Finance ministry says the proposed revamp will focus on structural reforms, rate rationalisation & ease of living, & will be deliberated upon in the coming weeks.
The project is meant to be a ‘protective shield that will keep expanding’, the PM said. It is on the lines of the ‘Golden Dome’ announced by Trump, it is learnt.
Standing up to America is usually not a personal risk for a leader in India. Any suggestions of foreign pressure unites India behind who they see as leading them in that fight.
Thank you for the detailed report on the Amphan devstation. This is probably the most comprehensive one that I have come across. However, there are some issues /doubts that I would like to share:
The reactions & statements suggest the State Gov was not ready / did not take the warnings seriously.
There was no visuals of any relief services being readied. No government teams – officials visible. No coordination committee from the ministers.
It was all a Mamata “show”. Even senior ministers like Subrata Mukherjee was not involved.
This situation was a repeat of the Corona preparation. There was no coordination / planning and the focus was only on image building for the CM.
While Modi doesnt have a drop of empathy in his body, one should not ignore the blatant theatrics, incompetence and insecurity of Mamata Banerjee.
Also one more point – at the time of the 2019 Aila disaster – Mamata Banerjee advised the finance minister Pranab Mumherjee against releasing funds to the state government.
It would be foolish to ignore reality ! Cyclone Amphan has been an unprecedented one in terms of severity, time span and destruction in the state of West Bengal. Timely evacuation of lakhs of people living along the coastal delta saved lives ! Mamata Banerjee had been monitoring the fury of nature from the control room. But there was little that could possibly be done during the eight hours of relentless battering, destruction and horror.
Mamata has been working tirelessly since, to coordinate with different agencies and the Centre to restore a semblance of normalcy at the earliest. It was a pragmatic move on her part to humbly ask for help from all quarters, leaving aside all politics. Her humility and urgency shall remain tall in the otherwise political world of arrogance, drama and mud slinging. The present image of our Chief Minister will remain cherished in the hearts of all the well wishers of Bengal and humanity. The stark absence or almost negligible media coverage of the calamity is horrendously pathetic. The nation is yet to realise the enormity and consequences of the destruction of lives and livelihoods in the Sunderbans and the districts of West Bengal. The most vulnerable section of society has been cruelly battered by nature’s fury and needs the support and understanding of the whole country to stand up once again. Comparisons with Fani or Alia to belittle the enormity of destruction of Amphan serve no purpose and do disservice to the sufferings , misery and hardships that the poorest of the poor are presently undergoing.
I think a person has pointed this out, I will also reiterate. This cyclone got quite a bit of coverage as compared to Fani despite Fani being worse when it hit the land, with bhubaneswar experiencing gusts up to 150, Puri upto 200 and despite Fani occurring at a time when there was no coronavirus.
If only media sitting in Delhi learnt what crisis really means. Obsession over random incidences by crazy people has completely diverted attention to what matters. Activism is good but first learn to prioritize problems. But somehow it is very important to highlight partisan Priyanka gandhi-adityanath drama when it means next to nothing.
Where are respectable journalists and respectable politicians? You see them at state level, but national journalism has lost its way. Why are journalists writing so many opinion articles where they have no expertise? Why are they inviting politicians to keep writing opinion pieces? Journalism is becoming a source of entertainment, to see random opinions and random priorities.
Let me ask a simple question how many times have cyclones got reported when they hit Odisha. Fani was not reported that well either when it ripped through Odisha especially Puri and the capital and had much higher wind speeds. When Phailin stuck Odisha in 2013 West Bengal even went ahead and banned movement of potatoes to Odisha sky rocketing the prices to 120 per kg in Odisha as our own supplies dried up because of the cyclone. The potato war was reported in national media but not the strain thar it put on the people. I’m not even sure if the plight of normal odia people was reported in the Bengali press as it was hailing Mamata Banerjee for keeping potato prices low and saving the middle class before election. Media in India mostly reports tragedy and atleast in Amphan both Odisha and West Bengal have done a decent job in ensuring low casualties. As far as reconstruction goes it is tough but people get back on their feet in 2 months. Relief comes in tranches. The initial package is for 1000 crore. Some more money also gets released once final assessment is back which takes about 2 weeks. Disaster response is state’s duty. Center does give a helping hand but the primary lifting is done by the state. Along with that ordinary people also chip in. The present shrill outcry that I see is for one of 2 reasons either for political reasons to portray Modi bad Mamata good or because of an entitlement mentality or a combination of both.
As usual, drunk by Modi hate, writer suffered delirium and in this long meandering out of date piece forgot to mention that the great dictator of West Bengal forgot to attend umphun preparedness meeting full 1 week before the storm and IMD prediction this time was DOT on the money
Thank you for the detailed report on the Amphan devstation. This is probably the most comprehensive one that I have come across. However, there are some issues /doubts that I would like to share:
The reactions & statements suggest the State Gov was not ready / did not take the warnings seriously.
There was no visuals of any relief services being readied. No government teams – officials visible. No coordination committee from the ministers.
It was all a Mamata “show”. Even senior ministers like Subrata Mukherjee was not involved.
This situation was a repeat of the Corona preparation. There was no coordination / planning and the focus was only on image building for the CM.
While Modi doesnt have a drop of empathy in his body, one should not ignore the blatant theatrics, incompetence and insecurity of Mamata Banerjee.
Also one more point – at the time of the 2019 Aila disaster – Mamata Banerjee advised the finance minister Pranab Mumherjee against releasing funds to the state government.
It would be foolish to ignore reality ! Cyclone Amphan has been an unprecedented one in terms of severity, time span and destruction in the state of West Bengal. Timely evacuation of lakhs of people living along the coastal delta saved lives ! Mamata Banerjee had been monitoring the fury of nature from the control room. But there was little that could possibly be done during the eight hours of relentless battering, destruction and horror.
Mamata has been working tirelessly since, to coordinate with different agencies and the Centre to restore a semblance of normalcy at the earliest. It was a pragmatic move on her part to humbly ask for help from all quarters, leaving aside all politics. Her humility and urgency shall remain tall in the otherwise political world of arrogance, drama and mud slinging. The present image of our Chief Minister will remain cherished in the hearts of all the well wishers of Bengal and humanity. The stark absence or almost negligible media coverage of the calamity is horrendously pathetic. The nation is yet to realise the enormity and consequences of the destruction of lives and livelihoods in the Sunderbans and the districts of West Bengal. The most vulnerable section of society has been cruelly battered by nature’s fury and needs the support and understanding of the whole country to stand up once again. Comparisons with Fani or Alia to belittle the enormity of destruction of Amphan serve no purpose and do disservice to the sufferings , misery and hardships that the poorest of the poor are presently undergoing.
I think a person has pointed this out, I will also reiterate. This cyclone got quite a bit of coverage as compared to Fani despite Fani being worse when it hit the land, with bhubaneswar experiencing gusts up to 150, Puri upto 200 and despite Fani occurring at a time when there was no coronavirus.
If only media sitting in Delhi learnt what crisis really means. Obsession over random incidences by crazy people has completely diverted attention to what matters. Activism is good but first learn to prioritize problems. But somehow it is very important to highlight partisan Priyanka gandhi-adityanath drama when it means next to nothing.
Where are respectable journalists and respectable politicians? You see them at state level, but national journalism has lost its way. Why are journalists writing so many opinion articles where they have no expertise? Why are they inviting politicians to keep writing opinion pieces? Journalism is becoming a source of entertainment, to see random opinions and random priorities.
Let me ask a simple question how many times have cyclones got reported when they hit Odisha. Fani was not reported that well either when it ripped through Odisha especially Puri and the capital and had much higher wind speeds. When Phailin stuck Odisha in 2013 West Bengal even went ahead and banned movement of potatoes to Odisha sky rocketing the prices to 120 per kg in Odisha as our own supplies dried up because of the cyclone. The potato war was reported in national media but not the strain thar it put on the people. I’m not even sure if the plight of normal odia people was reported in the Bengali press as it was hailing Mamata Banerjee for keeping potato prices low and saving the middle class before election. Media in India mostly reports tragedy and atleast in Amphan both Odisha and West Bengal have done a decent job in ensuring low casualties. As far as reconstruction goes it is tough but people get back on their feet in 2 months. Relief comes in tranches. The initial package is for 1000 crore. Some more money also gets released once final assessment is back which takes about 2 weeks. Disaster response is state’s duty. Center does give a helping hand but the primary lifting is done by the state. Along with that ordinary people also chip in. The present shrill outcry that I see is for one of 2 reasons either for political reasons to portray Modi bad Mamata good or because of an entitlement mentality or a combination of both.
As usual, drunk by Modi hate, writer suffered delirium and in this long meandering out of date piece forgot to mention that the great dictator of West Bengal forgot to attend umphun preparedness meeting full 1 week before the storm and IMD prediction this time was DOT on the money