The current Indo-Chinese situation gives us a sense of Deja Vu. Looks like Chinese governments believe in a confrontational attitude and have antipathy towards peaceful coexistence.
I think India cannot tread a path of total confrontation, coerced by passion-driven public opinion.  It was easy to blame Nehru for everything that happened in 1962 but after more than 5 decades our position is no better, we still lost a colonel, 20 soldiers, and 10 members have been captured by them (released later).
Today I would like to focus on the most trending topic and also one that is on top of every Indian's mind at this point #boycottchinesegoods.
It’s not that easy to boycott Chinese products when they constitute a substantial percentage of our imports. Not only India, but China has also made several other nations, including the so-called Bigbrother US, dependent on it for various types of goods by its strategic export policies and humongous domestic capabilities built up over many years. To say goodbye to China needs an elaborative plan of action. India can not disengage from the business entirely. From Yoga teachers to IT behemoths, there are plenty of interests entrenched there. Here we need not get carried away by a nationalistic pitch but need to recognise our strengths and weaknesses, without getting downbeat. Everyone knows India doesn’t have enough economic muscle to flex around.
Undeniably Chinese products occupy much of the space on the shelves of shops and stores in India. China has not just developed a niche market, it has diversified into all products and overwhelmed the Indian market. Whatever their quality, Chinese products are relatively cheaper and more affordable and face no serious competition. Experts are divided on the issue of imports from China. While some endorse the boycott call, others favour more tariffs. For people to shift their brand loyalty they have to have an option. To what extent the ban will moderate Chinese behaviour towards India, is not clear. Whether the threat to boycott Chinese products, can be used as a bargaining chip at the negotiation table, too, is not clear. Self-reliance and “make in India “ are worthy goals which we should actualise.
Despite the obvious asymmetry between two nations —the size of India’s economy is one-fourth of China’s while Beijing enjoys military superiority—India continues to push above its weight. Therefore banning Chinese goods may be counterproductive, given the dynamics of bilateral trade. India imports a lot of intermediate goods from China and stopping that trade will affect the country’s ability to produce finished goods and the overall competitiveness of the manufacturing sector. Such a move will be counterproductive in the import-dependent sectors like automobiles, pharmaceuticals, electronics, and telecommunications, etc.
The harsh reality is that India’s poor share in global trade is a reflection of its acute lack of competitiveness. Domestic bottlenecks such as poor infrastructure, lack of reliable power, logistical delays, regulatory hurdles, and problems in enforcing contracts are some of the real culprits. Therefore to say goodbye to Chinese goods we need elaborate economic infrastructural planning.

Books have been my greatest company during this corona time and I have been able to finish reading 3-4 books in these last couple of months.
 The one I just finished reading is a Telugu book called “Itla Sutha” ,” Kurushetra Rahitha Mahabharata Gatha” which was given to me by my co-brother Srinivas Dy Commissioner (Customs&CE), and insisted that I should read it without fail, as it is written in purely old colloquial Telangana dialect, and subject though relating to Mahabharata, author Sri Varigonda Kantharao, fictionalised or reimagined it in a way he can do away with the Kurushetra Yudha. So to avert the war between Pandavas & Kauravas,  he made Karna switchover to Pandavas' side, as he is the firstborn son of Kunti. All this is hypothetical analysis but very nicely done. As I'm not used to writing Telugu on a keyboard, I'm directly posting the gist from the book here for a better appreciation of my FB friends.
ఇట్ల సుత’ ఒక అపురూప రచన. మహాభారత కథ దీనికి భూమిక. మహాభారత యుద్ధం జరగకుండా ఉండి ఉంటే ఎట్లా ఉండేది అన్న ఆలోచనే దీనికి మూలం. జననష్టదాయకమైన యుద్ధ నివారణకు ఒకటే ఒక మార్గం ఉంది. అది కర్ణుని యుద్ధ వైముఖ్యం. దాన్ని కేంద్రంగా తీసుకుని ఈ బృహద్రచన సాగింది. దౌత్య సందర్భంలో కర్ణునితో జరిగిన శ్రీకృష్ణుని సమావేశమే ఈ రచనకు ప్రాణం. తన ఆలోచనలకు అంగీకారం తెలిపిన కర్ణుడు పాండవ పక్షంలో చేరిపోవడంతో యుద్ధం సంశయగ్రస్తమైంది. దీనికి తోడు కుంతి కూడా కర్ణుణ్ణి కలవడం కూడా యుద్ధనివారణలో మరో ప్రధాన హేతువు. ఈ రెండు హేతువుల కారణంగా కర్ణుడు పాండవ శిబిరానికి రావడం వల్ల, ఇక్కడి నుండి కథ కొత్త మలుపులు తీసుకుంది. చివరకు యుద్ధం ఆగిపోయింది. ఇదీ స్థూల విషయం.

ఇందులో కర్ణునితోబాటు భీష్ముడు, కృష్ణుడు, శకుని, దుశ్శాసనుడు, దుర్యోధనుడు మొదలైన పాత్రల చిత్రణ చాలా విశేషంగా కనిపిస్తుంది. పాఠకుణ్ణి లోతుగా మూలాల్లోకి వెళ్ళి ఆలోచింపజేస్తుంది. కాని భారతమూలకథకు, ధర్మజుని పట్టాభిషేకానికి కర్ణ, దుశ్శాసనాదుల మరణానికి మాత్రం ఎటువంటి ఆటంకమూ కలుగకపోవడం విశేషం. కాకపోతే మరణాలు మరో కారణంగా సంభవిస్తాయి. అందుకే దీన్ని రచయిత "కురుక్షేత్ర యుద్ధ రహిత వచన కావ్యం" గా చెప్పాడు. ఈ రచనలో మరో ముఖ్యమైన విశేషం ఉంది. అది భాష విషయం - ఈ మొత్తం రచన తెలంగాణా భాషలోనే సాగడం ఒక ప్రత్యేకత. చాలా సాఫీగా, ఎక్కడా కృత్రిమత లేకుండా రచన సాగించిన వరిగొండ కాంతారావు గారు అభినందనీయుడు.

A few days back an article titled "Descent of Democracy" caught my attention.  As per that, the Democracy index is compiled by Economist Intelligence Unit, a UK based company. The index is based on 60 indicators grouped in five different categories, measuring electoral process, pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties. The democracy index is a weighted average based on the answers to the said 60 questions. In addition to numeric score and ranking, the index categorises each country in one of the four regime types namely full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes, and authoritarian regimes.
The ECIU published its latest report “The State of Democracy in the world in 2018”.As per the report Norway was at the top, scoring 9.87 out of 10, while North-Korea with 1.08 was at the bottom. Only 20 countries are Full democracies, while the largest number of 55 countries are under flawed democracies, with 43% of the world population. A third of the world population live in 39, hybrid regime countries, while 43 countries have authoritarian governments.
Among the SAARC countries India (41), Srilanka(71), are classified as flawed democracies, followed by Bangladesh (88), Bhutan(94), and Nepal(97) which are classified as hybrid regimes, with Pakistan (112), Afghanistan (143), being authoritarian.
Even though the author mentions about other countries but here I would stick with India as it is a matter of personal interest for us.
If we have a look at the EIUD index map in the region, we can understand the uniqueness of India’s democratic credentials, hailed as the largest democracy in the world hemmed in by hybrid and authoritarian regimes.
India, which had reached its highest-ever position of 27, in 2014(MMS Govt) just two ranks away from becoming full democracy, slipped to 42nd position last year, registering second largest fall in ranking after Indonesia, which fell by 20 ranks, to 68. Even though India has improved one rank 41, there has been no improvement in scores which continues at 7.23.
This is the worst ever ranking on the index of India. It's a mid-range country among flawed democracies with a high score of 9.17, in electoral process and pluralism (out of 10). But with a moderate record not crossing 7.5 on the rest of the parameters. A dismal score on the state of civil liberties and a decline in the performance of the government and pluralism led to a slump in India’s rank. What has adversely affected India’s rankings last year, according to the report, is the rise of “conservative religious ideologies “, vigilantism, violence, narrowing the scope for dissent, threat to minorities and marginalised groups, etc. Journalists are increasingly under attack, as a result, limited scope for fair reportage, the Indian media is only classified as “partially free” a fact also corroborated by “Freedom in the world report 2018.”
This report covers the period before the 2019 elections. After the general elections, the abrupt abrogation of Art370, unilateral division of J&K, inordinately long clampdown, and incarceration of political leaders in Kashmir, NRC fiasco, citizenship legislation, increasing political manipulation’s, etc could dent ranking further. Earlier with all alleged inanities in secularism, India managed to remain a steady democracy.
It’s apprehended that the present regime’s panache for the conservative religious ideology if pursued long, may transform the country into a theocratic state like Pakistan and Bangladesh from a secular Republic.

Today’s An English News paper carries a report on the front page with the caption “”Jobless Grads,PGs,now after MGNREGS works. I feel very bad ,because it’s heart wrenching.The Graduates and Post Graduates rendered jobless due to Covid19 crisis now have no hangups about taking up unskilled and labour intensive jobs under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural employment Guarantee Scheme .They are in sizeable Numbers among ,atleast 35,Lakhs people across the country who have applied for this Scheme MGNREGA since April 1st -the highest in the decade .

India lost more jobs since announcement of lockdown in a shoddy manner.As per the latest report one in every four Indians is unemployed now..The Corona virus-induced lockdown for the longest period in the world has triggered job losses that are unprecedented in the Indian history.Over 122 million people lost their jobs in April, last, according to Centre For Monitoring Indian Economy.What is more worrisome is that India had entered the lockdown with already high unemployment level.Report also says India lost more jobs since imposition of nation wide lockdown in March than the US did during Great Depression.At 27% the country’s unemployment rate is now four times that of US.

The disturbing scenes of desperate migrant workers fleeing cities on foot to return to their villages dominated TV screens and News paper columns,all these days .If you see the reports many large scale companies across sectors including retail ,automobiles, hospitality ,aviation etc have announced massive layoffs,while many small and medium businesses are likely to shut shops altogether.The job loss and salary cuts will slowdown further ,the recovery , even after pandemic..The much touted “Atmanirbhar Bharath Abhiyan””package contains long term measures,to ease credit and liquidity concerns but will have no bearing on immediate task of providing succour to the people impacted by pandemic.Since vulnerable sections need cash in their hands to feed their families,Centre should have ensured direct cash transfer to the poor ,but since it was suggested by the rival group’s leader ,it’s not acceptable,irrespective of the fact that the suggestion is good.

Upon recommendations by some friends, I read "Wings of Fire" by APJ Abdul Kalam. A very inspiring personality who needs no introduction.
He was known as a Missile Man and a “people’s President “. This book is his autobiography, covering his early life and his work in India’s Space Research and Missile programs. His story is a story of a man rising above his circumstances as he was born to a small middle-class boat owner in Rameswaram, Tamilnadu.
The first few chapters highlight the role of his family, relatives, and friends in setting him on the path to achieving his goals. They give readers a very good insight into his beginnings and make the readers intrigued and involved in the story.
It stresses the fact that youth should not be disheartened by failures. According to him, some hidden knowledge is within us with which we should convey. It drives the message home very hard especially for youth not to get bogged down in life due to personal tragedies and setbacks, and through his life experiences, readers can imbibe ways and means to overcome them. The early chapters are very engaging as we get a vivid picture of the country during the 1930-1950s. He also brings to fore the religious harmony which existed before partition of India.
After having completed his education, he wanted to become an officer in Air Force, however, he couldn’t clear the interview, in Delhi, then he went to Rishikesh, where he met Swamy Sivananda in his Ashram, and the reaction of Sivananda Ji was very interesting and prophetic.
“Accept your destiny and go ahead with your life. What you are not destined to become is not revealed now, but it’s predestined. Forget this failure, as it’s not essential to lead you to the destined path, search, instead, for the true purpose of your existence. Become one with yourself, to the wish of God”
  This book should be read by every Indian.The warmth, deeply passionate, story of a boat owner’s son who had become India’s most distinguished living technocrat. Students, HR professionals, and all the people dealing with men and matters should invariably read it, as you will get a lot of inputs on Motivation, Organisational Behaviour including abilities to be inculcated, etc.which are very important to survive.
But this book covers Mr.Kalam’s personal life very briefly which is strange for an autobiography.  I was curious to know whether he would mention about own self as to why he remained a bachelor throughout, and other activities outside the Space Research, etc.
One of the things that stands out throughout the book is Kalam’s positive thinking. He held many high ranking positions in various organisations yet he rarely mentioned anything about the lethargy/corruption, of bureaucracy or politicians. The secret of his success seems to be his ability to ignore negative things around him.

An unfortunate spin-off from pandemic has been the suspension of basic labour laws in many BJP ruled states like UP, MP, Gujarat. The other day one of my friends posted an item saying that the labour laws being useless, continuing since the Nehruvian era, laws with the socialistic approach, won’t serve any purpose, therefore the idea of suspension of labour laws will be the greatest virtue. But I am afraid, the suspension of labour laws and freehand given to Industries May lead to a wave of easy closures, and retrenchments, which will only worsen the unemployment situation in the country. It is true the labour laws need to be streamlined but is it the right time when millions of migrant labourers are out of jobs, and heading back to their home states? By diluting labour laws that guarantee some measure of protection against exploitation, we could be adding to their misery. But the justification being given is that they are coming in the way of economic revival.and as I understand, the economic revival is dependent on many factors such as right stimulus, tax breaks, and the support from concerned state governments, etc. I agree they were written in a different century, I feel, it rings true even today’s climate. Not Only is the brunt of the lockdown being borne by labour population but also their right to a dignified life is being threatened by these so-called unjust exemptions. Indiscriminate profiteering by capitalists at the expense of marginalised is nothing new for us, but coming in this situation marks a new low.
Instead of suspension of labour laws, I would have appreciated the government’s if they suspend the sedition law, which is being used and misused and abused by the government, at their will to suppress the common democratic right of criticism. Sedition means inciting people to rebel against the state. In the Indian democratic system, governments have always been criticised by political opponents and media. This was never interpreted as a rebellion against the state, previously, say about 10 years ago. British bureaucratic legalese is the hallmark of Sedition law that we are still following. Strangely many of our present-day elected leaders seem to believe that once elected they are above the checks and balances of democracy. The Govt Of Gujarat is the best example, wherein Mr. Patel a journalist was booked for sedition when he uploaded a report on CM which was very routine saying that there were problems between CM and BJP HighCommand.and such type of reports appear about many leaderships in many states. If the report is wrong, the CM and HighCommand could have denied or disowned it and the media would have published it. But the Government ensured that that CID filed an FIR against Patel under the sedition Act. On the other hand, police chief twisted the matter to say that because of Coronavirus he had been detained, not arrested but sent to the hospital for COVID treatment. Therefore thrusting this Act to prevent legitimate give and take in a democracy, is a very cheap trick. Parliamentary criticism of a government or minister is the essence of democracy. To say that such criticism is Sedition amounting to rebellion against the state, is it fair? It’s nonsense.
So instead of muzzling labour laws, if the center is having a will, the draconian Sedition Law should be amended forthwith.

India After Modi, populism, and the right, a book by Ajay Godavarthy, I had some apprehensions before starting to read this book. I felt the content of the book will be heavily tilted if the author is a Modi bhakt .
But all my doubts faded away once I started reading it. The author divided the book into 4 parts with a brilliant introduction which is the crux of every argument he made. Indeed the introduction itself could be seen as a summary of the whole book, but more importantly, it offers certain political concepts that are undoubtedly unique to populism. Part 1&2 are a critical examination of organisational structure and functions of BJP-RSS, in India.
India After Modi Book, attempts to address the divide between 'us & them" which grew steadily in politics. Do you sometimes wonder whether it will be repaired at all, in the future? Do you ever pause to reflect why emotions spill on the streets and why Democratic Institutions in India have been dysfunctional? All these questions addressed through an analysis of events like AwardVapasi, Demonetisation, the crisis of JNU, and other Higher Educational Institutions, including states of Bihar & UP, in his collection of Essays.
India After Modi doesn’t merely condemn but takes the job of critique seriously by pointing out the many ways in which BJP has offered numerous marginals and recently disempowered groups. This is a timely book that diligently captures the qualitative study of colonial India.
Though written before 2019 General Elections the book makes a lot of good observations on the future of Indian politics given the emergence of BJP-RSS combine. This book is not a blind critique of Right-wing populism despite it being written by a left-liberal. But as such, it is like a theory, and I can’t say it’s a must-read.
The Author Ajay Godavarthy is Associate Professor at the center for political studies in JNU, New Delhi. Earlier he taught at National Law School, Bangalore. He was also a visiting professor at the University of Hyderabad, and University of London