Starting in July 2015, the people of India’s Patidar community, seeking Other Backward Class (OBC) status, held public demonstrations across the Indian state of Gujarat. The largest demonstration was held in Ahmedabad on 25 August 2015, and was attended by thousands. Later, there were incidents of violence and arson across the state, resulting in a curfew in several cities and towns. Properties and vehicles worth crores of rupees were damaged and destroyed. The state returned to normalcy by 28 August. Despite talks with the government, the agitation recommenced and turned violent again on 19 September. The government announced a scheme that offered scholarships and subsidies to general category students on 24 September 2015 and a 10% quota of spaces reserved for economically backward classes in April 2016. The 10% reservation was quashed by the Gujarat High Court in August 2016.

Hardik Patel, who has been spearheading the Patidar quota agitation, has urged the community not to vote for the BJP even if his father is fielded by the party in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state, according to the Indian Express. During a three-day Sankalp yatra, which he launched to press the reservation demand, Patel said, “It is our duty to liberate our community which has been enslaved for the last 25 years. The post-Godhra riots of 2002 were between Hindus and Muslims. But as a matter of fact, 140 Patidars are serving life imprisonment even today… They (BJP) have only exploited our votes and notes (money) and given nothing in return.

Addressing the Patidar community at Ajab village in Keshod taluka of Junagadh district, he said, “The election is around the corner. They (BJP) will give you many lollipops. Some will even come to buy you. But don’t vote even for my father, Bharat Patel, if he fights election from Keshod as a BJP candidate,” according to IE. The 24-year-old leader said the agitation has been going on for the last two-and-a-half years and the BJP has threatened to file many cases. “But we have always maintained that we are ready if you want to fight legally, and also if you want to fight by gundagardi (hooliganism). Let us, we Patidars and other communities, get together and remove those who are behaving like dictators and goons,” he was quoted as saying by IE.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first speech from Red Fort on Independence Day, announced that the government would replace the Planning Commission with a new body, bringing the curtains down on the 64-year-old institution founded on the former Soviet Union’s command-style development model. India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, inspired by the Gosplanaided industrialisation of the Soviet Union, set up the Planning Commission in 1950.

—Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief

India’s 11th President APJ Abdul Kalam died on Monday evening at a hospital in Meghalaya, where he had gone to deliver a lecture. He was 83. His body was today flown by an Air Force helicopter to Guwahati in Assam from where it will be taken to Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present at the Delhi airport to receive his body. The former President, who was in office from 2002 to 2007, had collapsed during the lecture at the Indian Institute of Management, Shillong, around 6.30 pm. He was taken to the Bethany hospital. Doctors said he had suffered a massive cardiac arrest. “President Kalam was brought to the hospital at 7 pm. When he was brought in there was no sign of life. He was taken to ICU to try and revive him, which was futile,” hospital sources told NDTV. The government has declared seven-day national mourning as a mark of respect for the former President. Paying a special tribute to Dr. Kalam on Monday evening, PM Modi had said, “My mind is filled with so many memories, so many interactions with him, I always marveled at his intellect, learned so much from him.” Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted, “Deeply saddened at the sudden demise of the former president of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. He was an inspiration to an entire generation.

Dr Abdul Kalam was an inspiration to many, especially the youth of the country wherein he was considered a demi-god and ideal role model to be followed. The following quotes are truly inspirational for all of us -

“If you fail, never give up because FAIL means

“First Attempt In Learning”.

“End is not the end, if fact END means “Effort Never Dies” - If you get No as an answer, remember NO means “Next Opportunity”. So Lets be positive.”

“Dream, dream, dream. Dreams transform into thoughts and thoughts result in action.”

“If you want to shine like a sun. First burn like a sun.”

Surely the country will miss the great personality and inspirational human being in the times to come. However, we must draw inspiration from the modest man who served the country till his last breath.

 —Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief

The first International Day of Yoga was observed all over the world on 21 June 2015. The Ministry of AYUSH made the necessary arrangements in India. 35,985 people, including Narendra Modi and a large number of dignitaries from 84 nations, performed 21 yoga asanas (postures) for 35 minutes at Rajpath in New Delhi. The day devoted to yoga was observed by millions across the world. NCC cadets entered the Limca Book of Records for the “largest yoga performance simultaneously by a single uniformed youth organisation” by performing at multiple venues. The event at Rajpath established two Guinness world records awarded to the Ministry of AYUSH and received by AYUSH minister Shripad Yesso Naik. The two records were for the largest yoga class, featuring 35,985 people, and for the largest number of participating nationalities (84 nations On 11 December 2014, India’s Permanent Representative Ashok Mukherji introduced the draft resolution in UNGA.

The draft text received broad support from 177 Member States who sponsored the text, which was adopted without a vote. This initiative found support from many global leaders. A total of 177 nations cosponsored the resolution, which is the highest number of co-sponsors ever for any UNGA resolution of such nature. When proposing 21 June as the date, Modi said that the date was the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere (shortest in the southern hemisphere), having special significance in many parts of the world. From the perspective of yoga, the summer solstice marks the transition to Dakshinayana. The first full moon after the summer solstice is known as Guru Poornima. Shiva, the first yogi (Adi Yogi), is said to have begun imparting the knowledge of yoga to the rest of mankind on this day, and became the first guru (Adi Guru). Dakshinayana is also considered a time when there is natural support for those pursuing spiritual practices. Following the adoption of the UN resolution, several leaders of the spiritual movement in India voiced their support for the initiative. The founder of Isha Foundation, Sadhguru, stated, “this could be a kind of a foundation stone to make scientific approach to the inner well-being of the human being, a worldwide thing... It’s a tremendous step for the world.” The founder of Art of Living, Ravi Shankar, lauded the efforts of Modi, saying, “It is very difficult for any philosophy, religion or culture to survive without state patronage. Yoga has existed so far almost like an orphan. Now, official recognition by the UN would further spread the benefit of yoga to the entire world.

An advanced version of yoga is meditation. The joy felt in meditation reveals the presence of Eternal joy spread over all creations. The light seen in meditation is the astral light from which our tangible creation is made - "Paramahansa Yogananda". Spirituality for a common man may best be termed as the science of the soul. It is reaching beyond all sciences. The soul keeps us alive and guides our lives on earth and is a part/reflection of the infinite consciousness pulsating through the whole creation, commonly understood as God. Knowledge of this science can help us lead happy, contented, joyful and purposeful lives on earth. The greatest help to spiritual life is meditation (Dhyana) – Meditation is an instrument of spirituality.

—Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched Micro Unit Development and Refinance Agency, or MUDRA to fund and promote microfinance institutions (MFIs), which would in turn provide loans to small and vulnerable sections of businesses. Modi said these businesses would provide almost 10 times the jobs to that were being generated by big companies. MUDRA will have an initial corpus of Rs 20,000 crore and a credit guarantee corpus of Rs 3,000 crore. The initial corpus would be provided by banks from their priority sector lending shortfall. To be a Non-banking financial company (NBFC) and a part of Sidbi, MUDRA will later take the form of a bank through a Bill, which the government will present in Parliament within the next year, according to financial services secretary Hasmukh Adhia. With this, the long-awaited Bill on MFIs would not come and some of its provisions would be incorporated in the Bill on MUDRA, Adhia added. “It will also put in place an entire mechanism as to how much interest rate can be charged for the micro sector,” he said.

The issue had become quite contentious after the MFI sector faced a tough time, particularly in Andhra Pradesh when the state government tightened the noose on MFIs for recovery of loans in the wake of the over-indebtedness of the loanees. On whether MUDRA would regulate the NBFC (MFI), Adhia said, “That decision would be taken when the Bill will be framed.” He added the government was yet to take a call on whether MUDRA would be transformed into a universal bank. The Modi government is working on creating self-employment opportunities rather than conventional employment opportunities in the country.

—Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief

The Supreme Court has struck down a sweeping law that allowed police to jail people for online posts thought to be offensive, with potentially far-reaching consequences for civil liberties and the right to free speech in India. After three years of protests by free speech campaigners and others, a bench comprising justices J. Chelameswar and Rohinton F. Nariman held section 66A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, to be unconstitutional. “Section 66A is unconstitutional and we have no hesitation in striking it down,” declared Justice R.F. Nariman, reading out the judgment. They added: “The public’s right to know is directly affected by section 66A.” The apex court ruled that the controversial section 66A is “open ended, undefined, and vague” with every expression used in it “nebulous in meaning”. “Section 66A is cast so widely that virtually any opinion on any subject would be covered by it, as any serious opinion dissenting with the mores of the day would be caught within its net,” the court said.

Supreme Court looks to balance interests in Internet regulation. The ruling was widely welcomed by free speech defendants who have been at the forefront of a campaign against the provision that has been used by the police in recent years to arrest social media users for posting comments that others deemed offensive. “Internet as a medium is meant to be free and transcend territorial borders with minimal regulation and monitoring,” said R. Chandrashekhar, president of the National Association of Software and Service Companies, an industry lobby group. “The IT Act has well served the objective to provide the legal framework for data security and Internet laws in the country. The changes enabled by the Supreme Court judgment would provide a much-needed boost to the citizens of the country and help the objective of a digitally connected India.”

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recommended the strengthening of sections 153A and 505 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) instead of modifying section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Section 153A of the IPC prohibits hate speech and punishes any form of action or communication that leads to disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will among people. The maximum punishment is three years in jail. Section 505, on the other hand, punishes statements that amount to public mischief. Both sections have ramifications similar to section 66A, but unlike it, are non-bailable offenses.

It is also learned that the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY) supported the idea mooted by the MHA. The MHA’s recommendations hint at the possibility of heightened censorship, which was not what the panel set out to achieve, experts say. The Cyber Regulation Advisory Committee (CRAC) was formed by the MHA to study the Supreme Court’s judgment that called section 66A “unconstitutional” and “draconian”. Since the IT Act was originally formed to promote the IT industry, it should be amended to allow for preventive measures, it said. The WCD Ministry’s areas of concern are the cyber security of women and children. As part of its prescriptions for a comprehensive overhaul, it has mooted the idea of a green channel for raising cyber crime cases on a real-time basis, where the abusive content can be taken down immediately.

—Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief

Halting the Modi juggernaut in its tracks, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday scored a landslide victory in the Delhi Assembly elections by winning as many as 67 of the 70 seats leaving BJP with only three and completely decimating Congress which drew a blank. In an election that was billed as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the AAP tornado threw veterans of both BJP and Congress into the electoral dustbin in their traditional bastions. BJP leaders accepted the defeat as a “setback” but dismissed suggestions that it was against the Modi government’s performance. The AAP’s feat was rarely achieved in any state in the past. Only once in 1989, the Sikkim Sangram Parishad won all 32 seats in the assembly. Former Revenue Service officer Arvind Kejriwal, the AAP mascot who spearheaded the party’s victory march, himself won the prestigious New Delhi seat by a margin of over 31,500 votes defeating the nearest BJP rival Nupur Sharma, a political novice. Former Minister and Congress veteran Kiran Walia was poor third with 4,700 votes and lost her deposit. The BJP’s humiliation was complete with its Chief Ministerial face Kiran Bedi losing in the traditional stronghold of Krishna Nagar which was long held by party veteran Harsh Vardhan. She lost by more than 2,000 votes. Congress’ CM candidate Ajay Maken also suffered a crushing defeat by a margin of over 50,000 votes at the hands of a novice from AAP Som Dutt in Sadar Bazar constituency and lost his deposit. Maken resigned as Congress General Secretary taking responsibility for the debacle. Those who bit the electoral dust included BJP leaders Jagdish Mukhi, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and Krishna Tirath who had defected from Congress on the eve of elections and Congress leaders AK Walia, Harun Yusuf, Chaudhury Prem Singh and Raj Kumar Chouhan, who are all ministers and Mahabal Mishra, a former MP. President Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter Sarmistha Mukherjee also lost in her electoral debut on a Congress ticket in Greater Kailash. Kejriwal will be sworn in as Chief Minister on February 14, exactly the day one year ago he stepped down after 49 days in office.

The Aam Aadmi Party has set a record in India with the election that it swept in the capital. The party, fronted by Arvind Kejriwal, won 67 of 70 seats in Delhi, which is nearly 96 percent. The only other parties to have touched the 90 percent mark, in states that have more than 60 seats, are the National Conference and the Congress. In 1962, Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference won 93 percent of the seats in Jammu and Kashmir. In 1952, Congress won a little over 90 percent of the assembly in Uttar Pradesh.

—Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has replaced the 65-year-old Planning Commission, which he had accused of stifling growth with Soviet-style bureaucracy. The new body will give state governments a much larger say in crucial decisions, he says. The new National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) will act more like a think tank or forum, say its supporters, in contrast with the Commission which imposed five-year-plans and allocated resources to hit set economic targets. NITI will include leaders of India’s 29 states and seven union territories. But its full-time staff - a deputy chairman, Chief Executive Officer and experts will answer directly to the 64-year-old Prime Minister, who will be chairman. The opposition Congress mocked the launch as a cosmetic relabelling exercise - the new body’s acronym-based name means ‘Policy Commission’ in Hindi, suggesting a less bold departure than the English version does.

Despite being blamed by critics for the slow growth that long plagued India, the Commission survived the market reforms of the early 1990s, riling Mr Modi with its interventions when he was Chief minister of industry and investor friendly Gujarat. Mr Modi, elected by a landslide last year on a promise to revive flagging growth and create jobs, had vowed to do away with the Planning Commission that was set up in 1950 by Congressman and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. But his plans have been derided by the Congress party, which wants to defend the Nehru legacy and describes Mr Modi’s vision of “cooperative federalism” as cover for a veiled power grab.

—Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief

The success in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand have capped one of the most successful year of the BJP, which romped home with a thumping majority in May last. However, as the New Year begins, the proverbial six-month honeymoon period for the NDA government is about to be over. So, the focus now should be on governance. Experts say that there are three issues Modi has to keep an eye on: These issues have emerged as problem areas from the experience of recent months, they are far from irresolvable and not even remotely crises. Even so, they need to be addressed as quickly as possible. First, however one may explain it, the government’s pace of economic policymaking has been slower than expected. It has not helped that key legislations, such as those for enhancing FDI limits in insurance and opening up the coal mining sector, have been blocked or delayed by the Rajya Sabha. True, this has not always been the government’s fault. The BJP’s numbers in the Rajya Sabha are simply not large enough and the NDA is in a minority. Given the fractured nature of the Upper House, small but effective parties such as the Trinamool Congress and the CPI (M) have deployed a Duckworth-Lewis tactic of filibustering and punched well above their weight. They have disrupted the House and prevented voting on Bills. The Congress, actually much weaker and much more confused that its numbers in the Rajya Sabha suggest, has hidden behind these fringe parties and been happy to hurt the government.

Human exploitation is the industrial world is the biggest tragedy of recent times. From the factories exploiting children in the country’s biggest cities like Delhi and Mumbai to the hinterland of Odisha and Jharkhand where children are still illegally employed as bonded labourers, his organisation has rescued them in almost all parts of country. He has advocated for stricter laws against child trafficking and labour and met with mixed success so far. While growing up, Satyarthi has said he was concerned about the plight of child labourers around him and it finally prompted him to start an organised movement. His early attempts to raid factories employing child labourers met with hostile reaction from the factory owners and at times the police but the significance of his work was slowly recognised. He also played an important role in the movement for Right to Education law for free compulsory education to children. Several prestigious awards have been conferred on him, including Defenders of Democracy Award (2009-US), Medal of the Italian Senate (2007-Italy), Robert F Kennedy International Human Rights Award (USA) and Fredric Ebert International Human Rights Award (Germany) etc.

The national resources of the country are exploited by certain group of powerful industrialist with government tacit support. In August, while declaring the block allocation illegal, the court had remarked that they were done by an “adhoc and casual” approach “without application of mind” and without looking into aspects of “common good and public interest”. The allocations lacked “transparent procedure” resulting in “unfair distribution” of a “national wealth” – coal – “which is king and paramount Lord of industry”, the court had observed. The disputed coal block allocations to private companies were made on recommendations by a screening committee set up in 1992 to evaluate the merit of applications from such power-generating companies to run captive coal mines. The government companies were allocated coal blocks by the coal ministry through the government dispensation quota. Shares of metal companies like Jindal Steel, Tata Steel, Usha Martin and Hindalco fell in the stock market soon after the court order. Finally we are looking for justice for the common man to whom the countries resources actually belongs.

 —Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief

The rising number of violent incidents notwithstanding, the trouble-hit Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections have started its brush with the electoral process after six years. The first phase of the five-phase election is over on November 25. The results will be declared on December 23. Unlike other States of India, members of the J&K assembly are elected for a six year term as opposed to the common five-year format. The term of the 87-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly ends on January 19. The ruling National Conference (NC) is facing an anti-incumbency factor. NC has been in power for 3 full terms, while the PDP and the Congress have enjoyed little, each having shared 3 years in power from 2002-08. The BJP has never been significant (despite considerable support in Jammu) J&K is divided into its three major geographic zones, Jammu, Ladakh and the Kashmir valley. The more populous Kashmir region bags 46, Jammu 37 and Ladakh only 3 seats. In the past 3 elections (1996, 2002, 2008), J&K has always given an anti-incumbency mandate. Among others, issues that have dominated the electoral process in the state are the self-rule or autonomy for J&K, militancy, presence of security forces. Issues like development, unemployment, education, electricity and water are also crucial. The issue of unemployment among the youth poses a big challenge for political parties.

From the factories exploiting children in the country’s biggest cities like Delhi and Mumbai to the hinterland of Odisha and Jharkhand where children are still illegally employed as bonded labourers, his organisation has rescued them in almost all parts of the country. He has advocated for stricter laws against child trafficking and labour and met with mixed success so far. While growing up, Satyarthi said he was concerned about the plight of child labourers around him and it finally prompted him to start an organised movement.

His early attempts to raid factories employing child labourers met with hostile reactions from the factory owners and at times the police but the significance of his work was slowly recognised. He also played an important role in the movement for Right to Education law for free compulsory education to children. Several prestigious awards have been conferred on him, including the Defenders of Democracy Award (2009-US), Medal of the Italian Senate (2007-Italy), Robert F Kennedy International Human Rights Award (USA) and Fredric Ebert International Human Rights Award (Germany) etc.

In August, while declaring the block allocation illegal, the court had remarked that they were done by an “ad-hoc and casual” approach “without application of mind” and without looking into aspects of “common good and public interest”. The allocations lacked “transparent procedure” resulting in “unfair distribution” of a “national wealth” – coal – “which is king and paramount Lord of industry”, the court had observed. The disputed coal block allocations to private companies were made on recommendations by a screening committee set up in 1992 to evaluate the merit of applications from such power-generating companies to run captive coal mines. The government companies were allocated coal blocks by the coal ministry through the government dispensation quota.

Shares of metal companies like Jindal Steel, Tata Steel, Usha Martin and Hindalco fell in the stock market soon after the court order. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first speech from Red Fort on Independence Day, announced that the government would replace the Planning Commission with a new body, bringing the curtains down on the 64-year old institution founded on the former Soviet Union’s command-style development model.

—Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief

Nobel Peace Prize to Kailash Satyarthi is a recognition of three decades of his selfless service to protect childhood. He gave up his job as an electrical engineer to dedicate himself to protecting and advancing child rights for over three decades now, freeing 80,000 child labourers and giving them new hope in life. It is largely due to his doggedness and zeal that NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan has emerged as by far the most prominent child rights group in the country even as 60- year-old Satyarthi rose to become a global voice for the children’s cause. He has passionately argued that child trafficking and labour perpetuate poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and population growth.

From the factories exploiting children in the country’s biggest cities like Delhi and Mumbai to the hinterland of Odisha and Jharkhand where children are still illegally employed as bonded labourers, his organisation has rescued them in almost all parts of the country. He has advocated for stricter laws against child trafficking and labour and met with mixed success so far. While growing up, Satyarthi said he was concerned about the plight of child labourers around him and it finally prompted him to start an organised movement.

His early attempts to raid factories employing child labourers met with hostile reactions from the factory owners and at times the police but the significance of his work was slowly recognised. He also played an important role in the movement for Right to Education law for free compulsory education to children. Several prestigious awards have been conferred on him, including Defenders of Democracy Award (2009-US), Medal of the Italian Senate (2007-Italy), Robert F Kennedy International Human Rights Award (USA) and Fredric Ebert International Human Rights Award (Germany) etc.

In August, while declaring the block allocation illegal, the court had remarked that they were done by an “ad-hoc and casual” approach “without application of mind” and without looking into aspects of “common good and public interest”. The allocations lacked “transparent procedure” resulting in “unfair distribution” of a “national wealth” – coal – “which is king and paramount Lord of industry”, the court had observed. The disputed coal block allocations to private companies were made on recommendations by a screening committee set up in 1992 to evaluate the merit of applications from such power-generating companies to run captive coal mines. The government companies were allocated coal blocks by the coal ministry through the government dispensation quota.

Shares of metal companies like Jindal Steel, Tata Steel, Usha Martin and Hindalco fell in the stock market soon after the court order. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first speech from Red Fort on Independence Day, announced that the government would replace the Planning Commission with a new body, bringing the curtains down on the 64-year old institution founded on the former Soviet Union’s command-style development model.

India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, inspired by the Gosplan-aided industrialisation of the Soviet Union, set up the Planning Commission in 1950. The dominant view at the time, drawn from Fabian socialism, backed the need for state-led planned industrialisation and development. For the first eight Plans, the emphasis was on a growing public sector with massive public investments in basic and heavy industries. The commission, housed at Yojana Bhawan a few hundred yards away from Parliament House, emerged as the government’s primary go-to think-tank for policy prescriptions. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as President Pranab Mukherjee both served as the Planning Commission’s deputy chairperson, the body’s topmost executive. The prime minister is the chairperson of the commission.

—Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief

By cancelling 214 out of 218 coal block licences, allotted between 1993 and 1011, the Supreme Court has tried to correct a historic wrong. Of the 214 blocks cancelled, 190 allocations were done during the UPA administration between 2004 and 2011. The four blocks that have been spared are run by central firms, two of them allotted to ultra-mega power projects and two to state utilities. In August, the apex court had had declared these blocks illegal. Allegations about illegal coal block allotments first surfaced after the CAG in 2012 said that the government gave away as much $33 billion in windfall gains to companies by underpricing the allocations. The apex court also asked stateowned Coal India Limited to take over the operational blocks in six months. The allottees have been given a breathing space of six months to wind up, and the government has been allowed to auction these blocks again after March 31, 2015.

While declaring the block allocation illegal, the court had remarked that they were done by an “ad-hoc and casual” approach “without application of mind” and without looking into aspects of “common good and public interest”. The allocations lacked “transparent procedure” resulting in “unfair distribution” of a “national wealth” – coal – “which is king and paramount Lord of industry”, the court had observed. The disputed coal block allocations to private companies were made on recommendations by a screening committee set up in 1992 to evaluate the merit of applications from such power-generating companies to run captive coal mines. The government companies were allocated coal blocks by the coal ministry through the government dispensation quota.

Shares of metal companies like Jindal Steel, Tata Steel, Usha Martin and Hindalco fell in the stock market soon after the court order. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first speech from Red Fort on the Independence Day, announced that the government would replace the Planning Commission with a new body, bringing the curtains down on the 64-year old institution founded on the former Soviet Union’s command-style development model.

—Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief