The BJP-Modi model of woman empowerment derives its inspiration from Indian civilization values.

As we celebrate International Women’s Day in the 21st century, the need for empowerment of women is an idea that everyone acknowledges as important. However, following up ideas and ideals with actions is of prime importance. In this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi leads the way.

Modi has always been a vocal proponent of women empowerment. In a refreshing break from the earlier unimaginative governance paradigm of handing out nine LPG cylinders or twelve, Modi has now ensured more than three crore women are living smoke free lives due to the Ujjwala Yojana. More than six crore toilets have been built to make sanitation safer and more accessible, directly impacting the health and dignity of women. This is not a culture of temporary handouts that keeps people dependent on the government but is a culture of true and irreversible empowerment.

The success and transformation that Beti Bachao Beti Padhao has brought, both in attitudes and in outcomes, will be remembered fondly by history. Under Swachh Vidyalaya, many schools saw separate toilets being built for girls, to reduce girls dropping out of schools. Indian civilization has produced Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi, Rani Chennamma of Kittur, Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar and many more inspirational women leaders. As the flag-bearer of Indian civilizational values, BJP has championed political empowerment of women, in governance or within the party organisation itself.

Today the Cabinet Committee on Security, that deliberates upon matters of national security, has two women. This first was possible because of another historic first – for the first time, India saw a woman become full time defense minister in Nirmala Sitharaman..

Modi’s government also has six female Cabinet ministers, perhaps the highest number of women in the Cabinet ever. This sends a powerful signal to millions of young women that there is no domain that a woman cannot enrich and there are no barriers that can stop them.New India is about enabling women with opportunities to express their innate leadership qualities. The nation will benefit from women’s qualities like excellent management abilities, communication skills, ability to multitask. It will also give a more caring and compassionate edge to the often impersonal realm of governance.

For any little girl out there, new India is the place where she stands an equal chance to lead the nation, as much as anyone else. This, as Modi says, is not just women empowerment but women-led development.It is a matter of pride that women are increasingly playing a bigger role in the development of the nation, right from cities and villages up to Parliament. It is a matter of even more pride that the Modi led BJP is leading the way, not only in making women-centric policies a focal point of governance but also in ensuring better representation in positions of power.

                                                                       

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International Women’s Day 2018: When is it? What is it? And why do we celebrate it?

International Women’s Day is a worldwide event that celebrates the achievements of women everywhere.

This year’s celebration comes at the heels of an unprecedented movement for women’s rights as 2018 marks 100 years since women gained the vote after the suffragette movement.

There have also been global campaigns in the form of #MeToo and #TimesUp – bringing sexual harassment and equal pay to the forefront of the agenda.

When is International Women’s Day?

This year International Women’s Day falls on Thursday, March 8.

On this day there are women’s marches and various powerful women are invited to speak at events.

The day will bring together women’s organisations, businesses and charities to celebrate women worldwide.

Why do we celebrate International Women’s Day?

International Women’s Day celebrates all the achievements of women worldwide – from the political to the social.

It also strongly calls for gender equality – which was the original aim and has still not been fully actualised.

Figures show that there is a gender pay gap across the globe, and women are not present in equal numbers in business or politics.

What is the history of International Women’s Day?

The day has been observed since 1908, and falls on March 8 each year.

The beginnings of the tradition can be traced to when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding voting rights, better pay and shorter working hours.

The year after the first National Woman’s Day was held in the US on February 28.

On this day the Socialist Party of America honored the workers who went on strike.

At the conference, 100 women from 17 countries were present and they agreed unanimously.

The first International Women’s Day was celebrated by Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland.

The date of March 8 was first formalized in 1917 in a war strike when Russian women demanded “bread and peace”.

Four days after the strike began the Tsar as forced to abdicate and the provisional government granted women the right to vote

The strike commenced on March 8 – which is why it is celebrated on that day.

What is the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day?

The campaign theme for the important day this year is #PressforProgress.

The World Economic Forum’s 2017 Global Gender Gap Report found that gender parity – which compares the average income of women compared to men – is 200 years away.

This means it is important to keep motivated and to PressforProgress.

The campaign says: “Now, more than ever, there's a strong call-to-action to press forward and progress gender parity. A strong call to #PressforProgress.

“A strong call to motivate and unite friends, colleagues and whole communities to think, act and be gender inclusive.

“International Women's Day is not country, group or organisation specific.

“The day belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. So together, let's all be tenacious in accelerating gender parity. Collectively, let's all Press for Progress.”

                                                            

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Are you still confused about Women’s day gift ideas? Hurry up 8th March is on its way!

The burgeoning labor movement in the beginning of the 20th century can be considered responsible for bringing the importance of Women’s day to the rest of the world. Women’s Day is not just any other normal day. This day reflects the struggles women have gone through from centuries for empowerment and equality in the society.Your women's day gift ideas must portray your thinking or belief in the power or strength in her womanhood.

Women’s day gift ideas.

 Flowers

You can buy a potted plant or a beautiful arrangement of freshly-cut or pressed flowers.This is one women’s day gift ideas which always seems to work. Do not forget to buy a potted plant or arrangement of pressed flowers few days before the Women’s Day. This simple tip can save your few bugs.

If your mom or girlfriend does not like flowers, opt for a chocolate flowers bouquet of daisies, tulips, rose etc. That will be the tastiest bouquet they have ever received.

A movie or a book collection.

 If you want to be different from the crowd, try gifting some empowering books or a movie collection to your woman. Every time it’s not necessary that women feel happy only after applying MAC foundation on their face. You can take a break from women’s day gift ideas which comprises of makeup and expensive eye shadows palette. These books and movies can truly help your woman explain the significance of W Day.

Handmade crafts.

You can either buy handmade stuff from local artisans or can hop over to some handicrafts websites on the internet. These websites are full of unique women’s day gift ideas and you will never have the problem again in buying gifts on W Day for your woman. There are so many things which you can choose from house décor to jewelry etc. You can even show your creativity and make something by getting inspired by handmade crafts items. There is still a time for women day and this tip can help you save money too. 

Do-It-Yourself or DIY women’s day gift ideas.

If you want to express your emotions by indulging in some creative gifts making, do it. No expensive gift in this world can truly contain your emotions as your own handmade gift. You can put together a unique beauty gift baskets. Just keep a color choice or any theme in your mind and go to the supermarket to buy items like cute soaps, candles, bath salts etc. Place all your items nicely in a basket and wrap the basket with colorful cellophane paper with a big bow on the top.

Photoframe.

This simple yet elegant women’s day gift idea is worth 1000 words. Choose a pretty photo frame and an awesome photo of you with your significant other. Do not forget to write your favorite lines or quotation which you both always speak of and smile about at the back of the frame. Every time your gal will see this frame, she will be filled with all happy emotions and awesome past memories.

Kitchen appliances.

Women’s day gift ideas are all about showing that you care and value the efforts taken by women in your life. You can gift some special kitchen appliances or gadgets to ease the work of your mom or girlfriend in their kitchen. You can invest in some high-quality food processors, juicers, blenders, coffee makers etc.

Homemade Food.

If your woman is asking about the special recipe for that one particular food item which she absolutely loves and you never gave her, well this W day your special recipe can be the best women’s day gift ideas.You can make special cookies in batches and pack them in cute little bags with a paper of your recipe pinned on the bag. Your woman will definitely enjoy your handmade food items and your unique recipe will be a real gift for her which she can cherish for a lifetime. Store bought cookies consists of additives, sugar, and fat which does not benefit her health in any way. So exhibits your own baking skills on 8th March.

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Celebrate your homemaker partner this women’s day.

Did you ever thank your mom for cleaning up your room? Did you ever thank your wife for doing your laundry? If not, then this is the time. This International Women’s Day, take the opportunity to salute these unsung homemakers and celebrate their day long efforts to keep everybody happy.

Today’s moms at home are known by various names such as a ‘stay-at-home mom’, a ‘domestic engineer,’ and above all a ‘homemaker.’

The word ‘homemaking’ is really a beautiful word. Keep it in mind that homemaking is not really an easy job. It happens when we fully understand the value of home in our lives. Homemaking happens when we intentionally make home a safe house, a trauma unit, a playground, a school and more. Somebody has to have the time and energy to bring those roles alive in a family’s life. Somebody has to make a house a home, and it’s really a tough job. But homemakers do it everyday, with a smile on their faces.

Homemaking is the deliberate cultivation of beauty and productivity in family relationships. It is about celebrating each other, about caring for each other, as well as for your friends and extended families and even the occasional stranger. Anyone can keep house. Not everyone bothers to make a home.

Homemaker women are known to be great multitaskers and guess this very multi-management renders them tired most of the time. This Women’s Day, ensure your homemaker partner gets that well-deserved break from her hectic life. Let her do what she wants on this day, or even better – do nothing at all! Let her laze around, give orders and do everything she usually doesn’t do.

Most of the time, women at home spend their lives tending for others and often put their own plans on the back burner to accommodate family plans. On this special day, the least you can do is plan a small get-together/trip for your lady love. All you need to do is get in touch with her favourite girls and send them off for a few hours of absolute bliss!

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A chowkidar is not enough: The fight against corruption must be driven by institutions, not by an individual

I don’t want to become Prime Minister, I want to be a chowkidar, said then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on the campaign trail during the 2014 elections. Social media is unforgiving and four years later – after the Nirav Modi banking scam blew up – a video of the PM’s chowkidar speech was repeatedly recycled.

As the NiMo banking scam unfolds, reality has hit hard. To lay the blame at the prime minister’s door for a multi-crore scam in one branch of a public sector bank would be unfair. The scam reveals, though, that however tough the chowkidar at the top, there’s deep rot in an unaccountable public sector banking system. For example, all 20 PSU banks including PNB do not have a workman or an officer director. 

The personal commitment of a dominant political executive to act against corruption is welcome. Yet a single chowkidar sitting alone in Lok Kalyan Marg in Delhi cannot oversee goings on from Jhabua to Trichy, or PNB Mumbai’s Brady House Branch for that matter.Instead, it is anti-corruption institutions at every level which must be strengthened and empowered. Today public cynicism about corruption is overwhelming. Even a Davos group photo or PM’s references to “hamaare Mehulbhai” can lead to perceptions of cronyism, unless strong institutions act swiftly to catch the big fish.

The government claims it has introduced tough new amendments in the Benami Property Act and brought in an Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to enable actions against swindlers. But who will implement these tough laws if administrators and institutions are rendered irrelevant? The government has not instituted a single Lokpal in the last four years and as many as four posts in the Information Commission are lying vacant.Election funding, arguably the most visible source of political corruption, remains unchecked. The introduction of electoral bonds (now challenged in court) has failed to address the core issue of promoting transparency in funding: under the new law, details of individuals and corporates funding political parties will not be disclosed in public.

The finance minister recently said that while politicians are accountable, it’s the regulators who are not, suggesting that banking regulator RBI has not been vigilant enough. But the fact is, it’s the government’s responsibility to create autonomous and independent institutions that have the self-confidence to ask questions, even from well-connected VIPs.

The Indian people’s interests are best served when the government takes urgent steps to ensure that institutions – CVC, CBI, judiciary, RTI, CIC, bank watchdogs – are not attacked or weakened or marginalised or bypassed but made vigorous, independent and staffed by persons of courage and integrity. It’s these institutions that are India’s real chowkidars, not a single individual.



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A swachh mission for banks to stop NiMos.

  

At the time of writing this, every Indian with WhatsApp has received at least half-a-dozen Nirav Modi/PNB jokes. One wouldn’t have thought a banking scam involving technical terms like LoUs would capture the popular imagination. However, Nirav Modi is no ordinary scamster. First, his business is relatively simple and connects with all Indians – jewellery. Second, his advertising involved top Bollywood stars. This ensured that a lot of people had heard of him, even if they couldn’t afford his thirty-lakh-rupee bracelets. Third, unfortunately for the PM, his last name is Modi. Nirav and his uncle Mehul Choksi seemed to represent the Gujarati mafia that seems to have a grip on this government, getting away with whatever they want. The group picture with the PM at Davos cemented the perception. All this was enough to set the country’s imagination on fire. PNB, the guys who actually issued the guarantees, came across as both clueless and corrupt. They also fit right into the public sector bank (PSB) stereotype – give horrible service to the average customer but help the big industrialist loot.

Meanwhile, Nirav is taking in Central Park views from his luxury hotel suite. He’s probably booking tickets to a Broadway show in New York (Hamilton is supposed to be really good, by the way).

Having worked in banks for over a decade (including the infamous distress debt group where Nirav Modi-type loans often land up), I can tell you this: it is not going to be easy to prove wrongdoing on Nirav Modi’s part. He (or his lawyers, because he has a show to watch you see) would simply argue: “Ok guys, that stupid bank gave me an LoU or guarantee letter without any security or collateral. I took it. So what? If someone gives you a sweet deal, why won’t you take it? I used that guarantee to raise a lot of money, open stores in my name and tried to sell bracelets that cost more than an apartment. People didn’t buy them. I screwed up. I suck as a businessman. Sorry. Dear PNB, I took a guarantee from you (and paid you a fee for it). Please repay my creditors. I am bankrupt, a fool in business but I am not a criminal. Let me have my coffee and bagel in peace.”

It is going to be extremely difficult to prove Nirav actually committed fraud in connivance with bank officials and/or politicians to get a guarantee without security. This is unlike Vijay Mallya’s case. He issued personal guarantees, so the banks can now go after him. Nirav simply obtained a guarantee from PNB, and was not asked for any security. The PNB now has to pay his creditors. Fraud will have to be proved, and we all know how that goes in India.

The point is, this isn’t just about Nirav Modi or PNB or, even the BJP or Congress. The problem is systemic and all-pervasive. Also, once the money is paid out without due diligence and not repaid, it is near impossible to prove if it was fraud and not a genuine business gone bad. Hence, all our PSBs (there’s 21 of them) are leaky faucets that are draining money into the gutter.

There are two ways you put money in them. One, the government puts in capital by charging citizens more taxes. Two, citizens deposit their own money. Then, it is the PNB guys who decide what they do with that money and who they lend it to. Some of the lending is legitimate. However, there are enough loopholes in reporting processes to game the system. For instance, nobody detected that the guarantees to Nirav Modi had no security collateral against them. Add a few corrupt employees to the mix, the politicians who actually control these banks and a greedy promoter – it really isn’t that hard to hatch a plan. Little wonder that non-performing loans of public sector banks are three times higher than those of private banks, and run into lakhs of crores. You can imagine the wild party in progress inside those dusty PSB branches.

The solution is not just to chase Nirav Modi. These banks need to be fixed on an urgent basis. We don’t need 21 public sector banks. The more banks, the more the likelihood of wrongdoing. We need no more than three to five public sector banks. The rest should be merged with one another, sold or even closed down. The banks should also have world-class systems to detect any risks the bank has taken (including issuing security-less guarantees). Dozens of reports exist on how to fix our PSBs, what is needed is some political will and guts to do it. Till then, we taxpayers will continue to bleed money. Worse, the capital that can be used to grow the economy and fund legitimate businesses, will go to fund shady promoters.

India’s public sector banks are choking our economy, wasting your money and aiding corruption. We need an urgent ‘Swachh Bank’ mission to clean up the sector. This isn’t just about a billionaire, it is about a billion people.

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What Aadhaar collects: Fears of a surveillance state are overblown, but a robust privacy bill is needed.

Claims, insinuations and even jokes have done the rounds on print and social media about how the Aadhaar system could lead to a surveillance state. There are worries that unsuspecting Aadhaar carrying residents will be closely tracked by the government while they authenticate themselves as they pay for their pizza or buy rice at a ration shop.

We need to understand what data Aadhaar collects and more importantly what it doesn’t, to determine whether the above dystopian scenarios are likely or even possible.

Aadhaar does only two things. First, enrolment, wherein an applicant is processed and issued an Aadhaar number. Second, online authentication where the Aadhaar holder is accurately verified during a transaction such as buying rations.

Back in December 2009, a government appointed committee with representatives from several ministries, regulators and NGOs met to determine which demographic fields should be collected to issue an Aadhaar. After lengthy deliberations, the committee came up with a simple rule – UIDAI should only collect the minimal amount of information in order to protect the privacy of the people.

Similarly, a government appointed biometric committee decided that ten fingerprints, two irises, and a photo of the face were needed to accurately de-duplicate the entire population and issue a unique ID, thus ensuring that a resident does not get multiple Aadhaar IDs. This was the bane of earlier systems, where programme-based ID cards which lacked uniqueness (one person, one ID) resulted in duplicates and ghost IDs, leading to resource capture, leakage and other fraudulent transactions.

Based on the above demographic and biometric data that is collected, the enrolment system issues an Aadhaar number after a de-duplication process to ensure that the resident is unique and does not already possess an Aadhaar number.

Once the resident is enrolled in the Aadhaar system, she can now authenticate herself at various points to prove her identity. Just as one would enter a user-ID and password to login to one’s email account, the Aadhaar holder can now authenticate herself by entering her Aadhaar-number (user-ID) and one of the demographic/ biometric details (password). This online verification proves to be very useful in a host of services, be it government service delivery, banking/ payments or even renting a bicycle.

Now let’s look at Aadhaar authentication.

During authentication, the user enters the Aadhaar number and one or more of the biometric (fingerprint/ iris) or demographic (name/ address/ gender/ date of birth) fields and Aadhaar returns a Yes/ No response. It does not return other details about the person, hence protecting the privacy of the individual.

The Aadhaar system does not collect the specific purpose of your authentication, or the location of your transaction so there is no way the system can construct where you were and what you were doing.There is no input field in the data format that collects the location or type of transaction being carried out (example, paying for your pizza or buying rice at a ration shop).

Delving deeper into privacy and accountability, let’s look at the audit trail feature Aadhaar provides so that you can view your Aadhaar transactions and ensure that they were all bonafide – just as you reconcile your bank statements. It can be argued that if the history of Aadhaar transactions contained details such as what(specific transaction type), where (location information) and by whom(authenticating entity), the user would be empowered with context against potential frauds by more accountability in the system. In fact, an earlier version of the Authentication API spec did collect the location information for this very reason. On the contrary, it can also be argued that collecting the where and what and who would compromise the Aadhaar holder’s privacy.

The point i’m making is that a line has to be drawn somewhere between privacy and accountability and you can’t have both independent of each other. A measured, balanced approach between the two is in the interest of citizens and this, i believe, is what Aadhaar offers.

An average smartphone user can be tracked by the telecom provider who can triangulate the user’s location through telecom base stations. Apps from Google, Facebook, Apple and thousands of other companies are also able to track smartphone user location using GPS sensors. Surveys show that over 75% of smartphone users enable location services. This is the reality of the digital world we live in. In contrast, the Aadhaar authentication system is designed to protect people’s privacy by not collecting such information.

India is coming to terms with privacy in this increasingly digital world for the first time. The debate around Aadhaar privacy is a precursor to the larger privacy debate. It is a good thing that people are becoming aware of the issues around privacy.

Aadhaar brings tremendous benefits to our country, be it in plugging the leaky pipes of the government’s benefits delivery, or convenient pension payments. The passing of a robust privacy bill and Aadhaar compliance to it would hopefully help alleviate concerns as we strive to build systems of better service delivery in a data rich and digital India.

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