The Good Word

Chopra gets partial

HC protection

May 9, 2022 - Week 19Volume 7S-52| Pages 2

Loudspeaker: Karnataka to follow UP model; as

HC says loudspeaker not a fundamental right

Bharat First Visit IndiaWiki.org

May 4, ‘Reporters

Without Borders’ (RSF),

in its annual ‘Press

Freedom’ rankings 2021-

2022, downed India’s

rank to 150th from 142nd

out of 180 countries,

below regimes like the

UAE and Hong Kong. An

OpIndia investigation

exposes how both RSF’s

sponsors and its

methodology are

suspect. Funded by the

French government and

dubious regime change

NGOs like the Ford

Foundation, the RSF

seems unable to palate

a diversity of views.

Irked by the loss of the

left’s control over the

India narrative post a

2014 surge in use of

social media, its

‘freedom’ seems to be

confined to that of left-

leaning-media-houses-

and-journalists. It even

derides right or pro-

establishment views as

‘Godi Media’ or ‘Bhakts’.

Even RSF’s methodology

of qualitative and

quantitative questions is

flawed, as it cherry picks

respondents to meet its

ends. At: OpIndia 1-2

Anandmayi Ma birth anniversary, Apr 30, image courtesy KaliMandir; Adi Shankaracharya Jayanti, May 6, image courtesy UniqueNewsOnline

Sri Lankan

President Mahinda

Rajapaksha resigns

May 9, Mahinda

Rajapaksha has resigned

from the post of Sri

Lankan Prime Minister

(PM) as the country

continues to face its

worst economic crisis

and civil unrest. The

resignation comes as

anti-government

protests have spread

across the island nation.

As per reports, Mahinda

Rajapaksa resigned after

his younger brother and

President of Sri Lanka

Gotabaya Rajapaksa,

urged him to, to help

find a solution to the

ongoing political crisis.

Sri Lankan authorities

have declared a state of

emergency, imposed

curfew and deployed

Army troops in the

capital after pro-and

anti-government groups

clashed outside the

President’s office,

leaving at least 78

people injured. The

ancestral home of the

Rajapakshas was also

gutted in the arson.

At: FirstPost, EconomicTimes

May 9, two and a half

months into the Ukraine

Russia war, Russia

celebrated the 77th

anniversary of the defeat

of Nazi Germany in

World War II. Up to

11,000 troops marched

on Moscow’s iconic Red

Square on Monday as

Putin addressed his

countrymen and blamed

the West for the conflict

in Ukraine, but included

no new escalations.

Ukraine loses $170m

every day it is cut off

from sea, its Prime

Minister said. Ukraine's

national export capacity

has been more than

halved since the war

with Russia erupted in

late February. The port

city of Odesa has been

shelled relentlessly. US

intelligence assesses that

Russian actions could

escalate and become

more unpredictable. A

victory in the Donbas will

not be the end of the

conflict. Russia could

attempt to form a land

bridge to the Moldovan

territory of Transnistria.

At: RT, NBCNews, SkyNews

Russian celebrates

Victory Day amid

Ukraine war

May 10, the Rajasthan

police is in Noida to search

and arrest the popular

news anchor Aman

Chopra. The cops found his

residence locked.

3 FIRs have were

registered against Chopra

for sedition, outraging

religious and promoting

enmity between groups.

On Apr 23, Chopra had

asked on his show if it was

mere coincidence that two

days after a bulldozer was

used to demolish the gate

of a mosque in Delhi’s

Jahangirpuri, three

temples were demolished

in the Alwar, Rajasthan,

one of the temples was

300 years old. He had

asked if it was revenge for

Jahangirpuri under the

Congress government’s

watch. Chopra got interim

protection from the

Rajasthan High Court in

two FIRs. The cops claim

he faces arrest under a

third. At: Wire, HT Image: APNLive

days. ‘All users of

loudspeakers or public

address systems shall

obtain written

permission from a

Designated Authority

within 15 days. Those

who don't obtain it

should voluntarily

remove (them) or

(they) should be

removed by the

Designated Authority’,

an order of the state

government reads. A

committee shall be

formed to decide the

applications for

loudspeakers.

May 10, Uttar Pradesh

Chief Minister (CM) Yogi

Adityanath on Saturday

said over one lac

loudspeakers have been

brought down so far in

the state and asked

officials to ensure that

the removed sound

systems are not installed

again.

Seeming to take a page

from UP’s book,

Karnataka CM Basavaraj

Bommai has ordered a

crackdown on all illegal

loudspeakers in

Karnataka within 15

May 8, the fifth National

Family Health Survey

(NFHS-5) 2019-2021

data, made accessible

this week, reveals that

India’s total fertility rate

(TRF), the average

number of children a

woman will have in her

lifetime, has declined to

2.0 from 2.2 indicating

progress in population

control. The Muslims

TFR remains higher than

all other communities at

2.36. The TFRs of all

other communities are

under 2.1, the

replacement rate, which

indicates slowly

declining populations.

About 6 lac households,

7 lac women and 1 lac

men were surveyed.

Image and text: TheTimesOfIndia

May 6, a Delhi court

Friday said that former

Aam Aadmi Party

councilor Tahir Hussain

was not only a mere

conspirator but “an

active rioter” as well,

while framing charges

against him in a

Northeast Delhi riots of

2020, under various

provisions of the Indian

Penal Code. In Khajuri

Khas a large number of

stones, petrol bombs,

catapults etc used in the

riot were located on the

roof of Husain’s building

betraying a well planned

attack. in. A godown was

set ablaze valuables

looted.At: IndianExpress

May 10, in a welcome

development for BJP

youth wing leader Tajinder

Pal Singh Bagga the

Punjab and Haryana High

Court (HC) has stayed the

arrest of BJP youth wing

leader till July 5.

On May 6, in some high

voltage drama the Punjab

Police arrived with a force

of 40-50 officers to nab

Bagga from his Delhi

residence on the basis of

an arrest warrant issued

by a local court in Mohali

for provocative

statements and criminal

intimidation. However, the

Punjab cops were

intercepted midway on

their return by the

Haryana and Delhi Police

and Bagga was returned to

Delhi. Delhi Police then

filed FIRs against the

Punjab Police for

kidnapping and assaulting

Bagga who is a vocal critic

of Aam Aadmi Party chief

Arvind Kejriwal.

At: TxtReport Image: NewsExpress

May 10, Delhi’s JCB

encroachment removal

drive continued for a

second day in the New

Friends Colony and

Mangolpuri areas. The

South Delhi Municipal

Corporation (SDMC) razed

illegal encroachments

with heavy security

deployment. Illegal

structures, shops, huts,

gardens were razed

irrespective of social or

economic strata of the

encroacher. Delhi DCP

Sameer Sharma said of

the drive in New Friends

Colony, ‘The situation is

completely in control.

People are cooperating.’.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)

MLA Mukesh Ahlawat was

detained by the police for

disrupting drive.

A day ago, chaotic scenes

May 9, The National

Investigation Agency (NIA)

conducted raids at over 20

locations, 13 people, in

Mumbai connected to

underworld don Dawood

Ibrahim and his associates.

NIA claims incriminating

electronic devices,

documents of investments

in real estate, huge stashes

of cash and fire arms were

seized. Dawood’s close

associate, Chhota Shakeel’s

brother-in-law, Salim

Qureshi alias Salim Fruit

and Shakeel’s aide Mobida

Bhiwandiwala have been

detained.

An NIA FIR dated Feb 3

claims Dawood Ibrahim

runs an international

terrorist network, the D-

Company. The NIA alleges

that Ibrahim through his

close associates like Haji

Anees, Chhota Shakeel,

Javed Patel, Tiger Memon,

Haseena Parkar and Iqbal

Mirchi has created a special

unit for striking terror India

by attacking eminent

personalities, politicians

and businessmen.

At: Republic

HC stays Bagga’s

arrest till July 5th

May 6, the ED raided over 20 locations across India

in a money laundering case of 2020, and seized ₹25

crores form Jharkhand IAS officer, Pooja Singhal’s

CA. The CA has been arrested. Singhal, IAS batch of

2000, is alleged to have obliged two NGOs for ₹6

crores to grant a mining lease on 83 acres of forest

land and other irregularities in MNRGEA.

At: OpIndia Image: TimesNow

Bulldozers roll in Delhi after being

blocked initially at Shaheen Bagh

The total fertility rate of India is

down to 2, Muslims still the highest

Press Freedom

Index credibility

questioned

ED seizes ₹25 crore in cash in raids

linked to Jharkhand IAS officer

NIA raids Dawood

connections in

Mumbai

Agra, Mathura

follow Gyanvapi

mosque petition,

May 10, a session court in

Varanasi will resume

hearing the Gyanvapi

mosque petition

tomorrow. Before it lies a

plea for contempt of court

as a mob of irate Muslims

had prevented the court

ordered videography of

the mosque midway 3

days ago. The mosque

panel has questioned the

impartiality of the

advocate commissioner

entrusted with the survey,

and the area under

inspection is also in

dispute.

The quest to search for

Hindu temple

antecedents that the

Moghuls destroyed to

give effect to monuments

is picking up. Despite a

1991 Act that mandates

preservation of the

religious character of a

place of worship as it

existed in 1947, a request

to survey the Shahi Eidgah

in Mathura and another

to inspect 20 locked

rooms of the Taj Mahal

have been made.

At: Republic, TOI

On Monday Bommai

said the Supreme

Court’s directives would

be implemented in a

‘cordial’ manner.

On May 6, the Allahabad

High Court dismissed a

petition seeking the

installation of a

loudspeaker in a

mosque for ‘azaan,’

saying that the right to

use loudspeakers in

mosques not a

fundamental right.

At: TheWeek Republic,

IndianExpress, NewsByteApp

Image: ZeeNews

AAP’s Tahir

Hussain charged

in Delhi Riots

had unfolded in Delhi's

Shaheen Bagh, when

crowds of those affected,

gathered with Congress,

AAP and Bhim Army

members to hold anti-

encroachment protests.

The CRPF detained

protestors. When the

bulldozers were about to

roll, residents started

dismantling illegal

structures voluntarily.

The Supreme Court (SC),

in an urgent hearing

came down heavily on

CPIM for having

approached it. It stressed

that only an aggrieved

party should have come

to the apex court. The

SDMC has lodged a

complaint against AAP

MLA Amanatullah Khan

for obstructing

demolition At: NewsBharati,

Republic, Image: FreePressKashmir

This has led to growing

frustration in Pakistan

with the Federal

Minister for Planning

and Development

Ahsan Iqbal recently

expressing

dissatisfaction over

the slow progress of

important projects.

Many Pakistani

politicians and experts

were unsettled about

its potential, as the

CPEC projects and

their tough loan terms

were a matter of

concern since the

beginning, the report

said.

Pakistan has also been

considering

abandoning the CPEC

altogether if the US

provides similar

financial assistance.

The energy crisis has

given Islamabad a

strong reason to cut

the size of the CPEC,

as Chinese companies

have decided to cut off

power generation. The

shortage was more

than 6,000 MW when

15,500 MW of energy

was produced, the

report said.

Chinese companies

have decided to cut

power generation by

1980 MW. Due to the

non-payment of PKR

300 billion, the

installed capacity has

increased by only 37

percent and a new

wave of power crisis

has emerged in

Pakistan.

Islamabad's response

to the removal of the

CPEC has given a clear

signal that it does not

want China's influence

in Pakistan to

continue, the report

said, adding that,

Pakistan has spenta

large portion of its

revenue on repaying

loans for the CPEC

project. However,

many CPEC projects

have been delayed or

failed.

China has stopped

paying for the final

stages of major

projects putting even

more pressure on

Pakistan, and a new

wave of energy crisis

has gripped Pakistan

as Chinese companies

will not generate

electricity until their

payments are made,

the report said.

Thus, there is no

doubtthat CPEC

would be a huge

responsibility and a

source of huge costs

for Pakistan if

Pakistan delays in

paying Chinese

companies, the

report further said,

adding, that

Pakistan's current

account deficit has

already reached

USD13.2 billion and is

expected to be 5-6

percent of the

country's GDP in the

first nine months of

the current fiscal

year.

The report said that

every average

Pakistani believed

that CPEC would

bring

development and

prosperity, adding

that, however, the rift

between Islamabad

and Beijing in the

CPEC is widening

every day.

Email: IndiaWiki2020@gmail.com Website: http://TheGoodWord.IndiaWiki.Org

infrastructure projects.

Meanwhile,

Chinese companies

have also stopped

generating electricity

in CPEC projects

demanding payment

of arrears. High-

interest rates on CPEC

loans, rising project

costs, weak projects,

and attacks on CPEC

infrastructure are

major issues in what

has become a white

elephant dream.

The CPEC was

launched as part of the

bigger Belt and Road

Initiative (BRI),

introduced by Chinese

President Xi Jinping in

2013 drawing

worldwide attention.

But things did not go

as planned, and as

Pakistan's economic

situation deteriorated,

the country was

pushed into debt.

Seeing that many of

the USD 62 billion

CPEC mega projects

have not even started

after all these years.

Samskâra can be

translated very nearly

by "inherent

tendency". Using the

simile of a lake for the

mind, every ripple,

every wave that rises

in the mind, when it

subsides, does not die

out entirely, but leaves

a mark and a future

possibility of that wave

coming out again. This

mark, with the

possibility of the wave

reappearing, is what is

called Samskâra. Every

work that we do, every

movement of the

body, every thought

that we think, leaves

such an impression on

the mind-stuff, and

even when such

impressions are not

obvious on the surface,

they are sufficiently

strong to work

beneath the surface,

subconsciously. What

we are every moment

is determined by the

sum total of these

impressions on the

mind. What I am just

at this moment is the

effect of the sum total

of all the impressions

of my past life. This is

really what is meant by

character; each man's

character is

determined by the

sum total of these

impressions. If good

impressions prevail,

the character becomes

good; if bad, it

becomes bad. If a man

continuously hears bad

words, thinks bad

thoughts, does bad

actions, his mind will

be full of bad

impressions; and they

will influence his

thought and work

without his being

conscious of the fact.

In fact, these bad

impressions are always

working, and their

resultant must be evil,

and that man will be a

bad man; he cannot

help it. The sum total

of these impressions in

him will create the

strong motive power

for doing bad actions.

Swami Vivekananda

Karma Yoga

a series of extracts

Swami Vivekananda Image courtesy Newsgram.com;

Source - EconomicTimes

Image –

USCPublicDiplomacy

Amid long delays in the

completion of projects

and building up arrears,

the once much

celebrated China-

Pakistan Economic

Corridor (CPEC) from

China's Xinjiang

province, running up to

Gwadar in Balochistan,

is increasingly

becoming dysfunctional

leading to growing

frustration in both the

countries, a media

report said.

The big projects under

the Corridor are having

problems raising the

required funds and the

completed projects are

being shut down, a

media portal reported,

adding that the

government of Pakistan

has now also abolished

the CPEC authority,

which was set up for

smooth and rapid

development.

Beijing is reluctant to

release the pledged

funds for

May 1, the suicide blast

targeting a van with

Chinese faculty near

Karachi University’s

Confucius Institute was

an attack on China’s soft

power. The terrorists

seemed aware that the

institute symbolised

China’s cultural and

civilisational expression,

and that China, more

than others, was keen to

project a soft image.

As expected, the

reaction from China was

strong: the Chinese

foreign ministry said

that those behind the

incident would have to

pay the price.

Due to Chinese pressure

the government

changed its stance and

allowed Chinese

investigators to help the

Pakistani agencies

investigate the attack.

Prime Minister Shehbaz

Sharif rushed to the

Chinese embassy to

express his condolences

and promised to bring

the perpetrators to

justice. Mr Sharif’s

gesture may be

appreciated by China,

but to address Chinese

concerns about security,

the state institutions

here will have to take

measures that can

satisfy Beijing. This is

essential for the smooth

implementation of the

CPEC projects. Pakistan

has already invested a

large amount of money

in protecting Chinese

nationals and securing

CPEC projects.

However, the cost of

security, to which China

contributes, is very high.

The cost of security is

also a major factor that

makes CPEC projects

more expensive.

The security

establishment is

engaged in a broader

dialogue with the Baloch

people, especially the

youth. It is important to

understand the

perspectives on the

ground. But first, it

should lead to a change

in approach, and

second, political actors

should also initiate such

processes. Like the

other provinces,

Balochistan deserves a

free and fair election,

and this is crucial to

creating a dialogue.

Extracts from an article by

Muhammad Amir Rana for Dawn

Delay in CPEC projects sowing frustration in Pakistan, China: Report

The energy crisis

has given

Islamabad a strong

reason to cut the

size of the CPEC,

as Chinese

companies have

decided to cut off

power generation.

The shortage was

more than 6,000

MW when 15,500

MW of energy was

produced, the

report said.

Chinese

companies have

decided to cut

power generation

by 1980 MW, due

to the non-

payment of PKR

300 billion

The high cost of

securing CPEC

projects

May 9, 2022 | Week 19 | Volume 7S-52

Bharat First Visit IndiaWiki.org

PAGE 2 THE GOOD WORD