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Don't shun US military market

The End-use monitoring (EUM) agreement that the United States has sought before there can be any sale of military equipment manufactured or designed by US entities has become a lightning rod in the wake of
the just-concluded visit to Delhi by US secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

While the government has only "announced" that agreement has been reached between India and the US during the Clinton visit, no formal document has been signed - as of now.

Opponents to this preliminary initiative have taken intense exception to the various clauses that are included in this EUM and have suggested that this is an infringement of India's sovereignty. Yes, some of the clauses are indeed very intrusive and impose restrictions that would, on the face of it, impede India's freedom as it were. And yes, a purely textual analysis of each clause would bear this out.

But the context behind the EUM and India's current and long-term national interest merit some careful scrutiny. This EUM flows from the arms export legislation the US adopted as far back as 1976. Hence, any country that wishes to access the US military suppliers market has to comply. There are no exceptions. And as of now, 82 nations in the world including the US' closet military allies such as UK, Japan and Australia have accepted this provision.

India is in dire need of modernising its military inventory and must therefore have access to the world's major military technology and related platform suppliers. The reality is that the US leads the list.

Currently India's major military inventory supplier is Russia, which has inherited the former Soviet mantle.

If India comes to an objective and clearly through-through dec

The joint statement issued by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani at Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt on the sidelines of the NAM Summit has generated considerable comment in both countries and is being interpreted across a wide bandwidth that ranges from outright condemnation to cautious cheer.

India and Pakistan are now back to formal engagement -- albeit in a brittle manner with many caveats after the composite dialogue, that goes back to January 2004, had been put on freeze by India after the
Mumbai terrorist attack of November 2008.

It is instructive that this modest breakthrough came on the eve of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit, which marks the first high-level political contact between the Obama administration and the
UPA government after it was voted back to power.

The operative part of the statement is contained in a mere 18 words that read as: "Action on terrorism should not be linked to the composite dialogue process and these should not be bracketed."

Critics in India have flayed Singh for his seeming 'capitulation' and invoked the criticism that he is 'weak' -- a charge leveled against him during the early 2009 campaign phase.

In Pakistan, the joint statement is being perceived as a victory for Islamabad which had long sought this decoupling of action against terrorism (a euphemism for the

Deepak R wrote the following piece, and does anyone have answers ?

"Shekhar, you started your blog'site' with something so simple and smelling fresh:

'I exist because you imagine I do'.

Where did that come from ? One could have pretty much stopped with at that. And it would not matter.

However words keep appearing on the windscreen of your experience. There is a need to put them out for the imagined outer world. A need to bounce them off. To see how they would bounce back. To constantly throw pebbles into the pool of stillness and watch the ripples. People coming here are keen to throw a few of their pebbles in as well. There are some that observe and comment on the ripples and some who see the stillness against which they appear.

Why this need?. It seems, after all, the people have the need to sustain the imagination that 'you exist', is it not Shekhar. This intimate and torrid love affair with ideas, words on the blog,in the mind, can it end, no denying it is most enjoyable!! But to whom? Who is hell bent on stamping his existence through these imprints ? Who is he reporting the success or failure of his effort to ?"

James Baldwin, writing in an essay in 1985 in his essay Here Be Dragons, where he says : "The Michael Jackson cacophony is fascinating in that it is not about Jackson at all. I hope he has the good sense to know it and the good fortune to snatch his life out of the jaws of a carnivorous success. He will not swiftly be forgiven for having turned so many tables, for he damn sure grabbed the brass ring, and the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo has nothing on Michael."And he goes on to say, "Freaks are called freaks and are treated as they are treated-in the main, abominably-because they are human beings who cause to echo, deep within us, our most profound terrors and desires."

Source: shekharkapur.com

The time has come for Indian Muslims to kick out the ghost of 1947, prove their patriotism and disengage Pakistan in one master stroke:

Ample historic evidence proves that Taj Mahal was originally called as Tejo Mahalaya, a palace temple of Lord Shiva.

www.stephen-knapp.com/was_the_taj_mahal_a_vedic_temple.htm

Narendra Modi likes to call Muslims "Babur ke aulad - Children of Babur". Let him get his facts right. More than 60% of Indian Muslims are Shudra converts who renounced Hinduism to escape the caste based discrimination and suppression. The rest are from other high castes. Who is Babur ke aulad?. Look at Taj Mahal. Shahjehan is the true Babur ke aulad. Majority Hindus think that Taj Mahal is a Muslim holy shrine. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, this is an unIslamic structure. Shahjehan constructed a Mosque like structure on the cemetry of his wife and worshipped (ibadad) her for the rest of his life, ignoring the duty and welfare for his citizens. This is "shirq" in Islam. A simple Mosque in a Muslim "mohallah" is much more dearer for us than Taj Mahal, which has got nothing to do with our faith Islam.

Babri Masjid demolition and Gujarat massacre shook the Muslim masses from their sound slumber and today we can see steep growth in educated Muslims who have started making their mark in all walks of life. Thanks. Tejo Mahalaya will push them out of their "Lakshman Rekha" and pave the way for PM/CMs.

To win the trust and confidence of 800 million Hindus, 250 mill

As IndiaAs India is set to go to general elections in 13 days, India Today conducted an Opinion Poll along with AC Neilsen to gauge the mood of the nation.

The survey was conducted between February 16 and March 10. A total of 12,734 eligible voters across 98 constituencies in 19 states were surveyed.

The preliminary mandate is that Lok Sabha 2009 is expected to be the closest finish ever.

• Congress and allies are expected to get between 190-199 seats
• BJP and allies may get between 172-181 seats
• Others are predicted to bag between 163-172 seats

So, for the first time-ever, instead of two there are three main contenders in the fray, and each of these has sway over about one-third of the Lok Sabha.

Gain and loss
The gain and loss is clearer if we look at the scenario in 2004. The Lok Sabha in 2004 looked as follows:

• BJP+(184)
• Cong+(234)
• Others (125)

Clearly, the UPA appears to be losing ground and the Third Front is gaining.

Reactions
BJP spokesperson claimed the Congress-led UPA disintegrating came as no surprise. He further claimed the base of NDA still remains wide today with SAD, JD-U, Shiv Sena and AGP being trustworthy allies, though the BJD behaved in a opportunistic manner in Orissa.

"The era of Third Front has gone in 1996-97 and people will go for an alternative government," claimed BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad.

Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said that the possibility of a third front government is unlikely because the BJP and the Congress were together clocking 360 seats.

Tom Vadakkan added, "Third Front is like a mirage in the de