Thomas Friedman had an article in New York Times expressed “his concern”:http://www.apolloalliance.org/apollo_in_the_news/friedman.cfm that America is losing its competitive edge to countries like China and India.
bq. First, one of America’s greatest assets, its ability to skim the cream off the first-round intellectual draft choices from around the world and bring them to our shores to innovate, will be diminished, and that in turn will shrink our talent pool. And second, we could lose a whole generation of foreigners who would normally come here to study, and then would take American ideas and American relationships back home. In a decade we will feel that loss in America’s standing around the world.
But now American Universities too are alarmed by the “reducing number of foreign students”:http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/world/story/0,4386,248461,00.html.
bq. This year, foreign applications to graduate schools in the United States have fallen by 32 per cent with applications from China, India and western Europe showing a dramatic drop. The decline is raising concerns that the US could lose a longtime source of competitive advantage in research, science and engineering. The danger, some argue, is also that the US is forfeiting its successful tradition of educating and befriending the world’s brightest students and probable future leaders.
Intel CEO Andy Grove is also “expressing concerns”:http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-04-27-forum_x.htm on this and explains that people should not surprised outsourcing is happening
bq. We have to fix our education system. We have to invest more in R&D. And we have to be more consistent about our infrastructure if we want to be competitive. If you have a worse education, a worse infrastructure, and you spend less of your gross domestic product on R&D, what makes you think you should be in a pre-eminent position?
In countries which are now offering competition to United States, education is considered very important. These countries also offer an economic advantage in terms of reduced expenses and the natural outcome of this is outsourcing of not just call centers and software development, but also of R&D. If United States has to address this issue, it has to look deeper and find the cause of the problem and not waste energy by “blaming India”:http://blameindiawatch.blogspot.com/.
Author: जयकृष्णः | ജയകൃഷ്ണൻ
Finding Atlantis
If someone is looking for “Noah’s Ark”:https://varnam.org/archives/000366.html, then you would think someone should look for “Atlantis”:http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/30/1083224579144.html.
bq. A quest for the lost island of Atlantis has begun off the southern shores of Cyprus. After a decade of intense study an American, Robert Sarmast, claims to have evidence to prove that the fabled island lies 1.5 kilometres deep in the sea between Cyprus and Syria. He says he has detected “around 48” of the 50 geographical features described by Plato before it was “swallowed up by the earth”. Mr Sarmast hopes by August to have proved that Atlantis was not simply a figment of the imagination but a real empire with stone temples, bridges, canals and roads. “What we have discovered is a hidden landmass that fits Plato’s famed description almost exactly,” he said in the Cypriot port of Limassol. [via “The Age”:http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/30/1083224579144.html]
Election Humor
When it comes to predictions, this blog is usually way off the mark. But not now. This blog made a comment few months back that the fact the Congress and Communists are fighting each other in some states and are allies in some states “can cause problems”:https://varnam.org/archives/000355.html. And this is exactly what happened to Communist leader Achutanandan, who was addressing a meeting in Mahe, where Communists are Congress are allies.
bq. Achuthanandan was addressing a meeting organised by the CPM in Mahe as part of the 50th anniversary observations of the Cherukallayi Martyrs? Day. The Opposition leader was in his elements lashing out at the Congress Government in Kerala. After his outburst against the BJP at the Centre, Achuthanandan turned to the Congress in the State. Blaming Antony for the poor law and order management, he said goondas and mafia gangs are thriving in the State where the girls have no security.
bq. Referring to the Muthanga incident, he said Antony gave bullets for the Adivasis who asked for land. He reiterated the allegation that more than one Adivasis might have killed in the police action. ??We had demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident. But Antony was not willing. So it was not possible to determine how many had died in police firing,?? he said. As Achuthanandan was raising his pitch against the Congress, came the chit from Jayarajan. A visibly embarrassed Opposition leader was silent for a few minutes. ??I thought this was a part of the campaign in Vatakara constituency,?? he said. Achuthanandan, then, asked the audience to forget all the references against the Congress in his speech. [via “newindpress.com”:http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IER20040429052407&Page=R&Title=Kerala&Topic=0&]
Who said Communists are not funny ?
Finding Noah's Ark
bq. American and Turkish explorers are hoping to discover traces of Noah’s Ark on the slopes of Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey. A joint expedition of 10 explorers from both countries intends to trek up the 5,346m (17,820ft) mountain in July. They will spend a month searching for a large structure exposed in part by melting snow last summer. Recounted in the Bible, Noah and his ark are said to have alighted on Mount Ararat after the Great Flood. [via “BBC”:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3664093.stm]
Three religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam believe in Noah and his ark. Hinduism too has a “flood story”:http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article?eu=396523
Protest NNMA Status for Pakistan
Congressman Gary Ackerman (D-NY) has written a letter to President Bush along with 19 other members of Congress expressing serious concern over the Administration’s decision to designate Pakistan as a Non-NATO Major Ally. Under the current law the President can designate any country as a NNMA by simply notifying the Congress. Congressman Ackerman’s proposed legislation “H.R. 4021”:http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c108:./temp/~c108prlhVH specifies that for any country to be designated as NNMA, it should have a democratic form of Government and the President certify that the country adheres to United States objectives of non-proliferation.
If this decision of granting NNMA status becomes final then Pakistan will
* Obtain priority delivery of defense material and the purchase, for instance, of depleted uranium anti-tank rounds
* Stockpile US military hardware, participate in defense research and development programs
* Benefit from a US Government loan guarantee program, which backs up loans issued by private banks to finance arms exports
“USINPAC”:http://www.usinpac.com/Home.asp?SEC_ID=1 is requesting each person to write a letter to your local member of Congress asking him to support and co-sponsor “H.R.4021”:http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c108:./temp/~c108prlhVH.
Also Read Subhash Kak’s America’s “Faustian Embrace of Pakistan”:http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/apr/07kak.htm
The Origin of Sambar
bq. Sambar, a popular lentil curry used with rice or idli or vadai, has these days become a symbol of Tamil food. But its origin is comparatively recent, just a few hundred years, Suresh says. “It was created out of a mistake” when the Maratha rulers from Shivaji’s court ruled the Deccan and had southern fiefdoms, he said. The story goes that Sambaji, Shivaji’s son, one day returned home to find his wife and daughter away. He was very hungry and he attempted to make himself rice and dal but added some tamarind to it by mistake that gave it an entirely different complexion. [via “New Kerala”:http://www.newkerala.com/news-daily/news/features.php?action=fullnews&showcomments=1&id=13398]
Maybe I should try cooking once in a while.
Brutal Silence
“Arundhathi Roy”:http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-roy25apr25,0,4631534.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions in Los Angeles Times
bq. In Kashmir, in a situation that almost amounts to war, an estimated 80,000 people have been killed since 1989. As long as the people who are killed are called gangsters, terrorists, insurgents or extremists, their killers can strut around as crusaders in the national interest and are answerable to no one.
And from “Rediff”:http://us.rediff.com/news/2004/apr/25jk.htm
bq. In a gruesome incident, militants beheaded the wife and daughter of a Special Police Officer in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said in Srinagar on Sunday. The militants barged into Ghulam Hassan Qureshi’s house in Bazipora village late on Saturday night and beheaded his 30-year-old wife Shaha and 8-year old daughter Misra.
Arundhathi Roy is honoured by “mass murderers”:https://varnam.org/archives/000300.html and has been seen calling “Democracy as a whore”:https://varnam.org/archives/000103.html. She who weeps for the tribals was found to have a hilltop bunglow on “notified forest land”:https://varnam.org/archives/000084.html. From such a person, there will be a heavy silence for the police officers and their families who are murdered by terrorists.
Making Terrorists Surrender
Yesterday there was a public talk by “Sri Sri Ravishankar”:http://artofliving.org/v2/srisri/srisribio.htm at UCLA. He was talking about a visit he had from some 130 Naxalites. He had a talk with them, made them do meditation and after a few days they went back and made around 8000 of them surrender.He described Naxalites as “terrorists with communist ideology”. Now they have have laid down arms and switched to agriculture. Now maybe Sri Sri should talk to the Resident Idiot.
One of the questions from the audience was: What was his advice to President Bush. He replied, “You should try all options before taking the stick. But there are some people in the world who only understand the stick.”
Washington Post and Hinduphobia
“Shankar Vedantam”:http://www.vedantam.com/mainpage.html, Washington Post staff writer and SAJA Member had an article in WP, titled, “Wrath Over a Hindu God; U.S. Scholars’ Writings Draw Threats From Faithful”:http://www.vedantam.com/ganesha04-2004.html. The article quoted Sulekha Columnist, Rajiv Malhotra extensively as well as Columnist Sankrant Sanu. But then what do you expect from a SAJA member. According to “Rajiv”:http://www.sulekha.com/expressions/column.asp?cid=305924
bq. Washington Post’s front-page article entitled, ?Wrath Over a Hindu God: U.S. Scholars’ Writings Draw Threats From Faithful,? by Shankar Vedantam (April 10, 2004; Page A01) misrepresents the topic by failing to highlight the central issues being debated, namely, systemic ideological biases within academia, while caricaturing the community’s dissenting intellectuals in ways that approach Hinduphobia.
If you have not read “Washington Post and Hinduphobia”:http://www.sulekha.com/expressions/column.asp?cid=305924, please do.
Plan of Attack
Bob Woodward has a new book, “Plan of Attack”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/074325547X/jksobservat-20 on the events preceeding the Iraq Invasion
bq. Plan of Attack is the definitive account of a turning point in history as President George W. Bush, his war council, and allies launch a preemptive attack on Iraq, toppling Saddam Hussein and taking over the country. From in-depth interviews and documents, Bob Woodward provides an authoritative narrative of the Administration’s behind-the-scenes maneuvering over two years and examines the causes and consequences of the most controversial war since Vietnam.
CBS 60 Minutes had an interview with “Bob Woodward”:http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/15/60minutes/main612067.shtml today. Here are some snippets
bq. Getso a point where in July, the end of July 2002, they need $700 million, a large amount of money for all these tasks. And the president approves it. But Congress doesn’t know and it is done. They get the money from a supplemental appropriation for the Afghan War, which Congress has approved. ?