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Does the Pakistani Central Bank have a growth mandate to purely an inflation mandate? Does it target inflation, at what rate?

Lol, unfortunately for you, I don't think they're going anywhere.

I agree that the main point of difference is that the Catalans believe they contribute more than their fair share to Madrid. However, isn't there a bit of a cultural/ethnic element as well? While I was there the Catalans called all the southern Spaniards 'Arabs' (they weren't referring to...

I lived in Barcelona for a year (2012-13)- the year the largest ever demonstrations took place on Catalan National Day. Despite all the excitement around the independence marches, and the gains ERC made, CiU came out way ahead in the elections. It might make sense to go ahead with a referendum...

Modi's government (by Indian standards) is actually working pretty fast. Here's what is very likely to come through by the next budget (March '15) 1. Goods and services tax (this is a huge reform since it will lead to the abolition of excise duty and revolutionise inter state trade) 2. FDI in...

I agree, I'm sure he's done some good for Turkey. Also, i don't know enough about Turkey or Erdogan's policies to make a broader judgement. However, at least here, he seems to be admired for all the wrong reasons. Whether he makes gross (and inaccurate) generalisations about the West's attitude...

Why cling on to the achievements of a civilisation in the distant past? Nationalists everywhere look back at their civilisation's history, identify what they feel was its peak and then, at least in their minds, want to live there indefinitely. Pan-Islamic nationalism of the kind Erdogan...

My experience, at least with my Turkish colleagues is quite different from what I hear on this forum. They tend to describe Erdogan as a bit of a megalomaniacal, conservative lunatic (a view I subscribe to)- in fact they regularly express their disbelief that something like this could happen to...

Would you support stoning if 4 witnesses turn up?

Thanks! Exactly what I was looking for- it's delicious- I've never found it outside China.

Are any of you from Shanghai? Can you please tell me if there is a fruit called 'yamm-e' or something similar (I might remember the name/pronunciation completely wrong) that grows seasonally in the Shanghai region. It was a sort of berry that I ate there but I've never found it since.

I've been to China (though only to Shanghai and the surrounding areas) and can vouch for how impressive the cities are. Someone said we Indians can only dream of that level of cleanliness and they are absolutely right.

The next big bang in education is going to be in higher education. One thing the UPA government did right is massively increase funding for higher education (an area where we are doing very poorly as of now). Once the Rashtriya Ucchatar Siksha Abhiyan starts disbursing funds (early- mid next...

I don't think this has anything to do with Modi's diplomatic failure. There are two primary reasons for this- 1. Russia sees itself in the role of a nation that defies the prevailing world order. In this regard, it wants to get closer to nations that might be willing to support Russia's actions...

What this argument amounts to, if I understand it correctly, is that traditional poverty measures are not suitable for China and tend to overstate poverty in China. Because, if you look at indicators of poverty, poverty in China is certainly not a lie (although the reduction in poverty China has...

An offshoot of the greater focus on learning English will be greater access to material- TV shows, films, books, academic journals, media etc- from other countries. This will help bridge the cultural gap. In turn Japanese people will be able to produce material in English that will help others...

You wouldn't be so disappointed if you had seen her face.

This is what you get when you make a nutter like Y Sudershan Rao head of the ICHR. I remember my Sanskrit teacher in school trying to convince us that ancient Indians had atomic bombs, she was laughed out of the classroom. She was majorly into this ancient indians were scientifically advanced...

Doesn't this run contrary to Pakistan's interests? After all, India will be pleased to maintain the status quo indefinitely. Who in the international community does Nawaz Sharif plan to co-opt to prevail upon India to talk to Pakistan? I can't think of any nation of any consequence that will...

Google is most visited website in India (hopefully this means that we use the internet for more than just FB- of course we could just be searching for ********). This is also the case in Europe and the US. In many other countries, including Pakistan, FB and other social networking sites are the...