My Columns: Without Fear and Favour

Social media is abuzz with journalist's murder. I knew Gauri Lankesh as a colleague in Eenadu. Of late she has become the editor of a Kannada language tabloid started by her late father. Read she was convicted in a defamation case involving two politicians including a member of Parliament of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, and faced jail sentence. She was on bail and about to file an appeal againat the verdict in the higher court. Scribes in their zeal to call spade a spade do often overdo it and a few end up inviting defamation cases against them. I haven't though gone into the details of Gauri's case but I know she wasn't pronounced death sentence. There are political ramifications of her gruesome murder. Whoever benefits from her murder is not the question. The question is about the late surge of kangaroo courts. Much is already being written about the lynch mob. This is not a trait of a healthy society. These are disruptions...not healthy disruptions. ...

Expedient Politics:  Why Bihar Is Important? Published on  July 28, 2017 http://www.jagritbihar.com/2017/07/28/expedient-politics-bihar-important/ By Deepak Parvatiyar Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United party was part of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance for 17 years.  Nitish wanted to grow and nurtured Prime ministerial ambitions. So his party deserted NDA hoping he could position himself well against Narendra Modi in the 2014 elections.  After all, like Modi he had won successive elections and returned to power in Bihar on development plank! He experimented with others and of late realised he can't compete with Narendra Modi in today's situation.  So, as they say, if you can't defeat your enemy then join him! He needed some convenient excuse and when found one (Tejashwi), now he has done so. He is back as the number one leader of Bihar...a position that he had ceded to the Rashtriya Janata Dal ...

Having left Bihar in 1986, I always regretted not to do much significantly for my home state as I never got an opportunity to work in Bihar. I was constantly exploring ways to do something within my limited capabilities for our great state. Late in 2015, I got some opportunities to explore ways and worked on a model where we all can contribute for the betterment of our state. A year of pains, trial runs and hard work when we faced many hurdles in terms of financial constraints, I am glad that I can now showcase www.jagritbihar.com which I developed with the purpose of empowering people of Bihar by providing a platform which could help them raise their voice on the burning issues confronting them. The idea is also to make the local administration more accountable towards such issues and thus the website is designed in such a manner to cover all nine commisionaries as well as 243 assembly constituencies for ease of governance and fixing responsibilities. I shall be thankful if you go th...

Published in Sahara Samay http://www.saharasamay.com/lifestyle/676601825/without-water-you-cannot-discuss-climate-rajendra-singh.html Without water you cannot discuss climate: Rajendra Singh Last Updated : 26 Oct 2016 11:08:08 AM IST  After his successful movement to get water included as an issue in the Climate Change ' title=' UN Framework on Climate Change '>UN Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris in 2015 (COP-21), the Waterman of India and Stokholm Water Prize Winner Rajendra Singh is busy preparing for COP-22 to be held in Morocco in November this year. On the side lines of Global Water Meet 2016 for Climate Change: Agrarian Perspective at University of Agricultural Science in Dharwad, he talks to Deepak Parvatiyar on the agenda and expectations of the ongoing three day meet in which water experts from 20 countries are participating to formulate their recommendati...

Published in indiablooms.com http://www.indiablooms.com/ibns_new/health-details/E/2224/experts-from-five-continents-adopt-dharwad-declaration-on-climate-change.html 26.10.2016 Experts from five continents adopt Dharwad Declaration on Climate Change Dharwad, Karnataka, Oct 26 (IBNS): Scientists, researchers, academics, policy makers, social activists, NGOs and farmers from 20 countries from five continents, who gathered here to formulate their recommendations for the United Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) to be held in Morocco in November this year, called for putting people first in any climate change negotiations. At the concluding day of the three- day Global Water Meet  2016 for Climate Change Adaptation: Agrarian Perspective, organised under the aegis of the University of Agricultural Sciences, on Wednesday, to deliberate on climate change, water and Agriculture here, they adopted the Dharwad Declaration, aimed at showing “ways and means for executio...

I In my view ANALYSIS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9,2016 Published in Kuwait Times http://news.kuwaittimes.net/pdf/2016/nov/09/p14.pdf Message from Dharwad to Morocco: Climate change summit - act or perish By Deepak Parvatiyar As world leaders sit to discuss climate change at the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP-22) to the United Nations Framework Convention (UNFCC) on Climate Change in Morocco from Nov 7 to Nov 17, water gets the prominence that it deserves at the summit level for the first time. The hard fact though remains that water could get included as an issue only in COP-21 in Paris last year after a sustained movement by water activists from across the globe. In Paris Agreement, water was included in the middle and now in Morocco there will be a separate dialogue on water which experts feel will have a large impact on our lives. Euphemistically Paris was among the earliest places where commercialization of water was allowed. And it says it all at a time when campaign for com...

“Act now to prevent water conflicts” Deepak Parvatiyar New Delhi based senior journalist Last Updated : 15 Nov 2016 04:27:50 PM IST           Published in  http://www.saharasamay.com/nation-news/676602678/-act-now-to-prevent-water-conflicts-.html Although Conference of Parties started in 1994 nothing substantial has emerged so far due to sheer neglect of nature and love for humanity. Whatever changes have come by have not led to positive changes. As the world leaders discuss climate change at the ongoing 22nd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Cl...

Importing troubles Deepak Parvatiyar This article was published in Sahara Time on 20 May 2006  sourced from: http://el.doccentre.info/eldoc1/k34_/20may06sah1.pdf The thrust on import seems to be a major policy shift of the government - to gradually open the farm sector to foreign competition INDIA SEEMS to be deliberately allowing global players impede Indian farm sector at the cost of Indian farmers. It is evident the way it first allowed weed-infested wheat shipments from Australia and thereafter, following much brouhaha from the US over the substandard quality of the Australian wheat, relaxed the quality specifications for import of wheat to suit the American exporters. Experts say the move indicates that India is getting into a situation where it won't be looking into self-sufficiency of food within the country but rather looking internationally to get food security through comparative cost advantage. But th...

What explains BJP’s performance in 2016 Assembly elections By Deepak Parvatiyar Published in  http://www.elections.in/blog/what-explains-bjp-performance-in-2016-assembly-elections/ May 26, 2016 Following his party’s better show in recent elections in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala,Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, the BJP president Amit Shah, who till recently was struggling to explain the party’s debacles in Bihar and Delhi, attributed it to the voters’ approval of Modi government’s “pro-poor, pro-farmers and pro-village work”. Obviously, the BJP’s vote share increased in all these five states. This enabled the party to form its first ever government in Assam and open its account in Kerala assembly for the first ever time, what if just by a solitary win. What led to Enhanced Performance by the BJP? The question being debated is whether it was Modi’s policies or other factors, including the decline in the Congress’s popularity, that contributed to an enhanced per...

Congress’s Coalition Dilemma and Other Crises in 2016 Elections By Deepak Parvatiyar May 21, 2016 - See more at: http://www.elections.in/blog/congresss-coalition-dilemma-crises-2016-elections/#sthash.46mcsXyg.dpuf For a child initiated to English medium schooling, it is well impossible to avoid the “great fall” that Humpty Dumpty had. Can the century-old Indian National Congress’ drubbing at 2016 Assembly elections be seen as analogous to that of the fall of Humpty Dumpty? In the nursery rhyme, all the King’s horses and all the king’s men could not put Humpty Dumpty together again after the fall. Can the Congress be resurrected by Sonia and Rahul’s men? At the moment, the party seems to have fallen in bottomless pit of electoral politics and, indeed, the party seems to lack horses for courses! Congress’s Fortune Nosedives This brings us to the desperation of the Grand Old Party to get rid of the present dilemma. As the proverb goes, A drowning man catches at straw. ...