Mumbai is drenched ! ~ a Wet Welcome for Visiting US Vice President Joe Biden !

Mumbai is drenched !~a Wet Welcome for Visiting US Vice President Joe Biden !

It’s been pouring relentlessly and incessantly from June 7,2013 with the Sun reminding us, just four or five days in the last 45 days, that it still rises and sets

The Weekend Washout continues into the Week even as I blog past midnight on a Tuesday Night ~ it’s now Wednesday

There’s going to be a lot of absenteeism tomorrow ! ~ you can bet on that !

Son just returned too by rick,train and then a cab from a Sound Studio he works at in the Andheri Suburbs  ~ says the Slow Trains are on time but the Fast Trains are Slow ! ~trying to figure that out ! ~ probably means all Trains are now Slow as Tracks are surely waterlogged in some locations

I too just returned from my Tuesday Lord Ganesha Darshan at Siddhivinayaka Temple and Infant Jesus and St Anthony Shrine on the return and quite fittingly in this Heavy continuing Downpour a FM Station was playing “Aye Dil Yeh Mushkil,Jeena Yaha,Zara Hatke,Zara Bachke,yeh hai Bambai meri Jaan ” 

There’s  Police Personnel lined up every 10 meters on either side of the Road ~some  huddled in groups in their Yellow Raincoats and looking bored and kicking imaginary pebbles ~ wondered which visiting VIP was disturbing them on raindays like this with mandatory midnight duty  ! ~ Ah ! realised that Joe Biden,the US Vice President was to  fly in from New Delhi tonight after having met  the PM on Monday and others on Tuesday~ and this was standard protocol

So why is Biden really here in India ! His Wife and he arrived in New Delhi on Monday,July 22,2013 ~the Official position is this as stated on  http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/07/22/new-delhi-vice-president-biden-tours-gandhi-smriti  and reproduced below

“Vice President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden arrived in New Delhi today, the first stop on a six-day trip to India and Singapore.

This trip is an important opportunity to strengthen our partnerships within the region and reaffirm our commitment to rebalancing U.S. foreign policy toward the Asia-Pacific. Over the next several days, the Vice President will meet with leaders in both countries to discuss a range of issues, from economic growth to energy and climate change to security.” 

I just hope India does not get bulldozed or bullied by the US  into any more economic  concessions in US reaffirming their commitment to rebalancing US foreign policy !~whatever that phrase means!~ and it cannot be a coincidence that Walmart just told the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion( DIPP) in India that it will not be able to comply with the FDI multi brand retail clause of a minimum of 30% procurement of supplies from India itself ~ maybe 20% they say ! ~ not a single application has come in since opening out multi brand retail through FDI was announced  ten months ago

Indian Government is deliberately going slow on Investigations into WalMart ~ had blogged in December 2012 on these as linked below

Wonder if  NaMo  does become India’s PM inside a Year as widely expected  ~ will US open out to him and give him a grand welcome in US as India’s PM !? ~ US has so far denied him a Visa  for his suspected role in the Gujarat Riots of 2002 that involved Human Rights Violations

The Rain’s yet Pouring and Biden’s going to feel cold water over his plans when he realises first hand that nothing’s going to move in India until at least after the next General Elections puts up a Government for the next five years and that US may have no choice but to open out to NaMo on his terms ! ~ that,something tells me, would be good for India ~ we don’t have to go begging for FDI like we’re doing now !

Walmart is simply telling us ” You want US then you give US what we want !”

…..and Biden’s Bullet Proof Car will not save him from Mumbai Road’s Notorious Monsoon Potholes  ~ whichever route he takes he cannot escape them ! ~ the potholes have made sure they’re on every road !

Goodnight