Eye on Dalits, PM Modi launches Bhim pay app

December 31, 2016

New Delhi, Dec 31: With his gaze fixed on UP and the larger Dalit constituency, PM Narendra Modi launched on Friday an app whose acronym Bhim (Bharat Interface for Money) beamed a political message to the socially disadvantaged.

pmThe app, which seeks to ensure easy, fast and secure digital transactions, saw Modi invoking Dalit icon B R Ambedkar several times at an event here as he argued digitalisation would empower the poor -rather than disadvantage them, as maintained by some demonetisation critics.

The acronym is reminiscent of pro-Dalit outfit BSP's "Jai Bhim" slogan and carries an association with Dalit movements. Apart from challenging BSP in the UP polls, the move seeks to counter the flak BJP received over violence against Dalits in some of the states it rules and also the Rohith Vemula suicide. The mantra of Dr Ambedkar was to work for uplift of the poor. And the biggest power of technology is that it can empower the poor," Modi said as he extolled the app's feature that allows a thumb print to activate it. Earlier, use of a thumb impression for legal purposes was a sign of illiteracy (angutha chhaap) but technology and the new app could turn this into an instrument of personal empowerment, the PM said. "Your thumb is your bank now. It has become your identity now."

The political application of Bhim was all too evident as the launch of the app comes just before the crucial assembly elections in UP where BJP is struggling to detach the Dalits from BSP chief Mayawati. The social enlargement Modi had in mind seemed to be an attempt to expand the constituency beyond the party's more traditional catchment of upper castes to the less well-off OBCs and SCs.

Addressing the gathering of party workers and officials, Modi recalled Ambedkar as an economist and even went on to utter "Bahujan Hitay Bahujan Sukhay".

"The RBI was born on principles he (Ambedkar) wrote in his thesis. How the federal structure should run economically. The Finance Commission that was formed for this purpose was a result of his principles. If there is one person whose contribution stands out in India's economic framework, it is Babasaheb Ambedkar's," Modi said.

"No matter how far a country has gone, even for them, they have to go to Google, ask Google Guru what is Bhim. At first, they will see Bhim from Mahabharat. If they dig deeper, they will find Bharat Ratna Bhimrao Ambedkar. This was the goal of his life, to empower the poor. And this is what the app will do. This is the poor's treasure. This will empower the poor, farmers, tribal people," the PM said.

Arguing that Bhim app will bring Ambedkar centrestage, Modi said, "Be it a smartphone or feature phone of Rs 1,000-1,200, Bhim app can be used. There is no need to have internet connectivity .One only needs a thumb" Modi's dedication of the app to Ambedkar is a part of his strategy over the past year to seek to position BJP as being truly mindful of his legacy . He has repeatedly attacked Congress for ignoring and even downplaying Ambedkar in comparison with Nehru-Gandhi leaders.

BJP and Sangh Parivar have tried to appropriate a piece of the Dalit icon's legacy as the Modi government accelerated construction of an Ambedkar memorial in Delhi.

BJP government in Maharashtra decided to buy the London flat where Ambedkar stayed and the Sangh Parivar celebrated the birth centenary of the framer of the Constitution on a big scale through the year.

But BJP suffered setbacks because of Hyderabad Central University student Rohith Vemula's suicide and the atrocity committed by gau rakshaks on Dalits at Una in Gujarat. But the incidents have not fazed BJP and Sangh Parivar as only on Thursday, the government relaxed guidelines to facilitate the constriction of Ambedkar memorial in Mumbai. The government also plans to announce the mega draw of Rs 1 crore under "Lucky Grahak Yojana" and "DigiDhan Vyapar Yojana" on April 14, the birth anniversary of Ambedkar.

Comments

Skazi
 - 
Sunday, 1 Jan 2017

In India Feku is acting like BHIM and Arjuna ....But, but Google and You tube have placed Modi in the list of top 10 CRIMINALS of the world ....

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News Network
May 10,2020

Thiruvananthapuram , May 10: Issuing latest order in view of coronavirus outbreak, the Kerala government has ordered complete shut down on all Sundays.

"With a view to prevent the spread of COVID-19, improve the quality of life, reduce the carbon emissions, protect the environment and greenery of the State, the following protocol would be observed on Sundays across the State. Sundays will be observed as total shut down days until further orders," the order read.

Following activities will be permissible on Sundays:

A) Shops selling essential items

B) Collection and distribution of milk

C) Supply of Newspaper, media, hospitals, medical stores, medical labs and related institutions

D) No social gathering is permitted except for marriages and funerals

E) Departments, agencies and activities connected with the containment of COVID-19

F) Movement of goods vehicles

G) Agencies in the field of waste disposal

H) All manufacturing and processing activities of continuous nature and ongoing construction activities will be permitted

I) Take away counters of the hotel from 8 a.m to 9 p.m, online delivery up to 10 pm

J) Walking and cycling will be permitted.

K) In addition, the following roads mentioned in Annexure will be closed for motorised traffic except for movement of essential goods and emergency vehicles from 5 am to 10 am. During this time, non-motorised traffic such as walking and cycling will be permitted.

L) Movement of persons on Sundays are allowed only for health emergencies, Government servants on emergency duties and persons engaged in activities connected with Covid-19 containment, persons involved in the activities from (a) to (k) above, priests and other religious persons responsible for conducting rituals in worship places.

M) Any other movement of persons, if any in exigencies, shall only be with the travel passes obtained from District Collector or Police authorities concerned.

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News Network
July 1,2020

Chennai, Jul 1: In a case of cluster infection, 58 of the 65 mourners who attended the funeral a Central government official, Selvam, 56, who had worked in the Ministry of Foreign Trade and who died in Coimbatore and was brought for burial at Pannavaadi near Kolathur near Mettur in Salem district, tested positive for Covid-19, after three of them initially tested positive as they neither wore face masks not observed social distancing during the funeral, sources said.

Even as Dr Vijayabaskar said AIADMK MLA from Sriperumbudur, K Palani who tested positive for Covid-19 has recovered and will be discharged from hospital in couple of days, the MIOT International Hospital in Chennai said that the State Higher Education Minister, K P Anbazhagan, who initially showed no symptoms of coronavirus, subsequently tested positive in his second sample. He was now under treatment, his condition very stable and all his vital parameters are normal, MIOT said in a statement.

In what continues to be an unrestrained run, Tamil Nadu added its biggest day-wise spike so far of 3,943 positive Covid-19 cases, while another 60 deaths due to the novel coronavirus confirmed on Tuesday took the total death toll in the state to 1,201.

Of the new positive cases, Chennai alone accounted for its highest per-day jump of 2,393 positives with the number of persons tested today across Tamil Nadu put at 30,053. The total number os Covid-19 positive cases in the State as a whole till date is racing towards the one lakh mark at 90,167.

However, these outcomes are all on anticipated lines with the ICMR's push for more aggressive testing, even if they want lockdown controls to be now more focused at the district level, and want the Chennai model to be taken to the districts.

In this backdrop, the Health minister, Dr C Vijayabaskar chaired a detailed Covid review meeting this evening through video conference with all the hospital deans and other top officials on different facets of the disease prevention and control measures and the state's overall preparedness.

Chief Minister, Mr. Edappadi K Palaniswami in a statement in Chennai assured that with the 'full lockdown' continuing in greater Chennai, parts of three neighbouring districts of Chengalpattu, Thiruvallur and Kancheepuram and parts of Madurai district till July 5, the free community kitchens for the elderly, disabled and destitute will continue to function in those places till July 5 and hygienically cooked food packets served to them.

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News Network
January 30,2020

Mumbai, Jan 30: The Shiv Sena on Thursday endorsed Union home minister Amit Shah's view that alleged inflammatory statements made by Sharjeel Imam, an anti- Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) activist, were dangerous.

No politics should be done on the issue, and such "pest" afflicting the country should be finished off, it said.

Imam was arrested on Tuesday in connection with his speeches at Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi and in Aligarh during anti-CAA protests.

He has been booked for sedition, among other offences.

In an editorial published in its mouthpiece `Saamana', the Sena, a former ally of the BJP, said, "We agree with union home minister's comments that Sharjeel Imam's alleged words of separation are more dangerous than that of Kanhaiya Kumar."

Kumar, former student leader from Jawaharlal Nehru University, had been arrested over alleged separatist slogans shouted during a protest on varsity campus.

The Sena, which has formed alliance with the Congress and NCP to come to power in Maharashtra, is often seen walking a tightrope to preserve its credentials as a pro-Hindutva party.

"The union home ministry, while initiating action against Imam, should not indulge in politics and try to finish off this pest that is afflicting our country," the editorial said.

"One must find out why such language of breaking up this country into pieces is being used by the educated youth of this country more and more frequently. Who is spewing such venom into the mind of Sharjeel who did his graduation from IIT-B and now pursuing PhD from JNU?" the Sena asked.

"Even people involved in Elgar Parishad at Pune are facing sedition charges and these people have been known as intellectuals and are well-known personalities," said the party.

"A conspiracy to bring about a conflict between Hindus and Muslims and ensure continuance of anarchy and civil war as in Iraq and Afghanistan exists. The boost for such activities is coming from a 'political laboratory'," the editorial said.

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