Archive for July, 2008
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Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008(Manmohan Singh did not read out his statement, as he was not allowed to do so by the opposition parties. Instead he gave a copy to the Speaker to file. The below is his address to the Nation on the Nuclear Deal and also the 4 years of UPA rule.)
“The Leader of Opposition, Shri L.K. Advani has chosen to use all manner of abusive objectives to describe my performance. He has described me as the weakest Prime Minister, a nikamma PM, and of having devalued the office of PM. To fulfill his ambitions, he has made at least three attempts to topple our government. But on each occasion his astrologers have misled him. This pattern, I am sure, will be repeated today. At his ripe old age, I do not expect Shri Advani to change his thinking. But for his sake and India’s sake, I urge him at least to change his astrologers so that he gets more accurate predictions of things to come.
“As for Shri Advani’s various charges, I do not wish to waste the time of the House in rebutting them. All I can say is that before leveling charges of incompetence on others, Shri Advani should do some introspection. Can our nation forgive a Home Minister who slept when the terrorists were knocking at the doors of our Parliament? Can our nation forgive a person who single handedly provided the inspiration for the destruction of the Babri Masjid with all the terrible consequences that followed? To atone for his sins, he suddenly decided to visit Pakistan and there he discovered new virtues in Mr. Jinnah. Alas, his own party and his mentors in the RSS disowned him on this issue. Can our nation approve the conduct of a Home Minister who was sleeping while Gujarat was burning leading to the loss of thousands of innocent lives? Our friends in the Left Front should ponder over the company they are forced to keep because of miscalculations by their General Secretary.
As for my conduct, it is for this August House and the people of India to judge. All I can say is that in all these years that I have been in office, whether as Finance Minister or Prime Minister, I have felt it as a sacred obligation to use the levers of power as a societal trust to be used for transforming our economy and polity, so that we can get rid of poverty, ignorance and disease which still afflict millions of our people. This is a long and arduous journey. But every step taken in this direction can make a difference. And that is what we have sought to do in the last four years. How far we have succeeded is something I leave to the judgement of the people of India.
When I look at the composition of the opportunistic group opposed to us, it is clear to me that the clash today is between two alternative visions of India’s future. The one vision represented by the UPA and our allies seeks to project India as a self confident and united nation moving forward to gain its rightful place in the comity of nations, making full use of the opportunities offered by a globalised world, operating on the frontiers of modern science and technology and using modern science and technology as important instruments of national economic and social development. The opposite vision is of a motley crowd opposed to us who have come together to share the spoils of office to promote their sectional, sectarian and parochial interests. Our Left colleagues should tell us whether Shri L.K. Advani is acceptable to them as a Prime Ministerial candidate. Shri L.K. Advani should enlighten us if he will step aside as Prime Ministerial candidate of the opposition in favour of the choice of UNPA. They should take the country into confidence on this important issue.
I have already stated in my opening remarks that the House has been dragged into this debate unnecessarily. I wish our attention had not been diverted from some priority areas of national concern. These priorities are :
(i) Tackling the imported inflation caused by steep increase in oil prices. Our effort is to control inflation without hurting the rate of growth and employment.
(ii) To revitalize agriculture. We have decisively reversed the declining trend of investment and resource flow in agriculture. The Finance Minister has dealt with the measures we have taken in this regard. We have achieved a record foodgrain production of 231 million tonnes. But we need to redouble our efforts to improve agricultural productivity.
(iii) To improve the effectiveness of our flagship pro poor programmes such as National Rural Employment Programme(NREGA), Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Nation-wide Mid day meal programme, Bharat Nirman to improve the quality of rural infrastructure of roads, electricity, safe drinking water, sanitation, irrigation, National Rural Health Mission and the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. These programmes are yielding solid results. But a great deal more needs to be done to improve the quality of implementation.
(iv) We have initiated a major thrust in expanding higher education. The objective is to expand the gross enrolment ratio in higher education from 11.6 per cent to 15 per cent by the end of the 11th Plan and to 21per cent by the end of 12th Plan. To meet these goals, we have an ambitious programme which seeks to create 30 new universities, of which 14 will be world class, 8 new IITs, 7 new IIMs, 20 new IIITs, 5 new IISERs, 2 Schools of planning and Architecture, 10 NITs, 373 new degree colleges and 1000 new polytechnics. And these are not just plans. Three new IISERs are already operational and the remaining two will become operational from the 2008-09 academic session. Two SPAs will be starting this year. Six of the new IITs start their classes this year. The establishment of the new universities is at an advanced stage of planning.
(v) A nation wide Skill Development Programme and the enactment of the Right to Education Act,
(vi) Approval by Parliament of the new Rehabilitation and Resettlement policy and enactment of legislation to provide social security benefits to workers in the unorganized sector.
(vii) The new 15 Point Programme for Minorities, the effective implementation of empowerment programmes for the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, paying particular emphasis on implementation of Land Rights for the tribals.
(viii) Equally important is the effective implementation of the Right to Information Act to impart utmost transparency to processes of governance. The Administrative Reforms Commission has made valuable suggestions to streamline the functioning of our public administration.
(ix) To deal firmly with terrorist elements, left wing extremism and communal elements that are attempting to undermine the security and stability of the country. We have been and will continue to vigorously pursue investigations in the major terrorist incidents that have taken place. Charge-sheets have been filed in almost all the cases. Our intelligence agencies and security forces are doing an excellent job in very difficult circumstances. They need our full support. We will take all possible steps to streamline their functioning and strengthen their effectiveness.
Considerable work has been done in all these areas but debates like the one we are having detract our attention from attending to these essential programmes and remaining items on our agenda. All the same, we will redouble our efforts to attend to these areas of priority concerns.
I say in all sincerity that this session and debate was unnecessary because I have said on several occasions that our nuclear agreement after being endorsed by the IAEA and the Nuclear Suppliers Group would be submitted to this august House for expressing its view. All I had asked our Left colleagues was : please allow us to go through the negotiating process and I will come to Parliament before operationalising the nuclear agreement. This simple courtesy which is essential for orderly functioning of any Government worth the name, particularly with regard to the conduct of foreign policy, they were not willing to grant me. They wanted a veto over every single step of negotiations which is not acceptable. They wanted me to behave as their bonded slave. The nuclear agreement may not have been mentioned in the Common Minimum Programme. However, there was an explicit mention of the need to develop closer relations with the USA but without sacrificing our independent foreign policy. The Congress Election Manifesto had explicitly referred to the need for strategic engagement with the USA and other great powers such as Russia.
In 1991, while presenting the Budget for 1991-92, as Finance Minister, I had stated : No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come. I had then suggested to this august House that the emergence of India as a major global power was an idea whose time had come.
Carrying forward the process started by Shri Rajiv Gandhi of preparing India for the 21st century, I outlined a far reaching programme of economic reform whose fruits are now visible to every objective person. Both the Left and the BJP had then opposed the reform. Both had said we had mortgaged the economy to America and that we would bring back the East India Company. Subsequently both these parties have had a hand at running the Government. None of these parties have reversed the direction of economic policy laid down by the Congress Party in 1991. The moral of the story is that political parties should be judged not by what they say while in opposition but by what they do when entrusted with the responsibilities of power.
I am convinced that despite their opportunistic opposition to the nuclear agreement, history will compliment the UPA Government for having taken another giant step forward to lead India to become a major power centre of the evolving global economy. Jawaharlal Nehru’s vision of using atomic energy as a major instrument of development will become a living reality.
What is the nuclear agreement about? It is all about widening our development options, promoting energy security in a manner which will not hurt our precious environment and which will not contribute to pollution and global warming.
India needs to grow at the rate of at least ten per cent per annum to get rid of chronic poverty, ignorance and disease which still afflict millions of our people. A basic requirement for achieving this order of growth is the availability of energy, particularly electricity. We need increasing quantities of electricity to support our agriculture, industry and to give comfort to our householders. The generation of electricity has to grow at an annual rate of 8 to 10 per cent.
Now, hydro-carbons are one source of generating power and for meeting our energy requirements. But our production of hydro-carbons both of oil and gas is far short of our growing requirements. We are heavily dependent on imports. We all know the uncertainty of supplies and of prices of imported hydro-carbons.
We have to diversify our sources of energy supply.
We have large reserves of coal but even these are inadequate to meet all our needs by 2050. But more use of coal will have an adverse impact on pollution and climate. We can develop hydro-power and we must. But many of these projects hurt the environment and displace large number of people. We must develop renewable sources of energy particularly solar energy. But we must also make full use of atomic energy which is a clean environment friendly source of energy. All over the world, there is growing realization of the importance of atomic energy to meet the challenge of energy security and climate change.
India’s atomic scientists and technologists are world class. They have developed nuclear energy capacities despite heavy odds. But there are handicaps which have adversely affected our atomic energy programme. First of all, we have inadequate production of uranium. Second, the quality of our uranium resources is not comparable to those of other producers.Third, after the Pokharan nuclear test of 1974 and 1998 the outside world has imposed embargo on trade with India in nuclear materials, nuclear equipment and nuclear technology. As a result, our nuclear energy programme has suffered. Some twenty years ago, the Atomic Energy Commission had laid down a target of 10000 MW of electricity generation by the end of the twentieth century. Today, in 2008 our capacity is about 4000 MW and due to shortage of uranium many of these plants are operating at much below their capacity.
The nuclear agreement that we wish to negotiate will end India’s nuclear isolation, nuclear apartheid and enable us to take advantage of international trade in nuclear materials, technologies and equipment. It will open up new opportunities for trade in dual use high technologies opening up new pathways to accelerate industrialization of our country. Given the excellent quality of our nuclear scientists and technologists, I have reasons to believe that in a reasonably short period of time, India would emerge as an important exporter of nuclear technologies, and equipment for civilian purposes.
When I say this I am reminded of the visionary leadership of Shri Rajiv Gandhi who was a strong champion of computerization and use of information technologies for nation building. At that time, many people laughed at this idea. Today, information technology and software is a sun-rise industry with an annual turnover soon approaching 50 billion US dollars. I venture to think that our atomic energy industry will play a similar role in the transformation of India’s economy.
The essence of the matter is that the agreements that we negotiate with USA, Russia, France and other nuclear countries will enable us to enter into international trade for civilian use without any interference with our strategic nuclear programme. The strategic programme will continue to be developed at an autonomous pace determined solely by our own security perceptions. We have not and we will not accept any outside interference or monitoring or supervision of our strategic programme. Our strategic autonomy will never be compromised. We are willing to look at possible amendments to our Atomic Energy Act to reinforce our solemn commitment that our strategic autonomy will never be compromised.
I confirm that there is nothing in these agreements which prevents us from further nuclear tests if warranted by our national security concerns. All that we are committed to is a voluntary moratorium on further testing. Thus the nuclear agreements will not in any way affect our strategic autonomy. The cooperation that the international community is now willing to extend to us for trade in nuclear materials, technologies and equipment for civilian use will be available to us without signing the NPT or the CTBT.
This I believe is a measure of the respect that the world at large has for India, its people and their capabilities and our prospects to emerge as a major engine of growth for the world economy. I have often said that today there are no international constraints on India’s development. The world marvels at our ability to seek our social and economic salvation in the framework of a functioning democracy committed to the rule of law and respect for fundamental human freedoms. The world wants India to succeed. The obstacles we face are at home, particularly in our processes of domestic governance.
I wish to remind the House that in 1998 when the Pokharan II tests were undertaken, the Group of Eight leading developed countries had passed a harsh resolution condemning India and called upon India to sign the NPT and CTBT. Today, at the Hokkaido meeting of the G-8 held recently in Japan, the Chairman’s summary has welcomed cooperation in civilian nuclear energy between India and the international community.
This is a measure of the sea change in the perceptions of the international community our trading with India for civilian nuclear energy purposes that has come about in less than ten years.
Our critics falsely accuse us, that in signing these agreements, we have surrendered the independence of foreign policy and made it subservient to US interests. In this context, I wish to point out that the cooperation in civil nuclear matters that we seek is not confined to the USA. Change in the NSG guidelines would be a passport to trade with 45 members of the Nuclear Supplier Group which includes Russia, France, and many other countries.
We appreciate the fact that the US has taken the lead in promoting cooperation with India for nuclear energy for civilian use. Without US initiative, India’s case for approval by the IAEA or the Nuclear Suppliers Group would not have moved forward.
But this does not mean that there is any explicit or implicit constraint on India to pursue an independent foreign policy determined by our own perceptions of our enlightened national interest. Some people are spreading the rumours that there are some secret or hidden agreements over and above the documents made public. I wish to state categorically that there are no secret or hidden documents other than the 123 agreement, the Separation Plan and the draft of the safeguard agreement with the IAEA. It has also been alleged that the Hyde Act will affect India’s ability to pursue an independent foreign policy. The Hyde Act does exist and it provides the US administration the authorization to enter into civil nuclear cooperation with India without insistence on full scope safeguards and without signing of the NPT. There are some prescriptive clauses but they cannot and they will not be allowed to affect in any way the conduct of our foreign policy. Our commitment is to what has been agreed in the 123 Agreement. There is nothing in this Agreement which will affect our strategic autonomy or our ability to pursue an independent foreign policy. I state categorically that our foreign policy, will at all times be determined by our own assessment of our national interest. This has been true in the past and will be true in future regarding our relations with big powers as well as with our neighbours in West Asia, notably Iran, Iraq, Palestine and the Gulf countries.
We have differed with the USA on their intervention in Iraq. I had explicitly stated at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington DC in July 2005 that intervention in Iraq was a big mistake. With regard to Iran, our advice has been in favour of moderation and we would like that the issues relating to Iran’s nuclear programme which have emerged should be resolved through dialogue and discussions in the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
I should also inform the House that our relations with the Arab world are very good. Two years ago, His Majesty, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia was the Chief Guest at our Republic Day. More recently, we have played host to the President of Iran, President of Syria, the King of Jordan, the Emir of Qatar and the Emir of Kuwait. With all these countries we have historic civilisational and cultural links which we are keen to further develop to our mutual benefit. Today, we have strategic relationship with all major powers including USA, Russia, France, UK, Germany, Japan, China, Brazil, Nigeria and South Africa. We are Forging new partnerships with countries of East Asia, South East Asia and Africa.
CONCLUSION
The Management and governance of the world’s largest, most diverse and most vibrant democracy is the greatest challenge any person can be entrusted with, in this world. It has been my good fortune that I was entrusted with this challenge over four years ago. I thank with all sincerity the Chairperson of the UPA, the leaders of the Constituent Parties of the UPA and every member of my Party for the faith and trust they reposed in me. I once again recall with gratitude the guidance and support I have received from Shri Jyoti Basu and Sardar Harkishen Singh Surjeet.
I have often said that I am a politician by accident. I have held many diverse responsibilities. I have been a teacher, I have been an official of the Government of India, I have been a member of this greatest of Parliaments, but I have never forgotten my life as a young boy in a distant village.
Every day that I have been Prime Minister of India I have tried to remember that the first ten years of my life were spent in a village with no drinking water supply, no electricity, no hospital, no roads and nothing that we today associate with modern living. I had to walk miles to school, I had to study in the dim light of a kerosene oil lamp. This nation gave me the opportunity to ensure that such would not be the life of our children in the foreseeable future.
Sir, my conscience is clear that on every day that I have occupied this high office, I have tried to fulfill the dream of that young boy from that distant village.
The greatness of democracy is that we are all birds of passage! We are here today, gone tomorrow! But in the brief time that the people of India entrust us with this responsibility, it is our duty to be honest and sincere in the discharge of these responsibilities. As it is said in our sacred texts, we are responsible for our actions and we must act without coveting the rewards of such action. Whatever I have done in this high office I have done so with a clear conscience and the best interests of my country and our people at heart. I have no other claims to make“.
Source : The PM’s website
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- An opinion on the politics of the Nuclear Deal – Singh is King
- Omar Abdullah’s Speech
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Rahul Gandhi’s speech – 22nd July on the Nuclear Deal
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008Rahul Gandhi’s speech which was disrupted repeatedly by Mayawati’s BSP MP’s during the trust vote debate , sounded a bit NGO ish as some observers put it. But he came across some one who cares and has his mind set upon the upliftment of India’s poor and also someone who does not practice partisan politics. Here is an excerpt of his speech below.
“It is important at this point not to speak as a Member of a political Party, but to speak as an Indian. Everybody in this House, regardless of which party he comes from speaks in the interest of the nation. We are meeting here because there is a serious problem in India and the problem is our energy security. Poverty is directly connected to energy security. Energy effects India’s growth. If we do not secure our energy supply into the future, growth will stop and we will not be able to fight poverty.
The way our nuclear industry is positioned today, it is going to do neither. It is neither going to act as an insurance policy nor is it going to act or have the potential to act as a fundamental source of energy. And, the reason it is not going to do so is because the hands of our scientists, the hands of our establishment are tied; they are tied because they do not have fuel on one hand, and on the other hand they do not have investment and technology. Senior leaders have also established that the way forward is diversification and reliance on more than one source of energy, a balanced portfolio that includes nuclear, hydrocarbon, solar and wind among others. It is not enough to identify a problem and a potential solution. The magic of what Shri Manmohan Singhji is doing is that within the problem, he has identified an opportunity that is significantly larger than the problem itself. The opportunity our Prime Minister has identified is based on a simple fact. It is based on the fact that over the next 30-40 years, two countries are going to use the largest bulk of new energy that comes on line. These countries – China and India – have the ability to define the way the world’s energy moves. Instead of looking at our energy problem as a problem, we start to look at our energy usage as an opportunity. Like a big buyer who goes to any market, we have the ability to shape the global energy industry, and energy is like no other industry in the world. Energy, as I said earlier, is used everywhere, in everything and in every aspect of economic and social life. Energy has destroyed nations and it has built nations. Instead of worrying about how the world will impact us, we start worrying about how we will impact the world.
Many years ago, this country embarked on a path which many people did not believe in. We developed an industry called, IT industry and the telecom industry. Very few people believed that the computer would have anything to do with empowering the poor and with changing the way this country worked. Yet, today all of us together see the impact of the computer. The decision here is not about three per cent energy or seven per cent energy. It is not about India’s usage of nuclear energy. If we look at the big picture here, it is about whether India can become a global power in a type of energy that is going to be very important in the future. We all know the problems caused by hydrocarbons. We know about pollution. Earlier, one of he Members asked me to point out what is the connection between energy and poverty. We know the link between us depending on hydrocarbons and prices in India today. When we think about energy, when we think about nuclear energy, we must think about the poorest in the country. Contrary to what most people believed, when we thought about IT in this country, we were thinking about the poor in this country. It is something that is hard to cross because it is counterintuitive. But one must not underestimate the connections between industry, between energy and between the poor. It is important to realize that this country is brimming with confidence and brimming with self-belief. Another point we must never forget when we take decisions as leaders in this country is that we have to believe in that, in our people and we have to have confidence in what we are capable of doing. We have to have confidence in what they are doing. What matters is that we start working together and we together try to solve the problems of this country. “
Also on a lighter note, i felt one of the best speeches was given by Laloo Prasad Yadav, who in his own unique style aptly put the opposition (Communists,NDA and Mayawati) in place. Watch his hilarious video below.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ju1OaJp1ms
You may also Read
- An opinion on the politics of the Nuclear Deal – Singh is King
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Omar Abdullah’s Speech – 22nd July
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008Here is an excerpt from the speech made by Mr.Omar Abdullah, the President of the J&K National Conference, which impressed me immensly. After all that horse trading fiasco and other bitter incidents in parliament, the speech made me stop loosing complete hope in democracy. It made me believe that in some nook or corner there exists young India who can think above the dirty politics and make future India a better place to live in. Omar has always been a very good public orator and also a earnest nationalist of a politician. He is also the grandson of Sheikh Abdullah.
“I am a Muslim and I am an Indian,” he began. “And I see no distinction between the two. I don’t know why should I fear the nuclear deal. It is a deal between two countries which, I hope, will become two equals in the future”.He proceeded on to put forth the point that Indian Muslims have absolutely no opposition to the deal and there is no reason why they should. “The enemies of Indian Muslims are not America or deals like these. The enemies are the same as the enemies of all those who are poor — poverty, hunger, lack of development and the absence of a voice.”
He pointed out to the Opposition benches who tried to drown UPA speakers with the chorus of protests against the alleged bribe offer that rocked Parliament hours earlier that in his 10 years as an MP he had never disrupted anyone speaking. And that he expected the the MP’s to extend him the same courtesy so that smaller parties like his could also explain their stand to the public.
He criticized the Left for their hypocritical stand on who’s secular and who’s not and that they are hand in glove with the rightist elements, Abdullah said, “Today, the Left is telling me that all secular parties should stand with the BJP to bring down this government. The same Left treated me like a political untouchable when I was with the NDA.”
“I am not a member of the UPA and don’t aspire to be one. I made a mistake to be with the NDA, especially after Gujarat riots happened. My conscience had asked me to quit NDA but I didn’t. My conscience has still not forgiven me,” he said.
He also spoke about the Amarnath Issue, Abdullah said he had fought for the cause since it involved the land of his people. He dared LK Advani and the BJP to name a single leader from Jammu and Kashmir who had opposed the Amarnath yatra and had harmed the Yatri’s. “Until the day there is even a single Muslim in Kashmir, from Srinagar to Amarnath, the Amarnath yatra will not be allowed to stop,” he said.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_4pE7G6Kdg
Speech Excerpt Courtesy : The Indian Express
You may also Read
- An opinion on the politics of the Nuclear Deal – Singh is King
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Singh is King
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008Manmohan you beauty!! . It was an absolute pleasure to watch our rustic democracy beamed live across the country and an even greater pleasure to see the Manmohan Singh led UPA government win the Trust Vote on the nuclear issue. For long, the debates in this country would be only on Mandir-Mandal-Masjid issues which atleast for me are inconsequential and also not solvable. For the first time in as far as i can remember, a policy issue has brought our country to a debating stand still.
From Canteens, bus stands, high offices to the slums, everywhere people are debating whether the nuclear deal is good or bad. Off course 90% of them do not understand the nuclear deal completely. They only debate about stuff that affects them directly, like whether they wont have load shedding anymore, whether pollution will get reduced or even whether they do not have to lose land and get displaced to huge hydroelectric projects.
In the midst of all this there are the usual suspects, our politicians who are hell bent to politicise every issue, even issues where India needs to show maturity, issues which affect our standing in the world. Our political system consists of many politicians who are, to use a simple word to explain them “CHEAP“.
Today amply demonstrated the level to which MP’s can stoop when they threw bundles of cash in the temple of democracy. Is there not a better place and way to explain or show your charges? Do you need to purposefully disrupt the PM’s speech to the nation on such an important issue?
I really cannot understand how the BJP can act as if its “Holier than Thou“. Forget Bangaru Laxman’s case. Lets take the recent instance of the Karnataka Assembly Elections 2008. Its been only 2 months since the results came and BJP formed its government. It managed to poach a total of 11 MLA’s to its side. 6 of them are independents and 5 of them are from the Congress and JDS. 9 of them were made ministers and remaining 3 of them, Chairman’s of Boards. Its known to everyone in Karnataka that a lot of money( rumoured to be 35 crores) changed hands for each of the MLA’s. The Dalaal’s here were Sushma Swaraj’s chelas the Reddy Brothers. Now the same Sushma Swaraj comes on TV and acts as if she is Mother Teresa reincarnate. And the same Ananth Kumar in Lok Sabha today shouts at the top of his voice in Lok Sabha. This is the main reason why i have always maintained that the BJP is a party of Convenience. It does what suits it best and never what suits the country.
The less said about Communists, the better. Communists are stuck in the stone age, someone needs to slap and wake them up and tell them as Laloo Prasad beautifully put it today, that the era of Kings, Queens anti-imperialism is over. Rahul Gandhi also made a hard hitting statement about how,to be a super power, we need to impact the world and not always worry about how the world will impact us and the left has to learn it soon. The Left needs to do some serious introspection. I hope they do not and that they face the same fate as most communists in the world have faced. Annihilation.
Mayawati and Advani are masters in playing to the gallery. Mayawati openly proclaiming the PM’s chair belongs to her is laudable. She has the guts to say it when most others shy away. But the politics she plays along with Mulayam, the so called “Omkara” brand of politics( Shekar Gupta’s branding) will surely lead to the the total criminalization of politics like the way UP has become now.
Anways, I ask people reading this, 2 questions, answer them by your conscience and not political affiliations
1) If Manmohan Singh did not think this deal is in national interest, why will he risk his own government over it ?
The Congress has nothing to gain electorally by the deal. In all probability, it will only lose its muslim vote.(of muslims who do not understand the deal and muslims who are mislead)
Does this not prove that Manmohan genuinely believes this deal will benefit India in the long run ?
2) Is Abdul Kalam lying ? Is he politically affiliated to take stands ? …its obvious that he belongs to no party and we have known our dear Kalam for long enough to say he would not lie and he is the utmost patriot..our missile man….would he have supported this deal if it goes against India?
Answer these two questions. And decide what Manmohan did was write or wrong.
Its time for the people of India to debate and work on the real issues that face our great country and stand up to people who take up and fulfill these issues. We have spent years debating and fighting over useless frivilous things that just divide us.
Manmohan Singh quoted Victor Hugo’s famous quote when he assumed office four and half years ago in 2004 and also in his speech to parliament in 1991 when he justified his economics of liberalization.
He said “No power on Earth can stop an Idea whose time has come and India’s time has come“. I truly believe under him, India’s true place in the world, a place which we held for a thousand years, a place right at the very top will be reached. I salute our PM.
[All comments and opinions are invited]
Online Trading, Demat Account and Brokerage Firms
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008Online Trading
Online trading is basically trading via internet using online trading websites. You can buy and sell shares, stocks, mutual funds, IPO’s and other financial instruments through these websites or s/w tools, similar to how you do trading via an offline account. Online Trading overcomes the amount of paperwork & hassles to undergo while trading offline.
Few of the financial firms which provide online trading are:
- ICICI direct
- Kotak
- Reliance Money
- ShareKhan
- Geojit
- 5 Paisa
- IndiaBulls
Demat Account
Demat stands for Dematerialized account. It is similar to a bank account. A bank account is used to save your money where you can deposit or credit your money. Similarly demat account is a place where you deposit your shares. Any share you buy is deposited in your demat account.
If you want to trade, you need to open a trading account with a financial firm who will open a demat account along with trading account. You can buy and sell stocks using the trading account. Your stocks intern will be saved in your demat account.
Brokerage Firms
Here we provide you some useful information about few trading firms.
- Geojit
- IndiaBulls
- 5 Paisa
- Reliance Money
- ShareKhan
- ICICI direct
- Kotak
Chandni Chowk To China – A Trailer
Monday, July 21st, 2008I had gone to Fun Cinemas today to see the Caped Crusaders new movie “ The Dark Knight” . It was an awesome watch, both for Heath Ledger’s terrifyingly amusing portrayal of the “Joker” and Christian Bale’s Batman antics and actions. Christopher Nolan, the director, is one of my favourites and did not disappoint me.
Anyways, in the interval they played Akshay Kumar’s “Chandni Chowk To China” trailer. (May be because Warner Brothers the Producers of the “Dark Knight” are entering Indian Movies for the first time via CCToC).
Anyways the Trailer had the usual Akshay’s slap stick comedy and pretty Deepika Padukone dancing around. Interestingly this film also stars Mithun Chakraborthy and Ranvir Shorey. So watch out this Diwali for a clash between “Chandni Chowk To China” and Shah Rukh’s ” Rab Ne Ba Na Di Jodi“.
The Trailer
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqxnUkSPqN8
Social Bookmarking
Monday, July 21st, 2008Social bookmarking has literally taken the internet world by storm. Social networking sites have mushroomed everywhere and social media has become the biggest thing of today. Social bookmarking represents a way to connect to users and be remembered by your customers in an exponential manner.
What is social bookmarking?
Let’s explain this with an example. You’re browsing the internet and suddenly come across this site that has exactly what you are looking for. You simply love everything about the site right from the layout, design to the content of the site. Now, you want to remember this site and store it so you can keep visiting the site from time to time. You may want to add it to your favorites (in your browser) or you could choose to social bookmark it! What that means is that you use social bookmarking sites like Stumbleupon, Reditt, Digg etc, to bookmark the link of a site that you really love! Then when you want to revisit the site you simply look up your bookmark and voila – you can go back to your favorite sites again and again!
It’s public!
Yes, when you bookmark a site that you really like your bookmark is freely viewable by the public. This is really great because other people with similar interests as yours will find your bookmarks interesting as well. So, they check your bookmarks and bookmark your sites as well. Then these people recommend these sites to their friends and so on. Thus, you can well imagine the kind of exponential effect this has on the internet. Very soon, almost everyone will be talking about the sites you bookmarked!
Sorting is so easy!
One of the great things about social book marking is that you can organize your bookmarked sites so easily! Let’s say you have bookmarked 50 different sites and now you want to lookup sites which deal with ‘auto spare parts’. You can do an easy sort with this keyword and only those bookmarked sites show up which contains these keywords. So, basically, with social bookmarking you not only get to remember links to your favorite websites but also get to organize them based on their category!
How does it help in promoting your business?
Imagine if your site was to get bookmarked by one user online. This user then uses his or her blog or site to recommend your site to other users and so on. It’s almost like a ripple effect where hundreds or even thousands of users online start to bookmark your site. Also, when users bookmark your site they will want to check back on your home page link. That means you get plenty of incoming traffic to your site! Plus, social bookmarking is given high preference by popular search engines like Google. It is because social bookmarking is all about the human touch. The ranking and bookmarking of sites is done by humans which lends any site tremendous credibility. So if your site was to get bookmarked on StumbleUpon or Digg then your page rankings automatically go higher up!
Considering all the benefits of social bookmarking you might want to do it yourself but that’s not a great idea! You need access to tools and manually submit your site to social bookmarking sites. No software can do that because it’s all about the human element. This is why you need a social bookmark submission expert to do it for you!
In my experience Digg, Stumbleupon, Del.icio.us, Propeller, Technorati, Reddit are the best social bookmarking sites.
I know of a few social bookmarking tools that make Social Bookmarkings much easier and efficient.
Socialmarker (best in my opinion)
Socialposter
Onlywire
Wordpress social bookmark plugin
Sociable is a wordpress social bookmarking plugin which allows you to list out all the popular social bookmark sites after each post on your blog. Thus your users can use some social bookmarking sites like Reddit, Digg etc, to bookmark your blog.
Hum Phirr Milein Na Milein Mp3 Songs
Monday, July 21st, 2008
Hum Phirr Milein Na Milein Hindi Movie Mp3 Songs
Movie Name: Hum Phirr Milein Na Milein
Release Date: 1 August 2008
Director: Manish Goel
Starring: Riya Sen, Khushboo and Sarvar Ahuja
Music: Sandesh Shandilya & Sameer
Producer: Rajesh Gupta
Hum Phirr Milein Na Milein MP3 Songs List
- Tere Dar Ke Siva – Udit Narayan & Sadna Sargam
- Hum Phirr Milein Na Milein – Nishant Mudal
- Sajan Mera – Sunidhi Chauhan
- Sooni Sooni Rahein – Neeraj
- Roz Yeh Mausam – Sonu Nigam & Sanjeevni
- Main Ro Na Padun – Sunidhi Chauhan & Neeraj
Download all Hum Phirr Milein Na Milein Mp3 Songs here
Movie Trailer
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8tprEmuFGM
Fiat 500 Launched in India
Monday, July 21st, 2008
The two-door lifestyle model from Fiat, the Fiat 500, was launched in India at a ceremony in Mumbai on 18th July 2008. It would be available in two variants in the Indian market. The Fiat 500 a 4-cylinder, in line engine that delivers 75bhp@4000rpm & the 1248cc Common Rail Multijet direct injection with supercharger and intercooler engine which is capable of producing a peak torque of 145Nm@1500rpm.
Fiat 500 is going to be sold here as a completely built unit (CBU) and would be made available in two versions; Lounge and Sport. Both the versions are priced at Rs 14,82,500 (ex-showroom, Delhi).
Click on > to scroll through the Fiat 500 Launch Pics
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Depression
Thursday, July 17th, 2008Depression is one of the most common health problems occurring today. The fast pace of lifestyles, the need to adapt to peer pressure and various psychological problems all lead to depression. Instead of close knit joint families today the nuclear family is becoming more common leading to isolation and loneliness amongst the elderly. This also causes depression especially in senior citizens i.e. depression in the elderly.
httpv://youtube.com/watch?v=CHynDpYv1Gw
Causes of depression
Peer pressure
One of the largest culprits of depression in school or college going children is peer pressure. The constant need to excel in school or college academics or be ‘cool’ and hip amongst fellow students can place tremendous pressure on the mind of a child or a young person. Often the tendency is to compare one’s personal attributes and traits with fellow students and this can lead to severe inferiority complex. Gradually, such feelings manifest into depression in children and in severe cases even suicidal tendencies.
Isolation and loneliness
Most often older people in the family are sent away to old age homes or other places because children cannot take care of their aging parents. The sudden separation from the family can lead to a feeling of extreme anguish and sadness. Besides this, the person begins to feel lonely, inferior and not worthy of other’s affections. In addition to these conditions the vagaries of old age also begin to take their toll. Brittle bones, joint pains and the declining ability of the body to sustain itself can also cause a rise in elderly depression.
Derogatory remarks
Each child has his or her own individual threshold of sensitivity. Very often in school teachers or parents may unknowingly make derogatory comments on their children. They may not realize it and may treat it as a harmless remark passed only in jest. However, for the child it could represent an indelible remark that will damage his or her way of thinking for an entire lifetime. It is vital that both parents and teachers understand how sensitive children are to such remarks and refrain from making such comments.
What is needed?
Help for depression: When a near and dear one is suffering from depression what is needed the most is love and care. These persons need to have the assurance that you are there for them. In addition, such persons must never be left alone and there must always be support and help at hand. Family support is crucial in such situations and often the help and unwavering faith in the person can overcome the biggest of hurdles.
Depression symptoms
Depression usually begins in small and fairly unnoticeable ways in a person. At first, the person could start by avoiding coming to work. In the case of a child he or she might not want to go to school. A general tendency is to become reclusive and not talk to others around. These are signs that something is wrong and the person needs help. You can do your bit to help such persons suffering from depression. Just keep a close watch on such symptoms and immediately report it to a doctor should you notice them.
