V. P. Singh R.I.P

Mr. V. P. Singh, 10th Prime Minister of India died Nov 27th, the day after the Mumbai Attacks. He died of Blood Cancer and renal failure.

From NYT:

V. P. Singh, a former prime minister of India who was considered the father of coalition politics there and who stirred controversy by championing the rights of the country’s poorest citizens, died on Thursday in New Delhi. He was 77.

Having broken with Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the wake of a scandal, he united the entire spectrum of parties against the Congress Party of Mr. Gandhi under one umbrella and forged the National Front, with additional support from the Bharatiya Janata Party and left-wing parties. The National Front came to power after defeating the Congress Party in the 1989 general elections.

On Dec. 2, 1989, Mr. Singh became the 10th prime minister of India. He gained wide notoriety by moving to carry out the long-forgotten Bindheshwari Prasad Mandal Commission recommendations to reserve a fixed number of all the jobs in the public sector for the historically disadvantaged members of the lower and backward classes.

Shoban Babu passes away

Andhra's beloved actor of the yesteryear is no more!

From TOI:

Veteran Telugu actor Shobhan Babu died here on Thursday morning after a cardiac arrest. He was 71 and is survived by three daughters and a son. He has acted in over 100 films.

Born in Andhra Pradesh, Shobhan Babu began his acting career in the 1960s. After retiring from films in the late 1990s, he had settled down in Chennai with his family.

From Wiki a little background:

Sobhan Babu (January 14, 1937 – March 20, 2008), popularly known as Shoban Babu, was a Tollywood film actor.

Born as Uppu Sobhana Chalapathi Rao to a middle-class family, Sobhan went on to become a romantic icon and was the top Tollywood hero for two decades. He made his film debut with Daivabalam directed by Vasanthkumar Reddy, but his first film to hit the screens was Bhakta Sabari.

Sad story of A heroic Father's Last days!

I have come across James Kim's family's missing story couple of days ago in a blog. I was following it on and off. I heard the other day in the news that his wife and kids were found in a car. And they were searching for James now. I learned he was looking for help and should be close by. I thought its great news and he should be found pretty soon. But yesterday they found his body. It was truly sad. SFGate has the story.

This is the image of terrain where the Kim's family went through this ordeal.

RIP: Milton Friedman

A quote from Milton Friedman via Amit @ India Uncut. Friedman was a prominent economist. He died today. He was 94 years old.

There are four ways in which you can spend money. You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you’re doing, and you try to get the most for your money. Then you can spend your own money on somebody else. For example, I buy a birthday present for someone. Well, then I’m not so careful about the content of the present, but I’m very careful about the cost. Then, I can spend somebody else’s money on myself. And if I spend somebody else’s money on myself, then I’m sure going to have a good lunch! Finally, I can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else. And if I spend somebody else’s money on somebody else, I’m not concerned about how much it is, and I’m not concerned about what I get. And that’s government.