Month: January 2024

New Delhi (TIP) – The rapid decline in ties between India and the Maldives is the result of an Islamic conservative faction coming to power in the Indian Ocean Island, says a former top Indian diplomat. “Democracy in Maldives is relatively young, in their teens, and it is a question of lack of understanding of the situation as well as the realities of bilateral relations between the two countries, which has triggered this crisis, said Dnyaneshwar Manohar Mulay, a former Indian High Commissioner to Maldives. Just a month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the newly elected Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu, relations between the two former allies have gone into a tailspin. The immediate provocation came from tweets by three Maldivian ministers, attacking the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, for promoting the Lakshadweep islands during his recent sojourn there at the perceived cost to the Maldives and for India’s close ties with Israel.
The ministers also made derogatory remarks about Indians. The tweets have been deleted, the Ministers suspended, and the Maldivian government has distanced itself from them, but the damage has been done.
According to former High Commissioner Mulay, “whenever such developments happen, it is the result of some people, who have been polluting the minds of the island population there and China has played a significant role in doing this. It has been providing all the assistance to the conservative elements in the Maldives and the current regime in Maldives is pro-development but also very conservative.”
He added: “There is an Islamic tilt to their policies and that is why the first visit of President Muizzu was to Turkey and it is unfortunate that the second visit was to China. It is an indication of what the new regime prefers.” Mulay pointed out that President Muizzu is a follower of former Maldives President, Abdullah Yameen, a known anti-India hardliner, who was President between 2013 – 2018. Yameen was sentenced to five years in jail and fined USD 5 million in 2019 for embezzling USD 1 million in state funds.
As President of the Maldives, Yameen had laid the foundation for the Chinese debt trap in 2015 and led the `India Out’ campaign, currently being pursued by President Muizzu, who wants India’s 70 soldiers in the island nations out. These personnel operate India-sponsored radars and surveillance aircraft. Source: HT

Kolkata (TIP) – The situation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri-Poonch region is a matter of “concern” and enhancing deployment of troops, boosting intelligence apparatus and reaching out to local people are part of measures being initiated to contain terrorist activities in the area, Chief of Army Staff Gen Manoj Pande said on Thursday. At a press conference, he also said he has conveyed an unambiguous message to the soldiers and commanders that there will be “zero tolerance” to human rights violations and they must operate in a professional manner. Three civilians were killed in Poonch last month allegedly during questioning by the Army in connection with an ambush of Army personnel by militants. Four Army soldiers were killed in the ambush.
“The situation in Poonch-Rajouri has been an issue of concern to us,” Gen Pande said.
It is learnt that the terrorists operating in the Rajouri-Poonch area are very well-trained in carrying out terror attacks and ambushes.
The Army Chief said his force is focusing on strengthening the human intelligence which includes synergising the Army’s efforts with other agencies, adding having support of the locals is also “extremely crucial” in anti-terror operations.
“We have already taken follow up action,” he said.
The Chief of Army Staff said the Army is also looking at strengthening the ability to use technology to gather intelligence.
“We have enhanced our deployment and also reoriented some of the units,” he said.
At the same time he said the troops have been told to operate professionally.
“My guidance to soldiers and commanders is unambiguous — in terms of respect for human rights, there will be zero tolerance for any actions on that account,” he said.
“We have clearly laid out guidelines spelling out what you (Army personnel) must do and what you must not do in those areas and for the soldiers to be able to (operate)in a professional manner,” Gen Pande said. He said there has been an increase in terrorist activities in Rajouri-Poonch region in the last five-six months.
“In the last five to six months, in Rajouri and Poonch, there has been an increase in terrorism. Terrorism in that area was eradicated in 2003 and peace was there till 2017-18,” he said.
“Because of the situation in the valley getting normal, this is one area, our adversaries have been active in, in terms of abetting terrorism, encouraging proxy tanzeems in operating in this area,” he said. The Army Chief said 45 terrorists were killed in Jammu and Kashmir in the last three years.
‘LAC In Eastern Ladakh Is Stable But Sensitive’
Pande said the situation along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh is “stable” but “sensitive”, and asserted that Indian troops are maintaining a “high state” of preparedness to deal with any challenge.Our operational preparedness continues to be at a high level, he said, noting that the Indian Army is maintaining adequate reserves to confront any security challenge in the region.
Indian and Chinese troops are locked in an over three-year confrontation in certain friction points in eastern Ladakh even as the two sides completed disengagement from several areas following extensive diplomatic and military talks. On the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Gen Pande said the ceasefire understanding with Pakistan is holding along the Line of Control (LoC) though there have been infiltration attempts.
We are foiling infiltration attempts along the LoC, he said.
Asked about talks between Bhutan and China to resolve their boundary dispute, Gen Pande suggested the developments having bearing on India’s security are being monitored.
The Army Chief described the situation along the Indo-Myanmar border as a matter of concern. We are closely watching developments there, he said. He also said that integration of Agniveers into the Army is moving forward well.
The Army Chief also said that 2024 will be the year of technology adoption for the Indian Army as part of the overall modernisation of the force.

A hand-written note found in Suchana Seth’s bag may serve as a major clue to the spine-chilling murder of the four-year-old son of the Bengaluru-based CEO. The Goa Police on Thursday said the note was written on tissue paper in English probably using eyeliner or a kajal pencil and then it was shredded and crumpled. The investigators pieced together the torn pieces of the note and said it offered an insight into Suchana Seth’s mental state that she was frustrated with the custody battle. Suchana Seth has been involved in a custody battle for their son with her husband P Venkat Ram.
The recent court order allowed the father to meet the son on designated days which did not go down well with Suchana, reports said. The CEO also disclosed to close friends and family members that the son’s face reminded her of her husband’s face. The police have not disclosed the exact content of the note but said the note consists of five sentences written in English.

New Delhi (TIP) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, January 12, began a special 11-day religious exercise ahead of the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22. In a message, he said it is his good fortune that he will be a witness to this auspicious occasion. He said God has chosen him as an instrument to represent all Indians during the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ exercise and that he is undertaking the special religious exercise keeping this in mind. “I seek blessing from people,” he said on X.
The prime minister posted an audio message, noting that it is difficult to articulate one’s sentiments at this time but he is making an attempt. “I am emotional. First time in life, I am experiencing such feelings,” he said.
Officials said Modi will be following the arduous guidelines detailed in scriptures related to the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony.
While counting himself as blessed to be representing all Indians when he enters the sanctum sanctorum of Ram temple on January 22, the PM said though he would witness the divine moment in person, all 140 crore Indians would be with him.
“All Ram worshippers will be with me. That moment will be a moment of our collective realisation. I will carry with me the inspiration of innumerable people who sacrificed their lives for the Mandir, the inspiration of endless tales of nameless people and their valour and of the resilience shown over a long wait of 500 years,” Modi said, adding that he would enter the sanctum sanctorum of the temple with the energy of everyone and would feel their presence.
The 11-day social and moral code of conduct the PM entered into on Friday is prescribed in Hindu scriptures as a mandatory exercise ahead of a task like consecration of an idol.
The code of conduct involves a range of tasks, including fasting, and observance of a set of values. Called Yam Niyams, these codes are strict and require tremendous self-discipline.

The Indian passport remains the 80th strongest in the world, the same as last year, according to the 2024 Henley Passport Index. However, the Indian passport now gives its holders visa-free access to 62 countries as against 57 in the 2023 Henley Passport Index. Two years ago, India was at the 87th spot.
However, India has a lot of catching up to do as the average number of destinations travellers are able to access visa-free in the latest Index is 111. In 2023, the average number of destinations travellers were able to access visa-free was 109. The Henley Passport Index ranks all of world’s 199 passports to 227 travel destinations. Where a visa is required, a score of zero is given, and a score of one is given if the destination is a visa on arrival. Besides European countries, whose passports are much more powerful, several third world countries too have passports that allow visa-free entry to more countries than India. They include Malaysia (12th spot with visa free access to 182 countries) and South Africa (53rd place with visa-free access to 108 countries). Sanctions-hit Russia is in the 51st spot with visa-free access to 119 countries.
Passport holders of Pakistan have access to only 34 countries and its passport is ranked 101. Six countries start 2024 with the world’s most powerful passport. The countries are France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore and Spain, whose passport allows visa-free entry to 194 global destinations. Source: TNS

Indira Gandhi represented strength. She epitomized sacrifice. She personified service. She was the Iron Lady of India whom Atal Behari Vajpayee called “Durga” (the Indian Goddess of Power). The first woman Prime Minister of India, she was a true Bharat Ratna. Her birthday falls on November 19
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi, born 0n 19 November 1917, was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the third Prime Minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984. She was India’s first and, to date, only female prime minister, and a central figure in Indian politics as the leader of the Indian National Congress.
Gandhi was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, and the mother of Rajiv Gandhi, who succeeded her in office as the country’s sixth prime minister.
Furthermore, Gandhi’s cumulative tenure of 15 years and 350 days makes her the second-longest-serving Indian prime minister after her father. Henry Kissinger described her as an “Iron Lady”, a nickname that became associated with her tough personality since her lifetime.
During Nehru’s premiership from 1947 to 1964, Gandhi served as his hostess and accompanied him on his numerous foreign trips. In 1959, she played a part in the dissolution of the communist-led Kerala state government as then-president of the Indian National Congress, otherwise a ceremonial position to which she was elected earlier that year. Lal Bahadur Shastri, who had succeeded Nehru as prime minister upon his death in 1964, appointed her minister of information and broadcasting in his government; the same year she was elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament. On Shastri’s sudden death in January 1966, Gandhi defeated her rival, Morarji Desai, in the Congress Party’s parliamentary leadership election to become leader and also succeeded Shastri as prime minister. She led the Congress to victory in two subsequent elections, starting with the 1967 general election, in which she was first elected to the lower house of the Indian parliament, the Lok Sabha. In 1971, the Congress Party headed by Gandhi managed to secure its first landslide victory since her father’s sweep in 1962, focusing on issues such as poverty. But following the nationwide Emergency implemented by her, she faced massive anti-incumbency and lost the 1977 general election, the first time for the Congress party to do so. Gandhi was ousted from office and even lost her seat in parliament in the election. Nevertheless, her faction of the Congress Party won the next general election by a landslide, due to Gandhi’s leadership and weak governance of the Janata Party rule, the first non-Congress government in independent modern India’s history.
Birth And Early Life
On November 19, 1917, Indira was born into the family of Motilal Nehru, who was heavily involved in the time of independence. Indira’s father, Jawaharlal Nehru, was a well-known and well-educated lawyer who remained engaged for most of the time with Mahatma Gandhi in the Indian independence struggle. Indhira Gandhi has had a patriotic attitude since her youth, and India’s nationalist movement at that time included a protest of British foreign goods as part of its strategy. She was highly influenced by this movement. As a result, when Indira once encountered a foreign-built thing on the occasion of Holi, that led this 5-year-old Indira to burn her favorite doll.
Education
Indira completed her matriculation at Pune University and continued her studies in Shantiniketan in West Bengal before moving for further education to Switzerland at Oxford University’s Somerville College.
Indira had spent several months in Switzerland with her unwell mother during her studies when her mother, Kamala Nehru, got Tuberculosis in 1936, and Jawaharlal Nehru was in an Indian prison when Kamala died.
Marriage & Family Life
After Indira Gandhi entered the Congress Party, she met Feroze Gandhi. At that time, Feroze Gandhi was a reporter and a significant member of the Youth Congress. Later, Indira Gandhi married Feroze Gandhi in the year 1941, against her father’s denial. Rajiv Gandhi was born first, followed by Sanjay Gandhi.
Although Indira Gandhi was married to Feroze Gandhi, Feroze and Gandhi’s family were not related as per community. Although Feroze fought alongside Mahatma Gandhi in the fight for independence by the community, he’s been a Parsi. In contrast, Indira Gandhi was a Hindu, and untraditional marriage wasn’t usual at the time, and it was the reason why the pair wasn’t admired in public. Thus Mahatma Gandhi backed them in the tough time and issued a public declaration, including a message to the media, that he would like to invite all the people who are not happy to come and accept this marriage and bless the bride and groom, it is also said that Mahatma Gandhi was the person who advised Feroze and Indira to use the title “Gandhi” to keep their public influence clean in the political career ahead.
Political Career
Indira’s entrance into politics was neither extremely challenging nor shocking because the Nehru family was already there in India’s central government as a first contender. No one was then near them. Since Indira was a child, she watched Mahatma Gandhi come and go from his Allahabad home on several occasions for different reasons. Thus, she was attracted by the country and its democracy.
Indira Gandhi held several electoral rallies for her husband Feroze and headed the campaign in his support during the Lok Sabha elections of 1951 and 1952. Feroze was competing for Rae Bareli at that time. Feroze quickly rose to prominence as a frontrunner in the fight against systemic corruption. He revealed many corruption cases and cronyism, including the identity of an investment company in the name of the finance minister of that time, TT Krishnamachari. At that time, Jawaharlal Nehru was generally viewed as a close friend of the finance minister.
Feroze found his place in national politics, in this fashion, with a huge struggle at the initial phase, even though he maintained his campaign against people involved in the corruption from central government with a small group of followers. Unfortunately, he died due to a heart attack on September 8, 1960.
Cong President and Political Involvement
Indira Gandhi was appointed as a President of the INC, i.e., Indian National Congress, back there in 1959. Jawaharlal Nehru also chose her as a main advisory of the committee. Indira Gandhi preferred to be the contender in the very next election after the demise of Nehru on May 27, 1964, and she also won. And thus, she was handed the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting department in Lal Bahadur Shastri’s cabinet.
Prime Minister of India
Following Lal Bahadur Shastri’s death in Tashkent on January 11, 1966, she gained a majority of the vote in an interim election and became Prime Minister. The acceptance of the 1969 nationalization plans of India’s 14 major banks of that time, along with four major oil corporations, was among the most noteworthy achievements for her as Prime Minister. Apart from these achievements, India, under her tenure, made the first underground explosions in 1974 that led the country into the nuclear age. She also made productive moves to remove food scarcity from the country.
Indo-Pak War
In 1971, the fact was that Indira Gandhi had to deal with a major issue this year. And thus, it started with the conflict when West Pakistani soldiers entered Bengali East Pakistan to suppress their independence campaign. On 31st March 31, she spoke out against the terrible conflict, but opposition persevered, and thousands of migrants began pouring into India. And as a result, India started facing a severe shortage of resources for the caring of these migrants, which caused concern inside the country. Although India backed the freedom warriors who were fighting for their country’s independence, the issue became even more problematic when US President Nixon urged the US to take Pakistan’s side, while China had already been equipping Pakistan. And as a result, West Pakistan’s military continued to torture the civilians in East Pakistan, and mostly Hindus got targetted. Around 10 million East Pakistanis abandoned the nation and sought residence in India. Indira Gandhi got compelled by the massive number of refugees to encourage the Azami League’s fight for independence from West Pakistan.
India gave military support as well as provided weapons to counter West Pakistan. Indira Gandhi acknowledged the necessity of Bangladesh’s independence after Pakistan bombarded India’s camp on December 3. She promised that she would grant safety to Bangladesh’s revolutionary warriors and back the country’s formation. US President Nixon ordered US warships to be dispatched to India on December 9, but Pakistan surrendered on December 16. The surrendered paperwork was signed by the West Pakistani Armed Forces in front of India, leading to the foundation of Bangladesh, a new country. And as a result, on December 16, 1971, the war between West Pakistan and East Pakistan in Dhaka ended.
Imposition of Emergency
Opposition leaders and social activists held a major protest against the central government led by Indira Gandhi in 1975 due to the growing prices, the horrible status of the economy of that time, and widespread corruption. Also, people’s resentment towards her continued to grow. In the following year, the Allahabad High Court declared that Indira had cheated during the previous election, which also helped trigger the present political chaos of that period. Indira was asked to quit her seat immediately. Instead of quitting on June 26, 1975, Indira Gandhi announced a state of emergency, claiming the country’s unstable political circumstances.
J.P Narayan, a Gandhian socialist, and his followers hoped to restructure Indian culture by uniting youths, villagers, and labor groups in a “whole non-violent revolution.” But as a result, Narayan was soon apprehended and jailed. As the result of the emergency, the people’s constitutional rights were abolished, and thus she jailed all of her political rivals and put the media under severe control.
Post Removal of Emergency
During the Emergency, Indira’s youngest child Sanjay Gandhi tried to control the country with complete authority, ordering the dismantling of slum areas and a hugely controversial sterilization campaign, which turned Indira against the government. Indira Gandhi requested an election in 1977. As a result, the growing Janata Dal alliance, led by Morarji Desai and J.P Narayan, beat her even though she was confident that she would defeat the opponents.
Return of Indira as a Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi took full advantage of a rift among the Janata Party’s members. During their tenure, the ruling party’s government ordered to arrest Indira Gandhi by claiming some cause. Unfortunately, their method backfired for those individuals and helped Indira Gandhi gain some sympathy. Afterward, in the 1980 elections, the Congress won with a huge margin, and Indira Gandhi was re-elected Prime Minister of India. Also, the truth cannot be escaped that the Janata Party was not stable somewhere, which allowed Congressmen and Indira to gain benefits from it.
Operation “Bluestar”
In September 1981, a gang of Sikh terrorists demanded “Khalistan”, and as a result, the group managed to enter into the Golden Temple complex, Amritsar. To respond to the incident, Indira Gandhi ordered troops (Army) to proceed towards this religious place to implement Operations Blue Star even though she was aware of the information that thousands of innocent people were there in the temple premise. Although the government later claimed that they used tanks and other heavy weapons to reduce the terrorist threat, it resulted in the deaths of several innocent people. And thus, this Blue Star mission was regarded as a type of disaster in Independent India. The impact of the incident worsened the nation’s regional tensions. A few Sikhs resigned from military and civil executive roles, and some have even decided to return governmental honors. Indira Gandhi’s political identity somehow also got affected during all these incidents.
In response to the carnage at the Savarna temple during Operation Blue Star, Gandhi’s bodyguards Bint Singh and Satwant Singh shot Indira Gandhi with 31 bullets on October 31, 1984. This event took place on New Delhi’s Safdarganj Road.