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Attending ‘Howdy Modi’ at NRG: PM Modi rocked the show where Rolling Stones and Metallica once performed

When I first heard of the Howdy Modi program, I thought the organizers were a bit overambitious in closing a venue that can seat more than 50,000 people. This was after all a concert venue for Beyonce, The Rolling Stones, Metallica, Taylor Swift among others. It can seat more than twice that of Wankhede stadium.

There was obviously a lot of build-up to this event and why not? In many ways, this was unprecedented in America. Some commentators were saying that Indian Americans are taking a big risk by attracting attention for the wrong reasons. The general MO of most Indian Americans is to put their head down and work. In contrast, other communities are much better at organizing politically, in particular, the Muslim community. I find some of these arguments absurd. It’s a country where lobbying is the norm. Raising your voice is the norm. Demanding your rights is the norm. Expressing yourself openly is the norm. And here, we are being asked to lie low, don’t even welcome the Indian PM.  

There was a lot of talk of thousands of protestors showing up at the event. This quickly brought back memories of what happened at the Indian high commission in London, where Pakistani hooligans did all kinds of damage. Policing works differently in America. Trump’s presence at the event obviously increased security. They were not going to take any chances. They created a large section for the protestors away from the stadium. I noticed a handful of protestors as I walked into the stadium. 

While some democrats pulled out because of Trump’s presence, there was a decent representation. Jr. Senator from Texas, Ted Cruz, delivered a crisp and good speech. This was followed by Sr. Senator John Cornyn. It’s worth noting that he co-founded and became the co-chairman of the U.S. Senate India Caucus in 2004. Senator Cornyn had the honour of introducing Prime Minister Modi to the crowd and the reception he got from the crowd was something. House majority leader, Steny Hoyer, a Democrat currently serving his 20th term in Congress gave some remarks which seemed a bit like a sermon. It was carefully worded but it was weird for him to be quoting Gandhi and Nehru to an Indian audience. That speech didn’t land well.

Then there was a long pause, most likely due to Trump getting delayed. The crowd went to sleep.

The crowd before PM Modi came to the stadium

Then came Trump. PM Modi’s introduction of Trump was again carefully crafted. Everyone knows that he likes praise and he got lots of it. However, if you listen carefully, Modi was repeating many obvious things which we have heard before. There were some who thought Modi endorsed Trump when he said Abki Bar Trump Sarkar. See the video again and notice that Modi was just talking about the 2016 campaign. There was a lot of hyperbole but there was no explicit endorsement of Trump. Modi is too seasoned a politician to know which lines not to cross. The loudest cheer in the stadium probably was when Modi said to Trump “My honour to introduce you to my family” Modi woke up the sleeping crowd. And Trump loved it. He hasn’t seen a rally as big as this. And he got a standing ovation when he talked about eradicating radical Islamic terror. For the most part he stuck to the teleprompter, where he is not his natural self. The only time he went off script was when he asked if Modi would invite him to the inaugural NBA game in Mumbai. That might just be the cue Indian Govt was looking for to invite him to be the chief guest at the next Republic Day.

When Modi rose to speak, he was speaking to an audience that was hungry, both in terms of food and his words. The crowd had gathered around 6 AM at the stadium and Modi spoke close to 1 PM local time.

Crowd walking in NSG at 7 AM

His opening remarks worked like a charm. Many saw his “Sab Accha hai” remark in multiple languages as a response to complaints of Hindi imposition. Maybe they were but my own sense was that Modi knows his crowd better than any politician. He knows that the Indian American community is quite diverse. He was working for the crowd. There were many people from southern states. When he said “Ella Chennagide”, the Kannadigas around me went berserk.  

While he spoke extempore, this was relatively a more carefully worded speech. There was something for everyone: Trump, Republicans, Democrats Corporate America, American media and of course the audience in America and in India. The stakes were high. While the applause tore the roof when he mentioned 370, he made several remarks that were directed at Democrats and American media. He talked about the long debate in the parliament and how it was telecast live on TV. He stressed the 2/3rds majority for the abrogation of 370 and in particular the fact that his party didn’t even have a simple majority in the upper house. The next day, the New York Times carried a piece that included this information.  

I was struck by how little Modi was conscious of Trump’s presence. He mentioned Trump several times but he never seemed restricted one bit by Trump’s presence. He owned the room. His statement on Pakistan, without mentioning Pakistan was a major highlight. Shekhar Gupta in his analysis concluded that this would’ve been cleared with the Trumps administration before but that doesn’t seem to be the case. The next day Trump in Imran Khan’s presence said “I heard a very aggressive statement from PM Modi. I was not expecting to hear that statement” This didn’t seem like a speech that was pre-approved by the Trump administration.

To me, one of the more interesting moments was when Modi was talking about who was responsible for the 2019 victory. He said it’s the people and Modi alone is nothing. The crowd’s response was more like “Yeah Right” They didn’t buy it.

At the end, the suggested that they take a lap around the stadium, sending secret service into a tizzy. If you carefully notice, the secret service never got the crowd too close. No one was in touching distance unlike in India, where PM Modi often shakes hands with the crowd. This was obviously spontaneous and a perfect way to close the event. Trump and Modi waving at the crowd hand in hand is a powerful statement. This could be seen as an endorsement to Trump. It could also be a statement to Democrats that look, I can do this for anyone I chose to. While an overwhelming majority of Indian Americans supported democrats in the past, things could change. There is a good reason why Indian Americans support democrats. One important reason is lack of choice: Indians tend to be in the coasts: New York, New Jersey, California which are blue states. Texas is a red state and during my earlier interactions, I could sense a lot more support from Trump among the Indian community here as compared to other states. Democratic leadership is being pushed to the left and towards Islamic ideology. In some states, Indian Americans may not be a big force in terms of votes, but they are a big force when it comes to notes. At $110,000 median Indian Americans median household income is the highest in the United States. This is what parties and candidates are after and the way Modi worked the crowd sends out a strong message that he can influence both votes and notes.  

To say that this event was totally unprecedented would be wrong. The then British PM David Cameron did show up at Wembley along with PM Modi but needless to say, Howdy Modi was much more significant. And a tough act to follow. I find it hard to imagine another leader from India who could pull off such an event as PM Modi could.

(This article has been written by Mr Ram Prasad)

Earthquake measuring 6.3 on Richter scale hits J&K at India-Pak border, tremors felt in Delhi-NCR

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An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale hit India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir at around 4:31 IST. Tremors felt in Delhi-NCR too.


More details awaited.

Note: This report has been updated with latest information.

Govt to reintroduce Citizenship Amendment Bill in Parliament in November, new NRC to be prepared afterwards: Himanta Biswa Sarma

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The Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) will be reintroduced in the Parliament in November, Assam Finance, Health and PWD Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Monday. Furthermore, he said that a new NRC will be prepared under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

On his one day visit to Silchar as part of the Rashtriya Ekta Abhiyan, Sarma said, “If no more hurdles come in the way, then CAB will be passed in November.” He added, “we would pass this bill in all likelihood by November next. But all parties would be taken into confidence for the same, especially those from the Northeast to safeguard their cultural and linguistic rights.”

Reiterating his stand on NRC, Sarma said, “Let there be a case in the Supreme Court and we will say that BJP rejects this NRC. We do not believe in this NRC. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah there will be another NRC. Those laughing now will cry for sure. A law will also be passed to grant citizenship to those who came to India due to religious persecution.”

The NRC was not what was expected, Sarma confirmed. He said, “The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is not what we expected. BJP does not want any confrontation or chaos over the CAB. Despite massive protests and agitation, the BJP has been able to win 99 per cent votes across Assam in the Lok Sabha election. There will be another comprehensive NRC after we come up with the CAB with the consent of all stakeholders.”

Himanta Biswa Sarma further stated, “We have held public meetings to explain to the people that all the interests and existing legal provisions in the northeast region for the benefit of the indigenous people will be protected. We respect the inner line permit (ILP) system, Sixth Schedule provisions.” “We need a bill… cannot allow infiltration to continue. So we need a bill to stop this,” the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor added.

Sarma also assuaged the concerns of the Assamese community regarding the Citizenship Amendment Bill. “People must not think that the bill is against the interest of their culture, language and heritage but that they are giving shelter to unfortunate people,” the minister said. “That is why the government will table CAB in Parliament in November this year to grant Indian citizenship to everyone, including Bengali Hindus as well as Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains who came to the country before 2014 and consider India their motherland,” he said.

The architect of the BJP’s rise in the Northeast, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that linguistic nationalism is the most dangerous threat that Assam faces. He said, “Language must remain but the most dangerous problem for Assam is language-based nationalism. Assamese are never against Bengalis.”

There has been a lot of anguish over the final NRC where huge numbers of Bengali Hindus were left out of the list whereas regions of the state that have undergone a tectonic demographic shift due to illegal Muslim immigration from Bangladesh have not reported illegals in any significant number. Too many people feel betrayed with the NRC and Sarma has been saying since then that the NRC did not work out in the manner it was supposed to work. The state government was aware of the issues with NRC, and had asked the Supreme Court for reverification, but the apex court didn’t accept that.

Pakistan’s ISI using drones to deliver weapons for Khalistani groups, Amrinder Singh cautions central govt

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Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh took to Twitter to slam Pakistan for using drones to deliver weapons and communication devices into India and urged HM Amit Shah to take quick action against Pakistan’s new nefarious tactics to disrupt peace in India.

He said that the drone incidents were a new and serious dimension on Pakistan’s “sinister designs” following the scrapping of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

Recent incidents of Pakistan-origin drones dropping consignments of arms & ammunition is a new and serious dimension on Pakistan’s sinister designs in aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370. Request @AmitShahji to ensure that this drone problem is handled at the earliest,” said Punjab CM in his Tweet.


Captain Amarinder Singh’s Tweet came two days after Punjab police had exposed a recent terror module of the revived Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), backed by a Pakistan and Germany based terror group that was devising a series of terror strikes in Punjab and other adjoining states.

The Punjab Police had in a Facebook post revealed that they had seized a huge cache of arms including five AK-47 rifles (along with 16 magazines and 472 rounds of ammunition), four China-made 0.30 bore pistols (along with 8 magazines and 72 rounds of ammunition), nine hand grenades, five Thuraya satellite phones along with their ancillary equipment, two mobile phones, two wireless sets, and Rs 10 lakh fake Indian currency notes.

Punjab police Facebook post

Initial investigations had revealed the use of drones to deliver weapons and communication hardware from Pakistan to Taran Taran.

Following the development, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has decided to transfer the case to NIA for further investigation.

“Module was conspiring to unleash series of terror strikes in Punjab and/or adjoining states. Police seized huge cache of arms including 5 AK-47 rifles, pistols, satellite phones and hand grenades. Further investigations in the case handed over to NIA,” said a statement released by the Punjab CMO.

Punjab CM had requested the central government to direct the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Border Security Force (BSF) to launch necessary counter-measures to check for any possible threats.

The IAF and BSF have already launched counter-measures to check any further threat from drones to the border state of Punjab.

DGP Dinkar Gupta said the weapons may have been delivered recently across the Indo-Pak border from Pakistan using drones launched by the Pak ISI with local Pakistani terrorists and pro-Khalistani terrorist outfits working under its command.

The 4 members of the terrorist module, namely, Balwant Singh alias Baba and Nihang, Akashdeep Singh alias Akash Randhawa, Harbhajan Singh, and Balbir Singh were arrested from the outskirts of village Chohla Sahib in Tarn Taran on Sunday.

Confirming the reports here on Sunday, DGP Dinkar Gupta said the module was backed by Pakistan-based chief of KZF, Ranjeet Singh alias Neeta, and his Germany-based associate Gurmeet Singh alias Bagga and Doctor, who had re-organized their terrorist group to revive terrorism in Punjab.

Rattled by the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, Pakistan has been trying several techniques to disrupt peace in the Valley and adjoining states. Besides trying to push terrorist through the border area, Pakistan has been spreading fake and malicious news to create an atmosphere of panic in the Valley, but sadly for the terror state, each of its attempts is being successfully thwarted by India.

IRCTC to launch IPO on September 30, expects to raise Rs 500-600 crore

With Sensex on a rebound, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is planning to launch its initial public offering (IPO) on September 30. The decision to list IRCTC in the stock market comes after the benchmark Sensex gained 8% or 2,899 points since Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made an announcement to cut the corporate tax rate.

According to the reports, state-owned IRCTC, which sells tickets for Indian Railways and manages its catering services, is expected to raise Rs 500-600 crore through its IPO. The government is looking to offload up to 20 million shares in IRCTC, following that the government’s stake in IRCTC will come down by 12.5 per cent.

Reportedly, the company’s shares are proposed to be listed on BSE and NSE. The government has already filed IRCTC’s draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in August this year. The price band will be announced on Wednesday, September 25.

Reportedly, IRCTC’s business is divided into four segments — internet ticketing, catering, packaged drinking water under the ‘Rail Neer’ brand, and travel and tourism. While its sales rose 25% to Rs 1,899 crore, its profit grew 23.5% to Rs 272.5 crore in the fiscal year 2019, compared to last fiscal.

IRCTC is the subsidiary of Indian Railways and handles online ticketing, catering and tourism operations. The IRCTC is one of the most visited websites in the Asia-Pacific region, with a transaction volume of more than 25 million per month, and 7.2 million logins per day. About 800,000 tickets are booked every day through the IRCTC website and Rail Connect.

However, catering has been the company’s biggest contributor to sales over the years. While more than half of its revenues at Rs 1,044 crore came from its catering business in 2019, internet ticketing business contributed about 12% of its revenue. The remaining Rs 444 crore came from its tourism and travel-related services and Rs 176 crore from its Rail Neer packaged drinking water business.

Difficult to rebut the faith of Hindus regarding Ram Janmabhoomi: SC to Muslim side lawyers during Ayodhya hearing

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The five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi hearing the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case on a day to day basis told the counsel appearing for the Muslim parties that the faith of Hindus in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case would be difficult to question.

It would be difficult to question the faith of Hindus with regard to Ayodhya as the birthplace of Lord Ram as even some Muslim witnesses have termed it as sacred for the Hindus as Mecca is for them, the Supreme Court said on Monday, which marked the 29th day of hearing in the Ayodhya case.

The bench was delving into submissions made by the Muslim parties’ counsel that a physical entity was necessary and an empty place could hardly form a juristic person.

The bench had on Monday questioned Rajeev Dhavan appearing for the Sunni Wakf Board on whether the divinity and the “exact form” of an idol were necessary to hold that they have “juristic personality”.

“Even Muslim witnesses (during the trial) have said that Ayodhya to Hindus is as sacred as the Mecca is for them. It will be difficult to rebut the belief of the Hindus,” said the bench which also comprised Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer.

Rajeev Dhavan had argued before the five-judge bench that they respect Ayodhya as Ram Janmbhoomi but have difficulty to accept it as a deity. He said that belief alone could not be the sole foundation to claim title and accord juristic status to the “Janmasthan” (birthplace).

Dhavan objected to the move to make the birthplace a party to the lawsuit filed on behalf of the deity Ram Lalla Viarajman for claiming juristic status for the sacred land.

“They just say Lord Ram was born here. None of the contours of the area is mentioned anywhere in the plaint. The suit is thus merely a vehicle to destroy and build a temple. They have argued that all existing structures be demolished at Ram Janmabhoomi and a new temple be constructed,” he said.

Dhavan added that there should be some kind of physical manifestation of a deity or an idol and questioned the top court on the “objective aspects” to support the claim.

The court, however, directed him to provide a list of deities or idols that have been granted the status of juristic personalities. The lawyer in his response said he would have to write 18 research papers for the same.

Earlier, Dhavan had argued that once a Mosque has been built, it always remains a mosque and it cannot be removed.

The hearing in the politically sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case has entered its 30th day today. Chief Justice Gogoi has set October 18 as the tentative date to finish the hearing in the case. He had also said that the parties involved in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute case were free to settle the matter, through mediation as well if they so desired. They have been asked to place the dispute settlement report before the bench.

Advocate rubbishes news of law student who accused Chinmayanand being detained by police in extortion case

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Update: The law student’s lawyer has rubbished claims that she was detained in the extortion case. He said, “We had filed an anticipatory bail application in the Court. After elaborate discussion Court allowed my application. Court has fixed September 26 as next date for the hearing. Reports of the victim’s arrest is wrong. Till now we have neither received any notice nor any action has been taken against us”.


In the latest development in the Chinmayanand case, the law student from Shahjahanpur, who has accused former minister Swami Chinmayanand of raping and physically exploiting her has been allegedly detained by the SIT for questioning in the extortion case. Her detention comes a day after she was denied anticipatory bail by the Allahabad High Court.

The SIT probing the case has said that they have video evidence of the girl discussing extortion strategy with her friends involved in demanding a ransom from Swami Chinmayanand.

The SIT has taken two others accused, Sachin and Vikram on remand for further investigation in the case. SIT has been granted 95 hours to keep the two accused under remand.


The Allahabad High Court had turned down the law student’s petition seeking a stay on arrest in the extortion case filed by Swami Chinmayanand against her, saying that it has no jurisdiction to pass the order. BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand who is accused of raping the girl had later on filed an extortion case against her.

The law student from Shahjahanpur, who has accused former Union Minister Swami Chinmayanand of raping and physically exploiting her, was on September 20 (Friday) charged with extortion in a case filed by Chinmayanand, even as the SIT probing the case arrested him.

The SIT had also arrested her friend, Sanjay Singh along with two others, who had allegedly sent a WhatsApp message demanding the ransom of Rs 5 crore from Chinmayanand on September 20. According to the SIT chief Naveen Arora, the three had accepted their involvement in the case although the law student had denied the charges.

They have been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 385 (extortion), 506 (criminal intimidation), 201(disappearance of evidence), 35 (criminal act done with a criminal knowledge or intention) and 67 of the Information Technology Act.

SIT chief Naveen Arora said the former BJP MP had confessed to “almost all” the allegations made against him, barring rape. Despite the student’s complaint, Chinmayanand was not charged with rape but was arrested under Section 376 C of the IPC, which pertains to misusing authority to seduce or induce a woman to have sexual intercourse.

The SC had expressed satisfaction over the SIT status report in a sexual assault case filed by a postgraduate student against former Union minister and BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand.

UAE’s first astronaut gets ‘Islamic guidelines’ on how and when to do Namaz while in space

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Hazzaa Al Mansouri – the first-ever astronaut from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been issued with a set of Islamic guidelines which tell him how to practise his faith in the space, reports Dailymail.

Reportedly, Dubai’s Islamic Affairs Authority has issued a set of Islamic guidelines to the UAE astronaut, who will be now praying and fasting in the International Space Station.

Mansouri is set to take off for space on Wednesday from Kazakhstan. Once in space, he will be witnessing sunrise and sunset 16 times a day, making it difficult for him to do Namaz as Muslims are bound to fast and pray according to the time of the day.

To help the astronaut, the Islamic Affairs Authority has advised him to do Namaz by matching the time of the day as per Mecca in Saudi Arabia, which is considered to be the holiest place for Muslims on Earth.

Muslims are expected to face towards Mecca when they pray, posing another difficulty for astronauts in zero gravity who are rapidly orbiting the Earth. However, the UAE astronaut has been advised to face Earth if he can while he prays instead of turning towards Mecca.

The guidelines issued also preach that Mansouri must clean himself before each of the prayers and if there is a scarcity of water at the ISS then he should use a grain of sand or stone.

Al Mansouri will be spending eight days in space. Al Mansouri will join Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka and US astronaut Jessica Meir on the ISS when the rocket launches from Kazakhstan on Wednesday. The UAE astronaut will return on October 3 while his two colleagues will return in spring next year, according to NASA.

The Left has lost its moral compass and using Greta Thunberg to further their narrative is just proof of that

On Monday, Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old climate activist, delivered a speech at the United Nations on the threat of climate change. Video clips of her speech went viral on social media and they drew rather polarizing reactions, to put it mildly.


The speech she made is, quite frankly, unwatchable. It’s not so much the content of her speech that makes it unbearable but the manner in which she says it, although the content did play a significant part. While people of a leftwing political orientation would froth in their mouth and demonize us if we said the obvious but the obvious does need to be said. It was awful and cringe-worthy and very difficult to watch. I could not listen to the entirety of it without closing my eyes. My face twisted into a grimace almost involuntarily.

US President Donald Trump, who trolled his way into the White House, spoke for a lot of people when he made a sarcastic comment on it. And if you were looking for a reason as to why Trump got elected, this is it. He has the guts to say the obvious when there’s immense backlash for daring to speak the truth.


There’s a reason why Greta Thunberg, who suffers from Aspergers, is the new face of Climate Change activism. She is a 16-year-old with an obvious health issue. Therefore, she can get away with a lot of things that people older than she can’t. And if anyone dares to criticize her, they could then demonize them for ‘attacking’ a little girl. It’s quite malicious if you ask me.

Using children for propaganda is one of the vilest things anyone could do. It’s done with the full knowledge that no adult feels good about being rude to a child or saying harsh things about them. It’s done to shut down debate and silence the opposition into submission. There’s literally no way you could be a grown-up and be rude to an unhealthy child without looking like a complete and utter moron. The Left understands that and takes advantage of it. Their moral depravity knows no bounds.

However, the truth does need to be said. Thus, at the risk of coming across as a heartless moron, I would say that Greta Thunberg came across as an entitled spoilt brat who has absolutely no clue about anything, like most 16-year-olds. She began her speech with the words, “My message is that we’ll be watching you. This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you!”

She should have stopped right when she finished that third sentence. She was right, she shouldn’t have been up there and she should have been back at school. She is perhaps the only person in the history of human civilization who has made a career out of skipping classes. I am not too sure about the Nobel Peace Prize but she does deserve to go into the Guinness Book of World Records for that.

“How dare you?” The manner in which she said is just bad. That’s just no way to talk to elders. Sure, they are world leaders and some of them do deserve some spite and much worse, however, there are norms of civility that need to be observed. Being rude to people you know can’t be rude to you without suffering significant damage to their reputation is just deplorable. It’s just not fair.

I do not believe world leaders need to be exposed to such insults, they sure could take, they have thick skins, but it’s not fair. Okay, maybe Imran Khan deserves it and Angela Merkel, maybe Xi Jinping and a few others but certainly not all of them. It just doesn’t seem right. All of us know that we can’t talk that way to world leaders without major consequences, therefore, some people are enjoying it immensely merely because the leaders are being tortured by someone they can’t be rude to. It’s quite sadistic.

Greta Thunberg then accused them of stealing her dreams and childhood. She said, “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones.” The truth is, no world leader stole her dreams and childhood. Her parents did. In a sane world, her parents would be tried for child abuse. She is being treated as a commodity to make some money and earn some fame.

She has obvious health issues. And I do feel sorry for her. It’s not something that I would want my little cousin sisters and brothers to be put through. She suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and selective mutism. The least her parents and everyone around her could do is make her life easier, not more difficult. Sure, the world may need heroes, a lot of them, we have not reached a point where we need to make children with health issues suffer even more than they already are in order to save the world.

Her dreams and childhood were stolen but they weren’t stolen by world leaders. They were stolen by her own parents and guardians. They were stolen by every single individual who cheered for her and encourages her to carry on when she was obviously suffering. Greta Thunberg had her chance at having a better life destroyed by the very people whose duty it was to protect her and raise her.

The Greta phenomenon is little more than a manifestation of the Christian world’s desire to have another Messiah. They desperately need another person they can nail to the cross, they want another person willing to die for their sins, they want another human sacrifice so that the world could be saved from its sins. The Left may believe they have nothing to do with Christianity but every act of theirs reveals their Christian roots.

Greta then said, “For more than 30 years, the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you’re doing enough when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight.” Well, the only thing we can be sure of at the moment is that climate alarmists have been spectacularly wrong about their predictions regularly.

One ‘Arctic Expert’ in 2012 predicted that sea ice in the Arctic region would collapse within four years. Nothing remotely close to that has happened. In 2009, the then Prime Minister of Britain predicted that we had only 50 days to save the planet. A decade has passed since then. In 2007, UN scientists predicted that “we only had as little as eight years left to avoid a dangerous global average temperature rise of 2°C or more.” Needless to say, it was another failed prediction. Such predictions did not start in the 2000s, it started as far back as 1989.

The San Jose Mercury News reported on June 30, 1989, that a senior environmental officer at the UN says that “entire nations could be wiped off the face of the earth by rising sea levels if global warming is not reversed by the year 2000.” 19 years have passed since then and yet, there haven’t been consequences to that end. The alarmist predictions have been wrong consistently for 30 years and yet, activists like Greta use that to further their narrative.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the new Leftist Queen in America, argued passionately that the world will end in 12 years if climate change is not addressed. We can be pretty sure that her prediction will be proven false as well but that won’t prevent her or Greta from making such predictions in the future. Because such alarmist predictions are not based on reason, the basis for them is faith. And faith, as is obvious from religiosity, is remarkably persistent. As I have said before, Climate Change is the Leftist version of the core Christian Apocalypse meme.

Moreover, the frequently made Leftist claim that 97% of scientists agree that humans are the driving force behind Climate Change is demonstrably false and particularly misleading. Most importantly, Science is not driven by consensus. It’s settled by observations and facts. It only takes one Einstein or Newton to fundamentally alter our knowledge of the Universe. Despite what Greta might argue, the Science on Climate Change is by no means settled.

Throughout the decades, scientists have come up with doomsday theories. In the 1970s, it was Global Cooling, then there was the Ozone Layer Depletion which hardly anyone talks about now, then there was Global Warming and suddenly now it is Climate Change. It is indeed intriguing how the term Global Warming suddenly went out of fashion and was replaced with Climate Change, a term that is much vaguer.

Now, Climate Change may well be real. But when I see people who have been constantly wrong for the past three decades issue more dire sermons, it just makes me feel very suspicious. Especially when they are using a 16-year-old girl with health issues to make their point. They may be right but I find them increasingly difficult to take them seriously. Moreover, ‘experts’ who issue such sermons more often than not believe gender is a social construct and all the garbage that comes along with it, I just don’t know if I can trust them anymore on anything at all. On top of it, when they use a 16-year old girl with health issues to further their agenda, it makes me even more suspicious of the claims.

Having said that, I do believe there’s an urgent need to address pollution and environmental concerns. Pollution is destroying the beauty of our world. There are many things that we could do to make our cities more livable, oceans cleaner, and our way of life, less polluting. I do believe we need to address that. However, in the midst of all this cacophony of an impending apocalypse, urgent concerns are lost in the noise.

Moreover, the people who are most concerned about Climate Change are the ones who most often get in the way of actually making our cities less polluting. The protests over Aarey are evidence of it. The metro project will no doubt make Mumbai safer, less polluting and more livable. And yet, it is these environmentalists who are getting in the way. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis deserves much credit for refusing to bow down to this mob.

Greta ended her speech with more threats. She said, “You are failing us. But young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you. We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up. And change is coming, whether you like it or not.”

The threats are quite amusing since Greta Thunberg was able to make that speech at the UN only because the world leaders were kind enough to accommodate her. We can safely say that she won’t be able to offer such sermons from Beijing. The Chinese are not fond of being lectured by anyone, much less 16-year olds. The least she could have done is be a little bit more courteous. She was not looking to have a discussion, she merely wanted to beat someone with the stick in her hand. And the elders in the room were kind enough to allow her to amuse herself.

The theatrics that we saw at the UN summit from Greta Thunberg only does a great disservice to those who believe in Climate Change. It was all an act, everyone knows it was all an act. She was reading every single word from a piece of paper and trying very hard to put some emotions into it. By such repulsive acts, these activists are putting people off who otherwise might have been sympathetic to their interests. It wouldn’t even surprise me if hers was an elaborate act to discredit the entire idea of Climate Change activism itself by the billionaires who fund her.

The Left has truly lost its moral compass. Greta Thunberg is further evidence of the fact that they don’t honest discussion or debate. They want to shame and humiliate people and force them into submission. She needs help, not more misery. The burden to ‘Save the World’ should not be forced upon the shoulders of a 16-year-old with health issues who don’t know any better.

Boost from Centre: Union Territory of Ladakh to get a government medical college soon

In a major boost to health and medical education sector in the Himalayan region, the Central government on Monday announced its decision to build a new medical college in the Leh district of Ladakh region, reports ANI.


According to the reports, the Jammu and Kashmir Health and Medical Education Department has prepared a detailed project report (DPR) and technical report for construction of the government medical college as per the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare for the opening of 75 new medical colleges throughout the country.

The department is in consultation with the Leh Deputy Commissioner. The Ladakh Hill Development Council has identified 201 kanals of land at Shey Sindhu Ghat village for the college. The DPR for establishing the college will be submitted within three days to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

“The new medical college in this hilly region shall go a long way not only in the healthcare sector but also for strengthening the engine of development in the region,” said the statement.

Reportedly, the officials stated that the centre is likely to allocate Rs 325 crore to build the medical college. Out of the total funds, Rs 115 crore will be spent on college, Rs 80 crore on hostel and homes for students and faculty, Rs 70 crore on medical equipment and Rs 60 crore on up-gradation of a teaching hospital.