Comments - Latest Popular Stories, Instablogs Community by Ankit

Bilal

Bilal — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Developing Software doesn�t make anyone a Superpower. The consumers are still the west. So when India starts outsourcing jobs overseas, then we will talk again.

For the time being you can continue coding for the Goras.

Shokat

Shokat — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

ok, few Indian are rich. Sunil Mittal, Ambanis, Birlas, Premji, Laxmi Mittal and so on, but does it make any difference. India is one of the poorest nations in the world. So billions of Indian identifying themselves with their few dozens of rich businessman is nothing but foolish.

Poor friends and relatives keenly talk about their rich friends or relatives just to prove their association with them. So if you like to live in a fantasy lands nothing wrong with it, but don�t shout in front of others. You will be ridiculed.

Matt

Matt — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

India is desperately a poor country. More than 40% of the total population lives on US$2 a day.

India is a minor player in world trade, contributing less than one percent of world exports, leave alone superpower status. One can argue hordes of Indian software engineers, call-center operators, and back-room programmers are replacing jobs in white countries. But the truth is the total number of IT-related jobs in India comes to less than a million workers, for a country which has over billion people.

To start a business requires in India 71 days and enforcing debt contracts requires 425 days in India, thanks to red carpet bureaucracy in India.

Saher

Saher — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Per Capita income in India is still amongst the lowest in the world. Perhaps if economists can redefine GDP to mean Gross Domestic Potential instead of Product, than Indians call themselves to be superpower. Until then happy chest beating.

Iqbal

Iqbal — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

India can never be a superpower. Though I agree it can attain other status as well, for eg. The current ranking for India in terms of corrupt nations is 7. It can raise to be #1 by 2010 for sure.

A country where genocides take place under the supervision of local police and politicians talks about superpower. Hypocrites.

How can people of India forget organized mass murder had taken place under the leadership of terrorist government of Mr. Narendra Modi

Matt

Matt — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

India has to go very far to become a superpower. Prosperity does not survives where corruption thrives. India has more people with HIV than any other country.

� . . . the future will not belong to India unless it takes action to embrace it, and that means more than high-profile vanity projects like putting a man on the moon or building the world�s tallest tower. It means showing that the world�s largest democracy can deliver real progress to the hundreds of millions who have never used the phone, much less the Internet. And in important ways, that just isn�t happening.�

Duncan

Duncan — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

India a superpower!!! I don�t think India can even call itself a developing country yet. India is a poor and backward country with evils like caste and religion gripping it tight. Creating jobs for handful of population doesn�t diminish the fact that the most of the population is crippled with illiteracy, malnutrition, and poverty. Solve common man problem first before dreaming big.

Bhagaban Sahu

Bhagaban Sahu — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

India is not a poor country, rather it is a rich country of the poor people. It is a rich country in terms of its vast natural resources. I don’t need to explain India’s vibrant socio-political culture. World knows it better. In fact, other countries draw inspiration from that.

I don�t dispute that a large portion of our natural resources are still lying unutilized or under utilized. These resources are potential for the economic growth and development in the long term.

For the proper utilization of natural resources, we just need yet another well-planned economic policy. It is possible. For instance the new economic policy of 1991.

When the then finance minister, Manmohan Singh announced the ambitious policy and its objectives, no one has ever thought what it could do for the economy. It has dramatically opened the face of Indian economy. I don�t need to further write.

Swati S

Swati S — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

i agree...India isn’t a poor country at all...it is indeed a developing nation and developing at a pretty good rate. Rather it is the only nation which has the whole hundred percent of graduates as english speaking( not even U.S. has that #this was just one example), we are indeed going global and it is one of the hard facts which no one can ignore.

Sameer Kumar

Sameer Kumar — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Lets take a look at guys on the other side who did post their thoughts on the other side. Bilal, Iqbal & Shokat & Iqbal are all Pakistanis. So it should surprise none as the poor chaps have to deal with both emergency & India whipping them in cricket. Saher is a Bangladeshi so i can see where that comes from. Duncan seems to have missed the question as he talk of if it is a superpower now. The question is if it ”can” become one. The Australian Matt & Duncan from Boston speak as if they have stayed here all their life to actually understand the problems & the potential of this nation.

you seem to feeding off some stats that some ”Authenticated Sources” have dished up to you. While i will not argue with facts, i will argue with your judgment. I believe if US is a super-power after more than 250 years of Independence, then India is doing a damn fine job getting to where it is now. If US is a Super-Power & that is what is a super power supposed to be, ”poking their noses where they don’t belong & being hated by half the world”, then i would much rather see India as just what it is today.

so as far as the Pak & Bang friends go, hope your nations improve too like India has & hope you have a major role to play in the sub-continent too, but don’t whine at others success. As far as the rest of the world goes I just quote RDB ”koi bhi desh perfect nahi hota hain... use perfect banana chahiye...” & we have done hell of a great job till now in that direction.

Pratyush

Pratyush — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Despite increased wealth and a burgeoning urban middle class, the vast majority of India’s rural population remains illiterate and impoverished. India currently has the potential to regain its place in history as an influential international economic power, but the question must be asked, �How and at what cost?” Just because multinational corporations are flocking to India mainly because of cheap labour does not mean the country will become a superpower. The India media has become the mouthpiece of political parties, particularly of parties in government and showing common people the story of one side of the coin.

Have a look on points below:

# World Bank says nearly 1.5 billion earn less than US$2 a day in India and China.

# Do Indian software engineers, call-center operators, and back-room programmers reflect the development of India? The total number of workers in all possible forms of IT-related jobs in India comes to less than a million workers that is .25% of the Indian labor force.

# India is still the largest single-country contributor to the pool of illiterate people in the world.

# World Bank says that people need 71 days to start a business requires in India while 6 days in Singapore. Enforcing debt contracts requires 425 days in India while 69 days in Singapore.

# Reform has been halting and hesitant process because of bureaucratic and political hurdles.

# There is no rural safety net exists for the poor in India. Severe educational inequality is resulting in gap between qualities of labor giving tough time to market reforms.

# The U.N. Development Fund says at least 53% of India’s population live on less than a dollar a day.

# The poorest Indians are concentrated among landless agricultural laborers, those with unviably small land holdings, the rural and urban unskilled, the disabled, and the chronically sick in destitute families. Despite the greater numbers of poor peasants, urban poverty is causing more concern.

# Forget the range to expand to the whole of Africa and Central/South America and to other parts of the world, India has no strong voice even to dominate the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia region.

# Indian private sector is less capable of scientific innovations. Indian business communities are traders fro thousands of years with an outlook to make quick money and little appreciation for intellectual capability.

# India is fast becoming an ecological disaster combined with new found love for consumerism making the country garbage.

# Does India have a disaster management team in place that will be well co-ordinated and effective in managing any kind of disaster in any remote village or city

# Do we have clean running water, stable electricity supply and good transport system including quality roads and highways. India lacks all all three. Above all corruption should be uprooted from every government department.

# 80% people have no access to clean toilets in the country.

# 47 percent of Indian children under the age of five are either malnourished or stunted.

# The adult literacy rate is 61 percent (behind Rwanda and barely ahead of Sudan). Even this is probably overstated, as people are deemed literate who can do little more than sign their name.

# Only 10 percent of the entire Indian labor force works in the formal economy; of these fewer than half are in the private sector.

# The enrollment of six-to-15-year-olds in school has actually declined in the last year. About 40 million children who are supposed to be in school are not.

# About a fifth of the population is chronically hungry; about half of the world’s hungry live in India.

# More than a quarter of the India population lives on less than a dollar a day.

# India has more people with HIV than any other country

And We Are Dreaming to Become a Superpower?

Dharmendra

Dharmendra — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

It�s the IT/ITES industry, which is growing India’s most of growth at a much higher rate, and countries like USA and Europe are the nations that are giving us business. The IT/ITES industry, with its IT and ITES services such as the BPO (call centers and transaction processing off shoring), KPO (High value research & analytical services) and LPO (Legal Processes Outsourcing), is making unparalleled growth in the Indian market.

The Indian IT/ITES industry is presently at almost US$ 38 billion and is hoped to get to at US$ 80 billion till the end of 2010 increasing at more than 25 per cent annually. It is currently employed with more than 400,000 manpower, and is also expected to arrive at almost 27 per cent annually.

To be brief and sound, the growth in the IT/ITES industry, which is just because of the developed nations like US and Europe, is not just growing itself, but also every other sector in India and that is why growing most of India�s growth at a much higher rate.

So, India is growing, and is likely to be a superpower by 2020.

Jayanta Bhattacharya

Jayanta Bhattacharya — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Yes, India can become a superpower. However, we have to understand what a superpower is. A country that is economically, militarily and politically dominant and can use the muscle of the either of the three to coerce another nation towards its favour, a country that is scientifically advanced whose population are literate and positive contributors for world causes.

As of now, we are far behind countries who can take decisive military action against even much weaker states like Bangladesh. We must not forget how the BDR abducted BSF jawans and tortured them to death. We could do nothing better than lodge a protest. Then, the Kandahar hijack episode is still fresh in our memories.

Politically, we are not even counted. The NAM movement is all but dead. We don’t even have a permanent UN Security Council seat as despite being the worlds 4th largest economy, the 4th largest military and above all, the worlds largest democracy with a population of over 1 billion.

Our political fathers and the subsequent leaders that we elected ourselves are the ones who has made us look like a soft state with meek voice, made corruption an acceptable social practice, and made India dance to the tune of bigger powers.

The scenario is changing now, we can see some difference. However, unless the difference doesn’t take place in the lowest strata of the society, the grassroot levels, nothing is going to happen.

If all efforts are made to achieve this, where poverty alleviation, literacy, women welfare and health care, fair governance etc., is the main focus of the government, then India would automatically become a superpower. But, to become a superpower, if we go for the spectacular like atomic weapons, heavy defense spending, opening SEZs without addressing the problems of farmers, the population that lives below the poverty line, without spending on education and health care, etc., becoming a superpower would remain a pipe dream for India forever.

Jayanta Bhattacharya

Jayanta Bhattacharya — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

@ bilal_pk:

It is not just about making software for the ’goras’ as you put it. Indian companies are buying out major ones from the West. Indian economy is not just growing, it is booming. I hope you are in sync with the times and keeping tabs on world economy.

@ shokat756:

India has one of the highest par capita of billionaires in the world. There are more billionaires in India than in China. India is not about just a few billionaires, it’s about many, many more. It is a fact.

I, however, agree that we have a very large population of illiterates and poor people. The social and economic gap is widening.

@ iqbal-hussain:

If, what you termed as ’genocides’ is the reason why we couldn’t be a superpower, I would say, that America’s history has been the bloodiest right from the days explorers started colonies there from the old world. Millions died, there was this great Civil War, and then America carried out lynchings even in the 20th Century. Civil Rights had been a major issue there until recently. Did that stop the US from becoming the ’Hyper-power ’ that it is today?

Talking about Gujarat, it is on the top of the most developed states in India where Chief Minister Narendra Modi won successive prizes for best governance. ’Communal Gujarat’ is far ahead of ’secular’ West Bengal. Narendra Modi is a democratically elected leader from a legal political party and not a military dictator who attained power through a coup. So, get that part of history correct first.

Communal riots in India has its roots in Pakistan. The worst we had seen was during the partition when the power-greedy Jinnah

divided this great nation along communal lines. Bangladesh was created because Pak forces started a genocide forcing over 20 million refugees from East Pakistan to India.

The Gujarat riots started because of the Godhra incident that was carried out by Paki agents against unarmed Hindu pilgrims.

@ m_griffiths:

India doesn’t have the highest HIV cases in the world. Who told you so? Source please.

@ Duncan:

India a superpower!!!

We are not. The question is - CAN India become a superpower?

India is not even a developing nation.

Did you have an education?

Shruti

Shruti — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

All the reasons I have heard so far are woven around statistics of poverty, illiteracy and unemployment. I am not saying we shouldn�t take care of these problems, but the tone of reasons hers is plainly offensive. If we listen to all these people, than we should stop all our progresses first and put all our energy in solving these crises first.

@Duncan from USA

I like to ask Duncan did USA wait to abolish slavery before they made any technological advancement or did America get rid of apartheid before launching their space program? Are you sure there are no homeless in your country today.

I would surely like progress to be made in a spherical fashion so that all problems are targeted. But we need to strengthen our economy as well. There is nothing bad in feeling good about ourselves. This will boost confidence in every man in India and will help us in achieving a spherical progress.

Saher

Saher — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Oh, I don�t think one should get emotional when participating in a debate.

@Shruti_g and @Jonty from INDIA

Most of the progress and changes you guys talk about is from in flow of Foreign investments and capital in India. Don`t you think it�s shameful that India needs the initiative and vision of foreigners to make use of its potential. Most of the Indians have flourished when they moved out of India, and still today remaining Indians who are talking about prosperity are either working for foreign companies changing their name from Parthiv to Potter, Hari to Harry.

I just don�t understand when painting a picture about India, you are neglecting 90% of the population who lives in misery, and says you are talking about entire India. What a joke!!

Akhilesh

Akhilesh — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Bharat Mata ki Jai.

Q. Who is the co-founder of Sun Microsystems?

A. Vinod Khosla

Q. Who is the creator of Pentium chip (needs no introduction as 90% of the

today’s computers run on it)?

A. Vinod Dahm

Q. Who is the third richest man on the world?

A. According to the latest report on Fortune Magazine, it is Aziz Premji,

who is the CEO of Wipro Industries. The Sultan of Brunei is at 6th

position now.

Q. Who is the founder and creator of Hotmail (Hotmail is world’s No.1 web

based email program)?

A. Sabeer Bhatia

Q. Who is the president of AT & T-Bell Labs (AT & T-Bell Labs is the creator

of program languages such as C, C++, Unix to name a few)?

A. Arun Netravalli

Q. Who is the GM of Hewlett Packard?

A. Rajiv Gupta

Q. Who is the new MTD (Microsoft Testing Director) of Windows 2000,

responsible to iron out all initial problems?

A. Sanjay Tejwrika

Q. Who are the Chief Executives of CitiBank, Mckensey & Stanchart?

A. Victor Menezes, Rajat Gupta, and Rana Talwar.

We Indians are the wealthiest among all ethnic groups in America, even

faring better than the whites and the natives.

There are 3.22 millions of Indians in USA (1.5% of population).

Albert Einstein said:

We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.

Mark Twain said:

India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.

French scholar Romain Rolland said:

If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India.

Hu Shih, former Ambassador of China to USA said:

India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border.

Bharat Mata ki Jai.

Ravinder Makhaik

Ravinder Makhaik — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

bilal_pk, shokat756, m_griffiths, shaer1, iqbal-hussain, Duncan et al;

There is no denying that India is an underdeveloped country, and far from making a claim that it will become a superpower in the near future, However the tell tale signs are beginning to emerge and your reactions in itself reveal part of the story that is unfolding on the world stage.

Rome was not built in a day and so will India not emerge to take its place among the community of nations without having gone through the pains of nation building.

The country continues to battle corruption, poverty, disease, population control and other inequalities. Size of the country is larger than the European continent and regional distortions of growth do exert pressure on social lives and its polity.

Despite the bulk and the inherent problems of managing such large scales, the country has survived a democratic model of governance for 60 years, where as many other nations have withered.

Europe and America have followed democratic norms for over two centuries now, their growth cycles have peaked and are on the decline. Europe�s dominance ended after World War II and America�s power today is being challenged in every sphere.

India�s and China�s graph has bottomed out and is on the rise.

Difference between the two models of growth remains that China uses state power to achieve its development objectives and that why is able to gain faster, where as India allows dissent.

Democracy has its drawbacks, which even Geroge Bush faces in trying to enforce his Middle East policy. The senate and congress don�t permit him unbridled power.

Conceding the points bilal_pk, shokat756, m_griffiths, shaer1, iqbal-hussain, Duncan et al have made in their comments there is no denying that the development cycle is making a marked shift into Asia and India too is there to claim its place.

Much is made out of the less than $2 dollar wages on which a substantial portion of humanity in India survives, but India has just shifted its development gear only 15 years ago. All evils has not been eradicated but the results are definitely encouraging.

Today the huge population that the country hosts is considered a human resource and not a population problem. The growth cycle of India and China is already beginning to effect lifestyles elsewhere.

The larger economies are feeling the heat from the $ 100 barrel of crude oil. This has mainly come about because demand in Asia has picked up and the developed economies that lived on cheap oil will have to shell out more to afford those expensive lifestyles.

India�s development story is being keenly watched. The opportunities are there and staggering along with the problems that it faces, India will get there.

It may not emerge a military superpower but signs of it becoming an economic superpower are there for anybody with a penetrating vision to foresee.

Iqbal

Iqbal — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

@attitude

Look at on the left side, all the People who thinks India can be a superpower are from India only.

This shows hypocrisy of Indians. Calling themselves superpower and neglecting millions of their countrymen who live a miserable life.

Jayanta Bhattacharya

Jayanta Bhattacharya — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

@ saher1:

No, there is nothing emotional here. First, let us talk about facts.

a) Foreign investment is a good thing. The investors are not fools or emotional people who are investing here as they love Indians very much. They are investing because there are huge profits to be made, and in the process booming the economy as well. It is not just foreigners are investing in India, Indian companies are also aggressively investing on overseas ventures like in Russian, Nigerian, Sri Lankan oilfields, making large buyouts of big companies (like Tata buying Corus making it the 5th largest steel producing company where Mittal’s company is the world’s largest) etc.

b) 90% of India is not living in misery. By the way I am not sure what you actually meant by the word misery. If poverty is what you meant, then 90% is a figure that can only be attributed to some fantastic thinking, arising most probably out of regional jealousy.

India is supporting all the countries that it shares borders with, and little beyond. Bangladeshi illegal economic immigrants by the millions remind us of the Mexican illegal immigrants in the US. The Bangladeshi, Nepali, Bhutanese, Sri Lankan, and to a very large extent the Pakistani economies heavily depend on India. In fact, India is the source of sustenance for these countries.

If, Indian companies like ITC don’t outsource manufacturing of garments to Bangladesh, 100s of 1000s of Bangladeshis would starve. India needs to lower its tea prices by just a dollar and a major component of Sri Lankan economy would go bust. Same is with cotton for Pakistan. India allows Nepalese and Bhutanese to travel and work freely in this country without the need for passport or visa or work permit.

That’s India to its region economically.

Now let’s talk about social development. Despite being a nation of over one billion, India has higher literacy percentage than that of its neighbouring countries. We have started village-level healthcare, literacy, employment programmes. I however have to say that we have some distance to travel in order to achieve desired results. Being a federal country, a lot of these issues have to be tackled by individual states. Kerala, Mizoram, Goa etc have achieved 100% literacy years ago. That has solved major problems with unemployment, healthcare, child welfare, infrastructure etc. in those states.

Militarily, no country in the world can go into a full-fledged war with India and that includes the US. Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives are kind of Indian protectorates. India has the world’s 3rd largest armed forces, and a rapidly modernizing one too.

Technologically, only a few world countries can match up to Indias. We entered into the space age almost 3 decades back. We launch satellites of other countries from our rockets. India has a very large number of fundamental research institutions.

We have all the makings of a superpower. the only thing that is coming in between is a strong government that is above corruption and petty politics on all levels - from the Centre to the individual states.

Scott

Scott — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

India�s wannabe Superpower status is nothing but a myth. There are lots of Indian now in the ’Top Millionaires of the world’ list yet India is so backward in the Human Development Index.

The laborious work that is cost effective to be outsourced is being sent to India. Indian are not inventors or innovators but are simply the practitioners.

The drama which the Indian bureaucrats made in the run-up to the selection of Chief of UN was as ridiculous as an episode of desperate housewives.

Jayanta Bhattacharya

Jayanta Bhattacharya — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

@ saher1:

We have migrated across the world, but wherever we went, we excelled in every field - arts, science, commerce. Indians in the West are above economically than natives. The worst in US are the Hispanics who do all lowly jobs and indulge in crimes. Similarly, Bangladeshi enter illegally in India in hordes. They are the ones who pull rickshaws, indulge in petty crimes like burglary etc., and also in the narco-trade.

Scott

Scott — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

And above all Indian Business Community is a joke, leave apart bureaucrats and politicians. We still joke about Ambani jokers of the Reliance circus, who fight and cry in public and call their mother for decision.

All Indian businessman are rich because they took advantage of Government policies of domestic protection. You call these the building blocks of superpower?

Ravinder Makhaik

Ravinder Makhaik — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Karl Marx for all the right or wrong theories he advocated, however conceded that �India and China are sleeping giants.�

Were Marx alive today, he would have warned �The giants are waking up.�

Ravinder Makhaik

Ravinder Makhaik — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Its not about blowing your own trumpet but surviving among failed states like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Burma is itself an achievement for India.

Duncan

Duncan — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

A country which dumps billions of gallons of raw sewage every day in its rivers from which then they drink water and eat fish, can hardly be considered a superpower.

A country where corruption, bribes, poverty, caste system, illiteracy and bureaucracy run a muck can only dream to become a superpower.

Ravinder Makhaik

Ravinder Makhaik — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

@ iqbal-hussain

Neighbors envy, owners pride

Jayanta Bhattacharya

Jayanta Bhattacharya — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Let’s face it

When we compare India with other countries/group of countries:

1. Technology: US, Japan, EU

2. Space: US, Russia, EU, China

3. Economy: US, China, Japan. India is one of the driving forces of the world economy now. Much depends on India’s economic fortunes for highly developed nations like the US and EU countries.

4. Military: US, China, Russia

5. Human Resources: China, US. India has the highest number of skilled workers in the world

6. Freedom and democracy: US, EU

7. Media: US, EU

8. Human Rights/Death penalty: Excellent/Extremely rare

9. Social: Highest number of graduates in the world but one of the lowest in Human Development Index.

10. Corruption: India ranks below Bangladesh which is above Pakistan in the list of most corrupt countries. India is ranked equal to Brazil.

11. Medical advancement: India is the destination of choice for even patients of developed nations for treatment

12. Women healthcare: Abysmal, but better than regional countries

13. Discrimination on basis or race, caste creed: Comparable to US, EU and Australia

14. Communication/IT: At par with developed countries like US, EU

15. Foreign policy: India is one of the major aid donors to the African Union countries, major UN Peace Forces contributor - from Bosnia to Congo.

Need I say more?

Saher

Saher — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

India as a superpower is just a wet dream, be realistic with a population of 1.2B and over 1B poor it is day dreaming and there is no law against day dreaming.

...........

The problem with India’s self-proclaimed (and wildly premature) declaration of superpower status is that it reflects a complacency about both its present - which for many people is dire - and its future. Eight percent growth for four years is wonderful, but as the saying goes, past performance is no guarantee of future results. And India is not doing what it needs to in order to sustain this momentum.

Consider the postwar history of East and Southeast Asia. The comparison is appropriate because India started at about the same point, and has watched just about every country in the region get ahead of it on the economic curve. All these places developed by being relatively open to trade; by investing in primary and secondary education; and by building pretty decent infrastructure (not only roads and ports, but health clinics and water supplies). India has begun to embrace one leg of this triangle - freer trade.

Even here, though, many of the worst features of the swadeshi (”self-reliance”) era remain intact, including an unreformed state banking sector; labor regulations that actively discourage hiring; abstruse land laws (and consequent lack of land titles); misshapen subsidies that hurt the poor; and corruption that is broad, deep and ubiquitous. Nothing useful is being done about any of this.

As for the other two legs of this development triangle - education and infrastructure - these are still badly broken. About a third of teachers fail to show up on any given day (and, of course, are unsackable); the supply of both water and power is expensive and unreliable.

...........

Bhagaban Sahu

Bhagaban Sahu — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

@Akhilesh

Thanks a lot for the interesting facts in your comment. Indeed, India is a land of creative people. And there is no substitution to creative brains.

Sameer Kumar

Sameer Kumar — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

@ Iqbal...

The fact that so many on this side are Indians does not show hypocrisy, it shows faith, self-belief & yes some patriotism. None of that seems wrong to me. The fact that India is even in a position where its place as a potential superpower of world is being hotly debated is a show of the fact that we can at least dare to dream that far. But then i’m sure it is hard to understand this concept for friends across the border in Pakistan as leave alone dreams, they can’t even sleep with the state of affairs there & know little about the pride of breaking all barriers & uniting as a a nation since your very birth as a country & subsequent existence have been based on nothing but religious fundamentalism & brute force of military rule. So i don’t blame you.

@ Saher

If we are so bad as we say you are then stop crawling across the border for help. 90% of India ain’t poor, w/e your definition of poor might be; but I’m sure refugees across the border don’t help. Next time huge floods hit Bangladesh, look at the column which says ”aids from INDIA”; but you never find a it the other way around, do you? Unlike my friends i don’t claim that this is not emotional. I’m a human being & if you cannot attach any emotion with your tri-colored flag as an Indian, you might as well not exist as one.

i still hold by my theory of RDB... as cinematic as it might sound...

@ Pratyush

Your facts might be right, but you forgot to give the comparison with say some 10years back. we are not claiming to be superpowers, but all we are saying is that we’ll get there. Baring one or two criterin on your list, I’m sure India progessed forward in all dept.s.

Jayanta Bhattacharya

Jayanta Bhattacharya — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

@ saher1:

India as a superpower is just a wet dream, be realistic with a population of 1.2B and over 1B poor it is day dreaming and there is no law against day dreaming.

It is factually incorrect.

Even here, though, many of the worst features of the swadeshi (�self-reliance�) era remain intact, including an unreformed state banking sector; labor regulations that actively discourage hiring; abstruse land laws (and consequent lack of land titles); misshapen subsidies that hurt the poor; and corruption that is broad, deep and ubiquitous.

a) The banking sector reforms started in 1991 if that escaped your notice. In fact, the Indian banking sector is one of the glittering success stories of the liberalization policies.

b) Labour regulations: Tell me a country (a welfare state to be precise) where you don’t have labour regulations. India is much better off than countries like France in this matter. Besides, as I pointed out before, much of this depend on the state governments and not the Union Government at the Center. As I mentioned before, labour laws and unions exist in Gujarat as well as West Bengal. But how individual state governments handle is what it shows in terms of industrial and economic development.

c) Abstruse land laws and lack of land titles: It is also a state subject. All Indian states are not equal. The land reforms in the West Bengal was a major success. But where has it landed the state in? Giving land titles to the landless is one thing, properly applying thought on the utilization of land is completely another. How come Punjab farmers are millionaires where as the Andhra farmers starving? The federal system of governance has its shortcomings, and especially in a democratic country like India, sometimes dissent can be from the majority too. Government decisions have political ramifications. However, in this weakness lies the strength of India. So whatever progress India is making is through consensus, therefore, not hollow as it might be in the case of China where the central leadership dictates terms.

d) Corruption: India is a very corrupt country. We see corruption at all levels of the society, from the top echelons of the government to the 4th grade peons in govt. offices. It is corruption that is holding back even higher rate of growth and development of India. This is the major issue that has to be tackled first to head towards the superpower position.

Subhasis Chattopadhyay

Subhasis Chattopadhyay — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

India cannot be a superpower ever. Why?

a) Other sub-continent folks are jealous of us. Read my blog to know how the Arabs have bought a neighboring country. We in the sub-continent do not like each other. We worship whites.

b) The US and the Aussies are degenerate races. Those British who failed in their own island or were declared criminals had to settle in those lands. The point is : the whites robbed the aboriginals and the Red Indians. These robbers ultimately robbed us — the Jewel in the proverbial Crown. So after robbing us they are howling...LOL

And like all craven people with native cunning they will point out why the hell did we allow others to plunder us? Because we trusted other races.

Now most would not understand what trust is. For chances are, some of us do not even trust ourselves.

So do we not trust ourselves to become the next superpower? Of course, we do. But unlike other races we do not send terrorists into other nations or have agendas of doing dirty politics.

In short we cannot ethically lower ourselves to many of ur standards. We believe in making the world a superpower minus the power, if u understand what i am saying. India will become a superpower not by brute force but only when the world becomes more sensitive.

And fat chance of that happening soon enough.

Neha

Neha — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

A look at the past (coz in the past we have our foundation):

1. India never invaded any country in her last 1000 years of history.

2. India invented the Number system. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.

3. The world’s first University was established in Takshila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

4. According to the Forbes magazine, Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software.

5. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans.

6. Although western media portray modern images of India as poverty striken and underdeveloped through political corruption, India was once the richest empire on earth.

7. The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 5000 years ago. The very word ”Navigation” is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH.

8. The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is now k! nown as the Pythagorean Theorem. British scholars have last year (1999) officially published that Budhayan’s works dates to the 6 th Century which is long before the European mathematicians.

9. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India . Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11 th Century; the largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 10 6 whereas Indians used numbers as big as 10 53.

10. According to the Gemmological Institute of America, up until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds to the world.

11. USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion amongst academics that the pioneer of wireless communication was Pr! ofessor Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi.

12. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.

13. Chess was invented in India .

14. Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted surgeries like cesareans, cataract, fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient India .

15. When many cultures in the world were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley ( Indus Valley Civilisation).

16. The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.

@the present-

Q. We Indians are the wealthiest among all ethnic groups in America , even faring better than the whites and the natives.

There are 3.22 millions of Indians in USA (1.5% of population). YET,

38% of doctors in USA are Indians.

12% scientists in USA are Indians.

36% of NASA scientists are Indians.

34% of Microsoft employees are Indians.

28% of IBM employees are Indians.

17% of INTEL scientists are Indians.

13% of XEROX employees are! Indians.

Rest of the hard hiting facts have been mentioned by Akhilesh!

I wud like to mention parts of the speech of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the fourth Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on �India: Next Global Superpower?�. A few notable points he made were

# India would like to become a superpower in the knowledge industry.

# The empires of the future would be the empires of the mind and appealed to the leaders of the knowledge industry to work towards the goal.

#India�s goal should be to ensure a prosperous, secure and dignified future for its people and participate in a just world order.

#India should aim at rule-based rather than power-based relationships.

#Though much of the recent growth was being witnessed in the services and information and technology sectors, special emphasis would now be laid on manufacturing, particularly labour intensive manufacturing.

# India was committed to a better future for its people not because it wanted the superpower tag but because �we want to live in peace and dignity�

Need I say more?

Pratyush

Pratyush — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Great battle is going on here, my dear countrymen are working hard to prove India is a superpower rather it can become a superpower in future. First of all we should know what does �Superpower� mean? Jonty has given a wonderful definition of the word by saying.. A country that is economically, militarily and politically dominant and can use the muscle of the either of the three to coerce another nation towards its favour, a country that is scientifically advanced whose population are literate and positive contributors for world causes.

I must say Jonty missed the word �socially� in the series of �economically, militarily and politically�. The social development is another important factor in the battle to prove India as future superpower.

Another thing I must say here, why we India are wasting our time by comparing India with countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Afghanistan. All these countries are democratically failed states and India is the largest and successful democracy. People of these countries have no rights to point out anything against Indian development. This is clear that they are jealous.

I just want to say that India has great potential to become a superpower but we have long way to go. You cannot ignore the problems I have written in my previous comment. Without solving majority of the problems we cannot claim that we can become a superpower. This is not the time to be emotional while verbally fighting with our neighbours but we should show our fighting spirits to survive and survive with great dignity and respect in the world that is currently being dominated by western countries.

Indian CEOs, Heads, Founders of multinational companies cannot push upward India in the list of superpowers. Millions of people living in thousands of villages and millions other people living in urban and semi urban cities can make India a superpower in future. The major question is that are the millions of those people taking their bites from the cake of so-called economic development India is currently experiencing. Answer is BIG NO. This is why I am placing myself in right hand side in the discussion.

And last, we should compare ourselves with countries such as US, Canada, UK, Japan, China, Austrailia, France, Germany. Don�t waste time to answering the people belongs to democratically failed states.

Pratyush

Pratyush — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

@ Naina.. your facts may be right..

38% of doctors in USA are Indians.

12% scientists in USA are Indians.

36% of NASA scientists are Indians.

34% of Microsoft employees are Indians.

28% of IBM employees are Indians.

17% of INTEL scientists are Indians.

13% of XEROX employees are! Indians.

Are they living in India and working for the welfare of the Indian people? what kind of contributions they are doing to their mother land except sending dollars to their family members and helping them to become green card holder in US.

Eight questions and the answers given by Akhilesh can not prove that India has become a superpower. Most of the successful Indians are based in foreign countries and hardly do anything for India.

people settled in metro cities hardly go to their villages to avoid the basic problems people facing there. Do we have the courage to go to the villages and spend some nights without electricity and clean toilets. 60 years have been gone the things are same.

@ Attitude.. Go to the slums in the financial capital and would be ’Shanghai’ (A lost dream) you will see that the infrastructure , what a city needs, has been badly collapsed. No one is there to take care of that. This is the face of Mumbai and other metro cities as well.

Just dream of the day when the MNCs would start closing their offices and units in India because of slow infrastructure growth, foreign investors would start taking back their money from India market..what would happen then. India would become another Argentina that day.

We should concentrate hard on the development and welfare of the people and country’s infrastructure and at both fronts we have to go long long way...

Jayanta Bhattacharya

Jayanta Bhattacharya — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

@ Pratyush:

There is a soft underbelly of underprivileged people all over the world, be it in the US or China, or EU countries who live in completely derelict conditions.

India might have more of them, but certainly India can live with them when it becomes a superpower. :-)

So when u say something like - Go to the slums in the financial capital and would be �Shanghai� (A lost dream)... it sounds completely pessimistic and fatalistic devoid of any thought.

Pratyush

Pratyush — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

If we are ready to become Mungerilals we should have the courage to fulfill the dreams also.

The Guinness Book of Records, you will find an entry, which says that the most protracted law suit ever, recorded was in India. A ’Mahant’ — who is a keeper of a temple — filed a suit in Pune in 1205 AD and the case was decided in 1966: 761 years later! Normally it takes between 5 to 15 years for a case to be decided in an Indian court.

Media coverage is also mostly confined to Mumbai and Delhi. Take, for example, during the heavy rains in Mumbai, the media came up with statistics that more than 40 per cent of the taxpayers money is generated by Mumbai for the Centre and in return the allocation of funds is improper towards Mumbai. In this case media is acting as a catalyst.

India has become a dumping ground for neighboring countries with their over-population and economic problems. Illegal migration threatens the very fabric of our country’s stability and security. We stand to lose far more by not securing our borders.

A future superpower is still battling with neighboring country to get our territory back.

Kings in several poorest of nations are never poor. Kings are always rich. Indians identify themselves with their rich rulers, but does it takes away their poverty or hunger ? Political leaders, owners of big companies are modern-day kings in India. They can make Antilia mansion, they can gift aircraft worth Rs 250 crore to their dear ones but they cannot supports have-nots in the country.

dreaming is not bad but day dreaming with open eyes will be disastrous fro us for sure. As an Indian I want to see India as superpower like US but HOW? Mentioning silly historical facts and the data of developments in IT and some other sectors are enough to dream more?

NO... We will have to work hard to get rid of lethargic bureaucracy, corrupt political leaders and selfish people looking towards western and middle east countries for dollars. make the India as the land of opportunities again. It needs great will power and we Indians are still lacking it..sorry to say it..

Swati S

Swati S — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

@ pratyush...

i cant agree wth u when u say...that Indians outside rnt doin anythin....for the country....

anyways...even leave the point what they are doin or not...i may say that even if Indians (residin in India) who don’t believe in the system that we have, even we are contributin nthin to the nation....rather genuinely contributin towrds makin things ...A lost dream...

and needless to remind everyone that even the developed countries have their own share of problems, be it illiteracy or poor living conditions.....moreover, the developed economies are on the verge of becoming ”stagnant” economies and that is why chances of India prospering to a status of superpower are high...

india indeed can become a superpower...

Sameer Kumar

Sameer Kumar — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

@ Pratyush

when you say

”It(removing all the hurdles) needs great will power and we Indians are still lacking it..sorry to say it..”

Speak for yourself my friend. If you are engulfed by the cloud of negativity & despair, then do not spread it. If you lack the will, then let those who have it take up the cause. You have been harping about all the things wrong, but never talking about the solutions. You speak as if we are condemned as the current state of affairs is deplorable. While I say again that we are not a superpower yet, we will get there.

You say ”No one does anything for the slums... the poor... the deprived... the backward...” Here is some news for you mate, No one will do anything until they stand up for themselves. Their lives won’t improve if they continue to wait for a savior. I hear Indian villages complain about ”We don’t have drinking water since 50 years”. then dig up a damn well damn it, or harvest your rain water. This syndrome of ”life sucks cos of politicians & bureaucracy” has to go. You put them their, that is the fact. You can make a difference & millions of Indian youth who are succeeding across the planet are showing the path towards the brighter future. Either you can look at the light or the shadow, dare to dream or sulk by giving excuses, spend a life trying to do your little part with optimism or resign to what is forces on you by shying away from taking responsibility. Don’t blame all the woes on few, you my friend have an equal share in all the deeds alike, good or bad. As far as your point of replying to friends from Pak or Bang go; i know its a waste of time, but one must never miss a chance to pull a leg or two. :-)

Faraz

Faraz — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Lets apply some logic: Many have said and I quote..few are rich. Mukesh Ambani is the richest person in the world now and will continue to do so for some more years. He is rich from India’s most valued firm Reliance Industries, Reliance Petroleum and Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Ltd, the net worth of Mukesh Ambani rose to $63.2 billion.

Now what happens if a person becomes rich, he expands his business. Now when one expands his or her business it generates employement. Once employement is generated more people get jobs and some of them become millionares under the same organization if not billionares. This also reminds me Infosys earlier chariman Narayanmurthy car driver is also a millionare.

So logically we are growing,a person who is a billionare also generates employment for many.

I dont know about India but Indians will definitely rule the world.

Indian ruppee is appreciating against the dollar...from 50 to 39.something....why?

We talk about the cheap labor and the kind of work we do, but I also believe this will take us to new heights...there is a sense of restlessness amongst all US/UK based companies to increase their profit margins by cutting cost, hence the nature of work will also improve for Indians in future if the they have to stay in competition..I think there’s some logic here also...I would suggest all to read the book ” The world is Flat” by Thomas Friedman ”The whole world in future will work as a single country...and more importantly it will have maximum Indians.

Thanks for giving time to read...Enjoy

#postcomment

Amitoj

Amitoj — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Though Developing software might not b something that could make a country super power, but surely it does push a lot of money into the economy.Most clients r from outside our country.the reason for india not rising as steeply as the softwre production grows is the fact that we have an unstable economy. the cost of productions some time cost more than wht we get. but still then every step like that, surely helps a country gain economic stability.. not now, may b in the future.. it will take time

We r good at not only software production , but also providing human resources. i think no other country can challenge our country regarding human resources and we have them in plenty. good thing is most of the population in India is of Young people. 20 years down the line we will b having a potentially powerfull backbone supported by the youth only.....

And for the people who r saying ” India Has only Few Rich People”... O.o , well if u would have heard about ”silicon valley”, most of the indians there r millionaires. And also if u think other countries have more rich people.. Can u name a few from Australia? Sweden? Norway? no u cant.....
that means its not the matter of making into consideration how many rich people India has.....
We surely have a great future ahead of us, and we can do nothing but work and wait for that.....

Atiya

Atiya — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Well, there is no doubt that India is emerging as the next superpower, and has already begun to have a prominent position in the South Esat Asia. The dotcom boom, the popularity of Bollywood masala movies or the Indian cricket team and the inclusion of Indians in ”the richest men of the world” list indeed make us proud. India has become the hottest destination in the world, no longer as a country of snake charmers but rather as a pool of knowledge, be it the ancient philosophy or the lastest IIIMs or IITs. But amidst this prosperity, there rests some dark tales. Tales of poverty, illiteracy and corruption. Far from this glamour and glitz, children are being brought and sold like commodities for prices less than what you would spend with your friends for coffee at Barista or Coffee Day. This too needs efforts, not by our politicians but rather the onus rests on us to see that the correct person gets elected and that he/she works for those who are in need. This is our country, and its you and me who can make it a superpower.

HemRaj Singh

HemRaj Singh — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Dear Pratyush,

Yes, it took 761 years. And that’s a record. A rape trial was concluded in a little over a month and another in 7 days flat! That too happened in India and just a year or so back. And it was neither Delhi, nor Mumbai; it was Rajasthan in both the cases. Does that say something about a changing India...or a growing superpower...or a waking giant??

HemRaj Singh

HemRaj Singh — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

India has its problems. A country as big as ours with a functioning and thriving democracy is bound to have a few issues. And we can’t escape them, not today, not ever. We are a train and some bogies would remain behind the others; they may switch positions but somethings will always be lacking behind but the train as a whole is moving ahead. And is fast enough. The US took over two centuries to be a superpower and the fact that we are debating the issue after a little over 60 years of independence says something about the speed of the train. What I am saying and all the rest has already been better said by Jonty, attribute, Naina and Akhilesh (of course).

HemRaj Singh

HemRaj Singh — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

A superpower is a nation that can take any action, howsoever offending, against any nation without caring for the immediate consequences and has the power to bend the collective will of other nation to suit its own interests. That would be the truest and, to a certain extent, callous definition of ’superpower’. The term ’power’ itself is about being able to use the influence and force with least possible accountability. The addition of ’super’ pulls the ’accountability’ part even further down.

Let’s see when we become as heartless as a ’superpower’ is supposed to be.

The argument about merit and social justice are simply ways to substantiate the morality of being ’powerful’ or ’superpowerful’.

Pratyush

Pratyush — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Khushi.. yes Indians outside are doing something for India... why not...I said that they are sending dollars to their family members and helping them to become green card holder in US. Moreover they are investing in Indian stock market and other sectors for making big bucks...not for developing India, their very own motherland. AND can u tell me the illiteracy rate and people living below poverty line in countries like US, Canada, France, Germany?

Attitude...your suggestion to dig a well to store rainwater for drinking purpose if the villagers did not get drinking water facilities in last 60 years... PLZ Your suggestion is like the same as villagers should kill the criminals if administration does nothing to save you from them. ...Like it happened in Bihar and Kerala in the name of mob justice.. If you would opt to go this way only God can save us.

State, government, civil administration, and other components are assigned their roles in every country to make the state a successful entity and you are saying to forget the state if it is not doing everything it ought to be. If people would start doing at their own, it would definitely result in chaos everywhere because this is Rousseau’s state where everyone is bound to do what their desires say him to do...

In a democratic country people should force their representatives, administration to work in the welfare of the common people. I said that we Indians are lacking the will power to force them to do their jobs with greater sense of responsibility. Don’s take my words as Indians are lacking the will power to do something innovative. please... Read my comments again before making any comment on my comment.

Philosophy and bookish language looks great in books only. Go to the ground realities and u will find that it needs practical approach to overcome the problems. I said we have the potential but be are doing nothing and going nowhere to remove the hurdles coming in the way to develop the social and economic structure. Inclusive growth is a necessary tool to spread the development across the country. IT development is not everything in India. I do want to call my country as future superpower also but my heart bleeds when i see the ground realities in the country.

Pratyush

Pratyush — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Yes Hemraj.. A rape trial was concluded in a little over a month and another in 7 days flat! It happened because of media pressure because the victim was a foreigner I think. what do you think about other cases still pending in our ultra-slow judicial system where political leaders are named accused like fodder scam, sugar scam, bofors scam and the numbers are countless..

Most importantly... Thanx a lot to you Hemraj for writing here what i felt after reading the headline of the debate.....”The US took over two centuries to be a superpower and the fact that we are debating the issue after a little over 60 years of independence says something about the speed of the train.” This is what I wanted to say that we have the potential to become a superpower but we have still long long way to go and will have to go on right path and right now we are not on right track...

HemRaj Singh

HemRaj Singh — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Dear Pratyush,

I am not saying we are a superpower at the moment. No, we are not but we certainly have the potential. That’s what we all are saying here. The trials take decades but some of them have been wrapped up even in a matter of days. So, things are improving. And the rate of improvement too is fast enough.

So, where is the disagreement? Why are you on that side. None of us have argued here that we are a trouble-free superpower today. And there has been no logically supportable denial of our potential. So, why are you on that side of the debate at all? Aren’t we saying the same thing in different words?

Pratyush

Pratyush — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

WE have the ’potential’ but potential does not guarantee that we would certainly become a superpower. We are not on right track today and what we are doing in present will show what will be the future for all of us. WE ARE NOT ON RIGHT TRACK AT PRESENT... we are clapping on the success what the people sitting in power showing to us. fastest Economic Development, GDP growth, HIGH PPP, SENSEX going 20k...etc. Reality is something different.. We can not become superpower with such race and range of development... This is why I am still at other side in debate..

Madan

Madan — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

yes, India can......

Toby

Toby — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Yes gotta agree India�s the next super power. We guys here in Great Britain kinda feel insecure with the all the carrier prospects being outsourced by the MULTI NATIONALS though to a cheaper labour yet technically sound. The over population that proved to be the most distressing factor in the underdevelopment has apparently been used by the Indian Govt. for the good.

I am sure it won�t be the same what your ancestors thought of the west (the glittering carrier prospects, technologically advanced west, the mighty west) �it�s changing and I don�t feel the same way either. The shifting balance has shifted dramatically n won�t take long to see the next dominant on the global sphere from Asia. If China is rising, I must say India is growing n that too at an unchallengeable pace. I feel happy to see the land of Kamasutra getting close to become the next super power.

Ana

Ana — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

i think that’s the biggest misconception that India is the next super power...i think there’s not even a single country in Asia that can think of gettin anywhere close to USA or Russia, not even China. India might join the toppers amongst the economic powers but has it really been working on the benefits of that economy. No i don’t think so. still the poor in India are getting poorer.

above all India’s massive economy don’t make it a super power, it still don have much of the say in the global affairs. So don even think of India as a super power for next 100 years.

Ana

Ana — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

@ Naina

hey thanks for the 1000 years old information about India. i think i won’t go to the Wkiki’s anymore.LOL

Villager

Villager — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Progressive approach is better than Emotional approach and we Indians are the worst victims of applying emotional approach everywhere. Pratyush has presented a good progressive approach by showing the dark side of Indian development or growth. We are watching what the modern-day Indian rulers are forcing us to watch. This is certainly not the way to become a superpower...

HemRaj Singh

HemRaj Singh — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Dear Prtayush,

There is always some wrong in whatever is ’right’, and there always are a few things that would not be able to keep up. What can be said for today’s India can also be said about today’s USA. Everything is not right anywhere. The same goes for India. And development is not exactly a manufactured process, it is natural. The growth would always be unruly and wayward before the path is gradually corrected and the weeds fall apart.

HemRaj Singh

HemRaj Singh — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

No solution has ever come up without another problem attached to it. There has never been growth without social injustice of some kind. It is part of our reality that every right action gets an undesired byproduct. The same remains true for the growth and development.

So, problems are there and there will be solutions and again there will be certain complications. It goes that way.

The fact is that the course of growth is not determined by ’collective thinking’ or some such thing because there is not such thing as ’collective thinking’. Growth is actually a byproduct of the balancing of interests. And this is an automatic process.

Pratyush

Pratyush — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

I just want to write here about the double standard character of India’s policy makers sitting in North Block and South Block in New Delhi. Some months ago when India was experiencing higher inflation rate and the prices of commodity products like Rice, Pulses, edible oils, onions, potatoes other vegetables were touching sky, people asked the finance minister about the reason of the increasing heat in the Indian economy and the sky-rising prices of essential commodities. He answered shamelessly that it happens in developing economies. it happens side by side and it had happened in developed economies like US. some section of people became satisfied with his answer.

BUT, the fact is not what he tried to say to the common Indians. He made us fools at that time. This is true that price goes up when the economy taste developments and inflation goes up with the development. But it makes its impact on the prices of luxurious items available in the market not on the necessary commodities that people use in daily life. People hardly see the rising prices of edible items in growing and developed economy.

The fact was that the Indian political leaders were supporting the black marketeers. AND when they failed to make people fool with their worst logic they finally took necessary steps and it resulted in the completely controlled inflation now even when the finance minister himself talking about the GDP growth to touch 9-10%.

Forget to become superpower, we will have to be aware all the time otherwise these political leaders would make the country as underdeveloped forever.

Akhtar

Akhtar — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

what’s the criteria for a ’superpower nation’

less poverty? , less corruption?, better education?, welfare support (even for the poor)?, elimination of child labour?, neighbourly love?

If India can address these issues then maybe , just maybe they have a shot at the superpower title.

Pooja

Pooja — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

One can see at the horizon, India IS an emerging superpower! It is occupying an important position in all kinds of issues internationally, where its ever-improving image as a solid base for IT, Biotechnology, nuclear power, firms from abroad are looking for an offshore offices in India, all are acting as a catalyst.

Siddhesh

Siddhesh — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Now we need to learn from Islamic fundamentalists what we are!

Vinod

Vinod — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Quote by shokat756

ok, few Indian are rich. Sunil Mittal, Ambanis, Birlas, Premji, Laxmi Mittal and so on, but does it...

True.....There are enough problems in India that need solutions before targeting a super power position. While we have a High Tech India (the psuedo name) on one side.....there is a poor and illiterate Bharat (the true name) on the other.

R.

R. — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

India has nuclear weapons, India has a fast growing industry, India has a huge population, yes India already IS a super power!

Mohit

Mohit — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Superpower is a term typical of the Cold War era, and for all intents and purposes has no practical relevance in the present times.

Madhusudan

Madhusudan — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0000

yes..yes..yes......if NRI co-oprate to our nation......then sure one day India will be a great super power... of the world....