Comments by "Bill Webb" (@billwebb9643) on "Hindustan Times" channel.

  1. First I've heard of this - I assume this applies to certain varieties of rice grown in India? Because overall the US is an exporter of rice. No shortage here. As to food prices, Modiji just removed import restrictions on several products grown in the US, which should cut food costs in India, and will also make our farmers very happy. But don't worry - Indians in the US are not going to starve. There's plenty of other food in the stores.
    95
  2. Does Australia have any 'hate crime' legislation as we do here in the US? Because, targeting someone because of their nationality would certainly qualify......
    16
  3. Power? 99% of Americans aren't going to notice this. (I do understand the need to keep domestic prices down in India - but the Indians in the US have lots of other food options, and the money to pay for them.)
    7
  4. Right now it's kind of snowy in Ukraine. That footage seems to be from last summer.
    5
  5.  @righteouskongo1  If the comments on this site are any indication, India is about as neutral as sulfuric acid......😅
    5
  6. Those would be great for serving ice cream - the closed bud is delivered to the table, and you open it up and inside there is a nice scoop of mango ice cream! This would be a perfect presentation of dessert at an Indian state dinner.
    4
  7. We eat some rice, but not necessarily rice from India. The US is a net exporter of rice. Maybe the Indians will buy some!
    4
  8. The man proudly refers to HIMSELF as a dictator. Calling Lukashenko a dictator was probably the first truthful statement this silly channel ever made.
    4
  9. I love Jaishankarji! He looks so distinguished!
    3
  10.  @aleenaprasannan2146  Oh let me clarify - I am American - I meant US farmers are happy. Modiji was recently in the country and announced he was removing some tariffs on American crops.
    3
  11. Because Putin himself wants to be the leader of Belarus (it being part of the old Russian Empire) and he doesn't want Lukashenko getting in the way.
    3
  12. It's gonna burn like the Hindenburg if it takes a hit.
    3
  13. In North India, the girl might well have been a Sikh, in which case she would have strangled the assailant.
    2
  14. As an American baffled by geography, I have to ask. WHY would Pakistan advocate for this? Wouldn't an independent Khalistan immediately gobble up the Punjabi portions of Pakistan?
    2
  15.  @jayjayson9613  I don't think his little march on Moscow was a serious attempt at revolution, nor do I believe it was Putin playing some sort of 5-D chess. It was just Prigo throwing a tantrum and trying to embarrass Shoigu. Putin allowing Prigo to just shove off was the most painless solution for both of them.
    2
  16.  @energiesthatmatter  Modi was cleared - or as they say in India 'given a clean chit'.
    2
  17. That is very childish. Is the Canadian gov organizing Khalistani rallies?
    2
  18. Because imperial Japan treated China so well right?
    2
  19. Ukraine applauds this choice. Another Defense Minister with no military background.
    2
  20. Hey! As long as we're confused, we won't involve the US in some insane way. Count your blessings.
    2
  21. I'm waiting for Italy to reclaim the Roman Empire.
    2
  22.  @HarpreetSingh-xg2zm  Panic buying is an American tradition - any talk of an upcoming shortage of anything and people run out and stock up, even if they already have a six month supply in their pantry. I shudder to think how much of this hoarded food winds up going to a landfill when people realize they can't get through 100 lbs of rice, or fifty loaves of bread, or 20 boxes of Captain Crunch.
    2
  23.  @aleenaprasannan2146  Depend on how much surplus they have, or their ability to substitute another item for what they're shipping out. They may wish to take advantage of the increased international price. I seem to recall Thailand launched a scheme a few years ago to withhold rice exports in order to raise the price - I don't recall if it worked, or if other players like China, the US, Vietnam undermined it by jumping in to make a quick profit. If any country is going hungry, the US is always happy to foist some soybeans on them!
    2
  24.  @madikiestherkhiangte9884  The reason is straightforward. He wants to keep domestic food prices down. UNLESS he is playing a game of 3-D chess and the real motive is to scare up international prices and THEN release the rice for export.
    2
  25. Oh great. We're still working out the North vs South spat we had 150 years ago in the US. Now we are going to incorporate North India vs South India into US politics? Well, it will make for some great debates anyhow.
    2
  26. The really amazing thing is that nobody on this forum has yet blamed the US or Pakistan for Prigozhin's alleged death.
    2
  27. seriously - this is a man who requires anybody to quarantine for two weeks before seeing him in person, and suddenly he is milling about meeting with some crowd of strangers? Of course, Hindustan Times was never aimed at an audience of critical thinkers.
    2
  28. Well in point of fact, the USSR (which incorporated Russia, Ukraine, and several other Russian colonies, or should we say soon-to-be-former colonies) did express support for Argentina. I am not sure if that would translate into and post-cold-war loyalty or not.
    2
  29.  @shreyassingh3917  Sorry, I'm American. We don't consider harming an attacker to be a crime.😀
    1
  30. By which I mean, what I said was intended as a compliment.
    1
  31. It was really just Prigozhin acting out, to humiliate Shoigu.
    1
  32.  @helloworld33577  Well, again speaking as an American. These schemes have a way of backfiring, slaves often do turn on their masters (or find new ones), and the joke's gonna be on Pakistan if Sikhs take over the new Khalistan, grab a piece of Pakistan, and then reunite with India. I just hope the West stays the hell out of this; we always end up on the wrong side of history in these things....
    1
  33. Thishad nothing to do with the 'West'. This was all in-house.
    1
  34. Why is India always complaining about Sikh extremists in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia? Shouldn't India be thanking those countries for taking the Khalistanis in, so India need no longer contend with them? If they were all back in India, they would create all sorts of mayhem.
    1
  35. I guess by the same logic Great Britain still has ownership of the US, Canada, Australia, and , yes, INDIA.
    1
  36. If they have an army of 25,000 convicts, apparently they can
    1
  37. They're on the way - Modi just dropped tariff on US lentils. Our farmers are delighted.
    1
  38. I think India has a few other trading partners....
    1
  39. He needs to pretend nothing happened, in order to save face.
    1
  40. Complaints against the BBC's 'colonialism' are well-taken. However, it seems that commentators on this channel are fine and well with Vladimir Putin's far more violent and malignant colonialism in Ukraine. The various famines perpetrated by the British in India were an atrocity that everybody should know about. The Russians' did something similar to their former imperial possession. Now the Russians are bombing cities, sending in tanks, allegedly committing genocidal acts. Meanwhile Indians are getting outraged over a tv show. Weird.
    1
  41. And, I do understand the concern about this being released in India, from the standpoint that it could inflame tensions within the country. On the other hand, as Modi is the leader of an emerging world superpower, the rest of us do need to know a bit about his mentality, just as the rest of the world would rightly be concerned about the background and personality of the US President.
    1
  42. Putin should be a dog catcher.
    1
  43. I just realized that Narendra Modi, when wearing an Indian Army hat, is the spitting image of Confederate General Robert E. Lee! Do Hindus believe in reincarnation?
    1
  44. Ah Russia. In 2021 they had the second strongest army in the world. In 2022 they had the second strongest army in Ukraine. In 2023 they have the second strongest army in Russia.
    1
  45. The bridge was not hit you numbskulls - this is a special repaving operation.
    1
  46. Well, it's really more of a cartoon than a news outlet.
    1
  47. You do realize 99.9% of Sikhs living in US and Canada are disgusted by this, right?
    1
  48. We love him in the US too! We wish he would come visit more often! (I get that he's a bit busy.)
    1
  49. Now, don't confuse people with facts.
    1
  50. Excellent, Modi is ending tariffs on American apples, lentils and chickpeas. More sales for US, and cheaper food for India! (BTW, we grow onions too!)
    1
  51. There are a LOT of statues of Gandhi in North America. We can't post a guard around every one of them.
    1
  52. Well, people in other countries OFTEN have parades in which US Presidents get burned in effigy. We don't get too excited about it - it's all part of being a world power. You'll get used to it.
    1
  53. As an American, I am very curious. What percentage of Sikhs actually support this Khalistan business? Would I be correct in guessing it's <1%? I only know one or two Sikhs, and they are quite pro-India and pro-Modiji.
    1
  54. not that they have a choice....
    1
  55.  @aekta888  Whenever Stalin gave a speech, the audience would applaud for hours, because whoever was the first to stop clapping went to the gulag. Same BS happens now in North Korea. It's not love - it's terror.
    1
  56. Well, look at it this way. These particular Sikhs are in Canada, and NOT causing trouble in India. So, India should be grateful, not spiteful.
    1
  57. No, the US exports more rice than it imports.
    1
  58. Good thing she wasn't Indian, particularly a Sikh - she probably would have shoved the umbrella up his .......
    1
  59. Modi is just trying to hold down food prices in India - shutting down certain exports, and also opening the door for more imports. If this creates a shortage of a particular strain of rice on the global market, the big producers like Thailand and China will grow more.
    1
  60. What action(s) specifically?
    1
  61. Putin is so short, you have to stoop down to salute him.
    1
  62. I have never been to India - is this typical for Indian parades? 😮
    1
  63. Well, in the thumbnail for this vid, I did look like jaishankar gi was holding a Khalistani flag. Is is possible this is all modi's doing?
    1
  64. a couple of problems there -The vast majority of Sikhs are quite happy in India -A balkanized India would leave a selection of small states ripe for Chinese takeover -Oh and btw, WHEN did India promise a free Khalistan? Or perhaps they intend to designate part of Pakistan as the new Khalistan
    1
  65. One hundredth of a crore. A centi-crore.
    1
  66. No, it looks like any US grocery store right before a hurricane or snow storm.
    1
  67. Hey look Putin - this 5hit happened in-house. The 'West' had nothing to do with it. It's nice living rent-free in your head, but we have homes of our own.
    1
  68. Question from an American to India. Is the objection to this documentary based on the fact that you found it biased or even downright false? Or is it more that Indian internal affairs are simply none of the West's collective business? (Which I would certainly understand.)
    1
  69.  @akashshrivastava6193  Oh, no, no, no! It is a sincere hope! If we got involved it would make things worse for everyone, especially the US.
    1
  70. Really no, there are quite a few other foods on the shelves.
    1
  71. Most likely sabotage by a disgruntled worker. Russians are being required to work long hours, of the without pay, to support Putin's bid to reconstitute the Russian Empire. There will be much more of this. Russia must consent to allow international observers to come and and inspect so as to determine the true cause of this.
    1
  72. India should reunite with Pakistan too
    1
  73. No, we don't. Canadians make terrible slaves - they expect free health care and half of them only speak French.
    1
  74. Good grief! All this time I just thought Indian immigrants were reckless drivers, but in fact what I have been seeing is the RAW bumping off Khalistanis on the road? I'm all for dispatching terrorists, but please find a safer way to do it!
    1
  75. Wouldn't an independent Khalistan just be gobbled up by Pakistan?
    1
  76. And yet - the Indian Air Force's latest fighter jet is from.........................France?
    1
  77. They're bumping up food imports and reducing exports, to keep food prices under control.
    1
  78.  @sumitchowdhury152  Well friend, I guess you've got me there. I could rebut with the fact that there are in fact quite a variety of food options here, and many opt for the healthy choices. But last night I had dinner with an Indian neighbor, and what was he serving? Steak! So, I guess what you say does apply to me!
    1
  79.  @aleenaprasannan2146  The import restrictions in question were apparently in retaliation for some sort of import restriction the US placed on Indian goods a few years ago. I guess Modiji and Biden worked things out.
    1
  80.  @aleenaprasannan2146  The rational behind Thailand thinking they could raise global prices was that surprisingly very little rice is grown for export (as opposed to say wheat - which major producers often grow expressly for export .) Most rice is consumed in the country of origin and thus very little goes on the international market, meaning that a single exporting country might indeed have a big impact on global prices if it increases or decreases how much gets released. As indeed Indian may be doing now with non-Basmati rice.
    1
  81.  @pennywise69  Indian food is indeed tasty, but Italian food is the best. That's where wheat comes in, to make the pasta.
    1
  82.  @sumitchowdhury152  ​ @sumitchowdhury152 India grows a LOT of wheat - twice as much as the US - what are they doing with it exactly?
    1
  83.  @sumitchowdhury152  LOL! AFAICT our fast food consists primarily of fat. You need flour to make naan and chapatis. Don't worry - nobody is going to starve. But getting back to the subject, contrary to the customary jingoistic yappings of the HT this export restriction was not intended as an FU to the US but more represents an effort to hold down food prices in India. Modiji was in the US a few weeks ago and slashed a bunch of restrictions on food imports from the US - this was presented as a goodwill gesture to us, but apparently his main agenda was in fact to feed his people. It does carry for Modi an ancillary foreign policy benefit - if India buys food from the US, any US politician who irritates India and screws up that arrangement risks losing the coveted farm vote, which can be, shall we say, politically decisive. He skillfully killed a couple of birds with one stone.
    1
  84. India should offer China Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana. Then when they take over they will discover the Khalistanis have already claimed it! LOL!
    1
  85. The Indians in the US can adapt to eating another variety of rice a lot more easily than a lot of people in India can adapt to higher rice prices. There is an election coming up and Modi wants to shore up support. As to any Indians in the US who still vote in Indian elections, they all support the BJP anyhow and this won't change anything.
    1
  86. Just be happy they don't decide to DRAW it on the map for you.😄
    1
  87. Buy soybeans - we have tons in the US.
    1
  88. Singapore?
    1
  89. Perhaps this should be adjudicated by a neutral third party, such as Pakistan or the United Kingdom.
    1
  90. It would sure be an interesting development if Canada were to step in and secure their release.
    1
  91. No, that is Russian propaganda. We do NOT want 20 or 30 kadyrovite fiefdoms to deal with.
    1
  92. He was doing great until he decided to resurrect Russia's 19-th century empire.
    1
  93. They understand the consequences of Putin trying to reabsorb them into Russian Empire ver 2.
    1
  94. Why is modiji dressed up as a soldier?
    1
  95. Indians ruined Canada's parade! Modiji and Jaishankarji must apologize to Canada for this outrage! Depicting an assassination on a parade float is SICK! Now, apologize!
    1
  96. If the Indian government indeed killed this Hardeep Singh Nijjar character on Canadian soil as JT claims, then Canada should furnish proof of this.
    1
  97. No, if India exports less food to US, and imports more food FROM the US, that will make most Americans quite happy.
    1
  98.  @swapnilrb7370  Well, Russia seems to think Ukraine IS Russia. So, what side to choose. Hilariously, the Argentine Anti-Communist Alliance was tossing Soviet-supported communists out of helicopters during the same period, so I'd say there was no love lost one way or the other.
    1
  99. The US exports a lot of food.
    1