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Feku the fraudster sat on a throne Feku the fraudster pulled a fast one A masterstroke! A masterstroke! Feku the fraudster set everything afire Now, put out the fire, put out the fire Feku the fraudster laughed, yelled and cried A masterstroke! A masterstroke! Feku the fraudster laughed, yelled and cried All the fraudster’s cows and toadies Went around, in circles, in circles Couldn’t put out the engulfing fire Feku the fraudster’s tail was now afire And, all over a burning hell fire. [17-Nov-2016] The Political Economy of Demonetising High Value Notes -  Jayati Ghosh

Linux is Born August 25, 1991 is considered as Linux kernel’s official birthday because Linus Benedict Torvalds, then a student at the University of Helsinki, first made a post on that day (Box-1) about his work on a new operating system, his “hobby”. As per his post, it had “been brewing” for a while. The first version was released to public on September 17, 1991. Linus Torvalds Torvalds had named it “Freax” – a portmanteau of the words “free,” “freak,” and UNIX. The volunteer administrator for the university’s server and a friend of Torvalds, who uploaded the code on the server, did not like the name and changed it to Linux. The new operating system (OS) began to make a notable impact after the release of version 0.02 to the world at large on October 5, 1991. From then on, it went on to become perhaps the most successful software in computing history. The Linux community adopted a penguin nicknamed Tux as the mascot of the Linux kernel. Although created original

Alphabet Inc's Google launched on October 4, 2016 its own line of new devices including the Pixel line of high-end smartphones leaving very little to imagination as to where the company is headed. In addition to Pixel, the Big G launched "Google Home" – a versatile audio system, “Daydream” – virtual reality headset, and Google-WiFi – a mesh-networking access point. Google claims that these WiFi access points, which require minimal configuration by the user, are capable of almost completely eliminating the Wi-Fi blackspots in buildings. They work cooperatively as an intelligent meshed network. To some, all this may not have been very surprising. Perhaps, what may not be very clear at first glance is the rationale behind positioning Pixel to challenge iPhone at the very top of the $400 billion global smartphone market where iPhone is now the unrivalled queen. There will surely be many die-hard Android fans who are heartily welcoming the Pixel. Without the Pi

One stealth operation along the India-Pakistan LOC. Within hours, it is officially advertised by India somewhat hilariously as ‘historic’, as a ‘paradigm shift’, and what not. Incidentally, for the record, Pakistan insists no such 'surgical' strike took place while acknowledging clashes between the two sides along the LOC. Along with the official bragging from the Indian side, there is a well-orchestrated national chorus in India of triumphal chest thumping, blood curdling ‘victory’ celebrations, and an endless gloating of the India’s ‘invincible’ military prowess. It is as if some big sports event is on. There is no end to the praise for the ‘surgical strike’ – with and without knowing what it really means militarily. The maddening jingoism makes even rabid dogs look very docile. However, all this ‘pride’ seem totally devoid of any iota of substance. What are the ultra-national jingoists gloating about? One stealthy ‘strike’ about 1 to 3 km away from LOC within POK (well, of

RIP. Tributes. Prof Sharad Chandra Malaviya is no more. He passed away on 30-Jul-2016. He was former Professor and Dean Govind Ballabh Pant Univ. of Agric. & Tech. who retired in 1995. He was my MSc (Physics) course adviser and dissertation guide. Students used to be terrified of him as he was a strict disciplinarian. Having him as the course adviser was a huge privilege that accorded me a kind of ‘protection’ if you will. Though I wasn’t undisciplined, I wasn’t a conformist either, sporting a wild, unkempt beard, and associated with the kind of discussions and groups that were officially frowned upon by the regimented system those days. He never said a word. He taught Mathematical Physics spread across two terms. As a teacher, he wasn’t one who explained too many steps and it was not easy to keep track of the material he was covering. He would outline the content and make us discover the details from books - texts and advanced readings. He made us use some of the best books in

It may be very tempting to say that Apple lost. That, fortunately, is untrue. It is, as it were, an inaccurate perception or a misreading. Just as every device or software has flaws, an iPhone too can have vulnerabilities. That is surely not an earth shaking news, though it will make iPhone users very uneasy. Some say junk iPhone 5c. Well, some may do that. May be that presents a buying opportunity for those who do not wish to have secure phones to acquire an iPhone 5c dirt-cheap. The core argument put forth by the Cupertino folks is this: "Apple believes deeply that people in the United States and around the world deserve data protection, security, and privacy. Sacrificing one for the other only puts people and countries at greater risk." In this unlikely face-off between Apple Inc. and FBI, the following may be noted: Apple showed tremendous courage and refused to buckle down, sticking to the decision to use all possible legal options By and large, the publ