It is hard to reconcile poor governance with a population which is reasonably smart. The basic nature of reality does not admit such contradictions. The inescapable conclusion is that the population is not smart. Evidence of it is all around us to see but I would like to present an illustrative example — with a picture below the fold. It demonstrates the stupidity of some apparently educated — well, if not educated, at least literate — people which makes them so terrifyingly gullible. Never think that we collectively do not …

Endgadget reports that “India bids mythical $10 laptop adieu, turns to OLPC.”

I think the biggest clown in the circus must be Mulayan Singh Yadav — affectionately known among his followers as Mullah Singh Yadav — of the Samajwadi Party. He has figured out that computers lie at the root of the problems that India faces. Why?
“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,” Mr. Mulayam Singh said at a press conference after unveiling the [Samajwadi Party] manifesto.

The radical ignorance displayed by those who claimed that the government had created a laptop costing Rs 500 (~US $10) is jaw-dropping spectacular. How on earth can one for even one moment entertain the idea that any entity — least of all the government and a bunch of students — could produce something for an order of magnitude less cost than currently possible is unfathomable.
As the photoshopped image in my first post on this matter previously states, “I see stupid people . . . they don’t even know that …

Some years ago it was some genius who was making petroleum by twirling some sticks in a bucket of water. The Indian press reported it breathlessly and which is worse, some dimwitted “professors” from some “educational” institutions even considered it seriously. The details of that are hazy in my mind but I was reminded of it when I read that the government is going to produce a laptop for Rs 500 (or US$ 10).
A collaborative team between the Indian governments ministry of science and ministry of technology will unveil …

Well, now we can be assured of our security and safety from Islamic terrorism. TRAI — the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India — is taking steps to combat terrorism by securing WiFi networks.
With terrorists using unsecured wireless fidelity (WiFi) networks to shoot off emails every time they carry out bomb blasts, TRAI is examining a series of measures to have security processes in place to protect such networks. [Source]

“Everything reminds Milton of the money supply. Well, everything reminds me of sex, but I keep it out of the paper,” wrote Nobel prize-winning economist Robert Solow in 1966 about Milton Friedman, another Nobel laureate economist, the father of monetarism.
Everything reminds me of India’s failed education system — and by extension — the stupidity of the government policymakers, bureaucrats and politicians included. Unlike Bob Solow, however, I cannot keep it out of my posts.

The news of death and destruction from terrorism has become somewhat of a routine. The politicians make inane statements about how all this is most lamentable and aside from telling people to “maintain peace and quiet” they appear to go about their business as usual. The reactions from various quarters are predictable from past experience. One reaction which fills me with revulsion and disgust is the type that emanates from idiot pseudo-secularist commies. One such ended up in my mailbox just minutes ago. One Jaya Kamlani contributed this to a …

“St Stephen’s to have 50% Christian quota” says Sonia Sarkar. (How unfortunate is it to have a name like that and to have to report on an issue of reservations for Christians?)
I don’t know but I hope and pray (to use an expression) that St Stephen’s is not supported by any public funds.
Anyhow, here’s a nice illustration of innumeracy to add a bit of humor to an otherwise pathetic story:
The management wants 50 per cent reservation for Christians, another 30 per cent for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe …

Finance minister P Chidambaram and petroleum minister Murli Deora are considering an additional tax to pay for the government subsidy of petrol and diesel, according to the Financial Express of 27th May. “Each percentage rise in the income and corporate tax rates would yield around Rs 3,500 crore, so a 3-5% cess would yield anywhere between Rs 10,500 crore and Rs 17,500 crore.”
The Acorn recommends “that taxpayers line up in large numbers and vote against the simians making economic policy.” I concur. I have always maintained that India is ruled …

Over the last weekend I spent a little time at the IIT Bombay, the alma mater of many a successful and celebrated Indian, resident as well as non-resident. IIT — the Indian Institutes of Technology. Sometimes called the Institutes of Indian Technology.
I had gone there to sit on a panel which was deliberating such weighty matters as policy for encouraging open source in education. I had little to add to it but still I was given a nice desk weather station (has a hygrometer and …

This one is to be filed under “INDIA IS A SUPERPOWER” category.
The newsletter from US-India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) contained this:
We need support and financial contribution from at least 50,000 Indian Americans by March 2004 to persuade the US government to support India in its fight against HIV/AIDS. The US government has already funded 14 nations in curbing the HIV/AIDS menace. With your support, India can become the 15th country to receive the much-needed US funds for fighting the epidemic.
Begging bowl all shiny and ready, I suppose. What the …