The CIA, believed to be the world’s best spy network, appears clueless about an Indian political development that earned a place in the most memorable TV moments
Updated website talks of pressure from the government’s communist allies
NEW DELHI: The CIA, believed to be the world’s best spy network, appears clueless about an Indian political development that earned a place in the most memorable TV moments — the Left parties’ withdrawal of support to the UPA government, or have they not?
“Privatisation of government-owned industries remains stalled and continues to generate political debate; populist pressure from within the UPA government and from its Left Front allies continues to restrain needed initiatives,” says the World Factbook section of the CIA website about the state of the Indian economy.
What is interesting is that the website says that the India page was last updated on November 6, 2008, while the Left Front withdrew its support to the government long ago — July, this year.
The reason for withdrawal of support was no less significant, especially with regard to the CIA.
Accusing the government of double standards, the Left had said that the UPA government on the one hand decided to convene a meeting with the Left to discuss the US-India civil nuclear cooperation issue, while on the other, the Prime Minister announced in Japan that his government would go ahead on the deal.
The withdrawal of support led to a trust vote and accusations of horse trading in Parliament — all played out on national TV.
The CIA maintains a World Factbook on its website, which is updated regularly and has information ranging from politics to economy about almost all countries, including India.
The website is also yet to incorporate the recent interest rate cut decisions by RBI, although it has mentioned the slew of rate-hike decisions taken by the central bank previously.
“Economic expansion has helped New Delhi continue to make progress in reducing its federal fiscal deficit. However, strong growth combined with easy consumer credit and a real estate boom fueled inflation concerns in 2006 and 2007, leading to a series of central bank interest rate hikes that have slowed credit growth and eased inflation concerns,” it says.
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