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President Biden is taking his time to conduct trade negotiations says this story in the WSJ. The economic plan and help for manufacturing business is a higher priority. Biden is skeptical about the Trans Pacific Trade Agreement negotiated by president Obama and has concerns for the protection of American labor. There is a sense that such trade agreements are not in the American interest of reviving its manufacturing base. Trade negotiations with China are to be conducted from a position of strength. To do this president Biden wants to consult closely with Australia, Europe, and Japan before proceeding with trade talks. For these reasons trade talks are a lesser priority for the Biden administration.

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The Senate voted 54 to 45 in April 2017 to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court to fill the spot left vacant with the death of Justice Scalia. This the first time in the history of the Supreme Court that a justice, Justice Kennedy, will serve along with a former clerk who worked with him, the new Justice Gorsuch. Gorsuch is a conservative who served on the U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit, in Denver. Gorsuch will have to vote on the Trump travel ban which now goes to the Supreme Court. Other case on separation of church and state and gun control are also likely to be heard by the court.

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A 110 aircraft $15 billion deal is being negotiated by India with Boeing and other manufacturers. This deal requires all aircraft be assembled in India to create jobs, and requires transfer of technology so that India can build up its own defense industry for exports. The U.S. sees India as a counterpoint to China in the Indian Ocean as China expands in that region, and transfer of technology is being done to increase Indian capabilities. In the past India has sourced defense needs including aircraft from Russia, and this is an effort to improve ties with India. Lockheed is considering building F-16 aircraft in India with Indian partner Tata. 

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Shale oil producer spending in the U.S. is forecast to drop by 3%, but this will still add one million barrels a day of additional shale oil production. Prices are now at about $45 a barrel and shale producers are cutting back on production rigs in operation with the 40% decline in oil prices. The EIA expects oil production to reach an average of 12.1 million barrels daily in 2019 from an average of 10.9 barrels a day in 2018. This suggests there will be additional supplies and continued downward pressure on oil prices. The situation is favorable for the U.S. and countries such as India which benefit from lower oil prices.

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Eric Schmidt, former chairman of Google, says that dependency taken to this extreme where TSMC makes 92% of the advanced semiconductors needed for every smartphone, laptop and missile systems, needs to be quickly corrected. He says America's technology advantage could face serious damage with the Taiwanese production lost in the event of war or missile attack. The supply chain is already at risk with over 70% of supplies of silicon, tungsten, and gallium in the supply chain under China's control. Surprisingly Schmidt does not ask for action beyond Congress authorizing the $50 billion investment proposed for American manufacturing of semiconductors. What is needed as Andy Kessler has proposed in WSJ is to ask Taiwan and South Korea to invest in the US and allies such as  India where production cost challenges can be met with the engineering manpower and facilities as has been done in health care and vaccines manufacturing. Only token or small investments have been made by South Korea and Taiwan in the US compared to what is required. The US should ask for this to be done as part of the exchange for security guarantees that the US is already making for South Korea and Taiwan. It is also the responsibility of South Korea and Taiwan to make these and other investments in other technologies considering it as its obligation to the Free World. For too long countries in Asia that have benefited from US assistance have ignored their reciprocal obligations to the US. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China have all benefited from US technology sharing and assistance. It is only an egregious example that China has put itself in the situation where Japan found itself or placed itself in the first half of the twentieth century.  ...

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Rachel Reeves is Shadow Chancellor in Britain, that is a way of saying Finance Minister when Labor currently in the Opposition forms a new government. Speaking at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington DC she says how Labour will bring about a transformation of Britain's economy with ambitions that borrows from and matches what Biden is doing in the US, and Scholz in Germany. This is very different from anything Britain has seen in its history. The Labour government of Clement Attlee made some institutional changes such as setting up the Bank of England as Britain's central bank in 1946, creating the structures that would help workers and families and the British economy recover from the war, and declaring in parliament that Britain would leave India by June 1948. Blair's response to the Thatcher government did not rival the changes brought by Attlee by any comparison. What Britain following the US is facing today is an FDR or Attlee moment because of the scale of changes needed to create an American or British economy that matches the aspirations of the people, and creating a meaningful role in the world economy and supply chains. Investments have to be made in public goods such as renewable energy, health, education and transportation infrastructure that have no parallel in history including that of FDR or Attlee. Biden is investing on a scale that is designed to overcome two decades of neglect of infrastructure and public goods such as education, health care, and public services. The same is true for Britain. The same is true for Germany and for the European Union.   ...

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Where changes are being made that make America stronger business leaders wholeheartedly support and value the president's work and the people on his team working on it. Brad Smith of Microsoft says of Biden on cybersecurity "he has done more in his presidency than any president ever." CEO's of auto companies (Stellantis, GM, Ford) and Intel CEO Geisinger value the investment the government is making for climate change transition and investments in rebuilding semiconductor manufacturing to level the playing field with China, something the US Chamber of Commerce never advocated. It is the policy officer of the US Chamber of Commerce who uses the word "complicated" because the positions taken by the US Chamber of Commerce are at odds with what the American people need, or are demanding of the president. If one is talking about large oil companies, so called Tech companies such as Google and Apple that are not paying their fair share of taxes, and Pharma companies that are charging exorbitant prices, the president is only doing what is best for the American people. One could see this in the recent Senate hearings with Big Pharma companies ,when out of sheer frustration the senior Republican senator Mike Braun of Indiana warned the Pharma companies, that they were following a path that he other Republicans could no longer support. Banks faced tighter regulation because of banking crises including the 2009 crisis caused by the banks that hurt workers and middle class. Business relations with the Biden administration are being shaped then by a new vision for America and the American people, to point to a brighter future, not to pull back to the past. ...

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The idea that strongmen and populist politics are the problems of Sri Lanka is misleading. In the recovery of 2023-2024 it is PM Ranil Wickremasinghe with the help of PM Modi's financial loan assistance and arrangement through the IMF that put Sri Lanka back on the road to recovery.  Sri Lanka was called Ceylon during the colonial era. It became a Portuguese colony in 1505, and by 1600 a Dutch colony from which the Dutch extracted spices and cinnamon. In 1802 it was transferred by treaty to the British till independence in 1948. British left 1948 a country with an economy generating surplus from exports of coconuts, cinnamon, rubber and tea which financed a generous welfare state with subsidized rice. Under the British literacy was highest in South Asia. The failures were in race relations over two decades of war 1977-2009 by the attitudes of Sinhalese and Tamil leaders, and lack of a role model in northern India as PM Modi offers today for modernization. The second is the colossal failure of the "cut" politics where governments use their office for a cut in every business transaction which PM Modi has fought against with calls for good honest governance. The governments after 2009 continued these policies and let the central banks funds be depleted in the process leading to the financial crisis, inflation and inability to fund imports. Lessons are being learned and PM Modi is setting the path for all of South Asia for investment in infrastructure and modernization, good governance and Vikshit Bharat- developed India 2047. Sr Lanka is part of this vision for South Asia and Indonesia with 1.7 billion people.   ...

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Patel's speech on August 15 1948, provides a point of reflection for Gandhi's project of Hind Swaraj announced in his book Hind Swaraj written on a steamship voyage in 1909 returning to South Africa from England, and this week's Vikshit Bharat 2047 vision taking shape 75 years after 1947. Hear this audio podcast from All India Radio of Indian Deputy prime minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's broadcast to the Indian Nation on Aug 15, 1948. It  is a point for reflection just one year after independence when the "paramountcy of the British inIndia came to an end," yet it was not clear that India would be pulled together as one Nation or be in pieces "Tukda, tukda." 75 years ago Patel talks about the situation in China where civil war raged- on that day the NYT showed Koumintang and Communist armies facing each other near Nanking and in Shantung province. Hyper inflation had already hit Shanghai a sack of rice cost 6.7 million yuan and the highest denomination currency was 180 million yuan, the Kouminatang decided to print money to fight the civil war.  Malaysia had riots and communist insurgency was about to take place. Synghman Rhee was made president of South Korea with US Gen. Douglas McArthur present in Seoul and the invasion by Communist North Korea on June 25, 1950 was around the corner.  Israel's Ben Gurion asked the UN to have Arab armies withdraw or it would have to go to war. In India the Kashmir invasion in the Himalayas starts on 12 September 1947 with Liaquat Ali Khan approving plans for tribals and Pathans to attack Kashmir.The states of Hyderabad, Travancore and Junagadh among princely states(which were one third of the British Empire) that had not been integrated. In Europe the Berlin Blockade had started in June 1948. This is the Asia and Europe that Patel saw in 1948 as he pondered on the meaning of Gandhi's success and what had still to be achieved. It is also a point of reflection in advance of  August 15, when India gained its freedom from British rule and set the stage for the decolonization of Indonesia from the Dutch, of Vietnam from the French, and Malaya from the British, followed by decolonization in all of Africa. ...

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Former finance minister Peer Steinbruck will be the SPD candidate for chancellor of Germany in the 2013 elections. He is is trusted in Germany for his economic experience and handling of the economy during 2008-2009, especially with the eurozone crisis worsening. Helmut Schmidt, a former chancellor has endorsed Steinbruck. He could draw some right wing support from Merkel. Merkel is personally popular in Germany but the CDU has lost elections in key states, and its partner the Free Democrats is considered weak.

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VW sales including Audi were up 34% in 2012. BMW sales were up 14%, and Daimler sales were up 15%. The growth rates for the German automakers surpassed growth in China. By manufacturing in the U.S. German automakers are better able to compete with the Detroit and Japanese carmakers in pricing. A third of BMW vehicles and a fourth of VW and Mercedes vehicles are now made in the U.S., according to LMC Automotive. VW has invested about $4 billion in the U.S. since 2008, including investment at a plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The German carmakers are now going for mass appeal with the VW Passat. Lower priced Mercedes models now sell for under $30,000. German exports to the U.S. increased by 24% in October 2012, compared to 18% for the eurozone overall. About 40% of German exports to the U.S are autos. Eurozone exports to the U.S. were up 18% in Oct 2012, and Britain's exports increased by 11%. British exports in Oct 2012 of 4 billion euros were second only to Germany at 8 billion euros....

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Diamond and Kashyap, professors in finance and economics at the University of Chicago, show how the tax on banks proposed by the Obama administration can be executed. It would raise $90 billon over 10 years and offset the $117 billion in losses expected from the TARP program. They say the tax should be made on the size of each bank before the fall of Lehman Brothers so that banks cannot shrink their way out of the tax by engaging in sham accounting transactions. They say the banks have responded to the crisis by engaging in behaviours that have exacerbated the crisis by becoming reluctant to lend, and not renewing loans. Its like having the banks pay for the insurance policy that keeps them from sinking.

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Cost of driving depends on where you live in the US- California (taxes and climate change fee), and mountain states (no inland supplies in West), Illinois taxes are much higher compared to the South and South East (close to refineries no taxes). Specific formulations add extra on the Eastern seaboard states  from New Hampshire to Virginia, and in the West California have requirements to reduce smog and pollution. At one time in the 1980's in Pasadena the smog would be so bad you could not see the green color on the leaves clearly. For most of the US gas prices on April 22, 2026 are around $3.62 or lower compared to $3.92 on average in March for the whole US and $5.83 in California, $5.00 in Oregon, $5.38 in Washington. Texas, Alabama, North and South Carolina at around $3.62 and Florida at $4.00. In Virginia to Maine in the North East it is around $4.00. A look at the map shows that talk of $5.00 gasoline hurting the Republicans in the midterms for Congress is incorrect because the Democrats are likely to hold on to California, Washington Oregon, their base with gas at close to $6.00 the very opposite of what they are saying. Much of it because of state policies against oil refining and climate change taxes, formulations of gasoline that cost more to address smog. The head of the distribution channel for gasoline in the US, Scott Berhang, head of fuel wholesalers marketing group Sigma says- “At some point, [the war] could translate into supply shortages. That could happen. But we’re not really there yet. I talk to my members all over the U.S. They’re not seeing any supply issues. There’s no problem getting fuel. Everything is normal.” State taxes can be as low as 9 cents in Alaska and 71 cents in California, 66 cents in Illinois. The price of gas in swing states Arizona $4.59, Pennsylvania $4.11, Michigan $3.78, Wisconsin $3.69, North Carolina $3.75, Georgia $3.57. If we use $3.61 price of Texas and most of South and close to this in all but mountain states and western states then we are slightly above the same price gasoline was sold at the pump in 2011-2014 of $3.51 per gallon. This is a significant fact considering the media talks about gasoline prices in the US as a significant cost of living issue. Which means saying Iran War is "crippling" US consumers at the pump is farfetched and totally incorrect.  ...

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With its slogan "Expect More, Pay less" Target has tried to combine low prices with moving upmarket, carrying designer merchandise and chic styling without breaking the family budget. Now with the recession and consumers becoming frugal in the USA, Target and its new CEO who took on the role in May 2008, Steinhafel, is looking at Wal-Mart to see how it can also emphasize the low prices in this recessionary climate. With store sales fallig by 10% in early 2009 Target executives were concerned that something needed to be done. And the thing was to bring even lower prices withor making customers feel cheap. Its chief marketing officer natty Francis always believed in the marketing philosophy of the 1952 book about Marshall Field "Give the Lady What She Wants." Question was what the lady wanted in today's environment. Instead of the old aspirational image of the designers behind Target apparel, Francis now put up the idea of how good value can be chic too. Target designers emphasized how the lady can look "frugalista fabulous." The other challenge was introducig groceries in the store. And instead of packaged foods he idea was to introduce fresh foods which have higher margins. Protype grocery stores were put up and the concept launched. And now instead of gradual rollout, Target went hyper local putting fresh food in all 30 Philadelphia stores. And the marketing ads, radio, newspaper circulars, TV everything made Philly residents aware of the move. Sales went up by 5to 10%. Now the concept has proven to work and Target plans to put in in 350 stores in 2010. And Nat Francis thinks Target did not move fast enough considering how quickly consumers have turned frugal. In the new frugal environment Target research showed its working-mom was obsessing about the price of milk not the thigh-high boots, and she was visiting the grocery store twice aweek and Target only 3 times amonth. Showing groceries mattered. Meantime Target's markeing is ore focussed and its creating the perception that Target and Wal-mart are so close on price. Target is actually devoting 75% of its advertising budget to price compared to 25% in 2008. So a 32 inch panel TV is $246, a coffeemaker is $3. Yet Target executives don't want to undo a strategy built up over years of a better customer experience, designer merchandise at lwer prices, something that would differentiate it from Wal-Mart. So the moves may simply be an adjustment to comport with the thriftier savings oriented times....

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The British parliament defeated a measure put forward by prime minister Cameron for military response to the chemical weapons attack in Syria in August 2013. The vote against British intervention was 285 to 272 with members of his own party and Liberals voting against the measure. The case put forward by Cameron was based on humanitarian grounds, and to prevent the use of chemical weapons in the future. Under pressure from politicians from all parties Cameron decided to put this to a vote in parliament following a debate on Aug. 29, 2013. In calling for the vote Cameron said he was deeply mindful of the deep concerns about Britain's intervention in Iraq in 2003.

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Issues about how many more jobs are supported by Apple beyond the 47,000 employees in the U.S. Estimates of job creation in China and overseas through supplier networks for iPads, iPhones and other products are as high as 700,000. Apple says it has "created or supported" 514,000 jobs in the U.S. Experts say it is hard to say how many jobs are supported. Of the jobs Apple counted in this number, the consulting group doing the estimate included 257,000 jobs at companies such as Corning that makes the glass for the iPhone, UPS, and a Samsung plant in Texas. The number was generated using a formula of the federal government's Bureau of Economic Analysis and how much money Apple spent on goods and services in the U.S. An additional 210,000 jobs were generated by companies making apps for Apple devices. The consulting company estimated that 45% of the 466,000 app related jobs in the U.S. -using the estimate of such jobs from TechNet- were for Apple apps. Apple released these figures on its website as criticism from the industry and outside mounts about whether Apple is doing enough for jobs in the U.S. Intel's Andy Grove is one of the industry executives who has pointed out that there is much scaling up at home that U.S. companies need to do....

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New legislation that cleared Congress on helping homeowners about 400,000 homeowners avoid foreclosure. Congresspromises to get tough on lenders and loan servicers if they do work to honor what Congress has mandated. The Federal Housing Administration will run the program and it will insure upto $300 billion in refinanced 30 year fixed rate loans The mortgages cannot be for more than 90% of a home's newly appraised value. For mortgages that exceed that value the lender would have to voluntarily write down the principal to the qualifying level. If the home goes up in value the borrower must share newly created equity with the FHA. THe program begins October 1 and ends Sept 30, 2011. Borrowers will not qualify if they have intentionally defaulted on the loan or if they had a debt to income ratio of less than 31% as of March 1. This is the first serious effort by Congress and the Administration to work in bipartisan fashion to put a serious dent in the housing foreclosure levels which are at the root of the present financial crisis and Secreatary Paulson, Bernanke, and Barney Frank and others in Congress have helped support this effort which should eventually help the financail markets recover from failing mortgages that caused this crisis....

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China's slowdownand how it is affecting Asian neighbors like S. Korea and Japanfor whom China is a major export market. Demand for raw materials will be slowing and Australia a big exporter of raw materials will be affected.

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The Italian government is making changes that would increase competition, provide funds for infrastructure and reduce red tape. Mario Monti, the Ialian prime minister, told a news conference: "Italy's economy has for decades been hindered in its economic and social growth by three big problems: insufficent competition, inadequate infrastructure and too much red tape." There are fears that the $40 billion in tax increases and spending cuts set in December 2011 to cut the deficit would lead to a sharp contraction in the economy. The IMF predicts a 2.2% decline in GDP for 2012, the Bank of Italy's estimate is 1.5%. Changes planned would permit gas stations to choose providers, improve the legal system, add 5,000 pharmacy licenses, and add 500 notaries. Industry minister Passera says the cabinet approved 5.5 billion euros for infrastructure projects.

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US to take stakes in American companies to help them achieve goals of Make in America with Intel stake the first action. The $8.9 billion Biden intended for Intel to make chips in the US will be handed over to Intel but for a stake in the company of 10%. For years Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and China have subsidized their companies in different and some hidden ways. Many times these companies have sustained losses as they built for the long term in volatile market situations. Nvidia now a trillion dollar company was at one time a company struggling to survive saved only by a Japanese corporate investor as shown in a recent WSJ report. The US has taken no such action losing its dominant position in many advanced industries including chips till the Biden and DJT administrations. Yet the media keeps voicing the old ideas of market capitalism as if there is such a thing when state capitalism operates with market capitalism in the Chinese model, and a form of semi state capitalism operates with market capitalism in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan with hidden subsidies by the state to build dominant positions in certain industrial sectors. Even US companies are willing to take such subsidies as when Elon Musk builds car plants in China with state assistance and support, which never comes up in the media even when the Chinese EV makers are learning from the Americans and Tesla is losing market share in China. Theory is for the textbooks and economists,  in business all forms of capitalism work including a mix of state and market, and America has to invent its way back to lead the way in advanced industries.  ...

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Lucy Powell Central Manchester MP elected Labour's Deputy Leader with 54% of the vote in 17% vote turnout. In a sign of the big changes in UK politics and economy Lucy Powell was fired by PM Starmer as leader in the House of Commons as recently as September 2025. Starmer clearly has not led the Labour Party in Britain in ways that would win the confidence of the people of Britain as demonstrated in a recent Wales by-election with Labour having only 11% of the vote after Reform in a previously safe seat.  Lucy Powell says about the lack of listening within Labour to the grassroots people and organization- “I think we often feel like our members and elected representatives are something we need to stand against or not value. They are our strengths. “They connect us to the national conversation. Instead of just telling people what we want them to do, we need to respect, value and include them more, and recognise that debate is not division or dissent, and recognise you have to take people with you and hear from broader voices, not just a narrower group of voices. “They haven’t felt they have been included and connected as they should in recent months, and that’s what often happens when you go into government. “I’m going to really help to do that, to re-engage with the party, and make them feel part of the conversation again. I’ll do that through working with Keir [Starmer], working with government, working right across the party in the leadership roles that I will have.”     ...

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As one group of B-2's headed west pver the Pacific, another group quietly headed east to bomb the Iranian nuclear weapons development sites. The intent was to carry out the decision made by the US and the EU and tacitly supported by Russia, China, India, and the world, to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. It is now evident that since the beginning of 2025 the number on priority of the DJT administration in foreign policy was to end Iran's effort to get a nuclear weapon. This is why the US DJT administration brought together Gulf regimes Qatar and UAE, Saudis for $2 trillion in business and economic deals in a DJT visit in May 2025. It is also evident that when India launched air strikes on Pakistan terrorist bases in June the US president DJT ended the war quickly in 72 hours. The Pakistan military head met with DJT in the White House a week back. This was preparation for the plan to take out the nuclear sites with minimal regional instability, a goal of the American people after Reagan/Bush miscalculations in supporting Hussein in Iraq and creating the Middle East wars Americans have had enough of. It may close a chapter of violent conflicts in the Middle East to be replaced with US support for India, UAE/Qatar/Saudi, Pakistan economic deals economic agreements. Much of the Indian media fails to understand this. The job of a US president if done right has responsibilities to the Nation and the World, after all the missteps of his predecessors DJT is stepping into this role. ...

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Thailand's military rulers decide to impeach former prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, for use of state funds for her large rice subsidy program. Thailand remains divided between provincial leaders and farmers in the north of the country and the Bangkok regions. The army stepped in in 2014 and has called for Shinawatra to be banned from politics for 5 years. Economic growth was affected in 2014 by slowing growth in China. The protests against Shinawatra also reduced economic activity. Economic growth is now almost zero.

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"Ram Rajya" is a concept of a just society that serves the needs of the people based on the ancient history and ancient paths of Bharat or India. It is easily understood among the farmers and ordinary people of India. During the long period of colonialism it meant to Gandhi and hundreds of millions in the villages of India a sense of society free of colonialism and colonial rule that did not invest in the country or its people, no matter their religion or caste or language group. In this sense Ram Rajya is all about a just society of governance that meets the needs of all the people, that makes investment in the resources of the country to the benefit of the people. In the modern period in the transformation of rural societies such as China or India or other parts of Asia, Ram Rajya or Buddha Rajya as an extension of the same concept, and about what Abraham Lincoln called society for the people, of the people, by the people, in his call to America for a Just Society. In this sense it has connotations for the world as it struggles to build a style of governance in society that builds the infrastructure, invests in the education and minds of the people, in their health and wellbeing along all dimensions. In this way it is a social concept that is embodied in the best of human society throughout history. It embodies the aspirations of the people of Asia to modernity inspired by ancient tradition, aspirations to science and technology and building modern societies. Of India with Ram and the Buddha, China in its connections to the Buddha, to the people of Indonesia with the connection to Hanuman, and the people in South East Asia and Japan through their connections to the Buddha which were embedded in the ancient society of Ram and the Upanishads in the land south of the Himalayas. No one is too small, no effort is ordinary or small- "I am very small, I am very ordinary, if someone thinks so one must remember the contribution of the squirrel. Remmbering the ocntribution of the squirrel will dispel our hesitation, and teach us that every effort big or small, has its strength and contribution. The foundation of Sabka Prayas (everyone's efforts) will be the foundation of a divine, and capable, just and good Bharat or India for all its 1400 million people."   ...