[Nukenfry]

Democracy Now

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/5/11/e ... ed_by_debt

A quarter of a million Indian farmers have committed suicide in the last 16 years—an average of one suicide every 30 minutes. The crisis has ballooned with economic liberalization that has removed agricultural subsidies and opened Indian agriculture to the global market. Small farmers are often trapped in a cycle of insurmountable debt, leading many to take their lives out of sheer desperation. We speak with Smita Narula of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at New York University Law School, co-author of a new report on farmer suicides in India.

[lucky]

Also in the news: one and a quarter million Indians have died in a traffic accident in the last 16 years: an average of one death every 7 minutes. The crisis has ballooned with economic liberalization, increased incomes and opening to international vehicle markets.

[Khalq]

http://in.news.yahoo.com/farmer-immolat ... 2-788.html
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news ... ly/753691/

You were saying?

[avedic]

I would like to inform you that 7 million people die in India every year. Why? See the population. WTF is suicide? It is many time trick. A person dies, family members hang him so it looks suicide. And then see what percentage of people are engaged in farming.

Instead of wasting time in this, you should look at this:

1. http://www.iloveindia.com/quotes-on-india/index.html
2. http://hinduism.about.com/od/history/a/indiaquotes.htm

Facts:
1. The number system was invented by India. Aryabhatta was the scientist who invented the digit zero.

2. Sanskrit ( A Indian Language ) is considered as the mother of all higher languages. This is because it is the most precise, and therefore suitable language for computer software. ( a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987 ).

3. India is.......the Largest democracy in the world, the 6th largest country in the world AND one of the most ancient and living civilizations (at least 10, 000 years old).

4. The' place value system' and the 'decimal system' were developed in 100 BC in India.

5. Chess was invented in India.

6. Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies which originated in India.

7. The game of snakes & ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev in India.

8. India has the most post offices in the world.

9. The largest employer in the world is the Indian railway system, employing over a million people.

10. India was one of the richest countries till the time of British in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth and was looking for route to India when he discovered America by mistake.

11. The World's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects.

12. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The father of medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.

13. The value of "pi" was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, which was long before the European mathematicians.

14. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus also orignated from India. Quadratic equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10*53 ( i.e 10 to the power of 53 ) with specific names as early as 5000 B.C. during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera: 10*12( 10 to the power of 12 ).

15. Until 1896, India was the only source for diamonds to the world. ( Source . Gemological Institute of America )

16. The Baily Bridge is the highest bridge in the world. It is located in the Ladakh valley between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountains. It was built by the Indian Army in August 1982.

17. Sushruta is regarded as the father of surgery. Over 2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones and also plastic surgery and brain surgeries.

Some Interesting data

* Who is the co-founder of Sun Microsystems ?
Mr. Vinod Khosla ( Indian )

* Who is the creator of Pentium chip (90% of the today's computers run on it)?
Mr. Vinod Dham ( Indian )

*Who is the founder and creator of Hotmail (World's No. 1 web based E-Mail program)?
Mr. Sabeer Bhatia (Indian) later on sold to Microsoft.

* Who is the president of AT & T-Bell Labs (AT & T-Bell Labs is the creator of program languages such as C, C++, UNIX to name a few)?
Mr. Arun Netravalli (Indian)

*Who is the GM of Hewlett Packard ?
Mr. Rajiv Gupta (Indian)

*Who is the new MTD (Microsoft Testing Director) of Windows 2000 , responsible to iron out all initial problems?
Mr. Sanjay Tejwrika ( Indian )

* Indians are the wealthiest among all ethnic groups in America , even faring better than the whites and the natives:
There are 3.22 Millions of INDIAN s in USA ( 1.5 % of population ).
YET, 38% of doctors in USA are INDIANs.
12% scientists in USA are INDIANs.
36% of NASA scientists are INDIANs.
34% of Microsoft employees are INDIANs.
28% of IBM employees are INDIANs.
17% of INTEL scientists are INDIANs.
13% of XEROX employees are INDIANs.

When the hell people would look at that?

[Khalq]

Human life is worthless. If commoners in India commit suicide, it's because they're growing bored with their idyllic lives. Oh silly me, I completely forgot it's all a mise en scène put up by deranged family members. Plus, who cares if they commit suicide, there are so many of them left - 1.2 billion give or take, eh?!

Let's celebrate Indian success stories. It's important you mentioned them because everyone in this thread is oblivious about them and this thread's hidden purpose is actually to bash Indians and belittle their abilities.

^10

[Suska]

I'm pretty surprised by the replies. Really really weird people you are.

[lucky]

First of all, if you want a serious discussion, you should not manipulate the presentation of statistics. If you want a meaningful suicide rate, you compute it as suicides per 100,000 people per year, or something comparable like that, not as an absolute number in 16 years or the absolute number per minute or some such nonsense. Then you compare to other groups and to other causes of death. Only then you can start talking about causality and impact.

[Suska]

y so srs?

As if the point wasn't to communicate about a condition, but to show that it's worse than anywhere else... I understood the OP, am I the weirdo or are you lucky - a statistics snob?

[Nukenfry]

The point of the post was to expose the length and breadth of American corporate neo-liberalization and its effects on the poor of the world. In this case India. If one is exposing foreign corruption and danger to the poor of India, then how is that an insult to Indians? How is that attacking Indians? Further, anyone who makes out the death of any human being to be small simply on a statistical quota has a dangerous severe lack in humanity. Death is not just the death of a human, but of their future, of their familial relations, their friendships, their love, their dignity.

I notice quotes and history facts posted on India, what does this have to do with the topic? What has much of anything have to do with the topic posted? You avoid the issue on hand and lack your capability to address it. In India, just like the same tactics deployed in America, Monsanto utilizes its corporate edge to sell seeds to the farmer. To ensure its growth, you need large amounts of water which the Indians do not have. You need proper irrigation, which the Indians lack, thus they rely on rain water, which is not enough for the Monsanto seed. Also, proper petro-chemical agents are necessary for the genetic growth of the product. This turns the soil into a junkie where natural crop rotation becomes impossible. Therefore, the Indians is stuck with the seed they bought, that does not have enough water to produce a proper harvest, therefore the already poor lower caste Indian is steeped in debt. People driven to the edge of no hope are more likely, as common sense suggests, to take their lives. This neo-colonial effort on hand of the privatization of the farming market in India by foreign investors is an example of what neo-liberalization does to life. The success stories of India are applicable to the upper castes, as is it is in any caste/class society. The poor and the Untouchables have little to no rights, the foreign investment enslaves and burdens them.

The arguments in this thread thus far are pathetically miserable, it is apparent that no one actually took the time to read or watch the interview.

[unbalanced zealot]

The arguments in this thread thus far are pathetically miserable, it is apparent that no one actually took the time to read or watch the interview.

Tend to agree. Have deleted a couple of the lame one-liners. A-C Mod

[Chill]

Instead of wasting time in this, you should look at this:

1. http://www.iloveindia.com/quotes-on-india/index.html
2. http://hinduism.about.com/od/history/a/indiaquotes.htm

Facts:
1. The number system was invented by India. Aryabhatta was the scientist who invented the digit zero.

2. Sanskrit ( A Indian Language ) is considered as the mother of all higher languages. This is because it is the most precise, and therefore suitable language for computer software. ( a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987 ).

3. India is.......the Largest democracy in the world, the 6th largest country in the world AND one of the most ancient and living civilizations (at least 10, 000 years old).

4. The' place value system' and the 'decimal system' were developed in 100 BC in India.

5. Chess was invented in India.

6. Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies which originated in India.

7. The game of snakes & ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev in India.

8. India has the most post offices in the world.

9. The largest employer in the world is the Indian railway system, employing over a million people.

10. India was one of the richest countries till the time of British in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth and was looking for route to India when he discovered America by mistake.

11. The World's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects.

12. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The father of medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.

13. The value of "pi" was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, which was long before the European mathematicians.

14. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus also orignated from India. Quadratic equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10*53 ( i.e 10 to the power of 53 ) with specific names as early as 5000 B.C. during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera: 10*12( 10 to the power of 12 ).

15. Until 1896, India was the only source for diamonds to the world. ( Source . Gemological Institute of America )

16. The Baily Bridge is the highest bridge in the world. It is located in the Ladakh valley between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountains. It was built by the Indian Army in August 1982.

17. Sushruta is regarded as the father of surgery. Over 2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones and also plastic surgery and brain surgeries.

Some Interesting data

* Who is the co-founder of Sun Microsystems ?
Mr. Vinod Khosla ( Indian )

* Who is the creator of Pentium chip (90% of the today's computers run on it)?
Mr. Vinod Dham ( Indian )

*Who is the founder and creator of Hotmail (World's No. 1 web based E-Mail program)?
Mr. Sabeer Bhatia (Indian) later on sold to Microsoft.

* Who is the president of AT & T-Bell Labs (AT & T-Bell Labs is the creator of program languages such as C, C++, UNIX to name a few)?
Mr. Arun Netravalli (Indian)

*Who is the GM of Hewlett Packard ?
Mr. Rajiv Gupta (Indian)

*Who is the new MTD (Microsoft Testing Director) of Windows 2000 , responsible to iron out all initial problems?
Mr. Sanjay Tejwrika ( Indian )

* Indians are the wealthiest among all ethnic groups in America , even faring better than the whites and the natives:
There are 3.22 Millions of INDIAN s in USA ( 1.5 % of population ).
YET, 38% of doctors in USA are INDIANs.
12% scientists in USA are INDIANs.
36% of NASA scientists are INDIANs.
34% of Microsoft employees are INDIANs.
28% of IBM employees are INDIANs.
17% of INTEL scientists are INDIANs.
13% of XEROX employees are INDIANs.

When the hell people would look at that?

What the hell is this related to farmers committing suicide...

[Khalq]

^ The Indian civilization is great and some Indians are professionally successful so we shouldn't criticize their rotten social and economic system. That's pretty much the logic.