<b>Sensex slumps 330 pts on divestment threat</b>
Reuters
Mumbai, May 14

Indian shares slumped over six per cent on Friday as investors worried privatisation and foreign investment could be hit by a shift to a leftist-backed Government following the surprise election victory of the Congress party.

The slump in the Bombay 30-share index -- Sensex was led by selling in state-backed firms and banks, such as ONGC and State Bank of India. The Sensex ended down as much as 329.60 points to 5069.87. The Indian rupee fell half a per cent against the dollar.

The fall in shares extended a selling trend over more than two weeks, in which the Bombay index has tumbled 14 per cent since it became clear the pro-reform National Democratic Alliance (NDA) might not fare as well as had been expected in the election.

Congress and its allies, including some on the far-left, stunned pundits with a commanding victory and were trying to form a new Government on Friday, prompting the latest sell-off.

"It has reached a situation where people have given up hope. They have lost heavily," said managing director of Dimensional Securities, Ajit Suarana.

"But, I think it is being overdone and people should use this as a buying opportunity. Just because privatisation may not go through, doesn't mean the country will come to a halt."

India is Asia's third-largest economy.

Confirming the fears of many investors, the country's largest communist party described India's privatisation ministry as "unnecessary".

Congress says it will continue with privatisation, but only "selectively", and will not sell profit-making state companies.

"Clearly, the privatisation story is over for now," said director of Kotak Mahindra Asset Management, C Jayaram. "And the big India story, which was popular among foreign investors, will lose some its appeal."

The share slump knocked half a per cent off the value of the Indian rupee, which had gained gained five per cent against the dollar in 2003 as record levels of overseas money flowed into India.

Among those shares hardest hit were companies in which the NDA government had announced plans to sell a strategic stake.

Refiners Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd both dived 13 per cent, while Shipping Corp of India, the country's biggest shipping line, lost 17 per cent to hit a nine-month low of Rs 86.70.

Shares in ONGC, the country's top oil producer, in which the Government sold a record $2.3 billion worth of shares in March, dropped 11 per cent to Rs 731.40.

Foreign funds have sold a net $365 million worth of Indian shares in seven straight trading sessions through Wednesday.

<b>Banks were also hit on expectations crucial sector reforms will be delayed or shelved</b>. State Bank of India, the biggest commercial bank, slumped 14 per cent to Rs 516.9 and Punjab National Bank plunged 18 per cent to Rs 263.50.

Hello,

I am doing a school paper, and I would like some feed back from users on this board.

When Britain was in India (around 1850-1930) did they help the economy of India or ruin it?

Can you please place links of your source/idea.

My thought: Ruin the economy - 1. Cottage Industry 2. Monopoly

Thanks

`Linking rivers will solve water crisis'

By the end of 2020, NDA will make India a totally developed nation by connecting each of the six lakh villages with road besides ensuring electricity, water, irriga- tion, healthcare and housing.

Vajpayee has Ambitious project of interlinking rivers. Actor Dharmendra, BJP candidate from Bikaner wants to talk Punjab Chief Minister for bringing water from Punjab to Bikaner. Actor Rajnikant donated one crore for the said project and promised to vote BJP.
Government encourages students to think their future with the India’s Vision 2020.
Narayan Agrawal, 3rd year B.Tech (Civil of IIT-Delhi presented an example to select the topic of his project: \"Least Cost Canal Path Simulation Using Geographical Information System". The topic comes under Water Resources Management and minimizing the cost of transportation of water to the people. Presented papers by him in International Conferences: MapIndia2004 held in New Delhi on topic, “How MapIndia2004 can become Geospatial Democratic country before 2020”.
International Conference, GSDI-7 held in Bangalore, organized by ISRO and DST on how GIS could be used for National Spatial Development Infrastructure programs.
International Conference, ISSMA-2004 held in Manali, organized by ISRO and DST on Avalanche forecasting using GIS-PP.
"In a project with an expected cost of hundreds of crores, private participation could be sought and some charges might be levied on direct beneficiaries too", Chairman of the Task Force on Interlinking of major Indian rivers, Suresh Prabhu said February 10, 2003 at a round table session on "Networking of Indian rivers" organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry here in New Delhi. Elaborating on the progress made so far, Prabhu said "latest technology including GIS and satellite imagery would be used during preparation of feasibility reports to achieve greater degree of accuracy. he said adding sociologists and NGOs were welcome to give in their suggestions on the same.

By Premendra Agrawal, Raipur, India
Comindia2000@hotmail.com

/*
** Goes here.
*/

Hello all,

I'm kind of new to this forum though I've lurked for a while. I think a dedicated thread about India's civic development -- building and construction projects, city infrastructure development, city economic development -- should be created so that city-development-specific information can be compiled, from news and other economic threads.


Anyway, to start the thread off, here's an article about Mumbai I found

A megapolis in regeneration mode

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->BANGALORE, Hyderabad and Chennai may have stolen some of the limelight from the commercial capital of the country. While techies love the cooler climate of Bangalore, some manufacturers have opted for the lower real estate prices and better logistics of the South. But can Mumbai regain some of its lost charm?

Mumbai has been drudging along at a GDP rate of 2.4 per cent in recent years; the choc-a-bloc traffic and the particulate matter in the air are not helping. Mumbai's GDP growth fell from 7 per cent to a surprisingly low 2.4 per cent per annum between 1998 and 2002 while India's growth rate was higher at 5.6 per cent. But enthusiasts do believe that the city is nowhere near saturation levels and growth rates can scale up.

"There is considerable opportunity available for Mumbai if one were to look at the huge gap in financial trading time zones between Zurich and Singapore on the ring of global trade, which can be best filled by Mumbai considering its geographical location, time zone and the economic growth achieved so far," says Dr Subir Gokarn, Chief Economist, Crisil.

This ring now consists of Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Los Angeles, New York, London and Zurich, after which there is a huge gap in time till the markets open in Singapore. "But the city needs to offer some bait for trading to shift here. Pretty much like the way the NSE offered incentives to attract trade from the BSE when the former was launched," says Dr Gokarn.

The Indian bourses have certainly caught the flavour of prominent foreign institutional investors and the NSE registers the third largest number of transactions in the world after the NYSE and the Nasdaq.

The full convertibility of the Indian rupee and the removal of curbs on FII investment limit in the domestic debt market are the hurdles to be cleared to make Mumbai more prominent from a global standpoint. But the Reserve Bank of India has made it amply clear that it is in no hurry to set the rupee on a free float. The depth and volumes in the debt, currency and derivative markets also do not match global standards.

Said the treasury head of a leading foreign bank in the country: "Mumbai is far from getting on the global map, although we do have plenty of talent and, of late, good communication systems. The foreign exchange and debt markets are lacking in terms of depth, liquidity, and volumes. Dubai is fast taking the slot between Zurich and Singapore on the global map."

The Indian debt market is the largest after Japan and South Korea, says Mr Jayesh Mehta, Head, Debt Research, DSP Merrill Lynch. However, it lacks the variety of investor profiles and the number of investors that Singapore enjoys because of the regulatory constraints and the nascent state of several financial intermediaries.

The foreign exchange market, though set in the right direction today, grosses well below a billion dollars daily while active global markets run into several billions of dollars.

Commercial activity is certainly on a roll in the city — which has a per capita income three times that of India's — with many companies, retail stores and residential complexes coming up. The maximum demand for property now is from IT and IT-enabled service companies.

The demand will only go up provided there is increased land availability at affordable prices and a host of infrastructure projects to fix bottlenecks in the city with a population of 11.9 million as per the 2001 Census. Real estate prices in the city have fallen to half in the posh South Mumbai addresses from the boom times of 1994-95 but some more reduction in valuations are expected as the textile mill land of Central Mumbai get released.

Several retail chains and malls have sprung up in the suburbs of the city. RPG Enterprises entered the city only recently. "We have entered Mumbai now since real estate prices have stabilised and there is plenty of land available with mill areas being released.

The rising mall culture will also create more opportunities," said the spokesperson of RPG Enterprises. RPG recently set up the Giant Hypermarket, Music World and Health & Glow stores in Malad, a northern suburb. For retail chains, Mumbai is a formidable market with a longer break-even period than in Chennai or Bangalore as not only are real estate prices higher but logistics is always a problem and labour is more expensive too.

Mumbai is undergoing a shift in activity from the manufacturing side in favour of the services sector, as do many large cities of the world as property prices hit the roof. The city has witnessed several corporates and small companies roll down their factory shutters to head out to the hinterland.

Says Dr R. H. Patil, the visionary credited with the success of setting up the world-class, National Stock Exchange and currently Chairman of the Clearing Corporation of India Ltd, "Mumbai will soon become purely a financial hub and all industries will move out of here. We are already seeing this happen. Only financial intermediaries and the support functions will remain in the city. Soon, companies will maintain outfits in Mumbai only for raising capital since all the banks and capital markets are based here. Urban infrastructure should not be much of an issue for the well-remunerated executives of financial firms as they can afford to create their own little world."

Over the years, several companies have shifted their manufacturing set-ups out of the city to escape the high taxes and octroi here. FMCG giant, HLL and automobile-maker, Mahindra & Mahindra are cases in point of companies that moved out its manufacturing units to relocate in the underdeveloped areas of various states of the country. Set-ups in backward areas come with tax incentives, which go a long way in cost rationalisation.

Textile mills shut shop in Mumbai due to a variety of reasons in the mid-1980s and even today many small and medium enterprises in the less-expensive North Mumbai are considering shifting base.

"The teeming metropolis is undergoing a desirable natural regeneration that had long been delayed.

"Just like New York, which saw its many garment manufacturing units pushed out to be replaced by services and, later, more high-end services, Mumbai too is undergoing that state of replacement and regeneration.

For very many years the textile mill areas were lying as idle assets in the midst of the city even as real estate prices were skyrocketing. These lands are now getting converted into commercial ventures, which is certainly a good sign," says Dr Gokarn.

"The next stage of development will take place in the mill areas of Central Mumbai. There is so much land in the mill areas that it will be used up only over the next 10 years," says Mr Tariq Vaidya, Head, Advisory Services and Asia-Pacific Research, Knight Frank India, the Indian fraction of the UK-based, international property consultant.

There are 500 acres of mill land in Central Mumbai in the areas of Mahalakshmi, Sion, Worli, Parel and Lower Parel controlled by private firms and the National Textile Corporation.

While some, such as the Kamala Mills, have been converted into commercial office spaces, Phoenix Mills hosts several retail stores and, more recently, the Nicholas Piramal group developed a mill area into a prominent office address.

Says Mr K. G. Krishnamurthy, Senior General Manager, Technical Services of Housing Development Finance Corporation: "For this city to grow further and to retain its position as the commercial capital of India, the State and Central governments need to make the mill lands of Central Mumbai and salt pan lands in suburban Mumbai available for development. Property taxes must be rationalised and the Urban Land Ceiling Act needs to be scrapped. Infrastructure projects are also critical to create linkages within the city."

It might be a few years before the implementation of the Bombay First-McKinsey report to transform Mumbai into a world-class city by pumping in $40 billion much like the transformation of Shanghai in the late 1980s.

Meanwhile, a few road linkages, such as the 25-km long, Sewri-Nhava Sheva link across the Arabian Sea, will help the city grow horizontally as against the vertical growth seen over decades.

The Worli-Bandra link would also help relieve bottlenecks and sustain growth in the interim period.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

A small experiment to foster some discussion on wide array of complex topics that ail our motherland. I was witness to some email exchanges on this topic and have requested the participants to discuss it here in this particular thread.

We all have a list of grievances and complaints about the all things wrong about India and have strong views on how things should be fixed. In a internet forum, we might not be able to solve any of these problems, but we can certainly learn the different and diverse perspectives we Indians hold about such issues and if possible list solutions for the same.

I envision this thread to be a hodge-podge mix of several different topics that we already cover on this forum, so might request one of the senior moderator/member to moderate this thread.

Sri Durvasa, the venerable one, was 'born' into one of the most illustrious family. He is the son of Atri Maharshi, and Sri Anasuya devi. Most of you already may know his famous brothers, Soma and Dattatreya (read Avadhutha Gita to get a taste of Duttatreya's works.)

Durvasa, literally means, one who CANNOT be clothed. Clothed not just by mere cotton or deer-skin, but even by the five Koshas (viz Anna, Prana, Manas, Vignanam and Anandha maya kosam). Sri Durvasa is said to be one of the famous Devi bhakthas.

Durvasa, has wrongly been projectd, mostly in the puranas, as an ill-tempered person who does not know the time and place to check His anger. On the contrary, Durvasa's external expression of anger usually has a hidden meaning. (I am not sure about the source of Ambareesha's story.)

Shakthi Mahimna Stotram (by Sri Durvasa), is one of THE best works in Shaktha. My grandfather once said, "Till you have read Sri Shakthi Mahimna, you haven't really tasted Anandham.", and that definitely is true.

I may be biased in defending Sri Durvasa, but only a person who has known and appreciated His works can understand that Sri Durvasa was beyond all Gunas.

Rudra, Narasimha Murthy, Krishna, Rama and all have expressed anger, but that does not make them Egoistic.<b><i>It's okay for you to get angry, but it's NOT okay for anger to get you.</i></b> (I claim, I haven't been angry since 1986.) <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->

------------------------------------

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->sunder garu>> couple of months ago I had the good fortune of listening to swaminamma Sri Sheelananda ( of Chinmaya Mission, prior to becoming swamini amma she was PhD student in Physics) give a lecture on Shi Chakra (Lalitha Shasranamam) in Ann Arbor.

She had given wondeful explanantion how even great and realized souls while trying to reach the ultimate Brhaman while passing thru each chakra often get mesmarised by their achiements and fall back to a level below. (kind of snakes and ladders game)

With such fractional powers itself the human mind feels so powerful then imagine the great souls who are just one or two steps away from the absolute Brahman and what to say of those who have reached the ultimate summit. They must be truly "Sivoham Sivoham"
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Garu vaddhandi Spinster garu. Meeru mareenu. Sunder ani pilavandi chalu <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->

What you say is true, with advancement of each chakra (it's definitely not one day at a time.), the jiva - not just feels, but - BECOMES powerful, but in different planes. The flight thru the chakras are usually completed in less than few seconds. On some days, it's just a trickle upwards, and sometimes (including my first time), it's a volcanic gush, upwards and into oblivion.

The feeling of Shivoham and Aham Brahmasmi will only be en-route to the gush.. Once you reach THAT state, it's goes from Aham Brahmasmi, to Aham Asmi, to Aham, and finally, no words, but pure being. (I should say, my only support is Sri Lalithambhika.)

If you want to try it or know more, I recommend Hamsopanishad, coupled with Sri Ramakrishna's books and Sri Shankaracharya's books on the subject (Prapanchasara, Soundarya lahari etc.).

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> I have seen the Adi Shankaracharya movie in Samsrutham in India. Would you know where I can get the movie in US? I would really appreciate it. Thank you very much.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Ram Garu.. Just call me Sunder. That'll do. I do not know where you can get the movie in the us, but email me at purohit at hotmail. I Live in a country close to the US, a little country up North. Get the clue eh?

This is a list of Bookmarks pertinent to the above topic. Only articles with lasting value should be selected. This is of course subjective but is essential to avoid becoming inundated with secondary issues.

Typical of such bookmarks is the continuing work of Rajiv Malhotra, e,g,

http://www.sulekha.com/printer.asp?ctid=2000&cid=218625

http://www.sulekha.com/printer.asp?ctid=2000&cid=305924

I consider these essays to be pathbreaking and seminal in content and are a must read for every indian who is (should) be interested in these matters.

To those who wonder whether this is all happenstance, I ask what is the probability of such a consistent attack among universities and the press.

Here is a representative passage from the more recent essay in reply to the column in WP

<i>Hinduism and Stockholm Syndrome</i>:

<span style='color:red'>Hinduism is squeezed both from the American right and from the Indian and American left. The right backs the Christian fundamentalist goals of converting India and targets Hinduism as the last remaining and most resilient bastion of pagan culture in the world. The intelligentsia of the left is more complex and diverse in its reasons for the thoroughgoing bias against Hinduism and Hindus: (i) there is a holdover from an era of allegiance to pro-Communist movements; (ii) there are fifth-column opportunist double agents; (iii) there is a fundamental discomfort due to misunderstandings that Hinduism runs counter to modernity; and (iv) there are social stigmas that article's such as the Post's promulgate. </span>

The net effect of this is that many Hindus are intimidated into accepting every insult that is hurled at them, for fear of being subjected to further harassment. This may be viewed as a sort of societal Stockholm Syndrome. The case for Hinduphobia as an instance of societal Stockholm Syndrome is supported by the following facts:


1) Most Hindus deny the existence of Hinduphobia, and many interpret the episodes that are pointed out as positive markers of their tolerance. Since many NRIs feel lucky to be able to enjoy lifestyles which their parents lacked, they do not wish to rock the boat. Hence, they prefer to hide their Hindu shame behind complicity or outright support of Hinduphobia.
2) The lack of available research materials on Hinduphobia, as contrasted with Islamophobia (even before September 11, 2001) and on other kinds of xenophobia, indicates disinterest or even suppression of the phenomena on the part of the academic scholars entrusted with Hinduism Studies. This could partially be guilt or fear that the scholars might be responsible for their complicity.

3) The few individuals, such as myself, who do speak up and point out instances of Hinduphobia get fiercely attacked by the academic establishment, especially if they locate the causes in the intellectual discourse.


<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>In this regard, Hindus are very different from all other American minority groups. The overwhelming majority of Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, blacks, gays, Hispanics, etc., publicly claim their identities with pride and they protest when falsely stereotyped. In doing so, these other groups enhance America as a powerful multicultural society, a responsibility that Indians have yet to understand because of the vast differences between the nature of Indian and American approaches to secularism: While Americans publicly celebrate their many distinct religious identities, Indians were raised after independence to fear distinctions based on religion, seeing distinction as a cause of conflict because such conflicts were exploited by the colonial masters.</span>

It is with some trepidation that i start a separate thread for this. The reason is that i wish to educate myself as to the extent of ancient Astronomy in the Indian subcontinent. It appears that the Indian astronomers of yore were skilled in calculating the positions of the planets and in predicting eclipses. How accurate were their predictions and calculations. what system did they use ? did they borrow from the Greeks (or vice versa) or were the Indian developments relatively autochthonous. We will try to compile a list of the texts that treat this subject and decipher what they have to say

First some links

http://www.aryabhatt.com/vediclessons/vediclesson3.htm


http://www.indianest.com/astro/00308.htm

http://www.yournetastrologer.com/basic/b01.htm

http://www.wisdomworld.org/additional/List...s/Calendar.html

http://www.sinclairpress.com/notebook.html

http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/anci...b_sarasvat.html

Current Iraq situation suggests, its moving towards civil war and eventually balakanization.
It will impact rest of world.
Oil resources will be in danger.
Jihadis will get new playground.
Countries in Asia and Europe will be directly effected by any outcome.
Religious fanatics will try to influence rest of world politics.

Mounting US casuality, How long US will stay in Iraq?
Its impact on coming US election?

June 30, 04 is set date to handover Iraq to Iraqi council.