Rising Rahul Mighty Modi

RNI No. DELENG/2014/55799, January 2019 I Rs 50 Delhi Postal Regd. No. DL(ND)-11/6168/2018-19-20 www.powercorridors.in POWER CORRIDORS Happy New Year Republic Day 26 January Rising Rahul Mighty Modi POWER Contents CORRIDORS www.powercorridors.in Chairman & Editor-in-Chief: Nandan Jha Editor: Ravi Shanker Kapoor Executive Editor: Naresh Soni Associate Editor: Shahnawaz Hassan Consulting Editor: Satish Mishra Bureau Chief (Delhi): M.P. Sharma Bureau Chief (Maharashtra): Nirmal Mishra Bureau Chief (Jharkhand): K.S Tiwari Stategy Head: Ankur Kumar Chief Illustrator & Designer : Kanhaiya Circulation : Vinod Kumar Patron: Dr. Ved Pratap Vaidik Research: Gautam Rishi Chartered Accountant: Santosh Kr Prasad Publishers & Printer: Nandan Jha Head Office: B-4/14, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi-110029 Nandan Jha is the publisher and owner of the monthly news magazine Power Corridors Corporate Office : 411, Naurang House, K G Marg, New Delhi 110001 Phone : +91 011-41610411 Mumbai Office : 1915, Sumeet Apartments, Royal Palm, Goregaon (E), Mumbai Mobile : +91 9769420651 Kolkata Office : 24, Sir Hariram Goenka Street, Kolkata 7 Contact - 9830889999 BATTLES WERE Nagpur Office : 80, Shreenagar Empress Mill Society, Bandra, Ring Road, TOUGH IN 2018, Nagpur 440015, Contact - 8446707707 WAR IN 2019 TO BE Ranchi Office : Kishore Yadav Chowk, 14 Near New Market, Ratu Road Cover story Ranchi 834005 TOUGHER Overseas Branch Offices Ukraine Street Mikhail, Maksimovycha 8 Kiev, Ukraine - 03022 +38-0631282989 +91-0631282989 08 Russia Grizaduboboi, house 2, office 128 RAHUL HAS Moscow, Russia +79671667777 COME OF AGE, +91-8527918427 Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland & Finland BUT HAS Furukroken -1, 1481, Hagan, Norway +4791888819 MILES TO GO For avertisements contact: [email protected] [email protected] All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission from publishers. UNITED THEY CAN STAND, Printed, Published and Edited by Nandan Jha on the behalf of Interactive forum on Indian Economy Printed at MP Printers (A unit of D. B. DIVIDED THEY’ll fALL Corp. Ltd.) B-220, Industrial Area, Phase-2, Noida, 201305 (UP) Published at B-4/14, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi-110029. 20 JANUARY 2019 3 POWER CORRIDORS Contents 24 economy GOVT NEEDS TO CHANGE ATTITUDE 34 TOWARDS Lutyen LOITERER POLICY EXPERTS EXIT SUSHMA, ENTER SAHASRABUDDHE? 28 Political philosophy 36 WHAT IS, AND countryside CAN BE, INDIAN VFS: PAVING WAY TO FINANCIAL CONSERVATISM INDEPENDENCE OF RURAL WOMEN 45 42 FOREIGN Policy economic philosophy Modi’S ALL VIRTUE OF HANDS ON DECK WEALTH APPROACH 38 CREATION IS A NOVELTY pretense & truth WHY PEOPLE 48 LONG FOR International POWER, AND THE CASE WHY THEY ARE OF THE RELUCTANT TO PROBLEMATIC GIVE IT UP POTENTATE POWER CORRIDORS 4 JANUARY 2019 Happy New Year Republic Day editorial 26 January Chairman’s Message or us, Power Corridors is not just a monthly news magazine but also a means to bring change. Inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emphasis on Aspirational Districts, we instituted Champions of Change Awards in the memory of Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The awards were instituted in association with Bharat Vikas Parishad. The idea is to felicitate the people who Fhave contributed significantly in these disctricts and brought meaningful change. Concerned about the plight of these places, the Hon’ble Vice-President of India, Shri Venkaiah Naidu, NANDAN JHA agreed to be the Chief Guest of the programme to honor the awardees on December 26, at facebook.com/jhnandan Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The jury, headed by former Chief Justice of India, Shri K.G. Balakrishnan, comprised a galaxy of personalities from various walks of life. @Nandan_jha4 In this issue, we have analyzed the results of the recently held Assembly polls in five states and their impact on the general election next year. We also go beyond the vicissitudes of power politics, so we have an exclusive write-up by Nehru Memorial Museum Library Director Shakti Sinha, a most profound thinker, delving into political philosophy. Then we have the invaluable thoughts of Václav Havel. I am confident that you will like the offerings.. Editor’s Note fter losing power in three Hindi-speaking states to the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party must ponder over its uniqueness—being the only party in India, perhaps the only one in the world, which always lets down it core constituencies. The BJP has worked industriously and zealously against the interests of the middle class, small traders, shopkeepers, etc.,— Athe folks who have been voting for it for decades, even when nobody else was voting for it. When Atal Bihari Vajpayee was prime minister (1998-2004), the salaried class got almost no relief in income-tax. Similarly, the government remained unconcerned about the plight of the UTI investors. The Narendra Modi government too has not done anything remarkable that the core constituencies would be delighted about. The claims about higher growth than UPA’s period and east of doing business may be true, but there RAVI SHANKER KAPOOR are not many jobs—and not just for the middle class youth but also those of humbler origines. Demonetization and bad implementation of the GST regime has further made facebook.com/ravishanker.kapoor life miserable for a lot of people. Then, in the name of ending corruption, tax officials and law-enforcement agencies have been unreasonably empowered. Much to the chagrin of @libertypartisan big and small businessmen, who are instinctively pro-BJP. The BJP’s inability to keep its core constituencies in good humour hurts its electoral prospects. It was evident in the results of Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh; it can also cast its shadow in the general election next year. The cover story of this edition underlines this fact. Other articles covers the entire gamut of subjects from the economy and international affairs to political and economic philosophy. Writing on the government’s tiff with the Reserve Bank of India, Sushma Ramachandran has not only discussed the fears about the central bank’s independence and autonomy but also highlighted the current dispensations unease with economic experts. Prabha Rao has discussed the situation arising after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Then there is Lutyen Loiterer bringing us the story about the quiet rise of BJP vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe. He is being groomed as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s successor, in the event of the BJP retaining power in 2019. In a nutshell, we have tried to present a nice package to our readers. JANUARY 2019 5 POWER CORRIDORS news in brief NOVEL ON 1962 WAR POWS LAUNCHED s a young officer just inducted into the Army, Col K.D. Segan A(Retd) with a number of prisoners of war (POWs) of the 1962 India-China War. What shocked him was that they never made an attempt to escape. When he asked the reason, they mumbled things like difficult terrain, inhospitable climate, high altitude, etc. Coming from a military background— his grandfather fought the World War I, his father World War II—Segan found this intriguing. He realized that all POWs were thoroughly demoralized. That experience left an abiding mark on his memory. Over half a century later, he has authored a noel Red to Green. It was launched at the Press Club in Delhi on December 18. The chief guest, eminent documentary maker Mike Pandey, lauded the writing skills of Segan, saying that the book was like a beacon of light for the young. The guest of honor, award-winning 99 PER CENT ITEMS TO BE author and broadcaster Sharad Dutt, said that this novel was unique and TAXED AT 18 PER CENT: PM different from books written on the s many as 99 per cent of items will eventually attract 18 India-China conflict, as it was fiction per cent or lower rate of goods and services tax (GST), blended with facts. Awith only sin or luxury items being taxed at the highest rate of 28 per cent, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on December 17. At present, 39 of 1,378 tariff categories are taxed at 28 per cent. Speaking at the Republic Summit in Mumbai, Modi said, “GST has given the society and entrepreneurs a simple and efficient tax system free of inspector raj. Broad-based consultations have led to changes in GST over time. Today, it is settled to a large extent. We are reaching a situation where 99 per cent of items could be brought in 18 per cent GST rate or lower. We are going in the direction of leaving only luxury items or sin goods in the 28 per cent slab.” POWER CORRIDORS 6 JANUARY 2019 Happy New Year Republic Day 26 January WAS NEVER 'AFRAID OF TALKING TO THE PRESS': MANMOHAN SINGH n a thinly-veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Ipredecessor Manmohan Singh has BUSH SR., WHO SAW USSR said that he (Singh) was never “afraid of talking to the press.” This was in GO DOWN, DIES reference to the fact that Modi has eorge Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st American president, never held a press conference since died recently at the age of 94. He was also the father of the entering the top office. G43rd president, George Walker Bush. Bush Sr. outlived his Speaking after the launch of his book wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush, by eight months. Changing India in Delhi on December The deceased president (1989-93) was at the helm of affairs 17, Singh said, “People say I was a at critical moments of history—the collapse of the Soviet Union silent prime minister, but I think and the Eastern Bloc, and the first gulf war. A decorated Navy pilot these volumes [his book Changing who fought World War II, he was known for his bureaucratic and India] speak for themselves.

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