We Also Make Policy: An Insider's Account of How the Finance Ministry Functions Hardcover – 1 October 2023
by Subhash Chandra Garg
The book talks candidly about controversial decisions from the first tenure of the NDA government, such as the politics of 'minimum support price' to farmers, electoral bonds, recapitalizing of banks, monetizing national assets and the controversial resignation of RBI Governor Urjit Patel, among others. As the author of three Union Budgets, Garg also talks about what it takes to put the Budget together: the pressures, the processes, the calculations and, above all, the politics.
account of how Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took an intense dislike to her senior-most bureaucrat in North Block, which eventually led to his early retirement from the civil service; how former Home Secretary R.K. Singh, who later became Union Power Minister, was a socialist of sorts because of his support for public sector corporations in his ministry, or so Garg would have us believe; and, most sensationally, how Prime Minister Narendra Modi compared the then RBI Governor, Urjit Patel—who was unwilling to part with the Central bank’s reserves for use by the allegedly profligate Indian government—to a snake zealously guarding its stash of gold.
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/reviews/story/former-finance-secretary-subhash-chandra-gargs-we-also-make-policy-gives-a-peek-into-modi-raj-557420 With this book, Garg’s circle of friends in the bureaucracy is certain to shrink; beginning with senior Punjab IAS officer Anurag Agarwal and including then Principal Secretary to the PM Nripendra Mishra, who he burdens with the responsibility of pushing through the PM Kisan scheme in an interim budget, a morally dubious move, and without firm numbers of farmers in the country because general elections were round the corner. Garg also mentions several who in his view deserved credit and none more than Arun Jaitley.
Garg also punctures the Central government’s myth that it increased the MSP by 150 per cent for all crops. Or that foreign direct investment and e-commerce have been runaway successes. What if the policies, at least the economic ones highlighted by Garg, were not sudden directives from the top and an attempt to fit round pegs in square holes?
The Bill to regulate cryptocurrencies, privatisation, the IL&FS resolution or the much talked about confrontational years with the RBI — much of it is in the public domain. What spices up the incidents this time is that Garg takes the reader into the hallowed rooms on Raisina Hill with a meeting-by-meeting and a note-by-counter-note account of each of the policies framed in his tenure. If sometimes the build-up, as in the chapter on SEBI or monetisation, appears technical and tedious, perseverance opens a delightful window into the years of the Modi government straddling the 2019 general elections for the reader as well as for RTI enthusiasts.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/pm-modi-compared-ex-rbi-governor-urjit-patel-to-a-snake-claims-ex-finance-secretary-in-his-book-101695542331881.html Prime Minister Narendra Modi compared the then Reserve Bank of India governor Urjit Patel as a ‘snake who sits over a hoard of money’... the Narendra Modi government's ‘frustration’ with the then central bank chief had grown as early as February 2018 and escalated a month later when he accused the government of its inability to shed regulatory authority over nationalised banks, which according to him left the RBI with inadequate regulatory authority over the public sector banks compared to private-sector banks.
Ladakh starts 21 Days climate fast to save the Himalayas | Sonam Wangchuk
Sonam Wangchuk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euAQOFNmX8I
comment u WA OPS..and yet he refuses to call out the PM and HM for their actions..
चुनावी बॉन्ड और आर्थिक पारदर्शिता | हमारा पैसा हमारा हिसाब
क्या देश के सबसे बड़े बैंक को आर्थिक पारदर्शिता से नहीं पेश आना चाहिए? स्टेट बैंक जैसे विश्वसनीय बैंक का ये कहना की वो चुनावी बॉन्ड का डाटा नहीं दे सकता मात्र चौकाने वाली बात नहीं है, ये संकेत हैं हमारे लोकतंत्र के स्तम्भ हिल रहे हैं। हमारे संविधान के मूल्यों के साथ खिलवाड़ किया जा रहा है।
#HumaraPaisaHumaraHisab
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AddsdSDXmO8
https://www.youtube.com/live/W9aaiRAJXZU
◆ प्रो राम पुनियानी, सुप्रसिद्ध लेखक
◆ आई डी खजुरिया, अंतरराष्ट्रीय लोकतांत्रिक मंच
◆ एड अरविन्द श्रीवास्तव, वरिष्ठ अधिवक्ता -हाईकोर्ट, जबलपुर
◆ बसीर आरिफ़, वरिष्ठ पत्रकार, जम्मू-कश्मीर
◆ डॉ. लेनिन रघुवंशी, दलित मानवाधिकार कार्यकर्ता
🎤 संचालन - डॉ सुनीलम एवं डॉ आनन्द प्रकाश तिवारी
EAS Sarma says "the abrupt and somewhat inexplicable exit of Shri Goel fraises the following questions:
1.Did Shri Goel express his dissent on the way the political executive has been trying to interfere with the electoral process in several ways vitiating its sanctity?
2.Did Shri Goel express doubts about the efficacy of the use of EVMs?
3.Did he express his concern at the way the political executive has pressured the SBI not to disclose the details of the EBS?
4.Was there any proposal from Shri Goel to freeze the residual amounts received by the political parties under the EBS to prevent their use in the ensuing elections?
5.Did Shrii Goel propose that BJP's nominees from the Boards of BEL, ECIL and SBI be withdrawn to maintain the sanctity the electoral process?
6.Did Shri Goel express his dissent on any other matter that would have displeased the political executive?
7.Did the highest within the political executive force Shri Goel to tender his resignation to clear the way for the ruling party's machinations?
One Election Commissioner has recently retired and the political executive is trying to select a candidate of its choice to succeed him. Meanwhile, I find that Shri Arun Goel, the third Election Commissioner has tendered his resignation prematurely, though his term is due to expire only in 2027. Shri Goel's resignation appears to have been accepted by the government in an undue hurry on the 9th of March, 2024 and the same was notified by the Ministry of Law & Justice yesterday..."
Earlier Letter & its references: https://countercurrents.org/2024/03/letter-to-president-of-india-non-transparency-of-funding-through-electoral-bonds-appointment-of-political-nominees-on-the-boards-of-sbi-bel-ecil-and-violating-norms-of-appointment-of-election-comm/ "attempts on the part of the political executive to deviate from the directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court on appointment of Election Commissioners, the contentious Electoral Bonds scheme (EBS) and its planting BJP nominees on the Boards of Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), Electronics Corporation India Ltd (ECIL) and the SBI evidently to interfere at every stage of the electoral process in one way or the other, which in my view vitiates the sanctity of elections"
Social movement research has generally excluded right wing movements as a subject of its research, as Nelson Pichardo has highlighted in his critique of the ‘New’ Social Movement (NSM) paradigm and its theorists, who have been ideologically biased towards movements originating from the ‘left’ (Pichardo 1997). Recently, however, there has been some significant exploration of contemporary right-wing movements. This essay will look at the typologies of right-wing movements created by some of the scholars focusing on this area of study, and attempt to apply mainstream social movement theory to the case study of a right-wing protest in Brazil in 2023, when supporters of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro stormed the Three Powers Plaza in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil.
A major chunk of the scholarship on right wing movements have been geared towards American politics and contexts, although some work has been focused on India and Latin America. This paper has taken into account the discussion on movements in the United States, such as the Ku Klux Klan or the anti-abortion March for Life movement, but attempted to situate it in a more global context.
07/03/2024
The water level in the Cauvery River has substantially dropped since there has not been enough rain in the region. The weakened southwest monsoon rainfalls have resulted in groundwater levels going down and decreased water reserves in the Cauvery River basin reservoirs, according to a report by Reuters . This has affected irrigation and led to a drinking water crisis in areas of the capital city of Karnataka. The crisis is also being attributed to rapid urbanisation and poor infrastructure.
In September 2023, the state had declared a drought in 195 taluks, including parts of Bengaluru. The number went up to 216 of the 236 taluks in Karnataka later. This includes Mandya and Mysuru districts, from where Bengaluru sources water.
06/03/2024
बंगलुरु एयरपोर्ट से ही निताशा को बैरंग लौटना पड़ा लंदन Article19 India Feb 26, 2024 कर्नाटक सरकार की मेहमान थीं निताशा कौल। पूछ लीजिए खिलाफ बोलने का अंजाम। मोदी की धज्जी उड़ाती रहती हैं।https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQYXeWcticA
'Orders from Delhi': London-based writer Nitasha Kaul detained at Bengaluru airport, deported; Cong hits out at Modi govt https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/toi-original/orders-from-delhi-london-based-writer-nitasha-kaul-detained-at-bengaluru-airport-deported-cong-hits-out-at-modi-govt/videoshow/108010616.cms Feb 26, 2024 She was scheduled to attend a Congress-led Karnataka government's two-day international conference on the Constitution. Kaul expressed shock, stating that all her documents, including her UK passport and OCI, were valid and current. Immigration officials provided no explanation other than "orders from Delhi" for her denial of entry.
How the UN is Holding Back the Sahara Desert Andrew Millison Feb 19, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCli0gyNwL0 Permaculture instructor Andrew Millison journeys with the UN World Food Programme to the Northern border of Senegal to see an innovative land recovery project within the Great Green Wall of Africa that is harvesting rainwater, increasing food security, and rehabilitating the ecosystem.
WFP Resilience Building:
https://www.wfp.org/resilience-building
https://www.decadeonrestoration.org/ UN decade on Restoration
https://www.decadeonrestoration.org/types-ecosystem-restoration/urban-areas
Vandana Shiva | False Claims Of The Green Revolution, Then And Now Real Organic Project
Feb 13, 2024 #GreenRevolution #OrganicFood #Soil
Vandana Shiva shares her knowledge around the Green Revolution, a transformative and chemical-dependent set of agricultural practices and policies that promised to deliver food security to populations around the world. But has it delivered on those promises? And how do its outcomes compare to organic agriculture?
Vandana Shiva I Why are farmers in India dying? I GREAT MINDS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frAjk-oiEeo Aug 30, 2023 India has the tenth most amount of farmland in the world. Yet, CNN reported in 2022 that more than 30 Indian farmers take their lives every day. This alarming statistic is what led Vandana Shiva, a once-promising nuclear physicist, to dive into the food sovereignty movement. Vandana Shiva attributes this tragedy to the Green Revolution and the introduction of GMO seeds, both of which aimed to increase food production. To protect food sovereignty, she stresses the importance of seed preservation and small-scale ecological agriculture.
In this lecture, Vandana Shiva explains how industrialized agriculture threatens farmers’ livelihoods and how genetically modified organisms destroy the ecosystem. She also introduces various activities of the Navdanya farm, which she runs herself. Additionally, she discusses the concept of ecofeminism, a movement she initiated to counter industrialized agriculture and powerful capitalist forces.
For Vandana Shiva, food is more than just sustenance; it is the source of life, intrinsically connected to nature and the lives of farmers. Shiva’s lecture will lead you to reflect on the significance of agriculture and food in our lives,
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