Short read: How exercise may be the ‘most potent medical intervention ever known’
Sleep well, eat healthy and exercise daily is now well accepted as a simple model for a healthy life. But just how useful is exercise hadn’t been fully understood until this recent study. Euan Ashley, a professor of cardiovascular medicine and genetics at Stanford University calls exercise the single most potent medical intervention ever known. […]
Short read: How much happiness does money buy?
Research has shown that asset allocation i.e, how you allocate across stocks, bonds and other asset classes, matters more than what securities you select, in terms of determining investor’s risk adjusted returns. But here’s a half century old theory by a Nobel prize winning economist – Robert C.Merton (of Black-Scholes-Merton and Long Term Capital Management […]
Short read: Area denial is how India can counter China’s 300 stealth fighters, Pakistan’s possible J-35s
India started building the Tejas light combat aircraft more than 40 years ago. In 2025, the Government of India is hoping that the America under Trump will agree to supply’s GE’s engines for Tejas. In the meantime, China has launched its sixth generation of stealth fighters. As Yusuf Unjhawala explains for The Print: “China has […]
Long read: The Great Crypto Crash
Global markets have been on a tear since the US Presidential elections in early November but none as spectacular as the cryptocurrencies. In particular, Bitcoin soared over 50% in a little over month since the elections. For some of us wondering what’s the link between Trump and cryptos: ““My vision is for an America that […]
Long read: The invisible addiction: is it time to give up caffeine?
This long read in The Guardian is an extract from ‘This Is Your Mind on Plants: Opium-Caffeine-Mescaline’ by Michael Pollan. The article begins by stating the obvious – that “caffeine makes us more energetic, efficient & faster” – and then goes on to explain how caffeine hurts our mind & body. First the good stuff. […]
Long read: ‘She believed you have to take sides’: How Audrey Hepburn became a secret spy during World War Two
As the memories of the bloody conflicts of the 20th century fade away, we have entered a new age of rage in which demagogues further their careers by committing their countries to long & bloody conflicts. These conflicts in turn are going to force most us to take a side. And then we will have […]
Short read: Manmohan Singh has a legacy beyond 1991. Nuclear deal with US shows his strategic vision
India’s former Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh (1932 – 2024) – who was also a former Finance Minister, a former RBI Governor, a former professor at the Delhi School of Economics – passed away last week. Those of us who lived through the unforgettable summer of 1991 – when PV Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh […]
Short read: How Much Should You Tell Your Kids About Your Finances?
India is going through one of the strongest financialisation of savings trends the world has seen, thanks to rising awareness about financial assets beyond the traditional physical assets like real estate and gold and the ubiquity of mobile apps making it easy to transact. Yet, most of us don’t discuss our finances openly, especially with […]
Short read: Why are Nordic companies so successful?
The Nordic countries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland are admired for having pulled off an improbable balance of a welfare state and a market economy. Even more remarkable is how companies from these tiny countries punch way above their weight and dominate their respective industries at a global scale. “Lego is the planet’s biggest […]
Long read: Indian immigration is great for America
Donald Trump’s win in the recent American presidential elections involved a considerable shift in support base from the opposite side, most notably Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and investors. And this coalition of supporters is beginning to see conflict of interest. Most notably on the issue of immigration on which Trump and his right-wing supporters have been […]
Long read: The quiet and fierce courage of the women in Shyam Benegal’s cinema
From hit movies made by Indian women about Indian women, we move on to celebrate the late Shyam Benegal (1934-2024) whose movies were amongst the first in Hindi cinema to give women agency and to give them – rather than male actors – centrestage. Growing up in India through the 1970s and 1980s meant being […]
Long read: How feminism, not Bollywood, drew global audiences to Indian cinema in 2024
India is undergoing a pivotal shift wherein women are pulling ahead of men in many different spheres of life. In Chapter 4 of our bestselling book “Behold the Leviathan: the Unusual Rise of Modern India” we have given our take on the ascendancy of Indian women (see here). As always, cinema is a reliable barometer […]
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