So the government has done it again. After managing to procure only about 11 million tons out of the targeted 15 million tons from our farmers, the government has gone ahead and imported about half a million tons from the international market at a much higher price. A process which, in its entirety, ends up raising a large number of questions.
Continue reading “Wheat Procurement And Derivatives Markets”
The Barista outlet outside Barton centre on M G Road seems to have come up with an excellent way in order to improve their “table turnovers”. They simply play loud and jarring music in order to make the stay as unpleasant as possible for the customers. And new ones keep pouring in so they are able to rake in a larger base on which to spread their enormous fixed costs (rent)!
Recently, I had written that the old restaurants in Bangalore need to cash in on their loyalty factor and make use of the inelastic demand in order to remain profitable. Vidyarthi Bhavan in Gandhi Bazaar seems to have gotten it right, at least partially. Of course, they remain closed for lunch and dinner, and on Fridays, thus not making full use of the “capital”, but they seem to be pricing well.
Continue reading “Vidyarthi Bhavan seems to have got it right”
Rediff.com CEO Ajit Balakrishnan, in this edit page article in the Business Standard, talks about his interest in a certain paper by a Professor at IIT Bombay, and his attempts to commercialize it.
Now, the interesting part is, though Professor Soumen Chakravarty gladly agreed to share his research, and be a consultant to Rediff, getting IITB to partner with Rediff almost seemed impossible. The problem, according to Ajit, was ?solved? when two of Prof Soumen’s students joined Rediff upon graduation. “… seems to be the way R&D is done today”, he concludes, seemingly happy with the arrangement.
Recently, an article on the CNN-IBN site about old eateries in Bangalore shutting shop made its way into my inbox a number of times. Read it the first time, and put a “well left” on all subsequent occasions. And recently, in response to some other totally unrelated post, someone wanted me to comment on it.
initially i thought it’s some arbit stupid reform-bashing left-wing article, so replying to it won’t make much sense. However, fact is that a few of these golden oldies are closing down, so I thought it does make sense to put in my two naya paise.
Recently the West? Bengal State Marketing Board chairman Naren Chatterjee had to say this about Metro?s entry into the state, ?have heard that they will sell directly to the trade then what will happen to the people in the chain, they will become jobless. We will not allow any one who disturbs the chain.? Similar protests have been on against organized retail, and competition in the agricultural supply chain in various parts of the country.
During one of those now oh-so-rare long intellectual discussions yesterday, I started wondering how we could capture and transmit smell! We have photographs and videos to capture sights. We have sound recorders to capture sounds. We have words, and text such as this in order to capture thoughts. However, is there any way that one can capture and transmit smell? Or taste for that matter?
Finally it is starting to become fashionable (in some communities at least) not to take dowry. The bride’s parents ask about it as a matter of courtesy, and the most frequent answer is “no need of any dowry, but please arrange a really grand wedding”.
My cousin’s friend was supposed to get married tomorrow. It was an “arranged marriage”, and in true KT (kannada types) tradition, the groom was a relative of the bride.
Now, yesterday, someone tells us that the marriage has been called off. Abruptly. From the groom’s side. Three days before the wedding. This, after a grand engagement, and the bride and groom “seeing each other” for a few months. Called off. Abruptly. “No thank you, we are not interested. Cancel! Cancel!! And we won’t even pay cancellation charge!”
Bunty, a close friend from school, got married yesterday in Hyderabad. There is a reception in Bangalore on Sunday. Given that he is the first person in our “gang” to get married, we are quite thrilled (and in a way scared). Of course, there is the small matter of a gift.