The Great Indian Tamasha

When I was started reading Revolution 2.0 from Wael Ghonim, little did I realize that the book would inspire me enough to actually start considering Social Media as a political tool. I say this not just because we can use this medium to organize people or to publish real time information to a vast number of people, I have talked about that in my post titled “Now ONE Matters”, BUT because collectively as an online community we can achieve much more than we can do as individuals. This is critical as the concept of an individual having the disruptive power to take on functions of established institutions, markets as well as the media is disorienting enough for some but the very thought of what entire communities of such empowered netizens can achieve is unthinkable. I think the Arab spring was just a precursor of things to come. However before getting too enthusiastic, I must put a disclaimer that the trick lies in knowing how to make use of online tools without being overloade...

What is Financial Inclusion? Financial inclusion is delivery of banking services at an affordable cost to the vast sections of disadvantaged & low income groups. Unrestrained access to public goods & services is the sine qua non of an open & efficient society. As banking services are in the nature of public good, it is essential that availability of banking & payment services to the entire population without discrimination is the prime objective of the public policy. The scope of financial inclusion   The scope of financial inclusion can be expanded in two ways. (a)      Through state-driven intervention by way of statutory enactments ( for instance the US example, the Community Reinvestment Act & making it a statutory right to have bank account in France). (b)     Through voluntary effort by the banking community itself for evolving various strategies to bring within the ambit of the banking sector the large...

At the Kennedy School, one of the most interesting courses that I have taken is DPI - 659: Media, Power and Politics in the Digital Age. As part of the course, I recently started reading the book "Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations", by Shirky. What started as a mandatory course reading has suddenly transformed into an eye opener. I suddenly realize that the world I live in currently and will work in going forward will be fundamentally different from the world that I grew up in and the difference lies in one word i.e. "Internet" To a lay man like me the message Shirky is giving is at the same time simple as well as revolutionary. Simply put, according to Shirky, internet is a great leveler which if used properly makes an individual as powerful as established institutions of old like the state, the markets or the media. I will discuss each of these by turn. The State The internet revolution has done what democracy had...