Modi is good at marketing himself, but won't win the election'

[email protected] (RATNADIP CHOUDHURY, TEHELKA.COM)
March 30, 2014
One of the states that the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is eyeing keenly is Assam, where the Congress has been in power since 2001. The ruling party is leaving no stone unturned to make sure that the Modi factor proves to be irrelevant in the General Election. In an interview with Ratnadip Choudhury, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi says that Modi is good at marketing himself, but that won't prove enough for him to win the election.

Chief_Minister_Tarun_Gogoi

There seems to be a national trend against the Congress and a wave in favour of Modi, who has aggressively attacked the UPA government on all fronts. Where has the Congress gone wrong?

Yes, I agree that there is resentment, but I think the Congress' fortunes will revive. In fact, it's picking up. At the national level, the Congress started the campaign late. Had we started six months earlier, the result would have been better then what we will achieve. Regardless, I believe the trends would be proved wrong. There is no question of being soft on Modi. In fact, I am one of the seniormost Congress leaders in the country who is attacking Modi left and right, exposing him to the people. The Modi wave will not touch Assam, at least.

The BJP is looking to make inroads in Assam and the party says there is a Modi wave blowing across the country. How do you plan to insulate Assam from it?

Unlike in other parts of the country, the Modi wave will not touch Assam. The people of Assam have a different culture.

Modi talks about his Gujarat development model. In fact, my development model is much better than his. Modi could take up development work only when the UPA government was in power at the Centre. The UPA has helped every state, irrespective of the party in power.

The Modi wave is a media creation. If there is indeed a wave, why does he need to tour so much, burn so much money for promoting himself as the face of the BJP? It is all propaganda. Modi is good at marketing, but you cannot win elections with just that.

Because of our performance, my government has been better than any other in Assam. The UPA has helped me take up many development projects. I don't bother how many rallies Modi addresses in Assam. I know for sure that the people will reject his brand of self-centered politics.

There are complaints that despite being a Rajya Sabha member from Assam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has not done enough for the state. Several important projects of national importance remain unfinished…

Who is saying that the prime minister did nothing for Assam? I have facts that will make it clear that when Manmohan Singh was in power, Assam received plenty of Central attention. He has done whatever is possible for the state. The growth rate is good. I have facts to prove that the UPA has done more for Assam and the Northeast than the NDA regime. I will publish a white paper on this so that the people know who is working for them.

The Opposition blames you for not being able to handle ethnic conflicts, flood and erosion, rhino killings, illegal immigration from Bangladesh and the loss of agricultural land. Even in its poll campaign, the Congress is non-committal on these issues…

I won't disagree that all these contentious issues remain and there have been shortcomings on our part to tackle them. But, by and large, peace has returned to Assam. Now, you can travel safely to any place. The growth rate is one of the best in the country. Without peace, can there be development? I am not saying that insurgency has been done away with. We have been able to check it to a large extent. If you talk about the Kokrajhar riots, I brought it under control within 60 hours. Lakhs of people had to flee, but within a year, we rehabilitated them. Only a few hundred remain in camps. We pressed the army into action immediately. Look at how Modi handled the Gujarat riots. Why didn't he use the army? Why did he never refer the riot cases to the CBI on his own? He has been exposed. I am not trying to escape.

So, you mean to say that whatever your government has done to tackle the illegal influx of migrants from Bangladesh has been good enough?

It's a major issue but it is not the main issue. Unemployment is a far bigger issue. The Opposition parties always raise this issue during election time because they cannot challenge my government on other issues. It is not to say that we are on a backfoot. The population growth in Assam is now lower than the national average. What does that indicate? It means the issue of illegal migrants has been taken care of. The BJP has been raising this issue for years. What did the party do when the NDA was in power? They forgot the issue.

With the growth of the BJP and Muslim-dominated AIUDF, it is all but certain that votes in Assam will get polarised on religious lines. Modi has already played the Hindutva card by saying that Hindus who fled other countries should be given asylum in India. Even you had tried the same by supporting asylum for those who fled Bangladesh due to religious persecution. Isn't your stand communal?

The media has tried to draw some parallels, which are incorrect. In spite of the attempts made by the BJP and the AIUDF, Assam is not a communally divided society. No one can divide Assam. Modi is only talking about one group — the Hindus. But what I said was different. Our stand is that irrespective of religion, if it's proved that anybody had to flee due to political or religious persecution after Partition, their case should been seen with sympathy on humanitarian grounds. That person can be of any religion — Hindu, Buddhist or even Muslim. It's true that such cases are higher among the Hindus, but I am not talking only about Hindus like Modi is doing.

Critics often say that the Congress is its own enemy. After the 2011 Assembly polls, the media had reported about a rebellion against your leadership. Why are such things happening in Assam, where the party is on a strong footing?

There is no dissidence. The election results will show that the Congress is united. In the Guwahati municipal polls, everyone predicted that we would lose, but we won. The Congress is a big family. Some grievances are bound to arise. Till date, nobody — MLA or minister — has officially demanded my removal. There are differences on the issue of allotting tickets for the polls, but we know how to handle them. After me, there will be new leaders. Who knew that Rajiv Gandhi will be such a good leader or that Sonia Gandhi would lead the party some day. The party is bigger than any individual.

Is the Congress extending dynasty politics in Assam by giving tickets to the sons and daughters of politicians, including your son Gaurav. Will the new faces deliver?

Manas Bora, the son of Social Welfare Minister Akon Bora, won the party's internal primaries; Sushmita, the daughter of former Union minister Santoshmohan Dev, is an MLA and a very educated lady. My son Gaurav was working for an NGO. He is an engineer and was educated in the West… they are all good candidates in their own capacity and ideally don't need their parents' identity to prove themselves. Even if they come from a political dynasty, they have to get elected. Gaurav will not be able to win an election only because he is my son. The identity will definitely help him, but he has to create a niche for himself. I am hopeful that all the new faces will win. Out of 14 seats in Assam, we will win no less than 10. Modi will be proved wrong in Assam.

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Agencies
July 24,2020

Pune, Jul 24: Agile and dexterous, 85-year-old Shantabai Pawar wields sticks with absolute ease as she displays 'lathi-kathi' on the streets of Pune.

A video of her, displaying her skills in the Indian martial art form for livelihood, has gone viral on social media.

Pawar told media persons that she learnt the art form when she was only eight and has been practising it since then. The ancient martial art s believed to be linked to Dombari community, a nomadic tribe in Maharashtra.

"I have been pursuing the art of lathi-kathi since I was eight. I have never left it. It is part of me and it is an honour to practice it. My father taught me this. He taught me to work hard," Pawar told media persons.

In the video, the sari-clad octogenarian takes a warrior-like stride and effortlessly rotates a stick several times in a second in her hand and around her head and then does it with two sticks together with a smile on her face. She also tosses a stick in the air and catches it with ease.

The assembled gathering is impressed and enthused.

"People come and say, 'Well done Daadi!' I practice it to earn money for my children and grandchildren," she said.

Pawar leaves her home in the morning in the conditions created by coronavirus and performs the art form on roads and streets.

"I go to various areas to perform the art form and people give money," she said.

The artiste also uses thali and stick to gather the attention of people as most of them are indoors due to conditions created by COVID-19.

Senior citizens have been advised against venturing out due to their greater susceptibility to coronavirus but Pawar said she is not afraid to step out.

"People do advise me to not go out due to fear of COVID-19 but I am not scared. Whenever I step out, I pray to my God and he has kept me safe so far," she said.

Aishwarya Kale, a dancer and the person who uploaded the video on social media, said that it is "only an artist who can understand what help another artist needs".

"I was in that area shopping for some items and it was then I saw her performing and thought that I should film her and upload her video on social media. But I never thought that the video would go viral and she would receive financial help not just from people in the country but overseas as well," Kale told media persons.

"She is now getting honour for her craft that she couldn't get in the last 85 years. I feel good that through my small video, her art form has become viral," she added. 

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Agencies
July 4,2020

The Mars Colour Camera (MCC) onboard ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission has captured the image of Phobos, the closest and biggest moon of Mars.

The image was taken on July 1 when MOM was about 7,200 km from Mars and 4,200 km from Phobos.

"Spatial resolution of the image is 210 m.

This is a composite image generated from 6 MCC frames and has been color corrected," ISRO said in an update along with the image.

Phobos is largely believed to be made up of carbonaceous chondrites.

According to ISRO, "the violent phase that Phobos has encountered is seen in the large section gouged out from a past collision (Stickney crater) and bouncing ejecta."

"Stickney, the largest crater on Phobos along with the other craters (Shklovsky, Roche & Grildrig) are also seen in this image," it said.

The mission also known as Mangalyaan was initially meant to last six months, but subsequently ISRO had said it had enough fuel for it to last "many years."

The country had on September 24, 2014 successfully placed the Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft in orbit around the red planet, in its very first attempt, thus breaking into an elite club.

ISRO had launched the spacecraft on its nine-month- long odyssey on a homegrown PSLV rocket from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on November 5, 2013.

It had escaped the earth's gravitational field on December 1, 2013.

The Rs 450-crore MOM mission aims at studying the Martian surface and mineral composition as well as scan its atmosphere for methane (an indicator of life on Mars).

The Mars Orbiter has five scientific instruments - Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP), Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM), Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA), Mars Colour Camera (MCC) and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer

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Agencies
January 3,2020

Giving each and every app access to personal information stored on Android smartphones such as your contacts, call history, SMS and photos may put you in trouble as bad actors can easily use these access to spy on you, send spam messages and make calls anywhere at your expense or even sign you up for a premium "service", researchers from cybersecurity firm Kaspersky have warned.

But one can restrict access to such information as Android lets you configure app permissions. 

Giving an app any of these permissions generally means that from now on it can obtain information of this type and upload it to the Cloud without asking your explicit consent for whatever it intends to do with your data.

Therefore, security researchers recommend one should think twice before granting permissions to apps, especially if they are not needed for the app to work. 

For example, most games have no need to access your contacts or camera, messengers do not really need to know your location, and some trendy filter for the camera can probably survive without your call history, Kaspersky said. 

While decision to give permission is yours, the fewer access you hand out, the more intact your data will be.

Here's what you should know to protect your data.

SMS: An app with permission to send and receive SMS, MMS, and WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) push messages, as well as view messages in the smartphone memory will be able to read all of your SMS correspondence, including messages with one-time codes for online banking and confirming transactions.

Using this permission, the app can also send spam messages in your name (and at your expense) to all your friends. Or sign you up for a premium "service." You can see and conrol which apps have these rights by going to the settings of your phone.

Calendar: With permission to view, delete, modify, and add events in the calendar, prying eyes can find out what you have done and what you are doing today and in the future. Spyware loves this permission.

Camera: Permission to access the camera is necessary for the app to take photos and record video. But apps with this permission can take a photo or record a video at any moment and without warning. Attackers armed with embarrassing images and other dirt on you can make life a misery, according to Kaspersky.

Contacts: With permission to read, change, and add contacts in your address book, and access the list of accounts registered in the smartphone, an app can send your entire address book to its server. Even legitimate services have been found to abuse this permission, never mind scammers and spammers, for whom it is a windfall.

This permission also grants access to the list of app accounts on the device, including Google, Facebook, and many other services.

Phone: Giving access to your phone means permission to view and modify call history, obtain your phone number, cellular network data, and the status of outgoing calls, add voicemail, access IP telephony services, view numbers being called with the ability to end the call or redirect it to another number and call any number.

This permission basically lets the app do anything it likes with voice communication. It can find out who you called and when or prevent you from making calls (to a particular number or in general) by constantly terminating calls. 

It can eavesdrop on your conversations or, of course, make calls anywhere at your expense, including to pay-through-the-nose numbers, Kaspersky warned.

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