Hello, I’m Ravish Kumar. The G20 has begun; held under India’s presidency, it is obvious that India would be remain prominent here. But the question is: are conferences like the G20 losing their integrity? Has their public participation really increased? How true is this claim?
Sure, conference meetings held in different cities created a widespread stir, but did that ensure public participation? Lapdog (Godi) media experts are emphasizing ad nauseam that PM Modi has brought the G20 out of closed doors; then these lapdog media anchors should also say:
Of the 200 G20 meetings, how many have they covered on their channels? An “International Media Centre” has been set up at Pragati Maidan: so much has been spent to allow journalists from India & abroad to take advantage of it in covering the G20.
Did you find evidence of this sense of beauty and duty in Indian lapdog media coverage? You viewers are also no less to blame for turning India’s lapdog media worthless. Lapdog media’s usefulness is merely for anti-Muslim propaganda and for chanting “Modi Modi”. Perhaps, now even the PM has started understanding,
That is why, you must have noted that before the G20, the PM didn’t give a single TV interview on the conference to any lapdog channel anchor. He too perhaps has got it that diplomacy is not their cup of tea. On the one hand, lapdog media continues to be an international embarrassment for India,
On the other, even the Indian govt.’s attitude to the press is also gaining considerable disrepute. Look at this CNN headline: “White House says India rebuffed requests for more press access ahead of G20 summit”, CNN has written that the journalists accompanying President Joe Biden will not get a chance to ask questions
When Joe Biden & PM Modi meet at the PM’s residence on the evening of September 8. The White House asked Indian officials about this several times but did the press did not get the permission. You really think that the Indian govt. is not to be blamed for such a headline?
After all, to avoid what question is all this done; and India’s reputation put at stake? This June, when PM Modi was visiting America, there was so much ruckus over asking questions. Isn’t it a matter of shame that the White House Press Secretary has said that
If Biden had held a press conference in India, he would have done it alone – which would be awkward. Now he will hold a press conferences in Vietnam because it will be “EASIER there”. This is the state of the “Mother of Democracy”. Trinamool Congress spokesperson Saket Gokhale has tweeted that
When Germany held G20, it had spent only Rs 641 crore. It has been published in the Indian Express that Rs 4000 crore has been spent in Delhi alone. Rs 2700 crore has been spent on the development of Pragati Maidan. Economic Times has written Rs 3000 crore.
Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi has said that guests at the G20 summit will be given mobile phones, which will also contain some money, through which they will be able to do shopping. So they can experience mobile phone banking. For this, a separate app in 24 languages has been designed.
No clue what was the total budget for all this. Not only this, why doesn’t the government tell about the expenditure incurred on organizing events in 60 cities including Delhi? Let us know how much money has been spent. Just imagine: such money has been splurged and what are the news reports?
That a dinner is being organized to welcome the guests at Rashtrapati Bhavan, where the veteran, 80-year old leader, member of the Congress in Rajya Sabha, the Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has not been invited. This is their sincerity and hospitality; and if you read Manmohan Singh’s interview today’s in the Indian Express,
You will get an idea of his integrity too. We will about this ahead, but do think, after spending so much money, why are the government ministers and lapdog media anchors… … less busy discussing the G20 and more discussing “Sanaatan dharma”? PM Modi has written that G20 has become a ‘mass movement’,
But what kind of a ‘movement’ was this, that even lapdog media didn’t cover seriously? Not only lapdog media, but also the priorities in PM’s statements; see what he deems important during the G20. Now look at this headlines from 7 Sept newspapers.
Navbharat Times’ first headline says: “PM asks ministers to respond strictly on Sanatan”. This is the Jagran’s headline: “ministers should give aggressive answers on Sanatan and fact-based answers on India.” Unbelievable that G20 is to start from 8 Sept, and PM Modi is setting his priorities, that’s what lapdog media did on 7 Sept evening.
The headlines in Dainik Bhaskar, Amar Ujala & Patrika indicates what the PM wants to debate. Before the inauguration of the event on which billions of rupees have been blown, these newspaper headlines have carried the PM’s own statement.
Obviously, there was going to be a debate on Sanatan on the news channels Sept 7 evening. Religion may or may not be at the heart of the matter, that is all these channels know, and that’s all they could do even on the eve of this spectacle of diplomacy.
Not only this, on the occasion of G20, many world newspapers have prominently reported on the politics of religious division under Modi. Now, foreign newspapers have started writing about PM Modi in detail, that his politics is divisive. In recent past, you will hardly find an article which suggests India’s international reputation is cementing.
Newspapers like the Washington Post have even questioned that Modi has splurged on G20 to aggrandise his personal image. This is an article in today’s New York Times, which states that at a time when G20 is being hosted in the country, at the same time, the gap on religious basis is increasing.
NYT has published a detailed report on the Nuh incident in Haryana. The Guardian’s editorial from two days ago says that, India has become an “undeclared religion-based democracy” under Modi’s rule. Here, citizenship is seen via a Hindu national identity; and the non-Hindus are deemed second class citizens.
The article also references the ongoing violence in Manipur, saying that people from Modi’s party blame the non-Hindus for violence. Also see Swaminathan Ankleshwar Iyer’s report for the Japanese paper Nikkei Asia: that India’s Modi is no “universal guru”. His articles also feature in Times of India.
So, foreign newspapers have now understood this game; and Indian newspapers only prove them right. So, foreign newspapers have now understood Modi’s political game; and Indian newspapers that you get at your home only prove them right. If you compare these articles with what goes on in Indian newspapers on the issue of religion,
Then you tell me WHAT ELSE would the world write about India? Not only this, the seriousness of lapdog media coverage was limited to an anchor going out for Delhi ‘darshan’ with the MP on a bike. The entire coverage suggests like some fete is going on.
Truth be told, lapdog media has become an international embarrassment for India. The coverage of a conference with global heads of states cannot be from the point of view of only one leader, but the city is plastered with the posters with only that leader, so lapdog media will only chant “Modi Modi”.
Has the government not whipped it into “Modi Modi”? After all lapdog media’s shoddy coverage has not fallen from the heaven, You do well understand WHO is encouraging this. For even 4 days, could this govt not restrain itself from things like “Bharat vs India” & “Sanatan”?
Now the G20 coverage will merely show leaders walking, laughing, shaking hands; but what is really happening, the Indian people will never know. Meanwhile, another issue emerged quickly, for which the Finance Minister had to answer. You will find this report printed so prominently only in the Telegraph.
The Telegraph has made Prof. Ashok Mody’s article their first news. The title of the original article is the headline: “India’s fake Growth Story.” Ashok Mody is a visiting professor at Princeton University, USA. He elucidates that the National Statistical Office (NSO) has INCORRECTLY reported that India’s GDP grew by 7.8 % between April–June.
Actually, it was only 4.5 %. Ashok Mody says product revenue grew at 7.8% annually in April-June, but expenditure grew at only 1.4%. NSO is misrepresenting declining expenditure figures while public is protesting; and there is not much demand for Indian goods in foreign countries.
Ashok Mody says that India’s GDP growth was 3.5% in 2019 and after Covid, it has again come back & settled around 3.5%. Recent data suggests the reasons for this – rising inequality & SEVERE job scarcity. PM Narendra Modi has written an article in newspapers on the occasion of G20,
Where he said that there is a growing realization for the need to move away from the GDP-centric view of the world towards a human-centric view! 😀 He has also described India as the “fastest growing economy”. Today, both these claims have been challenged. Is this why a huge event is organized every few days,
Soon as religious issues emerge, ministers are made to jump in; lapdog media of course jumps in itself to ensure such truths never come out. Pay attention: Ministers go aggressive not themselves, but at the instance of the PM. The question is whether figures were manipulated to impress the guests.
Prof. Ashok Mody has written that this is an utter LIE; circulated to brag among the G20 guests, but this article has punctured the balloon. How sad that the authenticity of data is being challenged and the country and the world are being misled that India is the fastest growing economy in the world.
Whereas there is a manifold difference in the size of the economy of China and India. China’s economy is 18 trillion dollars and India’s economy is about 4 trillion dollars. Prof Ashok Mody states that India’s economy is not able to generate jobs. Especially jobs which lend respectability to people’s living standards.
Who does not know this truth? Remember one thing, Prof. Ashok Mody teaches at Princeton, a big famous university of America. If any kid of a minister in the Modi government were to get admitted there, they will run to tell a hundred people, that their child has got a call from Princeton University!
Imagine what journalists from all over the world will read when they even open Indian newspapers. THIS and only this:, the statement of IIT Mandi Director Laxmidhar Behera. Behera said that ‘natural disasters occurred in Himachal Pradesh due to consumption of meat. An IIT director in a country that sent a moon mission…
…is speaking such balderdash but continues to hold the post. Ideally, this person should have been dismissed instantly. Now tell me, What ALL will you hide and from WHO all? Where all will you put a curtain?
Will we really earn name in the world by concealing our poor financial condition, feeding guests in gold & silver, that too by lying? This article by Ashok Mody was hard to ignore. Therefore, FM Nirmala Sitharaman was forced to speak in an backhanded way.
She responded by tweeting a part of the Chief Economic Adviser Anant Nageshwar’s rebuttal. Said that after Covid, when there was a lot of gaps in our data and we had accepted it, then those who’ve denied the data now did not create an uproar.
We have not made any changes this time, we have always used the data in the same way. RBI had estimated 8% growth rate. It is not about what was “predicted”; Ashok Mody has given the reasons why India’s GDP in the April–June quarter is NOT 7.8 but only 4.5 %.
The Chief Economic Advisor has responded in Live Mint; please read it. We would like to tell you about the financial journalist T N Ninan’s report. Who would not want their country’s economy to shine, & everyone to benefit from it?
But the way global claims are being bragged, international eyes are now scrutinising this data. You cannot fill in for these figures by counting PM’s posters on the streets. In July this year, senior journalist TN Ninan wrote in The Print that India is NOT a fast-growing economy.
On 5 August 2023, Saudi Arabia’s GDP will grow at the rate of 8.7% in 2022; and Vietnam’s at the rate of 8 %. Philippines’ GDP in the 1st quarter of 2023 grew 6.4 %. all far ahead of India. although in terms of volume, these economies are smaller than India.
But the government repeats daily that India is the “fastest growing economy” and this is published all around. The interview of former PM Manmohan Singh was published in today’s Indian Express. If you read his interview with Manoj CG & P Vaidyanathan Iyer, you will see how generously & sincerely he has elucidated on G20.
You cannot expect this from BJP or even PM Modi. Manmohan Singh has said that it is a matter of happiness that India has got the presidency of G20 in his lifetime; and he is seeing it happening. From the leader of the opposition who was insulted to his heart’s content, called “Silent Singh” –
Despite holding press conferences, taking journalists with him on trips. PM Modi has NOT addressed a SINGLE live Press Conference in his entire tenure. Earlier you could look into the Indian PM’s airplane if it was saturated with luxury or simplicity. But now, no one has seen inside PM Modi’s plane for 10 years.
Only different stories are floated. Manmohan Singh also praised India’s stance on the Ukraine war; but also drew attention to two other things. In the video of September 7, we had shown that only Modi was visible in the posters put up in large parts of Delhi. There are no posters of the guests.
The G20 has been converted into a Modi conference. Praising G20, former PM Dr Manmohan Singh… also gave a firm warning in his characteristic measured tone. He said that India is gaining a place on the world stage and it is not wrong for that to be used in domestic politics,
But it is also important to exercise restraint in using foreign policy & diplomacy in personal politics. Manmohan Singh was probably referring to Modi’s predominance over the event. If you look at all the posters of G20, you will feel that this is Modi 20.
The Express did not make a headline that Manmohan Singh has warned against personal use, please take note. The former PM Dr Singh also said that he is optimistic about India, provided the feeling of brotherhood remains strong in society. Because it is most important for every kind of progress and development.
India has always welcomed everyone, this quality should be preserved. Manmohan Singh has also raised some questions regarding G20. He said that the G20 did a good job during the 2008 crisis. There was coordination between the policy decisions of the governments, a platform was enabled for dialogue.
Today, there is talk of de-globalization, i.e., everyone is talking about themselves, there is talk of trade restrictions. These can have a bad effect on the current economic pattern but can also open up opportunities for India in the global supply chain.
He said that it is in India’s interest to not get involved in the quarrels of the Western countries. He also said that issues related to security should be kept away from this conference. The G20 was not made for this. If India is looking at it from its own point of view,
America also looks at this conference through its own eyes. US President Joe Biden tweeted before leaving for Delhi, saying that I am leaving for G20. It is a very important international forum for economic cooperation. Its focussed on the progress made on America’s priorities.
Not only this, its focus is also on keeping the promises made with the developing countries and showing our commitment that the G20 also fulfills what it decides. Whenever we meet each other & communicate, we improve. Biden spoke of common priorities of all countries only later, he talked about the interest of America first.
The editorial articles written by PM Modi emphasized that India wants to take the G20 to the last man. This is an idealistic thing which has no real meaning in the global systems, yet it SOUNDS good to hear, to say.
The G20 does not seem to have any plan to reduce the economic inequality that has increased all over the world, nor has it achieved any major success in this direction so far. “Global South” is mentioned ad nauseam in this conference,
PM Modi has claimed that the “voice of the Global South” should be raised prominently on the G20 platform. Sometimes I and certainly many of you must feel confused as to what is this “Global South”, so let’s briefly talk about it before moving on. Global South is not a part of geography,
Members of the Northern Hemisphere too are part of the “Global South”: like India, China and countries of Africa. This terminology refers to countries that are poor, developing, and have been colonized in the past. Now China and the Gulf countries are developed countries, not developing countries, yet they are part of the Global South.
So many things together make up the Global South. For example, some countries are India, China, Brazil, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, UAE, Mongolia, Egypt, Peru, etc. Those who were once bullied by the developed countries are now ready to express their views. This is a new voice rising to prominence in the global system.
Right from the beginning, PM Modi has been talking global organization reforms & participation of new members. He has written that India is emphasizing including aspirations of developing countries of the Global South and Africa into the mainstream.
With this thought in mind, India had organized The Voice of Global South Summit online conference in January, in which 125 countries participated. Their inputs and views were taken. India’s chairmanship has seen large participation from Africa. There’s consensus on African Union being made a member of the G-20, these are the reports.
The PM has written that our G-20 Presidency is working on bridging the gender digital divide, reducing the labor force participation gap, and enabling a greater role for women in decision making. Over the last few years, India has shown: How inequalities can be reduced by taking advantage of technology.
For example, billions of people around the world who are unbanked, or who do not have a digital identity, could be brought on board through Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). It is not correct to dismiss a conference outright. The host will have expectations from it, but will G20 be successful in completing it?
On the absence of China and Russia, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that both the countries are not coming for different reasons; nothing to do with India. If they did come under India’s presidency, would it not be considered India’s success? India could not bring Russia, America and China on one platform.
Many articles have also been published in which questions are being raised on the need for G20. We’d like to show these photographs besides excerpts from Larry Elliot’s article for the Guardian. Larry has stated that despite the G20 slogan of “One Earth, One Family and One Future”,
This conference is losing its relevance due to mutual differences. G20 does 80 % of the world’s production, hence there should be a consensus on its platform regarding climate crisis, financial stability and debt relief to poor countries, but the truth is that its record in these matters is very poor.
Everyone remembers the partnerships forged at the G20 after the 2008-economic crisis; but since that G20 has been disintegrating from within. Considering the changes that had occurred in the world economy, it was natural to form a G20 because G7 couldn’t solve all issues. Its biggest problem is that there is no permanent secretariat.
Its chairmanship keeps changing every year, not only this, the number of members is very high. The result is that its conference is known more for photo-ops than for real decisions. This is a conference on economic issues but Ukraine is divided due to war. Relations between India and China have also deteriorated.
A new cold war has started between Beijing and America. For this reason, it is becoming difficult to build economic unity in the G20. Not only this, nothing concrete has come out of this conference even on the issue of environment. Its specialty is it has both rich & poor countries,
Everyone comes together, yet this conference is unable to take any concrete steps for each other. Not only this, former PM Manmohan Singh has also pointed towards what we just mentioned in this video. Another big question is how to lighten the burden of debt imposed on poor countries.
Poor countries are told to increase the production of coal, this will remove their poverty… but this is not happening, on the contrary it is becoming the cause of climate crisis. Everyone is watching if a joint statement will be issued on September 10. Russia and China are creating obstacles due to the Ukraine war.
Even in their absence, if this joint statement is not issued then there will be questions on G20’s relevance all over again. Goodbye, this is Ravish Kumar.
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