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81 years ago, on this day the 6th of January, arguably one of the best Presidents of the United States made a famous speech. Commemorated as the ‘Four Freedom’ speech, the freedoms that it enunciated became the core of universal human rights. Adopted by the UN just a few years later, it underlined the evolutionContinue reading “Four Freedoms”

A Gilded Edge Tycoon-The Commodore ‘Gilded Edge’, a novel carrying this revealing title, written by Mark Twain in 1873, portrays quintessentially the lives of greedy industrialists and corrupt politicians. The real-life Gilded Age was presided over by entrepreneurs known as “captains of industry” or “robber barons”.They grew extremely rich through the monopolies they created inContinue reading

A Diarist and His Passion for Silver On December 31 of the year 1666, Samuel Pepys recorded thus in his diary.“Thus ends this year of publick wonder and mischief to this nation, and, therefore, generally wished by all people to have an end. Myself and family well, having four mayds and one clerk, Tom, inContinue reading

Buckling under mounting pressure from the payment industry, and to some extent from banks, RBI last week deferred the date of adoption of ‘Tokenization’ to June 30, 2022. This transition was to be effective from January 1, 2022, embracing multiple players such as payment merchants, e-commerce websites, streaming platforms, payment aggregators, and of course, banks.Earlier,Continue reading “Tokenization – Why such Reluctance?”

“…an independent woman, a divorcee, a citizen of a neutral country, a courtesan and a dancer, which made her a perfect scapegoat for the French, who were then losing the war. She was kind of held up as an example of what might happen if your morals were too loose.”Ð Julie Wheelwright, British HistorianDoes historyContinue reading “The Original Femme Fatale: Scapegoat Not Spy”

A Judge who Found her Voice; and Used it Ruth Bader Ginsberg was a remarkable person on multiple counts. Judged by any standard, her character, conduct and conviction were extraordinary and unorthodox, eliciting appreciation and adoration, sometimes grudgingly, at times reluctantly, but never insincerely. Born on the Ides of March, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York,Continue reading “A Judge who Found her Voice; and Used it”

Glimpses of Darwin’s VoyageCharles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) was an English naturalist. He was a geologist and biologist, and shall be remembered in history of the evolution of human understanding of nature through his contributions to the science of evolution. His proposition that all species of life have descended from common ancestors is now widely acceptedContinue reading “Glimpses of Darwin’s Voyage”

Famous and much feted, the French storywriter Guy de Maupassant was one of the few among those fortunate men of literature who achieved acclamation, celebration and affluence in their own lifetimes. He did not have to wait for posthumous glory and greatness.Born in 1850 to an ambitious and independent mother, who was keen on establishingContinue reading “Tantalizingly Tender, Tiringly Terse”

‘In Choosing an impossible task you experience the beauty and love of life’ ‘He who has a why to live forCan bear almost any how”-Nietzsche The world has seen innumerable brave and courageous men and women who have in the face of impossible situations, defied death, even conquered it. But there are only a fewContinue reading “Missing for 85 years But Not Forgotten Amelia Earhart-The Intrepid Aviatrix”

The world is now reluctantly but wisely conceding that a new age has forced itself in. Most, including some eminent members of a government think tank, still retain such a glamour of the industrial age that they have simply called it “Industrial Revolution 4.1”. This is understandable: to tame our hubris and intemperance in disowningContinue reading “Media in the Internet Age and its Itinerant Problems”