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Articles Archive for April 2009

Cities and Urbanization, Economics, Rural Development »

[9 Apr 2009 | One Comment | ]

Navi Radjou’s blog post titled, “India’s Rural Innovations: Can They Scale?” in harvardbusiness.org concludes with:
I strongly believe that the only way India can sustain its long-term economic growth is by unleashing and harnessing the creativity of its grassroots entrepreneurs, especially in rural areas. But here is the challenge: these grassroots inventions don’t scale up. Indeed, most rural innovation initiatives such as DesiCrew and grassroots inventions like Mitti Cool, however impressive they may be, are sadly limited in their impact to a local or regional market of a few hundred …

Random Draws »

[8 Apr 2009 | 2 Comments | ]

Came across this comment by someone who signs off as “d.srikanth mbbs caims”:
plz convey my suggestn 2 shri advani
y dont they use dis point in campaign
nehru family ruling our country since 50 yrs they r rich by birth ,b4 d independence
wt abt aii other freedom fighters
wt abt mahatma gandhi family
I believe that it was made in earnest. I hear claims all the time that the Indian education system is excellent. You could have fooled me.

Alternative Viewpoint, DesiPundit, Globalization »

[7 Apr 2009 | 3 Comments | ]

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva’s recent accusation that the financial crisis was caused by “white people with blue eyes” at a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Brown is illuminating if not entirely accurate. [1] Everyone involved in the financial crisis certainly does not have blue eyes, although they may all be uniformly white. Da Silva claimed that he had never met a black banker.

Population, Videos »

[6 Apr 2009 | 2 Comments | ]

I hold firmly to the conviction expressed in John McCarthy’s signature quote that “those who refuse to do arithmetic are doomed to speak nonsense.” Today I came across a set of videos which graphically illustrates the concept: Dr Albert Bartlett’s 8-part series on “Arithmetic, Population and Energy.” (See video below the fold).

Education, My writing elsewhere, Public Service Announcement »

[5 Apr 2009 | No Comment | ]

This month’s Pragati is about “What the new government should do in its first 100 days.” I have a piece in there about the structural changes required in education. What else is new, you’d ask. Below the fold are the editorial comments for the issue. Please read and distribute.

Blogging »

[5 Apr 2009 | 4 Comments | ]

If you are one of the three people who regularly read this blog, please pardon the lack of posts the last few days. I finished my brief stint at ISB in Hyderabad and now I am back in Pune after a brief stop-over in Mumbai.