Bharat Rakshak

Somnath,

Please clarify how you are going to improve outcome with "universal welfare" when the existing welfare is 60% leaky?

During the "garibi hatao" days there was no honest way to create wealth and since it was a single party pseudo-dictatorship, change in policy was difficult. Without creating wealth, distributing wealth becomes BS. I think that is what Theo is alluding to. Even with the supposed successes o...

Somnath, Actually in case of Brazil they found out that the CT scheme was not delivering on reducing poverty levels. So they introduced the innovation of linking the amount of CT with the recipient families ability to keep its children in school. An example in India would be the mid-day meal scheme....

I forgot to add Medical allowance as a part of a CT scheme. I am not sure if a mobile with SIM card is all you need for a CT scheme. You will eventually need to setup social security offices everywhere. Lastly, a CT scheme must not be seen as a permanent dole-out by the Government. It should be link...

Dreze's arguements above about the difficulties of implementing a CT scheme anytime soon look good except that he goes overboard with what one might do with the cash. The latter can be addressed easily IMO provided we put in place the infrastructure. I would also like to see house rent allowance and...

I think we should not get confused by comparing SEZs and NREGA. They are meant for different purposes and both have some pros and cons.

$400 million to Air India could have been used to built more IITs and IISER's. I think saving Air India out of "national pride" is a bogus argument. According to one of those English New channels Air India has debt of 40,000 crores and loss of 14,000 crores. Crony socialism is as dangerous...

Up

What is the current status of the Bdesh border fencing, muraliravi or anyone?

We need large scale Government investments in education and healthcare instead of pumping 1000's of crores into white
elephants like Air India and other PSUs. Saying that we don't need it because it is "inefficient" is essentially a "cop-out".

Just for info - according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the population estimate for 2009 is 144 million and TFR 2.3. So it wouldn't be a surprise if the population is capped finally much below 200 million. It seems the TFR has shown a sharp decline between 2001-2009. I believe similar shar...

Well Somnath is right in that what Sen is saying is that resources generated by higher growth should be used to plug the holes in HDI e.g. how many central hospitals have been setup by the Govt. in the last 20 years since liberalization. We have been hearing about more AIIMS like hospitals for the l...

Although I am not a great fan of Sen, I felt Sen's critique is fairly well balanced. He notes the negatives and the positives about how India is doing. Also one should note that although NREGA may have been initiated with the rural vote in mind and notwithstanding the problems associated with implem...

The second article above is saying the exact opposite of the first blaming the Central Govt. for stopping work.

muraliravi Can you explain the 2nd layer of fencing? Also how are we going to defend the char areas which I guess are a major part of the 600 kms of unfenced riverine border that gets flooded during monsoons? If we are going to keep so much area unprotected then the whole purpose of a fence is defea...

Old report. Seems like border fencing may not be enough.


The Subverted Indo-Bangladesh Border
By VK Shashikumar

http://www.indiandefencereview.com/2009 ... order.html

Is there any proposal to fence the Indo-Nepal border?

Why is there a difference of 500 kms between total border length and sanctioned fencing?

India's legal right to conduct N tests preserved: Kakodkar

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/sep/06ndeal10.htm

India has given up on nuclear tests

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/sep/06ndeal13.htm

Jamwal, I was talking about Bangladeshi settlers in eastern India (west bengal and assam). It is an open secret that the Congress in Assam and the Communists in Bengal have settled lakhs if not millions. So what I am thinking is why not do the same in J&K. It does not have to start in Kashmir. W...

Questions for Jamwal. 1) Why the discrepancy in population figures from the census data and the population data claimed by those agitating for delimitation of constituencies in J&K? 2) If illegal Bangladeshis can become residents with voter cards and ration cards what prevents people from other ...

When is Akhil playing? Any links?

swamyG link please

I am happy that Advani said what needed to be said.

Shiv, Wouldn't it be a better idea to find out how the production of more HISI's can be stopped instead of going through the ardous task of trying to convert already existing HISI's? We talk of the Nehruvian elite and Macaulites. How are they being produced? Is it education or media or social condit...

Being "inquisitive" is what I do for a living. You are the only one on this forum who seems to have gone through the science of the nuclear tests or at least in far more detail than others and also you have the background to understand it. Hence, my questions are targeted at you. If the sc...

What is the "some concern" he had about the full fusion yield? ************** Arun_S wrote: Dr Santhanam team leader POK-II (head of DRDO at that time and later SA to PM) is in no doubt about successful second stage ignition, although he has some concern about full fusion yield, which is s...

Seema Mustafa's article is garbage and reflects the anxiety among the Green and Red over close cooperation with the US.

After reading page after page of this thread it seems that we need to ask ourself the question: Have we tested enough? If we are sure that we tested enough what is the point in arguing based on what will happen if we test? If we haven't tested enough we need to do so expeditiously and then get into ...

This is an old book. Don't know if it has been ever posted here.

http://bengalvoice.com/

My People Uprooted

A Saga of the Hindus of Eastern Bengal

By Tathagata Roy