9 Greenpeace freeze

Greenpeace’s monetary transactions—specifically foreign funding—have supposedly dragged the Indian economy down by three percentage points.

Since it conflicts with Mr Modi's Make in India scheme, which predominantly relies on India's largely coal-powered manufacturing units, as the Beeb points out, Greenpeace's opposition to coal manufacturing isn't welcome. An activist was also denied rights to travel abroad to testify against coal use in India.

The Beeb calls this undemocratic. I call it businesslike. Right from his election to his current days as Prime Minister of India, Mr Modi's steps have been shrewdly businesslike, be it in campaigning or his corporate-style advertising, about which I wrote an opinion piece for the Deccan Herald around the last elections.

Today, the government has cancelled foreign funds transfer capabilities for one of Greenpeace's bank accounts. Bad move. Instead, focussing on replacing coal with alternative sources (of which there is no dearth in India) and pushing forward Greenpeace's protests against coal would have been clever and more beneficial in the long run: India's coal intake would reduce, much like China's, and the country's contribution towards the environment would be positive for once.

It's high time someone thought of national interests in terms of the environment and balanced it in terms of better scientific enquiry into alternate sources rather than adamantly hold on to old, polluting practices possibly in favour of establishing a Prime Ministerial legacy.