The Nymi is the first wearable authentication technology that allows the wearer to take control of his or her identity through cardiac rhythm recognition. Authentication has to be performed once and the wearer remains authenticated until the wristband is removed. The writband makes it possible to move beyond passwords, pins and locks and to interact with technology that fills daily life with proximity detection and task-based gesture control.
Friday, May 30, 2014
NFC-POWERED RING
Chinese start-up iGeak just launched Geak Ring featuring smartphone integration and supporting near-field communication. With the ring you can securely unlock, and navigate through personal info on your smartphone. Additionally you can share your profile (including photos, contacts, email etc.) with one touch only - just touch your friends smartphone, and your data will be transferred. When holding your smartphone while wearing your ring, the screen lighting remains. It automatically turns off as soon as you put your mobile down. Last but not least the Geak Ring's battery lasts 99 years in standby mode, according to iGeak.
Legacy at risk, Obama struggles to redefine foreign policy
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama’s second term was supposed to be a crowning opportunity to make his mark on the world stage, but instead he's leading an intense effort to redefine his foreign policy record – and the odds look stacked against him.
An administration-wide public relations blitz, which Obama launched with a big foreign policy speech this week, has done little to quell critics who frequently pan his global approach as rudderless, as the White House lurches from crisis to crisis.
With just two and a half years left in office, Obama’s chances of forging a successful foreign-policy legacy by the end of his presidency face seemingly intractable challenges, ranging from Ukraine to Syria to the South China Sea.
While Obama has outlined a strategy that includes both a strong military and the diplomatic tools of alliances and sanctions to provide global leadership, it is unclear if he and his aides have the vision – let alone time - to change the perception of a presidency with eroding global influence.
“This is a risk-averse president who is unlikely to take bold strokes,” said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East adviser to Republican and Democratic administrations. “And he faces a series of problems in which quick-and-easy American fixes are really not available.”
Topping the list is Ukraine, where Obama and other Western leaders were powerless to prevent Russia’s seizure of Crimea. It was a sharp rebuke to Obama’s “reset” of relations with Moscow in his first term – once seen as a big legacy achievement - and prompted Republican critics to call him naïve for ever trusting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The best outcome Obama can hope for may be for Moscow to refrain from taking over more of eastern Ukraine, which might be a credit to the impact of U.S.-led sanctions but hardly an accomplishment of historic proportions for his second term.
The image of Obama as a passive world leader has been fed by perceptions he has allowed the civil war in Syria to fester. His failure to strike Syrian forces last year after they crossed a U.S. "red line" on the use of chemical weapons left doubts about Obama’s willingness to use force in other world crises.
Though Obama used his speech to graduating cadets at West Point on Wednesday to announce increased support for Syrian rebels, he made clear U.S. involvement would remain limited.
How far Obama will go in response to China’s growing assertiveness in maritime disputes with its neighbors is another tough question for the remainder of his term.
Though he offered assurances on Wednesday about his effort to deepen U.S. engagement with Asia, progress has been slow and some allies are wondering whether his Asia “pivot” is real.
Most promising of Obama’s foreign policy initiatives – and the one that could go the farthest in making history - is his outreach to Iran that led to resumption of nuclear talks last year. But Obama acknowledged the odds for success are long. And even if a deal is reached, he would face an uphill struggle to win U.S. congressional approval as well as backing from Israel.
DEEP FRUSTRATION
Obama’s speech grew out of the president and his aides’ exasperation over accusations that he had weakened America’s leadership in the world, and their fear that the critique was hardening into conventional wisdom.
He may have made the situation worse when, pressed to lay out an “Obama doctrine” on a trip to Asia last month, he testily outlined a foreign policy that “avoids errors.”
“Don’t do stupid stuff” is the cleaned-up version of a phrase used in Obama’s inner circle, aides say, to describe what they see as a pragmatic approach by a president who met his promise to extract the United States from an unpopular war in Iraq and is winding down the war in Afghanistan.
Wednesday's speech kicked off a weeks-long effort by the White House to counter critics. He plans to elaborate during a trip to Europe next week, and aides will make issue-specific speeches at home and abroad to reinforce Obama's message.
Obama, a trained constitutional lawyer, methodically defended his record and cast his critics as out of step with war-weary Americans. Some fellow Democrats and once-supportive columnists also recently have struck a more critical tone.
The speech was widely panned by newspaper editorialists, with The New York Times declaring: “The address did not match the hype, was largely uninspiring, lacked strategic sweep and is unlikely to quiet his detractors, on the right or the left.”
But Michael O’Hanlon, a foreign policy expert at the Brookings Institution think tank, said Obama was striking the right balance in crises like Ukraine, though he needed to do a better job explaining himself. “A little dose of Ronald Reagan might help,” he wrote in Foreign Affairs magazine.
SECOND-TERM OBSTACLES
Getting America out of Iraq and on the way to withdrawal from Afghanistan – not to mention giving the order for the mission that killed Osama bin Laden – will certainly go down as first-term bright spots that will aid Obama's overall record.
The international arena is where second-term presidents often focus more attention, especially when a divided Congress stymies their legislative ambitions. This raises the possibility that Obama may make another try at Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking after the collapse of the latest U.S. effort, or possibly make fresh overtures to communist Cuba.
But Obama’s window may close before he can score new successes that might help him recover his footing. Lame-duck status is looming as this year's mid-term U.S. congressional elections approach, and world leaders may be less apt to cooperate if they see his power ebbing at home.
On top of that, recent polls show that at least half of Americans disapprove of his overall approach to world affairs,
Other second-term presidents have overcome early troubles and seen their foreign policy records treated well by historians. Reagan’s second term was damaged by the Iran-Contra scandal but he is now hailed for nuclear arms control and tough diplomacy that eventually ended the Cold War.
Bill Clinton’s record was tarnished by a weak response to Rwanda's genocide in his first term but his deeper engagement in Balkans peacemaking and even a ambitious but failed Middle East peace effort left him in good stead at the end of his tenure.
On the other hand, George W. Bush’s public approval ratings never recovered in his second term as Americans soured on the Iraq war.
(Reporting By Matt Spetalnick, editing by Ross Colvin)
Narendra Modi moves to official residence at Race Course Road
Narendra Modi on Friday moved to the Prime Minister's official residence at the Race Course Road.
Modi, who was staying temporarily at the nearby Gujarat Bhawan, went to the 5, Race Course Road this morning and a small pooja was performed there.
Most of his belongings have been shifted to the 5, Race Course Road-- a bungalow which he will occupy as residence instead of bungalow number 7, which has been the residence of his predecessors.
Manmohan Singh vacated the Race Course Road residence after Modi's swearing-in on May 26 but the new Prime Minister did not shift as it was being refurbished.
Modi will use the bungalow number 7, Race Course Road as his office.
Modi, who was staying temporarily at the nearby Gujarat Bhawan, went to the 5, Race Course Road this morning and a small pooja was performed there.
Most of his belongings have been shifted to the 5, Race Course Road-- a bungalow which he will occupy as residence instead of bungalow number 7, which has been the residence of his predecessors.
Manmohan Singh vacated the Race Course Road residence after Modi's swearing-in on May 26 but the new Prime Minister did not shift as it was being refurbished.
Modi will use the bungalow number 7, Race Course Road as his office.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
About Article 370
370. Temporary provisions with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir.(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Constitution,—(a) the provisions of article 238 shall not apply now in relation to the state of Jammu and Kashmir;(b) the power of Parliament to make laws for the said state shall be limited to—(i) those matters in the Union List and the Concurrent List which, in consultation with the Government of the State, are declared by the President to correspond to matters specified in the Instrument of Accession governing the accession of the State to the Dominion of India as the matters with respect to which the Dominion Legislature may make laws for that State; and(ii) such other matters in the said Lists as, with the concurrence of the Government of the State, the President may by order specify.Explanation: For the purpose of this article, the Government of the State means the person for the time being recognized by the President on the recommendation of the Legislative Assembly of the Stateas the Sadr-i-Riyasat (now Governor) of Jammu and Kashmir, acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers of the State for the time being in office.(c) the provisions of article 1 and of this article shall apply in relation to that State;(d) such of the other provisions of this Constitution shall apply in relation to that State subject to such exceptions and modifications as the President may by order specify:Provided that no such order which relates to the matters specified in the Instrument of Accession of the State referred to in paragraph (i) of sub-clause (b) shall be issued except in consultation with the Government of the State:Provided further that no such order which relates to matters other than those referred to in the last preceding proviso shall be issued except with the concurrence of that Government.(2) If the concurrence of the Government of the State referred to in paragraph (ii) of sub-clause (b) of clause (1) or in the second proviso to sub-clause (d) of that clause be given before the Constituent Assembly for the purpose of framing the Constitution of the State is convened, it shall be placed before such Assembly for such decision as it may take thereon.(3) Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this article, the President may, by public notification, declare that this article shall cease to be operative or shall be operative only with such exceptions and modifications and from such date as he may specify:Provided that the recommendation of the Constituent Assembly of the State referred to in clause (2) shall be necessary before the President issues such a notification.ImplicationsThis article specifies that except for Defence, Foreign Affairs, Communications and ancillary matters (matters specified in the instrument of accession) the Indian Parliament needs the State Government's concurrence for applying all other laws. Thus the state's residents lived under a separate set of laws, including those related to citizenship, ownership of property, and fundamental rights, as compared to other Indians.[citation needed]Similar protections for unique status exist in tribal areas of India including those in Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Nagaland. However, it is only for the state of Jammu and Kashmir that the accession of the state to India is still a matter of dispute between India and Pakistan still on the agenda of the UN Security Council and where the Government of India vide 1974 Indira-Sheikh accordcommitted itself to keeping the relationship between the Union and Jammu and Kashmir State within the ambit of this article .[citation needed]The 1974 Indira-Sheikh accord between Kashmiri politician Sheikh Abdullah and then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi stated, "The State of Jammu and Kashmir which is a constituent unit of the Union of India, shall, in its relation with the Union, continue to be governed by Article 370 of the Constitution of India".In notifications issued as far back as 1927 and 1932, the state created various categories of residents – with some being called permanent residents (PRs) with special rights. Though the law did not discriminate between female and male PRs, an administrative rule made it clear that women could remain PRs only till marriage. After that they had to seek a fresh right to remain PRs. And if a woman married someone who wasn’t a Kashmiri PR, she automatically lost her own PR status. In 2004, the state high court, in the case of State of J&K vs Sheela Sawhney, declared that there was no provision in the existing law dealing with the status of a female PR who married a non-resident. The provision of women losing their PR status after marrying outside the state, therefore, did not have any legal basis. This decision was historic because it corrected an administrative anomaly and brought relief to women who married outside the state. A People's Democratic Party government, led by Mehbooba Mufti, passed a law to overturn the court judgment by introducing a Bill styled “Permanent Residents (Disqualification) Bill, 2004’. This was not Mufti’s solo effort. Omar Abdullah’s party, the National Conference, backed this Bill and got it passed in the assembly. But it did not ultimately see the light of day for various reasons.Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the state's 'Prime Minister' and leader of the Muslims in the Valley, found the inclusion of Article 370 in the 'Temporary and Transitional Provisions' of the Constitution's Part XXI unsettling. He wanted 'iron clad guarantees of autonomy'. Suspecting that the state's special status might be lost, Abdullah advocated independence from India, causing New Delhi to dismiss his government in 1953, and place him under preventive detention.Some argue that the President may, by public notification under article 370(3), declare that Article 370 shall cease to be operative and no recommendation of the Constituent Assembly is needed as it does not exist any longer. Others say it can be amended by an amendment Act under Article 368 of the Constitution and the amendment extended under Article 370(1). Art. 147 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir states no Bill or amendment seeking to make any change in the provisions of the constitution of India as applicable in relation to the State; shall be introduced or moved in either house of the Legislature. As per Art. 5 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir the executive and legislative power of the State extends to all matters except those with respect to which Parliament has power to make laws for the State under the provisions of the Constitution of India as applicable in relation to this state.[citation needed]B. R. Ambedkar, the principal architect of the Constitution of India, was against Article 370 and it was included against his wishes. Balraj Madhok reportedly said, Dr. Ambedkar had clearly told Sheikh Abdullah, "You wish India should protect your borders, she should build roads in your area, she should supply you food grains, and Kashmir should get equal status as India. But Government of India should have only limited powers and Indian people should have no rights in Kashmir. To give consent to this proposal, would be a treacherous thing against the interests of India and I, as the Law Minister of India, will never do it." Then Abdullah went to Nehru, who directed him to N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, who approached Sardar Patel asking him to do something as it was a matter of prestige for Nehru, who had promised Abdullah accordingly. Patel got it passed when Nehru was on a foreign tour. On the day this article came up for discussion, Dr. Ambedkar did not reply to questions on it though he did participate on other articles. All arguments were done by Krishna Swami Ayyangar.Constitution of Jammu And KashmirArticle 1 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir states that the State of Jammu and Kashmir is and shall be an integral part of the Union of India. Article 5 states that the executive and legislative power of the State does not extend to matters except those with respect to which Parliament has power to make laws for the State under the provisions of the Constitution of India. These provisions cannot be amended. The constitution was adopted and enacted on 17 November 1956.Applicability of the Constitution of India to J&KIn exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of article 370 of the Constitution, the President, with the concurrence of the Government of the State of Jammu and Kashmir made The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1950 which came into force on 26 Jan 1950 and was later superseded by the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954 which came into force on 14 May 1954.
The top 10 priorities listed out by Prime Minister Modi, according to Times Now, include
1. Build confidence in bureaucracy
2. Welcome innovative ideas and give freedom to bureaucrats to work
3. Transparency in govt; e-auction will be promoted
4. Education, health, water, energy and roads to be priorities
5. People oriented policy will be govt's priority
6. Infrastructure and investment reforms
7. System to be in place for inter-ministerial issues
8. Economy's concerns to be addressed
9. Policies to be implemented in time-bound manner
10. Stability and sustain ability in govt policies
Narendra Damodardas Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi born 17 September 1950) is the 15th and the current Prime Minister of India. Modi, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), also served as Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014.
Modi was a key strategist for the BJP in the successful 1995 and 1998 Gujarat state election campaigns. He became Chief Minister of Gujarat in October 2001 and served longer by far in that position than anyone else to date. He was a major campaign figure in the 2009 general election, which the BJP led National Democratic Alliance lost to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). He led the BJP in the April–May 2014 general election, which resulted in a majority for the BJP in the Lok Sabha, first time any party has done so since 1984.
Modi is a Hindu Nationalist and a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He is a controversial figure both within India as well as internationally as his administration has been criticised for the incidents surrounding the 2002 Gujarat riots. He has been praised for his economic policies, which are credited with creating an environment for a high rate of economic growth in Gujarat.[9] However, his administration has also been criticised for failing to make a significant positive impact upon the human development of the state.
Modi was a key strategist for the BJP in the successful 1995 and 1998 Gujarat state election campaigns. He became Chief Minister of Gujarat in October 2001 and served longer by far in that position than anyone else to date. He was a major campaign figure in the 2009 general election, which the BJP led National Democratic Alliance lost to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). He led the BJP in the April–May 2014 general election, which resulted in a majority for the BJP in the Lok Sabha, first time any party has done so since 1984.
Modi is a Hindu Nationalist and a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He is a controversial figure both within India as well as internationally as his administration has been criticised for the incidents surrounding the 2002 Gujarat riots. He has been praised for his economic policies, which are credited with creating an environment for a high rate of economic growth in Gujarat.[9] However, his administration has also been criticised for failing to make a significant positive impact upon the human development of the state.
Early life and education
Modi was born on 17 September 1950 to a family of grocers belonging to the backward Ghanchi-Teli (oil-presser) community, in Vadnagar in Mehsana district of what was then Bombay State (present-day Gujarat), India.[11][12][13][14][15] He was the third of four children born to Damodardas Mulchand Modi and his wife, Heeraben.[16] He helped his father sell tea at Vadnagar railway station. As a child and as a teenager, he ran a tea stall with his brother near a bus terminus.[17][18] In 1967, he completed hisschooling in Vadnagar, where a teacher described him as being an average student, but a keen debater who had an interest in theatre.[17][19]
That interest has influenced how he now projects himself in politics.[20] At the age of eight, Modi came in contact with RSS and he began attending its local shakhas where he came in contact with Lakshmanrao Inamdar, popularly known as Vakil Saheb, who is known as his political guru and mentor. Inamdar inducted Modi as abalswayamsevak, a junior cadet in RSS. During his morning exercise session at the keri pitha shakha of RSS, he also came in contact with Vasant Gajendragadkar and Nathalal Jaghda, leaders of the Jan Sangh who later founded the BJP's Gujarat state unit in 1980.[21][22][23][24][25][26]
Modi's parents arranged his marriage as a child, in keeping with the traditions of the Ghanchi caste. He was engaged at the age of 13 to Jashodaben Chimanlal and the couple were married by the time he was 18. They spent very little time together and were soon estranged because Modi decided to pursue an itinerant life.[17][27] However as per Modi's biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, the marriage was never consummated.[28] Having remained silent on his marital status, during declarations related to candidature during four state elections since 2002 and having claimed that his status as a single person meant that he had no reason to be corrupt, Modi acknowledged Jashodaben as his legal spouse when filling in his nomination form for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.[29][30]
As per Modi in Kishore Makwana's Common Man Narendra Modi, published in 2014, after leaving home at 17, he went to Ramakrishna Mission ashram in Rajkot and then to the Belur Math near Kolkata. Then he went to Guwahati and later joined another ashram set up by Swami Vivekananda in Almora, in the Himalayan foothills. Two years after, he returned to Vadnagar and after a brief halt at his house, Modi left again for Ahmedabad, where he lived and worked in a tea stall run by his uncle where he again came in contact with Lakshmanrao Inamdar who was then based at Hedgewar Bhavan, the RSS headquarters in the city.[21][22][23] He then worked in the staff canteen ofGujarat State Road Transport Corporation until he became a full–time pracharak (propagandist) of the RSS in 1970.[25] In 1978, Modi graduated with an extramuraldegree through Distance Education in political science from Delhi University.[22][28] In 1983, while remaining as a pracharak in the RSS, completed his Master's degree in political science from Gujarat University.[19][31]
Early political career
Modi formally joined the RSS after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.[28] After Modi had received some RSS training in Nagpur, which was a prerequisite for taking up an official position in the Sangh Parivar, he was given charge of Sangh's student wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, in Gujarat. During 1975-1977, when Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi declared a state of the emergency, political opponents were jailed and political organisation including RSS were banned. Modi went underground in Gujarat and to evade arrest was occasionally disguised as a Sikh, saint, elderly man etc. and printed and sent booklets against the central government to Delhi. He also organised agitations and covert distribution of Sangh's pamphlets.[17][28][32][33]
He also participated in the movement against the Emergency under Jayaprakash Narayan. He was made the general secretary of the Gujarat Lok Sangharsh Samiti and his primary role was to coordinate between activists in the state.[22][34] During this period he wrote a book titled Sangharsh ma Gujarat (Gujarat’s struggle) in Gujarati which chronicles events, anecdotes as well as his personal experiences.[33][35][36] The RSS assigned Modi to the BJP in 1985.[25] While Shankersinh Vaghela and Keshubhai Patel were the established names in the Gujarat BJP at that time, Modi rose to prominence after organising Murli Manohar Joshi's Kanyakumari-Srinagar Ekta yatra (Journey for Unity) in 1991.[17] In 1988, Modi was elected as organizing secretary of BJP's Gujarat unit,[37] marking his formal entry into mainstream politics.[28] As secretary, his electoral strategy was central to BJP's victory in the 1995 state elections.[25][38][39]
In November 1995, Modi was elected National Secretary of BJP and was transferred to New Delhi where he was assigned responsibility for the party's activities in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.[38][40] Vaghela defected from the BJP after he lost the 1996 Lok Sabha elections, having previously threatened to do so in 1995.[17] Modi was promoted to the post of General Secretary (Organisation) of the BJP in May 1998. While on the selection committee for the 1998 Assembly elections in Gujarat, Modi favoured supporters of Patel over those loyal to Vaghela, in an attempt to put an end to the factional divisions within the party. His strategies were credited as being key to winning the 1998 elections.[38]
Chief Minister of Gujarat
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In 2001, Keshubhai Patel's health was failing, and the BJP had lost seats in the by-elections. Allegations of abuse of power, corruption and poor administration were being made, and Patel's standing had been damaged by his administration's handling of the Bhuj Earthquake of 2001.[38][41][42] As a result, the BJP's national leadership sought a new candidate for the office of chief minister, and Modi, who had aired his misgivings about Patel's administration, was chosen as a replacement.[17] L. K. Advani, a senior leader of the BJP, did not want to ostracise Patel and was worried about Modi's lack of experience in governance. Modi declined an offer to be Patel's deputy chief minister, informing Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee that he was "going to be fully responsible for Gujarat or not at all", and on 7 October 2001, Modi was appointed the Chief Minister of Gujarat, with the responsibility of preparing the BJP for elections in December 2002.[citation needed] As Chief Minister, Modi's ideas of governance revolved around privatisation and small government, which stood at odds with what political commentator Aditi Phadnis has described as the "anti-privatisation, anti-globalisation position" of the RSS.[41]
First term (2001–2002)
2002 Gujarat riots
Main article: 2002 Gujarat riots
On 27 February 2002, a train with several hundred passengers including large numbers of Hindu pilgrims was burned near Godhra, killing around 60 people.[a] Following rumors that the fire was carried out by Muslim arsonists, anti-Muslim violence spread throughout Gujarat.[45] Estimates of the death toll ranged from 900 to over 2,000, while several thousand more people were injured.[46][47] The Modi government imposed a curfew in major cities, issued shoot-at-sight orders, and called for the army to prevent the violence from escalating.[48][49] However, human rights organizations, opposition parties, and sections of the media all accused Gujarat's government of taking insufficient action against the riots, and even condoning it in some cases.[48][49][50] Modi's decision to move the corpses of the Kar Sevaks who had been burned to death in Godhra to Ahmedabad had been criticised for inflaming the violence.[51][52]
In March 2008, the Supreme Court asked the state government to re-investigate nine cases in the 2002 Gujarat riots, including the Gulbarg Society incident, and constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the cases afresh.[50][53][54] Responding to a petition from Zakia Jafri, widow of Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the Gulbarg Society massacre, the Supreme court in April 2009 asked the SIT to probe her complaint alleging that Modi and another minister had been complicit in the killing.[53][55] The SIT questioned Modi in March 2010, and in May 2010 presented its report before the Court, stating that it found no evidence to substantiate the allegations.[53][56] In July 2011, the amicus curiae Raju Ramachandran submitted his final report to the Supreme Court, stating that Modi could be prosecuted based on the available evidence, contrary to the position of the SIT. The Supreme court handed the matter to the magistrate court, and left it to the SIT to examine Ramachandran's report. Ramachandran's report was criticised by the SIT for relying on the testimony of Sanjiv Bhatt, who, it said, had fabricated the documents used as evidence.[57] The SIT submitted its final report in March 2012, seeking closure of the case. Zakia Jaffri filed a protest petition, which was rejected by the magistrate court in December 2013. The court stated that there was no evidence against Modi in the case.[58]
Modi's involvement in the events of 2002 has continued to be debated. Several scholars have described the events of 2002 as a pogrom, while others have called it an instance of state terrorism.[59][60][61]Summarizing academic views on the subject, Martha Nussbaum stated that "There is by now a broad consensus that the Gujarat violence was a form of ethnic cleansing, that in many ways it was premeditated, and that it was carried out with the complicity of the state government and officers of the law."[62] In 2012, Maya Kodnani, a former minister in Modi's Government from 2007 – 2009, was convicted of having participated in the Naroda Patiya massacre during the 2002 riots.[63][64] She was both the first female and the first MLA to be convicted in a post-Godhra riots case.[65] While initially announcing that it would seek the death penalty for Kodnani, Modi's government eventually pardoned her in 2013 and settled for a prison sentence.[66][67][68]
2002 election
Main article: Gujarat legislative assembly election, 2002
In the aftermath of the violence, there were widespread calls for Modi to resign from his position as chief minister of Gujarat. These came from both within and outside the state, including from the leaders of theDravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Telugu Desam Party, which were allies in then BJP-led NDA government at the centre. The opposition parties stalled the national parliament over the issue.[69][70] In April 2002, at the national executive meeting of BJP at Goa, Modi submitted his resignation; however, it was rejected by the party.[71] On 19 July 2002, Modi's cabinet had an emergency meeting and offered its resignation to the Governor of Gujarat, S. S. Bhandari, and the assembly was dissolved.[72][73] In the subsequent elections, the BJP, led by Modi, won 127 seats in the 182-member assembly.[74] Modi made significant use of anti-Muslim rhetoric during his election campaign, though he later denied it.[75][76][77][78]
Second term (2002–2007)
Despite allegations of using anti-Muslim rhetoric during the campaign, Modi's emphasis shifted during his second term from Hindutva to the economic development of Gujarat.[41][75] Modi's decisions curtailed the influence of organizations of the Sangh Parivar such as the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) and the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP),[79] which had become entrenched in Gujarat after the decline of Ahmedabad's textile industry.[41] Modi dropped Gordhan Zadafia, an ally of his former Sangh co–worker and VHP state chief Praveen Togadia, from the cabinet ministry. When the BKS launched a farmers' agitation, Modi ordered their eviction from houses provided by the state government. Modi's decision to demolish 200 illegal temples in Gandhinagar deepened the rift with VHP.[79][80] Various organisations of the Sangh were no longer consulted nor informed of Modi's administrative decisions prior to their enactment.[79]
The changes brought by Modi in the period 2002–2007 has led to Gujarat being called an attractive investment destination. Aditi Phadnis writes that "there was sufficient anecdotal evidence pointing to the fact that corruption had gone down significantly in the state... if there was to be any corruption, Modi had to know about it".[41] Modi started financial and technology parks in the state. During the 2007 Vibrant Gujarat summit, real estate investment deals worth ₹6.6 trillion were signed in Gujarat.[41]
Despite his focus on economic issues during the second term, Modi continued to be criticised for his relationship with Muslims. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then Prime Minister of India, who had asked Modi not to discriminate between citizens in the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat violence and had pushed for his resignation as Chief Minister of Gujarat,[81][82] distanced himself from Modi and reached out to North Indian Muslims before the2004 elections to the Lok Sabha. After the elections, Vajpayee held that the violence in Gujarat had been one of the reasons for BJP's electoral defeat and acknowledged that not removing Modi immediately after the Gujarat violence was a mistake.[83][84]
2007 election
Further information: Gujarat legislative assembly election, 2007
In the run up to the assembly elections in 2007 and the general election in 2009, the BJP stepped up its rhetoric on terrorism.[85] On 18 July 2006, Modi criticised the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, "... for his reluctance to revive anti-terror legislations" such as the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act. He asked the national government to allow states to invoke tougher laws in the wake of the 2006 blasts in Mumbai.[86]Around this time Modi frequently demanded the execution of Afzal Guru,[87] a collaborator of the Pakistani jihadists who had been convicted of terrorism for his involvement in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack.[88][b]As a consequence of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, Modi held a meeting to discuss security of Gujarat's 1,600 km (990 mi) long coastline which resulted in the central government authorisation of 30 high–speed surveillance boats.[89]
In July 2007, Modi completed 2,063 consecutive days as chief minister of Gujarat, making him the longest-serving holder of that post.[90] The BJP won 122 of the 182 seats in the state assembly in the 2007 election, and Modi continued as chief minister.[91]
Third term (2007–2012)
Development projects
Successive BJP governments under Patel and Modi supported NGOs and communities in the creation of infrastructure projects for conservation of groundwater. Gujarat is a semi-arid state and, according to Tushaar Shah, was "... never known for agrarian dynamism". By December 2008, 500,000 structures had been constructed, of which 113,738 werecheck dams. While most check dams remained empty during the pre-monsoon season, they helped recharge the aquifers that lie beneath them.[92] 60 of the 112 tehsils which were found to have over–exploited the groundwater table in 2004 had regained their normal groundwater level by 2010,[93] meaning that Gujarat had managed to increase its groundwater levels at a time when they were falling in all other Indian states. As a result, production of genetically-modified Bt cotton, which could now be irrigated using tube wells, increased to become the largest in India.[92] The boom in cotton production and utilization of semi–arid land[94] saw the agriculture growth rate of Gujarat increase to 9.6% in the period 2001–2007.[95] Though public irrigation measures in the central and southern areas, such as the Sardar Sarovar Project, have not been as successful in achieving their aims,[92] for the decade 2001–2010, Gujarat recorded an agricultural growth rate of 10.97%, the highest among all Indian states.[94] However, sociologists have pointed out that the growth rate under the Congress government during 1992-97 was at 12.9%.[96]
The Narendra Modi government also succeeded in bringing electricity to every village in Gujarat, although Dipankar Banerjee points out that all but 170 of them had been electrified under the previous Congress administration.[96] Modi also greatly changed the system of power distribution in the state, with a significant impact on farmers. The state greatly expanded the Jyotigram Yojana scheme, in which the agricultural electricity supply was rewired to separate it from other rural power supplies. The electricity supplied was then rationed to fit scheduled demand for irrigation, resulting in a cost reduction. Initial farmer protests died down when the farmers who benefited found that supply had become more regular.[92] An assessment study found that corporations and large farmers had significantly benefited from the policy, but that small farmers and laborers had been negatively impacted.[97]
In his third term, progress was made on the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City project, considered as one of Modi's pet projects. The first phase, which encompassed two skyscrapers, GIFT One and Two, was completed in 2012.[98][99]
Debate on Gujarat's development under Modi
Modi's government has worked to brand Gujarat as a state of dynamic development, economic growth and prosperity, using the slogan "Vibrant Gujarat".[100][101][102] However, critics have pointed to Gujarat's relatively poor record on human development, poverty alleviation, nutrition, and education. The state is 13th in India for poverty, 21st for education, 44.7 percent of children under five are underweight and 23 percent are undernourished putting the state in the "alarming" category on the India State Hunger Index.[103] In contrast, officials from the state of Gujarat claim that Gujarat outperformed India as a whole in the rates of improvement of multiple human indicators, such as female education, between 2001 and 2011. Furthermore, they claim that the school dropout rates declined from 20 percent in 2001 to 2 percent in 2011, and that maternal mortality declined by 32 percent from 2001 to 2011.[104] Additionally, the Indian Supreme Court, in a review of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, identified Gujarat as being one of the few states from which there were no complaints of forcible land acquisition.[105]
Political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot asserts that the development in Gujarat has been limited to the urban middle class, while rural dwellers and lower castes have become increasingly marginalised. He cites the fact that Gujarat ranks 10th among the 21 Indian states in the Human Development Index, which he attributes to the lower development in rural Gujarat. He states that under Modi, the number of families living below the poverty line has increased, and that particularly rural adivasi and dalits have become increasingly marginalised.[106] In July 2013, Economics Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen criticised Narendra Modi's governance record and said he did not approve of it, saying that under Modi's administration, Gujarat's "record in education and healthcare is pretty bad".[107] However, economists Arvind Panagariya and Jagdish Bhagwati state that Gujarat's social indicator improved from a much lower baseline than other Indian states. They state that Gujarat's performance in raising literacy rates has been superior to other states in India, and the "rapid" improvement of health indicators in Gujarat as evidence that "its progress has not been poor by any means."[108]
Sadbhavana mission and fasts
During late 2011 and early 2012, Modi undertook a series of fasts as part of a Sadbhavna Mission (Goodwill Mission), meant to reach out to the Muslim community in Gujarat.[109]Modi announced that he believed that his fast would "further strengthen Gujarat’s environment of peace, unity and harmony."[110]
The mission started on 17 September 2011 in Ahmedabad with a three-day fast. He subsequently observed 36 fasts in 26 districts and eight cities.[111] However, these fasts were not well received by all Muslims; for example, Modi's refusal to wear a skull cap offered to him by a Muslim cleric named Sayed Imam Shahi Saiyed[112] of a Dargah in Piranawas was deemed an insult by the cleric.[113] Another example occurred when Modi was fasting in Godhra, the site of the train burning that sparked the 2002 riots: a number of activists were detained for allegedly planning rallies against Modi.[114][115] Although some criticised his fast as a public relations mission,[116] Modi himself denied that the mission was about wooing "any particular community or religion".[117]
Press and public relations
Modi interacted with netizens on Google+ on 31 August 2012.[118] The chat session was also broadcast live on YouTube.[118] The questions were submitted before the chat, and those broadcast were mostly based on issues about education, youth empowerment, rural development and causes of urbanisation.[119] The hashtag #ModiHangout became the most trending term in India at Twitter on the day of the session, whereas #VoteOutModi, used by Modi's opponents, became the third most trending term in the country.[118] The event made Modi the first Indian politician to interact with netizens through live chat on the internet.[120]
Fourth term (2012–2014)
Further information: Gujarat legislative assembly election, 2012
In the 2012 Gujarat legislative assembly elections, Modi won from the constituency of Maninagar with a majority of 86,373 votes over Sanjiv Bhatt's wife, Shweta, who was contesting for the Indian National Congress.[121] The BJP won 115 of the 182 seats, continuing the majority that the party has had throughout Modi's tenure,[122] and allowing the party to form the government, as it has in Gujarat since 1995.[123]
In later by-elections, the BJP won an additional four assembly seats and 2 Lok Sabha seats that were all held by the Indian National Congress prior to the by-elections, even though Modi never campaigned for its candidates.[124] This brought the number of seats held by the BJP in the state assembly up to 119.
In 2013, the Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania cancelled a keynote video-conference speech by Modi after some Indian-Americans lobbied against Modi.[125]
After being elected as Prime Minister, Modi resigned from the post of chief minister on 21 May 2014, and his MLA seat from the Maninagar constituency, after delivering a leaving speech described as emotional. Anandiben Patel was chosen as his replacement.[126]
National government
2009 election
Modi played a role in the 2009 national general election campaign.[127][128] On 31 March 2013, Modi was appointed to the BJP Parliamentary Board, the highest decision-making body of the party.[129][130] On 9 June 2013, Modi was appointed Chairman of the BJP's Central Election Campaign Committee for the 2014 general election, at the national level executive meeting of BJP.[131] The party's senior leader and founding member Lal Krishna Advani resigned from all his posts at the party following the selection, protesting against leaders who were "concerned with their personal agendas"; the resignation was described by The Times of Indiaas "a protest against Narendra Modi's elevation as the chairman of the party's election committee". However, Advani withdrew his resignation the next day at the urging of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.[132] In September 2013, BJP announced Modi as their prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha election.[133]
2014 general election
Narendra Modi contested the election from two constituencies: Varanasi[134] and Vadodara.[135] His candidacy was supported by spiritual leaders Ramdev and Morari Bapu,[136]and by economists Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya, who have stated that they, "...are impressed by Modi's economics." [137] His detractors included Nobel Prize laureate economist Amartya Sen, who said that he did not want Modi as a Prime Minister because he had not done enough to make minorities feel safe, and that under Modi, Gujarat's record in health and education provision has been "pretty bad".[107]
Modi won from both seats he contested; defeating Arvind Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, in Varanasi and Madhusudan Mistry of the Indian National Congress in Vadodara (by a margin of 5,70,128 votes, the second highest ever).[138] He led the BJP-led NDA to a decisive victory in the general elections in which the ruling Indian National Congress suffered its worst ever defeat.[139][140][141] Modi was unanimously elected as the leader of the BJP parliamentary party following his party's victory in the Indian parliamentary elections and was subsequently appointed the prime minister by India's president.[142][143]
Prime Minister
Main article: Swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi
Narendra Modi was sworn in as prime minister on 26 May 2014 at the Rastrapati Bhavan. He is India's first prime minister born after the country's independence.[144] In a first of its kind, Modi invited all SAARC leaders to attend his swearing-in ceremony;[145] the attendees included Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif,[146] Sri Lankan presidentMahinda Rajapaksa, Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, Maldives president President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom and speaker of Bangladesh Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam of Mauritius (SAARC observer).[147][148]
International diplomacy
As chief minister of Gujarat
To attract foreign investment in Gujarat during his time as chief minister, Modi made visits to countries such as China, Singapore and Japan.[149] He also visited China in November 2006 to study the Special Economic Zones that were about to be implemented in Gujarat.[150] He again visited in September 2007[151] and later in November 2011. A month after his visit of 2011, the Chinese Government released 13 diamond traders from India who had been jailed by the Shenzhen Customs, which Modi attributed to his diplomatic efforts and statesmanship.[152][153]
In 2005, Modi was denied a diplomatic visa to the United States. In addition, the B-1/B-2 visa that had previously been granted to him was also revoked, under a section of theImmigration and Nationality Act which makes any foreign government official who was responsible or "directly carried out, at any time, particularly severe violations of religious freedom" ineligible for the visa.[154] In July 2013, BJP president Rajnath Singh visited the US and gave a speech urging the US to grant Modi a visa to visit the country.[155][156]In response to Singh's visit, 65 Members of the Indian parliament allegedly signed a letter to US President Barack Obama requesting that the policy of denying Modi a visa be upheld.[157] However, the veracity of some of the signatures has been called into question, as Sitaram Yechury and purported signatories have denied ever signing such a petition[158] In March 2014, when asked if Washington was ready to do business with Modi, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal commented that "the United States has welcomed every leader (of India)", and "a democratically elected leader of India will be a welcome partner".[159]
A report in April 2014 in the Sunday Guardian revealed that by the end of 2012, a reversal in foreign policy towards Modi by Obama had occurred. Previously, during the tenure of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, efforts were made to "get Narendra Modi", apparently for the 2002 Gujarat riots, but in reality "for taking stands that may be different from that favoured by the US administration". The clandestine operation had run through European NGOs, and efforts were made to find mass-graves in Gujarat, which could be presented as "evidence of genocide" to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rightsin Geneva.[citation needed] According to the report, despite six years of searching, aided by local politicians, "no evidence whatsoever of mass graves was uncovered".[160] As the prospect of Modi becoming India’s leader became more real, U.S. diplomats reached out to him and tried to improve relations.[161]
In 2011, the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry, impressed with the development of Gujarat, invited Modi to visit Pakistan and address prominent business leaders. They also asked him to consider a flight between Karachi and Ahmedabad, on account of the historical cultural and economic relations between the two regions of Gujarat and Sindh. Modi wanted to help Pakistan out of its power crisis, especially in Sindh, suggesting Pakistan can follow the 'Gujarat Model' in two ways — Gujarat Solar Park and Kalpasar Project.[162]
In April 2014, in a move described as "unexpected", senior Pakistani diplomats told The Daily Telegraph that Modi is their preferred choice for the Prime Minister of India, "as he could provide the strong leadership necessary for peace talks".[163]
The United Kingdom refused to deal with Modi for a decade following the 2002 violence but lifted its diplomatic boycott in October 2012.[164] Later, in March 2013, the European Union, of which the UK is a member, also ended its boycott, saying that talking with Modi was a separate issue from that of protecting human rights and the rights of women.[165]
Although boycotted by Western nations, Modi visited Japan in 2012. According to Ryohei Kasai, research fellow at the Center for South Asian Studies, Gifu Women's University, Japan, "There is a growing interest in Modi in Japan with much anticipation that he will reshape India by revitalizing its economy and better governance.[citation needed] I believe Japan has an excellent relationship with him. Not only have successive Japanese ambassadors to India been regular guests in 'Vibrant Gujarat' investors' summit (organized biennially) but Japanese private companies also made a big amount of investment in the state."[166]
As Prime Minister of India
In the oath ceremony for prime minister post Modi invited leaders of SAARC countries to strengthen relationship and increase business.
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