India 12th wealthiest nation in 2005, says World Bank

[Indra]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1717334.cms

WASHINGTON: With India already on the top in foreign remittances from its expatriates, India achieved yet another milestone on Saturday when it emerged as the 12th wealthiest nation in the world with its GDP touching 785.47 billion dollars or Rs 35,34,615 crore in 2005, calculated by the World Bank.

US was the wealthiest nation with GDP of 12.46 trillion dollars, according to a list of 15 wealthiest countries prepared by the World Bank in terms of their gross domestic product.

The GDP figures have been adjusted to reflect purchasing power.

While India was way down compared to China, positioned fourth with 2.23 trillion dollars of GDP, it was wealthier than Mexico, Russia and Australia.

The first nine countries had GDP of more than a trillion dollars.

The United States was followed by Japan with 4.51 trillion dollars and Germany 2.78 trillion dollars.

Britain, France and Italy occupied fifth, sixth and seventh ranks with GDP of 2.19 trillion dollars, 2.11 trillion dollars and 1.72 trillion dollars, respectively.

Next came Spain, Canada, Brazil and South Korea with their GDP estimated at 1.124 trillion dollars, 1.115 trillion dollars, 794.10 billion dollars and 787.62 billion dollars, respectively.

There was no African country among the 15 richest nations, while India was the only south Asian country in the list.

[Sagefrakrobatik]

India's rapid industrialization reminds of Mexico. They both are considered NIC. But from what i read recently India still has a lot of problems with poverty. I wonder what the status is on India today. Alot can change in the course of 3 years.

[dewanand]

India needs a masscale welfare plan. Investing in all people, to create equal opportunities and equal rights for everyone. Education, jobs, expansion. Bringing welfare for all people.

The GDP of india is somehow not correct. The illegal or informal economy of india must be two third of the official GDP and is not counted yet. However the informal economy is more efficient and cheaper, and maybe 600 million people in India make their living with it.

India is a great country and it will grow on for about 25 years, according to experts.

Jai Jai Bharat Maata

dewanand
the Netherlands

[MahaHrada]

India will always be a country of great potential without ever becoming a developed nation. India simply doesn't have it in her..


If everyone consumed as many resources as the average person in North America, we would need five earths to meet the demand.

Apparently so called development implies the destruction of this planet.

But all the sophisticated lifestyle does not even make a single person satisfied or happy and is not worth the price of a wholesale destruction of our environment.

Instead of trying to be part of the asuric and destructive forces on this planet and be part of the rat race India should remain what it is, the Nation with the smallest ecological footprint on the whole earth, therefore it does the least damage to our planet and environment.

Maintaining this footprint is what i would call real development and progress. The wealthy Nations should follow the example of India and try to learn the values that have been instrumental for India to be the most advanced Nation in terms of ecological sustainability. Would the world follow Indias example this could save our planet. If the world follows the example of the USA this would mean that our planet could be subjected to a Naimittika destruction very soon, because of papa (sinful activity) of the "developed" nations

This small footprint is not due to poverty this is a very ugly lie that is often spread by commentators on these fact, this is to cover up their own failures, defend their evil lifestyle and the greed that destroys the resources of our planet.
The truth is that India has the best ecological footprint because of the innate virtues and the great spiritual and cultural heritage of the indian nation, verily Bharata ma still is the punya bhumi.

I hope nobody mind when i add a poem of my parama guru here:

Dust and bones
Dwelling in the lowlands and the mountains,
The naked Avadhoots bathe in the fire,
Turning men's delusions into ashes,
And freeing souls from bondage and desire.
Of the beginning to know not;
Of obligations to owe not;
Against the world not to be;
Mankind's evils do not see;
To save the world, try not;
For other people, sigh not;
Only within is perfect peace;
So inward seek and find release.
Thus, Varma Marga-the Path of Return,
Rejects the world, for money not to yearn:
Eternally, the ancient Gurus taught,
The best of treasures can never be bought.
So, said Mahendranath the Avadhoot,
The words of other men do not refute:
You are immortal soul and nothing lack
In Twilight Yoga, return and go back.
Lose not your mind in revels
Or the petty baser levels;
Awakened Awareness can see
The Cosmic Soul is really thee.
The Soul, a heaven born, enchanted swan
Breaks through its worldly chains and passes on,
And in the realm of purest Bliss to shine,
Now an immortal, once again divine.
The world of artificial scenes and then,
A weary life of which you soon must tire,
When will you see, o foolish tribe of men,
All is a phantom of a dream's desire.
When will they learn to mind their own business,
And will they ever leave mankind alone?
Invent, reform, and the preachers who rave,
Progress which still only leads to the grave.
If all the reformers had died at birth,
And preachers had earlier left the earth,
And most inventors had never been,
A happier world you might have seen.
The nature of mankind was more perfect,
In its original simplicity.
Progress has been the greatest corruption;
Civilization has debased mankind.
People have been spoiled by the improvers,
Because reformers won't leave folk alone;
Thus the rhythm of life has been destroyed,
And happiness is now almost unknown.
Converting happy people into slaves
Has ever been the way of those who rule:
Although they preach of progress for mankind,
They treat each other as though he were a fool.
Physical labour was made for donkeys;
Doing nothing is the best employment:
What is the use if your actions prevent
Contemplative life and its enjoyment?
I only spoke because I did not know,
But now I know, I do not dare to speak:
If once I told, it was as bells are rung,
When moving world of action swings the tongue.
Those who think they can preach Reality
Are but as clowns whose voices croaking creak;
Those who do not know it do the talking,
For he who knows it does not dare to speak.
The turn about way is the Pagan Path,
The esoteric natural way supreme,
And in the calm of Twilight Yoga learn,
Which is reality and which a dream.
In the Alchemy of Twilight Yoga,
The bondage burns but Soul survives the fire;
In this path we terminate obstructions
And see the emptiness of world desire.
Without meditation, all is in vain,
For have not the ancient Gurus made plain
That if Man would his Real Self know and find,
He must first sit quiet and empty the mind?
Around the Zodiac, the Wheel of Life,
Days turn to months and months turn to years,
And life span ends to take you to the grave;
You, unprepared and trembling with your fears.
This is the path you made, no turning back;
Remorse and tears, though heavy as the rain,
Can have no meaning now, and you must face
The seeds you planted; rebirth once again.
The sky is gone and only stars in space,
The weariness of day lies down to sleep,
But all too soon the peace of night must end;
Appointment with another day to keep.
Back to your primitive simplicity,
Environment to be as Nature made:
Avoiding action, only sitting quiet,
The world will vanish-even thoughts will fade.
In the bliss and joy of deep Samadhi,
Yet seeking nothing, only stillness be;
Then will come the supreme Realization
That you are Soul and always have been free.
Shri Dadaji Mahendranath

[mithya]

The truth is that India has the best ecological footprint because of the innate virtues and the great spiritual and cultural heritage of the indian nation, verily Bharata ma still is the punya bhumi.


You might want to tell that to the 300m poor people living below poverty line.:rolleyes:

[MahaHrada]

You might want to tell that to the 300m poor people living below poverty line.:rolleyes:


I have not told this to 300 million people of course not, but i showed my respect to Bharatha Dharma and Hindu Culture to quite a few Indians rich and poor, and i have yet to find a single person that disagreed or was annoyed. Of course most westerners do not realise that there are some things one cannot buy, and true wealth consist not of material possesion so practically only westerners dislike my opinions.

In the west you have to buy everything , even Dharma and Religion or Yoga has transformend into an article of consumption that can only be bought and sold, this is what I call living below the poverty line.

Most Indians are proud of their culture so it is more important to tell to the people of the "developed" nations that they are not so developed after all so they become aware of the fact that their rotten society and their evil customs and greedy demands are the cause for the earth downfall.

Alone this one custom of the fat and greedy human rats, the habit to consume every day enourmous amounts of meat causes an extreme drain on ecological resources and is a grave danger for the future of our planet.

Burkhard Varnholt of Bank Sarasin recently gave the following interesting comments on so called globalisation and the credit crisis.
One of Burkhard’s main points was that the banking crisis has exposed and will accelerate the emergence of a new world economic order.The principal drivers of this are the global economy, population growth and migration.This has not led to increased starvation but growth through the increase in global trade which is only possible because of developments in technology and infrastructure.
This will however lead to a scramble for resources that will cause severe bottlenecks and conflicts. This will act as a catalyst and unprecedented quest for sustainable power, food and water-solutions. As demographics change, especially in emerging markets, people’s lifestyles alter and their consumption will increase. As countries develop, the population’s diets often change. People eat more meat, which consumes 10 times more water to produce than a vegetarian diet. Countries such as China therefore need more desalination plants to combat the scarcity. of water which leads to an increased demand for power.There is a circular cycle between the need for water, food and power.

In the Linga Purana it is said about the Kali Yuga that only after experiencing great hardships because of drought migration and famine peope will wake up.

"They will be hungry and sick and will know despair, It is then that some will ponder over fundamental values"
Linga Purana chap.40

[Jivattatva]

From wikipedia:

GDP per capita is not a measurement of a standard of living in an economy. However, it often used as such an indicator with the rationale being that all citizens would benefit from their country's increased economic production. Similarly, GDP per capita is not a measurment of personal income. GDP may increase while incomes for the majority of a country's citizens may even decrease or change disproportionally.

The major disadvantage of using GDP as an indicator of standard of living is that it is not, strictly speaking, a measure of standard of living. GDP is intended to be a measure of particular types of economic activity within a country. Nothing about the definition of GDP suggests that it is necessarily a measure of standard of living. For instance, in an extreme example, a country which exported 100 per cent of its production and imported nothing would still have a high GDP, but a very poor standard of living.
The argument in favour of using GDP is not that it is a good indicator of standard of living, but rather that (all other things being equal) standard of living tends to increase when GDP per capita increases. This makes GDP a proxy for standard of living, rather than a direct measure of it.


The statistic does not really mean anything to the millions of Indians living below the poverty line. I have close ties to and love India for its ancient wisdom expressed in the Bhagavatam etc. I love Indians, especially the Bengalis who adopted me like their sister. I visit there frequently. I am a devotee of Gvism and my beloved guru is Indian. I know some people doing practical good work in India and I'm also thinking of how I can help the young Bengalis I met when I was there last.

Indra you quoted:While India was way down compared to China, positioned fourth with 2.23 trillion dollars of GDP, it was wealthier than Mexico, Russia and Australia.


I am Asian-Australian but regardless of the GDP figures, Australia is still a very rich country compared to India in real terms. Our population is only 20 miillions compared your almost 1 Billion.

So I think that news is not really remarkable. Hare Krishna.

[satay]

namaskar,



So I think that news is not really remarkable. Hare Krishna.

For a land that has been raped for hundreds of years, it is a remarkable news. As the wiki rightly points out
it[GDP often used as such an indicator with the rationale being that all citizens would benefit from their country's increased economic production

Let's hope that all Indians will benefit from the economic well being or else Australia can give them all immigration status instead of pointing fingers...

[amra]

Development is synonymous with the subjugation of people by creating debt slaves and the raping of mother nature. How can you be proud of such things. You are using the evil western democracies as bench marks to measure your own successes. Why look to something so base and decrepid as an ideal to achieve. I live in London and I have no hesitation in saying that most the people are insane violent crime is a regular occurence immorality and degenracy are the standard and there is a very sinister de-humanising trend in modern youth culture. And this is one of the most 'developed' countries in the world. Is this the sort of development you want to come to India?

[satay]

Namaskar,

I don't know what it is...this obsession of non-indians with India. They can't seem be happy either way...

There is a yardstick used by every country of the world to measure their 'economic development'. Why complain when India uses the same yardstick?

We didn't make the yardstick.

[amra]

If you use this yardstick peoples values are changed and they assume certain ideals and values are desirable. These values and ideals are anathema to any sane minded individual. All the traditional values that hold centuries of knowledge will be destroyed if you take up this yardstick, all because you want to be seen as developed by the imperial masters, it seems the english never really left India their spirit lives on in the obsessession for progress and development.

[satay]

namaskar,



If you use this yardstick peoples values are changed and they assume certain ideals and values are desirable.


Well, like I said, we didn't create the yardstick and we are not the only ones or the first ones to use it. GDP is a standard way of measuring a country's economic condition.




These values and ideals are anathema to any sane minded individual.


Well, okay then we are all insane. If everyone is using the same yardstick and thus losing their values and ideals who is to there to actually define what is sane and what is insane?

You say that you live in London, yet, from what I can tell from your posts, you haven't lost your sanity, you seem to have good values and ideals. If economic development makes one insane and makes one lose their values why hasn't the economic development of London affected you?



All the traditional values that hold centuries of knowledge will be destroyed if you take up this yardstick, all because you want to be seen as developed by the imperial masters, it seems the english never really left India their spirit lives on in the obsessession for progress and development.

It's not a matter of choice. This is how economic development is measured. Not sure what this has to do with imperial masters.

You are mixing up two issue. The thread is about India and Indians and the original post is about 'economic development' of India. What you seem to be talking about is spiritual values.

What you call obsession for progress and development is what is needed for the Indians especially the poor. That doesn't mean, however, that one has to shun or depress their spiritual development because of economic development. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Indian youth are talented and the future of India is bright both economically and spiritually.

Instead of pointing fingers, why not suggest an alternative. In your opinion how should India measure its economic development? or do you think that India should not get better economically? What would you rather have 1 billion people that can support themselves or another africa on the world map?

[MahaHrada]

it seems the english never really left India their spirit lives on in the obsessession for progress and development.


“What is our mother-country? It is not a piece of earth, nor a figure of speech. . . . It is a mighty Shakti, composed of the Shaktis of all the millions of units that make up the nation.”
sri aurobindo

There is no obsession for progress and development in India that i know of. Traditions are not abondend but adapted and modern scientific research method even enhance and improve ancient traditions like ayurvedic medicine and Yoga
And as I already wrote, and i think i do not need to repeat the reasons, solely India has the potential, to set the example for the world of how economic development can be environmental friendly and consumption patterns can be ecological sustainable and nonetheless satisfying.

Greater economic power will eventualy empower India to inspire a new economy worldwide. India will develop economically without replicating the errors of the West. That way Bharata mata eventually will be the cause for survival of the ecosphere of our planet.

Bharata Mata ki Jai

Thou naked art Kàlí and utterly ruthless thou art. . . . I bow to Thee as the violent One, O Ender of worlds. . . . The mighty Mother of creatures has vanquished the age of Strife . . . in East and West, I hear the cry of the whole world hastening with the praise on its tongue to this country, the ancient Mother of the Vedas . . . firmly established in the Aryan country. Abide forever gracious in this land, O mighty One."
Offer sacrifice to me. Give for I am thirsty. Seeing me, know and adore the original Power, ranging here as Kàlí, who . . . hungers to enjoy the heads of bodies of mighty rulers.

Sri Aurobindo, “Bhavani Bharati”

[dewanand]

NOw it is the end of 2009 and what is the status of India now. INdia is growing fast and steady.

but spiritually Indians are far more superior than westerners and this something that people forget. Look at the internet and compare the spiritual levels of Indian forums and sites to the ones of white western people. There is a big difference. I know many forums.

Money is not civilization. Being a good human is civilization. Do not forget that.

dewanand
hindu writer
delft city, the Netherlands