian Express (see “How we subsidize the rich“, Feb 15, 2008), I had advanced a tentative solution to the problem of how fuel subsidies benefit those rich enough to afford cars at the expense of the poor. Here I will address a few objections raised against the idea.
Continue reading “Fuel Surcharge for Private Cars”
Category: Random Draws
Mr Lee and Mr Chee agreed to have a fight
The NY Times of 30th May reports (“Power and Tenacity Collide in Singapore Courtroom” — Thanks, Naman) on the clash between two personalities — one powerful and famous, the other powerless — in a Singapore courtroom. Former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, 84, met his political adversary Chee Soon Juan, 45, in court where the former is suing the latter for libel. In a newsletter published in 2006, Mr Chee had accused the Singapore government of corruption. Mr Lee takes charges of corruption seriously and refused to let Mr Chee’s accusation go unchallenged.
I suppose the court would figure out if Mr Chee’s charge is true or not. If the charge is false, I would be much relieved because I would hate to find out that the man I have very high regard for — Mr Lee Kuan Yew — has feet of clay.
Continue reading “Mr Lee and Mr Chee agreed to have a fight”
Industrialization and Urbanization in India
Regulars know that I am obsessed with solar power, rail transportation, and urbanization. Reserve your copy of the book today! 🙂
I had a chat with Daniel Altman the other day at my office and his blog at the International Herald Tribune has this entry today:
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India and Manufacturing
Daniel Altman begins his column in the International Herald Tribune (June 3rd, 2008) “India seeks it owns path as a manufacturing powerhouse” with:
For a few years now, a facile dichotomy has made the rounds in economic circles: Among developing countries, China means manufacturing and India means services. Yet several leaders of the public and private sector in India see the country’s road to riches leading through manufacturing as well.
Begging for a World Class University — Part 2
This is a follow up to the previous post, “Begging for a World Class University.” In this I will address two responses to the post: one, the comment left by Aditya, and two, a post by Pramode titled “A Question (or two) for Atanu“.
Continue reading “Begging for a World Class University — Part 2”
Pragati June 2008: The New Jihadis
Don’t you think that the cover is absolutely brilliant? Smashup job, Nitin!
CONTENTS: Continue reading “Pragati June 2008: The New Jihadis”
A bit from Rutgers
http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf
(Click on the picture to go to the Picasa album with larger images.)
I got a master’s degree in computer science from Rutgers University. Visiting Rutgers was a trip down memory lane. Mega dozes doses of nostalgia.
Mr Ambani’s Home
How much would you spend on your home if your net worth was estimated by Forbes a few months ago to be around $43 billion? If you were Mukesh Ambani, you would spend a couple of billion dollars on a place you’d like to call home. Sounds reasonable to me. For most people, their home is the most valuable possession, often accounting for a very significant portion of their net wealth. Mukesh Ambani is spending a very small — almost insignificant — part of this wealth in building a home.
Continue reading “Mr Ambani’s Home”
A bit of Chicago
A few pictures from Chicago. I was there 30th April — May 3rd.
http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf
Mouse-over the picture to see the controls. Clicking on the second icon from the left at the bottom shows the picture captions. Note especially the Art Institute of Chicago building where Swami Vivekanand gave his famous talk in 1893. What looks like a huge drop of mercury is The Cloud Gate:
Cloud Gate is British artist Anish Kapoor’s first public outdoor work installed in the United States. The 110-ton elliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect the city’s famous skyline and the clouds above. A 12-foot-high arch provides a “gate” to the concave chamber beneath the sculpture, inviting visitors to touch its mirror-like surface and see their image reflected back from a variety of perspectives.
The World’s Most Innovative Companies
I received an email from a list that I am on. The basic tenor of the email was that India is somehow better than China. Well, I certainly hope so because I want India to be better than China, of course. But it was the gloating that made me uncomfortable. Here’s what that email was about.
Continue reading “The World’s Most Innovative Companies”
Atanu Dey : Life is a Random Draw 