People Welfare Day - 1, Mayawati Welfare Day - 364

Mayawati, the future Prime Minister in waiting (at least that's what she thinks), wants to celebrate her birthday as "Peoples Welfare Day".

Wasn't she elected to do the welfare of the people throughout the year till the end of her elected term? Now that we know that she cares about the welfare of the people for one day in the year, we can count our good graces that the odds of people welfare in the Mayawati administration are 1 in 365.

So on that hopeful note, I wish the people of Uttar Pradesh a very happy new year.

Realities of Coalition Politics - Everybody is a Kingmaker

If you wanted an reality check on coalition politics go no further then the headline.

Just goes on to show how a small bunch of fringe parties can hold hostage an entire state. For state like Jharkhand, whose vast source of natural resources would be the envy of most other states, it is rather appalling that it remains one of the least developed states in the country. The opposite holds true for politicians.

From Madhu Koda to Shibu Soren, everybody has taken turns to and bilked corers from the state coffers.

Signs of the Times

In a sign of the beating the world's greatest golfer has taken, there are now parody video games available which mock at anything and everything that was Tiger Woods. Some of them are just hilarious, like the one which mocks how Tiger survey's the greens before he makes a putt.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Fast Onto Death - How a Non Violent Tool Became a Tool to Blackmail the State

While Mahatma Gandhi used the one of the tools of non violence i.e. fast onto death to further a selfless cause, the same tool has been used by K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) to further his own cause.

For those who are not familiar with recent development, KCR used the fast onto death as a tool to blackmail the central government to agree for the creation of a separate Telangana state

Of course whenever the state is created, it is KCR who stands to benefit from this, as he has become the undisputed leader of the Telangana cause.

On the same issue, I read two very interesting blog posts.

The first one is by TJS George, who writes:

The success of Chandrasekhara Rao’s death-fast threat for Telangana takes the game to parochialism of a negative kind. His objective is personal gain. He had lost his political base, lost his party allies and lost even the recent elections in the state. Now, in one fell sweep, he has assured himself the chief ministership of Telangana State if and when it materialises. A classic case of zero to hero.

This is good for Chandrasekahara Rao and bad for Telengana and very bad for India. It is bad for Telangana because Chandrasekhara Rao is just a run-of-the-mill politician. Any government he heads will be one more exercise in the usual sharing of spoils

The second is by Amit Varma, who writes:

The TRS isn’t just about blackmail, of course—they’re also using standard political gundagardi. I find it delightfully ironical that after Rao broke his fast by having orange juice for health reasons, the “students who had attacked policemen and public and private property for two days to support Mr Rao did not take kindly to this sudden decision.” They might have suspected that Rao was not sufficiently dedicated to their cause, to which I’d respond that no politician is devoted to any cause other than himself. That’s human nature. Orange juice zindabad.

Read the complete post by TJS George From patriotism to parochialism
Read the complete post by Amit Varma Fast Onto Death

HDDG for HDTV

With our humble farmer, son of the soil HD Devegowda endorsing the HDTV, all you TV lovers, its time to get rid of your old idiot box and get set to buy a new one. Look at the upside, you can see HDDG snoozing with crystal clear picture now. Who would want to miss on that.



Link obtained from Son of Bosey

New Media Vs The Old Media

When you want to search the web, what comes to mind first: Google of course. The king of internet search is in a fight with Rupert Murdoch: The Man Who Owns the News.

On Point, the radio talk show had a interesting discussion on the clash between old way of delivering news, print and paper style, and the new way of delivering e-news.

You can listen to the show at Google Vs Murdoch

How Many Houses Could a Flood Victim buy for 1.7 Crorers?

In this day when austerity is the buzz word, information obtained from the RTI reveals that the honorable chief minister of Karnataka has spent about 1.7 Crorers to renovate his official residence. This on a house he will stay in for another three years, if the Reddy brothers dont have their way.

While the honorable CM continues to enjoy the perks of his job, or whatever is left of it, people in the state affected by the worst flood in years have lost their lively hood, and places they used to call home.



This begs the questions: Had the money been spent on providing relief to families (like the one shown above) who have lost everything, "How many modest livable houses could be built for the same 1.7 Crorers?"

Picture courtesy Churumuri

Will There be a Lotus Bloom in South India?

The crisis of power and control within the first ever southern state government headed by The Party With a Difference seems to have been averted; at-least for a while. But compromise resolution to the crisis may have come at a cost.

Two excellent editorials, one in the The Hindu and the other in the Indian Express highlight the lack of a strong party leadership, and how for short term gains,"The Party with a Difference" may have crushed the "Lotus" before it could get a good root on the southern ground.

Random Musings of Today

I dont know about you, but thats a lot of snacks for five people. With all the sugar intake, these people must be working 24/7 I would think...

With digital memory becoming so prevalent and cheap, who needs the brain

Is it enough if you become a naturalized citizen of the United States to qualify as an American in the eyes of the few. You can ask Meb Keflezighi, the first American to win the NY Marathon since 1982.

This essay for Outlook India magazine by author and activist Arundhati Roy, asks one simple question: "What is the price of progress and development?"

Celebrating Holloween - Republican Style

Picture obtained from Crooks and Liars

Bonuses!!!

Main Street America is still in the grips of the worst recession since the 1930's. Unemployment is close to 10% and health care costs are shooting through the roof. Most people will see marginal if any increase in their pay checks, that is if they are lucky enough to have a job.

But if you are from Wall Street, the Mecca of global finance, thats a different story. People here will not only see an increase in salary, but can expect a big fat bonus come year end, whether the company that they work for is in business or not.

So why is that, people who brought the world to the brink of financial oblivion are still getting paid outrageous amounts so that they can keep doing more of the same.

Daniel Gross in his column for Slate magazine tries to explain.

"Just as Tiger Woods was placed on this earth to whack the dickens out of dimpled balls, Wall Streeters were placed on this planet to dispense and receive bonuses."

So if you are from Main Street and still have a job, keep you chin up and head back to work. After all you have to pay your taxes so that Wall Street can pay its bonuses.

So Much for Austerity

The central government's austerity drive doesn't seemed to have filtered down. At least in the states which have the opposition BJP in power.

According to the BJP spokesperson,

"The timing of the austerity drive was suspect. It is an election gimmick. The prime minister has said the worst of the economic crisis is over, then where's the need for austerity now? It's all cosmetic. They will go back to their usual ways once the state elections are over."

This is the same BJP whose government in Karnataka spent Rs 1 Cr on a single cabinet meeting. Out of One Crore spent, about 28 Lakhs was spent on flowers alone. I don't know about you, but that's a whole lot of flowers.

And This is the City Which Will Host the Commonwealth Games

Home Minister PC Chidambaram's pleas towards Delhiite's to learn some manners before the upcoming commonwealth games seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
Forget the common man, even the Delhi cops, the enforcers of law and order, don't seem to care. While they are busy fighting over who has jurisdiction a women is being tortured.

Whats on the Net

Some interesting articles that I have read over the last couple of days

1. Breaking American addiction of Fast Food in one of the most un-healthiest regions in American by cooking food British Style
2. If you followed the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the US Supreme Court, you will remember the controversy surrounding the "Wise Latina" comment. Ever wondered how this obscure comment made by the now Supreme Court justice become the focal point in her confirmation hearings. Mark Bowden in an excellent article for The Atlantic magazine explains.
3. I have heard alcohol addiction, drug addiction, even gambling addiction. But Internet Addiction, this is news to me.

With that thought, I will end my post as I don't want to be addicted to the internet.

Why Republican Party is in Crisis?

In his recent column for the NY Times, David Brooks provides a candid and lucid analysis for why the Republican Party is in crisis. In reacting to how the radio jocks Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity have taken control of the Republican party from its rank and file, David Brooks writes:

They pay more attention to Rush’s imaginary millions than to the real voters down the street. The Republican Party is unpopular because it’s more interested in pleasing Rush’s ghosts than actual people. The party is leaderless right now because nobody has the guts to step outside the rigid parameters enforced by the radio jocks and create a new party identity. The party is losing because it has adopted a radio entertainer’s niche-building strategy, while abandoning the politician’s coalition-building strategy.

The rise of Beck, Hannity, Bill O’Reilly and the rest has correlated almost perfectly with the decline of the G.O.P. But it’s not because the talk jocks have real power. It’s because they have illusory power, because Republicans hear the media mythology and fall for it every time.

Read the entire column at The Wizard of Beck. Its good to see that there are still sane people associated with the Republican Party who can see through the veil of mis-information being spread by some in the media and have the courage and fortitude to stand up to it.

Celebrating Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday Google Style

Netizens who visited Google today could see the new doodle celebrating Mahatma Gandhi's 140 birthday. The doodle has the Mahatma's bust intertwined into the word "Google".


Google also has other doodles that celebrate various birthdays, festivals and holidays. To get a glimpse search for Google Doodles, where else, but on Google.

Image obtained from Google website.

Random Musings of Today

Here is a list of some of the most ridiculous things I read today.

1. If the the Shiv Sena - BJP is voted to power in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections, voters can expect staple Maharashtrian food including Vada-Pav, Misal, Poha, puran poli and thalipeeth, tax free.
Link obtained from Smoking Signals
2. A reputed university in the United States has released a new policy: No Sex in the dorm room when the room-mate is around.
3. A conservative blogger has proposed a military coup to resolve the Obama Problem. According to the blogger, "There is a remote, although gaining, possibility America's military will intervene as a last resort to resolve the "Obama problem." Don't dismiss it as unrealistic."
4. People in Arizona can now carry guns to bars starting from today. A state law approved earlier this year took effect today. Guns and Alcohol seems like a good combination, at-least to the NRA

Distance Between Two Golden Arches - McFarthest Spot

When you think of McDonalds, you think of hamburgers, fries, fast food, and of course the Golden Arches. Where ever you go, you can be sure to find a McDonald's.

Ever wondered what is the farthest you need to travel without seeing a McDonald's. Well its farther then I thought: 107 Miles if you fly.

Blogger Stephen Von Worley has mapped out all the McDonald's in the lower 48 states of the United States.



Picture courtesy Stephen Von Worley

Dude Perfect!!!!

This video has some of the most amazing basket ball shots I have ever seen. The group calls themselves Dude Perfect. Are these guys for real; it doesn't matter. Because they are promoting a worthy cause in a very unique way.

According to their website, their cause is "We, as a Dude Perfect Team, have decided to sponsor children overseas though Compassion International. For every 100,000 views their Summer Camp Edition video receives, they will sponsor one child.




When we are at some amazing sports shots, lets watch the most amazing shot in tennis and the amazing shot in golf

Why Health Care Reform is Needed Now

According to a recent report released by the Kaiser Family Foundation, insurance costs have increased 131 percent since 1999, when a year of family coverage cost about $5,791. Compare that to 38 percent increase in wages and 28 percent growth of inflation over the same period

This just underscores why health-care reform which can provide affordable healthcare to everybody and at the same time control health care costs is needed urgently.

Yearly Health Care Premiums:

Image source Kaiser Family Foundation 2009 survey of Employer Health Benefits

Yearly Inflation Rate:

Inflation rate data obtained from Inflationdata.com

When you have deep pockets........

When your pockets run deep enough and you live in one of the wealthiest suburbs in the US, a $170,000 stone wall is pocket change worth fighting for.

Ah!!! the power of capitalism......

Also read Think Before You Spend

Whats Wrong with Having Children Listen to the President Speak?

Even a simple event such as the President of the United States speaking to the children about the importance of staying in school can turn partisan and political. The argument against the speech:"the president is trying to indoctrinate children with socialist ideas".

NY Times in its editorial hits the nail on the head arguing:

There is, of course, nothing socialist in any of Mr. Obama’s policies, as anyone with a passing knowledge of socialism and its evil history knows. But in this country, unlike actual socialist countries, nobody can be compelled to listen to the president. What is most disturbing about all this is what it says about the parents — and the fact that they have such little regard for their children’s intelligence and ability to think.

In this era of global competition having a well educated population which can understand things in a global perspective is going to be the key to distinguish one's country. That, children and education are being used as a means by a section of the media and the masses to promote their narrow short term partisan political objectives is a tragedy. If this does not epitomize stupidity, then I don't know what does.

Health Care Reform - Why Bipartisanship Does not Exist

When it comes to Health care reform trying to find a common ground between Democrats and Republicans is like hunting for a needle in a haystack. It still exists but there is no hope of finding it.

Christoper Beam in a recent article for Slate Magazine summarizes why there is very little hope, if at all, to find bipartisan support:

The first problem is that Republicans and Democrats can't even agree there's a problem. McCain and McConnell say we're No. 1 in health care, while Democrats agree with the World Health Organization that we're more like No. 37. Democrats say there are 47 million uninsured Americans. McCain and McConnell, meanwhile, are skeptical. "I don't question that number in summary," McCain said, "but I think when you break it down it gets more interesting." For example, he said, 5 million are college students, 9 million are people making $75,000 a year or more, 10 million are non citizens, 11 million are eligible for Medicaid or S-CHIP but haven't enrolled. "So really, we're talking about 12 to 15 million who are uninsured today."

About Soulmates and Jobs

Searching for a soulmate is like searching for a job. Just as when you look for a job, you weigh the good and bad things about it and settle for a middle ground, same is true when you are looking for a soulmate. Atleast that's what Betsey Stevenson believes. In a commentary for Marketplace she writes:

Economists simply can't believe in one soulmate. There are too many people in the world and the odds of finding that one person in five billion are, well, you can do the math.

So if economists don't believe in soulmates, why do we think people get married?

Searching for a spouse is very similar to searching for a job. There is not one perfect job for each of us, but there are clearly better and worse jobs. So we hunt, for a spouse and a job. When do we stop? When the offer in the hand is better than the likely offer in the bush.

The Meaning of Freedom

Below is a audio clip of a commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace at Kenyon College.

Meaning of Freedom


The entire speech This is Water is published as a book.

There is Nothing Ex About the "Ex-Wife"

As Jim Samuels said, "A wife lasts only for the length of the marriage, but an ex-wife is there for the rest of your life".

Turns out, its not just the government that is interested in the tax evading multi millionaires . The UBS tax cheater's list is rekindling interest of many ex-wives in their ex-husbands. I presume it is love of a different kind now.

Questions for the BJP

With the expulsion of Jaswant Singh from the BJP, Churumuri had a post with the list of questions for the BJP

Of all the questions this one seemed to stand out:

Since “inner-party democracy” in the Congress often evokes sniggers among BJP folk, are we to conclude that such a concept doesn’t exist in God’s Own Party? That its members aren’t expected to think on their own? That all its members expected to hold only one view which the RSS sends from Nagpur using sparrows?

Now a question of my own.

The True Cost of Healthcare

All over the country, it seems that the one topic on everybody's mind is healthcare. Be it the various town hall meetings from Altantic to the Pacific, or the irrefutable center of the health care debate, Washington DC, everybody seems to be talking about health care and ways to reform it. Few of the ideas for reform being thrown out include providing coverage for every individual in the country, promoting electronic medical records, reducing costs by providing the right incentives for physicians and other providers etc. But nobody seems to be talking about the cost of the current system and the toll that it is having on the economy as a whole.

In a recent article How Healthcare Killed by Father, David Goodhill discusses the true cost of the healthcare hidden or otherwise and the return on investment that we are getting by paying into a system that is broken. The paragraph below highlights, how much we are losing in terms of other growth opportunities by not reforming a bad and broken system:

Yet spending on health care, by families and by the government, is crowding out spending on almost everything else. As a nation, we now spend almost 18 percent of our GDP on health care. In 1966, Medicare and Medicaid made up 1 percent of total government spending; now that figure is 20 percent, and quickly rising. Already, the federal government spends eight times as much on health care as it does on education, 12 times what it spends on food aid to children and families, 30 times what it spends on law enforcement, 78 times what it spends on land management and conservation, 87 times the spending on water supply, and 830 times the spending on energy conservation. Education, public safety, environment, infrastructure—all other public priorities are being slowly devoured by the health-care beast.

What is a Baby Thinking?

As a parent of a one year old, I can relate to this question in more ways then one. A toddler who can hardly keep his attention on one thing for more then a few seconds. One moment he is craving for the new toy in the store, like his life depended on it, and the moment you purchase it, the wrapping of the toy is his new best buddy; the toy just an after-thought. Examples like these abound where baby's are running around from one thing to the next in a matter of minutes. All of this brings us back to the one question: "What is the Baby Thinking?"

In writing a review for Alison Gopnik's new book, The Philosophical Baby, Paul Bloom writes:

Simple experiments demonstrate that babies are, for the most part, trapped in the here and now, a conclusion supported by the finding that the part of the brain responsible for inhibition and control, the prefrontal cortex, is among the last to develop. Gopnik uses the example of an adult being dumped into the middle of a foreign city, knowing nothing about what's going on, with no goals and plans, constantly turning to see new things, and struggling to make sense of it all. This is what it's like to be a baby—only more so, since even the most stressed adult has countless ways of controlling attention: We can look forward to lunch, imagine how we would describe this trip to friends, and so on. The baby just is.

Money as an Painkiller

Counting money can make one feel less pain. This according to a research paper titled Symbolic Power of Money.

This probably explains why all the Wall street bankers fell no pain about us ordinary people. How would they, when they have million dollar bonuses that need counting.

Read the complete story at Money as a Painkiller

Is There a Debate on Health Care Reform Anymore?

Recent reports of town hall meetings organized by US Congressman and Senators have witnessed unruly crowds shouting against the reform bill that is being discussed in the US Congress. The crowds have been so boisterous and unruly that the room for debate has been pretty much shut out.

Well some people may have legitimate concerns about the health care bill, a lot of people are just showing up with misinformation or no information at all that can add value to the debate at hand. The best example of the misinformation or no information out there was a man who recently showed up at Rep. Robert Inglis (R-S.C.) town hall meeting and told him:

“keep your government hands off my Medicare.”

Charles Blow in his most recent column for the NY Times puts it best:"Belligerence is the currency of the intellectually bankrupt."

So is there some sort of debate left in the health care reform anymore, or has it been hijacked by fear mongers, the misinformed, and the ideologues?

Go green — go in the shower

This reminded me of the Seinfeld episode, The Wife.

More Seinfeld - Season 5 News & Previews

George's explanation for going in the shower, "I was there! I saw a drain!. IT'S ALL PIPES! What's the difference?"
Well now George can also add that he was being environmentally friendly by going in the shower.
Video promoting Going in the Shower

Helpful Travel Tips

Before travelling to any country, it is better to learn about the rules and regulations in place. Below are some helpful tips:
1. In Milan it is a legal requirement to smile at all times, except during funerals or hospital visits.
2. In Massachusetts, taxi drivers are prohibited from making love in the front seat of the car during their shifts.
3. In Denmark, people are legally obliged to honk the horn and check for small children underneath the car.
4. In Thailand, it is illegal for anyone to leave a building without wearing their pants.
5. In Michigan, anyone planning on bathing in public must have their swim suit inspected by a police officer.
6. In Florida, any unmarried woman who parachutes on a Sunday could be jailed. Singing while wearing a swimming costume is also prohibited.
7. In Portugal it is unlawful to urinate in the sea.
8. In Hong Kong the wife of a husband who commits adultery is legally entitled to kill the mistress in any manner desired, and the husband with just her bare hands.
9. In Switzerland flushing the lavatory after 10pm is illegal.
10. In Canada if you are arrested and then released from prison, it is a legal requirement that the felon is given a handgun with bullets and a horse, so they can ride safely out of the town.

I wonder how some of these laws are enforced. I can only imagine the conversation between the defendant charged with urinating in the sea or caught flushing his toilet after 10pm and the judge/prosecutor.

Read more travel tips Guide to Holiday

Link obtained from Smoke Signals

Should the Indian Government Bail Out Private Airlines?

This week, six of the seven private airline in India have called for a one day no fly day on August 18th 2009. The reason: to protest against the high cost of aviation fuel and high airport tax, which they sight as the main reasons why they lost about Rs 10000 crores ($2 billion) last year. They want the government to bail them out.

1. Granted that the government of India is spending Rs 15000 crore ($3 billion) to bailout the government run Air India and Indian Airlines (Which I see as throwing good money after the bad), but should this bailout package be extended to the entire aviation industry?
2. Have the airlines which saw double digit growth in passenger volumes expanded way beyond their means to sustain themselves in this recessionary environment? Can the airlines survive by increasing their prices or by cutting their fleet strength?
3. What about the infrastructure like airports? Have they kept pace with the growth of the industry? If not should the government also share the blame for the current crisis?
4. Should the government spend money on bailing out the airlines and risk not having enough money to build the necessary infrastructure; or should the government spend money on modernizing the infrastructre and let the markets take care of the airlines and risk loosing lot of airline traffic due to closure and consolidation of the various airlines?

Sarah Palin Resignation Speech: The Edited Version

Remember Sarah Palin, the now ex governor of Alaska, the vice presidential nominee in the 2008 election. You betcha!!!

You might also remember the verbose and soporific resignation speech that she made on the July 3rd. If you dont, you can catch the speech in the video below.



If you are still awake and wondering for the love of Alaska, could this speech have been shorter. You Betcha!!!. Your prayers have been answered.

Vanity Fair has published an edited version of the speech. I will say this much; it is the most colorful speech,literally, that I have seen.

The Health-Care Debate

The topic for the last few week across the country has been whether we can get a significant health care reform bill passed. Since there are so many stakeholders involved including physician groups, insurance companies, pharmaceuticals and medical device companies, patients, politicians and of course lobbyists, any significant reform which will address the needs of all these stakeholders will be a tall order.

Every stakeholder has an interest to protect, and nobody is willing to coincide, as coinciding would mean significant loss in revenues and profits for them. In addition health care reform has to address a whole host of issues including, providing some sort of coverage for the 47 million uninsured, improving efficiency of care and slowing the growth of health care costs. All of this without adding to the burgeoning federal deficit.

So will there be any significant reform this year, only time will tell. But in the meanwhile, these two websites provide a basic understanding of what is at stake.

The first website is the Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center, and the second website is Health Beat a blog dedicated specifically to health care.

Suppandi and Shikari Shambu will soon be on TV

Remember Suppandi, the village simpleton, and Shikari Shambu, the lazy, bungling hunter.

For people of my generation, both these characters were an essential part of growing up in India. Now they are all set to go live on the idiot box. If an Indian entreprenueur, Samir Patil, has his way, these characters will be on Indian television starting early next year.

Hindutva and Hinduism

In my recent readings, I came across two quotes about Hindutva and Hinduism.

The first comes from Sashi Tharoor, in his book The Elephant, the Tiger and the Cellphone:

There are some, like me, who are proud of Hinduism; there are others, including much of the VHP, who are proud of being Hindu. There is a world of difference between the two; the first base their pride on principle and belief, the second on identity and chauvinism. My Hindu pride does not depend on putting others down. Theirs sadly does.

The second comes from Ranjit Hoskote, a columnist for the Hindustan Times. In one of his columns, Painting The Art World Red, he writes:

It appears that the champions of a resurgent Hindu identity are acutely embarrassed by the presence of the erotic at the centre of Hindu sacred art. As they may well be, for the roots of Hindutva do not lie in Hinduism. Rather, they lie in a crude mixture of German romanticism, Victorian puritanism and Nazi methodology. What happens next, we wonder? Will the champions of Hindutva go around the country chipping away at temple murals, breaking down monuments, whitewashing wall paintings, and burning manuscripts and folios? Perhaps they will not stop until they have forced the unpredictable richness of Hindu culture to conform to their own tunnel vision of life, art, image and narrative.

Sashi Tharoor was writing in response to the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Ranjit Hoskote was writing in response to an attack on an arts student for painting Hindu Gods and Goddess's.

Pocketless Pants - Think Again?

This video demonstrates that not all pockets in pants are bad. Nepal airport authority, are you listening

Neanderthal's in the Age of Homo Sapiens

This just cracks me up. I wonder what species Brian Kilmeade belongs to?

Why Indians are the Way They Are?

This topic comes timely. We were having this discussion just a few days ago. Why is it that we as Indians do not obey the rules be it in traffic, are averse to general cleanliness in the public place when we keep our houses clean, do not think twice before relieving oneself in a public place. When the same Indians go abroad, they follow the rules to the hilt. We are one of the most law abiding citizens when we go abroad even though we may not be so back home. Why is that?

In response to a column by Aakar Patel in the magazine Mint, Amit Varma writes:

It’s a human characteristic, not an Indian one. How much we follow rules depends on the incentives offered. Abroad, as in Singapore, the laws of littering may be strict; or your peers may frown upon loutish behaviour, which is disincentive enough. In India, laws, where they exist, aren’t implemented; and littering and jumping lanes in traffic is normal, not deviant, behaviour.

New Tool to Curb Corruption - Pocketless Pants

Take heed all you corrupt workers/officials at Nepals main airport. With pocketless pants, now there is no place to hide all your ill gotten wealth. According to one official:

We sent a team to observe the growing complaints about the behaviour of airport authorities and workers towards travellers and we discovered that the reports were true. So we decided that airport officials should be given trousers with no pockets. We have directed the ministry of civil aviation to implement our order as soon as possible. We believe this will help curb the irregularities

I can only imagine the thought process in the person designated to observe the officials.If the team observed that government officals were taking bribes and keeping them in their pant pockets, wouldnt catching the culprites red handed serve as a right deterrant. Why waste the taxpayers money with the new policy of supplying pantless pockets to all officials? What say you...

Quote of the Day

The current financial crisis has stirred a debate on whether this is the end of Free Market Capitalism as we know it. Morning Edition on NPR is running a series on this same topic.

Robert Barbera captures the debate in the quote of the day

"We sort of morphed from Adam Smith's invisible hand, that markets move things in a very helpful direction, to some notion [that] free markets have an infallible hand".

Listen to the complete series at Free market debate

Higher Education with Student Loans - Good or Bad?

Its that time of the year again. Proud parents, high hopes and expectations from the class that graduated, young minds eager to join the workforce, etc etc. As if it was not enough that this year is one of the worst times to graduate out of college, what with the economy not doing that great, add to that the fact that this years graduating class will be one of the highest debt ridden class coming out of college.

According to the latest available data, the graduating class of 2007, carried a debt of about $20,000 for public universities, and about $25,000 for a private university after finishing a four year degree.

Everybody talks about how getting a college degree is so important in todays competitive world, how it is one of the most important things that you can do in your life, which will make or break your career. But this college degree comes at a price and it is not cheap. When you have 22 year olds, barely out of college, carrying levels of debt that can most of the time take years to pay off, aren't they setting foot into this whole new world of expectations on a back-foot.

NY Times in its series, Room for Debate discusses the topic, "When it comes to student debt, How Much is Too Much".

Graphic below provides the student loan debt by each individual state.



Detailed picture at BrokerGradStudent

Woes of the Indian IT Industry

Global recession has hit the Indian IT industry hard. An article in the Outlook Magazine captures the worsening woes of the Indian IT industry. Things have become so bad according to some anecdotal accounts, if you are an eligible bachelor working for an IT company, your chances of finding a groom are lets say abysmal. The paragraphs below capture the contrast between the heady days of 2005 and 2006, when an IT job was a sure shot ticket to wealth, and the woes of today.

Multiple job offers and generous pay hikes were nothing unusual in the IT industry. Talent was hard to come by. Companies had to pay plenty in cash, bonuses, perks and stock options to retain existing employees, and attract new hires by the thousands. New contracts from US clients were flowing in easily and IT companies had a simple formula for success: they could grow as much as they could hire. They often behaved like sharks in a feeding frenzy. They hired indiscriminately.

The city’s IT wealth was once the envy of the rest of the nation. The software professional was once the dream job of millions of students. There were over 10,000 individual dollar millionaires (with an investible surplus of Rs 4.5 crore) and 60,000 super-rich people (investible surplus of Rs 50 lakh) in the city in 2006. Bangaloreans invested Rs 22,000 crore in mutual funds in March 2006, up from Rs 8,000 crore in June 2004, according to a study by American Express. But all the fame and wealth of the IT professional is slowly melting away.

Pubs in Bangalore are empty; one is even offering “recession discounts”. Real estate prices, both housing and commercial, are sliding. The Promoters and Builders Association of Pune has launched a scheme where the developer will pay three EMIs in case a customer loses a job. Senior officials in a private sector bank confirm employees in the IT sector are in the negative list of borrowers. Many jobless are putting their cars and houses up for sale. Parents don’t want to marry their daughters to IT professionals.

Read the complete article at Woes of the Indian IT Industry

Unemployment Funds Running out of Money

In a sign of the times and an indication of how bad the recession is, most states are running out of money to pay for unemployment benefits. The map below shows which states are borrowing money from the Federal government to pay the unemployed, and which states have a solvent unemployment fund.

No surprises here. The worst states affected by the recession like Michigan, Ohio, California are the ones who are borrowing money.



More details on state by state fund balance can be found at Unemployment System in Danger

Link obtained from Marketplace

Why Indian American Kids Dominate the Spelling Bee?

For three years in a row, the winner of the National Spelling Bee is an Indian American kid. This year the domination of the Indian Americans in the spelling bee was so evident that in the fnal round of 11 children, there were 7 who were of Indian American origin.

So why is it that Indian American kids are dominating the National spelling bee. The video tries to answer the question, albeit with a sense of humor



Link obtained from Outlook Blogs

India - Success Story for a Communication Revolution

Having spent my childhood in India in an era when government controlled almost all aspects of communications, right from what you watched on television to getting a telephone connection, the current state of affairs in the Indian communication industry is heartening to watch.

I clearly remember Oct 31st 1984, the day Indira Gandhi, the then Prime minister of India, was assassinated. The government run television channel Doordarshan carried her funeral live 3 days later on Nov 3rd 1984. Back then having a television was a luxury. Our family was fortunate enough to have a black and white television set and the entire neighbourhood turned up at our place to watch the funeral procession live. Contrast that with today where every household has a television set, and the list of channels that you can get is almost endless.

The other aspect of the communication revolution is happening the telecom sector. 25 years back, very few households had a land line telephone connection. And the wait to get a new connection was anywhere from 6 to 8 years. Contrast that with the current state of affairs. Mobile phones have totally transformed the telecom market in India. They have become so ubiquitous that even the humble milkman or the vegetable vendor now carries a mobile phone.

Shashi Tharoor paints this contrast in his book, The Elephant, The Tiger and The Cellphone. He writes:

Bureaucratic statism committed a long list of sins against the Indian people, but communication was high up on the list: tge woeful state of India's telephone right up to the 1990's, with only 8 million connections and a further 20 million on the waiting list, would have been a joke if it wasn't also a tragedy - and a man-made one at that. We had possibly the worst telephone penetration rates in the world. The government's indifferent attitude to the need to improve India's communication infrastructure was epitomized by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's communication minister, C.M. Stephen, who declared in parliment, in response to questions decrying the rampant telephone breakdowns in the country, that telephones were a luxury, not a right, and that any Indian who was not satisfied with his telephone service could return his phone - since there was a eight year waiting list of people seeking this supposedly inadequate product.

Much Ado About a Bed Bug

Ever heard the saying "Sleep Tight, dont let the bed bugs bite you". Well, its about to become official. A new bill being sponsored by some legislators in US Congress is titled "Dont Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2009". The bill would require:

public housing agencies to submit bedbug inspection plans to the federal government. It would add bedbugs to a rodent and cockroach program in the Department of Health and Human Services . It also would require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to research bedbugs' impact on public mental health. The bill would also authorize $50 million to train health inspectors how to recognize signs of the insects

Bed bugs have so much mesmerizied the federal government that the EPA recently hosted the first ever National Bed Bug Summit. Talk of wasteful spending in the time of record budget deficits and economic turmoil.
President Obama had recently asked that there be $100mil spending cuts from the federal budget. If he and his team are paying attention, they can reach half their goal by not letting this bill become a law.

Who's Who in World Leaders

Test your ability to name the world leaders past and present. Financial Times is running a contest to name the 100 world leaders.

Of the 100 world leaders in the picture below, I could name 50. Take a crack at naming all of them and you could win the Financial Times prize

End to Politics of Negativism and Hate

The results of the elections for the 15th Lok Sabha in India are still trickling in. But early trends suggest a clear mandate for the UPA. It is a mandate for the for the most respected of candidates, Manmohan Singh, in modern Indian history. It is a mandate to continue the path of economic reform. It is a mandate against the politics of hatred, negativism, opportunism.

With a clear mandate in hand, it is now UPA's and Dr Manmohan Singh's responsibility to lead India into a new era of prosperity and economic growth.

India Elections - Dead Heat

Elections in India are almost drawing to a close with one final phase of polling left. Earlier exit polls had predicted a slight advantage for the ruling UPA government. But todays Times of India had a projection in which there is virtually a tie between the UPA and the BJP coaliation.

If this projection holds true, then May 16th would prove to be the start of intense back door wrangling between the BJP, UPA and the Third Front. All the political pundits must be waiting in anticipation for what is about to unfold.



Image obtained from Times of India

Corporate Responsibility Meets Social Responsibility

Real Estate prices have sky rocketed so much that the dream of owning a home by millions of low and middle income people in India has been just a dream. But if the new project being planned by some of the big names in Indian corporate, non profit and construction companies pans out, then affordable housing for these millions of people would be around the corner.

On the anvil are houses for between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 5 lakh for a constituency as diverse as domestic help, taxi drivers, plumbers, senior citizens, graduates, newly wed couples - basically, those who earn between Rs 6,500 and Rs 13,000 a month.

Janaagraha founder Ramesh Ramanathan, MphasiS founder Jaithirth Rao and CSC Constructions are some whose plans have gone beyond the drawing board. Till now, the onus was on the government to cater to the needs of the under-privileged.

Global Shoe Throwing Pandemic

What began as a one off incident when an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at then US president George Bush has gone viral across the global.

The latest victim of this global shoe throwing pandemic is namma CM Yeddy. The pandemic's victims includes who's who in the political class including Wen Jiabao, P Chidambaram, LK Advani, and Manmohan Singh.

With so much action and drama happening with the shoe throwing pandemic and the high profile victims, who cares about the other pandemic that is sweeping the worlds.

Vodafone Commericals

These commericals for Vodafone are a clever way to demonstrate the various features that a Vodafone network has to offer. All of the ads are brilliantely designed.

Below is the one which depicts the Maps and GPS feature in the Vodafone phones and network

Questions For Karunanidhi

M Karunanidhi, the honorable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, began what was ultimately a fast of less then 24 hours to bring attention to the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils refugees.

I agree that the refugees that are caught in the crossfire between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE rebels need to be granted safe exit. And the ceasefire may be the step in the right direction.

But my question to the earstwhile CM is why play politics with this issue? Was this just a political stunt during the election season to draw Tamil voters towards the DMK by playing the sympathy card? Ultimately what goal is it going to serve? Now that there is a ceasefire in Sri-Lanka, what is Mr Karunanidhi's next move? What has the CM done to ease the plight of millions of people in India who live in poverty?

Quantity Vs Quality – When it comes to Democracy What Matters?

Timesonline had a recent editorial in the current elections in India. The editorial questions whether, India the largest democracy, is just that or if there is any substance to the democratic process and the outcome as a result of it.

The editorial does raise some very serious questions about the role of government in improving the lives of its citizens, social and economic policy as well as the how the government going to position India in the changing world.

However, what the article does not address is that, for a country the size and scale of India, where every state is so much diverse in terms of culture, religion, languages etc, the fact that every five years we have a democratically elected government is a success worth celebrating in itself.

Also, India has been a democracy for a little over 60 years. And in these 60 years there has been tremendous progress to get the voice of the people heard. Granted there are still challenges in terms of factionalism, dynasty politics, corrupted elected officials, criminalization of politics, and the transparency of the various political parties in how they manager and choose leaders.

But with the growing clout of the middle class and the raising awareness of these issues among them are heartening signs that there is hope improvements can be achieved. In addition work being done by various organizations like the Association for Democratic Reform is creating awareness about the criminalization of politics will go a long way in cleaning up the elections process.

After all you don’t expect a diverse country like India to be a perfect democracy in just 60 years. Even America, which has been democratic for the last 200 years, is still a work in progress when it comes to democracy.

Cash or Credit - Which is Greener?

How many of us have thought about the environmental impact of using cash or credit card when we make any purchases? I know I have not. When it comes to being green and environmentally friendly, is one better then the other?

A recent article in Slate, How Green is the Greenback tries to explore the environmental impact of using plastic or paper money. Though for now there are no clear answers, at-least its a start.

Recovery, What Recovery?

With stock market recording the best six weeks since 1938, and banks reporting earnings which better numbers then analysts expectations (even if it is a loss as in the case of Citi Group, there is talk that the recession may be turning the corner.

In post for The Big Picture, Jack McHugh wonders if the Recovery is Just Around the Corner

While there was precious little in the way of actual positive news for investors to seize upon, hopes continue to rise because many parts of our economy are worsening at a slower rate. And, if “less bad” becomes widely accepted as the new “good”, then our capital markets may continue to work higher for a spell. The decision facing investors who are agonizing over whether or not to chase the ongoing rally in U.S. equities may come down to just how true are the claims that “recovery is just around the corner”.

The Future of India

With Indians voting to elect the next government, the scene emerging from most exit polls and political analysts is that of another fractured mandate where no single party will have enough seats to form the government by itself. One of two major parties, Congress or the BJP will win the most number of seats. But what will happen after that is anybody's guess right now.

In this uncertain political times, Ramachandra Guha looks at the past of the Indian elections and wonders how long will the era of coalition politics and uncertinity last.

In recent decades, then, Indian democracy has been increasingly influenced by identity politics, by parties and interests representing (or claiming to represent) various castes, ethnicities, regions, and religions. It is likely that a majority of Outlook readers, themselves urban and cosmopolitan, are not in sympathy with this trend.

Rather than 18-or-20-party coalitions, they would like to see a single party dominating the central government, such that it might frame the rational, sustainable policies this country desperately needs. The question is: will they get such a government in their lifetime?

Some trends are promising. More Indians now live in cities, where the pressures of caste and locality matter less than in the countryside. More Indians now contract marriages outside their communities. With economic development, more Indians are abandoning traditional caste-based occupations. In factories and offices, they work and break bread with Indians of different social backgrounds. These secularising tendencies are reinforced by TV and the Internet, which alert the young to mentalities and lifestyles very different from those of their parents or grandparents.

Can these trends collectively produce an electorate that shall come to vote not on the basis of identity, but with regard to the policies on offer?

Read the complete article at Past and Future of Indian Election

A Manifesto Towards Backwardness

The entire world is pushing for better use of technology to improve the lives of people. In this tech savvy world, where information can be at your finger tips, the manifesto of the Samajwadi Party calls for lesser use of computers. The party's reasoning:

The use of computers in offices is creating unemployment problems. Our party feels that if work can be done by a person using hands there is no need to deploy machines. The party is also against compulsory use of English language in education, administration and judiciary and would favor the use of regional languages.

This is all well and good, but if you look at the parties website;yes the party against computers has a website, it provides options for reading the website in English and Hindi. I wonder why the party which is against the compulsory use of English language in education has its website in English. Also what purpose would a website serve if you do not know how to use a computer?

What will be next on the party's hitlist, a ban on emails because they are hurting the postal service, or a ban on cell phones because the use of land-line phones is declining and thus people manufacturing them are being laid off creating unemployment.

Read more at Manifesto Towards Backwardness

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

The times are bad for newspaper publications across the US. With falling advertisements, the main source of revenues for all print media, cutbacks on key journalistic staff and even bankruptcies are becoming commonplace. Indeed these are desperate times if you are in the newspaper business.

In these desperate times, today's story about LA Times running a fake ad on the front page of the newspaper raises an interesting debate.

Traditionally, front page of the newspapers, devoid of any advertisements, have been reserved for the most important news of the day. Critics, even staff of LA Times, have come out opposing the front page ad, calling it an incalculable damage to the institution just to raise some quick cash. But defenders say, if selling front page advertisement can raise much needed money which will result in the newspapers not having to cut back staff, why not do it. After all newspaper is also a business which needs to survive and retain the best of talent.

So was the LA Times right in selling its prime spot for advertisement to generate some much needed cash? Has the front page ad compromised the credibility and integrity of the newspaper? Would enough readers care about the ad more or the contents that the newspaper covers?

I think as long as LA Times does not compromise on the credible and informative news coverage, most readers would not even bother about the advertisement. They would take it in stride for what it is "A necessary evil".

The Age of 24/7 News

In todays age of 24/7 news, information travels fast. If you do not believe me just ask Bob Quick. What was to be another day at the job for Bob Quick turned out to be his last day as United Kingdom's most powerful counter police officer. His fault, inadvertently holding a stack of papers marked "SECRET" in plain sight for photographers.



Being a top anti terror operative he should have known that information travels fast in todays age of 24/7 media coverage.

Read the complete story at British Anti Terror Officer Resigns

Greed Vs Stupidity

In a great op-ed piece for the NY Times, David Brooks tries to explore the reasons for the current financial crisis. He draws pieces from two different articles, one blaming greed in the financial sector and another blaming stupidity on the part of the financial industry because it forgot to do its own due diligence before investing heads over heels in stuff that it had little clue about.

In comparing the two schools of thought, David Brooks writes:

Both schools agree on one thing, however. Both believe that banks are too big. Both narratives suggest we should return to the day when banks were focused institutions — when savings banks, insurance companies, brokerages and investment banks lived separate lives.

We can agree on that reform. Still, one has to choose a guiding theory. To my mind, we didn’t get into this crisis because inbred oligarchs grabbed power. We got into it because arrogant traders around the world were playing a high-stakes game they didn’t understand.

How To Be a Better Dad

A new installment in the Priceless Series of advertisements from Master Card. This one effectively captures the urgency to act on climate change and what the new generation of kids do to make the planet a better place to live in.

In this day and age where corporations have been much maligned for putting the corporations interests ahead of everything else, it is good to see somebody practicing good corporate social responsibility.

This is how the advertisement goes

Water Glass - $5
Energy Saving Bulbs - $4
Reusable bags - $2

Helping dad become a better man - Priceless

You can watch the advertisement here

How Big Does Anything American Need to Be?

In the op-ed column for the NY Times, Maureen Dowd wonders how big anything from the cars that Americans drive to the nation debt can be.

How big do we need to be to still feel American? How big can our national debt grow? How big can our cars be? And how big is our clout abroad these days? Will Michelle’s style in Europe make as big a splash as Carla Bruni-Sarkozy’s?How do we come to terms with the gluttony that exploded our economy and still retain our reptilian American desire for living large? How do we make the pursuit of the American dream a satisfying quest rather than a selfish one?

Earth Hour Leads to Higher Taxes and More Abortions

Yesterday was Earth Hour, the annual event where every major city in the world voluntarily turns out electric appliances for an hour. This event is designed to raise awareness towards the global climate change.

How does the defacto spokesperson for Republican Party oppose it: By linking the Earth Hour to two of the Republican Parties pet peeves i.e. higher taxes and abortion.

According to Mr Limbaugh, an hour less worth of electricity consumed will result in less tax revenue for the government. So in order to offset that, the government will raise the tax on electricity.
As for abortion, Mr Limbaugh believes that an hour of darkness will result in hanky-panky between a man and a women leading to unwanted pregnancies and ultimately more abortions.

"Earth hour leads to higher taxes and more abortions". This is what the right wing wants to take to the voters in 2012.

Can Wikipedia Predict Who Will be the Next Indian PM?

Manmohan Singh, Mayawati, Sharad Pawar and LK Advani have all been in the news as potential candidates for the next Prime Minister of India.

Their popularity in the offline world may ebb and flow on a daily basis. What about their popularity in the online world? One way to compare the leading contenders online popularity is through Wikipedia. The graph below provides a thirty day snap shot of Wikipedia searches for the leading PM contenders. If you go by the wikipedia barometer, Manmohan Singh is leading the pack with Mayawati and Sharad Pawar closely following him. As for LK Advani, even though he has a pretty extensive website, his fortunes in the online world in terms of Wikipedia searches seems to be non existent.

So this begs the question:

"Will the popularity of the leading PM contenders judged by the number of wikipedia searches translate into any significant electoral gains for their respective coalitions?"

Manmohan Singh, Lal Krishna Advani, Sharad Pawar, and Mayawati on Wikirank

Car Motor and Transmission Overhaul for $20

Wouldnt it be nice if car repair cost only this much. Blame it all on inflation....

Why Credit Card Companies are Located in South Dakota?

If you own a credict card from Citi Bank, have you ever wondered why you get statements that are mailed from South Dakota or why you have to mail payments to addresses in South Dakota.

Well here is a shocker.

Many states have a usury law which limits the interest rate that a company may charge. Most of these laws capped interest rates at 18%. However, some states, such as South Dakota, do not have a usury law, allowing in-state businesses to charge as much interest as they want.

Congress has the power to regulate interstate commerce, which includes regulating nationally chartered banks which do business in more than one state. In the Supreme Court case Marquette v. First Omaha Service Corp. in 1978 the Court ruled that nationally chartered banks do not have to follow state law in which they do business, but only the law of the state in which the company is incorporated. Because state usury laws were not uniform this rendered all of them irrelevant as credit card companies picked up and moved to the states that allowed them to charge the highest interest rates.

Now you know why the interest rates on your credit card is so high.

Read more about the usury laws at South Dakota - A Haven for Credit Card Companies

Also listen to Market Place report on the same topic at Sioux Falls- The City that Credit Built

The Life You Can Save

How much money do you spend on a bottle of water, or a cup of coffee everyday? $2, $5 or even $10. Now imagine if somebody told you that if you had donated even half of that money to eradicating world poverty, we would be able to make some serious dent in reducing the number of poor people in the world.

Peter Singer, Professor of Bio Ethics at Princeton and author of the new book The Life You Can Save makes a case of individual action and responsibility in reducing world poverty.



Also read my previous post Think Before You Spend

Who Will Form the Next Government in India?

Election season is almost here. With each passing day, the landscape of the Indian electoral map changes. With no one party with a wide enough national appeal to gain an absolute majority to form a government, coalition politics is here to stay at-least for another five years.

According to a recent survey UPA has an upper hand and coming within hand shaking distance of forming the next government. So who do you think will form the next government in India?

Now You Know Why C-Suite gets Paid That Much

View the complete Calvin and Hobbs clever take on CEO compensation, subsidies and labor costs. Its capitalism at its best.....

Demographic Dividend Vs Demographic Disaster

Watch Nandan Nilekani talk about lack of good primary education in India, and how it may prove detrimental to India's progress, on the The Daily Show.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Nandan Nilekani
comedycentral.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Important Things w/ Demetri Martin Political Humor

Quote of the Day

With the outrage over the $165 million bonuses to AIG executives reaching feverish proportions, the Quote of the Days comes from Sen. Chuck Grassely of Iowa



With all due respect to the Senator from Iowa, who I am pretty sure is outraged over the whole bonus issue, saying such outrageous things does not contribute to the discussion in any meaningful way and neither does it help in solving the problem at hand.

Image obtained from Time

Questions I Want to Ask AIG Executives

Bonus: a sum of money granted or given to an employee in addition to regular pay, usually in appreciation for work done.

This is how Dictionary.com defines bonus. With this definition in mind, I am not sure how to react to the news about AIG executives receiving $165 Million in bonuses.

Bonus is something that you get when you perform better then expected or the company wants to share some of the profit with the employees. I understand if the bonuses were paid by companies who were profitable or companies that were rewarding their employees for their expectational performance. But,AIG which has received $170 Billion from the taxpayers to keep it afloat, rewarding bonuses to the same executives who remained blind to all the risk that the company was taking, putting not just the company but the entire US economy at risk: I fail to comprehend this.

Here are some questions that I would like to ask these AIG executives that are receiving their big bonuses today:
1. When your company reported the largest quarterly loss in corporate history of $61.7 billion in the last three months of 2008, how can you sit there and except this bonus with a straight face?
2. What are you going to do with the $165 million bonus? If you have no idea can I give some suggestions: buy a big house, a yatch, drive around in a Bentely or a Ferrari and don't ever come back again asking for bailout money.
3. When millions of hardworking people have lost their jobs, homes and life savings by the very actions that you guys took, how come you are being rewarded with $165 million and these hardworking people are left with nothing?
4. Is there no limit to your rapacious desire for more? Did you leave your moral and ethical compass at the door when you walked into AIG?

If any of you have other questions to ask the highly paid executives at AIG, please pen them.