New Year Greetings

May you find success, prosperity and happiness in this new year.

Tourism Potential

The New York Times has an interesting statistic- New York City attracted close to 7 million foreign tourists while 4 million foreign tourists visited India in 2005. Every Indian knows the huge potential for tourism in India. If we can attract 30 million tourists to India and assuming a per person spending of $2500 (which I believe is very modest), that works out to a $75 billion earning opportunity! And thats not even counting domestic tourism, which is very huge.

There seems to be very little initiative from the government in realizing this tremendous opportunity. There are several things which I can think of that the government can do-

-Promote India as a great place to travel abroad; the Indian consulates at various countries that have been identified as having potential should advertise in the media; they should ensure that applying for a tourist visa is hassle free and obtaining information about India is easy
-Encourage setting up budget hotels in India; many travelers prefer a place that provides a clean bed and bathroom instead of anything more fancy; govt. should lease the huge land holding the railways have to hotel developers and provide tax breaks for them
-It will be a huge help if the staff at the airports, railway stations and other places where tourists need to deal with govt. agencies are trained to be customer friendly

Many more suggestions can be added to this list. I believe we have many advantages built into our democratic way of life that if we can take care of a few important factors such as those mentioned above, India will be a natural tourist destination even without heavy advertising and promotion. I am sure it is not difficult for the govt. to realize that tourism has the potential of increasing the quality of life for millions of Indians.

Public Broadcasting

I do not have cable TV at home. I have access to only one channel and that is the local public television channel, which I watch once in a while. Some of the programs on this channel are extremely entertaining and educational; especially the science programs (Nova, Nature and some others) and the news analysis programs (Frontline and some others). Most of this TV stations's programs have very little or no advertising. It is mostly supported by contributions from viewers, other donors and may be some funding from the government.

I am beginning to realize the importance of good public television for strengthening democracy. The vast terrestrial network Doordarshan in India has is such an asset if used effectively. The Indian government should loosen its grip on public TV, make it truly autonomous and guarantee funding to it and also allow it to accept donations from viewers and others. It should ensure that public TV becomes a forum for independent film makers and also promote investigative journalism as a check on both government and corporate activities. Perhaps it could invite documentary film makers to produce high quality educational content for national broadcast.

Television can be made a little interactive by allowing viewers to choose what programs they want to watch from a list of options. Previews of these programs can be put up on the internet or in the near future on cell phones. Viewers can then vote for which programs they want and the one which gets the highest votes can be aired. Surely this isn't too difficult to do and all the technology needed already exists.

Operating the terrestrial television network on a no-profit no-loss basis ensures that the medium is financially sustainable and at the same time not altogether at the mercy of market forces. This will provide it with some leeway in its choice of content. The same could be done with All India Radio too.

Land Reforms

Very often we read in the news about some state government or the other promising some private corporation that land will be made available to them for setting up their business operations. Most recently the Andhra Pradesh govt. promising land for a semi-conductor fab plant and a car manufacturer, West Bengal for Tata Motors, Orrisa for mining companies and land for the special economic zones are several examples. I always thought it curious that it was the various governments that were trying to come up with land; shouldn't the corporations be buying land themselves?

Ravikiran Rao's article points out that farmers are not allowed to sell land for non-agricultural purposes. Now that makes everything clear. It is this utterly insane law that prevents corporations from directly buying land and makes them go to the state governments. It isn't difficult to imagine all the corruption this law causes. It also isn't very difficult to imagine the negative consequences of such a law, several of which are pointed out in the article mentioned above.

Do take the time to read the article. Awareness of the basic problem brings about understanding of the issues. Gaurav Sabnis has a related article on land reforms. The fundamental right to property was abolished by the infamous 44th amendment made during the emergency years. That right should be brought back.

The Damage A Simple Beedi Can Do

A couple of years back, Parliament passed a bill making it mandatory for beedi wrappers to have a danger mark on atleast 50% of the area. The danger mark included a skull and two cross-bones. The bill was to come into affect during February 2007. Nothing wrong in having a health warning on something that is genuinely a health hazard. But that was until a by-election was to come up in Karimnagar in Andhra Pradesh.

It happens that a significant percentage of voters in the karimnagar constituency are poor beedi workers, more than half of them women. They feel putting a large warning on their beedi packets will leave no place for their brand logo and might also dissuade people from buying their products; a potential threat to their already poor livelihoods.

The three way political battle for the Karimnagar seat between the ruling Congress, the TDP and TRS parties has turned the whole issue on its head and allowed it to acquire several dimensions. All three political parties are scrambling to assure the voters that they are not responsible for the law and are desperately trying to stand up as the saviors of the voters' livelihoods! But then, there is also the issue of very bad health affects from smoking beedis. To me the whole thing is a classic problem in politics, policy and economics.

The God Hypothesis

It is quite a surprise as well as a pleasure that Richard Dawkins' new book The God Delusion is turning out to be a best seller. May be there are many who are trusting their common sense and discarding this unnecessary body of belief we call religion. I wonder how long it will take for all of humanity to realize that they don't need the concept of a god anymore.

Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate in physics, says- "the world needs to wake up from its long nightmare of religious belief". Indeed, it truly is a long nightmare! Dawkins has a superb description of god (as described in the old testament of christianity)..."arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully".

The sooner we understand and accept the fact that our lives and perhaps the entire universe itself is pointless, the more happier we will be and our lives will be so much more productive.

Child Labor In India

Everywhere in India, it is a fairly common to see children-sometimes very small children-working in a variety of places; road side eateries, tea stalls, dhabas, construction sites, domestic help in cities and towns and as agricultural help among other places in rural areas. Then there are the homeless children everyone sees most commonly in railway stations among other places.

Last month legislation banning employment of children less than 14 years as domestic help and in eateries came into effect. While it is important to provide the problem of child labor with a strong legal basis, I believe this latest ban is futile. In the conditions prevalent in India, simply banning child labor without sorting out many other related issues isn't going to work. The government must ensure that there is a practical alternative for children who are going to be displaced from work because of this ban. There must be free and compulsory schooling, nutritious meals must be provided for them, health care services must be provided, they must be given access to vocational courses, even sporting activities. Simply preventing children from working and then giving them nothing useful to do is retrogressive.

Surely all that involves a huge financial expenditure; but what better investment can we make than in our own children? Finding the money needed for financing these projects won't be a huge challenge for the government. The current issue of Frontline discusses the issue of child labor in India and the legislation in question in great detail.

Further Observations on US Elections

The dust kicked up by election issues seems to have finally settled. The Republican party was routed while the Democratic party has gained majority control of both the houses of congress. There were two principal issues over which the elections were fought; the war in Iraq and corruption/scandals.

The former issue forced the defence secretary Rumsfeld to resign while the latter caused many incumbents to loose re-election bids. The average turnout at the polls was around 40%. For a nation that takes pride in being the most progressive democracy, that is a very low level of participation in the election process.

Not one of my American friends and colleagues voted. Some of them were unaware that there was an election(!) while many others had no idea who the candidates in the fray were or what the issues being debated were. Many told me, they don't vote because their vote cannot change anything and so doesn't count. I disagree with them. I believe the US and its politicians and others involved should make an effort bringing many more to the polls, starting with college students first.

Critical Thinking

Best piece I read today...

"Criticism is the examination and test of propositions of any kind which are offered for acceptance, in order to find out whether they correspond to reality or not. The critical faculty is a product of education and training. It is a mental habit and power. It is a prime condition of human welfare that men and women should be trained in it. It is our only guarantee against delusion, deception, superstition, and misapprehension of ourselves and our earthly circumstances. Education is good just so far as it produces well-developed critical faculty. ...A teacher of any subject who insists on accuracy and a rational control of all processes and methods, and who holds everything open to unlimited verification and revision is cultivating that method as a habit in the pupils. Men educated in it cannot be stampeded...They are slow to believe. They can hold things as possible or probable in all degrees, without certainty and without pain. They can wait for evidence and weigh evidence...They can resist appeals to their dearest prejudices...Education in the critical faculty is the only education of which it can be truly said that it makes good citizens." -William Graham Sumner

The Domestic Violence Act

Indian women have been empowered with a new act-The Domestic Violence (Prevention) Act. The law has a broad definition of domestic violence and includes not only married women, but also mothers facing abuse from children, widows from relatives, sisters from brothers and even women in live in relationships. It essentially tries to ensure that women are free from domestic violence of all forms.

I believe that is an important piece of legislation. Used together with anti-dowry laws and the recent reforms to the Hindu inheritance act, this new law, atleast legally protects and empowers Indian women in a very broad based way. However, as with any other legislation and policy, implementation is the key. The act is rich in detail about how it will be implemented and how victims of domestic violence can seek assistance, but until there is awareness in every strata of society, it may be of little use.

Womens' organizations in India and NGO's working in the area of women's rights and empowerment are doing a great job of putting some pressure on the government in getting such laws enacted; I hope they are doing an equally good job spreading awareness about these laws, especially to rural women.

I wonder if laws trying to ensure social justice and equality can be gender free. I mean, while it is all very nice to have laws protecting the women, what about the men? Surely, we don't have to look very far to find men at the receiving end of their wives' tantrums!

Note:
More info about this is available in this interview at Rediff

Election Time In The US

Next week is election time here in the US, and unless you turn on the TV, you barely notice that important elections are round the corner. There is no noise on the streets, no public open meetings, and absolutely no involvement of college students in the entire process. Elections in India are so much more fun.

The fun part aside, to me there are several surprising elements about the electoral process here. Election day is not a public holiday! I believe election day must be a holiday, so that it is convenient for everybody to go out and vote. The elections are conducted by the local county. There is no central authority like the Election Commission we have in India. I think our system of having a constitutionally mandated central election authority conduct all elections is much more efficient and better. An independent organization that specializes in conducting elections ensures that there is very little or no bias in the process and also that local government resources are not strained.

It is possible that the above reasons explain the abysymally low turnout at the polls here compared to the very high turnouts (typically >60%) we have in India. I get the feeling that the so called 'world's greatest democracy' does very little to motivate its citizens to vote. This may be one area where our system is far superior.

Update:
Here is a AP/Yahoo News story on Why do so few people vote in the US?. As far as I know, the article just doesn't seems to get it! Also read this interesting article...Prof Greg Mankiw explains why some people shouldn't vote

Congratulations to Muhammad Yunus

Congratulations to Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank for winning the 2006 Nobel Peace prize. One of the better deserved recipient of the peace prize in the recent past. With all the attention he and his bank will now get, I hope the concept of micro-credit becomes much more well known and finds a lot more takers. Especially in India, where it has the potential of revolutionizing the rural areas.

On another note, there was an interview in The Hindu with the chairman of the Peace Prize committee, in which he deliberates on Gandhi not receiving the prize although he was nominated several times. My view is that, Gandhi was far above these prizes and awards that it is much better he was not awarded the Peace Prize or the Bharat Ratna. There are a few extraordinarily great men who happen to this planet once in a while and for them there can be no prizes.

Sightings On The Road

I drove to Bozeman, MT on the I-90; here are some signs I saw along the way...

Testicle Festival- Come Have a Ball!

I was told it was about a food festival, where the 'delicacy' is bull's testicles! Who ever got the idea of eating something like that...

Spinal Adjustment for just $ 27

I saw that sign when driving through the Nez-Perce native American reservation. I thought it was best to stay away from it.

Jesus is lord of this Valley

I am not sure how it's like across other parts of this country, but along this drive someone made sure that we just cannot get Jesus out of our heads!

North Korea's Nuclear Test

The claim by North Korea that it tested a nuclear device is a most dramatic development. I say claim because there still seems to be disagreement and inconsistencies about the test. First, many have concluded that the device was around 0.5 Kilotons, which is too small for a nuclear device. India's was ~ 500 KT. So, it is not yet clear if the test failed or if it was an elaborately staged ruse. Even if it was a failed nuclear test, it is still a dangerous development because it implies they are getting close.

Some years back, the US president called Iraq, Iran and North Korea "the axis of evil". While the US was quick to attack Iraq with the most dubious claim of possesing or trying to posses "weapons of mass destruction", the other two alleged members have quitely gone ahead with their nuclear programs! So much so that the test by north Korea is like it showing the middle finger to the US.

The US is currently embroiled in the conflict in Iraq, which it cannot get out of any time soon; it seems to have little leverage with Iran and cannot do anything about Iran's defiance and now they have to deal with North Korea's nuclear test. Challenging times for US foreign policy.

PBS Documentary on The Return Of The Taliban

PBS broadcast a program titled "The Return of the Taliban" on its Frontline series which air at 9 pm on tuesdays. The program was informative, somewhat gruesome, very interesting and above all such a damning indiction of Pakistan's role in sustaining the terror apparatus.

You can watch the full program online. Seen in the context of the Mumbai's Police's revelation, that the ISI planned the entire operation that resulted in the bombing of the sub-urban trains in Mumbai, the PBS documentary is very insightful.

It Is The Problem!

Musharaff has certainly had a very eventful 18 days of travel to Havana, various places in the US and London. The best time he seems to have had is at the NAM summit in Havana. After that he has either been on the offensive or defensive.

Whatever we have against him, I think we have got to admit that the guy is a genius in his line and a true survivor. He plays India, the US and the radical Islamic parties in Pakistan simultaneouly. He also has the savvy of a marketing executive, which was in full display when he was promoting the book he wrote.

Just one statement from him as soon as he landed in the US, that he was threatened about his country being bombed back to the stone age if he did not co-operate, was enough for the entire media to take notice. The timing of such a statement was perfect. I can only speculate that in his anaysis, he must have determined that with Bush at his lowest popularity ratings ever, he could not only get away with such a statement but also profit from it by portraying himself and his country as the victim!

In one of his interviews, what he said of A.Q. Khan might as well be a very good description of his own country. His country is not a part of the problem, it is the problem.

Women in Science

Recently there were reports (e.g. here) in the news about bias against women in science in the US. That was somewhat surprising to me; I thought the social conditions here were so much better that something like that would be unheard of. May be that partly explains why there is just one women professor in my department. I assume the situation for women in India, not only in science, but in all other careers is surely worse.

Many suggest that women may lack the ability to undertake careers such as science. I believe that may not be the case; afterall, we are all human and there is no reason to think that the genders are differently endowed. Also, we simply lack any evidence to support the argument about the lack of ability in women. Women have never been evaluated in the same social conditions as men.

Social realities for women are drastically different for women in India compared to men. As far as I know the most important reason for this is child birth and rearing. Women usually become mothers in the beginning stages of their career and it is not hard to imagine how incredibly difficult the simultaneous tasks of both managing their careers and their homes must be. Even more so when their careers are demanding like the sciences and engineering.

For rural women and women from the poorer classes in India, the challenges are much more complex. Much more complex for me to even begin to understand what the issues are.

The Agrarian Crisis

For the past three to four years, much of the economic news in India has been very positive. Each quarter seems to be better than the previous one in terms of growth, there surely is a lot of visible growth in the cities and the foreign media is all agog about the India growth story.

I believe all this economic growth is driven by growth in the major urban areas such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai etc. Take a drive out of any of these cities and the rural scene is almost the same as a decade ago or may be worse.

A few publications such as the Hindu (through its rural affairs editor, P.Sainath), the Frontline and some regional news papers have been highlighting the plight of the farmers in several regions in south India. Farmers in Vidharbha, Telangana, Wayanad and central Tamil Nadu are committing suicide because they are unable to repay their crushing debts. I think we should, at the least, stay informed about the situation and what is being done if any about it.

This fortnight's Frontline has a cover page story about this agrarian crisis. There is a different point of view expressed at the Indian Economy Blog. Do read the articles at those links.

The Next Industrial Giant Is...India?

So says the headline in yesterday's New York Times. An excerpt,

For decades, India had followed a route to economic development strikingly different from that of countries like Japan, South Korea or China. While its Asian rivals placed their bets on manufacturing and exports, India focused on its domestic economy and grew more slowly with an emphasis on services.

But all that is starting to change.

Read the full article; very interesting. India was and is still said to base it's economic growth on IT and other services. This article tells us that is begining to change. A very welcome development as far as my understanding goes. I believe manufacturing is important not only because of it export potential but also for strengthening the domestic economy.

Best Sentence of The Day

Best sentence I read today...

"Losing a lover is better than loving a loser".

But here is a better one...

"You talk to god, you are religious. God talk's to you, you are psychotic." (from www.randi.org)