Archives 2022

Wen Leaves India Worried- Kashmir Crisis


With just one line Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has transfixed India on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir and rendered irrelevant the boundary question, stapled visas and a lot more. By stating that the boundary dispute covers just 2000 kms he has excised nearly 1600 km in Jammu and Kashmir from the purview of the border talks and rendered the whole State open to bite-sized morsels and wholesale gobbling. The first signs of a major shift in Chinese negotiating position on the boundary question was made available to the National Democratic Alliance Government when China refused to exchange maps showing claim lines in the Western sector encompassing North-east Jammu and Kashmir segments of Aksai Chin. It was followed up more recently with Chinese claims to the whole of Arunachal Pradesh. The raising of two new Mountain Divisions by India could prove to be too little too late.Ten thousand Chinese troops are already in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir broadening the Karakoram Highway and laying the foundations of a rail link and pipelines to Gwadar on the Balochistan coastline. In hindsight it could well be that Pakistan’s former Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf was instigated by Beijing into launching of the intrusion into the Kargil sector in 1999 to test India’s reactions. Musharraf, after all, was in Beijing when it happened and was directing operations from there. Pakistan’s “all-weather friend” was taken aback by India’s ferocious defence of Kargil. Jammu and Kashmir has become a fait accompli and if India does not read the signs correctly Arunachal too will follow suit. The potential for trouble for India through Nepal has not yet dawned on the Indian consciousness.

One is already seeing the fringes of future Chinese foreign policy in the manner it has reacted to joint military operations in areas off the Chinese coastline.Its instigation of its proxy North Korea has brought the two Koreas to the brink of war. By comparison India’s riposte on Tibet and the breakaway Chinese province of Taiwan are mere pinpricks that will not halt the tide of Beijing’s aggressive designs all around its periphery. The joint communique issued at the end of Wen Jiabao’s visit tells its own story in the absence of a condemnation of the terrorist attack on Mumbai where the Pakistan hand is redolent in blood. Talking about containing terrorism without concrete steps to curb it in realpolitik means tacit abetment. If Chinese leaders find it difficult to pinpoint the cause of the malaise, the reasons are obvious that Beijing sees in these tactics by its friends a fulfillment of its options on what it calls “core issues”.China says that it is not stoking insurgencies in the north-east of India but it is still host to ULFA cadres and intelligence from captured appear to point to the possibility that China is also the banker where UL:FA is stashing away the money extorted from the people of Asom and adjoining States of the North-east. In contrast India’s response to continuing Chinese intrusions across the Line of Actual Control is tepid and it is obvious that huge tracts are left unattended or anyone to talk in and take possession as happened in Kargil.

New Delhi allowed itself to be talked into “downsizing” its military manpower to the point that it now finds itself scrambling to raise new Divisions to take care of a threat that is larger than is perceived. The trade links are being held out as an improvement of bilateral relations.International commerce is usually seen as a harmonizer and mutual inter-dependence leading to peace and stability. However, an uncontrollable trade imbalance carries with it its own dangers of undercutting one’s own economy in the long run as the American overdependence on Chinese financial instruments is showing itself. Trade could well be a lollypop to suck on and become complacent and Taiwan appears to be reacting to Chinese investment. The Taiwan card in India’s hand could well be suborned by other considerations in Taipeh. India needs also to remember that creating a linkage between the Tibet issue and the J and K stapled visas does not quite have an equal weightage. Only if it is willing to do in Tibet what China is doing through Pakistan will there be something concrete to go by. China is in no hurry to resolve the border issue. Wen made it clear that there is no solution on the horizon when he said that it will take a long time to resolve the border dispute.

Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojna


Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojna (RGMVP) was initiated in 2002-03 in collaboration with the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust to facilitate the formation of SHGs in two districts of -UP: Sultanpur and Raebareli. In the last seven years, RGMVP’s reach has extended to 55 blocks spread across 14 backward districts of the state. The programme now reaches out to over 2,33,594 families, 19,228 women’s SHGs, 531 village level SHG federations and 15 Block level federations across the project area. The savings generated have been leveraged through borrowings from banks and invested in a diversified portfolio of income generating activities.Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojna is also accociated with Baiga community in Chhattisgarh largely depends on forest and natural resources for its livelihood and is one of the poorest tribal groups in the country. RGF has partnered with Samarth to initiate SHGs in the area. The SHG members are gradually being trained on various livelihood options based on natural resources such as bamboo product making, grass products, organic farming, vermin compost making, etc. Currently, 200 women are a part of the project. We have made attempts to reach out to the community by conducting the Padyatra Programme (rally on foot) highlighting issues such as non-availability of government schemes and benefits. They community is also encouraged to develop micro plans which are presented at theNatural Resource Management is the flagship livelihood promotion programme of the Foundation directly implemented in the remote villages of Rajasthan.

The programme is implemented on the principle that because of water scarcity and growing competition large swathes of rural communities are pushed towards impoverishment and could threaten equitable and sustainable development, ecological balance and political stability. The increasing gap between the water availability and demand highlights the need to conserve, utilize and manage this important resource in a sustainable manner.Foundation started its NRM interventions in the remote areas of the Rajasthan state covering backward villages of Jaipur, Pali and Karoli district. The project area was selected on the basis of the poor conditions of the natural resources and willingness of the partner community to participate in the programme. The extreme economic backwardness of the region may be attributed in some measure directly to environmental degradation arising from lack of appropriate planning and poor developmental interventions. The natural resources in the region are in poor conditions because the geographic location does not support the abundant rainfall, poor quality and excessive depth of ground water, absence of Perennial River, open scrub forests and huge withdrawal from limited ground waterWater harvesting Programme is RGF’s only directly implemented initiative under its livelihood promotion portfolio.

Livelihood options are generated through creation of water harvesting structures, initiating watershed activities, adopting and inculcating improved agriculture practices. At present the work is spread over in 115 villages, where 208 water harvesting structures have been constructed. The most pronounced benefit from the water harvesting structures has been in agriculture productivity. Because of water availability in wells and tube wells farmers have therefore been able to provide more irrigation to their crops which has led to increase in productivity, switch to more remunerative crops and increased net area under cultivation. To ensure that the communities have an ongoing stake in the assets being created, it is ensured that a minimum of 33 percent of the total expenditure would be borne by the community for works carried out on common lands whereas for individual and small user groups the contribution has been fixed at 50 percent or more.

Rajiv Gandhi Was Likely to be The Prime Minister Again in 1991.


21 May 1991Sri Perumbudur was rocked by a blast. Suicide attacker had succeeded in their evil motives. They snatched away Rajivji from us and the progressive movement of a developing nation was brought to a screeching halt. This was an international conspiracy, that many top world leaders were afraid about. The then Palestinian President Yasir Arafat had serious concerns about such an attack on Rajiv Gandhi and so he had also warned him.Satish Jacob , Senior JournalistWe had got the information from Election Commission that Rajiv and Sonia would come there to cast their votes. There was an election booth in Nirman bhawan so a lot of journalists were also present there to cast their votes. I saw him coming with a broad smile on his face. I asked him “You look very happy, last year when you were coming out after voting you looked concerned”. He replied, “Why shouldn’t I be happy, we are winning.”During Rajiv Gandhi’s Prime Minister rule , the neighboring country Sri Lanka was burning with isolation and violence. To maintain the regional harmony and the sovereignty of its neighbour Rajiv Gandhi’s government acted promptly.Rajiv Gandhi after signing a treaty with Sri lanka”The agreement holds out the promise of a strong, united, peaceful Sri Lanka which is as much in our interest as it is in is the unity of hearts that guarantees the unity of Nations. India and Sri Lanka have been the joint founders of the non alignment movement.

Our commitment to non-alignment grows out of our traditions and ethos of our freedom struggle. Peace in our region depends crucially on all of remaining non aligned.”No body could’ve imagined that it would be so life threatening for him to desire peace. The ‘Shaanti Sena’ sent by India had destroyed the hopes of LTTE , that was set out to divide Sri Lanka. This was a big jolt for LTTE chief Prabhakaran and he started planning the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. He was also perturbed by the possibility of Rajiv Gandhi returning to power after Indian elections. From the beginning of year 1991, LTTE terrorists had laid the foundation of Rajiv ji’s assassination.After the two dress rehearsals in local rallies , the attackers finally succeeded on 21 May 1991 in Perumbudur.”You know its an irony that Rajiv’s assassin appeared before him in the same way as Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin had appeared before him. to pay respect and to show their devotion to the leadership.”21 May 1991 became a black day in the history of India. The Sun had set even before rising. His dreams also died with him, unfulfilled.Wish his dream had not died, Wish he had not died.Rajiv Gandhi was born in a politically active family yet he was an apolitical person.His entry to politics was circumstantial but when he took over the control, his every move was of a mature statesman

BJP All Set to Win Elections


Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is serving from last 10 years in Madhya Pradesh and the state has gained the recognition from bimaru to jujharu in this period. It’s the magic of Developmental Work done under BJP that has made MP the fastest growing state in the nation. There is no doubt in the leadership skill & planning strategy of Chief Minister of MP, Mr. Shivraj Singh Chouhan and credit also goes to his team of ministers that has made his vision a reality. In agriculture sector MP is consistently topping the production and growth rate. This year MP has ousted Haryana from number 3 position and secured its place after Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in per hectare production. Along with agriculture, MP has registered tremendous growth in IT Sector, Industrial Sector, Rural Development, Infrastructure Development, Women & Child Welfare, Science and Technology and Urban Development. When nation was facing recession, MP government has provided jobs to more than 1 lakh youth. From lower class to middle and upper class, everyone is witnessing a growth at various levels.

No state has seen such a revolutionary growth in past 10 years. Honourable Chief Minister, also introduced a beneficiary scheme ‘Mukhyamantri Annapurna Yojana’ for people below poverty line, so that, they can get the grains and salt at minimum subsidized rate. Commerce Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Kailash Vijayvargiya has invested his interest in development of MSMEs and thus, many new policies are being introduced to boost the micro small medium enterprises in state. Being Science & Technology Minister of the state, Mr. Vijayvargiya is also putting his efforts in encouraging research & development work in state. Recently, state has got its first Ultra Modern Planetarium which is amongst the top Planetariums in the country. With all these developments, BJP has surely won hearts in Madhya Pradesh and it is set to win the elections of 2014 too. At present many issues are boiling at the centre, lots of expert discussions are happening to forecast election 2014 but with the command of Election 2014 in Narendra Modi’s hand, BJP is sure to win at the Centre too.

India is the nation of youth and leaders like Narendra Modi, Shivraj Singh Chauhan & Kailash Vijayvargiya, very well know how to attract them. Where Congress is playing caste politics, BJP is playing developmental politics. With the effective use of Social Media, BJP is keeping transparency in its policies, strategies and work model. People are being informed about every move and thus, youth is inspired for sure. Keeping in mind the present political moves of BJP, it is clear that ‘BJP is all set to win Election 2014’.

Can Our Military Continue to Keep Terrorism Away From Our Borders?


I had hoped not to see the beginning of this new shift in the war on terror but itcertainly seems to be here to stay.. I have noticed that al Qaeda seems to be initiating the recruiting and sending of terrorists to the United States to conduct attacks on American soil. This trend is troubling because at some timer they might be able to slip solitary terrorists or small groups of terrorists through. If we don’t want this to happen we will have to keep our eyes open. I first create this article with the attempted Christmas bombing, the botched scheme to bomb the subway in New York City and the botched attempt to bomb Times Square recently.

Since then there have been even more developments with the latest being the capture of the two terrorist wannabes in New Jersey. They were not aware that they had been under surveillance for a few years. Federal authorities had watched them long enough to determine that they had no real contacts in al-Qaeda so they were virtually insignificant.We as citizens of this nation’s control have been so well protected that we are living in a sort of lala land. We are not acutely aware of the grave danger that we could suddenly find ourselves in because of terrorists. We can’t depend on our government to shield us we are to remain free from terrorist attacks we be obliged to stay vigilant. Each one of these lone attempts to kill Americans were luckily averted but luck doesn’t last forever. We might possibly not be so lucky again. We be obliged to stay vigilant and help our government to shield us. We must be obliged to remain alert to all things just so we can catch the one minor thing which would tip us off to terrorist activity. The beauty of the war on terror so far in this country is that all of the incidents of war have been in other countries.

American citizens have not had to witness the horrors and atrocities of this war except in a few incidents. This war has not been very costly in the loss of the lives of our wives and children. Enemy combatants have been mostly limited to Iraq, and Afghanistan where they have had to use small arms to fight with well trained and well armed UA ans NATO troops. Enemy combatants are even leaving this nation to operate overseas and fight with the insurgents there rather than to attempt to conduct attacks here in the United States.Errant bombs have not been destroying our homes and businesses as they have in the countries where the battles are being fought. American servicemen and women can tell you of the conditions in many of the countries in which they are average American civilian lives a much better lifestyle than the average civilian of most other nations. Al-Qaeda seems to be actively recruiting more operatives to transmit to the United States to conduct terror operations here. Our troops serving overseas are doing a wonderful job of keeping the actual danger away from the innocent men, women, and children of this country. We can’t take our relaxed life life style for granted. There are many other countries where the population knows nothing other than war. We must continue to give every bit of the support that we can to our military and our government as they attempt to keep terrorism away from our borders.