Manmohan Singh enjoys his Honeymoon period.
Meanwhile in Australia, Indians are being Hunted
Showing posts with label International Relation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label International Relation. Show all posts
Monday, June 08, 2009
Friday, October 10, 2008
US national debt clock runs out of digits
In a sign of the times, the National Debt Clock in New York City has run out of digits to record the growing figure. As a short-term fix, the digital dollar sign on the billboard-style clock near Times Square has been switched to a figure -- the "1" in $10 trillion. It's marking the federal government's current debt at about $10.2 trillion.
The Durst Organization says it plans to update the sign next year by adding two digits. That will make it capable of tracking debt up to a quadrillion dollars.
The late Manhattan real estate developer Seymour Durst put the sign up in 1989 to call attention to what was then a $2.7 trillion debt
Friday, July 04, 2008
Global Imbalance - An imminent Dollar Crisis
Lecture by CA M.R. Venkatesh, Chennai Part of INDIA RE-DISCOVERED A Seminar on Global Economy By SWADESHI JAGARAN MANCH and VISION INDIA TRUST
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Congress Decides to run for China Literally
After soccer star Baichung Bhutia, now Kiran Bedi has decided to pull out of the Olympic torch relay.
With Key Personalities pulling out of Olympic Torch relay, Congress Party has come out in full force to make the Olympic torch relay a success.
IOA President Suresh Kalmadi, who is in China, said that invitation had been sent to Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasada and Sachin Pilot and he himself would personally call them on his return. However, the star attraction would be the Crown Prince Rahul Gandhi Himself.
And why not, it seems that of late China is mighty pleased with Congress, Queen Sonia and Crown Prince Rahul Gandhi. Its only recently, A delegation from the Communist Party of China’s international cell visited Congress headquarters to propose a seminar in Beijing at the end of 2008 to commemorate 20 years of Rajiv Gandhi’s visit to China in 1988. The leader of the delegation, Li Jinjun, also formally proposed that Rahul Gandhi to head the Indian delegation. Its only Last year, Sonia Gandhi made a official Visit to china.
It seems for congress old habit (learn during Cacha Nehru's time) dies Hard, Even harder is to Learn Lessons....
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Aamir Khan should Walk the Talk....
AAmir khan who prides himself to be the torch
Hopefully AAmir Khan would use the same "moral yard Stick" on the issue of Olympic Torch/Tibet and Boycott this event to express solidarity with the Tibetan struggle for freedom from China.
Technorati Tags: China,India. International Relations
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
WE SHALL NOT BE COWED DOWN!
Today China threatened that it will not allow Olympic torch to passes through New Delhi next month if "if security is not foolproof ". I guess they were referring to the Tibetian protests in India supporting the Uprising in Tibet. The Olympic flame represents the basic spiritual significance of the Olympic Movement and it would be outrageous even to suggest that china would use this symbol to Armtwist India into submission!
China needs to realise and accept the fact that India is NOT china. We are worlds largest Democracy and our citizens enjoy their fundamentals rights provided by Constitution of India. it is the "Basic Right" of people here to protest and it would be outrageous for china to even suggest how we should be treating our citizens.
After the betrayal of 1962, China has using every opportunity to block india's rise on World Stage whether its proposed East Asia Summit(EAS) or Permanent Place in UN Security council! In case of EAS, China strongly disapproved of India's inclusion into the proposed. In fact so much so that, In early 2005, Beijing dispatched diplomats to Laos (then “country convener for India” within the ASEAN regional grouping) and other Southeast Asian countries to dissuade them from lobbying for India's Membership(albeit unsuccessfully). Having failed to keep India, Australia and New Zealand out of the EAS, the Chinese Foreign Ministry then came up with another proposal to keep them down. On the eve of the summit, Beijing proposed that the existing ASEAN Plus Three (APT), and not the new 16-member EAS, should be in the driver’s seat for the formation of a future community-building exercise. After arriving in Kuala Lumpur for the summit, Premier Wen Jiabao insisted that
“[t]he East Asian Summit should respect the desires of East Asian countries and should be led only by East Asian countries.”
In case of India's effort to get permanent place in UN Security Council, China gave leadership to the group opposing it! They conveniently forgot a historic debt China owes India. China managed a seat in the Security Council only because India, when invited to join the Security Council in 1955, declined in favor of its bigger neighbor.
India's then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru wrote in a letter to the country's top political leaders – explaining why he supported Beijing
"The first step to be taken is for China to take her rightful place, and then the question of India might be discussed separately,"
Chinas efforts to undermine India does not stop with here. In last several years, they have been arming Pakistan thru Missile and Nuclear technology to Keep India Bogged down in South Asia. not only Pakistan and—since 2005— Bangladesh that is being gifted nuclear teeth courtesy Beijing. In Burma, Apart from their listening post in Coco Islands, Beijing is developing the Sittwe port as a safe harbour both its merchant men as well as its battle ships. There are also reports—as yet unconfirmed—of a PRC electronic listening post in one of the Maldivian Atolls. It is more shocking iof we consider the fact that during the recent Tibetian unrest China stationed forces on the Nepalese side of the border with Tibet last week, in order to keep tabs on protests by Tibetans in Nepal !
Inspite of these Overwhelming Evidences on China's designs, our SHAMELESS and SPINELESS UPA Government has taken a position subservient to China!
When the entire democratic world condemned harsh Chinese crackdown on legitimate Tibetan protests in Lhasa, the best Indian Government could come up was an expression of “distress” over the “unsettled situation and violence” in Tibet and wanted the causes of trouble in the “autonomous region” of China to be resolved through dialogue and non-violent means.
Now it appears that the Vice President of India also have to take permission from China to meet a Person Staying in India!! Earlier there were some rumors that Vice President Hamid Ansari is set to meet the Dalai Lama, India’s “honoured guest”, when he visits New Delhi! However, GOI rushed in clarified that Vice President Hamid Ansari had no plans to meet the Dalai Lama!
More shameful is the action fo Chinese stooges in India Namely CPM and CPI! They even refused to utter a word against china. In fact, When Parties here should be worried of China Encircling India, The communist were more Worried about US using India to Encircle China! To counter this, Mr Karat Said
“We shall not rest in our fight till strategic ties with the US are snapped.”
The Citizens of this nation has lost all their hope from this Moth Eaten edifice called UPA Government! The patriotic Citizens of this nation should RISE and PROTEST! Let the thunder of protest shake the foundation of this Spineless UPA Government. Our fury should make the fifth columnist Shiver with fear ! Lets the foes think twice before they threaten our nation next time!
WE SHALL THUNDER "WE SHALL NOT BE COWED DOWN"
Vande Matram!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Like Kerala, USSR Commies also had closet Christians
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Communist leader who oversaw the collapse of the Soviet Union, has admitted for the first time that he is a Christian. The Communist leader was quoted as saying.
“St Francis is, for me, the alter Christus, the other Christ. His story fascinates me and has played a fundamental role in my life. It was through St Francis that I arrived at the Church, so it was important that I came to visit his tomb. I feel very emotional to be here at such an important place not only for the Catholic faith, but for all humanity,”
This interesting considering the long held belief that it was "Coke and Pope" who were primarily responsible for Downfall of USSR!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Tibet and Palestine: Why this double standard from GOI?
In a shameful incident, India has cracked down on protesting India-based Tibetans. GOI in a statement said
“The Government of India does not permit Tibetans to engage in anti-China political activities in India."
A leader of Tibetan activists, Chime Youngdrung condemned the crackdown and said
"We condemn this decision by the Indian authorities to treat these peaceful Tibetan marchers as criminals,"
India has in the past been sympathetic to the Tibetan cause but in recent years Delhi's relations with Beijing have improved and India has not allowed large-scale public protests for fear of embarrassing Beijing.
Meanwhile, Thousands of Chinese soldiers and police were surrounding two Buddhist monasteries in Lhasa yesterday in an effort to crush the biggest wave of street protests by Tibetan monks since the 1980s. The rare wave of demonstrations began on Monday when about 500 monks from Drepung monastery held a protest march in Lhasa to mark the 49th anniversary of a Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule.
Why is Government and the communist Watch Dogs not protesting against this? Why is GOI taking using a different standards when addressing Israel/Palestine issue. GOI has used strongest words to protest the Blockade of Gaza. The Muslim Organisations in India also protested against the happening in Gaza. In fact, GOI even readied a assistance package for Palestine. A spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs said
“The misery and hardship faced by the people of Palestine, especially in the Gaza Strip, is deplorable. India condemns the use of force on the civilian population of Palestine and calls upon all sides, including Israel, to exercise restraint.”
“A package of such assistance is being worked out and will be announced shortly. India also stands ready to help the peace process move forward,” said a spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.
While, Israel claims that the blockade of Gaza was to protect its citizens from Harm. They said
Since Hamas took over the Gaza strip in a coup in June last year, 697 Qassam rockets and 822 mortar shells have been fired on cities in Israel without provocation.
We can understand the position (or silence in this case) taken by Communists as they have to keep their masters happy but why is congress have such ballant double standards?
China making inroads in India's backyard, wooing Lanka
China has overtaken Japan and India among Sri Lanka's major donors, pumping over USD one billion in aid with no strings attached and is carrying out major development projects there, including a new port in the home town of President Mahinda Rajapakse.
China's "assistance " is double the India's contributions which stands at USD 500 million this year emblematic of a major shift from 20 years ago, when India was the only power center in the region.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Sins Rev. 02
The Vatican has released latest revision of ' sins. The latest variation has atleast got me all confused. The No. 01 sin on the new list is
`Bioethical' violations such as birth control
Over the centuries, the Roman Catholic Church has reasoned its opposition to mechanical birth control on the basis of natural law: i.e., God gave man his sexual pleasure with a reproductive string attached, and to separate one from the other is to thwart the will of God. In our own Kerala, The Catholic Church has given out a call to the laity on not to indulge in "childless pleasure-seeking". This spiritual advice on the worldly matter came in the form of a pastoral letter, which was read out in some 2,000 parishes in Kerala. Asking the faithful to indulge in procreation, the pastoral appeal says
"The Encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI based on the words from St John epistle, 'God is Love', deals with the sanctity of sexuality. The Pope likens sexuality as an exodus of man from the prison of his selfishness to a state of deliverance through self-giving."
From hereon things gets a bit confusing as 4th, 5th and 7th sin reads
4. Polluting the environment
5. Contributing to widening divide between rich and poor
7. Creating poverty
It is a well accepted fact that Poverty Causes Population Growth Causes Poverty. Most hungry people live in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, where populations have grown fastest in recent decades. Thee pressures of population compound the threat through deforestation, overgrazing, and depletion of fish stocks. The rural poor are often forced to live on fragile lands and waters that require sensitive resource management in the face of increasing degradation. The urban poor are exposed to disease and illness resulting from overcrowding and polluted living conditions. Population explosion also puts strain in limited resources of developing countries bring multitudes of problems such as educating growing numbers of children, creating jobs for swelling ranks of young job seekers, and dealing with the environmental effects of population growth.
In my humble opinion, the new revision of Sins is more suited for Developed countries. Its high time Vatican two versions of Sins Rev 02. Sins Rev 02 Ver. Developed Countries and Sins Ver. 02 Ver Developing Countries
Thursday, March 06, 2008
This century Asian century: UK
Addressing about 350 British ambassadors at the 'Foreign and Commonwealth Office Leadership Conference' UK Foreign secretary David Miliband has said
"In economic and military terms, the US will have at least another generation as the global superpower. Nevertheless, this century may come to be known as the Asian century,"
He asked British diplomats to reorient their world-view considering that power is moving from west to east, with the integration of China and India into the world economy.
I am sure UK has reasons to worry
Almost 100 years back, Jamsetji Tata, founder of the Tata group, was barred entry into Mumbai's swish Watson hotel, then the preserve of the white nabobs. Humiliated, Jamsetji vowed to create a hotel that would rival the Watson. The result was the Taj Mahal hotel at the Gateway, arguably one of India's best-known five-star hotels.
The Tata Group setup by Jamsetji Tata went on to acquire British Steel(Now Corus) Europe's second largest steel producer for long a symbol of British industrial nationalism.
Recently, British linguist, David Dalby, has predicted that India will soon become "the center of gravity of the English language," with the largest number of English speakers.
Now what do it mean to have "Largest Number of English Speakers". Professor David Crystal, one of the world's foremost experts and author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language explains
"In language, numbers count. There are more people speaking English in India than in the rest of the native English-speaking world. Even now, if you ring a call centre, often it's an Indian voice you hear at the end of the phone. As the Indian economy grows, so might the influence of Indian English,"
This will lead to Fragmentation of English Language, forcing speakers routinely to learn two varieties of the language — one spoken in their home country and a new kind of Standard English with pronounced Indian characteristics. The new Standard English's likely Indian characteristics would signify the end of the primacy of American English. Future users of global Standard English might routinely say
"I am thinking it's going to rain" rather than the British "I think it's going to rain"
With all the changes happening with English Speaking crowd, The old TV Sitcom Series "Mind Your Language" would become redundant. I guess there should be new "Mind Your Language" Series in this Brits should take the seat left vacant by Ranjeet Singh or Jamila Ranjha.
Technorati Tags: International,India
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Monday, March 03, 2008
India rise as Soft "Super" Power
It was Joseph S. Nye, Jr., former dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, who coined the phrase "Soft Power" a decade and a half back. Soft power
The soft power of a country rests primarily on three resources: its culture (in places where it is attractive to others), its political values (when it lives up to them at home and abroad), and its foreign policies (when they are seen as legitimate and having moral authority.)
Until recently, soft power was largely a US monopoly..It is generally believed that the Cold War was won as much by Voice of America, Motown and Hollywood as it was by Ronald Reagan's 'Star Wars' program.
Even before the arrival of Gorbachev back in the 1980s, Regis Debray, the French philosopher, champion of guerrilla warfare and pal of Che Guevara had presciently concluded that there was "more power in blue jeans and rock and roll than the entire Red Army." Michael Eisner of Disney was not off base when he said in 1995 that "...the Berlin Wall was destroyed not by force of Western arms, but by force of Western ideas. And what was the delivery system for those ideas? It has to be admitted that to an important degree it was American entertainment. Inherent in the best and worst of our movies and TV shows, books and records is a sense of individual freedom and the kind of life liberty can bring. It's in the movies of Steven Spielberg; it's in the songs of Madonna; it's in the humor of Bill Cosby."
In the immediate aftermath of the fall of communism, American soft power was at its height. MTV had gone where the CIA could never penetrate. The warblings of Michael Jackson and Madonna were the Muzak of the new world disorder, their visages glaring out from every corner of the globe like statues of Lenin in the old Soviet Union. The arrival of CNN and the English-dominated Internet secured the global conquest: America now dominated the metaworld of images, icons and information.
However, Affairs in Middle East changed all this. Now the position of US as "Sole Soft Super Power" has been undermined. This has resulted in Opinion Leaders like Nelson Mandela saying , "America is a threat to world peace."
For decades, any mention of India or China conjured up images of under-clothed, underfed and over-populated nations preaching a combination of socialist dogma and political revolution. To a Western world in the throes of post-war consumerism, they seemed hopelessly disconnected.
During the same time, India and China are acquiring soft powe
In a opinion poll conducted for the BBC by the international polling firm GlobeScan (http://www.globescan.com/) together with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland ranking the most popular or admired countries, India came second behind China for a 'significantly improved global stature.' Citizens of only 17 out of 26 countries gave India the rating of 'positive influence on the world.
The survey also suggested that five least admired countries in our world are ranked in order: (1) Israel (2) Iran (3) America (4) North Korea. In fact, its a revelation that USA was considered more Negative influence than North Korea(A prominent member of Bush's Axis of Evil)
It is a statement of India's rise as Soft "Super" Power when Indian movies like Monsoon Wedding were box-office successes in the US or when Tamil film "Muthu" attracts more than 127,000 viewers in a 23-week run, netting the theater about $1.7 million—its biggest gate of the year. So far, nearly 500,000 Japanese have paid to see "Muthu" either on the big screen or on video.
In fact, popularity of Bollywood actors can be gauged from the fact that Time Magazine called Shah Rukh Khan "probably the most recognizable actor in the world". In Damascus only publicly-displayed portraits that were as big as those of then-President Hafez al-Assad were those of Amitabh Bachchan. Ask any Malay(from Malaysia) teenager these days, and names like Hrithik Roshan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aishwariya Rai, Juhi Chawla roll down from their tongues without much difficulty.
India's achievements in the field of education are also being acclaimed internationally. According to former UN under Secretary General Shashi Tharoor "These days, the US puts the IITs on par with, say the MIT," If not anything it did manage to get David B eckham tattoo his wife's name in Hindi on his forearm six years ago.
The Indian food is so popular in England that Indian curry houses employ more people than the iron and steel, coal and shipbuilding industries combined!
India's use of soft power as a foreign policy tool was visible in Afghanistan after the Taliban fell. The then foreign minister, Jaswant Singh, was one of the first dignitaries to fly into Kabul. But unlike other visitors, Singh, who was eager for India to replace Pakistan as the neighbour of influence, packed his plane not with supplies of food or medicines, but with tapes of Hindi movies and music that were quickly distributed.
The Indian TV soap opera "Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi", dubbed into Dari, is telecast on Tolo TV. It's the most popular television show in Afghan history, considered directly responsible for a spike in the sale of generator sets and even for absences from religious functions which clash with its broadcast times.
One Reuters dispatch recounts how robbers in Mazar-i-Sharif stripped a vehicle of its wheels and mirrors recently during the telecast time and wrote on the car, in an allusion to the show's heroine, Tulsi Zindabad. That's soft power, and India does not have to thank the government or charge the taxpayer for its exercise. Instead, Indians too can simply say, Tulsi Zindabad
India has always believed it is a cultural superpower. Finally, the government is putting its money where its mouth is. The amounts are pitifully small, but it’s the thin end of the wedge. In his Budget speech, P Chidambaram gave out an extra Rs 75 crore to MEA’s culture wing, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, "to develop India’s soft power". The Rs 75 crore outlay is in addition to ICCR’s operating budget of Rs 77 crore. Together, this adds up to a pitiful Rs 152 crore, which doesn’t even begin to compare with say, the UK. The British Council gets a £190 million subsidy from the British foreign office, and its operating budget is £460 million (close to Rs 3,600 crore.)
India rise as Soft "Super" power will prevent a new generation of Indians from becoming "clones" of a dominant US culture. But we still have a long distance to travel, Still If we ask someone a question in Hindi on the train, for example, they reply in English just to show they know it. But We are quietly reasserting our identity.
Tail Piece: Effect of US Softpower on Russian President Boris Yeltsin
Friday, February 29, 2008
Republicans decry use of Obama's full Name "Barack Hussein Obama"
Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan formally denounced on Thursday the Tennessee Republican Party's use of Barack Obama's full name in a recent news release questioning the Illinois senator's commitment to Israel.
The statement in question, which was released Monday, said the state party is joining a "growing chorus of Americans concerned about the future of the nation of Israel ... if Sen. Barack Hussein Obama is elected president of the United States."
Role Reversal: Tatas gifts 65,000 books to poor US kids
The Tata Group North America has joined First Book, a non-profit organisation, in a programme to distribute 65,000 new books to children from low-income families across the US.
Second grade students from Dodge Park Elementary School in Maryland were the first students to receive the brand new books on Wednesday with the support of the Tatas.
Kyle Zimmer, president of First Book, said,
"First Book is tremendously grateful for the generous support of the Tata Group and its companies, which will help to share the joy of reading and learning with thousands of children in need across the United States".
Signs of Changing times?
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Obama and the Trinity United Church of Christ
Barack Obama states that he has been an active member of Trinity United Church of Christ for the last twenty years. No problem with his belief's but the website of the Trinity United Church of Christ has several revealing and Interesting written postings
This from the TUCC website –
We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian... Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain "true to our native land," the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism. It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community.
The Pastor as well as the membership of Trinity United Church of Christ is committed to a 10-point Vision:
- A congregation committed to ADORATION.
- A congregation preaching SALVATION.
- A congregation actively seeking RECONCILIATION.
- A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA.
- A congregation committed to BIBLICAL EDUCATION.
- A congregation committed to CULTURAL EDUCATION.
- A congregation committed to the HISTORICAL EDUCATION OF AFRICAN PEOPLE IN DIASPORA.
- A congregation committed to LIBERATION.
- A congregation committed to RESTORATION.
- A congregation working towards ECONOMIC PARITY.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Obama dressed as Somali Elder
The Associated Press photograph portraying Obama wearing a white turban and a 
Monday, February 25, 2008
How cartoons caused total shutdown of YouTube for two hours
YouTube suffered a system-wide outage on Sunday that lasted two hours according to Keynote Systems, which measures Web site performance.
The BBC reported that Pakistan's attempts to block access to YouTube may have been inadvertently been responsible for the outage. Earlier in the day, Pakistan shutoff access to the video site to its country's residents in response to the posting of cartoon.
The BBC Web site's technology editor, Darren Waters, says that it's likely that--to prevent Pakistan's residents from accessing the site--Pakistan Telecom hijacked YouTube's IP and passed that information on the country's Internet service providers so that queries to YouTube would be redirected. However, the details were apparently leaked by Asian ISP PCCW, leading to the global blackout, the BCC reported.
Reminds me of Famous Nana Patekar Dialogue "Saala Ek Machar, Admi ko Hijra banadeta hai"
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Undersea Internet Cable disruption, A Sabotage?
Recent Internet outages have affected 85 million users in Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.
The trouble began on 30 January 2008 when two cables were cut off the Egyptian Mediterranean coast, disrupting Internet and telephone traffic in India and Several Middle Eastern Countries. The two cut cables "accounted for as much as three-quarters of the international communications between Europe and the Middle East." These cuts were initially attributed to dragging ship anchors caused by rough waters in the eastern Mediterranean. But later, the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said video footage of coastal waters in the region of the two cables showed there was no ship traffic for 12 hours preceding and 12 hours following the time of the cable cuts.
A few days later, another undersea cable was found cut in the Persian Gulf, 55 kilometers off Dubai. It was followed by reports of another damaged undersea cable between Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Soon another report mentioned a cut undersea cable running through the Suez to Sri Lanka. The Khaleej Times reported on February 4, 2008 that as many as five undersea cables were damaged, including a cable in the Persian Gulf near Bandar Abbas, Iran; and SeaMeWe4 undersea cable near Penang, Malaysia.
There is no logical explanation for the sudden damage to nearly five undersea cables in the course of a week.
Was it sheer coincidence that Iran government’s planned to inaugurate its Iran Oil Bourse between Feb. 1 and 11 for trade in ‘non-dollar currencies’. If Iran manages to open its own Oil Bourse, there is a very good possibility that GCC will trade there on account of geographic proximity. This will make Iran the main hub for oil deals in the Middle East. A functional Iranian Oil Bourse, selling oil tankers in non-dollar currencies, would be a terrible snub to America.
The "Iran Oil Bourse (IOB)" system is planned to work as a "Peer to Peer" network using the Internet rather than the traditional centralized method to avoid the market manipulation by intermediary traders which affects other oil trading centres. With complete elimination of Internet connectivity to Iran , this launch may have been severely disrupted.It would also put doubts on the mind of potential users on the reliability of the system.
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