The President of the United State has posted the following on his truth social handle: 

“It was an Honor to speak with Prime Minister Modi, of India, this morning. He is one of my greatest friends and, a Powerful and Respected Leader of his Country. We spoke about many things, including Trade, and ending the War with Russia and Ukraine. He agreed to stop buying Russian Oil, and to buy much more from the United States and, potentially, Venezuela. This will help END THE WAR in Ukraine, which is taking place right now, with thousands of people dying each and every week! Out of friendship and respect for Prime Minister Modi and, as per his request, effective immediately, we agreed to a Trade Deal between the United States and India, whereby the United States will charge a reduced Reciprocal Tariff, lowering it from 25% to 18%. They will likewise move forward to reduce their Tariffs and Non Tariff Barriers against the United States, to ZERO. The Prime Minister also committed to “BUY AMERICAN,” at a much higher level, in addition to over $500 BILLION DOLLARS of U.S. Energy, Technology, Agricultural, Coal, and many other products. Our amazing relationship with India will be even stronger going forward. Prime Minister Modi and I are two people that GET THINGS DONE, something that cannot be said for most. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” – PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116002095109616255)

The key takeaways are – India will stop buying Russian oil and US will lower tariff to 18% and, in future, India will altogether remove “Tariffs and Non Tariff Barriers” against the United States.  

Given the recent background of President Trump’s “Truths” about the role played by him in India’s Operation Sindoor and how the stated position of the two sides differed, one wonders how much of the President Trump’s “Truth” is truth.  

The Prime Minister Modi, in his response on X, has confirmed the conversation with his US counterpart and has welcomed US decision to reduce tariff against Indian products to 18% but he is silent on contentious Russian oil and opening of India’s agricultural and dairy sectors to the US.  

So, how much of “Truth Social post” of Donald Trump is truth? 

EAM Jaishankar has welcomed announcements on bilateral trade following the conversation between PM Modi and POTUS but has given no details of arrangements agreed.  

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal is little more forthcoming. He has confirmed the trade agreement which, he says, unlocks unprecedented opportunities for farmers, MSMEs, entrepreneurs, and skilled workers of India and will help India get technology from the US. But, nothing beyond this.

Obviously, both sides are wary of saying anything that will not go down well with their voters given India is perennially in election mode and US too has Congressional election scheduled in November this year. Both sides have to have list of their achievements to charm their voters and not to give any ammunition to the opposition.  

But one thing is certain – Trump has taught the world not to keep all eggs in one basket. Nations will work towards diversification of their International trade. UK, EU and India have already taken concrete steps towards this.

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As father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi is accorded central place in official photographs. However, Arvind Kejriwal seems to have replaced him as evident in pictures doing round in the media now. Has Kejriwal reached the rank of Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh? Should he have removed Mahatma Gandhi in official photo?  

Few years ago, I was in Varna, a town in the northern part of Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast. While having a stroll in the city garden next to Varna city art gallery, I came across a statue being gazed reverently by few visitors. It was Mahatma Gandhi’s bronze.  

More recently, Saudi prince Turki Al Faisal is said to have condemned violent actions by Hamas and Israel in Palestine and preferred Gandhi’s non-violent civil disobedience for achieving political objectives.  

Mahatma Gandhi is recognised and respected for proving to the world, for the first time in medieval and modern world history, that it is possible to shun violence and resolve conflicts through non-violent means. This is, perhaps, the most novel and most seminal contribution to the humanity ridden with innumerable fault lines. No wonder, he had likes of Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela as his follower and admirer.  

Gandhi was the most popular mass leader that India ever had, so much so that the Gandhi surname still elicits respect and allegiance in the rural hinterland. He remains the most famous Indian in the world, perhaps next only to Gautam Buddha. In most parts of the world, Gandhi is synonym of India.  

After independence, he was accorded the status of “father of nation” for having successfully led India’s national movement against colonial powers. Ashok emblem, tricolour flag and Gandhi’s image are three symbols of the Great Indian nation. Offices of the constitutional post holders such as judges, ministers and senior government functionaries are sanctified with Gandhi’s photos and statues. 

However, things changed for Gandhi when Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party came to power in Delhi and Punjab. Mahatma Gandhi’s photos were officially removed from government offices. Kejriwal chose to have photos of B.R. Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh in the government offices in AAP ruled Delhi and Punjab. Notwithstanding this, AAP leader kept visiting Gandhi’s samadhi for political protests. So, why he needed to remove Gandhi? What message he was trying to communicate and to whom?  

Gandhi had actively worked towards abolition of the unfortunate practice of untouchability. Ambedkar was a victim of untouchability hence he obviously had stronger views. So did Sardar Bhagat Singh. All the three Indian nationalist leaders wanted untouchability to be abolished as soon as possible but differed in approach perhaps because Gandhi had many other factors to balance in nationalist movement. Apparently, Ambedkar thought Gandhi did not do enough against caste system and untouchability. This feeling is reflected by many in the present day Scheduled Caste (SC) population as well who consider Ambedkar as their icon. Given both Delhi and Punjab have significant SC population (Delhi has about 17% while Punjab has 32%), it may be possible that Arvind Kejriwal’s action against Gandhi was aimed to accommodate that feeling. After all, messaging plays very critical role in politics but in doing so Kejriwal crossed the sacred line reflecting an anarchist mindset. (On a similar note, in 2018, some protesters had vandalised Gandhi’s statue in University of Ghana campus accusing him of racism notwithstanding the fact that the civil right activists like Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela were greatly inspired by Gandhi and idolized him).  

In BJP and RSS too, there are many (e.g. Pragya Thakur) who have been and are very unkind to Gandhi in words and openly eulogise his killer Godse for permanently removing him from Indian public landscape. Reason – these set of Indians hold Gandhi responsible for partition of India and creation of Pakistan. They also accuse Gandhi of giving “undue” favours to Muslims. Little do they realise that the ancestors of most of the Muslims of undivided India were victims of discriminatory caste practices of the time, who had converted to Islam for more dignified social life. In doing so, however, they overreacted, particularly the two-nation theorists, and renounced their Indianism altogether and assumed false identities that still troubles present Pakistan. BJP/RSS activists who criticise Gandhi should do a thought experiment and reflect on why their brother Hindus renounced Hinduism in such large number in the past, adopted Islam and declared themselves as a separate nation, and why there is such deep hatred for Hindus and India in Pakistan?  

To me, Godse was a coward who chose to eliminate a frail old man who was trying his best to quell communal frenzy to restore peace. If he were brave and true son of Mother India, he would rather have stopped the man responsible for the two-nation theory and partition of India. Nathu Ram was like a weak child who beats him mum when beaten by the boys in the street.  

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In India, malnourishment in children (stunting, wasting and underweight) under 5 years has reduced as per National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 (2019-21) from 38.4% to 35.5%, 21.0% to 19.3% and 35.8% to 32.1% respectively as compared to NFHS-4 (2015-16). Malnutrition among women aged 15-49 years has also reduced from 22.9% to 18.7%. There are interstate and inter district variations. There is still a long way to go.

To tackle the issue of malnourishment, the government has initiated Poshan Pakhwada (Nutrition Fortnight) to sensitise people to adopt health eating habits and lifestyles. The campaign will run from March 9-23, 2024 at all Anganwadi centres (AWCs) targeting children aged 0-6 years, adolescents, pregnant women and lactating mothers.

Campaign will focus on Poshan bhi Padhai Bhi (Nutrition and Education both) focusing on better early childhood care and education (ECCE); local, traditional, regional and tribal dietary practices; health of pregnant women; and Infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices.

Other activities such as water conservation at AWCs, promoting sustainable food systems through millet use, adopting health lifestyles through AYUSH practices, diarrhoea management, awareness on anaemia-test, treat and talk, Swasth Balak Sapardha (Health Child Competition) to promote growth monitoring of the children.

Since the launch of the Nutrition Mission in 2018, 5 Poshan Pakhwada and 6 Poshan Maah (Nutrition Month) have been organised across the country in 1.396 million AWCs.

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In General Election to Lok Sabha 2019, around 30 crore electors (out of 91 crores) did not cast their votes. The voting percentage was 67.4%, which has concerned the Election Commission of India (ECI). It has taken it as a challenge to improve electoral participation in Lok Sabha elections 2024.

In order to improve voter outreach and awareness on their rights and electoral process, ECI today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and the Department of Posts (DoP). Notably, ECI had recently signed an MoU with the Ministry of Education to formally integrate electoral literacy into the educational curriculum of schools and colleges. The MoU was signed today in the presence of Chief Election Commissioner, Shri Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner, Shri Arun Goel. Shri Vineet Pandey, Secretary, Department of Posts, Shri Sunil Mehta, Chief Executive, IBA and other officials from Department of Posts, IBA and ECI were present on the occasion. 

As part of the MoU, IBA & DoP with its members and affiliated institutions/units will extend support in promoting voter education through their extensive network on a pro-bono basis, employing various interventions to empower citizens with knowledge about their electoral rights, processes, and steps for registration and voting.

The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), formed on September 26, 1946, has a strong network of 247 members across the country. Public sector banks are in lead with 90,000+ branches and 1.36 lakh ATMs followed by 42,000+ branches of Private Sector Banks with 79,000+ ATMs. Regional Rural Banks contribute 22,400+ branches, while Small Finance & Payment Banks operate around 7000 branches and 3000+ ATMs. Foreign Banks maintain 840 branches and 1,158 ATMs, and Local Area Banks have 81 branches. The cumulative number of the branches are 1.63 lakh+ with 2.19 lakh+ ATMs across the country.

For more than 150 years, the Department of Posts (DoP) has been the backbone of the country’s communication. With more than 1,55,000 post offices, covering the entire country, has the most widely distributed postal network in the world.

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Ameen Sayani, famous voice of All India Radio (AIR) breathed his last on Tuesday at the age of 91 years. He hosted very popular Hindi film programme Cibaca (Binaca) Geetmala for Radio Ceylon starting in 1952 and later on Vividh Bharti of AIR which continued for 42 years. He also hosted international radio shows. Not many people may know, he had assisted his mother in editing of the fortnightly journal ‘Rahbeer’ for neo-literates for 15 years. It was an opportunity for him to fine tune his communication skills which paid off later. Other popular shows hosted by him included Bournvita Quiz contest, Shalimar Superlac Jodi, S. Kumars Ka Filmi Muqaddama, Sitaron Ki Pasand, Chamaktay Sitaray, Mehekti Baaten etc.. He will be fondly remembered by all generations for his great voice and evergreen radio programmes.

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The state level representatives of the political parties, Com. D. L. Karad (CPI-M), Sachin Sawant (Congress), Prashant Jagtap (NCP-Sharad Pawar), Priyadarshi Telang (Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi), Lata Bhise (CPI) and Ajit Phatke (Aam Aadmi Party), who were present during the event agreed on the ten-point health manifesto. The event was attended by 150 public health experts, social workers, and health professionals including nurses, ASHAs, Anganwadi workers, doctors from various parts of the Maharashtra.  

Some of the points raised during the event were the current Central and State government’s lack of focus on fundamental issues faced by the people; persistent lack of basic healthcare in rural areas; unequal impact of the poor health system on underprivileged groups; need for augmenting financial provisions and ensuring adequate supply of health resources; denial of patients’ rights  by private hospitals; continuing threat of healthcare privatization; and compromised status and dignity of grassroots healthcare workers.  

Among the ten points, the key demand was to enact a Right to Healthcare Act in the state.  Jan Arogya Abhiyan earnestly appealed to all political parties to prioritize health by placing it at the core of their election agenda. Other demands were doubling government health spending, ensuring accountability of the health system and mandating community monitoring across the state, regularisation of the temporary health staff, regulation of the prices of medicines, ensuring health care with dignity for all especially for people with special needs, protection of patients’ rights in private hospitals, strengthening public health services and regulating private health care, moving towards a system of affordable and accessible universal health care.  

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NITI Aayog released a position paper titled “Senior Care Reforms in India: Reimagining the Senior Care Paradigm” on February 16, 2024.

Releasing the report, NITI Aayog Vice Chairperson, Shri Suman Bery said, “The release of this report is one of the stepping stones toward India’s commitment to achieve the goal of Viksit Bharat @2047. It is important to extensively prioritize the application of technology and Artificial Intelligence for senior care. It is time to start thinking about the special dimensions of senior care in addition to the medical and social dimensions.”.

“This is the time when serious discussions should emerge on making ageing dignity driven, safe, and productive. We need to ensure the social security of the elderly and add more emphasis to wellbeing and care,” mentioned Member (Health) NITI Aayog Dr. Vinod K. Paul in his address.

“Role of family and family values is crucial in developing an ecosystem for healthy ageing. The report has brought forth appropriate policy directives for healthy ageing in India,” stated CEO, NITI Aayog Shri B.V.R. Subrahmanyam.

Secretary DoSJE, Shri Saurabh Garg said, “The report is a call for action on what needs to be done to bring a greater focus on senior care.”. He added that the broad focus of DoSJE is on ageing with dignity, ageing at home, and productive ageing, which will encompass social, economic, and health aspects.”.

As per the position paper, 12.8% of population of India are senior citizens (60+) and it is expected to increase to 19.5% by 2050. The aging population has more females than male with senior sex ratio at 1065. The current dependency ratio of senior citizens is 60%.

In my opinion, the financial independence for elderly has to be looked into more comprehensively as there are skilled people forced out of labour force without much of financial security. Besides reskilling as suggested by position paper, re-employment of the already skilled unemployed senior citizens should be part of elderly and economic policies of the country.

The recommendations in this position paper categorize the specific interventions needed in terms of social, health, economic and digital empowerment with the inclusion as a principle. It strives to push the frontiers of senior care by recognizing the evolving medical and non-medical needs of seniors, thus envisioning a multi-pronged strategy for designing an effective and synergized senior care policy which will keep them safe from financial frauds and other emergencies.

Ms. L. S. Changsan, Additional Secretary &Mission Director, MoHFW, Shri Rajib Sen, Senior Adviser, NITI Aayog, Ms. Monali P. Dhakate, Joint Secretary, DoSJE and Ms. Kavita Garg, Joint Secretary, M/o Ayush, were also present at the launch.

The position paper “Senior Care Reforms in India” may be accessed under the Reports section from: https://niti.gov.in/report-and-publication.

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In pursuance to Article 280(1) of constitution, the Sixteenth Finance Commission was constituted on 31.12.2023 by the government. Shri Arvind Panagariya, former Vice-Chairperson, NITI Aayog and a noted economist is appointed as its Chairperson.

Article 280 was adopted by the government of India on 10^th August 1949 after two day debate in the parliament. The clause (1) of Article 280, empowered President to constitute the Finance Commission every five years consisting of a Chairperson and four other members. Parliament would determine the qualifications of the Commission’s members and procedures. Article 280 (3) laid down the terms of reference for the commission. In 1992, an amendment to the Article 280 expanded scope of work of the Finance Commission to include recommendations on increasing funds in the Consolidated Fund of a state to supplement the resources of the Panchayats and Municipalities.   

The 16^th Finance Commission has been requested to make recommendations as to the following matters, namely:

• The distribution between the Union and the States of the net proceeds of taxes which are to be, or may be, divided between them under Chapter I, Part XII of the Constitution and the allocation between the States of the respective shares of such proceeds;
• The principles which should govern the grants-in-aid of the revenues of the States out of the Consolidated Fund of India and the sums to be paid to the States by way of grants-in-aid of their revenues under article 275 of the Constitution for the purposes other than those specified in the provisos to clause (1) of that article; and
• The measures needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a State to supplement the resources of the Panchayats and Municipalities in the State on the basis of the recommendations made by the Finance Commission of the State.

With the approval of the President of India, three full time members are appointed for the 16^th Finance Commission- Shri. Ajay Narayan Jha, former member, 15th Finance Commission and former Secretary, Expenditure; Smt. Annie George Mathew, former Special Secretary, Expenditure; Dr. Niranjan Rajadhyaksha, Executive Director, Artha Global; and Dr. Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Group Chief Economic Advisor, State Bank of India as part-time member.

The Sixteenth Finance Commission has been requested to make its recommendations available by October 31, 2025, covering an award period of 5 years commencing April 1, 2026.

The Fifteenth Finance Commission cover six-year period from April 1, 2020 till March 31, 2026. In wake of COVID-19 pandemic, 15^th Finance Commission recommendations included a package for the upgradation of primary health care through panchayats and municipalities.

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The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi today inaugurated the Diamond Jubilee celebration of the Supreme Court of India on 28 January at the Supreme Court auditorium in Delhi. He also launched citizen-centric information and technology initiatives that include Digital Supreme Court Reports (Digi SCR), Digital Courts 2.0 and a new website of the Supreme Court.

On the occasion, he appreciated Supreme Court in preserving the principles of freedom, equality and justice as was envisaged by our founders of constitution.  “Ease of justice is the right of every Indian citizen and the Supreme Court of India, its medium”, PM Modi exhorted.

Commenting on the digital initiatives of the Supreme Court that were launched today, the Prime Minister expressed happiness about the availability of the decisions in a digital format and the beginning of the project of translation of the Supreme Court decision in the local language. He expressed the hope for similar arrangements in other courts of the country. 

Prime Minister Modi highlighted the government’s initiatives in abolishing outdated colonial criminal laws and introducing new legislation such as the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Samhita, Bhartiya Nyaya Samhita, and Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam. He emphasized, “Through these changes, our legal, policing, and investigative systems have entered a new era.” Emphasizing the significance of transitioning from centuries-old laws to new statutes, Prime Minister Modi stressed, “The transition from old laws to new ones should be seamless, which is imperative.” In this regard, he noted the commencement of training and capacity-building initiatives for government officials to facilitate the transition. 

Chief Justice of India, Dr D Y Chandrachud emphasized on constitutional ideals permeating the fabric of India, guiding the actions and interactions of both the governed and those who govern. He highlighted the efforts of the Supreme court in enhancing the rights of citizens by diluting the standards of locus standi and by recognizing a set of new rights under Article 21 of the Constitution, such as the right to a speedy trial. Counting on new initiatives, he was hopeful that e-courts will transform the judicial system into a technology enabled, efficient, accessible and environment-friendly institution.

CJI noted that live proceedings of the Supreme Court Constitutional Bench hearings are popular and speak to the genuine curiosity that people have towards our courts and procedures.

Talking about special efforts to bridge gender gap in judiciary, he proudly shared currently women constitute 36.3% of the working strength of the district judiciary. In the recruitment examination for Junior Civil Judges conducted in several states, more than 50% of the selected candidates were women. He added that we need to make more efforts to bring different sections of the society into the legal profession. For instance, the representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is quite low both at the Bar as well as on the Bench.

He called for recognizing the challenges and begin difficult conversations on adjournment culture, arguments delaying judgements, long vacations and level playing field for first generation legal professionals. 

The event was graced with the presence of the Chief Justices of neighbours-Bangladesh, Bhutan, Mauritius, Nepal, and Sri Lanka,  Union Minister for Law and Justice, Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Judges of Supreme Court, Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, Attorney General of India, Shri R Venkataramani, President of Supreme Court Bar Association, Dr Adish C Aggarwal and Chairman of Bar Council of India, Shri Manan Kumar Mishra were present on the occasion. 

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‘’ Nitish Kumar got political existence cause of Sangh & now talks about Sangh Mukt Bharat’’  

– Apr 21, 2016 Lal Krishna Advani@_LKAdvani 

This is what one of post on twitter (now X) says  

In the photo, apparently, Nitish Kumar is offering homage and utmost amount of respect to Golwalkar. the RSS leader of yesteryears.  

If so, perhaps his return to BJP fold would be Ghar Wapsi ! 

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