Gojiberries (Page 43)

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What Does it Mean to be Literate in India?

A country hailed internationally for its engineers is also home to about a third of the world’s illiterates (UNESCO, 2000). The Indian government defines literacy as the ability to read and write, which is similar to UNICEF’s definition. The 2001 census put India’s literacy rate at 65.

Piracy, the Real Mantra Behind Indian Success

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) ran an opinion piece yesterday arguing that India is “rapidly evolving into Asia’s innovation center” and “leaving China in the dust” because of its famed intellectual property regime. Not only is the claim patently bogus, but the opposite—that the Indian innovation is surviving

A Ditty for Bush

Pakistani administrators recently inserted a poem titled "The Leader", praising George W. Bush, in the English-language course book for 16-year-olds. The poem spells out President George W. Bush: Patient and steady with all he must bear, Ready to meet every challenge with care, Easy in manner, yet solid

End of Information Hierarchy

Today, people have a variety of ways to explore a collection via the Internet as opposed to carefully orchestrated explorations in a brick and mortar museum with a curated exhibition. A curator comes up with a story along with other contextual information about the exhibit and arranges the exhibition so

War and Sex

War is deadly for both sexes. A missile doesn’t differentiate between a man and a woman. Then, what is the role of gender in war? Nearly all active militaries in the world have substantially more male soldiers than female soldiers, and far more men die on the battlefields than

Merchants of Art

“Shakespeare Wallah” was my introduction to the magic of Merchant Ivory Productions. An elegy to a lost era, a bitter-sweet tale of a traveling English theatre troupe in India right after the Indian independence, it is still vivid in my memory. The debonair Shashi Kapoor and Satyajit Ray’s beautiful

Some Die Young

There are 34 countries in Africa where life expectancy at birth of both men and women is equal to or less than 51. Data are from the 2003 UN estimates. Note that life expectancy at birth is strongly impacted by infant mortality. Name of country Av. Age of Men Av.