Welcome to the Proposals Library of AltKuznets Advisors Pvt Ltd., Your Sustainability Nirvana !

The Long Run is But a Series of Short-Runs (and Elections are Tomorrow!) Ganga Prasad Rao http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar The other day, I was pondering about the impact of the policy interventions of the government in cement, iron ore, and milk on my portfolio of stocks. I concluded they were decidedly unnecessary, meant to contain inflation or worse, change the balance of competition in the industry between domestic and international producers. That got me thinking about the incentives facing the ruling party. The ruling political party sets the long-term course of nation and affects the destiny of millions with policies crafted with a decidedly short-term, even self-serving perspective. Elected on forgotten promises, put together as a hodge-podge coalition, cabinets re-shuffled thrice since elections, and 'fighting fire' from one no-confidence vote to another even as they plan their finances and strategy for the 'surprise' election, these parties are ill-suited to gi...

Accuse me of 'Yellow' Journalism (of 2, 4-biphenyl aceto carbonyl kind!!) Ganga Prasad G. Rao http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar Wow! or Yuck! That's the response, depending on whom you are with. I am talking food colors. You know, those difficult-to-pronounce chemicals that lend color to the topping or substrate they are added to? Sure you do! Whether juices, cola, tutti-fruity toppings on cake, brightly-colored candy, or colored Easter eggs, colours are a must. Just the other day, I had the shivers (actually, numbness in my fingers) after hurrying home in 100+ temperatures and eating some 'pista ice-cream' (Of course, that might be weakness from walking too fast). Pista ice-creams must still be doped a livid green (lest consumers mistake it for strawberry ice-creams doped a bright pink or rose depending on manufacturer! Color blindness must be more common than I presumed!). As inexcusable as they are, food colors purport to enhance the visual image of the product. Y...

WE DON'T NEED NO EDUCATION! (Hey Teacher, Let Those Kids Away; they are enrolled in an expensive tutorial!) Ganga Prasad G. Rao http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar India is a strange land. Despite all the hue and cry about equal opportunity and equal-access, schooling remains distinctly and unabashedly inequitable. The vast majority of government schools and schools funded by the local Corporation/Municipality serve the masses and generally represent the lowest rung in terms of resource availability and quality of teaching. Then, in order of increasing quality, there are government-aided schools, convent schools, private schools and international schools. While schools are required to, and indeed, favor students from within their locality, the fact that school quality and property prices are correlated, implies that good schools are located in pricey residential localities. Unstated is the fact that good schools are for the children of the rich (or exceptionally intelligent poor who ha...

BE WARNED! HILL TOPS, LAKES AND WATER-FALLS BELONG TO HINDUS! Ganga Prasad G. Rao http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar I was appalled by the news about the Andhra Government granting TTD exclusive rights to seven hills on religious grounds. The decision smacks of religious impropriety committed by the majority religion on minorities and various other users of the region. The seven hills region is an evergreen forest area that finds the favor of several classes of users – students, trekkers and wilderness-enthusiasts, geologists, wild-life enthusiasts, botanists, and vacationers apart from local residents. The fact that the majority Hindu community usurped every hill top, water fall and lake in the country, constructed a temple and appointed a 'God' to it does not mean that other users or members of other religions should be excluded from enjoying them. In fact, and to the contrary, the government should recognize the multiple classes of uses and users of the region and explicitly en...

An Optimally-Weighted Issue-Based Tradeable Vote-Point Election System Ganga Prasad G. Rao http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar Earlier, I broached how one could bring about a self-selected and optimally-weighted voting in an election by requiring voters to pay for the privilege of voting and providing them with vote points based on their issue-knowledge demonstrated to the computer in a questionnaire. Now consider a radically different system of people's representation based on vote points and issue-based ballots. Parliamentary representatives are elected by citizens who pay voting fees and allocate their vote points across competing candidates. The winner at the polls takes his seat in the Parliament. However, unlike the democracy we have, losing candidates do not hibernate in political oblivion if and until the next election beckon them. Instead, they serve as the keepers of vote points in annual issue ballots for those who did not vote for the Parliamentary winner. In other words, l...

Vote with a Difference! Ganga Prasad G. Rao Come voting time, and I get disillusioned with the mockery of campaigning that precedes elections. I fear that governments are elected, not by knowledgeable citizens who consider the candidate record, party platforms and the good of the nation, but by the masses who go for trinklets and promises. An entire nation's future is decided by voters who are either as clueless and disillusioned as me or are 'in the cut' (you know, the informal 'deals' involving keys as the candidate's 'morcha' passes through your street). Our democracy has turned in to a jambooree that elects those who promise more, without any regard to issues, or the cost to the nation. What we have is not democracy; it is a 'deal' on our trillion dollar future divided in to a billion parts with a few sharing 90% of it. What lies ahead? A society divided in to classes in which the poor masses grow ever poorer even as they work harder and vote...