Parle Biscuits, part of the Parle Products group, reported 15.2 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in net profit for the financial year 2018-19, with company’s FY19 net profit at Rs 410 crore against Rs 355 crore reported in the previous year. Total revenue too grew by a healthy 6.4 per cent YoY to Rs 9,030 crore.&nbsp;

Parle's good results would have ideally not caught much attention, had it not been for the raging controversy in August 2019 when the leftist eco-system indulged in viciously slanderous lies about how Parle Biscuits was on the verge of bankruptcy and was laying off staff as people in India could no longer afford to buy a packet of biscuits worth Rs 5.&nbsp;

Of course, it later came to light that vested interests that wanted a cut in the prevalent 18 per cent GST rate on biscuits were a part of the rumour mongering exercise to discredit the BJP-led NDA government. The Parle example is a befitting case of how prophets of gloom and doom have been working overtime to create a narrative that the Indian economy is falling off the cliff.

True, the economy is facing cyclical headwinds, after five excellent years of superior growth, witnessed during Narendra Modi's first term as Prime Minister. For the economy to reach the ambitious $5 trillion-mark by 2024-25, it will take the types of reform that were long-promised but never delivered by successive Congress-led UPA regimes. However, if there is any leader today who has both the vision and the will to execute that vision to put India into the global super league of nations, it is Modi whose first six months in office in his second term have shown that he means business.

Massive reductions in unwanted regulations, streamlining of labour laws, privatisation of state entities, removing swathes of bureaucracy, investments in infrastructure and of course, the courage to say no to a lop-sided trade deal like the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are key highlights of Modi's economic agenda.

Under the inept UPA establishment, Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that compromised India's economic interests had been the order of the day.

Between 2009-10 and 2013-14, the period during which Manmohan Singh was India's Prime Minister the Indian economy grew at 6.7 per cent and emerging market economies by 6.43 per cent. Between 2014-15 and 2018-19, the Indian economy under Prime Minister Modi grew at a superior yearly run rate of 7.4 per cent despite the emerging market space growing by 4.52 per cent. The recent 4.5 per cent GDP print for September 2019 quarter for India has, however, reignited the Modinomics versus Manmohanomics debate.

Where the Modi government has done significantly better than the Manmohan Singh regime is infrastructure. In March 2014, length of national highways stood at 91,287 kms and it had increased by March 2019 to a solid 135,676 kms, growing at &nbsp;8.25 per cent per year in Modi's first term versus a modest run rate of 5.29 per cent under his predecessor. Also, while the number of airline passengers grew by 9.2 per cent in the Manmohan years, the growth under Modi's first term was a record-breaking 15.28 per cent.

More importantly, Modinomics has managed the growth-inflation conundrum very effectively. In April 2014, retail inflation, defined by the consumer price index (CPI), stood at 7.72 per cent with food inflation at 9.21 per cent. CPI, however, averaged at just 4.3 per cent in Modi's first term, with food inflation at barely 1.59 per cent between October 2016 and October 2019. Importantly, food inflation was reined in, despite an average 24 per cent hike in MSP for Kharif crops in 2018. True, in October 2019, CPI touched 4.62 per cent, but the cumulative retail inflation in the April-October 2019 period is still benign, at just 3.47 per cent.

Coming back to the recent 'slowdown' in India, it is cyclical and not structural in nature, because the fundamentals of the economy are in fine fettle and long term growth is intact despite some short term concerns, as recently summed up by international rating giant S&amp;P while maintaining BBB minus with a stable outlook, for India. Out on bail and an accused in the INX media scam, former Finance Minister &nbsp;Chidambaram was recently heard giving bytes to the press that the current decline is structural in an obvious attempt to discredit hard facts. Mr Chidambaram is the last person, if any, who should be lecturing on the economy, given his abysmally poor track record in the past, in 2012, when S&amp;P had downgraded India's rating to BBB minus with a negative outlook, just a notch above junk status.

While one is not denying that there are short term challenges, prophets of gloom and doom are working overtime to undermine India's policymaking and policymakers. For instance, the IHS Markit India Manufacturing PMI, rose to 51.2 in November 2019, from 50.6 in October 2019, but this positive news failed to grab headlines in the 'pink' dailies.

While comparisons are often odious, India continues to decisively outperform peers. The recent sluggish pace comes against the global backdrop of 17 months of protracted US-China trade war, 6 months of massive protests in Hong Kong, leading to a 24.3 per cent decline in retail sales in October 2019, a technical recession in Singapore with GDP growth rate of barely 0.1 per cent in the September 2019 quarter, Venezuelan bankruptcy, double-dip recession in the world's 8th largest economy, Brazil, in May 2019, continued turbulence in the UK around Brexit, recession in Italy, steep slowdown in Japan amidst a trade war with South Korea and of course more importantly, industrial recession in Germany that is battling negative bond yields and its slowest growth rate since the 2011 Euro crisis. The September 2019 PMI number for Germany, the 4th largest economy globally, accounting for 28 per cent of Euro area's GDP, dropped to 49, the first time since April 2013 that Germany's PMI fell below 50.&nbsp;

Speaking of India, reduction in corporate tax from 30% to 22% and for new companies to merely 15%, hike in dearness allowance to 17% from 12%, hike in export credit limit under priority sector lending norms for small exporters, from Rs 25 crore per borrower to Rs 40 crore, corpus of Rs 25,000 crore for stalled housing projects, yearly payout of Rs 6000 to 14.5 crore farmers irrespective of landholding size,100% FDI in coal mining,sale of coal and contract manufacturing, 26% FDI in digital news media, Rs 70,000 crore recapitalisation package for public sector banks and allowing additional 15% depreciation for vehicles bought till 31st March 2020, are measures that will address the demand side of the economy, which has been tepid.

It needs to be mentioned here that passenger vehicle sales in India crossed the three-million milestone for the first time in 2016-17. Maruti Suzuki took 37 years to sell 20 million vehicles in India, with the first 10 million vehicles taking 29 long years to sell. Interestingly, the last 5 million units were sold in barely three years, between 2016-17 and 2019 and it is certainly no coincidence that this happened, with Narendra Modi at the helm! The recent sluggish pace in the auto sector this year which affected UK, Germany, China and Japan in equal measure, has been primarily been on account of stringent BS-VI emission norms. India, relatively speaking, fared much better, despite the disadvantage of a high base effect, thanks to the scorching pace of growth in the previous 5 years under Modi.

Repeated chatter that the current decline in GDP is the result of demonetisation is a myth. The number of income taxpayers jumped in 2018-19 to 8.45 crore from just 3.68 crore in 2013-14. Thanks to demonetisation, the total number of unified payment interface (UPI) transactions in October 2019 hit a record 1.15 billion. Under Manmohan Singh's tenure, the total number of digital transactions stood at a measly 93.2 crore in 2012-13; under Narendra Modi's leadership, digital transactions were a whopping 921.7 crore in volume terms in 2017-18.

Fear-mongering about the efficacy of goods and services tax (GST) is also incorrect as GST has strengthened tax compliance with the indirect tax to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio going up to 5.4 per cent post-GST, from 4.4 per cent in 2014-15.

Externally too, things under Narendra Modi look far healthier than they ever were under Manmohan Singh, with the share of short-term debt in total debt, at only 20 per cent in March 2019 versus a figure of 24.8 per cent in March 2013. Also, the ratio of short-term debt (original maturity) to foreign exchange reserves rose stood at a disturbing 33.1 per cent in March 2013, compared to 26.3 per cent in March 2019.

That the Modi government which successfully completed its first term and 6 months of the second term, with no BoP crisis till date, speaks volumes about the external debt management of the economy, despite challenging global geopolitics.

Foreign exchange reserves were, at a record $448.60 billion as on November 22nd 2019. Under Manmohan Singh's tenure, current account deficit (CAD), was consistently above 3.5 per cent, reaching a dangerous level of 6.7% in the December 2013 quarter, whereas the average CAD figure in Modi's first term, was well below 2%. Talking of foreign direct investment, while India averaged $18.2 billion in FDI annually under UPA I and, $38.4 billion under UPA II, in the Modi government's 5.5 years of tenure till date, the annual FDI figure averaged handsomely at almost $60 billion.

In terms of fiscal prudence too, the Narendra Modi regime wins hands down, with an average fiscal deficit figure of only 3.7% for the 2014-15 to 2018-19 period which is much better than the unreasonably high 5.4%, during the preceding five years, led by Manmohan Singh. That Modinomics has delivered high growth, without compromising macroeconomic stability, amidst the most globally volatile conditions, is therefore well established.

It would be apt to sum up India's future growth trajectory in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's own words from one of his recent public speeches where he so rightfully said--"Good governance with good intentions is the hallmark of our government. Implementation with integrity is our core passion".

Foreign exchange reserves were, at a record $448.60 billion as on November 22nd 2019. Under Manmohan Singh's tenure, current account deficit (CAD), was consistently above 3.5%, reaching a dangerous level of 6.7% in the December 2013 quarter, whereas the average CAD figure in Modi's first term, was well below 2%. Talking of foreign direct investment, while India averaged $18.2 billion in FDI annually under UPA I and, $38.4 billion under UPA II, in the Modi government's 5.5 years of tenure till date, the annual FDI figure averaged handsomely at almost $60 billion.

In terms of fiscal prudence too, the Narendra Modi regime wins hands down, with an average fiscal deficit figure of only 3.7% for the 2014-15 to 2018-19 period which is much better than the unreasonably high 5.4%, during the preceding five years, led by Manmohan Singh. That Modinomics has delivered high growth, without compromising macroeconomic stability, amidst the most globally volatile conditions, is therefore well established.

It would be apt to sum up India's future growth trajectory in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's own words from one of his recent public speeches where he so rightfully said--"Good governance with good intentions is the hallmark of our government. Implementation with integrity is our core passion".

(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/business/column-economy-debate-modi-s-nda-versus-manmohan-s-upa-2804970">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp;

 
&nbsp;

Parle Biscuits, part of the Parle Products group, reported 15.2 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in net profit for the financial year 2018-19, with company’s FY19 net profit at Rs 410 crore against Rs 355 crore reported in the previous year.

Parle Biscuits, part of the Parle Products group, reported 15.2 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in net profit for the financial year 2018-19, with company’s FY19 net profit at Rs 410 crore against Rs 355 crore reported in the previous year. Total revenue too grew by a healthy 6.4 per cent YoY to Rs 9,030 crore. Parle's good results would have ideally not caught much attention, had it not been for the raging controversy in August 2019 when the leftist eco-system indulged in viciously slanderous lies about how Parle Biscuits was on the verge of bankruptcy and was laying off staff as people in India could no longer afford to buy a packet of biscuits worth Rs 5. Of course, it later came to light that vested interests that wanted a cut in the prevalent 18 per cent GST rate on biscuits were a part of the rumour mongering exercise to discredit the BJP-led NDA government. The Parle example is a befitting case of how prophets of gloom and doom have been working overtime to create a narrative that the Indian economy is falling off the cliff. True, the economy is facing cyclical headwinds, after five excellent years of superior growth, witnessed during Narendra Modi's first term as Prime Minister. For the economy to reach the ambitious $5 trillion-mark by 2024-25, it will take the types of reform that were long-promised but never delivered by successive Congress-led UPA regimes. However, if there is any leader today who has both the vision and the will to execute that vision to put India into the global super league of nations, it is Modi whose first six months in office in his second term have shown that he means business. Massive reductions in unwanted regulations, streamlining of labour laws, privatisation of state entities, removing swathes of bureaucracy, investments in infrastructure and of course, the courage to say no to a lop-sided trade deal like the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are key highlights of Modi's economic agenda. Under the inept UPA establishment, Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that compromised India's economic interests had been the order of the day. Between 2009-10 and 2013-14, the period during which Manmohan Singh was India's Prime Minister the Indian economy grew at 6.7 per cent and emerging market economies by 6.43 per cent. Between 2014-15 and 2018-19, the Indian economy under Prime Minister Modi grew at a superior yearly run rate of 7.4 per cent despite the emerging market space growing by 4.52 per cent. The recent 4.5 per cent GDP print for September 2019 quarter for India has, however, reignited the Modinomics versus Manmohanomics debate. Where the Modi government has done significantly better than the Manmohan Singh regime is infrastructure. In March 2014, length of national highways stood at 91,287 kms and it had increased by March 2019 to a solid 135,676 kms, growing at 8.25 per cent per year in Modi's first term versus a modest run rate of 5.29 per cent under his predecessor. Also, while the number of airline passengers grew by 9.2 per cent in the Manmohan years, the growth under Modi's first term was a record-breaking 15.28 per cent. More importantly, Modinomics has managed the growth-inflation conundrum very effectively. In April 2014, retail inflation, defined by the consumer price index (CPI), stood at 7.72 per cent with food inflation at 9.21 per cent. CPI, however, averaged at just 4.3 per cent in Modi's first term, with food inflation at barely 1.59 per cent between October 2016 and October 2019. Importantly, food inflation was reined in, despite an average 24 per cent hike in MSP for Kharif crops in 2018. True, in October 2019, CPI touched 4.62 per cent, but the cumulative retail inflation in the April-October 2019 period is still benign, at just 3.47 per cent. Coming back to the recent 'slowdown' in India, it is cyclical and not structural in nature, because the fundamentals of the economy are in fine fettle and long term growth is intact despite some short term concerns, as recently summed up by international rating giant S&P while maintaining BBB minus with a stable outlook, for India. Out on bail and an accused in the INX media scam, former Finance Minister Chidambaram was recently heard giving bytes to the press that the current decline is structural in an obvious attempt to discredit hard facts. Mr Chidambaram is the last person, if any, who should be lecturing on the economy, given his abysmally poor track record in the past, in 2012, when S&P had downgraded India's rating to BBB minus with a negative outlook, just a notch above junk status. While one is not denying that there are short term challenges, prophets of gloom and doom are working overtime to undermine India's policymaking and policymakers. For instance, the IHS Markit India Manufacturing PMI, rose to 51.2 in November 2019, from 50.6 in October 2019, but this positive news failed to grab headlines in the 'pink' dailies. While comparisons are often odious, India continues to decisively outperform peers. The recent sluggish pace comes against the global backdrop of 17 months of protracted US-China trade war, 6 months of massive protests in Hong Kong, leading to a 24.3 per cent decline in retail sales in October 2019, a technical recession in Singapore with GDP growth rate of barely 0.1 per cent in the September 2019 quarter, Venezuelan bankruptcy, double-dip recession in the world's 8th largest economy, Brazil, in May 2019, continued turbulence in the UK around Brexit, recession in Italy, steep slowdown in Japan amidst a trade war with South Korea and of course more importantly, industrial recession in Germany that is battling negative bond yields and its slowest growth rate since the 2011 Euro crisis. The September 2019 PMI number for Germany, the 4th largest economy globally, accounting for 28 per cent of Euro area's GDP, dropped to 49, the first time since April 2013 that Germany's PMI fell below 50. Speaking of India, reduction in corporate tax from 30% to 22% and for new companies to merely 15%, hike in dearness allowance to 17% from 12%, hike in export credit limit under priority sector lending norms for small exporters, from Rs 25 crore per borrower to Rs 40 crore, corpus of Rs 25,000 crore for stalled housing projects, yearly payout of Rs 6000 to 14.5 crore farmers irrespective of landholding size,100% FDI in coal mining,sale of coal and contract manufacturing, 26% FDI in digital news media, Rs 70,000 crore recapitalisation package for public sector banks and allowing additional 15% depreciation for vehicles bought till 31st March 2020, are measures that will address the demand side of the economy, which has been tepid. It needs to be mentioned here that passenger vehicle sales in India crossed the three-million milestone for the first time in 2016-17. Maruti Suzuki took 37 years to sell 20 million vehicles in India, with the first 10 million vehicles taking 29 long years to sell. Interestingly, the last 5 million units were sold in barely three years, between 2016-17 and 2019 and it is certainly no coincidence that this happened, with Narendra Modi at the helm! The recent sluggish pace in the auto sector this year which affected UK, Germany, China and Japan in equal measure, has been primarily been on account of stringent BS-VI emission norms. India, relatively speaking, fared much better, despite the disadvantage of a high base effect, thanks to the scorching pace of growth in the previous 5 years under Modi. Repeated chatter that the current decline in GDP is the result of demonetisation is a myth. The number of income taxpayers jumped in 2018-19 to 8.45 crore from just 3.68 crore in 2013-14. Thanks to demonetisation, the total number of unified payment interface (UPI) transactions in October 2019 hit a record 1.15 billion. Under Manmohan Singh's tenure, the total number of digital transactions stood at a measly 93.2 crore in 2012-13; under Narendra Modi's leadership, digital transactions were a whopping 921.7 crore in volume terms in 2017-18. Fear-mongering about the efficacy of goods and services tax (GST) is also incorrect as GST has strengthened tax compliance with the indirect tax to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio going up to 5.4 per cent post-GST, from 4.4 per cent in 2014-15. Externally too, things under Narendra Modi look far healthier than they ever were under Manmohan Singh, with the share of short-term debt in total debt, at only 20 per cent in March 2019 versus a figure of 24.8 per cent in March 2013. Also, the ratio of short-term debt (original maturity) to foreign exchange reserves rose stood at a disturbing 33.1 per cent in March 2013, compared to 26.3 per cent in March 2019. That the Modi government which successfully completed its first term and 6 months of the second term, with no BoP crisis till date, speaks volumes about the external debt management of the economy, despite challenging global geopolitics. Foreign exchange reserves were, at a record $448.60 billion as on November 22nd 2019. Under Manmohan Singh's tenure, current account deficit (CAD), was consistently above 3.5 per cent, reaching a dangerous level of 6.7% in the December 2013 quarter, whereas the average CAD figure in Modi's first term, was well below 2%. Talking of foreign direct investment, while India averaged $18.2 billion in FDI annually under UPA I and, $38.4 billion under UPA II, in the Modi government's 5.5 years of tenure till date, the annual FDI figure averaged handsomely at almost $60 billion. In terms of fiscal prudence too, the Narendra Modi regime wins hands down, with an average fiscal deficit figure of only 3.7% for the 2014-15 to 2018-19 period which is much better than the unreasonably high 5.4%, during the preceding five years, led by Manmohan Singh. That Modinomics has delivered high growth, without compromising macroeconomic stability, amidst the most globally volatile conditions, is therefore well established. It would be apt to sum up India's future growth trajectory in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's own words from one of his recent public speeches where he so rightfully said--"Good governance with good intentions is the hallmark of our government. Implementation with integrity is our core passion". Foreign exchange reserves were, at a record $448.60 billion as on November 22nd 2019. Under Manmohan Singh's tenure, current account deficit (CAD), was consistently above 3.5%, reaching a dangerous level of 6.7% in the December 2013 quarter, whereas the average CAD figure in Modi's first term, was well below 2%. Talking of foreign direct investment, while India averaged $18.2 billion in FDI annually under UPA I and, $38.4 billion under UPA II, in the Modi government's 5.5 years of tenure till date, the annual FDI figure averaged handsomely at almost $60 billion. In terms of fiscal prudence too, the Narendra Modi regime wins hands down, with an average fiscal deficit figure of only 3.7% for the 2014-15 to 2018-19 period which is much better than the unreasonably high 5.4%, during the preceding five years, led by Manmohan Singh. That Modinomics has delivered high growth, without compromising macroeconomic stability, amidst the most globally volatile conditions, is therefore well established. It would be apt to sum up India's future growth trajectory in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's own words from one of his recent public speeches where he so rightfully said--"Good governance with good intentions is the hallmark of our government. Implementation with integrity is our core passion". (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Economy Debate: Narendra Modi's NDA versus Manmohan Singh's UPA

If there is one politician in India who is a living testimony to what erstwhile "Iron Lady" and former Prime Minister of UK, Thatcher said, it has to be Home Minister and BJP's National President, Amit Shah, who has given invincibility and will power a whole new dimension.

Shah has earned the enviable epithet of being named the new-age Chanakya, after the prolific scholar, statesman, strategist, philosopher, economist and advisor to the Mauryan Empire in 4th Century B.C., who has, till date, remained an enigmatically inspirational character.

Shah’s stellar and well-earned rise to national prominence as the Union Home Minister in 2019, is likewise, a story of sheer grit, determination, excruciating hard-work, an acutely keen understanding of India’s socio-political landscape, and an in-depth understanding of the regional equations at play, across the length and breadth of India.

The National Register of Citizens (NRC), which aims to identify illegal immigrants, primarily from Bangladesh, who entered Assam and settled there after March 25th 1971, and have them deported back to their native country, is yet another masterstroke from Amit Shah,who has said in Parliament that people whose names are missing from the NRC can approach tribunals formed at the tehsil level.

The Assam government will provide financial help to those who don't have the money to file pleas, Shah added, deftly putting to rest contentious issues pertaining to the NRC exercise. Explaining the nuances between NRC and the Citizenship Amendment Bill like only he can and, stating that NRC which will be a pan-India exercise, is primarily about stopping the malaise of infiltrators and illegal immigrants, on the floor of the Parliament, is part of Shah's broader vision of rehabilitating persecuted Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Christian, Parsi and Sikh minorities, among other things and, rightfully so.

Among the possible changes in the new Citizenship Amendment Bill which lapsed after the dissolution of the last Lok Sabha, include a clear categorisation of those who are "illegal immigrants" and those who took shelter in India after facing gross religious persecution in the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Due to recently found violations of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card by a British-born Hinduphobic writer, Aatish Ali Taseer, there is a possibility of incorporation of certain provisions in the new draft, so that such rampant abuse and misuse could be detected and action taken, right from the word go.

Going a little back in time, success in Uttar Pradesh in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections apart, under Amit Shah’s indomitable leadership, the BJP continued its streak of successes in legislative assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jammu &amp; Kashmir, Jharkhand and Assam in 2016, including a landslide victory in state elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, not to forget storming to power in Gujarat for the sixth time in a row, amidst huge anti-incumbency.

A strong debut in Manipur for the BJP and the spectacular victory in Tripura in 2018, where the BJP dislodged an utterly incompetent Leftist (CPI-M) government which had ruled Tripura for over two decades and still done virtually nothing to uplift people from the morass of poverty, are ringing testimonies of how Amit Shah ensured BJP's ascent in the North-East, completely annihilating the Congress, which incidentally, by December 2018, had been electorally wiped out of the eight beautiful North-Eastern states, in totality.

Chanakya’s work ethic has always been about getting his hands “soiled on the shop floor”, as management gurus would put it, rather than arm-chair steering. It is this passionate, personal involvement, right up to the booth and panna-pramukh levels that has catapulted Amit Shah into being amongst India’s finest master political strategists, where the zeal to win is based on the strengths of the BJP, and not on the weaknesses of the opposition, which has, in any case, fumbled and faltered, sans any cohesive development agenda or grassroots organisational structure, besides the added ignominy of being embattled with a blinkered vision, marred by an unhealthy Modi-phobia.

Shah’s "Chanakya-Niti" is about putting into practice what Chanakya preached. Chanakya ended the concept of King as demi-god and preached that an effective ruler is only one who follows the constitution or the legal hand-book. Having risen up the ranks by the dint of his patience, intellect and political acumen, it has not come as a surprise, therefore, that Amit Shah has always had strong reservations about the “Parivarwad” culture or dynastic politics, abetted and nurtured by the Congress establishment.

Chanakya was of the view that if the king has only one child, who is not mature enough to rule, the reins of the state should then be passed on to someone from outside, to someone who is capable of it. Shah, by reinforcing what Chanakya said, brilliantly shifted the political narrative to dynastic politics, something which a left-leaning media had always shied to take note of in its unabashed and misplaced loyalty towards the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

Narendra Modi came and re-wrote India’s political narrative with his no-nonsense style, and the irrepressible Amit Shah, in turn, ensured the invincibility of the BJP in election after election, with a persistence that is rare.To the Modi-Shah duo, goes the credit of correcting a historical Nehruvian blunder, by revoking Article 370.Amit Shah realised that the horrific Pulwama terror attack by Pakistan on 14th February 2019, is one more reason why Article 35-A needed to be abrogated unconditionally. Terrorism, promoted and abetted by Pakistan in the Kashmir valley, is no longer about separatism or secessionism, but about the Islamic theology of “Ummah”, which is synonymous with Ummat-al-Islam. In simpler terms, it basically means, the problem of terrorism in Kashmir is part of a larger game-plan by radical Islamists to establish an Islamic Caliphate in J&amp;K, &nbsp;under the guise of “Jihad”.

“Ummah” is the desire by radicalised terror elements to establish a supranational community of Islamists in the Kashmir valley, under the garb of uniting people with common ancestry, history or geography.

Amit Shah, the modern-day Sardar Patel, whose political genius has never been in doubt, has shown once again, why courage of conviction, is what it takes to ensure, justice, social, economic and political, is delivered to those who need it most, at a time when it matters most! "Is Desh Mein Do Vidhan, Do Pradhan aur Do Nishan, nahin challenge," said Syama Prasad Mukherjee.

66 years after his death in 1953, Syama Prasad must be finally smiling from wherever he is, as his long-cherished dream of "One Nation, One Union, One Constitution, One Prime Minister and One Flag," finally came true, in its truest sense, on 5th August 2019, thanks to Amit Shah.

In what is likely to be a new beginning for India's fight against terrorism, if there is one more measure which makes Amit Shah, India's new age "Loh Purush" it is the passage in the parliament, of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment (UAPA) Bill, in the recently concluded monsoon session.

The bill is a cornerstone of the Modi government's zero-tolerance policy against terrorism. The objective of the new amendments is to facilitate speedy investigation and prosecution in terror-related offences. The most important part is, allowing an individual to be designated as a terrorist, a measure that is in line with the global practices.

Under the law, personal/financial information of an individual designated as terrorist, can be shared with various Western agencies. It also gives power to officers of the rank of Inspector of NIA, to investigate the offences under chapter IV and Chapter VI. The bill also seeks to empower NIA to conduct raids anywhere without the relevant state government's prior permission.

Besides designating an individual as a terrorist, the bill empowers the NIA to grant approval to seize/attach property when the case is being probed.

To allay fears about misuse of the law, the home ministry has said that an individual designated as terrorist can appeal to the Home Secretary, who will have to dispose of the appeal within 45 days.The Centre will constitute a review committee under the act. An implicated individual can appeal against the inclusion of his/her name and seek a hearing before the committee.

If not satisfied with the Home Secretary&amp;#39;s decision, the individual in question can move the committee headed by a sitting/retired judge of a high court and comprising at least two retired secretaries of the central government.

Home Minister, Amit Shah, India's new age "Loh Purush" has clarified that the new law would be used "sparsely" — for example only in such cases as dreaded militants like Yasin Bhatkal and Masood Azhar, to name a few.

According to Home Ministry data, in India, in the last 15 years, only one outfit, "Deendar Anjuman" appealed against the government's decision to ban it. To put things in perspective, as many as 42 organisations that had been declared illegal during the period under consideration, did not appeal. The law will also prevent terror masterminds from setting up a new group after their previous outfit is outlawed.

The provisions of the law are similar to a UN policy used by the Security Council to apply pressure on a state or entity to comply with the objectives set by the UN without resorting to the use of force. Hafiz Saeed, the 26/11 mastermind, and JeM chief Masood Azhar could be among the first individuals to be designated as terrorists under the law.

Both of them have already been designated "global terrorists" by the US, the UN and the EU. These type of anti-terror laws are already there in such countries as US, China, Israel and the EU. It, therefore, goes entirely to Amit Shah's iron will, that he could bring in the UAPA, which will go down as a watershed bill in curbing terror on Indian soil. Sardar Patel integrated more than 550 princely States into the Indian Union.

Amit Shah, as Home Minister, has ensured, that the integration exercise which was embarked upon, over 70 years back, has no room for any ambiguity whatsoever. That India will not cede an inch of its territory or sovereignty, is a message that has gone out loud and clear, by India's new age "Loh Purush". 
 
(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/report-amit-shah-india-s-new-age-loh-purush-2803194">original article</a>) 
&nbsp; 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) &nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

If there is one politician in India who is a living testimony to what erstwhile "Iron Lady" and former Prime Minister of UK, Thatcher said, it has to be Home Minister and BJP's National President, Amit Shah, who has given invincibility and will power a whole new dimension.

If there is one politician in India who is a living testimony to what erstwhile "Iron Lady" and former Prime Minister of UK, Thatcher said, it has to be Home Minister and BJP's National President, Amit Shah, who has given invincibility and will power a whole new dimension. Shah has earned the enviable epithet of being named the new-age Chanakya, after the prolific scholar, statesman, strategist, philosopher, economist and advisor to the Mauryan Empire in 4th Century B.C., who has, till date, remained an enigmatically inspirational character. Shah’s stellar and well-earned rise to national prominence as the Union Home Minister in 2019, is likewise, a story of sheer grit, determination, excruciating hard-work, an acutely keen understanding of India’s socio-political landscape, and an in-depth understanding of the regional equations at play, across the length and breadth of India. The National Register of Citizens (NRC), which aims to identify illegal immigrants, primarily from Bangladesh, who entered Assam and settled there after March 25th 1971, and have them deported back to their native country, is yet another masterstroke from Amit Shah,who has said in Parliament that people whose names are missing from the NRC can approach tribunals formed at the tehsil level. The Assam government will provide financial help to those who don't have the money to file pleas, Shah added, deftly putting to rest contentious issues pertaining to the NRC exercise. Explaining the nuances between NRC and the Citizenship Amendment Bill like only he can and, stating that NRC which will be a pan-India exercise, is primarily about stopping the malaise of infiltrators and illegal immigrants, on the floor of the Parliament, is part of Shah's broader vision of rehabilitating persecuted Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Christian, Parsi and Sikh minorities, among other things and, rightfully so. Among the possible changes in the new Citizenship Amendment Bill which lapsed after the dissolution of the last Lok Sabha, include a clear categorisation of those who are "illegal immigrants" and those who took shelter in India after facing gross religious persecution in the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Due to recently found violations of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card by a British-born Hinduphobic writer, Aatish Ali Taseer, there is a possibility of incorporation of certain provisions in the new draft, so that such rampant abuse and misuse could be detected and action taken, right from the word go. Going a little back in time, success in Uttar Pradesh in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections apart, under Amit Shah’s indomitable leadership, the BJP continued its streak of successes in legislative assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand and Assam in 2016, including a landslide victory in state elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, not to forget storming to power in Gujarat for the sixth time in a row, amidst huge anti-incumbency. A strong debut in Manipur for the BJP and the spectacular victory in Tripura in 2018, where the BJP dislodged an utterly incompetent Leftist (CPI-M) government which had ruled Tripura for over two decades and still done virtually nothing to uplift people from the morass of poverty, are ringing testimonies of how Amit Shah ensured BJP's ascent in the North-East, completely annihilating the Congress, which incidentally, by December 2018, had been electorally wiped out of the eight beautiful North-Eastern states, in totality. Chanakya’s work ethic has always been about getting his hands “soiled on the shop floor”, as management gurus would put it, rather than arm-chair steering. It is this passionate, personal involvement, right up to the booth and panna-pramukh levels that has catapulted Amit Shah into being amongst India’s finest master political strategists, where the zeal to win is based on the strengths of the BJP, and not on the weaknesses of the opposition, which has, in any case, fumbled and faltered, sans any cohesive development agenda or grassroots organisational structure, besides the added ignominy of being embattled with a blinkered vision, marred by an unhealthy Modi-phobia. Shah’s "Chanakya-Niti" is about putting into practice what Chanakya preached. Chanakya ended the concept of King as demi-god and preached that an effective ruler is only one who follows the constitution or the legal hand-book. Having risen up the ranks by the dint of his patience, intellect and political acumen, it has not come as a surprise, therefore, that Amit Shah has always had strong reservations about the “Parivarwad” culture or dynastic politics, abetted and nurtured by the Congress establishment. Chanakya was of the view that if the king has only one child, who is not mature enough to rule, the reins of the state should then be passed on to someone from outside, to someone who is capable of it. Shah, by reinforcing what Chanakya said, brilliantly shifted the political narrative to dynastic politics, something which a left-leaning media had always shied to take note of in its unabashed and misplaced loyalty towards the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Narendra Modi came and re-wrote India’s political narrative with his no-nonsense style, and the irrepressible Amit Shah, in turn, ensured the invincibility of the BJP in election after election, with a persistence that is rare.To the Modi-Shah duo, goes the credit of correcting a historical Nehruvian blunder, by revoking Article 370.Amit Shah realised that the horrific Pulwama terror attack by Pakistan on 14th February 2019, is one more reason why Article 35-A needed to be abrogated unconditionally. Terrorism, promoted and abetted by Pakistan in the Kashmir valley, is no longer about separatism or secessionism, but about the Islamic theology of “Ummah”, which is synonymous with Ummat-al-Islam. In simpler terms, it basically means, the problem of terrorism in Kashmir is part of a larger game-plan by radical Islamists to establish an Islamic Caliphate in J&K, under the guise of “Jihad”. “Ummah” is the desire by radicalised terror elements to establish a supranational community of Islamists in the Kashmir valley, under the garb of uniting people with common ancestry, history or geography. Amit Shah, the modern-day Sardar Patel, whose political genius has never been in doubt, has shown once again, why courage of conviction, is what it takes to ensure, justice, social, economic and political, is delivered to those who need it most, at a time when it matters most! "Is Desh Mein Do Vidhan, Do Pradhan aur Do Nishan, nahin challenge," said Syama Prasad Mukherjee. 66 years after his death in 1953, Syama Prasad must be finally smiling from wherever he is, as his long-cherished dream of "One Nation, One Union, One Constitution, One Prime Minister and One Flag," finally came true, in its truest sense, on 5th August 2019, thanks to Amit Shah. In what is likely to be a new beginning for India's fight against terrorism, if there is one more measure which makes Amit Shah, India's new age "Loh Purush" it is the passage in the parliament, of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment (UAPA) Bill, in the recently concluded monsoon session. The bill is a cornerstone of the Modi government's zero-tolerance policy against terrorism. The objective of the new amendments is to facilitate speedy investigation and prosecution in terror-related offences. The most important part is, allowing an individual to be designated as a terrorist, a measure that is in line with the global practices. Under the law, personal/financial information of an individual designated as terrorist, can be shared with various Western agencies. It also gives power to officers of the rank of Inspector of NIA, to investigate the offences under chapter IV and Chapter VI. The bill also seeks to empower NIA to conduct raids anywhere without the relevant state government's prior permission. Besides designating an individual as a terrorist, the bill empowers the NIA to grant approval to seize/attach property when the case is being probed. To allay fears about misuse of the law, the home ministry has said that an individual designated as terrorist can appeal to the Home Secretary, who will have to dispose of the appeal within 45 days.The Centre will constitute a review committee under the act. An implicated individual can appeal against the inclusion of his/her name and seek a hearing before the committee. If not satisfied with the Home Secretary&#39;s decision, the individual in question can move the committee headed by a sitting/retired judge of a high court and comprising at least two retired secretaries of the central government. Home Minister, Amit Shah, India's new age "Loh Purush" has clarified that the new law would be used "sparsely" — for example only in such cases as dreaded militants like Yasin Bhatkal and Masood Azhar, to name a few. According to Home Ministry data, in India, in the last 15 years, only one outfit, "Deendar Anjuman" appealed against the government's decision to ban it. To put things in perspective, as many as 42 organisations that had been declared illegal during the period under consideration, did not appeal. The law will also prevent terror masterminds from setting up a new group after their previous outfit is outlawed. The provisions of the law are similar to a UN policy used by the Security Council to apply pressure on a state or entity to comply with the objectives set by the UN without resorting to the use of force. Hafiz Saeed, the 26/11 mastermind, and JeM chief Masood Azhar could be among the first individuals to be designated as terrorists under the law. Both of them have already been designated "global terrorists" by the US, the UN and the EU. These type of anti-terror laws are already there in such countries as US, China, Israel and the EU. It, therefore, goes entirely to Amit Shah's iron will, that he could bring in the UAPA, which will go down as a watershed bill in curbing terror on Indian soil. Sardar Patel integrated more than 550 princely States into the Indian Union. Amit Shah, as Home Minister, has ensured, that the integration exercise which was embarked upon, over 70 years back, has no room for any ambiguity whatsoever. That India will not cede an inch of its territory or sovereignty, is a message that has gone out loud and clear, by India's new age "Loh Purush". (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Amit Shah — India's new age 'Loh Purush'

BRIC&nbsp;was formed as a formal grouping in Saint Petersburg in September 2006, with the 1st official summit being held in June 2009 at Yekaterinburg in Russia. BRIC became BRICS only in 2010, with the entry of South Africa, in addition to already existing members - Brazil, Russia, India and China.&nbsp;

All BRICS nations are members of the G20 group. BRICS make up almost 42 per cent of the world’s population, 23 per cent of the global GDP, about 17 per cent of the world trade, almost 50 per cent of world economic growth and 26.6 of the world area.

In a breakthrough at the 6th BRICS Summit in Fortaleza in Brazil 2014, India got the presidency of the New Development Bank (NDB)— the name that Narendra Modi had endorsed. It was launched with an initial capital of $50 billion after the leaders signed the "Fortaleza Declaration". While China walked away with the bank’s headquarters, to be located in Shanghai, Modi got Beijing to agree on equal shareholding rights for all members.&nbsp;

NDB's Articles of Agreement specify that all members of the United Nations could be members of the bank, however, the share of the BRICS nations can never be less than 55 per cent&nbsp;of the voting power. From an Indian perspective, BRICS has emerged as the voice of developing countries on diverse issues like WTO, climate change, inclusive development and mutual cooperation in areas including trade, finance, health, agriculture, energy, space, culture, education, technology and IT.

Also, India has to maintain the balancing act between Russia-China on the one side and the US on the other. While India's stature in global affairs in the last five years under its dynamic Prime Minister Narendra Modi has seen an unprecedented rise, the current crop of BRICS leaders too are opinionated personalities — from Chinese President Xi Jinping to Russian President Vladimir Putin to Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro. Hence the shrewd deftness with which South Block, in the last five years under Modi, has taken the lead in galvanising BRICS to take a strong stand against terrorism, putting aside conflicting domestic agendas, is commendable.

Last year at the 10th BRICS Summit, the joint working group on counter-terrorism decided to constitute sub-working groups in five areas: terrorist financing; use of Internet for terrorist purposes; countering radicalisation; the issue of foreign terrorist fighters; and capacity-building.

During meetings of National Security Advisers of BRICS, India’s NSA Ajit Doval put forward a proposal to host a BRICS workshop on digital forensics in India. Brazil also made terrorism one of the priorities for its presidency. It held the first BRICS seminar on Strategies for Countering Terrorism. The focus on countering global terrorism will be even more pronounced this year at the 11th BRICS Summit in the wake of recent terrorist attacks on Israel on 12th and 13th November 2019, with Israel being bombarded by over 250 rockets and missiles by the radical Islamic Jihad and Palestinian militants.

That BRICS put counter-terrorism on top of the agenda has been a huge diplomatic victory for Narendra Modi and India as was evident even in the BRICS Summit in Xiamen in September 2017, with China as the chair, despite the strained ties at that point,due to the standoff in Doklam.

Again at the 10th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, Partnership on New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR) which is a programme of partnership among BRICS nations that sought to focus on maximising the opportunities arising from the Fourth Industrial Revolution/New Industrial Revolution, showcased how India under Modi has taken the lead in making intra BRICS trade, commerce, investments and people to people connect, the cornerstone of its global messaging.

Coming back to the 11th BRICS Summit in Brasilia in Brazil, it has been an excellent opportunity for India to lay the foundation for hosting the 2021 Summit, scheduled in India after the last BRICS Summit that took place in Goa in 2016. India will also be hosting the G20 Summit in 2022, and the current summit is an opportunity to harmonise the two agendas from New India's perspective. PM Modi also expressed satisfaction that MOU between trade promotion agencies of BRICS will help to achieve the target of USD 500 billion intra-BRICS trade target going forward, among other things. He also mentioned about India's programme of Fit India and proposed for a BRICS Youth Summit to promote Start-Ups and Hackathons.&nbsp;

This year in 2019, "BRICS-- Economic Growth for an Innovative Future" was the theme. In the Summit, apart from Brazil's decision to allow visa free entry to Indians and agreement on bilateral cooperation in areas like bio fuels, post harvest technologies and animal husbandry, clearly, Xi Jinping's invite to PM Modi to China for the 3rd informal summit between the two nations in 2020, hogged headlines.

This is significant as it comes close on the heels of the 2nd informal Summit at Mamallapuram in Chennai last month between the two world leaders. The leaders further reviewed the ongoing preparations for the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China in 2020. The leaders also reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and security in border areas and exchanged views on many issues including RCEP, WTO and BRICS.

Besides China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at Brasilia garnered attention. It was the 4th meeting of the two leaders in 2019, after Modi’s visit to Vladivostok in September 2019, underpinning how Russia is one of the pivots of Modi's foreign policy outreach. The two leaders noted that the USD 25 billion bilateral trade target by 2025 has already been achieved. They further decided to hold the 1st bilateral regional forum between Russian Provinces and the Indian States in 2020, to do away with the trade barriers at the regional level. Russian President Vladimir Putin highlighted the potential of the Arctic region in natural gas and invited India to invest in the region.

The leaders also reviewed the progress made in the Infrastructure sector, especially railways including raising the speed of the Nagpur-Secunderabad sector railway line. The leaders further noted cooperation between India and Russia in the Defence sector and Civil Nuclear Energy. Prime Minister Modi accepted the Russian President’s invitation to participate in Russia’s Victory Day celebrations in 2020.

In the final analysis, BRICS 2019 focussed on strengthening cooperation in the fields of science, technology, innovation and the digital economy. The annual summit also aimed to advance cooperation in the fight against transnational crime, especially organized crime, money laundering and drug trafficking.

Euro-Atlantic powers realize that India’s close relationship with the US and commitment to a liberal global order is what prevents BRICS from becoming a divisive, illiberal anti-Western coalition, led by Russian muscle power and Chinese money power. For instance, were Modi to boycott the Xiamen summit in 2017, amidst the Doklam standoff then, it would have been the death knell of BRICS, reducing this grouping to an incoherent bunch of expansionist powers like Russia and China on the one hand and tottering economies like Brazil and South Africa on the other. Brazil and South Africa, which in the last few years have wandered aimlessly from one domestic economic crisis to another have increasingly started looking at South Block to enhance bilateral cooperation to prevent further marginalisation.

BRICS, which in many ways is redefining multilateralism and multiculturalism, has emerged as a template for cooperation between emerging powers and a useful instrument for India to fight the agenda-setting monopoly of Atlantic powers, in its quest for a greater role in global governance. Above all, if BRICS has furthered the cause of a multipolar world, the credit for this unarguably goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policy outreach that is both inclusive and global in its approach, but with "India first", being the guiding diktat.&nbsp;

(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-brics-modi-s-foreign-policy-pivot-2801796">original article</a>) 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp;

BRIC was formed as a formal grouping in Saint Petersburg in September 2006, with the 1st official summit being held in June 2009 at Yekaterinburg in Russia. BRIC became BRICS only in 2010, with the entry of South Africa, in addition to already existing members - Brazil, Russia, India and China.

BRIC was formed as a formal grouping in Saint Petersburg in September 2006, with the 1st official summit being held in June 2009 at Yekaterinburg in Russia. BRIC became BRICS only in 2010, with the entry of South Africa, in addition to already existing members - Brazil, Russia, India and China. All BRICS nations are members of the G20 group. BRICS make up almost 42 per cent of the world’s population, 23 per cent of the global GDP, about 17 per cent of the world trade, almost 50 per cent of world economic growth and 26.6 of the world area. In a breakthrough at the 6th BRICS Summit in Fortaleza in Brazil 2014, India got the presidency of the New Development Bank (NDB)— the name that Narendra Modi had endorsed. It was launched with an initial capital of $50 billion after the leaders signed the "Fortaleza Declaration". While China walked away with the bank’s headquarters, to be located in Shanghai, Modi got Beijing to agree on equal shareholding rights for all members. NDB's Articles of Agreement specify that all members of the United Nations could be members of the bank, however, the share of the BRICS nations can never be less than 55 per cent of the voting power. From an Indian perspective, BRICS has emerged as the voice of developing countries on diverse issues like WTO, climate change, inclusive development and mutual cooperation in areas including trade, finance, health, agriculture, energy, space, culture, education, technology and IT. Also, India has to maintain the balancing act between Russia-China on the one side and the US on the other. While India's stature in global affairs in the last five years under its dynamic Prime Minister Narendra Modi has seen an unprecedented rise, the current crop of BRICS leaders too are opinionated personalities — from Chinese President Xi Jinping to Russian President Vladimir Putin to Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro. Hence the shrewd deftness with which South Block, in the last five years under Modi, has taken the lead in galvanising BRICS to take a strong stand against terrorism, putting aside conflicting domestic agendas, is commendable. Last year at the 10th BRICS Summit, the joint working group on counter-terrorism decided to constitute sub-working groups in five areas: terrorist financing; use of Internet for terrorist purposes; countering radicalisation; the issue of foreign terrorist fighters; and capacity-building. During meetings of National Security Advisers of BRICS, India’s NSA Ajit Doval put forward a proposal to host a BRICS workshop on digital forensics in India. Brazil also made terrorism one of the priorities for its presidency. It held the first BRICS seminar on Strategies for Countering Terrorism. The focus on countering global terrorism will be even more pronounced this year at the 11th BRICS Summit in the wake of recent terrorist attacks on Israel on 12th and 13th November 2019, with Israel being bombarded by over 250 rockets and missiles by the radical Islamic Jihad and Palestinian militants. That BRICS put counter-terrorism on top of the agenda has been a huge diplomatic victory for Narendra Modi and India as was evident even in the BRICS Summit in Xiamen in September 2017, with China as the chair, despite the strained ties at that point,due to the standoff in Doklam. Again at the 10th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, Partnership on New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR) which is a programme of partnership among BRICS nations that sought to focus on maximising the opportunities arising from the Fourth Industrial Revolution/New Industrial Revolution, showcased how India under Modi has taken the lead in making intra BRICS trade, commerce, investments and people to people connect, the cornerstone of its global messaging. Coming back to the 11th BRICS Summit in Brasilia in Brazil, it has been an excellent opportunity for India to lay the foundation for hosting the 2021 Summit, scheduled in India after the last BRICS Summit that took place in Goa in 2016. India will also be hosting the G20 Summit in 2022, and the current summit is an opportunity to harmonise the two agendas from New India's perspective. PM Modi also expressed satisfaction that MOU between trade promotion agencies of BRICS will help to achieve the target of USD 500 billion intra-BRICS trade target going forward, among other things. He also mentioned about India's programme of Fit India and proposed for a BRICS Youth Summit to promote Start-Ups and Hackathons. This year in 2019, "BRICS-- Economic Growth for an Innovative Future" was the theme. In the Summit, apart from Brazil's decision to allow visa free entry to Indians and agreement on bilateral cooperation in areas like bio fuels, post harvest technologies and animal husbandry, clearly, Xi Jinping's invite to PM Modi to China for the 3rd informal summit between the two nations in 2020, hogged headlines. This is significant as it comes close on the heels of the 2nd informal Summit at Mamallapuram in Chennai last month between the two world leaders. The leaders further reviewed the ongoing preparations for the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China in 2020. The leaders also reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and security in border areas and exchanged views on many issues including RCEP, WTO and BRICS. Besides China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at Brasilia garnered attention. It was the 4th meeting of the two leaders in 2019, after Modi’s visit to Vladivostok in September 2019, underpinning how Russia is one of the pivots of Modi's foreign policy outreach. The two leaders noted that the USD 25 billion bilateral trade target by 2025 has already been achieved. They further decided to hold the 1st bilateral regional forum between Russian Provinces and the Indian States in 2020, to do away with the trade barriers at the regional level. Russian President Vladimir Putin highlighted the potential of the Arctic region in natural gas and invited India to invest in the region. The leaders also reviewed the progress made in the Infrastructure sector, especially railways including raising the speed of the Nagpur-Secunderabad sector railway line. The leaders further noted cooperation between India and Russia in the Defence sector and Civil Nuclear Energy. Prime Minister Modi accepted the Russian President’s invitation to participate in Russia’s Victory Day celebrations in 2020. In the final analysis, BRICS 2019 focussed on strengthening cooperation in the fields of science, technology, innovation and the digital economy. The annual summit also aimed to advance cooperation in the fight against transnational crime, especially organized crime, money laundering and drug trafficking. Euro-Atlantic powers realize that India’s close relationship with the US and commitment to a liberal global order is what prevents BRICS from becoming a divisive, illiberal anti-Western coalition, led by Russian muscle power and Chinese money power. For instance, were Modi to boycott the Xiamen summit in 2017, amidst the Doklam standoff then, it would have been the death knell of BRICS, reducing this grouping to an incoherent bunch of expansionist powers like Russia and China on the one hand and tottering economies like Brazil and South Africa on the other. Brazil and South Africa, which in the last few years have wandered aimlessly from one domestic economic crisis to another have increasingly started looking at South Block to enhance bilateral cooperation to prevent further marginalisation. BRICS, which in many ways is redefining multilateralism and multiculturalism, has emerged as a template for cooperation between emerging powers and a useful instrument for India to fight the agenda-setting monopoly of Atlantic powers, in its quest for a greater role in global governance. Above all, if BRICS has furthered the cause of a multipolar world, the credit for this unarguably goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policy outreach that is both inclusive and global in its approach, but with "India first", being the guiding diktat. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

BRICS: PM Narendra Modi’s foreign policy pivot

Devendra Fadnavis is only the second Chief Minister after Vasantrao Naik to complete his full term in office. His rise from being the Mayor of Nagpur to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra is a telling commentary on how meritocracy rules the wealthiest state in India, which also happens to be the second most populous state and the third-largest in terms of area. Even the first non-Congress government in the state, led by the Shiv Sena from 1995-1999 (the BJP was part of the coalition, but a junior partner then) saw two Chief Ministers, with Manohar Joshi being replaced by Narayan Rane, in the last year.

His achievements include the "Right to Services" bill, with 'Aaple Sarkar' online portal providing a total of 403 online services that benefitted over 14 lakh citizens; the 'Atal Maha Aarogya' camp that has proven beneficial to 24 lakh patients in the state; starting work on Metro routes of which 298km is in various stages of construction. He took major steps to decongest Mumbai, making Mumbai a "WiFi City" with over 1700 hotspots, installed over 5000 CCTV cameras to make the city safer, made 1052 police stations online, closing 11 toll nakas in the state and extended discounts to light motor vehicles on 52 toll nakas. Speeding up the process for the international airport in Navi Mumbai, he initiated projects to set up as many as 10 airports in the state in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.&nbsp;

Fadnavis also ensured better connectivity, the allocation of funds for the Mumbai-Delhi industrial corridor, securing clearances for the "Chhatrapati Shivaji" sea memorial and the "Babasaheb Ambedkar Memorial" at Indu Mills, achieving the digitisation process of as many as 66458 schools, and ensured that 2750 MW of power capacity is added. He sanctioned 10 smart city projects, started work on the Bandra-Virar-CST-Panvel elevated railway corridor, kickstarted the 712 km Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi super expressway which will connect 24 districts of the state and set up the first automatic weather station in Dongargaon in Nagpur in 2017.&nbsp;

These are only some of the sterling examples of how Devendra Fadnavis has made the "Minimum Government, Maximum Governance" model successful, his abiding work ethic. Most importantly, the rate of conviction for crimes has gone up from 9% to a staggering 52% and cyber labs have been set up in all districts of the state.

The pro-farmer Fadnavis government, which announced a farm loan write-off package of Rs 34,022 crore in June 2017 for all farmers with a Rs 1.5 lakh debt, has spent Rs 50,000 crore for farmer welfare in the last five years, as comparison to the less than Rs 20,000 crore in 15 years of the corrupt Congress-NCP rule. After 151 talukas were found affected by drought earlier this year, Fadnavis assured that more than 52 lakh farmers have received compensation of Rs 2700 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Crop Insurance Scheme. With a view to providing weather-related information and digital kiosks in all gram panchayats to farmers in real-time, the project "Mahavedh" has been made operational in all 2060 revenue circles in the state.

Under the 'Jalyukta Shivar Yojana', one of the biggest water rejuvenation initiatives in recent times, more than 16,000 villages across the state have become water neutral. Over six lakh works have been completed, which has created a water storage capacity of over 26.90 lakh TCM. Also, under the 'Galmukt Dharan Ani Galyukt Shivar' (salt-free dams and fertile farms) scheme, 3.23 crore cubic metres of silt has been removed from 5270 reservoirs, which benefitted as many as 31150 farmers. The 'Farm Pond on Demand' scheme has received the Prime Minister's award as one of the 10 best innovative initiatives, with over 1.37 lakh farm ponds having been created under the scheme. Apart from economic progress, one of the high points of the Fadnavis government is undoubtedly the sheer efficacy with which it passed the Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) bill, to live up to the promises made to the Maratha community. That Fadnavis himself is a Brahmin and still skillfully resolved the contentious Maratha issue, makes this achievement even more commendable, testifying him as political savvy in matters of realpolitik. The SEBC Act provides for 12% and 13% reservation in education and government jobs.

The 'Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Amrut Ahaar Yojana' is being implemented on a war footing in tribal areas to tackle the problem of malnutrition and anaemia and has already benefitted over 1.59 lakh pregnant women and lactating mothers. Maharashtra bagged the third rank in health index throughout the country. As part of the Bharat Net, Maha Net, which has already reached out to over 60% of Maharashtra's targetted villages, is a classic example of how robust connectivity will empower every single citizen to leverage on digital governance and digital economy. The Employment Guarantee Scheme, too, has been a huge success. Around 36.54 lakh families have benefitted through Women's saving groups.&nbsp;

To achieve the goal of 'Affordable Housing for All by 2022', more than 10.5 lakh beneficiaries have been registered under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Rural) and 7.65 lakh houses have been built. Further, nearly 30000 km of rural roads are being upgraded in rural areas under the "Chief Minister Gram Sadak Yojana", with 8900 km of works being completed.

To sum it up, the spectacular "Maha Janadesh Yatra" by CM Devendra Fadnavis, which covered a distance of 4232 km, spread over 104 rallies and almost all the 36 districts in the state, was not merely a show of strength or a measure of the BJP-led government's outstanding "performance report card" in the last five years. The "Yatra" has signalled, in more ways than one, the unbridled popularity and excellent mass connect that Chief Minister Fadnavis enjoys, cutting across caste, creed, social, gender and demographic barriers if any.

&nbsp;(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/report-the-fadnavis-juggernaut-2797311">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) &nbsp;

&nbsp;&nbsp;

 
&nbsp;

Devendra Fadnavis is only the second Chief Minister after Vasantrao Naik to complete his full term in office. His rise from being the Mayor of Nagpur to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra is a telling commentary on how meritocracy rules the wealthiest state in India, which also happens to be the second most populous state and the third-largest in terms of area.

Devendra Fadnavis is only the second Chief Minister after Vasantrao Naik to complete his full term in office. His rise from being the Mayor of Nagpur to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra is a telling commentary on how meritocracy rules the wealthiest state in India, which also happens to be the second most populous state and the third-largest in terms of area. Even the first non-Congress government in the state, led by the Shiv Sena from 1995-1999 (the BJP was part of the coalition, but a junior partner then) saw two Chief Ministers, with Manohar Joshi being replaced by Narayan Rane, in the last year. His achievements include the "Right to Services" bill, with 'Aaple Sarkar' online portal providing a total of 403 online services that benefitted over 14 lakh citizens; the 'Atal Maha Aarogya' camp that has proven beneficial to 24 lakh patients in the state; starting work on Metro routes of which 298km is in various stages of construction. He took major steps to decongest Mumbai, making Mumbai a "WiFi City" with over 1700 hotspots, installed over 5000 CCTV cameras to make the city safer, made 1052 police stations online, closing 11 toll nakas in the state and extended discounts to light motor vehicles on 52 toll nakas. Speeding up the process for the international airport in Navi Mumbai, he initiated projects to set up as many as 10 airports in the state in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Fadnavis also ensured better connectivity, the allocation of funds for the Mumbai-Delhi industrial corridor, securing clearances for the "Chhatrapati Shivaji" sea memorial and the "Babasaheb Ambedkar Memorial" at Indu Mills, achieving the digitisation process of as many as 66458 schools, and ensured that 2750 MW of power capacity is added. He sanctioned 10 smart city projects, started work on the Bandra-Virar-CST-Panvel elevated railway corridor, kickstarted the 712 km Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi super expressway which will connect 24 districts of the state and set up the first automatic weather station in Dongargaon in Nagpur in 2017. These are only some of the sterling examples of how Devendra Fadnavis has made the "Minimum Government, Maximum Governance" model successful, his abiding work ethic. Most importantly, the rate of conviction for crimes has gone up from 9% to a staggering 52% and cyber labs have been set up in all districts of the state. The pro-farmer Fadnavis government, which announced a farm loan write-off package of Rs 34,022 crore in June 2017 for all farmers with a Rs 1.5 lakh debt, has spent Rs 50,000 crore for farmer welfare in the last five years, as comparison to the less than Rs 20,000 crore in 15 years of the corrupt Congress-NCP rule. After 151 talukas were found affected by drought earlier this year, Fadnavis assured that more than 52 lakh farmers have received compensation of Rs 2700 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Crop Insurance Scheme. With a view to providing weather-related information and digital kiosks in all gram panchayats to farmers in real-time, the project "Mahavedh" has been made operational in all 2060 revenue circles in the state. Under the 'Jalyukta Shivar Yojana', one of the biggest water rejuvenation initiatives in recent times, more than 16,000 villages across the state have become water neutral. Over six lakh works have been completed, which has created a water storage capacity of over 26.90 lakh TCM. Also, under the 'Galmukt Dharan Ani Galyukt Shivar' (salt-free dams and fertile farms) scheme, 3.23 crore cubic metres of silt has been removed from 5270 reservoirs, which benefitted as many as 31150 farmers. The 'Farm Pond on Demand' scheme has received the Prime Minister's award as one of the 10 best innovative initiatives, with over 1.37 lakh farm ponds having been created under the scheme. Apart from economic progress, one of the high points of the Fadnavis government is undoubtedly the sheer efficacy with which it passed the Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) bill, to live up to the promises made to the Maratha community. That Fadnavis himself is a Brahmin and still skillfully resolved the contentious Maratha issue, makes this achievement even more commendable, testifying him as political savvy in matters of realpolitik. The SEBC Act provides for 12% and 13% reservation in education and government jobs. The 'Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Amrut Ahaar Yojana' is being implemented on a war footing in tribal areas to tackle the problem of malnutrition and anaemia and has already benefitted over 1.59 lakh pregnant women and lactating mothers. Maharashtra bagged the third rank in health index throughout the country. As part of the Bharat Net, Maha Net, which has already reached out to over 60% of Maharashtra's targetted villages, is a classic example of how robust connectivity will empower every single citizen to leverage on digital governance and digital economy. The Employment Guarantee Scheme, too, has been a huge success. Around 36.54 lakh families have benefitted through Women's saving groups. To achieve the goal of 'Affordable Housing for All by 2022', more than 10.5 lakh beneficiaries have been registered under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Rural) and 7.65 lakh houses have been built. Further, nearly 30000 km of rural roads are being upgraded in rural areas under the "Chief Minister Gram Sadak Yojana", with 8900 km of works being completed. To sum it up, the spectacular "Maha Janadesh Yatra" by CM Devendra Fadnavis, which covered a distance of 4232 km, spread over 104 rallies and almost all the 36 districts in the state, was not merely a show of strength or a measure of the BJP-led government's outstanding "performance report card" in the last five years. The "Yatra" has signalled, in more ways than one, the unbridled popularity and excellent mass connect that Chief Minister Fadnavis enjoys, cutting across caste, creed, social, gender and demographic barriers if any. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Devendra Fadnavis enjoys unbridled popularity and excellent mass connect

The all-India general Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation was steady at 3.21% in August 2019, compared to 3.15% in July 2019. Core CPI inflation eased to 4.20 per cent in August 2019 compared with 4.25 per cent in July 2019. 
Advertisement

Also, cumulative CPI inflation declined to 3.11 per cent in April-August of 2019-20 compared with 4.44 per cent in April-August 2018-19.

The war on inflation has been won decisively by the Narendra Modi led government, thanks to proactive management of the current account balance. The current account deficit (CAD) for 2018-19 stood at 2.1 per cent of GDP, just a tad higher than the 1.8 per cent for 2017-18.&nbsp;

India’s trade deficit increased to $180.3 billion in 2018-19 from $160 billion in 2017-18, largely due to higher oil import bill. Needless to add, global crude and local fuel prices will, therefore, be the fulcrum around which both CAD and domestic inflation will revolve.

The recent drone attacks on Saudi Arabia for instance, led to a 19.5% spike in global crude prices in barely 24 hours, shaving off 5 per cent from global supplies, showcasing how volatile global oil prices can be. Every dollar increase in the price of oil raises India’s import bill by about Rs. 10,700 crore on an annualised basis. India spent $111.9 billion on oil imports in 2018-19.

Also, a 10 per cent spike in crude prices can result in roughly a 0.2-0.40 per cent widening of the CAD, other things remaining constant. This, in turn, can play out into a 2-4 per cent depreciation in the rupee and also push up inflation by 0.1-0.2 per cent.

India’s crude imports averaged 4.5 million barrels per day over the first seven months of this year, of which close to 20 per cent was from Saudi Arabia. While prima facie India may therefore seem vulnerable, the truth is we have enough strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs) and commercial crude stocks as cushion.

Again, India has oil reserves equivalent to at least 75 days of net imports. This will increase further to 87 days once the second phase of Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves (ISPRs), which aims to add 12 days’ of crude storage, is fully operational. This includes the refineries’ inbuilt capacity of 65 days.

Concerns have been voiced about India stopping oil imports from Iran since May 2019. Iran used to meet a tenth of our crude demand, making India the third largest customer for the Persian country. The challenge to find alternate suppliers who will be able to deliver at competitive prices is, however, not a problem in the new oil polity that has taken shape in the past few years.

During the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, India suffered. In the case of the Gulf War, there was added impact of Indian workers returning home, straining India’s balance of payments. However India in 2019, under the powerful leadership of Narendra Modi, commands and negotiates from a position of strength.

For instance, the CAD for the June 2019 quarter contracted on a Y-o-y basis on account of higher invisible receipts at $ 31.9 billion as compared with $ 29.9 billion a year ago.

Net services receipts increased by 7.3 per cent on a Y-o-y basis, mainly on the back of a rise in net earnings from travel, financial services and telecommunications, computer and information services. Private transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, rose to $ 19.9 billion, increasing by 6.2 per cent from their level a year ago in the same quarter.

Lower oil prices in the past few years have significantly improved India’s terms of trade, giving it ample leeway. The cost of the Indian basket of crude, which averaged $47.56 and $56.43 a barrel in 2016-17 and 2017-18, was $59.35 in August 2019, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell.&nbsp;

The average price inched up marginally to $59.35 a barrel on September 13, 2019, &nbsp;and this despite heightened global tensions between US and China, Saudi Arabia and Iran, Yemen and Houthi rebels and of course the standoff between UK and Iran, amidst the festering Brexit crisis. It is worth noting that the Indian basket of crude represents the average of Oman, Dubai and Brent Crude.

Despite Russia, China and Turkey continuing their oil-related engagements with Iran, much to the consternation of the US, India engineered a diplomatic coup of sorts by stopping imports from Iran and earning a strong ally in the Trump administration.

By the end of 2019, the United States will become a net energy exporter, shipping out 1.1 million barrels more than it imports. US had been a net energy importer since 1953. But oil production there will now rise until 2027 when it levels off at around 30 million barrels per day. With the US pumping crude at record levels, any deficit by Iran will be filled in suitably.&nbsp;

The oil industry has changed fundamentally as sell. Global oil demand only increased by 1.6% in 2017 and 1.3% in 2018, according to the International Energy Administration.

Most of the increase came from China, which now consumes 13% of global oil production but that number is slated to fall sharply due to the country’s slowing growth. &nbsp;Again, to the Modi government’s credit, it executed a $75 billion bilateral currency swap agreement with Japan in October 2018, for payments to be settled in Yen and Rupees, eliminating the need to use Dollars as a medium of exchange, with another one executed with UAE, to trade in Rupees and Dirham.&nbsp;

These measures to maintain a comfortable forex kitty hit a high of $434.6 billion in October 2019 and will ensure India is no longer subjected to the whims and fancies of a rapidly changing global dynamic that is no longer greased by the oil wells in Ghawar, but by the bountiful wells in the Gulf of Mexico

(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-mexican-gulf-not-ghawar-wells-2795440">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) &nbsp;

 
&nbsp;

The all-India general Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation was steady at 3.21% in August 2019, compared to 3.15% in July 2019. Core CPI inflation eased to 4.20 per cent in August 2019 compared with 4.

The all-India general Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation was steady at 3.21% in August 2019, compared to 3.15% in July 2019. Core CPI inflation eased to 4.20 per cent in August 2019 compared with 4.25 per cent in July 2019. Advertisement Also, cumulative CPI inflation declined to 3.11 per cent in April-August of 2019-20 compared with 4.44 per cent in April-August 2018-19. The war on inflation has been won decisively by the Narendra Modi led government, thanks to proactive management of the current account balance. The current account deficit (CAD) for 2018-19 stood at 2.1 per cent of GDP, just a tad higher than the 1.8 per cent for 2017-18. India’s trade deficit increased to $180.3 billion in 2018-19 from $160 billion in 2017-18, largely due to higher oil import bill. Needless to add, global crude and local fuel prices will, therefore, be the fulcrum around which both CAD and domestic inflation will revolve. The recent drone attacks on Saudi Arabia for instance, led to a 19.5% spike in global crude prices in barely 24 hours, shaving off 5 per cent from global supplies, showcasing how volatile global oil prices can be. Every dollar increase in the price of oil raises India’s import bill by about Rs. 10,700 crore on an annualised basis. India spent $111.9 billion on oil imports in 2018-19. Also, a 10 per cent spike in crude prices can result in roughly a 0.2-0.40 per cent widening of the CAD, other things remaining constant. This, in turn, can play out into a 2-4 per cent depreciation in the rupee and also push up inflation by 0.1-0.2 per cent. India’s crude imports averaged 4.5 million barrels per day over the first seven months of this year, of which close to 20 per cent was from Saudi Arabia. While prima facie India may therefore seem vulnerable, the truth is we have enough strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs) and commercial crude stocks as cushion. Again, India has oil reserves equivalent to at least 75 days of net imports. This will increase further to 87 days once the second phase of Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves (ISPRs), which aims to add 12 days’ of crude storage, is fully operational. This includes the refineries’ inbuilt capacity of 65 days. Concerns have been voiced about India stopping oil imports from Iran since May 2019. Iran used to meet a tenth of our crude demand, making India the third largest customer for the Persian country. The challenge to find alternate suppliers who will be able to deliver at competitive prices is, however, not a problem in the new oil polity that has taken shape in the past few years. During the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, India suffered. In the case of the Gulf War, there was added impact of Indian workers returning home, straining India’s balance of payments. However India in 2019, under the powerful leadership of Narendra Modi, commands and negotiates from a position of strength. For instance, the CAD for the June 2019 quarter contracted on a Y-o-y basis on account of higher invisible receipts at $ 31.9 billion as compared with $ 29.9 billion a year ago. Net services receipts increased by 7.3 per cent on a Y-o-y basis, mainly on the back of a rise in net earnings from travel, financial services and telecommunications, computer and information services. Private transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, rose to $ 19.9 billion, increasing by 6.2 per cent from their level a year ago in the same quarter. Lower oil prices in the past few years have significantly improved India’s terms of trade, giving it ample leeway. The cost of the Indian basket of crude, which averaged $47.56 and $56.43 a barrel in 2016-17 and 2017-18, was $59.35 in August 2019, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell. The average price inched up marginally to $59.35 a barrel on September 13, 2019, and this despite heightened global tensions between US and China, Saudi Arabia and Iran, Yemen and Houthi rebels and of course the standoff between UK and Iran, amidst the festering Brexit crisis. It is worth noting that the Indian basket of crude represents the average of Oman, Dubai and Brent Crude. Despite Russia, China and Turkey continuing their oil-related engagements with Iran, much to the consternation of the US, India engineered a diplomatic coup of sorts by stopping imports from Iran and earning a strong ally in the Trump administration. By the end of 2019, the United States will become a net energy exporter, shipping out 1.1 million barrels more than it imports. US had been a net energy importer since 1953. But oil production there will now rise until 2027 when it levels off at around 30 million barrels per day. With the US pumping crude at record levels, any deficit by Iran will be filled in suitably. The oil industry has changed fundamentally as sell. Global oil demand only increased by 1.6% in 2017 and 1.3% in 2018, according to the International Energy Administration. Most of the increase came from China, which now consumes 13% of global oil production but that number is slated to fall sharply due to the country’s slowing growth. Again, to the Modi government’s credit, it executed a $75 billion bilateral currency swap agreement with Japan in October 2018, for payments to be settled in Yen and Rupees, eliminating the need to use Dollars as a medium of exchange, with another one executed with UAE, to trade in Rupees and Dirham. These measures to maintain a comfortable forex kitty hit a high of $434.6 billion in October 2019 and will ensure India is no longer subjected to the whims and fancies of a rapidly changing global dynamic that is no longer greased by the oil wells in Ghawar, but by the bountiful wells in the Gulf of Mexico (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Dexterous management of India’s fuel reserves is one of the success stories of government

PM Narendra Modi will formally declare India, with over 5.6 lakh villages, as Open Defecation Free (ODF) on October 2, 2019.

It will take place during a mega convention of more than 20,000 sarpanchs from across the country at the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Interestingly, more than 60 per cent&nbsp;attendees will be women.

That Modi received the annual ‘Global Goalkeeper Award’ on September 24 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for his exemplary leadership in making universal sanitation accessible in a country of over 1.3 billion people is a ringing vindication of the social messaging of the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’, one of the world’s largest cleanliness drives.

With over 3 million government employees and students participating in 4,043 cities, towns and rural areas, this campaign is now a huge, result-oriented, mass movement.

The number of “swachhagrahi” volunteers working across urban local bodies has risen to 20,000 and those working in rural India to more than a lakh. The number of schools with separate toilet facilities for girls is up from 0.4 million (37 per cent) to over one million (over 91 per cent).

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has in its last report stated that at least 1,80,000 diarrhoeal deaths were averted in rural India since the launch of the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’.

So far, over 110 million toilets have been built to eliminate open defecation and currently over 98 per cent&nbsp;of India’s villages have rural sanitation coverage instead of just 38 per cent&nbsp;in 2013.

In previous years, speakers at the Goalkeepers’ event have included former US president Barack Obama, French President Emmanuel Macron, Deputy UN Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad and the likes of Lily Allen and Ed Sheeran.

Hence, apart from the 74th UNGA session where Modi exhorted “sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas”, his address at the Goalkeepers’ event is equally relevant, as over the last four years, it has relentlessly championed the cause of the poor and underprivileged. 
Democracy, demography, demand and a decisive government are the four Ds that have helped India chart a trailblazing path in reducing global inequality, which is the very foundation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the Goalkeeper awards.

Modi’s relentless commitment to global environmental goals was evident both at his UNESCO address in Paris and again at the G7 Summit in the French town of Biarritz in August this year, where he highlighted India’s large scale efforts towards eliminating single-use plastic, conserving water, harnessing solar energy, protecting flora and fauna, enhancing biodiversity and addressing water stress and ocean pollution.

India has already achieved about 50 per cent&nbsp;of its ambitious 175 GW renewable energy (RE) target so far as it moves towards ‘Green Power’. Setting up another 38 GW of solar rooftop, 32 GW of solar utility and 23 GW of wind power capacity in the next two-three years, by having standard power purchase agreements (PPAs) for wind and solar projects amidst strict penalties for defaulting states, is something the government is working on. 
Modi has even reaffirmed that India will achieve some of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) of the United Nations climate change goals set for 2030, in the next 18 months itself.

The 195 nations who participated in COP21 adopted the Paris Agreement, in which India made four commitments, including that of reducing greenhouse gas emission intensity of its GDP by 33-35 per cent&nbsp;below 2005 levels by 2030 under its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).

India also pledged that 40 per cent&nbsp;of its power capacity would be based on non-fossil fuel sources and that the country will create an additional ‘carbon sink’ of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030. 
Also, after joining hands with Macron to form the International Solar Alliance, India ratified the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016, becoming the 62nd nation to join the deal.

Besides preventive healthcare movements like the ‘Fit India Movement’, the ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ and the ‘Ayushman Bharat Yojna’, one of the biggest healthcare programmes in the world, is yet another example of how Prime Minister Modi has been a global goalkeeper in more ways than one.

With annual health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh per family, this scheme that covers 50 crore Indians, has till date issued over 10 crore e-cards with more than 45 lakh people being treated at a cost of roughly Rs 7,500 crore to the public exchequer. And all this, despite the Ayushman scheme being in existence for barely a year! 
Global equality cannot co-exist with cronyism and corruption. A study by The Economist in 2016 found that post Modi at the helm, crony sector wealth accounted for just 3.4 per cent&nbsp;of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as against 18 per cent in 2008 under a rent-seeking Congress-led UPA regime.

In its second term, to further reduce inequality, the Modi government in the monsoon session of Parliament this year, passed the ‘Code on Wages Bill’ that replaces four laws — the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. Earlier labour laws left out 62 per cent&nbsp;of the casual labour and largely covered only those earning less than Rs 24,000 per month, which the new code seeks to reverse.

Again, the title of global goalkeeper is apt for Modi if one goes by the Global Findex Report, 2017, released by the World Bank, which lists how the number of bank account holders in India has risen from 35 per cent&nbsp;in 2011 and 53 per cent&nbsp;in 2014 to over 80 per cent&nbsp;in 2017, driven largely by the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna’ policy. 
Of the 51.4 crore accounts opened globally between 2014-2017, the number of accounts opened in India was about 28.17 crore, constituting almost 55 per cent&nbsp;of the total accounts opened.

If multilateralism, plurality and inclusivity imbued with relentless efforts to mitigate global inequality are the criteria, then Narendra Modi, more than any other world leader, deserves to be the global goalkeeper.

(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-modi-true-global-gatekeeper-2793566">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) &nbsp;

PM Narendra Modi will formally declare India, with over 5.6 lakh villages, as Open Defecation Free (ODF) on October 2, 2019. It will take place during a mega convention of more than 20,000 sarpanchs from across the country at the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

PM Narendra Modi will formally declare India, with over 5.6 lakh villages, as Open Defecation Free (ODF) on October 2, 2019. It will take place during a mega convention of more than 20,000 sarpanchs from across the country at the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Interestingly, more than 60 per cent attendees will be women. That Modi received the annual ‘Global Goalkeeper Award’ on September 24 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for his exemplary leadership in making universal sanitation accessible in a country of over 1.3 billion people is a ringing vindication of the social messaging of the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’, one of the world’s largest cleanliness drives. With over 3 million government employees and students participating in 4,043 cities, towns and rural areas, this campaign is now a huge, result-oriented, mass movement. The number of “swachhagrahi” volunteers working across urban local bodies has risen to 20,000 and those working in rural India to more than a lakh. The number of schools with separate toilet facilities for girls is up from 0.4 million (37 per cent) to over one million (over 91 per cent). The World Health Organisation (WHO) has in its last report stated that at least 1,80,000 diarrhoeal deaths were averted in rural India since the launch of the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’. So far, over 110 million toilets have been built to eliminate open defecation and currently over 98 per cent of India’s villages have rural sanitation coverage instead of just 38 per cent in 2013. In previous years, speakers at the Goalkeepers’ event have included former US president Barack Obama, French President Emmanuel Macron, Deputy UN Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad and the likes of Lily Allen and Ed Sheeran. Hence, apart from the 74th UNGA session where Modi exhorted “sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas”, his address at the Goalkeepers’ event is equally relevant, as over the last four years, it has relentlessly championed the cause of the poor and underprivileged. Democracy, demography, demand and a decisive government are the four Ds that have helped India chart a trailblazing path in reducing global inequality, which is the very foundation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the Goalkeeper awards. Modi’s relentless commitment to global environmental goals was evident both at his UNESCO address in Paris and again at the G7 Summit in the French town of Biarritz in August this year, where he highlighted India’s large scale efforts towards eliminating single-use plastic, conserving water, harnessing solar energy, protecting flora and fauna, enhancing biodiversity and addressing water stress and ocean pollution. India has already achieved about 50 per cent of its ambitious 175 GW renewable energy (RE) target so far as it moves towards ‘Green Power’. Setting up another 38 GW of solar rooftop, 32 GW of solar utility and 23 GW of wind power capacity in the next two-three years, by having standard power purchase agreements (PPAs) for wind and solar projects amidst strict penalties for defaulting states, is something the government is working on. Modi has even reaffirmed that India will achieve some of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) of the United Nations climate change goals set for 2030, in the next 18 months itself. The 195 nations who participated in COP21 adopted the Paris Agreement, in which India made four commitments, including that of reducing greenhouse gas emission intensity of its GDP by 33-35 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 under its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). India also pledged that 40 per cent of its power capacity would be based on non-fossil fuel sources and that the country will create an additional ‘carbon sink’ of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030. Also, after joining hands with Macron to form the International Solar Alliance, India ratified the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016, becoming the 62nd nation to join the deal. Besides preventive healthcare movements like the ‘Fit India Movement’, the ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ and the ‘Ayushman Bharat Yojna’, one of the biggest healthcare programmes in the world, is yet another example of how Prime Minister Modi has been a global goalkeeper in more ways than one. With annual health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh per family, this scheme that covers 50 crore Indians, has till date issued over 10 crore e-cards with more than 45 lakh people being treated at a cost of roughly Rs 7,500 crore to the public exchequer. And all this, despite the Ayushman scheme being in existence for barely a year! Global equality cannot co-exist with cronyism and corruption. A study by The Economist in 2016 found that post Modi at the helm, crony sector wealth accounted for just 3.4 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as against 18 per cent in 2008 under a rent-seeking Congress-led UPA regime. In its second term, to further reduce inequality, the Modi government in the monsoon session of Parliament this year, passed the ‘Code on Wages Bill’ that replaces four laws — the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. Earlier labour laws left out 62 per cent of the casual labour and largely covered only those earning less than Rs 24,000 per month, which the new code seeks to reverse. Again, the title of global goalkeeper is apt for Modi if one goes by the Global Findex Report, 2017, released by the World Bank, which lists how the number of bank account holders in India has risen from 35 per cent in 2011 and 53 per cent in 2014 to over 80 per cent in 2017, driven largely by the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna’ policy. Of the 51.4 crore accounts opened globally between 2014-2017, the number of accounts opened in India was about 28.17 crore, constituting almost 55 per cent of the total accounts opened. If multilateralism, plurality and inclusivity imbued with relentless efforts to mitigate global inequality are the criteria, then Narendra Modi, more than any other world leader, deserves to be the global goalkeeper. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Modi, true global gatekeeper

“Don’t find fault, find a remedy”, said Henry Ford famously. This quote exemplifies the visionary, problem-solving leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who chose to bring in the biggest indirect tax reform in post-independent India by implementing the GST.

The Manmohan Singh government sat lazily on the Kelkar committee recommendations for almost 10 years. The obnoxious attempt by Modi baiters to compare GST execution in India, with say, Singapore, is futile.

Within a year of implementing GST, Singapore witnessed skyrocketing inflation at 8.4 per cent, whereas the average retail inflation in India has consistently been below 4 per cent in the post-GST era.

Post the path-breaking GST, 1,186 goods comprising 97.69 per cent of the 1,214 goods that are widely used and were earlier taxed at almost 28-31 per cent, are now taxed at just 18 per cent or even lower.

In the last 100 days of Modi’s second term, landmark steps were taken that showcased Modinomics at its best. The decision to cut Employees’ State Insurance Act (ESIC) contribution from 6.5 per cent to 4 per cent, which will benefit 3.6 crore employees and 12.85 lakh employers, the step to develop 17 iconic tourist sites as world-famous tourist spots were among them. 
 
Also, the decision to set up 75 new government medical colleges by 2021 to boost medical education, aim to give scholarships in next five years to 5 crore underprivileged students of which 50 per cent are girls, under the “Go Tribal” scheme, removing “angel tax” to boost start-ups, Rs 6,000 per annum income support, which will benefit over 5 crore small and marginal farmers under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana having been the turning points. 
 
Other schemes include a monthly pension of Rs 3,000 to small traders and shopkeepers in the unorganised sector after they attain 60 years of age under the PM Shram Yogi MandhanYojana, reducing corporate tax rate to 25 per cent for MSMEs with a turnover up to Rs 400 crore, bill to repeal 58 archaic laws including outdated labour laws and more importantly, passing the Code on Wages Bill 2019, which will benefit over 500 million workers across the country.&nbsp;

Manmohanomics had abdicated all responsibilities to more than 70 GOMs and EGOMs that ruled by proxy as part of Sonia Gandhi’s kitchen cabinet between 2004-2014, compromising both the legitimacy and the credibility of the Prime Minister’s office.

In sharp contrast, good governance under Narendra Modi has taken a whole new dimension with 30 new bills being cleared in the just-concluded monsoon session of the Parliament.

India moving up by a good 65 places at rank 77 in the World Bank’s global Ease of Doing Business (EODB) rankings in the first four years of Modi’s first term is a case in point.&nbsp;

Apart from this, be it launching Rupay cards in Abu Dhabi and Bhutan or powering the India story at G20, G7, SCO, BRICS or more recently at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Modinomics has mastered the subtle art of marrying international diplomacy, soft power and economic linkages. Besides the world’s biggest healthcare scheme like Ayushman Bharat covering over 17,000 hospitals — which have till date benef Undoubtedly, if there is one scheme that has revolutionalised the lives of millions of women, it is the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) with the number of beneficiaries touching the 8-crore mark recently.&nbsp;

The gas sector is an excellent example of Modi government’s governance motto of “Reform, Perform, Transform”. What a pity that despite ruling India for the better part of the last 70 plus years, neither the Congress, nor its family retainers did anything to strengthen the gas ecosystem or to reduce India’s dependence on traditional fuel sources. Realising the vulnerabilities of India’s fuel economy, the Modi government put in place various initiatives to empower India’s gas based-economy, including plans to set up 5,000 compressed bio-gas plants by 2022-23, to convert agri-waste into bio-CNG.

All these efforts will help fulfil India’s global commitment of reducing emission intensity by 33-35 per cent and producing minimum 40 per cent electricity from non-conventional sources by 2030.

By early 2019, the Modi government had achieved all of these — electrification of over 2.5 crore households under the Saubhagya Yojana; over 1.9 lakh km of roads built under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, vaccination of well over 3.28 crore people under the Indradhanush scheme, building 9.56 crore toilets under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, commissioning of over 33 crore LED bulbs that saved over Rs 17,000 crore; making 5,36,724 villages Open Defecation Free (ODF); distribution of over Rs 5.37 lakh crore via DBT to the rural and urban poor; covering 5,441 schools under Atal Tinkering Labs; due recognition to 14,706 start-ups; 23.66 lakh registered users under the Swayam scheme; benefits to 2.38 crore pensioners under the Jeevan Pramaan scheme and 1.24 crore people under the Atal Pension Yojana; extending paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for pregnant women.&nbsp;

It has also established over 13,000 Kaushal Vikas Kendras; disbursed over Rs 35,000 crore to Indian armed forces and veterans under the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme; extended accident insurance to over 13.98 crore people under Pradhan Mantri Suraksha BimaYojana (PMSBY), life cover to over 5.47 crore Indians under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and insurance to over 14.39 crore farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana ( PMFBY); distributed over 17.17 crore Soil Health Cards (SHCs); distributed over Rs. 1.69 lakh crore as subsidies via Aadhaar; over 1.35 crore farmers covered under e-NAM for better pricing of farm produce, set up of over 3.8 lakh Common Service Centres (CSCs), versus just 84,000 that existed in 2014. The government also opened over 36 crore Jan Dhan accounts, of which more than 50 per cent&nbsp;belong to women, to ensure universal financial inclusion. Modinomics is endearingly Glocal-Global in its approach without losing its local flavour and that is precisely what makes it so relevant in contemporary times.&nbsp;

(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-modinomics-cogently-unplugged-2790290">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

“Don’t find fault, find a remedy”, said Henry Ford famously. This quote exemplifies the visionary, problem-solving leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who chose to bring in the biggest indirect tax reform in post-independent India by implementing the GST.

“Don’t find fault, find a remedy”, said Henry Ford famously. This quote exemplifies the visionary, problem-solving leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who chose to bring in the biggest indirect tax reform in post-independent India by implementing the GST. The Manmohan Singh government sat lazily on the Kelkar committee recommendations for almost 10 years. The obnoxious attempt by Modi baiters to compare GST execution in India, with say, Singapore, is futile. Within a year of implementing GST, Singapore witnessed skyrocketing inflation at 8.4 per cent, whereas the average retail inflation in India has consistently been below 4 per cent in the post-GST era. Post the path-breaking GST, 1,186 goods comprising 97.69 per cent of the 1,214 goods that are widely used and were earlier taxed at almost 28-31 per cent, are now taxed at just 18 per cent or even lower. In the last 100 days of Modi’s second term, landmark steps were taken that showcased Modinomics at its best. The decision to cut Employees’ State Insurance Act (ESIC) contribution from 6.5 per cent to 4 per cent, which will benefit 3.6 crore employees and 12.85 lakh employers, the step to develop 17 iconic tourist sites as world-famous tourist spots were among them. Also, the decision to set up 75 new government medical colleges by 2021 to boost medical education, aim to give scholarships in next five years to 5 crore underprivileged students of which 50 per cent are girls, under the “Go Tribal” scheme, removing “angel tax” to boost start-ups, Rs 6,000 per annum income support, which will benefit over 5 crore small and marginal farmers under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana having been the turning points. Other schemes include a monthly pension of Rs 3,000 to small traders and shopkeepers in the unorganised sector after they attain 60 years of age under the PM Shram Yogi MandhanYojana, reducing corporate tax rate to 25 per cent for MSMEs with a turnover up to Rs 400 crore, bill to repeal 58 archaic laws including outdated labour laws and more importantly, passing the Code on Wages Bill 2019, which will benefit over 500 million workers across the country. Manmohanomics had abdicated all responsibilities to more than 70 GOMs and EGOMs that ruled by proxy as part of Sonia Gandhi’s kitchen cabinet between 2004-2014, compromising both the legitimacy and the credibility of the Prime Minister’s office. In sharp contrast, good governance under Narendra Modi has taken a whole new dimension with 30 new bills being cleared in the just-concluded monsoon session of the Parliament. India moving up by a good 65 places at rank 77 in the World Bank’s global Ease of Doing Business (EODB) rankings in the first four years of Modi’s first term is a case in point. Apart from this, be it launching Rupay cards in Abu Dhabi and Bhutan or powering the India story at G20, G7, SCO, BRICS or more recently at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Modinomics has mastered the subtle art of marrying international diplomacy, soft power and economic linkages. Besides the world’s biggest healthcare scheme like Ayushman Bharat covering over 17,000 hospitals — which have till date benef Undoubtedly, if there is one scheme that has revolutionalised the lives of millions of women, it is the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) with the number of beneficiaries touching the 8-crore mark recently. The gas sector is an excellent example of Modi government’s governance motto of “Reform, Perform, Transform”. What a pity that despite ruling India for the better part of the last 70 plus years, neither the Congress, nor its family retainers did anything to strengthen the gas ecosystem or to reduce India’s dependence on traditional fuel sources. Realising the vulnerabilities of India’s fuel economy, the Modi government put in place various initiatives to empower India’s gas based-economy, including plans to set up 5,000 compressed bio-gas plants by 2022-23, to convert agri-waste into bio-CNG. All these efforts will help fulfil India’s global commitment of reducing emission intensity by 33-35 per cent and producing minimum 40 per cent electricity from non-conventional sources by 2030. By early 2019, the Modi government had achieved all of these — electrification of over 2.5 crore households under the Saubhagya Yojana; over 1.9 lakh km of roads built under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, vaccination of well over 3.28 crore people under the Indradhanush scheme, building 9.56 crore toilets under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, commissioning of over 33 crore LED bulbs that saved over Rs 17,000 crore; making 5,36,724 villages Open Defecation Free (ODF); distribution of over Rs 5.37 lakh crore via DBT to the rural and urban poor; covering 5,441 schools under Atal Tinkering Labs; due recognition to 14,706 start-ups; 23.66 lakh registered users under the Swayam scheme; benefits to 2.38 crore pensioners under the Jeevan Pramaan scheme and 1.24 crore people under the Atal Pension Yojana; extending paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for pregnant women. It has also established over 13,000 Kaushal Vikas Kendras; disbursed over Rs 35,000 crore to Indian armed forces and veterans under the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme; extended accident insurance to over 13.98 crore people under Pradhan Mantri Suraksha BimaYojana (PMSBY), life cover to over 5.47 crore Indians under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and insurance to over 14.39 crore farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana ( PMFBY); distributed over 17.17 crore Soil Health Cards (SHCs); distributed over Rs. 1.69 lakh crore as subsidies via Aadhaar; over 1.35 crore farmers covered under e-NAM for better pricing of farm produce, set up of over 3.8 lakh Common Service Centres (CSCs), versus just 84,000 that existed in 2014. The government also opened over 36 crore Jan Dhan accounts, of which more than 50 per cent belong to women, to ensure universal financial inclusion. Modinomics is endearingly Glocal-Global in its approach without losing its local flavour and that is precisely what makes it so relevant in contemporary times. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

In its second term, government has taken landmark steps that showcased Modinomics at its best

Author

Zee News Rajasthan

Editor

Sanju Verma

Home

Live Tv

Latest

World

India

Business

Entertainment

Sports

Opinions

Videos

Photos

Gravitas

Lifestyle

Science

Tech

Rajasthan News in Hindi: In-depth coverage of Rajasthan Crime, Political News, Education, Rajasthan Weather Update and Latest Rajasthan News on Zee News Rajasthan.