Incited by an ultra-religious outfit, Pakistan is protesting France’s views on the freedom of speech and radical Islam
The difference in the governance impulses and compulsions between the Fifth Republic, ie France, and the ostensible “land of the pure”, ie Pakistan, could not be more glaring. Like all nations who have a mixed bag of heroes and villains to define its preferred narrative — France chose intellectual liberals likes Montesquieu, Voltaire and Rousseau, whereas Pakistan has seemingly come under the irrefutable grip of illiberal like Mumtaz Qadri, Saad Hussain Rizvi and the likes of Baitullah Mehsuds. Genealogically also, La France espoused Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) whereas Pakistan invoked Iman, Ittihad, Nazam (Faith, Unity, Discipline), and the religiosity in the latter has only increased over time. It was only a matter of time before the sovereign sensibilities clashed directly, as they recently did, with the ensuing protest by the ultra-religious Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) which is protesting France’s views on the freedom of speech, radical Islam and blasphemy and, therefore, seeking the expulsion of the French ambassador.
The history of the two unlike nations had been surprisingly robust, despite their foundational and fundamental anchorages though, in recent times, the crevices have sharply widened. The Pakistan Air Force had been France’s largest aerospace customer, having got Mirage fighter aircraft, Exocet missiles, reconnaissance and civil aircraft, whereas the Pakistani Navy had ordered the Daphne-class and Agosta-class submarines — as also agreements to transfer civilian nuclear technology. But the recent strategic-bind in the Indo-French realm (including the much-bandied Rafale fighters) has led to a definitive shift in the French preferences. But it did not go unnoticed across the restive Line of Control (LoC), especially since France also took a particularly hard line on terror (owing to its own unrest with Islamist extremism and violence) and in openly siding with India at multilateral forums.
Beyond the visible optics, France was the only western power to support India after the latter conducted the nuclear tests in 1998 and was instrumental in facilitating India’s entry into the non-proliferation regimes of Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), Wassenaar Arrangement and the Australia Group. In reciprocal bonhomie, Delhi took an unusually assertive stand to condemn Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s (Pakistan’s closest ally along with China) diatribe against French President Emmanuel Macron, after the French leader had openly called out “Islamist separatism” in the case of beheading a French school teacher. India’s Ministry of External Affairs explicitly stated: “We strongly deplore the personal attacks in unacceptable language on President Emmanuel Macron in violation of the most basic standards of international discourse.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s patented double standards on religious extremism, dangerous dalliances and co-option of the clerical lot allowed for the dangerous drift towards morphing the French beheading incident, into a uncompromisable ummah issue, triggering calls for the boycott of French products and expelling the French ambassador from Pakistan. Continuing to play to the electoral gallery simultaneously, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan kept reiterating and reminding that no one had done more than him in internationalising the issue of blasphemy — this whilst dealing with a supposedly “terrorist” organisation with a violent position and dubious track record on “blasphemy” in Pakistan. Despite Imran’s postured moderation and claims of progressive outlook, he had willingly dropped renowned Princeton economist Atif Mian from his Economic Advisory Council under pressure from the likes of the TLP, owing to Atif’s belonging to the Ahmadiyya faith.
France is moving in an exact opposite direction with counter-accusations of weaponising its famed policy of segregating the State and religion, a secular ideology known as Laicite. A new law called “Strengthening Respect for Republican Principles” has been introduced in the wake of recurring Islamist violence to “free Islam in France from foreign influences”! Many accuse the same for right-wing populism with an electoral intent that will further the divide, suspicion and marginalisation of the minority community and the French State. The fact is that the right-wing parties led by Le Pen have gained enough traction to threaten Macron and, therefore, his competitive ‘right-wing’ stand have more to do with winning the next elections as opposed to concerns on dealing with extremism or personal conviction in free speech. It is this pandering, invocation and inflaming of the basest instinct of the masses that vitiates the popular emotions towards revisionism and “othering”, be it in Paris or in Islamabad. That the intrinsically liberal French sensibilities will militate culturally with the conservative moorings of a society like Pakistan is a given, yet it need not spiral to the violent extent that it has, only if the political leaderships didn’t play emotions selectively, in both countries.
(The writer, a military veteran, is a former Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry. The views expressed are personal.)
( Courtesy : Pioneer )
Sadly, people all over the country are facing extortion and being forced to make large payments to get essential medication, oxygen, ambulances and so on
Ever since the second wave of the covid-19 infections has shaken our country it has also shaken the moral values of many people. There are any number of stories all over the country of people facing severe extortion and being forced to make large payments to get essential medication, oxygen, ambulance service and hospitals beds.
Perhaps there is a reason why people have behaved and continue to behave in such a shameful manner. The drop in incomes and loss of livelihoods over extended periods since the pandemic struck has probably shaken the moral and ethical values of many. But it still doesn’t justify such actions when somebody’s life is at stake. It doesn’t justify selling an injection of Remdesivir at Rs 40,000 when the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) is Rs 3,500 a dose. A few arrests have been made, but this trade continues unabated in many parts of the country.
When somebody’s loved one is struggling to breathe and stay alive, people are forced to shell out huge sums. People have taken flights from Delhi to Mumbai and Hyderabad to source this drug from production units. Since this is a scheduled drug and permitted to be given only under the supervision of a medical practitioner, the Government should have made it mandatory for the pharmacies to sell this drug directly to the hospital or nursing homes where patients are admitted, based on the doctor’s prescription.
The patients could pay for it along with the hospital bill. It would result in complete transparency and tackle hoarding along with black marketing.
The other huge issue has been the lack of medical oxygen. Despite the Supreme Court’s direction to the Centre to make 700 metric tonnes of medical oxygen available to Delhi on a daily basis to tide over the COVID crisis, Delhi is still gasping for its share and the Arvind Kejriwal Government is running from pillar to post to get its allotted quota. The same dire situation exists in other States, too.
In smaller hospitals and covid care facilities, patients are being told to bring their own oxygen. People are camping outside oxygen plants for hours together to fill cylinders. A normal cylinder that would earlier cost Rs 600-Rs 800 is being sold by unscrupulous people for over Rs 20,000.
Gurudwaras have started distributing oxygen within their premises as have other religious places, easing some of the pain. Even then, lives continue to be lost at a rapid pace with the continued scarcity of this naturally available product. People who could not afford to get hold of oxygen cylinders started looking for oxygen concentrators to deliver uninterrupted oxygen supply without having to refill. Overnight, oxygen concentrators (OCs) disappeared from the market, every available piece of every brand got taken and then started the usual black marketing. A branded OC that is usually priced at Rs 40,000-Rs 50,0000 is being sold in the black market at around Rs 90,000 for substandard Chinese products without warranty, and depending on the urgency and desperation goes up to Rs 1.5 lakh. With the increase in production of medical oxygen in Delhi hopefully things will get better.
Transporting a covid patient to the hospital has been another nightmare. Patients cannot be brought in a car driven by relatives for the fear of transmitting infection, requiring transportation in an ambulance. Hence, ambulance providers have been charging exorbitant amounts for short distances of travel. In Delhi-NCR the minimum charge for a ride of less than five km is Rs 10,000 provided the patient does not require oxygen support or an accompanying doctor; the same ride for a patient requiring oxygen support and a doctor could cost the family upwards of Rs 20,000. Inter-city transfers by ambulance, for example Delhi-Chandigarh are priced at Rs 1,00,000. When one service provider was confronted and told that this was far more than what an airline would charge, the response was: “Please take the plane!”
Bargaining and pleading has no takers. Nobody has the time for your story. Thankfully, in Delhi, the Government has now intervened and regulated prices. The other problem is the shortage of hospital beds. Government portals showing vacant hospital beds haven’t been updated with the ground realities.
Many telephone numbers posted on Government websites are not in use or not being answered, adding to the peoples’ misery. Many hospitals show vacant beds on their website but these are not available when patients arrive. Staff in many hospitals has been charging huge bribes from patients to provide beds. Those waiting in ambulances till the patient gets a bed are being charged Rs 2,000 per hour, as waiting charges!
Large hospitals have beds reserved for politicians and senior bureaucrats, whereas the commoner has to run around to multiple hospitals, pay large sums at every point and yet, has a faint hope of getting the care needed.
Has our country lost its soul? Is it the effect of the pandemic or were we inherently like this? As the country battles its biggest crisis ever and families weep for the departed, Indians need to look within to fix their broken ethical compass.
The writer is a neurosurgeon, Apollo Hospital. The views expressed are personal.
If cow urine is really beneficial against Corona, the Govt hasn't done a great job propagating it
Walk into any ayurvedic store and you can easily buy a bottle of “gaumutra”; one need not have a medical prescription. The cow’s urine, or “gaumutra” as it is commonly known, has immense therapeutic value and is used in the treatment of various diseases in the traditional Indian medicinal system. Used in many formulations, it is considered the panacea for a host of ailments, ranging from constipation to cancer. Many, who believe in this curative system, have stood benefited. But still, the majority of people, particularly the urban class , has an obnoxious feeling about it and considers it sub-standard — something that belongs to the “uneducated” and “orthodox” class. But there are a lot many people who, in the face of these unsubstantiated critique and the wayward trolls, don’t take offence and stand their ground. They do have a reason, a valid one — we have failed to establish the medicinal properties of “gaumutra” as per the modern scientific parameters, thanks to our ignorance and carelessness towards our heritage.
The country is facing an unprecedented crisis in the second wave of COVID-19; the impending third wave looms large. At a time when the scientists are struggling with the virus mutants, BJP MLA Surendra Singh from Uttar Pradesh comes up with a suggestion that seems bizarre, to put it mildly. He said that the spread of COVID-19 can be stopped by using “gaumutra’ as he demonstrated that five bottle capfuls should be mixed in a glass of water and gulped down. He claimed that the secret of his health, “despite working for 18 hours a day”, was “gaumutra”. Well, in this hour of crisis, when everyone is anxiously waiting for his or her turn to get vaccinated, such out-of-the-box advice will hardly prompt anyone to walk into an ayurvedic pharmacy for “gaumutra”. When it’s about making choices in the face of an existential threat, most people will obviously go for a safer option, i.e. vaccination. The general populace is not at fault but only those who claim to serve the cause of ayurveda and other indigenous medicinal system. Well, the desired results have not been obtained but with the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa and Homoeopathy purposed with developing education, research and propagation of indigenous alternative medicine systems and the Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog formed in 2019, one can only hope that our indigenous medicinal system and traditional knowledge and breeds are not lost.
In an indication of the future, the BJP uproots the popular Sonowal from the Assam CM's chair
When the BJP’s leadership didn’t outright project Sarbananda Sonowal as its chief ministerial face ahead of the Assam Assembly polls, it was clear to everyone that the issue will be decided after the polls — and Himanta Biswa Sarma was in with more than a strong chance. Sonowal ran a largely successful Government as the Chief Minister, ran a corruption-free Government and faced several tricky challenges without many slip-ups. When a man like him, who played a key role in the integration of the tribal votes with the BJP’s Hindutva support base, was not deemed fit to be projected as the CM, the writing seemed clear on the wall. The formality took nearly four days of negotiation and deliberation on the part of the central leadership before deciding to hand over the State’s reins to a man who, despite all his experience and financial muscle, carried the legacy of scams and corruption. After all, before Himanta switched over from the Congress in 2015, he was being probed by the CBI in more than one corruption scandal. That a party like the BJP, which places such high premium on probity and ideological mooring, would reward such a person with the chief ministerial office shows a major shift in the saffron outfit’s policy. No doubt, Sonowal is a non-controversial, popular figure who led the BJP’s poll campaign in 2016 and brought the party home by ousting the well-entrenched Congress regime. But Sonowal had to pay the price for not being as suave, politically crafty and a man of the masses as Himanta.
Sonowal also lacked a godfather like Amit Shah in Delhi. The tribal leader also lacked influence outside Assam, whereas Himanta has played a key role in putting the BJP’s footprint in the entire Northeast. By hook or by crook, he ensured that the BJP emerged as the main player in the region. While Sonowal was undoubtedly a popular tribal leader, Himanta could wear many hats at the same time. Himanta was seen as the architect of the BJP’s impressive show in the Northeast in the last Lok Sabha elections and also hailed for his handling of the anti-CAA agitation and the pandemic. Meanwhile, Sonowal has been offered a Cabinet berth in the Modi Government but it’s not yet clear whether he wants to accept it. It’s known that he is very unhappy with the treatment meted out to him. His next move has to be watched carefully. If he chooses to return to the Centre where he held the Sports portfolio before becoming the Assam CM, then the BJP leadership could breathe freely. Otherwise, he would remain a serious challenge to Himanta with the backing of the various tribal outfits and legislators. The fact that someone like Himanta, who undoubtedly is a resourceful leader of the Northeast, had to leave the Congress after being "insulted and humiliated when Rahul Gandhi made him wait for hours", shows that the current plight of the Congress is of the making of its own. Himanta’s elevation will no doubt hurt Sonowal, but it will hurt Rahul much more.
Starting from bubonic plague, there has been a series of pandemics. Corona is only the 12th to have hit the human race so severely
We all know that Corona is not the first pandemic to attack almost the entire world. One can only hope that it neither conquers countries nor changes the course of their history. The key to overturning a pandemic appears to discovering the heart of it; what precisely sets it off. What to destroy at the core of the disease and then how to destroy. While medical scientists and experts try to find a way out, the disease runs riot.
A consolation is that Corona is by no means the first pandemic. There have been 11 predecessors and Corona is the 12th. As far as the recorded history tells us, the first calamity was caused by bubonic plague which suddenly sprouted into an Egyptian port in the sixth century. On record, it has been called a pestilence; the word pandemic is a recent innovation. The plague spread far and wide and, on the way, it went to Constantinople across the Adriatic Sea, then Rome, from the Eastern to the Western Roman Empire. From early years, plague was nicknamed “Black Death”.
It then spread across Western Europe, including Britain. Incidentally, at Constantinople at the time, ruled the Emperor Justinian. I remember him in history for building the Hagia Sophia, the architectural icon of the city and, for centuries, of an empire. The Turkic conquerors built four minarets and converted it into a mosque. Kamal Mustafa Ataturk in the early 1920s changed it to a museum which, very recently, President Erdogan has reconverted it into a mosque. Incidentally, in parts of the German-speaking areas, Jews were accused of poisoning the wells’ mud, and hence the drinking water. As a punishment, the Jews were given the choice of either converting to Christianity or face death. Those who did not convert were taken to Jewish cemeteries and collectively on fire.
Some historians believe that the plague was a very big blow or setback to the Eastern Roman Empire, which became weaker with time. No wonder that its successor, the Byzantium, failed to stand up to the Central Asian Turks who invaded first Anatolia and eventually also Constantinople and changed its name to Istanbul. This shows how a pandemic can affect the destiny of a civilisation. Christianity in the avatar of the Eastern Roman empire did not decline, but the Empire did. The Church is still headquartered at Istanbul with only about two to three per cent Christians.
Smallpox was the next epidemic that came from time to time and place to place. But regardless, it was a disease which was generally feared as an endemic; it continued to frighten people until some decades ago. So much so that, in most parts of Asia, every infant was compulsorily vaccinated against it. Out of fear, in India the disease was worshiped as Sitala Devi and there were temples dedicated to her. Experts suspect that it began as a virus carried by cows, camels or monkeys. These useful animals might have passed on their virus when their domestication began. The disease began, it is conjectured, about 1,100 years BC because it was detected in some Egyptian mummies of the time. One or two Roman emperors were recorded to have died of smallpox at the turn of the millennia. The pox did not spare Western Europe, especially Spain, from where it reached Latin America by the early years of the 16th century. A reported Spanish solution was; to the whole family or household being infected, demolish the whole building. So that so many burials were avoided!
Cholera was another menace that spread mainly through water or any liquid. It is believed to have begun in the Ganga delta. From there, it travelled far and wide, including Russia, on to places in Europe early in the 19th century. The bug then crossed the Atlantic Ocean America and spread for a while in the US as well as to Latin. As was often the case, the source of the epidemic of cholera was discovered by the German scientists in the late 19th century. Despite this discovery, cholera also travelled east to Indonesia and south-west to some African countries. To prevent the menace of cholera, all that was needed was for people to keep away from drinking doubtful water. In the West, it was nicknamed as “Blue Death” though in Kolkata, the first symptom the doctors looked for was the colour of the excreta. If it was not white, it was not cholera.
Diphtheria, typhoid, polio, measles, influenza and yellow fever are some other endemics. Typhoid, like cholera, was a water or liquid-borne disease. Polio, measles and influenza are air-borne. All these are different bugs. Influenza played havoc after the World War I in most parts of the world. Malaria is unique. In India, it had been virtually eradicated but has come back. Evidently, in India, we have allowed that particular breed of mosquito to be reborn. Incidentally, while studying modern European history, I had come across a reference to Napoleon Bonaparte having lost thousands of soldiers upon the altar of ‘yellow fever’.
(The writer is a well-known columnist and an author. The views expressed are personal.)
The current crisis over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea is just the tip of the iceberg. Xi’s massive expansion plan in the form of BRI or CPEC threatens peace and tranquillity in and around the region. Further, long suppression of democratic rights in Hong Kong, Taiwan’s continued claim for sovereignty, Tibetan’s long drawn war for the recognition of their uniqueness, the torture on the Uighur Muslim minorities and other ethnic groups in Xinjiang, and finally, a contested claim of many neighbours over the South China Sea are the permanent sore points for Beijing
The Senkaku Islands have emerged as the new flashpoint between Japan and China in the East China Sea (ECS). While China has intensified its campaign to assert its claim over the territories they call the Diaoyu Islands, Japan has tried to make the US back its sovereign rights over the area.
Both the nations are gearing up to enhance their military preparedness, particularly the radar and missile systems around the region. The total area of disputed islands is around 81,000 square miles and the number of islands is eight. As per the record of the US Energy Information Administration, the ECS has an estimated 200 million barrels of oil.
Historical records say that Japan formally claimed the Senkaku Islands in the year 1895. And some of the Japanese individuals have been occupying these islands for the last 120 years. However, only during the Second World War, America occupied these territories from Japan. But afterwards, Japan brought them back under its control. Until 1960s, China hardly paid any attention to Senkaku, as per archival records. However, the year 1969 turned out to be a decisive moment for China in the recent history of Senkaku. The offshore oil development potential attracted China’s attention towards the Island chain. China had in 1979 discovered that there was huge field of hydrocarbon in the area, experts claim.
In January, China passed its Coast Guard Law to increase its presence in and around the Senkaku Islands. This set off the Yoshihide Suga Government to revise the Japanese Coast Guard Law so as to shoot any intruder that tries to land in these islands. What has changed the status quo in favour of Japan was the buying of three islands of the Senkaku group by the Government from a private citizen who owned them in 2012. Since then the presence of Chinese Coast Guards around the islands has increased. Precisely, the routine confrontation between the two nations over the islands has reached flashpoint.
China’s territorial claims over the ECS is unsubstantiated. But China points to historical documents to buttress its claim over these islands. Way back in 2013, as per media reports, Chinese Foreign Ministry claimed: “The Diaoyu Islands are about sovereignty and territorial integrity. Of course, it is China’s core interest.”
This kind of statement is rare from the Chinese Government, and when they are released, they really indicate something serious. In Chinese political lexicon, “core interest” is meant to be a zone of vital importance for the country’s territory and sovereign identity. The terms “core interests” are specifically reserved for top security-related and troubling areas such as Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, Tibet and Taiwan. Therefore, it is strictly maintained that on such areas there is no room for any manoeuvrability. It brings home the message that Beijing treats the dispute over Senkaku Islands as a major concern in bilateral relations with Tokyo.
The American position on the Senkaku Islands is noteworthy. Since the coming of Richard Nixon to power in 1969 as the 37th President, the US has been maintaining that the territorial sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands must be settled by the three conflicting parties involved i.e. Japan, Taiwan and China. This stance continued till 1995. But 1996 onwards, during the reign of President Bill Clinton, the US policy makers came up with a new perspective on the disputed island. The American diplomats aired the view that the Senkaku Islands are covered under Article 5 of the US-Japan Security Treaty as Japanese administered territory. From this position, Washington took a pro-active step in 2014 under Barack Obama Presidentship. He became the first sitting American President to declare that the US will defend the “Japanese islands” if attacked. This made the country’s position completely clear on these disputed islands. Further, President Donald Trump in February 2017 took one more step to affirm America’s commitment towards the security of the Senkaku Islands. In a formal joint declaration released with then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump expressly highlighted that the US-Japan Security Treaty is applied to the Senkaku Islands. And also, the declaration made it public that the US opposes any unilateral action aimed at contesting Japan’s administration over Senkaku Islands.
In fact, the Trump-era China policy was nothing less than a great war of sort against Beijing’s sustained aggressive attitude both towards its neighbours and to the major powers of the world, particularly the US. His policies towards China symbolised two featured separate tracks: one, policies Trump personally pursued, and two, the policies spearheaded by China experts serving in his administration. It was a like virtual war against the regime of Xi Jinping. Therefore, when then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Japan in October 2017, he had issued a public call to counter China by forming an “alliance of democracies”.
Again, US-Japan joint military exercises around the Senkaku Islands under Trump strengthened preparedness for any armed intervention from China. In fact, Lieutenant General Kevin Schneider, the commander of the joint military exercise in October 2017 made the real intentions behind the drill clear, when he said: “The United States is 100 per cent absolutely steadfast in its commitment to help the Government of Japan with the situation of defending the Senkaku Islands. That is 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” Thus Tokyo has all ensured the support of Washington for its continued control and safeguard of these mineral rich islands in the East China Sea.
The overwhelming US support to Japan over the islands was more than sufficient for China to understand what actions will follow in case Beijing tries to force its rule over Senkaku.
However, the so-called normalisation of Sino-Japanese relations is a misnomer. In 2018, China and Japan celebrated the 40th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, but then global situation soon deteriorated as the Covid-19 came with a barrage of charges against China for spreading the pandemic. In the same year, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang paid a maiden visit of Japan in May, and in October then Prime Minister Abe visited China.
On the ECS, China and Japan agreed to strengthen maritime crisis management, establish a diplomatic consultation mechanism and sign a maritime rescue agreement. However, Sino-Japan relations will always be troublesome as there are several potential face-off points. The problems in the South China Sea and in the East China Sea, the traditional rivalry between the two Asian giants, an increasing and sustained presence of US military support behind Japan, and a new alliance called QUAD --- a grouping of the US, Australia, India and Japan to prevent grand Chinese expansion in the region --- have certainly strained Sino-Japan bilateral relationship.
Therefore, the current crisis in the ECS is just the tip of the iceberg. China’s claim over the Senkaku Islands will only deteriorate the bilateral relations with Japan. Xi’s massive expansion plans, whether in the form of Belt and Road Initiative or China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, all threaten peace and tranquillity in and around the region. Further, long suppression of democratic rights in Hong Kong, Taiwan’s continued claim for sovereignty, Tibetan’s long drawn war for the recognition of their uniqueness, the torture on the Uighur Muslim minorities and other ethnic groups in Xinjiang, and finally, a contested claim of many neighbours over the South China Sea are the permanent troubled issues for Beijing.
Xi’s muscle power and economic debt trap in the name of aid have not yielded the desired results for China to claim a global leadership role. Forget about the world, in Asia itself, few nations are ready to accept the hegemony of Beijing.
(The writer is an expert on international affairs)
A pilgrim, Yoga Therapist, Aspirant of Samkhya (an eastern philosophy). Shilpa GM is a South Indie from Mumbai. Holds a Bachelor’s degree in Arts with an array of job and life experiences.
Here is a self-descriptive exciting story of an innovative entrepreneur with a passion to promote India’s soft power of yoga globally.
I started my career at a very young age. I grew up with my grandparents. I still remember I used to run errands for my Grand dad and he would always reward me with a few bucks. That kind of boosted my self confidence. Growing up as a Y2K teenager, the concept of pocket money was already deteriorating with the boom in the Indian BPO industries. As a sophomore, I explored call centre jobs. It literally was a learning experience of my life. It instilled a sense of independence in me. After graduation I was offered a job as a softskill trainer at Infosys. It had an impact on my outlook towards career goals, professional etiquettes and business world.
In pursuit of a creative life, I moved to Mumbai in 2009. Started my career in fashion at an international modeling agency. To secure a first its kind designation as a Head Booker in India in itself was a trailblazing experience. The job brought luxe, perks and more power of course with challenges too each day, it was fun though. Having associated with Karl Lagerfeld fashion house models are special cherished moments of my life.
Rewind: As a child, I had a keen mind. I was an all-rounder. Good at academics. I was a Volleyball captain in high school. That’s where I started taking my physical education seriously. Through times, my interest in physical fitness has only grown. I was sought of a fitness freak. Working out regularly. I was physically fit but lacked mental wellness. That’s when I leaned towards yoga. My enquiring mind took me to right places and people. I learnt the Art & Science of Yoga from the oldest traditional schools & Guru’s. I have been religiously practicing and training Yoga for the last 9 years now.
With constant learning, practice and exploring the art of Yoga, I came up with this idea to start a one-of-a-kind Pop up Yoga studio called isana Yoga in 2016. The aim is to travel places and transform lives. Ever since, I have traveled extensively and trained myriad yogic aspirants across the country and globe.
isana Yoga offers yogic sessions studying the body type of an individual. It’s more of a therapy than just physical exercise. It is a unique combination of traditional Ashtanga and Hatha Yoga. The intense sessions are designed to enhance the body, mind & spirit. The sessions caters all age group. Any aspirant who is willing to enhance his/her health and lifestyle are welcome. The response from the aspirants have been overwhelming.
We have a trained and certified team who share the same passion for Yoga and life.
Amidst severe pandemic, we have been conducting online Yoga sessions for aspirants from internatinal cities like New York, Swedan, Dubai, London, Jhakarta, Bangkok including Indian cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kerala, Goa, Pondicherry, Benaras, Kolkata form a major clientele.
2020 has been a year of HEALTH (physical/mental) globally. The times we have been through has realigned our lifestyle choices. We had many turning to Yoga last year. I and my team members have constantly worked throughout the year teaching specially immune boosting, stressbusting yogic to sessions to our clients.
A recent expedition to Hampi (corona-free zone) in January this year marked my first physical Yoga session for a month with the aspirants post covid times. Thoroughly enjoyed the one-on-one sessions with the yogis. Look forward to many more. Hoping we sail through the pandemic times and open up to the world again.
A quick tip from isana Yoga would be “Inhale happiness and Exhale the madness.
In my spare time, I contribute my yogic knowledge to one of the leading Yoga Magazines in India called Yoga And Total Health.
Q&A
1. How to protect body and mind in today’s stressed working scenario?
A. Like I mentioned above in my own story. Majority of the population thrive in building bodies and completely neglect the mind. We see people mindlessly running on a treadmill without even observing their bodies. Yoga is the only form of exercise to teach mind, body coordination & synchronization. There are various Asanas, Pranayamas, Kriyas to protect the mind and body to beat the stress if taught and practiced correctly.
2. What does isana YOGA has to offer for its followers?
A. Post pandemic times are crucial. Value for time and money and teaching the genuine art of Yoga is what we aim at. To gain one client is easy but to retain the one is where you know you that you standout. I’m proud that we have so far have retained our clients and the numbers have only grown.
3. How can one know what is authentic Yoga?
A. That’s the first thing that one should know before singing up with any studio or school. Today, what not is taught in the name of Yoga? I remember an instance, one of my clients from Stockholm, narrated her fatal experience where she almost choked, gasping for breath practicing Pranayama. It’s really sad to know that some people get trapped into some mumbo-jumbo in the name of yoga or end up getting trained by neophytes who may have or not had any experience of theoretics of Yoga. And also it’s on the aspirant to at least research on the topic before taking up the class.
There are major Do's & Don’ts. The principles of Yoga that should be strictly followed by its teachers and students. I have noticed how many studios and trainers wrongly teach Pranayama. Prana is subtle force in a loving being. You can’t mess up with the breathing techniques.
This is what isana Yoga team offers to its followers, we believe in propagating the authentic kind. We carefully study the body type and personalize Yogic sessions to the clients. Yoga as it means is a beautiful blend of mind, body and spirit and we promise that very experience to our clients.
China’s continued and massive IP theft cases both from the US and other holders of IP are an issue of concern. Indeed, America is fighting another Cold War with China on this front. Then only the knowledge economy widely growing through web journalism can be safely used. It’s the need of the hour. It’s a matter of dignity of labour. The creators and innovators who make their work public on online mediums must be respected by paying their dues
Internet has transcended all boundaries of humanity. We have reached the pinnacle of never-ending cycle of change. Sadly, this course of human civilisation is irreversible. It is accepted for all that there is no place to hide. We are living in an “age of public”. Probably the poetical words of award-winning author Thomas Friedman that “World is Flat” have come true to all of us. Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) to Alaska (US), Reykjavik (Iceland) to Santiago (Chile) via Antananarivo (Madagascar) could well be reached in seconds with the help of internet. Thus, at an incredible speed, global has become local and local is fast turning into global. The idea, spirit and feel of glocality is more of ubiquitous today.
Web journalism or online journalism or internet journalism is a definite future of creative expressions today. This is a kind of a platform whereby an individual potentially can have instantaneous and global access to all forms of data. And it is so simple and easy that people can communicate virtually with anyone in any part of the world only through a mobile or a tablet or a computer.
Creativity is considered the most treasured act of human beings. True, we are all fast moving towards a “data nation”. If you have the data or information, you can simply rule the whole world. Now the pertinent question is that how to protect it and offer dues to the innovators. Often largely unnoticed, this month observes two important days to protect International Copyright Day or also known as World Book and Copyright Day on April 23 and World Intellectual Property Day on April 26. The huge network of counterfeiting and piracy of both tangible and intangible goods directly challenges the protection of IPRs world over.
Impending social changes are revolutionary in nature as we are an integral part of the digital revolution. The shift to digital communication and subsequent technological revolutions are fast breaking the barriers between traditional media outlets like newspapers and magazines and also between the broader media and communication networks across the globe.
Cyberspace is mass space. We are into it. And so are the criminal elements. Hence, the global counterfeit goods and services are abundant both in demand and supply. Web networks are being widely used to channelise these commodities and ideas from one corner to the other. It is sheer violation of the global framework of IPRs.
It is a wired-up world. The so-called Information Highway is touching all of us. The very field of web journalism is posing a renewed challenge to the protection of IPRs. What we need today is a regulatory mechanism so as to circumvent all efforts to steal IPRs and use web contents as a means to the welfare of all. The new online media is one wherein equality of opportunity and respect for equal distribution of intellectual resources are involved.
So, to negate all efforts by the criminal syndicates, people can remain ever vigilant. Moreover, public offices especially the law-and-order agencies must clamp down serious charges over the defaulters. It must be said the Information Superhighway does not suggest an orderly roadmap. The impact of new technologies and platforms or mediums often leads to chaotic and disruptive situations around the world. Sadly, the networks created by latest technologies are nowhere under the absolute control of the inventors.
Precisely, long before the advent of the superior technologies, the power and authority of the all-powerful State has started eroding. Mega corporations are literally running the day to day affairs of the modern State. The States have only remained a vehicle to run the giant machines of business wherein they have become a partner. Therefore, how to regulate the big corporations, including tech and knowledge behemoths such as
the Google, Wikipedia, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn have become a vexed question.
At the end, one can rightly say the absolute protection of the IPRs is a misnomer. Whatsoever it may be, the global governance of IPRs, floated both by the WIPO since the 1970s and the historic treaty of Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) of 1995 may not be the final guarantor of IPRs in this digital age.
Therefore, the contents released by web journalism would always be susceptible to stealing and violation by unwanted elements.
At the heart of the narrative is how to stop the abuse or unauthorised use of massive contents that flow through global online journalism. Precisely, IPR is an important aspect of the process of globalisation. Globalisation encompasses many things, including the free flow of ideas, wherein digital media plays the most crucial role. And the understanding is clear today that without adequate protection of creative ideas through the global and national IPR governance systems, the international counterfeit conglomerates would simply take away a major chunk of hard work mixed with sheer innovative efforts. It is happening very fast since the explosion of information in the 1990s and it’s a huge loss for the global knowledge economy.
Thus, Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz rightly says, “How we regulate and manage the production of knowledge and the right of access to knowledge is at the centre of how well this new economy, the knowledge economy works and who benefits. At stake are matters of both distribution and economy.”
Along with this what happens is that both globalised localism and localised globalism accelerate a new process of oppression, exclusion of manyof those who are at the periphery, fast restructuring and general subordination of local conditions.
The process of globalisation of knowledge has a new ground for the growth of neoliberal forms of economic imperialism mostly dominated by huge private information technology corporations like the Google and Facebook.
These and other prominent knowledge cartels are making us easily read, write, think and probably to recreate creative contents every single day. They are positioning themselves at the centre of production and simply the distribution of knowledge.
Fairly, web journalism is thriving at the back of these giant knowledge machines. The way these platforms are distributing knowledge is definitely at the running the risk of counterfeiting. Globally strengthening governance systems of IPR is a good idea.
However, crystallising the same near equally is more than an uphill task. The reason behind is that this “one size fits all” approach of the global IPR regime launched by the TRIPS Agreement is not feasible for developing and least developed nations. The poor record of implementation of the agreement and inadequate IP governance structure in many of these developing nations are posing a constant threat to protect IPRs.
Again, these nations are facing more pressing issues such as poverty, mal-nutrition, terrorism, political instability and above all corruption in high public offices. So where is the time to safeguard precious IPRs?
Their combined efforts are mostly directed towards fighting for survival and for basic needs. Many of these
developing nations also underline the protection of IPRs a matter of elite concern or something to do with the developed world.
Hence, now more than quarter of a century, since 1995, the strict implementation of the TRIPS Agreement has still remained sporadic, except in Japan, the US, Europe and in some other specific nations.
The concern today is that how to enhance unhindered dissemination of knowledge through online contents without risking the IPRs. Else the innovators and creators will have no incentives left for new creations.
Along with this, the emerging information society needs to address the concerns about widening digital divide and access to knowledge in between the advanced and developing nations.
Despite the concerns of critical constituencies within and outside the global IPR governance system, one of the potential threats to the survival of the system is China’s continued and massive IP theft cases both from the US and other holders of IP. Indeed, America is fighting another Cold War with China on this front.
To conclude, one can say IPRs demand full protection both for the creators and for the welfare of humanity. Hence, the IPR, a hitherto obscure and arcane area of study till the 1990s, now needed to be made a popular discipline starting from the schools to the universities. No need to treat IPRs predominantly as a lawyer’s paradise.
Then only the knowledge economy widely growing through web journalism can be safely used. It’s the need of the hour. It’s a matter of dignity of labour. The creators and innovators who make their work public on online mediums must be respected by paying their dues.
(The writer specialises in globalization, international conflict and global governance. He recently published his book “Globalization and Intellectual Proper Rights — A comparative study of the patent Governance Systems of India and the EU”)
This revolution in content creation and its consumption has led to a huge demand for careers in film acting and also in show-running
India is the largest producer of films in the world and Bollywood alone is approximately a $ 2.5 billion industry. Further, the cine industries in south India, Kolkata, Punjab and now in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh (UP) are also producing movies. Not to mention, pan-India television channels and ad films. These provide enormous employment opportunities to actors, directors, cinematographers, screenwriters and so on.
The extended lockdowns witnessed the emergence of over-the-top (OTT) platforms that disrupted the traditional entertainment sector and has changed the overall scenario in a significant manner. It made movie-watching convenient, accessible and affordable across a wider segment of the users. Anybody with a mobile phone and an internet connection can catch up with a movie sitting anywhere in the world. ALTBalaji, for instance, performed the best in 2020 as its direct subscription grew cent per cent amassing 8.5 million monthly active users and 35 million plus cumulative subscribers in this period, with most of its new audiences coming from Tier II and Tier III cities.
The OTT is a generic term used in telecom industry which means all services that are offered over and above what a cell phone already comes with. It usually refers subscriber-based web-streaming platforms in India whose growth curve looks steeply inclined. The OTT industry itself is only around four years old in India.
Netflix was the first mover, followed by Amazon Prime Video and then more than 40 other OTT platforms. Amazon was the first to commission Indian originals. Netflix entered the domain of local content right after.
Amazon Prime Video has approximately 17 million paying subscribers, second only to Disney+Hotstar at 18 million, while Netflix India has five million and Zee5 has 11 million plus subscribers. With internet reaching the semi-urban and rural areas coupled with affordable data plans, new players have entered the game, including Hoichoi, Ullu, Addatimes, Sun NXT and MX Player. The growth potential can be estimated when one considers that there are 625 million internet users and 836 million TV viewers in India alone.
Digital streaming companies are spending heavily to keep the growth going. Worldwide spend was around $21 billion in 2017, which is expected to more than double by 2022, according to ‘Asia on Demand’. Content spending by Asian operators is expected to reach $10.1 billion by 2022, from $2.7 billion in 2017. The Indian OTT market is projected to reach $5 billion by 2023. With their huge spends, a show on Amazon or Netflix brings legitimacy, not just within the industry, but also outside. Besides digital ads, they put up hoardings all over the city, just like cinema!
The OTT has also changed all previous casting practices and now even films want and need new, unique, different talents for the sake of freshness and spontaneity. This revolution in content creation and its consumption has led to a huge demand for careers in film acting as also in show-running.
Actors work with directors, writers and technicians to create content for cinema, web, OTT, television, advertisement, stills, video and so on. Actors must be able to work for long hours to meet the deadlines. They must also be comfortable doing a wide range of scenes and playing various roles.
With the popularity of OTT platforms growing manifold, the Indian entertainment industry is looking forward to hire talented actors who have skills as per the demands of the industry. Casting, however, is no longer about just checking portfolios and doing auditions. Today, it is also about checking the social media credentials of budding actors, checking auditions on YouTube and doing a whole bunch of things to get the right person for the right role.
Another career that OTT has thrown up is that of showrunners. A showrunner combines the responsibilities of a director and a producer, shouldering the creative and management responsibilities of a web show production. Unlike commercial cinema, creating OTT content irrespective of genre is a much more collaborative process, often employing multiple writers and directors to work on a series or film. This allows for more perspectives and talent to come together for a particular show or film and create a more engaging and enriching experience for the audience.
The showrunner acts as a bridge between the OTT platform and the team responsible for making the show and also makes sure that the show comes in on time and exactly as visualised by the producer. They are very highly paid and usually, a top showrunner is also the lead writer.
The glamour, money and razzmatazz of this emerging career are bringing people by the hordes to this profession and a lot many people are opting for the career which is steadily growing.
The writer is theVice-Chancellor, World University of Design. The views expressed are personal.
It is always unexpected and sometimes might play a positive and at other times a negative role in the polls
Are there any X-factors that could play an important role in the ongoing five State Assembly polls? The X-factors are always unexpected and might play sometimes positive and at other times a negative role in elections. In a few weeks’ time, we will know which way it has played in the Assembly polls in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. In West Bengal, Chief Minister (CM) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee is fighting a fierce battle with the surging BJP. Earlier, the TMC used to fight the Congress or the Left parties but Mamata since 2011 systematically decimated them. Now she is regretting it because the space left by them has been occupied by the BJP. It is the Muslim votes that matter a lot for Mamata. This time, to counter the saffron party’s influence, she is also wooing the Hindu voters. She should be worried about the role of the influential cleric Abbas Siddiqui’s new party, the Indian Secular Front. The Congress-CPI(M) coalition can either damage the chances of Mamata by denting her Muslim vote bank or polarising the voters into Hindu-Muslim division which could benefit the BJP. Since the BJP is not expecting Muslim votes, it will be the Trinamool that will be the eventual sufferer.
The X-factor in Assam could be the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF). Assam is key to BJP’s rise in the northeast. An exit poll data indicates a tough contest in Assam. While the NDA is likely to corner 42.9 per cent vote share, the UPA can secure 40.7 per cent of the votes. That the AIUDF could polarise the voters on the Hindu-Muslim line would go to the advantage of the BJP, particularly in upper Assam. Also, the Congress-led coalition has no tall leader in the State while the BJP has the incumbent CM, Sarbananda Sonowal, and former Congress leader Himanta Biswa Sarma who has been the saffron party’s northeast strategist. So it is again the Muslim votes that matter in Assam.
However, Tamil Nadu is a classic case where the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led alliance and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) coalition have been alternating in power. But that was when two iconic leaders, J Jayalalithaa (AIADMK) and M Karunanidhi (DMK), were leading their parties. This will be the first election that non-charismatic leaders are on the poll scene. While incumbent CM E Palaniswami has not done badly, the DMK is led by MK Stalin who had been groomed carefully by his father Karunanidhi for years. The AIADMK suffers from many disadvantages, including anti-incumbency. Its alliance with the BJP is frowned upon by the Dravidian voters. Kerala too has followed the trend of alternating between the Left-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). Now it is the turn of the UDF but incumbent CM Pinarayi Vijayan too has reinforced his forces by luring the Kerala Congress (Mani) into the alliance. This will be to the disadvantage of the UDF. Besides, Vijayan has managed to do well in establishing himself as a tall leader. If the LDF loses this time, the comrades will not have any Government in the whole of India. The BJP could be the X-factor in Kerala.
(The writer is a senior journalist. The views expressed are personal.)
A sweeping order that the CBI will look only at frauds involving a certain amount, or higher, will send out a wrong signal. It is tantamount to glossing over the wrongdoings
Even as the Government is making all efforts to ensure that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) — after witnessing 8 per cent contraction during 2020-21— returns to a high growth trajectory, it is concerned about the tepid recovery in credit availability which is considered to be the sine qua non of growth. According to the latest data by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the annual non-food bank credit growth in January this year was at 5.7 per cent compared to 8.5 per cent in the same period last year. Credit to industry, however, contracted by 1.3 per cent in January 2021 as compared to 2.5 per cent growth in January 2020.
A major bottleneck is the reluctance on the part of bank officials to sanction loans, out of fear that they might come under the scanner of the investigating or prosecuting agencies for taking purely ‘commercial decisions’. During the last three years (2018-20), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered bank fraud cases involving amounts worth over Rs 1,00,000 crore (in 2020 alone, it registered 200 such cases involving total Rs 70,000 crore). The Government wants to allay their fears by letting the CBI look only into some ‘extraordinary’ cases such as the IDBI Bank-Kingfisher Airlines while the specialised agencies such as the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) being asked to investigate most other cases.
The above move is also justified in terms of what Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at an event in December 2019 — that bank employees should not be penalised for “genuine business decisions”— as also the exhortation by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the same month: “Honest bankers need not to fear the three Cs — CBI, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)”. There can be no two opinions that officials should act fearlessly and free from any encumbrance, including the possibility of coming under the lens of agencies. This is a pre-requisite for building a robust credit culture and ensuring that credit availability increases in sync with the requirements. However, this gels only with situations, wherein the officials have conducted due diligence, carefully assessed the viability of the project or venture for which loan is considered and convinced themselves about the credibility of the borrower.
In such a situation, the chances of any fraud are almost negligible. Even in an unlikely event of things going wrong and the loan becoming a non-performing asset (NPA), the sheer fact that the official had conducted “due diligence” and taken all precautions while sanctioning it by itself should instil confidence. On the other hand, if the official has granted loan in a cavalier fashion without conducting due diligence or assessing project viability or has acted with mala fide for personal gain under what is termed as “quid pro quo” arrangement then, there is every possibility of the loan becoming an NPA. In such a scenario of a fraud being perpetrated on the bank, the authorities must not allow the idea of “keeping the CBI at bay” even cross their minds.
However, the fraud happens in a systematic manner and it is clear from the four major financial entities, viz; Yes Bank, Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank, Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FC) and Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) having been pushed towards bankruptcy during the last three years solely because their top brass acted with mala fide intent while sanctioning loans.
Here are some harsh facts. Between April and June 2018, Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in short-term debentures of DHFL. Almost at the same time, the chairman of the latter “paid a kickback of Rs 600 crore” to former’s promoter and his family members in the garb of builder loan given to DOIT Urban Ventures — a company owned by the promoters’ family. According to the CBI, despite being a short-term debenture investment, DHFL has not redeemed Yes Bank’s investment to date. The DHFL is alleged to have had siphoned off Rs 31,000 crore out of total bank loans of Rs 97,000 crore using a web of multiple shell companies. A dubious loan of Rs 6,500 crore was given by PMC to Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) in connivance with the bank’s top brass. Likewise, tens of thousands of crores in questionable loans given by the IL&FS landed in dozens of shell companies owned by top brass of the former. Another brazen case involves defrauding the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) by the directors of DHFL. Under the PMAY, loans are granted to people from economically weaker sections and low-and middle-income groups to buy land and construct houses, or buy housing units, through ‘credit-linked interest subsidy’! The beneficiaries get interest subsidy of 3 per cent- 6.5 per cent payable upfront. The subsidy amount is to be claimed by the financial institutions (FIs), which grant these loans, from the National Housing Bank (NHB) who, in turn, gets reimbursement from the Centre.
The DHFL — an FI tasked with implementation of the scheme-created 260,000 “fake and fictitious” home loan accounts in a non-existent Bandra branch between 2007 and 2019 for a total loan of about Rs 14,000 crore. Out of this, around Rs 11,750 crore were deposited or routed to several fictitious firms. Several of these accounts were opened under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and interest subsidy of about Rs 1,900 crore claimed from the NHB till December 2018, of which the latter has already reimbursed Rs 540 crore. The DHFL top brass committed the fraud in connivance with officials of the NHB which happens to be a whollyowned subsidiary of the RBI. Being the top regulator of the banks and FIs, the responsibility of the RBI is to prevent any fraud in these institutions and yet, such a thing happening under its nose is unconscionable. By any stretch of imagination, it can’t be a case of sheer negligence or a legitimate commercial decision going wrong. That apart, there are innumerable cases of bank fraud — each running into several crores — tumbling out of the cupboard almost every other day. These can’t be wished away as an one-off incident. The frauds are an outcome of a well orchestrated game plan in which bank/FI officials are actively involved. Indeed, this is more systemic in nature, having to do with a sense of fearlessness amongst officials that even if they do something horribly wrong, they will go scot-free.
This mindset can be dealt with only by wielding a stick. The involvement of the CBI and other agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has to be seen from this perspective. In this backdrop, a sweeping order that the CBI will look only at frauds involving amount above a threshold, say, Rs 500 crore, will send out a wrong signal. It is tantamount to glossing over the wrongdoings, in a way letting these continue unabated. This must be avoided. However, the officials doing their job honestly and sincerely have nothing to fear— as rightly observed by Modi and Sitharaman—those who are out there to perpetrate fraud can be reined in only by instilling fear. In such cases, the CBI should be allowed to do its job without any fetters.
The writer is a New Delhi-based policy analyst. The views expressed are personal.
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