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Showing posts from January, 2011
62 years back , a salute of 21 guns and the unfurling of the Indian National Flag by Dr. Rajendra  Prasad heralded the historic  birth of the Indian Republic on January 26, 1950 ; 894 days after our country became a dominion following withdrawal of British Rule. Since then, every year the day is celebrated with great pride and happiness all over the nation.  The transition of India from a British colony to a sovereign , secular and democratic nation was indeed historical . It was a long journey of around two decades that started with the conceptualization of the dream in 1930 to its actual realization in 1950. Though India became a free nation on August 15, 1947, it enjoyed the true spirit of Independence on January 26, 1950 when the Constitution of India finally came into force.  On the eve of India’s Republic Day , Indians were assured not only of a fully democratic and secular state but also a country that will fight for “the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequali

This is one of my first scribble in economics

ECON-PARADOX Though ,I  cannot  claim  to  be  a  “Know- all’ in  Economics,infact,  I am  a  “Know- little” in  Economics  but from  my  periphery  knowledge  ,I  would  like  to  pen  down  an  ECON- PARADOX that  keeps  on  rattling  in my  mind.Last  year,  when  I  studied  POVERTY  and  INEQUALITY  in  detail(browsing  like  a  hungry  child  first  through  one  book  then  through  another  and  even  leaving  no  stone  unturned  to  churn  out the  maximum  from  some  notable  works  on  Poverty  like  those  of  Amartya  Sen  , Jeffery  Sachs  etc…)  what  I  came  to  digest  was  that  India  was  basically  a  Poor  and  Developing  Economy  with  about  216  million  people  living  below  the  poverty  line(having  full  faith  in  my  Govt’s  data)  and  that  Inequality  was  widespread  in  India.I  had  in  short,  made  up  my  mind  to  believe  that  India  is  a  Poor  country  but  is  moving  progressively  on  the  path  to   Development.No   sooner  had 

MAA TUJHE SALAAM

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MAA TUJHE SAALAM T he lyrics of "Vande Matram-Maa Tujhe Saalam" by A.R Rahman mesmerized me during my school days. It always happened to be my favorite song whenever I had to go for classical stage performances . Nevertheless, at that point in time, the lyrics and music was what enchanted me and I hardly knew  the  real intricate meaning of the song. For me , Independence day as a school kid was a day of unfurling the National Flag in school and eating the sweets and enjoying another nice holiday. But today , the same day occupies a very sacred position in my life. After living in London , I realized-what India is ....I still remember the first induction day at my University (London School Of Economics ) in London wherein one of my classmate (whom I later discovered to be one of the chief economist in the Canadian Government) enthusiastically asked me as to what is "India"-how can we manage so much unity in diversity- to him India was synonym to an unexplored
MAPPING    WORLD     FOR   THE   SECOND   DEACDE OF THE   21 st   CENTURY   An   ensuing   question   that   engulfs   the   general   perception   at   the   dawn   of   the   new   decade   of   the   21 st   century   is   how   will be   the   next   ten   years? The   world   at   the   stroke   of   midnight   of   31 st   December     will   turn   its   back   on   the   naughty   noughties   and   its   years   of   economic   calaminty   ,ill-judged   war,   terrorism   and   man-made   climate   change   and   churn   forward   into   yet   another   decade.   It’s   risky   to   name   a   decade   and   is   as   difficult   as   naming   the   children   by   his/her   parent.    Naming     also   entails   high   degree   of   subjectivity. Japan   named   its   two   decades   since   1980’s   as   the   “Lost   Decades’.   It’s   equally   dangerous   to   forecast   the   future   as   John   Kenneth   Galbraith   stated   that “ the   only   function   of   economic