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.
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The Price of Oil and the Wages of Stupidity

I have argued in the past that India is poor by choice — not by necessity, nor by a heavenly compulsion, or a divine thrusting upon, or an enforced obedience of planetary influences [1].

“Of course, that does not mean that every poor Indian has chosen to be poor. Someone else in a position of power made choices whose consequences are evident. India’s leaders – past and present – have consistently made choices that have had, and are having, a disastrous effect on the lives of hundreds of millions of human beings.” [From a post made in June five years ago.]
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Criminal Lawmakers?

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:
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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.

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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.
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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“.
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Pragati June 2008: The New Jihadis

Don’t you think that the cover is absolutely brilliant? Smashup job, Nitin!

Download your copy here.

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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.
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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.
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