The Good Word

Bharat First Visit IndiaWiki.org

Jan 9, 2023 - Week 2Volume 7S-87| Pages 3

Army Day parade

held in Bangalore, in

a first outside Delhi

Dhankar, Birla and Rijiju attack

the judicial collegium system

Israel: Netenyahu

bats to rein in

Supreme Court

Bharat First Visit IndiaWiki.org

Jan 13, Israel which has

no formal constitution is

facing a democratic

inflection point. The

heart of the initiative is

a bland-sounding

judicial reform called

the “override clause.”

Proposed by the Justice

Minister Yariv Levin, a

member of Prime

Minister Netanyahu’s

Likud Party, the reform

would allow a 61-seat

majority in the 120-seat

Knesset—which almost

any governing coalition

has—to override a

Supreme Court decision

striking down legislation

deemed to contradict

Israel’s Basic Laws. It

will also allow the

government to hand-

pick the president of

the Supreme Court.

Mr. Netanyahu has till

now resisted such

radical changes to the

system. Now, whether

because his coalition

partners demand it, or

because of his own legal

troubles, or for a

changed ideology, he

seems to be singing a

different tune.

At: Haaretz, WSJ

Pakistan avoids

debt default on

global dole

Jan 10, Pakistan is likely

to avoid a debt default

for the next 6 months

but investor concerns

over the country’s debt

repayment issues

remain.

Investors have

reservations about the

nation’s large dollar

debt repayment

maturing in April 2024

but in the short-term,

there’s still hope that

the resumption of the

International Monetary

Fund (IMF) program will

help the country survive

till June 2022.

Bloomberg predicts that

IMF loans, bilateral

creditors and the World

Bank could help cover

$5.9 billion in debt

payment and deficit

finance till the end of

the year. The following

12 months are still

uncertain as another

$11 billion is needed.

Pakistan recently got

$10.5 billion in pledges

from international

creditors for flood-

rehabilitation. At:ProPakistani

appointment of judges.

Dhankar said the 1973

Kesavananda Bharati

case verdict set a

wrong precedent and

diluted the lawmaking

power of Parliament.

The court in a 7-6

decision had said it

could strike down

amendments to the

Constitution that were

in violation of the

fundamental

architecture of the

Constitution.

Parliamentary

sovereignty cannot be

permitted to be diluted

by the judiciary,

Dhankar said.

Jan 9, 2023 - Week 2Volume 7S-87| Page 2

Jan 8, the Army has

placed orders for nearly

2,000 drones, about 20%

for logistical support at

the frontline and around

1,500 for different types

of surveillance and

reconnaissance roles.

The drones will be used

to deliver logistics loads

of between 5 and 40 kgs

to distances ranging

from 5 to 20 kms.

Surveillance drones on

order are for flight times

of 90 minutes to six

hours. Drones will be for

high-altitude operations.

IdeaForge, a key

producer with 70%

indigenous drone

content has machines

that can take off from

altitude of 15,000 ft and

fly to almost 19,600 ft.

The purchase is being

expedited due to the

stand-off with China.

At: IndianDefenseNews

Assam Eviction Drive aimed to

free land of encroachments

AAP directed pay

₹ 164 crores in ten

days for party ads

Jan 10, the Indian Army

is set to receive a big

boost as the Defence

Research and

Development

Organisation (DRDO) has

cleared the indigenously

developed Quick

Reaction Surface to Air

Missile Weapon System

(QRSAM) for production.

QRSAM has successfully

cleared all trials. Missile

production is like to

start in less than six

months.

The QRSAM system is

being developed by the

DRDO to help the

mechanised formations

of the Indian Army ward

off enemy planes and

attack helicopters.

At: FirstPost

Drone Image: OneIndia

Jan 10, Assam Chief

Minister (CM) Himanta

Biswa Sarma said that

the state government

will continue to remove

encroachments to free

up land. Sarma's

statement came after

the administration

began a massive eviction

drive in Assam's

Lakhimpur to clear

around 500 hectares of

forest land.

‘Eviction drives have

been started as we know

today more than 400

hectares are being

cleared. It will continue,

in the days to come we

are committed to make

all Satra lands, Khas land

and forest land

encroachment free,’ the

CM said. ‘In some cases,

we have seen that most

Nupur Sharma

gets gun licence

for death threats

Echoing Dhankar’s

views, the Lok Sabha

Speaker Om Birla who

also spoke at the event,

said the judiciary is

expected to follow the

principle of separation

of powers as defined in

the Constitution.

The Union Law Minister

Kiren Rijiju said in an

interview on All India

Radio that the main

problem with regard to

the appointment of

judges is a lack of

understanding, in the

judiciary and other

stakeholders, of the

spirit of the

Constitution. The

Constitution was very

clear that the President

of India shall appoint

judges in consultation

with the Chief Justice. It

only provided for some

consultation. In 1993, in

the Second Judges case,

the Supreme Court

undid the Constitutional

provisions and created

the Collegium System.

At: DailyPioneer, NewIndianExpress

Image: TheStatesman

of these people have

land at some other

places. In some cases

where they don't have

any land elsewhere,

after proper verification

and ensuring that they

are genuine citizens, we

will rehabilitate them,’

he added.

Heavy security has been

deployed in the area and

the district

administration has

positioned its excavators

and tractors. The district

administration had

launched a big eviction

drive on Dec 26 last

year. Encroachments

were removed over 400

bhigas of land at the

Baghbar Satra Kanara

area.

At: Republic

Image: EastMojo

Jan 13, the Indian hockey

squad beat Spain 2-0 in

their opening Pool D

match of the Men's

Hockey World Cup 2023 at

the Birsa Munda Hockey

Stadium in Rourkela on

Friday.

Amit Rohidas (13’) scored

in the first quarter while

Hardik Singh (27’) netted

India’s second goal. The

final few minutes of the

first quarter saw captain

Harmanpreet Singh’s shot

blocked by the Spain

defence. Amit Rohidas

latched onto the loose ball

and drove his shot past a

helpless Adrian Rafi in the

Spanish goal to score

India’s first goal. It was

also India’s 200th goal in

the tournament. Only

Australia, the Netherlands

and Pakistan have scored

more.

Then Hardik Singh broke

away in pace and showed

some stunning all-round

skills to weave past four

defenders and took a shot

at goal from a tight angle.

A deflection off a Spanish

defender took India to a 2-

0 advantage into the half-

time break. At: Olympics

Jan 12, the Chamoli

district administration has

reported cracks in 723

houses, while 86 houses

have been identified as

unsafe so far. A total of

131 families, adding up to

462 people, had been

moved to the temporary

shelters till Tuesday.

The first phase of

demolitions is focusing on

two hotels which are

among the worst hit. Deep

cracks on the ground have

caused one of the hotels,

Malari Inn, to be severed

from its foundation, as a

result of which it has tilted

towards the other hotel,

Hotel Mount View. Thakur

Singh Rana (63), the

owner of Malari Inn, said

the hotel, which has 28

rooms, was constructed in

2011 at a cost of nearly

five crore rupees. The

administration wishes to

carry out mechanical

demolitions to prevent

loss of life. Residents are

worried about the

financial loss and

demanding compensation.

At: FinancialExpress, NDTV, IndiaToday

Jan 12, in a continuing

attack on the judiciary

Vice President Jagdeep

Dhankhar asked the

judges to refrain from

‘one-upmanship and

public posturing’ and

also frowned upon the

power allegedly

usurped by the judiciary

to review laws passed

by Parliament.

Addressing the 83rd All

India Presiding Officers

Conference in Jaipur,

Dhankar, who is the

Rajya Sabha chairman,

hit out at the judiciary

for scrapping the NJAC

Act and maintaining

the supremacy of the

Collegium in

Soros behind

burying Hunter

Biden story

Jan 14, the left-liberal

ecosystem had come

together to bury the

Hunter Biden laptop

story ahead of the US

presidential elections in

2020. Major left-wing

media houses had

decided not to publish

the explosive stories

revealed after Joe

Biden’s son Hunter

Biden had left his laptop

at a repair shop.

When the New York Post

published the reports,

Twitter and Facebook

had censored the story.

Now it has been

revealed that left-wing

billionaire George Soros

was also behind the

conspiracy to bury the

story to help Biden win

the election.

The revelation, made in

Twitter-Files, an

initiative by new Twitter

owner Elon Musk to

expose its right-wing

censorship shows FBI

paid a whopping $3.4

million to Twitter

between 2019-2021 to

coerce Twitter officials

into gutting the ‘Hunter

Biden story‘ At: OpIndia

Hockey World Cup:

India beat Spain

2-0 in opener

Army places orders for 2,000

surveillance and logistics drones

Jan 13, Prime Minister

(PM) Narendra Modi

inaugurated, MV Ganga

Vilas, the longest river

cruise in the world, to

showcase Indian culture,

and glory.

The 51-day luxury cruise

will cover over 3,200

kilometers of 27 river

systems in five Indian

states and Bangladesh.

It will stop at 50 tourist

spots including World

Heritage sites, national

parks, major cities and

river ghats. The

inaugural trip started

from Varanasi and will

end at Dibrugarh, Assam

on Mar 1, 2023. It is

carrying 32 Swiss tourists

who have signed up for

the entire journey.

At: JagranJosh

Joshimath sink:

Protests stall

razing of 2 hotels

Nupur Sharma, most Googled

Indian of 2022, seen on Twitter

Swami Vivekananda birth anniversary and National Youth Day, Jan 12; Army Day, Jan 15 – images courtesy Twitter

Jan 12, the Directorate of

Information and Publicity,

Delhi has issued a

recovery notice of over

₹ 164 crore to Aam Aadmi

Party (AAP) chief Arvind

Kejriwal. The amount is

for political

advertisements using

state funds and it needs to

be paid within ten days.

About ₹ 100 crore is the

amount spent on

advertisements till Mar

2017 and the remaining

₹ 64 crore rupees is the

penal interest on it. At: Gov

AAP leader Sanjay

Singh sentenced to

3-month jail

Jan 12, AAP MP Sanjay

Singh and five others were

convicted by an MP/MLA

court in Sultanpur, UP in

connection with a 21-

year-old case related to

rioting while holding a

demonstration over

power and water supply in

2001. The court convicted

all six to three months in

jail along with a fine of

₹ 1,500. They were

granted bail however to

file an appeal in a higher

court.

At: IndianExpress

Jan 12, a gun licence has

now been issued to BJP

spokesperson Nupur

Sharma. She had applied

for an arms license citing

grave threats to her life

from Islamic extremists.

More than 10 cases have

been registered against

her in 8 states for

comments made in a TV

debaite, but the Supreme

Court has transferred all

the cases to Delhi and had

also stayed her arrest.

At: ZeeNews

Jan 15, In a first, since

1949, Army Day

celebrations were moved

out of the national capital

and kicked off in

Bengaluru. Army chief

General Manoj Pande

attended the Army Day

2023 event in Bengaluru

at Govindaswamy parade

ground. The parade

included a band, mounted

contingent and a fly-past

of Army helicopters.

At: OneIndia

DRDO clears

QRSAM missiles

for production

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

So it is with the world

and our helping it. The

only help is that we get

moral exercise. This

world is neither good

nor evil; each man

manufactures a world

for himself. If a blind

man begins to think of

the world, it is either as

soft or hard, or as cold

or hot. We are a mass

of happiness or misery;

we have seen that

hundreds of times in

our lives. As a rule, the

young are optimistic

and the old pessimistic.

The young have life

before them; the old

complain their day is

gone; hundreds of

desires, which they

cannot fulfil struggle in

their hearts. Both are

foolish nevertheless.

Life is good or evil

according to the state

of mind in which we

look at it, it is neither

by itself. Fire, by itself,

is neither good nor

evil. When it keeps us

warm we say, "How

beautiful is fire!" When

it burns our fingers, we

blame it. Still, in itself it

is neither good nor

bad. According as we

use it, it produces in us

the feeling of good or

bad; so also is this

world. It is perfect. By

perfection is meant

that it is perfectly

fitted to meet its ends.

We may all be

perfectly sure that it

will go on beautifully

well without us, and

we need not bother

our heads wishing to

help it.

Yet we must do good;

the desire to do good is

the highest motive

power we have, if we

know all the time that

it is a privilege to help

others. Do not stand

on a high pedestal and

take five cents in your

hand and say, "Here,

my poor man," but be

grateful that the poor

man is there, so that by

making a gift to him

you are able to help

yourself.

(to continue next

week)

Swami Vivekananda

Karma Yoga

a series of extracts

Bharat First

PAGE 3 THE GOOD WORD

Due to Erdogan’s neo-

Ottomanism, these

neighbouring nations

have continuously

suffered Ankara’s

hostilities.

Egypt has been facing

hostilities from Turkey.

So, in a bid to counter

Turkish influence, India

has agreed to Egypt

hosting production

facilities for the

manufacturing of world’s

lightest supersonic

fighter jet LCA Tejas and

helicopters. With that,

the Egyptian Air Force

would receive 70 light

combat fighter jets with

local production and

technology transfer.

Similarly, facing an

existential crisis on

account of a Turkish

threat, Cyprus recently

signed a memorandum

of agreement on defence

cooperation with India.

Additionally, India has

ramped up defence

cooperation with

Armenia by actively

fulfilling its defence

requirements.

In 2022, India struck a

₹ 2,000 crore ($250

million) deal to get our

first-ever export of the

Indian-made Pinaka

multiple-launch rocket

system (MLRS). The

export order included

the four batteries of the

Pinaka MLRS, anti-tank

rockets and a host of

other ammunition.

Armenia needs India’s

help to equip and train

its Air force

Now, Armenia has

shown keen interest in

having Indian expertise

to upgrade its Su-30SM

fleet. As per media

reports, Armenia may

procure the air-launched

version of BrahMos

supersonic cruise

missiles and Astra

Beyond-visual-range air-

to-air missiles (BRAAM)

to increase the lethality

of its Su-30SM fleet.

Around 12 nations

operate Sukhoi fighter

jets but Indian Air forces

have a technical

superiority in operating

these fourth-generation

fighter jets.

India has around 272 Su-

30MKI, thus making it

the backbone of the

Indian Air force. These

Su-30MKI jets are fitted

with Astra and Brahmos

missiles, sensors, and

avionics from all over

the world that sets it

apart from the Sukhoi

jets of other countries.

Furthermore, Armenia

bought Russian made

Su-30SM that are based

on Su-30MKIs. Thus,

Indian fighter pilots

giving training to

Armenian counterparts

will drastically improve

Armenia’s air force

capabilities.

It badly needs it as

Armenia was

thoroughly exposed the

last time the nation

faced the brunt of war.

Armenia, a landlocked

West Asian Christian

state has a long conflict

with Muslim dominated

Azerbaijan with regard

to the disputed

Nagorno-Karabakh

region. With about 90%

Muslim population,

Azerbaijan effectively is

an Islamic country.

Considering this

religious fault line, the

two countries are

constantly engaged in

violent struggle and

have fought various

wars. Due to religious

alignment, Turkey has

traditionally supported

Azerbaijan in any

conflict.

Turkey-Azerbaijan

relations are defined in

terms of one nation,

and two states. Thus, in

the 2020 Nagorno-

Karabakh War, Turkey

overwhelmingly

supported Azerbaijan

and ensured

Azerbaijan’s victory.

Not only Azerbaijan,

but Turkey, in order to

become the Global

Khalifa of Muslim

world, has vociferously

supported Pakistan and

has followed anti-India

agenda. From ranting

on Kashmir to providing

logistical support to

Islamists in the South

Asia, Turkey has done

great damage to India.

On account of CSTO,

Armenia had pinned its

hopes on Russian

brokered peace or

intervention to save it.

But due to geopolitical

overhauling and Russian

compulsions, Armenia

realised the need for

India’s support to

safeguard its

sovereignty.

In 2020, Armenia had

four Su-30SM jets but

they lacked essential

weapons, particularly

the guided air-to-surface

missiles. The Christian

majority nation,

Armenia, was forced to

keep these jets

grounded during the

Nagorno-Karabakh

conflict. Without guided

missiles like the ones

Indian Sukhois have,

involving Su-30SM

fighters would have led

to irrecoverable losses

with little to no visible

gains in the war.

Currently, there is a high

possibility of resumption

of war between Armenia

and Azerbaijan over the

Nagorno-Karabakh

dispute.

Additionally, Azerbaijan

has forged a nexus with

Turkey and Pakistan. In

fact, the trio conducted

the “Three Brothers”

military exercise in 2021.

Henceforth, Armenia will

rely on Indian expertise

to neutralise this Islamic

nexus.

Earlier in 2020, Armenia

had also imported

defence equipment from

India. Armenia concluded

a defence deal worth $43

million to buy four

Indian-made Swathi

weapon-locating radars.

Apart from defence

exports, India has given a

clear message to the

Islamic nexus of

Azerbaijan, Turkey and

Pakistan. India has

overtly stated that it has

taken a side in the

Nagorno-Karabakh

dispute. On one hand, to

counter Turkey, India has

supported Armenia. On

the other, India has

maintained a “principled

position” by appealing to

the aggressor, Azerbaijan

to end violence.

The news of Indian

fighter pilots and

possible export of lethal

missiles has rattled

Azerbaijan and its allies.

Its President, Ilham

Aliyev declared India’s

supply of weapons to

Armenia is ‘an unfriendly

step’. He also claimed

that Indian weaponry

won’t save Armenia.

India is aggressively

creating several pincer

like movements to

corner Turkey in its

backyard. In doing so it is

sending out a clear

message that any nation

challenging Indian

sovereignty will have to

face the wrath of an

assertive India.

Source: TFIPost with

minor edits; an extract

from TFIPost

Author: Paurush Gupta

Through an aggressive

and assertive foreign

policy, India is gaining an

elevated stake in the

newly shaping global

order.

Under Foreign Minister

Jaishankar, India has

moved past the

yesteryear policy of

restraint that constantly

kept us on the defensive

side. Now, India is

imposing a price on

nations that repeatedly

indulge in anti-India acts.

The strategic

encirclement of Turkey is

an example of this

overdue change of stance

in Indian foreign policy.

Indian military

equipment

strengthening Turkey’s

‘unfriendly’

neighbourhood

For a very long time,

Turkey escaped

accountability for

constantly spewing

venom against India and

carrying out anti-India

acts. But in the past few

years, India is

aggressively

strengthening strategic as

well as defence ties with

Armenia, Greece, Cyprus,

Egypt and Syria.

Is India going after Turkey’s jugular?

Jan 9, 2023 | Week 2 | Volume 7S-87

Visit IndiaWiki.org

Additionally,

Azerbaijan has

forged a nexus

with Turkey and

Pakistan. The trio

conducted a ‘Three

Brothers’ military

exercise in 2021.

Henceforth,

Armenia will rely

on Indian expertise

to neutralise this

Islamic nexus.

Apart from

defence exports,

India has given a

clear message to

the Islamic nexus

of Azerbaijan,

Turkey and

Pakistan. India has

overtly stated that

it has taken a side

in the Nagorno-

Karabakh dispute.

On one hand, to

counter Turkey,

India has supported

Armenia. On the

other, India has

maintained a

“principled

position” by

appealing to the

aggressor,

Azerbaijan to end

violence.