Came across this comment by someone who signs off as “d.srikanth mbbs caims”:
plz convey my suggestn 2 shri advani
y dont they use dis point in campaign
nehru family ruling our country since 50 yrs they r rich by birth ,b4 d independence
wt abt aii other freedom fighters
wt abt mahatma gandhi family
I believe that it was made in earnest. I hear claims all the time that the Indian education system is excellent. You could have fooled me.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva’s recent accusation that the financial crisis was caused by “white people with blue eyes” at a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Brown is illuminating if not entirely accurate. [1] Everyone involved in the financial crisis certainly does not have blue eyes, although they may all be uniformly white. Da Silva claimed that he had never met a black banker. Continue reading “In Praise of Dead White Men”
I hold firmly to the conviction expressed in John McCarthy’s signature quote that “those who refuse to do arithmetic are doomed to speak nonsense.” Today I came across a set of videos which graphically illustrates the concept: Dr Albert Bartlett’s 8-part series on “Arithmetic, Population and Energy.” (See video below the fold).
Continue reading ““Arithmetic, Population and Energy””
This month’s Pragati is about “What the new government should do in its first 100 days.” I have a piece in there about the structural changes required in education. What else is new, you’d ask. Below the fold are the editorial comments for the issue. Please read and distribute.
Continue reading “Pragati April 2009: Ideas for the honeymoon”
If you are one of the three people who regularly read this blog, please pardon the lack of posts the last few days. I finished my brief stint at ISB in Hyderabad and now I am back in Pune after a brief stop-over in Mumbai.
Continue reading “Meta Post”
Nicolai Ouroussoff writes that “We long for a bold urban vision” in his NY Times piece “Reinventing America’s Cities: The Time Is Now.” Below the fold are some selected excerpts.
India too needs a bold urban vision, as I have been arguing for a while. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) for India, most of India does not live in cities. India does not have to reinvent its cities — it has to build new ones. Fortunately though, the world has learned a lot about building livable cities and India does not have to go about reinventing the wheel: India has to be smart enough to learn from the mistakes the others have made. India can — and must — build efficient cities. That’s the only way out for the hundreds of millions trapped in villages in rural India.
Continue reading “Reinventing America’s Cities”
YouTube has banned the James Randi Educational Foundation channel.
The reason is not yet known. I fear that it did so because of some religious group was offended by the JREF’s rational argument. Can’t really blame them since even governments are bending over. Recently the UN was the site of an unsightly scene where it was decided that any expression that offends the followers of one particular religion was to be banned. In India, they jailed a newspaper editor because thousands of violent thugs demanded his death for offending them by publishing an article that pointed out that certain beliefs are silly.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Excellent feature on Freeman Dyson in the magazine section of the New York Times. I like the man and agree with him on — among other things — global warming and the environment. (Or should I say that I agree with the man and therefore I like him?)
A few paragraphs of excerpts below the fold.
Continue reading “Freeman Dyson: The Civil Heretic”
It’s been a while since I caught up with my contrarian friend CJ. I asked him what he’s been up to. I nearly dropped the phone when he said that he read in the newspapers that Indian elections were announced. It wasn’t the news of the impending elections that jolted me – I knew that already. The admission that CJ read a newspaper that was shocking.
Continue reading “The Sacred Ritual of Elections — Part 1”
It could not possibly be a lack of imagination, could it? Why is everything in India named after Nehru, Indira, Sanjay, and Rajiv? I have pondered that matter here before. Continue reading “The Paucity of Names”
Atanu Dey : Life is a Random Draw 