Inter- Web : 02

Hi !!!

With Inter-Web : 01 , focusing more on diverse topics, felt it would be better to focus on few issues in each capsule. 

Before we start with the capsule lets pay homage for a second to this futurist who predicted the rise of the Internet we know of. 

James Martin dies at 79; futurist who predicted the rise of the Internet. In 1978's 'The Wired Society,' Martin saw a planet networked by computers. He was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Since 2005, he donated more than $150 million to the University of Oxford.

James Martin dies at 79; futurist who predicted the rise of the Internet

Here is a set of articles on issues that is slowly gathering steam in terms of social media discussions. 

 Riots in Brazil : Brazil , when he hear this name, 3 things come into our mind. Football, Football and Football. We have always known it to be a country with insatiable football craze. Could anyone would have imagined that millions would turn up on streets to protest against the World Cup that is going to happen in their own country. 



Millions turned up in every major city of Brazil and the riot wasn't just about World Cup. It was a reason for people to protest against running inflation, lack of public infrastructure and contracting economy. 

Here is a piece by Luiz Felipe Lampreia , a former foreign minister of Brazil (1995-2001) on the background of Brazil riots which is just not about Football World Cup. 

Exhausted Brazil by Luiz Felipe Lampreia

Brazil Protests: The Craziest Photos & Vines (with images, tweet) · thedailybeast

Prime Minister of India : With India, facing a next General election soon, there is a clear divide in public opinion on who should be the next Prime Minister. Though people have been tired of a decade of rule by Congress , there is a clear majority who doesn't want this person to assume the mantle of Prime minister of India. The Man is Mr. Narendra Modi,who has served consecutive three terms as chief minister of Gujarat, an Indian State known for its recent advances in Overall infrastructure and Investment climate. 



So here is a piece by a noted Historian , Ramachandra Guha on this personality , Mr. Narendra Modi. 

thehindu.com

The man who would rule India

Latest Buzz on Snow Den : A piece on why China and Russia behaved in way that they were never expected to . When the whole world expected China and Russia to give protection to Snow Den , a defector and whistleblower from NSA ( National Security Agency ), they didn't do the same.

Squeal Like a Pig - By James Traub


Is GDP - a real measure : Here is a piece on why GDP isn't a real measure of well being of a country's citizens nor economic growth. The example with which the article started off was interesting . // The 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico – with clean-up and damage costs of $90 billion – added about $300 to the average American’s “income.” But it added nothing to our well-being. The world’s most expensive prison system, costing almost $40 billion per year, adds another $125 per person. This doesn’t make us better-off than people living in countries that don’t incarcerate one in every 100 adults. //

Limits to Growth - of What?


Lets finish this capsule with these imposing images on the fast disappearing tribes of the world we are living in by British photographer, Jimmy Nelson. These images are from his latest book ,  Before They Pass Away . 

Before They Pass Away - An FP Slideshow

Wish to hear your views on the content here. Criticism and Debate on the above topics are most welcome.

Buy Best and Leave the Rest - A Refutal

With exchange rate of Indian Rupee hitting a new low of 60.32 INR to 1 $ , social media abuzz with posts mocking the current government's economic policies. There also seems to be a massive campaign which goes like ' Buy Indian and Save India '. 

On a superficial level it does sound right for it seems like we are sending off billion dollars out of our country by buying goods of Multi-Nationals like Unilever or Procter and Gamble. In fact we do romanticize with 'Swadeshi Movement', which involves shunning goods of foreign origin, for it was part of our Independence struggle against Britain. 

Now coming back to the question, Can being Swadeshi actually improve our country's economy ? 

Seems the answer is not as simple as blurting out a slogan like , 'Be Indian and Buy Indian'. 

We have to remind ourselves that we are now living in a globalized world where it is hard to pinpoint the country of origin of any Corporation. Say Unilever or Hyundai or P&G , they all are Multi-Nationals and their stock is traded on stock markets. So that means they may have Indian shareholders.In fact our so called Indian companies are also MNCs. Say TATA , Flipkart , Jet Airways or what soever. They also may have share holding by foreigners for they are traded in Stock markets . 

So what matters is that these firms produce their goods in Indian territory, sell their goods through Indian salespersons and they pay taxes to Indian Government. Eventually they are creating infrastructure, creating jobs and helping people have a better lifestyle. 

Unilever , for example is a Anglo-Dutch consumer goods company. but they have their manufacturing plants in India . Say Micromax. It is an Indian consumer electronic company, but what we won't know is that the components in their mobile phones are sourced from China or Taiwan. So actually it means that Micromax is not as Indian as we would expect. There are many firms which produce goods in China and at last label them as ' Made in India '. 

So it's better for us to be remind ourselves of what would happen if our own Information Technology firms face such a campaign in foreign countries. In fact there is a sizable majority in United States, who think that we Indians are robbing their jobs. So how different is our companies in comparison with the MNC's who are being demonized by false propaganda of , ' Buy Indian and Save India '. 

In total, any campaign that  calls for boycotting so called-foreign goods is nonsensical because they may not as foreign as you think. In fact it is difficult to ascertain .

And coming back to the cause for Indian rupee losing its value is not because of our buying habits but due to our increased dependence on foreign countries for energy. We import nearly 80 % of our energy needs. We lack quality coal and hence we are importing them too for our thermal power plants. And mainly the political climate is very unstable and hence foreign investors are wary of investing here and they resort to selling their stocks in share markets. This results in further decrease in Rupee Value. 

We have to remember that our country is part of a global market. There is no way we can deny that fact. So as a common man there is certainly one thing which we can do 

It is , to remind ourselves that we are consumers. As an ideal consumer, our job is to choose quality goods. You may not know what proportion of investment in a company is held by investors from abroad. So instead of thinking over what is truly swadesi , we can choose quality goods . Market being a self-correcting institution will be pushed to produce quality goods and if Indian companies are going to produce them , who is going to stop. 

On a parallel note, if any Indian really want to do something, we should start buying fuel efficient cars, motorcycles, Save energy . Because we spend most of our foreign exchange on Energy Imports. Gold imports also eat away so much of our foreign exchange. Sadly no one talks about it.

So the new slogan should be , ' Buy Best and leave the Rest '

By the way , INR hitting 60 to $ is not end of the world for INR has faced much worse devaluations in history. 

Indian Rupee Devaluation : Reasons for the Depreciation of Indian Rupee. by Balaji Viswanathan on Zingfin: The Big Picture

India is screwed, no matter what RBI does on rupee

Chidambaram didn’t start rupee fire, but India is burning because of it

Inter-Web : 01

With the declining editorial standards in Indian Newspapers and the lack of importance that they give to well written pieces on the issues that could change the world we live in , felt this platform could be a way to curate interesting content across the Web. 

The links shared here would always accompany a small note to have an idea of what to expect from the article. 

So lets start with the first capsule of Inter-Web. 

A Riveting essay by celebrated Historian, William Dalrymple about Afghanistan. Here he throws light on a not-well known paradigm on Afghan issue, that is the proxy war between India and Pakistan. With U.S contemplating upon leaving Afghanistan , he looks at India, Pakistan and Afghanistan as a Deadly Triangle and forwards this conjecture based on real accounts.

http://www.brookings.edu/researc...

People are always intrigued on why there are no pure forms of Capitalist or Socialists governments across the globe. Here is a short talk by Dr. Stephen Hicks on Philosophy and the Evolution of the Mixed Economy . 

http://newmedia.ufm.edu/hicksevo...

Here, is a Op-Ed by Noble Laureate Amartya Sen on a much debated topic on why India is trailing China for so long and is there a possibility for India to bypass its limitations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/opinion/why-india-trails-china.html

An article on how Barter system made its comeback in Argentina, when it was hit by an economic crisis in 2001-02. Truly remarkable read for it shows how a society creates alternate financial instruments when an existing system is unreliable or in verge of collapse. 

http://www.time.com/time/world/a...

And coming back to the present world, here is one technology that is creating so much buzz. Yes. The 3-D printing .

Liver transplants are very complex and usually the constraint is not the technical ability of the doctor but the availability of donors. What if some one say, "Sir, Your Liver Is Ready and it just got Printed ". Enter the world of 3-D printers which are enabled by some awesome Engineering from a startup called "Organovo" and CAD software from Autodesk to Design, 3-D Print Living Tissue.

 http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2010/07/gallery-bio-printing/all/

Hope you all enjoyed the first capsule of Inter-Web. 

See you on next Inter-Web. 

Looking forward for your views.