Shashi Tharoor on India's "soft power"

As Shashi Tharoor says -- "In today's world, it's not the size of the army that wins. It's the country that tells a better story."

Defence Tips for Obama -- from Brian Lara

Now that is some defence !

courtesy : timesofindia.com

CNN "International" - Get yourself to be more competent !

The CNN reporting on the Nov 26 Mumbai madness is atrociously incompetent !

Comparing the reports by CNN versus the one by IBN blatantly highlights the vast difference in the reporting quality for correctness, clarity and completeness. All that I hear from CNN are regurgitated irrelevant reports that are far from clear.

To add to the incompetence of their reports the narrators pass doubts about the competence of the India military/Police/Intelligence and keep on repeating how India was offered help from US and UK ?

Some advice for CNN - the incompetent party here happens to be your international reporting team.

Go get a competent international reporting team !

Expecting some confused american reporters/narrators to clearly understand the complexity of what is going on the ground in a country they do not understand is unreasonable.

A good reporter needs to know the country down from their heart and soul to correctly interpret and report events- especially at such tense occasions. You need to be a native to truly understand the gravitas of what is going on. The American reporters/narrators have no idea what is going on - they are just clueless.

You must have a competent local team to truly understand what is going on !

--- Over to IBN now.

Gobama !

Yes we can. Yes We can.

Yes I could ! Yes I could -- tell you so correctly from a long , very loooong time ago !


This one is a different one. This one is a special one. This one is the one.


Aaah - the pleasant feeling of seeing the right things happen at the right time.

There is hope. There will be hope.

This event in time would definitely be a turning point in world history. No doubts.

Bailout - From a Presidential view.

Sarah Palin was asked by Katie Couric to explain what she thought about the 700 Billion USD Bailout instigated by Fed. Here is what she had to say.

" That’s why I say I, like every American I’m speaking with, we’re ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the healthcare reform that is needed to help shore up our economy. Helping the—it’s got to be all about job creation too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans and trade—we’ve got to see trade as opportunity, not as competitive, scary thing, but one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today—we’ve got to look at that as more opportunity. "

And she is a Vice-Presidential nominee ; one who is one 72 year old heart-beat away from being the President of the United States of America.

Was McCain even remotely lucid in his thoughts when he picked her to be his VP nominee ? All of this almost defies belief !

First it was George Bush, then we had John McCain and now we have Sarah Palin ? Hmmmm ...

Some Nice Nuclear Waste for sale -- Anybody ? ? ?

I had written some time back arguing in favor of the nuclear deal ; and boy am I happy to see the deal materialize despite the best attempts from the nutty left. [ You think the left are not nutty ? - Singur, Tata anyone ? ]

There is a lot of good press that this deal is generating -- the energy options it provides India, the profits/jobs that it creates for Russia/France/USA and the likes. Who would have thought that the day would come so soon, when the developed world would be looking to India for generating jobs and money. But I digress.

One thing that is not being brought up by the media though is the issue of nuclear waste. I have not seen any significant media coverage on this very important issue !

In a country like India where even strict rules are taken as nothing but mere guidelines - how would we deal with the issue of disposing nuclear waste ? -- Would it all be dumped without any precautions, to some 'lesser fortunate' places within the country ; thus putting the environment and lives at stake ?

We know that the nuclear waste disposal problem is the mother of all waste-disposal problems. The radioactive leftovers potentially last for large periods of time, and could have deadly effects on large portions of the surrounding environment. Look at the problems United States is having with approving the proposed Yucca Mountains nuclear waste site.

If nuclear waste could prove to be a problem in a mostly law-abiding nation like United States, I fear how are the corrupt babus in India are going to deal with this important issue.

Are we taking enough care - that we do not become the nuclear dumping ground of the west ?

Nuclear Energy is good -- but India must also explore other alternatives, just as United States is doing; We must not fall into the trap of greedy commercialization from the corporates who want to sell us energy at any cost. We must keep all our energy options open.

Mid Quarter Iragi Progress Report

An extremely Illuminating report on recent(i.e. past 6 years) progress in Iraq. A must see.

The Ever-right democracy.

Found this here.

The United States on Monday used precision missiles to strike a "known terrorist target" in southern Somalia, a U.S. military official said.

The strike near Dhoobley, which is close to the Kenyan border, was aimed at a "facility where there were known terrorists" affiliated with East African al Qaeda operations, according to the official.

The strike destroyed two houses -- killing three women and three children, and wounding another 20 people -- Dhoobley's District Commissioner Ali Nur Ali Dherre told
CNN. Dherre said the remains of the missiles were marked "US K."

Reminds me of something Gandhi said :

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?

-- Mahatma Gandhi

Nothing more needs to be mentioned. Amen.

And my vote goes to ...

I had written about the presidential race some time back, while the P-race was still in its infancy.

Alas, I found that my favorite candidate: Colbert, could not make the cut. I had to come up with a pick among the current litany of pretenders.

I do have a clear favorite though.

Among Obama's other obviously impressive characteristics, it is very refreshing to see an American Politician juxtaposing an obvious intellect with an honest conscience. A rare quality that.

Watch out for this one. He is one world-leader for the future.

The Sun is producing nuclear energy. Attack the Sun.

Conundrum on being an Indian Liberal

Found this paragraph in a book review for Tharoors "The Elephant, The Tiger, and The Cell-Phone "

"

Liberals, like nerds, can be bullied. But unlike the nerds, liberals are not too bright. They do not have the spark of genius of the nerds. The liberals are mediocre in the nice sense of the term. That is, they are normal folk, who believe in the good and right things. And they assume the role of opinion leaders because they are articulate and express themselves in earnest tones. They are evangelical and self-righteous as well in what they believe and in what they say. 

International bureaucrat and novelist-essayist Shashi Tharoor is a liberal. To make things worse, he is also an Indian liberal. Unlike the Western liberal, who is willing to accept diversity and differences, his Indian counterpart wants to embrace everything.

"

How very apt a description, of the subtle differences within differing liberal mindsets. 

Presidential Race '08

Despite the obvious anti-incumbency induced  Presidential lead the Democrats have, I have been unsure of a clear victory for them. The last months have shown a number of possible candidates in the fray - some with true potential of being the next president (mostly Democrats), while some who are plain in-the-running-just-to-show-my-face-to-the-public.

Although I do not have a horse in the race - I did like some of them. Barack Obama was by far the most impressive candidate to me - he seemed to be an  intellectual with his ethics and values in the right place. Hillary looks to be a credible woman and  a good candidate too - although she appears to be a tad of boorish and shows a pretentious intellect to me - but thats what American presidents of recent past are - eh ?. Mitt Romney was another person that talked some sense,  while Edwards was a nice and like-able underdog candidate too. McCain and Giuliani are too right-wing for my liking. Bill Richardson is another guy who seems to be a sensible choice - though unfortunately he does not have the star-power that some of his competitors have. 

I definitely had some favorites - Obama, in particular, but nobody seemed head-and-shoulders and more above the others. 

Nobody I could see who had the combination of both Intellect and Ethics, a balance of Sophistication and Humbleness, someone who had not only the vision but also followed a dream, a person with a sense of Purpose and a sense of Humor - no one who seemed an ' Atal Bihari Vajpayee' style winner in my mind. 

Until I saw this one.

Vote for Colbert for 08 !

For want of a nail - the kingdom was lost.

The US-India Atomic Energy Act promises to be the one of the most crucial treaties of the modern times. This is an act that not only establishes co-operation between the largest and the richest democracy's - but is also an harbinger to enhanced ties between these two giants.

In a time when even the signatory members of the controversial NPT - countries such as Iran and the once ratified North-Korea are facing flak from the rest of the world for developing nuclear technologies - here we have a non-signatory member being offered an option for technology transfer. This move is not only unprecedented, but also a great moral victory on a global stage for India.

It is an win-win situation for both countries as one can see it. India - a developing country facing acute power crisis gets accelerated access to advanced technology to fulfill its power needs and also establishes friendly ties with the most powerful and like-minded friend that one can have. United States on the other hand has clear commercial benefits to reap - and the added advantage of cozying up to a sleeping giant that is well on its way to wake up and dominate the coming century. It is in the interest of both countries to continue to build their relationship to next levels.

The deal looks all set to augur a new era in world politics - one that not only confirms the eastward shifting of the balance of world power - but in a way, also signals an unspoken acceptance to India's concerns over the nuclear-discrimination caused by NPT .

All of it was looking good - until a few spoil-sports, started creating obstacles - for reasons that seems to be inspired from local and petty political considerations.

It is sad to see the state of affairs.

Those opposing the deal, do not even site concrete reasons/solutions/alternatives to solve the energy crisis the country is facing. They talk about dangers of getting 'too close' to the capitalist powers of the United States - while conveniently ignore the very poignant fact that India has been registering record GDP rates only due to the money flowing in from this 'capitalist' country.

It is my hope that such short sighted political agendas do not derail the chance of a greater good-will and common-sense to prevail.

It reminds me of a poem I heard when I was perhaps seven years old. May be - the members of CPI should brush up their third standard literature syllabus - they surely seem to be behaving like seven year olds !

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

Heres hoping that for the want of the nail of petty polics we do not loose us the kingdom of friendly co-operative co-existence.

Putin thinks he is the next Gandhi ?

Russian premier Vladimir Putin gave a statement to the effect of calling himself the complete democrat.
At one point he says

"After the death of Mahatma Gandhi there's nobody to talk to,"

I have been a supporter of Putin. I think he is one of the smarter world politicians - someone who has done considerably well in rebuilding Russia in the past few years.

There might be a slight chance that the Mahatma was fooling the world. May be - in reality Gandhi was a black-belt karate expert who sipped wine while his countrymen were hungry. There is a possibility that Gandhi did covertly order a few wars to be fought, and that he did ask his people to indulge in violence.

But I have a small suspicion that you are seriously wrong on this count, Mr. Putin !

Peace and Growth in the emerging new world

In a beautiful dissection of the state of affairs for India and the world in general, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon gave a speech titled 'India and International Security'.

Menon talks about the change in the world that has occurred as Indian has matured from a fledgling new born country into a world leader.

At independence, it was natural that the primary task of India's foreign and security policies was to enable India to begin the process of economic and social transformation that a poor and backward country required.

The immediate objectives were therefore a peaceful environment, strategic space and autonomy, free of entanglement in Cold War conflicts or alliances. Non-alignment, as this policy was called, was the ability to judge issues on their merits and their effect on India's interests, or, as our first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru used to say, 'enlightened self-interest'.

Six decades later, we face a different world. The end of the Cold War, accelerating processes of globalisation and the salience of trans-national challenges characterise the current global scene. India too has undergone a profound internal change during this period.

Economic growth and modernisation are transforming our society at an unprecedented pace. The impact of technology is being increasingly felt. Movements of goods, services, capital and people connect us more closely than ever to once distant societies.

He discusses in detail the role of India in its immediate neighborhood as well as in the World. A very well made observation is the seemingly obvious, but unfortunately under-appreciated importance of co-existence.

Menon discusses India in context with all its immediate neighbors and emphasizes the importance of not only maintaining peace, but points out the inter-dependence that these countries inherently have.

He also addresses the other concerns that our global society faces - he addresses the over-rated issue of terrorism and the under-rated issue of Environmental Change (in my opinion). A very interesting and legitimate point he makes in understanding these concerns is, where he mentions how the new world must re-align itself to the new world order.

If our international institutions are not dealing successfully with the challenges of today, one reason is the fact that they no longer reflect current or emerging realities of power.

A very interesting article. Check out the entire speech over here.

An hour with Colbert

A video where Colbert is interviewed for a change. Take a look.

Colbert did some hilarious segments on bollywood some time back that may be known to all. On a slightly different yet interesting note though, here is another interview he did with Shashi Tharoor. Funny !

The game of Consolidation ?

con·sol·i·da·tion
Pronunciation: k&n-"sä-l&-'dA-sh&n

2 : the process of uniting : the quality or state of being united; specifically : the unification of two or more corporations by dissolution of existing ones and creation of a single new corporation

As the world grapples with the new realities of a seamless world, there has been a marked change in the way business is carried out. These changes have stemmed from the development of better communication with the advent of the industrial revolution, and has been exaggerated with the digital revolution triggered in the 21st century.

This is an age where boundaries are getting hazier. It does not matter whether one is ensconced in a plush developed country or if one is in a relatively underdeveloped part of the world. The digital age and the modern age has brought a parity in the world that was not present before.

This new environment where 'boundaries' mean nothing has also drastically changed the way business is done. This is the day and age where any Industry would work best if it works 'across boundaries' rather than within them.

The boundaries I am referring to are not necessarily just political boundaries across countries. These could boundaries across locations such as states or cities or even boundaries across different corporate cultures, practices and different ways of working.

Consolidation is the name of the game right now - and we can slowly see many industries waking up to this reality.

Take a look at the changes in the very important steel industry in the last few years. Consolidation in the steel industry began a year back and is now a process which has snowballed into a trend where most of the major steel companies have continued on, by forming mergers and/or through acquisitions. The Software sector has seen a spur of activity primarily due to Google going through a slew of acquisitions, right from YouTube upto DoubleClick.

There has been some consolidation in the Financial sector with merger news from Barclay and ABN Ambro, Nasdaq improving its stake in LSE being the latest such news. The Pharmaceuticals Industry has seen some activity, with some acquisitions by Merk, GSK, Eli Lilly and Pfizer. The acquisition of MedImmune by AstraZeneca is the latest big acquisition in this Industry. The Automobile Industry has been relatively non-affected by the waves of consolidation as of now. But then, pure logic would point to a need of consolidation in this industry - perhaps a tie up between GM and Ford ?

The Consolidations that we have seen until now - may just be the tip of the Iceberg.

Are we going to see a wave of consolidations across all Industries in the future ? Time shall tell.

Rest in Peace - a selfish world.

What happened in Blacksburg, Virginia some days back was a horrible and shocking incident. My condolences to the deceased.

The reaction that I saw in the media and on the internet after that though - is something I fail to comprehend.

Why are the deaths of these 32 people being blown out of proportion ? Do not hundreds of people die everyday ? Are not hundreds of people killed in Kashmir, in the Middle East - while we sleep cosily in our houses ? Do not thousands die in Africa out of hunger while we eat our McDonald burgers ?

Why are these deaths mere statistics to us - while the 32 who died in Virginia Tech hailed as heroes ?

The reason, I believe - is that humans have become too selfish. They do not grieve for the dead. They are just vicariously looking at the dead and hoping that they do not get into the same situation.

They know that they will not be killed in Kashmir. They know that they will not die of hunger in Africa. However, they could be walking in a campus or a superstore and get shot at by lunatics. And that really scares them. They are just selfish about their own well-being.

If we people were so genuinely compassionate about the suffering of fellow human beings - we would know that there is far greater suffering in the world than what we saw at Virginia Tech.

This post does not say that what happened in Virginia Tech was forgivable. Not the least. All I am saying is - please learn to put things in a proper perspective !

If there can be so much hue and cry about the deaths at Virginia Tech, We could also write articles about people killed in Kashmir and the middle East. We could raise awareness of people dying in Africa. We could do so many more things for the benefit of humanity.

We should raise concerns about humanity as a whole - not just about things that could only affect us.

If we want to claim to be good human beings - we should stop being selfish !

Just some food for thought.

Update:

233 people were killed in Iraq today, and I do not see any one even raising an eyebrow. No CNN headlines - no countless blogs - no orkut communities. What hollow people we have become !

Invade Iran now ?

A Video footage of the British Captives taken hostage by Iran has just been released. The detainees agree to trespassing into Iranian waters and also claim to have met with "friendly, hospitable and thoughtful' people.

It is very interesting to note that the voices coming from the British Ministries have a much harsher and an indignant tone than the people held captive in this report. There have been reports of other even more drastic developments .

Coming back to the original report, I do not find the attitude of the detainees hard to believe. It is easy to imagine a group of Britishers being treated well by people of Iran. Yes ! One can imagine an Israeli man shaking a friendly hand with a Palestinian and how very easy it is for an Indian to have a Pakistani friend. It does not sound unbelievable at all. It is natural - You meet someone new and different, and it is instinctive to be respectful !

It is a real pity that when the Governments are involved and when societies as a whole interact with another alien societies - the possibility of peaceful co-existence always seems more remote. Societies as a whole are always wary of each other.

I hope that the governments of USA and UK do not leverage incidents as these as an excuse for another invasion ! It is important that these powers of the world realize that it would be much more fruitful to develop bonds of peace - rather than to start wars.

It is important for economic and humanitarian reasons that USA and UK learn to live peacefully with the rest of the world.

A power which cannot control itself, is no power at all.

Whether good sense prevails - time shall tell.

Divide Pakistan ?

There has been an interesting and even outrageous series of advertisements, articles and even a book detailing the role of Pakistan in fostering terrorism. The author of the book is a France based gentleman called Jamaluddin Syed.

Mr Syed raises some interesting arguments about Pakistan's role in world terrorism - especially pointing to the grooming of the "terrorist mindset". He claims that no other country in the world other than Pakistan - be it N. Korea, Iran or Syria, actually "groom the terrorist mindset" as Pakistan does.

He further delves into the cause of creation of this "terrorist mentality" - arguing that the manner in which Pakistan was created in 1947 had a large role to play.

He also offers an outrageous but interesting solution to the problem - advocating that the International community initiate a division of Pakistan to help curb the terrorist mindset from spreading.

A lot of it ends up sounding very far-fetched - but a very new interpretation none the less.

Check out this site - especially the videos

http://www.dividepakistan.blogspot.com

Disclaimer : All these are the views and opinions expressed by Mr. Jamaluddin on his web site - not necessarily mine.