Battle for Karnataka: Congress’ biggest challenges lie within, not in BJP

Congress has dubious distinction of snatching defeat from jaws of victory, mainly due to differences within – the one between Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and his deputy G Parameshwar is an example.

Karnataka Elections 2018 : If there is one party that can be called an expert at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, it is the Congress. Talking of Karnataka, the story of the state government and party here is actually one of differences between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy (and party chief for a long time) G Parameshwar.

The two leaders have not seen eye to eye for a long time – since much before the party came to power in May 2013. In a way, it was the Congress’ considerable majority that led to the disagreements being made public. Siddaramaiah upstaged Parameshwar to become chief minister – after the latter lost his own seat from the Koratgere Assembly constituency in what appeared to be a Congress wave, and earned the dubious distinction of becoming the first party chief in 50 years to lose his own seat. This was after Rahul Gandhi campaigned extensively in the district.

Like past state party presidents like S M Krishna and Dharam Singh had gone on to become CMs, Parameshwar thought he could lay a legitimate claim to that office. Siddaramaiah could see the writing on the wall: Parameshwar’s supporters claimed it was Siddaramaiah who engineered the defeat by telling his own Kuruba community voters to vote en bloc for the rival JD(S) candidate rather than party colleague Parameshwar.

The rift between the two deepened when Siddaramaiah turned down the demand for making Parameshwar deputy chief minister or even minister in his Cabinet. The high command had to intervene to make Parameshwar deputy chief minister – though no one seems to know what a deputy chief minister’s powers are.

As Siddaramaiah is considered a newcomer in the ruling Congress, having joined only in 2005 after revolting against JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda, many old or senior Congressmen were already cut-up that their claims for the top (CM’s) post were ignored. Conscious that he was swimming in a sea of sharks, Siddaramaiah tried to swiftly consolidate his position: He unilaterally announced the Annabhagya (Re 1 per kg rice scheme to BPL families), which cost Rs 4,300 crore annually to the state exchequer, wrote off loans and additional subsidy to milk producers hours after he took oath as CM. He cut Parameshwar and other party leaders out of the deal, though all these promises were in the party’s 2013 manifesto.

→ Karnataka Assembly Election 2018 ←

Philander bowls SA to record 492-run win over Australia; takes series 3-1

Vernon Philander took a career-best six for 21 as Australia were bowled out for 118

 

Vernon Philander sent Australia crashing to defeat with a sensational spell of bowling on the fifth day of the fourth Test against Australia at the Wanderers Stadium today.

Philander took a career-best six for 21 as Australia were bowled out for 118, giving South Africa victory by 492 runs, a record runs margin for South Africa.

South Africa completed a 3-1 series win, the first time they had beaten Australia in a home series since 1969/70.

It brought to an end a series of high-quality cricket and even greater off-field drama, culminating in a ball tampering scandal during the third Test in Cape Town which resulted in former captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and Cameron Bancroft sent home.

Philander struck twice in the first over of the day. He had Shaun Marsh caught at gully off the first ball. An inside edge looped off the batsman’s thigh pad to Temba Bavuma.

Four balls later Mitchell Marsh was caught behind without a run having been added to the overnight 88 for three. It was Philander’s 200th wicket in his 54th Test.

Peter Handscomb was next, bowled off an inside edge for 24 as he tried to withdraw his bat – an almost exact replica of his first-ball dismissal in the first innings.

Tim Paine and Pat Cummins were unable to repeat their defiant stand of the first innings, with Paine caught behind for seven and Cummins bowled for one.

Chadd Sayers was caught at third slip off the first ball he faced. At that stage Philander’s figures for the morning were 5.2-2-3-6.

Morne Morkel, playing in his final Test, had been given a guard of honour by his teammates and support staff when he walked on to the field at the start of the day.

With nine wickets down, Morkel was given the ball but was unable to add to his 309 Test wickets. The final wicket fell to a run-out, with Nathan Lyon failing to beat Aiden Markram’s throw from point as he went for a second run off Morkel’s bowling.

Battle for Karnataka: What strategy is the Congress working on to beat BJP?

Will Congress’ ‘Ahinda’ formation help it overcome the BJP in the only big state it holds right now?

 

Karnataka Assembly Election 2018 : What is the strategy that the Congress needs to adopt in Karnataka, to retain the only government it has in an important state?

The party has itself indicated the direction in which it wants to go. Caste is going to be central to its calculations. In this context, what did it do right in 2013 that propelled it to power?

It relied on the Ahinda formation, the coalition of Dalits, backward castes, and minorities (Alpa Sankhyata, Hindulida, and Dalit, hence Ahinda). Political analysts have often written about Dalit-backed or socialist political parties forming the Ahinda combination as an election strategy.

Consider the data below. It indicates (in the absence of a caste census which was commissioned by the state government but an authoritative version is yet to come out), how the party deployed its caste appeal. Despite the much-vaunted backward class credentials of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who is from the shepherd caste, tiny but influential and not populous enough to threaten the other castes, the Congress fielded 52 candidates but could win only 28. It is the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes which came to its rescue, with a strike rate of over 60 per cent between the two of them.

The Vokkaligas did not vote for the Congress and the Muslims had their doubts about them.

Both Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah and chief minister designate BS Yeddyurappa have been wooing Dalits with a passion. Yeddyurappa’s constant refrain is that while the Congress government has allocated money for the development of scheduled castes, (allocations amount to around Rs 60,000 crore) much of the money has been returned unutilized. Yeddyurappa has been spending time with Dalits in social gatherings – dining with them, participating in functions and feting them.

The Dalit bloc in Karnataka has 101 castes and they are categorised into five sections-touchables or Chalavadis (identified as right hand in Kannada to indicate they are touchables), untouchables or Madigas (who are called left hand to indicate they are untouchables), Bovis, Lambanis and 97 microscopic minorities. Though there is no proper study on the Dalit voting pattern, Chalavadis had drifted towards the Congress when Indira Gandhi was leading the party. The Madigas moved to the BJP in early 2000 along with Ramakrishna Hegde who made a special effort to identify politically with them.

Facebook data breach giving you panic attacks? Here are some desi options

Amid data breach talks and the recent instance of Cambridge Analytica scandal, where unauthorised access to user data apparently caused election meddling, there have been calls to delete Facebook.

Business News : After the scandal broke, there has been a growing scepticism around safety of personal data on social media. There was a frenzy among netizens to delete their social media account in order to protect their personal information.

The safety of your personal information cannot be guaranteed, but if you are looking for some ‘desi’ alternatives to Facebook, here is a list:

Hike

Hike Messenger is a cross-platform instant messaging service that provides users with a platform for text messaging, sending each other graphical stickers, emoticons, images, videos, audios, documents, voice messages, contacts and users’ location. The app can also be used to book Ola vehicles directly and has also enabled Hike ID, through which users can chat with each other without sharing their mobile numbers.

Roposo

Roposo is an app that offers filters and editing tools, and an option for social media sharing that allows users to instantly publish pictures on other social media channels.

The camera in the app helps edit and stitch videos to perfection; reducing the editing time. And users get to edit the videos on their phone itself. With the introduction of augmented reality feature on the app, users can create better content and post it on the platform.

Sharechat

Backed by SAIF Partners and Xiaomi, Sharechat is a leading social networking platform in India which enables users to watch and share videos on other platforms as well. Available in 14 vernacular languages, Sharechat is meant for all the users who love to share videos and photos in their own regional language.

SyncYu

SyncYu is an Indian pro-social networking application which focuses on connecting with friends and family by providing a spam-free platform. It is advertisement-free and claims to show how its users truly are to the world. This app comes with a lot of features like messaging, games, shoutouts, wordsmash, news and much more.

Mooshak

An attempt to make Hindi and Devnagiri relevant for the Next Gen, this app enables users to post content in Hindi. For the users who are not quite good at writing in the language, the app helps to translate your content into Hindi. Simply upload images, videos and audios and share it with people around the globe.

For the unversed, Cambridge Analytica, the political data firm with ties to United States President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign, is under fire for allegedly gaining access to private information of more than 50 million Facebook users, and influencing elections by using this stolen data.

Full Updates on  → Facebook Data Breach

YouTube Shooting: Shooter Nasim Aghdam identified in California; 10 updates

YouTube employees recounted dramatic scenes as they fled the headquarters of the Google-owned video sharing service near San Francisco.

International News : A woman who had voiced complaints online about YouTube opened fire with a handgun at the tech company’s headquarters near San Francisco on Tuesday, wounding three people before shooting herself dead, authorities and media said.

It was the latest in a string of mass shootings in the United States in recent years. Most recently, the massacre of 17 people at a Florida high school has led to calls for tighter curbs on gun ownership.

Police did not identify the suspect or say what might have motivated Tuesday’s shooting at YouTube, a video-sharing service owned by Alphabet Inc’s Google which employs nearly 2,000 people at the San Bruno, California offices.

The woman approached an outdoor patio and dining courtyard on the campus around lunchtime and began to fire before entering the building, police said. An affiliate of ABC and other local media, citing unnamed sources, identified the woman as Nasim Aghdam.

San Bruno police officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the identity of the attacker.

YouTube spokeswoman Jessica Mason could not immediately be reached for comment on the identification by media.

The website NasimeSabz.com, which media said was linked to the attacker, had several posts about Persian culture and veganism, interspersed with screeds against YouTube.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai thanked the police and first responders for their efforts.

“There are no words to describe the tragedy that occurred today. Susan Wojcicki and I are focused on supporting our employees and the YouTube community through this difficult time together. Thank you to the police & first responders for their efforts, and to all for msgs of support,” he tweeted. YouTube headquarters is located some 30 miles (50 kilometres) from the main Google campus in Mountain View.

Full Updates on → YouTube Shooting

CWG 2018: Why India’s athletes may struggle against Aussie money and muscle

Indian athletes have started getting richer but still produce dismal results.

International News : As the Commonwealth Games 2018 get set to kick off at Gold Coast 2018, there couldn’t be a better time to compare Indian athletes with some of the fittest and richest human beings on earth. Business Standard analysed financial statements, funding data and sporting achievements of India, Australia and some other nations participating in the Commonwealth Games. And, it emerged that Indian athletes remain underfunded and continue to underachieve when compared with global peers.

The Narendra Modi administration has tried to resurrect India’s sporting glory by selecting over 100 athletes under its ‘Target Olympic Podium’ (TOP) scheme. According to the sports ministry’s latest annual report, 92 of the so-called TOP athletes received almost Rs 80 million as financial assistance from the government in 2015-16. The irony is that a significant portion of this money (almost Rs 34 million) was given to India’s shooters – the traditional medal winners for India at high-profile sporting events. Out of the money meant for shooters, two-thirds went to just three – Abhinav Bindra, Manavjit Sandhu and Heena Sandhu.

India’s wrestlers, including the Phogat sisters, Yogeshwar Dutt and Sushil Kumar together received a paltry Rs 3 million. Sania Mirza, who last won a singles match in June 2012, received as much money from the government as India’s top nine wrestlers. Also, only two of the male track and field athletes named in the TOP list have made it to the Commonwealth Games squad. These two athletes – K T Irfan and Manish Rawat – will compete in the 20-kilometre walk event at the Games.

The TOP scheme aims to identify athletes who could win medals for India in the 2020 Olympics and promises dedicated training and financial assistance to them. Even as the amount of money seems to have been spent on just a few sportspersons and disciplines, the overall allocation of money to sportspersons under the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) established in 2001 by the erstwhile Atal Bihari Vajpayee government has increased by just 14 per cent between 2009-10 and 2015-16.

In India, where many of the sports bodies are run as trusts by private individuals, the government sanctioned almost Rs 177 million in 2015-16. Many of these were for capital expenditure and operational expenses for conducting tournaments.

The skewed and rather paltry funding of Indian sports stands in contrast to the Australian athletic ecosystem (See Graphic 1). The Australians have a nine-pronged sports funding mechanism, where government and private funds are given right down to the school level to indigenous athletes to local sporting bodies and to women athletes.

Xi Jinping: Statesman, strongman, philosopher and autocrat rolled into one

Some see Xi as the first leader of a new era of strongman rule, in which there are few constraints on the top leader.

International News : What kind of leader is Xi Jinping, who became general secretary of China’s Communist Party in November 2012 and China’s president in March 2013?

Specialists are giving very different answers to this question now than they did five years ago.

One reason is that rules were in place then to make Xi step down from the presidency after serving two five-year terms. Now, the rules have been changed. He can rule as long as he likes.

In addition, there are now centers on Chinese campuses devoted to the study of “Xi Jinping Thought.” His name has been added to China’s Constitution. No living figure has gotten this treatment since the most famous Chinese Communist Party leader of all: Mao Zedong.

I am keenly aware of how dramatically Xi’s stature and the thinking about him have shifted due to my experiences working on two editions of “China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know,” the most recent of which was just published.

My co-author Maura Elizabeth Cunningham and I finished writing the second edition just as Xi Jinping rose to power. We completed work on the third edition late last year, when term limits were still in place. Even then, it was already clear that Xi was a charismatic leader of a kind not seen in China for decades.

Emperor or thug?

Is Xi a bold thinker, a tireless anti-corruption crusader, a man who cares not about personal power but only about helping his country regain the position of greatness it once had?

Yes, say the official Beijing media. No, say many articles in the international press – think of him instead as a 21st century emperor, or a thuggish Chinese counterpart to Putin.

To understand Xi, the Beijing official media suggest, read his “The Governance of China,” a two-volume collection of his speeches that detail his devotion to China’s people and traditional Confucian morals.

Critics call him, instead, a Big Brother figure. Read George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” which describes a surveillance state whose leader demands complete obedience.

My own sense, based on following closely Xi’s moves to maximize his power and crush civil society, is that the official Beijing media’s celebration of him distorts reality.

I also feel, though, that it is not completely fitting to instead compare him to Putin, Mao, an emperor or Big Brother.

Samsung Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+ now get cheaper by up to Rs 7,000: Details

The price reduction on Galaxy S8-series smartphones came soon after the company launched the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus, bundled with cashback and exchange offers in India.

Technology News : South Korean electronics major Samsung has reduced the price of its flagship smartphone from last year – the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ with 64GB internal storage now cost Rs 49,990 and Rs 53,990, respectively, down from Rs 57,900 and Rs 64,900. The power-packed variant of the Galaxy S8+, which has 6GB RAM and 128GB internal memory, has also got a price reduction and now costs Rs 64,900, down from Rs 70,900.

The price reduction on Galaxy S8-series smartphones came soon after the company launched the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus, bundled with cashback and exchange offers in India. The Galaxy S9-series has been built on the blue print of the Galaxy S8-series smartphone. The changes in S9-series are mostly on the hardware side, especially the rear camera unit.

With a price reduction of up to Rs 7,000, are the Galaxy S8-series smartphone now value for money? Let’s find out:

Galaxy S8 over Galaxy S9

In terms of design, both the smartphones look similar and feature all-glass build on the front and back, sandwiching the metallic chassis in between. As a matter of fact, both the devices look extremely close and can only be differentiated by looking at the finger print scanner placement on the back. In terms of innards and features, the changes are nothing radical and, therefore, the Galaxy S8 can perform tasks on-par with Galaxy S9.

Galaxy S9 over Galaxy S8

Apart from minor design changes, the Galaxy S9 sports a new camera unit on the back that features 12-megapixel sensor with variable aperture lens – f/1.5 – f/2.4. The rear camera also supports super slow-mo videos at 960 frames per second (fps). Along with a new camera module, the Galaxy S9 also houses stereo speakers, custom-tuned by AKG.

→ Galaxy S8 Offer , Galaxy S9 Plus Offer ←

Amit Shah fears more corruption if Congress re-elected in Karnataka

The Karnataka government is nothing but the ‘ATM’ of corruption for the Congress: Amit Shah.

Karnataka Elections 2018 : Equating the Congress with corruption, BJP National President Amit Shah on Saturday cautioned the Karnataka voters against re-electing the ruling party on May 12 as it would result in more graft in the southern state.

“If the same party (Congress) is re-elected and forms the government, then corruption will turn into a tsunami wave,” Shah told the media here on the second day of his visit to the state’s old Mysuru region.

Claiming that the people wanted to oust the corrupt Congress from power, the party chief said the ruling party had turned the state government into an ‘ATM’ of corruption for itself.

“The Karnataka government is nothing but the ‘ATM’ of corruption for the Congress,” Shah said.

Noting that 3,500 farmers had allegedly committed suicide across the state over the last four years due to agrarian crisis, Shah it was unfortunate Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had termed the death of so many farmers as a conspiracy.

“It’s a pathetic and insensitive statement by the Chief Minister,” he said.

Blaming the Congress for ignoring the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Shah regretted that the grand old party had prevented the Modi government from giving constitutional status to the OBCs by blocking an amendment bill in the Rajya Sabha.

“Siddaramaiah says he is an OBC leader and that his government was doing a lot for the OBCs. If it were so, why did he fail to convince his party on not stalling the constitutional amendment,” the BJP leader said.

Appealing to the people to vote for the BJP in the ensuing assembly election, Shah said the state would development rapidly under its chief ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre.

“If the people in the state are looking for change, it’s only the BJP under Yeddyurappa’s leadership is capable of providing it,” claimed Shah, adding the regional party Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) would not be in a position to form the next government in the state.

Vote count is on May 15 after single-phase polling on May 12.

→ Karnataka Assembly Election 2018 ←

Bharat Bandh: Dalit protest death toll rises to 10

In the wake of violent protests, 16 additional companies of the SSB, four companies of the RAF, two companies of the STF, and 3,000 trainee constables have been deployed across Madhya Pradesh today.

Latest News : The Bharat Bandh called by Dalit groups protesting the apparent dilution of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) Prevention of Atrocities Act by the Supreme Court recently left at least ten people dead and hundreds injured as incidents of violence were reported across several states on Monday. Protesters were reported to have blocked trains, clashed with police, and set fire to private and public properties, including police posts. At the moment, reports say schools will remain shut in Uttar Pradesh’s (UP’s) Agra, Hapur, and Ghaziabad over the bandh. Whether schools and colleges in other states and cities, too, will stay closed is not clear yet.

Meanwhile, the Narendra Modi-led government moved the Supreme Court seeking a recall of its judgment on the SC/ST Act. While the SC declined an urgent hearing on a writ petition filed by the All India Federation of SC/ST Organisations against the verdict, the Congress demanded that the Centre bring an amendment to the said law in Parliament or file a “curative petition” in the apex court.

The government will on Tuesday mention the review petition in the top court for an early hearing.

With the Bharat Bandh protest in Madhya Pradesh (MP) claiming six lives, additional police and anti-riot forces are being deployed across the state. The Dalit protest saw curfew being imposed at several places. The Union Home Ministry, for its part, rushed 800 anti-riot policemen to MP and UP, and asked all states to take preventive steps to maintain public order and ensure the safety of lives and property. Thousands of people were detained following widespread incidents of firing, vandalism, and arson across over 10 states, several of them being BJP-ruled.

The Bharat Bandh call was supported by nearly all Opposition parties, which, along with Dalit organisations and Dalit members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies, had criticised the SC order on the SC/ST Act and asked the Centre to file a review petition. While the BJP accused Opposition parties of politicising the issue and contributing to the violence, the Opposition alleged that in several places, particularly in Agra and Gwalior, it was BJP workers who attacked protesters. The Congress, for its part, said that the Centre had taken the Bharat bandh call “lightly”, which resulted in the violence.