Author: जयकृष्णः | ജയകൃഷ്ണൻ

Terrorism creates employment

As an after effect to terrorism striking home, Saudi Arabia took a decision to allow women to get commercial licences. They also started the Saudization program where they would bar foreigners from working in gold and jewellery shops. Now to combat terrorism, the Saudi Arabia Govt. is subsidizing the employment of young Saudis hoping that better economic opportunities would counter terrorism.

Across the Middle East, millions of young Arabs are struggling to break into stagnant job markets. Political analysts say this mismatch is starting to generate destabilizing pressure that could bring governments down if they’re unwilling to reform economies hobbled by cronyism, Byzantine regulation and rigid state control. The problem is particularly acute in this resource-rich country of more than 25 million people, where many have long viewed work as something done by others. The government is struggling to provide economic possibilities for the 60 percent of the population under 18 years old.

After bombings and shootouts this year that have killed about 50 people in the kingdom, the Saudi government has come to view putting more of its people to work as a matter of national security. With oil prices hovering near a two-decade peak, it is putting some of the new income into a languishing campaign to recast the labor market with a Saudi face. [Saudis Fight Militancy With Jobs]

Staying away from IMF

“Our micro economic indicators are stable and through economic reforms the country has achieved economic sovereignty. By the end of this year the country will say goodbye to IMF programme as we are in a position to raise resources on our own from the international market,” Aziz told the National Assembly yesterday after winning the vote of confidence.[Shaukat Aziz promises to say goodbye to IMF loans]

That’s a statement by Pakistan’s third Prime Minister under Gen. Musharraf. But the problem is that if you raising capital from the markets, you should provide stability and an environment for businesses to thrive. If you try to globalize without having the infrastructure in place, the international investors can be much more tough than the IMF
The image of Pakistan for the outside world is not that of a region of stability. With assasination attempts on the current leaders and with terrorists using the land as staging areas for activities against India and Afghanistan, it may not look favourable for international investors. And it not just Pakistan’s enemies who are telling this.

Here is our other dilemma. The world is moving towards integration

Globalization and Olympics

Paul Blustein of the Washington Post has an article analysing the medal wins of various countries in the Athen Olympics with their GDP and how offers some lessons on how globalization distributes rewards among countries.

Driving that improvement, Warner and other experts agree, is China’s transformation from a largely peasant-based economy to an industrial powerhouse. That has bestowed better health on millions of Chinese and given the government in Beijing the resources to fund a nationwide network of sports schools; as an extra incentive, the government provides cash bonuses for medalists, with a gold worth $24,000, and potentially much more in corporate donations.

While in communist countries the Govt. has to offer rewards to its athletes and fund them, in pure capitalist countries it is not required.

But old-fashioned capitalist wealth offers ample compensation. The government bonuses given to Russians and Chinese can’t compare with the multimillion-dollar contracts that top American athletes get from endorsing commercial products, as witnessed by the ubiquitous Visa ads featuring swimmer Michael Phelps.

Less famous members of the U.S. team can take advantage of deals offered by U.S. companies, such as Home Depot, which pays 49 U.S. Olympic team members a full-time salary with benefits for 20 hours of work a week, allowing plenty of time for training. U.S. Olympic training centers are equipped with laptops, video cameras and sensors designed to give athletes minutely detailed feedback on their technique. The Germans, meanwhile, have developed high-tech boats, bikes and bobsleds to give their athletes an edge.[Winners with wallets]

The history of Guru Granth Sahib

On the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the Sikh Holy Book, Guru Granth Sahib, the Times of India has an article about the history of it.

The Adi Granth, written by Guru Arjan Dev, is the original scripture, also known as Kartarpuri Bir, and was installed at the Golden Temple on September 1, 1604. The genuineness of this master copy, scripted by Bhai Gurdas under the direct supervision of Guru Arjan Dev, had been vouched by top Sikh scholars, including Bhai Jodh Singh, after thorough scrutiny of the holy text, which bears the original signatures of Guru Arjan Dev.

The master copy of the Adi Granth was initially kept by Guru Hargobind in his house. From there it was stolen by his grandson Dhir Mal who intended to use it to further his claims on succession. Some 30 years later, followers of the Guru Teg Bahadur forcibly recovered it, but were instructed by the guru to return it. The holy book emerged from obscurity only in 1849. [Descendants of Arjan Dev have original text]

So much for appeasement

The new Indian Govt. as a policy has decided to support the Palestinian Issue without any condemnation of their terrorist policies. There is also no acknowledgement of the fact that it was Israeli help that was a decisive factor in the Kargil war. This Arab appeasement policy was followed by India during the cold war era and the new Govt. seems to be stuck there. The interesting fact is that we do not get any support for Arabs on any issue that matter to us and still we manage to crawl on our knees for them.
For example, the Arab appeasement did not win us any rebates on Oil. In terms of breaking away Kashmir valley from India, the OIC stand is to support the United Nations resolutions. In the 2003 OIC Meeting, the OIC even welcomed the restraint shown by Pakistan in face of Indian provocation.
After visiting India and not making any statement about Kashmir Valley, the Foreign Minister of Kuwait has done a “U” turn in Pakistan and now suggested that the United Nations resolutions be implemented. This is directly in opposition with the Indian viewpoint that, the whole thing is a bilateral issue.

Someone remembers

A set of people who were seriously affected by terrorism in Jammu and Kashir are the Kashmiri Pandits. They are Hindus who lived in the valley, but were forced to move out of the state by Islamic terrorists. These Hindus live in refugee camps in their own country, where Hindus are a majority. Over the years various political parties have milked them for votes, but they never got to get back to their homes. Now it takes Frank Pallone, a US Congressman to remind the Prime Minister of India to take care of these Hindus.

Democratic US Congressman Frank Pallone appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to include Kashmiri Pandits in “developing the future course of action in Jammu and Kashmir,” and expressed disappointment over the government not mentioning the community in its policy statement on the issue. “Given the urgency of addressing the plight of Kashmiri Pandits, I was disappointed that the new government did not mention the Pandits as part of its policy on Kashmir,” Pallone said in a letter to Singh, copies of which were released Wednesday.

“I urge you to include the Pandits in any negotiations with Kashmiri constituents and in developing the future course of action in Jammu and Kashmir,” Pallone said, asserting, “Pandits have suffered more than any group as a result of the conflict in Kashmir.” “It is more important now than ever for a public commitment from your administration to include the Pandits in future policy discussions,” he added. By doing so, they will be ensured a much-needed voice in determining the future of their security and return to the valley, Pallone said.[via vichaar.org]

Technology to eliminate poverty

Could Chandra Babu Naidu have used technology to prevent the suicides in Andhra Pradesh?

Technology can unlock the potential of poor farmers by making agricultural production more efficient. The World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Digital Dividends Project Clearinghouse includes several hundred examples of successful ICT-enabled development projects. One example currently attracting international attention is ITC, an Indian agricultural processor. ITC has initiated the e-Choupal (“choupal” means “gathering place” in Hindi) effort that places computers with Internet access in rural farming villages, creating an e-commerce hub that enables farmers to receive a fair price for their produce.

In Uganda and Kenya, farmers use short message system (SMS) technology to receive updates on commodity prices, which allows them to negotiate fair prices for their produce with traders and middlemen who have exploited them for generations. Bangladesh’s Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, a non-profit organization, uses boats that are outfitted with computers, printers, and an Internet connection to deliver agricultural education modules to isolated farmers that are unreachable by roads.

Perhaps Andhra Pradesh’s new government could take a page from the book of its neighboring state, Maharashtra. There, the government-funded Kisaan Call Center fields inquiries from rural farmers, who get advice from operators speaking their own language and whose directive is to treat every farmer as a customer, emphasizing respect.

In all of these cases, information technology is driving innovative solutions to the problems of poor farmers. “More Internet” is not what plagues these farmers; in fact, Internet technology is helping them climb out of poverty by connecting them with information, educational opportunities, and financial resources. “Connectivity for the sake of connectivity accomplishes very little,” says Jonathan Lash, WRI president. “Connectivity that links marginalized citizens with needed services, however, can play a major role in economic development.”[In the Aftermath of “India Shining”]

Suicides and Globalization

In the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh debt-ridden farmers were committing suicides. Then came the elections and the IT savy Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu was voted out of power. His defeat was attributed to the fact that he did not take care of the non-IT population of his state. While the Chief Minister spent lot of time and energy in globalizing Hyderabad, his fault was in not bringing the wealth creating benefits of globalization to rest of the population.
One of the first acts of the new Govt. was to make electricity available for free. This did not stop the suicides. Free electricity did not bring people out of debt. The plight of the farmers have been blamed on globalization because government investment into agriculture fell as a result of Washington Consensus.

But the truth is that the plight of these farmers had little to do with a government bent on sending signals to investors. Rather, the indebtedness that was prompting such misery was a product of several vicious cycles. Many farmers have to rely on informal networks and oppressive moneylenders for their financing needs. And the government itself partly produced the crisis it was responding to. Sops in the form of free electricity had led to indiscriminate use of water pumps, producing a grave water crisis. Most of the indebtedness came from the need for inordinate expenditures to drill further for water. And cooperative banks, set up to provide cheap credit, made themselves insolvent by lending indiscriminately.[India balances needs of poor and investors]