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He’s a Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences. He’s also a Thomas W. Lamont University Professor, Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University, and was the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge until 2004. He’s none other than Mr. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Amartya+Sen">Amartya Sen</a>. 
 Business Insider caught up with this great economist at the Tata Steel <keyword id="911395" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Kolkata-Literary-Meet">Kolkata Literary Meet</keyword>, chatting gleefully with fellow Harvard Professor <keyword id="283200" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sugata-Bose">Sugata Bose</keyword> about his latest book – <keyword id="3219241" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="The-Country-of-First-Boys">The Country of First Boys</keyword>. 
 
Over the next hour, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Amartya+Sen">Sen</a> offered valuable socio-economic lessons on several issues. These had significant remarkable relevance for modern India. While the 82 year old economist didn’t name any individual or political group, but it wasn’t impossible to connect the dots. 
 
Sex-specific abortions: 
More girls are born than boys everywhere in the world. All of the States in the East and South of India have birth ratio of girls in the European range. That goes all the way from Assam to Bengal to Orissa all the way to Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. However, all states in the north and west have lower than that. Sometimes considerably lower. In the case of Haryana and Delhi it will be in the 80s. That is quite dramatic. Some have gone even worse over the years. 
 
Connection between Sanskrit and Mathematics 
Indian mathematics didn’t flourish in the Vedic period as some nationalists tend to claim now. It flourished 4th-5th Century onwards and there was also quite clearly external impulse in it. I think Babylonian and Greek Mathematics came to India around that time. Then Indian mathematics took off in a dramatic way, and influenced not only India but what was the central area of intellectual excellence – the Middle East. 
 
The Arab and Iranian Mathematicians actually knew Sanskrit. Al-Khwarizmi, from whose name the word Algorithm, and from his book AlJjabr Wal-Muqābala the word Algebra is derived, he knew Sanskrit. 
 
There was a connection between Sanskrit and Mathematics as a conveyance, and I’ll be interested in both. 
 
Sanskrit used as tool for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Intolerance">Intolerance</a> and Communal Animosity 
The Hindu-Muslim divide was cultivated around the 40s. It’s important to recognize that in Bengal Muslim League didn’t win an election until 1946, and by 1952 Bangladesh is agitating about language. 
 
It’s got nothing to do with Sanskrit, really. Sanskrit is also where you have the skeptical documents. It offers all of that. 
 
Most people who advocate Sanskrit don’t know the language. That makes it very easy for them not to read any of these. They don’t have to read, because they couldn’t. So I think it comes as a political thing. 
 
After my Nobel, India Today had an article saying a Westernized Indian gets a Nobel. I asked the Editor that I would like to talk with the author. I would like him to come to my hotel, and to argue on it. The only thing I insist on is that we talk in Sanskrit! 
 
The quest for ‘Nyay’ (Justice) over ‘Neeti’ (Principle) 
I think very often that distinction has been misunderstood. 
 
It’s not compromise It’s accepting something with a gamble, and the gamble is that you wnd up not making that progress at all. What can de done now should be done now. What cannot be done shouldn’t be forgotten. That is what you may call a ‘sequence planning’ rather than a ‘spot planning’. 
 
Small industry as a means of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Sustainable+development">Sustainable development</a> 
Has there been any example of a country which has proceeded to have fairly fast economic expansion without industrial development and by which I do mean industrial development? That would be a good example. 
 
That's not true of America, that's not true of Europe, of Japan, of China, of Korea, of Hong Kong or Singapore. It's not true of Latin America. I think one of the things I have to resist is an imagined that these things are wrong, and there are all kinds of wrong that there is an alternative that is much better. New things have been tried. 
 
I am very suspicious of taking people on what I would call for a ride on the ground that some imagined alternative would be much, much better. What is a country which has no large industry but still is very rich? 
 
Justice and Workers' Rights 
The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=small+industries">small industries</a> are still there but the big industries have withdrawn. When I went to London first, I went by boat - not an adventurous boat, but by a ship - as I could not afford the airfare. In those days, there were 18 flights from Calcutta to London every week. Now there is not one. There is not a single flight to anywhere in Europe. You have to go to Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Bangkok or Singapore and then escape. But you can't go anywhere. 
 
I think that couldn't have been the intention to put so much focus on distribution and the workers' power and so on that you end up not having the industries and there is nowhere to demonstrate the workers' power because you haven't got the workers to demonstrate that with. Pragmatism is an essential approach to practical reasoning. 
 
Industrialization and Activism 
You can do very good <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=environmental+planning">environmental planning</a> along with a programme of industrial expansion. The conflict is not with the economic growth. The conflict is with the type of growth and care we take of the environment. 
 
So, the idea that any kind of attempt at having large industry must be combined with neglect of the environment, that actually is not a good way of thinking about it. Because there is no reason that must be the case. 
 
Revival of Humanities as a discipline 
There has been no decline within Humanities. There has been a shift away from Humanities to the Sciences. 
 
Tagore once complained about the lack of Science education. It could be certainly better, but scientific education has definitely progressed. Our best students and relatively smaller in number, and when there is competing priority they give priority to Science. Humanities tend to fall short. 
 
I think the IITs are good, and so are the likes of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Amartya Sen: 'I am very suspicious of taking people for a ride on some imagined alternative'

Kolkata, Apr 9 () Two prominent literary figures,exploring different genres of work, have recited their workfrom home live streamed for thousands of book lovers whocannot attend book reading sessions, poetry recitals and artevents in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak."We will post a video of a short reading by an authorat 8 pm... we want you to end the day with good thoughts!Today we have a writer without whom the lit meet isincomplete!! Watch this space," said the Facebook post of theorganisers of an eastern-region based annual literary meet.On April 8, poet-lyricist Srijato Bandyopadhyayrecited a short poem in Bengali on that page and the recitalgot lakhs of views."Reclining against the pillow, I watch the overcastgloomy sky as the roads are flooded," Srijato read out thelines of one of his poems in Bengali, penned earlier tocapture the gloominess, the forlorn spectacle of a city duringrains.Author Ruskin Bond read out one of his poems on thesame slot a day earlier with his home as background."It is a small poem penned not so long back," Bondsaid and kept reading the poem which has phrases like "lightthe fire", "bend to touch the flower", "bend to touch achild".The reading had over 2.5 million views, with oneYouTuber gushing "it is such a refreshing feel to see and hearRuskin Bond read out a poem from his room."A well-known book store has also hosted a live bookreading session on its facebook page.The facebook page posted videos of live session andpoetry reading of school children and videos by eminentpersonalities recommending certain titles which can be read bybibliophiles at home."The digital platform has given us a great opportunityto hear the discussion on arts, literature and contemporaryissues in this hour of confinement. I can choose and see theshow and even if I miss one segment, I can catch up with thatby clicking on the link later," Riya Sen, a post-graduatestudent of Presidency University said. SUSRG RG

COVID-19: Live streaming of poetry & book reading sessions

hoichoi adds 13 million cumulative subscribers in 3 years with 40% of its direct revenue coming from International users

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Rachel+Moran">Rachel Moran</a> grew up in north Dublin. A troubled family and a year in state care later, she became homeless at fifteen and was forced into <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=prostitution">prostitution</a>. She worked in Dublin and other Irish cites for the nest seven years. Later, she liberated herself and studied journalism at Dublin state University. Today she is an international speaker on <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=sex-trafficking">sex-trafficking</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=prostitution">prostitution</a>. She also advises young girls about the perils of the trade. She has shared her experience in her memoir 'Paid For'. 
 
Business Insider caught up with Rachel on the sidelines of the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet, and got chatting about <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Sexuality">Sexuality</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=prostitution">Prostitution</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=India%E2%80%99s+Porn+Ban">India’s Porn Ban</a>. 
 
Yours is an intriguing and inspiring story. How did you survive the tough times? 
I survived because I never lied to myself. I knew what I was living was horrible and humiliating. That’s the main reason why I came out of the experience psychologically and emotionally healthy. 
 
What I see now in the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=sex+workers">sex workers</a> rights movement didn’t quite exist back in the 90s. It’s this deceptive veneer plastered over <keyword id="56655" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="prostitution">prostitution</keyword> where <keyword id="29537" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="sex-workers">sex workers</keyword> lie to themselves and others. 
 
Some believe lying to oneself keeps you sane, at least for a while. 
That mechanism is used to lying to others. Lying to yourself is a harmful business. 
 
Your biggest takeaway from the experience. 
I’ve learned that it’s absolutely important for people to treat each other with the fullness of their humanity. 
 
Some of the biggest myths about prostitution. 
Some of the most popular myths that are out there are that these are a couple of lonely men accessing sex as they can’t get it anywhere else. 
 
That is quite frankly, bullshit. About three-quarters of men who use women in prostitution are married. They are fathers and have wives at home. 
 
Also, for lonely men looking for intimacy, they’re looking for something in a place they’re least likely to find it. You can’t possibly find sexual intimacy in a brothel. 
 
India is in the throes of a sexual revolution today. Some say legalizing prostitution might help. What’s your take? 
That’s the worst one can do. The countries that have legalized prostitution (several states in Australia, New Zealand, Nevada in the US) have all made the same mistake and faced similar consequences. 
 
Today there are 450000 prostitutes In Germany and 500 brothels in Berlin alone. Brothels are as high as 12 stories with absolute inhumanity practiced on every floor. Men are able to use the bodies of impoverished marginalized women to satisfy every perversion, fantasy or whim they can imagine. All of this is legal, and the government collects taxes from this, which of course makes them a pimp. 
 
The alternate view says legalization would help regulate the trade, and bring these women to the mainstream. 
The government can control nothing over legalization. A little known fact about legalized systems is that illegal systems outstrip the legal brothels. These are not regulated. 
 
There are women who’d say what they’re doing with their personal life is nobody’s business. What do you to say to that? 
My response to women who speak that way is, “it’s not all about you”. 
 
What’s you take on online <keyword id="6378652" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Pornography">pornography</keyword>? 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=prostitution">Prostitution</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=pornography">pornography</a> are just the same thing. It’s the degradation of women on a large scale. The only difference is that there is a camera involved in one and not in the other. 
 
The same men who say porn is just fine, if they happen to be on the internet one day and saw their daughters and mothers on a porn site, the indignity and humiliation would become immediately apparent to them. 
 
The problem here is that modern day <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=pornography">pornography</a> is not erotica. It is not always mutual shared consensual sex. 
 
Prostitution is the world’s oldest profession. How can you get rid of that? 
Why are we trying to control the conditions of inhumanity? 
 
Prostitution has been around for thousands of years. So has rape or murder. We legislate against these. 
 
What can Men do now? 
They Men need to understand the pain and damage to them that’s happening at a soul level. They need to become aware about how toxic masculinity has become. 
 
If a Man is not dominant, he is not even seen as a man. If I had to been aggressive and antagonistic before my femininity is even acknowledged, what that would mean for me is that I would have to be practicing inhumanity to be considered a female. 
 
Your advice to people stuck in the trade. 
I understand exactly how they’re feeling, and how they’re positioned. 
 
There is always a way out. Whether you believe it or not, there is always the possibility of a future beyond prostitution. 
 
I didn’t believe that. I desperately wanted a way out, but couldn’t see any for years. 
 
“Believe me, there is a future beyond this”, that would be my message. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Exclusive: Rachel Moran on Modern
Sexuality, Prostitution and India’s Porn Ban

He’s been a Member of Parliament, and held key ministerial posts from 2006-2014. He’s handled <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Rural+Development">Rural Development</a>, Drinking Water and Sanitation, Environment and Forests, Commerce and Power. He has also been an advisor to the then Prime Minister and Finance Minister. He has served in the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Planning+Commission">Planning Commission</a>, the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Advisory+Board+on+Energy">Advisory Board on Energy</a> and the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Ministry+of+Industry">Ministry of Industry</a>. He is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Jairam+Ramesh">Jairam Ramesh</a>. 
 
Business Insider caught up with Mr. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Jairam+Ramesh">Ramesh</a> on the sidelines of the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet, and got chatting about <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=startups">startups</a>, development, and the environment. 
 
What’s you take on Mr. Modi’s startup policy? 
This is another excellent marketing gimmick. Between 2004-2014, there were 200 startups and $50 billion coming as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=VC+funds">VC funds</a>. India became the third largest startup ecosystem in the world after the US and Israel. Now Mr. Modi has suddenly discovered the importance of startups. 
 
The most important point is that he’s avoided the issue of net neutrality. If <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Facebook">Facebook</a> is going to determine what India views, the startup ecosystem can’t last. 
 
You’ve said Mr. Modi is delaying the <keyword id="387846" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="GST-Bill">GST Bill</keyword>. Why do you say that? 
There is a broad consensus that the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=GST">GST</a> should come. The Congress introduced it back in March 2011. Mr. Modi single-handedly subverted the bill for 3 years. Now he’s become Prime Minister, and the greatest champion of the Bill. 
 
The BJP wants a pro-industry <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=GST">GST</a>. We want a pro-people one. We’ve made suggestions. Let’s hope they consider our advice. 
 
You’ve also said that Mr. Jaitley has showed how not to handle the economy. What according to you is going wrong? 
Exports have fallen for 13 months in a row, industrial production is at its worst in 4 years, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Consumer+Price+Inflation">Consumer Price Inflation</a> is at its peak in 15 months. The Rupee was at Rs. 58/Dollar when Mr. Modi came into power. It’s currently Rs. 68/Dollar. Even the Stock Markets which were very gung ho when Mr. Modi became Prime Minister are stagnant. All the indicators of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=economic+progress">economic progress</a> paint a bleak picture. 
 
Oil prices have crashed from $120/Barrel to $20/Barrel. In spite of that you’ve not shown results, which shows he has worked hard to mismanage the economy. 
 
Do you believe in the Modi government’s Growth Mantra? 
We need rapid, inclusive and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=sustainable+growth">sustainable growth</a>. Growth that is slow is unacceptable, growth that is non-inclusive in unjust, and growth that is not sustainable is not doing anyone any good. 
 
How do you see this contradiction between the Growth Mantra and the Economic Indicators? 
Mr. Modi has to go beyond slogans. He’s a great marketer. He’s the best car salesman that history has ever seen. He can sell you a user car and convince you that it’s a new car. However, he has to go beyond marketing, re-branding and packing, and get into the nitty-gritty of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=economic+growth">economic growth</a>. 
 
How does the government figure out the balance between sustainable development and technological advancement? 
The choices and trade-offs that we make are going to determine the extent to which we’re able to bring the two together. There is a conflict between the two in the short run. However, it’s not impossible over a long time. 
 
How we manage this conflict, this trade-off is important. There is no simple formula. 
 
Do you think it’s increasingly difficult to take the environmental standpoint? 
In the last 18 months, the place for civil society has shrunk. There is growth triumphalism. You can call this ecological intolerance. 
 
Could you explain your idea of ‘Grow Now, Pay Later’ Economies? 
Most Asian economies, including China have the idea that they’ll have 20 years of growth, and worry about its consequences later. It’s the ‘Dekha jayega’ (We’ll see later) approach to economic development. 
 
Rural demand continues to be weak. How can we tap into that? Over the last 18 months, all <keyword id="6355126" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rural-Development">rural development</keyword> programmes have not seen an increase in budget. Whether it’s the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=National+Rural+Employment+Guarantee+Act">National Rural Employment Guarantee Act</a>, the National Rural Livelihood Mission, they’ve been emasculated and starved of funds. Minimum Support Prices have not increased. The net consequence of that is that the growth in wage rates has been very slow, and rural purchasing power is very weak. 
 
Your expectations from the Budget. 
I don’t have much expectation, really. 
 
Mr. Jaitley has already announced that the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Corporate+Taxes">Corporate Taxes</a>, and eliminate allowances as well. Let’s see what actually happens. Fingers crossed. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

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Exclusive: Rachel Moran on Modern Sexuality, Prostitution and India’s Porn Ban

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Exclusive: ‘Jaitley worked hard to mismanage the economy’: Jairam Ramesh

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