Indian Interests

[shiv]

Cross post

Indian's defeatist psyche (not the title) - an eminently archivable article

http://www.indiandefencereview.com/mili ... drome.html

[Rahul Mehta]

Rahul Mehta: Some details of the cases are as follows

..... In one district sessions court (Junagadh?) some 20-30 people were hired by written test followed by interviews. In results of written tests, the toppers were from all castes. But after interview, the finalists lists had over 60% brahmins. The Principal Sessions judge who was in-charge of interviews was a brahmin

.....
My personal take is : .... There was no brahminism in recruitment but it was a usual case of rampant nepotism, rampant favoritism via interview. One of my proposals/demands is that ALL initial recruitment at all junior/middle positions in GoI, courts must be via written exams ONLY and no interview (see chap5 , search for word "interview") . Nbjprie have inserted Interviews in recruitment ONLY to collect bribes and promote nepotism/favoritism. Now when rampant nepotism occurs, it is easy to give caste color as most relatives of a person of caste-X will also belong to caste-X.

RamaY: I believe you are right. {AWMTA }

The only point I have at this point is that "Interviews" cannot be considered as an objective step in selection process, because they are prone to favoritism.

Despite 5000 years of data that interview system increases corruption, nepotism, extortion of sexual favors etc the existing Ministers, officers and judges want interviews to go. SCjs recently gave judgment saying that interviews will go on in recruitment of judges at all levels. In fact, recruitment in HCjs 100% via interviews and there is not even 1 mark of written exams. Now comes intellectuals --- they too insist that interviews must go on. One reason is : intellectuals in universities themselves benefit by interviews in recruitment, and favors are not just monetary. Further, intellectuals have relatives in Ministers, officers and judges who make big bucks via interview system. The dalit leaders dont want interview system to end - they just want a share in this murky business. The solution is to enact laws banning interviews. But then again, law-makers are corrupt and so they would never ever enact law banning interviews. So solution to enact one law using mass-movement (or threat of mass-movement) that would give us commons direct say in law-making.

A rhetorical question. What happens if the interview board has majority non-OCs and has high percentage of non-OC selections?

I dont think that would ever happen. There have been cases where toppers in written exams of "different" caste got near zero score in interviews and got rejected !! There is no case where interview panels consisted of one caste and final selectees were of different caste. And again, "caste" is mere correlation. The actual motive etc is nepotism, favoritism.

===

Rahul Mehta: So may I start a thread on "Excellent bowel movement can reduce corruption and poverty", where in you can give exact DRAFTS of the laws by which you plan to ensure that most Indians do indeed have excellent bowel movement? Or why dont you guys start one such thread yourself?

JEM: This is the sort of chicken/egg situation which i'm talking about. I'm saying no law can be drafted unless the people drafting them have excellent bowel movement FIRST. You are saying FIRST a law needs to be drafted to "ensure" excellent bowel movement. Now, you tell me which is sane, and which is insane?

My proposal of enacting RTI2, MRCM, RTR law-drafts has LESSER pre-requisites than your proposal of improving bowel movement. I dont insist that writing RTI2, MRCM, RTR law-drafts need enacting RTI2 etc law-drafts as pre-requisites. These law-drafts can be written today before RTI2 etc is passed, can be written today. In fact, I already wrote them months back.

JEM: I don't intend to start such a thread (on how bowel movement can improve Indian administration)

Amen.

[JE Menon]

>>My proposal of enacting RTI2, MRCM, RTR law-drafts has LESSER pre-requisites than your proposal of improving bowel movement.

Maybe so, but now that your "yours is bigger than mine" argument is over, you have to admit that before that alphabet soup above is done, the people enacting it have to have excellent bowel movement FIRST.

Avoid constipation improve constitution. (My shlokan for the day)

[negi]

Cross post

Indian's defeatist psyche (not the title) - an eminently archivable article

http://www.indiandefencereview.com/mili ... drome.html

It looks like written by some 4 year old (no offense meant).

What has Admiral Sureesh Mehta's comment got to do with 1962 debacle ? in fact the good Admiral was only trying to make every bozo out there smell the coffee .

His comments on SeS joint statement takes the cake, firstly even the Pakis are yet to furbish proof of our involvement there; so there is no question of accepting it at a time and platform of their choosing, secondly even if we have ops there WTF should we agree to such a thing in open ?

[Prem]

Demographic Time Bombs: U.S. Is Better Off Than You Think
http://seekingalpha.com/article/231844- ... -you-think

Demographic factors can significantly affect economic activity. The following graph from an article by Gregory White and Kamelia Angelova at Business Insider - Clusterstock shows how Japan's aging population has been a detractor from economic growth will be an increasing burden on GDP in coming years.
Germany, and Europe as a whole, are already burdened by aging demographics compared to the U.S. and the difference is projected to increase, especially after 2030. China is projected to surpass the U.S. in old age dependencies in about 25 years.
Not shown in the Aizenman and Sengupta graph is the data for India. India has a much younger demographic profile today, as well as a higher birth rate, which infers that India will have an advantage over many other countries with regard to demographic burdens from an aging population at least until the latter stages of the 21st century. Sanjeev Kulkarni has discussed both the positive and negative aspects of this demographic profile of India.These are not factors that will have a bearing on economic activity in the coming one, three or five years, but the demographic changes will start to have significant effects in 10 and 20 years. As Aizenman and Sengupta point out, today's trade imbalances will eventually be reversed by demographic forces. The U.S. simply has to survive for a couple of decades to have a chance of benefiting.

( The young population, if guided Indically can change the face and destiny of Planet with economic and military power. Prithvivasi shall all be eating Indian food , having Indic names and doing daily Bhangra as obligatory exercise. Akka , bakka, chiri charaka, halla gulla dhoom dharaka, jaam ootaho jaam, future lag gya Indic ke naaaam. Russell Peter must be a satisfied man today )

[svinayak]

( The young population, if guided Indically can change the face and destiny of Planet with economic and military power. Prithvivasi shall all be eating Indian food , having Indic names and doing daily Bhangra as obligatory exercise. Akka , bakka, chiri charaka, halla gulla dhoom dharaka, jaam ootaho jaam, future lag gya Indic ke naaaam. Russell Peter must be a satisfied man today )

Somebody asked what is the future of India
Reply was - India is the future of the world.

[JE Menon]

- excellent pithy comment. Will have to keep it in mind.
The early (warning? ) signs are already there...

[shiv]

? in fact the good Admiral was only trying to make every bozo out there smell the coffee .

Clearly, the admiral and the air marshal have a difference of opinion. I have no opinion about what the admiral said - but I wholeheartedly agree with the air marshal.

I loved every word of that article and have archived it for reproduction every time it is proved right..

[negi]

^ I agree with his pov on 1962 debacle for there it was time for action and not political posturing, I don't know if there is even a difference in opinion as the Air Marshal imho has taken those out of context i.e. there is difference between doing a honest appraisal of adversary's might vs defeatist psyche .

[shiv]

there is difference between doing a honest appraisal of adversary's might vs defeatist psyche .

No disagreement here - but it is important to mention the presence of a defeated psyche among some percentage of the population because that prevents an unbiased and honest appraisal. I for one have believed for years that there exists among Indians a defeated psyche that ensures that they see themselves as inferior and likely to be defeated. This is then described (by some) as an honest appraisal. It is honest only so far as the fact that some people readily accept inferiority and the inevitability of defeat against some adversaries. The negativity reflects in the language used by the media and many others and I have pointed that out several times on this forum. I have called it the psyche of subjugation and more recently as "Shivering in our dhotis"

I am totally and completely tickled by the fact that Air marshal Nehra wrote an article that expresses my viewpoint far better than I have done in all my pisko-posts on this particular subject. He is merely pointing out one aspect of India that I too have noticed.

[ramana]

Indian psyche is fear of mass annhilation that has been going on from the earliest Islamic invasions for conquest. And it is this fear that is stoked by foreigners and self loathing experts.

Mrs Gandhi did a splendid job in neutering that fear of historic ghost of Indian sub-continent of a double pincer movement on core Indo-Gangetic plains with the 1971 war. However by killing Mujib Ur Rehman the fear was brought back. Again the Gandhi families appeasement is related to the same fear of being annhilated by assasinations.

If anyone cares all the rhetoric from the Islamist fakes across the border is to revive the old fears.

I see no pleasure in identifying this fear. We should seek to rectify it instead of gloating.

Most Islamist victories of Hindu kingdoms were by ambush or deceit. Go read the books and you will see that clearly.

[negi]

I am totally and completely tickled by the fact that Air marshal Nehra wrote an article that expresses my viewpoint far better than I have done in all my pisko-posts on this particular subject. He is merely pointing out one aspect of India that I too have noticed.

Well I myself share that view but it has more to do with our governments of the past , the lot that occupied the chair became overnight heroes after the British left ; they were in fact elite Angrez boot lickers who only attended chai pakora over round tables during the struggle for freedom. The loss of a part of J&K in 47, 1962 debacle, NAM sham are all by products of mindless romanticism of the dhimmi ruling class and that continues to plague our foreign policy to this day.

[Venkarl]

Ultimate growth is human development: Kaushik Basu

According to the Human Development Report 2010, released today across the world, India at the 119th position is way below China (89th spot) and Sri Lanka (91).

During the last 40 years, life expectancy at birth in India has improved by 16 years, in line with the trend in South Asia, but less than the 23 years in Bangladesh.

The average time a kid will spend in school in India is 4.4 years, less than the 4.8 years in Bangladesh or 4.9 years in Pakistan.

In the gender inequality index, India comes at 122 out of 138 countries studied. Bangladesh and Pakistan are ranked above India at 116th and 112nd positions, respectively.

Similarly, the female labour force participation rate in India is 36 per cent, as against 61 per cent in Bangladesh.

Despite an impressive economic growth GDP wise, these facts states that we are not able to be on par with our neighbors let alone our partners in IBSA, BRIC etc. Where are we lacking? should I take this report with pinch of salt? Are there any other unmentioned indicators in which we fare better/competitive compared to Brazil, SA etc? My question is specific to Human Development and not other sort of developments...

[shiv]

I see no pleasure in identifying this fear. We should seek to rectify it instead of gloating.

You need to go read some books about how to rectify this fear before making recommendations about the way in which it is to be addressed.

[Sanku]

Gentlemen must we get into "that" mode?

[brihaspati]

Sure we need to make a pedestal to Herr Basu for his harangue - picking out reports of statistics as supplied by "neighbours" which regularly put women away from the cities in the rural depths at the mercy of "durrah" (beating with sticks/whips/canes/ropes) under the fatwaists, burning with acid after rape, and such small little entertainments. These are the countries whose statistics are not regularly collected or if collected then are doctored - (look at the sources - many times they defy all known empirical models and even sometimes do not make statistical sense). In fact recently the BD gov went on to protest UNDP stats on population growth in BD - they claimed UNDP had "overestimated" the growth.

In a sense perhaps we deserve characters like Kasuhik Basu. When all the greater logicians and analysts join up to become engineers and doctors - we sure would be left with "politicians" who manage to fill the hallowed slots of economics and history or the "social sciences" -crucial for any regime to manufacture "consent". Hopefully, this will change in the coming decades.

[putnanja]

Need for national defence policy - Essential to protect the country’s interests

In post-Independence Indian history, defence policy has never been invoked as a separate structured framework. Rather it has emerged in various ways by way of an individual leader’s philosophy or as a result of the ruling party’s political creed. Nehru’s inability to give a concrete shape to his broad defence policy for fear of militarisation gave India a policy of self-defence. While the latter was seen mostly under the shadow of neutrality or non-alignment, India unfortunately overlooked its basic need for defence.

One significant reason for India suffering major reverses in most of the battles it has fought has been the poorly conceived policies of fighting wars. According to Prussian strategic theorist Clausewitz, “Policy is the womb in which war develops”. While India has been striving for a long time to have a pre-eminent position in regional politics, inadequate defence planning has led to the country being unable to acquire the requisite strength to achieve its objectives.
...
...
India’s acclaimed nuclear weapon capability is being circumvented by our adversaries. Our ‘No First Strike’ may be a good political statement, but it holds no value in military terms, especially when India’s immediate neighbours have a policy contrary to this. Until now no Indian government has ever released a national security policy for the country.

When India has a maritime policy, a “cold start” strategy for the Army and a clear doctrine for the IAF, besides the nuclear policy, why is there not a comprehensive defence policy?

In 1985, Narasimha Rao as Defence Minister had said in Parliament that we did not have a document called national defence policy, though there were several guidelines linked to that. The situation has not changed till now.
...
...
Defence planning has been neglected for long in India. It has led to ad-hocism in decision making, adversely affecting the modernisation plans of the Services. Consequently, the military budget has been a smaller share of the GDP. Funds are surrendered every year for not buying military equipment. The key issue needing immediate attention is the revival of the five-year defence plan and better management and acquisition of human and material resources.

...
...
To safeguard our national interest, it is highly necessary to formulate a defence policy in a structured manner. It will not only help in reviewing our basic approach towards defence, but also lend the much-needed credibility to the defence forces, true to the Clausewitzian dictum that it is the policy that fights a war. n

The writer is Professor and Head, Department of Defence and National Security Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

[harbans]

I sort of am amazed at this: Paki's have more countries granting them Visa on Arrival than Indian citizens. What exactly does this imply? And why are our diplomatic missions sitting on this?

Ordinary Pakistani citizens are granted visa-on-arrival (with and without costs) to 36 countries and territories for short-term tourism visits.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requi ... i_citizens

http://www.pakboi.gov.pk/pdf/Aboltion_Agreement.pdf

And for India the list is:

Indian citizens are granted to visa-upon-arrival in 33 countries and territories, while a further 28 countries and territories are accessible visa-free.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requi ... n_citizens

The Paki list is much much longer. Don't go by the 28 countries accessible list. Just go through the entirity. Something is seriously wrong...are we paying folks just to sit on their jobs?

[RajeshA]

X-Posting from PRC Thread

This whole idea of "getting China to accept our concerns" sounds like yet another ludicrous cop out - a feeble attempt at demanding something from others that is not going to happen - in the "I am sure the Chinese will agree" genre. On the lines of "maybe the US or Israel will take out Paki nukes"

How long will it be before Indians understand that "getting China to understand our core concerns" is not going to happen and there is no sense in banging our heads against that wall repeatedly. China is under no obligation to "understand our core concerns" and blaming babus or someone else is silly. As if making those babus disappear and putting some other mythical person in their place would magically make China "understand our core concerns". I have heard this nonsense so often even the humor in it has faded like an old joke.

Let's hear something new. All I hear is "China does not listen to our core concerns. So let us build up our arsenal and nuke China". I hear this on this forum. Not from babus. What have Indian babus got to do with this sick joke?

Anything one puts on the table has to be a concession on the strategic cards one holds in respect to the core interests of others, and never a concession on one's own strategic interests.

The confusion arises from the fact, that we are not sure who is the ultimately responsible for developing, institutionalizing and carrying on the consciousness of India's national interests and strategic thinking, since the bureaucracy plays both the role of guide to an otherwise unprepared political class, moving in and out of government, in matters of national interests and foreign affairs, as well as the role of implementor of that policy, but retains the option of denying responsibility for policy, it being the domain of the ruling political dispensation.

[brihaspati]

The babus probably do not have the power to put forward opinions and reviews of their own which somehow are not deemed to be in line with the perception whichever politician comes to have temporary rulership over them. The most successful and quick rising babus are therefore those who can gauge the weather properly and the prevailing "political desires". So in that sense they may simply be reinforcers, resonators and amplifiers of views already decided upon by political sh**heads.

Just in case someone says that this is just a "native Indian" tradition of fawning courtiership - there are well known examples of very proper and very Brit servants of EIC and the Empire who were forced to "leave" because their findings, recos, or reports did not suit the desires and targets of the higher up - politically appointed ruler(s) of India. Many examples exist in the early expansion in the south, and the controversies over the deliberate economic ruination in the early part of the 20th century.

[negi]

Siddhartha Shankar Ray (former CM of WB) passed away, he was one of the key figures under PVNR's tenure under whom Indian lobby was formed in the Unkil land.

[ramana]

Siddhartha Shankar Ray (former CM of WB) passed away, he was one of the key figures under PVNR's tenure under whom Indian lobby was formed in the Unkil land.

Right!
He was posted to DC to ensure he won't pull down the govt if still in desh.

In DC he alienated the US NRI crowd calling them retards who couldnt get to UK! And managed to upset as many US NRIS as he could. And his shawls were more than his wife wore.

And his idea of committed judicairy which was to pack the Supreme Court with INC stoolies. He was a leading light of the Emergency. And to wrets power from the CPM in Bengal, he helped create the goondagiri of PD Munshi and the other scoundrel whose name escapes me. So many innocent people were killed and others raped in the stadium. Emergency finished his Bengal career. Kushwant Singh used to write rave reviews of this thug in a shawl exploits.

End of bad era.

[brihaspati]

^^^PDM was just one of a galaxy of stars with SSR the megastar. I think you mean one of Subrata, Sudeep, Ajit, and big daddy Shato. Pity that he was the grandson of C.R.Das whose protege was SCB. But he was a useful fool to cover the Punjab clean up ops - his placement there was again perhaps in the calculation that he would not be vomiting in shock and disgust at what had to be done there - because of his exploits during the emergency. As for his wife, she was famous for her "appearances", and once is supposed to have proved herself quite up-to-date and "forward-looking" with an impromptu performance of "Dam-mere-dam...".

He practically finished off the Congress in WB. But in many ways he was also the result of the deliberate destruction of the older Congress organization and the remnant of the grassroots org that developed under the mass-movement phase facilitated by MKG's line during the independence struggle. To destroy the peripheral regional grassroots orgs which were seen as challenges to the "Delhi Sultanate" - and all power to the "supreme leader" - these "young Turks" were brought forward. The appeal and tickling of the older Congress "discipline" was used to remove the "elders".

The "young Turks" were almost to the last man opportunists, and all had problems in their "background" which probably made them more dependable for control. So the "supreme leader" could concentrate power - but at the cost of fatally destroying the Congress as an organization. a superb example of brilliantly successful tactics leading to irreversible long term strategic failure.

[Rahul Mehta]

And his idea of committed judicairy which was to pack the Supreme Court with INC stoolies. He was a leading light of the Emergency. And to wrets power from the CPM in Bengal, he helped create the goondagiri of PD Munshi and the other scoundrel whose name escapes me. So many innocent people were killed and others raped in the stadium. Emergency finished his Bengal career. Kushwant Singh used to write rave reviews of this thug in a shawl exploits.

SSR acted like a demon because citizens of WB had no Executive Notification draft which would enable to citizens of WB to expel, imprison or execute him. SSR got away and died in bed, as we citizens have no Executive Notification draft which will enable us citizens to execute criminal ex-CM using majority vote. As long such drafts dont come, every CM is going to act like a small demon, if not large demon like SSR.

The police atrocities in Emergency increases because judges acted like cowards (which they always were and still are) and did not even issue arrest warrant on scums like Sanjay Gandhi. And the citizens could do nothing against armed policemen's atrocities as citizens has no guns to fight back. A threat of such Emergency looms even today as we citizens still dont have drafts of ENs needed to arm ourselves.

End of bad era.

The bad era of SSR ended in WB, but only resulted in the beginning of a new bad era of CPM misrule. These bad era will end only when citizens ensure that Executive Notification drafts by which we citizens can expel, imprison and execute CMs get signed by Cabinet Ministers.

[AjayKK]

As usual, another excellent one by R Vaidya.

DNA: So many lobbies in Delhi, but none to bat for India : R Vaidyanathan

New Delhi is like a huge five-star hotel, flooded as it is with lobbies of all types, shapes and interests. What is missing is an Indian lobby.

[darshhan]

And his idea of committed judicairy which was to pack the Supreme Court with INC stoolies. He was a leading light of the Emergency. And to wrets power from the CPM in Bengal, he helped create the goondagiri of PD Munshi and the other scoundrel whose name escapes me. So many innocent people were killed and others raped in the stadium. Emergency finished his Bengal career. Kushwant Singh used to write rave reviews of this thug in a shawl exploits.

SSR acted like a demon because citizens of WB had no Executive Notification draft which would enable to citizens of WB to expel, imprison or execute him. SSR got away and died in bed, as we citizens have no Executive Notification draft which will enable us citizens to execute criminal ex-CM using majority vote. As long such drafts dont come, every CM is going to act like a small demon, if not large demon like SSR.

The police atrocities in Emergency increases because judges acted like cowards (which they always were and still are) and did not even issue arrest warrant on scums like Sanjay Gandhi. And the citizens could do nothing against armed policemen's atrocities as citizens has no guns to fight back. A threat of such Emergency looms even today as we citizens still dont have drafts of ENs needed to arm ourselves.

End of bad era.

The bad era of SSR ended in WB, but only resulted in the beginning of a new bad era of CPM misrule. These bad era will end only when citizens ensure that Executive Notification drafts by which we citizens can expel, imprison and execute CMs get signed by Cabinet Ministers.

Rahul Mehta ji , I went through your book and although I did not have time to go through it thoroughly I completely agree with many of your points especially the right to recall and Right to bear weapons.Keep up the good work buddy.

Also I would like to point out that we do not have the Right to Free speech either.We cannot analyse certain ideologies in detail because of this.Do you also support the Right to Free speech.

Also I think that Parliamentary democracy in this country has run its course and is no longer suited for our nation.According to me a Presidential style of democracy where the executive leader is directly elected by people is a much better option for us.Currently in Parliamentary system the electorate and the polity has become extremely fractured which is impeding the decision making process and contributes to even more inertia.Also accountability is missing.What is your opinion in this matter?

[Philip]

Sonia sacks Chavan, Kalmadi

Actions by Sonia to deflect Opposition attack in the upcoming parliamentary session.However,this also sets a precedent for which the axe has been extraordinarily friendly to another scamster,the biggest of them all,a certain Raja!

http://news.in.msn.com/national/article ... id=4556855
New Delhi: Moments after US President Barack Obama left India on Tuesday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi gave the marching orders to Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan by accepting his resignation.

Along with this move, the Congress president also accepted the resignation of Suresh Kalmadi as secretary of the parliamentary party.

The sacking of Chavan and Kalmadi came moments before the Winter Session of Parliament was to start. The Opposition had indicated that they would raise the issue of the Adarsh Flats scam and Chavan's role in the muddle and the CWG scam in both the Houses.

Chavan's resignation was not accepted earlier as he was to recieve Obama in Mumbai and replacing him would have created a protocol hiccup.

Pressure had been mounting on the Maharashtra CM to demit office over his alleged involvement in Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam in Mumbai.

[Pranav]

As usual, another excellent one by R Vaidya.

DNA: So many lobbies in Delhi, but none to bat for India : R Vaidyanathan

Another example is more bizarre. Naga political and student groups have been starving the Manipuris for more than two months by blockading the state. Petrol sells for Rs200 per litre and everything is scarce. But the Centre is still requesting (cajoling/begging) Naga militants to lift the blockade.

Now imagine what would have happened if it was the other way round: the Manipuris blockading the Nagas. It would not have continued for more than one day. The global Baptist Church would have created a ruckus and many delegations of leaders from Europe and the US would have rushed to India and our PM would have been forced to go to the north-east to make amends. But Manipur can starve since they don’t have a lobby.

While the blockade has been a matter for national shame, there could be other factors. See this: Manipur’s fuel sale under scanner - http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101019/j ... 071089.jsp

[Rahul Mehta]

Given that many anti-RM elements work overtime to accuse me of pontification, I like to confine to 2-3 posts a day. But when an excellent post comes, I feel compelled to give positive feedback.

Rahul Mehta ji , I went through your book and although I did not have time to go through it thoroughly I completely agree with many of your points especially the right to recall and Right to bear weapons.Keep up the good work buddy.

Thanks ) and AWMTA .

Also I would like to point out that we do not have the Right to Free speech either.We cannot analyse certain ideologies in detail because of this.Do you also support the Right to Free speech.

How did West get Right to Free Speech? It was by-product and a mere side-effect of Jury System. When Jury System comes, the ability of GoI officials to harass people using spurious notices will reduce, and so Freedom of Speech will increase. I support free speech, and to increase Freedom of Speech, I have proposed draft of Executive Notification to bring Jury System in India. The draft is in section 29.11 of The Book.

===

Also I think that Parliamentary democracy in this country has run its course and is no longer suited for our nation.According to me a Presidential style of democracy where the executive leader is directly elected by people is a much better option for us.Currently in Parliamentary system the electorate and the polity has become extremely fractured which is impeding the decision making process and contributes to even more inertia.Also accountability is missing.What is your opinion in this matter?

True. Btw, the draft of the "Right to Recall PM" Executive Notification implements the direct election of PM using features in existing Constitution. The draft is section 9.6 of The Book http://rahulmaht.com . This draft of Executive Notification will enable citizens to DIRECTLY appoint PM, and this draft is 100% Constitutional, i.e. needs no Constitutional Amendment or even a Legislation.

===

Meanwhile, Kalamadi got sacked, but the chief bribe receivers of CWG scam - Rajmata Sonia Gandhi and Mahatma MMS are still in-charge. Clearly, Kalamdi is just a fall guy and MMS/Sonia are laughing their way to the Mauritius bank.

[JE Menon]

Rahul how much do you get paid by the CPI and chinese to make these kinds of allegations? Do you think we don't know that your so-called electoral campaign was funded at least partly by a certain embassy? Maybe even you don't know how you are being manipulated...

[ramana]

JEM,

[JE Menon]

Let's see what RM says... I know he has his own website. I wonder if he writes such crap on his own website, or he prefers just to crap on BR, which is a private website and he knows it.

This is not the first time he has posted such rubbish and been warned and begged and persuaded and treated with kid gloves because we all like him (me included). But the man persists.

Plus he has the freedom to respond here, which is something the people he refers to as "chief bribe receivers" cannot do.

I'm sure I have as much evidence as he has.

[RamaY]

Posting this article in full in this thread as it touches upon many aspects

The main focus of US President Barack Obama’s three-day visit to India was to firm up business deals for US corporations that would create jobs in the US. Trade deals worth over $10 billion were finalised, with a focus on defence, energy and agriculture. In fact, Mr Obama’s speech at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, focused almost entirely on how India owed it to the US to open its markets to US companies and agribusiness. What Mr Obama failed to mention, however, is that India has already been forced to give market access to the US in the areas of oilseeds, pulses and genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) at the cost of the Indian farmers, and India’s biodiversity and environment.
India’s imports of edible oils are growing disproportionately: Since 2008, edible oil imports from the US to India have jumped 2,666 per cent and are expected to reach 9.3 million tonnes in 2010-11, while returns to Indian farmers are declining.
The flooding of domestic markets with artificially cheap imports is challenging the livelihood of local farmers and food processors. This upsurge in imports has also destroyed the rich diversity of indigenous oilseeds, including mustard, sesame, linseed, groundnut, coconut etc. The reliance on imported oilseeds can easily trigger violence and instability, as Indonesia’s food riots illustrate.
The destruction of India’s pulse diversity through the Green Revolution has led to pulses, the only proteins in a vegetarian diet, becoming completely unaffordable in most Indian households, with the US now dumping subsidised “yellow pea dal” which is no substitute for our indigenous flavoursome pulses.
US-based Monsanto’s monopoly in the Indian seed market has allowed the US corporation to harvest huge royalties through Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) while Indian farmers are pushed into debt and suicide. Two lakh farmers, mostly in the cotton belt, have committed suicide in India since 1997, the leading cause being debt linked to crop failure of the Monsanto Bt cotton, the spread of monocultures and of highly expensive, capital-intensive inputs that made cultivation economically unviable.
Mr Obama is also trying to pursue President George W. Bush’s agenda of unleashing Walmart on India’s retail economy. The argument used is reduction of waste and creation of jobs. However, Jonathan Bloom’s recently published book, American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of its Food, puts the blame on the Walmart model for the destruction of food. India cannot afford such an expensive mistake. Further, retail generates 400 million jobs through self-employment. Instead of exporting unemployment to India from the US, Mr Obama should be importing innovative ideas of employment generation by learning from India’s small-scale entrepreneurs.
With regard to agriculture, too, Mr Obama is carrying on Mr Bush’s legacy with the Agriculture Knowledge Initiative (AKI) of 2008. At a time when the world recognises the productivity and ecological sustainability of small farmers, the US-India AKI is pushing India to adopt hazardous technologies such as GMOs and capital-intensive commercial agriculture, all of which benefit US agribusiness.
It is no coincidence that at the time of signing the AKI, US multinationals on the negotiating table — Monsanto, Walmart, Syngenta — lobbied for a change in India’s IPR laws so to claim exclusive ownership and extract royalties on agricultural inputs, leading to the creation of a stronger technological monopoly.
Instead of learning lessons from the ecological and social non-sustainability of the Green Revolution, Mr Obama is attempting to push the AKI beyond India, by making India join the US initiative for a Green Revolution in Africa.
A recent newspaper report stated that “India and the US may team up to tap farm opportunities in Africa. The proposal is a spin-off from the India-US agriculture dialogue”. Ben Rhodes, US’ deputy national adviser for strategic communication, said, “The US has been part of food security initiative in Africa, where we are trying to apply technology, innovation and capacity building to help African farmers lift their countries and their standard of living. We see great potential for the US and India to cooperate, not just within India but in African countries as well”.
The takeover of Africa’s land and agriculture by a global alliance — led by US agribusiness — is being pitched as a new model of food security. But it is, in fact, the globalisation of a failed model that creates food insecurity.
African movements have staunchly rejected the Green Revolution model for Africa: what the stakeholders want is a sustainable, inclusive and indigenous solution that increases food sovereignty — not dependency on markets, expensive chemical inputs and GMOs.
The UN’s International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development, which engaged 400 scientists for four years to assess the performance of different models of agriculture, has concluded that neither the Green Revolution nor genetic engineering can offer food security. Only ecological agriculture has the potential for increasing food production.
Mr Obama — with his roots in Africa — needs to listen to the voices of his ancestors. It might also help if he spread the model Michelle Obama has introduced in the White House: Organic Gardens.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/dc-comme ... keover-708

[svinayak]

US-based Monsanto’s monopoly in the Indian seed market has allowed the US corporation to harvest huge royalties through Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) while Indian farmers are pushed into debt and suicide. Two lakh farmers, mostly in the cotton belt, have committed suicide in India since 1997, the leading cause being debt linked to crop failure of the Monsanto Bt cotton, the spread of monocultures and of highly expensive, capital-intensive inputs that made cultivation economically unviable.

At a time when the world recognises the productivity and ecological sustainability of small farmers, the US-India AKI is pushing India to adopt hazardous technologies such as GMOs and capital-intensive commercial agriculture, all of which benefit US agribusiness.
It is no coincidence that at the time of signing the AKI, US multinationals on the negotiating table — Monsanto, Walmart, Syngenta — lobbied for a change in India’s IPR laws so to claim exclusive ownership and extract royalties on agricultural inputs, leading to the creation of a stronger technological monopoly.

Are Indian intellectual so stupid not to understand that most of the green movement is political rhetoric and nor real. What is it that they cannot figure how to negotiate with Americans. Do they not understand national interest.

When is our generation be able to learn the global awareness to protect itself.

[Pranav]

Rahul how much do you get paid by the CPI and chinese to make these kinds of allegations? Do you think we don't know that your so-called electoral campaign was funded at least partly by a certain embassy? Maybe even you don't know how you are being manipulated...

RM ji's style is somewhat ... umm ... unique. But the underlying premises often have validity. Rip-offs of CWG scale would not be possible without High Command approval, imho. Note also that the new Chief Vigilance Commissioner Thomas is a known antisocial element who is out of prison on bail in connection with a Kerala scam, besides his more recent role in the 2G scam.

[darshhan]

Given that many anti-RM elements work overtime to accuse me of pontification, I like to confine to 2-3 posts a day. But when an excellent post comes, I feel compelled to give positive feedback.

Rahul Mehta ji , I went through your book and although I did not have time to go through it thoroughly I completely agree with many of your points especially the right to recall and Right to bear weapons.Keep up the good work buddy.

Thanks ) and AWMTA .

Also I would like to point out that we do not have the Right to Free speech either.We cannot analyse certain ideologies in detail because of this.Do you also support the Right to Free speech.

How did West get Right to Free Speech? It was by-product and a mere side-effect of Jury System. When Jury System comes, the ability of GoI officials to harass people using spurious notices will reduce, and so Freedom of Speech will increase. I support free speech, and to increase Freedom of Speech, I have proposed draft of Executive Notification to bring Jury System in India. The draft is in section 29.11 of The Book.

===

Also I think that Parliamentary democracy in this country has run its course and is no longer suited for our nation.According to me a Presidential style of democracy where the executive leader is directly elected by people is a much better option for us.Currently in Parliamentary system the electorate and the polity has become extremely fractured which is impeding the decision making process and contributes to even more inertia.Also accountability is missing.What is your opinion in this matter?

True. Btw, the draft of the "Right to Recall PM" Executive Notification implements the direct election of PM using features in existing Constitution. The draft is section 9.6 of The Book http://rahulmaht.com . This draft of Executive Notification will enable citizens to DIRECTLY appoint PM, and this draft is 100% Constitutional, i.e. needs no Constitutional Amendment or even a Legislation.

===

Meanwhile, Kalamadi got sacked, but the chief bribe receivers of CWG scam - Rajmata Sonia Gandhi and Mahatma MMS are still in-charge. Clearly, Kalamdi is just a fall guy and MMS/Sonia are laughing their way to the Mauritius bank.

Rahul Mehta ji.I completely agree with the above proposals for reforming Indian polity.I also admire the fact that you have actually taken time to doument your proposals quite extensively.I don't know about others but you definitely have my support.

On a side note , do take care to adhere to the Forum regulations.Your views are very important to many BRF members.

[ramana]

A review of the role of Lord Cherwell in the Bengal Famine.

Churchill's Secret War: The British Empire and Ravaging of India During World War II

The guy is Nazi on the British side!

To consolidate the rule of supermen—to perpetuate the British Empire—one need only remove the ability of slaves to see themselves as slaves.

[ramana]

ON SS Ray in Pioneer

OPED | Thursday, November 11, 2010

SS Ray’s contested legacy

November 11, 2010 4:50:01 AM

Shikha Mukerjee

The man who led the Congress to power in West Bengal after the disastrous United Front experiment of the late-1960s died virtually unnoticed. He was also the mastermind behind Mrs Indira Gandhi’s Emergency. Over the years, he and the Congress drifted away from each other, but in his own way, Siddhartha Shankar Ray remained committed to the Congress till the end

All histories are complex, but some are complicated enough to spark off controversy. Siddhartha Shankar Ray was controversial while he lived and even after his death controversy surrounds his complicated legacy.

At the heart of the matter is his tenure as Minister in charge of West Bengal affairs and his period as Chief Minister from 1972 to 1977. While it is easy to dump the blame and the debacle of the Congress in West Bengal since 1977 on Ray, it would be unfair. The circumstances and the principles of governance in vogue in the early 1970’s contributed to the manner and methods deployed by Ray to restore “law and order” to a State in turmoil where “commissioned deaths provided a grim staple of daily occurrence”. Maintaining “law and order” was then as it is now the primary responsibility of the State; the methods that could be used then are however insupportable today.

As a member of the Independence generation, Ray was no squeamish about use of force to quell unruly political activity. He was prepared to do it regardless of political cost. That, however, does not either condone the tough methods adopted by Ray or minimise his responsibility in sanctioning ruthless action by the police. Voters in 1977 unequivocally rejected the Congress and rewarded the Opposition Communist Party of India (Marxist) with 230 seats. It was a harsh indictment for a harsh Government. The Congress continues to struggle to recover the ground it lost then.

That the Congress did not fight to assert its relationship with Ray and allowed the Trinamool Congress to orchestrate the politics over his funeral arrangements is part of his complicated legacy. To acknowledge proximity, to declare themselves heirs to his actions is risky for the Congress in West Bengal today as it struggles to maintain a toe hold in the State’s politics, pushed by both the CPI(M) and the Trinamool Congress. By accepting the lesser role, the Congress has shifted the onus on to the CPI(M)-headed State Government on the one hand and the Trinamool Congress on the other for the shabby send-off to a former Chief Minister. As controversy sputters on about why there was no state funeral complete with a gun carriage and a three-day mourning with flags flying at half mast, the Congress has successfully ducked responsibility and benefited from the disapproval that is now directed against the State Government or rather the CPI(M) for being ‘disrespectful’.

Being called names — “Dream child of Buddha” — by the Trinamool Congress for failing to assert its claim to a state funeral for Ray has obviously failed to draw blood, because as far as State Congress president Manas Bhuiyan is concerned ,the final word on who inherits the former Chief Minister’s legacy will be determined by Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Therefore, the letter of condolence from Ms Gandhi to Ray’s widow, Ms Maya Ray, was delivered to the Congress party office and dutifully delivered to her. The letter established beyond reasonable doubt that Ray was a Congressman, having been born one, for he was the grandson of Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das and so linked to the party and the family by ties that superseded any later associations.

Distance from the simmering political tensions of West Bengal allowed Ms Gandhi to establish ownership over Ray’s identity as a Congressman. Having expressed regret for the Emergency, Ms Gandhi has moved on and the rest of India has too. West Bengal caught in a time warp has not; as the Opposition hammers home the point that since 1977 the State has gone downhill and the CPI(M) has “done nothing” to deliver development to citizens for the past 34 years, the distance between the Emergency years and the present has shrunk.

History has been reduced to before 1977; the present is all about anticipating what will happen after 2011. The past and Ray’s methods however hover like a spectre over West Bengal’s politics. Firing by the police on civilian crowds triggers a degree of revulsion that is connected to West Bengal’s memories of police excesses or rather administratively sanctioned police excesses in the 1970s. Even earlier in the 1960s police was ordered to fire on unarmed civilians during food riots and violent street protests.

Therefore when under the CPI(M), the police fired on unarmed civilians in Nandigram resulting in 14 dead, the outrage it caused was proportionate to the massed memories of past police firing. Almost four years after the Nandigram police firing, the West Bengal Chief Minister continues to apologise for the deaths, maintaining that firing on civilians is not the CPI(M)’s policy.

When the Trinamool Congress declares that CPI(M)’s cadres are operating under police cover attacking innocent villagers in Lalgarh and Jangal Mahal under the pretext of fighting the Maoists, it revives a collective memory of the years when Ray was Chief Minister. In the 1970s, as the original Naxalite movement raged, Ray ordered the police to stamp out “lawlessness”. The police having received the mandate were ruthless in hunting down suspected Maoists, torturing women and youth and killing Naxalites in staged “encounters”. The memory remains embedded of police brutality and excesses. Voters who were not born in the 1970s nevertheless react to police excesses; the CPI(M)’s dismal performance in the 2008 panchayat elections was a reflection of citizen revulsion.

The legacy of Ray, therefore, is a complicated pile of memories that haunt West Bengal. Death as commonplace everyday occurrence triggers comparison to the “dark days” of the 1970s aided by the connection between the Maoists of today and the Naxalites of yesterday.

Any way sorry that he never got a state funeral or an acknowlegeement of his contributions to Bengal and to India as an Ambassador to US during the early 90s.

As a former CM he should have state fuenral. But then it will tarnish the first family hence no such thing.

RIP even if I disagree with your policies.

[Philip]

I agree,protocol must be maintained.Look at what happened to poor FM Sam Manekshaw,who deserved a "Churchilian" funeral! The current regime is so sensitive on certain matters that they remind one of the TV comedy show,"Yes Minister".

[RajeshA]

X-Posting from Managing Chinese Threat Thread

I still remember Paswan standing at jama masjid shouting that it will be acceptable for India to loses 70 crore people fighting the Yanks in Iraq. In the late 90s.

If a leader can make such a preposterous suggestion, he is saying with a wink-wink, don't take me seriously. If he had said, it would be acceptable for India to lose 1 crore people to fight the Yanks in Iraq, then I will be concerned about the guy, but 70 crore is a simply a good joke! But other than that he conveyed the feelings of India (in his view) towards the issue, and if somebody had heard those views in Iraq or in other Muslim countries, they would have been appreciated.

I think it was mulayam who said during kargil that India should pay Pakistan 2000 crores annually. And you expect me to trust these leaders.

I don't know what he had in mind then. The question is not about 2000 crores annually, but rather about the bang for the buck, and what bang are we looking for?

Where would the money have been spent? Would it have helped India to get influence in Pakistan? What lobbies would India have been able to develop there?

In any case, buying off Pakistan in 1998 when it was under sanctions, would have been much more cost-effective than in 2010, when Pakistan has got used to huge sums being pumped in by USA, PRC and KSA.