What has changed? Apparently nothing
In his column for The Indian Express, former finance minister P Chidambaram writes that despite several setbacks for the government in the 20 days of its formation, the BJP's focus remains on signalling that the Lok Sabha elections have not dented "the supreme leader's way of doing things," despite the people's mandate. He asserted that the BJP has refused to acknowledge the fact that it is a coalition government.
"There have been several setbacks in the 20 days since the government was formed. The National Testing Agency imploded and the raging fire consumed the aspirations of lakhs of students. There was a horrific train accident in Jalpaiguri. Terrorist attacks continued in Jammu & Kashmir. The prices of tomato, potato and onion increased, year on year, by 39, 41 and 43%, respectively. The Sensex and Nifty soared to historic highs while the dollar-rupee exchange rate plunged to a historic low. Toll tax on highways was raised by 15%."P Chidambaram, Former Finance Minister
Criticism We Cannot Ignore
In her column for The Indian Express, Tavleen Singh cites the Report on International Religious Freedom for 2023 released by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, which pointed at the "concerning increase in anti-conversion laws, hate speech, demolitions for members of minority faith communities." She said that the government's 'fake disdain and fake bravado' is not a sufficient response to reports such as these.
"Demonising those of other faiths, especially Muslims, has become so routine in the past ten years that incidents of yet another 'cattle smuggler' being lynched now barely make the news. The tragic reality is that the killers are almost never brought to justice and always remain face less. Now that there is a powerful opposition in Parliament, we must hope that this changes as do a few other practices that have given India a bad name."Tavleen Singh for The Indian Express
PLI to ELI – an idea for Nirmala Sitharaman
In his column for Deccan Herald, Praveen Chakravarty writes that though the government's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme claimed to have created 6.8 lakh jobs, there was no way of verifying the number. He explains this happens because PLI only measures production accurately, not the number of jobs created, since it pays firms based on its output. He adds that the incentive should directly be tied to employment, instead of production, in order to measure job creation.
"For example, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, Foxconn, nearly doubled its production and sales between 2010 and 2020, but its total number of workers remained roughly the same. This is due to automation and machines replacing humans, which is an inevitability that improves productivity, quality and efficiency for companies. But the fact remains that just boosting economic output does not automatically boost job creation any longer."Praveen Chakravarty for Deccan Herald
Claim to Prohibition is Immoral, Ahistoric
In his column for Hindustan Times, Karan Thapar writes that deaths due to consumption of hooch are "double tragedies" because they are not only horrific but also entirely preventable.
"All it requires is the acceptance of a cold fact of reality. Not all human beings are teetotalers. Many want to drink. They enjoy doing so. And frankly, in any mature, sensible, democratic society, they have an inalienable right to do so. It is attempts to deny that right or place unacceptable curbs on it that cause the problem."Karan Thapar for Hindustan Times
Emergency Reruns
In her column for The Indian Express, Coomi Kapoor writes that even as the Parliament commemorated the anniversary of Indira Gandhi's Emergency during the ongoing session, it failed to address the fact that a "dark cloud still hangs over freedom of expression" even today.
"Strong-arming individuals and groups funding the media, unjustly applying laws concerning terrorism and corruption, raiding media offices and arresting scribes without following due process, denying visas to foreign journalists, using the CBI and the ED to settle scores are some of the more draconian methods of media regulation of late. But control of news emanation can even be effected by simply shutting out legitimate sources of information. Scribes who don't toe the line are cut out from the loop of newsgathering like background briefings, interviews, and entry to Parliament and government offices."Coomi Kapoor for The Indian Express
Preaching consensus, provoking confrontation
In her article for The Hindu, Rajya Sabha MP and former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi writes that the first few days of the 18th Lok Sabha "have sadly been far from encouraging." She not only asserted that the government needs to look ahead but also pointed out issues that warrant(ed) and extensive debate, including the new criminal justice laws.
"Similarly, amendments to forest conservation and biological diversity protection forest laws were pushed through last year when there was uproar and chaos in Parliament. An ecological and humanitarian disaster is awaiting us as the Great Nicobar project is pushed through. Should they also not be revisited to give meaning to the Prime Minister’s stated desire for consensus and for passage of laws after full debate and discussion? On the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) scandal that has wreaked havoc on the lives of lakhs of our youth, the immediate response of the Education Minister was to deny the magnitude of what has happened. The Prime Minister who does his ‘Pariksha pe Charcha’ has been conspicuously silent on the leaks that have devastated so many families across the country."Sonia Gandhi for The Hindu
Soft Power Options to Win And Retain Friends
In his column for Hindustan Times, Janmejaya Sinha writes on how India can delay the backlash that its economic rise will "inevitably" bring. He cites that China too had a 10-year-long "honeymoon" when it went from a $1.2 trillion economy to a $6.5 trillion economy, where the US facilitated its entry into the World Trade Organisation. However, Xi' Jinping's entry challenged the US and led to backlash. If India learns its lessons, this "honeymoon" can be extended to 15 years, Sinha explains:
"The world sans China and Pakistan does not feel threatened by India's rise. India's soft power is rooted in the core Indian values of secularism, tolerance, inclusiveness, and assimilation of multiple cultures in its civilisation. So much so that William Dalrymple writes, "India has always had a strange way with her conquerors. In defeat, she beckons them in, then slowly seduces, assimilates, and transforms them." Today this is enhanced by India's democracy, was in a food, movies, music, inclusive non-missionary religion, the easy use of the English language, and respected higher education institutions. Its technology services companies and global capability centres (GCC) have created a strong services brand. In fact, the number of GCCs has doubled in the last 10 years."Janmejaya Sinha for Hindustan Times
Are Big Tech and Fascism synonymous?
In his column for Deccan Herald, Roger Marshall cites a speech of former US president Franklin D Roosevelt - “The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic State itself. That, in its essence, is fascism — ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power.” Marshall asserts that 100 years later, Big Tech has managed to monopolise every aspect of day-to-day life, be it in commerce, communication, entertainment, or anything else.
"Big Tech is an ardent advocate of free speech and human rights, only that it does not apply to their workplace, wherever that may be. Pro-Palestinian supporters may wish to take note. Big Tech is strongly opposed to surveillance when it happens in in China but not in the US. Tik-Tok is bad for the US but Meta is not? Big Tech is against military-civilian dual-use technologies in China but has no issues with bidding on billion-dollar Pentagon contracts. From Big Tech’s perspective, it is acceptable for law enforcement agencies to use its software for surveillance of Muslims and Blacks in the US but it is definitely not okay for China to keep tabs on the minority Uighur population."Roger Marshall for Deccan Herald
For Small Islands, Climate Finance is About Survival
In her column for Hindustan Times, Patricia Scotland, Secretary General of the Commonwealth, reiterated the need to climate finance Small Island Developing States (SIDS) as they safeguard 11.5 percent of the oceans' Exclusive Economic Zones -- which include 20 percent of terrestrial bird, plant and reptile species.
"Yet SIDS experience five times more climate-attributable deaths due to extreme weather events, and when shocks hit, SIDS are hit hard. A single cyclone can derail a small State's growth for years, if not decades. In 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated my own country of birth, Dominica, destroying 225% of its Gross Domestic Product. The damage of such shocks is worsened by inadequate financial support.Patricia Scotland for Hindustan Times
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