POLITICAL PLOY TO DEPICT GOVT ‘IN A CERTAIN WAY ’

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that there is "a political effort" to depict the current government in India in a certain way and there is a difference between the political imagery that has been "concocted" and the actual governance record.

The remarks came even as the BJP dispensation in New Delhi trashed as "baseless" a New York Times report that said India's Covid deaths were severely undercounted and underreported and possibly three times the official 3 lakh count.

During a conversation with former US National Security Advisor General HR McMaster, Jaishankar also said that India is going through "a very stressful time" because of the pandemic.

"We are actually giving free food. Last year for multiple months and right now, again, because of the second wave we have resumed giving free food to as many as 800 million people. We also put money into the bank accounts of 400 million people.

"This is what this government did. So, you are feeding more than two and a half times the population of the United States and you are funding more than the population of the US and you're doing this pretty much anonymously and impersonally," Jaishankar, also a senior leader of the ruling BJP, said.

"So, I think when you come down to real governance judgements, you find that there is a difference between the political imagery that has been concocted and actually the governance record out there.

"So, I think you should take it for what it is, which is really politics at play. You can agree with it, you can disagree with it, but I would certainly see that very much as part of a political effort to depict our current government in a certain way and obviously I have a very profound difference with that," he added.

"We Indians are extremely confident about our democracy. India is a deeply pluralistic society," the minister added.

Jaishankar was responding to a question by McMaster on some "Hindutva policies" that could undermine the secular nature of Indian democracy, how he sees internal Indian politics evolving during the trauma of the pandemic and are India's friends "right to be concerned about some of these recent trends." Jaishankar said he would respond to the question with a straight political answer and a slightly more nuanced societal answer. "The political answer is that in the past there was a great reliance on what's called vote bank politics, which is appealing to vote banks based on their identity, or their beliefs or whatever it is. And the fact that we have departed from it has obviously been a difference," he said.

He stressed that India is a country of many faiths and faiths everywhere in the world are very closely tied to culture and identity. "Now, in our society, we define secularism as equal respect for all faiths. Secularism doesn't mean that you are in denial of your own faith or anybody else's faith for that matter.

LOCKDOWN EXTENDED, EASING...

Senior ministers said the government was likely to announce a relaxation in restrictions presently applicable to shops and other establishments, starting June 1. “The government may allow nonessential shops to reopen and function, say till 1pm or 2pm, while it may revise the timings for essential shops. However, general public will not be able to commute in the Mumbai suburban railway trains. Besides, hotels, restaurants and permit rooms will continue to remain shut, to avoid virus infection, especially when the taskforce has projected the possibility of a third wave of Covid-19,” said a minister. Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope said, the government would, in the next two days, issue guidelines on the extension of lockdown and the relaxation of some restrictions. “The cabinet took a stand against complete lifting of the lockdown, especially when there has been an increase in cases and high positivity in 18 districts in the red zone. At the same time, the cabinet also discussed at length the relaxations of some curbs,” he noted. The cabinet decision comes days after traders have demanded allowing the reopening of non-essential shops and increasing the timings of both essential and non-essential shops. They have also sought a slew of waivers from the government in order to stay afloat. The cabinet’s decision is crucial, as the state reported 21,273 fresh cases, 425 deaths and 1.63 per cent fatality rate. There are 3,01,401 active cases and 92,225 deaths as on date.

Students going abroad for studies...

“I had also represented a delegation of parents before senior BMC officials to urge them to arrange for the drive. However, as per the guidelines, we had to opt for private hospitals to arrange the doses and carry out the drive,” Narwekar said. The parents of students said the drive was carried out smoothly and they had to pay Rs 1,200 per dose. “We were informed about the drive on Wednesday and told to reach the venue at a given time. Volunteers helped the students get registered on the CoWin platform,” said Priya Shivdasani, honorary general secretary, Parent Teacher Association of the Cathedral and John Connon School. Shivdasani said approximately 50 students from the Cathedral school received their first shot on Thursday. Meanwhile, BJP MLA from Mulund Mihir Kotecha too is working on arranging a similar drive for foreign-bound students. He said that by the end of the week, 200 of them would have received their doses. “We have received applications from more than 200 students. I have spoken with private suppliers and hospitals and they have given me oral confirmation, he said. We are hopeful that by the end of this week we will be able to arrange for the drive,” Kotecha told The FPJ.

10% target: Revving up e-vehicles

The authorities agree that the public is price-sensitive and the cost of vehicles is a big deciding factor. The affordability of these vehicles is vital plus sturdy infrastructure for battery swapping and charging stations needs to be created. In later stages, a mechanism for proper disposal of the lithium ion batteries in EVs is also to be considered. According to officials from the state transport department, the primary objective of the Maharashtra Electric Vehicle Policy 2021 is to accelerate the adoption of EVs so that they make up 10 per cent of new vehicles registered by 2025. More importantly, all the vehicles owned or on lease by the state government will be EVs, starting April 2022.

“In the five targeted agglomerations of Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik and Aurangabad; achieve 25 per cent electrification of intra-city public transport and last-mile delivery vehicles by 2025. Also, we want to convert 15 per cent of MSRTC’s existing bus fleet into electric,” said State Transport Commissioner Avinash Dhakne.

The government has also worked out the details of the charging infrastructure of these vehicles. By 2025, they propose to setup 1,500 charging stations in Mumbai, 500 in Pune, 150 in Nagpur, 100 in Nashik and 75 in Aurangabad. Sources said that they aim to set up at least one public charging station in a 3kmx3km grid or a minimum of 50 charging stations per million population; whichever is higher. The four major express highways - Mumbai-Nagpur, Mumbai-Pune, Mumbai-Nashik and Nashik-Pune will be EV-ready by 2025. The MSRDC is likely to set up 400 charging stations on these highways. These are expected to be at a distance of 25km- on both sides of these highways. These charging stations will also cater to e-buses, e-trucks etc. that ferry long distance passengers and freight.

Plug it in: Electric Vehicle charging...

Maharashtra Transport Commissioner Avinash Dhakne said that his own family members had asked him why people would buy electric vehicles if infrastructure like charging and battery swapping stations were not easily available. “One of the primary concerns is setting up good infrastructure for supporting electric vehicles and their charging systems. Having them in housing societies and in public parking lots is a challenge,” he said. The state accounts for 12 per cent of the total sale of EVs across India. “So, we have suggested mandatory allocation of charging points in every housing society, government office and bus depot. Urban local bodies will be encouraged to provide property tax rebates to residential owners for installing private charging infrastructure within their premises,” said Dhakne.

Jab for seniors near home

The site for NHCVC will be pre-identified in collaboration with community groups and RWAs. Such sites should have a vaccination room and a waiting area with appropriate access for the target group e.g. ramp for wheelchair access and observation room to ensure waiting for 30 minutes post vaccination as per the health ministry's guidelines.

Stop beating around the bush...

On Twitter's comment expressing concern about its employees af ter the Delhi Police visited its offices on Monday, the government said it wished to "emphatically assure that representatives of social media companies, including Twitter, that they are and will always remain safe in India and there is no threat to their personal safety and security."

Even as Twitter continued to harp on its commitment to the people of India, it indicated that it will strive to comply with the applicable law. This was at variance with the action of WhatsApp, which has moved the Delhi High Court against the new social media rules. The statement clearly shows that Twitter does not want to lose its massive business in India. But, in the same breath, it added that the company will continue to be strictly guided by principles of transparency, a commitment to empowering every voice on the service, and protecting freedom of expression and privacy under the rule of law. Twitter also talked of being deeply committed to the people of India as its service has proven vital for the public conversation and a source of support for people during the pandemic.