Home Blog Page 6411

True Indology speaks out, hits out on the horde of perpetrators who violated his religious beliefs

Guest Author
-
0
True Indology speaks out, hits out on the horde of perpetrators who violated his religious beliefs

Why TrueIndology?

Painstaking research, investment of personal time, money and energy across three sleep-deprived years which made me uninhibitedly share (what I can with pride call) scholarly work referenced from no less than 5000 books – this is what the account True Indology means to me personally. People have been tagging, DMing, emailing me their queries and I have diligently endeavoured to address them. I have always felt gratitude towards people who put forth their questions, for, in the process, I get to research further and learn more. Sharing information gives me unbridled satisfaction.

See also: Trueindology account blocked again by Twitter

But why is he anonymous?

I chose the name “True Indology” for a reason. The purpose of the handle is sharing historical information and not exchanging private pleasantries. People shouldn’t need my private details unless I am an absolutely wanted guest to their champagne parties. I don’t believe what is being said is somehow less important than who is saying it.

As soon as I started sharing work which seemed to have been hidden from, if not actually made inaccessible, to the masses, the constant harassment from a specific set of people, first began from foot soldiers of the left and then extended to the entitled lot among politicians, academicians, journalists, comedians and even bureaucrats who would much rather impose their GJTised version of History than allow Indians to revel in the marvellous civilization that they should feel proud at having inherited. From messages wishing me death to actual doxxing attempts, threats of death to me and my loved ones and making the personal details of people considered to be close to me public, I have faced it all.

The IPS Batchmate

A disgruntled bureaucrat even threatened to use his power illegally through an “IPS Batchmate”, intending to cause me harm.

Bureaucrat’s threatening tweet

These incidents reassured my faith in the non-intrusion into my personal space that anonymity provides. I do not even understand why people demand to know my personal details, as though facts sourced from primary sources will miraculously change to suit their agenda if they know who I am. When I decide to shed anonymity is my personal call and it will not happen at the behest of people whose only intention is to cause me harm.

I have never shied away from sharing my personal beliefs, even as I have made it clear that I distinguish between personal beliefs and facts and don’t allow the former to come in the way of the latter. Many people have claimed that I am a “RW” member, “BJP” supporter or a “group of people”. Needless to say that people following me over these years know that I don’t share information based on ideology. I share it because of my passion for research and my desire to make facts known to everyone. After all, Right to information includes the Right to Truth! Yet, over the last three years that I have been on Twitter, there have been multiple calls by leftists, Islamists and liberantes of all sorts to have my account, that has more than 15000 snippets from scholarly books, suspended.

How the plan was made

I come from a family that lays a huge emphasis on non-violence. I am a vegan by choice. We have been taught to treat animals with kindness and feed them whenever we can. Though my posts are largely about history, archaeology, literature and linguistics, I have time and again emphasized that I support complete non-violence and even pinned it on my timeline. I have always supported ethical veganism and stood for anti-cruelty towards all living beings.

True Indology’s pinned tweet

Most of my detractors, unable to counter me on facts, keep looking for excuses to take down my account through ganging up in groups and mass reporting tweets. They have been desperately and pathetically mass-reporting my tweets since 2018.

Account being mass reported

Twitter does not seem to have a mechanism to check such controlled, coordinated reporting and my handle has often fallen victim to such tactics. This time, however, I was subjected to the most vicious hounding, inhuman behaviour and concerted human rights violation by a gang of handles causing deliberate mental agony, after my twitter discussion with a communist comrade who claimed that all the people of Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Arunachal etc. consume beef.

Kavita Krishnan’s false claims that led to mental agony

Since many followers specifically tagged me to respond, I felt inclined to put up a perspective of history that has not been brought forward, so that people can get both sides of the picture and ascertain the facts on their own. I began with researching data which could give us the correct picture, for, even if the interpretation of data is biased, data itself is not. I quoted NSSO data published by the ministry of statistics which would be the best bet to anything close to approximation as even in Kerala itself, it surveyed 1.5 million people about their dietary preferences. This data stated that only 25% of the people there consumed beef, and not all, as claimed by such leftist lynch mob.

To be as objective as possible, I also added that the data itself is prone to underreporting, conceding the possibility that the actual number could be much higher and also cited figures for other states. My point behind citing NSSO data was countering the misinformation that ALL Keralites consumed beef. I also challenged the said mob to cite a source verse number of the phrase “the cow is food” which, they alleged, was mentioned in Rigveda.

Countering Kavita Krishnan on facts
Countering Kavita Krishnan’s tweet on facts

In response, the violence mongers called me “fake newsmonger”. That, when I had clearly posted data with source. They deflected my challenge asking them to produce verse number for the alleged Rigvedic verse that says “the cow is food”, by posting a link from Outlook magazine which published Ambedkar’s writings on this subject. It is a fact that Ambedkar believed that people in the Vedic age ate beef. But this is dishonest goal post shifting as the discussion was never about whether or not Vedic people ate beef, not to mention Ambedkar’s views on the subject.

The discussion was about whether or not any such verse as “the cow is food” exists in Rig Veda and the reference link contained no such verse. Indeed, no such verse exists in any known English translation of Rigveda. My contention was against fabrication of such a fake Rigvedic verse.

Kavita Krishnan’s response

This distinction is very important. For instance, it is well known that many early Muslim groups ate pork, as early Islam was born out of Arabic Christian cultural milieu. But would this comrade ever dare to falsely fabricate a fake Quranic verse and say “the Quran says Pork is food”? No, she would never dare to do that. The very fact that we have to cite a Muslim parallel every time to ask for fair and equal treatment so that such folks quit fabricating stuff about Hindu culture and history, speaks volume about our condition.

Soon enough, I started receiving a lot of continuous hate. Regional supremacist hate mobs and leftist fascists soon attacked me in packs. They abused me and claimed that my data was incorrect.

Abuses hurled toward True Indology
Abuses hurled toward True Indology

Leftist hate mobs claimed that my numbers for Kerala (25%) are false, saying that their data is the “real NSSO data”. “So where did they get this “real NSSO data?”, one would ask. From the same link that I had posted!

The article is consistent and gives the same number everywhere. It only mentioned that numbers in West Bengal (18%), Kerala(25%) etc were “relatively higher” than say Uttar Pradesh(9%). This much is obvious to anyone who reads the article. Just by highlighting the world Kerala and “relatively higher”, they intended to fraudulently mislead readers on twitter and malign me just because my data did not serve their propaganda. This is their kind of work that passes for “criticism” and even “exposing lies”. And of course, gives anyone the right to brand me a “communal bigot” and “fraudology”.

True Indology tweet on facts about beef eating population of Kerala

I did not intend to dignify these cheap comments with a response but to put such malicious accusations at rest, I posted another source which contained a direct link to NSSO data which is also available on planning ministry’s official website.

The numbers I have mentioned for the percentage of beef consumers in Kerala (25%) exactly match the data given on planning commission website. If these mobs think that the numbers are fake, they are very welcome to conduct a survey on their own and produce data.

Baying for blood

What happened next, will definitely not be covered by buzzfeed, WaPo, Huff Po or NYT!

I was subject to something not unexpected from leftist hate mobs. But this time they exceeded all levels of bigotry by spamming my timeline with pictures of beef, dead cows, images of cow slaughters, images of cow skinned alive etc.

Offensive images thrown at True Indology who is a vegan
Offensive images thrown at True Indology who is a vegan
Offensive images thrown at True Indology who is a vegan
Offensive images thrown at True Indology who is a vegan
Offensive images thrown at True Indology who is a vegan

All of this was sent to a Vegan and someone who’s time and again categorically stated his views on the matter.

This hate and targeted harassment unleashed on me left me shocked and numb. Although I am a vegan, I have never asked anyone to give up eating meat or beef or change their dietary habits. Yet any discussion on beef was good enough for them to post these pictures to a cow worshipping vegan Hindu like me. The mental agony caused through this anti Hindu hate was unbearable. Since we are a minority, people find it hard to see our point of view. Pardon the bluntspeak but killing a cow and/or sending such gruesome pictures to a cow worshipping vegan is just like raping a woman and posting those pictures in celebration to a feminist.

Yes, there still exist a few religious Hindus like me who truly believe that “Gau” is “Mata” and any act of killing and posting pictures of dead cows is equivalent to killing our mother and waving the pictures jubilantly at us or posting morphed pictures of a pig squatting on Kaaba to a Muslim (which I will always condemn).

The Sanghi Curry

I would like to highlight that I did not approach these people. They came to my timeline and posted these pictures, also making hateful anti-Hindu cannibalistic tweets about killing Sanghis and “eating their curry”.

‘Sanghis curry on the meny’

This mental torture was too much, for, I had actually blocked a few such handles. After a point, I just could not bear this shameless waving of gory cruelty at me and, in a moment of utter contempt and disgust for such vile thinking, tweeted a harsh response to all of them in the hope that they would spare my TL and put an end to this torture.

I have no qualms in stating that anybody who kills innocent animals, posts their gruesome pictures jubilantly and that too merely to outrage a Hindu’s religious feelings, only deserves to be washed away in flood. Notice that I still did not give any call to violence or write explicit abuses.

 

True Indology responding to offensive images tweeted to him

I do not judge people for their dietary habits, for, I understand that some people might consider meat as essential. However, killing animals for food is one thing and celebrating the pain of animals is another. I really do not think highly of people who kill innocent animals, wave their cruelty online and talk about killing Sanghis and making “Sanghi curry”.

This is extremism, bigotry and targeted mental and religious harassment. All of this was sent my way on Twitter. And the irony is that the mass reporting of my tweet in response to the agonizing violation of my human rights as a Hindu and a vegan, led Twitter to suspend my account without even a warning to take the tweet down or follow the limited suspension or restricted use principle.

Instead, they deleted my account, for, it appears that they just needed an excuse to do that!

My account ‘deleted’

Twitter suspended me for “targeted harassment” which would have been funny had it not been so deplorable, for, I did not go to anyone’s timeline jubilantly posting pictures of cow robbers beaten by Gaurakshaks. If those people posted such pictures instead of pictures of killed cows, would Twitter still have suspended my account? All I did was retaliate to the agonizing anti-Hindu hate sent my way.

Through the suspension of my account, Twitter has actually promoted harassment and cruelty. It has proved that it has absolutely zero concern for religious feelings of Hindus. If these people posted a (condemnable) morphed picture of a pig squatting on Kaaba, they would have been suspended in no time But posting pictures of dead cows venerated as God by Hindus to outrage religious feelings is Kosher.

The end of Sanghis

If Twitter really wants to know what harassment is, it only needs to look at the comments I receive every day. Just on the day my account was suspended, a guy was threatening me of the genocide of all ‘Sanghis” once there be a change of power at the centre.

Abuses hurled towards True Indology and a call for a genocide against ‘bhakts’

Ironically, the same account tags every tweet of mine requesting Twitter to suspend my account.

Call for suspension of True Indology account

Even more Ironically, Twitter suspended my account but encouraged those who post pictures of dead cows and call for killing Sanghis and cooking “Sanghi Curry”. My request for a review of suspension was curtly refused. Somehow, my lone tweet condemning the cruelty of cannibal lovers and bots spamming my timeline with cruel and explicit pictures is “targeted abuse” according to Twitter.

The farcical ‘review’

Who blocked my followers?

Twitter has started “blocking” my followers with a message indicating that I have requested for such a block. I have never made such requests to block these accounts. They were blocked instantly after my account was suspended. This is the real face of Twitter.

Twitter ‘blocking’ TrueIndology followers
Twitter ‘blocking’ TrueIndology followers

Why this article

The only reason for penning this post is to table the truth, for, the horde of perpetrators who violated my religious beliefs are now trying to show my disgust filled response meant to shoo them away, as some sort of bigotry. I am answerable only to my God. I am glad that I stood up for Gau Mata against her abusers. I could have been politically correct, ignored the tweets and gone about my business as usual. But then I would not have been true to myself. I am glad that I stood up for what I believe.

I thank all the Tweeple who have been supporting me on social media. This support means a lot to me. I hope that with facts being out in the open, Twitter would be forced to revoke the suspension of my account and apologize to me for unleashing cruelty against me at multiple levels.

The article is submitted by suspended Twitter user True Indology.

Paddy Upton calling Gautam Gambhir ‘mentally insecure’ in his book exposes corruption within mental healthcare services and threat it poses

K Bhattacharjee
-
0
Paddy Upton calling Gautam Gambhir ‘mentally insecure’ in his book exposes corruption within mental healthcare services and threat it poses

In his recently released book, ‘The Barefoot Coach’, former mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton has described former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir as “mentally the most insecure”. However, it didn’t deter him from becoming one of India’s most accomplished batsmen, he added.

“I did some of my best and least effective mental conditioning work with Gautam Gambhir, the International Test Cricketer of the Year’ in 2009. I worked with him up until that time but I had little to do with him being named world’s best cricketer,” Upton wrote in his book.

Based on a scale where 100 denotes uber-optimism and 0 denotes pessimism, Upton writes, “Let’s say his range was 20 to 40 with 30 being normal. When he scored 150, he would be disappointed in not scoring 200.” Upton further wrote that no matter what he and then coach Gary Kirsten did Gambhir was “negative and pessimistic.”

“Using the popular notion of mental toughness, he was one of the weakest and mentally most insecure’ people I have worked with,” he stated further. Gambhir, for his part, isn’t much bothered by Upton’s words. He said, “I wanted myself and Indian team to be the best in the world. That’s why I was not satisfied even after scoring 100 as it has been mentioned in Paddy’s book. I see nothing wrong there. As a driven individual, I have tried to raise the bar for myself alone.”

Ignoring the fact that Gambhir isn’t much bothered by Upton’s words, it does appear extremely unethical on Upton’s part to reveal such details about someone he worked with as a mental health professional. Basically, he appears to be minting money by revealing intimate details about someone who trusted him in his professional capacity. However, in recent times, such unethical behaviour has unfortunately become extremely common among the mental health community. Upton’s conduct motivated me to write on something I had been intending to write on for quite a while: The Corruption within Mental Healthcare Services.

The shoddy conduct of mental healthcare professionals reached its zenith when they began to diagnose Donald Trump, President of the United States, with various clinical maladies due to clear political motivation.

Dr John Gartner, Founder of “Duty To Warn” and co-editor of “Rocket Man: Nuclear Madness and the Mind of Donald Trump,” diagnosed Trump with suffering from malignant narcissism, paranoia and antisocial personality disorder without actually subjecting Donald Trump to any tests of any sort.

“One of the reasons Trump is so dangerous is he actually suffers from multiple conditions,” Gartner said, listing four traits which point to “malignant narcissism”: “narcissism, of course… paranoia, his crazy conspiracy theories and demonization of the opposition, and this constant feeling that he is a victim or aggrieved… Anti-social personality disorder sometimes called sociopathy. This is someone who routinely lies, who violates and exploits other people with no remorse… the criminal personality, predators without a conscience. And finally, sadism, actually enjoying harming other people… The cruelty is not a bug it is a feature, there is an element of pleasure he gets from crushing smaller people under his boot.” “This is the essence of evil,” he said. “They get worse over time, not better.”

Justin A. Frank, M.D., a clinical professor of psychiatry at George Washington University Medical Center, applied psychoanalysis, a pathetic excuse of pseudoscience as revealed regularly by its practitioners, and reached the conclusion that Trump is mentally unfit to be President. 27 mental health care experts even published a book, “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President,” where it was contended that the President suffers from mental impairment is mentally compromised without ever actually performing any mental tests on the individual. There were dozens of others, if not hundreds more, who offered a similar diagnosis of Trump without ever having any actual evidence to back it up.

It sets a dangerous precedent when mental health care professionals diagnose individuals with debilitating psychological issues without any credible evidence to back their claims. It appears the state of the psychological health of an individual is a matter to be decided by consensus rather than an objective evaluation of the circumstances at hand. The worst part is the individuals who engaged in such grave malicious conduct suffered no consequences for misusing their authority to influence political outcomes. Malpractices within the fields of Psychology and Psychiatry can have extremely dangerous consequences as history evidently tells us.

Imagine for a moment that you are diagnosed with mental disorders merely because the professional disagrees with your opinion. Thus, you are stigmatized and you face the threat of losing your opportunity at a successful career or even leading a normal life. It might appear dystopian but it has happened in the past. Soviet psychiatrist Andrei Snezhnevsky popularized across the Soviet Union and its satellites the notion of “sluggish schizophrenia,” a condition from which thousands of Soviet dissidents were deemed to suffer. Opposition to official government policy, pessimism, religious practice were considered symptoms of mental instability and the solution, of course, was incarceration at an asylum. China has been pursuing a similar policy as well. There are efforts being made in certain quarters to brand Conservatism as a whole as a mental disorder.

The corruption within fields involving mental health has become extremely normalized in recent times. Hormone blockers are being advocated for children as young as 7 years old who have confusion regarding their gender identity. It will permanently alter their otherwise natural course of development and it doesn’t appear sane at all to inject children that young with chemicals based on the mere feelings of an underdeveloped immature child. There are significant concerns associated with sex reassignment surgery as well which have not been addressed adequately. Despite that, the procedure has become extremely normalized.

The most horrific, perhaps, is “Norway’s hidden scandal“, as the BBC calls it. The Scandinavian country’s child protection services (Barnevernet) are using the assessment made by psychologists and psychiatrists to enable the state to snatch children away from their parents. It has led to huge protests against the Barnevernet by parents who had their children taken away from theirs. Of course, there are instances where the child should be taken away from the parents for its own betterment. However, it’s hard to imagine that in general, the state could take better care of children than their own parents. The video linked below is particularly informative.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-PzrwliUk4]

If all of this was not bad enough, efforts are being made to normalize paedophilia. People with backgrounds in psychology are now differentiating between good paedophiles and bad paedophiles. And a larger concerted effort is underway to normalize the vilest crime imaginable.

Of course, the comments made about Gambhir by Upton in his book pales in comparison to the other instances I have mentioned. However, it only reveals the extent to which the professional service has been compromised by those associated with the field. The worst part is such malpractice has become extremely common.

There are far more problematic aspects to the whole scenario. The field of psychology, at least, has been hijacked by liberalism and its ideological derivatives such as postmodernism. Worse is the fact that the core of the subject itself is rotten. ‘Psychoanalysis’ which still remains extremely popular to this day is most appropriately described as utter rubbish. Thus, it appears extremely that things will change for the better any time soon.

The situation in India appears to be much better than the West. However, after studying Psychology for five years and completing my Master’s degree on the subject, I have reasons to be both optimistic and pessimistic about the mental healthcare services in our country. For one, psychology has not been yet politicized. Psychologists haven’t yet imposed themselves in political discourse and it’s unlikely that they will anytime in the near future. Apart from that, Indian psychologists will never advocate for hormone blockers for 7-year-old children or attempt to normalize paedophilia, which is a great thing.

The reasons for my pessimism, however, is the fact that Indian psychologists have completely bought into postmodernist philosophy and other associated ideas. Therefore, things are likely to get much worse in the future.

Modi ministers in five years – Road Transport and Shipping minister Nitin Gadkari

Keshav
-
0
Modi ministers in five years – Road Transport and Shipping minister Nitin Gadkari

In the last articles, we saw how the ‘Big 4’ ministries have performed under the Narendra Modi government apart from the departments which directly report to the Prime Minister. In this article, we take a look at achievements of Nitin Gadkari – Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Ganga Rejuvenation. He is one of the best performing ministers of the Modi government.

Nitin Gadkari has been associated with ABVP and RSS since his younger days. He comes from Nagpur, which is the headquarters of RSS. He was Member of Legislative Council (MLC) in Maharashtra since 1989. Later he was appointed as PWD minister in Shivsena – BJP coalition government in Maharashtra during 1995 – 99. Nitin Gadkari is known as infrastructure man and has great expertise in the sector. As PWD minister of Maharashtra, he constructed first of its kind in India Greenfield Mumbai – Pune Expressway and 53 flyovers in Mumbai to ease the traffic in a record time of 4 years. He earned the sobriquet of ‘Roadkari’  from Late Balasaheb Thackery for his infrastructure push during BJP – Shivsena government rule in Maharashtra. He also conceived Bandra – Worli Sea Link in Mumbai but unfortunately Shivsena – BJP government was voted out in 1999, and it took a really long time for sea link to see the light of the day. During his tenure, he connected 13,736 remote villages of Maharashtra with all-weather road connectivity.  He is the man who first privatized highway constructions in India on Public Private Partnership (PPP) and Build – Operate – Transfer (BOT) basis, the concepts widely used all over India today.

After looking at his successful track record as PWD minister in Maharashtra, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee appointed him the Chairman of National Rural Road Development Committee. His committee after thorough study submitted a report to the government and new rural road connecting schemes known as Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) was launched as a result of recommendations of this committee. He was also Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council during 1999 – 2005. Thereafter he was appointed as state president of BJP in Maharashtra till 2009 when he was elevated as youngest national president of BJP. Looking at his track record, Narendra Modi gave him charge of Road Transport Ministry, a supposedly low profile ministry for a former national president of the ruling party, on his own demand, and he has turned around road construction sector in India in last five years.

He is perhaps the most efficient minister and due to the public interface of ministry, perhaps this ministry’s work is most noticeable. Highway construction remains the most tangible sign of development due to short gestation time and therefore the works here are most visible.   He even earned rousing appreciation from opposition leaders in parliament led by Sonia Gandhi for his continuous push for developing and improving the country’s infrastructure for last five years. Here are some notable achievements from the tenure of Nitin Gadkari as India’s Road Transport, Highways, Shipping and Ganga Rejuvenation minister.

Speed of highway construction – Highway construction speed has picked up to 30 km per day translating into 10,800 kilometres in last financial year, from 11 kilometres per day in 2014, in UPA government. NDA – 1 government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee is remembered for constructing golden quadrilateral project connecting 4 metros of India. Unfortunately, infrastructure, especially in the road sector, remained neglected in UPA era.

One example of Nitin Gadkari’s efficiency is the construction of Eastern and Western peripheral highways around Delhi in the record time of 3 years. Though Supreme Court had ordered its construction way back in 2005 to combat Delhi’s pollution, nothing happened till 2014. After Nitin Gadkari took charge of this ministry, files moved at record speed and both highways stand completed today. You can read about the unique features of these world-class highways here. Similarly, NH – 24 stretch in Delhi which was infamous for its traffic jams running into hours, has become smooth ride now. Those who live in Delhi would know what I am referring to.

National Highways totalling a length of over 65,000 kilometres are being constructed under Bharat Mala scheme, which refers to an extensive network of new and existing national highways crisscrossing the entire nation. Till now around 40,000 kilometres of new roads have been declared as national highways. The government also completed 40% of 700 ongoing national highways project in the last 4 years, pointing out the efficiency of the government which is often marred by red tape culture. During the last financial year (2017 – 18) government constructed a record of 9,829 kilometres of national highways.

Northeastern states got special attention on infrastructure development during this government’s term, and several projects started by previous governments but not completed were expedited by this government. The most prominent among them is the Bogibeel rail-road bridge over the Brahmaputra in Assam, which was under construction for the last two decades. Before Modi government, there were 3 bridges over Brahmaputra, and in the last 5 years, 3 more bridges were completed and opened for traffic, which shows that speed of work done by this government.

FasTag – Toll Roads are a reality in India now, and all major roads have been developed through privatization and toll is collected on them. Due to queue at toll plazas, there was wastage of time and fuel, negating the benefits of good roads saving time and fuel. According to one study fuel worth Rs 70,000 crore was wasted by vehicles standing in the queue.

To come over this, MoRTH has introduced prepaid Radio Frequency (RFID) tags to be pasted on the windscreen of the vehicle. As the vehicle passes through the dedicated lane for Fastag users, toll amount is automatically deducted from the prepaid account, negating the need for vehicles to stop and scramble for cash at toll plazas saving fuel and time. MoRTH has also mandated all new vehicles manufactured from December 2018, to have Fastag affixed on windscreens of the vehicles either at the factory itself or at the dealership before delivering the car to the customer.

Shipping – Like Bharatmala, shipping ministry has undertaken port and coastal zone development projects by the name of Sagarmala, which envisages investments worth $120 billion in phase wise manner in 577 projects from 2015 – 2035. These projects will result in savings of $6 billion (Around 40,000 crore) per year from 2025, which would bring the logistic cost down. As of March 2018, of 577 projects, 492 projects are already in various stages of implementation, development and completion. 577 projects consist of:

  • Port modernization – 245 projects (US$21 billion);
  • Connectivity enhancement – 210 projects (US$36 billion);
  • Port-linked industrialization – 57 projects (US$68 billion); and,
  • Coastal community development – 65 projects (US$1 billion).

Since most of us don’t have any connection with oceans, won’t understand the enormity of these projects, but those into the logistics sector, and especially connected with the oceanic transport sector would definitely understand this. Indian ports have earned record profits of Rs 5,000 crore last year.

Inland Waterways – Government has decided to use the network of extensive rivers across length and breadth of the country for transportation as well as passenger movement and developing waterways accordingly. Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) though existed since 1986, came to the life in Modi government with actual work on the development of inland waterways starting. Recently first container ship travelled from Haldia in West Bengal to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.  This was never thought of in India.

Cruise – Though the Cruise Shipping Policy was announced in 2008, there was no movement in the development of cruise tourism. NDA government made real movement and developed exclusive cruise terminals at 5 major ports – Mumbai, Mormugao (Goa), Mangalore, Cochin and Chennai. Governments efforts have resulted in India getting its first domestic cruise service between Mumbai and Goa.

Jumping to BS 6 fuel – Bharat Stage – 6 (BS6) fuel norms are comparable to Euro 6 emission norms. Sulphur content in BS6 fuel is 10 PPM (Particles per Million) which results in lower emissions. Currently, this is the best quality of fuel available anywhere in the world. India is currently using BS 4 norms for fuel. Ideally, the country would have gone first to BS 5 norms and then to BS 6 norms. However, the government in view of rising air pollution decided to skip BS 5 altogether, and straight away jumped to BS 6 norms. While Delhi has already started selling BS 6 fuel from April, 2018, it would be available in rest of the country by April 2020.  Earlier BS 5 fuel was to be rolled out by April 2019 and BS 6 by April 2023, however, India will have access to cleaner fuel 3 years before.

AC compulsory for driver cabin for truck manufacturers – Truck drivers and cleaners form an important part of logistics and supply chain in India, as most of the goods transport happens through roads. Government has now made mandatory for truck manufacturers to install air conditioning/air ventilation system in truck cabins for the comfort of truckers and to lessen their fatigue and thereby reducing accidents. Though ministry had first made the provision of providing AC compulsorily in truck cabins, later it gave an option of air ventilation systems too due to feedback and demand of the industry.

Airbags and speed limit reminders – Government has made car manufacturers to compulsorily install airbags, and speed limit indicators in by June 30, 2019. From July 1, 2019, no car can be sold without having these mandatory features. Currently, though the cars have such features, they are often found in higher variants of the cars. This move will make automobile manufacturers to give these features even in base models of the cars. In addition to above cars will also have reverse parking sensors and manual override for central locking systems, to prevent mishaps like children accidently locking car from inside and suffocating to death or cars submerging in floods etc. 

Automatic headlamps on (AHO) – Government has also made mandatory for two-wheeler manufactures to have AHO feature for two-wheelers, which means the headlamps of two-wheelers would compulsorily remain on all the time even during the day when it is running, to make their spotting easy and avoid accidents. A similar feature has also been made for car manufacturers where they have to have DRL (Daylight Running Lights) compulsorily in new cars making the visibility easier. Both the moves are in line with many countries globally, where such rules have already been enforced.

Boost to E Vehicles – This government is coming out with first comprehensive electric vehicle policy and want at least 15 % of total vehicles to be E –Vehicles by 2023. E-vehicles are completely pollution free and would go in a long way to contain air pollution.

Boost to alternative fuel – Nitin Gadkari is fond of alternative fuels is a fact which isn’t hidden from anyone. His expertise in roads and automobiles would put even a person who has spent lifetime in the sector to shame. His often speaks about ‘Best from Waste’. To reduce India’s huge import bill of crude oils, he is working to strengthen ecosystem for alternative fuels like ethanol, methanol etc. which can be made from domestically available resources and would also help farmers in increasing their incomes.

We have already dwelled into Namami Gange initiative of River Rejuvenation Ministry under the article which highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiatives. Under this ministry, all the rivers in the countries would be freed of water pollution on the lines of Namami Gange.

Under the ‘Roadkari’ minister, India has truly seen a sea change in India’s infrastructure in the last five years. To continue the development in this sector and make Indian infrastructure truly world-class, India, Varanasi and Nagpur needs to vote for the BJP, Narendra Modi and Nitin Gadkari once again and repose faith in them to take India to the next level.

 

The author is journalism pass out from Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. After dangerously flirting with the idea of left during his IIMC days, due to the proximity of the IIMC with JNU, a den of radical leftists, he became firmly aligned to right after realizing the futility of the left. He tweets at @kpophale.

The voter turnout in the first phases of 2019 elections shows which way the political wind may be blowing

Karan
-
0
The voter turnout in the first phases of 2019 elections shows which way the political wind may be blowing

There has been a lot of discussion regarding voter turnouts in the current 2019 elections. During the initial phases, it was argued that the voter turn-out, in general, was lower than the 2014 levels. However, most of this analysis was based on comparisons of Phase-1 in 2014 with the Phase-1 in 2019.

Many economists have since then expressed the need to have a comparison of the voter turnout in constituencies in 2019 with the corresponding turn-out in 2014. Luckily, for the first two phases, the election commission came out with its own comparison which is comprehensive. The comparison showed that the voter turnout was only marginally lower than what it was in 2014. In fact, in many areas, the voter turnout has been higher than the 2014 levels. It is worth highlighting that 2014 witnessed record high levels of voter turnout and the current four phases suggest that the turnout is in fact marginally higher (a simple average suggests it to be at 0.04% higher than 2014).

While it is difficult to draw conclusions solely on the basis of voter-turnout for approximately 370 seats, it is possible to assert with certainty that 2019 is a high-turnout election compared to previous elections and it is very much likely that the turnout could exceed the previous high of 2014. This makes the 2019 elections interesting in many ways as a major reason behind the high voter turnout in 2014 was the Modi wave combined with the 10-year anti-incumbency and the negative sentiment against the UPA due to series of corruption scandals. Conventional wisdom suggests that angry voters tend to pull up the voter percentage, so a high turnout usually suggests anger against the incumbent. However, in 2019 there is n such anger that is visible against the incumbent- in fact, we witness the popularity of the Prime Minister at an all-time high. Therefore, one conventional wisdom, in this occasion is likely to lead one to an inconsistent conclusion.

When one takes a closer look at the composition of voters of the BJP, they tend to be typically the middle-class voters and the total turnout is extremely sensitive to whether these voters go out and vote. For most other parties, their voters are fixed on religious-caste based identities and they tend to vote based on these factors in successive elections without fail. It could be argued that the difference between a high voter turnout and a low voter turnout election is if the middle class went out to vote or not. It must be stated again, that major proportion of the middle-class votes ends up going to the BJP. So, a high voter turnout does suggest that the BJP may be doing good in 2019- in fact, it is believed that an NDA government is a foregone conclusion, now we’re just waiting to get the final tally of the political parties.

It can not be stated with certainty just based on polling data that most of the middle-class voters would invariably end up voting for the BJP. The polling data for 2014 and 2019 for 370 seats reveals that there is no pattern in terms of the distribution of the change from 2014 levels. That is, it is not the case that the voter turnout has reduced uniformly across BJP strongholds or that it has fallen uniformly across these areas. In fact, the change in constituency wise voter turnout is rather random as we find a negative change in areas where the Congress won with a narrow margin and even in areas where the BJP won with a narrow margin. This suggests that voter turnout doesn’t state with certainty, nor does it help us predict the outcome of 2019.

But one conclusion can be fairly made with the data on voter turnout and that is to do with the spread of the change. A random spread suggests that there isn’t much difference in voters’ attitude or choice to vote (or not to vote) compared to 2014 levels.

A likely outcome of this is that the voting preference would also remain the same as they were before- and hence, it is very likely that the final election outcome is really close to the 2014 levels. Both, the middle-class hypothesis and the random spread of changes in voter turnout reinforces the fact that 2019 would be a mandate for continuity. Perhaps, that’s the reason why Congress seems to have given up and its supporters (especially the ones on social media) have started to express their frustration openly.

GST collection registers a record high of Rs 1.13 lakh crores in April 2019

OpIndia Staff
-
0
GST collection registers a record high of Rs 1.13 lakh crores in April 2019

The GST collection has touched an all-time high of Rs 1.13 lakh crores in the month of April for the financial year 2019-2020. As per the report released by the finance ministry, the total gross GST revenue collected in April 2019 is Rs 1,13,865 crore of which Central GST is Rs 21,163 crore, State GST (SGST) is Rs 28,801 crore, Integrated GST is Rs 54,733 crore and cess is Rs 9,168 crore.


The collection for the month of April 2019 has been highest since the rollout of GST and it also reflects 10.05 percent YoY growth over April 2018, when the collection was Rs 1,03,459 crore. The total number of summary sales returns GSTR-3B filed for the month of March up to April 30 stands at 72.13 lakh.

Rs 20,370 crore has been settled to CGST and Rs 15,975 crore to SGST from IGST as a regular settlement by the government.  In addition, Rs 12,000 crore has been settled from the balance IGST available with the Centre on a provisional basis in the ratio of 50:50 between Centre and States.

“The total revenue earned by the central government and state governments after regular and provisional settlement in April 2019 is Rs 47,533 crore for CGST and Rs 50,776 crore for SGST,” the statement added.

In the financial year 2018-2019, the CGST collection was Rs 4.25 lakh crore, and the compensation cess was over Rs 97,000 crore. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue collected in the last month is 16.05 percent higher than the monthly average of Rs 98,114 crore GST revenue in 2018-19. For the current financial year 2019-20, the government intends to collect Rs 6.10 lakh crore from CGST and Rs 1.01 lakh crore as compensation cess. The IGST balance is been slated to be around Rs 50,000 crore.

So, while some opposition politicians have been raising a red flag regarding the implementation of the GST, the collections registered by the finance ministry, however, suggest that the country is well-poised to receive a major thrust, propelling it on to a path of unprecedented economic growth.

Will the real ‘feku’ please stand up

Saket Suryesh
-
0
Will the real ‘feku’ please stand up

“The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lies comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love..” – Fyodor Dostoevsky

Lies are like quicksand on which once a man steps, he continues to sink under his own weight. What a pity that Rahul Gandhi who began his campaign immediately after being thrown out of power which he grew up believing to have divine right to, with a premise that Narendra Modi has lied and his politics is born out of propaganda and untruth finds himself sinking under the weight of his own lies as the five years of his own propaganda comes to an end with the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections.

When he presided over a thorough rout of the Congress in Delhi, he was asked as the head of his family-run political firm on the way forward and he had said that the party needed to learn from Arvind Kejriwal. Little did the unsuspecting nation realize that he referred to convert the art of lying to a national sport with the nonchalance of Kejriwal and deeper connivance of even more subservient media. Almost immediately after Narendra Modi came to power, Congress, not for a day surrendering to the public will, and working from inside to get better, began playing with lies. Their campaign began with Narendra Modi coming to power as they began calling him, directly and through their mouthpieces, Feku (a habitual liar in Hindi) and his promises twisted to be called Jumla (lies). As the 2019 elections come to end, the campaign which Congress began five years back has turned full circle and Rahul Gandhi finds himself at the other end of the questions pertaining to his own lie. Let us look at the claims made by Rahul Gandhi across the last few years.

They say, what is in a name. I agree. But then in electoral politics, in democracy, one of the most elemental rights of the people, is the right to truth, the right to transparency. His name itself has become a kind of mystery. Alleged degree of Rahul Gandhi, if reports are to be believed in, were in the name of Raul Vinci. The reports on this discrepancy have been doing round since long. Even in 2014 an India Today report mentions that Rahul Gandhi’s MPhil degree is in the name of Vinci, RahulT, where T, supposedly stood for Trinity. The India Today piece refers to The Telegraph article which confirms that Rahul Gandhi obtained his degree in the name of Rahul Vinci, although the article leaves it to Rahul Gandhi to clarify the exact name with which he graduated.

Private matter, yes, but for a person running for topmost public office, no. All it would take for Rahul Gandhi is to draw open his degree for public scrutiny and accept his aliases. But he would have his reasons for not coming clean on it. This to my mind as a common citizen and voter is the most fundamental of a lie. When clarifying his name, he may also clarify how his family appropriated Gandhi surname, a Gujarati title, twisting Ghandy of his great-grandfather to match that of Mahatma Gandhi.

He also came about to claim that his religion is Hindu and making it almost laughingly strange by detailing his Hindu credentials as Janeudhari Brahmin, while claiming to be an anti-caste crusader. As the common wisdom goes, any person inherits his or her religion from maternal or paternal side and that could be one of the choices of the family whether to follow the maternal or paternal tree of faith. Apart from propaganda calling Firoz Ghandy a Muslim, there are indisputable documents which establish Firoz Gandhi as a Parsi. If we consider that Rajiv Gandhi got his religion from his father, he was a Parsi and then Rahul Gandhi is a Parsi. If we presume that in the Nehru family, offspring took religion from the mother’s side, Rahul Gandhi would be a Christian. How is Rahul Gandhi a Hindu Brahmin, jumping two generations up to pick the religion of political convenience is a mystery? Not that it matters to Indian citizen while voting what Rahul Gandhi’s religion in reality is, nor it should. Indian is the same country, which even before stepping into the Twenty-first century accepted with open arms, George Fernandes in Bihar, from where he won elections with huge margins, from a Hindu-majority constituency with a negligible Christian presence. But it is again a matter of disclosure. When politicians are too lazy to work hard they find easier excuses for their failure. Maybe Congress felt the same after 2014 loss and attributed their losses to their leaders not being Hindu enough, and sought to make corrections. I would believe Rahul Gandhi would have come out as a more honest leader if he had confessed that either he is a Parsi or Christian, but secular enough to respect Hinduism, or that he had, of his own volition, converted to Hinduism. He has done neither. Your faith is private when you are a private citizen. It is really surprising that in a nation which boasts of thriving media, the questions on something as basic as the name and faith of a man wanting to run for the highest office is left to the opposing political party and no journalist worth his salt, even wants to write about it. Who is the real Rahul Gandhi, we want to know.

Now a new row about his citizenship has emerged. He has been in different phases of his life declaring himself as Indian and British citizen in various business documents. We are not even getting into the shady nature of those companies, which in one instance even had a director who simultaneously was on the board of more than a thousand companies. Whether these companies were fake fronts created for specific purposes is a matter of investigation, but my question is basic- “What is the real nationality of the man who has projected himself as the next leader of my country?” Now that we know that we know nothing of the Name, Nationality or religion of Rahul Gandhi, we look at the political lies he has been building his electoral campaign on, without any questions from those who are supposed to question. The media, who look at Rahul Gandhi as a vehicle which will carry them to their earlier days of unhindered glory and intellectual priesthood has remained silent and even colluded to carry the lies forward.

He began his campaigns, talking about the promise of transferring Fifteen Lakh to the bank accounts of all Indian citizen. When we look at the speech of Narendra Modi, we immediately realize that it was spoken as a matter of reference. Modi had said that there is so much Indian black money lying outside India that if it were to come back, it would mean fifteen lakhs coming to each individual. It would require a person to either dishonest or dimwitted not to understand what was implied here. It is like in mathematics when asked that if it takes x amount of time to reach the Sun and Y amount of time to reach the moon, what is the proportion of their distances from Earth and some dimwitted student files a case of perjury against the teacher claiming that it was impossible for someone to go to the Sun and teacher was misleading the students. But not only Rahul Gandhi said that, repeated that, it was also oft-repeated by the so-called intellectual shepherds to lesser mortals.

The other plank he took was that the Constitution was under danger under Narendra Modi. Constitution of India has been amended 103 times, out of which Congress amended it 75 times, BJP amended it 19 times, and Narendra Modi government brought in five Constitutional amendments. President Rule has been imposed by the Congress on various states 88 times, and 8 times by BJP (5 times by Vajpayee and Thrice by Modi). Not one journalist questioned Rahul Gandhi on his quixotic fights.

During demonetization, Rahul Gandhi jumped the queues in the much-televised act and claimed he had no money apart from four thousand he drew from the ATM. A few days later, he was abroad. He went to MP, promised the farmers that he will not leave them till their struggle reached some conclusion. Leaving some farmers dead after the protests turned violent, he was found in Italy, via Europe, to see his ailing maternal grandmother and media went Aww.

Rahul Gandhi claimed that Modi Government has scrapped in the SC/ST act, which resulted in almost riot like protests across the country. There was no such amendment made in the act. The violence happened and Congress came to power riding over the disenchantment in three states.

The lies would be innocent if they were not intended to drive a wedge among communities for political advantage. Another one of lie was on Beef ban, supported by media, it saw spate of protests reaching its peak with public slaughter of an innocent calf by Congress workers in Kerala, incidentally from where Rahul is fighting election. This was done knowing fully well that the ban was imposed by Congress under Indira and this would be one of the dumbest lie which resulted in driving possibly deepest wedge among Hindus and Muslims since independence due to trumped up emotions.

Then came the mother of all lies, Rafale which was to establish Rahul Gandhi as the most steadfast liar in the political history of the nation. So in a Government to Government deal, which was worth INR 59000 Crores, Rahul Gandhi first claimed that Anil Ambani was given cash benefit (not benefit, he claimed money has been transferred) of 1,35,000 Crores, sometimes, 1,30,000 Crores, 35,000 Crores and eventually settling down at 30,000 Crores. The overall offset commitment of 6500 crores was split across 72 Indian companies including DRDO, BEL and L&T. The total amount of offset deal value for Reliance was around 850 to 1000 Cr. I have not seen any journalist questioning Rahul Gandhi on this. Rahul Gandhi buoyed by lack of questioning went ahead, charging Modi with corruption, quoting obnoxious figures, even after the highest judiciary clearing it. In fact, in his latest lies, he made the Supreme Court a party to his lying adventure claiming that the SC has also agreed that there was corruption in Rafale. It needed a rap on the knuckle to admit that SC has said no such thing and a contempt notice to draw some kind of regret which Ms Meenakshi Lekhi aptly called “an apology of an apology.”

Then in the current campaign, Rahul Gandhi went to Naxal-infected Bastar claiming Narendra Modi Government has formulated a law which allows the Police to shoot any Adivaasi dead. The naxal terrorists keep on spreading such propaganda in terror-infected land since their intention is to overthrow a legitimate, constitutional government. For the topmost leader of the largest opposition party to go to such an area which has minimal connect to rest of developed India to validate the outlandish claim made by Rahul Gandhi, is downright evil.

The abundance of lies about what is present in Rahul Gandhi’s narrative makes one wonder about the truth in his promises about future, whether it is NYAY, where he once claims money will come from taxes, another time claim is made that money is already there, yet another time, he says CPSUs will be sold off to raise the funds for NYAY or any other promise in his manifesto. It would be foolish to believe in him until the time he comes clean on the lies he has spoken till now. I hope he understands that his brazen and blatant lies are indicative of his disrespect towards the people of India. We, as citizens and electorate have the right to ask Rahul Gandhi to come clean. We cannot forever be grateful to his illustrious forefather to suffer his lies in silence. Will the real Rahul Gandhi stand up or should we say, will the real Feku stand up?

West Bengal: CPM polling agent Sheikh Khilafat’s house torched in Birbhum by TMC goons

OpIndia Staff
-
0
West Bengal: CPM polling agent Sheikh Khilafat’s house torched in Birbhum by TMC goons

The law and order situation in West Bengal has been deteriorating as more cases of atrocities and hooliganism are being attributed to TMC goons each day. Adding to the long list of savagery, TMC goons have allegedly torched a CPI-M polling agent, Sheikh Khilafat’s house in Illambazar’s Paikuni village in Birbhum district.

Reports of the incident stated that Khilafat and his family were allegedly stuck inside as visuals show that the said house is engulfed in flames.


The arson was reportedly carried through because Khalifat, ignoring an alleged diktat by the Trinamool Congress, turned up at the village’ polling booth as the polling agent yesterday, during the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

Though further details of this particular incident are still awaited, this is not the first incident where other political party members have faced the TMC cadre’s wrath in West Bengal.

In yet another incident of such hooliganism amidst the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, a BJP workers’ poultry farm in Nanoor area of Birbhum district, West Bengal was set ablaze recently in the wee hours of the morning, allegedly by Trinamool Congress cadres last week. BJP worker Saptarshi Gupta was reportedly targetted by TMC goons for attending Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Bolpur district a day ago.

The TMC goons under the protection of Mamata Banerjee have been unleashing their unbridled brutality converting West Bengal into a battle zone. From brandishing guns at a public rally to targetting the workers and leaders of the opposition parties, they have been carrying out their unlawful activities with impunity.

Amongst other things, the TMC goons have been especially targetting BJP workers and leaders in West Bengal.

In the latest, in Birbhum, a BJP polling agent’s finger was allegedly hacked by TMC activists while two other BJP workers were injured in the incident, in a bid to save the polling agent.

As tensions between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party rages on amidst the ongoing elections, several such incidents are being regularly reported.

Recently, BJP candidate from Asansol, Babul Supriyo’s car was vandalised. Netaji Subash Chandra Bose’ kin who is also a new induction into the BJP, Chandra Kumar Bose, complained of being heckled by TMC goons during clashes which erupted between BJP and TMC cadres in South Kolkata.

Moreover, two BJP booth level worker’s were assaulted in Siliguri. Uttam Mondal, New Colony booth unit president of BJP, and his brother Gautam Mondal were attacked at their shop in the city’s Matigara area by ‘TMC goons’. Their shop was also vandalised. The two have sustained injuries in the onslaught.

Previously, a BJP worker Apurba Chakraborty was brutally beaten up by TMC goons in Islampur, West Bengal. On the day of the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections, the body of a BJP worker Sishu Pal Sahish was found hanging in Purulia.

Similarly, a BJP worker, Ajit Murmu, had died in the hospital where he was admitted after being allegedly thrashed by TMC workers in Bankura’s Ranibandh. A day prior to this, in yet another act of brutality, barely a day after PM Modi’s huge rally in Siliguri, the body of a man had been found at the BJP booth office there.

Recently a TMC MLA  Sovan Chatterjee and his friend Baishakhi Chatterjee were confined to a bungalow as there were speculations of him and his friend joining the BJP. Baishakhi Chatterjee was also given rape threats.

Last year in the month of May, a 6-month pregnant woman who was relative of a BJP candidate in Panchayat Elections in West Bengal was allegedly raped by TMC activists in Nadia district.

Dastardly IED blast carried out by Naxals claims lives of 16 security personnel in Maharashtra

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Dastardly IED blast carried out by Naxals claims lives of 16 security personnel in Maharashtra

In a ghastly IED (Improvised Explosive Device) blast carried out by Naxals on Kurkheda-Korchi road in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra today, around 16 security personnel and a driver have reportedly lost their lives. The landmine blast blew up two vehicles carrying a team of the C-60 commandoes, an anti-Naxal unit, who were patrolling the area.


Earlier there were reports that 10 security personnel were injured in the blast. The cowardly attack is believed to have been carried out by the Naxals in retaliation to the killing of 40 Maoists by the security forces on April 22, 2018, near Bhamragarh in the district. The injured were immediately shifted to a civil hospital in Gadchiroli and reinforcements were rushed to the spot.


Heavy exchange of fire is reportedly underway between the Police and the Naxals at the site of the blast. Before the blast, the Naxals had also torched at least 27 vehicles of a road construction company at Kurkheda in Gadchiroli district. The targeted vehicles were engaged in construction works for the Purada-Yerkad sector of NH 136 near Dadapur village.


https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack on the security personnel and said that the guilty will not be spared.


Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis also expressed his condolence for the martyrs and their families.


Maharashtra DGP Subodh Jaiswal said that the security forces are prepared to give a befitting reply for this dastardly attack and that operations are going on in the area to make sure that no further casualties take place.


Last month Maoists had shot dead a polling party member and set ablaze three poll vehicles ahead of Phase -2 elections in Odisha. Before that on April 9, Maoists had triggered a powerful IED blast in Chhattisgarh which had killed five persons, including BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi.

AAP failed to fulfill 67 promises it made in its assembly elections manifesto and 3 were misleading: PPRC Manifesto Review

OpIndia Staff
-
0
AAP failed to fulfill 67 promises it made in its assembly elections manifesto and 3 were misleading: PPRC Manifesto Review

Public Policy Research Centre (PPRC), a research organization that aims at “constructively impacting the policy formulation process with emphasis on good governance practices, efficient implementation mechanisms and evidence-based policy-making including policy-audit and evaluation” has published a comprehensive evaluation of the Aam Aadmi Party’s manifesto for the 2015 Assembly Elections.

As per PPRC’s assessment, the AAP has failed to fulfill 67 promises it made in its 2015 assembly elections manifesto and 3 misleading ones. Here are some of its failed promises as per the research organization’s report:

1. Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill

It was one of Kejriwal’s flagship promises when he established the Aam Aadmi Party. He resigned over it after 49 days during his first stint as Chief Minister. However, even after 4 years in power with an overwhelming majority, the party has failed to pass any law in this regard.

2. Full Statehood for Delhi

AAP promises to work within the constitutional framework and use its government’s “moral and political authority” to push for Delhi’s statehood for the betterment of the citizenry. However, as is clear, such a move can only be passed by the Parliament of India. In the past four years, instead of pursuing dialogue with relevant authorities, the Aam Aadmi Party chose to pick fights with constitutional authorities which have had a negative impact on the governance of Delhi.

3. Electricity Bills to be reduced by half

One of AAP’s many unrealistic promises was to reduce electric bills by half. Evaluating that promise, the report states, “The AAP government has failed to reduce the electricity bills of Delhi residents by half and the very claim is a farce.” It adds, “Electricity bills have not been reduced by half at all. The net charges have increased overall.”

4. Water as a Right

The AAP had promised universal access to water for all residents of Delhi at affordable prices as a basic right. The Delhi Jal Board Act was to be amended to make clean drinking water a right for people. As it turns out, the government failed in this regard as well. Over 1 lakh 50 thousand complaints were registered in connection with water supply in 2017.

The report states, “The number of complaints registered for ‘no water supply’ increased from 34,554 in 2015 to 52,100 in 2017, which is an increase of 51%, while complaints relating to ‘contaminated water’ rose from 27,227 in 2015 to 33,884 in 2017, an increase of 24%.”

5. Building 2,00,000 Public Toilets

The Aam Aadmi Party had promised to build 1.5 lakh toilets in slums and another 50,000 in public places, half of which were to be for women. However, as per the CAG report of 2018, not a single toilet was constructed and the funds allocated for the purpose by the central government remains unused.

Apart from these, various other promises such as the promises to build 500 new government schools, twenty new degree colleges, CCTVs in public places and buses, women’s security force, free WiFi, pollution reduction and others remain unfulfilled.

The report concludes, “The AAP government has failed completely in the last four years and it has not been able to deliver on its promises made in its manifesto for assembly elections of 2015. Time and again, they have given different excuses and tried to shift the goalposts.” It adds, “The Aam Aadmi Party is befooling the people with the promise of full statehood, which is nothing but a farce, as AAP is not even fighting the 10% of the seats which are required to pass a bill in the parliament.”

The manifesto review was conceived by and completed under the guidance of Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and Sumeet Bhasin. Sahasrabuddhe is a Rajya Sabha MP from the Bharatiya Janata Party.

I am more concerned for Hindus than Modi is. Modi kills Muslims: Arvind Kejriwal loses all sense of morality

OpIndia Staff
-
0
I am more concerned for Hindus than Modi is. Modi kills Muslims: Arvind Kejriwal loses all sense of morality

As Delhi gears up to vote in the ongoing general elections, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal seems to have lost all his sense of morality and lowered the bar of public decency. During an interview with journalist Barkha Dutt on Kapil Sibal backed channel, Kejriwal said that Modi doesn’t love Hindus, but actually hates Muslims and gets them killed

In the above video, from 34:51 onward, Kejriwal could be heard saying, “I want to ask if you are a party of Hindus, what have you done for Hindus? Have BJP people arranged for school admission of even one Hindu child? Have BJP people even provided employment to one Hindu youth in these years? Did BJP people get even one Hindu child admitted in a hospital for treatment? Kejriwal did it. Aam Aadmi Party even admitted Hindu students in schools. AAP even provided employment to Hindu youth. AAP even helped in the medical treatment of Hindu kids. I am more concerned for Hindus than Modi is. Modi does not think about Hindus.”

He further said, “What does Modi do? Modi kills Muslims. And after killing Muslims he says I care for Hindus. You hate Muslims, you don’t love Hindus. We love Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains.” He even drew parallels between Modi and Hitler and said, “I have said it many times. The way Hitler, within months of becoming the chancellor, changed the constitution that there will be no elections, they (Modi and Shah) will also do that.”

Expressing displeasure at Congress’ refusal to form an alliance with AAP, he said that during Hitler’s time also, if opposition parties had come together, they would have been able to defeat Hitler. He even accused Congress, which has refused to form an alliance with AAP of ‘cutting votes’.

Kejriwal’s statement comes ten days before the state votes for 7 Lok Sabha seats on May 12. In the same interview, he even said that the most important thing in this election is to ensure that Modi and Shah lose.

1...6,4106,4116,412...7,605Page 6,411 of 7,605