After the declaration of the results of the Assembly polls of Maharashtra and Haryana, it's a clear message to the ruling party, that giving prominence to national issues and marginalising local issues will have a negative impact, on voters. This must be taken in the right perspective and the party has to adopt a suitable strategy. The Assembly election results show that Congress can not be erased that easily. It has done well in Haryana, in spite of many disadvantages: no full-time president, many Congressmen left the party in both states just before elections, while top leaders didn’t evince interest in canvassing, but even then both states gave it a new lease of life. the other opposition parties will also welcome this situation, as the results have broken the myth of BJP’s invincibility. The resurgence of Sharad Pawar’s NCP in Maharashtra, in the face of large scale defections after the Lok Sabha election debacle, is a clear indication that Pawar is very much relevant there even to this day. His vilification by BJP as Pakistan‘s supporter didn’t cut ice with the people.

These results also put to rest all talk of ‘one nation one party, ‘and concerns over the possible emergence of ‘unipolar polity’. The inflated claim that the Modi-Shah juggernaut is formidable, has turned out to be untrue. BJP went to elections with all signs of assertiveness, especially the opposition was in tatters-it’s the party, having galaxy of star leaders, superior resources, and our great defense will publicise surgical strikes, invariably one day before the voting, every time, perceived diplomatic success, all came in handy, but even then results show that the party can no longer camouflage the harsh reality of bad economics behind the narrative of national sentiments.

I feel the results could be comparable to recently held elections in Rajasthan, and MP because the mood of the voters looks to be the same. Voters of all these states were clear about their choices. Modi’s campaign was no different from what it had been in the past. He attempted to strike the same chord and raised the same concerns and achievements, mainly Art. 370 everywhere, but voters it seems, we’re sure they are not voting for Modi now. The economic slowdown, job losses, and rural Agricultural distress may have begun to hurt the BJP

There seems to be an undercurrent against local BJP, going by how the opposition has performed better than what Exit polls were willing to grant it. Meanwhile, the opposition will have to work harder to negate the BJP’s advantage in terms of resources and visibility.

Recently Union Minister Mr. Piyush Goel made a statement, that the Nobel laureate and Economist Mr. Abhijit Banerjee has “left leanings” and that there was no need to accept what he thinks, was in bad taste according to many people. His political opinions shouldn’t undermine his capabilities. His advice to the Congress during last parliamentary elections doesn’t negate his work to alleviate poverty.  I have read that the Nobel laureate’s method of tackling global poverty by breaking it down into questions at the smaller levels is indeed a path-breaking approach, I am told. This recognition will underline the effectiveness of their research. Its a matter of pride for the entire country.
I feel very sad to read some petty comments saying that Abhijit got the award for marrying a foreigner and not for his Economics. I know, at least this is what a section of BJP feels, going by some of the comments. But here we have to accept one thing that Abhijit has all the required qualities/qualifications to be branded as an anti-national-he is as such, a quintessential Bengali babu, with left leanings, an alumnus of JNU and he is certainly, a liberal.
A recently released global hunger index of 2019 has placed India at the 102nd position among 117countries, even behind Nepal, North Korea, and Pakistan. No doubt ours is the fastest growing economy, yet a considerable section of people are still living below the poverty line. Abhijit with his wife wrote the book “Poor Economics”, which according to newspapers, gives insights and relationships between culture and poverty. Hungry stomachs seek food, not culture. As such, malnutrition is very high in this country and hyper-nationalism and culture alone would not benefit the children dying of the reason. Several areas are quite challenging. for example, recently our PM declared the country as ODF, but we have also seen how two kids were thrashed to death in MP, for the crime of defecating in the open. Whenever these anomalies are pointed out, our BJP friends immediately lash out at the critics. Let us understand that healthy democracies thrive on criticism.  It is the oxygen for democracy. Just because one has a majority one shouldn’t spurn away differing views and view points.
Therefore, I think, we should get out of the tunnel view and try to take everyone along, to bring consensus on all important burning issues and the country should emulate Mr. NarasimhaRao Ji in this regard.

India's Finance Minister, Mrs. Nirmala Sitaraman recently made a scathing remark in New York about the performances of public sector banks under the leadership of Dr. Manmohan Singh and Raghuram Rajan. Former PM Manmohan Singh, the fellow architect of a liberalised Indian Economy along with former PM  Late Narasimha Rao Ji, is probably the only Indian politician who has the moral wherewithal to criticise Modi Government’s bad show on the economic front. The current NDA government has shown a marked proclivity towards laying the blame for the sliding economy at the doorsteps of the UPA government. Dr. Singh whose credentials as an economist remain above-board has rightly tossed the ball back into Centre’s court. How much longer can the government keep on blaming its predecessors for these people’s follies?Instead, the Minister should clarify why the position of public banks further worsened in the last five years under this government ‘s tenure? We have all seen Manmohan Singh successfully piloted the country out of debt and paved the way towards economic liberalisation with the unstinted support of the then PM, PV Ji. The current government should either acquire professionalism or seek the advice of intellectuals to resolve festering issues such as economic slowdown, growing unemployment, and bad loans, etc instead of indulging in mudslinging against its political opponents. What is most urgently required is to lift the economy from the present crisis. The situation only deteriorated in the Modidom. In the whole blame game between the ruling and opposition, it’s the people who are at the receiving end. Mr. MMS is right in exclaiming that the Modi government must stop playing the blame game for every economic crisis, as six years are enough to come out with solutions. The Modi dispensation would do well to take up the challenge of reining in the economic slowdown on its own instead of pointing an accusing finger at others. The present government needs to rise above petty politics and seek advice from Dr. MMS to nurse our ailing economy back to life.

It is a matter of pride to see a person of Indian-origin Abhijit Banerjee bagging the most prestigious Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.
My FB friend Mr. Dhananjay Masoorkar informative blog piqued my interest in this topic and prompted me to delve into further.
Mr. Banjerjee received this prize along with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer for their experimental approach to alleviating poverty.    Mr. Banerjee has been highly critical of India’s economic policies which he terms as merely political and not practical. He suggested that the rich should be taxed more for the country’s growth. The have-nots in the country to be given a lift. We see despite investing huge amounts in poverty alleviation, right from Mrs. Gandhi’s “Garibi Hatao” to the policies of the present government, India continues to remain underdeveloped. The failure to alleviate poverty shows a wide gap in the formulation of policies and implementation.
Mr. Banerjee, a professor in Economics at MIT, 1961born, in Mumbai, studied in Calcutta, JNU, and has a Ph.D. from Harvard. In 2003 he along with his wife established Abdul Lateef Jameel Poverty Action Lab, a global research center that focuses on reducing poverty.
I was astonished to note that 4 years ago only, he warned of a great crisis in the Indian Economy. Specifically, it seems, he talked about India’s “broken” banking and financial sector. And the frightening scale of bankruptcy in its corporate sector, particularly in infrastructure and power, I believe. It was also mentioned that during his student protest days, in JNU, Abhijit had to spend about 10 days in Tihar jail, fortunately, he did so in a climate unlike today’s, in which student agitators are dubbed as “anti-nationals” or being dubbed as "tukde-tukede" gang members. His Nobel prize validates dissent and the questioning of authority as markers of intellectual curiosity.
Both husband and wife, Esther and Abhijit, were of opinion that Demonetisation will have catastrophic consequences for the Indian Economy. Back in 2016, a month after the government ‘s great folly. It seems, Esther told an interviewer that she feared we would never know the full damage of Demonetisation because India lacked an effective mechanism to measure GDP creation in the Economy. It is also reported that Abhijit has continued to emphasise that our current slowdown has been exacerbated by Demonetisation as well as the sloppily implemented GST. According to him, India is now in crisis: investment has collapsed, Exports are not growing, public borrowing is at nearly 10% of GDP. He, therefore, advocated increasing in demand. Let us see if the government listens, and the same had been pointed out by P Prabhakar, the other day, and is getting trolled, in Telugu for pointing out the serious economic situation in the country.

Impartial journalism is going down the drain these days. The recent (in the month of September) circular /the advertisement by Jharkhand government seeking applications from TV and Print media journalists to register with the government for a scheme which will endow a grant up to Rs 15000/to cover the government’s welfare schemes and other initiatives is something which should make journalists sit up and give a serious thought if they want really to protect the values of journalism. It is alarming that the state government wants tailor-made reports in the wake of ensuing elections towards the end of this year. Political parties have of late have become notorious for showing 3D cinema and try to win over the people, by projecting that they are the only ones to have done what no one else could in the past. This attitude is more among regional parties particularly in the last 5years or so.
It looks like, the national parties are now trying to emulate such formulae, perhaps because they feel that all is well in love and war. Till a couple of decades ago, the focus of media used to be on developmental journalism but now it has transformed into sensationalism and political journalism. Over the last couple of decades, new methods are being deployed, more so by ruling parties to keep the media in their pockets.
Any attempt to impose a fascist or totalitarian system of government begins with the regime’s firm control on the country’s media. Its the recent case of a blackout in Kashmir but even in the rest of the country an attempt to subjugate media is being actively carried out by the ruling dispensation and its supporters. Have we not seen a newspaper like The Hindu being abused on social media for its Rafale revelations? The ruling party never condemned such acts. At the end of the day more than the publishers being denied the right to publish, it is the readers who are deprived of their right to know the facts.
Both the willingness of major sections of Indian media to toe the line of the establishment and government ‘s arm-twisting in the form of threats to ban advertisements have been completely exposed. In their scramble to promote the government’s misadventures, new outlets have acted as cheerleaders on various issues -be it Demonetisation or Abrogation of Kashmir’s special status. Instead Of holding the mirror to the establishment, the fourth estate has been trying to press the point that leadership that attempts the “unimaginable, and “unthinkable “is always right.
No wonder some of the veteran journalists lament that journalists are being made to act as “clerical coolies”.  With decreasing standards of journalism it is very difficult for common man to know the truth. 

In the name of development and modernisation man has continued to spread his dominance by cutting trees, polluting the land, air, and water through all possible means for convenience. And Plastic one such material invented by for his convenience but extremely harmful to mother earth.
On World Environment Day, 2018, UNEP brought out an informative publication along with other partners where it said: "our planet is drowning in plastic pollution." It also stated that while plastic has many valuable uses, we have become addicted to single-use or disposable plastic despite severe environmental consequences. For instance, around the world, one million plastic drinking bottles are purchased every minute, while up to five trillion single-use plastic bags are used worldwide every year.
Recently PM Modi Ji gave a clarion call urging citizens to eliminate the use of single-use plastics from 2nd October 2019. The reason: India Inc, is one of the key users of SUP—ranging from pet bottles, tetra packs, multi-layered plastics to milk pouches, etc.
But opinion is divided on PM’s war on waste. Some say it’s all optics, lacking serious government legislation, and punitive action. But senior government officials say they are planning to crack down on items such as plastic straws, cutlery, cigarette butts, pet bottles below 200ml and also plastic bags below 50 microns.
When we first synthesised plastic polymers from crude oil residues, mankind hardly knew how dominant a part they would become of modern life. Think of it this way-its very cheap today, for us to manufacture plastic cutlery than handout wooden spoons. From the cars, we drive, and the planes we fly, to almost every product that every single human being comes in contact with, there is a bit of plastic somewhere. The reason for the widespread usage of plastic is because it is extremely durable, immune to most types of corrosion and weather conditions. Most beverages, for example, are not sold in glass bottles, but in the breakage -free plastic containers.
Now plastic has engulfed the world and has become an existential threat to most life forms. Even our oceans are full of plastic. While the problem is global, the war against plastic has to be fought locally and also at an individual level.
However, UNO and all nations must unite to prepare a “zero plastic" usage and production. Its implementation is required on a war footing by the world. Trillions of accumulated plastic waste are killing and poisoning the life cycle of flora and fauna on land and in water.
Statistics say all countries are contributing to the same. Of the 260 million tons of plastic, the world produces each year, about 10% ends up in the ocean. The top five polluters are China, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka. Top soft drink bottles polluters are HongKong, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Philippines, South Korea, India, and Bangladesh.
According to global citizen, plastic production has more than tripled since the 90s, we can all do our part to prevent further damage to our environment and our waterways from plastics. "Zero waste and Zero plastic waste” movements are springing up around the world to tackle this issue. If we each do our part now we can help stop the world’s preventable plastic problems from getting worse.

India, a land known for its mystic sadhus, yogis, and sages. In ancient times these were the people a common man used to look up to for spiritual guidance.  But in today's world the same sadhu's, yogis and baba's have become dreaded criminals.
The case in point is here is recent sexual harassment allegations against UP BJP leader and former Union Minister Swami Chinmayanand is a reminder of Yogi Adityanath‘s Government’s propensity to shield prominent politicians from the consequences of their crime. The arrest of Chinmaynand, almost a month after allegations of sexual harassment of a PG Law student surfaced against him indicating how the Law&Order machinery works differently for the people in powerful positions. The push to take action came from SC, but the height of the problem is, the so-called SIT finally questioned the accused and took action against his victim, in the cross FIR filed by Chinmayanand claiming attempts to extort Rs 5 crores. A sword of Damocles is hanging over her head now. After SC heard her out, gave her full protection, ordered to constitute SIT, the spunky girl shared as many as 45 tapes she had recorded on a spy camera with the SIT. But sensing SIT was dragging its feet she threatened to commit self-immolation, which was when Chinmayanand was eventually arrested.
Chinmayanand is the second BJP leader to have been arrested in UP for sexual assault, the first being Kuldeep Singh Sengar, an MLA from UNNAO. If there is a thing more disgusting than the crime itself, it’s bad to shield the perpetrators. A state government siding with rapists or rape accused sounds like the stuff of medieval ages. This is no fiction borne out of sinister imagination, it’s the reality of Yogi Ji’s government.
From Asaram of Rajasthan to Nityananda to Rampal of Haryana or Ganeshananda Teerthapada of Kerala, sexual oppression forms the matrix of these Godmen’s spirituality.
The Godmen from the only top slice of an elaborate and multi-tiered system in which Yogis, maulvis, fakirs, gurus, swamis, pastors, and priests who make mystical claims and hold devotees in awe-operate as sexual predators.
In the case of Chinmayanand instead of clarity in the case and clear cut legal action, the public had heard the attempts to deflect the wave of protests that erupted against him by claiming that a conspiracy was being hatched against him. What allegedly happened to the law student is just a continuation of the rising graph of crimes against women being reported from UP. To compare national crime figures with figures from the state’s, it becomes evident that UP has the dubious distinction of twice the national average in terms of reported cases of rape. We have also seen many cases of child rapes end with the murder of the victim
therefore it’s for the governments to put an end to sexual abuse by the so-called godmen.

On the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi fondly called), it is time to recall the principles and ideologies he stood for. He was such a profound personality that even after 70 years after his death we continue to learn from every aspect of his life. Be it his non-violent means to solve any problem(between people or between nations), his propagation of simple living and self-reliance, his vision of progression for the nation. All these need to make a come back in a big way.
On the lifestyle front, our PM has taken up a very good initiative to reduce single-use plastic in this country.  A result of blindly emulating the developed nations which are responsible for the mounting waste of various kinds based on the growing demand for material goods and products(I'm studying/collecting material on plastic usage and come back to you separately soon).
On the world peace front, it appears that the global community including the UN has been generally ineffective in curbing violence in several regions of the world. The war in Yemen continues to kill innocent human beings including children. The conflict in Syria, despite the involvement of some big powers, has not led to any movement towards peace even as ceasefire after ceasefire is violated. In our neighbourhood, the Taliban continues to attack innocent individuals in Afghanistan, clearly encouraged and funded by the army of another country in the same neighbourhood.
Overall Gandhian principles and beliefs are required to be spread worldwide not only to eliminate conflicts within the narrow prism of one community or one nation imposing violence against another.
Being the birth nation of Gandhiji, India needs to be the torchbearer of his principals and ideologies for a more peaceful world and also to come up with simple nature-centric solutions to various problems we as a world face.