Probably teething problems , I watched the closing ceremoney, it was spectacular . Nevertheless in the last 20 years, that part of the world and the East are making progress that is simply mind boggling. Their glass is not even one fifth full.
India has two major problems: 1. The infrastructure is inexistant. 2. The illiteracy rate is very high (it's one of the main reasons that can explain the slower economic development compared to China). However India made the choice early on to focus on IT and their schools and engineers today are amongst the best of the world. Almost anywhere else in the world there is a shortage of IT engineers. That strategic choice is a huge success today and will continue to pull India out of poverty tomorrow. Ninna
some of the comments are ridiculous, such as the one about indians pooping everywhere and urinating everywhere. I'm not denying there are ghetto parts where that happens but i will tell you that you dont see human feces/urine on a daily basis while walking the streets. Im talking about northern india but i'm sure its the same in other parts as well. Yes India has a lot of corruption and it is taken for granted. Things dont change overnight in a country of a billion people and especially where the uneducated poor of the country vote in the leaders. However, the economy has done very well over the past 20 years and you do see visible evidence of it. The infrastructure although no where close to western standards has improved quite a bit. I left india in the early 90's so when i returned over the past few years i could see the dramatic changes. These propaganda videos which only show the worst parts of the society give a very bleek picture of the whole country. Imagine if in Europe only the worst parts of Detroit were shown to all, what would Europeans think of USA. India's economy is 3000.00 per capita, many people make a lot less than that and many make a lot more. There is a lot of money in the country along with a lot of poverty as well.
As advanced as the US thinks it is we have all of the same problems here. Homeless. poverty, corruption and war. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/homelessness
Economic mobility != Social mobility http://goo.gl/K8Pg There are 17,000 cults aka castes in India. http://goo.gl/CNyp With less than 1% marriages inter-caste, they literally hate each other. In India's dummy democracy, 80% Indians are living under 20 rupees per day http://goo.gl/xfUx "A country is not made of land; a country is made of its people." -- Unknown
I normally prefer not to post on such philosophical issues as there are many different opinions and more than one person can be correct...buy any way... I am an Indian citizen who lived for the last 10 years in US...so I think I have the right and capacity to comment on both countries... Yes, India is not perfect and it is not exactly news to anyone. It stinks, it is dirty, it is corrupt, there are castes, traffic is a mess, politicians are useless, we are a long way behind China etc. But believe it or not, it is still way better than it was 10 or 20 years ago ! I don't know if this counts as progress but even rag pickers (and garbage pickers) in India have cell phones these days ! There has been too much focus on IT/oursourcing/tech etc. to the detriment of the infrastructure on the part of the govt. But, in an indirect way, the need to keep the foreign companies happy (ford, hyundai, nokia and many others that have set up shop here) has spurred government action in improving roads & other facilities. Remember the US has been independent for more than 200 years, India has been free for only 60+ years. In terms of the development in those 60 years, it is a mixed bag. We could have been farther ahead if not for the socialist policies of the 50s and 60s (but necessary at the time because a newly independent country that had been ravaged by its colonial masters did not have the wherewithal to completely embrace capitalism). We have more than made up for lost time since the economic liberalisation of the 90s. For those that concentrate on the ills of India, let me say one thing - even the NYC subway system stinks with the stench of urine. That does not make US a third world country. Three times as many people as the US in a landmass that is a third the size of the US. So the next time you travel in a car with 4 people in the US, imagine 40 people in the car and you will get an idea of what it is like in India. I am by no means defending India; my family knows very well how much I rail against an almost institutionalized stupidity when it comes to Indian standards of personal hygiene and civic sense. But more than the changes themselves, it is the pace of these changes that is giving me hope. I sincerely ask people of other countries to ignore the WSJ version of India (xx % of people live under $1 a day etc.), close your travel guides (India is more than Taj Mahal & Kama Sutra) and listen to people who have experienced life there.
It is estimated the Indian public is the largest non central bank gold holder in the world. Does a continiously rising price of gold elevates the standard of living in India and are people still adding at these levels? thanks for any response.
According to a report 85% Indians do not have a bank a/c. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_inclusion#Financial_inclusion_in_India Since these people use gold as a fiat currency it is better to invest in Gold ETFs in India for assured returns.
USA has been fighting wars all over the world for past 100 years. How many wars have India fought? USA was involved in World War 1 and World War 2. India was not involved in World War 1 and World War 2. George Bush was correct that USA has grown stronger with War. To be equal to USA, India will have to fight World War 3. At Present Pakistan army is stronger than Indian army. Pakistan and China ar strong allies. India has land dispute with Pakistan and China. First comes death and destruction then comes development. All the countries that were involved in World War 1 and 2, these countries and now rich and highly developed. Those countries that were not involved in World War 1 and 2, they are poor and have high population problem. Kuwait is 3 times richer than USA because 1 Kuwaiti dinar = 3 USA dollars. But Kuwait was captured by Iraq (Saddam Hussein) within days. Money is not power. Military is power.