I AND MY WORDS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has always exhibited a humanitarian side to its pragmatic foreign policy. While emerging as a global player, India continues to help countries in times of emergency and concern, be it Nepal, Sri Lanka or the recent case of Madagascar. The humanitarian effort does not stop there though – India has not offered to evacuate Pakistani students stuck in Wuhan, China, due to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic. Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told the media that India will consider evacuating Pakistani students if Pakistan PM Imran Khan-led government's requests for the same. "No such request has been received by us from the government of Pakistan. But if such a situation arises and keeping in mind the resources available, we can look into it," he said. https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1225374140150013953 PAKISTAN CHOOSES TO ABANDON ITS CITIZENS It comes at a time when Pakistan’s government had refused to airlift st...

INDICATOR UPA Era Statistics NDA Era Statistics Consumer Price Index (NS) growth average Also see: http://164.100.34.62:8080/Inflation_CurrentSeries_2012.aspx (CSO) 10.4% (2009-14) 4.3% (2014 to 2019-20) Forex reserves (US$ billion/₹ billion) 312 / 18,324 (23 May 2014) 419 / 29,240 (31 May 2019) S&P BSE Sensex 22,344 (8 May 2014) 38,564 (1 May 2019) Private FDI Equity Inflows (US$ billion) (calendar year basis) 177 (2006-2013) 237 (2014-Sept 2019) GDP in whole numbers (₹ crore) 1,05,27,674 (2014-15) 14077586 (2018-19) New firm registration growth rate 3.8 % (2006-2014) 12.2% (2014-2018) NPA recovery ₹35,000 crore ₹70,000 crore A reality check for all those who think the economy is slow. By the way, 8 year overall high on manufacturing and services, 3 consecutive months of ₹1,00,000 crore plus GST collection...

Nahida Imtiaz After She Returned Home in 1991 (courtesy: India Today) Those following the issue of terrorism in the Kashmir valley may recall the infamous 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiyya Sayeed, the daughter of then Home Minister of India and later Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. The harrowing episode had resulted in the release of hardcore militants of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). However, little is discussed about another kidnapping that had happened, just two years later. The target this time was another prominent Kashmiri politician – Saifuddin Soz. THE TURBULENT SCENARIO On 27 February 1991, the Jammu and Kashmir Students' Liberation Front (JKSLF) kidnapped Nahida Imtiaz, the daughter of Saifuddin Soz. The JKSLF demanded the release of five terrorists put in jail by the security forces. At the time, Saifuddin Soz was a prominent leader of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference led at the time by Farooq Abdullah. The JKNC h...

Linguistic Map of Assam - courtesy Sagir Ahmed 2012 and 2014 were two years that brought bad memories about ethnic violence of the Bodoland regions of Assam. In both these cases, there was direct conflict between the Bodo tribal factions of the National Democratic Front for Bodoland and the Muslims in the region, leading to severe violence. Issues of victimization and the unfairness of the rehabilitation politics have plagued the discussion. However, for those who have followed Assam politics and culture, this was neither the first conflict, nor is it expected to be the last one. In 2007, there were raids made by Bodo guerilla groups on Adivasi populations of Assam, flaring up the Faultline further. In the first part of the series, there was discussion on the language-ethnicity faultlines that have caused much friction in Assam and had touched upon the various concerns on cultural concerns, with some socio-economic aspects causing the crisis. The piece was mostly centere...