Shivraj Patil quits, P Chidambaram becomes Home Minister- Hindustan Times

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil has resigned, owing moral responsibility for terror attacks in Mumbai and Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram has been given the charge to head the home ministry. PM takes over the finance portfolio.

The resignation is likely to be accepted and more resignations of top officials responsible for country’s security and intelligence gathering cannot be ruled out, they said.

Patil’s resignation has also put a question mark on the continuation of Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who is also under intense party pressure to step down. (via Shivraj Patil quits, P Chidambaram becomes Home Minister- Hindustan Times)

This is a turning point

Blaming 5500 politicians who are temporary office bearers, is an escapist fare by the intellectually devoid. The greater culpability (for not taking actions) and the credit for the brilliant commando operation is with the bureaucracy.

Taking down Shivraj Patil is small consolation. The rewards to the various people for handling this operation so well, starting with the Mumbai police - and to those who have twiddled for years, starting with the Indian diplomatic community, the IFS and the Finance Minsitery bureaucrats, who have not earmarked enough attention to these areas, is more important.

Mumbai Massacre - The real blame and real culprits

Vital stats of the Mumbai siege operation

On 26th November, a Wednesday night, ten terrorists, (nine killed and one taken alive), mounted a terrorist strike in Mumbai. They attacked at least ten venues (Cama Hospital, Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital, CST Train Terminus, Leopold Cafe, Girgaum Chowpatty, Metro Junction + the four buildings occupied) and later occupied four building complexes ((The Oberoi Trident Hotel; The old Taj Mahal Hotel and the new Taj;The Nariman Building), killed nearly 190 people over a space of nearly 60 hours. These terrorists came with machine guns, machine pistols, grenades, incendiary bombs, satellite phones, credit cards, Indian currency and US dollars, conflict rations of dry fruits like almonds, raisins, etc.

Indian commando On Nariman House, Mumbai

The assault on these terrorists, initially by local police and later by the elite NSG and MARCOS commando units spread over 60 hours, sanitized nearly a 1000 rooms, covered nearly 70 kilometres of passage ways, corridors, alcoves, enclosures, rooms and passages, in 4 building complexes, spread over nearly 1 square kilometre of dense urban population. Some 150 commandos were used - and final tally of defence personnel killed was 14 policemen and 3 commandos.

Jyoti Krishan Dutt

After this operation, crowds cheered and the commandos were surrounded by jubilant crowds. Indian media provided live coverage of this terrorist carnage with multiple cameras at multiple sites in a brilliant operation.

Israeli ‘experts’ were quick to condemn the Indian commando operation. Imagine the Israelis talking about collateral damage. ‘Experts’ carped about the total intelligence failure - whereas, it was clear that requisite intelligence information was drowned in the accompanying ‘noise’.

The aftermath

One day after the end of this operation, the Indian media and commentators are unanimous. Blame the politician.

The Times Of India, desperately somber, intones,

as heaps of bodies lie in morgues in a charred or decomposed state, and loved ones huddle outside to receive them one last time, it is time to ask our politicians: Are you going to go back to playing politics with our lives? Or are you going to do something worthwhile with yours? How many deaths will it take till you know that too many people have died?

Normally incisive, MJ Akbar, falls into the trap of blaming politicians.

The most significant part of the outrage should not be obscured by the drama of events hypnotized by attack, we should not become oblivious of defence. We have been defeated by incompetent governance, both in Mumbai and Delhi … Complacence and politics gave the terrorists more protection than silence or deception could. But ineffectual leadership turning a tough nation into a soft state. We should have been world leaders in the war against terrorists, for no nation has more experience Instead we are wallowing in the complacent despair of a continual victim. Some three years ago, Dr Manmohan Singh told George Bush that there were no terrorists among Indian Muslims. Perhaps he was unaware of the 1993 Mumbai bombings. Perhaps he want ed to please two constituencies: Bush, who needed a certificate for his view that democracy was the cure for all evil; and local Muslims, who were not being given jobs but could always be offered the consolation prize of a pat on the back. Dr Singh certainly did not fool any terrorists. The Lashkar-e-Taiba might even have interpreted such self-congratulation as a challenge.

Declares, Lord Baron Meghnad Desai,writing in the Indian Express,

It is a test of leadership.

Can India’s political parties, tested for 60 years in the crucible of democracy, rise to this occasion and save our country? Can we set aside partisanship of our politics and forge a united front? Can the two major parties set aside differences in their visions of India and weave a common narrative of why India is a nation, united and single?

Hindustan Times joins in with its own two bits. Inderji Hazra writes, in a very superior fashion,

Frankly, the ‘lack of form’ shown by our political class isn’t a big deal for me. The pre-poll mud-slinging looks bad. But so does the shit on our roads. What makes me break into a twitch is something beyond this beggar’s opera. When pundits talk about ‘asymmetrical warfare’, they never mean lathi-wielding policemen vs AK47-armed terrorists, do they? And aren’t patrols and security checks, whether along sea fronts or at the entries of malls too much of a drag to bother about day in, day out? As for bringing about more stringent anti-terror laws — or even following standard procedures of law and order and investigations — is it worth all that effort when only two things really determine how easy or hard it will be for future terrorists to attack us?

The two things: political meddling and the law of averages.

Before coming to conclusions about this attack, let us also look at some other incidents across the world in the last few years.

Global Benchmarks

On 23rd October 2002, at a theater in Moscow, the Nord-Ost incident, some 40-50 Chechnyan separatist “Special Purpose Islamic Regiment” took an estimated 850 people hostage. An estimated 300 Russians died in an attempted rescue - and 39 terrorists were killed. This entire operation took was completed after 3 days by releasing a deadly poison gas - that killed many more hostages than the terrorists.

On September 1st, 1995, again in Russia, in the Beslan school tragedy, more than 360 people were killed in the 1995 raid, purportedly led by the Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, who escaped during the botched rescue attempt by troops. Basayev’s claims of responsibility for this attack on Beslan School Number One, are disputed. Basayev used a gang which turned out to be bigger than what Russian authorities initially claimed. An investigator, Mr. Torshin disputed the claim, posted on a Chechen website, saying it “could be a hoax”. Of the 32 hostage-takers, one was captured alive, 30 died and one was blown apart. And the number of time taken to ‘resolve’ this crisis was again about 3 days.

On 5th May, 1980. the ‘famous’ SAS rescued hostages from the Iranian embassy in London. On April 30th, 1980, six Iranian Arab gunmen, opposed to Ayatollah Khomeni, took hostages, demanding release of some nearly 100 Iranian political prisoners. After 5 days of planning, some 30 ‘crack’ SAS troops overran the embassy. Of the six gunmen, five were killed and one arrested. Of the twenty two hostages, ninteen were set free, one died and two injured in the cross-fire. A film was later made on this operation.

In Peru, the siege of the Japanese embassy began on 17 December when the Marxist rebels stormed a diplomatic cocktail party, seizing more than 400 guests as hostages. The Peruvian forces, with the help of the British SAS, took two weeks to plan this assault.On April 22nd, 1997, the hostages were finally released - after some 4 months.American FBI pitched in, claiming some credit for this operation.

In India, the Akshardham Temple attack took four days to clear.

Let us get real, shall we?

The Indian Government (Central and State together) have an employee base of about 55 lakhs. The number of elected representatives total around 5,500. The Indian population totals 110 crores (1100 million). It makes no sense to make scapegoats of 5500 politicians.

Blaming politicians, who are temporary office bearers, is escapist and is a well tuned strategy by the entrenched bureaucracy which bears the full responsibility for this - the success of this operation and the lack of efforts to kill this problem at its root.

Future Actions

India needs to act differently. India must work on three point agenda.

Pakistani tribesman makes a grenade launcher in the Darra Adam Khel tribal area, 47 km from Peshawar

One - Close down the Peshawar arms bazaar. This small time bazaar became the sourcing centre for terrorists all over the world. Initially, stocked up with arms from the CIA funded jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan, Peshawar, has become a problem that never ends. If required, there should be a UN mandate to send in a multinational force to surround, capture and destroy this centre for arms and armaments.

Two - Withdraw all technology from Pakistan for all arms and ammunition. No RDX, no tanks, no F-16s, no APCs. Pakistan must be put on strict diet of military technology blockade by the world. No less.

Three - Secure Pakistan’s borders with a tripartite agreement between China, India and Pakistan which will guarantee Pakistan’s current borders. No disputes, no claims from Pakistan have any legitimacy any more. Let Pakistan take care of its current territory and people.

These three actions will rid the sub-continent of all tensions and conflicts - no less. It has to be underpinned by India and China. The West, and Pakistan will protest, but must be made to follow this prescription.

101 killed in Mumbai attacks - The real heroes!!

At least 101 people, including a foreign tourist and a top counter-terror officer, were killed and about 287 injured as terrorists struck in the heart of Mumbai in planned and synchronised attacks.

Terrorists were reported to be holding people hostage in two five-star hotels, the Taj Intercontinental and Trident (formerly Oberoi) facing the waterfront across the Arabian Sea, and the Madam Cama Hostel.

Three top police officials, including Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, were among the nine policemen killed in gunfights with the terrorists, police confirmed.

Among terror targets was the city's busiest railway station, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST). (via TERROR NON-STOP: 101 killed in Mumbai attacks).

An attack with a difference

An audacious terror attack (by US allies) on the affluent part of Mumbai's population, the latest in the series, are different from previous attacks.

For one, these attacks targetted the rich and the affluent. Instead of targetting the poor in public transport systems or the crowds in the Mumbai stock exchange, these attacks focussed on tony neighbourhoods.

The second was of course, the modus operandi. The very attack mode was different. Earlier attacks used synchronized bombing of targets through timer devices. This time, the terrorists, started with random shooting from (Heckler and Koch) German MP5 machine guns, used grenades, incendiary devices to start fires and moved from target to target. Who uses the (Heckler and Koch) German MP5 machine guns?

Overall,the HK MP5 is the weapon of choice for most European forces and the United States in terms of close-quarters man-stopping power. More notable users include the United States Navy SEALs special forces, the German GSG9 group and the British SAS special forces.

Of course, the Pakistan Ordnance Factory makes the MP5 under license also. As does Iran. Bangladesh uses these too. And not to forget Indians.

Thirdly, after these attacks, some of the terrorists stayed back, have been captured, have been killed - and a few have escaped. In earlier attacks, the terrorists vanished after the attack.

This time the attacks came in the night - after 9:00 pm. All earlier attacks were at peak traffic hours in the evening or morning. This time, the peak time of the affluent, the night time was slotted for these attacks.

How did the terrorists land in Mumbai was another difference. They came by sea - from Karachi and landed at coves in Colaba koliwada (traditional fishermen colonies in Mumbai). Earlier, these terrorists came from sleeper cells or infiltrated the border.

Initial clues

A Israeli mother and child escaped from these terrorists. This same family had ordered for a large amount of 'dry fruits' - which are excellent dry rations for such attacks due to the concentrated nourishment value , compact size and long shelf life. Why did these Israelis order such a large quantity of dry fruits?

India is mulling over a cricket tour to Pakistan - and England is touring India. Pakistan has not seen any international tours - and this has affected their national morale. If India refuses to tour Pakistan that will the last refusal that they can take. Now that England has called of the tour, India and Pakistan are even.

Who are the heroes?

The biggest heroes of the day are the Indian police.

India with the lowest prisoner population in the world and the lowest police-to-population ratio also, treats it police force very badly. Underpaid, ill equipped, with bad housing conditions, long duty hours, manipulation by the rich and the powerful, the fact that they turn up for duty is wonder by itself. In appreciation all that they get are suspicion, and (a half valid) reputation for corruption.

When senior police officers like Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte and Vjay Salasker decided to lead from the front, it was a matter of pride for this country.

When India ignores this situation, it is a tragedy!

Jack Welch sez .... Put firms into bankruptcy, reorganize, merge - livemint.com

the auto makers’ boards should take the courageous step of putting their companies into bankruptcy. Some creditors might make the case for liquidation, but given the diminished worth of the auto makers’ assets, that’s a pretty unattractive scenario. Instead, creditors would most likely opt for the government’s stepping in as the debtor-in-possession financier supporting the reorganization.

Talk about a fresh start. For at least a decade, US auto makers have been chipping away incrementally at their massive legacy costs. But reorganization would finally open the door to meaningful structural change with the renegotiation of contracts with creditors, dealers and unions. And it would do so with a much improved chance of taxpayer return.

Once in Chapter 11, a merger would further galvanize fundamental change. Three companies are too cumbersome to unite, and Ford has a two-tiered, family-controlled structure, so we’ll leave them out of this solution for now and propose that GM and Chrysler join forces. (via Put firms into bankruptcy, reorganize, merge - Corporate News - livemint.com)

Jack Welch sez ...

Chapter 11 ... Bush wants to leave this problem for Obama ... Obama is promising the moon ...

I say, do whatever you want .. but do it quickly!

Let Unca Sam buy out the current shareholders, sell to the new shareholders (Chinese may want US auto) or build it up again (like Jack Welch sez) !!

If you want American auto to survive - that is!!

Judge gives prisoners tips on early release-The Times of India

In a unique initiative, probably the first of its kind in the country, a sitting judge of the Bombay high court visited the high security

Arthur Road jail on Sunday and interacted with its inmates, asking them to take advantage of the recently introduced concept of plea bargaining and walk out of jail without waiting for a lengthy trial. (via Judge gives prisoners tips on early release-Mumbai-Cities-The Times of India).

Scarcely ... a week goes by ...

With the world's lowest police to population ratio a prison population which is again the lowest in the world, India is indeed different in its crime management. And the credit for this goes to the millions of people, the police, the judges who have centuries of tradition behind them.

ISI disbands wing used to rig polls, will focus on terror

The ISI official also said the agency would no longer “spy” on politicians and their activities. The agency has completely disassociated itself from making or breaking political parties and alliances, the official said.

The decision to wind up the agency’s political wing has been conveyed to the political leadership.

Several former ISI officials who served in the agency during the regime of former president Pervez Musharraf have recently admitted in media interviews that the organization played a key role in rigging elections in recent years. (via ISI disbands wing used to rig polls, will focus on terror).

Is this for real ...

After many years, news coming out of Pakistan shows some real steps at political reform. The tribal jirga, the IMF loans, the cold turkey by China, US and Saudi Arabia.

All this is good news. Will it remain?

Will Pakistan revert to its mean?

Korea's turn to exploit Africa?

South Korea’s Daewoo Logistics this week announced it had negotiated a 99-year lease on some 3.2 million acres of farmland on the dirt-poor tropical island of Madagascar, off southern Africa’s Indian Ocean coast. That’s nearly half of Madagascar’s arable land. Daewoo plans to put about three quarters of it under corn. The remainder will be used to produce palm oil—a key commodity for the biofuels market, Time.com reported on Sunday. (via World’s new bread basket: Africa)

Join the party ...

In Liberia, Bridgestone inherited a similar lease from Firestone - which did this sweet heart deal with the American administrators of the 'free' slaves from the US. In the dark history of Liberia, this lease remains a darker spot.

Korea, learning from their earlier masters and their current American minders are using the same exploitative contracts in Africa.

Does Korea need this lease?

Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna …

DELHI’S BELLY - Bhagat Singh comes to Delhi:

"As a prisoner, Bhagat Singh shot off frequent petitions. He sought a transfer to Lahore Central Jail from Mianwali Jail so he could engage a lawyer to fight the Lahore Conspiracy Case and prepare his defence. He said he was a political prisoner who deserved better treatment than an ordinary criminal. He demanded a special diet, no forced labour, toilet necessities and, of course, literature for reading.

The Supreme Court Museum sourced copies of these petitions from a science professor in Ludhiana, who in turn got them from the Lahore court on a trip to Pakistan in the 1980s.

When his father Kishan Singh pleaded that his son was innocent, the imprisoned revolutionary was enraged. “Had any other person done it, I would have considered it nothing short of treachery,” he wrote. “Let me say father you have failed.” He signed it, “Your loving son, Bhagat Singh”.

Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna, an exhibition of Bhagat Singh and the Indian Revolution is on at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library until 31 January 2009"

Businessworld - Citigroup Gets $306 billion...

Businessworld - Citigroup Gets $306 billion...:

"The US government agreed to a $306 billion rescue plan for Citigroup Inc, agreeing to shoulder some losses from toxic debt in the latest attempt to bolster a financial services industry in turmoil.

Citigroup's package may also prove a template for other banks that are expected to face growing losses as economies worldwide sink into recession.
Credit losses once concentrated in mortgages are already bleeding into new, large areas such as credit cards and commercial real estate."

Each time …

We think this is the last one, and another crops up. It is going to be a long night…

A Global Central Bank? Businessworld

Percy Mistry was back in town. The timing was impeccable: just a week after the crisis erupted on Wall Street. The message was unchanged: make the rupee fully convertible by 2012.

His views on the origin of that crisis were relevant: that the Federal Reserve printed far too much money, and that the regulators did not regulate the mortgage market. The lesson he drew was that regulation of liquidity needed to be internationalised: if there was going to be an international currency like the dollar, its supply could not be left to a national authority like the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve acted irresponsibly, and brought the entire world financial system to the brink. But it was not alone. The acceptability of the dollar brought forth the supply of pseudo-dollars such as the Euro-dollar.

So Mistry is right about the need for international regulation of currency, but it is unlikely to happen soon. Central bankers are a convivial lot; they meet in luxurious resorts at least two or three times a year and confer. They are very chummy (via Businessworld - A Global Central Bank?)

The other interesting thing …

Was was how Percy Mistry got appointed to the Percy Mistry Committee for Mumbai as a World Financial Centre. Big business put him there - and that is why he possibly cant see to far.

What a shame …

Indian lack of Japanese language skills comes in the way ? Businessworld

We are proud of our Anglophonicity and our connection with the US. But there is a whole world out there which does not speak English. English is not the only language of scientists and enginners. It is possible to learn from any technologically advanced country, and people can do so by learning its language. China sends thousands of young people to American universities; but it does not confine itself to the

Anglophone world. The Chinese also learn Japanese to access knowledge from Japan. Similarly, the Poles and Russians learn German to access German knowledge. Japan and Germany have not missed out on Indian brains; they just do science and technology in their own language, and use the brains of nationalities that are prepared to learn their language.

Not that Japanese companies avoid English altogether. (via Businessworld - A Perception Of India).

How India missed out ...

This article lays out how India missed out on Japanese investments, technology and business - due to our well-cultivated tunnel vision about English language (amongst many other things). Indian loyalty to English language exceeds the loyalty of the British themselves to their language - and we refuse to see how this affects us.

India urgently needs to put more languages in lingual basket - instead of putting all our eggs in the English language basket.

What we cannot ... however, allow ourselves to become is an outpost of the Japanese business system - which is what this article pushes India to desire.

Doing less business with India however, is as much a Japanese loss as much as Indian!!

Sunita Narain gives food for thought

One, to rebuild the energy systems of the world, with massive investment in new technologies like renewable distributed systems, which reduce the cost of transmission, reduce losses and make societies more resilient. Today, energy-rich and abundant societies are the cause of the greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, which threaten our world.

Two, to massively invest in rebuilding mobility systems for the new world. In other words, spending on railways, not on airways and on city buses and metros, not on sops for the car industry. This is a tough choice for governments, who have for too long subsidised private mobility ...

Third, to spend on urban environmental infrastructure — from clean drinking water, to sewage and garbage disposal and housing for all. But this is where governments must learn the most, not to build infrastructure that is built on the dreams of others

Fourthly, and most critically in India, we will need a review of our economic practices, where it matters the most — in agriculture and forestry. We will have to recognise that the bulk of our country, even in the future, will continue to live in rural areas. (via Sunita Narain: Looking for a new deal).

This agenda I like ...

Basically, items number 1, 2, 3 are inter related. A 10 acre plot can become a 5 megawatt power plant which will use a mix of solar energy, wind power, bio-mass and sewage, jatropha seeds, steam power to generate 5 MW of power. Such an integrated power system will also lower temperatures by about 2-4 degrees centigrade in the vicinity. Transmission and distribution losses will be minimal. Such a plant will come up for about Rs.10 crores - which is what a coal power plant will come for.

Additionally

This kind of power system will also generate about 5000 tons of organic compost for agricultural use - which will explode agricultural yields. This will not require any imported technology, materials, design, machinery, equipment - but reduce fossil fuel and oil consumption by a significant amount.

Franchise this technology

This technology can be franchised to 10,000 villages and town in India - which completely solve India's power shortages. Electric vehicles will become a reality.

Why does India not go with this ...

Since this does not have the Western stamp of approval, our English speaking intelligentsia, our bureaucracy, our Big Business will block such a system from moving ahead. Of course, this model has a minimal role for Big Business - which will again come in the way.

The one thing ...

It will not require are massive investments. In fact, as this model proliferates, India's frugal engineering will come into play - and will possibly reduce these costs by 50%. This is the only one place where I disagree with ...

Sunita Narain

Is the same woman who took on Pepsi and Coke on pesticide controversy.

Whatta woman!!

Islamists say they'll fight Somali pirates: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

A radical Islamic group in Somalia said Friday it will fight the pirates holding a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of crude oil.

Abdelghafar Musa, a fighter with al-Shabab who claims to speak on behalf of all Islamic fighters in the Horn of Africa nation, said ships belonging to Muslim countries should not be seized.

"We are really sorry to hear that the Saudi ship has been held in Somalia. We will fight them (the pirates)," Musa told AP Television News. (via Islamists say they'll fight Somali pirates: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance)

The last time ...

In Afghanistan, countries tried to fight the Afghan battle - and what we had was the Taliban. In Europe, the last time (too many last times actually), in the Balkans, in Croatia, Bosnia et al, we ended with ethnic cleansing. The Somalian group's decision to fight against the Somalian pirates is an excellent idea.

Clinton Is Said to Accept Offer of Secretary of State Position - NYTimes.com

Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat to become secretary of state in the Obama administration, making her the public face to the world for the man who dashed her own hopes for the presidency, confidants of Mrs. Clinton said Friday.

The accord between the two leading figures of the Democratic Party was the culmination of a weeklong drama that riveted the nation’s capital. President-elect Barack Obama and Mrs. Clinton fought perhaps the most polarizing nomination battle in decades, but in recruiting her for his cabinet, Mr. Obama chose to turn a rival into a partner, and she concluded she could have a greater impact by saying yes than by remaining in the Senate. (via Clinton Is Said to Accept Offer of Secretary of State Position - NYTimes.com)

I am intrigued?

Who owns Obama? Who is behind Obama? Who runs Obama? Is Obama his 'own' man? Was John Grisham's 'The Appeal' the reprise, or did it presage Obama or inspire Obama's campaign?

Is Obama a "Son of the Clinton Presidency"?

Is he keeping the White House safe for Hillary?

Balance of financial terror, Mr.Summers?

Harvard University professor Lawrence Summers will join the Obama administration with a ready-made sales pitch for substantial economic stimulus and a chance that the role springboards him to the Federal Reserve.

Summers, 53, was Bill Clinton's last Treasury secretary. He will have a wide-ranging portfolio and help craft Obama's economic policies, a Democratic aide said. Summers's appointment, along with the nomination of Federal Reserve Bank of New York President Timothy Geithner to be the next Treasury secretary, will be announced Nov. 24, the aide said. (via Bloomberg.com: Economy)

Balance of financial terror Mr.Summers?

This has been something that Lawrence Summers created. Much of the economic growth seen during Clinton's Presidency was due to this 'policy'. It is something else that the chickens came home to roost at the end of the Bush Presidency.

What can the world expect?

More of the same. The same profligacy, the same brinkmanship. After why should the US change from what has served them well for so many years.

Jobs, Gates, Buffett Should Run U.S. Automakers: Mark Gilbert Bloomberg.com: Opinion

I sat in the window of a cafe this month in Annapolis, Maryland, a sailing town near Washington, counting parked cars. “Honda, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Lexus (made by Toyota), Mazda, and a battered 1970s Cadillac.”

No wonder the U.S. carmakers are in meltdown and begging to be plugged in to the Treasury’s life-support machines.

Don’t be misled, though -- the something that is rotten in the auto industry has nothing to do with the credit crunch, and everything to do with years of mismanagement, shoddy products and bad choices. (via Bloomberg.com: Opinion)

After 30 years of decline in American auto industry, the US still does not get it. There is a fundamental problem which goes right down to the way the US is organized.

To start with, the welfare state in the US breeds a huge structure of overheads - and it does not make a difference whether it is in private sector (as in US) or public sector (as in Europe). The auto industry with 300,00 direct workers - down from a million a decade ago cannot afford this cost. The adversarial US system with the UAW and the Corporations on opposite sides have closed minds.

The same goes for development cost. The overheads are simply killing. These overheads inflate the cost of development. The US, cosseted by 50 years of technological dominance - now need to kill that complacency and well fed contentment. The US Government also feeds this attitude with a system that is 'fixed' and 'favors' US business.

All this leads of course to poor product quality. Which the US consumer will not accept.

India opens gates for Western gunboat diplomacy? Bloomberg

The seizure of a Saudi oil supertanker by Somali pirates may push Western navies to step up their actions against hijackers, military experts said.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is reassessing its operations in the region and may adopt a tougher stance toward the pirates. The navies of India, Russia, Britain and Germany have all battled pirate vessels in the Gulf of Aden in the last 10 days alone. (via Bloomberg.com: Worldwide)

2ndlook’s pointed out yesterday that India’s actions in Somalia may open the gates for further gun boat diplomacy by the West.

Sign of things to come?

ARMED FORCES JOURNAL - Blood borders - June 2006

The most arbitrary and distorted borders in the world are in Africa and the Middle East. Drawn by self-interested Europeans (who have had sufficient trouble defining their own frontiers), Africa’s borders continue to provoke the deaths of millions of local inhabitants. But the unjust borders in the Middle East — to borrow from Churchill — generate more trouble than can be consumed locally.

While the Middle East has far more problems than dysfunctional borders alone — from cultural stagnation through scandalous inequality to deadly religious extremism — the greatest taboo in striving to understand the region’s comprehensive failure isn’t Islam but the awful-but-sacrosanct international boundaries worshipped by our own diplomats. (via ARMED FORCES JOURNAL - Blood borders - June 2006)

This is an idea that gained some traction. Was this an attempt for greater involvement in the Middle East? Was this an attempt to impose a fresh set of despots by the West on the Middle East. In the last 80 years, the attractiveness of the Middle East has only increased!! The oil riches have become more important now than before.

It is these interventions by the West which also made the Middle East the hot bed of terror.

Paulson's Message to Detroit: Drop Dead - Seeking Alpha

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson delivered tough talk directed at Congress rejecting any notion of allocating one penny of his $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program [TARP] towards the relief of the battered U.S. automotive sector. Mr. Paulson’s testimony is a death blow to Detroit, Michigan and the Rust Belt at-large. The Heartland, a region decimated by the collapse of U.S. manufacturing, is indeed on life support. Mr. Paulson must reason that America shall function normally while its midsection remains under cardiac arrest.

The Big Three are lobbying Washington for an additional $25 billion from the Treasury - double the original $25 billion package approved to meet environmental directives implemented at the behest of the Energy Department. Says Paulson, “there are other ways” to resuscitate the dying industry - intimating that bailout package dollars shall be exclusive to financial companies. Paulson, a Democrat, has emerged to lead a group of hawkish, free-market Republicans that have dismissed rescuing Detroit from a debacle that is of its own doing. (via Paulson’s Message to Detroit: Drop Dead - Seeking Alpha)

This aint my problem …

Hank Paulson is clearly saving his TARP hoard for the banks he loves - for the next few weeks. The auto industry can survive for the next few months - after which …

Obama can deal with the auto industry problem.

India 'sinks Somali pirate ship' | BBC NEWS | South Asia

An Indian navy warship has destroyed a suspected Somali pirate vessel after it came under attack in the Gulf of Aden. The INS Tabar sunk the pirate "mother ship" after it failed to stop for investigation and opened fire instead, an Indian navy statement said. There has been a surge in piracy incidents off the coast of Somalia.

The latest attack came days after the Saudi-owned Sirius Star supertanker and its 25 crew were seized by pirates and anchored point off the Somali coast.

via BBC NEWS | South Asia | India 'sinks Somali pirate ship'

Precedent for gunboat diplomacy

For decades India was against 'gun boat diplomacy'. India, instead focused on diplomacy and sovereign Governments to solve these problems. In cases of interventions, India worked on multilateral initiatives and UN auspices.

This action in Somalia was a 'set up'. To create precedents for the West, to resume gunboat diplomacy. While the situation in Somalia is bad, diplomacy and multi lateral action are still relevant.

This was a bad idea.

Chinese Takeover Of US Auto Industry? Bloomberg.com

China’s largest automaker, SAIC Motor Corp., is poised to surpass the combined market value of General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., as Detroit’s two largest automakers seek a bailout from the U.S. government.

GM, the largest overseas vehicle maker in China, makes cars including Buicks in the country with SAIC. The companies are also partners in a van and light-truck manufacturing venture. (via Bloomberg.com: Worldwide)

This is a good thing …

The market cap for the Chinese auto companies is more than that of GM or Ford. Chinese auto companies can lower costs for US operations by providing low-cost sub assemblies for manufacture in US. The jobs and revenues will remain in the US. Tax revenues will continue to flow to US Government. This will also draw down US debt - from the 2 trillion foreign exchange hoard that China has.

The Auto Meltdown …

The meltdown of the US auto industry could really set the cat amongst the pigeons. That will be the domino effect that people have only imagined - but never faced. That may collapse with 500,000 jobs on the line.

Lehman Brothers will look like small change after this …

Three problems of the Big 3

The US auto industry has three major problems - retirement benefits, which the UAW will do nothing about. Second, is the development cost, which the auto companies are doing very little about. Third, the quality of the vehicles, about which the consumers can do very little.

Money has very little to do with this. The problems have remained constant - and the Big Three + UAW have danced around these problems.

Russia bleeding foreign exchange … Bloomberg.com

Russia’s foreign-exchange reserves are draining fast and may take almost a decade of economic stability with them.

Russia’s international reserves, the third-biggest after China’s and Japan’s, have fallen $122.7 billion, or 21 percent, since Aug. 8 as the central bank tried to shore up the ruble. At the same time, President Dmitry Medvedev, 43, has pledged more than $200 billion of tax cuts, loans and other measures to maintain economic growth, threatened by plummeting oil prices and investor flight.(via Bloomberg.com: Europe)

Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak …

The Russian economy remains weaker than widely perceived. High oil prices of the last 5 years built up foreign exchange reserves - as did inflows in the Russians stock market. Russian entrepreneurs remain an endangered species. Large swathes of Russian enterprise have reverted back to the state - albeit in a corporate form. The world has not yet forgotten the Russian debt default.

Russia should get off its high military horse. Instead Putin-Medvedev should build alliances, sign agreements within the BRICS framework and rebuild the Russian system.

Jews in India ... In black and white - Books - livemint.com

Judaism in India is now only a small outpost of the faith. But for Mumbai, which houses a thriving Jewish community of about 5,000, the Jewish population is in decline everywhere in the country, as it has been since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. But even so, the significance of India in the history of Judaism is immense.

The reason for this is that while Jews were an embattled and persecuted people for thousands of years, culminating in the tragedy of the Holocaust, India was always a safe haven for Jewish migrants, the first wave of whom are thought to have arrived in India as early as AD 70, after the sacking of Jerusalem by the Romans. Judaism took root in south India and eventually became part of the weave of India’s multi-religious fabric, contributing synagogues and sabbaths to the vast panorama of Indian architecture and ritual.

… in Kerala (there is) now probably irrelevant, truce between the so-called White Jews and Black Jews, adversaries for centuries. The Black Jews, who are of darker complexion and mixed lineage, trace their origins in India back to the days of King Solomon. The White Jews are mostly Jews of European origin, who appeared in the 16th century, fleeing religious persecution. Arriving on the Malabar coast to find a group of older yet foreign Jews in Cochin, they set up their own settlement, prized their racial purity and gradually annexed the centre of Indian Judaism.

Over time, a Jewish apartheid fell into place; marriage, worship and social interaction in an already small community became ghettoized. In the 1940s, there were about 2,000 Jews in Cochin; now there are a hundred or so Blacks and only a dozen elderly Whites. Fernandes finds the mood among the Whites dire, their homes desolate. There is no prospect of a new generation, and they live in the twilight not only of their own lives but of their community’s history. The Blacks are somewhat better off but they, too, are aware that the end is not far.(via In black and white - Books - livemint.com)

Interesting news about Jews in India.

Islamic devotional singers use Hindu compositions ...!

Q: Have you ever faced threats or warnings from fundamentalist groups?

A: Not really because qawwali is not an ordinary performance but ibadat . Groups that have diverged from the traditional, purely devotional form may face some protest while performing in the more remote areas but they are fairly popular in cities like Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.

Q: When performing in the West, do you change your style to suit the taste of the audience?

A: Qawwalis can go on for the entire night. But when we perform abroad we sing qawwalis only during the first half of our performance. After the interval we generally sing ghazals . We also sing poetry written by Kabir, Tulsidas and others. (via What you see in films is not qawwali'-Interviews-Opinion-The Times of India)

Who would imagine that

Muslim singers will sing Tulsdas' compositions - the most well known Hindu devotional music composer of the last 500 years. Colonial detritus separates Pakistan and India - politically. But, 60 years after separation, the cultural and value systems still remain.

Arun Shourie’s pessimism .. Such a waste

A recurring theme with him is the decline in standards. One of his early books was called Symptoms of Fascism and I ask him if he sees the spread of fascist tendencies. The danger, he says, is not fascism but disarray, even disintegration. I ask about that last word. “If you were in the Soviet Union in 1985, would you have said that the whole place would implode in five years,” he asks as a counter. It is a bleak view as he recounts stories of corruption in state governments, and says, “Things are much worse than even 10 years ago. It is not corruption but cancer, and it is spreading.” He says the point about Gandhi’s and Nehru’s generation, and he mentions BK Nehru, is that “they were people without a price”. (via LUNCH WITH BS: Arun Shourie)

A few decades ago …

Arun Shourie a younger man was a firebrand journalist, who could ruin political careers. Antulay could tell you more about this. He used his power with care - and integrity. Shourie heralded the much more accountable system that India has today.

While the Western ’soft power’ may project itself differently, the rise of accountability in India is unprecedented in the modern world. Kennedy’s mafia connection’s were overlooked as was Nixon’s Watergate. Clinton’s White House saga became a genre of reality shows by itself. Reagan’s Iran Contra scandal became a by word in systemic subversion. The Lockheed scandal in Japan is symptomatic of the power wheeling dealing.

Compare this with Indira’s Gandhi’s Allahabad Court judgement in 1975. Or the trial of Narasimha Rao. Or the rise of the Election Commission, the CAG or the credibility of the Indian Supreme Court. Axiomatically, there will always be more reasons for pessimism than optimism. While such a debate can continue interminably, the pessimism is such waste.

Especially from someone like Arun Shourie.

Leadership in the Developing World

Q: Right before this Summit, you said that, “India should get more inclusivity in international financial institutions like the IMF.” What exactly did you put on the table during the Summit? Will restructuring like Bretton Woods possibly expand India’s mandate in the future and in institutions like this?

A: I don’t think there is going to be another Bretton Woods Institution. They will give greater representation and voice to developing countries. ... India’s share increased by very small amount but we still think that the developing countries are under represented. Therefore they should have more representation and more voice, which means some other countries, would have to take a haircut. Now whether they will be ready through that I can’t say, they have set the ball rolling now and it would be difficult now to resist any governance reforms on the IMF.(via Moneycontrol >> News >> Economy >> G20 meet sees agreement on common accounting standards: FM)

Describing the G20 summit as "very successful", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ... said that ... There was one important significance which is clear that the balance of power is shifting increasingly in favour of emerging economies,

"We were previously also invited for the past couple of years for the G8 meetings. But consultations were merely for the sake of form. For the first time there was a genuine dialogue between many of the developed countries and the emerging economies," he said. (via PM terms G20 meet as 'very successful')

Note the language ...

This is the language of recipients, of pleading and impotence. Chdiambaram says that 'they' will now "give greater representation and voice to developing countries" Manmohan Singh mirrors the sentiment when he says,"consultations were merely for the sake of form".

The Developing World FTA

Instead of breaking heads with the WTO, the Developing World should declare a 100 country FTA. As Rajat Nag, of the ADB points out,

"East Asia already trades 55% of its output within the region. India’s trade with China, Japan and Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is increasing. That is the structural shift which will have to happen. Our forecasts are not based on any dramatic shift"

Put the Doha round in deep freeze, and turbo charge work on a FTA within the developing world. That can add another 2%-4% to economic growth - especially to the poorest countries.

The Third Global Reserve Currency

To this add the Third Global Reserve Currency option - and junk the Dollar and the Euro. With this, the World economy will have two strong drivers for economic growth - without dependence on the West. The world needs to move away from the Dollar-Euro duopoly to tri-polar currency regime.

This calls for leadership - intellectual and political. Does the developing world have it? Can India provide it?

Pakistan Is Big Test for Obama - WSJ.com

The new president's advisers worry that if there's an unpleasant foreign-policy surprise that will divert their attention from enormous economic challenges, it could well come in Pakistan.

It's a well-founded fear. Pakistan was a tense and worrisome place for America before the world-wide financial mess arrived. The country is, after all, a nuclear-armed Islamic giant run by an unproven new government, beset by internal political rifts, conducting a fitful struggle with Taliban and al Qaeda insurgents along its border with Afghanistan, and threatened by Islamic radicals angry over American military strikes along that same Afghan border. That's plenty to keep a new president awake at night. (via Pakistan Is Big Test for Obama - WSJ.com).

Blameless US ...

A beacon of free press, the WSJ, does an analysis of the Pakistan problem. While there is no taking away from the fact that Pakistan is a problem, it was very facile for WSJ to completely ignore the US role for the last 50 years of American intervention in Pakistan - from the paranoid 'domino theory' and CENTO days till now.

Celebrating 50 years of US intervention in Pakistan

The above article goes onto mention that,

"Pakistan, in fact, serves as a cautionary reminder of how the world has a nasty way of intruding on the best-laid Washington agendas."

I would have had a tough time controlling my laughter, if the Pakistani situation was not so serious and if I was not convinced that the writer believes in this statement. The story is eactly the opposite. The US has a habit of intruding into the affairs of other countries - and Pakistan is today's worst living example of this cynical US intervention.

US unpopularity

The puzzled writer goes onto mention how,

U.S. strikes inside Pakistani territory arouse far more public anger. Yet U.S. military leaders trying to stabilize Afghanistan next door can't simply let Islamic militants cross into Pakistan and find safe haven

How would the US feel, if its former NATO allies were to ally with the Russians and turn against the US. The US is pretty much doing that in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Taliban and al-Qaeda were used by the US against Soviet forces in Afghanistan. And now the US is waging war against its ex-allies.

With such 'brilliant' representative analysis, from WSJ, what can one hope from the new US Government?

More of the same, old ham handedness, seems likely.

Global Financial System - Europe’s hollow four point proposals

Europe has put forward … four principles. First, no financial institution or market segment should escape the jurisdiction of a proportionate and adequate regulation, or … a monitoring system … financial players such as credit rating agencies or leveraged funds … possibly under the supervision of international financial institutions.

Second, the new financial system must be based on responsibility and transparency. The financial operations information system must be more comprehensive. Mechanisms encouraging excessive risk-taking, namely securitisation risks and business executives’ pay policies, should be controlled.

Third, a better understanding of risks is required to prevent crises … major international financial groups should be monitored by relevant national authorities through a collective supervision system. Multilateral monitoring must be reformed to prevent and absorb global imbalances.

Fourth, the IMF, which bears legitimacy and universality, must be made the pivot of a renovated international system. Its role and governance should be better structured, its means of intervention modernised and reinforced, including through new financing capabilities, so that it may act in a preventive manner and be of help to countries affected by the crisis.

The Washington summit should determine a working method. A period of 100 days should be used to prepare measures stemming from the principles defined today. (via We Cannot Afford To Fail-Op - Ed - The Times of India).

What does this mean …

It will become another European Competition Commission which will hold large corporations to ransom - and the power to have disproportionate influence, power, to maintain unequal relationships. This is the real motivation for European activism.

The 100 days focus

Is of course, to gain advantage of a weak, in-transition US leadership and a disorganized Third World. How will increased regulation, supervision, monitoring help excessive printing of US dollars? The Euro-Bloc has refused to name the one real issue - excessive dollar printing which led to this situation.

And that is why I am skeptical of the Euro initiative.

Vatican links religion and politics; Pope Says Catholics In Politics Must Follow Faith - CBS News

Pope Benedict XVI is encouraging Catholics who get involved in politics to stay true to their church's teaching. Benedict says it is necessary that a new generation of Catholics in politics be "coherent" with the faith they profess. He also recommends that they act with moral rigor and work passionately for the common good. The pope urged Vatican officials in a speech Saturday to be vigilant about the evangelical education of Catholics who get so involved in society. Benedict recently said religion and politics should be "open to each other."

(via Pope Says Catholics In Politics Must Follow Faith - CBS News)

I love Pope Benedict ...

He has made clear what others (like me) have suspected all along - for a long time. The Vatican does want to change demographics in countries like India.

Double standards in proselytization

An email by a foreign missionary, (from Newsvine), started with a background to Orissa. He informed his readers that, "Orissa was the most resistant and hostile State in India as far as the Gospel is concerned". The same missionary had serious objections, however, 0about a "A militant Hindu priest and 4 of his attendants, who were zealously going around the villages of Orissa and 'reconverting' people back to Hinduism".

But all this will not deter this foreign missionary who is "determined than ever to continue with our goal: the transformation of a community by transforming its children." He continues, "If we can take these thousands of throw-away children and help them to become disciples of Jesus, they will transform an entire region. It is a long term goal, but it is strategic thinking in terms of the Great Commission."

This language betrays the true intentions. And Pope Benedict has confirmed the true intentions of the missionaries. Let us understand this for what this is - backdoor attempts to subvert Indian cultural fabric. Nothing less.

How did Hindus in Orissa behave ...

The Chief Minister of Orissa is a Hindu - and the (largely Hindu) State Police is under a microscope in Orissa. So is most of the population in Orissa.

The email says, "In Tihidi, ... the police came to offer protection ...(and) " who ensured that "a group of 70 blood-thirsty militants came to kill our staff and destroy the home ... were not allowed to get in ..." And in another town, "More police have come to offer protection. In Kalahandi, the police and some local sympathizers got to our dream center and gave our staff and kids about 3 minutes notice to vacate" "In Phulbani, the mob came looking for Christian homes and missions. The local Hindu people, our neighbors turned them away by saying that there were no Christians in this area. So they left.. We had favor. The same thing happened in Balasore" ...

What did the Hindus get in turn ...

The foreign missionary with great relief, further said, "We would have had a mass funeral there, but for His grace". What appreciation does the local population get from these foreign missionaries - nothing. For their lives which were saved due to the efforts of the Hindu Chief Minister and a Hindu police force - nothing.

Instead of respect for the local population, the missionary vowed he will continue with his efforts of "transformation of a community by transforming its children". He promised to continue with his "strategic thinking" about "the Great Commission."

In the West ...

When Acharya Rajneesh 'converted' a few thousand Christians to his brand of beliefs (in Oregon, USA), he was picked up, packed out and sent back to India.

Sarkozy lectured to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the threat to Indian Christians! India has 2.5 crore Christians - out of 110 crores. I would like to see how the EU would react if Indian missionaries went about converting 12.5 million Christians to Hinduism - or 7.5 million Christians to Hindus in the US! Russia has long persecuted the Hare Krishna devotees (spontaneous White Hindus converting White Christians).

For a beginning let them stop targetting Roma Gypsies for persecution.

Australian do-gooder held for paedophilia-India-The Times of India

A 65-year-old Australian national has been arrested for sexually assaulting children of an orphanage in Puri. Powel Allen, an eye surgeon employed with the orphanage for the past four years, was arrested in Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) on Wednesday night. This followed after Merry Hellen, the French founder of the orphanage, lodged a police complaint accusing the Australian of sexually abusing children.

(via Australian held for paedophilia-India-The Times of India)

The do-good industry

Sometime back, two other orphanage administrators, and alleged pedophiles, Duncan Grant and Allan John Waters were convicted (their conviction is now under appeal-review). Further back, Wilhelm and Lile Marti, a Swiss couple, again in the do-good industry, were granted bail in a paedophilia case. After bail, they promptly fled India.

Do we really need these do-gooders?

Mother Teresa, another do-gooder raised hundreds of crores in the name of Kolkatta's poor, A few hundreds of the Kolkatta's poor benefited from that money. But many missionaries rode on the backs of these poor Kolkattans, raising even more money. The PR machine of the Vatican has done a great job on this scam.

Even if India cant take care of its poor, we dont need these do-gooders!

Away!! Begone!

Should we say, 'Get thee behind me, Satan!!'

What Obama means to India - The Times of India

TOP ARTICLE | Let's Not Get Carried Away-Editorial-Opinion-The Times of India

Barack Obama's victory in the US Presidential elections set of a wave of euphoria and congratulations in Indian media. It has been clear from the beginning that the Hillary Clinton, McCain and Barack Obama were three sides of the same coin - in spite of the physical impossibility. Yesterday's post (linking to Shankaracharya's hagiographic account) was (hopefully) the nadir of such reporting. Today's Times Of India had a sobering Op-ed peice. Clearer and realistic. It cautioned, that

euphoria should be tempered. Because of its "soft power", the US presidential election gets such extensive coverage internationally that its import gets exaggerated. This election decides the fate of two competing candidates, not that of the world.

The writer draws out the (negligible for us) distinction between the two candidates actually

"the contest is not between two radically different visions of US foreign policy; it is about advancing US interests best." On the important internal issues, and "On basic assumptions, such as US global pre-eminence, preventing the emergence of any other power that can challenge Washington's dominance, the goodness of US intentions and actions, superiority of American values, the responsibility to maintain international peace and stability, its exceptionalism providing the right to act unfettered by multilateral constraints if required and keeping America safe against non-proliferation, there is internal consensus in the US."

To all those with the audacity of hope, mooning about the difference, should note (Sibal reminds) that,

"When Obama talks of change and hope, he is addressing the American people, not the outside world." and when he "is talking of change, not in the basic premises of US policies, but from the excesses of the neocons."

Many in the Developing and the Third World have raised hopes about Obama's Presidency. The writer also takes this opportunity to emphasise that it is,

"naive to think that he will identify himself with the concerns of developing countries. That he is black does not mean ipso facto that he will be more sensitive to the world's underprivileged and dispossessed and push for a more inclusive management of world politics and economics. Africa, for instance, has traditionally benefited little from African-American politicians. "

To Manmohan Singh, who confirmed to Bush that people of India deeply love him, he sums up that

"India's view of the US has been heavily coloured by the nuclear deal. Politically and professionally, the excessive public show of gratitude to Bush, however appropriate in private for his staunch support for India, was inadvisable as it needlessly made the India-US relationship look personality — rather than interest-driven. We showed psychological weakness in making the deal appear as a favour dispensed to us. ... public expressions of gratitude to any foreign leader, especially one so unpopular in many parts of the globe where we have interests, are self-diminishing."

Like 2ndlook clearly pointed out, for India, Obama's foreign policy "is retrograde thinking." For India, Obama plans to continue the US War On Terror,

"Far more problematic is Obama's advocacy of a quick resolution of the Kashmir issue in order to free Pakistan to conduct the war on terrorism on its western front to greater US satisfaction. The US will once again be seen as seeking to reward Pakistan for doing what it must at India's expense. His toying with the idea of appointing former president Bill Clinton as special envoy on Kashmir is "old think".

After yesterday's article by Shankar Acharya, this realistic view by Kanwal Sibal, a former foreign secretary with the Government of India. was refreshing.

Coming back to the question, "What does Obama as US President mean to India?" The answer is nothing much, except newer headaches!