Indian Interests

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kshirin
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by kshirin »

Pranav I absolutely agree with you - it hurts to see the indifference to suffering, every rupee in corruption is a rupee away from welfare schemes, education, healthcare, food, water and roads for the people, they are condemned. Why should the Europeans care. But I have seen Europeans bursting into tears after seeing the poverty in India.
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Prem »

Monocolumn: Yoga Protectionism
centuries, Indians have been sun saluting, warrior posing and applying the natural antiseptic turmeric to their wounds. This ancient know-how has long been common knowledge on the subcontinent.However, when modern day companies began applying for – and winning – patents over this data, it became clear that action needed to be taken. Enter V.K. Gupta, a senior advisor with India’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), who suggested building a comprehensive database of ancient knowledge.That was nine years ago, and since then more than 200,000 remedies and other items have been entered into the knowledge bank, known as the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL).
http://www.psfk.com/2010/06/monocolumn- ... onism.html
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Prem »

Jaswant Singh returns to the BJP
Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party [ Images ] leader Jaswant Singh [ Images ] on Thursday rejoined the party ten months after he was summarily thrown out for writing a controversial book on Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
At a function organised to announce his re-induction into the party fold, Singh, 72, profusely thanked senior BJP leader L K Advani [ Images ] for taking the initiative to bring him back to the BJP of which he was a founder member. "It is good to be back in familiar surroundings. I wish to unreservedly express my gratitude to Advaniji who took the initiative," Singh said. Among others present were party president Nitin Gadkari [ Images ] and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj Recalling his expulsion from the party at its 'Chintan Baithak' in Shimla in August last year, the Member of Parliament from Darjeeling said, "I was hurt and humiliated by what I had encountered." Advani said he was 'very happy' that Jaswant Singh, whom he had met as an RSS pracharak in Rajasthan [ Images ], has rejoined the party. "I am very happy. With happiness there is also a sense of relief. I welcome him," he said.Gadkari said the 'past is past' and hoped that Singh will work to make the party's future bright. "I have been in the public life for more than 44 years. I am happy to rejoin the party at the behest of Lalji and party president Nitin Gadkari," Singh told the media.Jaswant recalled how Advani had called him up and "he requested if the two of us can meet. I went over to his residence and we had a long discussion. Lalji asked me if I could treat the past as a closed chapter
http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/jun/ ... he-bjp.htm
ramana
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by ramana »

Nehruji's attempt at syncretism by means of pseudo-secularism is bound to fail in India because its way of propagation is alien to Indian ethos. It smacks more of fiat by a ruler like Constantine or Akbar than the considered thought of a guru like Buddha or Nanak. Its continued existence is more due to political patronage and expediency than any natural or rational basis.
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Prem »

We Knew This Was Going to Happen: Michigan Encourages Law Grads to go to India
Is this a “terrible job” or “the inevitable future of the legal economy”? Note: those two answers aren’t mutually exclusive.The University of Michigan Law School — the 9th-best law school in America — is now posting job opportunities from India.Has it really gotten bad enough that graduates from a top law school should consider international LPO opportunities? Yes, yes it has….
The job is for Pangea3, one of the largest legal outsourcing companies on the market. Look at how they try to spin the “opportunity” for a bunch of Michigan students:
http://abovethelaw.com/2010/06/we-knew- ... -to-india/
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Muppalla »

http://dailypioneer.com/265199/AFSPA-should-stay-Army-Chief.html
Firmly opposing any dilution or withdrawal of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Jammu and Kashmir, Army Chief General V K Singh has said the demand was being made for "narrow political gains".
I guess UPA-2 needs to fire this chief and put him behind bars. He is opposin them on several fronts.
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by ramana »

there is a keen difference in the statements. its a public attestation of advice versus disparaging the chain of command. So no comparison.
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by vera_k »

It seems that the politicians are being hung by their own noose. The AFSPA would not be an issue if the police forces were equipped to take on the job that the army has been doing within Indian territory. By neglecting police reforms, the politicians have reduced the country to a Pakistan like situation where the army is the sole institution holding these parts of the country together.
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Muppalla »

ramana wrote:there is a keen difference in the statements. its a public attestation of advice versus disparaging the chain of command. So no comparison.
I was just sarcastic.

This Army chief seems to me like a blunt and no-nonsense type and he is speaking things where his mind and heart are in consensus. MMS did not like the previous chief and Naval chief too because of their press statements. It will be interesting to see how the reactions will be especially this Army chief is more blunter than the previous one.
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Pratyush »

vera_k wrote:It seems......................... country together.
+1.
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by SSridhar »

India joins multinational telescope project
India has joined the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) project, the next generation astronomical observatory that will be located on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

India has been granted observer status on the TMT Board. This is the first step to becoming a full partner in TMT, which will mean participating in the development and scientific use of what will be the world's most advanced and capable astronomical observatory, according to the press release by the TMT project team.

“In about a year's time,” said Ajit Kembhavi, Director, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune, “we expect this observer status to be converted into full partnership in the project.”

The proposal to join the TMT project was initiated by three Indian institutes engaged in astronomy: the IUCAA, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore, and the Aryabhata Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital. “The government had regarded our proposal as a reasonable one and hence the decision,” Professor Kembhavi added.

“The government and people of India recognise the importance of embarking on world class, international science collaboration,” said Science and Technology Secretary T. Ramasami, who had accompanied the Minister to sign the agreement.

Originally, there were three international telescope projects to choose from for Indian participation: the 42-m European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the 24.5 m Grand Magellan Telescope (GMT) and the TMT of the United States. The E-ELT, in fact, has offered observation time on the existing ESO telescopes before it comes into operation.

Indian scientists will have access to the existing telescopes operated by Caltech, the nodal institution for TMT. The TMT project is an international partnership among Caltech, the University of California and the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy.

According to the arrangement, Indian scientists will get a percentage of the observational time proportional to the percentage of the total project cost that the Indian government would be willing to bear. The next steps in the Indian decision-making process would involve an in-principle decision of the Union Cabinet on the extent of contribution and a decision on the mode of financing the pledged amount. Though the final project cost is not yet clear, it is likely to be in the region of $1 billion.
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Rony »

India needs to flex its soft muscles
The Chinese Communist Party is obsessed with building ''soft power'' - the attractiveness of China's civilisation, culture, values and political system - as well as ensuring China is respected and admired for its achievements since reforms began in 1978.

In contrast, India puts little emphasis on promoting the country's historical, economic, political and cultural credentials to the world. Its appreciation for the value of ''cultural diplomacy'' is poor. The mere mention of India as a great power usually evokes chuckles from an Australian audience. Although loathe to admit it, New Delhi would do well to learn lessons from Beijing about the importance of selling its strengths and achievements to the world.

One is the sheer amount of economic and human resources Beijing devotes to shaping its messages and selling its story. China has funded more than 270 Confucius institutes in 75 countries, teaching Mandarin and the party's version of history to more than 100 million foreigners. Beijing aims to have 1000 institutes running by 2020. In contrast, India has 24 cultural centres in 21 countries functioning under its missions abroad
Beijing's diplomatic charm offensive has been in place since the mid-1990s. At present, China has more diplomats than any other country in the world - including America. In China's state-dominated society, diplomats are chosen from the cream of the crop and are given extensive language and cultural training.

According to some estimates, Beijing dispatches more diplomatic, business and cultural delegations to all corners of the region each year than all other Asian countries combined. In contrast, foreigners complain about the aloofness, ineffectiveness and bureaucratic stubbornness of many of India's diplomatic staff. For a country with a gross domestic product of about $US1.3 trillion ($1.5 trillion) and a population of almost 1.2 billion, official Indian delegations are small, infrequent and poorly utilised.

Indian diplomats might protest that China has significantly more resources at its disposal - its economy is three times larger and its state-dominated model places more resources into the hands of the party.

But the point is about purpose and intent in promoting a country's soft power - an ambition Beijing has in spades. China measures its progress in terms of ''comprehensive national power'', which goes beyond the size of its economy and military, and includes other ''softer'' capabilities such as the reputation of its economic and political system.

Favourable impressions of the country's achievements have been carefully crafted by image-obsessed party officials. Compared to China, India is seen as a place of disorder, inequality and inefficiency. Yet Western commentators remain largely unaware there were 124,000 instances of ''mass unrest'' against the government in China in 2008 according to official figures - far more than in India.

China is now the most unequal place in all of Asia in terms of distribution of income, and absolute levels of poverty have increased since 2000. China has far superior infrastructure but India still uses capital 50 per cent more efficiently than China.


This is not to deny India has enormous social and economic problems. The argument is about the importance of soft power and taking the foreign reputation of one's country seriously. Beijing is highly skilled at promoting its achievements and concealing its failings from Western eyes. In contrast, India's failings are openly displayed and New Delhi puts little emphasis on promoting the country's recent achievements, which are considerable.

But if India's open society makes centrally crafted messages to highlight achievements and conceal weaknesses much more difficult, it does offer a significant advantage over countries such as China.

Despite Beijing's efforts, the re-emergence of authoritarian China gives rise to as much apprehension as admiration. But regional capitals view democratic India as an attractive, co-operative and non-threatening country, and New Delhi's domestic habits of transparency, negotiation and compromise will influence the way a powerful India interacts with others.

While few countries trust China, the eagerness to help India continue to rise is demonstrated by the rapid progress made in its strategic and military partnerships with countries such as the US, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Australia.

India is a rising and ambitious power but its re-emergence has failed to excite the collective imagination. This does not change the potential of India's soft power - enormous compared to China's. India will meet little resistance as it is rising within the existing normative order.

But New Delhi's lackadaisical approach to promoting Indian leadership, image and achievements is frustrating for the people who realise the country's importance to the region as a democratic leader and a constraint on Chinese ambitions.
Prem
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Prem »

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/744f00f8-8460 ... abdc0.html


Charity begins at home for middle-class India
Jain, an Indian civil servant, was pottering around his New Delhi apartment when two Oxfam India fundraisers rang his doorbell, appealing for funds for education and livelihood training programmes in the city’s slums.
Though Mr Jain had never heard of Oxfam, a leading global charity, the fundraisers had not even finished their pitch before he opened his wallet to contribute Rs5,200 ($112, €91, £75) to the cause. “Anything which can be for my nation to bring it success, I will do that thing,” he said. [/quote
What is happening in India today is a paradigm shift,” says Nisha Agrawal, chief executive of Oxfam India. “We’ve all been dependent on foreign funds. But now we are saying some emerging countries are mature enough to start taking care of their own problems
Rudradev
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Rudradev »

Good... so the donors are becoming Indian.

What we need now is that the NGOs and Charity/Welfare organizations should also become Indian, instead of Oxfams. And I mean really Indian, not RNI.
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Pranav »

Prem wrote:http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/744f00f8-8460 ... abdc0.html


Charity begins at home for middle-class India
Jain, an Indian civil servant, was pottering around his New Delhi apartment when two Oxfam India fundraisers rang his doorbell, appealing for funds for education and livelihood training programmes in the city’s slums.
Though Mr Jain had never heard of Oxfam, a leading global charity, the fundraisers had not even finished their pitch before he opened his wallet to contribute Rs5,200 ($112, €91, £75) to the cause. “Anything which can be for my nation to bring it success, I will do that thing,” he said.
What is happening in India today is a paradigm shift,” says Nisha Agrawal, chief executive of Oxfam India. “We’ve all been dependent on foreign funds. But now we are saying some emerging countries are mature enough to start taking care of their own problems
Organizations like Oxfam are snakes in the grass. The main news item on their website right now seems to be their sponsoring some "Youth Summit" to support the global warming scam. The tragedy is that Mr Jain is blissfully unaware that he has been swindled.
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Prem »

Cant find the Media thread but here "lets get them when they are young" andmake Filipino out of them.
Fox launches seven channels in India
LONDON -- Fox Intl. Channels have launched seven new channels in India.
Joining the existing National Geographic channel and Fox History and Entertainment are FX, National Geographic Channel HD, National Geographic Wild, Fox Crime, National Geographic Adventure, National Geographic Music and Baby TV.
All the channels will be available across India on multiple platforms. If the audience response is encouraging, Fox will introduce several more channels from its international operations to India.
Fox Crime and FX will feature popular skeins like "CSI," "Dexter," "Mad Men" and "The Office."
Baby TV will be the first channel in India to cater to those under 3 years old.Some content for the channels will be generated in India.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR111802 ... =1442&cs=1
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Sanjay M »

Mayawati snatches Amethi from the Gandhis

LUCKNOW: Of all the challenges that Mayawati has thrown at the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, this one may be the most astute. In an attempt to erase the First Family’s imprint on Amethi, the chief minister has rechristened the political fiefdom of Rahul Gandhi as Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar.

--

Hah, I'm actually impressed that this caste-baiting moti mama has grabbed a prized fief from The Family. I don't mind seeing any airport, bridge, or whatever that was named after the royal clan getting re-named to a Dalit leader, as long as the Kaangress idols are tossed out. At that point, even launching a Rahul Yatra may not get them back.
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Prem »

India Gays Celebrate 1 Year Since Landmark Verdict
AP) MUMBAI, India (AP) - Hundreds of Indian gay rights activists and their supporters celebrated the first anniversary Friday of a landmark court ruling decriminalizing homosexuality and marking their gradual acceptance in the deeply conservative country.
"I'm very excited. It's honestly independence day for us," said Arun Mirchandani, 28, who recently published his first book titled "You Are Not Alone" which deals with being homosexual in India.The rally was part of an event dubbed "365 Without 377" that brought together gays, lesbians and civil rights activists in five cities across India, including New Delhi, Calcutta and Bangalore.Vikram Doctor, an organizer of the event, said the verdict has reduced incidents of police harassment.Other participants said the court's ruling had brought the issue of homosexuality into the open and people were discussing it in public, a dramatic change in conservative India where even heterosexual sex is generally talked about in hushed tones."It does mean a lot. People don't avoid us these days," said Anshuman Bludagoti, a student at the Institute of Hotel Management.Before the verdict, Bludagoti said if he and his male friends held hands on the train, people sitting next to them would leave. But now "it's a lot more open than last year," he said
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/ ... 1030.shtml
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by brihaspati »

Sanjay M wrote:Mayawati snatches Amethi from the Gandhis

LUCKNOW: Of all the challenges that Mayawati has thrown at the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, this one may be the most astute. In an attempt to erase the First Family’s imprint on Amethi, the chief minister has rechristened the political fiefdom of Rahul Gandhi as Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar.

--

Hah, I'm actually impressed that this caste-baiting moti mama has grabbed a prized fief from The Family. I don't mind seeing any airport, bridge, or whatever that was named after the royal clan getting re-named to a Dalit leader, as long as the Kaangress idols are tossed out. At that point, even launching a Rahul Yatra may not get them back.

Interesting gesture towards "Marathas" - Chatrapati Sahu - son of Shivaji, - was a "Dalit"? :roll:
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by RamaY »

B-ji :mrgreen:

It is a different Chatrapati Sahu Ji Maharaj!

Image
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Prasad »

Oh Mayawati scores a dhamaka with that. There is no way congress can oppose this.
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Sanjay M »

Kaangress wouldn't be able to undo it, but Samajwadi gladly would.
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Airavat »

brihaspati wrote:Interesting gesture towards "Marathas" - Chatrapati Sahu - son of Shivaji, - was a "Dalit"? :roll:
Not Shivaji's grandson but a later descendant, the ruler of Kolhapur princely state, who became a Dalit icon for supporting the Dalit movement. Much the same way as 'Weepy' Singh became a backward caste icon for implementing the Mandal Commission report. Those were the days of the anti-Brahmin movement in Maharashtra.....the Aryan theory reigned supreme, where Brahmins were "Aryan" foreigners, Marathas were "Scythians", and Dalits were "indigenous".

Chhatrapati Shahu descendants hope Maya not playing politics
Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur was a reformist ruler who strongly supported and promoted Dr B R Ambedkar and his movement, and executed a 50 per cent job reservation for backward castes in the princely state of Kolhapur in 1902.

"Shahu Maharaj’s name should not be used for politics,” said Chhatrapati Malojiraje, a descendant of Shahu Maharaj, on Friday. Malojiraje was the Congress candidate from the Kolhapur assembly seat in 2009 but was defeated by Shiv Sena’s Rajesh Kshirsagar. Since his defeat, Malojiraje has been making efforts to stay in touch with the Congress top brass.

Mayawati’s attempt to erase the Gandhi family imprint in Amethi by using Shahu Maharaj’s name has put Malojiraje in a tight spot, say his close confidants.
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by brihaspati »

Apologies - I should have spelled out my sarcasm! Am I taken so seriously always! :((
ramana
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by ramana »

Some have that burden. Welcome to the club!

Any way it also is a strike against Shiv Sena type chavanists ( 8) ) for a District in UP bhiayya land is named after a descendant of Shivaji Maharaj while I dont know of one named in Maharashtra.
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Prem »

Indians Are Better Off than Americans
recent study by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago found that Indians are more focused on education and savings than Americans. (The study looked at people in the top third of India's economic class.) Among Indians who responded to a basic survey of financial literacy, 80% got the right answers, while in a comparable study in the U.S., only 60% of Americans got the answers right.At the risk of making my American friends a little peeved, I decided to use this opportunity to look at ways in which Indians are better off than Americans and how we can keep it that way.avers…No, Huge Savers! We have always been raised to save but did you
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB127805140982912885.html
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Prem »

Mythic Past, Resonating in the Present
SOMINI SENGUPTA ( Stranger not here)
[CAN an epic poem, composed more than 2,000 years ago and transcribed in an ancient language that only a handful of people can read, thrive in the age of Twitter?In India, yes. And not just one epic but two. The most talked-about movies in India this summer are based on the two great epics of Hinduism: the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. It isn’t just Indian cinema that is smitten with those two works. “The Difficulty of Being Good,” a recent book that uses the Mahabharata to examine contemporary business and politics, has become an unlikely best seller here. This year India’s law minister, M. Veerappa Moily, who has written a new reinterpretation of the Ramayana, credited its chaste, long-suffering female protagonist, Sita, with having inspired a women’s rights bill. In Bangalore, India’s technology capital, a contemporary-dance company recently performed a piece based on the principal women of the epics. The myths are retold too, in children’s cartoons and comic books.
The epics are not only used to portray contemporary political issues. They have also been deployed powerfully in politics. In the late 1980s the Ramayana, with its god-hero Ram representing the ideal Hindu man, was serialized on state-owned television, bringing the nation to a virtual halt on Sunday mornings when it was broadcast, and credited — or blamed — with fueling the rise of political Hinduism.
Neither the Mahabharata nor the Ramayana is considered to be the word of God. But they are powerful fables, and they represent for Hindus what the Bible and the Greek myths together may have historically represented in the West. Devdutt Pattanaik, a writer who uses the Hindu epics in human resource management, describes both books as “the template of Indian thought
.”

AVP Mama pitch in
I don’t know if anything in the Western world has that kind of currency anymore,” said Wendy Doniger, a Sanskrit scholar and a professor of religion at the University of Chicago. “Maybe Adam and Eve.” She recalled a recent encounter in Harrods at Heathrow Airport in London, where she came across a small ceramic pillbox in the shape of Noah’s ark. She mentioned this to the saleswoman, who gave her a blank stare. “The shop girl said, ‘What is Noah’s ark?’ ” Ms. Doniger said. “In my world there are no longer stories everybody knows. In India people really know the stories.” Ms. Doniger retells those tales in a lively 779-page book, “The Hindus: An Alternative History.” Published in 2009, it is widely available in India, including at airports, perched next to a copy, say, of “Who Moved My Cheese?”
Indian modernity is beguiling. In this fast-churning, seemingly Westernizing, increasingly English-speaking nation, the mythic past is also very much present. For ages the epics have been told, retold, fiddled with. They still resonate, in new but recognizable ways
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/movie ... ted=2&_r=1
( The link require registration so long post)
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by svinayak »

Prem wrote:
Indian modernity is beguiling. In this fast-churning, seemingly Westernizing, increasingly English-speaking nation, the mythic past is also very much present. For ages the epics have been told, retold, fiddled with. They still resonate, in new but recognizable ways


THis is a false premise that modernity means taking away the culture and the past.
These are not mythic past and they are as relevant as till today. The author is displaying her bias and marxist leanings
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by JE Menon »

>>THis is a false premise that modernity means taking away the culture and the past. These are not mythic past and they are as relevant as till today.

Absolutely... there are numerous other such assumptions that underly many of the narratives and "held truths" of today. "Mythic" my ass.. one only has to travel to any rural (hell even urban) street corner or home (even non-Hindu homes in many cases) to realise how real, as opposed to"mythic", the Mahabharatha or Ramayana is to the general public. The problem is the frame of reference is often the "mythology" of Graeco-Roman heritage, and thus a parallel is assumed by most Westerners who scratch the surface of Indian experience. Of course Somini has no such excuse.

That said, this is a reasonably positive write up. Now which god should I thank for small blessings? Should I check with Arundhati, the one-book wonder?
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Prem »

In ambitious India, workplace etiquette rounds out the coursework
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02914.html
NEW DELHI -- They call her India's Miss Manners, and she is at the heart of a multimillion-dollar industry to make Indian companies more competitive globally by improving their workers' social skills.
Backs straight! Napkins on lap. Great. Class, cut your burger neatly," Warrick told a class of young Indian professionals, methodically performing fork-and-knife surgery on a McAloo Tikka patty -- a spicy potato burger from McDonald's -- as practice for dining in Europe and the United States.
Warrick's school is part of a fast-growing trend in corporate India to remedy what analysts and recruiters call a serious impediment to India's global economic goals. Although many skilled Indian workers have degrees from top universities, analysts said they are often jaw-droppingly inept at the basics of international workplace etiquette: dressing properly, hosting a meeting, making inoffensive small talk and even using cutlery. Fearing that such deficiencies are hurting India's leadership potential, companies are spending millions of dollars on corporate finishing school for tens of thousands of workers. In many cases, those workers are products of India's burgeoning middle classes who are the first generation in their families to enter the nation's booming and globally minded economy.
Prem
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Prem »

Why I am a doctor
This is based on an interview I did for a cover story for Heal India magazine.

1. Why did you choose to become a doctor ?
Medicine is a service profession and I decided to opt for medical practice because this provides an opportunity for direct patient interaction. The emotional income in medical practice is unmatchable – and it’s a great feeling when patients thank you changing their lives by giving them a baby !
http://doctorandpatient.blogspot.com/20 ... octor.html
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by RamaY »

Deleted - Wrong Thread
Last edited by RamaY on 08 Jul 2010 18:26, edited 1 time in total.
ShauryaT
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by ShauryaT »

Protest, softly
But while we think protest is necessary, we are also uncomfortable with it. Political parties are often the main conduits of protest, but each has its vested interest and internal contradictions. Each of them has to play the role of both government and opposition. Trinamool and CPM are quite happy to beggar the poor in Kolkata, but suddenly the loss of wages by daily wage labourers elsewhere pricks their conscience. The BJP needed to embarrass the government to infuse life in its role as an opposition party, so it organised something. But it does not have a clear sense of what it stands for in economics. So the policy moorings of its protest seem half-hearted. But there is probably a deeper fear that unites all political parties. It is said that in China one reason why the party does not mobilise nationalist sentiment on the street is because there is no telling what these practices of mobilisation might unleash. The CPM learnt the hard way in Kolkata that its own techniques could be used to oust it.

Indian political parties have a similar interest in neutralising social protest or using it timidly and sparingly. First, there is a genuine fear of the state’s capacity to handle even routine protest. The state of police and paramilitary forces makes the probability of some violent incident that could become a focal point relatively high.

Second, the credibility of any of the parties organising the protest is none too high. But most importantly, they are all implicated in the state in one way or the other. They share a common fear. What might start as a protest against a political party, may be a conduit for a more generalised expression of dissatisfaction against all of them. As smart politicians they know that anger is there; better to keep a lid on it. In short, politics, which should be an instrument of protest, is now a vast contrivance to tame and appropriate it, so politics as usual can go on.

The second big structural change is the changing configuration of classes. Here two important changes matter. As a result of growth, more people do have more assets and more complex economic interests. Even though, there is good reason to be dissatisfied with government performance, the uncertainties produced by social protest seem to put more at risk. Hence the argument that the economic consequences of social protest are not desirable has more traction.

But there might also be a deeper story to be told about class and protest. It is often said that the privileged influence public policy while the poor don’t. There is much truth in this claim. But it can also be misleading in some sense. It disguises the fact that the ability of the privileged to collectively shape and reform the culture of the state in the direction of the public good is severely circumscribed. But the privileged have considerably more adaptive power. All their efforts are going towards private adaptation to the state’s deficiencies rather than public goods (private security, private electricity, private education, and private health). For them social protest is essentially an imposition of costs with no gain, since they do not really believe the state can be made to serve public good.

But more importantly, effective social protest requires at least some possibility of linkage across classes. The most glaring way in which inequality is increasing is this. Till a decade or so ago all classes were defined by a common characteristic in relation to the state: they could all defy it with equal impunity. The poor could enter cities and occupy space, the rich could encroach land and the state let us get away with pretty much anything. What is changing is that the privileged can now still get away with a good deal, but it is getting harder for the poor to defy the state. So the privileged don’t want the sensitive question opened up: who is bearing the costs of economic policies? They also often feel frustrated by the state. But they fear that protesting against the state will soon turn into a protest against them. Hence we go through the charade of indignation, at the same time as we fear protest.

In the old regime, the rich had less to fear from the poor because in an ironic sort of way both had the same relationship to the state. Now that social contract is changing. For the poor: stricter rule of law, sacrifice for national progress with a few sops thrown in. For the privileged: ability to manipulate or adapt to the law, bask in the glory of national development, but don’t expect much from public goods. The whole notion of common problems, and therefore of protest structured around them, vanishes. The forms of democracy require that someone make noise from time to time, so protest has taken place. But that democracy also now requires that real problems best remain invisible, for once that Pandora’s Box is opened who knows who will be held to account.

The writer is president, Centre for Policy Research, Delhi
svinayak
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by svinayak »

^^^^^We see that the a new class is less connected to the masses and does not seem to worry about the lower class.
In the old regime, the rich had less to fear from the poor because in an ironic sort of way both had the same relationship to the state. Now that social contract is changing. For the poor: stricter rule of law, sacrifice for national progress with a few sops thrown in. For the privileged: ability to manipulate or adapt to the law, bask in the glory of national development, but don’t expect much from public goods. The whole notion of common problems, and therefore of protest structured around them, vanishes.
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Prem »

http://www.greenpacks.org/2008/09/30/wo ... the-world/

See , what we have lost in last 1000 years.
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Prem »

Afternoon With Amma
I got hugged by Amma on Tuesday. When Kelly Cutrone of People's Revolution (and star of "The City" and "Kell on Earth" and, of course, a Huffington Post blogger ) invited me to meet India's so-called Hugging Saint, for whom she does P.R. pro bono, how could I say no?
And she also happens to give really good hug.Two friends and I walked into New York's Manhattan Center, where Amma had been hugging for three days. The auditorium was filled with incense, people dressed in white (my friends and I never got that memo), and chanting. I won't lie: I was completely intimidated. I've done meditation retreats before, but those were with hippies and a few Buddhist monks in Vermont and they were mostly silent. There was a lot more--auditorily, visually, olfactorily--to take in here. Kelly arranged for us to sit down with a Swamiji who works as Amma's North American tour director. He was draped in orange robes, and even whipped out an orange iPhone when it rang. (That was pretty rad.) He told us he met Amma 28 years ago when, as a documentary filmmaker, he approached her about being a subject. During their second meeting, he watched her hug a man with the worst case of leprosy he had ever seen. After Amma kissed an open sore, the Swamiji was convinced that she was the most compassionate person he had ever met. He also said she typically gets only one hour of sleep per night because there's so much work to be done.At one point during our conversation, Russell Simmons walked in with a model and a camera crew
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anya-strz ... 36982.html
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Prem »

Anyone read the book?

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2 ... grows.html
Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India
A day after the Supreme Court lifted the ban, opposition to James Laine's controversial book Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India gathered momentum with political outfits of many hues demanding a complete ban.While protests by right-wing Hindutva organisations like Sambhaji Brigade and Shivrajya Paksha that deify the Maratha warrior king is expected, many have been surprised by the number of Muslim organisations which have come together to protest the apex court's ruling.MNS workers burn an effigy of author James Laine in Nagpur on Saturday
All India Ulema Council General Secretary Maulana Mahmood Daryabadi said this support was in keeping with the tenets of Islam. "Islam says that we should support any effort which prevents the spread of hate in society.
."Former MLC, Brigadier Sudhir Sawant of the Shivrajya Paksha on Saturday attacked the government for "being soft on those who attack Shivaji Maharaj."

( I just notice the usual fuddu suspect Vijay Parsad's name. Question is why a Gora is taking so much interest in destroying Shivaji name and how come usual indian parasites hangling oround his Pakistan like insect peckers on Bufallow Mushharraf)
svinayak
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by svinayak »

Prem wrote:Anyone read the book?

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2 ... grows.html
Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India
( I just notice the usual fuddu suspect Vijay Parsad's name. Question is why a Gora is taking so much interest in destroying Shivaji name and how come usual indian parasites hangling oround his Pakistan like insect peckers on Bufallow Mushharraf)
THe gora has joined the debate inside India regarding Hindutva and secularism silently before without Indians knowing about it.
The gora has used his resources for a long time to change the political direction of India and also change the history written inside India. Trace the trial of the Gora writers and you see a pattern of slow change.
The terms of the debate and the actual debate is being controlled by external forces and it is really brilliant.
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by Atri »

Prem wrote:Anyone read the book?

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2 ... grows.html
Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India
A day after the Supreme Court lifted the ban, opposition to James Laine's controversial book Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India gathered momentum with political outfits of many hues demanding a complete ban.While protests by right-wing Hindutva organisations like Sambhaji Brigade and Shivrajya Paksha that deify the Maratha warrior king is expected, many have been surprised by the number of Muslim organisations which have come together to protest the apex court's ruling.MNS workers burn an effigy of author James Laine in Nagpur on Saturday
All India Ulema Council General Secretary Maulana Mahmood Daryabadi said this support was in keeping with the tenets of Islam. "Islam says that we should support any effort which prevents the spread of hate in society.
."Former MLC, Brigadier Sudhir Sawant of the Shivrajya Paksha on Saturday attacked the government for "being soft on those who attack Shivaji Maharaj."

( I just notice the usual fuddu suspect Vijay Parsad's name. Question is why a Gora is taking so much interest in destroying Shivaji name and how come usual indian parasites hangling oround his Pakistan like insect peckers on Bufallow Mushharraf)
Sambhaji Brigade is cursing Brahmins more than james laine. MNS, SS and other hindutva organisatioins are cursing james laine and government and not any particular caste.. SB is MH's equivalent of DMK when it comes to antibrahminism.. Sambhaji Brigade and Maratha Sewa Sangh (MSS) have denounced Hinduism and have started a new religion "Shiva-Dharma" in which Chhatrapati Shivaji's mother (Jijabai) is worshipped as supreme goddess. Brahmins are not allowed to join the religion. Don't understand whose pay-role these people are on. These were also amongst those who were shouting "brahminical conspiracy" behind the death of Hemant Karkare and company in 26/11.
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Re: Indian Interests

Post by ramana »

Can go in multiple threads but most relevant here:


Op-Ed in Tribune:

Beware Of Pakistan's designs in Kashmir
Fresh crisis in the valley
Beware of Pakistan’s designs
by K. Subrahmanyam

Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has called for an all-party meeting to take stock of the volatile situation in the valley where the Army had to be called in as a deterrent in support of the curfew-enforcing state police force and paramilitary forces. One Opposition leader has called for the intervention of the Prime Minister and another for the imposition of Governor’s rule. There is a lot of talk of anger of the Kashmiris and the need to address the basic political problem. Though there are vague mentions that the basic Kashmir problem, going back to 1947, is related to autonomy, there has not been a fully set-out framework of that autonomy, especially in respect of finances and security.

There is no analysis in our media or among the politicians, including those in Kashmiri, whether the volatile situation could be related to the forthcoming meeting of the Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan and the developing situation in the Af-Pak area. There is increasing US pressure on Pakistan to initiate action on the Afghan Taliban in North Waziristan and to crack down on the Lashkar-e-Toiyaba (LET) on the basis of disclosures made by David Coleman Headley. What would suit Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Quereshi better than to focus on the volatile situation in Kashmir and “innocent, nonviolent organised stone throwers” being shot by the police in Kashmir.

Fortunately for Quereshi and the ISI of Pakistan, the Indian politicians are of the view, as they argued on the day of the bandh, that stone throwing and bus-burning are nonviolent activities. Supporters of stone-throwing and bus-burning in Kashmir cite the arguments of the Indian politicians to uphold their stand. It is difficult to legislate against stone throwing in Jammu and Kashmir without accepting that such activity should be made a criminal act in India as well. This issue is not raised and discussed by our political leaders who are otherwise eloquent on the developments in Kashmir.

According to media reports, sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) say there are as many as four major stone-pelters organisations active in the valley, proving to be a nightmare for the security forces. “The Jammu and Kashmir Stone-Pelters’ Association, the Stone-Pelters’ Association of Kashmir Valley, I Am A Stone-Pelter and the Stone Throwers are the four organisations active in the valley for the past couple of years,” they said. These organisations allegedly recruit young men and pay them at the rate of about Rs 150 to Rs 300 per day for throwing stones at the security forces and disturbing normal life in the valley.

So far, 1,875 CRPF personnel have been injured, with 211 of them becoming victims since the latest spate of stone-pelting started on June 11. Sources said the local police had even intercepted communications of the LeT on the ways in which to build up the agitation through stone-pelting.

Meanwhile, intelligence agencies have found that the stone pelters were funded from across the border through money-transfer agencies like Western Union via Dubai. “It is not easy to track them, as they dispatch money through small amounts. As the transactions are below Rs10 lakh, it is not easy to keep a watch always. The money is transferred to agents in small lots. It is an open secret that stone-pelters are hired for Rs 300 per day by these local agents.

The ISI is taking advantage of the vulnerability in the Indian system where politicians and businessmen use hawala channels extensively to get funds from abroad. This again is an all-India problem and not an exclusive Kashmir problem. The Prime Minister should call an all-party conference to discuss how far the mores and value systems of Indian political parties contribute to the security problem in Kashmir and make India vulnerable to the ISI Jammu and Kashmir is a highly fractional polity. The real problem in arriving at a political solution is that the Kashmiri parties will not sit down together to discuss a constructive solution to what they consider to be their grievance. It is also a highly personality-oriented politics. Even among the separatists there are different categories. External money flow and consequent influence are crucial determinants in crisis generation in the state from time to time. To obfuscate these factors, many of the parties, especially those with very limited popular support, blame Delhi for not solving the basic political issue.

As it happens in many other conflict zones where a certain equilibrium has been reached, the conflict and threat of escalating it become effective instrumentalities to extract greater financial concessions from Delhi. It will be a useful exercise to carry out a cost-benefit analysis in the utilisation of grants from the Centre. A turbulent situation is an excellent shield for gross inefficiency and seepage of funds. Conflict zone conditions also permit various kinds of extortions.

In spite of the prolonged conflict, Jammu and Kashmir is among the relatively faster growing states. In recent months it looked as though the state will enter a trajectory of faster growth and job-creation because there was greater harmony and understanding between the young Chief Minister and the Central Government. That widespread perception itself should have sent a warning to the security establishment that those who benefited out of conflict and conditions of tension would try to sabotage the young Chief Minister. Any success of Omar Abdullah would have been looked upon not only as a threat to the interests of various vested political interests in Kashmir but also to Pakistan’s future plans.

Heightened tension in Kashmir will provide Pakistan an excuse vis-a-vis the Americans both in respect of action against the LeT and the Haqqani faction of the Taliban in North Waziristan. It will give the Pakistan Foreign Minister some counter-arguments in his discussions with our External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna. It boosts the morale of anti-Omar Abdullah elements in Kashmir. It attempts to create a wedge between Delhi and Srinagar. That explains the demands for the Prime Minister’s direct intervention.

Involving Delhi increasingly in Kashmir at this stage will suit the interests of the Pakistani Army, the ISI and the elements under the influence of the ISI as also those who have a vested interest in perpetuating the status quo conflict situation in Kashmir. There have been analyses to establish that in terms of casualties the present situation is not worse than what obtained under the previous three Chief Ministers. And there are hints that the present may be a case of over-reaction.

That will not be a correct perception if we factor in the Pakistani compulsions. The present action appears to be fully justified, but Delhi should be extremely cautious in involving itself. That will be playing into the hands of Pakistan. This is also an opportunity for Omar Abdullah to assert his leadership.

The writer is a Delhi-based strategic affairs expert.
Looks like things are on a boil for KS garu to divert attention from strat affairs to J&K.

Stone pelting is a PLO Intefida technique. However stone pelting is an all Indina poltical portest move so it has lost its sting in Kashmir.

One thing India can do is ask US to monitor Western Union transfers to Kashmir irrespective of the amount involved as funds for terrorists. So the aggregate to a region is monitored instead of just individual sums. Can be done with computers.
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