Mother India

Will Durant (1885 – 1981) was an American historian, writer and philosopher. His most famous work is the 11-volume “The Story of Civilization”, published between 1935 and 1975. In a 1931 work, “The Case for India“, he had this to say about India.
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Surrendering to the Naxals

In the present issue of Pragati, I argue why bribing the Naxals to surrender will not work. “While the schemes speak of getting the Naxalites to surrender, the only surrendering that is being done is by the government. Financial incentives for surrender will result in an increase in violence.” The article is reproduced below.
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Pragati Oct 2009: Targeting Naxalism

pragati_oct09

“Most of this month’s issue of Pragati deals with the nature of the Naxalite threat and the ways to address it. We argue that Naxalism is a manifestation of poor or absent governance but establishing good governance in Naxalite-affected areas, after successful security operations, requires the Indian government to invest in hybrid civil-military capacity that it does not yet have at the present time.” [Editorial]

To read the issue, click on the image of the cover.

What Private Entrepreneurs Can Teach Social Entrepreneurs

Bill Easterly writes, “Entrepreneurs that do stick to fixed goals are very good at least at one thing – wasting investors’ money. An idea for an online grocery startup, Webvan, managed to go through $1 billion before finally pulling the plug.”
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The Great Bus Mystery by Richard Dawkins

Dawkins has been channeling the spirit of Wodehouse. For all of us who like Wodehouse, a great piece by another of my favorite authors, Richard Dawkins. The Great Bus Mystery. (H/t — Nihar.) The first bit below the fold. Continue reading “The Great Bus Mystery by Richard Dawkins”

Rajesh Jain on Net Neutrality: A Knowlege@Wharton Discussion

During his recent visit to the US, Rajesh Jain had a chat with Kevin Werbach, Wharton legal studies and business ethics professor. The topic was “What’s New with Net Neutrality and India’s Mobile Markets?” In the first part, Rajesh asks Kevin five questions on net neutrality and in the second part, the roles are reversed and Kevin asks Rajesh about the Indian mobile market. Very informative and interesting. An excerpt follows:
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A Simple Story About Real Contentment

I came across this story on a mailing list. Let me retell the story first and then the source of the story.
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When in Rome, only Monotheism

I gather from Kanchan Gupta’s piece — “In Rome, Durga is not welcome” — the officials in Rome are jerking around Hindus who want to celebrate puja. But for the efforts of the Indian Ambassador, Mr Arif Shahid Khan, this year’s Durga puja celebrations in Rome would have been a disaster. A deep bow for Mr Khan in appreciation of his help to the Hindus in Rome.
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Of Trucks and Roads and Corruption

Let me tell you a story. It’s a vignette of what I consider to be important although it may appear to be rather trivial. Perhaps its apparent triviality is what should astonish us. But allow me to first recount a conversation I had the last week.
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