A Nation on the March

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 29 Jan 2011 19:22

>>We need all of India to raise, not just some big and important states. No people in India has some special genes that makes them more intellectual or industrious than the other....it is the circumstances that pushes some back and others head.

Point noted and fully agreed with. Assuming that my post was the one you are responding to, I was not at all suggesting that Bengalis have some special gene. Rather that the cirumstances should change so that the latent capacity of Bengal should flower - and the names I have listed there show the background. I had forgotten to include Amartya Sen as well. It is a matter of fact that those figures are from Bengal, and that cannot be an aberration. Of course, I do not imply by this that other states are deficient in intellectual capacity - merely that in my opinion Bengal has not yet found the circumstances fit to demonstrate its potential.

Dipanker · Post by **Dipanker** » 29 Jan 2011 20:00

Theo_Fidel wrote:paramu,

I'm not trying to take credit away from Nitish. He deserves all the praise and more.

As long as Jharkhand was a part of Bihar the easy mineral money made reform less necessary. Laloo was always able to buy off his constituency. Note the number of times he was re-elected. Once the easy money stopped Bihar really entered free fall and the people began to really think about change. They were fortunate that Nitish came along. Even Nitish would have had serious trouble dealing with the Jharkhand mafia. The separation allows Bihar to focus on its future.

Again you are wrong, there was no easy money from the mineral wealth, most of it went to Center. Recall that Bihar was still one of the poorest state even when Jharkhand was part of Bihar. Bihar was contributing a lot more to Center than it was pulling in.

Laloo won elections on yadav+muslim votes by exploiting the cast based politics of Bihar. Seperation of Jharkhand from Bihar was right down Laloo's alley liking because it concentrated his muslim+yadav votebank as population of South Bihar (Jharkhand) was far more diversified.

The difference between Laloo and Nitish is that of a mindset, Laloo is old school Bihari yadav politician, Nitish is progressive.

Your "Jharkhand mafia" contention is pure hogwash, A Bihar with South Bihar (Jharkhand) still part of it, would actually be an advantage to Nitish style politics.

Again this post is OT, and the discussion can be moved to a different thread.

darshhan · Post by **darshhan** » 29 Jan 2011 22:14

^^ Right.Theo Fidel ji , if jharkhand would have been part of bihar then chances were that Laloo would have lost power in 2000 itself instead of 2005 since jharkhand was and is a BJP stronghold.People in jharkhand(tribals and non tribals both) were always against Laloo.

And Bihar hardly got anything from center in return for mineral resources during the congress rule at the center.

However in the long run the division will help both Bihar as well as Jharkhand.Infact as someone who belongs to this region I would like to see another state carved out of Bihar as it is still too large to be manageable.Maybe not immediately as Nitish is doing a fair job but by the end of this decade.

Dipanker · Post by **Dipanker** » 30 Jan 2011 00:40

^^ Bihar now is a big state only terms of population, but in terms of area it has gone down from 2nd ( or 3rd ?) to 10th.

darshhan · Post by **darshhan** » 30 Jan 2011 01:18

Dipanker wrote:^^ Bihar now is a big state only terms of population, but in terms of area it has gone down from 2nd ( or 3rd ?) to 10th.

I was talking in terms of population only.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 30 Jan 2011 05:52

JE Menon wrote:>>We need all of India to raise, not just some big and important states. No people in India has some special genes that makes them more intellectual or industrious than the other....it is the circumstances that pushes some back and others head.

Point noted and fully agreed with. Assuming that my post was the one you are responding to, I was not at all suggesting that Bengalis have some special gene. Rather that the cirumstances should change so that the latent capacity of Bengal should flower - and the names I have listed there show the background. I had forgotten to include Amartya Sen as well. It is a matter of fact that those figures are from Bengal, and that cannot be an aberration. Of course, I do not imply by this that other states are deficient in intellectual capacity - merely that in my opinion Bengal has not yet found the circumstances fit to demonstrate its potential.

Was in Kolkata last month and used the EM bypass to get to the airport from south cal.

The 'new town' or some such name areas coming up there that I saw - vast greenfield service sector commercial and also residential projects were like Hyderabad's Gachibowli x10. I can easily see the city moving its economic center of gravity to this new town in the next decade.

And since they're building the whole thing from scratch, lotsa potential to avoid the mistakes and non-planning of the past.

O yes, The eastern region verily needs a vibrant kolkata to inject econ buoyancy to the entire region.

The Cal airport though totally stinks. Despite arriving well over an hour before departure time, we barely made it in time for boarding - such was the mad rush, chaos and scramble at the baggage screening and security screening lines...

jagga · Post by **jagga** » 30 Jan 2011 15:56

A must read and watch for jingo's.
Gujarat's astonishing rise from rubble of 2001 quake

Ten years on from the huge earthquake that razed swathes of India's western state of Gujarat, the BBC finds the place transformed from a pile of rubble in a neglected backwater into an economic powerhouse. How?

Can I say, slap on the face of Modi hater's?

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 31 Jan 2011 10:54

VenkataS · Post by **VenkataS** » 01 Feb 2011 04:23

suryag · Post by **suryag** » 01 Feb 2011 05:53

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 02 Feb 2011 09:03

The Mahatma Gandhi NREGA so far disbursed Rs 112,000+ crores creating 417 crore work days.

The focus is on

- Rural Connectivity
- Flood Control
- Water Conservation And Water Herversting
- Drought Proofing
- Micro Irrigation
- Provision of Irrigation facility to Land development
- Renovation of Traditional Water Bodies
- Land development
- Any Other Activity Approved by MRD
- Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendr

***

Any ideas on its impact?

Alternatively, what would be the impact if GOI were to focus on BIMARU and NE states and assign Rs 1 Cr per village grant and spend it on
- Primary Education & Health Care
- Road Connectivity
- Development of Village water tanks
- and Micro Finance

appreciate some thoughts...

kmkraoind · Post by **kmkraoind** » 02 Feb 2011 11:47

RamaY wrote: Alternatively, what would be the impact if GOI were to focus on BIMARU and NE states and assign Rs 1 Cr per village grant and spend it on
- Primary Education & Health Care
- Road Connectivity
- Development of Village water tanks
- and Micro Finance

appreciate some thoughts...

Indeed its a pet project of Sonia and her coterie. Congresswalas at gross roots needs to be kept in good humor always. So they bring a new scheme every 10 years(old wine in new bottle) so that the lower level congress wallah siphon money. The above 1 Cr grant per village will kill the golden goss, so they keep people living beggers so that they can be messiah always. With staggering 1 lakh crores they have not created any village assets like roads, school/primary health care building etc. What they do is dug a canal/lake and cover it up. IMO, most of the laborers are absentee laborers, who will cut their share to all. In records it will be a grand success.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 02 Feb 2011 12:07

RamaY wrote:appreciate some thoughts...

I was very negative about this project in the beginning and am still skeptical. Seems way too much like dig a hole/ fill a hole, for my liking.

But I want to point out one odd side benefit that was brought to my attention at least around the Tirunelveli/Eruvadi TN area.

Children's education. Previously the very poor farmers/laborer families would move from village to town looking for work after every harvest. This would mean that the children would get pulled out of schools 2-3 times a year as they traveled to some shanty in bigger towns with no access to schools. Now the families with children have reduced their migration with a direct benefit to their education. The men may still migrate but at least the women/children can stay.

My cousin who is a HM says that the seasonal drop, which used to be 20%-30% has reduced considerably. Last year he was able to place the most students ever after the College counseling. Even beat several private schools. He directly credited the NREGS. I don't know if this is happening everywhere, but still makes one go hmmmm....

naren · Post by **naren** » 26 Mar 2011 04:40

Vivekananda project

The Union culture ministry has granted Rs 100 crore to the Ramakrishna Mission to launch a four-year nationwide project to promote Swami Vivekananda’s values.

This will involve publications, youth programmes and health initiatives for women and children. The biggest chunk of the grant — Rs 28.5 crore — is reserved for youth programmes.

The Vivekananda Values Education Project, along with the restoration of monuments associated with the thinker, a biopic, academic endowments and cultural activities, will mark his 150th birth anniversary in 2013.

In schools, the focus will be on truthfulness, self-control and selfless service. In higher education, this will include human rights, justice, tolerance, co-operation, social responsibility and multiculturalism.

Andhra Pradesh has decided to introduce the moral education modules from Classes I to X. These will also be taught at the mission’s 200 centres.

At the university level, the mission plans to set up Vivekananda centres for positive thinking that will offer programmes and interactive sessions in value education for students, teachers and parents.

negi · Post by **negi** » 02 Apr 2011 00:04

Census 2011 puts India's population at 1.21 billion

UBanerjee · Post by **UBanerjee** » 11 Apr 2011 12:16

Hari Seldon wrote: The Cal airport though totally stinks. Despite arriving well over an hour before departure time, we barely made it in time for boarding - such was the mad rush, chaos and scramble at the baggage screening and security screening lines...

Last time I went to Dum Dum was 2010 June. Not much had changed over the years. Compare that to Bangalore or Delhi, Bangalore's airport is world-class.

It seems like there is some forward movement in Kolkata. Well in some ways- the top talent still has no place there (cousin graduating from IIM Bangalore says Mumbai, Delhi, anything is possible, but never Kolkata). But the area in Salt Lake City is picking up. Wipro etc. set up shop there apparently. Couple of cousins working there commuting from nearby villages.

City is still wracked by bandhs of course. The communist legacy has completely crippled the state which is perverse given the huge amount of human capital present there. It's very sad how badly Cal has been sidelined over the past 30-40 years, by great success stories in North and South India. Given what it once was and the amount of talent and brilliance available, which was so badly driven off and wasted. But it seems to be coming up a bit.

uddu · Post by **uddu** » 13 Apr 2011 16:16

Finally we have started to beat the Chinese in growth rate. This need to be repeated for the next many years to come.
Finally, India beats China in growth sweepstakes

It’s official! India’s growth in 2010 was a notch higher than that of China. According to data from the IMF, India’s GDP grew 10.4 per cent in 2010 versus China’s 10.3 per cent. And if projections by official agencies are anything to go by, China is looking at a 7 per cent growth in the Twelfth Plan period (2011-15) compared with India’s 9 per cent. This is the first time that India’s growth has overtaken that of China, since the latter initiated reforms in the 1980s, a decade ahead of India.

The other fast-growing major developing economies in 2010 included Brazil (7.5 per cent), Mexico (5.5 per cent) and Russia (4 per cent). Among developed countries the fastest growing major economies in 2010 were Japan (3.9 per cent), Germany (3.5 per cent), Canada (3.1 per cent) and United States (2.8 per cent). Growth was much slower in countries like France (1.5 per cent) and Italy (1.3 per cent).

Another important study and it's importance.
India 5th most powerful nation, says govt index

NEW DELHI: India is the fifth most powerful country in the world, says the latest national security index (NSI) designed by the country's foremost security and economic experts. A part of India's National Security Annual Review 2010, which will be officially released by foreign minister SM Krishna on April 19, the NSI 2010 placed India fifth in the hierarchy of top 50 nations identified on the basis of their GDP.

According to Foundation for National Security Research director Satish Kumar, who edited the national security review, the NSI is based on an assessment of defence capability, economic strength, effective population, technological capability and energy security of the top 50 countries. The US is at the top of the list on the basis of these criteria followed by China, Japan and Russia.

South Korea emerged as the sixth most powerful nation followed by Norway, Germany, France and UK.

While India ranked third in the case of population and fourth in terms of defence capabilities, it was at the 34th position in technology and 33rd in energy security. Only US, China and Russia are ranked higher than India in defence capability. In economic strength, India ranked seventh.

But some people cannot digest this facts.

Here you go. Some fun.
Is India really the world’s fifth most powerful country?

India has failed to cultivate a wholly reciprocal relationship with the United States,

despite warm rhetoric in recent years between New Delhi and Washington and a number of big-ticket diplomatic and industrial agreements.

Furthermore, India still appears more concerned and engaged with, and distracted by, its long-standing rival Pakistan than wider geopolitical issues.

{oh no, we were more concerned about the world cup, then Anna Hazare's people's fight against corruption and now the IPL, hmm do you meant Gaddafi's oil?

}

Recent troubles such as falling FDI inflows, rampant corruption and high inflation must be curbed, and the millions of young people reaching working age each year need to be provided jobs if the demographic dividend is not to become a demographic disaster.

{see the youngsters in India are creating issues by being into constructive work. They must learn to throw soosai bums like Pakis and be creative.}

India still receives billions of dollars of aid from countries deemed less powerful by New Delhi than itself, and praise from David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy, the premiers of Britain and France during high-profile visits last year, was met with an outpouring of thanks from Indian policymakers.

India is certainly a emerging power with huge potential, but could New Delhi’s economic and political analysts be patting themselves on the back a little prematurely?

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 13 Apr 2011 22:33

Who said it's a pat on the back? We are only placed 5th. Nothing to be especially proud of. That comment speaks more of the author's predispositions than anything else.

Santosh · Post by **Santosh** » 15 Apr 2011 07:45

irrelevant post deleted.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 18 Apr 2011 05:47

http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2007/12/20 ... wer-india/

Softpower! India?
Despite its problems, it is a safe bet that India’s hard and soft powers are likely to rise in the coming times. If India can combine the two successfully, it will be a “smart power”. – Springing Tiger by Josephy Nye

India Stacks Up

Half the world follows Indian religion and culture – China (Buddhism), Indonesia (considering that Mahabharata is their national epic and their use of Sanskritic names), entire South East Asia (except Philippines, which was first Spanished and then Americanised) and of course, India. What makes the Indian success remarkable as a major soft power centre is that this status has been acquired without significant military cost or economic expenditure.

Archaeological artifacts have turned up in at Altyn Tepe (in modern Turkestan), in Babylon and Turkey (Boghazkoi) – in the period of 2000BC. This pulls back the date of the Indo-Aryan civilization to 3000-4000 BC – which Euro centric historians are reluctantly agreeing to. These new dates show the spread of Indian culture, 2000-3000 years before the rise of Rome.

Indian Status Today

Which country has the largest number of universities? (If you have been a regular reader of my posts you would have guessed the answer).

University & Higher Education

USA stands at No.2. with 5000 universities and colleges. India at 8000 universities and colleges is way ahead. This becomes remarkable when you consider the time frame. Much like the Indian ramp up in software (from a software minnow to leadership status in a short span of 10 years).

This huge infrastructure has been built up in a short span of 60 years of post colonial existence. In this build up, quality has suffered. The Indian challenge in the next 25 years is to further build on this size – and importantly to build on the lack of qualitative edge. These challenges are relatively easily addressed – and the cost implications are minimal. My estimate is that a 2 US$ billion investment will do the trick.

Ekta Kapoor - Writing Indian Media Rules
TV Programming

Bruce Springsteen released a song some time back – 57 channels and nothing on! 57 seemed like a good number then and India had 6 channels. Today the Indian TV industry supports more than 600 channels and there are 400 more channels in the offing – awaiting governmental clearances.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 21 Apr 2011 01:45

http://www.ecofriend.com/entry/finally- ... rom-india/
Basically the bike utilizes oxygen as a fuel. As Pratham Pal, one of the engineering students, describes:

This bike is different from others because the engine doesn’t burn fuel, nor does the temperature rise. The air is compressed and transferred to the engine without any combustion. The piston reciprocates from the air pressure leading to an up-down movement, making the flywheel run and the bike move.According to the students, their main challenge was to create an equivalent magnitude of thrust of ‘blast’ inside the engine without the utilization of conventional combustion. The range of the bike will be 370 miles, using 100 liters of 300 PSI oxygen. The speed will be in the range of 6 to 12 miles per hour, but with time and the technological advancement, it is expected to rise.

( Chek out the Video)

Jayram · Post by **Jayram** » 27 May 2011 22:58

Here is a great interview that reflects psyops of the highest order - an very interllgent interview with an Indian Ceo running Mastercard in the US..
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/CEO-Inter ... 5.html?x=0

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 27 May 2011 23:06

Jayram wrote:Here is a great interview that reflects psyops of the highest order - an very interllgent interview with an Indian Ceo running Mastercard in the US..
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/CEO-Inter ... 5.html?x=0

Q: Can you describe some of the technologies you're using around the world?

A: We're trying to do something very interesting in India, based on fingerprints.

The Indian government gives subsidies for fertilizer purchases and it's a really inefficient system, because the rich farmer and the poor farmer get the same price for a bag of fertilizer. It's kind of biased against the poor farmer, because the rich guy has bigger land and buys more fertilizer and actually gets an even bigger share of the darn subsidy. So this is like a self-fulfilling double-whammy benefit. So the government is recording the fingerprints of 600 million people in rural India. Bank accounts will be opened with the state banks for those people. What they wanted us to do was to prove that we can authenticate and clear transactions based on a fingerprint, just as we authenticate right now based on either the magnetic strip or a chip and PIN.

But you can't install those machines in rural India, that will cost too much. What they're thinking of doing is installing a fingerprint reader on cellphones. So you touch a finger, it goes over the cellphone system, reaches us, gets authenticated and an approval is sent back. Now a rich and poor farmer can be given different amounts. They can also use the technology to shop for their daily needs in their village.

Resembles my farm insurance program...

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 28 May 2011 09:06

No more of the CIA conspiracy theories on this thread please.

anishns · Post by **anishns** » 29 May 2011 09:41

Posting in full....

Apparently this has been received positively by the jawans in Siachen!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13563592

Indian inventor develops jacket to heat or cool wearer

An Indian inventor is developing clothes which keep the wearer comfortable in extreme temperatures.

Kranthi Kiran Vistakula started with a jacket and is now applying his idea to shoes, scarves and even dinner plates.

The clothes use Peltier light-weight plastic plates with a thermo electric device.

The device is powered by rechargeable batteries which can be topped up by vehicles or even solar panels. They can last up to eight hours on one charge.

Mr Vistakula works with an enthusiastic young team in an isolated building near Hyderabad city, the capital of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

Outside, the summer temperature is more than 40C. But Mr Vistakula looks as comfortable as if he is in a cool climate.

He is wearing a state of the art ClimaWare-jacket based on his own patented technology.
Continue reading the main story
Thermal layers
Layers of jacket material graphic

The jacket works by controlling the electric current into the layers of the heat sink (3) and the cooler (5) which changes the temperature for the wearer

A Peltier plate consists of a junction between two metals. When an electric current passes through the junction, metal on one side heats up and on the other side it cools down, he explains.

The climate-controlled jacket, which weighs a little more than 1kg, has been successfully tested by the Indian army in Siachen glacier where temperatures are as low as -40C in winter.

Mr Vistakula's company, Dhama Innovations, is now developing a range of other products using the same technology.

"We have also developed shoes and they have been immensely liked by the army personnel in Siachen glacier," he says.

Frostbite is a big problem for the army and the shoes have really helped, he said.
Jacket for cows

Mr Vistakula is now setting up a manufacturing facility near Hyderabad for the mass production of his products, which include jackets, shoes, scarves, gloves and ear muffs.

He is even considering a special jacket for cows.

"Basically when the cow is cooled, it gives more milk in summer," he explained. "So we're working on a jacket like that - a huge one."

Mr Vistakula says he started to develop the idea when he moved from his home city of Hyderabad to study engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of technology.

The difference in temperature came as a shock to him.

His first attempt weighed about 5kgs and had wires and fans. Everybody joked that he looked like a bomber. Then he started using Peltier plates.

There may also be a medical application for the technology. The team is working on a product called Haemosave which can freeze blood oozing out of a wound.

It is described as a potential life saver. It uses cryo or ice therapy to stop the blood flow and contract the blood vessels.

Other medical products include knee, neck wraps and elbow wraps. These devices can go instantly from 0C to 50C and help in controlling pain.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 29 May 2011 21:43

Slums into Malls
The changes in Indian society has to be acknowledged even by die-hard critics. And here is Nicholas Kristoff's reluctant admission.

China’s autocrats are extraordinarily competent, in a way that India’s democrats are not. But traveling in India these days is a heartening experience: my hunch is that the world’s largest democracy increasingly will be a source not of embarrassment but of pride.

One can still detect traces of "White man's burden". Well that will change too. Sabar ka phal meeta hota hain.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 03 Jun 2011 00:52

Postal banking

From Ludhiana to Begusarai, money transfer via mobile
Scheme begins between Punjab & Bihar postal circles
E-transfer of up to Rs 50,000 can be made instantly
Complete roll out of scheme across the country in 8 weeks
Pradeep Sharma/TNS

Chandigarh, June 1
The tedious process of transferring cash through traditional money order is a thing of the past with Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Communications and Information Technology, Gurudas Kamat, today launching a unique Mobile Money Transfer Service (MMTS), an SMS-based service for instant transfer of money up to Rs 50,000.

Launching the service, a joint venture of the Department of Posts (DoP) and the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Kamat asserted that this was another initiative of the Congress-led UPA Government to ensure financial inclusion of “aam admi” in the mainstream.

Kamat also hinted at the reduction in commission for sending the money order, which is pegged at 5 per cent of the money to be remitted.

The minister said in the first phase the service was being launched between Punjab and Bihar postal circles for transfer of money up to Rs 50,000. The complete roll out throughout the 1.55 lakh post offices, particularly in the rural areas, would be completed in eight weeks, he added.

Informing that there were over 850 million mobile connections in the country, Kamat said the government had planned to have 600 million mobile connections by 2012 but the target was exceeded by the March 2010.

Radhika Doraiswamy, Secretary, Department of Posts, hoped that the new service would go a long way in speeding up the money transfer services for the benefit of the people working in the far-away areas, specially the migrant labour.

How it works

The person intending to use the service would have to go to the post office, which will provide him a unique PIN code after the transfer of money
The money sender would have to send the PIN to the recipient through a text message. The recipient will be delivered the money after verification of the PIN
The recipient can also go to the post office and collect the money

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 03 Jun 2011 02:17

^ Great!!!

Hope more and more services are offered thru technology. I wish to see a day where there is no technology/information gap between urban and rural Indias. This followed by civic/industrial infra parity will make urbanization redundant saving $T in Bharat's progress from 3rd world economy to 1st world economy.

Jai ho, Bharat!

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 08 Jun 2011 11:24

Interesting picture

Purush · Post by **Purush** » 08 Jun 2011 12:00

Suraj Mian, nice contrast between then and now.
Did you notice those buildings in the middle, now surrounded by greenery..they seem to be unchanged. They appear to be residential flats..and quite a strategic location i suppose. Holdouts for a better buyout price from the RE developers perhaps?

koti · Post by **koti** » 09 Jun 2011 19:36

A good read the only irony was that NYT thinks cows to be wild animals...

Edited.. See below.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 09 Jun 2011 22:29

koti wrote:A good read the only irony was that NYT thinks cows to be wild animals...

Nilghai is an Antelope native to India. They have been introduced to Texas and now roam wild there as well. I know cos one of my co-workers hunts them. Did a double take when he first mentioned it.

Look at that Wide Nullah on the left, it is now a road!

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 09 Jun 2011 22:34

which article ?

koti · Post by **koti** » 10 Jun 2011 13:11

koti wrote:A good read the only irony was that NYT thinks cows to be wild animals...

Sorry. Here is the link.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/world ... dia&st=cse

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Jun 2011 20:33

they are not flats but individual homes, perhaps with some floors rented out. maybe the villagers who sold all the land build themselves kothis in a cluster and went into businesses like transportation.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 10 Jun 2011 20:40

Magadha on the march, logistical tail being improved for armour div MSRs

Nitish kumar inaugurates 312 bridges
http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/n ... 22145.html

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 14 Jun 2011 02:27

gurgaon model should be replicated for all states, especially mini gurgaons to all the gaons.

vina · Post by **vina** » 14 Jun 2011 06:41

gurgaon model should be replicated for all states, especially mini gurgaons to all the gaons.

No way. Gurgaon by all accounts is hellish . Buildings alone do not a society make. In fact, in much of Nai Dilli and it's surroundings , the fundamental problem is lack of a civil society and lack of civility in general.

Like the rest of NCR, I am willing to bet that on an average, Gurgaon will be crass, crude, rough around the edges, smash and grab and loot while you can and dont give a damn , largely uncouth. Basically a place you simply would not like to live in at all. No talking to the neighbor while leaning over the fence, no sense of community, no nothing.

Gurgaon is a model we simply should not have.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Jun 2011 08:16

the old sectors of GGN like sec-14 and sec-17 with individual homes were quite decent back in late 1990s. lots of retired armed forces people too in individual homes as well as jal-vayu vihar.

that was when the entire DLF and south city areas were sparsely built up mostly by rich people who had rented out their original homes in GK/vasant vihar/south extt and moved to DLF for better space and quieter living. only a few highrise flats were there near IFFCO chowk and no malls...entire delhi had no malls then.

having interacted with the shopkeepers , phatphati drivers , rickshaw drivers and taxiwallahs they were at heart decent chaps though a bit rough in verbal terms they never used such language except among their own group ... their work ethic was simple - work hard, drink hard

NOIDA was a imo whole lot more dangerous place imo esp some of the urban 'villages' on the periphery. ... "western UP" in general is a more dangerous place than haryana ever was.

I walked alone on the highway and interior roads of GGN at midnight while coming back from marriages and such, and didnt feel like someone would mug me.

the most dangerous folks in NCR are surely not the poorer people but the super rich politician-son/son-of-top-police-IAS-type/import-export-scion who move around in range rovers and benz's with a couple of SUVs full of armed guards and flit between 5* hotels and lounge bars.

superficial impressions based on media reports and second hand reports by people who have never lived in dilli do not reflect the reality. dilli people are generally pretty decent...but louder in talking and argueing than the southern people for sure.

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 14 Jun 2011 13:31

but NCR is definitely the most unsafe metro for women. Men in NCR win hands down when it comes to being total boors.

I come across the Delhi or Mumbai debate very often, and while NCR may boast of a better infrastructure, the cosmopolitan culture of Mumbai is unmatchable. The mindset of people in Delhi is still the old village mindset, very showy, no doubt, but very narrow.