India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Vips · Post by **Vips** » 03 Dec 2020 19:39

Dems want to stop high tax paying, honest and bright STEM professionals from coming into the country while they are all for getting increasing number of family based immigrants (Latino's to increase their vote share) and an increasing number of islamic elements masquerading as asylees (like in Europe). It is simply surprising how vote bank politics trumps (pun unintended) commonsense.

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 03 Dec 2020 21:32

I am planning to attend pan- IIT2020 (this year it is virtual) meet this weekend. (This is US chapter which is organizing this) Should be interesting and informative.
Key speakers include:
- Shri Narendra Modi (PM India)
- Dr. Vivek Murthy (Covid- chair - Biden Transition team)
- Shri Piyush Goyal (Railways Minister India)
And many others - Dr. Arvind Krishna (CEO IBM), Dr. Rajesh Subraminiam, (Fedex COO), Dr Ari Gopal, Dr Jyoti Bansal, Dr Desh Deshpande, Dr. Arun Malhotra - just to name a few. (Quite a few well known scientists and people from both Modi and Biden admins are speaking/presenting)
---
Apart from key-note speakers there are sessions, expositions, networking for start-ups etc..

"This conference will bring together change makers, innovators and thinkers, to innovate and inspire us all to rethink the future of humanity.

IIT2020 will focus on the global economy, technology innovation, health infrastructure, habitat conservation, food innovation, and universal education. How do we create sustainable solutions for over 10 billion global citizens?"

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 05 Dec 2020 01:01

^^^ Modi's speech was excellent - Also Vivek Murthy's discussion. I am very optimistic for India-US relations under Biden-Modi leadership,

Here is one link: of Modi's talk: https://youtu.be/VcLxD7oau6k

Added later: Text of the PM's speech:

Text of PM’s Keynote address at Pan IIT Global Summit

Shri Sundaram Shrinivasan,

President

Pan IIT USA,

Distinguished alumni,

Friends,

I am delighted to join you all today. I have had the opportunity to address convocations at IITs in Chennai, Mumbai, Guwahati and most recently, at Delhi. I am always impressed after interacting with students from IITs. I also come back refreshed and reassured about the future of India and our planet.

Friends,

You are sons and daughters of India, who are serving humanity. Your spirit for innovation is helping the world dream big. It is also among your greatest strengths. Perhaps it comes second only to your technical and management skills. Someone should calculate the cumulative contribution of IIT alumni to economic value across the planet. I am sure it would compare with the GDP of a nation that has a reasonable size.

Friends,

There was a time, when a gathering like this would have included alumni from just five or six IITs.That number is growing now, and is close to two dozen. The number of students and alumni have also grown. At the same time, we have ensured that the brand of IITs has only become stronger. We in India are strongly committed to promote science and technology education in India. You would have noticed that in recent times, a culture of hackathons is developing in India. I have also had the opportunity to be a part of some of these hackathons. In these hackathons, I see young minds giving out-standing solutions to national and global problems.

We have been working with many countries in South East Asia and Europe in this area. Our aim is to ensure that our youngsters get an international plat-form to showcase their skills. And, learn from best practices globally. Starting 2nd October, on Gandhi Jayanti, India hosted the Vaibhav Summit.

Lasting for nearly a month, this Summit brought together top-quality talent in the fields of science and innovation. The number of participants was about Twenty-three thousand. There were 230 panel discussions. Almost 730 hours of discussions. This Summit was productive and it sets the tone for future collaborations in science and innovation.

Friends,

India is witnessing a sea change in the way it works. Things we thought could never happen are being delivered at great speed. Let me give a small example from a field you know well. Earlier, when IITs produced aero-space engineers, there was not a strong domestic industrial eco-system to employ them. Today, with our historic reforms in the Space sector, the last frontier before humanity has opened up to Indian talent.

That's why new space tech startups are coming up every day in India. I am sure some of you will boldly go where none have gone before"! Cutting edge and innovative work is happening across many sectors in India. Ours is a Government fully committed to the principle of "Reform, Perform, Transform".

There is no sector left out from our reforms. Agriculture, Atomic Energy, Defence, Education, Healthcare, Infrastructure, Finance, Banking, Taxation. The list goes on. We have brought path-breaking reforms in the labour sector, assimilating 44 Union labour laws into just 4 codes. Our corporate tax rate is one of the lowest in the world.

A few weeks ago, the Indian Cabinet cleared a path-breaking Production Linked Incentive Scheme in ten key sectors. This decision was taken to enhance exports as well as manufacturing. The sectors include Battery, Electronics, Pharma, Automobiles, Telecom, Solar energy and others. Each of these sectors is related to technology.These are opportunities waiting to be utilised.

In these testing times of COVID-19, India has got record investment. Much of this investment has come in the tech sector. Clearly, the world sees India as a trustworthy and promising partner.

Friends,

The collective force of the PanIIT movement can add momentum to our dream of becoming an Aatmnirbhar Bharat or self-reliant India. At some critical turning points in the history of independent India, Indian diaspora across the world put their faith in a resurgent India. They became Ambassadors of a New India. And, their voice was critical in ensuring that the world understood India's view-points in the right spirit.

Friends,

Two years later, in 2022 India marks 75 years since Independence. I urge the PanIIT movement to set an even higher benchmark on "Giving back to India.'' Your efforts for your alma mater are well known and inspiring. I know that many of you mentor your juniors in choosing the right career paths - whether in academia or industry. Today, many of them want to start-up their own ventures. They are bright and confident youngsters trying to make a mark through their hard work and innovation.

Now, I invite you to mentor them in these efforts too. I urge you to share more of your ideas and inputs on how we can mark 75 years of our freedom. You could share your views MyGov. Or, you can share it directly with me on the Narendra Modi App.

Friends,

Our actions today will shape our planet's tomorrow. The post Covid-19 order will be about: Re-learning, re-thinking, re-innovating and re-inventing in almost every field. This, along with a series of economic reforms is what will re-energise our planet. It will ensure 'Ease of Living' and positively impact the poor as well as marginalised. We also saw how several innovations that came out during the pandemic emerged from collaboration - between the industry and academia. The world today needs viable solutions to adjust to the new normal, And, who would be better than you to drive this dialogue? Today, a large number of IIT alumni are in global leadership positions. Your strong networks are spread across industry, academia, arts, governments. You are there in practically every sphere of human activity and excellence.I myself interact with one or more of your tribe every week, if not every day! I urge you to debate, discuss and contribute to solutions in the emerging New World Tech Order.The responsibility is heavy, but I know that your shoulders are capable.

With that, I extend to you my best wishes for this year's conference, correctly themed as "the future is now". It certainly is.

Good luck.

And thank you.

Also, some of the other presentations (especially Dr. Vivek Murthy's) through out the day were extremely good and informative about future of India/US relationship, their fight against Covid, vaccines, IT and science in general.

saip · Post by **saip** » 05 Dec 2020 01:58

Vips wrote:Dems want to stop high tax paying, honest and bright STEM professionals from coming into the country while they are all for getting increasing number of family based immigrants (Latino's to increase their vote share) and an increasing number of islamic elements masquerading as asylees (like in Europe). It is simply surprising how vote bank politics trumps (pun unintended) commonsense.

It cuts both ways. Family based immigration includes spouses and unmarried children of STEM. And many times family based immigration (when it was started it was meant for Europeans but not many came) was used mostly by Indians, Chinese and Filippinos. True Mexicans used it too and in large numbers. But I do believe family based immigration benefited more of these three groups -Indians, Chinese and Filippinos - than Mexicans.

vimal · Post by **vimal** » 05 Dec 2020 02:45

Thats why US needs modern immigration system like that of Canada where skilled immigrants and their immediate families come with approved PR and not wait in queue to be eligible. Refugee and other humanitarian queues should be a separate class. In USA parties effectively throttle and make life hard for legal skilled immigration while allowing undocumented and illegal immigration to continue with more benefits. Not to mention that skilled legal immigrants get zero public benefits while paying same or higher taxes than most citizens. Infact, taking any kind of public benefit will be a cause for green card denial.

KJo · Post by **KJo** » 05 Dec 2020 02:51

vimal wrote:Thats why US needs modern immigration system like that of Canada where skilled immigrants and their immediate families come with approved PR and not wait in queue to be eligible. Refugee and other humanitarian queues should be a separate class. In USA parties effectively throttle and make life hard for legal skilled immigration while allowing undocumented and illegal immigration to continue with more benefits. Not to mention that skilled legal immigrants get zero public benefits while paying same or higher taxes than most citizens. Infact, taking any kind of public benefit will be a cause for green card denial.

Immigration should happen the way the host country wants it to happen. If the host country wants no immigrants, they can shut their borders and are within their rights to. If they want to put people in a queue, then it's up to them. If they want to allow in jihadis then it's their risk.

It's not right to expect or demand a country to let others in.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 05 Dec 2020 03:35

vimal wrote:Infact, taking any kind of public benefit will be a cause for green card denial.

It is a hurdle for citizenship.

saip · Post by **saip** » 05 Dec 2020 05:20

vimal wrote:Thats why US needs modern immigration system like that of Canada where skilled immigrants and their immediate families come with approved PR and not wait in queue to be eligible. Refugee and other humanitarian queues should be a separate class. In USA parties effectively throttle and make life hard for legal skilled immigration while allowing undocumented and illegal immigration to continue with more benefits. Not to mention that skilled legal immigrants get zero public benefits while paying same or higher taxes than most citizens. Infact, taking any kind of public benefit will be a cause for green card denial.

Just curious. Who does the work in the Canadian farms? In CA most of the work is done by latinos, legal or illegal but they do the work may be at $16 and hour in the hot sun (may reach over 100 degrees in the central valley where I live).

vimal · Post by **vimal** » 05 Dec 2020 06:20

KJo wrote:
vimal wrote:Thats why US needs modern immigration system like that of Canada where skilled immigrants and their immediate families come with approved PR and not wait in queue to be eligible. Refugee and other humanitarian queues should be a separate class. In USA parties effectively throttle and make life hard for legal skilled immigration while allowing undocumented and illegal immigration to continue with more benefits. Not to mention that skilled legal immigrants get zero public benefits while paying same or higher taxes than most citizens. Infact, taking any kind of public benefit will be a cause for green card denial.
Immigration should happen the way the host country wants it to happen. If the host country wants no immigrants, they can shut their borders and are within their rights to. If they want to put people in a queue, then it's up to them. If they want to allow in jihadis then it's their risk.

It's not right to expect or demand a country to let others in.

There should always be an intent to improve things otherwise US would still be living under Jim Crow era law.

KJo · Post by **KJo** » 05 Dec 2020 07:00

vimal wrote:
There should always be an intent to improve things otherwise US would still be living under Jim Crow era law.

Shouldn't the citizens of a country decide how it should be? They decide when they vote. Europeans also thought they were "improving" things and voted for it and they ended up inviting Islamic trash from failed states in who just created trouble with their victimhood who led to liberal politicians pandering to them (parallels to India).
If people expect the US to allow immigrants in, then others can expect India to do the same and let in people from Africa, latinos, cheenis and other random goras in, in large numbers. Interestingly when I discuss this issue with my Muslim friends, they demand liberal and open immigration to India but then I ask why don't Islamic countries allow it, and they hum and haw and give excuses.

Jim Crow laws are a whole different story and does not apply here at all.
From wiki-chacha:

In practice, Jim Crow laws mandated racial segregation in all public facilities in the states of the former Confederate States of America and in some others, beginning in the 1870s. Jim Crow laws were upheld in 1896 in the case of Plessy vs. Ferguson, in which the U.S. Supreme Court laid out its "separate but equal" legal doctrine for facilities for African Americans. Moreover, public education had essentially been segregated since its establishment in most of the South after the Civil War in 1861–65.

vimal · Post by **vimal** » 05 Dec 2020 07:22

@KJo read my original post and inform yourself about the Canadian Skilled worker PR process before needlessly ranting here. A system like that will allow skilled and educated folks to enter workforce quickly and add to the tax base.

What Europeans did was exactly opposite of what I was "suggesting".

srikandan · Post by **srikandan** » 05 Dec 2020 10:41

Mastercard getting some Indian-looking american guy to break into PayTM and Rupay dominance in India

Mastercard has been very bitter about not being given special privileges to break into the Indian market -- mudi must rejine. No reason for this Dick Verma to be given this post right after he left his government job.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 05 Dec 2020 11:48

srikandan wrote:Mastercard getting some Indian-looking american guy to break into PayTM and Rupay dominance in India

Mastercard has been very bitter about not being given special privileges to break into the Indian market -- mudi must rejine. No reason for this Dick Verma to be given this post right after he left his government job.

A Desi Ajay Banga have been CEO and President of MC for over Decade and part of INDO US chamber of commerce. He knows almost all of who is who in Indian industry and politics .

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 05 Dec 2020 11:51

^^^ Well known - Mastercard's CEO, like many other well known US companies, is Indian American - Ajay Banga who happens to be the chairman of USIBC ( U.S.-India Business Council) representing more than 300 of the largest international companies investing in India - and Both Verma and Banga have a very good relationship with Modi. (and Biden-Harris admin. (Verma was US ambassador - has to resign after Trump came, Banga , a Padma award (Modi's time) also remains close to Biden admin - he was a key adviser in Obama-Biden admin and had been very vocal supporter of Modi).

schinnas · Post by **schinnas** » 05 Dec 2020 16:03

srikandan wrote:Mastercard getting some Indian-looking american guy to break into PayTM and Rupay dominance in India

Mastercard has been very bitter about not being given special privileges to break into the Indian market -- mudi must rejine. No reason for this Dick Verma to be given this post right after he left his government job.

This comment seems unwaranted and out of touch with reality. Please educate yourselves with Indian digital payments ecosystem before batting for Alibaba funded PayTM. It is very normal for companies to hire ex Ambassadors in senior roles for their connections in Washington. They are mostly glorified lobbyists.

srikandan · Post by **srikandan** » 05 Dec 2020 21:50

Schinnas: This comment seems unwaranted and out of touch with reality. Please educate yourselves with Indian digital payments ecosystem before batting for Alibaba funded PayTM. It is very normal for companies to hire ex Ambassadors in senior roles for their connections in Washington. They are mostly glorified lobbyists.

Yes, China has a 30% stake in PayTM -- and 70% is Indian. Mastercard is 0% percent Indian, so what's your point?

Mastercard and Visa have been complaining about not being to able to compete with Indian digital payment platforms -- perhaps you should pay a little more attention. Yes, companies hire lobbyists all the time. My point is that he is being hired to continue to lobby the Indian govt. due to his position as Indian ambassador. from the above link:

“We are not in the process of protecting the revenue of private players,” said a senior Niti Aayog official. “The government will continue to provide alternate and cheaper options to end users to enable them to board our digital payment drive.”

and this bit:

Card payment gateways such as MasterCard, Visa or RuPay get a transaction fee each time a person transacts through them. They are excluded from payments made through BHIM and Aadhaar Pay. “Aadhaar Pay will be like India’s own solution to the cashless economy,” said an official closely involved with the system. “Lots of players such as Visa, MasterCard are shaken up and there is a big war going on. But the government is very clear and wants to just bulldoze ahead with it.”

Mastercard is drooling over the Indian digital payment market but they cannot compete, and want the Indian govt. to carve out space for them, which is probably the reason for hiring this Dick V.

g.sarkar · Post by **g.sarkar** » 06 Dec 2020 05:50

saip wrote: Just curious. Who does the work in the Canadian farms? In CA most of the work is done by latinos, legal or illegal but they do the work may be at $16 and hour in the hot sun (may reach over 100 degrees in the central valley where I live).

The amount of labor depends on the crop. Fruits and nuts that are grown in the Central Valley is very labor intensive. I think in Canada mostly wheat is grown/harvested using machines. Most agricultural labor in California is done by migrant labor that move around depending on the weather and the harvesting time of the crop. They are mostly undocumented, as no one with legal status will work such long hours in the hot sun, live in camps without family, paid very low wages by US standards and then be willing to move around. These workers leave the US for Mexico when the harvesting is over and come back the next season. At least they did in the past, things may be different under Trump and now China Virus. I can already see that the price of food has been rising steadily.
Gautam
PS Saipji, I too live in the Central Valley, in Merced. I could be your neighbor.

g.sarkar · Post by **g.sarkar** » 08 Dec 2020 19:11

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/us/c ... -dead.html
Chuck Yeager, Test Pilot Who Broke the Sound Barrier, Is Dead at 97
A World War II fighter ace and Air Force general, he was, according to Tom Wolfe, “the most righteous of all the possessors of the right stuff.”
By Richard Goldstein, Dec. 7, 2020
Chuck Yeager, the most famous test pilot of his generation who was the first to break the sound barrier, and, thanks to Tom Wolfe, came to personify the death-defying aviator who possessed the elusive yet unmistakable “right stuff,” died on Monday at a hospital in Los Angeles. He was 97.
His death was announced via his official Twitter account, which cited his wife, Victoria, and confirmed by John Nicoletti, a family friend, by phone.
......
Gautam
He had a special relationship with the PAF.
https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2020/ ... ndira.html

srikandan · Post by **srikandan** » 09 Dec 2020 04:07

Beijing Biden

Video has a chinese CCP apparitchik talking about tough times for China under Trump after having "great friends in high places" in the US back from 80s and 90s. We all know who these great friends in high places are, and we also know Trump was not part of that crowd.

The Chinese are referring to Hillary, Kissinger and the rest of the Washington politicians who ruined US's manufacturing Industry and handed it to china, with the hope of China and US forming a duopoly. And a break from both of these mainstream politicians who were getting rich off China at the expense of their country, between 2016 and 2020, has caused a break in this nice symbiotic relationship between the ultra-rich Chinese CCP authoritarians and the ultra-rich politicians in the US, who got rich the Lalu prasad way.

These US politicians and political parties are bought and paid for by china -- and now China should be glad to see Trump gone. But the democrats will suck up to china again, not withstanding spin from the same democrat crowd that publishes Foreign policy mag. -- not providing link to that US state dept. rag. This new admin's real problem is that the rest of the world recognizes China as a threat, so they have to pretend to be tough on China while trying to patch up with China behind the scenes. Even people like Edward Luttwak who called out Kissinger's statement on kissing up to china are very clear that the US-China relationship is long-term and will not change.

US state dept. rags like Foreign Policy are already commiserating with a "fragile China", "trump's sorry China analysis" and "Biden will be tough on China", which all point in only one direction..the US is on the same side as china, even if they pretend otherwise.

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 09 Dec 2020 05:21

The function of US foreign policy is to keep the US as number one (not unreasonable, in fact mandatory for a foreign policy).
Thus the seeds of China's destruction literally lie in its own success.

srikandan · Post by **srikandan** » 09 Dec 2020 05:44

sanjaykumar: The function of US foreign policy is to keep the US as number one (not unreasonable, in fact mandatory for a foreign policy).
Thus the seeds of China's destruction literally lie in its own success.

Not really true in when it comes to US-China relationship -- the long-running Nixon/Kissinger plan to normalize relations with China is based on US not being no 1 for ever. Now that Idea is basically shown to be No 2., as US picked the wrong country to enrich in its quest for a long-running global duopoly with China.

Kissinger's/Brzyzenski's china-duopoly policies is based on a so-called realist view that power does not last forever, so China (in Kissinger's fantasies) was an ideal candidate to "ease the US down the power spectrum" until each power manages affairs on their side of the planet. The thinking being that doing so will result in the US staying longer as a top power, by splitting costs and responsibilities of "policing the globe" with china.

So the US govt. handed over their entire manufacturing sector the Chinese, as a deliberate policy choice, which is what that "Beijing Biden" fellow is b oasting about "Deep contacts with powerful people in US circles".

This "grand plan" by Kissinger has destroyed the US's own economy and manufacturing jobs over the past decades -- US citizens got used to cheap chinese goods in malls and Politicians and corporations grew fat by sending manufacturing to china and increasing margins. There is an oprah winfrey video of Trump openly opposing this policy back in 1988 when this policy was wrecking all the jobs in the US. The transformation of Trump being buddies with Clinton and the rest of the democrats to becoming evil person No. 1 is likely because they saw him as a threat to "Kissinger's grand plan" if he ever came to power. Thankfully, Covid and China's behavior since then has pulled the rug from these morons who are still trying to protect China's image in the US, exactly with bromides like "China is doing what is in its own interest to be No 1".

Be that as it may, such a US position on China does not reconcile with the obviuous fact that china is a threat to every single country in Asia, which is apparently just alright according to the US talking heads and strategists, not withstanding all the recent spin that Biden is going to be tough on china.

Oprah Winfrey Interview with Trump where he talks about jobs going to China back in 1988

Man was fighting a lone battle against China the past four years, clearly, seeing as to the rapid re-normalization of US-China relations.

And in other news:

CIA losing its best and brightest due to bad people management.

srikandan · Post by **srikandan** » 09 Dec 2020 05:59

Anti-semitism propagated by the democrats

Edward Luttwak: "High achievement by Jewish students hardly source of [campus] antisemitism" I see: blame wicked Israel. But there was none when Germ, Polish & Hung students attacked Jewish students in 1930s (w iron bars to break the fingers of surgery students). Reason: better exam results.

Edward Luttwak is a master historian and strategist, and the above is a response to a progressive/woke person justifying ill-treatment of Jews in US campuses.

Notice the similarity between Nazi era treatment of Jewish surgery students because they just were better at it --- this looks like a less virulent version of "lottery to replace merit" schemes to deprive Indian origin students merit-based advancement in San Francisco. This bigotry is being initiated by the "woke"/progressive/left wing/democrat crowd in the US, mind you. The same kind of people that write articles in New York Times and "liberal" rags on how India is a terrible place because mudi not rejine.

Sonugn · Post by **Sonugn** » 09 Dec 2020 11:18

Why I Chose Lloyd Austin as Secretary of Defense By Biden

No mention of Indo-Pac or China

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 09 Dec 2020 11:42

^^^In all fairness to Jihadi Joe, Gen. Austin was in charge of Central command. The Indo-Pacific is under a different command. Pak falls under central command (of which it is a "coalition partner"), and India eastward is in the Indo-Pacific command.

However, it is clear that Jihadi Joe isn't thinking about China as an adversary or he would have picked a person who is a known hawk concerning China as Sec. of Defense.

Sonugn · Post by **Sonugn** » 10 Dec 2020 11:35

Mort Walker wrote:^^^In all fairness to Jihadi Joe, Gen. Austin was in charge of Central command. The Indo-Pacific is under a different command. Pak falls under central command (of which it is a "coalition partner"), and India eastward is in the Indo-Pacific command.

However, it is clear that Jihadi Joe isn't thinking about China as an adversary or he would have picked a person who is a known hawk concerning China as Sec. of Defense.

Well sir, the CCP never liked the term Indo-pacific, they were vocal about this & wanted it be renamed to Asia-pacific. Biden might/have just given them this wish.

It's going to be a reset with India as casualty, most probably.

Now that Russian FM has opined that China-India tension is a creation of the West, powers that be might want India to give concessions to China

darshan · Post by **darshan** » 12 Dec 2020 00:03

This is in relevance to Hindus and Bharat. Hopefully, opindia writers would start differentiating as such instead of making it a Modi issue.

Blow to anti-Modi ‘Minorities under attack’ narrative as US rejects USCIRF comments accusing India of violating religious freedom of minorities
https://www.opindia.com/2020/12/us-stat ... r-concern/
The US State Department has rejected the recommendation of the controversial United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to include India in the list of countries of particular concern (CPC) for alleged violation of religious freedom. The State Department has designated ten countries including China and Pakistan in the CPC list on December 7.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 13 Dec 2020 17:55

darshan wrote:This is in relevance to Hindus and Bharat. Hopefully, opindia writers would start differentiating as such instead of making it a Modi issue.

Blow to anti-Modi ‘Minorities under attack’ narrative as US rejects USCIRF comments accusing India of violating religious freedom of minorities
https://www.opindia.com/2020/12/us-stat ... r-concern/
The US State Department has rejected the recommendation of the controversial United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to include India in the list of countries of particular concern (CPC) for alleged violation of religious freedom. The State Department has designated ten countries including China and Pakistan in the CPC list on December 7.

Thats the difference between Trump & Biden adminstrations. Expect more pressure from Biden admin on these issues, as mentioned in their manifestoes.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 17 Dec 2020 04:54

what's with these birdbrains

do they really think that anyone in India cares about what some woke dopes vote for or against in the US

or is this what they think of as the "freedom" that they have in the US to rail against India.

there are plenty of Indians doing the same thing sitting here in India and no one is stopping them

Kshama Sawant@cmkshama·Dec 14

Tomorrow, the Seattle City Council will vote on a resolution I'm co-sponsoring with CM Mosqueda. in support of millions of farmers in India, protesting against new privatization & exploitation laws by the Hindu fundamentalist & reactionary establishment regime of Modi & the BJP.

chanakyaa · Post by **chanakyaa** » 17 Dec 2020 05:16

Forget India, her constituents do not care about her....

JUDGE RULES IN FAVOR OF RECALL FOUR CHARGES ARE CERTIFIED AGAINST SAWANT

- That Councilmember Sawant “Relinquished Authority of her Office and Disregarded City of Seattle Employment and Hiring Rules.”
- That Councilmember Sawant misused City resources in promoting a ballot initiative.
- That Councilmember Sawant misused her official position by admitting hundreds of individuals at night into City Hall.
- That Councilmember Sawant led a protest march to Mayor Jenny Durkan’s private residence in violation of the State’s confidential program.

Kshama Sawant recall appeal heads to Washington Supreme Court in January

Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant's appeal to dismiss the recall effort against her will head to the Washington State Supreme Court in January 2021 where it is expected to be decided without oral arguments.

Back in September, King County Superior Judge Jim Rogers allowed four of the six charges alleged in the petition to go forward, saying in his order that the petitioner had proved "knowledge of facts indicating that the Councilmember intended to commit an unlawful act."

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 17 Dec 2020 12:26

Seattle politics are a mess. Sawant may be recalled only to become the mayor, since the current left wing mayor is being run out of office. Boeing and Amazon are relocating away from Seattle ... maybe an opportunity there to see if some of those jobs can be attracted to India. Amazon may be particularly receptive with the rise of remote work.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 17 Dec 2020 14:56

chetak wrote:
Kshama Sawant@cmkshama·Dec 14

Tomorrow, the Seattle City Council will vote on a resolution I'm co-sponsoring with CM Mosqueda. in support of millions of farmers in India, protesting against new privatization & exploitation laws by the Hindu fundamentalist & reactionary establishment regime of Modi & the BJP.

Mrs Palakkadan @Lotus2021·16h

Today Palakkad Municipality, won by the "Hindu fundamentalist and reactionary establishment regime of Modi and the BJP", firmly rejected the resolution of the Seattle City Council.

nvishal · Post by **nvishal** » 17 Dec 2020 17:28

No need to post "activism" events from Indian western leftists or "religious freedom" rankings drama from western world.

As pointed out by india in the UN, none of them are able to see persecution of Hindus in afg/bd/pak since 1947. If the west doesn't entertain Hindus, why do you entertain them?

The rohingyas were kidnapping and butchering the locals in Myanmar for decades. None of the western media addressed it. When the locals finally evicted the rohingyas out of Myanmar, the west took note. They do the same thing with India.

chanakyaa · Post by **chanakyaa** » 11 Jan 2021 06:12

Not quite related to relationship between the two countries, but more critically the INR-USD exchange rate.

After an approximate increase of $7 trillion ($7,000,000,000,000) increase in the US public debt in FY20 and another $3 to $5 trillion coming under bye then, totaling an increase of more than $10,000,000,000,000 in the span of 12 months...Compare it to India's fx reserve of $600 billion.

How the F%&@k is 1 USD = 73 Rupees??

As an example, shouldn't the import of Intel i7 processor be Rs. 325, 650 or 1,300 instead of Rs. 23,725 ($325)?

5 Breathtaking Numbers Reveal The Unsettling Cost Of Stimulus

FY 2020 Deficit: $3,100,000,000,000
Stimulus Spending: $2,600,000,000,000
Stimulus Tax Relief: $1,000,000,000,000
December Stimulus: $1,000,000,000,000
Bye then gift estimated: $3,000,000,000,000 - $5,000,000,000,000

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL DISAPPOINTS YET AGAIN

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 11 Jan 2021 09:28

chanakyaa wrote:Not quite related to relationship between the two countries, but more critically the INR-USD exchange rate.

After an approximate increase of $7 trillion ($7,000,000,000,000) increase in the US public debt in FY20 and another $3 to $5 trillion coming under bye then, totaling an increase of more than $10,000,000,000,000 in the span of 12 months...Compare it to India's fx reserve of $600 billion.

How the F%&@k is 1 USD = 73 Rupees??

From what I understand, and Suraj-san can explain it better, INR to USD rates are partly influenced by RBI action. The intention is to keep enough FOREX for national emergencies, but at the same time keep Indian exports and services price competitive. If RBI took no intervention on selling Rs. and keeping dollars, then I would suspect exchange rate to settle somewhere between Rs. 60-65 = $1 USD, maybe even better. The other thing that RBI or FinMin keeps in mind is the cost of importing oil/gas/energy as it is all traded in USD. The RBI is also on the lookout for international currency manipulators like seen in 1997 SE Asia financial crisis, so that probably has some role of influencing exchange rates and preventing the INR from free floating.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 11 Jan 2021 10:24

Forex is at end of day electronic or paper, much better to try and obtain key raw materials at cheap prices like what is required for Lithium batteries, build capacity etc. Labour costs play a very minor relation to manufacturing costs as opposed availability of machinery, port transport infrastructure, raw materials, skilled productive personnel and ability to produce quickly,

Cyrano · Post by **Cyrano** » 12 Jan 2021 18:50

There is another fallacy doing the rounds, which is a Trump <> Modi equivalence. Both right and left are guilty of it.

The right thinkers seem compelled that their support for Modi means they should be pro-Trump because of the bonhomie observed between Modi & Trump, and that Trump is acting with India's interests in mind. This is not true, Trump has made many decisions unfavourable to India like visa policies, offers of mediation with Pak & China, trying to ram a trade deal India has found unfavourable etc. Has even mocked Modi publicly. Trump has taken on China visibly, but apart from noise in the media, and recent pronouncements on Taiwan, nothing substantially beneficial to US or India has been achieved, Hongkong is completely gone under CCP's iron grip and the CCP's menace to the world has not decreased one bit. The long term arc of US-India rapprochement was set in motion many years ago, and Trump merely followed it, without understanding it. There is no grounds to feel compelled to support Trump if you are a Modi supporter.

At the same time, left thinkers seem to equate Trump's authoritarianism with Modi's decisive leadership and genuine patriotism which stems from his love for India. Their personalities and achievements are poles apart. How Modi dealt with Covid crisis, his careful but clearheaded and firm handling of Chinese border aggression, focus on improving living conditions of millions of Indians, reluctance to use his mandate and power for political vendetta, insistence to reform staying within the constitutional framework, exemplary personal conduct, ZERO name calling of anyone are all anti-thesis of Trump's behaviour.

Modi has not tied India's future to Trump's person, or acted with any compelling desire to ally itself to US on world politics. He quite cleverly befriended a mercurial US President, to preserve India's interests in a period of global realignment and turmoil. He had to do some give and take regarding Iran relations, Russian military equipment, but has managed to extract other things from US in India's favour. He also recognised Biden's victory quite early and saw through Trump's posturing. So the left gloating at Trump's downfall and predicting it as a foretelling of Modi's future and saying he should draw some lessons from it, is an erroneous and disingenuous argument.

Modi is his own man, with his own vision and priorities, and has enabled India to deal with the US and the world with an improved stature and on its own terms. That both the right and left do not see this, only points to their blinkered thinking.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 12 Jan 2021 22:39

darshan · Post by **darshan** » 12 Jan 2021 22:43

One wonders why Xiden didn't start with actual non democracies like china.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 12 Jan 2021 22:49

darshan wrote:One wonders why Xiden didn't start with actual non democracies like china.

he and his family seem to have collected by the bucketful by doing business with the hans as well as facilitating the hans in doing business in the US.

trump may make the biden papers unclassified before he leaves per some on the SM.

Najunamar · Post by **Najunamar** » 13 Jan 2021 01:09

But, aren't a whole set of these moves (State dept policy recognizing independent Taiwan for example) if not technically irreversible make it exceedingly difficult to walk back? How popular would it be for the new Congress or for the executive branch to change/walk back these steps?

I understand there could be additional moves that could dilute the impact by targeting other countries/increasing aid to Pakis etc., but negating some of these measures may not be so easy/popular.