BRICS Summit

With the reference to BRICS Summit, I want to say that, no doubt that the selection of Shanghai as the headquarters for the BRICS Development Bank has hurt Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s domestic ratings but I must say not all is lost. I agree that BRICS summit was an ideal platform for Modi to boost his country's profile but then it is ok as India has been granted presidency of the bank for the first five years, which will to some extent make up for Modi’s defeat in getting headquarters in India.    

Mission BRICS..!!

Apropos ‘Building BRICS by BRICS’ (14^th July), with Modi’s Brazil visit for BRICS meet, people have a lot of expectations from him. After his commendable move to invite the SAARC leaders for his swearing-in-ceremony, this mission BRICS if smoothly gets done will put another feather in Modi’s foreign policy cap. Modi is trying to get an Indian head for BRICS bank and its headquarters in Delhi, if he succeeds then the country will get a noticeable say in the international growth, peace and prosperity matters. Fingers crossed. 

Think before you speak..!!

With the reference to the article ‘Weigh words in the balance’, (14^th July) I want to say that being a lawyer a person should be careful while giving statements in public as they must realize that their views shape opinions and influence citizens.  Their unconsciousness can bring a bad name to the whole judiciary. Lawyers should learn how not to react in public by their fellow Justice S Vaidyanathan of the Madras High Court who recently gave a questionable comment in public.

Challenge for Modi

Apropos the news item relating to the budget session, I want to say that in Rajya Sabha it is not going to be a cake walk for Modi. Opposition is eagerly waiting for the opening of the budget session. Modi government will be welcomed on a heated note, since the opposition government has a number of issues to target the government with. The issue of price rise in the wake of increase in rail fare and fuel rates will dominate the initial days and will itself put a big question mark on the true meaning of Modi’s ‘achhe din’.  Is the present scenario with inflation in every other thing is the big picture of ‘achhe din’ on the canvas of India by Modi?

Battling Inflation’

Apropos the editorial,’ Battling Inflation’, (7^th July), the need of the hour and the government is to curb

the rising prices of food items. A price stabilization fund for the states to manage the high inflation is a

good move by the centre, if it successfully gets implemented. Such a step will definitely lead to positive

results if states cooperate. Not only this, but the government also need to focus on the unscientific

storage which leads to a lot of wastage. Our country needs to invest more not only to raise farm

production, productivity but also for the proper infrastructure which will lead to the better post-harvest management. This will cut short the wastage. 

Is it a feather in Modi’s cap?

Recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 240-MW Uri-II hydro electric project in Barmulla, 18 km from the Line of Control (LOC). But, the question that is raised after Modi’s visit is about PM’s no mention of the main issues in his 15 minutes addressing. He deliberately skirted the key issues like Article 370 and Union Territory status to Ladakh, etc. that are faced by the state. If not Modi, then who will discuss and solve these issues? More over the rail project the main reason behind Modi’s visit to Katra was conceptualized and executed during Cong Regime and Modi just flagged off the rail. So, is it really a feather in Modi’s cap?

You are welcome English !!

Apropos ‘English is Indian: Kindly adjust’ (5th July 2014, HT) by Namita Bhandare, I want to say that it is not only me, but all the Indians who proudly declare it loud that India is a country with diverse languages and rich heritage. When Hindi, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Haryanvi etc. can be included in Indian languages then why not English?

Moreover if people counter that English as a language, in India is the result of our colonial rule then let me remind you about the railways, our education system, many of our laws and the very concept of democracy, which somewhere share the same origin. So, instead of raising any hitch in accepting English as our language, we should look at the brighter side of it. The addition of English language will just add to a richer profusion of the languages we already own.