Friday, January 21, 2022

Don't worry, they know already.

"PM Modi on Thursday targeted naysayers saying there is a tendency to tarnish India's image, both within the country and internationally, and exhorted non-state actors to make an effort to change this 'perception building' while conveying the correct picture of the country to the world," TOI. What does 'image' mean? Should we talk about the Harappan civilization which existed between 2500-1700 BCE? "Among the world's three earliest civilizations -- the other two are those of Mesopotamia and Egypt -- the Indus civilization was the most extensive," Britannica. India is a living nation of 1.40 billion people, Worldometer. Should people not speak of their problems? Also, foreigners are not stupid. "The capital of India, New Delhi hosts 150 embassies/high commissions and 18 other representations in India," wikipedia. It is their duty to report to their governments about the economy, defence, politics, and social relations in the host country, renaca. "Every embassy in the world has spies," said Prof Anthony Glees, BBC. "Genuine diplomats gather information using entirely legal methods and stick to the code set out in the 1961 Vienna Convention." "But some people are listed as diplomats but are actually intelligence officers." "The actual spying is done by an agent - who can be paid for, blackmailed or who's doing it for ideological reasons." "All countries spy and most if not all send spies overseas disguised as diplomats -- including the US," AP. In fact, foreign governments know much more about what's going on in India than Indian citizens who are kept ignorant of the activities of politicians and civil servant by the draconian Official Secrets Act, inherited from the British and lovingly made more virulent, Firstpost. Allegations against former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, being paid for information, by a KGB spy Vasili Mitrokhin have been published, Opindia. Is there no Mitrokhin or Maxwell lurking in Delhi even today? At the same venue, Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot said, "There is a need to strengthen peace, harmony and brotherhood in the country because it is being seen that there is an atmosphere of tension and violence, and it is the desire of all to get rid of it." "What should be an ordinary commercial dispute between Amazon and the founders of a near bankrupt retailer is shining a harsh light on the quality of legal and regulatory protection investors actually receive in India," wrote Andy Mukherjee. Amazon is a US company. "Vodafone Idea has been bleeding both cash (it hasn't made a profit in five years) and customers (253 million after losing 10% of its base last year) for years now," BBC. "The government is now likely to pick up a third -- nearly 36% of the stake in the ailing operator." This after running the company to the ground, by trying to compel the company to pay completely irrational revenues to the government, through the Supreme Court, BT. Billions of taxpayer money wasted in first destroying Vodafone Idea and now in picking up a stake in it. Vodafone is British. No wonder economic growth fell from 8.2% in March 2018 to 3.1% in March 2020, HT. No need to tell foreigners. They can see what's happening. And smell it as well.

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