[Assam] This Damned English Language!-- Indian Headlines

[Chan Mahanta]

The following from the AT. Similar one appeared on ToI yesterday.

>Bush blames India for food price hike


*** I am no fan of Bush or Condy Rice. So I  find myself in an 
awkward position here, seeming to come to their defense. But the 
Indian newspaper headlines declaring  "Bush blames India for food 
price hike", is either a product of a profound lack of understanding 
of simple , ordinary English, or a  need to  find an issue to to be 
critical of in something that is entirely unwarranted or a 
combination of both.  I am not sure which is worse.


Neither Rice nor Bush "BLAMED"  ( which means -----'To censure; to 
express disapprobation of; to find fault with; to reproach')  Indian 
diet improvement  as A or THE CAUSE of world food price rises.  It 
was an EXPLANATION.  There is a profound difference between BLAMING 
and EXPLAINING, which apparently is missed by Hinglish translators 
and picked up by others , including Kharkhowa English editors like 
mindless parrots.

cm













Bush blames India for food price hike



  WASHINGTON, May 3 - US President George W Bush joined US Secretary 
of State Condoleezza Rice have blamed the rising prosperity of 
India's huge middle class for the spiralling global food prices, 
reports PTI. Prosperity in countries like India is "good" but it 
triggers increased demand for "better nutrition" which in turn leads 
to higher food prices, Bush said.

At an interactive session on economy in Missouri, Bush argued that 
there are many factors for the present crisis, only one of which was 
investment on biofuels like ethanol.

"Worldwide there is increasing demand. There turns out to be 
prosperity in developing world, which is good. It's going to be good 
for you because you'll be selling products in the countries, you 
know, big countries perhaps, and it's hard to sell products into 
countries that aren't prosperous. In other words, the more prosperous 
the world is, the more opportunity there is," the US President said.

"It also, however, increases demand. So, for example, just as an 
interesting thought for you, there are 350 million people in India 
who are classified as middle class. That's bigger than America. Their 
middle class is larger than our entire population.

"And when you start getting wealth, you start demanding better 
nutrition and better food, and so demand is high, and that causes the 
price to go up," he said.

The comments come close on the heels of Rice cooking up the theory 
that "apparent improvement" in the diets of people in India and China 
and consequent food export caps is among the causes of the current 
global food crisis.

Bush also listed change in weather patterns and increase in basic 
costs like that of energy as factors contributing to higher food 
prices.