Morarji Desai- Former 'PM' of India (125th Birth Anniversary)

                                                                     He was a leader who started his political career as a Minister in 1937 (i.e. In the First Self Rule Congress Government of the Bombay Presidency ) and ended the same in the year 1979 as a Prime Minister of India.  He occupied all Constitutional Positions like Chief Minister, Central Minister,  Deputy Prime Minister, and Prime Minister during his forty years of a political career.  He was even offered the Presidential position but he refused on political grounds. Thus he had a very Bright, Honest, and Successful Career in the political fields of India.

                                                                He joined the freedom struggle in the year 1930 after resigning as a deputy collector of the then British-Ruled Government. He said then 'He served the wrong master for a long time. Once Gandhiji was having a meeting with the Viceroy of India and he inquired with Morarjibhai Whether he can talk to Viceroy about reinstalling him in the Government service?  Morarjibhai replied him ' Bapu going back to government service does not arise as we have yet to achieve freedom'.  This shows that Morarjibhai was one of the committed Gandhian freedom fighters. He was imprisoned several times by the British Government during the freedom struggle.

                                                       Even during his service under British Rule he was fearless and use to handle his British Bosses without any fear.  He had the guts to send some of the expenses Bills to his British Boss which were incurred by local people when his boss was touring the District. His contention was that the government is paying for all expenses when government officials are touring.  Why poor people are taxed and compelled to bear expenses? He compelled his British Boss to pay all those expenses from his pocket. He had lots of tussle with administration for the sake of principle.  He was Daring and Fearless. When he appeared before the interview committee of the British Government for a job he was asked ' If we do not give you this job then what you will do? ' "The whole world is before me". He replied confidently. The committee was impressed with his reply and he got a job.

                                                                         He was a leader who strictly followed principles and values.  He has to pay a heavy price for following the same. He was a good administrator and civil servants were very much scared of him. The Bombay State was one of the best-managed states of India doing his tenor as a  Chief Minister. He also managed the finance of India successfully at a very critical stage. It is recorded that he presented the Indian Budget for the highest number of times.  He never cared for cheap popularity and always acted in the best interest of the people and country.

                                                            The Rationing on Food Grains was removed and prices of essential commodities like wheat, rice, sugar prices were lowest during his tenure as Prime minister. Inflation was at its lowest and under control. He amended the constitution to see that emergency provisions are never misused in the future for political reasons. The judiciary was also given more powers to protect Democracy. He brought the 'Parashar Bharati' Bill to make TV and Radio free from government control. He also made provision that people can appear in Civil Service Examinations (i.e. IAS, IPS, IFS, etc )in any Constitutionally approved Regional Languages.  The foreign relations were at the best when Morarjibhai was Prime Minister. He is the only Prime Minister who received 'Nishane Pakistan 'the highest civilian award of Pakistan and 'Bharat Ratna' of India respectively.  

                                                                 Morarjibhai has Land, Social, Economic, and Police  Reforms to his Credit. He also introduced many reforms when he was Chief Minister of Bombay State. He made farmworkers the owners of the land under the 'Farm Land Reform Act'.( i.e. Land belongs to a farmer who actually doing farming') This law brought lots of prosperity among farmworkers. He brought a law prohibiting 'Second Marriage' when one wife is alive. This protects the Women's Right'. He nationalized the Bus Transport so that rural areas get transportation facilities. Small weavers and  Handicrafts were his priorities. His concept of gold control is now being accepted and implemented by subsequent governments. He founded the' 'Home Guard' which has now become the second line of police services in time of emergency. He brought police reforms which brought law and order under control. This shows that he was a good administrator along with a reformist leader. 

                                                              The year 2021 is Morarjibhai's 125 th Birth Anniversary Year. But it is passing without any Celebrations. He believed not to give his name to anything. The Well-Known Gujarati Thinker and Prominent Writer Gunvant Shah Writes about Morarjibhai as under-

"Morarjibhai had a Shining and Gorgeous personality which use to fills up the room when one enters therein. He lived his life Shining until the end of his life. He further writes that there is no  Bridge or University or Park or Stadium or National Award or Airport or Hospital or Auditorium after his name. When we will get another such efficient and honest Statman? Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given me a promise to name the 'Surat International Airport' as 'Morarji Desai  InternationalAirport' which he has still not fulfilled."

                       We hope Suitable and Prominent Memorials will be created in the name of Morarjibhai as desired by the people.

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Where there is Will there is a Way

                                                              Climate Change has brought the importance of forestation. It is the duty of every country to see that their forests are preserved and protected to reduce pollution and climate change thereof. The wasted interest cut the forest without thinking how much damage they are doing to the world climate.

                                               It was reported that due to the negligence of some people a thousand acres of forests were destroyed by fire in California, (USA), Australia, and the Amazon Forest. Even Trible people are also disturbed who are the original inhabitants of those Forests. Some people cut forests illegally and make money out of forest resources. They do not know how much damage they are doing to the world. It is also to be noted that generally forests are supposed to be protected and to be taken care of by the government of respective countries. However, said work is not being taken seriously by the officials and authorities who manage the same.

                                            Few countries in the world are taking effective steps to preserve and protect their natural treasure.  Guatemala is a  small Latin American country with a population of about 1.75 crores. It has shown the ideal way to protect the forest. They started creating national parks as per world standards. It has given a great push to their Tourism. They have separated  21000 square km area as ' Maya Biosphere Reserve'.  It was declared a protected area. The well-known  Ancient 'Maya Culture is also situated in the said reserve area.  Guatemala's government has protected not only forests but even 'Maya Culture' and Tribe thereof.  The Local Tribal people were also given the charge of the Reserve Area to look after. It was a very controversial decision of Guatemala government which was criticized for handing over the said Reserve Park to Local Trible People. Besides that said Reserve Forest Park was declared 'Natural Heritage' in the year 1990 by 'UNESCO'  However, after three decades that decision has now proved successful and has become an inspiration for other Countries.  Local people know very well that how to protect their interests in the forest where they live.

                                              While another Reserve Forest Park, Named' Laguna Dell Tegre 'which is managed by the Guatemalan government has become the Smuggler Camp. Trees were cut illegally thereon.  The local inhabitants were removed from some of the areas by wasted interest. Mines and digging oil well activities increased. They even wanted to create a runway where small planes can land but it was stopped by the authorities. The community forest concept is centuries old but it is not acceptable to many governments. It is a concept wherein forests are supposed to look after by the local people. 

                                                 The world is fighting against the calamities created by Climate Change.  Besides that pollution is a great Health Hazard. This is a fight for the survival of mankind.  Hence it is a call of the time to protect, preserve and increase the forest areas so that the quality of life of people can be further improved. In that context small country like Guatemalan has set a good example for protecting forests. This shows that 'Where there is will there's a way'.  

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 Chines Planing

                                            China has become a villain in the eyes of the world after the Corona Pandemic. However, it had also experienced an economic setback in the initial stages of a said pandemic. Chinese Economy is now gradually improving better in comparison to the economies of the other countries.

                                             The strength of the country is measured on three main factors. i.e. Economic / Military Powers and Quality of leadership thereon. China, fortunately, having all those factors in its favor. Therefore it can now challenge the superpower of America. This is because China has planned its goals well ahead of community nations.

                                               China had recently organized the conference of the top leadership of the party to present its planning for the next five years. i.e. for  2021 to 2025. Chinese prime minister Xi Jinping in an address to the conference  said with confidence that ' China can now look the  world in the eyes.'  It appears he wanted to impress upon his party colleagues that this is our planning which will lead us to our goal of making China a superpower in the world.  He said it will be executed on yearly basis.

                                              China fears that America may stop the supply of high-tech materials including semiconductors. Therefore China is going to spend 7% of its budget on Research and development projects. Besides, that China will reduce Carbon Emissions by 18% from 2021 to2025. It will see that market share of world export will be maintained but simultaneously efforts will be also made to increase local consumption of produced goods. This is to make China more self-sufficient and less dependent on other countries. It will also increase the investment in Robotic and Electric Vehicles. There is also a plan to increase the high-speed rail network up to 70000 km in15 years.  Thus it will double the high-speed Rail Network. Besides that, the power generation will be increased to 70 Gigawatts from  50 Gigawatts by 2025.

                                           Surprisingly, Chinese GDP growth is going up and it is expected that Chinese GDP will remain at 7% to 9 % in the year 2021. That too when there is a declining trend of the economy in the world. This is because of the quality leadership of China and the execution of all development projects in time.

                                        In short, India has to further improve its Economic Growth and Military Power in order to face the Chinese Assault for supremacy.

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