From The Ganges To The Thames

Today my blogging attempt will be to touch your heart with facts that should make you proud of your race & the
country. Let me begin by asking you a few questions:

Who is the General Manager of Hewlett Packard (HP) ?
A. Rajiv Gupta

Q. Who is the creator of the Pentium chip (needs no introduction as 90% of the today's computers run on it)?
A. Vinod Dham

Q. Who is the third richest man on the world?
A. According to the latest report in Fortune Magazine, it is Azim Premji, who is the CEO of Wipro Industries. (the Sultan of Brunei is at the 6th position now!)

Q. Who is the founder and creator of Hotmail (Hotmail is the world's No.1 web based email program)?
A. Sabeer Bhatia

Q. 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)?
A. Arun Netravalli

Q. Who is the new MTD (Microsoft Testing Director) of Windows Vista, responsible to iron out all initial problems?
A. Sanjay Tejawrika

Q. Who are the Chief Executives of CitiBank, Mckinsey & Stanchart?
A. Victor Menezes, Rajat Gupta, and Rana Talwar.

We Indians are the wealthiest among all ethnic groups in America, even faring better than the whites and the natives:

There are only 3.22 million Indians in the USA (15% 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.

Some of the following facts may be known to you. These facts were recently published in a German magazine, which deals with world history facts about India:

1. India never invaded any country in her last 1000 years of history.
2. India invented the Number system. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
3. The world's first University was established in Takshila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects there. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education. Our present President wants to take up a teaching post in this University after he finishes his post.
4. According to the Forbes magazine, Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software.
5. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans.
6. Although Western media portrays modern images of India as poverty striken and underdeveloped through political corruption, India was once the richest empire on earth.
7. The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 5000 years ago.. The very word "Navigation" is derived from the Sanskrit word Navgatih.
8. The value of Pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is now known as the Pythagorean
Theorem. British scholars have accepted officially in 1999 and published that Budhayan's works dates to the 6th Century which is long before the European mathematicians.
9. Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus came from India . Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th Century; the largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Indians used numbers as big as 1053
10.According to the Gemological Institute of America, up until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds to the world.
11. USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion amongst academics that the pioneer of wireless communication was Professor Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi.
12. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.
13. Chess was invented in India
14. Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted surgeries like cesareans, cataract, fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient India .
15. When many cultures in the world were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley ( Indus Valley India in 100 BC).


In the recent history, very rarely India has come across a situation, all at a time, an ascending economic trajectory, continuously rising foreign exchange reserve, reduced rate of inflation, global recognition of the technological competence, energy of 540 million youth, umbilical connectivities of 20 million people of Indian origin in various parts of the planet, and the interest shown by many developed countries to invest in our engineers and scientists including setting up of new R&D centers. Above all India as the largest democracy in the world, has a reputation for its democracy and for providing leadership for the one billion people with multi- cultural, multi-language and multi-religious backgrounds. Our
technological competence and value systems with civilizational heritage are highly respected. Foreign Institutional Investors find investing in India attractive. Indians are also investing in companies abroad and are opening new business ventures. Tata's Corus & Kumaramangalam Birlas take-overs are just a preview of what is going to follow. As per the report titled "From the Ganges to the Thames" which states that the Indian Foreign Direct Investment in British capital is second only to that of the US and Indian FDI project in Europe has increased from just 5 to 119 during the period 1997 to 2004. The Government is also committed to economic development by ensuring growth rate of 7% to 8% annually, enhancing the welfare of the farmers and workers and unleashing the creativity of the entrepreneurs, business persons, scientists, engineers and
other productive forces of the society. We must use this opportunity for transforming India to a globally competitive developed nation before 2020. This calls for the agriculture, manufacturing and service sectors becoming globally competitive leading to an economically competitive environment. What then would be the profile of the globally competitive developed India?

1. A Nation where the rural and urban divide has reduced to a thin line.
2. A Nation where there is an equitable distribution and access to energy and quality water.
3. A Nation where agriculture, industry and service sector work together in symphony, absorbing technology thereby resulting in sustained wealth generation leading to greater high value employment opportunities.
4. A Nation where education is not denied to any meritorious candidates because of societal or economic discrimination.
5. A Nation which is the best destination for the most talented scholars, scientists, and investors from all over the world.
6. A Nation where the best of health care is available to all the billion population and the communicable diseases like AIDS/TB, water and vector borne diseases and other stress diseases, cardiac diseases, cancer and diabetes are brought down.
7. A Nation where the governance uses the best of the technologies to be responsive, transparent, fully connected in a high bandwidth e-governance grid, easily accessible and simple in rules, thereby corruption free.
8. A Nation where poverty has been totally eradicated, illiteracy removed and crimes against women are absent and the society feels unalienated.
9. A Nation that is prosperous, healthy, secure, peaceful and happy and continues with a sustainable growth path.
10. A Nation that is one of the best places to live in, on the earth and brings smiles on a billion plus faces.

It is indeed a big challenge of high magnitude. For achieving such a competitive profile for India, we have a vision of realizing this goal in a time bound manner. Only a heathy nation will transform into a developed nation. Unless the maternal & child health statistics compare with the developed world, we will never achieve that status. Here is where we obstetricians and gynecologists come in. We are indeed the pillars upon which the the health of the nation rests on. Let us work with the government in transforming our BIMARU states across timelines and bring them at par with healthcare in the metros. This is achievable. The administration is committed and irrespective of the party in power, the reforms will go on. The type
of mission in front of us is very complex and challenging. Let us share a great thought propounded by Saint Maharishi Patanjali in the Yoga Sutra in 500 BC:
"When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary
project, all your thoughts break their bounds. Your mind transcends
limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you
find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces,
faculties and talents come alive, and you discover yourself to be a
greater person by far than you ever dreamt yourself to be."

But we need to do a RDB (Rang De Basanti) to go ahead - Today I wish Sanjay Gandhi was alive.