India Charges Novelist Arundhati Roy Over a 2010 Speech https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/11/world/asia/arundhati-roy-kashmir.html  the government had approved charges against Ms. Roy and the Kashmiri law professor Sheikh Showkat Hussain, a move required for certain crimes in India. The two have been charged under several sections of Indian law, including offenses related to provocative speech and the promotion of enmity between different groups... The lieutenant governor of the Delhi region said the government had considered filing a more serious charge of sedition against Ms. Roy and Mr. Hussain in the case, which sprang from a complaint filed in October 2010 by a right-wing Kashmiri Hindu activist against speakers at a conference on Kashmir....

(In view of https://www.boomlive.in/law/supreme-court-sedition-law-section-124a-23033 Supreme Court Constitution Bench To Examine Validity Of Sedition Law By - Ritika Jain | 12 Sept 2023  the Supreme Court referred the batch of pleas challenging the validity of the sedition law to a Constitution Bench of “at least five judges”. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said the bench would also decide if the top court’s 1962 verdict upholding the sedition law required reconsideration.

The Kedarnath Singh judgment was decided on a narrow understanding of fundamental rights that were prevalent at the time, the top court said. Sedition was examined only in the context of free speech, the bench further observed. Since then, several judgments have been passed which say Articles 14 (right against discrimination), 19 (free speech), and 21 (right to life) must operate in harmony, it added.

The action against a Booker Prize winner was the latest in a growing crackdown on free expression by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

f https://www.boomlive.in/law/supreme-court-sedition-law-section-124a-23033  Supreme Court Constitution Bench To Examine Validity Of Sedition Law By - Ritika Jain | 12 Sept 2023 the Supreme Court referred the batch of pleas challenging the validity of the sedition law to a Constitution Bench of “at least five judges”. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said the bench would also decide if the top court’s 1962 verdict upholding the sedition law required reconsideration.

The Kedarnath Singh judgment was decided on a narrow understanding of fundamental rights that were prevalent at the time, the top court said. Sedition was examined only in the context of free speech, the bench further observed. Since then, several judgments have been passed which say Articles 14 (right against discrimination), 19 (free speech), and 21 (right to life) must operate in harmony, it added.

Responding to Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta’s argument that the BJP-led government was in the midst of changing the law governing criminal jurisprudence, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Gopal Sankarnarayan, representing parties who have challenged the sedition law, argued that sedition exists in the new bill as well – just under a new name. The new bill, they said was “even more draconian”. Reading out the text of the incumbent law—Section 124A—Sibal said the idea of sedition penalizing disaffection to the government and the state was “fundamentally wrong”.

 UN votes on rival proposals on Gaza by Russia and US  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQTye_QjzpU Both countries seek U.N. Security Council resolutions to address shortages of food, water, medical supplies and electricity in Gaza. But the U.S. has called for humanitarian pauses to allow aid to enter Gaza, while Russia wants a humanitarian ceasefire.

How a Small Town in UP Is Bridging Cultures Through Ramleela https://thewire.in/culture/how-a-small-town-in-up-is-bridging-cultures-through-ramleela

For the past 51 years, the Ramleela in Bakshi Ka Talab has been breaking religious barriers, with Muslim artists playing the role of Lord Rama, Laxman, Sita, Janak, Dasharath, and many others...

For the past 51 years, the Ramleela in Bakshi Ka Talab has been breaking religious barriers, with Khan playing the role of Lord Rama. This tradition was started in 1972 by the then gram pradhan, Maikulal Yadav, and his friend, Muzaffar Hussain. In this Ramleela, Muslims perform various roles such as Lord Rama, Laxman, Sita, Janak, Dasharath, and many others. Just as Khan portrays the character of Lord Ram, Suhail Khan takes on the role of Laxman, while Farhan Ali portrays Sita. Bharat is played by Suhel Khan, and Sher Khan embodies the character of Janak. Even the role of young Ram is portrayed by Abdul Hasan. ..

Videsh Pal Yadav, son of Maikulal Yadav, who was the founder member of Ramleela organising committee, shares an interesting anecdote. “Once, Ramzaan (the holy month of fasting for Muslims) and Navratra (a Hindu festival) had coincided. We were worried about how we would manage Ramleela because most of our Muslim artists would be observing Roza (fasting),” he recounts.

He said that none of them allowed their fasting to disrupt the smooth flow of the rehearsals.

He added, “On the final day, they [the artists] broke their fast (Iftaar) on the stage itself, just before starting the programme to ensure that there was no interruption in the performance.”

Decoding the mystery of MNC exits from India  https://www.businesstoday.in/opinion/columns/story/decoding-the-mystery-of-mnc-exits-from-india-343768-2022-08-04
Companies have left India for various reasons. In the case of some companies, the decision to leave India was attributed to a multi-nation strategy to get out of non-profitable operations and focus on easier markets.

one would expect India to top the list of multinational corporations scouting for an investment destination...despite the red carpet, liberal policies and incentives, it is also true that India has not exactly been a happy hunting ground for several other MNCs. The government revealed in Parliament in December last year that as many as 2,783 foreign companies and their subsidiaries ceased operations in India between 2014 and November 2021. Some of the notable exits include Cairn Energy, Holcim, Daiichi Sankyo, Carrefour, Henkel, Harley Davidson and Ford... In India,, MNCs have exited due to arbitrary tax regime, accumulated losses, over capacity, land acquisition issues and lack of expected growth due to market anomalies. In case of some companies, the decision to leave India was attributed to multi-nation strategy to get out of non-profitable operations and focus on easier markets. Then, there were some auto players that set up base in India and brought technology and products that had stopped selling in global markets. While they received initial success and paid little attention to upgradation, the domestic firms started making better products slowly and steadily. As a result, the MNCs were eventually pushed out.

there are also some rare cases.. the latest such case is that of German wholesale giant METRO Cash and Carry. The company has grown in a robust manner, forged strong partnerships with local kiranas and made steady investments in store expansions and digitalisation. Its deep commitment to domestic customers can be gauged fact that it has stayed in India for the past 19 years despite running losses for 14 consecutive years. Having turned the corner, it’s reportedly making profits for the past four years and its B2B operations across 31 stores have immensely benefitted small retailers...In balance, considering METRO has done all the hard work and now understands the Indian market and customers at par with its rivals, stitching up a partnership with a strong local player seems to be a better option since it can now expect strong returns on its past investments. Whatever the outcome of the strategic review, the company will face headwinds, even though it is obvious that the public rumours and attacks do not have any basis.

Why did Make in India drive fail? https://www.thehansindia.com/hans/opinion/news-analysis/why-did-make-in-india-drive-fail-786441    Dr M Suresh Babu Hans News Service | 7 Mar 2023

India has lost its position as a destination for portfolio capital.

There was simply no way that FDI could create millions of jobs every year in India... while Indian labor is cheap, it's not productive enough dues to many constraints. Plus, the Union government's support for foreigners coming in is somewhat reluctant. So, the Union government now wants Assemble in India. That too will have limited impact.

4 policy failure can be identified: overly optimistic expectations, implementation in dispersed governance, inadequate collaborative policymaking, and the vagaries of the political cycle

Overall, the Make in India campaign failed to create an international niche market as promised and lost its position as a destination for portfolio capital. The policy was overly optimistic and lacked proper implementation, resulting in limited impact and failure to achieve its objectives.

Hindutva, Economic Neoliberalism and the Abuse of Economic Statistics in India Jayati Ghosh https://doi.org/10.4000/samaj.6882  https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/pdf/6882

Economist Jayati Ghosh, in a piece titled Hindutva, Economic Neoliberalism and the Abuse of Economic Statistics in India, explained how the Narendra Modi government’s efforts at implementing the Hindutva agenda adversely affects economic activity.

Quoting examples of the 2002 Gujarat riots and the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, she said, “Riots – often instigated cynically by proponents of Hindutva for political and other purposes – are clearly not economically beneficial in the aggregate. However, they can sometimes lead to benefits for part

Five Issues That Are Hurting the Indian Economy https://thewire.in/economy/indian-economy-inflation-adani-press-freedom-politics Apart from economic issues such as high inflation and crony capitalism, mental health, majoritarian politics and press freedom also impact the overall growth of the economy.
Five Issues That Are Hurting the Indian Economy

India’s ‘developed’ status by 2047 depend on empowering its blue-collar workforce https://price360.in/articles-details.php?url=indias-developed-status-by-2047-depend-on-empowering-its-bluecollar-workforce Dr. Rajesh Shukla September 14, 2023

Data from PRICE’s ICE 3600 surveys (2016 and 2021) provide some major insights into the current status of this population.

In terms of size, they form a third of the country’s population: 500 million people equivalent to 100 million households who earn their livelihood through daily wages. Nearly half of them are residents of just five states - 15% are residents of Uttar Pradesh, followed by Maharashtra (11%), Bihar (9%), West Bengal (8%) and Tamil Nadu (7%). If the effect of population is removed, the top five states with the highest concentration of labour are: Bihar (50%), Madhya Pradesh (46%), West Bengal (42%), Jharkhand (40%) and Odisha (38%).

The labour households have an average annual income of Rs 126,000 (2020-21) which is one-eighth of the national income. Undoubtedly, a large segment has been able to extricate itself from grinding poverty, but their economic condition continues to be precarious at best. For the overwhelming majority of these households, savings is minimal. They spend almost all of what they earn and regularly borrow to meet their routine expenses. In 2016, 28% labour households reported that they were in debt and by 2021 this figure had risen to 40%. The share of indebted households (ranging from 13% to 57%) is highest in Bihar, Maharashtra and Telengana where more than half of labour households were reported in debt in 2020-21.

The significance of financial support and subsidies to this population cannot be over-emphasised. The pandemic threatened to push them back into crippling financial crises. Nearly 72% of labour households surveyed by PRICE revealed that they had received food or free rations from the government during the lockdowns. Another 58% reported receiving subsidised rations. NGOs provided food support to 14% of households while for 19% of such households, food support came from friends, relatives and neighbours.

Cash transfers from the government helped mitigate the financial crunch for nearly 32% of households and free medical aid was a much-needed resource - 23% received this from the state government and 15% from the central government. Another 23% confirmed that they had benefited from LPG subsidies.

While hailing the contribution of the workforce in our quest for economic development, we need to reiterate our commitment to building the skillsets, and social and economic well-being of this very large and significant segment of our population. Only then will we truly realize the potential of the “trinity of demography, democracy and diversity” in fulfilling our objective of becoming a developed economy by 2047.