What can be said about the ideological affiliations of these members?Eleven names cleared for NAC
Special Correspondent
New Delhi: The Prime Minister's Office on Sunday finalised the names of 11 members of the National Advisory Council, the consultative body chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi that is intended to serve as an interface between the government and civil society and as the laboratory for inclusive economic and social legislation and policy initiatives.
While economist-activist Jean Dreze, Right to Information campaigner Aruna Roy, retired bureaucrat N.C. Saxena and economist A.K. Shiva Kumar have been renominated into the body, which has been defunct since 2008, seven key civil society personalities have been drafted for the first time.
These are the women's rights and minority rights activist Farah Naqvi, businesswoman and philanthropist Anu Agha, agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan, Planning Commission member, the former Reserve Bank of India economist and noted Dalit writer Narendra Jadhav, social worker Deep Joshi, ecologist Madhav Gadgil and former bureaucrat-turned-rights activist Harsh Mander.
Rita Sharma, an IAS officer who retired as rural development secretary earlier this year, will be member-secretary.
A few more names will be finalised in the next few days, senior officials say, but the NAC will remain a compact body that can help the government frame key laws like the proposed Food Security Act.
http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/31/stories ... 031200.htm
Indian Interests
Re: Indian Interests
-
- BRF Oldie
- Posts: 12410
- Joined: 19 Nov 2008 03:25
Re: Indian Interests
Well, the real dictator was gone I think within 14 years (for Turkey). The one with the zeal for cosmetically changing society. However after his death, (and according to some, even before his death) he was already forced to compromise on this issue. His main target had been the Ottoman regnal system. In the process of delegitimization he hit upon the idea of delegetimizing the symbols associatated with that regime. But he did not systematically institute processes that would have undermined the core protection of regressive conservatism - that of Islamism itself. To be fair he did not have the time to do so. However, once that Islamic networks was allowed to remain untouched, it was only a matter of time before the mullahs would catch up from their rural bases and move in on the cities. This is the phenomenon they have successfully repeated from Turkey - to Iran - to Iraq to Afghanistan. Only where Islamics have been the minority invaders and forced to remain so have they been concentrated in cities and it has been a different ball game in such countries.
In that sense the Turkish attempt was not any serious attempt at profound societal change. For Islamic majority nations it means the complete erasure and total discrediting of all of Islamic theology and theocracy.
In that sense the Turkish attempt was not any serious attempt at profound societal change. For Islamic majority nations it means the complete erasure and total discrediting of all of Islamic theology and theocracy.
Re: Indian Interests
Yes, there are countries which have fairly representative governments even without being democracies. But the question is how to transition from a non-representative government to a representative government? Without a genuine democracy it is difficult.ramana wrote:Actually what is needed is true representative govt. What the get is fake democracy with chosen representatives to be stamped with approval.
Change can come through violent means, but that is hard in large and diverse countries. Also, in most instances where violent means have succeeded, there has been a powerful external supporter. External supporters would have their own interests.
-
- BRF Oldie
- Posts: 12410
- Joined: 19 Nov 2008 03:25
Re: Indian Interests
the eleven names are sufficiently "scattered" around in ideology. Some are decidedly from the "politically correct segment" that the INC wants to flaunt around as its showpiece associates. How can a modern economist be an activist? Narendra Jadhav and Harsh Mander are old hands. I do not see that much will happen out of this except of course lots of yapping and preening privileges at the media outlets for all concerned. Important perhaps for the feel-good factor of urban yuppie electorate. None of these people will have any significant impact on the rural side.
-
- BRF Oldie
- Posts: 12410
- Joined: 19 Nov 2008 03:25
Re: Indian Interests
Do you see that the old Soviet formula of the apparatus of state power made to be dependent on the apparatus of personal power - appearing? This personal extension of circles into social groups or creating and defining "who" is going to be "influential" and still dependent on the "leader" is an old tactic. Seen in Roman politics of ancient period, their copiers the late medieval British monarchs and ironically the Russians under Bolsheviks. I guess there are one or two "historians" hidden in the entourage - they have covered the three important areas - Britannia, Italia and Rusia.
Re: Indian Interests
B ji, the current AKP government barely survived stiff opposition from the military. So military domination has been very much there until a few years back.brihaspati wrote:Well, the real dictator was gone I think within 14 years (for Turkey). The one with the zeal for cosmetically changing society. However after his death, (and according to some, even before his death) he was already forced to compromise on this issue. His main target had been the Ottoman regnal system. In the process of delegitimization he hit upon the idea of delegetimizing the symbols associatated with that regime. But he did not systematically institute processes that would have undermined the core protection of regressive conservatism - that of Islamism itself. To be fair he did not have the time to do so. However, once that Islamic networks was allowed to remain untouched, it was only a matter of time before the mullahs would catch up from their rural bases and move in on the cities. This is the phenomenon they have successfully repeated from Turkey - to Iran - to Iraq to Afghanistan. Only where Islamics have been the minority invaders and forced to remain so have they been concentrated in cities and it has been a different ball game in such countries.
In that sense the Turkish attempt was not any serious attempt at profound societal change. For Islamic majority nations it means the complete erasure and total discrediting of all of Islamic theology and theocracy.
Turkish Islamism is relatively benign - like that of other Turkic Central Asian republics. It is more a relic of history rather than a driving force. One has to watch out for seeds of virulence - but in the case of Turkey it was more a rallying point around which opponents of the unrepresentative military regime congregated.
Re: Indian Interests
As regards NAC members:
Farah Naqvi seems to be a Maoist supporter - see "Disband Salwa Judum" - http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?231861
Jean Dreze and Aruna Roy seem to be OK - see http://www.thehindu.com/2010/02/03/stor ... 501100.htm and http://www.rediff.com/news/2000/jul/26award1.htm
Jean Dreze appears to move in well-connected circles - he is a coauthor of Amartya Sen.
Farah Naqvi seems to be a Maoist supporter - see "Disband Salwa Judum" - http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?231861
Jean Dreze and Aruna Roy seem to be OK - see http://www.thehindu.com/2010/02/03/stor ... 501100.htm and http://www.rediff.com/news/2000/jul/26award1.htm
Jean Dreze appears to move in well-connected circles - he is a coauthor of Amartya Sen.
Last edited by Pranav on 31 May 2010 09:37, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Indian Interests
Narendra Jadhav has worked for the IMF and USAid. (http://www.drnarendrajadhav.info/new_ve ... graphy.htm , http://www.rediff.com/money/2009/aug/11 ... jadhav.htm ) He also appears to have a Dalit chip on his shoulder:
Can't say if he shares the robust Indic nationalism of Ambedkar.For Jadhav, the vice-chancellorship was his breaking out assignment, the perfect job for a central banker seeking a more public role that would give him popular leverage. When the job was offered to him in 2006 he was in Afghanistan where he had been sent by USAID as the country's chief economic counsellor.
He was leading a team of economists who were formulating fiscal and monetary policy for the war-ravaged country, fixing interest rates, the interest rates and generally running the countrys economy, as he tells you with an amused glint in his eye.
That, I learn over the course of this lively but unusual lunch, is a marked Jadhav trait. He likes to throw in such hubris-laden statements unmindful of their impact because he revels in his achievements and accomplishments. And as he admits candidly, modesty has never been my forte.
Despite the power and pelf of the Kabul job (he was getting Rs 1.24 crore a year), he couldn't resist the chance to become the VC of Pune University which, he never tires of reminding audiences, is the largest traditional university in the world with 650,000 students, 536 affiliated graduate colleges and 330 recognised institutes.
But the real reason he took the assignment (with a 95 per cent cut in his salary) is personal. Pune is a place of rednecks and I was keen to go there as the Pope, declares Jadhav with unconcealed delight. Not too long ago it was the seat of the Peshwas, the hub of a caste-ridden society where my folk were humiliated and mistreated for their accident of birth.
There is the slightest rise in pitch as Jadhav relates how my ancestors had to go around with a pot strung around their neck so that their spittle would not pollute the ground and with a broom tied to their waists to wipe out their footprints.
So the caste thing is out, and I am relieved that I did not have to broach the subject of his caste myself. The fact that Narendra Jadhav is a Dalit may be irrelevant to his academic and professional achievements but remains central to his narrative. In the future it may become even more important.
http://www.rediff.com/money/2009/aug/11 ... jadhav.htm
Re: Indian Interests
Wonderful discovery! Read the full report.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 87510.html
EXcerpt:History in the taking: lost photos that reveal India's making
The rediscovered life's work of a pioneering photojournalist cast new light on Gandhi, Partition and Mountbatten
By Arifa Akbar
Monday, 31 May 2010
ADITYA ARYA
Mahatma Gandhi with his admirer Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the Muslim Pashtun leader, in Peshawar during his visit to the North West Frontier Province, 1938
Aditya Arya had every intention of opening the six tightly bound crates that his elderly uncle brought to his house in Delhi in the early 1980s, telling him they were to be gone through whenever his young nephew had the spare time.
Two-and-a-half decades later, the crates lay in Mr Arya's home, yellowing and collecting dust, as he travelled the world on assignments to cement his reputation as a photographer.
It was only in 2007 when he prised open the first crate to learn what his uncle, Kulwant Roy, who had himself been one of India's first serious photojournalists, had left him.
Inside the six boxes were neatly-stacked prints, negatives and thousands of rare and never-before-seen images featuring the key figures in Indian history from the 1930s, through to Indian independence, Partition and Jacqueline Kennedy's visit to India in the 1960s.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 87510.html
EXcerpt:History in the taking: lost photos that reveal India's making
The rediscovered life's work of a pioneering photojournalist cast new light on Gandhi, Partition and Mountbatten
By Arifa Akbar
Monday, 31 May 2010
ADITYA ARYA
Mahatma Gandhi with his admirer Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the Muslim Pashtun leader, in Peshawar during his visit to the North West Frontier Province, 1938
Aditya Arya had every intention of opening the six tightly bound crates that his elderly uncle brought to his house in Delhi in the early 1980s, telling him they were to be gone through whenever his young nephew had the spare time.
Two-and-a-half decades later, the crates lay in Mr Arya's home, yellowing and collecting dust, as he travelled the world on assignments to cement his reputation as a photographer.
It was only in 2007 when he prised open the first crate to learn what his uncle, Kulwant Roy, who had himself been one of India's first serious photojournalists, had left him.
Inside the six boxes were neatly-stacked prints, negatives and thousands of rare and never-before-seen images featuring the key figures in Indian history from the 1930s, through to Indian independence, Partition and Jacqueline Kennedy's visit to India in the 1960s.
Re: Indian Interests
If we have no resources left for our future generations because of dirt cheap exports to China, we will not have much left. Watch
http://is.gd/cvVAy
http://is.gd/cvVAy
Re: Indian Interests
Lest we forget:
No invites
No invites
As regards China, the foreign secretary, Nirupama Rao, has been gushing that during the meeting between Patil and Chinese president Hu Jintao, Beijing has shown understanding of and been cooperative about India's ambition to be a permanent veto power in the UN Security Council. The Chinese are quiet about this aspect in their communique. A section of the press has reported that the Chinese statement post the Patil-Hu meeting "ambiguously called on two sides to work together "to increase the representation of developing countries in international affairs", avoiding any mention of UN reforms or the UNSC".
....
So while we should not be wanting in our welcome of the appreciative sentiments contained in the Obama NSS document, let us not be carried away. And commonsense tells not to trust the Chinese. It is best to be business-like with them, as this writer has frequently implored. India will have to make its own destiny. Nobody will make it for it.
Re: Indian Interests
The manner in which Pres.Obama is breathing fire and thunder towards BP,the oil giant responsible for the worst environmental disaster ever in the US,which will cost billions to repair,is in stark contrast with our very own good doctor of snake oil,MMS on the Nuclear Liability issue! If there is (God forbid) a catastrophe invoolving a foreign supplied N-plant,the clean-up will be even more costly and the effects from radiation,etc.,might even last a century or two.The loss of human life too can be imagined from exposure to radioactive material.Will our good PM then follow Pres.Obama's lead in warning any supplier of nuclear tech/reactors that the cost to it if there is a similar catastrophe will be an "open-ended",just as BP is expected to shell out at least around $50 billion for the cleanup? There cannot be double standards in responsibility for such environmental catastrophes,one for the west and one for the "turd-world"!
Re: Indian Interests
A prime example of how unpopular and undemocratic governments can sustain themselves for decades is the Iranian theocracy.Pranav wrote:Not necessarily B ji. Consider Turkey, which has transitioned from being controlled by a secular Military (allegedly dominated by the Donmeh crypto-Shabbatian sect), and allied with Israel and the US, to a more traditionalist government more reflective of the Anatolian peasantry and conservative middle classes.brihaspati wrote:Same old problem of chicken and egg. If correct leadership only can create the correct system which only can create the correct leadership, neither correct leadership nor correct system can ever be.
This is a classic problem of transition of societies from one system to another. Nowehere in the world it has been achieved democratically. Transitions of societies always take place under dictatorial conditions. That dictatorship could be that of an individual, or a party, or even an external force. The key factor is that the dictatorial entity wants to change the system and it is not dependent on the major portion of the system it wants to change, for its power to change the system.
Every histroical change one can think of as proper examples of profoundly changing systems, will always throw up this "dictatorial" angle.
But the key thing for peaceful change is a genuine democracy, which cannot be guaranteed under an electronic voting regime.
Would strongly recommend this book: Hostage to Khomeini by Robert Dreyfuss (1980). Available for download at http://www.archive.org/download/Hostage ... ostage.pdf
It is well known that the overthrow of the democratic Mosaddegh govt in 1953 was sponsored by western elites. This book describes how the overthrow of the Shah, and the installation of Khomeini too, was supported by the same forces.
This book is particularly valuable for its close-up look at the techniques of revolution - provoking unrest, mass manipulation via the media, creation of economic crises, how the loyalty of key persons in the armed forces was turned, how uncooperative personnel were assassinated, how arms depots were captured, and how even those that cooperated with the revolution were liquidated in its aftermath.
Also useful are the insights it offers into the mindset of the western elites.
There are many similarities between the Indian political elites of today, and the feckless regime of the Shah of Iran.
Re: Indian Interests
Well done folks!
"Indian Elite Research" is being tweeted more than any other document on SlideShare right now. So we've put it on the homepage of SlideShare.net (in the "Hot on Twitter" section).
http://www.slideshare.net/vepa/indian-elite-research
"Indian Elite Research" is being tweeted more than any other document on SlideShare right now. So we've put it on the homepage of SlideShare.net (in the "Hot on Twitter" section).
http://www.slideshare.net/vepa/indian-elite-research
Re: Indian Interests
Indian Interests as protected by our TOIlet journalist
Manoj Mitta, Sr. Editor of TOIlet
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.co ... d-not-have
Why Canada should not have backed off on visa
Manoj Mitta, Sr. Editor of TOIlet
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.co ... d-not-have
Why Canada should not have backed off on visa
Friends, I am honored by this opportunity to speak to such a distinguished audience, including so many MPs and diplomats. I am also honored to be speaking at this historic venue of the Canadian Parliament. Since my visit to Canada comes close on the heels of a controversy over the denial of visas to security personnel from India, I cannot help starting my address with a reference to it. This unforeseen controversy had served to highlight the seamy side of the Indian democracy.
I was hoping that the enforcement of such rules by more advanced democracies like Canada would shame the Indian state into adopting methods that are more compliant with international standards of acceptable behavior for security forces.
I was therefore deeply disappointed to see that, far from standing by its officials for upholding human rights, the Steve Harper government buckled under the Manmohan Singh government’s pressure.
After all, it is arguable that, as a democratically elected chief minister of Gujarat and a Constitution office holder, Modi was entitled to greater deference from the US than the security personnel who had been denied visas by Canada.
Re: Indian Interests
Airavat wrote:Vir Sanghvi debunks the Aryan Theory
The space of faith between two peaks
Vir Sanghvi
Is this column being authored by an Aryan journalist for the benefit of largely Dravidian readers? Don’t laugh. I know it sounds absurd, offensive even, but the Aryan-Dravidian divide has long been one of the foundations of the ancient history we teach our children. Consequently, it has subconsciously shaped the thinking of much of the middle class and contributed to a mind-set in which north Indians see themselves as descendents of strong European invaders and Dravidians are treated as their traditional enemies.
But the more we learn about ancient history and about the battles between Aryans and Dravidians, the more dubious this divide seems to be.
The Aryan invasion theory, in its simplest form, posits that India was inhabited by Dravidians till about 3,000 or 4,000 years ago (the dates vary) when fair-skinned Aryans from Central Asia invaded the sub-continent. They conquered north India and pushed the Dravidians to the south. They brought Sanskrit with them along with Hinduism and created the India that we know today.
This theory also claims that the Aryans left their original homes in Central Asia in waves. One group went to India. One group went to Iran (the Shah used to call himself Arya Meher or ‘Light of the Aryans’). And others ended up in Europe (remember Hitler and his Aryan theories?). When I was at school, much was made of the links between north Indians and Europeans. Sanskrit and Latin had the same source, we were told. The Gods of ancient Greece, ancient Rome and ancient India were the same — they only had different names. The reason why so many north Indians could be fair was because their genes had preserved the original Aryan characteristics.
One of the problems with India is that society has little sense of history. We treat issues such as our origins as being the stuff of school lessons. We never keep up with advances in research and the only time history becomes the subject of a national discussion is when an issue like the Babri Masjid erupts.
Consequently, most of us have missed the historical and archaeological discoveries that have all but destroyed the theory of the Aryan invasion. Though some historians say that the Aryans came to India as nomads and married into the local population, others are beginning to dispute the thesis of the Aryan invasion in its entirety. What’s more, some genetic studies have found it impossible to distinguish between an Aryan and a Dravidian. Geneticists suggest that most of us are descended from migrants from Africa, who probably got to India around 60,000 years ago. Further, the mitochondrial DNA of Europeans is different from that of Indians, casting doubt on theories that posit a common origin. Nor are there huge genetic variations between Aryans and Dravidians.
Then, there’s the problem of the Indus Valley Civilisation. The first Indus Valley sites, Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, were excavated in the early years of the 20th century. Startled to discover that a well-advanced urban civilisation had existed in India around 2,600 BC, the British found this hard to reconcile with the Aryan invasion theory. Were the people of the Indus Valley Dravidians? If so, they were certainly far more advanced than any central Asian people of that era. How could the Aryans have defeated them?
Some British archaeologists suggested that the people of the Indus Valley were Mesopotamians who had come to settle in India. This was easily disproved and the discovery, in recent years, that there are 1,500 Indus Valley sites all the way from Sind to Gujarat suggests that the history of that period needs to be re-written.
What some historians are now suggesting is that the British theory of an Aryan invasion was politically convenient for the Raj. The British liked the idea of fair-skinned Europeans (or quasi-Europeans) conquering India and bringing civilisation to the natives. But the evidence for such a theory is almost entirely non-existent. In fact, the only evidence for some kind of Indo-European link is linguistic: the links between Sanskrit and Latin.
If you abandon the Aryan invasion theory, then you are left with a very different version of ancient Indian history. You would have to say that 4,000 years ago (or 5,000 or 6,000, depending on which dates you accept) India boasted of an advanced city-based civilisation. For reasons we do not fully understand (the drying up of the Saraswati river is one theory) that civilisation faded. But the people of India continued to develop in a variety of other ways (some of them agrarian).
There may have been visitors or migrants from Central Asia but their numbers were not large enough to unbalance the proportions of the local people or to introduce a new culture. In other words, there was no Aryan-Dravidian divide. India continued to be inhabited by indigenous people and like all old civilisations, continued to welcome migrants from other places.
If this was indeed the case, then there are various consequences for society and politics. First of all, we need to accept that Hinduism is not a religion that was transported to India from Central Asia. It is an Indian creation and traces of Hindu influence are visible in the Indus Valley cities.
Secondly, we need to abandon this foolish emotional conflict between the north and the south, between Aryan and Dravidian. We are all the same people. It is true that many parts of the south have a distinctive culture and linguistic heritage of their own which is quite different from, say, the culture and language of Punjab. But the differences between north and south are not that great. There are enormous differences between Bengal and Punjab, for instance. But nobody casts those differences in terms of race or historical conflict. India is a large country and differences are inevitable.
In terms of how we live our everyday lives, these may not be important discoveries. But in terms of regional psychology, their impact is phenomenal. The north must shed its air of pointless victorious superiority. In parts of the south, they must abandon the siege mentality and sense of Dravidian identity that has led them to prolong a needless conflict with the north.
History tells us that we are all Indians and have always been so. We must reject the divisive history concocted by the British and focus on the facts as we know them. India is one of the cradles of civilisation judging by the excavations of Indus Valley cities. We have gone through ups and downs in our history. But we have not learnt civilisation from Central Asians or borrowed our Hinduism from them.
It’s time to take pride in being Indian. And time to reject the bogus divisions that we have been misled by.
(I recommend Jagmohan’s new book, Reformed, Reawakened and Enlightened Hinduism, for a fuller discussion of these issues.)
— Exclusive to TNSE. More at http://www.virsanghvi.com. Follow him at twitter.com/virsanghvi
For an avowed storm trooper of the DIE, Vir Singhvi has really turned around. There is still hope for us if we can have him be the standard bearer of the true history of India. Truly "satyameva jayate!"
Thanks Vir Singhvi!
Also to Kaushal and Acharya for being persistent in bringing this to our attention over the last ten years or so.
Re: Indian Interests
He has taken the final turn to return back home< lets hope many other DIE do the same > The more India grow rich , bit powerful these lost souls will start associating , identifying themselves with Indic norms, successes and achievements . 

Re: Indian Interests
Fundamentally the DIEs have been rejected by the western goras now. That is the main reason that people like this have found that Aryans and Dravidians are the same now. But he still says that they are people with genetic markers which is not true.Prem wrote:He has taken the final turn to return back home< lets hope many other DIE do the same > The more India grow rich , bit powerful these lost souls will start associating , identifying themselves with Indic norms, successes and achievements .
Re: Indian Interests
http://news.scotsman.com/world/Quiet-ma ... 6343567.jp
Quiet man set to take up reins of power in India
Quiet man set to take up reins of power in India
The job's current occupant, Manmohan Singh, recently had to fend off retirement questions.
Yet despite his aura of inevitability, Gandhi largely remains an enigma. India is an emerging power, facing myriad domestic and international issues, but he remains deliberately aloof from daily politics. His thoughts on many major issues – as well as the temperature of the fire in his belly – remain mostly unknown. For the Congress Party, that may be an advantage. The party has been the top vote getter in the past two national elections by appealing to the poor through welfare schemes while also pursuing pro-growth policies. But it holds power only with the support of fickle coalition partners. Gandhi is using his enormous popularity to broaden the party's political base, steering clear of more contentious policy making. That could help position Congress to win an outright national majority – though it does little to illuminate what he would do with a mandate if he won it."What most people still have a hard time figuring out is, 'What is Rahul Gandhi's vision?' " said Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president of the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi.Gandhi traverses the country, often on secret trips, to recruit as many as 10 million new youth members
Re: Indian Interests
This is using the media to create an atmosphere of inevitability. Post-elections, the media is again used to suggest that the result is really reflective of the peoples' wishes.
Prem wrote:http://news.scotsman.com/world/Quiet-ma ... 6343567.jp
Quiet man set to take up reins of power in India
The job's current occupant, Manmohan Singh, recently had to fend off retirement questions.
Yet despite his aura of inevitability, Gandhi largely remains an enigma. India is an emerging power, facing myriad domestic and international issues, but he remains deliberately aloof from daily politics. His thoughts on many major issues – as well as the temperature of the fire in his belly – remain mostly unknown. For the Congress Party, that may be an advantage. The party has been the top vote getter in the past two national elections by appealing to the poor through welfare schemes while also pursuing pro-growth policies. But it holds power only with the support of fickle coalition partners. Gandhi is using his enormous popularity to broaden the party's political base, steering clear of more contentious policy making. That could help position Congress to win an outright national majority – though it does little to illuminate what he would do with a mandate if he won it."What most people still have a hard time figuring out is, 'What is Rahul Gandhi's vision?' " said Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president of the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi.Gandhi traverses the country, often on secret trips, to recruit as many as 10 million new youth members
Re: Indian Interests
Hi Paranav, Same news under different heading
India’s Young and Poor Rally to Another Gandhi
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/05/world ... andhi.html
India’s Young and Poor Rally to Another Gandhi
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/05/world ... andhi.html
-
- BRF Oldie
- Posts: 12410
- Joined: 19 Nov 2008 03:25
Re: Indian Interests
RG jnr will score in a vacuum. However, something tells me that the path will be complicated. If the dynasty uses him too early, its the end of India as we know it. It will be the sister who will be needed or used to shore him up, and eventually the sister is more likely to take over. Once again, there is something of a fatal air about this whole thing. In the longer term, the dynasty will lose control. They have not produced sufficient intelligence and capability. The sis will be able to stem the loss of power to a certain extent - but even she does not really have "it" - she is not an Indira who had her heart in the right Bharatyia place at least, culturally, faith wise and intuition wise. Be prepared for an oligarchy in the mid-term range. Long term, the dynasty will degenerate and the courtiers will try to create a new dynasty for the northern cliques. BJP's calculation in this regard may actually backfire with the other branch becoming a viable option for the current mosahibs.
I think the politican mandarins are failing to realize the transitional nature of Indian politics. They are an anachronistic remnant of an older feudal social mindset - and India is not yet free from that but not entirely clinging to that. in around 20 years time, this type of politics will become irrelevant and their practitioners confined to certain regions only.
I think the politican mandarins are failing to realize the transitional nature of Indian politics. They are an anachronistic remnant of an older feudal social mindset - and India is not yet free from that but not entirely clinging to that. in around 20 years time, this type of politics will become irrelevant and their practitioners confined to certain regions only.
Re: Indian Interests
Why Blawg?
http://blawgreview.blogspot.com/2010/06/why-blawg.htmlIn South Africa, Gandhi faced the discrimination directed at Indians. He was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to move from the first class to a third-class coach while holding a valid first-class ticket. Traveling farther on by stagecoach he was beaten by a driver for refusing to travel on the foot board to make room for a European passenger. He suffered other hardships on the journey as well, including being barred from several hotels. In another incident, the magistrate of a Durban court ordered Gandhi to remove his turban - which he refused to do. These events were a turning point in his life, awakening him to social injustice and influencing his subsequent social activism. It was through witnessing firsthand the racism, prejudice and injustice against Indians in South Africa that Gandhi started to question his people's status within the British Empire, and his own place in society.
Gandhi influenced many civil rights leaders in the past century, including Martin Luther King, and his words and teachings are still relevant today.
On this date, June 7, in 1893 Mahatma Gandhi, born in India, educated and trained as a barrister in England, began in South Africa a life of non-violent resistance that changed the world.
Re: Indian Interests
Good write up in the afternath of Bhopal judgement - where do MMS's loyalties lie
http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.com/201 ... -back.html
I
http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.com/201 ... -back.html
I
don't understand how come the Prime Minister does not feel morally compelled to submit resignation over the injustice delivered in the world's worst industrial disaster. He will not. Because he is busy laying out a red carpet for Corporate America. He has an 'incomplete task' on hand. How can he apologise when he is busy fine tuning the Nuclear Liability Bill, to be introduced in the next session of Parliament, for which he may receive an honorary doctorate from the Harvard
Last time he was conferred with an honorary doctorate from the Oxford, Manmohan Singh had showered praise on the British for what they did during the days of the Raj
.When the Securities Scam burst in India, and I am talking of the period when Manmohan Singh was the Finance Minister, it was not only stock broker Harshad Mehta who was involved. Two foreign banks, including Citibank, were also involved. I still remember vividly when Manmohan Singh refused to initiate any action against the erring banks, saying: "It will send out a wrong signal
Successive governments have laid the foundation for many more Bhopals -- GM crops, FDI in agriculture, Special Economic Zones (SEZ), nuclear plants, to name a few -- and are busy amending laws to make it easier for business and industry to exploit India. With Parliament in the hands of the corporates, and with democracy not looking beyond industry, it is time people realised that Company Raj is back
Re: Indian Interests
The shame of the Bhopal verdict has revealed the shocking conspiracy between the GOI and the US's MNCs,where for 30 pieces of silver,Indian leaders are willing to betray their people.These leaders who conspired with the US to let off Warren Anderson and UC and the scum of humanity and traitors to the nation.They deserve the fate of traitors but the devil looks after his own.
The same despicable and treasonable arrangeent is being worked out for the N-Liability bill,where US nuclear suppliers will get off if any catastrophe occurs just as Warren Anderson has,now as the report says living a life of luxury and totally unrepentant for causing the deaths of 20,000+ Indians.
Anderson - untouchable, unrepentant and living a life of luxury
Excerpt:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 94120.html
[quote]By Stephen Foley in New York
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
When Greenpeace tracked down Warren Anderson to his luxury home in the Hamptons, outside New York, the former Union Carbide boss was hosing gravel from his car after a trip to a country club.
Related articles
•Thousands dead, their land poisoned. The sentence – just two years
•Aziza Sultan: No one shows concern. I sometimes wish that I had died in the accident
•Leading article: Far too little, far too late
This was in 2002, and while Indian employees of Union Carbide were yesterday convicted over the Bhopal disaster, Mr Anderson continues to live the "normal retired life" of the American chief executive.
"Warren Anderson is not dodging due process," his attorney William Krohley told The Independent eight years ago. "He leads a normal retired life. He has places in Florida and New York where he resides. He plays golf every day, he socialises with people."
In the aftermath of Bhopal, Mr Anderson accepted "moral responsibility" for the accident but was shocked to find himself arrested. US diplomatic pressure led to his being bailed, and although he agreed to co-operate with the Indian judicial process, he has never returned to the country, his extradition has never been vigorously pursued, and the trial of local executives was allowed to proceed separately.
Furious residents and environmental campaigners believe that the Indian government has put commercial relations with the US above the task of seeking justice.
Mr Anderson has always denied legal responsibility and said that a $470m settlement with the Indian government in 1989 was the end of the matter, yet his name continues to conjure anger and disgust, and will inevitably do so again when a movie of the disaster is released later this year. He is to be played by Martin Sheen – unsympathetic, unrepentant.
quote]
The same despicable and treasonable arrangeent is being worked out for the N-Liability bill,where US nuclear suppliers will get off if any catastrophe occurs just as Warren Anderson has,now as the report says living a life of luxury and totally unrepentant for causing the deaths of 20,000+ Indians.
Anderson - untouchable, unrepentant and living a life of luxury
Excerpt:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 94120.html
[quote]By Stephen Foley in New York
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
When Greenpeace tracked down Warren Anderson to his luxury home in the Hamptons, outside New York, the former Union Carbide boss was hosing gravel from his car after a trip to a country club.
Related articles
•Thousands dead, their land poisoned. The sentence – just two years
•Aziza Sultan: No one shows concern. I sometimes wish that I had died in the accident
•Leading article: Far too little, far too late
This was in 2002, and while Indian employees of Union Carbide were yesterday convicted over the Bhopal disaster, Mr Anderson continues to live the "normal retired life" of the American chief executive.
"Warren Anderson is not dodging due process," his attorney William Krohley told The Independent eight years ago. "He leads a normal retired life. He has places in Florida and New York where he resides. He plays golf every day, he socialises with people."
In the aftermath of Bhopal, Mr Anderson accepted "moral responsibility" for the accident but was shocked to find himself arrested. US diplomatic pressure led to his being bailed, and although he agreed to co-operate with the Indian judicial process, he has never returned to the country, his extradition has never been vigorously pursued, and the trial of local executives was allowed to proceed separately.
Furious residents and environmental campaigners believe that the Indian government has put commercial relations with the US above the task of seeking justice.
Mr Anderson has always denied legal responsibility and said that a $470m settlement with the Indian government in 1989 was the end of the matter, yet his name continues to conjure anger and disgust, and will inevitably do so again when a movie of the disaster is released later this year. He is to be played by Martin Sheen – unsympathetic, unrepentant.
quote]
Re: Indian Interests
...and now the west wants to steal Yoga too!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... tures.html
India moves to 'patent' hundreds of yoga postures
An Indian government body is filming hundreds of yoga poses in an attempt to patent the popular exercise and stop interlopers from claiming they have created new types of yoga.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... tures.html
India moves to 'patent' hundreds of yoga postures
An Indian government body is filming hundreds of yoga poses in an attempt to patent the popular exercise and stop interlopers from claiming they have created new types of yoga.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 94119.htmlThousands dead, their land poisoned. The sentence – just two years
Court ruling over the tragedy at Union Carbide's Bhopal plant has enraged campaigners. Andrew Buncombe reports
-
- BRF Oldie
- Posts: 17249
- Joined: 10 Aug 2006 21:11
- Location: http://bharata-bhuti.blogspot.com/
Re: Indian Interests
NOT in Indian Interests
The liquor licenses in the state of Andhra Pradesh are going to fetch Rs 6,000 crore to the state exchequer in 2010-11. This is a dangerous trend.
One shop in Nadikudi, Guntur district got the highest bid at Rs 5.21 crores and the lowest bid came for a shop in Lingala, Mahaboobnagar at Rs 25 Lakhs.
Imaging how much business a liquor shop must make to submit Rs 25 lakhs as the lowest bid. Assuming a 25% tax rate the lowest bidding shop must have Rs 1 Crore sales in 2 years at minimum and the highest bidding store must get Rs 26 Crores sales in 2 years.
One estimate is that nearly 50% of National Employment Guarantee Scheme funds are spent on liquor usage in Andhra Pradesh. Overall the state is going to spend Rs 25-30,000 crores on liquor consumption in 2010 & 2011.
Looking holistically this situation shows the linkage between
- Power politics
- Black money being converted to white money
- State's dependence on liquor sales as revenue stream
- Diversion/misuse of NEGRS funds
- Social health and associated costs of Arogya Shree program
The liquor licenses in the state of Andhra Pradesh are going to fetch Rs 6,000 crore to the state exchequer in 2010-11. This is a dangerous trend.
One shop in Nadikudi, Guntur district got the highest bid at Rs 5.21 crores and the lowest bid came for a shop in Lingala, Mahaboobnagar at Rs 25 Lakhs.
Imaging how much business a liquor shop must make to submit Rs 25 lakhs as the lowest bid. Assuming a 25% tax rate the lowest bidding shop must have Rs 1 Crore sales in 2 years at minimum and the highest bidding store must get Rs 26 Crores sales in 2 years.
One estimate is that nearly 50% of National Employment Guarantee Scheme funds are spent on liquor usage in Andhra Pradesh. Overall the state is going to spend Rs 25-30,000 crores on liquor consumption in 2010 & 2011.
Looking holistically this situation shows the linkage between
- Power politics
- Black money being converted to white money
- State's dependence on liquor sales as revenue stream
- Diversion/misuse of NEGRS funds
- Social health and associated costs of Arogya Shree program
Re: Indian Interests
The Excise Commissioner job in Andhra Pradesh is the most important job in the babudom after Chief Secy and CM's Principal Secy.
-
- BRFite
- Posts: 951
- Joined: 08 Nov 2007 00:51
- Location: Jeering sekular forces bhile Furiously malishing my mijjile @ Led Lips Mijjile Malish Palish Parloul
Re: Indian Interests
Wasn't there a report that a top INC neta was behind Warren Anderson not being convicted and in his flight from India?
-
- BRF Oldie
- Posts: 13112
- Joined: 27 Jul 2006 17:51
- Location: Ban se dar nahin lagta , chootiyon se lagta hai .
Re: Indian Interests
Gurulog do you know of any good documentaries made on the Bhopal gas tragedy ? The only good piece of literature I remember reading on the subject is the book "Five Past Midnight in Bhopal" . I wish if bollywood could make a decent movie on the subject.
Re: Indian Interests
There was a documentary shown on PBS in mid 90s with witness account of the accident. What I recall is the demogrpahics of those who suffered was quite uniform.
Re: Indian Interests
Bollywood does have a good movie on this called Bhopal Express starring Kay Kay menon.negi wrote:Gurulog do you know of any good documentaries made on the Bhopal gas tragedy ? The only good piece of literature I remember reading on the subject is the book "Five Past Midnight in Bhopal" . I wish if bollywood could make a decent movie on the subject.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0281656/
Re: Indian Interests
The acknowledgement by the former CBI boss (headlines Today) that the MEA did write to them to let Anderson off the hook is a damning indictment of the role that the GOI has also played in the tragedy.What is equally stunning is Obama's astonishing statement that the Bhopal verdict must not affect the Nuclear Liability Bill! That too when he has vowed that BP must pay every "nickel and dime' for the oil spill! How duplicitous can he and the US get.
Re: Indian Interests
The Man who warned of the Bhopal Gas Leak.
The role of Justice A H Ahmadi is most suspect in the Bhopal Gas Saga.
The role of Justice A H Ahmadi is most suspect in the Bhopal Gas Saga.
when a review petition was filed against his petition, of course Justice Ahmadi rejected it. What is most shocking is how can a review petition come up against a court ruling with a judge who himself had given the judgement against in the earlier Case/Petition?
You have been following the Bhopal gas leak case for 25 years. What was your first reaction on hearing the verdict on June 7?
I had no expectations on that day. The seed of this judgment was sown when a Supreme Court bench headed by then Chief Justice of India, A H Ahmadi, passed a judgment in 1996 that converted section 304 (II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian penal code to 304-A (causing death by negligence) to try the case. In 1996 we knew the fate of the Bhopal gas case. He diluted the charges filed against Union Carbide. What happened was the culmination of injustice that started with that judgment.
Was there a design behind this?
I can't say how it was done. But surely there was some design. Eventually, after retirement, Justice Ahmadi became the lifetime chairman of the Bhopal Memorial Hospital Trust and Research Centre which has funds worth millions of rupees. Those millions, paid by Union Carbide for the poor victims, are under his control even now.

Re: Indian Interests
We see three factions in INC now: Family, Sarkari and the madhyamikas. And the release of the leaks shows that there is intervention from outside forces.
Re: Indian Interests
Some strategy/India interests discussions are happening during the Kumbh mela. Interesting folks are participating in these meetings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I5vP1wM1A0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnWAv8g9mvk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I5vP1wM1A0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnWAv8g9mvk
Re: Indian Interests
Family faction i can understand as sycophant group. but who are sarkari and madhyamikas group.Btw what is the meaning of madhyamikas???ramana wrote:We see three factions in INC now: Family, Sarkari and the madhyamikas. And the release of the leaks shows that there is intervention from outside forces.
Re: Indian Interests
Dr Lalji Singh, former Director of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, delivered the seventeenth Bhaorao Deoras Memorial Lecture in Lucknow on May 12.
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/module ... 48&page=26
Mystery of our origins : India has one of the largest human biodiversity pools
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/module ... 48&page=26
Mystery of our origins : India has one of the largest human biodiversity pools
India represents one of the largest human biodiversity pool in the world. There are 532 tribes, 72 primitive tribes and 36 hunters and gatherers.Although the genome sequences of any two unrelated people differ by just 0.1 per cent, that tiny slice of genetic material is a rich source of information
To shed light on the genetic variability across the Indian subcontinent, we analysed 132 Indian samples from 25 groups on an Affymetrix 6.0 array, yielding data for 587,753 SNPs after restricting to markers with good completeness. To span the widest range of ancestry in India, we sampled tribal groups from 13 states and 6 language families (Indo-European, Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman, Great Andamanese and Jarawa-Onge). We also sampled caste groups mostly from Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh to permit comparison of traditionally "upper" and "lower" caste groups after controlling for geography. With tens of thousands of independent loci, we could estimate Fst (F-statistics) - accurately with just 2-9 samples per groups (with average standard error of + 0.0011). We also merged our data with 155 European (CEU), Chinese (CHB), and West African (YRI) samples from HapMap, and 938 samples from the Human Genome Diversity Panel (HGDP).
We analysed these data to address five questions about Indian genetics and history. Does the Indian subcontinent harbour more structure than Europe? Has strong endogamy been a long-standing feature of Indian groups? Do nearly all Indians descend from a mixture of populations, one of which was related to Central Asians, Middle Easterners and Europeans and probably lived in north India? Are tribal groups systematically different from castes, and do some tribal groups provide a good approximation for the ancestral populations of India? What is the origin of the indigenous Andaman Islanders?
All mainland Indian groups have inherited a mixture of ancestries
We provide strong evidence for two ancient and genetically divergent populations that are ancestral to most Indian groups today. One, the "Ancestral North Indians" (ANI), is genetically close to Middle Easterners, Central Asians, and Europeans, while the other, the "Ancestral South Indians" (ASI), is not close to any group outside the subcontinent. By introducing methods that can estimate ancestry without accurate ancestral populations, we show that ANI ancestry ranges from 39-71 per cent, and is higher in traditionally upper caste groups and Indo-European speakers. Groups with only ASI ancestry may no longer exist in mainland India.
The finding that nearly all Indian groups descend from mixtures of two ancestral populations applies to traditional "tribes" as well as "castes". It is impossible to distinguish castes from tribes using the data. The genetics prove that they are not systematically different. This supports the view that castes grew directly out of tribal-like organisations during the formation of Indian society. The one exception to the finding, that all Indian groups are mixed, is the indigenous people of the Andaman Islands, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean with a census of only a few hundred today. The Andamanese appear to be related exclusively to the Ancestral South Indian lineage and therefore lack Ancestral North Indian ancestry. In this sense, they are unique. Understanding their origins provides a window to look into the history of the Ancestral South Indians, and the period of tens of thousands years ago when they diverged from other Eurasians. Our project to sample the disappearing tribes of the Andaman Islands has been more successful than we hoped, as the Andamanese are the only surviving remnant of the ancient colonisers of South Asia.
The kings of South India, like the Chola and the Pandya dynasties, relate their lineages back to Manu. The Matsya Purana moreover makes Manu, the progenitor of all the Aryans, originally a south Indian king, Satyavrata. Hence these are not only traditions that make the Dravidian descendants of Vedic rishis and kings, but those that make the Aryans of North India descendants of Dravidian kings. The two cultures are so intimately related that it is difficult to say which came first.
The present research findings are consistent with the view of one school of thoughts that the Aryans and Dravidians are part of the same culture and we need not speak of them as separate. However, it contradicts the second school of historians such as Max Muller who for the first time applied the Aryan name to the Indo-European concept. It strongly suggests that dividing them and placing them at odds with each other serves the interest of neither but only serves to damage their common culture.
Our study is important in highlighting important questions still open for future research. One priority is to estimate a date for the ANI-ASI mixture; this may be possible by studying the length of stretches of ANI ancestry in modern Indian samples. Inferring a date is important, as we expect that it would shed light on the historical process leading to the present day structure of Indian groups. A second priority would be to follow up on the observation that many Indian descended from a small number of founders. The groups with the strongest founder effects can then be analysed to identify genetic variants that we predict will account for substantial rates of recessive disease in these groups. Have Eurasians descended from the Ancestral North Indians? This is the question we would like to address in our future research activities.
Re: Indian Interests
Arrey if he is Jadhav how can he be a "Dalit" writer? Yadavas count as Dalits these days or what?Pranav wrote:What can be said about the ideological affiliations of these members?Eleven names cleared for NAC
Special Correspondent
New Delhi: The Prime Minister's Office on Sunday finalised the names of 11 members of the National Advisory Council...
... the former Reserve Bank of India economist and noted Dalit writer Narendra Jadhav,
"DDM" no longer even deserves the first "D" (for "Desi".) Any Desi would know that a Jadhav is no Dalit. Now they are only "Dork Media."