Month: November 2019

India-Sri Lanka: Off To A Fresh Start

By Seema Guha

Sri Lanka’s presidential election has thrown up the Rajapaksa brothers once more to the centre-stage of the island’s politics. And in keeping with family loyalties, three of the brothers are now part of the cabinet. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has made his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa the Prime Minister, while Chamal the eldest of the siblings is a cabinet minister. Thus, the Rajapaksa stamp will define this government.

Will Gotabaya play the China card, as his brother did during his second term in office? Does Delhi need to worry that China will spread itself out in an island which is literally in India’s backyard? With the Chinese Navy now regularly plying the Indian Ocean waters, will it become a security concern for New Delhi? In short what does the return of the Rajapaksa brothers mean for India and Sri Lanka’s Tamil problem?

For one there is “gotaphobia” among many in the island nation, including minorities and liberals. Tamils, who accuse Gotabaya and his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa of large scale human rights abuse during the last days of military campaign against the LTTE, would want both to be tried as war criminals. The powerful Tamil diaspora is likely to get active again. For a while, when the unity government was ruling and the Rajapaksa was not in power, the move to drag them to the International Court of Justice took a back seat. India, US and other European nations also did not bother much. For the moment, it seems that New Delhi is ready for a fresh start.

India has been on the ball on Sri Lanka. The return of the Rajapaksa family was expected and alarm bells did not go off in India. Instead, New Delhi played its cards smartly. As soon as Gotabaya was announced as the winner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lost no time in greeting and congratulating him. Modi was the first foreign leader to do so.

Once Gotabaya was sworn in, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar flew in to Colombo to personally convey Prime Minister Modi’s message to the new President. An invitation to visit Delhi has been given an expected. It sent the message that India was ready to forget the past and build a healthy relationship with the new power centre in Colombo.

Jaishankar is familiar with Sri Lanka and had served there at a critical period when the Indian Peace Keeping Force was deployed in the north and east of the island country. He understands the workings of its political system and knows all sections of political leaders. The Tamil National Alliance leaders will be delighted as they know the minister personally. As foreign secretary too, Jaishankar had visited Sri Lanka several times and knows its politics.

So far Gotabaya has made all the right noises. He has stressed that he will follow a neutral foreign policy. During Rajapaksa’s second term in office he had tilted towards China in a big way. China built the Humbantota port, a white elephant to many, in Mahinda Rajapaksa’s home town, and was awarded the modernization plan of the Colombo port project and building of a swanky new business district from reclaimed land at a cost $1.4 billion (China is an expert on that. Remember how it churned sand from the ocean floor in the South China Sea). President Xi Jinping oversaw the foundation laying ceremony in 2014. Sri Lanka under Mahinda Rajapaksa was becoming a staunch ally of China while India worried the growing dragon’s influence in its backyard.

While this was a sore point with India, more worrying was a Chinese submarine docking in Colombo harbour for refueling, rest and recreation in September 2014. The island nation is literally a stone’s throw away from the Indian coastline. Concerns on the PLA’s naval wing, going in and out of the island was regarded as impinging on India’s security interests. Even after India expressed its concern when the submarine came back to dock in Colombo in November, Lanka said it was on a routine visit on its way to the port of Aden. So when Rajapaksa was trounced by Maithripala Sirisena in 2015, New Delhi heaved a sigh of relief.

In fact, the Rajapaksas were bitter about the role of India during the elections. Gotabaya himself had said at that time that India, US and other foreign powers worked indirectly to defeat the ruling regime. But the quintessential politician that his brother is, Mahinda never said a word in public. He made it point to meet up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi whenever he came to India on private visits and to reassure Delhi that he was a friend. So much of the heavy lifting had already been done by Mahinda when the brothers were not in power.

India has smelt the coffee. It was clear from the beginning that the unity government made up of traditional rivals Sri Lanka Freedom Party and a section of the United National Party were not up to delivering good governance. The mood of the people was clear when the regional party headed by Rajapaksa clean swept the local council elections. India knows it has to do business with the Rajapaksa clan and it will do so.

Delhi has also to come to terms with the fact that Chinese influence in its periphery will continue. It does not matter which government is in power in Colombo. Sri Lanka is already in debt to the Chinese. Despite all the noise made by the opposition over Mahinda Rajapaksa’s decision to give China the business city project over environmental norms not being followed, the Srisena-Ranil Wickremasinghe combine, got China back on the project. China has the money and all developing nations are looking for cash to finance infrastructure projects. Sulking about this will be of no help. It is important to get Colombo on India’s side by continuing to strengthen ties. India and Sri Lanka have more in common – culture and religion — than Colombo can ever have with Beijing.

At the same time, it is important that the new government carry forward the national reconciliation process. Jaishankar conveyed this to President Gotabaya when he met him last week. This will certainly be on the agenda when the President visits India next week. India had made the first move in reaching out to Gotabaya, and he has reciprocated. It is a good start. The coming months and days will show how the relationship works. Now is too early to make an assessment.

My personal view is that ties will improve dramatically. If Gotabaya plays the China card, India can also hit back by encouraging the Tamil diaspora to rake up the human rights abuse during the LTTE campaign. But with Pakistan and other countries now raising the Kashmir issue, Delhi would rather not take that path. Both sides have learnt from past mistakes and Colombo would rather have good relations with its immediate neighbour. This does not mean that Gotabaya will not play ball with China. But, possibly, it will not be at India’s expense.

Watch – DU Students On JNU Fee Hike

By LokMarg

Students of Jawaharlal Nehru University are protesting against hostel fee hike and other new rules. LokMarg visited Delhi University, a few kilometre from JNU campus, to find out how DU students see the protest. Few supported the JNU protest. While several said JNU students are in a habit of creating disorder, others batted for parity in facilities among all the universities in the National Capital.

NCP Moves 44 Legislators Into A Mumbai Hotel

By LokMarg

The Nationalist Congress Party late on Saturday moved 44 MLAs to Renaissance Hotel in Mumbai, the day on which Devendra Fadnavis took oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party’s Ajit Pawar lent support to the BJP and took oath as deputy chief minister.

The MLAs were seen arriving at the Renaissance Hotel here in buses.

Earlier this evening, NCP MLAs gathered at YB Chavan Centre to attend a key meeting headed by Sharad Pawar wherein the party has claimed that 90 per cent of their MLAs were present.

Soon after the meeting, NCP leader Nawab Malik said: “Five of our MLAs are not in contact with us. Six are about to arrive and rest have arrived,” Malik told media persons. NCP has 54 MLAs in Maharashtra’s 288-member assembly.

Malik said: “On the basis of numbers we have, we will defeat the government in the election of Speaker itself. After which Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government will definitely be formed in Maharashtra.”

He further said that in the NCP meeting, a resolution was unanimously passed that the party does not endorse Ajit Pawar’s decision and he has been removed as the NCP’s legislative party leader.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will hear on Sunday at 11.30 am the joint plea of Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress against the decision of Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, inviting Devendra Fadnavis to form the government in the state today.

“The petition was filed by three political parties in the evening today in the Supreme Court requesting for an immediate floor test in order to expose the illegitimate and unconstitutional government headed by Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said told media persons.

After a prolonged uncertainty over the government formation that lasted for nearly a month, Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday took oath for the second term as state Chief Minister. (ANI)

Choking India’s Future

By Jasdev Singh Rai

With seven of the world’s ten worst polluted cities in India, the country has set an example as how not to handle climate change

When PM Narendra Modi said India will lead the world in climate change, someone from Ministry of External Affairs should have told him that the nations of the world were trying to reverse climate change, not make it worse. With seven of the world’s ten worst polluted cities in India, the country has certainly become a leader. It is the wrong leadership. Modi should declare a climate emergency and set up a special committee to propose urgent and long term measures at reducing the high rates of pollution. Otherwise India is fast becoming a sick nation with the children of today facing a lifetime of diseases. Even the Supreme Court has expressed concerns in strong and emotive words.

Air pollution is no small thing. Even small particles get into the lungs and then into the blood stream. But with air pollution levels reaching AQI of 999 micrograms in some areas of Delhi, the lungs of young India are in danger. So is the future of India.

The Air Quality Index, AQI, uses five major air pollutants. They are Sulphur di Oxide, Nitrogen di Oxide, Carbon mono oxide, Ozone and particulate matter. Levels above 300 are hazardous. Imagine levels of 999! That is the highest level AQI can measure! It is nearly 50 times the normal acceptable.

Two particle pollutants are generally used as indicators. PM10 are particles less than 10 micron in size. PM2.5 are particles less than 2.5 microns in size. 10 microns is 0.01 mm, about a hundredth size of a hair! The windpipe, or trachea and then bronchus, have small hair cells (not like real hair) that act as sieve and clean the air. But many of the particles get through. Particles smaller than 2.5 microns go into the end portions of the lungs, clogging them up. Some go into the cells and some even into the blood stream. Carbondioxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide can all go through the cells.

ALSO READ: SC Slams Punjab, Haryana Over Stubble Burning

If the lungs are full of a coat of this dust, it is not difficult to understand the immediate effects. Less Oxygen gets inhaled. Transfer of gases is affected. Headaches, nausea and above all lung disease such as Chronic Obstructive Airways Disease eventually hit the poor lung. Above 900 AQI is the equivalent of smoking 25 cigarettes a day! What is the point of anti-smoking drives, if the Government then permits effects of smoking through pollution!

Cancer of the lungs is another major effect of high polluted air. Asthma is the most common disease that children develop in polluted air. Some studies have shown that a shocking one in three children in Delhi have lung disease!

Lung disease is not the only consequences of air pollution. Cardiovascular disease, that is heart attacks, clogged up arteries, poor circulation, slow minds and blood pressure are some of the illnesses resulting from poor air. What is the point of all those national ‘yoga days’ with politicians pointing their legs in the air and expanding chests, if the government’s lack of policy is killing people even when they do the best of yoga exercises?

Pollution affects lymph systems that is the defence mechanism of the body against infections and early cancer etc. In fact lymph cancers are also high in highly pollutant areas as is a propensity to infections.

In ten years’ time as the children of today grow up, they will have poor lungs, poor health and more prone to heart disease. In later life many may develop lung cancer and generally lack energy. What exactly is India growing into. India is slowly asphyxiating itself. Lack of proper policies is choking the India of tomorrow.

The normal levels of AQI should be around 25. Below 50 is still considered to be good. AQI of 50-100 is moderate. Some countries take this very seriously as the population can start to develop some of the symptoms.

Levels of 101 -200 are unhealthy. They effect everyone exposed to it. 201 to 300 is very unhealthy. Above 300 is hazardous, likely to trigger a state emergency action as everyone exposed is likely to develop some disease or other.

Taken as average through the year Delhi has an AQI of around 195. This is still very high. The costs of ill health are very high. Medical costs, a nation full of sick adults, inefficiency are only some of the effects pollution will have on the national development. 

The Government must set up an emergency task force to explore all methods of reducing the Air Quality Index from the high 900 to below 50 maximum.  It must bring in experts from around the world. It needs to set targets. Otherwise all that talk of 5 trillion economy and the greatness of India will be a dream shattered by low life spans and high medical costs.

The cities of India are where they are due to poor planning, poor grasp of the consequences of polluting vehicles and burning farm stubs. There is no excuse not to reverse this and undo the damage as well as contain the pollutants.

For Prime Minister Modi to lead the world in climate change, his government will first have to take the lead in reversing the damage that has been done so far first.

NCP Expels Ajit Pawar As Legislative Party Leader

By LokMarg

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was on Saturday expelled as the legislative party leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

NCP has also cancelled Pawar’s right to issue whip and all other rights as party leader.

A motion which was passed on October 30 to elect Pawar as group leader also stands cancelled. The party has not chosen any Legislative party leader, however, Jayant Patil has been given the power to take decisions.

Pawar supported BJP to form the government in the state and took oath early this morning. A motion to expel Pawar, the nephew of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar was taken at a meeting of the NCP today.

In a surprise development, Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the Maharashtra Chief Minister for a second term while Ajit Pawar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister of the state. The oath of office and secrecy was administered by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan.

The move came at a time when deliberations among Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena on the government formation had seemingly reached the final stage on Friday. The BJP, which emerged as the single-largest party in the last month’s assembly elections, could not stake claim to form the government as its ally Shiv Sena remained firm on rotating the Chief Minister’s post.

The BJP won 105 seats in the 288-member assembly followed by Shiv Sena 56, NCP 54 and Congress 44. (ANI)

JNU

Govt Sees JNU As Opposition, Not As A University

By LokMarg

Anurag, 25, son of a postman in Uttar Pradesh, says most JNU students are not city-bred nor studying on scholarship. For many of them, the study costs are high and they are justified in protesting against the hike

I belong to Gorakhpur and did my graduation from BHU (Banaras Hindu University). I always knew that I wanted to pursue my higher studies from the reputed JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University). Two elder cousins who had studied here had sown the seeds of this desire in me. Thankfully I got through JNU and am currently doing my M. Phil here.

Let us talk about the finances first, because the whole protest is about fees and affordability of quality education. I cleared the JRF NET (Junior Research Fellowship) exam, which only 1% of the students are able to clear, so I get paid a monthly allowance of ₹40, 000. However, those who haven’t cleared JRF NET are called non-NET scholars and are paid only ₹5,000 per month. PhD students are paid ₹8,000 per month, while the B.A. and M.A. students can’t avail any scholarship.

Before you think this is easy money, let me clarify that the investment on study materials is heavy and the laws of JNU are vague regarding whether an M. Phil student can work or not simultaneously while studying. So each rupee matters and this also means that most of us are just about surviving.

My father was a postman and even my education till now wasn’t exactly a walk in the park for the family. Just because I was able to crack this exam doesn’t mean I don’t understand the pain of those who have been affected by the fee hike, especially the graduation students who have just stepped out into the big, wide world.

Studying in JNU teaches you the most important thing missing in the world, empathy, and thus I lend my full support to this protest. Sections of the media as well as the civil society don’t read and understand or don’t care to understand the fine print when it comes to protests against fee hike. And if the protest is coming from JNU, then you know people follow whatever narrative the media tells them.

The room rent, maintenance charge, mess expense etc. have all been increased suddenly and there is nothing the students can do apart from protesting. If the VC was ready to hold a dialogue on the matter, the students too wouldn’t have protested.

Sometimes I wonder if the current government thinks of JNU as a political Opposition. There has been no solid Opposition since 2014 and JNU has risen up in public imagination like Opposition. The government cannot just force its way through, there are certain procedures in place before a huge change impacting the lives of many students is brought about.

People from all sections of society come to study in JNU but a major chunk of the students are from families that are below the poverty line. We know the condition of education in small towns and cities. While the school education system at the ground level is robust, it is not so at the college and post-graduation levels and even if it is, not everyone can afford education if it is not provided at a subsided rate. And JNU just doesn’t make you literate, it makes you truly educated.

The academic discourse here and the atmosphere of conducting healthy debates on diverse topics while not indulging in personal attacks on the other party that doesn’t agree with your point of view, are the hallmarks of education at JNU, and all these are in danger of being eroded. JNU has been at the centre of a non-stop storm ever since 2016 and I hope it ends soon.

Supreme Court

SC To Hear Sena-NCP Plea Against New M’rashtra Govt

By LokMarg

Supreme Court will hear on Sunday at 11.30 am the joint plea of Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress against Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s decision inviting Devendra Fadnavis to form the government on November 23.

Senior Advocate Devadutt Kamat for Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena on Saturday said in their petition, they have requested the Supreme Court to call a special session of the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Sunday and sought urgent direction for a floor test to be conducted tomorrow itself.

“In the petition, we have said that without any majority of Fadnavis and the BJP, the governor has called and installed him as the Chief Minister. We have also asked for an urgent direction for a floor test to be held tomorrow itself within 24 hours as was directed by the court in Karnataka’s case. We are hopeful the Supreme Court will hear us. Our petition has already been numbered,” he said while speaking to reporters here.

The Registrar in the Supreme Court is processing it for further action, Kamat said.

Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala too stated that they have “requested the court to order a floor test tomorrow itself so that the majority could be proved on the floor of the house and the hollowness of BJP and Ajit Pawar’s claim can be exposed.”

“As was stated our counsel, we have requested the honourable Supreme Court of India to conduct an urgent hearing tonight itself like it was done in Karnataka when an illegitimate BJP government was sworn in illegally by the Governor there. Here also, a contract has been taken to murder democracy by BJP in an illegal, unconstitutional fashion,” Surjewala said.

Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress filed a joint petition in the Supreme Court against the decision of Maharashtra Governor inviting Devendra Fadnavis to form the government on November 23.

The three parties also appealed to the apex court to appoint a Protem Speaker and give directions for a floor test. The writ petition also appealed that SC should direct the proceedings of the House to be video recorded and copy of the video recording to be placed on record in the High Court.

The three parties also appealed that the voting process be conducted by a division of votes division by segregating the MLAs supporting and opposing the motion in different lobbies of the House.

After a prolonged uncertainty over the government formation that lasted nearly a month, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday took oath for the second term.

(ANI)

Devendra Fadnavis Sworn In As Maharashtra CM

By LokMarg

In what can be termed as a surprising development, Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday took oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister for the second consecutive term while NCP’s Ajit Pawar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister of the state.

The move came at a time when deliberations between Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena seemingly reached the final stage on Friday.

Earlier, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar had claimed that there was a consensus on Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister of the alliance government.

The BJP, which emerged as the single largest party, could not stake claim to form a government as its ally Shiv Sena remained firm on rotating the Chief Minister’s post and equal sharing of Cabinet berths.

Shiv Sena parted its ways with BJP to explore ways to form a government. It, however, failed to prove the support of the required number of MLAs in the time given by state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

The Governor had then invited NCP, the third-largest party, to prove its ability to form the government failing which President’s Rule was imposed in the state.

The BJP won 105 seats in the 288-member assembly followed by Shiv Sena 56, NCP 54 and Congress 44. (ANI)

Uddhav To Be Maharashtra’s Next CM, Says Congress

By LokMarg

Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said on Friday that three parties Congress, NCP and the Shiv Sena had “positive” discussions about government formation in Maharashtra and will continue discussions on Saturday too.

Addressing media persons after the end of Friday’s meeting between the three parties, Chavan said. “All senior leaders of all parties were present. Talks very positive. Talks will continue tomorrow.”

Earlier NCP supremo Sharad Pawar had claimed that there was a consensus on Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister of the alliance government.

“We all have consensus on the name of Uddhav Thackeray as the chief minister,” Pawar said.

Prithviraj Chavan refused to comment on the NCP chief’s statement. “Whatever Sharad Pawar Ji has said is on record, I won’t speak on that. When we’ve discussed all things, we’ll speak on them,” he told reporters.

Meanwhile, Congress treasurer Ahmed Patel said that the crucial meeting of the three parties remained inconclusive.

“Today’s meeting (Congress-Shiv Sena-NCP) was inconclusive. The discussions will continue tomorrow,” Patel said.

Earlier today, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said the people of Maharashtra and Shiv Sainiks want party Chief Uddhav Thackeray to become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, which is currently under President’s rule. He earlier said that a new government will be in place in the first week of December.

A draft common minimum programme (CMP) of the Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP is awaiting final approval of the chiefs of the three parties.

Three parties decided to join hands after Shiv Sena, the second-largest party in the state, fell out with BJP over its demand for equal power-sharing including rotation of chief minister’s post for 2.5 years each.

(ANI)

Alliance Of Opportunism: BJP On Sena-NCP-Cong Tie Up

By LokMarg

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said that the probable alliance of the Shiv Sena, Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is an alliance of opportunism and it will not be able to give Maharashtra a stable government.

On being asked about government formation in Maharashtra, Gadkari told ANI, “There are ideological differences among NCP and Shiv Sena. This alliance in Maharashtra is not established on the basis of ideas and principles. This(Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress) is an alliance of opportunism, they will not be able to give Maharashtra a stable Government.

“This would result in a huge loss for Maharashtra. An unstable government would not be a good thing for the state. BJP and Shiv Sena alliance was based on the ideology of Hindutva and even today we don’t have many ideological differences. Breaking of such an alliance is not only a loss to the country but also to Hindutva cause and to Maharashtra,” he added.

Gadkari further asserted that Congress strongly opposes the views of Shiv Sena and its vice versa. There are ideological differences between the three parties.

Meanwhile, a Congress Legislative party meet is underway at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai.Earlier NCP and Congress leaders met with leaders of other allies to hold discussions over the political situation of the state.

The NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena are holding hectic deliberations on the government formation in Maharashtra.

A meeting of NCP-Congress-Shiv Sena meeting is scheduled at 4 pm today.

Maharashtra came under President’s Rule on November 12 after all the parties failed to form a government in the state. The BJP, which emerged as the single largest party, could not stake claim to form a government as its ally Shiv Sena remained firm on rotating the Chief Minister’s post and equal sharing of Cabinet berths.

Shiv Sena parted its ways with BJP to explore ways to form a government. It, however, failed to prove the support of the required number of MLAs in the time given by state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

The Governor had then invited NCP, the third-largest party, to prove its ability to form the government failing which President’s Rule was imposed in the state.

The Shiv Sena is now in talks with the Congress and NCP to form a government in Maharashtra.The BJP won 105 seats in the 288-member assembly followed by Shiv Sena 56, NCP 54 and Congress 44. (ANI)

On being asked about the upcoming Jharkhand assembly polls, Gadkari said, “Keeping in mind the work government has done in Jharkhand under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the stable govt that Chief Minister Raghubar Das has given to the state, I believe people of Jharkhand will ensure our victory under CM Raghubar Das’ leadership for the second innings.”

Jharkhand will go to polls in five phases. The first phase of polling will be held on November 30, the second phase on December 6, the third phase on December 12, the fourth phase on December 16 and the last phase on December 20. The results will be declared on December 23.

The Congress has forged an alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in the state to defeat the incumbent BJP.

In 2014, the BJP, which won 43 seats, formed the government along with All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU), which had won 5 seats under the leadership of Raghubar Das.

(ANI)