Miscellaneous Topics

[Guest]

so now that i have got the attention of few people in other forums. everyone is asking me if there is a list of products and shops. the energy is high. everyone wants to do this. anyone has any info on the author of this website or list of Paki businesses please let me know.

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-jayshastri+Jul 25 2006, 06:00 AM-->QUOTE(jayshastri @ Jul 25 2006, 06:00 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->so now that i have got the attention of few people in other forums. everyone is asking me if there is a list of products and shops. the energy is high. everyone wants to do this. anyone has any info on the author of this website or list of Paki businesses please let me know.
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Perhaps a dumb question, but why not a blog?

<i>Later this thread will be merged with Misc... </i>

[Guest]

Guys,

Let us be systematic and realistic. Let us define what we are looking at. I would like to draw your attention to few facts about Pakistan's economy.

Fact A) Size and Growth (2005 est.)
=================
GDP (purchasing power parity): $393.4 billion
GDP (official exchange rate): $89.55 billion
GDP - real growth rate: 6.9%
GDP - per capita (PPP): $2,400
Public Debt: 53.8% of GDP
Inflation Rate: 9.1%
Unemployment rate: 6.6% plus substantial underemployment (Thanks Madarsa education)
Population below poverty line: 32%

Fact B) Major Export Earnings
====================
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 21.6%
industry: 25.1%
services: 53.3%

With above in perspective, their exports are:
1) SERVICE (53% of GDP): extensive export of labor, mostly to the Middle East, and use of child labor.
2) INDUSTRY (25% of GDP): textiles (garments, bed linen, cotton cloth, yarn), leather goods, sports goods, chemicals, manufactures, carpets and rugs
3) AGRICULTURE (21% of GDP): rice, cotton

And where do exports go?
US 22.4%, UAE 8.3%, UK 6%, China 5.4%, Germany 4.7%

Fact C) Economic Aid, and Military Expense
==========================
1) Economic aid - recieved: $2.4 billion (data from FY01/02 - aid has substancially gone up in recent years due to cooperation in war on terror and earthquakes)
2) Military budget $4.26 billion (2005 est.)

Conclusions
=========
1. No matter how much lefty media hype up the growth of Pakistan - 6.9% GDP growth of Pakistan over $393.4 billion of their base, is not even comparable to Indian growth of 7.6% over $3.611 trillion of baseline! Instead of India, compare them realistically with Sri Lanka, Phillipines, or Indonasia. In fact dispite her size, India is doing better on all indices of economic growth including Poverty, Unemployment, Public Debt, Inflation etc.

2. Pakistan's military expenditure almost matches what they receive in economic aid from USA, UN and Europe! If you really want to do something, do it here! Highlight it to the world leaders that their Aid is what is actually building the Islamic Nuke!

3. If you want to really affect their growth, affect it by targetting their Service export to middle east. Almost all executives, white collar jobs and even skilled labour is exported by Pak. Do something to cut this short. (Option 1 - Increase your own export. Option 2 - develop other muslim competitors to Pakistan. Develop Afghanistan for example or Central Asian countries. Those people can go work cheaper and better than Pakistanis in Middle East, and being no threat to India. In fact India can become the strategic facilitator of the growth of Afghanistan, Kazhakistan and Turkmenistan. It would stop Pakistan in the heels!)

4. If you live in US, UK, Germany, it would be enough if you just watch out for textile, leather, sports products and rice from Pakistan, and yes false-India restaurants. They mostly dont produce and export much else.

5. Last, in my opinion, we should not talk about banning all Islamic countries's products and services. Unfortunately for India's growth, she still depends heavily upon the imports from Middle East, especially petrol! First do something about reducing our dependence on them in our industrial sector (Option 1: Indegenous power. Option 2: Develop other resources - Myanmar, Kazakhistan). Second reason, India is a major exporter to UAE and Saudi Arabia for high technology. We earn a good %age of our GDP from exports to UAE (second only to USA)

[Guest]

Bodhi welcome to the board. Your post was interesting. We need more objective and systemetic posts like this rather than wasting time with rants and complains. I also liked your signature verse. we truely are the only ones responsible to save our own religion. for those who would like to get more info on the digits Bodhi posted they can get it here.mundi

now about the boycott. it is not with the hopes to bring down pakistan simply by the boycott. it is more about bringing indians togeather under one goal. if all indians boycott paksitani goods that will be the most visible evidence of our solidarity. it may or may not have a significant fiancial impact on pakistan..

[Guest]

For 8 hrs, this family cried for help; Minister, Rajasthan town watched them drown
Sandipan SharmaPosted online: Tuesday, August 22, 2006 at 0000 hrs Print Email

Standing atop their vehicle, family kept calling for help
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Water-proofing India


JAIPUR, AUGUST 21:Five persons of a family, trapped in a swollen river for eight hours, were swept away, one by one, while the entire town and the government machinery watched.

The victims, including a teenager, kept begging for help but not one came to their rescue. Among those looking on was Rajasthan Forest Minister Laxmi Narayan Dave.

Two soldiers, who were passing by, jumped into the river to try and rescue them. But one of the soldiers drowned immediately while the other was rescued after the waters receded.

The incident occurred on Saturday evening near Falna town, 300 km west of Jaipur.

The car in which Jodhpur’s Devi Lal, son Surendra, nephew Rajendra and relatives Anopram and Jhumar Raj were travelling was trapped in the overflowing Khari river near Falna.

The car got stuck on a bridge which would have taken them to a temple on the banks, their destination. There was nearly three feet of water on the bridge when they began crossing it.

Within seconds, the level rose and the car submerged completely, according to eyewitnesses. The passengers climbed atop the car and began screaming for help.

Since the river flows close to the town, hundreds of people gathered on the banks to watch the trapped passengers. But such was the ferocity of the water that nobody dared to take the plunge and go to their rescue.

The police arrived an hour later from two adjoining police stations, minus life-saving gear. Senior officials of the local administration too arrived at the spot but could do very little.

“Some people threw ropes at the passengers. But the river was nearly 200 feet wide and nothing was reaching them,” said Vijay Kumar, a local resident who took photographs of the trapped people.As the water kept rising, the family members clung to each other. Devi Lal clasped son Surendra to his chest. “They kept screaming for help, asking people to dive into the water and save them. Nobody had the courage,” said Kumar.

Forest Minister Laxmi Narayan Dave, who was in the area, also reached the spot with a huge entourage. But all he could do was watch helplessly. Some local residents tried to put together a rescue act by stringing together lots of pipes, but they too failed.

Just as the sun began to fade, Surendra lost his grip and disappeared. His father dived after him, but did not return. The tragedy was complete in eight hours when the remaining members were also swept away, one after the other, amidst heart-rending wails and cries.

In Jaipur, officials said the Chief Secretary tried to organise a rescue effort.

“We contacted the Air Force for help, requesting them to send a team in a chopper. But the helicopter could not take off because of dark clouds. An Army team was dispatched from Jodhpur. But the team got stuck in traffic jams on flooded roads. The river was so wide that it was impossible to throw a rope to the passengers,” an official said.

[Guest]

Today I have read a superb article titled <b>“Techniques that Japan gifted to the world”</b> at merinews. An author unveiled the secrets of Japan’s success very nicely. According to this article “Japan’s innovative manufacturing and business techniques, if followed, can revolutionise work culture across the globe.”

Japan follows some techniques to rise, first of them is <b>Kaizen</b>, which in Japanese means <b>‘change for the better’ </b>or ‘to take it apart and put back together in a better way’. Kaizen helps in improving productivity by focusing on the incremental improvements achieved through small changes in day-to-day activities, instead of big-bang improvements usually characterised by significant investments in new technologies and systems.

Another proven management philosophy practised in Japan and followed by some Western organisations is the <b>Five S’s</b>. It is a technique used to establish and maintain quality environment in an organisation.

<b>‘Five S’ has five elements:</b>
<b>Seiri</b> (sorting out useful and frequently used materials and tools from unwanted and rarely used things);
<b>Seiton</b> (keeping things in the right place systematically so that searching or movement time is minimised);
<b>Seiso</b> (keeping everything around you clean and in a neat manner);
<b>Seiketsu</b> (standardising the above principles in everyday life); and
<b>Shitsuke</b> (inculcating good habits and practising them continuously).

It is an extremely informative article. Indians should also follow these techniques to grow.
>> Article's Link

[Guest]

hey guys,

A friend and I have to make something for school, we have to make greetingscards against racisme. But the problem is, we need to translate 2 english sentences to indian, but neither of us can speak indian. So my question is, can anybody translate these sentences from Ghandi:

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"
"You should be the change that yu want to see in the world"

thanks in advance

[Guest]

<!--emo&:cool--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/specool.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='specool.gif' /><!--endemo-->
An eye----
Yadi badle ki aag mein hum aankh ke badle aankh forte jayenge to sara vishv andhaa ho jayega
You should be---
Vishav parivartan ki dhuri swaym parivartan

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-Capt Manmohan Kumar+Sep 20 2006, 04:28 PM-->QUOTE(Capt Manmohan Kumar @ Sep 20 2006, 04:28 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--emo&:cool--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/specool.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='specool.gif' /><!--endemo-->
An eye----
          Yadi badle ki aag mein hum aankh ke badle aankh forte jayenge to sara vishv andhaa ho jayega
You should be---
Vishav parivartan ki dhuri swaym parivartan
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hey capt,

thank you very much for your help, it's greatly appreciated! <!--emo&:clapping--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/clap.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='clap.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

<b>Map My India</b>

<!--emo&:cool--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/specool.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='specool.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

<!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><span style='font-family:Optima'>I suggest India Forum members should form 'local chapters' e.g. I find lots of write ups from Houston; so, let us have gettogether of Houston members.</span></span>

[Guest]

Good Idea. Anyone from Atlanta folks?

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-Capt Manmohan Kumar+Sep 23 2006, 07:45 PM-->QUOTE(Capt Manmohan Kumar @ Sep 23 2006, 07:45 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><span style='font-family:Optima'>I suggest India Forum members should form 'local chapters' e.g. I find lots of write ups from Houston; so, let us have gettogether of Houston members.</span></span>
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Captain Sahab, great thought. I started a thread for this purpose. Please post there for Houston. Let us see how is the response.

[Guest]

<!--emo&:cool--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/specool.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='specool.gif' /><!--endemo--> Beggars learn to be choosers in Bihar

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Source: IANS
Image Source: AFP



Patna: Beggars can be choosers. And those in Bihar are making sure they turn the familiar idiom on its head as they organise themselves into a union that lays out 'minimum alms' and even a weekly off just like other workers.

About 600 beggars of the interconnected districts of Begusarai, Samastipur and Khagaria districts have formed a union, probably the first of its kind in India, to protect their interests.

Like in any other union, this one too has formulated rules and guidelines for begging.

"The beggars union has fixed one day in each town and directed them not to accept less than Re.1," said Karim Ansari, a beggar in Begusarai.

Six towns have been chosen. So, union members descend on Begusarai on Sunday, Monday is spent in Samastipur, Tuesday in Dalsighsarai, Wednesday in Rosera, Friday in Bakhri-Shalona and Saturday in Khagaria.

Thursday is the off day, according to rules of the union, so members can rest after the efforts of the week.

"We take an off day every Thursday like officials do on Sunday to catch up on personal work," said a beggar.

The days of the week have been divided so traders and businessmen, the main almsgivers, are not disturbed every day.

"Members of the union don't beg any day. It was decided not to disturb traders and businessmen," said a beggar.

In case problems crop up, union leaders have cellphones for easy access.

"The beggars' union is very strong. It has cemented unity and made the members aware of their strength," said Prashant Singh, a social activist in Samastipur.

The union has done something else too - given them respect.

"Earlier, we were thrashed, humiliated and chased away. But people have begun to know and fear the union now," said Ramavtar, who begs for alms for a living.

Union members reportedly take home as much as Rs.150 to Rs.200 a day after they organised themselves.

It's a lesson to be learnt by workers in other sectors.

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[Guest]

Hi everybody, I need to introduce myself:
my name is Erica and I'm an Italian woman, I find India interesting on many ways. <!--emo&:thumbsup--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbup.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbup.gif' /><!--endemo-->
I'm starting to study Hindi at the university here in Italy, it's hard for me to learn the Devanagari writing system, but I'll reach my goal.
I'd like to chat with someone to know eveything of India, to make an Italy-India exchange of opinions.
If you reply I'll answer as soon as possible with such a time difference... <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
In the hope of a kind answer I wish to every of you a good day!

[Guest]

Erica, welcome to the forum. You have reached the right place.

By the way, Indians find Italy interesting in many ways too... Do you know about Sonia Manro Gandhi ... Italian born who almost became India's prime minister, before she decided to become a ruler rather than just PM?

[Guest]

Unfortunately for us, our only prominent national acquaintance is with Sonia Maino(?) Gandhi who, being a devout Catholic, has decided to follow the recent papal declaration/order to convert India to Christendom - like how Helena and her evil son Constantine converted Rome.

I've never met any Italians. My only knowledge of the people comes from movies and of course from reading about ancient Rome (which probably makes all that I know out of date).
I admire the old philosophers (which include emperors Marcus Aurelius and Julianus) and the humanity of its people. Joseph McCabe, a historian, wrote that
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In the first century (A.D.), under the pagan emperors, more than three hundred thousand orphans were reared in public institutions in Italy alone. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->That is sign of a wonderful people. All the population in the Roman republic and empire was literate, because they valued education, and teachers were held in high regard (a very auspicious thing, and hallmark of a good people).
I also like how the ancient Romans were incredibly pluralistic - a lot like Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, Shintoists, native Americans and the like. One day I plan to visit Japan (Shinto shrines) and then Greece and Rome, especially the temples.

How could I forget: a big fan of the fantasy movies by the genius Lamberto Bava. Nothing that comes from Hollywood can even remotely compare to the artistic sense, archetypal plot, fabulous actors or insanely funny dialogue in his movies. Great stuff.

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-Erica+Oct 25 2006, 03:43 AM-->QUOTE(Erica @ Oct 25 2006, 03:43 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Hi everybody, I need to introduce myself:
my name is Erica and I'm an Italian woman, I find India interesting on many ways. <!--emo&:thumbsup--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbup.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbup.gif' /><!--endemo-->
I'm starting to study Hindi at the university here in Italy, it's hard for me to learn the Devanagari writing system, but I'll reach my goal.
I'd like to chat with someone to know eveything of India, to make an Italy-India exchange of opinions.
If you reply I'll answer as soon as possible with such a time difference... <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
In the hope of a kind answer I wish to every of you a good day!
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Hi! I am glad to know that you are <!--emo&:rocker--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rocker.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='rocker.gif' /><!--endemo--> learning Hindi despite all difficulties. Excelsior!
I was supposed to be visiting Rome way back in '85 as part of my European excursion but missed it, perhaps, it's not that well linked to other parts of Europe which are linked by train. I am told Rome is beautiful and they say:
Rome was not built in a day.
According to some confidant sources, Pizza is replica of Indian Parantha.
Hope you will enjoy your stay on the forum as there is no chat room.

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-Bodhi+Oct 25 2006, 04:29 AM-->QUOTE(Bodhi @ Oct 25 2006, 04:29 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Erica, welcome to the forum.  You have reached the right place.

By the way, Indians find Italy interesting in many ways too... Do you know about Sonia Manro Gandhi ... Italian born who almost became India's prime minister, before she decided to become a ruler rather than just PM?
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lol, i never thought i would find a resonance with what i heard a jeep driver say to an italian, with a post on this forum.

i was travelling from satna to khajuraho by car with an italian couple and 2 australians, and me and the iralian guy were in the front seat. the driver asked the italian where he was from and when the reply was "italy, our driver answered in 4 words - "very nice, sonia gandhi".

funny how at the mention of italy, the first thing that comes to mind to indians is sonia gandhi !!

[Guest]

my contribution -

indians, esp peninsular indians, had traded with romans since ancient times. loads of roman coins have been found in india (still on display in various museums). Pliny mentioned how indians dupmed goods on Italy the way china does on the world now. Plutarch mentioned a kingdom in gangetic west bengal (the ruins of which are called "Chandraketugarh". http://www.historyofbengal.com/index.html).