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उत्तर प्रदेश विधानसभा चुनाव बीजेपी नहीं, जनता लड़ रही हैं

Abhishek Kumar
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उत्तर प्रदेश विधानसभा चुनाव बीजेपी नहीं, जनता लड़ रही हैं

उत्तर प्रदेश विधानसभा का चुनाव मुझे जितना दिखाई दे रहा हैं, मुझे 1977 और 1984 के  चुनाव याद आ रहे हैं, जिसमे 1977 का चुनाव नाराजगी, गुस्सा, इमरजेंसी के अत्याचार, नसबंदी का विरोध और जनतंत्र की पुनर्स्थापना का चुनाव था, यूं तो चुनाव में कई पार्टियों को मिलकर जनता पार्टी बन गयी थी, मगर ये चुनाव लड़ा था आम जनता ने, नेताओं और पार्टी के लिए चुनाव प्रचार स्वेछा और बिना किसी दबाब के मतदाताओं और आम लोगों ने किया था, वही 1984 का चुनाव इंदिरा गाँधी की हत्या के बाद सहानुभूति और खालिस्तानी आतंकवाद के विरोध का चुनाव था, दोनों चुनावों में लहर चली.

आप उस समय की मीडिया रिपोर्ट उठाकर देख लीजिये, 1977 के चुनाव में संघर्ष से निकले बड़े-बड़े नेता थे, उनलोगों को भी अंदाजा नहीं था कि इतनी बड़ी जीत होने जा रही हैं और पुरे देश में किसी को भी ये कतई भरोसा नहीं था कि रायबरेली से इंदिरा गाँधी चुनाव हार जाएगी. 1984 के चुनाव में जौनपुर में जनता पार्टी के बड़े जनाधार वाले नेता रामकृष्ण हेगड़े को 60 हजार लोग दिसम्बर की सर्द रात में सुनने आये थे, सबको यकीन था उनकी जीत पक्की हैं, चुनाव में शायद उनकी जमानत भी नहीं बची थी.

ये जो लहर होती हैं वो चुनाव परिणाम के बाद दिखाई देती हैं, चुनाव के दौरान हमेशा टक्कर दिखाई देती हैं. किसको पश्चिम बंगाल में ममता बनर्जी की लहर दिखाई दे रही थी ? किसको 2017 में भारतीय जनता पार्टी की लहर दिखाई दे रही थी ? सभी मीडिया और विशेषज्ञ 120- 150 सीटें बता रहे थे, कांटे की टक्कर और कड़ा मुकाबला सुनने को 2017 में भी मिल रहा था. बीजेपी की एक बड़ी समस्या हैं मीडिया और बुद्दिजीवियों का एक बड़ा वर्ग हैं जो उनके खिलाफ बड़ा नरेटिव बनाता हैं जिससे आपका विश्वास डगमगा सकता हैं, जिसको काटना बड़ा मुश्किल होता हैं. अगर किसी तरह उनका नरेटिव सफल हो जाता हैं तो लोगों के मन में आशंका घर कर जाती हैं कि पिछली बार सही हो गए थे क्या इस बार भी सही हो जायेगे. जो आप देख रहे हैं उसको कई बार देखने की कोशिश करे और सही सोर्स से कन्फर्म करने की कोशिश करे.

हो सकता हैं मैं पूरी तरह से गलत हो जायुं, एकदम उल्टा नतीजा आ जाये लेकिन मैं वो लिख रहा हूँ जो मुझे दिखाई और समझ आ रहा हैं, अगर जो दिखाई और समझ में आ रहा हैं वो गलत हैं तो चुनाव परिमाण में बाद मैं आपसे माफ़ी मांग लूँगा. लेकिन इस डर से कि मैं गलत हो सकता हूँ, मैं वो बात नही कह सकता हूँ जो मुझे दिख नहीं रही हैं , आप कह सकते हैं कि आपकी नजर पर दूसरा चश्मा लगा हुआ हैं ,कोई भी आरोप लगा सकते हैं , उसके लिए आप स्वतंत्र हैं, मगर मैं गलत हुआ तो आप कह सकते हैं कि मैं दुसरे चश्मे से देख रहा रहा था.

इस सब के बावजूद मैं कह रहा हूँ कि 2022 उत्तर प्रदेश विधानसभा का चुनाव बीजेपी नही लड़ रही हैं, ये चुनाव आम लोग और मतदाता लड़ रहा हैं, इसके संकेत आपको जगह-जगह मिल जायेगे, आप देखिये नमक का मुद्दा, नमक की शपथ दिलाई जा रहीं हैं, कहा जा रहा हैं जिन्होंने नमक दिया हैं, नमक खाया हैं उनसे नमक हरामी नहीं करेगे. ये बीजेपी के नेता नहीं कह रहे हैं ,ये मुद्दा बीजेपी के लोगों ने नहीं उठाया हैं, ये गाँव में लोगों ने स्वतः उठाया हैं, आप कह सकते हैं कि ये बीजेपी के वोटर हैं और बीजेपी से प्रभावित हैं, बीजेपी से प्रभावित लोग पहले भी हुए हैं. लेकिन वो अपनी और से ये मुद्दा नहीं उठाते हैं, कोई मुद्दा बनाते नहीं हैं, वो तभी होता हैं जब लहर वाला चुनाव हो. जैसा 1977 और 1984 में हुआ था.

मैं जब ये बात कह रहा हूँ मैं सिर्फ उन लोगों की बात कर रहा हूँ जो बीजेपी के विरोधी हैं, जो मोदी और योगी के विरोधी हैं. उनके पास भी इन दोनों नेताओ की ईमानदारी के विरोध में कहने के लिए कुछ नहीं हैं. इन नेताओ का परिवारवाद से दूर-दूर तक कोई नाता नहीं हैं. इसको काटने का विरोधी के पास कोई उपाय नहीं हैं. ये बात बीजेपी के नेता नहीं आम मतदाता बोल रहा हैं. गाँव में जाईये ,पूछिए भ्रष्टाचार के बारे में ,जबाब के बजाये आपसे सवाल किया जा रहा हैं “ई भैया मोदी-योगी किसन पैसे कमाई हे”, यानि मोदी-योगी किसके लिए पैसे कमायेगे.जिस तरह का भरोसा आम मतदाता प्रधानमंत्री मोदी और मुख्यमंत्री योगी के नेतृत्व में जताते हैं,वो बहुत कम देखने को मिला हैं.

मुख्यमंत्री योगी के सन्यास से पहले के परिवार की आर्थिक स्तिथि देख ले ,प्रधानमंत्री मोदी के परिवार की आर्थिक स्तिथि देख ले, मोदी पिछले 20 सालो से सत्ता में हैं. उनका विरोधी या दुश्मन भी खड़ा होकर ये नहीं कह सकता हैं इन्होने अपने परिवार के लिए ये किया हैं. इस वजह से ये भरोसा है. डबल इंजन की बात प्रधानमंत्री मोदी ,मुख्यमंत्री योगी और बीजेपी के नेता बार-बार  कर रहे हैं, मैं दुसरे डबल इंजन की बात कर रहा हूँ, यानि मोदी और योगी के नेतृत्व का डबल इंजन, ये आजादी के बाद का पहला ऐसा चुनाव हैं जिसमे एक ही पार्टी की सरकार दोनों जगह हो, जिसमे प्रधानमंत्री और मुख्यमंत्री की ईमानदारी पर कोई शक ही ना हो ,दोनो की छवि पर परिवारवाद और भ्रष्टाचार का आरोप उनके विरोधी भी नहीं लगा पा रहे हैं.

बीजेपी को मुसलमानों का सबसे बड़ा विरोधी के रूप में पेश किया जाता हैं, ये परसेपसन बनाया गया है जो मुस्लिमों के मन में घर कर गया हैं. जो गुंडे,माफिया, अवैध बूचड़खाने चलाने वाले, गौ तस्करी, हत्या, चोरी में संलिप्त रहते थे उनको छोड़ दीजिये, आम मुसलमान से आप पूछिए उसके पास सरकार की आलोचना का कोई आधार नहीं हैं, भले ही वो कहे हम वोट नहीं देगे, हमे बीजेपी पसंद नहीं हैं. उत्तर प्रदेश का मुसलमान ऐसी एक भी बात बताने की स्थिति में नहीं हैं कि योगी आदित्यनाथ सरकार ने ऐसा कुछ किया हैं जो उसके खिलाफ हो, भेदभाव किया हो. अपनी राजनीतिक लगाव के कारण वो कुछ भी कहे, समर्थन और प्रचार किसी का भी करे.लेकिन सरकार और उसकी नीतियों के खिलाफ बोलने के लिए उसके पास कोई भी मुद्दा नहीं हैं.

ये चुनाव आम लोग और मतदाता लड़ रहे हैं, बीजेपी नहीं लड़ रही हैं, इसके तीन उदाहरण हाल ही में सामने आये हैं, ये घटनाये तीसरे चरण में ही हुई हैं, पहली घटना शाहजहांपुर में हुई जहाँ यादव समाज के सपा समर्थक और यादव समाज के बीजेपी समर्थक में झगडा हुआ, सपा के यादव ने बीजेपी के यादव की गोली मारकर हत्या कर दी, जबकि माना जाता हैं यादव बीजेपी का वोटर नहीं होता हैं. यादव इस हद तक कैसे जा सकता हैं कि वो मौत की भी परवाह नहीं करता.

दूसरी घटना बदांयू में हुई जहाँ अपनी पसंद की पार्टी को लेकर बहस में मुसलमान सपा समर्थक ने मुसलमान बीजेपी समर्थक की गोली मारकर हत्या कर दी, जबकि मुस्लिम बीजेपी का समर्थक तो नहीं होता हैं, आपने कभी सुना हैं कि किसी मुस्लिम की बीजेपी का समर्थन करने के कारण जान चली गयी.

तीसरी घटना फिरोजाबाद में हुई जहाँ भाजपा के ब्राह्मण समर्थक और सपा के यादव समर्थक में झगडा हुआ और सपा के यादव समर्थक ने भाजपा के ब्राह्मण समर्थक को गोली मार दी,हॉस्पिटल में भर्ती कराने पर उसकी जान बच गयी. बड़ा नेरेटिव बनाया गया ब्राह्मण बीजेपी से नाराज हैं,यहाँ एक ब्राह्मण हैं जो बीजेपी के लिए जान देने को तैयार हैं.

ये घटनाये और उदाहरण बता रहे हैं कि चुनाव अब बीजेपी नहीं जनता लड़ रही हैं. लोगों को जिस प्रकार से सुविधाये और लाभ मिला हैं, मुफ्त राशन से लेकर किसान सम्मान निधि,पेंशन,जनधन खाता,बिजली,सड़क ये सब चीजे लोगों की जिन्दगी को बदल रही हैं.लोगों को ठोस लाभ दिखाई दे रहा हैं, ये आश्वासन का लाभ नहीं हैं कि हम सत्ता में आये तो ऐसा करेगे वैसा करेगे. ये सब काम कोरोना की महामारी के 2 साल के व्यवधान के बाद हुआ है. आप गाँव में जाकर देखिये बुजुर्ग लोग मोदी-योगी को आशीर्वाद देने की बात करते दिखाई देगे.एक बुजुर्ग की विडियो वायरल हुई जिसमे वो मोदी-योगी की सरकार दोबारा किसी कारण ना आने पर लोगों के ख़राब भाग्य से जोड़ते दिखाई दिए थे. आप समझ सकते हैं लोगों के अन्दर कितना प्रेम और लगन हैं योगी को दोबारा मुख्यमंत्री बनाने के लिए.

आगामी 10 मार्च को योगी आदित्यनाथ के भाग्य का फैसला हो जायेगा. ये लहर कितना प्रचंड रूप दिखाती हैं ये चुनाव परिमाण के बाद सबके सामने आ जायेगा.

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ऊपर लहसुन की बोरियां नीचे ठुसकर भर रखे थे गोवंश, पुलिस से बचने के लिए माफिया अपना रहे नए नए तरीके, राजपुर क्षेत्र में मिनी ट्रक पलटने से हुआ खुलासा

Praveen Karil
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बड़वानी। जिले में अवैध गोवंश तस्करी थमने का नाम नहीं ले रही है। वहीं इस दौरान पुलिस से बचने के लिए माफिया भी तरह-तरह के नए हथकंडे अपना रहे हैं।

सोमवार सुबह जिले के राजपुर थाना क्षेत्र में एक छोटा लोडिंग वाहन अनियंत्रित होकर पलट गया। वाहन के अंदर ठूंस ठूंसकर भरे गोवंश को देखकर पुलिस भी हैरान रह गई। माफियाओं ने पुलिस से बचने के लिए छोटे मिनी वाहन की ट्राली में नीचे की और 5 गोवंश को क्रूरता पूर्वक बांधकर भरा हुआ था। वहीं इसकी किसी को गंध या भनक नहीं लगे, इसके लिए ऊपर की ओर लहसुन की बोरियां भरी हुई थी। वाहन पलटने की सूचना पर मौके पर राजपुर पुलिस पहुंची और वाहन में फंसे गोवंश को बाहर निकाला।

राजपुर थाना प्रभारी राजेश यादव ने बताया कि थाना क्षेत्र के जुलवानिया रोड स्थित रणगांव क्षेत्र में सोमवार सुबह एक छोटा मिनी लोडिंग वाहन पलटने की सूचना मिली थी। मौके पर जाकर देखा तो मिनी लोडिंग वाहन में ऊपर की ओर लहसुन की बोरियां भरी थी। वहीं ट्राली में नीचे की और 5 गोवंश को क्रूरता पूर्वक ठूंस ठूंसकर बांधकर भरा हुआ था। ग्रामीणों की मदद से पुलिस ने गोवंश को ट्राली से बाहर निकाला। इस दौरान 3 गोवंश घायल अवस्था में मिले। पुलिस ने गोवंश को वाहन बरामद कर अज्ञात आरोपियों के खिलाफ पशु क्रूरता अधिनियम व अन्य धाराओं में मामला दर्ज कर विवेचना में लिया है। वही ग्रामीणों की माने तो उक्त वाहन तेज गति से जुलवानिया की ओर जा रहा था, इस दौरान अनियंत्रित होकर पलट गया। वाहन पलटते ही उसमें सवार चालक मौके से भाग गए।

UP polls 2022- An open letter to Yogi Adityanath

kautilyabhaskar
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UP polls 2022- An open letter to Yogi Adityanath

Yogiji,

Namaste!

Less than two weeks are left before the counting of vote begins on 10th March early morning. As one amongst crores of Indians who are deeply concerned about the security, safety and development of the country I venture to write to you at this important juncture of time. You must be extremely preoccupied now, but the contents of the letter deserves your preferred attention. Before coming to that I must write few small paras as background.

You famously said this election is a fight of 80 vs.20. This has been an under assessment. In terms of beneficiaries of good governance this ought to be a fight of 90 vs. 10. These 90 per cent are poor, oppressed, disadvantaged common people cutting across caste and religion, while the 10 per cent are a minority of powerful people who were prospering at the expense of the common men. They included the political regimes which ruled the state before 2017 and their elaborate ecosystem comprising media, sections of bureaucracy, intelligentsia and other vested interests.

On the basis of 90 vs 10, your win should be simple and a straight forward outcome. That would be the case provided people exercise their vote spontaneously on own accord. But the ground situation is complex. A nexus of domestic and international powers including global media, religious fundamentalists, neo-fascist forces are also determined to prevent your return as head of the government. Your model of governance that is based on the edifice of Bharat’s civilizational legacy has been such a phenomenal success that given a second chance it is likely to be replicated in other states. That can potentially change the course of politics in India. This very possibility makes them nervous and going all out to influence the voters’ psyche against you and your party. Thus you are pitted against not only the opposition parties but also this powerful nexus. It will be difficult to win this battle unless you have full awareness of the whole gamut of forces you are posited against.

With this small briefing let us identify three important areas you need to take note of. These are:  Perception war, Politics of fear, and Process vulnerabilities and their abuse.

Perception war: Truly speaking, the media has succeeded in converting this election of ‘no contest’ to one of ‘keen contest’ in people’s perception. They did it through biased reports and stories, dubious opinion polls, reviving caste identities over development, and so on. Sadly, your party leadership came under such media pressure. This showed up in the manner a galaxy of central leaders held successive rallies and attacked the opposition leaders bringing them to public glare after a long 5 years. The people of UP had nearly forgotten them so powerful was the performance of your government.

You could fight this election simply on the planks of law and order, security, development, UP pride and how you propose to take the next leap forward! Though the relevance of the ‘perception’ factor may seem to be less now, yet you need to be reminded and be confident of your clear superiority The purport of this observation would be clearer in the later part of this article.

Politics of fear: Based on media reports, the law and order situation in UP has shown deterioration after the onset of Model Code of Conduct. The incidents of political violence has risen considerably. In most cases leaders, workers and even supporters of your party have been allegedly attacked by the opposition parties. The violence has taken various shapes including even murders in few cases. What can influence the elections more are the covert and overt threats and intimidation in the vast rural belt and select areas in towns and cities. It is becoming clear that some parties are using ‘politics of fear’ as an election strategy taking advantage of the comparatively less active bureaucracy and police during the MCC period. Notably, in your recent interview to DD (Gorakhpur Conclave) we heard you saying women voters in a constituency were obstructed from casting their votes by political rivals. This demonstrates the limitations of the EC in sharp relief and also how can unscrupulous political parties take advantage of it!

Process vulnerabilities and abuse: At this stage of the election, this factor deserves your greatest attention. All of us are aware of the evil practice called ‘scientific rigging’ -a legacy of the left parties in parliamentary system. It basically involved studying all processes and subprocesses of the country’s election system to identify loopholes and exploit them unethically for electoral benefits. Examples were many like identifying dead voters in the list and impersonating them, incorporating names of non-citizens likely to be their vote bank, deleting names of known supporters of other parties, jamming booth on the voting day and raising frivolous technical complaints of EVM malfunctioning in booths where rival parties have strong support base, to name a few.

What is of graver concern is the emergence of professional election advisory companies helping political parties win elections. Run on strictly commercial basis, they have lifted the evil of ‘scientific rigging’ to another new level. Starting from the scratch i.e., helping their clients in preparing overall election strategy their activities supposedly are spreading to the counting round. They tend to exploit every kind of human vulnerability and technical weakness in the myriads of processes ruthlessly for their client’s advantage. Their growing role in state elections are attracting public attention, the most prominent case being one in Bengal.

There were several disturbing reports in the social media concerning last year’s polls in that state. These included the ruling party workers scaring agents of rival parties and forcing them out of the counting centres, selectively leaving out some EVMs from the scope of counting, and more. Intriguingly, there were also reports of some candidates (who had joined BJP on the poll eve from other parties and given tickets) acting as trojan horses and conceding defeat before final counting was over.

What is of utmost concern to the country in general is the fact that many of their techniques have become publicly known and the lure of easy electoral dividend can tempt unscrupulous political parties in general to replicate them! It is really unfortunate that the ECI, which essentially relies on co-operation and ethical functioning by political parties, does not seem to be equipped enough to handle pre-meditated and conspiratorial machinations.

Having identified and elaborated the factors that are coming in the way of a certain victory, we must highlight at this stage about the crucial importance of the ‘counting round’. Kindly consider it as the eighth round of 2022 polls. If it is not handled with extreme seriousness, much of the hard work done by you hitherto will be undone. You must have a team of competent, committed and trusted band of workers who would brave threat and intimidation, if any, and remain alert and vigilant till the last vote is counted in every constituency. They must extend fullest cooperation to the ECI officials and ensure that the whole process of counting is carried out in complete fairness.

It will be relevant to end this open letter with a parable.

Three princes were to appear in a archery contest. The king was examining their suitability as his heir apparent. The middle prince was the best archer and he was supportive of his elder brother for the post. The youngest prince was cunning and ambitious but fell short of his middle brother in terms of skill. On the day of the contest, all three princes shot one arrow each at the board places at a distance. The middle brother’s arrow seemed to hit the bull’s eye. The youngest one’s sped arrow appeared to come close. But he insisted he has hit the target and the middle prince actually missed by a narrow margin. The matter was not difficult to resolve as the name of the owner was engraved on the shaft. When everyone went to the target board, it seemed the youngest prince has actually hit the bull’s eye. The events presented a mystery to all. The youngest prince only had the clue. He had in the previous night stealthily entered into his brother’s armour room and exchanged the arrows in their quivers.  

The morale of the story is never let your guard off! No quarter can be given for any nasty surprise at the end of this long hardly fought election process!

समझिये रुस और यूक्रेन विवाद, विवाद की जड़ है अमेरिका? अब तक की पूरी कहानी

Jitendra Meena
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समझिये रुस और यूक्रेन विवाद, विवाद की जड़ है अमेरिका? अब तक की पूरी कहानी

बात 100 साल पुरानी है जब 1991 में सोवियत संघ का विघटन हुआ तो यूक्रेन सहित 15 नए देशों का गठन हुआ, सही मायनों में यूक्रेन को साल 1991 में आजादी मिली हालांकि, यूक्रेन शुरू से ही समझता है कि वह रूस से कभी भी अपने दम पर मुकाबला नहीं कर सकता और इसलिए वह एक ऐसे सैन्य संगठन में शामिल होना चाहता है जो उसकी आजादी को महफूज रख सके इसके लिये नाटो से बेहतर संगठन कोई और नहीं है जो यूक्रेन की रक्षा कर सके। यूक्रेन के पास न तो रूस जैसी बड़ी सेना है और न ही आधुनिक हथियार, यूक्रेन में 1.1 मिलियन सैनिक हैं जबकि रूस के पास 2.9 मिलियन सैनिक हैं, यूक्रेन के पास 98 लड़ाकू विमान हैं, रूस के पास करीब 1500 लड़ाकू विमान हैं, रूस के पास यूक्रेन की तुलना में अधिक हमलावर हेलीकॉप्टर, टैंक और बख्तरबंद वाहन भी हैं।

विवाद का असली विलेन है अमेरिका :-
रूस और यूक्रेन के विवाद में अमेरिका की अहम भूमिका है, अमेरिका ने अपने 3000 सैनिकों को यूक्रेन की मदद के लिए भेजा है और उनकी तरफ से यह आश्वासन दिया गया है कि वे यूक्रेन की मदद के लिए हर संभव प्रयास करेंगे लेकिन सच्चाई यह है कि मौजूदा अमेरिकी राष्ट्रपति जो बाइडेन, यूक्रेन का इस्तेमाल सिर्फ अपनी छवि मजबूत करने के लिए कर रहे हैं पिछले साल अमेरिका को अफगानिस्तान से अपनी सेना वापस बुलानी पड़ी थी इसके अलावा ईरान में अमेरिका कुछ हासिल नहीं कर पाया और तमाम प्रतिबंधों के बावजूद उत्तर कोरिया लगातार मिसाइल परीक्षण भी कर रहा है इन घटनाओं ने अमेरिका की सुपर पॉवर इमेज को नुकसान पहुंचाया है यही वजह है कि जो बाइडेन यूक्रेन-रूस विवाद के साथ इसकी भरपाई करना चाहते हैं।

अमेरिका के अलावा ब्रिटेन और फ्रांस जैसे देशों ने भी यूक्रेन का समर्थन किया है, इन देशों का समर्थन कब तक चलेगा यह एक बड़ा सवाल है क्योंकि यूरोपीय देश अपनी गैस की एक तिहाई जरूरत के लिए रूस पर निर्भर हैं अब अगर रूस इस गैस की आपूर्ति बंद कर देता है तो इन देशों में भयानक पॉवर क्राइसिस होगा।

पुतिन ने हमले रोकने से इनकार किया: मैक्रों
फ्रांस के राष्ट्रपति इमैनुअल मैक्रों ने कहा कि उन्होंने रूस के राष्ट्रपति व्लादिमीर पुतिन से यूक्रेन पर हमले रोकने के लिए एक बार फिर कहा है, लेकिन पुतिन अभी ऐसा नहीं करेंगे। मैक्रों ने ट्वीट किया, ‘‘इस समय तो उन्होंने इससे इनकार किया है।’’ फ्रांसीसी राष्ट्रपति ने पुष्टि की कि उन्होंने गुरुवार को पुतिन से फोन पर बात की थी और कहा कि वह संवाद जारी रखेंगे ताकि और अधिक मानवीय त्रासदी न हो। उन्होंने अपने पोस्ट में लिखा, ‘‘हमें हालात बदतर होने से रोकने चाहिए।’’

यूक्रेन के परमाणु ऊर्जा संयंत्र में लगी आग :
यूक्रेन के जापोरीझझया परमाणु ऊर्जा संयंत्र में आग लग गई है यूक्रेन के विदेश मंत्री दिमित्रो कुलेबा ने जापोरीझझया परमाणु ऊर्जा संयंत्र में आग लगने की खबर की पुष्टि की है स्थानीय समयानुसार दोपहर 2.30 बजे के बाद जारी एक ट्वीट में दिमित्रो कुलेबा ने कहा, “रूसी सेना यूरोप के सबसे बड़े परमाणु ऊर्जा संयंत्र जापोरीझझया एनपीपी पर हर तरफ से गोलीबारी कर रही है। आग पहले ही लग चुकी है। अगर यह उड़ा, तो यह चेर्नोबिल से 10 गुना ज्यादा विस्फोट होगा! रूसियों को तुरंत गोलीबारी बंद करनी चाहिए और इसकी सुरक्षा सुनिश्चित करने के लिए अग्निशामकों को लगाना चाहिए।”

यूक्रेन में रूसी मेजर जनरल आंद्रेई सुखोवत्स्की की मौत, NEXTA का दावा :

रूस और यूक्रेन के बीच जारी जंग के आठवें दिन रूसी मेजर जनरल की यूक्रेन में मौत हो गई. न्यूज एजेंसी NEXTA का दावा है कि यूक्रेन में रूस के मेजर जनरल आंद्रेई सुखोवत्स्की की मौत हो गई है वहीं, यूक्रेन की ओर से रूस को भारी नुकसान पहुंचाने का दावा भी किया गया है। KyivPost के मुताबिक, KyivPost की ओर से दावा किया गया है कि रूस और यूक्रेन के बीच जारी जंग के आठवें दिन यूक्रेन ने रूस के 30 प्लेन, 374 ऑटो मोबाइल्स टेक्निक्स, 42 MLRS, 900 AFV, 31 हेलीकॉप्टर, 90 आर्टिलेरियन सिस्टम, 2 कटर, 217 टैंक, 11 एंटीएयर डिफेंस, 3 यूएवी का नुकसान उठाना पड़ा है साथ ही दावा किया गया है कि अब तक 9000 रूसी सैनिक भी मारे गए हैं।

एक भारतीय की मौत और एक घायल :
केंद्रीय मंत्री जनरल वीके सिंह ने बताया है कि यूक्रेन में एक और भारतीय को गोली लगी है, जिसका इलाज चल रहा है। पौलेंड बॉर्डर पर भारतीयों को लेने गए जनरल वीके सिंह ने कहा कि मुझे आज सूचना मिली कि कीव से आ रहे एक छात्र को गोली लगी है और उसे बीच में ही वापस ले जाया गया है। वही पहले एक छात्र की मौत हो चुकी है।

जो बाइडेन की रूस से अपील :
यूक्रेन को न्यूक्लियर प्लांट पर रूसी मिसाइल से हमले के बाद अमेरिकी राष्ट्रपति जो बाइडन (Joe Biden) ने अपने यूक्रेनी समकक्ष वोलोदिमिर जेलेंस्की से फोन पर बात की, दोनों नेताओं के बीच सैन्य, आर्थिक और मानवीय सहायता पर भी बात हुई है न्यूज एजेंसी एएफपी के अनुसार, जो बाइडेन ने रूस से यूक्रेन के परमाणु ऊर्जा संयंत्र पर आपातकालीन राहत पहुंचाने वालों को अनुमति देने का आग्रह किया है।

खेरसन शहर पर रूस का कब्ज़ा :
यूक्रेन के खेरसन शहर पर रूस ने कब्जा कर लिया है खेरसन के गवर्नर ने यह जानकारी दी है।

पोलैंड से तीन दिन में करीब 1400 भारतीय नागरिक देश लौटे :
पोलैंड में नागरिक उड्डयन राज्य मंत्री जनरल (सेवानिवृत्त) वीके सिंह ने कहा कि “हमने पिछले तीन दिनों में भारत के लिए सात उड़ानें वापस भेजी हैं । प्रत्येक उड़ान से लगभग 200 भारतीय नागरिक स्वदेश लौटे हैं। कुछ छात्र जो वारसॉ पहुंचे हैं, उनके रिश्तेदारों और दोस्तों ने वहां रहने का फैसला किया है; पोलैंड में वे सुरक्षित हैं। वीके सिंह ने कहा कि कल पोलैंड के रेजस्जो से चार उड़ानें और वारसॉ से एक उड़ान भेजी जाएंगी। हम 800-900 छात्रों को निकालने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं क्योंकि उनके पास यहां रहने के लिए जगह नहीं है। उन्हें रखने के लिए एक अस्थायी व्यवस्था की गई है, लेकिन इन जगहों पर वे उतने सहज नहीं हैं।

किसके साथ खड़ा है भारत?

रूस-यूक्रेन के विवाद में भारत की स्थिति भी बहुत महत्वपूर्ण है, रूस और अमेरिका दोनों भारत के लिए महत्वपूर्ण हैं भारत अभी भी अपने 55 फीसदी हथियार रूस से खरीदता है जबकि अमेरिका के साथ भारत के संबंध पिछले 10 वर्षों में काफी मजबूत हुए हैं। जिस देश में यूक्रेन ने सबसे पहले फरवरी 1993 में एशिया में अपना दूतावास खोला वह भारत था तब से भारत और यूक्रेन के बीच व्यापारिक, रणनीतिक और राजनयिक संबंध मजबूत हुए हैं यानी भारत इनमें से किसी भी देश को परेशान करने का जोखिम नहीं उठा सकता। रूस ने अब तक भारत-चीन सीमा विवाद पर तटस्थ रुख अपनाया है, अगर भारत यूक्रेन का समर्थन करता है तो वह कूटनीतिक रूप से रूस को चीन के पक्ष में ले जाएगा। शायद यही कारण है कि हाल ही में जब अमेरिका सहित 10 देश संयुक्त राष्ट्र में यूक्रेन पर एक प्रस्ताव लेकर आए भारत ने किसी के पक्ष में मतदान नहीं किया, भारत के लिए चिंता की बात यह भी है कि इस समय यूक्रेन में करीब 20,000 भारतीय फंसे हुए हैं जिनमें से 18 हजार मेडिकल के छात्र हैं।

यूक्रेन और रूस के रिश्ते को समझना बहुत मुश्किल है यूक्रेन के लोग स्वतंत्र रहना चाहते हैं, लेकिन पूर्वी यूक्रेन के लोगों की मांग है कि यूक्रेन को रूस के प्रति वफादार रहना चाहिए । यूक्रेन की राजनीति में नेता दो गुटों में बंटे हुए हैं एक दल खुले तौर पर रूस का समर्थन करता है और दूसरा दल पश्चिमी देशों का समर्थन करता है। यही वजह है कि आज यूक्रेन दुनिया की बड़ी ताकतों के बीच फंसा हुआ है।

यूक्रेन की सेना का कहना है कि उन्हें लगता है कि बेलारूस ने गुरुवार को अपने सैनिकों को यूक्रेन में घुसकर लड़ाई में शामिल होने का आदेश दे दिया है एक फ़ेसबुक पोस्ट में यूक्रेन की सेना की तरफ़ से कहा गया है कि “बेलारूस की सैन्य यूनिट की कमान को सीमा पार कर यूक्रेन में घुसने का आदेश दे दिया गया है.” यूक्रेन का आरोप है कि रूस मिसाइलें दागने के लिए बेलारूस की ज़मीन का इस्तेमाल कर रहा है बेलारूस एक पूर्व सोवियत राष्ट्र है जिसकी सीमाएं यूक्रेन से सटी हैं, माना जाता है कि रूस का बेलारूस की सत्ता पर ग़हरा प्रभाव है कई विश्लेषक बेलारूस को रूस का आश्रित राज्य मानते हैं कीएव की तरफ़ बढ़ रहा रूस का विशाल सैन्य बेड़ा भी बेलारूस के रास्ते ही घुसा है।

सैंड आर्टिस्ट सुदर्शन पटनायक ने अपने अंदाज में युद्ध रोकने की अपील की :
ओडिशा के प्रसिद्ध सैंड आर्टिस्ट सुदर्शन पटनायक ने रूस यूक्रेन के बीच जारी संघर्ष को रोकने का संदेश देते हुए पुरी समुद्र तट पर सैंड आर्ट का निर्माण किया। इस तस्वीर में यूक्रेन के राष्ट्रपति वोलोदिमिर जेलेंस्की और रूस के राष्ट्रपति व्लादिमीर पुतिन की तस्वीर बनाकर दोनों से युद्ध रोकने की अपील की है।

अब रुसी मीडिया ने दावा किया है की जलन्स्की यूक्रेन छोडकर पोलेंड पहुच चुके है।

Oblivious of one’s power

subbiah sridhar
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Oblivious of one’s power

Normally, one can see many cows roaming on the streets with really big horns but despite having such power in their horns, those cows are so sober with a deep silence and calmness in their look and never get provoked. At the same time, there are many small animals like stray dogs, wild cats or fox and such other little animals which though have no such power yet become ferocious not only during day time but more during wee hours particularly in deserted roads and streets. Cows with big horns even if found in empty roads and even during mid-night and early morning never seem to scare anyone or that feeling of spine-chilling wave which passes through one’s body upon seeing stray dogs in empty roads during night hours is not found when one see a cow or even a herd of cows. But on seeing pack of stray dogs there are very less chance that one might not get bitten by them during night hours in empty roads. 

There are many newspaper reports about some child or even adult being mowed down by such stray dogs. Stray dogs seem friendly only during day time, but during odd hours they are no less than any other dangerous wild animals. Similarly, horses have not been provided with horns. Had they been provided with horns things would have been largely different. Coming to human species, it can be said there are men and women who do not know their own built-in power but are rather serving the really powerless. Why? 

That’s because the shrewdness which is required is missing in those really powerful being. Similar is the case with elephants which are big and powerful but yet remain calm and peaceful. There is a story often told by Professors to their students which goes like this: ‘A huge elephant was tied with a small rope around its neck, the other end being connected with a small pole. Someone asked the owner of the elephant as to how is it possible that a huge elephant is tied with a small rope and it does not try to escape whereas it is so easy for it to break the rope and run away. Elephant owner answers that this small rope is tied around its neck and attached with pole since the time this elephant was a baby. So, when it was a baby elephant, it tried many times to break the rope and made lots of efforts but obviously owing to less power being a baby elephant, despite repeated efforts could not succeed in breaking the rope and escape. 

Now, that thought that it cannot break the rope has got home in its mind and now in spite of its grown up to be a big and strong elephant, it has stopped making efforts to break the rope thinking that it cannot succeed. Hence, it will never escape because it is not trying to break the rope at all’. This story is often told by Professors to their students mentioning the moral of the story being, no matter how much the world tries to hold you back, always continue with the belief that what you want to achieve is possible. Believing you can become successful is the most important step in actually achieving it.  We are often held-back with limitations that we consciously or unconsciously impose on ourselves through our minds as a result of past happenings or from our previous experience. 

No one should ever under-estimate oneself but should know their inbuilt power, be confident and never give up. Even in our Epic Ramayana there is one incidence where until and unless Jambavan also known as Jambavat, the Divine King of Bears created by Lord Brahma to assist Avatar Ram, told Hanuman that he is capable of crossing the ocean in search of Maa Sita and reminded him that he was born of Vayu and had extraordinary powers and skills did Lord Hanuman realize the same and crossed the strait between India and Sri Lanka in one leap despite the efforts of watery monsters to stop him by swallowing him. 

Each and every individual has his own power but majority of us are unaware of using the same and easily give up and remain submissive throughout life. For that matter, there are many well educated and highly qualified professionals who despite their high studies and intelligence are sometimes found working under illiterate bosses and despite capability to start their own business still give up not knowing their power and cite flimsy grounds such as lack of money to invest or afraid of taking loan and repay the same, etc. etc. thus meaning to say just not trying their might and utilize their inbuilt capability. All said and done, one should strive to be oneself to the extent possible, listen to one’s soul and not run after other materialistic things, which are all but not ever lasting.

Marital rape law and AI

rajarshi
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Marital rape law and AI

This is the story of one Mr Avadhesh Yadav. One the morning of February 25, 2015 he was found dead. He had committed suicide due to a “woman”. The woman was his wife who had registered a false case of dowry against him and his parents. The family was arrested and then released on bail. The girl now filed false molestation case against the boy’s father and his brother. The police again arrested them. Drove to desperation Avinash Yadav now committed suicide in a bid to save the humiliation his family was being subjected to.

As early as 2013 the Delhi High court had warned that rape laws were being misused by a section of women.

Yet the laws exist and for good reason. Its a common knowledge that women are still exploited. That rapes are not infrequent and culprits often escape punishment. The victim’s vulnerability forces her not to even complain many a times and even if she complains she is up against a slow creaky system

It is in this milieu that the martial rape laws are being debated in the country.

The ongoing debate on the marital rape laws is also a function of the complexity of India’s social milieu. No sane man would be against laws that punishes a man for torturing his spouse. The problem however starts with the issue of misuse of such laws.

The problem of misuse stems from several reasons. However one of the basic reasons is that the laws are an attempt towards a “one size fits all”. In an effort towards “nuking” the malice of exploitation of women, sweeping powers have been given to women in these laws. The reason for such sweeping power is that women in villages and illiterate communities would not be able to sufficiently present their case before the authorities. They wouldn’t be able to gather the requisite evidences. Post complaint it would be easy to muzzle them.

The assumptions are in place for large sections of the population of the country.

However the same assumptions do not hold true when you deal with the much more empowered spectrum of the women. Educated women from the metros who can just as well take care of themselves. Women, who in no respects are less than a man. The same laws which were “necessary” for the village, uneducated girl becomes a very powerful instrument in the hands of the city woman.

India is a subcontinent. The objective situation varies remarkably across geography, financial status ,caste etc. A low caste village girl in the hills of Uttarakhand can hardly be compared to her educated sister coming from a bureaucrat family and living in Delhi.

And power corrupts. The laws tend to be misused and the entire episode leaves a bad taste

So where is the balance? Softer approaches such as looking into circumstantial evidence etc may be used. But this gives rise to scope of much discretion.

Herein a point based system may be used. The vulnerability of a women can be mapped in several dimensions viz:

i)Education: A more educated woman is more likely to be knowledgeable of the laws in the country and her own rights vis a vis her uneducated or less educated sister

ii)Geography: Getting help in cities is far easier than in  a remote village. Further in a city a woman is far more likely to know about her rights

iii)Financial status: A working woman is in a much better position to walk out and fight back than a woman totally dependent on her spouse

Caste and religion status may play a role too in the index of deprivation as can the education of her mother and her siblings or even the locality she stays in (a woman in a posh suburb in Kolkata can hardly be compared to woman in the slums).

The law may now be mapped to the amount of points that a woman has accumulated. Thus a village girl who is uneducated and living in a remote village needs a powerful law to her rescue vis a vis an educated women lawyer residing in the cities.

In the past making such “tailored laws” wouldn’t be possible. Not any more. AI can help us in these matters. Thus the Aadhar number of each individual can be populated with a “1” or a “0” in each dimension. Say a woman is educated, in a city and working. She gets a score of 3. A village girl who is uneducated and not working gets a score of “0”. Two different laws can now be used for them. The former gets a law where is is treated at par with her spouse(or has a slight advantage), the later has a law that is much more stringent.

The job of finding the right “mix” and getting the right law can be left to an AI bot. Of course human legislators have to give it the choices to begin with. But once given such, it can just ask for the Aadhar numbers of the individuals involved, find the scores and just give out the appropriate laws. Once this sytem is up and running, and we have confidence on it, in the next stage, the outcome of the cases registered (i.e., the judicial outcome at various levels), the arguments made etc can be fed to a neural network. With the wealth of data relating to both the individuals, the arguments made, the logic used by the judge, case laws relied on etc an AI system can make still more fine tuned laws(this time automatically) which are even more “tailored” to an individual. It can glean through several cases and give us insights which would help the human law makers too to make better laws.

In an age of phones(smart or dumb), implementation would be very easy too. The aggrieved woman just has to send a message (through an app, a whatsApp chat, a SMS or just a call to a help line), tell her Aadhar number and bingo a case can be registered in the appropriate police station(the location can be found from the tower of the mobile phone) and based on the point index the police knows the severity and rush to the spot.If phone numbers are mapped to Aadhar numbers the victim needs to just tell her complaint.

The point based AI system can be used in other domains too where a “one law fits all” approach leads to injustice and social tensions. For eg Caste based reservations. Few would resist a reservation system that benefits a boy or a girl from a historically poor and unprivileged low caste who has to fight his way up the system. The resentment starts when one sees someone getting a privilege even when he or she is a second or third generation bureaucrat and everyone in family placed in good positions (This is not to say that just because one has attained a high post caste discrimination ends—it doesn’t. But surely his position cant be compared with that of a village boy from lower caste whose parents are uneducated and still doing caste based jobs. The point based system would again split the “deprivation” of such an individual in terms of the several dimensions such as

i)Caste

ii)Geography

iii)Parents education

iv)Financial status

v)Education of the individual etc

The various points can be mapped to his Aadhar number and the cumulative points used to decide if at all reservation is merited and if merited at what level.

The beauty of the system would be that it can be done without any human subjectivity whatsoever.

With machine intelligence now approaching greater heights we no longer need to be in an era of static laws. Laws which are “well meant” but which cannot take in  the richness of the circumstances that any case presents and thus prevents proper justice and thus prevent preventable deaths of men like Avadesh.

Hijab – Illusion of choice

sranjan
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Hijab – Illusion of choice

We have to understand that Hijab is not a choice but a forced injunction on women. We can equate it to abortion ban and restrictions on contraceptives that Christian women face in western and catholic countries. We see women and girls getting flogged, jailed and beaten brutally in Islamic countries for refusing to adhere to shariah dress code. Just like women in many Christian countries are jailed and ostracized for having abortions even if the child has been conceived by rape, Muslim women have no choice over hijab. We equate hijab with some sort of head-wrap, but it can also literally mean ‘veil’, equitable to a curtain, which Prophet Mohammad subsequently started using after his guests were over staying their visit in order to talk to his wives.

Hijab, Niqab and Burqa are entirely different. What is being projected by these subjugator of women in India are not hijab but full blown Niqab. Sisters in Islam of Malaysia have fought a long battle against head coverings. According to them hair was never considered awrah and it has never been mentioned in hadith or Quran. Ahmad Ghabel, a Shia Muslim cleric, who had the prominent title of Hojjat el-Islam (authority on Islam), offered ten arguments in support of the viewpoint that covering the head was not obligatory but recommended. According to him there was no consensus amongst jurists as to whether hair constituted the awrah.

The awrah/satar for men and woman is between naval and knees. Awrah(aurat) means the body part that should be covered under Islamic rules and hair is not aurat. Do muslim men follow this rule of awrah, do they not wear shorts or swimming trunks, showing both naval and thighs? School going girls should have the same right to deny hijab and moreover, a safe place to not wear it.

Wearing burqa can increase the violent Islamic voice. Many nations have banned hijab and burqa including Islamic nations who fear that they promote extremism. Egypt in past has terminated jobs of news anchors who have appeared on television wearing hijab. The world is going in direction led by American militant Islamic political figures like Sarsour, Omar and others.

In Switzerland Vs Dahlab, the European Court of Human Rights observed that wearing the Islamic headscarf could not be viewed as a message of tolerance, respect for others and above all, equality and non discrimination on the ground of gender, that constitute the core values of a democratic society. In Turkey Vs Sahin, the Court ruled that gender equality is one of the key principles underlying the European Convention and a goal of the member States of the European council. In the name of gender equality, the court then proceeded to legitimize the dismissal of a teacher from a Swiss school and the expulsion of a medical school student from the Istanbul University, for wearing hijab.

Not wearing hijab has many repercussions for Muslim women not only in India but worldwide. Aqsa, a teen in U.K was in almost constant disagreement with her father and her brother. She didn’t want to wear hijab instead she wanted to dress in western clothes and have the same freedoms as the other girls in her high school. On Dec. 10, 2007, her own brother killed Aqsa.

Iran’s Judiciary sentenced a prominent human rights lawyer Reza Khandan to five years imprisonment for her first case and 33 years imprisonment with 148 lashes for the second case against the Islamic Republic’s mandatory headscarves for women.

One of the most tragic incident happened in Mecca, Saudi Arabia in early 2000’s in which 15 young girls died and more than 50 were injured. According to reports, members of the CPVPV(Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice), also known as Mutaween, did  not allow the girls to escape or to be saved from the fire because they were “not properly covered”, and the mutaween did not want physical contact to take place between the girls and the civil defense forces for fear of sexual enticement. Whenever the girls got out through the main gate, these people forced them to return via another.

Turkey, a secular Muslim country, had banned headscarves in schools, universities and public offices, which was later overturned by religious zealot Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in last decade. Shah of Iran banned Hijab and chadar in 1936. Then shah regime was toppled in 1978 and fanatical Islam rule started which appropriated Hijab. Women in Iran have protested against Hijab since the revolution. Several of them over the past 42 years have been jailed, tortured, mauled and killed by the regime and their own family members.

No one should fear being labeled as a Islamophobe by fanatics. It is a logical position based on easily observable evidence. Just like being afraid of anything else extremely dangerous and harmful, like akin to being a gamma raditionphobe.

Majority of women who wear the burqa or hijab are coerced by their family, friends, culture and religion and in emancipating those oppressed women if a tiny group of women lose the right to cover their faces and view the world through a tiny slit, then it’s a fair trade. It makes illegal at least one common practice that Muslim men employ in oppressing women.

Famous Egyptian women thinker, Nawal Al Saadawi said, A nude woman and a woman in hijab are two sides of the same coin, they both are sexualized.

A large part of hijab false agitation is also a test field for larger burqa acceptance. In West Bengal a large number of female recruits filled police employment form attaching their photos in niqab and hijab. When the form were rejected, they reached the state High court and filed a case to let it be accepted. For how long will these brain washers subjugate woman for their pleasure?

The argument about burqa/hijab/niqab being a choice is simply disgusting. Does anybody honestly think Muslim women suddenly decided one day that “yes, going through life with covered faces is empowering”? Would “Sati” be declared empowering now because it’s a decision made by woman? Do Islamists not understand the symbolism of covering the face, the focal point of all human communication. The few who claim to wear hijab/burqa/niqab by choice are struck by Stockholm syndrome. As with all forms of abuse, the victims are taught that suffering is their fault. Due to this, they start to feel shame, as if it was their responsibility to hide the abuse. What if the women began to say it wasn’t a choice? The answer is simple, they would be punished.

To escape from sufferings there is only one right answer– hijab is a choice and they “choose” it and are of course “happy”. Few people are turned on by abuse and it does not mean that society should accept abuse because some victims might be so indoctrinated or scared that they claim they wanted it. If a girl faces consequences for not wearing it, it’s not a choice. One can choose not to wear it without consequences, but the guilt the community and parents enforces may be so great that one may simply ‘choose’ to wear it anyway. An example of such illusion of choice is forced veil on non-Muslim women in Islamic countries, if not followed their choice can lead them to jail and deportation.

During 1960s in Indonesia and Malaysia even wives of the Ulemas didn’t wear hijab & now almost majority of muslim girls wear it. In Egypt during 60s president Gamal Abdel Nasser laughed at hijab, now egypt is full of hijabis. It has increased rapidly in Bangladesh and Pakistan (after they banned saree). In Turkey the number of Hijab wearing women is on rise under Erodgan’s rule. These are also the countries which are also facing many Socio-economic and religious fanaticism problems.

Hijab not being allowed in school is merely a dress code for young women, which a law abiding citizen must adhere to. We know that American women cannot wear sleeveless dress in American congress. This is their dress code. The Belgian constitutional court ruled that ban on headscarves of other symbols doesn’t violate constitution or European Convention on Human Rights. So, if some colleges apply for a Hijab ban, then it will be valid. The European court of Justice in 2017 have already ruled that Hijab can be banned in Work place.

What if someone doesn’t want to explain to their child that some adults believe there’s a magical being that will punish them for not dressing right? The real choice is, not killing ex-muslims, which is legal in 12 Islamic countries. Somewhere in Quran it is written that woman should not go out alone, is it the next thing the Islamic fundamentalist and their partner in crime the Indian liberals will ask for?

Requirement of uniformity in Traffic Challans

subbiah sridhar
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Requirement of uniformity in Traffic Challans

The day-by-day increasing number of traffic CCTV cameras keeps vigil on the traffic violators – be it the case of red light jumping, line crossing, etc. and promptly sends SMS messages on the registered mobile phones of any such defaulting drivers. But this trend seems to be applicable only for owners of private vehicles. Are the drivers of Cluster buses of a private organization named ‘Delhi Transit’ (popularly called Orange buses) running in collaboration with Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and Red and Green low floor buses owned by the Government under DTC , army vehicles/bikes, NDMC/MCD vehicles, etc. exempted from such Challan?

Often it is seen that the rash-driving cluster buses are carelessly jumping the red lights even during peak hours with least consideration for the heavy traffic or follow traffic regulations and with even more least considerations to the deadly accident it creates. This scenario is witnessed in many of the busy traffic signals when such cluster buses pay least attention particularly when the traffic signals are already changed from amber to red lights. Those drivers do not care about the fact that amber lights are meant to make one alert to stop the vehicle before the signals become finally red. Instead they take the amber light as equal to green signal and thereby not stopping their big vehicle even when the signal is red.

A system can be evolved by which the drivers of such Government vehicles/public transport are penalized by way of not exempting them from issuance of challan and making recovery from their respective salary/wages and also educate them regarding the purpose of amber lights in between green and red signal, if they are not aware of the same. Newspaper reports abound about such rash driving resulting in casualties and recently there were death reports of a three persons from public including a 12-years old child losing life due to reckless driving by one of the cluster buses in Delhi. Such instances of accidents are day-in-and-day-out happening in many of the crossings across Dwarka, where the traffic is increasing by leaps and bounds. The cases are more, particularly, during wee hours when the traffic signals are ignored seeing the empty roads and added to such cases of accidents owing to heavy fog or rather, what we call, smog.

Since the Traffic CCTV cameras are state of the art technology and very smart in noting down the registration number of the vehicle and consequent prompt generating of challan but it seems only the private vehicles are being penalized and the municipal and such local bodies vehicles are exempted and which increases to the rate of such accidents happening. The system of issuing challan may be adopted for drivers of such vehicles also as it could easily be found from the timing as to which driver was driving a particular vehicle from the roster and defaulted in such a way and thereby inculcate a discipline among such reckless drivers.

Traffic rules need to be necessary and compulsorily followed by one and all equally and drivers of state-run, municipal and other local bodies’ vehicles cannot be an exemption to such traffic rules.

Towards a sustainable peace in eastern Europe

Satish Tandon
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Towards a sustainable peace in eastern Europe

The continuing amassing of Russian troops to the North and East of Ukraine for several months has finally ended in the invasion of Ukraine as most of the world feared. Until the last moment, the Russians continued to deny American assertions that a Russian attack on Ukraine was imminent. Only a few kilometers away from the border, the Russian troops had been too close for comfort, and needed to maintain some “social distancing”.

Despite Russian denials, it was becoming increasingly obvious what Russia really wanted as its troops surged because Russia had invaded Ukraine in 2014 and seized its territory. Now, eight years later, Russia may be looking to consolidate its earlier gains.

On Day 2 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations Security Council passed a US-sponsored resolution condemning Russia for unprovoked aggression and demanding an immediate withdrawal of its forces. India, China and the UAE abstained from the vote.

Why did Russia want to invade Ukraine? One reason is that some parts of eastern Ukraine which border Russia, have already been in the hands of pro-Russian rebels who have been waging a war against Ukrainian troops that have resulted in the loss of over 14,000 lives over the last six years. When Ukrainians deposed their pro-Russian president in early 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine’s southern Crimea and backed separatists who captured large swathes of territory in eastern Ukraine. Now, Putin would like to crush Ukraine’s sovereignty and take Russia back to its past Soviet glory.

Ukraine serves as a buffer state between the EU and Russia and shares borders with both. But as a former Soviet republic, it has deep social and cultural ties with Russia, and Russian is widely spoken there.

Secondly, Russia is extremely sensitive to the eastward expansion of NATO and would like to obtain security guarantees that NATO would end its military activity in eastern Europe. Actually, it would like to see NATO retreat to the pre-1997 borders. Looking at it from another perspective, the Russian stand represents the application of the venerated ‘Monroe Doctrine’ in reverse, sixty years after it was first applied in 1963 by President Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis, against the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union, as the predecessor of Russia, enjoyed superpower status along with the United States. All countries in eastern Europe were considered to be within its sphere of influence. That changed in 1991 when the Soviet Union fell and disintegrated under the weight of its own contradictions. Most of the Soviet satellite states that achieved independence in 1991 look to the West and hope for membership in the European Union. Some have been able to fulfill that dream while others, including Ukraine, have been hoping for that to become true. It is not hard to fathom that as the reincarnated successor state of the Soviet Union, Putin’s Russia would like to keep America away and at the same time regain some of its own past glory.

Thirdly, in an age when strong leaders are becoming the ‘New Normal’ even in established democracies, is it any wonder that Putin, the undisputed and unchallenged leader of his country, wants to occupy centre-stage in European politics? He has been at the helm for more than two decades and may continue to dominate European politics for many more years to come. This has also been made easier by Donald Trump who, by ignoring allies and heaping praise on dictators like Putin and Kim Jong Un, effectively took America out of its geopolitical role and back into ‘isolationism’.

Finally, no matter how serious and alarming the situation appears now, it also presents an opportunity for European powers and the United States to hone their time-tested skills in engaging diplomacy to arrive at a mutually advantageous and sustainable peace. The extremely harsh and adverse world public opinion would make it difficult for Putin to sustain his expansionist policies for very long. Besides, public opinion in Russia itself might cripple him politically. Politics is the art of the possible, and I believe we have not run out of possibilities yet.

Swachchh Rupiya Abhiyaan

subbiah sridhar
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Swachchh Rupiya Abhiyaan

Being a part of Indian diplomatic service, I had occasion to travel/work across the length and breadth of the world in many countries for our motherland and out of the experience gathered, some point emerged which I thought I should share for betterment of our currency maintenance and circulatory system. Hardly any country may be found where the citizens of that particular country handle the currency of that respective country the way majority of us Indian public are used to when it comes to handling the currency.

Money is a thing which has or knows no caste, creed, religion, etc. Have we ever wondered, a money donated in religious place, what were its routes before and it had run into the hands of so many people of different caste, creed, religion, etc. and even passed the hands of anti-social elements, workers indulged in illegal business, etc. It is said ‘Lakshmi Mata’, ‘Lakshmi Maiya’ etc. but when it comes to handling the currency which is in fact Goddess Lakshmi, we find that proper treatment is not meted out to the currency. Any layman can find even the bank employees or any commercial organization/businessmen or even general public, dig out currency notes from different bundles and to keep a track of the currency left in one bundle, they just do not mind entering numerical figures on the currency itself apart from licking and spitting on the currency to get required friction while counting. 

Can anyone find currency notes like US Dollar, Great Britain Pound Sterling or European currency Euro having any such handwritten markings or blemishes on their respective currency(ies). For that matter, even Indians who are in the habit of making markings on the Indian notes do not do so when it comes to foreign currency. Then why this awkward behaviour only in case of Indian currency? Why we find such a trend only in India? Is it due to the gross indiscipline amongst us or is it due to any other factor, be it inborn undisciplined attitude, take it easy policy or a ‘chalta hai’ attitude, etc.  

What is necessary is therefore evolving some such scheme like ‘Swachchh Rupiya Abhiyan‘, whereby the soiled or hand-written markings on the currency note should be made automatically invalid and banks discard such currencies having blemishes/writings on it and gradually such currencies be phased out of circulation.   Once the currency becomes unfit for circulation or is made invalid due to above reason(s), then the habit of paying disregard like keeping the currency inside blouse, or under the gunny bags and sitting over it or writing or spitting on the currency notes, etc. itself will become a history.   

Such an abhiyan will lead to cent per cent discipline among us as any such writing or mishandling of the currency note(s) will lead to loss to the holder of the currency.  

We speak of ‘Swachchh Bharat Mission’, ‘Safai Abhiyaan/Cleanliness Drive’ etc. and have fixed a time-frame to make India really neat and clean.  Similar such initiative is required with respect to Indian currency as still the country has many years to pass when one might expect a nation becoming fully digital and do away with the system of physical currency.  The proposed abhiyaan could be named something like ‘Currency Cleanliness Drive’ or ‘Swachchh Rupiya Abhiyan‘.  

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