BJP triumphs

One party has the absolute majority of seats in the Lok Sabha, the Indian Parliament.

The victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP ), the Hindu nationalist party led by Narendra Modi which is symbolized by a lotus flower, has been more overwhelming than any better poll, winning 283 seats out of 543 available.

The majority of which will have Modi is even more overwhelming if you think that the coalition that supports him, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA ) won 337 seats, while the Congress-led coalition scored just 58 seats .

The opposite side of the coin is given by the collapse of the Congress Party led by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul (both re-elected), which goes beyond the worst defeat of the polls, so that the historic party of Nehru and Gandhi has gone under the two-digit winning 43 seats compared to the previous 206 seats. In practice, the party which led India to more than fifty years after independence, has been swept away. Consider that only in the state of Uttar Pradesh, BJP took more seats than the Congress has taken all over the country .

The only country left in the hands of Congress is Kerala, where, however, the BJP won for the first time in history a seat. In the rest of India the BJP victory was unique.

The victory of the BJP, characterized by a liberal economic policy and a strong religious and nationalist connotation, was greeted by a sharp rise in the Bombay Stock Exchange and many spontaneous demonstrations.

Poor also the result of the party Aam Aadmi Party, the party of corruption that took only 4 seats.

The turnout was high, with 66.38 % of the voters it is the highest of all time in India.

Narendra Modi sworn in as Prime Minister on 21 May.

More here.

Stravince il BJP

Per la prima volta nella storia dell’India un unico partito ha raggiunto la maggioranza assoluta dei seggi del Lok Sabha, il Parlamento indiano.
La vittoria del Bharatiya Janata Parti (BJP), il partito nazionalista hindu guidato da Narendra Modi che ha come simbolo un fiore di loto, è stata più schiacciante di ogni più roseo sondaggio aggiudicandosi 283 seggi sui 543 a disposizione.

La maggioranza di cui disporrà Modi è ancora più schiacciante se si pensa che la coalizione che lo sostiene, la National Democratic Alliance (NDA) si è aggiudicata 337 seggi, mentre la coalizione guidata dal Congresso ha ottenuto appena 58 seggi.

Il lato opposto della medaglia è dato dal crollo del Partito del Congresso guidato da Sonia e Rahul Gandhi (entrambi rieletti), la cui sconfitta va oltre il peggiore dei sondaggi, tanto che lo storico partito di Nehru e Gandhi è andato sotto le due cifre, conquistandoo 43 seggi a fronte dei precedenti 206 seggi. In pratica il partito che ha guidato l'India per più di cianquant'anni dopo l'indipendenza, è stato spazzato via. Si pensi che nel solo Stato dell’Uttar Pradesh il BJP ha preso più seggi di quanti il Congresso ne abbia presi in tutto il paese.

L’unico Stato rimasto in mano al Congresso è il Kerala, dove però il BJP si è aggiudicato per la prima volta nella storia un seggio. Nel resto dell’India la vittoria è stata univoca.

La vittoria del BJP, caratterizzato da una politica economica liberista e da una forte connotazione religiosa, è stato accolta da un deciso rialzo della borsa di Mumbay e da moltissime manifestazioni di piazza spontanee.

Modesto anche il risultato del partito Aam Aadmi Party, il partito anticorruzione che ha preso solo 4 seggi.
Elevata anche l'affluenza che con il 66,38% dei votanti è la più alta di tutti i tempi in India.

Narendra Modi giurerà come primo ministro il prossimo 21 maggio.





Per saperne di più clicca qui.

Indian Elections

May is approaching and with it the national elections that will call to the polls 800 million Indians.

For the Congress Party (click here), which expresses the current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, these elections will be crucial and very difficult.

The many cases of corruption have come to the fore, the economy does not pull anymore, vertical fall in the rupee against the dollar, the double-digit inflation with an intolerable reduction in purchasing power, the discontent of many segments of the population are all factors pushing hard to believe that the party of Sonia Gandhi will replicate the results of the previous national elections of 2009.

This impression is confirmed by the recent statal elections which were held in key states in the Indian federation where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Hindu nationalist party led by his critically acclaimed and discussed (click here) leader Narendra Modi, won in a clear way.

The BJP wins in key states and populous as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh.

The difficulty of the Congress Party is also evident from the delay with which the Congress chose the name of the candidate for prime minister which will be compared with Modi. Granted, although not flattering in the polls, the appointment of Rahul Gandhi, son of Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi and grandson of Indira.

Political situation is complicated by the born of a new star. It is AAP, Aam Aadmi Party (literally Common Man Party, click here), which comes from the experience of the anti-corruption movement of Anna Hazare and that is driven by Arvind Kejriwal. The AAP has won the important Delhi hall where Kejriwal, with the support of the Congress, became Chief Minister in last December to resign a few days ago when his anti-corruption bill (the Jan Lokpal Bill) was rejected by parliament in which the AAP has not the majority.
But Congress and BJP, the two major Indian parties, will not be able to govern alone and will need the support of the myriad of local and regional parties as well as the AAP whose votes will be difficult to do less.




Read more here, here, here, here and here

Le elezioni indiane

Maggio si avvicina e con lui le elezioni politiche nazionali che chiameranno alle urne 800 milioni di indiani.

Per il Partito del Congresso (clicca qui), che esprime l'attuale premier Manmohan Singh, saranno elezioni cruciali e difficili.

I molti fatti di corruzione venuti alla ribalta, l'economia che non tira più, la rupia in caduta verticale sul dollaro, l'inflazione a due cifre con una insopportabile riduzione del potere di acquisto, il malcontento di tante fasce della popolazione sono tutti fattori che spingono a ritenere che difficilmente il Partito di Sonia Gandhi replicherà i risultati della precedente tornata elettorale nazionale del 2009.

Questa impressione è confermata anche dalle recenti elezioni che si sono svolte in stati chiave della federazione indiana e che hanno visto il Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), il partito nazionalista hindu guidato dal suo acclamato e discusso (clicca qui) leader Narendra Modi, vincere anche in modo netto.

Il BJP vince in stati fondamentali e popolosi quali Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh.

La difficoltà del Partito del Congresso è resa evidente anche dal ritardo col quale il Congress ufficizlizza il nome del candidato premier che si confronterà con Modi. Scontata, nonostante in non lusinghieri sondaggi, la designazione di Rahul Gandhi, figlio di Rajiv e Sonia Gandhi e nipote di Indira.

Da segnalare che nel panorama complicatissimo della politica indiana è nata una nuova stella. Si tratta dell'AAP, Aam Aadmi Party (letteralmente Partito dell'uomo comune, clicca qui), che nasce dall'esperienza dei movimenti anticorruzione di Anna Hazare e che è guidato da Arvind Kejriwal. L'AAP ha vinto nell'importante municipio di Delhi di cui Kejriwal, col sostegno del Congresso, è divenuto Chief Minister lo scorso dicembre per dimettersi qualche giorno fa quando un suo progetto di legge anticorruzione (il Jan Lokpal Bill) è stato bocciato dal parlamento nel quale l'AAP è soltanto partito di maggioranza relativa.

Ma molto probabilmente sia che prevalga il Congress sia che vinca il BJP, i due maggiori partiti indiani non saranno in grado di governare da soli ed avranno bisogno del sostegno della miriade di partiti locali e regionali ed anche dell'AAP dei cui voti difficilmente potranno fare a meno.

Altre notizie qui, qui, qui, qui e qui

The male child

Children in Cochin (Kerala - India)

Having a male child is necessary, indispensable for the salvation from damnation.
In India it is especially important, I would say essential, to have a son. To understand the reasons underlying this requirement is not sufficient to refer to aspects of an economic nature. No doubt, as we have seen in this previous post, a daughter means higher costs and lower benefits from an economic point of view, but it is necessary to analyze the motives of religious nature.
One day we will talk about hell, better about the hells of Hinduism, now it suffices  to say that a soul, stripped of the body after death and before of the reincarnated in another body will suffer the consequences of actions in 'heaven' or hell. After you have enjoyed or suffered for the actions in these lokas (place) the soul is reincarnated into another living being.
To avoid ending up in hell is first necessary to be conducted properly funeral ceremonies and is also necessary to be recited daily prayers for the ancestors. This is one of the three debts men must pay in this life, as well as to the gods and the sages to, everyone has a debt to the ancestors who must be worshiped and fed. The main protagonist of these ceremonies, these rituals and prayers of these is the male child.
"This debt - A. Danielou says in "The four ways of life"- can not be paid to creating a child who can continue the lineage, race, caste, family."
Not for nothing 'son' is said in Sanskrit putra, whose etymology goes back to the put, which is a type of hell, and traye, which in Sanskrit means to save, to preserve. The son is putra,  'He who saves from hell'.
This conviction brings with it many consequences. For example, in the Laws of Manu, the Manusmirti, the most important treaty on standards of behavior, it clearly states that women were created for boys and men to have offspring (Manusmirti IX, 96) and also provides that the husband can 'replace' the wife after eight years of marriage if the wife is infertile, after ten years of marriage if the wife has given birth children died, after eleven years if the wife has given birth only daughters (Manusmirti IX, 81).
Even in the choice of the woman to marry, Manu invites men to reject women from families with no sons, and that even if these families are "full of cows, goats, sheep, wheat, or property" (Manusmirti II, 7).
It is so important to have a son that Manu (IX, 174) considers it legitimate for a married man without sons can buy one for securing the funeral rites.
In the absence of sons, a grandson will perform the duties prescribed for his grandfather.
And  father on his deathbed whispers to son: "You are Brahman, you are the sacrifice, you are the world". The son replies, "I am Brahman, I'm the sacrifice, I am the world" (Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 5, 17).
And is the son who, after three laps counterclockwise around the pyre of his dead father, sets fire during the cremation rites.

Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Gandhi (by Saptarshigosh)

India on Saturday 21 paid homage to former prime minister  Rajiv Gandhi on his 20th death anniversary.
President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the departed leader's widow and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi  were among the first to pay floral tribute to the late leader at 'Veer Bhumi', the memorial of Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra also paid floral tributes to their father who was assassinated on May 21, 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu during a poll campaign.
Vice President Hamid Ansari, home minister P Chidambaram, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit also paid homage to Gandhi. Priyanka's husband Robert Vadra was present on the occasion.
School children waving national flags were also present at the memorial.
May 21 is also observed as Anti-Terrorism Day with an objective to keep youth away from terror activities.

From Times of India

Milioni di bambine non nate

Sono milioni le bambine che mancano all'appello oggi in  India.

I dati preliminari del Censimento 2011 svoltosi recentemente in India evidenziano, tra l'altro, una preoccupante e generalizzata riduzione del rapporto tra nati maschi e nati femmine. Si è passati da 976 femmine ogni 1.000 maschi nel 1961 alle attuali 914 femmine ogni 1.000 maschi. In certi distretti il rapporto è di 850 a 1.000.

Si ritiene che l'acuirsi del divario sia dovuto anche al diffondersi delle moderne tecnologie mediche quali l'amniocentesi e l'ecografia che consentono di conoscere in anticipo il sesso del nascituro e quindi di pratica l'aborto selettivo di feti femmina. In certi zone è diffuso purtroppo anche l'infanticidio femminile.

Bambine di Cochin

Il divario sempre crescente tra il numero delle femmine e quello dei maschi - che è più accentuato nelle grandi città rispetto ai villaggi - è considerato la causa di fenomeni dolorosi quali la tratta di bambine povere destinate a matrimoni forzati e addirittura a casi di poliandrismo, cioè di più uomini che sposano la medesima donna.

Il miglioramento dell'economia e l'aumento dell'alfabetizzazione nel paese non ha comportato un contenimento di questo squilibrio di genere che anzi si è dilatato.

In gran parte dell'India la parità dei sessi è ben lungi dall'essere garantita. La società civile e religiosa, politica ed economica  - salvi casi sporadici anche molto importanti (vedi Sonia Gandhi o la Presidente della Repubblica Pratibha Patil) - è fortemente maschilista e le donne sono discriminate sotto molteplici aspetti. Generalmente in India si ritiene pertanto che la nascita di una figlia sia un problema, a cominciare dall'obbligo di procurarle una dote per poterla sposare.

Non si tratta di un problema medico-sanitario o giuridico, non servono leggi speciali (tutte regolarmente fallite), ma servirebbe un cambiamento culturale che in questo caso l'India non sembra riuscire a fare. 

Se volete approfondire potete leggere integralmente l'intervento del Prof. K.S. Jakob dell'Università di Vellore pubblicato su The Hindu

NCP backs off 'Italy' retort

NEW DELHI: A strong protest from Congress against NCP's reference to Italy in its attack on Rahul Gandhi de-escalated the tension between the allies on Wednesday.

NCP backed off within minutes of its strong reaction to Rahul Gandhi's purported remark in Lucknow on Tuesday where he blamed government's inability to check food prices on coalition constraints.

NCP spokesperson DP Tripathi had asked Congress to learn the art of running coalitions from Italy. He stressed the Italy analogy, raising Congress's hackles.

Congress took the jibe from the ally spokesman as a snide reference to Sonia Gandhi's Italian roots because NCP chief Sharad Pawar broke away from Congress on the issue of her foreign (Italian) origin a decade ago.

A senior Congress functionary is learnt to have immediately protested to Praful Patel, Union civil aviation minister and a senior NCP functionary. What is going on, the Congress functionary is learnt to have asked, said NCP sources. He also asked whether Tripathi had the NCP leadership's sanction.

Patel denied that Tripathi's swipe was authorized and even agreed that the party spokesperson's reference to Italy was unnecessary.
 He followed that up with a statement that NCP did not wish to drag  the  issue after Congress's clarification that Rahul did not attack Pawar.

On Thursday, Congress moved quickly to assuage any perceived apprehension among the smaller allies about the coalition leaders ambition and said that there was no way of escaping the hard fact of strategic alliances. "Though every party wants to come to power on its own, coalition is the reality," Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said talking to reporters.

At the same time, Singhvi backed Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chauhan's statement earlier in the day about the constraints of coalition politics. "Coalition involves certain give and take," he remarked. Stressing that in the present situation the hard political reality could not be overlooked, he said, "No value judgment on coalition is possible."

That the junior partner interpreted the linkage Rahul Gandhi purportedly made between high prices and coalition politics as an attack on Pawar is easy to understand. The NCP boss is minister for agriculture, food distribution and consumer affairs in the Union government — portfolios with a direct relation to prices. Congress in the past had attacked Pawar for his handling of food prices, alleging that he talks up prices.

Congress also suspects that he uses moments of the party's vulnerability to heap embarrassment on the senior ally.

from  The Times of India: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/NCP-backs-off-Italy-retort/articleshow/7280679.cms