This past week I was in Costa Rica on vacation, and while the trip was no doubt amazing it kept me away from a computer and thus unable to blog. However, the trip did give me sometime to catchup on some reading. I was able to rifle through the last four Economists, an Atlantic Monthly and the most recent issue of Fortune. On top of that I have managed to get halfway through Midnight’s Children. But I digress … here are some  articles I cam across from these periodicals that I thought would be of interest to the ThinkChange India community.

From the Atlantic:

• A son that lets his parents be involved in choosing his bride in India is 11% less likely to marry a college educated spouse and 20% less likely to marry someone who works. The study suggests that since over 80% of parents live with their kids that they select mates for their sons in a way that retains the power dynamic of the household in their favor.

From the Ecoomist(s):

• February 23rd-29th: The overwhelming prevalence of quack medicine in India; whether too much giving can actually do harm; the global wave of genetically modified foods; a scientist’s quest to better predict outbreaks
• March 1st-7th: The effect of ethanol on water supply; the rise in popularity of trashy romance novels in India and its role as a surrogate for sexual education; Baba Amte graced the obituary (ThinkChange’s own Sushil Jacob wrote his first post on this great man)
• March 8th-14th: A critical review of the most recent government budget; new ability to extract geothermal energy without the need to be close to volcanoes and the use of hydroelectric turbines without the need for dams; the potential for flexible solar panels to illuminate isolated communities; the negative effects of a lack of SMEs in Japan’s economy; book review of India: The Emerging Giant
• March 15th-21st: China’s no strings attached approach to other countries’ development; explanation for why MNC’s cannot always overrun the homegrown competition; the role of rule of law within economics;