Wednesday, October 15, 2008
India to react swiftly if needed, economy strong
India is watching the global financial crisis closely, and will react swiftly to the needs of the market and will take steps to pump in cash if required, its finance minister said on October 8.
The statement was the latest attempt by Indian policymakers to calm rattled markets, with the benchmark share index down 44 percent this year and the rupee at its weakest in six years as investors pull funds from higher risk emerging markets amid fears of a global recession.
The comments, issued by the cabinet of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after a meeting to review the financial situation, came just hours after the U.S. Federal Reserve led central banks in a round of rate cuts aimed at staving off economic contraction.
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The statement was the latest attempt by Indian policymakers to calm rattled markets, with the benchmark share index down 44 percent this year and the rupee at its weakest in six years as investors pull funds from higher risk emerging markets amid fears of a global recession.
The comments, issued by the cabinet of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after a meeting to review the financial situation, came just hours after the U.S. Federal Reserve led central banks in a round of rate cuts aimed at staving off economic contraction.
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Labels: benchmark index, Europe economies, finance minister, financial crisis, financial turmoil, india, Indian policymakers, market, rupee, share, Trade Minister Kamal Nath
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
170 finds of Roman coins in India reported so far, how many more went unreported?
What heart doesn't beat faster at the thought of digging up lost treasure? Yet, the frequency with which hoards of Roman coins have been dug up in India has made news of such discovery commonplace, and the news rarely find a place in the media.The Hindu of Chennai is an exception, as it is on many other counts. On Sunday, June 20, 1998, it carried a story by its Staff Reporter in Madurai:
"A team of archaeologists, which examined the Roman gold coins found recently at Nathampatti village near Srivilliputhur, was able to assess the exact date of the coins and the kings who issued them. According to a press release from Mr. C. Santhalingam, the Archaeological Officer of Tirumalai Naicker Mahal in Chennai, the three-member team comprising Mr. V.Vedachalam, Mr. C. Santhalingam and Mr. C.Chandravanan, under the directions of Mr. Natana. Kasinathan, Director of Archaeology, examined the coins.
"The coins were unearthed when the local people were engaged in laying water pipes. They (obviously, the coins - not the pipe-layers) were handed over to the police.
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Labels: archaeologists, chennai, coins, discovery, india, Madurai, media, Nathampatti village, Roman gold coins, Srivilliputhur, treasure, water pipes
Monday, October 13, 2008
President Bush invites hundreds to formal signing of law on nuclear deal
President Bush invited more than 100 Indian Americans plus a host of business representatives and others to the White House October 8, to witness his triumphant signing into law of the U.S.-India civil nuclear cooperation agreement. He called the two countries "natural partners" that fought colonialism to establish vibrant democracies, encourage private enterprise, and now, to jointly fight terrorists. He offered a Diwali prayer for expanding bilateral relations before signing the dotted line.
The President also countered critics in India who have said external clauses Congress had inserted would jeopardize India's independence.
The bill, H.R. 7081, United States-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Nonproliferation Enhancement Act, establishes the legal framework for the 123 Agreement to come into effect. The 123 Agreement lays out the details and obligations of the nuclear trade relationship ."The bill makes clear that our agreement with India is consistent with the Atomic Energy Act and other elements of U.S. law," the President emphasized before the signing.
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The President also countered critics in India who have said external clauses Congress had inserted would jeopardize India's independence.
The bill, H.R. 7081, United States-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Nonproliferation Enhancement Act, establishes the legal framework for the 123 Agreement to come into effect. The 123 Agreement lays out the details and obligations of the nuclear trade relationship ."The bill makes clear that our agreement with India is consistent with the Atomic Energy Act and other elements of U.S. law," the President emphasized before the signing.
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Labels: agreement, Atomic Energy Act, bill, Diwali prayer, india, Indian Americans, invites, nuclear deal, President George W. Bush, signing of law, United states, White House, witness
Monday, September 29, 2008
1 - 15 centuries before Vasco da Gama, West knew of sea route to India
While most educated people today know about the overland medieval Silk Route linking China with Italy, few are aware of the ancient Incense Route that connected India with Rome.
Shipping along the Incense Route was the most important carrier of world trade in classical times. From the Mediterranean Sea the route extended overland across Palestine, where cities and caravanserai lined it. And then, on reaching the Suez, it embarked on ships that hugged the coast of Arabia to reach India.
This trade was so important and so expensive having to be paid for in gold that Roman elders decried it. The situation was similar to the U.S. today in that imports far exceeded exports. Rome was being bankrupted in the pursuits of trinkets - said the wise heads - to the benefit of the Kushanas, the Cholas, the Pandyans and the Cheras of India.
Many of us must have read - without being able to identify the city of Ophir - the much quoted poem' Cargoes' by a former Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, John Masefield.
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Shipping along the Incense Route was the most important carrier of world trade in classical times. From the Mediterranean Sea the route extended overland across Palestine, where cities and caravanserai lined it. And then, on reaching the Suez, it embarked on ships that hugged the coast of Arabia to reach India.
This trade was so important and so expensive having to be paid for in gold that Roman elders decried it. The situation was similar to the U.S. today in that imports far exceeded exports. Rome was being bankrupted in the pursuits of trinkets - said the wise heads - to the benefit of the Kushanas, the Cholas, the Pandyans and the Cheras of India.
Many of us must have read - without being able to identify the city of Ophir - the much quoted poem' Cargoes' by a former Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, John Masefield.
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Labels: ancient, China, Incense Route, india, Italy, Mediterranean Sea, Palestine, Rome, route, Saudi Arabia, Silk Route linking, Vasco da Gama
Monday, September 22, 2008
India needs tough anti-terror laws, says government panel
India needs a tough law to fight attacks like the deadly bombings in New Delhi, a government panel said on September 16, as police released sketches of key suspects.
There were immediate signs of dissent within the government, though, after the Home Minister Shivraj Patil told NDTV news channel the country already had strong enough laws in place.
In its report, the panel asked the government to consider tougher laws to deal with growing militancy in India.
"We need a comprehensive anti-terror law, but there should be adequate safeguards," said Veerappa Moily, a senior member of the ruling Congress party, who headed the panel.
India's main opposition, the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which accuses the centrist Congress party-led coalition of following a policy of appeasement, wants the reinstatement of a tough anti-terrorism law it promoted when in power.
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There were immediate signs of dissent within the government, though, after the Home Minister Shivraj Patil told NDTV news channel the country already had strong enough laws in place.
In its report, the panel asked the government to consider tougher laws to deal with growing militancy in India.
"We need a comprehensive anti-terror law, but there should be adequate safeguards," said Veerappa Moily, a senior member of the ruling Congress party, who headed the panel.
India's main opposition, the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which accuses the centrist Congress party-led coalition of following a policy of appeasement, wants the reinstatement of a tough anti-terrorism law it promoted when in power.
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Labels: accuses, anti-terrorism law, BJP, bomb blasts, congress, dominated areas, Home Minister, india, muslims, NDTV, New Delhi, Shivraj Patil, sketches, suspects, witch hunt
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
New ambassadors appointed to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh
Canada has appointed Joseph Caron High Commissioner to India. He will also be responsible for relations with Nepal and Bhutan.
Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) also announced the appointment of Randolph Mank as the High Commissioner to Pakistan. It named Robert McDougall as High Commissioner to Bangladesh.
Caron, Ambassador to Japan until August this year, has also served as Ambassador to China (1998-2001) with dual accreditation to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Mongolia.
Among his many appointments over a long foreign service career, Caron was Assistant Deputy Minister Ottawa (Asia Pacific and Africa), at DFAIT (1998-2001),Senior Official for Asia Pacific Economic Community (1998-2001), Minister (Political) and Head of Chancery Tokyo Canadian Embassy (1994-1998),Director Ottawa North Asia Relations Division (China, Japan, Koreas,Indochina), DFAIT(1993-1994), Director Ottawa International Economic Relations Division responsible for Canadian participation in G8 Economic Summits and APEC (1990-1993)
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Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) also announced the appointment of Randolph Mank as the High Commissioner to Pakistan. It named Robert McDougall as High Commissioner to Bangladesh.
Caron, Ambassador to Japan until August this year, has also served as Ambassador to China (1998-2001) with dual accreditation to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Mongolia.
Among his many appointments over a long foreign service career, Caron was Assistant Deputy Minister Ottawa (Asia Pacific and Africa), at DFAIT (1998-2001),Senior Official for Asia Pacific Economic Community (1998-2001), Minister (Political) and Head of Chancery Tokyo Canadian Embassy (1994-1998),Director Ottawa North Asia Relations Division (China, Japan, Koreas,Indochina), DFAIT(1993-1994), Director Ottawa International Economic Relations Division responsible for Canadian participation in G8 Economic Summits and APEC (1990-1993)
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Labels: ambassadors, appointed, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, DFAIT, india, Joseph Caron High Commissioner, Nepal, pakistan, Randolph Mank, responsible, Robert McDougall
Monday, September 15, 2008
Nuclear nations approve disputed India trade waiver
Forty-five nations approved a U.S. proposal on September 6 to lift a global ban on nuclear trade with India in a breakthrough towards sealing the U.S.-India civilian nuclear co-operation deal.
One hurdle remained before the U.S.-India deal can take force - ratification by the U.S.Congress. It must act before adjourning in late September for elections or the deal could be left to an uncertain fate under a new U.S.administration.
The U.S.-India deal raised international misgivings since India has shunned the NonProliferation Treaty (NPT) meant to stop the spread and production of nuclear weapons and mandate gradual disarmament, and a companion test ban pact.
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One hurdle remained before the U.S.-India deal can take force - ratification by the U.S.Congress. It must act before adjourning in late September for elections or the deal could be left to an uncertain fate under a new U.S.administration.
The U.S.-India deal raised international misgivings since India has shunned the NonProliferation Treaty (NPT) meant to stop the spread and production of nuclear weapons and mandate gradual disarmament, and a companion test ban pact.
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Labels: approve, ban, disarmament, disputed, india, India trade waiver, Manmohan Singh, NPT, NSG, nuclear deal, Nuclear nations, nuclear weapons, U S adminstration, United states, Vienna
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
'Secret' letter's release renews battle over nuclear pact
As international negotiators met in Vienna to decide the fate of the contentious nuclear energy agreement between India and the United States, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government found itself facing a revived political battle at home over the deal because of the release of a secret letter in Washington.
The letter's disclosure caught India's government by surprise, a senior government official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The official added that opponents of the deal probably made it public to try to weaken India in the final stages of efforts to win approval from the 45-country Nuclear Suppliers Group in Vienna.
But more than the Vienna deliberations, the Indian official said, Singh faces the bigger challenge of rescuing the government's plummeting popularity.
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The letter's disclosure caught India's government by surprise, a senior government official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The official added that opponents of the deal probably made it public to try to weaken India in the final stages of efforts to win approval from the 45-country Nuclear Suppliers Group in Vienna.
But more than the Vienna deliberations, the Indian official said, Singh faces the bigger challenge of rescuing the government's plummeting popularity.
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Labels: battle, challenge, india, India's government, Manmohan Singh, NSG, nuclear deal, nuclear fuel, secret lwtter, United states, Vienna, Washington
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
India, United States begin reworking draft nuclear deal
The United States and India began reworking a draft agreement to win approval from a global nuclear trade bloc that has been skeptical of the two nations' proposed civilian nuclear deal, officials said on August 25.
A 45-nation meeting on whether to lift a ban on nuclear trade with India ended inconclusively last week after many members wanted to attach conditions, like trying to ban further nuclear tests by the Asian power.
The deal would allow India access to nuclear technology and fuel, overturning a three-decade ban on trade after India tested nuclear weapons in 1974.
The countries in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was scheduled to meet on September 4-5, when the United States is expected to rework the draft for a waiver breaking the nuclear trade embargo.
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A 45-nation meeting on whether to lift a ban on nuclear trade with India ended inconclusively last week after many members wanted to attach conditions, like trying to ban further nuclear tests by the Asian power.
The deal would allow India access to nuclear technology and fuel, overturning a three-decade ban on trade after India tested nuclear weapons in 1974.
The countries in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was scheduled to meet on September 4-5, when the United States is expected to rework the draft for a waiver breaking the nuclear trade embargo.
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Labels: Asian power, civilian nuclear deal, draft agreement, india, Nuclear Suppliers Group, reworking, Richard Boucher, United states
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Star Plus continues to lead Hindi General Entertainment space in India
Star Plus, a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corporation, announced on July 30 that according to the latest available TAM data for week 29 in India, it had delivered 348 GRPs, leading 2nd place Zee TV by 47 percent and delivering higher ratings than its two closest competitors (Zee and Sony) put together.
The channel has remained leader in the Hindi General Entertainment (GE) space from 2000.
With the top 10 slots across all cable and satellite channels belonging to Star Plus, the channel now leads across all weekday prime time slots from 19:00 to 23:29 hours with every show at each slot delivering better than the competition.
Star Plus also leads its competition in weekend prime as well as in its revamped weekday afternoon day part.
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The channel has remained leader in the Hindi General Entertainment (GE) space from 2000.
With the top 10 slots across all cable and satellite channels belonging to Star Plus, the channel now leads across all weekday prime time slots from 19:00 to 23:29 hours with every show at each slot delivering better than the competition.
Star Plus also leads its competition in weekend prime as well as in its revamped weekday afternoon day part.
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Labels: channel, competitors, GRPs, Hindi General Entertainment, india, satellite channels, slots, Sony, Star Plus, Zee TV
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Learning from history, will South Asia move on to EEC-style community?
Sixty-one years after the bloody delivery midwifed by Britain which brought the twins of India and Pakistan howling and blinking into the world, how would have their founders viewed the outcome of all that prenatal suffering?
His round-spectacled eyes surveying the India of 2008, at its gated and air-conditioned communities in Faridabad, and the call centers in Bangalore, and the film studios of Mumbai, would Mahatma Gandhi -- had he been around today -- thought this was the India of his ideals?
Or, with Pakistan's thousands of Saudi financed madrassas churning out Talibans and with violence in Karachi claiming on an average six lives a day, would Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah been happy with the result of all his labors?
Although conventional history refers to it as an orderly and peaceful transfer of power, the independence of India came hand in hand with an unprecedented slaughter of brother by brother.
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His round-spectacled eyes surveying the India of 2008, at its gated and air-conditioned communities in Faridabad, and the call centers in Bangalore, and the film studios of Mumbai, would Mahatma Gandhi -- had he been around today -- thought this was the India of his ideals?
Or, with Pakistan's thousands of Saudi financed madrassas churning out Talibans and with violence in Karachi claiming on an average six lives a day, would Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah been happy with the result of all his labors?
Although conventional history refers to it as an orderly and peaceful transfer of power, the independence of India came hand in hand with an unprecedented slaughter of brother by brother.
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Labels: Britain, EEC, Faridabad, history, Independence Day, india, Lal Qilla, Mahatma Gandhi, pakistan, Talibans, Twins, World War II
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
On U.S.-India civil nuclear deal - Nuclear-deal has spin-off;100,000 new jobs, more research opportunities
O ne of the spin offs of the U.S.-India civil nuclear deal coming through will be the creation of 100,000 new jobs for the 30-odd reactors that India hopes to set up to meet its nuclear power deadline of 20,000 MW by 2020, experts say.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi highlighted the fillip the deal is expected to give to employment generation and the energy sector. Interacting with students of Ravindra Bharati in Hyderabad on July 26, Gandhi said, "The nuclear deal means millions and millions of jobs, and lights in the houses of the poor in this country."
Union Minister of State for Commerce and Power, Jairam Ramesh, visiting the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)'s Kalpakkam campus in Tamil Nadu, said, "Nearly 10,000 MW of nuclear power would be generated from indigenous reactors, 8,000 MW from light water reactors and 2,000 MW from Fast Breeder Reactors (FBR)." Thousands of engineers, technicians and scientists would be needed to run these establishments, he underlined.
"India's 17 nuclear reactors have the capacity to generate 4,120 MW, but in 2007 they could produce only 1,800 MW due to lack of fuel," Ramesh said.
By 2020, India is likely to import six light water reactors while six nuclear plants are under construction to beef up generation capacity, said Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd Technical Director S.A. Bhardwaj.
The total expansion is valued at nearly $300 billion."India's Department of Atomic Energy employs about 70,000 experts today," M.R.
Srinivasan, former chairperson of the Atomic Energy Commission, told the media at a function in Kalpakkam.
The new nuclear power plants on the cards are expected to create at least a 100,000 new jobs in India, experts say.
Not just in India, the nuclear deal is expected to give a fillip to the industry in the U.S. also.
In 2007, Ron Somers, president of the U.S.India Business Council, supporting the IndoU.S. Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, said,"The deal would create 27,000 high-quality jobs a year for the next 10 years in the U.S.
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Congress MP Rahul Gandhi highlighted the fillip the deal is expected to give to employment generation and the energy sector. Interacting with students of Ravindra Bharati in Hyderabad on July 26, Gandhi said, "The nuclear deal means millions and millions of jobs, and lights in the houses of the poor in this country."
Union Minister of State for Commerce and Power, Jairam Ramesh, visiting the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)'s Kalpakkam campus in Tamil Nadu, said, "Nearly 10,000 MW of nuclear power would be generated from indigenous reactors, 8,000 MW from light water reactors and 2,000 MW from Fast Breeder Reactors (FBR)." Thousands of engineers, technicians and scientists would be needed to run these establishments, he underlined.
"India's 17 nuclear reactors have the capacity to generate 4,120 MW, but in 2007 they could produce only 1,800 MW due to lack of fuel," Ramesh said.
By 2020, India is likely to import six light water reactors while six nuclear plants are under construction to beef up generation capacity, said Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd Technical Director S.A. Bhardwaj.
The total expansion is valued at nearly $300 billion."India's Department of Atomic Energy employs about 70,000 experts today," M.R.
Srinivasan, former chairperson of the Atomic Energy Commission, told the media at a function in Kalpakkam.
The new nuclear power plants on the cards are expected to create at least a 100,000 new jobs in India, experts say.
Not just in India, the nuclear deal is expected to give a fillip to the industry in the U.S. also.
In 2007, Ron Somers, president of the U.S.India Business Council, supporting the IndoU.S. Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, said,"The deal would create 27,000 high-quality jobs a year for the next 10 years in the U.S.
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Labels: Business Council, congress, employment, india, jobs, nuclear deal, Rahul Gandhi, Tamil Nadu, US
Friday, August 1, 2008
‘Doha Talks' fail over farm aid, India hails Nath
After nine days of talking tough at the Geneva global trade meeting that ended in collapse, chief Indian negotiator Kamal Nath returned to New Delhi on July 30 to a hero's welcome.
He was congratulated by colleagues at a Cabinet meeting for "bravely fighting the nation's battle." During an interview, his cellphone beeped constantly with text messages reading "well done," "you have made India proud" and "you held your own in Geneva."
The World Trade Organization talks collapsed on July 29 when developing nations, speaking through Nath, stood firm on safeguard measures that they said were vital to protect the lives of millions of farmers against a likely spike in food imports from rich nations.
The talks focused on farm trade, a highly politicized subject in countries the world over. American and European negotiators were offering to gradually scale back subsidies to their producers that can give a trade advantage. In return, they wanted new access for their farm goods in countries such as India.
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He was congratulated by colleagues at a Cabinet meeting for "bravely fighting the nation's battle." During an interview, his cellphone beeped constantly with text messages reading "well done," "you have made India proud" and "you held your own in Geneva."
The World Trade Organization talks collapsed on July 29 when developing nations, speaking through Nath, stood firm on safeguard measures that they said were vital to protect the lives of millions of farmers against a likely spike in food imports from rich nations.
The talks focused on farm trade, a highly politicized subject in countries the world over. American and European negotiators were offering to gradually scale back subsidies to their producers that can give a trade advantage. In return, they wanted new access for their farm goods in countries such as India.
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Labels: American negtiators, chief Indian negotiator Kamal Nath, colleagues, Doha Talk, European negotiators, farm goods, farm trade, farmers, Geneva, globalization, india, New Delhi, proud, WTO
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The Democrats Barack Obama calls for better India-Pakistan ties
U .S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on July 22 that the U.S.-led war against militants in Afghanistan might be made easier if the United States worked to improve trust between India and Pakistan.
Obama, who is on a foreign fact-finding trip and visited Afghanistan over the weekend, described Afghanistan as the central front in the war against terrorism and said the situation there was "perilous and urgent".
Trying to reduce tensions between traditional rivals India and Pakistan could help, he said.
"A lot of what drives, it appears, motivations on the Pakistan side of the border, still has to do with their concerns and suspicions about India," Obama told a news conference in the Jordanian capital Amman.
"We haven't had a conversation between the Indians and the Pakistanis that has been sustained and meaningful about how they can arrive at a more sensible arrangement between the two countries that could relieve some of the pressure and help us go after ... some of these forces along the border regions."
Relations between India and Pakistan, who have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, have become strained again despite an ongoing peace process.
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Obama, who is on a foreign fact-finding trip and visited Afghanistan over the weekend, described Afghanistan as the central front in the war against terrorism and said the situation there was "perilous and urgent".
Trying to reduce tensions between traditional rivals India and Pakistan could help, he said.
"A lot of what drives, it appears, motivations on the Pakistan side of the border, still has to do with their concerns and suspicions about India," Obama told a news conference in the Jordanian capital Amman.
"We haven't had a conversation between the Indians and the Pakistanis that has been sustained and meaningful about how they can arrive at a more sensible arrangement between the two countries that could relieve some of the pressure and help us go after ... some of these forces along the border regions."
Relations between India and Pakistan, who have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, have become strained again despite an ongoing peace process.
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Labels: Afghanistan, Barack Obama, calls, concerns, india, militants, pakistan, peace, traditional rivals, United states, Washington
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Bloomberg and Gates commit $500 m: invest in India
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Microsoft founder Bill Gates announced a combined investment of $500 million to India and other developing countries on July 23, to help governments implement proven policies to help control tobacco use. There are more than 1 billion smokers in the world today (more than 1 in 4 adults), and tobacco kills more people than any other single agent.
"Unless urgent action is taken, as many as one billion people this century-more than two thirds in the developing world-could die from tobacco-caused illnesses," said a July 23 release from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Bloomberg's Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, which was established in 2005 and includes a $125 million commitment, will be extended with a new $250 million, four-year commitment.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced it will invest $125 million over five years to fight the tobacco epidemic, including a $24 million grant to the Bloomberg Initiative.
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"Unless urgent action is taken, as many as one billion people this century-more than two thirds in the developing world-could die from tobacco-caused illnesses," said a July 23 release from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Bloomberg's Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, which was established in 2005 and includes a $125 million commitment, will be extended with a new $250 million, four-year commitment.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced it will invest $125 million over five years to fight the tobacco epidemic, including a $24 million grant to the Bloomberg Initiative.
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Labels: Bill Gates, control, india, investment, Michael Bloomberg, Microsoft, New York Mayor, smokers, tobacco
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Victory Vote clears way for nuclear deal with United States
The Indian government survived a crucial vote of confidence on July 22, clearing the way for the contentious nuclear energy deal with the United States, after a debate peppered with dramatic allegations of backroom lobbying and bribery.
The vote concluded a bitter nine-month battle in support of the deal by the now-beleaguered coalition government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The agreement, which would give India access to the world market for nuclear fuel and technology, must now be approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which governs the trade of nuclear materials. The U.S. Congress would then vote on the accord.
"This vote gives a clear message to the world that India's head and heart are sound and India is prepared to take its rightful place in the comity of nations," said a beaming Singh, whose supporters burst firecrackers and beat celebratory drums in the streets of New Delhi. "I have always said the deal was important and now we know it."
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The vote concluded a bitter nine-month battle in support of the deal by the now-beleaguered coalition government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The agreement, which would give India access to the world market for nuclear fuel and technology, must now be approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which governs the trade of nuclear materials. The U.S. Congress would then vote on the accord.
"This vote gives a clear message to the world that India's head and heart are sound and India is prepared to take its rightful place in the comity of nations," said a beaming Singh, whose supporters burst firecrackers and beat celebratory drums in the streets of New Delhi. "I have always said the deal was important and now we know it."
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Labels: agreement, battle, BJP, celebrations, IAEA, india, Lok Sabha, nuclear deal, Nuclear Suppliers Group, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, United states, US Congress, Victory, votes
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
India's external ‘conquests' of dharma left art monuments in their wake
It may have been just an accident or it may be reflective of the unique character of Indian civilization. But it is a fact that India has never sent out military expeditions to conquer distant lands.
Since the time of Ashoka the Great (304 BC 232 BC), its conquests have been the conquests of dharma. What an image -- almost comic -- that the armies of the dharma presented to the people they set out to ‘conquer‘!.
Think of the Spanish conquistadores in their shining breastplates, plumed helmets, slit visors, gauntlets, rapiers, matchlock guns! Conquerors are expected to strike terror and awe in the breasts of the natives. Instead, the Buddhist monks must have seemed a ridiculous lot to the civilized Achaemenids of Persia, the neo-Hellenes of Gandhara, or the sophisticated Chinese of the Han times.
Mahatma Gandhi was not the first Indian to face the world in a loincloth. In an illuminating review of an exhibition of Chinese art in the New York Times (Nov. 2, 2007) the art critic Holland Cotter wrote: "What an outlandish sight Buddhist monks must have been when they first turned up more than a millennium ago in China, a land where only criminals - the disgraced and the dangerous - had shaved heads, wore patched-together clothes and begged for food.
"Traveling the Silk Road alone or in pairs, monks had neither homes nor families. This too must have disturbed a Confucian culture that was based on the idea that where you came from was who you were, and that the meaning of life lay in family, in placating ancestors and in producing heirs.
To read the full article, click here...
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Since the time of Ashoka the Great (304 BC 232 BC), its conquests have been the conquests of dharma. What an image -- almost comic -- that the armies of the dharma presented to the people they set out to ‘conquer‘!.
Think of the Spanish conquistadores in their shining breastplates, plumed helmets, slit visors, gauntlets, rapiers, matchlock guns! Conquerors are expected to strike terror and awe in the breasts of the natives. Instead, the Buddhist monks must have seemed a ridiculous lot to the civilized Achaemenids of Persia, the neo-Hellenes of Gandhara, or the sophisticated Chinese of the Han times.
Mahatma Gandhi was not the first Indian to face the world in a loincloth. In an illuminating review of an exhibition of Chinese art in the New York Times (Nov. 2, 2007) the art critic Holland Cotter wrote: "What an outlandish sight Buddhist monks must have been when they first turned up more than a millennium ago in China, a land where only criminals - the disgraced and the dangerous - had shaved heads, wore patched-together clothes and begged for food.
"Traveling the Silk Road alone or in pairs, monks had neither homes nor families. This too must have disturbed a Confucian culture that was based on the idea that where you came from was who you were, and that the meaning of life lay in family, in placating ancestors and in producing heirs.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: China, Chinese art, dharma, Han Times, india, Indian civilization, Mahatma Gandhi, monuments, New York Times, Persia, Silk Road, Spanish
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Group of Eight wants broad United Nations deal to halve emissions
T he G8 rich countries said on July 8 they want to work with the nearly 200 states involved in U.N. climate change talks to adopt a goal of at least halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The final climate communique agreed by the Group of Eight leaders at a summit in northern Japan also said mid-term goals would be needed to achieve the shared goal for 2050, but gave no numerical targets.
The statement puts the focus of fighting global warming on U.N.-led talks to create a new framework for when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012, and papers over differences inside the G8 itself. The U.N. talks are set to conclude in Copenhagen in December 2009.
The careful wording of the statement -always the most contentious part of summit negotiations -- was also unlikely to satisfy those seeking much more specific targets.
Last year, the G8 club of rich nations -Japan, Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Russia and the United States -- agreed merely to "seriously consider" a goal of halving global emissions by mid-century.
The European Union and Japan have been pressing for this year's summit to go beyond that, and Brussels wanted clear interim targets as well.
But U.S. President George W. Bush has insisted that Washington cannot agree to binding targets unless big polluters such as China and India rein in their emissions as well.
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The final climate communique agreed by the Group of Eight leaders at a summit in northern Japan also said mid-term goals would be needed to achieve the shared goal for 2050, but gave no numerical targets.
The statement puts the focus of fighting global warming on U.N.-led talks to create a new framework for when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012, and papers over differences inside the G8 itself. The U.N. talks are set to conclude in Copenhagen in December 2009.
The careful wording of the statement -always the most contentious part of summit negotiations -- was also unlikely to satisfy those seeking much more specific targets.
Last year, the G8 club of rich nations -Japan, Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Russia and the United States -- agreed merely to "seriously consider" a goal of halving global emissions by mid-century.
The European Union and Japan have been pressing for this year's summit to go beyond that, and Brussels wanted clear interim targets as well.
But U.S. President George W. Bush has insisted that Washington cannot agree to binding targets unless big polluters such as China and India rein in their emissions as well.
To read the full article, click here...
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Labels: Canada, emissions, France, G8, Germany, greenhouse gas, india, Italy, Japan, President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UN deal, United Nation, United states
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Filmmaker Yash Chopra receives ‘Legion d'Honneur'
With posters of some of his blockbuster films like ‘Silsila', ‘Deewaar', ‘Lamhe' and ‘Dil To Pagal Hai' forming the backdrop, legendary Bollywood filmmaker Yash Chopra was conferred the ‘Legion d'Honneur', France's highest civilian award, at a ceremony in New Delhi on July 5.
"It is truly a joy to be awarding this medal to the master of Indian cinema, Yash Chopra. He has a truly universal form of art and the man is a mark of artistic distinction," French Ambassador Jerome Bonnafont said.
"The French government has recognized his outstanding achievement in the world of Indian cinema," he added.
The director, who has produced and directed many landmark films in his career spanning almost five decades, has joined the league of Indians like film director Satyajit Ray, sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, melody queen Lata Mangeshkar and actor Amitabh Bachchan in being honored by the French government.
The ambassador pinned the medal on Chopra on behalf of President Nicolas Sarkozy at an official ceremony at the French embassy.
Chopra said, "I thank President Sarkozy for considering me worthy of this honor. This will be a cherished memory and will be with me forever. Fifty-six years back, I used to walk barefoot in Punjab with dreams that I will become a big man some day. But it is only one person who made my dream possible - my brother, guardian and friend B.R. Chopra.
"He brought me to Mumbai and taught me everything. And if there is someone who I am missing today, it is he. He could unfortunately not be here because he is unwell."
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"It is truly a joy to be awarding this medal to the master of Indian cinema, Yash Chopra. He has a truly universal form of art and the man is a mark of artistic distinction," French Ambassador Jerome Bonnafont said.
"The French government has recognized his outstanding achievement in the world of Indian cinema," he added.
The director, who has produced and directed many landmark films in his career spanning almost five decades, has joined the league of Indians like film director Satyajit Ray, sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, melody queen Lata Mangeshkar and actor Amitabh Bachchan in being honored by the French government.
The ambassador pinned the medal on Chopra on behalf of President Nicolas Sarkozy at an official ceremony at the French embassy.
Chopra said, "I thank President Sarkozy for considering me worthy of this honor. This will be a cherished memory and will be with me forever. Fifty-six years back, I used to walk barefoot in Punjab with dreams that I will become a big man some day. But it is only one person who made my dream possible - my brother, guardian and friend B.R. Chopra.
"He brought me to Mumbai and taught me everything. And if there is someone who I am missing today, it is he. He could unfortunately not be here because he is unwell."
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Labels: achievement, Bollywood, Bollywood film, French, French Ambassador Jerome Bonnafont, French government, india, Indian cinema, legendary Bollywood filmmaker Yash Chopra, New Delhi
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Focus on renewable energy for sustainable development
India on June 30 unveiled national plan to deal with the threat of global warming, focusing on renewable energy for sustainable development while refusing to commit to any emission targets that risk slowing economic growth.
The National Action Plan identified harnessing renewable energy, such as solar power, and energy efficiency as central to India's fight against global warming and said a climate change fund would be set up to research "green" technologies.
The national policy reflected India's current stand on climate change and would not please rich western countries asking for more commitment from one of the world's top polluters, experts said.
"Our vision is to make India's economic development energy efficient," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on releasing the national plan. "Our people have a right to economic and social development and to discard the ignominy of widespread poverty."
In spite of its pledge to clean technology, coal remains the backbone of India's power sector -accounting for about 60 percent of generation -with the government planning to add some 70,000 megawatts in the next five years.
In a report released this month, Goldman Sachs said climate change could deplete India's cultivable land area and productivity, reduce labor productivity and increase the threat of toxic and chemical waste in the environment."
Although such dire prognostications are premature, urbanization, industrialization and ongoing global climate change will take a heavy toll on India's environment, if not managed better," it said.
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The National Action Plan identified harnessing renewable energy, such as solar power, and energy efficiency as central to India's fight against global warming and said a climate change fund would be set up to research "green" technologies.
The national policy reflected India's current stand on climate change and would not please rich western countries asking for more commitment from one of the world's top polluters, experts said.
"Our vision is to make India's economic development energy efficient," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on releasing the national plan. "Our people have a right to economic and social development and to discard the ignominy of widespread poverty."
In spite of its pledge to clean technology, coal remains the backbone of India's power sector -accounting for about 60 percent of generation -with the government planning to add some 70,000 megawatts in the next five years.
In a report released this month, Goldman Sachs said climate change could deplete India's cultivable land area and productivity, reduce labor productivity and increase the threat of toxic and chemical waste in the environment."
Although such dire prognostications are premature, urbanization, industrialization and ongoing global climate change will take a heavy toll on India's environment, if not managed better," it said.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: chemical waste, climate change, environment, global warming, india, industrialization, National Action Plan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, reduce, renewable energy, solar power
Monday, June 30, 2008
A salute to early British orientalists who opened up riches of Sanskrit
Setting foot on the moon, in 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong described his step as " one small step for (a) man, a giant leap for mankind."
A dozen men have walked on the moon between 1969 and 1972. Such flights were discontinued after 1972, as they served no scientific, strategic or economic purpose. The surface of earth's closest space neighbor was barren and had no treasures to yield.
How much more meaningful to the West has been in the long run its discovery of Sanskrit!
One of the first to study it, and notice its kinship to the classical languages of Europe was Sir William Jones, who famously remarked, at the third annual meeting of the Asiatic Society he founded in Calcutta in 1784, "The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure,more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists."
Jones was not alone in admiring the riches Sanskrit opened up before him.
The contempt for India and Indology -- best illustrated by the remark of Thomas Babington Macaulay -- ""a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia"-- had not yet become habitual with the British in India.
Indeed the reverse was true of Lord Warren Hastings, the first Governor General of India.
Hastings encouraged the study of Sanskrit, he was the patron of Charles Wilkins, who made the first direct translation of a Sanskrit work into a European language -- the Bhagavad Gita.
The avowed motive of Hastings was that a knowledge of Indian literature was necessary for a handful of Britons to rule India, but he recognized that the classics of Indian literature would remain long after the Raj faded from memory.
He was clear-headed. He recognized that Britain's dominion was based on ‘the right of conquest,' and that it weighed on Indians as ‘chains.' But unlike Macaulay, he recognized the timeless worth of the treasures being revealed by the new scholarship.
"Every application of knowledge and especially such as is obtained in social communication with people, over whom we exercise dominion, founded on the right of conquest, is useful to the state … It attracts and conciliates distant affections, it lessens the weight of the chain by which the natives are held in subjection and it imprints on the hearts of our countrymen the sense of obligation and benevolence… Every instance which brings their real character will impress us with more generous sense of feeling for their natural rights, and teach us to estimate them by the measure of our own…
"But such instances can only be gained in their writings; and these will survive when British domination in India shall have long ceased to exist, and when the sources which once yielded of wealth and power are lost to remembrance"
It is fashionable nowadays to question the motives of the early Indologists, but it will be rank ingratitude not to pay homage to the scholars of the class of 1780s, to Sir Wilson Jones, to Sir Charles Wilkins, or to the Serampore missionaries, who were never in the employ of the East India Company.
William Carey, John Clark Marshman, and William Ward, -- later known as the Serampore Trio, -- created a center of oriental learning at Serampore, just outside the East India Company's limits. Although not connected in any way with John Company's commercial and political activities, Carey was intimately connected with the training of its officials. Carey was appointed to the world's first Chair for Modern Indian Languages at the Fort William College . We will describe the wonderful work of the Serampore Trio and that of the next generation of orientalists in a subsequent article, but, for the moment, let us focus on the pioneers.
Wilkins was not only the first translator of the Gita into English, but was also the creator of the first Devanagari and Bengali type face.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
A dozen men have walked on the moon between 1969 and 1972. Such flights were discontinued after 1972, as they served no scientific, strategic or economic purpose. The surface of earth's closest space neighbor was barren and had no treasures to yield.
How much more meaningful to the West has been in the long run its discovery of Sanskrit!
One of the first to study it, and notice its kinship to the classical languages of Europe was Sir William Jones, who famously remarked, at the third annual meeting of the Asiatic Society he founded in Calcutta in 1784, "The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure,more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists."
Jones was not alone in admiring the riches Sanskrit opened up before him.
The contempt for India and Indology -- best illustrated by the remark of Thomas Babington Macaulay -- ""a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia"-- had not yet become habitual with the British in India.
Indeed the reverse was true of Lord Warren Hastings, the first Governor General of India.
Hastings encouraged the study of Sanskrit, he was the patron of Charles Wilkins, who made the first direct translation of a Sanskrit work into a European language -- the Bhagavad Gita.
The avowed motive of Hastings was that a knowledge of Indian literature was necessary for a handful of Britons to rule India, but he recognized that the classics of Indian literature would remain long after the Raj faded from memory.
He was clear-headed. He recognized that Britain's dominion was based on ‘the right of conquest,' and that it weighed on Indians as ‘chains.' But unlike Macaulay, he recognized the timeless worth of the treasures being revealed by the new scholarship.
"Every application of knowledge and especially such as is obtained in social communication with people, over whom we exercise dominion, founded on the right of conquest, is useful to the state … It attracts and conciliates distant affections, it lessens the weight of the chain by which the natives are held in subjection and it imprints on the hearts of our countrymen the sense of obligation and benevolence… Every instance which brings their real character will impress us with more generous sense of feeling for their natural rights, and teach us to estimate them by the measure of our own…
"But such instances can only be gained in their writings; and these will survive when British domination in India shall have long ceased to exist, and when the sources which once yielded of wealth and power are lost to remembrance"
It is fashionable nowadays to question the motives of the early Indologists, but it will be rank ingratitude not to pay homage to the scholars of the class of 1780s, to Sir Wilson Jones, to Sir Charles Wilkins, or to the Serampore missionaries, who were never in the employ of the East India Company.
William Carey, John Clark Marshman, and William Ward, -- later known as the Serampore Trio, -- created a center of oriental learning at Serampore, just outside the East India Company's limits. Although not connected in any way with John Company's commercial and political activities, Carey was intimately connected with the training of its officials. Carey was appointed to the world's first Chair for Modern Indian Languages at the Fort William College . We will describe the wonderful work of the Serampore Trio and that of the next generation of orientalists in a subsequent article, but, for the moment, let us focus on the pioneers.
Wilkins was not only the first translator of the Gita into English, but was also the creator of the first Devanagari and Bengali type face.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: Bhagavad Gita, British orientalists, Calcutta, Charles Wilkins, East India Company, Europe, European language, india, Indologists, Moon, Neil Armstrong, patron, Sanskrit
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
35 month prison term for India export case
The owner of an electronics company has been sentenced to 35 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to illegally export sensitive computer parts to India, a U.S. Justice Department spokesman said on June 17.
In March, Parthasarathy Sudarshan, 47, a resident of Simpsonville, South Carolina, pleaded guilty to taking part in a scheme to provide the parts to government entities in India that develop missiles, space launch vehicles and fighter jets.
According to court documents, Sudarshan did business as Cirrus Electronics and said he was the chief executive officer, managing director, president and group head. It has offices in Simpsonville, Singapore, and Bangalore, India.
Sudarshan previously had been an electrical engineer in the research and development section of India's state-run defense industry, before he emigrated to Singapore and started Cirrus in 1997, according to the documents.
The spokesman said the sentence was handed down on June 16 by a federal judge. He said Sudarshan already has been in custody and has served 15 months of the sentence.
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In March, Parthasarathy Sudarshan, 47, a resident of Simpsonville, South Carolina, pleaded guilty to taking part in a scheme to provide the parts to government entities in India that develop missiles, space launch vehicles and fighter jets.
According to court documents, Sudarshan did business as Cirrus Electronics and said he was the chief executive officer, managing director, president and group head. It has offices in Simpsonville, Singapore, and Bangalore, India.
Sudarshan previously had been an electrical engineer in the research and development section of India's state-run defense industry, before he emigrated to Singapore and started Cirrus in 1997, according to the documents.
The spokesman said the sentence was handed down on June 16 by a federal judge. He said Sudarshan already has been in custody and has served 15 months of the sentence.
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Labels: Cirrus Electronics, court documents, export case, fighter jets, india, missiles, Parthasarathy Sudarshan, prison, resident, Simpsonville, Singapore, South Carolina, space launch vehicles
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
United States wants India to move forward on controversial nuclear deal in Doha
The U.S. wants India to quickly move forward on their civil nuclear deal, shoulder its "international responsibilities" as an important global economic power and stop being "a roadblock" in the Doha world trade talks.
Washington also hopes India will make more progress in areas such as caps on foreign equity in retail, insurance, and financial services. It would like to see more protection for intellectual property, particularly in the life sciences, where India seeks to attract more investment.
"Indeed, we hope India will propel the bilateral relationship forward by working with us on a high-standard bilateral investment treaty," U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Christopher Padilla said herein Washington on June 9, at a panel discussion on 'U.S.-India Synergy: Facing the Economic Challenges of the 21st Century' at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
"The benefits for India are clear, and we hope that India's government will choose to move forward as quickly as possible to fully realize the potential of this historic agreement," Padilla said. "It would be tragic for India to forgo this opportunity for a strategic partnership with the United States."
India is proof of the remarkable effects that opening up an economy can have on a country's citizens, Padilla said. "So it is disappointing that India has been a roadblock to success in the Doha negotiations," insisting that it and other developing countries be protected from any real market opening in industrial goods or agriculture or services, while it asks developed countries to do ever more, he said.
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Washington also hopes India will make more progress in areas such as caps on foreign equity in retail, insurance, and financial services. It would like to see more protection for intellectual property, particularly in the life sciences, where India seeks to attract more investment.
"Indeed, we hope India will propel the bilateral relationship forward by working with us on a high-standard bilateral investment treaty," U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Christopher Padilla said herein Washington on June 9, at a panel discussion on 'U.S.-India Synergy: Facing the Economic Challenges of the 21st Century' at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
"The benefits for India are clear, and we hope that India's government will choose to move forward as quickly as possible to fully realize the potential of this historic agreement," Padilla said. "It would be tragic for India to forgo this opportunity for a strategic partnership with the United States."
India is proof of the remarkable effects that opening up an economy can have on a country's citizens, Padilla said. "So it is disappointing that India has been a roadblock to success in the Doha negotiations," insisting that it and other developing countries be protected from any real market opening in industrial goods or agriculture or services, while it asks developed countries to do ever more, he said.
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Labels: agriculture, controversial, Doha, Economic Challenges, india, India's government, nuclear deal, real market, United states, Washington
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Virginia Museum of Fine Art acquires pioneering work by American painter and Pala
The world renowned Indian and India-related art collection at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art (VMFA) has recently been enriched with two acquisitions, VMFA announced on June 4 in a press release.One is an oil on canvas - done in academic style, but with lots of light in it, with colors that might have been borrowed from an Impressionist palette - by the first American artist known to have visited India, Edwin Lord Weeks.
The lustrous painting, ‘The Hour of Prayer at Moti Musjid (The Pearl Mosque), Agra,' dates from about 1888-89 and is nearly 10 feet wide by almost 7 feet tall. Weeks was awarded a Gold Medal at the 1889 Paris Salon for the work.Although not as widely known in India as the aquatints by Thomas and William Daniell, Weeks imbued his scenes with more magic and light, while not departing from almost photographic verisimilitude, than any other western artists before or after him. His ‘The Bazaar at Oudeypore' or ‘The Rajah Setting Out on a Hunt' are gorgeous - and yet as naturalistic as a National Geographic photo.
Weeks (1849-1903) was born in Boston and trained in Paris and was an inveterate traveler, according to Dr. Sylvia Yount, who is VMFA's Louise B. and J. Harwood Cochrane Curator of American Art and head of the American department.
He was inspired by exotic historical subjects and the painterly techniques of the French academicians. He attracted critical and popular attention on both sides of the Atlantic for his contemporary North African and Middle Eastern scenes before visiting India for the first time in 1882.
VMFA's new painting dates from the second of three trips Weeks made to India and has rarely been seen since. When it was shown in Paris, an American critic deemed it "almost a perfect picture, complete in religious sentiment and poetical inspiration."
The painting comes to VMFA in its original frame, which was made by American painter designer Lockwood de Forest, a business partner of Louis Comfort Tiffany who, before the era of outsourcing and globalization -- maintained a workshop in Ahmedabad, India.
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Labels: acquires, Agra, Ahmedabad, American painter, American painter designer Lockwood de Forest, india, Moti Musjid, Pala, pioneering work, VMFA
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Food crisis could affect 1.5 million Indian children with malnutrition
If the world community did not act fast enough, the food price crisis could send more than a million children in India alone, into malnutrition, according to Robert Zoellick, World Bank President. Speaking at the Rome World Food Security Summit June 3, he said that while it was not a famine, the more than 800 million suffering from lack of nourishment could expand fast.
"Without fast action, this crisis will steal the potential of a generation," Zoellick warned. "In India, alone, 1.5 million more children are already at risk of malnutrition because of the crisis."
He presented numbers affected for several countries in Africa and Latin America noting that global World Bank estimates show "that this crisis could push 100 million people into poverty, 30 million in Africa alone reversing the gains made in poverty reduction over the last seven years."
"It is man-made and can be fixed by us. It does not take complex research. We know what has to be done. We just need action and resources in real time."
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"Without fast action, this crisis will steal the potential of a generation," Zoellick warned. "In India, alone, 1.5 million more children are already at risk of malnutrition because of the crisis."
He presented numbers affected for several countries in Africa and Latin America noting that global World Bank estimates show "that this crisis could push 100 million people into poverty, 30 million in Africa alone reversing the gains made in poverty reduction over the last seven years."
"It is man-made and can be fixed by us. It does not take complex research. We know what has to be done. We just need action and resources in real time."
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Labels: affect, Africa, Food crisis, india, Indian children, malnutrition, poverty, Rome World Food Security Summit, World Bank, World Bank President
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Fully preserved Ashokan column, great temples, marks of India beyond its borders
In a previous article in this series, we traced the travels of the Ramayana beyond India's shores, it was part of a general cultural dispersion which took many forms.Although it is well known that India left its imprint not only on the religion, art, literature and language of all Asia to its east, travelers have often been surprised to find marks of India outside its borders.
Traditional lists of Ashokan columns compiled by the Archeological Survey of India, for example, do not include a surprisingly well-preserved Ashokan pillar - complete with the dharma chakra, ‘the wheel of dharma' on the top - newly discovered at Wat U Mong in Thailand.
A photo of the pillar was taken by one L.N.Roychowdhury in 2003 at the behest of an anonymous contributor to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia on the Web - which we have the pleasure of reproducing alongside this article.
Among the first modern Indians to study this dispersion across the seas was poet Rabindranath Tagore.
In 1927, Tagore set out for Indonesia, accompanied by a group of historians and linguists, including Suniti Kumar Chatterjee, author of the monumental ‘Origin and Development of the Bengali Language.' Tagore's biographers, Andrew Robinson and Krishna Dutta, writes of the Indonesian tour: " Signs of ancient India was everywhere. On Bali, Rabindranath found himself in a car with a local chief and no interpreter.
Unable to communicate, he looked out of the window at the luscious beauty of the island. Suddenly there was a glimpse of the ocean through a gap in the forest, and suddenly the chief uttered the word samudra - Sanskrit for sea.
Seeing that his eminent guest was both surprised and pleased, the chief went on to repeat the Sanskrit synonyms, following them with saptasamudra (the seven seas), sapta-parvata (the seven mountains), sapta-vana (seven forests), and saptaakasha (seven skies).
Then he pointed to a hill and, having given the Sanskrit for hill, he recited the names of mountains: Sumeru, Himalaya, Vindhya, Malaya, Rishyamukha.
When they came to a river, he continued: Ganga, Yamuna, Narmada, Godavari, Kaveri, Saraswati… "Of the famous Javanese shadow theatre, with its ever popular stories from the Indian epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, Tagore noted:
‘When we entered part of the hall facing the lighted side of the screen, the effect was somewhat disappointing. Then we were taken over to the dark side where the women were seated. Here the cutouts and their manipulators were no longer visible, there were only the shadows dancing on the screen, like the dance of the demon Mahmaya on the body of the prostrate Shiva.
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Labels: Ashokan columns, Ashokan pillar, dharma chakra, Ganga, Godavari, india, Indian epics, Kaveri, luscious beauty, Narmada, Poet Rabindranath Tagore, Ramayana, Sanskrit for sea, Saraswati, Yamuna
Thursday, May 8, 2008
12,000 respondents said, India will have most billionaires by 2017
I ndia will have more billionaires than any other country in the world in a decade, according to an online poll by Forbes magazine.
More than half of nearly 12,000 respondents said India will have the maximum number of billionaires in 2017, according to the poll initiated by the U.S. business magazine in November last.
In the world's billionaires list released by the magazine last month, India had the fourth largest number in the world, while the United States had the most. However, only 17 percent believed that the United States would have the most billionaires in 10 years, while 20 percent the second highest after India - thought China would top the list. Incidentally, the Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil, together have been rated by the Sunday Times of London as the richest in the world at a combined worth of £43 billion ($85 billion), ahead of America's Walton family, owners of WalMart (£38.4 billion) and Microsoft chief Bill Gates (£29 billion).
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More than half of nearly 12,000 respondents said India will have the maximum number of billionaires in 2017, according to the poll initiated by the U.S. business magazine in November last.
In the world's billionaires list released by the magazine last month, India had the fourth largest number in the world, while the United States had the most. However, only 17 percent believed that the United States would have the most billionaires in 10 years, while 20 percent the second highest after India - thought China would top the list. Incidentally, the Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil, together have been rated by the Sunday Times of London as the richest in the world at a combined worth of £43 billion ($85 billion), ahead of America's Walton family, owners of WalMart (£38.4 billion) and Microsoft chief Bill Gates (£29 billion).
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Labels: Ambani brothers, Bill Gates, billionaires, China, Forbes magazine, india, london, Sunday Times, United states, world's billionaires list