A World that Never Sleeps!

Merry Christmas to all. I, like many of you had read in books about the globalized world, the highly efficient supply chains, vertical and horizontal integration and similar things. Recently, I experienced it myself. I find it amazing and hence this post. Most of my friends working for MNCs would already know this but to me this is still very exciting. I use DHL to courier my documents for my applications to the US. They are extremely efficient and my stuff reaches in exactly 3 days. I was not amazed by this at first. But then I looked at the details that they send us.

It works as follows, so the day I give my courier to the agent it is sorted at New Delhi and put onto a plane to London the very same night. They again sort it, send to another location in the UK from where it is again put onto a different plane to the US. After the final sorting, they send to the state and then to the city. This is a reflection of a highly efficient system that works round the clock. So my guess is that all the couriers to the US from the east are collected at the UK and then put on the right plane depending on the destination region. Don't forget that the senders and the receivers can be infinitely many. These guys therefore are solving a very complex matching problem in real time. The right time of departure both from New Delhi and London so that there is no delay en-route. The right choice of the departing aircraft that will take it via the most efficient route. Doing all this and at the same time minimizing cost and the delivery time. Globalization and competition has taken us to our best.

I don't want to take either a pro or anti-globalization stand but right now but I am just amazed at the situation and the world we live in. Micro institutions work round the clock, where every person just contributes his bit and the macro picture that emerges is simply astonishing.

Who said research was boring?

The title of this post will in itself raise some eyebrows and tighten other facial muscles. After all, no one said that scientific research or its step cousins are boring. However, my inquiry is into social science research in general and more focused into my first hand experience of it. Hence, largely I am going to talk about my personal experience and shed light through it on the general question in hand. That researchers are mad, sadist people, is a notion on a decline but that that is also true for people dwelling in social sciences research may not be a widely accepted notion. Unless of course, you’ve come across the very colourful (“black”) and forever young Debraj Ray or exotically eloquent speakers like Kaushik Basu. I will however, try to convince you that even lesser mortals like us are not too boring after all and more importantly ask important questions even if we can’t answer them.

My experience so far has followed the plot structure of a Shakespearean play. The Exposition which introduces characters and the setting which would translate into identifying the research question in our context has been the longest. It’s also perhaps the hardest part if you are into development economics. This period has had a mix of both dry and interesting spells. Digging into papers looking for an interesting unanswered question can be as exciting as finding clues inside a maze. However, I must concede, that there have been extremely demoralizing times. Especially because we were doing research for the first time. For example, the times you think that you have a research question but end up finding out that someone has already dealt with it. What is however reminiscent of this period are the discussions we had with my professors and other people. Getting exposed to absolutely new thoughts can be very stimulating.

Once we had the research question, then came the Rising Action. In my case, this required the divine intervention of Mausumi di (Prof. Mausumi Das, DSE). Had it not been for her, we could never have convinced Tridip da (Prof. Tridip Ray, ISI) with the research question. I had been struggling and fighting with it for almost 6 months. Every time I would have a proposal, it’d get turned down. But this was the most exciting part for me. We got into modelling, building conjectures and proving them. This is also the time when I got to work closely with my “teachers”, but now they would look unto us and listen as co-authors and not students. It’s an amazing experience. Just to know the fact that some of the things that you think are actually important and worth thinking! This was also the time when we could go for CCD trips, for tea during a full day work and talk about a lot of stuff. I am waiting to graduate to dinners soon, though.

The Turning Point for me was when I could prove, what I fondly call “my last conjecture”. (The fact that all risk averse agents prefer ICLs to bank loans, details in paper!).  So I was working on this for a while, and this would make all the other results really important. This conjecture would be the focal point of the paper. The proof then just occurred to me, in a flash and even though the proof is very simple, but just the fact I could do it by myself, without any help made me ecstatic. Months of research and hard work, all paid off. It was time for celebration.

Falling Action has to be attributed to writing of the paper but that has not happened yet. The high points of doing research according to me are that you get to learn and create something new. Something no one has ever thought of. And that feeling can be one of great excitement. Social Science research is not rocket science where you can make someone land on the moon. But to understand issues like poverty and suggest measures that can be potentially very useful is a part of a huge rocket.  This brings satisfaction. Using math tools that appear absolutely useless otherwise and suddenly becoming a magic wand is unforgettable. Our laboratory is not that glamorous. But working in a nice office with serene scenery outside, or in a coffee shop in Khan Market (yes we can afford it!) are good substitutes. Our research also uses technology beyond just typing. And like my corporate friends, who have seen the real world, we can also party.

In my case, we also built a very nice rapport and a relationship with our professors. Once Prof. Patha Sen told me that when he started as a young professor he made friends with a lot of his students and I always wondered how that would be like for his students. Coming from Stephen’s where the student-teacher divide is less than it generally is, I looked forward to it. But now I could experience it first hand. Staying in academics, I am pretty sure that these associations are meant for a very long time. With your friends, who’d in future become your colleagues. Your teachers, who’d become both your friends and colleagues.

I had read somewhere that if one is working very hard for something, one won’t enjoy the goal when one achieves it unless one enjoys the journey (with ALL the hard work). And, even though, this paper (whenever it develops into a full-fledged one) will feature in my CV forever, I think it is the process of writing it...that we'd cherish the most!

(The context is my work with Tridip da, Mausumi di and Seher. A lot of the “we”s refer to me and Seher. To Tridip da and Mausumi di, I still wonder why you took us on. Thanks a lot for introducing me to the world of research and for always keeping faith and being supportive.)

Lokpal or some mechanism design theory? Your choice.

Top politicians and so called members of “the civil society” are all enthusiastic to get the best Lokpal bill in the world. What bewilders me is the fact most of this is show off and meant to gain media mileage. I do not think that these sudden saints of India care about corruption or welfare at all. If they did, then there are probably easier mechanisms that you’ll find in any elementary economic theory text book which are easier to implement, easier to manage and more welfare improving than designing laws and getting passed. My worry is that if the society is inherently corrupt and works largely in self-interest then no law would serve the required purpose. What would work however is a mechanism which is incentive compatible and individual rational for all participants of the society. Better still, some of the leading experts in game theory and mechanism design are Indians. To a student of economics names like Dilip Abreu, Arunava Sen and Rajiv Vohra are well familiar.

Some years ago I remember two IIT-IIM graduates, working for ONGC and some government construction company in U.P. and Bihar respectively, getting killed because they had gone a little too deep into the business of the local mafia. Obviously, even the local police did not do anything because unarguably even they were involved. As far as I remember, nothing eventually happened. Even the national media have forgot about them and are spending their airtime covering the jackass, good-for-nothing Ramdev. No member of the civil society ever pursued what happened to these young kids and what they were after. And I can assure you that there would be plenty cases like these which do not even get reported and no one really cares. In such an environment then, it inherently becomes the best response of every one to play the strategy to maximize their own welfare and forget about the society. It’s like the classic co-ordination failures game!

Do we have a better solution? I believe we do. Let me give an example. Kaushik Basu says that typically we have too much of government and ideally government should be scarce. I buy his point entirely. Why do you want to do everything yourself? Delegate. The government should just create incentives so that funds get allocated in the right areas and work happens. Consider a system in which the local government or panchayat lists out the facilities that are required in its area – roads, schools, electricity, sanitation, houses anything. Let them also run a fund where anyone can contribute and would be eligible for a r% tax rebate. Let r vary according to availability of funds in schemes. So like in a stock market, some scheme that has received more funds offers a lower rebate than a scheme that has received less funds. Market would ensure that all the funds get equally allocated. Then the panchayats can develop local areas on their own. This reduces the burden on the tax authorities, budget allocators, government, and bureaucracy and gives incentive for everyone to contribute. Since the payment will be online or electronic it will be easier to monitor. Alternatively, corporate giants can take care of small villages entirely and develop them with their money. My hunch is that even if you given them an over 100% rebate it’ll be better for the government in terms of the bureaucratic inefficiencies they have to deal with. Better for the companies also. Obviously, all corruption won’t be over but it’ll be reduced and hence better.

You can also have some government servants to look over the work that the corporate sector does. Again one might expect collusive corruption but if the local authorities have an equal say in ensuring that the rebate actually happens then this would again reduce. What I just said is not foolproof but you get the point. I’m sure if people like Sen, Vohra or Basu sit and create schemes they’ll come with actual better ones. What I am saying is that you do not always need stringent laws. It’s a waste of time. If people now have means and ways to escape the present laws, they’ll surely find ways to escape the new ones later. However, what you need is to get around the “middle men” and put in place a mechanism that is incentive compatible and rational for everyone. With some leading mechanism designers from India, I do not understand why they are not engaged in policy making. For example, why weren’t Sen or Abreu contacted for designing the auction procedure for 2G or 3G spectrum.

Obviously, this is not incentive compatible for the government and the “civil society” because they are the ones who benefit the most when development of any kind happens through the government. Hence, everyone just moves towards creating newer laws and getting more media mileage.

Why Kaushik Basu started reading?

"I began reading to get the better of the nerds of my school. I was talking of the boys with thick spectacles who came first or second or third in my class in Kolkata. I was quite bad at studies even though I too wore spectacles and of a thickness to match those of the finest minds. As a consequence, there were many students ahead of me. It was to counter their showing off of world affairs, Indian history and China's top 20 communist leaders, that I started reading. Technically, I could learn these things by asking others but then those asked would know that I do not know. Reading was the only way to appear innately knowledgeable."

(Source: Prologue to An Economist's Miscellany)

Lazy Allahabad

I always thought that I was the laziest person on earth but I was proved wrong very recently. Last month I was in Allahabad to take my GRE test. Me and my uncle were putting up in this hotel in civil lines right across my test center. It was not a cheap hotel, not a costly one either. Mid-range, charging around 2000 bucks a night we thought that we would have a pleasant stay. A 2.5 grand hotel in New Delhi gives a very very nice experience and Allahabad not being a metro, we thought would be even better at that price.

Anyways, we were soon to be astonished and very disappointed. The next day my uncle ordered his breakfast at 9 and they served it around 11 with no guilt what so ever. "Itna time to lagta hi hai sahab", said the waiter and he even dared to ask for a tip. Next day I was apprehensive that they'll be late again so I ordered my breakfast at 7 as my test appointment was at 9 in the morning and I told them that I have a test. When till 7.45 no one came, I called up the reception and asked them about the meal and they said that a waiter is on the way taking the breakfast.

Finally, at 8.15 we decided to go down and see what was happening. To our horror, the manager was sitting idly and the waiters very casually said that the breakfast had not even been prepared. Amazing un-professionalism this was. Anyways they were scolded and I had to just eat cornflakes and go take my test.

Another incident that frequently would happen in the hotel was that to save electricity bill they would very easily switch off the AC despite the fact that we were paying for an AC room. And when you told them it would take them 15 mins to switch it on. This is by far the worst hotel that I ever stayed it.

After the test we decided to go for a movie as we still had time for the train and so we went to the only PVR in town thinking we'd get AC. For the entire first half, there was no AC. And it mattered to no one in the audience but us. When we told the theater staff they said, "Sahab AC kharab hai". Again, the worst PVR experience. They should have ideally told us before or refunded our ticket fees. Why should a customer be charged 200 bucks for a non-AC movie hall once you promise something.

Anyways, after all that we were slightly late and had to pick up our luggage from the hotel and then goto the station. We told the rick guy to hurry and he said "Hum tez nahi chalega!". It's the worst experience I've had in any city. People are un-imaginably laid back and carefree. How can you expect change to happen?

How big is Uttar Pradesh?

The Economist - Comparing Indian states and territories with countries : An Indian Summary.

The 100 per cent alarm - Indian Express

Sanjeev Grewal on the ever rising cut-off's

The Corrupt against Corruption!

Enigmatic drama has ensued following the supposed "illegal" eviction of Baba Ramdev on national television these days. I guess it's a no-brainier for anyone sane and non-parochial to asses that at least the leadership of the congress is on the right track. The others may be saying the ideal things but they are the ones who corrupt the ideal situation and then doing what is ideal is non-idealist.

To put things in perspective, let's start from the beginning. Was the action against Ramdev justified? I think the answer is a yes without any qualifications. I think so because of the following. That he is a thug need not be proven. The guy and his aide Balakrishnan have a lot that is hidden from the general public. But let that be hidden. Legally these guys had sought permission to do a "yoga shivir" and were instead staging a political protest. Moreover, the gathering was ten times the number that was registered with the police. Now, this kind of a behaviour is not warranted in a civil society, that too in the national capital where a lapse of law and order could do immense damage to the country.

Forget even this for a moment. They continued the protest even after telling the government that they were satisfied and will call off the protest. Now, this is trying to stab one without a fault. What is the government supposed to do?. Moreover, Ramdev to save himself, hid behind women. What sort of a man is he? Terrorists hide amongst common citizens. If he were an activist or a satyagrahi, as he claims himself to he, he would have surrendered to the police like Bhagat Singh or Gandhi and not hid behind women like a coward.

And imagine the people who were staging the protest for democracy. Sadhvi Ritambara, is one who is accused with inciting the mob during the Babri Masjid demolition. An event which is perhaps the biggest blow to the soul of Indian democracy. And the sole culprits, BJP and the RSS are talking about democracy.

Look at Ramadev more closely now. He and his aide produce un-certified and un-tested medicines for profit. Balakrishnan allegedly hold three passports. He is also a Nepali citizen. And both of them have illegally grabbed hectares of rural land for ashrams and yoga shivirs, typical of modern day sadhus and such thugs. The ED is after them and my hunch is that it is a tactical move by the congress to dig up their pasts and put them behind bars.

Who else? Sushma Swaraj. Has she forgotten the drama and ruckus that she created when Sonia Gandhi was elected to become the prime minister. Vowing to shave her head and create impediments for the leader of the majority party who holds a valid Indian citizenship is very democratic and today she talks about democracy? Such hypocritical behaviour can only come from someone like her who perhaps uses the same shampoo as Jayati Ghosh.

Mulayam Singh Yadav. How much of black money have you got stashed in the Swiss bank dude? It's hilarious. It's a drama going on there.

But overall, the prime minister is perhaps as white as his clothes. He saved the country when we were at the verge of bankruptcy and he's forcing his ministers to divulge details of their assets and divest from any benefits they have from the government. How more un-corrupt has anyone been in the recent past in the Indian politics? I guess no one. And there are people who themselves have unaccountable assets hurling everything at him in the name of corruption. What a shame! Moreover, the amount of efforts and steps taken by the present government against corruption - be it the RTI Act, the UID cards, linking them with the PDS system, putting top CEOs into jail - has been done by no government in the past. So, I guess full marks to the UPA.

Life without cricket is unthinkable: Sachin

"I still love cricket as much as ever. It is my job, but it is also my passion. Cricket remains in my heart, I don't need anything else to motivate me. I dreamed of playing for my country when I was young and it is still my dream, it is still fun for me," the 38-year-old right-hander said.
...


"I am still learning about the game. I figure out something about my batting all the time. You have to keep your mind open. I learn all the time, those small adjustments, with your footwork or bat swing can improve your game, I love doing that. You never know everything. Mentally that makes you feel so good. That is the best form of preparation," Tendulkar said.


The full article on cricbuzz.com: Click Here

The Club vs Country Debate...

Sachin Tendulkar would probably hate me for saying this but there is something which is true about Indian Cricket and is always kept behind a veil. This topic has been doing some rounds in the media recently and I think that there are some clarifications which are sought for. So, do Indian cricketers really play for India or some club? I am not talking about the situation when supposedly some players choose to play IPL and skip International tours. What I am talking about is that when you actually see them playing international matches on TV, are they playing for India or no?. Well, the answer is that in spirit, may be yes. But technically, no they are not playing for India.

Let me explain. Technically, Indian players play under a "legal contract" for a registered society called The Board of Control for Cricket in India. The BCCI, as you know it, is not a governmental or a quasi-governmental body. It is a private society registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act. And because it is an entirely private entity, it doesn't even have to show it's balance sheet to the country, it is not answerable for any of it's decisions to the people of India and hence, it also curbs the "right to free speech" of all it's contractual players.

So technically, if any other society gains enough support in the country and gets membership to the ICC, then India can have two team. A possible reason why the ICL (owned by zee telefilms) was cornered using different tactics by the BCCI was that it was cutting in on the BCCI's revenues. And the BCCI spoiled careers of many promising Indian cricketers because they played for the ICL and no one could do anything.

That pretty much explains it I guess. Hence, people like Sunny Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and others might in spirit have represented India but technically they were representing a club called BCCI. It's more of our attached emotions that lead us to say that Team India defeated Pakistan. Technically, that's not entirely true. So if this is the scenario, it's BCCI which pretty much governs on when and how to use it's contractual players to raise revenue, whether in IPL or international matches. So let's not blame Gambhir or anyone else for their injury or not playing in the West Indies. The poor chap, bound in legal contract, has to mostly follow the orders of the CEO and what is worse is that his contract even stops him from defending himself in public. And trust me, his shoulder injury, that hurts. So let's not forget that he won us the world cup final not too long ago and stop questioning his Indian-ness. What is required is to make the BCCI accountable to the people of India and make it more Indian than anyone else.

What women want?

This one is hilarious from the new movie Pyaar ka Panchnama...
P.S. I am not a misogynist ;)

foodOlogue! - The Introduction

One of the many surprising things that happened when I was at the Delhi School was my nomination into the cafeteria committee. I asked the director as to how it happened and even he did not know. So the only conclusion I could draw was the perhaps the cognizance of my love for food has spread beyond my social circle and divine interventions were happening.

My take is that, on the whole, food should be value for money. Charging too much for the ambiance doesn't impress. Radical  as my ideas are, this is another genre that I have now decided to venture into and foodOlogue is going to be my mouthpiece about how i see Food around me. In the past five years I have already got my hand and mouth onto food from various places in the city and have liked some not so famous ones and disliked some very famous ones. And now that I have relocated from the north to the south of Delhi for a year (hopefully not more!!) I shall continue my search and exploration into anything that is cognate to food! Well, mostly places that serve awesome food, from small stalls to big restaurants (not too big for lack of resources for now), and occasionally other intricate issues. Two weeks here and I have already a few places in my "to visit" list like - J&K Bhavan for their mutton, Al - Bake for shawarma and Malviya Nagar for kulfi.

So, the agenda is to write about places I have been to and about places I will go to. About experiments with food that I do - both successful and unsuccessful - because as the say "it's a learning experience". The ambition conspicuously is to leave everyone mouthwatering.

For starters, I think it is very important for explorers like me to have a handy food guide. You get to know about amazing places from people in the locality but specially when you are experimenting it's also extremely helpful to have food guide. For NCR my personal favourites are the HT food guide and zomato.com (previously foodiebay.com). 

With that I'd say - "Let the foodzing begin!".

Married on Facebook

So there is this thing that I noticed on facebook and I could be pretty late in realizing it given the time I spend on networking, nevertheless I find it both amusing and intriguing, Females particularly (and I realize that I am risking my reputation to be called a chauvinist by writing this) often change their relationship statuses from "single" to "in a relationship"/"married" to some female-friend of theirs. Now, I wonder what to conclude. In almost all cases I know "they are not in a relationship with the same gender". So, either they are "in a relationship" with a guy and this is a cover up, or they want to be "in a relationship" with a guy and this is a way of signaling that desire. Or may be, they are subtle supporters of the world wide movement for legalizing same-sex marriages.

Whatever be the case, the feminine brain is too complex for anyone to understand and facebook has given us another example why?

(This post be kindly taken in the right spirit and do not sue me in court. I just made an observation ;))

WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!

Congratulations Team India. The word "almost" is gone. Sachin has everything a cricketer can dream of.  All that was lacking came back and what a time for that!

Will India stand out?

Sachin looked impeccable yesterday all through his innings. With every bowl you could see sheer class. He looked fitter than ever and was playing shots all over the ground with exceptional ease. It was a prolific display of his armour. His trademark straight drive made us come under his awe once again as did all his other shots. Terrific cover drives, the paddle sweep and his sixes over long-on made a world class south African bowling attack look measly. His pull off styen for a six reminded us of the treatment Caddik got in the 2003 edition. When he was on the crease India even by the worst estimates was sure to cross a total of 350-370.

However, that was all that treated an Indian fan yesterday. The rest of the team did “absolutely nothing” and wasted the 99^th international century of a legend. Sehwag was too rusty and careless in shot selection when he started and that has been the case with him all through the tournament. He never looked convincing and was living a dangerous life. If the ball sticks to his bat then it’s out of your sight in a flash but you can almost never see a skilled attempt made to make that contact. He throws his bat almost at everything, sometimes in luck and at others with out it and the proportion decides his runs.

Gambhir was slogging too. Something you will not want to see from a batsman at the international level. He was struggling and I think has struggled all through the tournament (even against the Neds) and batting for him has not been easy. This has meant that all the pressure is always on Sachin, to score the total and also keep the run rate going. In the process, one does get out and when Sachin did, India collapsed like a pack of cards. Nine wickets fell within 29 runs and Team India got out scoring 296. When the master left, India had more than 10 overs to go and 8 wickets in hand. Clearly we were 70-80 runs short even by the worst standards. Any other team would have easily put up at least a 100 runs after the start Sachin gave us.

The only other man who was supportive was MSD and he has been all through. But again he could just see people come and go. As he said in the press conference “some played for the crowd not for the country”, it is a pity that Sachin has to play in such a team. With this attitude and discipline, team India would be out in the first knock-out match they play. After all they have not won against a single “better” team in this tournament. Even the Bongs could defeat the English.

And I see no commitment to the fact that this team wanted to win this cup for Sachin. Let alone that, they cannot even give him enough support in his effort to win the cup for his country. His country for which he has lived for and loves eternally. It shall be a pity that even with talent India will not be able to win the cup. The world cup will probably be the only thing that will always elude SRT, something that he deserves more than anyone else. And perhaps, as always the Indian cricket fan will have to find solace in just the art that is on display but the art shall never fetch it’s true price.

The Battle of Centurion

Pakistan march to 273, and most experts think this is too much of a mountain to climb. "Too many," Rajbhai says mournfully. One guest, completely distraught, wants to take an early flight back to India because he does not want to witness another defeat. Someone else, more militant, suggests the team should be thrown off Vijay Mallya's jet without parachutes. Mallya, dressed in white linen, diamond studs in one year, mobile phones in both hands, refrains from expressing an opinion.

After lunch comes dessert: Sachin Tendulkar, launching an innings like a batsman at nets after the coach has announced "last round". Ordinary batsmen may play each ball on merit but Tendulkar plays according to his will. We are all stunned by the ferocity and the audacity of his strokeplay. Here is a master on top of his game, ill-treating the world's bowlers. It is edge-of-the-seat, riveting stuff.

The full article on cricinfo : The battle of Centurion

Time to reconsider jury trials in India?

Jury trials were abolished in India after 1960 on the grounds that they were susceptible to media and public influence.This decision was based on an 8:1 acquittal of Kawas Nanavati in K. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra, which was overturned by higher courts, on the grounds that the jury was misled by the presiding judge.

However, if we consider things over time then it won't be completely wrong to say that the courts in the present system have messed up completely in some cases and wasted lives of many innocent individuals. And it is not only the lower courts, even the High Courts have passed judgments which are grossly un-constitutional. Take Dr. Binayak Sen's case for example. The evidence against him for having helped the naxals is based on a confession by Piyush Guha that he had carried out two letters from the naxalite leader Narayan Sanyal, whom he met in jail in his capacity as a doctor and a human rights activist. What is absurd is the fact that as per Indian law, confession cannot be admitted as evidence in court. This besides the fact that the jailors who were produced in court said that Sen's meeting with Sanyal were monitored so he could not have carried out those letters and also that the letters produced in court contained nothing of a seditious nature. There are multiple irregularities in the case that suggest that either the judge lacks a proper understanding of the law or is a fascist.

Dr. Sen is fortunate to have so much support nationally and internationally and the case being in the media all the time, it is very likely that he'll get acquittal soon in the Supreme Court. However, in many cases like that of Jessica Lall, people are not so fortunate. The Babri Masjid case for example, should have been an open and shut case. The verdict however, seems to be clearly bent by the religious affiliations of the judges.

Consider the maoist problem. Who are they? Why have they resorted to violence? There is a vast literature in the public domain now on this. Very crudely these are tribal people who used to live off their land. The state took away their land by brute force to sell them to big companies for mining etc. In the process of grabbing land, the state's forces tortured them, raped their women and carried out several other atrocities on these people. As a result, these people had no other option but to revolt by force. Now, we sit in court rooms and call them terrorists. And anyone who works for their human rights is charged with sedition like Dr. Binayak Sen or Arundhati Roy.

If we let justice and democracy this course then in is only a matter of time that India would be engulfed by civil war. Issues in Kashmir, the north-east and the naxal discontent are an indication of an unstable society. The systematic exploitation of the poor, politically weak, and the backward sections of the society by the politically powerful and the capitalists is very likely to culminate in the break down of the civil society very soon.

In such a scenario, I think that it is a very good idea to reconsider jury trials in India. The common sense of the common man is no less and no more than that of any qualified judge. The benefit is that the judgments would reflect what the society as a whole thinks about any case. We'll have a a lower probability of gross errors like that in Dr. Sen's case happening. The maoist problem then will be looked not in a manner in which the state projects it but what the people at large think about it. A diverse jury will give us new perspective.

I am not saying that jury trials have no downsides but it is definitely worth giving some thought and incorporating some features of it into our legal system, albeit a little carefully.

How much did 2G cost us, anyway?

How much did 2G cost us, anyway?

An insightful piece by Sanjeev Grewal, the one who taught me and inspired the surge...

Sachin will play in the latest edition of the Cricket World Cup

Sachin’s hamstring gives nation bouts of anxiety - Hindustan Times