It was patience and persistence that helped Millind Gaba make it big. By Team Viva
He swayed millions of heart with his new single Zindagi Di Paudi and is riding the crest of success. But it has not been an easy ride for Millind Gaba despite having roots in the industry. He shares “I imbibed music since childhood because my father is a music producer and has been a part of the industry for the last 35 years.” He says when he stepped out for a job, no option other than music was open to him as he was not good at sports or academics. Moreover, he too was determined to make a mark in the industry. He adds, “My family was happy to see me continuing the legacy. They made me aware about the intricacies and uncertainties of the field.” He was taught to strike a balance between success and failures even before he stepped into the world of music.
Initially, though it was music production that he ventured into. But his heart lay in singing and he often requested producers to allow him to perform for free but they did not comply. “All I wanted was a chance to prove myself but I was always rejected as they felt that I was a child,” he says. Along with music, he was keen to act as well. Here too, he faced so many rejections that he started questioning his destiny. The only thing which kept him going was his patience.
He wanted to make his music the talk of the town, which ultimately did happen in 2014 when he sang, Daru Party. “It turned out to be a game changer. I won appreciation and recognition everywhere. It gave me the opportunity to perform and connect with people from all walks of life all over India.”
The excitement in his voice is palpable when he talks about how he performed four roles in his song Four Men Down which was inspired by Mann behka in Ghajini where Aamir Khan played 11.
Gaba has been partial to Punjabi songs and he has sung most of his numbers in the language. He says, “I am a hardcore Punjabi. After singing in Hindi, I decided to switch to my mother tongue to make people aware of my Dilli wali Punjabi.” He shares that he has an inclination towards Bhojpuri.
An allegation that has dogged Gaba often is that of his lyrics being sexist in nature. However he counters and talks about the double entendre that he finds implicit in the songs of past, “People have started questioning the lyrics now. In the past there were songs like Aao huzoor tumko baharo mei le chalu and Aaj ki raat mere dil ki salaami le le.’ Aren’t these sexist? Kaun leta hai raat mei salami? Tell me? These songs were never questioned. Songs can be interpreted according to our intentions. I don’t pay attention to all this as I feel songs are made for entertainment. The ones I sing were created as dance numbers to enjoy. Listen, dance, enjoy, go back and sleep. I am not giving you any advice or suggestions through my songs”
Talking about his recent release, Zindagi Di Paudi he says, love inspired him to sing it. He had not sung any love song by far so he thought this was a good one to show his versatility. He showcased his acting alongside his music skills through it. He expressed his happiness over the success of the song and also that it had struck a chord with boys. “I had hoped that the song would have this effect,” he says.
While choosing a song he makes sure that it syncs with his personality as he is well aware that he can’t portray a gangster or even a negative role. His favourite actor is Ranveer Singh. “I can identify myself with him especially when he is on the stage. He has a volcano of energy.” He also admires Aamir Khan for his acting and professionalism and wants to work with him. His list of favourite singers include Hariharan, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Sonu Nigam.
Besides being a music addict, he is a travel junkie. His next song is a lively friendship anthem with his friends. Besides this, he will also share the screen with Tulsi Kumar soon.
Writer: Team Viva
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Long term Japan resident Sanjeev Sinha helps in global awareness of Japanese culture
Japan a collage of tradition and technology
For the first time in modern history the Japanese empower has decided to resign leading to a change from Heisei Period to Reiwa period from May 1st 2019. The Heiwa period has led Japan through a new paradigm of balance between modern and tradition and placing Japan into a postindustrial society 5.0.
Among many of Japan’s traditions, lacquerware making, known as urushi in Japanese, goes back to 5000 BCE in Japan during Jomon Period.
Japanese lacquerware, paintings, ancient pottery, sculpture, ink painting and calligraphy, woodblock prints, ceramics and origami are known and collected across the world. Famous ukiyo-e paintings are also a popular collector’s items. More recently manga which is modern Japanese cartoons and comics along with a myriad of other types are being known as Japanese soft power.
With a history of Japanese capital and arts and culture hubs moving to different locations across Japan, the tradition is also dispersed across different parts of Japan including small towns and villages.
Japan is also well known for bullet trains, which is demonstrably the world’s best as a combination of length, speed, frequency, service and most of all safety: not a single accident fatality despite many severe earthquakes in the total history of more than 50 years. The remote rural part of Japan is also well covered by the public transport despite a very mountainous terrain of the country through breath-taking bridges and tunnels.
Japan’s urban transport systems are also a wonder, with greater Tokyo having the world’s most extensive and smooth urban rail network of 158 lines with 2,200 stations serving 40 million passenger rides daily, a little more than the total population of the region, which is also world’s largest urban conglomerate, at about 35 million. This is further connected with a dense and frequent bus operation as well as increasingly pedestrian and bicycle friendly urban planning. This is topped with a long-time impeccable record for safety and on-going regular improvements on all aspects.This leads to a very comfortable urban life style in Tokyo with almost zero crime, practically zero unemployment, negligible traffic jams, great healthcare and increasing convenience with omnipresent network of 24 hours convenience stores.
Similar is the case for other major cities of Japan like osaka, Fukuoka, Sapporo, Sendai, Mito etc.
This poses a dilemma for Japan as the youth of Japan especially gets pulled into a handful of bigger cities not just for economic attraction but also for the active and playful lifestyle leaving the smaller cities and towns of Japan with dwindling ageing population.
A modern dilemma for traditions
While Tokyo is upcoming as a major international arts and culture hub the traditional culture, arts and craftsmanship of Japan widespread into its diverse landscape of smaller towns are facing a threat.
Sanjeev Sinha, President of India Japan Partnership Group specializing
in promotion of collaboration including technology, finance, arts and culture between India and Japan, was invited by a joint initiative of TV osaka and TV Tokyo for an experience and global awareness building of Japan’s traditional culture, arts and craftsmanship in smaller towns. In the context, Sanjeev Sinha is also an Advisor at the Committee on Promotion of AI and Inclusion at Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication of Japan, been an Advisor to the Nagareyama City and for Japanese collaboration of new capital city of Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, President of India Japan Partnership Fund, India Japan Institute of Technology and a guest lecturer of urban Development at university of Tokyo.
The place chosen for the theme Daigo Town is a little-known place in Ibaraki Prefecture, on the border of two other prefectures of Fukushima and Tochigi for the period of April 19th to 21st 2019.
The town at 160 kilometers north of Tokyo is a host to a small community for plantation and collection of lacquer and more recently for making of inkstones and is the original investor of a popular health food of Japan Konyak.
The town also has many traditional inns called Ryokan and hot springs called onsen, as is common in many places in Japan making it a wholesome trip to experience the local culture, hospitality and economy.
The Daigo Town has records of lacquer plantation and harvesting, known as Urushi Kaki in Japanese, for more than half a millennium. Sanjeev and visitors were greeted by Mr. Tobita84yo on the slopes of the hills in the town where a new plantation for lacquer is being carried out. It takes 8 to 10 years for a tree to be harvested which takes specialized traditional tools. As the visitors were taken around different plantation sites, they were treated to a wide variety of fresh local food highlighting the hospitality of country side of Japan called omotenashi.
Return of the youth to the tradition
In the team of 5 people most people were in their 70s and 80s except one Mr. Watanabe, affectionately called Watanabe Kun, who was only 26 years old.
Watanabe Kun was born and brought up in a large and world famous city of Kawasaki which is a part of greater Tokyo described above. His presence in the small and remote Daigo Town for Lacquer plantation was a very interesting phenomenon which deserves some deeper analysis.The generation of Millennials across the world are known for their special and independent nature. The accelerated changes in the global economy which are now so fast that a single generation can face 3 or 4 different economic paradigms. At the same time the great access of latest and world wide access of information makes it a very different world where the younger generations have a huge reasons to think very independently of their earlier generations. While the economic efficiency of the new world makes their lives very comfortable in the moment the serious concerns of the climate change makes the younger generation question the very values systems of the older system.
Watanabe Kun chose to leave the comforts and economic benefits of the bigger city and live in Daigo Town just with an impulse as he liked the idea. He is not worried about his economic future because the modern economy of Japan offers him enough opportunities for a good life style anytime he wishes to choose and change.
This brings the core intellectual and aesthetic luxury of arts, culture and nature to the forefront as a major driving force. Watanabe Kun, not worried about his own economic wellbeing, just chose to live in nature and tradition in defiance to the economic common sense of the earlier generations.
vertical integration of arts and culture
While Daigo Town has had the tradition of Lacquer plantation for hundreds of years, the town has not been known much because of the background nature of the work. In the foreground is the lacquerware itself which is well appreciated as an art work across the world. Hence not surprisingly, the town has attracted an art expert Mr. Tsuji from the top arts university of Japan, Tokyo university of Arts, to make it a base for his lacquerware studio.
Mr. Tsuji is producing world class lacquer art in Daigo Town and gave a demonstration and educational session to Sanjeev and visitors group. He also uses latest technology for temperature and humidity control in his process creating a fine balance and coexistence between tradition and technology.
The arts and culture survive on a sense of pride by the community, hence the lacquerware artwork in the town also enhances the sense of pride of the lacquer plantation community and the whole town can expect a boost. This was seen in move of youth moving to Daigo to work with Mr. Tsuji, and this time it was two young ladies in their 20s from central Tokyo.
Lacquerware also has symbolism in India Japan relations as many of the Buddhist artwork exchanged between the two countries historically and contemporarily. Both countries and rest of Asia also place a huge symbolism on Lacquerware, bringing Asia together in one of the ways of culture.
Hardship of tradition and need for society
Symbolically so too, hard stone of Daigo has led to a new artwork in the town with Mr. Sato, in his 70s, to chose the town for his hard work of inkstones making.
Inkstone making goes back hand in hand to the early history of calligraphy to thousands of years back. It requires special types of stones which lend themselves for the delicate shapes and finish required for Inkstones called Suzuri in Japanese. Mr. Sato found a river basis in Daigo which has the right kind of stone for the purpose. As a one-man project to begin with Mr. Sato started digging these stone, acquiring the tools for the Suzuri making and created his workshop on the way to a shrine in the mountains.
Mr. Sato, having lost his first wife and now battling with the illness of his second partner in the hospital, is spending a rather solitary life in the mountains and couldn’t stop his tears when spoken on the matter. Over the time Mr. Sato, has attracted a group of younger professionals, still in their 50s, to support him in his efforts and now is a proud owner of a Suzuri gallery hosting Suzuri work ranging from few hundred grams to 10s of kilograms and from 20,000 yen to few million yens in valuation. omotenashi: the mantra of Prime Minister Abe to secure 2020 olympics and Paralympics
Japan is known for ometanashi, which is a level of hospitality and service from heart and culture going beyond any economic reasons. And it goes beyond age too as was proven by the four sisters all around 80 years old running a 108 years old inn called Tamaya Ryokan.
The four sisters symbolizing the longer lifespan of women then men have all lost their husbands to natural reasons. They decided to come together to renew their 80 years old bonding from childhood to live together and run the 2 storied inn inherited by them in this small town of Daigo.
Running the Ryokan requires taking care of all the errands from procurement, cooking, cleaning and bed making and they do it all with their heart into it. Their deep knowledge of the society, human relations and culture makes any conversation with them very lively and enlightening.
Even in the age of 80s the third eldest sister makes an annual trip of couple of weeks with around 40 other friends from the Daigo town to different parts of Japan. Showing how the passion for life, community bonding and active lifestyle can help one live longer naturally and happily. The reason for their good health also lies in the healthy traditional food of the town as the town takes the credit for invention of famous health food of Japan called Konjak(pronounced in Japanese as Konnyaku) made from the Asian plant Amorphophallus konjac and has great health benefits with negligible calories in the various forms of processed Konjac. As Japanese tea has become very popular in India in recent years for its health benefits, Sanjeev is also exploring promoting Konjac in India for its dieting benefits. Japan with its excellence in food processing has a wide range of Konjac based health supplements which can be preserved, transported and consumed under various conditions. Daigo town hosts a historical factory of Konjac and offers a wide variety of Konjac cuisines. Daigo also has a beautiful municipality run hot water spring,known as onsen in Japanese, in the mountains with open air baths called Rotenburo. It’s a delight to soak in the natural hot water in a very comfortable and clean environment surrounded by hills and trees.
The town is also attracting modern style guest houses like Lahar run by a young couple Mr. and Mrs. Komatsuzaki. Coming from the bigger capital city of Ibaraki Prefecture called Mito, the couple is providing the much-needed outbound marketing insights to the town that Sanjeev and other foreigners as longtime resident of Japan in the visiting group could closely associate with. Japan having been a very homogenous country lacks the global marketing acumen which is much needed to promote the awareness of Japanese virtues to the rest of the world and India is
widely recognized as a trusted potential partner for the same.
Smaller towns as a guidelight for modern solitude
The modern world especially in big well managed cities like Tokyo have gone beyond their economic necessities. With good lifestyle infrastructure of restaurants, 24 hour convenience stores and trustworthy health care with ambulances reaching within few minutes of calling, every individual is extremely self-sufficient. The self-sufficiency has led to people living alone and has taken its toll on human and family bonding leading to serious issues of loneliness.
The lifestyle of the four sisters in the small town of Daigo comes as a great inspiration and a living example to solve that problem of solitude as the people in Japan can afford to focus more on culture and lifestyle than economy. Smaller towns can serve as the hubs for community rebuilding and in parts the big cities can also emulate to implement similar lifestyle models in the big cities.
With modern economic and urban development advantages, Tokyo is already seeing new development of smaller self-sustainable residential hubs in the so-called Society 5.0 or Post Industrial Society model which will underline the new Reiwa period. Japan with its long term and wellbalanced socio-economic planning leads the world in post-industrial society issues and solutions and can offer a significant amount of experience and know how in the domain, including the example of Daigo.
WRITER IS SANJEEV SINHA: He is based in Japan.
The Congress party suffered a rout in the Lok Sabha 2019 elections and the big gloom over the party is more humiliating than the 2014 results with the biggest jolt in the hotly-contested Amethi seat in uttar Pradesh. Firebrand Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Smriti Irani defeated Congress president Rahul Gandhi at his home turf, the traditional Gandhi pocket borough thereby taking the wind out of the sails of the Congress.
The impact of Rahul’s shocking defeat, where huge victory margins have added the halo of invincibility to Gandhi family members will be felt outside the geographical boundaries of Amethi. The spectacular show by the ModiShah duo has put a question mark on Rahul’s leadership. unlike 2014, this election was Rahul’s first as party president and workers were looking up to the Gandhi scion to lead the way. Rahul miserably failed to rise to the challenge and stuck to Modi bashing that was amplified by the ‘chowkidaar chor hai’ jibe. Many in party’s own circle believed that the tagline breached the boundary of political decency stereotyped the Congress of weaving a negative campaign with nothing to add of its own.
Oblivious to the ground realities or how the slogan was being received by voters, Rahul went on an overdrive even landing himself into trouble with the Supreme Court that further dented the Congress confidence. Rahul seems to have offered his resignation to uPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi but his party leaders suggested that the matter should be left to be discussed at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting. As a matter of procedure, a CWC would be called within weeks of the results for a postmortem. The CWC is likely to constitute a committee to delve into the reasons on the lines of the Antony Committee Report in 2014 that blamed uPA-2’s antimajority perception for its defeat.
But the Congress’ course corrections have often been mere tokenism and less about transparency in order to insulate the top leadership. With PM Modi’s unrelenting attack on dynastic politics the party will be under tremendous pressure to act and show that it is actually serious about remaining in business. one of the most telling reactions came from veteran leader and former organisational general secretary of the party Janardan Dwivedi. When asked about the verdict he replied: “I am not surprised….” he said, not willing to add more.
Another old-hatter Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh known for being critical of Rahul’s ways earlier, hit out at Navjot Singh Sidhu. Amarinder fired the salvo: “Navjot Singh Sidhu wants to become CM… His going to Pakistan and hugging Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa cost the Congress dearly… the party should have taken disciplinary action against him…” he said.
Trouble for Rahul doesn’t end here. Clouds of uncertainty are gathering over Karnataka where Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy seems to be edgy and has been calling up Congress leaders to discuss the situation. Madhya Pradesh government could also be a cause for Rahul to worry. More than demanding respect a leader needs to command it, and with his own image severely dented it is not going to be easy. Then the comparisons with the BJP’s stalwarts is only going to get more sharper and unsparing that will make the unease and discontentment within the party only grow louder.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s age — he will be 49 next month— and his party’s Lok Sabha tally for 2019 at 52, seem to have moved up in a synchronised manner. Five years ago, in May 2014, Rahul, a highly empowered vicepresident at the time, was on the threshold of turning 44, exactly the number of seats Congress had won in the sixteenth Lok Sabha. While this is just a coincidence, this unintended tango can be symbolic of the existential crisis that faces both Gandhi and his party. The Congress is staring at a credibility crisis following its poor show in the Lok Sabha elections, particularly when it comes to taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
The results are a poor reflection on party president Rahul Gandhi’s leadership capabilities, besides the Congress’ election strategy to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The gravity of the loss can be understood from Gandhi’s loss to union minister Smriti Irani in Amethi, uttar Pradesh, which was represented by the Gandhi family for over three decades.
India’s oldest political party was limited to just 51 seats, marginally improving from its worst ever tally of 44 seats in 2014 with a 19.3% vote share. To make matters worse, for the second time in a row, the party will not be able to claim the position of the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, falling short of the minimum requirement of winning onetenth of total seats, or 54 seats, in the Lower House. Addressing a press conference on Thursday evening, Rahul Gandhi said that the “public has given its mandate”. When asked if he would resign from the post of party president, Gandhi said “We will have a meeting of the working committee and then it would be decided there…That you can leave between me and the working committee.”
While Congress performed poorly across all key states in North India, it faced an electoral bloodbath in a direct contest with the BJP. out of this, the biggest disappointment was in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, where it had defeated the BJP in state elections just six months ago. out of the 65 parliamentary seats three states represent, the Congress managed to retain just three, virtually giving a walkover to the BJP.
Even in Gujarat, where it had remarkably improved its performance in the assembly polls, the Congress did not win any seats this time. The same story played out in direct contest states such as Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and uttarakhand, where it failed to open its account. The shrinking of electoral footprint in the North-East continued, with the Congress conceding half of its 2014 seats largely to a resurgent BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). “We have suffered huge losses in the Hindi heartland. All our gains are only from the South. The BJP ran an aggressive campaign; we could not take on their nationalism narrative and people voted for Modi. Top leaders will sit and introspect on what went wrong where,” a senior party leader from uttar Pradesh said, requesting anonymity.
The leader added that the party should have tried more to stitch up alliances like the one in uttar Pradesh, where the opposition vote was split between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) combine. “As a political party, we need to decide whether our main aim is to take on the BJP or grow as a party. Both can happen simultaneously, but if at all we have to chose one, there should be a uniform approach. Even in states where we did have an alliance, there was hardly a common narrative,” a senior party leader from Bihar said, requesting anonymity. In all, the party drew a blank in over a dozen states. Its only bright spot came from Kerala and Punjab, which together accounted for 23 out of the 50 seats it won. Congress gained maximum seats from the south, including Tamil Nadu.
Party leaders said that despite their push for a ‘constructive campaign’ around a nationwide farm loan waiver and minimum income guarantee scheme, or NyAy, its campaign did not find resonance with the people and only those candidates who were strong locally, ended up winning. “Unexplainable,” said a senior party functionary from Madhya Pradesh, expressing his disappointment on the outcome. “How do you make sense of this result? How do you explain that after winning Chhattisgarh six months ago with two-thirds mandate, we are back to 2014 tally?” he added, also requesting anonymity.
This is the first general election, which was being overseen by Rahul Gandhi as the national president, since he took charge in 2017. Following the historic drubbing in 2014, former party president Sonia Gandhi withdrew herself from active political engagements, while Rahul Gandhi was given the charge to lead from the front. With the exception of Punjab in 2017, Congress did not win any state poll on its own until last year. A ray of hope for the party came last December, when it won the three state elections. But according to political analysts, Thursday’s results puts the focus back on the leadership crisis in the party. “After 2014, everyone kept talking about how Congress is facing a leadership challenge. People and particularly party workers hoped that they will do much better this time. But that did not happen. Post this result, the questions on Rahul Gandhi will grow. From a leadership challenge in 2014, this has become a leadership crisis in 2019,” said Sanjay Kumar, director at the New Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.
Party leaders, however, said that it will be a while before voices of dissent come to the fore from within the party to question the leadership. “People will either desert the party or not question the leadership. If not the Gandhis, then who?” a senior party functionary said, requesting anonymity. Senior party leaders were also wary of the fact that many Congress top guns lost from their seats, and this would have an impact on the party’s state units. While sitting Lok Sabha members Mallikarjun Kharge, Sushmita Dev, Ranjeet Ranjan and Jyotiraditya Scindia have lost the elections, former chief ministers Digvijaya Singh and Sheila Dikshit, too, had to concede defeat.
After the results Congress’ challenge will not be limited to putting its house in order, but to stand up to a stronger and resurgent BJP in key assembly polls. Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Delhi and Bihar will go to polls over the next one year. Besides, considering that it will have a minor presence in the Lok Sabha for the second time in a row—it may not stake claim for the post of the leader of opposition—the party will have to build greater consensus among all opposition parties to make any strong pitch in the Lok Sabha.
According to analysts, the larger challenge, or ‘crisis’ as they put it, will be to accept that the party needs to reinvent itself to adapt to the new political realities. “Frankly, Congress has multiple challenges and that is not restricted to this election alone. Everyone can predict what happens next from here. Almost like a clockwork, Congress will form a committee with its old war horses, who will prepare a report on what went wrong, but those issues will never get discussed. People will offer to resign taking responsibility, but almost everyone will continue to be on board,” said Ashutosh Kumar, professor of political science at Panjab university.
“Congress is like an old elephant, which has an idea attached to it, but that too is fading gradually. The challenge for the party is to either arrest that decline or allow it to happen rapidly,” he added.
By Rajiv Agnihotri Bureau Head- Africa is based in Mauritius.
Besides Project Tiger, our achievements were also possible because wildlife conservation is deep rooted in the Indian culture and tradition
India, a mega-biodiversity country with diverse climate and natural habitats in the world, is the last hope for the survival of several mega-mammals, including big cats on planet Earth. Of the seven big cats — lion, tiger, jaguar, puma (mountain lion), common leopard, snow leopard and cheetah (hunting leopard), five were found in India. But one of them — hunting leopard — exterminated from the Indian sub-continent in the early 1950s. Clouded leopard, a cat occurring in the north-east of India, is also considered a big cat by some naturalists but it falls slightly short of the minimum size of the big cat as its average weight is just below 20 kg.
India’s wildlife richness is incomparable in the world. It were the invaders, who brought a culture of reckless hunting, impacting the abundance of mega-mammals. According to official records, over 80,000 tigers, more than 150,000 leopards and 200,000 wolves were slaughtered between 1875 and 1925. About 300 lions were hunted around Delhi during 1957-58 a few years after independence. All four big cats have disappeared from their previous habitats in Asia or are surviving in restricted habitats in small numbers. But their story in India is different. Their survival depends on their conservation here in India where they still have viable populations despite high human population.
The Asiatic lion, which had extensive distribution in West Asia to India, has a restricted population in the Gir forests in Gujarat. They disappeared from the northern and western parts of the country. At present, over two-thirds of the global population of the tiger is found in 17 States in India. The number of other sub-species of the tiger in other countries in Asia is very small and none of them has over 500 individuals. Similarly, out of about 20,000 Asiatic leopards in about two and half dozen countries in Asia at present, 15,000- 16,000 individual leopards are estimated in India alone. Status of snow leopard is not known but there is no sign of any significant decline of its number in high altitudes of the Himalayas.
Occasionally, scientists and conservationists played the numbergame by providing population figures which suited to their academic greatness. Some of the figures quoted by naturalists and referred in the scientific documents and papers are far from the truth. Hence, the history of these big cats needs to be renewed. For example, the Nawab of Junagadh and some naturalists quoted about dozen remnant numbers of the Asiatic lion in the beginning of the 20th century. It has also been quoted in all scientific literature. If Asiatic lion’s number was one dozen in the first or second decade of the 20th century, then how could it reach to 287 individuals in the first Asiatic lion census in 1936? Annual hunting records also denied the low figure. In fact, logically, the Asiatic lion population never dropped below 50 during its entire history. Scientists and naturalists presented distorted and wrong history of this species. The present number of over 600 lions, perhaps over 700 as locals believe, is a healthy population spreading in four districts, although the threat from epidemic disease is high due to increased predation on domestic livestock, dogs and domestic animal carcasses. Loss of habitats outside the Protected Areas is also a matter of concern. The lion conservation landscape in Junagadh, Amreli, Gir-Somanath and Bhavnagar support about 1,300 big cats (over 600 lions and over 650 leopards). The numbers suggest human-wildlife conflict is a matter of concern.
Future of the tiger also lies in India. Although its habitat and distribution shrunk in the country, it is still found in about 90,000 sq km area in 17 States. In the past, some naturalists quoted a figure of 40,000 individual tigers in India at the beginning of the 20th century. This figure, too, has no scientific basis. After the declaration of Project Tiger, the population of this big cat was estimated over 1,800 individuals, which increased consistently and doubled in three decades. A reverse trend started due to massive poaching, after the success of its conservation. The camera image trap method for tiger counting in 2006 quoted a population of 1,411 individual tigers in India. Naturalists played the numbergame again. They publicised a decline by half. There was over-reporting of the number of tigers by some States using the pugmark method of counting, but the decline was not as drastic as highlighted by non-field conservationists.
Undoubtedly, the disappearance of tiger from four reserves, including Panna and Sariska, was a conservation blunder. The hullaballoo that followed resulted in the birth of National Tiger Conservation Authority. In 2006, tigers were never counted in Jharkhand, Sundarbans and North-East of India, Naxalite affected areas and also other forests area where few nomadic tigers occurred. Also, only sub-adult and adult-tigers were counted and cubs below one and half years, which constitute about 30 to 35 per cent of the population, were not accounted.
The numbers were again wrongly put. If all these are accounted logically, tiger population, including cubs, was not below 2,000 individuals in 2006. In 2014, the number of sub-adult and adult tiger was about 2,230 individuals, which was about 65 per cent of the global tiger population. With cubs, the number was perhaps about 2,800-2,900 individuals. Initial survey in 2018 revealed that the number has gone up due to strict protection measures India’s tiger habitats can support about 3,000 individuals of sub-adult and adult tigers. With growing human and industrial pressure in the previous habitats and around the tiger reserves, protection of dispersing tiger is difficult.
Leopard, a versatile cat, has very high adaptive capacity. Its population was never estimated accurately due to the concealing behaviour of the smart cat. The surveys of this cat in different States reveal that about 15 per cent to 20 per cent leopards are found outside the national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and forests. The tea gardens, sugarcane fields, ravines and agricultural fields have become habitats for the leopards. Expanding irrigation network turned beneficial to this cat. In 1964, EP Gee, a known wildlifer, quoted a figure of 6,000 to 7,000 leopards in India. He also mentioned that the number was 10 times in the beginning of the 20th century. This figure is quoted in all scientific documents. However, even with advanced technology, wildlife managers failed to estimate its accurate population. So, how could a naturalist guess a population of 6,000-7,000 leopards in 1960s? Recently, a conservation organisation in collaboration with Karnataka Forest Department projected an unbelievable population of 2,500 leopards in Karnataka. As per the recent reports, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka each has an estimated leopard population of over 2,000 individuals. Gujarat and Chhattisgarh each has over 1,000 leopards. Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Odisha have over 500 or nearly 1,000 leopards. Leopard occurs in 29 States and one Union Territory and its present population is estimated about 15,000-16,000 in the country. Although leopard presence is in over two and half dozen countries in Asia, none has above 1,000 of the species. Only Iran has nearly 1,000. It is, thus, a matter of great pride that about three-fourth of the total Asiatic leopard survives in India.
Conservation achievements of these big cats were possible because wildlife conservation is deep rooted in the Indian culture and tradition. Indian mythology, ancient art, literature, folk lore, religion, rock edicts and scriptures, all provide ample proof that wildlife enjoyed a privileged position in India’s ancient past. Kautilya’s Arthashastra, a book written in the third century BCE, reveals the attention focussed on wildlife in the Mauryan period: Certain forests were declared protected and called Abhayaranya like the present day ‘sanctuary’. Heavy penalties, including capital punishment, were prescribed for offenders who entrapped or killed elephants, deer, bison, birds, or fish, among other animals. Lord Mahavir Jain, Gautam Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi always advocated Ahimsa towards living creatures.
The ashrams of rishis, which were sites of learning in the forests, were frequently visited by the animals. The Vedas, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the Upanishads, the Puranas, the Arthashastra and the Panchtantra are among the many texts of ancient India that deal with the influence of forests and wildlife on human society. Ashoka, the most powerful monarchs, who put lions at the top of rock pillar, was a staunch wildlife conservationist.
Another key factor for survival of carnivores in India is never considered in analysis. About 524 million livestock in India provide major food to carnivores such as big cats, canines, hyena, small carnivores and raptors. Nearly half of the food for lions comes from hunting of domestic animals or their carcasses. Leopard is largely dependent on dogs, sheep, goats, poultry, other domestic animals and their carcasses. The tigers also extract substantial food from livestock abundantly available around the Tiger Reserves.
(The writer is Member, National Board for Wildlife)
Writer: HS singh
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Saimi Sattar reckons Neena Gupta has remained timeless despite the passage of decades. 2018: She was seen as the middle-aged Priyamvada Kaushik whose pregnancy is the cause of much consternation for the entire family. She won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress for her realistic portrayal.
Flashback to 1999 and Saans, where she portrayed the character of the wronged wife who refuses to play martyr. The serial, which she also directed, was path breaking for the way it depicted the woman who, though much in love, refused to break down into histrionics that are the norm even now on television.
Go back even further to 1982 when she portrayed he role of Abha in Gandhi and capped it the very next year by swinging around in a crane along with Pankaj Kapoor, Satish Kaushik and Satish Shah in the iconic Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron as Priya.
The decades might have changed but Neena Gupta has held steadfast in the industry with her nuanced performances, howsoever small, that made a mark. But she is hungry for more. “For both actors and directors, this is a golden time. There is so much variety in films and then there is web which means that there are so many platforms. It doesn’t matter what the format is for it is acting. I wish I was younger when I could do much more. But even then, it is fantastic.”
Any other actor might have decided to quietly fade away given the controversy that she unleashed when she decided to be a single parent, but then Neena is made of sterner stuff. And this has paid dividends as the society and the industry has changed offering content that she is in sync with. “One reason is society and women are changing. How many middle aged women are going to the gym now? Earlier they wouldn’t have even heard of it. The second reason is the platform. Web series have seasons. If you did a TV serial, we were stuck for two years where actors even with smaller roles get noticed. The whole scenario has changed,” she points out.
Moreover the lines between arthouse and commercial cinema have blurred. “Badhaai Ho is an arthouse film but a commercial hit, which didn’t happen earlier. That’s the change. It is a mainstream film done artistically and is at the same time, realistic,” she says.
Her latest venture is Adi Sonal one of the six parts of the omnibus, Shuruaat Ka Twist. “The director Heena D’Souza came to me with the story and I really liked the subject and that’s why I agreed to do it. It is the story of a middle class household with a husband, son and daughter-in-law. The beautiful undercurrent of a relationship between me and the daughter-in-law which is subtle and which you don’t realise till you see the end forms the crux of the story,” says Neena. Describing the character further, she says, it is like one of those typical housewives who spend the entire day wearing a night gown with a chunni. “She is just doing her duties the way she has been taught. The end comes as a surprise,” she says.
While choosing her roles there are several things that she keeps in mind. “The whole script and the role should excite me. The other things that I look out for are the directors and the cast,” says Neena.
While she has worked with stalwarts like Pankaj Kapur, Naseeruddin Shah and more, acting with the younger lot of actors has been a learning process too. “They are so hardworking and disciplined. There is no generation gap. We were like friends and had so much fun. In between shots, we could talk about just anything. We discussed our problems. I learnt a lot from Ayushmann and the way he chooses his role,” she says.
She also feels that the industry has changed the way it treats women. “The industry is more professional. Women are more respected. Male actors are much more decent and directors now are more open to suggestions,” she says.
She elaborates further about the difference between directors of yore and the younger ones. “While working with Subhash Ghai or Shyam Benegal, you were to scared to give a suggestions. While these directors are not a walkover, they are ready to take suggestions if it improves the quality,” she says.
A National School of Drama alumnus, she feels that the place has influenced her in varied ways. “I am very committed and disciplined. I work hard and don’t mind giving several takes. I don’t argue and I respect the director’s decision,” says the actor who just turned 60 but defies the norms agreeing.
She is philosophical about the experiences that she has had in life. She points out that, “I’ve come to the conclusion that everything that happens comes to some use someday. Even me talking to you will be of use some day. Maybe you ask something and I will think that I’ve never thought of it that way. So whether it is NSD or Mumbai or my parents, they’ve influenced me a lot but how and where it will be of use, I don’t know.”
Looking ahead, she has a pilot ready for her iconic Saans, “I am looking for a platform,” she says.
When one wonders about the state of Indian television, she is quick to retort. “Why should we bother about TV being caught in a bind when we have such amazing content on other platforms. They must be having an audience. It must be selling times. When it won’t sell, they will change too,” she says.
When one asks Neena, who lived and studied in Delhi, about her favourite places in the city, she retorts, “I am a Mumbai person. But I like to eat at Nathus. I love to roam around in Connaught Place and shop at the emporiums in Baba Kharak Singh Marg. I often went to shop for chudis at Hanuman mandir. Now, when I come back I go for my walks to Lodhi Garden and visit India International Centre.”
However, there are some things about the city that she doesn’t like. “Dust,” she says emphatically and adds, “Unprofessional and poking your nose in each others affairs.”
When you talk about Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, she is categorical, “I don’t think one should remake such a film.” Yes, just the way it is difficult to imitate the amazing grace that she has about her persona.
Writer: Saimi Sattar
Courtesy: The Pioneer
At present, India’s figure stands at nearly 134 crore while China is inhabited by nearly 140 crore. Which means in another two years, India will overtake China
A rapidly growing population is a stupendous national problem. Therefore, the suggestion of yoga guru Baba Ramdev to disenfranchise those having more than two children may sound preposterous but at least has raised a crucial issue, that of a demographic dividend quickly becoming a demographic slag. He has also suggested that such people should be deprived of other Government facilities to send a strong message to others to effectively control the fast-growing population of India. Whatever the nature of his suggestions, unless fresh restrictions are imposed, then India will soon surpass China to become the most populous nation in less than five years.
At present, India’s population stands at nearly 134 crore while China is inhabited by nearly 140 crore. Which means in another two years, India will overtake China. There is no denying that urgent and aggressive steps such as strict control policies and linking their observance with incentives are urgently needed to control the population. Until and unless the Government goes for some effective measures to adopt a comprehensive population policy, all attempts at economic progress and recovery will be a damp squib because the country will not be able to bear the burden of the burgeoning population. The population of the United States (US) stands at 33 crore but its landmass area is 9.834 million square km, making the density of the population 35 person per square km.
According to a UN survey, India will soon become the world’s most populous country as its population is predicted to surpass that of China within the next decade. It is expected to continue to grow until mid-century, reaching an estimated 1.68 billion in the 2050s. But an important piece of evidence tells us that population growth will come to an end: The number of children in India peaked more than a decade ago and is now falling. But the effects of a boom will haunt us for the next three decades at least.
If we study patterns of population change since 1950 and the UN’s projections of population by age bracket, then we would see that the number of children under the age of five (under-5s) peaked in 2007; since then the number has been falling. The number of Indians under 15 years old peaked slightly later (in 2011) and is now also declining. These are landmark moments in demographic change. Still India’s population will continue to grow as a result of “population momentum” — the effect often referred to by Hans Rosling and Gapminder as the “inevitable fill-up” when young generations grow older. Reaching “peak child” anticipates the later “peak population.” The number of children has peaked; the total population will follow and reach its peak in four decades.
India’s landmass area is 3.287 million square km and the density of its population is 382 per square km. Let us see the density of population of some other countries: China (152 per square km), Canada (four people) Russia (8.4 people), England (259), Germany (227), France( 118) and Italy (201). Even in Pakistan, the density of population is 251 per sq km, which is much less than India. Except for Bangladesh (1,120 per square km), all other neighbouring countries have less and lighter burden of population. In Sri Lanka, it is 325, in Nepal it is 201 and in Myanmar it is almost one-fourth of India ie, 95.
Our neighbour China has adopted a very harsh population measure of a one-child policy, which mandated that the vast majority of couples in the country could only have one child. This was intended to alleviate the social, economic and environmental problems associated with the country’s rapidly growing population. But the policy itself is now being relaxed in view of the skewed gender ratio and a growing geriatric population.
In India, however, it was a very liberal policy of “hum do aur humare do” (we two and ours two) adopted by Sanjay Gandhi during Emergency. Its timing and implementation were wrong but the policy was certainly commendable. Regrettably, successive Governments have thrown the child away with the bath water. Australia is a continent which is over twice the expanse of India — its population is less than 2.50 crore. An example is given in jest, which is also a fact, that the number of children born every year in India is equivalent to the population of Australia. But jokes cannot be appreciated when the burden on resources becomes unbearable. No country can then think of making any progress.
With increasing population, India is already at the receiving end of infrastructural pressure. More houses, hospitals, educational institutions, roads, parks and space for offices, manufacturing units, factories and other establishments will be needed. Construction of buildings will certainly need more land, which will ultimately eat into agricultural and forest areas. This can cause enough damage to the flora, fauna and the environment.
When you have more people to feed and less soil for farms, then howsoever scientific method of agriculture and dairy farming you adopt, there will always be a crisis of food and milk. One cannot expect to provide enough food and milk to the entire population. The demand for food will double in the year 2050 and even if India manages to feed its expanding population, its growth may not be ecologically sustainable. In India, the global demand for water in 2050 is projected to be more than 50 per cent of what it was in 2000.
We are already at the receiving end of malnutrition and further compromising national health may end up stressing hospitals and compounding the disease burden. This resource crunch is India’s biggest decelerator.
UN experts have also pointed out how India’s rate of urban population growth will climb because of migration and especially youths seeking jobs. “By mid-century, half of India’s population, about 830 million people, is expected to be urban dwellers, which will challenge government capacities to provide basic services and infrastructure. About one-fifth of the population lives without electricity,” wrote Joseph Chamie, the former director of the UN population division and Barry Mirkin, former chief of the UN’s population policy section, in a research paper in 2017.
“Healthcare also lags with about half of Indian children reported to be undernourished. About two-thirds of them are immunised for diphtheria/ pertussis/tetanus, compared to nearly all in China. Tuberculosis in India accounts for over a quarter of reported new cases worldwide, the highest of any country. Another public health challenge: the lack of sanitation facilities for more than half of India’s rural population,” they concluded.
It must be understood that a law on population control, if it is made, will be applicable to not only one community but for all sections of society. It is really very surprising that a senior advocate in the Supreme Court has come out with a bizarre logic, which does not have any leg to stand upon. He has said that more than a hundred Members of Parliament have got more than three children, does it mean that they should be debarred from participating in the elections? There is no need to tell that no such law can have a retrospective effect and it has been settled by the Supreme Court in Golak Nath case. So, there cannot be any fear to anybody on that count. Moreover, this is a suggestion which should be discussed by Parliament in detail. For test studies have predicted an increase in cases of desertion and bigamy, neglect and death of female infants, cases of pre-natal sex determination and induced abortion of female foetus, child given away for adoption as fallouts of possible legislation.
A consciousness has to be brought about, either by increasing the awareness of the people with a sprinkling of some punitive or coercive measures, which are bound to boomerang in a democracy like India. They can be successful only in authoritarian regimes like China, not in India. We do have existing policy and initiatives but there is no doubt that there has to be drastic enforcement.
(The writer is Advocate on Record at the Supreme Court of India)
Writer: Parmanand Pandey
Courtesy: The Pioneer
The Saraswati might have been a myth for some but satellite imagery clearly shows that such a river system did exist in line with present-day Ghaggar and had a very wide basin right up to the Rann of Kutch. It was linked to the Sutlej
River valleys over the centuries have cradled and nurtured some famous civilisations. For obvious reasons, this pattern has continued and even today most of the large cities continue to flourish on the river banks. Excavations and discoveries undertaken by Sir Mortimor Wheeler during the earlier decades of the last century unravelled the secrets of the Indus Valley civilisation hitherto lying buried under centuries of history.
We may have known about the Indus Valley civilisation much earlier had the original discoveries by Charles Mason, a noted archaeologist in the 1820s, been given more serious consideration. It may come as a surprise but some of the Harappan sites around the Indus are known to have been pillaged by contractors for brick ballast to build a portion of the Lahore railway in the later half of the nineteenth century.
Archaeological evidence shows that Indus was highly prone to floods and frequent changes of course. As the sister river to the Indus, the Mihran also carried large volumes of water along a course parallel and eastwards of Indus. But over the millennia, the Mihran has ceased to exist, so also the towns on its banks. In later studies, the Mihran came to be identified with Hakra as well as the Saraswati (also extinct).
Recent (May 2019) excavations reported from Ganweriwala indicate the town to have been located on the banks of old river Hakra, often cited as the mythical Saraswati. There has been a renewed interest in the recent years in river Saraswati, as the department of culture has initiated a project for research on satellite imagery to ascertain and chart out the entire route of this ancient river. It would be in the general area of the present states of Haryana and Rajasthan that evidence would be attempted to be collected to ascertain whether the civilisation around the Saraswati was an extension of the Indus valley or vice versa.
The mythical Saraswati River, which is now extinct, has found wide mention in the Puranas and ancient Indian history. The Skanda Purana mentions that the Kanyakubja Mahadesh of Bhoja, comprising 36 lakh villages, extended up to Kurukshetra and Saraswati. In the Rigveda, a river course has been mentioned, which now corresponds to the Saraswati and Ghaggar. The Saraswati has been mentioned as a mighty river from the pre-Vedic times. By the time the Manusmriti and the Mahabharata came to be written, it had already developed its present character. Manu calls the place where it disappears as Vinasana. The Mahabharata states that after disappearing, the river reappeared at three places. It disappears in sands near the village of Chalaur and reappears at Bhavanipur. At Ballchapart, it again disappears, only to appear again at Barakhera. At Urnai, near Pehova, (ancient Prithudaka), it is joined by the Markanda stream. At Sirsa (ancient Sairishka), it is joined by Drishavadi or Chitang.
The area between the Saraswati and Drishadvati is known to be the sacred land of Brahmavarta, the home of the Vedic rishis. After disappearing, the dry bed reappears south of Rohri and runs parallel to the Indus into the Arabian Sea, which is analogous to the ancient Mihran Hakra System. The other cities of the Saraswati era were Kapishthala (Kaithal), Sonaprastha or Sonepat and Paniyaprastha or Panipat.
Reports of the appearance of sweet water in certain dry areas of Kutch after the earthquake also led to a revival of interest in the archaeology of the Indus Valley and the impact of tectonic movements on the river systems. It is widely believed that the Saraswati river system may have become dry on account of one such upheaval. There is sufficient data to show that the original course of the Sutlej was to follow a southward flow from Ropar (Punjab) towards the Ghaggar, the two coming together near Shatrana in Sangrur district and then flowing towards Kutch. The sharp bend and a directional change at Ropar, which is extremely unusual considering the flat terrain, may appear to have been possible on account of a tectonic uplift. This may have led to the ultimate drying up of the Ghaggar-Saraswati system as Sutlej was the only perennial source of water in the area, which may have changed course due to an earthquake.
That the Sutlej was earlier joined to the Ghaggar-Saraswati system is also borne out from a legend in the Mahabharata, where it is mentioned that Vashistha threw himself into the Sutlej to commit suicide. The Saraswati might have been a myth for some but satellite imagery clearly shows that such a river system did exist in line with the present day Ghaggar, and had a very wide basin right up to the Rann of Kutch.
Another interesting feature of the ancient history of this area is the speculation on the possible linkage between the Harappan civilisation and the Gangetic plain. Is it that the river Saraswati could provide the missing link? Only forthcoming research would be able to decipher this centuries-old secret whether Saraswati was originally joined by Sutlej or by river Yamuna, both these rivers having changed course centuries ago.
(The writer is a former Commissioner of Police, Delhi)
Writer: Dr KK Paul
Courtesy: The Pioneer
The nation hopes that with this resounding majority and consequent political stability, the Prime Minister will succeed in actualising his own vision and India’s unbound aspirations
The BJP was well on its way to emerging as India’s ‘natural party of Government’ under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee when its hope was rudely dashed in 2004 after the “India Shining” campaign slogan backfired and the party lost decisively. Few expected the UPA 2 Government to return to power under the low-profile leadership of Manmohan Singh in the 2009 polls. But the unexpected happened and the BJP’s exile from power got extended by another five years. However, under the muscular charge of Narendra Modi, the BJP bounced back with a stunning majority in 2014, pushing the Congress’ tally to a paltry 44 seats in the Lok Sabha. The 2019 poll results demonstrate that apart from setting new benchmarks in India’s parliamentary history, the BJP has successfully crafted a new record of continuity of personality and policy. Arguably not every section of the electorate is delighted by the BJP’s overwhelming triumph, but all have accepted that its footprint across the entire country is unmissable now.
Once derided as a Brahmin-Bania party whose influence was confined to the Hindi-speaking States of North India, the BJP has broken through political and cultural barriers in the South, East and North-East of India this time. This is a humongous achievement for which the party’s charismatic leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi and tireless strategist Amit Shah can justifiably claim full credit. Commentators have attributed its spectacular victory to a combination of robust nationalism of the Balakot kind, a series of populist doles such as LPG gas cylinders to placate the underprivileged and a powerful dose of Hindutva. Many of these schemes and ideological predilections are not original. Some were directly borrowed from the predecessor UPA while the ideological positioning clearly bears the newly emboldened RSS’s imprint. For its policies to outlast a five-year term and become ingredients of the BJP’s ambition that it should become part of the “natural party of governance,” there has to be a degree of balance and conciliation which has not been evident in the ruling party’s style so far. Narendra Modi’s combative approach may have endeared him to the national electorate but this may not always work in a complex society which requires consensus and conciliation rather than confrontation. The Time magazine’s recent cover story describing the Prime Minister as India’s divider-in-chief was certainly not a complimentary epithet. Although palpably exaggerated and symptomatic of typical Western media bias, Modi would do well to go in for an image makeover to emerge as an unifying rather than a divisive force. It is apparent that most of the minorities, particularly India’s 185 million Muslims, have a deep distrust of the Prime Minister. This may not be justified as the NDA Government’s policies evidently do not target Muslims adversely, but perceptions matter a great deal in shaping attitudes. Therefore, NDA 3 will need to work consciously to dispel the impression that India might get transformed into a Hindu-majority Pakistan. The political rise of rabble rousers like Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur up the BJP’s ranks is certainly not reassuring in this context.
Apart from the social anxieties, the country’s economic health report during Modi’s first tenure has hardly been inspiring. Although, Modi managed to dust economic issues under the carpet through a skillful mixture of demagoguery and populist policies, the fact is that the fundamentals of the economy are shakier than during the UPA era. The truly worrying part is the stagnation of industry, credit squeeze and sharp drop in consumption. It was assumed in 2008 that the Government would come up with an incentivisation package and then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee did just that in the aftermath of the 2008 global slowdown. It is not too late even now to revive such a plan as tighter controls on tax collections have led to robust revenue growth. Modi may have successfully prevented jobs and distressed farmers’ issues from dominating the election agenda. But merely ignoring them will not make the issues disappear. While doles such as the PM-Kisan Yojana may be temporary palliatives, in the long run, they cause irretrievable damage to the economy.
The new Government also needs to work hard to formulate a clear foreign policy, especially with an eye on the neighbourhood. A mischievous western neighbour is perennially backed by an expansionist northern neighbour, and together they keep tensions alive in the region. Terrorists sponsored from across the border force India to be permanently on tenterhooks; by fomenting unrest in Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan keeps provoking us routinely. New Delhi needs to have a clear Zero Tolerance Policy, necessitating physical demonstration of its exasperation. Modi has built a reputation as a no-nonsense leader, ready to hit back through surgical strikes across the border and other measures, including economic blockages. The Prime Minister must remember that he is expected by his myriad supporters not only to act but must also be seen to act. India has made invaluable diplomatic strides in Modi’s first term. Undoubtedly, our relations with the US, China, Japan, European Union and other powerful nations and blocks have shown marked improvement. This policy needs successful upgrading to position us as a superpower in the making. Similarly, India’s space programme is among the world’s most coveted. During Modi’s second term, the country’s first manned mission to space, Gaganyaan and spacecraft to the Mars, Mangalyan, will get launched putting India in an altogether different league.
As the saying goes, there is so much to be done but so little time to do this. But the Prime Minister himself coined the slogan “Modi hai toh mumkin hai. (Everything is possible with Modi at the helm).” The nation hopes that with this resounding majority and consequent political stability, the Prime Minister will succeed in actualising his own vision and India’s unbound aspirations. The Prime Minister recently spent two days meditating at the holy Kedarnath cave. Lord Shiva would have blessed him then to fulfill our collective dreams.
Writer: Chandan Mitra
Courtesy: The Pioneer
It is true that Jawaharlal Nehru was for his time, a modern person. But he could not convert modernisation into a mass movement as Modi has
The return of Mr Narendra Modi with a generous mandate for the second time makes it necessary to go into the rest of the phenomenon. When he was elected in 2014, there were experts who felt that the people had voted with their feet. Even tolerant Indians could not take the gargantuan corruption presided over by the financially honest Dr Manmohan Singh. Being entirely new to Delhi and Central politics, Modi was looked upon as a parvenu, who would play out his time rather like a cricket nightwatchman. With demonetisation, many a veteran of the Lutyens establishment was astounded. Actually, if an economy is to be modern, it cannot indefinitely run on two sledges, white and black: the latter had to be eventually eliminated. This did not make the veterans more sympathetic to Modi. Instead, in order to condemn demonetisation, they innovated and created a new expression— “informal sector” — for the Black economy.
The GST was originally initiated by the Manmohan Singh government and yet when the Modi government introduced it, the tax was repeatedly criticised by Singh’s party, the Congress. Modi’s Pakistan policy was frequently denounced until Balakot. However, that he was the first Indian leader to be invited to address the British Parliament and to be asked for an exclusive lunch by Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace evoked no compliment from the honourable Opposition. Instead, the Prime Minister was accused of destroying institutions. In short, Mr Modi remained a parvenu in the Lutyens circle, who hoped he would be marginalised in the just held general election. In order to make sure that he does not return to power, the Congress president called him a thief on an average three times a day. Unfortunately for the Congress president and his party, the people of India decided otherwise.
Why have the people of India chosen Mr Modi for a second term in the face of the most furious opposition that any prime ministerial candidate has ever faced in independent India? Every political party in the opposition had one common programme and that was to remove Modi from power. Such a unanimous opposition agenda was last seen in 1977 against Indira Gandhi’s Emergency. But the masses of India perceived Narendra Modi as the first leader who had risen from the soil and loved his motherland more than everything else, including his own mother, whom also he loves. The people who have faith in him have not been disappointed. He has ruled for the last five years and convinced us that he has worked for the people and the country and not for himself. No previous prime minister could be tested on this touchstone. Do not think that this faith and sentiment are confined only to the Hindus; they extend to quite a number of Christians, Muslims and others, in whose veins run similar blood. Others, including many a Hindu, whose bodies reside in India but whose souls yearn for overseas, are not for Modi.
Narendra Modi is a moderniser of the country and within it. It is true that Jawaharlal Nehru was for his time, a modern person. He did think of building irrigation dams, factories that could build advanced machines, starting Indian Institutes of Technology as well as Management, giant steel plants and so on. When he became Prime Minister, the country was give or take, living in the 19th century. That India could catch up and become contemporary was not part of our thought medium. However, while Nehru did build numerous temples of modernity in a dominantly agrarian society, he did not bring about a revolution in the minds of the people that they needed to modernise and in turn, could put their shoulder to modernising the country. In other words, he could not convert modernisation into a mass movement.
Rajiv Gandhi was brought up in a contemporary environment and had spent time in England. He then learnt to fly aeroplanes; then a transport medium of the latest variety. He understood machines and certainly chose more or less the best passenger aircraft in the Airbus. An equally good choice was the Bofors artillery gun, if we overlook for a while the financial scandal attached to it. Gandhi, as it were, grew up parallel with the growth of the computer and could operate the electronic machine with aplomb, and he did try to introduce its use in government institutions. But before he could go far, he lost the 1989 election and went out of power. In any case, he might not have been able to go very far because he could not motivate men with the same aptitude he could move machines. Before we move to another prime minister, we should not forget to record that millions of telephones were installed in India during Rajiv Gandhi’s time.
Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao, compelled by dire financial circumstances as he stepped into power, did bring about an economic revolution. From a party wedded to a socialistic pattern of society, it had now no choice but to overturn it into promoting laissez faire. In short, he embarked on a path of economic liberalisation as a step towards globalisation. Atal Bihari Vajpayee took liberalisation forward to some extent. His main contribution, however, was introducing the construction of modern highways, which can be considered a step towards modernisation.
To come back to Narendra Modi, he launched modernisation along with preaching its importance; of all places, from the ramparts of the Red Fort in his first Independence Day speech. He began with according importance to society with the slogan Swacch Bharat. Even earlier, his election campaign theme of 2014 was development, which willy-nilly implied modernisation. “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas” clearly implies participation of all for the purpose of progress.
One of the first steps Modi took after becoming Prime Minister was to abolish the Planning Commission with the help of a Cabinet resolution. This was possible because Nehru had set up the Commission by a Cabinet decision. Such a Herculean economic step was taken without going to Parliament, perhaps because Nehru was apprehensive that the comparatively conservative members of the Constituent Assembly might not approve of such a commission. After all, national planning was introduced by the Soviet Union in the name of Gosplan. Incidentally, one of the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet economy was the excessive powers assumed by Gosplan.
As the years went by, the Yojana Bhavan in India began being misused for manipulating power over the States. Money was allotted generously, provided the State Government toed the Central government line. Whether the money allocated was used or misused depended on the State Government. The Planning Commission’s work ended with sanctioning the year’s Plan expenditure. The Finance Ministry disbursed the money. Thereafter, implementation and monitoring were entirely the State’s function. In the bargain, there was over-expenditure, misuse of funds and inflation. With the abolition of the Commission, inflation has come down quite remarkably.
Many reforms were introduced, especially keeping the poor people in mind. It is not that the previous governments had not thought of them, but a large chunk of the money earmarked was kept back by middlemen. As Rajiv Gandhi in his time had said, only 15 per cent reached the poor person. Mr Modi’s policy has been to ensure that all poor people should have their own bank accounts, wherein monies due to them can be remitted directly. All in all, it would be fair to say that through the last millennium, India experienced popular badshahs and hateful nawabs, benign rajas and cruel ones and the British rulers. But Narendra Modi is the first one who truly belongs to the soil of India. A 12-year-old schoolgirl discussing Modi was quoted saying that the measure of love is what one is willing to give up for it. And Modi intends giving himself to India.
(The writer is a well-known columnist and an author. Views expressed are personal.)
Writer: Prafull Goradia
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Why Varun Gandhi? BJP RSS mission beyond Modi Shah era will be determined by the choice of young leadership available with the party in the next decade. Varun Gandhi who has carved a niche for himself beyond his haloed family can be the answer; off course along with the top young leadership of the party namely UP CM Yogi, Maharastra CM Devendra Fernavis, Anurag Thakur, Smiriti Irani and others. Today he has expressed complete faith and appreciation for the current leadership of the party and surprisingly, he is critical of the present Congress leadership. According to him, there is absolutely no match for Narendra Modi leadership in the country and he has expressed confidence that Prime Minister Modi will guide BJP to stupendous victory in GE 2019.
BJP leader and youth icon Varun Gandhi is a sitting Member of Parliament for Lok Sabha from the Sultanpur constituency and likely to be renominated from Pilibhit parliamentary constituency soon. He is also member of Bharatiya Janata Party and was inducted into Rajnath Singh’s team in March 2012 as General Secretary. Though Varun Gandhi is a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family but he has carved out an independent identity in the national politics with tremendous hard work and strategic vision. Varun attended Rishi valley School and Modern School C.P. New Delhi and the British School, New Delhi where he ran for a position on the student council. Varun earned Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Economics from University of London. Varun Gandhi was first introduced to the Pilibhit constituency by his mother during the 1999 election campaigning. Maneka had been a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) since earlier but she and Varun formally joined BJP in 2004. Varun Gandhi campaigned for the party in the 2004 elections, covering over 40 constituencies. In an interview to Stephen Sackur in BBC’s HARDTALK in October 2005, Gandhi answered questions about the reasons behind his political affiliation and defended his father as someone who had helped revive the industrialisation of India by starting Maruti Udyog and whose strategy helped the Congress party’s comeback after the first ever non-Congress Janata Party government following an electoral routing for the Indira Gandhi-government after Emergency, among many other things.
In the 2009 general election, the BJP decided to field Varun Gandhi as its candidate from the Pilibhit constituency instead of his mother Maneka Gandhi. He won the seat by receiving 419,539 votes and defeated his nearest contending candidate, V.M. Singh, by a margin of 281,501 votes. The victory was the strongest of any of the four Gandhi family candidates in the election: his mother Maneka Gandhi, aunt Sonia Gandhi and first cousin Rahul Gandhi. The security deposits of all other candidates, including those of V.M. Singh of the Indian National Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Ganga Charan Rajput were forfeited. A case was filed against Gandhi for allegedly making a provocative speech about Muslims, at a meeting at Dalchand Mohalla area of Pilibhit, however he was acquitted by in court in the matter. On 5 March 2013, a Pilibhit court acquitted Gandhi in the second hate speech case registered against him during the 2009 Lok Sabha election campaign. In March 2013, Rajnath Singh appointed Varun Gandhi as the national general secretary of the BJP. He became the youngest ever general secretary of the party. In May 2013, Varun Gandhi was made in-charge of the BJP’s affairs in West Bengal. In June 2013, Gandhi requested Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to call an emergency all party meeting in view of the calamity in Uttarakhand in which thousands of people had died. He suggested a number of steps like contribution from MPLADs fund, forgoing of three months’ salary by MPs and tax incentives for corporate and individuals for help. He has said that he spoke to many MPs and all of them were ready to contribute. He said that the Speaker should act as a catalyst and coordinate the action plan. In July 2013, Gandhi handed over a cheque of Rs 1 lakh from his salary account to family members of former Jan Sangh Member of Legislative Assembly late Bhagwati Prasad, who died at a government hospital after prolonged illness and age-related complications. The former MLA had to spend over an hour on the floor of an emergency ward before doctors at the hospital realised he was an ex-MLA and was subsequently given medical attention. His family didn’t even have money to perform the last rites after his death. Varun said he came to know about Prasad only after his death. Describing the late MLA as a model of honesty, he said it was hard to find an honest leader like him. In August 2013, newspapers reported that Gandhi was the only MP in the country who had spent cent per cent of his MP Local Area Development Fund (MPLAD) before stipulated time. According to official sources, Varun Gandhi used his funds for the development in education, health and infrastructure activities. His proposals were worth more than the entire MPLAD fund thus ensuring the entire amount of 25 crore was spent during his tenure as a Member of Parliament. His political aides stated that he submitted the proposals on time and also employed his personal team to monitor the use of money.
In September 2013, Varun Gandhi accused the Samajwadi Party-led Uttar Pradesh government of pursuing the politics of appeasement, and said that its mistakes would lead to its collapse, after it denied permission to Varun Gandhi’s rally in Agra just two days before it was scheduled to take place. He denounced Rahul Gandhi’s infamous outburst against the controversial ordinance against convicted lawmakers, and said that it was an insult to the Prime Minister, who was abroad at the time, and therefore also disgraceful to the nation. He also said that if the Prime Minister had any dignity left, he should resign immediately upon his return to the country, on the day of Rahul Gandhi’s outburst. In March 2014, he said that he holds no ill-will against Rahul Gandhi and won’t campaign against him during Lok Sabha Election.In February 2014, Gandhi kick started his campaign for election 2014 in Sultanpur. He gave an emotional speech to an enthusiastic crowd in Kadipur, and said that he had come to Sultanpur to fulfill his father’s dreams. In May 2014, Gandhi defeated Amita Singh from Sultanpur in Lok Sabha 2014 elections.In March 2016, he introduced the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in Lok Sabha.
In August 2011, Varun Gandhi strongly pitched for the Jan Lokpal Bill. Gandhi offered his official residence to Hazare to hold his fast, after Hazare was denied permission by the government. When Hazare was jailed, Gandhi offered to table the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament.On 24 August, he went to Ramlila Maidan as a common man to support the cause of Anna Hazare, becoming the first politician to openly support the anti-corruption cause. He writes articles and policy papers for several national dailies and magazines in India, such as The Times of India, The Hindustan Times, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Asian Age, The Hindu, Outlook, The Pioneer among others. He writes the largest syndicated column in the country covering 21 newspapers – including Malayala Manorama, Lokmat, Hindustan Times, Rajasthan Patrika, Punjab Kesari, Amar Ujala, Sandesh, Bartaman, Sakshi – reaching more than 200 million readers. Gandhi wrote his first volume of poems, titled The Otherness of Self, at the age of 20, in 2000. His second volume of poems, titled Stillness was published by Harper Collins in April 2015. The book became the bestselling non-fiction book, selling over 10,000 copies in the first two days of its release. In 2018, he released his book on the Indian rural economy titled The Rural Manifesto: Realising India’s Future through her villages. The book sold over 50,000 copies in ten days of its release.
BJP MP Varun Gandhi has called for change in India’s political system, including the right to recall elected representatives and more representation for women, saying people should have a greater say in democracy. He said people are less aware about the selection of their elected representatives, and choose them based on caste, religion and region, which is not the way to take the country forward.
Varun Gandhi highlighted varied issues faced by the Indian farmers: Agrarian issues have always been at the forefront the Indian electorate, as a majority of our rural population is still is largely dependent on agriculture. However, decreasing landholdings (average landholding size is 1.13 hectares, decreased marginally from 1.41 hectares in 2000, a far cry from the global average of 3.7 hectares), rising input prices, unsustainable water usage, inadequate energy access and failure to take any advantage of economies of scale make farming an increasingly difficult proposition with time. Post 1991, agriculture has grown at 1% on average, while industry has grown at 8% – we have built our economy on the backs of distraught peasants. Policy apathy and policy inefficiency have adversely impacted farmer condition over a long term. Perhaps it’s time for a re-look at our national priorities.
Inadequate marketing reforms are an important reason for dwindling farm incomes. The challenge is that the farmer loses out in both good and bad times. In bad times, crop failures lead to rural debt and in good times, it leads to drop in prices. Our increased focus on groundwater extraction, essentially a symptom of inadequate irrigation, has led India to top the list of countries with maximum freshwater withdrawals, with water availability declining by 70% since independence. Free or cheap electricity for running pumps have led to reduced investments in our agricultural mechanization, whilst contributing to the financial burden of State Electricity Boards, which in turn remain ill-equipped financially to undertake transformative initiatives in our energy transmission and distribution. Our agri-procurement policies have incentivized farming of water-intensive crops in regions with limited groundwater availability and facing risk of aridity.
Farm loan waiver is essentially an emergency measure. It remains a short term, stop-gap arrangement till credit culture improves alongside rising farmer incomes. Let us consider few figures – indebted farm households have increased from 25 percent in 1992 to 52 per cent in 2016. The average debt of an agricultural household stands at Rs 1.04 lakh, whereas the average monthly income stands at Rs 8,900 – thus, average debt is roughly their annual in
come. Nearly 70% of India’s estimated 90 million agricultural households end up spending more than their earnings, thereby being caught in a spiral of ever increasing debt. In such times of economic desperation, a farm loan waiver is needed to provide immediate relief.
Non-farm diversification is typically an important pathway for empowering especially landless labourers and marginal farmers, helping them overcome the land constraint for growth while offering sustainable income that can provide capacity to absorb external farm shocks and provide capital for agricultural investment. Most of rural non-farm income is associated with urban migration, with most village youth working as labourers in nearby towns and cities. Among non-farm income sources, livestock and construction incomes are a broad-based critical component. The recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee pertaining to distribution of ceiling surplus and wasteland shall help our landless and small/marginal farmers.
Varun Gandhi is likely to be elected in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections and he will definitely play extremely vital role in the next government. Today BJP has formidable leadership in Narendra Modi and BJP is building up gen next leadership with an intention to dominate the national politics. Varun is the front runner for handling the command from the present leadership. Surely with his experience of parliamentary life, young leader will be the key to the macro level planning of BJP RSS think-tank.
Prashant Tewari Editor-in-Chief in conversation with Varun Gandhi M.P.: Inputs from Prakhar Misra Political Editor Opinion Express.
* VARUN GANDHI’S INTERVIEW WILL BE PUBLISHED IN OPINION EXPRESS NEXT ISSUE.
According to Soumi Roy Chowdhury, Devendra B Gupta and Sanjib Pohit, “The value of a river will depend on a unique data-set to construct the water poverty profile and experts who can suggest future correctives” In India, water is rarely a focus area in the discourse about new pathways for development. The narrative generally centres on two things: First, the availability of water and second accessibility to good and safe drinking water. Public policies largely focus on the latter even as the Government launches flagship programmes like Namami Gange and National Rural Drinking Water Programme.
But to be able to measure societal impact of any given programme, it is important to have baseline and end line information. In this case, how river water scarcity or its quality impacts common households. Specially, information on the use of water, livelihood aspects and quantifiable aesthetic value of the river are of utmost importance to gauge value.
Such information is, however, sparse and available only for pilot projects. Further, no serious efforts have been made to compile them for better identification of water- stressed regions, especially in the Indian context. However, efforts are under way to create a data-driven policy-making in our country.
With the launch of the Composite Water Management Index developed by NITI Aayog, one gets a sense of the macro picture of the effectiveness of water management across various States. Efforts like these must, however, be complemented with information linking household welfare, understanding livelihood implications of water scarcity and the degree to which it impacts human population. All of these can succinctly bring disparate data sources together.
Further, river basins in India are of different sizes, with habitation and livelihood depending on it. Therefore, analysing the communities living off the basin is critical to take into account both the physical and socio-demographic factors associated with water scarcity. A water poverty index approach is appropriate for such an analysis as it can monitor both the availability of water as well as the socio-economic factors that hinder the use and access of the same.
Elsewhere in the world, water poverty index, a relatively newly introduced policy tool, has caught the attention of policy-makers in the realm of water-driven issues. However, it is yet to catch the attention of Indian researchers and legislators.
The concept is based on the premise that the lack of adequate water supply in a country can lead to poor health of its population, whereas despite its availability, it is the user cost of clean water that can drive one to use inadequate and unreliable sources of water supply.
Therefore, a country, which is water-scarce should encompass understanding of different inter-related components: The availability of internal water resources and external water inflows followed by access to safe water and sanitation in the region. Equally important is to capture the share of regional water use for domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes.
Scientific measurements of water quality parameters are equally critical to understanding the role of different kinds of regulatory mechanisms to preserve the water body, including biodiversity threats.
Last but not the least, the socio-economic ability of availing clean water resources and status of health information constitute the much-needed water data for a comprehensive analysis. The applicability of this kind of measure goes beyond just ranking the regions, which is the usual reporting norm, but actually categorising the components. Targeted approach allows diagnosis of the source of water problem and helps identify those policy parameters that need more attention.
Indeed, this is by no means a simple task that can be accomplished easily. An interdisciplinary team of researchers is needed to understand and analyse the water poverty index of a river basin. More frequently, it happens that data is not available at the adequate level in India. For example, scanty information is available on water scarcity or how the poor quality of the same impacts the health and developmental goals of the people in various communities across river basins.
In sum, working towards a unique data-set to construct a water poverty measure will require hydrologists, who can advise on the water flow and availability, scientists who can develop water quality measures and social science researchers, who can assess the information on the use and implications of river water usage, including health costs, economic costs and other socio-demographic linkages.
(The writers are Associate Fellow and Professors at National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), New Delhi. Views expressed here are personal)
Writer: Soumi Roy Chowdhury, Devendra B Gupta and Sanjib Pohit
Courtesy: The Pioneer
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