Some time ago I wrote about old Telugu songs on youtube:
that "have been recently uploaded on YouTube. Search under VSVutukuri, Mukkamala2020, MadhuraGeetalu, TeluguBoss, vjdnld etc"
All have disappeared. It seems that youtube has a three strikes rule and there were complaints about copy right violations. Those gentlemen have taken a lot of trouble to compile the collections. Sometimes seeing the sceneries, background adds to the attraction of the song. (I was using 'Edukondalavda venkataramana sadduseyaka neevu nidura povayya' from 'Pelli chesi chudu' as a lullaby for my grand daughter. She liked the video more than the song.). I hope that those videos can be resurrected in some site taking due care of the copy right rules.
Some like telugutunnel are still working though erratically. Palleturu has some nice songs, two on 'samkranti', Vemulapalli Srikrishna's 'Cheyeyyi jaikottu telugoda' and Srisri's 'polalananni halaladunni'.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Sepoy gives details of his dissertation
Wherein I Give Deets. Excerpts:
" This dissertation began with the question, Why Muhammad b. Qasim?
.....
Paul Ricoeur offers a way, for the historian, to deal with the methodological challenge of how to study “memory” by focusing on, what he terms, “trace, document and question”. Briefly,
1. to inscribe historical processes into the construction of documentary proof itself (that is the text or artifact that is the object of our historical attention);
2. to investigate the distance between the event, the testimony of the event and the narration of the fact. That is, to explicate ‘what happened’ along with ‘what is said to have happened’
The focus then, is not on some elusive and contestable category of ‘memory’ - whether social, cultural or political - but on the production of text, its relationship to other texts, and to the uses of these texts in remembering and forgetting a particular social past.
....
Unlike Bhattacharya, it isn’t the “threat” that interests me in these other histories, rather the questions of how and why they are produced, at all. And what they tell us about our presents. Consider this dissertation, a first step."
" This dissertation began with the question, Why Muhammad b. Qasim?
.....
Paul Ricoeur offers a way, for the historian, to deal with the methodological challenge of how to study “memory” by focusing on, what he terms, “trace, document and question”. Briefly,
1. to inscribe historical processes into the construction of documentary proof itself (that is the text or artifact that is the object of our historical attention);
2. to investigate the distance between the event, the testimony of the event and the narration of the fact. That is, to explicate ‘what happened’ along with ‘what is said to have happened’
The focus then, is not on some elusive and contestable category of ‘memory’ - whether social, cultural or political - but on the production of text, its relationship to other texts, and to the uses of these texts in remembering and forgetting a particular social past.
....
Unlike Bhattacharya, it isn’t the “threat” that interests me in these other histories, rather the questions of how and why they are produced, at all. And what they tell us about our presents. Consider this dissertation, a first step."
Reminder about Ramanaidu Institute
With the financial crisis, food problems seem to be forgotten. It is time for appications for free training at the DRNVJIRD (Dr. Rama Naidu Vignana Jyothi Institute of Rural Development). My impression from last year is that thy are not getting as many students as they can train. Here is part of my post from January:
"DRNVJIRD (Dr. Rama Naidu Vignana Jyothi Institute of Rural Development) is located near Tuniki vilage, Kowdipally Mandal, Narsapur, Medak District, e-mail:drnvjird@hotail.com. It is about 70 kilometers from Hyderbad, has an office in Hyderabad: 209, Sree Ramakrishna Towers, Nagarjuna Nagar, Ameerpet, Hyderabad-500 073, Phone:(040)23740933.
One of their programmes is an yearly course and a three monthly course to train young farmers who have finished 10th grade in modern mehods of farming. Both courses start on January 17th but the director Dr. K.N. Rao informed me that they allow a few days of delay. It seems that there were more than 120 students two years ago. The original idea was that they would go back to villages and implement modern methods of farming. But all of them got jobs with agricultural and other firms. Last year, due to lack of publicity and recruting staff, there were less than 30 students. Both courses carry a stipend. Lodging and boarding are provided. It seems a good opportunity and not too late, particularly for Telangana students. There are also some programmes in colloboration with Acharya Ranga Agriculural University."
"DRNVJIRD (Dr. Rama Naidu Vignana Jyothi Institute of Rural Development) is located near Tuniki vilage, Kowdipally Mandal, Narsapur, Medak District, e-mail:drnvjird@hotail.com. It is about 70 kilometers from Hyderbad, has an office in Hyderabad: 209, Sree Ramakrishna Towers, Nagarjuna Nagar, Ameerpet, Hyderabad-500 073, Phone:(040)23740933.
One of their programmes is an yearly course and a three monthly course to train young farmers who have finished 10th grade in modern mehods of farming. Both courses start on January 17th but the director Dr. K.N. Rao informed me that they allow a few days of delay. It seems that there were more than 120 students two years ago. The original idea was that they would go back to villages and implement modern methods of farming. But all of them got jobs with agricultural and other firms. Last year, due to lack of publicity and recruting staff, there were less than 30 students. Both courses carry a stipend. Lodging and boarding are provided. It seems a good opportunity and not too late, particularly for Telangana students. There are also some programmes in colloboration with Acharya Ranga Agriculural University."
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Effects of the financial crisis on micro finance
Center for Global Development has several articles on the possible effects of the financial crisis on developing countries which I am just beginning to catch up.
An encouraging one by David Roodman says that the effects on micro finance may be minor:
"If the worst happens, all bets are off; otherwise I expect the "macrofinance" convulsions will have minimal repercussions for microfinance. In Indonesia during its crisis in 1997, while large companies and rich people defaulted left and right, the 2.6 million microcredit borrowers of the Bank Rakyat Indonesia hardly skipped a beat. And few at this point are predicting that the U.S. seize-up will trigger a recurrence of such severe economic trauma for developing countries. This time around, many developing countries have a lot of money in the bank, in the form foreign currency reserves.
Meanwhile, most foreign investment in microcredit still comes from people and institutions motivated by charity and already primed to accept great risk -- government aid agencies, the Gates Foundation, wealthy individuals, the $100 million Tufts University fund endowed by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. I doubt they will suddenly get cold feet. That said, rising skittishness among conventional investors might delay a shift some had foreseen toward commercialization in microfinance."
Mead Over thinks that foreign aid may contract but AIDS Treatment Jobs are a Safe Bet ;
"The U.S. government and other donors are likely to respond to this reality by preserving AIDS treatment funding while cutting other parts of the assistance budget. Other donors will do the same. The result will be that while the number of patients receiving AIDS treatment stalls at close to current levels, funding for HIV prevention and for other parts of the health sector will fall by more than 10% and AIDS treatment expenditure will become an even larger portion of the total assistance budget in 2012 than it is today.
Just as financiers are diverting their resources to U.S. Treasury bills as a "safe haven" in this time of financial uncertainty, those working in HIV prevention or other non-AIDS treatment jobs dependent on foreign assistance may want to think about switching into AIDS treatment jobs as a labor market "safe haven."
Chandan Sapotka consistently updates development news in his blog. Here is a fairly recent post on The impact of financial meltdown in the West on the developing nations .
An encouraging one by David Roodman says that the effects on micro finance may be minor:
"If the worst happens, all bets are off; otherwise I expect the "macrofinance" convulsions will have minimal repercussions for microfinance. In Indonesia during its crisis in 1997, while large companies and rich people defaulted left and right, the 2.6 million microcredit borrowers of the Bank Rakyat Indonesia hardly skipped a beat. And few at this point are predicting that the U.S. seize-up will trigger a recurrence of such severe economic trauma for developing countries. This time around, many developing countries have a lot of money in the bank, in the form foreign currency reserves.
Meanwhile, most foreign investment in microcredit still comes from people and institutions motivated by charity and already primed to accept great risk -- government aid agencies, the Gates Foundation, wealthy individuals, the $100 million Tufts University fund endowed by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. I doubt they will suddenly get cold feet. That said, rising skittishness among conventional investors might delay a shift some had foreseen toward commercialization in microfinance."
Mead Over thinks that foreign aid may contract but AIDS Treatment Jobs are a Safe Bet ;
"The U.S. government and other donors are likely to respond to this reality by preserving AIDS treatment funding while cutting other parts of the assistance budget. Other donors will do the same. The result will be that while the number of patients receiving AIDS treatment stalls at close to current levels, funding for HIV prevention and for other parts of the health sector will fall by more than 10% and AIDS treatment expenditure will become an even larger portion of the total assistance budget in 2012 than it is today.
Just as financiers are diverting their resources to U.S. Treasury bills as a "safe haven" in this time of financial uncertainty, those working in HIV prevention or other non-AIDS treatment jobs dependent on foreign assistance may want to think about switching into AIDS treatment jobs as a labor market "safe haven."
Chandan Sapotka consistently updates development news in his blog. Here is a fairly recent post on The impact of financial meltdown in the West on the developing nations .
Two from VoxEu
Nicholas Bloom in The credit crunch may cause another great depression:
"It seems ironic that the greed of Wall Street may have inadvertently achieved what millions of well intentioned scientists, activists and politicians have failed to achieve – a slowdown in global warming."
Esther Duflo in Too many bankers?:
"One must hope that the bail-out packages in Wall Street and in Europe do not convince the best and brightest that the financial sector is still their best option."
"It seems ironic that the greed of Wall Street may have inadvertently achieved what millions of well intentioned scientists, activists and politicians have failed to achieve – a slowdown in global warming."
Esther Duflo in Too many bankers?:
"One must hope that the bail-out packages in Wall Street and in Europe do not convince the best and brightest that the financial sector is still their best option."
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
"Roubini was right" says Felix Salmon
Roubini was Right.
If the link does not work, the substance of the post is in:
Roubini right, kind of a jerk.
P.S.Arvind Subramanyan has A master plan for China to bail out America.
Yves Smith thinks This proposal by Arvind Subramanian in the Financial Times makes quite a lot of sense.
If the link does not work, the substance of the post is in:
Roubini right, kind of a jerk.
P.S.Arvind Subramanyan has A master plan for China to bail out America.
Yves Smith thinks This proposal by Arvind Subramanian in the Financial Times makes quite a lot of sense.
Interesting Telugu Blogs-4
on Dalit related problems.
దార్ల, Darla has several other blogs.
I am more familiar with Untouchable Spring .... అంటరాని వసంతం which is in English but has discussions on Telugu writers and Dalit issues from A.P.
Both the authors are teachers, the first teaches in Hyderabad and the second in Pondicherry.
దార్ల, Darla has several other blogs.
I am more familiar with Untouchable Spring .... అంటరాని వసంతం which is in English but has discussions on Telugu writers and Dalit issues from A.P.
Both the authors are teachers, the first teaches in Hyderabad and the second in Pondicherry.
Nobel omissions in science
In the list from Scientific American, No Nobel for You: Top 10 Nobel Snubs , one of my favourite scientists Lise Meitner leads the list. (via 3quarksdaily)
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Long-Term Persistence of Extractive Institutions
From Ethnic Cleansing and the Long-Term Persistenceof Extractive Institutions: Evidence from the Expulsion of the Moriscos (via http://www.chrisblattman.blogspot.com/):
"The case of Valencia holds important insights into the long-term implications of exploitation for both the exploited and for those who hold power. The economic exploitation of Valencian Muslims for over 300 years suggests that those who benefit from this exploitation may be dooming their descendants to poverty. While the Muslims of Valencia suffered under exploitative institutions for hundreds of years, these exploitative arrangements persisted even after their expulsion. The remaining Christian population remained poorer and less developed over 150 years after the expulsion due to the persistence of these extractive arrangements."
"The case of Valencia holds important insights into the long-term implications of exploitation for both the exploited and for those who hold power. The economic exploitation of Valencian Muslims for over 300 years suggests that those who benefit from this exploitation may be dooming their descendants to poverty. While the Muslims of Valencia suffered under exploitative institutions for hundreds of years, these exploitative arrangements persisted even after their expulsion. The remaining Christian population remained poorer and less developed over 150 years after the expulsion due to the persistence of these extractive arrangements."
May be time for earth boxes
Water problems in Melbourne and we can only water plants twice a week. May be time for earth boxes Farmer's invention helps UN fight against hunger or this .
Monday, October 06, 2008
mrajshekhar's tihi memories
After more than one and half years mrajshekhar posts again:so long, and thanks for all the visits . Read and despair.
Correction: Rajshekhar's last post was in february this year
Correction: Rajshekhar's last post was in february this year
Interesting Telugu blogs-3
చైతన్యం : Very few posts but has one of the clearest expositions of religious strife in India.
(Added on 8th October:In the comments section, the blogger says (rough translation)that instead of depending on a list of dos and don'ts, one should look to the context in which such are done. And he goes on to say Hinduism provides opportunities and freedom for such. I wonder what Dalits think of this. It is probably time to look at Dalit blogs. Here is one from a Telugu person but the artcles are mostly in English:
Untouchable Spring .... అంటరాని వసంతం )
తెలు-గోడు
సమకాలీన సంగతులపై ఓ తెలుగోడి గోడు:contemporary issues, some of them cross-national.
శ్రీనివాసం : Traditional songs, sometimes with explanations and links to recordings.
Talking of religion, a review article The Origin and Evolution of Religious Prosociality by Ara Norenzayan* and Azim F. Shariff (needs subscrption) "examines empirical evidence for religious prosociality, the hypothesis that religions facilitate costly behaviors that benefit other people."
Among the conclusions:
"The preponderance of the evidence points to religious prosociality being a bounded phenomenon. Religion's association with prosociality is most evident when the situation calls for maintaining a favorable social reputation within the ingroup."
"Although religions continue to be powerful facilitators of prosociality in large groups, they are not the only ones. The cultural spread of reliable secular institutions, such as courts, policing authorities, and effective contract-enforcing mechanisms, although historically recent, has changed the course of human prosociality. Consequently, active members of modern secular organizations are at least as likely to report donating to charity as active members of religious ones (42). "
Somewhat related discussion on gossip in an article on gossip in Scientic American Mind. This particular issue has several free articles (both links via Evo.psychology group).
P.S. From Solving the puzzle of prosociality , I take 'prosociality' to mean 'behaviour which is group-beneficial but personally costly'. Gintis seems to have slowly abondoned the term but it is common in literature and I cannot find the meaning in dictionaries or defined in the papers that I have seen.
(Added on 8th October:In the comments section, the blogger says (rough translation)that instead of depending on a list of dos and don'ts, one should look to the context in which such are done. And he goes on to say Hinduism provides opportunities and freedom for such. I wonder what Dalits think of this. It is probably time to look at Dalit blogs. Here is one from a Telugu person but the artcles are mostly in English:
Untouchable Spring .... అంటరాని వసంతం )
తెలు-గోడు
సమకాలీన సంగతులపై ఓ తెలుగోడి గోడు:contemporary issues, some of them cross-national.
శ్రీనివాసం : Traditional songs, sometimes with explanations and links to recordings.
Talking of religion, a review article The Origin and Evolution of Religious Prosociality by Ara Norenzayan* and Azim F. Shariff (needs subscrption) "examines empirical evidence for religious prosociality, the hypothesis that religions facilitate costly behaviors that benefit other people."
Among the conclusions:
"The preponderance of the evidence points to religious prosociality being a bounded phenomenon. Religion's association with prosociality is most evident when the situation calls for maintaining a favorable social reputation within the ingroup."
"Although religions continue to be powerful facilitators of prosociality in large groups, they are not the only ones. The cultural spread of reliable secular institutions, such as courts, policing authorities, and effective contract-enforcing mechanisms, although historically recent, has changed the course of human prosociality. Consequently, active members of modern secular organizations are at least as likely to report donating to charity as active members of religious ones (42). "
Somewhat related discussion on gossip in an article on gossip in Scientic American Mind. This particular issue has several free articles (both links via Evo.psychology group).
P.S. From Solving the puzzle of prosociality , I take 'prosociality' to mean 'behaviour which is group-beneficial but personally costly'. Gintis seems to have slowly abondoned the term but it is common in literature and I cannot find the meaning in dictionaries or defined in the papers that I have seen.
Friday, October 03, 2008
An economist wins the 2008 'Ig Nobel' for medicine
Ig Nobel prizes celebrate a different kind of science:
" Over the 18 years, the Ig Nobel award has even become something to covet.
I've won quite a lot of academic awards; I can't think of one that makes me happier than this one," said Dan Ariely , a Duke University economist and author of the book "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape our Decisions," who said his deserving work has been passed over year after year and is elated to finally get an Ig Nobel.
Ariely's Ig Nobel-winning work demonstrates the secret behind many of the Ig Nobel-winning scientists: that hidden in the humorous work is a legitimate scientific point.
Using Craigslist, Ariely recruited volunteers for a study, and printed fake brochures describing an invented pain-killer that was actually just a placebo pill. Some were told the drug was expensive; others were told it was cheap. The subjects were given electric shocks before and after they took the pill. Those who got the pricey fake medicine reported a bigger reduction in pain than those with the cheaper fake.
The experiment, published in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association, suggested that marketing and packaging of a drug may play a role in its effects.
Others noted that while their work may seem wacky to outsiders, it isn't all that different from normal work in their field."
P.S. See also http://improbable.com/
" Over the 18 years, the Ig Nobel award has even become something to covet.
I've won quite a lot of academic awards; I can't think of one that makes me happier than this one," said Dan Ariely , a Duke University economist and author of the book "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape our Decisions," who said his deserving work has been passed over year after year and is elated to finally get an Ig Nobel.
Ariely's Ig Nobel-winning work demonstrates the secret behind many of the Ig Nobel-winning scientists: that hidden in the humorous work is a legitimate scientific point.
Using Craigslist, Ariely recruited volunteers for a study, and printed fake brochures describing an invented pain-killer that was actually just a placebo pill. Some were told the drug was expensive; others were told it was cheap. The subjects were given electric shocks before and after they took the pill. Those who got the pricey fake medicine reported a bigger reduction in pain than those with the cheaper fake.
The experiment, published in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association, suggested that marketing and packaging of a drug may play a role in its effects.
Others noted that while their work may seem wacky to outsiders, it isn't all that different from normal work in their field."
P.S. See also http://improbable.com/
Ken Rogoff on the wisdom of the bail-out
posted in Ecnomist's View. This is a debate which I have difficulty following.But it affects all and we do vote. I think that one has to make an effort to follow and get some feel for the 'main' inicators in the debate. More technical discussions are in blogs like 'Naked Capitalism' linked earlier. At the moment, the feel I get for the debate is similar to the one expressed by Ken Rogoff in the above article which Dani rodrik also approvingly mentions. Here is a passage from the article:
"Does such nitpicking fail to recognize the urgency of fixing the financial system? Isn’t any plan better than none? I, for one, am not convinced. Efficient financial systems are supposed to promote growth in the real economy, not impose a huge tax burden. And the US financial sector, in greasing the wheels of the real economy, has been soaking up an astounding 30% of corporate profits and 10% of wages. ... Isn’t it possible, then, that rather than causing a Great Depression, significant shrinkage of the financial sector, particularly if facilitated by an improved regulatory structure, might actually enhance efficiency and growth?"
The full article is linked in Mark Thoma's post. A passage from the original article:
"This brings us back to the US treasury’s plan to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to unclog the subprime mortgage market. The idea is that the US government will serve as buyer of last resort for the junk debt that the private sector has not been able to price. Who, exactly, does the treasury plan to employ to figure all this out? Why, unemployed investment bankers, of course!"
"Does such nitpicking fail to recognize the urgency of fixing the financial system? Isn’t any plan better than none? I, for one, am not convinced. Efficient financial systems are supposed to promote growth in the real economy, not impose a huge tax burden. And the US financial sector, in greasing the wheels of the real economy, has been soaking up an astounding 30% of corporate profits and 10% of wages. ... Isn’t it possible, then, that rather than causing a Great Depression, significant shrinkage of the financial sector, particularly if facilitated by an improved regulatory structure, might actually enhance efficiency and growth?"
The full article is linked in Mark Thoma's post. A passage from the original article:
"This brings us back to the US treasury’s plan to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to unclog the subprime mortgage market. The idea is that the US government will serve as buyer of last resort for the junk debt that the private sector has not been able to price. Who, exactly, does the treasury plan to employ to figure all this out? Why, unemployed investment bankers, of course!"
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Interesting Telugu Blogs-2
Contemporary issues and politics: Chaduvari and hridayam. More from links there.
Earlier post here.
P.S. I think that the second blogger is the same Dilip that I met a few years ago. Recently, I wrote to him enquiring about the progress of The System of Rice Intensification in A.P. and he has kindly provided the details.
Earlier post here.
P.S. I think that the second blogger is the same Dilip that I met a few years ago. Recently, I wrote to him enquiring about the progress of The System of Rice Intensification in A.P. and he has kindly provided the details.
Yves Smith at bloggingheads
with Megan McArdle .
At her blog 'Naked Capitalism', Yves Smith says in Wealthy Investors Hoarding Bullion :
"And in a real meltdown, stores of value are limited. If society is reduced to barter, food, medicine, ammo, and cigarettes get a lot more in exchange than gold."
P.S. I hardly follow the discussion, but I get the feeling that the people here may be coming to grips with the problems of the Paulson plan More Discussion of Why the Bailout Bill Will Not Help Money Markets, Commercial Lending.
At her blog 'Naked Capitalism', Yves Smith says in Wealthy Investors Hoarding Bullion :
"And in a real meltdown, stores of value are limited. If society is reduced to barter, food, medicine, ammo, and cigarettes get a lot more in exchange than gold."
P.S. I hardly follow the discussion, but I get the feeling that the people here may be coming to grips with the problems of the Paulson plan More Discussion of Why the Bailout Bill Will Not Help Money Markets, Commercial Lending.
Perceptions from Europe?
From remarks by Horace Engdahl , permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, who will announce this year's Nobel Prize in literature:
"The U.S. is too isolated, too insular. They don't translate enough and don't really participate in the big dialogue of literature. That ignorance is restraining."
(via 3quarksdaily)
"The U.S. is too isolated, too insular. They don't translate enough and don't really participate in the big dialogue of literature. That ignorance is restraining."
(via 3quarksdaily)
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
More from Nouriel Roubini
My daughter Shanti directed me to this post of Nouriel Roubini. She also said that I should read the IMF report mentined in the post, but I have not read it so far. Shanti worked in IT for five years and is now taking courses in economics.
Another cool one from Sudhir Venkatesh
Quote from a comfort worker from How the financial crisis affects the oldest profession (via 3quqrksdaily):
"They are going to come back. I mean, c'mon, it's Wall Street! These guys are never out of the game for that long. That's what's so great about what I do. If you can keep your cool, it's pretty rare that you lose money. Just make sure you keep the man happy."
"They are going to come back. I mean, c'mon, it's Wall Street! These guys are never out of the game for that long. That's what's so great about what I do. If you can keep your cool, it's pretty rare that you lose money. Just make sure you keep the man happy."
A Sehwag anecdote from Warne
From The Age:
"WARNE also tells a funny story about Indian batsman Virender Sehwag, one told to him by Englishman Jeremy Snape while Warne and Snape were working together in the IPL. Warne said Sehwag and Snape were batting for Leicestershire against Middlesex when Abdul Razzaq started reverse-swinging the ball in the way that the Pakistan bowlers do. Writes Warne: "Sehwag came up to Snape and said, 'We must lose this ball. I have a plan'. Next over, he whacked that ball clean out of the ground, forcing the umpires to pick another from the box that would obviously not reverse straight away. To which Sehwag said, 'We are all right for one hour'." Noted Warne: "Smart, I say.""
"WARNE also tells a funny story about Indian batsman Virender Sehwag, one told to him by Englishman Jeremy Snape while Warne and Snape were working together in the IPL. Warne said Sehwag and Snape were batting for Leicestershire against Middlesex when Abdul Razzaq started reverse-swinging the ball in the way that the Pakistan bowlers do. Writes Warne: "Sehwag came up to Snape and said, 'We must lose this ball. I have a plan'. Next over, he whacked that ball clean out of the ground, forcing the umpires to pick another from the box that would obviously not reverse straight away. To which Sehwag said, 'We are all right for one hour'." Noted Warne: "Smart, I say.""
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