Affirmative action: Do we need a new scissors? Recent agitation by the young leaders of one of the most affluent communities in Gujarat has revived the debate about affirmative action and the need for sharpening our tools. To cut this problem differently, maybe we need a new scissors of different criteria and…
The increasing role of social media, alternative online news channels and individual blogs in shaping public opinion has generated new paradoxical challenges before institution builders. Younger generation is all the more impatient with in-depth analysis. The twitter generation is making new demands on the process of institution building. In any society, the existing…
Twenty-five years of web and the Honey Bee Network: The cross-cultural exchange of knowledge before the invention of world wide web by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989 took place slowly but perhaps more attentively. The surfing culture of television channels and social media had not emerged. The learners not only read books but also wrote letters,…
Will new budget support creative communities and young inventors? The entrepreneurship and people’s knowledge are two themes, which recur repeatedly in the manifesto of the ruling party. And yet, there has not been any declaration in this regard so far. May be, a considered view is being taken to tap the enormous creative and innovative…
MOM to Mars: will mangalayan make life of ‘mangli’ girl better? The entire country celebrated the unique achievement of Indian space scientists when in the first attempt, the Mangalayan reached the orbit of Mars. Naturally, the celebration was much deserved. However, every time our public sector scientists achieve extraordinary results without any extra bonus, monetary…
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: building upon past mistakes An extremely appreciable focus on providing toilet in every school can be a game changing intervention for improving public sanitation and in directly for educational enrolment and retention, particularly of girls. I also admire the impatience with which central government has started action already through MHRD. However, it…
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=648945252 just returned from china, met some very interesting example of partnership between informal sector grassroots innovator like liu (who failed three times in scaling up his innovations, or maturing them) and then got in touch through local adminstration with Zhu, an entrepreneur. Now this briquette stove will be scaled…
BRICS by brick: An emerging new pole in the world Recent agreement, among BRICS nations [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] to develop a new development finance institution is a highly welcome step. A unipolar world needed very badly a new pole. India has the opportunity as the head of the new institution to…
Sustaining Frugal green innovations: a new paradigm of empathetic and evocative ecosystem Frugality is not just about affordability. Even I had not stressed enough about circularity (that is, cradle to cradle approach of not developing a waste oriented economy) in my earlier talks and writings. It has of course been a core issue in the…
there are several problems with these policies: a) unless we decide to invest in student ideas when they are still students, that is, they r in their colleges and not when they join incubators, we will miss a lot of good ideas, b) in situ incubation is the future, off site residential incubator framework is…