Vertical Ambition, GST & China

• What is 'vertical ambition'? (BBC) 

• Kevin Roberts, chairman of the global advertising giant Saatchi and Saatchi, resigned after saying women lacked "vertical ambition" and that is why so few made it to the top. Financial analyst Louise Cooper has her thoughts.

• Interactive feature on GST (Hindu)
• Can China save the Olympics? (Bloomberg)

Sunday Reads

General Reads

• What happens in a university run by IS? (BBC)
• India cannot afford to lose the Chahabar test (New IE)

Controversial Read

• Like Ali, how many of our icons will take a punch for what they believe in? (Telegraph India)

et cetera

• Ramadan for non-Muslims: A etiquette guide (CNN)

Sunday Reads

General Reads

• Mamata keeps word: cops jolted out of 'golden crown dream' (Telegraph India)
• Ideas-mukt Congress scripts its own electoral eclipse (New IE)

Controversial Read

• The importance of being Subramanian Swamy (Swarajya)

Anecdote

It was a county match in England between Somerset and Glamorgan. An unknown batsman with unknown talent, named Vivian Richards was at the crease. Greg Thomas, the Glamorgan fast bowler thundered in and beat the great man's bat.

'It's red and it's round. Can't you see it?', the bowler taunted Richards.

The next ball was an action replay. The ball pitched three quarters of length on middle and off, seamed away, and once again Richards was all at sea and comprehensively beaten.

'It's red and it's round and it weighs four-and-a-half ounces. Can't you see it?', Greg Thomas quipped.

Richards took a stroll, summoned his powers of concentration, swung his arms around, took a fresh guard and got ready for the next ball.

Greg Thomas came running in. The delivery was right in the slot, and Viv launched into one of his trademark shots and smashed the ball out of the ground and straight into the river that flowed around it.

The maestro told the hapless bowler who almost died watching the ball go, 'You know what it looks like... now go and get it!'

Sunday Reads

General Reads

• AAPocracy and the cult of K (Open)
• Barbie challenges the 'White Saviour Complex' (BBC)
• What is 'May Day'? (CNN)
  

Photo Gallery

• Celebrity transformations (CNN)

Controversial Read

• Sanctifying the Mount (Jerusalem Post)

Anecdote

Those were the days in the beginning of the eighties when the world Cricket was dominated by the power packed West Indies Cricket Team and the subtlety packed England Cricket Team. Pakistan also played a major part in the domination but not with their skills in the game but with their poor standards in umpiring.

During one of those days, Imran Khan, the captain of the Pakistan Cricket team met Australian captain Allan Border in an informal meeting in Sydney. During a chat, Imran told Allan Border: “AB, give me Sunil Gavaskar and B. S. Chandrashekhar from India,we will beat Australia.”

In a shocking reply, Allan Border said: “Imran, just give me two umpires from Pakistan and we will beat the whole world.” Imran Khan was left speechless. Later, a furious Imran Khan complained to the Australian board. Under pressure from his board, Allan Border tendered apologies to Imran Khan and Pakistan Cricket Board.

Sunday Reads + Anecdote

• The power of Wet Waste (NIE)

• The Tennis Files: Have top players been paid to lose? (BBC Magazine)

• Ash and Cash saga in Netaji files (Telegraph India)

• How close are we to creating Artificial Intelligence? (Aeon)

Sunday Bonus: What really happens at a Jallikattu - in pictures. (Swarajya)

Sunday Anecdote: 

In a county match in England, Greg Thomas was bowling to Viv Richards and getting a few to whizz past the bat. After Richards played and missed another one, Thomas said: "It's red, it's round. Now fucken hit it!". This obviously angered Richards who proceeded to hit the next ball out of the ground. Richards: "You know what it looks like now go and get it."

Sunday Reads

Last year, I blogged just 77 times, which is pretty low compared to 140 times in 2013. I wrote less and blogged even less. I hope to change it this year, by being consistent and prolific. 

For this Sunday, let me share some of the interesting stuff that I read in the last three days.

• Free Basics is a Walled Garden. (TOI Blog)
• Evolution of BCCI into a Ultra-Rich Club. (Hindu)
• Apple's year in Beta - Everything needs more focus and more time. (Verge)
• The man who tried to Redeem the World with Logic. (Nautilus)

Sunday Reads

• Nine things successful people do differently. (Harvard Business Review)

• Who is a better strategist: Obama or Putin? (Foreign Policy)

• Inside Iran's revolutionary courts. (BBC)

• Zaheer Khan: The calm operator and the creator of doubts. (Hindu)

Life In a Libyan Hell; Smart Indian Cricketers

Two reads to share.

One.

The Islamic State is the most brutal terrorist group the world has ever seen. Its tentacles are spread far and wide; it controls large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria and has substantial presence in Libya. 

Der Spiegel, a respected German publication, has published a diary of a Libyan from the town of Derna, chronicling life under the dreaded rivals, Islamic State and Al-Qaeda terror networks.

Click here to read the short diary titled 'A Chronicle of Life in Libyan Purgatory'.

Two.

How Indian cricketers have turned into smart cricketers. The writing in the article is not great and is riddled with tautology. I have shared it only to sate the curiosity most of us have about the big money earned by Indian cricketers.

Infographic on Tennis Court Surfaces

As the U.S. Open draws to an end, Reuters gives a lowdown on various types of surfaces in Tennis via an infographic.

Infographic: All about the FIFA Scandal

The infographic below comes in the light of the burning issue of the FIFA corruption scandal; from Reuters blog.

Click on the graphic for a larger view.

Sunday Reads - How Indian cricketers should be treated if they were seen as having a bad day in office

• Why Singapore banned chewing gum. (BBC)

• How Indian cricketers should be treated if they were seen as having a bad day in office. (ET)

• The scene of the crime. (New Yorker)

• Creationists have questions. I have answers. (Slate)

Sunday Reads + Saturday Late Edition Infographic

• ISIS recruit Majeed returns home: Should India buy his story? (FirstPost)
• The Shahi Imams of India. Read this piece for the dripping sarcasm and subtle humour that peppers the article. (Outlook)
• The secret life of passwords. (NYT Magazine)
• India will be left with few genuine sportspersons if mafia is not kept off the field. (New Indian Express)

Saturday infographic is here, on Sunday! An ET infographic on the new RBI bank licenses.

Sunday Reads - Apple's Reluctant Reformation

• Fall of a hero. (BBC)
• Apple's Reluctant Reformation. (Economist)
• Humans are wired for bad news, angry faces and sad memories. (Aeon)
• The mouse that roars. (FP)

Sunday Reads - Business Edition

• What is Shadow Banking? (Business Standard)
• Inside Chevron's U.S.$9 billion legal battle with Ecuadorean villagers. (Rolling Stone)
• The criminalisation of American Business. (Economist)
• The economics of Superstardom. (Business Line)

The Hindu has an infographic on the recently launched Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.

Sunday Reads - Facebook is Blue because ...

• Facebook is blue because Mark Zuckerberg is colourblind. (Gizmodo)
• Everything need to know about Facebook's controversial emotion experiment. (Wired)
• How cruel the beautiful game has become. (India Today)
• Why we stuck with Maliki - and lost Iraq. (WaPo)

Sunday Reads - Intimacy kills + The burden of being Messi

• Intimacy that kills. (FP; registration required - its free!)
• 70 years after WWII, companies WWII roles become clearer. (Reuters) 
• The burden of being Messi. (NYT; registration may  be required)
• Springtime in Tiananmen Square, 1989 (The Atlantic)

Saturday Infographic - Player Cost & Impact in IPL

Cricket has been a passion since childhood. But after Sachin Tendulkar retired, I have not watched a single cricket match! 

I found this ET infographic on the IPL player cost-impact quite interesting. 

Sunday Reads - Comatose Lives & India's Invisible Women

• India's invisible widows, divorcees and single women. (BBC)
• How to think. (Farman Street)
• Can we learn about privacy from porn stars? (NYT)
• Life is elsewhere. (Outlook India)
  
  

Sunday Graphic: Apple versus Samsung, from Reuters blog.

Self-Immolation & Dhoni needs to speak

• Remembering the Ibrahimi Mosque Massacre (AlJazeera)

• Will Pranab Boro's self-immolation spur Assam into land reforms? (First Post)

• Oral sex could be leading to greater incidence of throat cancer in Chhattisgarh. (TOI)

• Why Dhoni needs to speak out. (Cricinfo)

The Harrowing Experience of Alex Owumi in Libya

Muammar Gaddafi was killed in 2011. For a man who ruled Libya with an iron fist for nearly 42 years, the end was rather an ignominious one. From wallowing in his luxury tent to spending his last moments in a drain pipe, Gaddafi's life and death epitomised the adage that 'those who live by the sword die by the sword'.

Gaddafi was the uncontrolled master of everything he surveyed. He never occupied any post, yet styled himself 'The Leader'. He was a megalomaniac, one who loved unbridled power but with no accountability. A paranoid, he did not trust his own shadow.

Fear and repression were his twin weapons, especially against his own countrymen. A past-master at suppressing dissent, he crushed all opposition and brooked no criticism. 

Read my complete piece on the rise and fall of Muammar Gaddafi here.

Early today, I read a BBC article, narrated in first person by a young American basketball player about his harrowing experience in Libya. 

Here's an excerpt. 

When US basketball player Alex Owumi signed a contract to play for a team in Benghazi, Libya, he had no idea that his employer was the the most feared man in the country. Nor did he guess the country was about to descend into war.
...

When the hunger pains got really bad, I started eating cockroaches and worms that I picked out of the flowerpots on my windowsill. I'd seen Bear Grylls survival shows on TV and seemed to recall that it was better to eat them alive, that they kept their nutrients that way. They were wriggly and salty, but I was so hungry it was like eating a steak.

I started seeing myself, versions of myself at different ages. Three-year-old Alex, eight-year-old Alex, at 12 years, 15 years, 20 years and the current, 26-year-old version. The younger ones were on one side, and the older versions on the other. I was able to touch them and I talked to them every day. (End of excerpt)

I strongly urge you to read the harrowing story of Alex Owumi.