Devdutt Pattanaik: East vs west -- the myths that mystify

Hans Rosling: Asia's rise -- how and when

Dubai - A snapshot

The Big Picture

from the Big Picture

Changing the World's Living Condition

Once in a decade, some ideas and people change the world's lifestyle significantly. One such idea/perspective is Enrique Penalosa. He is like Mohammed Yunus of Grameen Bank.



Quotes from his talk in Chennai.

0. “The single biggest difference between the infrastructure of an advanced nation and a backward nation is its footpaths, not its highways”

1. Parking is not a constitutional right in any country ... It’s a private problem that should be solved in private spaces with private money.
   
   
2. A bus lane will move 40,000 people per hour. One lane of cars will transport less than 2,000 people. Which is more efficient?
   
   
3. Only 5 per cent of households in the city drive cars
   
   
4. Look at the poorest African nations — they will all have some highway … But it is the quality of the footpath that determines the quality of life in a city

Just two days back, I was having with a chat with my neighbour while driving the narrow paths of Chennai City. My Neighbour said that many NRI people do not want return to India just because of the conditions of the city roads.

There is some effort in developing parks and other public places in Chennai. After a long time, statues that are pure artwork and other than Leaders are getting installed. If the enchroachments are removed and more concreted efforts are invested to develop the public properties of Indian Cities, Life in India would be much more better. I hope that our corporations' leaders get inspired by Enrique Penalosa.

Indian car exports surge 36 pc in first half of 2009-10

Car exports from India in the first half of this fiscal jumped by 35.73 per cent as major manufacturers like Hyundai Motor India and Maruti Suzuki cashed in on scrappage incentive provided in Europe, despite other segments of the auto industry witnessing decline.

According to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers Association (SIAM), car exports during April-September stood at 2,10,088 units as against 1,54,783 units in the year-ago period.

The European Union (EU) nations had incentivised buying of new cars in exchange of the old ones under a scrappage programme in May that will run till February 2010.

The growth in exports were largely driven by the country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India as its overseas shipments rose over two-fold during April-September to 65,752 units from 29,699 units in the year-ago period, SIAM said.

Hyundai Motor India, the country's largest car exporter Hyundai reported 16.02 per cent jump in exports at 1,39,971 units against 1,20,648 units in the same period last year.

Is Automobiles the new sunshine industry for India?

Move or Lose - Migration and World on the Move

The 2009 Human Development Report (HDR), released simultaneously across the world on Monday, makes a strong case for removing barriers to migration within and across borders, arguing that human movement had brought perceptible all-round benefits and held the potential to improve the lives of millions of poor and low-skilled people.

Released jointly here by Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and United Nations Resident Coordinator Patrice Coeur-Bizot, the report, “Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development,” says: “The poorest and the low skilled could benefit the most by moving, yet they face the largest barriers to movement: legal, financial, social.”

The report estimates that nearly one billion (one out of seven) people the world over are migrants. Of this, 740 million are internal migrants — almost four times as many as those who have moved internationally. Among those who have emigrated out, just a third or only about 70 million people, have moved from a developing to a developed country. “Most of the world’s 200 million international migrants moved from one developing country to another or between developed countries.”

Some disturbing Questions :
1. How does migration impact on Nationhood?
2. As the world is on the move, does staying put in one's own country means losing out?