DAILY WATCH, AUGUST 18, 2009
What Chinese Authorities Do Not Want You to See
By Tom Dyson
If the Chinese authorities had caught him making this video, they would have arrested him...
Hugh Hendry is a hedge-fund manager from Britain. Eclectica is the name of his fund. He’s outspoken and critical of the establishment. You could say he’s somewhat of a pariah in London’s hedge-fund industry. In 2008, his fund generated 32% by making massive bearish bets...
Earlier this year, Hendry took a trip to Guangzhou, China’s third-largest city after Beijing and Shanghai. There’s been a huge construction boom in China in recent years, and Guangzhou is one of the hot spots. Developers have erected so many skyscrapers, Guangzhou’s central business district could easily match Chicago or Boston for the number of modern, high-rise buildings.
So Hendry shot a video of the office buildings in the district. He focuses on one shiny black skyscraper with a giant neon screen at its base. It’s close to 100 stories... And it’s obviously brand new...
"This is a seriously large building," says Hendry. "We’re talking at least half a billion dollars to construct this thing. It’s empty! Who is going to fill this thing? Who is going to pay the debt that that building is resting on?"
Read more: http://www.dailywealth.com/index.asp
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
India, Senior Indian politician expelled from BBC News, August 19, 2009
Senior Indian politician expelled
India's Hindu nationalist BJP expels a senior leader, Jaswant Singh, after he praises Pakistani founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
A senior leader of India's Hindu nationalist main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been expelled from the party.
Jaswant Singh's expulsion was announced by the party during a meeting.
This comes a day after the BJP "dissociated" itself from a new book on Pakistan's founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah, written by Mr Singh.
Mr Singh had praised Mr Jinnah in the book and said the latter has been "demonised in India".
Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8208812.stm
India's Hindu nationalist BJP expels a senior leader, Jaswant Singh, after he praises Pakistani founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
A senior leader of India's Hindu nationalist main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been expelled from the party.
Jaswant Singh's expulsion was announced by the party during a meeting.
This comes a day after the BJP "dissociated" itself from a new book on Pakistan's founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah, written by Mr Singh.
Mr Singh had praised Mr Jinnah in the book and said the latter has been "demonised in India".
Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8208812.stm
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
India -China Relations, August 18, 2009
On August 10, 2009, retiring Naval Chief and Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, delivered a landmark speech on ’India’s National Security Challenges’ under the aegis of the National Maritime Foundation.
To see the full text of his speech which is worth reading, please click: http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=15d5aafff5&view=att&th=1231de4ef5a4d706&attid=0.1&disp=vah&zw
I have reproduced below strategic affairs analyst K Subrahmanyam’s comment on the Admiral’s speech as published today in DAINIK JAGRAN, India’s leading Hindi language daily.
FROM DAINIK JAGRAN – August 16, 2009 (English version )
Coping with China
By K.Subrahmanyam
Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Chief of Naval Staff and Chairman of the Chiefs
of Staff Committee who is due to retire at the end of this month
delivered an address on national security under the aegis of the
National Maritime Foundation on the 10th of August. It was a fairly
comprehensive overview of our national security perspective. Though
delivered by the senior most Service Officer, the lecture was
remarkable as it went beyond the military realm and focused on a
broad strategic and political vision in the currently evolving
international situation.
In a sense this address by Admiral Mehta signified the arrival of
senior service officers at the top rung of national grand strategy
formulation. His eminently pragmatic, strategic vision has been
misinterpreted in certain sections of the media as a cry of despair
that India will not be able to catch up with China militarily. He has
made it clear that India has no intention to do so. At the same time
he has formulated the most viable strategy to cope with this
situation. Whether India - with a population likely to exceed China’s
in the next two decades ; the advantage of a much younger age profile
of that population; its post September 2008 integration with the
rest of the world ; and being a democracy along with the all other
major powers as also English-speaking - will ultimately catch up
with China it is too early to predict. China today has the advantage
of a decade and half of head start in economic reforms and
globalization and very close industrial cooperation with US and other
multinational firms. Admiral Mehta has detailed the lead China has
gained on this account over India. That is an inexorable reality which
Indian strategists have to accept and factor in coping with China. The
word Admiral Mehta has chosen to use is ‘coping with China’, not
confronting or competing with it.
While China by switching sides in the Cold War and
repudiating the Maoist legacy broke out of its isolation in the
seventies, India could do so only in 2008 with the waiver of NSG
guidelines. While China was a tacit but active strategic partner of
the US and NATO during the Cold War and an established permanent
member of the Security Council and an accepted nuclear power of the
Nonproliferation Treaty, India’s recognition as one of the rising
powers and a balancer in the international system began less than a
decade ago.
India presently has strategic partnerships with all great powers
including China. Today India’s largest trading partner is China. Yet
as Admiral Mehta pointed out, in China’s case India has a trust
deficit because of the long standing territorial dispute and among
other issues, the China-Pakistan connection. Unlike in India’s case
where its emergence as a power does not cause concern in the world,
that is not the case with China. Its propensity for intervention in
space ,both on earth and in outer space and cyber warfare have been
cited as causing concern to other nations.
Addressing those who entertain expectations that 1962 can
be repeated, Admiral Mehta highlighted that the economic penalties
resulting from a potential Sino-Indian military conflict would have
grave consequences for both sides. Unlike in 1962, China has today
multiple vulnerabilities and has to consider seriously the effect of
a war on its energy supply lines. In such circumstances mutual
cooperation is to the benefit of both countries. Therefore Admiral
Mehta’s advocacy is for India reducing its military gap with China and
countering the growing Chinese footprint in the Indian Ocean region
He does not favor the traditional bean-counting or division for
division approach. in closing the gap. Instead , he wants to rely on
harnessing modern technology for developing high situational awareness
and creating a reliable standoff deterrent. The recent launch of the
nuclear submarine, Arihant is a step in that direction. Admiral Mehta
further adds, that in order to minimize the chances of conflict,
India should proactively engage China diplomatically, economically,
culturally and in people to people contacts. At the same time India
should nurture its relations with US, Russia, Japan and other East
Asian countries to leverage towards this end . In his view our growing
relations with South East and East Asian countries would increase
opportunities for cooperative engagement with China as well.
What Admiral Mehta does not say in his speech is as important as what
he has said. China is looking forward to emerging as the foremost
power of the world. Its GDP is expected to overtake the US in the next
two decades. The recent economic recession has narrowed the gap
between the two and made China the second largest economy of the
world. While US and China have some mutuality of interest in ensuring
the stability of the dollar, as otherwise China will lose heavily on
its large dollar holdings, in the period beyond the recovery the US
will be keen to sustain its preeminence as the foremost military,
economic and technological power of the world. There will be radical
changes in the US-China economic relationship so far anchored on China
selling enormous quantities of consumer goods to US and running huge
balance of payments surpluses. Those were saved and lent back to the
US to enable American consumers to spend more.
This world order is unsustainable and is bound to change. As US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, India is seen as one of the
key partners for the US to reshape the 21st century. The US has
agreed to sell high technology defense equipment to India while it is
not likely to sell them to China , its main rival in the coming
decades. Therefore Admiral Mehta’s reference to the innovative use of
technology by India to close the military gap with China.
Besides focusing on this core subject , the lecture also dealt with
nonstate actors, shaping our immediate neighborhood, securing our
maritime borders, internal security, intelligence ,cyber warfare,
higher defence integration and jointness among the three services,
nuclear issues , reducing dependence on other countries for equipment,
trends in defence expenditure and adequacy of our defense outlays,
delays in our procurement procedures, governance and culture of
strategic thinking. His ideas are thought-provoking and deserve to be
objectively debated by the Indian strategic community.
In a sense this address breaks new ground. A service chief has put on
record his views on a whole host of national security issues just a
few weeks before demitting office. Many of these issues have been
under consideration for ages without solutions. In today’ security
environment these need to be debated openly in the country - to
generate public pressure for early decision-making in the Government.
Regrettably, in our Parliament national security issues do not receive
the attention they merit and therefore greater the need for informed
public debate.
************************
To see the full text of his speech which is worth reading, please click: http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=15d5aafff5&view=att&th=1231de4ef5a4d706&attid=0.1&disp=vah&zw
I have reproduced below strategic affairs analyst K Subrahmanyam’s comment on the Admiral’s speech as published today in DAINIK JAGRAN, India’s leading Hindi language daily.
FROM DAINIK JAGRAN – August 16, 2009 (English version )
Coping with China
By K.Subrahmanyam
Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Chief of Naval Staff and Chairman of the Chiefs
of Staff Committee who is due to retire at the end of this month
delivered an address on national security under the aegis of the
National Maritime Foundation on the 10th of August. It was a fairly
comprehensive overview of our national security perspective. Though
delivered by the senior most Service Officer, the lecture was
remarkable as it went beyond the military realm and focused on a
broad strategic and political vision in the currently evolving
international situation.
In a sense this address by Admiral Mehta signified the arrival of
senior service officers at the top rung of national grand strategy
formulation. His eminently pragmatic, strategic vision has been
misinterpreted in certain sections of the media as a cry of despair
that India will not be able to catch up with China militarily. He has
made it clear that India has no intention to do so. At the same time
he has formulated the most viable strategy to cope with this
situation. Whether India - with a population likely to exceed China’s
in the next two decades ; the advantage of a much younger age profile
of that population; its post September 2008 integration with the
rest of the world ; and being a democracy along with the all other
major powers as also English-speaking - will ultimately catch up
with China it is too early to predict. China today has the advantage
of a decade and half of head start in economic reforms and
globalization and very close industrial cooperation with US and other
multinational firms. Admiral Mehta has detailed the lead China has
gained on this account over India. That is an inexorable reality which
Indian strategists have to accept and factor in coping with China. The
word Admiral Mehta has chosen to use is ‘coping with China’, not
confronting or competing with it.
While China by switching sides in the Cold War and
repudiating the Maoist legacy broke out of its isolation in the
seventies, India could do so only in 2008 with the waiver of NSG
guidelines. While China was a tacit but active strategic partner of
the US and NATO during the Cold War and an established permanent
member of the Security Council and an accepted nuclear power of the
Nonproliferation Treaty, India’s recognition as one of the rising
powers and a balancer in the international system began less than a
decade ago.
India presently has strategic partnerships with all great powers
including China. Today India’s largest trading partner is China. Yet
as Admiral Mehta pointed out, in China’s case India has a trust
deficit because of the long standing territorial dispute and among
other issues, the China-Pakistan connection. Unlike in India’s case
where its emergence as a power does not cause concern in the world,
that is not the case with China. Its propensity for intervention in
space ,both on earth and in outer space and cyber warfare have been
cited as causing concern to other nations.
Addressing those who entertain expectations that 1962 can
be repeated, Admiral Mehta highlighted that the economic penalties
resulting from a potential Sino-Indian military conflict would have
grave consequences for both sides. Unlike in 1962, China has today
multiple vulnerabilities and has to consider seriously the effect of
a war on its energy supply lines. In such circumstances mutual
cooperation is to the benefit of both countries. Therefore Admiral
Mehta’s advocacy is for India reducing its military gap with China and
countering the growing Chinese footprint in the Indian Ocean region
He does not favor the traditional bean-counting or division for
division approach. in closing the gap. Instead , he wants to rely on
harnessing modern technology for developing high situational awareness
and creating a reliable standoff deterrent. The recent launch of the
nuclear submarine, Arihant is a step in that direction. Admiral Mehta
further adds, that in order to minimize the chances of conflict,
India should proactively engage China diplomatically, economically,
culturally and in people to people contacts. At the same time India
should nurture its relations with US, Russia, Japan and other East
Asian countries to leverage towards this end . In his view our growing
relations with South East and East Asian countries would increase
opportunities for cooperative engagement with China as well.
What Admiral Mehta does not say in his speech is as important as what
he has said. China is looking forward to emerging as the foremost
power of the world. Its GDP is expected to overtake the US in the next
two decades. The recent economic recession has narrowed the gap
between the two and made China the second largest economy of the
world. While US and China have some mutuality of interest in ensuring
the stability of the dollar, as otherwise China will lose heavily on
its large dollar holdings, in the period beyond the recovery the US
will be keen to sustain its preeminence as the foremost military,
economic and technological power of the world. There will be radical
changes in the US-China economic relationship so far anchored on China
selling enormous quantities of consumer goods to US and running huge
balance of payments surpluses. Those were saved and lent back to the
US to enable American consumers to spend more.
This world order is unsustainable and is bound to change. As US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, India is seen as one of the
key partners for the US to reshape the 21st century. The US has
agreed to sell high technology defense equipment to India while it is
not likely to sell them to China , its main rival in the coming
decades. Therefore Admiral Mehta’s reference to the innovative use of
technology by India to close the military gap with China.
Besides focusing on this core subject , the lecture also dealt with
nonstate actors, shaping our immediate neighborhood, securing our
maritime borders, internal security, intelligence ,cyber warfare,
higher defence integration and jointness among the three services,
nuclear issues , reducing dependence on other countries for equipment,
trends in defence expenditure and adequacy of our defense outlays,
delays in our procurement procedures, governance and culture of
strategic thinking. His ideas are thought-provoking and deserve to be
objectively debated by the Indian strategic community.
In a sense this address breaks new ground. A service chief has put on
record his views on a whole host of national security issues just a
few weeks before demitting office. Many of these issues have been
under consideration for ages without solutions. In today’ security
environment these need to be debated openly in the country - to
generate public pressure for early decision-making in the Government.
Regrettably, in our Parliament national security issues do not receive
the attention they merit and therefore greater the need for informed
public debate.
************************
Bob and Betty in Transylvania - one hell of a shaggy dog story! - August 18, 2009
From one of our Very Far-flung correspondents….
Bob Hill and his new wife Betty were vacationing in Europe... as it happens, near Transylvania. They were driving in a rental car along a rather deserted highway. It was late and raining very hard. Bob could barely see the road in front of the car. Suddenly the car skids out of control! Bob attempts to control the car, but to no avail! The car swerves and smashes into a tree.
Moments later, Bob shakes his head to clear the fog. Dazed, he looks over at the passenger seat and sees his wife unconscious, with her head bleeding! Despite the rain and unfamiliar countryside, Bob knows he has to get her medical assistance.
Bob carefully picks his wife up and begins trudging down the road. After a short while, he sees a light. He heads towards the light, which is coming from a large, old house. He approaches the door and knocks.
A minute passes. A small, hunched man opens the door. Bob immediately blurts, "Hello, my name is Bob Hill, and this is my wife Betty. We've been in a terrible accident, and my wife has been seriously hurt. Can I please use your phone?"
"I'm sorry," replied the hunchback, "but we don't have a phone. My master is a doctor; come in and I will get him!"
Bob brings his wife in.
An older man comes down the stairs. "I'm afraid my assistant may have misled you. I am not a medical doctor; I am a scientist. However, it is many miles to the nearest clinic, and I have had a basic medical training. I will see what I can do. Igor, bring them down to the laboratory"
With that, Igor picks up Betty and carries her downstairs, with Bob following closely. Igor places Betty on a table in the lab. Bob collapses from exhaustion and his own injuries, so Igor places Bob on an adjoining table.
After a brief examination, Igor's master looks worried. "Things are serious, Igor. Prepare a transfusion." Igor and his master work feverishly, but to no avail. Bob and Betty Hill are no more.
The Hills' deaths upset Igor 's master greatly. Wearily, he climbs the steps to his conservatory, which houses his grand piano. For it is here that he has always found solace. He begins to play, and a stirring, almost haunting melody fills the house.
Meanwhile, Igor is still in the lab tidying up. His eyes catch movement, and he notices the fingers on Betty 's hand twitch, keeping time to the haunting piano music. Stunned, he watches as Bob 's arm begins to rise, marking the beat! He is further amazed as Betty and Bob both sit up straight!
Unable to contain himself, he dashes up the stairs to the conservatory.
He bursts in and shouts to his master:
"Master, Master! ... The Hills are alive with the Sound of Music!"
What did you expect?
Bob Hill and his new wife Betty were vacationing in Europe... as it happens, near Transylvania. They were driving in a rental car along a rather deserted highway. It was late and raining very hard. Bob could barely see the road in front of the car. Suddenly the car skids out of control! Bob attempts to control the car, but to no avail! The car swerves and smashes into a tree.
Moments later, Bob shakes his head to clear the fog. Dazed, he looks over at the passenger seat and sees his wife unconscious, with her head bleeding! Despite the rain and unfamiliar countryside, Bob knows he has to get her medical assistance.
Bob carefully picks his wife up and begins trudging down the road. After a short while, he sees a light. He heads towards the light, which is coming from a large, old house. He approaches the door and knocks.
A minute passes. A small, hunched man opens the door. Bob immediately blurts, "Hello, my name is Bob Hill, and this is my wife Betty. We've been in a terrible accident, and my wife has been seriously hurt. Can I please use your phone?"
"I'm sorry," replied the hunchback, "but we don't have a phone. My master is a doctor; come in and I will get him!"
Bob brings his wife in.
An older man comes down the stairs. "I'm afraid my assistant may have misled you. I am not a medical doctor; I am a scientist. However, it is many miles to the nearest clinic, and I have had a basic medical training. I will see what I can do. Igor, bring them down to the laboratory"
With that, Igor picks up Betty and carries her downstairs, with Bob following closely. Igor places Betty on a table in the lab. Bob collapses from exhaustion and his own injuries, so Igor places Bob on an adjoining table.
After a brief examination, Igor's master looks worried. "Things are serious, Igor. Prepare a transfusion." Igor and his master work feverishly, but to no avail. Bob and Betty Hill are no more.
The Hills' deaths upset Igor 's master greatly. Wearily, he climbs the steps to his conservatory, which houses his grand piano. For it is here that he has always found solace. He begins to play, and a stirring, almost haunting melody fills the house.
Meanwhile, Igor is still in the lab tidying up. His eyes catch movement, and he notices the fingers on Betty 's hand twitch, keeping time to the haunting piano music. Stunned, he watches as Bob 's arm begins to rise, marking the beat! He is further amazed as Betty and Bob both sit up straight!
Unable to contain himself, he dashes up the stairs to the conservatory.
He bursts in and shouts to his master:
"Master, Master! ... The Hills are alive with the Sound of Music!"
What did you expect?
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Pakistan highest foreign policy priority: US, DAWN - a nespaper from Pakistan, August 15, 2009
Pakistan highest foreign policy priority: US
Robert Blake, US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia is one of America's ablest and most sensible diplomats. - Here is an excellent Blake interview with Pakistan's DAWN Newspaper.
DAWN -- PAKISTANI NEWSPAPER
Pakistan highest foreign policy priority: US
By Anwar Iqbal
Saturday, 15 Aug, 2009 | 07:06 AM PST
WASHINGTON, Aug 14: Pakistan is America’s highest foreign policy priority and the Obama administration is willing to provide whatever security and economic assistance it needs, says Robert Blake, the new US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian affairs.
In an interview to Dawn newspaper and TV, Mr Blake, who looks after US relations with both India and Pakistan, also emphasised India’s importance in the administration’s new policy for the region, noting that New Delhi was “playing a very important role” in Afghanistan.
Mr Blake made it obvious that the US strongly backed the Indian demand for punishing the Mumbai terror suspects.
Pakistan, he said, would have to punish the suspects and stop cross-border terrorist attacks if it wanted the resumption of bilateral talks with India.
Mr Blake also said he believed India and Pakistan were not ready to discuss the Kashmir issue now when they were busy fighting extremists.
Read more - http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/pakistan-highest-foreign-policy-priority-us-589
Robert Blake, US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia is one of America's ablest and most sensible diplomats. - Here is an excellent Blake interview with Pakistan's DAWN Newspaper.
DAWN -- PAKISTANI NEWSPAPER
Pakistan highest foreign policy priority: US
By Anwar Iqbal
Saturday, 15 Aug, 2009 | 07:06 AM PST
WASHINGTON, Aug 14: Pakistan is America’s highest foreign policy priority and the Obama administration is willing to provide whatever security and economic assistance it needs, says Robert Blake, the new US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian affairs.
In an interview to Dawn newspaper and TV, Mr Blake, who looks after US relations with both India and Pakistan, also emphasised India’s importance in the administration’s new policy for the region, noting that New Delhi was “playing a very important role” in Afghanistan.
Mr Blake made it obvious that the US strongly backed the Indian demand for punishing the Mumbai terror suspects.
Pakistan, he said, would have to punish the suspects and stop cross-border terrorist attacks if it wanted the resumption of bilateral talks with India.
Mr Blake also said he believed India and Pakistan were not ready to discuss the Kashmir issue now when they were busy fighting extremists.
Read more - http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/pakistan-highest-foreign-policy-priority-us-589
Islam in Europe - A Culture of Fear August 15, 2009
A culture of fear
Pankaj Mishra
Saturday August 15 2009
The Guardian
Liberal spaces within Europe have brought many more Muslim women
out of their old confinements Europe is at risk of being
'colonised' by its Muslim populations, argue a number of
bestselling new books, acclaimed across the political spectrum.
How has such hysteria gone unchallenged? Pankaj Mishra on the
'Eurabia-mongers'
Is Europe about to be overrun by Muslims? A number of prominent
European and American politicians and journalists seem to think
so. The historian Niall Ferguson has predicted that "a youthful
Muslim society to the south and east of the Mediterranean is
poised to colonise - the term is not too strong - a senescent
Europe". And according to Christopher Caldwell, an American
columnist with the Financial Times, whom the Observer recently
described as a "bracing, clear-eyed analyst of European
pieties", Muslims are already "conquering Europe's cities,
street by street". So what if Muslims account for only 3% to 4%
of the EU's total population of 493 million? In his book
Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Can Europe Be the Same
With Different People in It? - which was featured on Start the
Week, excerpted in Prospect, commended as "morally serious" by
the New York Times and has beguiled some liberal opinion-makers
as well as rightwing blowhards - Caldwell writes: "Of course
minorities can shape countries. They can conquer countries.
There were probably fewer Bolsheviks in Russia in 1917 than
there are Islamists in Europe today."
Read more - http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/aug/15/eurabia-islamophobia-
europe-colonised-muslims
Pankaj Mishra
Saturday August 15 2009
The Guardian
Liberal spaces within Europe have brought many more Muslim women
out of their old confinements Europe is at risk of being
'colonised' by its Muslim populations, argue a number of
bestselling new books, acclaimed across the political spectrum.
How has such hysteria gone unchallenged? Pankaj Mishra on the
'Eurabia-mongers'
Is Europe about to be overrun by Muslims? A number of prominent
European and American politicians and journalists seem to think
so. The historian Niall Ferguson has predicted that "a youthful
Muslim society to the south and east of the Mediterranean is
poised to colonise - the term is not too strong - a senescent
Europe". And according to Christopher Caldwell, an American
columnist with the Financial Times, whom the Observer recently
described as a "bracing, clear-eyed analyst of European
pieties", Muslims are already "conquering Europe's cities,
street by street". So what if Muslims account for only 3% to 4%
of the EU's total population of 493 million? In his book
Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Can Europe Be the Same
With Different People in It? - which was featured on Start the
Week, excerpted in Prospect, commended as "morally serious" by
the New York Times and has beguiled some liberal opinion-makers
as well as rightwing blowhards - Caldwell writes: "Of course
minorities can shape countries. They can conquer countries.
There were probably fewer Bolsheviks in Russia in 1917 than
there are Islamists in Europe today."
Read more - http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/aug/15/eurabia-islamophobia-
europe-colonised-muslims
Today’s EDUCATION or What Johnny did not learn?, August 15, 2009
From one of our Very Far - Flung Correspondents -
Today’s EDUCATION or What Johnny did not learn?
(This also could be said about some of the States in this country and also about education in some states in India, such as Orissa or Gujarat or Haryana…
The following questions were set in last year's GCSE examination in Swindon, Wiltshire (U.K.)
These are genuine answers (from 16 year olds)
Q. Name the four seasons
A. Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar
Q. Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink
A. Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large
pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists
Q. How is dew formed
A. The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire
Q. What causes the tides in the oceans
A. The tides are a fight between the earth and the moon. All water tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon, and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins the fight
Q. What guarantees may a mortgage company insist on
A. If you are buying a house they will insist that you are well
endowed
Q. In a democratic society, how important are elections
A. Very important. Sex can only happen when a male gets an election
Q. What are steroids
A. Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs (Shoot yourself now , there is no hope)
Q. What happens to your body as you age
A. When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental
Q. What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty
A. He says goodbye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery (So true – an early start, I presume)
Q. Name a major disease associated with cigarettes
A. Premature death
Q. How can you delay milk turning sour
A. Keep it in the cow (Simple, but brilliant)
Q. How are the main 20parts of the body categorised (e.g. the abdomen)
A. The body is consisted into 3 parts - the brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels: A,E,I,O and U .......................... (What the *!!*???)
Q. What is the fibula
A. A small lie
Q. What does 'varicose' mean
A. Nearby
(Now this could be an answer from a student from Orrisa, Haryana or Gujrat in India)
Q. What is the most common form of birth control
A. Most people prevent contraception by wearing a condominium (That would work)
Q. Give the meaning of the term 'Caesarean section'
A. The caesarean section is a district in Rome
Q. What is a seizure
A. A Roman Emperor (Julius Seizure, I came, I saw, I had a fit)
Q. What is a terminal illness
A. When you are sick at the airport (Irrefutable)
Q. Give an example of a fungus. What is a characteristic feature
A. Mushrooms. They always grow in damp places and they look like umbrellas
Q. Use the word 'judicious' in a sentence to show you
understand its meaning
A. Hands that judicious can be soft as your face (or baby’s ass or a Fairy)
Q. What does the word 'benign' mean
A. Benign is what you will be after you be eight
Q. What is a turbine
A. Something an Arab or Shreik wears on his head
Today’s EDUCATION or What Johnny did not learn?
(This also could be said about some of the States in this country and also about education in some states in India, such as Orissa or Gujarat or Haryana…
The following questions were set in last year's GCSE examination in Swindon, Wiltshire (U.K.)
These are genuine answers (from 16 year olds)
Q. Name the four seasons
A. Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar
Q. Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink
A. Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large
pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists
Q. How is dew formed
A. The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire
Q. What causes the tides in the oceans
A. The tides are a fight between the earth and the moon. All water tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon, and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins the fight
Q. What guarantees may a mortgage company insist on
A. If you are buying a house they will insist that you are well
endowed
Q. In a democratic society, how important are elections
A. Very important. Sex can only happen when a male gets an election
Q. What are steroids
A. Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs (Shoot yourself now , there is no hope)
Q. What happens to your body as you age
A. When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental
Q. What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty
A. He says goodbye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery (So true – an early start, I presume)
Q. Name a major disease associated with cigarettes
A. Premature death
Q. How can you delay milk turning sour
A. Keep it in the cow (Simple, but brilliant)
Q. How are the main 20parts of the body categorised (e.g. the abdomen)
A. The body is consisted into 3 parts - the brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels: A,E,I,O and U .......................... (What the *!!*???)
Q. What is the fibula
A. A small lie
Q. What does 'varicose' mean
A. Nearby
(Now this could be an answer from a student from Orrisa, Haryana or Gujrat in India)
Q. What is the most common form of birth control
A. Most people prevent contraception by wearing a condominium (That would work)
Q. Give the meaning of the term 'Caesarean section'
A. The caesarean section is a district in Rome
Q. What is a seizure
A. A Roman Emperor (Julius Seizure, I came, I saw, I had a fit)
Q. What is a terminal illness
A. When you are sick at the airport (Irrefutable)
Q. Give an example of a fungus. What is a characteristic feature
A. Mushrooms. They always grow in damp places and they look like umbrellas
Q. Use the word 'judicious' in a sentence to show you
understand its meaning
A. Hands that judicious can be soft as your face (or baby’s ass or a Fairy)
Q. What does the word 'benign' mean
A. Benign is what you will be after you be eight
Q. What is a turbine
A. Something an Arab or Shreik wears on his head
India 'regrets' US body's censure, BBC News, August 14, 2009
Links to news of interest from BBC News, August 14, 2009
India 'regrets' US body's censure
India's foreign ministry says a US body's decision to put it on a list of countries which failed to protect its religious minorities is "regrettable".A US body's decision to put India on a list of states which failed to protect religious minoritie is "regrettable", India's foreign ministry says.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom says India was added to the list because of a "disturbing increase" in religious violence.
It mentioned the anti-Christian and anti-Muslim riots in Orissa and Gujarat in 2008 and 2002 respectively.
Other countries on the list include Afghanistan, Somalia and Cuba.
Read more -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8200863.stm
* * * * *
India to re-examine student death
The 2004 killing of a student by police in the state of Gujarat is to be re-investigated by a court-appointed committee.
The killing of a student and three others by police in the Indian state of Gujarat is to be re-investigated by a court-appointed committee.
Ishrat Jahan Raza was one of four people shot dead by Gujarat police in 2004 on suspicion of being part of a banned Pakistani-based militant group.
But the victims' relatives say they were killed in a staged clash during a so-called "fake encounter".
The Gujarat police have denied the allegation levelled at them.
They say the victims were members of the banned Pakistani-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Read more -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8200883.stm
* * * * *
Saina Nehwal in quarter finals
Shuttler Saina Nehwal becomes the first Indian woman to enter the quarterfinals of the World Badminton Championship.
Shuttler Saina Nehwal has become the first Indian woman to enter the quarter-finals of the World Badminton Championship being played in India.
Nehwal beat 10th seed Petya Nedelcheva of Bulgaria 18-21, 21-18, 21-10 in a match which lasted 57 minutes.
She recently won the Indonesian Open badminton title and became the first Indian to win a Super series tourney.
Nehwal, now ranked eighth in the world, was the first Indian woman to reach the singles quarter-finals at the Olympics.
In a thrilling match in front of a home crowd in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, Nehwal lost the opening game against Nedelcheva, but bounced back.
Read more - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8200845.stm
India 'regrets' US body's censure
India's foreign ministry says a US body's decision to put it on a list of countries which failed to protect its religious minorities is "regrettable".A US body's decision to put India on a list of states which failed to protect religious minoritie is "regrettable", India's foreign ministry says.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom says India was added to the list because of a "disturbing increase" in religious violence.
It mentioned the anti-Christian and anti-Muslim riots in Orissa and Gujarat in 2008 and 2002 respectively.
Other countries on the list include Afghanistan, Somalia and Cuba.
Read more -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8200863.stm
* * * * *
India to re-examine student death
The 2004 killing of a student by police in the state of Gujarat is to be re-investigated by a court-appointed committee.
The killing of a student and three others by police in the Indian state of Gujarat is to be re-investigated by a court-appointed committee.
Ishrat Jahan Raza was one of four people shot dead by Gujarat police in 2004 on suspicion of being part of a banned Pakistani-based militant group.
But the victims' relatives say they were killed in a staged clash during a so-called "fake encounter".
The Gujarat police have denied the allegation levelled at them.
They say the victims were members of the banned Pakistani-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Read more -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8200883.stm
* * * * *
Saina Nehwal in quarter finals
Shuttler Saina Nehwal becomes the first Indian woman to enter the quarterfinals of the World Badminton Championship.
Shuttler Saina Nehwal has become the first Indian woman to enter the quarter-finals of the World Badminton Championship being played in India.
Nehwal beat 10th seed Petya Nedelcheva of Bulgaria 18-21, 21-18, 21-10 in a match which lasted 57 minutes.
She recently won the Indonesian Open badminton title and became the first Indian to win a Super series tourney.
Nehwal, now ranked eighth in the world, was the first Indian woman to reach the singles quarter-finals at the Olympics.
In a thrilling match in front of a home crowd in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, Nehwal lost the opening game against Nedelcheva, but bounced back.
Read more - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8200845.stm
The Proposal, Economy, Budget... August 15, 2009
From one of our very Far-flung correspondents – The Proposal
Boy here is a Money saving idea!!
"The Proposal"
When a company falls on difficult times, one of the things that seems to happen is they reduce their staff and workers. The remaining workers must find ways to continue to do a good job or risk that their job would be eliminated as well.
Wall street, and the media normally congratulate the CEO for making this type of "tough decision", and his board of directors gives him a big bonus. Our government should not be immune from similar risks.
Therefore:
Reduce the House of Representatives from the current 435 members to 218 members.
Reduce Senate (members from 100 to 50 one per State). Then, reduce their staff by 25%.
Accomplish this over the next 8 years
(two steps/two elections) and of course this would require some redistricting.
Some Yearly Monetary Gains Include:
$44,108,400 for elimination of base pay for congress. (267 members X $165,200 pay/member/ yr.)
$97,175,000 for elimination of their staff. (estimate $1.3 Million in staff per each member of the House, and $3 Million in staff per each senate member every year)
$240,294 for the reduction in remaining staff by 25%.
$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork barrel ear-marks each year. (those members whose jobs are gone. Current estimates for total government pork earmarks are at $15 Billion/yr).
The remaining representatives would need to work smarter and improve efficiencies. It might even be in their best interests to work together for the good of our country!
We may also expect that smaller committees might lead to a more efficient resolution of issues as well. It might even be easier to keep track of what your representative is doing.
Congress has more tools available to do their jobs than it had back in 1911 when the current number of representatives was established. (telephone, computers, cell phones to name a few)
Note:
Congress did not hesitate to head home when it was a holiday, when the nation needed a real fix to the economic problems. Also, we had 3 senators that were not doing their jobs for the 18+ months (on thecampaign trail) and still they all have accepted full pay. These facts alone support a reduction in senators & congress.
Summary of opportunity:
$ 44,108,400 reduction of congress members.
$282,100, 000 for elimination of the reduced house member staff.
$150,000,000 for elimination of reduced senate member staff.
$59,675,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining house members.
$37,500,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining senate members.
$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork added to bills by the reduction of congress members.
$8,073,383,400 per year, estimated total savings. (that's 8-BILLION just to start!)
Big business does these types of cuts all the time.
If Congress persons were required to serve 20, 25 or 30 years (like everyone else) in order to collect retirement benefits, tax payers could save a bundle.
Now they get full retirement after serving only ONE term.
IF you are happy with how Congress spends our taxes, delete this message. Otherwise, I assume you know what to do.
Submitted by
Joline Maurer
"Forgetting those things which are behind, and remembering what lies ahead, I Press On."
Boy here is a Money saving idea!!
"The Proposal"
When a company falls on difficult times, one of the things that seems to happen is they reduce their staff and workers. The remaining workers must find ways to continue to do a good job or risk that their job would be eliminated as well.
Wall street, and the media normally congratulate the CEO for making this type of "tough decision", and his board of directors gives him a big bonus. Our government should not be immune from similar risks.
Therefore:
Reduce the House of Representatives from the current 435 members to 218 members.
Reduce Senate (members from 100 to 50 one per State). Then, reduce their staff by 25%.
Accomplish this over the next 8 years
(two steps/two elections) and of course this would require some redistricting.
Some Yearly Monetary Gains Include:
$44,108,400 for elimination of base pay for congress. (267 members X $165,200 pay/member/ yr.)
$97,175,000 for elimination of their staff. (estimate $1.3 Million in staff per each member of the House, and $3 Million in staff per each senate member every year)
$240,294 for the reduction in remaining staff by 25%.
$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork barrel ear-marks each year. (those members whose jobs are gone. Current estimates for total government pork earmarks are at $15 Billion/yr).
The remaining representatives would need to work smarter and improve efficiencies. It might even be in their best interests to work together for the good of our country!
We may also expect that smaller committees might lead to a more efficient resolution of issues as well. It might even be easier to keep track of what your representative is doing.
Congress has more tools available to do their jobs than it had back in 1911 when the current number of representatives was established. (telephone, computers, cell phones to name a few)
Note:
Congress did not hesitate to head home when it was a holiday, when the nation needed a real fix to the economic problems. Also, we had 3 senators that were not doing their jobs for the 18+ months (on thecampaign trail) and still they all have accepted full pay. These facts alone support a reduction in senators & congress.
Summary of opportunity:
$ 44,108,400 reduction of congress members.
$282,100, 000 for elimination of the reduced house member staff.
$150,000,000 for elimination of reduced senate member staff.
$59,675,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining house members.
$37,500,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining senate members.
$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork added to bills by the reduction of congress members.
$8,073,383,400 per year, estimated total savings. (that's 8-BILLION just to start!)
Big business does these types of cuts all the time.
If Congress persons were required to serve 20, 25 or 30 years (like everyone else) in order to collect retirement benefits, tax payers could save a bundle.
Now they get full retirement after serving only ONE term.
IF you are happy with how Congress spends our taxes, delete this message. Otherwise, I assume you know what to do.
Submitted by
Joline Maurer
"Forgetting those things which are behind, and remembering what lies ahead, I Press On."
Friday, August 14, 2009
India: Free Public Education for all its citizens, August 14, 2009
http://www.heritage.org/Research/AsiaandthePacific/wm2586.cfm
THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION
August 13, 2009
India’s Future in the Balance
by Michelle Kaffenberger and Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
WebMemo #2586
A possibly critical event within India has gone largely unnoticed elsewhere: The Indian federal legislature has approved a bill mandating free public education for all citizens. Whether the bill is properly or improperly implemented could play a notable role in determining whether India becomes a global economic leader, and a global economic partner for the U.S.
The education bill is an attempt to reconcile two fundamental forces: (1) India’s painfully low literacy rate and shortage of skilled labor, and 2) a pronounced demographic shift toward a larger, younger population.
If the tide of new workers can be adequately educated, their job training can progress far more easily, and their employment will be much more beneficial for the Indian economy. In this case, the demographic trends will contribute powerfully to economic expansion. The alternative, however, is dire: decades of massive underemployment and slow growth due to low labor productivity.
Requiring Education
The heart of the education bill is free and compulsory education for all children aged six through 14, which requires students to complete eighth grade. To this end, the bill decrees that, within the next three years, a school must be built in every neighborhood lacking one. The federal government has lofty ambitions, but it is state governments that must fulfill them--building the schools, providing the free education, and tracking every child.
The bill provisions include:
*Compulsory education ages 6-14;
*Universal free education ages 6-14;
*Schools must be built in all communities within three years;
*No discrimination against the disadvantaged;
*Private schools must reserve 25 percent of billets for the disadvantaged; and
*The federal government will standardize national curriculum.
An unremarked section of the bill mandates a "Management Committee" at each school, where three-fourths of the members are parents or guardians. The committees will be responsible for monitoring and preparing plans to serve as the basis for action by state governments. This is intended to make schools more accountable to parents. The bill also establishes a certificate of recognition that must be obtained from the respective state government, without which a school will face fines and closure.
The Demographic Challenge
The stakes for the education bill are high. One quarter of India’s 1.1 billion people are under age 15, over half under age 25, and over two-thirds under age 35. Almost 90 million people--the combined labor forces of Britain, France, and Italy--are projected to join the workforce by 2013. By 2028, the population is projected to rise by 370 million. India will simultaneously have the youngest age profile among large economies and the largest national workforce. That development could make it an exceptionally valuable partner for the U.S. and others.
This workforce explosion is typically presented as marvelously good news, guaranteeing rapid growth for a generation. More workers mean more production, consumption, and GDP. Demographic expansion does not, however, automatically bring net benefits. Productive employment for so many is a daunting prospect. One assessment is that a successful year requires 7 percent real growth and no fewer than 15 million new positions. If job creation is impeded or workers are ill-prepared, tens of millions will be left under- or unemployed.
Agriculture, where three-fifths of the population is employed, illustrates the potential and peril. There are already 60 million redundant agricultural workers; finding real jobs just for them in industry or services would boost GDP 25 percent in five years. Higher farm productivity is certainly a worthy goal, as it raises income and reduces poverty. But it would also cut the number of workers needed, adding tens of millions more to those seeking jobs in cities.
INDIA IN 2025, TWO SCENARIOS
DEMOGRAPHIC BOON DEMOGRAPHIC BURDEN
Average
Annual GDP 8.1% 3.8%
Growth
Beginning
2010
Global
GDP 4th 9th
Rank
Per Capita
GDP $6100 $2400
Annual
Inward Direct $145 billion $70 billion
Investment
Trade Volume
With US $420 billion $140 billion
An Inadequate System
A huge, young, well-trained Indian workforce would play a powerful role in the global economy. Such a workforce does not yet exist, though. Much attention has been focused on highly skilled labor in technology. High-tech companies, however, will not be able to absorb the flood of new workers soon to enter the labor force. India must therefore enhance basic skills by providing broad primary education.
Problems in the system extend beyond the quantity of resources devoted. The budget for the Department of School Education and Literacy, which oversees primary and secondary education and adult literacy programs, was almost quintupled from fiscal year 2003-04 to 2007-08. Yet the national literacy rate is only 64 percent. (China’s is 90 percent.) Clearly, funding by itself is not a solution.
Even if more schools are built, at present 25 percent of teachers do not show up for work, and only 50 percent actually teach when at school. Only one of every 3,000 administrators has ever fired a teacher for absenteeism. It is hardly a surprise that half of 10-year-olds in village schools are unable to read at a six-year-old level. India ranked 102 out of 129 in UNESCO’s 2009 Education for All Development Index, which grades on the quality, spread, and gender balance of primary education and adult literacy.
Significant change is needed, and soon. By 2013, 58 million more secondary school dropouts could join the labor force, with 60 percent of the new working-age population concentrated in five of the poorer states. Their access to education may be severely limited.
The Bill as Round 1
The education bill is a positive first step in meeting India’s demographic challenge. The potential benefits and costs are gigantic, however, and far more needs to be done.
Decentralizing authority from federal to state governments is a step in the right direction. Teachers must be made accountable and the new bill addresses teacher performance, in principle. New training standards, to which the bill obligates the federal government, should improve quality in new hires. The local management committees will give parents a greater voice. To the extent possible, authority over teachers should be more fully decentralized. As an illustration of possible gains, Bihar state cut teacher absences in half by making teachers locally accountable.
States should decentralize other tasks to communities, such as tracking students to ensure they remain in school. This is a daunting task given the size of state populations. Unless it is done well, though, the number of secondary school dropouts could swell further, turning much of the labor force into a burden.
Private Sector Must Contribute
Federal and state governments clearly need a great deal of help. Evidence suggests the very poor--at risk of being unskilled, underemployed, and failing to contribute fully to economic development--are well served by extremely low-cost private education. Schools with very little funding, provided almost entirely by poor parents unsatisfied with government options, have fared well in comparison to much better financed public schools.
Yet opening a private institution requires years of battling the bureaucracy. The provision in the new bill requiring every school to be certified creates yet another layer of regulation. In addition to implementing the new public commitment to education, federal and state governments should recognize that, in light of demographic change, a major private contribution is necessary for economic development and India’s emergence as a prosperous, democratic, and global power. And the development of India--an increasingly important American friend--is good for the U.S.
Michelle Kaffenberger is former Production Coordinator and Administrative Assistant in the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies , and Derek Scissors, Ph.D., is Research Fellow in Asia Economic Policy in the Asian Studies Center, at The Heritage Foundation.
_________________________________________
THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION
August 13, 2009
India’s Future in the Balance
by Michelle Kaffenberger and Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
WebMemo #2586
A possibly critical event within India has gone largely unnoticed elsewhere: The Indian federal legislature has approved a bill mandating free public education for all citizens. Whether the bill is properly or improperly implemented could play a notable role in determining whether India becomes a global economic leader, and a global economic partner for the U.S.
The education bill is an attempt to reconcile two fundamental forces: (1) India’s painfully low literacy rate and shortage of skilled labor, and 2) a pronounced demographic shift toward a larger, younger population.
If the tide of new workers can be adequately educated, their job training can progress far more easily, and their employment will be much more beneficial for the Indian economy. In this case, the demographic trends will contribute powerfully to economic expansion. The alternative, however, is dire: decades of massive underemployment and slow growth due to low labor productivity.
Requiring Education
The heart of the education bill is free and compulsory education for all children aged six through 14, which requires students to complete eighth grade. To this end, the bill decrees that, within the next three years, a school must be built in every neighborhood lacking one. The federal government has lofty ambitions, but it is state governments that must fulfill them--building the schools, providing the free education, and tracking every child.
The bill provisions include:
*Compulsory education ages 6-14;
*Universal free education ages 6-14;
*Schools must be built in all communities within three years;
*No discrimination against the disadvantaged;
*Private schools must reserve 25 percent of billets for the disadvantaged; and
*The federal government will standardize national curriculum.
An unremarked section of the bill mandates a "Management Committee" at each school, where three-fourths of the members are parents or guardians. The committees will be responsible for monitoring and preparing plans to serve as the basis for action by state governments. This is intended to make schools more accountable to parents. The bill also establishes a certificate of recognition that must be obtained from the respective state government, without which a school will face fines and closure.
The Demographic Challenge
The stakes for the education bill are high. One quarter of India’s 1.1 billion people are under age 15, over half under age 25, and over two-thirds under age 35. Almost 90 million people--the combined labor forces of Britain, France, and Italy--are projected to join the workforce by 2013. By 2028, the population is projected to rise by 370 million. India will simultaneously have the youngest age profile among large economies and the largest national workforce. That development could make it an exceptionally valuable partner for the U.S. and others.
This workforce explosion is typically presented as marvelously good news, guaranteeing rapid growth for a generation. More workers mean more production, consumption, and GDP. Demographic expansion does not, however, automatically bring net benefits. Productive employment for so many is a daunting prospect. One assessment is that a successful year requires 7 percent real growth and no fewer than 15 million new positions. If job creation is impeded or workers are ill-prepared, tens of millions will be left under- or unemployed.
Agriculture, where three-fifths of the population is employed, illustrates the potential and peril. There are already 60 million redundant agricultural workers; finding real jobs just for them in industry or services would boost GDP 25 percent in five years. Higher farm productivity is certainly a worthy goal, as it raises income and reduces poverty. But it would also cut the number of workers needed, adding tens of millions more to those seeking jobs in cities.
INDIA IN 2025, TWO SCENARIOS
DEMOGRAPHIC BOON DEMOGRAPHIC BURDEN
Average
Annual GDP 8.1% 3.8%
Growth
Beginning
2010
Global
GDP 4th 9th
Rank
Per Capita
GDP $6100 $2400
Annual
Inward Direct $145 billion $70 billion
Investment
Trade Volume
With US $420 billion $140 billion
An Inadequate System
A huge, young, well-trained Indian workforce would play a powerful role in the global economy. Such a workforce does not yet exist, though. Much attention has been focused on highly skilled labor in technology. High-tech companies, however, will not be able to absorb the flood of new workers soon to enter the labor force. India must therefore enhance basic skills by providing broad primary education.
Problems in the system extend beyond the quantity of resources devoted. The budget for the Department of School Education and Literacy, which oversees primary and secondary education and adult literacy programs, was almost quintupled from fiscal year 2003-04 to 2007-08. Yet the national literacy rate is only 64 percent. (China’s is 90 percent.) Clearly, funding by itself is not a solution.
Even if more schools are built, at present 25 percent of teachers do not show up for work, and only 50 percent actually teach when at school. Only one of every 3,000 administrators has ever fired a teacher for absenteeism. It is hardly a surprise that half of 10-year-olds in village schools are unable to read at a six-year-old level. India ranked 102 out of 129 in UNESCO’s 2009 Education for All Development Index, which grades on the quality, spread, and gender balance of primary education and adult literacy.
Significant change is needed, and soon. By 2013, 58 million more secondary school dropouts could join the labor force, with 60 percent of the new working-age population concentrated in five of the poorer states. Their access to education may be severely limited.
The Bill as Round 1
The education bill is a positive first step in meeting India’s demographic challenge. The potential benefits and costs are gigantic, however, and far more needs to be done.
Decentralizing authority from federal to state governments is a step in the right direction. Teachers must be made accountable and the new bill addresses teacher performance, in principle. New training standards, to which the bill obligates the federal government, should improve quality in new hires. The local management committees will give parents a greater voice. To the extent possible, authority over teachers should be more fully decentralized. As an illustration of possible gains, Bihar state cut teacher absences in half by making teachers locally accountable.
States should decentralize other tasks to communities, such as tracking students to ensure they remain in school. This is a daunting task given the size of state populations. Unless it is done well, though, the number of secondary school dropouts could swell further, turning much of the labor force into a burden.
Private Sector Must Contribute
Federal and state governments clearly need a great deal of help. Evidence suggests the very poor--at risk of being unskilled, underemployed, and failing to contribute fully to economic development--are well served by extremely low-cost private education. Schools with very little funding, provided almost entirely by poor parents unsatisfied with government options, have fared well in comparison to much better financed public schools.
Yet opening a private institution requires years of battling the bureaucracy. The provision in the new bill requiring every school to be certified creates yet another layer of regulation. In addition to implementing the new public commitment to education, federal and state governments should recognize that, in light of demographic change, a major private contribution is necessary for economic development and India’s emergence as a prosperous, democratic, and global power. And the development of India--an increasingly important American friend--is good for the U.S.
Michelle Kaffenberger is former Production Coordinator and Administrative Assistant in the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies , and Derek Scissors, Ph.D., is Research Fellow in Asia Economic Policy in the Asian Studies Center, at The Heritage Foundation.
_________________________________________
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Canada's Health Care System, August 12, 2009
Has Canada Got the Cure?
The United States pays far more than Canada per capita for its
health care services, yet Canadians get better care, according
to various experts.
Read more: http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/health-care-for-all/1503
The United States pays far more than Canada per capita for its
health care services, yet Canadians get better care, according
to various experts.
Read more: http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/health-care-for-all/1503
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Book Review: 'Battle for America 2008 by Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson, August 11, 2009
BOOKS OF THE TIMES, New York Times, August 11, 2009
In ‘Battle for America 2008,’ Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson Revisit the Presidential Campaign - Review - NYTimes.com
Presidential Horse Race, the 2008 Version
By MICHIKO KAKUTANI
The authors’ retrospective reminds us of the daunting odds that Barack Obama overcame to win the White House.
Nine months after the presidential election of 2008, is there anything new or revealing to say about that momentous event? Can a post-mortem on the marathon campaign preceding that vote shed any new light on the participants or the process?
_____________________________
THE BATTLE FOR AMERICA 2008
The Story of an Extraordinary Election
By Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson
415 pages. Viking. $29.95.
______________________________
Given the voluminous coverage of that race, it might seem as if the obvious answer to these questions were no. But “The Battle for America 2008,” a new book by Dan Balz, the lead political reporter for The Washington Post, and his former Post colleague Haynes Johnson, actually makes for engaging reading — for both politics addicts interested in small new details and the more casual reader interested in a broad, savvy overview of the run-up to a historic election.
Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/books/11kakutani.html?th&emc=th
In ‘Battle for America 2008,’ Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson Revisit the Presidential Campaign - Review - NYTimes.com
Presidential Horse Race, the 2008 Version
By MICHIKO KAKUTANI
The authors’ retrospective reminds us of the daunting odds that Barack Obama overcame to win the White House.
Nine months after the presidential election of 2008, is there anything new or revealing to say about that momentous event? Can a post-mortem on the marathon campaign preceding that vote shed any new light on the participants or the process?
_____________________________
THE BATTLE FOR AMERICA 2008
The Story of an Extraordinary Election
By Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson
415 pages. Viking. $29.95.
______________________________
Given the voluminous coverage of that race, it might seem as if the obvious answer to these questions were no. But “The Battle for America 2008,” a new book by Dan Balz, the lead political reporter for The Washington Post, and his former Post colleague Haynes Johnson, actually makes for engaging reading — for both politics addicts interested in small new details and the more casual reader interested in a broad, savvy overview of the run-up to a historic election.
Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/books/11kakutani.html?th&emc=th
Monday, August 10, 2009
Asian Americans in Ohio, August 10, 2009
NEW AMERICANS IN THE BUCKEYE STATE:
Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians are Critical to Ohio's Future
July 27, 2009
Washington D.C. - The Immigration Policy Center has compiled research which shows that Ohio's immigrants, Latinos, and Asians are an integral part of the state's economy and tax base. As workers, taxpayers, consumers, and entrepreneurs, immigrants and their children are an economic powerhouse. As Ohio's economy begins to recover, immigrants and their children will continue to play a key role in the shaping and growing the economic and political landscape of the Buckeye State.
Highlights of the research include:
· Immigrants make up nearly 4% of Ohio's total population and nearly half of them are naturalized citizens who are eligible to vote.
· New Americans (naturalized U.S. citizens and their U.S.-born children) represent 2.4% of the state's voting population.
· The purchasing power of Ohio's Asians totaled $7.1 billion and Latino buying power totaled $6.1 billion in 2008.
· Asian-owned businesses in the state generated sales and receipts worth more than $5.1 billion annually and Latino-owned businesses generated $1.3 billion in 2002.
There is no denying the contributions immigrants make and the important role they play in Ohio's political and economic future. For more data on the contributions of immigrants to Ohio's economy, view the IPC fact sheet in its entirety.
* * * * *
Save the Date!
Fourteenth (14th) Annual Conference
Thursday & Friday, March 25-26, 2010
The University of Toledo
Dana Conference Center
http://hsc.utoledo.edu/camp/tour/dana.html
3110 Glendale Avenue
Toledo, Ohio 43615
Who Should Attend?
Human Resource Professionals
EEO Officers
Higher Education Professionals
Students
Non-Profit Executives
Diversity Trainers
Healthcare Professionals
Law Enforcement
Attorneys and Leal Professionals
Affirmative Action Officers
Business Owners
Join peers from a wide variety of professions from around the state for a one-and-a-half day conference focusing on the past, present and future of equality, diversity, and opportunity in the State of Ohio. Program tracks include Diversity and Community Outreach, Best Practices for Equal Opportunity in Employment Investigations, Laws & Order, Inclusion and Demographic Trends.
CEU's are available for psychologists and social workers.
Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians are Critical to Ohio's Future
July 27, 2009
Washington D.C. - The Immigration Policy Center has compiled research which shows that Ohio's immigrants, Latinos, and Asians are an integral part of the state's economy and tax base. As workers, taxpayers, consumers, and entrepreneurs, immigrants and their children are an economic powerhouse. As Ohio's economy begins to recover, immigrants and their children will continue to play a key role in the shaping and growing the economic and political landscape of the Buckeye State.
Highlights of the research include:
· Immigrants make up nearly 4% of Ohio's total population and nearly half of them are naturalized citizens who are eligible to vote.
· New Americans (naturalized U.S. citizens and their U.S.-born children) represent 2.4% of the state's voting population.
· The purchasing power of Ohio's Asians totaled $7.1 billion and Latino buying power totaled $6.1 billion in 2008.
· Asian-owned businesses in the state generated sales and receipts worth more than $5.1 billion annually and Latino-owned businesses generated $1.3 billion in 2002.
There is no denying the contributions immigrants make and the important role they play in Ohio's political and economic future. For more data on the contributions of immigrants to Ohio's economy, view the IPC fact sheet in its entirety.
* * * * *
Save the Date!
Fourteenth (14th) Annual Conference
Thursday & Friday, March 25-26, 2010
The University of Toledo
Dana Conference Center
http://hsc.utoledo.edu/camp/tour/dana.html
3110 Glendale Avenue
Toledo, Ohio 43615
Who Should Attend?
Human Resource Professionals
EEO Officers
Higher Education Professionals
Students
Non-Profit Executives
Diversity Trainers
Healthcare Professionals
Law Enforcement
Attorneys and Leal Professionals
Affirmative Action Officers
Business Owners
Join peers from a wide variety of professions from around the state for a one-and-a-half day conference focusing on the past, present and future of equality, diversity, and opportunity in the State of Ohio. Program tracks include Diversity and Community Outreach, Best Practices for Equal Opportunity in Employment Investigations, Laws & Order, Inclusion and Demographic Trends.
CEU's are available for psychologists and social workers.
INDIA: US-India Relations by Harsh V Pant, August 10, 2009
Challenges for US- India Relations: Divergence on Global Issues shows no signs of abating
Following is a perceptive analysis of the looming challenges for US-Indian relations following the recent Clinton visit to India. This brief was prepared for Oxford Analytica by Harsh V Pant of King’s College, London.
EXCERPTS:
**The recent visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton showed that US-India relations have deepened and are on a firmer footing today, probably the strongest they have ever been. However, the relationship faces a difficult test later this year because of looming negotiations on a range of issues, including how to apportion the costs and responsibilities of tackling climate change, the Doha trade negotiations where a bold compromise on world agricultural trade currently appears distant and on non-proliferation: though Washington has made it clear that it will honor the commitments of the nuclear pact, the text remains open to interpretation and Delhi fears that the US will opt for a particularly restrictive reading of the text.
**Delhi has a well-established ability to play the role of ‘spoiler’ in global negotiations promoted by the US, and it may do so again if it feels that its material interests or wider principles are compromised. On none of the above-mentioned critical issues, the US can get a global agreement without first taking Indian concerns into account. India can play the role of a ‘spoiler’ very effectively and it has wielded its veto power on these global issues so far. It is important for the Obama Administration to get India on board before proceeding with its global agenda. Clinton’s recent visit notwithstanding, the divergence between the US and India remains as stark as ever.
The full brief (reproduced below) was sent to me by the author himself. (There is no URL).
US/INDIA: Divergence on global issues shows no sign of abating
Friday, July 31, 2009
SUBJECT: Challenges for US-India relations
SIGNIFICANCE: The recent visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton showed that US-India relations have deepened and are on a firmer footing today, probably the strongest they have ever been. However, the relationship faces a difficult test later this year because of looming negotiations on a range of issues, including how to apportion the costs and responsibilities of tackling climate change.
ANALYSIS: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton secured several concrete agreements during her July 18-21 visit to India:
**The two countries agreed to finalize an End User Monitoring Agreement (EUMA) that paves the way for US companies to sell sophisticated arms systems to India.
**Space cooperation got a boost with the signing of an agreement facilitating the launch of US satellites and satellites with US components on Indian launch vehicles.
**As a framework for future talks, Clinton announced a six-pillared bilateral strategic dialogue covering issues ranging from defense and non-proliferation to education and agriculture, the most wide-ranging and comprehensive dialogue “that has ever been put on the table” between the two countries.
Bilateral diplomacy: The visit pointed towards a relationship that is deepening on several levels. The defense relationship is deepening as India looks to modernize a largely Russian-made military arsenal that is widely criticized as inadequate. Bilateral trade is growing. Clinton’s trip was supported by the Indian community in the US, which is becoming more effective at leveraging its influence in favor of closer ties.
Nonetheless, controversy was mounting before Clinton left India, particularly on EUMA. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has encountered strong parliamentary opposition on this point, prompting him to deny that the agreement violates Indian sovereignty by allowing ‘intrusive’ inspections of Indian military installations.
Looming Challenges: More broadly, as Clinton found during her talks in New Delhi on climate change, the divergence between the two democracies is growing on three critical issues of global significance, all priority areas for the Obama administration:
1. Climate Change. With a new United Nations climate treaty due to be agreed in Copenhagen in December, Washington and Delhi are trying to bridge their differences on how to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Negotiating positions differ:
**The United States wants developing countries such as India and China to agree to control the emissions being produced by their rapidly growing economies, setting time-bound targets to this effect.
**The previous UPA government introduced an eight-point action plan to address emissions from domestic transport, industry and power generation. Yet during Clinton’s visit. Indian Environment Minister reiterated India’s position that ‘legally binding targets’ are out of the question.
**The government emphasized that India has one of the lowest per capita emissions rates in the world. In this context, it insists that the developed world take the lead by making large emissions reductions while transferring funds and technologies to help developing nations address their own carbon intensity.
For Delhi, a key stumbling block is the developing world’s failure to create effective and predictable mechanisms to transfer technology and funding. This is the subject of continuing bilateral talks, with India seeking an understanding with Washington that could serve as a model for an agreement between the developed and developing world at Copenhagen.
Yet climate change talks not only involve competing economic interests but also raise matters of broad principle for the West’s relationship with developing nations. India has shown itself ready to lead coalitions of developing nations in the past, vetoing those global agreement they see as discriminatory. The issue of the West’s ‘historical responsibility’ for atmospheric pollution is being cast in similar terms and Indian agreement will be hard to secure.
2. Trade negotiations. The United States and India have both signaled that they are ready to re-launch negotiations under the Doha round of world trade talks. These stalled last year largely because of differences between Washington and a group of emerging economies, in which India played a leading role, on agricultural policy. Led by then Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, India insisted that its farmers be accorded protection against supply surges under the planned liberalisation of agricultural trade.
The Congress party’s election victory raised hopes that a bolstered UPA government would be more willing to make unpopular concessions at home, for the sake of collective economic gains, than its predecessor. However, this can happen only if the developed world provides reciprocal concessions by phasing out its own agricultural subsidies -- something that is highly problematic in the present economic climate.
The Indian government’s own ability to take on domestic constituencies is also in question. Advanced negotiations towards a free trade agreement with the ASEAN appear to have foundered on objections from just one Indian state, Kerala, where cultivators of crops such as coconut and palm oil were threatened by cheaper Indonesian and Malaysian products. With the UPA forced to defend itself against accusations of ‘selling-out’ farmers, a bold compromise on world agricultural trade currently appears distant.
3. Non-proliferation. The recent G-8 leaders’ summit concluded with a statement that caught India by surprise in terms of its language on nuclear non-proliferation. In September, the Nuclear Supplier’s Group (NSG) had agreed to grant an exemption to India, allowing it to import a range of nuclear technologies despite not being a signatory to the NPT. Yet the G-8 statement committed the advanced industrial world to strengthen controls on enrichment and reprocessing technology in-line with a November 2008 NSG agreement. As widely interpreted in India, this would amount to banning exports of key items to non-signatories of the NPT.
Reactions in India were strongly unfavorable, While India will still be able to buy nuclear fuel and reactors from the G-8 or NSG countries, questions are being raised about whether the Obama administration intends to dilute the bargain contained in last year’s NSG waiver. Though Washington has made it clear that it will honor the commitments, the text remains open to interpretation and Delhi fears that the US administration will opt for a particularly restrictive reading.
Outlook: The US-India relationship is entering a difficult phase as pressure mounts on Delhi to make constructive contributions to these three critical issues. Although the UPA government’s re-election has paved the way for more active engagement, apprehensions have mounted in Delhi about Washington’s agenda vis-Ã -vis India. Under former President George W. Bush, Indian officials became accustomed to the idea that their country was treated as a great power in the making and a ’balancer’ in the Asia-Pacific region. The Obama administration will have to overcome Delhi’s suspicion that, in US eyes, India has reverted to the status of a regional player whose main utility is in dealing with Pakistan.
CONCLUSION: Delhi has a well-established ability to play the role of ‘spoiler’ in global negotiations promoted by the US, and it may do so again if it feels that its material interests or wider principles are compromised. On none of the above-mentioned critical issues, the US can get a global agreement without first taking Indian concerns into account. India can play the role of a ‘spoiler’ very effectively and it has wielded its veto power on these global issues so far. It is important for the Obama Administration to get India on board before proceeding with its global agenda. Clinton’s recent visit notwithstanding, the divergence between the US and India remains as stark as ever.
_______________________________
Please also read:
1) G Parthasarathy: "Post-Clinton visit, the key issues ", The Hindu Businessline, August 6, 2009 http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/08/06/stories/2009080650270800.htm
2) Paul Beckett: "A Different Take on the U.S.-India Climate Change "Spat"", The Wall Street Journal, August 5, 2009, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124944699955607103.html
and
3) Peter J Brown: "India and US build stronger ties in space", Asia Times Online, August 7, 2009, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KH07Df02.html
_____________________________________
Following is a perceptive analysis of the looming challenges for US-Indian relations following the recent Clinton visit to India. This brief was prepared for Oxford Analytica by Harsh V Pant of King’s College, London.
EXCERPTS:
**The recent visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton showed that US-India relations have deepened and are on a firmer footing today, probably the strongest they have ever been. However, the relationship faces a difficult test later this year because of looming negotiations on a range of issues, including how to apportion the costs and responsibilities of tackling climate change, the Doha trade negotiations where a bold compromise on world agricultural trade currently appears distant and on non-proliferation: though Washington has made it clear that it will honor the commitments of the nuclear pact, the text remains open to interpretation and Delhi fears that the US will opt for a particularly restrictive reading of the text.
**Delhi has a well-established ability to play the role of ‘spoiler’ in global negotiations promoted by the US, and it may do so again if it feels that its material interests or wider principles are compromised. On none of the above-mentioned critical issues, the US can get a global agreement without first taking Indian concerns into account. India can play the role of a ‘spoiler’ very effectively and it has wielded its veto power on these global issues so far. It is important for the Obama Administration to get India on board before proceeding with its global agenda. Clinton’s recent visit notwithstanding, the divergence between the US and India remains as stark as ever.
The full brief (reproduced below) was sent to me by the author himself. (There is no URL).
US/INDIA: Divergence on global issues shows no sign of abating
Friday, July 31, 2009
SUBJECT: Challenges for US-India relations
SIGNIFICANCE: The recent visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton showed that US-India relations have deepened and are on a firmer footing today, probably the strongest they have ever been. However, the relationship faces a difficult test later this year because of looming negotiations on a range of issues, including how to apportion the costs and responsibilities of tackling climate change.
ANALYSIS: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton secured several concrete agreements during her July 18-21 visit to India:
**The two countries agreed to finalize an End User Monitoring Agreement (EUMA) that paves the way for US companies to sell sophisticated arms systems to India.
**Space cooperation got a boost with the signing of an agreement facilitating the launch of US satellites and satellites with US components on Indian launch vehicles.
**As a framework for future talks, Clinton announced a six-pillared bilateral strategic dialogue covering issues ranging from defense and non-proliferation to education and agriculture, the most wide-ranging and comprehensive dialogue “that has ever been put on the table” between the two countries.
Bilateral diplomacy: The visit pointed towards a relationship that is deepening on several levels. The defense relationship is deepening as India looks to modernize a largely Russian-made military arsenal that is widely criticized as inadequate. Bilateral trade is growing. Clinton’s trip was supported by the Indian community in the US, which is becoming more effective at leveraging its influence in favor of closer ties.
Nonetheless, controversy was mounting before Clinton left India, particularly on EUMA. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has encountered strong parliamentary opposition on this point, prompting him to deny that the agreement violates Indian sovereignty by allowing ‘intrusive’ inspections of Indian military installations.
Looming Challenges: More broadly, as Clinton found during her talks in New Delhi on climate change, the divergence between the two democracies is growing on three critical issues of global significance, all priority areas for the Obama administration:
1. Climate Change. With a new United Nations climate treaty due to be agreed in Copenhagen in December, Washington and Delhi are trying to bridge their differences on how to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Negotiating positions differ:
**The United States wants developing countries such as India and China to agree to control the emissions being produced by their rapidly growing economies, setting time-bound targets to this effect.
**The previous UPA government introduced an eight-point action plan to address emissions from domestic transport, industry and power generation. Yet during Clinton’s visit. Indian Environment Minister reiterated India’s position that ‘legally binding targets’ are out of the question.
**The government emphasized that India has one of the lowest per capita emissions rates in the world. In this context, it insists that the developed world take the lead by making large emissions reductions while transferring funds and technologies to help developing nations address their own carbon intensity.
For Delhi, a key stumbling block is the developing world’s failure to create effective and predictable mechanisms to transfer technology and funding. This is the subject of continuing bilateral talks, with India seeking an understanding with Washington that could serve as a model for an agreement between the developed and developing world at Copenhagen.
Yet climate change talks not only involve competing economic interests but also raise matters of broad principle for the West’s relationship with developing nations. India has shown itself ready to lead coalitions of developing nations in the past, vetoing those global agreement they see as discriminatory. The issue of the West’s ‘historical responsibility’ for atmospheric pollution is being cast in similar terms and Indian agreement will be hard to secure.
2. Trade negotiations. The United States and India have both signaled that they are ready to re-launch negotiations under the Doha round of world trade talks. These stalled last year largely because of differences between Washington and a group of emerging economies, in which India played a leading role, on agricultural policy. Led by then Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, India insisted that its farmers be accorded protection against supply surges under the planned liberalisation of agricultural trade.
The Congress party’s election victory raised hopes that a bolstered UPA government would be more willing to make unpopular concessions at home, for the sake of collective economic gains, than its predecessor. However, this can happen only if the developed world provides reciprocal concessions by phasing out its own agricultural subsidies -- something that is highly problematic in the present economic climate.
The Indian government’s own ability to take on domestic constituencies is also in question. Advanced negotiations towards a free trade agreement with the ASEAN appear to have foundered on objections from just one Indian state, Kerala, where cultivators of crops such as coconut and palm oil were threatened by cheaper Indonesian and Malaysian products. With the UPA forced to defend itself against accusations of ‘selling-out’ farmers, a bold compromise on world agricultural trade currently appears distant.
3. Non-proliferation. The recent G-8 leaders’ summit concluded with a statement that caught India by surprise in terms of its language on nuclear non-proliferation. In September, the Nuclear Supplier’s Group (NSG) had agreed to grant an exemption to India, allowing it to import a range of nuclear technologies despite not being a signatory to the NPT. Yet the G-8 statement committed the advanced industrial world to strengthen controls on enrichment and reprocessing technology in-line with a November 2008 NSG agreement. As widely interpreted in India, this would amount to banning exports of key items to non-signatories of the NPT.
Reactions in India were strongly unfavorable, While India will still be able to buy nuclear fuel and reactors from the G-8 or NSG countries, questions are being raised about whether the Obama administration intends to dilute the bargain contained in last year’s NSG waiver. Though Washington has made it clear that it will honor the commitments, the text remains open to interpretation and Delhi fears that the US administration will opt for a particularly restrictive reading.
Outlook: The US-India relationship is entering a difficult phase as pressure mounts on Delhi to make constructive contributions to these three critical issues. Although the UPA government’s re-election has paved the way for more active engagement, apprehensions have mounted in Delhi about Washington’s agenda vis-Ã -vis India. Under former President George W. Bush, Indian officials became accustomed to the idea that their country was treated as a great power in the making and a ’balancer’ in the Asia-Pacific region. The Obama administration will have to overcome Delhi’s suspicion that, in US eyes, India has reverted to the status of a regional player whose main utility is in dealing with Pakistan.
CONCLUSION: Delhi has a well-established ability to play the role of ‘spoiler’ in global negotiations promoted by the US, and it may do so again if it feels that its material interests or wider principles are compromised. On none of the above-mentioned critical issues, the US can get a global agreement without first taking Indian concerns into account. India can play the role of a ‘spoiler’ very effectively and it has wielded its veto power on these global issues so far. It is important for the Obama Administration to get India on board before proceeding with its global agenda. Clinton’s recent visit notwithstanding, the divergence between the US and India remains as stark as ever.
_______________________________
Please also read:
1) G Parthasarathy: "Post-Clinton visit, the key issues ", The Hindu Businessline, August 6, 2009 http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/08/06/stories/2009080650270800.htm
2) Paul Beckett: "A Different Take on the U.S.-India Climate Change "Spat"", The Wall Street Journal, August 5, 2009, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124944699955607103.html
and
3) Peter J Brown: "India and US build stronger ties in space", Asia Times Online, August 7, 2009, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KH07Df02.html
_____________________________________
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Movie News and Movie Reviews: Bollywood Hero on IFC, August 5, 2009
Salon Arts & Entertainment,
Slumdog comedian in Bollywood Hero
on IFC, August 6, 7, and 8.
Chek out your local cable listings.
"SNL" alum Chris Kattan exports his desperation in IFC's sweet summer miniseries "Bollywood Hero"
By Heather Havrilesky
Aug. 4, 2009 | "Didn't you play the half-monkey man that ate the peanuts?"
Chris Kattan grimaces at this remark by a stranger at a Hollywood party, but that grimace only reminds us of Mr. Peepers -- or Mango or Gollum or the other manic characters he played in his stint on "Saturday Night Live." As Kattan watches Keanu Reeves attract a circle of hot girls at the party while he only attracts curiosity, he finds himself wanting more.
"When I was a kid I wanted to be Indiana Jones," Kattan tells us in the opening moments of "Bollywood Hero," IFC's three-part miniseries that airs this week (10 p.m. Aug. 6, 7 and 8 on IFC). "This year I told my agent I wouldn't take any more acting jobs until he actually found me something different, a part where I'm the leading man or I’m the hero, the role I always dreamed of playing." Kattan says he wants to "fight the bad guys" and "sleep with attractive women." Understandable, sure, but ... can Mr. Peepers really be serious?
Presumably Kattan plays a desperate, pathetic version of himself in this odd little three-hour romp that's exactly as charming and uneven and hokey as so many indie comedies. Whether Kattan is being humiliated or acting like a jackass or getting dance lessons from the elderly Indian grandmother, he embodies that strange subgenre of toothless indie comedy that makes fun of itself but has no edge whatsoever.
Think "The Full Monty." Think "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." Funny, yes, but in a way that's almost embarrassing, a way that has you and your mom and your grandmother cackling in unison.
Read more: http://www.salon.com:80/ent/tv/review/2009/08/04/bollywood_hero/index.html?source=newsletter
Slumdog comedian in Bollywood Hero
on IFC, August 6, 7, and 8.
Chek out your local cable listings.
"SNL" alum Chris Kattan exports his desperation in IFC's sweet summer miniseries "Bollywood Hero"
By Heather Havrilesky
Aug. 4, 2009 | "Didn't you play the half-monkey man that ate the peanuts?"
Chris Kattan grimaces at this remark by a stranger at a Hollywood party, but that grimace only reminds us of Mr. Peepers -- or Mango or Gollum or the other manic characters he played in his stint on "Saturday Night Live." As Kattan watches Keanu Reeves attract a circle of hot girls at the party while he only attracts curiosity, he finds himself wanting more.
"When I was a kid I wanted to be Indiana Jones," Kattan tells us in the opening moments of "Bollywood Hero," IFC's three-part miniseries that airs this week (10 p.m. Aug. 6, 7 and 8 on IFC). "This year I told my agent I wouldn't take any more acting jobs until he actually found me something different, a part where I'm the leading man or I’m the hero, the role I always dreamed of playing." Kattan says he wants to "fight the bad guys" and "sleep with attractive women." Understandable, sure, but ... can Mr. Peepers really be serious?
Presumably Kattan plays a desperate, pathetic version of himself in this odd little three-hour romp that's exactly as charming and uneven and hokey as so many indie comedies. Whether Kattan is being humiliated or acting like a jackass or getting dance lessons from the elderly Indian grandmother, he embodies that strange subgenre of toothless indie comedy that makes fun of itself but has no edge whatsoever.
Think "The Full Monty." Think "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." Funny, yes, but in a way that's almost embarrassing, a way that has you and your mom and your grandmother cackling in unison.
Read more: http://www.salon.com:80/ent/tv/review/2009/08/04/bollywood_hero/index.html?source=newsletter
Email Etiquettes, August 5, 2009
Email etiquettes:
Do you really know how to forward e-mails?
This came to me direct from a system administrator for a corporate system. It is an excellent message that ABSOLUTELY applies to ALL of us who send e-mails.
Please read the short letter below ..
Do you really know how to forward e-mails? 50% of us do; 50% DO NOT.
Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Do you hate it? Every time you forward an e-mail there is information left over from the people who got the message before you, namely their e-mail addresses & names. As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds, and builds, and builds, and all it takes is for some poor sap to get a virus, and his or her computer can send that virus to every E-mail address that has come across his computer. Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and he will make five cents for each hit. That's right, all of that inconvenience over a nickel! How do you stop it? Well, there are two easy steps:
(1) When you forward an e-mail, DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message (at the top). That's right, DELETE them. Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a second.You MUST click the "Forward"
button first and then you will have full editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message. If you don't click on "Forward" first, you won't be able to edit the message at all.
(2) Whenever you send an e-mail to more than one person, do NOT use the To: or Cc: columns for adding e-mail address. Always use the BCC: (blind
carbon copy) column for listing the e-mail addresses. This is the way that
people you send to only see their own e-mail address. If you don't see your
BCC: option click on where it says To: and your address list will appear.
Highlight the address and choose BCC: and that's it, it's that easy. When you send to BCC: your message will automatically say "Undisclosed Recipients in the "TO:" field of the people who receive it.
(3) Remove any "FW:" in the subject line. You can re-name the subject if you wish or even fix spelling.
(4) ALWAYS hit your Forward button from the actual e-mail your reading.
Ever get those e-mails that you have to open 10 pages to read the one page with the information on it? By Forwarding from the actual page you wish someone to view, you stop them from having to open many e-mails just to see what you sent.
Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition? It states a position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10 or 15 people or your entire address book. The email can be forwarded on and on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses.
A FACT: The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and email addresses contained therein. If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient. Your position may carry more weight as a personal letter than a laundry list of names and email address on a petition.
So please, in the future, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses.
Finally, here's an idea!!! Let's send this to everyone we know (but strip my address off first). This is something that SHOULD be forwarded.
* * * * *
Do you really know how to forward e-mails?
This came to me direct from a system administrator for a corporate system. It is an excellent message that ABSOLUTELY applies to ALL of us who send e-mails.
Please read the short letter below ..
Do you really know how to forward e-mails? 50% of us do; 50% DO NOT.
Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Do you hate it? Every time you forward an e-mail there is information left over from the people who got the message before you, namely their e-mail addresses & names. As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds, and builds, and builds, and all it takes is for some poor sap to get a virus, and his or her computer can send that virus to every E-mail address that has come across his computer. Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and he will make five cents for each hit. That's right, all of that inconvenience over a nickel! How do you stop it? Well, there are two easy steps:
(1) When you forward an e-mail, DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message (at the top). That's right, DELETE them. Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a second.You MUST click the "Forward"
button first and then you will have full editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message. If you don't click on "Forward" first, you won't be able to edit the message at all.
(2) Whenever you send an e-mail to more than one person, do NOT use the To: or Cc: columns for adding e-mail address. Always use the BCC: (blind
carbon copy) column for listing the e-mail addresses. This is the way that
people you send to only see their own e-mail address. If you don't see your
BCC: option click on where it says To: and your address list will appear.
Highlight the address and choose BCC: and that's it, it's that easy. When you send to BCC: your message will automatically say "Undisclosed Recipients in the "TO:" field of the people who receive it.
(3) Remove any "FW:" in the subject line. You can re-name the subject if you wish or even fix spelling.
(4) ALWAYS hit your Forward button from the actual e-mail your reading.
Ever get those e-mails that you have to open 10 pages to read the one page with the information on it? By Forwarding from the actual page you wish someone to view, you stop them from having to open many e-mails just to see what you sent.
Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition? It states a position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10 or 15 people or your entire address book. The email can be forwarded on and on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses.
A FACT: The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and email addresses contained therein. If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient. Your position may carry more weight as a personal letter than a laundry list of names and email address on a petition.
So please, in the future, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses.
Finally, here's an idea!!! Let's send this to everyone we know (but strip my address off first). This is something that SHOULD be forwarded.
* * * * *
Nuclear Arms, Hiroshima, Peace, War, August 5, 2009
60-years after Hiroshima
From: Tomgram: Frida Berrigan, 64 Years Too Late and Not a Moment Too Soon
posted August 03, 2009 4:30 pm
Tomgram: Frida Berrigan, 64 Years Too Late and Not a Moment Too Soon
As another August 6th approaches, let me tell you a little story about Hiroshima and me:
As a young man, I was probably not completely atypical in having the Bomb (the 1950s was a great time for capitalizing what was important) on my brain, and not just while I was ducking under my school desk as sirens howled their nuclear warnings outside. Like many people my age, I dreamed about the bomb, too. I could, in those nightmares, feel its searing heat, watch a mushroom cloud rise on some distant horizon, or find myself in some devastated landscape I had never come close to experiencing (except perhaps in sci-fi novels).
Of course, my dreams were nothing compared to those of America's top strategists who, in secret National Security Council documents of the early 1950s, descended into the charnel house of future history, imagining life on this planet as an eternal potential holocaust. They wrote in those documents of the possibility that 100 atomic bombs, landing on targets in the United States, might kill or injure 22 million Americans and of an American "blow" that might result in the "complete destruction" of the Soviet Union.
And they were pikers compared to the top military brass who, in 1960, found themselves arguing over the country's first Single Integrated Operational Plan for nuclear strategy. In it, a scenario was laid out for delivering more than 3,200 nuclear weapons to 1,060 targets in the Communist world, including at least 130 cities which would, if all went well, cease to exist. Official, if classified, estimates of possible casualties from such an attack -- and by then, nuclear weaponry and its delivery systems had grown far more powerful -- ran to 285 million dead and 40 million injured (and this probably underestimated radiation effects).
Read more:
http://www.tomdispatch.com:80/post/175102/frida_berrigan_64_years_too_late_and_not_a_moment_too_soon
* * * * *
Wage Peace Campaign
I am pleased to share the following email that I have received the following email from a friend, it has come with the following caveate -
CAUTION: This email is subject to secret retrieval and review by Federal Law Enforcement Agents without a court-ordered warrant.
To learn more: http://www.bordc.org
HUMANITARIAN IMPERIALISM
Using Human Rights to Sell War
by Jean Bricmont
Translated by Diana Johnstone
“In this stimulating book, Jean Bricmont effectively deconstructs ‘humanitarian interventionism’ and makes a good case that leftists who support it are the ‘useful idiots’ of imperialism. He also provides a broader critique of the Western left and offers a number of constructive suggestions. This insightful book is chock full of enlightening case studies and provocative arguments.”
—Edward S. Herman, Professor Emeritus of Finance, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
“Jean Bricmont’s provocative and carefully argued book deserves to be widely read and debated in the progressive, ecological, peace, and human rights movements. It may not be the last word on this subject but the issues Bricmont raises cannot be ignored.”
—Alan Sokal, Professor of Physics, New York University
Since the end of the Cold War, the idea of human rights has been made into a justification for intervention by the world's leading economic and military powers—above all, the United States—in countries that are vulnerable to their attacks. The criteria for such intervention have become more arbitrary and self-serving, and their form more destructive, from Yugoslavia to Afghanistan to Iraq. Until the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the large parts of the left was often complicit in this ideology of intervention-discovering new “Hitlers” as the need arose, and denouncing antiwar arguments as appeasement on the model of Munich in 1938.
Jean Bricmont’s Humanitarian Imperialism is both a historical account of this development and a powerful political and moral critique. It seeks to restore the critique of imperialism to its rightful place in the defense of human rights. It describes the leading role of the United States in initiating military and other interventions, but also on the obvious support given to it by European powers and NATO. It outlines an alternative approach to the question of human rights, based on the genuine recognition of the equal rights of people in poor and wealthy countries.
Timely, topical, and rigorously argued, Jean Bricmont’s book establishes a firm basis for resistance to global war with no end in sight.
About the Author
JEAN BRICMONT is professor of theoretical physics at the University of Louvain, Belgium. He is the author of Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science (with Alan Sokal) and other political and scientific publications.
From: Tomgram: Frida Berrigan, 64 Years Too Late and Not a Moment Too Soon
posted August 03, 2009 4:30 pm
Tomgram: Frida Berrigan, 64 Years Too Late and Not a Moment Too Soon
As another August 6th approaches, let me tell you a little story about Hiroshima and me:
As a young man, I was probably not completely atypical in having the Bomb (the 1950s was a great time for capitalizing what was important) on my brain, and not just while I was ducking under my school desk as sirens howled their nuclear warnings outside. Like many people my age, I dreamed about the bomb, too. I could, in those nightmares, feel its searing heat, watch a mushroom cloud rise on some distant horizon, or find myself in some devastated landscape I had never come close to experiencing (except perhaps in sci-fi novels).
Of course, my dreams were nothing compared to those of America's top strategists who, in secret National Security Council documents of the early 1950s, descended into the charnel house of future history, imagining life on this planet as an eternal potential holocaust. They wrote in those documents of the possibility that 100 atomic bombs, landing on targets in the United States, might kill or injure 22 million Americans and of an American "blow" that might result in the "complete destruction" of the Soviet Union.
And they were pikers compared to the top military brass who, in 1960, found themselves arguing over the country's first Single Integrated Operational Plan for nuclear strategy. In it, a scenario was laid out for delivering more than 3,200 nuclear weapons to 1,060 targets in the Communist world, including at least 130 cities which would, if all went well, cease to exist. Official, if classified, estimates of possible casualties from such an attack -- and by then, nuclear weaponry and its delivery systems had grown far more powerful -- ran to 285 million dead and 40 million injured (and this probably underestimated radiation effects).
Read more:
http://www.tomdispatch.com:80/post/175102/frida_berrigan_64_years_too_late_and_not_a_moment_too_soon
* * * * *
Wage Peace Campaign
I am pleased to share the following email that I have received the following email from a friend, it has come with the following caveate -
CAUTION: This email is subject to secret retrieval and review by Federal Law Enforcement Agents without a court-ordered warrant.
To learn more: http://www.bordc.org
HUMANITARIAN IMPERIALISM
Using Human Rights to Sell War
by Jean Bricmont
Translated by Diana Johnstone
“In this stimulating book, Jean Bricmont effectively deconstructs ‘humanitarian interventionism’ and makes a good case that leftists who support it are the ‘useful idiots’ of imperialism. He also provides a broader critique of the Western left and offers a number of constructive suggestions. This insightful book is chock full of enlightening case studies and provocative arguments.”
—Edward S. Herman, Professor Emeritus of Finance, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
“Jean Bricmont’s provocative and carefully argued book deserves to be widely read and debated in the progressive, ecological, peace, and human rights movements. It may not be the last word on this subject but the issues Bricmont raises cannot be ignored.”
—Alan Sokal, Professor of Physics, New York University
Since the end of the Cold War, the idea of human rights has been made into a justification for intervention by the world's leading economic and military powers—above all, the United States—in countries that are vulnerable to their attacks. The criteria for such intervention have become more arbitrary and self-serving, and their form more destructive, from Yugoslavia to Afghanistan to Iraq. Until the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the large parts of the left was often complicit in this ideology of intervention-discovering new “Hitlers” as the need arose, and denouncing antiwar arguments as appeasement on the model of Munich in 1938.
Jean Bricmont’s Humanitarian Imperialism is both a historical account of this development and a powerful political and moral critique. It seeks to restore the critique of imperialism to its rightful place in the defense of human rights. It describes the leading role of the United States in initiating military and other interventions, but also on the obvious support given to it by European powers and NATO. It outlines an alternative approach to the question of human rights, based on the genuine recognition of the equal rights of people in poor and wealthy countries.
Timely, topical, and rigorously argued, Jean Bricmont’s book establishes a firm basis for resistance to global war with no end in sight.
About the Author
JEAN BRICMONT is professor of theoretical physics at the University of Louvain, Belgium. He is the author of Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science (with Alan Sokal) and other political and scientific publications.
From and About Dayton, Ohio, August 5, 2009
Dayton International Peace Museum
Special independent program at the Dayton International Peace Museum
Monday, August 17, at 7 p.m. in the Peace Hall at the Museum Josh Stieber will speak on his "Compassionate Love Experiment." Josh eagerly went to Iraq to fight, but from his experiences there he became a conscientious objector. Now he's walking around the country speaking about his new insights. Please come to hear Josh. The Dulls are hosting him for a few days. You can read more about him at "Josh Stieber: Compassionate Love Experiment."
For more information contact:
Dayton International Peace Museum:
208 W. Monument Ave.
Dayton, OH 45402
(937) 227-3223
* * * * *
TrolleyStock - A Far-Out Party for a Groovy Cause
Dayton Peace Museum Benefit Honors 40th Anniversary of Woodstock
More information at http://www.trolleystopdayton.com/
* * * * *
Special independent program at the Dayton International Peace Museum
Monday, August 17, at 7 p.m. in the Peace Hall at the Museum Josh Stieber will speak on his "Compassionate Love Experiment." Josh eagerly went to Iraq to fight, but from his experiences there he became a conscientious objector. Now he's walking around the country speaking about his new insights. Please come to hear Josh. The Dulls are hosting him for a few days. You can read more about him at "Josh Stieber: Compassionate Love Experiment."
For more information contact:
Dayton International Peace Museum:
208 W. Monument Ave.
Dayton, OH 45402
(937) 227-3223
* * * * *
TrolleyStock - A Far-Out Party for a Groovy Cause
Dayton Peace Museum Benefit Honors 40th Anniversary of Woodstock
More information at http://www.trolleystopdayton.com/
* * * * *
Monday, August 3, 2009
India: Monmohan Singh, India-Pakistsan
Manmohan Singh has always seen himself as the steward of historic changes, as one who has the courage to challenge the status quo.
The PM knows what he’s doing.
Very few in the Congress are really upset by the substance of the statement. They are most concerned by the fact that the PM is asserting himself.
In UPA-2, the goal the prime minister has set for himself is to try and achieve a breakthrough in Indo-Pakistan relations.
As in the second half of UPA-1, he will play a proactive role in foreign affairs.
The fact that external affairs minister S.M. Krishna is a lightweight helps him play a dominant role.
If history is any indication, it is unlikely that the all-round criticism will be an obstacle for the PM. For, by now, the country is familiar with the fact that behind Manmohan’s mild manner is steely resolve—he has a vision for a subcontinent at peace with itself and he will pursue it.
OUTLOOK INDIA.COM, AUGUST 10, 2009
A Fortress Unto Himself
Others may not see the method in his plan, but the PM knows what he’s doing
Smita Gupta
Why The Party’s Unhappy With The PM
A section within the Congress has been voicing its disquiet over the Indo-Pakistan joint statement because it feels that it will give a handle to the Opposition to attack the government.
Another section, which is being described as the coalition of the disgruntled, consists of those who were looking for an occasion to attack the PM, and used the BJP’s ire as an opportune excuse.
Very few in the Congress are really upset by the substance of the statement. They are most concerned by the fact that the PM is asserting himself.
Some members of the old guard feel that the party should have been consulted before the joint statement was drafted.
***
Man Can Cook: Trust, But Verify
In UPA-2, the goal the prime minister has set for himself is to try and achieve a breakthrough in Indo-Pakistan relations.
India’s policy has always been that the only way forward with Pakistan is through dialogue.
Manmohan Singh believes that to make any headway the government cannot remain a prisoner of old mindsets.
This is why he wants to be seen as being more accommodative. That is the only way he thinks progress can be made.
As in the second half of UPA-1, he will play a proactive role in foreign affairs.
The fact that external affairs minister S.M. Krishna is a lightweight helps him play a dominant role.
Read more: http://outlookindia.com/article.aspx?261111
The PM knows what he’s doing.
Very few in the Congress are really upset by the substance of the statement. They are most concerned by the fact that the PM is asserting himself.
In UPA-2, the goal the prime minister has set for himself is to try and achieve a breakthrough in Indo-Pakistan relations.
As in the second half of UPA-1, he will play a proactive role in foreign affairs.
The fact that external affairs minister S.M. Krishna is a lightweight helps him play a dominant role.
If history is any indication, it is unlikely that the all-round criticism will be an obstacle for the PM. For, by now, the country is familiar with the fact that behind Manmohan’s mild manner is steely resolve—he has a vision for a subcontinent at peace with itself and he will pursue it.
OUTLOOK INDIA.COM, AUGUST 10, 2009
A Fortress Unto Himself
Others may not see the method in his plan, but the PM knows what he’s doing
Smita Gupta
Why The Party’s Unhappy With The PM
A section within the Congress has been voicing its disquiet over the Indo-Pakistan joint statement because it feels that it will give a handle to the Opposition to attack the government.
Another section, which is being described as the coalition of the disgruntled, consists of those who were looking for an occasion to attack the PM, and used the BJP’s ire as an opportune excuse.
Very few in the Congress are really upset by the substance of the statement. They are most concerned by the fact that the PM is asserting himself.
Some members of the old guard feel that the party should have been consulted before the joint statement was drafted.
***
Man Can Cook: Trust, But Verify
In UPA-2, the goal the prime minister has set for himself is to try and achieve a breakthrough in Indo-Pakistan relations.
India’s policy has always been that the only way forward with Pakistan is through dialogue.
Manmohan Singh believes that to make any headway the government cannot remain a prisoner of old mindsets.
This is why he wants to be seen as being more accommodative. That is the only way he thinks progress can be made.
As in the second half of UPA-1, he will play a proactive role in foreign affairs.
The fact that external affairs minister S.M. Krishna is a lightweight helps him play a dominant role.
Read more: http://outlookindia.com/article.aspx?261111
Saturday, August 1, 2009
India: "State of mind: What kind of power will India become" , August 1, 2009
In an article titled, "State of mind: What kind of power will India become" published in International Affairs of July, 2009 (Vol. 85, No. 4), Rahul Sagar, Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics at Princeton University, says India’s place in international affairs is shaped by the following four competing visions:
1) Moralists who wish for India to serve as an exemplar of principled action (moral exceptionalism);
2) Hindu nationalists who want Indians to act as muscular defenders of Hindu civilization (martial vigor);
3) Strategists who advocate cultivating state power by developing strategic capabilities (state power); and
4) Liberals who seek prosperity and peace through increasing trade and interdependence (wealth).
EXCERPTS:
**There is growing consensus in India that the pursuit of moral prestige has proved unrewarding. The demanding vision of the Hindu nationalists enjoys only limited public support, and India’s political elite display little willingness to pursue the tough policies advocated by the country’s strategic community. Increasingly, it appears India will, if by default, pursue prosperity and peace, a strategy that promises to transform it to a great commercial power. However, if this quest is thwarted by external threats it is likely that a contrary dynamic will be set in motion, as calls to enhance India’s military power grow louder -- and are heeded more closely.
**The desire to act in a principled fashion (Moralists’ vision) has three implications: First, it implies that India will continue to look sceptically on alliances that threaten its freedom to act and speak as it wishes. A recent example of the diplomatic consequences of this independent streak is provided by the conflict between India and the US over Iran. Even though it shares the American concern about Iran’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons, and has twice voted with the US at the IAEA to refer Iran to the UN Security Council, India has repeatedly affirmed its desire to to pursue an independent policy vis-a-vis Iran, including the option of undertaking major energy projects in that country. A second implication of the desire to act in a principled fashion will be India’s continued leadership of coalitions endeavoring to ensure that international regimes do not undermine the interests of the developing world e.g. in the debate over the principles that should govern the distribution of costs and responsibilities for reducing environmental damage. The third implication of the desire to act in a principled fashion is that India will use civil means to challenge what it sees as discriminatory features of the international order e.g. on the nuclear issue. It is increasingly unclear whether India’s conduct will in fact continue to be shaped by Nehru’s vision. Though his proud defense of Indian autonomy still reverberates in Indian ears, his policies face a growing chorus of crticism from those who wish to see India adopt stances that correspond to its cultural, military and economic potential. The critques have already begun to influence policy and further shifts in the role India conceives for itself in international affairs.
Read more:
The full text electronic article of Rahul Sagar is available for purchase. It costs $41.89 plus tax (http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bpl/inta/2009/00000085/00000004/art00009). However, a summary of the article titled, "Indian Foreign Policy in the 21st Century", is available at the website of CASI (Center for the Advanced Study of India of the University of Pennsylvania -- http://casi.ssc.upenn.edu/iit/sagar
1) Moralists who wish for India to serve as an exemplar of principled action (moral exceptionalism);
2) Hindu nationalists who want Indians to act as muscular defenders of Hindu civilization (martial vigor);
3) Strategists who advocate cultivating state power by developing strategic capabilities (state power); and
4) Liberals who seek prosperity and peace through increasing trade and interdependence (wealth).
EXCERPTS:
**There is growing consensus in India that the pursuit of moral prestige has proved unrewarding. The demanding vision of the Hindu nationalists enjoys only limited public support, and India’s political elite display little willingness to pursue the tough policies advocated by the country’s strategic community. Increasingly, it appears India will, if by default, pursue prosperity and peace, a strategy that promises to transform it to a great commercial power. However, if this quest is thwarted by external threats it is likely that a contrary dynamic will be set in motion, as calls to enhance India’s military power grow louder -- and are heeded more closely.
**The desire to act in a principled fashion (Moralists’ vision) has three implications: First, it implies that India will continue to look sceptically on alliances that threaten its freedom to act and speak as it wishes. A recent example of the diplomatic consequences of this independent streak is provided by the conflict between India and the US over Iran. Even though it shares the American concern about Iran’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons, and has twice voted with the US at the IAEA to refer Iran to the UN Security Council, India has repeatedly affirmed its desire to to pursue an independent policy vis-a-vis Iran, including the option of undertaking major energy projects in that country. A second implication of the desire to act in a principled fashion will be India’s continued leadership of coalitions endeavoring to ensure that international regimes do not undermine the interests of the developing world e.g. in the debate over the principles that should govern the distribution of costs and responsibilities for reducing environmental damage. The third implication of the desire to act in a principled fashion is that India will use civil means to challenge what it sees as discriminatory features of the international order e.g. on the nuclear issue. It is increasingly unclear whether India’s conduct will in fact continue to be shaped by Nehru’s vision. Though his proud defense of Indian autonomy still reverberates in Indian ears, his policies face a growing chorus of crticism from those who wish to see India adopt stances that correspond to its cultural, military and economic potential. The critques have already begun to influence policy and further shifts in the role India conceives for itself in international affairs.
Read more:
The full text electronic article of Rahul Sagar is available for purchase. It costs $41.89 plus tax (http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bpl/inta/2009/00000085/00000004/art00009). However, a summary of the article titled, "Indian Foreign Policy in the 21st Century", is available at the website of CASI (Center for the Advanced Study of India of the University of Pennsylvania -- http://casi.ssc.upenn.edu/iit/sagar
Books, Book Reviews: ‘Empire of Illusion’...Immigration, Islam, and the West by Christopher Caldwell,
Books of The Times
A Turning Tide in Europe as Islam Gains Ground
in Christopher Caldwell’s ‘Reflections on the Revolution in Europe’ - Review - NYTimes.com, August 2, 2009
By DWIGHT GARNER
Published: July 29, 2009
Christopher Caldwell’s “Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West” is a hot book presented under a cool, scholarly title. To observe that Mr. Caldwell’s rhetoric is “hot” is not to say that it is aggrieved or unruly. On the contrary, Mr. Caldwell, a senior editor at The Weekly Standard and a columnist for The Financial Times, compiles his arguments patiently, twig by twig, and mostly with lucidity and intellectual grace and even wit.
________________________________________________________________________
REFLECTIONS ON THE REVOLUTION IN EUROPE
Immigration, Islam, and the West
By Christopher Caldwell
422 pages. Doubleday. $30.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
But they are arguments one is not used to hearing put so baldly, at least from the West’s leading political journalists. Primary among them are these: Through decades of mass immigration to Europe’s hospitable cities and because of a strong disinclination to assimilate, Muslims are changing the face of Europe, perhaps decisively. These Muslim immigrants are not so much enhancing European culture as they are supplanting it. The products of an adversarial culture, these immigrants and their religion, Islam, are “patiently conquering Europe’s cities, street by street.”
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/books/30garner.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
* * * * *
Book Excerpt: ‘Empire of Illusion’Posted on Jul 30, 2009, from Truthdig - Arts and Culture
Read this brilliant and humorous chapter from Chris Hedges’ new book and marvel as the Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent makes sense of reality television.
Adapted from “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle,” available from Nation Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright © 2009.
Celebrity worship banishes reality. And this adulation is pervasive. It is dressed up in the language of the Christian Right, which builds around its leaders, people like Pat Robertson or Joel Olsteen, the aura of stardom, fame and celebrity power. These Christian celebrities travel in private jets and limousines. They are surrounded by retinues of bodyguards, have television programs where they cultivate the same false intimacy with the audience, and, like all successful celebrities, amass personal fortunes. The frenzy around political messiahs, or the devotion of millions of women to Oprah Winfrey, is all part of the yearning to see ourselves in those we worship. We seek to be like them. We seek to make them like us. If Jesus and The Purpose Driven Life won’t make us a celebrity, then Tony Robbins or positive psychologists or reality television will. We are waiting for our cue to walk onstage and be admired and envied, to become known and celebrated.
“What does the contemporary self want?” asked critic William Deresiewicz:
The camera has created a culture of celebrity; the computer is creating a culture of connectivity. As the two technologies converge —broadband tipping the Web from text to image; social-networking sites spreading the mesh of interconnection ever wider—the two cultures betray a common impulse. Celebrity and connectivity are both ways of becoming known. This is what the contemporary self wants. It wants to be recognized, wants to be connected: It wants to be visible. If not to the millions, on Survivor or Oprah, then to the hundreds, on Twitter or Facebook. This is the quality that validates us, this is how we become real to ourselves—by being seen by others. The great contemporary terror is anonymity. If Lionel Trilling was right, if the property that grounded the self in Romanticism was sincerity, and in modernism was authenticity, then in postmodernism it is visibility.
Read more:
http://www.truthdig.com:80/arts_culture/item/20090730_book_excerpt_empire_of_illusion/
A Turning Tide in Europe as Islam Gains Ground
in Christopher Caldwell’s ‘Reflections on the Revolution in Europe’ - Review - NYTimes.com, August 2, 2009
By DWIGHT GARNER
Published: July 29, 2009
Christopher Caldwell’s “Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West” is a hot book presented under a cool, scholarly title. To observe that Mr. Caldwell’s rhetoric is “hot” is not to say that it is aggrieved or unruly. On the contrary, Mr. Caldwell, a senior editor at The Weekly Standard and a columnist for The Financial Times, compiles his arguments patiently, twig by twig, and mostly with lucidity and intellectual grace and even wit.
________________________________________________________________________
REFLECTIONS ON THE REVOLUTION IN EUROPE
Immigration, Islam, and the West
By Christopher Caldwell
422 pages. Doubleday. $30.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
But they are arguments one is not used to hearing put so baldly, at least from the West’s leading political journalists. Primary among them are these: Through decades of mass immigration to Europe’s hospitable cities and because of a strong disinclination to assimilate, Muslims are changing the face of Europe, perhaps decisively. These Muslim immigrants are not so much enhancing European culture as they are supplanting it. The products of an adversarial culture, these immigrants and their religion, Islam, are “patiently conquering Europe’s cities, street by street.”
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/books/30garner.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
* * * * *
Book Excerpt: ‘Empire of Illusion’Posted on Jul 30, 2009, from Truthdig - Arts and Culture
Read this brilliant and humorous chapter from Chris Hedges’ new book and marvel as the Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent makes sense of reality television.
Adapted from “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle,” available from Nation Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright © 2009.
Celebrity worship banishes reality. And this adulation is pervasive. It is dressed up in the language of the Christian Right, which builds around its leaders, people like Pat Robertson or Joel Olsteen, the aura of stardom, fame and celebrity power. These Christian celebrities travel in private jets and limousines. They are surrounded by retinues of bodyguards, have television programs where they cultivate the same false intimacy with the audience, and, like all successful celebrities, amass personal fortunes. The frenzy around political messiahs, or the devotion of millions of women to Oprah Winfrey, is all part of the yearning to see ourselves in those we worship. We seek to be like them. We seek to make them like us. If Jesus and The Purpose Driven Life won’t make us a celebrity, then Tony Robbins or positive psychologists or reality television will. We are waiting for our cue to walk onstage and be admired and envied, to become known and celebrated.
“What does the contemporary self want?” asked critic William Deresiewicz:
The camera has created a culture of celebrity; the computer is creating a culture of connectivity. As the two technologies converge —broadband tipping the Web from text to image; social-networking sites spreading the mesh of interconnection ever wider—the two cultures betray a common impulse. Celebrity and connectivity are both ways of becoming known. This is what the contemporary self wants. It wants to be recognized, wants to be connected: It wants to be visible. If not to the millions, on Survivor or Oprah, then to the hundreds, on Twitter or Facebook. This is the quality that validates us, this is how we become real to ourselves—by being seen by others. The great contemporary terror is anonymity. If Lionel Trilling was right, if the property that grounded the self in Romanticism was sincerity, and in modernism was authenticity, then in postmodernism it is visibility.
Read more:
http://www.truthdig.com:80/arts_culture/item/20090730_book_excerpt_empire_of_illusion/
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