Videos of the BBC documentary on PM Narendra Modi, which has been described as a propaganda piece by the government of India, has been blocked by the government in the country. Videos and tweets sharing links to the BBC documentary has been blocked under India’s sovereign laws and rules, said I&B ministry adviser Kanchan Gupta on Twitter.
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has issued directions for blocking multiple YouTube videos of the first episode of BBC World’s hateful propaganda “India: The Modi Question”, Gupta said. He added that orders also have been issued to Twitter to block over 50 tweets containing links to YouTube videos.
The directions to block the videos and their links were issued on Friday by the Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, using the emergency powers under the IT Rules, 2021.
Kanchan Gupta added that the mendacious series produced by UK’s state-owned, state-funded public broadcaster BBC has been determined to be a “propaganda piece” that lacks objectivity and reflects BBC’s colonial mindset, citing a statement on the issue by MEA spokesperson.
Multiple Ministries, including MEA, MHA and MIB, examined @BBCWorld ’s malicious ‘documentary’ and found it casting aspersions on the authority and credibility of Supreme Court of India, sowing divisions among various Indian communities, and making unsubstantiated allegations. n6
He said that while the ate-series have not been made available in India by, which was broadcast on BBC Two, some YouTube channels uploaded it to promote anti-India agenda. YouTube has been instructed to block the video if it is uploaded again, while Twitter has been directed to block tweets linking videos on other platforms.
The media advisor to former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee further said that Multiple Ministries, including MEA, MHA and MIB, examined the BBC’s malicious ‘documentary’ and found it casting aspersions on the authority and credibility of the Supreme Court of India, sowing divisions among various Indian communities, and making unsubstantiated allegations.
Accordingly, BBC’s vile propaganda was found to be undermining the sovereignty and integrity of India, and having the potential to adversely impact India’s friendly relations with foreign countries as also public order within the country, Kanchan Gupta added.
It is notable that talking about the documentary, MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said on Thursday that it shows the colonial mindset of BBC. “We think this is a propaganda piece designed to push a particular discredited narrative,” he had added.
OpIndia has studied the video and has found that it is based on already discredited narratives against PM Narendra Modi on the 2002 Gujarat riots. The documentary cites claims which have already been termed as lies by courts in India including the Supreme Court of India.
The BBC documentary ignored multiple court orders to push its agenda. For example, it claimed that the cause of the fire on the Sabarmati Express in Godhra was disputed, while several persons have been convicted by the courts for the carnage. The documentary also uses the claims of Teesta Setalvad, Sanjeev Bhatt and others, who had claimed that Gujarat CM Narendra Modi had asked the police not to act against rioters, while the fact is that the Supreme Court of India has termed their claims as lies.
The documentary also uses the Tehelka sting of Babu Bajrangi and Haresh Bhatt, which was rubbished by the Supreme Court. Moreover, both Haresh Bhatt and Babu Bajrangi had later admitted to giving their answers in the sting video based on a script provided to them in advance by Tehelka journalist Ashish Khetan.
Therefore, by repeating the claims already terms false by the Supreme Court of India, the BBC documentary questioned the authority and credibility of the Supreme Court. For that reason, the government of India has ordered to block videos of the documentary and their links.
It is notable that the documentary “India: The Modi Question” was aired on BBC Two, a channel which is not available in India. The channel is available only in the UK, Ireland, and some European countries. It is not even available on the internet outside those countries, and therefore it can’t be streamed too in India. This means, those who uploaded the video to YouTube did it illegally, and it was a copyright violation.
As a result, even if it was not blocked by the Indian govt, YouTube could have removed them, had BBC chosen to enforce its copyright on videos of the documentary. YouTube takes copyright violations very seriously, and three such violations results in the permanent suspension of the account from the platform.
2023 is going to be an eventful year for a lot of young talent to make their acting debut in the Bollywood film industry.
Many star kids are set to hit the silver screen this year and one of them is none other than Raveena Tandon’s 17-year-old daughter Rasha Thadani. Rasha will be seen in Abhishek Kapoor’s next film.
As mentioned above, she is the daughter of Raveena and Anil Thadani and will make her acting debut in the action-adventure movie directed by Abhishek Kapoor. Alongside Rasha, Ajay Devgn’s nephew Aaman Devgn will be seen in the film.
Rasha, in Abhishek’s opinion, is the perfect choice to play the part because the character she would be portraying is quite unique.
Both lead actors have already begun preparing for the film. According to the director, they would have to go through a few training sessions, which they have already begun attending.
Apart from being glamorous, Rasha is also good in other extracurriculars. She holds a black belt in Taekwondo and also enjoys wildlife photography. Rasha is fond of singing and keeps sharing videos on social media.
The news has fans looking forward to a fresh face on screen!
Apart from Rasha, other star kids who will be making their debut this year are prominent names like Suhana Khan, Khushi Kapoor, Shanaya Kapoor, Agastya Nanda, Palak Tiwari, Junaid Khan, Alizeh Agnihotri, Pashmina Roshan, and Rajveer Deol.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
A 36-year-old non-binary and queer individual from Seattle, who identifies as a trans dad, has documented their experience of giving birth using the reproductive organs they were born with, following a one-night stand during their medical transition.
Danny Wakefield, who was assigned female at birth, came out as transmasculine at 25 years old, underwent testosterone treatment for nine years and had a double mastectomy in Florida during the transition.
“Although I identify as transmasculine rather than male, people often read me as a cisgender gay man. So I’m aware that it does make me more visible to live in my identity as a transmasculine person,” Wakefield wrote in a 2020 piece for Newsweek.
In April 2021, Wakefield discovered they were pregnant after a one-night stand with a man, while they were also experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.
Wilder, whose gender identity is not yet specified as it is considered “part of their story,” was born in 2020.
“I’ve known for my entire life that I’ve wanted children and I knew before I transitioned that I would want to carry at least one child,” they wrote.
“During the transition, many people choose to freeze their eggs. I also had to consider how I would feed my baby after my double mastectomy. These were small decisions that had to be made, but I don’t regret them,” the individual stated.
“People often freeze their eggs during the transition. I also considered how I would nourish my child after my double mastectomy. These are important decisions, and I do not regret them,” they said.
“I don’t think I would be here with Wilder if I hadn’t taken care of myself and honoured my identity back then,” they added.
Wakefield described their experience of being pregnant during the pandemic, which involved staying at home instead of going out in public regularly, which “would have been quite different.”
“Despite the sickness, it was the most beautiful experience I’ve ever had. I’ve developed a newfound appreciation for my body that I’ve never felt before,” they added.
Wakefield, who is also a recovering addict, has gained over a million followers on social media by chronicling their parental journey on the website Danny the Trans Dad and on Instagram and TikTok accounts under the same name.
“Just because I don’t identify as a woman, it doesn’t mean I can’t use the reproductive organs I was born with,” the parent says in a TikTok video.
“I was assigned female at birth because I have a uterus, but I do not identify as a girl. I identify as non-binary. I have the capability to carry and give birth to a child, so that’s what I did. Transmen and non-binary individuals can give birth too,” they wrote.
Wakefield told Yahoo Life that they faced “snickers” from nurses and “doubt, disbelief, and a lack of knowledge” from doctors who were not equipped to address their needs.
Wakefield reported to the outlet that in one instance, it took an hour and a half for medical staff to provide treatment due to disbelief that they were pregnant.
“Instead of asking me directly, the patient who’s sitting right in front of them, the doctors and nurses would talk quietly among themselves, asking each other questions about me,” they added.
In a shocking incident, a 62-year-old man Rayappan was killed by his neighbours in the Dindigul area of Madurai district in Tamil Nadu on Thursday, January 19, for referring to their pet dog as a ‘dog’ rather than by its actual name. The police arrested the accused Daniel, his brother Vincent and their mother Nirmala Fatima Rani, who had fled after the incident, in connection with the murder on Friday, January 20.
According to the police, Nirmala Fatima Rani and her sons Daniel and Vincent had warned their neighbour Rayappan several times not to refer to their pet as a dog.
The issue reached a tipping point on Thursday when Rayappan asked his grandson Kelvin to turn off the water pump that was running on their neighbouring farm. He instructed Kelvin to carry a stick because the dog might be around. Daniel became infuriated when he heard this and punched Rayappan in the chest. Rayappan collapsed and died immediately.
Daniel and his family promptly fled the scene. The Tamil Nadu police, however, apprehended the trio on Friday.
Recently, in another incident, a delivery agent for Swiggy died from injuries sustained in a fall from the third floor of a building while trying to flee an alleged attack by a pet dog in Hyderabad. Rizwan, a delivery agent for Swiggy, was killed after he was attacked by a pet dog while making a delivery. He fell from the third floor of a building while attempting to flee the attack.
On Saturday, Bollywood actor Abhay Deol said that Film Director Anurag Kashyap is a liar and a toxic person who spread lies about him in the media. The duo had worked together in the 2009 hit film ‘Dev D’.
The actor who has been promoting his web series ‘Trial By Fire,’ said in an interview with Mid-Day that Anurag Kashyap told many lies about him to the media, one of which was that the actor had demanded a room in a 5-star hotel during the shooting of the film Dev D. Deol added that it was Kashyap who asked him not stay with the film’s unit since he is a ‘Deol’.
“Anurag went in public and told a lot of lies about me. One lie was that I demanded a five-star hotel room during the shoot of Dev D. He had actually come up to me and said, ‘Listen you can’t stay with us, you are a Deol. So, I want to put you up in a hotel room.’ He literally told me that. What he told the media was that I demanded it,” Deol said.
Notably, Anurag Kashyap in a 2020 interview with Huffpost had claimed that Abhay Deol wanted to do artistic films but also wanted to enjoy mainstream benefits, specifically the benefit of being a ‘Deol’.
“Abhay wanted to do artistic films but also wanted the mainstream benefits. The benefits and luxuries of being a ‘Deol’. He would stay in a five-star hotel while the entire crew stayed in Paharganj for a film that was made on a very tight budget. Also, a reason why many of his directors went away from him,” Kashyap had said.
Abhay Deol further said, ”I had my heart on my sleeve, and all that is great — but you get taken advantage of, and then you get reactive. So, he (Kashyap) was a good lesson. Because I don’t need toxic people in my life, I simply avoided him after that. Life is too short, and there is still so much to explore. But Kashyap is definitely a liar and a toxic person. I would also warn others about him.
Notably, Anurag Kashyap has been more in news for his controversial statements rather than his films. The director recently claimed that PM Modi’s advice to BJP leaders to avoid making controversial comments about Bollywood movies will have no impact as the ‘mob’ has gone out of control now.
“It would have mattered if he had said this four years ago. Now, I don’t believe it will make a difference. It was about controlling their own people. Things have gone out of hand now. At the trailer launch event for his upcoming film “Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat,” Kashyap said, “I don’t think anybody will listen to anyone.”
Kashyap who has also been the subject of multiple tax evasion and sexual harassment investigations went on to address the audience as a ‘mob’ saying that it went out of control. “When you stay silent, you empower prejudice and you empower hatred. It has now got so much empowered that it is a power in itself. The mob is out of control now,” Kashyap asserted.
Reacting to this, The Kashmir Files director Vivek Agnihotri questioned if the audiences for Anurag Kashyap have become ‘mob’.
“Audience is ‘mob’ now? Wow! Wow! Wow!,” Agnihotri tweeted.
It is notable that Anurag Kashyap had last year remarked that he hopes The Kashmir Files, a film about the ethnic cleansing of Hindus from the Kashmir valley by Islamists, should not be nominated for the Oscars.
During the interview, the controversial filmmaker had said, “India might actually have a nomination in the final five if RRR is the film that we pick. I don’t know what film anybody is going to pick. I hope not Kashmir Files.”
In an effort to topple Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the general elections of 2024, both the administration and the BJP think that the deep state and western Left-Liberal media would work as a force multiplier for what they consider to be a weak opposition, a media report said.
The Narendra Modi administration is unfazed by the BBC’s rehash of the 2002 Gujarat riots and thinks that more such political hit pieces are in the works to target India and the PM personally as New Delhi prepares to host the G-20 and SCO summits this year as well as the QUAD summit in January 2024.
The Modi government is expected to face the challenge of what they refer to as white left-liberal forces in the run-up to the general elections in 2024. As External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar made it very clear in the US in September that India’s reputation will not be decided by a newspaper in New York or even in Washington. The party and the government think that the Anglo-Saxon left-liberal media will attempt to stir up additional political controversies in support of the ostensibly feeble political opposition to Prime Minister Modi and that they want a compliant regime in India by 2024 that does not hold them accountable.
“The old school political elite of India along with the western media thought PM Modi’s 2014 victory was a fluke and hence they pitched full support to Rafale fighter purchase and demonetization in 2019 elections but lost again. This time the Anglo-Saxons will be out in full strength to ensure that PM Modi does not come to power the third time. We believe that they along with the resident left-liberal ecosystem in India will throw all muck at the government and the party to discredit them in the run-up to the polls. The BBC documentary was the first instalment in what will be a series of hit jobs to undermine India before the G-20 and the 2024 elections,” said a senior government and party functionary.
While UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak rebutted the outrageous remarks of a BBC documentary levelled by a British MP of Pakistani descent in Parliament, the Modi government is aware that Britain still harbours the delusion that it is a global power player and meddles in the Indian subcontinent as an heir to the Imperial Raj. In Indian national security circles, it is well known that the British deep state supports Sikh separatist organizations in the UK. India hasn’t forgotten how the British’s blatant disregard for the rights of Afghan minorities, particularly women, contributed to the Taliban’s seizure of power on August 15, 2021.
The report further added that it is not surprising that the BBC once again brought up the Gujarat riots issue using the former foreign secretary Jack Straw. The former diplomat previously served as a representative for Blackburn, which has one of the largest Muslim populations in the UK, with a sizable portion of its residents hailing from Mirpur in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The same Jack Straw attempted to act as a peacemaker after the horrific slaughter of women and children by Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists at the Kaluchak Army camp in Jammu in May 2002 and the Jaish-e-Mohammed attack on Parliament in 2001 that almost pushed India and Pakistan to the brink of war. Despite the fact that innocent people were skinned alive by Pakistani terrorists at the Kaluchak camp, Straw, playing the part of a chorus boy for the US, preached diplomacy and dialogue to India without holding the then-military dictator of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, accountable or designating the Islamic Republic as a state sponsor of terrorism.
A Union Cabinet Minister said, “The western Left-Liberal angst against new India is that it does not take unsolicited advice from any third country be it on Ukraine war or dialogue with Pakistan or Covid vaccines or China. For Modi, India comes first.”
Reports claim Centre has directed Twitter and YouTube to remove posts on controversial BBC documentary
According to reports, the Modi govt has blocked the propaganda BBC documentary on the 2002 riots from YouTube and Twitter. Although BBC India did not make the video available in India, certain YouTube channels seem to have published it to advance an anti-Indian agenda.
The media reports claim Centre has ordered the blocking of YouTube videos that broadcast the first episode of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi BBC documentary, though it is yet to be confirmed if the Centre had indeed asked the social media organisations to remove content related to BBC Documentary on Gujarat Riots 2002. The companies may well have removed it of their own volition as the documentary was not available outside the UK and sharing it on social media without the explicit permission of the producer is a patent copyright violation.
Senior officials of the Union home minister, external affairs ministry, and information and broadcasting ministry examined the documentary amid controversy over it, which the ministry of external affairs refers to as a propaganda piece, and discovered that it was an attempt to cast doubt on the legitimacy and authority of the Supreme Court of India.
The sources stated, that it was determined that the documentary threatened India’s sovereignty and integrity and had the potential to harm both the nation’s good relations with other countries and its internal public order.
“The documentary produced by British Broadcasting Corporation, UK’s Public Broadcaster, has been earlier called by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) a propaganda piece that lacks objectivity and reflects a colonial mindset. While it was not made available in India by BBC in India, some YouTube channels appear to have uploaded it to promote an anti-India agenda. It is reported that YouTube has also been instructed to block the video if it is again uploaded on its platform. Twitter has also been directed to identify and block the tweets containing the link to the video on other platforms,” revealed Arandim Baghchi, a spokesperson for the MEA, during a weekly press briefing.
In a recent development, where Economic Offences Wings of Delhi Police has filed a supplementary chargesheet in connection with the Rs 200 crore extortion case, alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar on Saturday claimed that Bollywood actor Nora Fatehi has always been jealous of Jacqueline Fernandez.
Sukesh in a press statement issued through his lawyers Anant Malik and AK Singh stated that Nora Fatehi always brainwashed him against Jacqueline, so she wanted him to leave Jacqueline and start dating her.
“Nora used to try calling me at least 10 times a day and if I don’t answer the call she used to keep on calling me,” Sukesh claimed.
“As I and Jacqueline were in a serious relationship, I started avoiding Nora, but she kept irritating me by calling and also, asking me to help bobby (Nora’s relative) in setting up a music production company which I did. She also kept sending me multiple pictures of Hermes bags and jewellery that she wanted, which I obliged by giving her, which she was using till date, ask her to produce one bill of Hermes bags that she has, she can never produce as she does not have, as the bags are worth more than Rs 2 crores”, claims Sukesh.
He also stated that Nora first gives a different statement before ED u/s 50 PMLA which is admissible in court and also is evidence, later, now before EOW and a magistrate, the entire statement is changed and new stories are made by her, and the same can be very well be verified and compared with the charge sheet of ED and now the EOW. This clearly shows how Nora is being manipulated and afterthoughts and ideas are implemented by her only with a mala fide mind of hers.
He also stated that actors and models Nikki Tamboli and Chahat Khanna, with these women in his association, were only professional as they were supposed to act in his production under the LS film banner.
“I had no romantic association as news alleged by them, as their statement before the Enforcement Directorate, nine months ago was completely different which can be seen by media to certain if I am lying. So this new statement given by them before EOW is only to save their skin and to grab publicity in the media, I have no fear to agree with the truth, but this new story is very funny after 9 months, I appeal to the media to verify the ED charge sheet statement and now new EOW charge sheet statement which will clearly show how these two Nikki and Chahath are lying,” he said.
Sukesh also stated that “I have to this very minute maintained dignity and respect for all those women and I don’t want to stoop down to this cheap level of putting out all the chats, and screenshots in the open which would expose the truth in open, and which will assassinate their characters, but if this circus goes on then I have face to show, as they know, what all they have spoken or have had knowledge about.”
“The statement given by the so-called witness actresses in the supplement chargesheet filed by the EOW, I am sure everyone has perceptions after reading the statements published on media, but, I would also mention a few things in my press statement here which will show how the so-called witness actress have lied and abused the process of law,” Sukesh said in a press statement issued on Saturday.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
On Friday, January 20, alleged Rationalist, and writer, KS Bhagwan sparked outrage after making controversial comments about Lord Rama and Goddess Sita. KS Bhagwan claimed that the Valmiki Ramayana, in Uttar Kaand, states that Lord Rama used to drink wine with Sita every afternoon.
Rama’s main activity in the afternoon was to sit with Sita and drink wine. the author was heard saying that this is what the documents state. KS Bhagwan made the comments while speaking at an event in Mandya, Karnataka.
This is not the first time that the writer has expressed objectionable opinions about Lord Ram. In December 2018, he stirred up a controversy after claiming that according to Valmiki Ramayan, Lord Ram used to drink ‘intoxicants’ and made Sita consume them too. In his book “Rama Mandira Yake Beda,” he made these comments.
Following his comments, some Hindu organisations launched a protest against KS Bhagwan and tried to hold a puja outside the controversial writer’s residence in Kuvempunagar.
Back then, KM Nishant, a member of a Hindu rights group had told the Times of India that the Uttar Kaand was added later on in the Valmiki Ramayana and that it was not composed by Sage Valmiki.
“In his book Rama Mandira Yake Beda, KS Bhagwan quotes verses from Uttar Kaand, the concluding chapter of Valmiki’s Ramayana. However, Bhagwan should be aware that Hindus disagree with Uttar Kaand because we believe Valmiki did not write the chapter. There is no mention of Uttar Kaand in any of the 24,000 slokas that make up the Ramayana,” Nishant told Times of India.
It is notable that those arguing that Lord Rama used to consume meat and liquor often quote this shloka from Valmiki Ramayana’s Sundarkand:
Those claiming that Lord Rama used to consume alcohol and meat interpret this shloka as He (Lord Rama) is not eating meat anymore, nor indulging in liquor (not even spiritual liquor) and he is just eating the fruits available from the forest.
Valmiki Ramayana, Gita Press publication (Image via social media)
However, the Gita Press publication clarifies that the shloka actually means that it is a sin for any Raghuvanshi (including Lord Rama) to consume meat or alcohol. Then why would Lord Rama consume these things? Lord Rama in accordance with the Shastras used to eat fruits available in the forest.
On the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, India Today’s Rahul Kanwal talked to former Reserve Bank governor Raghuram Rajan. A video clip of the interview has gone viral, where Raghuram Rajan gets a befitting reply from Kanwal for his criticism of the Modi government’s handling of the economy.
The controversial former RBI governor, who is close to the Congress party, tried to raise several points to attack the economic policies of the Modi government, but he was effectively countered by Rahul Kanwal. The India Today anchor cited several global examples to show that what the Indian govt is doing is not unique, and it is in line with what other global powers are also doing.
When asked about his views on the Modi government’s handling of the economy, Rajan said that while the government is doing in areas like infrastructure, like the building of roads, he said that the performance is not satisfactory in the ‘soft infrastructure point’. He cited raising tariffs as one example, saying that ‘if we are to become a global player, we have to recognize that a tariff is not just preventing imports but also preventing exports. But Rahul Kanwal countered that by saying that reason for it is that it has become a global trend, and it is happening not just in India.
However, Rajan said that as India is trying to make its way into the global supply chain, India should lower tariffs even though other countries are not doing so.
Kanwal then moved on to the astronomical rise of electronic manufacturing in India under the Modi government, which was negligible during the UPA rule. He said that hardly anything was produced during the UPA govt, but now India is producing electronic devices not only for the domestic market but also has become an export centre. But Raghuram Rajan directly dismissed this achievement, saying that the rise in domestic production is only because of the incentives offered by the government.
He said that the mobile plants in India are importing large amounts of parts and are just assembling the final products in India. According to Rajan, it is not a big achievement, and he also claimed that assembly plants do not generate much employment. He added that there is no value addition in assembling the phones. He also claimed that around ₹5000 in subsidy is paid by the govt for every phone made in India.
Rajan also claimed that manufacturers are looking to come out of China, and asked whether they will come to India without subsidy. ‘Somehow it seems the only way we get mobile Manufacturing in India is to subsidize that final output, pay 5000 rupees per cell phone that is manufactured or whatever the final number is regardless of how much value is being added,’ he said, criticising the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme of the union government.
Rahul Kanwal countered it by saying that the government is doing what it can do to bring manufacturing to India. He added that India is not the only country offering incentives to companies to bring in manufacturing, giving the example of how the US has announced a $280 billion initiative to move chip manufacturing from countries like Taiwan, China, Thailand etc to the USA.
However, when Kanwal showed how the USA is also giving incentives to manufacturing, Raghuram Rajan changed track, virtually saying USA’s incentive is good but India’s incentive is bad. He criticised the $10 billion incentive announced by the Modi government for semiconductor manufacturing in the country, saying it will generate only 1000-1500 jobs.
It is notable that just 5 minutes earlier, he was criticising incentives for phone assembly plants, saying it is worthless if there is no manufacturing of parts in India. But then he moved to criticise the manufacturing of semiconductors, saying it does not generate much employment.
Raghuram Rajan then turned from an economist to a pure leftist, saying that instead of giving $10 billion to the semiconductor industry, the money should be used to start new universities and give to existing universities. According to him, giving money to universities will result in the flourishing of technological abilities.
He also doubted the capabilities of the companies which have announced semiconductor plants in India under the PLI scheme. He was referring to Vedanta, which is setting up a ₹1.54 lakh crore semiconductor plant in Gujarat, as Vedanta has no experience in the sector. But he conveniently forgot that it is a 60:40 joint venture with Taiwanese giant Foxconn, the world’s leading electronics manufacturer.
Rahul Kanwal countered his ‘build universities instead of manufacturing plants’ by saying that it will take years, while the semiconductor plants will start manufacturing in a couple of years. And now, Rajan had a problem with the semiconductor plants in India, saying they will make ‘run of the mill semiconductors.’ According to him, the semiconductor plants coming up in India are worthless because they are not making chips that power modern computers, smartphones and other top-end devices.
Rahul Kanwal effectively countered it by saying that it is a chicken and egg situation, and the country has to start with low-end chip making and then move up the value chain. Raghuram Rajan wants India to directly start making top-end chips, which is not possible, and Kanwal effectively pointed out this, forcing Rajan to again move off track. He said that China already has such chip-making facilities, but it has not acquired the capabilities to move up.
Kanwal again effectively countered him, saying that in China everything is under government control, and without democracy and freedom, there is little incentive to move up the value chain. He said that the Indian start-up sector has already shown that the chances of innovation in India are higher than in China. He said that China is not catching up because it’s essentially a state-run society.
Raghuram Rajan disagreed with him, saying there are several successful private tech companies in China, and there have been innovations in China like TikTok. However, he agreed that India’s democracy gives it strength in terms of innovation if that is allowed. But he added that we also need to spend on human capital, and need to have world-class universities.
He said that India should open up manufacturing but there is no need to give to subsidies to the industry. He kept on stressing building more ‘human capital’, saying it should get priority over manufacturing and logistics etc.
In an attempt to criticise the Modi government, Raghuram Rajan ended up saying only the higher-end semiconductor industry matters, which is not correct. While only computers and phones come to mind when talking about chips, actually today chips are everywhere, and there is a huge demand for lower-end chips in the world.
The automobile industry was facing a crisis recently due to a shortage of supply of chips, as each vehicle contains several chips to control various aspects of the vehicle. Today most appliances and electronic products contain semiconductors, which are not made by the likes of Intel.
With the expansion of smart and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, the global chip demand is set to explode, and by venturing into the sector, India will be able to capture a part of the market. By the end of the decade, the semiconductor market for the automobile sector will be $150 billion, while the semiconductor market for consumer and industrial electronics is set to be $220 billion. Therefore, the $10 billion bet by the government of India is worth it to enter this highly coveted sector with only a few players.
Even in computers, phones, gaming consoles etc that need top-end chips, there are several lower-end chips and other semiconductor products apart from the main CPUs and GPUs, and the upcoming plants in India can supply those parts.
Moreover, entering the low-end chip market will be crucial to moving to high-end chips to compete with the likes of TSMC, Samsung and Intel. No new player in a sector can’t enter the top end directly, it has to start at the bottom and gradually move up the value chain.
It is also important to note there is no such thing as ‘run of the mill semiconductors,’ as claimed by Rajan. While the chips used in devices are lower-end compared to CPUs and GPUs of computers and phones, the ‘low end’ semiconductors are still highly complex products which are made by only a small number of companies in the world. It is a niche but high-value industry with a few players that manufacture at a large scale, and the industry produces mone of the most complex products ever designed by mankind.
Rajan is also wrong in saying that the Vedanta-Foxconn plant may not be a success as it has no experience in chip making. But the fact is, Foxconn is actually a major electronics component maker While Foxconn is mostly known for manufacturing iPhones and other consumer electronics devices of several companies, the company also makes a huge number of components that go into phones and other devices. Moreover, the company has forayed into chip manufacturing in recent years, has acquired chip fabrication plants, and therefore has the knowhow to operate a semiconductor plant.
Also, given the scale of operation of Foxconn and the financial muscle of the joint venture, it will not be difficult for them to acquire the required expertise.
While saying that China has not been able to move up the value chain in semiconductors from being an assembler, Raghuram Rajan ignored several factors. The first is that China focused on becoming the manufacturing hub of the world, while India is focusing on both assembling devices and making chips from the begining.
Also, China has a big hurdle in making it big in semiconductors because of US sanctions. The Semiconductor industry involves a global supply chain of several countries in various countries including the USA, and several American companies hold crucial IP rights needed for the sector, and due to the sanctions, the Chinese semiconductor industry can’t access them.
Raghuram Rajan also conveniently ignored the US subsidy program to bring the chipmaking industry to the country when Rahul Kanwal mentioned it. In the recently introduced CHIPS and Science Act, the United States government has announced more than $50 billion in tax breaks and other subsidies for manufacturers, while the total value of benefits in the scheme is set to be $280 billion.
Therefore, India is not the only country to offer incentives to bring manufacturing to the country, even an economic superpower like USA is also doing the same.
Raghuram Rajan also claimed neither assembling nor manufacturing in the electronics sector generates employment in large numbers. First, he contradicted himself, as he attacked the phone assembly plants, saying they all use imported parts, then he criticised the semiconductor industry saying it will only produce low-end chips. He also said assembly plants do not generate much employment, and the chip plant will hardly generate 1000-1500 jobs.
He is wrong on multiple fronts on this aspect too. While he is correct that semiconductor manufacturing is not employment intensive, it’s a big industry that will support lots of ancillary industries, which will generate much more jobs. Semiconductors are made in highly specialised fabrication units, and a small number of highly skilled workers are needed to operate them. But like all such industries, they also require a large number of products and services to operate, therefore they can generate much more indirect employment.
Raghuram Rajan’s claim that phone assembly plants do not generate much employment is plainly wrong because it is actually one of the most manpower-intensive industries. Single campuses of Foxconn in China employ lakhs of employees, because, the process of assembling various parts to build a phone or a similar device requires a lot of manpower. The phone assembly units operating in India also employ large numbers of people.
For example, in 2020 around 30,000 people worked in several Xiaomi plants in India that manufacture phones and other devices of the Chinese giant. The company has been adding capacities since then, and therefore the number must have gone up. Foxconn is reportedly increasing its manpower in India to 70,000 in the next two years. These plants also generate lots of indirect employment, and therefore they are large employment generators, unlike the claims of Rajan.
Raghuram Rajan’s suggestion that $10 billion should be used to build universities instead of promoting industry is similar to the a familiar leftist rant every time the government announces big industry of infrastructure projects. They always claim govt should build schools and hospitals instead of building roads, railways, ports etc. While the requirement for top-end universities can’t be denied, there is no reason why it should be at the cost of the semiconductor industry. The government has budgets for different sectors, and the money is spent accordingly.
The complete interview of Raghuram Rajan with Rahul Kanwal can be viewed below, where they talked about several other subjects, like Rajan saying that Rahul Gandi is not a Pappu.
On Saturday (January 21), Indian civil society came forward to slam the United Kingdom’s national broadcaster, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), over its propaganda documentary on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A total of 133 retired bureaucrats, 156 retired armed officers, and 13 retired judges have written an open letter, wherein they dubbed the BBC documentary as ‘delusions of British Imperial resurrection.’ They warned, “Not this time. Not with our leader. Not with India. Never on our watch!”
“So now we have the archetype of British past imperialism in India setting itself up as both judge and jury, to resurrect Hindu-Muslim tensions that were overwhelmingly the creation of the British Raj policy of divide and rule,” they further stated.
They emphasised, “Not only is the BBC series, judging from what we have seen of it so far, based on delusional and evidently lopsided reporting, but it presumes to question the very basis of the 75-year-old edifice of India’s existence as an independent, democratic nation, a nation which functions according to the will of the people of India.
Retired judges, retired bureaucrats and retired armed forces veterans co-sign a statement rebutting the BBC documentary ‘Delusions of British Imperial Resurrection?’ pic.twitter.com/XCFROpYzPl
The group of retired bureaucrats, army officers, and judges further said, “Glaring factual errors apart, the series – which uses the words ‘allegedly’ and ‘reportedly’ repeatedly, (not ‘factually”) – reeks of motivated distortion that is as mind-numbingly unsubstantiated as it is nefarious.”
“This is demonstrated most vividly by its completely sidelining the core fact: that the apex judicial institution of India, the Supreme Court of India, has unambiguously ruled out any role of Shri. Modi in the Gujarat violence of 2002, while firmly rejecting allegations of complicity and inaction by the then Gujarat State government headed by Chief Minister Modi,” they added.
They questioned the sinister motives of the BBC for dismissing the verdict of the supreme court. “Prime Minister Modi’s active engagement with every Indian citizen, be it in housing or health or education, is only worthy of approbation and emulation,” they emphasised.
The retired officials also hailed the Covid-19 relief package of the Modi government, besides the abrogation of Article 370 and facilitating the empowerment of Muslim women through the criminalisation of instant Triple Talaq.
“The series claims to examine policies ‘in the context of rising tensions in India’. Not only is this a serious waste of the audience’s time, patience and intelligence, it actually calls into question BBC’s own journalistic and ethical principles,” the letter read.
“This documentary is not a neutral critique, it is not about exercising creative freedom, it is not even about a divergent, anti-establishment point of view. It is in fact a visibly motivated charge sheet against our leader, a fellow Indian and a patriot,” it further noted.
The Background of the BBC controversy
Recently, BBC aired a two-part documentary attacking PM Narendra Modi’s tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister during the Gujarat riots of 2002. India has denounced the controversial program as a “propaganda piece” that is designed to push a discredited narrative.
One of the nefarious objectives behind the documentary was to whitewash the role of Islamists in the Godhra train carnage, which claimed a total of 59 Hindu lives. It further used the already discredited statements of Sanjiv Bhatt and RB Sreekumar to attack the Indian Prime Minister. BBC even used the boasts of Babu Bajrangi and Haresh Bhatt, who have accepted that they were reading the script given by a journalist, to try and declare PM Modi guilty.
