Arun
Shourie on Economics
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"When Dabholkar comes to Delhi
next, I must get the two of you together," Dr. J.P. Naik, would say.
When I was to go to Bombay for some work, he would urge, "Take two
days off, go to Kolhapur and meet Dabholkar." Years passed, Dr. J.P.
Naik passed away, I never got to meet his friend, Dr. Shripad
Dabholkar. And then I saw a little snippet in a video magazine of
the Plus Channel. It was about an agronomist in Bombay, Dr.
R.T. Doshi. The programme showed his roof farm -- on his roof in the
middle of Bombay, he was cultivating grapes, vegetables, fruit, even
six foot high sugarcane. I went to visit him the next time I got to
Bombay. The second time I was able to take Anita, my wife along. I
am just following the methods of Dr. Dabholkar, Dr. Doshi told us.
Therefore, when the Pudhari group of newspapers asked me to
deliver a memorial lecture in Kolhapur, I agreed at once to do so...
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These days when those guardians of
secularism, our newspapers, refer to the Secular Front, they put the
label -- "Secular" -- as well as the excuse -- "to combat communal
forces" -- within inverted commas ! Those who used to preface their
remarks about Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee with, "The right man in the
wrong party", suddenly emphasize only "The right man" part ! "Things
are all going right," says a person who has feasted off secular
governments for ten years, as I run into him -- I don't immediately
get what he thinks is going right, so out of touch have I been with
him. "I mean, we are not going to get just a stable government, we
are going to get a BJP government," he says enthusiastically...
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We are so dazzled by reports of
the strides China has made in enlarging its economy that we do not
notice that one of the principal uses to which it is putting its new
wealth is to multiply its military strength. Pick up any book or
analysis about security developments in the Pacific region or in
Asia, and the facts it sets out about China are bound to startle...
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"You have said that this is a
historic visit, that this is a defining moment in the history of
South Asia, but what is the substance in these declarations?," asked
the correspondent at the joint press conference of the Indian and
Pakistani Prime Ministers in Lahore -- the usual European or
American correspondent, with the usual condescension and derision...
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Throughout last week one thing
seemed completely uncertain: whether the Government at the Centre
would survive. Throughout last week one thing seemed just as
certain: that in Bihar, Laloo Yadav's Government would return. I
think it inadvisable to peg the dismissal of a Government on a
single massacre: when things have reached the condition they have in
Bihar, in many other parts of the country, a few score can be killed
at any time, anywhere. The test ought to be the general condition...
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Even so deplorable and
uncalled-for a crisis has yielded some good. At long last, the
real Sonia Gandhi has stepped forth: and shown that she is just
another politician, that the image which had been so assiduously
projected -- the shy, reticent lady, concerned only with the
security of her children, a lady who hates politics, who shuns power
-- was just nail-polish. Her ambition, her readiness to use all
means for acquiring office, her willingness to twist and turn -- "A
minority government of the Congress, take it or leave it" one day,
the magnanimous openness to a coalition the next, and the Papal,
"No, we are not ready to pardon," the third -- were all put on
display... more |
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The day I entered Indiraji's
household I became an Indian, the rest is just technical -- that is
Sonia Gandhi's latest explanation for not having acquired Indian
citizenship till fourteen years after her marriage to Rajiv Gandhi.
Sonia married Rajiv on 25 February, 1968. Under section 5(c) of the
Indian Citizenship Act she became eligible to register herself as a
citizen of India on 25 February, 1973. She chose to continue as a
citizen of Italy. She applied for Indian citizenship only ten years
later, on 7 April, 1983... more |
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That an area as large as Bihar
should sink into quicksand is alarming enough by itself. But one of
our problems is that collapse in Bihar no longer shakes us: "O, that
is Bihar," we shrug... more |
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You couldn't have asked me to
deliver this lecture because of my experience in Disinvestment! And
I have no access to classified information on security affairs.
Therefore, for myself alone, and based solely on my own study-much
of it of the writings of experts like you! And I do hope that what I
say will not now trigger some more ''Diary Items''-that it is
because the Defence Minister is speaking on Disinvestment that the
Disinvestment Minister has chosen to speak on Defence... more |
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Every country works solely for its
own interests. There's little use in invoking justice, morality or
law: indeed, doing so can be counter-productive-by sticking to
ideals, so to say, we cleared the way for China in Myanmar. If I
could I would burn into the consciousness of every policy-maker in
India the conversations between Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon, Chou
En-lai, Huang Hua. Every country works solely for its own interests
as perceived by it at that time: this may not accord with our
interests, or with our perception of what is in the interest of even
that country itself. for eg: US aid to Pakistan in the wake of
9/11... more |
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The US campaign of bombing
erstwhile Taliban positions in Afghanistan had not been on for 10
days, and our experts began pronouncing it a failure: "Osama bin
Laden is still at large, the Taliban have just dispersed into the
hills, the Northern Alliance is stuck where it was, Bush's Grand
Alliance is coming apart... The winter is about to set in," they
said. "The Afghan is a hardy fighter, they said. He will just tie an
onion and a roti (bread), fling his blanket over his shoulder, and
disappear into the nearest mountain; and these American GIs - they
cannot fight without their Coca Colas, their hot meals... Just look
at them on TV - they are loaded with so much equipment, they have
difficulty just walking. These jokers are going to fight the
Taliban? Secure on the mountaintop, the Taliban Jehadi will pick
them one by one as they try to clamber up the mountain. Remember
Kargil? These slopes in the Afghan mountains are even steeper than
the ones our soldiers had to scale."... more | |
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