Devendra Fadnavis - From Being Poster Boy to CM Chair !!!

Finally the political war of who will form the government in Maharashtra has come to an end and Devendra Gangadharrao Fadnavis of BJP will be taking the oath on 31st October, 2014. His political career commenced in the early nineties, where he joined the BJP Maharashtra as a ward President, BJYM. From becoming the youngest municipal corporator of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation at the age of 21 and continuing to be the corporator for two consecutive terms in 1992 and 1997 to become the CM of the state. He has got an excellent track record which has garnered him this prestigious position. He is the president of Maharashtra state unit of Bharatiya Janata Party and MLA of Maharashtra from Nagpur. He had also served as Mayor of Nagpur and now the chief minister designate of Maharashtra.

This 44-year-old former Mayor of Nagpur knows all the tact’s and his self-control has brought him a long way in politics. While his rivals left no stone unturned to make their ambitions for the top post public the party’s State unit chief Devendra Fadnavis always believed that the party will decide and nominate the most worthy candidate. He is a law graduate who worked closely with the party’s youth wing and became a corporator in the year 1992. Within five years after becoming the corporator he became the youngest Mayor of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation at the age of just 27. He was able to achieve all this while Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s had the territorial control of the BJP in this region. He has politics deep rooted in his family and it runs in his blood. His father Gangadharrao Gadgil was a senior Jan Sangh leader and later a BJP MLC. His aunt Shobhatai Fadnavis was a Cabinet Minister in the Shiv Sena-BJP government. It was obvious that Mr. Fadnavis would ultimately join politics and finally he started his political career in the BJP’s youth wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.

Devendra was born in a middle class Deshastha Brahmin family in Nagpur in 1970. He attended Dharampeth Jr. College in the year 1986–87 after which he completed a 5 year law degree from Law College Nagpur. From 1986–89, he was an active member of ABVP. In the ABVP he started as a ground worker at the proletariat level where he had to paint walls and stick promotional posters for politicians. He also has a Post Graduate Degree in Business Management and a diploma in Project Management from D. S. E, Berlin. Devendra married Amruta Ranade in 2006. She is an associate vice-president in Axis Bank in Nagpur. They have a daughter named Divija.

His handiness in negotiating the party’s power games has held him in an ideal stead. He skillfully allied himself with the Union Minister’s rival the late Gopinath Munde as pressure from the Gadkari camp grew. Munde played a vital role in catapulting Mr. Fadnavis to the post of State BJP president after stitching out Gadkari’s stalwart Sudhir Mungantiwar. His spotless image and down to earth lifestyle have earned him the party leadership.

The most difficult challenge when Mr. Fadnavis will have to face once he becomes the CM is that he lacks pan-Maharashtra exposure as his political life has been restricted to Vidarbha. His strong support for separate statehood for Vidarbha makes him vulnerable if the demand were to gain momentum. Although he has been a Mayor he also has considerable experience in running a government. His immediate priority will be to win over his rivals and find a way to work collectively for the development of the state and its people.

There are lot of things queued up for him to work on. We will have to see how this man who started his career in politics as a poster boy would lead one of the biggest states of India. But with his commendable political career it will not be very difficult for him. Running such a big state is not a cake walk but Mr Fadnavis has all that it takes and is a kind of leader who is looked upon and an ideal example for others to follow. So do you think he will be able to full fill the aspirations the people have from him after he takes oath on 31st October ?

Benefits India Expected To Gain From Modi's Japan & US Visits !

After becoming the Prime Minister of India Modi is leaving no stone unturned to make India a global icon and marketing the country as the next hub for development where other countries can invest and bound to get good returns. He plans to bring back the lost glory of India and is travelling to different countries to strengthen the bond with them and bring in capital and at the same time make the relationship a healthy one without any quarrels. He has recently visited to Japan and US and met the respective government heads to speak about various burning issues and was successful in negotiating some crucial deals which are important for the development of our country. Let us look at the key takeaways from both the visits.

Key takeaways from his Japan Visit

During the five-day visit which was his first one outside the subcontinent after becoming PM in May, Modi invited Japanese investments while hard-selling India as a conducive destination for business particularly for the manufacturing sector. He told the Japanese businessmen that India was awaiting the investments with a red carpet as rules and procedures have been eased by his government. Japan has also promised to give USD 35 billion to India over the next 5 years for developmental projects.

Inviting Japanese PM Modi said, "There is no better place than India for Japanese investors. India is one of the most competitive markets in the world. It is important for Japan to move to low cost hubs of manufacturing." Promising a conducive environment for investors, Modi said, "Foreign investors need a proper environment to grow in India. We are working towards improving ease of doing business in India."We have eased off a lot of regulations," Modi sought to assure.

With Japan committing to fund bullet trains, the dream of running high-speed trains on Indian tracks is now a step closer. Modi's dream project got a big push after Japan expressed readiness to provide financial, technical and operational support to introduce bullet trains in India in a joint statement. The first high-speed train is expected to run between Ahmedabad and Mumbai at an estimated cost of around Rs 60,000-70,000 crores. As Japan is a pioneer in running superfast trains, the agreement is expected to help Modi achieve his dream of a bullet train for India running at a maximum of 300 km per hour.

Modi tried his hands at drums while inaugurating the TCS Cultural Centre. The Prime Minister was inspired after watching the drummers and joined them, much to the amusement of the gathering. Modi joined the ceremonial Japanese drummers to perform a jugalbandi with them as he drummed up support for Indian business in Japan.

The two countries also decided to enhance cooperation in defence and other strategic areas and also signed five pacts covering defence exchanges, cooperation in clean energy, roads and highways, healthcare and women while vowing to take their relationship to newer level. Japan also lifted ban on six Indian entities including Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) which had been imposed in the aftermath of 1998 nuclear tests. In Kyoto, a pact was signed under which Modi's Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi would be developed on the pattern of Kyoto 'smart city' with the help of Japan. Abe also announced that as an example of Indo-Japan Cooperation, Tokyo will help India in providing financial, technical and operational support to introduce Bullet trains, a project that Modi has been actively pursuing.

Winding up his official programme Modi expressed gratitude to Japan for reposing trust in India and demonstrating its friendship. "This visit has been very successful," Modi had said at the Indian community reception hosted in his honour here earlier. "There has been talk about billions and millions. But there has never been talk of trillions," he said, referring to 3.5 trillion Yen USD 35 billion or 2,10,000 crore promised by Japan to India through public and private funding over the five years for various works, including building of smart cities and cleanup of the Ganga river" Modi said.

Quick Highlights of his US Visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden visit to the US was a huge success. The visit was unique as no other Indian leader had ever received such a rapturous welcome. The jam-packed Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday showed the kind of popularity Modi has gained during his 100-plus days as PM. It was a rock star-like appearance. Modi’s speech clearly showed that how he felt at home in a land that denied him visa for nearly a decade and he played all the right cards to win the audience looked upon him as an ideal.

He made announcements like merger of the Persons of Indian Origin and the Overseas Citizens of India schemes which will make their visit to India easier. Other announcements like lifetime visa, visa on arrival and not having to report to the nearest police station are all a great relief for the NRIs. The launch of the Make-in-India portal, a day before his US visit, was specially designed to invite attention from the Indian Americans, who wanted to connect with the land they belong to and contribute to its growth. He himself admitted that a file in India used to land on 32 tables before it was cleared.

As China owes its exemplary economic success in some measure to the Chinese settled abroad, who invested in the Chinese economy and set up various projects. Modi has also opened a new avenue for the NRIs to bring the Indian economy back on track. At his meeting with 11 top American chief executives, the prime minister sold India as a prime destination for foreign direct investment (FDI). The country is likely to receive a big boost as some of the CEOs expressed their interest in investing in various sectors. For instance, Laurence D Fink, CEO at Blackrock, one of the world’s largest investment management firms, assured an investment of $6 billion by early next year and another half a billion for setting up a big manufacturing unit for injectable drugs. If all goes well, the breakfast diplomacy may prove to be a success.

From the moment Obama greeted Modi in his Gujarati style, “Kem Cho, Mr. Prime Minister” till the joint homage paid at the Martin Luther King Memorial, it was made amply clear that both have forged a personal, bureaucratic and diplomatic partnership. After the bilateral talks between the two leaders, Modi addressed the media and said the US was an integral part of his “Look East, Link West Policy” and expressed the need for making India a part of the global value chain. He sought support from the US for greater participation of Indian service companies in the US economy.

By the end of the US visit, Modi had a lot of deliverables in his kitty like development of three smart cities—Allahabad, Ajmer and Vizag—along with the upgrade of water, sanitation and health in 500 Indian cities under a programme called WASH, development of smart energy initiatives such as intelligent street lighting etc., a programme under which 1,000 American teachers will be made available for short-term courses in Indian universities and setting up of a new IIT. What’s more, the two have agreed to extend the defence deal for another period of 10 years. Both have expressed their concern over the sudden outbreak of Ebola and India agreed to spend $12 million.

Modi’s visit to Ground Zero showed India’s commitment towards fighting terrorism. Obama went a step further and agreed to make joint efforts to dismantle terror and crime networks like LeT, D-company, al-Qaeda etc., a message that may not go well with Islamabad. Modi has set a high benchmark by projecting India as a global partner. The US has not shown any reluctance in collaborating with India on matters of strategic importance. It all depends on how and when it resolves issues like nuclear liability, WTO trade facilitation agreement and intellectual property rights before they join hands in their onward march to progress.

Modi is doing all that it takes to take India to the next level by visiting different countries and luring them to invest in India which will ultimately transform India and help in its development. He has a dream for India and wants to make sure that it is fulfilled. He is on the path to prove to the people of India that they have chosen an able leader and the country is safe in his hands and moving towards development.

O Panneerselvam the new CM – Why Jayalalithaa Banks on him Blindly

From owning a tea stall to joining active politics in 1996 and now becoming the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu after incumbent chief minister Jayalalithaa had to step down due to conviction in disproportionate assets case. O. Panneerselvam in September 2001 too was made Chief Minister for a short time as Jayalalithaa had to step down after the Supreme Court pronounced her guilty of a criminal offence. Panneerselvam is also popularly known as the reluctant Chief Minister.

In 2001 he chose not to sit in Jayalalithaa’s chair at the Chief Minister’s Office and also did not clear any crucial files in her absence. Instead he chose a visitor’s chair at Fort St. George when he was appointed as the CM in September 2001.

Panneerselvam was born in January 1951 in Piryakulam, Tamilnadu. He owned agricultural lands and a tea shop. He became the chairman of Periakulam municipality in the year 1996. He contested MLA election in 2001 and became the PWD minister from Periakulam. He became the chief minister after Jayalalithaa lost a corruption case and had to resign after the Supreme Court revoked Jayalalithaa's conviction in March 2002. During this period he was just an acting chief minister while all the orders came from Jayalalithaa and she was managing the government through Selvam.

In the AIADMK legislature party meeting on Sunday which was held after Jayalalithaa was arrested O Panneerselvam was elected as the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He is all set to be sworn in as the chief minister today. According to party insiders, Panneerselvam was unanimously elected as the Chief Minister. “He is firm and serious with us, and very loyal to Amma. He deserves it,” said a senior MLA. Many senior leaders pointed out that he had been loyal to Jayalalithaa since the early ‘90s. He is a party card holding member since 1972. He was in the Janaki camp but after MGR’s death due to the faction led by MGR’s wife he joined Jayalalithaa,”

A bail petition will be filed in the Karnataka High Court today and the party is hoping it will be called for hearing latest on Tuesday by the vacation bench. Jayalalithaa was visited by some top officers of the state government including Special Advisor and former Chief Secretary Sheela Balakrishnan and DGP Intelligence Ashok Kumar at the Bangalore Parappana Agrahara prison. Senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani is being planned to be roped in to fight her case in higher courts.

Like in 2001 Selvam will serve as the chief minister while Jayalalithaa is in the jail. However the reason behind choosing him is an open secret as she will be able to run the show from behind until she is granted bail and latter comes into power as the chief minister again. Nothing will change except the person sitting on the chief minister’s chair. All the crucial decisions will still be taken by Jayalalithaa will Selvam will take charge till then. Whether this time also he will be choosing not to sit in her chair and take critical decisions? We will come to know soon as he will be taking the oath today.

Love Jihad - How Much Truth in it?

Love the greatest gift from god to the mankind. From Romeo and Juliet to Heer and Ranjha there are many eternal love stories which make you emotional. Stories where the boy is from one religion and the girl from another and how they fight the world to be together. Whether you are a daily wager trying hard to earn the daily bread and make the two ends meet or a business tycoon earning crores and crores, whatever you do in our life, the sole intention is to keep our loved ones happy. And one day you realize that all this love was fake, the only reason it was show was because they wanted you to convert into the religion of the person you married.

Love Jihad also popularly known as Romeo Jihad, is a suspected activity under which young Muslim boys and men target young girls belonging to non-Muslim communities for conversion to Islam by feigning love. However the official investigations that took place in 2010 and 2012 in Kerala and Karnataka found no truth behind these allegations. They were supposedly shaped by political parties to create communal differences and increase their vote bank.Love Jihad has been in news since quite a long time now. Yogi Adityanath is the latest who is under fire for his recent remarks on this sensitive issue. In a provocative video the BJP Member of Parliament is seen urging Hindu men to marry 100 Muslim women if one Hindu woman is forcibly converted to Islam. "If they take one Hindu girl, we will take 100 Muslims girls," the MP from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh is seen as saying to a crowd of about a thousand people in the video posted on YouTube.

He further says "The way Hindu girls are insulted; I don't think a civilized society would accept it. One community is allowed to spread anarchy. If the government is not doing anything, then the Hindus will have to take matters into their own hands,” It is not clear from the video the place where it was taken in UP.

This is nothing new to Adityanath as he has been named in such controversial news before also. It was last month only when he was in a controversy for his speech in Parliament where he called all the Hindus to come front and take matters in their hands and accused opposition Congress for working on Pakistan's agenda. He is also currently facing charges of inciting communal tension in Gorakhpur in 2007.

Initially the BJP party who wanted to take advantage of using this issue to increase its Hindu vote bank for the upcoming by polls in Uttar Pradesh. But from last week’s party meeting in Vrindavan it was evident that it has been removed. However the issue is being scraped up by few groups in the state. The opposition parties in UP have got a chance to react against the senior BJP leadership and are hitting at the party for not making a clear stand on the issue.The love jihad issue is seen something like smoke without fire and the two worried governments though admitted to the conversions but only with an intention to prevent a communal rift and denied it was done under pressure. However they assured that they would not allow such forcible conversions at make sure there is no hate campaign against Muslims.

Though the controversy has lost its intensity over the months but the residues continue to smolder intimidating to revolve into a major blaze at the first spark and with controversies created by people will Yogi it is obvious to add fuel to the fire. Though the investigations carried out against this have not proved anything yet but if something like this has really being planned then it will hurt the sentiments of the entire nation and the consequences can be un imaginable.

Joko Widodo - Long Walk From Slums To Being President Of Indonesia

Joko Widodo the current Governor of Jakarta is the man who has won the elections to become the next Indonesian president. His increasing popularity as a clean politician made him a potential PDI-P candidate for the Indonesian presidential election in 2014 and ultimately his nomination was announced on 14 March 2014. He won the presidential election by more than 53% of the votes over his opponent Prabowo Subianto. He will officially be sworn-in and take charge of the Republic of Indonesia as the president on 20 October 2014.

After the PDI –P chief Megawati Sukarnoputri chose Joko Widodo to be the presidential candidate of her party there was a lot of campaigning that was done to make sure they emerge victorious. Widodo along with others travelled to many parts of Indonesia. Already his work while he was the mayor in Surakarta and the governor in Jakarta, had paved a way for his victory. His interest in loud music also benefitted him as many musicians from around Indonesia like Jalanan made a song titled Salam 2 Jari to promote his campaign. Also many international artists like Jason Mraz, Sting, Bumblefoot and Arkarna even posted for him on Twitter and Facebook supporting him.

Recently when he was in Jakarta he was provided with countless security officers. He rejected to be accompanied by so many officers and agreed to take four of them along with him. He is one man who believes that he does not need protocol to manage things. He is people's man and does not want anyone to come in their way to meet him. He also persuades his fellow political leaders to follow the same so that they can do their work efficiently. He says that the horizontal leadership era is the new democracy in Indonesia and everyone should put an end to the inefficient vertical relationship model. Widodo has risen from the slums to become the most powerful man of Indonesia. Let us see his journey from the ground to where he is now and how he made it all possible.

Widodo was the oldest of four children and the only son of Noto Mihardjo and Sudjiatmi Notomihardjo born in Surakarta in Central Java in 1961. As his family was very poor they struggled to assist him through school. He had to work to earn enough money for his school materials. The evictions he experienced three times in his childhood affected his way of thinking and his leadership later on as the mayor of Surakarta. He eventually graduated with a degree in forestry from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta in 1986. He was married to Iriana after his graduation.

Jokowi initially joined the forestry service of a state enterprise in Aceh. He was not feeling at home and missing his wife who was seven months pregnant. Hence in the year 1989 he returned to his hometown and worked with his uncle to learn the furniture business and mastered it from design to delivery. Then he started his own branch of a small furniture business which ran successful but had to be closed due to some fraud.

It was his performance as the mayor of Solo that first gained him attention with his ability to resolve issues like floods, dirty streets and slums. Initially many people doubted his ability as he was just a furniture businessman but after a year in office Jokowi had successfully led many progressive breakthroughs which became widely praised. His leadership style included an interactional relationship with the people of Solo through which he was able to induce people's strong faith in him. He adopted the development framework of European cities into his own city of Surakarta. His supporters pointed to rapid positive changes in Surakarta under his leadership. Jokowi also did not hesitate to dismiss investors who did not agree with the principles of his leadership. He was chosen as the Tempo's Leaders of Choice by Tempo news magazine (2008) and received Changemakers Award from Republika newspaper (2010) and his name also started being considered in national polls for governorship of Jakarta way before his party nomination of him to run for the post.

By 2012, he was elected the governor of Jakarta. He followed the practice of regularly arranging well-publicized visits to local communities especially in quite poor areas across Jakarta. His broad approach was widely said to reflect the successful style of administration that he adopted while he was the mayor of Surakarta between 2005 and 2007. He introduced a universal health care program in and distributed Healthy Jakarta Card and the program proved to be very popular. In 2012 he launched another card named the Smart Jakarta Card to support poor students in Jakarta. This card gave an allowance that can be withdrawn from ATMs in order to buy school needs such as books and uniforms and was constantly monitored and use for any other purposes was not allowed. Only through transparency, efficiency, e-catalog, and e-budgeting he was successful in increasing the provincial budget of Jakarta from Rp 41 trillion in 2012 to Rp 72 trillion in 2014. He also initiated dredging and reservoir normalization projects in order to reduce flood problems in the year 2013.

Widodo’s is the first Indonesian president who is not from among Indonesia’s elites club and his entry is as a refreshing break from the three decades of Suharto’s dictatorship. With a lean and tanned physique which is totally in contrast to the image of Jakarta's politicians who call him a villager but he appears to have the last laugh now after being announced as the next president of Indonesia who will join his office from October. There is a challenge in the country of 250 million people that he would be tested by the powerful army, the political and business elites which he does not know. The question his critics are asking is for how long he will continue to visit the slums when he will have the massive task of running the rambling country?

Who is Roxna Subramanian Swamy?

Like in October 1950 when the ruins of Somnath temple were pulled down in and the mosque present at that site was shifted few kilometres away, Subramanian Swamy has written a letter to Prime Minister Mr. Modi for the reconstruction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya by 2016 and fulfil the party's commitment to the electorate. Also the mosque should be built at public expense across the Saryu River in Ayodhya.

In his letter he suggested Mr Modi to form a Ram Temple Rebuild Committee and appoint former Chief Justice of India like SH Kapadia as the executor who may coordinate with a designated minister like Gen VK Singh. He also wants to call a meeting of Islamic clerics including people from abroad and seek an endorsement. In case this fails then Government should think about enabling a bill in the Parliament and get it passed.

Subramanian who is  leading Indian politician and economist was previously the President of the Janata Party but in the year 2013 he merged his party with Bharatiya Janata Party. He has a Bachelor Honours degree in Mathematics and a Masters degree in Statistics. He also studied at Harvard University where he received a PhD in Economics in 1965 and his thesis adviser in Harvard was the famous Nobel Laureate Simon Kuznets.

He joined the faculty of economics at Harvard beginning as an assistant professor and later became an associate professor. He then came back to India and served as the professor of mathematical economics there from 1969 to 1991 in Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

His political career started when the right wing political party Jansangh sent him to Rajya Sabha. He was elected Member of Parliament 5 times between 1974 and 1999.

Subramanian Swamy married Roxna Swamy in 1966. He had met her when was at Harvard. She is now an advocate at the Supreme Court of India. They have two daughters, Gitanjali Swamy who is a private equity investment professional in the US married to MIT professor and Suhasini Haider who is an editor at The Hindu and married to Nadeem Haidar son of Salman Haider.

Subramanian Swamy was one of the people responsible for normalising relations between China and India in 1980’s. It was in his meeting with China’s supreme Deng Xiaoping the opening of Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage route was announced in April 1981 which was widely reported in the media but had some other claimants too.

He is also among the people who made pioneering efforts at establishing diplomatic relations with Israel. In fact Swamy was the first Indian political leader to make publicised trip to Israel where he met with some important Israeli leaders such as Yitzhak Rabin and then Prime Minister Menachem Begin in the year 1982. His efforts at normalising relations with Israel have borne fruit and helped in India’s decision in 1992 to open Embassis in the respective countries.

He was among the first five who wrote letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking permission to prosecute A. Raja in regard to the 2G spectrum scam. As Manmohan Singh did not take any action Swamy filed a case on his own in the Supreme Court of India regarding the matter, which then asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to produce a detailed report on it.

Swamy has raised allegations that Sonia Gandhi's sisters Anushka and Nadia have received sixty percent of the kickbacks in the 2G spectrum scam, amounting to INR180 billion (US$3.0 billion) each. His efforts to strike down single directive provision which barred CBI from investigating corruption charges against officers of the rank of joint secretary and above without prior permission of the Govt of India were successful and the provision was deemed to be invalid and unconstitutional.

He also founded the Action Committee Against Corruption in India (ACACI) whose goal is to take specific action against corruption at very high places of government and Indian black money stashed abroad.

With a clean record without any controversies throughout his career Swamy is one person who never hesitated to fight against injustice. No matter who the person is if he felt what is being done is wrong he rose and stood as a wall to stop the evil.

India needs leaders like him to put the country on the path of growth and prosperity. Don’t you agree that we need people like him? In today’s world when every politician is busy filling their pockets is there any other leader who stands for a cause?

Dr Harsha Vardhan – How Solid Is He ?

Just when Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, speaking to the reporters last week on 17th August while inaugurating the yoga research laboratory at the Swamy Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Smsthana in Banglore, said the he wants to keep healthcare free from political influence the news of AIIMS chief vigilance officer (CVO) Sanjiv Chaturvedi being dismissed by him without giving any reason on Thursday is doing rounds. There are strong speculations that politics was involved in making this decision. Otherwise why the same ministry of health and family welfare who in the year 2014 accentuated that AIIMS was an autonomous institution and vouched for Chaturvedi's absolute integrity and called him an outstanding officer is now saying that he was removed because he was not eligible for the post. Also Vishwas Mehta who has now replaced Chaturvedi was the one who gave him clean chit when BJP general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP, JP Nadda, had raised objections to Chaturvedi's appointment in the year 2012. While the Aam Aadmi Party is demanding the resignation from Harsh Vardhan and also issued a statement that failing this, PM Narendra Modi should sack the minister for shunting out the “whistleblower officer” it is for the CVC to decide the eligibility of a person for the post of CVO not the government.On one hand where Chaturvedi in his two years stay in AIIMS had busted many a scam involving top AIIMS officials, Dr Harsh Vardhan says that he is not at all eligible for the post that he was holding at AIIMS as they were informed that without the approval of the central vigilance commission (CVC) nobody can be assigned the post of CVO anywhere. This was brought to their notice and hence taking cognizance to the same they removed him from the post. The question is why it took 2 years for him to realize this? Chaturvedi was to work till 2016 if he was not dismissed. Modi had recently said in a statement that he will not allow anyone to indulge in corruption and loot and when Chaturvedi was identifying such people the news of his dismissal has come. However the BJP is also washing its hands off by defending the government's decision saying that Chaturvedi was ineligible and that there was no witch-hunting. "He was an IFS (Indian Forest Service) officer. He was not eligible for the post and the CVC has not ratified it," party spokesperson Nalin Kohli said.Dr Harsha Vardhan who has always publicly admitted that Politics should in no way affect the health programme and policies of the country believes that for the health of the nation the health of government departments needs to be improved. He is doing all his efforts by visiting states that are not being ruled by the BJP government and successfully developing close friendships with them. Whomever he met he told them that though the government is of any party their aim should be not to allow any kind of politics to affect and interfere the health programmes and policies. Back in the year 1994 when he was the Delhi’s Health Minister had had urged hundreds of school children to become Polio Sainiks with the task of seeking out families with small children who needed polio immunization. This was implemented on 2 October, 1994 which was the first pulse polio day in Indian history and today polio is eradicated from our country.Recently in a letter he has written to several states and union territories to discuss the concern of easy availability of tobacco products in various forms though strict restrictions have been taken on their sale. He launched an anti-tobacco website which kicked off a campaign showcasing the plight of a cancer victim. He has in fact asked Defense Minister to ban cigarettes from army canteens and has also had asked the Finance Minister Mr Jaitley to hike prices of tobacco products in this year’s budget. He says tobacco consumption costs actually result in a loss of Rs 1.04 lakh crore a year due to increased healthcare costs and higher taxes will be one measure the center can take to control this.Harsh Vardhan was born in Delhi to Om Prakash Goel and Sneh Lata. He graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and got his Master of Surgery in Otorhinolaryngology in 1983. Since childhood he has been a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He is married to Nutan and they have two sons and a daughter.

Dr. Vardhan as the State Minister of Health in 1994 oversaw the successful implementation of the pilot project of the Pulse Polio Programme which involved the mass immunization of 1 million children up to the age of 3 in Delhi. He was named as the Chief Minister candidate for Delhi Assembly elections that were held October 2013 however BJP did not win the majority. In 2014 lok sabha elections he contested from Chandni Chowk seat and defeated Kapil Sibal of INC and later was announced as the Minister of Health and Family Welfare in May this year.Dr Vardhan is credited with steadfastly uniting various factions in Delhi BJP and leading the party's aggressive campaign for Lok Sabha polls in which it recorded a clean sweep. Apart from being an effective minister he also proved his organizational capabilities by rebuilding the BJP's operations in Delhi from scratch after the party's defeat in the 2003 Assembly Election. It was under his leadership that BJP was able to win all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. Also during his Minister ship in the Delhi government people had found him remarkably accessible and officials respected him for his hands-on style of functioning. Under his leadership in April 2007 party won the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and in 2008 the Delhi Cantonment Board election. Now with the Delhi Assembly election fast approaching chances of BJP winning and forming the government are growing. With the ability of making BJP win in unpredictable situations soon this will be reality.With an excellent track record without any controversies and working on critical issues like eradicating polio and bringing in awareness about the fatal effects of smoking Dr Harsha Vardhan has set an example for others. But whether his decision to remove Chaturvedi had come due to pressure? Was he forced by superior officials to take this step? Only time will answer these questions.

Nawaz Sharif - Can He Keep Army In His Grip?

A civil disobedience movement was declared against the Nawaz Sharif-led government started by Pakistan's opposition leader Imran Khan recently. He feels that the future of Pakistan is not in the able hands. This came after the cleric Tahirul Qadri gave a 48-hour ultimatum to the embattled Prime Minister to resign. Khan has urged the people not to pay taxes, electricity or gas bills. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf chief asserted that under the rule of these businessmen who only want to make money for themselves, Pakistan's future is bleak. Sharif's PML had won 190 out of 342 seats where as Khan's PTI got only 34 seats which is the third largest bloc in the legislature. Khan accused vote-rigging by Sharif's PML was the reason otherwise his party would have won many more seats. Khan said that anyone who tried to hold Nawaz accountable was offered bribes. Judges, the election commission last year and the generals all were in his kitty. Qadri who has given a 48-hour ultimatum to the embattled Prime Minister to resign and wants Sharif and his brother Shahbaz arrested for the killing of his 14 supporters in Lahore on June 17.   India called off the Foreign Secretary-level talks scheduled for August 25 as Pakistan was interfering in India's internal affairs by holding talks with Kashmiri separatists though they were warned not to do so. In a major ceasefire violation that lasted throughout the night, Pakistani troops resorted to heavy mortar shelling and fired with automatic weapons at 20 Border out Posts and civilian areas along the International Border in Jammu sector, leaving a villager injured. There were 11 ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along LoC and IB in Jammu region during the past 10 days which were made deliberately. Hence it is very clear that Pakistan and the powers within do not want to tie with India and continue the rivalry. Though Sharif is making all promises and trying his best to better the relations between both the countries only time can tell what will be the result. Let us look at what can be expected from Nawaz Sharif and if the Pakistan army will allow him to do what it takes to unite both the nations.

 Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif commonly known as the "Lion of the Punjab" is the president of Pakistan Muslim League is the current Prime Minister of Pakistan who is in office since June 2013. He is a veteran politician and industrialist and the third time Prime Minister. He previously served as Prime Minister from November 1990 to July 1993 and from February 1997 to October 1999.As the owner of Ittefaq Group, a leading business conglomerate he is also one of the country's wealthiest people. Upon controlling office Sharif promised good relations with all its neighbours and launched trade talks with India with promise of liberalizing trade relationship. Sharif meet Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2013 however no major agreement was reached. He took significant steps to improve relations which will liberalize trade however on Mar 26, 2014 The Times of India reported that Pakistan military has pressurized Sharif to stop any trade liberalization with India. Sharif also telephoned congratulated Modi on BJP's victory in the general elections in India and invited Modi to visit Pakistan becoming among the first leaders to do so. Even though some political parties expressed reservation about Modi's invitation to Nawaz Sharif and holding of talks with him the meeting between Modi and Nawaz Sharif was not merely a cordial exchange of pleasantries. Modi sent out an extremely tough message to the Pakistani premiere as a precursor about why it has become extremely important for Pakistan to contain cross border terrorism. Modi is very serious about the issue of terrorism and possibly this is the reason why he decided to use the occasion of Nawaz Sharif's visit for the swearing-in ceremony for holding bilateral talks.

Nawaz Sharif belongs to the industrial class of the Punjab. Both he and his Indian counterpart are openly pro-business and pro-market. Nawaz Sharif’s party takes pride in the so-called development projects in Punjab just as Modi does in Gujrat. It is in the interest of Nawaz Sharif and his industrial constituency to improve relations with India. It is not a secret that Pakistan has a lot to gain from having better economic relations with India.This is not the first time Sharif is attempting to improve relations with India. When he was last in power in the late 90s when BJP was also in power in India he had openly embraced India and the Indian prime minister. But to spoil the peace process, the Pakistani army, lead by General Pervez Musharraf, launched a war against India in the mountains of Kargil in Kashmir without his knowledge. Latter the army overthrew Sharif and took over the country and martial law was imposed. Now in his third term as a PM also Nawaz Sharif faces the same issues. Though he managed to negotiate with the army and come to Delhi for Modi’s inauguration this does not mean that the future is rosy. There is hardly a chance that the army would allow Sharif to continue improving relations with India. The army’s opposition to India is deeply ideological. For the reason of maintaining its hold on Pakistan and protecting the economic interests of the armed forces, the Pakistani army would never let Pakistan and India normalize their relations.

However one thing we can be sure of is that the Pakistani intelligence services will not take the same road as before and mount another attack inside India as the present situation does not allow for such tactics. Pakistan is already facing a threat from within its borders as the Taliban insurgency increases and the theatre of war moves from the tribal areas into the country’s major cities. Hence it is extremely unlikely that the army would try to thwart the peace process by sending its jihadi proxies into India. The army will not venture beyond Pakistan’s borders in order to send Nawaz Sharif the message. The conflict will stay within Pakistan. The recent rallies in Islamabad of Imran Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri point to the tactics the army would use. These two politicians were called by the army to compel Nawaz Sharif to behave.However, there is still a danger that the tensions between the civilian government and the military could spill over into India. Pakistan, over the years, has created so many fifth columns that many of its proxies are no longer under state control. If Nawaz Sharif continues with his India-friendly policy, any one of the dozens of Jihadi elements could carry out an attack inside India on their own. If something like that happens, the consequences are too great for anyone to even imagine. As the real power still lies with the Pakistan Army the position of the Pakistan Government remains vulnerable. The Pakistan Army continues to wage war against the Taliban elements in the North West Frontier Province and FATA region. A major section of the Pakistan Army is extremely sympathetic towards the radical Islamic terror groups like Tehreek e Taliban or the Lashkar e Taiba The way Pakistan treated the BSF Jawan who mistakenly fell into their waters recently was really a welcome sign from Pakistan. But on one hand where India feels that talks with Nawaz Sharif is a positive step we should not set high expectations from it as the real power in Pakistan is with the Pakistani Army and not the Pakistani Government and ultimately if situation arises India will have to directly talk to the Pakistani Generals instead of the Political leaders if it wants results. A strong message has to sent to the Pakistan Army that this Government of India means business and will not tolerate nonsense anymore.

Few questions that arise in everyone’s mind when we talk about India and Pakistan are Whether Nawaz Sharif will be able to go against the Pakistan Army to mend the relations with India? Will India and Pakistan ever become friends? Will terrorist groups be eradicated from Pakistan and terrorism vanish one day?

Decoding Amit Shah - The Newly Elected BJP President

Amid the speculations that were going round the table to appoint Shah who is a close and controversial aide of Modi as the BJP President last month the BJP finally announced him as the BJP President. This move came in after Rajnath Singh resigned after a one and half year’s tenure. Shah who was the former Minister of State for Home in Gujarat was solely responsible for BJP's excellent performance in UP where it got 71 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats. He is currently facing charges in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case.

Amit Shah is an Indian politician from Gujarat. Shah was elected as an MLA from Sarkhej in four consecutive elections 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2007. He is a close associate of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and held a number of portfolios in Government of Gujarat, when Modi was the Chief Minister. In 2010, Shah was accused of orchestrating a fake police encounter, which happened during his tenure as the Gujarat Home Minister. He was forced to resign, and arrested. Shah maintains that all the accusations against him are false, and are the result of allegations by his political opponents belonging to the Indian National Congress. Shah was later granted bail, on the condition that he will not stay in Gujarat. He was allowed to return to Gujarat in 2012, and won Assembly elections from Naranpura.

Shah was born in Mumbai, in a well-to-do family. His father Anilchandra Shah, a businessman from Mansa, owned a successful PVC pipe business. Amit Shah is married to Sonal Shah they have a son named Jay. His wife is a homemaker and son an engineer. Shah was very close to his mother, who died from an illness in 2010. People close to Amit Shah say he does not like to socialize much.

Shah was involved with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since childhood. He first met Narendra Modi in 1982, in the Ahmedabad RSS circles when Modi was a minor RSS pracharak working as in charge of youth activities in the city. Amit Shah started his political career as a leader of RSS's student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad in 1983. He joined BJP in 1986, one year before Modi joined the party. He then gradually rose in the BJYM hierarchy, holding various posts including that of ward secretary, taluka secretary, state secretary, vice-president, and general secretary.

In 1995 when BJP formed its first government in Gujarat its main rival Indian National Congress was highly influential in rural Gujarat. Modi and Shah worked together to decimate Congress in the rural areas. Their strategy was to find the second most influential leader in every village, and get him or her to join BJP. Shah and Modi used the same strategy to reduce Congress' influence over the state's powerful co-operatives, which play an important role in the state's economy.

In 1999, Shah was elected as the President of Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank (ADCB), the biggest cooperative bank in India. In Gujarat where such elections had traditionally been won on the caste considerations Shah was the first to win despite not belonging to any of these castes. When he took over the bank was on the verge of collapsing with accumulated losses of 36 crore. Shah turned around the bank's fortune within a year's time and the next year, the bank registered a profit of 27 crore. By 2014, the bank's profit had increased to around 250 crore.

Modi, who had become a general secretary in the party's state unit by the early 1990s, used his influence to get bigger roles for Shah. Amit Shah contested the 2002 Assembly election from the Sarkhej constituency in Ahmedabad. He won by the highest margin among all candidates with 158,036 votes. In the 2007 Assembly election he again won from Sarkhej. During Narendra Modi's twelve-year tenure as the Gujarat CM, Shah emerged as one of the most powerful leaders in Gujarat. After winning the 2002 elections, he became the youngest minister in the Modi government, and was given multiple portfolios.

In 2010, Amit Shah was accused of having orchestrated the extrajudicial killings of a criminal Sohrabuddin Sheikh, his wife Kauser Bi and his criminal associate Tulsiram Prajapati. Shah and Modi have been accused of sidelining the police officers who testified against the Gujarat government in cases related to the fake encounters and the 2002 riots. Later, in 2013, Shah was accused of having ordered illegal surveillance on a woman in 2009, during his tenure as a home minister. The investigative websites Cobrapost and Gulail released a set of taped audio conversations between Amit Shah and police officer GL Singhal. Shah denied all the accusations against him, calling them political propaganda by his opponents and none have been proved till now. Amit Shah was arrested on 25 July 2010 in connection with the Sohrabuddin case. He was charged with the murder, extortion and kidnapping among other charges. At one time, Shah was considered as one of the main contenders for the Gujarat Chief Minister's post. However, his political career was hurt by the arrest. The Gujarat High Court granted him bail three months after his arrest, on Friday, 29 October 2010.

Shah is known for his sharp poll-related strategic skills. Very few people know that if terror attacks in India are under check today, Shah's role in solving the 2008 Ahmadabad bomb blasts by Indian Mujahideen terrorists as Gujarat Minister of State for Home is one of the main factors responsible for it. Gujarat Police officials openly admit even today that it was Shah's intelligence and diligence and Modi's unstinted guidance that enabled them in solving that case in record 21 days flat. Narendra Modi was impressed by his intelligence and vision which is not easily found in others. Shah's skill in political strategy and vision are almost legendary. The way he evaluates Modi's 12-year rule in Gujarat in economic terms is better than a good economist. How he brought the entire cooperative sector of Gujarat from Congress to BJP's fold is a tribute to his result-oriented strategy-making skills. Shah has one big flaw that has hindered his rise. He has a habit of remaining incommunicable for long periods which keeps him disconnected at crucial times.

He has started his work as the BJP chief and following the lines of Modi on Saturday announced his new team of 11 vice presidents, eight general secretaries and 14 secretaries. He has kept his team members young and inducted those who are having experience too. However What has shocked many after the announcement of the list is that the two-time MP Varun Gandhi was dropped as general secretary. This has also led to raising of eyebrows as the party has at many occasions claimed that they believe young people can lead the nation in a better way. As per reports, the reason behind dropping a known face of the party in UP is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi follows a policy of not giving any important assignment to a son or daughter of a chief minister or a union minister and Varun Gandhi's mother, Maneka Gandhi is the Union Cabinet Minister for Women and Child Development in his government. The sources within BJP have said that it is largely because of Narendra Modi's policy against nepotism that is why Varun Gandhi has not been included in the team by Amit Shah and are confident as there are many opportunities in the party the party will look into his caliber and adjust him accordingly.

The journey for him as the BJP president has just started and there is a long way to go. Being a close aide to Modi and learning a lot from him one question to be asked is Will he be able to successfully do justice as the BJP Chief? What is your take on this? Is he capable enough to take this responsibility or he was supported by all the members of the party for the fact that he is close to Modi since the starting of their political career?