CLIMATE CHANGE AND INDIA

some hackers who hacked into the university of east Anglia have brought forth emails which shows that the theory  human made climate change is fake.the emails reveal that scientists tried to suppress data showing the reversal of trends in global climate pattern,and that earth was actually cooling.this new revelations have cast doubt on the legitimacy of the Copenhagen talks.

whatever the truth behind the emails may be ,we indians must go forward with the development of alternate fuel sources.this can make us less dependent on the volatile gulf sates and the us oil mafia. we must switch over to solar and wind power and rely less on diesel and coal, we must produce more of  hybrid and electric  cars .this way india can be a world power in the field of renewable energy. being a huge country with billion plus population the emphasis we give on public transport must remain in place so that the roads become less crowded, a clean and efficient public transport system can ensure the development of people of all strata.

so lets just don’t care about what happens in Copenhagen and move forward with our plans on self-reliance in energy.

OBAMA-MANMOHAN SINGH STATE DINNER

one following cnn for the past week will be dazzled to note the number of times they mentioned india.i think the total number of times india was said in the past week will be twice it was said in the last six months.  sadly it was not to mention the blooming indo us relationship or the joint resolutions on afghanistan but it was for the state dinner – the first one in obama tenure. lots was told about the food(curry,chutney …) ,about michelle obamas clothes and the indian designer.even the so called party crashers got more coverage than the bilateral relation ship.

we indians who gets excited with a mere mention of the word india in the world press started inferring things like ” india is asserting itself “  and ” us gives a warm welcome to the budding super power”.no one cared whether the coverage was about mrs obama’s bangles or the bilateral relationship as long as india was mentioned.some commentators in india is comparing the visit of the primeminister to the us with the obamas visit to china(which is absurd).president’s visit to china was more about trade,the currency issue etc the coverage in the media was unmatched,each and every aspect of sino-us relationship was analysed.why can’t we indians stop bragging about out ‘will be super power’ status and work towards gaining it.

on a lighter note – i dont know whether u noticed or not during the world business today on cnn they where talking about the crisis in tea growing ares and the weather woman mary ramos? showed nilgiris in west bengal .

FALL OF DUBAI

Dubai is the word synonymous to the middle east in malayalam.millions have pulled themselves out of poverty from the money sent from there. but the latest news out of the emirates have revealed the skeletons from its sultans closets. the world have always asked for transparency in their  balance sheet but it have always remained a mystery until now when the govt told the creditors to freeze its debts.

Dubai world and nakheel which are the investment arms of the government have gone under a debt of 80 mill dollars. its sultan who wanted to diversify the economy invested the oil money elsewhere but when the housing bubble burst everything went south the effect was doubled by the falling oil prices.dubai splurged its money in building some outrageous world wonders like’ the palm’ and ‘the world’.

i think this is just the tip of the iceberg , more secrets of the royals will be out soon.poor kerala govt which counted the Dubai for the ambitious smart city project.the chief minister recently said that he is reviewing the whole project an a new partner will be selected soon.reports from the emirate says that the Dubai govt is to be bailed out by its good neighbour abudhabi.any way my uncle(who was an expat in Saudi)used to say that one day arabs will come to clean up the cow dung of our cattle as we do with their camel waste ,i thing that day wont be far away.

INDIA vs CHINA

the economic expansion of Asia have been giving jitters to the west especially grand old Europe who finds its future global role in jeopardy ,challenged by two Asian giants INDIA AND CHINA. this led to the high phoning and the introduction of whole new word – chindia in the western media. they are seen as super powers in the making ,which will make this unipolar world a multipolar one.

Indian media have been abuzz with  India vs china debates for the last few years.but is this comparison justifiable ?.i don’t think so.both the countries are completely different from one another . at this stage Chinese are far ahead of us in economic terms.it is like comparing Mexico with Germany or china with the united states.

we have just embarked on a trajectory of growth while china was a decade in front in implementing reforms.they had growth rates of over 10% for the past two decades while our growth have never gone beyond 9% and is averaged at 7%.its economy is thrice ours and expanding at a much faster rate.

china is an export driven economy while ours is an inward looking one.this have its pros and cons – we were not  much affected by the global crisis of the past year but china was severely battered.the advantage for china being an export driven economy is the importance that it gets in world affairs.china is the largest trading partner for countries from united states to congo.so  no one can ignore its power.

china is more urban than India.urbanization of china was rapid  mostly in the last decade ,its urban population is over 50% of the population but in India over 70% is rural.Chinese urban populace is expected to grow further to around 70% while India is expected to remain rural in the coming decades.i personally believe in Gandhian principle that villages are the heart of a country but growth is more rapid in an urban set up,while villages grow in a different pattern.its true that the growth of  villages makes the country self-sufficient ,still it takes time much more than an urban area.

Indian economy is service driven while china is basically industrial.so in this front there can never be a comparison.but it is essential that India develop its industrial base because its motto of self-reliance is possible only in that case.china on the other hand must develop its services sector so that it can grow further.

china is a dictatorship while India as we proudly say is democratic though democratic machinery here can be worse than dictatorship.but freedom people enjoy here is unmatched anywhere in the world.we can speak our mind out,gossip about anything and moreover can fight for our rights.though this freedom has not reached to its full extend in the deeper strata of the society still peoples power is enormous. in china cpc is the final word,no one can fight against it,it can take away your property and compensate in the rates it like.this centralization of power have helped the growth .the implementation stage of any project runs into trouble in India due to the people’s power while in china no one dares to question whether it be useful to the community or not.

India is a union of 28 different countries each with its own language,culture and traditions.the only link is the religion but this is also diverse.people belonging to one cultural grouping have zero interaction with others.china on the other hand is a homogeneous society of Han Chinese(though minorities are suppressed),they act and think as one single entity.

therefore the comparison between the two countries is worthless ,though it is a fact that both these countries will be forces to reckon with in the future.china in the immediate while india in a distant one.