http://desicritics.org/ Superior South Asian bloggers on Culture, Media, Politics, Sport, Business, and Technology. en Copyright 2006 by the authors Mon, 8 Sep 2008 11:32:25 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss BC custom software http://desicritics.org/2008/07/01/150327.php#comment-341112 Nice site. Thanks, webmaster. 341112@desicritics.org Mon, 8 Sep 2008 11:32:25 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/07/01/150327.php#comment-341081 Beautiful design. Thanks, admin. 341081@desicritics.org Mon, 8 Sep 2008 04:12:13 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/07/01/150327.php#comment-340990 Very amazing site Thanks, webmaster. 340990@desicritics.org Fri, 5 Sep 2008 20:57:52 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/07/01/150327.php#comment-340930 Very amazing site Thanks, webmaster. 340930@desicritics.org Fri, 5 Sep 2008 05:51:48 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/07/01/150327.php#comment-340796 Cool blog. Thanks, webmaster. 340796@desicritics.org Wed, 3 Sep 2008 07:13:22 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/07/01/150327.php#comment-340598 Amazine site Thanks, webmaster. 340598@desicritics.org Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:27:06 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/07/01/150327.php#comment-340378 Coll blog. Thanks, webmaster. 340378@desicritics.org Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:54:57 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/07/01/150327.php#comment-336384 I feel that sometimes we believe that the US is somehow 'superior' to us. This attitude that being the US's ally is beneficial is being very naive. Look at what George Bush did to his closest ally Tony Blair, Blair lost his legacy and popularity and now no one gives a damn about him. The thing that the Koreans, the Japanese, etc have benefited from the US solely on the basis of their closeness is wrong. Japan and Korea invested massively into R&D, the companies then had the opportunity to go into the US market and sell it where they beat the American companies ass so bad that the US devalued the Japanese Yen and since then Japan has suffered economically. Do not forget this lesson. Also, there is nothing wrong in being self reliant, where you can be self reliant. Everyone, now acknowledges that the world is now probably more connected than ever. Also, I would not read too much into the politicians claims that India will be a superpower in 2020. Its pure rhetoric as that seems to be a sexy and a populist mantra just as Garibi Hatao was once. You ask these politicians making these claims on their road map to achieve this so called superpower status, they would be found wanting for answer to the question. The western media was the one that started the hype,the Indian media followed suit and so the politicians followed suit. Its like management buzzwords, the more it gets thrown around, the less people know what it truly means. 336384@desicritics.org Fri, 4 Jul 2008 03:41:23 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/07/01/150327.php#comment-336364 Chandra: ""We indians miss the fact that the japs began an education revolution in the 1800s"" excellent point chandra. in our obsession with coming out with get-rich-quick formula, we tend to kick history's ass.... 336364@desicritics.org Thu, 3 Jul 2008 23:44:00 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/07/01/150327.php#comment-336340 I have tried to find out the facts about the nuclear deal and come to the conclusion that it is bad for India. You can read about it here - http://desicritics.org/2008/07/03/113915.php 336340@desicritics.org Thu, 3 Jul 2008 16:24:22 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/07/01/150327.php#comment-336293 Along with peace and prosperity the most important human instinct is Freedom. Shwan Vritti (becoming dog of a rich man for peace and prosperity)traditionnaly has been considered the worst type of living. Indians before East India Company ere always gave `self respect' as top priority only because self respect ensures you freedom even if less peace or prosperity. Aligning with US may bring prosperity(which is also doubtful) to few people in India but at the cost of freedom. Coal based plants cost 4.5 crore/MW naptha/gas based plants cost 3 Crore/MW Inhouse built reactors 7-8 Cr/MW Imported Reactors 10 Cr/MW Price or Uranium in 2007 increased by 70% ie from $21/lb to $ 36/lb. Today it is $76/lb and reached touched a max value of 135$/lb. USA is expected to get around a Trillion Dollor bussiness is India becomes US ally. Nuclear deal is noway beneficial to India. Other areas of bussiness along with Military ties may be. Moreover for a nation with aspirations of becoming a world power will never be able to fulfil its dreams by follwing swan vritti (dog like mentality). It has to focus on self reliance even if it is associating with any power on the earth. take benefit whereever you get it but keep focus on your goal of becoming super power. India aspired not only to become economic power but also military power and the for a nation of 1 billion intelligent people its pretty genuine aspiration. By following a swan vritti, India may get some peaces of bread (which we call prosperity) but it will never be able to become a military power along with it. japan Thailand or Phillippine or Pakistan none has become so till date. So far as bad rulership in the mentioned countries is concerned, our rulers are also noway less corrupt and surrendering nation interests to personal gains and it is quite likely we may end up another phillippoine type of situation. Out of 105 Crore people of India, most of us here in DC focus on 5 crore well to do Indians, belive me rest of 100 crores are not able to manage a dollor a day and living a life of utmost poverty. Costly energy will further block the prospects of these reamaining 100 crore non english speaking villagers. Think over it my freidns. 336293@desicritics.org Wed, 2 Jul 2008 19:10:32 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/07/01/150327.php#comment-336218 Chandra, I think so too. The nuclear deal is a bit over-rated. Wouldn't solve our chronic power shortage. 336218@desicritics.org Wed, 2 Jul 2008 07:03:50 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/07/01/150327.php#comment-336217 SD I think Governance is the most important point. You can open up your economy as much as you wish but if you donot provide reasonable governance nothing is going to be achieved. The current power crisis is largely a function of poor investment climate for any kind for power plants, failed or absence of electricity reforms and poor management of power generation assets. (Please visit the power ministry web-site to know what I am talking about) Further, even the best estimate of nuclear power generation shows that it will not exceed 8% of total power generation in 10-15 years time. However, instead of spending time on figuring out ways to generate the rest 40-50%, the Govt is stuck on the 5%. Can anyone explain the logic behind this? At the end of the day inspite of all the arguments that are pushed by our Pro-US lobby, the reality is this deal is about Manmohan's legacy. If he were really that bothered about the nation, RTI would not have been the only significant achievement of this Govt during the last 4 years. Why, can anyone explain to me are we treated differently from the Chinese when it comes to a nuclear deal? Are we 'inferior' to them? They can swap their reactors from civilian to military and so on. They can test without getting sanctioned etc.... Can anyone explain why we cannot negotiate a better deal in a years time? Will we not be important to the US anymore? In the mid-90s we were afraid of testing a bomb because of fear of sanctions. Yet, we did the same in 1999 and rode that out very well. How come we donot have the confidence to ask for a deal similar to the Chinese? 336217@desicritics.org Wed, 2 Jul 2008 06:22:21 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/07/01/150327.php#comment-336214 Chandra, Actually I have never said that American influence alone is enough. To make the most of any opportunity, you also obviously need good governance internally which Latam has not had ; same is the case with Philippines. But the ones who had that have certainly done well for themselves. 336214@desicritics.org Wed, 2 Jul 2008 05:21:49 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/07/01/150327.php#comment-336213 Chandra - "Well, if an American embrace was enough, Latam would have been very rich" - agreed! That was more of a WIN-LOSE relationship w.r.t. U.S. and Latam respectively. U.S. extracted a lot out of Latam, and Latam gained very little back. It was more of exploitation. It's important that we Indians carefully weigh out the long term gains and losses, or more thoroughly a LONG-TERM SWOT analysis w.r.t. out relationship with ANY country for that matter, let alone U.S. However, I think that India stands more to GAIN than to LOSE with this nuclear deal with the U.S. The 'SO' are high and the 'WT' are quite low for this deal for India. Why do I think so? That will require a massive explanation, which I find difficult to post in few words in this comment. Love and peace to all, Ayan 336213@desicritics.org Wed, 2 Jul 2008 04:53:22 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/07/01/150327.php#comment-336210 Well, if an American embrace was enough, Latam would have been very rich. We indians miss the fact that the japs began an education revolution in the 1800s and the koreans had a dictator for many years. 336210@desicritics.org Wed, 2 Jul 2008 04:05:12 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/07/01/150327.php#comment-336205 As for research, here are some books. Unfortunately, the amazon ads no longer appear at the bottom. Client State: Japan in the American Embrace by Gavan McCormack Crisis and Commitment: United States Policy Toward Taiwan, 1950-1955 by Robert Accinelli Korea: The Hard Way, Battling Invisible Trade Barriers - A story from the Front Lines of America's Trade War by Frank J. Kiska 336205@desicritics.org Wed, 2 Jul 2008 01:32:07 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/07/01/150327.php#comment-336204 The examples you quote donot owe their success to being a US stooge. I would request further research before coming to such generalised conclusions. We in India have a myriad of problems (that you know well off) that no other country can help us solve. We will have to do it ourselves. I see many of our elite feeling orgamsic about the nuclear deal. Apparently we will somehow find land and money to set up nuclear plants while we still cannot find land to build thermal power plants and when our hydel plants run at 50% efficiency. Good luck to all of you!! 336204@desicritics.org Wed, 2 Jul 2008 00:57:02 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/07/01/150327.php#comment-336202 Interesting post - Shantanu. Peace and prosperity of a nation should not be sacrificed at the altar of ideology. When you are weak, you need a strong person to help lift you up to stand proudly. Nations have to think in terms of co-operation and have to think "WIN-WIN" as they name it in management parlance. Choose a partner from which you can extract maximum gain/profit. U.S. fits the bill perfectly in the current global scenario, for India. And why should we not try to learn from and extract benefits from a more powerful, rich source? It's common sense! Japan managed to put WW-II behind and surge forward with co-operation with the U.S. Why can't India do so? Love and peace to all, Ayan 336202@desicritics.org Wed, 2 Jul 2008 00:35:41 EDT