Editorial
India is now a multi-sporting nation
India gave a scintillating performance at Commonwealth Games in Delhi. She won 101 medals, 38 of which were gold. She stood second in the medals table. India managed to prove to the world her potential in the sports world. Asian Games at Guangzhou had proved to be another test for Indian sportspersons and they passed the test. Before the Commonwealth games began, nobody thought that India would achieve this feat. Most of the sports lovers had expected another dismal performance from India. But that didn't happen. Instead we excelled in a big way. Not only our athletes but also our boxers put on a great show. Saina Nehwal's gold, India's 38th and last, was more than a medal. At one stage during the competition when India got propelled to an unprecedented sixth place in the medal standings, it summed up the story of a new India, an aspiring sporting power that hates to lose. It said as loudly as possible that it was time to ignore the scamsters and focus on the real stars. These stars had performed a feat which was equivalent to what Sania Mirza had done between 2002 and 2010. She had claimed during this period 12 Asian medals for India, bettering the 11 won by P T Usha in her career. Indian athletes proved that it was time they got the opportunity to occupy center-stage in Indian sport.
It is high time India took advantage of this situation. It is true that you can't produce champions without money, and money doesn't come unless you have champions to flaunt. But we now have a plethora of champions in multiple sporting disciplines whom we can market and promote. It is time for spreading the message of 'sport for all' across the country.
Our achievements at Delhi and China have turned Indian athletes into national celebrities overnight. For the first time Olympic sport is at the center of national consciousness.
Till now there was a trend where media covered cricket more than any other sport. That trend is bound to change with tremendous success of our athletes. The media will now focus on all the sports. Every sport in India will be done justice too. India is now turning into a multi-sporting nation. That's a great sign!
Editorial
Science and God
The world today is interconnected. Our lives have changed owing to tremendous scientific and technological development that has taken place. A century ago people would slog long hours to make a living. But advanced technology and information boom has enabled man to earn money more easily than in the past. Innovations like internet, portable computers and mobile phones have a positive effect on our personal and professional lives.
Advancement is technology has taken place owing to man's curious nature. His habit of discovering and inventing has led to material abundance.
Right from evolution man has been asking questions like: Why are we here? Is there is purpose to our lives? Is there a Creator who brought us here? Many scientists have been working hard to derive answers to these profound, essential questions. This gave birth to three types of people: Believers of God, Agnostics and Atheists.
The Believers of God are the people who gave birth to religions. Agnostics kept their minds open. They were not sure whether there existed a God or not. Atheists scoffed at the idea that there existed a God. They strongly believed that there was no such entity called God.
However the advanced physics and cosmology says that there is some form of transcendent power and that there does exist a universal architect; It is believed that there is a being which created the fundamental blueprint of all and that there is woven throughout the universe an abstract intelligence that is akin to a Creator and Sustainer. It is believed that God is not someone who rages and rules and demands obeisance.
But however, 'cosmic religious feeling' is devoid of a God conceived in man's image. Although science can now give us some lucid ideas of Creation, it cannot provide a clear image of a Creator. But one thing is certain and that is awareness of an omnipresent universal force can substantially improve the quality of our lives. If we could universally believe in all religious diversities as representations of a single, transcendent reality, the dreadful problems of fundamentalism and conflict would disappear and there would be Global Peace.
Editorial
India and US will make great friends
Close ties with America will benefit India in three spheres particularly - education, technology and space research.
The United States is the most powerful democracy in the world, while India is the most populous democracy. If the two work together it will be beneficial for both. Indo-US friendship will give relief to India's middle class people particularly because they will be in position to buy American goods at reasonable prices. The tie between the two will also help in balancing China's growing geopolitical clout by using India's emerging status as an Asian powerhouse. Another thing is both the countries will benefit in areas such as education and technology.
America has the best higher education system in the world today. There are many Indians who have benefited by this system. There are plenty of Indians employed in biggest US companies and universities. Silicon Valley, especially, is full of Indian technologists. There are quite many Indians who after receiving education in US have returned to India and have helped in the growth of both private and public sectors. India's higher education system is badly in need of an overhaul. In India, of the 220 million Indian children enrolled in school, only about five million go on to college, and fewer still enroll in a university. Higher education in India could benefit vastly from exchange programmes with US counterparts.
Friendship with America will enable India to develop low-cost technology that will benefit both India and the world. There are many Indians with innovative ideas and they can provide anything from low-cost software services to the popular Tata Nano cars. Thus India's rich experience in bringing ideas to the market can benefit US a lot.
These two democracies can even assist each other in space programmes. America's National Aeronautics and Space Administrations (NASA) and India's Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) can work hand in hand and do wonders. NASA has the experience, while ISRO has the ambition. NASA has the experience of many successful missions. ISRO has the talented people. The two together can form a good team. The NASA-ISRO team can work in the direction of building a permanent lunar base.
The good news is that US President Obama's three-day visit has led to both countries agreeing to work together on topics ranging from clean energy to monsoon forecasting to space to agriculture. Indo-US friendship can really do wonders to both the countries. The near future will prove this point.
Editorial
Spiritual richness is more satisfying than material affluenceLeading a spiritual life means whatever we think, speak or do is guided by consciousness of Ultimate Truth. A spiritual person is able to see divinity in all his actions and in everything under the Sun. It is not enough to be materialistic only. One has to be spiritual also. Without spirituality you can't get satisfaction, you can't know what exactly is your goal and you won't even know what exactly you are chasing. We have to blend the material aspects of life with the spiritual. Only then we can be free from stress. Only then can we feel content and in the process bring about stability in our lives. Only then can we experience calm, peace and tranquility. It is when you are spiritual that your outlook gets broadened.
To be spiritual is to realize the presence of a Divine Force. Once we become aware of this divine force, we begin to appreciate the entire creation around us. We get the feeling that one who created this world is also taking care of the world. In the process we feel safe. We feel absolutely secure. It is then that we stop brooding over the past, stop caring for failures and we only concentrate on performing our actions without caring for the outcome. We begin to treat even failures with calmness and peacefully. We become conscious of an entity called cosmic intelligence which takes total care of everyone on earth.
It is spirituality that unites the world and makes all the beings under the Sun feel that they are One. It is spirituality within man that gives birth to universal brotherhood. We begin to love all. Spirituality can achieve that thing called universal love. A spiritual person tries to please everyone and refrains from offending or displeasing anyone. This behaviour of a person is what creates the feelings of mutual respect and kinship. If all people had to behave this way we would witness the formation of one global family. Nobody would then experience the emotions like hatred, ill will, enmity or alienation.
When a person becomes aware of Divine Force, he becomes enlightened. His behaviour begins to reflect divinity. He becomes content with whatever he has. He becomes generous. He begins to trust the values like goodness, love and truth. In other words, he feels spiritually rich. Spiritual richness is more satisfying than material affluence.
Editorial
Religion should be scientific
Most of the people in the world have great respect and regards for religion. Religion is considered as most sacred. In Indian courts, statements are made under oath with a hand on a holy book. There is a need to take care to see that religion does not clash with science. Also religion should not clash with civil laws. People should not break civil laws in the name of religion. People should not become irrational in the name of religion. In other words, religion should not be something in which you can afford to have blind faith. It should be absolutely reasonable.
There are some religions which are idol-centric and which oppose modern science. Care should be taken to see that religion does not collide with scientific laws. Most of the religions encourage worships of divine heroes who step in and out of this world. These heroes marry, procreate, win wars, and also have their share of defeats. According to the religious books, these heroes have the last word at the end of the day and hence their lives should be emulated. The problems occur when religion is challenged by science or vive versa.
Some religions in this world require reformation to make peace with science. In fact, these religions have to accommodate reason in order to survive. The idol-centric religions particularly should not be allowed to proceed unchecked by science. A Science laboratory is as sacred as Temple. Scientists should be taken very seriously and their new ideas should inspire authorities of religions to bring about reformation in their religions accordingly. Science and Religion should go hand in hand with one another. They should not clash with one another. Scientists should pay visits to temples and religious leaders should peep into the science laboratories from time to time to ensure that science and religion don't clash with one another. At no stage, there should arise a conflict between science and religion.
There were scientists and religious leaders who share the common opinion that the work of God is just like science neither irrational nor petulant, but orderly and dependable. According to them, religions are not contrary to reason and are as rational as scientific ideas.
We find that religions are not only influenced by Science but also by history and social sciences. Whatever may be the case, it is necessary that Religion and Science agree with one another at every stage. Only then we can bring about Global Peace.
Editorial
Indo-US friendship needed for a stable global orderBarack Obama is the first US president to make it to Indian shores in his first term. Also, he's probably one of the very few to actually spend three days here, certainly the first to celebrate Diwali in India. But he's also the first president who is visiting India to create jobs for Americans back home since the US is struggling with a 9.6% unemployment rate. This problem Obama would like to tackle as quickly as possible and only India can help him in this matter.
The US needs us. For years, the silent Indian mantra used to be, "Yankees go back... and take me with you." But now the things are different. Today, India is buying US defense equipment,
The US will remain India's most important partners. We need the US to invest in India's development. India is growing rapidly, but it needs to take many leaps in various fields to pull hundreds of millions of Indians out of poverty. For that, India's best partner is still the US. We need their market, their technology, their defense equipment, their expertise in diverse fields and their innovation. India needs to take giant leaps in the fields of economy, energy and education.
The Indian economy is developing in a big way. India has dynamic private sector. For that to truly flourish, India needs technology and the culture of innovation that only US can provide.
India intellectuals hanker for the US type of education system since it has created many world-level Indian scholars in the past. Also it is because of the nuclear deal with the US that India could take a huge leap in energy. For India to go around the world and sign nuclear agreements with impunity it would need American power.
From the strategic viewpoint, India's greatest challenge is China. Obviously, India will not prefer a world run by Chinese rules of the game. We would rather that the world is run on the Washington consensus than the Beijing consensus. Both countries need to come closer for a stable global order in the 21st century.
The US has its own culture and India too has its own culture but yet both the countries need to join hands even if it means that there is bound to arise some troubles here and there. Just as a strong, democratic India is in the interest of the US, the obverse is equally true.
India and the US need each other to be strong in order to remain on top in the world.
Editorial
India and the US need each other
Obama has his 'Indispensable India' mantra. From the time the 44th US president took office, he has flogged this expression several times. It is a recalibration of the Bush-Vajpayee era mantra of 'natural allies'.
There are some critics who say that India is not cut out to be an ally of US in the traditional sense. According to them India is too independent too assertive, too moralistic to make a good ally and so it is now just a 'partner' and in Obama's eyes 'indipensable'. What is it that India offers the US that the world's superpower can't live without? Not cheap goods. Not oil and gas. Not precious metals, rare earths, or hi-technology. So what are the reasons why India is termed 'indipensalbe'? There are many reasons. India is a big market for US. This is the most attractive thing about India right now for the US. It's our economy and constantly expanding middle-class hungering for goods and gadgets for US. Also we have manpower. Some of our best and the brightest people staff their labs, universities, think tanks and other center of excellence.
What is the prime focus of the Obama visit? It's a sales trip. India is growing economically. Also India is developing terrific military muscle. Hence US is all too happy to provide the guns to bulk up New Delhi for the role of a regional cop. New Delhi can be trusted to safeguard its security interests in the sea lanes around the Indian Ocean. 'Common values' is another expression Obama, Bush and Clinton have flogged. US wants help from India and other democracies in the region. The Indian Ocean and the future of America underscores the importance of these nations and bodies of water as the US seeks to check the growing assertiveness of China. US is moving closer to its democratic allies in the region so that they can do more of the heavy lifting. Obama's India trip is the first step in this exercise when he can get his mind away from the economy and jobs.
In a nutshell, that's a good reason for India to need the US to pull the levers of the global system that makes the world a friendliest place for India, more amenable to the India story.
Editorial
India and the U.S. are natural alliesIndia and the United States are natural allies since both are biggest democratic countries in the world. Both show promise of combinedly playing the most powerful role in shaping the world during the 21st century. The future of the world is in the hands of these two great nations. Both India and the US have the potential to influence the future world in the biggest way.
President Barack Obama's upcoming trip will prove to be a big step in the direction of giving tremendous boost to US-India strategic partnership. The coming together of these two powers is bound to lead to global security and prosperity.
American government has created a think tank to build an agenda for the future of the American partnership with India. This is indeed the first right step in the right direction. America has come to realize that India's emergence as a new major global power is bound to have powerful implications for America's global interest. India too has become aware of the fact that joining hands with America will serve mutual interest. Hence both the countries are looking forward to moving towards closer cooperation in the years ahead.
Both US and India want a stable Asian and global balance of power, strengthening of global trading system, to counter terrorism and support democracy and human rights. These common interests are what that is bringing these two great nations closer and closer to each other.
Obama's visit is bound to lead to a major expansion in the bilateral economic relationship between the two countries. There will be a boost in defense trade too between the two. Coming together of US and India will also prevent the growing power of China from posing a risk to the Asian Security balance.
Over the past 15 years, the relations between the United States and India have grown by leaps and bounds. Obama's visit now will further expand and deepen the Indo-US partnership. Global Peace is the common vision of both India and US and Obama's visit is the opportunity for both the nations to put their vision into action.
Editorial
Borrow good manners, and not materials, from the WestThe middle class people in India tend to ape the West in their monetary and material pursuit. These people should be advised to first learn from the West the art of interacting with people. We should borrow the regimen of good manners from the West. The emphasis should not be on acquisition of wealth, but on how we relate with other people. Catching up with the West should begin with good manners and not cars, stereos or even blue jeans. Manners are all about how we treat others whom we don't know personally, and probably never will.
If the West has a head-start of more than a hundred years over us it is not because they got to commodities first but because of it having evolved social manners. West first learnt to treat their social others as equal.
What exactly is manners. It is all about how to behave with those who may not be equally fortunate. In our country, there are people who have the habit of displaying to the under-privileged their wealth, dress and materials. They commence a conversation by an allusion to wealth. This is definitely not good manners. It's okay if we talk glowingly of our culture and civilization to foreigners. We tend to become over boastful in praise of our own country. But we should not forget to convey to foreigners the message about how greatly we appreciated their cultures too because the fact is our country has improved to the great extent owing to the fact that we borrowed a great many things from Western culture.
The good manners in our country evolved during Victorian times. It was during this time that universal health and education of quality levels became open to all. Even the parents belonging to working class could send their children to private schools and these children, when they grew up, could convert themselves from poor class to high class citizens of the country. They succeeded in becoming the front-rankers.
Good manners strengthen welfare policies. We can attain Western living standards not by material accumulation and emulation but by borrowing the good manners of the West.
India is now a multi-sporting nation
India gave a scintillating performance at Commonwealth Games in Delhi. She won 101 medals, 38 of which were gold. She stood second in the medals table. India managed to prove to the world her potential in the sports world. Asian Games at Guangzhou had proved to be another test for Indian sportspersons and they passed the test. Before the Commonwealth games began, nobody thought that India would achieve this feat. Most of the sports lovers had expected another dismal performance from India. But that didn't happen. Instead we excelled in a big way. Not only our athletes but also our boxers put on a great show. Saina Nehwal's gold, India's 38th and last, was more than a medal. At one stage during the competition when India got propelled to an unprecedented sixth place in the medal standings, it summed up the story of a new India, an aspiring sporting power that hates to lose. It said as loudly as possible that it was time to ignore the scamsters and focus on the real stars. These stars had performed a feat which was equivalent to what Sania Mirza had done between 2002 and 2010. She had claimed during this period 12 Asian medals for India, bettering the 11 won by P T Usha in her career. Indian athletes proved that it was time they got the opportunity to occupy center-stage in Indian sport.
It is high time India took advantage of this situation. It is true that you can't produce champions without money, and money doesn't come unless you have champions to flaunt. But we now have a plethora of champions in multiple sporting disciplines whom we can market and promote. It is time for spreading the message of 'sport for all' across the country.
Our achievements at Delhi and China have turned Indian athletes into national celebrities overnight. For the first time Olympic sport is at the center of national consciousness.
Till now there was a trend where media covered cricket more than any other sport. That trend is bound to change with tremendous success of our athletes. The media will now focus on all the sports. Every sport in India will be done justice too. India is now turning into a multi-sporting nation. That's a great sign!
Editorial
Science and God
The world today is interconnected. Our lives have changed owing to tremendous scientific and technological development that has taken place. A century ago people would slog long hours to make a living. But advanced technology and information boom has enabled man to earn money more easily than in the past. Innovations like internet, portable computers and mobile phones have a positive effect on our personal and professional lives.
Advancement is technology has taken place owing to man's curious nature. His habit of discovering and inventing has led to material abundance.
Right from evolution man has been asking questions like: Why are we here? Is there is purpose to our lives? Is there a Creator who brought us here? Many scientists have been working hard to derive answers to these profound, essential questions. This gave birth to three types of people: Believers of God, Agnostics and Atheists.
The Believers of God are the people who gave birth to religions. Agnostics kept their minds open. They were not sure whether there existed a God or not. Atheists scoffed at the idea that there existed a God. They strongly believed that there was no such entity called God.
However the advanced physics and cosmology says that there is some form of transcendent power and that there does exist a universal architect; It is believed that there is a being which created the fundamental blueprint of all and that there is woven throughout the universe an abstract intelligence that is akin to a Creator and Sustainer. It is believed that God is not someone who rages and rules and demands obeisance.
But however, 'cosmic religious feeling' is devoid of a God conceived in man's image. Although science can now give us some lucid ideas of Creation, it cannot provide a clear image of a Creator. But one thing is certain and that is awareness of an omnipresent universal force can substantially improve the quality of our lives. If we could universally believe in all religious diversities as representations of a single, transcendent reality, the dreadful problems of fundamentalism and conflict would disappear and there would be Global Peace.
Editorial
India and US will make great friends
Close ties with America will benefit India in three spheres particularly - education, technology and space research.
The United States is the most powerful democracy in the world, while India is the most populous democracy. If the two work together it will be beneficial for both. Indo-US friendship will give relief to India's middle class people particularly because they will be in position to buy American goods at reasonable prices. The tie between the two will also help in balancing China's growing geopolitical clout by using India's emerging status as an Asian powerhouse. Another thing is both the countries will benefit in areas such as education and technology.
America has the best higher education system in the world today. There are many Indians who have benefited by this system. There are plenty of Indians employed in biggest US companies and universities. Silicon Valley, especially, is full of Indian technologists. There are quite many Indians who after receiving education in US have returned to India and have helped in the growth of both private and public sectors. India's higher education system is badly in need of an overhaul. In India, of the 220 million Indian children enrolled in school, only about five million go on to college, and fewer still enroll in a university. Higher education in India could benefit vastly from exchange programmes with US counterparts.
Friendship with America will enable India to develop low-cost technology that will benefit both India and the world. There are many Indians with innovative ideas and they can provide anything from low-cost software services to the popular Tata Nano cars. Thus India's rich experience in bringing ideas to the market can benefit US a lot.
These two democracies can even assist each other in space programmes. America's National Aeronautics and Space Administrations (NASA) and India's Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) can work hand in hand and do wonders. NASA has the experience, while ISRO has the ambition. NASA has the experience of many successful missions. ISRO has the talented people. The two together can form a good team. The NASA-ISRO team can work in the direction of building a permanent lunar base.
The good news is that US President Obama's three-day visit has led to both countries agreeing to work together on topics ranging from clean energy to monsoon forecasting to space to agriculture. Indo-US friendship can really do wonders to both the countries. The near future will prove this point.
Editorial
Spiritual richness is more satisfying than material affluenceLeading a spiritual life means whatever we think, speak or do is guided by consciousness of Ultimate Truth. A spiritual person is able to see divinity in all his actions and in everything under the Sun. It is not enough to be materialistic only. One has to be spiritual also. Without spirituality you can't get satisfaction, you can't know what exactly is your goal and you won't even know what exactly you are chasing. We have to blend the material aspects of life with the spiritual. Only then we can be free from stress. Only then can we feel content and in the process bring about stability in our lives. Only then can we experience calm, peace and tranquility. It is when you are spiritual that your outlook gets broadened.
To be spiritual is to realize the presence of a Divine Force. Once we become aware of this divine force, we begin to appreciate the entire creation around us. We get the feeling that one who created this world is also taking care of the world. In the process we feel safe. We feel absolutely secure. It is then that we stop brooding over the past, stop caring for failures and we only concentrate on performing our actions without caring for the outcome. We begin to treat even failures with calmness and peacefully. We become conscious of an entity called cosmic intelligence which takes total care of everyone on earth.
It is spirituality that unites the world and makes all the beings under the Sun feel that they are One. It is spirituality within man that gives birth to universal brotherhood. We begin to love all. Spirituality can achieve that thing called universal love. A spiritual person tries to please everyone and refrains from offending or displeasing anyone. This behaviour of a person is what creates the feelings of mutual respect and kinship. If all people had to behave this way we would witness the formation of one global family. Nobody would then experience the emotions like hatred, ill will, enmity or alienation.
When a person becomes aware of Divine Force, he becomes enlightened. His behaviour begins to reflect divinity. He becomes content with whatever he has. He becomes generous. He begins to trust the values like goodness, love and truth. In other words, he feels spiritually rich. Spiritual richness is more satisfying than material affluence.
Editorial
Religion should be scientific
Most of the people in the world have great respect and regards for religion. Religion is considered as most sacred. In Indian courts, statements are made under oath with a hand on a holy book. There is a need to take care to see that religion does not clash with science. Also religion should not clash with civil laws. People should not break civil laws in the name of religion. People should not become irrational in the name of religion. In other words, religion should not be something in which you can afford to have blind faith. It should be absolutely reasonable.
There are some religions which are idol-centric and which oppose modern science. Care should be taken to see that religion does not collide with scientific laws. Most of the religions encourage worships of divine heroes who step in and out of this world. These heroes marry, procreate, win wars, and also have their share of defeats. According to the religious books, these heroes have the last word at the end of the day and hence their lives should be emulated. The problems occur when religion is challenged by science or vive versa.
Some religions in this world require reformation to make peace with science. In fact, these religions have to accommodate reason in order to survive. The idol-centric religions particularly should not be allowed to proceed unchecked by science. A Science laboratory is as sacred as Temple. Scientists should be taken very seriously and their new ideas should inspire authorities of religions to bring about reformation in their religions accordingly. Science and Religion should go hand in hand with one another. They should not clash with one another. Scientists should pay visits to temples and religious leaders should peep into the science laboratories from time to time to ensure that science and religion don't clash with one another. At no stage, there should arise a conflict between science and religion.
There were scientists and religious leaders who share the common opinion that the work of God is just like science neither irrational nor petulant, but orderly and dependable. According to them, religions are not contrary to reason and are as rational as scientific ideas.
We find that religions are not only influenced by Science but also by history and social sciences. Whatever may be the case, it is necessary that Religion and Science agree with one another at every stage. Only then we can bring about Global Peace.
Editorial
Indo-US friendship needed for a stable global orderBarack Obama is the first US president to make it to Indian shores in his first term. Also, he's probably one of the very few to actually spend three days here, certainly the first to celebrate Diwali in India. But he's also the first president who is visiting India to create jobs for Americans back home since the US is struggling with a 9.6% unemployment rate. This problem Obama would like to tackle as quickly as possible and only India can help him in this matter.
The US needs us. For years, the silent Indian mantra used to be, "Yankees go back... and take me with you." But now the things are different. Today, India is buying US defense equipment,
The US will remain India's most important partners. We need the US to invest in India's development. India is growing rapidly, but it needs to take many leaps in various fields to pull hundreds of millions of Indians out of poverty. For that, India's best partner is still the US. We need their market, their technology, their defense equipment, their expertise in diverse fields and their innovation. India needs to take giant leaps in the fields of economy, energy and education.
The Indian economy is developing in a big way. India has dynamic private sector. For that to truly flourish, India needs technology and the culture of innovation that only US can provide.
India intellectuals hanker for the US type of education system since it has created many world-level Indian scholars in the past. Also it is because of the nuclear deal with the US that India could take a huge leap in energy. For India to go around the world and sign nuclear agreements with impunity it would need American power.
From the strategic viewpoint, India's greatest challenge is China. Obviously, India will not prefer a world run by Chinese rules of the game. We would rather that the world is run on the Washington consensus than the Beijing consensus. Both countries need to come closer for a stable global order in the 21st century.
The US has its own culture and India too has its own culture but yet both the countries need to join hands even if it means that there is bound to arise some troubles here and there. Just as a strong, democratic India is in the interest of the US, the obverse is equally true.
India and the US need each other to be strong in order to remain on top in the world.
Editorial
India and the US need each other
Obama has his 'Indispensable India' mantra. From the time the 44th US president took office, he has flogged this expression several times. It is a recalibration of the Bush-Vajpayee era mantra of 'natural allies'.
There are some critics who say that India is not cut out to be an ally of US in the traditional sense. According to them India is too independent too assertive, too moralistic to make a good ally and so it is now just a 'partner' and in Obama's eyes 'indipensable'. What is it that India offers the US that the world's superpower can't live without? Not cheap goods. Not oil and gas. Not precious metals, rare earths, or hi-technology. So what are the reasons why India is termed 'indipensalbe'? There are many reasons. India is a big market for US. This is the most attractive thing about India right now for the US. It's our economy and constantly expanding middle-class hungering for goods and gadgets for US. Also we have manpower. Some of our best and the brightest people staff their labs, universities, think tanks and other center of excellence.
What is the prime focus of the Obama visit? It's a sales trip. India is growing economically. Also India is developing terrific military muscle. Hence US is all too happy to provide the guns to bulk up New Delhi for the role of a regional cop. New Delhi can be trusted to safeguard its security interests in the sea lanes around the Indian Ocean. 'Common values' is another expression Obama, Bush and Clinton have flogged. US wants help from India and other democracies in the region. The Indian Ocean and the future of America underscores the importance of these nations and bodies of water as the US seeks to check the growing assertiveness of China. US is moving closer to its democratic allies in the region so that they can do more of the heavy lifting. Obama's India trip is the first step in this exercise when he can get his mind away from the economy and jobs.
In a nutshell, that's a good reason for India to need the US to pull the levers of the global system that makes the world a friendliest place for India, more amenable to the India story.
Editorial
India and the U.S. are natural alliesIndia and the United States are natural allies since both are biggest democratic countries in the world. Both show promise of combinedly playing the most powerful role in shaping the world during the 21st century. The future of the world is in the hands of these two great nations. Both India and the US have the potential to influence the future world in the biggest way.
President Barack Obama's upcoming trip will prove to be a big step in the direction of giving tremendous boost to US-India strategic partnership. The coming together of these two powers is bound to lead to global security and prosperity.
American government has created a think tank to build an agenda for the future of the American partnership with India. This is indeed the first right step in the right direction. America has come to realize that India's emergence as a new major global power is bound to have powerful implications for America's global interest. India too has become aware of the fact that joining hands with America will serve mutual interest. Hence both the countries are looking forward to moving towards closer cooperation in the years ahead.
Both US and India want a stable Asian and global balance of power, strengthening of global trading system, to counter terrorism and support democracy and human rights. These common interests are what that is bringing these two great nations closer and closer to each other.
Obama's visit is bound to lead to a major expansion in the bilateral economic relationship between the two countries. There will be a boost in defense trade too between the two. Coming together of US and India will also prevent the growing power of China from posing a risk to the Asian Security balance.
Over the past 15 years, the relations between the United States and India have grown by leaps and bounds. Obama's visit now will further expand and deepen the Indo-US partnership. Global Peace is the common vision of both India and US and Obama's visit is the opportunity for both the nations to put their vision into action.
Editorial
Borrow good manners, and not materials, from the WestThe middle class people in India tend to ape the West in their monetary and material pursuit. These people should be advised to first learn from the West the art of interacting with people. We should borrow the regimen of good manners from the West. The emphasis should not be on acquisition of wealth, but on how we relate with other people. Catching up with the West should begin with good manners and not cars, stereos or even blue jeans. Manners are all about how we treat others whom we don't know personally, and probably never will.
If the West has a head-start of more than a hundred years over us it is not because they got to commodities first but because of it having evolved social manners. West first learnt to treat their social others as equal.
What exactly is manners. It is all about how to behave with those who may not be equally fortunate. In our country, there are people who have the habit of displaying to the under-privileged their wealth, dress and materials. They commence a conversation by an allusion to wealth. This is definitely not good manners. It's okay if we talk glowingly of our culture and civilization to foreigners. We tend to become over boastful in praise of our own country. But we should not forget to convey to foreigners the message about how greatly we appreciated their cultures too because the fact is our country has improved to the great extent owing to the fact that we borrowed a great many things from Western culture.
The good manners in our country evolved during Victorian times. It was during this time that universal health and education of quality levels became open to all. Even the parents belonging to working class could send their children to private schools and these children, when they grew up, could convert themselves from poor class to high class citizens of the country. They succeeded in becoming the front-rankers.
Good manners strengthen welfare policies. We can attain Western living standards not by material accumulation and emulation but by borrowing the good manners of the West.
