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In this episode of Bharatvaarta podcast, Roshan engages with geopolitical experts Ruchir Sharma and Surya Kanegaonkar to discuss the ongoing political, social, and economic turmoil in Bangladesh following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's deposition. The experts examine the geopolitical interests and meddling of powers like the USA and China, rise of Islamist movements, and implications for India's security and foreign policy. Historical contexts and potential scenarios for Bangladesh's interim government are discussed, along with India's strategic response. Additionally, the conversation broadens to address the need for structural reforms in India, drawing parallels with countries like China, Yugoslavia, and Rwanda, and highlighting the risks of secessionism, federal architecture, and sovereignty. Topics:00:00 Sneak peak01:50 Introduction 03:46 Discussion on Bangladesh's Political Turmoil07:06 Economic Factors and Political Instability12:01 US Involvement and Regime Change28:30 China's Role and Regional Dynamics45:12 Historical Context and Current Implications01:02:14 History of Military Interventions01:04:15 Modern Geopolitical Dynamics01:07:50 India's Strategic Challenges01:11:00 Potential for Foreign Influence in India01:19:47 Economic and Political Reforms in India01:25:26 Lessons from Global Examples01:55:58 Future of India-Bangladesh Relations02:00:42 Conclusion and Final Thoughts Guest bio:Surya Kanegaonkar is a trader specializing in natural resources, geopolitics, and economics, with bylines in major publications like The Hindu and CNN News18. He is an alumnus of Imperial College and Warwick University, currently based in Zug, Switzerland. He is also a returning guest of the podcast.Twitter: https://x.com/suryakane Ruchir Sharma is an international affairs and social entrepreneurship expert across India and Europe and commentator in the media, having been quoted in the New York Times, and contributing to the Huffington Post, FirstPost, Swarajya, and Russia Insider, with a keen interest in the BRICS, European politics, and international terrorism. Ruchir is also a returning guest of the podcast.Twitter: https://x.com/ruchirsharma_1
The Portugese called her 'Raina de Pimenta' or 'The Pepper Queen'. Born to a commoner, married to a king, she ascended the throne after the untimely death of her husband. She not only defended herself against patriarchy, but also against a barrage of enemy armies. She is best known for being the only queen who defied Aurangzeb, took over the might of his army and successfully got him to sign a peace treaty. Child Co-hosts: Kiaansh (6th grader, Mumbai) and Sathwik (7th grader, Kolkata) Reference material: (a) Blog on Keladi Chennamma (b) Swarajya magazine (c) Video on how she gave Rajaram shelter (d) Amar Chitra Katha book on Keladi Chennamma (e) Book on Chennamma by Shantadevi Malwad (f) Book on Women who Ruled India by Archana Garodia Gupta
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In this podcast we cover - 1. A new framework for India, beyond the rough and tumble of partisan politics 2. History of Indian polity 3. The future of India and its people Harsh Gupta ‘Madhusudan' is an India-based public markets investor. He has written extensively on economics, finance and politics for Mint, Swarajya, The Wall Street Journal, The Indian Express and other publications.Harsh enrolled to study at IIT Delhi, before dropping out. He graduated from Dartmouth College with an AB degree in economics. He also holds an MBA from INSEAD. He is on Twitter @HarshMadhusudan. Rajeev Mantri is an India-based entrepreneur and investor, investing in public companies and early-stage technology ventures. He has contributed articles on political economy, technology, investing and entrepreneurship to Mint, Swarajya, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Indian Express and other publications. Rajeev graduated with a BS in materials science and engineering from Northwestern University, and an MBA from Columbia University, specialising in private equity and value investing. He is on Twitter @RMantri.
४ लाखांपेक्षा जास्त ची फौज, १४ कोटींचा खजिना घेऊन औरंगजेब महाराष्ट्रात उतरला. संभाजी राजांच वय वर्ष फक्त २३, सोबत मूठभर मावळे आणि समोर बादशाह औरंगजेब.... हि कथा आहे मराठ्यांच्या इतिहासाची, हि कथा आहे मराठ्यांच्या धाडसाची हि कथा आहे मुगलांना साडेपाच वर्ष झुंज देणाऱ्या रामशेज ची. गोष्टी तुमच्या आमच्या सादर करीत आहे रामशेज फितुरी कि युद्धनीती ...? *** किल्लेदारांच्या नावाच्या ३ नोंदी इतिहासात आढळतात काहींच्या मते किल्लेदार गोविंद गोपाळ गायकवाड हे होते तर काहींच्या मते सूर्याजी जेधे असं त्यांचं नाव होत, कमल गोखले यांच्या पुस्तकात किल्लेदारांचा रंभाजी पवार असा उल्लेख आढळतो, तर नवीन किल्लेदारांचे नाव येसाजी असल्याचे आढळते *** स्वराज्यासाठी, स्वाभिमानासाठी आणि माती साठी लढलेल्या मावळ्यांची शौर्यकथा सांगण्याचा हा एक प्रामाणिक प्रयत्न आहे. #marathe #shivajimaharaj #sambhajimaharaj #nasik #ramshej #mawale #swarajya #ganimikawa #killedar #war #yuddha #mugal #maranianimugal #marathe_vs_mugal #durg #dakhhan #swarajyarakshaksambhaji #swarajyarakshak #shivray #shivray_status #sambhajimaharajjayantistatus
१६४८ दरम्यान हिंदवी स्वराज्याची पहिली लढाई पुरंदर परिसरात झाली. या लढाईचे नेतृत्व सासवड नगरीचे संस्थापक तिर्थस्वरूप हरजीराजे जगताप यांचे वंशज सासवड- सूपा परगण्याचे सरनोबत महापराक्रमी सरदार श्रीमंत गोदाजीराजे जगताप यांच्याकडे होते. छत्रपती शिवाजीराजे पुरंदर किल्यावर असताना मोगल सरदार फत्तेखानच्या नेतृत्वाखाली बलदंड सरदार मुसेखान पुरंदरावर मोठ्या फौजेनिशी चालून आला. या घनघोर लढाईत सरदार बाजीकाका पासलकर सरदार सुभानराव शिळीमकर, पलजी गोते धारातीर्थी पडले. हे पाहून सरदार गोदाजीराजे जगताप रागाने लालबुंद होऊन थेट मुसेखानावर चालून गेले गोदाजी जगताप यांनी मुसेखानावर तलवारीने जोरदार प्रहार करून खांद्यापासून कमरेपर्यंत उभा फेकली केली ..आणि पहिल्या लढाईच्या विजयाचे मानकरी ठरले.गोदाजी जगताप त्यांचे नाव! पुरंदर युद्धात, फतेहखानाचा प्रमुख सरदार मोसेखानाला गोदाजींनी संपवले होते आणि स्वराज्यावर आलेल्या पहिल्याच आक्रमणात चमकदार कामगिरी केली होती.पुढेही कोल्हापूरजवळ झालेल्या, रनदुल्लाखान विरुद्धच्या लढाईत गोदाजींनी स्वराज्यसेनेच्या एका तुकडीचे नेतृत्व केले होते. त्यानंतर छत्रपती राजाराम महाराजांना रायगड सोडून जिंजीला जाताना मुघलांच्या कचाट्यातून वाचवण्याची मोठी कामगिरी गोदाजींनी पार पाडली होती. अशाप्रकारे स्वराज्याच्या तीन-तीन छत्रपतींसाठी रणांगणे गाजवणाऱ्या वीरांमधील एक होते गोदाजी जगताप!For centuries, the tradition of undertaking a pilgrimage to Pandharpur on foot, known as 'Vari', has been upheld. The Jagtap family of Saswad has played a crucial role in ensuring the safety of this pilgrimage route that passes through Saswad. Among the members of this family, Godaji Jagtap stood out as a young warrior who joined the Swarajya movement. He displayed remarkable valor in the Purandar war, where he killed MoseKhan, and in the first battle of Swarajya. He led a contingent of the Swarajya Army in a fierce battle against Randulla near Kolhapur. He also saved Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj from the clutches of the Mughals as he was escaping from Raigad. Godaji Jagtap was one of the esteemed heroes who fought for the three Chhatrapatis of Swarajya.
१६४८ दरम्यान हिंदवी स्वराज्याची पहिली लढाई पुरंदर परिसरात झाली. या लढाईचे नेतृत्व सासवड नगरीचे संस्थापक तिर्थस्वरूप हरजीराजे जगताप यांचे वंशज सासवड- सूपा परगण्याचे सरनोबत महापराक्रमी सरदार श्रीमंत गोदाजीराजे जगताप यांच्याकडे होते. छत्रपती शिवाजीराजे पुरंदर किल्यावर असताना मोगल सरदार फत्तेखानच्या नेतृत्वाखाली बलदंड सरदार मुसेखान पुरंदरावर मोठ्या फौजेनिशी चालून आला. या घनघोर लढाईत सरदार बाजीकाका पासलकर सरदार सुभानराव शिळीमकर, पलजी गोते धारातीर्थी पडले. हे पाहून सरदार गोदाजीराजे जगताप रागाने लालबुंद होऊन थेट मुसेखानावर चालून गेले गोदाजी जगताप यांनी मुसेखानावर तलवारीने जोरदार प्रहार करून खांद्यापासून कमरेपर्यंत उभा फेकली केली ..आणि पहिल्या लढाईच्या विजयाचे मानकरी ठरले.गोदाजी जगताप त्यांचे नाव! पुरंदर युद्धात, फतेहखानाचा प्रमुख सरदार मोसेखानाला गोदाजींनी संपवले होते आणि स्वराज्यावर आलेल्या पहिल्याच आक्रमणात चमकदार कामगिरी केली होती.पुढेही कोल्हापूरजवळ झालेल्या, रनदुल्लाखान विरुद्धच्या लढाईत गोदाजींनी स्वराज्यसेनेच्या एका तुकडीचे नेतृत्व केले होते. त्यानंतर छत्रपती राजाराम महाराजांना रायगड सोडून जिंजीला जाताना मुघलांच्या कचाट्यातून वाचवण्याची मोठी कामगिरी गोदाजींनी पार पाडली होती. अशाप्रकारे स्वराज्याच्या तीन-तीन छत्रपतींसाठी रणांगणे गाजवणाऱ्या वीरांमधील एक होते गोदाजी जगताप!For centuries, the tradition of undertaking a pilgrimage to Pandharpur on foot, known as 'Vari', has been upheld. The Jagtap family of Saswad has played a crucial role in ensuring the safety of this pilgrimage route that passes through Saswad. Among the members of this family, Godaji Jagtap stood out as a young warrior who joined the Swarajya movement. He displayed remarkable valor in the Purandar war, where he killed MoseKhan, and in the first battle of Swarajya. He led a contingent of the Swarajya Army in a fierce battle against Randulla near Kolhapur. He also saved Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj from the clutches of the Mughals as he was escaping from Raigad. Godaji Jagtap was one of the esteemed heroes who fought for the three Chhatrapatis of Swarajya.
R. Jagannathan has been at the forefront of Indian journalism for well over four and a half decades. Currently the Editorial Director of Swarajya magazine, he has been part of many launch teams, including Business Today, DNA and Firstpost.com. He headed and revamped many business publications, such as Financial Express, Indian Management, Business World and Forbes India. He started his career with Financial Express in Mumbai. His recent focus has been on digital commentary and journalism, including commentary on Hindutva and dharmic ideology. He was awarded the Shriram Sanlam Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. His first book was 'The Jobs Crisis in India'.
A version of this essay was published by thepamphlet.in at https://www.thepamphlet.in/en/shadow-warrior-a-deplorable-supreme-court-decision-on-demonetization/The Supreme Court, in a 4:1 judgment, held that the 2016 Demonetization was acceptable. The dissenting judge, well, dissented, saying that it was flawed. This decision sets an awful precedent that will come back to haunt us all, and the judiciary is respectful of precedent. The law of unintended consequences will strike.It is not that demonetization per se was a bad idea, or that it was executed poorly, or that its goals were not met. It was a pretty good idea, it was executed moderately well, and the declared goals, to reduce corruption, terror funding through counterfeit notes, and to increase the proportion of ‘white' money in circulation, were met to an extent. No, the problem is twofold: one, an unprecedented and unwarranted level of judicial overreach and encroachment into the domain of the Executive; two, the common sense principle of fait accompli: this is a done deal, and it is essentially impossible to undo it. The point is that the judiciary has its role, which is in hair-splitting legal jargon and in particular the verbiage of the Constitution. With all due respect, judges are not trained in other disciplines, and would be hard-pressed to understand economics, or engineering, or medicine, or military affairs. They simply will not be able to make judicious decisions (to give them credit, the majority opinion did concede this). But then, they should not take up such cases in the first place. I can imagine motivated petitioners waiting in the wings to now ask the Supreme Court to undo the 1971 Bangladesh War, the decision to impose covid-related mandates, or the Mangalyaan space probe. In fact, you could find somebody to make a cogent argument that the Constitution should not have been accepted in 1950, and that it should be rolled back. There is no end to such litigation, and if it is allowed to proliferate, it would clog up the entire judiciary. Of course, the entire judiciary is already clogged up with 30 million cases, so why open the flood-gates and invite more frivolous litigation?As for the law of unintended consequences, there is the recent experience of the Democrats in the US. After years of claiming ex-President Trump's tax returns would reveal deep, dark secrets, they forced him to reveal them: and it was a damp squib, with nothing of significance, no tax evasion. But the precedent has been set, and the Republicans will now use this to harass every Democrat alleging skeletons in their tax closets. The Indian Supreme Court should stick to its fundamental task: interpreting the Constitution. Not being a lawyer, I cannot say authoritatively that there is no constitutional issue in the anti-demonetization lawsuit, but I doubt it. It is a purely administrative issue, and thus the domain of the Executive, just as making a multitude of daily decisions is. The activist Indian courts have long been accused of interfering in everything while at the same time creating cozy little fiefdoms for themselves, for instance in the continuous creation of post-retirement sinecures for judges, the most recent being the demand that retired judges should be on the committee choosing the Chief Election Commissioner.The most obvious example of bad faith is the judiciary's closed and opaque Collegium system, wherein they nominate and appoint themselves, with the predictable result of nepotism and hereditary elites. It is high time that Parliament put a stop to this, and created new laws that mandate a role for the Executive. The proposed NJAC could be one way forward. If the NJAC is unconstitutional, well then, bring in a constitutional amendment. Many people have talked about judicial reforms; I too took a stab at it a few years ago (“Can we fix the deeply troubled judiciary?” Swarajya, May 2018). One of my points was the radical restructuring of the system into a Supreme Court that only hears constitutional cases, and a new set of regional Courts of Appeal, with status almost equivalent to the Supreme Court, that hear other things beyond the ken of state High Courts. There is a serious concern about which cases the Supreme Court chooses to hear. At the moment, it appears whimsical. Why on earth would the SC hear cases about cricket, which is a mere entertainment? Why on earth would the SC not hear petitions about the 1990s ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus (it has refused to do so three times already).The terror onslaught in Jammu and Kashmir is not history. We saw with horror the terrorist attack on Hindus in Jammu's Rajouri just days ago, where the attackers reportedly identified Hindus by their Aadhar cards, and then shot them. This is an urgent, ongoing problem, and why does the court refuse to hear it, while at the same time accepting a case on the 1948 assassination of Mahatma Gandhi? Next, someone will file a PIL demanding the undoing of that assassination.Why does the SC accept PILs (Public Interest Litigations) put up by motivated NGOs, often with foreign funding? These people are able to get, through the back door, rapid decisions that affect the entire country, whereas the cases should properly be heard at the local level in District Courts, and only be elevated to the Supreme Court through a proper process if they actually have merit.Apart from this, some actions are virtually impossible to undo: time and tide wait for no man. How could the SC, like King Canute who ordered the waves to retreat, even possibly consider the undoing of demonetization? How will it be done? What about the major moves in digitization that resulted, the UPI revolution, the trillions of rupees flowing through a payment system that is now ubiquitous and available to anyone with a mobile phone?India has now become one of the most digitally connected countries in the world, but the amount of cash in the system is now even greater than at the time of demonetization. Can the court explain why? So it is not as though cash suddenly disappeared. Yes, there was a temporary crunch, and yes, it was hardship for many, but on average, most people have recovered.Malign NGOs have continually opposed national interests: remember Sterlite? Or the Sardar Sarovar dam? By accepting a plea that was clearly inappropriate, probably politically motivated, and in any case something that would be virtually impossible to undo, the Supreme Court has set a poor precedent. The Indian judiciary acts as a law unto itself, unaccountable to anybody else. This is wrong. As the President and the Vice President mentioned recently, it is time the judiciary reformed itself. I suspect it will have to be done forcibly, not voluntarily.1090 words, 3 Jan 2023 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com
Aravindan Neelakandan is a co-author of the hugely successful and bestseller book, Breaking India. He has done a Cultural Economics project from the Junior Research Fellowship from Department of Culture, Government of India on the ruins of Kanyakumari district and has field experience of culture conservation. His best seller book, ‘Breaking India' explores the historical development of fabricated fault lines threatening the unity of India. Other books authored by him in Tamil explore culture, history, science and technology. As the contributing editor of Swarajya he focuses mainly on culture, science, philosophy of science and history. His latest book 'Hindutva: Origins, Evolution & Future' is out. You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.in/Hindutva-Origin-Evolution-Aravindan-Neelakandan/dp/9392209061/ref=sr_1_1?crid=27HV5V5FF3NG8&keywords=aravindan+neelakandan&qid=1670596168&s=books&sprefix=aravindan%2Cstripbooks%2C210&sr=1-1
IANR 2243 102222 Line Up Here's the guest line-up for Sat, Oct 22, 2022 from 4 to 6pm CST on Indo American News Radio (www.IndoAmerican-news.com), a production of Indo American News. We are on 98.7 FM and you can also listen on the masalaradio app (www.masalaradio.com) By Monday, hear the recorded show on Podcast uploaded on Spotify, Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/indo-american-news-radio-houston-tx/id1512586620 ) Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Radio Public and Breaker. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE PODCAST CHANNEL TO BE NOTIFIED OF NEW UPDATES. THEN JUST CLICK TO LISTEN!! 4:20 pm October is Domestic Violence Awareness month and the Harris County District Attorney's office is holding panel discussions and other events to bring attention to the issue which results in many needless injuries and deaths each year. Leeja Thomas is the Asst Director of Family Violence ServIces at the DA's office and joins us today to share more about this terrible problem and what could be done to stem it. 5:00 pm Much of the history of India has been written from the perspective of the last two Empires that ruled a fragmented subcontinent: the Mughals and the British. Many of the heroic tales of kingdoms that sought their own independence and held back attacks from marauding forces has been lost. After his retirement, Kiran Ketkar has sought to correct this and narrate true facts of Maratha history. He joins us in the studio today to tell us about his book “Swarajya and Samrajya”. 5:20 pm This Diwali season several McDonald's locations in the Dallas, Northern Virginia and the Chicago areas have decided to offer a unique drive-thru experience. In addition, McDonald's has developed a digital profile for Diwali. They turned to New York City designer Megha Rao to develop rangoli designs for this campaign. Megha joins us by phone to explain more about this first-of-a-kind campaign. Also stay tuned in for news roundup, views, sports and movie reviews TO BE FEATURED ON THE SHOW, OR TO ADVERTISE, PLEASE CONTACT US AT 713-789-6397 or at indoamericannews@yahoo.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/indo-american-news-radio/support
Shaunak Agarkhedkar is the author of acclaimed spy thriller ‘Let Bhutto Eat Grass', and its sequels. He also runs a newsletter focused on short stories about espionage all over the world. In this episode, hosted by Sharan Setty, they delve into topics such as the reality of spy work, how spies function in India, information-gathering techniques before the Internet Age, the US' position on various Indo-Pakistani interactions, and more. Shaunak's Substack: https://substack.com/profile/12083892-shaunak-agarkhedkarShaunak's profile on Amazon: https://www.amazon.in/Shaunak-Agarkhedkar/e/B074VB5LK3?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1664141425&sr=1-1 Join this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfBfBd-1kvCOPxVll8tBJ9Q/join
Aashish Chandorkar is a Public Policy Commentator, Entrepreneur, and Management Consultant who has been published in leading media publications like BBC, Times of India, Economic Times, Swarajya, and more. Aashish has a deep interest on trade, geopolitics, and industrial policy. Join this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfBf... 0:00 - Sneak peek1:07 - Introductions1:50 - Why is trade important for economy?4:31 - Post-COVID trade and how India can improve exports9:06 - Role of old trade linkages in the modern world21:03 - India in comparision to growth of other Asian countries24:10 - Import substitution explained25:47 - The role of global trade organizations29:26 - Constraints that international trade organizations have to handle37:20 - Companies that have benefited from joining international trade organizations38:19 - India's position in global trade today40:10 - Significance of FTAs for international trade41:51 - Optimism for India's trade growth45:35 - Closing comments47:15 - Conclusion
Two Conceptions of Creator | Hindavi Swarajya | #SangamTalks | SrijanTalks
#HinduDialogues: Shivaji Maharaj's Hindavi Swarajya: Re-Imagining India as #DharamRajya | Shankara B SrijanTalks
Monkey hunters accidentally shoot tranquilizer into woman who reported rogue ape They missed the target by a few million years of evolution. A monkey hunting mission backfired spectacularly after a bumbling gunman accidentally shot a woman with a tranquilizer dart — knocking her out for an hour. The comedy of errors was set in motion after reports surfaced of a Japanese macaque — also known as a snow monkey — lurking near Fujikawa Station in Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture, SoraNews24 reported. In response, the city hall dispatched three municipal employees and one simian-hunting specialist equipped with tranquilizer rifles to apprehend the rogue ape. Unfortunately, their monkey hunting mission turned catastrophic after one of the gunmen accidentally shot a woman they were interviewing about the fugitive primate. Reports state that the hunters were taping their rifles to avoid air escaping, whereupon one of the bozos accidentally discharged their weapon. As a result, the hapless woman was struck in the arm with a dart — which was reportedly packed with enough sedative to subdue a 33-pound money — putting her out like a light. Following the ludicrous misfire, the victim was rushed to the hospital, where she awoke an hour later, Sora reported. However, it took another full hour before the patient was lucid enough to speak coherently. The Fuji government has since apologized to the woman and has pledged an investigation and policy review to avoid another such disaster. Unfortunately — albeit perhaps unsurprisingly — the problem macaque remains at large. Philly EMT Kevin Pressley charged with exposing and photographing ‘semi-conscious' woman's breasts Pennsylvania police announced on Monday that an EMT is facing charges after allegedly exposing a “semi-conscious” woman under his care in the back of an ambulance and snapping photos of her breasts. Kevin Hakeem Pressley, 24, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was taken into custody on Saturday and is charged with indecent assault, invasion of privacy and related charges. The Brookhaven Borough Police Department said it initiated an investigation Friday into an alleged assault that occurred the day prior. The victim reported that she was being treated at a medical facility in Brookhaven when she became “semi-conscious.” An ambulance arrived, and during transport, Pressley — while caring for the victim in the back of the ambulance — reportedly exposed the woman's breasts and took photos of her while she was in a “semi-conscious state.” Pressley was employed as an EMT by the Brookhavan Fire Company Ambulance at the time of the alleged incident. He has since been arraigned, and his bail is set at $100,000 cash. Indian teen dies after being set on fire by alleged stalker she rejected A teenage girl in India has died after she was set on fire by an alleged stalker — who became irate when she rejected his marriage proposal. Ankita Singh, 19, was asleep in her bed near an open window around 4 a.m. August 23 when a man doused her body in gasoline and tossed a lit match, the BBC Hindi reported. Singh was rushed to the hospital with severe burns but died Sunday as a result of the heinous attack. Before she died from her injuries, Singh identified the man as Shahrukh Hussain, telling authorities he had been following her and harassing her, the outlet said. The teen described how Hussain called her about 8 p.m. the night before and “told me that he would kill me if I did not talk to him.” “I informed my father about the threat after which he assured me that he would talk to the man's family on Tuesday,” she told cops, according to the Mirror. She then described waking up to “a sensation of pain on my back” and “could smell something burning.” “I found [Hussain] running away when I opened my eyes,” she told authorities. Two videos of Singh in the hospital have since gone viral online, causing uproar in India. She suffered burns to 45% of her body. The teen's father, Sanjeev Singh, confirmed that Hussain lived in their neighborhood. He said the man's unwanted attention sometimes forced his daughter to miss school. “Shahrukh used to tell her— ‘Marry me, accept Islam, else I will make your life hell,' ” he told Swarajya magazine. “He kept on forcing my daughter to marry and convert for months. He was a one-sided lover, a stalker.” Police arrested Hussain and an accomplice last week. Both men are reportedly facing murder charges. Singh's death sparked outrage across Hindu-majority Jharkhand. Amber Lakra, the police superintendent of Dumka, told the BBC that while the crime is not considered religious in nature, “[police] are being especially vigilant as the boy and girl belong to different religions.” In the days following Singh's death, several politicians took to social media to express their disgust at Hussain's actions. “After the crafty meted out to Ankita, her death has made every Indian bow their heads in shame,” Rahul Gandhi, a leader in the Indian National Congress and prominent advocate for women's rights, tweeted Tuesday. “Today there is a dire need to create a safe environment for women in the country.” Mithilesh Kumar Thakur, a politician in Jharkhand, urged the public not to assign undue blame to the killer's religion. “The criminal has neither any caste nor any religion,” he tweeted Monday. “He is cruel, unrighteous, impure and inferior. The killer of daughter Ankita should be near the noose soon … Our government will make all such legal efforts.” Wild moment kidnapping suspect tries to stab cop with pen in interrogation room Frightening video shows an Ohio man suspected of attempting to kidnap a child from a kindergarten lunging at an officer in the interrogation room and trying to stab him in the neck with a pen. Reid Duran, 35, was arrested last week after allegedly posing as a parent during an open house at Saint Brigid School in Xenia. The school's principal spotted Duran acting in an odd manner on the premises and called 911 to report a trespasser, telling the dispatcher that the intruder was “posing a threat,” reported the station WHIO. Officers who responded to the school questioned Duran in the parking lot. The man was said to have initially offered an array of explanations for his attending the open house but eventually admitted his plan to lure a young child with drug-laced candy, police said. Duran agreed to come down to the local police station for an interview and was sitting in an interrogation room when the pen attack occurred. Surveillance video from the room shows Duran sitting in a swivel chair, before suddenly grabbing a pen from the table in front of him and charging officer Nicholas Peters, “with the sharp end pointed at the neck and face area” of the cop, according to court documents. Peters is seen pushing the pen-wielding suspect to the floor and quickly gaining the upper hand during the ensuing struggle. “Put your hands behind your back now,” Peters orders Duran. “Are you f—ing kidding me right now?” Duran has been charged with attempted kidnapping, felonious assault and escape, reported Dayton247Now. According to police, Duran told detectives that he had plotted to abduct a 5-year-old girl from the school, after offering her Starburst candy coated with a tranquilizer, “to obtain sexual favors.” Duran also allegedly claimed that he preferred children younger than 13 years old and had child pornography on his computer, according to Fox 19. Xenia police said in a statement that no tranquilizers were detected on candy that was found in Duran's possession at the time of his arrest, and that the man did not offer sweets to anyone at the school. Duran is being held in the county jail without bond. Duran's family spoke to NBC News on Friday, claiming that the 35-year-old has been suffering from schizophrenia for several years, but that he has never been violent toward others. “He's very gentle and considerate to others,” Roy Duran said of his jailed younger brother. “The harm is always insular and against himself.” The man's mother, Melissa King, said that what she has seen in the interrogation room surveillance footage was unlike her son. “I think he began to feel scared and he's cornered,” she said. “I just know he's not in his right mind. He needs psychiatric help.” Ohio woman whose dad fatally shot ex-boyfriend says victim ‘changed' after split The Ohio woman whose ex-boyfriend was gunned down by her dad — a moment caught on chilling Ring doorbell footage — told cops the fatal victim was verbally abusive and “changed” after they broke up. James Rayl, 22, died from a gunshot wound to the back after attempting to force his way into the Sydney, Ohio, home of 52-year-old Mitchell Duckro on July 31, as seen in the viral video. A grand jury subsequently voted 8-1 against indicting Duckro for Rayl's killing, citing the state's “State Your Ground” laws. During a videotaped interview with police detectives after the shooting, first obtained by Daily Mail, Allyson Duckro explained that she and Rayl had previously been in a relationship but split up in 2019 because she said he was “just being a d—” and would tell her “everything that was wrong with me.” She added, “He would say that no one was going to love me anymore.” Following the couple's breakup, Allyson told the police that she blocked Rayl on social media. The 22-year-old woman said that at one point, Rayl had relocated to California, but when he returned to Ohio, “he was just different.” “His close friends … he just started treating like crap and nobody wanted to deal with it,” Allyson claimed. According to the woman, she and Rayl would take acid while they were dating, but she said she did not know if he was still using illicit drugs around the time of his death, because she had not been in contact with him. Allyson also recounted the events that immediately preceded the bloodshed. 00:16 She said that when she saw the glass on the front door break and the doorframe give way as Rayl was ramming it with his shoulder, she “freaked out and ran and hid.” “I didn't even see when [Mitchell Duckro] shot or anything, I just heard it,” the daughter recalled. “I literally hid most of the time. I screamed a bunch, and then I really started freaking out.” The night before the shooting, Rayl had left a voicemail for Allyson, which was released earlier this month by the man's sister, who has been leading a campaign demanding justice for her brother. “Hi Ally, it's James,” Rayl says softly on the recording. “I just wanted to reach out to you because I just wanted to see how you're doing, and maybe hear from you, if that would be all right, I guess. “It's been a while since I've talked to you and I don't know, I feel like, I don't know what I feel.” Allyson and her family claimed she was scared after hearing her ex-boyfriend's message. In a 911 audio recording from the day of the shooting, which has been obtained by WHIO-TV 7, Allyson is heard telling her father that Rayl is trying to break down the door. The Ring video shows the man standing on the Duckro family's front porch and repeatedly slamming his body against the door after being told by her father to go away. At one point, Mitchell Duckro warns the unwelcome guest that he is armed. “Dad, is he trying to kill me?” Allyson could be heard saying on the 911 call. After Duckro shoots at Rayl three times, leaving him for dead in a walkway outside the house, his daughter is heard telling him, “Dad, there's nothing you could have done. You saved my life,” according to the station. During an interview with the police after the fact, Allyson's mother, Stacie Duckro, tearfully said her daughter was “terrified” as she watched Rayl trying to break into their home. “He tried to get my daughter,” the mom argued. But she also spared a thought for the deceased man and his loved ones, saying, “I can't imagine what his parents are going through.” Rayl's family has reacted with outrage to the news that Duckro will not be held accountable for the shooting and launched a Facebook page demanding justice. “Mitch shot him in the back and killed him,” Rayl's sister Jessica Colbert wrote in a recent post. “I hope your days are more miserable than they've ever been. You're a disgusting excuse of a human being along with your daughter.”
A version of this essay was published by Swarajya magazine at https://swarajyamag.com/world/does-roe-v-wade-foreshadow-the-end-of-the-american-dreamThere are only two US Supreme Court judgments deemed epoch-making enough to be called ‘landmark’ every time they are mentioned. One is Roe v Wade, and the other is Brown v Board of Education. Both favorite liberal causes, one about abortion and therefore about womens’ rights; the second about ending systemic black segregation in education, which had a signal impact on the rest of their Civil Rights movement. On the face of it, both were unexceptionably positive. Roe surely reduced the number of young women bleeding to death when some backstreet quack terminated their pregnancies with a coat-hanger. Brown made it possible to end the ‘separate-but-equal’ idea of racial segregation. When the SCOTUS overturned Roe v Wade recently, that was another landmark. There are legitimate questions as to whether things have regressed badly in the US: the worry is that whatever women have managed to achieve over a century, in what is frankly a conservative Abrahamic patriarchy, is suddenly in jeopardy. Is the US going back to Stepford Wives and suffragettes struggling for the vote?It is also true that despite decades of protests and hard work, and Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem, the American woman still has miles to go. Despite the Pill and the sexual revolution and equal rights, I believe the average woman gets paid only about 70-80% of what an average man gets paid for the same job: not very different from the Biblical worth of 30 shekels to a man’s 50. Vast numbers of women struggle in single-parent households. Curiously, American women, despite failure. bravely export their feminism. This is a sort of recursive feudalism, where white men and white countries treat white women and non-white (‘Third World’) countries as lower castes they are entitled to dominate. And the white women market their nostrums to Third World women as the ‘White Woman’s Burden’. An entire cottage industry of grifters and true believers is now offering these panaceas to India.. What is bizarre is that Professor S N Balagangadhara in “What Does It Mean to be an Indian?” pointed out that this is all old hat for Indians. India has been suffering from a surfeit of identity politics for half a century and the results are not pretty.This stuff is not going to end well for the US. But it’s also true that their framing of issues elsewhere is laughable: and here’s a sarcastic take on the kind of breathless negativity the US media applies to other countries. The US Supreme Court is providing a backlash to an excessive move to the Left by the entire political class. That is a benign interpretation. There is a more malign interpretation of a wholesale retrogression by the Court (and some politicians) that will take the US back to some benighted era of racism, bigotry and unabashed patriarchy. The fact is that the SCOTUS has in quick succession issued several significant rulings: Roe, then it refused to curtail gun rights, and most recently, it ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency cannot regulate greenhouse-gas emissions that cause climate change. In a single week, it has hit three of the Left’s hot buttons: abortion, guns, and climate change.This may suggest a sharp ideological shift engendered by ex-POTUS Trump “packing the court”. In that case, given SCOTUS judges don’t retire until they die or quit, the Left is in for a long dry spell. Which is a good thing. They have driven the average US voter to distraction with their gender antics, climate fanaticism, law and order craziness, victimhood narratives, fiscal imprudence, and tendency to go to war on what appears to be a whim.Therefore, if it is a useful corrective to deranged Left certainties, it should be welcomed. On the other hand, some observers, including Indians living in the US, have painted a darker picture of regression to some mythical golden past, which would have been golden mostly for white males. I defer to Indian-Americans on this as they live it, and two of them I follow had warnings for all of us. The first, a finance man, wondered if the US will revert to a point where immigrants, especially non-whites, would not be welcome. It reminded me of the 1900-era decisions that a) offered citizenship only to ‘Caucasians’ to exclude Chinese, and b) when some Indians got naturalized on the basis of being ‘Caucasians’, they amended the rule to restrict it to ‘white Caucasians’, thereafter revoking their citizenship.The second, a journalist, painted a picture where the coastal ‘liberals’ were being overwhelmed by rural, white, working-class voters (he didn’t call them that, but he did mean ‘rednecks’). Both are voicing a concern that cannot be ignored. There were, for example, the shooting deaths of two Indian-Americans in their new SUVs just this week: 25 year old Nakka Sai Charan on a freeway in Baltimore on June 22nd, and 31 year old Satnam Singh, in Queens, New York on June 28th. I also remember a spate of shootings of Telugu-speakers in the US a few years ago.An America that reverts to its undeniably brutal and racist past would be extremely unfortunate. Its soft power will diminish, and its standing in the world will diminish as a result. Its institutions, including the SCOTUS, have been held up as role-models all over the world. They all seem to be under attack: e.g., the SCOTUS, once held in breathless reverence, is now being berated by many Americans on the Left.The Federal Reserve is another. I remember times when its chairmen like Paul Volcker and Alan Greenspan were spoken of in hushed tones, and their every utterance was pored over as though they were magic incantations that had the power to move markets. Many observers treated them as though they were as inscrutable as the Kremlin or the Forbidden City in Beijing.Greenspan’s reputation was ruined after the 2008 crash; and now, along with POTUS Biden, the hapless Jerome Powell, and his immediate predecessors are all being criticized for having failed to anticipate or prevent roaring inflation, and it is feared, an imminent Recession. The NIH, FDA and other medical bureaucracies also suffered loss of face as the result of the Wuhan virus. Francis Collins and especially Anthony Fauci were accused of gross irregularities including being on the payroll of Big Pharma, and of secretly funding biowarfare research (‘gain of function’) in Wuhan. Like The Lancet and the NEJM, they too suffered loss of credibility.If one were to extrapolate from all this, it seems like a fin-de-siecle malaise is afflicting all of America. Is it really the end of the American Century, despite its extraordinary endowment, with all the resources of a vast continent, and its human resources constantly renewed by the best and brightest from around the world? As someone who loves the US, I hope this isn’t so. I hope this is a passing phase brought on by bad politics and the military-industrial complex. I really hope this is not the end of the American Dream. 1173 words, 30 June 2022 This is a public episode. 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PANELISTSDr. Ishtiaq Ahmed #DrIshtiaqahmed @Ishtiaqahmed Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Stockholm University and Author. He is the Editor-in-General of the "Liberal Arts & Social Sciences International Journal (LASSIJ)". Dr. Sucheta Mahajan #DrsuchetamahajanProfessor & Former Chairperson, Center For Historical Studies, JNU. Her publications include Towards Freedom: Documents on India's Freedom Struggle, 1947, parts one and two (editor), 2013 and 2015; Independence and Partition: The Erosion of Colonial Power in India (2000) and India's Struggle for Independence (with Bipan Chandra et al),1988.Dr. Masood Ashraf Raja #Masoodashrafraja @PostcolonialismAssociate professor of postcolonial literature and theory at the University of North Texas. He is the editor of Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies, an open access journal that he founded in 2009.Sudheendra Kulkarni #sudheendrakulkarniIndian politician, Socio-Political Activist, Author and columnist. Author of "MUSIC OF THE SPINNING WHEEL: Mahatma Gandhi's Manifesto for the Internet Age". Abhijit Chavda #abhijitchavda #askabhijit @abhijitchavdaFounder & Host of, The Abhijit Chavda Podcast. He is also a writer and researcher of history and geopolitics. Abhijit writes articles for several publications including Swarajya, IndiaFacts, MyNation, the Deccan Chronicle and the Asian Age.SYNOPSIS:The #Partition of India was one of the most tragic events experienced by humanity in modern times. It is estimated that one million people were killed and 12 million made homeless. Painful loss of family members and loved ones to mindless violence have left the collective memories scarred on both sides of the border created by the Partition. Even as we approach 75 years since this momentous event people have never ceased wondering and questioning ‘what if'. The reasons that led to the Partition and its very legitimacy continue to remain highly contested. While many accuse #independenceleaders such as #Gandhi and #Nehru, others lay the blame squarely on #British connivance and yet others trace the seeds of division in the birth of the #MuslimLeague. The defenders of each side claim their powerlessness in the face of the inevitable Partition. But was it really inevitable? DISCLAIMERWe invite thought leaders from across the ideological spectrum. The guests in our sessions express their independent views and opinions. Argumentative Indians does not profess to subscribe, agree or endorse the same or be in anyway responsible for the stance, words and comments of our guests.Explore More at - www.argumentativeindians.comDISCLAIMER:We invite thought leaders from across the ideological spectrum. The guests in our sessions express their independent views and opinions. Argumentative Indians does not profess to subscribe, agree or endorse the same or be in anyway responsible for the stance, words and comments of our guests.
A version of this essay was published by Swarajya magazine at https://swarajyamag.com/world/the-quad-will-china-dominate-the-indo-pacific-as-the-us-reverts-to-atlanticism-what-can-india-doA lot has happened in the last week or two: POTUS Biden’s visit to Japan for a Quad summit and related economic moves; China’s outreach to Pacific Islanders for security pacts; and the World Economic Forum pow-wow in Davos. In some sense, the Ukraine war and related disruptions have taken a back seat, even though related inflation and shortages are a long-term story. In my opinion, the Biden Administration is pursuing self-defeating policies as far as the Indo-Pacific is concerned. On the one hand, it may be because (as is the norm in India) one political party wants to undo whatever their rival had done when they were in power. On the other hand, there is a curious lack of historical memory about great-power games: the US seems to be either blase about, or reconciled to, Chinese domination of Asia/the Indo-Pacific. None of this is good as far as India is concerned. In a harsh analysis of India’s clashes on the Kashmir/Tibet border with China, two anonymous but trenchant critics suggest India has been defeated already: “China-India Border Crisis Has Quietly Resulted in Victory For Beijing’, based on the fact that the Chinese military buildup is well-nigh impossible for India to overcome.Thanks for reading Shadow Warrior! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Meanwhile, there is increasing criticism of American involvement in – indeed responsibility for – prolonging the Ukraine war, surprisingly from the pro-Democrat, pro-war pages of the New York Times: “The War in Ukraine May Be Impossible to Stop. And the US Deserves Most of the Blame.” A slightly dated (April 1) article on “The Military Situation in Ukraine” had already given a cogent explanation of how reality on the ground was vastly different from the narrative.What I fear is that Ukraine will become a quagmire for not only Russia, but also the US. As the NYT op-ed said, it’s not much of a leap from a proxy war to a secret war. The US is rather good at getting into unfortunate messes like this, and then having to declare victory and run like hell: see Vietnam or Afghanistan. Two brutal articles from Tablet magazine, “Three Big Questions That the American Establishment Got Wrong” and “Wingnuts vs. Factions: The two theories of American government—one fantasy, one reality” purport to show how making bad, often really bad, decisions is par for the course for US administrations, in particular Democrats. All this presages the possibility that Ukraine will be a tar baby for the US and its NATO allies, and a drain on their national treasuries. It also means that their national attention will be riveted on Russia and Ukraine for the foreseeable future, leaving China free to run rampant in Asia. Democratic Party power brokers are anyway Atlanticists fighting the Cold War all over again. Let us, therefore, consider the Indo-Pacific from a perspective where the US is increasingly hors de combat. There is this theory of the “three island chains” in the Pacific as first propounded by American John Foster Dulles, according to CSIS.org, which further states that today we have to add two more island chains in the Indian Ocean. John Foster Dulles is attributed with designating the islands stretching from the Kurils, the Japanese home islands, and the Ryukyus to Taiwan, the Philippines, and Indonesia as the “first island chain” in the 1950s. The second chain stretches from Japan through the Marianas and Micronesia, and the third is centered on Hawaii...The addition of a fourth and fifth chain in the Indian Ocean would better describe emerging Chinese maritime strategy. Chinese naval planners hope to deny adversaries the ability to operate within the first island chain during a conflict, contest control of the second island chain, and operate as a blue water navy within the third island chain. A new fourth island chain through the middle of the Indian Ocean would reflect China’s ability to challenge its geostrategic neighbor India with dual-use facilities in Gwadar, Pakistan, and Hambantota, Sri Lanka. A fifth island Chain, originating from China’s base at Doraleh, Djibouti, would reflect Beijing’s ability to pursue its developing commitments afar, such as harnessing economic resources, conducting anti-piracy operations, and protecting Chinese living abroad. [emphasis added]This is alarming, as the ‘fourth island chain’ is basically the ‘String of Pearls’ intended to strangle India and tie it down in the so-called ‘South Asia’, by negating its undoubted geographic advantage of straddling the sea lanes in the Indian Ocean. The Chinese submarine pen at Hainan in the South China Sea, with easy access to the Indian Ocean via the Straits of Malacca, is already a threat to Indian interests and blue-water navy aspirations. In addition, China is currently in the middle of a furious ship-building frenzy, so they will also have surface ships, including aircraft carriers, capable of projecting force a long way into the Indian Ocean. Just as they have done in the Himalayas, and the South China Sea, China is using ‘below-the-threshold of war’ tactics to build up its capability until one day its foes are forced to submit. Degringolade.POTUS Biden has made it clear that his administration has very little interest in Asia. He made three trips to Europe before his very first trip to Asia: a quick visit to Japan (and South Korea), where he attended a meeting of the Quad and a coming-out party for the newest American-mooted economic proposal, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. This seems to be too little, too late, after the US exited the Trans-Pacific Partnership.The IPEF also seems like a face-saving measure, and it is increasingly evident that Biden’s alleged new enthusiasm for Asia is as empty as earlier POTUS Obama’s botched ‘pivot to Asia’, which was a lot of hot air with no substance. I also remember with fury Obama’s granting of hegemony over ‘South Asia’ to China: like the Pope once divided the world between Portugal and Spain. As though Obama were dispensing papal bulls. As Indian geostrategist Brahma Chellaney suggests on Nikkei Asia in “Biden’s empty Taiwan rhetoric reveals Quad’s core weakness”, Biden’s statement about US military support for Taiwan in case of a Chinese invasion may be mere bravado. There are two reasons. The first is that, as Biden’s minions clarified after his alleged gaffe, US military involvement is not within the scope of US agreements with Taiwan and/or China, which maintain the fiction of “One China”. The second is that, given its diminished industrial capacity (China has hollowed it out), the US cannot fight two major wars at once: Ukraine and Taiwan. To emphasize their disdain for the alleged ‘pivot’, the Chinese sent strategic nuclear bombers towards Japan while Biden was there, accompanied by Russian bombers. As I write this, China has just sent 30 warplanes into Taiwan’s air defense zone. The signals are clear: they threaten to invade Taiwan. Thank you for reading Shadow Warrior. This post is public so feel free to share it.In the meantime, China is attempting to expand its footprint in the Indo-Pacific. It scored a coup with the Solomon Islands where it signed a wide-ranging agreement. According to a podcast from The Economist, a leaked draft shows that the agreement allows Chinese police and soldiers to be deployed in the Solomons for a broad range of reasons. It stops short of setting up a military base, but only just.Beyond this, Chinese FM Wang Yi had a blitzkrieg in the Pacific, visiting 8 island nations over 10 days, and on May 30th, he signed agreements in Fiji with a consortium of 10 of them. A draft talked about trade, tourism, security, training of police, forensic labs, and cyber-security, according to The Economist podcast Base Motives? China in the Pacific.The entire Belt and Road Initiative was a covert effort to gain access to ports, and turn them into Chinese military bases (although it has stalled a little now because of its predatory debt-trap diplomacy side-effects, as best seen in Sri Lanka). Beyond Djibouti in 2017, Gwadar and Hambantota, there are others like Cambodia’s Ream military base where China has facilities.China is also quite likely causing the sharp spike in global food prices. Economist Shamika Ravi tweeted as follows, and this is a good reason why India did a U-turn on wheat exports: instead of enabling Chinese proxies to buy it up, India will only do government to government deals. Thus the picture is of a diffident America shuffling off into Atlanticist and Anglosphere dead-ends like AUKUS (Britain brings almost nothing to the picture in the Indo-Pacific), while a more confident China is expanding its reach. Its saber rattling threatens Taiwan immediately, and India, Japan and South Korea more indirectly. The context of the Quad is also a far cry from what Abe Shinzo first envisaged as a tight military and economic alliance. It is pretty much a mere talking-shop. For instance, it is clear that none of Australia, Japan, or the US will send a single soldier to fight China on India’s behalf on the Kashmir/Tibet border. The creation of AUKUS (there are rumors about JAUKUS with Japan and CAUKUS with Canada as well) basically means India is being left out in the cold. Again. It has to depend on itself. Atmnirbharata. There is talk of a Quad-Plus, including South Korea and New Zealand. But not Vietnam and Indonesia, which are more significant? New Zealand, especially under woke Jacinda Ardern, is marginal; in fact Australia is also of little interest in the Indian Ocean. There is also political instability in Australia: Scott Morrison was replaced by Anthony Albanese overnight.I can remember at least five-six Australian PMs in the recent past, including die-hard Sinophile Kevin Rudd. How can you have continuity in such a situation? How can anybody depend on Australia to deliver on Quad? Similarly, Japanese PM Kishida Fumio is a far cry from the sensibly militaristic and nationalist Abe Shinzo. In the US, the switch from Donald Trump to Joe Biden has meant chaos regarding the Indo-Pacific. And after this November’s elections, it is likely that Biden will be a lame duck: his approval numbers keep hitting new lows, and hostile Republicans are likely to take over the Senate, leading to a war of attrition: bad news for foreign policy.In the middle of all this political turmoil, it is hard to imagine that the Quad is going to get better.Meanwhile, the developed nations of the West are merrily carrying on with their old agenda as in the Davos shindig, as though there is no end in sight for the party. Rana Foroohar of the Financial Times sounded a warning, as if one were necessary in the wake of the carnage of stock market crashes and soaring inflation. But no, laissez les bon temps rouler! Let the good times roll!And that’s exactly what India is up against. The rest of the world (with the possible exception of Japan) does not care. India has to assume it can only depend on itself, Quad or no Quad. It has to build up its military and economic muscle, and industrialize while keeping a low profile. The Thucydides Trap is a likely scenario, and presumably it will exhaust both the protagonists, leaving the door open for India to ascend to the G3 and then to the G1.1850 words, June 1, 2022 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com
A version of this essay was published by chanakya forum at https://chanakyaforum.com/infrastructure-in-the-deep-peninsula-for-national-security-and-self-reliance/A Swarajya report https://swarajyamag.com/infrastructure/vo-chidambaranar-port-to-expand-with-rs-7200-crore-project-to-compete-with-colombo-and-singapore-as-transhipment-hub about V O Chidambaram port in Thoothukkudi (Tuticorin), TN, and its plans to expand into a container trans-shipment port was interesting. It reminded me of a plan I have mooted for some time (without success so far) about building up logistics infra, industrial capacity and defense capability in the deep south. Briefly, India’s much-desired success as a manufacturing and export power will be compromised unless there is good transportation infrastructure for both bulk cargo and for high-value, low-weight industrial goods. Today, India’s container cargo is highly dependent on Colombo, Singapore and Dubai for trans-shipment (that is, transferring cargo from the giant motherships to smaller ships). If I am not mistaken, 25% of India’s containers transit through Colombo alone.Colombo, in fact, depends on India for over 70% of its business. Their existing East Terminal is Chinese-controlled; the proposed West Terminal is apparently taken up by India’s Adani group on a BOT basis. Nevertheless, it is possible to imagine that at a point of geo-political stress, as with Sri Lanka’s troubles today, or if the Chinese decide to embargo Indian containers (as they did without notice for exports of rare-earths to Japan), Indian trade could be badly affected. Thanks for reading Shadow Warrior! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The under-construction Vizhinjam port in Trivandrum, also controlled by Adani Ports, has a proposed capacity of 1.8 million TEUs in the first phase, and 5.3 million TEUs in the second phase. The proposed VOC container terminal at Thootthukkudi will have a capacity of 4 million TEUs. (A TEU or twenty-foot equivalent can be taken to be a single container for practical purposes).The right solution would be for these two ports to work in coordinated fashion, one on each side of the Peninsula, and not get into destructive competition. Image courtesy Swarajya Magazine.Road connectivity Image: Courtesy Google MapsRail connectivity (upto Tirunelveli), image courtesy Google MapsMy idea has been a railway line and an industrial corridor linking the two, which are roughly 200km apart by road. Both ports have their advantages, and together they can serve a significant hinterland, and the proposed developments between them can provide a measure of maritime security in an area that has been neglected so far, but will become increasingly critical.There are three aspects to it: connectivity, a focused industrial corridor, and security. Thank you for reading Shadow Warrior. This post is public so feel free to share it.Connectivity, shipping routes and trunk national rail and road linksVizhinjam has a multi-modal advantage: the port is only 15 km from a major international airport, Trivandrum, and both the port and the airport are controlled by Adani Ports, so that they could coordinate multi-modal shipment of goods, including at some point, inland waterway transport via National Waterway Three. Thoothukkudi airport is much smaller. But both are linked to the national trunk routes of the Golden Quadrilateral highways and railway lines passing through Tamil Nadu. So container traffic can be moved between the two with relatively little effort; also upcountry containers from/to Bangalore or Hyderabad or further inland can be moved with relative ease down to either of them without much trouble (the connectivity links for both to the trunk routes are either in place or are being built up).In terms of the shipping lanes in the Arabian Sea, Vizhinjam has the advantage, as it is only 10 nautical miles away from the main sea lanes. VOC is a bit of a diversion, and unless there is some incentive, very large container ships (12000+ TEU for instance) would hesitate to steam the additional nautical miles. Vizhinjam also has the advantage of draft (undredged 16m). However, the TN government is good at getting things done, so that’s Thoothukkudi’s advantage. Industrial corridorThere is a surprising industry that could well be the focus of this corridor: aerospace. There are Thumba and Valiyamala in Trivandrum where ISRO has major facilities, including the rocket-R&D facility named Liquid Propulsion Systems Center. There is Mahendragiri in TN’s Tirunelveli district where the rockets are tested at the ISRO Propulsion Complex. Finally the new launch pad is to come up in Kulasekharapattanam in Thoothukkudi dstrict, TN (as a supplement to Sriharikota). All these are within a stone’s throw of each other.The three could form the end nodes for a dedicated aerospace industry cluster. There is little room for manufacturing in congested Kerala (although the R&D can happen there), but it is possible to acquire large tracts of semi-arid land (this being a rain-shadow region, desalination plants may need to be set up) in Tamil Nadu. India must improve its aerospace industry, both defense and civilian.There was also talk of Airbus seeking a production facility abroad, but perhaps that opportunity has been lost. LPSC, Mahendragiri and Kulasekharapatnam of ISRO: Image courtesy Google MapsIndia has fallen behind in aerospace; even a developing country like Brazil has its Embraer, and there is no good reason India cannot have a thriving aircraft industry, perhaps in a niche, especially as civilian air traffic is expected to soar in coming years. In addition, Tejas and Dhruv have gained a measure of scale with induction into the armed forces, and Brahmos is even being exported (its production base is in Trivandrum now). This means an ecosystem of component suppliers has sprung up. There is no question that India needs to continue to develop its own defense systems, both aircraft and missile, as the possibility of damaging sanctions and technology denial has gone up. Atmanirbhar is key.Maritime defenseMost Indian defense installations have been designed with Pakistan in mind. Thus northwest India and the west coast have been the focus. However, the very real threat of Chinese intrusions into the Indian Ocean needs to be given much more focus now. The Chinese are showing every intent of dominating the Indian Ocean with both surface ships and submarines.China’s crown jewels (apart from its new aircraft carriers) are the contents of its submarine pen on Hainan island, near Vietnam’s Haiphong. There are increasing activities by submarines in India’s vicinity. India has little protection or early warning on its east coast. This is one of the reasons that there are new naval installations and long-range radars in the Andamans, which lie close to the mouth of the Straits of Malacca. It would be a good idea to set up an airbase with long-range radar in southern Tamil Nadu too, to keep an eye on what’s happening in the Bay of Bengal/Indian Ocean area. Besides, surveillance with Poseidon P8i type submarine hunter-killer aircraft could be useful. I remember when I worked in Mountain View, California, I could see from my office Orion P3i craft taking off and landing incessantly at Moffett Field. India does have important assets on its south-eastern seaboard. One example would be the Koodankulam nuclear plant. I suppose Kulasekharapatnam would also be a potential target for hostile forces. Sterlite would have been if only it hadn’t already been sabotaged. The deep south has not gotten its fair mind-share. It is time to change that, and in ways that will benefit the rest of the country through efficient trade networks, manufacturing clusters, and defense. 1200 words, 30 May 2022 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com
हंबीरराव मोहिते हे शिवाजी महाराजांच्या सैन्याचे प्रमुख लष्करी सेनापती होते. एक सक्षम लष्करी सेनापती, त्यांने शिवाजी महाराजांसाठी अनेक मोहिमा राबवल्या आणि नंतर संभाजी महाराजांच्या नेतृत्वाखाली काम केले. हा पॉडकास्ट या स्वराज्य नायकाच्या आयुष्यातील महत्त्वाच्या घटना टिपते. Hambirrao Mohite was the chief military commander of Shivaji Maharaj's army. An able military general, he executed several campaigns for Shivaji Maharaj and later served under Sambhaji Maharaj. The podcast captures important events in this Swarajya Hero's life.
On the birth anniversary of Chhatrapti Shambhaji Maharaj, Sanjay Dixit recounts his valour and commitment to Dharma, his literary and all round prowess, and why he was called Dharmaveer.
India Policy Watch #1: Love For PutinInsights on burning policy issues in India- RSJYou must have noticed a distinct anti-west, pro-Putin tone in the media outlets that toe the government’s line in India. The intellectual right has been busy with columns equivocating on who has to shoulder the blame for the war. What could be the reasons for this? There’s of course the strategic autonomy argument. We are dependent on Russia for our defence and oil requirements. It has been a reliable friend of ours in the past. And we cannot trust the US anyway. There’s also the added hypocrisy of western Europe which continues to trade gas with Russia while lecturing us on our purchase of oil. Everyone is looking out for their interests and so should we. It is best to keep equidistant from any particular formation and act as a ‘swing power’. Pranay has written in the past few editions on why strategic autonomy as a policy isn’t suited for the likely emerging world order. But that aside, you can somewhat understand the anti-west stance if its origins lie in the traditional suspicion of the west and reflexive desire to be non-aligned in the policy circle in India. But there’s more here. The anti-west stance is also about fighting the favourite imaginary global nexus of liberals and wokes. So, you will notice almost every television debate on Ukraine will devolve into some kind of liberal and Biden bashing. If you are so concerned about Ukraine, why don’t you put your troops on the ground instead of hectoring India - is the usual line taken by anchors. Implicit in it is some kind of ‘Putin envy’ that I have noticed among the right-wing intellectuals in India. The idea that a strong man like Putin has revived national pride among Russians and brought it back into the superpower league from where it was languishing in the aftermath of the Soviet meltdown. This is obviously rubbish if you bother to look at the data. Russia is a small power whose economy has gone from bad to worse under Putin. It has a huge nuclear stockpile from its past that gives the rest of the world the only reason to pause before dismissing it as a nobody. But there’s a fascination among the right intellectuals to make the case for a Putin-like revival of India. I remember just before the 2014 elections, Swapan Dasgupta made this argument in the Sunday Times of India (Mar 9, 2014):“However, to a people exasperated with prolonged uncertainty and decline, Putin is the antidote to the unending sadness and deprivation that defined 20th century Russia. He has created the conditions for the average Russian to feel good, get rich and, for a change, indulge. This exuberance is unlikely to last indefinitely but, for the moment, the Russian context favours a Putin-like robustness......To the west, Putin’s reclamation of Crimea (and, earlier, a slice of Georgia) and his assertion of Russia’s stakes in Ukraine may seem ominous. For Russia, it is, however, symbolic of the bid to reverse the historic defeat in the Cold War. But Putin’s bid to reclaim Russia’s status as a Great Power was only possible because the economic and political foundations for an enhanced role have been firmed up over the past decade. In India, on the other hand, the fierce desire of the past 25 years to transcend mediocrity, shoddiness and look the world powers in the eye has floundered. It is not that the UPA government has no achievements to its credit. India has progressed but it has seriously under-performed in terms of its potential... Whether faith in Modi encapsulates the anger at a dismal present and a brighter future will be tested in a free election. If Modi prevails on May 16, we shouldn’t be surprised if his detractors paint him to the world as India’s Putin. If he lives up to the liberal demonology, those with a stake in India’s future should be elated. Just as Russia is with Putin.”I remember this column distinctly for two reasons. It was already so wrong back then in thinking that Russia was becoming a Great Power under Putin. But, importantly, it gave me an early indicator of what kind of aspiration the right has from its political dominance in India. Some kind of muddled civilisational nationalism with akhand Bharat fantasies whose best example for them was an expansionist Russia of 2014. Putin was their best answer to western liberalism and the wokeism that accompanied it. It worried me then and it has only gotten worse.The right intellectual ecosystem has continued in the same vein in the last two months. Here’s R. Jagannathan writing in the Swarajya on how NATO is past its sell-by date:“The reality is that Europe is the most fractious of continents, and just as France and Germany decided after the two world wars that enemies must be part of the same economic union to avoid future wars, Russia needs to become a part of both the mutual defence pact and the European Union. This way Europe’s security needs will be buttressed with a mutual economic zone where Russia’s energy can power Europe, and Europe’s markets Russia’s economic revival.America can at best be an observer in this alliance. The world cannot allow its over-grown military-industrial complex to decide who should go to war against who just so that this complex can protect its commercial interests.India’s own security architecture would be better protected by aligning with this expanded Europe, and especially with France and Germany, with Russia and Japan being other big partners. A Franco-German-Russo-Indo-Japanese QUINT (rather than an America-led QUAD) could lead to a less threatening relationship with China.”It is quite an intellectual leap to first contemplate some kind of QUINT with those powers coming together. What specific long-term interests bind them? None, except for the author’s fantasy to somehow shoehorn Russia as a legitimate and peaceful power under Putin. At its heart lies the same revivalist admiration and fantasy that Swapan Dasgupta spoke of in 2014. There’s, however, a different reason I can think of about the stance taken by these pro-government media channels on Russia and the war in Ukraine. And this credits the government with a lot more intelligence in managing its position on Ukraine. It is about the government playing the two-level game really well here. As we know, all negotiations in international relations are a two-level game as Putnam put it. At any time, a state is negotiating with other states (intergovernmental) while simultaneously managing its domestic constituency and its concerns on the issues. A clever negotiator will look to use his position on one ‘table’ to influence the outcome on the other in a way that gets him a ‘win’ that’s part of his ‘win-set’. Maybe, just maybe, the government is playing a clever two-level game. It is using its phalanx of friendly editors and journalists to talk up India’s dependence on Russia, its historical special ties with it and how dumping Russia at this moment will be perceived negatively by the people of India. This seems like a good tactic to follow because it allows the ministry of external affairs to sit at the international table and show the constraints India has to give its unqualified support to the west. “See, this is the domestic mood on Russia. What do you want us to do beyond a point” - that’s what India might be telling the west. This seems like a good way to continue sitting on the fence on the issue and hoping for the war to end to have things sort themselves out. I would like to believe this is what the government has been doing to keep itself away from western sanctions while it continues to engage with Russia. Is it working? Well, it seemed to have worked for a while. However, the US patience seems to be wearing thin as this warning from Brian Deese, the White House National Economic Council Director, suggests:"Our message to the Indian government is that the costs and consequences for them of moving into a more explicit strategic alignment with Russia will be significant and long-term. There are certainly areas where we have been disappointed by both China and India's decisions, in the context of the invasion."Hmm. So, what changed? One of the going-in assumptions in Putnam’s two-level game theory is about the credibility of the constraints and options each state might have in its hands. If you have to show you have a domestic compulsion because of which you will need some flexibility on the international table, it must appear credible to the other state at the table. India might be emphasising its domestic compulsions in supporting Russia by showing what’s appearing in the media as the mood of the nation. But for the US to consider it credible, it must be convinced that this domestic ‘view’ is emerging independently. Beyond a point that must be difficult to swallow for the US considering how a large section of our media has turned into government mouthpieces in the past few years. Of course, a fair and independent media is necessary for the domestic polity. But it is good for international negotiations too.India Policy Watch #2: RBI’s Tough Act Insights on burning policy issues in India- RSJThe Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of RBI met earlier this week and based on its assessment decided to change its policy stance from remaining accommodative “as long as necessary to revive and sustain growth on a durable basis” to remaining accommodative “while focusing on withdrawal of accommodation to ensure that inflation remains within the target going forward, while supporting growth”.I hope you were able to spot the change. Essentially, RBI has prepared the ground for an increase in policy rates in the second half of this year. One of my predictions for the year was that we will have a total of three policy rate hikes cumulating to 75 bps. The stage is set for that prediction to come true. Broadly, there were three messages from the MPC meeting:The input cost pressures will continue to impact the economy buffeted by global supply chain disruptions, commodity price increases and continuing uncertainty because of the war in Ukraine. RBI sharply revised its own estimate of inflation for FY 23 from 4.5 per cent to 5.7 per cent. This 120 bps increase was a belated recognition of the inflation risk in the economy with the likelihood of it breaching the 4 (+/- 2) per cent range. Once it goes beyond 6 per cent, the RBI has to explain it to the parliament. Though I don’t see why it should be such a concern if it is in lock-step with the Finance ministry and the government enjoys a brute majority in the house. But it seems like that 6 percent mark is some kind of Rubicon. That apart it made it clear that inflation control is now its chief priority over growth for the year. And that’s a big shift. My view is CPI inflation will go over 6 per cent during the year unless we see normalisation in Ukraine sooner.On growth, the RBI lowered its forecast from 7.8 per cent to 7.2 per cent for FY 23 citing a broad range of risks to it - a surge in commodity prices, hawkish policy stances in developed economies, supply-side disruptions, weakening global demand and geopolitical risks. The huge government capex cycle that was promised in the Budget isn’t going to happen in a hurry. The disinvestment proceeds have also been delayed because of the choppiness of the equity market and the big LIC IPO might happen at a more realistic and muted valuation than earlier projections. These are all weighing down the growth outlook. The good news on tax collection buoyancy, robust rural demand and a steady urban consumption trend have meant the RBI still expects the growth to come in above 7 per cent. That will be tested going forward.The liquidity in the banking system continues to be quite high (Rs. 8.5 lakh crores) and RBI was extremely careful about how it will suck this liquidity out in the future. RBI will follow a “gradual and calibrated withdrawal of this liquidity over a multi-year time frame in a non-disruptive manner”. In other words, they will stretch out this excess liquidity scenario as long as they can. RBI has been holding variable rate reverse repo (VRRR) auctions to absorb liquidity on a periodic basis while continuing with variable repo rate (VRR) auctions simultaneously to meet liquidity shortages. This ‘Operation Twist’ will continue. It has also increased the held to maturity (HTM) limit for banks from 22 per cent to 23 per cent and allowed them to have G-secs under this category. The RBI also introduced the standing deposit facility (SDF) as an uncollateralised form of reverse repo or liquidity absorption tool. What this means is that banks can now park overnight liquidity at RBI at the SDF rate of 3.75 per cent without RBI having to put G-secs as collateral into Bank accounts. In effect, the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) corridor which is the difference of rates at which RBI takes in and infuses liquidity into the banking system, is back at the pre-pandemic level of 50 bps without RBI specifically increasing the reverse repo rates. Among the numerous RBI has already adopted, these are another set of ways to support the government borrowing programme for this fiscal. In summary, for the number of economic and global variables it has to juggle while keeping the government happy that it is doing everything to support growth, the RBI has the toughest job in the country. And I will say it makes a fair fist of it. A Framework a Week: The Three Binding Constraints on Technological ProgressTools for thinking public policy— Pranay KotasthaneIn an excellent essay for Works in Progress, Brian Potter has an interesting insight on technology governance. He writes:There’s a pattern that we frequently see in the development of a new technology. Initially, the practical functionality is limited by the technology itself – what’s built and used is close to the limit of what the technology is physically capable of doing. As the technology develops and its capabilities improve, there’s a divergence between what a technology can physically do and what it can economically do, and you begin to see commercialized versions that have lower performance but are more affordable. Then, as people begin to build within this envelope of economic possibility, capability tends to get further constrained by legal restrictions, especially if the new technology has any (real or perceived) negative externalities.A framework from microeconomics can be used to visualise this insight rather well—production possibility frontiers (PPF). A PPF curve results from trade-offs. Given finite resources, producing more goods of one kind leaves less resources on the table for another. Thus, given a fixed budget constraint, a PPF curve shows the production options available for a society. All points below a PPF curve are the available options (like points A,B, C & D in the figure), and the ones above it (like X) are unavailable due to resource constraints. What Potter’s insight adds is that we can probably imagine three distinct production possibility frontiers in technological development—economic, policy, and technological, as shown in the chart below.In the first stage of technology developlent, the technological PPF is itself a binding constraint as newly intriduced products have several bugs. In Stage 2, however, the technological PPF is no longer the binding constraint. At this point, it’s the economic PPF that sets the limits for what is producible. In the final stage, the limiting constraint is policy rather than economic or technological. Development of cryptocurrency technology is a relevant example. In the first stage, the total currency that could be churned out was limited by the technology itself. Soon enough, those constraints were overcome and a number of different currencies proliferated. The binding constraint then became economic, as mining new currencies became tougher. With more energy-efficient mechanisms such as proof-of-stake on the horizon, the binding constraint is no longer economic. Instead, it’s the policy and legal constraints that limit production.The closer the policy and economic PPFs move towards the technological PPF, the faster the technological development. At the same time, the policy PFF can be used to avoid production at the technological limits. Broadly, two approaches are available. Start with a tight policy PPF and then expand it slowly. Or start with a really loose PPF and reduce it depending on the observed negative effects. In low policy capacity situations, the latter approach offers more opportunities for growth. Easier said than done. PolicyWTF: Bihar Prohibition SagaThis section looks at egregious public policies. Policies that make you go: WTF, Did that really happen?— Pranay KotasthaneProhibition is a gift that keeps giving. Six years ago, the Bihar government criminalised the manufacturing, bottling, distribution, transportation, collection, storage, possession, purchase, sale, or consumption of alcohol. You very well know how that would’ve turned out. First, deaths due to consumption of spurious alochol became a regular occurence. Second, prohibition cases and ‘convicts’ overwhelmed the state’s already anaemic law and order machinery. Eventually, the Supreme Court issued an order in February this year, stating that:We find a number of cases coming to this Court arising from proceedings initiated under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Amendment Act, 2018. The trial Court and the High Court are both being crowded by bail applications to an extent that at some stage 16 judges of the High Court are listening to bail matters and prosecutions under the Act concerned forms a large part of it. Denial of bail would also result in crowding of the prisons.In response, the Bihar government now proposes to amend the Prohibition Act of 2016. Instead of getting rid of prohibition, the amendment focuses narrowly on the Supreme Court’s objections. For instance, being caught the first time for drinking now attracts a penalty of Rs 2000-5000 instead of imprisonment. And to reduce the burden of cases, the bill proposes that consumption offences will be heard by executive magistrates who will be appointed by the state government especially for such offences. It seems that the Bihar government is also recruiting ‘prohibition constables’ for better enforcement.Anticipating the unintended consequences is easy. With different punishments for the first and subsequent offences, these rules will boost the Police’s rent-seeking powers. The Police will treat everyone as repeat offenders by default. On payment of an amount sufficiently greater than Rs 5000, the offence will be magically converted into a first offence, settled with a fine. Instead of focusing on Bihar’s terrible law and order situation, the Police and Executive Magistrates will take special interest in catching people for drinking alcohol. The Supreme Court’s immediate problem might well reduce but the lives of Biharis will become worse. Bihar government would do well to heed to Ambedkar’s vehement rejection of prohibition:“From the point of equity, there is no justification for prohibition. The cost of prohibition is borne by the general public. Why should the general public be made to pay the cost of reforming a lakh or two of habitual drunkards who could never be reformed ? Why should the general public be made to pay the cost of prohibition when the other wants of the public such as eduction, housing and health are crying for remedy? Why not use the money for development plans? Who has greater priority, the Drunkard or the Hungry? There are pertinent questions to which there is no answer except arrogance and obstinacy. Whatever happens, the policy of prohibition must be reversed and this colossal waste of public money should be put a stop to and the resources utilised for advancing general welfare.”Advertisement: If you enjoy the themes we discuss in this newsletter, consider taking up the Graduate Certificate in Public Policy course. Intake for the next cohort is open. 12-weeks, fully online, designed with working professionals in mind, and most importantly, guaranteed fun and learning.HomeWorkReading and listening recommendations on public policy matters[Magazine] Works in Progress is emerging as an exceptional storehouse of exceptional ideas. There are few other online spaces where the signal to noise ratio is as high.[Blog post] Yiqin Fu’s post on the unintended consequences of a mobile-first walled-garden internet on knowledge creation is an eye-opener. [Forecasting Tournament] We have written earlier about the educational value of making precise predictions. Check out the Metaculus forecasting tournament on the Ukraine conflict, and force yourself out of what Philip Tetlock calls “outcome-irrelevant learning”. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit publicpolicy.substack.com
१६५६ मधे शिवरायांना जावळीच्या स्वारीतून मोत्यांच्या तुऱ्यातले एक अमूल्य रत्न मिळाले होते. या रत्नाचे नाव होते- मुरारबाजी देशपांडे. महाड तालुक्यातील किंजळोली हे मुरारबाजी देशपांडेंचे मूळ गाव. मुरारबाजी देशपांडे हे सुरूवातीला जावळीच्या चंद्रराव मोऱ्यांकडे काम करायचे. शिवरायांच्या जावळीवरील छाप्याच्या वेळी मुरारबाजींनी महाराजांविरूद्ध तिखट तलवार चालवली. एक पाऊलही पूढे सरकू देईनात. महाराजांनी मुरारबाजींमधील कर्तृत्व जाणले आणि त्यांना गोड शब्दात बोलून आपलेसे केले. तेव्हा पासून मुरारबाजी देशपांडे शिवकार्यात सामील झाले. पुरंदरावरील घनघोर रणसंग्रामात त्यांना आपलेसे करण्यासाठी दिलेरखानाने मुरारबाजींना जहागिरीचे अमीष दाखवले, पण मुरारबाजींनी त्या जहागिरीवर थुंकून शिवकार्यात आपल्या चरित्राची समीधा सोडून आत्मार्पण केले. In 1656, Shivaji Maharaj had received an invaluable gem during the invasion of Jawali. The name of this gem was Murarbaji Deshpande. Kinjaloli in Mahad taluka is the original village of Murarbaji Deshpande. Murarbaji Deshpande used to work for Chandrarao Morya of Jawali. During the raid on Shivaraya's jawali, Murarbaji wielded a sharp sword against Maharaj. Shivaji Maharaj understood the mastery of Murarbaji and made them his own. Since then, Murarbaji Deshpande joined Shivkarya. Dilerkhan showed Murarbaji the lure of Jahagir to make him his own in the fierce battle of Purandar, but Murarbaji spat on that Jahagir and sacrificed himself for Shivaji Maharaj and Swarajya.
१६५६ मधे शिवरायांना जावळीच्या स्वारीतून मोत्यांच्या तुऱ्यातले एक अमूल्य रत्न मिळाले होते. या रत्नाचे नाव होते- मुरारबाजी देशपांडे. महाड तालुक्यातील किंजळोली हे मुरारबाजी देशपांडेंचे मूळ गाव. मुरारबाजी देशपांडे हे सुरूवातीला जावळीच्या चंद्रराव मोऱ्यांकडे काम करायचे. शिवरायांच्या जावळीवरील छाप्याच्या वेळी मुरारबाजींनी महाराजांविरूद्ध तिखट तलवार चालवली. एक पाऊलही पूढे सरकू देईनात. महाराजांनी मुरारबाजींमधील कर्तृत्व जाणले आणि त्यांना गोड शब्दात बोलून आपलेसे केले. तेव्हा पासून मुरारबाजी देशपांडे शिवकार्यात सामील झाले. पुरंदरावरील घनघोर रणसंग्रामात त्यांना आपलेसे करण्यासाठी दिलेरखानाने मुरारबाजींना जहागिरीचे अमीष दाखवले, पण मुरारबाजींनी त्या जहागिरीवर थुंकून शिवकार्यात आपल्या चरित्राची समीधा सोडून आत्मार्पण केले. In 1656, Shivaji Maharaj had received an invaluable gem during the invasion of Jawali. The name of this gem was Murarbaji Deshpande. Kinjaloli in Mahad taluka is the original village of Murarbaji Deshpande. Murarbaji Deshpande used to work for Chandrarao Morya of Jawali. During the raid on Shivaraya's jawali, Murarbaji wielded a sharp sword against Maharaj. Shivaji Maharaj understood the mastery of Murarbaji and made them his own. Since then, Murarbaji Deshpande joined Shivkarya. Dilerkhan showed Murarbaji the lure of Jahagir to make him his own in the fierce battle of Purandar, but Murarbaji spat on that Jahagir and sacrificed himself for Shivaji Maharaj and Swarajya.
In the Rajapur raid of 1661, Shivaji Maharaj found this gem and made him the secretary of Swarajya. On the strength of his brilliant memory, intelligence and political diplomacy, Maharaj carried out many tasks of Swarajya. While Shivaji Maharaj was a prisoner of Agra, Balaji's skill and political diplomacy were unmatched that strengthened the maratha empire. But unfortunately, out of misunderstanding, Sambhaji Maharaj punished him under the elephant's feet. Later, when Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj realized that he had made a big mistake, he became very remorseful. Sambhaji Maharaj later went to Aundha-Pali-Sudhagad and erected Balaji's Umbrella Samadhi. He gave the title of secretary to his son Khando Ballal. राजापूरच्या १६६१ च्या छाप्यात महाराजांना हे रत्न सापडलं आणि त्यांनी त्याला स्वराज्याच्या चिटणिशीच कोंदण दिलं. बाळाजी आवजी चित्रे यांनी सन १६६१ पासून १६८१ पर्यंत स्वराज्याच्या चिटणिशीचे काम अगदी चोख रीतीने पार पाडलं. आपल्या तल्लख स्मरणशक्तीच्या, बुद्धिमत्तेच्या आणि राजकीय मुत्सद्देगिरीच्या जोरावर त्यांनी स्वराज्याची अनेक कामे तडीस नेली. आग्र्याच्या कैदेत शिवाजी महाराज असताना बाळाजींनी आपल्या चातुर्याचे आणि राजकीय मुत्सद्देगिरीचे जे कसब दाखवले त्याला तोड नाही. पण दुर्दैवाने, गैरसमजुतीतून संभाजी महाराजांनी बाळाजींना, त्यांचे बंधू शामजी आणि मुलगा आवजी ह्यांना हत्तीच्या पायी दिले. नंतर छत्रपती संभाजी महाराजांना आपल्या हातून मोठी चूक घडल्याचं लक्षात येताच खूप पश्चाताप झाला. संभाजी महाराजांनी नंतर औंढा-पाली-सुधागड येथे जाऊन बालाजीची छत्री समाधी उभारली. त्यांचा मुलगा खंडो बल्लाळ ह्याला स्वराज्याची चिटणिशी दिली.
In the Rajapur raid of 1661, Shivaji Maharaj found this gem and made him the secretary of Swarajya. On the strength of his brilliant memory, intelligence and political diplomacy, Maharaj carried out many tasks of Swarajya. While Shivaji Maharaj was a prisoner of Agra, Balaji's skill and political diplomacy were unmatched that strengthened the maratha empire. But unfortunately, out of misunderstanding, Sambhaji Maharaj punished him under the elephant's feet. Later, when Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj realized that he had made a big mistake, he became very remorseful. Sambhaji Maharaj later went to Aundha-Pali-Sudhagad and erected Balaji's Umbrella Samadhi. He gave the title of secretary to his son Khando Ballal.राजापूरच्या १६६१ च्या छाप्यात महाराजांना हे रत्न सापडलं आणि त्यांनी त्याला स्वराज्याच्या चिटणिशीच कोंदण दिलं. बाळाजी आवजी चित्रे यांनी सन १६६१ पासून १६८१ पर्यंत स्वराज्याच्या चिटणिशीचे काम अगदी चोख रीतीने पार पाडलं. आपल्या तल्लख स्मरणशक्तीच्या, बुद्धिमत्तेच्या आणि राजकीय मुत्सद्देगिरीच्या जोरावर त्यांनी स्वराज्याची अनेक कामे तडीस नेली. आग्र्याच्या कैदेत शिवाजी महाराज असताना बाळाजींनी आपल्या चातुर्याचे आणि राजकीय मुत्सद्देगिरीचे जे कसब दाखवले त्याला तोड नाही. पण दुर्दैवाने, गैरसमजुतीतून संभाजी महाराजांनी बाळाजींना, त्यांचे बंधू शामजी आणि मुलगा आवजी ह्यांना हत्तीच्या पायी दिले. नंतर छत्रपती संभाजी महाराजांना आपल्या हातून मोठी चूक घडल्याचं लक्षात येताच खूप पश्चाताप झाला. संभाजी महाराजांनी नंतर औंढा-पाली-सुधागड येथे जाऊन बालाजीची छत्री समाधी उभारली. त्यांचा मुलगा खंडो बल्लाळ ह्याला स्वराज्याची चिटणिशी दिली.
स्वराज्याचे शिलेदार | Swarajyache Shiledar हिंदवी स्वराज्याच्या निर्मितीसाठी शिवाजी महाराजांनी सामान्य माणसातून असामान्य कर्तुत्वाची माणसे उभी केली. त्यांना स्वराज्यासाठी प्रेरित केले, जिवाला जीव देणे शिकविले आणि त्यांच्यातील प्रचंड कर्तुत्व, असीम निष्ठा स्वराज्याच्या कामी लावली आणि हिंदवी स्वराज्याचे स्वप्न प्रत्यक्षात उतरविले. S3E1 'Veermata Jijabai' embodied a spirit of serene and unassuming fortitude and endearing severity. A woman of noble vision, she realized her most cherished ambition, the establishment of Hindavi Swaraj through her celebrated son Shivaji. Jijabai was the Queen Mother and Shivaji's mother; but more importantly, she was also the mother of this fight for Swaraj for which independence strikes as the closest. Jijabai's life is inspirational and very relevent even today and inspires women to struggle to succeed in all spheres of life. 'वीरमाता जिजाबाई' मध्ये निर्मळ आणि निगर्वी धैर्य आणि प्रेमळ तीव्रतेचा आत्मा होता. एक उदात्त दृष्टी असलेली स्त्री, तिला तिची सर्वात महत्वाची महत्वाकांक्षा, हिंदवी स्वराज्याची स्थापना तिच्या सुपुत्र शिवाजीच्या माध्यमातून जाणवली. जिजाबाई ही राणी माता आणि शिवाजीची आई; पण त्याहीपेक्षा महत्त्वाचे म्हणजे, त्या स्वराज्यासाठीच्या लढ्याची आई देखील होती, ज्यासाठी स्वातंत्र्य सर्वात जवळचे आहे. जिजाबाईंचे जीवन आजही प्रेरणादायी आणि अतिशय समर्पक आहे आणि स्त्रियांना जीवनाच्या सर्व क्षेत्रात यशस्वी होण्यासाठी संघर्ष करण्याची प्रेरणा देते.
Maneesh is in conversation with Arihant Pawariya. Arihant is a senior editor with the Swarajya magazine and an influential voice in the right-wing ecosystem in India. In a freewheeling conversation, Arihant talks about the ‘Core' agenda and how he sees the Indian state behaving were India to turn into a Hindu state. @maneesht and @haryannvi on Twitter. Authors and books mentioned in the episode: M. N. Srinivas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._N._Srinivas Caste in Modern India: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2941637 Social Change in Modern India: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24431229 Thomas Sowell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sowell The Vision of Anointed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vision_of_the_Anointed Nassim Nicholas Taleb: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb Incerto: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb#Incerto Ayan Rand: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand Atlas Shrugged: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged Who is John Galt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Galt
Episode 2235 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature Part 2 of a story about the time and the events surrounding when Indian troops of the 2nd Indian Division served in Vietnam. The featured story comes from the Swarajya … Continue reading → The post Episode 2235 – The untold story of the Indian Army in Vietnam – Part 2 appeared first on .
There's a conflict brewing in the FMCG space that's much like what's played out in sectors like pharma and smartphones with retail trade and FMCG companies at loggerheads. Host Ratna Bhushan speaks to AICPDF President Dhairyashil Patil, Parle Products Senior Category Head Mayank Shah and ETIG's Kiran Somvanshi to find out if FMCG companies can afford to ignore traditional distributors who make up about 90% of the overall market? Credits: JioMart, Swarajya, ET Now
A version of this essay was published by Swarajya magazine at https://swarajyamag.com/ideas/all-those-anniversaries-but-they-all-may-boil-down-to-the-powerful-screwing-the-meekIs this a particularly momentous year? 2021 has important anniversaries, and everyone has heard about at least that of the 9/11/2001 attack on the World Trade Center in New York. But there are other anniversaries too, and when I started looking at them, what struck me is a theme: so many of them end up with the strong taking advantage of the weak to loot or persecute the latter! That may be a coincidence, but it is intriguing.For instance, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Moplah Riot in Malabar, in which Muslims attacked, slaughtered, raped and forcibly converted thousands of their Hindu neighbors for no fault of theirs, but simply because Turkey had abolished its caliphate. This year is also the 30th anniversary of India’s economic reforms, wherein then-Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao began to dismantle the stifling dirigiste state that had condemned hundreds of millions of Indians to poverty. At least this case is positive: it marked the beginning of the end of the pauperization of India’s masses by malign forces. This is also the 20th anniversary of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization, which event has done so much for the Chinese economy, essentially helping it become the hub of global manufacturing, although a remarkable technological innovation helped it too, and more on that later.2021 is also the 50th anniversary of the US going off the gold standard under Richard Nixon. This led to the dollar becoming the unofficial reserve currency of the world, and that brought great economic clout, because the US could now print dollars at will, without having to hold an equivalent amount of the precious metal. Undoubtedly there are other anniversaries I am unaware of, but let’s just go with these. What is intriguing is the connections between them.On the anniversary of 9/11, we saw Biden’s debacle in Afghanistan. The question is why it took the US twenty long years to discover that they were in a no-win situation and that they were being led by the nose by Pakistan into things that were not in their interest.It was evident to observers that things were going wrong as early as the 2001 November siege of Kunduz. I wrote at the time What happened in Kunduz | Rediff.com that the US allowing Pakistan to airlift its soldiers to safety (quite a few brigadiers etc were masquerading as Taliban) was an unfathomable act. But the US Deep State apparently had other ideas. Even when the CIA station chief was blown up Khost massacre: A point of inflexion in Obama’s War | Rediff.com in 2009, and bin Laden captured in 2011, the Deep State maintained its steadfast romance with the ISI. Why? There are many possible reasons. One is that it was hubris leading to stupidity. Second, the $2-$3 trillion dollars spent was a windfall for the military industrial complex, so why would they stop the gravy train?Chances are that it was hubris and stupidity in play. The Deep State simply couldn’t imagine a situation in which the US was no longer the only game in town. They were sticking with an old playbook that had outlived its usefulness, wherein American money and overwhelming military power could solve all problems, but that world is long gone. If it ever existed. What they didn’t realize was that China’s accession to the WTO, and its insidious and steady deindustrialization of the US, had created a situation where it is essentially impossible to go back to a status quo ante where, as in the dialog from Top Gun, it was only “rubber dog-s**t from Hong Kong” that America needed to import, nothing of consequence. This is where the retreat from the gold standard becomes relevant. By printing dollars by the boatload, the US has now become the world’s biggest debtor, as Chinese savings flowed in and allowed the US to live beyond its means, by selling $3 trillion in treasury securities to the Chinese. That makes China and the US co-dependent in an uncomfortable way. If the Chinese were to dump US treasuries, the dollar would fall, and the value of their investments would collapse as well. On the other hand, if the US were to confiscate Chinese assets (as they have done to Afghan assets), they would have a war on their hands. Stalemate!But that’s not all. The dollar was a powerful weapon in the hands of US elites, especially their investment bankers, a few years ago. They were able to fend off the Japanese challenge in the 1980s via the magic of the Plaza Accord of 1985, which caused the dollar to depreciate, and eventually forced the Japanese economy into its lost decades of malaise.Unfortunately, that weapon is no longer available, because the investment bankers are now China’s best friends in the US China Has One Powerful Friend Left in the U.S.: Wall Street - WSJ. This is partly because investment banks have invested a lot there; they are not particularly tied to geography, and their clients, the big corporates, are also vested there. These clients are finding it difficult to extricate themselves from China, even if you assume that they wish to do so.There is one other aspect of the supply chain vassaldom that the US is facing now: the role of the humble shipping container. The standardization of the 20 foot or 40 foot container and the concomitant dramatic fall in the cost and elapsed time for trans-Pacific shipping were the initial impetus for the migration of manufacturing to then low-cost Asia. There was also a remarkable unintended consequence of the Vietnam war. The US Navy containerized early, according to a fascinating podcast titled Thinking inside the box—the story of the shipping container | The Economist. They were sending so many containers to the war front, it made no sense to return them empty, and so they started picking up shiploads of electronics goods from Japan, and that’s how the shift to importing manufactured goods from Asia began.It’s too soon to tell what the unintended consequences of the Afghan war will be. There is indeed the possibility that it will be China’s Waterloo, as it was for the Soviets and the Americans. It may well lead to the collapse of the Chinese empire, a desirable outcome.Let us now revisit the question of the Deep State benefiting from the Afghan war (at the expense of the US taxpayer). It was clearly a transfer of wealth from the public purse to private interests. There are other examples of extortion subtly presented as something noble, or at least something in which a player was helpless. An excellent recent example is the 1973 oil price shock. OPEC suddenly tripled oil prices, and it was extortionate, because all economies had become addicted to cheap oil.Thus it was impossible for most nations to reduce their oil consumption overnight, however much they tightened the belt. The result was a dramatic transfer of wealth from sovereign nations to OPEC’s coffers. Of course, rich countries including the US were affected, but they could afford it. The real burden fell on poor, emerging nations, and what they should have been spending on their people was instead transferred to OPEC.That was grand theft. Immoral too, as it literally took food from the mouths of the starving.But there was an interesting twist. Much of the money that OPEC grabbed from all of us ended up in the US by dint of massive arms purchases by Saudi Arabia et al. The Deep State won. The US had enough clout and enough weapons that they could probably have forced OPEC to reduce the price shock, but they didn’t. OPEC looked like nasty, mean, inhumane monsters, but the US looked like a victim, too.The US thus neatly covered up its role in the crime.There is another fascinating example of clever extortion, this time from India, in the case of Tipu Sultan’s attacks on Malabar in the 1780s, which were a combined religious war and a war for loot. He captured the Samoothiri’s kingdom of Kozhikode, and principalities such as Valluvanad, Ernad, and parts of Kochi. Until Travancore repulsed him in 1790 at its Nedumkotta fortification with the aid of a ‘river bomb’, he was successful in both his goals. Tipu was clear that temples were his target, along with religious conversion. He knew that, enriched by over two millennia of the spice trade, Kerala’s temples were storehouses of wealth -- and the reason is that temples were the centers of social activity, disaster relief, public works and culture, and so people donated generously to them.The British were also keenly aware of this, and so they devised a diabolical plan. They would allow, or even secretly encourage, Tipu to prosecute his jihad on Kerala. And once he had hauled all the wealth to Srirangapatnam, they would attack, and take all the loot in one go. Very efficient, and they would get none of the blame of desecrating temples, but be lionized as the saviors of southern India. And that is exactly what they did. In fact, it was worse. The Brits were allegedly treaty allies of Travancore, but stood by and did nothing when Tipu attacked; but they charged Travancore the entire cost of the Third Anglo-Mysore war, on the theory that their attack on Srirangapatnam forced Tipu to retreat. This paupered Travancore, and a powerful British Resident was installed, who dictated policy. One of the policies forced upon the kingdom was the commingling of temple properties and State properties, which in effect made most smaller temples unviable; furthermore, one Munro, a Resident, forced the reigning Queen to donate Rs. 10,000 to the church in 1819, a huge fortune then, which led to massive conversion drives. Within 100 years, according to the Travancore Manual, Christians went from 6% to 33% in the kingdom.But the newspapers then and historians now give full marks to the Brits for their compassion and wisdom; meanwhile they enjoy their ill-gotten gains.Tipu destroyed and desecrated scores of temples big and small, and converted thousands at the point of the sword. That is how there is a large Muslim population in Malabar. And it was these local Muslims who went on a jihad in 1921 on the flimsy excuse of the ban on the caliphate in distant Turkey.The story put about by communists is that this was either a) a ‘peasant revolt’ against rich Hindu landlords, or b) a ‘freedom struggle’ against the British. We can easily eliminate (b) because not a single Briton was attacked, but thousands of Hindus were. As for (a), it turns out that the vast majority of those killed, converted, raped etc. were lower-caste Hindu agricultural laborers and so that explanation is also a little wanting.In a new book, Beyond Rampage: West Asian Contacts of Malabar and the Khilafat, Dr Hari Shankar, an archaeologist and scholar, argues that the riot was instigated by wealthy Muslim traders looking to expand their monopoly over the sea-borne timber trade to the Middle East and Turkey from the Nilambur forests, where the lands were owned by the temples. This is an intriguing hypothesis: and once again economics may explain hidden motives.There is yet another anniversary that is not spoken of very much: Brahma Chellaney pointed out that September 19th is the 61st anniversary of the unbelievably one-sided Indus Water Treaty. Said he on Twitter:Thus the various anniversaries we have seen this year may be connected in subtle ways. Going forward, we may also see in the new AUKUS pact the genesis of a new white Anglosphere alliance, with the Quad being downgraded, and non-white, non-Anglo partners such as India, Japan and Indonesia being dumped by the West. And the EU as well, as France indicated with its furious reaction.Twenty years later, we might look back on 2021 as the time the West retreated into an atavistic shell. Alternatively, perhaps we will see it as the beginning of the dissolution of the Chinese empire, and its retreat back into its Han homeland on the eastern coast. It is too soon to tell now. But I do suspect 2021 will turn out to be the year of living dangerously. 2000 words, Sept 21, 2021. Updated Sept 28, 2021. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com
The Marathas began their quest for Swarajya in 1646 under Chhatrapati Shivaji. From this year until 1818, the Marathas remained a formidable power in the Indian sub-continent. This is a story of their rise to paramountcy in the Eighteenth century – and their fall in early Nineteenth century. It was the first indigenous Empire after centuries of foreign rule…and the last before the British took over. Dr. Uday Kulkarni is an author of 6 excellent books on 18th century Maratha history. He is an AFMC, Pune graduate and a retired navy surgeon. Dr Kulkarni started writing about Maratha history a decade back, while still practicing medicine. His first book Solstice at Panipat, describing the 1761 Panipat War, released in 2011 on 250th anniversary of what perhaps is the most significant war in Indian history. He followed it with Bakhar of Panipat (2014), The Era of Baji Rao (2016) and James Wales: Artist & Antiquarian in the time of Peshwa Sawai Madhavrao (2019). The Maratha Century is the latest in his series of books on Maratha history. In this discussion, we talk to Dr Kulkarni about this book, his passion for writing about Maratha history and the very intriguing 18th century India. He talks about how the impact of Chhatrapathi Shivaji, his campaign on Surat, Aurangazeb's 25-year war with the Marathas, and more. Amit Paranjape, the anchor for this conversation, is a Pune-based history buff and technology entrepreneur. Amit himself has deep knowledge of Maratha history and has helped Dr Kulkarni with the production process of his latest book. Amit also compered the book launch program, where Madhya Pradesh minister Smt Yashodhara Raje Scindia was the chief guest. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfBfBd-1kvCOPxVll8tBJ9Q/join 0:00 - Introduction 3:30 - About the book "The Maratha Century" 10:05 - Impact of Chhatrapati Shivaji 19:06 - Strategies and innovations used by Shivaji in war 22:10 - Shivaji's Campaign on Surat and his famous letter 23:52 - 25 Year War: Aurangazeb vs. the Marathas 31:00 - Maratha campaign to capture North India 34:50 - Last decades of the 18th Century: Nana Phadnavis and Mahadji Shinde 39:39 - Why were there no new Maratha rulers after Nana Phadnavis? 42:40 - Life in the 18th Century 48:20 - Khunya Murlidhar Temple 50:40 - Final thoughts on the legacy of the Maratha empire 52:47 - Conclusion
The Marathas began their quest for Swarajya in 1646 under Chhatrapati Shivaji. From this year until 1818, the Marathas remained a formidable power in the Indian sub-continent. This is a story of their rise to paramountcy in the Eighteenth century – and their fall in early Nineteenth century. It was the first indigenous Empire after centuries of foreign rule…and the last before the British took over. Dr. Uday Kulkarni is an author of 6 excellent books on 18th century Maratha history. He is an AFMC, Pune graduate and a retired navy surgeon. Dr Kulkarni started writing about Maratha history a decade back, while still practicing medicine. His first book Solstice at Panipat, describing the 1761 Panipat War, released in 2011 on 250th anniversary of what perhaps is the most significant war in Indian history. He followed it with Bakhar of Panipat (2014), The Era of Baji Rao (2016) and James Wales: Artist & Antiquarian in the time of Peshwa Sawai Madhavrao (2019). The Maratha Century is the latest in his series of books on Maratha history. In this discussion, we talk to Dr Kulkarni about this book, his passion for writing about Maratha history and the very intriguing 18th century India. He talks about how the impact of Chhatrapathi Shivaji, his campaign on Surat, Aurangazeb's 25-year war with the Marathas, and more. Amit Paranjape, the anchor for this conversation, is a Pune-based history buff and technology entrepreneur. Amit himself has deep knowledge of Maratha history and has helped Dr Kulkarni with the production process of his latest book. Amit also compered the book launch program, where Madhya Pradesh minister Smt Yashodhara Raje Scindia was the chief guest. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfBfBd-1kvCOPxVll8tBJ9Q/join 0:00 - Introduction 3:30 - About the book "The Maratha Century" 10:05 - Impact of Chhatrapati Shivaji 19:06 - Strategies and innovations used by Shivaji in war 22:10 - Shivaji's Campaign on Surat and his famous letter 23:52 - 25 Year War: Aurangazeb vs. the Marathas 31:00 - Maratha campaign to capture North India 34:50 - Last decades of the 18th Century: Nana Phadnavis and Mahadji Shinde 39:39 - Why were there no new Maratha rulers after Nana Phadnavis? 42:40 - Life in the 18th Century 48:20 - Khunya Murlidhar Temple 50:40 - Final thoughts on the legacy of the Maratha empire 52:47 - Conclusion
The Ideal of Hindavi Swarajya: What factors led to it's formation? | Aneesh Gokhale | #SangamTalks SrijanTalks
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To learn more about 'Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Power', visit https://www.aiandpower.com/ Swarajya's Editorial Director R Jagnnathan interviews author and researcher Rajiv Malhotra on his book Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Power. The author highlights positive side of artificial intelligence, at the same time explaining the deeper view that AI is also making a growing number of people cognitively and psychologically dependent on digital networks. Whether you are a social media fanatic, a diehard AI aficionado, or a paranoid sceptic, it is impossible to escape the ubiquitous impact of AI. Artificial Intelligence is the brains bringing together quantum computing, nanotechnology, medical technology, brain-machine interface, robotics, aerospace, 5G, Internet of Things, and more. It is amplifying human ingenuity and disrupting the foundations of healthcare, military, entertainment, education, marketing and manufacturing. Artificial Intelligence and The Future of Power argues that this AI-driven revolution will have an unequal impact on different segments of humanity. There will be new winners and losers, new haves and have-nots, resulting in an unprecedented concentration of wealth and power. After analyzing society's vulnerabilities to the impending tsunami, the book raises troubling questions that provoke immediate debate: Is the world headed toward digital colonization by USA and China? Will depopulation become eventually unavoidable? Artificial Intelligence and The Future of Power is a wakeup call to action, compelling public intellectuals to be better informed and more engaged. It educates the social segments most at risk and wants them to demand a seat at the table where policies on Artificial Intelligence are being formulated. See more on Artificial Intelligence here: http://bit.ly/AIandPower Do check out our YouTube channel 'Rajiv Malhotra Official' and do follow us on Facebook '@RajivMalhotra.Official' and Twitter '@InfinityMessage' and '@RajivMessage'. To support this project: https://infinityfoundation.com/donate/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/kurukshetra/support
In September 2019, the Indian government introduced an FDI regime that allowed up to 26% FDI in the "News Digital Media Sector". The Government issued a clarification that it covers aggregators and will apply to entities streaming or uploading news and current affairs on websites, apps or other platforms. In this episode we have Muthuraman Natarajan (Co-founder and CFO - Swarajya) and Sreemoy Talukdar (Senior Editor - Firstpost) talk to Srivatsa Subbanna what these changes actually are and the impact of these changes. We start by understanding these policy changes in detail. They then talk about the difference between traditional and digital media and how traditional media has influenced digital media and vice-versa. Finally they move on to the economics of digital media and end with sharing their views on the future of digital media. This is a compelling watch as we deep-dive into the content and financial aspects of running a digital media company. The podcast is available on YouTube, Apple, Google, Spotify, Breaker, Stitcher, and other popular platforms. If you liked this episode, then please rate, subscribe and share!
In September 2019, the Indian government introduced an FDI regime that allowed up to 26% FDI in the "News Digital Media Sector". The Government issued a clarification that it covers aggregators and will apply to entities streaming or uploading news and current affairs on websites, apps or other platforms. In this episode we have Muthuraman Natarajan (Co-founder and CFO - Swarajya) and Sreemoy Talukdar (Senior Editor - Firstpost) talk to Srivatsa Subbanna what these changes actually are and the impact of these changes. We start by understanding these policy changes in detail. They then talk about the difference between traditional and digital media and how traditional media has influenced digital media and vice-versa. Finally they move on to the economics of digital media and end with sharing their views on the future of digital media. This is a compelling watch as we deep-dive into the content and financial aspects of running a digital media company. The podcast is available on YouTube, Apple, Google, Spotify, Breaker, Stitcher, and other popular platforms. If you liked this episode, then please rate, subscribe and share!
Marathas proved that they are not only great at guerilla warfare but can also fight the strongest on the plains
After his great escape from Agra, Shivaji Maharaj was on a mission to re-establish Swarajya and recapture the forts lost in the process
Implementing ideal administration and expansion of Hindavi Swarajya
Emergence of Hindavi Swarajya and bonding of sardars who would combat against oppression for rest of their lives
Formally crowned as the Chhatrapati of Raigad in 1674, the warrior-king breathed his last on 3 April, 1680
Shivrajyabhishek ceremony is held on June 6 every year at Durgaraj, Raigad to mark the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj
The Treaty of Purandar - A watershed moment
After his great escape from Agra, Shivaji Maharaj was on a mission to re-establish Swarajya and recapture the forts lost in the process
To revive the depleting financial condition after Shaista Khan's exit from Deccan, it was time to attack Surat - a Wealthy Mugal port
During the battle to recapture Lal Mahal, Shivaji Maharaj confronted Shaista Khan. As Khan tried to escape from one of the windows of the Mahal, his fingers were severed by Maharaj
Till the time I hear the canons fire, let death know that I do not have the time to attend it - Baji Prabhu Deshpande
Using a brilliant and patient strategy not only did Maharaj defeat Afzal Khan with a master stroke, but in his aftermath had doubled his own territory!
In a short span of time, visionary Shivaji Maharaj became a force to reckon with and came to be known as the 'Father of Indian Navy'
Implementing ideal administration and expansion of Hindavi Swarajya
Emergence of Hindavi Swarajya and bonding of sardars who would combat against oppression for rest of their lives
1630: India was in a dire need of someone who could fight for justice and equality against Mughals, Nizamshah and Adilshah.
● Why Militant Nationalism Grew 1. Realisation that the true nature of British rule was exploitative, and that the British India government, instead of conceding more, was taking away even what existed. 2. Growth of self-confidence and self-respect. 3. Impact of growth of education—increase in awareness and unemployment. 4. International influences and events which demolished the myth of white/European supremacy. These included — emergence of Japan—an Asian country—as an industrial power — Abyssinia's (Ethiopia) victory over Italy. — Boer Wars (1899-1902) in which the British faced reverses. — Japan's victory over Russia (1905). 5. Reaction to increasing westernisation. 6. Dissatisfaction with the achievements as well as the methods of the Moderates. 7. Reactionary policies of Curzon such as the Calcutta Corporation Act (1899), the Official Secrets Act (1904), the Indian Universities Act (1904) and partition of Bengal (1905). 8. Existence of a militant school of thought. 9. Emergence of a trained leadership. ● The Extremist Ideology (i) Hatred for foreign rule (ii) Belief in the capacity of the masses (iii) Swarajya as goal (iv) Advocacy of direct political action and self-sacrifice. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app