FTR-7th-December-770x470.jpg

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has published data indicating that electoral bonds worth 114.5 Crore were purchased ahead of the Gujarat assembly elections. 

How Electoral Bonds Benefit The Ruling Party

<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Delivering a verdict with far reaching political implications, the Supreme Court of India struck down the electoral bonds system, asserting that anonymous electoral bonds are violative of the right to information under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The judgement, pronounced by a constitution bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, has come as a body blow the Narendra Modi led union government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which heads the ministry, since the party was the biggest beneficiary of the electoral bond system.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);display:block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;height:auto;letter-spacing:normal;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:middle;white-space:normal;widows:2;width:550px;word-spacing:0px;" id="attachment_26526" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26526"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/const_bench_3349046ac0.jpg" alt="const-bench.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_const_bench_3349046ac0.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_const_bench_3349046ac0.jpg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-26526">Constitutional bench of the Supreme Court during proceedings</figcaption></figure><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The judgement pointed out as follows. “At a primary level, political contributions give a seat at the table to contributors, i.e., it enhances access to legislators. This access also translates to influence over policy making. There is also a legitimate possibility that financial contributions to a political party would lead to quid pro quo arrangement because of the close nexus between money and politics. The electoral bond scheme and the impugned provisions to the extent that they infringe upon the right to information of the voter by anonymising contributions through electoral bonds are violative of Article 19(1)(a).” These observations of the court were all the more striking because the Government of India had argued in the court that “citizens do not have a general right to know regarding the funding of political parties.” It had also added that “Right to know is not a general right available to citizens”.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">In continuation, the constitution bench also ordered the following. First and foremost it asked the bank issuing electoral bonds (the State Bank of India-SBI) to stop the process immediately. It also directed the SBI to submit the details of electoral bonds purchased since the interim order of the Court dated April 12, 2019 till date to the Election Commission of India. (ECI) The details shall include the date of purchase of each electoral bond, the name of the purchaser of the bond and the denomination of the electoral bond purchased. The bank was also directed to submit the details of the political parties which have received contributions through electoral bonds since the interim order dated April 12, 2019 till date to the ECI. SBI must disclose details of each electoral bonds encashed by the political parties, which shall include the date of encashment and the denomination of electoral bond. The court also fixed deadlines to the SBI and EC. SBI is to submit the information to the ECI by March and the ECI is to publish the information received from the SBI on its website by March 13, 2024.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);display:block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;height:auto;letter-spacing:normal;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:middle;white-space:normal;widows:2;width:640px;word-spacing:0px;" id="attachment_26530" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26530"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/IMG_20240215_WA_0001_e7d05b4426.jpg" alt="IMG-20240215-WA0001.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_IMG_20240215_WA_0001_e7d05b4426.jpg 108w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_IMG_20240215_WA_0001_e7d05b4426.jpg 346w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_IMG_20240215_WA_0001_e7d05b4426.jpg 519w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/large_IMG_20240215_WA_0001_e7d05b4426.jpg 691w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-26530">State Bank Headquarters (right) in Mumbai</figcaption></figure><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The manner in which the ruling party the centre (which is the BJP over the last ten years) has benefited from electoral bonds, which are anonymous, limitless and tax free, has been repeatedly highlighted. The following breakup of the bond donations to the BJP underscores how this benefit has worked.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">In 2018 it was ₹210 crore and 2019 it jumped to ₹1,450 crore and in 2020 it bounced again to ₹2,555 crore. Over the last two years, it has been ₹1,033 crore (2022) and ₹1,294 crore (2023). Cumulatively, these account for more than 70 percent of the total donations received by political parties as a whole through this scheme.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);display:block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;height:auto;letter-spacing:normal;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:middle;white-space:normal;widows:2;width:828px;word-spacing:0px;" id="attachment_19021" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-19021"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/SC_e1666260547336_b65a21f9fa.png" alt="SC-e1666260547336.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_SC_e1666260547336_b65a21f9fa.png 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_SC_e1666260547336_b65a21f9fa.png 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_SC_e1666260547336_b65a21f9fa.png 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-19021">Supreme Court of India</figcaption></figure><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The scheme was introduced in the 2017-18 central budget. It was originally touted as something that would increase transparency in political funding. Following were the broad provisions highlighted when the scheme was introduced.<ul style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:20px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:20px;orphans:2;padding:0px 0px 0px 20px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">&nbsp;An electoral bond is similar to a demand draft.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;">The sole purpose of an electoral bond is to fund political parties.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;">An electoral bond will have the name of the political party receiving donation on it.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">An electoral bond will not have the name of the donor on it.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">Any Indian citizen can buy electoral bonds.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">Any private, public, or one-person company based in India also can buy electoral bonds.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">No foreign company can buy electoral bonds.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">Indian subsidiaries of foreign companies can buy electoral bonds.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">Any political party that scored more than 1% votes in the previous Lok Sabha or state assembly election can receive donations through electoral bonds.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">All political parties must specify one SBI account to receive money through electoral bonds.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">The parties should also notify the Election Commission about this SBI account.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">The electoral bonds can be purchased in the ten day period in the beginning of each quarter- that is, 1-10 January, 1-10 April, 1-10 July, and 1-10 October.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">Electoral bonds can be purchased at 29 authorised SBI branches across India.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">Account holders with SBI as well as non-account holders can purchase EBs on supplying KYC details.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">Electoral bonds are issued in multiples of Rs 1000/-, Rs 10000/-, Rs 1 lakh, and Rs 1 Crore.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">EBs cannot be purchased using cash.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">Cheque or Digital payment has to be the payment mode.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">The KYC details of the buyers collected by the bank remain confidential.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">The electoral bond is physically handed over to the political party.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">Electoral bonds must be encashed within 15 days of receipt.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">The political parties can redeem the bonds only in authorised SBI accounts that are notified to the Election Commission.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">348 electoral bonds are valued at Rs 1 Crore.</li></ul><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Several organisations and political parties such as the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and Congress leader Jaya Thakur, had challenged the provisions of the scheme right from the time it was introduced. The main argument of the petitions given by these organisations centered around the voters’ right to information and it is exactly this contention that was upheld by the Apex Court.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Evidently, the judgement signifies a major setback for the BJP and the ruling regime, especially in a context where it is ripping apart many opposition parties by luring a number of top leaders of these party to their side. It remains to be seen how the BJP and the Modi regime would react to the verdict and its aftermath.

15th-Feb-24-b.jpg

Written by Venkitesh Ramakrishnan and VM Deepa.

What Next After the Supreme Court Strike On Electoral Bonds?

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/19th_march_a_770x470_5fac8c6fc3.jpg" alt="19th-march-a-770x470.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_19th_march_a_770x470_5fac8c6fc3.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_19th_march_a_770x470_5fac8c6fc3.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_19th_march_a_770x470_5fac8c6fc3.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">The Reporters’ Collective is a group of like-minded journalists focused on reportage that keeps the powerful accountable. The collective has consistently produced pathbreaking reports on developments and issues that put the spotlight on those in power. The Reporters’ Collective has also shed light on how India’s political economy and governance functions. In recent times, this group of journalists has come out with a series of “deep-dive” stories on the Electoral Bond revelations. The AIDEM is reproducing some of these stories in different languages with due acknowledgment.<hr>The Union government gave lightning-quick sanction to break electoral bond rules to allow ruling party BJP to encash expired bonds, just before the 2018 Karnataka elections, show new disclosures by the Election Commission.&nbsp;The Union Finance Ministry headed by late BJP politician Arun Jaitely forced the State Bank of India to accept electoral bonds of Rs 10 crore after his partymen walked in to the bank to encash expired electoral bonds.The Reporters’ Collective reported in 2019, based on official records accessed by Commodore Lokesh Batra (Retd.), that SBI had allowed an unknown political party to encash electoral bonds worth Rs 10 crore even though it came two days after the legally mandated 15-day period to encash bonds had ended.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:743px;" id="attachment_27120" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27120"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Screengrab_of_the_BJ_Ps_bond_disclosures_showing_the_expired_bonds_were_deposited_768x111_9019291a9a.png" alt="Screengrab-of-the-BJPs-bond-disclosures-showing-the-expired-bonds-were-deposited-768x111.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Screengrab_of_the_BJ_Ps_bond_disclosures_showing_the_expired_bonds_were_deposited_768x111_9019291a9a.png 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Screengrab_of_the_BJ_Ps_bond_disclosures_showing_the_expired_bonds_were_deposited_768x111_9019291a9a.png 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_Screengrab_of_the_BJ_Ps_bond_disclosures_showing_the_expired_bonds_were_deposited_768x111_9019291a9a.png 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-27120">Screengrab of the BJP’s bond disclosures showing the expired bonds were deposited.</figcaption></figure>In 2019, when The Collective reported it, we were unaware which political party had gained from the Union Finance Ministry’s generosity.&nbsp;But we knew this: “X” party brought expired bonds to the Delhi branch of SBI on May 23, 2018. After a series of superfast correspondence between the SBI Delhi branch, its corporate headquarters in Mumbai and the Union Finance Ministry mandarins, the expired bonds were encashed by “X” party on government’s orders.&nbsp;Now, BJP’s own disclosures made public by the Election Commission of India show that the Union Finance Ministry’s creative interpretation of rules and illegal orders to SBI were made to allow the party to encash Rs 10 crore worth of expired bonds.&nbsp;<h3 style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:20px;line-height:1.2;margin:0px 0px 15px;padding:0px;text-align:left;">The Bond Tale</h3>According to a report by SBI to the Union Finance Ministry, on May 23, 2018, “some EB holders” with bonds worth Rs 20 crore went to SBI’s main branch in New Delhi. EB or Electoral Bond holders refers to representatives of political parties holding the physical bond that must be deposited in a political party’s account.Half the bonds had been bought on May 3, 2018 and the other half on May 5, 2018. Both, SBI noted, had expired as their 15-day period of redemption had lapsed.But the bond holders requested that the 15 calendar-day rule be bent, and the bonds be redeemed anyway as they were being deposited within 15 working days, said the report.SBI’s New Delhi branch informed its Mumbai corporate headquarters on the same day, documents show. The next day, on May 24 2018, bank’s then deputy managing director Mrutyunjay Mahapatra wrote on behalf of SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar to the Union Finance Ministry asking whether they should allow holders to redeem expired bonds.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:597px;" id="attachment_27125" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27125"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Whats_App_Image_2024_03_19_at_13_31_28_3966090708.jpeg" alt="WhatsApp-Image-2024-03-19-at-13.31.28.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Whats_App_Image_2024_03_19_at_13_31_28_3966090708.jpeg 233w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Whats_App_Image_2024_03_19_at_13_31_28_3966090708.jpeg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-27125">Arun Jaitley</figcaption></figure>The ministry acted with alacrity. The same day, then deputy director in the economic affairs ministry Vijay Kumar, responded, “This is clarified that the stipulation means a total of 15 days, including non-working days in between…”Hence, the bonds had lapsed and as per the rules, the money was to be donated to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, an official, non-partisan fund used for charitable works, and to provide immediate relief to those affected by natural disasters.But Kumar wasn’t done.He added, “As some amount of lack of complete clarity may have been witnessed in the bonds issue in last windows, SBI may grant credit to such bond holders of bond purchased before 10th May, 2018 if the bonds were deposited in 15 working days.” He said, “No such accommodation will be available in future.”This letter, approved by the secretary of the department of economic affairs, S.C. Garg, the highest-ranking official in the department, was sent to the SBI chairman the same day.The SBI headquarters informed its New Delhi main branch, and before the day was over, the political party, or parties, involved were allowed to redeem the expired bonds worth Rs 10 crore, that were bought on 5 May 2018.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/sbi_1_768x432_1ecbebf016.jpg" alt="sbi-1-768x432.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_sbi_1_768x432_1ecbebf016.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_sbi_1_768x432_1ecbebf016.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_sbi_1_768x432_1ecbebf016.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">The other tranche, bonds worth Rs 10 crore bought on 3 May 2018, was sent to the PM’s Relief Fund, the documents show, as they were outside the Union Finance Ministry’s exceptional “accommodation.”While we now know the BJP was the beneficiary of these bonds, the donor’s identity still remains a mystery.The breach of electoral bond rules didn’t end here. Even the tranche in which the BJP got these bonds went against the scheme.&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:801px;" id="attachment_27123" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27123"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Whats_App_Image_2024_03_19_at_13_14_11_768x512_8351cd4876.jpeg" alt="WhatsApp-Image-2024-03-19-at-13.14.11-768x512.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Whats_App_Image_2024_03_19_at_13_14_11_768x512_8351cd4876.jpeg 234w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Whats_App_Image_2024_03_19_at_13_14_11_768x512_8351cd4876.jpeg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_Whats_App_Image_2024_03_19_at_13_14_11_768x512_8351cd4876.jpeg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-27123">BJP Office in Delhi</figcaption></figure>According to the rules notified in January 2018, there were to be four 10-day windows in January, April, July and October. The Prime Minister’s Office in 2018 ordered the Finance Ministry to break its rules and open an extra “special” 10-day window for bond sale before the Karnataka elections.The PMO’s request was first recorded in files by Union Finance Ministry officials in April 2018 – a mere three months after the rules were notified. This exception to rule became a practice. For example, a special 10-day window was opened in December 2022 before the Gujarat state elections.On 18 March, the Supreme Court directed the State Bank of India to disclose all available data on electoral bonds, including the unique alphanumeric identity encoded in each bond</div></div>

19th-march-a.jpg

Modi Government Allowed BJP to Illegally Encash Expired Electoral Bonds

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/11th_march_f_770x470_264069f4b6.jpg" alt="11th-march-f-770x470.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_11th_march_f_770x470_264069f4b6.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_11th_march_f_770x470_264069f4b6.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_11th_march_f_770x470_264069f4b6.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">In a stinging direct blow to the State Bank of India (SBI) and an indirect blow to the Narendra Modi led union government, the Supreme Court rejected the request of the bank for more time to disclose details of the electoral bonds scheme. The Apex Court stated categorically on Monday that the bank must share the details with the Election Commission of India (ECI) by Tuesday, March 12. The poll body has been asked to publish the details on its website by 5 pm on Friday, March 15.The court also warned that it will initiate contempt proceedings against the government-run bank if it does not provide the information by Tuesday. The Apex Court fielded tough questions and asked what the bank was doing for the past 26 days. The SBI had approached the court for an extension, seeking time till June 30, 2024 to furnish the details.&nbsp;<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/image_2023_08_31_151521466_768x456_a8aedc56d7.png" alt="image_2023-08-31_151521466-768x456.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_image_2023_08_31_151521466_768x456_a8aedc56d7.png 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_image_2023_08_31_151521466_768x456_a8aedc56d7.png 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_image_2023_08_31_151521466_768x456_a8aedc56d7.png 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">Despite the categorical dismissal of the SBI plea for time till the end of June, the question whether there would be full disclosure on electoral bonds remains. That is because the Apex Court has just asked for the list of donors, but has not specifically directed to match the list of donors with the beneficiary parties.&nbsp;In other words, the court directive on revealing information covers only two aspects. One: Name of the purchaser of electoral bonds and denomination of the bonds. Two: Bonds redeemed by the respective political parties. The two sets of details are not going to be matched and the SBI is not obligated to connect the purchaser of the bond to the political party, which is the beneficiary!In the opinion of Senior Economic Affairs journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurtha, it is now up to the world at large, including journalists, to try and match the names of buyers of electoral bonds with the political parties that received the bonds. He goes on to add that this is not going to be easy. Thakurtha cites several reasons why the process could get cumbersome.&nbsp;<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Whats_App_Image_2024_03_11_at_16_24_12_2777ca227e.jpeg" alt="WhatsApp-Image-2024-03-11-at-16.24.12.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Whats_App_Image_2024_03_11_at_16_24_12_2777ca227e.jpeg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Whats_App_Image_2024_03_11_at_16_24_12_2777ca227e.jpeg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">To start with, it is a big question whether the ECI would be able to disclose all the information given to it by the SBI on its website by Friday 15 March. As things stand on March 11, the ECI is a one-person commission, in the context of the mysterious resignation of Arun Goel as member on March 9. With that resignation the only member in the ECI is Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar (Refer <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/appoint-arun-goels-replacement-in-election-commission-only-as-per-sc-judgment-not-new-act-plea-in-supreme-court-251818">LiveLaw Report</a>).The big question is whether the ECI will cease to be a one-person commission by Friday 15 March, the deadline given by the SC. Will Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Minister appointed by him and the representative of the Opposition in Parliament decide the names of two new Election Commissioners? The answer to this question is certainly not clear at the moment. The sum total of this confusion is that the SC course correction initiatives on electoral bonds are moving ahead one painful step after another.&nbsp;On February 15, when a five judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court struck down the electoral bonds Scheme of 2017, and held the same to be unconstitutional, the expectations were indeed much higher (Refer <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/supreme-court-electoral-bonds-1scheme-249553">LiveLaw Report</a>). Indeed, the judgement had come after a gap of six years after filing the case, but Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud had held, while pronouncing the unanimous verdict of the five-bench constitutional bench, that anonymous electoral bonds are violative of the right to information under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The right of the voter to know who and what lies behind electoral finances was held to be above the right to privacy of powerful corporations and political parties.&nbsp;<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Whats_App_Image_2024_03_11_at_16_28_11_768x428_2019d57fa8.jpeg" alt="WhatsApp-Image-2024-03-11-at-16.28.11-768x428.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Whats_App_Image_2024_03_11_at_16_28_11_768x428_2019d57fa8.jpeg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Whats_App_Image_2024_03_11_at_16_28_11_768x428_2019d57fa8.jpeg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_Whats_App_Image_2024_03_11_at_16_28_11_768x428_2019d57fa8.jpeg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">But the limitations and deficiencies in the implementation of the verdict as well as the parameters set for implementation underscore that the constitutional right to information is not going to be fully granted to the people of the country in this case. In that sense, the new ifs and buts are indeed daunting. It would be interesting to reconsider some of the things that the Supreme Court and especially the CJI DY Chandrachud stated in the court on February 15 while delivering the judgement on electoral bonds.&nbsp;Reading out parts of the 232-page judgement, CJI DY Chandrachud had held that the “Crucial aspect of expansion of right to information is that it is not confined to state affairs but also includes information necessary for participatory democracy. Infringement of the right to information is not justified by the purpose of curbing black money. He went on to add as follows.&nbsp;“In view of our discussion above, the following directions are issued:&nbsp;<ol style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:17px;margin-bottom:20px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:20px;padding:0px 0px 0px 20px;"><li style="box-sizing:border-box;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;" aria-level="1">The issuing bank shall herewith stop the issuance of Electoral Bonds;&nbsp;</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;" aria-level="1">SBI shall submit details of the Electoral Bonds purchased since the interim order of this Court dated 12 April 2019 till date to the ECI. The details shall include the date of purchase of each Electoral Bond, the name of the purchaser of the bond and the denomination of the Electoral Bond purchased;&nbsp;</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;" aria-level="1">SBI shall submit the details of political parties which have received contributions through Electoral Bonds since the interim order of this Court dated 12 April 2019 till date to the ECI. SBI must disclose details of each Electoral Bond encashed by political parties which shall include the date of encashment and the denomination of the Electoral Bond;&nbsp;</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;" aria-level="1">SBI shall submit the above information to the ECI within three weeks from the date of this judgement, that is, by 6 March 2024;&nbsp;</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;" aria-level="1">The ECI shall publish the information shared by the SBI on its official website within one week of the receipt of the information, that is, by 13 March 2024; and&nbsp;</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;" aria-level="1">Electoral Bonds which are within the validity period of fifteen days but that which have not been encashed by the political party yet shall be returned by the political party or the purchaser depending on who is in possession of the bond to the issuing bank.”</li></ol>While the CJI stated the above in clear terms, Justice Sanjiv Khanna stated the following in a separate judgement running into 74 pages. He concurred with the majority view on the unconstitutionality of the Schemes on several crucial counts, and was even more specific and direct in its directions. In examining one accept that was argued but not pressed by the lead petitioner, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Justice Khanna outlined the coercive elements at the heart of the scheme that require further examination and study. This included the argument that there should be a cap on the quantum of donations and further, that the law should stipulate that the funds thus collected through electoral bonds should be utilised for political purposes alone given that the income of the political parties is exempt from income tax.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/eci_pti_768x432_273840078b.png" alt="eci-pti-768x432.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_eci_pti_768x432_273840078b.png 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_eci_pti_768x432_273840078b.png 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_eci_pti_768x432_273840078b.png 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">Citing these aspects, Justice Khanna further stated that “according to us, the just and proper interim direction would be to require all the political parties who have received donations through Electoral Bonds to submit to the Election Commission of India in sealed cover, detailed particulars of the donors as against the each Bond; the amount of each such bond and the full particulars of the credit received against each bond, namely, the particulars of the bank account to which the amount has been credited and the date of each such credit.” He also further directed the ECI to disclose the full particular details of the donor and the amount donated to the particular political party through Bonds.&nbsp;Clearly, the situation that prevails on March 11, in terms of implementation of the February 15 judgement, raises questions whether the spirit of the February 15 judgement would be upheld collectively by the SBI and ECI. Hopefully, the Apex Court itself would take steps to clear these doubts and apprehensions</div></div>

11th-march-f.jpg

Electoral Bonds: Stinging Blow by the SC to SBI and Modi Raj, But Ifs and Buts Remain..

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/7th_march_770x470_36992ea8b3.jpg" alt="7th-march-770x470.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_7th_march_770x470_36992ea8b3.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_7th_march_770x470_36992ea8b3.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_7th_march_770x470_36992ea8b3.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">State Bank of India (SBI) has hit news headlines repeatedly over the past few months. And every single time it has been for the wrong reasons. One of the major instances in this series of “headline-hitting-for-wrong reasons”- was through the downgrading of SBI’s Ratings by <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://bfsi.economictimes.indiatimes.com/amp/news/banking/goldman-says-goldilocks-period-over-for-banks-downgrades-sbi-icici-yes-bank/107956463">Goldsman Sachs</a>. Before that the Economic Research Wing was questioned by renowned economists for defending the Government by saying poverty and unemployment have reduced drastically. Around the same time, the SBI had granted a new loan of Rs. 34000 crores to the Adani group and that action and its unethical nature were also questioned and criticised widely.Historically, the largest bank in the country had earned the trust of the people. That is why there are 48 crores accounts in the bank. But the present appeal by SBI to the supreme court to provide time till June 30th to provide the list of purchasers of electoral bonds and parties which encashed them has aggravated the bad image that SBI has acquired in recent times. In the digital era, the bank which is a pioneer in technology is saying that it could not reconcile the transactions and provide the list. And that too after 18 days of the supreme court order. This is completely unacceptable.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/sbi_768x432_e3fd603a77.jpg" alt="sbi-768x432.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_sbi_768x432_e3fd603a77.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_sbi_768x432_e3fd603a77.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_sbi_768x432_e3fd603a77.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">Now, the current state of affairs raises the natural question as to what the bank is covering up and who it is shielding? Other related questions that have come up are as follows. Why SBI is being coerced to take this stand ? Because of fear? Who is afraid and why? Why the Chairman, SBI has taken this decision? is it under threat or is it because of some offer? Already some people are saying that he got extension in service due to an influential businessman. He should care for the bank and not a businessman or politician. History should remember him for good things and not wrong things.&nbsp;Already political parties have launched agitation against SBI. This will affect the image of this prestigious Bank. The Supreme Court has termed the Electoral Bonds scheme unconstitutional. Several media outlets have done research and published list of companies which donated through electoral bonds after there was raid or investigation against these companies by agencies of the government. (Refer <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.newslaundry.com/2024/02/20/behind-the-bjps-rise-and-rise-bonds-trusts-and-raids-on-corporates">Newslaundry</a> Report)In a letter to The Director (Budget) Dept of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance dated 25/06/2018 SBI has stated that it has spent Rs. 60,43,005/- for IT system Development for Electoral Bonds. Now, how is the bank justified in saying that providing the records needs more time? If this is the situation what is the use of new age IT systems that have been acquired?<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/002_36f1a65987.jpg" alt="002.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_002_36f1a65987.jpg 118w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_002_36f1a65987.jpg 379w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_002_36f1a65987.jpg 568w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/003_085bb1663c.jpg" alt="003.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_003_085bb1663c.jpg 130w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_003_085bb1663c.jpg 417w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_003_085bb1663c.jpg 625w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">In an RTI reply to Shri. Sanjeev B. Ezhava, dated 22. 11.23, the SBI has provided details of electoral bonds for 6 years in just 6 days. Now why it requires months now ? (letter attached). It is surprising that a company ‘Future gaming’ has donated Rs. 100 crores to a trust named “Prudent Electoral Trust” a trust approved by CBDT under Electoral trust scheme 2013 (letter enclosed). Is this trust playing the role of a broker between political parties, Enforcement Directorate, CBI and companies which are doing illegal transactions.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/001_e3361b3971.jpg" alt="001.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_001_e3361b3971.jpg 122w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_001_e3361b3971.jpg 391w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_001_e3361b3971.jpg 586w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">The answer will be there in the list. Supreme Court must ask SBI to provide the list immediately. SBI should have a serious introspection. There should be the positions of Officer Director and Employee Director in the bank to question wrong decisions. To go down is easy. Climbing up again is difficult. The SBI top brass should remember this well known adage.</div></div>

7th-march.jpg

The Serial Mess-ups of the SBI Demand Major Course-correction

<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">As the State Bank of India’s request for an extension till June 30 to comply with the Supreme Court order to divulge the details of the Electoral Bond contributions is pending before Apex Court, the intrigue surrounding the scheme has risen to new levels. Initial public reactions evidently suggest that the premium public sector bank has further eroded its credibility. The requested extension goes against the very spirit of the February 15 landmark judgement of the Supreme Court, which struck down the Electoral Bond scheme as ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘arbitrary’. The developments have certainly deepened the shadows of doubt that have come to engulf the Indian democratic process as a whole in recent times.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Venkitesh Ramakrishnan, Managing Editor of The AIDEM and Thomas Franco, former General Secretary of the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC) and founder of “People First” discuss the structural and political implications of the SBI manoeuvre in an interaction with Anand Haridas, senior journalist and multimedia professional.

What Next in the SBI Electoral Bonds Tangle?

Malayalam (ml)

Tamil (ta)

English (en)

Hindi (hi)

Telugu (te)

Kannada (kn)

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/IMG_20240930_WA_0007_770x470_d5062615d1.jpg" alt="IMG-20240930-WA0007-770x470.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_IMG_20240930_WA_0007_770x470_d5062615d1.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_IMG_20240930_WA_0007_770x470_d5062615d1.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_IMG_20240930_WA_0007_770x470_d5062615d1.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">Communication is an art that many struggle with, but few realize it can be learned. Whether you’re talking to a friend, colleague, family member, or stranger, mastering this skill is within reach. Ever struggled to start a conversation or keep it going? Finding common topics of interest can be tricky, and navigating differing social or political views can feel like a minefield. But with the right approach, you can turn any interaction into a meaningful exchange.&nbsp;How do you find the right approach? More importantly, can you learn the required skills?“<a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:0.4s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.charlesduhigg.com/supercommunicators">Supercommunicators</a>,” written by Charles Duhigg, is a book that teaches you to learn the skills to convert a conversation into a connection. It distills the art of conversation, any conversation, including the ones with your friends and family, into actionable steps that you can readily practice and improve.<a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:0.4s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.charlesduhigg.com/">Charles Duhigg</a> is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist and author of bestselling books. I read his first book, “The Power of Habit,” which is a constant presence in many bookstores, and liked it. I read it in 2013, and it convinced me about the importance of habits. Last year, I read his <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:0.4s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/12/11/the-inside-story-of-microsofts-partnership-with-openai">article</a> on the ChatGPT saga and liked it for its reporting breadth and depth.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:629px;" id="attachment_30055" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-30055"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/811bz_Oshn5_L_AC_UF_10001000_QL_80_F_Mwebp_7ad3ac888f.webp" alt="811bzOshn5L._AC_UF10001000_QL80_FMwebp_.webp" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_811bz_Oshn5_L_AC_UF_10001000_QL_80_F_Mwebp_7ad3ac888f.webp 98w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_811bz_Oshn5_L_AC_UF_10001000_QL_80_F_Mwebp_7ad3ac888f.webp 314w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_811bz_Oshn5_L_AC_UF_10001000_QL_80_F_Mwebp_7ad3ac888f.webp 472w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-30055">Cover of the book ‘Supercommunicators’</figcaption></figure>This book starts by breaking down every conversation into three types: Analytical, Emotional, and Social. Every conversation is essentially one of these three types. In analytical talk, the conversation is a transaction where facts and details matter. In emotional talk, the conversation is all about the feelings. In social talk, the conversation is about an identity. Now, listing the types helps in nothing. You still need to know what to do with this information.Suppose you argued with your father in the morning over a trivial issue. You reach the office and share the incident with your friend. Are you looking for a solution? Do you want to be listened to intently, get advice on who was wrong, or would just a hug do ? Suppose you differed with a colleague about a work issue. Another colleague, a friend, was listening. What do you want to hear from your friend? Advice or silence or just a hug? Suppose you hear about the sudden death of a friend’s loved one. What do you say to your friend? Advice or listen or a hug? As situations differ, so does the conversation, hence the importance of its type.After breaking the communication into its types, Charles goes on to break it into a step-by-step process of turning every conversation into meaningful, often joyful interactions, and in some cases, less stressful ones, even with a person with contrasting views. He uses psychological studies and instances of experts’ communication to establish the rules of effective communication.Stories form the backbone of narration and writing style, making it easy for everyone to understand, relate, and remember the content. Charles has used his recommendation to write the book as the writing oscillates between personal anecdotes, stories, and facts, often combining all three. As you turn the pages, you gradually get convinced about the process.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:767px;" id="attachment_30056" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-30056"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/high_rez_duhigg_headshot_20160720afmduhigg0082_thumb_1536x1536_1_53a5660a0f.jpg" alt="high-rez-duhigg-headshot-20160720afmduhigg0082-thumb-1536x1536-1.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_high_rez_duhigg_headshot_20160720afmduhigg0082_thumb_1536x1536_1_53a5660a0f.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_high_rez_duhigg_headshot_20160720afmduhigg0082_thumb_1536x1536_1_53a5660a0f.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_high_rez_duhigg_headshot_20160720afmduhigg0082_thumb_1536x1536_1_53a5660a0f.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-30056">Charles Duhigg</figcaption></figure>If you have read books on personal growth, they tend to follow a pattern. Every chapter makes a proposition supported by academic research or theories, followed by a story that establishes the usefulness of the proposition. Stories of failures are not part of this scheme. This book is no exception to this formula. However, this conformance should not take away the usefulness of this book.A few days after finishing the book, I took a train journey to New Delhi. The train starts at 6 in the morning from Varanasi, requiring me to get up at 4 AM. I always travel with a book, sometimes 2. If it is a mid-noon journey, I prefer reading books to talking to a co-passenger. But, early in the morning, I like a slow warmup to come to my full senses before picking a book. Opening a conversation with a co-passenger who is perhaps also in the same state has always been a nervous affair. But I had read this book, so at least I knew a theory I could test.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_2024_09_30_T164448_607_ee3a11384b.jpeg" alt="images-2024-09-30T164448.607.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_2024_09_30_T164448_607_ee3a11384b.jpeg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_images_2024_09_30_T164448_607_ee3a11384b.jpeg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_images_2024_09_30_T164448_607_ee3a11384b.jpeg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">Charles suggests starting a conversation with a question that doesn’t have a 1-word answer. He calls them Deep questions. For example, instead of asking questions like, “Where are you going?” or “Are you from Varanasi?” you may ask, “What do you like about early morning train journeys?”. I started with a similar question. However, a few minutes into the conversation, the person said, “I do not like the Congress party (India’s principal opposition party).”Now, I like the Congress party. Had I not read the book, I would have gone on to list several reasons to prefer the Congress party. I would have given one argument after another, countering his response with facts and figures. I would have transformed myself into an evangelist, on a mission to reform this man and make him fall in love with the Congress party. After a few minutes of conversation, he would have silently waited for me to drain all my energy and stop. We would have withdrawn into our shells for the rest of the journey, talking only to ask for a way to leave the seat. Thankfully, I had read this book, and none of this happened.I instead said, “They give many reasons to people to dislike them.” It opened him up to offer his reasons for this blanket statement, which allowed me to steer the conversation to his upbringing, parents, childhood, values, work, motivations, etc. When I shared about my organization’s work with school children from economically underprivileged families, he shared his wife’s efforts of sheltering orphaned street dogs. We agreed on several issues, including the complete failure of the current central government, despite opposing political preferences. Neither did I contradict his personal experiences, nor did he contradict mine. Moreover, we agreed that our experiences shape our views, which are bound to change if we remain open.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_2024_09_30_T164615_165_ec71a30e5a.jpeg" alt="images-2024-09-30T164615.165.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_2024_09_30_T164615_165_ec71a30e5a.jpeg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_images_2024_09_30_T164615_165_ec71a30e5a.jpeg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">“Supercommunicators” book taught me to treat every conversation as a learning opportunity. It taught me not to approach a conversation as a right vs wrong battle but to connect by sharing stories and anecdotes more than the facts. Ultimately, you can convince a person more by listening than by speaking. In a world getting more polarised, we all need to learn to talk to each other and listen better. Thankfully, we have this book.</div></div>

IMG-20240930-WA0007-770x470.jpg

Navigating Difficult Dialogues: How 'Supercommunicators' Can Help in a Polarised World"

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_34_770x393_796d24e9a6.jpeg" alt="images-34-770x393.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_34_770x393_796d24e9a6.jpeg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_images_34_770x393_796d24e9a6.jpeg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_images_34_770x393_796d24e9a6.jpeg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">Prolific documentary filmmaker R.P Amudhan’s body of work is unique and striking, especially in the manner in which his creations address issues and concerns of the marginalised sections of society. He is known as a media activist too. Hailing from Madurai, in Tamil Nadu, he founded the Marupakkam Media Activist Group (MMAG) in in his home district. The MMAG produces documentaries, screens films, and conducts workshops. He has over 20 documentaries to his credit. His films primarily focus on caste and labour issues. In this Interview with poet and writer Rashida Nasriya, filmmaker Amudhan RP discusses his craft, concerns and challenges.&nbsp;Rashidha Nasriya: What do you consider as the most significant challenge you have faced during the making of your documentaries?Amudhan RP: The biggest challenges I have faced in documenting the kind of social issues I have chosen to film are threefold. First, identifying a crucial topic which requires in-depth understanding and sufficient data to substantiate the narrative. Once I have a clear understanding of the topic, I would conduct thorough research and convince people, that is the characters in my film and their kith and kin. This has been my approach from my very first film, Leelavathi, a documentary on a Communist Party of India (Marxist) – CPIM- cadre killed in Madurai in 1997. I was relatively young at that time and the task of persuading her family and the district CPIM committee took a lot of effort. I finally did get their consent. It was a difficult task to get their trust.The second challenge – although a joyful one – is researching and gathering credible information, while the third is securing funding. As a solo filmmaker, I have learned to be self-sufficient. But still finding funds is a challenge. Any filmmaker would go through these challenges in varying degrees.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_35_721e230496.jpeg" alt="images-35.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_35_721e230496.jpeg 208w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_images_35_721e230496.jpeg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">Nasriya: Did your activist background influence your decision to become a filmmaker?Amudhan: During my MA studies, I attended a workshop in Madurai organised by Center for Development of Instructional Technology (CENDIT), an organisation based in New Delhi. Here, I was exposed to several powerful documentary films. This experience opened my eyes to the significance of political documentaries. I was introduced to the concept of using film as a tool for social change, and I immediately knew I wanted to become a documentary filmmaker and an activist. This workshop sparked my passion for creating and screening films that inspire critical thinking and trigger meaningful conversations. It was a turning point that led me to merge my interests in social activism and filmmaking, ultimately shaping my identity as an activist-filmmaker. Activism and filmmaking are deeply intertwined for me – they’re two sides of the same coin. My filmmaking is an extension of my activism, and vice versa; the two are inseparable.Nasriya: Your film “My Caste” examines the intersection of caste, hegemony, and consensus in Indian society. What has driven your focus on caste in your activism and filmmaking?Amudhan: I wanted to take on the Caste issue from the perpetuator point of view rather than from the victim’s or survivor’s point of view. I wanted to get into the minds of the people who either follow or negotiate or negate caste in their lives. I wanted to know what happens in people’s minds when they deal with caste matters. That’s why I made the film ‘My Caste’ ‘recording the views of various people on caste related questions.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:951px;" id="attachment_30033" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-30033"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/IMG_20240927_WA_0021_d0a7a9b78c.jpg" alt="IMG-20240927-WA0021.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_IMG_20240927_WA_0021_d0a7a9b78c.jpg 154w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_IMG_20240927_WA_0021_d0a7a9b78c.jpg 495w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_IMG_20240927_WA_0021_d0a7a9b78c.jpg 743w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-30033">Amudhan speaking at an event</figcaption></figure>Nasriya: Can you give some details on how you investigated labour exploitation in Tirupur’s garment industry for your documentary “Dollar City”?Amudhan: Many of my films focus on labour issues, with a considerable number exploring labour practices. For my trilogy on hegemony and consensus, I chose Tirupur as a case study. This city exemplifies how consensus is manufactured to prioritise the industry’s interests.In Tiruppur, a tacit understanding exists among industries, trade unions, workers, NGOs, and political parties to protect the industry at all costs. The prevailing narrative is: ‘Without the industry, we cannot survive.’ This consensus leads to widespread compromise and adjustment, perpetuating the exploitation.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:739px;" id="attachment_30028" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-30028"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_36_2e37ef3154.jpeg" alt="images-36.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_36_2e37ef3154.jpeg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_images_36_2e37ef3154.jpeg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-30028">During production of Amudhan’s documentary</figcaption></figure>I want to capture this complex dynamic in my film, highlighting how Tiruppur’s industry-centric consensus affects labor rights and social justice.&nbsp;Nasriya: How did you approach exploring the complex and sensitive topic of manual scavenging in your film “Pee (Shit)”?Amudhan: I wanted to make a Tamil version of Lesser Humans – a documentary on Manual Scavenging in Gujarat by Stalin K. Although I wanted to make a similar comprehensive film about Tamilnadu, my encounter with Mariamma, a sanitary worker in Madurai convinced me to make a short documentary which practically covers every aspect of the work.I realised a shorter format could powerfully convey the urgency of this issue, making a compelling argument against manual scavenging. This inspired me to create the film titled ‘Pee’ (Shit) [Watch Below], highlighting the harsh realities of manual scavenging.<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a0eWOHAvVn4" title="Shit - a documentary by Amudhan R.P." frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>&nbsp;Nasriya: What inspired you to create a documentary about Mercury pollution in Kodaikanal?Amudhan: The film ‘Mercury in the Mist’ was initiated by workers from the Kodaikanal thermometer factory, who had been fighting against the company’s harmful practices. They sought my help to create a documentary supporting their cause, highlighting the devastating health effects of mercury exposure and their ongoing court battles. It was partially funded by the workers and their well wishers like Nityanand Jayaraman and others.&nbsp;Nasriya: Do you think the documentary can contribute to the border understanding of the challenges facing Indian democracy?Amudhan: Documentary watching is, in my opinion, one of the most engaging and intellectually stimulating activities. It offers a unique blend of education, art, and social awareness, empowering individuals to become responsible citizens. By watching documentaries, we gain perspectives on the world around us, exercising our right to informed decision-making and participatory governance. Through my screenings, I aim to create opportunities for social and political education, fostering a culture of critical thinking and civic engagement. Documentaries provide a valuable platform for raising awareness on critical issues, making meaningful conversations and inspiring social change.&nbsp;Nasriya: How crucial is creative freedom in documentary filmmaking for fostering critical thinking and public debate?Amudhan: In documentary filmmaking, merely reporting or recording is not enough. It is an opportunity to critically examine any subject, sparking meaningful discussions. We must be courageous enough to ask difficult questions, amplify marginalized voices and confront uncomfortable truthsUnlike commercial cinema, documentary filmmakers must take risks, challenging the status quo and pushing boundaries. By doing so, we humanize overlooked stories, Inspire critical thinking and foster empathy and understanding.&nbsp;Nasriya: How did your initiative “Marupakkam” come about…?Amudhan: Marupakkam is a network of people collaborating to promote documentary filmmaking and social change. We invite participation from individuals across India in various capacities, including funding, research, topic development, filmmaking, screening, and documentary workshops.&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption alignright" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;display:inline;float:right;height:auto;margin:5px 0px 20px 20px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:1080px;" id="attachment_30029" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-30029"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Screenshot_20240927_1713542_bec309fa73.png" alt="Screenshot_20240927-1713542.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Screenshot_20240927_1713542_bec309fa73.png 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Screenshot_20240927_1713542_bec309fa73.png 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_Screenshot_20240927_1713542_bec309fa73.png 750w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/large_Screenshot_20240927_1713542_bec309fa73.png 1000w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-30029">Homepage of Marupakkam [Visit <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:0.4s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://marupakkammadurai.blogspot.com/?m=1">Here</a>]</figcaption></figure>Our activities involve screening documentaries, researching social issues, making films on relevant topics, teaching documentary filmmaking, and showcasing films made by others. Through these efforts, we aim to foster a community that inspires social change through documentary filmmaking.&nbsp;&nbsp;Nasriya: As a prolific documentary creator what advice would you give to emerging filmmakers?Amudhan: To young and upcoming filmmakers, I say: read widely, travel extensively, and cultivate an open-minded perspective. Listen to diverse voices, even in everyday settings like markets, where numerous perspectives converge. If you don’t have an open mind, you will only hear the voices that confirm your existing views. But with an open mind, you will identify and appreciate the varied voices, even within the same marketplace.</div></div>

images-34-770x393.jpeg

Amudhan’s Craft, Concerns and Challenges

<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The victory of Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake in Presidential election in Sri Lanka has been described as a political Tsunami by international politicians and observers. Sri Lanka based Independent policy analyst and writer Amita Arudpragasam analyses the context of the results in detail and points out that it was the economic mismanagement and corruption of earlier, dynasty oriented, regimes as well as Anura’s clean image that propelled significant sections of voters towards the Leftist JVP leader.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">She also points out that while the victory does indeed signify the emergence of new hopes in the country, it would be too early to predict dramatic policy and ideological shifts, including in the island nation’s orientation towards India and China. Watch the interview here.<hr><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">ഈ വിഷയത്തിൽ പരിസ്ഥിതി പ്രവർത്തകനും എഴുത്തുകാരനുമായ കെ സഹദേവൻ എഴുതിയ കുറിപ്പ് ചുവടെ നൽകുന്നു:<h2 style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:25px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.2;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">അദാനിയും ശ്രീലങ്കയിലെയും ബംഗ്ലാദേശിലേയും ഭരണ വ്യവസ്ഥയിലെ വമ്പൻ മാറ്റങ്ങളും</h2><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">ശ്രീലങ്കയിലെയും ബംഗ്ലാദേശിലെയും എന്തിന് ഓസ്‌ട്രേലിയയിലെപ്പോലും രാഷ്ട്രീയ ഭരണമാറ്റത്തിന് പിന്നിലെ പൊതുഘടകത്തെ കണ്ടെത്താൻ ശ്രമിച്ചാൽ ഗൗതം അദാനിയിൽ ചെന്ന് മുട്ടും. ഉഭയകക്ഷി ബന്ധങ്ങളെ വ്യവസായി താൽപ്പര്യങ്ങൾക്കായി ഉപയോഗപ്പെടുത്താൻ ഭരണകൂടങ്ങൾ തുനിഞ്ഞിറങ്ങിയാൽ അതിന്റെ അനിവാര്യഫലമെന്നത് ആ രാജ്യത്തിന്റെ സാമ്പത്തിക സുസ്ഥിരത തകർക്കപ്പെടുക എന്നതായിരിക്കും.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">ബംഗ്ലാദേശിന് വൈദ്യുതി വിൽക്കുന്നതുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ട കരാർ അദാനിക്ക് ലഭ്യമാക്കുന്നതിന് ബീഗം ഹസീനയ്ക്ക് മേൽ സമ്മർദ്ദമുയർത്താൻ നരേന്ദ്ര മോദിക്ക് യാതൊരു മടിയുമുണ്ടായിരുന്നില്ല. 2015ലെ മോദിയുടെ ബംഗ്ലാദേശ് സന്ദർശനത്തിന്റെ മുഖ്യ അജണ്ടതന്നെ അദാനിക്ക് വൈദ്യുതി വിതരണക്കരാർ നേടിയെടുക്കുക എന്നതായിരുന്നു.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">ഇന്ന് ബംഗ്ലാദേശ് ഭരണകൂടത്തിന്റെ മുന്നിലുള്ള പ്രധാന അജണ്ട അദാനിയുമായുള്ള കരാറിൽ നിന്ന് എങ്ങിനെ രക്ഷപ്പെടാം എന്നതാണ്. ശ്രീലങ്കയിൽ 400 മില്യൺ ഡോളറിന്റെ ഗ്രീൻ എനർജി പ്രോജക്ടുകളാണ് അദാനി നേടിയെടുത്തത്. 225 മെഗാവാട്ടിന്റെ കാറ്റാടിപ്പാട നിർമ്മാണ പദ്ധതി നേടിയെടുക്കുന്നതിനും നയതന്ത്ര ബന്ധങ്ങൾ ഉപയോഗപ്പെടുത്തപ്പെട്ടു.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">ഇതിനുപുറമെ 700 ദശലക്ഷം ഡോളറിന്റെ കണ്ടൈയ്‌നർ തുറമുഖ പദ്ധതിയും നേടിയെടുക്കാൻ അദാനിക്ക് സാധിച്ചു. ഈ രണ്ട് പദ്ധതികളും ശ്രീലങ്കയുടെ ദീർഘകാല താൽപ്പര്യങ്ങൾക്ക് വിരുദ്ധമാണെന്ന ആരോപണം പാർലമെന്റിലും പുറത്തും ശക്തമായി ഉന്നയിക്കപ്പെട്ടുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുകയാണ്.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">ഓസ്‌ട്രേലിയയിൽ അദാനി നേടിയെടുത്ത കാർമൈക്കൾ കൽക്കരി ഖനന കരാറും ഇതേരീതിയിൽ അതിശക്തമായ രാഷ്ട്രീയ എതിർപ്പ് ക്ഷണിച്ചുവരുത്തിയ ഒന്നാണ്. ഒരു ദശകക്കാലത്തെ കൺസർവേറ്റീവ് ഭരണത്തിന് അറുതിവരുത്തിക്കൊണ്ട് ലെഫ്റ്റ് ചായ്വുള്ള ആന്റണി അൽബനീസ് ഗവൺമെന്റ് അധികാരക്കസേരയിലെത്തിയതിന് പിന്നിലും ഗൗതം അദാനിക്കെതിരായ പ്രതിഷേധത്തിന്റെ വേരുകൾ കണ്ടെത്താൻ കഴിയും…

Bangladesh-Situation-Tumultuous-But-Does-Not-Signify-Islamic-Extremist-Dominance-2.png

What Next in Sri Lanka After Leftward Shift in President Polls?

et00410024-ulzabfappb-landscape.jpg

The Incandescent Lights Of “Kishkindha Kaandam"

image_2024-09-20_144756959.png

Because We Must Not Forget: An Andolanjeevi Artist Holds Up The Dark Mirror

Caste 

Romila Thapar

Tamil Nadu

Africa

 Culture

articles

Podcast  

Photo Story

Book Review            

TransLife 

YouGen 

കഥയാട്ടം  

 islamophobia

ഒരു കഥ 

Saeed Naqvi Column 

Literature 

YouGen

Development       

Minority Rights    

Cartoon Story

Travel 

Gender  

Development  

 National

Bussiness

thumbnail_logo.jpeg

logo.jpeg

Home

Videos

Article

About

Contact

Stay Updated!

How Electoral Bonds Benefit The Ruling Party

What Next After the Supreme Court Strike On Electoral Bonds?

Modi Government Allowed BJP to Illegally Encash Expired Electoral Bonds

Electoral Bonds: Stinging Blow by the SC to SBI and Modi Raj, But Ifs and Buts Remain..

The Serial Mess-ups of the SBI Demand Major Course-correction

What Next in the SBI Electoral Bonds Tangle?

Navigating Difficult Dialogues: ...

Amudhan’s Craft, Concerns and Ch...

What Next in Sri Lanka After Lef...

The Incandescent Lights Of “Kish...

Because We Must Not Forget: An A...

electoral bonds

Latest Posts

Latest Categories