I hadn’t been to Art Junction, the art gallery-cum-cafeteria at InterContinental The Grand in New Delhi, for a while, but I remember some fairly interesting shows being held there. More popular than curatorial, but what the heck, at a hotel you can do with art that’s more figurative, more understandable than the dysfunctional abstracts that pass off as high art these days. (Oops, I can’t believe I just wrote that!) (more…)

When a fellow-columnist and former colleague said I should write a guide on tipping standards, I thought it a wonderful idea, and the piece appeared in BS Weekend a couple of weeks ago. For my research, I spoke to lots of people (and many friends) in the trade, and almost uniformly their view was that though tipping should be voluntary, it is a gesture that is appreciated since a lot of salaries for service staff in hotels and restaurants is calculated keeping in mind the gratuities that will accrue to them. (more…)

A few weeks ago I wrote about how Wikimapia was a huge benefit in a country like India where we had little or no mapping of relevance. Particularly the kind of digital and satellite maps you can zoom in and out of many parts of the world. (more…)

Let us assume that one of those pesticolas/ food materials  creates havoc on the health of your dear and near. To protect yourself and your dear and near from vulnerability, you go to a doctor who is one among those who is determined to make a quick buck. To reach the clinic, you drive a four wheeler which churns out venoms of carbon fumes to the atmosphere.

The interesting fact is that all these negative factors listed above become positive factors during the calculation of GDP. And it is this GDP (or it’s relatives) that get projected as an indicator during many of the dialogues related to growth/ development. So, while calculating GDP, maximum exploitation of water resources which may lead to the fall of ground water level is still considered positive because it is an economic activity.

Unhindered usage of pesticide and fertilizers are considered positive because its manufacture, distribution and consumption is considered an economic activity. A doctor/hospital fleecing a patient for more money is considered positive because it adds to the economic activity. Increased production and consumption of fuel-guzzling SUVs are considered positive because it adds to the economic activity.

Polluters Don’t Really Pay  

At the same time, automobile manufacturers/ consumers do not have to pay for the health related expenses that pedestrians, who inhale polluted fumes are forced to shell out. Such absurdity get exacerbated when we take into consideration that calculation of economic indicators are based on short term perspectives and not long term vision. Sustaining a forest (which ensures pure water and oxygen) would thus be assigned less economic weightage as compared to the option of developing a mine from the same geographical area).

Lets move aside. From our own personal experience, we can infer that a stable family life devoid of tensions related to divorces, quarrels etc. helps us to be more productive at whatever we do (including our professional pursuits) and keeps us at ease with things around the world. It also helps us build and maintain good relationships with others. So doesn’t it make logical sense to include these parameters when we are taking into account the concept of “development”?

Such ideas inspired people to come with indicators like Gross National Happiness, Genuine Progress Indicator etc (Some interesting articles about these indicators are available in the articles section at www.globalsystemchange.com, a website maintained by Frank Dixon, Managing Director - Research, Innovest Venture Partners, the largest sustainability investing firm in the world).

Bhutan Can, Why Can’t We ? 

With exceptions like Bhutan, we are yet to find federal governments actively supporting such indicators. If Bhutan, with its Buddhist ethos, can engage the world with such ideas, India, with its cultural ethos rooted in universality, and harmony with all beings including the ecology, too need to support such initiatives at a local and federal level.

Ajith Sankar

ajithsrn@EcologyFund.net

It was an elegant sit-down dinner, planned to the last detail, at a smart restaurant in town. But no matter how meticulously you design the menu and choose the starters and wines, at the end you’re at the mercy of your guests. True, it had rained earlier that evening, truer still that my wife and I weren’t as punctual as our hostess might have wanted, but many others were much, much later. And it wasn’t just a Delhi thing, for those who came in last were prominent Bollywood celebrities. (more…)

By Dr Supriya Biswas

When Sun COO Ed Zander left after 15 years there, Sun’s stock fell 14%, shaving $2bn from its market capitalization. When it was announced Zander was joining Motorola as CEO, Motorola’s stock rose 4.2%, adding almost exactly $2bn to Motorola’s valuation. (Jason Stamper) (more…)

A `USA Today’ piece talks of zookeepers planning to find
a mate for orangutans over the Internet and wanting to
expand it as an online dating service where apes could get
to know one another and keepers could find them
compatible mates. (more…)

All of us would have come across the puzzle about the hunter and the bear at least once, either in an aptitude test or on the long list of e-mail forwards we receive everyday. For the benefit of the uninitiated few I am repeating the puzzle.

A hunter walked one kilometer south from his camp. Then he walked one kilometer west. There he shot a bear. Then he walked one kilometer north, and found that he was back at his camp. What color was the bear? (more…)

By S K Sarda*

The world was focused on the re-opening of the Nathu la pass - the pass for trade between India & China- the two powerful Asian Giants. The two powerful giants are coming together. The cold war is now history and we are in war of trade. Here no more artillery power shall win. It is the competitiveness, quality and devotion of the trade and industry and commerce that will bring success and then only we can win. (more…)