Narendra Modi climate change book to be released on Dec 21

The Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi has written a book called ' Convenient Action Book is scheduled to be released next week; the book runs into 250 pages. is Modi's first book in English and has been published by Macmillan Publishers.

The book release function on December 21 will be presided over by former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. largely spotlight on the ways Gujarat has counter to the challenges of climate change which is the biggest challenge the world is facing at present.

"Under the leadership of Narendra Modi, Gujarat has effectively handled a lot of issues and they have provided solutions. So this book on Convenient Action is purely about climate change and how Gujarat has responded," says Sanjay Singh of Macmillan Publishers.

Dr RK Pachauri, the chief of Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), (he will be the chief guest at this function). He said, "I am very happy that Narendra Modi has written this book. I haven't seen it but the very fact that he's focused on this is worth praising."

“I would call this unique compendium of action a who has shown a definite path and determined strategy to meet the Challenges of Climate Change.” says Steve Howard, CEO, The Climate Group.

The state government claims to be the only provincial government in the Sub-Continent to have a committed climate change department. With Convenient Action Book the, 'green crusader' Modi has become the second politician in the world, after former US Vice-President Al Gore, to pen a book on climate change.

Modi: Goodwill hunting, but should he get it?

Nations can sometimes be found grappling with an odd political dilemma: should controversial leaders be praised when they get things right?

Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat, is doggedly turning his state around. Industrialists fawn over his business-friendly manner. Foreign investments come chasing him. Mukesh Ambani, a fellow Gujarati industrialist counted as one of the world’s richest, almost has a man crush on him.

Elsewhere, investors still run into bureaucratic walls, but they are instantly cleared in Gujarat.

Ratan Tata, the head of Tata Sons – India’s second-biggest conglomerate that earns nearly 65% of its revenues from business abroad — loves to recall how he was offered a manufacturing place for the world’s cheapest car in just three days, after being driven out from Communist-ruled West Bengal.

Gujarat makes up for 5% of India’s population, but accounts for 16% of its industrial production, 22% of exports, has a literacy rate of 79.8% and is growing at 11% (above the national GDP of 8%). It produces more power than it needs and in 2009, contracted FDI worth US $ 243bn by signing over 800 MoUs.

Gujarat is moving fast on socio-economic indicators, although they are not the best in class. In India, good teachers are a scarce national resource. So, from children in village primary schools to would-be doctors in medical colleges, students in Gujarat are taught extensively using satellite-based EDUSAT modules. Now, Modi has grander projects. He has offered a location for India’s first

Few states can think of matching these benchmarks. and the US, which still consider him a diplomatic pariah, are rethinking on doing business with him.

Today’s Gujarat serendipitously matches up against Germany of the Forties.

In 1929, stung by an economic depression, America rolled back its foreign loans, which ruined Weimar Germany. Its unemployment rose to 6 million. The government was helpless; the economy lay in tatters and middle-class Germans frustrated. This helped the Nazis to come to power.

Germans who suffered a great deal during the First World War and the welcomed Hitler’s rejuvenating economic policies. Jobs were back. By 1939, unemployment in Germany was nearly . Public works were efficiently organised. Industrialists backed Hitler with money and investment.

A scheme was devised to allow workers to buy a Volkswagen Beetle for small weekly installments. Ordinary Germans could now buy a car and drive one on gleaming autobahns, much like the road from Ahmedabad to Surat.

The Nazis set up the SdA (Beauty of Work) to help Germans see dignity in work. They abolished trade unions and gave more power to the industrialists. Then came the Autarky — an attempt, though unsuccessful — to make Germany self-reliant.

There was also the KdF (Strength through Joy), which rewarded good workers with entertainment facilities and free holidays. There were so many good things about life in Nazi Germany. In a nutshell, Germany was strong and successful, much like our Gujarat.

Does history allow praise for Hitler for all that he achieved during his demagogic rule? It doesn’t, due to Hitler’s devilish extermination of millions of innocent Jews.

Modi’s fate is somewhat similar. US still hasn’t lifted a travel ban on him. “Do we want Indian demagogue in Canada?” said the Toronto Star recently, following an invitation sent to Modi to visit the country.

Despite his achievements, Modi’s troubled past ensures he remains a polarizing figure. In late January, Maulana Vastanvi, the current head of Darul Uloom, the seat of Sunni Islam in India, suggested that Muslims were benefiting from the state’s progress. That sent Muslims, who saw the remarks as endorsing Modi, gunning for the cleric’s scalp.

Nine years ago, in his state, Hindu-Muslim riots claimed more than 1,000 lives, three-quarters of them Muslims, dying at the hands of Hindu mobs. Modi has been accused of not preventing the killing of Muslims deliberately.

A team appointed by the Supreme Court to investigate charges against him has indicted him for trying to the seriousness of the killings and even justifying them, according to leaked media reports. The team however is said to have concluded that there is to try Modi.

Modi, however, is not doomed like Hitler. He has the option of reaching out to Muslims in a more obvious way. We have heard praises for Modi from Muslims, but haven’t yet heard Modi even remotely regret the killings of 2002. The onus of moving on should not lie on Muslims alone.

SIT call: Does Narendra Modi have much to worry?

SIT call: Does Narendra Modi have much to worry?

The state BJP and the bureaucracy exuded confidence on Friday, reflecting their belief that chief minister Narendra Modi will only emerge stronger legally and politically after he appears before the Special Investigating Team (SIT). While the Congress was quiet about the summons in the Assembly session, the buzz in the CMO was powered by a host of legal consultations about what course the government should take.

A day after the Supreme Court-appointed SIT summoned Modi to depose before it over his role in the 2002 Gujarat carnage, questions about Modi’s fate were quickly resolved as most analysts believed that his appearance before the SIT may only strengthen him.

“What can it achieve by one more deposition? It is not in a position to interrogate, grill anyone or Modi. Can it forcehim or anyone to say something that one chooses to hide?So what will this achieve except creating a hype?” Viewed analysts.

On Friday, top bureaucrats, BJP leaders and even legal eagles were of the belief that being summoned by the SIT will have no consequences for Modi’s political career. “In fact, he will emerge stronger and it will only help him…,” observed a BJP leader.
The state government was quiet over the issue, but a plethora of activities were initiated to stay clear on the legal side. A bureaucrat close to the CM observed, “We have checked out all the legal possibilities by consulting experts and, as such, there is nothing to worry about the complaints made by Jafri’s widow.”

“There is no direct evidence against Modi," the bureaucrat said. In fact, he mooted an argument which was similar to that doing rounds in the BJP: "The witnesses have also told that Jafri had called up the offices of the Congress leader Ahmed Patel and other senior leaders in New Delhi. So will they be held liable?"
They were quick to cite instances of numerous incidents which have happened across the country in which leaders like LK Advani, Sajjan Kumar andLalu Prasad Yadav have been summoned by the various agencies and courts but nothing has happened to them, despite strong evidence.

Another senior officer who specialises in legal matters said, "There are no constitutional or legal liabilities on the CM or the political head of the state in a riot-like situations. The direct-action duty lies on the police head and local officers of the disturbed area. So by any means, a CM cannot be held directly responsible." Despite the fact that this is the first time any chief minister has been called for inquiry in a criminal investigation, state's Congress legislators remained mysteriously quiet on the subject, and two MLAs in fact did the unthinkable - praised the government for reducing crime and improving infrastructure in a constituency. Leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil was not present during the question hour.

The justification given at a later stage was that they do not want to politicise the issue as the SC is closely watching all developments. "Since the matter is sub judice and the Supreme Court is watching, we do not want to make it appear that Modi is being targeted as Jafri was a Congress MP. Moreover, a plea to reconstitute SIT is also scheduled in the SC early next week," a Congress MLA told DNA.

Narendra Modi does not hate Muslims?

With an eye on a prosperous future, the Dawoodi Bohra community in Gujarat — synonymous with trade and enterprise — has decided to celebrate the 100th birthday of their spiritual leader Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin Saheb in a rather unique way by holding a tradeexhibition of the businesses of the community.

And they have on board Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate the event. This is one of the major public events of the Bohra community that the CM is attending. The two-day Burhani Trade Expo, which will be inaugurated today morning at the Gujarat University Exhibition Hall, will showcase the businesses of around 150 Bohra community members from around the world across a variety of sectors.

Interestingly, a host of activities are happening as part of the centenary celebrations all around the world, but it is only in Ahmedabad that a trade expo is a part of the celebrations.

“This is a different and positive outlook of the community to improve our business prospects and of course showcase the talent that we have. It may not have an immediate effect, but in the long term, the impact will be tremendous,” said Juzar Kakkai, one of the key organisers of the event.

The invitation to Modi is only one more step ahead in the warm relations that the community and its leaders have shared over the past decade.

According to sources, Modi has reached out to Syedna atleast twice in the recent past - once he had gone to Ahmedabad airport when the spiritual leader was here and in April 2008, soon after he was re-elected to the Gujarat Assembly, Modi went to a mosque where Syedna was delivering a religious discourse.

Like some other Muslim communities, Bohras too claim that the communal violence of 2002 was an event of passion and one should move ahead.

"Gujarat is positive to business and so is the Bohra community," Yusufbhai Saheb, a religious leader of the community said addressing a press conference earlier this week.

"Modi has always been very positive to our community and there is no reason for us to hold on to the past," a source said.

In fact, in January, when a delegation met Modi in Surat, he had invited the community to hold the grand celebrations of Syedna's centenary birthday in Gujarat. The spiritual leader, who has an ardent following in the community worldwide, is a native of Surat and the community has a very strong presence in the diamond city of south Gujarat.