Harsh Varma

Family man. Love for @Arsenal, @RogerFederer, travel & photography. Former consultant, still wired for logic. Apolitical-ish. Views slightly left of centre.

[Harsh Varma @mildlyharsh]

Judging by the pace on the ball, that wasn’t a long range shot, its was a defense splitting pass into the goal, weight just enough to make it to the back of the net. Typical @cesc4official 😉

[Harsh Varma @mildlyharsh]

😂

[Harsh Varma @mildlyharsh]

The only logical explanation for this could be that your laptop or account was hacked! 😂

[CMO Delhi @CMODelhi]

“Thank you, friends!

Proud to launch this special song on the birthday of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi Ji.

Created for #SevaSankalpAbhiyan, the song captures Delhi’s youth, the changing face of education and their warmth and affection for Modi Ji.

Kudos to all the young stars for bringing this youthful composition to life.”

-CM Smt. Rekha Gupta

#HappyBdayPMModi

[Harsh Varma @mildlyharsh]

That claim expired pretty quick!

[Ministry of Finance @FinMinIndia]

Speculation and claims that the MDR will be charged on UPI transactions are completely false, baseless, and misleading.

Such baseless and sensation-creating speculations cause needless uncertainty, fear and suspicion among our citizens.

The Government remains fully committed to promoting digital payments via UPI.

[Harsh Varma @mildlyharsh]

John Brooks = 💩 #SUNARS

[Harsh Varma @mildlyharsh]

The current government has flaws and deserves serious scrutiny. Which is exactly why this is so frustrating.

Congress repeatedly gets opportunities to make a credible argument and somehow chooses the weaker one.

Then wonders why it continues to struggle for relevance.

[Harsh Varma @mildlyharsh]

And this is precisely why Congress continues to make for such a weak Opposition.

There are perfectly legitimate questions to ask about India’s new GDP series. Instead, you amplify a “2.6% real growth” claim based on comparing numbers that aren’t even statistically comparable.

[Congress @INCIndia]

𝟕.𝟖% 𝐆𝐃𝐏 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐅𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚, 𝟐.𝟔% 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲

Former Finance Secretary in the Modi Govt, Subhash Chandra Garg, has exposed how the Modi government has fudged GDP figures.

As per Garg, the government deliberately revised last year's GDP numbers downward to artificially inflate this year's growth rate. If the figures had not been fudged, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐃𝐏 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝟐.𝟔%, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝟕.𝟖%.

This isn't speculation. The Modi government's own fudged data is exposing the government's lie.

Garg's warning says it all:

"Recognise the reality of the Indian economic situation that 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡."

While the Modi government is celebrating fudged figures of 7.8%, it is hiding the real economic distress of the country.

[Harsh Varma @mildlyharsh]

But if you begin with the conclusion that the govt must be fudging GDP and then embrace bad arithmetic because it supports that conclusion, you weaken your own case.

We needs an Opposition capable of interrogating this govt intelligently. There is plenty to question. Do it well.

[Harsh Varma @mildlyharsh]

So I wouldn’t dismiss India’s growth story, nor would I celebrate the headline number as proof that everything is fine.

The government has built a growth platform but hasn’t turned that into productivity, quality jobs and meaningfully higher incomes for the average Indian.

[Harsh Varma @mildlyharsh]

India growing at ~7% while per-capita GDP is only ~$2.7k isn’t a contradiction.

The first tells us how fast the economy is moving. The second tells us how far we still have to go.

Both numbers matter. Using one to dismiss the other is poor economics.

[Harsh Varma @mildlyharsh]

But it shouldn’t become an excuse either. Indians increasingly buy energy, tech, education and other globally priced goods.

[Harsh Varma @mildlyharsh]

In fact, I find that a stronger way to engage with Hindu tradition.

A civilisation that has sustained centuries of debate between schools of philosophy, practices should be confident enough to debate a smrti.

Questioning a text is not the same as rejecting a civilisation.

[Harsh Varma @mildlyharsh]

I don’t understand why questioning the Manusmriti needs to become a crisis of Hindu identity.

It is a smrti, not sruti. It has been influential and historically important, but is not considered eternally revealed or infallible like the Vedas.

[Zeba Zoariah @ZZoariah]

Why is Manusmriti easy to question, but Muslim personal law politically uncomfortable?

That was my question on @ndtv w @PadmajaJoshi .

If Rahul Gandhi’s principle is that a woman belongs to herself, I agree completely. But then give Hindu and Muslim women the same intellectual standard.

[Harsh Varma @mildlyharsh]

So if someone questions Manusmriti’s treatment of a topic, we should examine the historical context, reject what is incompatible with modern equality, and still recognise the text’s importance in understanding our intellectual history.