The Indian Panorama

Tag: Barack Obama

  • Confident Obama predicts success in immigration appeal

    Confident Obama predicts success in immigration appeal

    MIAMI (TIP): President Barack Obama is urging immigrants thrown into limbo by legal wrangling to keep planning for eventual relief.

    He’s professing confidence that his deportation directives won’t be thrown out in court. Obama says his administration has appealed a Texas judge’s injunction aggressively and will keep fighting it. He says he expects to win when a U.S. circuit court hears his appeal. But he says if the appeal fails, his administration will “take it up from there”, in an apparent reference to the Supreme Court.

    Obama says at each stage, the White House believes it has the better argument.

    Obama spoke at a town hall meeting in Miami hosted by the Spanish-language TV network Telemundo. He says he’s “absolutely committed” to his policy shielding millions in the U.S. illegally from deportation.

  • No dilution of nuclear liability law, says Swaraj

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The government on Thursday reiterated that no clause connected to the amount of compensation under the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act was waived off in the recent India-US agreement during US President Barack Obama’s visit. Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj told Rajya Sabha that Rs 1,500 crore was meant for “immediate compensation” of victims in case of a nuclear accident through the nuclear insurance pool, but the amount was “not the outer limit”.

    She said the CLND Act prescribes that the maximum amount of liability in respect of each nuclear incident shall be the rupee equivalent of 300 million Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), which amounts to around Rs 2,610 crore at present.

    India will also be able to access international funds under the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC) once it is a party to that convention. Moreover, Swaraj said the government could also notify a higher amount if required

  • WHO WILL BELL THE NUCLEAR CAT? – Perspective on Nuclear India

    WHO WILL BELL THE NUCLEAR CAT? – Perspective on Nuclear India

    The world faces two existential threats: Climate change and nuclear Armageddon – and the bomb can kill us all a lot sooner and faster. The nuclear peace has held thus far as much because of good luck as sound stewardship, with an alarmingly large number of near accidents and false alarms by the nuclear rivals. Having learnt to live with nuclear weapons for 70 years, we have become desensitised to the gravity and immediacy of the threat. The tyranny of complacency could yet exact a fearful price with nuclear Armageddon. It really is long past time to lift the shroud of the mushroom cloud from the international body politic.

    Keeping nuclear nightmare at bay

    India’s propensity to let the best become the enemy of the good notwithstanding (the nuclear liability law is a good recent example), the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) has kept the nuclear nightmare at bay for over four decades. The number of countries to sign it embraces virtually the entire family of nations. The number of countries with nuclear weapons is still -if only just – in single figures. Yet at the same time, the nuclear arsenals of the five NPT-defined nuclear weapons states expanded enormously under the NPT umbrella. The global total number of nuclear warheads climbed steadily after 1945, peaked in the mid-1980s at more than 70,000, and has fallen since then to a current total of almost 16,400 stockpiled by the world’s nine nuclear-armed states.

    Paradox of deterrence

    The central paradox of nuclear deterrence may be bluntly stated: Nuclear weapons are useful only if the threat to use them is credible but, if deterrence fails, they must never be used for fear of destroying the planet. Second, they are useful for some, but must be stopped from spreading to anyone else. Third, the most substantial progress so far on dismantlement and destruction of nuclear weapons has occurred as a result of bilateral US and Soviet/Russian treaties, agreements and measures, most recently a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START). But a nuclear-weapon-free world will have to rest on a legally binding multilateral international instrument such as a nuclear weapons convention.

    Reluctant possessor

    India is the most firmly committed of the nuclear nine to such a goal that would be fully consistent with its policy as the most reluctant nuclear weapons possessor of them all. No other country paused for 24 years between the first test and eventual weaponisation. Successive governments, even since the 1998 tests, have declared with conviction that a nuclear-weapon-free world would enhance India’s national and global security, and also contribute to the attainment of India’s development goals.

    Optimism in 2009 to pessimism in 2015

    Five years ago hopes were high that the world was at last seriously headed towards nuclear disarmament. In April 2009 the (then) exciting new US President Barack Obama gave a stirring and inspiring speech in Prague outlining his dream of a world free of the existence and threat of nuclear weapons. The US and Russia negotiated New START that will cut their deployed strategic nuclear warheads by one-third to 1,550 each. The inaugural Nuclear Security Summit in Washington attracted broad international buy-in to an ambitious new agenda. In contrast to the total and scandalous failure of its 2005 predecessor, the Eighth NPT Review Conference of 2010 was a modest success.

    By the end of 2012, however, as reported in my Centre’s inaugural “Nuclear Weapons: The State of Play” report, much of this sense of optimism had evaporated. By the end of 2014, as our follow-up report “Nuclear Weapons: The State of Play 2015” documents, the fading optimism has given way to pessimism.

    A few silver linings

    To be sure, as always, there are a few silver linings. One has been the modest success of the Washington (2010), Seoul (2012) and The Hague (2014) Nuclear Security Summits in generating some consensus about the need to ensure that nuclear weapons and fissile material do not get into terrorist hands. Even here, however, much remains to be done to implement a fully effective international nuclear security system, setting global standards, including military materials within the nuclear security efforts, and with an accountability mechanism – and Russia has declined to participate further in the summit process.

    Another positive development has been the emergence of the humanitarian consequences movement. Successive conferences in Norway, Mexico and Austria have mobilised governments as well as civil society to focus on the reality that any use of nuclear weapons, the most indiscriminately inhumane ever devised, would have a catastrophic human and environmental impact, beyond the capacity of any one state’s, or all acting together through international organisations, emergency systems to address.

    Even so, levels of public engagement on nuclear weapons issues remain low and the nuclear-armed states are under little pressure to justify the claimed security benefits of nuclear deterrence, or to rigorously defend their vast expenditure on nuclear weapons and modernisation as an effective use of public money.

    The gathering nuclear storm

    Nuclear-armed states pay lip-service to the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons, but none has committed to any “minimisation objective,” nor to any specific timetable for their major reduction – let alone abolition. On the evidence of the size of their weapons arsenals, fissile material stocks, force modernisation plans, stated doctrine and known deployment practices, all nine foresee indefinite retention of nuclear weapons and a continuing role for them in their security policies.

    North Korea conducted its third nuclear test in 2013 and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is yet to enter into force. We are no closer to resolving the challenge posed by North Korea and a comprehensive agreement on Iran eluded negotiators by the extended deadline of November 24. The push for NPT-mandated talks on a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East has stalled and the region remains highly volatile.

    New START was signed and ratified, but the treaty left stockpiles intact and disagreements about missile defence and conventional-arms imbalances unresolved. Nuclear weapons numbers have decreased overall but are increasing in Asia
    (India, Pakistan, China and North Korea); and fissile material production to make still more warheads is not yet banned. Cyber-threats to nuclear weapons systems have intensified, outer space remains at risk of nuclearisation, and the upsurge of geopolitical tensions over the crisis in Ukraine produced flawed conclusions about the folly of giving up nuclear weapons on the one hand, and open reminders about Russia’s substantial nuclear arsenal, on the other.

    The peoples of the world recognise the risks and dangers of nuclear arsenals. Curiously, however, their concerns and fears find little reflection in the media coverage or in governments’ policy priorities. In a recent survey conducted by the US Pew Research Center, nuclear weapons was chosen as the top threat in 10 of the 44 countries polled (including nuclear-armed states Russia and Pakistan), and as the second gravest threat in another 16 (including China). They were rated the top threat by 20 per cent of the people in the Middle East, 19 per cent in Europe, 21per in Asia, 26 per cent in Latin America, 22 per cent in Africa, and 23 per cent in the US.

    Latin America’s anti-nuclear commitment was reinforced by the negotiation of the regional nuclear-weapon-free zone in 1967 under the Treaty of Tlatelolco which consolidates and deepens the NPT prohibitions on getting the bomb. Since then virtually the entire southern hemisphere has embraced additional comparable zones in the South Pacific, Southeast Asia and Africa (plus Central Asia and Mongolia).

    Mitigating & eliminating nuclear risks

    Consequently, looking out at the world from our vantage point, we see no security upsides by way of benefits from nuclear weapons; only risks. Indeed it helps to conceptualise the nuclear weapons challenge in the language of risks. Originally, many countries acquired the bomb in order to help manage national security risks. As the four famous strategic heavyweights of Henry Kissinger, Sam Nunn, William Perry and George Shultz – all card-carrying realists – have argued in a series of five influential articles in The Wall Street Journal between 2007 and 2013, today the risks of nuclear proliferation and terrorism posed by nuclear weapons far outweigh their modest contributions to security.

    Viewed through this lens, the nuclear risks agenda has four components.

    First, risk management. We must ensure that existing weapons stockpiles are not used; that all nuclear weapons and materials are secured against theft and leakage to rogue actors like terrorist groups; and that all nuclear reactors and plants have fail-safe safety measures in place with respect to designs, controls, disposal and accident response systems.

    Second, risk reduction, for example by strengthening the stability-enhancing features of deterrence, such as robust command and control systems and deployment on submarines. Russia and the US could help by taking their 1,800 nuclear warheads off high-alert, ready to launch within minutes of threats being supposedly detected.

    Other countries, including Pakistan, could abandon interest in things like tactical nuclear weapons that have to be deployed on the forward edges of potential battlefields and require some pre-delegation of authority to use to battlefield commanders. Because any use of nuclear weapons could be catastrophic for planet Earth, the decision to do so must be restricted to the highest political and military authorities.

    Third, risk minimisation. There is no national security objectives that Russia and the US could not meet with a total arsenal of under 500 nuclear warheads each deployed across air, land and sea-borne platforms. If all others froze their arsenals at current levels, this would give us a global stockpile of 2,000 bombs or one-eighth the current total.

    Bringing the CTBT into force either by completing the required ratifications or changing the entry formula, concluding a new fissile material cut-off treaty, banning the nuclear weaponisation of outer space, respecting one another’s sensitivities on missile defence programs and conventional military imbalances etc. would all contribute to minimising risks of reversals and setbacks.

    None of these steps would jeopardise the national security of any nuclear-armed state; each would enhance regional and international security modestly; all in combination would greatly strengthen global security.

    Finally, risk elimination. Successive international commissions – the Canberra Commission, Tokyo Forum, Blix Commission, Evans -Kawaguchi Commission – have emphatically reaffirmed three core propositions. As long as any state has nuclear weapons, others will want them. As long as they exist, they will be used again some day, if not by design and intent, then through miscalculation, accident, rogue launch or system malfunction. Any such use anywhere could spell catastrophe for the planet.

    The only guarantee of zero nuclear weapons risk, therefore, is to move to zero nuclear weapons possession by a carefully managed process.

  • Obama taps Indian Americans to fix things at home and abroad

    Obama taps Indian Americans to fix things at home and abroad

    WASHINGTON (TIP): President Barack Obama, with the largest number of Indian Americans in his administration, keeps dipping into the expanding talent pool of the three million-strong Indian American community, to take care of issues ranging from combating terrorist propaganda abroad to nation’s health at home, says a February 24  IANS report.

    Obama taps Indian Americans post image

    Last week, after an international conference on terrorism, Obama named Rashad Hussain, a Muslim of Indian heritage, as US Special Envoy and Coordinator for Strategic Counter-Terrorism Communications. Son of immigrant parents from India, Hussain had since 2010 served as US Special Envoy to the 57-member Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), to build partnerships with Muslim communities around the world.

    Also last week, the White House named Dhanurjay ‘DJ’ Patil as its first chief data scientist to help shape policies and practices to help the US remain a leader in technology and innovation. Rajiv Shah, another son of immigrant Indian parents, Friday, February 20, left the US Agency for International Development (USAID) after five years at the helm of the agency engaged in a mission of ending extreme poverty and promoting resilient, democratic societies.

    At a little over three million, Americans of Indian ancestry make up about one percent of the US population, the country’s third largest Asian ancestry group after Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans. But they are America’s best educated and the richest lot gaining prominence in every field from academia to science and technology.

    They run various businesses, own about 80,000 convenience stores and manage over 20,000 motels — or Potels as they have come to be known as most of these are run by the Patel community from Gujarat.

    Over 100,000 physicians of Indian origin take care of the nation’s health. Many head America’s top educational institutions, including the prestigious Harvard Business School. Now they are gaining a foothold in government and politics too.

    With over a score direct Obama appointees in high places, two governors, a House member, a state attorney general and eight state legislators, Indian Americans have over the years gained power and influence far beyond their numbers. And their power keeps growing.

    Among the recent Obama nominees was Arun Majumdar, an Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay) alumnus who began serving as one of four US science envoys Last month.

    Earlier in December, Vivek Murthy created history as the youngest US Surgeon General and the first of Indian descent after cooling his heels for more than a year for Senate confirmation as ‘America’s doctor’ in the face of strong opposition by the powerful gun lobby.

    But unlike Murthy, Richard Rahul Verma sailed through the Senate to take up his position as Washington’s first Indian American envoy in New Delhi ahead of Obama’s historic visit to become the first US president to be the guest of honour at India’s Republic Day.

    With Verma in New Delhi and Nisha Desai Biswal heading the State Department’s South Asia bureau, Indian Americans are now watching US interests in both capitals.

    Biswal is assisted by Atul Keshap, another Indian American, while Puneet Talwar as assistant secretary for political-military affairs serves as a bridge between the State and Defense departments. And Arun Madhavan Kumar as assistant secretary of commerce and director general of the US and Foreign Commercial Service is charged with boosting US trade.

    Amid growing protests over the treatment of blacks, Obama chose Vanita Gupta to lead the US justice department’s civil rights division charged with enforcing laws that prevent discrimination.

    Another Indian American Anita M. Singh was picked up for a key job in the Justice Department’s National Security Division
    (NSD) to counter state-sponsored economic espionage and proliferation, including through cyberspace. Indira Talwani and Manish Shah became the first Asian American federal judges in Massachusetts and Obama’s home state of Illinois, respectively.

    To clean up the Wall Street, Obama picked up Preet Bharara as New York’s US attorney. Known in India for his dogged prosecution of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, Bharara tasted his first defeat in July after winning 85 insider trading cases.

    Earlier in his first term, Obama chose Aneesh Paul Chopra as America’s first chief technology officer and Vivek Kundra as the first US chief information officer.

    Rohit “Ro” Khanna served as deputy assistant secretary in the US Commerce department before making an unsuccessful bid for the US House seat last November.

    And Neel Tushar Kashkari, who made a failed run for California governor in November, earned the nickname of “700 billion-dollar man” for leading the federal bank bailout plan from October 2008 to May 2009.

  • Congressman Claims Immigrants Are Netting $24,000 Each From Obama’s Executive Action

    Congressman Claims Immigrants Are Netting $24,000 Each From Obama’s Executive Action

    During a town hall meeting in Payson, Arizona last week, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) stunned constituents when he claimed that undocumented immigrants could stand to receive $24,000 in retroactive compensation after they are approved for the president’s executive action on immigration relief.

    GOSAR: It was learned the household income deferred tax credit applied retroactively for three years. So each illegal alien will get $24,000 in compensation.AUDIENCE MEMBER: What?GOSAR: Yep, absolutely. When you start looking at the process where the GDP [gross domestic product] in Mexico, the second largest input to that, is our system of Social Security and benefits. And they’re going to make this go away.

    As the Washington Post pointed out in its Fact Checker column that ranked the statement with four Pinnochios, Gosar’s claim is inaccurate. Under the president’s executive action to grant temporary work authorization and deportation relief, undocumented immigrants would be allowed to apply for Social Security numbers, which Gosar indicated, could in turn allow them to “file amended tax returns for the last three years claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit. (Gosar called it the ‘household deferred tax credit,’ but he meant the EITC.).” But as a Treasury Department spokesman told the author, the claims process could actually result in people, who don’t work on the books, owing taxes. It’s also an unlikely scenario for undocumented immigrants to earn $24,000, or the “maximum credit” available to taxpayers with three or more children and who are within a specific income range. About 12 percent of EITC recipients fulfill the criteria, but many of them don’t qualify for the maximum credit.

    What’s more, Social Security is not the second largest part of Mexico’s gross domestic product. As Gosar’s spokesman Steven Smith told the Washington Post, “Smith said that Gosar was talking about remittances and its impact on the Mexican economy.” Remittances actually make up only two percent of Mexico’s GDP.

    Undocumented immigrants already pay into the Social Security system, having a “net positive effect on Social Security financial status,” and contributing roughly $12 billion to the cash flow of the program in the year 2010, according to a 2013 Social Security Administration report.

    Other lawmakers have made similar arguments, calling alleged compensation “amnesty bonuses,” including Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE), and Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC). Sasse said during in his testimony last week, “By subsidizing illegal entry with four years’ worth of new tax credits, the IRS would promote lawlessness. This program severely undermines the White House’s lip-service to enforcing the law and would increase the burden on law-abiding taxpayers.”

    Gosar has stretched the truth about undocumented immigrants in the past. Last September, Gosar tweeted pictures of himself squatting near barbed wire. He wrote, “25 miles of barbed wire fence is the only thing keeping #ISIS out of America. We must secure the border #AZBorderTour.” Obama administration officials dismissed claims that ISIS members could sneak into the country by land, not least of which because federal spending on immigration enforcement already costs $18 billion.

    Gosar has also supported: a bill to end the president’s 2012 deferred action program to grant temporary deportation relief and work authorization; limiting citizenship to children born to U.S. citizens or nationals or other lawful residents; likening the Obama administration’s lawsuit against the anti-immigration law in Arizona known as SB 1070 to a “declaration of war [by the federal government] against Arizona;” and sending troops to the border.

    The president’s latest executive action, which would have affected about one-third of the undocumented population, was temporarily blocked by a federal judge in Texas this week.

  • Another from Giuliani – Now Obama is influenced by communists

    Another from Giuliani – Now Obama is influenced by communists

    Rudy Giuliani doubled down on his claims that President Obama doesn’t “love America” in an interview with The Post Friday — claiming the commander-in-chief has been influenced by communists since his youth.

    “From the time he was 9 years old, he was influenced by Frank Marshall Davis, who was a communist,” Giuliani said. The ex-mayor added that Obama’s grandfather introduced him to Davis, a writer and labor activist.

    Giuliani also said another bad influence on Obama was Saul Alinsky, a community organizer whom the ex-mayor called a “socialist.”

    The man once called “America’s mayor’’ also sharply criticized the president for having been a member of a church led by radical Chicago Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

    “He spent 17 years in the church of Jeremiah Wright, and this is the guy who said ‘God damn America, not God bless America,’ ’’ Giuliani said.

    “Obama never left that church.”

    Giuliani said Obama doesn’t measure up to past presidents.

    “He doesn’t talk about America the way John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan did, about America’s greatness and exceptionalism,” said Giuliani.

    “He was educated by people who were critics of the US. And he has not been able to overcome those influences.”

    Giuliani also implied he was the only one with the chutzpah to call out Obama, saying: “Somebody has to raise these issues with the president. Somebody has to have the courage to stand up.”

    Giuliani also bashed Obama for seeming to focus more attention on the police shooting in Missouri, which, he said, “turned out to be justified,” than the killings by Islamic fanatics. “How could you hold a press conference about Ferguson and not hold a press conference when Christians and Jews were slaughtered?” he asked.

    In a previous interview with The New York Times, Giuliani said his recent comments aren’t racist, because Obama was brought up by a “white mother” and went to “white schools.”

    Referring to his claim that Obama doesn’t love America, Giuliani told The Post, “I don’t back off of that one bit.’’

    Meanwhile, the White House countered by trying to make Giuliani seem less like a heroic guardian — and more like an oddball whom no one wants to be around.

     

  • OBAMA DOES NOT LOVE AMERICA: Says GIULIANI – Most read

    OBAMA DOES NOT LOVE AMERICA: Says GIULIANI – Most read

    WASHINGTON (TIP): Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani has sparked off a political firestorm in the US with his remarks that President Barack Obama does not love America, a comment termed as “horrible” by the White House.

    “I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the President loves America,” Giuliani said during a fundraising dinner at the 21 Club, a former Prohibition-era speakeasy in midtown Manhattan.

    “Honestly, I don’t and you don’t know what he truly believes. I’m talking about the way that he (Obama) expresses himself. I can’t tell you what’s within his heart,” said Giuliani, whose controversial remarks on Wednesday night were first reported by the Politico.

    “He does not love you. And he doesn’t love me. He was not brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country,” the former New York mayor was quoted as saying.

    Giuliani reiterated the comments in an interview on CNN yesterday saying, “President Obama was brought up in an atmosphere in which he was taught to be a critic of America. That is a distinction with prior American presidents.” 

    At the same time, the former New York mayor insisted that Obama is a patriot.

    [quote_box_center]Also Read : Obama is the right man at the right time and the right place, God bless him![/quote_box_center]
  • Indian-American Rashad Hussain appointed US Special Envoy and Coordinator

    Indian-American Rashad Hussain appointed US Special Envoy and Coordinator

     

    In 2009, Hussain worked with the NSC in developing and pursuing the New Beginning that Obama outlined in Egypt. Before joining the White House, he was a member of the legal staff for the Presidential Transition Team.

     
    Hussain received his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School, where he served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal. & He also earned his Master’s degrees in Public Administration (Kennedy School of Government) and Arabic and Islamic Studies from Harvard University. 
    Upon graduation, he served as a Law Clerk to Damon J Keith on the US Court of Appeals. He also served as a Trial Attorney at the US Department of Justice. Earlier in his career, he was a legislative assistant on the House Judiciary Committee, where he focused on national security-related issues.
     
    Hussain, son of Indian immigrants from Bihar, is a Hafiz of the holy Quran. Hafiz is a term used for someone who has completely memorised the Quran. 
  • US Lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard to Marry in Vedic Ceremony

    US Lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard to Marry in Vedic Ceremony

    Tulsi Gabbard, the first ever Hindu lawmaker in the US Congress, would marry cinematographer Abraham Williams in April in a vedic ceremony, a media report has said. The marriage will take place in Hawaii.

    The second term Democratic Congresswoman from Hawaii, Ms Gabbard, 33, had announced her engagement about a month ago.
     
    She disclosed the identity of her fiancee in an interview to the local Honolulu Star Advertiser published this week. “Both Abraham and I are generally kind of private people. He has nothing to do with politics. He’s a humble, great guy who doesn’t want to be in the limelight, so this is something new to the both of us,” Ms Gabbard told the daily newspaper in an interview.

     
    Mr Williams, 26, proposed Ms Gabbard with a 1.17-carat diamond ring when the Congresswoman was visiting Hawaii during Thanksgiving. This would be Ms Gabbard’s second marriage and the first one for Mr Williams.
     
    Ms Gabbard said she would keep her last name after the marriage, which she wants to keep it a low key affair. Invitation for the wedding are expected to go out this week, which among others include US President Barack Obama.
     
    Ms Williams is a freelance cinematographer who has made some short films and worked on commercial and political advertising campaigns, the daily reported.
     
    While Ms Gabbard’s first marriage took place before a justice of the peace with only a few family members in attendance, the daily said this time she is planning a vedic wedding ceremony in keeping with the couple’s Hindu faith.
     
    “For us it’s about having a shared sense of spiritual values and what we hold important. We try to live our lives in service to others and God in a way that has a positive impact on others around us. It was something I learned from a young age,” Ms Gabbard said.
  • Obama is the right man at the right time and the right place, God bless him!

    Obama is the right man at the right time and the right place, God bless him!

    President Obama will go down in the history as the wisdom president who believed and practiced in inclusive and cohesive societies. He is the right man at the right time for the right job and has pulled the country out of the mess his predecessor left, he is righting every wrong done before him from job creation to reducing budget deficits, restoring respect (not the bully respect but respect for respect) among community of nations and a solid infrastructure of road and bridges for years to come.

    He has laid the foundation for a strong secure America from both external and internal (health care) enemies. He is a catalyst in acceptance of GLBT as a new norm of the society with same sex marriages, and above all giving the full meaning to our immortal declaration that all men are equal.

    Don’t get me wrong, I have severely criticized some of his policies on drones, not recognizing the State of Palestine that would have given relief to the Jewish people, and not giving ultimatum to the ISIS and prioritizing the sequence of the affordable care act.

    Shame on the Democrats! They should have trumpeted his extraordinary contributions to the betterment of our nation. He gave hope and uplifted America and brought a positive change to the world. They failed to beat up the Republicans on his record during the mid term elections and lost the Senate.

    Shame on the Republicans! They should have the guts to acknowledge that he is the best thing that has happened to America. A few Neanderthalic racist Republican fringes will continue to discount his work, and we have to accept them as a bad part of the equation that every society has to live with.

    Ever since I knew Obama through his speech in 2006 at the Chicago Senate, I knew he would be my mentor in Pluralism. I have written over 75 pieces about him and hope to continue to write about him – his failures and mostly successes.

    By the way, since 2008, I claim and here is the record that his speeches have 40-50% of the material, thoughts, ideas and words in my writings, usually published a week or two before his speech, and many a times same sequence of words. I am looking to pay to students to put together these identicalities and hope to present to the President.

    His speech yesterday has got solid statements that reflect my writings.

    “No religion is responsible for terrorism -people are responsible for violence and terrorism,” Obama told delegates at the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism. This is actually my father’s quote that I have been writing for the last 12 years.

    On Wednesday he sought to explain his wording, declaring al Qaeda and ISIS “desperate for legitimacy.” “They try to portray themselves as religious leaders, holy warriors in defense of Islam,” he said. “We must never accept the premise that they put forward because it is a lie. Nor should we grant these terrorists the religious legitimacy that they seek. They are not religious leaders. They are terrorists.”

    “We are not at war with Islam. We are at war with people who have perverted Islam,” Obama said during his remarks, adding later that Muslim leaders “need to do more to discredit the notion that our nations are determined to suppress Islam.”

    Groups like the Islamic State and al-Qaeda “try to portray themselves as religious leaders, holy warriors in defense of Islam,” Obama said, but “we must never accept the premise that they put forward, because it is a lie.”

    “Of course, the terrorists do not speak for a billion Muslims who reject their ideology,” Obama said. “They no more represent Islam than any madman who kills innocents in the name of God, represents Christianity or Judaism or Buddhism or Hinduism.”

    In fighting extremism, Obama said the United States and allies must also address the economic and political “grievances” that often fuel violent ideology. Governments must work to help provide economic opportunity, education, democracy, and the rule of law to their citizens, he said.

    That said, Obama warned that “engagement with communities can’t be a cover for surveillance,” and governments should deal with vulnerable people “through the prism of law enforcement.”

  • Obama vows to fight courts and Congress on immigration ruling

    Obama vows to fight courts and Congress on immigration ruling

    The Obama administration promised Tuesday to fight against opposition from both the courts and Congress to keep in place its expansive new programs to shield millions of immigrants from deportation, a key piece of the president’s effort to shape his legacy in his final years in office.

    [quote_box_center] Also Read – Obama Administration Dealt Setback on Immigration’s Deferred Action Plan[/quote_box_center]

    A federal judge in Texas issued an order late Monday that temporarily blocked the administration from putting into effect President Obama’s executive actions on immigration. The ruling touched off a day of cheering by Republicans, logistical and legal scrambling in the White House and vigorous efforts by advocates around the country to reassure potential applicants that they shouldn’t give up.

    The administration said it would swiftly appeal the order, which came less than 48 hours before immigration officials were scheduled to begin accepting applications for the first of the programs to defer deportation.

    Despite that setback, the president predicted that courts would ultimately uphold his efforts as lawful.

    “The law is on our side and history is on our side,” Obama told reporters in the Oval Office. “This is not the first time where a lower court judge has blocked something, or attempted to block something, that is ultimately going to be lawful. And I’m confident that it is well within my authority.”

    This is not the first time where a lower court judge has blocked something, or attempted to block something, that is ultimately going to be lawful. – Said Obama

    For now, though, his administration put on hold plans to start its expansion Wednesday of the 2012 program that has shielded from deportation nearly 600,000 young people, so-called Dreamers, and a much larger effort to defer action on deportations that could apply to about 4 million adults living in the U.S. illegally.

     

     

  • Obama Administration Dealt Setback on Immigration’s Deferred Action Plan

    Obama Administration Dealt Setback on Immigration’s Deferred Action Plan

    A federal judge’s move to temporarily block President Barack Obama ’s immigration actions encouraged Republican opponents and left in limbo millions of illegal immigrants facing the threat of deportation.

    The Obama administration promised to appeal the injunction in the case brought by Texas and officials of 25 other states, who argued that the president overstepped his authority with a November executive action that would offer work permits and safe harbor from deportation to some four million people in the U.S. who met certain criteria.

    DACA in 2012 allowed children under 16 who were brought to the U.S. before 2010 to remain in the country without fear of deportation for two years. In Jan 2015, Obama administration extended DACA status to three years; DACA recipients can also re-apply to retain their status once their three years are up.

    Fate of more than 1.1 million children who are eligible for DACA now faces the brunt as 722,000 have already applied and now the status is on hold due the the conflict in the houses which are both controlled by the Republicans.

     

  • GOP angry say Obama actions could let illegal immigrants get gov’t payouts

    GOP angry say Obama actions could let illegal immigrants get gov’t payouts

    Lawmakers are warning that President Obama’s immigration executive actions could open the door for millions of illegal immigrants to qualify for hefty tax “credits” regardless of whether they’ve filed or paid taxes in the past.

    All they need is a Social Security number.

    [quote_box_center]Also Read : Obama is the right man at the right time and the right place, God bless him![/quote_box_center]
    [quote_box_center]Also Read : Former illegal immigrants eligible for ‘amnesty bonuses’ – to get tax refunds[/quote_box_center]

    Obama’s November announcement paves the way for up to 4 million illegal immigrants to obtain Social Security numbers and work permits. After some initial confusion, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told Congress this week that this would make them eligible for what’s known as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) providing they’ve been working.

    “If you get a Social Security number, you can then file for this year if you’re working, and if you earned income in the three years before that and filed, you’ll be eligible,” Koskinen told a House oversight committee hearing.

    Further, he said, they would likely be able to get that credit even if they hadn’t filed for three years. According to some estimates, the tax credit combined with others could add up to billions over the next decade.

    The Earned Income Tax Credit is what’s known as a refundable tax credit, intended for working people who have low to moderate incomes. The average credit varies based on their number of children, but can be worth over $6,000 per year.

    For critics of Obama’s immigration plan, the potential for illegal immigrants to claim this once they’re in the program represents another problem. 

    “These are not tax ‘refunds’ but direct, free cash payments from the U.S. treasury to low-income illegal immigrants who owe no taxes,” Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said in a statement. “It is a dramatic cash transfer from lawful residents to unlawful residents, required by the president’s imperial amnesty.

    “There can be no legal or moral justification for rewarding illegal entrants in this way. Not only is it unfair to strapped taxpayers, but it will encourage countless more to enter the U.S. illegally or to illegally overstay their visas.”

    During a Senate Finance Committee hearing earlier this month, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, noted that a top IRS official determined as far back as 2000 that individuals granted what’s known as “deferred action” — which is the term for what Obama is using — would “be able to amend returns for the previous years to claim the EITC for years they worked illegally in the United States once they obtain their Social Security number.”

    In other words, illegal immigrants granted de facto legal status by the Obama administration in the coming months could qualify for credits this year, and even retroactively for past years, whether they paid taxes or not.

    In a letter sent last week to Treasury inspector general, Sens. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., noted that “under EITC rules, anyone eligible for the program can also ask for payments to cover the three prior years as well. This means that an illegal alien with a new Social Security Number can get a payment of more than $24,000 for years they were working illegally.”

    This issue comes to light as Republicans in Congress aim to the undo Obama’s executive actions. House Republicans recently passed a Department of Homeland Security funding bill that includes a rider reversing Obama’s immigration actions. The bill is currently stuck in the Senate.

    The Joint Committee on Taxation, giving a sense of what these credits are worth, recently released an estimate showing the passage of the 2015 DHS funding bill would decrease government payouts for the EITC, as well as child tax credits, by $10.2 billion over the next 10 years. 

    Presuming Obama’s immigration actions go forward as planned, they could be adding to an already growing taxpayer tab for illegal immigrant credits and benefits. A 2011 inspector general report found taxpayer money paid to illegal immigrants claiming the separate child tax credit had quadrupled over a five-year period to $4.2 billion in 2010.

  • Federal Judge grants injunction in Obama Amnesty Order halts plan to protect undocumented immigrants

    Federal Judge grants injunction in Obama Amnesty Order halts plan to protect undocumented immigrants

    Andrew Hanen, the federal judge from Southern District of Texas has granted an injunction blocking the implementation of President Obama’s administration sweeping executive action on immigration from November, which offered a form of temporary legal status and work authorization to millions of illegal immigrants.  

    Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a tweet “Breaking: Federal judge just granted my request to halt Obama’s Executive Amnesty Order Nationwide,” “More later.” – Abbott had filed suit in December on behalf of Texas and other states opposed to the presidential actions.

    Colorado state Sen. Greg Brophy, a Republican, tweeted, “judge agrees with House GOP and most of America.”

    Obama angered Republicans when he announced in November that he would use the executive branch to temporarily delay deportation for as many as 5 million people who came to the United States illegally.

    The temporary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen cites a failure by the White House to comply with a law detailing how the federal government must establish regulations, according to legal documents and the Austin American-Statesman.

    The federal government is expected to immediately ask for a stay of the injunction. That would allow the feds to resume the process of preparing to grant quasi-legal status to millions of illegal immigrants — applications for one category of the president amnesty were to open this week. For now, that can’t happen; the decision from a higher court will probably take a few weeks.

    Whatever the final decision is, this ruling should a bit of ammunition for Republicans who are currently trying to force some Democrats into agreeing to a government-funding bill in Congress that blocks the implementation of the order, which many Democrats once opposed.

    Josh Blackman, a University of South Texas law professor who’s written about the executive-amnesty issue for NR, has analysis of the full ruling here.

    The lawsuit just challenges the executive action announced in November, which offers “deferred action” status, a form of theoretically temporary legal residency and work authorization, to illegal immigrants with specific ties to the U.S. — the parents of citizens, etc. The categories in all add up to 4 to 5 million eligible illegal aliens.

    Send your comments to feedback@theindianpanorama.news

  • Funding lapse for U.S. Homeland Security agency

    Funding lapse for U.S. Homeland Security agency

    House and Senate Republicans aren’t getting any closer to bridging their differences over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

    John Boehner (the Republican U.S. House of Representatives speaker) again insisted on Sunday that the “House has done its job” and the cards are in the Senate’s hands, while Sens. John McCain and Bob Corker urged their fellow Republicans to pass a clean bill that will fund the homeland security agency without wading into the choppy political waters of immigration.

    John Boehner said he is willing to let funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapse as part of a Republican push to roll back President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

    With a Feb. 27 deadline looming for funding the department, Senate Democrats three times this month blocked consideration of the Homeland Security appropriations bill, which has already been approved by the House.

    “Senate Democrats are the ones standing in the way. They’re the ones jeopardizing funding,” Boehner told Fox News on Sunday. Asked if he was prepared to let financing for the department lapse, he said: “Certainly. The House has acted. We’ve done our job.”

    Democrats want to fund the department but oppose House amendments stripping funding from Obama’s 2012 and 2014 executive orders lifting a deportation threat for millions of illegal immigrants.

    TOUGH POSITION

    The Republican legislation passed by the House put Senate Republicans in a tough position because not only do they lack the votes to prevent Obama’s fellow Democrats from using procedural hurdles to block the bill but also some Republican senators have expressed misgivings about tying homeland security funding to the immigation issue.

    “The House has acted to de-fund the department and to stop the president’s overreach when it comes to immigration and his executive orders,” Boehner said. “… And the Congress just can’t sit by and let the president defy the Constitution and defy his own his oath of office.”

    The House’s top Democrat was quick to fire back.

    “With only four legislative days left until the Republican Homeland Security Shutdown, Speaker Boehner made it clear that he has no plan to avoid a government shutdown that would threaten the safety of the American people,” Drew Hammill, spokesman for House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, said in an email.

    “The speaker’s reliance on talking points and finger-pointing was a sad reflection of the fact that (the) Tea Party continues to hold the gavel as they insist on their futile anti-immigrant grandstanding.”

    Obama has threatened to veto the House-passed measure. Democrats insist on a “clean” funding bill with no immigration restrictions. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, said last week that the Senate was “stuck” and the next move was up to the House.

    “Unfortunately, I don’t see exactly how Congress is going to resolve this,” White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough told CBS’s “Face the Nation”.

     

     

  • OBAMA’S INDIA VISIT : A BIG MEDIA HYPE

    OBAMA’S INDIA VISIT : A BIG MEDIA HYPE

    By Niranjan Rai – The US based author is of the view that there was nothing extraordinary about Obama visit to India and that Indian media overplayed it. 

     

    The point of this article is not to analyze President Obama’s recent visit to India but to try to comprehend the extraordinary – and sky high – swooning exhibited by Indian media. Now when media heaps and sings mountains of praise, one is naturally tempted to ask: why the Indian media went so ecstatic in describing the visit and exactly what important ground was broken by the visit? 

     

    After careful and impassioned analysis of the visuals and the media reports, one cannot help but feel that the visit was nothing but all media hype. Indian media went overboard in describing the visit.

     

    For Mr. Modi, who was denied visa and was persona-non-grata due to his alleged involvement in the Gujarat riots, the visit seems to have offered him a chance to rehabilitate himself in the eyes of the same western world and cast himself as a pragmatic leader. And, aided by the media, he sure seems to have run with it. The whole thing looked like a tightly scripted show with media faithfully reporting the scenes as choreographed by the Modi govt. Modi was invited by President Obama to Whitehouse in September last year during his visit to United Nations General Assembly  and Mr. Modi then invited Obama as Chief Guest for the Republic Day  Celebrations. And, that is all. There is nothing more to it than a simple reciprocal invitation which Obama accepted.

     

    But the Indian Media – never missing a chance to burnish their pro-western credentials and sing loudly about the importance of Indo-US relations to heavens -went completely sycophantic and spouted inventive labels after labels: “historic”, “unprecedented”, “landmark visit” etc.

     

    If that is the case, then it is pertinent to ask the question: what exactly was groundbreaking about this visit? The problems that were there earlier are still there. USA is clamoring for more clarity in the matter of intellectual property rights. It is still asking for more liberalized economic reforms which India is resisting because they might hurt local businesses adversely. It is also trying to kick out Russians from Indian arms market without offering anything substantial of the same magnitude that the Russians have contributed. Think about Brahmos, Sukhois, MiGs etc. which are jointly developed and manufactured in India under license. USA cannot even come close to offering or developing jointly missile systems or advance fighter aircrafts with India. Russia’s contribution to Indian space program is also huge. The list goes on and on. Would USA contribute at the same level?Highly unlikely. In terms of clean energy and carbon pollution, India and USA are still miles apart. India does not want to be clubbed with China and sign the kind of deal that Chinese have signed with USA.

     

    In terms of nuclear energy, it was announced with great fanfare that the two key problems – one, tracking of the material and the second one of liability – have been solved. Well, it is one matter for President Obama to waive these requirements and it is another matter for the commercial suppliers to feel comfortable as far as the nuclear liability issue is concerned. After all, it is a commercial transaction and in the end, the lawyers of the commercial suppliers would have to be comfortable with the insurance liability pool that might be set up. As long as nothing concrete materializes, it is premature to celebrate the final breakthrough of the deal.

     

    All in all, it seems like nothing extraordinary but a regular visit by a head of a state. But the Indian media simply blew up the hype of visit out of proportions.

  • GUEST COMMENT – BUILDING BRIDGES

    GUEST COMMENT – BUILDING BRIDGES

    External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to China has created a positive atmosphere. President Xi Jinping met her in an unusual departure from protocol. China joined Russia in recommending India’s membership to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. On its part, India endorsed the launch of the China-led Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific initiative. Swaraj’s high-level delegation included the new Foreign Secretary, S Jaishankar, an old China hand, who was also intimately involved with US President Barack Obama’s successful visit to New Delhi. He evidently tackled some of the misgivings that Beijing had. Swaraj and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi have sorted out certain issues, including the modalities for opening a second route for the Kailash-Manasarovar Yatra in Tibet and India’s conditional support to China’s Maritime Silk Route initiative. Beijing, however, must be sensitive to Indian sensibilities about its increasing military presence in the Indian Ocean. Swaraj also raised the issue of resolving the long-standing border dispute, instead of “bequeathing” it to future generations. The National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, who is India’s Special Representative on the issue, is expected to go to China later and take the matter further.

     

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit China in a few months, and the Foreign Minister’s visit is a preparatory one, to settle issues and manage agendas. The setting up of the “contact group” that will discuss pending issues and find solutions is a positive move, which may yield results, just as it did before President Obama’s trip. President Xi Jinping’s visit to India soon after the Modi government was sworn in was seen as underwhelming, but now there is fresh impetus for China to build better relations with India. President Obama’s visit and the joint statement issued thereafter caused some concern in Beijing. Indian diplomats are well positioned to ask for an expeditious resolution of the various issues. The mood is right, and the Prime Minister’s forthcoming visit to Beijing may well become an occasion for both the countries to pragmatically build alliances. The engagement between high-level delegations bodes well for the future.

  • FCC plans strong hand to regulate the internet

    FCC plans strong hand to regulate the internet

    WASHINGTON: Declaring the internet critical for the nation, a top US regulator on february 4 proposed an unprecedented expansion of federal power to ensure providers don’t block or slow web traffic for America’s countless users.

     

    The proposal by Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler was a victory for advocates of “net neutrality,” the idea that internet providers must allow data to move across their networks without interference. The idea has been the subject of heavy lobbying and millions of dollars in advertising in the past year.

     

    “Net neutrality” means that whether you’re trying to buy a necklace on Etsy, stream the season premiere of Netflix’s ‘House of Cards’ or watch a music video on Google’s YouTube, your internet service provider would have to load all of those websites equally quickly. Major internet providers insist they have no plans to create such fast or slow lanes, but they strongly oppose the regulation, arguing that it could stifle innovation and investment.

     

    Wheeler’s proposal attempts to erase any legal uncertainty by reclassifying the internet as a telecommunications service and regulating it under the 1934 Communications Act. The plan would apply to both wired service provided by companies like Comcast and wireless service by companies like T-Mobile.

     

    That would put all internet service in the same regulatory camp as telephones and any other public utility, which Republicans and industry officials say would discourage investment and increase taxes.

     

    The FCC will vote on February 26 on the proposal, and approval is considered likely. President Barack Obama has called for regulation under the Communications Act, and Democratic appointees hold a commission majority.

     

    “It is counterproductive because heavy regulation of the internet will create uncertainty and chill investment among the many players —not just internet service providers —that now will need to consider FCC rules before launching new services,” said Michael Glover, Verizon senior vice president. But Wheeler and consumer groups say the move is necessary to prevent providers from creating slow or fast lanes on net in which content companies like Netflix can pay to jump to the head of the queue.

  • Obama calls Dalai Lama ‘good friend,’ inspiration

    Obama calls Dalai Lama ‘good friend,’ inspiration

    WASHINGTON (TIP): US President Barack Obama on February 5 called the Dalai Lama a “good friend” and an inspiration for freedom.

     

    The president, speaking at a closely watched prayer event in Washington with the lama in the audience, said Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader was “a powerful example of what it means to practice compassion and who inspires us to speak up for the freedom and dignity of all human beings.”

  • IN OPEN LETTER TO MODI, OBAMA, GUJARAT VILLAGES SEEK PUBLIC DEBATE ON NUCLEAR POWER

    IN OPEN LETTER TO MODI, OBAMA, GUJARAT VILLAGES SEEK PUBLIC DEBATE ON NUCLEAR POWER

    Consulting firm chosen to conduct EIA on proposed NPCIL 1,000-MW reactors at Mithivirdi lacks accreditation, say sarpanches

     

    GANDHINAGAR (TIP): Heads of four villages in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar district have written an open letter to United States President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling for a public discussion and debate on the proposed 6,000-MW Mithivirdi Nuclear power plant, according to a news report published in The Hindu on January 25.

     

    Their demand comes in the light of upcoming talks between the two leaders about of civil nuclear deal.

     

    The state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) plans to install six 1,000-MW nuclear reactors at the district headquarters of Mithivirdi with the joint support of U.S. firm Westinghouse Electric Corporation.

     

    The letter raised concerns over NPCIL’s nomination of environmental consulting firm Engineers India Limited for conducting the environmental impact assessment (EIA). The villages pointed out that the agency was “lacking necessary accreditation to conduct the EIA for nuclear power plants.”

     

    “The Ministry of Environment and Forests has asked NPCIL to ‘revise’ and ‘resubmit’ its Environment Impact Assessment report of the project as it lacks clarity on a large number of issues. The [Expert Appraisal Committee (Nuclear)], simultaneously, criticized the NPCIL for a three-year delay in the proposal for environmental clearance following the [Atomic Energy Regulatory Board’s ‘site clearance’] for the project, and noted key coastal regulatory clearances to be missing.”

     

    The MoEF noted “major shortcomings” in the EIA report, including the absence of base-line radioactivity data for milk samples; absence of studies on the impact of two hills near the site on atmospheric dispersion and effect of historical tsunamis; and the lack of clarity on the impact of land and groundwater, the letter states.

     

    “This casual approach to clearing a nuclear powerplant can lead to a major nuclear disaster. Agriculture forms the backbone of human survival, and this project strikes at a very important asset of our country – the prime agricultural lands. It is not that we are against electricity generation. But no serious thought has been given to the available sustainable alternatives for electricity generation. Solar and wind power have an equal and more sustainable potential to produce electricity and that too in a decentralized manner. Let us have a fair and open discussion before taking any decision on the project,” the village heads urged.

     

    The letter – dated January 22, 2015 – was signed by sarpanches Shaktisinh H. Gohil of Jaspara village, Samuben Dabhi of Mithivirdi village, Vilasba Gohil of Mandva village and Pruthvirajsinh Gohil of Khadarpar village.

  • Mahatma Gandhi would have been shocked by religious intolerance in India: Obama

    Mahatma Gandhi would have been shocked by religious intolerance in India: Obama

    WASHINGTON  (TIP): US President Barack Obama on Thursday, February 5, said the “acts of intolerance” experienced by religious faiths of all types in India in the past few years would have shocked Mahatma Gandhi.

     

    The comments by Obama came a day after the White House refuted suggestions that the US President’s public speech in New Delhi in which he touched upon religious tolerance was a “parting shot” aimed at the ruling BJP.

     

    President Obama was speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast, an annual gathering that draws faith leaders from around the country.

     

    “Michelle and I returned from India – an incredible, beautiful country, full of magnificent diversity – but a place where, in past years, religious faiths of all types have, on occasion, been targeted by other peoples of faith, simply due to their heritage and their beliefs – acts of intolerance that would have shocked Gandhiji, the person who helped to liberate that nation,” Obama said in his remarks at the high-profile National Prayer Breakfast.

     

    The US President, who has just returned from India, was referring to violence against followers of various religions in India in the past few years.

     

    He, however, did not name any particular religion and said the violence is not unique to one group or one religion.

     

    “Humanity has been grappling with these questions throughout human history. And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ.

     

    “In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow (racial segregation state and local laws) all too often was justified in the name of Christ,” he said, addressing the gathering of over 3,000 US and international leaders.

     

    “There is a tendency in us, a sinful tendency that can pervert and distort our faith. In today’s world, when hate groups have their own Twitter accounts and bigotry can fester in hidden places in cyberspace, it can be even harder to counteract such intolerance.

     

    “But God compels us to try. “And in this mission, I believe there are a few principles that can guide us, particularly those of us who profess to believe,” he said.

     

    In a US-style Town Hall address in New Delhi on January 27, the last day of his India trip, Obama had made a strong pitch for religious tolerance, cautioning that India will succeed so long as it was not “splintered along the lines of religious faith”.

     

    The White House , on February 5 strongly refuted allegations that Obama’s remarks on religious tolerance were aimed at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying the speech in its entirety was about the “core democratic values and principles” of both the US and India.

  • INDIA CELEBRATES 66TH REPUBLIC DAY; BARACK OBAMA WITNESSES MILITARY MIGHT

    INDIA CELEBRATES 66TH REPUBLIC DAY; BARACK OBAMA WITNESSES MILITARY MIGHT

    India on January 26, 2015, celebrated its 66th Republic Day and showcased before the chief guest US President Barack Obama and the world its military might and cultural diversity with a splendid display of land and naval weaponry, fighter and reconnaissance aircraft. Obama was the first ever US President to attend the parade as Chief Guest on the second day of his three-day visit, as light rains and overcast skies failed to dampen the enthusiasm of thousands of spectators who gathered along the Rajpath to watch the pomp-filled spectacle. Dressed in a dark suit, Obama was seated next to Modi, donning a multicoloured ‘bandhej safa'(Rajasthani turban), as the two leaders chatted and soaked up the splendour that unfolded on the rain-soaked parade route. Obama was also seen holding his umbrella for a while. A smiling US President was seen nodding in appreciation on several occasions and gave a thumbs up to the BSF daredevils–famed for their formation of a human pyramid on moving bikes–during their display of daring motorcycle stunts that was a showstopper.

    U.S. President Barack Obama, second right, and first lady Michelle Obama, second left, are greeted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, as they arrive for Republic Day in New Delhi, India, Jan. 26, 2015.
    U.S. President Barack Obama, second right, and first lady Michelle Obama, second left, are greeted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, as they arrive for Republic Day in New Delhi, India, Jan. 26, 2015.

    Smartly attired all-female units from the Army, Navy and Air Force marched for the first time in this year’s parade, as the country’s military hardware with carnival-style floats featuring achievements in diverse fields as well as tribal dancers and traditional music rolled past in a show of ‘unity in diversity’.

     

    In a departure from tradition for the Chief Guest at the Republic Day parade, Obama arrived in his own highly-secured bomb-proof vehicle, ‘The Beast,’ at Rajpath. The crowd erupted in cheers as the Obamas emerged from the limousine.

     

    Obama and Michelle sat in a special glass enclosure along with President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President M Hamid Ansari and his wife, and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar among other dignitaries. Michelle also smiled broadly at dance performance by young children.

     

    A highlight of this year’s parade was the display for the first time of the recently acquired long-range maritime surveillance and anti-submarine P-8I aircraft and the long-range advanced MiG-29K fighter plane. Obama and Michelle sat in a special glass enclosure along with President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President M Hamid Ansari and his wife, and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar among other dignitaries. Michelle also smiled broadly at dance performance by young children.

     

    A highlight of this year’s parade was the display for the first time of the recently acquired long-range maritime surveillance and anti-submarine P-8I aircraft and the long-range advanced MiG-29K fighter plane.

     

    The amount of time – around two hours – spent by Obama on an outdoor viewing platform was unusual given the US Secret Service security concerns.

     

    A massive ground-to-air security apparatus was put in place in the national capital turning the city into virtually an impregnable fortress. Snipers of National Security Guard were deployed at all high-rises along the parade route.

     

    The arrangements were made to ensure an incident-free Republic Day celebrations and foolproof security to the American President, who arrived here on Januart 25.

     

    Prime Minister Modi’s “Make in India” campaign to boost the country’s manufacturing industry and create much-needed jobs was featured in one of the tableaus.

     

    The dignitaries watched in awe as a spectacular fly-past by the Indian Air Force that left a smoke-trail of the orange, white and green national flag signalled an end to the parade.

    Rday2 Rday3 Rday5

  • Obama did it for Modi

    Obama did it for Modi

    The Message in the town hall meeting delivered by Obama was to have been delivered by Modi. Politically, Modi had difficulty in telling his party and its affiliates to back off, a splintered India is not good for any one, jis may kisi ka sath nahin, us may kis ka vikas bhi nahin.

     

    I believe, Modi means good. He is figuring out a way to move away from “exclusively for Hindus at the cost of others” to inclusively for all Indians for the benefit of all. He is committed to do that. If he fails, we all fail, and if he succeeds, we all will benefit from it.

     

    The glory was written all over his face, he was looking for this moment. Obama’s dosti (friendship) meant everything for him, it is like recognition and Mukti for him. Modi was in the seventh heaven.

     

    After the humiliation he went through about the denial of visa, he was desperately looking to get out of it, his ego did not permit him to apologize or at least say sorry for what happened. One of the ways of doing praischit or repentance is repairing the damage without humility. This is Modi’s way of saying sorry.

     

    He is too interested in recording his name on the golden pages of Indian History and I applaud him for that. May he succeed in his endeavors and remove all the obstacles his own party members and its affiliates are placing in his path.

     

    I trust our democracy to keep him within the guard rails. President Obama’s speech is a reflection of my essay written a week before his address, “Republic Day’s pluralistic Message to Modi and Obama.”  The message is identical.

     

    I urge you to read the article “Republic Day Message to Modi and Obama” at www.TheGhousediary.com   

    And listen to Obama’s speech from 29th Minute onwards -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sGFUPEtNAg

     

    Obama is inherently a Pluralistic individual who believes in respecting the otherness of others, and accepting the God given uniqueness of each one of us. Obama is one of the inclusive individuals in the likes of Pope Frances, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and a few other great men and women.

     

    Obama is as committed to building cohesive societies as I am, where no one has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. It was this thought that prompted him to remind his audience about those lofty ideals embedded in India’s constitution.

     

    A majority of Indians have experienced discrimination in one form or the other, and he was appealing to both the discriminated and discriminators.

     

    Invoking Article 25 was a reminder to the rabble rousers among the Sangh Parivar that India’s stability hinges on following the rule of law. You are a successful nation today because of that. Look at Pakistan where it is today because of not abiding their secular charter.

     

    His reference to his own experience being a minority was powerful!He gave hopes to the Dalits, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and other minorities. “Look it is not easy, but education is the panacea, it increases your chances to be the change. I did not have it easy either.”

     

    His statement, “‘every person has the right to practice their religion and beliefs and not practice it if they choose so without any persecution.’ Was a direct reference to the harassment Muslims and Christians face with stupid statements like “your holy place is not in India” “you cheer for Pakistan Cricket Team” “forced conversions” “Ghar Wapsi” and other stupidities that do not contribute towards the well being of anyone.

     

    I wrote, “Mr. Modi, the Battle is not between Hindus and Muslims, it is between good and the bad, good is represented by those who mind their own faith as Quran advocates or Bhagvad Gita suggests – it’s your own Karma that will determine your outcomes; there is no compulsion in faith, whereas the evil is represented by hurting and discriminating others for differences in belief. Let every Indian be free to breathe, drink, eat, wear or believe whatever he or she wants to. I hope your party supports your stand.”

     

    Invariably, what I write comes out in his speeches a few days later. I am glad it happened that way. I guess if you are inclusive and don’t have a bias towards others, similar thoughts and actions flow out of you.

     

    Full article at: http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2015/01/republic-day- message-to-modi-and-obama.html

     

    (The author  is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism at work place, politics, religion, society, gender, race, culture, ethnicity, food and foreign policy. He can be reached at mikeghouse@aol.com)

  • MODI GOVERNMENT ENTERS PHASE II

    MODI GOVERNMENT ENTERS PHASE II

    We are now in the second phase of the Modi government. The first phase consisted of positioning the brickwork for a five-year term. Key states had to be won in elections to buttress the Modi image and to seek to augment the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) strength in the Rajya Sabha over time. And in a surprise sprung upon the country, Mr Narendra Modi showed an unsuspected sure touch in making foreign policy moves, including in getting President Barack Obama to witness the Republic Day parade.

     

    What then can the country expect now that the Prime Minister has his initial structure of government in place? The journey thus far has demonstrated the strengths and weaknesses of the Modi dispensation. The irony is that the baggage that is pulling him down was an essential element in catapulting him from Gujarat to the pinnacle of power in New Delhi. But apart from a sure-footed approach to foreign policy, he has also given many signals of his economic objectives the world is watching with anticipation.

     

    On the negative side, Mr Modi’s compact with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is proving an increasing liability for his party and government. Apart from the RSS’s own belief in Hindutva, which the organisation’s chief Mohan Bhagwat keeps stressing, the more embarrassing part, which is bringing great opprobrium and some disbelief, is a continuing army of BJP members of Parliament and other eminences declaiming the virtues of obscurantist ideas.

     

    For a time, the BJP received a pass by a helpful media describing them as fringe elements. But each day these venerable men and women are proving that they represent the mainstream, not the fringe of the party. What seems to have changed is that they are in a mood of triumphalism, relishing the first BJP victory with a majority at the national level in the country’s history.

     

    That the Prime Minister has chosen to offer his apology only in one instance in Parliament after constant needling reveals his Achilles’ heel. After all, the ludicrous propositions his members are expressing are very much part of the RSS diet on which Mr Modi himself was reared. The jury is still out on whether he himself subscribes to such sentiments (judging by his public remarks, he does believe in ancient Indians possessing knowledge of plastic surgery). But even if one assumes that he is willing to disguise his feelings at the altar of realpolitik, he is apparently in no position to penalise his supporters for such beliefs.

     

    It is for similar reasons that Mr Modi has had to give a carte blanche to the RSS in shaping the country’s future education policy, with the minister concerned, Ms Smriti Irani, having to carry the can. And in appointing a new censor board for film certification after the previous lot resigned in protest, the government has outdone itself in getting a chief censor who proclaims his worshipful attitude to Mr Modi. What kind of education the country’s young generation will receive in the years ahead is too dreadful to contemplate.

     

    There are, of course, many positives to take away from Modi’s innings at the Centre so far. After years of a lackadaisical government of the UPA-II vintage, the firm slap of decisive decision-making is welcome. Second, it is good for a new regime not merely to see the cobwebs, for instance, but do something about removing them. Clearly, the Manmohan Singh government had outlived its usefulness and it was good to have a successor question the logic of how things were done.

     

    In any case, changes in governments are an essential aspect of the democratic system. The Congress, which built up modern India, lost power only to regain it after the incompetence of successor regimes, bar a coalition spell led by the BJP, seemed to have fallen into a rut compounded by the dual-key arrangement. Mr Modi capitalised on his good fortune and took office in a wave of great optimism and every initial decision it took was welcomed almost because it demonstrated that New Delhi could take decisions.

     

    Inevitably, the euphoria has somewhat worn off and the second phase of the Modi government will be more testing, depending as it will be on concrete results and the harm the disruptive capacity of Mr Modi’s supporters can cause. There is a built-in dilemma here in the Prime Minister’s own mind and in that his mentor, the RSS. Some contradictions are part of life, but anomalies seem to be the rule, rather than the exception, in the BJP’s persona.

     

    For a man so taken up by modern technology and the power of digital wonders, Mr Modi coexists with a mixture of fact and fiction that is an essential element of the Sangh Parivar’s belief systems. It remains to be seen how he will resolve this dilemma and at what cost to his essential self and the tolerance levels of the RSS leadership.

     

    For a leader obsessed with controlling his public image, Mr Modi must be aware that the pearls of wisdom one sometimes hears from the Prime Minister himself and much too often from his supporters are objects of great derision for the outside world. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine that the same mind that can think big in terms of modern technology can be partial to theories of ancient Indians’ ability to fly aeroplanes, employ human cell transfer and other feats associated with the progress of science and technology in the last and present centuries.

     

    Possessing a sharp political mind, an ability to connect with people and dramatising objectives in people’s language, Mr Modi must be conscious of his handicap in taking the Indian development story ahead. The case of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is an object lesson in what to avoid. His ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has already taken his country in an Islamic direction, compared to modern Turkey’s founder, Ataturk. Lately he has been dispensing such gems as Muslims having discovered America 200 years before Columbus and declaring that women are not the equal of men.

     

    (By S Nihal Singh The author is a senior journalist)

  • OBAMA’S straight talk

    OBAMA’S straight talk

    Take the message in the right spirit. It is not common for Indians to hear visiting dignitaries say anything more than platitudes. But then President Obama is not one of the usual guests who won’t say or do anything undiplomatic. Some may object to his having a chewing gum while watching the solemn Republic Day parade or lecturing Indians on the need for religious tolerance and empowering women. Some may see in his Siri Fort speech – the only one made without the Indian Prime Minister by his side — a calculated snub to Modi after breaking free from his host’s penchant for embraces and an attempt to politically protect himself from human rights critics back home.

     

    But Obama is no snob. Having lost control of Congress, he is just a lame duck President with two years left in office. If Obama referred to Modi as a tea vendor’s son, he described himself as a cook’s grandson. And he was giving an inspirational speech to some 2,000 students. “We know from experience that nations are more successful when their women are successful,” he observed. He talked of women’s safety, which has become a national issue after a series of sexual assaults invited persistent protests and media attention. Given the recent spate of conversions, attacks on churches and threats to minorities – the issues on which the Prime Minister has chosen to remain largely silent — it was a huge diplomatic risk for President Obama to take up the sensitive subject. Being a skillful orator, he said what needed to be said, regardless of the ruling party’s and Parivar’s political and religious agenda: “India will succeed so long as it is not splintered along the lines of religious faith”.

     

    Instead of faulting President Obama for saying what he said or accusing him of interfering in India’s internal affairs, the saner elements in the BJP and the government should discipline the lunatic fringe before it occupies the centre stage, scares away foreign investors and damages India’s secular credentials. If you invite a high-profile guest, take care to clean up the backyard of the house too.

    (The Tribune, Chandigarh)