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BJP’s Tripura walkover Splendid or Spoiled?

July 14, 2019

In a surprising and distinguished achievement, the BJP has won 85 per cent of the seats uncontested in the Panchayat polls in Tripura. Opposition parties have alleged that the ruling BJP led by CM Biplab Kumar Deb is threatening and attacking their candidates. Opposition parties said that BJP leaders did not allow them to file nominations. The Panchayat polls is scheduled to be held in the state on July 27 and the counting will take place on July 31.

According to Prasenjit Bhattacharya, Secretary of the State Election Commission, of the total 6,646 seats comprising Gram Panchayats, Panchayat Samities and Zilla Parishads, the BJP has won 5,652 seats uncontested. Now, polling will be held for around 850 Gram Panchayats, 85 Panchayat Samities and 80 Zilla Parishad seats. Tripura has a total 591 Gram Panchayats having 6,111 seats, 35 Panchayat Samities with 419 seats and eight Zilla Parishads having 116 seats. July 11 was the last date for withdrawal of nominations. Altogether, 12,03,070 voters, including 6,16,893 males and 5, 86,176 women will exercise their franchise at 2,623 polling stations between 7 am to 4 pm on the polling day. Bhattacharya said, “White ballot papers would be used for Gram Panchayat polls, pink ones for Panchayat Samities and green papers for Zilla Parishads.”

Talking with Afternoon Voice, Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) or SUCI(C) leader Arun Kumar Bhowmik said, “The ruling party BJP did not allow candidates of other parties to file nominations. Is it democracy? No, democracy is not prevailing in Tripura. It is autocracy. They have muscle and money power. Media is also with them. That is why they won panchayat polls uncontested. The day will come, when people will be weary of these undemocratic ways. They will protest it. The day will come and we are waiting for this.”

The Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist)’ or SUCI(C), previously called the Socialist Unity Centre of India and “Socialist Unity Centre” is a communist party in India. The party was founded by Shibdas Ghosh, Nihar Mukherjee, and others in 1948. SUCI(C) follows a Marxist-Leninist ideological line formulated by Shibdas Ghosh. The party rejects political ideas such as glasnost and perestroika as revisionist and claims to uphold the original intent of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and the thoughts of Ghosh.

The CPI(M) and the Congress have alleged that their candidates were threatened and attacked by the BJP-backed hooligans. They have also accused armed gangs of the BJP of preventing their candidates from filing their nomination papers during the scheduled nomination period from July 1 to July 8. The CPI(M) claimed that about 121 party candidates were forced to withdraw their nomination papers on the last day of withdrawal on July 11. The party said, “Physical attacks on candidates and attacks on CPI (M) offices and leaders such as on the North Tripura district committee and sub-divisional office in Dharmanagar were resorted to, creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.”

On the other hand, Rebati Tripura, BJP MP from the Tripura East Lok Sabha constituency, said, “In the recent Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won both seats of Tripura. The situation in the state is such that opposition parties are not getting candidates to field in the Panchayat elections. Therefore, a large number of BJP candidates won elections uncontested. People have seen the Congress and the CPI (M). They do not like to contest elections on their tickets. During the Lok Sabha polls, the Tripura Congress President Pradyut Kishore Deb Barman assaulted people and accused the BJP of thrashing common man. Similarly, in Panchayat elections, they are alleging that the BJP is threatening the candidates of the opposition parties. They have lost the support of the voters but they have to say something.”

Prabir Debnath of the Amra Bangali party said, “An atmosphere of fear is strongly prevailing in the state as well the entire country. From news media to independent institutions — all are bowing down in front of the frightening power holders. Common men are being denied their rights. Indian democracy is under threat. However, such a situation won’t continue for long. People especially the youth will stand against it and defeat the miscreants if they don’t check their acts.”

Vice-president of the state Congress unit Tapas Dey also accused the BJP of threatening their candidates. He said, “They (BJP) did not allow many of our (Congress) candidates to file nominations and launched physical attacks on them and our supporters during filing of nominations. We were forced to withdraw 124 candidates from the fray in the face of terror by BJP goons.”

BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya also dismissed their allegations. He said that the candidates of the two opposition parties did not file nomination because they had lost their support base. They could sense their defeat in advance. So, they did not file nominations.

Simultaneous Polls would inject instability at Centre

Vaidehi Taman

July 14, 2019

One Nation, One Election ambition of Narendra Modi is most welcome but the Simultaneous Polls plan has more disadvantages than the advantages. This scheme is not only being discussed in the television studio but even the central government is seeking inputs from ordinary citizens through a website about its interest and related questions; however, not many could participate on this online survey. The government could have chosen other mediums to reach rural and urban voters. One consequence of implementing this plan is that a bigger ‘centralised’ agenda would overshadow the states and their regional issues. The current disseminated system allows each state to push their individual agenda during state elections – something that would be difficult to do in collective polls.

Separate state elections allow regional parties to attract voters in the gap between central polls – since one would be voting separately for the Union and the state. Combining state and national polls gives an undue advantage to the national parties who can appeal on a pan-India scale over state-level parties. That would really create confusion in voters. In the multitude of messages, the attention that these smaller parties can appeal will be ruthlessly limited.

While the theory of a combined election sounds classy and candid, the framework still does not adequately address what happens in situations necessitating fresh elections before the five-year term lapses – like a hung assembly or if the assembly is dissolved due to a no-confidence motion, etc. This is almost inevitable and will break the system all over again. Of course, this reform is still far off since there are many gaps which need to be addressed for orchestrating elections across such a vast country like India. Simultaneous Elections would have been better if we had a Single Secular Party at the Centre. Now, the Fight over ‘Secularism’ kills the ethos of the Constitution. Simultaneous Polls are not for Indian citizens. Indians don’t cast vote, they ‘caste’ their vote. Let’s First Educate Indians about why they Vote, and then it would be easy to accept Simultaneous Elections. Moreover, there are too many elections in India. Municipal Council, State, Lok Sabha, Panchayat, etc. One needs to really think so that the people and the candidates can get on with a normal life. Streamline the elections so that the public are not affected with having to stand in long queues for meaningless elections as no political party or leader is proven extraordinary in solving people’s problem, they all are there to leech taxpayers’ money and to propagate their own agendas. The Indian electoral system is a big hoax; the elected leaders need accountability and people need an iron hand on them while voting. Till then, whatever one thinks or does, is just a waste of time and money.

In such crises, Simultaneous Election for the Centre and the States are not at all feasible. The government at the centre or the states may fall for various reasons. So, can there be Simultaneous Election every time? Often the not so educated voters (and they form a big majority) will be confused as to why they are voting twice on the same day. When these elections are held on different days, the local politicians will put every effort to educate the voters on the significance of the two elections. Further, the Lok Sabha or Assembly elections at different times give the opportunity to voters to express their happiness or otherwise of the rule at the Centre or State. To clarify the point, if the voters elected a particular party at the Centre and later on elected a different party for the state rule, that shows their unhappiness with the central rule and vice versa. So, since a clear assessment of a particular rule will be always available, all should welcome when elections are held at different times.

Free and fair elections are integral to democracy. Continuity, consistency, and governance are also integral to democracy and democracy, to my mind, also implies good governance. To achieve this, elections are held. However, if the means (elections) become the goal, this will not serve democracy well. Holding Simultaneous Elections will ensure consistency, continuity, and governance, and the elections then will only be the means to achieve this and not an end in them. For it to be feasible, we need a political consensus, which is not easy to achieve.

There has to be a political willingness to discuss this issue before we talk of a consensus. It is good that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is talking about consent instead of forcibly pushing this plan through. His reasons for encouraging Simultaneous Elections are unreasonable expenditure and the repeated dislocation of administrative machinery on election duty throughout the year.

We all know elections have unfortunately become the root cause of corruption. When we are in constant election mode, we are also in undying corruption mode. When crores are spent in elections, crores have to be collected by hook or by crook. The way out is to cut the role played by money in elections, and this can come about only through a maximum of political party spending. The other aspect is the state funding of elections. Besides, elections have become too divisive. Communal riots and caste disturbances are purposely created around election time to ensure the division of communities for electoral gains.

With the emergence of regional political parties, Simultaneous Polls would inject instability at the centre. The present single-party rule of BJP may not last long, with growing caste based forces such as Patels, Jats, Karni Senas, TDP in Andhra Pradesh or Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, political instability in the regions may impact the Centre. Implementing Simultaneous Polls would require a substantial shift from the status quo and would involve amendments to the Constitution and election-related laws. Such grand proposals are not necessarily welcome proposals. Democratic politics has a tendency to be chaotic, but there are limits to the corrective abilities of formal legal provisions. On paper, it looks like a nice idea to streamline the staggered electoral cycle where there is an average of more than five State elections every year. A specious argument is made that such an electoral cycle overburdens parties and the electoral machinery.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

All you need to know about Chandrayaan-2 mission

Web Team

July 14, 2019

Chandrayaan-2 , ISRO — Image Courtesy: ISRO

India will launch a lunar mission on July 15, attempting to become the fourth country to land on the moon after the former Soviet Union, US and China, to cement its place among the world’s space faring nations.

The Chandrayaan-2 mission aims to deliver a rover to an elevated plane close to the uncharted lunar South Pole on September 6 or 7 and investigate the surface for signs of water and potentially new sources of abundant energy. It’s one step in an envisioned progression that includes putting a space station in orbit and — eventually — landing a crew on the moon.

“We will launch our second moon mission (Chandrayaan-2) on July 15 at 02:15 a.m., to land by September 6 or 7 near the lunar South Pole, where no one went so far”, said Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K Sivan.

Moon vehicle

Chandrayaan, which means “moon vehicle” in Sanskrit, exemplifies the resurgence of international interest in space. The US, China and private corporations are among those racing to explore everything from resource mining to extraterrestrial colonies on the moon and even Mars. “We have left no stone unturned to make the lunar soft landing a success,” Kailasavadivoo Sivan, chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation, the country’s equivalent to Nasa, told reporters at the headquarters in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru.

Most complex mission by ISRO

The upcoming moon mission is the most complex ISRO has attempted. Two Chandrayaan modules — an orbiter and a lander — will be stacked together inside a launch vehicle equipped to lift heavy satellites into orbit. A third module, the lunar rover, will roll out on landing and operate for at least 14 days on the surface. It will wander about 1,300 feet, surveying a surface that reaches minus 250 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 157 degrees Celsius) in the shadows.

Details:

“The orbiter with lander and rover will be launched onboard our advanced heavy rocket (GSLV Mark III) from the Sriharikota spaceport to inject it in the earth’s elliptical orbit at 170km perigee (nearest to earth) and 30,000km apogee (farthest from earth) for cruising towards the moon over the next 16 days,” said Sivan. Sriharikota is an island off the Bay of Bengal in Andhra Pradesh and about 80km northeast of Chennai.

ISRO has named the lander “Vikram”, after India’s space pioneer Vikram Sarabhai (1919-1971) and rover ‘Pragyan’, which in Sanskrit means wisdom.

“The rocket will place the orbiter in the geo-transfer orbit for its passage to the lunar orbit, covering 385,000km from earth to moon in 50 days for the lander to have a soft landing near its south pole,” said Sivan.

The lander will separate from the orbiter through manouvres, when it is at 150km periloon (nearest the moon’s surface) and 18,000 apoloon (farthest from lunar surface) and land on the moon in 4 days after it (orbiter) enters the lunar orbit at 100km from its surface and descends slowly up to 30km for soft landing.

“The six-wheel rover will roll out of it (lander) in 4 hours after landing at a pre-determined site which is free from rocks and is between craters. It will roll 1cm per second and speed up to cover 500 metres.

The experiments (payloads) will be on the mineralogical and elemental studies of the lunar surface.

Interestingly, the lander as well as the rover will have the Indian national flag (Tricolour) painted on them. Ashoka Chakra will be imprinted on the rover’s wheels.

Chandrayaan-2 Mission, ISRO, Chandrayaan-2 — Image Courtesy: ISRO

Cost of the mission

The cost of Chandrayaan-2 mission is Rs 978 crore, including Rs 603 crore for the orbiter, lander, rover, navigation and ground support network and Rs 375 crore for the heavy rocket — Geo-stationary Satellite Launch Vehicle with an indigenous cryogenic engine

Two women are heading this exercise

And heading this exercise are two women — mission director Ritu Karidhal and the project director Muthayya Vanitha, Sivan said. Women employees account for nearly 30 per cent of India’s space agency’s total workforce.

Searching for Water

The idea is to explore virgin territory on the lunar surface and analyze crust samples for signs of water and helium-3. That isotope is limited on Earth yet so abundant on the moon that it theoretically could meet global energy demands for 250 years if harnessed.

The rover will send pictures of the lunar surface within 20 minutes of landing. The landing area in South Pole was chosen as it has no craters or boulders and is nearly flat with very good visibility due to solar light, he added.

Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 orbited the moon and ejected a probe that discovered water-bearing molecules in craters at the moon’s poles, with the highest density inside permanently shadowed craters at the South Pole. The presence of water would be invaluable as missions advance to the next phase: building a station for mission crews.

Conquering space

Government-backed space agencies are jostling with private missions to conquer the cosmos. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has announced he’s sending a spaceship to the moon, and billionaires Elon Musk and Richard Branson are preparing to launch satellites or send astronauts and paying tourists into space. The Trump administration has pushed for a return to the moon.

Space Race

This year alone, Israeli and Chinese missions have targeted the satellite, Earth’s closest neighbour. In April, Israel’s first moon-landing attempt ended in a crash. China plans to launch the Chang’e-5 probe to the moon later this year, with three more in the offing. At least two of them will land on the moon’s South Pole and conduct research.

India’s space agency has ambitious plans for a robotic mission to Venus, and returning to Mars with a rover. A craft called Mangalyaan orbited Mars after its 2013 launch, scouring the atmosphere for methane and carbon dioxide to help determine whether life ever existed there.

Next priority

ISRO’s next priority is the $1.4 billion Gaganyaan mission, which aims to put three Indian “gaganauts” — at least one of which will be a woman — into orbit.

Content courtesy: BS Web Team & Agencies

Budget bonanza and boost in blueprint

Jayanthy Subramaniam

July 14, 2019

It is indeed a welcome budget and we hope and pray it gives desired results and help both backward and middle class grow up confidently in a step by step way and we witness reforms, performances and a transformation that is good for the country. This is a very good budget. It is beneficial to every section of our society and to boost the growth of the Indian economy.

A grand move by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has been the relaxation provided on angel tax for start-ups, who can now focus on intensification and modernisation. The government’s allocation of Rs 400 crore to craft a world-class higher education ecosystem is also commendable. For a very long time, there has been a huge gap between the skill set required by the industries and what has been provided by the engineering colleges in our country. The government’s push will advance the skills of youth in areas like 3D printing, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, and Big Data.

The Union Budget 2019-20 is not the only farmer- and industry-friendly, it also addresses the concerns of the youth, women, middle class, poor, and the common man. This Budget would expedite India’s forward march towards progress and prosperity. The target to take the Indian economy to $5 trillion is worth appreciating. Union Budget will take the country towards greater transparency through greater use of technology and accountability. All earlier development schemes are more strengthened. It is a bottom-up, inclusive budget.

The foreign countries in response to the US policies are going to protect markets. Foreign flow of funds and technology in the future will be restricted by governments. It is safer for Bharat to depend on its own resources by offering higher savings and bond rates while investing in physical infrastructure, education and research institutions. Develop local appropriate technology. ISRO is a good example. The proposal to let FIIs and FPIs invest in debt securities issued by NBFC would provide a much-needed boost of capital to a sector now starving of capital; an important prop to several sectors, particularly, real estate and automobile which are reeling for lack of finance to purchasers/buyers. It would be interesting to see the extent and form of relaxation that is announced to local sourcing norms in relation to FDI in single brand retail. This relaxation would certainly encourage more foreign players to explore setting up stores in India.

The boost for MSME, affordable housing and infrastructure sector is expected to generate the growth in the bank credit and that will lead to profitable lending and for increasing business profits in the best way possible. On the whole, the budget has been a positive one. The government has reaffirmed its trust on public sector banks as per the recapitalisation outlay. The NBFC liquidity problem is also addressed through the first loss guarantee on the pool buyouts by banks.

Encouragement of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and increasing the minimum public holding with widespread digitalisation like an electronic trading platform, non-human tax dispute settlements and disincentivisation for cash transactions by business entities are progressive steps. Overall it is a growth based budget a big bonanza in all.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Letters to the Editor: 14 July, 2019

Web Team

July 14, 2019

Failure of top order batsman responsible for Team India’s defeat

With the crushing defeat of Team India in the semi finals at the World Cup tournament, the dream of billions fans has crashed. The Indian team perhaps failed to make the most of the rain affected day and the pitch conditions favouring an easy score chase. The massive collapse of top order batsmen for just 1 run and quick fall of wickets without a formidable partnership only thus resulted in disastrous loss and final exit from the World Cup. The failure of top order batsmen to chase a meagre target of 240 runs under 50 overs cost the Indians the world cup title.

Though the toss played a crucial factor to lose the game, it is ironical to note that the middle order and tail end batsmen were unable to chase a meagre target of 40 runs under 5 overs. Sloppy batting has only affected the overall performance of the team, despite following-on for the second consecutive day of the semi finals. It is high time now for the team to highly introspect batting and bowling performances and change the guard immediately as necessary.

Finally, ICC should take a stand to declare the rain affected match as a completely washed out event and start a new game on the reserve day. Such a decision will give both the sides a fair opportunity to claim the title especially at crucial stages like semi finals. Even the archaic Duckworth Lewis method of calculating the run rate to defend the score in a rain affected match needs an immediate overhaul by ICC.

Varun Dambal

Shoddy work responsible for pot-holed roads

The BMC constructed roads developed potholes within a fortnight as the work is being carried haphazardly overnight. Mumbai has one pothole for every hundred citizens and this number is huge as the city has a population of around 1.5 crores. Citizens are hapless and have no choice as grievances fall on deaf years. The huge fines imposed for parking under certain restricted zones is blackmailing citizens which is unfair in a democratic set-up. If citizens are made to pay heavy fines for not following the law, then why are BMC contractors not booked for potholes that develop on account of inferior work carried out by them?

Mumbai has double the number of potholes than vehicles. State government should fix the potholes and give us good motorable roads before they penalize us for unlawful parking. The taxes we pay should be optimally utilized and the public made aware of the account statements for the contribution they make towards nation building.

S.N. Kabra

Make clay available to sculptors at reasonable price

Environment-friendly organizations advise use of paper-pulp for making Ganesh-idols during Ganesh Chaturthi festival because the idol which is brought home should be eco-friendly. It has, however, been proved through experiments that paper-pulp after dissolving in water, causes more pollution; so how can this option be eco-friendly, is the question. Moreover, as per science, Ganesh-idol worshipped during Ganesh-festival should be made of clay. There has been considerable increase in number of people bringing home, Ganesh-idols made of clay; but idol made of clay is costly as compared to idol made of ‘Plaster of Paris (PoP), therefore, all Ganesh-devotees cannot afford to purchase such idols. The government makes an appeal to celebrate eco-friendly Ganesh festival on one hand while no effort is made to make available idols made of clay at low cost. As such, sculptors also give priority to make idols from PoP. All Ganesh-devotees would afford to buy idols made of clay if the government makes available clay to sculptors at low price. This will help all devotees to bring home eco-friendly Ganesh idols.

Jagan Ghanekar

Fare reduction a right step by BEST

The reduction of BEST bus fares to Rs 5 for a journey of up to 5 km is a good move indeed. The BEST should’ve thought of this long back instead of having to incur losses all these years. Now I hope more people will travel by bus instead of travelling by share autos and share taxis.
With the reduction in fares, I hope the conductor has the change to give back to passengers who give them Rs 10 note for a ticket of Rs 5.

Jubel D’Cruz

Simultaneous elections need of the hour

It refers to 10 Congress and 3 JD(S) MLAs quitting coalition government in Karnataka with more quits from ruling coalition possible in days to come, thus possible of fall of state-government just formed after elections recently held in October 2023. Prime Minister is stressing, and rightly too, for simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and all state-assemblies. But how is it practical if mid-term elections may be necessitated through such fall of state-governments.

Only remedy is to elect Chief Minister (or Prime Minister) simultaneously with Speaker and Deputy Speaker by secret and compulsory elections through EVMs equipped with VVPAT on nominations signed by at least 34-per cent members with abstaining members losing right to vote in the House though retaining its membership. Such elected incumbents may be removed only through same process but with compulsion to name alternate leader in the same motion. This procedure can be tried in Karnataka now with certainty of fall of state-government. Heavy expenses made on air-lifting of MLAs outside the state-capital for ultra-luxurious stay in resorts or five-starred hotels just to tighten them in grip of political bosses for saving or falling governments should be probed.

If political-uncertainty continues in Karnataka, then mid-term elections can be held in February 2020 with that of Delhi state-assembly polls. Elections for state-assemblies of Jammu-Kashmir, Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Bihar may also be held in February 2020 by keeping Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand under President Rule for some months and pre-matured dissolution of Bihar state-assembly so that any next election may be held only in February 2022 by similar clubbing of elections for state-assemblies of Assam, Goa, Kerala, Manipur, Puducherry and Punjab. Elections to rest other state-assemblies may then be held in February 2024 on similar lines with Lok Sabha elections by pre-mature dissolution of Lok Sabha by few months to make February as permanent election-month.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Kartarpur corridor: Connectivity, Safety of Pilgrims on top priority

Web Team

July 14, 2019

Kartarpur Corridor India and Pakistan on Sunday began the second round of talks over finalising the modalities of the Kartarpur corridor, on the Pakistani side of the border. Connectivity and safety of pilgrims were on top priority of the talks.

Pakistan agreed in-principle to build a bridge on the zero line of the Kartarpur Corridor to provide all-weather connectivity and allow 5,000 pilgrims per day, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement after a two-hour meeting. “Throughout the year, 5,000 pilgrims will be allowed to visit Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara per day… Pakistan highlighted the infrastructural constraints on their side and conveyed that they may be able to accommodate many of the Indian proposals in a phased manner. There should be no restrictions on the pilgrims in terms of their faith,” the Foreign Ministry said.

According to reports, the Pakistani delegation, led by Dr Mohammad Faisal, a spokesperson for Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, showed a powerpoint presentation to the Indian side. Faisal told reporters ahead of the talks, “It is the second round Kartarpur corridor talks as promised by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. Pakistan is fully committed and cooperating to operationalise the Kartarpur Corridor. Work from our side is underway in an expeditious manner. More than 70% of the Gurudwara construction work has been completed. We hope to have a productive discussion with the Indian counterparts.”

The Indian delegation is led by SCL Das, Joint Secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Deepak Mittal, Joint Secretary (PAI-Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran) in the Ministry of External Affairs. Indian officials took up a number of key issues, including infrastructure, pilgrims’ movement, and safety. India’s demand for the construction of a bridge by Pakistan in the creek area was also discussed. India raised concerns regarding the possible flooding of Dera Baba Nanak due to the construction of an embankment-filled road on the Pakistani side. India has already been building a bridge on its side to provide all-weather connectivity for the Kartarpur corridor. It has urged Pakistan to build a similar bridge on their side as it would provide safe and secure movement of the pilgrims while also addressing concerns over flooding.

Kartarpur corridor meeting — Image Courtesy: ANI

The other key issues on the table were the number of pilgrims allowed to access the corridor, safe and unhindered movement of pilgrims throughout the year, whether they would travel as individuals or groups, and whether they would travel by transport or foot.

It is remarkable that India will spend Rs 500 crore to build the corridor. This amount would be spent on installing a high tech security and surveillance system to ensure the safety of pilgrims and creating an all-weather facility to cater to 10,000 pilgrims on special occasions and 5000 pilgrims on a daily basis. The Kartarpur route along the India-Pakistan border is three kilometers away from Gurdaspur. Once opened, it would allow Sikh pilgrims direct access to the historic Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur in Pakistan. Guru Nanak Dev passed away in Kartarpur in 1539. As per Ministry of External Affairs, the work on these two projects will be completed in time – one by September 2019 and the other by October 2019.

The first level of talks were held on March 14 and second round, which were to take place on April 2, were called off pending clarifications by Islamabad on New Delhi’s security concerns. In May, India had raised concerns that Pakistan is promoting the interest of Khalistani groups under the garb of the Kartarpur corridor.

Poor social engineering behind security threats to India

Vaidehi Taman

July 12, 2019

The problem with security and intelligence agencies in India is the lack of communication and the greed for credit and power. India is not the only exception or victim of such traits. Politics inside the bureaucracy and the power game is almost the same in all the other countries of the world too; however, the very basic difference between them and us is the fear of getting caught and getting punished. Deterrence of getting caught and failing in investigation and punishments somewhat control their greed.

We lack proper laws and proper implementation of the same. Those in power have every knack and control over twisting the law as per their convenience. Those in power and those who have power are the two most dangerous factors in the administration.

For example, there are a couple of “information and security research organisations” operating from India but they carry out research for the foreign countries. We can’t question them or ask for any clarification as they operate from India in the name of “threat analysis/research”. They are not directly working on hardcore intelligence; instead, they are working on the development and activities of various hackers and another acumen that operate from these regions. Now the question that arises is how the hackers and hacking can be an issue for the national security?

The problems are not limited to specific categories; the majority of issues are on smaller scales and that is the reason why they are less talked, discussed, and thought over. Hence, it’s easier for all these terrorist organisations and other intelligence agencies to target India and that too so frequently. Let us take a simple example of the communication issues over the border areas of India. Mostly, the security personnel/armed forces and terrorists who are deployed in the border areas communicate with each other in more or less the same manner and use almost the same technology and communication devices like the walkie-talkie, wireless frequency, and satellite phones (mostly used in base camps because of its high price).

The way interaction gets trapped is not something extraordinary; it happens because of a very simple reason that the communication cannot be encrypted over such mediums, and that is why it is easier to intercept them. However, the irony is that it is not necessary that the communication that is intercepted is true and accurate. The possibility of making this conversation for the purpose of misguiding the security forces in and around those areas is high.

At the same time, we can’t even ignore them because if by any chance the incident happens, those soldiers who are deployed in the area will be considered guilty because the communication is passed to the senior officers sitting in the base camps. The percentage of the number of security forces deployed in and around the borders is the maximum and the strength of the Indian Army and armed forces is among the top six in the world; so, it is not possible to make any excuses for the “manpower”, if such incidents happen and we fail to avoid them.

The very common problem that seems to be simple and hence ignored is “social engineering”. Most of the time both the forces deployed over the border keeps on scanning the wireless frequency ranges of each other’s and also the different specific frequency on which the patrolling forces are communicating. Because of the similarity in the language spoken, it is not a hard job for someone who is really good in social engineering to fool and collect information from these various patrolling forces/parties. All you need to do is, make a call on the same frequency of the other side party and just ask them in a commanding and confident voice addressing yourself as a senior speaking from their respective bases and ask them for their progress or current location or some other outputs.

Due to the hierarchy in the forces and couple of protocols which we ignore to follow, it makes it very difficult for that soldier to ask many questions regarding the caller’s identification and justify the reason of calling as no one wants to make their boss unhappy and that too if you are in the armed forces.

Thus, these types of problems are not very big and complicated but what makes it more difficult to be taken care of and encountered is the ignorance and lack of interest by those who are responsible for making the protocols and process by the think tanks.

Unfortunately, they are focusing more on the issues that happen less frequently but make big news. The problems occurring because of such ignorance are not much talked about and fail to make big news. The one who has to be held responsible for such ignorance is the irresponsible media operating in these locations.

Now, if we talk about these think tanks and decision and policy makers, then they are busy most of the time giving lectures all over the world. They only talk about big and critical issues, which are not present but are expected to happen or occur in the future. What our intelligence agencies are doing working under the banner of “research organisations” is extracting the money from the central government under the name of “research” or “strategy development” or “analysis”.

Someone told me once about one such research, which was “understanding and studying the mind of “black hat hackers”. In this research, the organisation took assistance from a couple of senior doctors (more preciously – psychiatrists) to complete the entire exercise. During their entire exercise, there was not even a single time they talked or discussed things with any hacker or InfoSec professionals (forget about the black hats). They completed the entire exercise and study within the specific time, even prepared and gave the report to the top bosses. The money spent on such tasks is huge but without any accountability.

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Can Raj Thackeray sustain?

Afternoon Voice

July 12, 2019

The meeting between MNS chief Raj Thackeray and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi has raised speculations in the political circles whether Raj is going to have an alliance with the Congress for contesting the forthcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls. The MNS had not contested the Lok Sabha polls but Raj Thackeray was involved in active campaigning for the Congress and the NCP. While campaigning for Congress-NCP, Raj had taken a jibe at the Modi government for its failure to provide good governance.

Mahila Pradesh Congress General Secretary advocate Manisha Rote said, “If MNS forms an alliance with the Congress-NCP, it will be strengthened. Rahul Gandhi will take the policy decision. When it comes to voting, people don’t take MNS seriously. Raj Thackeray’s rallies attract huge crowds but the same doesn’t translate into votes.”

The MNS which had won 13 seats in the 2009 assembly polls failed to make an impact in 2014 assembly polls where the party could manage to win only one seat. The voters which initially had huge expectations from the party remained disconnected with the outfit during the 2014 assembly polls. Thus, the MNS engine had derailed before it could make an impact in the state.

Political journalist Nilesh Khare said, “Raj Thackeray is trying to bring the anti-Modi front forward. Through this motive, the MNS can strengthen itself financially and at local level. It can only make a comeback in the state by defeating Shiv Sena and BJP. If the MNS wants to strengthen itself , it should target the ruling alliance.”

Now the MNS is making another attempt to revive itself ahead of the 2019 Assembly polls in the state. Thackeray had called on Sonia Gandhi in Delhi earlier this week amid churning in Maharashtra politics and possible political realignments in the poll bound Maharashtra. On the other hand, the BJP and Shiv Sena are confident of winning at least 220 seats out of 288 seats in Maharashtra after their impressive performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Political expert Abdul Wahab said, “There are lesser chances of the MNS strengthening itself. The MNS has lost its sheen in the state. Earlier, the party had come to power in Nashik Municipal Corporation. The party has weakened after its poor show in assembly polls. Raj Thackeray had held interactive sessions with the voters but it didn’t revive the party.”

Even though the MNS did not contest the Lok Sabha polls, Raj Thackeray had campaigned for the Congress-NCP in Maharashtra and he had managed to draw huge crowds at rallies held by him in the state. Thackeray attributed the BJP’s victory to the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi led by Prakash Ambedkar and rebels in the Congress and NCP besides the EVMs. According to him, Ambedkar and his Aghadi including Asaduddin Owaisi‘s AIMIM put up candidates to divide the opposition votes.

Thackeray began his friendship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a time when most political leaders considered Modi persona non grata, given the 2002 riots in Gujarat while he was the Chief Minister. Thackeray changed his mind about Modi when he realised he had been taken for a ride on the ‘Gujarat Model‘ of development. Now, Thackeray seems to be convinced that Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party President and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are bad news for not just Maharashtra but for the entire country, and is trying to stop their juggernaut.

Thackeray ran the best election campaign across India against Modi and the BJP during the recent Lok Sabha elections. He was the only other political leader, apart from former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who full-bloodedly took on Modi, no holds barred and pulling no punches. This is the second and last chance for Raj to rejuvenate his party. Already many leaders have left MNS which has weakened the party. Moreover, Raj has been unable to expand the footprint of his party across Maharashtra. His party has just remained restricted to the urban areas like Mumbai, Nashik, and Pune. Thus, Raj Thackeray is once again trying to revive his party by attempting to forge an alliance with Congress. After the failed attempt in the Lok Sabha elections, it seems it is his last chance to do so.

By Suraj Chandran & Moumita Mukherjee

Population control in China and India: Similar Policy but different Results

Web Team

July 12, 2019

Population explosion is a matter of concern for the development of the nation. So, discussion on population control is natural among cautious citizens. On World Population Day, Union minister Giriraj Singh linked the rising population of the country with religion. He said that there should be a rule of having only two children per family in the country for every religion and those who violate it should be debarred from the right to vote. Giriraj Singh tweeted, “In India, population explosion is disturbing the balance of economy, social harmony and resources. One of the reasons (for failure to check it) is dharmik vyavadhan (religious obstacle).”

It is notable that China and India are the two most populous countries of the world. In China, population control was taken as a national issue and it has been successful because their intention was clear. But in India, this important issue has taken an ugly form of dispute due to hidden plans. The Union Minister Giriraj Singh targeted a religious group and politicised the issue for vested gains. The same issue of population control has been treated in different ways in China and India. On account of religious division, India could not take concrete steps and make rules for it so far. It seems that “Two children Policy” will have the same fate as that of “Triple Talaq”. The Modi government will never get the support of the opposition parties even on “Two children Policy”.

The dispute over two children per family

The Union minister, without naming any community, said that the rising population was posing threats to resources and harmony. He said that it is ruining the economy. Singh’s tweet in Hindi said, “Population explosion in India is disturbing social harmony and balance. Religious interference is also a reason related to population control. Like in 1947, India is heading towards division on the basis of culture. Every political party should come forward to make laws regarding population control.” He asked all parties to consider over the issue seriously. He said, “A strict law should be made to control the population. There is a need to raise the issue in Parliament.” Three years ago, Giriraj Singh had demanded laws for sterilization in the country. The firebrand BJP leader has always been in the news for the wrong reasons. During the parliamentary elections, he had demanded a ban on green flags. He said, green tends to create hatred in society and gives one a feeling of being in Pakistan.

If that was not enough, he triggered another row during the Lok Sabha polls when during an election meeting he said, “Muslims will have to say Vande Mataram if they need three yards of land for a graveyard.” A comment that had angered key ally JD(U) which in turn asked the Election Commission (EC) to take cognizance of his comments.

Giriraj Singh has been known for his controversial remarks in the past too. Only last year, he had embarrassed the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in Bihar, when he demanded to rename Bakhtiarpur town, where Nitish Kumar was born. The minister also wanted the name of Akbarpur in his current Lok Sabha constituency of Nawada changed, saying it was named after Mughal emperor Akbar.

JD (U) MLA, Lallan Paswan comes in support

Giriraj Singh’s latest comments on population found support from NDA MLAs in Bihar. “For the sake of the country, we need to control the population, irrespective of religion. If not controlled today, it is bound to create food and water scarcity in the country,” said JD (U) MLA, Lallan Paswan. BJP’s MLA Sachindra Kumar, too, supported the Union Minister’s demand for population control.

The opposition, however, criticised the demand. “This shows the narrow-mindedness of the Union Minister,” said RJD’s MLA, Bhola Yadav. Congress MLC Premchandra Mishra wondered how one can seize anybody’s voting rights.

The success of one child per family policy in China

According to the United Nations’ “The World Population Prospects 2019” report, India’s population will surpass that of China by 2027. China is currently the world’s most populous country, with India at the second spot. The 2011 census had put India’s population at 1.21 billion. The next census will be carried out in 2021. China has a population of 1.42 billion, according to 2017 figures from the United Nations. The country had feared that population growth was hindering economic development. Therefore, in 1979, the Chinese government implemented a one child per family policy. It also implemented birth control programs and offered economic incentives to families with fewer children. In 2016, China abolished its decades-long one-child policy to combat an aging society and shrinking workforce. Married couples can now have two children and no longer have to apply for a family planning service certificate.

The method of implementation of One Child Policy

The one-child policy requires married couples to apply for a family planning service certificate once they learned of a pregnancy. Applying for this government-issued birth permit was complex and required navigating a maze of bureaucracy, including obtaining official stamps from a minimum of 16 different entities. The requirements involved so many steps that some couples feigned unemployment to alleviate at least one of the steps.

The Chinese government subjected the applicant mother and father to intense scrutiny, including posting their names and home address on a public bulletin board. Along with this information, they posted the mother’s identification number. This identification number is how the Chinese government keeps track of the wombs in China. They also listed the last known method of contraception the couple utilized. If parents did not acquire the certificate before the child was born, the hospital would not issue a birth certificate so there would be no legal record of the child’s birth.

Contraception and Peer Pressure

The Chinese government sees reproduction as a privilege that is granted by the state. According to officials, once a couple has been granted the right to have a child, they then have a duty to make use of contraception to prevent further pregnancies. Because China’s society has deeply ingrained patriarchal customs, the responsibility for contraception falls primarily to the woman.

Officials typically allowed certain types of contraception, namely intrauterine devices (IUDs) and tubal ligation. These methods are easily verified, lasting and offer bureaucratic convenience. Regulations encouraged women with one child to use IUDs, and those with two children to undergo tubal ligation. In many instances, a woman needed to have an IUD inserted to register a second child with the local public security bureau, which is essential for the child to have access to health care and public education.

Punishment for those who have two or more children

In certain locations, family planning officials, essentially agents of the government, used a type of neighbourhood crime watch structure that encouraged neighbors to spy on one another and report any children who may be unregistered. In some instances, those reporting suspicions were monetarily rewarded.

Local family planning authorities also imposed peer pressure from coworkers. Authorities placed a collective responsibility on the work unit of a couple at a government-affiliated place of employment. If a member of the unit had more than the government-allowed number of children, then every employee working in that unit was denied an annual bonus, a form of government-sanctioned blackmail.

It is unclear how China’s relaxation of its one-child policy will affect birth rates. The birth rate in China in 2017 was 1.62 births per woman, according to the United Nations Population Division. The birth rates are similar for other industrialized nations. Because China’s economy is becoming more Westernised, it’s unlikely that the Chinese birth rate will rise significantly.

Strengthening Defence against Two Sinister Neighbours

R K Sinha

July 12, 2019

One should not expect India to cut down its Defence Budget when its border meets the borders of two hostile nations. We fought a war with Pakistan in 1947, 1965, 1971 and in 1999 (Kargil). India fought a major war with China in 1962. Last year standoff with China in Doklam had created a war-like situation. The crisis in Doklam was averted due to the diplomacy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi aided by former Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and then Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar (now Minister for External Affairs). A war that took place over border dispute remains unresolved. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has wisely allocated 3.18 lakh crores in her budget proposal for defence. If you remember, the same amount was proposed in the interim budget presented before elections.

Now, let us compare the budget allocation of China with India. China has increased its defence budget by 8.1 per cent raising it to 175 billion dollars in continuation of the modernisation policy of its defence forces. It goes without saying that the defence budget of China is more than that of India. China spends the highest amount on its defence after the United States of America. Even after increasing its defence expenditure to 175 billion dollars, China had said that in the past two years the increase in defence was nominal.

It is known that Pakistan has also its ‘share’ in China’s defence budget. Some so-called secular intellectuals say that India should reduce its expenditure on defence ignoring the ground realities of China and Pakistan. Who will tell them and make them understand that only a strong nation can talk of ‘peace’? This world does not give the right to live to the poor.

We also discuss the defence budget of Pakistan which is four times smaller than India. In 2018-19, Pakistan’s defence budget was Rs 1.26 trillion (Pakistani currency), equivalent to 11 billion US dollars. Pakistan is relentlessly engaged in strengthening its defence forces. In view of this India has to take care of its defence preparedness. We have to keep in mind the hostility of the two neighbouring countries.

During the Doklam crisis, we had seen intimidating posture of China. Some leaders of Pakistan always say ‘we will see India’ indirectly referring to beat India in war. Earlier it was Nawaz Sharif and now Imran Khan; their anti-India stance is discernable. Maybe our new generation not remember how Pakistan had captured our Aksai Chin area in the war of 1962 when Congress was in power at the Centre under Nehru. This area measures 37,244 square kilometers. It is full of glaciers. The area is equal to the area of Kashmir valley. We have to take back our area in Aksai Chin. One should not forget that China has a vulture’s eye on Arunachal Pradesh. Therefore, we have to increase our defence budget regularly.

When we talk of Pakistan, it is worth taking note of the way Pakistan released our Wing Commander Abhinandan after the Balakot strike, it (Pakistan) must have realised the strength of India. The operation in Balkot was like a thunder strike in which our fighter jets after striking target in Balkot returned safely to our bases. Pakistan bowed down and sent Abhinandan back to India. You also must have seen how Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was making a statement in his Parliament on Balkot strike and release of Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan.

After the Pulwama attack, Pakistan was demolished by Indian diplomacy. Pakistan and China don’t like economic growth of India. Foreign Direct Investment in India is continuously increasing. No other country is having FDI as India is getting. India is getting FDI more than countries such as China and the United States. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been successful in inviting investments in India from The United States, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and Singapore by his diplomatic approach. Foreign investors have shown confidence in India’s story of economic growth under the Narendra Modi government. Without FDI quantum jump in industrial growth is not possible.

India should send a message to the world that we are not undermining other sectors of the economy by strengthening our defence preparedness. We also have to address the problem of growing unemployment in the country. It is a big challenge. For this, we have to immediately check the population growth which is eating into our resources at a much faster pace. Unemployment and population explosion are inter-related. We have to wage a long battle against it.

We can’t become Pakistan; the country has been spending money on defence forces ignoring other vital sectors of the society like education, health, and poverty alleviation.

(The writer is a Member of Rajya Sabha)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)

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