The never ending Indo-Pak conflict at the border has been the major reason behind the underdevelopment of South-East Asia. What we fail to understand or rather remember is that both India and Pakistan were born of one big nation during the unfortunate partition in 1947 which was a massacre day with communal hatred and violence at its extreme. Pakistan has repeatedly tried to play the victim card in front of United Nations and particularly United States for its personal propaganda against its own big brother, India. Pakistan's hostile nature and the shaky undemocratic political will has contributed in making it a failed state today. Even though, India has progressed and made strides in technology and science all over the world, the small and narrow mindedness of Pakistan has pushed it back from a developing to an under-developed nation.

The other day I compared the GDP (gross domestic product) of both these nations. India's GDP is $6776.0 billion in comparison to $856.0 billion of Pakistan. It is a terrible state of affairs, but even the young generation like, Bilawal Bhutto is more interested in making a mockery of himself in media by claiming to be the one to take away Kashmir from India rather than talking about improving the standard of living of the common people of Pakistan. If these are the foreign returned educated individuals of the self-proclaimed developed nation then one can imagine the mindset of the locals in this country. Pakistan when after the partition was rich in fertility of land, culture and tourism but the ISI and politically backed terrorism against India has taken away all the glory of this beautiful country. I mean, imagine what power and prosperity this nation along with India would have achieved had they not been fighting and creating problems for their own people!

No matter how pathetic the state of affairs in Pakistan become, the politicians and the goons residing in this country will never let the growth mindset develop in the youth of this country. There is no pleasure or achievement in war. There is no constructive vision in fighting for a piece of land. I hear so many debates among the Indians and Pakistanis, but in none of them have I come across a peace loving and growth-oriented approach. It is still not too late, Kashmir is not going anywhere but the people of the region are suffering because of the inhumane violence by the terrorist groups supported by Pakistan. Stop this blood shed, rather concentrate and work for development of your nation and your people. I appeal to the youth of Pakistan, make your elders and well-wishers understand and most importantly choose a government which has an agenda for your betterment and not the same old Kashmir before the hatred engulfs your entire nation.

With the advent of the new government at the centre there were many debates and discussions on the 'acche din' promise of Mr Narendra Modi. Although our new PM just came to power, the expectations were sky-rocketing from the very beginning. This was all a result of the extensive marketing done by BJP for their brand Modi and also the dismal performance of the scam-infested UPA government. Mr Modi has been indefinitely burning mid-night oils from the commencement of his office to improve the economic, foreign, defence and human resource affairs of our country. His development work is evident everyday on the social media. From the clean Ganga initiative to the extempore independence day speech which prompted the two corporate giants, TCS and Bharthi to give 200 crore for the developement of sanitation facilities. Yesterday I was delighted at the petrol pump to realise that the petroleum ministry has again reduced the petrol price and this time by almost double than before. All this is the result of good governance of a man who actually wants to selflessly work for the people of this country.

Its been only three months and there is a long list of the achievements made by the NDA government. Here are a few of them that we generally overlook:

• Brought back all the nurses and other Indians stuck in Iraq due to the ISIS.
• Brought back the 6 citizens from the Dubai jail after 5 years.
• Brought back the 2000 crore lost by the UPA from the Augusta Westland scam.
• Initiated a plan to turn Varanasi into a hub with help from corporates.
• Invited foreign delegations for the swearing-in ceremony.
• Improved relations with countries like Nepal and Bhutan.
• Commissioning of the INS Kolkata, the largest warship for Indian Navy so far.
• Winner in BRICS summit over China on the chairmanship and bank's name.
• Focussing on cleanliness in schools specially for the girl child. 
• Making a pro-industry and pro-saving bugdet for the citizens of the country.
• Political will to increase railway fares to improve the condition of the Indian railways.
• Brought back the Indians stuck in Libya due to political unrest.
• Reduction in petrol prices twice by more than Rs 3.00.
• Introducing acceptance of self-attested documents in order to reduce the hassle for the commoners.
• Introducing new railway lines for north-east and other less connected areas of the country.
• Agreements on improving the defence capabilties ignored by the last government.
• Making a tough stand on the Pakistan envoy meeting separatists leaders by cancelling secretary level talks with Pakistan.
• Taking a strong stand infront of the so-called big and developed nations like US and China.

Am sure these are only a few good steps taken by the government that I could think of at the back of my mind. This government with a visionary leader like Mr Modi has a lot in its potential to take our country ahead and make it a global leader. So let us all support the good initiatives taken by Mr Modi and work towards a better future for us and our next generation.
 

Where are we heading to? This is the first thought that came to my mind today. Murder, rape, terrorism, war, it is inhumanity all over the world. I mean, a human's life has no value. Is this what we dreamed of? People are beaten to death by each other everyday. A soldier killing to protect his nation is a matter of pride but humans killing humans over religion, power, money is insanity. We are fast becoming the most savage of all the creatures that God created and today he must also have distanced Himself from us. We call the tiger, lion a beast but in reality we are the fiercest ones. Any animal unless for food, does not kill another one like us who kills without a reason, for pleasure for power. For centuries, we tried to rule over the giant creatures who once dominated our planet. We killed them for their skin, bones and we continue doing the same even today. The only difference is that we added another creature to our strike-off list humans.

Today, Iraq, Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Africa, Palestine are all having a show down of their power in front of their respective communities. They are killing, mutilating thousands and thousands just to climb up their ladder of greed and selfish virtues. It is a terrible state of affairs in each country. Even the self-proclaimed philanthropist country US, took a step back and did not for once come to the rescue of any of the innocent victims of the unwanted wars. Why don't all the so-called peace loving nations come forward and the UN be strong enough to oppose the barbaric act of terrorism that faces humanity today? I fail to understand that where is the willingness of doing something good and if not atleast to stop or raise a voice against inhumanity. 

I wrote about the horrors of UP in one of my previous blogs but today I was in tears and heart broken to hear about another incident that took place in this Hindi heartland of India. A 32 year-old mother of two was killed brutally on the 16th of this month for no fault of hers and the police along with the government of UP is mute. No action has been taken against the culprits so far although it was a planned murder. The woman was left to die in a school compound in the middle of the night. Are people like these worthy enough to live in our society? Why can't they be punished in such a way that they feel the same pain of brutality that the victim went through? That would set an example for the other beastly humans and these unworthy politicians who quote" boys will be boys they make mistake."

I appeal to all the humanity left in the world, let us come together not for our community or religion but for the society as a whole, for peace, for love and say no to crimes.

Yesterday, was a glowing sun directing our path. What lies today, is darkness and madness. Shame on you humans! ~ Ankhi Bhattacharya

The issue of women security has always been dealt with utmost carelessness . It hardly matters if a woman is from a rich or poor class, she is mocked, teased in the most derogatory manner in front of the bystanders who stare as audience. Be it politics, media, corporate houses, entertainment industry women are looked down upon in each strata of our so-called moral society. We would worship goddess Lakshmi, Durga to fulfill our selfish needs but when it comes to taking a stand against immorality we take our steps back. On top of everything, I have noticed that even a woman would think twice before standing up for another woman. They would not even think once before raising an eyebrow on that poor soul who may be facing the most horrific days of her life. Why is the question. Where does our will hide when voicing out against the spineless criminals is needed ? Look all over the world, even the best of the tycoons have no guts. And god forbid if the accused is a big guy with a bigger jack or contact, the system is such that he will definitely go Scot-free. I would like to share with you a recent incident that happened in one of the most reputed bpo's around, which will showcase the callous approach of authorities. There was a harassment incident escalated by one of the woman workers against a cab mate. She requested a different route for her pick-up and drop since the co-worker made derogatory remarks while travelling. A high importance mail was sent by her and forwarded by her manager to the transport authorities but the sad part was that no action was taken for 2-3 days. If this is the level of seriousness that is followed by a Fortune 500 company then you can imagine what would be happening in the others.

The basic problem lies in our social system. The rules are laid down, but who follows or who does not is never tracked. Everyone knows the do's and dont's but there will be no one to object if the policies and ground rules are broken. I understand it is a bit of hard work to keep a check on each and everyone, however once checked and if a stern action is taken, others will follow suit and be weary of the consequences. This is the same as corruption and illegal activities. If the police and administration makes it a point that they would not allow any law-breaker get away, there would be no criminal activities around. A criminal should be treated as a criminal no matter which family or clan he belongs to. There cannot and should not be any gateway for his freedom. Another thing that I do not understand is that why is a criminal's face hidden or covered with a cloth? He should be made to feel ashamed of his actions and everyone should know who the person is so that the others can also guard themselves against him. May be the guilty of crimes of lesser degree like theft etc can be sent to rehabilitation centres where they can be psychologically treated and given an opportunity to become a good citizen. Remember the movie, "Catch me if you can", in which Tom Hanks makes excellent use of Leonardo De Caprio by assigning him in his team in the police department to catch criminals? That was innovative and can definitely bring good results. I wish the present government unlike the previous one takes woman security as a priority and implements stringent laws. Also the legal route should be made easily approachable for all the classes of society with fast track courts and efficient law makers.

I was amazed and saddened to read the posts on Facebook by news channels and also the comments made by certain set of people on our Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Damodardas Modi. First of all, Indians should learn to respect their people. Why would a foreign national respect your nation if you chose to disrespect the leader of your country? And I do not know what has he done or not done for the people to start criticising when he has only completed 14 days as the PM. When you could give a decade to the UPA led congress government which hardly did anything for the comman man but scams, why can't the Modi-led NDA be given a fair chance? He has not done or spoken anything which is against national interest. Infact, he started with his work by giving a push to India's foreign policy on the day of his swearing in itself. The change in the attitude of the superpower nations is visible by their desire of visiting India. China, US, Israel, France have all been in touch with our MEA for bilateral talks. All this is because our country today looks stronger. Our sensex has been hitting the all time high of 25k and if it continues it may hit a 30k too. This is all the effect of a stable government and able leadership who is open to investors and changes for good.

I think it's time to wake up from our dream world. Where is our country going? What kind of people are we living with and depending upon? I am talking about the latest horrific incidents in the largest state of our country. The horrors of UP which started the day samajwadi party was elected as the ruling party and that too via clean sweep. I was shocked to see the results, that this "good for nothing" party was given a clear mandate on the basis of free laptops promised by the would be chief minister. UP as a state listed on the top in crime against women and even the UN has raised a concern by comparing the Badaun with the Nigerian abduction incident. The ruling party is a pack of criminals who have no conscience and no morality within. I was amazed by the audacity of both father and son, which clearly showcased the filthy mindset they carry. No respect for anyone but themselves. I mean 6 cases in 7 days? Even the rejection in the lok sabha elections did not make them change their attitude towards the common people.

I have been following the 'Newshour' on the English news channel, Times Now regularly for the past 3-4 months. Believe me I have always been critical of the editorial mistakes of The Times of India newspaper, however the Newshour has made me change my views and fall for the excellent debates and interviews conducted by the Editor- in chief, Arnab Goswami. The channel conducts debates on daily news headlines with the representatives of various political parties. Times now has been one of the first news channels to rake up the scams emerging in the government and ask tough questions. It became the most watched English news channel in Indian television. Another record made by times now was on 16th of May, the big result day when times now created a mass appeal with its broadcast at Times Square,New York.

Yes, the wait is over. Finally the results of the worlds largest election is underway and the saffron is heading towards a historical win with BJP alone crossing the half way mark and Congress decimated to it's lowest tally ever with just 44. I am sure the wait has been nail biting for all the political parties and NDA majorly after the exit polls presented a clear majority for them. The arithmetic had already begun a few days back with the exit poll (specifically conducted by chanakya) predictions giving a mandate to the main opposition party. The biggies visiting each other to carve a strategy in place in order to make the government formation smooth enough for them.

With the end of phase 9 polling of the world's largest democracy, there were several issues highlighted by media. The major issue which caught my eye was the missing of several names from the voter's list, due to which many were despised from their right as the citizens of India. Although technology has grown fast and faster everyday in this country, still the basic right of voting was denied because of lack of proper government machinery. Whats the point of inventing a super computer, a mission to space or being a nuclear power when you do not even have the proper equipment to conduct voting fair for all? Is it fair that one member of a family has one right which the other member does not? No, this is not democracy. After 67 years of independence this cannot be our state.

We have to change this. There is a dire need to have in-built technology for the basic needs of all the citizens, so that everyone in this country has the same right and is also able to exercise it. Even I had a bad experience while voting. I was being denied and was asked to go back since I had moved. I kept on explaining the guy at the booth that its my basic right and moreover my name is present in the voter's list of the constituency but to no avail. Finally, I had to get someone authoritative to accompany me to the polling booth. I did vote, however the experience left a bad taste . The Indian government should make voting a good experience. People should vote not for the sake of it but as a feel good factor too and this can only happen if the elections are simplified and smoothed.

India is a huge population and I agree that the election commission has done a marvelous job in conducting elections nationwide however, the dearth of proper machinery and equipment is making an adverse impact on the largest democracy which we are so proud of. Its high time that election commission takes a serious note of this and works towards a fair and error-free election in the future.
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Yesterday, we went to Kobe Sizzlers restaurant for a dine-in. Although it was a treat from one of our friends, I was shocked to see the types of taxes levied on the bill. We had food worth 1800 bucks and on top of that we paid 525 just as taxes.

Service tax, value-added tax, service charges and what not. They all have become a part of our daily routine. We pay direct taxes as part of our salary and indirect taxes on a daily basis. Even the everyday groceries that we buy includes taxes, which we as the end consumer has no choice but to pay. Another interesting fact is that the discounts that we get on various products are irrelevant since the end cost of the product by and large is the same as the selling price. Being an economics student I am always keen in analyzing the game of discount played by the corporations. Selling price is way different and lower than the MRP, which is the maximum retail price. MRP always includes taxes, so if a merchant gives you discount on the MRP, it's not a discount on the actual cost of the product, but a small share of the tax that we are liable to pay as consumers.

The tax policy of the government lately has hurt majorly the middle-class group. There is no economic policy that government has come up for the majority of Indian population. The salaries/earnings increase at a much lower-rate as compared to the inflation that has hit us hard. Think about the petrol prices, which were somewhere around 50 and now have drastically increased to 73-75 in the metro cities. An average household uses petrol driven cars, bikes, scooters which makes it difficult to manage a budget. People have stopped investing like past, since they are left with no money after making their ends meet. The fiscal policy of the government and the RBI's decision to continuously raise the interest rates, have had a negative impact leading to slow economic growth for the country.

I hope the new government that sworn's in this weekend comes up with solutions that have a positive and immediate impact on economic growth resulting in high gross domestic product which will eventually improve the standard of living and make our country economically and socially strong like other developed nations.

With just few days left for the 2014 poll results, the political parties are becoming jittery of their role in government formation. Every party is leaving no stone unturned in making their political presence felt amongst the Indian voter. The media too is leaving no opportunity in making headlines and the fight for TRPs is increasing day by day. The media fight is apparent with the breaking news claims that every media group is trying to make theirs. No one to blame this time the 2014 election has given tremendous voting turnout in all the states and constituencies.With minimal reports of riots, the elections this year have been peacefully conducted. Thanks to the election commission and the voters who showed the democratic power of this nation.