I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in intent, can be anything but vicious.
I believe that all government is evil, in that all government must necessarily make war upon liberty, and that the democratic form is as bad as any of the other forms….
I believe in complete freedom of thought and speech – alike for the humblest man and the mightiest, and in the utmost freedom of conduct that is consistent with living …

The Indian education system is in distress. It is critically in need of reform since it is inefficient and ineffective. What exists today is something that was designed to serve the needs of a different era with different objectives and compulsions. For sustainable development of India, the country needs a new system which is economically efficient, socially equitable, functionally effective, and consonant with the altered needs of the present.

Today I was at the bank depositing some cash when the teller discovered that one of the Rs 500 bills I gave her was fake. Visual examination did not reveal that the bill was counterfeit; only under UV light can one make out that genuine bills have a silver line which glows while the same line on a fake bill does not glow.
One of the simplest ways of undermining an economy is to introduce a huge amount of fake currency. From time to time, one hears of counterfeiting operations in …

The theory of computation studies a class of problems called ‘NP Complete.’ These are problems that are considered computationally hard in the sense that all known algorithms to solve them require a non-deterministic Turing machine polynomial orders of time. The traveling salesman problem is a classic example of this set. They all share one characteristic – indeed it is the test of membership in the class – that they are all isomorphic. An algorithm that solves any of the problems would therefore solve all of NP Complete problems.

Today’s poem is one of the saddest I have read in the English language. It is by W. H. Auden, dated around 1945. The last line encapsulates deep despair and sadness. I think it is best to read it when things are fine and life is not turbulent.

The cost of living is high in India, as I mentioned the last time.
The dominant theme around where I live in Kalyani Nagar in Pune is one of massive construction. Multistoried residential buildings, shopping centers and office complexes are sprouting with astonishing rapidity. Despite the increase in the quantity supplied of floor space, the quantity demanded is growing even faster. This is evidenced by the fact that the price per square foot of built up space is growing at an astonishing 30 percent or more per year.

The delightful story told in an earlier post Thoughts Without a Thinker must be followed by the story that Amar was kind enough to point me to on his blog. Go read Tat Tvam Asi (That Thou Art).

A few days ago, Voice of Ambition called me to talk about the Indian economy. I would not be so immodest as to suggest that you listen to the podcast in which I appear, but I would certainly recommend that you check out the site.

Today we have naming of parts. Yesterday,
We had daily cleaning. And tomorrow morning,
We shall have what to do after firing. But today,
Today we have naming of parts. Japonica

Burundi comes before Canada lexicographically but Canada leads in all measures of human welfare one could care to compare the two on. I am endlessly fascinated by the contrast between different parts of the world. How on earth did humans end up occupying such widely separated ends of the spectrum of economic development?

SAPIENTIA
Keith Hudson of Bath, England, whom we met on this blog, has a Daily Wisdom mailing list. Here is today’s item (#178):
Cervantes turned up today on the random page of Wednesday’s dictionary. The author of Don Quixote, the first, and some say, the greatest novel in the Western tradition, was an adventurer, soldier and prisoner-of-war, was admired by Shakespeare, his contemporary, and since then by Dostoevsky and many other intellectuals as one of the most perceptive observers of human nature ever. His noble-minded, but delusional Don Quixote and …

The management wishes everyone a wonderful Holi and lots of color in your life throughout the year.
{This is a picture from a wonderful Holi in Nagpur about 10 years ago. My sister Sunu and her son Rahul.}

My colleague Veer Bothra is the Mobile Pundit. Recently he discussed teledensity and GDP growth where he quoted an email exchange from me on the distinction between correlation and causation. Here it is for the record:

Dr. Atanu Dey – Edward Hugh – The Economy of India
SUNDAY, MARCH 05, 2006
James Reese, Atanu Dey and Edward Hugh discuss the Indian economy.
Topics covered include: Indian development options; should India be treated as a single country; should India concentrate on services as an engine of growth; the role of public education in economic development; what role should the Indian government play in economic development, and what is their current 5 year plan; and prospects for the next 10 years.
Dr. Atanu Dey, an economist with Netcore Solutions living …

I miss the days when I used to work at HP in the Silicon Valley. Those were the days. One of the high points of my time there (7 years ending in 1991) was my association with the Usenet group hp.mic. The quality of discussion and debate was a joy. A few months ago I joined a google group of ex-HP folks. Sure enough, some of the old hands were there. I am delighted to point you to Tom von Alten and his blog Ft Boise. The range of topics …

If publishing a bunch of cartoons results in significant death and destruction around the world, imagine what it must require to actually speak critically of Islam on an Arabic television program. Dr Wafa Sultan has — how should I put it — gonads the size of the globe. A Syrian-American psychiatrist living outside Los Angeles, she is talking. Her talk is not pretty.

The spirit that is human. A random act of generosity. {Hat tip: Charity Focus.}

Ron Somers, President, United States-India Business Council, writes a letter to NY Times on March 8th, 2006, titled “Thomas Friedman Is Flat Wrong” in response to the NY Times “Letting India in the Club” (Column by Thomas L. Friedman, March 8, 2006)
The Nuclear Proliferation Treaty (NPT) does not prohibit the sharing of civilian nuclear technology with India, contrary to Thomas Friedman’s insinuation.

Unsurprisingly, Islamic terrorism struck once again. Just three days ago in Varanasi about two dozen innocent Hindus were bombed out of existence and around a 100 wounded. Indians being the victims of Islamic terrorism has become routine and mundane – barely three days after the incident, the major news web portals such as rediff and Indiatimes don’t even mention it on their front page. A few dozens killed? No problem, there are more where they came from. “Just maintain peace and calm, and go about your business as usual,” say …

Triumph of hype and hyperbole over honest reporting. ABCNews has a report titled “India Rising: One Billion Reasons to Care,” a study in scare mongering. I am sure that some Indians will misinterpret the report as high praise, instead of the scare mongering it really is.