Who did Michele Obama See at dinner at Mr Singhs residence.Here i am using the term as prime ministers official residence is not really his house in the typical sense as the house has some sense of permanence at least in India.People have owned same piece of Terra at times for centuries and like Texas at times they have changed the rulers of the land yet the occupants have remained the same.
Michelle Obama"s paternal great great grand father Mr Jim Robinson was a slave in south Carolina.Her maternal great-great-great grandmother, Melvinia Shields, also a slave, became pregnant by a white man. His name and the nature of their union have been lost.
Her husband and father of her children is 44th president of USA.Bi racial son of a white mid western white American mother and anti colonialist Muslim father who was born in Kenya and studied in America.His mother married his step dad who was from Indonesia and lived four years in Indonesia.
This couple is on the height of achievement and can be hero's to any young and old.Them representing USA in India is itself a great success story of human achievement.
In US administration their are many very capable women and now it seems in India also their are woman who are there because of their merit and leadership and chutzpah.
India's ambassador to United states is a woman.Foreign secretary(administrative post from the cadre) is woman.India's president a woman Elected by elected leaders. Speaker of the house(Lok Sabha) is woman and Dalit.Opposition leader is woman.Leader of the ruling party is woman of Italian parentage who was once married to prime minister of India.India's railway minister (largest portfolio) is very powerful woman.we have women chief ministers and other power brokers.
In medical schools half the graduates are women.
India's prime Minister was born in British India in a village now in Pakistan which he had to leave at partition and is Sikh.People of his ancestral village relish connection to him even when now they are on the other side of the border.
India's defense minister is Anthony an christian and vice president a Muslim Mr Ansari.One of the leaders they met was elected Chief Minister of Kashmir Son of British woman and married to Hindu from the Muslim majority state of Kashmir.
The person in charge of unique Identification project is an entrepreneur Nandakani who built a large international company before under taking this project for the government.They said it could not be done .So far it seems to be moving along well.It is meeting all the benchmarks so far and it appears that they will deliver in 2014 as promised. These were boys from middle class who feel that they should contribute to India.Again i wonder where is the spirit for service .Oh it is alive in america as well. Nobel laureates serve in Obama administration.Bill gates and other enhance our prestige in the world when American government seems not to be able to deliver much.
Mr Obama is among the few world leaders who can be very comfortable in multi ethnic multi religious India,by shear experiences of his birth and childhood and nationality.
Showing posts with label obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obama. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Obama in India 11/7/10
Obama is doing everything the great symbolism requires of an American president in developing great relations with largest democracy India.He is in the land of His Hero Gandhi and he makes a connection with other icon King in this land.
In delivery he will fall short of what George W Bush was able to do for India a full partnership in the nuclear energy club.With in ten years India will have enough electricity and increased demand for power.That itself will double the production of factories and people in the nation. Shortage of power because of lack of technology has kept India's progress in check now it is more likely to open up that field.
Now for Obama the question is what he could have done which would have made the relationship of the two countries at a level where it would make a difference in the life of ordinary Indians.Water and sewage are two fields where America with great experience and technology can help India to a great degree.
Interest free loans for ten years of ten Billion Dollars to be executed in next three years would have provided water and sewage to masses and development opportunities to both economies. With delivery of these services general health of the poor would improve and net benefit to several hundred million would be immense in economic and human terms.
Nixon is known in the History of China USA relations as a crtical Contributor for the development of China and trade relations with United States.History will look at W Bush as the personality of similar importance in regards to relations with India.In energy starved India bringing India in the maine stream of nuclear producers will give it what it needed.A republican president was able to wipe unjust policies of many administrations and bring democratic and largest democracy in the world from a regime of isolation to a regime of goodwill and friendship.
In this round of Indo US talks i do not think any major landmark deals would be made but the progress will be made in direction of more co-operation and low key negotiations with better understanding for each others positions.I wish Mr Obama had to offer some grand plan for India's poor.US could also plan to use Indias large human pool to solve world problems at more cost effective way than we acan do with our own man power.
Thanks to Mr Obama for keeping the tone of visit upbeat.I understand his arrival and all other public events are being covered in the media with importance they deserve. This should provide a rest to Obama's from election dregery.
In delivery he will fall short of what George W Bush was able to do for India a full partnership in the nuclear energy club.With in ten years India will have enough electricity and increased demand for power.That itself will double the production of factories and people in the nation. Shortage of power because of lack of technology has kept India's progress in check now it is more likely to open up that field.
Now for Obama the question is what he could have done which would have made the relationship of the two countries at a level where it would make a difference in the life of ordinary Indians.Water and sewage are two fields where America with great experience and technology can help India to a great degree.
Interest free loans for ten years of ten Billion Dollars to be executed in next three years would have provided water and sewage to masses and development opportunities to both economies. With delivery of these services general health of the poor would improve and net benefit to several hundred million would be immense in economic and human terms.
Nixon is known in the History of China USA relations as a crtical Contributor for the development of China and trade relations with United States.History will look at W Bush as the personality of similar importance in regards to relations with India.In energy starved India bringing India in the maine stream of nuclear producers will give it what it needed.A republican president was able to wipe unjust policies of many administrations and bring democratic and largest democracy in the world from a regime of isolation to a regime of goodwill and friendship.
In this round of Indo US talks i do not think any major landmark deals would be made but the progress will be made in direction of more co-operation and low key negotiations with better understanding for each others positions.I wish Mr Obama had to offer some grand plan for India's poor.US could also plan to use Indias large human pool to solve world problems at more cost effective way than we acan do with our own man power.
Thanks to Mr Obama for keeping the tone of visit upbeat.I understand his arrival and all other public events are being covered in the media with importance they deserve. This should provide a rest to Obama's from election dregery.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
McChrystal out suites win
Yesterday i blogged and hoped that McChrystal would be spared.No such luck.Sorry dude,you fucked up and now you pay.
The article in Rolling Stone(The Runaway General) i just read on line.Author Michael Hastings has written about this band of warriors from inside the belly.Tension between soldiers and bureaucrats is common.It is always presented as a struggle between brains and brawn's. In reality in America earlier with citizen soldier and now with an effort to bring brains from all fields of expertise it is not a struggle between Boots and Loafers.
Article is not as rude that it required such a harsh action by the President.In reality it seems that people with views opposing the general won.Sad indeed as president said that he has no policy disagreement with the policy.Ego's ,oh we do not have any,till we here a lowly major disparaging some suit.It is a place where fuck it is used instead of hello.All the warriors are called muscle brains.Boss mucks with the meanest and roughest.In the end they are used to delivering what any nation asks of its elite soldier.May be this culture is OK for a unit but not the unit attached to the commander responsible for 150000 soldiers at war.
I hope president will pay attention and create a clear command structure for the civilian authority in this war.You can not expect a soldier to do nation building and a social scientist to fight a war.
The article in Rolling Stone(The Runaway General) i just read on line.Author Michael Hastings has written about this band of warriors from inside the belly.Tension between soldiers and bureaucrats is common.It is always presented as a struggle between brains and brawn's. In reality in America earlier with citizen soldier and now with an effort to bring brains from all fields of expertise it is not a struggle between Boots and Loafers.
Article is not as rude that it required such a harsh action by the President.In reality it seems that people with views opposing the general won.Sad indeed as president said that he has no policy disagreement with the policy.Ego's ,oh we do not have any,till we here a lowly major disparaging some suit.It is a place where fuck it is used instead of hello.All the warriors are called muscle brains.Boss mucks with the meanest and roughest.In the end they are used to delivering what any nation asks of its elite soldier.May be this culture is OK for a unit but not the unit attached to the commander responsible for 150000 soldiers at war.
I hope president will pay attention and create a clear command structure for the civilian authority in this war.You can not expect a soldier to do nation building and a social scientist to fight a war.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Obama and McChrystal in pickle.
General McChrystal and staff by their loose tongue has caused a crisis. Which happens to be of their own making. These are the soldiers who are experts in stealth,focus of purpose and honesty even bluntness. Most of their activities happen in a very secure environment. This reporter from Rolling Stone (HASTINGS)some how was allowed into this elite group of brothers and reported on conversations which were rantings of high stress environment soldiers with everything at risk.It is not fair as it seems from McChrystals initial apology.
Again this was not insubordination as disobeying orders or intent of leadership.May be it was jockeying for position and asking the reporter to report on risks they as team of soldiers are used to taking and are taking all the time . It is sad that a reporter did not get the spirit of the place and chose to report on sensational gibberish of the place.In any family if one is privy to conversations of any spouse that how incompetent their better half is and took them seriously all the marriages would fall apart.Obama does not have to look farther than his own family.
These people have great respect for the system and themselves, not to undermine the authority and integrity of the mission. Generals staff acted more like the close knit family they are, rather than a hierarchical organization military is though in the fighting force General McChrystal is at top of 150000 soldiers.
This makes Obama and McChrystals job very crazy.President needs to be respected along with the different people in the command structure and general needs to deal with limited bosses to achieve the fighting forces goal in the field.Do not have mission creep by loading civilian duties on the fighting general.Give those jobs to Ambassadors and secretaries of state and special envoys of the state department and others.
Yes we need to ask the general to do his military mission with honor and give him a break at this time .Role of this soldier has to be defined by President and given opportunity to finish the task and ride away into sunset.
Carrier of a soldier should not be tarnished by this loose talk and reporting by a reporter at this particular time while McChrystal may be the most ready and capable soldier in the field.
Chastise him by taking civilian responsibilities away and let him finish the job he is most qualified to do. Good luck to the President and the General.I hope cooler heads prevail.
Again this was not insubordination as disobeying orders or intent of leadership.May be it was jockeying for position and asking the reporter to report on risks they as team of soldiers are used to taking and are taking all the time . It is sad that a reporter did not get the spirit of the place and chose to report on sensational gibberish of the place.In any family if one is privy to conversations of any spouse that how incompetent their better half is and took them seriously all the marriages would fall apart.Obama does not have to look farther than his own family.
These people have great respect for the system and themselves, not to undermine the authority and integrity of the mission. Generals staff acted more like the close knit family they are, rather than a hierarchical organization military is though in the fighting force General McChrystal is at top of 150000 soldiers.
This makes Obama and McChrystals job very crazy.President needs to be respected along with the different people in the command structure and general needs to deal with limited bosses to achieve the fighting forces goal in the field.Do not have mission creep by loading civilian duties on the fighting general.Give those jobs to Ambassadors and secretaries of state and special envoys of the state department and others.
Yes we need to ask the general to do his military mission with honor and give him a break at this time .Role of this soldier has to be defined by President and given opportunity to finish the task and ride away into sunset.
Carrier of a soldier should not be tarnished by this loose talk and reporting by a reporter at this particular time while McChrystal may be the most ready and capable soldier in the field.
Chastise him by taking civilian responsibilities away and let him finish the job he is most qualified to do. Good luck to the President and the General.I hope cooler heads prevail.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Indo US relationship is maturing.
PM Manmohan Singh's visit to US and official state reception by President Obama has reduced the fears in many minds and has reinvigorated the multifaceted ties between the two nations and its people.The presence of Indian Americans in the society of America has also helped India develop better relations with USA.
This type of relationship building promotes the ideas of India and USA in a friendly environment.Common grounds and ideas are given time to flourish .This creates a sort soft power for both nations.As ordinary people understand the positions of both sides and see that these two largest of democracies have much more common in ideas which can be easily exchanged in the common language.India has lot to learn from American democracy and in return can teach some unique lessons it has learned in its experiment in last 62 years of democracy.
India's pledge to reduce carbon emissions is a change of its position and is welcome. India is able to do it only if it is able to use more nuclear power for power generation for its needs .India does not have a choice other than generate more power and bring its use to its hungry and in dark masses .Electric power is like providing a sun to the poor.India had chronic shortage of electricity and now with US India nuclear deal can generate more electricity for its development needs without adding to the carbon emissions.
With sufficient electric power India's productivity will increase by 25 percent by just better use of industrial plants.Education will benefit by adding lights to villages so children and adults have more hours to study time.Oh if only our leaders knew how energy hungry masses are of India they would have doe it many years ago. President George Bush will always have a place in history of India's development for passing the major legislation needed for India's Development.
This type of relationship building promotes the ideas of India and USA in a friendly environment.Common grounds and ideas are given time to flourish .This creates a sort soft power for both nations.As ordinary people understand the positions of both sides and see that these two largest of democracies have much more common in ideas which can be easily exchanged in the common language.India has lot to learn from American democracy and in return can teach some unique lessons it has learned in its experiment in last 62 years of democracy.
India's pledge to reduce carbon emissions is a change of its position and is welcome. India is able to do it only if it is able to use more nuclear power for power generation for its needs .India does not have a choice other than generate more power and bring its use to its hungry and in dark masses .Electric power is like providing a sun to the poor.India had chronic shortage of electricity and now with US India nuclear deal can generate more electricity for its development needs without adding to the carbon emissions.
With sufficient electric power India's productivity will increase by 25 percent by just better use of industrial plants.Education will benefit by adding lights to villages so children and adults have more hours to study time.Oh if only our leaders knew how energy hungry masses are of India they would have doe it many years ago. President George Bush will always have a place in history of India's development for passing the major legislation needed for India's Development.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Nobel peace prize for what.
Obama is a brilliant man but Nobel peace prize is not for brilliance. He is astute politician,media savvy & articulate leader,may be even consensus builder,but his track record does not show anything worthy of such a prize at this juncture of his life.
He is the first black president of the united states.The oldest democracy (not a black majority nation).Quite an achievement for him, but not reason for Nobel Peace Prize.
Everybody seems to be so demurred by him that they think he can walk on water and deserves even undeserved honors.This clearly is not deserved honor.If unworthy people receive such honors ,it decreases the value of these honor.In recent years financial rewards has helped honorees to live in comfort and promote their agenda.I remember Amaratya Sen promising to use his honorarium for some poverty projects.
Besides for a new president to get such an award can be a check on the presidential power to make war,I hope the situation does not arise where he becomes a nobel peace prize winner who started a war.
So i say Mr President do not cash in this award.You do not need the money ,you are a rich man,give it to a worthy charity and bring some dignity to the folly of the Nobel committee.If i was bestowed similar award(fat chance)i would reject it without much thought.
He is the first black president of the united states.The oldest democracy (not a black majority nation).Quite an achievement for him, but not reason for Nobel Peace Prize.
Everybody seems to be so demurred by him that they think he can walk on water and deserves even undeserved honors.This clearly is not deserved honor.If unworthy people receive such honors ,it decreases the value of these honor.In recent years financial rewards has helped honorees to live in comfort and promote their agenda.I remember Amaratya Sen promising to use his honorarium for some poverty projects.
Besides for a new president to get such an award can be a check on the presidential power to make war,I hope the situation does not arise where he becomes a nobel peace prize winner who started a war.
So i say Mr President do not cash in this award.You do not need the money ,you are a rich man,give it to a worthy charity and bring some dignity to the folly of the Nobel committee.If i was bestowed similar award(fat chance)i would reject it without much thought.
Friday, September 11, 2009
9/11 A thought
9/11 impacted me on a visceral level.Till then i believed in many shades of grey. Now i think that their is something called absolute evil .Some evil can not be reconciled with and that makes me sad for this change in me.
Any body possessing absolute truth can be a tool for absolute evil.
Mutual acceptance and understanding in others belief and view can only help us create peace.
Science has liberated us from lot of dogma ,now is the time that we bring this understanding to higher level.America and India are experiments in this field.China with its state capitalism is challenging this system.Many of the Islamic majority countries are finding hard to make peace with it.The rulers want to keep their advantage.If ordinary people do not progress we will continue to be troubled by the problems.Americas democracy have survived many a crisis before and India is creating institutions and systems (albeit slowly) to create a society to handle problems while we keep human dignity intact.
America has elected Barack Hussein Obama who had a Muslim father and a step father.His christian grand parents raised him.
Does it tell us something about America ,him , his family .Yes for sure and similar stories are in India also.
I do not understand how India has failed to develop relations with America while China and Pakistan has been successful though with different results.China has done great progress in economical terms and has failed in human terms.Pakistan with its kleptocracy , military rule,feudal, tribal system , has been hampered by religious orthodoxy.Country is backward and divided with women and minorities suffering tremendously.
For the regions of south Asia to progress they need at the minimum a free trade zone from middle east to eastern Asia. US can play a role in it .Improved trade will make them interdependent and less likely to start war.
It is important that India and USA become better allies for mutual benefit as well as for the good of mankind.
Any body possessing absolute truth can be a tool for absolute evil.
Mutual acceptance and understanding in others belief and view can only help us create peace.
Science has liberated us from lot of dogma ,now is the time that we bring this understanding to higher level.America and India are experiments in this field.China with its state capitalism is challenging this system.Many of the Islamic majority countries are finding hard to make peace with it.The rulers want to keep their advantage.If ordinary people do not progress we will continue to be troubled by the problems.Americas democracy have survived many a crisis before and India is creating institutions and systems (albeit slowly) to create a society to handle problems while we keep human dignity intact.
America has elected Barack Hussein Obama who had a Muslim father and a step father.His christian grand parents raised him.
Does it tell us something about America ,him , his family .Yes for sure and similar stories are in India also.
I do not understand how India has failed to develop relations with America while China and Pakistan has been successful though with different results.China has done great progress in economical terms and has failed in human terms.Pakistan with its kleptocracy , military rule,feudal, tribal system , has been hampered by religious orthodoxy.Country is backward and divided with women and minorities suffering tremendously.
For the regions of south Asia to progress they need at the minimum a free trade zone from middle east to eastern Asia. US can play a role in it .Improved trade will make them interdependent and less likely to start war.
It is important that India and USA become better allies for mutual benefit as well as for the good of mankind.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Obama's beer summit a failure.
Obama's beer summit has turned out to be failure.Reason of its failure is the same ,as reason for Obama's comment on the subject,lack of thought and deliberation.
Not enough thought was given to it other than a magnanimous gesture by the president to neutralise the tension.that is all it achieved .Police officer is not a policy person .He can not see how to let go would have made him and police department look better.We do not need to ratchet up the tension .Police jobs are difficult without educated and experienced people complicating the process by becoming juvenile.
Many times it is better to lose the battle to win a war. We all know that president and professor Gates are not the type of people to undermine the police work.Police should also give them a pass when they fail.
By inviting for beer Obama has finally freed himself of the mess he had gotten into.Now if he wants he should comment in his post presidential memoirs.
Not enough thought was given to it other than a magnanimous gesture by the president to neutralise the tension.that is all it achieved .Police officer is not a policy person .He can not see how to let go would have made him and police department look better.We do not need to ratchet up the tension .Police jobs are difficult without educated and experienced people complicating the process by becoming juvenile.
Many times it is better to lose the battle to win a war. We all know that president and professor Gates are not the type of people to undermine the police work.Police should also give them a pass when they fail.
By inviting for beer Obama has finally freed himself of the mess he had gotten into.Now if he wants he should comment in his post presidential memoirs.
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