Monday, September 30, 2013

Scattered Fates - a novel on the second partition of India

Interested in Indian fiction? Alternate history? FREE download of my novel Scattered Fates. ________ It is an alternate history novel, which unwraps in the backdrop of violent anti-Hindi agitations that rocked the State of Tamil Nadu (India) 50 years ago, narrated over two time frames – 1965 and 2005. It is the story of a son's search for the truth about his father's disappearance and the political intrigue that led to India's second partition into South & North, intertwined with the history of Korea Extended Description SCATTERED FATES is an alternate history novel, which unwraps in the backdrop of violent anti-Hindi agitations that rocked the State of Tamil Nadu and is narrated over two time frames – 1965 and 2005. It is the story, in lucid conversational style, of Subbaiah, a university...

Friday, September 20, 2013

Government Curbs Stifle South Korean Lottery Industry Growth

First published in Asia Gambling Brief Gaming regulators in South Korea, backed by a powerful anti-gambling lobby and the media, have declared that the domestic lottery market is overheating - although even a cursory glance at the figures reveals little evidence of the claim The headline numbers show that lottery sales, which hit an eight-year high last year, continued the momentum in the first half of 2013, with the official sales target for 2013 set at 3.29 trillion won ($3 billion), a 3.2 percent annual increase. But the latest statistics released by the Korea Lottery Commission, the regulatory authority under the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, reveal sales in the first half of this year rose by a modest 0.45 percent, or 7.5 billion won from 1.6 trillion won in the previous year. Far...

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Climate Change & Food Industry

Climate change may affect food systems in several ways ranging from direct effects on crop production, to changes in markets, food prices and supply chain infrastructure. There has been a dramatic increase in recent years in the public’s awareness of global climate change, reflecting increasing stridency from the scientific community as new and stronger evidence of climate change is revealed. The Earth’s climate is constantly changing as a result of natural processes. The atmosphere has an effect like a greenhouse on the Earth’s temperature. The energy from the sun reaching the earth is balanced by the energy the Earth emits to space. Greenhouse gases (GHGs) trap some of the energy the Earth releases to space. The GHGs in the atmosphere act as a thermostat controlling the Earth’s climate....

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Public Transport policies in Korea

First published in The Hindu Business Line, July 25th  Korea’s traffic policies, beginning with the reform of its public transportation system, and integrated use of information technology, has been acknowledged for its effectiveness and benchmarked by many other countries. The transport network in Seoul is famed for its impressive standard of operational capacity and efficiency, and for incorporating the latest technology to make commuting convenient. Before the public transport reforms of 2004, the bus system in Seoul faced severe problems as few people used it, leading to a deficit, that affected the quality of service. The reforms introduced an integrated operation system along with Bus Rapid Transit. The government introduced what it calls a ‘quasi-public operation system’, under...