Parliamentary Ramp Exposes the Naked Flesh of the Comrador Polity!
Dr Manmohan Sing is not afraid at all as he knws that the opposition is nothing but a Political Ritual only
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: alashbiswaskl@gmail.com">palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
How vile and despicable war seems to me! I would rather be hacked to pieces than take part in such an abominable business. – Albert Einstein
Times Now.tv
Maoists down, but certainly not out in Andhra
Sify - 3 hours ago
Hyderabad: With the bid on the life of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Janardhan Reddy and his minister wife N Rajyalakshmi early Friday, the Maoists have once again tried to give a message that they may be down but not certainly out in their ...
Janardhan Reddy and his wife escapes unhurt in landmine blast Newstrack India
Former AP CM, wife survive Naxal attack, 3 killed CNN-IBN
Eight yrs on, Nawaz says Kargil was a mistake
http://in.news.yahoo.com/070907/211/6kgms.html
Shilpa scorches ramp, adds star power at WIFW
http://in.news.yahoo.com/070907/211/6kgp5.html
Full coverage: Indo-US nuclear deal
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14506248
Confident ISRO targets global launch market
Sify - 4 Sep 2007
Sriharikota: Its confidence further boosted after a successful satellite launch on Sunday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said is was targeting 5-10 per cent of the global satellite launch market.
INSAT-4CR’s orbit raised Hindu
INSAT-4CR will be commissioned in one month: Madhavan Nair
Parliamentary Ramp Exposes the Naked Flesh of the Comrador Polity!
President Bush has threatened Nuclear Holocaust against Iran and the US nuclear strike power is on an alert! Bomber plane transferred the missiles carrying nuclear warhead. Sovereignity and freedom demand rather an awakened polity and what we have got!The purpose of Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Safari's visit to the Capital was to brief the Indian government about developments related to Iran's nuclear issue, the External Affairs Ministry spokesman said on Friday. In meetings with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, National Security Advisor MK Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon on Friday, Safari briefed them on recent discussions Iran has held with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The great Indian laughter show should take some inspiration fro this epidode of Mid summer Night Dream, a classic interantional comedy while New Delhi as well as the counterpart washington are engaged to deny the very existence of Asian Nato. Indian Ocean is captured. the subcontinent is bleeding. pakistan is going to be attacked and bangladesh is captured. The post modern Mnusmriti Order has transformed this divided geopoltics into a US colony ruled by MNCs and comradors.A top US navy commander involved in Indian Ocean wargames said Friday the exercises were not aimed at sending a message to either China or Iran.Seventh Fleet commander William Crowder was speaking aboard USS Kitty Hawk, the US navy's second largest supercarrier, as the six-day exercises hosted by India that began on Tuesday neared a close.
"There is no connection between these manoeuvres and anything else," Crowder said in reply to reporters' questions over whether the wargames were intended to send signals to Tehran and Beijing.
War against Terrorism is on. Prevails the Brahminical hegemony with Hyderabad Serial blast and the ruling class justifies the strategic regrouping with US lead including Japan and Israel despite Left and Right WWF show and vote bank mobilisation with Muslim appeasement!Even as inflation fell to a 16-month low, Reserve Bank Governor YV Reddy on Friday said the monetary policy will remain vigilant and pro-active to ensure global uncertainties do not affect the country's economic ...Osama bin Laden plans to emerge from the shadows to taunt the United States again in a video message marking the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, US-based monitoring services and a militant website said. Thus, no way is left to restrict US strike power to eject out Laden in wajiristan! Hindutva Brahminical Ruling class sees this as a rare chance of strategic milage to go ahead towards Hindu super Power India!
What a shining India!
What may we expect from the so called mainstream media vying for FDI, TRP and sponsorship! Porn, scandal and videotapes—Live India channel’s sting operation against Delhi schoolteacher Uma Khurana, who was allegedly pushing her students into prostitution, had all the elements for attracting viewers. But the sting has now fallen apart. A girl who posed as the victim of a sex racket in the sting is under judicial custody. The reporter who carried out the sting operation is under arrest. The channel says it stands by its story but may have made mistakes.
Sting operation falls apart but channel isn't sorry
http://ibnlive.com/videos/48241/sting-operation-falls-apart-but-channel-isnt-sorry.html
The BJP stuck to its stand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Indo-US nuclear deal, indicating it would not allow Parliament to function for another day over the issue while veteran CPM leader Jyoti Basu on Friday rubbished a suggestion that Left parties have softened their stand on the Indo-US nuclear deal. The Left parties have already given a stern warning to the government not to go ahead with operationalising the Indo-US nuclear deal till the committee came out with its findings.An unyielding opposition Friday continued to disrupt the proceedings of parliament demanding a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) on the India-US civil nuclear deal and forced adjournments of both houses without transacting any ...On the other hand,In its first official response to the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement, China on Thursday highlighted nuclear proliferation concerns and one of the potential hurdles to the deal, but did not categorically state that it would block the deal. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said in Beijing that China had “noted that within the Nuclear Suppliers Group there are different views about relaxing the restrictions on nuclear exports to India.”
Taking its campaign against the Indo-US nuclear deal to MPs across the spectrum, the CPI-M today asked the Government not to "rush through" with next steps to operationalise it and insisted on ratification of all treaties and agreements by Parliament.
"The objections and the apprehensions raised by the Left parties and other parties, organisations and concerned scientists and citizens need to be examined before proceeding further," the central committee of the party said in a four-page 'open letter' to MPs.
It also claimed that several provisions of the US law on the agreement were "contrary" to the assurances given by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Under the terms set out by the Hyde Act, it was clear that the Indo-US nuclear cooperation would not cover the "entire nuclear fuel cycle".
It denies cooperation or access in any form whatsoever to fuel enrichment, reprocessing and water production technologies, the party said.
Warning that the US does not see the agreement as a stand-alone one, the party said it was part of "American design to try in India a wide-ranging strategic alliance which will adversely affect the pursuit of an independent foreign policy and our strategic autonomy".
Indian industry continues to reel under acute shortage of skilled manpower, says a survey done by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).Reports IBNlive. The survey also highlighted a glaring manpower crunch in the health sector and according to FICCI, acute shortage of doctors is expected over the next few years, especially anaesthetists, radiologists, gynaecologists and surgeons (particularly neurosurgeons). In the biotechnology sector alone the shortage of doctorate and post doctorate scientists is a whopping 80 percent, says the survey done by FICCI which is based on feedback from 20 industry sectors. Similarly, the food processing industry faces immense scarcity of refrigeration mechanics, electricians, agricultural scientists, coupled with shortage of certificate holders and people trained in short term courses.Large gaps would emerge over the next few years in areas like basic cardiac life support, advanced cardiac life support and advanced trauma life support including shortage of trained nurses.
"It is out of question," Basu, a CPM Politburo member said when a reporter asked him whether the Left had softened its stand on the nuke deal.
The CPM Poltiburo meeting on September 28, 2007 would be followed by a three-day meeting of the party's central committee from September 29, which would discuss the nuclear issue, he said.
Responding to another query, Basu said he could not predict the outcome of the UPA-Left committee on the deal to address the concerns of Left parties. "How can I say? Am I an expert?" he said.
World Bank slave Comrador Dr Manmohan Sing is not afraid at all as he knws that the opposition is nothing but a Political Ritual only.
Thus the Prime Minister goes ahead with operationalisation of INdo US Nuke deal as well as strategic regroupin with US Lead.
Amidst the raging controversy over the Indo-US nuke deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the country should not dither because of "fear of some ghosts in our mind", lamenting that the polity was far too obsessed with the past and ignorant about the future.
"The world is looking at India with renewed hope, as it did in the first decade after Independence. This is our moment, let us not dither, let us not shy away in fear of some ghosts in our mind so that India may truly make its tryst with destiny," Singh said felicitating Madhya Pradesh Governor Balram Jakhar on his 85th birth anniversary here.
Observing that the country needed people of courage and conviction in public life, the Prime Minister said that far too much of political life was focused on the here and now and far too much of political discourse was obsessed with the past and ignorant about the future.
"We need people who can think into the future and look to the challenges of tomorrow and take the country forward. If we remain divided, defensive, disruptive in our discourse, our children and grand children will not forgive us. They will find us wanting in the scale of history for not having had the courage to grapple with the real challenges of today," Singh said.
Singh said "our people expect great things from us, for that is why they still have faith in the institutions of democracy." Describing Jakhar as a "towering" personality, Prrsident Pratibha Patil said in whatever capacity that he has worked, he has brought honour and prestige to each position.
Jyoti Basu Friday scoffed at Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's decision to step out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) saying, 'she practised politics of opportunity'.
'Mamata has always practised politics of opportunity. Even the Congress follows the same practice. That is why it has now warmed up to her and wants to join hands with her party,' Basu told reporters here.
'The Trinamool Congress chief has never followed principles in life. Sometime back she had aligned with Congress, which she quit to join NDA. No one can be sure what she is up to,' he added.
Basu said it was surprising that people still vote for her. 'We have to go to the people who vote for Trinamool Congress and win them over,' he said.
Mamata Banerjee had announced her decision to sever ties with the NDA Thursday at a gathering of the Madrassa students union. She did not cite any reason except that her party wanted to build an independent identity and stand on its own. She said she had joined NDA out of deep respect for former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
One more day passed again with barely 15 minutes of work in the Parliament, as slogan shouting by the opposition BJP and the UNPA members over the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to review the nuke deal led to the adjournment of both the Houses.
The BJP has made it clear that unless the UPA Government accede to their demand of setting a JPC to review the Indo-Us nuclear deal, they would continue stalling the Parliament.
"Our demands remain intact," said senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra.
The BJP is demanding scrapping of the 15-member UPA-Left panel, which has been constituted to look into the Left parties concern over the bilateral nuclear deal, and has demanded holding debate on the nuclear deal under those sections that entail voting in the Parliament, apart from setting up of a JPC to review the deal.
Friday was no different from the last two days when the BJP did not allow any Parliamentary business to take place.
"It's a war of nerves,'' senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said in her reply to a question that how long it would go when the UPA Government has already categorically rejected BJP's demand for constituting a JPC.
The UPA Government has contended that Constitution does not provide any law that entails setting up a JPC to review an agreement with a foreign country.
Left set to demysitfy nuke-deal
Sandeep Phukan
Friday, September 7, 2007 (Ongole)
The debate on the nuclear deal may be the big issue in parliament or spark any number of talk show debates but away from our big cities does anyone really understand what the nuclear deal is all about.
If the Indo-US nuclear deal is what's going to be the reason for a mid-term poll, then it has to be demystified.
And that's what the Left is doing on its mission through 4 states, translating the 123 Agreement into the 1-2-3 of elections, bijli, sadak, pani.
''The congress will come to you, saying there will be a lot of electricity. But that's not true.
''Our calculations show, even before it is distributed, the cost of one unit of power will be Rupees 5.50. This power is not meant for you,'' said Prakash Karat, General Secretary, CPI(M).
But even after the demystification, do people really care about the Indo-US nuclear deal or the on-going naval exercise?
We let the local CPM leader answer that.
''For four months, we are struggling for land. The Indo-US nuclear deal is a very big loss to India.
''Hyde Amendment is very bad one, everyone will depend on US,'' said B Venkatashwara Rao, Local CPM Leader.
In Andhra Pradesh, where the number of farmer suicides reflects the state of agriculture, people seem to have bigger problems.
''The Congress government has not given me any loan. I have got it from the State Bank of India.
''We will not support the congress this time. We will vote the Telegudesam party, NTR's party,'' said K V Raju, Farmer.
In Peddakakane tehsil of Guntur district over 500 families have forcibly occupied 5 acres of government land, demanding land for the landless.
''We want land and we are stand on guard all night, so that we are not evicted,'' said a female protestor.
But the Left is sure, its on the right track.
''The media in Delhi told us none will understand American imperialism but we told them that people will understand us,'' said Karat.
If elections are all about popular mandate, then have no doubt, elections are also about popular issues.
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070025391&ch=9/7/2007%209:43:00%20PM
George Bush thinks the APEC is OPEC!
Sydney, Sept 07: U.S. President George W. Bush today committed a couple of faux pas at the ongoing APEC Summit here.
He first began his speech by thanking "Austrian" Prime Minister John Howard, in front of a summit of business leaders, and then praised Howard for being a kind OPEC host, reported media.
OPEC is the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Bush, who flew halfway around the world to be in Australia, not Austria, for the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit, thanked Howard for his introduction and for being such a "kind host" for the OPEC summit.
"I mean APEC summit. I've been invited to the OPEC summit next year. The APEC summit," Bush said, leading to laughter from his audience. As if that was not enough, Bush also referred to Howard's visit to Iraq in 2006 as a thank you to "the Austrian troops there".
Mr Bush also stumbled over his pronunciation of Jemaah Islamiah, the regional terror network, but had no trouble with its abbreviation - JI. Upon finishing his speech, Mr Bush took the wrong way off-stage and, looking slightly perplexed, had to be redirected by Howard to a centre-stage exit.
http://zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=393570&sid=LIF&ssid=68&news=George%20Bush%20thinks%20the%20APEC%20is%20OPEC!
It's easier to get a passport now
CNN-IBN
New Delhi: Getting a passport is easier now. Starting October, the Government will open 68 new passport offices across the country.Managed by private players, these offices will issue passports within three days of police verification.
Tatkaal passports and a change of address in existing passports will be made the same day. However, a change in name will take three days.The Emigration Check Not Required (ECNR) stamp on your passports will no longer be needed.Announcing the decision, Union Minister and Cabinet spokesperson Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said the service providers, who would handle the front-end activities, would be allowed to levy a fee over and above the Government fee for each of the services rendered by them to enable them to recover the costs.
U.S. sees India as partner in global naval alliance
ABOARD USS KITTY HAWK, Bay of Bengal (Reuters) - The United States hopes to build an alliance with friendly navies such as India's to form a global force of 1,000 ships and boost maritime security, a top U.S. naval commander said on Friday.
But Washington's naval cooperation with New Delhi is not intended to send a signal to Beijing and the U.S. navy was not looking to build a base in the Indian Ocean region, Vice-Admiral Doug Crowder said.
The comments by Crowder, commander of the Seventh Fleet, came midway through wargames involving five nations, led by the United States and India, in the Bay of Bengal, one of the biggest such peacetime exercises which has raised the hackles of China.
"We all have common interests in keeping the oceans of the world open, free for commerce," Crowder told reporters on board the U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. "But the United States navy just isn't large enough to do that."
"We have to find common cause and every nation's sovereignty is protected. They join us for those missions they have a common interest in ... anti-piracy, humanitarian relief, security of the sea lanes."
The six-day wargames which began on Tuesday, involving nearly 30 ships and over 100 aircraft, is the latest in a series called the "Malabar Exercise", first held in the mid-1990s between Indian and U.S. forces.
India's navy now has around 140 ships, compared with about 280 in the U.S. navy.
This year the drill has been expanded to include a few ships from Australia, Japan and Singapore in what some analysts see as a new alliance of democracies ranged against the growing military might of China.
Although top officials from countries involved in the wargames have assured Beijing that it is not the focus of the exercise, China remains concerned by what it sees as a new security alliance that aims to encircle it.
Crowder sought to once again underplay the strategic significance of the wargames, held not far from a Myanmar island where China is believed to have a military listening post.
"This was not put together as a signal against anyone," Crowder said.
Asked if Washington was looking to build new bases in the Indian Ocean region due to growing tensions in the Persian Gulf region and cooperation with navies such as India's, he said:
"We're not looking to be in any certain place. We maintain the flexibility to take this fleet wherever we need to take it."
BJP still undecided about PM candidate
Hindu - 1 hour ago
New Delhi, Sept. 7 (PTI): The BJP, which has declared that it has launched itself into an election mode, is yet undecided about its candidate for the prime minister's post in the event of a snap poll.
Sinha clarifies stand on PM-in-waiting NDTV.com
Bullish on growth, complexity a challenge: Reddy
Business Standard - 2 hours ago
YV Reddy, Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), today reiterated the growth story of India. "There is growing evidence that the upward shift in growth trajectory in India is of enduring nature as it is supported by high saving and investment rates, ...
Indian inflation falls to 16-month low, fuels hopes of lower rates Economic Times
Cheaper food products and some manufactured items dragged ... NDTV.com
Mukand land deal returns to haunt Rane
Economic Times - 15 hours ago
MUMBAI: A Politically marginalised Narayan Rane, the state revenue minister, may be in for further trouble, for being generous towards Mukand, a steel company.
Bombay HC dismisses Sahara Samay
Laden plans new video ahead of Sept. 11 anniversary
http://content.msn.co.in/News/International/InternationalAP_070907_1147
Friday, September 07, 2007
11:47 IST
Cairo: Osama bin Laden will release a new video in the coming days ahead of the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in what would be the first new images of the terror mastermind in nearly three years, al Qaeda's media arm announced.
The White House said on Thursday that any new video from Laden would serve to highlight threats the West faces.
Analysts noted that al Qaeda tends to mark the Sept. 11 anniversary with a slew of messages, and the Department of Homeland Security said it had no credible information warning of an imminent threat to the United States.
Still, Laden's appearance would be significant.
The al Qaeda leader has not appeared in new video footage since October 2004, and he has not put out a new audiotape in more than a year, his longest period without a message.
One difference in his appearance was immediately obvious. The announcement had a still photo from the coming video, showing Laden addressing the camera, his beard fully black.
In his past videos, Laden's beard was almost entirely gray with dark streaks.
Laden's beard appears to have been dyed, a popular practice among Arab leaders, said Rita Katz, director of the SITE Institute, a Washington-based group that monitors terror messages.
''I think it works for their benefit that he looks young, he looks healthy,'' Katz said.
The announcement and photo appeared in a banner advertisement on an Islamic militant Web site where al Qaeda's media arm, Al-Sahab, frequently posts messages.
''Soon, God willing, a videotape from the lion sheik Osama bin Laden, God preserve him,'' the advertisement read, signed by Al-Sahab. Such announcements are usually put out one to three days before the video is posted on the Web.
Pakistan is no haven for terrorists: Musharraf
Islamabad, Set 7 (DPA) President Pervez Musharraf has warned of the threat of Pakistan becoming a safe haven for foreign terrorists, national media reported Friday.
'(People) carry out terrorist activities in other countries and then seek refuge here. Let us not make Pakistan a soft state where law and order cannot be maintained,' Musharraf said on state television late Thursday.
The president was speaking a day after German authorities said they arrested three suspected terrorists who had received training in Pakistan in 2006 and were planning a series of bomb attacks against US citizens.
German prosecutors said Wednesday that the two German converts to Islam and a Turkish Muslim belonged to an Uzbek-linked extremist group and had amassed the same explosive materials used to kill 52 people in the July 2005 attacks on London's public transport system.
While the foreign Mmnistry in Islamabad denies the existence of terrorist training camps in Pakistan, Musharraf acknowledged that al-Qaeda members, mainly Arabs and Uzbeks, and Taliban insurgents were active in the country.
The US-allied military ruler urged the nation to take a firm stand against terrorism and extremism, warning that otherwise, 'Pakistan's future will remain at stake.'
His country was not only the source of terrorism but also its victim, Musharraf stressed, two days after suicide bombers targeted intelligence officials in Islamabad's twin city of Rawalpindi, killing some 30 people and injuring 60.
The bombings were the latest in a series of attacks by suspected pro-Taliban militants operating in the mountainous tribal areas by the border with Afghanistan.
US intelligence claims the region has emerged as a refuge for Osama bin Laden's reconstituted al-Qaeda network.
Pakistan has deployed almost 90,000 troops down the frontier to try to stem militant and terrorist activities.
Six Bangla detained professors suspended
Dhaka, Sept 7 (ANI): Bangladesh's Rajshahi University (RU) has suspended six professors, who were allegedly involved with the last month's campus protest for restoring democracy in the country.
All the six teachers are presently detained in the case for violation of Emergency Power Rules.
The university took the action against former Vice Chancellor Professor M Saidur Rahman Khan and other professors, including Prof. M Abdus Sobhan, Prof. Moloy Kumar Bhowmik, Dulal Chandra Biswas, Sayed Selim Reza Newton and Abdullah Al Mamun on Thursday.
Rapid Action Battalion arrested three of them on August 24, while the others surrendered before a court on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Rajshahi Metropolitan Magistrate's Court yesterday issued arrest warrant against 13 people, including two more RU professors and ordered attachment of their properties in the case for torching a Director General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) vehicle during campus violence on August 22.
Bullets vs. Ballots: Foreign policy decision-making in China and India
Dr. Bhartendu Kumar Singh
The recent statement by a prominent politician, that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would have been shot with a single bullet for "bluffing" the nation over the Indo-US nuclear deal had he been the premier of China, has added a new dimension to the hotly-debated nuclear deal. Keeping aside the appropriateness of such a statement coming from a seasoned politician, it draws attention to the arbitrariness and the absence of accountability in the Chinese foreign policy decision-making.
China, yet to undergo a democratic transition, is an erratic state with a frustrated society suffering from what Lucian W. Pye has called 'emotional quietism'. On vital issues of national and international importance, the Chinese central authorities take all policy decisions by themselves and issue orders to a passive society. Very little space exists for non-state actors, research institutions and even media to play a constructive role and provide feedback mechanism to the government. Instead, they are forced to disseminate official views as public opinion and sell it to an economically rich but 'politically impoverished' society. Of course there is no question of an opposition political party. Therefore, the possibility of any action against say the head of the Chinese Government , as suggested by a leading political authority in Delhi, is both ludicrous and naive.
The arrogance and arbitrariness of the Chinese political elite is particularly noticeable in foreign policy issues. Since Mao's days, it has been the privilege of a select few to decide on key issues. A classic example is China's decision to attack India in 1962. For a long time, scholars like Neville Maxwell, supported by some elements in India, squarely blamed Nehru for his so-called forward policy that led to a war between the two countries. But recent researches prove beyond doubt that it was Mao's decision based on personal calculations to raise his own profile in international relations.
The absence of democracy and transparency aggravates the problem of arbitrariness in China. For example, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) exercises an extra-ordinary influence on the Chinese foreign policy decision-making. Many of its generals hold senior positions in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the government. Partly for this reason, China has an aggressive strategic culture and a history of wars and skirmishes with its neighbours. Perhaps, the PLA's belligerence also explains the protracted negation of the Sino-Indian border dispute without any resolution in sight.
Such arbitrary and extra-constitutional influences are difficult, if not impossible, in Indian circumstances. Call it the bane or boon of the Indian democracy, a plethora of views are engendered on any issue of national importance. While the standard models of decision-making process such as rational, bureaucratic or organizational model may or may not be applicable in all cases, the different prisms used to judge and debate issues help in the emergence of a consensus opinion and ensures greatest happiness of the greatest number. This is more so in the realm of foreign policy that is characterized by consensus and compromise. On all foreign policy issues concerning India such as improving relations with its neighbours, the great powers, non-alignment and so on, all political parties have broadly toed a common line, more so when they were in power. When the Indo-Bangladesh Water Treaty was being negotiated by the Deve Gowda government, the BJP opposed it. It was, however, the BJP-led NDA government that implemented the treaty and ensured one of the best phases of Indo-Bangladesh relations. Similarly, it was the NDA government that punched the nuclear apartheid against India in late nineties, then not appreciated by the major opposition parties.
Through the Indo-US nuclear deal, the UPA government has only given finishing touches to a process started by its predecessor. It is definitely not an arbitrary and unilateral decision, as has been alleged and as the Chinese do. The issue was there for a long time in public domain and had been in the limelight ever since July 2005. All mainstream parties would have taken similar steps had they been in power. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has managed a deal that is rational, fair and just and carries forward the consensus tradition in Indian foreign policy.
China is a role model for economic reforms and there are certain things that a country can learn from it. But this is also a country that suffers from democratic deficit having spillover effects on many other things such as decision-making. As long as China remains an authoritarian country with one party system, decision-making would continue to be centralized, non-transparent, arbitrary and a privilege of the few. Purges and executions could be a logical corollary. It cannot be a match to India's pluralist-democratic culture and a transparent way of making decisions. India need not take a lesson in decision-making from China. Hence, while quoting examples from China, our politicians should be cautious and admire it for the right reasons. Statements that show their ignorance about China or any other country will only cause them embarrassment!
http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=3068
With 12 firms, India tops Forbes list of Asia's Fabulous 50
Washington, Sep 7 (IANS) India has more companies on the latest listing of 50 biggest firms in the Asia Pacific region compiled by Forbes magazine, including four of its biggest information technology outsourcers.
Out of the other eight companies that make the business magazine's third annual 'Fabulous 50' list, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel are growing fast by reaching out to India's rural customers and not to the Western markets.
Others, such as Grasim, Larsen and Toubro and Reliance, are shoring up the country's infrastructure at a furious pace.
Also of note, the Fabulous 50 companies are on an acquisition spree. Tata Steel bought Britain's Corus Group, despite being much larger in size and the price tag of $13 billion. Corus includes the remnants of British Steel. 'The irony was not lost in India,' Forbes said.
Seven of the companies on the Forbes list come from China. That is more than in any previous year. China may be the workshop of the world, but all its companies featured rely on domestic customers, the magazine noted.
To compile its list, Forbes looked at long-term profitability, sales, earnings growth, stock price appreciation and projected earnings for every company in the region with revenues or market capitalisation of at least $5 billion.
