Monthly Archives: March 2009

Best Practices in Voter Bribery

Posted on March 31, 2009 by Basab Pradhan

India’s general elections are around the corner. As you know, the most important factor that determines the outcome of our elections is money – how much and how it is spent – in the crucial electoral process of buying votes. … Continue reading →

Posted in Humour, India | 9 Comments

More on IT Unpolicy

Posted on March 26, 2009 by Basab Pradhan

In my previous post IT and the Role of Government I objected to Atanu Dey’s arguments against having an IT policy for India. He proposed, what I called an “IT Unpolicy” – basically, do nothing.

Posted in Economics, India, Technology | 4 Comments

IT and the Government

Posted on March 25, 2009 by Basab Pradhan

Atanu Dey has a series of posts that criticize the IT Vision Document released by the BJP in the runup to the Indian elections. In his latest post The Rational IT Policy, he proposes an IT policy that basically does … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, India, Technology | 2 Comments

Bonuses at AIG – Who Wrote that Compensation Plan?

Posted on March 17, 2009 by Basab Pradhan

It’s like everyone was waiting for this. The collective anger of a nation is spewing out. The media, the government and the average citizens are outraged. AIG Financial Products (AIGFP) employees have been getting hate mail. Bloggers are talking about … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance | 4 Comments

Protectionism Ahead?

Posted on March 15, 2009 by Basab Pradhan

Last week Bank of America withdrew offers to MBA students on H1 B visas. As a recipient of TARP money from the federal government the bank had to comply with a clause that Congress had inserted into the TARP bill … Continue reading →

Posted in Business | 2 Comments

Email Scam

Posted on March 14, 2009 by Basab Pradhan

I got this email recently. It is clearly the first step in a potential fraud. It caught my attention because it claimed to represent the interests of Byrraju Ramalinga Raju! —–Original Message—– From: Jessica Ferguson [mailto:balverson@earnhardtelectric.com] Sent: Fri 3/13/2009 7:41 … Continue reading →

Posted in Random Stuff | 8 Comments

Changes at Gridstone

Posted on March 9, 2009 by Basab Pradhan

From tomorrow I will no longer be CEO of Gridstone Research. Once again, as I have done twice before in my career, I step into the unknown. I devoted the last three and a half years to our journey at … Continue reading →

Posted in Random Stuff | 27 Comments

Banks and the Dreaded N-Word

Posted on March 1, 2009 by Basab Pradhan

What is it about ‘Nationalization’ that makes it such a loaded word in the US? You can spot a politically loaded word if The media gleefully uses [word] in its headlines, the opposition in Congress and interviews. The government refuses … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance | 2 Comments