My views on the AP situation met with a mixed response a week ago. And it is natural to have a multitude of opinions and views on a single issue and everyone is most welcome to express themselves.
Now AP Assembly passed a resolution for the dissolution of AP Legislative Council. But in my opinion, the change of capital now, after a gap of 6 years, is a bad idea. Please remember, I'm not a supporter CBN or YSJ nor their political parties. It's purely my personal view, for a state like AP which is reeling under financial pressure, the CM’s move to create three capitals would do no good at this stage. it defies all logic. The Amaravati, which Mr. CBN had made considerable headway in developing, will be retained as Legislative Capital, Housing the state Assembly, Visakhapatnam 367km away will be Executive Capital, where the state secretariat and Rajbhavan will be based. Finally, Kurnool 692 km from Visakhapatnam and 343 km from Amaravati will be judicial capital with the High Court. CM’s ostensible logic for this dramatic shift is disingenuous. He says he wants “inclusive development", the latest term in the national political lexicon that usually hides a multitude of motives. Inclusive development in its original form is embedded in the concept of administrative efficiency for all. I fail to understand how decentralising the three key organs of the governance by hundreds of kilometers will achieve this. For Example, a land looser to a government project contesting compensation will find himself saddled with huge travel costs shuttling between Visakhapatnam and Kurnool, besides the legal fees. If CM is so concerned about decentralisation, it would make sense to develop mini-secretariats in each major region just as Haryana and UP have done with Gurugram, and Noida respectively. This has the dual benefit of accessing administration and LA matters easily, but Mr. Reddy is unlikely to follow this because of ingrained caste rivalries between coastal Kammas represented by Naidu and the Reddys from Rayalaseema. The former is said to have gained from Amaravati land deals which is why Reddy is seeking to rebalance for the caste he represents via this decentralised scheme. Many would say that the Naidu Government selected Amaravati for Real estate purposes, which may be true or may not be true, but keeping its historical importance in mind and also considering its geographical location owing to its access ability from all corners of the state. A capital out of sight would be out of the minds of the people as well.
Now with the passage of the bill, in AP Assembly, for dissolution of Legislative council, it would be at the mercy of HM, and PM. Lets wait and watch what is in store for Reddy. 

After my superannuation,we settled in Hyderabad,now living in big gated community called””Rainbow Vistas””,falls under Moosapet ,area, very near to Kukatpalli Housing Board,.In this complex, I see every day somany food delivery boys entering and going out.I have noticed that the food delivery and e-commerce Apps have boomed leading to a surge in retail consumption through on line delivery.As per my observation,the products delivered involve extensive cardboard and plastic packaging .To promote sustainable ecosystem and protect the environment ,business models should persuade consumers to shift their mindset towards plastic free shopping experience.Its time we promote a sustainable life style in the consumer market also.

I had come across recently one report”, The  Study by  the Indian Council Of Medical Research “”that depression and anxiety affects 45.7 million,and 44.9million people respectively is mind boggling.What is more shocking is that prevalence of mental disorders has doubled in the last 20years.Infact As per the said report one in seven people in our country suffer from mental disorder is very distressing.What is worse is that many such people hesitate to take medical assistance,which leads to it to aggravate.
It’s time remedies are made more accessible and the stigma around mental health is removed.Govts have to address this problem in all seriousness sothat the situation gets addressed ,..

There was report that Government is planning to reduce the duty-free allowance on alcohol to one bottle from two from people retuning from abroad.The reason cited is that countries such as Singapore permit only one  bottle at these duty free stores at the Airports. But in my opinion ,it would be ideal not to reduce the allowance.Why deprive international travellers a small pleasures? After all Brazil permits 12 bottles of alcohol and even UAE permits 4 bottles,.Let us focus on dealing with serious economic issues like inflation,falling growth rate, instead of a bottle of small desires.

It is distressing to see AP state Assembly/Council’s proceedings, as people of AP are taken for a ride, by selfish politicians. When CM of AP introduced the New Bill for making Amaravati, only a legislative capital while shifting the Executive to Vizag, and recommending to shift the AP High Court To Kurnool, some of my friends from AP expressed happiness, saying that YS Jagan simply rocked, that’s OK, in democracy we should respect all opinions. If you analyse the reality, already several thousands of crores Of rupees, of taxpayer’s money has been spent on providing infrastructure in Amaravati. Does the current dispensation have the right to dissipate the precious money of the common man? Further, Decentralisation in modern parlance is a must. But does it mean one has core wings at 3 different places? With protesters at his doorstep and his intransigence, Mr. Reddy has a man-made crisis that he can ill-afford. His plan of having Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary at three different places could be well-intentioned and help him assuage feelings of all the places, but it’s ridden with challenges. With the functions of Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary, being interconnected, requiring swift approvals and quick transfer of files, governance is bound to suffer, a time lag, while efficiencies will be compromised. The exchequer too will be under additional fiscal stress owing to logistical expenses. The infrastructural costs of building new spaces will make a future dent on the state budget, though Reddy insists that the firming of Amaravati would have been much more expensive. Most importantly the movement of staff for allied or overlapping issues could end up disturbing the bureaucracy. Then there is a larger issue of loss of face among investors both global and domestic. Allegations of malpractices that the Reddy regime has been leveling against Naidu’s contracts have already scared the prospective investors.

The larger picture must be thought of by politicians rather than it being more a personal issue related to the prestige, pride, and political prospects of the political incumbent and his predecessor. Therefore in the present scenario, vis-a-vis the protests by farmers, it would be a better solution to defer the matter, for some time. And efforts should be made to include farmers and bring consensus with them before going ahead with the matter.

It’s very unfortunate, both at the Centre and states, the democratic process, is ignored, while mostly the decisions are unilateral.

The MP, Maharashtra, or Kashmir their position and AP are not comparable, as per my understanding is it’s because of seasonal reasons in Maharashtra, Himachal, and former J&K, etc have a second capital. Reddy’s test will now be in Upper House where his party doesn’t have absolute majority and TDP will be a thorn in the flesh. All the more reason for him to act prudently as BJP with Jenasena must be waiting for him to make mistakes.

 “Stagflation kicks in after 6 years” screamed a newspaper headline today.
The retail inflation has sharply risen to over five and a half years high of 7.35% in Dec from 5.54% in Nov, following a significant surge in food prices and hike in telecom tariffs. Retail inflation-officially called the consumer price index-has breached the RBI’s tolerance levels of 6% and could deny space for the central bank to slash interest rates to boost sagging economic growth. This is the highest retail inflation witnessed during Modi Ji’s  Govt Since 2014. Retail inflation had spiked now because of higher food inflation which was at 14.22%. Food inflation shot up because vegetables became very costly, which means rise by 60% while pulses became 15% costlier.
With our Economy suffering turbulence in recent times and GDP stooping very low, what India currently needs is a no-holds-barred landmark Economic reform on the lines of 1991Economic liberalisation spearheaded by Narasimha Rao & Manmohan Singh. The Finance Ministry must not only focus on bringing down the fiscal deficit but also the common man’s out-of-pocket expenditure.
Unfortunately at a time when citizens are faced with huge unemployment crisis and skyrocketing prices of Onions, Milk, etc including other vegetables as result of severe slump in economy, our government passed CAA, followed by the decision of the Union Cabinet giving its approval to update NPR, which is supposed to be the first step towards countrywide NRC. As such moderates and liberals say that it’s a clear ploy to distract the people from the real economic problems plaguing the nation.Its for the people to draw inferences. Economic crisis, severe unemployment, agrarian crisis, etc are very important things to be attended to, on top priority.
The country is in dire need of organisations that will contribute to economic and scientific growth and help compete with other superpowers. It is for people to decide if taking measures regarding economic reforms or passing the immigration laws the urgent need of the nation. 

A friend of mine had some basic questions regarding all the protests that are happening all around the country. The same lingering questions are being raised by certain media outlets and also the ruling political party on the issues related to CAA, NRC, NPR, etc. His question was do all the protestors are aware of what these laws are about and their implications.
But I feel it is incorrect to believe that protesters do not know what they are protesting about, while the government says that there is a confusion in the minds of protesters and lack of knowledge about its legislation and proposed actions on the citizenship. But the fact of the matter is, that we are seeing wider and more passionate resistance to the government since 2014. The question is why ?
From Assam to Kerala, from Delhi to Tamil Nadu, from towns, and villages, young people are on the march. A rattled government is unsure what to do. It shuts mobile services, Metro stations, schools, and colleges, and declares Sec144, a British Invention to suppress the freedom of movement. It was ineffective then, and its proving to be ineffective even now.
The government ‘s analysis of illegal immigrants is not misplaced. People have indeed sneaked in, through India’s porous borders, from countries like Bangladesh, and Nepal, etc. However their numbers are not enormous enough to justify a nationwide NRC, which seems to have been designed with the same logic as Demonetisation -- weed out a few corrupt elements and put to inconvenience the whole population and the result, we have all seen, I don't need to elaborate on it. This also may lead to unintended consequences, just like in the case of Demonetisation. Rather than spending huge amounts on such disruptive exercises, the government should take measures to prevent illegal immigration, by taking steps like better border protection, technological surveillance and entering into agreements with neighbouring countries, etc.
Even the UN voiced concern,  the High Commissioner for Human Rights said it was “concerned” that the Citizenship Amendment Act was fundamentally discriminatory.” Dismissing all criticism with his customary pomposity our Union HM said protest as much you want, the CAA will be implemented at any cost. Maybe for this very reason, the New York Times meant wrote “Modi makes his bigotry even clearer”
The size and spread of the protests show how wrong this reading has become, but don’t expect any course correction.

The outbreak of violence on the JNU campus on Sunday throws up many disturbing questions. Masked goons wielding sticks, rods, hammers -probably mostly outsiders, although, this needs to be ascertained through an impartial probe, if such a thing is still possible, about which I have my doubts. Who ran riot on the fateful Sunday night.

If scores of armed hoodlums were beating up students and teachers, pulling out even young women from their hostel rooms and attacking doors windows, and parked vehicles inside the campus, their friends, colleagues, and sympathisers who had massed at the main gate, were flattening the tires and breaking the windowpanes of ambulances seeking to go in, bring out the injured as police stood by meekly.

Politically it’s nothing but a manifestation of state terror. How else can one explain the passive behavior of policemen, clearly tools of the state and executors of law and order? Even if VC didn’t clear, their entry could have not stopped the mayhem to preserve the rule of law. Both left and right-wing student outfits were caught in a war of accusations and counter-accusations, but then even going by the circumstantial evidence, left controls the students union, is best placed to fight for student’s rights on its terms and would not need to shed blood of its chief. Not a single attacker was detained by Delhi police deployed in large numbers at the campus. Since street lights were turned off, and police have given cover for the mob that leisurely walked away. Therefore, the attack couldn’t have been carried out without the connivance of those in power. I don’t understand the logic behind blaming left and Congress, or Urban Naxals. That only shows their bias.

The students' unions in politics have changed their nature and texture completely these days. Earlier when we were students at the university, it was all about student’s welfare, but now it’s all about the call given by the parent organisations and their political leadership. The pernicious practice of politicising has crossed all canons of decency. Ironically, what I came to know, that those who get into JNU are brilliant ones, who face stiff competition at the entrance examination. I believe, mostly they come from lower middle class, and low-income brackets, and continue their studies with great difficulty. But in the end , they bring glory to the institution itself with their academic excellence. Left ideology survives in dots in campuses, has virtually been eroded in the mainstream political space 

It’s rather bizarre that Delhi police which was so active in suppressing protests in Jamia  Millia  Islamia didn’t feel qualms in directing its fury even on those in the University’s library, couldn’t protect innocent students and academics from armed goons. This mayhem points to meticulous planning and one can not but guess that police must have had an inkling of it. This only confirms that organisations following fascist ideology have been given free hand to target their ideological opponents and with an assurance of impunity against prosecutions. If this downslide is not arrested it may result in civil unrest. This behavioural pattern of police force indicates an ominous change, detrimental to the spirit of democracy.

The  BJP has faced huge electoral loss in the recent past.  The significant loss of BJP comes as a bang in the middle of the countrywide agitation, and protests against the amended law on Citizenship. The problem is the tearing hurry with which the government is pushing its agenda, while nobody is naive to believe that NPR is not a precursor to NRC. The reason for gathering data on the date and the place of birth of parents and the last place of residence from respondents in the proposed house-to-house enumeration is not far to seek or beyond comprehension. This is what I have understood from the readings and discussions. The UPA -era NPR, with its emphasis on “residency” and the present modified version of NPR with its emphasis on “Citizenship “can not be bracketed together. Needless to say, the addition of 3,4 columns can make all the difference.
People are losing faith slowly, and they are getting confused because people at the helm of affairs are expected to speak the truth and take people into confidence, before taking such far-reaching decisions. If you recall the President of India in 2019, only six months before said: "My government has decided to implement the process of NRC.” While our Honourable PM in Dec 2019 just a few weeks ago mentioned” my government has never discussed the word NRC”
Another incident just to quote, that this year manifesto of BJP says” we are committed to the enactment of Citizenship Amendment Bill. We will expeditiously complete the national register of Citizens process on priority and will implement the NRC in other parts of the country.” Our HM repeated these points at various election rallies. But later PM declared that there was “no discussion on NRC after I became PM” So do the manifesto and HM repudiates PM?
I can recall many more such incidents but I'm refraining from mentioning them here as it will lengthen the write-up.
People are very enlightened while top people in the government are on a rampage, on a brazen agenda to do what they think is right.  Such acts have led to shrinking of BJP's footprint-from high of ruling two-third of the states, it’s now down to just about a third of India. Many reasons for this are cited but decisive factor seems to be the electorate’s disenchantment with “national issues.” The victory is likely to energise the parties in the opposition and they would be hoping that Bihar and Delhi which would go to polls later may vote the Jharkhand way provided the opposition is united and no fissures should come out in open. It also signals that the absolute rule of BJP is diminishing, and the so-called idea of Congress Mukth Bharath or the idea of decimation or non-existence of regional parties is a eutopia. The results of Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and Haryana clearly illustrated that parliamentary elections of 2019, were possibly just an “abnormal “election owing to the “Ballot effect” like the 1984 election which happened just after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. But who knows that just before elections again some such thing won’t happen?