Back in January-February 2021, when the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic
was being thoroughly mismanaged by the Modi sarkar*, as had the Indian economy
even prior to the Covid outbreak (the Congress-led UPA government having had a
better track record at economic growth and poverty reduction), and the Chinese
military intruded into the Galwan valley with our PM churlishly
denying any intrusion, PM Modi’s approval ratings in
the general public remained remarkably high. Despite a massive drop in popularity during the second
wave (which saw mass cremations and bodies floating in the Ganga)**, he undeniably remains extremely popular with a very large section of the Indian populace. The question is – why is this so?
The answer is threefold – the BJP has managed to convince a large chunk of
people that it is committed to fighting corruption, that it stands for Hindu
interests and that it is committed to national security unlike parties that
oppose it. On all these three counts, the claims of the BJP, notwithstanding
its rhetoric, fall flat, and the opposition needs better communication
strategies to convey this to the general public of our country.
Modi may not have personally enriched himself using his public office (though
the supposed fakir did decide to buy new VVIP jets during the first wave of the
pandemic when hospitals were running out of beds and migrant workers were
walking miles hungry and thirsty), but nor did perhaps Manmohan Singh (PMs get a lot of perks anyway even after they are out of office). That said, that the Modi-led BJP has no
commitment to fighting corruption is evident from its weakening transparency
laws like the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Whistleblowers Protection Act, the FCRA to help political parties, the Lokayukta Act
in Goa again quite shamelessly after the lokayukta exposed scams (as
discussed here, here, here and here) and provisions of the CrPC in Maharashtra when the BJP
was in power there to favour the financially corrupt, and Modi himself
campaigns for the BJP in state elections; so, he can't wash his hands off! The
Modi-led BJP has also taken steps like introducing secret electoral bonds for political parties (such that
big scandals of cronyism by the BJP can seldom be detected), discontinuing the anti-corruption helpline introduced
by the AAP government in Delhi after the LG took over the
Anti-Corruption Bureau (the helpline had been a great success and led to several corrupt officers being punished) and having zero
accountability for the PM-CARES Fund without any logical explanation (as
discussed here, here and here) and giving a contract to a company that has never
made ventilators to make them; did that company give money to the BJP via an
electoral bond?! Inducting scam-convicted Sukh Ram and Daler Mahandi,
convicted for trafficking, in the BJP also does not suggest
any commitment to clean politics. And yes, despite Vasundhara Raje shamelessly
passing a gag ordinance against reportage of corruption and Shivraj Singh
Chouhan doing little to check the Vyapam scam or protect witnesses and
whistleblowers associated with the same, not only did the BJP appoint them as
CM-candidates again in 2018 with Modi himself campaigning for them (rather than
expelling them from the party supposedly meant to fight corruption) but they
were, in fact, made national vice presidents of the
so-called party with a difference after being rejected by their own people at
the polls. That the Jio Institute, which existed only on paper, had to be given
the 'Institute of Eminence' tag and grant, that too with documented pressure
from the PMO, and with someone who left the HRD Ministry and working for
Reliance laying out the roadmap days after the "institutes of
eminence" policy was conceived, is as blatant a case of cronyism as can
be, and while they may have fancy layouts, there are other such private
universities already functioning in India too, expected to rise in the global
rankings sooner, and why at the expense of well-known excellent
institutes? The application files of some institutes even disappeared from
the HRD Ministry office! Also, that more than 30
economic offenders managed to leave the country (have any aviation officers been
sacked?) with Modi as PM does raise serious questions. Modi keeps invoking
Ram - the character of Ram, as the Ramayan goes, was such that to be seen as
aboveboard, he could even wrong his own wife he dearly loved; here, we have
blatant displays of brazen nepotism, and the PM failing to come clean on the
PM-CARES Fund and even his university degree (in Entire Political Science, if
you please!)! If anyone says that popular leaders like Modi should always be
considered great, think of Hitler, Mussolini and Jinnah***, and Modi-bhakts'
supposed respect of the popular mandate doesn't reflect in their attitude
towards Jawaharlal Nehru or even Manmohan Singh or Arvind Kejriwal (all of whom
were/have been re-elected at some point of time). In fact, the Ramayan offers another lesson - Ravan donned the garb of a sadhu to abduct Sita, implying that anyone posing as pious (and Modi literally gave picture-perfect poses in the Himalayas in the phase wherein he had supposedly renounced worldly desires, and even now, makes a show of performing Hindu prayers and meditation) should not be taken as such on face value, and there are many conmen exploiting religious faith.
As for commitment to Hindu interests, the Congress also has a better
track record than the BJP at helping Kashmiri Pandits and cleaning the Ganga,
while BJP has let down the Kashmiri Pandits, Bru Hindu refugees displaced by
Mizo Christian extremists and the family of Ankit Saxena, a victim of Muslim
extremism, and while itself being in power and in a position to address issues,
floated lies to keep Hindus in a perennial victimhood syndrome, as
discussed here. Indeed, the Congress party has
promoted the best of Indic heritage internationally, having Indic texts
translated in multiple languages through the Indian Council for Cultural
Relations (ICCR) since the days of Pandit Nehru and when in power, and has also
funded extensive research on ancient and medieval Sanskrit manuscripts under
the aegis of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) set up by
Rajiv Gandhi (of whom or whose mother I am no uncritical admirer either); so,
the Congress or even all other opposition parties cannot and should not be
judged by some loud cultural leftists on some university campuses or even some
media houses selectively denigrating the whole of Hindu culture. In fact, the
Congress-led UPA government had, in 2009-2010, funded the repair of a Jagannath rath holy
for many Hindus, which had been damaged by the Pakistani Army in 1971. Also, it
was the Congress-led UPA government that shut down the communal and regressive Zakir Naik’s channel in India in
2012. By the way, fake news notwithstanding, the AAP has also demonstrated its
commitment to Hindu sensibilities, as discussed here. That said, it is certainly true
that parties opposing Hindu majoritarianism weaken their case when they
accommodate communal and regressive Muslims (like Abu Azmi, Azam Khan and Shafiqur Rahman in the
SP, Yaqoob Qureshi in the BSP and Arbaz Khan in the NCP,
among others) to play the religious card in some Muslim-majority
constituencies, a tendency they should backtrack on ethically, and now, even
practically given how it contributes to Hindu consolidation across caste lines
in favour of the BJP. To that end, occasional minority-appeasing statements by
Hindus in these parties, like this one and this one, should also now stop for good.
As for national security, the Modi sarkar has lagged in modernising the
military, as you can see here and here. As for fewer jihadist terror
attacks in Indian cities outside J&K, that is indeed a heartening trend but
from 2009 onwards when P. Chidambaram, as home minister, reformed the intelligence grid, leading to
several terrorist attacks being averted, and the UPA also skillfully managed
our diplomacy to have terrorists like Abu Jundal extradited from Saudi Arabia,
for example. That said, terrorist attacks even outside the typical conflict
zones have taken place even with Modi as PM. We’ve had blasts in Burdhwan, West
Bengal, in October 2014, Bangalore in December 2014, Gurdaspur in Punjab (the
BJP-Akali coalition was ruling Punjab at the time) in July 2015, Pathankot in
Punjab in January 2016 (the BJP-Akali coalition was ruling Punjab at the time),
the Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train bombing in MP (then governed by the BJP) in
March 2017 and blasts in a police station in Jalandhar, Punjab, by Kashmiri jihadists
in September 2018, besides an attack by Khalistani terrorists in Amritsar in
November 2018 on Nirankaris, seen as not being true Sikhs by many Khalsa Sikhs,
and a bomb detonating near the Israeli embassy in January 2021. I did support
the IAF strikes in Balakot in Pakistan in and of themselves in line with Lal
Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi’s approach (or even Nehru’s approach
vis-à-vis the Portuguese in Goa), but the Modi sarkar was indeed unprepared for
their fallout, with our outdated military infrastructure preventing Wing Commander Abhinandan from hearing his alert female colleague telling him to
return when he accidentally crossed the Line of Control and he
unfortunately fell to enemy hands, and in the larger diplomatic battle, Imran
Khan managed to portray himself as the magnanimous one.
However, beyond these three factors, I’d say that there is one more
important factor, and that is the greater acceptance of anti-Muslim bias, even
anti-Muslim bigotry, among Indian Hindus, even among some strongly opposing it
earlier, since the rise of the ISIS, a phenomenon not limited to Indian Hindus
but which unjustifiably but understandably resonated in good measure with
non-Muslims globally, contributing to making us witness the rise of leaders
like Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and Jair Bolsonaro. The fact, however, is that
the ISIS has never represented the average Muslim (not even the average puritan
Sunni) of Iraq or Syria [as I have logically explained at length here and here, also emphasising that any criticism
of Islamic scriptures, including by apostates of Islam (scriptures of other
religions are also criticized by their apostates) does not validate
stereotyping Muslims or even practising Muslims as people], let alone elsewhere
globally, least of all in India, where the ISIS
recruits have been miniscule, given the size of our Muslim
population [and those ringing demographic alarm-bells would do well to
see this; and yes, even otherwise, if someone
sees Muslims potentially outnumbering Hindus in India as a real problem, they
should appeal to the Indian government to legally impose a two-child norm for
all Indian citizens, irrespective of religion, which will make it completely
impossible for Muslims to outnumber Hindus and is, in any case, much-needed
given the strain on resources (something also pointed out by Congress leader Manish
Tiwari in the wake of the shortage of hospital beds during the first wave of
the coronavirus pandemic), and there is no naivete or purblind sentimentalism
in pointing out that randomly rioting against or lynching some average Muslims,
which can indeed even provoke a counter-reaction, is neither a fair nor a
sensible way of dealing with the supposed demographic threat]. As for those
advancing the now in-any-case irrelevant contention that all Muslims should
have been expelled from India at the time of the partition, they are requested
to see this.
Yes, globally, as Fareed Zakaria, a Muslim himself, admits, “the
reactionaries in the world of Islam are more numerous and extreme” than those
in other religious groupings, and since the 1980s, global jihadist terror has
emerged as a huge problem (those offering conspiracy theories denying the same
are requested to see this), but harbouring generalised
hatred for Muslims to support indiscriminate mob violence or institutionalised
discrimination against them, other than being grossly unfair and inhuman, will
only help jihadist recruiters, of which there are indeed numerous examples, and
those arguing that retributive hatred was completely absent
among the Japanese in the wake of nuclear bombings in 1945, Kashmiri Pandits in
the wake of their exodus in 1989-1990 or Jews who faced the Holocaust should
see this.
To my mind, there is no doubt that Islamism (right-wing political Islam) is the
biggest ideological threat of our times to human rights values globally the way
Nazism was once, but just as genocidal hatred of Germans did not lead to
Nazism’s defeat, but in fact, the support of anti-Nazism Germans did, liberal and
moderate Muslims valuing humanity (see, for example, this, this, this, this, this, this, this and this, nor is it the case
that such Muslims are necessarily either apostates of Islam or highly ignorant
of their scriptures, as discussed here), who need not be
seen as exotic exceptions, should not be alienated, and one should not become
the monster one wishes to defeat.
Episodes of Islamist violence, such as the recent tragic attacks on
Hindus in Kashmir and Bangladesh, also help the BJP, even though the BJP being
in power has never been a guarantee against terrorist attacks, not even in the
Vajpayee days, which saw the parliament attack and the IC 814 hijacking. Also,
while the BJP, in its current Modi-led avatar, is often brazen with its
anti-Muslim bigotry (as you can see here, here, here, here and here), those targeting unarmed civilians
based on religious identity do not represent Muslims in either Kashmir or Bangladesh.
What the Modi-led BJP has succeeded in doing to a great extent is to replace
economic development (the plank on which it rose to power in 2014 and on which
it has quite a poor track record - even the much-hyped Ujjwala Yojana had
proven to be a farce, as you can see here and here) with paranoia about Muslims or even
antipathy to them as the chief concern for a sizable section of our Hindu
fellow citizens (fake news, exaggerations, spins etc.
disseminated on Whatsapp have been a great factor in the same), though potholed roads (a problem no Indian political
party, the BJP included, has thus far had an exemplary track record at having
solved, and you can see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here, not even in Modi’s Gujarat, as you
can see here, here, here and here) and air pollution (an issue the Modi sarkar had
more recently adopted a creative way to evade judicial scrutiny over) take more lives than
terrorist attacks, and even among terrorist attacks in India, Naxalites and
separatist insurgents in Northeast India (often Hindus in Assam and Manipur)
have taken more lives in our country, even of civilians, than jihadist
terrorists, as you can see here and here. And while there are indeed some
Muslim extremists, there are also some inhuman Hindus engaging in human
sacrifices****, caste-based hate
crimes***** and so on.
Also, the Congress is the only opposition party with an impactful countrywide presence, with no regional parties being very noteworthy players in states like Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh, and the Congress indeed being a significant
electoral player in J&K, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Bihar,
Assam and so on. Any opposition alliance to defeat the BJP would have to be
pivoted round the Congress, which has to have to improve its messaging with the people, failing which, it does seem, the BJP cannot be defeated.
The Modi sarkar finds ingenious ways to divert public attention from the poor
condition of the economy – the abrogation of Article 370 with an inhuman
communication blackout was one******, talk of a countrywide NRC requiring every
citizen to furnish proof of his/her citizenship (which it backtracked on
with blatant lies) was another*******, but even when
there are no such announcements, Modi manages to pull off irrelevant talking
points to distract the public, and he succeeds at doing so owing to the factors
described above. So, when, during the first wave of the pandemic, our GDP was
witnessing negative economic growth and scenes of daily wage-earners walking
miles to their villages without food and water, some even dying along the way,
were fresh in public memory, Modi was feeding peacocks to portray a saintly image and appealing
to Indians to make indigenously themed video games and take Indian-breed dogs as pets!
Two talking points the Modi sarkar offered to show it is doing some very
creative and path-breaking work in more recent times were promoting hydrogen as
an ecofriendly fuel and mixing ethanol in petrol to make it less polluting.
Neither of these has been a novel, unique initiative of the Modi sarkar, for
which it deserves great praise, and this article shall expose the same.
Speaking of ethanol in petrol, before the advertisements of the Modi sarkar
thanking itself for free Covid vaccines emerged, immediately in the wake of the
horrors of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, large hoardings
thanking Modi for making petrol less polluting by mixing ethanol were displayed
at petrol pumps, for which BJP-led municipal corporations in Delhi went to the
Supreme Court asking for money from oil PSUs
under the BJP-led central government! However, this policy of mandatorily mixing
ethanol in petrol started under the UPA in 2012, and even if the
Modi sarkar has increased the percentage of ethanol to be blended over the
years, this is not some novelty of theirs! In fact, the pilot project for this
in nine states and four Union Territories was started by the central government
under Vajpayee back in 2003! Moreover, one of
the stated objectives of doing so,
other than reducing pollution, has been to reduce India’s petroleum
imports. However, to that end, under the Modi sarkar, the domestic production
of petroleum has been terribly mismanaged, with ONGC, once
India’s most profitable PSU, going in losses, with our
petroleum imports rising!
Speaking of hydrogen, when the Union Budget was announced by the Modi sarkar in February 2021, it
was rightly criticised for not increasing the
share of health expenditure at a time when a second wave was possibly
imminent, and we all witnessed the disaster that took place. If anything, a
specific budgetary allocation should have been made for genome sequencing and
procurement of medical oxygen, but none of that happened, with catastrophic
consequences, and even the expenses on education and highways fell short of the stated
agenda. Not only that, the relief announced for those adversely affected by the
pandemic, including MSMEs, was paltry. This was even
after the earlier announcement of a paltry package of 20 lakh crore rupees
(which slyly included money already allocated to welfare schemes, and for a
critique of that package, see this and this), and it speaks
volumes of the resilience of common Indians and not the Modi sarkar’s economic
management that we still managed to
bounce back to quite an extent, though there indeed continued much suffering on
the economic front, despite the Modi sarkar’s usual jugglery of
statistics. However, many Modi-supporters were going ballistic with one
announcement in the budget in 2021, and that was the launch of a National
Hydrogen Mission in 2021-22 to, as a news report put it,
“focus on R&D and demand creation and find ways to use hydrogen in
industry, create an eco-system including policies and bring industry on board
along with international partnerships” (for hydrogen is an ecofriendly fuel
producing only water on being burnt in the presence of oxygen, challenges of
its usage notwithstanding, and feasible hydrogen-fueled vehicles are a better option than even
electric vehicles) and it was touted as a novelty for which the Modi sarkar
must be particularly lauded and reflective of its futuristic vision.
Let us, for example, examine an article in Swarajya magazine dated 2nd February
2021, titled ‘Hydrogen Mission In Budget 2021: The Future Here, Now’. In that article, it has been stated-
“(A)s early as 2004, Vajpayee's NDA wanted a hydrogen technology route map.
Unfortunately, the post-2004 regime did not do much work in this direction.”
When the writer of that article states that Vajpayee’s NDA “wanted” a hydrogen
technology roadmap towards the end of its tenure in 2004, he is consciously or
out of ignorance, doing injustice to the Vajpayee regime! I say so, for the
Vajpayee regime had initiated developing a hydrogen technology roadmap in 2003!
To quote from a government press release-
“The Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources had set up the National
Hydrogen Energy Board in October, 2003, to guide the preparation and
implementation of the National Hydrogen Energy Programme. The meeting was
attended among others by Shri Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons, Dr. Kirit
Parikh, Member (Energy) Planning Commission; Prof. K. Kasturirangan, MP, Dr. M.
Natrajan, Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister, Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chairman,
Atomic Energy Commission; Shri Saroj Kumar Poddar, President, FICCI; Shri Anil
K. Agarwal, President ASSOCHAM; along with Secretaries of the concerned
Ministries of Government of India and eminent experts in this field.”
Next, let us assess the claim that
the UPA “did not do much work in this direction”, almost sounding as if nothing
happened on this front of developing a roadmap in the UPA years, though it was
the UPA government that came out with a National Hydrogen Energy Roadmap in
2006, even if not given a special catchy name like ‘National Hydrogen Mission’
with posters to adorn bus stops or being mentioned by the prime minister from the Red Fort on
Independence Day for publicity even in the midst of a deadly
pandemic! A document from the Ministry of Science and
Technology dated March 2020 acknowledges-
“The National Hydrogen Energy Roadmap was laid in the year 2006 to provide a
blueprint for the long-term public and private efforts which was required for
hydrogen energy development in the country. The roadmap identified the
technology gaps and challenges in the introduction of hydrogen in large scale,
in a phased manner. Suitable pathways were suggested and policies, legislation,
financing, support infrastructure required were identified. Two major
initiatives were identified namely green energy for transport and for power
generation.”
That document also has the following table identifying the targets the roadmap
had set by 2020.
As the press release dating to 2006 states-
“Shri Vilas Muttemwar, Minister for
Non-Conventional Energy Sources presiding over the Third Meeting of National
Hydrogen Energy Board, held here today emphasized the need to implement
National Hydrogen Energy Road Map in all its dimensions, which was prepared by
a Steering Committee under Mr. Ratan Tata.”
“Shri Muttemwar further said The Road Map reflects the needs and priorities of
our country. It provides the pathway for the transition to the new Hydrogen
Energy Economy in the most cost effective and environmentally friendly manner.
It would also enable us to achieve sustainable energy security for all in the
country in the next two to three decades.”
Sounds visionary and futuristic like the Modi sarkar’s statements, doesn’t it?
However, let’s now examine if any progress was made on this front under the
UPA.
In October 2004, the central government-funded National Chemical Laboratory
(NCL), Pune, made a breakthrough with three other agencies [the
R&D unit of the PSU, Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL), Sud-Chemie India Pvt.
Ltd. and the non-profit SPIC Science Foundation – don’t we see industry
collaboration?], when it came to developing 5 KWH hydrogen fuel cells (the
fuel-processor consisting of an integrated unit to convert LPG to hydrogen)
with both stationary and mobile applications, which was even being actually
used to generate electricity on the NCL campus!
However, the NCL research on this front during the UPA years did not stop here.
In 2008, they developed an efficient, low-cost component
crucial to build fuel cells which combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce
electricity.
In 2012, the NCL set up a “Centre of Excellence” for
solar energy research inaugurated by the then Union Minister of State for
Science and Technology, Ashwani Kumar, who interacted with NCL scientists
calling for a boost to sustainable energy research, voicing the government’s
commitment to “incentivising” renewable energy usage in the country. Under this
centre, they were developing a “polymer electrolyte fuel cell
(PEFC) which combines hydrogen and air to produce electricity, water and heat,
making it an important alternative energy source”.
India’s first hydrogen fueling
station, developed by the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), was inaugurated on 9th October 2005
by then Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Panchayati Raj, Mani Shankar
Aiyar, a prominent face of the Congress party********!
As a report dating to 11th October
2005 points out-
"This is the first phase of
India’s development of its Hydrogen Economy. The facility, a
Hydrogen/Compressed Natural Gas (HCNG) blend and pure hydrogen dispensing
station, is located at the Indian Oil Corporation Limited’s R&D centre, in
Faridabad, just north of New Delhi. The event was hosted by Mr Sarthak Behuria,
Chairman, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
The fueling station, owned by the
Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), has been supplied by Air Products and
its Indian joint venture company INOX Air Products Ltd. Air Products and INOX
won the contract after an open tendering process, which was in place from the
start. The equipment consists of a HCNG mixing unit, and dual dispensing unit
which has the ability to fuel vehicles with either a HCNG blend or with pure
hydrogen.
The unit will enable IOCL to reduce
the carbon and NOX emissions from compressed natural gas vehicles, by adding
hydrogen to natural gas. IOCL plans to run at least four vehicles as part of
its test programme. This installation is the first step towards building an
infrastructure required for pure hydrogen based fuelling systems.”
The report also quotes Aiyar
describing it as a “unique and ground-breaking project”.
[This initiative was also acknowledged on the floor of the parliament in
August 2014 by Pon Radhakrishnan, then MoS for Heavy Industries and Public
Enterprises from the BJP, in the following words-
“A Hydrogen-CNG (HCNG) dispensing
station has been set up in R&D Centre at Faridabad to cater the re-fuelling
needs of test/demo vehicles operating on H2-CNG blends. This project is being
partly funded by MNRE (Ministry of New & Renewable Energy) (50%) and partly
from Hydrogen Corpus Fund (50%) created by Ministry of Petroleum & Natural
Gas.”
Ironically, the question was about
the steps the Modi government was seeking to take to promote alternative fuels
for vehicles, but all the minister could get himself to do then was to, rather
than spell out any vision, just mention an earlier UPA initiative!]
In fact, when the Indian Oil Corporation scientists were launching a hydrogen vehicle prototype in 2005, Aiyar urged the then prime minister Manmohan Singh to test-drive the same. Thus, there is nothing very path-breaking about the current BJP minister Nitin Gadkari purchasing a hydrogen-fuelled vehicle.
An IIT-Delhi document dating to December 2009 states-
“(The) Ministry of Petroleum and
Natural Gas created a corpus fund of Rs 100 Crore for taking up hydrogen
research activities with IOC R&D as (the) nodal agency.”
Did the Hydrogen Corpus Fund contribute to any meaningful work in the UPA
years? Sure, it did! A government document dating to 2015 tells us of
several projects initiated during the UPA tenure-
“Setting up of HCNG dispensing
station at IOCL COCO, Dwarka, New Delhi by IOC R&D, Faridabad
This project was approved under
Hydrogen Corpus Fund (HCF) for a grant of Rs 5.17 crores. The project was
completed by January 2009 for an amount of Rs.2.49 crores by establishing a
dispensing station at Dwarka for Hydrogen/Hydrogen-CNG blended fuel.”
“H2 production
from Natural Gas/Methane by Catalytic Decomposition by HPCL/IIT, Delhi
This project was approved under Hydrogen Corpus Fund (HCF) for a grant of Rs 51
lakhs. However, against the approved grant of Rs.51 lakhs, only Rs.43.98 lakhs
has been utilized. The project has been technically completed and financially
closed.”
As per the document (on page 30), the second project mentioned above was initiated in July 2009 and ended in September 2013. It is noteworthy that it was successfully completed using lesser funds than allocated, indicating that there was perhaps no corruption in carrying it out!
“Design & Construction of
Metal – Organic Framework Materials for H2 storage by HPCL/Gitam University
This project was approved under
Hydrogen Corpus Fund (HCF) for a grant of Rs 77.95 lakhs. However, against the
approved grant of Rs.77.95 lakhs, an amount of Rs.75.72 lakhs has been
utilized. The project aims at development of efficient process for Hydrogen
storage using Metal-Organic Framework (MOFs) materials. Under this project, a
material for hydrogen storage has been developed. The project has been
technically completed and financially closed.”
As per the document (on page 30), the
above-mentioned project was initiated in October 2010 and ended in September
2013.
“An Integrated approach for Bio
Hydrogen production through combined dark and photo fermentative process by
HPCL/TERI, Delhi
This project was approved under Hydrogen Corpus Fund (HCF) for a grant of Rs
141.63 lakhs. The project aimed at scaling up the process in a 1000 litre
reactor integrating the dark and photo fermentative hydrogen production - using
cane molasses, distillery effluent and corn syrup & corn steep liquor as
feed. During the course of developments, the scope was modified to demonstrate
the proof of concept in 100 litres reactors. In this study, specific bacteria
were isolated for production of hydrogen from Molasses. The project has been
technically completed and financially closed.”
The above-mentioned project as per
the document (on page 30), went on from October 2010 to March 2014, entirely
during the UPA tenure, for the tenure of the Modi sarkar started in May 2014.
It also refers to a project from
October 2010 to March 2014 (entirely during the UPA tenure, for the tenure of
the Modi sarkar stared in May 2014) in which the project got completed in even
lesser funds than allocated-
“Hybrid-Sorption Enhanced Steam Reforming for the production of Hydrogen
from Natural Gas by BPCL R&D Centre
This project was approved under
Hydrogen Corpus Fund (HCF) for a grant of Rs 4.15 crores. However, against the
approved grant of Rs. 4.15 crores, only Rs. 3.04 crores has been utilized. (…)
(T)he project has been technically completed and financially closed.”
Further, in 2012, it was reported that researchers at the central
government-funded National Environmental Engineering Research Institute
(NEERI), Nagpur, developed a way to safely store and transport hydrogen fuel
for vehicles, also helping keep drivers and commuters of hydrogen-fueled cars
safe.
In the same year, there was
also news of IIT-Delhi developing
hydrogen-fueled autorickshaws and shuttles, the research led by Professor LM
Das, who was a member of the UPA government-appointed core group on automotive
research, and the project was co-funded by the United Nations
Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as well as Mahindra and Mahindra
(do we not see industry collaboration and international institutional collaboration
even in UPA times?). This was covered even in the New York Times (wrongly
portrayed by Modi-bhakts as biased against India, with even false allegations
levelled, and countering that charge can make for another article). The then
Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Farooq Abdullah*********, welcomed the same, saying, “Hydrogen holds
great promise for a cleaner urban environment. Hydrogen can replace polluting
and diminishing fossil fuels with a fuel whose only emission is pure water. If
hydrogen is produced from renewable energy sources, then it is the cleanest
fuel from well to wheel.”
Indeed, the hydrogen-fueled
autorickshaws, undoubtedly more ecofriendly than their CNG-fueled
counterparts, could not be scaled up for mass usage, for
which various factors may be responsible, but if arguably,
the UPA government should be blamed for the same, then the Modi sarkar too, in
power for a longer duration in the time spanning from 2012 till date, should
get an even larger share of the blame.
In fact, at least until 2020, hardly any major progress was made
under the Modi sarkar in adopting purely hydrogen-fueled vehicles (as compared
to many other countries like the US, Japan, South Korea, China, and
Germany with running hydrogen-fueled vehicles), though in 2019, buses with
hydrogen blended with CNG had been started to be introduced using
technology patented by Indian scientists, which is, no doubt, laudable.
Next, let us examine whether the Modi
sarkar has indeed been greatly visionary or futuristic by specifically
increasing budgetary allocation for hydrogen-related innovation in 2021. It has
done so, actually joining a larger global trend looking at other countries
getting more serious about hydrogen-related innovation as of early 2021 (as you
can see here and here, and this also applies to Arab
countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE), and in fact, while, as of 25th October 2021, the Modi
sarkar had announced a vague mission with a roadmap document for the newly
announced mission yet to be finalised, 30 other countries had clear roadmap documents ready by early 2021! Given the trend
of the UPA on this front of working on hydrogen as a fuel as we have seen above,
there is no reason they may not have increased the budgetary allocation for
hydrogen this year, following the global pattern, had they been in power. Thus,
there is nothing very path-breaking about the Modi sarkar's National Hydrogen
Mission launched this year.
In fact, the first state government to take initiative with regard to Modi’s
National Hydrogen Mission has actually been the CPI-M government of Kerala**********, it even
having initiated discussions with the world’s largest makers of fuel cells like
Ballard Power Systems Inc. and HyGen.
While I am a critic of the Modi sarkar, I do not deny that it has, like
every other government, also made some positive contributions to the country,
as had the HD Deve Gowda
government. Certainly, it is a good idea to collaborate with other
countries in this domain of promoting hydrogen as a fuel (as the Modi sarkar
has sought to, as you can see here and here) and continue to
fund even more scientific research in this regard, some of which has, no doubt,
been excellent, as you can see here, here and here, as have been some
initiatives like this one. Indeed, as a
citizen of this country and a denizen of this planet, I do wish the Modi sarkar
luck for the rest of its term for reducing pollution and mitigating climate
change and making our country more self-sufficient vis-a-vis its energy
security, while appealing to the BJP to give all institutional support to
scientists (on which it doesn’t always have an enviable track record, as you
can see here, here, here and here), not peddle
pseudoscience (as it has on many occasions, like this one and this one) and strengthen,
rather than weaken, social cohesion, democratic accountability and civil
liberties while guarding our country against all security threats. Cheers!
*Speaking of the first wave of the
pandemic, despite warnings from the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR)
that a lockdown alone would, at best, reduce peak infections on a given day by
40%, the Modi government ignored for a month advice from ICMR to urgently
launch other interventions. These included district-wise infection monitoring,
“fast reporting” to identify and quarantine infective clusters, mass
quarantines for those in densely populated areas (all of this happened much
later) and a rapid increase in hospital beds and intensive-care units. The
disaster of the second wave has made many of us forget how Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore
and Ahmedabad, among many other cities and towns, were running short of
hospital beds even during the first wave, when governments of countries like
Taiwan, South Korea, Germany and New Zealand started acting much before ours.
**Speaking of the second wave, even before it began, back in November 2020, the
need for medical oxygen supplies was flagged by experts but not acted upon. Reports about
mutations given by scientists were trivialised. Genetic research remained under-funded by the central government.
Despite the central government sharing the patent rights with Bharat Biotech
over the vaccine Covaxin, no steps were taken in the interim period to mass-produce it. By the outset
of March 2021, then health minister Harsh Vardhan (who never deserved any eulogising) rather irresponsibly declared
that the pandemic had neared its end in India. Even after
the second wave began, tragically, no purchase orders for vaccines were placed in late March
or April 2021.
***Indeed, Jinnah was a despicable figure, as discussed here.
****Though human sacrifices are nowhere mandated by the Vedas, regarded as the
canonical foundation of Hinduism, references to it in Hindu lore do exist, such
as Harishchandra having to sacrifice Shunahashepa or Ghatodkach’s first meeting
with Bheem relating to a human sacrifice. That such sacrifices have existed in
Hindu history has been acknowledged even in a noted Hindu right-wing portal. This idea of killing
a human being for religious rites is abhorrent even to most of the devout
Hindus today, but is still done by a loony fringe of Hindus every year, as you
can see here. To fellow
Hindus, I'd say that we need to take stock of things like these before
boasting of being liberal and progressive, which is not to say that other
communities should act smug and not do their introspection about their
practices at variance with modern human rights norms (here's an example of a Saudi
Muslim doing something similar, here's one of an Indian
Muslim and here's one of an
American Christian).
*****Karna being slurred for being a
sut-putra and rejected by Draupadi from participating in the swayamvar on
that basis in our lore shows how old this rot is, and notwithstanding the
alternative interpretations of faith and challenges to caste hierarchy from
religious and non-religious leftist standpoints, the problem, while declining,
continues to persist.
******Ever since the accession of the
princely state of J&K to India on 27th October 1947, the Indian
state has maintained for decades that J&K is an integral part of India,
even if with some special privileges in an asymmetrical federal system. Militancy in
J&K has continued even with new avatars like the usage of drones in Jammu even after
the BJP’s much-hyped abrogation of Article 370, which given the militancy targeting non-Kashmiri Indian settlers,
even if Muslims, hasn’t enabled many non-Kashmiri Indians to settle down there since
the abrogation (thus proving to be case of putting the cart before the horse),
nor facilitated any mass return of Kashmiri Pandits (with the few remaining in
the valley still being targeted), but has
alienated moderate Kashmiri Muslims (who do exist, and have been gunned down by jihadist terrorists in much
larger numbers than Kashmiri Pandits, some prominent examples being Shujat
Bukhari, Maulana Masoodi, Mushirul Haq and Abdul Sattar Ranjoor) even more given
an inhuman communication blackout for months together adversely affecting
businesses, schooling (though the abrogation was supposedly meant to boost the
local economy and ensure uninterrupted schooling for children!), medical
treatment (with even landline connectivity denied for quite some time, many
couldn’t call ambulances on time, resulting in deaths), funerals, transferring
money to Kashmiri students outside the valley, those outside the valley seeking
to check on their ailing relatives and so on. And the BJP keeping special
statuses (Articles 371A to H of the constitution relating to Northeast Indian
states that the BJP has explicitly promised to not tamper with, the Forest Rights Act and the
PESA) and domicile restrictions in states of Northeast India (even strengthening domicile restrictions in
Meghalaya and Bodo-majority areas of Assam, and domicile
restrictions do exist even in other hilly regions with fragile ecosystems like Himachal Pradesh) and Scheduled Tribe areas with their own history
of separatist and Maoist terrorism that have actually taken more lives than in
Kashmir (as you can see here and here) and have also caused exoduses of
civilian populations (as you can see here, here, here and here), these insurgencies also having
been sponsored by foreign powers (as you can see here, here, here and here), only exposes its hypocrisy. The BJP’s divergent
approaches are because it has managed to win elections in Northeast India and
tribal areas in mainland India, unlike in Kashmir, and reforms like allowing
progeny of J&Kite women married to non-J&Kite men a share in property
and giving citizenship to Hindu and Sikh refugees from POK could have been brought
in by the then central government-appointed Governors’ administration in
J&K (Governors were running the administration since 20th June
2018 and Lieutenant Governors since 5th August 2019) without
wholesale abrogation too, given that Article 10 of the then J&K
constitution recognised the right to equality under Article 14 of the Indian
constitution. Also, militants could be and were lodged in jails in Jammu earlier too, and unfortunately, jihadist terrorists exist in India outside J&K too; so, the idea that they can be jailed outside the valley so as to help convicting them without much duress (though judges can still be threatened within Kashmir itself) does not hold water.
*******There were indeed serious concerns about a countrywide NRC given
how innocent Muslims, even decorated military veterans, in Assam were being detained
as “foreigners” and how it is unfair to brand poor Muslims without any official
identity documents as being guilty of being illegal migrants until proven
innocent (and there was no clarification from the Modi sarkar initially that
the supposed countrywide NRC would be on different lines than in Assam, where
the authorities even refused to use modern techniques like DNA
testing for those who claim to be kin of people who can prove their Indian
citizenship). There are genuine concerns about illegal immigration which should
be addressed by better border security, but not by holding people, who may be
Indian citizens, guilty of being illegal migrants until proven innocent.
********One may disagree with, even dislike, Aiyar’s elitist jibes at PM Modi
and even his views on economics, Hindu-Muslim relations, Indo-Pak relations,
global jihadist terrorism, the Israel-Palestine conflict and what India’s
approach to the same ought to be, but he is a man of unquestionable financial
integrity, who has been committed to serving the nation, and has done well with
portfolios like Panchayati Raj.
*********Notwithstanding baseless conspiracy theories, Farooq Abdullah
has been steadfast in his conviction that the Kashmir valley must indeed remain
a part of secular, democratic India (I do believe, like many others, including
several Kashmiri Muslim friends of mine, that the Kashmiri separatist project
is morally and legally invalid, as discussed here and here), a stand he reiterated recently while unequivocally condemning terrorist
attacks on Hindus and Sikhs (and no, he was not in power in January 1990 when
the very tragic exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits picked up steam), expressing his
commitment to the secular and democratic ethos of the Indian constitution,
onslaughts on which are being resisted by very many Indians across regional and
religious affiliations. And with the Afghan Taliban recently regaining control
over Kabul, while he did express hope for the Taliban to deliver good
governance without injustice to women and religious minorities in Afghanistan
(which was misrepresented by some to suggest
support for the Taliban on his part), he has minced no words in talking
about the threat the ISI-backed Afghan Taliban
poses to Indian democracy in Kashmir.
He has publicly shamed the (now no more) Islamist
separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and the militaristic, theocratic
Pakistani state, and was vehemently opposed to the release of terrorist Masood
Azhar in the wake of the IC 814 hijacking, him never shying away from condemning terrorism even directed at BJP
members. Hundreds of members of his party have been killed by separatist terrorists, attempts having been made on his life too. He
is certainly not perfect or above criticism, but nor is the BJP, which has not
been above fraudulent election practices (see this and this), financial corruption or pandering
to extremists, even separatist-sympathisers, for votes. After making much noise
over the delay in hanging Afzal Guru, the BJP commuted the death sentence of Khalistani
terrorist Balwant Singh Rajoana, and even felicitated Mizo separatist rebels, who had taken
Chinese support, in the presence of Chinese officials, while letting down Bru Hindus displaced by Mizo
Christian extremists! Not only that, they have given blanket amnesty to Bodo separatist insurgents.
Farooq's son Omar Abdullah, a senior leader in the same party, the J&K
National Conference, has never shied away from condemning inappropriate remarks from communal and regressive Muslim politicians either, as you can see here and here.
**********All those calling the CPI-M anti-national, pro-Chinese state,
pro-Naxalite, pro-Islamist, pro-secessionist or even always
anti-entrepreneurship should see this and this.
(This article was updated on 13th Dec, 2021.)
By:
Karmanye Thadani
Knowledge Council
The author can be reached at karmanyethadani@hotmail.com.
