Is China building a loan mafia in India?
The need for informal lending by common people is increasing day by day. Most people don't have the pre-requisite collateral and documents to take loans from formal sectors. Hence they end up taking loans from informal sources at shocking interest rates of up to 40%. Moreover, in situations of emergency, people tend to shift towards informal lending due to the quick disbursement of loans with minimum documents. China is trying to take advantage of this situation in India and has replaced the moneylenders mentioned in Premchand's "Godan". China has put Sri Lanka in a debt trap by giving excessive loans at high-interest rates but it is difficult to do the same with a big economy like India directly. So China through some digital lending apps is trying to hijack the digital lending market and create a debt trap situation for the people of India. Apps like SnapIt, Udhar loan, Robo cash and Fast Rupee are all based on the Chinese white-label app Alibaba Cloud and have similar software templates. There are also apps which imitate popular lending platforms in India to dupe the users. These apps tend to access all contacts and personal photo galleries of the user and later blackmail them to pay the money back with huge interest rates. There are instances where people have been threatened by the employees of these apps saying that an FIR will be lodged against them while many have been socially shamed by publically calling them a fraud and posting the same on Facebook. Some of these victims suffered in silence, some committed suicide while some others stood up against such atrocities and coercive measures taken by these apps. But since these apps are illegal, so taking necessary action wasn't possible for the police and the cyber cell. Moreover, China has made huge investments in the startup sector of India. Chinese company Alibaba has a sizable number of shares in companies like the big basket, snapdeal, Paytm and Zomato. Controlling the economy of our country in this manner can be a part of a bigger Chinese strategy. India has witnessed growth in Chinese FDI in fintech, Infrastructure, automobiles etc. Chinese companies also remained major participants in Government contracts and public procurements but these investments might have detrimental effects in the long run if China plans to suddenly withdraw their investments. India should lessen their dependence on Chinese investments, especially in the growing startup sector as it might make India's economy and national security vulnerability. Regarding the illegal Chinese apps trying to create a debt trap, the stakeholders such as the google play store should take steps to ensure proper identification of such fraudulent apps to maintain users' trust. Moreover, there should be proper support system groups for victims of such atrocities in tandem with a robust redressal mechanism for such complaints. In India, the Fintech sector comes under the jurisdiction of the RBI and thus it is its duty to take necessary measures of ensuring checks and balances on such fraudulent apps and also create necessary awareness amongst the people of India.
Siddharth Roy,
Rehabari, Guwahati
No lesson learnt
The Indian National Congress spokespersons are presently conducting press meets all over India in its campaign to highlight the so-called nexus between the BJP and terror organizations by referring to some arrested jehadis' association with the party. These are clearly attempts to infiltrate the party to get close to its leadership in order to carry out high-profile assassinations. Also the release of Hafiz Sayeed in Kandahar is sought by the spokesperson to be projected as surrender of the BJP government to terror, ignoring the fact not doing so would have resulted in the fully publicized murder of a planeload of Indians, probably done ritualistically by slitting throats one by one. They probably regret that such a catastrophe had not happened, and so that is the reason of their angst. Badmouthing Modi, raising slogans like 'chowkidar chor hai' for which the scion had to apologize unconditionally to the Supreme Court brought the party to its present sorry state, but apparently no lesson has been learnt.
Krishnanjan Chanda,
Guwahati.
Chaos in exam conducted by NTA
It has witnessed that NTA was unable to conduct the first shift of the prestigious UGC NET examination, 2021-22 smoothly. In a press release, NTA admitted that in certain examination centres across the country due to some technical glances the first shift was rescheduled. But the whole process ultimate shows carelessness of NTA in conducting such an important examination for the students. From the very beginning it has been observed that NTA has failed pathetically in smooth conduction of the NET examination. Providing the examination schedule just two days before the examination and releasing admit cards a day prior to the examination show the casual and careless attitude of the agency. The ministry and authority concerned should take strict action against such irresponsible officers associated with the process. It has been a trend for last couple of years that NTA has not able to conduct the examination in a smooth and convenient atmosphere. Students become the sufferers because of such chaos.
Kaustav Jit Bora,
Nagaon.
Waste segregation and disposal
Segregation and proper disposal of our waste is essential as the amount of waste being generated today causes immense problems. In recent times, the flash floods in the city can be attributed to the disposal of waste without any segregation and processing. In simple terms, waste segregation is the separation of dry waste and wet waste. Segregation is essential so that dry waste can be recycled and wet waste can be composted. Segregation is necessary because dry waste needs to be uncontaminated for it to be recycled. The best way to segregate waste is at home even before it reaches the garbage collectors. Firstly, having two garbage disposal bins at home, one for dry waste and one for wet waste. Items like aluminium foils, tetra packs, glass, paper, plastics etc., fall under the dry waste category, whereas kitchen waste such as stale food, fruits and vegetables come under wet waste. It is important to make sure that wet waste is thrown out of the house on a daily basis. Dry waste can be discarded twice or thrice a week. The importance of waste segregation cannot be understated. Waste segregation is the first step in a compliant waste management plan that will help the save the environment. It really does matter which bin we put the garbage into. If done in a proper manner, waste management not only eliminates the surrounding waste, but will also reduce the depth of existing landfills, thereby cutting down whatever is toxic to the environment.
Dhiman Hazarika,
Cotton University.
Condemnable
The BJP suspended its leader Nupur Sharma and expelled Naveen Kumar Jindal over their hateful remarks against Prophet Muhammed (pbuh). The decision came after their ignorant and blasphemous remarks upset the Gulf countries and triggered communal tension in several parts of India.
Political leaders need to think twice before spewing hate against any community. It is their responsibility to ensure that their words are not hurting the religious sentiments of people.
Jubel D'Cruz,
Mumbai