Author: Harini Calamur

Delhi riots and remedies: Why fixing our systemic problems is the only way out

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The plumes of black smoke that you see on your timeline, or on WhatsApp forwards, or on news channels is not from some remote part of the country or the world. It is from the capital city of the Republic of India – New Delhi. At the time of writing, 27 people had lost their lives, and 200 were reported injured. The last time the city saw violence erupt in such an organised manner was 1984. This week, amidst the visit of US President Donald Trump to India, communal clashes took place. The news of the visit, the trade deals, and the diplomatic bonhomie overshadowed by the violence.

While the flashpoint of the riots can be attributed to a number of players – politicians trying to rise up the ladder, media trying to burn the country for ratings, Delhi police doing nothing – the causes of this are more systemic:  A feature of our political system that is going through a churn, and our economic system that has left millions without a job or even the hope of a job.

At the top of the list is a government that does things without knowing what it will do next. A case in point was demonetisation – the sucking out of 86 percent liquidity out of the economy without a plan to replenish liquidity rapidly. Abrogation of Article 370 – another – kept citizens cut off from the rest of India for almost 200 days as part of ‘a method of integrating them better with India.’ The government didn’t seem to have a road map then, and they don’t seem to have one now. The less said about having a plan for moving the economy out of doldrums the better; the same is the case with the current situation. With the CAA, NRC chronology established and reiterated, is it that the government didn’t expect protests? Or is it that they didn’t expect multi-community protests? Is it that they didn’t expect students to turn up in such large numbers, including students who voted for them in 2019? There seems to have been no plans for outreach. No plans for discussion; there still doesn’t seem to be a clear way forward.

Opposition in deep slumber

At the second level, we have an Opposition that is in deep slumber. The key ‘national’ party, the Indian National Congress, has not got its act in place 9 months after its disastrous performance in the general elections. Their leadership issue is in abeyance, and on most days they look rudderless. They may be reviving in the states, but that is despite the leadership at the centre. The rest of the parties are at best regional players, and there is nothing that is going to change that in the near future. Both the Congress and regional parties collectively speak the language of the 1990s and are out of touch with the people. During the protests, they were conspicuous by their absence. The Aam Aadmi Party, which was voted into power for a third term, could have done something about brokering a negotiation in Delhi, but didn’t. Arvind Kejriwal has been seemingly struck dumb with his helplessness. The crisis in the Opposition is another reason why we have got this situation. If they weren’t dynastic entities that suffocated talent in their own parties to favour their families – would we be in a situation where a government rams through legislation without enough public discussion or consensus?

The third factor is the economy. Economically we are not doing well, and a global downturn in the light on the coronavirus is not going to help us get better. Prices are rising. The inflation rate was 7.6 percent in January, with food inflation at 14 percent.  Unemployment is an issue. If young people are in jobs, they aren’t out on the street rioting. And, India simply doesn’t have enough jobs. There are enough studies that correlate a high rate of unemployment with urban riots. The unemployment rate currently is 7.9 percent , with the unemployment rate in Delhi at 22 percent.

At the last level is the extreme polarisation being spread by mainstream media, social media, and organised IT cells that proliferate hate and lies. They transmit anger and emotional violence against us, on a consistent basis – keeping us scared and angry. A dangerous combination. And, it is starting young. We are all used to seeing young boys in Kashmir turn into stone-throwers. Now you see young boys in Delhi do the same. Pictures of gangs of boys, who probably aren’t even adults, carrying rods, and planks – either to attack or defend – are shattering. There is one thing about the rage of adults, when children are radicalised, as a people we need to sit back and introspect on what we are turning into.

All of this is fixable, and India and Indians have done it before. It is not impossible. It may not even be in the realm of very difficult if we put our collective minds to it and plan it out in detail. But, the four have to be addressed together. The government must listen. There must be an Opposition that questions the government legislatively. The economy has to be fixed, and the polarisation has to be cracked down upon. But there needs to be a political will to get this done. And that seems to be missing.

Harini Calamur writes on politics, gender and her areas of interest are the intersection of technology, media, and audiences. Read her columns here.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Counting the cost of coronavirus outbreak: Why it could hurt the global economy badly

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The latest public health scare to hit the world is the COVID 19 – coronavirus. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there were over 73,000 reported cases of COVID 19, with most of the epidemic contained in one province in China – Hubei. Outside China, there are a shade over 800 cases. According to the European Centre for Disease Control, there have been 2,012 deaths, 2,006 of which are in China.

The term coronavirus is a family of viruses that cause a variety of ailments ranging from the relatively harmless common cold to the more virulent illnesses such as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV) and Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV). The current outbreak is caused by a new type of coronavirus that has hitherto not been detected in humans. Coronaviruses are zoonotic ie, are transmitted between animals and people. For example, Swine flu–transmitted from pigs to humans – or bird flu – between birds and humans; or Ebola – from bats to humans – are all examples of zoonotic infections. According to a paper in the prestigious Chinese Medical Journal, scientists have said that this new coronavirus has been borne by bats to humans.

While it is very infectious and has spread rapidly since December 30, the WHO has been muted in its commentary about the outbreak. Tedros Andhanom – the Director-General of WHO – has said that COVID-19 is not “as deadly as other coronaviruses, including SARS and MERS”. To put it in perspective, there were between 14,000–36,000 deaths due to influenza in the United States, in the four-month period between October 2019 and January 2020. Yet, you don’t see the kind of response that you have with the world reaction to COVID 19. The panic that has been caused by a flu for which there is no vaccine yet has been a virtual quarantining of all activity with travel into or out of China, having severe economic consequences not just for China, but for countries across the world. Moody’s has revised its China GDP growth forecast from 5.8 percent to 5.2 percent — blaming the coronavirus.

At the most basic level, an already troubled airline industry worldwide has been hit by the coronavirus. Airlines across the world have suspended flights to China. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), 62.9 million tourists visited China in 2018, and revenue from tourism accounted for almost 11 percent of the Chinese GDP. This includes the massive Chinese domestic tourism market – estimated to be $650 billion — that is also going to be impacted. Chinese participation in tourism outside China is also expected to decrease.

The second is with much of the Chinese working population being advised to work from home, there has been a massive impact on global supply chains. Many manufacturing units have shut down until the crisis passes. Apple has already indicated that its revenue will fall owing to the outbreak. Vehicle manufacturers who depend on supply parts from China have said that their operations could be impacted by coronavirus. There has been a virtual write-off of all economic activity in China since the beginning of the year, and the two months of disruption to the economy would have a fallout on not just the Chinese economy but those in the region and the world.

Global supply chain is disrupted 

The third major sector to be impacted is pharmaceuticals. Hubei province – the epicentre of the outbreak – is also the province from which most pharmaceutical raw material is produced. It is expected that India that produces 20 percent of the world’s drug supply will be impacted by the virtual shutdown in production. Unless the crisis passes, and people get back to work in China, there will be a major shortfall in bulk drug manufacturing, leading to a spike in prices of basic medicines.

There are those who say that this is a great opportunity for Indian manufacturing replacing Chinese manufacturing in the short run, and maybe even in the long run. However, it is not easy to shift production lines. Besides, with India in a slowdown, and many factories already shut – it might be difficult to even produce what they produced earlier – let alone change tracks and replace Chinese goods in the global supply chain.

The coronavirus will be combatted. Scientists will develop a vaccine. The only question is when, and it is likely to be sooner rather than later. As population spreads across the world become denser, as we migrate from the rural to city life; as tourism spreads – so too will never-seen-before bugs that can disrupt lives, economies, and futures. There will always be a gap between the outbreak of the virus and the finding of the cure. What is required are protocols to prevent panic and economic tsunamis from hitting populations already ravaged by illness.

At one point in time, it was said that if America sneezes, the world catches a cold; the same can be said of China today – its global presence and impact on the world economy is so great that the coronavirus outbreak in the country has infected economies across the globe.

Harini Calamur writes on politics, gender and her areas of interest are the intersection of technology, media, and audiences. Read her columns here.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

The high cost of ill health: Why we need to declare war on lifestyle diseases

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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With the Wuhan Coronavirus claiming over a 1000 lives, the spotlight of the world is on communicable diseases and preventing their outbreak. A few years earlier, the world’s attention was on Ebola, which claimed over 20,000 lives when it was at its peak in 2014-16. But, the thing about pandemics, be it Ebola or Coronavirus, SARS or H1N1, is that they, because of their virality and risk to the population, get attention, resources and a way of combat and control. Right now, there are thousands of scientists across the world, burning the midnight oil, to find a vaccine for coronavirus.

However, when it comes to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) – cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and others – there isn’t a similar warlike effort to combat and control them.  According to a recent World Bank report, over 38 million people die each year, 16 million of them under the age of 70, because of non-communicable diseases. Furthermore, it has a huge impact on a productive lifestyle for those who survive. Across the world, governments and creaking public health systems have made the tackling of non-communicable and chronic diseases such as heart conditions and diabetes a primary target.

In India, we are seeing people under 40 succumb to heart attacks, be afflicted by paralysis – we see 20-year-olds declared diabetic – and all of these have a cost not just on the individual, but on the economy. While India has traditionally focused on malnutrition, and health issues that are triggered by it – with an increase in income, over the last two decades – lifestyle diseases are catching up. In India, 63 percent of all deaths are due to non-communicable diseases. According to a study in the Lancet, cardiovascular diseases were responsible for 28.1 percent of all deaths, and 14.1 percent of DALY (disability adjusted life years).

Two decades ago, these were all lifestyle diseases afflicting the middle class and the rich. However, with Indians moving up the income ladder, and food habits changing, these lifestyle diseases have percolated from the richer sections of society – where they were more endemic – to all sections of society. With more and more healthcare being made available and paid for by the state the economic burden of these diseases, and the increase in their prevalence, has become an issue to be tackled by policy.

(Source: World Bank data)

At the core of these policy changes is the need to provide primary health care that would enable medical professionals to raise the alarm early enough and begin treatment. However, in many countries including India – the rate at which Primary Health Care (PHC) is growing, and the coverage that it is providing is not fast enough to stem the rise in these diseases. While India is investing in the physical infrastructure of primary health centres, their effectiveness is severely hampered by the sheer numbers of patients, and the massive shortage of trained medical staff. It is estimated that India has 7 doctors per 10,000 people – if we looked at rural India by itself, the number will be much lower. It is estimated that we have a shortfall of 600,000 doctors and 2 million-plus nurses.

At the second level, there needs to be a focus on food habits and nutrition. Even at the turn of the century, lifestyle diseases were primarily an urban and
well-to-do phenomenon. However, that is changing. Obesity is on the rise in rural India and in economically weaker households in urban India. A study last year in Nature looked at the trend of increased body mass index (BMI) in rural areas across the world and found that obesity is on the rise – and with it, all the associated lifestyle diseases. The main reason for this seems to be the move away from natural and traditional foods to processed foods; as well as increased mechanisation of farm work and the availability of transport.

So, while we combat Coronavirus, Ebola, Nipa and other exotic pandemics – it is important for the country as a whole to look at fundamental lifestyle changes that enable better health and living. The prime minister has done his bit on advocating fitness and a healthier lifestyle. However, these initiatives have to go beyond being a photo opportunity, or a social media hashtag – and have a long-term roadmap in terms of health, nutrition, and overall wellness. Just labelling centres as wellness centres is not going to be effective, if they are not followed up with policies that educate patients on a healthy lifestyle. And, those have to be localised, or even hyper localised – because, in a diverse nation like India everything changes in the next locality.

Source : World Health Organisation.

We are on the precipice of a public health disaster. According to the WHO, the cost of non-communicable diseases to the Indian economy in the period 2012-30 is $6.16 trillion. One way of ensuring that we reach the $5 trillion mark as an economy is to make sure that our people are healthier. And, fixing that needs not just Instagram videos and twitter memes, but a focused, planned approach to public health.

Harini Calamur writes on politics, gender and her areas of interest are the intersection of technology, media, and audiences.

Read Harini Calamur’s columns here.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

The government’s ‘we-know-best’ approach is harming the economy

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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There is a certain hubris that drives the government. The hubris borne out of the belief that they – and they alone – know the best. And, this knowledge is derived from the belief that they are the best positioned to save the country – spiritually, morally, and economically because their ideological moorings are the strongest. Furthermore, their unshaken belief that everyone else has nefarious interests designed to drive India to her knees, makes the BJP ruling layer incredibly thin skinned when it comes to jumping to the defence of their actions. And, of course since their actions are aimed at protecting the nation, any criticism can only be sedition, or an attack on ‘us’.

The problem with this kind of unshakeable self-belief fuelled sanctimoniousness is that while it appeals to the core audience, it is kind of sounds discordant and acrimonious to most others. For example, the pronouncement of CM Adityanath that chanting Azaadi would be considered sedition is not just ludicrous in light of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution, but also the best way of propelling youngsters to shout more ‘azaadi’ chants. Or the constant jibes of Amit Shah on the ‘tukde tukde’ gang, which a RTI to his own department revealed does not exist. While all this may seem like everyday political jousting, and part of the 5-year election campaigning that seems to pervade our system – this kind of knee-jerk, wounded, ‘we-know-best’ response falls flat when it comes to dealing with the economy.

Recently, Jeff Bezos visited India to announce a $1 billion investment. Washington Post, owned by Bezos, has been critical about the government. In various op-ed’s and articles, the Post has been critical of most aspects of governance – from law and order breakdown and lynching, to demonetisation and the handling of the economy. The government’s response to one of the world’s largest investors was an icy cold shoulder. No one senior in the government met the head of Amazon, to entice him into even larger investments and commitments to India. To compound the matter were the comments by Piyush Goyal, who said that the investment was “no big favour”. And, while people like Bezos invest in India because of her great market potential, and it is not a favour, the minister should have known better than seem to be unwelcoming of foreign investment. While Goyal later withdrew the remark, you really cannot unsay things.

Pugilistic arrogance

It is this kind of pugilistic arrogance that seems to suggest that the government is not willing to talk, not just with protestors on the streets, but also with international funders, investors, and banks. The chant of “all is well” followed by the chorus of “we are on the path to become a $5 trillion economy” might satisfy the devout, but it is not going to cut any ice with hardnosed bankers with calculators for hearts.

While the government and its representatives should be out there in the capital cities where international banks and funding institutes are present, and lobby, cajole and impress – they are sitting in India taking pot-shots at people exercising their fundamental rights. While the government should have been engaging with Gita Gopinath, the Indian-born head of the IMF, and presenting their plans there seems to be little in the way of influencing people. There is a severe crisis of perception if the Indian government projects us growing at a trajectory to reach $5 trillion, and the IMF significantly downgrades growth projections and expresses its doubt at meeting that target anytime soon.

The government needs to get its act place. PM Narendra Modi’s charm and networking can only get them so far, the remaining ministers have to pull their weight. They cannot be seen as being contemptuous to international investment, or start fluttering like pigeons, every time someone criticises government actions. No other government in a democratically elected space seems as thin skinned and bothered about what others say, as our government. And that is not doing it any good. The time for campaigning is over. The elections have been won last year. The government needs to now plan the implementation of its economic agenda – and build confidence to get the country to the growth it deserves.

Harini Calamur writes on politics, gender and her areas of interest are the intersection of technology, media, and audiences.

Read Harini Calamur’s columns here.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

How anti-CAA protest is spreading the idea of Constitutional Morality

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Yesterday, Chandrashekar Azad aka Ravan, the charismatic leader of the Bhim Army was released on bail, after 26 days in custody. The bail had conditions, he was not to stay in Delhi, hold rallies, take part in protests, or in general upset the Delhi election apple cart. He would be escorted back to Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, where he would stay and report back to the local cop station every week. Chandrashekar Azad was arrested for holding a massive rally in Jama Masjid in Delhi with a copy of the Constitution in his hand.

The previous day the additional sessions judge Kamini Lau had given the Delhi Police grief for his arrest, telling them that the right to protest was inalienable, and everyone could protest peacefully without having the fear of the heavy hand of the police, grasping a lathi, landing on their skull. The fact that it was a Constitutional right was underlined.

The protests across India may have begun as anti-CAA but it has now become an umbrella protest against the government. And, while the BJP accuses the Opposition of fomenting trouble, the fact remains if the Opposition could manage this kind of turnout, it would have individually and collectively done well in the elections 8 months ago. It is almost as though the protestors have bypassed the politicians to defend the Republic.

But it isn’t just judges, and protestors and Chandra Shekar Azad who have been mouthing the Constitution. The new Army Chief, General  Mukund Naravane, in his first press conference reiterated the fact that every member of the Armed forces gives allegiance to the Constitution.

More than anything else in the ongoing protests against the government, it is the Constitution that is upfront and centre along with the National Flag. It is almost as though Indian citizens, 70 years after we became a Republic, discovered the beauty and joy in both. And, it is the nature of protest – reading the Preamble, while holding the flag that has become the broad visual emanating from the spots of the protests. That, and cries of Jai Hind.

Another homegrown movement

It is a similar modus operandi to the strategy adopted by the ‘India Against Corruption’ movement – that draped itself in the flag, paid respect to Bharat Mata, and managed to get broad-based support, simply because it was seen as a homegrown “Indian’ movement that draped itself in the symbols of Indianness.

The act of students and the public at large is reading out the preamble and reaffirming our pledge, as citizens, to the Republic of India is going viral. People are reading out from the Preamble everywhere. The awareness of the Constitution and what it means to us is underlined on a daily basis. These words of the preamble, most of which was written over 70 years ago, have transcended from being mere words to an affirmation. A sacred pledge. And, as people are taking the oath, it is almost like they understand the meaning of the ‘idea of India’ – as an inclusive, diverse space where all will be accepted.

Dr BR Ambedkar said, “Constitutional Morality is not a natural sentiment. It has to be cultivated.” In the second decade of the new millennium, the idea of Constitutional Morality is spreading. That we the people of India want a space that is equal, and we will stand up to make sure that what is ours is preserved. It is no longer about the CAA. It has now become a protest that looks at protecting what the Constitution means to us – and the freedoms that it guarantees. When they chant “humme chahiye azaadi, Ambedkar waali azaadi’ that freedom to be can only be delivered – and guaranteed by the Constitution.

Harini Calamur writes on politics, gender and her areas of interest are the intersection of technology, media, and audiences.

Read Harini Calamur’s columns here.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Student protests – Why the government has lost the plot

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Across India, students are out protesting. Even in a city like Mumbai that has traditionally been lukewarm towards most politics at the national level, there have been protest turnouts that have been significant. And, more importantly, it isn’t the elite South Mumbai and South Delhi crowd waving placards and banners, but a swathe of people across socio-economic groups, communities, and even causes protesting against the policies of the government. In some states where they are present, student unions have helped students organise. In states such as Maharashtra, where the presence of student unions and elections is absent, students and protestors have self-organised – using tools like Whatsapp and Facebook.

There have been counter gatherings in favour of the government. The RSS affiliated students’ union Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has been holding pro-CAA-NRC marches across various cities.  A number of supporters of the government and the CAA have tried organising. But they haven’t been particularly successful.

But away from the camera lens, and away from the metros of Delhi and Mumbai that are in the public glare, the protests have been met with brutal force. The stories that are coming out of Uttar Pradesh and the excesses of Adiyanath’s police force against unarmed protestors have been horrific. This is not about apprehending or arresting people for breaking the law, it is about bullets that are meant to hit the mark, and about truncheons aimed at breaking bones. It seems that the violence has the sanction of the state. While it is likely that ultimately, the constable on the beat will carry the can and lose his job – but the fact is that this level of police violence cannot take place without the approval of the government.

Law and order is being trampled

And, then came the attacks on Jawaharlal Nehru National University (JNU), where police stood outside the gates of JNU, while a mob armed with hockey sticks and iron rods went on a rampage attacking students and teachers for hours. Government action, like the police in old Hindi films – materialised after the violence was over. There were videos of the police escorting those who caused the violence outside the gates of the university. There are allegations from both the Right and the Left that those terrorising the students and faculty at JNU were from the other camp. But, irrespective of which camp they belong to, the fact remains that the Home Ministry was a mute observer when law and order was being trampled by those who had sworn to uphold it.

While the protests began as a reaction to the Citizen Amendment Act, it has now transformed into something far bigger than that. In a country where the opposition is trying to figure out which dynast needs to occupy which position, and where the ruling party is busy ramming through legislation that will have dire consequences on our Republic, the people have taken on the role of the Opposition. The protests are now an umbrella for a variety of causes – chief among them being the belief that Constitutional rights of many communities – religious, tribal, caste, gender – are being systematically eroded by a government that doesn’t want to listen.

While it is clear that the government with superior forces, and the willingness to use them, will wait this out and appear victorious – the victory will be pyrrhic.  With more and more people who supported the government speaking up against its intransigence, it looks like PM Narendra Modi’s Teflon coating will be damaged.

Harini Calamur writes on politics, gender and her areas of interest are the intersection of technology, media, and audiences.

Read Harini Calamur’s columns here.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

The decade of the other: How social media is fuelling the ‘us’ versus ‘them’ debate

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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There are two broad polarised views on the start of the new decade – those who believe that the new decade starts in 2020, and others who believe that it starts next year. And, they are called the cardinal and ordinal method, respectively. Both groupings have ardent supporters. And, both sets of people will give you ample evidence to tell you why they are right. Each will refuse to agree with the other, and each will say that they are experts and the other set are charlatans. While the issue of whether the decade began this year, or will begin next year might seem trivial, and the extreme disagreements on this may seem comical, it is the pattern which most disagreements follow.

The explosion of social platforms in the last decade has seen unbridled enthusiasm for people from all walks of life, all corners of the globe, to connect based on interests, opinions, passions, and causes. And instead of being platforms that allowed for more interchange, exchange, and conversations – as was the promise – it ended up being platforms that created echo chambers and filter bubbles. And, the outcome of this is that anyone outside the filter bubble is the ‘other’– to be demonised, degraded, labelled, and termed ‘traitor’. That traitor can be traitor to the cause, the ideal, the faith, the religion or the nation. The concept of ‘other’ as an enemy embodied with all the qualities that you detest and believe are harmful to humanity as a whole; and the implicit message is that maybe the world will be a better place if they – the other – were gone.

The ‘tukde-tukde gang’

We see it all the time in our public spaces. News anchors who label opposition to ideas as coming from the ‘tukde-tukde gang’; people who should know better labelling them as ‘urban naxals’,  calling the other side as practising “bigotry and narrow-minded exclusion”, we have gotten used to terms like Nazi and Fascist, Libertard and Islamofascist being used to describe the other view. And the litany of insults continues, till the atmosphere is so vitiated that no one wants to have a conversation with the other. And, rightly so. Would any of us want to interact with people who are questioning our very right to be who we are; to profess in what we believe in.

And, this really is what the internet has enabled in the last decade – the ability to otherise people and ideas and try and impose the one view as the dominant one. It does not matter whether we are talking about Robert Pattison taking over the Batman role, or Greta Thunberg talking about the environment, or Indians talking about citizenship, the ability of the extremes to marginalise moderates on their own side, and shout out the other side, is huge. The internet that has come to be is without filters, which allows the congregation of a certain kind of extreme mindset that will do everything to extinguish the other point of view. The conveniences enabled by digital platforms are overshadowed by the polarisation they have wrought on line, and their ability to spread that in the real world.

Digital giants such as Google, Facebook, and their holdings have been quiet as their platforms have gotten more polarised, possibly because they have realised that the more vehement, the more committed abusers also spend a lot of their time online, engaging with others. The algorithms that push engagement possibly recommended this as a path to greater audience numbers. And the toll of this approach has been paid by society.

If the first 10 years of this century were marked by the optimism of digital, these 10 years while building on the optimism, have also exposed us to the great wild west of the internet, where there are no rules, where people band together to keep each other secure, and where might is right. As more governments get into the act of regulation, and as the rules on hate speech and fake news become more pronounced, the technology giants are going to see their wings clipped in what they will be allowed to do to maximise engagement. While this may not root out the ‘othering’ of people, it would definitely mitigate it.

Harini Calamur writes on politics, gender and her areas of interest are the intersection of technology, media, and audiences.

Read Harini Calamur’s columns here.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

View: Let the CAA, NRC and NPR not distract attention from the economic slowdown

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The protests around the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Register of Citizens (NRC), and the National Population Register (NPR) have provided a welcome respite to finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman who was facing increasingly uncomfortable questions about the state of the economy.

That the economy is nose divining is something that most people can see, either because they can read economic indicators, or because they are living through the downturn. There are stories of  unemployment all around. From the average daily wage worker who is finding it difficult to get paid work, to the corporate executive in his mid-forties who has been laid off, to the young MBA graduate who has not yet been placed 18 months after graduation—most of us know at least one person who is unemployed. And, that is the first problem with the economy. There are not enough earning members, earning enough money.

The unemployment rate is pegged at 6.1 percent for 2017-18, has been the highest in decades. And, the problem of unemployment is far more acute in urban areas (7.8 percent) than in rural areas (7.8 percent). When people don’t have jobs, or are worried about losing their jobs, their tendency is to consume less and conserve more. This is simple human psychology, where we put away enough for a rainy day. However, even that is not coming to pass. We have, with the problem of unemployment, a heavy dose of inflation, especially food inflation. Prices of staples—grains, pulses, eggs, meat, edible oil—are on the rise, and there seems to be no stopping the upward trend. When this happens instead of conserving or saving, the bulk of the income goes in food related expenses.

And there is the third whammy—a shrinking industrial output, because entrepreneurs across the country have no risk appetite—also known as animal spirits—to invest. Factory output has been showing a month-on-month decline, for the last quarter. Gross domestic product (GDP) has shrunk  and every major institution that revelled in the India growth story, is now busy downgrading growth figures for the economy.

Any one of these issues is serious enough for a government to take note, all three of them together is an indicator of serious trouble. And, the Indian government rather than tackling this head on, seems to be in denial on the basic of the fact that we are in the midst of a slowdown. A chorus of ‘all is well’ from the government and its supporters in the media and online communities is coming in the way of finding solutions for a problem that is not imaginary. However, the desire to build statues seems greater than the ability to fix the economy.

It is in this context that you need to read the comments of Gita Gopinath, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Her team has suggested that India hold off any fiscal stimulus to the economy, and wait for adjustments in monetary policy to pay dividend. IMF has further said that the achievement of a $5 trillion economy by 2024 seems improbable.

According to economic theory (more specifically Keyenesian economic theory) an injection of capital into the economy—from which ever major stakeholder, individuals, government, industry, exports—would act as a boost to the economy as a whole, and multiply its effects across the economy. When individuals have no jobs, and industry has no money, this role falls on the government. This is why in times of downturn, when animal spirits are low, governments across the world tend to undertake some form of fiscal stimulus to rekindle the economy.

However, to ensure that governments across the world do not spend themselves out of any economic mess, there are agreed on targets to ensure that the fiscal deficit stays within a certain threshold of the GDP. A fiscal deficit is the shortfall in the government’s income, when compared to its expenses. The fiscal deficit does not include any shortfall made up via borrowings. Most countries, across the world run some form of deficit financing for the services and infrastructure that it provides citizens. In India the fiscal deficit target is 3.4 percent.

There has always been the tussle between the IMF and sovereign nations coping with their economic cycles. The use of fiscal stimulus to kick start the economy has always been a point of contention. For India to come out of the economic quicksand that it finds itself in, it needs to kick start the economy with a fiscal stimulus. However, IMF wisdom suggests that we hold on to our fiscal discipline and implement policy easing. However, policy easing shows impact in the medium to long run. And, India has an immediate problem with growth, inflation, and umemployment.

What can the government do? Pretty much what any organisation would do when faced with such issues: roll out the best team in the country, irrespective of party affiliation, get them to don their suits and go and meet international bodies, corporations, and funds—and get them to start investing. This is not merely promises of investment, rather it is actual implementation of the investment promises. Else the economy that we will leave behind for next generation will be a mess, and they won’t thank you for it.

Harini Calamur writes on politics, gender and her areas of interest are the intersection of technology, media, and audiences.

Read Harini Calamur’s columns here.

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How CAA and NRC have divided opinion

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, (CAA) has pretty much pushed out every other news from the news cycle.  Our screens are dominated with the scenes of students being beaten up, students resisting, and slogans raised against the government across the country. At the core of the protests is the belief that this government is out to disenfranchise Muslims and other minorities and strip them of their nationality using a combination of the CAA, and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

While the government has been making noises about the fact that no Indian citizen will be deprived of their constitutional right to citizenship, it isn’t cutting too much ice with those who are protesting. They believe the government is out to destroy the secular fabric of the nation, trample on the Constitution, and steamroll a Hindutva Rashtra instead. At the core of this belief is the CAA provision that Muslims from three countries—Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh—will not be eligible for automatic citizenship in India, while people of other faiths would be.

It isn’t the CAA by itself that causes this panic, but the combination of the CAA with the NRC. The NRC requires you to produce documentation to prove that your ancestors were citizens of the country. Most people in India may not have historical documentation. So, it is believed that the CAA will naturalise Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and others without documents as citizens, and exclude Muslims without documents.

Those who support the government and the CAA, can see nothing wrong with the Act. They see it as a way of letting Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and other religious faiths return home from countries where they are persecuted for their faith, and face kidnapping, rape, forcible conversion, and even death. This group refuses to acknowledge the fact that this act may have unintended consequences for other minorities. And, it believes that no minorities will be harmed in the pursuit of the CAA and the NRC.

The bitterness of each side against the other, and perceived historical wrongs, is dominating the discourse. And, in this all the protests seem to have merged into one gigantic protest against a government that is perceived as discriminatory.

However, there have been two distinct streams of protests, each with its own goals and objectives. But, mass media thunder, and trending hashtags have merged them into one. At one level there are protests because CAA will allow ‘outsiders’ to get citizenship and at the other there are protests on why more ‘outsiders’ cannot get citizenship.

The protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act began in the North East, with Assam taking the brunt of the protests. These were the first wave of protests that believed that the CAA reneged on promises and treaties made with made to these states — individually — that protected their unique ethnic composition and culture.

Assam, in particular, has been railing against illegal migrants for quite sometime. While the NRC activity that took place in the state earlier this year, had looked at over 3.29 crore applications from people who had come to the state post 1971, it excluded close to 2 million. Most of these were Bengali speaking Hindus and Muslims — many of whom fled during the 1971 war and have been trickling in ever since.  Assam, and other NE states, are protesting CAA not because they believe that it excludes anyone (Muslims particularly), but because they are terrified that those non-Assamese who are living in Assam, and who were believed to be immigrants, would get citizenship

The second set of protests — that you are seeing across the country — are those who believe that the CAA will be used with NRC to exclude Indians from citizenship in their own country. Students across the country on various campuses are out to read from the constitution, sing the national anthem, and protest the Government actions as being against both.

At the time of writing, Section 144 is being imposed in various cities to ensure that students and others don’t turn gather to protest. This is primarily taking place in BJP ruled states. In a way, this borrows from the model adopted in Kashmir, if the place is under lock-down or if section 144 is imposed, you can’t really see the protests. But, just because you can’t see them — doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

Harini Calamur writes on politics, gender and her areas of interest are the intersection of technology, media, and audiences.

Read Harini Calamur’s columns here.

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Data privacy and the price of free: What tech giants won’t tell you

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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There is a universe of data out there – a seemingly infinite supply of data points about you and I – that are sliced and diced, then analysed, so that corporations and politicians can sell us more of their wares.

All this data is supposed to transform the way in which we live, work, access services, and make decisions – and expected to give us better shopping, better services, better policing, better health care, and more. The data is mined, and the supply of data seems infinite.

The powers that control data – monopolistic, mostly unregulated corporations – mine it to know more about us. They claim that it is to give us more choice and better-targeted services. They say their platforms are for the greater public good, and that it is free for all and allows everyone a window into the world. While the cost of entry and usage of the platform has zero monetary cost for us, we pay for it in the form of our data. The very same data that allows Facebook, Amazon, or Google, to know more about you than you probably know about yourself. And they share this knowledge about us, at a granularised level with whoever pays well it.

While across the world there are concerns about the use and abuse of data, the worries about India are slightly more. We are a people who are rapidly absorbing the internet into our lives, without any filters. There are almost 600 million internet users. There are over 345 million smartphones, and it predicted that by 2022 it would reach 829 million. Most of this will be rural users. If you see platforms like TikTok you will see the rise in slickly produced content from a smaller town and rural India. For most Indians, be they from rural or urban backgrounds, the concept of data privacy and security is very distant. And, therefore the consequences, individually and collectively, of data monopolies, seem very far away. For most of these users, their top platforms of use are Facebook, Youtube, Tik Tok, Amazon – all of which are free. And, all of which is paid by our virtual blood – data.

Large digital businesses tend towards being a monopoly. After all, no one is going to join a social network with no one on it, or a taxi ride service with no cars. The network effect says that people gravitate to the network with the most people. And, as more people gather to one network, all other networks around die. Now combine monopoly power, with free and what you have is a scenario where no other competition is possible. This is the subject of debate in many countries, with business lawyers and experts arguing that existing competition laws need to be changed in a digital economy, to prevent free being used as a barrier to entry. They believe that using ‘free’ as a device these platforms are extracting a monopolist’s pound of flesh. Platforms like Facebook conduct “unprecedented commercial surveillance” because of their monopolistic position.

In India too there is a quiet conversation that is going on about the nature of digital monopolies, and their impact on our lives. A recent paper by the Data Governance Network (DGN), looks at the price of free, and the application of Indian anti-competition laws to this practise. It suggests that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) ‘should not exclude zero-price platforms from the purview of competition’. The paper also suggests that the very fact that we as individuals lose control of our data is in itself an illegal act, and this should be considered by the CCI when dealing with zero price platforms.

Our data belongs to us. If companies like Facebook are mining the most intimate details of our interactions and transactions and selling our data – that is an extension of us as individuals – to marketeers, then there has to be kind of checks and balances. Do we really want some algorithm to be able to push our buttons, based on our data, and get us do things that we wouldn’t otherwise? The price of free is a part of you? When you sign up for an online service, they never tell you that.

Harini Calamur writes on politics, gender and her areas of interest are the intersection of technology, media, and audiences.

Read Harini Calamur’s columns here.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow