Sunday, March 3, 2019

Hypocrisy of the Usual Suspects on S. Gurumurthy

In times, when some vested interests in the mainstream media are busy creating a narrative that everything government does is linked to RSS. It becomes significant to get the true picture of the narrative being created by them.

When government appointed S Gurumurthy and Satish Marathe as part-time directors on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) board after an approval from the appointments committee of the cabinet. 

As soon as the news came out, some news manufacturers started whining that the appointment of S Gurumurthy is a reward to him for his services to RSS. Bloomberg Quint – itself known for politically leaned views published a story highlighting strong political leanings of S Gurumurthy and his appointment to RBI and threat to its apolitical character. 

However, they conveniently forgot that Manmohan Singh himself was RBI’s full-time governor between 1982-1985 who later went on to become the Prime Minister of the country representing Congress party. So, is Manmohan Singh not a person with Political leanings.

Some of the media houses targeted him for Swadeshi economic thought and nationalistic attitude to the economy. But some of the most biased public commentators again selectively forgot that his approach is no different from what Gandhiji upheld throughout his whole life as the basic principle of Indian economy – Swadeshi, Village-based economy with an aim towards the development of self-capability.

From Media’s Hero to Media’s Villain

Gurumurthy came to limelight first in 1987 when he led a fight against trade practices of business conglomerate Reliance. He was made an anti-corruption crusader overnight. India today published a story on S Gurumurthy in 1987.


Read the entire story here – check this link

But all of a sudden, He has become a RSS linked governor with zero Banking experience. This hatred of some vested interests in media for Gurumurthy is not new. He has constantly been targeted especially after he brilliantly and bravely exposed the so-called biggies of India Chidambaram Family, NDTV channel and Maran’s brothers. 

His work with Pgurus.com and column in the New Indian Express continues to rattle many especially the Gandhi family as his commentaries on National Herald scam are not favourable to them.

In fact, his relations with Gandhi family has never been at ease. Gurumurthy was arrested on the midnight of March 13, 1987, by Rajiv Gandhi Government which stirred a nation-wide controversy as per an article published then in India Today magazine. He paid the price for having taken on the crony capitalism widely prevalent then in the closed and inspector-raj economy of the 1980s.


Read the full story – click here

Shame that some vested interests are berating a professional chartered accountant, economist and a thinker who in recent times conceptualised many government policies. Establishment of Niti Ayog to foster the spirit of cooperative federalism unlike erstwhile planning commission that faked the federalism, Mudra Yojna for the development of MSME sector which is a major employment creator and demonetisation attacking the black money are some of his contributions to the nation. 

He was also one of the firsts who detected the rising problem of NPA’s in the Indian banking system. His appointment to RBI has come at a very opportune time when world economies are going protectionist with the USA leading the tariff war. The situation today demands economists to look more into the domestic economy and develop self-capability. And for this job, there can’t be a better person than S Gurumurthy.




Saturday, March 2, 2019

When Karunanidhi Found a Good Friend in PM Modi

When M. Karunanidhi, a stalwart of Dravidian self-respect movement and five times chief minister of state of Tamil Nadu, w suffering from age-related ailments. Thousands of his supporters thronged the Kauvery hospital, Chennai where he was admitted. Situation became tense as the cadres kept vigil and wishes were being sent in from all quarters.


But, amidst all the timely wishes as his health declined, prime minister Narendra Modi did not just wish Karunanidhi quick recovery in one of his tweets but also kept a tab on his health for last one year ever since he started feeling critically ill. He visited M. Karunanidhi at his residence on November 06, 2017 and enquired into his condition. Some of the touching images of both the leaders during that visit reflected a special bonding that both leaders shared. 



Tamil Nadu BJP President Tamilisai Soundarajan, then told reporters that Modi had invited Karunanidhi to his home in Delhi for taking rest. Karunanidhi reciprocated with a smile, she said.

DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan said it was a courtesy call, coming at a time when Karunanidhi was making considerable improvement in his health.

This bonhomie emanated from the fact that both leaders have been the longest-serving Chief ministers and enjoyed huge support base in their respective states before taking the national leadership.

In one of his interviews to Tamil daily “Dinamalar” before elections in 2014, Karunanidhi had said when asked about his “personal opinion” on the Gujarat Chief Minister. “The hectic election campaign by Modi shows he is a hard worker. He is also a good friend of mine”.