At the Apt in Argyle

I am at our new Apt and looks all right. I just wish we had a nice courtyard rather than a brown building looking ouit our window.

I also don’t have a bed as of now, so I need to go talk with the front desk to make sure they get me one. I’ll try to upload this pic I just took of our room.

Reviving the tossup of the day tradition

I just thought it would be cool to restart the occasional “Tossup of the Day” column to look at some of the questions I have written over the past couple of years.

Here’s one for today:

This tossup is from the Minnesota 1 packet used at the 2009 incarnation of the Minnesota Undergraduate Tournament. I have modified it slightly to make it better grammatically.

It can be decoupled by compounds such as 2,4-di-nitro-phenol and FCCP or the protein thermogenin, whereas Rotenon and Antimycin inhibit it. Diseases such as Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy and MERRF occur due to mutations in genes which control this process. The Krebs cycle uses a same enzyme as one used in it, (*) succinate dehydrogenase, and it sees coenzyme Q and cytochrome C mediate its namesake particle transfer. Resulting in the formation of a proton gradient, for 10 points, name this respiratory process which uses a chemical gradient to power the addition of a phosphate group to ADP by ATP synthase and also sees the formation of water.
ANSWER: oxidative phosphorylation [or electron transport chain; or ETC]

Feel free to comment or whatever.

GK

Economist’s View: Can Econometricians Tell Us which Macroeconomic Model is Best?

This post by Dr. Thoma raises good questions about what model (or set of models?) would best describe the evolution of the current economic crisis and the policies that were set up to mitigate it.

In Econ 101, we’re pretty much introduced to this fact that some economic models work well in one environment, while others work in a different environment. I suppose that having all the possible data of the world would enable us to make better models. However, it still seems that we humans might come up with some newer idea which might make a given model useless. We may have to come up with some dynamic model which accounts for what’s going on in everyone’s head to come up with a good description of the economy!

India Has Its Own Kind of Power Struggle – WSJ.com

India Has Its Own Kind of Power Struggle – WSJ.com.

NEW DELHI — Seven years ago, more than 50% of the power distributed by North Delhi Power Ltd. wasn’t paid for by customers. Today, the company has cut that to 15%, signaling that one of India’s biggest infrastructure problems can be solved, if tackled aggressively.

Power theft by rich and poor customers as well as businesses has plagued India for decades, hindering foreign and domestic investment that could spark the increase in generating capacity the nation desperately needs.

The experience of North Delhi Power, a joint venture between the Delhi government and Mumbai-based Tata Power Co. Ltd., shows that a broad and sustained effort can make a difference.

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Good stuff. I always wondered about what kind of hits power companies here were taking. I knew it was high, but I’d also read about how good measures were being taken thru PPPs to eliminate power theft. It’s good to hear such heartening news.

One of the biggest jokes I’ve seen in my life

Tata group | Tata Motors | Media releases | Tata Chemicals’ Tata Salt Lite voted one of the leading brands in Complete Wellbeing survey

July 27, 2009

Tata Chemicals’ Tata Salt Lite voted one of the leading brands in Complete Wellbeing survey

Tata Chemicals emerged as one of the leading brands (fourth with 37 per cent votes) under the health and happiness category in Complete Wellbeing magazine’s survey. Complete Wellbeing magazine recently commissioned a pioneering survey to identify the role of brands in the two most important pursuits of a consumer’s life — health and happiness. For the survey, respondents were asked to vote for brands they perceived as representing only health, only happiness, and finally, both health and happiness.

Speaking on the achievement Ashvini Hiran, head, consumer products business, Tata Chemicals, said, “Tata Salt Lite has been launched in the health and wellness segment for helping overall blood pressure management. This is achieved through its unique low-sodium and potassium formulation. The brand has already acquired a leadership position in this niche category which has enormous potential to grow and work towards the health of India. It is heartening to note that it has made a visible impact in just the second year of its pan-India presence. Such recognitions encourage us to focus on providing innovative solutions and raise the bar always.”

Together in all three categories, as many as 88 brands feature in the first 10 ranks — 27 in the health-only category, 15 in happiness-only category and 46 in the health and happiness category. Head & Shoulders, Maggi, Lakme, Sundrop and Dettol are some other brands that have figured in the top of the health-and-happiness list.

The survey was conducted by leading global search company Synovate for Complete Wellbeing magazine. The Complete Wellbeing Health and Happiness Brand Survey 2009 engaged respondents in the SEC A category from Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru — three cities that best represent urban India’s lifestyle choices.

via Tata group | Tata Motors | Media releases | Tata Chemicals’ Tata Salt Lite voted one of the leading brands in Complete Wellbeing survey.

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Oh yeah, lower sodium content, you say? Do you just reduce the number of grams of salt by whatever percent and say that your product has lower sodium content? How else do you accomplish that when the product is basically sodium chloride?

So basically, Tata Salt Lite is not selling us salt, but rather, some other combination of white stuff that looks like salt and has lower amounts of sodium?

Have the Stimulus Programs Failed?

a post by Gary Burtless at the Brookings Institute.

http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2009/0804_stimulus_burtless.aspx?p=1

Before the recession began, American households saved very little. The personal saving rate was just 1.5% in late 2007. As the recession worsened, the saving rate soared. In the most recent quarter, it reached 5.2%. Critics of the government’s stimulus policies claim the surge in personal saving has undone the intended effects of the stimulus. In their view, the government’s efforts to boost the economy have failed. Is this claim credible?

[...]

In the face of the sharp fall in private income and steep dive in household net worth, personal consumption expenditures fell just 2% from the beginning of the recession through the second quarter of 2009. One reason the drop in personal consumption was so small was the massive swing in household tax liabilities and government transfer payments. This swing was partly the result of two stimulus packages passed in 2008 and 2009.

[...]

Remarkably, Americans’ disposable income increased more than 3% between the last quarter of 2007 and the second quarter of 2009. This represents a sharp contrast to the 3.7% fall in income from private sources. To be sure, the personal saving rate has increased as households have attempted to rebuild their wealth, reduce their indebtedness, and save for even rainier days that may come in the future.

[...]

The notion that the stimulus package failed is based on a very unrealistic benchmark. An assumption of stimulus critics seems to be that for the package to succeed, household consumption must remain constant or even rise in the face of sharply lower private incomes and household wealth. How realistic is this expectation? Not very. My interpretation is that the massive swing in taxes and government transfer payments, produced in part by the stimulus packages, moderated the fall in household consumption that would otherwise have occurred. The stimulus packages did not end the recession, but they reduced its severity.

Critics of the government’s stimulus measures seem to forget another thing. The goal of these programs is not simply to provide a counter-cyclical boost to consumption. An equally important goal is to help offset the income losses experienced by the victims of recession. The hardest hit victims include laid off workers who have suffered long spells of unemployment and loss of their health insurance. For the first time ever, the federal government has done something to help workers pay for continuation of their health benefits after they lose their jobs.

GK

The Hub :: View topic – WISDENs rating – TOP 10 TEST INNINGS & ONE DAY INNINGS

Always, cricket has been a BATSMANs game which is sad
There have been so many WORTHY PERFORMERS in bowling WHO WON MATCHES SINGLEHANDEDLY
Our Kumble is one who is a picture of CONSISTENCY .
Every 5 wickets in an inning should be considered as EQUAL TO A CENTURY .
Here Anil Kumble stands the best ever & THE REAL GOD

OMG. SO NOT TRUE.

GK

Dear Nokia

Please add a button to your phones which allows people to make missed calls.

Love,
Gautam

Eating Poli with Waran, Pala chi Bhaji, and Vanga Batata Bhaji

I am eating said items right now. Raghu’s sister, Sangeeta Akka, was here, talking with Ajji and having some Chai. Don’t know what else to say.

I also went to Shopper’s Stop, and I feel like I should buy a nice watch and wear it regularly.

Gautam

My first attempt at had boiled eggs.

They are pretty good. Another addition to my cooking repertoire.