Foreigners and US

There is a considerable decline in the number of foreign students entering United States and it is going to affect the country seriously.

Some Americans might say, “Good riddance, it’s their loss.” Actually the greater loss is ours. American universities benefit from having the best students from across the globe. But the single most deadly effect of this trend is the erosion of American capacity in science and technology. The U.S. economy has powered ahead in large part because of the amazing productivity of America’s science and technology. Yet that research is now done largely by foreign students. The National Science Board (NSB) documented this reality last year, finding that 38 percent of doctorate holders in America’s science and engineering work force are foreign-born. Foreigners make up more than half the students enrolled in science and engineering programs. The dirty little secret about America’s scientific edge is that it’s largely produced by foreigners and immigrants.

Americans don’t do science anymore. The NSB put out another report this year that showed the United States now ranks 17th (among nations surveyed) in the proportion of college students majoring in science and engineering. In 1975 the United States ranked third. The recent decline in foreign applications is having a direct effect on science programs. Three years ago there were 385 computer-science majors at MIT. Today there are 240. The trend is similar at Stanford, Carnegie Mellon and the University of California, Berkeley. [Rejecting the Next Bill Gates]

Defence Contractors need engineering graduates (non-software), who are US Citizens and can get clearance. Already it is tough to get plain engineering graduates and with conditions like Citizenship and it will be impossible to get employees who match this criteria. On top of this you restrict foreigners who want to study and you aggravate the issue. The solution for this specific problem is not outsourcing as it pertains to national security. I hope someone pays attention.

Buddha and Indra in Taxila

An archaeological excavation in Taxila has discovered both Buddhist and Hindu artifacts dating back to the first century AD.

The Pakistan government’s archaeology department has discovered eight antiquities dating back to the first century AD, including rare sculptures of ‘future’ Buddha, Hindu God Indra and his bodyguard from an ancient archaeological site very near to Taxila, considered as a seat of learning during the Buddhist period.

According to the Daily Times, experts from the archaeology department’s preservation and restoration team unearthed the treasures while carrying on preservation work at the world renowned Dharmarajika Stupa and monastery dating back to 3rd century BC to 5th Century AD, regarded as the epitome of the Gandhara civilization.

Archaeologists have confirmed that one of the antiquities excavated depicts in exact detail the ‘the reappearance of Buddha’ as told in Buddhist

Apart from the other discovery of Corinthian capital, which was used in Magna, Garcia and Sicily from the early third century, the statue of Indra, regarded as the rain god in Vedic mythology and another depicting the bodyguard of Indra has also interested experts to a great extent. [Buddhist antiquities unearthed near Taxila]

What Else In Tirupati ?

I have been to Tirupati only once. We went directly to the temples and came back. My friend Sujatha has an article in The Hindu in which she points out other places of interest near the temple town.

The Akash Ganga waterfall, 3 km from the temple, that the faithful believe flows from the feet of Lord Vishnu, is a huge attraction. Situated on the Tirumala Hills, Sila Thoranam, a natural rock formation, is a wonderous sight. It is a naturally formed arch of rock, the likes of which are reportedly found only at two other places in the world

No Hyphenated Equation In Business

Every business leader in the US is now visiting India. Craig Barret, Intel’s Chief Executive was there for a two day visit and was evaluating India for setting up a chip manufacturing center. Intel hired 800 people this year making the total employee count about 2400. Intel has invested $40 million so far and is planning to invest the same over the next two years.
The next person was Steve Ballmer, who too is bullish about India and made some commitments to serve the rural population of India. The only specific he provided was that Windows is being localized into 14 additional Indian languages. Currently it is available only in Hindi.
Unlike the Americans in the State Department, these businessmen do not find it necessary to make the obligatory visit to Pakistan. There no hyphenated equation with the neighbor nextdoor and the businessmen know where to put the money and where not to. If only the State Dept followed the instincts of the businessmen.

Why do we need the Hurriyat ?

Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday met All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders in New Delhi. Aziz, in New Delhi on a two-day visit, held discussions with acting Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, Maulana Abbas Ansari, Abdul Gani Bhat, Bilal Lone, Yasin Malik, Shabir Shah and Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Later, Aziz hosted a dinner for all of them at Pakistan House. [Aziz meets separatist leaders]

The Hurriyat leaders cannot meet the Indian Prime Minister when he travels all way to Jammu and Kashmir, but rush to Delhi to meet the Pakistani Prime Minister. But now it looks like they are scared that they will be left out of the negotiations.
The Hurriyat wants the easy way out. They want to be the legitimate representatives of the Indian Kashmiris, but they do want to stand for any elections. They want to break Jammu and Kashmir and be crowned its rulers. The Indian Express has a detailed account of the Hurriyat’s meeting with Shaukat Aziz.

According to one leader who attended the meeting, Aziz asked all leaders, one by one, to respond to Islamabad

Kuninda Coins

The Kunindas are a tribe who were dominant in Himachal Pradesh sometime between 1st century BC and 3 rd century AD. I looked up all the history books I have and none of them mention this tribe at all.

The Kunindas were dominant in Himachal Pradesh for a long time. They are mentioned in epics and puranas. In the Mahabharata they are known to have been defeated by Arjuna. In the Vishnu Purana the Kuninda territory has been named specifically as Kulindopatyaka foothills. Varahamehra also places them somewhere in the Himalayan region.

On the basis of literary sources Cunningham has identified the ancient Kulindas with the present day Kunets of Kulu and Shimla. Ptolemy believed the origin of Kuninda in the country irrigated by the river Ganga, Yamuna, Sutlej and Beas.

Incidentally most of the Kuninda coins have been found in places associated with these rivers e.g. Kashipur, Kumaon, Saharnpur, Garhwal, Haryana and Punjab. In Himachal, Kuninda coins have been found at Tappa-Mewa in Hamirpur district, Jawalamukhi and Kangra. A hoard of coins was discovered at Chakker in the Balh valley. With the study of these coins and the knowledge of the places from where the discoveries were made one can conclude that this Kuninda tribe ruled this region from 1st century B.C. to 3rd century A.D.

The Kuninda issued two types of coins. One type was issued about 1st century B.C. and the other about three centuries later. The present hoard was issued during the 1st century B.C. and bears the name Amogbhuti.

The obverse of the coin is in Brahmi and reverse in Khroshti. The obverse has a deer on the right and Lakshmi is facing it. On the reverse a five- arched hill surmounted by Nandipada, on the right a tree in the railing and on the left two swastik and Inderdhwaja. At the bottom is a wavy line representing a river. [Kuninda coins found via India Archaeology]

Joke Of The Day

Many of you might have mistakenly believed that Islam was a religion started by Muhammed in 7th century AD. But according to Renowned Orator of Islam and Comparative Religions Dr Zakir Naik it is not so.

”Islam is not the new religion as propagated by westenern protogonists. The Islamic religion is as old as Hinduism and it was very well established in Vedas, Upanishads and also in Puranas, Dr Zakir Naik claimed”. [There are many similarities between Islam and Hinduism: Cleric]

Yeah right!

No More Cards

Here is one piece which appeared in the Urdu press and not in any English newspapers from Pakistan.

Quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt (September 2, 2004) ex-ISI chief Hameed Gul said that Pakistan had played all its cards to get India to resolve the Kashmir dispute and now there was no card left to play. He said Pakistan first declared ceasefire unilaterally, then allowed India to fence the LoC and then talked of a solution outside the UN resolutions but nothing had happened.

Hameed Gul is right about the first part. Pakistan has played all its cards, the last one being jihad, which put the integrity of the state at stake. It is now time to change tack or sink. The new policy is to bind the wounds inflicted on Pakistan by jihad. It has its own cards, but they are different from the ones that were played in the past but got ruffed. [Khaled Ahmed

Ancient Tibetan City

Tibet is now synonymous with Buddhism. But till 7th century AD, the religion of Tibet was Bön. This religion which was rooted in Shamanistic practices also has a founder similar to Buddha. His name was Yungdrung Bön and he too left the palace to be a monk. Now archaeological excavations have discovered artifacts from that era.

In Ngari, Southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, archaeologists investigated the ruins of the mysterious “Silver Castle,” and discovered fantastic statues of Bon gods, which belonged to a religion prevalent on the roof of the world a millennium ago. The ancient city, known as the “Silver Castle of Qionglong (today’s Zhada, Ngari),” was in Tibetan legends the capital of Zhangzhung Kingdom.

It fell into oblivion in the 10th century when the Guge Kingdom was founded and Tibetans converted from the Bon religion to Buddhism. It had been forgotten until archaeologists discovered its ruins in the 1920s. Since the investigation kicked off this June, archaeologists have been reporting amazing finds on the ruins, which lie on the northern bank of the Xiangquan (Langqen Zangbo) River and covers an area of 130,000 square metres.

“Lying before us is a magnificent castle boasting buzzing lives a millennium ago, with well-planned residential areas, ritual and public buildings, defence walls and even secret underground tunnels,” said archaeologist Huo Wei from Sichuan University. Porcelain shreds and iron tools were unearthed along with statues of Bon gods. One of them, painted in green and gold, have two faces – one on the front and one on the back. “It’s only an investigation. We’ll never know what the ground is hiding from us until an excavation begins,” said Huo. [Ancient Tibetan city]

Jihad in India

Maulana Nasiruddin, an Islamic cleric who had some ambitious plans was arrested in Hyderabad, India.

“Maulana has been associated with Jamaat-e-Islami, a moderate organisation since 1970. The notorious Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) is a student wing of the organisation and Maulana has been associated with it too,” Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) D.G. Vanzara told reporters.

“He has been associated with several other organisations and has connections spreading from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. He has confessed during interrogation that he was working on bringing a number of organisations under one banner to intensify ‘jihad’ for establishing a “Khilafat” or Islamic theocratic state in India,” Vanzara said.
He said the Maulana was also a great orator and motivated many youths to go to Pakistan for terrorist training.
“Maulana very proudly noted in the confession that Osama bin Laden was his role model,” Vanzara said. [India: ‘Arrested cleric conspired to build Islamic state’]