Who is kazam

Please tell me what or who kaZam is. This is really irritating, not knowing who is writing the mails. And what does kaZam mean

Drugs and Free markets: Are they compatible ?

While I did not have the time to develop the arguments to the extent i would have wanted to, here it goes...

I was wondering whether drugs (narcotics - including both hard and soft drugs) and free markets are compatible. Whereas some liberals will argue that narcotics should be left to individual choice, I am not very sure that individual choice would be optimal in this case. Let me explain why.

Two very important preconditions to a efficient free market mechanism is the absence of information asymmetry and a highly effective legal system. Leave alone developing nations such as India , I am not confident that these are present effectively even in developed nations. This is especially true in the context of information asymmetry.

Thus, when two basic prerequisites for intended market outcomes are absent, free markets cannot be expected to lead to optimal outcomes. In this case, since drug users

Optional assignements from samir and somo

IE

Evaluate the impact of reforms on the incidence of poverty. Highlighting the methodological problems associated with the estimation of poverty in India. What care should be taken to avoid such methodological problems. [16+4]


Questions on China, Market Socialism

1. Do you consider the experience of market socialist reforms in China as a phase of primary accumulation of capital creating the basis for establishment of capitalism? Explain. If so, is this a pre-planned and conscious move in this direction by the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party?
2. Privatisation in China has been driven by the dynamics of the following factors: the growing class power of the Chinese Communist Party elites and their alienation from the masses; the effects of the reforms on the financial stability of the State sector; the imperatives of increasing role of the foreign sector in the Chinese economy. Discuss
3. Can “market socialism” be a superior alternative to centralised planning , if the normative principles of a socialist society are to be maintained and advanced? Discuss on the basis of the alternative theoretical positions and actual experiences in erstwhile Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and present-day China.
4. Introduction of markets in a socialist economy has been considered by some as an adjunct to central planning, increasing its efficiency, though others have seen it as an alternative to central planning, improving allocative efficiency and promoting technological progress. In contrast, some others believe that the road to market reforms is a slippery path, which leads to jettisoning of socialism and restoration of capitalism. Discuss these alternative perspectives in the context of alternative theoretical positions and actual experiences in erstwhile Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and present-day China.

[question 3 & 4 are somewhat similar .. they have been worded differently .. you need to draw from Lange, Brus, Berliner and the China reading]

date sheet

Can someone please tell me what the final datesheet is. Is the one that Varun told us final. And when is the second years maths exam.

Its Me...

I am new and I don't know a thing about it...Someoone teach me..

i am still not sure if i am a memebr of this blog..testing it by this post

Guess where this is !!

hey guys...no points for where these were taken :)

to juniors...dont thing we guys are crazy..its just an end of college fetish some of us lived out !!!! try it sometime...if you're ok with passerbye's staring at you ;)

How to use this Blog !!

Hi guys.. a lot of people asked me what blogging is all about. Frankly, I have never been a serious blogger. Only posted on professional blogs now and then..

For those who want to know more about blogging, do look up this link:
http://www.blogger.com/tour_start.g

This link will give you a broad idea of what blogging is all about. Once you start posting (ie. sending messages to the blog), you'll learn the ropes yourself. Its quite simple !!

See, when you want to start a new topic, you create a post ( a post is the message with the bold title). Once someone has posted on a topic (or started a topic), one replies to it/expresses his views by commenting on it (by clicking on 'omment' link immediately at the end of the post).

Thats all for now..hope this catches on.. do write in if you have any queries (for queries click on the 'comment' link immediately after this post ;)....

Varun

Law regarding women being arrested !!

Hi guys.. i sent a forward to the egroup with the following quote

The law [which most are not aware of] clearly states that between 6 pm and 6 am, a woman has the right to REFUSE to go to the Police Station, even if an arrest warrant has been issued against her. It is a procedural issue that a woman can be arrested between 6 pm and 6 am, ONLY if she is arrested by a woman officer and taken to an ALL WOMEN police station. And if she is arrested by a male officer, it has to be proven that a woman officer was on duty at the time of arrest.

turns out that this law is true. i wrote in to a lawyer friend of mine who sent me the following reply

"
Yes, It is very much true. The Code of Criminal Procedure, or teh CrPC contains this provisions. However, like most of our laws, this provision too is not implemented the way it was intended by the lawmakers. Most of us, teh educated lot also are not aware of these provisions, let alone the illiterate masses in the rural parts of the country!

Some sensible soul has, for once forwarded this msg instead of silly jokes and quotes!

Tc

Regards,
Hetal"

GoI Starts a Online Grievance form yipee !!!!

The Government of India has a online Grievance forum at
http://darpg-grievance.nic.in/
The government wants people to use this tool to highlight the problems they
faced while dealing with Government officials or departments like Passport
Office, Electricity board, BSNL/MTNL, Railways etc etc.

I know many people will say that these things dont work in India, but this
actually works as one friend in CSC found. The guy i'm talking about lives
in Faridabad. Couple of months back, the Faridabad Municipal corporation
laid new roads in his area and the residents were very happy about it.

But 2 weeks later, BSNL dug up the newly laid roads to install new cables
which annoyed all the residents including this guy. This friend used the
above listed grievance forum to highlight his concern. And to his surprise,
BSNL and Municipal corporation of faridabad was served a showcause notice
and the guy recieved a copy of the notice in one week. Government has asked
the MC and BSNL about the goof up as it was clear that both the governent
departments were not in sync at all.

Only about 9000 odd visitors have visited the website as of today, i.e 8th
March 2006. So let us use this grievance forum and spread the word about
this facility. This way we can atleast raise our concerns instead of just
talking about the 'System' in India.

oye guys...i love the spirit

hi guys...awesome.. i think this blog will take offf.. i just sent a whole round of invits... pl get in touch with everyone who is interested in joining and send me their emails ids... it'll be cool

Hello !!

hi guys...varun this side.

we guys have some really amazing discussions on the googlegroup. however, dont you people think its more apt that we start blogging. that way we can have a chronological sequence of post and never lose track of the conversation !!

are you guys confortable with blogging ? it just might turn out to be good fun..Hans Raj has a blog for their ecosoc and i hear its wonderful...lets give KMC a blog too !!