rohan-shetty

[rohan-shetty]

Anarchy 2.0 !!!

As India moves ahead with confidence where against all odds it tackled the Covid pandemic challenge effectively, it is running the world's largest vaccination drive efficiently and it is also helping other countries by providing vaccines for their people. The increase in Foreign Direct Investment of 13% in challenging times has been the best in the world (volume wise still lesser than China) which proves the trust foreign investors have in India and at the same time the focus on Atmanirbhar Bharat where India should be self reliant like it did by becoming a manufacturing hub for PPE's (Personal Protective Equipments), Sanitizers and other products is gaining momentum. India also showed it's strength at the borders where China was shown it's place and a clear message was sent that New India can't be bullied by anyone and national security is paramount. With the Economy recovering, reforms taking place and the Government finally giving a good budget things are only getting better for India. But there are challenges that India faces in today's world which we have to look at.

One of the main challenges India faces today is not from outside but from within. On the name of democratic protests we are seeing violence is taking place and even getting justified. Anarchy 1.0 was seen during the Citizenship Amendment Act and Anarchy 2.0 we are seeing now on the Farm laws. The similarity between both these so called protests is worth noting down. In both the protests the roads were blocked and the Government was getting blackmailed that if they do not withdraw the laws the roads will remain blocked. In both protests violence had taken place on 26th January and an attempt was made to defame India in front of the World. Another similarity was using a section of people whether it be Youth, Muslim Women or Punjab Farmers to make it look as if the entire country is protesting against laws passed by the Parliament but the agenda was to create violence by using these section of innocent people as their pawns. If one keenly observes it is the same so called independent people who are journalists, analysts, activists, intellectuals, lawyers, professors, students and bollywood celebrities who instigated violence in CAA and it is the same ones who are doing it in the farm laws. I am glad the Government has realised that this is a challenge for India maybe not politically since people of India know who these people are but to maintain law and order and preserve national security, it needs to take action against the enemies within. These so called independent people in India are supported by so called independent people in America, Canada, China and Pakistan which is why the Government needs to keep its eyes open.

Now one needs to understand that in a democracy no one should have a problem with protests and protestors because it is their democratic right to protest against any laws that any Government passes. I am glad the Prime Minister in his Lok Sabha speech on the President Address Debate differentiated between protestors and parasites. He defended the right of protestors to protest on any law that is passed and invited them for dialogue with the Government but he condemned the parasites who hijack their protests who not only give India a bad name but the protestors as well. By blocking roads, breaking towers, vandalising toll booths, demanding release of urban naxals and running riot as we saw on 26th January led to the protestors getting a bad name thanks to these parasites.

As I had mentioned above these are the same people who have tried to demean India's image by calling it Lynchistan and Rapistan. These are the same people who question Surgical and Air Strikes. These are the same people who try to defend terrorists like Yakub Memon, Ishrat Jahan, Afzal Guru, Burhan Wani by trying to show them as a victim. These are also the same people who are trying to defend and make a victim out of Disha Ravi now who was caught carrying out anti national activities (FYI even Pakistan has given support on this issue). India needs to expose these anarchists who have been rejected time and again democratically and now want to run the country through the streets.

Thanks to that little girl Greta Thunberg who by mistake shared the Toolkit which mentioned the details on how to instigate violence and demean India's image in the world which was a hidden secret that has now come in the open. We need to also understand that whether it is Greta or Disha, these are only pawns who have been brainwashed by their leftist masters sitting in India and abroad to fulfill their agenda. I hope the Government catches these anarchists and bring them to book so that such so called protests do not take place again and innocent lives are not lost. As I have mentioned before protest are part of democracy whether it is Corruption protest against Manmohan Government or OROP (One Rank One Pension) protest against Modi Government but anarchy in the name of protests should not be accepted.

Our institutions have been under attack as well which was recently also mentioned by Ex CJI (Chief Justice of India) Ranjan Gogoi. He had named media houses like India Today Group, NDTV and Indian Express who attacked the CJI because he did not toe to their agenda. Whether it is the Judiciary especially the CJI, Parliament, Election Commission, Army, Police, Media and even President of India, all have been called puppets of the BJP (Bhartiya Janta Party) by the same ecosystem. It is important that we make our institutions stronger to protect ourselves from these anarchists who have no credibility left in the public domain but still have enough power to instigate violence in our country.

As I had mentioned in my previous articles that criticism of the Government and other institutions should be encouraged in order to improve ourselves and make our institutions better but in the name of criticism to make allegations to weaken our institutions should be condemned and not accepted. I might have a disagreement with a judgement of the judiciary like for example their decision to suspend the farm laws where I believe that people of India choose a Government democratically to fulfill the promises in their manifesto and the courts should have no say in it unless it was passed unconstitutionally. But just because I disagree with the judiciary does not mean I do not believe in the judiciary or think they are working for the opposition. Our institutions are who have made this country what it is and it is our duty to ensure that we preserve them.

We have heard a lot about article 19 which is right to free speech but it is equally important to read article 51 specifically article 51A which talks about duties of citizens where it mentions about duty to protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. It also mentions it is our duty to safeguard public property and abjure violence. So for the section of people who keep talking about article 19, should also remember about article 51A where in the name of rights one cannot instigate violence and when that person is arrested they cannot cry victim and say there is no right to free speech. If one wants to live in India it is their duty to follow the Constitution of India in totality or else they will face the law and order machinery.

Finally I want to tell my fellow Indians let's not make sweeping remarks that the entire Youth of this country is like Disha Ravi, Sharjeel Imam, Nikita Jacob, Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid. India's youth is full invested in Nation building be it PV Sindhu, Mohammed Siraj, Jamyang Namgyal, Anam Siraj (Kashmiri youth) and many others. Just because some of the youth are brainwashed and used for anti national activities does not mean the entire generation is doing the same. For the Youth Nation is always above Politics and they are already taking our country in the right direction in achieving new heights.

Jai Hind !!!

[rohan-shetty]

Love Jihad or Interfaith Marriage ?

One controversial topic that has been in the news off late has been the issue of Love Jihad. State Governments like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Haryana are looking to bring a Law against Love Jihad where according to them the boy is tricking the girl into a relationship and is then forcefully converting her to their religion. What we have seen in the Media and Social Media are extreme views. One side says there is nothing called as Love Jihad because every interfaith marriage is a personal choice of 2 individuals and the other side says that every or most of the interfaith marriages have led to forceful conversion of the girl's religion and then exploitation. The truth actually lies somewhere in between and for that we need to go into the history of the issue.

The first time we heard of this term Love Jihad was in the Uttar Pradesh bypoll elections of 2013 where Yogi Adityanath had brought this topic up. It didn't go down well with the people since it looked like he was trying to polarise and make it a Hindu Muslim issue which led to a horrible defeat for the BJP. After that we had the 2014 Lok Sabha elections which didn't have a mention of this issue as it was fought on the issue of development. Surprisingly, the next time we heard about Love Jihad was in Kerala where the Government said that Christian girls are getting forcefully converted and exploited. The interesting fact is the term Love Jihad was first coined in Kerala in the year 2009 but the media never highlighted it. The Indian Media's agenda to make it a Hindu-Muslim issue got thwarted when Christian Association for Social Action alleged Love Jihad being carried out against Christian girls. According to the Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference Commission for Social harmony and vigilance there have been 4000 instances of Love Jihad between 2005 and 2012. The High Court had also asked to investigate cases where forceful conversions are taking place after marriage. Things got serious where there were cases of Christian girls being forcefully converted and were sent to the IS (Islamic State). These cases were confirmed by our intelligence agencies where 21 girls were sent in one batch to the IS in Afghanistan. There are cases of Nimsha alias Farima and Sonia Sebastian alias Ayesha who were sent to Afghanistan and trained for Jihad where both had requested the Indian Government to save them and bring them back to Kerala. Now more cases are emerging in other states as well including Maharashtra where NCW (National Commission for Women) Chairman Rekha Sharma had met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to discuss regarding the rise in cases of forceful conversions of girls.

Now knowing the history we can figure out that this is a very serious and sensitive issue. To completely deny it won't be right but at the same to brush everyone with the same paint isn't right as well. What we have seen on Media and Social Media is the right wing trying to term every inter faith marriage as Love Jihad which is not true. In fact inter faith marriages prove that our country is as liberal as any other country and one should celebrate that. So to use such an sensitive issue for political gains and counter the leftists won't be advisable. The leftists on the other hand want to live in denial that forceful conversion does not exist and that all interfaith marriages are done with consent of both sides which is also not true. It is a very serious and complex issue which concerns national security as well and it is best left to our Governments, Intelligence agencies and Courts to address this issue.

One needs to understand that forceful conversion after marriage is not just an Indian issue and the same has been seen in other countries as well for years. Whether it be in European countries, African countries and even in Asia this has been a common phenomenon. Look at our neighbour Pakistan where girls from minority religions are forcefully converted and exploited which is one of the reasons why the Indian Government brought CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) in order to give shelter to those girls in our country. This has been a global issue for quite sometime and I am glad there is a debate on this subject in India. To know more on the global impact of this issue I would request everyone to read the article of S Gurumurthy in Indian Express where he mentions scholars giving examples on the same subject for which I have shared the link below.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2020/nov/26/love-jihad-loving-for-religion-2228125.amp

Rather than trying to make this issue about a religion one needs to see it as a women issue and address it in that context. Just like in the case of Triple Talaq, it was seen as a women issue rather than a religion issue because once it is made a religion issue then all we will see is sweeping remarks and politics done about a religion from both sides and we will miss the issue completely. It is good that Goverments are bringing these laws in order to protect women from being exploited but it is the duty of the opposition and the media to make sure that the ruling political party does not go overboard by making it a religion issue rather than a women issue.

For Indians, unity in diversity has always been our unique identity in the world. We have produced a Pranab Mukherjee, Abdul Kalam, Dr S Christopher, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, Milka Singh and many others which shows what we are all about. There are some lumpen elements in our country who will continue to try to break the country and our society so it is our duty to make sure that we call them out regardless of their political ideology. When it comes to issues especially women we should all come together to give them the support they deserve regardless of their religion.

Jai Hind !!!

[rohan-shetty]

Bihar and By poll elections in India

The exit polls were out regarding Bihar elections and it showed the RJD- Congress alliance winning the elections comfortably. The Indian media started debating and had already declared Tejashwi Yadav as the next Chief Minister. When the results came out the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won the election with a majority of 125 seats. Yet again the Indian Media were not even close to reality and were living in lala land. So let's look at what the media and the pundits missed on the ground in Bihar.

1) To start with they missed the silent voter which was the women of Bihar. Out of the 125 seats the NDA won 90 seats where Women voted more than the Men. They have benefited from both the Centre and State Governments programs over the years. Be it the LPG cylinders, Toilets, Electricity, Bank Accounts, Bank Loans, 1 Re Sanitary pads etc from the Centre and Self help groups which created employment, Law & Order and the Liquor ban by the State. There was also the fear for the women of return of the Jungle Raj of the 1990's and early 2000's where Law and Order situation was at its worst. It has been very encouraging to see the women vote more than the men especially in rural areas since the past few elections.

2) The next is the migrant voter where the media showed the migrants story where they had to face lot of hardship and how the central government left them to their fate and how the Bihari migrant will punish Modi in this election. What we saw on the ground is the BJP performing the best out of all the political parties especially in migrant dominated areas where they won 35 out of 41 seats and 51 out of 75 seats for the NDA. It showed the maturity of the Bihari migrant who understood why the lockdown decision had to be taken and one can only thank them for understanding why certain things had to be done. Another reason could be them still preferring Nitish and Modi as compared to Tejaswi and Rahul even though there was anger and they don't feel the opposition is a viable choice. Yet again shouting unemployment especially of the migrants did not work for the opposition and their media houses which reflects in the results.

3) As far as Congress and Tejaswi are concerned, it is the same old story for the Congress where it is all noise but nothing to show on ground. Tejaswi's party performed decently where he tried to focus more on relevant issues like education, jobs, healthcare etc. He had to do it all alone against the Centre and State Government combination because Congress was irrelevant and considering that he has done well and has something to build on.

4) One of the reasons which the opposition gave for their defeat was the good performance given by Asaduddin Owaisi. He won only 5 seats but according to the opposition he ended up cutting a chunk of their Muslim votes. But the same had happened on the other side where Chirag Paswan's party the LJP (Lok Janshakti Party) won only 1 seat but cut into of the votes of the JDU (Janta Dal United). So to just blame Owaisi along with the EVM's (Electronic Voting Machines) won't cover the mistakes the opposition made while campaigning and they need to come up with a better strategy to counter the Modi Government. One positive news for the opposition was the performance of the communist party which got 16 seats.

Going into the By poll results which took place across 11 states of the country, the BJP dominated in those elections as well. They surprisingly have performed well in states like Telangana and Manipur which are not their stronghold states. The most interesting seats that no media house will show is the victory of the BJP in Muslim majority seats. One of the examples was former Indian cricketer Late Chetan Chauhan's wife Sangeeta Chauhan winning Nauwagan Sagat, Uttar Pradesh which is a Muslim majority seat. The Muslims voting for the BJP has now become a reality especially after passing the Triple Talaq Law for Muslim Women which has now led the opposition targeting the Muslims and Dalits vote combination as their new strategy.

What these two results in Bihar and By poll elections show is the mood of the Nation. They still have complete belief in Modi and the work he is doing in the Centre but it also shows the lack of belief in the opposition even though there might be some anger against the Government. The Samajwadi Party (SP) has also announced that they won't contest the next Uttar Pradesh elections with any major party which also shows the impact of these election results. The opposition especially the Congress rather than focusing on their leadership and organisation issues are still busy in Modi bashing with the hope they will get something out of it but the results don't reflect that. It has now been close to 20 years where the opposition along with its ecosystem has invested more time on Modi than on issues which matter the people. I hope they focus more on issues such as economy, unemployment, women issues, farmer issues etc which can give them some dividends.

Another significant impact of these results is the rising number of seats of the NDA in the Rajya Sabha. The BJP already has a complete majority in the Lok Sabha and by getting a majority in the Rajya Sabha will help them pass bills like the NRC (National Register of Citizens) and UCC (Uniform Civil Code) with ease. With the Central Government pushing their agenda even due to the challenge of Covid 19 and a weak & divided opposition, it seems inevitable that the BJP will achieve majority in the Rajya Sabha as well.

Even though as a supporter of the Prime Minister and his work, I am happy that the people still have faith in the Government but it is equally important that in a democracy there should be a strong opposition. It is high time the opposition especially the Congress focus on themselves and bring drastic changes especially in their leadership. The BJP would love to see Rahul Gandhi continue as the leader of the Congress but I believe for the nation it is high time we get a leader who has the competence to understand issues that concern the public and address them. For now it is the BJP on a high with their next target being West Bengal elections which will be coming in the next 7 months. They have a feisty leader Mamata Banerjee in front of them who will definitely put up a fight. Get ready for some more fire works.

Jai Hind !!!

[rohan-shetty]

You go in a Journalist ..

You come out a Hero !!!

From the outset let me make it clear that the title of this article are not my words but words quoted by eminent lawyer Harish Salve. These words are exactly what has happened in the case of Republic TV's owner, editor in chief and journalist Arnab Goswami. What we have learnt over the past week is that free press, free speech and democracy cannot be trampled upon till the time our institutions are strong. This is what we saw, where our Supreme Court through its judgement made sure that democracy is still alive. The people of India also played their part because without their support for truth this victory of democracy would not have been possible. Having said that , there are many other Arnab's in this country who have given an opinion that was not liked by power and are still languishing in jail for cases that have no teeth. We might not agree with their opinions and there will be times where they say things they should not, for that there is a provision of filing a defamation case if that individual has made defamatory remarks against someone. I hope governments learn from this incident and become more tolerant to different views because that is the essence of our democracy.

What this case also did is expose those who keep lecturing the country on free speech, free press, intolerance and democracy. They return their awards saying democracy is in danger and go to the United Nations or the US complaining about India's democracy. All these people had their mouths sealed on this issue which shows that they will take stands only when it suits their political agenda. These are the same people who took part in a media trial when the Gujarat 2002 riots happened and are now saying how wrong it is for Arnab to do a media trial through his channel. In this case, Arnab too is no saint where one can say he is doing independent journalism or is not doing a media trial but what he has done is given the Lutyens Delhi gang a taste of their own medicine. So the next time you see these so called independent people trying to lecture on free speech and free press, you can remind them of Arnab Goswami.

Now going beyond politics, as I had mentioned before it is important for us to uphold the sanctity of our institutions like our judiciary, media, parliament, government, election commission, army, police etc. It is these institutions that will make our democracy stronger. We can have different political ideologies or opinions and can voice our opinions freely knowing very well our institutions will uphold an individual's liberty. What the Supreme Court has done is given a landmark judgement and made sure that other Governments regardless of the political party don't use this case as an alibi to shut free press or free speech. It is unfortunate that the Indian media rather than uniting and supporting one of their own, was either celebrating or staying silent on a journalist's arrest.

Another interesting thing I have observed over these past few months is similarity of certain individuals who have become a hero of the public, be it Modi, Arnab, Kangna and even Sushant Singh Rajput who garnered a lot of public support. The things that are similar among all these individuals is that they all come from a humble background, they all have broken the status quo and whether one agrees with their style of functioning or not they are all self made people. These kind of personalities connect with people especially the youth because they are where they are because of their competence and not because they belong to a family or a group which believes it is their right to rule the people and tell them what is right for them.

What we have also seen over the past few months is the rise of the rightist journalists. Over the years we have seen the leftist journalists dominating the media space but now the rightist journalists have turned the tables. They believe in promoting nationalism, they are proud of their Indian culture and criticise those who in the name of secularism want to appease one community. This has made the leftist journalists very uncomfortable who used to mainly run the narrative through Lutyens Delhi but now have journalists giving a counter narrative and garnering lot of public support. I realised this especially when I was streaming my youtube recently where Republic TV had 40k people watching them live as compared to a India Today and NDTV where 800 and 600 people respectively were watching them live.

To conclude I just hope governments don't make more heroes and let journalists be journalists. I hope they focus on Governance and Development rather than wasting their time on fixing journalists. There is a corona pandemic war that still needs to be won and it requires both Centre and States to work together to defeat the enemy. For the journalists, free speech and free press is their right as per our Constitution but they also should try to show some restraint when it comes to language and avoid media trial that we see on prime time television. It is for the media to decide regardless of whether they lean to the left or to the right whether they want to become a voice of the people or become noise for the people.

Jai Hind !!!

[rohan-shetty]

The Real History of Bharat

When we look back at our ancient history , the things we normally think or talk about is the British rule, Mughal rule, Aurangazeb, Akbar, a bit of Shivaji and some other freedom fighters. But have we ever come across names like Maharaj Ranjit Singh, Raja Dahir, Rahab Singh Dutt, Raja Rajendra Chola, King Suhel Dev and Zorawar Singh ? These were all leaders of our ancient history but never made it to our history books or might have just got a mention. Along with this there are many other facts which our historians never bothered acknowledging or highlighting. It is a shame that we have not acknowledged our 5000 years of civilization which is the oldest and only civilization surviving from the Bronze age. So let's look at things that ancient India or as the original name is Bharat had achieved but never got acknowledged.

Rahab Singh Dutt was the most fascinating story that we never came across. He was a Hindu Brahmin from Mohyals community who had come to the rescue of Imam Hussain the grandson of Prophet Muhammad and had come along with his sons to fight the battle of Karbala in 680 AD against caliph Yazeed. Knowing very well that they are fighting a lost battle Rahab Singh Dutt still fought and in the process sacrificed his seven sons. The family of the Great Prophet Muhammad told Rahab Singh Dutt that they are not just Brahmins from now on but Hussaini Brahmins. Even though there were attempts to say that none of the above was true but eventually there has been acceptance by some historians and even Shia cleric based in Lahore Maulana Hasan Zafar Naqvi validated the fact that the Mohyals had participated in the battle of Karbala. I can understand Pakistan not acknowledging this part of history but why did the Indian historians keep this away from the people of our country is something they have to answer. It can be a chapter that we can teach our children in schools showing the Hindu-Muslim unity. This community was known in folklore in phrases like "Wah Dutt Sultan, Hindu ka dharm, Mussalman ka iman" and "Dutt Sultan na Hindu na Mussalman". There were other great leaders like Maharaj Ranjit Singh and Raja Dahir who have also been hailed in Pakistan where Maharaj Ranjit Singh has a statue in Lahore and there is a demand for a statue for Raja Dahir, the last great Hindu ruler of Sindh. It is time that Bharat also acknowledges and learns about our heroes.

About the Mughal rule which again our historians have misled our country by saying it was an Islamic rule but in reality it was a Turkic rule. Just like we do not call the British rule as Christian rule similarly this was a Turkic rule. All these rulers like Aurangzeb, Akbar, Alauddin Khilji, Taimur and even Babar were Turks and not Indian Muslims. There was an attempt to portray that these were Indian Muslims who ruled our country which was not the fact because they all came from Central Asia. They spoke Turkish language or some spoke Persian but none of them knew Urdu. They looked very close to Chinese but definitely not like Ranveer Singh did as Khilji and Hritik Roshan did as Akbar which again misleads people of our country that they were Indian Muslims. These were all foreigners who had invaded our land and killed both Indian Hindus and Muslims. They not only attacked our country but were doing the same to the entire world.

Sticking to the Turkic rule our historians didn't bother telling us that why did the Turks not attack our country for 160 years when they were attacking the world. Why was there such a big gap between the rule of Mahmud Ghazni and Mahmud Ghori ? The reason behind this was King Suhel Dev who badly defeated the Ghazanavid army of general Salar Mazud in the battle of Bahraich in 1034 AD. The Turks didn't dare to invade our country after such a brutal defeat and it was only in the 1190's AD Mahmud Ghori invaded our country. The reason why King Suhel Dev should be celebrated was not just for defeating the Turkic Army but because he brought people from all religions and castes together to beat them. The same is said by renowned author Amish Tripathi who has written a book on King Suhel Dev that once Indians come together then no one can beat us. It is unfortunate that we have been so divided that the Turks, British and even years after independence countries have taken advantage of it. King Suhel Dev is a symbol of unity and I hope our coming generations are taught about him.

Another narrative that is being highlighted for years is that if you are religious then you are not liberal. If one talks about the Vedas, Puranas and Upanishads they become backward or communal. All these texts speak to have respect for women. There are Rishikas who have also taken part in writing these texts and have been as respected as the Rishis. There is this misconception that for Women rights and Transgender rights we need to import the western ideas and implement it in our country. The story of Ila or Sudyumna who lived alternatively as a man and a woman where Ila gave birth to Pururavas who was the first of the Lunar Kings (Chandravanshi). Lord Ram has also spoken about the equality for all and that is why Gandhiji also spoke on the need of a Ram Rajya. We can see it in the recent decisions of the Uttar Pradesh Government who believe in Ram Rajya and have opened the first transgender university in our country and also made amendments to previous laws which discriminated against transgenders. As Amish Tripathi rightly said that we are the religious liberals who if one takes the effort to read our ancient texts we will not need to import western ideas on women rights and transgender rights. Unfortunately our elites and liberals, most of them who wrote our history never read or acknowledged our real history.

When it comes to issues like Maths, Science and Literature as well we for some reason have again looked to the Western world and acknowledged their people rather than acknowledging our people who had already achieved excellence in these areas. For example Pythogarus theorem was told to us that it was founded by Pythogarus but this theorem was found 200 years back by Indian Mathematician Baudhayana even before Pythogarus was born. The proof of this has been mentioned in our ancient texts and the same is now getting acknowledged in Europe as well. Similarly in other areas where our doctors still take the Hippocratic Oath of the Greek physician Hippocrates but we're never taught about the Charaka Samhita, the Sanskrit text on Ayurveda. The Father of Surgery Sushruta was the first plastic surgeon in 600 BC whos great work got acknowledged in Australia where they have a statue of him in Melbourne but unfortunately is not spoken about in our country because lot of people are not even aware about him. We all know a lot about Shakespeare but we hardly know anything about Kalidasa who wrote plays and poems about the Vedas, Puranas, Ramayana and Mahabharata. The point I am making is it is important for us to teach our generation about our ancient history where we have already achieved excellence in various fields but unfortunately the credit has gone to the Western world.

Another lie which was told to us by our historians is that our ancestors never wrote enough. The fact is the Greek history has 30000 texts written and our ancient history has over 3 million texts written in Sanskrit. The same have been tabulated by The Indian National Mission for Manuscripts (NAMAMI) which comes under the Cultural Ministry. The irony is the historians who at every opportunity look at Sanskrit as communal, have written our history and the same has been taught to our children.

I am glad that finally the Government of India has acknowledged the real history of our country in the New Education Policy where children will be taught about our ancient history. It will not inspire them but also teach them lessons on respecting everyone regardless of their Religion, Caste and Gender. The inclusion of traditional system of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy) along with modern medicines will again help our students to understand medicine as a whole and acknowledge our ancestors work.

There are many more heroes and achievements our ancestors have contributed in ancient Bharat but I tried my best to highlight some of them in the 5000 years history we have. It is time for us to stop having an inferiority complex, it is time for us to acknowledge who we are and not only inspire ourselves but inspire the world with the real history of Bharat.

Jai Hind !!!

[rohan-shetty]

Solutions for Farmers in India !!!

When it comes to discussions on farmers of India the kind of news we always see is 1. Number of farmer suicides and 2. Farm loans waiver promised by political parties. Over the years farmers have been used by political parties, media, activists etc only for fulfilling their respective agenda. The Modi Government also had a lot of good ideas for farmers but had delivered very little on the ground. When it came to election time in 2019 they announced the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of 6000 Rs per year for farmers which ended up being a game changer. However it was the corona pandemic that led the Government to focus more on the agricultural sector since the country had to meet the demands of food and mainly feed the poor of our country.

India has always been an agrarian country but due to small lands held by farmers (according to National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) the average size is 1.2 hectares only), they are not able to earn enough income and the agriculture sector has not been performing to its potential. As I had mentioned in my article on jobs , 50% people are employed in the agriculture sector which contribute only 14% to the GDP as compared to the IT sector which employs 0.7% people and contributes 8% to the GDP in our country. The Government's aim to double farmers income looks far fetched based on these numbers but they seem to have finally moved towards this target especially due to the corona pandemic period.

The Government had announced a 20 lakh crore package out of which major investments of this package has been on agriculture. The 1 lakh crore agri infrastructure fund is aimed to improve post harvest and cold storage management which has been an issue for farmers for many years. This is a long term investment of 10 years where the funds will be provided in tranches. There is a cold storage train which has also started from Maharashtra to Bihar. This is going to help small farmers connect directly with their consumers in cities like Mumbai & Pune. It will also benefit the consumers since they will be able to get fresh perishable goods. The same will also benefit Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh since the train will go to Bihar via these states.

The Government has taken another bold step of diluting the power of APMC (Agriculture Produce Market Committee) and bringing the required changes in the Essential Commodities Act. This is a huge reform since it will give farmers the opportunity to sell directly to the consumers or the retailers by removing the middle men. This used to always be an issue for not only farmers but consumers as well since these middle men used to buy from the farmers at lower prices and after hoarding used to sell it at higher prices to the consumers. The philosophy of farmers only selling to a particular region is done away with and they can sell wherever they prefer in the country to earn more income as compared to before.

To tackle the issue of small lands which farmers have, the Government is focusing on bringing more FPO's (Farmer Producer Organisations) that will help the farmers. The FPO was started on a pilot project in 2011 by the then UPA Government and now is been taken ahead by the NDA Government which brings 400-500 farmers together in the FPO. The aim is to give farmers better bargaining power and more income, more visibility, transparency, better access to credit etc. The Government announced in the recent budget that they aim to reach 10000 FPO's by 2024 which is double the FPOs that currently exist and I hope they achieve their target of making our farmers more empowered.

Another aim of this Government has been to make the farmers focus on diversification, technology and value addition in order to earn more income. By doing timber plantation at the edges of the farm lands and focusing more on animal husbandry can help our farmers in moving towards the target of doubling their income. These initiatives will help our farmers in not being reliant on just one crop and especially rains for making a living. The Government has taken different initiatives like soil health card scheme and irrigation schemes in order to reduce farmers input costs but the same needs to be implemented more efficiently and reach all the farmers. Another initiative taken by the Government has been the use of modern technology in order to improve yields which will also help in increase the earnings of our farmers. The same was done during the Green revolution in the 1960s where technology was used successfully in agriculture. For value addition the Government has been pushing farmers to value add by selling finished products rather that just raw materials. For example rather than selling potatoes farmers can sell potato chips or rather than selling tomatoes they can sell tomato ketchup. This has been a weakness of our country where we have been exporting raw materials to countries and importing finished goods from the same countries which is baffling.

This article would be incomplete without mentioning the father of agriculture in our country, Professor MS Swaminathan who contributed his life to the field of agriculture. Being a geneticist, he has helped our farmers use the combination of science and technology in order to improve their yield which in turn improves their earnings. He had lauded the Government in 2018 for acting on various recommendations given in the National Commission on Farmers (NCF) especially on MSP (Minimum Support Price) which was a big political issue. He has also mentioned recently, that the Government needs to focus more on our farmers during Corona times due to the need to feed our poor which also includes our farmers.

Finally it is good that the country is looking for solutions which includes the ones I have mentioned above. However it is also important that the Government both at Centre and State create job opportunities in non farming sectors as well because as I have mentioned before, 50% of our labour force in agriculture contributes only 14% of GDP which means they hardly earn anything in this field. Creating non farming jobs or jobs that are connected to farming can make the pie larger along with the various initiatives taken by the Government which will make the agriculture sector more sustainable.

For the people of our country, what we can do is appreciate the farmers of our country who are the ones who put food on our table, raise more awareness on the various schemes the Government is providing them and try to buy online directly through farmers or FPO's. When the Prime Minister is calling for a Atmanirbhar Bharat it is important that we do our bit to make a Atmanirbhar Kisan which will be a true sign that we are becoming self reliant.

Jai Hind !!!

[rohan-shetty]

Vision for Education in India !!!

Over the past few days we have been watching and reading a lot about the New Education Policy (NEP) that the Government has introduced. A comprehensive discussion was done with all stakeholders and finally the Government came with the new policy. I am happy that after 34 years a education policy has come with a vision on what it aims to achieve but like any other policy in India the challenge is always the execution of that policy. For that we will have to wait and see how this policy works on the ground. Having said that there a lot of issues that the Government has tried to address which we will look at one by one.

Language was always a sensitive issue and many had the fear especially in the South that the BJP led Government will impose Hindi on the entire country. That was not the case where they have allowed schools to teach in mother tongue till class 5 and English, Hindi or Regional/Mother tongue language from class 6. This again is not mandatory and the schools can use the language recommended in the NEP or not based on their situation. The explanation on mother tongue being used to teach till class 5 is an interesting one which was explained by Dr K Kasturirangan who was the Chairman of the NEP. According to him based on research the cognitive skills of children work at their best when they are taught in the mother language and countries like Japan, Germany, France and others have used it successfully. On the question of lesser emphasis on English which has been known as an added advantage for India, he mentioned that there are only 15% English speaking schools in India and it is important to focus on acquiring knowledge than on language. The point he was trying to make was that it is time India moves on from the mindset that English language is the benchmark for competancy and it is knowledge not language that defines the person who he or she is. It is also important to note that English as a subject will be taught as always and the impression that is tried to be given by a section of people that some children will lose out is not true.

Another issue that the Government tried to address in the NEP is the emphasis on vocational education. 50% of students in schools (from class 6) and higher education will have exposure to vocational education. This is mainly to address the skill issue that India has in providing jobs. I had mentioned this in my previous article on employment where Mr Manish Sabharwal (Managing Director of Team Lease), one of India's top hiring agency explained about the job situation in India. He told that India does not have an employment problem but a employability problem where to get a candidate for 10-15K was easy but to get a candidate for 25-30k was a challenge. This is because India was not producing enough people with skills required for specialised jobs. The NEP has aimed to address this problem where students will be trained in a particular skill and can get a job based on that. This is an important change we can see in the policy but I hope it is implemented well.

One of the debates we used to always have surrounding education is the budget allocation that Governments used to provide. Let's face it without the right amount of finance all these ideas will never be implemented. The Government has to walk the talk in spending 6% of the GDP as recommended by Kothari Commission in 1964. Whether the current Government is providing the required funds to Education needs to be understood properly. The media ideally tries to fool people by showing the decline in the budgetary allocation year on year. The fact is it is not the allocation but the budgetary spending that matters. India spends 4.6% of GDP on Education according to the Human Resource Development Ministry (now the Education Ministry) and as per Niti Ayog in 2 years time India should achieve the target of spending 6% percent of GDP as recommended by the then Commission. It is the job of the opposition also make sure the Government achieves the target 6% spending on Education by putting pressure on them.

A contentious issue was opening the sector for foreign universities to set up their campuses. I was quite surprised by this move from the BJP Government because the RSS (Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh) have always advocated against such moves. The Government's explanation was to bring more competition in the sector and to learn from these institutions on improving the quality of our education system. This move has reversed the stand taken by the then UPA Government which had brought The Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulations of Entry and Operations) Bill 2010.

Another contentious issue was the emphasis on the ancient heritage of India. The Government felt it is important for our children to know about our ancient history and to be proud of being an Indian. This as expected led the communists criticising the Government of imposing history on children and pandering to the RSS agenda. One of the journalists went to the extent of asking Dr Kasturirangan whether teaching ancient history will undermine science. To that Dr Kasturirangan who is a scientist himself and has been chief of ISRO said that both ancient history and science can go hand in hand and there is no need to mix both of them.

After reading this article, one would understand why previous Governments didn't dare to bring a NEP because they were afraid of political repercussions. Whether it be language, history, budget spending etc it would lead to either the right or left ideology feeling their agenda is not fulfilled. The RSS will be disappointed that Hindi has not been imposed and foreign universities have been welcome whereas the Communists will be disappointed that ancient heritage is imposing Hindutva agenda and not enough budget is allocated to education. The Government has played a balancing act by not pandering to any agenda and provided a comprehensive Education policy. Having said that, as I had mentioned in the start that the implementation is most important and I hope all stakeholders will play their part in implementing the NEP effectively.

Thank you !!!

[rohan-shetty]

Why some states did better than others in handling Covid 19 ?

This is a very difficult and complex question to answer as to why some states handled Covid 19 well whereas some states are still struggling to grapple with the Virus. Overall, India has done well as compared to the world considering the population it has, even though a section of Indian media and compulsive complainers are highlighting the fact that number of cases have gone up and that India is 3rd in the world in number of Covid 19 cases. We should remember that these were the same people that were complaining before why India has not done enough testing and now that India is right up there with other countries in testing (only 2nd to United States) they will not highlight the number of cases vis a vis the number of cases tested which will give the real picture. Along with that India's high recovery rate and low mortality rate is also one of the best in the world.

Coming back to the states ability to handle Covid 19, there is a difference in performance for various reasons. It is not a simple answer where we can say the state that tests the highest has done well because the virus itself is a very complicated one. As Dr Gangakedkar from ICMR had explained in one of his interviews that testing someone in a particular day will show negative but after some days testing the same person will show positive. So it is not that straight forward of testing more because it has to be done based on the situation in that particular place. We will have to look at a combination of things to understand the varied performances that we are seeing in states. Let's look at the states that have performed well like Kerala, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. I have deliberately choosen these three states which are Communist, Congress and BJP Governments respectively to negate the politics from this important topic.

Kerala was the first state that saw a Covid 19 case on January 30, which was a student who had come from Wuhan in China and was immediately isolated at the Thrissur General Hospital. Kerala is a state which has lot of experience in handling these viruses like SARS, Ebola and now Covid 19. I won't say it is because of the health infrastructure that Kerala has done well because countries like US, Italy and Spain have even better health infrastructure than Kerala but have succumbed to the Virus. It was the Kerala Government's proactive approach towards the situation where they immediately had the Government machinery working with contact tracing, banning gatherings, lockdowns, testing strategically etc. which always had them in top of the situation. Kerala had started banning mass gatherings and suspended schools for certain grades even before the WHO declared Covid 19 as a pandemic. As cases were rising in the state, Kerala started testing more and were able to have a clear picture or atleast best possible understanding on the situation. With Doctors who are experienced in handling such viruses, their ability to handle the challenge was an example for the rest of the states to learn from. So even in midst of rising cases which the state expected due to their increase in testing, they were able to treat the patients without being overrun in capacities and equipments in hospitals. Even though some communists supporters started cheering Kerala for flattening the curve, the state has seen a spike in number of cases recently and I hope under the leadership of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala continues the good work without letting the politics of cheering and criticising come in between.

Punjab was one of the states which was seeing high number of cases but they also have been able to handle the situation well. The capacities for accommodating patients have been taken care off, good number of testing is happening and the leadership of Captain Amrinder Singh is helping the state to cope with the pandemic quite well. The credit should go to the opposition as well who have not indulged in politics and are supporting the Government in handling the situation. Punjab's micro containment and house to house surveillance strategy also worked well in the state and even the Prime Minister praised the state and asked other states to adopt this method.

Uttar Pradesh (UP) has surprisingly done well since it is the largest state of India and after the lockdown the state had to deal with the influx of migrants into the state. The CFR (case fatality rate) in the state is just 2.36% according to Union Health Ministry considering the population it has. It was mainly due to maintaining sufficient capacities in the hospitals, providing them the required equipment and also maintaining a strict lockdown to avoid any rise in cases. Just like in Punjab and Kerala, leadership played an important role where Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was on top of the situation and was proactive in every step in handling the challenges. He was the first Chief Minister to send buses for migrants at the UP-Delhi border. He was also the first Chief Minister to send buses to Kota, Rajasthan and brought back students who were stranded there. He got praise from the most unlikely sources like the Print which is ideally an Anti BJP news portal and Pakistan based newspaper Dawn which showed how UP is doing better than Pakistan which has the same population and that the state is also doing better than Maharashtra in handling the virus especially in keeping a very low mortality rate.

Coming to the states that have struggled to manage the pandemic like Maharashtra (specifically Pune, Mumbai, Thane & Navi Mumbai), Delhi and Gujarat (specifically Ahmedabad) there are few reasons that were similar in all these states. The leadership as compared to other states that perfomed well was not up to the mark and politics had taken over the challenge in hand which again effected the performance. Maharashtra started off well in handling the virus but things got worse when politics took over. It started with them not taking action against the Tablighi Jamaat in Dharavi which then became a hub of Covid 19, because of worry for their vote bank politics. Other instances like keeping the Mumbai police busy in questioning a journalist for hours to giving special privileges to a rich businessman to letting certain areas flout the rules because it is their votebank, due to which the state ended up with paying a heavy price. One can understand that Maharashtra is a complicated state with different municipal corporations for places like Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai along with a huge migrant population but politics should have no place in times like these. Even though the state is now doing much better with Mumbai being in control as compared to Thane, Navi Mumbai and Pune, the state leadership needs to continue to work with the Central Government and stabilise the state.

Delhi was also a state which started well in handling the pandemic but even there politics took over and the situation went out of hand. The Chief Minister's announcement of not allowing outsiders to get treated in Delhi, stirred up another political debate and the focus got diverted on irrelevant issues. The Deputy Chief Minister made things worse by announcing that Delhi will have 5.5 lakh cases by end of July which created panic in the state. It was only when the Home Minister stepped in and worked with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) to handle the capacity issue of the state where they provided 10000 beds along with the required staff as well. The increase in availability of the equipments and also improving the contact tracing helped the state in stabilising the situation. It again comes to my point that I made above that if the leadership is there and if the state is willing to work above politics then things can be handled well. One needs to also give credit to the Delhi State Government for using the home quarantine model where only people who are serious will be needed to come to hospitals but the rest can be treated at home itself along with the help of the state. This model was even appreciated by the Prime Minister which had helped the state in managing capacity.

Gujarat was another state where weak leadership and politics led to the state, specifically Ahmedabad becoming a Covid 19 hub. There is no doubt since the exit of Narendra Modi, the state has been lacking leadership and the internal bickering in the BJP was not helping the situation. The state's mismanagement of the pandemic led to the Central Government intervening. They immediately sidelined non performers like Principal Secretary Jayanti Ravi and Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nair. The Additional Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar was brought in to guide the State Health department and Mukesh Kumar was put incharge of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. Both these officers are known as no non sense officers and super ceded the non performing officers. With the intervention of the Centre the situation has stabilized but the state needs to do more since it has the highest CFR in the country of 4.48% according to Union Health Ministry.

Looking at the states that were mentioned above it is quite clear that with leadership and rising above politics, the Covid 19 challenge can definitely be handled. Every state is unique in its way but a lot can be learnt from one another. As far as common people are concerned they can help the states by following protocol like washing/sanitizing at regular intervals, going out only when required, wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. Currently the only solution has been to increase one's immunity since the vaccine is still on trial stage. I hope the Centre continues to work along with the States with the hope that the Nation and it's people will be kept above politics.

Jai Hind !!!

[rohan-shetty]

When the dragon felt the heat and had to retreat !!!

The world and especially some in India tried to make China look as if it is some invincible force that one needs to be afraid of and that cannot be taken on. India has shown over the past few weeks that all that hype made around China is not true. Under the leadership of our Prime Minister and our Army, China was shown it's place and given a clear message that they have messed with the wrong country and we won't tolerate this kind of behaviour. China decided to withdraw troops on July 6 from Ladhak and should withdraw completely in the coming 3 weeks as per reports.

So why did China finally decide to withdraw their troops ?

One, the Indian Army has proved once again that it is one of the best armies in the world where it did not budge an inch even after the Chinese pressure. In the process of stopping the bullying attempts of China, we lost 20 of our jawans. The Chinese also have lost around 43 of their soldiers as per reports but a recent report of the US Intelligence agency says that more than 100 Chinese soldiers were killed. India gave their jawans full respect and paid homage to all 20 of them but China didn't do that. It also led to some Chinese veterans criticising their Government for not giving the homage that their troops deserved. China understood through their experience that the Indian army is not the one to mess with and the pressure from within had left them with no choice.

Second, the surprise visit of the Prime Minister of India. The Defence Minister was supposed to visit Ladhak to meet our Army but it was the Prime Minister who came to Ladakh. He not only motivated our jawans but also gave a message to China without naming them that the days of expansionism are over and India won't succumb to any pressure from them. This visit caught China and their agents who also live in India surprised and brought more pressure on China to withdraw their troops. Along with that the World is now following India's lead and openly calling out China for their behaviour which is my third reason for China backing out.

Third is India's diplomats who worked tirelessly to expose China and garner the support to exert pressure on them. India successfully got the support of the World and as days went by China felt the pressure from the World knowing clearly that they are losing credibility like never before. With already losing a lot of credibility because of the Corona pandemic this was again another blow to them, thanks to our Indian diplomats. India got the QUADs together which is India,US, Japan and Australia who are strategic partners that pressurized China through various forums. The increase in deployment of US armed forces over the South China sea got China cornered from all ends and made them withdraw their soldiers from Ladhak as that was the best option available. It is something that the US had mentioned many times before but only after India took on China head on in Ladakh did we see them taking action on the South China sea. Along with that the ASEAN countries and Europe are also not impressed by China's actions, Canada has also called out China for their "hostile diplomacy" and even a small country like Myanmar has told China to stop funding terrorists in their country.

The fourth was probably something China did not expect which was the power of people of India. The Prime Minister already had asked for a Atmanirbhar Bharat which without naming China was a call to not use Chinese products and buy more local. The Government had also banned Chinese apps and brought restrictions on Chinese companies especially in Infrastructure projects. But it was a call from Sonam Wangchuk to stop the use of Chinese apps and over a year stop use of Chinese products which gained momentum. The loss that China has got economically is something they did not expect. There were some as always in India who said what is the point of banning Tiktok since they will still do well without India. Not only did Tiktok lose its number 1 ranking but even other countries like the US and Australia are thinking of similar moves that India has taken. Once that happens it is but natural for Europe to follow suit.

So under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, India took on China militarily, diplomatically and economically to make them realise that our matrys lives won't go in vain and that their antics won't work with us. But having said that even though the Chinese are withdrawing their troops, India has to be careful and be prepared for another onslaught by our adversary who has a bloody nose. I won't be surprised if China tries to again capture our lands because they want to show the World that they are a Super power and they can bully their way into any country but I am confident that the Indian Army will be ready to take them on again. China has similar border issues with 14 other countries and are trying to stamp their supremacy over them. But as far as India is concerned whether it is the 2017 Doklam or 2020 Galwan, the Chinese have not got an inch of our land and have only ended up with egg on their face.

Going forward India needs to make sure it makes China feel the heat especially Economically. If there is one thing that Chinese are insecure about is their loss in Economic prowess. While we all want India to counter China for what it does in the North of India whether it is Ladakh, Northeast India and even Kashmir where it funds its puppet Pakistan for terror activities, it is the South of India at the Malacca Straits which is China's Achilles heel. Around 80% of Chinese oil imports comes through the Malacca strait which goes through Malaysia and Indonesia. The Indian Navy is more than capable to make China feel the pain Economically by blocking their ships through the route. China is well aware of this fact and that is why they are building the CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) where they have invested 62 billion dollars for the project. This route will reach goods to China from Gwadar port in Pakistan. Along with that China is building alternative routes like Northsea Route which goes through the Artic and direct land route BRI (Belt Road Initiative) which connects with Europe. These routes will help China in reducing their reliance on the Malacca Straits route. But for the time being India has a strategic advantage over China with having a natural position on the Indian Ocean and can block China at Malacca Straits to hurt them Economically.

China has been known as an opportunist country who takes advantage of vulnerability of other countries but now this is India's chance to give it back to them with the same coin by taking advantage of the vulnerable position China is in. India has shown it's power Militarily, India has shown it's power Diplomatically but to show it's power Economically, India needs to take advantage of the opportunities that are in front of it. It is time that India rather than wasting time on negativity and complaining about their problems takes this opportunity of loss in China's credibility and moves towards becoming an Economic power that it always dreamt of.

Jai Hind !!!

[rohan-shetty]

The Mind !!!

Over the past few months , especially during the lockdown we have seen that there is a lot of discussion around mental health and I am glad that it has been given the importance that it deserves. Having been part of professional sports since my school days whether it was cricket or football, mental fitness was always considered as the most important part. There is a misconception that sports or fitness in general was only related to physical fitness or how a person looks externally but fitness of the mind or being mentally healthy is even more important than just physical fitness. Sports and mental health go hand in hand where playing sports is good for your mind and if you are mentally fit it is natural for you to perform at your best. The same is applicable for whatever we do in our lives if we are happy or atleast are in the right frame of mind we are bound to perform our tasks better. So it is important especially in today's day to understand how our mind functions and give it the nourishment that we give our body as well to make it work at its best.

When talking about mental health one of the best nourishments to the mind is Yoga. Now when we say Yoga all that comes to our mind is stretching the body and showing your flexibility. Believe me you don't need to stretch anything but just sit and focus on different meditations. Once you try to do that the first thing one tells is their thoughts are not letting them focus and how to stop their thoughts. It is as good as telling how can we stop our heart, lungs or liver while meditating. That is why one needs to have Yoga as a part of their lives where they can handle their thoughts and still focus on what they are doing. Understanding Yoga is equally important as doing it but if you don't understand the fundamentals of it then you might get likes on Facebook and Instagram for your posts but you would not get the desired results.

The mind is just a part just like the other parts of the body but unfortunately it has not been taken care of which is why it is coming back to people in the form of stress, anxiety, depression and even suicide. It is unfortunate how we see certain people being insensitive to sensitive issues like suicide where they say that it is not a choice one needs to take but they have no idea what that person is going through. We need to understand and learn from such situations on why people take such drastic decisions and also know the fact that certain people and the world is not going to change but we have to change and make ourselves stronger. So when I say stronger all I end up seeing is people working out in the gym which is fine but what is equally important is to take care of your mind. The mind is anyways strong but whether it works for you or against you is where it makes the difference. When we call someone mentally weak it is not because they are not talented or do not have any skills but they are not able to manage their strong mind. That is why as I mentioned above that one needs to make Yoga a part of their lives so that their mind works for them and not against them.

One thing that we have all done in our lives is to blame people for our life situations and when we have no one to blame then we end up blaming God on why he has made us go through such situations. I don't know about people but I certainly don't remember God promising me that everything will be positive in my life and there won't be any challenges. It is again something to do with our inability to manage our mind. Unless we have been attacked physically we can blame the other person but how many instances in our life has that happened? We can understand disabled people blaming their situation but they have become role models on mental strength. So isn't it time we look at ourselves and understand that we are the problem but we are the solution too.

In times like these where we are part of an unprecedented crisis it is important to have people with a strong mind, especially the youth needs to be the one who should lead from the front but unfortunately what we are seeing is a worried youth. I can understand the older population being worried since their bodies are not strong like before but the youth should definitely not be worried. It is in times like these we should show who we are and lead from the the front and be part of the solution. Unfortunately through worry we are being part of the problem and that is why I am stressing on the point of addressing to ourselves. Worry is nothing but our minds working against us and it is high time we address it rather than blaming external situations. Yes there are challenges that we are facing but we are 65% Indians who are below 35 years of age and it time that we are part of a solution. For that to happen the mind needs to work for us and not against us.

As Sadhguru said in one of his speeches that it is time to ignore the rubbish that our mind tells us and we tell our mind what it is supposed to do. It is this faculty of ours which is limiting us and that is why we have ended up accepting that we are just human. It is this wonderful instrument which is the mind that makes us the most evolved creature on the planet. It is time that we as humans come together for humanity and we are not a limitation but a possibility.

Thank you !!!

[rohan-shetty]

Opportunities from problems or problems from opportunities for India?

In a moment of crisis you will come across two kinds of people. One who find opportunities in problems and the other who find problems in opportunities. In the case of India we have seen our Government chose the former where they have announced a 20 lakh crore package which is 10 percent of the GDP of India. As always there were ones who were looking for problems in this as well and they have this special talent of finding 2 problems for every solution. If there is one thing that India does not need especially at times like these is a negative mentality. I think it has been quite clear since the elections we saw in 2014 and 2019 that India has left behind the nawabs of negativity as Late Shri Arun Jaitley used to say and have chosen to take India ahead with positivity and hope.

That is exactly what India needs now in a crisis situation which is to have a positive approach and have hope. The opportunities are plenty whether it being more self reliant by encouraging more localisation which the Prime Minister mentioned in his recent speech, focus more on manufacturing in India, taking advantage of the loss of credibility in China and encourage companies to move out from China and invest in India etc. Now as far as localisation is concerned there seems to be a misunderstanding by some that the Prime Minister expects only buying local products. That is not the case, it is an appeal to buy as much local as possible. We should also remember that many of the foreign products are now made in India. So using local and foreign products under "Make in India" will eventually reduce over reliance on imports and boost the India Economy. As far as manufacturing is concerned India's ability was recently seen where just in matter of few months India became the 2nd largest manufacturer of PPE's (Personal Protective Equipment) and Sanitizers. Following the same kind of approach India can take the opportunity of becoming more self reliant by manufacturing in other sectors as well in India.

It is also a big opportunity for India to take advantage of the loss of credibility of China. Officially 1000 companies have applied to move their business to India out of which 300 companies are in advance stages. For that the Government and also our companies will have to set the right conditions for those companies to move from China to India. Recently our Union Minister Mr Nitin Gadkari mentioned that it is unfortunate that a product like incense stick (agarbatti) is imported from China. With the Government recently bringing a reform by defining bamboo as grass and not as tree has given an opportunity to people especially the poor tribals to use it for their livelihood and not worry about environment issue as it used to be. With India imposing higher import duty on China on agarbatti, it can be used as an opportunity to manufacture agarbatti from bamboo in India. This will not only make India more self reliant but also help our farmers earn more income per year. But as I had mentioned before, India needs to carry a lot more reforms to take advantage of companies wanting to move away from China.

The 20 lakh crore package has focused a lot on the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector. The MSME being the backbone of the Indian Economy has the maximum number of jobs in their sector and required the liquidity help from the Government. Another demand of pending payments of MSME's will also be fulfilled in 45 days as mentioned by the Finance Ministry. The well needed liquidity gives our MSME's not only the reassurance of sustaining their business and saving people's jobs but also look for opportunities to grow that the Covid 19 situation has brought for them.

There was lot of talk about the Prime Minister's speech not given specifics but the so called experts of the world could not even wait for the five press conferences of the Finance Minister which has mentioned the specifics. That is why I waited for the Finance Minister to give the specifics before making any knee jerk analysis. After listening to her press conferences what I understood from it, is not only the Government is creating opportunities specifically for MSME's and Farmers through funding but has also focussed towards ease of doing business for companies. By postponing the compliances of companies, the Government has given them an opportunity to focus only on their business and to grow significantly.

The biggest move that was seen in the Finance Minister's announcement was the reform to Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) which will give our farmers an opportunity to sell directly across India. The APMC had become nothing but a hoarding place for the corrupt which was filled with the middle men and politicians. They not only gave the farmers below the price they deserved but it also increased the prices for consumers due to hoarding. The Government will have to amend the Essential Commodities Act in the Parliament but the announcement is welcome. Speaking for the farmers has been seen a lot over the years but now it has given them an opportunity to earn a good price since this move will create competition which is good for our farmers.

They have also supported the States Governments and met lot of their demands like increasing the borrowing limit from 3 to 5 percent subject to meeting specific reforms. This gives the states a Rs 4.28 trillion fiscal headroom through which they can manage the social schemes and create opportunities for people especially the migrants who have currently moved back to their villages.

The Government has now done their part by providing the stimulus package that was long pending but now it is time for the people of India to come together and give our everything to revive the Economy. So let's focus on the task on our hands and along with our Central and State Governments take this opportunity from all the problems we have and make India the country we want to be.

Jai Hind !!!

[rohan-shetty]

Why using Modi's name is not helping BJP win states!

Over the past one year the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) has not had too many victories as far as state elections are concerned. For me there are many factors but the main reason is BJP believing that they can win state elections just on Modi's name. Winning the elections at the Centre with his name is not an issue since it is under his leadership and the way the Central Government has worked whether it was handling the Covid 19 situation or fulfilling promises like Tripal Talaq, Ram Mandir, Abrogation of Article 370, Bodo Accord, Bru Refugees settlement and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Hopefully the National Register for Citizens (NRC) promise also gets fulfilled and the Economy gets back on track.

But coming back to BJP, who are currently living in a fools paradise and thinking that they can win elections just on Modi's name is definitely not the case when we look at the results in state elections. This was first seen in the Gujarat election where it felt like the Congress will finally come back to power but it was because of the BJP increasing Modi's rallies, they just about won majority. Their state leadership of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel were too busy fighting internally for power which would have lead to defeat in the state elections if not for Modi. The BJP again had the same strategy in Karnataka where they got a majority because of Modi and not because of the state leadership of BS Yeddyurappa. It was a clear message to the BJP leadership that then can't keep winning on Modi's name and that they need to focus on local issues and get credible state leaders.

Just months before the Lok Sabha 2019 elections the BJP got a reality check where they lost 3 states that were Rajashthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Now the argument can be given by them that Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh had a 15 year anti incumbency but the fact is the strategy to just use Modi's name and not focusing on localised issues lead to the BJP'S defeat. Rajasthan was a clear example where people had made it clear that they did not have a problem with Modi but Vasundhara Raje won't be spared in the elections for not working which was seen in the results. Also one should give Congress due credit for fighting these elections well.

After the Lok Sabha elections the BJP got another reality check where they lost Jharkhand, just about won Haryana and were not able to form the Government in Maharashtra. As far as Maharashtra is concerned they can make an argument that their alliance had won but their alliance partners ditched them for their own ambitions. In Haryana even after the Congress gave Mr Bhupinder Hooda only one month to campaign he was able to get them 30 seats and the BJP just about managed 40 seats only because they increased Modi's rallies in the end. In Jharkhand it was a clean sweep where the JMM (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha) stole the show and the BJP again had only one strategy that is to use Modi's name for votes. Now one important point to note in these 3 elections was that all 3 sitting Chief Minister's were not from the majority caste from that state which had happened for the first time in India's history. Mr Devendra Fadnavis was a non Maratha, Mr Manohar Lal Khattar was a non Jat and Mr Raghubar Das was a non Tribal. For this we should give BJP credit for choosing competence over caste which we all want to see but as always such things are not shown in the media. The caste and religion factor does get negated in the Lok Sabha elections but unfortunately in the State elections it is still a big factor. It definitely cost the BJP votes during these elections especially in Jharkhand where the BJP won only 2 out of the 28 Tribal majority seats. All said and done BJP's over reliance on Modi still continued and they weren't able to perform at the level that was expected.

In Delhi the trend continued, where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) who focused completely on local issues and fought under the state leadership of Mr Arvind Kejriwal swept the elections. The BJP again went into the elections telling people to vote on the name of Modi and his work. The people of Delhi were very clear that they had voted Modi on his work in the Lok Sabha and continue to support him but for the state they preferred Kejriwal for local issues. The BJP also knew the fact that their state BJP leadership is not good enough as compared to the AAP. The people of Delhi did elect the BJP for the MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) elections but as always there has been corruption and not too much work to show. Yes we need to factor in that the Congress on purpose gave up their vote share in order to stop the BJP which played an important role in the victory of AAP but the BJP again had only the Modi strategy to go back to.

The fact is that BJP does not have a strong leadership or the right leader in states like Rajasthan, Delhi, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka and many other states. In Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh they have credible leaders in the form of Fadnavis, Yogi, Shivraj Singh and Raman Singh but they need to make themselves stronger at the state level and not just be a Modi party. His name and work can be used as an added advantage but the main focus needs be to local issues because as we have seen in the state elections, people are voting based on that.

In a way it is good for democracy that one political party is not winning all elections. It gives rest to those lame claims of democracy being in danger, EVM's (Electronic Voting Machines) being hacked and Election Commission working on the behest of the Modi Government. It is high time the BJP relooks at their strategy as far as state elections are concerned with important states like Bihar and West Bengal coming up. In the end whether the BJP wins or some other party, it is only their work that should win and that is what will make India win.

Jai Hind !!!

[rohan-shetty]

Why the Left is left nowhere in India ?

You will ideally see in the media that the leftists or communists are mainly defined as the two political parties i.e CPI (Communist party of India) and CPM (Communist party of India- Marxist). Before we go into why the leftists are no longer relevant and being time and again rejected in India, let us know who the real leftists or communists are. In reality, the real leftists are filled in the media, academia, intellectuals, activists, lawyers, bollywood, comedians and many other sectors. You can easily identify them since they all end up having the same approach towards politics. First they will disguise themselves as someone being independent in their views and then press their agenda. Second the only person whose opinion that matters is their own. You can clearly see their behaviour since the Gujarat 2002 riots till today. Even if the then Chief Minister got a clean chit from the Supreme Court, it is still that their opinion is supreme and that he is a culprit. Third, they support terrorists like Ishrat Jahan, Afzal Guru, Yakub Menon (remember how they went at 2 am to the Supreme Court to stop him from being hanged) and Burhan Wani. Fourth, they all speak for only one community whether its the Gujarat Riots, Muzaffarnagar Riots, Mob Lynching and even as we saw in CAA it was only about one community. For example in the case of lynching, as an Indian I would want justice for every victim whether it be Akhlaq, Ramesh or Peter regardless of the community one belongs to but for the commies that is not the case. Ofcourse there are some exceptions in the leftists as well and I have friends and family who support the left ideology and oppose Modi, who still talk sense but others are just too full of themselves and think it is only their opinion that matters. Even the Congress which was at one time more Nationalistic who took decisions like the nuclear deal which was in the nation's interest have now become leftist e.g we saw in the JNU incident in 2016 where after Anti National speeches were made in the campus, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi went there to give his support and called it "Free Speech". Right from there to opposing Surgical and Balakot strikes to removing the Sedition Law as a promise in their manifesto.

Now that we know who they are, let's come to the question why the left is left nowhere in India ? Well this is not just the case in India but the entire World. You look at countries especially the big economies like the US, UK, Germany, France and Japan, the left have and are been wiped out by the people of those countries. There are many other countries like Israel, Australia, Turkey, Russia, Brazil and Greece (the last two being left bastions at one time) where the left had to beat the dust. Amidst the Coronavirus some might not be aware that Bernie Sanders (hero of the leftists across the World) from the Democrats has failed to even become the Democrats representative for taking on Donald Trump in the next US elections. There are lots of reasons behind the leftists debacle but the main reason is that their ideas and opinions have no relevance amongst the common public and that is why they are getting rejected. You look at their stand on various issues whether it be gender, religion and human rights. In the name of gender equality rather than fighting for women's rights their "feminism" is used for male bashing (even many women do not agree with their fake feminism) and in the name of equality in religion, Hindu bashing has been their way of getting it (even many Muslims disagree with this approach). Supporting terrorists and as we recently saw rapists in the Nirbhaya case in the name of human rights has been their policy. There is a big difference between equality and appeasement and when you have ideas like these, getting rejected is the inevitable result.

Personal attacks is another reason for the failure of the left. It has been close to 2 decades that the leftists have been calling Modi Hitler, Fascist, Anti Muslim and the list goes on but the results have been in front of everyone to see. Attacking a leader can be part of a strategy like the BJP does for Rahul Gandhi but to just use that as your only strategy will not help one garner enough support. It is the same mistake that the leftists made in the US and UK where they were too busy attacking Trump and Johnson respectively and telling the people how horrible they are but we saw what the results were. People are looking for solutions to their problems especially the youth and that is what these leaders are giving them. If the leftists have something better to offer, they should come up with it rather than critizing for the sake of criticizing and indulging just in personal attacks.

Freedom is another reason behind the leftists situation in India. Now freedom is everyone's right and having a contrarian view is also one's right but when you say Anti National Speech is free speech, not standing for the National Anthem is a right and not respecting institutions like the Parliament, the Government, the Supreme Court, the Army and the Police is one's right, there is only one end to this kind of freedom. Again criticising and allegations on institutions are two different things but unfortunately for the left freedom to put allegations has been their right. Also hypocrisy in freedom of speech has recently been seen where a journalist was physically attacked for asking question from a political family but the so called champions of freedom of speech and press went missing because the journalist has a different view as theirs and the family had never been questioned by them for reasons well known to them.

In India for a very long time there was a lobby in the media, intellectuals, academia etc who used to enjoy this monopoly where only their opinion used to matter. But since the Modi Government came into power in 2014 things have changed. Today there are media channels that give a contrarian view to theirs and are getting support from the public. Social Media has played a big role in countering the leftists in the media, where only my opinion matters days are over and any false propaganda is busted.

Another reason for the lefts debacle has been their policy to oppose the country in an attempt to oppose Modi. Now as I mentioned before it was completely fine for them to oppose Modi since we are in a Democracy but when you oppose the country is where people will not tolerate the nonsense. Be it supporting terrorists, naxalites, taking the same stand as Pakistan on issues like Kashmir, Army and Air Strikes, CAA and saying Indian Muslims are not safe in India is only going to lead to one result and that is rejection from the people of India. As we have seen in the Coronavirus situation as well, they are too busy with their propaganda against India along with their leftist foreign media and embarrassing themselves by saying why India is not doing well whereas the entire World including WHO is lauding India for their work in containing the virus.

There is nothing wrong in thinking you are smart but if you think you are the only ones who are smart, then you are living in an illusion and unfortunately that is the case with the leftists. I am not saying that the rightists are filled with saints but the issue is the left have lost so much credibility and are so far from ground realities not just in India but in the World, that even if the right is not that strong they end up getting elected by the people (Angela Merkel in Germany being the classic example).

I still believe that there is space for the leftist in Indian politics and there should be a strong opposition in a Democracy which role the left can play especially the Congress. For that to happen there are some do's and don'ts. The Do's are raising issues that effect the common man like education, jobs, healthcare and the overall Economic issues. They need to go back to the old left which was of the masses like the farmers and labourers rather than being identified as the liberal elitists who sit in their ac rooms giving opinions and having no clue about the ground realities. Don'ts are to stop Hindu and India bashing which are currently only hampering their credibility. They can learn a thing or two from one of their favourite leftist leader Arvind Kejriwal who has been taking Nationalistic stands right from supporting abrogation of Article 370 to keeping Nationalistic subjects in education. He has also become a Hanuman Bhakt but I am not saying the leftists need to do that, just stopping Hindu bashing can help get some credibility back. As I mentioned before personally attacking Modi is only going spiral back like it has done since Gujarat 2002 but attacking on issues can gain some traction.

So rather than taking stands like not wanting to stand for the National Anthem because it is one's freedom, I want the real leftists to please stand up, openly support and oppose an ideology but we should always stand together and keep our Nation above Politics.

Jai Hind !!!

[rohan-shetty]

The importance of Indian Culture

Indian culture has a history of around 5000 years and is well known around the world. People might know it for its food, dance (mostly Bollywood), languages and festivals (mainly Diwali) but there is more to the Indian culture which can be offered to the world. It is unfortunate that in India there is a section of educated illiterates whose secularism gets in danger when we say Sanskrit, Cow and Ram but they are all part of the Indian culture and I am definitely proud of it. It is an asset which needs to be used to its full potential and shared with the entire world. It will also be one of the main factors which will one day make India a global power because this is what differentiates India from the rest of the world. I am glad that the Government of India that came to power in 2014 kept Indian culture as a focal point of their foreign policy. Yoga is finally being celebrated as International Yoga Day on 21st June after being supported by 84 nations and approved by the United Nations.

The kind of experience we are having during the Coronavirus crisis, the world needs the Indian Culture more than ever. The irony is after this virus came into our lives we have realised the importance of Namaste which is a part of the Indian Culture and have also seen the World greet the same way. Yoga is being used during this period more than ever because people have realised that it is wellbeing and not money & power that will keep us healthy and joyful. A country like United States which was admired by all and who used to keep humanity above everything today has kept their economy over human lives which has led to serious consequences. On the other hand India is today keeping human lives above the economy and we can see the results where India is performing the best in tackling the virus considering the large population it has. It is not just the Government of India both at Centre and States but so many Indians who are trying to help people in every way that is possible. This is nothing but part of Indian culture which keeps humanity first.

It is unfortunate that because of some wannabe westerners living in India who have adopted the western culture and have always tried to put the Indian culture down and have looked at India as being backward. It is indirectly a way of putting India down and not valuing this unique asset that we have. Again being western and modern are two different things where being modern is just evolving with the times we live in and accepting change as we move forward in the 21st century. I hope our people especially the youth understand this difference and be proud of our Indian culture along with keeping their modernity intact.

The Indian culture has always believed in the Sanskrit phrase 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' which means 'The World is one family'. In a world where we see so much divide, spreading the message of Indian Culture of Non violence will benefit not just India but the entire world. India has been the only country that has never attacked any country first because non violence has always been a part of Indian culture. There has also been a misconception that talking about Indian culture is only highlighting about Hindu religion which is not true. It does not matter what religion one belongs to, the Indian culture as I mentioned before, believes in the World as one family.

Spirituality has also been an area where the World wants to know more or be a part of. Yoga is a part of this spiritual process where one can achieve wellbeing and be joyful in their lives. Again some wannabe westerners and fake gurus have been stating that it is seen as promoting one religion and is against another religion which is not the case. It has always been a part of the Indian culture for years even before any religion came to the World and it is high time we introduce it to the world in the right manner.

Another quality of the Indian culture has been touching the feet of our elders. A world where we see some youngsters disrespecting their elders including India, having a culture of touching our elders feet whether it is our parents, grandparents or guru (teacher) restores the respect that our elders deserve. Whether it be our Prime Minister who we have seen touching feet of elders even though he is the Prime Minister and recently when we saw Mr Narayan Murthy touching the feet of Mr Ratan Tata just shows about who we are and what our culture is all about.

Indian culture has always fascinated the world and they want to know more about it but unfortunately for various reasons it has not reached them in the right manner. It is time that we as Indians inculcate it in ourselves and take this unique culture to the entire world. It will not only help everyone in knowing India better but at the same time it will also help India economically and position ourselves as a unique country. While we can learn a lot from other economies like the US, China, Australia etc., it is our Indian culture that will differentiate us from the others and I hope we see India one day as a Vishwa Guru that we have all dreamt of.

Jai Hind !!!

[rohan-shetty]

India leading the World against the invisible enemy

When you are in a moment of crisis there are two things that can happen, one that you succumb to the pressure and the other that you rise to the occasion and take the challenge head on. This is exactly what India is doing in leading the fight against this invisible enemy called Covid 19. As WHO recently said, if there is any country that can show the way to the world , it is India. India has eradicated two pandemics in the past like small pox and polio. India also countered the threat of Ebola in 2014 and Nipah in 2018 through quick qurantine and surveillance but Covid 19 seems to be a tougher opponent.

India has been proactive in its approach to tackle the virus since 17th January , right from screening all passengers travelling from China to suspending visas and bringing travel restrictions to evacuating people from other countries like China, Italy, Iran etc and qurantining them. The first case of Covid 19 was reported on January 30 from Kerala where 3 students had travelled back from China. India has had a comprehensive strategy to tackle this virus knowing very well that their health care system is not as good as the developed countries and also that it has a large population. As always there are media houses in India and abroad trying to put India down and underestimating this "third world country" by saying how can they tackle Covid 19 when developed nations like the US, Spain and Italy have failed. However the criticism of not handling the migrants situation well (which is now taken care of) and section of people not following the lockdown (which police have now tackled well) is a fact.

Despite all the criticism, the fact is that India is placed way better as compared to the World. We have 1251 Covid 19 positive cases with 32 fatalities as on 31st March 2020 as per Health Ministry of India. What is equally important to know is the fact that Dr Raman Gangakhedkar from ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) mentioned in an interview that 80% of cases have mild symptoms and they will be fine, 15% of the cases also have symptoms but are not serious and the remaining 5% also has only 15% cases that are very serious. So before we fall into the trap of those who are predicting doomsday for India we need to understand the facts on the ground and believe the people who have the knowledge on the subject.

Even after being in control of the situation India is leaving no stone unturned and has been increasing their capacities whether it be the number of beds, private labs, sample tests so on and so forth. The timing of the lockdown has been crucial in not letting the virus spread to the extent it could have, like it did in other countries. Constant awareness on social distancing through various forums has been the key to managing Covid 19. Overall the response of people of India has been fantastic and they have understood the importance of staying at home and helping the country in breaking the chain of transmission.

As Sadhguru had recently mentioned that it is in times like these, we will see how we are as humans. I am glad to see people from various walks of life doing their best to do their part whether it be feeding the poor to helping animals on the street to contributing to the Prime Minister Care Fund for Covid 19. The world is watching and India is leading by example to beat this pandemic and I am confident that it will.

Jai Hind !!!

[rohan-shetty]

The Truth and Lies about Corona !!!

So last week I had mentioned I am not writing about Coronavirus since I am not a doctor and don't have the knowledge to speak on it or give advice and I stick by that. All I had mentioned is to listen to the doctors, health ministry and keep yourself healthy. I don't want to give unsolicited expert advice like some overnight doctors who say eat onions with salt and then have water after 30 mins and don't eat Chicken & Fish or drink Gau Mutra & Alcohol and don't drink Corona Beer.

Now jokes aside as much as we need the vaccine to fight against Coronovirus (Covid 19), there is an immediate requirement of a vaccine to stop spreading fake news & rumour mongering and that vaccine is called facts. To start of with Maharastra which has the highest number of cases in the country, spreading nonsense like there is a Mumbai shutdown, trains have been suspended from midnight, Government offices are closed for 7 days, so on and so forth not only needs to be called out but strict action must be taken against these people. I am glad the police have already started taking action on fake news and they would not see whether the user is deliberately or innocently sharing fake news and creating panic.

So lets go into the facts of where we stand on this Covid 19 situation in Maharashtra and India as on 21st March 2020 at 2:30 pm. The total number of cases is 63 where there is 1 case of death as told by State Health Minister Mr Rajesh Tope who is doing a fantastic job in the current situation. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said there is no plan to shutdown any city in Maharashtra, trains are still working but if people keep going in big numbers they may have to shut trains and Government offices are not closed for 7 days but are working on 25% capacity. So let us be careful of the fake news that gets spread in the media and then spirals on Social Media. Even a big media house published a fake news of the Bengaluru Techie couple where the wife tested Covid positive escaped quarantine and fled was later proven wrong. In the recent press conference of Health Ministry a journalist from Press Trust of India also asked a question on a fake news and rightly was shown her place by Joint Secretary of Health Mr Luv Agarwal for spreading misinformation. So when we see the word reported, lets cross check before sharing and making knee jerk reactions. But there are also media houses who are trying their best to guide people during these difficult times and also bringing doctors on their media channels to give clarity on what needs to be done. The best place to get the right information is from the Government organisations and you can visit the health ministry website to keep yourself updated just in case you have missed any press brief.

As far as India is concerned as per India Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Health Ministry as of now there are 271 cases of Covid 19 with 4 deaths but the encouraging thing is 22 people have recovered from the same. The ICMR has also thwarted the rumours that there is community spread i.e stage 3 (India is in stage 2 where someone coming from out of India has only transmitted the Covid 19) since they have carried 1000 sample test where all tests have shown Covid 19 is negative and more such tests will be carried in the coming days. So this is where we stand in our war against Covid 19.

Now having been lauded by the WHO (World Health Organization) and many other countries on our management of the virus, India still has a lot to do to win this war. The target is to not let the virus go from stage 2 to stage 3. The Governments both at Centre and States with our medical team and other staff are doing everything that they can do to combat the virus but now comes the most important part, that is the role of the citizens. That is why the Prime Minister had come to address the Nation and tell the people of India that it is now their turn to act and all they have to do is sit at home for couple of weeks and not venture out unless it is something urgent. India is doing a fine balancing act unlike other countries like China which went for a complete lockdown and the US which was completely complacent. As our Prime Minister said we don't need to panic but at the same time be vigilant. Another important point he made was of not indulge in panic buying since there is enough stock in the market for everyone.

All the work done by our Governments and medical team will be undone if we don't do our duty and take things lightly which was the mistake made by other countries that led to loss of so many lives. It is time that we the citizens of India do our bit of just staying at home and not listen to the fake news department but our health department. I will end by sharing something that our Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan had recently shared on his twitter.

How deadly is Coronavirus ?

Only 2% mortality rate !!!

Can an infected person recover completely?

Ofcourse !!!

Why there is panic ?

Rumour Mongering !!!

So India let's be aware, responsible and win the war against Covid 19.

Jai Hind !!!

[rohan-shetty]

Why Delhi Riots happened during the Trump visit

Hi Everyone, having missed the past 2 weeks of writing due to holidays I am back to writing on a new subject which is not on Corona Virus since I am not a doctor and we have had enough overnight doctors giving unsolicited advice. I hope we listen to the doctors and move ahead with a healthy life.

I thought let me write on why the Delhi Riots happened because what happened during Delhi Riots is something we have seen where the same blame game politics took place. So why the Delhi Riots happened during Trump's visit? I think everyone has the right to ask the Government questions on the intelligence failure and the Delhi police's action on the riots but to make a conclusion that the ruling party has done this does not make sense since riots happening during the US President's visit will only harm the Government's creditibility. According to me, it was a clear attempt to ruin India's credibility by creating a riot during Trump's visit. As per the investigations till now it seems quite clear that there are forces working against the Nation where funding has come from out of India since the Anti CAA protests have started. There is also a couple having links with the ISIS that have been arrested. So before doing politics on the same we need to be careful on what we are up against.

I reteriate that the Government needs to answer to the questions been raised on law and order but we need to be aware of the enemies that live in our Nation. When the Pulwama attacks happened, rather than pinning down Pakistan who exports terror in our country, the aim of these Anti Nationals was to put our Government, Security Agencies and Police in the dock. They had even justified the terrorist Adil Ahmed Dar actions who at a younger age was beaten by the Indian Army and now he got back at them. We have seen something similar during the Delhi Riots where rioter Shahrukh Pathan has been described as an aspiring model who flirted with danger and was just going to save his sister who was protesting.

What we have seen in the past few months is a complete disregard for the institutions of our country in the name of protests. Whether it is the Government that is elected by the people, the Parliament that is the representative of the people, the Judiciary (remember "social activist" Harsh Mander who during Anti CAA protest raised suspicion on intentions of the Supreme Court), the Police and the Army. This is the same gang that were seen during the Gujarat Riots, defending terrorists Ishrat Jahan, Afzal Guru, Yakub Memon and Burhan Wani. They were always living between us as politicians, journalists, analysts, activists, intellectuals etc also known now as the Tukde Tukde Gang. They are supported by the Western Media and NGO's on the name of journalism and activicism. Go back to the Gujarat Riots and see who was writing against Chief Minister Modi and see who is writing against Prime Minister Modi during the Delhi Riots. It is the same ecosystem that has now come in the open and exposed themselves. Till the time they were going against Modi and the Government is understandable but now they are running the same agendas that Pakistan has tried against India. One that is to prove that Indian Muslims are being targeted and they are not safe in India. The other of ruining India's credibility in front of the World. We saw the same agendas being attempted during the Delhi riots.

So let us be aware of what's happening around us rather than indulging in politics. I am glad there are friends of mine who don't support the Modi Government but have understood the modus operandi that is happening since the Anti CAA protests started. Unfortunately some people including well read ones fell into their trap and I hope are now realising what is happening. The need of the hour is unity since the ones who cannot achieve victory through democracy, want to achieve it through anarchy.

Let's keep the Nation above Politics.

Jai Hind !!!