Good Messaging: Post Farm-Laws repeal
New Delhi : It's not only a Symbiotic 'Hindutva' bond. It is also the power of communication, and the saga is more than just the polls in Uttar Pradesh.
Namo has it in him. Now, what's common between Late Naga leader Shikiho Sema, Narendra Modi and my grand mom ? This is how the puzzle can be solved.
Shikiho Sema, a former Lok Sabha member and Nagaland pradesh Congress chief,
had named his son - Bharato. This was to prove his 'nationalist' tilt and give the 'Sema' flavour
as well to the word/name 'Bharat'.
Nagaland has definitely produced some 'sons' of the soil. Long back, he had told me that what impressed
him about Hinduism was that it has stories/fables of all shades of characters - good and bad. So, his argument
was that one can learn a lot. Thank you, Shikiho sahab!
Now comes my grand mom's turn, Late Sailabala. She had spotted 'talent' and 'arrogance'
in me at a very early age and had encouraged both. She spoiled me.
Once she said, Lord Ram was a good son, and so he is
worshipped. On the other hand, she cited the illustration of Prahalad- who had killed his agnostic
father Hiranyakashyap because Hiranyakashyap thought he was more than a king, he was God unto
himself. He had ordered that only his image/statues ought to be worshipped.
Come down to the Modi-era; circa 2016. The Prime Minister of India addressed a festival of Sadhus
at Ujjain and therein he had shared the stories of both God Ram and Prahalad. And as a Hindutva
protagonist, he had said Hinduism embraced both 'evil and good' and it is for the people to take
the 'good' out of everything, that is so vast.
So, Modi's power of communication is proved. That was one point. My point was Modi speaks
common people's language - seldom understood by intellectuals and Cambridge-Oxford faithfuls.
This makes a difference in politics and democracy.
Now, come to circa 2021 - and November 21. One or two snaps of Modi keeping his
arm over the shoulder of Yogi Adityanath had gone viral.
Yogi also tweeted saying - “Hum nikal pade hain pran karke....ambar se ooncha jana hai,
ek Bharat naya banana hai (We have started on with the pledge to sacrifice our body and mind.
We are determined to create a new sun/wave and go further than the skies-to build a New India).”
Obviously, PM Modi, a catalyst of development with firm commitment to the Hindutva ideology, keeping his
hand on 'hard-liner' Yogi Adityanth's shoulder makes news value especially in this era of social media.
Of course, the snaps would be in public memory for weeks and months to come.
But my essential argument is different. I am laying stress on the timing of the snaps.
The Modi-Yogi duo has a lot of political fables.
But it is important to note that these snaps have surfaced within days the Prime Minister announced
repeal of three farm laws.
In 2014-15 also after the Land Acquisition Bill was scuttled due to unreasonable resistance from
opposition parties, there was skepticism about 'reforms'. Even then the 'political-Hindutva' agenda
had surfaced in debate.
By 2017 December, the government introduced the Triple Talaq Bill and prior to that in 2016 November,
PM Modi announced banning of high value currency notes. In July 2017, also came the GST -of course
marred by boycott by opposition parties.
Rahul Gandhi even called it 'Gabbar Singh Tax' and here was 'lack of power of communication'. How ?
While Delhi-intellectuals and Ahmedabad's 'hate-Modi' brigade
presumed Rahul had made a masterstroke, the voters of Gujarat and especially in
traders' paradise Surat region backed Modi's new tax regime.
Those who are rejoicing farmers' win now, should be more careful now about
the side effects vis-a-vis power politics and populism.
In order to keep the 'popularity' on track, it is anybody's guess that Modi, Yogi and the BJP as a political
outfit would start falling more and more on the pro-Hindutva agenda.
Did you miss another 'sense of timing' ?
Jammu lawmaker and Union Minister Jitendra Singh has now spoken
about Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir.
Note his quote carefully.
He said the leadership which has the capacity and the will to abrogate Article 370, also
has the capacity to retrieve PoK from the illegal occupation of Pakistan.
He said it was always believed that Article 370 would never be abrogated but under the
leadership of Modi, this was made possible.
So, retrieving Pak Occupied Jammu and Kashmir would also be accomplished.
"PoK ke liye hum jaan de sakten haen" - Amit Shah had said in Lok Sabha on Aug 6, 2019.
Farmers' benefit can result in something more drastic. The Modi-Yogi snap is thus more
than just the Uttar Pradesh elections.
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New Delhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited to the ‘Summit of Democracies’ convened by US President Joe Biden next month.
While China, Turkey and Russia were missed out on the list, sources say PM Modi is likely to attend the virtual meet.
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| 2002 and how the world has changed so much |
The Summit will focus on challenges and opportunities facing democracies and will provide a platform for leaders to announce both individual and collective responses.
The Biden administration's move to invite Taiwan to the Summit on December 9 and 10 has certainly left China anguished.
Beijing says the 'democratically governed island, Taiwan' is its own territory.
Experts say the first-of-its-kind gathering is a test for President Biden, who has faced credibility challenge especially since the fiasco in Afghanistan.
Earlier this year, Biden had said that he would return the United States to global leadership position as against an authoritarian measure pushed by China and Russia.
There are 110 participants on the State Department's invitation list for the virtual event on Dec 9 and 10, which aims to help stop democratic backsliding and the erosion of rights and freedoms worldwide.
Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said the government would be represented by Digital Minister Audrey Tang and Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan's de facto ambassador in Washington.
An official US State Department statement says, President Biden will host the first of two Summits for Democracy, which will bring together leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector to set forth an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle the greatest threats faced by democracies today through collective action.
"On December 9-10, 2021, President Biden will host a virtual summit for leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector. The summit will focus on challenges and opportunities facing democracies and will provide a platform for leaders to announce both individual and collective commitments, reforms, and initiatives to defend democracy and human rights at home and abroad.
For the United States, the summit will offer an opportunity to listen, learn, and engage with a diverse range of actors whose support and commitment is critical for global democratic renewal. It will also showcase one of democracy’s unique strengths: the ability to acknowledge its imperfections and confront them openly and transparently".
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New Coronavirus variant causes global worry, Centre alerts states
New Delhi:
Just when the world including India was trying to return to normalcy braving months of Corona-infused Lockdown and restrictions, bad news seemed to have visited the human race yet again.
The news of a new variant has unnerved certain countries in the west and has alarmed
others.
The Union Health Ministry in India ordered states and Union Territories to screen and test
travellers from South Africa, Hong Kong, and Botswana.
The major alert missive came shortly after South African authorities said they have 'detected a new novel
coronavirus variant' that reportedly has an unusual constellation of mutations.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, in a communication to all states and Union Territories, said the
National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had informed the Centre that multiple cases of a
Covid-19 variant B.1.1529 had been reported in South Africa, Botswana, and Hong Kong.
However, there was no such case reported from India.
New variant has been named Omicron by the WHO, and one BBC report has quoted scientists of describing
it was "horrific".
The new variant has also thrown the global stock markets out of gear as there are fears
of new travel bans.
The benchmark indices at BSE and NSE fell sharply by nearly 3 per cent on Friday, Nov 26
as concerns mounted over the new Covid variant. There was anxiety around US central bank likely to
wrap up its stimulus programme and raise interest rates
Britain, Israel, Belgium and Italy have already pressed the panic button.
Belgium has detected the first case of the new coronavirus variant.
Closer home Hong Kong reported one case and is directly linked to travel to
South Africa. There have been 77 confirmed cases in South Africa and four cases in Botswana.
Israel on Friday imposed a travel ban on most African states, after reporting cases of a new and
potentially 'vaccine-resistant coronavirus'. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett widened a ban announced
on the entry of foreigners from seven African countries.
Britain has banned flights from South Africa and neighbouring countries and asked British
travellers returning from there to quarantine,
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke to South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa on the
issue.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also said: "We are taking the news about the new
highly mutated COVID variant very seriously. It is now important that all of us in Europe act very swiftly,
decisively and united".
“The last thing we need is to bring in a new variant that will cause even more problems,”
German Health Minister Jens Spahn said.
Italy’s health ministry also announced measures to ban entry into Italy of anyone who has been in
seven southern African nations — South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and
Eswatini.
The Netherlands also said it is planning similar measures.
Japan also said it will tighten border controls for people arriving from six African nations.
The World Health Organization will be holding a special session to flesh out information about the
new variant.
International Flights from Dec 15
India has meanwhile decided to resume scheduled international flights from December 15
after the coronavirus-induced suspension.
The Civil Aviation Ministry said the matter of resumption of scheduled commercial international
passenger services has been examined in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs,
the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
“
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26/11 Anniv. : MEA summons senior Pak diplomat, condemns 'double standards'
New Delhi
On the 13th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks, a senior diplomat from the High Commission of Pakistan in India was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday.
"A Note Verbale reiterating India’s call for an expeditious trial in the Mumbai terror attacks case, and calling on the Government of Pakistan to abide by its commitment to not allow territories under its control for terrorism against India, was handed over to him," the MEA said in a statement.
The MEA said 14 other countries lost their nationals in these attacks.
"Indian Missions in these countries are organizing memorial events (on Nov 26) remembering the victims, both national and foreign, reminding the world of the continuing global threat of terrorism."
"It is a matter of deep anguish that even after 13 years of this heinous terror attack, the families of 166 victims from 15 countries across the globe still await closure, with Pakistan showing little sincerity in bringing the perpetrators to justice," it said.
"The 26/11 terrorist attack was planned, executed and launched from Pakistani territory.
The former Prime Minister of Pakistan had gone on record and admitted that the terrorists were sent from Pakistan’s soil. We once again call on the Government of Pakistan to give up double standards and to expeditiously bring the perpetrators of the horrific attack to justice," it said.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar in separate messages, have expressed their firm solidarity with the families of the victims.
India cannot forget the wounds of the Mumbai terror attacks, the Prime Minister said.
In a short video released by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on the 26/11 attacks, PM Modi also said that today's India is combating terrorism with a "new policy and new ways".
"I pay homage to all those who died in the Mumbai attack. Many brave police personnel were also martyred.I pay homage to them," Modi said.
India working on modalities with Pakistan for shipping wheat to Afghan people
Days after Islamabad said it has given clearance for shipment of wheat to Afghanistan
from India through land route via Pakistan, India said while it is working out modalities, there should be no conditions attached.
"...We believe that humanitarian assistance should not be subject to conditionalities,"MEA spokesman Arindam Bagchi told reporters at the weekly briefing.
He said India is "examining the response of the government of Pakistan".
"We are also working on the modalities with the Pakistan side".
“This was about humanitarian access into Afghanistan for the delivery of the 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat and life-saving medicines we are supplying to the people of Afghanistan,” the MEA spokesmansaid.
Pakistan had informed India on Wednesday that it would allow the shipment of the wheat and medicines to Afghanistan via the Wagah land border as a goodwill gesture.
India's willingness to supply wheat and medicines comes when Afghanistan isvirtually on brink of a major and unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
Taliban rule in Afghanistan which began on August 15 completed 100 days latelyand there were reports of an immense financial and humanitarian crisis in the war-ravagedcountry.Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi during his visit to Islamabad had raised the issue of allowing the shipment from India with the Pakistani leadership.
Ten out of 11 of Afghanistan’s most densely populated urban areas are now anticipated to be at emergency levels of food insecurity.
There are also reports of destitute parents even promising baby girls for future marriage
in exchange for dowries.
Crippled by drought and economic collapse, Afghanistan is set to become the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
There are also reports of destitute parents even promising baby girls for future marriage
in exchange for dowries.
UNICEF has said there were "credible reports of families offering daughters as young as 20-days old for future marriage in return for a dowry".
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