Reflections

Hugo Dixon & Jeff Glekin: Unravelling India: growth bottlenecks : 'via Blog this' Classic analysis and Development  - 360 degree viewpoint, almost. In summation, the authors are looking at the following points: Corruption High-level corruption Petty corruption Electoral corruption Anti Corruption Movement/s Lokpal / Anna Hazare Media Right to Information and its impact CAG, CJI etc other pro-and re-active offices Stray political responses Corruption Remedies Powerful Independent Lokpal Transparency in Government RTI - 2005 and its impact UID Project and its impact Sustainable Growth Economy Demographic Dividend GDP Per Capita Bottlenecks Private Investment, negative sentiment of the same Politics - Coalition politics and decentralisation Environmental issues and problems Corruption Problems of the day: Decline in investment, fiscal deficit, corruption and environmental roadblocks The article deserves special mention since ...

Chanakya's Chant Author : Ashwin Sanghi Category: Historical Fiction It is quite a difficult to tell one story in one book -and carry it off well, maintaining the pace of the story and the interest of the reader. When one comes across a book which does that, it becomes an enjoyable read... most avid readers would agree with me on that score. On occasion, authors' have used sub-plots within the main story line and carried it off quite well. However, the subplots tend to merge with the main story and are integrally connected with it, and aid the flow of the story - again making it an enjoyable read. But when you come across a book that deals with 2 different stories , unconnected stories running parallel to one another, the first reaction is likely to be of disbelief, or expression of doubt in the quality of the work, or some such reaction. My first reaction was, to be quite honest, along the same lines. I am quite fond of reading history - esp Indian history, and had b...

My job carried me on my trusty motorcycle - a Kawasaki Bajaj 4S Champion - to several states and on more highways than I care to count. What started as journeys undertaken with some trepidation soon became a fun activity, laden with many observations, life experiences and learnings that have stayed with me... and shall stay with me all my life. I have tried to encapsulate some observations on driving on roads, digging into what all my collective bosses hope is sincere working hours spent on a bike during the formative years of my career: TRUCKS Common sense says beware of them. The newspapers say beware of them. The people say beware of them… I say that they are the best drivers on the roads. They come in various styles, shapes and sizes. Here I shall attempt to enumerate the styles: 1) The 40-km-an-hour truck: This guy will stick tape on his accelerator once speed reaches 40. Result? The damned truck will stay at 40 kmph come hell or high weather! Any kind of road, any ...

Ok, so here we are... nearly 4-0. That makes it 8 in a row... who is to blame? Everyone is baying for the blood of the Indian Quartet of Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman and Sehwag. Are they really to blame? I dont think so. OK, so I dont play or follow cricket too much. But my education has trained me in analysis, and statistics dont lie. Statistics are at the core of business, and they dont lie - only their interpretation  and their presentation is at fault. We are looking at a short term scenario of 8 losses - that is point 1. Secondly, if we are looking at past performances, then we are presenting only that data for analysis that talks about results. A complete Data Sheet paints a completely different picture: Count - Winner Result Venue Drawn Lost Won Total Result Away 7 13 6 26 Home 8 2 14 24 Total Result 15 15 20 50 India has not toured Australia fro...