Steam Center Blog

Recent data shows that there has been a slight reduction in corruption in India this year. It is because India has found a very honest Prime Minister in Narendra Modi and his cabinet. However the reduction has only been slight because at lower levels of government, born from years of habit, corruption is still widespread. An older note in this blog described how corruption can be eradicated with speed. It is presented here again with slight modification and simplification including the use of the now widely available JAM, Adhaar card number system in India. This plan is exceedingly simple to implement and cost effective. It involves just two simple steps Passing an ordnance that a bribe by the bribe giver shall not be a prosecutable crime provided the bribe giver files a complaint by post at --- or online at ----   within a month of giving the bribe. A draft design of the simple online form is included with this note. It may be modified to...

A dulteration of food by substances dangerous to life is a fact in many parts of the world including India. Consumers have to be careful in ensuring that food they procure from markets is safe for their health and their families. Food safety inspectors exist in health departments of all countries to check food products and punish unscrupulous food sellers. In India however there is a unique dimension to this inspection that hovers between the irrational and sordid corruption that plays with the health and well being of citizens. Let us first explain what the irrational element is. On October 15 there was a report in the times of India, the prominent daily newspapers that in a village in Chomu district of India, food inspectors from the health department had unearthed a mawa (a concentrated milk product used in many Indian sweet dishes) unit that was preparing it from milk powder and edible vegetable oil products instead of just pure milk ( see here ). They destroyed 120 kg...

Countries that have low levels of corruption have a high quality of life and much beauty I t is widely recognized that corruption is a major cause that holds back development in India and perpetuates poverty. More than ten years ago, this author published a note that described a mathematical relationship between levels of corruption and levels of poverty that prevail in different parts of the world. It is in the public domain online. The new Government of Shri Narendra Modi has been seized of the problem. One of its achievements has been elimination of big ticket top level corruption. While this is sure to have an impact over the long term, in the immediate future it seems that at lower levels corruption shall continue to increase as it has over the last several decades. Today a report in the Times of India described that it has increased by 5% in 2015. Corrupt officials at the lower level are like carnivorous animals that once having tasted human blood cannot live withou...

Work of International NGOs Several International non-governmental organizations are doing huge amounts of work to make our world a better place. Three leading ones relevant to the present discussion are Amnesty International, OXFM International and Transparency International. It goes without saying that no human organization can be perfect and what one can hope for is that on balance these organizations make a positive and significant contribution to improving the world we all share. This author has noted a significant political bias in the work of Amnesty International, or so it seems to him. As regards OXFAM International, while they have produced valuable data on the state of our world and wealth there appears to be a slant in their recommendations. For example while pointing out that just 62 wealthy individuals in the world have managed to acquire wealth equal to half the population of the planet; they have been repeatedly tweeting that Tax havens must be eradicated...