Bangladesh Chooses Anarchy Preferring Coup Over Sheikh Hasina

The violent protests against reservation in Bangladesh eventually forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina not only to resign but also to flee Bangladesh! Military has taken over Bangladesh forcing Sheikh Hasina to leave! However, Muhamaad Yunus, a Nobel laureate in economics for his contribution in the field of microfinance, has been installed as Interim Prime Minister of Bangladesh by the Deep State and Bangladesh Army.

This incident is bound to have an impact on the whole world. But it will have a huge ramification for India in the short to medium term. Till date, India had to deal with only one Pakistan on its borders. But now it will have to deal with two Pakistans; West Pakistan and East Pakistan! This is a classic example of intelligence failure of RAW, the external intelligence agency of India.

After Sheikh Hasina's exit, the Awami League will weaken and its place will be taken by the BNP, which is known for opposing India and being the front for the Islamists extremists. Also, the BNP has the full support of Pakistan, China and the Biden government of the USA. This is going to completely change the dynamics of the Indian Subcontinent.

Amir Ali and Ardh Saka (Half Jauhar) of Jaisalmer

Have you heard the name of Amir Ali? In the history of Rajasthan, he is the person due to whose deceit, women had to be cut with swords than committing Jauhar!

This is the story of King Rawal Lunkaran of Jaisalmer, who became the victim of the biggest deceit in Rajasthan in the name of friendship.

Amir Ali was the Nawab of Kandahar. He had a fight with his brother for noblemanship and his brother defeated him. After losing to his brother, Amir Ali took refuge with King Rawal Lunkaran of Jaisalmer. Since protecting the refugee is an integral part of Indian culture, Maharaj Lunkaran gives shelter to Amir Ali, and both of them exchange turbans to show their friendship.

King Rawal Luunkaran makes arrangements for Amir Ali's stay by giving him a jagir in Jaisalmer. As the days passed by, the king's trust in Amir Ali increased significantly. The king started trusting Amir Ali a lot ignoring apprehensions from his associates and ministers!

Indian Railways Accidents

There is another train accident in Jharkhand killing two passengers Howrah-Mumbai Express has derailed today. Yesterday, Bihar Sampark Kranti derailed. Previous week also, there was a train accident. There has been a series of trains accidents in India in the last six weeks.

Something has completely gone wrong with the Indian Railways. Now and then, there is a train accident in India. Only in June and July 2024, 17 individuals have lost life and about 100 individuals have been insured in these accidents.

Reliance Industries has Got the US Nod to Import Crude Oil from Venezuela

Reliance Industries has got the US nod to import crude oil from Venezuela. ONGC has also applied for a waiver to buy crude oil from Venezuela! It is quite possible that ONGC will also get a similar nod. It should be noted that Reliance Industries is the second largest buyer of crude oil from Venezuela.

This decision of the USA will increase India's access to cheap crude oil. I am sure that India's strong relationship with Russia, increasing share of Russian crude oil in Indian basket and the recent visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Russia which was widely circulated in the world media by the Russian state media must have played a significant role in this decision. The US wants India to cut its crude oil import from Russia. So India must have argued that until and unless India has access to other cheap alternatives, how could India cut its crude oil imports from Russia? The US must have agreed and nodded to the application of Reliance Industries for waiver to enable India to explore more and perhaps better alternatives than Russia. It must be noted that the US had imposed sanctions in 2019. This was the time when India’s crude oil import from Russia started increasing which had increased to 40% of the total Indian crude oil basket!

What is Angel Tax?

Abolition of angel tax would be very beneficial for the Indian startups. But before I discuss the impact of angel tax on Indian startups, it would be appropriate to answer what is angel tax?

Angel Tax is a tax imposed on Indian startups receiving funding from angel investors on the fair market value. Angel tax in India before Union Budget 2024 was 30% of the fair value of the startups. Angel tax was introduced in the Union Budget 2012 by then Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee.

For example, if the fair value of a startup is Rs 1 crore and it raises Rs 1.5 crore from angel investors, the excess amount of Rs 50 lakh is subject to this tax.

Union Budget 2024 Aimed at Demographic Dividends

It has been 10 years since the government gave any tax relief to the middle class! It was expected that the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would be increasing the tax deduction limit under 80C of Income Tax Act from ₹2.5 lakhs to ₹4 lakhs or ₹5 lakhs along with standard deduction in the first Budget of Modi 3.0 with the purpose to increase the demand in the Indian economy which would lead to more jobs because of increased disposable income. However, the budget is not that generous as far as the deduction is concerned. I, along with other economists, was sure and still am that if only the standard deduction limit is increased, then it would not be able to achieve the dual goals of increasing economic activities in the economy as well as controlling the falling savings in the economy.

जर्मनी ने 'कॉम्पैक्ट पत्रिका' पर प्रतिबंध लगाया

जर्मनी ने घृणा फैलाने के नाम पर दक्षिणपंथी 'कॉम्पैक्ट पत्रिका' पर प्रतिबंध लगा दिया है। यह प्रतिबन्ध आंतरिक मंत्री फेजर के आदेश पर लगाया गया है। इतना ही नहीं बल्कि पत्रिका के प्रधान संपादक जुर्गन एल्सेसर के घर पर छापा भी मारा गया है।

क्यों?

क्योंकि प्रगतिशील और धर्मनिरपेक्ष मानकों के अनुसार, आजकल गलत को गलत व हत्यारे को हत्यारा कहना भी घृणास्पद माना जाता है!

'कॉम्पैक्ट पत्रिका' की सबसे बड़ी गलती यह है कि 'कॉम्पैक्ट पत्रिका' जर्मनी में जर्मन संस्कृति का समर्थन करते हुए किसी अन्य संस्कृति के प्रचार व प्रसार का मुखर विरोधी है जो संयोग से वर्तमान सरकार की नीतियों के विरूद्ध है और सरकार का विरोध करना दुनिया में कहीं भी और पश्चिमी देशों में विशेषकर लोकतन्त्र, प्रगतिशीलता व स्वतन्त्रता का हनन है! सरकार तो सरकार होती है और उसका समर्थन हर किसी को करना ही चाहिए। वैसे बुद्धिजीवी होने का सर्टिफिकेट मिलने के बाद व्यक्ति को बस अपने विचारधारा की पार्टी की सरकार को समर्थन करने और बाकी सभी विचारों को नाजी और फासिस्ट कहने व साबित करने की छूट और यदि आप अपने अभिव्यक्ति से स्वतंत्रता का उपयोग करते उनका विरोध करते हैं तो आप निश्चित रूप से फासिस्ट हैं!

Why has the GST Collection Data for June 2024 not been Released?

On 1st July 2024, India completed 7 years of implementation of GST in the Indian economy. Initially it was a roller coaster ride with many states objecting on various issues along with implementation confusions and glitches. As a result many had expected it to fail but India has implemented GST smoothly across the nation. It is a great achievement as it has unified the Indian markets as far as taxation is concerned.

However, some concerns are being raised with July moving towards August! Every month in the first week, India has been regularly and religiously releasing the GST collection data. It was religiously followed till June 2024. But since 1st June 2024, GST collection data has not been released. None knows, why has it not been released?

People are now speculating about it with so many conspiracy theories. However, media reports suggest that the GST collection in the month of June 2024 was ₹1.74 lakh crores which is 7.7% greater than the collection of June 2023.

डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प पर हमला

कल अमेरीका के पूर्व राष्ट्रपति डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प पर जानलेवा हमला हुआ जिसमें वो बाल-बाल बच गए। यह उनके सुरक्षाकर्मियों के सतर्कता और उनके भाग्य के कारण संभव हो सका और अमेरीका अपने इतिहास में गलत व खूनी अध्याय लिखते-लिखते बच गया।

जो हुआ उसकी भर्त्सना हो रही है जो ठीक भी है। लेकिन प्रश्न तो उठता ही है कि क्या अमेरीका आन्तरिक राजनैतिक वातावरण इतना खराब हो चुका है कि एक बीस बर्षीय युवा के मन में डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प के प्रति इतना विष भर गया है या फिर भर दिया गया है कि एक आम युवा एक पूर्व राष्ट्रपति पर चुनावों से पहले जानलेवा हमला कर रहा है? क्या अमेरिका की राजनीति का स्तर इतना गिर चुका है कि आमचुनावों के पहले राष्ट्रपति पद के मुख्य दावेदार और वर्तमात राष्ट्रपति के मुख्य प्रतिद्वन्दी पर जानलेवा हमला हो रहा हैं?

Artificial Intelligence and the Associated Fears

There has always been resistance to any change in this world. Status-quo is the motto of most people even if the change can improve the circumstances! Who wants to come out of their comfort zone? After some time, even discomfort and pain also creates its own comfort zone for the individuals!

For many, scratching their sores becomes a pleasant habit for them!

In the beginning of the twentieth century, there was a lot of opposition to calculators; mainly in the academics. A lot of professors come out on the roads protesting and demanding a ban on the use of calculators in the academics saying that it would negatively affect the mathematical ecosystem! However, time has turned the calculator into a most trusted ally of mathematics!

In the same way, there was a time when there was a lot of opposition to computers across the globe in almost every section of society. The use of computers was also opposed saying that it would eliminate people's jobs by increasing the use of machines in the industries (automation) but it proved very wrong. Rather the use of computers has increased the number of jobs unprecedentedly creating many new industries and jobs. The only difference it has brought in is that it just changed the very nature of jobs! Today there is a huge demand for high skill jobs in the market instead of low skill jobs.