Linking Poverty and Hinduism

A couple of paragraphs from Alvin Toffler’s The Thought Leader Interview (hat tip: Anish Sankalia) caught my attention: Continue reading “Linking Poverty and Hinduism”

Panjim, Goa

It is interesting to learn that Goa tops the list of favorite places not just for your average European tourist but also the Al Qaeda. Israel issued a warning to its citizens.

“In light of terrorist threats by Al Qaeda in India, a concrete threat now exists specifically for the Indian state of Goa, which hosts many tourists, among them Israelis, during late December and over the civil New Year,” the National Security Council Counter Terrorism Headquarters has said.

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What the world owes to the US

In a comment on my musings on “An entirely avoidable tragedy”, Jack Stack wrote

You are quick to point out issues (again) with the US. Yep, Iraq, but at the same time, we’ve done quite a bit for literally every nation since we became a nation. We can debate the merits of capitalism, democracy, etc or we can understand that India is still a young country that has needs – similar to many other countries.

I can appreciate Jack’s point of view. I stand entirely justifiably accused of pointing a finger at the US for much of the avoidable tragedies of the world. Only powerful nations are capable of great harm and one has to merely observe the world with a little bit of care to realize how much of the blame for the present state of the world rests at the feet of the mighty.
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The Dollar Auction Continues

It should come as no surprise that the US is selling arms to Pakistan.

“2,769 Radio Frequency TOW 2A missiles, 415 RF bunker buster missiles, fly-to-buy missiles in both these categories, 121 TOW launchers for wire-guided and wireless missiles, E-2C HAWKEYE 2000 Airborne Early Warning Systems, simulators and support equipment. Their total worth could be up to $1.04 Billion.”
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Liberalize the Indian Education Sector

This is a true story. The faculty member involved emailed me yesterday. Scene: an IIT professor interviewing a potential candidate for PhD in a technical subject.
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Gordon Dryden on India

New Zealand author Dr. Gordon Dryden, who showed me around his home-country last year (mentioned before here and here), breezed into India last month, and a week later flew out “head filled with a haze of contraditions”:

Air travel: Horrified at the Air India trip from Hong Kong to New Delhi (“Do they really have to spend several minutes, first up, showing what not to push bottles down the toilet? Have they not heard of the power of negative suggestions? Possibly my worst flight since the Soviet Aeroflot slog from Moscow to Tokyo in 1970.”) But thrilled at the Jet Airways flight from Delhi to Pune (“Great airline; beaut service.”)
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Desperately Seeking India’s Google

The San Jose Mercury News has a recent report about how mobile phones are going to be for India what the PC was for the US. Naturally, they quote the most passionate evangelist for the mobile web, my colleague and MD of Netcore, Mr Rajesh Jain. The matter that the article focuses on is of paramount interest in the context of India’s development: the mobile phone revolution in India.
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Instituto Thomas Jefferson

George Bernard Shaw had claimed with characteristic immodesty that “when I want to read a good book, I write one.” Fulfilling a perceived need is a defining characteristic of entrepreneurs. Like great artists and poets, entrepreneurs see the world not as it is but rather how it ought to be. And they follow that creative vision to create something of value. Ricardo Carvajal is a visionary and an entrepreneur in that sense. I had the pleasure of meeting him and his wife Jeanene Bluhm Carvajal, the creators of the Instituto Thomas Jefferson (ITJ), during my brief visit to Mexico City exactly two months ago as their guest.
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