In 1948, a young mathematician published a paper in an obscure technical journal. For Claude Shanon, the mathematician in question, communication was purely a matter of sending a message composed of what he called bits over a noisy channel so that someone else could recover it. Whether the message was …
How many of the Einsteins who exist now will be allowed to learn physics? That is the question Eben Moglen, professor of law and legal history at Columbia University, threw at a selected audience in Delhi last month. And the answer he provided—none, perhaps—did not occasion much surprise. Those attending …
In the past two decades, the US government has become a bulwark of the movement for intellectual property rights. Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights regime owes much to tough talking US representatives at WTO deliberations. Players in music, film, agriculture and pharmaceutical industry look up to USA to secure their monopolistic …
Penguins are lovable. And it is hard to believe a children’s book on such an inoffensive bird can trigger a controversy. But that’s exactly what happened with And Tango Makes Three in 2005. Based on a true New York zoo story by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, the book tells …
The report of the National Knowledge Commission on higher education makes several important recommendations, and after due review they should be implemented in a mission mode for a much-needed revolution. The National Knowledge Commission's report on higher education is one in the series that started with the report of the …
