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The identity of an Indian and the role of his language

taruns
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The identity of an Indian and the role of his language

A language is simply an agent for the purposes of advanced communication. Its life solely depends on repeated use and necessity. But, A language is also a carrier of history and a unique way of expression.

It instills a sense of sustainable self-esteem- the ability to confidently express oneself in their indigenous form instills a strong belief and drive toward development.

India, a country that is largely remembered as a British Colony that ‘fought’ for its independence in a non-violent and orderly manner. Since then, India, or Gandhi as a representative, has been an icon for non-violence to the rest of the world, however, India remains an icon of poverty and violence against women. Many Indians would fight to censor those words, not because they are untrue but not the whole truth. The intention of censoring, then, seems fair. But, can we truly censor the grievances of those Indians who have an equal right to the Identity of being Indian as do those from the Hindi belt?

Diversity is a never-ending wave of life on the Indian Subcontinent. Amidst that diversity, we have sustained a democracy that is not in absolute turmoil and internal conflict. The type of unity that we foster in India is unique and somewhat functional but not healthy for the well-being of its constituents. The determination of nation has inevitably given the world an impression that Indians are simply one homogenous entity only differentiated by caste and religion. Indians speak Hindi and look a certain way. This is simply how the central government represents itself. It becomes a major problem when Indian citizens also buy into this false perception of what India is. India is a ‘nation of nations’, each with a long and contributing history. This projection of a certain identity by the majority alienates the rest and leaves them believing that ‘Indian’ is a label that can be attained but not given. A determination of right or wrong is a relative assessment, and so, I will use examples of countries who are just about or equally diverse as India, linguistically, culturally or otherwise, to comparatively assess how India has decided to move forward in the past 70 years.

We have constantly chanted the words ‘Unity in Diversity’. Rightly so, we remain unified in diversity but for how long? The Indian subcontinent, over millennia, has been ‘united’ under one empire only a few times and for brief periods of time by the Mauryas, Guptas, Mughals, Maratha, and to a lesser extent Vijayanagar. Of course, there was never a time when the entire subcontinent (or even India in and of itself) was under one rule. Therefore, when I refer to the unification, it suggests a significant proportion but not all. The lack of a unified rule for long periods of time like the Europeans or the Chinese led to the sustenance of many developed languages and cultures (this is ignoring tribal and other languages). Some of the languages that India boasts have a long history behind them. For instance, Sanskrit and Tamil are two of the oldest living languages in the world (if we consider Sanskrit to still be living).
Given all this diversity, we find ourselves in an awkward position where we are trying to adopt the new-found European approach of ‘one land, one language’. Where would one start for the creation of that language? Do we do what the Indonesians did?

What has India done?

Looking at the mammoth constitution of the Republic of India, or as I would prefer to call it – the Union of India (this is an important perspective which reminds us that India was not conquered, by any one of us, but was formed by all of us with consent.). It is quite clear that Hindi was intended to be phased in as the national language with English as a temporary language of the Union.[1] They intended to stop the use of a foreign language for basic formal use, and that intention is fair. However, one could easily argue that the prevalence of English in India has allowed for easy transition into Global markets. This has, in turn, helped establish the economic boom for the past two decades. But whether the phasing in of Hindi would have stopped the use of English, especially with its growing importance, is impossible to prove.

The constitution states that Hindi was to be phased in, all over the country, after a period of 15 years. In 1965, the state of Madras (a grouping of Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu), mostly in the Tamil regions, protested (it is usually referred to as the Anti-Hindi Agitations) the ‘imposition’ of a foreign language, in this case- Hindi, as a compulsory language to be taught in schools. This threatened the survival of other languages in India in that it would serve no purpose. With no political, or academic use, a language is doomed to break apart and mold into an unstructured ‘trend’. This, rightly so, does not sit well with those cultures (i.e. the South and the North-east) who don’t have a largely unified evolution of their languages with the north and west. This is not a theory or a superstitious fear but a witnessed consequence of a top-down language policy. When Mexico gained its independence, in 1810, the majority of the country did not speak Spanish. History teaches us that the fear of losing the language, not to evolution but to power, is justified.

China

Didn’t think that China had more than one linguistic group? There are approximately 9 linguistic families in China. I don’t want to go into much depth, but I will simply state that China is not as diverse as it was or could have been. A 2013 report even states that 400 million (30% of the population) Chinese citizens could not speak Mandarin (The official language of the Republic). Need I remind you that majority of the Indian populous does not speak Hindi.
With Mandarin mostly being the language of education, government, business, media, the minority languages have lost its importance. Indeed, few of these languages are close to extinction. That said, we cannot save every language spoken, especially, if too few a people speak the language. It would, generally, have no market, media, or societal influence. Nonetheless, there is no effort to save these languages after a prolonged unitary use of Mandarin for all official, academic, and commercial purposes.

China is an example of an extreme version of events of what India has tried to accomplish with its constituents. China hasn’t shied away from the principle of ‘Might is right’.

Indonesia

Indonesia is easily a big contender for population diversity. In 1945, the year of its independence, Javanese was spoken by the greatest proportion of the population, however, it wasn’t adopted as the national language. Instead, the then government of Soekarno used Malay to create a language for Indonesia (Bahasa Indonesia) whilst incorporating words from various linguistic groups from within the country. They were quick to understand the importance of language to bring the country to together as one. While this was a middle ground, major languages like Javanese and Sundanese have largely no use and this has fueled the younger generation to not bother learning it. Nonetheless, this approach does not pick one linguistic culture over the others, all of them began with the same disadvantage.

Nigeria

Another country formed after ruthless British colonial rule is very similar to the Indian demographic in terms of diversity and culture. With over 400 languages, Nigeria operates with English as an official language as there are 3 big players in language politics- the Ibo, Hausa, and Yoruba.

The common denominator in the Nigerian and Indonesian case studies is their fair attempt to achieve common ground. Regardless of what happens, the minority languages will die due to the achieved irrelevance. The same can be said about 1000s of languages in India that don’t have an official use, either in states or otherwise. Languages are going to die and there is not much we can do about it, but we can stop the intentional obstruction of development of other large languages such as Bengali, Punjabi, Telegu, and Tamil, among others.

English is a middle ground just like Bahasa Indonesia is a middle ground for a diverse population to meet at. Language politics has been gaining momentum in India because of the growing presence of Hindi in states that have no historical affinity or special use for Hindi. Hindi simply exists to provide ease of access for those who speak Hindi. Those who are familiar with the history of the subcontinent should know that the Indian subcontinent consisted of independent, yet united, nations. While it is true that having one language creates a bond that mimics that of family, it shouldn’t form because of the death of other rich histories.

The Tamils are specifically known for opposition to the use of Hindi. This is not unique to them but their knowledge of the fact that their history spans so far back gives them the self-respect to not allow their way of expression or their people to become second class. India is a creation, so is the idea that we have one language that carries all our history and represents our way of expression. Being multilingual is an amazing trait and one that I admire. If nothing stops us from learning French, then nothing stops us from learning each other’s language out of interest rather than top-down imposition

From safety instructions on a gas cylinder, domestic airline announcements, government examinations, embassy communications all in two foreign languages, it has the power to alienate. This is evidently not a level playing field because non-Hindi speaking Indians must learn an extra foreign language, which happens to be the mother tongue of almost half the population. Although trivial, the addition of Hindi in railway stations in states that do not speak Hindi only aim to gain acceptance and simplify travel for Hindi speakers. What about the simplification of travel for almost half of the population?

Imagine that either the official languages that your country worked in were foreign languages. Not only, are you left feeling less Indian, you do not have the ease of access into government jobs. The presence of English makes it possible to counter this disadvantage. Like I stated before, English is the language of international trade, therefore, it would still remain a language that we would have to learn anyway. Furthermore, while it is still a foreign language, it is that for every Indian.

Nonetheless, this creates inequity of access for different classes of people and creates an image of English being the language of the clever and rich. Having such an image should be left in the past in the horror of colonialism. The British may have left, but their institutions remain, our heightened view of their language, skin color, and demeanor still exist. So, why are we surprised that we use a language that happens to be theirs?

[1] The Constitution of India, Part V- The Union, Article 120 (2); Part XVII, Chapter 1, Article 343 (1)
[2] https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/enough-hindi-imposition-stop-wasting-time-and-money-shove-it-down-our-throats-49903

The Saga of increase in petrol prices and lollipop of subisdies given by congress

ironyman0007
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The Saga of increase in petrol prices and lollipop of subisdies given by congress

The congress party of India put a graph in reply to BJP’s claims of percent increase in diesel-petrol prices with increase in global crude oil prices. Since then a lot of hoohaa has been done on oil price rise.

The BJP IT Cell is considering only one factor percentage increase in oil price while Congress analytica seems more interested in Global Crude oil prices as parameter. However there is one more significant factor which the Lutyen’s intelligentsia so willfully ignores, subsidies given on oil prices.

Let’s break down all 3 main factors. Global crude oil prices, percentage increase in Indian prices and subsidy given on the fuel. Also for parallel analysis for effects on oil phenomena, another factor Fiscal deficit which is basically measure of expenditures of the government minus it’s generated revenue will be considered in this analysis. The lower the deficit the better it is.

In 2009-14 the global crude prices increased by 84 percent. UPA increased prices of petrol by 75.8 percent. Exactly in the same period the subisdies given on petrol was Rs 5 per litre. It will be close to 13 percent subsidy given on petrol on prices of 2009. So basically, if all the three parameters are positives and negatives the final score of UPA is +4 percent.

This incurred a loss of 40000 crores to Indian oil companies. Fiscal deficit rose to an alarming 5.8 percent. P Chidambaram then formed a committee as a measure of course correction. Kelkar committee warned government to remove subsidy on diesel.

The Modi government removed the subsides acting on Kelkar’s report and during its tenure of 4 years petrol prices increased by 13 percent. 34 percent decrease in crude oil prices. So score of BJP is +11 percent. Both are almost comparable with one more year in BJP’s kitty to improve it’s performance. UPA fares better than Modi’s by 7 percent.

While UPA did deregulate petrol wisely it failed severely in diesel.

Now during the same time 2009-14 UPA increased prices on diesel by 83.7 percent. Global increase was 84 percent. And subsidies given on diesel was 13.55 per litre in 2012 according to an analysis by IISD. Taking 13 Rs per litre, ie. almost 43 percent of the price in 2009. So basically score of UPA was +42 percent. According to an analysis in Indian Express diesel alone has effect of 4.7 percent in inflation and inflation stood at record 7.48 in December 2010.

While with same global parameter i.e., decline of 34 percent increase of 28 percent by Modi government and no subidies. The score of Modi government on diesel is much much better at +6 percent. Modi government fares better than UPA in terms of diesel.

Modi government also paid few instalments of that 40000 crores worth of loss incurred by UPA. While UPA also gave subsidies on kerosene oil of 28.5 rupees. Kerosene was cheaper than mineral water and hence led to the rise of Kerosene Mafia, a problem with which the Indian populace is still suffering from. In that period of 2005-2014 the UPA government issues oil bonds of 2,48,000 crores. This in total has made the Modi government pay back the amount taken in oil bonds worth 2 lakh crores and rest to be paid in 2022. Who paid the same money? The Modi government? No. It’s just a decoy. It is the tax payer population of the country that had to bear the brunt of Congress theatrics. At the same time Modi government was able in successfully maintaining an average fiscal deficit of around 3.8.

India’s ultimate goal to have a strategic petroleum reserve that provides 90 days of net import coverage is another Brahmastra that is being kept hidden willingly by the Chaiwala. It is surprising as well as shameful for us that Chinese dailies like Global Times and Russian news portals like Sputnik have done series of major articles on India’s newly built oil reserves while our mainstream media is silent like the Sen’s Nalanda library on the issue. The government has already constructed underground rock caverns for storage of 5.33 million metric tons of crude oil multiple locations across the country at Vishakhapatnam and Mangalore while Chadikhol and Padur are initiated. These now increase the capacity of 22 days worth of oil in case of emergency situations like global meltdown and wars.

The Modi government’s recent boost towards Ethanol blended Petrol to 10 percent and a bid to make good use of countries resources like sugarcane and in an attempt also provide right price to the debt laden sugarcane farmers is another commendable step.

The data is out before you. The arguments are out before you. It is for you to judge who is trying to create a better future for your children and the nation and who has cheated you out by giving lollipop of subsidies. You can take a lollipop eat it up. But nothing in this world is free. You have to pay for it in the end.

Why Rafale Jets deal is a Fair-Deal- explains Vishnu Som of NDTV

G Indira
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Why Rafale Jets deal is a Fair-Deal- explains Vishnu Som of NDTV

Vishnu Som @Vishnu NDTV made some interesting revelations on Twitter on 13-9-2019. He said opposition tirade against the Rafale-deal was nonsensical. He dug deep into the details and found out that the deal was a fair one. He pointed out twelve (12) remarkable, noteworthy tweets. He mentioned some details on the E 1.7 billion amount referred to as India Specific Upgrades. He wrote these India specific upgrades, ordered specifically on the request of the IAF, make the IAF Rafales more capable than what France operates. He also wrote contrary to what some analysts believed, these 14 India specific enhancements are not the figment of anyone’s imagination. They were a component of what the UPA failed to negotiate and are now a part of what the IAF is getting. He also emphasized that there were some crucial differences and additions in the India specific upgrades which the IAF is getting now compared to what was being negotiated earlier.

He in his twitter account, tweeted that that talks on the cost of these India specific upgrades were primarily between the IAF and Dassault during the UPA regime and had never progressed to conclusive cost negotiations between Dassault and HAL which was supposed to build Rafales in India.

He said as the end-result, it is impossible to compare the per-piece cost of the Rafales being acquired now and the Rafales being negotiated for earlier. Besides a low band jammer, towed decoy system, upgraded engine, additional modes in the radar and higher resolution in the Front Sector Optronics, there are new details available.

He also writes the Rafale with India Specific upgrades has structural differences compared with what the French operate. This is to accommodate a new Israeli satellite communications system. The confidentiality pact in this deal extends to Israel as well as France. Is Israel OK with sharing cost and other details of its equipment on the Rafale, he queried as a point to ponder over. Talking about the helmet mounted sight on Rafale, he says it is an Israeli component but there is a significant upgrade involved in making this compatible with the Meteor and Scalp missiles being acquired. Targeting and other symbology specific to these weapon systems is being integrated into this helmet mounted sight. The changes demanded by India also involve significant changes to the “Modular Data Processing Unit” (MDPU) of the Rafale, a new generation mission computer.

Some of the Twitterati questioned him on the selection of Anil Ambani and whether he could do what the HAL could not and another question was why HAL was kicked of from the deal. To this he wrote as an answer: HAL was not kicked out. HAL couldn’t produce Rafales at the price mandated by Dassault. Tech transfer happening now as well to DRDO.

Vishnu Som is not a right-winger, NDTV is not pro-BJP. Vishnu Som, being a Defence editor of the NDTV, his words carry weight. The critics of the deal should make note of. Heckling for heckling sake does not suit well for the opposition. People trust Narendra Modi, the PM, for his personal integrity.

Source: Vishnu Som @Vishnu NDTV- 13-9-2018

More bus depots will address the traffic problem significantly

joshihemant1993
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More bus depots will address the traffic problem significantly

It was almost three months ago when I booked an intercity bus ticket from Hyderabad to Bengaluru. The booking experience was seamless and the bus operators provided several convenient pickup locations. I was impressed by the mobile booking experience — it was similar to booking an airplane ticket.

I reached the pick-up point at 9:15 pm, expecting the bus to show up in another fifteen minutes. But what I saw in that time was eye-opening. There were several buses lined across both sides of the main road at Kondapur. Not just on the sides of the road- buses even occupied more than half of the road. Of course, the road did not have any lane markings. On the sections of the road where the lanes were present, no one cared.

This led to clogged traffic on both sides of the road, which increased with time as more and more buses crowded the region. To give some perspective, a typical Volvo 9400 bus (one of the more common air-conditioned buses) can range between 12 m to 15 m in length. Imagine 5 of these standing one behind the other.

Despite the well-engineered maneuverability of the bus, the size leads to a large turning radius. Also, buses crawl on the road waiting for the last passenger to hop on leads to delayed starts for buses and ultimately passengers.

The result of this — constant honking leading to noise pollution, an increase in air pollution levels and an overall slowness in the traffic movement.

This is not an uncommon occurrence. A similar scenario can be seen in other metros in the country as well. It is also common that one lane of major highways is blocked as buses pick up passengers.

Speaking about numbers, more than 90% of buses in India are privately operated. The number of private buses in India in 2015 stood at 18,303,000.

To leave it to the bus operators to manage their pick-up and drop-off locations create ambiguity and chaos. The government needs to provide the necessary infrastructure or set guidelines in place to avoid chaos arising out of this.

To solve the problem caused to the traffic, there are a few solutions that the state governments could think of the following:

Adding a dedicated shoulder lane for picking up passengers along the pickup points. This way, a diversion could be created for these buses, bus stops could be added and passenger pick-ups would not affect the normal traffic. Buses could be allowed to stay in this lane for a certain amount of time, post which penalties can be imposed.

If there is no space to create a diversion, the bus halt time at a point could be noted and penalized if exceeded.

Allowing private buses to operate out of State Transport Bus Terminals and depots. Opening up a sector of the government bus stations for a fee would be a good way to generate additional revenue for the loss-making State Transport Corporations. This could be modeled in a similar manner to airports — companies pay for getting a gate for a certain time.

Building more Inter State Bus Terminals (ISBTs) and making sure that the transit network that feeds into them is robust.

With the number of private buses only rising every year and the state transport corporations making losses, opening up state-owned bus terminals and depots to private operators could bring in income for the government and reduce the burden on our roads.

Why Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog is right about Raghuram Rajan

Saurabh Garg
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Why Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog is right about Raghuram Rajan

Before we come to what Rajiv Kumar reportedly said, it is not demonetisation but the rising NPA problem which hampered the GDP growth. Let us first look at how the Indian economy was growing to understand the background.

As depicted in the graph above, riding on the growth trajectory set by the government in 2004, India continued to grow at around 8-9% growth rate (at constant prices) before the recession hit the global economy in 2008. However, Indian economy survived the slowdown and continued to maintain the growth at around 8% until 2010-11. But, banks instead of provisioning for possible shockwaves of the recession on Indian economy continued to lend money indiscriminately so much so that loans increased from approximately 18.16 lakh crores to 52.15 lakh crores between 2008 and 2014.

But as the domino effect of the global recession of 2008 started impacting India. The economy started slowing down. GDP growth rate also started falling after 2011 reaching as low as 4.74 % (provisionally) in 2013-14 as shown in the first graph. Profitability of businesses decreased and policy paralysis ridden governance led to stalling of projects. Consequently, these indiscriminately disbursed loans started turning into NPA. Banks which were not able to recover loans started a practice which was reported as ‘Evergreening of loans’ i.e. tactics which did not let these hurriedly given or ‘phone banking’ loans reflect as NPA in their balance sheets in order to keep the images of the banks and government clean.

Rajan was made the honorary economic advisor in 2008 and economic advisor to government of India in 2012 before being appointed as the RBI governor in 2013 amidst the much media fanfare, one of the headlines in The Hindu said, “Raghuram Rajan starts with a bang”.

With full-fledged banking crisis looming large over Indian economy in 2013, he had the task of curbing the rising NPA among others. He thus launched the schemes adding to some already existing schemes that enabled the restructuring of stressed assets to tackle the problem of NPA.

Some of the schemes launched during his tenure are mentioned below.

  • 5/25 Refinancing of Infrastructure Scheme
  • Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets
  • Strategic Debt Restructuring Scheme
  • Asset quality review

 Chronology of actions taken by RBI to tackle the problem of rising NPA is shown in the figure below.These restructuring measures allowed banks to further continue putting their stressed assets under the carpet. Consequently, NPA kept rising and with recovery becoming difficult each passing day. Banks and borrowers both started feeling the heat. It is these mechanisms which allowed the structuring and restructuring of stressed assets without posing an effective check on banks and borrowers, led to piling up of NPA. Measure to assess the Assets under AQR was operationalised as late as in October 2015, two years after his coming to office.

This piling up of NPA hurt the ‘investment’ in the country leading to growth also getting hampered as banks due to rising NPA stopped the further lending and businesses started becoming debt-ridden due to stalled projects. They were not able to make enough profits to pay the banks back. This problem was first acknowledged as the “Twin Balance sheet Problem” in the economic survey of 2015-16 and was further explained in the economic survey of 2016-17.

Economic Survey 2016-17 said, 5/25 Refinancing of Infrastructure scheme by RBI enabled, banks to extend additional loans (evergreening). This in turn aggravated the initial problem. Even commenting on Strategic Debt Restructuring Scheme, it said, “as of end-December 2016, only two sales had materialized, in part because many firms remained financially unviable since only a small portion of their debt had been converted to equity.”

Failure of Rajan’s schemes to address NPA problem was also reported in media too as one of the headlines in Business Today said that “Why RBI’s strategic debt restructuring scheme has turned out to be a damp squib”.

Following a set precedent of not sacking the RBI governor despite his policies not being effective, government finally responded by enacting the Bankruptcy and Insolvency code in 2016 to take a final call on stressed assets which required either to liquidate them or giving them to other efficient Business groups who can convert them into the profitable ventures and thus banks loans can be paid back. And, measures to structure and restructure the stressed assets were withdrawn as they were not effective and in fact, allowed lenders to continue with their evergreening tactics.

Thus, lack of proactive action, systematic policy intervention and constant obsession with the restructuring of loans (evergreening) approach led to huge rise in NPA. This had its impact on the growth. Analysis of Rajiv Kumar, VC, NITI Aayog that rising NPA has caused the low GDP growth has also been reported by others.

RBI as per its own preamble has a basic function “to operate the currency and credit system of the country to its advantage”. Raghuram Rajan continued to sit on the NPA without taking any sound policy decision to tackle this challenge. In the absence of any timely checks from the RBI on the banks which kept on restructuring their assets even during Raghuram Rajan’s term ensured that NPA rose to mind-boggling 7 lakh crores by the time he left in September 2016. With this piling up of NPA, as already explained above, both the borrowers and lenders were stressed and due to which economy grew at the low growth rate.

(Images merely for information purpose.)

Politics of illegal immigrants

OliveGreens09
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Politics of illegal immigrants
Shah in Jaipur.

The picture seems to be photoshopped or perhaps is all too familiar, the rhetoric is banal and the promise forgotten. Mr Amit Shah on his electoral whirlwinds in Jaipur came up with the pet BJP slogan of ‘throwing out every single Bangladeshi immigrant from the soil of India’ sounds such a cliche’ in view of the record of the BJP led NDA from 2014-2018.

BJP may wallow in the fact that it carried out the NRC in Assam but it came out of the SC judgement on the issue of illegal B’deshi Immigrants raised by by now CM, Sarbanand Sonowal, then an AGP political worker.

However, action taken by the Modi government on illegal immigrants is hardly worth recollection after four years of a majority government rule, especially of a Hindu Nationalist Government which has put the issue of Illegal Immigrants as a core matter in its speeches and manifestos over the years.

Amit Shah in his election speech once again and with amazing countenance picks up the B’deshi Immigrants issue in Rajasthan which has no direct effects of, but as a starter for his election campaign based on the fears of the electorate. The politics of the issues far outweighs the action taken against the illegal immigrants. So called secular parties would cry foul over this assertion by Shah, while BJP will announce the armageddon for illegal immigrants.

Both the scenarios are really made for consumption of the TV and print media viewership and readership. We are assured of over the counter and cacophonous debates of dullards introduced as political analysts, are in fact, spokespeople for various political parties in the country. Election rhetoric notwithstanding, the cold facts based on figures shows a different picture.

The Congress has criticised the inaction of Modi government calling it duplicitous and deceptive while has put forward the figures given by Parneet Kaur as MoS for Home in Parliament in 2013.

The figures given by Randeep Surjewala in a press conference says, ‘Congress deported over 80000 illegal immigrants to Bangladesh’ for the period from 2005-2013. Whereas, according to Congress and as per figures given by Kiren Rijiju BJP has deported just about 1800.

The difference in figures is huge to leave any scope for a debate as far deportations are concerned but the matter of the fact is that the governments over the years have been lacking the political will to deport the millions. The NRC in Assam has opened a can of worms as the Assamese have asked that illegal immigrants irrespective of the their religion should be deported or their rights seized to save the future of indigenous people of Assam.

This has created a conundrum for the Modi government as NRC includes approximately 1.2 million Hindus who have fled Bangladesh including few Buddhist Chakmas. The govt is keen to bring in the Persecuted Minorities Bill to grant citizenship to minorities in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The Bill is primarily aimed at granting citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists in these countries as they are among the most persecuted people in the World. The election rhetoric raises further suspicion about the intent or more appropriately the Will of the government to go about the job at hand, ie., deportation of illegal immigrants. Government has failed to even convince the top court of the imminent threat posed by Rohangiya refugees in J&K. The legal officers so far haven’t been able to articulate the government stand on the Illegal Rohangiyas who have clandestinely settled in and around Jammu.

Government has been found lacking in matching the rhetoric with prudent steps on this contentious debate. While the government keeps a straight face at its inability to deport immigrants, the party apparatus is given the go to ratchet the rhetoric on illegal immigrants and demands of a nation wide NRC on the issue.

Many State units of the BJP are asking for an NRC, the Bengal unit facing a formidable Mamata is issuing veiled threats of holding NRC. It’s the government which must step up to the task of deporting illegals and approach the SC for a comprehensive NRC. It’s in the interest of the Nation and not the Party.

Political parties have their own agendas to pursue but the government is bound by the Constitution to be seen as protector of the Constitutional mandate.

Amit Shah must be playing to the galleria to consolidate his vote but the action on ground suggests a lukewarm response to this important issue.

Modi, in view of disparate opposition is likely to comeback to power, maybe with a truncated majority and form a government of his own in 2019 again. It’s imperative that the election rhetoric is replaced by a firm action plan against the imminent threat posed by the altered Demographics in the North East. Various reports starting from Lt Gen SK Sinha in 1980s to another report by TV Rajeshwar in early 1990s are implicit in their conclusions. The threat of a Greater Bangladesh is not merely a Conspiracy Theorist’s dream but a likely scenario in very near future. The population of Muslims in both Assam and Bengal are above 30% and it’s not a natural growth but a sustained trickle of illegal immigrants in the region.

Bangladeshis are on record saying that, “Our people need land to live and can’t be pushed to the sea, the natural course of immigration would be India, where else”. Meanwhile, we run for 2019 with a high decibels campaign on the issue of Illegal B’deshi Immigrants.

PM Modi should bring premedical and paramedical health reform as well

S Ranganathan
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PM Modi should bring premedical and paramedical health reform as well

The health reform initiated by the Prime Minister through a very meticulously articulated and scientifically engineered program has cached the attention of the world. Several countries are showering their praises for PM Modi for envisaging such a wonderful initiative.

To build India a healthy nation, the pre-medical and paramedical health reforms are equally important. PM Modi has shown great commitment to promote AYUSH. But cross pathy by several institutionally qualified AYUSH Vaidyas in private practices sabotage the relevance and significance of AYUSH.

In the ancient days, the AYUSH Vaidyas were treated as spiritual souls besides health and wellness providers (faith based health healers). Besides providing several recipes for wellness and happiness to people, the Vaidyas were the unifying force of the communities in villages and were the guiding force to the society to show right and honest path and the path Moksha and nirvana (eternity). In that sense, the Vaidyas were the living encyclopedia for the ordinary man to seek solution to most of their problems. Vaidyas were also good astrologers and spiritually enlightened people. The Vaidyas not just treating the patients with various recipes of AYUSH but were also providing several spiritual and disciplinary aspects to attain health and happiness.

Today we have lost such great roots of AYUSH. Most of the AYUSH Vaidyas are oscillating like a pendulum between cross pathy and greed to make money and selling falsehood. AYUSH was a philosophical science that had evolved encompassing all aspects of the society and community. From psychology, to moral and behavioural science to spiritual way of living… all essential aspects of a model society, we can find in AYUSH. AYUSH is not just a holistic philosophy but it is a wholesome gospel for universal health and wellness.

The pre-medical and paramedical doctrines of AYUSH are amazing but it looks like many of the present day AYUSH vaidyas in private practice have failed to learn and recognize the same.

In today’s world, most of our health problems are more than affecting us physically are also affecting our mind and overall wellbeing. We have started to treat the mind and body separately by two separate specialists operating from two separate time zones and planet. But in the ancient days, the AYUSH Vaidyas through their paramedical expertise used to address human problems in toto and that is how they were offering solutions.

We need to re-invent the true paramedical benefits of AYUSH to address the psychosomatic problems.

Unfortunately today we have over exaggerated the role of AYUSH and derailed the significance of AYUSH by attempting to package it the same way as the allopathic system.

AYUSH Vaidyas are the well trained faith healers because the faith is the basic cult of AYUSH philosophy. Many patients have reported that after consulting the AYUSH Vaidya about their health problems for over an hour or more have got great relief without any medication. This shows the power of positive energy and mind healing ability of AYUSH Vaidyas.

When patients visit the MBBS doctor they always look for solution to their medical problem whereas when the same patient when visits AYUSH Vaidya look for solace to their entire life (mind and body and both organic and spiritual self).

Patients approach MBBS doctor with respect whereas when they approach AYUSH Vaidya, they exhibit faith, divinity and freeness of mind to engage in long discussion and conversation.

Considering the growing demand for premedical and paramedical care and wellness, AYUSH must be promoted for the above purpose as AYUSH Vaidyas are well trained for the above task.

Involvement of mind into the therapy system is needed to achieve the holistic values of the treatment therefore the paramedical expertise of AYUSH Vaidyas must be boosted.

AYUSH Vaidyas in private practice must be discouraged from cross pathy as cross pathy denature the essence of AYUSH and evaporates the trust ingredient of our ancient faith healing system.

Saba Naqvi’s lie got exposed when she tried to spread hatred after PM Modi’s recent visit to Saifee Mosque

abodeoflakshmi
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Saba Naqvi’s lie got exposed when she tried to spread hatred after PM Modi’s recent visit to Saifee Mosque

There is a limit to everything but there is no limit to the attempts to insult the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi every single day. Yet another attempt by the so called Lutyens Media and rebuttal to the attempts made to spread fake narrative by Saba Naqvi that the women are not welcome to the gathering attended by the PM at the Saifee Mosque in Indore for Ashara Mubaraka, to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Husain (SA).

What started with the Prime Minister’s tweet on the affection he received at the Saifee Mosque in Indore : “I will never forget the affection I received at the Saifee Mosque in Indore.”

And subsequent tweets with the reactions of the gathering of men, women and kids of the Dawoodi Bohra community turned into some sort of finger pointing by the so called Opinion maker Saba Naqvi:

“Respectfully Sir, i do not see a single woman there and wonder what this all male gathering can do for the uplift of women.”

I quickly pointed out to her :

“There is a limit to the hatred. Look in the image properly, who are sitting in the balcony above!”

The images were clearly showing that the Women were indeed present at the gathering and they were seated on the first floor on the balcony waving at the Prime Minister, visibly happy at his attendance.

Instead of deleting her tweet as pointed by other twitter users or apologising, she quickly shifted her goal post with her next tweet saying she had problems in all spaces where women are segregated:

“thanks to those who inform me women on a balcony….

personally, I have problems in all spaces where women are segregated.
always have since childhood….read about it in first chapter of my first book InGoodFaith.”

She was clearly caught lying and had no decency in apologising or to have deleted her tweet. This specifically proves beyond doubt of her hatred for the Prime Minister. She was proved wrong and there were more replies to her pointing out her blunder than the number of retweets she got for her tweet.

I also pointed out to her that those attending were segregated at the place of gathering (A Mosque) and not by the PM and she should stick to her original objection:

“Seggregated @ Place of gathering and not by the PM. Now, Please don’t change the original subject of blaming the PM.”

Till the time of writing this article, there was no response from Saba Naqvi, clearly rattled by the responses on her failed fake narrative. Clearly there is attempt to insult the PM at every opportunity by the MSM and the so called Lutyens Media & Libtards. The Alert Right Wing on Twitter yet again ensured that the fake narrative gets an appropriate rebuttal with Proof. Well Done SM.

Modi govt’s impeccable reach to the last strata of the society ensures him victory in 2019, too

Priya Vandana Jayarajan
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Modi govt’s impeccable reach to the last strata of the society ensures him victory in 2019, too

In my earlier article, I had put together an exhaustive series of achievements of the Narendra Modi Govt, the phenomenal work that has been done, which is transforming the lives of the people. I have been sharing this information on all social media platforms for quite some time now. However, I must make a candid admission that the raging ongoing debate on rising fuel prices had made me a little nervous and shook my confidence. Some of my highly learned friends had expressed their fears regarding the price hike and it’s impact on re-election of Narendra Modi as PM. There was no way I could take their opinions lightly. We had lengthy debates, for and against the hike. The arguments from both sides were so convincing that it left me utterly confused, even more nervous. But a chance visit by my old domestic help today morning changed my perspective completely and removed all the doubts that had crept into my mind related to this issue in the past one week.

She had worked in our house for nearly 22 years. Six months back she got a heart attack but survived because of timely medical aid. Doctor advised her to take complete bed rest for at least 3 months and other precautions. Due to this reason she had to discontinue her work. Today morning when she came up to my room unannounced, I was surprised and delighted to see her. We chatted for nearly two hours. During the course of our conversation, what she told me was a revelation for me. She gave me a mind blowing account of what the Government was doing. Every member in her family had received health insurance cover of Rs 3 lakhs and a card which could be used in case of hospitalisation and payment of bills. In her locality everyone has received it.

Point of significance here is that this is not a story from some rural part of India. This is from an urban city. She told me that even in her village people are getting the health insurance cover. Special teams have been formed and assigned the task of going door to door, inform the people about the schemes, collect documents from them and see to it that they receive the card, cylinder, other benefits etc. For starting small ventures, one has to just go to the Govt office and collect information about all the schemes. Whichever business one wishes to start, the Govt gives you loan along with equipments. Her daughter wanted to start a small beauty parlour. She filled up the form and submitted it along with her documents. Within 6 months she got the money and beauty parlour equipment. Her brother got his own taxi in the same way. Housewives from economically backward families get sewing machines free of cost. My other domestic help had already told me that in his village everyone has constructed the toilets and they got the money in advance from the Govt. People have received Rs 1.5 lakhs for construction/repair of house under Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojna. This money is given in three installments and it’s directly credited into their bank accounts. LPG connections have been given free of cost to everyone. Girls get free bicycles, books to go to school.

These are true stories, verifiable. When I heard them, I was speechless. One has to actually go through the emotion to realise how it feels.

This brings me to the point I started with – fuel price hike. I am quite sure that it is not going to have any impact on 2019 LS elections. One thing is absolutely clear that Mr. Modi believes in winning elections through economic benefits route i.e DEVELOPMENT and not by doles, subsidies, freebies etc. Demand of petrol and diesel is exponentially increasing, showing about 5 to 10% increase every year. Keeping the prices unchanged gives higher revenue to the government which is used for social development schemes like Ayushman Bharat, Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojna, Mudra Yojna, Ujjwala revolution, Swachh Bharat mission etc, which are landmark initiatives.

We should try to understand that pump outlet price depends on global crude price, exchange rate and local taxes. Reductions through GST or by direct subsidy would amount to loss to the nation. UPA had forced oil companies not to raise prices and yet go on paying taxes to state and central Govt. To fulfill the shortfall, they issued huge IOUs to the tune of over Rs. 200,000/- to oil companies, countries like Iran, who were in a tough position due to sanctions. This information is there in the public domain. Read this superlative piece on petroleum prices, the mess created by UPA.

All those who are cribbing about the hike, why don’t they think about the huge savings which have come from prices falling in all other commodities, goods and services!

High fuel prices don’t affect the rich. They are feeling the heat for different reasons though. Being forced to sell prized assets to repay their ballooning debts. This is a first. Full credit to the Government for it.

The Prime Minister has a clear vision about what he wants to do for the country, for us and for the future generations. Therefore, our support to him should be unflinching. We should not get fooled by promises of reservations etc that some selfish politicians are deceiving us with. Their only agenda is to see the back of him at any cost. Do we want them to come back? We all know he has been causing sleepless nights to those involved in corruption, black money, hoarding, anti-social activities etc. Instead of blaming him for fuel price hike and asking for reduction, I urge everyone to extend their support to him in his fight against terrorism, corruption, poverty in his efforts for development.

Lastly, I also want to make an earnest plea to the government to create awareness about the work that is being done at such a massive scale. It has to be conveyed to the people as majority of them are not even aware of it. There is a serious lack of communication from the Govt in this regard. Information and broadcasting Minister could be given the responsibility of telling the people about these humongous achievements through REGULAR press briefings, advertisements in print Media, hoardings etc. Interviews with the beneficiaries of these schemes should be aired on TV. Talking about them in election rallies is pointless, just rhetoric. These are sentiments echoed by all well wishers of the Govt. I fervently hope that these are taken into account.

The journey is long and arduous but let’s all be part of it and contribute in whatever way we can for a better Bharat.

Hindu Munnani stages hunger strike protesting Vinayakar Chathurthi restrictions

lordofthebridge
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Hindu Munnani stages hunger strike protesting Vinayakar Chathurthi restrictions

CHENNAI . The ‘Hindu Munnani’ (Hindu Front) on Tuesday staged a hunger strike near Valluvar Kottam protesting against Tamil Nadu government’s 24 stringent conditions for celebrating Vinayakar Chathurthi (Ganesh Chaturthi) in the state. Their state president Kadeswara C. Subramaniam led the protest while over 1000 protesters including the Hindu Munnani founder Ramagopalan participated, local media reported.

Photo Credit: @hmrss1980 on Twitter

The state government had earlier issued a government order mandating that it was necessary to get NOCs from at least five different government departments before installing a Vinayakar idol in a public place. The GO also stipulated various other guidelines for the installation, procession, and immersion of Vinayakar idols. The Hindu Munnani said the GO violated the fundamental rights of Hindus and could make the preparations for the festival a bureaucratic nightmare.

When Hindu Munnani went to Madras High Court seeking the quashing of the Government Order, the Court refused the request. But the judge suggested to the state government a single-window system to clear all the applications to install Vinayakar idols and the Advocate General for the state government agreed to it. However, the Hindu Munnani maintains the state government targets only Hindu festivals.

Photo Credit: @hmrss1980 on Twitter

Speaking at the protest, Mr. Subramaniam said, “Government Order should be applicable to everyone. But the Tamil Nadu government targets specifically Hindu festivals to create unnecessary hurdles in order to stop the celebrations”, the local newspaper Daily Thanthi reported. The Chennai city president of the Hindu Munnani, T Elangovan, told India Today, “[T]he Dravidian parties in a way are worried about the unity that the Hindus in the state are having, and thus they are doing this.”

The hunger strike was called off late on Tuesday evening after police officials spoke to those who were protesting and assured them all the help to celebrate the festival in a smooth manner.

Vinayakar Chathurthi is celebrated on September 13 in the state. The Hindu Munnani plans to install 5080 Vinayakar idols in Chennai alone.

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