Status Report on the World

OK, OK, the title is pretty awe-inspiring, but this post is really just a few thoughts on what's dominating world headlines, and our lives today... and I guess it's pretty representative of the world we live in, in the early 21st century.

On the world stage, there are only two real issues dominating the news channels and newspapers - The fight against terrorism (dominated by the West's fight against Islamist fundamentalists) and global warming.

After taking on the Taliban in Afghanistan, and seeing a big victory in terms of being able to dislodge the Taliban government and install Hamid Karzai as President, the US took on Al-Qaeda in Iraq - and has now landed in a big soup. The gains in Afghanistan seem to be vanishing day by day. Pakistan's north east lawless tribal areas are a safe haven for terrorists now, and Pervez Musharraf is finding it increasingly hard to get a grip on the fundamentalists in his own country. Iraq is a quagmire, and is slowly moving into a civil war. Palentinians are no closer to peace, with Hamas and Fatah movements both fighting each other, Israel a frustrating bystander to the violence in Gaza. And Islamistes else where, from the south of Africa to south east Asia, are creating fresh trouble. This is also turning into a fight against the Burkha, with many European contries contemplating a ban on the burkha - a judge recently walked out of his court in protest when a Burkha clad lady walked inside.

Interestingly, inspite of recurring bomb blasts and attacks, Kashmir seems to be getting quieter, and tourism is booming in the valley again!

Global warming has finally landed on the world leader's conference table - and in the drawing rooms of every home with a TV. And the effects, whether real of imaginary, are being felt. Pune, for example, is witnessing torrential rains the like of which was never seen a decade back. While some parts of the world are facing cyclones and flooding, as in the Omani desert, Europe is experience heat waves like never before. Flooding and typhoons have ravaged the world, and rising sea levels are threatening coastal cities, especially in countries like Bangladesh.

The world is now looking at China and India to be the superpowers of this century. China, with it's huge population and strict military/communist order is marching on as a manufacturing super-power, while India with it's teeming millions of educated middle class, is showing up as the world's back office and IT/other services provider, as well as in biotechnology and other cutting edge areas. And their large middle class populations means they are a self-contained economy now, with no real worries of sanctions or trade barriers. Russia, which had lost it's edge over the US after the collapse of the Soviet Union, is now flexing muscles amidst a resurging economy, using it's oil and gas reserves to good effect, holding the world to ransom. Iran and North Korea are the latest trouble spots for the US and it's allies, both holding the threat of nuclear weapons, and taking the US head-on.

In India itself, times have never been better. From cell phones to Mercedes cars, even rural and small-town India is joining the party. A news item reported today that Ludhiana and Kolhapur have the highest per capita Mercedes' in the country. Kolhapur itself has more than 500 hundred! An awesome road network is coming up, huge malls springing up in every nook and corner, and the real estate and stock markets are booming like never before. Forex reserves have balooned up to almost 200 Billion USD, a 2000 times rise from the early ninetees when India had to mortgage it's gold, and was forced to take the economic reforms path. IT services and manufacturing, automobiles, pharma, telecom - India is riding it's success in not one, but multiple ways.

Judicial activism, the right to information act, and an aggressive press and a vigilant society is leading to some serious convictions of politicians and public figures, hethereto immune to the law. Corruption may not be out, but it is definitely on the wane.

Yes, we still have lots to do, and for every Indian, this is a time to stand for your country and help her, rather than criticize the system and run off to the West. With the number of Indians coming back swelling by the day, it's almost LS to say you are planning to take flight and become a NRI!

For some lighter moments now... a judge in the US sued his laundry cleaner a whopping 57 Million USD for losing his pants and causing him emotional trauma, by not living up to it's "Satisfaction Guaranteed" promise. Thankfully, all is not lost in the US - he lost his case and was ordered by the court to pay the court expenses. India's prez-to-be talked about how a dead Baba came to her and gave her divine premonition of the good days to come. Saurav and Sachin are still batting for India, and recently broke the world record for the highest number of century stands.

And I am on a weight-control diet and lost 2 kgs in one month...