Would the Education Sector see foreign investment in India?

With the demand for quality higher education outstripping the supply, it was time to open this sector for more competition and foreign investment. This could mean multiple things in the long run - Overall higher quality of education, More competition ( and innovation) for/by domestic educational institutes, Bridging the demand-supply gap, Bringing supply closer to the demand ( and thereby stemming the brain drain) and raising the quality of research and innovation in the country.

However, the government needs to carefully monitor the entry of global educational institutes because there is a real danger of fake and cheap institutes taking the students for a "ride" with marketing buzz and unheard degrees.

Mushahar Community - From rat to mouse

It was quite heartening to read the progress made by the Mushahar community in Bihar. The community name which loosely translates to " rat eaters" has made social progress in the last few years due to the literacy drive by the Bihar Government. With the Government now announcing "rat farming" - promoting rat as an edible food, the community fears that this would turn the students from the classroom to the fields again.

There is still a lot of hunger in rural India but these days it is turning into hunger for growth and development or as the protesters aptly summed it up " We want to learn to use a computer mouse, not catch mice."

India's tryst with Oscars

Bhanu Athaiya, the first Indian to win an Oscar talks about her moment of fame.

Its a big day tomorrow as two Indians - A.R.Rahman & Resul Pookutty vie for the academy awards. Good luck to both of them !

Mrs Prime Minister

Kushwant Singh presents an closer portrait of Gursharan Kaur - the wife of the PM. The first thing that strikes you about the lady is the quite dignity with which she carries herself - an able better half for her unassuming husband.

There is no pretense to either sound intellectual or self-important - a rare breed in today's politics.

Rescuing cultures

For a country that prides itself on its vast history and culture, we have done very little to preserve it. Here is a noble effort to preserve and chronicle India's varied languages, cuisines, and other elements of rural life.

Kudos to the founders of the Adivasi academy for preserving these " smaller beauties" of life.

Lessons in Frugality

As the economic slowdown deepens, consumers all around the world are learning new tricks about saving money and frugal spending.

Can India teach the US a lesson or two in this? Aren't Indians big on saving with frugal practices such as " missed calls". Here is a piece from NYT on what the others can learn from Indians .

Here is the crux of the argument:

"Watching Americans try to make themselves frugal is like watching Mongolians try to make Bordeaux wine.Thrift does not come naturally to a country that turned layaway, zero-interest home loans and pre-approved credit cards into a mode of living. And so as they trudge through a cruel holiday season, Americans are cutting back, but hesitatingly and maladroitly.

India is to frugality as Bethlehem is to Jesus. But in recent years, the mega corporations of the West, not content to foment irresponsibility at home, sent pinstriped missionaries here to nudge genetically predisposed savers to spend.Millions of Indians converted, but millions of others ignored them - and, for the West, luckily so. As rich countries enter a new era of scarcity, the best practices of the gurus of frugality can serve as a textbook for frugality's new pupils."

While some of the tips do sound a little trivial and jingoistic, there is definitely a lot of truth on the need to practice frugality in good and bad times.

Economic giants in trouble?

Now that the once popular decoupling theory has been comprehensively debunked, its worthwhile to examine the seriousness of the trouble brewing in the economic giants of the future - China & India.

The Economist has a special report on India & China and the uncertainty facing these markets. For India, the medicine it has prescribed are in four key areas :

"If India is to sustain a growth rate of 8% or higher, as it aims to do, it will need to manage four potential constraints. The most pressing, its rotten infrastructure and the dreadful quality of its education, are, alas, not new. But the government’s response has long been inadequate, and with India’s burst of high growth these two problems have become more urgent than ever. India’s current rulers, the mahouts to an elephantine state, seem at least to understand this. But their efforts to end these troubles remain unconvincing. India’s other big constraints, its cumbersome labour and land laws, should be easier to fix. But there is depressingly little sign that this will happen soon".

India - A culinary map

Very creative and thoughtful. Looking at this image daily, would make my "pet" full.

Gold Dream

Abhinav Bindra shoots his way to glory. Hope this inspires more people to consider sports as a career.

Trivia # 11

Which is the only Indian site that is recognized as a Industrial Heritage site by UNESCO?

The road less traveled

May be that is why they are so beautiful. Here is a photo essay of the 10 most beautiful Indian roads ( Though strangely road 1&2 look the same !).

Wish I could take a stroll in these.....

Indian Presidential elections

While Brand India keeps moving ahead, the Indian politicians are caught in a time warp. Nehru family worship, Opportunism and petty politics continue. The Indian presidential election contest is yet another farce that is remnant of the numerous shameless dramas that have plagued Indian politics. God bless India !

Vir Sanghvi, Editor HT, writes a scathing piece.

Nalanda Univ - Revival

One of my biggest regrets is that I never made the planned trip to Gaya, Bodh Gaya in Bihar. I planned a trip (during my Delhi days) but unfortunately had to cancel it due to a family emergency.

It was heartening to read about the attempts by the Indian Govt ( Along with Japan & Singapore) to revive the famous Nalanda University. The Dean of Yale School of Management has written a wonderful opinion piece (in the New York Times) on the Nalanda University - how it should be and what it means to the world.

Who is Reliance going to buy ?

Indian media continues its "sensationalism" unabated. Take this as an example.

TOI states that Reliance is looking to buy US petrochem giant Dow Chemicals ( Nothing wrong in that but with no details if its going to be purchase of a stake or a complete acquisition. Lot of fluff with some numerology thrown in) .

Rediff ups the ante and states in no uncertain terms that Reliance is looking to buy a retail giant the size of Walmart, Tesco or Carrefour ( Did they do any math before writing this stuff?).

FT gives a more realistic picture that Reliance is looking to buy a 13% stake in Carrefour.

I am surprised by some of the articles that I see these days in rediff . What happened to them?

Let the fun begin...WC'07

Over the next 45 days , a nation would be caught up in the fever. Here is an inspirational ode to the Indian team.

Nirmal Shekar writes about some world cup resolutions worth considering.

Good luck team India !

Rainbow Quiz - Identify the personality - Week 29

Here is the next weekly "Rainbow" quiz , where I would be giving 7 clues (Hence the name Rainbow) about a personality. Try to discover the person in the least number of clues . You can either leave the answer as a comment / email me . Feedback/ suggestions welcome. Googling is not preferred but then its just for fun and so go ahead if you need to.

I didn't like X's voice & singing initially but have now developed a deep admiration for him.Sheer genius !

clue # 1 : X's real name is Shivaputra Siddramayya Komkali and he was born in Dharwad (Karnataka, India).

clue # 2 : As a child, he was stricken with tuberculosis, and left with only one functioning lung. This greatly affected his singing and explains his unique voice / style of singing.

clue # 3 : When he was only 12 years old, he held a large select audience of Pandits and musicologists who were spellbound with his spectacular performance at an All India Music Conference.

clue # 4 : He assumed the name of "X" which translates to Child prodigy (first name)+ god of music in Hindu mythology (Last name).

clue # 5 : One of the most inventive singers in recent years, he is remembered for his great legacy of innovation, questioning tradition without rejecting it wholesale, resulting in music in touch with the roots of Indian culture.

clue # 6 : "X" may not have reached the same heights of popularity as contemporaries like Bhimsen Joshi, Mallikarjun Mansur ,but "X" always enjoyed the love and support of dedicated and connoisseur enthusiasts.

clue # 7 : His last public concert took place in Bombay on November 22 1991, at the Nehru Centre. "X" passed away in January 1992.

who is X?

What can IT Industry do for India ? - Amartya Sen

If JFK asked " Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country", then Amartya Sen delivers some sagely advise on " What can IT industry do for India?" ( Courtesy : Outlook India).

The Nobel Laureate delivered the Keynote Address at the NASSCOM 2007 India Leadership Forum in Mumbai on February 7. where he spoke on the case for the IT industry to " do even more, indeed in some ways, much more" than what can be seen as its traditional domain.

Its a long read but a fairly interesting one.