This blog features latest articles of interest to desis (slang for South Asian Americans - Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, etc.).
See the latest articles at facebook.com/TribeDesi
Along with the previews post, makes interesting reading on how things are getting out of control with overburdened infrastructure and the number of vehicles. In cities like New Delhi, where more and more houses are being converted into 4 or 5 flats, and each occupant having one or more vehicles, fights over parking are a common sight...
Here we go again...was Newsweek really insulting Shiva when they published Obama on the cover in the Nataraja pose? haven't we seen enough products like T-shirts with worse poses of Ganesha?
...and as it is, who knows what the merger of Newsweek and The Daily beat will sprout...
Interesting article...focuses on the rise of mobile phones in India - probably the only real thing which has trickled down to the lowest classes of the society with the telecom infrastructure upgrade here.
There is no question US views India as a strategic entity - but what should be its added value to india? According to a report by Center for New American Century, it should be "In order to chart a more ambitious US-India strategic partnership, we believe that the United States should commit, publicly and explicitly, to work with India in support of its permanent membership in an enlarged UN Security Council; seek a broad expansion of bilateral trade and investment, beginning with a Bilateral Investment Treaty; greatly expand the security relationship and boost defense trade; support Indian membership in key export control organizations, a step toward integrating India into global non-proliferation efforts; and liberalize US export controls, including the removal of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) subsidiaries from the US Entity List."
But what about the curbs on outsourcing? Read this article for more details...
A very interesting article, in which Malcolm Gladwell asks the question about the contribution of social networking to social change - and tries to compare the Twitter revolutions in Moldovia and Iran to the genesis of the civil rights movement in Greensboro, NC in 1960.
An example - does having 1,000 "friends" on facebook mean that these 1,000 would help you drive social change? Gladwell states that The Save Darfur Coalition has 1.2 million members on facebook, but the average donation only comes out to 9 cents per person...
There have been quite a few responses to Gladwell's article - for example, "If the Internet didn’t exist, Barack Obama would not be president of the United States,” says Ben Rattray, the founder of Change.org. “The fact that the most powerful person in the world wouldn’t be in that position without the Internet and organizing online says something.”
The power of the Internet in Obama’s case, Rattray says, was its unique ability to organize thousands of passionate people to work together for change. While 100,000 people ranting on Twitter might not be worth anything, organizing those 100,000 people in a simultaneous action can have a significant impact.
Although e-petitions, Change.org’s most common advocacy tool, might top the list of low-commitment activism in some minds, Rattray says that the organization wins a campaign — changes an unjust law, policy, or practice — at least once a week. But he also admits this is probably not the most dramatic method of activism out there..."
All in all, a great question, and very thought provoking...
