Welcome Mr Manmohan Singh, PM of India, on your visit to the USA, specificaly to the White House State Presidential dinner with President Obama.
Here are 10 matters that Pres Obama & PM Singh ought to discuss :
1. Urgent - just as the NY Times front story in Nov 23 rd showed, NYC's sewage system is in serious trouble while India does not even have one... Indian Railway, a monopoly owned by Indian railway is causing a lot of death and disease. Mr Obama and Mr Singh should allocate US $ 10 Billion in funds ( take it from the army and military budgets... we can definately spend less.. YES LESS on war and more on dealing with **** ) to build 100 new sewage treatment plants in India and US. Yes we need them, and yes, Mr President and Mr PM.. please talk **** it is serious business and deadly. It can create 100,000 jobs in America and 500,000 jobs in India. YES, in this economy. It is a must, or we are going to have more swine flu like situations.
2. Call a global peace summit to talk PEACE in Afganisthan. This malady and violence cannot continue. There has to be a ceasefire. If Obama is going to accept the Nobel prize for Peace, then this is the least he must do. Sending trrops to war and accepting the peace Nobel ...is contradictory. To say the least.
3. Mr PM Singh MUST give Mr President Obama a selection of Mahatma Gandhi's writtings, particularly, those that deal with Peace and non-violence. Mr Obama said recently that he would like to have dinner with Gandhiji, if that were possible. I would say, Gandhiji would refuse to have dinner with Mr Obama, if he continues to allow the war and war mongering to go on.
4. Talk of a Post UN world vision. The UN has been an utter failure, and it is a shame that India is not even a security council member, even though it is the worlds largest democracy and has a population of 1.2 Billion people, and is the worlds second most populous country. A conference to debate the future of the UN is urgently needed. The UN is the problem...
5. The WHO - that organization which is suppose to take care of global health issues - needs an urgent overhauling.
6. Seek a WTO vote for ban on sales of weapons and trading. Yes, Obama, if you think you deserve the Nobel Peace prize - and I think you deserve it - Go for it. BAN WEAPONS TRADE.
7. Provide education on a lower cost and don't allow Universities as in CA to raise their fees as they are doing... Mr Singh, it is time to improve education in India... Make sanitation and cleanliness a subject of study central to the curriculm...
8. There is an ecological and environmental disaster in India that is not being addressed - Bhopal and its history still lingers with many other trouble spots... EPA please look at matters in India ( not that EPA is doing a great job... given so many faults in the US system... yet.. India needs the EPA to step up pressure here ) ... yes
9. A back to Gandhiji and his ways is urgently needed in India. This drive for India and America is a must... not just lip service... real serious following of The real Gandhi. Gandhiji. Peace, truth, Cleanliness...
10. Read Tagore and yes... follow his teachings. Tagore, Ruskin, Emerson, Thoreau, Tolstoy, Gandhiji.. these are the ones who taught us and warned us.. they are so correct...
These are a sure 10 to give you a high five !!
George