Short read: Reimagining how the Indian state works
Whilst the Indian state has done a remarkable job in delivering physical infrastructure such as roads, power, airports, etc and digital infrastructure over the past decade, there is still much to do on the social infrastructure aspects of healthcare and education. “The annual survey on the state of Indian education that civil society group Pratham […]
Short read: Pushing the boundaries: England Women using AI to help with team selection
Those of who are in the business of curation felt a shudder run down our spine earlier this week regardless of whether we are in the business of curating sports team, equity portfolios or articles for 3 Longs & 3 Shorts. The trigger for this shudder was the following bit of remarkable news: “The England […]
Short read: Wounded orangutan seen using plant as medicine
Human beings had one less reason to fancy themselves as being a singular species after the BBC published a short video this week of a Sumatran orangutan successfully self-medicating with an ointment he had made himself using 100% organic ingredients [and he managed to do it without needing to watch any videos on YouTube]. Reporting […]
Long read: Customer care: How the bot army will shrink the outsourcing pie
Artificial Intelligence is likely to disrupt several enterprise functions and businesses – one that’s already underway is customer care and its outsourced industry. This piece by Shelley Singh in the Mint tracks the development and its implications on the industry and employment. To be fair, it is not just AI, let alone GenAI, there have […]
Long read: The Biggest Investor in the World
Marc Rubenstein writes an insightful blog on financial services businesses. However, this one features not exactly a business. It is about a sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world – Norges Bank Investment Management. When the Norwegians discovered oil in the North Sea, they decided to buffer the government expenditure from the inevitable volatility […]
Long read: Berkshire after Buffett: can any stockpicker follow the Oracle?
One of the biggest obstacles to taking a long-term view of any business – listed or unlisted – anywhere in the world is that the shelf life of CEOs of large firms tends to be short. Whilst a typical American CEO lasts only 4-5 years, even in India successful CEOs rarely get more than a […]
Short read: Mount Fuji: Iconic view to be blocked to deter tourists
Across the world, tourism has skyrocketed since the pandemic ended. In India, airline traffic growth – both domestic and international – has hit all time highs. The northern Indian hill stations are rammed full several months before the school summer holidays have begun. The same is true for European cities. In fact, Amsterdam announced last […]
Short read: Master Your Attention: Schopenhauer’s Strategy Against Clickbait
Whilst social media with its user generated content has resulted in an explosion of content such as blogs and podcasts from practitioners, hitherto restricted by mainstream media controlling what we consume, it has also meant that we need to work that much harder to filter for good content. But why should we bother filtering and […]
Short read: The Little Things that Result in the Big Things
“When a management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for bad economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact”, Warren Buffett is known to have said suggesting why it is important to look for businesses which are fundamentally strong before evaluating management quality. The great Peter Lynch […]
Long read: Made in Bihar: How superfood makhana works its magic
The strong growth in packaged foods and in particular snacks as a category, has been the saving grace in an otherwise slowing FMCG industry. Within that, thanks to rising health awareness and the resulting change in consumption habits, the health foods category, albeit small, is growing rapidly. Whilst millets have emerged as a healthy alternative […]
Long read: Modi Govt Doubled Spending On Insurance, Not Enough On Health Infrastructure
This being election season, we are treated to politicians engaged in heated debate on a daily basis. However, on critical issues like health, what’s at stake is much more than political careers. What’s at stake is the health of your & our relatives and friends. Hence you might want to read this piece in IndiaSpend […]
Long read: India’s difficult business environment is improving
A year ago The Economist noted that India is likely be the world’s fastest growing large economy for several years to come – see https://marcellus.in/story/the-economists-cover-story-india-is-likely-to-be-the-worlds-fastest-growing-big-economy-this-year/.This year The Economist’s special issue on India notes that “The difficulties of doing business in India and the lack of broadly available finance are two reasons why large conglomerates have dominated the […]
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