Bank Employees Revolt, Pen Strong Letter to FM Jaitley, Call for All India Protest on December 28

December 25, 2016

Representational Image

The Indian National Bank Empolyees Federation has, in a letter dated. December 22, 2016 to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley highlighted the fact that Bank employees have been used by the Modi government as the proverbial ‘fall guys’ to deal with public wrath following Notebandi (demonetization).

Meanwhile, PTI reports that the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA) have issued a call for a demonstration against the problems that various banks and their employees are facing due to demonetisation. The union will hold demonstrations on 28 December, followed by the addressing of another letter to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on December 29, the two bank unions said. The union members also plan to demonstrate over the issue on January 2 and 3, 2017.

The letter by the National Bank Employees Federation states that

“…we emphatically like to submit that the Bank employees has been used by the Govt. as a front door bloke to tackle the agitated public who has suffered a lot due to unexpected wave of financial concerns.
In order to tackle the rush over the counter, the employees, in tune with the Ministers /govt. officials' assurances in respect of deposit of banned currency notes in to the depositors account till December 30,2016 had all along advised the customers to wait for a comparative congenial atmosphere and not to act in haste to deposit banned notes into their accounts.

" Now, when the situation has been eased to some extent and the customers are coming to deposit Rs. 500/1000 Notes in their a/c, they are subjected to questioners' by the same persons tackling the customers over the counter and this is really awesome, as the Bank employees are not like Govt. bureaucrats or politicians to change their stand every now and then to suit their convenience.

"On the question of dishonesty on the part of the Bank employees, we, for last 10 years are requesting the Govt. of India to fix accountabilities of the Govt. nominated Chairman/EDs of various public sector Banks as they have no service conditions like other employees and we have enough reasons to believe that they have nexus with the sky high NPA's as well as bad debts write-off in the Banking Industry causing enormous damage to our economy. We have no hesitation to say, that the plight of NPA and bad debt write-off are like high mountains in comparison to small mounds of black money which are supposed to be wiped out through demonetisation. Curiously the GOI is tight lipped on the matter and also are not submitting their affidavit to the judiciary as is required before the Hon'ble High court of Mumbai.

"As the Bank employees are duty bound to carry on the instructions of the higher authorities, they are being used as a human wall against the dissatisfied mob and on December 21,2016 they have been assaulted in many parts of the country. It is unfortunate that due to frequent changes in the policy matters, the employees over the counter are themselves bewildered to follow guidelines envisaged by the RBI/GOI. It will not be out of place to mention that the same thing has happened while receiving currency notes printed before 2005 from the customers.

"We, through your good office like to request the GOI/RBI to arrive at a mind-set before issuing an instruction concerning demonetisation and also examine the impact and possible reaction of the Banking public to save the Bank employees from the wrath of the common public.

"We, further request you to ask the RBI/Head of the PSBs to make a proper plan to cater the need of the common public for withdrawal of their money from their a/c from 01.01.2017 and do the needful, so that Bank employees do not face the wrath of the public like the episode of first week of December 2016."

"AIBEA General Secretary CH Venkatchalam and his AIBOA counterpart S Nagrajan in a statement issued on Tuesday, December 20 said:
As per the call of our organisations, already our units have undertaken the programme of demonstrations in all major centres and met the local executives of RBI to hand over our memorandum.

The unions have demanded that the RBI ensure supply of adequate cash to all banks and branches, restore all ATMs without further delay, and ensure transparency in cash supply to banks. If RBI is not able to supply adequate cash to banks, then decision should be taken to suspend cash transactions in the bank branches till sufficient cash is supplied to banks.

They have also demanded a CBI inquiry into the seizures of huge numbers of new currency notes with some big persons when the bank branches are cash-starved.The unions further demanded compensation to the families of the people and bank staff who lost their lives recently due to demonetisation.

The statement asked RBI and state governments to ensure safety and protection of bank employees and officers by maintaining law and order in all branches to prevent harassment of the staff.

They also want proper compensation to employees and officers for their extra work/late sittings done in the last month or more.

Both the unions claim to have over 5.50 lakh members out of the nearly 9 lakh bank employees in the country.

The RBI on last Tuesday (December 20) modified guidelines saying KYC compliant account holders can deposits more than Rs 5,000 in old currency notes without being questioned by bank officials.Earlier this week, the RBI issued a notification directing banks to conduct due diligence of customers who wish to deposit more than Rs 5,000 in old currency till December 30.
"The credit in such cases shall be afforded only after questioning tenderer, on record, in the presence of at least two officials of the bank, as to why this could not be deposited earlier and receiving a satisfactory explanation," RBI had said.

"The instructions issued vide the RBI communication dated December 19 must be withdrawn forthwith as the banker shall not carry out the duties of CBI/ED/IB at the busy counters," AIBOC General Secretary Harvinder Singh said in a representation to RBI Governor. No accountability should be fixed on the bank officers in this respect as they are thrust with a role not expected of them, it added.

"Having demanded this, we strongly feel that withdrawal of the instruction itself will only confirm the Prime Minister's statement to the public on November 8 and improve public confidence in the banking system and reduce the
hardships faced by the officers at counters," it said.

Pointing out that the banking system itself is losing credibility because of frequent changes in RBI/Government policies, Singh said customer dissatisfaction is increasing because of chaos and confusion created in implementation of the scheme."Bank Officers are being subjected to the anger, anguish and wrath of customers or general public due to short supply of currency notes to the banks, particularly to Public Sector banks," it said.

An anarchist guide to Christmas: “Infiltrate the stores, give away the toys!”

December 25, 2016

"On the night before Christmas, we’ll all be about. While the people are sleeping, we’ll realise our clout. We’ll expropriate goods from the stores, ‘cos that’s fair. And distribute them widely, to those who need care".

Can we reclaim Christmas for the masses? Credit: Grace Wilson/STRIKE! magazine.

It’s no surprise to discover that anarchist theorist Pyotr Kropotkin was interested in Christmas. In Russian culture, St. Nicholas (Николай Чудотворец) was revered as a defender of the oppressed, the weak and the disadvantaged. Kropotkin shared the sentiments.

But there was also a family link. As everyone knows, Kropotkin could trace his ancestry to the ancient Rurik dynasty that ruled Russia before the upstart Romanovs and which, from the first century CE, controlled the trade routes between Moscow and the Byzantine Empire. Nicholas’s branch of the family had been sent out to patrol the Black Sea. But Nicholas was a spiritual man and sought an escape from the piracy and brigandage for which his Russian Viking family was famed. So he settled under a new name in the southern lands of the Empire, now Greece, and decided to use the wealth that he had amassed from his life of crime to alleviate the sufferings of the poor.

Unpublished archival sources recently discovered in Moscow reveal that Kropotkin was fascinated by this family tie and the striking physical similarity between himself and the figure of Father Christmas, popularised by the publication of ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’ (better known as ‘The Night Before Christmas’) in 1823.

Kropotkin was not quite so portly as Klaus, but with a cushion stuffed up his tunic, he felt he could pass. His friend Elisée Reclus advised him to drop the fur trim on the outfit. That was a good idea as it would also allow him to wear a bit more black with the red. He’d decided to follow Elisée’s advice on the reindeer, too, and to use a hand driven sleigh. Kropotkin wasn’t normally given to dressing up. But exploiting the resemblance to spread the anarchist message was excellent propaganda by the deed.

Anticipating ‘V’, Kropotkin thought that we could all pose as Santa Claus. On the edge of one page Kropotkin writes: "Infiltrate the stores, give away the toys!"

Faint remnants on the back of a postcard read:

On the night before Christmas, we’ll all be about
While the people are sleeping, we’ll realise our clout
We’ll expropriate goods from the stores, ‘cos that’s fair
And distribute them widely, to those who need care.

His project notes also reveal some valuable insights into his ideas about the anarchistic features of Christmas and his thinking about the ways in which Victorian Christmas rituals might be adapted.

"We all know", he wrote, "that the big stores – John Lewis, Harrods and Selfridges – are beginning to exploit the sales potential of Christmas, establishing magic caves, grottos and fantastic fairylands to lure our children and pressurise us to buy gifts that we do not want and cannot afford".

"If you are one of us", he continued, "you will realise that the magic of Christmas depends on Father Christmas’s system of production, not the stores’ attempts to seduce you to consume useless luxuries". Kropotkin described the sprawling workshops at the North Pole, where elves worked all year, happily because they knew that they were producing for other peoples’ pleasure. Noting that these workshops were strictly not-for profit, craft-based and run on communal lines, Kropotkin treated them as prototypes for the factories of the future (outlined in Fields, Factories and Workshops).

Some people, he felt, thought that Father Christmas’s dream to see that everyone received gifts on Christmas day, was quixotic. But it could be realised. Indeed, the extension of the workshops – which were quite expensive to run in the Arctic – would facilitate generalised production for need and the transformation of occasional gift-giving into regular sharing. "We need to tell the people", Kropotkin wrote, "that community workshops can be set up anywhere and that we can pool our resources to make sure that everybody has their needs met"!

One of the issues that most bothered Kropotkin about Christmas was the way in which the inspirational role that Nicholas’s had played in conjuring Christmas myths had confused the ethics of Christmas. Nicholas was wrongly represented as a charitable, benevolent man: saintly because he was beneficent. Absorbed in the figure of Father Christmas, Nicholas’s motivations for giving had become further skewed by the Victorian’s fixation with children.

Kropotkin didn’t really understand the links, but felt that it reflected an attempt to moralise childhood through a concept of purity that was symbolised in the birth of Jesus. Naturally he couldn’t imagine the creation of the Big Brother Santa Claus who knows when children are asleep and awake and comes to town apparently knowing which have dared to cry or pout.

But sooner or later, he warned, this idea of purity would be used to distinguish naughty from nice children and only those in the latter group would be rewarded with presents.

Whatever the case, it was important both to recover the principle of Nicholas’ compassion from this confusing mumbo-jumbo and the folkloric origins of Santa Claus. Nicholas gave because he was pained by his awareness of other peoples’ hardship. Though he wasn’t an assassin (as far as Kropotkin knew), he shared the same ethics as Sofia Petrovskaya. And while it was obviously important to worry about the well-being of children, the anarchist principle was to take account of everyone’s suffering.

Similarly, the practice of giving was mistakenly thought to require the implementation of a centrally-directed plan, overseen by an omniscient administrator. This was quite wrong: Father Christmas came from the imagination of the people (just consider the range of local names that Nicholas had accrued – Sinterklaas, Tomte, de Kerstman). And the spreading of good cheer – through festivity – was organised from the bottom up.
Buried in Christmas, Kropotkin argued, was the solidaristic principle of mutual aid.

Kropotkin appreciated the significance of the ritual and the real value that individuals and communities attached to carnivals, acts of remembrance and commemoration. He no more wanted to abolish Christmas than he wished to see it republicanised through some wrong-headed bureaucratic re-ordering of the calendar.

It was important, nonetheless, to detach the ethic that Christmas supported from the singularity of its celebration. Having a party was just that: extending the principle of mutual aid and compassion into everyday life was something else. In capitalist society, Christmas provided a space for special good behaviours. While it might be possible to be a Christian once a year, anarchism was for life.

Kropotkin realised his propaganda would have the best chance of success if he could show how the anarchist message was also embedded in mainstream culture. His notes reveal that he looked particularly to Dickens’ A Christmas Carol to find a vehicle for his ideas. The book was widely credited with cementing ideas of love, merriment and goodwill in Christmas. Kropotkin found the genius of the book in its structure. What else was the story of Scrooge’s encounter with the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future than a prefigurative account of change?

By seeing his present through his past, Scrooge was given the chance to alter his miserly ways and re-shape both his future and the future of the Cratchit family. Even if it was only remembered once a year, Kropotkin thought, Dickens’s book lent anarchists a perfect vehicle to teach this lesson: by altering what we do today, by modelling our behaviours on Nicholas, we can help construct a future which is Christmas!

This article was originally published by STRIKE! magazine.

On Megalomania And Despair: Is Sisi Really Nuts?

December 25, 2016

The Egyptian state has composed what looks like a closed circuit of public despair and emotional drainage.

Julie Jacobson/AP/Press Association Images. Photo courtesy: openDemocracy

“God created me a doctor… a doctor able to diagnose the case… He created me like this. I know the truth and I see it. Hear it from me. Even the world now, they are all saying 'Listen to him…'.”

This was Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, speaking about his unprecedented wisdom and special abilities. He continues to describe himself as the “physician of philosophers” and “idol of the world’s politicians, intelligentsia, media experts, and the world's greatest philosophers, if you like”. He can also predict Egypt’s future, according to the dreams he has at night.

If Sisi sees himself at the center of world leaders’ and philosophers’ attention, one can only imagine how much his own people are in trouble. Egypt’s President has never, in a single speech, failed to shower his audience with his exaggerated self-appraisal or paternal authoritarianism. These speeches usually come after a crisis that necessitates emergency political and/or economic measures and actions.

This year there have been numerous heated debates on whether two islands in the Red Sea should be handed over to Saudi Arabia. Sisi, in one of his speeches, told a bedtime story of his mother advising him not to envy others’ belongings? Is this any way to help his public understand and often overlook their outrage at the handover of a piece of their country to another?

Earlier this year, while giving a speech on austerity and the deteriorating economic conditions, the Marshal assured the public that if he could be sold for the benefit of the country, he would put himself up for sale. In the same speech, he brazenly enjoined the public to listen to him only.

The way Sisi speaks about himself, his dreams and his special abilities, invoking things like evil forces, sounds like phrases from some fantasy movie. People initially react with jokes and sarcasm, and only after seeing how steadily the Egyptian economy is deteriorating, do many of them realize that it is not a joke.

What’s perplexing is the considerable degree of public acceptance, and even support, that he elicits for this nonsense. Is it charisma? Could it truly be unprecedented wisdom that is keeping Sisi’s audience somehow hooked? I am not arguing the absence of an increasing opposition, but rather attempting to decipher his ability to confidently come up with ever more stories of 'wisdom' and still maintain the public’s apparent acceptance every time he decides to take it a step further.

Why don't his supporters, whether among the elite or the public, see the insanity in Sisi's so-called gifts? And what is the contract that brings the two, the megalomaniac leader and his blinded followers, together to form this contemporary sociopolitical hegemonic bond?

Nurturing megalomania

It is hard to believe that Sisi, being this supposedly strategically exceptional leader who mobilized millions in his support, does not know what he is doing. He led a successful coup against one of the most established political groups in the region – the Muslim Brotherhood – and managed, over a very short period of time, to oppress a world-promising ‘revolution’ (January 2011).

However bewildering from the outside, nevertheless within the context of military attitudes, one realizes he is not the exception.

It was not long ago that one military general claimed he had found the cure for AIDS, HIV and Hepatitis C, all with the approval and propagation of his military institution. On a similar level of absurdity, another military general spoke of creative (naturally planned) preventive war tactics in cases of a nuclear attacks from Israel. The idea was that Egypt is blessed with a north-western wind and if Israel were to attack Egypt with “something”, the wind would take it back towards Israel. Yes, this was actually said. All with utter conviction and self-congratulatory self-worth.

The same general also spoke of an intense battle on one of his military missions in which he had to chase rats. It is only then that one sees each of these people manifesting a seemingly interrelated phenomenon: ‘megalomania’. The fact that each of these incidents, among others, has been recorded and streamed for the public to see means that they are no exception and that there is little sense of shame on the part of the military institutions. Quite the reverse.

One of the main features of military institutions is that they are very hierarchical, in a deifying, top-down sense. If one serves in the military for extended periods of time, it is quite likely that one forgets what it feels like to be second-guessed, mistaken or criticized.

In the military, if you fail to salute your senior, you are interrogated and maybe even punished. If you fail to obey ‘his’ orders, you will definitely be punished. I am speaking of the silliest, absolutely trivial orders, not qualifying, opposing or criticizing your senior. After extended periods of time of being in a ‘yes, sir’ environment, climbing up the military ladder, it’s safe to assume, due to human adaptability, that one might forget what it feels like to be wrong. Is this when megalomania sets in?

The problem is further intensified with the absence of any sort of scholarly reference, deteriorating education over decades and rising ignorance. The sole source of what is right, nay righteous and sensible, becomes his almighty – the general’s words. A general, not to mention a marshal, can speak and lecture subordinates about any topic in any field. Should one dare second-guess an army official, she/he will most likely be accused of treason, and if he is from within the military institution he is also most likely to be punished.

Essam Heggy, for example, criticized the AIDS device 'invented' by a military general for not deploying scientific methodology. The scholar was accused of treason, misleading the public, and conspiring against his own country.

Can you imagine then what the combination of ignorance and utter impunity can possibly achieve between them?

A desperate public

If unconvincing nonsense is uttered at the drop of a hat, what is it that makes the audience listen and believe in what is being said? Elitist figures; politicians, media men, celebrities, etc… support the political leadership of Egypt for two main reasons. First, they are by default less affected by the state’s negative socioeconomic decisions. Second, they are more likely to benefit from lip-serving the ruling leadership.

What about the average Egyptian man and woman? What is it that makes them hang on to this malarkey? They pay the price with every decision taken. Are they hypnotized somehow by the unprecedented wisdom of their leader? Or do they truly believe what is on offer to them?

I suspect the secret lies in a recipe of hope and despair. Sometimes in desperation for change, one hangs on to any sign of hope, even if it is false hope. This irrational wishful thinking hangs onto something, anything, or anyone that promises a better tomorrow. Tomorrow becomes a metaphor for a time that may never come. It almost does not matter, as long as the promise is renewed the next morning.

While the people may be too cynical and wary to be truly satisfied with this reality, they are also far too emotionally exhausted to face the reality of being manipulated with false hope again.

After a promising revolution, five governments, two parliamentary elections and two presidential races (with all the controversy around the legitimacy of each), each filled with much promise, the people are too tired to rise up against the ugly social reality.

Salvation – state of oppression

Not everyone believes the leader’s mad statements, and even those who believe them just cannot be fully hypnotized. A larger framework has to be set in place to stifle the people’s consciousness in the moments when they realize they are fed up with being lied to. This is whereSisi’s military, police and judicial state come in to play.

By demonizing everyone who speaks against the state, the state exclusively possesses the right to be the righteous. By raising the flag of being in danger and ‘fighting terrorism’, the Egyptian state is, so far, getting away with oppressing thousands in jails and ignoring any public questioning about its own alleged promises.

General Kamal Amer, for example, commenting last August on the deteriorating economic conditions, decided on behalf of the people that the rise in prices was a very reasonable cost for the safety and security that Sisi’s state offers the people. Not surprisingly, the cost of 'thinking' of opposing the state has sky-rocketed as oppressive measures have simultaneously been set in place: political imprisonments, forced-disappearances, and group sentences.

Thus, the Egyptian state has constructed what looks like a closed circuit of public despair and emotional drainage.

Reminiscent of Karl Marx's description of religion as the “opium of the people”, I would say that this ‘false hope’ has become the opiate and slow death of the people’s aspirations for an actual better tomorrow. The people will remain afraid of the unknown until they face this reality, that they are being led on by false hope.

(Sarah Adel is a student of international development with interests in Middle East politics).

This article was first published on openDemocracy.

Likely Announcement of 6-Phase Polls in UP starting Feb 2017 leaves Political Players Nervous

December 25, 2016

After DEC Vijay Deo Reviewed Poll Preps in UP, Early Polls Increases Trepidation amongsome Political Players

Deputy Election Commission, Vijay Deo’s survey of poll preparations in India’s most populous state, in the third week of December, as reported by PTI signals, in all likelihood, that elections will shortly be declared—over six phases—starting early-mid February 2017.

For different reasons, the Samajwadi Party (SP) that controls India’s most populous and politically significant state, Uttar Pradesh and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that rules the Centre, have been trying behind the scene efforts to get the elections to the state postponed beyond March 2015.

The former is yet to set its house in order with the power struggle between the old guard and new, and the saffron party, despite its posted-monetization bluster, is dreading the political fallout after the ground level fallouts of de-monetization. On December 22, prime minister Narendra Modi opted for a closed door meeting in Varanasi, his constituency, where despite his mockingbird tactics against Congress Vice President, Rahul Gandhi, speculation on the streets remains as to why he did not go in for a flamboyant public show!

In late November, the state government had tried, unsuccessfully to seal the issue by declaring examinations between February 10 and March 15,2017. The EC had thereafter (mid December) summoned the state education secretary to New Delhi after this hastily declared notification, raising speculation about the fact that the ploy to get the state elections postponed may not work.

Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Manipur and Goa are slated to go to elections and the EC needs to consider on the one hand the feasibility of simultaneous troop deployment and security in various states on the one hand and the fact that holding them one after the other would risk the poll outcomes in one state influencing another.

On a tour of the state and in the capital city of Lucknow, until December 22, Deputy Election Commissioner Vijay Deo has said voters of the Indian Defence services "for the first time" would be allowed to use e-postal ballots, after he reviewed the preparations in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. Reported PTI," For the first time, voters of the Indian Defence services would be allowed to use e-postal ballots and all police stations have been made the centre points of any criminal act during the election period and SHOs would be held responsible for it," he told reporters here after meeting state officials.

"The Election Model Code of Conduct would be strictly enforced in the state within 24 hours of the announcement of poll dates and the Commission would not allow any kind of relaxation in it," he said.

Directives have also been issued to make necessary preparations for the disabled at the polling booths, he said. Deo, who has held similar meetings in Varanasi, Allahabad and Kanpur, said he has been apprised of booths having Assured Minimum Facility, including toilets, drinking water and electricity.

Meanwhile, a statement issued by the Election Commission, said all political parties shall have to submit three copies of their election manifesto within three days of their release to the Chief Electoral Officer of the state.

Surveillance: Indian Govt Agencies Sought Data of 8,290 FB Accounts in 6 Months

December 25, 2016

PTI Report: Social networking giant Facebook received 6,324 requests from Indian government agencies for 8,290 users/accounts in the first half of 2016.
This is the second highest after the US, which made 23,854 requests for 38,951 users/accounts during January-June 2016, according to Facebook’s Government Requests Report.

Requests from India have increased, a trend seen globally as well from the previous period. Indian agencies had made 5,561 requests for 7,018 users/accounts in July-December 2015 period.
Facebook said it was able to produce “some data” in 53.59 per cent of the cases in the first half of 2016, compared to just over 50 per cent in the July-December 2015 period.
Government requests for account data increased by 27 per cent globally compared to the last half of 2015, increasing from 46,710 to 59,229 requests, Facebook Deputy General Counsel Chris Sonderby said.

“As we have previously emphasized, we apply a rigorous approach to every government request we receive to protect the information of the people who use our services. We scrutinise each request for legal sufficiency, no matter which country is making the request, and challenge those that are deficient or overly broad,” he added.

Sonderby emphasised that Facebook does not provide governments with “back doors” or direct access to people’s information.

“We’ll also keep working with partners in industry and civil society to push governments around the world to reform surveillance in a way that protects their citizens’ safety and security while respecting their rights and freedoms,” he said.

The Little-Known Story Of The Islamic ‘Christmas Tree’

December 25, 2016

The Islamic narrative of Jesus’ birth can anchor the well-known Christian one and reminds us that the Quran places Jesus and Mary beneath a “Christmas tree.”

American Muslims Celebrating Christmas. Photo courtesy: qz.com

When I was growing up, I always wanted a Christmas tree in our family home but unfortunately for me, this was an idea my parents staunchly resisted. Once, I even offered to make a homemade one but my parents wouldn’t entertain the idea because “we were Muslim.”

We weren’t very strict Muslims, but we were practicing, and a Christmas tree was seen as a contradiction to our religious values back then. I wasn’t alone either; most of my Muslim friends have a similar story to tell. Fast forward years later, and the same parents are now gifting Christmas presents to their grandchildren.

…Although the “Christmas spirit” can be everywhere, the origins are not in a department store or in snowy Lapland, Finland. The origins are in the Middle East, a place with an ongoing horror story in dire need of the world’s humanitarian assistance. Maybe if Christmas wasn’t so devoid of this identity then my own Muslim parents wouldn’t have seen it solely as a Western cultural celebration, as unrelated to their Muslim background.

Religious literacy of Quranic narratives can help reduce a blindness amongst Muslims around commonalities that we share with others. This can enhance an openness to positively share Islam in a way that is relevant and can bring a fresh perspective to interfaith dialogue and bridge building.

The Islamic narrative of Jesus’ birth can anchor the well-known Christian one and reminds us that the Quran places Jesus and Mary beneath a “Christmas tree.” They are described in the Quran as a “token” or a “sign” for all peoples, so perhaps their embodiment of love and peace for all are Christmas presents to the world.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Click here for full story on Huffington Post.

Also read: Muslims love Jesus, too: 6 things you didn’t know about Jesus in Islam.

Also read: The magic and solidarity of celebrating Christmas in a 95%-Muslim country.

Also read: Iraq's Muslims celebrate Christmas in solidarity with Christians

Notebandhi Alert! Unofficial Gag on any Talk of Demonetization at 8th Vibrant Gujarat Summit

December 25, 2016

According to industrialists, more than 30% of Gujarat’s chemical-based units, which form a major hub of income for the state, have shut down already since the November 8 announcement. They expect the situation to get worse—Financial Express

According to all indications thus far, the summit is expected to be rather lacklustre this time around, with a majority of exhibition stalls yet to be booked.

US a Partner Country at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, 2016

As reports of severe impact of demonetization on industry, small and big, production fall and freeze in the formal and non-formal sectors keep pouring in, while a distanced government continues in its mode of rigid denial, media reports suggest that there there appears to be an unofficial diktat within the corridors of power to sweep any discussions on the impact under the rug, ahead of the eighth edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, scheduled to be held between January 10 and 13.

Talking to sections of the media on strict conditions of anonymity, a prominent Ahmedabad-based industrialist said, “There is pressure from the government to not talk about demonetisation. It is the Ahmedabad-based Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), which is responsible for several events to be held at the summit, that had earlier planned to hold a discussion on the post-demonetisation scenario for industries at the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Conclave, scheduled to be held at the summit. Inexplicably, that event has now been cancelled.

The international business magazine, Forbes, in its new year (2017) edition has literally torn apart the Narendra Modi government's irrational decision of demonetization. Steve Forbes has written,

"India's awful act underscores another piece of immorality. Money represents what people produce in the real world. It is a claim on products and services, just as a coat-check ticket is a claim for a coat left at the coat check in a restaurant or a ticket is for a seat at an event. Governments don't create resources, people do. What India has done is commit a massive theft of people's property without even the pretense of due process–a shocking move for a democratically elected government. (One expects such things in places like Venezuela.) Not surprisingly, the government is downplaying the fact that this move will give India a onetime windfall of perhaps tens of billions of dollars."

According to the Financial Express that broke this story, a prominent Ahmedabad-based industrialist said, “There is pressure from the government to not talk about demonetisation. They will not focus on demonetisation at all. We believe it will directly or indirectly affect the summit, of course. There will be lesser people attending the summit, lesser stall bookings, and there will be a lesser number of Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) signed than before.”

According to industrialists, more than 30% of Gujarat’s chemical-based units, which form a major hub of income for the state, have shut down already since the November 8 announcement. They expect the situation to get worse.

Another prominent industrialist said, “The situation is going to get much worse. Earlier, there were expectations that it would normalise in a month but it does not appear to be so. Textile units and other labour-intensive sectors like chemicals and plastics have suffered the most, but we expect the situation to get about 30% worse.”

Government officials, however, seem to be adamant on not allowing the woes of demonetisation to creep into the international summit, which this time around, has 12 partner countries namely the US, the UK, UAE, Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore and Sweden.

Addressing mediapersons last week, JN Singh, chief secretary in the Gujarat government had said, “I see no impact of demonetisation on the summit. On the other hand, there might be a positive impact. There might be people interested in digital economy and services sector who might come forward (for signing MoUs). The people coming to the summit are usually looking for long-term impact, and demonetisation will not be a problem in the long-term.” Singh added that this edition of the Summit will be the “biggest so far”.

To emphasise the push on moving towards a cashless economy, the summit this year is also expected to witness signing of MoUs online. The scrutiny for companies expressing interest in investing in Gujarat is also expected to be greater than was seen in earlier versions of the summit.

According to all indications thus far, the summit is expected to be rather lacklustre this time around, with a majority of exhibition stalls yet to be booked.
Interestingly, the Gujarat government has always been rather tight-lipped regarding the MoUs signed at the summit and the quantum that actually translate into investment on ground. At the recent press conference, state government officials had claimed a success rate of 66% success ratio for MoUs signed at the previous editions of the summit. According to chief secretary Singh, 51,738 MoUs or investment intentions have been signed in the earlier editions of the Summit, which began in 2003.

Singh had added that of these, about 34,234 projects have either been completed or are currently under implementation. Government officials said they were constantly reviewing as to why others had not worked out.

And though the state government is pulling all stops to create hype ahead of the Summit, the biennial investment blitzkrieg is expected to be a shadow of its former editions.

WATCH THIS VIDEO -Steve Forbes

Steve Forbes speech on Demonetization: What India Has Done To Its Money Is Sickening And Immoral

Merry Christmas (despite everything)

December 25, 2016

Image Courtesy: Orijit Sen

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Bank Employees Revolt, Pen Strong Letter to FM Jaitley, Call for All India Protest on December 28

An anarchist guide to Christmas: “Infiltrate the stores, give away the toys!”

"On the night before Christmas, we’ll all be about. While the people are sleeping, we’ll realise our clout. We’ll expropriate goods from the stores, ‘cos that’s fair. And distribute them widely, to those who need care".

On Megalomania And Despair: Is Sisi Really Nuts?