Exit polls have predicted another term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. All exit polls have put NDA well ahead of UPA. If exit poll projections are proven correct, some sort of an explanation will be required for how the NDA government has cut through, or entirely overcome, anti-incumbency despite many signs of a failing economy including- stagnant private investments, slowing consumption demand, agricultural distress, a jobs slowdown and credit squeeze.
There has been a long-running debate on how effective NDA’s flagship welfare schemes – such as Swachh Bharat Mission for universal sanitation, Ujjwala Yojana that provided cooking gas cylinders and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana that provided housing to poorer households – have been. If NDA does well it would indicate that these programmes – as well as related infrastructure build outs such as rural roads and electrification – have been administered well, much better than with similar schemes under UPA. Perhaps, welfare schemes may have worked well for the Modi government, but it needs to do something more if re-elected.
This will not remain true in the long run, however, and the next government must be alive to this. It will face looming challenges on the economic front. The last five years have seen a benign environment where food prices recorded only a modest increase and oil price declined. This benign phase appears to be coming to an end. Not only has economic momentum slowed, there are incipient signs of stress on the price front, while global trade wars, perhaps even real wars, are breaking out. Consequently, the next government will have no option but to press the accelerator on reforms.
The Modi government had shown some urgency on this front when elected in 2014, but appeared to hit the brakes when confronted by Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s populist slogan of it being a “suit boot ki sarkar”. The problem with the slogan is that it presents a false binary: market-oriented reforms don’t have to be anti-poor and can provide opportunities to the poor. Despite elite preconceptions poor people might eventually aspire to wearing suit and boot, or to the jobs that enable them to do this. Now that the Modi government has amply proven its pro-poor credentials, this is something it could fruitfully turn to. Just to cite an example, education which determines the quality of human capital, is critically in need of reform. The next administration should devote as much attention to educational reform as this one gave to Swachh Bharat Mission.
The numbers, however, predict a crisis for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Even the alliance of all the other parties may not win more than a total of 133 seats. As the predictions give a boost to the BJP, most of the opposition leaders have ridiculed the polls and believe that the exit poll figures are making erroneous claims. West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee tweeted that she doesn't trust the exit poll and that people are being manipulated. She added that the game plan is to manipulate or replace thousands of EVMs through this gossip.
Mars, Venus on ISRO list
As Indian politics plumbs the depths, Indian science and engineering are readying to soar into space. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) - a civilian body – is planning space missions to Mars and Venus, and a second, forthcoming mission to the Moon. In all, there will be seven such missions in the next 10 years.
While the Venus spacecraft is scheduled for a 2023 liftoff with over 20 payloads. The next decade will start in 2020 with interplanetary missions - Xposat to study cosmic radiation, then Aditya LI to the Sun in 2021, Mars Orbitor in Mission 2 in 2022, Lunar Polar Exploration (Chandrayan 3) in 2024 and Exo worlds, an exploration beyond the solar system due for takeoff in 2028.
Venus is regarded as the Earth’s twin sister because of the similarities in mass, size, composition, density and gravity. The Venus mission will study its surface and subsurface, atmospheric chemistry and the interactions with the solar radiation and solar winds.
‘We have received great response from across the world, and more than 20 payloads planned,’ said ISRO Chairman K. Sivan. ‘Aditya LI has been defined. The rest are in planning stages,’ added Sivan, who went on to explain that Aditya LI and the Sun mission may play a key role in understanding and predicting climate change. The payloads will study the solar corona. ‘Corona has an influence on the upper atmosphere and that can impact climate change on earth.’ Venus is about 1 per cent distance between the Sun and Earth, where the gravity of both celestial objects equalizes.
Placing the spacecraft in such an orbit allows it to circle along with the Earth, thereby constantly facing the Sun. ISRO’s biggest this year, Chandrayan 2 is all set for a July launch. Chairman Sivan said the spacecraft included the orbitor, lander and rover, which will be flight- ready by the end of May. The Xposat mission will last five years. These are exciting times, the positives and negatives in co-habitation that perhaps is uniquely Indian. It is something of a mystery to foreigners and Indians alike.
Dabbawalas gift to baby Archie
The Dabbawalas of Mumbai have become the stuff of legend, a cooperative venture excelling in free enterprise, a business model for some of the nation’s and the world’s top business schools. For years these humble men joined forces to carry thousands of mid-day meals from homes to thousands of offices where people from those homes worked. Docketed faultlessly with no external aids, but simple human ingenuity and commitment, they attracted the attention of Britain’s heir apparent Prince Charles. His Royal Highness visited the Dabbawala centre in Mumbai and caught a glimpse of them at work , entranced by what he saw. The Dabbawalas were equally moved by his interest in their work.
‘Prince Charles is our friend and has become a grandfather, we’ve become grandfathers too. In Marathi culture we present gifts to our grandchild,’ said Subhash Talekar, President of the Mumbai Dabbawala Association. Hence the Association sent silver jewellery to the new Royal arrival Archie Harrison Mountbatten Windsor, son of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. They sent the couple a local dress on their wedding last year.
They celebrated the Royal wedding by distributing sweets at a government hospital in Mumbai. And it all started with the bonding with Prince Charles many years ago. In a world riven by discord and mindless violence, this surely is an uplifting story.
