Healthcare cost: How much is too much?

My uncle, after undergoing a successful removal of tumor a few years ago, was recently diagnosed with abnormal growth of cancerous cells. It was a case of metastasis i.e. spread of a cancer from one organ or part to another non-adjacent organ or part. Thankfully the disease was manageable due to timely detection and availability of a suitable drug. As we move ahead I must clarify that in this blog, I am not focusing on the disease or its treatment rather the focus would be the cost of availing such healthcare services. Before I decided to write this blog post, I had a lengthy and animated discussion with one of my friend who has been working in the pharmaceutical industry for quite a few years. 

Framework for containing "Crime against Women"

The New Year is knocking on the doors and despite many negative occurrences in the past year, hopeful signs lie in store for the coming year. The hope stems from the fact that the youth has risen and they have shown appreciable calmness and intelligence despite being provoked by the politicians and the police. While the effort is commendable, unless some meaningful gains are achieved in this "fight against crime committed on women" (you may refer to these gains as “baby steps”, “low-hanging fruits”, “quick wins” etc.), it may end up being just another “flash in the pan”. 

Let us try to arrive at the solution of limiting such crimes or inhibiting the growth of such criminals. Without claiming or sounding like an expert on this topic, I think we can divide the life-cycle of a criminal into two parts i.e. pre-crime and post-crime. For the sake of simplicity, we would limit the criminal life-cycle till the final sentence has been awarded. Also, we would focus on “crime against women” though I feel this framework can be extended to other types of crime as well. As outlined in the exhibit below, the post-crime part can be further sub-divided into three stages, Excused, Pro and Trial.  

Five major challenges faced by Indian startups

One keeps coming across conversations that focus on when would India provide or start producing the next Googles or Facebooks? After all, many Indians have played a key role in turning the Silicon Valley as the global innovation- hub. While nobody may have a conclusive answer to the question posed above but nevertheless many startups have recently emerged in India, especially in the field of internet commerce.

Despite frenetic activities (by the Indian standards) on the startup scene, it hasn’t been a smooth ride for the entrepreneurs. In this blog I will focus on major challenges being faced by startups in India. I have tried to incorporate views of some of my friends who did give entrepreneurship a try. While some of have them have returned to become private naukars again, others are still part of the former breed.