Idiot culture
October 6, 2003I was setting a paper for my students on culture, and i came across a brilliant quote by Bernstein – him of the Watergate fame – “We are in the process of creating what deserves to be called the idiot culture. Not…
How many ministers to run a state?
October 5, 2003The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, today inducted 91 new Ministers into his Cabinet thereby giving the largest ever Ministry to the State. The Cabinet now has 98 Ministers. – Hinduonnet 3rd October UP is one of the worst governed…
Honour Killings
October 5, 2003Read the apalling story of the 16 year old Kurdish girl who was murdered by her father for being too western. The father then tried to commit suicide, but botched the job. A judge in the UK sentanced him to life imprisonment….
Sinicization of the Internet
September 30, 2003China is 1.2 billion plus. Most of them don’t read English. They are fairly fluent in Mandarin or Cantonese or other Chinese dialects. But not English. Much of the content on the web is in English, and will continue to be so….
Young and Said
September 29, 2003Last week two of my favourite writers – Hugo Young and Edward Said died. Young was the political columnist for the Guardian, and Said was, well Said – probably the most prolific writer of his times. A scholar, an idealist, a supporter…
Distorted Morality
September 28, 2003Had a screening of Noam Chomsky lecture at Harvard “Distorted Morality“, at Sophia’s. His basic premise is we all hypocrites in that we expcet a high standard of behaviour from others that we are unable to adhere to ourselves. He means in…
Collaboration
September 19, 2003Was invited to a seminar at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research on collaboration between industry and acedemia. The new director of TIFR, seems to be a dynamic sort. Plans to inject new blood in to the system – that would be…
September 15, 2003
Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, “thirld world” unity has again reared its head. Reminiscent of the New World Information & Communication Order (NWICO) movements – against cultural imperialism, and the LDC trade blocs to negotiate at GATT and UNCTAD through…
The War Drums Have Begun
September 14, 2003The recent US sponsored resolution on Iran to come clean of its nuclear weapons – is reminiscent of the circus that preceeded the war in Iraq. The East India Company that ruled India for almost one hundred years, had an interesting policy…
Maybe Justice in Gujarat
September 14, 2003The Supreme Court on Friday said it did not trust the Gujarat government and prosecution to bring the rioters to book. A bench, comprising Chief Justice V N Khare, Justice Brijesh Kumar and Justice S B Sinha, said: “What is the rajdharma…