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End corruption; a favourite slogan in India, especially in the recent past. Really ?? Beware , what you wish for.  If that really happened, it would profoundly alter life in India, as we know it. Are we actually ready for it ? If we don't pay the bribe to get our driving license, we really have to learn driving to get one.  It is an absolute certainty that if the driving test were to be strictly administered, 90% of Indian drivers will fail We have to really declare the right price of your house when registering the property. Is anybody ready for that ? We probably have to vacate the house you live in - chances are that few of them meet statutory safety requirements. Fire safety - what's that ? If we are "rich" we can't slip those crisp ones to witness/cop/judge and stay out of jail , every time we get up to mischief If we are "poor" we can't accept the Rs 500 and one bottle of liquor at election time We are  most likely evading tax. Even the salarie...

Life is not fair. That's an obvious lesson life itself teaches you, although  interpretations of "fairness" tends to vary widely across the spectrum.  For some, life tends to deal a particularly bad hand. In a poor country like India, you see them all the time, although most of us have developed the ability to "not see" in order to preserve our sanity and not be overwhelmed. But we can't escape the reality of the misery around us. This post is a plea to lend a helping hand to one such group of the unfortunate - the aged. We talk a lot about Corporate Social Responsibility and the philanthropy demands on the rich.  But we rarely talk about Personal Social Responsibility and the philanthropy demands on the common man. This post is also meant to ask the reader to reflect on what each individual can do, however small. In developing countries like India and China, the lot of the aged is particularly tough. There is no social security net - the net is the family. ...

The Business welcomes Young Adult author AMY REED reading from her new book, CRAZY. Amy also wrote BEAUTIFUL and CLEAN. Supporting Amy will be Caitlin Gill, Chris Garcia, Chris Thayer, Sean Keane, and Bucky Sinister. There's nothing funny about what happened to you in high school, although what happened to other people is HILARIOUS. Some people say that comedy is tragedy plus time, but we're going to show you comedy is high school plus time plus therapy.

This blogger doesn't mind telling a story against himself. A couple of decades ago, he made his first trip to the US of A. Two experiences stand out in the trip. The first was his  seatmate on the flight. The gentleman was, to put it mildly, a mountain of lard. Having encountered many Rajalakshmis - she of the ample proportions -  this blogger thought he had seen it all. But "he ain't seen nothing yet". The specimen he was now witnessing would put all Rajalakshmis combined into the svelte and petite category . The worthy had boarded the flight first as "a passenger requiring assistance" and occupied the two seater we were to share. When I boarded, I discovered that both the seats had been "taken" (this was before the era which now requires man mountains to buy two tickets). I managed the two hour flight by standing next to the seat ! The second stand out experience was when I ordered a cup of tea at some cafe. Small size please. I got a plastic mon...

Politicians will do anything to win elections; even good things ! You can't blame them , for after all that is the objective in politics. As I observed in the previous post, an economic blueprint is of no use unless a political way can be shown as well. So the task is to show that an economic plan will win an election. Or at least not lose one. I believe the time is ripe for that in India. The Congress government is almost certain to lose in the next general elections due in 2014. They have no plan to win it. No amount of cash doled out to the voter is going to help them win. Therefore they have nothing to lose. Ideal conditions to try something drastic. Make a fresh beginning. Manmohan Singh should retire and a grateful nation should say thanks for a lifetime of public service. Pranab Mukherjee can be kicked upstairs. Chidambaram, Anthony , Pawar etc are to exit with a 21st century Kamaraj Plan . For the lack of any other leader, Rahul Gandhi should take over as Prime Minister. He...

It isn't enough to just criticise. A critic must also state what is the alternative.There have been lots of criticism of India's economic performance in recent times and the government's seeming inability to do anything right, economically. The blogger has been one such critic too. But precious few have really laid down a comprehensive argument of what needs to be done , and equally how this can be done; for we cannot, and should not,  wish away political realities. Government action should be for sustained long term economic development - not short term fixes. Improving "sentiments" , like trying to bolster the stock market, is a waste of time and should not be anywhere in government's priorities. Issues like FDI in retail, fiddling with tax laws, which are getting a disproportionate amount of airtime, are all side shows - they won't make or break India. This blogger is no expert on anything. He is just a concerned citizen. So here's one citizen'...

Applications that aggregate articles based on what others in one’s social network are reading and reformat them into an attractive magazine and presentation formats are growing in popularity, but they are raising concern among some publishers. The processes build upon the referral and curating functions of colleagues and friends in social networks and reduce the need for users to go to multiple sites for content on their own. Some of the best known social magazines are Flipboard, Newsmix, Currents, and Pulse. Some publishers are starting their own social reading apps, such as New York Times that has a Facebook app pulling together stories that friends have read in NYT. Many publishers are fearful of these developments, however, because they represent another step away from publishers controlling when, where, and how readers use their content, reduce the impact of the publishers’ brand strategies, and diminish control over the presentation and marketing of their content. But publish...

Congratulations, Business fans! Today is your day. You're off to Great Places! You're off and away! The Business regulars want to congratulate our guest Sam Davidoff on his graduation. No longer will he have to eat his meat to get his pudding! This young man is not ju st a stellar student, he has been racking up the extra credit in his extracurriculars and is taking over top clubs before he can even open up a bar tab. He also co-produces his own tour, The Young Guns of Comedy. He is not aware of my plan to eat his heart and steal his youthful powers. He'll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. He’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as he goes. Like the rest of our guests! Utah born, Seattle based comedian Emmett Montgomery found the comedy stage in late 2004 and has been failing beautifully ever since. Emmett has been involved in a lot of things including critically acclaimed comedy collectives, post apocalyptic variety shows, undergrou...

The telly in this blogger's household leads a cushy life. It is in a state of perpetual rest. It is only occasionally called to perform and then immediately sent back to the state of rest with an apology for disturbing the slumber. All that changed a week or so ago. You see, ESPN has bagged the rights to telecast the London Olympics which begin in a couple of months. As a lead up to this event, ESPN has been airing some memorable documentaries of past Olympics. If ESPN marketed those videos they are airing, I will stand in line for 72 hours in Chicago in freezing winter to buy them ! There are some absolutely riveting stories there. This post is about one such memorable sporting event. Atlanta 1996. The rather unglamorous sport of weightlifting. What happened that Monday will go down in sporting legend as one of the great days of sport. It was the 64 kg category - not the man mountain variety. Naim Süleymanoğlu from Turkey was already a legend. Nicknamed the Pocket Hercules for his...