October 2012: Interesting Articles & Links

Vashnav, Milan (2012): RESIZING THE STATE, The Caravan, 1 Oct 2012, url - http://www.caravanmagazine.in/perspectives/resizing-state
- As the economist Lant Pritchett has argued, India is not a failing state but a “flailing” one: it can conduct elections for over 750 million voters, but it can’t stop millions from going hungry every year by properly distributing surplus food stocks.
- public sector employment—across all levels of government—which nearly doubled between 1971 and 1991, hit its peak at 19.5 million workers in 1995; since then, the number has declined, to around 17.9 million in 2010.
- Last year, the Supreme Court reported that one-third of seats in the state courts and one-fifth of seats on the district and subordinate courts remain vacant. The court estimates that there are 32 million pending cases working their way through the clogged Indian justice system.
- The Indian Army is facing a serious shortage of officers—more than 12,000 in 2011 after recruiting fewer than 1,500 in 2010. Despite major internal security concerns like continuing Maoist violence, the Intelligence Bureau has more than 9,000 vacant posts.
- According to a 2011 study in The Lancet, India’s stock of allopathic doctors, nurses and midwives is roughly half the World Health Organization’s benchmark of 23 workers per 10,000 population, even factoring in the sizable private health system...research findings by Sudhir Anand and Victoria Fan suggest that only 43 percent of India’s allopathic doctors have a medical qualification. As many as 73 out of 593 districts lack even a single nurse with a medical qualification.


Racism Cartoon - http://imgur.com/gallery/OjVNL -- "Of course the white zebra's with black stripes hated the black zebra's with white stripes just as much"

The Hindu (2012): BEHAVE YOURSELF INDIA, THE YOUTH ARE WATCHING, YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClYruPBSsTY

Muralidhar, S (2012): ALL YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE F1 CAR, BusinessLine 29Oct12, url - http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/smartbuy/automobiles/all-you-wanted-to-know-about-the-f1-car/article4022386.ece?homepage=true&ref=wl_home

HBR (18Oct12): 10 Reasons to Stay in a Job for Ten Years - http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/10/10_reason_to_stay_in_a_job_for.html

IGNOU - Learning with CNR Rao - http://www.ignouonline.ac.in/sakshat/html/doctor.html

Panagariya, Arvind (2012): STARVED OF IDEAS: Expanding the leaky public distribution system won't deliver food security, Times of India, 19Oct2012, url - http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-10-19/edit-page/34556719_1_rural-areas-calorie-household
- The contention that more than one-fifth of Indians suffer from hunger and malnutrition (FAO, WHO, WB)... is principally based on the steadily declining trend in calorie consumption in India during the last two decades
- If individuals are consuming less foodgrains despite rising incomes, making foodgrains available in larger quantity at lower prices will not change the outcome.

Kumbhojkar, Sraddha (2012): CONTESTING POWER, CONTESTING MEMORIES - The History of Keregaon Memorial, Economic and Political Weekly, 20 Oct., 2012.
- "Among the neo-Buddhists in western India, pilgrimage to the Koregaon memorial emerged as one of the invented cultural practices and thousands of them throng to the memorial every New Year day to commemorate the valour of the Mahars who helped to overthrow the unjust high-caste rule of the Peshwa. They also commemorate Ambedkar’s visit to the place on 1 January 1927."

Gunkan March - Youtube and Lyrics
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTwUiUCO7l0&feature=related
- Lyrics - http://www.nationalanthems.us/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1140112502

A virus that kills cancer - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/9508895/A-virus-that-kills-cancer-the-cure-thats-waiting-in-the-coldc.html
- Rabbit killing virus?? - http://www.biology.iastate.edu/InternationalTrips/1Australia/Australia%20papers/Rabbits-H.%20Bergeman

Thomas K Thomas (2012): WHY 900 MHZ BAND IS SUPERIOR THAN 1800 MHZ BAND, Business Line, 18Oct12, url - http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/info-tech/why-900-mhz-band-is-superior-than-1800-mhz-band/article4008739.ece?homepage=true&ref=wl_home

AWAD - Micawber - An eternal optimist - http://wordsmith.org/words/micawber.html

Mehta, Bhanu Pratap (2012): THESE POWERFUL VICTIMS, Indian Express, 17Oct12, url - http://www.indianexpress.com/news/these-powerful-victims/1017616/0

BL (17Oct) - BEST SUB-10K SMART PHONES - http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/smartbuy/mobile-handsets/best-sub10k-smartphones/article4002116.ece?homepage=true&ref=wl_home

Friedman, Uri (2012): 8 CRAZY THINGS AMERICANS BELIEVE ABOUT FOREIGN POLICY, Foreign Policy, 16Oct12, url - http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/10/16/8_crazy_things_americans_believe_about_foreign_policy

Gandhi, Aditi and Michael Walton (2012): WHERE DO INDIA'S BILLIONAIRES GET THEIR WEALTH? EPW 6 october 2012, pp 10-14, url - http://www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/2012_47/40/Where%20Do%20Indias%20Billionaires%20Get%20Their%20Wealth.pdf

Urfi, Abdul Jamil (2012): Birdwatchers, Middle Class and the 'Bharat-India' Divide - Perspectives from Recent Bird Writings, EPW, 20 October 2012, url - http://www.epw.in/commentary/birdwatchers-middle-class-and-bharat-india-divide.html

Monbiot, George (2012): THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, The Guradian, 9Oct2012, url - http://www.monbiot.com/2012/10/08/the-empire-strikes-back/
Monbiot, George (2005): HOW BRITAIN DENIES ITS HOLOCASTS, The Guardian, 27 Dec., 2005, url - http://www.monbiot.com/2005/12/27/how-britain-denies-its-holocausts/

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/01/on-indias-border-a-changing-of-the-guards/?hp#/15/

Chhibber, Varun and Vasundhara Sirnate (2012): CAPTURING THE KIRANA, Indian Express, 5Oct12, url - http://www.indianexpress.com/news/capturing-the-kirana/1012044/0
- Regional political elites are refusing these (FDI) reforms for reasons that can be found in the local political economy of campaign finance and corruption.

Sharma, Mihir (2012): The problem with Page One: India's press is buying the UPA's promises of reform far too easily, Business Standard, 4Oct12, url - http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/mihir-s-sharmaproblempage-one/189636/on

Bhasin, Agrima (2012): WASHING OFF THIS STAIN WILL NEED MORE, The Hindu, 3Oct12 - url - http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/washing-off-this-stain-will-need-more/article3958626.ece

Shah, Tushaar (2012): REMEMBERING VERGHESE KURIEN, Economic & Political Weekly, 29 Sep., 2012, Vol XLVII No.29
URL - http://www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/2012_47/39/Remembering_Verghese_Kurien.pdf

* Moller, Orstrom (2012): HOW ASIA CAN SHAPE THE WORLD, LSEAS-Bookwell Publications
- Elimination of transport cost as a significant factor...Of a price for a shirt selling for US$ 25, ocean transport costs may amount to as little as 0.85%....the combination of container technology and ICT has revolutionised logistics..