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Articles

R K Pachauri: Carrying 6 billion hopes: Dr. RK Pachauri, the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is leading the international campaign against Climate Change for his services to the environment he has recently been awa......read more
India's Climate Change crusader: Mr. Jairam Ramesh: India is a fast developing nation but this development comes at a price, the environment. Our interview with him made us aware that Mr. Jairam Ramesh, the Union Minister of State for Environment and F......read more
He does not deserve the nobel: I have developed the art of using money in creative ways to a point where it has become scientific. The deeply unfortunate occupational hazard that accompanies this rather fulfilling pastime is that m......read more
US & Co: I have experienced three kinds of news. There is American news, which although accurate, skims past the destruction caused by their troops. There is PAkistani news, which tells us of their 'power' and......read more
Jaswant Singh on people, politics and partition: One of India's longest serving politicians, Jaswant Singh's controversial book on Jinnah and India's partition sparked both criticism and praise from people across India and Pakistan. His bold decisio......read more
Statue-tory warning: Your narcissism is injurious to national health: At a time when Maharashtra's notorious Vidarbha region witnesses one farmer suicide every 8 hours, when the entire state is frequented by power cuts as a result of the rains playing truant and the sta......read more
Try: I am 17 years old. I go to school. I come home. I eat, sleep, study.
I go out on the weekends, avoide my parents and am addicted to facebook.
By a broad standard, I am normal.
Can I c......read more
Theplas in Thailand & pickles in Paris: Say hello to the Indian tourist: The Indian tourist seems to have earned himself a global reputation. He may don many avatars, but the stereotype he has earned for himself remains like an unsightly splotch on Indians' reputation aboa......read more
Red tapism in India: "The Common Man walks into the Passport office for the fifth time in ten days. He is sick of standing in the heat. He is sweaty. He is tired of the never ending trips to try and procure his passport. ......read more
Naxalites - a burning problem: The Maoists-Naxalites have been in the news lately. These little understood, much maligned groups, with a common leftist ideology, have been the cause of long-standing violence, arson and disruption. ......read more
Unity in diversity?: With hundreds of different ethnicities, myriad religions, thousands of languages, and an infinite set of values, (some of which are diametrically opposite) India could easily be considered the most di......read more
Every One: India is a country that is progressing at an astoundingly rapid rate. It has proved itself to be a country to watch out for. Its economy is booming, and its people are continuing to prove their abilit......read more
The Indian Judiciary: Does the pillar of strength need to be strengthened?: Do judges in India need to be policed and to what extent? There has recently been focus on the Indian judiciary system. The question has arisen on whether Indian judges need to be policed. The Union C......read more
Defence, Development & the Indian Economy: India today occupies a unique position on the world stage. We are perhaps the only country trying to juggle a rapidly advancing economy, an extraordinary array of infrastructural develoments, an inher......read more
26/11: A year on, an overview of the city of Mumbai yields a result no different then what one would have expected. The city continues to be a bustling, shining beacon of India's ascent to global success, w......read more
Wake up and smell the carbon: Few years ago, there was only one problem the world had to deal with - the nuclear bomb. Today's youth are growing up in the shadows of three bombs any of which can go off any moment, leading to a rad......read more
Apocalypse - impossible? Think again!: 2050, India-a young boy stares at the barren landscape of his hometown, where rising tempartures and water scarcity have made living life a burden. The ganga river has dried up, the once snow capped p......read more
Congress ka 'raj' Thackeray: For anyone who doubts that politics is a dirty game, the recent Maharashtra State Assembly polls was an eye-opener. With cousins standing against each other in a family feud of epic proportions and th......read more
Change after 26/11: On 26^th November, 2008 a catastrophe stuck the city of Mumbai. While the elite class of South Mumbai was dining at 5 star hotels, The Taj Mahal Hotel and the Trident, and the commuters were......read more
The future of Mumbai: Milind Deora's victory for the second term in a row has silenced all his critics. In a candid discussion, Mr. Deora spoke to us about the Maharashtra elections, the MNS, chqanges since 26/11 and of hi......read more
VOTE INDIA: Over the last few weeks, the nation has been keenly observing the movements of a new found political scion, Varun Gandhi of the BJP. Gandhi's radical views, to say the least, have "shocked" some and "......read more
26/11: Are we so naive that we cannot see that some of the problems are from within our country? We don't see the greater good but act in our own selfish and devious ways......read more
Arun Jaitley-a candid discussion: An interview with the General Secretary of the Bhartiya Janta Party, Arun Jaitley gave us an insight into the mind of strategic planner and mast head of this election's opposition party. After years o......read more
The Criminalisation of Indian Politics: India boasts of being the largest democracy in the world; with an estimated 671 million eligible to vote for the 15th General elections to be held in April - May 2009. However, over the last 61 years ......read more
Democracy: As we are made to see it: What do you think about putting 1.147 billion puzzle pieces together? Indian democracy is just that. It is not as simple and sinless as a puzzle, but putting 1.147 billion thoughts together, fixing th......read more
Goolam Vahanvati - the youth's role in India's future: Mr. Goolam Vahanvati, one of the best lawyers in India, tells us we as the youth need to look beyond corruption, he tells us to a look at the larger picture. He says, "You must believe that this is a ......read more
Indian National Congress: The way forward?: We citizens of India are not in the mood to listen to comments like "Bade bade sheharo mein chotte chotte cheese hote rehte hain". The youth want to see some degree of accountability in the entire pol......read more
Jyotiraditya Scindia-India's tomorrow: We arrived at 27 Safdarjung Road, home to one of the most promising and visionary leaders in this country. Part of the Congress youth brigade Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindia, having studied at Harvard and St......read more
Omar Abdullah - our hope for change: Mr. Omar Abdullah one of the few leaders in this country who commands respect and does not demand respect, speaks to us about his vision for India. He is one of the most protected men in India with si......read more
PAKISTAN: at the brink of destruction?: Two twins, India and Pakistan separated at birth due to numerous complications, travelled through a long journey since partition. This difficult path took off in August 1947, when, after having surviv......read more
Third Front - an illusion?: We the youth of India desire change and to some the Third front is the only option to provide this change, which makes the Third Front seem as a serious contender. On the other side of the spectrum mo......read more

Article of the month

Defence, Development & the Indian Economy

India today occupies a unique position on the world stage. We are perhaps the only country trying to juggle a rapidly advancing economy, an extraordinary array of infrastructural develoments, an inherent condition of poverty, and the ever-present threat of terrorism.

Text: Rahul Sanghi

Interestingly, these four issues are more closely linked than they appear to be, and for India as a nation to truly move forward, each of these topics must be analyzed and tackled collectively, keeping in mind the extreme consequences they have on each other. This, is the challenge we face today.

Perhaps the most crude and obvious co-relation would be that terrorism negates the development brought about by our human resources. Given this, it would seem that defence is the key to development. Seeing how a well-developed and technologically and economically advanced India would be redundant if it were periodically the subject of terror strikes, it comes as no surprise that India�s defence budget has risen by 34.19%.

This gives rise to the age-old argument - guns or butter, defence or development? India was given a painful lesson last year as the decision to focus on building ourselves as an economic power resulted in an embarrassingly unequipped and unacceptable response to the terrorists that penetrated the heart of our nation. However, had we indeed spent excessively on improving our ammunition, equipment and man power over the last decade, we might have been facing the world as a nation still finding its feet in a 21st century world, much like a deer stunned by the headlights of the modern world.

Some costs of terrorism are obvious�loss and damage to human life and to property and short-duration dislocations in economic activity. India's economic growth is experiencing a downward spiral, not in overall growth, but in the rate of increased growth. Increasing terrorist activities in Bangalore, the IT capital of India, and Mumbai, the financial capital, are but repeated attempts to derail India's economic engine. Beyond, short-term loss and dislocation, there is thus the question of longer-term impact. In principle, terrorism as well as external conflict increases uncertainty, risk perceptions and insurance premiums. Resources may have to be diverted from more productive avenues to anti-terrorist activities. There may not be another country that shares these exact attributes of India, but some do come close, and leading the forefront of this group of rivals is our neighbour, China.

China and India. Rarely has the economic ascent of two still relatively poor nations been watched with such a mixture of awe, opportunism, and apprehension, by the world. Never has the world seen such a simultaneous acceleration of economy, military activity and development between two nations, containing 1/3 of the world�s population, both of which have the potential to transform the global economy of the 21st century. While China specializes in mass manufacturing, India has emerged as a champion of IT, both making use of the sufficiently large, relatively cheap, and rapidly developing workforce. The bright minds of Indian and Chinese youth are finally matching up to their (so far untapped) potential and have now firmly occupied their rightful positions at the forefront of innovation.

However, in recent times, security and defence issues have far overshadowed their growing economies. In recent years, more and more funds are being diverted by the Chinese government towards defence, indicative of China�s priority to establish itself as a major military power. It is these militarization activities that have prompted the belief that China is indeed preparing for war. However, in reality, neither country can risk the damages of war to their still 'delicate' economies and thus for now, we can be assured of a certain degree of peace.