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Fan club of the dynast proved its culture by calling Prime Minister Dengue mosquito, Scorpion and Neech, Impotent

S Ranganathan
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Fan club of the dynast proved its culture by calling Prime Minister Dengue mosquito, Scorpion and Neech, Impotent

Millions of people in India and across the world love democratically elected Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. Indeed their love for Narendra Modi is unconditional and it is due to the exemplary leadership character of his who has transformed India and have achieved Sab Ka Vikas. At the same time many corrupt Netas also hate him obviously due to their lack of opportunity to engage in corrupt practices and loot our nation.

But the dynast is quite different from either of the group of people who hate or love Narendra Modi.

The dynast loves the haters of PM Modi and further the dynast also wants people to abuse PM Modi with filthiest language possible. The daughter of Shinde calling India’s PM Dengue spreading mosquito, Manishankar Iyer due to his Bhraminical superiority calling PM Modi ‘Neech’, the great Salman Khurshid referring him impotent and now the self-advertised and self-promoted ‘Shakespeare of English’ calling him a ‘scorpion’ has reduced Indian politics where several congress leaders are working hard for cheap publicity and media attention by abusing our Honourable Prime Minister.

The diplomatic and technical silence of the dynast over such wretched statements of his party people for cheap publicity proves that the dynast love people only those who hate and abuse Narendra Modi.

The people of India must note the fact that how the dynast and his sycophants are mocking, ridiculing and reducing the standard of Indian politics and how they are making the most respectable office of Prime Minister of India for their cheap popularity. Congress doesn’t deserve any pardon and hence people of India must reduce congress to single digit in 2019 election from its present position.

No political leader and no elected Prime Minister of any country had suffered such abuse and criticism like PM Modi and the simple reason is he is focusing on development of India.

According to the dynast, it may be a great sin and crime that PM Narendra Modi is acting against corruption, focusing on development and sab ka vikas, providing cooking gas connection to millions of poor people in village, building toilets, drinking water facility, bringing them to banking system etc. The family of the dynast has never thought of India.

It looks like from the Nehru’s period onward, the family was interested only ensuring the next member of the family to become the Prime Minister of India so that the dynastic culture is set and established. To avoid all possible challenges, the dynast was careful to craft a coterie of sycophants and yes people and appeared to have provided all undue benefits to the sycophants and fan club of the family to remain so. It appears why several so called scholars and so called intellectuals have suddenly mushroomed to the surface and abuse Narendra Modi doubtlessly point towards the possibility that all of them have lost their perks when the dynasty was thrown out by PM Modi.

Indian mythology and world history has shown that all those great spiritual, political and reformist leaders born to reform and develop the country and the world were abused, criticized and mocked by the so called pseudo-intellect and dynastic powerhouse. What PM Modi suffers today is jealous, vengeance, lack of opportunity to engage in corruption by all those dynastic parties and corrupt Netas.

People of India are clear and vigilant about all these negative forces. To save India and to develop our nation and achieve sab ka vikas, people have made up their mind that BJP must continue in 2019 and beyond. The dynastic forces must be prevented from destroying India any further.

10 Achievements of Modi Government from a NRI’s perspective

mrudulalele
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10 Achievements of Modi Government from a NRI’s perspective

I may not be experiencing all the good or bad things happening in India directly but I can certainly judge how things are here in this “developed” country, United States, where I currently live and how things are changing in my beloved “developing” country. Here are the apparent changes I feel that NaMo and team should be applauded for:
(Note: NaMo is short for Narendra Modi, honorable Prime Minister of India)

1. A Confident India: If every Indian can see how much Americans (as well as Indians) are proud of America, they would understand how huge this is. NaMo’s pride for India and his confidence that India is destined to reach the heights is very evident in all his addresses to the Indian community in all the countries he has visited. And very recently “Bharat ki Baat” held in Town Hall, London. Can you beat that? He has ingeniously tapped into the emotional and economic potential of NRIs for India’s progress.

2. A Clean India: When a Prime Minister in his first Independence Day speech talks about building toilets and good hygiene for those underprivileged, please, take a moment to grasp this. I had no idea the sanitary situation in India was so bad that almost 50% did not have toilets in their houses; it’s my ignorance I accept. We Indians abuse India for being dirty and hail the west for its clean roads while forgetting one thing that the roads don’t clean themselves. Love him or hate him you have to give credit to NaMo for giving Swaccha Bharat Abhiyan to India on a nationwide scale.

3. An Efficient India: Passports are now renewed in 2-3 weeks (mine was done in 2), police verification 3 weeks; The social media presence of the MEA is widely known and they are ready not just to help Indians stranded abroad but also other foreign nationals as was evident in rescue operations in Yemen. Of course credit to Sushma Swaraj ji and Indian consulates in various countries.

4. A Tough India:
a. Surgical strikes: Gone are the days when India hesitated (for God knows what reasons) to retaliate to Pakistan. Surgical strikes in Myanmar and Pakistan, the way the Doklam issue was handled and public opposition to the OBOR initiative of China has proved that India will not cow down under international pressures anymore.

b. Internal security: The Maoist threat is the biggest hurdle in reaching development to the last person in the country. In 2017, the Maoist affected areas have reduced to 58 from 75 in 2015 reports TOI. And it is a big sigh of relief that no terrorist attack has happened in the civilian part of the country since 2014 (Touchwood!).

c. Demonetization: The best way to fight corruption is to trace the money and it doesn’t take an economist to know that cash is untraceable. Demonetization was a blunt attack on this unregistered cash and the inflated economy which is a bane for every society. It was a political gamble and NaMo played it. India is reaping its fruits by seeing increase in the number of tax payer base and digitization of economy. Here’s a link for details: Demonetization: Success or Failure.
(I have also stood in line in RBI to deposit money for 4 hrs only to know that I was missing some papers and incidentally lost some cash).

5. An Electrified India: Every village in India is now electrified just like every remotest part in the United States. This does not sound like a huge achievement until one realizes that there are still people in the 21st century who have not seen electricity. Makes me wonder why it took 70 years.

6. A Well Connected India: Everyone will agree that the most amazing thing about United States is its infrastructure. Massive highways and every nook and corner of the country connected with strong, high quality roads. In India along with roads this connectivity is achieved by the railways. Improvements are being made in Road and Railway connectivity across the country on rapid scale but connectivity to North-east India which had been ignored for long is being given a priority.

7. A Well Banked India: Jan Dhan accounts, meaning bank accounts to every citizen, is by far my favourite government scheme announced by NaMo. Having a bank account is a necessity in today’s world after roti, kapda and makan. Adhaar card linked to bank accounts have ensured that government can directly transfer funds to the right persons which leaves no room for fraud. In US such citizen identification number is called Social Security number.

8. A Healthy India: Maternity leave in US: 6 weeks; India: 6 months, need I say more? Government now provides health insurance coverage to the needy without collecting extra taxes (I have highlighted this because in US, people pay an extra medicare tax apart from federal tax whether you take its benefits or not, but all US citizens are supposed to get medical assistance).
TOI also reports that in India, stress is given in reducing overall medicinal costs for the poor.
A certificate of appreciation for Swaccha Bharat is the likely WHO report saying around 3 lakh deaths have been prevented due to diarrhea and other infectious diseases.

The world now celebrates Yoga Day by unanimously agreeing to the proposal by India for an all-round mental and physical health.

9. A Friendly India: India, being the second largest country in Asia, has a responsibility to extend a friendly hand to other Asian countries and stand up to the bullying of China. The historic visit of NaMo to Israel while still maintaining strong ties with Arab counties; buying defense equipment from Russia without affecting relations with United States shows the brilliant ability of balancing friendships. Afterall ‘vasudaiva kutumbakam’ is the Indian mantra.

10. A Promising India: All of the decisions of NaMo be it Demonetization, GST, Insolvency and Bankruptcy code or initiatives like Make in India, Swaccha Bharat, Ujjwala yojana, Ayushman Bharat and many more have been a fundamental shift in governance in India.

He is not just adding an extra coat of colour to the weathered house for everyone to see his work but also repairing the foundation which was destroyed because of years of neglect, only then the house will stand tall.

Does this mean that the Modi government has no faults, absolutely not.
• Education sector is probably the one needing a complete overhaul but is neglected.
• First half of NaMo’s promise of Maximum governance seems to be fulfilling but the other half, Minimum government has not even been evident even for the sake of it. Why should there be a separate women & child development ministry when already a human resource development ministry exists?
• The grip of the bureaucracy doesn’t seem to have softened even a bit to make matters worse.

I am sure there are many things yet to be fixed and I am not expecting him to do all those in just 5 years. NaMo has tremendous plans for India but they cannot be achieved without our participation because we live in a democracy and even though it is for and of the people; it is also ‘by’ the people.

Jai Hind.

The Case for Prayagraj

ritwikjha
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The Case for Prayagraj

The city of Prayag (previously Allahabad) is connected with various symbolism. Chief among them is the Indic belief of it being the ‘Sangam’ or confluence of three rivers: Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. The recent reverting of Allahabad’s name to Prayagraj has stirred controversy. While administratively the name had been Allahabad, as recently as my Grandparents’ generation, the name used to refer to the city in conversation was still Prayag.  The controversy around this renaming becomes especially conspicuous owing to the lack of controversy in previous instances of renaming, be they Bombay to Mumbai, Madras to Chennai or Calcutta to Kolkata. Why then the furor over this particular instance? I will attempt to bring to light some facts and evidences to analyze the reasons behind the conflict.

Some have argued that the ancient name was Prayag, not Prayagraj. While this is true, it should be noted that Brahma Purana says:

प्रकृष्टत्वात् प्रयागो असौ प्राधान्याद् राजशब्दवान्

Loose translation: “Because of its greatness (प्रकृष्टत्वात्) it is called Prayaga. Because of its supremacy (प्राधान्य), the word “Raj” is used as a suffix to its name”

The name Prayagraj is hence not new and has been used to refer to Prayag since antiquity.

Certain scholars claim that the fort ‘Ilahabas’ was named as such by Akbar to honor the Hindu ‘Ila’. The grounds for this are rather thin, as the god Ila is generally not associated with war or with forts. No precedence exists of Prayag being referred to by the name of Ila, nor is there a precedence of forts being named after Ila.

Ilahabas is very likely a reference to Din-I-Ilahi, the religion which Akbar founded, not to the ‘Ila’ of Indian Tradition. Shahjahan’s renaming of Prayaga to Allahabad is a further pointer of the Islamic connotations of the name. Shah Jahan’s son Aurangzeb renamed Mathura to Islamabad, Varanasi to Mohammadabad and Somnath to Musabad. There is a clear pattern of renaming sites which are revered by Indians, and claiming that these are all for administrative purposes is rather naïve.

Moreover, Shah Jahan himself ordered the destruction of 76 temples in Benares alone, as mentioned in the book ‘Shah Jahan’ by H. M. Elliot (extract in pic below). When this context is highlighted, the renaming appears less as administrative change and more as an attempt to erase places which are revered in Indian culture. In this context, a line from Shaira Mohan’s article ‘Allahabad to Prayagraj’ becomes relevant “What needs to be realized is that by changing names history cannot be re-written.” Although she is claiming this in the context of reverting of names which have occurred recently, doesn’t this statement also hold true for the time when Mumbai was originally renamed Bombay, or when Shyamala was renamed Shimla or when Prayagraj was renamed Illahabas/Allahbad?There are claims that the fort of Illahabas was built out of ‘Akbar’s respect for Hindu tradition’ as claimed in Rana Safvi’s article ‘Allahabad becomes Prayagraj.’ There is a lack of grounds for this claim. There are however, evidence which suggest Akbar built the fort for strategic importance of the point of confluence of these two rivers, as mentioned in ‘Pilgrimage and Power’ by Kama McLean (see pic below). Hence, calling this an example of Akbar’s magnanimity towards Hindus is somewhat erroneous.Safvi’s article claims coexistence, based on the existence of Prayag Ghat. It wasn’t highlighted however that Prayag Ghat was built by Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao (son of Baji Rao I), after the Marathas had recaptured Benares (and most of North India) back from the Mughals. It was in fact built because the original Prayag had been desecrated and renamed by successive generations of Mughal rulers. So this a wrong example to pick for showcasing Hindu-Muslim unity, since it’s historical origin is actually one of Hindu-Muslim conflict.  

Ex-IPS Shantanu Mukherjee in his article ‘Allahabad vs Prayagraj’ also claims “it’s the spirit of Allahabad that binds people of all hues together in this city — people who want to keep the spirit of Allahabad and the famous Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb alive.”

He is completely correct, provided one completely overlooks the history of how Allahabad’s name actually came about, and how accommodation of the Muslim culture is actually a positive trait of Hindu culture, which is as much represented (if not better represented) by the name Prayagraj than the name given by a dynasty with an ideological agenda.

Along similar lines to Shantanu Mukherjee’s argument, Rana Safvi asserts: “Most critics of Akbar won’t call him communal?” They don’t have to, since Akbar does a great job of proclaiming himself as a Mujahid (warrior of Jihad) in his Fatehnama (declaration of victory) after the capture of Mewar:

“(Karim) has ensured the victory of the believers…who enjoyed the task of destroying the wicked infidels on the dutiful Mujahids.” He further quotes Quran 9.14 “Fight them. Allah will chastise them at your hands and He will lay them low and give you victory.” (see pic below)

Incidentally, Osama-Bin-Laden quoted the same verse to justify 9/11. It is apparent that Akbar was a self-professed Mujahid, and Islamization of India was a stated objective. In this context, it becomes highly likely that Din-I-Ilahi was simply another means for him to spread Islam in India covertly, not so much a religion with the motive of uniting people

Safvi further claims “Most supporters of Yogi won’t call him secular.” Again, they don’t have to. Secularism originated as an attempt to separate Church and state – a move to separate religion from governance to ensure fair treatment to all religions. Traditional Indian governance already incorporated this separation of state and institution of faith.

Moreover, सर्वधर्म समभाव (respect for all religions) is at the core of Hindu philosophy. Hindus have hosted foreign religions who were persecuted from their homeland from time immemorial – be they Syrian Christians, Israeli Jews or Persian Zoroastrians.  I am unaware of any similar examples for Mughal’s or even other Islamic rulers, in India and Middle East. So Safvi’s assertion of disqualifying Yogi’s secularism is based on a false premise. Hinduism is inherently and traditionally secular.

There seems to be a common thread in deliberations of left-liberals of representing only a subset of facts, all of which try to portray a fanatic race of foreign rulers as a portrait of secularism and tolerance.  Facts which suggest otherwise are conveniently missing or not discussed.

Yes, the Mughals are a part of Indian history, but that does not mean that their crimes should be white-washed or that changes they made out of intolerance should not be rectified. The real reason why there is discomfort in name Prayagraj but not in Mumbai, Kolkata or Chennai is that this name was a source of pride for Mughal supremacists, and those fringe elements in Islam who still cling to the dream of Ghazwa-e-Hind.

It is very difficult for these elements to palate the revival of traditional Indian culture. Even more so when it is happening at a time when a saffron clad leader is the leader of the state which was the erstwhile bastion of foreign rule.

PS: Acknowledgements to TrueIndology who originally shared the book sources I have quoted. The translation of Brahma Purana is also shared by him.

This is why liberal -Rajdeep Sardesai and Ramachandra Guha’s enthusiasm to paint all Hindus bad, is diabolical

G Indira
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This is why liberal -Rajdeep Sardesai and Ramachandra Guha’s enthusiasm to paint all Hindus bad, is diabolical

Liberals in India are nosy parkers. It’s better for them not to interfere in the religious matters of Hindus. Specially about traditional aspects they have no knowledge to talk of. Recent tweet of Rajdeep sardesai indicates that. He tweeted on 28-10-2018:

Mr. Rajdeep should know before tweeting Ram Mohan Roy was himself a Hindu social reformer. ‘Sati’ was a practice confined to a few pockets in the north of India. The practice came into existence after the Moghuls invaded India and started killing Rajput Kings and molesting their wives. To save their grace and honor, at the beginning, they i.e. the wives, threw themselves on the funeral pyre and died.

Later as any other custom it got ossified into an unavoidable practice for women in those pockets of India. Many Hindus were with Ram Mohan Roy as Mr. Rajdeep stated the “whole of India” didn’t oppose him, as the whole of India didn’t practice it. Liberal -Rajdeep’s enthusiasm to paint all Hindus bad, is diabolical.

Rajdeep Sardesai’s equivalence of Sati with non-entry of women between 10-50 yrs. in Sabarimala temple is absurd and manifests his misplaced zeal to put the Hindu community in poor light. When asked questions about Triple Talaq, Nikkah Halala, polygamy type of discriminatory practices in the Muslim community by the Tweeteratti he evaded by saying that he happened to be a Hindu, hence he’s asking questions. Being a journalist he needs to ask all or none. He should not do agenda-driven journalism.

Another Liberal messiah, pontificator of secular knowledge and liberal values, Mr. Ramachandra Guha invoked Gandhiji and tweeted,

His comparison of Vaikom with Sabarimala is again a wrong equivalence. These two liberal intellectuals have not done their homework or given a thought before tweeting. Here, in Sabarimala case, women are NOT untouchables. They are only following/respecting the tradition. They are not making a bee-line to see the deity and are stopped so that some reformer had to come and make them enter. They themselves have not asked for it.

A person from some other community other than Hinduism had made a plea in the Court. Among the very few women activists that stood for entry, most are from outside the Hindu community. So where’s the outcry for a reform. It was all cooked-up to denigrate Hindu culture. These activists main motive is to break the tradition and to make a laugh of it. They are dubious in their devotional aspect.

Both Rajdeep and Ramachandra Guha invoke Gandhi ji as convenient tool to promote their views. Let them clarify whether they believe what Gandhi ji said about religious conversions and about moral values. These liberals always mockingly say, oh! Gandhi ji had obsession with morals.

There are sane, educated, erudite women in India. Nirupama Menon Rao, Former Indian Foreign Secretary in her tweet answering to Mr. Guha wrote : “I condemn bigotry in any religion, but the #Sabarimala issue is in a different category. The comparison with Vaikom is unwarranted. Sabarimala temple was founded on a sacred legend prescribing that only women of non-childbearing age could worship there.”#ReadytoWait makes sense. https://t.co/UsO1EM3uIF
The Supreme Court judgement on Sabarimala opened a Pandora’s box. The Hindus could get united to say they are the persecuted lot in India and are rightly so, if we may add the above liberal voice.

I condemn bigotry in any religion, but the #Sabarimala issue is in a different category. The comparison with Vaikom is unwarranted. Sabarimala temple was founded on a sacred legend prescribing that only women of non-childbearing age could worship there. #ReadytoWait makes sense.

Post-graduate maid or independent wife?

mamta82
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Post-graduate maid or independent wife?

If looking for a post graduate, domestic help service providing girl, then why not marry a maid! Nothing wrong in that, by doing so your all headaches are gone and this will not screw up the life of other girl who may not want to do house work.

More than a year back I was looking for a match for my sister. During that time I was on phone with one boy.

During discussion….He was like Didi both girl and boy are two wheels of one cart and both of us need to play our part to keep the cart of life moving ahead. I was like ya.

He continued, Didi like I work outside home and earn money and my better half use that money and work at home to run the home and have kids and take care of them.

This completely puts me off, though I kept Calm. I wanted to hear everything from other side without confronting.

Then I said do you think these roles can be reversed like you stay at home and run home with money that your partner earn and take care of home and kids. He took a pause and then said yes we can also do that but also depends on salary of my partner and he added I would love to stay at home if someone else can earn for me. However we should all do work based on our strength and the work we are good at. Meaning if my salary is good I should earn and if her salary is good the she should earn and I stay at home. By doing this we get good money at home and house work will also get done.

I was still not convinced but had less points to put forward as we are always told while running big projects that the success of project is possible when each one of us do what we are good at then we can give best outputs. Of course at some times we also need to do things that we don’t like but if large part of things we do what we like then it’s good combo.

I was thinking what he is saying make sense but I am not comfortable with that, I see that as kind of regressive thought process.

So I asked him what and who should decide, which person is good at what?

He said its simple, if I earn more money than her then I am good at earning money. And if I cannot do house work then I am not good at it. (It was all I, I and I)

I asked, so at what time we should assess this? is at the time of marriage or it can be done later as well?

He said can be done anytime and can be revisited, but will start from the time do marriage.

Then I asked him is there a scope of learning and improving what you are not good at so that you can become good.

He said that that can be done with time.

Then what if the person is not good in doing any of these roles right now. Like person earning less (as its quite in open that females get paid less for same type of job) and not good at house work too (because they have not done that work at all) at this point in time but have huge potential.

Like my case my first salary in 2006 was less than my pocket money I use to get from my father and now I earn more than 200 times of that salary. If he would have demotivated me or insulted me at that time on the package I was earning I would have taken a back seat may be. He always encouraged me and always respected what I was earning. He does not need to tell me that I earn less than my pocket money, it was simple math that I can do myself.

My father always shared his experience and how he work and how he deal with people, so that I can pick things from his experience. He always boosted my self esteem and result is in front of you.

My father treated us in the way he expected us to be treated by others, by doing so he thought us how we should be treated. If we are not treated like the way we are taught that is straight no no for us.

I told that boy, if you insult and judge your partner based on current earning then you completely block the endless possibilities she can excel. If you always think her as domestic help then it’s better you marry a girl excellent in domestic help why to for for well educated girl.

It’s huge unjustified to marry educated girl and ask her to do domestic work, when she has capability of doing wonders even if not then you should motivate her to do so.

At the same time you can also employe domestic help by doing that you will give job to other person.

You are looking for partner who is equal to you in every sense and not someone who can take care of you like your mom, sister or maid.

However after all this I had already made my mind that I am not looking for person like him for my sister. I am looking for someone who love and care for her even before himself and who became part of her dream. A person who work as partner with her so that they both achieve what they want to achieve. No one is sacrificing or compromising.

This was a mindset of well educated person from IIT. He contacted me few times to get contact number of my sister, I said no we are not going ahead.

The real gender equality

mamta82
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The real gender equality

He is her first, she is his last-read it so many time but it’s very strange statement. We are heroising men with many girlfriends, we have already assumed that is normal.

Both has to be each other’s last ! Coming back to topic of today’s thoughts.

My husband and I are not an ideal couple but we have arranged things like that it looks ideal.

Cooking: He prepares Chapati and I prepare vegetable (Sometime he also help me in cutting vegetables).

Dishes: He loads dishwasher with dishes and unload it.

Laundry: He creates groups of clothes to be washed together, I do four eye. He load washer and put clothes out for drying. Once dried then I fold them and put them in closets.

Office clothes: We get them washed and ironed outside.

For other ironing: We take help from outside.

Cleaning home: Help from outside.

I have no complaints because of such a lovely supportive partner.

It does not matter who earn how much and how many hours does one work. This is how we have set it up between us.

We also have lazy days: When one person do not do anything and other person does everything. This is also agreed between us which days.

Also the days when one person is sick or I am on periods then other person do everything without asking or complaining.

Now some will say my husband is good or understanding, or you are very demanding or dominating or he does this out of love. None of this is 100% true or 100% wrong. He has never done any work when he was growing up and same thing with me. I was so spoiled that my mother use to give me water where I was sitting even to wash hands before and after food.

How we got all this arranged?

As both of us don’t want to do any house work like others, so first we started dividing task and performing together, by doing this we spend more time together. Later slowly when we started realising that we want to have more fun together and not just work together. So we started looking for domestic help for cleaning, iron etc. Both of us gradually moved into this.

It’s also because I never exposed myself for exploitation as I know how I should be treated and what my core values are. I made abhishek realised that as I love and respect myself he also need to do same to get respect back from me.

It was all step by step and took years to come where we stand today. We always called each other with respect even when we fight. Never used any abusive words not even once.

Sometime out of fun I use slangs which my husband hates me doing that and he stops talking with me when I do that. I do this bit just to tease him, he doesn’t even say ‘sala’ which make me fall for him everyday and love him more every day.

We have our own differences, I like being lazy, he love being active. We fight a lot to maintain our hobbies lazy and active at the same time. It’s hard but we try to find no mid way but decide to go our own ways on this.

He over spend money and I am more of saver kind. He always give excuse that as kid he has lived in limited means and I was opposite I was over spender as kid. So here as well we have not found a balance. Which create bit of rift between us, but we were trying to manage in ok possible way. Not best for sure.

Both of us come from complete different family background one from service and I from business. So our thought process have huge reflections of that as well.

We are two different souls living together as one, that is beauty of love.

Our core values are same many of them, like respecting other persons choices, believing girl and boy have equal rights, not taking money from others, live in our own means, 100% no to dowry, 100% no to bribe and corruption, respecting each other, no begging and not stealing, always feel proud of who we are, care for each other, do small bit of social help, no need to help those who can help themselves.

In this way we are so much alike and yet so much different.

Pinarayi Vijayan is bringing Stalinist thinking to Kerala

blackcat123
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Pinarayi Vijayan is bringing Stalinist thinking to Kerala

Recently, in the backdrop of Sabarimala agitation, the CPIM led Kerala government has arrested more than 2000 people in connection with the various protests including “Nama Japa Yatras” where people chant the God’s name as they take out processions. These Yatras had witnessed huge participation as people from various walks of lives joined in, silently protesting the interference of the judiciary in age old customs and traditions. The Kerala high court has expressed alarm over the scale of arrests directing that “the arrest should be made only after properly investigating such persons’ participation in the alleged violent protests”. The socio- cultural organization, NSS, has criticized the move as similar to emergency and has said in a press note that it will fight the charges “legally and peacefully”.

The communist party in Kerala has long been associated with the use of violence against its political opponents. A spate of killing of RSS cadre during the initial months of the recent term has prompted national criticism. The political violence had pressured the governor to seek report from the state’s administration (here, here and here).

The greatest instance of violent behavior however, is the infamous T P Chandrasekharan murder case, noted for its political overtones and the gruesome manner of killing in addition to the involvement of higher level office bearers of the communist party in the planning and execution of the murder. Despite the notoriety caused by the case, CPIM continues to support the murderers.

The activism of the chief minister is, however restricted to some sections of society. Earlier, he had expressed his “anger” at removing a cross illegally placed on encroached land, claiming it was done “deliberately to pit the government against the devotees”.  “A lot of people worship the cross and handle it with care,” the chief minister was quoted as saying. The government had also refused to  arrest Bishop Franco Mulakkal for 87 days before bowing down to public pressure. A spate of political killings by the SDPI has also contributed to increasing concern among the public. A gruesome murder of SFI activist Abhimanyu in the district of Ernakulam saw the chief minister refusing to name the attackers.

It is reported that the Kerala government has asked the devoswam board, which manages the state’s temples to hire only cadre of the communist party for the various auxiliary posts numbering 1650 in sabarimala in preparation for the upcoming “mandala kala” when the iconic temple stays open for 41 days. The chief minister had earlier censured the Travancore Devoswam Board (TDB) for reportedly planning to file a review petition on behalf of the temple.

There was great concern among devotees when the media was asked to leave the temple premises on the 22 October, many believing it to be a precursor to more violence by the state police.

While many media channels had obliged, some continued to stay and report the ground situation.

The Kerala police, controlled by the chief minister who holds the home portfolio as well, has been accused of undue violence towards the public in the past as well. It is only to be seen how Ayyappa devotees will be treated from this point on.

Trifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir an unwise and dangerous move

Fayaz Ganie
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Trifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir an unwise and dangerous move

In a nation state the national interest is always given precedence over everything else. It is national interest which decides every move and policy decision of the government of a nation state. National interest always involves the good of the people and the country, especially in a democracy. Anything which acts as, or erects, road blocks towards achieving national interests is given up and every other thing promoting national interest is given utmost priority and included in the policy decisions of the government. Thence, all the government agencies are involved to implement the decisions.

Unfortunately in many democracies of the world political parties fiddle with this fundamental of governance. In most of the democracies political parties go to the extent of making the national interests subordinate to the party interests and the interests of the ruling elite. In the post truth era the party interests are sold in the envelopes which normally carry the national interests. Thereby, a dangerous precedence has been set where it is party at the beginning and party at the end which is the centre of policy making and their implementation. National interests are shaped and reshaped to suit the party interests. India is no exception to this rule.

In the Indian context, Jammu and Kashmir State is somehow a hurdle in the path of achieving the national interest. In fact, it is the issue where different parties hold different views and positions towards the future of the state. Each party claims to be the only real representative of the people and consistently try to disprove such claims of the other parties. Irresolution of this issue drains huge proportion of human and other resources which could have been otherwise used for the development and modernization of the country, and the people of the country. Indian State, as such is expected to take a lead towards finding a lasting solution to the problem.

Towards this end there are some party and people who suggest the trifurcation of the state into three union territories. Even a news items is circulating in media where it is stated that Prime Minister Modi is keen to resolve the Kashmir issue before 2019 Parliamentary elections and the solution, as per the report, is the trifurcation of the state. According to the same report, it is claimed that Prime Minister might announce the trifurcation of the state very soon.

In the age of conflicting news, and fake news, believing anything that is circulated in the media is hard to do. At times what is stated prove misrepresentations and fake but if a news item is being circulated, it needs to be verified and analyzed, in case report is proven as true. Proving the veracity of the new items is up to the concerned media houses and government agencies, what we can do here is to at least have a cursory look at the repercussions of the division plan.

Jammu and Kashmir certainly needs a resolution, and if Prime Minister Modi is eager to find out a solution to the problem, he needs to be appreciated. But, if the solution that he has thought of is trifurcation of the state, it is a dangerous ploy which can hurt the national interests of the country. At the face of it the proposed decision seems another ploy by the Bhartiya Janta Party to win the Parliamentary elections of 2019. Such decisions, in a democracy, cannot be made without taking the people of the state into confidence and without thoroughly analyzing the repercussions and consequences of the decision.

Jammu and Kashmir is a diverse state geographically and demographically, it is not limited to Muslim majority Kashmir, Hindu majority Jammu and Buddhist majority Ladakh. There are intra-region diversities which need to be respected. Moreover, if by division of the state Jammu and Ladakh Divisions might come closer to India but there is every chance that Kashmir Division and the people of Kashmir will feel more alienated and discriminated by this decision. Plus, many people in Jammu and Ladakh divisions are bound to oppose the decision. There is also the question of minorities in Kashmir which can’t be left unaddressed.

Hence, the decision if it is thought of anywhere in the power corridors of the country should be relooked and shunned. The government should not tread the beaten path of others. What British did in 1905 by partitioning Bengal it should not be repeated in the post independence Indian by partitioning, or proposing partition of, Jammu and Kashmir. Big decisions are not made with a bang always; they are not made by partitioning countries and states. Rather the biggest of the decisions can be made silently and taking each party into confidence.

Prime Minister of India can create a bang by announcing the partitions of Jammu and Kashmir, but who would be responsible for the repercussions and consequences? Who would be responsible if the integrating forces of the country feel stressed and strained by this decision? Party interests should not make the power elites blind to the needs of the national interest. Hope the sane part of the minds prevails!

This is a bad idea Mr Rahul Easwar- Give it up for the sanctity of the Temple

Krishna Baalu Iyer
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This is a bad idea Mr Rahul Easwar- Give it up for the sanctity of the Temple

“Protesters were ready to shed blood to close  the Sabarimala” > Rahul Easwar the activist.

Mr Rahul Easwar, You can not do this. You can not do this without the consent and approval of the rest of 110 crores Hindus of this country. You can not take such a rabid decision on your own in a fit of anger. This is because you are right away walking into the trap that has been set by the Christian Missionaries and other anti-India forces.

This is exactly what the Christian Missionaries wanted and that is exactly what you are mapping to do by stepping into their well set up ‘trap’.

Mr Rahul Easwar!

While we appreciate your sincere efforts to save the tradition of the shrine, we can not, however, appreciate this hasty resentment on your part with a threat call “to spill blood inside the Temple” in order to befoul it, which would then obviously force the Temple priests to close its doors. If the temple doors are closed, it would be a perpetual downfall for Hindus, an eternal defeat. Your intimidation call to spill blood from the wounds in the Sabarimala Temple would be a profane act and certainly not expected of from a devotee. By doing so, you may turn yourself into an anti-Hindu rather than a sincere pro-Hindu activist. You and many Hindu intellectuals did not catch the very spirit behind the 41 day’s “Deeksha” that is undertaken by every Ayyappa Devotee in the season every year.

Behind this devotion, there is an effort to unite all the caste and creed of Hindu society and to eliminate the single caste hierarchy and untouchability. This has been an epoch dream of Hindu society for a long time and finally, that desire started materialising in south India after the advent of Sabarimala Deeksha of Lord Ayyappa.

Many articles have been published on the issue addressing the nicer aspects of the age-old tradition of Sabarimala and ventured to show how the Constitution Bench had erred in allowing woman Hindu devotees of all ages, disregarding the bonafide tradition that has been driving a force from behind yet I did not come across even one single write up revealing the hidden social program behind the 41 days of “Ayyappa Deeksha”.

The long serpentine queue of devotees that we often witness in front of the shrine, is obviously Godlike. Uniform black dress, uniformly barefooted devotees, invariably carrying an Irumudi on their heads. This site, year after year was causing severe envious feeling among the Christian Missionaries. So it is obvious that Christian Missionaries found the Ayyappa devout Hindus, a very hard nut to crack or to convert into their fold. So the notorious foot soldiers of the Missionaries have been steadily making their own efforts to destroy the Sabarimala shrine to stop this Hindu surge.

In 1950 there was a huge fire accident that partially destroyed the Temple. The Missionaries complicity was suspected and yet no sincere investigation went into the case. 

In 2011, the infamous ‘stampede’ accident that took place in the Sabarimala Temple outskirts, which killed 110 devotees, cannot be forgotten. There was an inquiry into this accident from the ‘conspiracy’ of Missionaries angle, but for some reason, the investigation has been hushed up.

Now 2018, the same envious missionaries succeeded in attacking the Sabarimala Shrine in an obscure manner. Now the attack on the shrine is ‘legal’ and ‘in-order’.

Amitabh Bachchan, Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan, Vivek Oberoi are all Ayyappa devotees who regularly visit Sabarimala after taking Deeksha. These popular celebrities would stand in the Q, get mixed up with ordinary people. The very equalitarian idea is achieved. The social objective of attaining the equality of all Hindus beyond the caste and creed can be seen in Ayyappa devotion.

Ram Charan Tej has taken seven time Ayyappa Deeksha

How the Deeksha works? Let us have a glimpse.

Ayyappa Swamy : A 41-day Vratha Deeksha for self tranformation

You cannot visit this temple like any other Ayyappa temple. Devotees are expected to observe a mandatory fast of 41 days, beginning on the first day of Malayalam month Vrishchikam, from mid-November. The fasting highlights the significance of abstinence and austerity.   

“Every devotee visiting Sabarimala temple shall wear a garland made of Tulsi or Rudraksha. Rituals start with the wearing of garland. A devotee who has visited Sabarimala more than 18 times, called as Guruswamy, will give the mala after performing a pooja. The devotee is then called as Swami or Ayyappa”

  • A swami should take bath twice a day. As the Lord is considered as a Brahmachari, it is a must that devotees visiting him should observe celibacy. The devotee should subside hunger and control food intake during the period. Morning one-time food and then till late evening nothing to be taken except water. Late evening only tiffin.  An Ayyappa is expected to speak the truth and commit no sin during the 41 day period. He must be fully devoted to Lord. Swamis usually wear black, saffron or dark blue dress and will walk barefoot. The devotees usually won’t shave the beard or cut his hair during the period. He is also supposed to avoid all luxuries and sleep on the floor. He can’t attend funerals during the period. Non-Vegetarian food, sex and other luxuries are to be kept at a distance.
  • The devotees assemble in their respective colonies twice and amidst Bhajans, they spend a couple of hours before the Ayyappa performing pooja. While Ayyappa devotees assemble in a community hall, one can not make out who is rich and who is poor. The MD of a company and the security guard of the same company may sit together and perform Pooja. The very objective of equality has been achieved on Day one.
  • Activists like Rahul Easwar’s may recollect the very utopian social objective behind this Ayyappa Deeksha and not to sabotage the same willfully or unmindfully by their hasty actions. There are many other peaceful ways to maintain the ‘tradition’ of the temple without it being infringed in any way, despite the Supreme Courts ruling. 
  • Krishna Baalu Iyer/  26/10/2018

Major achievements of Narendra Modi led BJP Govt in 4.5 years

santouryuu
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Major achievements of Narendra Modi led BJP Govt in 4.5 years

This is meant to be a comprehensive list of all the major achievements achieved by Modi govt so far. The aim  is for this list to be substantial and as concise as possible, so marginal improvements or regular achievements has not been included.

I will divide the achievements based on various categories of governance.

Economy/General:

1. Inflation: has been successfully tamed in the last 4 years. Both CPI and WPI never went above 5%, which is within the range prescribed by MPC. This is a far cry compared to UPA era when inflation was in double digits for 6 consecutive years.

2. Share in World GDP: Increase of India’s share in World GDP is 26.75% in 4 years, compared to compared to 47.56% in last 9 years

3. Fiscal deficit has fallen from 4.5% in 2014 to 3.5% now

4. Foreign reserve: Comfy at around $400B.

5. Investment on Infra: highest ever. Highway building,new Railway tracks, electrification is going on at rapid speed.

6. Jan Dhan game changer as far as financial inclusion is concerned. Now 99% of Indian households have at least one bank account. The savings is also healthy at ~₹80kCrore.

7. Ujjwala has provided a clean and safe kitchen to more than 5 crore households,

8. DBT: again poorest of poor has been the biggest beneficiary. DBT has plugged the leakages of leaky socialist schemes, and made them more efficient. Plus, they have reduced corruption and removed middlemen. The savings are estimated to be 81k crores

9. LED distribution: again significant contribution from energy savings to cost cut.

10. MUDRA: Women have been biggest gainer here with small loans. Another step towards financial inclusion and entrepreneurship. Encouraging MSME’s and entrepreneuership. Around 12 crore people have been helped by Mudra, and an amount of 5.28 lakh crore has been distributed to entrepreneurs.

11. IBC: probably the biggest reform bar GST. Initial cases has already proved it’s robustness. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code has begun to transform the Indian NPA resolution process and its credit culture.

12. RERA again benefiting the consumers who were earlier victims of builders lobby.

13. GST: Long due GST implementation by the incumbent government has not only lessen the corruption but also given relief from multiple taxation to country people.

14. Ease of doing business: Made big jump from 142 to 100 in 4 years.

15. Increased formalisation and taxation base of the economy. Due to GST and Demo, Tax-to-GDP ratio has improved remarkably. Household savings has increased to many folds.

16. Record inflow of FDI, Ratings upgrade by Moody’s

17. Increased push for Digitalisation

18. Mission Indradhanush: Immunising around 2.55 crore children from 12 deadly diseases,in a highly successful mission that has greatly increased the immunisation levels by targeting people facing the most inaccessiblities. It has been lauded by even International organisations. Mission Indradhanush upped vaccine coverage growth rate from 1% a year to 6.7%, a rare success for health

19. Under the Jan Aushadhi scheme, 3700 Jan Aushadhi Kendras that sell medicines at affordable and cheap prices have been setup, and around 800 medical items have been added to existing list of medicines available. The Jan Aushadi Scheme saw only 80 stores till March 31, 2014, and only 100 medical items were added between 2008-14.Plus, prices of stents have been capped to prevent extortion from patients

20. Reforming agricultural markets by starting E-NAM which introduces transparency and competition to agricultural market, removing the middlemen from the process

The difference between UPA-I and NDA-II are quite a few:

1. UPA benefited from robust global growth and housing boom for the first term. NDA doesn’t have that luxury.

2. First two years of NDA were hampered by drought.

3. NPA problem: NDA inherited the massive choke on Indian economy called NPA. Whereas UPA got Vajpayee era infrainvestment-led Keynesian growth.

4. Any balanced analysis has to mention that back in 2013 India was one of the fragile five economies. Now it is the fastest growing major economy in the world. That’s quite a leap.

5. NDA benefited from a drastic fall in crude prices, which was used to primarily reduce the Deficit and control the Rupee. It had a side-effect of reducing mineral exports though.

Infrastructure: This is an area where there has been a lot of work.The efficiency and speed has increased dramatically

1. There has been a huge turnaround in the power sector. Coal imports have reduced and domestic coal production has increased. Discom health is improved thanks to UDAY scheme, solar power is now almost 25 GW from ~2  GW, deficit between peak capacity and peak supply has reduced quite a lot, from 4.3% to 0.7%.

2. Increased sanitation coverage from 37% to 95%.

3. Electrification of 1730 kms Railways done in the last year is a huge jump over 2009-14 annual average of 1184 kms. A more than 50% increase in commissioning of broad gauge lines.

4. The construction of 10,000 km of national highways last year compares with 8,231 km in FY17 and 4,260 km (11 km per day) in FY14, the last year of the UPA government. Overall there has been a 73% increase in construction of highways.

5. Providing electricity to the farthest, most isolated areas and villages.

6. Under the BharatNet programme, as of 22 April 2018, the government had ensured broadband connectivity to 108,019 GPs, (excluding data from Andhra Pradesh) with the central government contributing over Rs 11,000 crore towards the scheme in phase one. Although as part of the UPA’s plan 300,000 km of optical fibre network was to be laid until 2014, only a dismal 350 km could be laid.

7. Doubling the number of houses built for poor in 2 years, enabling the Construction of around 70 lakh houses in just the last 2 years.

8. Under UDAN, connecting 70 distant and forgotten airports and operationalising them. Number of functional airports has increased from 75 to 100.

9. Under Saubhagya Scheme, more than 1.8 crore houses have received an electricity connection in  a year.

Corruption:

1. Transparency in govt tendering with GeM

2. Huge increase in action by ED and Income Tax against black money

3. Treaties with multiple foreign nations for black money, double taxation etc to stop tax havens from being tax havens

4. Amending and notifying Benami Act and passing  Black Money Act.

5. Removal of Interviews in hiring of Class C and D Central govt employees

5. Multiple ongoing investigations by Govt agencies against the “big fish”

Internal Security:

1. Drastic reduction in no of terrorist incidents in India, esp outside J&K.

2. Huge increase in the number of naxals killed or surrendered. Decrease in incidents of violence by LWE (Left-wing extremism), no of security personnel killed or injured, and the area affected by LWE.

3. Huge attack on the terrorist organisation in J&K. Multiple top terrorist commanders have been killed. Separatist funding to stone pelters and terrorists is being investigated by NIA, and many Hurriyat members are in jail.

4. Stark reduction in violence in North-east. 60% fall in incidents of violence and civilian casualties since 2013. AFSPA removed from Meghalaya and Tripura

Geopolitical/Foreign policy achievements:

1. Successfully stared down the Chinese at Doklam. So much so, that India’s response is being seen as a template for future responses to Chinese aggression.

2. Standing up against China’s OBOR: India has placed a very principled and consistent stand against OBOR, for it’s neo-colonialist, financially untenable and expansionist tendencies. Also of course for violating India’s sovereignty claims.

This is not just empty rhetoric. India is working on it’s on own separate connectivity programs. This includes the highly vital and strategic Chabahar Port which is already operational and is part of the large initiative of INSTC, IMT HIghway, Asia-Africa Growth corridor etc

3. A successful “neighborhood first” policy which strengthens India’s strategic and geopolitical position in South Asia.

4. A beginning of a new partnership with Israel, that delineates India’s stand on the Palestine conflict and relations with Israel, with Modi making a historic, well publicized trip to Israel, first ever by any Indian PM

5. Increasing Indian Navy’s reach in the Indian Ocean by signing multiple agreements ensuring docking rights for the Indian Navy in Oman, French Bases, Singapore, Indonesia and American bases.

6. Int’l isolation of Pakistan, and the waning support for Kashmir insurgency in Global quarters

7. Japan Nuclear Deal, and overall much closer relations with Japan than perhaps ever before

8. A hard fought and historic victory in the ICJ elections

9. Entry to MTRC, Australia group and Wassenaar Arrangement. Just now India was given the highest export control status, STA-1 by the US Govt

10. Signing of the COMCASA, which enables a much closer Strategic and Defense partnership with the United states. It also enables closer military ties with many other nations which use US equipment, like Japan, South Korea etc

11. Closer relations with Vietnam.

12. Bangladesh land agreement.

13. Spearheading the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

Defense:

1. Tejas

2. Improving the tardy and sub-optimal supply and maintenance condition of the armed forces by procuring ammo, spares, MRO, etc.

3. The issue of new helmets & BPJ’s was stuck longer than the issue of sport shoes . MKU was supplying BPJ’s to more than 100 countries while our own army had a shortage of BPJ. This govt took the power of such decisions from defence ministry babus & OFB unions & gave it to army & allowing private players to supply. Hence problem solved.

4. Finalising and Concluding Important and vital Defense deals like Rafale Deal, M777 deal, K-9 Vajra deal etc

5. Defense Manufacturing has been given a real push. Systems like Akash have been given a boost by cancelling imports of other Sam systems.

6. S-400 Deal: S-400 is widely regarded as the best Air Defense System in the world, and will provide an overwhelming strategic edge against India’s neighbours

Everything that i have listed till now can,or rather, should be considered an achievement regardless of your ideological inclinations.Now for achievements specific to a more Right-leaning perspective

What has been done on Hindutva:

1. Abolish Hajj Subsidy, effectively removing Govt subsidy for Hajj

2. Ban Triple Talaq (It was a court verdict, but the govt argued for abolishing it and provided political support to the cause.Plus, they have passed a bill criminalizing it through an Ordinance)

3. Some strictness in FCRA, affecting cash-for-conversion maifas

4. Acting against extremists like Zakir Naik, PFI etc. PFI has been linked from stuff like love jihad and indoctrination to actual terrorism. PFI has also been banned by Jharkhand state govt.

5. Promoting Indian heritage and culture through World Yoga day,promoting and institutionalising Ayurveda, focusing on bringing back stolen temple loot.

7. Introducing Citizenship Amendment Bill and passing Enemy Property Bill

8. Slowly cleaning up the institutions controlled by Marxists,like JNU, ICCR, FTII, ICHR and NCERT by placing the “right” people in charge

Now’s the time for some Right-wing Economic policies:

  1. Opening up Coal Sector to Private Industry.

2) Easing FDI norms across sectors

3) Passing laws like the Companies Amendment Bill, which simplifies many corporate norms and Commercial Courts Amendment, all of which combine to cut red tape and improve improve Ease of Doing Business(as detailed above)

4)Introducing Fixed-Term Employment for all sectors, making it easy for big companies to hire workers for seasonal and temporary jobs

Credit to /u/roytrivia_93, /u/rajarajac for some portions.

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