According to a report in today’s Rediff on Karnataka’s new government, many of the members of the legislative assembly (or MLAs, those who make the laws of the state) are criminals. The report leads off with details of what the personal wealth of some of the MLAs are but later, almost as an afterthought, mentions that many have criminal charges pending against them:
Continue reading “Criminal Lawmakers?”
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:
Continue reading “Industrialization and Urbanization in India”
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.
Two letters related to Sri^2 Ravi Shankar
Did you know that this blog features prominently in search results on Sri (repeat n time) Ravi Shankar? Without intending to, I have stumbled upon a subject that simultaneously delights and enlightens. Aside from the usual hate mail, I quite frequently get mail from people who want to share their experience of the Art of Living and their opinion on SSRS. I will share two recent one’s with you.
Continue reading “Two letters related to Sri^2 Ravi Shankar”
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”
The Fuel Subsidy Cess
Finance minister P Chidambaram and petroleum minister Murli Deora are considering an additional tax to pay for the government subsidy of petrol and diesel, according to the Financial Express of 27th May. “Each percentage rise in the income and corporate tax rates would yield around Rs 3,500 crore, so a 3-5% cess would yield anywhere between Rs 10,500 crore and Rs 17,500 crore.”
The Acorn recommends “that taxpayers line up in large numbers and vote against the simians making economic policy.” I concur. I have always maintained that India is ruled by monkeys.
Continue reading “The Fuel Subsidy Cess”
Begging for a World Class University
Consider this scenario. Someone you know imprisons his grown up children and does not allow them to go out and do jobs that they are fully capable of doing. He also locks up his productive assets and prevents his children from using them. Then he goes around begging his neighbors for help with feeding his family as he does not have any income. The words that spring to mind upon considering this man’s behavior are words like contemptible, immoral, stupid, pathetic, pitiable, and sad.
Continue reading “Begging for a World Class University”
Google for Missing Details
Sunita Narain’s article “Missing Details” in the Feb 26th edition of Business Standard talks about the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). (Hat tip: A Sarda.)
Creating productive assets such as forests and reservoirs is good for the economy, and should be done in any case. The goal of providing some income to people in financial distress in rural areas can have the valuable side-effect of the creation of productive assets. But when even that side-effect is forgotten and only employment is the goal, then there is a problem. It really becomes a total unmitigated waste when even that substandard goal of employment is subverted by corruption and theft of the financial resources.
Narain says that the details of the implementation of the scheme is missing and laments the failure of what she says was founded on a good idea. I think that NREGS is itself not a good idea to begin with because it puts the cart before the horse. I will go into the details later.
You may ask, why “Google for Missing Details” is the title of this post. The link to Narain’s article will take you to the BS article but only to a truncated version. The rest is behind a subscription wall. Here’s how you get the article if you aren’t a subscriber: google “sunita narain missing details” and you click on the version that is cached by Google.
I am clever like that 🙂
Celebrating Four Years of the UPA
Saakshi toasts the achievements of the UPA government [via The Acorn.]
Let’s also raise a toast to the Indian voter for having chosen so wisely. The UPA and what it has achieved cannot be evaluated without reference to the wisdom of a sizable portion of the Indian voters who voted them to power. If it is a bitter harvest, the seeds were deliberately and voluntarily planted.
It’s all karma, neh?
Atanu Dey : Life is a Random Draw 