kasmenon

On the eve of the Budget,  the futility is depressing but the ignorance is becoming a tragedy.   We boast, or at least the lords who govern us asks us to digest, that we are the 4th largest economy !   Fact:  #  Nominal per capita income stands at roughly USD 2,818  per annum. In  *nominal per capita terms, India is ranked around 144th globally*..   For whom are we 4th largest , exactly? Yes, India has overtaken Japan in total GDP . But when that wealth is divided among 1.4 billion people, reality looks very different.  Even on purchasing power parity , we are still only around 125th. These rankings are not academic. They define how people live. Net FDI is now negative Wealth continues to concentrate at the top, with * one percent of the population controlling nearly half the country’s wealth *. Consumption keeps struttering. Lending or credit off-take is  a laggard. Sluggish  deposts. Unemployment consistantly at al...

Traditional and, in particular, post ww2 processes and routes towards dealing with natiinal interests ( in this case US) was based on slow diplomatic talks and pressures , leverage  international bodies like UN , world Bank , IMF etc  to advantage.  Even though the US and other developed nations manipulated the process through back door efforts, it still meant slow progress and often a stalemate. So, as a conseqence, the US often tried to use  force to get what it wants ( Middle east , Afghanistan for US . Falkland,  Argentina in case of UK, Ukraine for US and Russia) with doubtful results. Still, the balance of power , economic development of China , weakness of UK and EU, conservative US leadership etc  made US efforts less effective. Then comes Trump's second term.  He had no faith in the slow uncertain process. He is a impatient deal maker used to taking huge risks. He saw through the system in his first term. So he starts by shaking up the slee...

  Recently managed to get some knowledge about this.  Rhw Sindhu River  a major Asian river that flows through China (Tibet), India, and Pakistan, originating in the Tibetan Plateau and emptying into the Arabian Sea. Many ancient invaders had to struggle to cross this river to enter the land south. The Persians in early 6th century  reached the river Nadar crossed it. They called the people south if thebriver as Hindus  as they found pronouncing the S difficult.  The Greeks then ( mind you there were several intermediate epochs but the gist is this) corrupted the Sindhu river name and word  Hindus into the word  Indus. The river was also called Indus. Then the region  south of Indus became India.  Now once the subject of names what about Bharat. Its stems from the Sanskrit Bharata. One version is that  the name comes from a legendary emperor named Bharata, who was a descendant of the Vedic tribe of Bharatas. He was a wise and powerf...

Kllling fileds : *Venusuala*  For those who  had not followed history and the evolution in  international political post WW2 , here is a repeat of the forces that controlled several nations progress. *Venezuela's political history* is defined by periods of military rule and autocratic dictatorships, punctuated by a relatively stable and democratic era ( early 60's to eightees)  and more recently, a shift toward increasing authoritarianism/ dictatorship,  under Hugo Chávez and his successor, Nicolás Maduro. Anti-government protests have flared up and hundreds of people have been arrested by the security forces, which remain loyal to  Maduro. The US has intrests in oil and so are Europe and some other Latin American countries.  Plus, the US is entangled in the Drug business and crime.  They propped up  Mr  Guaido to seize control but the dictator stopped that. Then lawmaker María Corina  became popular among the opposition. The US and...

Human begins, a vast  majority of them ( 90% or more) are constantly trying to survive . With their hopes and aspirations or  with the mere task of managing couple of meals per day. They live by the day. Few have the time or the intrest for statecraft, governance, rights , equality and thus democracy. At most religion occupies their left over time. Education is only for survival and not for knowledge and wisdom.  It's the nature of people then to be led, told what to do, what to think and what to beleive, whom to trust and whom to hate, what is right and wrong.  They leave all this  to those who lead them. So its easy for  those like Trump, Modi, Putin, Netanyahu, Khameni, Jihadis, Taliban, RSS, Maoists, khlu klax kan and the likes to   control peoole. The Trump and Modi Bhakts, the islamists, the christian extreme right, the Jews and many,  are led like cattle and they follow! A huge mass of humans, across continents, act like zombies and ar...

 Someone posted some Gyan! Saying if you do 1% better everyday, in small increments and deeds, you will be reaching your goals!  Set me analysing it. Here are my thoughts on a lazy cloudy  saturday: The 1% better or improvements would tantamount to perfection i.e 100% in 100 days. You get to be where no human has been before. On the frontiers of being God himself. You may even replace Him as he too would not be 100% perfect, considering the mess He has created.  The problem with this approach is, however, multifold.  Firstly, there could be days where you slip 1% or even more. For example, the wife   may frequently  consider you useless!! So this means many more days than 100 to reach 100%. Secondly, as you reach closer to 100%, what physicists call as asymtotically approach 100%, the going gets tougher and tougher. You may never reach 100% Thirdly, Gods do not like competition.Remember King Mahabali, the most perfect King who ruled Kerala? Gods d...