Socialism - the cause of the Greek economic melt-down?

murali772 - 4-JUL-2015

The following write-up (with emphasis added by me by highlighting where I felt it appropriate) on the subject reached me through a whatsapp group, yesterday, along-with a question as to whether I was the author, knowing me to be talking a similar language all along:

Relevance of Dr Vivek Murthy's appointment as US Surgeon General, for the democratic world

murali772 - 17-MAR-2014

The bane of Capitalism is the power of business lobbies to affect governance in a way that it suits their vested interests, even if it is at colossal costs to public interest.

Book Release "Wisdom of ants A Short History of Economics"

psaram42 - 11-NOV-2012

Speaker :- Shankar Jaganathan

                    author of  "Corporate Disclosures: The Origin of Financial and Business Reporting"

Coalgate: the cost of ideology

murali772 - 2-APR-2012

The Left Front has always opposed amendment of the Coal Mines Nationalisation Act, 1973, that banned private coal mining, save for captive purposes. UPA-1 wanted to amend this Act in 2004 to allow private mining-after which truly competitive auctions would have become feasible. But the LF prevented any amendment.

Illiberal India

murali772 - 14-NOV-2011

Elite journals like Economic and Political Weekly are full of articles describing Indian economic policy as neo-liberal. This might lead readers to think that India has become a haven of economic freedom, a business paradise. Anybody who has actually tried to start and run a business will tell you this is a pack of lies, but the fiction continues unabated.  

Corporate Social Irresponsibility

murali772 - 28-JUL-2010

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has long been a hot topic globally. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has lectured companies on it. Some corporations have won acclaim and awards for CSR. Two of them were BP, the oil giant, and Goldman Sachs, the big investment bank. Every year, the World Economic Forum lists the "Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations". BP has made the list many times. So has Goldman Sachs, for its work on climate change and carbon trading.

Future of Capitalism

murali772 - 7-MAY-2010

''The public trust in business and its leaders has never been lower. To restore trust, it is time for business leaders to embrace their own version of the doctor’s Hippocratic Oath, which shapes a common understanding of the role of business in society and the conduct expected of business leaders,'' wrote Nitin Nohria ( who has been named to take over as the Dean of the prestigious Harvard Business School) recently after critiquing the failure of leadership in the recent economic and corporate turmoil.

''Developing, adopting, and institutionalizing such an oath is not going to be easy. But there is no better or more important moment to try—because at stake is the very legitimacy of business leaders and the future of capitalism,'' he warned. His passion for the idea led to HBS students adopting a voluntary MBA oath.

For the full report in the TOI, click here

Government medical colleges hood-winking MCI

murali772 - 1-MAY-2010

If private medical colleges hire house surgeons to hoodwink Medical Council of India inspectors, it’s malpractice. But what if the government itself pushes through ‘standby transfers’ during MCI inspections and submits a report that new government medical colleges meet the governing body’s guidelines?
    
Medical education minister Ramachandra Gowda first termed this a ‘sensitive issue’ but then said the government was trying to save students who had got admission. Later, he insisted he didn’t want to comment on the issue.
    
The fact is the government issued 15 transfer orders of senior residents, lecturers, assistant professors and professors between January 16 and March 6 this year. In each transfer order, seven to nine faculty members were transferred from established medical institutions like Bangalore Medical College and KIMS, Hubli to new colleges in Hassan, Mandya, Shimoga and other places.
    

"Water and a City" - discussions following the screening

murali772 - 26-APR-2010

The movie brought out the scenario fairly well, but which most on Praja are quite aware of.

During the discussions that followed, I brought up the matter of the reported 40% odd losses, largely on account of the inefficiencies/ mismanagement in distribution (compared to less than 10% in an efficient system), and followed it up with a suggestion "if the kind of contract entered into between Mysore City Corporation and JUSCO, was not the way to address the issue?".

Prof Mohan Kumar (Civil Engg Dept, IISc) responded saying a study/ survey had been conducted by L&T and Anglian Waters (or, one of the other foreign players - I am not quite sure which) a few years back covering some parts of Bangalore (I thought I heard the name Fraser Town mentioned) at a cost of Rs 32 crores - did he mention World Bank funded?. He did not mention if any work was actually undertaken. But, went on to add that it raised all kinds of technical issues, like "how do you replace the pipes in an area like Avenue road, etc?"

Raison d'être for continuance of the Public Sector

murali772 - 24-APR-2010

Is this why they won’t disinvest Air India, kept afloat at massive expense to the taxpayer? In a violation of DGCA rules, an AI aircraft was pulled out of a scheduled flight from Delhi to Coimbatore in order to ferry IPL players, apparently at the behest of aviation minister Praful Patel’s daughter Poorna. It appears the public sector airline fulfils the private and nepotistic purposes of public servants.

For the full report in the TOI, click here.

Isn't this also why the government persists with BMTC/ KSRTC (check this), BESCOM, etc, so that they can further the interests of the Poorna Patels of this world? - all in the name of Socialism; the tax payer be damned.

Muralidhar Rao