Thanks to “namesake of the model”

www.lewrockwell.com

Tim Swanson writes in the lewrockwell.com 

• “It should be noted that there is nothing inherently wrong with attempting to mathematically model human behavior. However, what they and others like Prasanta Mahalanobis (namesake of the model) attempted to do was quantify human action using inherently incomplete equations — using false assumptions to fill in for a continually changing series of individual preferences (or in their case, risks/demand). 
  
• everything that policy makers – at every level – are doing is more of the same foolhardy economic planning that leads to lower productivity and more financial strain. But, before lamenting the details of any recent political escapades, another aspect should be brought into the fold.”
  

Was he a visionary politician?

Image: Narayana Murthy with his just released book. | Photograph: Rajesh Karkera

In a interview with Rediff Mr Nagavara Ramarao Narayana Murthy, chief mentor of Infosys Technologies says: 

Which politician has influenced you the most? 

Jawaharlal Nehru. See, first of all Mahatma Gandhi... but he was not a politician, so we should not even bring him into the conversation. 

But Jawaharlal Nehru was a visionary politician. He achieved so much in the first 12 years since the birth of the Republic of India. We built five steel plants, we built Bhakra Nangal dam, we built Damodar Valley Corporation, we had atomic energy establishment, Indian Institutes of Technology...you name it, Nehru did it. 

He demonstrated that we in India can bring about extraordinary progress even through public sector, but what has happened is that after him successive governments somehow have condoned corruption, have condoned inefficiency, and have lost sight of focus of excellence in implementation. 

That's the reason why you see delays in almost all projects. It's got nothing to do with people, with the country. 

It's got everything to do with the leaders or the quality and vision of leaders in the country. 

Much of the party is still nostalgic for the Nehruvian socialism that for so long impeded India’s growth

The Economist has Leaders article on Indian general election, it has taken its position by saying (seems to be) in one line that ‘India is in Great Socialist Darkness for long time’. Some excerpts:

• “India’s general election got under way... It will be spread over five stages, taking four weeks and involving 6.5m staff. In 543 constituencies, 4,617 candidates, representing some 300 parties, will compete for the ballots of an electorate of 714m eligible voters. In 828,804 polling stations, 1,368,430 simple, robust and apparently tamper-proof electronic voting machines will be deployed. It is hard not to be impressed by the process—and its resilience. 
  
• A poor, diverse country of more than 30 main languages and six main religions, India also has, in the Hindu caste system, a tradition of hierarchy seemingly at odds with a system of universal suffrage. The country suffers security threats that would provide many a government with the excuse to suspend elections. Kashmir has been riven by insurgency for more than two decades; parts of the north-east for even longer. Maoist revolutionaries-cum-bandits stoke another fire in India’s interior and staged attacks as polling began this week. Yet, apart from the brief months of the “emergency” in 1975, India has never curtailed its people’s right to choose their rulers. And now, more than ever, that right is to be prized. 
  
• The election comes amid the deepest global economic slump for two generations. India faces difficult choices as it seeks to escape the worst of the downturn. 
  
• Yet Mr Singh’s government has made scant progress towards one of the main goals it set itself in 2004. This was to reform India’s creaking, corrupt administrative structures so that policies formulated in Delhi might actually be implemented in the villages where most Indians still live. Partly because of that failure, and despite sharp falls in the poverty rate, appalling numbers of Indians are still desperately poor. One-quarter of the world’s malnourished live in India, among them 40% of all Indian children under five. To Mr Singh’s credit, it is the plight of the poorest, not India’s GDP growth-figures, that is usually the starting-point for his policy speeches. This is also shrewd: the poor do not care about his achievements as a diplomat and globaliser, which scarcely impinge on their lives. 
  
• As in other countries, elections in India tend not to be dominated by grand national issues. And, as elsewhere, an Indian election may look splendid from a distance, but up close can be ugly. Campaigns are dominated by personalities, money and, in some places, intimidation. Many candidates seek votes through beggar-thy-neighbour appeals to the self-interest of a particular linguistic, caste or religious group. 
  
• Even in such an unpredictable contest, two outcomes are sadly fairly safe bets. First, parliament will have to make room for a lot of shady characters. Nearly a quarter of the current members have faced criminal charges. Nor are their alleged offences all petty. They include murder, rapes and kidnaps. 
  
• Much of the party is still nostalgic for the Nehruvian socialism that for so long impeded India’s growth. 
  
• In power, the BJP also had a creditable record of economic management. But it has not escaped its origins as the political wing of the Hindutva, or “Hindu-ness” movement. 
  
• For this reason, The Economist, if it had a vote, would plump for Mr Singh’s Congress. But in reality, the choice between the two big parties is not the one on offer. In India the poor, proportionately, are more likely to vote than are the middle classes. It often makes sense for them to back regional parties campaigning on local issues: they are more likely to fulfil their promises. But it does make for hopelessly unwieldy governing coalitions. One solution would be to introduce national thresholds below which parties would be ineligible for seats in parliament. But reform would need the approval of those elected under present arrangements, so it is not on the cards.”
  

India is new to IT and urbanism… but still lingering with the Great Indian Socialist Darkness….

In a interview with the ET Mr N R Narayana Murthy says some interesting discussion especially about Nehru. Some excerpts:   

• “we have been unable to redeem the pledge that our founding fathers took when India got independence. That is to provide decent access to education, nutrition, healthcare and welfare to the poorest of the poor. India has the largest mass of illiterates in the world, largest mass of poor people in the world, 250 million people don't have access to safe drinking water, 650 million people do not have access to decent sanitation. So this whole paradigm of 8-9% GDP growth becomes somewhat irrelevant when you look at these aspects. 
  
• ..a country like India we need to solve three pieces of development -- first is creating a public opinion that values good work ethic, honesty, discipline, secularism. Second, we need to develop a cadre of leadership who espouse these values and serve as role models and demonstrate leadership by example. Third, we need the determination of the elite and the powerful in the society to eschew creation of asymmetry of benefits in their favour vis-à-vis the common man. Only when these three conditions are fulfilled will we be able to create a fair, just, equitable and inclusive growth in our society. In essence this is the fundamental thesis on which the book is based.  
  
• I don't think that there is any shortage of good quality people. The important thing is for our political parties to provide opportunities to the young. For instance just as in Infosys I voluntarily gave up the MD position when I was 52 and later the CEO position at 56 years and supported those youngsters who came to those position. I believe it's important that politicians give new opportunity to younger people.  
  
• Can you tell us about some of the lectures in the book? 
• They all address different, crucial aspects of our progress. For example, Address to Students and Values (parts 1 &2) I believe are extremely important. There is a lecture about `What Can We Learn from the West' delivered as the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Lecture which touches upon how we can make our already wonderful value system even stronger. Then there is the Darbari Seth Memorial Lecture `In Praise of Secularism' which is very important at this hour of extraordinary progress we are making.  

I read with interest particularly the `What Can We Learn from the West' and `In Praise of Secularism' the latter one is not just eye opening but seems to be miracle of war with word like minority. I was happened to receive the last copy of Darbari Seth Memorial Lecture `In Praise of Secularism' published by TERI. 

• “We have to ensure that there is a spirit of oneness in our country rather than differentiating ourselves. We have to summon the energy, enthusiasm, hope and confidence of every community in India to make this a better country and that's where secularism is very important. There is a lecture on the Role of Discipline in Accelerating National Development which emphasizes that unless we embrace discipline in every aspect of our live we will not be able to bring fast and equitable growth.  
  
• The way our politics is going these days regional issues are more important, regional parties are taking centre stage... 
• That's because the quality of our political leaders is going down. Remember when Jawaharlal Nehru was the PM between 1950 and 1962 this country achieved extraordinary growth. Five steel plants were completed, Bhaba Atomic Energy Research Centre was established Tata Institute of Fundamental research became strong, Bhakra Nangal dam came up, IITs, AIIMS, you name it all of that happened in 12 years post independence. You tell me of any other 12 year period where we made such growth in government. 
• If you have a great leader of the caliber of Nehru even India with all its problems even after independence, with all its lack of resources can make extraordinary progress. Establishing five steel plants is not easy but the man did it. Establishing a centre for atomic energy research is not easy, he did. Getting 400 plus Phds from around the world to IIT Kanpur was not easy, he did it. All of this happened because of the vision of one man. 
• In fact in 1967 many of my professors at IIT Kanpur said they all came back to India because of the vision and the enthusiasm of Nehru. Today these institutes are not able to attract five such faculties per year but that man attracted 400 such people at just one institute. What does it tell you? It tells you if you have great leaders you can achieve what seems impossible. I am absolutely convinced, as I have written in the book, three fundamental pieces of development -- values practiced by people, leaders who serve as a role models and the elite and the powerful who will eschew any asymmetry of benefits. These three pieces of development puzzle are absolutely necessary if India has to make decent, equitable, just fair, growth. 
  
• ………….unfortunately as Franz Fanon has said in his book *Black Skin, White Mask*, the tragedy of most post colonial societies is that the elite and the powerful continue to operate as colonizers, operate under a different set of rules. The civil society has to stand up and change this.” 
  

Light Glass lover

Reshmi R Dasgupta writes some of wine economics but old socialist and dogmatic wine:

 “glass of red wine and once in a blue moon some really light beer, which my father routinely dismissed as 'horse piss'! But coming back to that prescient minister of yesteryear, after clearly enjoying every sip of champagne, the same gentleman also revealed that he had tried to convince Nehru to plant wine grapes in suitable places around India but "Jawahar simply refused". Imagine, had the minister prevailed, we would have had a more-than-50 year old wine industry in India and could have probably rivalled Australia and South Africa in the 'New World' genre!” 

Jawaharlal Nehru and the Mountbattens, of course Edwina!

K. Natwar Singh writes in The Hindu “I once asked Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Nehru’s sister, if the rumours about her brother having an affair with Edwina Mountbatten were true. She was herself a diva and uninhibited in her conversation. She said to me: “Of course he did. And good for him.””

SO it means Nehru enjoyed Edwina!  

Is there anyone…….?

What is true even today is the fact that “The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere”

What is there good to see in India is the only thing is that it has great history and of course (few not so) great institutions which helped to transform the country but yet to reach its independence objectives.

I mean the speech (All-India Radio, 30 January 1948) “The light has gone out of our lives” by Jawaharlal Nehru and on the death of great leader “Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi”.

Yes too the light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere but also a deep sleep for many more years to come………………but I hope not to come.