An Indecisive Indian

Have we been talking about transformation at ICF and the active human transformers , almost ad nauseum? Ironically, by June-end we knew that another type of Transformers were going to transform our delivery schedule negatively. Transformers form a part of the propulsion system of the train, with one each employed in one basic unit, i.e., four in total. A Transformer converts the overhead electric supply to from a very high voltage to a lower level. It was a new design. The model worked out by the manufacturer of propulsion and allied systems was to get the first five Transformers from a major manufacturer in France and get them to manufacture the rest in latter’s factory in Baddi in India for the second rake onwards. One of the five Transformers was going to be tested thoroughly first in the manufacturers’ premises, then in test centres in India and finally for a system test at the premises of propulsion equipment at Hyderabad. I remember meeting the French team twice after t...

What exactly is transparency? Transparency, as I understand, for a government organization dealing with public funds, or perhaps even in responsible business enterprises, is a culture of honesty and openness. But transparency sans accountability and delivery is meaningless; there is an equally important flip side and that is, the obligation to deliver. If use of public money must be done in a transparent manner, then it is also necessary that the purpose for which this money is being utilized is served well. It is easy to be transparent as long as it is divorced from delivery. It is also, perhaps, easier to deliver if there was no pressure of transparency. Merit lies in delivering while being transparent. In general, transparency is the quality of being easily seen through. A secondary connotation also refers to complete predictability, i.e., the output is entirely predictable from knowing the input. Since constructive and effective ordering of stores is not a computer game...

As we sit at home, relatively secure, but largely idle, we all have many questions. When will things stabilize so the lockdown is lifted? What is the probability of my contracting the infection, or worse, kicking the bucket at the scaffold of Covid-19? A whole lot of statistics are being thrown at us from TV channels and the faculty, eggheads and scholars of the Whatsapp Open University for the Mentally-Negligible (WOUM). In the mirage of colourful graphs and Covid buzzwords, you can see that the anchor, or the imbecile forwarder, has basically very little understanding of what they parrot. Terms like flattening of the curve, mortality rate, fatality rate, recovery rate, incremental rate and so on. Doctors don’t understand that much. It is not their job. For example the same information, that of number of Covid-19 cases in India going to 20000 in a month, was being put up last month in different manners, mostly without any reference to statistical significance. Near ...