Category: Links

Let’s start this week with an excellent post by John Elliott on how the last elections should have been the end of Rahul Gandhi’s political career but they probably won’t. This is a great post because of the details it gets into about what Rahul Gandhi has been up to in the last few years, and also the rationale behind recent choices by the Congress party.

The Indian Express on the need to fix the energy policy in order to fuel growth. 

Politico magazine on how big money influences and to a large extent determines election results in the US. 

I was fascinated to discover how Google calculates traffic for Google Maps.

 Leo Tolstoy on finding meaning in a meaningless world. 

Very touching story about a whale who tried to communicate with humans.

Finally, a great way to end this post is through this article that shows shows pictures of 40 dogs of war working in Afghanistan. 

Let’s start this week with a touching story about a beluga whale who mimicked human language, and possibly tried to communicate with humans. This story reminded of the documentary “Blackfish” which is a very touching story about a killer whale in captivity, and if you get a chance to watch it, I highly recommend that you do.

An interesting op-ed in The Hindu about the declining power of the Pakistan Army. 

India’s CAD (Current Account Deficit) is down a lot this year, and while this is great relief, it is probably only temporary, BL  has a nice brief editorial on some permanent solutions. 

Obesity is rising in China, and in fact, India isn’t doing that great either.

Goldman Sachs predicts the world cup winner.

An immensely useful guide on free things on the internet that everyone should take advantage of.

Finally, did you hear that Google is developing a self driving car from the scratch? 

Enjoy your weekend!

Let’s start this week with The Economist which wishes Mr. Modi well, and highlights what can go wrong, and also what he needs to do to get things right.

Next, an interesting article from Al Jazeera which talks about what a Modi win means for Nepal. I don’t think I’ve heard that angle being discussed anywhere else yet.

This is a great, longish essay that I read this week about what happens to Asian American super achievers in the US. It’s a lengthy read but a lot of it will resonate with Indians living in the US as well, and is well worth the time spent.

A good piece on Sandeep Sabharwal who built a Rs. 1,100 crore commodity business.

Another good piece on the revamped Nano. 

I’m not sure if IPAs (India Pale Ales) are as popular in India as they are elsewhere, but I certainly enjoy one every now and then and here’s a good piece on them. 

Finally, do you know why shoelaces untie themselves while headphones get themselves into knots?

 

How can you start with anything other than the big news this week, and like most of you, I have gone through several stories about the election, and for this post I finally settled on selecting three links that I thought were insightful and covered a broad array of subjects related to the Modi win.

First, Dr. Bibek Debroy’s post about what Narendra Modi’s massive victory means to us. It is balanced and insightful, and I hope it will add to what you have already read about this subject.

John Elliott touches writes about a few important subjects related to the new administration like foreign policy, cabinet ministers and of course the usual caveat about the possible downsides of a Modi led government.

The ET tells us how the new government can transform the economy in six months.

On to some other topics now.

Fascinating story about toilet malls in Nairobi. 

8 things you didn’t know you could do with Google Drive. 

A useful list of 30 incorrectly used words.

Finally, I really enjoyed browsing through this article of 13 places to visit in India.

Enjoy your weekend!

One of the most interesting (or scary?) stories I read this week was about research that showed that infusing young blood in old mice reversed the ageing process. There is a protein called Creb that reverses the ageing process in mice, and a separate study showed that infusion of a single blood protein called GDF-11 also reverses the ageing process in mice. Interestingly enough, this protein is also present in the bloodstream of humans, and I won’t be surprised if we are able to reverse ageing at least to some extent in the next decade or so.

I found George Sauders’s advice to graduates quite touching. 

The Alibaba IPO was all the rage this week, and the story of its founder is quite fascinating.

I was amazed to learn that a Japanese businessman will make $58 billion on the Alibaba IPO.

An interesting and somewhat sad story about how Sarvana Bhavan’s founder may have gotten away with murder.  

How China is using monkeys to protect their airbases.

Finally, a look at the crisis Thailand faces. 

Enjoy your weekend!

I was sad to read Manish Chauhan post the experience of a retail investor defrauded by his insurance agent because this is fairly typical behavior and there are a lot of examples like this in the Indian markets. In general it is a good idea to post a comment on any one of the several good financial blogs inquiring about a financial product before you buy it, and chances are you would be saved a lot of hardship later on.

Monika Halan writes about how the average retail investor can’t buy financial products without advice. I would just add that the advice doesn’t need to be paid advice, you can take advantage of forums and comments on any blog before jumping into a decision.

Sandipan Deb on why Narendra Modi won’t build the ram mandir. 

Australia increases the retirement age to 70.

Nilanjana Roy on India’s cruel election season.

Interesting article on the challenges that  Twitter faces.

Finally, I was shocked to learn that the deadliest creature on earth is the mosquito! Check out this very interesting infographic that Bill Gates posted.

Regular readers know my fascination with 3D printing, so you can guess how amazed and fascinated I was when I read that a Chinese company has actually 3D printed a house!

It is quite incredible, and my first reaction was skepticism, however they really have printed a house, well, almost. The house needed assembly, but I wouldn’t say it is wildly inaccurate to say that this is the first 3D printed house. Article here.  

Equally interesting was this article that explains a little bit about why we feel good after a workout. The answer was really quite surprising.

MIT has come up with a great instrument (not yet fully built) that lets the blind “read” text.

The high speed trains are coming, well maybe not.

Everyone who owns a LIC policy will be glad to hear that they made Rs. 10,000 crores in the recent rally. 

I think everyone understands the answer to this intuitively but I must urge you to read and reflect on this article and then think about your spending habits. How long does it take to save a month’s expenses? 

Finally, you know you need water, but do you know why?

Arun Shourie’s interviews are always a pleasure to read, I have very high regard for him, and quite enjoyed reading this interview he gave to Shekhar Gupta.

Arvind Kejriwal also gave an interview this week, and if you haven’t read it already, you can find it here.

New York Times has a nice article on an Alaskan earthquake in 1964 which contributed a lot to our understanding of earthquakes.

The Economist explains why India is good at conducting elections. 

John Elliott on Rahul Gandhi’s unpredictable beard. 

Amazon actually pays its employees money to quit. 

Cutest thing on the internets.

Enjoy your Sunday!

If I know my readers well, and I think I do, then I’m glad to report I have chanced upon the answer to the question you were wondering about all these years.

Yes, you will now know why zebras have stripes (or learn a theory about it anyway).

Obviously no discussion on zebras should go without an equally intriguing discussion about goosebumps, and more specifically, why we get them.

Which takes me to the topic of worrying, and living. 

I think I will have this printed and posted above my computer screen: Einstein on why we are alive?

The Economist, on Narendra Modi.

I just remembered that this is a personal finance blog so here you go – a good post about investing mistakes.

Finally, can someone explain to me why there is so much month left at the end of the…? 

Enjoy your weekend!

Quick weekend post because I’m running short of time, here are the 7 best posts I read during the week:

Economist on the rise of the robots

WSJ has an interesting story on how Facebook is trying to beam the internet to remote places. 

Very interesting story about an incredibly successful venture capital firm. 

Baseline Scenario has a great post on Economics and a new book on the subject.

Some excellent advice on how to criticize with kindness.

VC Fred Wilson explains why technology companies are spending billions on acquisition. 

Amazing TED video of Larry Page talking about the future of Google and the future in general.