Indian Interests

[sanjeevpunj]

^^^^This image of being "all talk and no guts" is the product of backdoor diplomacy by our MFA.They so easily agree to talk with Pakistan when unkil presses button, now unkil knows we will always just talk. Too bad that SAM left this world, and we are sufferring a major lack of charismatic efficient and aggressive military leaders who could have told the politicians, "enough is enough, let us do the real talking now".

[Prem]

For Massa Wasi Desi
Watch "Strikeback" showmon Max . Its a series on Bad Poaq getting hunted by Brit/Uncle force. Current one showing hotel siege in Delhi.

[Virupaksha]

X-Post

Imams from MP to join in Hazare''s agitation at Ramlila Maidan - http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/n ... 94637.html

Bhopal, Aug 19 (PTI) Over 40 imams (Muslim religious heads) from Madhya Pradesh are going to Delhi to join in social activist Anna Hazare's agitation for Jan-lokpal Bill. "The issues raised by Anna through the Lokpal bill campaign is aimed at the betterment of the country and therefore we have decided to extend full support," All India Imam Sangathan's Secretary and city `Qazi' of Guna, Noorullah Yusuf Zai said. "Nearly 40-45 imams from various districts of the state will join Annaji at Ramlila Maidan tomorrow in his campaign," Zai told PTI. He said they were responding to the call given by All India Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind's General Secretary, Maulana Mehmood Madni. Imams from Ujjain, Guna, Bhopal, Indore, Khargone, Shivpuri, Guna and other places will reach the national capital tomorrow, he said. Corruption is forbidden in Islam and the corrupt would never be pardoned by the Allah, Zai said, adding that the holy month of Ramzan was the best time to extend support for the noble cause. PTI MAS KRK

The above news must be read in conjunction with
http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpap ... r4645.html

The relation between the uncle and the nephew was so bitter that the JUH faction led by Mehmood Madani gave hidden support to Vastanvi which was an important factor in the defeat of Arshad Madni in the election of the V.C. in January this year.
......
Taking his defeat as a loss to the unquestionable sway of his family in Deoband Arshad Madani patched up with his nephew Memood Madni in the name of family prestige and launched campaign to oust Vastanvi ever since his election.

[JE Menon]

>>I am not sure Modi should have been picked up for this line of argument giving the benefit of doubt to SSM or other Voices of the regime.

On the contrary, he is exactly the right person to pick for this line of argument if we want to be bold about it if we don’t want to simply sink back to the same old crap about MMS said this and SSM said that in line with his political bosses. That is why I picked him. And he is really the right example of someone doing things right.

>>(1) Why are not the other non-Modis not getting it? Maybe it was the civilizational visions itself to start with that made the difference?

Maybe, but to me at least it does not seem to be the case. The BJP was and has been quite forthright in laying out its vision for the country. But its approach has fallen flat so far anyway. It has to find a way to attract people and for that it, too, will have to study Modi closely and it seems they are doing so.

>>Pursuit of growth without civilizational vision leads to regimes whose thoughts are worded out by SSM/KB?

Actually the problem is not that there is no vision, but that it is one which a section of the population don’t like, at least as explained by the powers that be today. This can only be changed if minds and attitudes are adjusted and votes are collected.

>>(2) if Modi is really "getting it", then an even more serious problem comes up. The regime on whose behalf KB/SSM have opened up their apologetics - goes tongs and fire at Modi. Any regime that tries to destroy the one person who is getting "it", surely must be not having "it" as the top priority - right? so Modi's getting "it" automatically then proves that the current rashtryia regime does not hold "it" as the supreme goal.

Firstly I don’t think that KB/SSM are writing an apologia on behalf of the government. I did not see any fundamental change in approach during the NDA government either. I agree with a lot of what they say, and I damn well don’t support the current sychopantic dispensation at the top. But this regime can only affect things in terms of slowing up the moves in a particular direction, and maybe an NDA might speed it up. Really can’t say, both dispensations have done pretty well in this respect in the past 20 years. But the general direction is there, which is that we are heading for a state of humongous wealth and power within 20-30 years. Whether civilisational values and ideals remain valid and even grow and spread beyond our country depends on society as much as political parties or the organs of the state. People need to get involved on an individual basis and spread the vision. BR is a tiny example. India-Forum is another. Certainly thousands of people have been influenced this way, maybe tens of thousands.

>>Of course India is not doing everything the way USA wants. India has its own perceptions apparently where it shows "independence" - which in turn seems to be about cultivating ME dictators facing domestic and of-course opportunistic foreign reprisals, and hosting Islamists. India will not compromise on the question of protecting Islamism in all its forms, under a variety of stated and unstated excuses including economic-hostage Indian populations in ME (stated) to electoral necessities (unstated) - or EJ havoc - which of course is not against the "wishes" of USA. India will not take action - covert or overt against Pak - "against" the wishes of USA.

If this is what you see, this is what you see. Not much I can do about it, except say that it is not what I see. What I see happening and read about suggests nothing of the sort above, namely some sort of “colonised” status under the US, cultivating ME dictators (not enough, I support this, we need dictators there as long as possible), hosting Islamists (if they are Indian citizens and we cannot get them legally, there is no choice), protecting Islamism in all its forms (debatable, but even if not it’s better than protecting Islamism in one form).

>>Definitely these are promising signs of future intentions. Should we also join SSM in his essential panegyric of congrez pretensions?

I don’t know boss, up to you. I was giving my opinion of what I think is the reality. Let readers judge.

My last post on this subject.

[brihaspati]

>>I am not sure Modi should have been picked up for this line of argument giving the benefit of doubt to SSM or other Voices of the regime.

On the contrary, he is exactly the right person to pick for this line of argument if we want to be bold about it if we don’t want to simply sink back to the same old crap about MMS said this and SSM said that in line with his political bosses. That is why I picked him. And he is really the right example of someone doing things right.

The reason I questioned Modi as an example was because it contradicted the projected assumption inherent in SSM that whatever is being done by the current regime in strategic thinking about the future is actually positive and geared towards ensuring a future dominance and protection of Indian interests. If Modi was an example of the correct direction - then by furiously targeting him and his administration, the current regime proves that for it personal vendetta came above national interests. And people are asking us to implicitly trust such regimes to do the "right" thing in the future?!!!

>>(1) Why are not the other non-Modis not getting it? Maybe it was the civilizational visions itself to start with that made the difference?

Maybe, but to me at least it does not seem to be the case. The BJP was and has been quite forthright in laying out its vision for the country. But its approach has fallen flat so far anyway. It has to find a way to attract people and for that it, too, will have to study Modi closely and it seems they are doing so.

Maybe Modi had a firmer and clearer vision of that civilization, to let him drive harder and longer. When we are talking about "maybe"'s there could be a host of other factors needed to be considered - regional characteristics and immediate histories perhaps, pre-existing networks and intra-region network competitions, etc. Before talking of "maybe"'s leading to certainties about particular parties' programmes/approaches having fallen flat, we need to do such analyses. What if, it was the "civilizational" vision component that alarmed and threatened parts of the rashtra and its associated supporting networks who are against such "civilizational visions" [they have their own civilizational targets in alignment with external imperialist ideologies] - that led to retreat of the BJP from regions which had long been entrenched hotbeds of such foreign ideological affiliations?

>>Pursuit of growth without civilizational vision leads to regimes whose thoughts are worded out by SSM/KB?

Actually the problem is not that there is no vision, but that it is one which a section of the population don’t like, at least as explained by the powers that be today. This can only be changed if minds and attitudes are adjusted and votes are collected.

Have the powers that be today - ever given any hints about whether they really want to change such attitudes? Do they ever clarify that if such a section was non-existent they would support this "civilizational vision" themselves? On the contrary, from its dominant dynastic founder - there was an open and vicious declaration of moving against this "civilizational vision" compared to which at least three totalitarian foreign origin ideology's "civilizational vision" was taken as mucho more preferable. When that is the consistent attitude - is it really hard to conclude that economic growth will be used to make "civilizational" changes deliberately in favour of these foreign ideologies!

>>(2) if Modi is really "getting it", then an even more serious problem comes up. The regime on whose behalf KB/SSM have opened up their apologetics - goes tongs and fire at Modi. Any regime that tries to destroy the one person who is getting "it", surely must be not having "it" as the top priority - right? so Modi's getting "it" automatically then proves that the current rashtryia regime does not hold "it" as the supreme goal.

Firstly I don’t think that KB/SSM are writing an apologia on behalf of the government. I did not see any fundamental change in approach during the NDA government either. I agree with a lot of what they say, and I damn well don’t support the current sychopantic dispensation at the top. But this regime can only affect things in terms of slowing up the moves in a particular direction, and maybe an NDA might speed it up. Really can’t say, both dispensations have done pretty well in this respect in the past 20 years. But the general direction is there, which is that we are heading for a state of humongous wealth and power within 20-30 years. Whether civilisational values and ideals remain valid and even grow and spread beyond our country depends on society as much as political parties or the organs of the state. People need to get involved on an individual basis and spread the vision. BR is a tiny example. India-Forum is another. Certainly thousands of people have been influenced this way, maybe tens of thousands.

This again is a problematic assertion based on stress on wealth gathering as somehow automatically determining power. India's history is a consistent contradiction to this view. What that wealth is used for - is determined by the regime's own "civilizational values" and the associated networks of mercantile interests which prop up such regimes. It could be used to serve these other "civilizational values" as has consistently been done in the past.

My pointer was that in going after Modi - who is supposedly "getting it right" - is not the current rashtryia dispensation proving that it cares less for whatever Modi is doing right, than for its own power or dominance interests? If that is the underlying attitude - how can we claim that such a rashtra will automatically do the "right" thing over and above its own transnational "civilizational values"?

>>Of course India is not doing everything the way USA wants. India has its own perceptions apparently where it shows "independence" - which in turn seems to be about cultivating ME dictators facing domestic and of-course opportunistic foreign reprisals, and hosting Islamists. India will not compromise on the question of protecting Islamism in all its forms, under a variety of stated and unstated excuses including economic-hostage Indian populations in ME (stated) to electoral necessities (unstated) - or EJ havoc - which of course is not against the "wishes" of USA. India will not take action - covert or overt against Pak - "against" the wishes of USA.

If this is what you see, this is what you see. Not much I can do about it, except say that it is not what I see. What I see happening and read about suggests nothing of the sort above, namely some sort of “colonised” status under the US, cultivating ME dictators (not enough, I support this, we need dictators there as long as possible), hosting Islamists (if they are Indian citizens and we cannot get them legally, there is no choice), protecting Islamism in all its forms (debatable, but even if not it’s better than protecting Islamism in one form).

I meant As Sudais - whose religious attitudes and remarks had been amply made clear before he was attending dinners in India. As for dictators - yes let us wait and see the intense wisdom in supporting the rejecta of the world, some of whom in their heyday had even gently joked I suppose about the need to support Kashmiri Islamist separatism.

>>Definitely these are promising signs of future intentions. Should we also join SSM in his essential panegyric of congrez pretensions?

I don’t know boss, up to you. I was giving my opinion of what I think is the reality. Let readers judge.

My last post on this subject.

Needed to clarify some points raised. Also my last post in response. But the subject is interesting. Readers can of course explore on their own - by going into concrete details. Some of the questions are

(1) those powers in the past which have gained power, did they consciously project power or invested specifically in gaining power after or before they gained humongous wealth?

(2) what was the continuous average growth and accumulation headed towards in the centuries or decades before India lost large territories to foreign invasions as well as hostile ideologies?

(3) what was the typical role of ruling regimes in the fabulous growth periods preceding such invasions and civilizational retreat towards hostile ideologies?

(4) in India, which were the regions and social networks that initially led BJP to power, and how and where did they change almost immediately? Looking at relative structural connections between mercantile networks and religious networks, historical length of presence of hostile ideologies and their infrastructure in the region should be pretty illustrative.

(5) the general trend of "civilizational values" maintained by the congrez, which has been the most successful in maintaining overall rashtryia power, and the corresponding dominance or control networks of hostile ideologies - in the more populous regions. There is a match. But should be independently explored.

[Prem]

Why I don’t support changing West Bengal to Paschim Banga
http://milkmiracle.net/2011/08/19/paschimbanga/

The government in West Bengal just decided that it is time to change the name of the state. During the sixty-four years of India’s independence, West Bengal has been known as Paschimbanga in Bangla (পশ্চিমবঙ্গ, phonetically Poschimbongo), the native language of most inhabitants. By decree it is soon going to be changed to Paschim Banga or Paschimbanga (and there is still confusion on details) in other languages as well.When the first call for discarding the name “West Bengal” arose decades ago, the idea was to simply do away with the “West” or “Paschim” qualifier. The point made was that since West Bengal was no longer politically associated with East Bengal, which was a sovereign nation, “West” was simply a relic of a pre-Partition province. I agree with this assertion. I think that if two political entities known as “Punjab” can exist right next to one another – one in India and the other Pakistan without requiring an East or West qualifier then why should the Indian state resulting from the Partition of Bengal retain a vestigial “West” or “Paschim”?

Anirban

[Sushupti]

European, American Museums – Fortified Havens for Plunder
Radha Rajan
20 Aug 2011

Should the people of India, Greece, Egypt and Africa, and Native American peoples succeed in getting American and European museums and libraries to return all objects which constitute the tangible roots of ancient civilizations, and thousands of years of history pre-dating the cults of Jesus and Mohammed, then the Louvre, British Museum, Smithsonian, Vatican and the Kunsthistoriches Museum, to mention just five, would be emptied of all their prized possessions.


European and American museums and libraries are no more than fortified thieves’ dens and state-sponsored and supported safe havens for Abrahamic plunder; they house the spoils of Christian war and genocide against African peoples, against the nations of now extinct and almost extinct Native American peoples, colonial loot from Asia, and from archeological and anthropological pseudo-science expeditions which European marauders undertook across continents.


To the list of permanent exhibits and possessions officially declared by these museums and libraries must be added -
1. Objects which are never exhibited for public viewing
2. Objects which are now in private collections of the rich and infamous, and
3. Objects which even people in the countries of their origin may not know about in some private collection and in the dark interiors of museums and libraries

The only history to be spared the depredations of Christian vandals which they could not uproot and cart away to Europe and America, and those which successive jihadi hordes could not destroy and reduce to rubble are the petroglyphs and pictograms in the caves of India. India should demand that all such objects including the priceless Saraswati-Indus seals, temple pediments and colonnades and every murti of our gods and goddesses once worshipped in our temples and homes be returned to India where they belong.

In the British Museum alone the writer saw fourteen objects inscribed with Saraswati-Indus script. There are currently around 4200 such inscribed objects of which over 2500 are seals and sealings. According to Dr. Subhash Kak, most of the sites of what is called the Indus civilization are in the Saraswati valleys and some of the biggest sites in vivisected India are yet to be excavated. Several among the 4200 objects are scattered across major museums of the world and libraries. According to Dr. Kak, besides the fourteen in the British Museum, there is one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and one in the Berkeley Museum, University of California.


The Saraswati-Indus script has not been deciphered conclusively and all work including that of some Hindu scholars and amateurs continues to remain at best in the domain of conjecture. All objects bearing the Saraswati-Indus script, currently located in foreign museums and libraries must therefore come back to India to enable future scholars to access them at one place without having to travel around the world; what belongs to the Indian people must be returned to India.


Besides the fourteen objects with the Saraswati-Indus script, the writer saw in the collection of colonial loot, a portion of the Mathura Lion Capital, the base of an exquisitely carved temple column from Dwarka, breathtakingly beautiful murtis from every corner of our country - of Vishnu, Shiva, Surya, Parvati, Rukmani, Vaishnavi, Kartikeya and Narthana (Dancing) Ganesha.

The defilement of temples and sacred places was not confined to India. A magnificent wall torn down from the Memorial Temple of Rameses II in Abydos, Egypt, built of limestone and sandstone around 1250 BC, bearing precious hieroglyphs giving a detailed list of names of the kings and gods of Egypt in exquisitely carved cartouches also stands in the British Museum.


The memorial temple to Rameses II also had seven shrines dedicated to seven gods including Osiris, God of Death and the netherworld. Auguste Mariette was to Abydos what Lord Elgin was to the Acropolis. If Elgin vandalised the sacred Acropolis and brought home the plunder for the British Museum, Mariette vandalised the sacred city of Abydos and brought home the loot for the Egyptian Museum in the Louvre.


Temples which were plundered and destroyed by pre-Christian and pre-Islam kings and soldiers were always re-built and the gods were re-installed and worshipped again. Oftentimes some future king from the victor country would re-build the temple which had been destroyed earlier by his predecessor; but that which was destroyed by Christian crusaders, colonisers and archeologists and Muslim jihadi armies remain to this day only as ruins.


White Christian countries built museums as triumphant monuments of this destruction and vandalism. Pre-Christian and pre-Islam kings destroyed temples as an asuric act of victory but even they did not vandalise graves and tombs. Vandalising tombs and pyramids, digging up graves and mutilating the bodies of the dead is an Abrahamic trait and Native Americans are still fighting to get back the mortal remains of their forefathers displayed in American museums so that they can be respectfully laid back to rest.


If India, Greece and Egypt bore the brunt of western archeologists, Native Americans suffered anthropologists.

- While their historical precedent is uncertain, anthropologists can be readily identified on the Reservations. Go into any crowd of people. Pick out a tall gaunt white man wearing Bermuda shorts, a World War II Army Air Force flying jacket, an Australian bush hat, tennis shoes, and packing a large knapsack incorrectly strapped on his back. He will invariably have a thin wife with stringy hair, an IQ of 191, and a vocabulary in which even the prepositions have eleven syllables. This creature is an anthropologist. (Vine Deloria, JR., Custer Died For Your Sins, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1988, page 79)


While Native American writer Vine Deloria’s biting satire may have reduced the anthropologist and Christian missionary to caricatures, the destruction wreaked on ancient civilizations and peoples is real; very real. The extent of destruction, vandalism, brazen appropriation of the wealth of other nations which these museums and libraries continue to hold on to and exhibit with scant regard for morality and justice, and the sensibilities of the nations to which this wealth belongs, has to be seen to be really understood.


A museum, as conceived of by what goes in the name of western civilization, is primarily a victory monument displaying the remains of dead and extinct or once conquered and enslaved civilizations; and they are dead because of the rise and expansion of the Abrahamic religions. One such museum was the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad which housed the remains of the Mesopotamian civilization. In an act of Abrahamic atavism, the Baghdad museum was made a precision target during the American invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003.


American tanks fired at the Baghdad museum leaving a gaping hole on the forehead; the attack on Baghdad museum facilitated the pre-planned vandalism and plunder of the magnificent wealth of the Mesopotamian civilization. The world will never know how much was destroyed, how much was looted and where these precious objects are now.


By ordering the vaults of the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple to be opened, the judges of the Supreme Court have only facilitated the possible destruction and loot of Hindu temple wealth which is the priceless wealth of the Hindu civilization. Christian fundamentalism vandalised the Acropolis, Abydos and now the Baghdad museum; while Islamic jihadi fundamentalism vandalised Belur, Halebid and now the Bamiyan Buddhas.


India’s Hindus must begin to think long and hard about how best to preserve and protect our history, besides resisting all efforts to display parts of our living temples, including the wealth of our gods, in museums. In the meanwhile, we must begin to make serious and unrelenting efforts to bring back the civilizational wealth now flaunted in American and European museums and libraries.


This is the invaluable and priceless wealth, our history and heritage, objects which define national self-identity, which we must bring back. This is wealth which cannot be replicated, regenerated or renewed; black money, however big in monetary terms, is only a very small and negligible aspect of our national wealth.

India has to take the lead in this direction as only India can, because India’s Hindu civilization is still alive and vibrant. More importantly, India has the moral authority as a non-aggressive and non-acquisitive civilization to make the demand for the return of all objects of history and national self-identity to the nations of their origin.


Radha Rajan is Editor www.vigilonline.com and author of Eclipse of the Hindu Nation: Gandhi and His Freedom Struggle.
This article was written for the Independence Day Special issue of Organiser

http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisp ... px?id=1924

[muraliravi]

Here is a case where MMS is retiring current Army chief one year ahead. The government is hell bent on retiring the current Army Chief. The next Army chief Lt Gen Bikram Singh has a Daughter in law directly from land of pure. If MMS government allow Gen. V.K.Singh for one more year there will be only nine months remaining for Lt Gen Bikram Singh.

So we are bringing in a direct enemy's relative as India's Army chief next year.

Here is ETv Rajasthan news:

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110823/j ... 412534.jsp

The army is in no mood to listen to MMS and his coterie. They are sticking to their guns.

[Muppalla]

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110823/j ... 412534.jsp

The army is in no mood to listen to MMS and his coterie. They are sticking to their guns.

It is a big slap on the face of MMS. Will they dare to dismiss V.K.Singh? What is this MMS's kujli.

[Jarita]

^^^ Since MMS does not take these decisions, you know where it must be coming from. All those flights to Dubai might be paying off.

[kmkraoind]

SC seeks Centre's stand on dalit creamy layer - TOI

Posting in full.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Union government on a PIL seeking exclusion of 5-10 communities from the Scheduled Castes and Tribes list complaining that they were the creamy layer who cornered 99% of quota meant for advancement of 1,677 other dalit castes and tribes.

A bench of Justices R V Raveendran and A K Patnaik sought responses of the Centre and states to the PIL by O P Shukla, who belongs to Balmiki community and is a former judicial member of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.

Shukla sought a direction to the governments to implement recommendations of various committees to exclude Chamar, Mala, Mahar, Meena, Dusad, Pasi and Dhobi communities from the list of Scheduled Castes and work out a new reservation policy.

"A select 5-10 castes/tribes among the target group have become financially so strong to be compared with higher castes of society. Therefore, further empowering them by way of giving them continued and further reservation will amount to unjust enrichment and will amount to violation of constitutional provisions," he said.

Shukla requested the court to direct the government to review and revise the reservation policy to give benefits starting from the communities languishing at the lowest strata among the SCs and STs. "Only 1% powerful castes among SCs and STs are cornering the benefits and the 99% deserving communities of neglected sections of SCs and STs are being deprived," he said.

The present reservation policy had failed to protect the constitutional rights of people belonging to 1,091 SC communities and 586 ST groups, he said.

"Periodical extension of the blanket reservation policy after every 10 years is unconstitutional and even against the spirit of the Constitution as it was never envisaged to allow socially advanced communities within the SCs and STs to corner the entire benefits of reservation," the petitioner said.

[abhishek_sharma]

Water: Asia's New Battleground
Brahma Chellaney
Georgetown University Press, Washington, DC, 2011
Hardback: 396 pp., illus. $29.95, £20.75. ISBN 9781589017719.

couldn't find a review

[Prem]

http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdail ... stion.html
Sovereign Bonds (And A Million Pound Question)

Two weeks ago, India and Pakistan commemorated their 64th year of independence, and two weeks from now, 13th September will mark Operation Polo - the 1948 military action against independent Hyderabad by Indian armed forces deposing the defiant princely ruler, The Nizam, who had refused to accede to the newly formed Union of India.As Indian troops advanced on Hyderabad, the beleaguered independent militia of the Razakars put up a futile and foolhardy resistance while the Hyderabad State Force under the command of Major General Syed Ahmed El Edroos fell back. At the very same time, a delegation of the embattled state’s representatives, including the then finance and foreign minister Moin Nawaz Jung, were in Paris, desperately petitioning the UN Security Council in the hope of a cease-fire resolution. It was during this period, as the House of Asaf Jah, the dynasty that had ruled for seven generations, was about to fall, that Mir Nawaz Jung, the Agent General of Hyderabad stationed in London met Habib Ibramim Rahimtoola in the presence of Pakistan’s foreign minister Sir Mohammed Zafarullah Khan, at the latter’s house in Hampstead. The Hyderabad representative requested the Pakistani High Commissioner to accept a bank transfer of over a million pounds from an account in National Westminster Bank in his name.

As Mir Laik Ali, the last Dewan or Prime Minister of independent Hyderabad, writes in his account The Tragedy of Hyderabad (Karachi, 1962), the Security Council was to meet formally on the 20th of September 1948, but Sir Alexander Cadogan had agreed on “an urgent meeting” given the “rapidly deteriorating situation in Hyderabad”. In an archival film clip, Cadogan is seen opening the meeting by speaking of the two items on the agenda before the council: “one, the adoption of the agenda and two, communications from the government of Hyderabad to the security council”.What the representatives, Mir Laik Ali, and Mir Osman Ali Khan Asaf Jah VII, the Nizam of Hyderabad, collectively desired, was a timely intervention in their hope to assert and maintain the claim of sovereignty and independence. Unfortunately for them, it was already too late. Hyderabad had fallen to Indian forces. Commander-in-Chief El-Edroos had ceremonially surrendered his army to General JN Chaudhari, stoically understating to camera that “the men under my command were called upon to perform a superhuman task”

[Prem]

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/fe158cc0 ... ab49a.html
India sees rise in one-child families

Close to 10 per cent of Indian households are opting to have only one child as they seek to concentrate their resources to maximise earning opportunities for their offspring in a scramble for jobs.The trend is most pronounced among educated people in metropolitan areas, research by the Delhi-based National Council of Applied Economic Research shows.
Eight per cent of women across India were opting for just one child, according to research by Alaka Basu, visiting professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, and Sonalde Desai of the University of Maryland in the US. Among the highest income group, the proportion of one-child mothers was 11 per cent. Please respect Among the urban middle classes [in India], it is no longer unusual to find families stopping at one child, even when this child is a girl,” according to the study, titled “Middle class dreams; India’s one child families”.
“It’s a new phenomenon,” said Ms Desai, who described the results as potentially leading to a sharpening of social inequality in a country of 1.2bn overwhelmingly young people where large families are the norm. “We’ve always been preoccupied [in India] by population growth.”

[RajeshA]

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/fe158cc0 ... ab49a.html
India sees rise in one-child families

This is a very troubling development. Indics should have four or above children! Anything less is ....

[Prasad]

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/fe158cc0 ... ab49a.html
India sees rise in one-child families

This is a very troubling development. Indics should have four or above children! Anything less is ....

What? Aren't there enough of us to go around?

[Prem]

[quote="What? Aren't there enough of us to go around?

[/quote]

To keep the balance between paap and dharma in Sansara , we need to be Sahastarputravadi ityadi.

[RajeshA]

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/fe158cc0 ... ab49a.html
India sees rise in one-child families

This is a very troubling development. Indics should have four or above children! Anything less is ....

What? Aren't there enough of us to go around?

There can never be enough of us!

Those Indians who decide for one child, thinking that they can muster resources for only one child, may be being short-sighted. This is going to create an upturned pyramid. A husband and wife supporting one child, four parents, and may be even eight grandparents, just with the income of one or two working people!!! Crazy!!!

The well-being of parents should be dependent on as many shoulders of children as possible, so that they are never a burden, and life is not monotonous. More the children, more the merry!

So guys, make children like you can't make enough of them! Even 7 or 8 if possible. Laloo Yadav with his eleven children is my personal favorite! He is the most patriotic Indian!

[svinayak]

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/fe158cc0 ... ab49a.html
India sees rise in one-child families

This is a very troubling development. Indics should have four or above children! Anything less is ....

This is because at this stage of Indian development Indian GDP should have been $4T-$5T for the vast population.
With wrong policies and socialistic business environment they have suppressed the Indian economy.
Society will also change according to the supply

[Prem]

Indoo Pagla Gya
Doc Makes Eyes Sparkle
With $16K Diamond-Encrusted
Contact Lenses


Forget a bling'd out grill, because a doctor in India is now selling the world's first diamond and gold-encrusted contact lenses.The extravagant lenses reportedly cost between $12,000 and $16,000 and are said to be "completely safe."Um, if you're spending that much on contact lenses, you need more than just your eyes checked.

[menon s]

Wiki Leaks on Indian Muslims, Report by Tim Roemer to Farah Pandit.

"The Barelvi school, which proudly promotes the Sufi ideal of pluralism, has a following of over 75 percent of Sunni Muslims in India. Many Barelvis converted to Islam from Hinduism and Sufi influence allowed them to retain elements of their prior faith and culture.

"Unfortunately, they tend to lag behind economically and educationally. Imam Mazhari blamed the Barelvis' current lot on the Partition -- before Indian independence, Barelvis sided with the Muslim League that supported the creation of Pakistan. The Interfaith Harmony Foundation's (IHF) Khwaja Iftikhar Ahmed agreed, adding that the move was in reaction to the Congress Party's alliance with the Deobandis.

"Historically, Shias enjoyed the status of India's landlords. Unfortunately, this linked their fate to the decline of the landed property system after independence and Shias lost their political and economic clout.

http://rtn.asia/971_indian-muslim-us-pe ... -wikileaks

[Prem]

http://www.theatlantic.com/internationa ... nt/244424/
India's Great Middle-Class Moment

NEW DELHI, India -- What should the world make of the remarkable political churning in India this year? People around the world are braving bullets for the right to vote but here we were, turning out in the streets in large numbers, supporting demands made by such self-appointed leaders of civil society as the hunger-striking Anna Hazare for a draconian anti-corruption law.
India's political churning this year probably heralds a new phase in Indian politics, with the urban middle-class joining the political process. For a long time, this group has seen politics as a spectator sport, to be watched on television in between cricket and Bollywood. Repulsed by the choices on offer in the political menu, unenthused by the anachronistic agenda of mainstream parties and therefore unwilling to spend the time to go out and vote, the middle class Indian has, in terms of political involvement, practically seceded from the Indian republic. Meanwhile, economic growth has propelled ever-greater numbers of people into the middle class, inflating its numbers and amplifying its expectations from the Indian state.
The mainstream political parties missed the plot entirely. The Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government, which first came to power in 2004, set back the process of economic liberalization, by stalling on economic reforms, ostensibly in the name of the "common man." This led to cronyism on the top -- the last decade saw the expansion of family-held conglomerates rather than the start-up successes of the '90s. It also led to rampant corruption in sectors of the economy that were untouched by reforms. The Congress and its allies purchased electoral mileage by introducing entitlements for the rural poor, but Middle India was too rich to be bought off and too poor to be sold to. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which demonstrated a reformist outlook when it led a coalition government at the turn of century, has since become loath to challenge the Congress party's economic idiom, even after this approach failed it in the 2009 elections.
For the Middle Indian, stalled reform, cynical manipulation of constitutional institutions by the UPA government, and the entrenchment of an entitlement economy all meant inflation, corruption, and insecurity.

( Argumentative Indians Responding in Full Glory)

[RamaY]

Wiki Leaks on Indian Muslims, Report by Tim Roemer to Farah Pandit.

"The Barelvi school, which proudly promotes the Sufi ideal of pluralism, has a following of over 75 percent of Sunni Muslims in India. Many Barelvis converted to Islam from Hinduism and Sufi influence allowed them to retain elements of their prior faith and culture.

"Unfortunately, they tend to lag behind economically and educationally. Imam Mazhari blamed the Barelvis' current lot on the Partition -- before Indian independence, Barelvis sided with the Muslim League that supported the creation of Pakistan. The Interfaith Harmony Foundation's (IHF) Khwaja Iftikhar Ahmed agreed, adding that the move was in reaction to the Congress Party's alliance with the Deobandis.

"Historically, Shias enjoyed the status of India's landlords. Unfortunately, this linked their fate to the decline of the landed property system after independence and Shias lost their political and economic clout.

http://rtn.asia/971_indian-muslim-us-pe ... -wikileaks

don't know why you thought it is important, kindly throw some more light.

It is a well known fact that -
- Most of sub-continental muslims were Hindu converts, mostly by force, very few by choice.
- Most of sub-continental muslims lag behind economically and educationally. It is mainly due to their religion, ghetto mentality and mullah-influence.
- Most of sub-continental muslims supported ML and TNT. Only a few of them stayed back in India due to their love for Bharat, its culture and values. Majority of them stayed back as their economic interests are in the form of immovable assets.
- Keeping of feudalism wouldn't have improved the plight of Indian Muslims in at a minuscule level, except for those few hundreds of feudal lords.

[Prem]

http://sigmundcarlandalfred.wordpress.c ... to-growth/
Scanning 2.4 Billion Eyes, India Tries to Connect Poor to Growth

Ankaji Bhai Gangar, a 49-year-old subsistence farmer, stood in line in this remote village until, for the first time in his life, he squinted into the soft glow of a computer screen.
His name, year of birth and address were recorded. A worker guided Mr. Gangar’s rough fingers to the glowing green surface of a scanner to record his fingerprints. He peered into an iris scanner shaped like binoculars that captured the unique patterns of his eyes.With that, Mr. Gangar would be assigned a 12-digit number, the first official proof that he exists. He can use the number, along with a thumbprint, to identify himself anywhere in the country. It will allow him to gain access to welfare benefits, open a bank account or get a cellphone far from his home village, something that is still impossible for many people in India.“Maybe we will get some help,” Mr. Gangar said.Across this sprawling, chaotic nation, workers are creating what will be the world’s largest biometric database, a mind-bogglingly complex collection of 1.2 billion identities. But even more radical than its size is the scale of its ambition: to reduce the inequality corroding India’s economic rise by digitally linking every one of India’s people to the country’s growth juggernaut.

[Jarita]

India to secede land to buy peace

http://epaper.fpj.co.in/Details.aspx?id ... d=21916828

[RoyG]

So about 15 square miles...Worth it?

[Jarita]

^^^ Never worth losing territory.
Something is very wrong with our current government

[abhishek_sharma]

Roots of North Indian Shi‘ism in Iran and Iraq: Religion and State in Awadh, 1722-1859 by J. R. I. Cole

[Rony]

Uttarakhand initiative:Sanskrit as career option

THOSE days have gone when students in Uttarakhand used to think thrice before reading Sanskrit in schools and colleges. The Uttarakhand Government’s efforts to make Sanskrit employment-oriented have started bearing fruits and the number of Sanskrit schools and colleges is reaching near 100 in the state. These schools and colleges have not only been granted recognition by the state Government, but the teachers teaching in them are being paid salary as per the government rules. Some of the schools have also been made government aided.

As a result, a large number of students studying in various classes have started opting for Sanskrit as a prominent subject. The simple reason of this attraction is that the students now see a bright future in Sanskrit. In its bid to make Sanskrit employment-oriented, the state government has declared to appoint large number of Sanskrit teachers in schools and colleges.

“Our effort is to make Sanskrit a language of daily use and also in competitions so as to give it due respect. In a bid to promote Sanskrit, the government has decided to confer Rs one lakh, Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 cash prizes to the persons who would stand first, second and third in the competition to be organised by Sanskrit Academy,” said Dr Buddhadev Sharma, Secretary of Uttarakhand Sanskrit Academy, while talking to Organiser.

Shri Sharma revealed that apart from launching many schemes to promote Sanskrit, a separate Ministry and a separate Directorate have been established for the promotion of the divine language in the state. Chief Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhariyal ‘Nishank’ is himself monitoring this project.

About one hundred Sanskrit schools and colleges are being run in the state. There is separate Sanskrit University and four other Universities where Sanskrit is taught. The government has started ensuring free mid-day-meal, books and computers and scholarship in these Sanskrit schools. Uttarakhand is the first state in the country to start its websites in Sanskrit. The government has appointed thirty-six Sanskrit translators in all the districts. Two Sanskrit programmers have also been appointed. A separate nodel officer has been appointed to observe the promotional activities in Sanskrit. One lakh students have been imparted two-month long Sanskrit sambhashan training. All the Sanskrit teachers have been trained to teach Sanskrit through Sanskrit medium only.

At the time when there is a race to declare Urdu as second official language to appease a certain section of the society, Uttarakhand is the first state that declared Sanskrit as second official language and took several commendable steps for the promotion of Sanskrit. The students opting for Sanskrit in schools are being granted special scholarship by the Education Department.

Apart from these results on the ground, the scene in the state Secretariat in Dehradun is also different now. A walk in the corridors of the Secretariat gives one a glimpse of something one cannot ignore looking at. All the name plates outside the offices of Chief Minister and Ministers have a different look i.e. in Sanskrit. That is not all. Several signboards on prominent state and national highways are being redone with Sanskrit on top. All these initiatives are being taken to revive the Sanskrit for a larger country audience. Efforts to revive the dying language, are now stretching its roots way inside rural hill towns. There are census data which reveal a high use of Sanskrit in the state. There are many shopkeepers, farmers in this state who still speak and communicate in Sanskrit.

Sanskrit experts posted in this area are holding camps, stage shows and distributing Sanskrit literature to promote the language. The government intends to turn some villages into model Sanskrit Village. The inspiration perhaps comes from a small village named Mattur in Shimoga district of Karnataka where people use Sanskrit in day today communication.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Shri Nishank said the idea is to educate people in traditional Sanskrit language to a level that communication is possible. A three week long Sanskrit yatra, akin to a road show, touched seven cities. “We are committed in our efforts. We would like people to know our passion for Sanskrit being showcased all around. Since it is the second language, name plates and signboards are being turned into Sanskrit. The two twin holy townships of Haridwar and Risikesh, which are a part of the religious circuit attracting several lakhs of tourists from across the globe every year, have been declared Sanskrit cities. Here Sanskrit camps are held regularly by experts to create a liking for the language. Various songs, dance and drama contests are being held to promote use of Sanskrit. On August 27, an information and entertainment CD on Sanskrit rhymes, vedic songs, stories will be released by former Union HRD Minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi in a bid to firm-up efforts to revive Sanskrit,” said Chief Minister Shri Nishank.

[Sanku]

Revival of Sanskrit is absolutely the first step to regeneration, as it allows more and more Indians to get back in touch with their eternal history from which they have been divorced.

[JE Menon]

Absolutely. And most importantly, it will start to re-create hundreds of scholars who can go back and read/translate the literally thousands of unread ancient manuscripts lying untouched in libraries, temples, trusts across the country. The gain for India from an indigenous translation and dissemination of these writings is beyond value. We will be able to recover our history, basically.

But the initiative for Sanskrit learning must come from private funding and institution building as well. The government cannot be depended upon for this. It has to be profit-oriented. I'm sure there are enough Indians who can work out a model for this - especially Sanskrit Departments attached to existing prestigious universities...

[chetak]

Revival of Sanskrit is absolutely the first step to regeneration, as it allows more and more Indians to get back in touch with their eternal history from which they have been divorced.

X posting from the nukkad thread.

May be we at BRF could help in some way.

http://rajeev2004.blogspot.com/


Quote:
Unique Sanskrit daily newspaper - Sudharma
Friday, September 02, 2011

i got a copy of their calendar/panchangam at the sanskrit fair a few months ago in bangalore -- a steal for rs. 10. i think i also got a copy of the print paper. reminds me, i have been meaning to donate to them -- this is a paper that embodies a really good cause, that of reviving our traditional knowledge. please donate generously.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: sri
Date: Thu, Sep 1, 2011 at 3:38 AM
Subject: Unique Sanskrit daily newspaper - Sudharma
To:


Begin forwarded message:

Dear Friends,


The only sanskrit daily newspaper in the world was launched on 15th July,
1970, by Pandit Vardaraja Iyengar. The newspaper was started by the
founder to unfold and open up that Sanskrit is not a language defined
to one sector of
religion or one sect of community. The whole purpose is to eradicate the
myth that this language is not restricted to one sect or one country
or one religion- Pandit spent all his life savings to make this
newspaper available to a common man to access the mother of the all
languages at a very economical price .

The paper name is Sudharma which is also available
online which is read by 86 countries people (Online) . By reading the
newspaper on daily basis one can easily learn the language (With
knowledge of hindi) , the contents are very simple and reader friendly
.

The Mother of all languages paper needs our help to sustain . The
paper is run by Late Vardaraja Iyengar's son and his wife in a small
place at Mysore with couple of emplyoees. The paper does not get any
grant, or any advertsisments or subsidy inspite of that Mr. Sampat
Iyengar ensures to release the paper on daily basis by morning 7 AM
and mails to all the subscribers. There are no artcile contributors
for papers except couple of them. I visited them , met them and spoke
to them. They have so much passion for the language and drive to keep
this paper going inspite of absolute constraints of funds. They dont
get even newsprint subsidy . The annual subscription is Rs.300/-
which includes mailing cost. Sudharma needs our support and help -

Please help by subscribing to the paper , send donations, sponsor to anyone
who can read sanskirt, sponsor paper, ink

anything you can do- Please send this email to your friends (NRI's and to
anybody you know) . Please encourage your

children or known children who are studying sanskrt in school. Please
subscribe for your known temples and bhajan mutts

etc.

The contact address is
Sudharma- Sanskrit daily-
Editor : K. V. Sambath Kumar-
561, 2nd cross, Ramchandra agrahara- Mysore -570004 - Karnataka India- Phone
0821-2442835
Email: <[email protected]>[email protected]
Thanks in advance

Arjun
Posted by nizhal yoddha at 9/02/2011 11:03:00 PM

[chetak]

So about 15 square miles...Worth it?

This is the thin edge of the wedge.

This will set a unhealthy precedent for the separatists and the pakis to demand the same when their turn comes.

[RajeshA]

Published on Sep 04, 2011
By Sol Sanders
India’s perfect storm of problems: Washington Times

[Atri]

The Engineered Language of Sanskrit

Sanskrit is the language which is seen to be used by all post Paninian composers. Prior to codification of grammar by Panini, there were similar languages prevalent in subcontinent. The vedic language and the many forms of Prakrit languages were extent in the subcontinent and beyond. The new language which emerged after its coding by Panini, managed to incorporated and created following things..

1. alphabets which accommodated the linguistic patterns and requirements of many of the contemporary languages spoken (including Vedic "Vaak").

2. it created a means to use many of the customized Prakrit words in context one wished to use for describing an emotion OR a phenomenon OR an idea. Few syllables were omitted, few vowels were omitted which were not utilized by bulk of Indian populace. It is similar to way we twist and bend English language today to put in whatever words we wish to use. The Indian OR the Mumbaiyya English is an example of that "tendency" of human beings. I feel similar tendency existed then, although not as mundane as mumbaiyya. I know it is a clumsy metaphor but nonetheless..

Thus there was a language which was partially "engineered" and not completely evolved by random process of natural selection as is the case with Prakrit language (the very word Prakrit says that it is naturally evolved language). Since this language was engineered, it belonged to no one and everyone who understood it. It could be used with extreme flexibility and accommodation for describing very complex emotions and ideas which otherwise would have remained abstract and "asphuta (unspoken)".

Sanskrit was not to be used by sabziwalas.. when chanakya's mother went to buy commodities in market of Patliputra, she must have conversed with the merchants in Ardha Maagadhi language. Even chanakya spoke with his disciples and public in similar local languages. But he had Sanskrit available to write his "arthashastra". This Sanskrit could be accessed and understood perfectly by that class of society which was trained in grasping this knowledge. It was duty of this class of society to "download", translate and simplify whatever knowledge was "uploaded" on Sanskrit to his local language and disperse it amongst his audience and pupils. Thus, Sanskrit was a common platform where everyone "uploaded" the fruits of their deliberations. And this is what is the primary function of this language. Much similar to today's computer languages like COBOL and C++ etc...

The fact that a particular database is accessible to all who can use it, is easy to compose poetry in and hence easy to memorize, easy to write (extremely phonetic) and easy to speak marks the features of this common linguistic platform.

The question "what was" or rather "who was" being linked is very important and pertinent one. What is the purpose and motive behind "linking" people OR certain set of people from different "Jaatis"?

As I said in previous paragraph, those who could understand this language flawlessly were linked. It takes 6 years to learn and understand Sanskrit grammar with all its complexities. Hence "Vyaakarana" is one of the most important domains of knowledge in Indian system. There was a large pool of individuals who had taken this intensive training in this language present all over India. This pool was networked by means of their schools, universities and laboratories. Whilst I do not much know whether the technology too was uploaded on Sanskrit platform, the presence of books like "Vaimanika Shastra" give us the hint that it was so. But we do not have much of the technological literature available in Sanskrit which was uploaded by the technologists (mostly from various trade guilds categorized as Vaishya and Shudra varna) then. But then we have also the record of millions of manuscripts burnt down when our temples and libraries were destroyed in medieval era. The contemporary people chose what to save and what not to save based on their ability, capacity and inclination. But that is different matter altogether.

Pool of individuals is made up of individuals and individuals are born in Kula/gotra/family belonging to particular group. This group is what we call as "Jaati". When a particular member of a particular "Jaati" get connected to this "Sanskrit platform", it is natural his immediate family will be connected too. it is also logical to expect that the member will teach the language to his progeny, if progeny is interested. Hence the progeny might "think" of connecting to the network by following the foot-steps of his/her father. Once this becomes widespread, there arises a new "Jaati" of those who has access to this database.

They again might be proficient in local language, but they might start indulging in marital relations with those families which are similar to them in access to this platform and ideas therein. This is where the varna turns into a new "jaati". If this continues we have network of these newly formed "Jaatis". This defeats the original purpose but still keeps the system vibrant as long as the members of these "Jaatis" are at least proficient at what they are "reputed" of doing. Most of the "brahmin" jaatis were and are unable to speak OR understand Sanskrit in medieval and modern times. This is complete defeat of the very reason why this idea of varna, ashrama and purushartha were propped up. The moment this started happening, Sanskrit stopped "linking" and necessity to engineer and create a new "Sanskrit 2.0" arose. That necessity still has not been met yet.

We need a Panini 2.0 today. I have an idea of "Panini Project". But then it is too big, slightly abstract and will require refinement and inputs in terms of ideas, finance and efforts from many influential players. But time to create a new "Sanskrit 2.0" has come. A new "further refined" language (Pra-sanskarit) which will accommodate the needs of modern India which is trying to rise above the abrahmic shackles of previous millennia. A language which will be as flexible as Panini's sanskrit to accommodate new words, phrases and ideas of Greek, Latin, Germanic, English, Arabic, Persian and Indian origin, complex clauses, poetic and technical flexibility and huge "Bandwidth" to carry the ideas generated by modern day intellectuals.

This is one of the most important steps towards tackling deracination. We need Maharshi Panini to reincarnate in spirit...

[ramana]

Bji, The biggest obstacle to a compact between political and business elites is the Reliance feud between the two guys. Until these two guys settle there will be turbulence as in last decade.

[abhishek_sharma]

Congress panders to Islamists, Digvijay told US envoys

[Jarita]

^^^ Honestly, One would take the wikipeeks with a mountain of salt. Why would we consider the perceptions of US embassy wallahs as the gospel truth. Someone was transcribing conversations between SDRE's and embassy. The nuances and angles of the conversation just don't come across.
Also, the timing of the disclosure is much too convenient. The US wants the lions share of the deals. The current government is splitting them between EU and other parties. Who knows what is happening?

[devesh]

Bji, The biggest obstacle to a compact between political and business elites is the Reliance feud between the two guys. Until these two guys settle there will be turbulence as in last decade.

ramana garu,
are you seriously suggesting that 2 guys who cumulatively are worth (just) 50 billion have such effect on Indian politics???

if the answer is yes, I am kind of glad that the "obstacle" is present, b/c I wouldn't be too sure of any compact between the present Rashtriya political setup and Business elite....perhaps, the "turbulence" is good for now, until the criminal elements of this Rashtra are put under check in a 10-15 year time frame...

[A_Gupta]

Might be worth a read:
http://acorn.nationalinterest.in/2011/0 ... proximity/

This essay examines motivations, constraints and processes that shape India’s policy towards fragile states. It aims to show that addressing state fragility in the vicinity is a vastly more challenging project than managing risks emanating from distant ones. It begins with an overview of India’s contemporary motivations for engagement and intervention in the turbulent geopolitics of southern Asia. It identifies the various types of interventions India has engaged and attempts to derive the underlying features of India’s approach. The policy process is discussed next, analysing how drivers, constraints and players affect decision-making. We conclude with a brief assessment of how India’s policy towards fragile states, both proximate and distant, might change as India becomes a middle-income country with global interests.