namo namo shiva shankar

Pretchari Param Kari

Dharma Chari mahatapa

He sanathan sarbanasan

Viswamitra mahayogi

Maha Rishi abhoyankar.

Namo namo shiva Shankar.

Ravfirochan sarbo Sadhan

Bhaswasayi dirgho rupo samsanei namo namo.

Namo namo shiva Shankar.

Rudra mantra

Rudra Rudra Maharudra

Shiva Shankar parayankar

Bhutnath Mahakal abhoya abhoyankar

Namo namo shiva Shankar.

Namo namo shiva Shankar.

Yogi hitkari sabki 

Satya tum hi ho

Nityo tum ho

Ugra ho kapaleshwar.

Namo namo shiva Shankar.

Biswakarta .bigyan 

Dharma dhenu sare Sadhan 

Bhutbhawan nath ho

Namo namo shiva Sankar.

Quiet, for now: On trade deal between US and China

The phase one trade deal U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He signed on Wednesday is but a temporary truce that leaves the key issues of the trade dispute unresolved. The pact that Mr. Trump has touted as a step toward creating a fairer and reciprocal partnership still leaves intact nearly three-fourths of punitive tariffs slapped on China since the onset of the trade rift in 2017. Even so, the limited terms the two largest economies agreed upon sets the political stage for further bilateral negotiations and to stem a further deterioration in the global growth scenario. China is to buy $200-billion in goods and services in the coming two years — purchases in 2017, were valued at some $187-billion. The proposed increase in exports is believed to be unprecedented in U.S. trade history and caused speculation on the impact these steep targets could have on China’s other trading partners. Agricultural exports form the smallest proportion of the latest offers relative to manufactured goods and services. This has been an important area of concern for the American farming sector ever since China imposed retaliatory tariffs on soyabean imports from the U.S. But Beijing has promised to open its markets in dairy products, poultry, fish and allied sectors. Whereas China has given assurances to remove barriers for American banking, insurance and other financial services, Washington would be more wary of guarantees on IP protection and alleged forced technology transfers; the last two have been among the more contentious aspects of the trade dispute, as seen in the attacks on Chinese telecom manufacturer Huawei. Separately, Washington has invoked provisions on threats to its national security to punish adversaries, an exceptional measure in the international trading arena. Crucially, the timing of the package enables Mr. Trump to claim some success in narrowing the trade deficit with China ahead of his November re-election bid.

Mr. Trump has said that negotiations on a phase two agreement would begin immediately and even hinted that he could travel to Beijing. However, questions over government control of China’s state-owned firms and industrial subsidies — at the core the bilateral dispute — are not expected to be resolved until after the 2020 U.S. Presidential elections. In parallel is the agreement to revive an erstwhile Obama-era mechanism for economic dialogue that was abandoned under the Trump administration. The step signals hope just as Washington’s decision this week to withdraw the tag of a currency manipulator upon Beijing, accusing it of artificially devaluing the renminbi to gain competitive advantage. The new forum could set the tone to address sensitive issues that have dogged Beijing’s relations with the U.S. and its allies after China joined the WTO.

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Citizens can skip question on place of birth of parents in NPR form, says Centre

Officials of non-BJP-ruled States on Friday asked the Registrar General of India (RGI) to remove the column on “place of birth of mother and father” in the proposed National Population Register (NPR) to be updated simultaneously with the Census exercise in April-September.

The RGI and the Home Ministry had convened a day-long conference to discuss the modalities to be adopted during the house-listing phase of Census 2021 and the NPR.

During the meeting, presentations were given on the objectives of the Census and the NPR exercises and their benefits and on the use of mobile app, which will be used in the Census for the first time.

RGI and other Home Ministry officials told the State representatives that respondents could skip the questions in NPR if they wanted and answering them was not mandatory but ‘voluntary’, a senior government official said.

West Bengal and Kerala, citing maintenance of ‘public order’ had earlier told the RGI that the NPR exercise should be halted.

Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy said no one will be pressured to collect details for the NPR.

“No documents are required to be shown by people during the NPR and Census exercise. People can give the details they want to. NPR should not be linked to the National Register of Citizens (NRC),” Mr. Reddy said.

The conference was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai.

Rajasthan Chief Secretary D.B. Gupta who attended the meeting said, “Many State governments objected to the new fields (in NPR) particularly the place of birth of parents. This is impractical. Sometimes in villages and even in cities people are not aware about their own place of birth. What is the purpose and objective of adding such a column? We asked them (Home Ministry) to remove the column. The Ministry officials replied that it was not mandatory for the respondents to provide information. If he or she wants they could deny or say that they are not aware. They cannot be forced to respond.”

The conference was attended by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, chief secretaries and census directors of many States.

A few States were represented by principal secretaries, instead of the chief secretary. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced that the State will skip the meeting but an official attended the session.

Mr. Rai said the data collected in the Census will help the country in framing policies for the welfare of the people. He also inaugurated the official ‘mascot’ for Census 2021.

Anti-CAA protests: Court grants bail to 14 arrested for violence in Muzaffarnagar

District judge Sanjay Kumar Pachori on Friday allowed their bail pleas and directed that they be released after furnishing two sureties each of ₹1 lakh.

A court here has granted bail to 14 people who were arrested in connection with violence during protests against the CAA here.

District judge Sanjay Kumar Pachori on Friday allowed their bail pleas and directed that they be released after furnishing two sureties each of ₹1 lakh.

According to the prosecution, the accused were arrested and sent to jail for allegedly being involved in the violence that broke out during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act on December 20 in Kotwali police station area here.

The police has also arrested many others in the district in connection with the incident and imposed the charge of inciting children to pelt stones on 33 people.

Meanwhile, police has registered a case against unidentified people for allegedly disseminating fake news, through social media and newspapers, of sexual assault with a madrassa student during police custody following the December 20 violence here during the anti-CAA protests.

Police said a case was registered on Friday under section 22 of the POCSO Act against unidentified people for allegedly spreading false news pertaining to a child’s sexual assault and misusing the law.

The case was registered after a complaint was filed by a person in this regard, police said, adding that the madrassa committee has said no incident of sexual assault with any of its students took place.

Ten students of the Madrassa Hoja Ilmiya here were arrested by police following the violence but they were later granted bail by a court after the SIT probing the incidents said there was no evidence against them

More unemployed and self-employed people committed suicide than farmers in 2018, show NCRB data

“Housewives accounted for 54.1% of the total female victims (22,937 out of 42,391) and constitute nearly 17.1% of total victims who committed suicides during 2018,” the NRCB said in its report released recently.

“Government servants accounted for 1.3% (1,707) of the total suicide victims as compared to 6.1% (8,246) of total victims from private sector enterprises. Employees from public sector undertakings formed 1.5% (2,022) of the total suicide victims, whereas students and un-employed victims accounted for 7.6% (10,159) and 9.6% (12,936) of total suicides respectively,” it said.

“Self-employed category accounted for 9.8% of total suicide victims (13,149),” it added.

According to the NCRB, 10,349 persons involved in farming sector (consisting of 5,763 farmers or cultivators and 4,586 agricultural labourers) committed suicides during 2018, accounting for 7.7% of total suicides victims.

“Out of 5,763 farmer or cultivator suicides, 5,457 were male and 306 were female during 2018. Out of 4,586 suicides committed by agricultural labourers during 2018, 4,071 were male and 515 were female, the report stated.

Overall, the majority of suicides were reported in Maharashtra (17,972) followed by 13,896 suicides in Tamil Nadu, 13,255 in West Bengal, 11,775 in Madhya Pradesh and 11,561 in Karnataka, accounting for 13.4, 10.3, 9.9, 8.8 and 8.6% of total suicides, respectively, the NRCB said.

These five states together accounted for 50.9% of the total suicides reported in the country, it added.

The NCRB, under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, is responsible for collecting and analysing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code and special and local laws in the country.

Medical experts, however, say that suicide is a serious public health problem but is preventable with timely, evidence-based and often low-cost interventions.

More unemployed and self-employed people committed suicide than farmers in 2018, show NCRB data

Students and un-employed victims accounted for 7.6% (10,159) and 9.6% (12,936) of total suicides respectively.

At least 35 unemployed and 36 self-employed people on an average ended their lives every day in 2018, with the two categories together accounting for 26,085 suicide deaths during the year, according to official data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

Unemployed persons (12,936) were slightly behind those self-employed (13,149) who took their own lives, while both categories outnumbered the suicide figures of those working in the farming sector — 10,349 — in 2018.

Overall, 1,34,516 suicides were reported in the country during 2018, showing an increase of 3.6% in comparison to 2017. The rate of suicides, which means deaths per one lakh population, also increased by 0.3% during 2018 over 2017, the NCRB stated.

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Governance Index: On study of States on governance

The nation-wide comparative study of States on governance carried out by the Government of India, as seen in the Good Governance Index (GGI), is a welcome exercise to incentivise States to competitively deliver on public services to the citizens. This is not the first time that benchmarking of States has been carried out. Different agencies including NITI Aayog, the government’s policy think-tank, are evaluating the States on different parameters. The findings of the GGI’s inaugural edition are significant in many respects. Although Tamil Nadu has always had the reputation of being a better-run State, it is only now that it is ranked first in any study of this kind. Its strength has been the ability to ensure stable and smooth delivery of services without much ado. But it is not the only southern State to have put up an impressive performance. Three of its neighbours are among the top 10 of the big 18 States, one of the three groups formed for the study with the north-east and hill States and Union Territories being the other two. Of course, traditionally, the south has been ahead of others in several parameters of development. What is more significant about the GGI is that the dubiously-labelled “BIMARU” States are seeking to catch up with others in development. Of the nine sectors, Rajasthan, a “BIMARU” State, has finished within the top 10 in five sectors, Madhya Pradesh in four and Uttar Pradesh in three. In agriculture and allied sectors, almost all the “BIMARU” States are within the top 10 category and in human resources development, U.P. and Bihar figure. In the composite ranking, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are ranked fourth and ninth, respectively. The key message is that these northern States can catch up with others in due course of time, if the political leadership shows the will to overcome historical obstacles and stays focused on development.

Any index of this nature is bound to have some shortcomings, at least in the first round, a feature that the framers of the GGI have acknowledged. Some indicators — farmers’ income, prevalence of micro irrigation or water conservation systems and inflow of industrial investment — have been left out. The indicator, “ease of doing business”, has been given disproportionate weight in the sector of commerce and industries, to the virtual exclusion of growth rate of major and micro, small and medium enterprises. Moreover, there will always be an unending debate over which indicators — process-based or outcome-based — should get more importance in the design of such a study. Notwithstanding these shortcomings, what is noteworthy is that the Centre has made an attempt to address the problem of the absence of a credible and uniform index for an objective evaluation of the States and Union Territories. It goes without saying that the GGI requires fine-tuning and improvement. But that does not take away the inherent strength of the work that has been accomplished, keeping in mind India’s size and complexity.

Governance Index: On study of States on governance

The nation-wide comparative study of States on governance carried out by the Government of India, as seen in the Good Governance Index (GGI), is a welcome exercise to incentivise States to competitively deliver on public services to the citizens. This is not the first time that benchmarking of States has been carried out. Different agencies including NITI Aayog, the government’s policy think-tank, are evaluating the States on different parameters. The findings of the GGI’s inaugural edition are significant in many respects. Although Tamil Nadu has always had the reputation of being a better-run State, it is only now that it is ranked first in any study of this kind. Its strength has been the ability to ensure stable and smooth delivery of services without much ado. But it is not the only southern State to have put up an impressive performance. Three of its neighbours are among the top 10 of the big 18 States, one of the three groups formed for the study with the north-east and hill States and Union Territories being the other two. Of course, traditionally, the south has been ahead of others in several parameters of development. What is more significant about the GGI is that the dubiously-labelled “BIMARU” States are seeking to catch up with others in development. Of the nine sectors, Rajasthan, a “BIMARU” State, has finished within the top 10 in five sectors, Madhya Pradesh in four and Uttar Pradesh in three. In agriculture and allied sectors, almost all the “BIMARU” States are within the top 10 category and in human resources development, U.P. and Bihar figure. In the composite ranking, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are ranked fourth and ninth, respectively. The key message is that these northern States can catch up with others in due course of time, if the political leadership shows the will to overcome historical obstacles and stays focused on development.

Any index of this nature is bound to have some shortcomings, at least in the first round, a feature that the framers of the GGI have acknowledged. Some indicators — farmers’ income, prevalence of micro irrigation or water conservation systems and inflow of industrial investment — have been left out. The indicator, “ease of doing business”, has been given disproportionate weight in the sector of commerce and industries, to the virtual exclusion of growth rate of major and micro, small and medium enterprises. Moreover, there will always be an unending debate over which indicators — process-based or outcome-based — should get more importance in the design of such a study. Notwithstanding these shortcomings, what is noteworthy is that the Centre has made an attempt to address the problem of the absence of a credible and uniform index for an objective evaluation of the States and Union Territories. It goes without saying that the GGI requires fine-tuning and improvement. But that does not take away the inherent strength of the work that has been accomplished, keeping in mind India’s size and complexity.

Infrastructure push: On Centre’s ₹102-lakh-crore plan

or an economy that is tottering, a big bang announcement from the government can sometimes work to turn around sentiment. The unveiling by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday of a mega push to infrastructure investment adding up to ₹102 lakh crore over the next five years belongs in this category. Projects in energy, roads, railways and urban infrastructure under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) have been identified by a task force. About 42% of such identified projects are already under implementation, 19% are under development and 31% are at the conceptual stage. The NIP task force appears to have gone project-by-project, assessing each for viability and relevance in consultation with the States. Considering that the NIP will be like a window to the future, a constant review becomes paramount if this is not to degenerate into a mere collation and listing of projects. A periodic review, as promised by the Finance Ministry, is necessary. The government’s push on infrastructure development will not only enable ease of living — such as metro trains in cities and towns — but also create jobs and increase demand for primary commodities such as cement and steel. From this perspective, this push to invest in infrastructure is welcome.

dentifying the projects to be put on the pipeline is the easy part. Implementing and commissioning them will be the more difficult one. There are a few hurdles that the NIP task force needs to watch out for. First, the financing plan assumes that the Centre and the States will fund 39% each while the private sector will chip in with 22% of the outlay. Going by the present fiscal situation, it will be no small challenge for the Centre to raise ₹39 lakh crore, even if it is over the next five years. The financial position of States is even more perilous. Second, the ₹22 lakh crore expected from private investment also looks steep considering the lack of appetite for fresh investment by the private sector in the last few years. In fact, this factor has been a major drag on economic growth. Given the scale of investment, debt will play an important role and it remains to be seen if banks have gotten over their apprehensions on infrastructure financing as a major part of their bad loans originated there. Finally, cooperation from States becomes very important in implementing infrastructure projects. The experience on this count has not been very happy till now. While these are genuine obstacles that the task force needs to manage, these should not detract from the need for a concerted effort to invest in infrastructure. The key will be following up and reviewing the pipeline at regular intervals.

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A persisting variance: On sustainable goals index

Even better performing States have not fared well in achieving gender equality

he NITI Aayog’s Sustainable Development Goals Index for 2019, released on Monday, does not reveal any surprising information. The South’s Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka are joined by Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Goa as the best performers while the northern/north-central and north-eastern States have been laggardly in achieving the U.N.-mandated goals by 2030. Poor performers such as Uttar Pradesh have shown discernible advances in the indices — measured between 2018-19 — especially in adopting cleaner energy and improving sanitation. But the regional divide is stark in basic livelihood goals such as “eradication of poverty”, and “good health and well being” or even in measures such as “industry, innovation and infrastructure”. This points to variances in both State governance and in administrative structures and implementation of welfare policies. The South, led by Kerala and Tamil Nadu, has done much more in orienting administrative institutions to deliver on basic welfare, leading to actions on health care, education, poverty eradication and hunger, with a governance structure tuned to competitively monitoring actions on these fronts. The converse is true of northern States — Bihar and Uttar Pradesh — where outcomes have remained relatively poor despite there not being much of a difference in the governance structure. The obvious answer to the puzzle could be the presence of historical socio-political movements that have resulted in greater circulation of elites in power and which have addressed issues related to welfare more thoroughly in the South — Kerala and T.N in particular. Yet even these States need to go further in reaching the UN’s SDGs and achieving the living standards of both the first world and other developing nations.

The western States, especially Gujarat and Maharashtra, are also better off in economic growth and industry, indicating a diversified economy, higher employment ratios, skilled labour and better entrepreneurial culture. A major fault-line in India is in achieving gender equality, where barring middling performers such as Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Jammu & Kashmir, the rest of the country falls short. Low sex ratio (896 females per 1,000 males), poor labour force participation and presence in managerial positions (only 17.5% and 30%, according to the report), high level of informality of labour, a major gender pay gap (females earn 78% of wages earned by males in regular salaried employment), lack of adequate representation in governance (14.4% in Parliament, but 44.4% in local government) besides high crime rates against women and girls are among the major national level indicators that have contributed to this. States need to climb a mountain to achieve gender equality, but immediate steps such as enhancing women’s participation in governance through parliamentary reservations would go a long way in addressing several of the issues faced by them.

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Swachh Survekshan should go beyond symbolism and adopt sustainability

he NDA government’s Swachh Survekshan, the ranking system for clean cities, was rolled out four years ago as the answer to a problem that municipal law failed to solve. Sanitation and public health are responsibilities of State governments, and it is no secret that they have spectacularly failed at managing growing volumes of municipal and hazardous waste. The problem has only been compounded by the absence of plans that take a holistic view of housing, sanitation, water supply, waste management and transport. Ahead of the launch of Swachh Survekshan 2020, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is once again trying to stir up competition among cities, by pre-ranking them for their performance during 2019 and assigning points to be added this year. As an idea, unleashing the competitive spirit among States may seem appealing, but in reality, the problems confronting urban India require large-scale infrastructure creation, full adherence to legal requirements on waste management, and transparent technical audits. Many cities remain clueless on handling their waste, one shocking example being the rising mountain of garbage at the Ghazipur landfill in Delhi. Ironically, Bhopal, which figures among the top five cleanest cities under the just-released list, continues to live with the effects of the gas disaster of 1984. Ranks and prizes clearly cannot solve the national waste management crisis.

Looking ahead to the next edition of the Survekshan, the Urban Affairs Ministry has identified ambitious targets: “100% processing and safe disposal of waste, complete faecal sludge and septage management, and wastewater treatment and reuse.” These are major tasks. The Ministry has also sanctioned funds under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) to help States set up facilities necessary to manage waste. States should ask for extended funding under such schemes to create the infrastructure for a future-focused clean-up and, simultaneously, institute measures to reduce waste. The emphasis worldwide is on creating a circular economy centred at the principle of material recovery from all kinds of waste, reuse, recycling and reduced pressure on natural resources. A sound ranking of cities and towns would naturally give the highest weightage to this dimension of sustainable management, replacing symbolism with an environmentally sound approach. Such rigour in policy formulation can make the Centre’s goal of eliminating single-use plastic by 2022 seem more realistic, and industry would find a compelling reason to switch to alternatives. Retooling Swachh Survekshan 2020 to go beyond perception management and adopt sustainability is essential to

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Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan have denounced the adoption of such a resolution, the former arguing that all States had a constitutional duty to implement central laws. However, the principal objection — that citizenship being a matter concerning the Union, it is not open to State Assemblies to give their opinion on it — is not valid. To the extent that a State government believes that a parliamentary law is not constitutional, it is entirely in order for the State legislature to call for its repeal. Further, a resolution is not legislation, and is not governed by the principle of legislative competence. It is only an expression of a political opinion. Tamil Nadu, for instance, has passed several resolutions concerning India’s foreign policy — such as asking for a war crimes probe against Sri Lanka and even a referendum on ‘Tamil Eelam’. There is a technical problem on the resolution’s admissibility. Kerala Assembly rules say matters pending before a court or those that do not concern the State should not be admitted in the form of a resolution. However, these are minor issues. Ultimately, the House Speaker decides on admitting a resolution, and it is an internal matter. Voicing support for the CAA and disapproval of Kerala’s resolution are also valid political opinions, but these should not translate into any ill-advised action such as hauling up the Chief Minister before the Privileges Committee of Parliament.

Rather than denounce Kerala’s CAA resolution, Centre must seek to understand the objections

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OPINION EDITORIAL

 EDITORIALMissing the wood: On anti-CAA resolution in Kerala Assembly

JANUARY 04, 2020 00:02 IST

UPDATED: JANUARY 04, 2020 01:01 IST

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Citizenship Amendment Act

Rather than denounce Kerala’s CAA resolution, Centre must seek to understand the objections

The Kerala Assembly’s resolution calling upon the Centre to repeal the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, reflects the widespread unease and disquiet the legislation has caused. Rather than treat it as a controversy over the question whether a State Assembly is competent to question the law on a matter under the Union government’s domain, the Centre should reflect on the core issue: that the CAA may be in violation of the equality norm and secular principles enshrined in the Constitution. Given how deeply the country is divided on the changes in the law, Kerala’s example may set the stage for a wider confrontation between the Centre and States that have expressed their disinclination to give effect to the Centre’s policy in this regard. The resolution reflects a legitimate concern that in enacting the CAA, the Centre has written a patently discriminatory norm into the law. There is justified opposition across India on the amendment’s implications, especially in combination with the expected follow-up action in the form of establishing a citizenship register. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is among several CMs who have spoken out against the CAA’s discriminatory nature, but his has been the first regime to adopt a formal resolution for repeal. The Centre must make an effort to understand the underpinnings of the ongoing protests against its amendments, of which the Kerala resolution is surely a part.

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Fond of lord Shiva and always bow down to him.

Thank you God for such wonderful life...

If God support with immense heart I will must purchase Toyota. Fortuner..