A coup d’etat can end in agony, victory, defeat or even a terrible holocaust for humanity. But a coup de tweet — or an attempted overthrow of a legitimately elected government by social me
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5 Indiaâs Victory: The military planned, executed and won the 1971 war and when Dhaka fell, neither Indira nor Manekshaw flew in for a photo-op.
Rajesh Ramachandran
Fifty years is almost a lifetime, and the right time-span to look back at an event, particularly if the golden jubilee is that of a spectacular, unparalleled modern military victory. A poor nation of hungry millions, standing up to a warring sibling founded, armed and funded by a former Empire and a modern superpower, and yet achieving a stupendous victory against all odds is a chapter of history that we need to read many times over. With a Parsi Chief of Army Staff, Sikh and Jewish generals, a Muslim Assistant Chief of Air Staff and a predominantly Hindu force, the 1971 victory was that of a professional army completely oblivious to identity politics and its sinister sectarian manipulations. Every arm of the fledgling Indian state, be it spymaster RN Kao’s boys or BSF men and officers under KF Rustomj
Rajesh Ramachandran
Just a couple of decades ago, Odisha was known more for starvation deaths in Kalahandi, Balangir and Koraput than its breathtaking beaches or the architectural marvel at Konark. It’s so no more. Now, Odisha is a rice-surplus state no mean achievement by any yardstick. How did this turnaround happen? Well, it was rather simple. The government began buying paddy. Rice is Odisha’s staple diet, while it is largely a cash crop in Punjab but the economics of growing paddy remains the same in these two totally dissimilar contexts. There could be production and supply only if there is demand routine, assured and unfailing procurement. A cabinet memorandum of the Odisha government last month projected a bumper crop of 71 lakh tonnes of paddy this season. But most interestingly, the note assured that the government would buy everything that the registered farmers bring to the mandis. This promise triggers the Keynesian animal spirits in the rural economy.