Category: Links

Let’s start this week with a great article in the Economist about America’s shutdown, and how that’s no way to run a country. Washington Post on how Australia once had a shutdown similar to the US, and the surprising consequences of that.

Abheek Barua has a highly instructive, if somewhat technical op-ed on India’s monetary policy, and what Dr. Rajan has been doing and needs to watch out for.

John Elliott has an excellent blog post on Rahul Gandhi’s outburst, Laloo’s jailing and what opportunities this could potentially open up for Rahul Gandhi, and what he needs to do to build on this.

The Aam Aadmi Party doesn’t quite have the momentum it once had, but good people are working on the ground to achieve results in the Delhi assembly elections, and I hope something good comes out of it. BS on how AAP breaks the hitherto set election mold.

Maharashtra is planning to start another city 80 kms from Mumbai, and I know it can be easy to discouraged about any new project like this but if and when this were to come into fruition, it will be a great thing.

Finally, the question that has been on your mind all week long, why do these lizards have green blood? 

Let’s start this week with a piece that Dr. Bibek Debroy wrote about the way out for the Indian economy. Dr. Debroy points out that the fiscal deficit is the symptom, not the disease, and goes on to list ways to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. You must have seen the steps he’s advocating earlier as well, but it was good to see them at one place, and I liked the piece.

BusinessWeek has a good article on the toilet shortage in India.

Groupon India had a deal on onions and the demand was such that their website crashed.

Voyager has entered interstellar space. A great article on what this means, and if you can comprehend it — how far it is.

These pictures of ballet dancers in random situations are really amazing and very beautifully taken.

I quite enjoyed this unofficial Goldman Sachs guide to being a man.

Finally, Kirti from BeMoneyAware interviewed me last week, and asked me questions about some questions about my blogging journey, and if you’re interested in my thoughts on the subject, the interview can be found here. 

Enjoy your weekend!

Let’s start with a great post that Deepak Shenoy wrote titled 6 myths about the Food Security Bill. This is a very well written post that is easy to comprehend and I agree with all that he says here and hope that people don’t have the misconceptions he talks about.

Next, JagoInvestor talks about a good concept that they have named ‘Threshold Limit‘ and I think this idea is well worth your consideration.

Hemant has a great post about how much a financial planner should charge. 

I was quite moved to see this slideshow titled “Documenting Elephants’ Compassion, and Their Slaughter” in the NYT.

Good advice about succeeding in the business world.

This is an interesting concept and I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I overheard someone talking about it but otherwise I don’t think I would have ever heard of such a thing. An elderly lady was talking about the beauty and grace of graves and was saying how peaceful they can be. I had never thought of it like that, but I’d like to hear if someone else had. Here are Top 10 Fascinating Graves in Père Lachaise.

Finally, Economist on Atheism in India. 

Enjoy your weekend!

It is amazing to think that children could write to Einstein and receive a thoughtful response. I really loved this letter about whether scientists pray or not. 

This was a painful editorial to read, but how very true, if there was one project that showed why you shouldn’t invest in India, it was this.

Livemint has an excellent piece on Dr. Ambedkar, the economist and his views on the Rupee.

Thoughts from various industry leaders on the current state of the Indian economy.

Nokia tells the Indian government how it is the least favorable place to invest.

I was amazed to learn that honey preserved over 10,000 years ago survived intact.  

Very funny, and quite true.

Enjoy your weekend!

Let’s start with a great article that Mike Bloomberg wrote about being a successful entrepreneur. I believe the article is great not just for entrepreneurs but for anyone who wants to have a successful career.

Next up, a good article on Forbes about how Indians are becoming increasingly intolerant.

Business Standard had an excellent editorial on the panic that RBI is creating. The market tanked badly just after the most recent steps were announced by RBI, and that shows how real these fears are.

This is an article about an amazing letter that Warren Buffett wrote in 1975 correctly predicting the pension woes that companies will have decades from when he wrote it. It never ceases to amaze me how prescient he is and how he simplifies even the most difficult things.

A great history of the Indian Rupee in the Indian Express.

A good article discussing a political agenda that could actually be of great help to the ailing Indian economy.

Have you heard about olinguito yet?

Finally, a word about the market carnage that took place today. Very often, the reaction to this kind of action is what do we do now? And more often than not the answer is – don’t do anything. I bought stocks last week, and will continue to buy them if the market slides, selling in panic is the worst thing to do, and if you haven’t invested in penny stocks or shady companies, then you don’t need to act in a knee jerk manner because of today’s fall.

Let’s start this week with a great column that appeared in Business Standard about FCI’s dominance in food procurement and the absolute waste and corruption that is caused by it. Did you know that the highest paid loader gets Rs. 2.25 lakhs per month for simply loading grains in a truck?

Ajah Shah has a greet column in Economic Times on how the attack on the market for rupee is a mistake.

Another great column in Business Standard on Wrongs of Rights. An excerpt that I really liked:

Rights matter only if they can be enforced. And who will enforce them? A public administration that has been severely undermined by the very political forces that self-righteously pass these laws? Or the courts – an institution that is currently burdened with approximately 30 million cases and in whose portals the average life of a lawsuit exceeds 10 years? Were this to only imply a mockery of the concept of rights, that would be bad enough. But it has far more pernicious institutional effects.

Freakonomics on how the Japanese are trying palm surgery to alter their fortunes. 

A very interesting article on The Curious Case of Déjà Vu.

National Geographic on how decapitated worms regrow their heads and their memories.

A very useful comparison on how various sugar substitutes stack.  

Enjoy your weekend!

Governance and politics is on my mind this week and you will notice that in this week’s links.

Let’s start the week with one that summarizes all that the UPA government has done wrong in this term.

Whenever you hear from the supporters of schemes like MNREGA or Food Security Bill they talk about the need to support the poor but why does it all have to translate to handouts? Good article on the subject: Why does all charity translate to handouts?

FT on how Freedom and Democracy can become enemies.  This article takes the Egyptian example and doesn’t touch upon India but I am sure a lot of us feel the same way about India as well. How represented does an average middle class person feel? Very close to zero I would imagine.

 

Another excellent piece in the FT – this time on China: Why China will not buy the world?

Now a change in subject – I thought this article that tells you how to compare two Word documents without having to install any software was really good. I wasn’t aware of this feature until recently but it has been around for quite a while now.

Didn’t you always want to know this? Why do mosquitoes bite some people more other than other?

Finally, a really amazing underground bicycle parking that you should definitely watch.

Enjoy your weekend!

Sadanand Dhume writes about all that is wrong with the Food Security Bill. I think it’s worrisome that this was pushed through, and it looks like some form of it will become law and there will be a very heavy price to pay for it.

A rare positive article about the Indian economy, with all that is wrong, it becomes easy to lose sight of what’s improving. The Economist on the stabilizing Indian economy. 

Another positive article about Odisha government acquiring land for Posco’s steel mining project.

I was quite surprised to hear that a Bitcoin based ETF might be launched in the US – Felix Salmon has a great article on the Bitcoin ETF and why it will never become an actual product.

This is related to a post I did earlier this week, and Sethu posted the link to this article: Moneylife helps a reader get back Rs. 60,000 in what seems very similar to what Mihir was describing.

Very interesting article on why we yawn and why it is contagious.

Finally, some light humor – financial planner advises shorter life span to make the best use of client’s portfolio.

The best thing I’ve read this week is this column by Jason Zweig on Saving investors from themselves. He talks about how the financial press is at odds with what is really useful for investors, and I think this is something that all of us should read a few times and remember it well.

HBR on How money actually buys happiness? Good article with an interesting angle that I’m sure a lot of you are already aware of.

This is one of those questions that when you find out the answer to you wonder why you didn’t think of it yourself.  Why don’t planes fly in a straight line?

Do you know why do we yawn and why is it contagious?

Amazing article about about horse DNA that is 700,000 years old recovered in Canada

A little lighter topic – World’s fastest boat

I really loved this article about Darwin on why language exists?

Enjoy your weekend!

There is a lot of interest in learning about filing taxes online, and very little good information available online. Bemoneyaware has done a couple of posts dealing with this subject and I think it is a good reference for anyone who needs to do this.

Here are the links to the two posts:

Fill Excel ITR form : Personal Information,Filing Status 

Fill Excel ITR1 Form : Income, TDS, Advance Tax