Why Mangalyaan is Just the Beginning?

This week was a proud moment for India. The launch of the Mangalyaan by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) put India on the world’s map once again. Mangalyaan is a satellite launched by ISRO to circle the orbit of Mars, the planet right after us in the solar system.

 By this, a number of records have been achieved by India. This is the 1st time that a country has succeeded in launching a satellite in it’s maiden attempt, leaving behind Russia, USA and Europe. India is also the only Asian country till date to have accomplished this feat. Not even China can afford to say the say. By implementing this project for Rs. 450 crore (approximately $75 million), India has completed this mission in 1/10th the cost of Mission ‘Maven’, the project implemented by NASA for the same. Also, this project turns out to be less expensive than many Hollywood films, which is no mean achievement in itself. This mission has been implemented without any assistance from a foreign country. Thus, the technology has been completely Indian and we don’t have to share spoils of this victory and celebration with anyone.

 The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and many young Indian politicians were vocal in congratulating ISRO and all scientists involved in the project. The PM met most scientists associated with the project and displayed his pleasure and happiness at the spectacular work done. He extended this feeling to the whole country, encouraging all of India’s citizens to celebrate this historic moment. He said that we spend a lot of time celebrating when India wins a cricket match. This event is far more historic and significant and hence we Indians should join hands in celebrating and congratulating the scientists who made this possible.

 This event has brought to light the vast technological prowess of India. We are the world’s leading Information Technology enabled Services (ITeS) exporters, and this achievement further adds a feather in our cap. We have been marveled at by the world for our IT services, and this will further build India’s credibility in the world’s eyes.

The onus is now on young Indian politicians to encourage more emphasis in the fields of research and development in the technology sector. Technology is the heart of young India, something which young Indian politicians can understand best. Hence, they must push for more budget allocation and efficiency from research and development in all fields related to technology – be it outsourced IT, defense, space travel, telecom and others. The scope for growth of all these sectors in our country is immense; we have not even tapped into 50% of the country’s potential. Hence, our young Indian politicians must consider Mangalyaan as just the beginning and focus on implementing more projects like this, which make India stand out in the world’s eyes once again. We have been the Golden Bird of the world for long before the British invaded us. It is time India takes that title back.

How the Maharashtra Elections May Get Ugly over Panvel Toll

The dates for the 2014 Maharashtra Elections have been announced. Elections in Maharashtra and Haryana will be held on 15th October. With less than 1 month to go, the political scenario in each state is bound to heat up. Young Indian politicians will look to do all they can to ensure they can come into power.

Young Indian Politicians

 Ahead of the 2014 Maharashtra Elections, the Panvel/Kharghar toll issue has taken a lot of prominence. What started as a proposal by the government to retrieve the 1,220 crore rupees spent by the Public Works Department (PWD) on the Sion Panvel Highway has become a full blown issue. The latest update of this is the resignation of Maharashtra MLA Prashant Thakur with displayed angst over the inability of the State Government to come to a consensus on the issue.

 Let’s give you a brief background. The State Government, led by Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan, declared that a toll booth would be set up at Kharghar. This was because, as stated earlier, the government wanted to retrieve the Rs. 1,200 crore spent on development of the Sion Panvel highway. Maharashtra MLA Prashant Thakur, MP Ganesh Naik and other politicians of the Navi Mumbai area vehemently opposed this. Prashant Thakur stated that he wanted all vehicles of residents of the Panvel taluka to be exempted from this toll. On the foundation laying day for the toll booth, he and his party members staged a protest. What followed was a meeting of him and Congress Party members with CM Prithviraj Chavan, where the latter agreed to exempt vehicles with license numbers MH-46 and MH-06 from the Panvel toll. He even went on to state that he would form a committee, which would include Maharashtra MLA Prashant Thakur, to work on the feasibility of eliminating all toll plazas from Maharashtra. This was music to most people’s ears and the MLA declared victory.

 The CM and deputy CM Ajit Pawar then stated that they would like Navi Mumbai’s governing body CIDCO to bear the expenses, a proposal which the CIDCO officials openly rebuffed. They stated that this was a gimmick for the 2014 Maharashtra Elections and stated that they could not be expected to pay up simply because they were a cash rich organization. What followed was some feet dragging on the issue and Ganesh Naik and Prashant Thakur becoming even more vocal in their protest against apathy displayed by the State government on the issue. Today, when the dates for the 2014 Maharashtra Elections were declared and no concrete decision was taken by the State government, Maharashtra MLA Prashant Thakur tendered his resignation. He stated that he took this step for the benefit of his people, that he would stay loyal to the Congress party but would not contest the 2014 Maharashtra Elections as a candidate. Further course of action from the State Government and its fallout remains to be seen.

 Toll plazas are quite a sensitive issue in the state. They have come in for lots of flak from people and have been taken up by parties like MNS and Congress. The appalling state of roads despite toll being collected for over a decade now is one of the reasons for people’s ire. Plus vehicles having to pay toll when plying on the roads everyday becomes an even more expensive affair in this age of inflation. The State government must look into this issue and come up with a swift and populist resolution if they want to survive the 2014 Maharashtra Elections.

The run up to the 2014 Maharashtra State Elections

The 2014 Maharashtra Elections are around the corner. Dates will be declared in this week and they will be between 20th October and 5th November i.e. after checking the dates of Dusshera, Diwali and the scope of deploying armed forces accordingly in the State. Political parties are gearing up in their constituencies to propagate and campaign to ensure they bag the number of seats which they aim for in the Legislative Assembly.

As always, there are few main contenders for the State elections. While there are parties locally which will offer stiff competition, the parties battling for the top spot at the state level are generally the same. The main parties contesting the 2014 Maharashtra Elections are the Indian National Congress (INC), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Shiv Sena. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not have as strong a hold in Maharashtra, and hence will continue to contest the 2014 Maharashtra Elections in alliance with the Shiv Sena. However, the former is buoyed by the party’s landslide victory at the Centre and must be hoping to ride the tide in the state elections also. If people vote for the BJP in large enough numbers, the party may choose to form the State Government independently without any support. Coalitions have always been rocky. Just like the Sena-BJP alliance, the Congress-BCP alliance has not been a smooth ride for either party. The NCP has repeatedly displayed displeasure at having to play second fiddle to the INC. Head honcho Sharad Pawar has been vocal about his desire to break the alliance and ensure the NCP works independently. Cracks in the relation were visible when the NCP publicly called for the removal of State Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, a Congressman. However, since neither party has managed to get a distinct majority in the state, it looks like they will continue to contest the 2014 Maharashtra Elections as an alliance.

Maharashtra prepares for 2014 elections

Another party worth mentioning in these elections is the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Led by the dynamic young Indian politician Raj Thackeray, the party has made all the right noises and received attention in the past few years. The MNS took up the issue of road toll, though nothing concrete came out of it. They have shown that they are a party filled with young Indian politicians who are exuberant and are focused on development more than the others. Following Raj Thackeray’s positioning MNS as a youth party, Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray entered his son Aditya into politics to match the MNS blow for blow.

Parties are welcoming young Indian politicians so that they can be seen as youth friendly and development friendly. They are currently campaigning enthusiastically to remind common man of their actions and implementations in the last 5 years. Times have not been too kind to the Congress-NCP alliance though. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has drawn a lot of flak for numerous insensitive remarks against farmers during the draught. It is now upon young Indian politicians to drive development in Maharashtra the way the Prime Minister is driving it for the country. Policies are being made and funding being offered for development of rural areas and the Central government is looking to rope in support of State governments for the same. There was never a better time for young Indian politicians to rise up to the occasion and prove their mettle. The 2014 Maharashtra Elections will be decisive in deciding the future of the State.

Narendra Modi’s 1st Independence Day Speech to India Decoded

Narendra Modi’s first Independence Day speech was an absolute dynamite. One of the most eagerly awaited speeches destroyed convention and exceeded expectations of most Indian citizens, except probably the Modi haters.

Narendra Modi’s 1st Independence Day Speech

Narendra Modi elaborated on a lot of his plans for India. He said he wants to give the tourism industry a boost so that everyone from hotel industries to chai waalas and rickshaw drivers can earn money. He wants to encourage manufacturing in India by sending out a message to multinationals – Come. Make in India. Since electronic goods are the 2nd highest imported goods in India, this move will help reign in our trade deficit. Also, he wants ‘Made in India’ to mean something and believes that this will further encourage exports from India. The Indian government is already in talks with IBM and other major players to equip more rural people with bank accounts. Most people have mobile phones but not bank accounts. He also is launching a Parliament Scheme, the blueprint of which will be shared on 11th October. Under this scheme, each state government will be funded to make one village in their state a model village and gradually increase that number. This will be a good campaigning point in the 2014 Maharashtra Elections.

The Prime Minister of India touched upon many topics which are otherwise considered a taboo by Indian politicians. He attacked the ‘mera kya’ attitude of Indians, wherein we Indians only care about our benefit in doing anything. He said this is one reason that our country doesn’t progress. He also spoke about how molestation and harassment news of women makes us hang our head in shame. Daughters are questioned about where they are going by parents all the time, but do parents dish out the same treatment to sons? We need more control on sons as part of the attempt to rein in such horrific incidents. He said that lack of toilets in rural areas is a huge inconvenience for women since they have to wait till dark to step out. These issues cause health-related problems for those women and need to be addressed as soon as possible. He also spoke against female infanticide and abortions. We must not kill the foetus in a woman’s stomach simply because it won’t help increase our wealth. Modi said he was also pained by the amount of in-fighting within the government. Various departments approaching the Supreme Court against each other is unproductive.

Narendra Modi didn’t make any comments against any party/politician. He called on the Indian citizens to help him cleanse India of environmental and political filth. He has set us an audacious (but achievable) target of cleaning our country before Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday on 2nd October, 2019.

Ahead of the 2014 Maharashtra Elections and those in 10 other states, this speech comes as a challenge to all young Indian politicians. Can they help Narendra Modi achieve all he wants to for India? What does the Indian population think of this? The results will be visible in Maharashtra elections. This is the time for young Indian politicians to prove themselves. Modi has shown that he is ready to break away from mainstream and challenge the status quo. They now can implement policies which would otherwise not be allowed by elder politicians. Modi says that if his people work 12 hours, he will work 13. If they work 14 hours, he will work 15. Because he doesn’t consider himself the Prime Minister. He considers himself the Prime Servant. It’s time young Indian politicians live up to people’s expectations also.

Panvel Development through Young Indian Politicians

If we were to read history, we would see many examples of circumstances when young people with ideas were regarded as arrogant. And this is not because they are, but it is because it was difficult for the elders to accept that someone with less experience can have the necessary knowledge to run a community, moreover a country.

Even literature depicts how traditional communities listen to only what elders say; and whatever they have suggested must be carried out by all members of the community. But today, developments in Panvel are breaking that tradition because people are starting to realize that even the young bloods can rule with a certain degree of maturity that will bring benefit to the community.

Panvel development is a great example of how young Indian politicians are able to make a big difference. Panvel used to be an ignored city and was overlooked for its potential, but today, the city is hopeful of surpassing expectations and performing better than Navi Mumbai through the development it is currently going through. And those hopes are becoming more real because now, the city is attracting a lot of infrastructure developers, especially because the government has approved the construction of an international airport in the area. Once Panvel development is done, it is expected that the cost of land in the area will be more expensive than it is a few years ago.

The following are some of the Panvel development projects done on the city.

• The government has given approval for the construction of an international airport that will handle some two million passengers who will be flying in and from Mumbai. Most importantly, this airport is supposed to complement another international airport, Chatrapati Shivaj so that the current massive number of flights is handled properly.
• The flow of traffic will be better because of the construction of an elevated bridge that goes across the city.
• In addition to this bridge, a six lane road was constructed from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) to NH 17 in order to lessen heavy traffic flow to and from the city.
• The city has opened its doors to people looking for opportunities of townships in the city through land acquisition and large infrastructure companies.
• There have been grants from the government and the MMRDA for the concreting of roads. There have been incentives for agriculture as well.

Further more, young Indian politicians are taking the initiative to work hard for further improvements and developments. They have been regularly doing charitable activities such as providing notebooks for school children who need them most, and taking care of the aged people by providing them with umbrellas, among others.

Indeed, young Indian politicians are proving themselves in the public eye by getting involved in social problems. In the past, citizens have cried for the government to take action and not simply to listen to their grievances. Today, citizens of Panvel are enjoying the benefits of being led by the younger generation of politicians because so far, they have seen many improvements which have made the city more promising.

Young Indian Politicians must Fix Ailing India’s Problems

Ahead of the 2014 Maharashtra elections and those in 10 other states, some issues continue to plague the Indian economy. Of them, inflation remains the biggest concern. Basically, inflation is the increase in price of goods over the past. These goods are food items, luxury goods and anything which can be sold.

Ailing India

Inflation is measured through 2 indices – Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI). As the terms suggest, WPI measures the increase of wholesale prices, while CPI measures how much increase in prices impact common man. The government declares inflation in terms of WPI, but it is CPI which impacts common man more.

Since the past 5 years, prices of primary foods i.e. foods which are consumed daily by people have increased almost 200%. Onions, tomatoes, chillies, sugar and other food prices have more than doubled, causing pain to common man. It has hurt daily wage workers more, who rely on onions for their daily diet of zunka bhakar. Fruits and dairy products have not been spared either, with prices rising so quickly that it’s only the rich who can afford them regularly.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has caused the cost of labour for agriculture to increase. Still, there hasn’t been a drastic depletion in the output of food grains despite the declared draught in the past 2 years. However, there has been a shortage of food in the market, leading to price rise. Most people in India are now of the opinion that this shortage is artificially induced due to hoarding. This occurs when the middlemen (read wholesalers) deliberately store food grains and prevent them from being sold in the market. The scarcity leads to increase in price which invariably translates into more profit for the middlemen. These middlemen have large cartels which are in good standings with major politicians, meaning they get away with such illegal activities and make money at the expense of common and poor man.

Young politicians of India have to step in to take action. They have to fix these problems of artificially induced shortages and draughts at the root. This means improving irrigation channels for agriculture and eliminating middlemen from trade. Irrigation channels are in pitiable condition, ignored since decades by the government. Millions of litres of rainwater each year get wasted because of lack of infrastructure to harvest them. If irrigation technology is improved, India will not have to suffer from water shortage in fields. Also, it is no secret middlemen have had a long standing relationship with senior politicians. Young politicians have to implement policies which remove middlemen from the picture and allow farmers directly to deal with retailers. This will ensure farmers get fairly paid for their yield and common man gets food for right prices. Lower economic classes will be able to afford food more often and the nutrition index of India will improve.

India is at an important junction right now. From here, the country can either become a force to reckon with, or fade away into oblivion like many other countries which promised much more. The torch of development and progress has to be taken up by young Indian politicians who place the country before themselves. A population of more than 120 crore people depends upon them.

Will the Panvel Development Story be Different from that of Navi Mumbai?

Development in Panvel has been at record pace lately. Panvel, the city which is the gateway to the MMR – Mumbai Metropolitan Region, is set to become the new gateway to Maharashtra’s hinterland. This city has been a middle-class area, while other nodes of Navi Mumbai have been affluent. However, while the lack of government will to push for progress might hurt Navi Mumbai, it’s unlikely that such issues will plague Panvel’s development.

Panvel development

What Must Young Indian Politicians do for India to Progress?

Spearheaded by young politicians, India is on the verge of an economic revolution. The country is on its way to becoming one of the world’s leading superpowers. It already is part of the BRICS (Brazil Russia India China South Africa) group which make up the fastest growing economies in the world.

Young politicians of India hold the key to its future

However, since the past few years, the country seems to have fallen into a rut, bordering on stagflation – where progress is stagnated but inflation keeps rising. Government officers have been guilty of policy paralysis and there has been no dearth of scams. These have negatively impacted investor sentiment and business growth, both of which have seen down slides. Many foreign companies which wanted to invest billions of dollars in the country and increase jobs have been stalled because the government failed to take action.

The current situation of the country needs improvement. Young political leaders of India need to take some tough decisions and stick to them. Subsidies, various state-specific taxes and improper policies are hurting India more than helping it to grow. Service tax, excise duty, octroi and state-imposed taxes mean commodity prices differ from state to state. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and Public Distribution of Food (PDS) make labour and food more expensive for common man respectively.

Tough decisions have to be made to restore India’s economic momentum. Subsidies being offered on fuel are increasing India’s fiscal deficit, but not offering subsidies will directly impact inflation. This is because expensive diesel will invariably lead to hike in food prices. Also, not reimbursing oil and electricity companies for their losses hampers their ability to produce more fuel and electricity. Many policies like these are double-edged swords which have to be balanced carefully by the government.

Elder politicians are always comfortable with the way things are. Young political leaders of India, however, have a lot of fire in their blood. They don’t just want things to be the way they are; they want India to develop and its people to progress. They want more investment in the country. They want to develop infrastructure (buildings, roadways, airports, etc.), encourage more jobs to be produced, further develop and incentivize agriculture, reduce prices and hasten rural development. They have the spark and zeal needed to help India progress.

It’s important for us to support these young Indian politicians and encourage them to take bold decisions. Implementing these bold decisions will pave the way for India’s growth and development. Politicians like Milind Deora, Agatha Sangma, Prashant Thakur, Sachin Pilot, Priya Dutt, Arvind Kejriwal, Navin Jindal and others are working hard to ensure the population of India gets the life it deserves. They are driving people to bring progress and development. Various age-old redundant Acts are being abolished and new market sensitive policies are replacing them. It’s necessary that we elect the right leaders and stand behind them. These young politicians of India, along with the youth population, are the future of this country.

The powers and functions of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly

The governance in India consists of a three tier system. In this the Central or the Union Government holds the highest position. The State Government holds the second highest position or is the second tier followed by the District Municipalities and Panchayats in the respective states and districts which forms the third tier.

The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly or the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha is known as the lower house of the dual legislature of Maharashtra. The MLA in Maharashtra works out of the capital city of Mumbai, that is, at Nariman Point in south Mumbai. At present there are 288 members of the Assembly that are elected directly, apart from the one member which is nominated. The Maharashtra Vidhan Parishad is known to be the upper house and the members are indirectly elected with the help of an electoral college.

MLA In Maharashtra

3 Social Media savvy Politicians of Maharashtra

Social media has become an integral part of our lives. Facebook and Twitter tend to provide news faster than most news channels today. Celebrities, sports stars and corporate head honchos are present on these sites so that they can keep in touch with people. They keep their fans and followers informed of latest updates, promote their work and listen to what people have to say.

Lately, many politicians have also taken to social media like a fish to water. The best examples are Arvind Kejriwal and our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Their updates on Facebook and Twitter keep us informed about latest happenings and future plans.

Pratap Sarnaik, Prashant Thakur and Jitendra Awhad – Young Political Leaders of India