by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews, News, Politics
Amartya Sen
New Delhi : Nobel-winning economist Amartya Sen said the lack of attention on social sectors had taken a “quantum jump in the wrong direction” since the BJP came to power and that despite the visible prominence of backwardness in India, the political dispensation was diverting attention from the core issues.
“Things have gone pretty badly wrong. Even previously before this government, we did not do enough on education and health. But it has taken a quantum jump in the wrong direction since 2014,” Amartya Sen said on Saturday during a discussion on his new book “Bharat Aur Uske Virodhabhas” (India and its Contradictions), co-authored with economist Jean Dreze.
Pointing out the contradiction in India getting backward while also being the fastest growing economy in the world, the Nobel Laureate said: “Twenty years ago, of the six countries in this region, India was the second best after Sri Lanka. Now it is the second worst.”
“And because of Pakistan’s problems, Pakistan has managed to shield us from being the worst,” he said.
He added that while people should take pride in the things that India has, they must be critical of those things of which they have reason to be ashamed.
“Despite the easy prominence of backwardness in India… now if you try to draw attention to that, the way to deflect it is to say: now think about the great pride of India,” Sen said.
He said despite the enormous inequalities, it was possible to distract attention.
“A great writer who I admire, V.S. Naipaul, who wrote such a novel like ‘A House for Mr Biswas’, could also write that what happened after the 13th century was destruction of Hindu temples and Hindu civilisation, overlooking that this is also when new ideas were coming in.
“If you can distract V.S. Naipaul’s attention then you can distract the attention of most intelligent people,” the Nobel Laureate said.
“The result is that there has been deflection. When there has been this deflection, we have to do something anti-deflection,” he added.
Dreze, who co-authored the book, said while India, in the last few years, had got some success in its quest to become the fastest growing economy — “helped partly by slowdown in China’s growth and partly by some jugglery of numbers” — there is a significant difference between growth and development.
“While development is the goal, economic growth is the medium to achieve that goal. And it’s something to think about that despite 7 per cent GDP growth, the income of the rural labourer has remained the same and yet no one speaks about it,” he said.
He added that while economic growth can help in achieving development, it needs to be accompanied by public action.
“If we talk about health, India is way behind even Bangladesh despite being economically ahead of it. And that is because of lack of public action in India compared to Bangladesh.
“Similarly public action is crucial for education, nutrition, social security, ensuring equality, and environmental protection,” he said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Summit, Economy, Events, News, Politics, Social Round-up
New Delhi : As India and Bhutan mark 50 years of diplomatic ties this year, the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to cooperation in the hydropower sector during a meeting between Prime Minster Narendra Modi and his Bhutanese counterpart Tshering Tobgay here on Friday.
“The two Prime Ministers reviewed the bilateral economic and hydro-power co-operation, including the progress in implementation of the on-going GoI-assisted-hydro-electric projects in Bhutan.” the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.
“They agreed that the robust partnership in the hydropower sector was mutually beneficial,” it stated.
“They reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen collaboration in the hydro-power sector in the spirit of close friendship and co-operation that characterize relations between India and Bhutan.”
India is a leading development aid partner for the Himalayan kingdom. There are a number of institutional mechanisms between India and Bhutan in areas like security, border management, trade, economy, hydroelectricity, development cooperation and water resources.
New Delhi has set up three hydroelectric projects in Bhutan with a total capacity of 1,416 MW, which are operational. About three fourth of the power generated is exported to India and the rest is used for domestic consumption.
India is also Bhutan’s largest trading partner.
In 2016, the bilateral trade stood at Rs 8,723 crore, with imports pegged at Rs 5,528.5 crore (82 per cent of Bhutan’s total imports) and exports at Rs 3,205.2 crore, including electricity (90 per cent of Bhutan’s total exports).
President Ram Nath Kovind said on Friday that India and Bhutan share an exemplary bilateral partnership and the relations between the two countries were unique.
Welcoming visiting Tobgay at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Kovind said the historical and cultural linkages between the two countries “make us natural friends”.
“India and Bhutan share an exemplary bilateral partnership. Our relations are unique and special,” he said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that there has been significant improvement in the internal security situation in the last four years with “recurrent terror attacks that were common under the UPA” now being history and Maoist violence declining by 20 per cent in the affected areas.
In an interview with ‘Swarajya’ magazine, the Prime Minister said: “I would like to salute our brave security forces who are eternally vigilant and are ensuring peace as well as prosperity for 125 crore Indians.
“You can ascertain our security situation from the fact that recurrent terror attacks that were common under the UPA are now history.”
Describing his vision for Jammu and Kashmir, which is under Governor’s rule after the BJP withdrew its support last month from the ruling coalition led by the PDP, Modi said: “In Kashmir, our goal is good governance, development, responsibility and accountability.”
Asked about possibility of dialogue with stakeholders in Kashmir, he avoided a direct answer.
“We have appointed an interlocutor and he is in touch with many people. He is travelling to the interiors and engaging with people.”
On Maoist front, the Prime Minister said geographically, the influence of Maoist violence has shrunk substantially.
“The numbers vis-a-vis Maoist violence in the last four years should make every Indian happy. Maoist violence has declined by 20 per cent in the affected states, with a concomitant reduction of 34 per cent in deaths in 2017 compared to 2013,” he said.
Asked whether the area under Left Wing Extremism (LWE) has really shrunk, Modi said 44 out of 126 districts have been removed from the list of LWE-affected areas based on changed ground realities.
“These are the districts that did not see any violence for the last four years.
“It (LWE) adversely impacts the psyche of the local population… Due to the government’s policies, about 3,380 Maoists surrendered from 2014 to 2017. From 2010 to 2013, the number stood around 1,380,” he said.
Asserting that only development can solve people’s problems, Modi said that his government adopted the approach to devote unparalleled resources towards the development of areas prone to violence.
“It is true that Maoist violence had stalled the progress of many districts in central and eastern India. That is why in 2015, our government formulated a comprehensive ‘National Policy and Action Plan’ to eradicate Maoist violence.
“Along with zero tolerance towards violence, we have also focused on a massive push to infrastructure and social empowerment to bring a positive change in the lives of the poor people in these regions.
“The unparalleled development focus is reaping rich dividends,” he said, adding that about 4,500 km of roads have already been built in 34 Maoist-affected districts.
“Work at such speed and scale was not even imaginable,” Modi said.
Asked about the threat to his life, the Prime Minister said: “Whenever I am travelling, I see that a lot of people, from all age groups and sections of society, are out on the streets to greet me and welcome me.
“I can’t just remain seated in my car, aloof from their display of affection and care. That is why I invariably get down and greet, interact with people as much as I can.
“I am not a Shahenshah or an imperious ruler who is unaffected by their warmth. Being among people gives me lot of strength,” he said.
Modi also said the security situation in the Northeast has improved tremendously.
“In 2017, we had the lowest insurgency-related incidents and casualties among civilians and security forces in the last 20 years,” he said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
By Saeed Naqvi,
Does the stunning victory of a 28-year-old Latino bartender in New York this week over a 10-term Democratic lawmaker bear any resemblance to AAPs victory under a political novice, Arvind Kejriwal in February 2015? He thrashed Narendra Modis resurgent BJP and a Congress Chief Minister entering her fourth term. Of course, there are a thousand differences in detail but these are dwarfed by a basic similarity — popular resentment with establishments everywhere. It is a wave sweeping all electoral democracies across the globe. I have just seen the toppling of the Italian ruling class in Rome. Wherever they can, establishments are fighting back tooth and nail. Kejriwals endless travails are part of this counterpunch.
The winner in New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was, in her last job, mixing cocktails in a Manhattan bar, sometimes on 18-hour shifts to help avoid foreclosure of her mother’s property. But more meaningful for her career was her stint as Bernie Sanders’ campaigner during the 2016 election. Little wonder she stands on a similar, leftist platform, demanding universal health care, ending tuition fees at public colleges and abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Still recovering from the shock defeat happens to be Joe Cowley for whom the Democratic Party had built many castles in the air. The same party had dug its heels in so firmly for Hillary Clinton as the Presidential candidate that every argument pointing to Bernie Sanders’ chances of victory over Trump were discarded.
I was in Washington for the campaign, surrounded by Clinton enthusiasts who would not answer a straightforward question:
“Popular disgust with the Washington establishment was unmistakable. Given this reality, by what logic do you see Clinton as a winner: she is the very epitome of the Washington establishment.”
Alexandria’s victory places her in line as the youngest woman in Congress after the November elections. This could well be the thin end of the wedge, gradually opening up spaces for younger and more radical candidates.
Considering that Trumpism too is consolidating itself on white working and middle class grievances, the divisions in American society may become more shrill. Once they rise to a crescendo, the clashing of Cymbals will be deafening even though the talk of a civil war is rank exaggeration.
A considerable segment of the Democratic Party, which refrained from radicalism during the 2016 campaign, appears to have sensed the ground realities, almost anticipating the New York result. Democrats like Cory Booker, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren signed onto Bernie Sanders bill for universal Health Care, something they had avoided two years ago when Sanders first introduced the Bill. The platform is picking up.
The New York outcome has clearly set the cat among the pigeons in establishment circles and not just in the US. Another resounding punch will be administered on the establishment’s chin when Andrez Manuel Lopez Obrador nicknamed AMLO, almost as far Left as the late Chavez in Venezuela, triumphs in the Mexican elections on Sunday. The sharp anti-US edge to this result can safely be attributed to Trump’s open disdain for the southern neighbour.
A Bloomberg banner headline reads: “Listen, Trump: Firebrand Lopez Obrador Set to Win Landslide in Mexico.”
There is, however, a welcoming warmth to this turn in world affairs in progressive circles in Europe, not the least of it in the higher echelons of Britain’s Labour Party.
Last week I attended a meeting in support of Democracy and Human Rights in Mexico organised in the House of Commons by Laura Alvarez Corbyn, the Labour leader’s Mexican wife. Jeremy Corbyn sat through the meeting, signalling his support for progressive causes.
Is the Democratic Party in the US learning lessons from real life? Until the New York result there was no evidence of any change of heart in the party’s higher reaches. In fact, a year ago, a Fox News poll establishing Bernie Sanders’ exceptional popularity was largely ignored. The poll showed Sanders a +28 rating above all US politicians on both ends of the political spectrum. Trust The Guardian, London, being the only newspaper to pick up the issue. The paper’s Trevor Timm wrote:
“One would think with numbers like that, Democratic politicians would be falling all over themselves to be associated with Sanders, especially considering the party as a whole is more unpopular than the Republicans and even Donald Trump right now. Yet instead of embracing his message, the Establishment wing of the party continues to resist him at almost every turn, and they seem insistent that they don’t have to change their ways to gain back the support of huge swathes of the country.”
On current showing, the British Establishment demonstrates greater suppleness. A few months ago The Economist welcomed Corbyn, a socialist in the Michael Foot mould, as Britain’s next Prime Minister. That the Economist, a pillar of the Western establishment, should acquiesce in Corbyn’s impending Premiership could not have been honeyed music to Blairites in the Labour party like Lord Peter Mandelson who is committed to “undermining Corbyn”. This kind of cussedness is counterproductive and this becomes clear when a Labour back bencher retorts:
“Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister implementing policies that actually benefit the people terrifies the Establishment. It is no surprise that Mandelson has found space in his busy schedule on an Oligarch’s Yacht to attempt to undermine Jeremy.”
(A senior commentator on political and diplomatic affairs, Saeed Naqvi can be reached on saeednaqvi@hotmail.com. The views expressed are personal.)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance
New Delhi : The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved a pact with Indonesia for sharing of information in railway sector including modernisation of trains and maintenance of tracks and tunnels.
According to an official statement, the agreement will provide for exchange of knowledge and technology in modernisation of rolling stock (trains), signalling and communication system and railway operation, management and regulations.
It will also provide for sharing of information on the development of inter-model transport, logistics parks, and freight terminals, and construction and maintenance of tracks, bridges, tunnel, overhead electrification and power supply systems.
—IANS
