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The President of India asks a question at Yahoo Answers

answers.yahoo.com — And some well known Indian celebrities & 5000 others respond. A novel way of reaching ordinary citizens? Considering that he actually reads the responses, it is quite revolutionary of communicating with John Q. Public

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  • Pluckie, on 10/12/2007, -18/+11Very cool idea. Unfortunately, I have doubts to the level of consideration/time that the president is going to be spend on the responses.

    I can't imagine Bush ever using the yahoo in such a manner...
    • NeoRicen, on 10/12/2007, -4/+81I can't imagine Bush using Yahoo...
    • CraigB12, on 10/12/2007, -14/+71I can't imagine bush would get elected president... oh *****
    • Bartboy919, on 10/12/2007, -13/+47I can' even imagine bush using a computer much less the internet.
    • PimpinOnWelfare, on 10/12/2007, -21/+6Don't kid yourself, he isn't smart enough to use a computer ...
    • picciano, on 10/12/2007, -5/+42Right. Bush uses the Google.
    • lava, on 10/12/2007, -5/+18'I can't imagine Bush using Yahoo..."

      I can't image Bush using THE Yahoo.
    • TheFunnyDigger, on 10/12/2007, -4/+21Bush is a yahoo?
    • TomP, on 10/12/2007, -3/+36Yahoo Question: How do I run the country.
    • antoniojvr, on 10/12/2007, -21/+6I couldn't imagine Bush.. WAH WAH WAH! He won, get over it.
    • jsbarone, on 10/12/2007, -1/+44"Yahoo Question: How do I run the country."

      Bush: Woops, I made a typo. I meant to type, "How do I *ruin* the country."
    • NanoStuff, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12"I can't imagine Bush using Yahoo..."

      I can picture him on myspace though.
    • xenuxenuts, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Bush is a yahoo. He doesn't use "the internets". Cheney, on the other hand, uses "the yahoo".
    • Borramakot, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Bus is on record as saying "The dark dungeons of the Internet" (Arlington Heights, Illinois; October 24, 2000). I think Yahoo is out.
    • Quidam, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3He'll probably read at least 25% of the comments if he took the time out to actually post a question.

      It's still pretty awesome though that you can leave your opinions for the President of a major country...wish I'd seen this earlier.
    • mercurysquad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Actually the President of India has his own website where anyone can post a question, and unless he is on a tour or something similar, (until recently) he guaranteed a thoughtful reply in 48 hours.

      As of now it seems there is a screening process before a message reaches the President..

      http://presidentofindia.nic.in/scripts/writetopresident.jsp

    • erikf, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2Bush is a graduate of Harvard and Yale, president of the US, you shlubs are typing from your parents' basement while struggling to hold down a pizza delivery job to support your WoW addiction. You can use a computer, he made himself appeal to the majority of voters in the country. Yes, you are 3733t and Bush is the "moran."
    • puzzlesource, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7@ erikf

      Are you serious? Do you know how easy it is to get into said schools when your daddy is the president of the country? His dad was also Yale alma mater which makes it even easier to get in thanks to the grandfather clause. While at Yale, he majored in History and his GPA was a whopping 2.35. Wow that's a super high GPA for a very very challenging major.
  • suman78, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Very interesting and good idea..this really shows a easy way to connect to common people and see how they feel about global issues....
    • MOJIRA, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Not just a good idea, but really a great idea I think. World leaders should make a greater effort to connect with and TRULY give the people that elected them what they want.

      I would absolutely love to see some sort of White House internet forum (not a bbs) in which every decision the president (or for that matter all federal and state government) makes is debated by people with the president/elected officials.
  • suman78, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Bush will have hard time using the "internets" itself
  • NuPagady, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Imagine CMS, Country Managament System, online where thousands or even millions of people can work together solving nation's problems. More people, more ideas and less chances of making mistakes. ohh internet...
    • PleaseJustDie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4More people, more ideas and more of everyone arguing over stupid ***** and absolutely nothing getting done. Yep, just like the internet.
  • CiXeL, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7the internets
    the google

    anyone else think he's just trying to sound retarded so he can get away with *****?
  • AJRiddle, on 10/12/2007, -34/+5They all speak English fluently in India?? Why are my tech support calls so bad then?
    • squeedgie4me, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20Maybe because you don't hear an Indian accent when reading what an Indian has to say?
    • h00paj00, on 10/12/2007, -24/+3Thank joo forr calling War-i-son
    • indraneel24, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16oooohhhh, i'm sooooo sorry that you have to call people halfway around the world to get your damn vcr to stop blinking "12:00"

      indians mostly all speak fluent english. if you'd get your head out of your ass, you'd realize that the british were in india for four hundred years.
    • diggerphelps, on 10/12/2007, -11/+1Apu: "Thank you. Come again"
    • patrix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1You have to understand English before you understand tech support.
  • candiru, on 10/12/2007, -12/+2Yahoo Answers is still around?
    • PleaseJustDie, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18no its not, this article is a very elaborate hoax designed to confuse you.
    • indraneel24, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4i think you're thinking of google answers
    • futureb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4why don't you go to yahoo answers and ask that question
  • BigCalhoun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16Wow, look at that. A leader asking his people about issues that affect them. That's a novel idea. I'd love for Bush to do something like this. Personal feelings aside, IMO, he needs to show SOME level of connectivity with the common man.

    Now the true test of this is will that President truly take some of the words and ideas to heart and turn them into action.
    • moxx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Considering Bush won't even listen to Congress...(he said it himself)...I doubt he'd even ask common folk...:(
    • redrob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5It sounds good, and in theory it is. Unfortunately in reality the level of internet usage by 'normal people' in India is rather low, in 2004 there were 756 internet users per 1,000 people in Sweden, 630 internet users per 1,000 people in the USA and all of 32 internet users per 1,000 people in India (WDI, Worldbank, 2006). And that's why global village, democracy through the web, etc., etc., are nice ideas but not ready for primetime yet.

      A graph to demonstrate the difference here: http://www.swivel.com/graphs/show/5113401
    • SharinganBob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@ redrob

      Keep in mind India has a much larger population than all of those countries (>1 Billion). And also I don't think he's just asking this to Indians, but to the whole world.
    • redrob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3SharinganBob, I realise that India has a vastly larger population than any of the countries I highlighted. My point was though, that even in the more affluent countries with a more equitable (some more so than others) distribution of wealth, the percentage of the population who use the internet is not at the point where democratic discussion can take place. Even with Sweden, the most connected society anywhere, its still only about three quarters of the population have internet access.

      For India it is so much lower, only 32 in every thousand people, so while India's bigger population means President Kalam potentially contacts a very large real number of people, in relative terms the pool of possible people who can reply to him is still minuscule.

      Also, just to note, the statistics, people using the internet, this includes people making use of internet cafes, public access points, etc., not just private computer in the home.
  • Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5This democracy bubble has got to pop soon.
  • jatman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19Just so you all know a little about this guy:

    "Dr. Kalam is one of the most distinguished scientists of India with the unique honor of receiving honorary doctorates from 30 universities and institutions. He has been awarded the coveted civilian awards - Padma Bhushan (1981) and Padma Vibhushan (1990) and the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna (1997). He is a recipient of several other awards and Fellow of many professional institutions."

    Kinda proud of him......
    • rac3r5, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13As jatman posted above this guy is very impressive.

      Here is his wiki entry:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Kalam

      A very impressive individual. It would be nice if a lot of countries had Presidents that have an impressive bio such as his.
    • imsoclever, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Yeah? Well our President was a mediocre Yale student AND was in the National Guard. His Dad was president too.
    • Pradsy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Well.. check out the qualification of India's Prime Minister
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manmohan_Singh
    • krishenn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12I think what's also very fascinating is that the two top posts in India (President and Prime Minister) are occupied by a Muslim and a Sikh respectively. That is, members of two minority religions running a country where the overwhelmingly predominant religion is Hinduism. I think that's quite something because I often get the sense these days that religion is causing greater and greater divides in human society.

      It's nice to see something that appears to be blind to it for a change. :-)
  • digitalsin, on 10/12/2007, -16/+4The first answer starts with:

    "I’m Kiran Bedi belonging to the Indian Police Service. It is a privilege to be on Yahoo. I am here to offer my answer to the question raised by the President of India on Terrorism."

    Let me quote that second sentence again: "It is a privilege to be on Yahoo"

    A big ol' WTF is in order.
    • crazydiode, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8"It is a privilege to be on Yahoo" @digitalsins.. dont you think its a previlege to be able to talk to and pass your ideas to your Prez on yahoo??? she meant THAT
    • digitalsin, on 10/12/2007, -10/+1Yes - it is a privilege to be on digg. And it's a privilege to be on AOL.

      Give me a break. Talk about cheesy.
    • ebola, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9If you knew who Kiran Bedi was you won't be spewing this nonsense. She was the first woman to join the Indian police force in 1972, and one of the most exemplary police officers on the force. She's the Director General of India's Bureau of Police Research and Development, and her work has earned her these awards:

      President’s Gallantry Award (1979)
      Women of the Year Award (1980)
      Asia Region Award for Drug Prevention and Control (1991)
      Magsaysay Award (1994) for Government Service
      Mahila Shiromani Award (1995)
      Father Machismo Humanitarian Award (1995)
      Lion of the Year (1995)
      Joseph Beuys Award (1997)
      Pride of India (1999)
      Mother Teresa Memorial National Award for Social Justice (2005)

      Oh, and btw she has a PhD from the prestigeous I.I.T., Delhi (Department of Social Sciences) on `Drug Abuse and Domestic Violence'. And she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws by the prestigious City University of New York's (CUNY) School of Law in recognition of her humanitarian approach to prison reforms and policing.

      You should look at this:
      http://www.kiranbedi.com/biodata.htm

      And you were saying?
  • esaun, on 10/12/2007, -11/+3A novel way of reaching ordinary citizens? From my experience (backpacking for 3 months all over India) ordinary citizens have NO access to internet, let alone a computer!
    • argh44z, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5That is not true. In cities, internet cafes are a dime-a-dozen in India. It's true that in rural areas there isn't much access to the internets.
    • jinglee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Indian middle class is 300 million. The staggering rates of poverty doesnt mean the others don't use the internet.
      Indians are second heaviest users of Orkut, for example...
    • mercurysquad, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Which part of India did you backpack through?
      I *lived* in India for much of my life and internet access is commonplace for anyone, costs about 20 cents an hour. I don't know about really remote villages (the kind where there's no electrictiy) but even small towns have zillions of internet cafes. As many as public call booths.
      Interestingly, I found it difficult to come by internet cafes in Europe or the USA, as compared to India!
    • indraneel24, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2in the sorta rural city/town of jodhpur, rajasthan, india, you can get around 256k internet connection for roughly 15 rupees an hour = 40-50 cents. now whether the public uses it, is still in question, but i sure as hell find it convenient when i visit.
    • redrob, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2The available data would seem to indicate that esaun has a point, according to the World Banks 'World Development Indicators' in 2004 there were 630 internet users per 1,000 people in the USA, the UK had 628 internet users per 1,000 people, Sweden (the highest) had 756 internet users per 1,000 people, and India had all of 32 internet users per 1,000 people.

      I threw together a small graph comparing India to several 'developed' countries, it's here:
      http://www.swivel.com/graphs/show/5113401
  • cezar, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9For the love of Christ. Can we please keep bush out of a conversation for two minutes. We all know he's stupid and evil.
  • Plooo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Dugg because batman answered the question. Look for yourself. He answered the call.
    • triplexpac, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Batman is okay I guess, but I'd me more impressed if Jack Bauer weighed in on this.
  • puma9thchild, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4i think it's great that he posted something like this..."outside the box", anything with the slightest chance to help. awesome
  • Majorkerina, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Informed discussion on Yahoo. I never thought I'd see it. I'm quite intrigued by this. The Internet is definitely an in-roads to discussion. I'm glad the thoughtful answers are positioned above the Apu "Thank you! Come again!" type replies in Yahoo. I dunno if this will work out seems like putting a group of professors together then including people with Tourette's in the background. I'm cautiously optimistic that it can work.
  • chincopanda, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3The answer to this question is........42
  • nipunjain, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Thanks for posting this. This is really an innovative concept. And according the Yahoo!, it was posted 4 days ago. I wonder why it didn't show up in the Indian newspapers or TV channels...
  • vezquex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I hate how Yahoo is so over-the-top in their advertising. A political leader has chosen their humble site to ask a serious question, and they turn it into a friggin' contest.
  • BonerMachine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The downside? Turns out John Q. Public is kind of a moron.
    • ta10n, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Unlike digg right? No morons here.....

      Some of those comments are pretty insightful. I'd say the insight:poo ratio, is much better than what you'd find here actually. Then again I didn't read through the 5000+ responses. I just didn't have to search quite as hard I as I would to find and interesting/useful/insightful comment here on digg.
  • dep01, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Talk to the people! novel concept.
  • CrimsonAvenger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Very good idea to really connect to the people...it instills them with a sense - that they belong and the president really cares about the people. It is quite a novel concept.
  • uggidi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2wow!
    Good to see our indian president using technology in a good way. He is probably the best President India has had. Mr.Kalam you rock!
  • sunprema, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2We indians are proud of you Kalam Sir !
    regards
    sundar
  • Ekdog, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Bush knows a lot about the internets.
  • rabidphage, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I've read a few articles by Kalam. Most of these discussed using technology to surmount barriers of poverty and information dissemination. I think this is just the beginning of a series of innovative steps.

    kalam FTW
  • contentfree, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0For someone who got us through the dot-bomb crash and 9/11 at the same time, and who avoided a market shock with Greenspan's departure, well, hey, I'm better off than I was 4 years ago with Bush.
  • toinkers, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Absolutely. This is where the true power of the Internet lies. Connecting to the masses.
    Way to Go Mr. President sir.
    Rock on~
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