August 2015 - Interesting Links

* A bank thanks its customers - http://www.surveee.org/tdatm.html

* Aurangazeb Road - name change - http://m.firstpost.com/living/why-i-danced-when-i-found-out-delhis-aurangzeb-road-was-being-renamed-after-dr-apj-abdul-kalam-2414280.html
- Another view - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Aurangzeb-to-Kalam-A-road-to-history-revisited/articleshow/48735388.cms
* Changing of road-names - Aurangazeb > Abdul Kalam - http://www.dailyo.in/politics/aurangzeb-road-apj-abdul-kalam-road-hindutva-rss-delhi-government/story/1/5949.html

* Oliver Sachs - Obituary - http://time.com/4016214/oliver-sacks-82/?xid=newsletter-brief

*The Bank of Japan is China's biggest cheerleader --  http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2015/08/30/commentary/japan-commentary/bank-japan-chinas-biggest-cheerleader/

* A false alarm on the crisis in China - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/26/opinion/false-alarm-on-a-crisis-in-china.html?_r=0

* Aakar Patel - on Shashi Tharoor's speech - http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/aakarvani/dear-shashi-tharoor-the-fault-was-not-in-the-raj-but-in-ourselves/

* Power of the Pause - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkS67oiei78&feature=youtu.be

* Comparing mobiles - Lenovo K3, Yu Yureka Plus, etc - http://www.91mobiles.com/compare/Motorola/Moto+G2.html
- http://www.gsmarena.com/yu_yureka_plus-7436.php

* How to get feedback when you are the boss - https://hbr.org/2012/05/how-to-get-feedback-when-youre

* WW1 and the beginning of modern psychiatry - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/World-War-I-and-beginning-of-modern-psychiatry-in-India/articleshow/43101847.cms?from=mdr

* War Embers continue to simmer - http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/srinath-raghavan-writes-war-embers-that-continue-to-simmer/article7547037.ece

* Best public libraries of India - http://www.polkacafe.com/best-libraries-in-india-812.html

* Beautiful stitches - http://craft.easyfreshideas.com/beautiful-stitch/

* Capella - Hotel California - http://www.wtvideo.com/video/5100/when-they-start-singing-hotel-california-it-s-hard-to-believe-that-no-one-has-instruments-

* Japan's soft power - https://www.academia.edu/14801214/Japans_Soft_Power_in_the_21st_Century_Between_Economic_Success_and_Political_Failure?auto=download&campaign=upload_email

* Chinese Tremors - http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/subir-gokarn-chinese-tremors-115082300754_1.html

* The Indian economy has much to crow about - http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toi-edit-page/wallowing-in-irrational-despair-negative-sentiment-on-indian-economy-is-the-flip-side-of-irrational-exuberance/

* Corn Wars - http://www.newrepublic.com/article/122441/corn-wars
- Chinese company officials caught stealing corn seeds from USA - Beijing Kings Nower Seed Science & Technology, a large Chinese agricultural company that develops corn, rice, cotton, and canola seeds
- GM seeds' genetic sequencing was matched to seeds under development by Monsanto, DuPont Pioneer, and LG Seeds, which, including LG’s parent company, Groupe Limagrain, comprise three of the four largest seed companies in the world.
- China simply can’t grow enough food to feed itself, particularly now that the country’s burgeoning middle class has acquired an appetite for meat.
- Chinese govt buys between two and five million metric tons of American corn annually, approximately 94 percent of all corn imported into China each year.
- Monsanto and DuPont Pioneer, the two American seed giants, have produced so many successful hybrids that they now control 45 percent of all the seed sold in the world.
- Charges approved by a federal judge under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)
- FISA investigations into Dongfan Chung, a former Boeing engineer who stole trade secrets related to the Delta IV rocket and the Air Force’s C-17 aircraft, or Qing Li, who conspired to procure 30 military accelerometers, which, according to the government, “have applications in smart bombs, missiles, and calibrating g-forces of nuclear explosions.”
- Multinational food conglomerates like DuPont Pioneer and Monsanto have sizable security forces and highly efficient investigatory networks.
- In 1970, in an effort to come up with an even stronger plant killer (than Agent Orange), Monsanto chemist John E. Franz hit upon an herbicide called glyphosate, which was marketed under the trade name Roundup and had seen unmatched growth in broadleaf weed control in the agricultural industry.
- in the wastewater-treatment plant of one of their own glyphosate production plants in Louisiana, where workers had noticed a range of bacteria thriving despite exposure to Roundup—and one, under lab testing, displayed total immunity to glyphosate pesticides.
- Since the 1960s, endotoxins produced by Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), a common bacteria found in the soil, had been sold as a commercial microbial insecticide to kill moth larvae.

* The Next GMO Debate -  http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/540136/the-next-great-gmo-debate/

* Hiroshima - http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1946/08/31/hiroshima?mbid=nl_Sunday%20Longreads%20(5)&CNDID=31782417&mbid=nl_Sunday%20Longreads%20(5)&CNDID=31782417&spMailingID=8007814&spUserID=ODI0NzIwMDA0MDUS1&spJobID=742733854&spReportId=NzQyNzMzODU0S0

Happiness - http://www.upworthy.com/brilliant-harvard-psychologist-explains-how-to-achieve-long-term-happiness-in-this-popular-ted-talk?c=ufb3

A tale of two speeches - http://www.businessworld.in/opinion-columns/tale-two-speeches#sthash.p18hB8bK.UO0jvIRL.dpbs

Affordable children's books - Pratham - http://www.prathambooks.org/

WW2 - Why Indians fought for a Britain they abhorred -- http://www.npr.org/2015/08/22/433515258/in-wwii-millions-of-indians-fought-for-a-britain-they-abhored

Every business needs an enemy - http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248310

Wendy Doniger on Kamasutra - http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/books/liberty-lost

How symmetry shapes nature's laws -- https://www.quantamagazine.org/20150813-how-does-symmetry-shape-natures-laws/

The unholy end of empoire http://www.economist.com/node/9507188?fsrc=scn%2Ftw%2Fte%2Fpe%2Fed%2FTheunrulyend

Sun shines on India's solar ambitions - http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/sun-shines-on-india-s-solar-ambitions-as-prices-nosedive-115082100010_1.html

Darlymple - How I write - http://mumbaiboss.com/2014/07/14/how-i-write-william-dalrymple/

Modern Kamasutra - http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/09/24/married-kama-sutra

Four ingredients of influence - https://hbr.org/2015/05/understand-the-4-components-of-influence

Career switch - law to photography - http://legalreporter.in/nlsiu-grad-quits-law-firm-to-pursue-a-career-in-photography-says-running-own-photography-venture-is-more-fulfilling/

About doing only the things you are curious about -- http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/aug/19/new-attitude-to-travel-skip-the-iconic

Chinese hackers may have turned their sights on India -- https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-hackers-may-have-turned-sights-on-india-says-new-report/2015/08/20/cae2b400-4747-11e5-9f53-d1e3ddfd0cda_story.html
- The cyber group sent targeted spear-phishing e-mails to its intended victims with Microsoft Word attachments containing information on regional diplomatic issues,
The attachments contained a script called WATERMAIN that, if opened, could infect the user’s computer, creating a “backdoor” that would allow the attacker access.

Statins -- http://thewire.in/2015/08/20/big-pharma-is-subtly-but-surely-spinning-statins-out-of-control-8850/

Bhuira Jams, Himachal Pradesh - http://www.natgeotraveller.in/web-exclusive/web-exclusive-month/travelling-with-kids-making-jam-in-himachal-pradesh/

Sitting on a Marine Superhighway - http://www.tvmrising.in/2015/08/sitting-on-marine-superhighwaywhy.html

Movies to watch -- http://www.buzzfeed.com/alisonwillmore/movies-to-watch-during-the-august-doldrums

https://genvideos.org/

Corporates - Communication - under-rated - http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/how-ceos-can-adopt-a-21st-century-approach-to-organizational-communication/

The truth about OROP -- http://hillpost.in/2015/08/the-bitter-truth-about-orop/104013/

Indian pharma firms in the big league - http://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/sectors/pharma/indian-drug-companies-have-joined-global-hunt-to-discover-new-antibiotics/story/222544.html

Grit - Five Characteristics - http://www.forbes.com/sites/margaretperlis/2013/10/29/5-characteristics-of-grit-what-it-is-why-you-need-it-and-do-you-have-it/

How to say no to you boss - http://worklifeasia.roberthalf.com/career/how-to-say-no-to-your-boss/

How do the Germans work efficiently? - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amol-sarva/why-germans-work-fewer-ho_b_6172262.html

Maggi's mistakes - https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/software-download/windows10

NYT - Inside Amazon - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=1
Amazon as an employer - http://www.theguardian.com/technology/commentisfree/2015/aug/17/why-i-am-finally-going-to-boycott-amazon

What makes #Indian bureaucrats at the top 'less competent and more insecure' to lateral entries today? -- http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/outside-talent-in-the-making-of-indias-economic-policy-successes/ #IAS

Shaji Vikraman - http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/secrets-and-spies/
http://greatbong.net/2015/08/18/empathy-and-the-global-corporation/

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Personal money manager - MoneyView - http://yourstory.com/2015/08/money-view/

India's forgotten soldiers - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/15/opinion/indias-forgotten-soldiers.html?_r=2
Mapping the way India has been viewed over the ages - http://thewire.in/2015/08/11/mapping-the-way-india-has-been-viewed-through-the-ages-8220/

Song - phenomenal woman - https://www.google.co.in/search?q=phenomenal+woman+song&oq=phenomenal+woman+song&aqs=chrome..69i57.5088j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8

How engineers think - http://swarajyamag.com/culture/down-to-the-nuts-and-bolts/

July 2013: Interesting Articles & Links

Interesting articles that came my way in July 2013:

* Desai, Meghnad (2013): THE HINDU RATE OF BACKWARDNESS - http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-hindu-rate-of-backwardness/1147631/
- The Indian State can deliver a nuclear bomb and launch satellites but not universal primary education or decent public health..." -- why?

* Chairborne Warrior - MP Anil Kumar -- http://chairbornewarrior.wordpress.com/

* Japan - Tohoku - Social Entrepreneurs -- http://worldinasia.org/aboutus/

* Miyazaki Hayao's new movie -- http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/07/23/japans_animator_laureate_squares_off_with_prime_minister_with_new_film
- "Kaze wo Tachinu" -- based on the life of Jiro Hirokoshi, inventor of the Mitsubishi 'Zero' Fighter planes

* Pasanth's review of "Dhe Puttu", Kochi -- http://keralascan.hubpages.com/hub/Dhe-Puttu-in-Review

* Wang, Helen H(2013): FIVE THINGS STARBUCKS DID TO GET CHINA RIGHT, Forbes, 10Aug12 -- http://www.forbes.com/sites/helenwang/2012/08/10/five-things-starbucks-did-to-get-china-right/

* Making Sense of Sen vs. Bhagawati -- http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/bhagwati-versus-sen-what-s-going-on-113072400516_1.html

* Gawande, Atul (2013): SLOW IDEAS, New Yorker, 29Jul13 -- http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/07/29/130729fa_fact_gawande?currentPage=all


* Spolsky, Joel (2013): Victory Lap for Ask Patents, Blog, 22Jul13 -- http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2013/07/22.html
- The other 40,000-odd software patents issued every year are mostly garbage that any working programmer could “invent” three times before breakfast. Most issued software patents aren’t “inventions” as most people understand that word.

* Embrace Innovations: http://forbesindia.com/article/expat-diary/embrace-innovations-founder-on-keeping-indian-infants-warm/35623/0

* The Rodin-Hoods -- http://therodinhoods.com/ --

* Inside Google's Secret labs -- http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-05-22/inside-googles-secret-lab

* Aiyar, SA (2013): UNSUNG HERO OF THE INDIA STORY, ToI, 26 Jun 2013 --- http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Swaminomics/entry/unsung-hero-of-the-india-story
- On PV Narasimha Rao

* Blog - http://krishashok.wordpress.com/
- TEDxSSN - Krish Ashok - Disregard Work, Acquire Hobbies --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZnI_A6GSYE

* Ghosh, Abantika (2013): IN THE WORKS - AN EPIDEMIC INTELLIGENCE SERVICE, IE 22Jul13 --- http://www.indianexpress.com/news/in-the-works-an-epidemic-intelligence-service/1144850/0
- As per 2008 data, an estimated 21 per cent deaths in the country were caused by infectious and parasitic diseases.
- Of the 9.2 million cases of TB that occur in the world every year, nearly 1.9 million are in India, accounting for one-fifth of the global TB cases.
- About 2.5 million persons have HIV infection in India — the third highest in the world. More than 1.5 million persons are infected with malaria every year. Diseases like dengue and chikungunya have emerged in different parts of India and a population of over 300 million is at risk of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES)/Japanese Encephalitis (JE). One-third of global cases infected with filaria also live in India, while nearly half of leprosy cases detected in the world in 2008 were contributed by India. More than 300 million episodes of acute diarrhoea occur every year in children below five years of age.

* Mehta, Pratap Bhanu (2013): FOUND IN TRANSLATION, IE 22Jul13 -- http://www.indianexpress.com/news/found-in-transition/1144719/0
- The modern age was defined by what the economic historian Kenneth Pommeranz called the Great Divergence: the increasing inequality between the West and the Rest.
-... there is a revolution in knowledge production of all kinds. This will generate new institutional forms of knowledge production, new techniques in social science that render current methods obsolete.

* Reflections of people as they once were -- http://fstoppers.com/pics-reflections-portraits-of-the-elderly-as-they-once-were

* http://www.tehelka.com/what-is-striking-in-india-is-the-indifference-of-the-privileged/

* Australia to Araria, Engineering a Dream College (Telegraph, 6Jul13) -- http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130706/jsp/bihar/story_17085044.jsp#.Uej-GY3EKSo
- Amit Kumar Das - from Araria distt Bihar, to sydney, Australia -- donating Rs.120 Cr. to start an engineering college in his village
- Journey - Village > Delhi > NIIT >  poor english, refused admission > advise from co-passenger > 3month English language course at British School of Language > back to NIIT > 6 month course > 3 year program > BA correspondence course > NIIT faculty @ R1500/m > start-up in 10x10' space in Bharat Nagar > months later, first project for Rs.5000

* Tripathi, Salil (2013): Snowden Less Heroic -- http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/zijD1zhUGZn3CcIMbygvFO/Snowdens-curious-journey.html

* Shivakumar, Girija (2013): POVERTY LEVELS DOWN BY 15% IN EIGHT YEARS, The Hindu, 16Jul17 -- http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/poverty-levels-down-by-15-in-8-years/article4921497.ece
- the total number of people below the poverty line in the country is 26.89 crore as against 40.73 crore in 2004-05. In rural areas, the number has reduced from 32.58 crore to 21.72 crore.
- Planning Commission had received criticism for pegging the poverty line cut-off at Rs 28.65 per capita daily consumption in cities and Rs 22.42 in rural areas.
- data based on consumer expenditure information collected as part of NSSO surveys since the Sixth Five Year Plan

* Epigenetics -- Passing on traits acquired during one lifetime -- http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/07/economist-explains-7?Fsrc=scn/fb/wl/bl/ee/epigenetics

* Dunning-Kruger Effect -- http://www.spring.org.uk/2012/06/the-dunning-kruger-effect-why-the-incompetent-dont-know-theyre-incompetent.php
- Also - http://www.spring.org.uk/2012/06/the-worse-than-average-effect-when-youre-better-than-you-think.php


* 10 Tips from the World's Oldest Person -- http://northhollywood.patch.com/groups/eminas-blog/p/10-tips-for-a-healthy-life-from-the-worlds-oldest-person

* Finnish Aid to Nepal - 80% reverts to Finnish consultancies -- http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2013/jul/jul12/news01.php

* Food Security Bill - critique on Amartya Sen -- http://www.firstpost.com/economy/food-bill-amartya-sens-charlatan-economics-debunked-again-944451.html

* Keefe, Patrick Radden (2013): BURIED SECRETS, New Yorker, 8Jul13-- http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/07/08/130708fa_fact_keefe
- How an Israeli billionaire took control of Africa's mineral assets

* Indian Memory Project -- http://www.indianmemoryproject.com/

* Kant, Amitabh (Toi, 2013): FOR A MANUFACTURING REVOLUTION, ToI, 11Jul13
- Manufacturing in GDP - 15% -- but only 12% of workforce
- New manufacturing policy -- set to increase share to 22% by 2022 + creation of 100 million jobs  (BCG study says 220m jobs are needed by 2025)
- Need to decrease share of agricultue in employment from 58% to 25% by 2030
- SMEs - 40% of India's workforce, 45% of manufacturing

* Guha, Ramachandra (2013): WHEN EXPERIENCE TRUMPS EXPERTISE, The Hindu, 11Jul13 -- http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/when-expedience-trumps-expertise/article4902463.ece
- Uttarakhand ignored its own world class geologist - K.S. Valdiya
- Madhav gadgil's report on the Western Ghats - 2009

* Sengupta, Shomnit (IE 2013): PURITY OF COMMITMENT
- Brigitte Bardot - actress, singer, author, animal activist

* Japan, India and the Real Estate bubble -- 9 Jul 2013 (tue):http://www.firstpost.com/investing/japan-to-india-busting-the-biggest-myth-of-investing-in-real-estate-921239.html

* Schumpeter (2013): BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD, The Economist, 6Jul13 -- http://www.economist.com/news/business/21580444-design-companies-are-applying-their-skills-voluntary-and-public-sectors-back
- IDEO’s work in re-engineering services is for NGOs and governments.
- There are three main elements to IDEO’s “design thinking”:
> The first is “lots of different eyes”. It employs people from wildly different backgrounds—surgeons and anthropologists as well as engineers and designers—and lumps them into multidisciplinary teams. 
> The second is to look at problems from the consumer’s point of view: for example, conducting detailed interviews with patients about their daily pill-taking routines and how they feel about them. IDEO likes to focus on the outliers rather than the typical customers—people...
> The third element is making everything tangible. The company produces mock-ups of its products and processes, to see how people react to them “in the wild”.

* Green, Emma (2013): A ROMANTIC VIEW OF TECHNOLOGY DESIGN, The Atlantic -- http://www.theatlantic.com/events/archive/2013/07/a-romantic-view-of-technology-design/277588/

* Negishi, Myumi (WSJ 2013): CAN SPIDER WEB BE REPLICATED? -- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324399404578583562603579062.html
- a Japanese startup called Spiber Inc. said it has produced an artificial spider thread that it claims is equal to steel in tensile strength yet as flexible as rubber.
- Spiber President Kazuhide Sekiyama, who came up with the idea to replicate spider thread in college during an all-night drinking session talking about "bug technology."
- Bio-mimicry: Dubbed Qmonos—literally, "spider web" in Japanese—Spiber's thread is the latest example of biomimicry, a field of science that seeks to replicate how things work in nature to solve human problems. Successful examples include Swiss engineer George de Mestral's invention of Velcro in 1941 from seeing a burr stick to his dog and, more recently, Japan's Nitto Denko Corp.'s development of an adhesive that works in super- high temperatures after analyzing how a gecko's foot sticks to surfaces.
- Spider thread can be stretched 40% beyond its original length without breaking. Stronger than steel and bone at the same weight and twice as elastic as nylon
- One gram of the protein produces about 5.6 miles—roughly the height of Mount Everest—of silk.

* Steel Over-capacity (Economist 6Jun13) -- http://www.economist.com/news/business/21580458-worlds-overcapacity-steelmaking-getting-worse-and-profits-are-evaporating-inferno
- Despite a weak world economy, global production of steel rose by 1.2% last year to a record 1.55 billion tonnes.
-  Steel consumption in Europe, at around 145m tonnes in 2012, is nearly 30% below its pre-crisis level and demand is still falling.
- Chinese exports are likely to be 30m-50m tonnes in each of the next few years—a small share of the country’s total production of almost 750m tonnes, but an amount that now exceeds the tonnage sold abroad by longer-established exporters such as Japan, South Korea, Ukraine and Russia.
- Iron ore is a sellers’ market but steelmaking, since there has been little global consolidation, is a buyers’ one. ArcelorMittal, way out in front of any rival, has only 6% of the world market, and 60 firms produce 5m tonnes or more

* Japan Times (June 2013) - Chiyoda's Rice Field Rites -- http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/07/06/travel/hats-off-to-chiyodas-rice-field-rites/

* Kapur, Devesh (2013-BS) -- http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/the-wrongs-of-rights-113070800015_1.html

* NYT - The Busy Trap -- http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/30/the-busy-trap/?smid=fb-share

* Asian flush - risk of cancer -- http://www.nbcnews.com/health/asian-flush-red-flag-risk-cancer-1C6437432

* Swami, Praveen (First Post, Jul13): ISHRAT JAHAN ENCOUNTER -- http://www.firstpost.com/india/ishrat-jahan-encounter-case-why-cbis-chargesheet-is-a-cold-potato-926313.html?utm_source=pop_also_see

* Jokes for nerds - http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/jokes-only-nerds-will-understand

* Reason & Ordinance - http://www.indianexpress.com/news/reason-and-ordinance/1137800/0

* No Mockery Please, We're American --- http://chronicle.com/article/No-Self-Mockery-Please-Were/140021/
- Despite all this, no more generous, open-minded, and enthusiastic group of students can be found in the world. American students tend to be courteous, responsive, cooperative, eager to acquire ideas and ready to criticize anything whatsoever, not least themselves.
-  For the Calvinist, a delight in anything for its own sake is sinful. Pleasure must be instrumental to some more worthy goal, such as procreation
- To find the cosmos mildly entertaining has always been a sign of power in Britain. It is the political reality behind Oxford and Cambridge wit. Seriousness is for scientists and shopkeepers.
- Americans are concerned about sin, and the British about bad manners. It is all right in Britain to talk about serious matters as long as you also find a way to make them entertaining.

* Peter Attia (TED-2013) - Insulin Resistance -- http://www.ted.com/talks/peter_attia_what_if_we_re_wrong_about_diabetes.html
- Insulin controls fuel partitioning in cells...our fundamental ideas of obesity are wrong!
- Just as Abe Lincoln surrounded himself with a team of rivals, we've got together a team of scientific rivals..

* http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/men-and-ideas/entry/food-security-bill-corruption-by-another-name

* Exploitation of Africa -- http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/07/08/130708fa_fact_keefe?currentPage=all

* JICA President's Speech at JNU - 18 June 2013 - http://www.jica.go.jp/english/about/president/speech/130618_01.html#.UdG-DcVUWV4.facebook
- The import from Japan to India has expanded to 12.5 billion USD in the fiscal year 2012, 1.6 times bigger than that of 5 years ago. The export from India to Japan was 6.1 billion USD, which has expanded by two times during the same period.
- the net flow of FDI from Japan to India was 2.8 billion USD in 2012, more than ten times increase from 2005. That is the third largest FDI inflow into India after Mauritius and Singapore. The share of Japan in the total cumulative FDI to India ranks the 4th place after Mauritius, Singapore and U.K. Recently, the presence of Japanese companies in India has increased two fold from 2008; as of November 2012, there are 926 companies operating in India. In comparison, China's FDI into India 2011 was 180 million USD, only 8 percent of Japan's FDI in the same year.

* NEHRUVIAN CHINA -- http://www.caravanmagazine.in/reportage/nehruvian-china

* The Best Brainstorming Is Not Done in Groups -- http://thebuildnetwork.com/team-building/brainstorming-individual-group/

* Princess of whales: How a naked female scientist tries to tame belugas in the freezing Arctic -- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2004042/Naked-female-scientist-tries-tame-beluga-whales-arctic.html

* 4 Changes to English So Subtle We Hardly Notice They're Happening ---  http://mentalfloss.com/article/51362/4-changes-english-so-subtle-we-hardly-notice-theyre-happening#ixzz2XiLRDP6W

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..

September 2012 - Interesting Links

* Srivathsan, A (2012): SMALL IS BIG FOR INDIA'S BOOMING RETAILS SECTOR, The Hindu, 30 Sep 2012 - http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/small-is-big-in-asias-booming-retail-sector/article3949344.ece#.UGfRaAlfln4.gmail

* Madhukar, CV (2012): MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE PARLIAMENT, Manushi, 20Sep12 - URL - http://www.manushi.in/articles.php?articleId=1631

* 'Micchami Dukkadam' (18 Sep. 2012, Tata MF)
-On the final day of Paryushan is Samvastsari Pratikraman (ritual for washing away sins). Jains seek forgiveness from all the creatures whom they may have harmed knowingly or unknowingly by uttering the phrase— Micchami Dukkadam. It means "If I have caused you offence in any way, knowingly or unknowingly, in thought, word or deed, then I seek your forgiveness". No private quarrel or dispute may be carried beyond Samvatsari, and traditionally, letters have been sent and telephone calls made to friends and relatives asking their forgiveness.

* Raghavan, BS (2012): No Point in Picking on Denmark, BL 19Sep12 - http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/columns/b-s-raghavan/article3911346.ece
- Denmark ranks 19th among foreign investors in India, with a direct investment during 2010 of $231 million. India’s own commodity exports to Denmark totalled $992 million in 2011.
-  it has 80 companies already operating in India, with 20 or more in Tamil Nadu alone, although Kerala, Maharashtra and Rajasthan are the preferred destinations.

* Shourie, Arun (2012): ‘For 15-20 years now, we have been attending the elongated funeral rites of the parliamentary system’, Indian Express, 18Sep12 - http://www.indianexpress.com/news/for-1520-years-now-we-have-been-attending-the-elongated-funeral-rites-of-the-parliamentary-system/1004159/0

* Obe, Mitsuru (2012): THIRST FOR ENERGY SHAPES JAPAN’S TIES, WSJ, 4Sep12, url - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443571904577629052678661404.html
- LNG from Qatar, Malaysia, Australia
- Imports 90% of its crude; 25% of LNG

* Anand, Geeta (2012): A WOMAN’S UNTREATABLE TB ECHOS GLOBALLY, WSJ, 8Sep12, url - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444273704577633431646496346.html

* Hoshi, Takeo and Anil Kashyap (2012): A PLAN TO REVIVE JAPAN, WSJ 11Sep12, url - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443921504577642764122529938.html
- National Institute of Research Advancement (NIRA)
- Inefficiencies...postal addressing system...a confusing algorithm ensures that adjacent buildings in cities do not have consecutive addresses

* Krishnakumar R (2012): REPLACEMENT MIGRATION, Frontline, 21Sep12, url - http://fleceweb.thehindu.co.in/public-health/article646320.ece?textsize=small&test=2
- Kerala emigrants - 2.28m abroad; 1.5m returned; 3.43m non-resident-Keralites; 9.31m Keralite in other states
- Average wage of unskilled laborer in Gulf - Rs.11,484;
- Daily wage in Kerala - Rs.450

* Hampaiah, Ralladoddi (2012): EVERYONE IS STEALING GERMPLASM, Down to Earth, 1-15Sep12, pp23, url - http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/everyone-stealing-germplasm
- Bt Cotton germplasm comes from ARAU, Hyderabad’s “Narasimha” breed - taken from Mahanandi village in Kurnool dist. by Monsanto
- Ongole bull

* Suchitra, M (2012): STENCH IN MY BACKYARD, Down to Earth, 1-15Sep12
- Garbage disposal and protests from Vilappilshala village near Trivandrum

* Economist (2012): Obituary - ROGER FISHER, Economist 15Sep12, url - http://www.economist.com/node/21562880
- lawyer, teacher, peace-maker
-  In any negotiation, he wrote—even with terrorists—it was vital to separate the people from the problem; to focus on the underlying interests of both sides, rather than stake out unwavering positions; and to explore all possible options before making a decision. The parties should try to build a rapport, check each other out, even just by shaking hands or eating together. Each should “listen actively”, as he always did, to what the other was saying. They should recognise the emotions on either side, from a longing for security to a craving for status. And they should try to get inside each other’s heads.
- For those who found his principles too idealistic, he could point to age-old haggling tricks he also recommended: pretending not to be interested, refusing to react to pressure, being prepared to walk away.


* Nagral, Sanjay (2012): DOCTORS IN ENTREPRENEURIAL GOWNS, EPW 8Sep12, url - http://www.epw.in/commentary/doctors-entrepreneurial-gowns.html


* Ito, Joichi (2012): MIT MEDIA LAB - Program on NHK, url - http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/bookedforjapan/archives201209140600.html //  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joi_Ito

August 2012: Interesting Links

* Mehta, Bhanu Pratap (2012): THE QUICKSAND OF CASTE, Indian Express, 28Aug12, URL - http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-quicksand-of-caste/994050/0
- Reservation was no longer about justice; it was about political claims masquerading as claims about justice.
- The anxiety over slivers of representation has made it difficult to produce a larger politics of accountability.
- Division creates a politics of fear that our political class uses to disguise its own failures.
- (looking for) creative ways of getting us out of this Procrustean bed, where both freedom and justice are now hostage to a politics of identity and suspicion.

* China Today: Calligraphy Then and Now, URL - http://www.chinatoday.com.cn/ctenglish/se/txt/2012-08/14/content_475928.htm


* O'Brien, Derek (2012): THE O'BRIENS OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN, Blogpost - http://quizderek.blogspot.in/2012/08/the-obriens-of-india-and-pakistan_13.html


CAG

* Iyer, Ramaswamy R (2012): SETTING HOUNDS ON THE WATCHDOG, The Hindu, 30Aug12, URL - http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article3836708.ece?homepage=true

* Mehta, Bhanu Pratap (2012): GREAT CLEANSING ACT, Indian Express, 20Aug12, URL - http://www.indianexpress.com/news/great-cleansing-act/990402/0

* Mukhopadhyay, Amitabh (2012): CAG HAS A POINT ON COAL, Mail Today, 30Mar12, URL - www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&sqi=2&ved=0CDgQFjAD&url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2123004/AMITABH-MUKHOPADHYAY-CAG-point-coal.html&ei=eoBAUJyHGI7krAe4vID4CQ&usg=AFQjCNE0lQnJOx90DR6I39zWAn4zLQh9XA&sig2=CaaMPKDymhId9mxF24nEKQ
RAMASWAMY R. IYER

* Schuman/Kiyuku, Michael (2012); BLIND FAITH, Time, Aug12, URL - http://olympics.time.com/2012/08/23/blind-faith/
- Story of Kenyan paraolympic, Henry Wanyoike


* Arackaparambil, Rosemary, Manoj Kumar (2012): NEW LAND LAW IS BALANCING ACT FOR INDIA, IHT, 29Aug12, URL - http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/08/28/india-land-idINL4E8JS1CW20120828
- 118-year-old legislation

* Kazmin, Amin (2012): INDIA WRESTLES WITH COMPETING LAND NEEDS, Financial Times, 27Aug12

TOP ECONOMIST PONDERS INDIA’S TRUST DEFICIT, url - http://www.omglobe.com/2012/08/22/top-economist-ponders-indias-trust-deficit/
- He refers to an account 100 years ago by a frustrated European engineer in Japan named Kattendyke who wrote about supplies not arriving on time, workers showing up once and never returning, and a pervasive lack of punctuality

Blog: http://www.ulaar.com - Art of Returning to India and Staying Put

Rao, BV (2012): WHY THE FALL OF XEROX ZACHARIA IS UNTHINKABLE IN INDIAN MEDIA, First Post, 25 Aug 2012, URL - http://www.firstpost.com/india/why-the-fall-of-xerox-zakaria-is-unthinkable-in-indian-media-430088.html/2

Chandan, Pav-Bhaji and the Government, The Sleepwalker's Diary (Blog), URL -  http://sleepwalkertales.blogspot.in/2012/08/chandan-pav-bhaji-and-government.html

Happy Birthday Colors - http://www.nicopon.com/

Pilling, David (2012): JAPAN, CHINA AND THE LEGACY OF THEIR 'HISTORY PROBLEM'; Financial Times, London, 23AUG12, URL - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/497f8d14-ec43-11e1-a91c-00144feab49a.html#axzz24SppZecT
- In 1885, an anonymous newspaper editorial  - supposedly by Yukichi Fukuzawa of the Y10,000 fame - titled "Leaving Asia"...and its impact

Allison, Graham (2012): THUCYDIDE'S TRAP HAS BEEN SPRUNG IN THE PACIFIC, Financial Times, 22Aug12, URL - http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5d695b5a-ead3-11e1-984b-00144feab49a.html#axzz24SppZecT
- "It was the rise of Athens and the fear that this inspired in Sparta that made war inevitable" - Thucydides
- A historian's metaphor reminds us of the dangers two parties face when a rising power rivals a ruling power... Athens 5BC; Germany 19 CE, and now China 21 CE
- In a generation,  nation whose gross GDP was smaller that Spain's has become the se ond largest economy inthe world.

Twitter - @MajorlyProfound - acidic Pakistani blocked?

Harris, Shane (2012): GIVING IN TO THE SURVEILLANCE STATE, IHT, 24 Aug12
- NSA, Pentagon and Total Information Analysis (TIA)

Moldova, Gyorgy (2012): BALLPOINT, New Europe
- Hungarian inventor, Lazsto Biro (1899-1985) and the story of the ballpoint pen


Coleman, John (2012): FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO LEAD, READ; 15Aug12 HBR, URL - http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/08/for_those_who_want_to_lead_rea.html

Sanyal, Kaushiki (2012): SPEAKING WITHOUT FEAR, Indian Express, 24Aug12, URL - http://www.indianexpress.com/news/speaking-without-fear/992256/0

Indian Government appointed committee gives recommendations to increase medal tally in 2016 Olympics (UnReal Times, 21Aug12) - URL - http://www.theunrealtimes.com/2012/08/21/indian-government-appointed-committee-gives-recommendations-to-increase-medal-tally-in-2016-olympics/

Innovation (Economist Quotes) - http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2012/08/z-business-quotations-1?fsrc=gn_ep

Cartoon - The Hindu - Support Prices - http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/cartoon/article3800092.ece

Theodore Darlymple (2012): INDIA'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE OLYMPICS - INDIFFERENCE, WSJ, url - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443324404577595091687114760.html

Sengupta, Shombit (2012): McJEANS INDIA? Indian Express, 12Aug12
- Denim fabric was crafted in Nimes, France, in the 17th century; originally called Serge de Nimes. The contemporary term jeans comes from Genes, the French word for Genoa (Italy) sailors who wore denim workpants.


An Open Letter to Arnab Goswami - http://www.manushi.in/articles.php?articleId=1616


Why the U.S. Fracking Industry Worries About the Weather in India (Time, Jul 2012) - http://world.time.com/2012/07/17/why-the-u-s-fracking-industry-worries-about-the-weather-in-india/#ixzz23jNkAlf5

Dance of the Starlings
Murmuration (a group of starlings) - http://vimeo. com/31158841
starlings being attacked by a peregrine falcon - http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=b8eZJnbDHIg
explanation - http://beheco. oxfordjournals. org/content/ 21/6/1349. full

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18563_162-1409061.html


* TED -- Shashi Tharoor: Why nations should pursue "soft" power --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiTrl0W1QrM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

* TED - Margaret Heffernan: Dare to Disagree
URL - http://www.ted.com/talks/margaret_heffernan_dare_to_disagree.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2012-08-10&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email


* Sabastien, PT (2012): OLD DIET, NEW RECIPE, Business Today, 5Aug12, URL - http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/cash-transfer-programme-lieu-of-subsidised-foodgrain/1/186383.html

* Nike Advt - Find Your Greatness - "...greatness is no more unique to us than breathing...we're all capable it it...all of us. URL - http://www.businessinsider.com/america-is-falling-in-love-with-the-chubby-kid-in-this-awesome-new-nike-ad-2012-8

* Khera, Reetika (2012): PUTTING KERALA TO WORK, The Hindu, 1Aug12, URL - http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article3708704.ece?homepage=true

July 2012 - Links of the Month

Interesting articles & links from July 2012...


Economist (July 2012) - Antique Cabinets - http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/07/daily-chart-14

Maruti-Manesar-Riot


* Sampath, G (2012): Can India Inc. face the truth about the Manesar violence? DNA, 29Jul12, URL - http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column_can-india-inc-face-the-truth-about-the-manesar-violence_1721167-all
* Warnock, elanor, Yoshio Takahashi (2012): JAPAN INC., FUCUSES ON SUZUKI AFTER RIOT, WSJT 25 Jul 2012, p19
- Unstable cocktail of rising contract worker numbers, quickening inflation and low wages
* Johnson, TA (2012): MARUTI VIOLENCE SHOWS SOCIAL UNREST: PREMJI, IE 25Jul12


Salughter, Anne Mary (2012): Why Women Still Can’t Have It All, The Atlantic, July 2012, URL - http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-can-8217-t-have-it-all/9020/


PaisaBoltaHai - Know your currency notes - http://www.paisaboltahai.rbi.org.in/1000.htm#

Babu, Venkatesha (2008): Rajeev Chandrasekhar | Not the settling type, WSJ-Mint 31May08, URL - http://www.livemint.com/2008/05/31001212/Rajeev-Chandrasekhar--Not-the.html
- Rs127.86 trillion worth of derivatives on the books of Indian banks as on March 2008 (how much is it now?)
- 127,860,000,000,000.00 INR = 2,326,055,238,809.07 USD

Sanal Edamaruku and Rationalist International - http://www.rationalistinternational.net/

Swami, Praveen (2012): India's god laws fail the test of reason, The Hindu, 7 May 2012


Kreider, Tim (2012): The ‘Busy’ Trap, June 30, 2012, NYT Opinion Pages, URL - http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/30/the-busy-trap/?smid=fb-share
- “Idle dreaming is often of the essence of what we do,” wrote Thomas Pynchon in his essay on sloth. Archimedes’ “Eureka” in the bath, Newton’s apple, Jekyll & Hyde and the benzene ring: history is full of stories of inspirations that come in idle moments and dreams. It almost makes you wonder whether loafers, goldbricks and no-accounts aren’t responsible for more of the world’s great ideas, inventions and masterpieces than the hardworking.




Books - http://www.goodreads.com/book


Poems to Remember - Shakti Aur Kshama (Ramdhari Singh Dinkar) - http://poems2remember.blogspot.in/2007/01/shakti-aur-kshama-strength-and-mercy.html

BMW M5 Bullet Promo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDuxWGHA-Z4&feature=player_embedded

March 2012 - Links of the Month

Random posts that grabbed my attention:


India Design Forum - Design Within Reach - http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/03/india-design-forum?fsrc=scn/fb/wl/bl/designwithinreach
"If India does not establish some brands soon, it will be too late since all the imports will just take over the country,” says Karim Rashid. “It was a shame that the hotel I stayed at in New Delhi had Italian lighting, Italian furniture, German sinks, German faucets, French products,”


Architecture in Osaka: When the Hanshin Expressway company and a building owner sat down to resolve a common problem they came up with a rather unusual solution!   http://www.tofugu.com/2012/02/24/osaka-architecture/


TED  - How simple ideas lead to scientific discoveries - http://www.ted.com/talks/how_simple_ideas_lead_to_scientific_discoveries.html


TED - Nancy Duarte: The secret structure of great talks - http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/nancy_duarte_the_secret_structure_of_great_talks.html

Courage under pressure: Ditching of plane in Lake Hudson
 - http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=tE_5eiYn0D0#t=109

Book (eulogy) on MS Swaminathan: One Man's Quest for a Hunger-Free World

Falser Words Were Never Spoken - BRIAN MORTON, The New Yorker, August 29, 2011 - URL - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/opinion/falser-words-were-never-spoken.html?_r=1

Conflict of Interest and the Cure for Cancer - http://www.moneytrendsresearch.com/scientists-cure-cancer-but-no-one-takes-notice/

Obituary to a Music Director - 'Bombay Ravi' - http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2002/05/27/stories/2002052701090200.htm
Aage bhi na Jaane tu (Waqt 1965) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCdoqLH0hP8&feature=related


Nayak-2005-Suzuki-India Case Study - URL - http://www.ximb.ac.in/~jcr/Suzuki.pdf

Henri’s Walk to Paris: Saul Bass’s Only Children’s Book, 1962, Resurfaced 50 Years Later -- http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/02/21/henris-walk-to-paris-saul-bass/


New Delhi Railway Station Masterplan concept (If wishes were horses... :)  ) http://www.arup.com/Projects/New_Delhi_Railway%20Station/New_Delhi_Railway_Station.aspx

My Experiments with Self - A salary-man attempts to follow the footsteps of Gandhi- http://myexperimentwithself.blogspot.in/2012/03/week-1-1.html?spref=fb

Japan can learn from Israel - http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20120103zg.html#.T3g_sxuBODk.facebook

Escape Delhi (river rafting etc) - http://www.escapedelhi.com/Home.aspx?tripId=5

Devdutt - Getting Better and Better - Durga statues as a metaphor for presentation-preparation - http://devdutt.com/topics/leadership/getting-better-and-better.html

Harnessing Energy - an imaginative German advertisement - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KDLgaili8s&feature=share

Rana Hasan, ADB Papers - http://beta.adb.org/data/publications/author/238

Wave Clouds - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wavecloudsduval.jpg

Glasswinged Butterfly - http://twistedsifter.com/2012/03/15-stunning-photos-of-the-glasswinged-butterfly/

Nahalal: Circular moshav (coop village) designed by RIchard kauffman - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahalal

Arial Photography - http://twistedsifter.com/2011/03/25-mind-blowing-aerial-photographs/

Jonathan Haidt: Religion, evolution, and the ecstasy of self-transcendence -
http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_humanity_s_stairway_to_self_transcendence.html


Rushdie, Salman : Outside the Whale,Granta - http://www.granta.com/Archive/11/Outside-the-Whale/Page-1

Common Bird Monitoring India (CMBI) - http://www.cbmi.in/

Flying like a bird - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYW5G2kbrKk&feature=youtu.be

Delhi Dairy: Sorry, no Indian mobile = no Indian rail ticket - http://christinepemberton.me/?p=12262

Song - Roumor Has It - Mathai - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSnrLqdt6oc
And the Original by Adele - Rumour has it (with lyrics) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti3t7MAwaaM



Electronic Market Research - http://www.isuppli.com/Pages/Home.aspx

Writing Rules by Henry Miller, Elmore Leonard, Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman & George Orwell >>> http://www.openculture.com/2012/01/writing_rules.html

Jayati-Jayati Bharata Mata (brought back memories of K V Uppal!) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF2QCl3-6BM

Painting & Interpretation - Beijing 2008 - http://vliam.com/2011/03/oil-painting-beijing-2008-bu-liu-yi/

Ghosh, Jayati (2012): Could Ecuador be the most radical and exciting place on Earth? The Guardian, UK, 19 Jan 2012, URL - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/jan/19/ecuador-radical-exciting-place

SPIDERS - SOUTH INDIA: http://www.southindianspiders.org/default.htm

DEFENCE SCAMS - Clear and present danger, Josy Joseph | Mar 28, 2012, ToI - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Clear-and-present-danger/articleshow/12431832.cms



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Words from AWAD:

Apollonian
Def: Serene; harmonious; disciplined; well-balanced.
An Apollonian gasket is the name for a beautiful fractal composed of ever-shrinking, mutually tangent circles. It's named for a Greek mathematician, Apollonius of Perga, whose work on conic sections gave us the names of some more common mathematical objects: the ellipse, the hyperbola, and the parabola.

Dionysian
Def: Uninhibited; undisciplined; spontaneous; wild; orgiastic.

Promethean
Def: adjective: Boldly creative; defiant; audacious. noun: A person who is boldly creative or defiantly original.
According to the ancient Greek poet Hesiod, Prometheus (meaning "forethought") had a brother, Epimetheus ("afterthought"). We all have afterthoughts, although perhaps none so dramatic as regret over Pandora, but there is no suitable adjective "Epimethean" in our vocabulary today.


Graffiti (gruh-FEE-tee)
noun: Words or drawing made on a wall or other surface in a public place.
ETYMOLOGY:
Plural of Italian graffito (a scratching). Ultimately from the Indo-European root gerbh- (to scratch), which also gave us crab, crayfish, carve, crawl, grammar, anagram, program, graphite, and paraph. Earliest documented use: 1851.


Gedankenexperiment
Def: A thought experiment: an experiment carried out in imagination only.