Rajeev Upadhyay

The Kashmir Files व रेटिंग का खेल

The Kashmir Files पर हो रहा उचित व अनुचित चर्चाओं-परिचर्चाओं ने इस फिल्म के प्रति लोगों में गजब का आकर्षण पैदा कर दिया है। दो-तीन पहले फिल्म देखने के इरादे से मैंने गूगल पर The Kashmir Files किस थिएटर में लगी है जानने के लिए सर्च किया तो बहुत ही इंटरेस्टिंग व विरोधाभासी सूचना हाथ लगी थी

जैसा कि सभी को पता है कि अनेकों समाचारपत्र व बेवसाइट्स फिल्मों पर अपने रेटिंग प्रकाशित करते हैं। उसी क्रम में IMDb व Paytm जैसी संस्थाएँ भी The Kashmir Files की रेटिंग्स प्रकाशित की हैं जो सामान्य दर्शकों की राय से तैयार होती हैं। IMDb व Paytm के अनुसार इस फिल्म को उस दिन 9.9/10 की रेटिंग मिला था जो अब गिर कुछ कम हो गया है। हालाँकि उसी दिन The Indian Express ने The Kashmir Files की रेटिंग 1.5/5 दिया था। The Indian Express अपना रेटिंग एक्पर्ट की राय द्वारा तय करता है। दूसरी ओर The Kashmir Files एक दूसरा पोस्टर भी हाथ लगा जो IMDb व Paytm वाली राय ही इंडोर्स कर रहा था। उस पोस्टर में लगभग सभी बड़े नामों फिल्म को बहुत अच्छी रेटिंग्स दिया था।

आप का प्रशासन मॉडल

आम आदमी पार्टी (आप) की पंजाब की जीत दिल्ली की जीत की तरह ही बहुत बड़ी और प्रभावशाली है। ऐसी जीतें बहुकोणीय मुकाबलेमें बहुत ही कम देखने को मिलती है। यह जीत आप की जमीनी पहुँच व पकड़ के साथ-साथ आप के चुनाव लड़ने की कार्य योजना को भी शक्तिशालीरूप से रेखांकित कर रहा है।

बहुत लोग आप को आगामी लोकसभा चुनाव के लिए काँग्रेस के विकल्प के रूप में देख रहे हैं किन्तु आप अभी काँग्रेस की विकल्प बन पाने की स्थिति में ना ही संगठनात्मक व ना ही अनुभव के स्तर पर सक्षम है।

Tech Crackdown by China and Investment in India

The Tech Crackdown by the Chinese authorities was the least expected when the world was still struggling with the Coronavirus pandemic. It took everyone by surprise. China's tech crackdown which started in 2021 is aimed at reorienting the technologies aligning with the national technological priorities of the countries aimed to gain global technology supremacy, stopping monopolies as well as bringing the increasing inequalities down, however a costly affair. This has caused a lot of stress on the Chinese technology firms, investors, venture capital and private equity firms which have invested in China. As a result, a lot of money has started flying to India, the second hottest destination for such money. The loss of China is becoming the gain for India. However, the data suggest that there persists a lot of gap in the flow of private equity and venture capital investment between the two economies.

Corona Update: 30th Jan 2022

From the daily data as on 30th January 2022, it is clear that the third wave seems to be reversing now as every day the numbers of new daily cases are falling and soon the third wave will be over. The 7-days growth rate in daily confirm cases has fallen from 26.9% on 2nd Jan 2022 to -2.9% on 30th Jan 2022.

Apart from the fall in the growth rate in daily reported confirmed cases of COVID 19, the 7-days growth rate in the active cases has also fallen to -2.8% on 30th Jan from 21.9% on 9th January 2022. The new cases in most of the big metro cities are falling.

From the daily data as on 23rd January 2022, it is clear that the trend of the previous week has reversed and the numbers of daily new infections had increased to the highest of the third wave at 3,47,041 to start falling. Like the previous waves, many peaks and troughs are expected. So this reversal in trend mightn’t be the final one. However, the ‘R’ value has fallen from 2.9 on 31st December 2021 to 1.57 on 21st January 2022. It is expected that in the next two weeks by 6th February 2022, the ‘R’ value would fall below 1 and after that the Corona curve is expected to start flattening. Also the 7-days growth rate in daily confirm cases has fallen from 26.9% on 2nd Jan 2022 to 3.7% on 23rd Jan.

According to NITI Aayog's National Multidimensional Poverty Index, the highest percentage of the population in Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh live in poverty in the country; while in Kerala, Goa, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu live the least percentage of population in poverty respectively. According to the survey, 51.91% of the citizens of Bihar, 42.16% of Jharkhand and 37.79% of the citizens of Uttar Pradesh are found to be living in poverty while on the other hand 0.71% in Kerala, 3.76% in Goa, 3.82% in Sikkim and 4.89% in Tamil Nadu are found to be living in poverty. Looking at these figures, it seems that these two sets of states are from two different poles, whereas the reality is that in the last seven decades, the Government of India has implemented similar schemes across the country. These figures are not only telling the differences in the distribution of income and wealth in different regions and states, but also show the difference in political and social thinking, discourse and legacies along with the process and the implementation of development schemes in these states.

Corona Update: 16th Jan 2022

From the daily data, it seems that the third wave of the Coronavirus pandemic has hit its peak (preliminary conclusion). However, to arrive at a strong conclusion, longer duration data with integrity and transparency in reporting by states is a compulsory condition. There have always been questions regarding the transparency and integrity of the reported data. So on the basis of just two weeks’ data, it is too early to arrive at a conclusive interference.

Disinvestment of PSBs is not a Solution

The government of India for decades has been pursuing the policy of disinvestment and was able to privatize many non-performing public sector undertakings (PSUs) since the implementation of liberalization, privatization and globalization (LPG). It has disinvested many non-performing firms from the manufacturing sector to services sector which are now healthy and growing. Such disinvestments have not only brought down the cost to the public exchequers but are contributing towards economic growth too. So as a whole disinvestment efforts should be termed successful. However, there had always been strong resistance to every single effort to privatize any PSU from the employees and political class citing many reasons.

Would the Conversion of AGR into Equity be Enough for Revival of Vodafone Idea

Finally the board of Vodafone Idea (VI) has approved the bailout package rolled out by the Department of Telecom (DoT) to rescue firms from the burden of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues. This will make the Government of India the largest shareholder in the company. The DoT rolled out this bailout package to provide breathers to the telecom operators from the burden of AGR dues. However, the most important question still remains unanswered. Would this conversion of AGR into equity be enough for the revival of Vodafone Idea?

Onset of Third Wave of COVID19 Infections

It is less than two weeks since the new cases of COVID19 infections have started witnessing significant increase and India is in the middle of the third wave of infections overtaking the peaks of the previous two waves. The rate at which the new infections are increasing is alarming and everyone must be careful observing social distancing and wearing masks.

The numbers of daily reported confirmed cases as on 9th January 2022 are very high in the very beginning of the third wave in comparison to the previous waves of infections. Daily reported confirmed cases may soon cross the second wave's peak in the month of January itself.