Inflated stories

The latest issue of Organiser carried an interview with BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu where he says that if inflation...

The latest issue of Organiser carried an interview with BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu where he says that if inflation can be contained in Europe, 8220;why can8217;t the UPA government control it in India8221;. 8220;The UPA government is misleading the nation on inflation projecting it as a global phenomenon in which it could hardly do anything. The facts are otherwise. According to The Economist, in many European countries which are not oil producers, the rate of inflation is much lower. In Japan, the rate of inflation is just 0.8 per cent, in Italy 8.6 per cent, in Britain 3.6 per cent, in Malaysia 3 per cent, in Canada 1.7 per cent, in Germany and France 3 per cent.

UPA logic doesn8217;t hold good. If these countries could control inflation in spite of the rise in oil prices in the world market, why couldn8217;t the UPA,8221; theinterview quotes Naidu as saying. On the nuclear deal, Naidu tells the RSS journal, 8220;The deal is an important issue and the right course for the Congress should have been to consult the alliance partners and move forward after taking the opposition along. Now they are caught in the web of their creation.8221;

Good fences

A news item on Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee8217;s 107th birth anniversary reports on a two-day seminar organised on 8220;Threats to National Identity and Security in 21st Century8221; in Kolkata to mark the event. Says the report, 8220;the seminar, first of its kind in Kolkata, was attended by luminaries such as former union minister Arun Shourie, G. Parthasarthy, Ashok Mehta, P. Stobodan, Gen V. P. Malik among others.8221; In response to a question, Malik is quoted as saying, 8220;In 1986, the government gave us huge resources to build infrastructure like airfields and roads. Work was on a great pace. Then in 1988 then Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi went to China. After that, the fund flow dried up8230; Unless you are alert about the need for protecting your independence, how can you evolve into a great nation? In order to protect your soft power, you can8217;t do without adequate hard power. They compliment each other.8221; The report adds, 8220;Arun Shourie warned against the designs of the Chinese expansionism and said there is no alternative to build your own defence strength to counter the threats on the northern front.8221;

Unlawful entry

A Former IPS officer, R.K. Ohri, has written an opinion piece titled, 8220;Challenge of Bangladeshi Infiltrators: Diabolical Dimensions, Out of Box Solutions.8221; Says Ohri, 8220;In the Working Group on Border Management chaired by Madhav Godbole in 2000, it was clearly stated that the number of illegal Bangladeshis was around 1.5 crore. With three lakh infiltrators entering India every year, the figure adds up to a total of 1.7 crore illegal immigrants by 20058230;No exact figure about the Bangladeshi influx can be given because of the failure of the central government and concerned state governments. This doesn8217;t mean that the massive problem doesn8217;t exist8230; West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on June 23, 2005 said that illegal immigrants were spreading the message of Islamic fundamentalism and that there was a problem with some of our neighbours.8221;