MONTH-IN-PERSPECTIVE
JAMMU & KASHMIR: Satya Pal means, one who protects truth. The latest incumbent into the Raj Bhavan in Srinagar, has his name Satya Pal Malik. The man was appointed by the central government to administer the state under president’s rule. Hence he is expected to report to the President of India. Clearly he seems to have his own logic and way of thinking and does not get influenced by forces external to his domain of operation. That is how it should be.
There was this report in the print media, which strangely somehow did not make to the social media, despite the potential for going viral. Reportedly, Reliance General Insurance Company (RGIC) was contracted by the J & K government to provide a group health insurance policy to the state government employees and its pensioners.
Anything Reliance has always generated a question of reliability since it involved Ambani siblings- Mukesh and Anil. It is well known that Ambani family, beginning with father Dhirubhai Ambani is a massive beneficiary of crony capitalism through the entire Indian political spectrum, be it Congress, BJP or others. Hence, if this Satya Pal, the protector of truth, thought something is wonky in the contract to RGIC, he cannot be faulted. “Taking a well informed view on all aspects and the concerns about the process involved, the government is of the opinion that in the interest of the government and for enhanced transparency, it would be judicious not to proceed further in the contract with the insurance firm”, was the stand of the government while deciding to fore close the contract.
Of course, in the absence of further details about the selection process of insurance firm, it is difficult to comment on the decision of the J&K government under governor Satya Pal Malik. However, it appears fairly straight forward as far as the J&K government is concerned in its dealing with issues concerning finance of the state. It clearly wants to protect the interest of the state, as expected of any government.
We wish good luck to Governor Malik in his efforts to bring transparency to J&K administration.
NEW DELHI: The entire political class and even media men and women, has gone to town to brand the decision of NDA II government in Delhi to give 10% reservation to economically weaker sections among upper caste as opportunistic, politically motivated and as vote bank politics. We are not wiser by these barbs. It is as clear as the day light that it is the Loksabha Election due in the next less than 100 days which has prompted the cabinet decision and therefore wisdom of political class and media men and women is superfluous. But the fact remains that the entire exercise of reservation per se is politically driven and is vote bank politics. It was alright to give reservation during the early part of free India as it was the need of the hour to empower those who are in the margins of socio-economic strata. Constitution makers provided this help of reservation for a decade or so. But it is the political class across the spectrum used it for political dividends only and not for the betterment of the class in question. And those who were benefitted early by the reservation exploited it to further their family interest rather than their less fortunate brethren in the community. Thus you have stories of Jagjivan Ram family or Mallikarjun Kharge family and there are many like them perpetuating the milking at the cost of those who did not have the political connection. Thus a huge section of this marginalized group remained cheated of the benefits of reservation. What is important is the skill development of members of this section which would truly lead them to economic emancipation, but that has not happened with successive governments of all parties whether in the centre or states.
However, what need to be appreciated is, this NDA II thought of reaping the electoral benefits by extending the 10% reservation to poor among the upper caste, which all governments could have done but were not bold enough to do it. This is similar to the triple talaq issue of Muslim women. All political parties and Muslim intellectuals are welcoming the measure to ban triple talaq but accusing the BJP of opportunism. But then these intellectuals also admit that other political parties too could have done but did not do.
Thus the fact remains that BJP, even if it is for electoral compulsions, is the only party that acted. For that they need to be commended, take it or leave it.
NEW DELHI: NDA II has come up with this Citizenship Amendment Bill to accommodate Hindus, Christian, Parsis etc. except Muslims from Pakistan Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It is a well known fact that all minorities in these countries are having a harrowing time and therefore the decision of NDA II has to be commended, in granting citizenship to the suffering crowd from across the border.
But there is a class of intellectuals, media men and women and politicians trying to look for only the perceived ‘wrong’ by this NDA government primarily because BJP is the dominant partner.
Now here is one Jyothi Punwani, a Mumbai based freelance journalist blaming NDA II, accusing squarely on the politics of alleged partisanship. She accuses NDA II of not including Muslims in their scheme of things under this bill. These interlocutors forget that Ahmediya’s are also Muslims, who are persecuted wholesale in Pakistan, and the above bill is accommodating them as well.
Thus, it is very clear that only those who are being persecuted in these countries are accommodated in the bill. In their hurry to fix everything Narendra Modi or BJP does, these intellectuals forget their sense of proportion.
This Jyothi Punwani had the stupid gumption to say ‘hopes and aspiration of these Muslims (in India) who had stayed back for the love of their land and home were crushed as brutally as were the hopes of many of the Hindus across the border who had chosen not to migrate’. This is a load of rubbish. Unlike the bestiality of Pakistanis, Indians were far far less violent with Muslims, that too in some minuscule pockets. Left to themselves Indian Muslims will not go to Pakistan, Bangladesh or Afghanistan and would prefer to stay in India, while good number of them overtly and covertly being friendly with Pakistan. This is a fact which is undeniable with all the idiosyncrasies and stupidities of a section of Hindus, Muslims in India are happy to stay and possibly proliferate too in India, whether openly they or their intellectuals admit it or not.
Jyothi Punwani end her piece with a salvo “BJP precursors did not participate in the fight for freedom, so they wouldn’t know this”, ascribing to the pain of partition. Clearly this lady is reading without book. She is only being a part of the brigade that is anti BJP. Here it is pertinent to insist that this writer is no RSS/BJP/VHP/ B. Dal card holder. I am only anti untruth masquerading as truth. Period.
NEW DELHI: There appears to be a worrying trend in most countries in the increasing incidence of antibiotic consumption, so says the report involving health researchers from India, US, Germany and Belgium.
According to researchers led by Prof Ramanan Laxminarayanan of the Centre for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) at Princeton University and University of Antwerp, antibiotic consumption rates increased worldwide from 11.3 to 15.7 Defined Daily Doses (DDD) per 1000 humans per day between 2000 & 2015. DDD is a statistical & standardized measure of drug consumption and represents the assumed average maintenance dose per day for drug used for its main indication in adults. However, in Low & Middle income countries (LMIC), this increase has been of much higher order, which truly increased the world average.
According to this study, amongst LMICs, India saw the highest increase of 103% in antibiotic use, followed by Pakistan and China, between the study periods covering 2005-2015. However, the most worrying aspect of this trend is the use of last resort antibiotic drug cephalosporin has increased dramatically in India. And per capita consumption of this class of drug is higher than most high income countries (HICs), informs the study published in the journal of National Academy of Sciences, the report states. Besides, consumption of Linezolid, another class of strong antibiotic has also increased dramatically in India, the report further states.
This is certainly worrying especially when close to two years have passed since UN General Assembly recognized the global threat of antibiotic resistance, and India did precious nothing to act on the danger of this emerging global health crisis in antibiotic resistance.
This development is a clear reflection on the medical fraternity which resorts to not only easy way out to treat sickness but also because it helps them exploit gullible patients. This not only enriches pharmaceutical industry but also the medical profession very unethically. There has to be measures to rein in medical profession so also attempt to educate common man besides sovereign national policies to control pharmaceutical industry the world over.
NEW DELHI: Media savvy Indians are in the know of what was happening in the CBI with both boss and his deputy having a running battle and how both, Alok Verma and Rakesh Asthana were relieved of their responsibility. However, with the intervention of Supreme Court, Alok Verma was reinstated, only to be transferred to another inconsequential post of similar grade.
Naturally all hell broke. Opposition called it desperate move of the government to save itself from the possible or imminent Rafale investigation by the former CBI chief Alok Verma. Some said, he was denied justice by not giving him a chance to explain his position, but was summarily transferred.
Prima facie, it appeared to be a desperate move to transfer Alok Verma without giving him a chance to hear him out. This dimension went on repeatedly on all media platforms including social media. This perception gained credibility when Justice Sikri who was in the panel that transferred Verma was offered a job in London post his retirement.
All thought goose cooked for Modi. But comes this news “Legal experts defend Verma’s removal”. And no less a person than former Supreme Court Justice Markandey Katju, came out in support of Verma’s removal as CBI chief giving cogent reasons. According to Justice Katju, it was the CVC brief which decided the fate of Alok Verma, where serious, prima facie, findings against Verma were recorded. The panel member Justice Sikri was clear that Verma should not remain in CBI, until CVC findings were fully investigated and a final decision given about the guilt or innocence of Verma, he should not remain in CBI as its Director.
And there were other senior lawyers too who agreed that Verma’s continuation as CBI director was untenable for many reasons. Besides apex court had given only a week’s time to decide the fate of Verma, and hence panel could not be faulted for deciding quickly to transfer Alok Verma. And that’s what happened.
UTTAR PRADESH: Whatever be the politics of it, the move by the Bharathiya Janatha party to appoint 100 women in UP as Triple Talaq Pramukhs is a novel move. Even if, its sole idea is to get votes, it is certainly worth it.
It is an acknowledged truth, that victims of this triple talaq is a harassed lot and there are surely hundreds and thousands of them who would be more than willing to assist these victims of time and circumstances. It needs to be appreciated that these victims need all kinds of help, especially a source of income to look after self and children, if any, which can bring their dignity back.
Triple Talaq is a malady that the community needs to address in all seriousness. But somehow, it has remained in limbo, with clergy taking a closed mind approach and most men and women somehow appear helpless to stand up to the clergy and its blind supporters.
In fact Triple talaq is not the only issue with these women, but a large section of them even do not like wearing burqa, but are forced into it by fathers, brothers and husbands of these women. The community needs to realize, that this burqa has kept women from merging into the mainstream and therefore has greatly kept them from personal advancement and growth, which they deserve and are keen.
Hope this new initiative by BJP, however opportunistic, if can be permitted to call so, will help these harassed women and take them towards a new dawn with their possible empowerment and integration through Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana of the union government, which these pramukhs are expected to assist to help them acquire.
UTTAR PRADESH: UP has a long history of history sheeters, rowdies and those who graduate to become mafia dons. Why this kind of a culture has come to grow and stay alive is an issue, media, political class and even social scientists should ponder. There is something not so healthy about Uttar Pradesh, although successive chief ministers have tried to call it ‘Uttam Pradesh’. And the unfortunate part of this bizarre dimension of Uttar Pradesh is the part played by the state police. More often either they are hand in gloves with these anti-socials or they simply are not concerned.
No wonder comes this story “Deoria Jail staff suspended over realtor’s torture by mafia don from inside the prison”.
We have heard of anti-social elements turned mafias running riot with their gun-matchet culture in open society. But here is a mafia don turned politician Atiq Ahmed Khan who is in the jail and his men abduct a realtor Mohit Jaiswal to extort money and bring him inside the Deoria jail and torture him in the presence of this notorious don and his son. This couldn’t have happened, if jail staff were not involved.
Quite frankly this whole incident wouldn’t have happened or could have been stopped mid way. But the police department acted only after Jaiswal lodged an FIR and inquiry followed.
While four jail staff has been suspended, the Jail Superintendent DK Pandey and Jailer Mukesh Katiyar are under investigation. Hope they too get suspended.
This is a clear case of police joining mafia and the obvious inaction by the police top brass. And Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath goes around harping that law and order in U.P has improved since he became the CM. His incompetence is glaring.
UTTAR PRADESH: Sanghpriya Gautam, supposedly a veteran leader of BJP has at least shown the gumption to express his mind. For some strange reasons, ever since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister and the face of BJP, open debates have become non-existent. It is true that it was the Modi wave that brought the BJP to power on its own, not the other way round. Modi recognizes that. Therefore what Modi says goes. He brooks no opposition. Therefore for Sanghpriya Gautam, a former Union Minister, to say what he said was reportedly a bombshell.
He is reported to have stated in a letter released to the press, ‘to make Union Minister Nitin Gadkari as Deputy Prime Minister, Home Minister Rajnath Singh as UP Chief Minister and dispatch Yogi Adityanath back to the temple. He has also suggested that former MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan should be made party president, while the current party president Amit Shah should do more hard work in Rajya Sabha where he is a member.
While admitting Narendra Modi as one of the tallest leader the country produced, he feels it may not be easy to repeat in 2019, what happened in 2014. According to him Modi Mantra is unlikely to work in 2019.
This is no short of a shock to an average BJP man, who felt none can stand up to Narendra Modi and talk openly. Sanghpriya Gautam, needs to be commended for his candid observation.
Of course, it is too late for Nitin Gadkari to be elevated. But other two may be possible. Yogi Adityanath is a misfit to be the Chief Minister of UP, may be Rajnath Singh could be good enough. Similarly Amit Shah can be replaced by Shivraj Singh Chouhan, a more pleasant person as party president.
Of course it is only wishful thinking and nothing of these sorts likely to happen. However what is important is that somebody mustered enough courage to openly talk about party and its affairs. That’s good for BJP.
RAJASTHAN: There was this news in the print media that High Court in Jaipur Rajasthan has ordered Robert Vadra and all directors of his Sky Line Hospitality Pvt. Ltd to appear before Enforcement Directorate for questioning on alleged irregularities in the purchase of land in the Kolayat region of Rajasthan.
Cases relating to land grabs or illegal acquisitions by Robert Vadra has stopped being news, since there have been many alleged scandals involving the son-in-law of late Rajeev Gandhi since last many years. But strangely nothing seem to happen to him. According to report, in January 2015, in Rajasthan only there were 18 FIRs registered based on complaints. But before that there have been reports of such illegal purchases through political patronage in Haryana. It had involved many big time real estate developers. But strangely, nothing serious developed to see the end of judicial process in all these allegations and FIRs. Either they have remained in a limbo or some unspoken settlement has taken place. In any case public is in dark as to what happened to these land deals in Haryana involving this company owned by Vadra and his family and why is he roaming free!
Coming to this Rajasthan case, the single judge bench of the Rajasthan High Court, while insisting on attendance by Vadras, to the interrogation by ED, it has stopped the police from arresting Robert Vadra and his mother Maureen Vadra. Reportedly the modus operendi of Vadra has been same, as it was in Haryana. He allegedly connived with some staff of state revenue department to grab government lands in Kolayat between 2007 and 2010, to get it allocated to some non-existent poor villagers under Rajasthan governments rehabilitation scheme and was later bought by alleged fake private firms and sold to Sky Line Hospitality Pvt. Ltd at throw away prices. Here it is pertinent to note that there was Congress party led government in Rajasthan similar to Haryana those days. And Robert Vadra’s mother-in-law is Sonia Gandhi who was also the Congress President. Hope 2019 proves that Robert Vadra & family cannot escape the legal process of the country.
MAHARASHTRA: For far too long this chief of family-run political party Shiv Sena has been behaving as if, he and his party are indispensable to his coalition senior partner BJP, and harped incessantly through his ‘Maarmik’, the party mouth piece.
BJP allowed Shiv Sena a free run in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) by not sharing power despite being second in number of seats in the corporation, so that at least the party leadership will behave sensibly. But that was not to be. Shiv Sena is having ministers in the Maharashtra government headed by BJP Chief Minister. Despite coalition, they had voted against BJP in the first test on the floor of the assembly, when NCP came to its rescue since Uddhav Thackeray was not made the chief minister. Deputy CM’s position was below his arrogant dignity, and therefore did not accept. It was patently wrong to expect CM’s position when you are not the major partner in the coalition who had more seats. BJP had won more seats and therefore justifiably CM had to be from that party. This refusal to give Uddhav Thackeray the CM’s gaddi had rankled him all along and ever since has been attacking BJP and Modi continuously in ‘Maarmik’ the Shiv Sena weekly.
And comes Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of RSS, BJPs mother & father, with all guns blazing, using the same weapon like Shiv Sena. ‘Tarun Bharat’, is the powerful mouth piece of RSS, and Bhagwat used it to the hilt. The editorial piece was reportedly severely critical of Uddhav Thackeray in particular, for being unreasonably critical of BJP led government, both at Centre and State. “Uddhav seems to have lost track of who he is, where he is, with whom he is allied, what he should speak or should not speak” said the critical editorial. Taking the attack further, on Uddhav’s criticism of Prime Minister Modi, the editorial remarked “if he cannot see the hard work of our Prime Minister, who works for 18 hours at a stretch and still calls him kumbhkarna, then he is blind and deaf”, while adding “Uddhav is speaking without thinking and in the forth coming election, the public will teach him a lesson”.
The attack clearly was very hard that would take this arrogant Thackeray scion long time to read, re-read and come to terms with. He must realize that either himself, nor his party Shiv Sena are comparable to any top leaders of BJP, let alone Narendra Modi, or a national party like BJP or RSS mouth piece Tarun Bharat. Hope this will make him more circumspect and wise, to control his verbose and understand the ground reality.
MAHARASHTRA: Men dying inside the manhole do not seem to make news to most Indians. But who are they, who take up such menial jobs clearing sewage which is highly toxic? Mahatma had observed long ago, those who clean the garbage are better than those who generate garbage. That may well be so. But what is the ground condition.
For all these 70 years of post independent India, reportedly on an average one death takes place every day in these kinds of mishaps. Successive governments have enacted legislation to ban practice of men entering manholes to clear the muck. But the practice has gone on uninterrupted.
The report from North West Mumbai informs, “Three untrained labourers choke to death in sewage treatment plant in Mira Road” do not seem to have disturbed either the Mira Road residents or the authorities. They have just treated the whole thing as an accident and may be even arrest the contractor who had employed these three labourers, who went into the open chamber at the treatment plant one after the other. And life goes on. Just the other day, reportedly two had died similarly along with the contractor in Panvel under similar circumstances. Why these things keep happening, are their lives dispensable, cheap!?
Reportedly these three workers, who were picked up from Mira Road station had no-protective gear. There has to be full mask and whole body cover as you get into deep manholes, full of toxic gases held up for years, sometime. Only minutes are enough to choke one to death, with no escape possibility. That is how, the one who follows to find out what happened to the first one, also never returns alive. It happens every time but no lessons learnt.
Tragedy of India is there is no dearth of law but its enforcement is rather poor. That is how these mishaps keep happening at regular intervals. When will the deliverance come to this section of society who is generally being used as conservancy workers who risk everything to make a living?
KARNATAKA: Reported incident of throwing pork meat near a mosque in Kirimanjeshwara village in Byndoor, is clearly mischievous. The perpetrators of this mischief, which can be called a crime that can cause social unrest, should be severely dealt with. In fact they should be jailed without bail at least for some time, to make them realize how dangerous it can be.
The five youths, who have been arrested, have reportedly planned this mischief well before executing it and therefore should be detained in jail. If they had planned to create communal unrest as reported then it is a serious matter. Reportedly police have acted fast in arresting the mischief mongers. This quick action by police will surely send the message that they mean business. They must investigate, if there are others involved as their supporters.
Tendencies to create communal tension should be nipped in the bud. Kudos to Udupi police.
KERALA: Something is rotten the way church in Kerala treats those nuns who supported the victim of rape by this disrobed and disgraced former bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar Diocese.
It was the height of immorality for the laity and part of clergy in the Jalandhar Diocese to have joyously received this lecherous senior clergy Mulakkal, after he was released from jail on getting a bail. But the authorities in church in Kochi, led by Sr. Anna Joseph, Superior General, Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC), warning of actions and consequences merely for supporting the victim of Franco Mulakkal’s lecherous attacks, is an insult to the very tenets of equity within the portals of church.
Ever since a group of nuns led by Sr. Lucy has been spearheading for action against this disgraced senior clergy, who is probably not fit to be called Bishop, Franco Mulakkal, the church in Kerala has been harassing her and she has been alienated by other nuns and priests. Reportedly, she is also constantly getting threat on social media, for the stand she has taken.
Latest in the series of letters to tighten the grip on Sr. Lucy, she has been accused of disobedience against the church and violations of the rule of cloister by allowing a journalist to stay with her. So also her interviews and interaction with media, has attracted reprimand by this Superior General, Sr. Anna Joseph. Reportedly, the journalist stayed with Sr. Lucy is her relative’s daughter and couldn’t find a place to stay for the night, when she visited the cloister.
What is sad and bad is a whistle blower Father Augustine Vattoli of Syro Malabar Church, has been targeted by his own order so also Catholic Church order for only asking for justice, while the kind of acceptance this lecherous senior clergy Franco Mulakkal gets from nuns and priests, who have rallied behind him.
The tragedy is, instead of letting this Franco rot in jail, the Kerala High Court judge Raja Vijayaraghavan granting him bail, which was earlier refused by the session’s court. And soon thereafter Father Kuriakose, a witness against this criminal Franco Mulakkal, was found dead.
How did he die? Was it a murder? No last word has been said about this death.
According to information available in the public space, Sr. Lucy has complained to State Women’s Commission, Director General Police and even higher authorities of church against the threats and abuse, but sadly no one has responded so for. And this is under our great communist democrate Pinarayi Vijayan, the Chief Minister of Kerala. This gentleman who is never tired of giving lectures on human rights and finds enough time and spirit to organize forced entry of women into Sabarimala temple has done nothing to protect the victim and those nuns supporting her from Kuravilangad convent, who have been asked to leave the convent by the Missionaries of Jesus Congregation, despite written appeals. What a farce! What a disgrace Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan, the chief minister of a model state like Kerala!
WORLD: Pakistani cricketer turned politician Imran Khan’s foot in mouth syndrome is fairly known by now. He thinks, he is class apart from other Pakistani politicians, due to his aristocratic upbringing and his English education. But, for some strange reasons funnily he thinks he is superior to even Indian politicians. In particular, he does not seem to like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He had the temerity to compare himself as a big man in big position and Modi as a small man in big position. One wonders if there is any comparison between India and Pakistan in any respect. There is absolutely no comparison between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his current Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan. With all the controversy surrounding Narendra Modi, he is undoubtedly a global leader, unlike a political upstart called Imran Khan who is certainly an accidental prime minister of a country, which in the words of a former U.S Secretary of State Madeline Albright, ‘an international migraine’.
Be that as it may, his latest barb has singled him out as someone totally out of sync with the ground reality. A Lahore datelined news informs that he has again compared to the treatment of minorities in Pakistan to that of India.
Speaking on the occasion of Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s birthday, he is reported to have remarked “Naya Pakistan is Quid’s Pakistan and will ensure that our minorities are treated as equal citizens unlike what is happening in India”.
Right enough, India’s very own celebrated cricketer of yester years Mohammed Kaif had reacted that “Pakistan is the last country that should be lecturing any country on how to treat minorities”. That must put at rest any misgivings this joker of an Imran Khan is having about his own Pakistan. Do you hearken Ms. Jyothi Punwani! She was moaning about the grossly stupidly imagined barb “How they (Indian Muslims) were crushed as brutally as were the hopes of many Hindus across the border who had not chosen to migrate”. She was commenting on the Citizens Amendment Bill 2019 in the print media.
Thank God there are likes of Mohammed Kaif, who played stellar roles on many occasions for the Indian cricket, and there are so many like him, who would stand by him in reiterating their Indianness.
Indeed likes of Imran Khan, and equally there are many like him, need to learn some lessons in public postures on sensitive issues like treatment of minorities either in Pakistan or in India from likes of Mohammed Kaif. Two cheers to Mohammed Kaif.
WORLD: The report, ‘Sri Lankan Minister criticizes Mandarin sign boards at China Funded projects’, need not surprise anybody.
It has happened to Pakistan and it will happen to Sri Lanka and it is bound to happen to all countries who take financial help from the communist super power, the People’s Republic of China.
If China has invested in Sri Lanka, it is not out of love. It is business and strategy. It wants to use its huge deposit of surplus to grow further so also it wants to make India uncomfortable by strengthening its presence in India’s neighborhood.
Sri Lanka allowed China to invest in Hambantota, to have an international port with latest infrastructure without realizing the financial implications. Now Sri Lanka has handed over Hambantota to China on 99 years lease since it could not repay the debt of investment. So China wants to show its supremacy by having Chinese language (Mandarin) sign boards in and around Hambantota, without Sinhala or Tamil. Sinhala & Tamil are two official languages of Sri Lanka. Naturally the Sinhala pride is hurt. They want to correct it unilaterally. Surely China may not be able to stop it. But the disquiet is bound to increase, with Chinese interference in Sinhala affairs and possible resistance from Sri Lankans.
In Pakistan, there have been killings of Chinese personnel by Pakistanis unhappy with the way Chinese control things. This is only the beginning and tension is bound to increase in coming days.
Long ago George Fernandes, as the then Defence Minister of India had the vision to see the Chinese hegemonistic tendency and on record had stated 'China is the number one enemy of India’. How prophetic he was!
J. Shriyan
There was this report in the print media, which strangely somehow did not make to the social media, despite the potential for going viral. Reportedly, Reliance General Insurance Company (RGIC) was contracted by the J & K government to provide a group health insurance policy to the state government employees and its pensioners.
Anything Reliance has always generated a question of reliability since it involved Ambani siblings- Mukesh and Anil. It is well known that Ambani family, beginning with father Dhirubhai Ambani is a massive beneficiary of crony capitalism through the entire Indian political spectrum, be it Congress, BJP or others. Hence, if this Satya Pal, the protector of truth, thought something is wonky in the contract to RGIC, he cannot be faulted. “Taking a well informed view on all aspects and the concerns about the process involved, the government is of the opinion that in the interest of the government and for enhanced transparency, it would be judicious not to proceed further in the contract with the insurance firm”, was the stand of the government while deciding to fore close the contract.
Of course, in the absence of further details about the selection process of insurance firm, it is difficult to comment on the decision of the J&K government under governor Satya Pal Malik. However, it appears fairly straight forward as far as the J&K government is concerned in its dealing with issues concerning finance of the state. It clearly wants to protect the interest of the state, as expected of any government.
We wish good luck to Governor Malik in his efforts to bring transparency to J&K administration.
NEW DELHI: The entire political class and even media men and women, has gone to town to brand the decision of NDA II government in Delhi to give 10% reservation to economically weaker sections among upper caste as opportunistic, politically motivated and as vote bank politics. We are not wiser by these barbs. It is as clear as the day light that it is the Loksabha Election due in the next less than 100 days which has prompted the cabinet decision and therefore wisdom of political class and media men and women is superfluous. But the fact remains that the entire exercise of reservation per se is politically driven and is vote bank politics. It was alright to give reservation during the early part of free India as it was the need of the hour to empower those who are in the margins of socio-economic strata. Constitution makers provided this help of reservation for a decade or so. But it is the political class across the spectrum used it for political dividends only and not for the betterment of the class in question. And those who were benefitted early by the reservation exploited it to further their family interest rather than their less fortunate brethren in the community. Thus you have stories of Jagjivan Ram family or Mallikarjun Kharge family and there are many like them perpetuating the milking at the cost of those who did not have the political connection. Thus a huge section of this marginalized group remained cheated of the benefits of reservation. What is important is the skill development of members of this section which would truly lead them to economic emancipation, but that has not happened with successive governments of all parties whether in the centre or states.
However, what need to be appreciated is, this NDA II thought of reaping the electoral benefits by extending the 10% reservation to poor among the upper caste, which all governments could have done but were not bold enough to do it. This is similar to the triple talaq issue of Muslim women. All political parties and Muslim intellectuals are welcoming the measure to ban triple talaq but accusing the BJP of opportunism. But then these intellectuals also admit that other political parties too could have done but did not do.
Thus the fact remains that BJP, even if it is for electoral compulsions, is the only party that acted. For that they need to be commended, take it or leave it.
NEW DELHI: NDA II has come up with this Citizenship Amendment Bill to accommodate Hindus, Christian, Parsis etc. except Muslims from Pakistan Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It is a well known fact that all minorities in these countries are having a harrowing time and therefore the decision of NDA II has to be commended, in granting citizenship to the suffering crowd from across the border.
But there is a class of intellectuals, media men and women and politicians trying to look for only the perceived ‘wrong’ by this NDA government primarily because BJP is the dominant partner.
Now here is one Jyothi Punwani, a Mumbai based freelance journalist blaming NDA II, accusing squarely on the politics of alleged partisanship. She accuses NDA II of not including Muslims in their scheme of things under this bill. These interlocutors forget that Ahmediya’s are also Muslims, who are persecuted wholesale in Pakistan, and the above bill is accommodating them as well.
Thus, it is very clear that only those who are being persecuted in these countries are accommodated in the bill. In their hurry to fix everything Narendra Modi or BJP does, these intellectuals forget their sense of proportion.
This Jyothi Punwani had the stupid gumption to say ‘hopes and aspiration of these Muslims (in India) who had stayed back for the love of their land and home were crushed as brutally as were the hopes of many of the Hindus across the border who had chosen not to migrate’. This is a load of rubbish. Unlike the bestiality of Pakistanis, Indians were far far less violent with Muslims, that too in some minuscule pockets. Left to themselves Indian Muslims will not go to Pakistan, Bangladesh or Afghanistan and would prefer to stay in India, while good number of them overtly and covertly being friendly with Pakistan. This is a fact which is undeniable with all the idiosyncrasies and stupidities of a section of Hindus, Muslims in India are happy to stay and possibly proliferate too in India, whether openly they or their intellectuals admit it or not.
Jyothi Punwani end her piece with a salvo “BJP precursors did not participate in the fight for freedom, so they wouldn’t know this”, ascribing to the pain of partition. Clearly this lady is reading without book. She is only being a part of the brigade that is anti BJP. Here it is pertinent to insist that this writer is no RSS/BJP/VHP/ B. Dal card holder. I am only anti untruth masquerading as truth. Period.
NEW DELHI: There appears to be a worrying trend in most countries in the increasing incidence of antibiotic consumption, so says the report involving health researchers from India, US, Germany and Belgium.
According to researchers led by Prof Ramanan Laxminarayanan of the Centre for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) at Princeton University and University of Antwerp, antibiotic consumption rates increased worldwide from 11.3 to 15.7 Defined Daily Doses (DDD) per 1000 humans per day between 2000 & 2015. DDD is a statistical & standardized measure of drug consumption and represents the assumed average maintenance dose per day for drug used for its main indication in adults. However, in Low & Middle income countries (LMIC), this increase has been of much higher order, which truly increased the world average.
According to this study, amongst LMICs, India saw the highest increase of 103% in antibiotic use, followed by Pakistan and China, between the study periods covering 2005-2015. However, the most worrying aspect of this trend is the use of last resort antibiotic drug cephalosporin has increased dramatically in India. And per capita consumption of this class of drug is higher than most high income countries (HICs), informs the study published in the journal of National Academy of Sciences, the report states. Besides, consumption of Linezolid, another class of strong antibiotic has also increased dramatically in India, the report further states.
This is certainly worrying especially when close to two years have passed since UN General Assembly recognized the global threat of antibiotic resistance, and India did precious nothing to act on the danger of this emerging global health crisis in antibiotic resistance.
This development is a clear reflection on the medical fraternity which resorts to not only easy way out to treat sickness but also because it helps them exploit gullible patients. This not only enriches pharmaceutical industry but also the medical profession very unethically. There has to be measures to rein in medical profession so also attempt to educate common man besides sovereign national policies to control pharmaceutical industry the world over.
NEW DELHI: Media savvy Indians are in the know of what was happening in the CBI with both boss and his deputy having a running battle and how both, Alok Verma and Rakesh Asthana were relieved of their responsibility. However, with the intervention of Supreme Court, Alok Verma was reinstated, only to be transferred to another inconsequential post of similar grade.
Naturally all hell broke. Opposition called it desperate move of the government to save itself from the possible or imminent Rafale investigation by the former CBI chief Alok Verma. Some said, he was denied justice by not giving him a chance to explain his position, but was summarily transferred.
Prima facie, it appeared to be a desperate move to transfer Alok Verma without giving him a chance to hear him out. This dimension went on repeatedly on all media platforms including social media. This perception gained credibility when Justice Sikri who was in the panel that transferred Verma was offered a job in London post his retirement.
All thought goose cooked for Modi. But comes this news “Legal experts defend Verma’s removal”. And no less a person than former Supreme Court Justice Markandey Katju, came out in support of Verma’s removal as CBI chief giving cogent reasons. According to Justice Katju, it was the CVC brief which decided the fate of Alok Verma, where serious, prima facie, findings against Verma were recorded. The panel member Justice Sikri was clear that Verma should not remain in CBI, until CVC findings were fully investigated and a final decision given about the guilt or innocence of Verma, he should not remain in CBI as its Director.
And there were other senior lawyers too who agreed that Verma’s continuation as CBI director was untenable for many reasons. Besides apex court had given only a week’s time to decide the fate of Verma, and hence panel could not be faulted for deciding quickly to transfer Alok Verma. And that’s what happened.
UTTAR PRADESH: Whatever be the politics of it, the move by the Bharathiya Janatha party to appoint 100 women in UP as Triple Talaq Pramukhs is a novel move. Even if, its sole idea is to get votes, it is certainly worth it.
It is an acknowledged truth, that victims of this triple talaq is a harassed lot and there are surely hundreds and thousands of them who would be more than willing to assist these victims of time and circumstances. It needs to be appreciated that these victims need all kinds of help, especially a source of income to look after self and children, if any, which can bring their dignity back.
Triple Talaq is a malady that the community needs to address in all seriousness. But somehow, it has remained in limbo, with clergy taking a closed mind approach and most men and women somehow appear helpless to stand up to the clergy and its blind supporters.
In fact Triple talaq is not the only issue with these women, but a large section of them even do not like wearing burqa, but are forced into it by fathers, brothers and husbands of these women. The community needs to realize, that this burqa has kept women from merging into the mainstream and therefore has greatly kept them from personal advancement and growth, which they deserve and are keen.
Hope this new initiative by BJP, however opportunistic, if can be permitted to call so, will help these harassed women and take them towards a new dawn with their possible empowerment and integration through Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana of the union government, which these pramukhs are expected to assist to help them acquire.
UTTAR PRADESH: UP has a long history of history sheeters, rowdies and those who graduate to become mafia dons. Why this kind of a culture has come to grow and stay alive is an issue, media, political class and even social scientists should ponder. There is something not so healthy about Uttar Pradesh, although successive chief ministers have tried to call it ‘Uttam Pradesh’. And the unfortunate part of this bizarre dimension of Uttar Pradesh is the part played by the state police. More often either they are hand in gloves with these anti-socials or they simply are not concerned.
No wonder comes this story “Deoria Jail staff suspended over realtor’s torture by mafia don from inside the prison”.
We have heard of anti-social elements turned mafias running riot with their gun-matchet culture in open society. But here is a mafia don turned politician Atiq Ahmed Khan who is in the jail and his men abduct a realtor Mohit Jaiswal to extort money and bring him inside the Deoria jail and torture him in the presence of this notorious don and his son. This couldn’t have happened, if jail staff were not involved.
Quite frankly this whole incident wouldn’t have happened or could have been stopped mid way. But the police department acted only after Jaiswal lodged an FIR and inquiry followed.
While four jail staff has been suspended, the Jail Superintendent DK Pandey and Jailer Mukesh Katiyar are under investigation. Hope they too get suspended.
This is a clear case of police joining mafia and the obvious inaction by the police top brass. And Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath goes around harping that law and order in U.P has improved since he became the CM. His incompetence is glaring.
UTTAR PRADESH: Sanghpriya Gautam, supposedly a veteran leader of BJP has at least shown the gumption to express his mind. For some strange reasons, ever since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister and the face of BJP, open debates have become non-existent. It is true that it was the Modi wave that brought the BJP to power on its own, not the other way round. Modi recognizes that. Therefore what Modi says goes. He brooks no opposition. Therefore for Sanghpriya Gautam, a former Union Minister, to say what he said was reportedly a bombshell.
He is reported to have stated in a letter released to the press, ‘to make Union Minister Nitin Gadkari as Deputy Prime Minister, Home Minister Rajnath Singh as UP Chief Minister and dispatch Yogi Adityanath back to the temple. He has also suggested that former MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan should be made party president, while the current party president Amit Shah should do more hard work in Rajya Sabha where he is a member.
While admitting Narendra Modi as one of the tallest leader the country produced, he feels it may not be easy to repeat in 2019, what happened in 2014. According to him Modi Mantra is unlikely to work in 2019.
This is no short of a shock to an average BJP man, who felt none can stand up to Narendra Modi and talk openly. Sanghpriya Gautam, needs to be commended for his candid observation.
Of course, it is too late for Nitin Gadkari to be elevated. But other two may be possible. Yogi Adityanath is a misfit to be the Chief Minister of UP, may be Rajnath Singh could be good enough. Similarly Amit Shah can be replaced by Shivraj Singh Chouhan, a more pleasant person as party president.
Of course it is only wishful thinking and nothing of these sorts likely to happen. However what is important is that somebody mustered enough courage to openly talk about party and its affairs. That’s good for BJP.
RAJASTHAN: There was this news in the print media that High Court in Jaipur Rajasthan has ordered Robert Vadra and all directors of his Sky Line Hospitality Pvt. Ltd to appear before Enforcement Directorate for questioning on alleged irregularities in the purchase of land in the Kolayat region of Rajasthan.
Cases relating to land grabs or illegal acquisitions by Robert Vadra has stopped being news, since there have been many alleged scandals involving the son-in-law of late Rajeev Gandhi since last many years. But strangely nothing seem to happen to him. According to report, in January 2015, in Rajasthan only there were 18 FIRs registered based on complaints. But before that there have been reports of such illegal purchases through political patronage in Haryana. It had involved many big time real estate developers. But strangely, nothing serious developed to see the end of judicial process in all these allegations and FIRs. Either they have remained in a limbo or some unspoken settlement has taken place. In any case public is in dark as to what happened to these land deals in Haryana involving this company owned by Vadra and his family and why is he roaming free!
Coming to this Rajasthan case, the single judge bench of the Rajasthan High Court, while insisting on attendance by Vadras, to the interrogation by ED, it has stopped the police from arresting Robert Vadra and his mother Maureen Vadra. Reportedly the modus operendi of Vadra has been same, as it was in Haryana. He allegedly connived with some staff of state revenue department to grab government lands in Kolayat between 2007 and 2010, to get it allocated to some non-existent poor villagers under Rajasthan governments rehabilitation scheme and was later bought by alleged fake private firms and sold to Sky Line Hospitality Pvt. Ltd at throw away prices. Here it is pertinent to note that there was Congress party led government in Rajasthan similar to Haryana those days. And Robert Vadra’s mother-in-law is Sonia Gandhi who was also the Congress President. Hope 2019 proves that Robert Vadra & family cannot escape the legal process of the country.
MAHARASHTRA: For far too long this chief of family-run political party Shiv Sena has been behaving as if, he and his party are indispensable to his coalition senior partner BJP, and harped incessantly through his ‘Maarmik’, the party mouth piece.
BJP allowed Shiv Sena a free run in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) by not sharing power despite being second in number of seats in the corporation, so that at least the party leadership will behave sensibly. But that was not to be. Shiv Sena is having ministers in the Maharashtra government headed by BJP Chief Minister. Despite coalition, they had voted against BJP in the first test on the floor of the assembly, when NCP came to its rescue since Uddhav Thackeray was not made the chief minister. Deputy CM’s position was below his arrogant dignity, and therefore did not accept. It was patently wrong to expect CM’s position when you are not the major partner in the coalition who had more seats. BJP had won more seats and therefore justifiably CM had to be from that party. This refusal to give Uddhav Thackeray the CM’s gaddi had rankled him all along and ever since has been attacking BJP and Modi continuously in ‘Maarmik’ the Shiv Sena weekly.
And comes Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of RSS, BJPs mother & father, with all guns blazing, using the same weapon like Shiv Sena. ‘Tarun Bharat’, is the powerful mouth piece of RSS, and Bhagwat used it to the hilt. The editorial piece was reportedly severely critical of Uddhav Thackeray in particular, for being unreasonably critical of BJP led government, both at Centre and State. “Uddhav seems to have lost track of who he is, where he is, with whom he is allied, what he should speak or should not speak” said the critical editorial. Taking the attack further, on Uddhav’s criticism of Prime Minister Modi, the editorial remarked “if he cannot see the hard work of our Prime Minister, who works for 18 hours at a stretch and still calls him kumbhkarna, then he is blind and deaf”, while adding “Uddhav is speaking without thinking and in the forth coming election, the public will teach him a lesson”.
The attack clearly was very hard that would take this arrogant Thackeray scion long time to read, re-read and come to terms with. He must realize that either himself, nor his party Shiv Sena are comparable to any top leaders of BJP, let alone Narendra Modi, or a national party like BJP or RSS mouth piece Tarun Bharat. Hope this will make him more circumspect and wise, to control his verbose and understand the ground reality.
MAHARASHTRA: Men dying inside the manhole do not seem to make news to most Indians. But who are they, who take up such menial jobs clearing sewage which is highly toxic? Mahatma had observed long ago, those who clean the garbage are better than those who generate garbage. That may well be so. But what is the ground condition.
For all these 70 years of post independent India, reportedly on an average one death takes place every day in these kinds of mishaps. Successive governments have enacted legislation to ban practice of men entering manholes to clear the muck. But the practice has gone on uninterrupted.
The report from North West Mumbai informs, “Three untrained labourers choke to death in sewage treatment plant in Mira Road” do not seem to have disturbed either the Mira Road residents or the authorities. They have just treated the whole thing as an accident and may be even arrest the contractor who had employed these three labourers, who went into the open chamber at the treatment plant one after the other. And life goes on. Just the other day, reportedly two had died similarly along with the contractor in Panvel under similar circumstances. Why these things keep happening, are their lives dispensable, cheap!?
Reportedly these three workers, who were picked up from Mira Road station had no-protective gear. There has to be full mask and whole body cover as you get into deep manholes, full of toxic gases held up for years, sometime. Only minutes are enough to choke one to death, with no escape possibility. That is how, the one who follows to find out what happened to the first one, also never returns alive. It happens every time but no lessons learnt.
Tragedy of India is there is no dearth of law but its enforcement is rather poor. That is how these mishaps keep happening at regular intervals. When will the deliverance come to this section of society who is generally being used as conservancy workers who risk everything to make a living?
KARNATAKA: Reported incident of throwing pork meat near a mosque in Kirimanjeshwara village in Byndoor, is clearly mischievous. The perpetrators of this mischief, which can be called a crime that can cause social unrest, should be severely dealt with. In fact they should be jailed without bail at least for some time, to make them realize how dangerous it can be.
The five youths, who have been arrested, have reportedly planned this mischief well before executing it and therefore should be detained in jail. If they had planned to create communal unrest as reported then it is a serious matter. Reportedly police have acted fast in arresting the mischief mongers. This quick action by police will surely send the message that they mean business. They must investigate, if there are others involved as their supporters.
Tendencies to create communal tension should be nipped in the bud. Kudos to Udupi police.
KERALA: Something is rotten the way church in Kerala treats those nuns who supported the victim of rape by this disrobed and disgraced former bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar Diocese.
It was the height of immorality for the laity and part of clergy in the Jalandhar Diocese to have joyously received this lecherous senior clergy Mulakkal, after he was released from jail on getting a bail. But the authorities in church in Kochi, led by Sr. Anna Joseph, Superior General, Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC), warning of actions and consequences merely for supporting the victim of Franco Mulakkal’s lecherous attacks, is an insult to the very tenets of equity within the portals of church.
Ever since a group of nuns led by Sr. Lucy has been spearheading for action against this disgraced senior clergy, who is probably not fit to be called Bishop, Franco Mulakkal, the church in Kerala has been harassing her and she has been alienated by other nuns and priests. Reportedly, she is also constantly getting threat on social media, for the stand she has taken.
Latest in the series of letters to tighten the grip on Sr. Lucy, she has been accused of disobedience against the church and violations of the rule of cloister by allowing a journalist to stay with her. So also her interviews and interaction with media, has attracted reprimand by this Superior General, Sr. Anna Joseph. Reportedly, the journalist stayed with Sr. Lucy is her relative’s daughter and couldn’t find a place to stay for the night, when she visited the cloister.
What is sad and bad is a whistle blower Father Augustine Vattoli of Syro Malabar Church, has been targeted by his own order so also Catholic Church order for only asking for justice, while the kind of acceptance this lecherous senior clergy Franco Mulakkal gets from nuns and priests, who have rallied behind him.
The tragedy is, instead of letting this Franco rot in jail, the Kerala High Court judge Raja Vijayaraghavan granting him bail, which was earlier refused by the session’s court. And soon thereafter Father Kuriakose, a witness against this criminal Franco Mulakkal, was found dead.
How did he die? Was it a murder? No last word has been said about this death.
According to information available in the public space, Sr. Lucy has complained to State Women’s Commission, Director General Police and even higher authorities of church against the threats and abuse, but sadly no one has responded so for. And this is under our great communist democrate Pinarayi Vijayan, the Chief Minister of Kerala. This gentleman who is never tired of giving lectures on human rights and finds enough time and spirit to organize forced entry of women into Sabarimala temple has done nothing to protect the victim and those nuns supporting her from Kuravilangad convent, who have been asked to leave the convent by the Missionaries of Jesus Congregation, despite written appeals. What a farce! What a disgrace Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan, the chief minister of a model state like Kerala!
WORLD: Pakistani cricketer turned politician Imran Khan’s foot in mouth syndrome is fairly known by now. He thinks, he is class apart from other Pakistani politicians, due to his aristocratic upbringing and his English education. But, for some strange reasons funnily he thinks he is superior to even Indian politicians. In particular, he does not seem to like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He had the temerity to compare himself as a big man in big position and Modi as a small man in big position. One wonders if there is any comparison between India and Pakistan in any respect. There is absolutely no comparison between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his current Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan. With all the controversy surrounding Narendra Modi, he is undoubtedly a global leader, unlike a political upstart called Imran Khan who is certainly an accidental prime minister of a country, which in the words of a former U.S Secretary of State Madeline Albright, ‘an international migraine’.
Be that as it may, his latest barb has singled him out as someone totally out of sync with the ground reality. A Lahore datelined news informs that he has again compared to the treatment of minorities in Pakistan to that of India.
Speaking on the occasion of Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s birthday, he is reported to have remarked “Naya Pakistan is Quid’s Pakistan and will ensure that our minorities are treated as equal citizens unlike what is happening in India”.
Right enough, India’s very own celebrated cricketer of yester years Mohammed Kaif had reacted that “Pakistan is the last country that should be lecturing any country on how to treat minorities”. That must put at rest any misgivings this joker of an Imran Khan is having about his own Pakistan. Do you hearken Ms. Jyothi Punwani! She was moaning about the grossly stupidly imagined barb “How they (Indian Muslims) were crushed as brutally as were the hopes of many Hindus across the border who had not chosen to migrate”. She was commenting on the Citizens Amendment Bill 2019 in the print media.
Thank God there are likes of Mohammed Kaif, who played stellar roles on many occasions for the Indian cricket, and there are so many like him, who would stand by him in reiterating their Indianness.
Indeed likes of Imran Khan, and equally there are many like him, need to learn some lessons in public postures on sensitive issues like treatment of minorities either in Pakistan or in India from likes of Mohammed Kaif. Two cheers to Mohammed Kaif.
WORLD: The report, ‘Sri Lankan Minister criticizes Mandarin sign boards at China Funded projects’, need not surprise anybody.
It has happened to Pakistan and it will happen to Sri Lanka and it is bound to happen to all countries who take financial help from the communist super power, the People’s Republic of China.
If China has invested in Sri Lanka, it is not out of love. It is business and strategy. It wants to use its huge deposit of surplus to grow further so also it wants to make India uncomfortable by strengthening its presence in India’s neighborhood.
Sri Lanka allowed China to invest in Hambantota, to have an international port with latest infrastructure without realizing the financial implications. Now Sri Lanka has handed over Hambantota to China on 99 years lease since it could not repay the debt of investment. So China wants to show its supremacy by having Chinese language (Mandarin) sign boards in and around Hambantota, without Sinhala or Tamil. Sinhala & Tamil are two official languages of Sri Lanka. Naturally the Sinhala pride is hurt. They want to correct it unilaterally. Surely China may not be able to stop it. But the disquiet is bound to increase, with Chinese interference in Sinhala affairs and possible resistance from Sri Lankans.
In Pakistan, there have been killings of Chinese personnel by Pakistanis unhappy with the way Chinese control things. This is only the beginning and tension is bound to increase in coming days.
Long ago George Fernandes, as the then Defence Minister of India had the vision to see the Chinese hegemonistic tendency and on record had stated 'China is the number one enemy of India’. How prophetic he was!
J. Shriyan
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