Innholdsfortegnelse for 14 November 2022 i India Today

A curious irony is growing in the apple orchards of rural Kashmir these day. In the daytime, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone outside their orchards. They are all hard at work, picking a bumper crop. The harvest this year, claim the growers and the horticulture department of Jammu and Kashmir, has broken all records. But the fruit of their labour does not seem to be reaching the villagers of the Valley. Multiple issues plague the Rs 10,000-crore horticulture sector, including disruptions in the supply chain, inflation, shortage of cold storages and labour, and import of Iranian apples. It scarcely bodes well for a sector that employs 700,000 families directly and another 3.5 million indirectly. In south Kashmir’s Shopian, known as the Apple Bowl of the Valley, Mushtaq Ahmad…

The two books under review offer important new perspectives on China’s rise since 1989. In the two decades under Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, China achieved spectacular economic growth, while keeping a relatively modest international profile in accordance with Deng Xiaoping’s injunction to “hide our capacities and bide our time”. That period came to an end when Xi Jinping decided that the time was ripe for China to follow a “proactive” foreign policy, conducting itself as an assertive, and even aggressive, superpower. Gokhale, a former foreign secretary and ambassador to China, combines experience and scholarship with a rare gift for lucid exposition. Writing primarily for an Indian audience, he deftly sketches China’s domestic politics, economic reforms and foreign policy since 1989, before proceeding to analyse shifts in India-China relations. This…

THE FESTIVE SPIRIT OF DIWALI ENDED ON A horrifying note in Gujarat as a suspension bridge across the Machchhu river in Morbi town collapsed on October 30, killing at least 134 people and injuring many more. Coming just ahead of the expected announcement of the assembly election schedule, the timing, location and context of the tragedy portend ill tidings for the ruling BJP. Even though both its main rivals—the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress—refrained from starting a war of words until rescue operations were over, the subtext of the accident hung heavy in the air. The angst provoked by the tragedy will likely have a significant impact on the crucial election. But first the horrible disaster demands a fixing of the culpability on several fronts. The bridge was…

In his 20s, Deol, like most youngsters from Punjab’s Doaba region, too was keen to move to Canada and settle there. But fate had other plans and his visa didn’t work out. Deol’s father Harbhajan Singh was already a noted pastor who had converted in 1988 under the influence of an Australian pastor—running against the. pattern, being from the powerful Jat Sikh community. Deol inherited his father’s Open Door Church, among the oldest Pentecostal churches in Punjab. “My father was, but I was never devoutly religious. My experiences with his colleagues, their respect for him and, above all, my own experience with Christian leaders transfor med me,” Deol says. A preacher since 2012, he is now constructing a church on a one-acre piece of land adjacent to his ministry. His…

Sometimes, things are so close to one’s skin that one fails to see them. I soaked in the ambience of Lucknow but I took it for granted that it was also the city of, say, Rasheed Jahan, her second-floor clinic in Lal Bagh, the centre of leftist banter, not far from Nishat Talkies. But I only had to be pointedly asked, and Josh Malihabadi, Majaz Lucknowi, the Coffee House, Danish Mahal, Aminabad would float out of me like a procession of vivid images. Since Lucknow was a centre of Urdu, other Urdu cities—Delhi, Lahore, Hyderabad—were not in our ken. The depth and durability of Lucknow, as a centre of culture, is clear from recent history: the metropolis began to get destroyed in 1856-57, but it retained some of its élan…

In 2020, after several years of writing songs, Jaimin Rajani finally felt ready to put something out. The Kolkata-based singer-songwriter began putting together tracks and working with co-producer Subharaj Ghosh to transform the scratch demos, recorded on his phone with just a voice and acoustic guitar, into full-band arrangements, honing those stripped-down songs into something grander. Thus, his 14-song album, Cutting Loose, was born—a thoughtful and emotive release that stands out as a mature debut. It’s also an album that boasts a series of Indian indie music heavyweights popping up as unexpected collaborators, including, among others, the powerhouse frontman of Indian Ocean, Rahul Ram. “I didn’t want to put out a half-baked attempt.” Each element of the record—which rests in a reflective, intimate space, driven by his voice and the…

Ever since it emerged that India had signed a deal in September 2021 with Airbus Defence and Space, SA, Spain, to procure and manufacture 56 C-295 medium-weight transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force, speculation was rife about the location of its plant in India. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi laying the foundation stone of the manufacturing unit in Vadodara, in poll-bound Gujarat, on October 30, that matter has been put to rest. Defence secretary Dr Ajay Kumar said that as part of the contract, 16 aircraft will be delivered in flyaway condition and 40 will be manufactured in India through a joint venture between Airbus and the Indian aircraft contractor, Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), led by TASL. The total cost of the project…

The precipitous has become the protracted in Jharkhand. And with it, the fate of the state’s chief minister, Hemant Soren, continues to hang in the balance. Uncertainty looms large over his assembly membership and his chief ministership, ever since the Election Commission of India (ECI) on August 25 reportedly sent its opinion on his disqualification as an MLA to the Jharkhand Raj Bhavan in a sealed envelope. Governor Ramesh Bais, on his part, has been holding his cards close to his chest, breaking his two-monthlong silence only to reveal that he had sought a “second opinion” on the issue. Speaking to a private news channel after Diwali at his hometown Raipur, Bais did hint that a “bomb could explode any time in Jharkhand”. The governor’s rather casual utterance has further…

Trust Didi or elder sister Mamata Banerjee to forgive her erring brethren. Thus it was that veteran party leader Mukul Roy, who had fallen out of favour when he was with the BJP between 2017 and 2021, got invited to the West Bengal chief minister’s Bhai Phonta ceremony. As was Sovan Chatterjee, another turncoat who flirted with the saffron side for a brief period. Mamata had once dubbed them gaddars or traitors, but now seems to have allowed them re-entry into her inner circle. Is there scope then for the other turncoat, Suvendu Adhikari, currently with the BJP, to find similar rehabilitation should he wish to return to the TMC?…

“Leadership is service, not position.” This statement by American author Tim Fargo perhaps best defines the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India's social, political, and economic sphere. The primary principle of the Modi-led government at the Centre has been to facilitate and deliver service to the country's common citizens who have long been made to struggle-often by the administrative structure-for what are their very basic rights. The biggest achievement of Prime Minister Modi has been that he has not only made hassle-free deliverance of service the motto of the Central government but also inspired many other political leaders to walk the same path. One such leader is Assam's Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has often acknowledged in public the prime minister's influence in formulating public policies…

HISTORY ↘ Inaugurated on February 20, 1879, by the then governor of Bombay Presidency, Sir Richard Temple, the Jhoolto Pul was built during the reign of Sir Waghji Thakor, then the ruler of the Morbi princely state, to connect Darbargadh Palace with Nazarbaug Palace across the river Machchhu ₹3.5 LAKH Cost of construction FIVE MAJOR LAPSES 1 The bridge was thrown open to the public sans a safety audit 2 There was no effort to control the footfall on the bridge 3 There is ambiguity about the scope of repairs. Police say material was added to the deck, making it heavier, but the rusty cables were not replaced 4 No one from the Morbi municipality has been held responsible 5 Opposition leaders are asking why the FIR doesn’t name Oreva…

Born to a Hindu Khatri business family in Jalandhar, Narula was profoundly influenced by South African pastors, whose videos he’d watch. Later, he claims, Jesus appeared in his dreams, asking him to embrace Christianity. He began his ministry in 2008, with just three followers. Today, it is Punjab’s largest church, boasting a membership of 300,000 people globally and attracting over 100,000 people for its Sunday congregations. His YouTube channel has 1.23 million subscribers. Purporting to be a faith healer, Narula claims he can cure any ailment, from arthritis to paralysis to cancer, and even revive people from the dead. His followers call him Papa but he prefers the prefix ‘Apostle’. Attacked by Sikh groups, he said their action committee will use ‘approach’, not dharnas.…

The first question a stranger asks of Manohar Singh when they discover that he is a practising Christian is about his appearance. An erstwhile cloth merchant, Manohar retains his Sikh turban and flowing beard. “When asked, I tell them that it’s part of my culture and upbringing. Even Christian prophets used to wear the turbans of their respective cultures,” he says. Coming from the merchant community of Lubanas, Manohar converted to Christianity after the death of his teenage daughter. He had already been undergoing stress on account of his son who had met with an accident. “Some pastors came to my rescue and gave me mental peace,” he says. “I started reading the Bible thereafter. Now, even though I have a smaller house, lesser resources and am perhaps a man…

For Noida-based homemaker Uma Sharma, 49, feeding the six stray dogs outside her home was a way to cope with the death of her husband four years ago. Without their love and loyalty, she would have gone into depression. Regretfully, members of her housing society did not share her love of dogs. A year ago, when Sharma was away on vacation, they picked up four of the six dogs and relocated them without her knowledge. “It broke my heart,” she says. “I had to go in for therapy to get over the trauma. The dogs had never bitten or attacked anyone. They had been vaccinated. But due to the prejudices of some people, they paid a hefty price.” Despite finding out where the dogs had been shifted, she wasn’t able…

After Mathukutty Xavier quit his well-paying job as a graphic designer, he wrote several scripts and pitched them to the biggest male actors in the Malayalam film industry. “Sometimes, they just weren’t interested, but even when they were, I’d be told that they can start my film only after a year or two,” he says. Xavier and his scriptwriting partner, Alfred Kurian Joseph, then moved to “Plan B”—to write a fresh story with a woman at the centre. “That’s how we landed on survival stories. When we started research, one of the articles I came across was about a girl in Atlanta who got trapped in a freezer.” Xavier cast the then one-film-old Anna Ben as Helen in this eponymous survivalist thriller that went on to win two National Film…

↘ C-295MW is a transport aircraft of 5-10 tonne capacity with a maximum speed of 480 kmph. It will replace the ageing Avro aircraft of IAF. It has a rear ramp door for quick reaction and paradropping of troops and cargo. Short take-off/ landing from semi-prepared surfaces is another of its features. The aircraft will strengthen the logistical capabilities of the IAF ↘ The first 16 flyaway aircraft are scheduled to arrive between September 2023 and August 2025. The first Made in India aircraft is expected in September 2026 ↘ MoD officials claim that 96 per cent of the total man-hour work per aircraft that Airbus employs at its manufacturing facility in Spain will be undertaken in India by the Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. Manufacturing of over 13,400 detail parts,…

A new state unit chief. A new leader of opposition. A new incharge of the state. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has seen radical changes in its organisational structure in Chhattisgarh since August, with three new men commandeering its efforts to bring the party back into power as the state prepares for the assembly election scheduled in a little over a year. After having an uninterrupted 15-year reign led by then chief minister Raman Singh, the BJP faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Congress in the last assembly election in 2018—winning just 15 of the 90 seats, and later losing one more to the Congress in a byelection. It is against this backdrop that the party’s central leadership has initiated a major rejig in the state unit.…

IT’S A MOMENT OF DÉJÀ VU FOR KERALA.Way back in 1959, the state government, then led by CPI (and later CPI(M)) stalwart E.M.S. Namboodiripad, was at loggerheads with Governor B.R. Rao over, among several other things, an education bill that aimed to introduce certain reforms in the private education sector. The governor was unwilling to give his assent to the contentious bill, which had faced resistance from several organisations and pressure groups. The tussle eventually led to the dismissal of the Namboodiripad government and imposition of President’s rule in the state. More than six decades later, the southern state has been witnessing a similar tussle between the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government led by Pinarayi Vijayan and the current occupant of the Raj Bhavan—Arif Mohammad Khan. The bone of contention…

CONGRESS ↘ Anti-incumbency against the Jairam Thakur government ↘ Factionalism in BJP between CM Thakur and P.K. Dhumal groups ↘ Poll sops: all adult women to get Rs 1,500 per month pension, Rs 640 crore corpus for start-ups, return to the old pension scheme (OPS), etc. BJP ↘ PM Modi’s pro-Hindutva and nationalist image has acceptance among the electorate ↘ Better implementation of central/state social sector schemes ↘ Jairam Thakur’s image as a relatively clean leader ↘ Party’s well-oiled election machinery 2017 assembly polls Total seats: 68…

An assistant sub inspector in the Punjab Police, Singh converted to Christianity in 1998, after deciding to part ways with his family. “As my wife was unable to bear a child, my family wanted me to dump her and remarry,” he says. “It was unacceptable to me. I moved to Amritsar. There, I got in touch with some pastors. With their prayers, I have three children now.” A Mazhabi Sikh, Singh sports a turban at work and preaches the Bible on his return home. He has converted his backyard into a church, where his Sunday sermon attracts 50-odd locals. “I don’t convert people,” he clarifies. “I only preach the Bible.”…

↘ DO NOT THROW THINGS AT DOGS, charge at them or attempt to threaten them with loud sounds and hand gestures. These can startle them, frighten them and make them aggressive. Help young children also understand how to treat and respect stray dogs ↘ DOGS WILL GENERALLY NOT ATTACK UNLESS PROVOKED. If, however, you come across a dog growling, do not run away. Stand your ground, letting the dog know you are not afraid, and slowly continue walking. Ask for help if needed, a dog will usually back away if it sees multiple humans ↘ DO NOT POKE AND PROD A DOG’S BODY PARTS, especially the tail, when the dog comes up to you for petting ↘ IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH AN AFFECTIONATE DOG, instead of pushing it away…

An eternity seems to have passed since Parekh & Singh, the Kolkata-based dream-pop duo comprising Nischay Parekh (vocals, guitar) and Jivraj Singh (drums, electronics), released a full-length album. Their last album, the mesmerising Science City, came out in 2019; the acclaim was cut short when the duo cancelled their multi-city album tour, owing to Parekh’s mental health struggles around live performances. “Perhaps I’m not supposed to be a live performer,” Parekh, then 26, said on Instagram about logistical constraints triggering his anxiety issues. When the Covid-19 pandemic made the world retreat indoors in 2020, it afforded the musicians a stopgap of sorts. They could now recalibrate their vision and expand the possibilities of their own sound. Three years since, the result is there to see in The Night is Clear,…

NIROBODHI (TILL TIME STANDS STILL) Sarker Protick Shrine Empire, New Delhi (Until November 11) The ruins of a temple stand on a tiny island of earth in the middle of shallow-flooded paddy fields, like the wreck of some ancient rocket that failed to take off many centuries ago. Its pointed top pokes up into the misty winter morning and two of its four side spires are missing, like engines that might have fallen off. The recently irrigated fields are covered in a sheet of water in which the structure is reflected among the tufts of freshly planted rice. The contrast of old brickwork and the evidence of ongoing human activity asserts itself only after you have looked at the image for a while, as if two layers of time are…