If the scheme is successful, the honours will be showered on Modi, and he will be credited with the vision, writes Manish Kumar PathakThe Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLAD), which was launched in 1993, under which every Member of Parliament was allocated Rs1 crore per annum, was to be used in the development of their particular constituencies. The amount has now been increased to Rs 5 crore per annum. However, this scheme has always been clouded in controversy, with issues of rampant corruption, under-utilisation of funds, and has also created a sense of political clout that is very hard to breach.| Inspite of the issues, and the many studies that have gone into this scheme, it has survived and the amount has only grown. The members, however, are not complaining as according to them this amount allows them to give something worthwhile to their constituencies. One such way to actually use the funds would be through the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2014, in which every Member of Parliament will have to take the responsibility of developing the infrastructure of three villages both physically and institutionally by 2019. Herein lies the opportunity for the members to propagate what they preach, and make use of the funds at their disposal. The tangible changes that they so want to happen in the constituents will transpire if an honest attempt is made to achieve the target by the set deadline. The Rs 5 crore funds under the MPLADs scheme can now be utilised to fill the gap between proposing plans and motivating villagers to be a part of the change. It can also be used to address primary issues at the grassroots like sewage problems, and also erratic water supply. The additional resources that flow in from Corporate Social Responsibility can be combined to change the stagnant growth in villages. There is another way and a rather innovative one where MPLAD can be utilised. The appalling conditions of Railway halts are a sore to the eyes, and here in again the respective members of Parliament can step in. Proper utilisation of funds and an honest desire to promulgate change will certainly transform villages, as has been proved by Sachin Tendulkar, a Rajya Sabha MP, who had adopted Puttamraju Kandriga, a village in Andhra Pradesh, and has reformed it significantly. From concrete roads, to a 24-hour water and power supply, from proper sewage disposal system to an identified playground area, this village is proving to a shining example on how the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana can be viewed as an opportunity to bring about change. This is a win-win situation for the Prime Minister. Naming the scheme after the Parliament is a tactical master-stroke by Narendra Modi. If the ambitious proposal does not yield the required results, the parliamentarians will be held accountable. However, if the scheme is successful, the honours will be showered on Modi, and he will be credited with the vision.
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If the scheme is successful, the honours will be showered on Modi, and he will be credited with the vision, writes Manish Kumar PathakThe Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLAD), which was launched in 1993, under which every Member of Parliament was allocated Rs1 crore per annum, was to be used in the development of their particular constituencies. The amount has now been increased to Rs 5 crore per annum. However, this scheme has always been clouded in controversy, with issues of rampant corruption, under-utilisation of funds, and has also created a sense of political clout that is very hard to breach.| Inspite of the issues, and the many studies that have gone into this scheme, it has survived and the amount has only grown. The members, however, are not complaining as according to them this amount allows them to give something worthwhile to their constituencies. One such way to actually use the funds would be through the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2014, in which every Member of Parliament will have to take the responsibility of developing the infrastructure of three villages both physically and institutionally by 2019. Herein lies the opportunity for the members to propagate what they preach, and make use of the funds at their disposal. The tangible changes that they so want to happen in the constituents will transpire if an honest attempt is made to achieve the target by the set deadline. The Rs 5 crore funds under the MPLADs scheme can now be utilised to fill the gap between proposing plans and motivating villagers to be a part of the change. It can also be used to address primary issues at the grassroots like sewage problems, and also erratic water supply. The additional resources that flow in from Corporate Social Responsibility can be combined to change the stagnant growth in villages. There is another way and a rather innovative one where MPLAD can be utilised. The appalling conditions of Railway halts are a sore to the eyes, and here in again the respective members of Parliament can step in. Proper utilisation of funds and an honest desire to promulgate change will certainly transform villages, as has been proved by Sachin Tendulkar, a Rajya Sabha MP, who had adopted Puttamraju Kandriga, a village in Andhra Pradesh, and has reformed it significantly. From concrete roads, to a 24-hour water and power supply, from proper sewage disposal system to an identified playground area, this village is proving to a shining example on how the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana can be viewed as an opportunity to bring about change. This is a win-win situation for the Prime Minister. Naming the scheme after the Parliament is a tactical master-stroke by Narendra Modi. If the ambitious proposal does not yield the required results, the parliamentarians will be held accountable. However, if the scheme is successful, the honours will be showered on Modi, and he will be credited with the vision.
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Despite ambitious plans, India cannot seem to catch up with China in building infrastructure and militarising the 3,488 km border between the two countriesEven before Modi went to China in May 2015, one of the most important issues consistently discussed was what steps were Xi and Modi going to take to settle the decades-old row over border demarcation? The genesis of the India-China border dispute lies in the Simla Accord of 1914 between the plenipotentiaries of British India and Tibet. China recently inaugurated a new land border crossing from India into Tibet to enable pilgrimages to Mount Kailash, a holy site in both Hindu and Buddhist belief. The opening of the route was agreed to during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India. In 2006-07, India approved the construction of 73 strategic Sino-Indian border roads, but 82 per cent of these–scheduled to be ready by 2012–are unfinished. The new deadline: 2018. Despite ambitious plans, India cannot seem to catch up with China in building infrastructure and militarising the 3,488 km border between the two countries. The roads are part of a quiet but extensive Indian border-strengthening plan, which includes a new army corps of 35,000 (down from 90,000) soldiers, specifically to counter China’s burgeoning conventional forces across the Himalayas, and 14 strategic rail links to deploy troops and supplies. There is little doubt that India is wary of Chinese abilities and intentions, despite recent declarations of peace. “It is not a volatile border. Not a single bullet has been fired for over a quarter of a century now,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in an interview with the magazine TIME, ahead of a visit to China. Modi and Chinese premier Li Keqiang also agreed to “resolve outstanding differences” and maintain “peace and tranquillity” but on the border, “transgressions” –as Chinese posturing and troop forays along the unmarked Line of Actual Control (LAC) is called–are common. As many as 1,612 transgressions by Chinese troops inside Indian territory took place between 2010 and August 2014 (see IndiaSpend report), according to data released by the Ministry of Home Affairs. New Roads Are Being Built, But Progress Is Slow“While our neighbouring countries can reach the borders within two or three hours, our army takes more than a day to reach there. This is a matter of great concern with regard to our defence preparedness. ” These are the observations of a parliamentary committee of defence report, alluding to the situation in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh. No more than 19 of 73 approved roads have been built, according to the report. Delays on 40 roads have pushed deadlines by as far as six years, while construction of two roads has not started. In Assam, India’s longest bridge, 9.15-km long, will be thrown open later this year. It costs Rs 876 crore and is built to bear 41.5 tonne T-72 tanks and cut travel time to the Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh, which lies along the LAC. Rail plans still only plans, while China nears the border India envisages urgently building four rail lines in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir, stretching 1,352 km, to be built collectively by the ministries of railways and defence. While final surveys continue, China is already extending existing rail lines to the border: To Yatung, a trade centre close to Sikkim, and Nyingchi, a small town bordering Arunachal Pradesh. Both projects are expected to be completed by 2020. China recently completed a railway line connecting the Tibetan capital of Lhasa to Shigatze, a town close to the Nathu La pass, a strategic border post connecting Sikkim with the Tibetan Autonomous region. Below are India’s railway plans: Besides the contentious border, the Sino-Indian border dispute is also fuelled by the Chinese claim to nearly 90,000 sq. km of Arunachal Pradesh, which it refers to as South Tibet, and the Indian claim that China illegally occupied nearly 30,000 sq km of the deserted Aksai Chin region of northern Jammu and Kashmir after the 1962 war. Chinese Airfields Grow StrongerSix key civilian Chinese airfields in Tibet are being expanded to handle military operations, according to Air Marshal (retd) M Matheswaran, former Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff for Policy, Plans and Force Development. Alongside, he said, China is deploying advanced military aircraft and support systems, such as air-to-air refuelling capabilities, airborne advance warning systems, sensors, air-defence systems and missile stock. By contrast, India recently opened three advanced landing grounds (ALG) in J&K’s Ladakh region at Daulat Beg Oldi, Fuk Che and Nyoma, all close to the LAC. Daulat Beg Oldi is the world’s highest airfield at an altitude of 16,614 feet. It is about 10 km from the Sino-Indian border and has seen regular landings of heavy transport aircraft. But such landing grounds are not full-fledged air bases. They are landing strips that can be used to drop off troops and supplies. This is why the Indian Air Force wants to upgrade the Nyoma landing ground by 2016-17 to station fighter jets and provide logistical support to the paramilitary Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Ladakh Scouts, an Indian army unit. In Arunachal Pradesh, advanced landing grounds are being developed at Tawang, Mechuka, Vijaynagar, Tuting, Passighat, Walong, Ziro and Along, at a cost of Rs 720 crore. Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force has to deploy its frontline Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft at Chabua and Tezpur air bases in Assam, up to 405 km from the border. The Sukhoi 30 MKI can cover this distance in less than 15 minutes. ■ (Abheet Singh Sethi/IndiaSpend)
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Modi's emphasis on skill development and perhaps the success of skill development will dictate the success of every other programme, writes Manish Kumar PathakWhen Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of the country, there was this general perception that things will change, and transform for the better. There have been different flagship initiatives aimed at churning out changes, which include the Jan Dhan Yojana, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, the Digital India campaign among others. However, the special importance has been given to skill development and perhaps the success of skill development will dictate the success of every other programme. We are a young country, seeking employment opportunities and employability of this young demography forms a vital cog in the development of the country both economically and socially. Here in again skill development assumes paramount importance. The relation between skills and jobs is quite easy to figure out. Hence this new programme ‘Skill India’, which will be a multi-skill programme, is one the dream projects of the Prime Minister and will be launched in March 2015. This is a very promising step. The primary objective will be to create opportunities, to carve out space and identify the numerous scopes for development. Presently there are sectors which have employed youth, and the aim will be to monitor these sectors, and recognize their importance, and also extend the domain to other sectors. This ambitious plan aspires at providing training and skill development to 500 million youth by 2020, and covering each and every village. This particular aspect is very important considering that globalisation has lead to increasing international standardization of educational challenges and systems, and now increasing emphasis is being given to proficiency development. In all probability skill development will be the catalyst for the growth of India. For the programme to achieve any significant progress, the education and employment will have to be closely linked with skill development. For this there will have to a concerted and cohesive involvement of different private players, the NGOs active in this sector, and the grassroots workers who have the first hand knowledge of the system. There is only so much a Government can do. This year’s Union Budget presented a road map for initiation of the National Skills Mission, which is an extension to the ‘Skill India’ and ‘Make in India’ programmes. However, there will have to be proper executions if these proposals are to achieve the stipulated target, and the problems that surround are quite complicated. A vast number of workforce in the country is untrained, and the training that is available has become archaic and is nowhere close to the industry requirements. This major hurdle has little to do with policies, and more to do with execution, and lack of co-ordination between departments and ministries. This initiative is nothing new, and there have been similar schemes earlier. However, what separates the earlier one with this current programme is that all kinds of jobs will be given equal emphasis, unlike previously where only traditional jobs was under the umbrella. In order to have better accountability and proper synchronisation, the different ministries will be clubbed together, with the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship being the principal ministry and will in turn coordinate with other ministries and organisations. There is little doubt that the domestic skill development policy in the country needs to be urgently overhauled, and the institutional structure needs simplification. Also the infrastructure in place for training should be made open for private sector participation. The Indian youth have the right to compete globally, and there should be a mechanism in place where confidence is improved, productivity increases and accountability is augmented. All this is possible if development of skills is given proper direction right form childhood. Also, every aspirant for any job should be particularly trained for it. Amidst all these, the rural areas should not be neglected, and this is where the role of NGOs, activists and other players become important.| Going by the prediction made by the World Bank, the working population of India will grow exponentially in the coming years, and the massive role skill development will play can only be imagined. The proposals are ready, the plan is ripe, and if there is the zeal to go that extra mile in actually implementing the idea, we will be a force to reckon with. Perhaps, the success of ‘Skill India’ will determine the success of Brand Modi.
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Cleaning up Ganga has been a key election manifesto promise made in 2014 by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Though the Narendra Modi-led government completed more than an year in office, it is still struggling to come up with a concrete plan to clean up the river that swallows millions of tons of industrial waste every day. According to Economic Times, the government is working on a voluntary self rating scheme for the industry, gram panchayats and ashramas discharging wastes in the river. According to the report, the scheme will link the release of funds from municipality on the basis of the ratings that different bodies have. The blue print of the scheme has excited the waste management companies. However, experts remain indifferent to the government’s efforts due to the voluntary nature of the proposed scheme, which according to the newspaper, is in the making, under the title Nirmal Ganga ratings. Priyavrat Bhati, head of Centre for Science and Environment’s Industry Programme says,”Only those who are not polluting would go for a voluntary pollution rating. Unless and until you impose a low on everyone, why would someone abide by it?” According to a 2012 Central Pollution Control Board report, successive governments have spent over Rs 20,000 crore on various clean-up projects. The first Ganga clean-up project was announced in 1986 by with an expenditure of over Rs 800 crore in the first phase. The second phase of the project cost the government around Rs 500 crore. However, after three decades since the first Ganga clean- up plan the river is more polluted than ever before. The NDA government in its first budget had allocated a little over Rs 2,000 crore to the Ganga cleanup plan under the title Manama Ganged. Apart from this, the government plans to spend Rs 20,000 crore over the next five years. Sameer Rege, CEO of Mailhem Ikos Environment Pvt. Ltd, a waste management company, is excited about the opportunities the proposed voluntary scheme will throw for his company. “Companies that are serious about having ratings will go for waste management. So far most of the waste management projects came through the municipalities. However, now even the private sector companies would be interested in starting their own projects” Ganga has largest river basin in India in terms of catchment area, which constitutes 26 per cent of the country’s land mass and supports about 43 per cent of its population.
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Today there are two camps, one that will never believe and acknowledge that Narendra Modi can make mistakes and the other that will ridicule his every move, muses Manish Kumar PathakThe Delhi heat can be quite sapping, and after another ‘normal’ day, when the sun absolutely hammered down, the evening came as a respite. Cool breeze, and a considerable cloud cover eased the temperature, and I strolled towards the park. Trudging along, I saw a man, aged around 40 gulping down a bottle of water, and then almost as a reflex action fling the empty plastic bottle down on the pavement. I went to him, patted his back, and asked him rather meekly if he was even aware that in this ‘small’ way he was littering his own surroundings. What followed certainly gave me a shock. He snapped back, swore few words, and mentioned that the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan’, ( a thought that did not even cross me) will never be successful in India, as long as the Modi Government does not shed its communal tag, and then without bothering to bend down he sauntered away. I then realised, that this raging debate of secularism and communalism has penetrated so deep into the mentality of the common people that it has almost become unbearable to hear the rants that are dished out. Every other policy, every second issue, and almost everything is inadvertently related to religion, and then the concerned parties take sides, decide who is communal, who is secular, and start hurling accusations at each other. Even if somehow the religion aspect takes a backseat, instead of the pros and cons, the mentality of the policy makers are discussed. Be it the recently concluded Yoga Day, or be it any trivial celebration of anything anywhere, everything has a religious connotation attached to it. The mindset has seeped deep into the psyche of mainstream media, and it seems as if the day is incomplete without raising issues of religion. It has become very difficult to understand that why we cannot differentiate between being a devout follower of a religion and being communal? Religion is an intensely private affair, and it should remain so. On one hand when the world was receptive towards the benefits of Yoga, Indians found a way to somehow extract controversy. The tweets that were flying in from all sides, made it absolutely sure, that even this landmark day would not pass without any hullabaloo. The politicians and the media were all out pushing through their own propaganda. Infact, Sitaram Yechury even claimed that this mass mobilisation to celebrate International Yoga Day by the BJP-led NDA government is an attempt to promote Hindutva agenda at the cost of India's secular democratic fabric. Kiran Bedi, went the other extreme by tweeting a selfie from the venue itself. Then there was the controversial tweet from Ram Madhav questioning the absence of Vice-President Hamid Ansari from the event, without being aware of the protocol. Although, he apologised later, this statement clearly shows, that politicians without any clue of the laws, love to dish out their own theories. Yoga Day was a great chance to showcase the soft power of India, and unfortunately the sheen of the event was eroded because of these continuous jibes taken by the pro-Modi and anti-Modi camps. The Lok Sabha elections 2014, was dubbed as an election where the media was divided into two segments. One that was pro-Modi and the other anti-Modi, and quite easily secular and communal issues flared up. There is this segment of main stream media, which is hell-bent in painting everything with the colour of religion. The situation has aggravated even after almost one and a half years. As a result many alternative media platforms have emerged, which offer radical theories on either side. Are we hurtling towards a scenario, where any step we take will be judged through the prism of religion, and where every movement will always ignite furious debates? This is the tweet that invited a lot of criticism during the Prime Minister’s visit to France. The concerned journalists clearly are no fan of Modi, but journalism should be more objective. When two senior journalists, just want to push forwards their own agenda, the actual picture becomes rather hazy.And it concluded like this: One can only draw the conclusion about the inclinations of the concerned individuals. Having an inclination is no harm, but in the veil of a certain tilt promoting their theories as the truth is dangerous. When the results for the Lok Sabha elections were announced, there was this feeling that just because a right-wing government is assuming power, every minority segment will be muted, and unfortunately till today this sentiment has continued. Probably, the government should also be held responsible, because it has not been able to win the support of the minority. At the same time, the media should be held accountable for screaming, whining and lamenting over everything with just one yardstick: religion. Clearly, today there are two camps, one that will never believe and acknowledge that Narendra Modi can make mistakes and the other that will only have one agenda, which will be ridicule his every move. There is only black and white, the truth unfortunately lies somewhere in the middle, it is that grey shade. The rift is more evident on the social media, where almost every policy is scrutinised and criticised, and almost ridiculed. Be it the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, where it is often alleged that it is nothing more than a photo-op. While the so-called Modi-Bhakts jump in the defence, the anti-Modi camp launches an all out attack. Whatever then happened to cleanliness is next to godliness. The recent issue of the Rs 10-lakh suit was similarly blown way out of proportion, and the Prime Minister had to bear the wrath. The foreign visits made by Modi similarly had been highlighted very often, and there was this joke doing the rounds, that the Prime Minister seldom stays in the country to have an idea about the problems faced here. However, according to the information that was made available by an RTI, revealed that the number of foreign trips undertaken by Modi is equal to the trips made by Manmohan Singh. This is the grey shade that must be portrayed more often. This does not mean, there have been no mistakes committed by the government. The motor mouths in the government seem to be on a rampage, and they do not think twice before making inflammatory comments, that only creates a dent on the image of the government. The fanatical right wing parties have started spewing venom, which will only eat into the fabric of the nation. The Prime Minister has failed to curb such commentary, and this has to be addressed with sensitivity. Times have changed, but has India changed, or is it willing to change? The answer is a resounding yes, but for that we will have to strive harder to rise above the propaganda, and be the gatekeepers ourselves. We are living in an environment, where the Hindus will always have to prove they are secular, and the minorities will always have to prove they belong to the nation, and are equally patriotic. Perhaps India will be more Incredible, when this yawning gap is reduced.
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The horrific death of 102 persons in Mumbai after drinking contaminated liquor comes as a reminder of the enormity of the problem – the widespread drinking habit among people looking for a cheap kick; and the failure and connivance of the monitoring authorities to stop the illegal brewing and distribution of hooch. It was tragic-comedy indeed with Mumbai treated to a circus of ministers from the same party using the issue to score brownie points and to point fingers at each other. When the matter was raised in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly recently, Eknath Khadse, the state Excise Minister, faced a volley of attack from the Congress leader Balasaheb Vikhe Patil, who demanded a ban on sale of liquor to end the problem of hooch deaths. Eknath Khadse, instead of admitting the lapses of his department, pointed to the home ministry blaming the failure of the police for the liquor deaths. Now, everyone knows BJP’s Khadse was a chief minister hopeful, and there is no love lost between him and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who heads the home department. Beyond ministers sniping at each other, a cynical liquor policy is in motion. Despite the failure of Prohibition in the country and in Gujarat, somehow the political class thinks it can stop liquor addiction by banning the brew. Following problems of liquor addiction in the tribal belt, Maharashtra has recently banned liquor sale in the tribal districts of Gadchiroli, Chandrapur and Wardha. Excise minister Khadse’s next target, he announced in the assembly, is Yavatmal and Nagpur districts. Both districts are notorious for farmers’ suicides, and Khadse said a ban would help stem the tide! Gurbir SinghCuriously, the BJP-Shiv Sena policy on liquor is a continuation of the previous Congress-NCP legacy, which made Maharashtra the most ‘excised’ and expensive where booze was concerned. Ajit Pawar, the NCP deputy Chief Minister and then excise minister, spelled out a policy of stepping up excise duty rates as a tool to reduce drinking. In FY2014, he raised excise duty on country liquor by nearly 20 percent and on Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) by 25 percent. This hardly brought any changes in drinking habits. In that financial year, IMFL sales went up 8 percen t to 1,615 lakh BL, while country liquor fell marginally by 5 percent to 3,211 lakh BL. What the data does not reveal is that a substantial part of the country liquor sales shifted to hooch and with that came all the problems of contamination and death. This year the BJP continued Ajit Pawar’s policy of hiking excise rates on country liquor pushing up the retail price of a 180 ml bottle of from Rs 33 to Rs 45. Strangely, IMFL or the high priced brands were left untouched. While the BJP sarkar will quietly collect another Rs 1,000 crore on country liquor tax, the public justification is that higher prices will bring down drinking. Facts have shown otherwise. The hooch tragedy has once again proved that people just shift to cheaper, more dangerous options. The woods of the Borivali National Park, on the borders of Mumbai are openly festering with hooch-bhattis, and the haftas are routinely paid to the policemen and politicians to protect them. Expectedly, there have been a few raids, and after the brouhaha is over, it will be business as usual. What has to be questioned in the long term is the motive behind the policy to ban sales and hike excise on liquor as a measure to beat the bottle. Either the politicians are plain stupid to think that cultural habits can be controlled with these mechanism. Or, it is a more subtle game is to push brewing underground, which is more lucrative to all concerned.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Thursday (25 June) launch three ambitious schemes aimed at developing cities and towns as "new engines for growth", projects which will entail an investment of over Rs 3 lakh crore in the next five years. Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said the launch of three projects — 100 smart cities, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and housing for all — will herald a new urban era. "The journey for team India begins tomorrow," he said, noting that states and local bodies will play a key role in the execution of these schemes which will also see a lot of private participation. "Effective management of growing urbanisation is a major challenge in making of resurgent India. Resource management is a major challenge and our government sees an opportunity in this," he told reporters. 500 cities having 1 lakh and more population will be chosen for AMRUT project, he said, adding that neither the Centre not states will have any discretion in choosing 100 cities through a competition for smart cities scheme. Modi will unveil the criteria and guidelines for the smart cities and other schemes and it will be followed by a two-day workshop in which over 1000 mayors, municipal heads, ministers concerned from states and their chief secretaries will take part. Representatives of embassies, which have shown interest for their countries' participation in these projects, will also take part in the workshop, he said. "These 500 cities will become engines of growth and they in turn should develop into smart cities," Naidu said. Guidelines to be shared tomorrow have been framed on the basis of consultation the Centre had in the last one year with states, urban local bodies and private stakeholders. Smart cities project will be based on PPP model, he said.(PTI)
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Prime Minister Modi is strategically using pragmatism as a foreign policy tool with China, says Sutanu GuruWhen Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister, this author had interacted with well known American academic, management consultant and conservative strategist Richard D’ Aveni during his visit to India. Richard had an interesting way of outlining India’s future. According to him, America has two neighbors, Canada and Mexico. He said the choices by Indian leaders would decide if the country would be a Canada like neighbour of China or one like Mexico. Going by what Prime Minister Modi has been doing in terms of foreign policy since he took over, Mexico is definitely not an option. When it comes to China, Modi has clearly decided to be neither jingoistic, nor squeamish. A pragmatic pursuit of national interest and plain speak seem to be the strategy. This becomes evident if you look at how India dealt with China over the issue of Pakistan not doing enough to punish Zakir-ur Rahman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai. Some time back, India had pushed for a censure of Pakistan in the United Nations over the issue. But China blocked the resolution claiming India has provided “insufficient information” on the issue. In less than 24 hours, there was a strong, though measured response from India with a clear hint that Prime Minister Modi had raised the issue personally with the top leadership of China. Read between the lines of the statement issued by spokesperson Vikas Swarup, and it becomes clear: “Government had taken up the issue of violation of the 1267 sanctions regime in respect of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. Our concerns in this matter were conveyed to the Chair of the 1267 Committee. We also raised this bilaterally with the other members of the Committee. In the case of China, this matter has been taken up at the highest level,” Under Modi, India will not weep over the close strategic relationship between China and Pakistan, but address it as effectively as possible. Some Modi Bhakts who revel in jingoism would be disappointed with the seemingly tepid response. But is it tepid? Examine all the steps taken by Modi since May, 2014 and this decision is consistent with his strategy of pragmatic plain speak. Modi is using a two pronged strategy to deal with China. One aspect is that of a rival, if not an adversary. And the other is that of a partner. Over the last decade or so, strategists in India have been worried about how China is literally encircling India. During the UPA regime, India’s relations with neighbors were not as healthy as they could be. China took advantage of this and forged close strategic ties with countries like Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Pakistan, of course, has been an all weather friend. From the day he took over, Modi has made it crystal clear that a dramatic improvement in relations with neighbors is his first priority. And his government has walked the talk on this. Beyond South Asia, Modi has launched a vigorous Look East policy that is closely engaging the ASEAN nations and Japan. The message to China is quite clear: India will not mind you as a dominant power, but will not allow you the monopoly of unfettered power. Strategists in China seem to be realizing that this is a different India it is dealing with. Even while trying to forge an Asian Partnership to counter Chinese expansionism, India has taken concrete steps to forge closer economic, financial and trade ties. Modi has promised a red carpet treatment to investors from China who want to set up manufacturing facilities in the country. Foxconn, the manufacturing giant famous for making Apple products, has already announced concrete investment plans. So have many other companies. This Make in India push will also help India reduce its yawning and growing trade deficit with China in the long run. There is still a long way to go. And it would be unwise to draw quick conclusions. But without a shadow of doubt, Modi deserves a thumbs up for handling China well.
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The government will "play by the rule book" and make sure that absolute standards of probity are maintained, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said as the Opposition continued its attack over the Lalit Modi controversy. Jaitley also said there is "no question at all" about the government going on the back foot on this issue, as it has done "nothing wrong". "The government will play by the rule book and we will make sure that the absolute standards of probity are maintained," Jaitley said in San Francisco. Asked whether the controversy was creating an impression that some leaders of the ruling party and the government were siding with corrupt people, Jaitley said, "There is no question at all." To a question on the Opposition planning to disrupt the Monsoon Session of Parliament on the Lalit Modi issue, Jaitley said Parliament is meant to discuss and not to disrupt business. "We are willing to have a discussion on any subject that the Opposition wants," he said. The Finance Minister also said that the reforms can even take place outside Parliament, but its smooth functioning was important for many other reasons. "There are also some legislative reforms for which Parliament must function," he said. Under attack from the opposition, Jaitley had yesterday said the authorities would continue to do their job in probing the matter. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj have been facing flak for allegedly helping former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi in procuring travel documents in the UK, a country which he has made his home to avoid legal processes in India. Modi, 49, travelled to London in 2010 after the Indian Premier League (IPL) got embroiled in allegations of match-fixing and illegal betting. Dushyant Singh, Raje's son, has also been under attack over reports that his company received Rs 11.63 crore in investments from Modi in 2008. Congress has accused Jaitley of doing a "clear-cut cover-up" on the entire issue and of influencing the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe in Dushyant Singh and Modi's case. (PTI)
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