"The will is not free -
it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect - but there is something behind
the will which is free."
—Swami Vivekanand (Indian,
1863-1902))
Word for the day
Decathect (v)
To withdraw one's feelings
of attachment from (a person, idea, or object), as in anticipation of a future
loss, e.g., He decathected from her in order to cope with her impending death.
Malice towards none
Surprisingly, people are
expecting so much from union budget!!
First random thought this morning
The latest trend in the country seems to be alleging threat to
life from BJP and RSS.
If one were to take statements of Hardik Patel, Jignesh Mevani,
Praveen Togadia, et. al. at face value, the prime minister and the BJP
president may come out to be the most notorious mafia dons who are committed to
eliminate all voices of opposition.
The worst part is that media is leaving no stone unturned in
sensationalizing their wild and prima facie baseless allegations!
Better late than never
One of the major changes which have taken place in past decade or
so is wider acceptance of the role of the foreign capital, enterprise and
technology in India's growth endeavor.
Despite recognizing the acute shortage of capital, for many
decades post independence our political establishment had remained ambivalent
to the role foreign capital should play in India's economic development.
The Congress Party that governed the country for most part of the
post independence period allowed its confused foreign policy to override its
economic policy. Despite committing to non-alignment movement (NAM), it favored
communist Eastern Europe, over fast advancing, technologically &
financially rich western countries. It failed to recognize that Western Imperialism,
which it was opposing and dreading, had died with the Second War, and USSR
which it was favoring in the name socialism, was the only imperial empire left
in the world.
We mostly kept technology leaders like USA, Japan, Germany and
France out of our markets, in the name of pseudo socialism. The consequence was
over dependence on poor and materially less productive Eastern European
technology, capital constraints and least favorable treatment at most of the
multilateral global forum.
Though, the economy started opening up in early 1990s, the
ambivalence on the role of foreign capital, technology and enterprise persisted
as the so called socialist forces sought to displace the dominance of the
Congress Party. BJP that was emerging as an alternative force was also deeply
confused. Though the communist USSR had disintegrated, China emerged as the
fulcrum of global left politics. BJP favored the anti China USA and anti Islam
Israel for economic and strategic cooperation. But the core of BJP, i.e., RSS
remained averse to any kind of foreign role in Indian markets.
Moreover, in 1998 Atal Bihari Vajpayee led NDA government tested
nuclear weapon and attracted economic sanctions from the developed world,
seriously hampering the still evolving process of market liberalization that
started in early 1990s.
UPA-1 government led by Dr. Manmohan Singh was supported by a host
of socialist and communist parties and hence could do a little on this front.
It was UPA-2 government in 2009 which shed all the ambivalence and
took a definitive positive stance on the role of foreign capital, technology
and enterprise. Significant progress was made by this government in enhancing
India's economic relationships with countries like Japan, USA, Germany and
France.
The incumbent NDA government has very admirably taken forward the
initiative of UPA-2 and significantly deepened and broadened the scope of
engagement. The best part is socialists and RSS are not seen complaining much
either....to continue tomorrow
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