Indian Opinion

Mukesh Devrari Consumers cannot buy liquor at MRP (Maximum Retail Price) mentioned on the liquor bottle anywhere in Uttarakhand. If any consumer argues with retail liquor stores, they simply taunt the buyers and chase them away. They challenge buyers to purchase liquor on MRP wherever they can find it.  Interestingly during the tenure of Congress government in Uttarakhand, a similar situation existed, but there were voices of protest all around. Mainstream media also raised the issue time and again. All liquor buyers abused Congress government for overpricing.   Congress lost power in state elections. Among many other reasons, corruption in the liquor market also contributed to the defeat. BJP came to power, but nothing changed on the ground. Almost all liquor stores are still charging over prices. And if any consumer dares to oppose liquor stores or argues with them or requests them not to overcharge, he or she immediately puts his life in danger. Buyers are constantly thr

Mukesh Devrari Whether you like it or not, Diwali is definitely not a thing which we have made out of it. This madness about fire crackers define and describe Diwali other than anything else in India. Bhagwan Shri Ram and ancient sages of his time who are known for their internal peace would not have sanctioned this madness about the use of fire crackers during Diwali. For most Indians, nature and environment is not important at all. Most of the Indian population is still struggling to make two ends meet. Majority of population is somehow surviving. In the name of religion and ritual this country did not shy away from burning women on the funeral pyres of their husband, it would be insane to imagine that this society would abdicate the use of fire crackers for the sake of environment and nature without any resistance. There are two specific problems with fire crackers. First, burning fire crackers insert poisonous gases in the air which we all inhale. Second, people s

Pakistani Flag. Source - Wikipedia Mukesh Devrari Pakistan has been carved out in 1947. It was an artificial nation. Islam was used as a tool to create a nation by encouraging separatism in Muslim majority areas. Violence was used as a tool to pressurize British government and Congress party. Finally, they gave in to the demands of Muslim separatists who claimed that Hindus and Muslims cannot stay together in one nation. Pakistan has seven provinces – Baluchistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh, Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Occupied Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan. Out of those 7 provinces, four are completely under the control of Punjabi Muslims.  Many Indian Muslims believe that Pakistan was created and imagined as a home for all South Asian Muslims. Only after partition, they realized that it was not the case. It provided a home to the Muslim elite who were not satisfied with the democratic turn India was about to take after the end of the British rule. Out

Mukesh Devrari Congress is going through a difficult phase. Every party must go through such phases. During the two terms of UPA, many Congress leaders were indulged in large scale corruption scandals. Right-wing forces fought the general election against the failures of Congress party. People were frustrated as there was talk about inclusive growth and development but it did not reach the larger population. Nothing is irreversible in politics. There is no allegation of corruption against Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. There is no corruption allegation against Priyanka Gandhi. His husband is under the scanner for BJP for last few years. First of all the ruling party cannot make charges of corruption against opposition party leaders and their family members. If anyone of them is involved in corruption, they should be immediately put into jail, but BJP knows that Gandhi family and their track record is absolutely clean. Otherwise, BJP would have put them in jail long ago. I

Mukesh Devrari A former civil servant Khalid Bashir Ahmad recently published a book ‘Kashmir: Exposing the Myth, Behind the Narrative’. Respected Kashmiri journalist Shujaat Bukhari who has the expertise to write on the edges of varying narratives emerging from Kashmir wrote a review of the book for the Frontline Magazine. The book is an ambitious attempt by the author to replace the recorded history of Kashmir by the Islamic version. There were certain things in the review which were suggesting how majority Muslims view Kashmiri Hindus in the valley. After a long time, this author came across such an article which puts forward almost all politically incorrect arguments against the minority community in the garb of larger notions of Islamic victimhood. It is just amazing how Kashmiri Hindus have been described as enemies of pious, gullible and innocent Kashmiri Muslims. The first argument, the reviewer claims that scientific methods have been used to correct the Kashmiri

Khima Nand Balodi is working for the conservation of vultures in Uttarakhand. His efforts have been recognized by many national and international organizations. His projects have been funded by many international conservation organizations including the Oriental Bird Club, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and  Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP), a co-creation of Bird Life International, Flora and Fauna International (FFI) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) . He is closely working with the SAVE (Saving Asia’s Vulture from Extinction), a consortium of international conservation organizations in South Asia for vulture conservation. He has also undergone the Conservation Management and Leadership Training Workshop in Canada, after receiving the prestigious ‘Future Conservationist Award-2016’ given by CLP. He talked to Mukesh Devrari about his experiences so far as emerging conservation ecologist from this region. Excerpts fro

Mukesh Devrari Universities in India appoint Assistant Professors in four categories. However, the categories are not defined by UGC itself. They have been created in the policy gaps of UGC regulations over the years. First, universities appoint permanent Assistant Professors, who have a job for life. Second, universities appoint Assistant Professors on full salary as fixed by the government but on a yearly contract basis. Thirdly, universities also appoint Assistant Professors on a fixed salary of 35000 or 25000 per month on yearly contracts. It is discretionary for universities. Fourthly, Universities also appoint Assistant Professors on per class basis with a ceiling of 25000 per month. Some universities pay 500 rupees per class, others pay 1000 rupees. DAV PG College in Dehradun pays 300 rupees per class to the faculty members of all self-finance departments. Minimum qualification for the post of Assistant Professors as per UGC regulations is UGC - NET or PhD degree.  I