Advantage Modi 8-2015

Advantage Modi 8-2015                                                                                              07/02/2015

Visit of US President Barack Obama to India was a personal triumph for PM Modi. How far we would go on the nuclear deal is a point to ponder. Renewal of Defence cooperation is a ten year ritual. The US equipment is extraordinarily expensive. Just to quote an example the cost of one C-17 Transport aircraft is Rs 2200/-crore (360 Million US $). The parting shot of President Obama sends enough warning to the likely investors in India. 

Parting shot: Obama prods India on religious tolerance

India will succeed so long as it is not splintered on religious lines. Every person has the right to practice their religion how they choose. (Obama even quoted articles 25 of the Indian constitution).

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD BE ABLE TO GO ABOUT HER DAY-TO WALK THE STREET, OR RIDE THE BUS-AND BE SAFE AND BE TREATED WITH THE RESPECT AND DIGNITY THAT SHE DESERVES. MATTER OF GREAT PRIDE TO SEE INDIAN WOMEN IN THE ARMED FORCES INCLUDING THE OFFICER WHO LED THE GUARD OF HONOUR FOR ME WHEN I ARRIVED.

‘Women progress must for success’

US president Barack Obama on 27 Jan 2015 said the sight of “incredible Indian women in the armed forces was one of his “favourite things” on his India visit as he stressed that nations become successful when their women make progress.

Rajnath backs Obama, says no to ‘ghar wapsi’     

                       

The home minister’s comments are the first from top-ranking BJP leaders on US Prez’s parting shot that raised the hackles of right-wing Hindu groups. Union home minister Rajnath Singh endorsed on Monday US President Barack Obama’s warning that an India divided on religious lines would not progress, saying there was no room for campaigns such as ‘ghar wapsi’ that were being pushed by Hindu groups.

 “But he (Obama) is right; India cannot progress without unity,” Singh said, looking visibly uncomfortable with the question. Singh said India could progress only when all communities worked together. He wnet as far as to condemn the Sangh Parivar’s religious conversion campaign, saying “there is no scope for any activity like wapsi in the nation”. “BJP completely believes in secularism and is committed to tackle any attempt to divide people on communal lines, “ he said.

The only senior leader who has commented is Rajnath Singh. Either he is establishing a broad base for his future, or he has visualized his early ouster?

Advantage Modi 7-2015

Advantage Modi 7-2015                                                                                          28 Jan 2015

Preface:

Jaipur Literary Festival has become a global activity. People from all facets of life- Authors, literary people, politicians, bolly wood, media people or one can say people from all walks of life. The participants have absolute freedom to speak out. Narayan Murthy is an “ICON” of IT industry, speaks out his mind.

A narration by Narayan Murthy at JLF is produced below.

‘Babus need to change mindset’                                                                                                   

ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION Narayan Murthy stressed on the need to revamp bureaucracy to ensure Modi’s ambitious Make in India campaign works.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship Make in India campaign to turn the country into a global manufacturing hub is doomed to fail unless Indians discipline themselves, industrialist NR Narayana Murthy said at the Jaipur Literature Festival on Sunday. Murthy, who became the face of the country’s software revolution after he founded software services exporters Infosys in 1981, encouraged budding entrepreneurs but said the bureaucracy needed a complete overhaul. “Our bureaucrats function today like the British did a hundred years ago.” He said, while adding that Indians must become more punctual and disciplined to succeed. “Unless we become more disciplined, Make in India will not happen.”

The 86-years-old endorsed Modi’s mantra of “minimum government, maximum governance”, but said no one man can lead India given the diverse factors at play in every sector. “As long as there’s good regulatory agency, I think the business of business should be left to the private sector,” he said.

Often described as the father of the India IT sector, Murthy praised former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his team of P Chidambaram and Montek Singh Ahluwalia for pushing economic liberalization in India. “People don’t remember the time when you had to wait five years to get a telephone connection,” Murthy said in conversation with Journalist Rahul Jacob.

Murthy also narrated a 1974 incident when he was dragged by authorities through a train platform and kept confined for 72 hours without food or drink while travelling between Bulgaria and Serbia after he tried to strike up a conversation with a French woman and he male companion didn’t like it. “That event shaped my transformation from a confused leftist to a determined-compassio0nate capitalist, “he said. “ It was, in some way, the last nail in the coffin, so far as my belief in communism was concerned.” 

Advantage Modi 6-2015

Advantage Modi 6-2015                                                                                                23 Jan 2015

Main Chup Rahoonga Starring “Narendra Modi”

This is seriously worrying. Too many voices were silenced recently. And our voluble Prime Minister said nothing. Yes, he did condemn the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris and tweeted about it. But closer home, when Perumal Murugan, a highly respected scholar from Tamil Nadu, was forced by rightwing extremists to declare his own death as a writer and flee, there was no official response from Narendra Modi or his team. The reason behind the PM’s stony silence is naturally being attributed to what we in India call ‘vote bank politics”. It is being said he didn’t condemn the killings in France too vociferously for fear of antagonizing the clerics back home. And he stayed mum about Murugan to appease those who play caste politics in a state where his party has no real presence.

Producer & Director Shobha De TOI 18 Jan 2015

Advantage Modi5-2015

Advantage Modi5-2015                                                                                              19 Jan 2015

vkus okys dy dh rLohj

vk’kkokn vkSj vfrokn ds chp >wy jgs ns’k dh fn’kk&n’kk u, lky esa r; gksrs ns[k jgs gSa

ns’k esa bl le; v?kksf”kr :Ik ls jk”Vªifr iz.kkyh gSA ujsUnz eksnh ns’k ds lcls rkdroj usrk gSA mudh ikVhZ vkSj ljdkj esa mudh ethZ ds fcuk dqN gksus dh laHkkouk ugh ads cjkcj gSA bldk ;g eryc drbZ ugha gS fd fofHkUu rjg ds ncko lewg fu”izHkkoh gks x, gSA blds ckotwn ns’k] ljdkj vkSj ikVhZ esa mudh ethZ py jgh gSA iz/kkuea=h ujsUnz eksnh ns’k dks vkxs ;kuh Hkfo”; dh vksj ys tkuk pkgrs gS] ysfdu la?k ifjokj ls tqM+s dqN laxBu ns’k dks vrhr esa ys tkuk pkgrs gSA bl cgl esa iM+s fcuk fd os tks dj jgs gS og lgh gS ;k xyrA loky bl ckr dk gS fd ns’k dks bl le; fdldh t:jr gSA vrhr dk jkLrs ij pydj ge dgka igqapsxs bldk vkdyu rks fd;k gh tkuk pkfg,A Bgjk gqvk lekt  dHkh le`) ugha gks ldrkA tks le; ds cnyko dks igpkuus ls budkj dj nsrs gS le; mUgsa Hkqyk nsrk gSA vrhr dh vksj tkuk ,d rjg dk iyk;u Hkh gSA

ctjax ny vkSj fo’o fgUnw ifj”kn ds dk;ZØeksa] dkaoM esa ‘kjhd gksus okys vkSj bl tjg ds vk;kstuksa esa ‘kkfey gksus okys ;qokvksa ij tjk utj Mkfy,A dkSu gS ;s yksx\bu laxBuksa dks D;ks fey tkrs gS ;s ;qok\ fdlh  lkekftd ‘kks/k laLFkku us irk ugha dHkh bl ‘kks/k fd;k ;k ughA bl HkhM+ esa ‘kkfey ;qokvksa dh ‘kS{kf.kd  ;ksX;rk vkSj vkfFkZd  fLFkfr ds ckjsa esa v/;;u dbZ u, rF; mtkxj dj ldrk gSA vuqHko ds vk/kkj ij dgk tk ldrk gS fd njvly buesa ls T;knkrj u dsoy csjkstxkj gksrs gS] cfYd vfu;ksT; ;kuh jkstxkj ds v;ksX; gksrs gSA ;s vfu;ksT; ;qok gh bl rjg ds laxBuksa ds flikgh curs gSA blds cgkus bUgs ,d lkekftd nkf;Ro fuHkkus] cfYd lekkt dks lq/kkjus dh feF;k vuqHkwfr gksrh gSA lekt dh mis{kk >sy jgs ;s ;qok vpkud vius dks egRoiw.kZ le>us yxrs gSA

ç/kkuea=h vkSj mudh ljdkj  dks nks ekspksZa ij ,dlkFk dke djuk pkfg,A la?k ifjokj ds bu laxBuksa ij fu;=a.k vkSj ;qokvksa ds jkstxkj] [kklrkSj ls ,sls ;qodksa ds jkstxkj ds ;ksX; f’kf{kr ugha gSA dsUnz dh eksnh ljdkj fodkl ds eqn~ns ij lRrk esa vkbZ gSA mls vius ,stsaMs ls u rks gVuk pkfg,A fQj og la?k ifjokj ls tqM+s laxBu gks] Hkktik ds dqN usrk ;k fQj jkT; lHkk  esa foi{kh nyA dksbZ Hkh lalnh; O;oLFkk v/;kns’kksa ds ifj, ugha py ldrhA ifjfLFkfr;ka dqN Hkh gksaA gky esa tkjh v/;kns’k fodkl ds jkLrs ij vkxs c<+us dh ljdkj dh ea’kk tkfgj djrs gS] ysfdu blesa jkT;lHkk dks u pyk ikus dh lRrk i{k dh ukdkeh Hkh >ydrh gSA lafo/kku esa ,slh dksbZ O;oLFkk ugha gS fd laln ds nkuks lnuksa ds fcuk fo/kk;h dk;Z gks tk,aA laln ds nksuks lnuksa dk la;qDr vf/kos’ku cqykus ds fy, Hkh t:jh gS fd yksdlHkk gh ugha jkT;lHkk Hkh pysaA

u;k lky jktuhfrd nyksa ds :[k esa dksbZ cnyko ysdj vk,xk bldh mEehn de gh yxrh gSA blds ckotwn tks tSlk py jgk gS oSlk gh pyrk ugha jg ldrkA lkspuk gksxk fd ljdkjksa ds cnyus ls ns’k fgr ugh cnyrkA

Extracted from an article DJ (Hindi) 01 Jan 2015 by Pradeep Singh

Advantage Modi-4/2015

Advantage Modi-4/2015                                                                                                                               15 Jan 2015

Passing off fiction as fact

Ancient India made many landmark scientific achievements but mythology cannot replace history to glorify the ‘Hindu civilization

This latter development has a bearing on us, with the current ruling dispensation increasingly showing tendencies of all power flowing from the Prime Minister’s Office. The authoritarian trends are increasingly seen with the strengthening of the current ‘ordinance Raj’. The Union finance minister has reportedly said that while the Rajya Sabha can have “it’s say”, the government will have “its way”. President Pranab Mukherjee’s reported unprecedented cautioning of this government of frequent recourse to take the ordinance route seems to be falling on deaf ears.

The former development, once again, shows that rousing religious passions spreading intolerance lead to unpardonable crimes against humanity through terrorist attacks. Aggressive pursuit of the Hindutva agenda and sharpening communal polarization through campaigns of ‘love jihad’ or ‘ghar wapsi; engender such tendencies in our country. Communalism and fundamentalism in our country grow by feeding on each other. In order to strengthen themselves, they seek to glorify the past, to conquer the present and capture the future. To glorify the past, mythology replaces history and masquerades as the repository of scientific advance. Thus, there is a tendency to continue to refuse to learn the correct lessons from these developments.

The RSS/BJP are Vigorously working to transform, by sharpening communal polarization, the modern secular democratic Indian Republic into the RSS project of a rabidly intolerant fascistic, Hindu Rashtra’.

As narrated by Sitaram Yechury HT 13 Jan 2015

Advantage Modi-3/2015

Advantage Modi-3/2015                                                                                                                           13 Jan 2015

Festivals belong to the people

Should every day not be an occasion to promote the values of good governance? Why make it a once-a-year ritual? The ‘Good governance’ Day idea comes at a time when there appears to be a concerted attempt being made by a section of the sangh parivar to demonise the Christian community by raising the bogey of conversions.

Just look at the original idea suggested by the HRD ministry: An essay and elocution competition on the December 25 for children to speak out on good governance, effectively ensuring their attendance in school on a holiday. It was only after a newspaper expose that the government backed off, while putting up the rather lame excuse that participation was in any case only optional. It doesn’t stop there: Now, there are large advertisements in newspapers of various government functions that are planned for Christmas Day, each designed to spread the message of good governance.

Janus Faced                                                         

For the BJP-led government, development and communalism go nicely together

Since Modi came to power, the entire Hindutva agenda has returned to the centre stage of Indian politics. At the heart of that agenda are communal violence, inflammatory statements about the relationship between Hindus and other religious groups (especially Muslims), mobilization over Ramjanambhoomi/Babri Masjid, repeal of Article 370, religious conversation, and most importantly, disrupting and reworking the education system.

Liberals convinced themselves that Modi was all about development-sanitation, sustainable urbanization, education, economic reforms and revitalization of manufacturing. Surely communalism would get in the way of developmentalism, and, if so, it was a good bet that the prime minister would hold back the right-wing lunatics in this fold.

The prime minister thus far has achieved quite little. The economy is mired in the 5-6% growth trap. His reforms are fairly puny, mostly things UPA would have done anyway or had already begun. On foreign policy, we are no better off with Pakistan and China, thanks to a series of blunders. His constant traveling threatens to become an international joke. And bureaucrats coming to work on time is not good governance but rather a middle class fantasy come true. What Narendra Modi has achieved is in fooling a lot of people into thinking that he stands for development against communalism. Nothing could be further from the truth. He well push either or both pedals as it suits him.

Extracted from an write-up by Kanti Bajpai TOI 13 Jan 2014

Advantage Modi-2/2015

Advantage Modi- 2/2015                                                                                                                               08 Jan 2015

Converting Hinduism

The ‘ghar wapsi’ campaign needs to rebuild the ‘ghar’ they want people to return to

The RSS, the Hindu Mahasabha and other elements of the Sangh Parivar who want to turn India into a hindu rashtra through mass conversion called’ ghar wapsi’ have their work cut out for them, because they face a couple of serious obstacles in achieving their objective. And these obstacles are not their ideological opponents like Congress and Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party. Nor is it the trifling matter of the Constitution, which clearly defines India as a secular republic.

No, the real problem with the so-called ‘ghar wapsi’ compaign is that many of those whom the Parivar is urging to come wapsi-ing back to their ‘ghar’ didn’t belong to the ghar in the first place, which makes it difficult, semantically at least, for them to come back to it. For a lot of people being targeted for ‘reconversion’ by the Parivar belong to tribal communities, which by and large were animists and did not belong to the Hindu fold. Indeed, as the story of Eklavya in the Mahabharata shows, tribals were given short shrift by mainstream Hindusim with its caste hierarchy: Eklavya, a tribal, is made to cut off his thumb and give it to Dronacharya as guru-dakshina because Dronacharya fears that his ‘low-born’ pupil will outdo the ‘high-born’ Arjun is archery.

Tribals apart, many of those being’ reconverted’ are dalits who, if anything, have been even more badly treated than tribals by casteist Hinduism, which looked down on them as being ‘ untouchables’, literally and metaphorically. It was this enforced ‘untouchability’ which impelled many dalits to embrace religions like Buddhism. How can those who were considered ourcasts-or ‘ourcastes’ –be brought back to a Hinduism which excluded them to begin with?

But perhaps the biggest problem faced by the ‘reconversionists’ is that, unlike Islam and Christainity, Hinduism has never been a proselytizing religion ¼ij/keZ vuq;k;h½. Before the Arya Samaj leader Swami Sharddhanand launched a program of mass conversions in the 1920s, Hinduism never had a tradition of conversions, much less ‘reconversions’.

So before the Hindu brotherhood of the Sangh Parivar goes about converting, or ‘ reconverting’ , people to Hinduism it might have to do a bit of converting of Hunduism itself so as to being proselytizing within its purview. In order to bring in recruits to swell its ranks, Hinduism might have to convert, or reinvent, itself.

But should it do so, it might run a risk. To paraphrase Groucho Marx, recruits to Hinduism could well say they did not want to join a religion which would have them as converted members.

As narrated by Jug Suraiya TOI 31 Dec 2014

Note: NAMO has conveniently decided to maintain absolute silence on such issues.