Rahul Gandhi In Amritsar

UK Envoy ‘Regrets’ Jallianwala Carnage

British High Commissioner to India Sir Dominic Asquith laid a wreath at the Jallianwala Bagh memorial in Amritsar on Saturday on the centenary of the massacre and said Britain “deeply regretted” the suffering caused to the victims.

“The event of Jallianwala Bagh 100 years ago today reflects a shameful act in British-India history. We deeply regret what happened and the suffering caused.  I am pleased today that the UK and India have and remain committed to developing further a thriving 21st Century partnership,” Asquith wrote in the visitor’s book at the memorial.

British High Commission in India also expressed “deep sorrow” at the loss of lives in the 100-year-old massacre.

ALSO READ: Will An Apology 100 Years Late Help?

“Today we remember with deep sorrow those who were killed on 13 April 1919 and regret the suffering caused,” read a tweet on its official page.

https://twitter.com/UKinIndia/status/1116894017067933696

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on 13 April 1919 when troops of the British Indian Army under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer fired machine guns into a crowd of unarmed protesters, along with pilgrims who had gathered in Jallianwala Bagh on the occasion of Baishakhi.

The British government revealed that 379 people died and 1,200 were wounded. Other sources, however, place the number of dead at well over 1,000.

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday said the UK “deeply regrets” the 1919 massacre and called it a “shameful scar” on the British-Indian history.

“The tragedy of Jallianwalla Bagh in 1919 is a shameful scar on the British-Indian history. As her Majesty, the Queen said before visiting Jallianwala Bagh 1997, it is a distressing example of our past history with India. We deeply regret what happened and the suffering caused,” May said at the British Parliament. (ANI)

]]>
Le Monde Report On Anil Ambani

Cong Flags French Paper To Hit PM-Ambani

Quoting French newspaper Le Monde, the Congress on Saturday accused Anil Ambani’s Reliance for getting special benefit from the French government as tax settlement, days after the deal for Rafale fighter jets was signed.

Ministry of Defence and Reliance group were quick to issue rebuttals on the allegations saying connections drawn between the tax issue and the Rafale matter is “inaccurate, tendentious and a mischievous attempt to disinform.”

Responding to the Congress allegation, the Defence Ministry said: “We have seen reports drawing conjectural connection between tax exemption to a private company and procurement of Rafale fighter jets by Government of India. Neither the period of the tax concession nor the subject matter of the concession relate even remotely to the Rafale procurement concluded during the tenure of the present Government. Any connections drawn between the tax issue and the Rafale matter is totally inaccurate, tendentious and is a mischievous attempt to disinform.”

At a media conference in New Delhi, senior party leader and party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala quoted the French journal and said: “Between February and October 2015, while the French were negotiating the Rafale contract with India, Anil Ambani enjoyed a tax waiver of 143.7 million euros from the French state.”

“The French tax authorities who had earlier demanded close to 150 million euros from the Reliance-owned company, Reliance Atlantic Flag France, agreed to settle the matter with just 7.5 million euros, the rest of the demand was simply waved, and this is Le Monde’s claim, not mine,” said Surjewala.

“Layers of connivance, crony capitalism and corruption are now getting unveiled. As soon as Modiji came to power he scrapped the deal signed by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) for 126 Rafale jets at Rs 526 crore per unit with a transfer of technology clause. Then he went to France and announced that Made in France Rafales will now be purchased at Rs 1600 crore per unit,” he said.

He also stated that former French President Francois Hollande had claimed that excluding Rafale and bringing in Reliance Group was done as per the wishes of the Indian government. The Congress has earlier also levelled charges of hobnobbing between the NDA government and Anil Ambani group.

“As soon as the deal was signed the Modi government transferred 70 per cent of the deal amount (Rs 50,000 crores approximately) to Dassault Aviation as advance payment, this same amount was invested by Dassault in AA’s (Anil Ambani) company by Dassault. This is how Modi kripa works,” said Surjewala.

Responding to the allegations, Reliance Communications released a statement denying any “favouritism or gain” from French authorities. The tax demands were completely “unsustainable and illegal” the statement said, and claimed that tax disputes were settled “as per legal framework in France available to all companies operating in France.”

Reliance Communications said that between 2008 and 2012, Flag France had an operating loss of Rs 20 crore (EUR2.7 million) while the French tax authorities had raised a tax demand of over Rs 1,100 crore for the same period.

“A mutual settlement agreement was signed to pay Rs 56 crore as a final settlement,” it said. (ANI)

]]>
We'll Vote To Defeat BJP

Rally Report – ‘We'll Vote To Defeat BJP’

Although Mohammad Israr, 49, attended the Congress rally at Saharanpur on April 8, he calls himself an observer than a party supporter. He believes Muslims must see which way the wind is blowing and vote tactically to defeat the communal forces. And he has valid reasons to back his belief:

I am just an observer to this rally (Congress public meeting on April 8) since I happened to be in the vicinity. I can judge the support of Muslim community to Imran Masood. He is a very popular leader in the community because of his fierce comments against (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi. Mazloomo ki aawaz hain (he is the voice of the oppressed).

In my opinion, Imran sahib is likely to win, even though the joint candidate from the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj is also Hazi (Fazulrahman) sahib. A day or two before, there was gathbandhan (the SP-BSP alliance) rally which was also attended by many Muslim voters. And I was worried a little that two Muslim candidates would mean division of votes. The Muslim voter must not allow its voter strength to be wasted. Taqseem nahi hona hai, taqseem karne waali taaqaton ko harana hai (we must not get divided; instead we have to defeat the divisive forces).

Community leaders must guide the votes not to get carried away by punchy slogans and promises made in a rally. Once the results come, these leaders will forget what they had promised before the public. Similarly, a voter or a quom (community) also has to keep its self-interest in mind. BJP rule in the last five years have instilled a feeling of fear among the minority community.

Never before were so many cases of cow vigilante had come. Muslims and many low-caste Hindu brothers lost their jobs after a crackdown on abattoirs in Uttar Pradesh. There were so many incidents of lynching on false pretext. Such incidents send a wrong signal to the minority community. We get worried when our children travel to other states on their own.

Even in Vajpayee ki sarakar and Kalyan Singh ki sarkar, this fear never visited our minds. But the last five years have been traumatic. And with Yogi sarkar in UP now, things have only got worse. You should see the bike rallies by men wearing saffron headgears. They deliberately shout slogans whenever a mosque comes en route. Their sole purpose is to humiliate Muslims. Ask anyone. This is a universal feeling and a regular point of discussion in our community.

I understand Muslims are used as votebanks. But do we have any other option than not to unitedly help a candidate who would listen to us, help us in getting our police complaints registered, give us protection or at least a sense of protection. Self-interest is back in the game. That is why you are not hearing the slogan sabka saath, sabka vikas this year. Are you?

(Name of the narrator was changed and his face blurred on request)

Easy Money Makes People Lazy

NYAY – ‘Easy Money Makes People Lazy’

Manju Garg Dhingra, 65, a retired banker in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, says Congress’ proposed Nyuntam Aay (NYAY) Scheme, which promises 6,000 a month to the poorest of the poor, may not work. She would prefer MNREGA scheme over NYAY so that people work for money and not live on dole.

I have been a banker with a nationalised bank and understand money pretty well. To my understanding the Nyuntam Aay (NYAY) Scheme plans to give ₹6,000 every month to the poorest families in India which is about five crore families or 25 crore individuals, constituting 20 percent of India’s population.

I feel such schemes ultimately don’t work in the long run in a democracy like India. In my many years of working as a banker I have realised that many of the poor people have what you call a ‘poverty mindset’. Yes, poverty is brought upon by terrible circumstances. But there are many people who are rather lazy and if you pay them say ₹6,000 per month, they would try and fit all their monthly expenses in that amount rather than use it as an investment to earn more money.

What we need is financial literacy in our country. People should be taught how to manage money. Earning money is often not that hard, managing money is. Remember the urban poor story that created quite an uproar in 2016?

This plan is different than what the Universal Basic Income (UBI) Schemes that are already in place in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. As per UBI, a small amount of money is paid every month to every citizen of a country, without any terms and conditions. This  basic income varies with age, but with no other conditions, so everyone of the same age would receive the same Basic Income, whatever their gender, employment status, family structure, contribution to society, housing costs, or anything else.

In 2014, when Narendra Modi said he would bring back black money from overseas and ₹15 lakh would be transferred into every individual’s account, I was less circumspect. The money would not have come from the taxpayer’s pocket, but schemes like NYAY will put the burden on the taxpayers. Many people would not want to go to work if money came easy. At the starting of my career, I often saw very poor women get peanuts in the name of pension. Out of empathy, I started giving them cash from my own pocket. Later those old women started behaving as if I owed them money and they were entitled to the extra cash I gave them. This is human nature, so I have my doubts about the NYAY scheme.

Rahul Gandhi has suggested that the money will be transferred to the account of women so that the chances of men drinking or gambling away the money is minimized. However, I think it would be better if the money was directly spent on improving the women’s lives directly by training them to earn money. Give me MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) any day over NYAY scheme. It is more important to teach people to fish.

Even if the NYAY scheme were to be implemented, it should be bound by a fixed tenure, say only one year, so that the women don’t become completely dependent on the money. The money anyway doesn’t reach the intended beneficiaries without middlemen eating away the money (as Rajiv Gandhi had famously mentioned in 1985 that only 15 paise of a rupee reaches the intended beneficiaries, while the rest is eaten away by middlemen).

As far as my vote is concerned, I would like to reinvest my faith in Narendra Modi. I live in Ghaziabad and for us true nyay (justice) lies in the fact that the crime rate has reduced, cleanliness and waste management are being taken very seriously and most importantly NH-24 is being maintained pretty well. Now evenings feel safer in Ghaziabad. I don’t find Rahul Gandhi as effective a leader as Modiji. Power commands respect.

And sadly I don’t feel that respect for Rahul Gandhi. In the next five years, I would want Narendra Modi to do away with the many subsidies and schemes. He should let the respective state governments and then local area MLAs and MPs and ward members and councillors decide on the best way to bring out groups of people out of poverty. Let the grassroots leaders help the grassroots people. Delegation of duties and powers to local leaders and trusting them is very important if we really want to help the poor.

EC Puts Curbs On NaMo Channel Content

The Election Commission of India on Thursday directed Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi to ensure prohibition of political content being broadcast on NaMo TV, an app promoted by BJP IT Cell.

In a letter over the broadcast of NaMo TV or Content TV, the Election Commission has stated that ‘any political publicity content, being displayed on electronic media without requisite certification from competent authority should be removed immediately and any political content shall only be permitted strictly in accordance with EC instructions in this regard’.

The ECI also cited that it has been confirmed by the Delhi election commission that there content broadcasted on NaMo TV/Content TV has not been pre-certified by the MCMC Committee of the Delhi poll body.

“As NaMo TV/Content TV is sponsored by a political party, all recorded programmes of political contents displayed on the channel/platform would be covered under the purview of the Commission’s Order” reads the letter written by Election Commission to Delhi CEO.

Election Commission has directed him to ensure implementation of the Commission’s instructions and to send a compliance report immediately.

Earlier this month, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had written a letter to the poll body, asking whether permission was granted to the recently launched 24-hour television channel NaMo TV after the model code came into force.

The model code of conduct came into effect on March 10 after the commission announced the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls.

The election will be held in seven phases – from April 11 to May 19. Counting of votes will take place on May 23.

(ANI)

]]>