Prime Minister Narendra Modi and veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani played out a pantomime at Delhi’s iconic Red Fort. Dressed in military uniform they indulged in a mawkish masquerade of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s formation of an Indian government in exile on 24 October 1943 (Times of India October 25).
The goal of this charade was the silent denigration of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister and the exaltation of his colleague home minister Sardar Vallabbhai Patel, architect of the Indian Union through the integration of an assortment of princely states into the unified nation state that is today’s Republic of India - an achievement with few parallels in modern history. The most enduring monument to Patel’s achievement (as he himself recognized) was his aide V.P. Menon’s masterly book (dedicated to his minister) entitled, The Integration of the Indian States. Statues, however formidable their height, are a very poor second; while the general social media of the BJP faithful is simply a swamp of political illiteracy, malevolence and falsehood about a complex and challenging past.
Unlike souls
Mr Modi in his statement lauded Patel and ‘Subhasbabu,’ that is Subhas Chandra Bose, as if they were kindred souls. They were not. Patel was responsible for Bose’s expulsion from the Indian National Congress after its Tripuri session, when Bose defeated Gandhi’s candidate Pattabhi Sitaramiyya, for the post of party president. Bose formed his own party named the Forward Bloc. The rest is history.
Primitive minds
A further excursion into history emanated from Vice President Venkaiah Naidu’s observation on Robert Clive’s conflict with Indian patriots. Clive’s battle with Nawab Siraj-u-daulah at Plassey in June 1757 was funded by the Hindu bankers of Calcutta, including the legendary Jagat Seth, while the Nawab’s top general was a Hindu. The complexities of history and culture are clearly beyond the limits of primitive minds, BJP and Congress alike. Congress poseur and cut-price conman Shashi Tharoor is a prime example.
Polarized India
India is politically more polarized than it has ever been under Prime Minister Modi’s watch, notwithstanding his work (still in progress) in reforming and modernizing India’s economy and conducting its foreign policy with deftness, verve and grasp of the larger game.
Emergence of modern India
It would be wise to delve into the writings of Jadunath Sarkar and Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, two of India’s pre-eminent historians, who tell us that the development of an Indian consciousness was seeded in the nineteenth century during British rule. The emergence of an educated pan-Indian middle class, owed most to the higher educational system devised by British administrators. Whatever their shortcomings, they were fit for purpose. Scientists such as J.C. Bose, Satyen Bose, Megnad Saha, C.V. Raman, Homi Bhabha and the mathematical genius S. Ramanujan et al rose to global eminence during the British era of Indian development, among which can also be listed Asia’s free press, the genesis of parliamentary democracy, the rule of law and the present Indian Constitution. The light of truth will always dispel the darkness of political correctness, much of it the false constructs of cut price demagogy.
BJP routed in Karnataka
The B JP would do well to heed the result of the Karnataka by-elections in which the party lost four of the five seats contested to the ruling JJD (S)-Congress alliance (Times of India, Mint, November 7).
Ease of Doing Business:
World Bank
India has surged forward 23 places in the World Bank’s global rakings of Ease of Doing Business. India stood 130 in a list of 190 countries when the Modi government was voted to power in June 2014. In June 2017, the country had jumped to 100; now it stands at 77. Among BRICS countries Russia, 31, and China, 46, are ranked higher. The Index ranks 190 countries on 10 indicators across the life-cycle of a business, from its start to ‘resolving insolvency.’
Strong agenda
‘India’s strong reform agenda to improve the business climate for small and medium enterprises is bearing fruit. It is also reflected in the government’s strong commitment to broaden the business reforms agenda at the State and now even at the distant level, said Junaid Ahmad, World Bank country Director in India.
Arihant’s deterrence mission
INS Arihant, India’s 6000 tonne nuclear submarine has completed its first deterrence mission heralding India’s entry into an exclusive club of nations – including the US, Russia, Britain, France and China - possessing a triad of nuclear deterrence on land, air and now underwater sea, where it will be impossible to detect. Its nuclear-tipped missiles have a range of 750 km. India is committed to a ‘No first use’ of nuclear weapons. India’s second nuclear submarine, the 8000 tonne INS Arighat is currently undergoing sea trials. It is larger than Arihant and its missiles have a longer range (Hindu, Times of India, Mint (November 6).
Indian Institutes of Skills coming up
The Cabinet has given its approval for the setting up of Indian Institutes of Skills across the country. These will be public-private partnerships. Their goal will be to enhance the competitiveness of key sectors of the economy to reach the best global standards. The Cabinet approved the signing of bilateral Investment Agreements between the India-Taipei Association in Taipei and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in India.
IIT-Bombay tops chart
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) – Bombay has topped the first ever standalone ranking of Indian higher education institutions by QS, a think tank famous for its ranking of world rankings of institutions. The Indian Institute of Science, Bangaluru, which tops Indian institutions, in almost all rankings stands second here.
IITs pre-eminent
The top 10 Indian institutions include seven IITs, with IIts-Madras, Delhi, Kharagpur and Kanpur standing third, fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. (Hindu October 16)
Dr Reddy’s in
70 per cent surge
An improved performance in India and North American and European markets helped Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy’s Laboratories post a net profit of 70 per cent during the second quarter ending September 30. Describing the progress as encouraging, Co-Chairman and CEO G.V. Prasad said a continuous focus on execution, operational efficiency and cost optimization were displaying results (Hindu October 27).
As good as new: Sukhoi-30MKI
The Indian Air Force Base Repair Depot, Oijhar in Maharashtra completed its first overhaul of the Russian built Sukhoi-30MKI aircraft, the mainstay of the IAF, was handed over to Air Marshal H.S. Arora, Air Officer Commanding in a ceremony. The aircraft had undergone stringent test from April onwards before induction into the (Hindu October 27).
Rupee trading on Moscow bourse
After Singapore, Dubai and the US, the Indian rupee has now started trading in Russia. Moscow Exchange announced the launch of rupee/dollar futures on its platform, citing their global popularity. The move is likely to make the rupee more acceptable in Russia as a risk mitigation tool in the commerce of crude oil and other large-scale transactions between the two countries. This is a significant move to reduce dependence on the US dollar: in Russia’s case to circumvent US sanctions. India is among the largest buyers of Russian arms, and hence both countries recently signed a deal to promote trade in local currencies (Business Line October 25).
Rupee popular in Dubai
The rupee has emerged as the largest traded currency in Dubai with many international traders in the offshore market (Business Line October 25).
Russia keen to invest in India
Russia has expressed an interest in the opportunities presented by Indian projects presently under development. Reference was made to Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and Smart Cities besides railways and public transport., said Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu. The Minister explained that in the forthcoming meeting on November 23 all such issues are expected to be resolved, especially that pertaining to the North South Corridor – an India, Russia, Iran initiative - so that could be made operational as soon as possible. Indian goods would move from the Iranian port of Chabahar to Bandar Abbas at the terminus of the Persian Gulf, and thence by rail to Armenia to Moscow and Belarus and beyond, on the one hand, on the other in the opposite direction, to the Central Asian states in the east. The project will greatly enhance trade, cut time to market and reduce travel costs by 30-40 per cent (Business Line October 30).
India, Italy reset buttons
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte visited India to reset the buttons of a frayed relationship. His one-on-one talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi went off very well, with both men buoyantly optimistic that bilateral ties were ready for takeoff. Mr Modi invited Italian industry to seize the opportunities presented by the 1.3 billion consumers of the Indian market. Italy is the third-largest economy in the European Union with a large industrial base encompassing science and technology, automobiles, aerospace, food processing healthcare et al. The India-Italian business group will meet to strengthen collaboration with India in defence and other sectors to take theier bilateral relationship forward. Italy expressed support for Indian membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. Prime Minister Conte was alive to Indian concerns on the export of terrorism (Business Line October 31).
Modi in Japan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew into Tokyo for a Summit with Prim e Minister Shinzo Abe, which, according to informed observers, was a landmark in Indo-Japanese relations and the politics of the Asia Pacific region (Hindu October 30)
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