Indian political theatre is never more than a sustained brawl. It makes television a living hell of cacophonic voices, including anchors prone to putting long winded questions to discussants, and then providing equally long-winded answers. The discussants, when they do join in, raise their decibels to drown out their rivals- it is a ruckus of incoherence, a threat to public health as a noise pollutant.
Gujarat elections
The heightened excitement of the Gujarat election campaign has sent politicians into overdrive: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi told Baroda University students that his party had learned its lesson from the drubbing it got in the 2014 general election.
The willing suspension of disbelief is what is required for such occasions, as there is scarcely any sign of lessons learned. Reacting to the country’s economic slowdown, he advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi to step down from office and leave him and Congress toclear out the mess in six months! Meanwhile an Uttar Pradesh MLA, Sangeet Som, said the ‘Taj Mahal was a ‘blot on Indian culture.’ (Hindu October 17). Lunacy, clearly, has no defined limits among the serried ranks of the Sangh Parivar.
PM rails at dynasty
Addressing a meeting of the BJP faithful at Ahmedabad, Prime Minster Narendra Modi blasted the ‘Nehru-Gandhi dynasty,’ saying the forthcoming Gujarat State elections pitted economic development against dynastic governance (Hindu, Times of India October 17). Oriental hyperbole is the rule rather than the exception in the Orient, and hence should be taken with a generous pinch of salt.
Congress cheered by Punjab poll victory
The Congress party scored a notable victory in the Gurdaspur by-election in Punjab, wresting the constituency from the BJP. Sunil Jakhar, the party’s State President beat his nearest rival, BJP’s Swaran Salaria, by a convincing margin of 193,219 votes.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarider Singh hailed the result as proof that the ‘party is on the revival path. The Congress’s victory in the Maharashtra civic polls as well as the Kerala by-election are good signs.’ He expected Congress to do well in the coming Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls. (Hindu October 16).
The 2019 general election may no longer be foregone win for the BJP, although they are still well ahead in opinion polls.
Hafiz Saeed on loose again
Pakistani jihadi mastermind of the November 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai has had all charges against him dropped by the government. He has been freed from house detention in Lahore and will be back in the public space inciting, recruiting and funding his Jamaat-ud-Dawa organization. In a word, he is back in business (October 16)
New nuclear subs loom larger
India’s second strategic nuclear submarine Aridhaman is set for its launch in December. This is not all. Two further nuclear submarines with more advanced weapon systems and ballistic missiles (like the rest) and sensors are designed to operate from a larger platform.
The Navy is the triad in India’s second strike nuclear capability. India’s first operational nuclear submarine, built with Russian help, INS Arihant, weighs 6,000 tonnes and is powered by 83MW pressurized light water nuclear reactor. The entire venture was a learning curve for the future.
Aridhaman
Aridhaman, an Ariant class submarine, however will include several new generation sensors and periscope. Construction of the third such submarine is under way.
Built simultaneously in four separate parts, it could be completed in a year. All three submarines are equipped to carry nuclear-tipped missiles and will be part of a fleet of four submarines. (Hindu October 16)
Anti-sub warship Commissioned
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman commissioned INS Kiltan, the third of the four Project 28 Kamorta class anti-submarine stealth corvette, at the Eastern Naval Command at Vishakhapatnam. Addressing officers and the media from the deck of the ship, she said the Indian Navy was pursuing a vigorous policy of indigenization, of which this was the latest example. The ship was built at the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineering facility in Kolkata. The ship has a displacement of 3,500 tonnes and spans 106 metres in length and 14 metres at the beam, and is equipped to operate in biological and chemical warfare conditions. The protection of India’s coastline is its strategic principal goal (Business Line October 17)
Faster rural growth, says Swedish CEO
Swedish food processing firm Tetra Pak is hopeful of exceeding its current growth in India, which is already the company’s fastest growth market. Their good numbers have been achieved on the back of excellent results recorded in rural India. ‘We have seen continued double-digit growth across all categories and have not seen a slowdown. If anything we are probably going to see acceleration in our growth, said Kandarp Singh, Managing Director, Tetra Pak, South Asia Markets (Hindu October 8)
Indian economy in solid growth: Lagarde
Christine Lagarde, the International Monetary Fund chief, said that the Indian economy is on a secure growth cycle. ’We have slightly down- graded India (to 6.7 per cent from 7.2 per cent for 2017-18)). However, we believe that India is on a growth track for the medium and long-term, that is much more solid as a result of the structural reforms conducted in the last couple of years.’ (Times of India October 17)
Diwali sales sparkle
Last minute shoppers have boosted Diwali sales renewing confidence among retailers, who expect double digit growth this festive season (Business Line October 17)
Tractor sales jump with good monsoon
A good monsoon, healthy farm production and increasing use of tractors for non-farm applications have stimulated tractor sales. Leading tractor manufacturers Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Sonalik International Tractors Ltd and Escorts have reported strong growth in the first half of the current fiscal ending September 30. With 52 per cent growth in September sales, M&M tractor sales have jumped. Good monsoon, improved kharif production and positive festive season sentiment the future looks good for all the companies listed above (Business Line, Mint, Times of Indias October 10,11,17 )
Top WHO job for Indian woman
Medical scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan has been appointed Deputy Director General for Programmes at the World Health Organization (WTO). She said the appointment came as complete surprise to her, as, in her own words, ‘This was not planned at all. In fact, I have always thought of myself as a researcher. I wanted to stay on in clinical research, even up to the point I became Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research.’ Dr Swaminathan spearheaded the launch of key research initiatives into HIIV and TB (Hindu October 11))
IIT-Kanpur’s nano-machines
A young structural biologist from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, and his team have designed a nano-size machine that can crawl inside living cells to correct living anomalies often linked to diseases. These machines are made of fragments of anti-bodies that can selectively target signaling developments within living cells, while leaving the arm of the signaling mechanism untouched (Business Line October 4)
Treatment of Parkinson’s
A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangaluru, has fabricated a metal oxide nanomaterial capable of mimicking all three major cellular antioxidant enzymes, thereby controlling the level of reactive oxygen species in cells. This has promise of treating the crippling Parkinson’s disease. The results of these experiments have vbeen published in the journal ‘Angewandte Chemie’ The Parkinson model was laboratory tested. The researchers will attempt to design an animal model for testing on mice. The first author of the paper was Namrita Singh from the Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, with Professor Patrick D’Silva from the Department of Biochemistry, the other corresponding author (Hindu October 8)
London Museum exhibits Indian science history
London’s Science Museum is exhibiting examples of Indian science and technology down the ages. Many of the items on view have been brought specially from India, as well those of other British institutions. The stellar exhibit is the folio from the ‘Bakshali’ manuscript loaned by the Oxford University’s Bodleian Library, which contains the oldest recorded symbol of zero that new carbon-dating it farther back than the previous estimate of the fourth century AD, The Jaipur Foot designed by craftsman Ram Chander Sharma and orthopedic surgeon Promod Karan Seth, and the Intel Pentium Processor designed by electrical engineer Vinod Dham.
Bose, Einstein, Ramanujan
The exhibition includes the mathematician Ramanujan ‘s papers from Trinity College, Cambridge, and correspondence between Indian physicist Satyen Bose and Albert Einstein from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Quite a feast! (Hindu October 4)
Sex with child bride rape
The Supreme Court of India frequently tackles social issues that India’s craven politicians with an eye to their vote banks prefer to sweep under the carpet. The Court brushed aside the government’s contention that social realities had to be taken into consideration. The Court ruled that a husband found guilty of having sex with an under-age child bride would be guilty of rape and could face life imprisonment. Women’s groups across India have welcomed the ruling.
Significant rise in tax collection
Direct tax receipts in the first quarter of the current fiscal rose bt 15.8 per cent., representing 39.4 per cent of the budget estimates for 2017-18. The reason for this is a wider tax base and greater compliance resulting from GST and demonetization (Business Line October 12)
