Abu Dhabi Pumps in $7.5b To Save Citigroup

Reeling from massive losses due to its disastrous missteps in the subprime mortgage segment, embattled financial services giant Citigroup is getting a $7.5 billion cash infusion from Gulf nation Abu Dhabi through a sale of Equity Units convertible into shares. The Abu Dhabi investment is expected to close within the next several days.  The badly-needed cash […]

Are Hindu Women Chaste?

One of the most fascinating books on India is the work Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies by that Christian bigot Abbe Dubois, who traveled widely in South India in the late 18th century and early 19th century. A resident of India from 1792-1823, Duboi, a French man, had the opportunity to observe the customs and […]

WSJ Does a Hit Job on Ambanis

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) has an interesting piece today on the recent stock surge in the Ambanis’ Reliance group of companies controlled by the two brothers Mukesh and his estranged younger brother Anil Ambani, who run different companies. According to the WSJ, the steep stock surge has taken the two Ambanis’ total worth […]

Terrorists Strike Varanasi, Lucknow, Faizabad; 13 Dead

Terrorists attacked India’s holy city of Varanasi and two other cities Lucknow and Faizabad on Friday killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens others. All three cities have a very long history of communal tension between Hindus and Muslims. The bomb attacks happened between 1:10PM-1:25PM local time outside the premises of the courts in […]

America’s Prison Population – Up, Up & Up

It’s an American tragedy. If there is one constant in American society, it’s the growing prison population. With the highest incarceration rate in the world, America’s prison population still keeps growing at a distressingly high rate primarily because of tough sentencing guidelines and lack of support systems to integrate released prisoners into society. The U.S. […]

Oscar Wilde on Absinthe

Over the last 150 years, Absinthe – a kind of green herbal liquor that was long banned in many nations until recently – has inspired fervent devotion from its fans as much as it roused rabid hatred from its detractors. Here’s what Oscar Wilde had to say about the green goddess (courtesy: NYT) After the first […]

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