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Post by James on May 16, 2014 18:10:14 GMT
This is a thumping victory, the first majority gov't since 1989! Indian election: Narendra Modi hails 'landmark' winIncoming Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hailed a "landmark" election victory by his BJP party. Thanking supporters in his own constituency in his home state of Gujarat, Mr Modi said they had written a new chapter in the country's history. Votes counted so far suggest the BJP is on course for the most resounding victory by any party for 30 years, trouncing the outgoing Congress Party. The controversial leader campaigned on promises to revive the economy. However, many Indians still have profound concerns over Mr Modi because of claims he did little to stop communal riots in Gujarat in 2002 when he was first minister in the state. At least 1,000 people died, most of them Muslims. Mr Modi has always denied the allegations over he was never charged. 'Real government' "India has won, good days are about to come," Mr Modi tweeted as it became clear that the BJP had triumphed. The tweet became the most retweeted in India's history. The prime minister-elect told his supporters the victory was no ordinary one. "In the 60-year history of Indian independence, I have never seen this in the Indian media, what you have done in our country," Mr Modi said, as supporters shouted "Modi, Modi, Modi". He said he would rule for all Indians. "Real government doesn't belong to a community. It belongs to the entire country," he said. "The real government will belong from Kashmir on top to Kanya Kumari [on India's southern tip] - that is a real government." Several world leaders have congratulated Mr Modi on his victory, including UK Prime Minister David Cameron. Mr Modi accepted an invitation to visit the UK, Downing Street said. The UK government froze ties with him between 2002 and 2012 over the Gujarat riots. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif commended the BJP's "impressive victory" in the election. Without mentioning Mr Modi, the US National Security Council tweeted: "US congratulates BJP on its victory in India's historic election; we look forward to working w/ govt once formed to advance our partnership." The election result will be a crushing blow to the Congress party, which is led by the Nehru-Gandhi family and has dominated Indian politics since independence. It reflects voter anger with Congress, which has been mired in serious corruption scandals and whose leadership has been considered ineffective in recent years, analysts say. Accepting defeat, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said: "We humbly respect the verdict of the people." Share prices rallied to new highs on BJP promises of economic revival. Latest election results showed the BJP is on course to win 282 seats, surpassing the 272 seats needed to secure a majority in the lower house of parliament. With their allies, the party could achieve more than 330 seats. The Congress party - which has been in power for the past decade - is expected to win in fewer than 50 seats. More than 500 million people voted in what is the world's biggest exercise in democracy. Voter turnout in the mammoth nine-phase general election was a record 66.38%, beating the previous 1984 poll record. |
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Post by Prem Rogue on May 17, 2014 19:25:42 GMT
BJP to promote movies rich in Indian cultural valuesVanita Srivastava, Hindustan Times New Delhi May 16, 2014 The art and culture cell of the BJP is about to make a wing exclusively for developing and promoting films themed on Indian tradition. "We have done the homework for developing movies that are rich in cultural values and have a strong flavour of Indian traditions. Many movies are released every week, but they are hardly able to portray Indian art and culture. Our attempt will be to showcase Indian social values through movies," said Mithlesh Kumar Tripathi, national convenor of the party’s art and culture cell. There has been a lot of degradation, he said, adding that "movies are a powerful mode for disseminating Indian culture. We have a cultural trove. We need to highlight this in the movies. We have already started talking with many artists. The end result would be movies that can bring a cultural awakening." Citing the example of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, the Bollywood blockbuster of the 90s, he said this was a movie “which revolved around the great Indian family. We need to have more of such kinds of movies." India has one of the world's largest collections of songs, music, dance, theatre, folk traditions and performing arts. The art and culture cell of the BJP will implement a number of schemes and programmes aimed at providing “financial support to individuals, groups and cultural organisations engaged in the visual and literary arts."
I suspect this really means "a very narrow interpretation of Hindu values." And DDLJ is their example? Come on, now.
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Post by James on May 18, 2014 22:25:18 GMT
There are lots of countries where subsidies are necessary to ensure local culture is actually portrayed in movies, and judging by the success of the various 'woods' in India, I don't think there's a real case for it there. Essentially, this project seems like a propaganda exercise to the benefit of the ruling party, where they define the 'values' of the country in their own image and spend taxpayer money to further their own agenda. I wouldn't support it if it were my money. Hopefully, they limit themselves to providing funding to scripts they like and don't try to use the censor board to block projects that are otherwise commercially viable but not in accord with their 'values'. Every third newly-elected MP has criminal backgroundNEW DELHI: Every third of the newly-elected member of Lok Sabha has a criminal background, an analysis of the disclosures they have made in their affidavits has shown. An analysis of 541 of the 543 winning candidates by National Election Watch (NEW) and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) shows that 186 or 34% newly elected MPs have in their election affidavits disclosed criminal cases against themselves. In 2009, 30% of the Lok Sabha members had criminal cases. This has now gone up by 4%. According to the analysis, a candidate with criminal cases had 13% chance of winning in the 2014 Lok Sabha election whereas it was 5% for an aspirant with a clean record. Of the 186 new members, 112 (21%) have declared serious criminal cases, including those related to murder, attempt to murder, causing communal disharmony, kidnapping, crimes against women, etc. Party wise, the largest numbers 98 or 35% of the 281 winners from the BJP have in their affidavits declared criminal cases against themselves. Eight (18%) of the 44 winners from the Congress, six (16%) of the 37 winners from the AIADMK, 15 (83%) of the 18 winners from the Shiv Sena, and seven (21%) of the 34 winners fielded by Trinamool Congress also have disclosed criminal cases against themselves. |
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Post by Prem Rogue on May 26, 2014 8:16:41 GMT
This is a long piece, so I'll post an excerpt: An Indian RevolutionaryWhat is it about the Modi mandate that provokes such fear of fundamental change? First, it was presumed that Modi would find no takers outside Gujarat. Second, it was believed that an alliance of the Nagpur Brahmins and LK Advani would ensure that the BJP kept Modi away from Delhi. Third, it was broadcast that Modi wouldn’t secure RSS backing to be projected as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate. Fourth, it was felt that the presence of Modi at the helm would repel existing allies and deter future allies. Fifth, the conviction that the newly-formed Aam Aadmi Party would emerge as a roadblock to both the Congress and BJP became conventional wisdom among editorialists and academics. Finally, the estimated number of MPs it would take Modi to form a half-viable coalition kept climbing upwards—from a BJP tally of 180 (‘Surely he can’t better Vajpayee’s record’) to 240 (a target thought impossible). There were self-serving reports of a ‘160 Club’ in the BJP with a clear anyone-but-Modi agenda.
What is particularly remarkable is that the more Modi cleared each successive hurdle, the more the Modi-haters went into denial. In the final stages of the campaign, when it became apparent that neither a disoriented Congress nor an over-stretched AAP was capable of halting a Modi who had occupied the centrestage of popular discourse, the punditry fell back on the Muslim and caste vote. A dissection of the ground analysis in the final stages of the campaign will reveal that the entire focus was on the creation of a Muslim human shield against Modi. Rather than asking how voters would behave, the thrust was on Muslim tactical voting. The staggering crowds Modi was drawing to his public meetings across India were dismissed as ‘manufactured hype’, the creation of corporate money and a slick publicity machine. The tell-tale signs of a spectacular Modi surge were all there. Yet, the punditry chose to look elsewhere.
The 2014 election was a resounding defeat for the Congress, AAP and the caste-based regional parties. Equally, the outcome amounted to a clear rebuff of those who had assumed for themselves the intellectual monopoly of interpreting India. On 16 May, garbage collectors accumulated a rich haul of tattered reputations and stereotypes of political India. |
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Post by dancelover on May 27, 2014 15:21:27 GMT
The [portions of the] article [excerpted here] place a *very* high value on the opinions of "pundits." This is particularly strange, because those "pundits" quoted were so mistaken. The writer would have done better to ignore them. I cannot hit the "like" button for this article. Howard "Dancelover" Wilkins This is a long piece, so I'll post an excerpt: An Indian RevolutionaryWhat is it about the Modi mandate that provokes such fear of fundamental change? First, it was presumed that Modi would find no takers outside Gujarat. Second, it was believed that an alliance of the Nagpur Brahmins and LK Advani would ensure that the BJP kept Modi away from Delhi. Third, it was broadcast that Modi wouldn’t secure RSS backing to be projected as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate. Fourth, it was felt that the presence of Modi at the helm would repel existing allies and deter future allies. Fifth, the conviction that the newly-formed Aam Aadmi Party would emerge as a roadblock to both the Congress and BJP became conventional wisdom among editorialists and academics. Finally, the estimated number of MPs it would take Modi to form a half-viable coalition kept climbing upwards—from a BJP tally of 180 (‘Surely he can’t better Vajpayee’s record’) to 240 (a target thought impossible). There were self-serving reports of a ‘160 Club’ in the BJP with a clear anyone-but-Modi agenda.
What is particularly remarkable is that the more Modi cleared each successive hurdle, the more the Modi-haters went into denial. In the final stages of the campaign, when it became apparent that neither a disoriented Congress nor an over-stretched AAP was capable of halting a Modi who had occupied the centrestage of popular discourse, the punditry fell back on the Muslim and caste vote. A dissection of the ground analysis in the final stages of the campaign will reveal that the entire focus was on the creation of a Muslim human shield against Modi. Rather than asking how voters would behave, the thrust was on Muslim tactical voting. The staggering crowds Modi was drawing to his public meetings across India were dismissed as ‘manufactured hype’, the creation of corporate money and a slick publicity machine. The tell-tale signs of a spectacular Modi surge were all there. Yet, the punditry chose to look elsewhere.
The 2014 election was a resounding defeat for the Congress, AAP and the caste-based regional parties. Equally, the outcome amounted to a clear rebuff of those who had assumed for themselves the intellectual monopoly of interpreting India. On 16 May, garbage collectors accumulated a rich haul of tattered reputations and stereotypes of political India. |
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Post by Prem Rogue on Jun 8, 2014 4:46:08 GMT
Modi bars ministers, bureaucrats from talking to journalistsGag order follows the model used in Gujarat. As a result, Modi's Twitter account has become the most important source of information for journalists.Dhirendra K Jha One of the facts that went largely unremarked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with senior bureaucrats on Wednesday was that he instructed them to keep away from media. Modi has also reportedly asked his cabinet colleagues to refrain from speaking to the journalists and instead letting official government spokespersons do the talking on their behalf. These instructions may well be the first serious step to turn New Delhi into Gandhinagar, where during Modi’s three terms as chief minister, members of his cabinet would not speak to the press unless they had obtained permission from him. Even the customary press briefings after the state cabinet meetings – which in other states are addressed by ministers – are either not held at all in Gujarat or are addressed by spokesmen of the state government. Already in Delhi, senior bureaucrats have been avoiding journalists, just as they do in Gandhinagar. So have union ministers – even those who till recently appeared so eager to talk to journalists. The change in the behaviour of ministers like Arun Jaitley, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar and Nirmala Sitharaman is glaring. Jaitley, who till recently used to be surrounded by journalists, appears busy guarding against any leaks from his ministry. According to Business Standard, the Finance Minister has written to his subordinates asking them not to quote him or share his views while talking to the press. To many, the silence of Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman – the Bharatiya Janata Party’s TV face so far – is no less baffling, especially as it came in the aftermath of her statement that the government would oppose Foreign Direct Investment in retail. Telecommunication Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar have also gone mum. One news source that is fast acquiring a monopoly over the dissemination of the government news – apart from the Press Information Bureau, which is churning out press statements at an unprecedented pace – is the Prime Minister himself. But, as he has shown in Gujarat, press conferences are not his preferred means of making statements. Instead, he appears to be more comfortable with his Twitter handle. Modi’s tweets, in fact, are fast becoming the main source of news for the mediapersons in Delhi. Political observers, both inside and outside the Sangh Parivar, agree that this is a step towards developing a single-window system for the flow of information. One of the reasons being suggested for this attempt to cut the government off from the media is the growing fear of a possible sting operation – on the lines of one carried out by Tehelka that jolted the Atal Behari Vajpayee government over a decade ago – to investigate the new ruling dispensation. Such is this fear that one of the ministers in Modi government, Minister of State for Agriculture Sanjiv Baliyan, has put up a notice outside his office asking visitors to not bring a mobile phone or even a pen inside his cabin.
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Post by James on Jun 9, 2014 6:23:34 GMT
That sort of centralisation of communications is an ugly thing, we know it too well in this country, too, where the current PM's office vets practically everything before any minister can say anything, even before most cabinet ministers speak. It's all to 'control the message', but effectively stymies the public's attempts to find out details about gov't operations. Hopefully the anti-corruption movement will keep them in check...
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Post by dancelover on Jun 10, 2014 15:15:49 GMT
Question is: how long can they keep it up? Talking to the press, is what senior government ministers and bureaucrats do! Dancelover That sort of centralisation of communications is an ugly thing, we know it too well in this country, too, where the current PM's office vets practically everything before any minister can say anything, even before most cabinet ministers speak. It's all to 'control the message', but effectively stymies the public's attempts to find out details about gov't operations. Hopefully the anti-corruption movement will keep them in check... |
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Since Sept. 6, 2022, Chiloka has not been reachable. (