Adolf Hitler, it would appear, is in vogue in India and, not to be outdone in Sri Lanka, too. Arun Jaitley likened Indira Gandhi’s Emergency to Hitler’s abrogation of German democracy, the bizarre comparison perhaps is that contemporary Indian politicians have barely a nodding acquaintance with books, reading in their opinion perceived as subversion of the existing order.
If you think this is depressing in itself, consider the case of a Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka, Endaruwe Upali, of Kandy’s Asgiriya Chapter, whose birthday blessing to the country’s former Defence Minister, reads: ‘Let Gotabaya Rajapakse prove his critics right by becoming a real Hitler.’ A devotee of Gautama Buddha, also a worshipper of the Hitler cult is surely a headlong descent into insanity. Thankfully, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Srisena was quick to condemn the monk’s remark, with Prime Minister Rahil Wickremesingha issuing an even more robust rebuttal:: ‘There is no way Buddhism and Hitler’s brutality can be reconciled…Buddhists cannot tell someone to be like Idi Amin or Hitler or Pol Pot. It goes against the Buddha’s teachings.’ So it does. The erring monk, clearly abashed, said his words were not made ‘in a harmful sense’. (Hindu July 1)
The cocktail of religion and politics diminishes and destroys humanity.
Hindu Rohingyas in
Bangladesh
Around 100 Hindu Rohingya families fleeing persecution and violence in Buddhist Myanmar, have been given refuge in a camp in Bangladesh, a few miles from the large settlement of Muslim Rohingyas numbering 1.3 million (Hindu July 1)
Injured Yemeni troops
for Indian medicare
In conjunction with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India will be providing medical care for injured Yemeni troops and civilians and those suffering post-traumatic shock. The civil war in the country involves direct Saudi Arabian intervention, backed by the US and UK arms supplies to the Saudi kingdom.
India, UAE
Initiative
A source in New Delhi said: ‘This is an initiative to India’s medical diplomacy and humanitarian work of the UAE and the Red Crescent. This service was made possible by the coordination of India and UAE.’
Swift move to clinch
Russia missile deal
India is moving swiftly to clinch the multi-billion dollar deal with Russia for five advanced S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems, spurred on perhaps by threats of US sanctions against Russia, and by extension, against India as well. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has affixed her signature to the deal, the relevant papers to be forwarded the Cabinet Committee for Defence chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The approval of the Finance Ministry will duly follow.
Features
The S-400 can destroy hostile aircraft, stealth fighters, missiles and drones at 400km range at an altitude of 30km.
Radars can track hundreds of targets simultaneously
Rader can lock, shoot down Fifth Generation Stealth aircraft e.g. US F-35
Can intercept ballistic missiles with a velocity of 4,800 metres per second
(Times of India July 1)
Tata Steel, Thyssenkrupp
In joint venture deal
Tata Steel and Germany’s Thyssenkrupp have signed a joint venture agreement that will make them Europe’s second-largest steel company. It will have estimated sales worth $$17 billion and a combined workforce of 48,000. The Tata stake is 46 per cent, Thyssenkrupp 54 per cent. The plsant will be based in the Netherlands. Trade unions have endorsed the deal with noticeable enthusiasm (Times of India, Hindu July 1; BBC International TV channel July 1)
PSLV to launch
Australian satellite
India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) has been contracted to launch an Australian satellite into near earth orbit, making this first entry into Australia’s burgeoning space market. The Adelaide-based Fleet Space Technologies plans to put up a constellation of an stated number of tiny satellites, all of which will need a suitable launch vehicles to these into space (Hindu July 1)
India backs FATF’s watch-
list on Pak terror
India’s Ministry of External Affairs has welcomed the grey-listing of Pakistan by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force, hoped that the Islamabad government would take positive steps to counter jihadi terrorism breeding on its territory. Being on the grey-list requires Pakistan to enhance guarantees when borrowing money from international donors such as the International Monetary Fund. (Hindu July 1)
Four jihadis killed in
Kashmir operations
Four jihadi terrorists were killed in Kashmir district of Pulwara in two operations conducted by Indian security forces, said Director General of Police Shesh Paul Ved in Srinagar last week. The terrorists were run to ground in a house, which was encircled and the men shot dead in an exchange of fire (Hindu June 30)
Monsoon covers
Indian landmass
The Monsoon which has been active in western India, from Mumbai down the weast coast to Kerala, across the Peninsula, thence to OOdisha, West Bengal and the North Eastern states including Assam, Meghalaya and farther east, has reached the North West, with Rajasthan lashed by rain and high winds, a fortnight ahead of schedule. Plentiful rain at the right time and right places are a guarantee of a bountiful harvest and high rural growth (Hindu JJJJJuly 30)
Car sales
surge
India’s auto industry continued its double digit growth in June with higher demand for new models, while the increased volume of transported goods drove up the demand for commercial vehicles.
Five of the leading car makers posted around 20 per cent growth. The segment overall rose by 30 per cent, while the combined commercial sales rose by 43 per cent.
Maruti leads
Market leader Maruti Suzuki continued its drive the passenger car segment with sales growth of 44 per cent spurred by the popularity of its Baleno, Brezza and Swift models. That said, there were other foreign achievers such as South Korea’s Hyundai, which registered sales growth of 21 per cent. Other leading players, India’s Tata, Japan’s Honda and Toyota, were also up and running with creditable sales figures.
Tata Motor
excels
Girish Wagh, President, Commercial Vehicles at Tata Motors, said that sales in this sector had risen by 50 per cent on the back of buoyant industrial activity, driven by increased private consumption and higher government infrastructure investment. (Economic Times July 2)
Increase in India’s
foreign tourism
Time was when Indians wishing to embark on foreign tours were as scarce as gold dust, such being the scarcity of the country’s foreign exchange reserves. In the new, unfettered India of licences and permits, there are living experiences to savour, and hence travel companies say that the average expenditure of outbound tourists over the past three years had doubled to $80, 000.
Higher incomes, planned holidays, more international flights from Tier II cities, greater professionalism in the tourist, off-season tours et al are the principal factors responsible for this emergent reality.
High-end steel saves
India vast expense
India has saved some Rs 5,000 crore worth of foreign exchange through domestic production of high-end steel, said Steel Minister Choudhary Birendra Singh, The increased production of high-end steel had been of great benefit to the country’s shipping, defence, medical equipment, automobiles and various infrastructure sectors. He said the Steel Authority of India was collaborating with Arcelor Mittal in the production of high-end steel. The Steel Ministry had set up a Steel Research and Technology Mission to this end. India is projected to produce 300 million metric tonnes of steel by 2030 from the present 100 million and more tonnes. (Business Line June 30)
IISc science boost
The Indian Institute of Science, founded in 1909 by Jamsetji Tata and then Maharaja of Mysore Krishnaraja Wadyar IV in Bangalore, has a three-year plan to establish a research park at its present facility in the city in a bid to incubate science-technology companies.
Professor G.K. Ananthasuresh, Chairman of the Centre of Biosystems Science and Engineering, explained: ‘We want to scale it up ten times and the tenders for setting up the facility have already been issued.’
Collaboration
The institute, spread over 400 acres, is home to 400 departments. It has collaborative ventures with well established companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Volvo, Google, General Motors, Microsoft Research, Boeing, Pratt and Whitney, the Indian Space Research Organization, the (Indian) Aeronautical Development Agency and the (Indian) Centre for Advance Computing.(Hindu June 30)
!2 Sikhs killed in
Afghan suicide blast
Twelve Sikhs were killed in an overall death toll of 19, in a suicide bomb blast in a marketplace in the southern Afghan city of Jalalabad. Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani was in a government office nearby meeting local officials. The continuing violence in the country highlights its precarious security situation. Afghan Sikhs are considering emigrating to India (Hindu July 2)
Pakistanis joyride on
Kolkata trams
When 73 Pakistani students in Kolkata boarded a tram on a sightseeing tour of the city, it was a dream come true. Karachi born and bred, they had heard of trams that generations ago plied the city before turning into scrap for sale. In Kolkata they saw the real thing, still visible on restricted routes. The youthful visitors revelled in the experience (Times of India of India June 12)
