Arcade AI Platform Designs Stunning Necklace

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Reading Time: 4 minutesThe Arcade AI marks a big change in innovative jewelry design. It shows the power of focus, like the story of “The Tortoise and the Hare”. Arcade AI mixes old skills with new tech to make special custom necklaces. These … Continue reading

What is Good for Facebook is Good for America – Forbes

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Reading Time: 2 minutesReflecting on the article on Facebook being a game changer for US economy. Will it really be so. The jobs that Ford and GM created, will it be the same with Facebook? Is everyone really waiting to see the US economy change with the IPO. Continue reading

India to test China Killer missile – Sydney Morning Herald

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Reading Time: 4 minutesSydney Morning Herald Article on India’s China-killer missile This is an interesting label to the Agni V. The arms race in the sub continent is not new and the causes for such a race has several perspectives. The threat to … Continue reading

No Gurkhas in overseas Armies?

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Reading Time: 2 minutesI cannot fathom why the Nepalese parliament would ban overseas recruitment of Gurkhas, unless it sees its nationals fighting against each other for two warring countries. In which case a conflict of interest with Nepal’s foreign policy is significant. This … Continue reading

How to lose weight and keep it that way

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Reading Time: 3 minutesIt was the American insurance companies that introduced the idea of the height-weight chart. They wanted people to be fit and claim free, alas by a standard assuming one size fits all.  There may be numerous researches to show the … Continue reading

9/11 and India …

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Reading Time: 6 minutesThe recent bomb blasts in New Delhi, the high alert in New York and a sense déjà vu has made the world stand on an edge again because of terrorism. The fact of this asymmetrical war is that a few … Continue reading

Ipaidabribe some statistics

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Below you will find an analysis of bribes paid in lakhs in major cities. Now this is from the website www.ipaidabribe.com

In the first instance the statistics present a skewed picture showing Bangalore to be the most corrupt. This maybe true, but what it doesn’t bring out is the sample size. Bangalore has always been a middle class, educated city … thanks to Nehru’s socialism. Five major public sector firms were started in the 50’s and the current IT euphoria and progress can be attributed to generations of middle class educated living there.

I refuse to believe lower levels in Mumbai, Delhi or Calcutta. They have greater populations, it is just that they are not reported or captured in the statistics. Education therefore remains the key to managing corruption and not an andolan of sorts.

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China deploys advanced n-missile on Indian border: US – Indian Express

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Reading Time: < 1 minutehttp://www.indianexpress.com/news/china-deploys-advanced-nmissile-on-indian-border-us/836941/ In the nuclear warhead count China definitely has more than India. Some of it will be deployed against India for geo strategic supremacy. This can not be denied, but the news has little value in improving relationships with China. … Continue reading

Anarchy in London – moving on

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The special session of the British Parliament was a trying time for the Prime Minister. A few aspects emerged among the pastoral notes of MPs lamenting the plight of their constituencies. After incidents have happened, many bring up the inadequacy of the system to quell the violence and heated emotions question the actions or inactions of those in government. The riots in England do not reflect a political disaffection or a communal disharmony even though they possibly could be the genesis of the problem. Cameron rightly alluded to parenting and negligence of society to address social issues.  Unfortunately the debate ran around more police on the ground, water cannons and raising more police. Why do we always try to fix problems by creating more problems impacting economy and society? More violence begets more of it. It is the law of nature. Alas for the world it is violence we know best and we take comfort in the fact that there will be more around. Non violence needs to be nurtured … you are right David Cameron; get on to the parenting stuff!

The stolen stuff has already got on to online auctions. I hope it will help catch the looters. There will be definite sentences for the crimes.

Small Businesses and CRMs

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Reading Time: 3 minutesImplementing CRM systems (Customer Relationship Management Systems) are  a tricky matter especially for small businesses. Here are some aspects to consider: Before undertaking the project it is worthwhile researching the support that you will receive. The software itself is not … Continue reading

Ramayana and the Harward Business Review

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Reading Time: 5 minutesYet another impression now by Harward Business Review HBR.(see a report of the survey below). All good, only one thing to add. Ravana himself was a  very learned scholar and a great leader in his own domain, much-loved and respected. … Continue reading

The politics of power … corruption

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Imagine that there is no power associated with politicians only with politics. That means no privileges, a salary, and uprightness. It is not hard to do it because in many parts of the world politics are not necessarily vehicles to power and wealth. There is power, but not in a direct sense. Power is derived by the popular actions a politician wishes to undertake. Transparency has a very high role to play. Power with in a context, is perceived in a medieval sense. It is displayed and paraded. It is partly because of the lack of uniform education, that keeps public civic sense at a low or that a change is not possible. Everywhere we have the symbols of power. Power represents fear, more than respect. In a society that respects power through its direct representation, it has to be visible. Kings and royalty had to parade themselves on high elephants to reinforce their authority. Aloofness and granting of audiences was another aspect of power. Power was derived from the Gods and royalty that was deemed superior.

Religion will be a very hard route to take and education and civil law will be the next best choice. In some ways, religion has failed in many parts of the world and therefore there is more evenness in the power matrix. It is after religious wars, persecution, terrible conflicts, ethnic cleansing, ideological conflict that instruments such as the Treaty of Versailles and the Westphalia theory emerged. It took hanging of petty criminals at the market place over centuries to have laws that people respect. The apparent peace is the result of years of conflict and the power dimension through any other means is simply not a good choice.
Do we have to go through the violence, bloodshed, and hanging to come to an amicable low corruption society?
In the Indian context, there is corruption everywhere, with some exception. We can cut but not end it. Will this be the provocative question for the next decade, or will it be education and eradication of poverty?
I invite you to write your comments and thoughts.

Philosophy and the living

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Reading Time: 5 minutesMy foray into the world of renouncing material life (or the thought of it) began in the early sixties when I met Narsingh Dev Saighal, who came from a family of Anglo-Burmans. The famed dancer Ramgopal, who was then in … Continue reading