'The Narendra Modi-Amit Shah combine may have achieved new heights for the Bharatiya Janata Party electorally, but it has presided over an unbelievable level of mediocrity on all other fronts. The Modi government’s monumental HR crisis is beginning to show. From a sagging economy to foot-in-the-mouth ministers to an uninspiring cabinet, the BJP government’s bench-strength is abysmal in most parts, and in the remaining, just about average...
'SAYING THAT internet was just used to watch “dirty films (gandi filmein)” in Jammu and Kashmir, NITI Aayog member V K Saraswat said on Saturday that suspension of services in the region, following the government’s decision to revoke J&K’s special status under Article 370 on August 5 last year, did not have a “significant” effect on the economy...'
'When Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government hastily served notices to more than 300 people for allegedly damaging public property during the recent anti-CAA protests, many recalled how hundreds of serious criminal cases against him and his Hindu Yuva Vahini members are still pending. But a bigger indictment than these cases are the annual reports of Uttar Pradesh Police’s intelligence units – which I have accessed – against the Hindu Yuva Vahini, an outfit that Adityanath established...
'Recently, government think-tank NITI Aayog came up with a proposal for running district hospitals in public-private partnership (PPP) mode. Under the proposal, new and existing private medical colleges will be linked with functional district hospitals. According to sources, the proposal is open to public comments till February 10, 2020. There are proposals with regard to user fees, differential rates for beds under regulated and market beds and change in terms of employment of health staff.
'India lost over $1.3 billion in internet shutdowns across the country — lasting 4,196 hours in 2019 — making it the third-most economically affected country after Iraq and Sudan, says a new study. The report, titled The Global Cost of Internet Shutdowns, in 2019 by internet research firm Top10VPN, worked on calculating the data in major regions of the world using the COST tool. The tool was developed by internet monitoring NGO Netblocks and advocacy group The Internet Society, and uses indicators from the World Bank, ITU, Eurostat, and US Census...'
'...The NPR, and the planned NRC it is linked to, are enormous data-gathering exercises, and will give the government access to personal information about everyone living in this country. This information can then potentially be used as the government (and therefor ruling party) pleases – whether to deny people citizenship, as many are afraid will happen, or to target voters in different areas based on demographic analysis. This, clearly, is the kind of data the Modi government likes. But there is plenty of data the ruling regime does not like.
'...If you followed the news in 2019, you might have got the feeling that the Supreme Court was running the country. You wouldn’t be far off. Every issue of any consequence, and many of none whatsoever, found their way to the Court. Through the course of the year, the Court decidedor chose not to decidecases that went to the very heart of India’s constitutional law and Indian society. On occasion, when concerned citizens looked to the Court to stand up for civil liberties, it let the matter slide; when it did take action, its orders often left loopholes the government could exploit.
'Hounding of senior officers, protests across the country and attempts — perceived and real — to change the constitutional ethos of the country have sparked a kind of unrest among civil servants, who have taken to WhatsApp groups to share their concerns and grievances. Several IAS, IPS and IRS officers who ThePrint spoke to said there is a palpable sense of vulnerability, insecurity and concern among officers, which they are wary of expressing publicly, but do so in the safety of closed WhatsApp groups with their peers from the services.
'Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, known for his affinity for controversial remarks, on Thursday criticised people leading protests over the new citizenship law. He said leadership is not about guiding masses, including students, into carrying out “arson and violence.” His comments drew sharp reactions from opposition leaders. “Leaders are not those who lead people in inappropriate directions, as we are witnessing in a large number of university and college students, the way they are leading masses of crowds to carry out arson and violence in our cities and towns.
'Army chief, General Bipin Rawat, who will retire on December 31 unless the government elevates him to the newly-created post of “chief of defence staff”, has drawn charges of political partisanship by criticising student leaders involved in protests against the new Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or (CAA). Addressing a gathering in New Delhi, he said: “Leaders are those who lead people in the right direction.
