Awakening Bharat Mata | A book that sheds light on the rise of the Right https://www.financialexpress.com/life/lifestyle-awakening-bharat-mata-a-book-that-sheds-light-on-the-rise-of-the-right-1643288/ Rishi Raj July 14, 2019  Post-partition, the Congress remained the only dominant political force and in power for long years, while parties espousing only the Hindu cause were confined to the fringes.
 in the history of the 20th and 21st centuries, The Left can no longer be said to be progressive, considering that it advocates status quo on labour issues and opposes reforms which promise jobs to a larger workforce compared to the entrenched labour unions whose interest Left parties espouse. Similarly, to call the Right as conservatives entrenched in tradition and customs doesn’t quite gel with the history of social reforms in Hindu society brought about by the likes of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar or Swami Vivekanand....

Post-partition, the Congress remained the only dominant political force and in power for long years, while parties espousing only the Hindu cause were confined to the fringes. This was largely due to the presence of Hindu leaders and Hindu thought within the Congress. All this was, however, slowly lost as the Congress increasingly started relying on Muslim, as well as Dalit votes, and abandoned the larger Hindu causes. As it vacated this space, gradually the influence of BJP and RSS grew, and the Shah Bano case and Ram Janmabhoomi issue accelerated it 

since the rise of the Left academia on the campus, under the tutelage of Indira Gandhi,... In the early Seventies, Nurul Hasan concentrated on packing all institutions related to social sciences with people of Leftist hue. While political power changed hands after Indira, no party, not even the BJP under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, tinkered with the status quo on the academic front.   Right wing historians RC Majumdar and Jadunath Sarkar, noted journalist Girilal Jain, Right wing scholar Sita Ram Goel, conservative writer Nirad C Chaudhuri and social and economic activist S Gurumurthi were sidelined..

https://www.moneylife.in/absolute_power/buzz.html   https://youtu.be/V7cAU6wpkdE

Prof Sanjay Bakshi Discusses “Absolute Power”, with Sucheta Dalal & Debashis Basu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3WohtDajfs

2025: The New Normal Returns  2025: The New Normal Returns https://youtu.be/k5Tz7Py5Y5I   https://moneylife.in/article/2025-the-new-normal-returns/75990.html
Moneylife News Bites
Jan 2, 2025 
Is India settling into a 'New Normal' of economic growth? With growth stabilizing at around 5.5% to 6%, the 'new Hindu rate of growth' raises critical questions about the sustainability of economic and market performance. 

 the growth in Central government gross tax revenues has fallen to 10.8% in April-October FY24-25, compared to 18% in FY22-23 and 14% in FY23-24. Similarly, goods and services tax (GST) collections have slowed significantly. After a 26.2% growth in FY22-23, as the economy rebounded from COVID-19, GST collections grew by just 11.9% in FY23-24 and 9.3% in April-November FY24-25. ... In April-November FY24-25, growth in power consumption slowed to 3.9%, down from 9.7% in FY23-24. Cement production increased by only 1.8% during the same period, while fuel consumption grew by just 3.3%.

Narendra Modi’s Populist Facade Is Cracking 

India is now a testing ground for whether demagoguery or deteriorating living conditions exert a greater sway on voters.
By Robert F. Worth

In the Age of Digital Empires, India Must Chase Tech Sovereignty  https://www.outlookbusiness.com/magazine/in-an-age-of-digital-empires-india-must-chase-tech-sovereignty  Deepsekhar Choudhury 1 January 20   

When the Kargil war broke out in 1999, India asked the US for access to the military version of its global positioning system (GPS). The US government, still angry with India for conducting nuclear tests the previous year, refused. The refusal spawned the creation of NavIC—a navigation system created by the Indian Space Research Organisation. “It was a blessing in disguise,” says AK Bhatt, a retired general of the Indian Army and current director general of the Indian Space Association.

The moment of necessity for India to create its own critical technologies has arrived. Wars at present no longer depend only on navigation systems, aircraft and missiles. They have already spilled into telecommunications and will soon spill into automotives, energy and health care. And in the multipolar world order we are fast approaching, every sovereign nation will need its own technology.

The Indian government recognises this. And has thus unleashed a $50bn push to build domestic technological capacities in sectors such as chips, quantum computing, electric vehicles and AI. Tech policymakers are increasingly crafting policies that support the creation of IPs. The government is also planning a $4bn subsidy programme to promote design and electronics component manufacturing in a bid to move up the value chain.

Narendra Modi’s Populist Facade Is Cracking https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/02/modi-nationalism-demagoguery-limitations/681094/ Robert F. Worth India is now a testing ground for whether demagoguery or deteriorating living conditions exert a greater sway on voters.  India’s growth has been heavily weighted toward the wealthy, who have become exponentially richer on Modi’s watch. Those who have benefited most are a small cadre of billionaire friends to whom Modi has granted special access for years. That practice was cast in a new light in November, when American prosecutors indicted the industrialist Gautam Adani—India’s second-richest man and a close Modi ally—for his role in a multibillion-dollar bribery-and-fraud scheme. (His company has denied the charges, calling them baseless.) The accusation revived fears about opacity and cronyism—the specter of “India Inc.”—that Modi had promised to address a decade ago.

At the same time, eight in 10 Indians live in poverty. Extraordinary numbers are out of work; one estimate puts unemployment among those ages 15 to 24 at more than 45 percent (though other estimates run lower). Instead of moving from farms to seek employment in cities, as people in other developing countries have done, many Indians—unable to find factory or service jobs—are making the trek in reverse, even as farm income stagnates and drought turns fields into deserts. .. What, in the long run, exerts greater sway on the electorate—the lure of demagoguery, or the reality of deteriorating living conditions?

  https://www.navjivanindia.com/opinion/ram-puniyanis-article-the-extent-of-hatred-in-the-country-where-did-the-advices-of-top-leaders-go

SC judge: Divisive rhetoric based on religion big challenge for constitutional ideal of fraternity https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/sc-judge-divisive-rhetoric-based-on-religion-big-challenge-for-constitutional-ideal-of-fraternity-9749377/  

Identity politics, while sometimes empowering marginalised groups, can become harmful when it focuses solely on narrow group interests at the expense of common good, often resulting in “exclusion, discrimination, and conflict,” he said.

“Divisive rhetoric creates mistrust among communities, leading to the spread of stereotypes and misunderstandings. These tensions can escalate into social unrest. Moreover, when political leaders use social identities for electoral gains, it deepens these divisions, making it harder to build a collective sense of belonging,” the judge added.

Justice Mishra also called for a “multi-faceted approach” to promote fraternity effectively, involving collaborative efforts of lawmakers, civil society and technology. “Laws should be crafted not just to protect rights but to ensure social cohesion and address systemic inequalities. By prioritising these values, the legal framework of the nation can provide the foundation for a society built on fraternity,” he said.

Cyber Police Question 2 Accused Over Manipulated Video Targeting CM Devendra Fadnavis  https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/mumbai-cyber-police-question-2-accused-over-manipulated-video-targeting-cm-devendra-fadnavis .. Maharashtra Cyber Department is actively working to identify the remaining accused and scrutinise their social media activity. Those found responsible for propagating this misleading and defamatory content will be summoned and held accountable. 

The department reiterates its commitment to uncovering the identities behind these acts and ensuring that justice is served. It also emphasizes the importance of responsible digital behavior, warning against the misuse of social media platforms to spread misinformation or inflammatory content. Further updates will follow as the investigation progresses. an FIR was registered under Sections 353(1)(B), 356(2), 192, 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Section 67 of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000.

Worli man detained for distributing doctored video on CM Jan 1, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/worli-man-detained-for-distributing-doctored-video-on-cm/articleshow/116862084.cms   A cyber police officer said, "Kanki was brought in for questioning concerning his involvement in circulating the objectionable content. His mobile device was seized, and upon examination, it was found to contain the manipulated video that has been widely circulated."