I will be at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad for the TiE-ISB Connect 2008.
India’s most exciting annual networking event for entrepreneurs and investors, the TiE-ISB Connect ‘08 will be held on November 5th, 6th and 7th, 2008 at the ISB campus in Hyderabad. Organized by the TiE, Hyderabad Chapter and the Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (WCED), ISB, TiE-ISB Connect enables interaction of aspiring entrepreneurs, early-stage ventures, and growth-stage ventures with potential investors, successful entrepreneurs and mentors.
I will be a panelist on the session “Next 800 Million: …

Download it.

Having grown up in the age of the USENET, I am intimately familiar with Godwin’s Law. “As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.” The corollary to which has always been that whoever equates his opponent in a debate to Hitler or the Nazi, he has admitted that he has lost the argument. The thread or discussion has to be considered closed.

Who woulda thunk that! This blog is now being mirrored in Hindi. It’s author is Alok Kumar and is called “Bharat ka Vikas — Atanu Dey“.
My Hindi is nothing to write home about. But even I can tell that Alok’s translations of the posts are excellent. I realize that my writing style is not the simplest as I favor the convoluted sentence too frequently. Yet Alok gets the ideas across. Thank you very much, Alok Kumar. Your work is much appreciated.
I asked him why he is taking the …

It’s about half past midnight and I am writing this offline. I just got off the phone with Tata Indicom customer service. I was on the phone for half an hour. At midnight, Tata Indicom terminated my internet connection. I had renewed my subscription three days ago and yet the connection was terminated at midnight. I spent the last half hour on the phone arguing with their customer service people. The facts are clear and agreed to by Tata Indicom. They did receive payment for the renewal of the service …

I downloaded and installed Firefox 3 and instantly regretted it. I have been struggling for the last couple of hours to access my Google toolbar bookmarks and it is not working. I even attempted to roll back to Firefox 2 but now even FF 2 does not work.
Consider yourself warned. FF 3 sucks.

Monotheism is evil. And many of the followers of the monotheistic faiths are “vicious tyrannical thugs.”

Don’t you think that the cover is absolutely brilliant? Smashup job, Nitin!
Download your copy here.
CONTENTS:

The latest issue is on the stands. Click on the image to download (pdf) the current issue of Pragati.
To get a preview of what’s in the issue, read the excerpts at the Pragati site.
Prof Asher’s article on the Gujarat model is a must-read. “Its focus on development, empowerment of individuals, and internal security benefits all communities and income groups, and therefore is inclusive in the correct meaning of the term.”
My take on LK Advani’s speech to FICCI recently (posted previously on this blog) is included in the Roundup …

In response to the post on Jago Party, Mr Denson Joseph, one of the founder members of the party, took the trouble to post a comment. This is a response to that comment.
I maintain that it is a always a good sign that people are seriously making an attempt at forming political parties. The marketplace, so to speak, has to expand. With some luck, the good ones will take root and flourish. But the creation of a good party is not just a matter of luck. It has to …

The Aug 2007 issue of “Pragati” — the publication of Indian National Interest is out. This special issue is called “Rejuvenating India” (pdf download 2.3MB).
I have two pieces in there. The first is a reprint of an op-ed piece for Mint which I had with Reuben Abraham. The second is a piece I titled “The Age of Profound Ignorance.” I try to make a case why India needs to liberalize its education sector.
I must say that Nitin Pai and the team have done a fine job. I am …

So last week a producer from BBC World called to say that they are doing a series on India for India’s 60th Independence Day and they would like to interview me. They did not have to twist my arm. I am always willing to express my opinion, as most of you know. Therefore those of you who missed me the last time I was on BBC World (June 2006 when they were doing a special on “China and India: Emerging Giants”), this is your chance once again.

It’s true.

A French journalist, Marianne Enault, is writing a piece for a French newspaper about cricket fever in India and wrote to me requesting help.

I want to see Mystic India. (I think that voice over is Peter O’Toole. What do you say?)

For a multi-faceted view of matters related to the Indian economy, I recommend the aptly named Indian Economy Blog. It is a group blog and the contributors are well-known and well worth reading. I am listed as a regular contributor but I am afraid that I have not contributed much regularly. I intend to rectify that error shortly.
IEB is brought to you by:

Tim Worstall requested this one. He wrote
An advertiser has got their pricing seriously wrong, offering 10 pounds for each person that signs up for their free demo (no credit cards, no payment, no software download, seriously, just name, address, phone number, confirm with emailed log-in). It’s the Easter weekend so they won’t approve anyone else to run the ad, and they’ll almost certainly change their prices come Tuesday. It is also my birthday on Sunday. This sounds like a perfect opportunity to move money from their account to mine, and …

Thus spake the soothsayer…