Call at Sikh rally demands 8 lakh Hindus leave Canada
There are 800,000 Hindus and over 1.86 million Indo-Canadians in Canada. The call at today's Nagar Kirtans in Malton & Etobicoke clearly targeted Hindus.
History… pic.twitter.com/nA9LOysIJ5
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Hindustan Times
3 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Reform the economy to defeat tariff threat
The world is in flux, and India is being tested. But every challenge is also an opportunity. Tariffs and global headwinds should not weaken our resolve; they must galvanise us. India must act boldly to seize this moment. This is our once-in-a-generation opportunity to lead. We must not let it slip. A decade ago, a significant push to improve ease of doing business yielded notable results. Now is the time to take it a step further and make India the easiest place to do business in. (Bloomberg) From August 27, India faces a 50% tariff, among the highest of President Donald Trump's 'reciprocal' tariffs. The US accuses India of financing Russia by buying Russian oil. However, Türkiye, the largest importer of Russian oil products, faces 15% tariffs, the same as the European Union, which has paid 297 billion euros for Russian gas since January 2022. The White House also remains unaware of US imports of palladium or fertilisers from Russia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has heavily invested in the Indo-US economic, trade, and political relationship. However, the US's antagonistic stance will impact future cooperation. Our strong institutional memory emphasises our strategic autonomy. Let us be clear, our energy security and strategic autonomy cannot be compromised. Let us also be clear that this is not about Russia. India is rightfully refusing to bend, as we have so many times in our history. Global pressure should not intimidate us. It should galvanise us into pushing through the once-in-a-generation reforms India urgently needs. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was India's most significant tax reform. Seven years on, collections are rising, and GST has enabled formalisation of the economy. Now is the time to move forward with strong political will for GST reform. We need to move to a two-rate GST structure and overhaul the GST business processes. New companies and startups being registered must receive their GST numbers along with their PAN/TAN. Technology must be leveraged to minimise the need for physical visits for GST registration. Income tax reforms must also be brought in. A decade ago, a significant push to improve ease of doing business yielded notable results. Now is the time to take it a step further and make India the easiest place to do business in. Pending items, such as notifying the rules of the labour codes, should be completed as soon as possible. States must go beyond incremental reforms and truly embrace single-window clearances. Many of the most cumbersome processes have not been made part of the National Single Window System (NSWS). The cost of capital for private enterprise must be brought down. The statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) mandates that commercial banks hold 18% of their assets in government securities. This reduces the pool of loanable funds in the economy and raises the cost of capital for private enterprise. The SLR must be brought down to zero. This will unlock lakhs of crores of additional lending, bringing down the cost of capital. We must recognise that a liberal trade regime is crucial in building up our manufacturing ecosystem. In recent years, there has been a massive proliferation of quality control orders (QCOs). These QCOs raise the cost of crucial imports and make our manufactured goods uncompetitive in global markets. These QCOs must be scrapped. Further, our tariffs on intermediate goods are too high and must be brought down as well. We need to diversify our export markets by fast-tracking negotiations on trade deals. Tourism faces no tariffs. India, with its natural beauty, history, heritage, culture, and diversity, receives only a 1.5% share in international tourist arrivals. If the visits of non-resident Indians are excluded, this falls further. There has been no concerted branding or marketing campaign for Indian tourism in the past decade. When countries are stepping up their efforts to attract tourists, we are lagging. We need the biggest global branding and marketing campaign to unleash India's potential. Otherwise, the 1,800 planes that Indian airlines are buying will just be ferrying Indians flying abroad for holidays. We must attract global tourists. Our cities are the first impression visitors get when landing. For too long, city governance has been stuck in limbo, relying on state governments for financing, planning, and human resources. Despite the constitutional amendments that devolved powers to cities, it has not been implemented in practice. Our cities must be made autonomous and financially independent. In the Union Budget of 2021-22, a new public sector enterprise (PSE) policy was announced. The policy intended to minimise the presence of PSEs operating across the gamut of the Indian economy. 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India's Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) has revolutionised financial inclusion, while public capex on infrastructure has more than doubled, laying the foundation for long-term productivity. India has also met its 2030 green energy target five years early, and is investing heavily in AI, quantum computing, and deep tech. Challenges remain, but the direction is clear: This is an economy on the move, powered by ambition, resilience, and reform. Amitabh Kant is India's former G20 Sherpa, and former CEO of NITI Aayog. The views expressed are personal.
Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Cong's ‘appeasement' politics led to Partition: Adityanath
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said that the 1947 Partition was a dark chapter 'born out of appeasement politics of the Congress party' that shattered Sanatan Bharat's unity and inflicted deep wounds on the nation. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, deputy CMs Brajesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya, and others at the Partition Horrors Remembrance Day exhibition in Lucknow on Thursday. (HT Photo) He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi with reviving this forgotten history by declaring August 14 as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day in 2021. 'Today, the entire country mourns, remembering the horrors of August 14, 1947,' Adityanath said while inaugurating an exhibition on the occasion at GPO Park in Hazratganj. Continuing his attack, Adityanath said that while revolutionaries willingly embraced martyrdom for India's freedom, the Congress divided the nation in its 'greed for power'. 'The Congress's policies led to the ethnic cleansing of Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists in places like Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi and Multan in West Pakistan,' the chief minister said., 'The violence claimed 15-20 lakh lives and displaced crores, marking one of the darkest episodes in history,' he added. He further accused the then Congress government of showing complete apathy towards those displaced. 'No memorials were built and no museums were established in remembrance of Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who were forced to leave their ancestral homes. Their suffering was erased from public memory,' Adityanath said. He praised PM Modi for granting citizenship and rehabilitation rights to refugees through the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), noting that for the first time, displaced people in Jammu and Kashmir and other regions received citizenship and began contributing to India's development. 'The Congress never made any sincere effort for their rehabilitation,' the CM said. Paying homage to the victims, Adityanath announced that the state government will provide land on leases and full rehabilitation to eligible families under the CAA. 'We are committed to protecting their rights and ensuring their dignity,' he affirmed. Emphasising the importance of connecting the younger generation with history, Adityanath said the exhibition portrays the grim reality of Partition, the massacres, riots, and forced migrations. 'Under Prime Minister Modi's leadership, this initiative is healing old wounds and awakening future generations to historical truths.' the CM said. Deputy CMs Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, cabinet minister Swatantra Dev Singh, and BJP state president Bhupendra Chaudhary among others were present on the occasion.
NDTV
6 hours ago
- NDTV
Lucknow Pact Of 1916: When Gandhi Met Nehru, Tilak Agreed With Jinnah
In the winter of 1916, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru met for the first time at Lucknow's Charbagh railway station. The two leaders were in the city for the 31st session of the Indian National Congress. It concluded with the historic Lucknow Pact. Mr Gandhi was then on the fringes of Indian politics, and Mr Nehru was a restless young leader, impatient for change. The Congress session they attended together was a turning point for the national movement. The Political Winds Before Lucknow During the First World War, Britain sought Indian support, hinting at reforms. In 1914, Bal Gangadhar Tilak returned from six years in Mandalay prison, determined that Hindu-Muslim unity was key to Swaraj. Mohammed Ali Jinnah, in both the Congress and the Muslim League, was hailed as the "ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity." Their partnership would forge the historic Lucknow Pact. The Lucknow Pact Of 1916 On December 26, 1916, the Congress and the Muslim League held their sessions simultaneously in Lucknow. Mr Jinnah presided over the League, Ambika Charan Mazumdar over the Congress, with Annie Besant's Home Rule League also in session. The pact granted Muslims separate electorates, over-represented in Hindu-majority provinces and under-represented in Muslim-majority ones. It also ensured that no legislation affecting a particular community could pass if three-fourths of that community's representatives opposed it. Its core achievement was uniting Congress and the Muslim League, and giving minorities a real stake in governance. Tilak's Tilak On The Lucknow Pact Mr Tilak championed the pact in the Congress despite resistance from leaders like Madan Mohan Malaviya, BS Moonje, and Tej Bahadur Sapru. At the Home Rule League session, he said, "There is a feeling among the Hindus that too much has been given to the Muslims. As a Hindu, I have no objection to making this concession... We cannot rise from our present intolerable condition without the aid of the Muslims." Mr Tilak reasoned that the "triangular" struggle between Hindus, Muslims, and the British had to become a "two-way" fight between Indians and colonial power. Mr Tilak's newspaper 'Kesari' hailed the pact as "worthy of being written with golden letters," declaring that "Caste and creed distinctions, differences of opinion, personal jealousies... were finally drowned in the waters of Gomati." Why The Pact Failed The Lucknow Pact's promise faded quickly. The 1919 Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms ignored its demands, and Mr Tilak's death in 1920 removed a key champion. Mr Gandhi's rise brought mass, non-violent movements, which Mr Jinnah opposed, especially the Mahatma's support for the Khilafat Movement. Their differences led Mr Jinnah to leave the Congress the same year. Although Mr Gandhi valued Hindu-Muslim unity, he never based his politics on separate electorates. In 1932, he fasted in Yerwada Jail against the Communal Award, which granted separate electorates to the Depressed Classes, fearing it would divide society. Mr Jinnah saw separate electorates as temporary, but without Congress-League cooperation, the pact ultimately became a historical footnote.
