Ajay0

As per GDP by PPP (purchasing power parity) India ranks third in the world only behind the US and China. GDP by Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) is a measure of a country's total economic output (GDP) converted into a common "international dollar" to compare the volume of goods and services produced across nations. By adjusting for local price levels, it equalizes purchasing power, making it a better indicator than nominal GDP for comparing local living standards and purchasing power across countries. GDP by PPP shows a better picture of what money can purchase locally. You can buy more locally with Indian rupees compared to what a canadian can buy in canada or a german can buy in germany.

Thank you for your concerns about me. India is the fastest growing major economy in the world, minting billionaires, centi-millionaires and millionaires faster than most countries on earth. It ranks third in the world in the number of billionaires and centi-millionaires after the US and China. Yeah, life can be tough for a common man and global citizen like me at times due to the western wars in ukraine and iran jacking up the prices of common goods and increasing inflation around the world. This only increases the profits of the military-industrial complex in the west, and the average western citizen is also feeling the heat to move to the streets and start living in tents and cars . Due to inflation life is hard indeed, but I usually go to the beach to destress and spends a lot of time there. This helps me a lot.

The cultural revolution came with the deaths of many million Chinese citizens, and the chinese government in 1981 has publicly acknowledged the many failures of the cultural revolution. While India has a democratic government, China has a communist dictatorship lacking transparency in media and press. The Chinese Confuciean religion emphasizes order, stability leading to a highly structured society that values experience and continuity, and this influence is said to have played a part in creating efficient Asian societies in Japan and South Korea, and not just China. I am actually hoping Confuciean influence comes to India as well. Buddhism, which is a major religion in China, has also brought about an intellectual and disciplined culture and lifestyle amongst Chinese citizens due to its emphasis on philosophy and martial arts. India and China were neck-and-neck in terms of GDP per capita and overall economic scale around 1980 to 1990, after which China accelerated significantly due to early economic reforms, massive manufacturing growth, and infrastructure investment. At present India have brought about similar reforms and policies and is the fastest growing major economy at the moment. Yes, I agree that superstitions can be a bane of religion, but most superstitions have been subject to heavy media criticism in India. Saints and scholars like Prabhupada and Dr. Pankaj Jain have also objected to food waste as illustrated above, and this has brought reforms as well. The Brahma Malai Temple has been cited as an example of a zero-waste system, redistributing food and recycling offerings, demonstrating that waste is avoidable. This temple is often projected as a model for other temples. Rationalism in emphasized in both Buddhism and Hinduism (nyaya philosophy) and it is important to highlight and develop this further in religion. Mahatma Gandhi had himself emphasized rationalism in his teachings and works for regulating religion and possible excesses due to superstition as shown in these sayings of his...

China then and India now are in the midst of a heavy industrial phase and consequently atmospheric pollution has increased a lot in industrial zones and regions. However India has seen an increase in forest and tree cover to around 25 % of its total area in recent times, creating an additional 2.29 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide sink between 2005 and 2021. India is ranked 5th among the top global carbon sinks, with its forests removing 150 Mt of CO₂ per year during 2021–2025. Only Russia, China, US and Brazil were ahead of it. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/india-sees-rise-in-forest-cover-boosts-carbon-sink-capacity/articleshow/125336627.cms Australia however faces a critical deforestation crisis, with nearly half of its forest cover destroyed in the last 200 years. Between 2000 and 2017, over 7.7 million hectares of forest and bushland were cleared, driven primarily by agriculture (beef production), land development, and mining. Australia is the only developed country listed as a global deforestation hotspot. Habitat loss is the biggest threat to native wildlife, contributing to Australia's status as having the highest rate of mammal extinctions globally. Deforestation is a major contributor to Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, with land-use changes accounting for around 15% of total global emissions. Conservationists should put a check on this rate of heavy deforestation to reduce greenhouse emissions.

Happy birthday, Leo !

Taoism has emphasized the importance of harmony with nature in aligning with the Tao better. As per scientists, humanity has wiped out over 60-74 % of nature in the last 50 years. Even endangered and harmless animals like the cheetahs are still being hunted in large numbers by trophy hunters to show off and hide their innate superficiality. So it is possible that greater inability to align with the Tao could be the reason for the lack of general wellness in humanity.

Nihilism which states that all virtues and values are mere abstractions, is a natural outgrowth of western philosophy and psychology considering that they have no understanding or database of enlightenment or Buddhahood in western civilization, and which is of a recent timeline compared to the ancient eastern civilization. As per the Buddha, virtuous conduct enables attainment of enlightenment or Buddhahood. Rajini Menon is a modern female enlightened sage who attained enlightenment by adhering to virtuous conduct and following her conscience. I had created some threads in this regard... It is very unfortunate that such incomplete philosophies like nihilism continues to dominate the modern mind leading to an erroneous thought process and corresponding actions, and nihilism has been considered to be a philosophical factor that led to the world wars and genocides.

The european union has emerged as the world's second largest largest importer of hunting trophies of internationally protected species after the US, as per this report. https://www.humaneworld.org/en/news/european-union-worlds-second-largest

A report has linked european trophy hunters to more than 80% of cheetah deaths around the world. https://the-european.eu/story-46267/exclusive-european-trophy-hunters-linked-to-more-than-80-of-global-cheetah-kills-report-warns.html

2200 years back Ashoka the Great created a model administration in the Indian mauryan empire benefitting all sentient beings including humans and non-humans with measures for proper law and order.. He spread buddhism through all sea and land routes and made it a global religion. He gave up warfare except for self defense alone. Countries like USA and Australia did not exist back then and came up only two centuries back. Only Greece and Rome existed as civilized nations back then in Europe while the rest were in a barbaric savage state. As an ancient civilization India may have slipped in standards a bit at present, but is rapidly galloping back to an optimal state again, powered by the fastest growing major economy in the world at the moment. Same is the case in Brazil as well, which has a fast growing economy that is bettering its socioeconomic standards.

On the contrary, the Indian police, in coordination with municipal bodies and the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, are implementing rehabilitation-focused initiatives to make cities "beggar-free" by 2026. Key initiatives include the SMILE scheme, rehabilitation homes, the punitive "No Alms" policy in Indore, and welfare programs like Visakhapatnam's "Jyothirgamaya" among many others. https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/up-front/story/20250210-indores-battle-against-begging-2672876-2025-01-31 https://theprint.in/india/over-1100-beggars-vagabonds-shifted-to-shelter-homes-under-rehabilitation-drive-in-central-delhi/2688557/ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/state-launches-drive-to-rehabilitate-beggars/articleshow/74261460.cms Mahatma Gandhi, during his stay in South Africa in his youth, developed his non-violent civil rights philosophy and methodology over there in protests against white discriminatory policies against the Indian community there. This was used by the native african leaders later on to end racial discrimination in white dominated parts of south africa, end the fascist regime and set up a democratic south africa. Nobel prize winning african leader Nelson Mandela stated thus on Gandhi... "The Gandhian influence dominated freedom struggles on the African continent right up to the 1960s because of the power it generated and the unity it forged among the apparently powerless. Nonviolence was the official stance of all major African coalitions, and the South African A.N.C. remained implacably opposed to violence for most of its existence." At present south africa and India are the original member countries in BRICS. The African Union joined as the 21st member at the 2023 G20 summit in India and was officially represented at the 2024 summit in Brazil.

India’s space agency, Indian Space Research Organisation, is preparing to undertake two advanced orbital docking experiments SPADEX-3 and SPADEX-4 to support its future operational objectives. Space docking capabilities are vital for Indian space goals for creating a space station by 2035 as well as conducting its first moon landing in 2040 followed by a permanent human presence on the Moon by 2047. ISRO conducted its first space docking experiments (SPADEX) at a basic level successfully after docking autonomously two small Indian satellites—SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target) in a circular orbit, in January 2025. There was a succesful demonstration of electric power transfer between the docked sattelites.They were also undocked successfuly on March 13,2025. The new SPADEX missions will involve docking experiments at an advanced level at both circular and elliptical orbits. India is the fourth country on earth after the US, Russia and China to demonstrate space docking capabilites. https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/isro-plans-two-new-spadex-missions-to-prep-for-bharatiya-antariksh-station-2886229-2026-03-24

I am aware of the unfortunate mass gang rapes, torture and murders of women that took place during the Lebanese Civil War. Indian soldiers compose the bulk of UNIFIL, and I am proud to say that UNIFIL has helped to bring much needed peace and stability to Lebanon, and reduce strife between the warring factions as an impartial entity. I have created a thread on the same. The Indian army is the second largest army on earth, and Indian peacekeepers have helped to stabilize many conflict hit regions in Asia and Africa , minimize human rights violations, and set them on the foundation of peace and progress. Indian female peacekeepers have also played a major role in empowerment of female communities in these regions, which has been acknowledged by the UN as well.

US has a relatively healthy police to population ratio of 300 and above, and so the law enforcement there is more effective. However I have also seen reports of thousands of native american women raped and murdered by non-natives which has become a major issue over there in native nations. I would say lack of proper policing in those regions maybe the issue. I have also stated how India not being a part of global wars have spared it from major human rights violations on a mass scale. The European nazis who committed the slav genocide under the influence of drugs raped and murdered millions of slav women, and this lead to heavy soviet retribution when they invaded austria and Germany. The Americans, French and Dutch similarly perpetrated atrocities on women in Vietnam, Algeria and Indonesia as war crimes, which are well documented. India has not had these kind of issues but our challenge at present is to develop our policing and judicial resources to standard levels to ensure optimal law and order.

There has been focus on empowerment of women in India through measures taken by the Indian government through its institutions... Recently two Indian female naval officers crossed Point Nemo, the most remote location on earth, aboard the Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV) Tarini sailing on their own. https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/2-indian-navy-women-officers-cross-point-nemo-earths-most-remote-location-7600117 They undertook a mission to circumnavigate the earth on October 2, 2024 covering over 47,041 km crossing three oceans, four continents and returned back home on May 29, 2025 on schedule. https://www.indiasentinels.com/navy/navika-sagar-parikrama-ii-historic-homecoming-as-indian-navy-women-officers-complete-globe-circumnavigation-on-insv-tarini-6855 Similarly, an all-women team comprised of female Indian army soldiers, became the first all-women expedition in the world to summit Mt. Everest in 2005. India has the highest percentage of female pilots globally, the International Society of Women Airline Pilots estimates, with about 12.4% of all pilots women, compared with 5.5% in the US, the world’s largest aviation market, and 4.7% in the UK. https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/8/9/how-does-india-have-twice-as-many-women-airline-pilots-than-us

Based on National Crime Records data, Delhi has frequently recorded the highest absolute number of rape cases among major Indian cities, often leading to the label of "rape capital" of India in Indian english speaking media and public discourse. This however was twisted by western media narratives and other later on as the 'rape capital of the world' and so on in a process similar to the game of chinese whispers. However, in terms of rape statistics , India has performed perceivably better than some western nations at present.

I have personally witnessed western women walking in Indian beaches wearing bikinis as well as Indian muslim women not wearing hijabs or burqas in public in India. If these are parameters of women's safety and rights in India, I would say India is doing okay at the moment. However the benchmark would be safety as set by Gandhi's saying, "The day a woman can walk freely on the roads at night, that day we can say that India has achieved independence." If this can happen uniformly in India, it would be a major achievement.

But we do have positives as well. India has had a female president and prime minister. UK's first female prime minister Margaret Thatcher considered the then Indian female prime minister Indira Gandhi as a role model and inspiration. Indira Gandhi was the world's second female prime minister, the first being Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka. In comparison the US has never had a female president, and it is only recently that it had its first female vice-president in Kamla Harris.

Rape is legally wrong in India and there are punishments for the same, if convicted. The issue however is that India lacks the necessary resources in terms of judiciary and policing at present to enforce its laws properly. It's police to population ratio is just 155 as opposed to UN mandated 222 ( due to damaged economy after independence from western colonial rule) which however is now gradually improving due to the fast developing economy. India also has the largest number of English newspapers and the biggest readership, with The Times of India being the world's largest English daily by circulation. Consequently all rape cases in India have reached world attention, sourced from Indian media directly without the censorship and media controls in other authoritarian and theocratic countries lacking press freedom. As a result of all this information, rape in India is magnified wrongly over many other countries where lack of women's rights is a bigger issue. Since the same rape report is highlighted by many Indian english newspapers, there is the impression that there are many rapes committed which magnifies the issue disproportionately. India also has the world's largest population of 1 billion 400 million, so crime rates are obviously bound to be higher statistically speaking than any country in the world. However a major positive is that India has not been involved in global wars like the world wars and genocides which saw millions of women raped. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crimes_in_World_War_I https://medicamondiale.org/en/violence-against-women/news/world-war-ii-millions-of-rapes-on-women-and-girls Breakdowns in law and order due to dictatorships, political instability and insurgencies, cartel violence leading to women's rights violations as has happened in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Nigeria, Bosnia, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Myanmar, Mexico and so on, has not happened in India. Heavy sexual violence against native American women in the US and Canada have been highlighted in recent times as well. The scandals related to the Dutrov rape and paedophilia scandal in Europe involving members of the elite classes, as well as the Epstein and Winstein scandals in the US have also highlighted inadequacies in ensuring women's and children's rights in so called first world countries as well. Imho, the prevention of crimes against women and children requires not just a healthy police to poulation ratio of 222 and more, it also requires an adept and flawless legal system which efficiently and quickly delivers justice to the victim and punishes the perpetrator; ethically conscious lawyers, journalists and social activists in abundance to ensure that the laws are updated and not obsolete, implemented meticulously and law-breakers reported and punished. A value-based culture that deifies or humanizes women rather than dehumanizing or objectifying them is also part of the solution.

There is a saying by the enlightened sage Meher Baba , "Bravery and strength overcome all difficulties." One can contemplate on this teaching and realize that difficulties will overcome the weak and cowardly. Mahatma Gandhi has similarly stated thus, " Wealth does not lie in gold and silver, it lies in intelligence and good work ethics." One can similarly contemplate on this teaching and deduce that ignorance and bad work ethics are bound to embrace poverty, instead of prosperity. Hope you find these teachings inspiring.

Try to figure out your passion, so that you can research careers that align with it. If you don't have such industries in India that align with your passion, obviously the right thing to do is to get a career that gives you money enough to train yourself to industry standards and pursue your dream career, possibly in other countries. You can later bring the same industry to India as an entrepreneur. However you might have to do some seemingly lowly jobs and activities in the process of pursuing your dream. Bill Gates for example as a teenager, used to do dumpster diving and retrieving operating system listings or source codes from garbage cans of computer centers as he considered them as a primary source of learning. Elon Musk similarly supported himself during his struggling days with coding jobs which he was not passionate about, but provided him with money to follow his interests. India's richest man and multi-billionaire Dhirubhai Ambani started as a petrol pump attendant. I think if you move around a bit, you will find your perspective on careers changing as well. You might become more interested in being a businessman. There are many rags to riches stories in India of entrepreneurs who spotted ideas and solved problems related to supplies or logistics after doing market research, thereby providing competitive products and services which was a instant hit in the market.

Tamil Nadu in India has an excellent manufacturing industry, especially automobiles. The other day I came across a school dropout Tamilian woman who became a successful farming entrepreneur after creating value added agricultural products. Many are becoming millionaires from the farming industry alone. It is not just IT industry producing millionaires. You need to expand your horizons and become more dynamic.

India is the world's largest democracy and a member of the non-aligned movement, which had been created in 1961 to prevent the conditions for world war 3. The two world wars which originated in europe came up on the basis of opposing military alliances. The two wars killed over a hundred million and created heavy losses of property and life in europe . Military historians have stated that the two world wars originated due to poor diplomacy and negotiations between the belligerent military alliances in europe and was potentially largely preventable by wise statesmanship. Seeing that conditions for a third world war was arising, India, Indonesia,Egypt, Ghana, Yugoslavia and other countries created the non-aligned movement so as to create a dispassionate space of neutrality for reducing tensions between the military blocs. Though India is the world's largest democracy, it came to confrontation with western powers and western military alliances over Goa liberation, Bangladesh war and so on , and in the process developed a good relationship ironically with the Russians who supported the Indian position. So it is ironic that the world's largest democracy was supported by the so-called dictatorial and evil Russians rather than the western so-called champions of democracy and was ignored by the latter. Now that India has emerged as both the fourth largest economic and military power on earth, the western so-called champions of democracy have suddenly realized that India is also the world's largest democracy and strongly argues that democractic India should be in its alliances and not the Russian, and wants India to forget its past friendly relationship with Russia ! Talk about historical amnesia and attitude ! However India is true to its position in the non-aligned movement and wants to use this position to reduce friction between the western bloc and russia-china bloc and prevent a global nuclear war between them. A third world war originating again in europe will not serve the purpose of humanity.

India rejected as "factually incorrect, baseless, careless", Nato chiefs remarks to a reporter, on Modi calling Putin to discuss war strategy on Ukraine. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/careless-india-rejects-nato-chiefs-pm-called-putin-for-ukraine-plan-claim-says-no-such-talk-took-place-2793921-2025-09-26 https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-rejects-baseless-nato-chiefs-remarks-about-modi-putin-talks-2025-09-26/

Geopolitical writer and commentator Arnaud Bertrand has praised India for its political courage which EU lacks, as per his perception. He also praised India for upgrading its diplomatic ties with China. https://www.businesstoday.in/amp/india/story/modi-has-the-political-courage-europe-lacks-entrepreneur-says-eu-lacks-will-courage-shame-for-giving-in-to-trumps-demands-490405-2025-08-21