B R Ambedkar on RESERVATION

Just as only a woman can tell you what being raped or groped means, only a Dalit knows how discrimination works both overtly and subtly.

During the Constituent Assembly debates, B. R. Ambedkar pleaded that reservation be allowed for a fixed period of 40 years only, with no possibility of extension. Typical of our short-sightedness, the Constituent Assembly rejected his wise suggestion and said that it should be for ten years only, but could be extended if necessary. Sixty years have passed and there is no hope of the system coming to an end.

Others

A useful organising principle to understand innovation in the last 250 years is the sequence of three industrial revolutions.

Indians tend to have an ambivalent attitude to new technology, with initial suspicion eventually being replaced by eager acceptance. While there is much public discussion on big bang technological change, far less thought is given to the deep changes that everyday technologies can bring about in society. Be it the ATM machine, cable television, typewriters or bicycles, consumer technologies can empower ordinary people.