thisindiancentury.blogspot.com
Indian Century: March 2010
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Monday, 29 March 2010. Amitabh Bachchan's sorry script! And make your own judgment on who won this bout! Amitabh has skipped from one role to another very well on screen. But in real life, he has looked silly, to be kind, or unscrupulous, as Open magazine argued in a recent cover story. Commercially, he’s been accused of land grabbing. Outlook magazine, in particular, launched a detailed expose. Today, I flip channels when Amitabh’s ads appear on television (silly ads for pain balm or cement) or th...
thisindiancentury.blogspot.com
Indian Century: Do we need the government to foster innovation?
http://thisindiancentury.blogspot.com/2010/09/do-we-need-government-to-foster.html
Monday, 13 September 2010. Do we need the government to foster innovation? Over the past several weeks, an exaggerated importance has been brought to bear on jugaad, or simple human ingenuity that Indians have historically used to overcome life’s little, and peculiar, adversities. First, The New York Times featured a long article by Anand Giridharadas. On what it called “frugal innovation;” Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar. A columnist wearing political glasses, saw jugaad as negative, saying examples of suc...
thisindiancentury.blogspot.com
Indian Century: July 2010
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Friday, 23 July 2010. A country of old lecherous men! If we don’t see a pattern, and don’t see a systemic problem, and don’t find a fix, God help our girls. Finally, the coach of our national women’s hockey team has been accused of sexually harassing a player. What’s more, the entire team backs the girl, apparently because many, most or all, have suffered similar experiences in the past. So, what’s common in all the three? Old men, 50 or over, perhaps sexually frustrated in an already liberal society tha...
thisindiancentury.blogspot.com
Indian Century: August 2010
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Thursday, 19 August 2010. A media trial for Satyam’s Ramalinga Raju? Links to this post. Tuesday, 3 August 2010. An open letter from Kalmadi. Corruption is such a perennial source of livelihood in this country we would have fancied a Department of Corruption Studies at, say, Delhi University that would have a few hundred, if not a few thousand, researchers scurrying to corners of the country studying the national scourge. I write to you after reading with great interest in The Wall Street Journal. What w...
thisindiancentury.blogspot.com
Indian Century: Does the Nano need a makeover?
http://thisindiancentury.blogspot.com/2010/10/does-nano-need-makeover.html
Wednesday, 6 October 2010. Does the Nano need a makeover? In the glorious hype ahead of Nano’s rollout, it gave rise to many fancy notions. Two years since the car was unveiled, and a year since the first Nano hit the India road, many are turning out to be mere myths. All in all, Nano probably needs a makeover. Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom). Does the Nano need a makeover? View my complete profile. The New York Times. The Wall Street Journal India. Thanks and Last SF Meetup - Sat 3/31.
thisindiancentury.blogspot.com
Indian Century: The microfinance conundrum
http://thisindiancentury.blogspot.com/2010/10/microfinance-conundrum.html
Monday, 18 October 2010. It looks as if microfinance is facing its first major crisis. Even though the crisis has been linked to recent farm suicides in Andhra Pradesh, it may not be far-fetched to connect it to the hugely successful IPO of SKS Microfinance, the nation’s biggest micro-lender, and the prospect of lucrative profits. Readers of this blog might recall my blogs on the subject. In one, I posed the question: Do we need better regulation of the microfinance lenders? One thing, though, is clear&#...
thisindiancentury.blogspot.com
Indian Century: January 2010
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Monday, 25 January 2010. Or seeing corruption everywhere? Have we gone from a nation high in corruption to a nation that sees high corruption, in any case? I pose this question because of a recent finding that corporate executives are as corrupt, perhaps more, than our petty clerks, babus and netas. The other findings raise even more doubts. For example, corruption in the recruitment process, even in promotions and performance appraisal. Where did the workers most see corruption? Links to this post.
thisindiancentury.blogspot.com
Indian Century: October 2009
http://thisindiancentury.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html
Saturday, 31 October 2009. The fallout of Ambani vs Ambani. For several months now, we have been somewhat gripped by the feud between the Ambani brothers. Since the core of the recent feud has been related to gas, which belongs to the nation as a whole, much of the debate has been centered on the question: Is the war between the brothers hurting the nation? I don’t wish to enter that debate. A previous posting. Links to this post. Friday, 30 October 2009. PM and the spectrum mess. In a recent blog, I pos...
