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The Devil’s Line-up

Sudeep Satheesan
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The Devil’s Line-up

Let’s start with the two openers – Sonia & Rahul. No, this is not cricket, it’s team Congress. Whereas one opener is a veteran, the other is Rahul. Yes, Rahul – whether it is the Indian cricket team or the Congress picket team, Rahul is a timid underperformer who plays well only in the shadows of the better players. And yet they spearhead their respective lines – a hilarious mischief by the Devil.

While team India has a strong number 3 batsman in Kohli, team Congress has many contestants vying for the same coveted position. That’s why in spite of both openers vacating the pitch long back, there’s still no sign of who would be the next to walk in, or rather, totter in. The contenders are none like Kolhi, on the contrary they are closer to Dhoni, or rather nearly twice his age. So, imagine a Dhoni, with batting strike rate twice as slow, staggering in. Oh, my Devilness!
One might think there are younger and fitter players such as Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia who should step up to the crucial number 3 position. But how can one play for the national team when they are not even considered for their domestic league? Kamal Nath Singh and Ashok Gehlot may be older than the terra firma that they play on, but their experience is invaluable. Irrespective of whether they are able to limp between the wickets, spot a straight delivery, or for that matter even lift their bats, their experience is deemed invaluable. What experience you may ask. Well, better ask who is the Devil and you can hope to find an answer sooner. So, there it is, Kamal Nath at number 3 and Gehlot slightly behind at 6.

P Chidambaram is the ideal candidate for the 4th spot, as he has a wealth of…well, er…Wealth! No matter the level of conviction of the opposite bowlers in their appeals, he always manages to evade the rising index finger of the umpires and steadfastly stays at the crease. And he also has a successor in line for the bewitched number 4 position – his son. Whether to opt or not, the ball is entirely in his son’s court (pun intended). Number 5 belongs to the swashbuckling player. Who else, but Shashi Tharoor! Whether he can move the score or not, but he can definitely woo the audience with his charisma. So much so that the ladies would still be cheering for the team long past the team has been annihilated. Devilish charms at work!

Position 7 belongs to the allrounder, or even a bits and pieces player who floats around in many roles or portfolios without distinction. Kapil Sibal can bat here. He’s also a handy spinner – one who can spin words in any direction, no matter whether it’s a grass pitch or a hard court. Number 8 should not flinch from pinch hitting, or rash batting. He should just swing his bat blindly even if it means gifting away his wicket to a complete novice. Enter Digvijay Singh. Slots 9, 10 and 11 are the realm of the specialist bowlers. The hard hitting Amarinder Singh can bat at number 9. In bowling, he’s treading a line and length that the opponents are unable to breach. Considering that the rival batsmen are most of the time stoned, you never know whether it’s the quality of delivery or the psychedelic effect of Ahem! chitta – a local drug, that is mesmerizing. Every team will have one errant bowler who usually bats at 9, 10 or 11. There is one such player at number 10 – Mani Shankar Aiyar. When he speaks, his wayward cutters, seamers and swingers tend to hit his own players more than the opposition wicket. While he is capable of sledging the bowler and the ten fielders to shame, more often than not he ends up embarrassing his own team. It doesn’t matter whether the number 11 bats or not, it’s inconsequential. Gulam Nabi Azad can bat here and then bowl very defensive and insipid deliveries later on. So, that’s the starting eleven. Well, better the Devil you know than the Devil you don’t know!

So, where exactly are the young and resourceful Pilot and Scindia? They are the 12th and 13th men treating the playing, or rather, resting eleven with snubs and curses. At number 14 and 15 are Navjot Singh Sidhu and Ahmed Patel. The reason for the garrulous and high-octane Sidhu not being present in the playing eleven is because he would most probably look to run out Amarinder Singh. And then misfield off the bowlers he doesn’t like and gift away free runs to the opponents. Ahmed is more of a coach than a player and 15th position is aptly suited for him to call the shots away from the limelight. If you are wondering about Manmohan Singh and A K Anthony, team Congress is hoping that one day they would return to strengthen the team. Hope team India is not likewise wishing for the return of Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar to win the world cup!

There is a famous adage that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. When the idleness is omnivalent as in team Congress, the workshop turns into a castle, which is ruled by the Devil known for his dark and sardonic sense of humour. And when the Devil jests, team Congress has no option but to comedize and amuse the country by obliging to the Devil’s line-up!

A new deal for SC/ST community

mishradev
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A new deal for SC/ST community

There has been very little discussion in this country on one of long standing policy which is sort of a chief driver of job market in India. There is a need to at least start a conversation and eventually reform the reservation policy which has failed to achieve its intended consequences for the communities it meant to uplift.

Today we see massive agitation and even caste conflicts in some cases as a fallout to the feeling of discrimination that seems to have seeped among communities and in general death of meritocracy in India but besides that even among the Scheduled castes /tribes the reservation policy has proven to be a failure. While most from the reserved communities lag behind faring no better than they once were, in fact in some cases even sliding down, a selected elites have pushed through and keep on using reservation for generations to trample upon the rights of dowtrodden in the same community.

Although mere criticism of reservation without providing for an alternative scheme for the uplifment of reserved communities owing to historically disadvantaged position of those is unproductive. Meritocracy argument is certainly a strong case but even stronger is that reservation as implemented today has failed its objectives and in fact its the scheduled castes/tribes who need a new and better deal. Something devoid of considerations regarding political vote banks & dwelling into real and effective solutions to the problems faced by marginalised section.

A new deal for uplifment of scheduled castes /tribes

Reservation policy rather than eliminating societal disadvantages has created new ones among elites withing the marginalised castes & ones truly at the margins of society therefore there is a need to bring in certain checks & balances while limiting all reservations to 10% EWS quota under which as part of affirmative pre requisite should be that one can avail reservation only if noone from the previous generation either father or mother has availed it to benefit

Specific to SC/ST students all SC/ST students (under EWS critera) should get completely govt. funded primary, secondary & senior secondary & college education in all colleges & university of the country . The funds to which could be managed by the govt of india through fund transfers from various wastefull government run schemes specific to SC/ST social welfare schemes.

Also land & house has always been mark of societal dignity & status therefore to counter societal prejudices against SC/ST in villages where they still live in secluded community & ghettos because of which they face a lot of hardships & disadvantages. This is why Pradhan mantri awas yojana is so important . A 50% preferential quota for SC/ST should be alloted under PM awas yojana to build houses for SC/ST families on a preferrential basis & with an increased emphasis for not allowing segregated ghettos & ensuring a multi caste community living under the scheme.

For appointments of SC/ST priests, a formulation vedic education board hindu civil society must ensure SC/ST students to be enrolled early (preferably at the age of 10)& trained effectively with a gurukul based environment for effective conditioning of child in dharmic studies & commitment for hindu dharma for later appointments as priests in renowed temples.

If implemented the proposals will go a long way not just for mainstreaming of SC/St communities but also ensuring a united india.

सांसों को रोकता-लव जिहाद

siddhantpandey7
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सांसों को रोकता-लव जिहाद

पुणे में हाल ही में हुए एक हत्या ने कुछ पुराने ज़ख्मो को कुरेद दिया. खुशी परिहार नाम की 20 वर्षीय एक लड़की को उसके बॉयफ्रेंड अशरफ़ शेख ने बड़े ही बेरहमी से मार दिया. वजह खुशी की किसी अन्य लड़के के साथ दोस्ती बताई जा रही. अपराध की हद तो ये थी अशरफ़ ने ख़ुशी के चेहरे को बुरी तरीके से बिगाड़ दिया, अपने आप को बचाने के लिए उसने खुशी के कलाइयों पर अपने नाम के टैटू को मिटाने के लिए उसकी कलाइयों को भी क्षत-विक्षत किया. अब आप कहेंगे की हां ये तो हिंदुस्तान में अक़्सर होता रहता है घरेलू कलह में और मामूली झगड़े अक्सर बड़े हो जाते हैं लेकिन सोचने से पहले थोड़ा रुकिए और फिर सोचिये क्या खुशी की ये गलती थी की उसका अन्य लोगों से भी दोस्ती थी, या फिर ये गलती थी की वो अशरफ से इस कदर प्यार में थी की उसने अपना नाम तक बदल रखा था – जायरा शेख. अब आप कहेंगे ऐसे एक प्रगतिशील हिन्दू लड़की अपना नाम क्यों बदलेगी. और यही वो जगह है जहां लव जिहाद का सवाल उठाते हैं।

इससे पहले की मै इस केस और लव जिहाद के बारे में आगे बात करूँ आपको थोड़ा पीछे ले जाना चाहूंगा।

साल था 2011 केरल की अखिला अशोकन नाम की 18 वर्ष की एक हिन्दू लड़की जो की पढाई के लिए अपने घर से दूर जाती है वहां उसके रूम में उसकी मुलाकात 2 लड़कियों से होती है जो की मुस्लिम समुदाय से आती थी, समय जैसे बढ़ा दोस्ती बढ़ती गयी, उन दोनों लड़कियों को देख अखिला का भी मन नमाज़ और कुरान पढ़ने में हुआ ये था उसका इस्लाम के साथ पहली मुलाक़ात. फेसबुक के जरिए उसकी मुलाकात जहां नाम के एक मुस्लिम युवक से हुई, दोस्ती बढ़ी, प्यार हुआ और दोनों ने शादी का फैसला किया अब दिलचस्प बात ये थी की जहां ने अखिला का नाम बदल कर हादिया कर दिया यानि धर्म परिवर्तन इस बात से के.एम अशोकन जो की अखिला के पिता थे बिल्कुल तैयार नही हुए… उन्होंने जब जहां के बारे में पता किया तो उसके तालुकात इस्लामिक स्टेट से हैं इसकी खबर पता चली वो कोर्ट में गए और कोर्ट ने ये कहते हुए यह शादी ख़ारिज की कि जहां के तालुक्क इस्लामिक स्टेट से जो की फंडिंग कर ऐसे युवकों को हिन्दू लड़कियों से बात कर उनसे शादी करते हैं।

केरल के ही कोर्ट ने पहली बार लव जिहाद शब्द का इस्तेमाल किया, तनिक भी आश्चर्य नही है की लव जिहाद का पहला केस केरल से था आखिर केरल से ही हर साल बड़ी संख्या में कुछ कथित भटके हुए नौजवान इस्लामिक स्टेट में भर्ती होते हैं।
2011 के बाद लव जिहाद के ऐसे कई किस्से आते हैं और कहीं खो जाते हैं।

खुशी परिहार की मौत मात्र एक हत्याकांड नही एक सोची समझी साज़िश जिसे कुछ बुद्धजीवी ये कह के दबा रहें की प्यार में अक्सर ऐसे लोग कर जा रहें. हालांकि मैंने सच्चे प्यार में लोगों को ह्रदय परिवर्तन करते देखा है धर्म परिवर्तन करते नही।

लव जिहाद सिर्फ अखिला, खुशी और उनके जैसे कई लड़कियों का ही मुद्दा नही है ये देश का मुद्दा हमारे और आपके बहन बेटियों का मुद्दे है।

Cross pathy and curriculum content corrode AYUSH from within

S Ranganathan
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Cross pathy and curriculum content corrode AYUSH from within

The treasures of our ancient tradition and its usefulness & values, every civilized country must preserve, promote and popularize and from that perspective, the efforts of PM Modi is commendable. Unfortunately whether the large number of people from AYUSH fraternity has ever recognised the value and usefulness of AYUSH in letter and spirit is a million dollar question. Otherwise they would to show great aggression to compete with MBBS graduates that AYUSH vaidyas are also quite knowledgeable in allopathic medicine.

Instead of providing the holistic therapy to the patient, most AYUSH vaidyas in private practice feel using stethoscope as symbol of pride and the point of completion as doctor. How stethoscope would help a vaidya to diagnose tridosha such as vata, pitta and kapha is quite curious and posing such question to any vaidya why they use stethoscope would end in unnecessary fight.

The curriculum content of AYUSH education is being mutilated so badly with the superficial inclusion of modern science such as microbiology, biochemistry, anatomy etc.

AYUSH is completely a faith based philosophy and spirituality linked system and its science is faith, human values, ethics & morality, mutual trust between the vaidya and the patient, self- discipline, chanting hymns, faith in God etc., not proven science. The present day world certainly requires AYUSH to impart living values to people.  AYUSH emphasis upon self-discipline in all activities of human being to remain healthy.  But unfortunately such great AYUSH philosophy has been muddled by the inclusion of modern science in the curriculum.

The superficial and shallow learning of modern science has made many AYUSH vaidya to feel they are competent both in AYUSH as well as modern medicine but unfortunately they lack even the basic wisdom in either of the subjects otherwise they wouldn’t adventure to claim their scholarliness in modern science.

AYUSH vaidya see each patient in toto, recognize the patients as part of the universe made of panch booth (5 elements) and the composition of tridosha and that is how vaidya diagnose the problem.  Instead of attempting to treat the disease in a compartmentalized manner like liver, kidney, heart, lungs etc., the treatment is often suggested to the total body and mind and that is why AYUSH is called holistic. But unfortunately the holistic treatment approach of AYUSH is vanishing steadily and soon if the above situation continues, AYUSH would vanish completely.

Many Siddha vaidyas in Tamil Nadu are digging out several ways to engage in allopathic practice than Siddha system of healing. Cross pathy by several AYUSH vaidyas also corrode the system from within.  But the concerned authorities like CCRA, CCRS, NIS, NIA etc., remains indifferent towards cross pathy by several AYUSH vaidyas as they argue that it is the mandate of the respective state government to act against cross pathy.

It is not the responsibility of the state government alone, also the respective research councils of AYUSH must call the institutionally qualified vaidyas in private practice who are engaged in cross pathy and must warn them to promote AYUSH as per their expertise instead of defaming AYUSH through quackery.

AYUSH Ministry must completely cleave all modern science contents from the curriculum of AYUSH and instead must include protocol and other details of clinical trial so that the vaidya in private practice also can evaluate several AYUSH recipes.

The present curriculum in all sense is not going to do any good to AYUSH as the vaidyas, after graduation would tends to engage in cross pathy than establishing the validity and credence of the system that they have studied for 5 ½ years.

AYUSH is a sacred system of healing practice, spirituality, humanity and philosophy are the foundations of the system and therefore the vaidyas must conduct themselves more as experts of wellness and happy life than as doctor meant to treat patients.

Unless the curriculum content of the AYUSH is modified, excluded all modern science contents from the existing curriculum, included clinical trial procedures and finally cross pathy by vaidyas in private practice is banned, AYUSH cannot be made relevant and useful healing practice to humanity.

The money Ministry of AYUSH incur on such mission without doing the root cause correction, it would be a wasteful exercise and nothing else. The nation is at loss.

S Ranganathan

Chanakya: The founder of Economics

A Mad Economist
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Chanakya: The founder of Economics

Almost 2000 years before Adam Smith, an Indian philosopher Chanakya, also known as Vishnugupt and Kautilya, drafted a document, which is popularly called Arthashastra. It was written as the basic guidelines for the administration of the Maurya Empire, which was the largest empire in the Indian subcontinent, having Patliputra (now Patna, in India) as its capital. Mauryan dynasty for about 137 years ruled almost the entire Indian subcontinent. Chanakya was the architect of this kingdom.

It was the dream of Chanakya to see the Akhand Bharata (United India). To fulfill this dream through unifying the kingdoms in the subcontinent, by winning them, and saving India from the foreign invasion of Seleucus I Nicator, he selected a kid, Chandragupta Maurya and trained him. His dream came true, and Chandragupta won the battle against Seleucus I Nicator and before that he won the kingdom from Nanda dynasty. The ruler of the Nanda empire was very cruel towards his people. Perhaps to keep that in mind Chanakya has given greater emphasis on the duty of kings and his responsibilities towards his people (which is called as ‘Raj Dharma’), in his Arthashastra. He emphasized on Yatha Raja Tatha Prajah, (As the King is, so as the people). He also argued to generate equal opportunities for people regardless of their caste and creed.

Arthshastra, formally, can be defined as the science of wealth: here Artha means money (or economics) and shastra is a way to learn and understand. This definition looks somewhat similar to Adam Smith’s definition but was given in the 12th century way before the birth of Smith. Officially it is called as a ‘handbook of running an empire’.

Most of his ideas were influenced by Rig Veda ( one of the 3 sacred books — Vedas — in Hinduism). He viewed the 7 components in the state as the most important and defined their duties and role in the state. These components are The king, ministers, country, army, fortification, treasury and allies. In his view, State should maintain friendly relations with other states and avoid “taking possession of any country which is liable to the inroads of enemies and wild tribes and which is harassed by frequent visitations of famine and pestilence”. Along with, he defined the daily schedule of the king. That is as follows:

● First 90 minutes, at sunrise, the ruler should go through the different reports (revenue, military, etc.).

● Second 90 minutes, time for public audiences.

● Third 90 minutes for breakfast and some personal time (bath, study, etc.).

● Fourth 90 minutes for meeting with ministers.

● Fifth 90 minutes for correspondence.

● Sixth 90 minutes for lunch…

In his view, King should distance himself from expensive sports, and most of the decisions must be taken keeping the welfare of the people.

He suggested the establishment of different departments and the appointment of a superintendent in each of them. And, he also described the punishments for delays in work and corruption. For monitoring the activities in the departments he advised to appoint spies, which should be hired from all the backgrounds. He regarded the strong justice system as essential for the state and its people.

His economic ideas are still influential. He emphasized on capital formation by relaxing the norms, like tax exemption for everyone who brings new land under cultivation for the first two years, concessionary loans, duty-free imports, etc. He defined a different rate of interest (ROI), depending on the use of funds. For the non-commercial loans (basically for personal use) RoI is 15%, for less risky commercial loans it is 60%, for risky commercial loans it is 120% and further, for foreign trade, it is 240%.

These ideas were basically based on the general common-sense, as the foreign trade has the highest degree of risk, in those times, goods were traveled through forests and oceans where chances of loot and damage were always high, thus because of high-risk RoI charged on them was also high. Whereas funds borrowed for the personal use won’t earn profit to the borrower and has minimal risk, therefore RoI charged on them is comparatively low.

Chanakya observed the fundamental law of demand in the 12th century and have argued in his Arthashastra, that state should decide the prices of goods based on their demand and supply. And the state must control the supply of goods so that their prices won’t shoot-up. Unfortunately, he was not accredited for his pioneering work in economics, just because later economists — — like Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Marshall, and others— — were not benefited with his work, perhaps because this document — Arthashastra — was considered lost in the 12th century and later rediscovered by R. Shamasastry in 1905, and first published in 1909, in Sanskrit. Its first translation in English appeared in 1915.

He was of the view that the state should limit itself as a regulator, exactly in the sense what free-trade advocates today argues. He believed openly on the foreign trade, and already knew the advantage of ‘comparative advantage’ (name of Ricardo’s theory on international trade, appeared in 1817) and believed that the nations can gain from import, as cheap gold and silver can be imported from other nations. For making foreign trade profitable for the state, he supported the imposition of tariffs on both, imports and exports. He argued to impose 4% to 20% ad valorem tariffs on Imports.

In Chanakya’s view, there are two sources of state finance: one, sale of agricultural produce, minerals, wood, and other natural resources; and two, from taxing the trade, income and wealth. He further argued for reasonable tax rates, which do not put a massive burden on the people. In his view, he put the economic interest of people ahead of everything fairly. The type of taxation he proposed were: custom duty, the share of production (⅙ share), army maintenance tax, royalty, surcharges and many more. Kautilya system of taxation was based on general needs and for monetary support in the creation of a strong and large empire.

Arthashastra can be called as ‘the people’s constitution’. The most commendable point is that Chanakya had written this in the 12th century, about 2000 years before Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, and his most of the ideas match with the ideas of classical economists, including Smith, and some with the modern economists too. It will not be wrong to claim that Chanakya founded ‘economics’ much earlier than Smith.

(Writer can be reached at [email protected] )

India’s Performance at the 2019 Cricket World Cup

svmanjunath
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India’s Performance at the 2019 Cricket World Cup

India’s World cup campaign finally ended in the Semi Finals. India was one of the favourites along with the hosts England to lift the Cup. India also was ranked 2nd in the world in the lead up to the tournament and became the No. 1 team during the course of it. In that sense it is an underachievement.

However, when one carefully analyses the team’s performances, many issues or trends can be seen.

One of the major issues for the team for the last 2 years prior to the World cup, was the pivotal No. 4 batting position. It needed a player to be technically strong in defence with an ability to attack and take the opposition head on when the situation warranted. Many players were given an opportunity – Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Ambati Rayudu, Vijay Shankar and even Dhoni to name a few. However, none were able to cement the position. This issue played up during the semi-final when India lost its key top order run scorers in single digits. This put pressure on a muddled middle order. The lack of a good no.4 had an impact on the performance of the entire middle order.

Off the field decisions also had a bearing on the team performance. In at least 3 matches, India seemed to have misread the pitch. As a result, the team bowling composition was skewed with a need for an extra seamer or spinner. In the batting too, the nature of the pitch for the semi-finals, the case for Kedar Jadhav, who had already batted well in a few league games and with his extra slow bowling abilities, was clearly understood. He could have been selected in place of Karthik.

On the field, India were always going to be over reliant on their top 3 who had scored the bulk of the runs since the last World Cup. The pair of Shikhar and Rohit complemented each other wonderfully. Both had contrasting approach to batting. While Rohit took time to settle down, Shikhar attacked from the first over. Rahul’s slow scoring rate was amply compensated by Shikhar’s attacking batting. Once Shikhar Dhawan was injured, there was no one to take his position in the batting line up with the same intent. In the absence of Shikar, Rahul was given a chance. While the scores and his average suggest he did a decent job, there was always a feeling that he never got on top of the opposition bowling. His scoring rate was slower than Rohit. In the semi-finals, with a moderately low target and a very good opposition bowling attack, Shikhar’s intent and attacking instinct was required to quickly reduce the required target. That was not the case. Rahul finished the tournament with a batting strike rate of 77, reminiscent of the 80’s and 90’s style of batting.

Another area where India fell short was in the spin bowling department. This was considered our strong suit. There seemed be too much of talk of wrist spin over finger spin. In the final analysis, both Chahal and Kuldeep had a poor tournament. Chahal finished with 12 wickets with an average of 37 and ER of 6 while Kuldeep took 6 wickets at an average of 56 and ER of 5. Thus, in the crucial middle overs, they were neither penetrative nor effectively stopped the flow of runs. They were crucial to the India’s performance, as the pitches in this World cup were slow with a bit of turn. Not many matches were high scoring. Thus, their non-performance had a bigger impact. Another matter worth considering was Chahal had a poor series when India toured England last year. Even Kuldeep was tackled effectively. In the semi- finals, the 2 finger spinners, Jadeja and Santner went at 3.5 runs an over while Chahal was taken for 6 runs an over.

In the final analysis, questions abound whether Rayudu with his greater experience, in spite of poor recent form, should have been given his chance in the team. The team always looked skewed with 4 wicket keepers. Was it the best available team?  Was there too much pressure on the bowlers with only 5 selected in the playing eleven? There was no back up in case one of the bowlers had an off day in the knock out matches, like Chahal in the semi-finals. India, as a team was riding on the performances of a couple of top order batsmen and couple of fast bowlers. They did not look like a complete team. Taking all the factors into consideration, India was not the best team on the park and the semi-finals result was par for the course.

Another question is whether Kohli would continue as Captain. Rohit has shown better Captaincy nous in white ball cricket – both for his IPL franchise and for the country. His results are evident. Kohli has captained India in the Champions Trophy and the World Cup with no silverware to show. BCCI should think of having separate captains for Test and White ball cricket.

On a lighter note, we have been spared comments from the team coach Ravi Shastri, calling it a greater win than 1983, had India won the Cup.

Population: A ticking time bomb

kavita2912
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Population: A ticking time bomb

We are all very aware that our country has a huge population. However ‘huge’, ‘massive’, ‘boundless’ are adjectives not even close to describing what a disaster we have created.

Our first PM, honourable Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, on gaining independence was happy and encouraging to any growth in the population, celebrating it as two more hands to work and earn. However, he did not realise or mention that each pair of hands came with a mouth to be fed too. Unfortunately, what was also not analysed was that the pair of hands were not meant to earn immediately. It would require a lot of economic and social costs of feeding, clothing and housing and educating them to make them acquire a good earning capacity.

The Population Distribution across States

Over time, as decades passed and poverty grew, it was apparent to see that the population growth had led to unforeseen consequences. The country had beggars everywhere, be it temples, traffic signals, tourist attractions or markets. What a sight and impression really for foreigners to carry with them …. little kids and pregnant women with babies in their arms begging away. It was at this juncture that Sanjay Gandhi, the son of Mrs. Indira Gandhi and the heir apparent, decided enough was enough and launched a nation wide campaign. However, his intentions may have been correct but the execution was nothing short of shoddy and horrific. Needless to say, not just his misguided methods failed but it also put paid to this policy forever.

Subsequent governments have not dared to touch this issue even with a barge pole since they know it would amount to political harakiri. China controlled it’s growth rate by imposing the “One Child Norm” , but we rejoiced that China now has a large percentage of elderly population. Easy enough to find faults but excuse me, while we laugh in glee that over 25% of our population is the youth, what of it? Unless and until we have a productive population which contributes to the GDP or National Income effective and in real terms, what do we do of this youth?

In reality, the burgeoning population of our country is largely uneducated and unemployed or underemployed and such idle minds have become devil’s workshops. Rapes, murders, robberies are commonplace. All these social crimes have economic roots. In fact , so does terrorism. Find the misguided youth, effective employment, as was done in Punjab and there is a high likelihood of a drop in terrorism in Kashmir as well. After all, who wants strife, violence, fear and threats. People crave for a steady income and normalcy.

Not only has overpopulation created a mass of unemployed people, it has also led to an increase in rich poor disparity. While the middle class and upper classes have restricted their family size to 2 to 3 children, now dropped to 1 to 2 , the man on the footpath and people in the slums continue to produce like rabbits. Why? Well, it’s the same “two working hands” logic. As soon as a child barely starts walking, it is forced into beggary, a job which requires neither qualifications nor skills. All it does is a pathetic tenacity.

So over time, while the rich have brought their growth rate down, the Below Poverty Line group has increased their own growth rate.

Naturally, a larger share of the national income belongs to these so called rich middle class, who pay the price by paying more and more taxes. Ultimately it’s a No-Win situation for all.

In such a scenario, it is no surprise to see that most good Universities in India have such limited seats as compared to the sheer number of the applicants that most children start targeting foreign universities after Grade 10 itself. A massive level of enmasse brain drain, which goes unnoticed.

So, why does no government bother? It would amount to dictatorship. Well then, to cure a disease, bitter pills have to be swallowed. They would lose the elections as their vote banks would no longer vote for them.

For a party which has come by a massive mandate in its second term and PM Modi who believes it is Nation above all, this has to on the priority list.

We need a population control policy NOW, because as trends predict, at this rate, we will overtake China’s population in 2024.

Upto you to decide whether we should laugh or cry , but for me it is no cause to celebrate.

“Chikne Muslim Ladke”: But Hidden Islamist

dharmaveer
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“Chikne Muslim Ladke”: But Hidden Islamist

I have spend large parts of my life very close to the Muslim community. There is a peculiar phenomenon that I have observed, that is actually very pertinent in today’s social media age. I want to share that in this article.

Long before social media or even internet, I noticed that a fairly large segment of Muslim boys (not girls) would try very hard to look good. They would have nice hairstyles, good clothes, rehearse mannerisms that made them look “cooler” etc. They would try very hard to be attractive to girls/women. I will call this segment “chikne muslim ladke” which roughly translates to “good looking muslim boys.” I will talk about this segment in this article. My qualification is that I have observed this segment over many years, and have even had good friends from this segment.

1. These chikne ladke invariable have girls who are kept strictly at home. Many of their sisters/mothers wear Hijabs and even Burkhas. In other words, it is very clear to them that this kind of chiknagiri and trying to get a girlfriend is a pursuit that Allah has only allowed for boys, not for girls. Girls should stay home and remain “ghairatmand.”

2. Now, almost as a logical consequence of #1, the girls they are hoping to attract are not Muslims! Since “good Muslim girls” stay at home. So who are they doing all this chiknagiri for? For Kafir girls. In India, it is for Hindu girls. In England, it is for White christian girls. In America, for American girls. But it is for non-Muslim girls.

3. These chikna boys—are they not religious? Do their chikna hairstyles mean that they don’t really associate with the Muslim ummah or with the Islamic religion? Absolutely not. This is perhaps the most surprising of the observations. They are just as hardcore Islamists as a Muslim man wearing a skullcap. They also believe fully in the Quran and Hadith. They also have the same attitude towards Kafirs. They also consider themselves Muslims first, and everything else last.

4. Like I said, I knew of this segment long before social media. But social media is a perfect almost tailor-made avenue for this segment to ply their trade. That makes them very dangerous in today’s world.

Recently, a group of such chikna muslim ladke made a video on tik tok eulogizing the thief Tabrez Ansari, and justifying any acts of terrorism that Muslims may do to take revenge upon Hindus for his death.

Here is a picture of this particular set of chikne muslim ladke.

Notice the fancy hairstyles, the caps, the fashionable clothes, and even the “actor-like” expressions and mannerisms. And then listen to what they say, and you will agree with all my observations.

In particular, I want to caution the multitudes of Hindu girls who are the followers of these types of boys on TikTok. They are chikne muslim ladke. They are trying to trap you. They are good looking Islamists, but Islamists nevertheless. Please use your discretion when following people on social media.

What Indian Muslim wants- from a non Muslim perspective

anandv
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What Indian Muslim wants- from a non Muslim perspective

Since Modi-2.0, there is something which is not right. First came “sab Ka Viswash”, them some fund allocated for madrasas, some appeasement, which was not the thing expected for me or people like me. But was the response “good” or “encouraging” from the Muslim community, the answer is a big NO. The question which I wanted to ask was what is the expectation of this community which do not get satisfied with any attempt been done. The larger question will be if this community will ever get satisfied? I believe nothing can satisfy them.

The assumed media narrative after Modi 1.0 was intolerance, award wapasi and all the drama did not help and we had Modi 2.0. Just to avoid the initial reaction  from the minority’s, Modi went in an overdrive and stated some good programs for the Muslim. Now Muslim are in a fix, they can not raise the intolerance angle, they can not see they are been victimized, so they changed the plan. The plan is to be aggressive and create an issue of everything. A parking lot issue becomes a temple breaking thing, not paying a lassi vendor become a murder, and the list goes on.

Muslim are controlled by there Mullas and all the Mullas are either part of the SA wahabi group or PK based Urudu group. They have nothing to oppose the government, so they are creating communal tensions. When this get escalated, these Mullas will do all they can to turn it to a riot. Once a riots happen, the old ecosystem will start to work. You will have media blaming Government of inaction, all the intolerance gang will gang up again and they will get the required oxygen to breathe again. Modi 2.0 is in a fix and I do not know if they have a plan to beat it. Will they accept any solution offered? I don’t know but people are willing to provide solutions.

In all these where are the evangelicals, why are they silent now? Well as they are the human hyenas, waiting for the blood to get spilled before working on there agenda.

Bharath mata ki Jai, Vanda mataram.

Budget 2019: Kill the Mules!

theangryindian
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Budget 2019: Kill the Mules!

At the outset, let me say that I am, what the left loosely calls a Bhakt. I have, in the past, vociferously defended this government. Incidentally, I am also one of the many who answered the Prime Minister’s clarion call to give up gas subsidy for the Greater Good.

Yet, today, given the complete ineptitude of the opposition, I find myself pushed to upbraid and question this government on the points it omitted in Budget 2019. True, that it has some inspiring ideas, namely: Electric Vehicles, National Research Foundation, Listing of NGOs, Brown Field Airports, 17 New Tourist Centers among others. The pink papers, however, have been rife with articles on how and why, this still is, a missed opportunity. And, despite my Bhakti, I find myself agreeing with them. In this article I am trying to detail why this budget is a disappointment for most of us:

The New India:

As is becoming apparent with every subsequent budget, New India much like Old India, is a welfare state.

First came the doles to farmers, in pre-election season and now the ever-increasing pension blanket that covers small shopkeepers too. For instance, the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana promising to give 6000 to every farmer in the country, is costing the exchequer 87200 Crores annually. What started out as a well-meaning scheme to support farmers with small, micro land-holdings has now, by making it applicable to all, become a freebie galore! The scheme now includes even the farmers with larger land holding and farm income. Given that a tax on agricultural income is a politically unpopular decision, this segment of income generators, specially the relatively prosperous ones, have a no-holds barred incentive to consolidate land holdings, generate gargantuan income and never pay a dime in taxes, while the government continues to give free handouts to them!

This is not to say that there should be no social welfare schemes by the government, rather that the government should ideally look to create an annuity fund for each of these “Discerning” welfare schemes. Over a period of time these welfare schemes will hopefully become self-financed, thereby ending the need to finance them each year!

The Mules:

The mules of India on whose back lies the burden of building the great new structure of a Socialist country, are the tax payers. From the dark days of tax terrorism unleashed by Indira Gandhi during her reign, when the tax rates rose as high as 98.75%, this class has always been the mule.

Last few terms the Capital Gain tax were yanked all over the place and now this budget has come up with a brand-new surcharge for the Super Rich. That it is for the Super Rich alone, is a misleading statement if ever there was one. By its very nature, this tax will accrue to all those whose income, any income from any source, in a given year touches the 2-crore ceiling. So, if you are a businessman or a salaried person earning this much, then you will have the surcharge for sure, but you will also hit the surcharge if you receive proceeds from Capital Gains that touch the 2-crore ceiling. Which means that an ordinary tax payer earning an annual income much lower than the ceiling will be taxed if he or she, for instance, receives an inheritance that gives a capital gain which moves the total income to the magical threshold!

What’s more this capital gain tax is regularly accruing to the FPIs, and mutual funds, who will now have to routinely pay surcharge. No wonder that the market has reacted sharply to this budget.

Most importantly, given the fact that the real estate sector is in doldrums and the interest rates on Bank Deposits are heading southwards, mutual funds and other financial instruments are the only viable investment alternative available now. This tax will be an unnecessary impediment to large amounts of money moving out of the real estate sector and into the financial vehicles. In the long run mutual funds might even lose some of their incoming funds to conservative instruments like PPF.

The Land of Lost opportunities:

Given that only one country in the world has more people than we, we need large scale employment generators desperately. Therefore, any industry that employs a large section of population, creating tax revenue streams for government, is a friend. Yet somehow mass employment generators such as Aviation, Tourism and Textiles have not flowered to their fullest under subsequent governments.

Much was hyped about the Udaan Scheme over the last couple of years but by not creating a blue print for 100 plus airport development, that is a missed opportunity. An airport can be a source of regional employment when other more traditional employers are not able to help. While around 35 new airports have been built by this government in their last term. This number is not large enough to unleash the true potential of prosperity that this sector alone can bring. The government should have a target of at least 50 new airports that it can build over the next 5 years. Where was this in the budget?

Many a European economy is solely dependent on Tourism and related revenues. A small country like Italy has 51 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Another small country, France, receives the highest number of tourists in the world. For yet another small country, Thailand, tourism sector alone contributes close to 20% of the GDP. None of these countries mentioned in the most visited countries 2017, have a heritage that can hark back to 5000 years and counting. Yet, we are setting a relatively small target of just 17 cities to be identified and developed. Why should an old civilization like India not aim to dazzle the world, with at least 100 sites that are at least a 1000 years or older?

As far as Textile Industry goes, we need to hark back to our history: the reason why India was called the golden bird, one of the reasons why Europe was drawn to the subcontinent. Even ancient Romans used to buy our famed Indian Muslin for gold. Still, textile industry in modern India, is a tale of lost opportunities to say the least.

Given the recent trade wars with US, one would have thought that the Indian government would have moved quickly to capture the textile segment up for grabs, in America. Instead that move has happened in fits and starts.

Also given that the Textile Industry is a mass employment generator, with a potential to uplift large segments of the relatively poorer citizens, one would have liked to hear about the moves to unleash this sector in the budget.  That however has as yet been a wish unfulfilled.

The One Trick Act:

This Budget has disappointed on several scores, however the biggest disappointment by far has been the one-trick act that the government revenue has been reduced to. Governments come and go, yet the revenue streams seem to draw maximum from Direct Taxes and Disinvestment. Over time the Disinvestment pool is set to reduce, where then, will the future revenue streams come from? Direct taxes alone cannot suffice, without increasing the base for both enterprises and individuals.

One of the ways of increasing the Direct tax base is for more and more corporate to flower and become tax payers, employers. The other is for more and more of such companies to employ larger sections of people thereby making them tax payers in the long run.

With this in mind, should the government not allow crowdfunding for entrepreneurship, in large-scale employment generating industries: namely – Transportation, Tourism and Textiles? Such contribution to registered start-ups, particularly in these sectors should be tax free on the lines of 80G investments, in the hands of the individual. That could be a way of killing two birds with one stone!

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