OPINION

Enough has been written about the achievements of Narendra Modi government in the short span of three years of its coming into power. Its foreign policy initiatives, spotless governance, bold initiatives of demonetization and introduction of Goods and Services Tax have come in for praise but are yet to be evaluated in a somewhat longer time frame.

India entered the atomic age, more correctly the nuclear age, on 4th August 1956 when Apsara, India’s first nuclear reactor, went into operation.  This reactor was designed and built by India with the nuclear fuel supplied from the United Kingdom under a lease agreement. Our second reactor for research purposes, CIRUS, was built with cooperation with Canada and went into operation in the early 1960’s. The research reactors were platforms for conducting research in neutron physics, studies in the behaviour of materials under neutron irradiation and for production of radio isotopes. The latter are very useful for diagnostics and treatment of various ailments, especially cancer, and also very useful in industrial applications, especially for the purpose of non-destructive testing.
 
Electricity production using nuclear energy commenced in October 1969 when the two reactors at Tarapur were put into service. The Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) was built by General Electric of USA and is now in its forty-eighth year of service. Tarapur supplies the lowest cost non-hydro electric power in the country.  India’s second nuclear power station came up in Rajasthan, near Kota, the first unit of which went into operation in August, 1972. The first two units at Rajasthan were built in collaboration with Canada, who pioneered reactors that could use natural uranium as fuel.

Post-independence story of the common man of India is that of rising and falling expectations. Masses in large numbers helped the leaders to force British empire out in the hope that rule by  own countrymen will end their miseries, the outcome of more than a thousand years of foreign exploitation and loot. Determined to work hard for a better living the poor masses of the nation got disillusioned within two decades of independence. Masses once again ousted the ruling dispensation, after unprecedented repression before and after emergency. Expectations for a just and better living once again rose high but new system just failed to survive. After more than a decade of another severe desperation, common man once again saw a bright light in the dark clouds of the nation when liberalisation and globalisation was launched with promises that the innovative change in the mind-set of the governing machinery will bring the last man to the forefront of development and progress. However, Indian liberalisation failed to elevate the life of poor and our nation could not become global either.

Given the narrative which is dominating the media currently, the headline of this article may sound like sacrilege. Given the shoot and scoot journalism, which runs for ratings than the truth; and seldom for solutions; an effort to understand the catastrophe which made its annual visit to Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital (BRDMCH) would be asking for too much.

Another problem with the Gorakhpur tragedy story is the personality of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. His saffron robes, the thick ear-ring of monkhood which he wears, and the plain speak on the agenda of minority appeasement which he does, make him a figure which the Left of the Centre media just loves to hate. In their hatred for the personality, they have overlooked the fact that it’s Yogi who kept rising in Parliament to raise the issue of the infant deaths due to the killer encephalitis.

The nation goes about its way of life nonchalantly even as dark ominous clouds build up due to the standoff with China at Doklam. The issueis now more than eight weeks old.
The Chinese and we Indians are two old civilizations and loss of face is considered a let-down for both the ancient civilizations, thus the question of who blinks first.  There are other ominous signs building up, Pakistan is increasing shelling on the line of control, and the rhetoric from China is getting louder and louder, a slight miscalculation and the situation may go out of hand.
To the man on the spot, morale and commander’s intent matter, thus it is the time to stand up and be counted with our men and women in uniform. National will has a simple definition and that is the degree with which a nation supports the action of its government in war and peace. The Chinese rhetoric called for three stage psychological warfare, which is certainly building national will, while a studied silence from New Delhi is giving an air of calm.
National will is a vital component of national power, but it takes time to build it up. National will can be built up through formal methods like the ballot box or through informal methods, currently radio, television, newspaper, and social media will play a part.