80 achievement of the Modi government on the 80th Independence Day 2026

August 14, 2026 2 Comments filed under Uncategorized

On the eve of Independence Day, I thought it would be a good opportunity to share what I believe are the 80 undeniable achievement of the Modi government for my first post. Feel free to add more in the comments.

1) Accepting things like Aadhar and GST devised during UPA era.

2) Monetizing many govt services for better use like railways and defense exports.

3) Improving our overall port capacity.

4) Making India self sufficient in ammunition production.

4) Not letting ideology dictate policy, as seen in overtures to Pakistan till Pakistan closed the doors.

5) Trying their best to keep a wide circle of friends in a heavily polarized  world.

6) Connecting all state grids into a single national grid.

7)Signing a slew of FTAs with many western countries.

8) Development of Brahmos and our own multi artillery defense system.

9) Formalizing our border enclaves with Bangladesh as much as possible.

10) Taking advantage of the reduction of cost in renewable energy to make our grid 55% dependent on renewable energy.

11) Supporting investment in hydrogen based fuel cells.

12) Supporting research in making cow dung based fuel valuable.

12) Increasing the number of airports.

13) Made significant efforts to bring back Indian cultural artifacts like the Leiden plates.

14) Construction of tap and toilet facilities till 99% of the country has either a tap connection or a toilet in their home.

15) Increase in ethanol blending to secure our fuel supply.

16) Increase in mobile phone assembly facilities.

17) Increase in semiconductor manufacturing facilities.

18) Bringing much needed investment in high quality manufacturing to states like Assam.

19) Enabling private telecom operators to provide cheap data to almost all parts of India.

20) Better export opportunities for Indian toy makers.

21) Vande Bharat trains launched.

22) Bullet trains though they should have started with Hyderabad to Bangalore and Hyderabad to Mumbai/ Pune to begin with.

23) Increase in  overall tree cover.

24) Increasing the number of electricity available to 22 hrs from 12 he’s through national grid, renewable energy capacity generation and reduction of losses.

25) Exporting tigers to other countries.

26) Bringing cheetahs back to India from Africa.

27) Promotion of yoga through world yoga day.

28) Worlds largest vaccine drive during covid.

29) Successfully conducting the mahakumbh and kumbh mela many times.

30) Production linked initiative scheme helping advance in mobile cell manufacturing

31) Production linked initiative scheme helping manufacturing for electric mobility, power electronics and advanced safety systems.

32)Production linked initiative scheme helping in development of biosimilars,monoclonal antibodies and medical devices.

33) Production linked initiative scheme helping in domestic polysilicon manufacturing.

34) Production linked initiative helping in over 2.16 lakh crore cumulative investment,exports of 8.3 lakh crore,and almost 14.39 lakh direct/indirect jobs.

35) Creation of over 500 million accounts through jan dhan yojana.

36) Depositing over 2 lakh crore in jan dhan yojana accounts.

37) Reducing leakage through direct benefit transfer.

38) Construction of 3 crore houses under PM Awas Yojana through both rural and urban schemes.

39) Empowering women by registering the houses built under their name.

40) Providing  10.58 crore gas connections to poor women under Ujjwala Yojana.

41) Approving 25 lakh new connections in 2025-26.

42) Reducing indoor air pollution by 74% through Ujjwala yojana.

43)Increase port capacity to 2818 million tonnes per annum till 2025-26, from 1400 million tonnes per annum in 2013-14.

44) Increasing cargo handling capacity to 1668 million tonnes per annum in 2025 26 from 972 million tonnes in 2013-14.

45) Increasing inland waterways to 32 operational in 2025 to 5 in 2014.

46) Increasing operational length of inland waterways to 4894 km in 2025-26 from 2716 km in 2013-14.

47) Increase in food grain production to 357.7 million tonnes in 2025-26 from 265 million tonnes in 2013-14.

48) Increase in horticulture production to 369.1 million tonnes in 2025-26 from 277.4 million tonnes in 2013-14.

49) 2900 climate resilient varieties of crops released since 2013-14.

50) Agricultural exports raised to 51.1 billion dollar  in 2025-26 from 34.5 billion dollars in 2013-14.

51) Increase in fish production to 197.7 lakh tonnes in 2025-26 from 95.8 lakh tonnes in 2013-14.

52) Increase in shrimp production to 11.8 lakh tonnes in 2025-26 from 3.2 lakh tonnes in 2013-14.

53) Increase in milk production to 239.3 million tonnes  in 2025-26 from 137.7 million tonnes in 2013-14.

54) Increase in egg production to 130 billion in 2025-26 from 75 billion in 2013-14.

55) Increase poultry production to more than 4.2 million tonnes.

56) Launch of Indias first solar observatory in 2023 through Aditya L1 mission.

57) Launch of Chandrayaan-2.

58) Commissioning of INS Vikrant, Indias first indegenously built aircraft carrier.

59) Launch of new metros in 21 cities including many 2 tier cities.

60) Increase in operational length of metro rail to 940 km from 248 km.

61) 900 km of metro under construction.

62)  National highway is now 1,46,572 km from 91287 km.

63) 4 lane highways increased to 46179 km from 18387 km.

64) 2636 km of expressway completed from 93 km expressway in 2014.

65) Rural roads up to 7.5 lakh km from 5 lakh km.

66) Rural roads now connect 99% of all villages.

67) Freight growth to 1600 million tonnes in 2025-26 from 1050 million tonnes.

68) Route km is 71000 km in 2025-26 from 65000 km.

69)60000 km electrified in 2025-26 from 21000 km in 2013-14.

70) Dedicated Eastern freight corridor of 1337 km and western dedicated freight corridor of 1504 km nearing completion.

71) Freight lines have 100 km/h speed lowering freigh costs and boosting business.

72) Reduction in infant mortality from 40 per 1000 live births in 2013-14 to 25 per 1000 live births in 2013-14

73) Under 5 mortality decreased from 48 in 2013-14 to 25.

74) Neonatal mortality fell from 28 in 2013-14 to 17 in 2025-26.

75) Free maternal and child healthcare through Ayushman Bharat.

76) Expanded vaccine coverage through universal immunization program.

77) Presided over a drop in total fertility rate to 2.0 overall.

78) Overall tax revenue is 40.78 lakh crore  in 2025-26  from 11.39 lakh crore in 2013-14.

79) GST collection is 2.43 lakh crore in 2026

80) Modi is the most popular, modern leader for many years running.

Not yet a requiem for the Deities of rural India

August 14, 2026 13 Comments filed under Indosaurus

First let me share my annoyance with cows. Dare I call it a beef?

https://indosaurus.substack.com/p/cows-vs-buffaloes?r=1mp4jc

The scriptural form of hinduism is in little danger of being displaced or disappearing. It also has a lot of elements palatable to monotheists (advaita) & rationalists (the block determinant nature of the universe/ simulation theory)

Whereas the folk form, practiced mainly by lower castes which has less theology and more sacrifice/possession is often considered on par with devil worship by Christians/Muslims. Some of the deities named overtly as Satan/Shaitan.

For instance the buffalo deity of Kerala Vishnumaya Chatan (pictured), is easily corrupted to Satan. Rituals associated are considered black magic.

Adherents of the more rural folk forms are also often targeted for conversion. The political alliances of the Christians aligns strongly with lower castes in South India, exacerbating this process.

As India grows wealthier, urbanisation & social mobility also involves Sanskitisation. Ancient traditions are further eroded as outdated and irrelevant.

Continue reading Not yet a requiem for the Deities of rural India

Open Thread: The Courtesy Guidance & the Two Factions (Majority vs. Minority)

August 13, 2026 34 Comments filed under Comment as Canon, Open Thread, Precedent, X.T.M
  • BP’s two Factions in light of its “Bharat” underpinning?
  • What defines the “Majority”?
  • What does Courtesy Mean in an online forum?

The majority, described

Now that we are Brown, that is Bharat, Pundits, all of us who are the majority share things in common. Five come to mind, and they should be front and centre:

  1. Hindu by birth or Hindu by marriage (broadly Upper Caste social milieu).
  2. India’s borders can never be reduced. Some, myself included, are very much in the Akhand Bharat camp; I see Iran to Indonesia as one vast Indic, Hindu Continental sphere.
  3. Hinduism was oppressed under the Anglo-Islamicate legacy, which has been a mixed blessing at best (that is a most charitable view). The LeLi Brahmin view that we should have been grateful to be chattel under Despots, who professed Islam, is odd.
  4. Dharma has space for all, and that more Hinduism does not mean less secularism; as well as an inclination for more Hindu-Indic symbology in the national discourse.
  5. Broadly supportive of the current government of India and sceptical towards RaGa.
  6. Partition was a mistake and the two-nation theory was not a good idea. Pakistan has not succeeded.

That defines the majority to a very strong extent, and the minority is defined by being against these positions, in whatever combination. We have such a strong majority that all of us agree with it, including the full admin team.

It just so happens that even if I’m not Hindu by birth, I’m definitely Hindu by marriage. My entire social reality, where I engage with Brown people, is Hindu, so I have become an acculturated Hindu. A fortnight ago I said the divide here was ideological, not sectarian; the last week taught me the map is older than the ideology. It’s not Saffron or Crescent, left liberals or right wing. It is the majority versus the minority, and in a weird way we are converging towards what is modern-day India, and really mapping that.

The minority Continue reading Open Thread: The Courtesy Guidance & the Two Factions (Majority vs. Minority)

Brown, that is Bharat, Pundits

August 12, 2026 82 Comments filed under Comment as Canon, Popular, Precedent, X.T.M

The Constitution of Brown Pundits

see: Bharat Needs No Validation

Ever since Brown Pundits was resurrected over the last two years, one thing has been missing: a written constitution. We never had one (fifteen years as the British of the blogosphere, running on an unwritten constitution).

The landscape has changed since the founding. The diaspora is not so interesting anymore. Pakistan and the other regions are not so interesting anymore. Modi came to power, and the economic divergence between India and her neighbours is now just immense; she is one of the largest economies in the world. A blog that does not register that is not describing the “Hindu Continent”, it is describing 2011.

Alias

I am not officially changing the name from Brown Pundits. But BP also stands, very much, for Bharat Pundits. We are not trying to make claims of equality. The focus of this house is India, that is Bharat, and how she claims her destiny in the world, with a nod to our origins, which were diasporic and Indo-Islamicate. Bharat Pundits began as a reframe in a wry comment reply to Kabir earlier afternoon. It has evolved into a Precedent.

“Writing” Continue reading Brown, that is Bharat, Pundits

The Failure of Pakistani Alliances & The Instability of the Middle East

August 10, 2026 57 Comments filed under 0M-3

After all the pointless flame wars on this website I wanted to tackle some less divisive topics, therefore I have decided to create a short post discussing the failure of alliance structures in the Middle East (including Pakistan going by the World Bank definition). The alliances we will actually look at being the METO/CENTO/Baghdad Pact, SEATO, and the two recent pacts between Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan with Turkey being the most recent entrant.

(P.S. XTM can you add an Active Author Category for me.)
Continue reading The Failure of Pakistani Alliances & The Instability of the Middle East

The Lutyens Brahmin & the Indian Muslim

August 9, 2026 205 Comments filed under Popular, X.T.M

Does Brahmin arrive with too much luggage, orthodoxy, superstition, the Bollywood stereotype, for any euphemism to survive it?

Perhaps. But the term has travelled before. In 1860 Oliver Wendell Holmes borrowed it for “the Brahmin caste of New England,” christening what became known as the Boston Brahmin: an untitled Protestant aristocracy, not a sacred thread in sight.

I want to repatriate the word because it illuminates two arguments that at first seem unrelated: who enters India’s apex elite, and who is permitted to belong to India without proving it.

The old metropolitan order administered admission quietly: assimilation, presentation, marriage. The new Hindu order increasingly administers national belonging aloud: Jai Hind, Vande Mataram, the flag, Bharat Mata ki Jai. The first produced the Lutyens Brahmin. This harder question for the Indian Muslim: is the new loyalty test merely explicit where the old one was hidden, or has belonging itself been repriced?

As Agni pointed out, the Brahmin I mean is the Brahmin of Boston: an apex caste defined by class, not gotra. A Shudra can join it. An OBC can. A Muslim can. In India it has its L.A.B. chapters, Lutyens, Academic, Bollywood, each commanding a sector and recruiting on much the same terms: assimilation, presentation, marriage. The furore over nepotism in Bollywood was, in part, a quarrel over precisely this caste; further reading includes The Bollywood caste, Bollywood, Brahmins, Parsis & WASPs, The Rise of the Quarter-breeds in Bollywood.

The Persistence of Elites

Continue reading The Lutyens Brahmin & the Indian Muslim

The Brahmin Civil War

August 8, 2026 104 Comments filed under Popular, X.T.M

(Housekeeping first. Indosaurus is back and in form; “For Gandhiji” and “Liberal college bastions are taking body blows” and k jayas’s “30 seconds please“. Ordinarily I would open with viewer statistics; I’m dispensing with the ritual. The community is flourishing, and I would rather measure biodiversity than traffic.)

In DP’s telling India is down to three varnas: the Baniya, who owns the temple; the Brahmin, who guards it on salary and calls the arrangement dharma; and everyone else, rebranded anti-national upon objection. Stadium budgets flow to a state without medallists while the akharas that win them go hungry; the newsroom is Brahmin-bylined and Baniya-owned, the vegetarian canteen doing the work the salary won’t; ahimsa is reread as a doctrine of bloodless extraction.

Ahimsa Redefined

Take the milk, spare the cow; take the honey, spill nothing; empty an exchequer without cutting a throat and call it business. Nehru the Pandit, he reminds us, was unmade by Pandits while other men did the counting. And the merchant class, expelled from the fold in its Jain and Buddhist centuries, waited out the millennium and has made the priesthood its front office. “The Nagpur bowl is being refilled in Ahmedabad,” he closes.

The sporting structure he describes is not imaginary, India’s medallists come from Manipur to Kerala to Hyderabad, though Haryana’s share is so disproportionate. DP gives us a priesthood in service. But the priesthood that unmade the Pandit prime minister while other men did the counting was not obeying a master. I see a priesthood at war; with its own cousins.

The Sedimentary Elite

Continue reading The Brahmin Civil War

Bangladesh-India Open Thread

August 8, 2026 23 Comments filed under X.T.M

Bangladesh has lashed out at India for allowing the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to address journalists in New Delhi, plunging already strained bilateral relations to a fresh low.

Dhaka accused India of giving a platform to a fugitive it labelled a “convicted genocider” and of undermining efforts to repair ties, after Hasina vowed to return to Bangladesh in December despite facing a death sentence on charges of “crimes against humanity”.

The angry response late on Wednesday came hours after Hasina, speaking on the second anniversary of the massive student-led uprising that led to her flight to India, declared: “Whatever fate awaits me, I will return to my people.”

India-Bangladesh relations hit new low over exiled PM’s speech to press in Delhi

Liberal college bastions are taking body blows

August 7, 2026 67 Comments filed under Indosaurus, Popular

In a nutshell it involves a Cambridge professor called Jason Arday.

He was the youngest full prof @ 37 ever for the university. A meteoric career rise through 4-5 other prestigious universities. Hired for his dissertation on critical race theory. According to his backstory – non verbal till 11, illiterate @ 18, phd @ 31. Ran 600 miles in 6 days through will power. There is also the epilepsy due to a race attack & magnanimity in forgiving his attackers.

These are just the highlights, there is so much more. Sounds too good to be true? It really is a crazy story and most parts are quite unverifiable or inconsistent.

What was provable was his rampant plagiarism in his papers and dissertation. The people who pointed it out (on substack) – Nathan Cofnas, got fired from Cambridge. David Harris, the original whistle blower, got dropped from his college in plymouth. A journalist who reported it, got investigated by the met police on a complaint by Arday.

Arday has now resigned, the met police has apologised, Cofnas is crowing on substack and David Harris has been reinstated.

Questions are now being asked as to why Arday’s ludicrous claims were never challenged by the various universities, he was given uk govt work, for race related curriculum matters, a book deal (claimed million $ + advances).

This scandal, though far more explosive, mirrors the ousting of Harvard president Claudine Gay for plagiarism.

Are people progressive abroad and conservative at home? Do Indians and Pakistanis identify with progressive movements abroad, to make common causes amongst people of colour, then make a hard right turn on the plane back home? Statistically I would say, this seems to be the case. Indians being to the Right of Pakistanis abroad (due to higher income & religion?). But is this sensible, internally consistent, and should people abide by it?

Where do brown people feature in critical race theory?

Continue reading Liberal college bastions are taking body blows

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