February 5, 2010
by Atanu Dey
14 Comments
Used to be that might was determined by the size of your muscles and how many men you could command to do your bidding. Time was when you had to club someone over the head to get them to submit … Continue reading
January 20, 2010
by Atanu Dey
6 Comments
In today’s Business Standard, Pranab Bardhan in his article “India — A case of bad governance“, makes a number of very important points.
January 11, 2010
by Atanu Dey
11 Comments
“we should invite britishers again to manage our country step by step. first Bihar & UP last kerala. like they developed Hong kong.” That’s a direct quote of a comment from a reader, Jitendra, on a rediff.com article, “India’s ‘real’ … Continue reading
October 15, 2009
by Atanu Dey
7 Comments
Indian Express reports that “Pak ‘sharia’ chief wants Islamic law for entire world.”
October 12, 2009
by Atanu Dey
8 Comments
ACT 1: A Course on Development This summer for teaching an undergraduate course on economic development (Econ171) at Berkeley, I naturally considered the major factors that affect — and effect — economic growth and development of an economy. The major … Continue reading
September 29, 2009
by Atanu Dey
5 Comments
I came across this story on a mailing list. Let me retell the story first and then the source of the story.
September 26, 2009
by Atanu Dey
11 Comments
Let me tell you a story. It’s a vignette of what I consider to be important although it may appear to be rather trivial. Perhaps its apparent triviality is what should astonish us. But allow me to first recount a … Continue reading
September 26, 2009
by Atanu Dey
4 Comments
India, like all other countries of the world, is embedded in the larger context of the world. Naturally therefore India’s fortunes and the prospects for its development are circumscribed by the world’s prospects. Religion — especially the monotheistic ones — … Continue reading
September 22, 2009
by Atanu Dey
1 Comment
A BusinessWeek article of 14th September, “Next: An Internet Revolution in Higher Education,” makes the case that the way higher education is done will be changed by the internet revolution. This is not the most earthshaking bit of news you … Continue reading
September 18, 2009
by Atanu Dey
0 comments
The title of this post is borrowed from an article by Arun Shourie in today’s Indian Express, “Conduct above all.” In it Shourie recounts a story told about an ancestor of mine, a fellow called Diogenes. Also known as Diogenes … Continue reading
September 17, 2009
by Atanu Dey
4 Comments
Getting things ass backwards is not a crime. Most people act stupid from time to time but are not congenitally stupid. But when organizations, and people who are high up in such organizations, get things ass backwards and persistent in … Continue reading
September 16, 2009
by Atanu Dey
0 comments
My friend, Dr Aniruddha Malpani, is an IVF specialist in Mumbai. When he is not busy getting women pregnant, he runs “HELP” — the world’s largest free patient education library. Now he needs help. He wrote to me, saying,
September 16, 2009
by Atanu Dey
0 comments
Reports of gross misdeeds by people in power leave as much of an impression on the Indian mind as does yesterday’s weather forecast. And they appear to be as helpless in the face of institutionalized corruption and criminal behavior as … Continue reading
September 1, 2009
by Atanu Dey
3 Comments
Furious re-arranging of the deck chairs going on as the ship sinks. “The Class X board exams will become optional in all CBSE schools from the coming academic year (2010-11).” (rediff.)
August 2, 2009
by Atanu Dey
2 Comments
The August 2009 issue of Pragati is out. I have a contribution in there. My perspective is that the Indian government must stop subsidizing Muslims who go on haj, and the more general case that the government must stop meddling … Continue reading
June 1, 2009
by Atanu Dey
6 Comments
Attack of the Advanced Self-propelled Screwdrivers BBC News reports that, “In one of the recent attacks in Melbourne, a student was critically injured by a screwdriver.” Wonders of this modern world, don’t you know. Automatic self-willed screwdrivers on a rampage. … Continue reading
May 31, 2009
by Atanu Dey
19 Comments
There are some topics that make me see red. In that state, I cannot even think rationally, leave alone write coherently. I am so angry that this is not going to read well for sure. But this has to be … Continue reading
May 24, 2009
by Atanu Dey
1 Comment
In a recent piece in the Wall Street Journal titled “India’ Greatest Failure,” Paul Beckett writes about T.S.R. Subramanian who retired as India’s most senior civil servant in 1998. Beckett quotes from TSR’s book, “GovernMint in India” — “Since no … Continue reading
May 18, 2009
by Atanu Dey
7 Comments
The greatest scandal and the greatest failure of the Indian governments (all of them, and practically all of them have been Congress) has been in education. A great economy and a great education system go hand in hand — though … Continue reading
May 16, 2009
by Atanu Dey
2 Comments
My colleague Rajesh Jain writes to the about-to-be-formed new government of India in today’s Wall Street Journal and says, “Get us Involved and Lets [sic] get going.” He advices the new government (but I guess it will be the same … Continue reading