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Thank you for the A2A.In this answer, I'll try to address most of the common doubts and confusions which I faced as a beginner and I believe others who are just starting out will face as well. I’ll try to cover multiple dimensions in this regard (so please bear with me as the answer is on the longer side)Motivation -All aspirants who seek to clear the exam are driven by an initial spark which encourages them to take up the challenge of clearing the exam. I'd suggest writing it down in half a sheet of paper and keep it somewhere safe (I have it in my wallet). One'll have to revisit it numerous times, especially when the going gets tough.Over the course of the journey, your motivations will change. I'd suggest writing them down on the same piece of paper. Not only will it be helpful while preparing for the interview, but when everything is done and dusted, you'll understand how far you have matured and grown as a person during the course of the exam preparation.Identify your position -I feel that self-awareness is an essential aspect of the exam preparation. If one is aware of her condition (mental, physical, social, financial etc.) as it will help the aspirant plan their preparation in such a way that nasty surprises can be reduced to the minimum. An aspirant may want to ask themselves the following questions -1. Whether they have done well in college and whether they can find a job at any time?2. Whether they'll have the financial backing of their families during the preparation phase or whether they'll need to support their families?3. Whether one is married or in a job and how much time they can realistically devote towards preparation?4. Whether one can afford to go to any of the metro cities and spend money on coaching, rent, books etc.?5. Whether one plans to prepare for other exams simultaneously like State PSCs, SSC CGL etc.?and so on..I'd suggest that aspirants should try to find honest answers to such questions so that the preparation strategy can be streamlined to ensure there are minimal hiccups during preparation. This will also help one to set realistic goals (e.g. number of hours one can devote, amount of time one can stay in Delhi or any city, number of attempts one is planning to give before going for their backup plan etc.) and provide the peace of mind as well as the push which is extremely crucial during prep.Identify your strengths and weaknesses -CSE is not a test only of knowledge. There are many other criteria which are tested as well such as the ability to interlink topics, logical and rational analysis of issues, creativity, empathy etc. Hence, one needn't feel demotivated if she comes across another candidate with much higher knowledge levels. A candidate may be strong in multiple other traits which will matter immensely during the process even if they don't get tested.Also, I believe knowing about one's strengths and weaknesses will be helpful in deciding which successful candidate's strategy one should follow as such strategies are essentially the process of conversion of the specific candidate's weaknesses into strengths. This will help an aspirant to arrive at an ideal strategy sooner. However, for this one needs to go through numerous blogs/Quora answers etc. to understand the challenges the successful candidate faced and whether they are similar to the challenges the aspirant is facing.Coaching -After identifying one's position, the aspirant should be capable of taking a decision whether to go for coaching or not. To be honest, coaching will not make a huge difference to your preparation. In concrete terms, GS coaching classes will ensure that an aspirant has some notes for all the topics and has some practice in solving MCQs and answer writing. Some coaching centers may have helpful teachers and good doubt-clearing sessions. But it is not something which aspirants can find out through Google or discussions with other aspirants. Hence, I'd suggest going for coaching only if you need some regimentation to streamline your preparation and a peer group.The story is a bit different for Optional as coaching classes and notes can be very helpful. This is primarily because the questions in Optional are more of a standard nature and concrete strategies for optional prep can be chalked out. GS is too dynamic and one needs to focus on being updated with current affairs, having a macro view of topics and the capacity to build interlinkages and arrive at a logical conclusion.Also, it is probably better if one doesn't stay in any of the coaching hubs (MN or ORN) when they are in Delhi. The prices in such 'Nagars' are exorbitant and at the same price one will not only find a bigger flat (one-two Metro stations away) but will also be able to purchase the services of a cook and pay for a library membership. The two and fro commute may require some time but one can use it effectively by listening to AIR Spotlight news, RSTV videos etc.Syllabus and time-table -CSE syllabus can be overwhelming to many. But I'd suggest going through it carefully. You'll realize that though there are many topics, all of them may be clubbed together into a few broad subjects such as:For instance, GS1 consists of Art and Culture, History, Society and Geography and GS2 consists of Polity, Governance, Social Justice and IR and so on.This macro view of topics will help one in constructing an optimized timetable (e.g. reading topics under Society from GS1 and Social Justice from GS2 may help one in getting a better understanding of social issues, reading IR from GS2 and Economy from GS3 together can help one understand how global events have a bearing on Indian economy, reading governance and Public/Civil Service Values and Ethics in Public Administration may help one to develop a better understanding of the underlying factors which determine the efficiency of the government and so on.However, to reach this stage one needs to be thorough with the standard books. If one is giving the exam next year, I'd suggest focusing primarily on the static sources and Optional until December. This will ensure that one doesn't have to revisit the books again and again next year and the focus can be on Current Affairs, answer writing practice, Test series etc. However, those who have less than 6 months until Pre will have to do all of these together.Sources -It is very important to know which sources one must go through and the ones which one must avoid. This is essential so that one doesn't end up spending too much time on books/websites/notes which don't add value to your preparation in any way. I've mentioned above that knowledge is only one of the criteria which the exam tests. Hence, one needs to focus on other aspects of preparation as well such as developing interlinkages, rational analysis etc. One must remember that more is not necessarily better. And in this regard, a condensed booklist can be very helpful. You may follow the sources I've mentioned in this write-uphttp://www.insightsonindia.com/2018/06/09/toppers-strategy-utpal-sannyashi-rank-76-cse-2017-insights-online-student-bottom-up-approach-second-attempt/.I'd also suggest going through the booklist of a successful candidate who has had the same Optional as yours as the choice of optional also has a bearing on the books one decides to follow.Test-series -Test-series are essential for two purposes - it encourages one to follow a time-bound approach while preparing the topics and it gives essential feedback which can be helpful in plugging the gaps in knowledge, understanding the pattern of questions asked, formulating specific strategies for specific questions etc.Hence, I'd recommend solving test papers for Prelims, GS as well as Optional. However, new aspirants may find it a bit difficult to solve the Prelims test-papers (i.e. get a good score) in the first 4-5 months of their preparation. Further, coaching classes/job and the need to read newspapers and class-notes regularly may lead one to overburden herself. Hence, I'd suggest solving test papers from November-December onwards and focusing exclusively on going through the standard books, making notes from newspapers, revising class notes and so on.Newspaper notes -Current affairs form the core of CSE prep. Hence, this aspect of preparation should be given a lot of attention. Although there are numerous sources to study Current affairs, I've always felt that the tried and tested method of reading newspapers and making notes from the events is news is the best way to go about it as it a more hands-on approach.I've explained the process of making notes in detail in the link I've posted above. However, I'd like to add one more point not mentioned in the write-up. Note-making for Prelims and Mains has to be integrated. For instance, let's say you are making notes on FSSAI - Mains related questions should be: How FSSAI helps in promoting food processing industries, how effective has FSSAI been as a regulatory body, whether FSSAI can play a role in improving health indicators etc? Prelims related questions: When was it setup? Under which Act? Under which Ministry? How many offices etc?This will help one to develop the ability to look into an issue from multiple sources and develop her critical thinking abilities which will ultimately be immensely beneficial during the Interview as well.Optional -One needs to have absolute clarity about the optional they want to clear the exam with. I've suffered in my first attempt because I took up an optional which I underestimated and couldn't do justice to, resulting in poor performance of the subject.While choosing an optional interest shouldn't be the only criteria, one should also consider the availability of coaching classes, notes, test-series etc. as well as the length of the syllabus and its overlap with GS while choosing the optional.Also, as I've mentioned above coaching classes for optional can be helpful. However, if one is unable to attend optional classes, I'd suggest getting topper notes (or notes of some reputable institute) and the standard books to prepare the base and later joining a test series to fine-tune one's answer writing skills. Solving past year's papers can also be very helpful (more helpful than in GS at least) as standard questions are often repeated on many occasions.Micro-strategies -One may adopt one or more of the strategies I've mentioned below to increase the recalling ability which in turn reduce the time needed for revision and reduce the drudgery of preparation.1. Creating mind maps, especially to revise complicated topics in a short duration. I used XMind for this purpose (I'll share a file in a later post). However, they can be made on notebooks as well2. Voice recordings of topics which can be used for revision while traveling, eating etc.3. Some software like Evernote/Onenote (for making notes), Highly (to highlight important sections of webpages), Google Translate (will help students from non-English backgrounds in making effective use of websites like Insights, IASBaba etc.), RSS Readers (to stay updated on news items) etc. may also be helpful4. Using the mind-palace technique to enhance the recalling capacity may also be adopted. You may go through the video prepared by UNAcademy to get some insight on it.Social life -Here I'd suggest adopting a middle-path approach in one's interactions with other. Aspirants may feel that they may need to put their social life on hold to prepare well, and to a certain extent, it is true. However, going into a shell and completely cutting off all contacts with others may be counter-productive as social contact can provide mental nourishment and can help reduce the stress one experiences while preparing.Physical fitness -A healthy mind resides in a healthy body. Hence, taking care of one's health is essential to not only deal with the pressure of preparation but also ensure that one can give her best on the D-day. I'd suggest playing sports on weekends or going for a jog or yoga daily for at least an hour to ensure that the body and mind are fit and can take the rigours of preparation for extended periods of time.General biases -While preparing for CSE, one often needs to operate in the grey area as there are numerous variables and factors which influence the thinking of aspirants. As a result, there is a possibility that aspirants may develop certain biases in their thinking which can harm their preparation without even them being aware of it. I'll mention some of the common ones and the ones I've experienced myself while preparing -In my first attempt, I had Chemistry as my optional (I moved to Pol Sc in the second attempt). I was good at Chemistry during my school days and often performed well in the subject in the engineering entrance exams. However, I paid very little attention to Chemistry while preparing for CSE as I probably underestimated the subject. This is because I didn't have sufficient knowledge of Chemistry to accurately assess my capabilities. This cognitive bias, where one overestimates one's abilities is called the Dunning-Kruger effect. Hence I'd suggest that if one finds a subject or paper too easy, they should take a step back and analyze if their abilities in the subject are genuinely at par with the requirement of CSE.Another issue is that of bandwagoning. During my first attempt, I joined a number of test series and solved questions from a number of websites without considering if they actually add value to my preparation or not. I joined so many tests because everyone else was doing it. In my second attempt, I only joined PSIR test series and depended on my own questions and Vision test papers (which I evaluated myself after looking at the topper booklets of previous years). This reduced my burden to a large extent as I planned my preparation after analyzing my strengths, weaknesses, time constraints, knowledge levels in different subjects etc. Hence, I believe that one should come up with a strategy based upon one’s strength and weaknesses instead of following the general trends.Yet another problem I faced was that of having outcome bias. I remember that during my first attempt, I performed well in a test after watching Mrunal Sir's economy videos. This led me to think that I can achieve the same outcome (i.e. performing well in tests) by following the same procedure (i.e. watching videos of the concerned subject). Hence, I spent a disproportionate amount of time watching videos on IR, S&T, Environment etc. which could have been prepared in much lesser time by just going through newspapers or doing a simple Google search for some topics. Here, my point is that there needn't be and generally isn't a single strategy which can be recycled to learn a topic in the best possible way in the shortest amount of time. One needs to be flexible with their strategies depending on the subject they are studying.So these are some of the biases one needs to be careful about while preparing so that the aspirant doesn't waste her time and energy needlessly.Value-addition -CSE expects a certain degree of creativity and innovativeness from aspirants in their answers. Hence, when an aspirant is sufficiently comfortable with the syllabus and has a good grasp of majority of the topics, I'd suggest incorporating some creativity in their answers.These can include mindmaps, graphs, venn-diagrams, flowcharts, rough geographical maps etc. which should be liberally used to say more in fewer words. This will not only save time during the exams but will also help one to make new interlinkages which will convince the examiner that the aspirant has dwelled upon the issues in the syllabus.I believe this is pretty much everything an aspirant needs to keep in mind at the beginning of their preparation. I understand that all of this may seem overwhelming, but one should remember that if one has a strong foundation, the superstructure built upon it will be much more stable and sustainable. Hence, the strategy an aspirant comes up after the initial stage will have more clarity and the aspirant will have more faith on it.I hope this write-up is able to give some direction to the beginners. However, if anyone has any doubts, do let me know. Good luck and all the best!

The venereal diseases prevention posters made by war propaganda departments have got very little attention from the modern media. It is very interesting to learn how armies deal with gonorrhea and syphilis in 20th century before the invention of antibiotics. That review will help to modern readers to understand better the psychology of Europeans during the Second War War.1.UNITED STATES OF AMERICAThe USA military has always taught new troops the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases. Every soldier at some time in his basic training was forced to sit through what was used to call a "Susie Rotten-crotch" film where a soldier is shown out meeting a local female, only to appear at sick call with gonorrhea or syphilis shortly afterwards. The U.S. Government and its agencies prepared posters during WWII in an attempt to keep servicemen free of VD. The following posters were aimed at specific services and show that they were each considered vulnerable and addressed.Arthur Szyk caricature: Fool the AxisIn the above 1942 warning poster about VD, the three Axis leaders are shown with hypodermic needles, ready to give shots to soldiers with sexually transmitted diseases. The text of the poster is "Fool the Axis – use prophylaxis, prophylaxis prevents venereal disease!" During the war the medical corps had a prophylaxis kit that would sometimes be issued to soldiers going into town.The American artist who created the poster, Russian born Arthur Szyk (1894-1951) attended art school in Paris before enlisting in the Russian Army in 1914. He served for six months and saw front-line action. After World War I he fought as an officer in a Polish guerilla regiment against the Bolsheviks and eventually located in Paris with his new wife. With the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939 he began producing cartoons and eventually moved to New York City. During the war he created numerous covers for Collier's magazine. Hitler put a price tag on Arthur Szyk’s head. The American press called Szyk a "one-man army against fascism." The Times of London declared his art work to "be among the most beautiful...ever produced by the hand of man."A second poster (1943) , shows the same three enemy buffoons discussing the disease marked "VD" with actual microscopic pictures of the microbes. The syphilis spirochete, chancroid gram-negative bacilli, and gonorrhea gram-negative diplococci are all depicted as Tojo says "American soldier could catch it with ease" and Hitler answers, "but prophylaxis prevents disease."During World War II, the leaders of the Axis powers (Hitler, Mussolini, and Hideki Tojo) were depicted by Allies as monsters. The enemy leaders were caricatured as gorillas, skeletons, rats, or whatever the Allied warriors could dream up. This was all part of the process of wartime depersonalization, and the resultant new image of him as vermin good only for killing. Nazis propagandists used exactly the same effective tactics of dehumanisation of the enemy for the killing purpose.She is our Sunshine…After seeing Arthur Szyk’s work this poster seems rather lame, but once again it vilifies Hitler and the Japanese and points out that a lovely bathing beauty, “Miss GI Pickup of ‘44” will infect “you, you, an you” with VD.Here we see that Walt Disney has joined the war against VD. Donald Duck has been drafted and is thinking of having sex with a beautiful woman but finds himself without the safety of a Prophylaxis.Axis AgentsThis poster also uses the theme that it helps the Axis when you are infected with a venereal disease. It implies that it is almost treasonous to have sex with a prostitute because it hurts the war effort.Pages from War Department Pamphlet No. 21-15U.S. Government produced a number of pamphlets, flyers, leaflets and other published literature in an attempt to reduce the rate of VD among the troops. The booklet, War Department Pamphlet No. 21-15, depicts American troops hitting the beaches from a landing craft on some foreign shore and warns that VD might take them out of the picture. One wonders about the effectiveness of this illustration as positive propaganda. Given the choice of attacking a machine gun nest at Normandy or getting a needle in the butt at a comfortable aid station in the United Kingdom, the latter seems somewhat preferable. This 16-page War Department brochure is entitled Sex Hygiene and VD – Venereal Disease was first printed in 1940 under the direction of the Surgeon General of the Army with an introduction by Secretary of War Marshall. It was issued to every new recruit and discusses sexuality in general and attempts to educate the young soldier on all of the emotions and desires he might encounter away from home. It was issued again in 1943 with a slightly changed cover. Some of the introduction is:The Army can protect you from many diseases but you will have to protect yourself from syphilis and gonorrhea. The only sure way is to stay away from women. Don’t forget that any woman who lets you use her, or who consents easily, is not safe.If you wait until you marry, you’re safe and keep your self respect. You also play fair with the girl back home whom you expect to play fair with you. There’s no substitute for moralsShe may look Clean –ButIn this poster we see a mix of Army, Navy and a civilian together. In a way, civilians were part of the war effort because they built the weapons and kept the economy moving. So this poster warns all three of the dangers of having sex with a prostitute. It can hurt the war effort.USA Propaganda posters promoting the use of condoms :U.S. Government WWII Posters for the Military Services. USA propaganda posters promoting the awareness of syphilis and gonorrhea:These posters look funny and very naive to me. It's doubtful that they could avert young men from the idea to have a sex with women because of illness.2. UNITED KINGDOMThe British Army, which had no clear strategy other than the ineffective one of placing sections of Naples out of bounds, reacted to the soaring VD rate by blaming it on the Germans. A circular that arrived in all units by Christmas warned: “From reports that have been received it is apparent that prostitution in occupied Italy and Naples in particular, has reached a pitch greater than has ever been witnessed in Italy before. So much is this so that it has led to a suggestion that the encouragement of prostitution is part of a formulated plan arranged by the pro-Axis elements, primarily to spread venereal disease among Allied troops. The British were defeated by the prostitutes and decided that it must be part of a devious Nazi plot.The British military historian John Costello talks about the problem with prostitutes and venereal disease in Love, Sex and War:Changing Values, 1939-45, William Collins, London, 1985.Prostitutes were made synonymous with venereal disease not just by the Germans, but also by the British and United States army commands, who declared war on the women who had been blamed for the million and a half syphilis and gonorrhea casualties suffered by the Allied armies in World War I. The German armed forces applied the lessons learned twenty years earlier when the Kaiser's army strictly regulated the 'sexual logistics' of the troops and thereby cut its VD casualty rate to half that of the French army by 1918. Corpsmen collected the fees at the medically supervised military brothels behind the front lines, imposing a strict ten-minute time-limit per man during the evening 'rush hour' and providing prophylactic treatments as well as keeping a detailed log of the visitor's rank and regiment so that fines could be levied from those who failed to report contracted venereal infections.VD - Hello boy friend, coming MY way?A colorful 1943 VD poster produced in Great Britain by Reginald Mount depicts a female with the face of a skull in bright pink bonnet. The text is "VD - Hello boy friend, coming MY way? The 'easy' girl friend spreads Syphilis and Gonorrhea, which unless properly treated may result in blindness, insanity, paralysis, premature death. If you have run the risk, get skilled treatment at once. Treatment is free and confidential."In World War I the venereal infection rates of the British army were 7 times higher than the Germans, principally because national prudery prevented the British high command from acknowledging that there was any problem at all until 1915, when the Canadian and New Zealand prime ministers forced the chiefs of staff to issue free contraceptives to the troops.Venereal DiseasesThis British WWI poster is interesting because at the time they list only two forms of venereal disease. Now there are about a half dozen known to exist. Notice they do not list antibiotics. They were unknown at the time. In November 1918, bottles of potassium permanganate lotion and tubes of calomel cream were given to soldiers stationed overseas to use for self-disinfection. Still, the British had 150,000 admissions to the hospital for VD in France during the war. Many of the patients had self-inflicted VD. That is, they chose to catch it hoping it would keep them out of the front lines. In later wars, troops would sometimes shoot themselves in the foot to become hors de combat.3. THE SOVIET UNIONSoviet Union did not have venereal diseases such as syphilis or gonorrhea before the outbreak of the WW2. The moral standards of Soviet citizens were exceptionally high, Russians were very healthy before the WW2, they had lived according to the religious principles and state laws. Prostitution was prohibited and criminalized in USSR, it was absolutely no brothels, not even one. Germans changed it, they opened brothels and legalised prostitution. The WW2 was a total disaster for USSR, the whole country got sick of the war had never been recovered since then.Inhabitants of the Russian city of Kursk have never had any syphilis before the war but during the German occupation hundreds of local women were infected with syphilis by German soldiers. Women didn't get any treatment but were imprisoned and killed as a punishment.(Ehrenburg I.G., ““The New order” in Kursk”)“Fritzs are professional rapists, fornicators with solid experience, hereditary baboons. They have polluted the whole of Europe.” - wrote Soviet journalist Ilya Ehrenburg in 1943Red Army soldiers had no syphilis neither gonorrhea utill they advanced to liberate occupied USSR that was 4 years under the Nazi yok. When they moved to the Central Europe especially to Germany the situation got worse. In Romania Soviet soldiers were very surprised to meet local girls that demanded money for sex. This phenomenon was very alien to the Russian mind, obviously Russian soldiers refused to pay and consequently had a big trouble (fight, police complaints) from Romanian prostitutes and their husbands that were pimps. In Germany Soviet soldiers met another foreign style, German women freely offered sex for pleasure however later was discovered that many of those women had honorea and syphilis.. A lot of Soviet soldiers got it that was really trouble for Soviet authorities.USSR. The leaflet #1857The leaflets prepared by the Soviet Union for Germany were occasionally sexual in nature, insulting, usually long winded, and sometimes contained a safe conduct pass. Soviet leaflet #1857 contains all of these attributes. This Russian leaflet is aimed to destroy the morale of the German soldier by informing him that while he is at the front Hitler replaces them by foreigners who are taking their jobs, their land and their women. The leaflet is entitled Auslaender nehmen Deinen Platz ein! "Foreigners are taking your place." The first paragraph mentions the various nationalities that have been sent to Germany to work on the farms and in the factories; French, Italians, Slovaks, Dutch, and more. Two pictures are depicted on the front, a soldier holding his rifle at the top of the leaflet with the caption "While he squats in the bunker," and a female in the arms of another man at the bottom with the text, "his wife amuses herself with a foreigner." There is a photograph of her husband in uniform on the wall behind them. This was a common image on many Russian leaflets. The back is all text. Two letters are depicted from lonely German wives to their husbands at the front. The letters are designed to intensify the feeling of uneasiness among the German soldiers. One says that the foreigner plows his field now that he is away at the front. It says that foreigners sleep in the beds of German women, and many of them are the wives of soldiers. The second letter says that Berlin is now so international that the German language is hardly ever spoken or written. On the reverse, the leaflet tells in no uncertain terms, "Yes soldier, you should know: there are women who like to get involved with foreigners. You should also know: People who are gathered from all parts of the world will infect German women with venereal diseases of every kind. Family life will break up…should you, soldier, ever come home, you might be received by your wife with a black curly-headed Italian half-breed in her arms, and it will be your joy to raise this illegitimate child…" The leaflet offers hope. After the appeal "German soldier! Must this be? No! Your place is at home…Don’t take the war any longer! Your family is waiting for you!" The message encourages the German soldier to leave the war. Hitler is blamed for everything. He has forced the German people into the war and taken everything that makes life worthwhile. The leaflet ends with "No longer take part in the war! Your family waits for you!" There is a passierschein safe conduct pass in German and Russian at the bottom of the leaflet.4. NAZI GERMANYBy 1942, the Wehrmacht was running over 500 “Wehrmachtsbordellen,” and the setting-up, running, and supply of these establishments was the responsibility of the Area Commander (Ortskommanturen). Disease control was the responsibility of the area medical officer, and the girls would be checked twice a week by local doctors. There were “special rules” for Officer's facilities, for which a hotel character was to be maintained. Every Army brothel was required to have a prophylactic station (Sanierstube). They were to be marked with a small blue light marked with the Red Cross.German WWII Soldier’s Certificate to Visit a ProstituteThis certificate was issued to WWII German soldiers who wished to have sex with a prostitute in a brothel. They turned in their identification tag and received this certificate. They would write the name of the prostitute at the lower right and upon leaving the brothel turned in the certificate to a medic and had their identification tag returned and received treatment if it was deemed necessary. The text is:Entry to the brothel is permitted only with this ID card!Name of the sanitation roomContinuous numberDateAfter leaving the brothel you are ordered to visit the sanitation room at once for protective treatment. Your identification tag will be returned only after successful sanitation.Name of the prostitute:____________________Other forms of these passes might contain the following instructions: a Certificate of subsequent prophylactic treatment; Number and unit on dog tag; Field-post number of recipient; The above received prophylactic treatment at ____ hours under a control number of prophylactic station no. ____ and is thus certified by: Rank, name; and This document is to be kept for 3 months and is to be presented in the event of sickness.Brothel rules obliged visitors to disinfect female genitals after sexual acts. According to testimonies of soldiers they didn't really like that procedure . Here are two testimonies of German soldiers:Obergrenadier Martin Eichenseer of Stabs Kompanie, G.R. 916:"The first time I went I was a lad of 17-½ and still somewhat of a virgin, I never had intercourse but had done other things with the local girls. With my pockets filled with the 'regulation equipment', I went to the brothel in St. Laurent. I was very nervous and did not know what to expect. When my turn came I went into a room with a very good-looking girl about my age from Slovakia. She had dark hair and big breasts. Sex with her was great even though I didn't know what she was saying. We weren't supposed to pay them in the Army brothels but I gave her some money anyway. The worst part was when she spread her legs and I had to spray her with the can of disinfectant. Only then would she sign my card. You had to bring back the empty can with the pass. If you didn't spray or bring it back you got two weeks extra labor and guard for punishment.The next time I went I was excited at seeing this Slovak girl again but to my disgust I got this German woman who was in her late thirties, although I wouldn't mind her now, ha ha. She was big-breasted but flabby and had "a lot of wear on her tires" if you know what I mean. I just couldn't do it. She finally told me to close my eyes and she performed oral sex on me. It wasn't too bad as I thought of the other girl. She signed my pass and I left. On the way back I realized I still has a full can. In order not to get in trouble I sprayed it empty in the woods. I would have gone again but the war got in the way."Obergefreiter Josef Brass, Nr. 1 Kompanie, Pionier Bn. 352:"In Russia we didn't get to go to any but in France they were quite plentiful. The women were about average in appearance but certainly knew how to please a man. But as young and virile as we were then it didn't take much. Many of the younger men, 17-19 years old, didn't go because they were embarrassed by the things they were required to do, such as disinfecting the woman's genitals. I always felt that the army procedures were a bit too much but then again no-one I know of ever got a disease from an Army brothel. And if you did they knew which girl gave it to you and who ever else she had sex with and everyone could get cured. Some of us did go to the local civilian ones, the girls were prettier and acted like they enjoyed it. However if you got V.D. from one of them it was bad luck. You got cured then sent East to serve in a Penal Battalion for two weeks to three months. Being a "500" (slang for military prisoners) was no easy life and chances were slim you would make it back. In any event the Army tried to give us the best it could under the circumstances.5. ITALYThe Italian campaign more than any other in World War II confronted the British and American military commanders with their impotence when it came to coping with endemic prostitution. A foretaste of the problem was given by British medical officers in Sicily, who were treating 40 thousand VD cases a month, 20 times more than the number treated in England. As one report advised, “prostitution is almost universal among all but the highest class of Sicilian women.”Government-regulated brothels also existed in all of the large towns. Control had broken down, although General Patton wasted no time trying to restore it by putting US Army medical teams into Palermo's six large houses of prostitution. This did not endear him to General Montgomery, his arch rival, whose pride as well as his Puritanism was offended when it was announced that the brothels were open for business again – under US Army management. The invasion of Italy proper magnified the scale of the problem. But it was the capture of Naples in October 1943 that pitched the American and British commands into a two-year battle with an army of prostitutes – a battle Allied chaplains and doctors of both armies would later concede they lost.6. THE PROPHYLAXIS KIT AND INSTRUCTIONSThe Prophylactic Kit:Instructions:During the war, medics are generally supplied with prophylactic kits in bulk. These can be used to treat soldiers, or are often just given to the men to take with them on leave. The kits can contain different items, but during WWII soldiers were often issued an “Individual Chemical Prophylactic Packet” designed to allow him to perform prophylactic treatment on himself if he feared he might have had sex with an infected woman. The individual packet contained a tube containing 5 grams of ointment (30% calomel + 15% sulfathiazole), a direction sheet explaining how to apply the ointment, a soap impregnated cloth and cleansing tissue. Sometimes the men were issued condoms (usually 3 to a pack) and sometimes they were given sulfa or other pills to carry “just in case.”It must be told that syphilis is horrible ancient contagious disease; it starts from the little painless pimple and in the last stage it brings the body to the full disfiguration, tumors, blindness and paralysis. The untreated person slowly but surely, during few years, painfully get rotten alive. If I would be the WW2 propagandist I would scare guys with these real pictures of patients with the last stage of syphilis:The Italians called it ‘the French disease’ and the French called it ‘the Neapolitan disease’. The Russians knew it as ‘the Polish disease’ and the Poles called it the ‘German disease’. To the people of Flanders and North Africa it was ‘the Spanish disease’, while to the Spanish it was known as ‘las bubas’. The British called it ‘the pox’, but you will know it as syphilis. Syphilis - Wikipedia7. OTHER POSTERSVenereal disease (VD) was epidemic in the early twentieth century; estimates were that 1/10 people would contract syphilis at some point in their lives and even more would get gonorrhea. In spite of these startling facts, VD remained a taboo topic because of the stigma associated with these diseases.However, in the 1930s, popular attitudes about venereal disease changed dramatically in the United States. Syphilis and gonorrhea became topics that people commonly encountered in their everyday life—in all types of media, at work and school, and in a multitude of public spaces.1.MercuryBefore antibiotics were introduced in 1943. VD were treated with mercury and sulfa. If you got strep throat or some other infection you took the sulfa and were warned to wash it down with a lot of ginger ale. The antibiotics like penicillin came in with WWII and were a great boon to mankind in general. In the bad old days one of the treatments was mercury, and that is a poison itself. After hundreds of years of suffering, the introduction of penicillin in the 1940s meant that infections such as syphilis, gonorrhoea and chlamydia could finally be cured. But today, with less than half of young people regularly practising safe sex, syphilis is on the rise once more. In 2017 there were 7,137 cases reported in England, a 20 per cent increase from 2016, and a shocking 148 per cent increase from 2008. Before you decide to risk it, spare a thought for our ancestors and the horrors of syphilis they had to endure – and always wrap it up.The poster was produced for the Ministry of Health promoting the first national campaign about venereal diseases. It was aimed at warning service men against the health risks of promiscuous sexual behavior. Women at the time were finding themselves in contrasting situations of sometimes-unprecedented liberty and discipline, often combined with sexual ignorance. Having to stay faithful while the men were away fighting, in charge of the household for the first time, freed from the presence of a male in their family household for perhaps the first time. There was limited information available to them on bodily functions, sex or birth control.2.Almost all of the artwork we see warns the soldiers to stay away from loose women. Here, that poster warns women to stay away from these “over-sexed, over-paid, and over-here” horny American GIs landing in Great Britain in 1944 in preparation for D-Day.3.A Sorry Ending to a FurloughIn 1946 as the war ended and hundreds of thousands of troops were still overseas, the military tried again to keep them safe from disease. An artist by the name of Ferree painted a poster that depicted a sad GI sitting on his cot. The text is, "VD- a sorry ending to a Furlough. Prophylaxis prevents venereal disease!"4.You Kept Fit and Defeated the HunThe colorful poster depicts a smiling “doughboy” with an American eagle on his shoulder standing on the helmets of defeated Germans. The text is:You kept fit and defeated the Hun.Now set a high standard.A clean America!Stamp out venereal diseases.5.We’ve fought in the open—bubonic plague, yellow fever, tuberculosis. Now Venereal DiseaseH. Dewitt Welsh crea. ted this WWI poster and it was published by the H. C. Miner Lithograph Company of New York. A semi-dressed female figure, representing Venereal Disease, is shown pouring blood from a wine glass. Chained to her left wrist is a vulture, standing on a skull. Beneath her are three macabre figures representing6.Soldier, the country counts on youVD was also a problem among the French. In 1916, Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen printed a poster for French soldiers fighting in WWI. The title was "Soldat, La Patrie Compte Sur Toi." The poster depicted a woman and man embracing, followed by the physically debilitated soldier on his hospital bed. A skull and crossed bones appear at the bottom of the poster. Due to prevailing taboos, no mention of syphilis or gonorrhea is made, but the words on the tombstone make a connection between morality and patriotism. The message reads:Soldier, the country counts on you - keep healthy. Resist the temptation of the street where a sickness as dangerous as the war awaits you… It carries its victims to decay and death, without honor, without happiness. . .7.Disease is disguised - Don't gamble with VD!This poster was produced in 1946 when the U.S. military was trying to enforce a policy of non-fraternization in the occupation zones between the USA troops and European women. It depicts a dark and ominous female hiding behind the mask of a healthy beautiful woman. The text is "DISEASE IS DISGUISED - DON'T GAMBLE WITH VD!" The poster was designed by Forsyth.8.Loaded?I like this poster because the girls are attractive and almost coy; not “trampy” at all. And, a Colt 1911 .45 automatic pistol is shown at the top. Notice that the pistol is cocked and ready for firing.9.Going home? Don't be delayed by VDThis 1946 poster shows a U.S. soldier at the end of the war waiting to return home. A map of Europe is in background. He is held in place by a rope that spells "VD" and is around his body. The text is, "GOING HOME? DON'T BE DELAYED BY VD." The artist is Schiffers. In every recent war American troops overseas are tested for disease before they are returned home. Any soldier found to have VD would be held until such time as a doctor pronounced him cured. He would be allowed to board ship at that time.10.AlmostIn one of the most attractive and poignant 1946 posters an American soldier (probably airborne by his bloused boots) stands at the dock and watches a troopship taking his buddies home to the U.S.A. He is held back by a ghostly hand marked "V D." The text is "ALMOST!" The artist is Schiffers. It was not an easy task to tell a man who had not been home for several years that he was "red-lined." There were several cases of doctors or medics being threatened, and it was one case where a G.I. pulled a knife on a First Sergeant after being told that he was held over in Southeast Asia.The entire concept of producing posters and leaflets of the subject of sexually transmitted diseases had to be approached with great care. Before the WW1 such things were not even discussed by proper gentlemen and ladies. In times of warfare when men are away on distant shores under stress, and women find themselves home alone perhaps for the first time, the subject must be broached. We have seen that some of the posters ask the men in uniform to use precautions as a form of patriotism so that they can continue to fight for their nation. Others imply that catching such a disease is almost treason in a time of war.8. BLACK VENEREAL DISEASE CAMPAIGNSThe black leaflets pretend to be helpful and offer hints on medical care, but are written in such a way as to demoralize the front line soldier worrying about his wife or girlfriend back home.Venereal disease has been mentioned in several PSYOP campaigns. It sometimes appears in white propaganda as a way to keep an Army healthy and moving forward. It is more valuable as black propaganda where it is used in several ways. Sometimes, one combatant tries to convince an occupied people that their invaders consider their women immoral and infected. At other times, one combatant will try to convince and enemy that their ally looks down upon their women. This was especially true in the Philippines during WWII where the Japanese implied on several occasions that the Americans saw the Filipino women as whores to be used and discarded. In other cases one combatant will try to destroy the morale of the enemy armed force while they fight at the front by stating that their wives and girlfriends are having illicit sex and being infected at home. Japanese black propaganda leaflet dropped during their advance in the Philippines alleges to be from the United States Army and warns American soldiers that Filipino women were uncleanThe German dropped a similar black leaflet on Allied troops in English language on the Western Front during WWII.British black propaganda 4-page booklet coded H.359The British produced several black leaflets in German language that mentioned VD. One coded H.336 and entitled Merkblatt - Deutsche Nachrichtenhelferin! The leaflet implied that citizens other than German are infected, and also hints that the wife or sweetheart of the soldier might have a "dalliance" while he is away. This certainly did not help the morale of the German soldier or the citizen of a foreign country either allied to Germany or sending workers into the Reich. A second (the image) British black propaganda 4-page booklet coded H.359 and entitled Deutsches madel! Vorsicht…(German Girl! Caution…) attacks the foreign worker (who sometimes volunteered to work in Germany to help the war effort) as a diseased individual.9. THE WHISPERS CAMPAIGNBesides leaflets, in an attempt to raise the morale of occupied Europe and lower the morale of the German military, civilians and their allies, the secret British Underground Committee produced well over 8,000 rumors, (they called them “Sibs” from the Latin sibalare – to hiss). Researcher Lee Richards mentions the whisper campaign and many of these rumors in his book Whispers of War, 2010. In regard to British propaganda rumors about sexual activity within the Third Reich and its occupied territories he lists dozens of moral-destroying rumors:4 July 1941 – German officers know the address of all the prostitutes in Amsterdam that have VD. They use them to get medical leave. It is called “krank durch Freude,” (Illness through joy).19 September 1941 – The girls in the Brest brothels have infected so many U-Boat crews with VD that it is now called “Malady V.”5 May 1942 – Of 50 Spanish workers who just returned from Germany, 37 have venereal disease.February 1943 - All women factory workers in Germany are to have a weekly VD inspection, carried out by medical students.11 June 1943 – The Germans have reduced the punishment for U-Boat crew members catching VD from a court martial to three days confinement.4 August 1944 – In order to slow the spread of VD in the German Army, boys under 16 have been forbidden to enter brothels.10. “THE ISLAND OF THE BLACK SYPH”Some WWII troops believed that there was a secret island off the coast of Greenland where horribly burnt and disfigured American soldiers were sent so as not to destroy the morale of their families in USA . Later during the Korean War, some soldiers were told of an island off the coast of South Korea where men with incurable venereal diseases were sent to die. The same rumours about secret islands existed during the Vietnam War. This rumor, or a reasonable facsimile, seems to have been circulating for at least 60 years.One of the most interesting rumors having to do with venereal disease was that of the mysterious island where service members with the dreaded and incurable "black syph" were sent to spend their last days in exile. Everyone knew someone who had a friend who had heard from a buddy that there was this deadly incurable, antibiotics resistant strain of syphilis. They whispered that rather than send a soldier home with this disease which would demoralize his family and the American public if the truth be known, the infected individual would be sent to this secret island where he would spend his last days in pain and dementia until he died.Private Bill Lupton of the 27th Infantry Regiment “Wolfhounds” talks about his personal introduction to the island in a narration entitled “February 1966” :You men need to use some common sense in dealing with these boom boom girls.Not only are they treacherous but they carry venereal disease,” There is another pause. “Now I know all of you men want to go back to your families safe and sound, and nobody wants to end up on the South Seas Island where they keep men who have venereal disease that will not respond to penicillin.They are not allowed to go back to the States until their syphilis is cured.”An Army veteran who was in Vietnam in 1968 heard the story a bit differently. It was gonorrhea, not syphilis:I heard stories about the Black Clap in 1968, and if you got it you were sent to an island off the coast till you died or a cure was found.A former cavalry man said:“I heard the story of the secret island in 1966 when I was stationed in South Korea. I heard the same story in 1968 when I was in Vietnam. They told us in glorious detail also about the “bullheaded clap.” This is where your dick swelled up and the medics took an “umbrella needle” and ran it up your crank and opened it and then ripped the puss and stuff out of your dick when they withdrew the “expanded umbrella needle.” I only heard that story in South Korea.”“I will tell you why some of the MIA’s didn’t come back from Vietnam, because the venereal disease they had was so terribly, terribly addictive and it could spread so fast we couldn’t let them come back. And those of you in Vietnam know that.”Most likely, the "black syph" story was invented and promoted by the U.S. military to terrify their young troops, lessen the fraternization with local women, and ultimately lower the rate of VD among the men.Sources:Venereal Disease Visual History ArchiveVenereal Disease PropagandaMiscman.comWehrmacht Brothels / der Erste Zug

In interviews, Modi has described visiting Hindu ashrams founded by Swami Vivekananda: the Belur Math near Kolkata, followed by the Advaita Ashrama in Almora and the Ramakrishna Mission in Rajkot. Modi remained only a short time at each, since he lacked the required college education.Vivekananda has been described as a large influence in Modi's life.In the early summer of 1968, Modi reached the Belur Math but was turned away, after which Modi wandered through Calcutta, West Bengal and Assam, stopping in Siliguri and Guwahati.Modi then went to the Ramakrishna Ashram in Almora, where he was again rejected, before travelling back to Gujarat via Delhi and Rajasthan in 1968–69.Sometime in late 1969 or early 1970, Modi returned to Vadnagar for a brief visit before leaving again for Ahmedabad.There, Modi lived with his uncle, working in the latter's canteen at the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation.In Ahmedabad, Modi renewed his acquaintance with Inamdar, who was based at the Hedgewar Bhavan (RSS headquarters) in the city.After the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, he stopped working for his uncle and became a full-time pracharak (campaigner) for the RSS,working under Inamdar.Shortly before the war, Modi took part in a non-violent protest against the Indian government in New Delhi, for which he was arrested; this has been cited as a reason for Inamdar electing to mentor him.Many years later Modi would co-author a biography of Inamdar, published in 2001.In 1978 Modi received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from School of Open Learning at University of Delhi, graduating with a third class.Five years later, in 1983, he received a Master of Arts degree in political science from Gujarat University, as an external distance learning student.Early political careerIn June 1975, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency in India which lasted until 1977. During this period, known as "The Emergency", many of her political opponents were jailed and opposition groups were banned.Modi was appointed general secretary of the "Gujarat Lok Sangharsh Samiti", an RSS committee coordinating opposition to the Emergency in Gujarat. Shortly afterwards, the RSS was banned.Modi was forced to go underground in Gujarat and frequently travelled in disguise to avoid arrest. He became involved in printing pamphlets opposing the government, sending them to Delhi and organising demonstrations.Modi was also involved with creating a network of safe houses for individuals wanted by the government, and in raising funds for political refugees and activists.During this period, Modi wrote a book in Gujarati, Sangharsh Ma Gujarat (In The Struggles of Gujarat), describing events during the Emergency.Among the people he met in this role was trade unionist and socialist activist George Fernandes, as well as several other national political figures.In his travels during the Emergency, Modi was often forced to move in disguise, once dressing as a monk, and once as a Sikh.Modi became an RSS sambhag pracharak (regional organiser) in 1978, overseeing RSS activities in the areas of Surat and Vadodara, and in 1979 he went to work for the RSS in Delhi, where he was put to work researching and writing the RSS's version of the history of the Emergency.He returned to Gujarat a short while later, and was assigned by the RSS to the BJP in 1985.In 1987 Modi helped organise the BJP's campaign in the Ahmedabad municipal election, which the BJP won comfortably; Modi's planning has been described as the reason for that result by biographers.After L. K. Advani became president of the BJP in 1986, the RSS decided to place its members in important positions within the BJP; Modi's work during the Ahmedabad election led to his selection for this role, and Modi was elected organising secretary of the BJP's Gujarat unit later in 1987.Modi rose within the party and was named a member of the BJP's National Election Committee in 1990, helping organise L. K. Advani's 1990 Ram Rath Yatra in 1990 and Murli Manohar Joshi's 1991–92 Ekta Yatra (Journey for Unity).However, he took a brief break from politics in 1992, instead establishing a school in Ahmedabad; friction with Shankersingh Vaghela, a BJP MP from Gujarat at the time, also played a part in this decision.Modi returned to electoral politics in 1994, partly at the insistence of Advani, and as party secretary, Modi's electoral strategy was considered central to the BJP victory in the 1995 state assembly elections.In November of that year Modi was elected BJP national secretary and transferred to New Delhi, where he assumed responsibility for party activities in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.The following year, Shankersinh Vaghela, a prominent BJP leader from Gujarat, defected to the Indian National Congress (Congress, INC) after losing his parliamentary seat in the Lok Sabha elections.Modi, on the selection committee for the 1998 Assembly elections in Gujarat, favoured supporters of BJP leader Keshubhai Patel over those supporting Vaghela to end factional division in the party. His strategy was credited as key to the BJP winning an overall majority in the 1998 elections,and Modi was promoted to BJP general secretary (organisation) in May of that year.Chief Minister of GujaratTaking officeIn 2001, Keshubhai Patel's health was failing and the BJP lost a few state assembly seats in by-elections. Allegations of abuse of power, corruption and poor administration were made, and Patel's standing had been damaged by his administration's handling of the earthquake in Bhuj in 2001.The BJP national leadership sought a new candidate for the chief ministership, and Modi, who had expressed misgivings about Patel's administration, was chosen as a replacement.Although BJP leader L. K. Advani did not want to ostracise Patel and was concerned about Modi's lack of experience in government, Modi declined an offer to be Patel's deputy chief minister, telling Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee that he was "going to be fully responsible for Gujarat or not at all". On 3 October 2001 he replaced Patel as Chief Minister of Gujarat, with the responsibility of preparing the BJP for the December 2002 elections.Modi was sworn in as Chief Minister on 7 October 2001,and entered the Gujarat state legislature on 24 February 2002 by winning a by-election to the Rajkot – II constituency, defeating Ashwin Mehta of the INC by 14,728 votes.2002 Gujarat riotsMain article: 2002 Gujarat riotsOn 27 February 2002, a train with several hundred passengers burned near Godhra, killing approximately 60 people.The train carried a large number of Hindu pilgrims returning from Ayodhya after a religious ceremony at the site of the demolished Babri Masjid.In making a public statement after the incident, Modi said that the attack had been terror attack planned by local Muslims.The next day, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad called for a bandh across the state.Riots began during the bandh, and anti-Muslim violence spread through Gujarat.The government's decision to move the bodies of the train victims from Godhra to Ahmedabad further inflamed the violence.The state government stated later that 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed.Independent sources put the death toll at over 2000.Approximately 150,000 people were driven to refugee camps.Numerous women and children were among the victims; the violence included mass rapes and mutilations of women.The government of Gujarat itself is generally considered by scholars to have been complicit in the riots,and has otherwise received heavy criticism for its handling of the situation.Several scholars have described the violence as a pogrom, while others have called it an example of state terrorism.Summarising academic views on the subject, Martha Nussbaum said: "There is by now a broad consensus that the Gujarat violence was a form of ethnic cleansing, that in many ways it was premeditated, and that it was carried out with the complicity of the state government and officers of the law."The Modi government imposed a curfew in 26 major cities, issued shoot-at-sight orders and called for the army to patrol the streets, but was unable to prevent the violence from escalating.The president of the state unit of the BJP expressed support for the bandh, despite such actions being illegal at the time.State officials later prevented riot victims from leaving the refugee camps, and the camps were often unable to meet the needs of those living there.Muslim victims of the riots were subject to further discrimination when the state government announced that compensation for Muslim victims would be half of that offered to Hindus, although this decision was later reversed after the issue was taken to court.During the riots, police officers often did not intervene in situations where they were able.In 2012 Maya Kodnani, a minister in Modi's government from 2007 to 2009, was convicted by a lower court for participation in the Naroda Patiya massacre during the 2002 riots.Although Modi's government had announced that it would seek the death penalty for Kodnani on appeal, it reversed its decision in 2013.On 21 April 2018, the Gujarat High Courtacquitted Kodnani while noting that there were several shortfalls in the investigation.Modi's personal involvement in the 2002 events has continued to be debated. During the riots, Modi said that "What is happening is a chain of action and reaction."Later in 2002, Modi said the way in which he had handled the media was his only regret regarding the episode.Modi has not offered an apology for the riots and has stated that he should be rather punished and not forgiven if he is guilty.In March 2008, the Supreme Court reopened several cases related to the 2002 riots, including that of the Gulbarg Society massacre, and established a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the issue.In response to a petition from Zakia Jafri (widow of Ehsan Jafri, who was killed in the Gulbarg Society massacre), in April 2009 the court also asked the SIT to investigate the issue of Modi's complicity in the killings.The SIT questioned Modi in March 2010; in May, it presented to the court a report finding no evidence against him.In July 2011, the court-appointed amicus curiae Raju Ramachandran submitted his final report to the court. Contrary to the SIT's position, he said that Modi could be prosecuted based on the available evidence.The Supreme Court gave the matter to the magistrate's court. The SIT examined Ramachandran's report, and in March 2012 submitted its final report, asking for the case to be closed. Zakia Jaffri filed a protest petition in response. In December 2013 the magistrate's court rejected the protest petition, accepting the SIT's finding that there was no evidence against the chief minister.2002 electionIn the aftermath of the violence there were widespread calls for Modi to resign as chief minister from within and outside the state, including from leaders of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Telugu Desam Party (allies in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance coalition), and opposition parties stalled Parliament over the issue.Modi submitted his resignation at the April 2002 BJP national executive meeting in Goa, but it was not accepted.His cabinet had an emergency meeting on 19 July 2002, after which it offered its resignation to the Gujarat Governor S. S. Bhandari, and the state assembly was dissolved.Despite opposition from the election commissioner, who said that a number of voters were still displaced, Modi succeeded in advancing the election to December 2002.In the elections, the BJP won 127 seats in the 182-member assembly.Although Modi later denied it, he made significant use of anti-Muslim rhetoric during his campaign,and the BJP profited from religious polarisation among the voters.He won the Maninagar constituency, receiving 1,13,589 of 1,54,981 votes and defeating INC candidate Yatin Oza by 75,333 votes.On 22 December 2002, Bhandari swore Modi in for a second term.Modi framed the criticism of his government for human rights violations as an attack upon Gujarati pride, a strategy which led to the BJP winning two-thirds of the seats in the state assembly.Second termDuring Modi's second term the rhetoric of the government shifted from Hindutva to Gujarat's economic development.Modi curtailed the influence of Sangh Parivar organisations such as the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) and the Vishva Hindu Parishad(VHP),entrenched in the state after the decline of Ahmedabad's textile industry,and dropped Gordhan Zadafia (an ally of former Sangh co-worker and VHP state chief Praveen Togadia) from his cabinet. When the BKS staged a farmers' demonstration Modi ordered their eviction from state-provided houses, and his decision to demolish 200 illegal temples in Gandhinagar deepened the rift with the VHP.Sangh organisations were no longer consulted or informed in advance about Modi's administrative decisions.Nonetheless, Modi retained connections with some Hindu nationalists. Modi wrote a foreword to a textbook by Dinanath Batra released in 2014, which stated that ancient India possessed technologies including test-tube babies.Modi's relationship with Muslims continued to attract criticism. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee (who asked Modi for tolerance in the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat violence and supported his resignation as chief minister)distanced himself, reaching out to North Indian Muslims before the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. After the elections Vajpayee called the violence in Gujarat a reason for the BJP's electoral defeat and said it had been a mistake to leave Modi in office after the riots.Questions about Modi's relationship with Muslims were also raised by many Western nations during his tenure as chief minister. Modi was barred from entering the United States by the State Department, in accordance with the recommendations of the Commission on International Religious Freedom formed under the aegis of the International Religious Freedom Act, the only person denied a US visa under this law.The UK and the European Union refused to admit him because of what they saw as his role in the riots. As Modi rose to prominence in India, the UKand the EUlifted their bans in October 2012 and March 2013, respectively, and after his election as prime minister he was invited to Washington.During the run-up to the 2007 assembly elections and the 2009 general election, the BJP intensified its rhetoric on terrorism.In July 2006, Modi criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh " for his reluctance to revive anti-terror legislation" such as the 2002 Prevention of Terrorism Act. He asked the national government to allow states to invoke tougher laws in the wake of the 2006 Mumbai train bombings.In 2007 Modi authored Karmayog, a 101-page booklet discussing manual scavenging. In it, Modi argued that scavenging was a "spiritual experience" for Valmiks, a sub-caste of Dalits.However, this book was not circulated that time because of the election code of conduct.After the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, Modi held a meeting to discuss the security of Gujarat's 1,600-kilometre (990 mi)-long coastline, resulting in government authorisation of 30 high-speed surveillance boats.In July 2007 Modi completed 2,063 consecutive days as chief minister of Gujarat, making him the longest-serving holder of that post,and the BJP won 122 of 182 state-assembly seats in that year's election.Modi meets his mother after winning the 2014 electionsDuring the campaign, Modi focused on the corruption scandals under the previous INC government, and played on his image as a politician who had created a high rate of GDP growth in Gujarat.Modi projected himself as a person who could bring about "development," without focus on any specific policies.His message found support among young Indians and among middle-class citizens.The BJP under Modi was able to downplay concerns about the protection of religious minorities and Modi's commitment to secularism, areas in which he had previously received criticism.Prior to the election Modi's image in the media had centered around his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots, but during the campaign the BJP was able to shift this to a focus on Modi's neoliberal ideology and the Gujarat model of development, although Hindutva remained a significant part of its campaign.In states such as Uttar Pradesh in which the BJP performed well, it drew exceptionally high support from upper-caste Hindus, although the 10 percent of Muslim votes won was more than it had won before. It performed particularly well in parts of the country that had recently experienced violence between Hindus and Muslims.The magnitude of the BJP's victory led many commentators to say that the election constituted a political realignment away from progressive parties and towards the right-wing.Modi himself was a candidate for the Lok Sabha in two constituencies: Varanasi and Vadodara.Prime MinisterModi with the Chief Minister of Nagaland, T. R. Zeliang, and Naga people in Northeast India, December 2014Governance and other initiativesModi was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India on 26 May 2014. He became the first Prime Minister born after India's independence from the British Empire.His first year as prime minister saw significant centralisation of power relative to previous administrations.Modi's efforts at centralisation have been linked to an increase in the number of senior administration officials resigning their positions.Initially lacking a majority in the Rajya Sabha, or upper house of Indian Parliament, Modi passed a number of ordinances to enact his policies, leading to further centralisation of power.The government also passed a bill increasing the control that it had over the appointment of judges, and reducing that of the judiciary.In December 2014 Modi abolished the Planning Commission, replacing it with the National Institution for Transforming India, or NITI Aayog.The planning commission had received heavy criticism in previous years for creating inefficiency in the government, and of not filling its role of improving social welfare: however, since the economic liberalisation of the 1990s, it had been the major government body responsible for measures related to social justice.The Modi government launched investigations by the Intelligence Bureau against numerous civil society organizations and foreign non-governmental organizations in the first year of the administration. The investigations, on the grounds that these organizations were slowing economic growth, was criticized as a witchhunt. International humanitarian aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres was among the groups that were put under pressure.Other organisations affected included the Sierra Club and Avaaz.Cases of sedition were filed against individuals criticising the government.Modi repealed 1,200 obsolete laws in first three years as prime minister; a total of 1,301 such laws had been repealed by previous governments over a span of 64 years.He started a monthly radio programme titled "Mann Ki Baat" on 3 October 2014.Modi also launched the Digital India programme, with the goal of ensuring that government services are available electronically, building infrastructure to provide high-speed Internet access to rural areas, boosting manufacturing of electronic goods in the country, and promoting digital literacy.Economic policyModi with other BRICS leaders in 2016. Left to right: Temer, Modi, Xi, Putin and Zuma.The economic policies of Modi's government focused on privatisation and liberalisation of the economy, based on a neoliberal framework.Modi liberalised India's foreign direct investment policies, allowing more foreign investment in several industries, including in defence and the railways.Other proposed reforms included making it harder for workers to form unions and easier for employers to hire and fire them;some of these proposals were dropped after protests.The reforms drew strong opposition from unions: on 2 September 2015, eleven of the country's largest unions went on strike, including one affiliated with the BJP.The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, a constituent of the Sangh Parivar, stated that the underlying motivation of labour reforms favored corporations over labourers.The funds dedicated to poverty reduction programmes and social welfare measures were greatly decreased by the Modi administration.The money spent on social programmes declined from 14.6% of GDP during the Congress government to 12.6% during Modi's first year in office.Spending on health and family welfare declined by 15%, and on primary and secondary education by 16%.The budgetary allocation for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, or the "education for all" programme, declined by 22%.The government also lowered corporate taxes, abolished the wealth tax, increased sales taxes, and reduced customs duties on gold, and jewelry.Modi at the launch of the Make in India programmeIn September 2014, Modi introduced the Make in India initiative to encourage foreign companies to manufacture products in India, with the goal of turning the country into a global manufacturing hub.On 9 November 2016, the government demonetised ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes, with the stated intention of curbing corruption, black money, the use of counterfeit currency, and terrorism.Over the first four years of Modi's premiership, India's GDP grew at an average rate of 7.23%, higher than the rate of 6.39% under the previous government.[216]The level of income inequality increased,while an internal government report said that in 2017, unemployment had increased to its highest level in 45 years. The loss of jobs was attributed to the 2016 demonetization, and to the effects of the Goods and Services Tax.Health and sanitationSee also: Swachh Bharat AbhiyanIn his first year as prime minister, Modi reduced the amount of money spent by the central government on healthcare.The Modi government launched New Health Policy (NHP) in January 2015. The policy did not increase the government's spending on healthcare, instead emphasizing the role of private healthcare organisations. This represented a shift away from the policy of the previous Congress government, which had supported programmes to assist public health goals, including reducing child and maternal mortality rates.The National Health Mission, which included public health programmes targeted at these indices received nearly 20%less funds in 2015 than in the previous year. 15 national health programmes, including those aimed at controlling tobacco use and supporting healthcare for the elderly, were merged with the National Health Mission. In its budget for the second year after it took office, the Modi government reduced healthcare spending by 15%.The healthcare budget for the following year rose by 19%. The budget was viewed positively by private insurance providers. Public health experts criticised its emphasis on the role of private healthcare providers, and suggested that it represented a shift away from public health facilities.The healthcare budget rose by 11.5% in 2018; the change included an allocation of 2000 crore for a government-funded health insurance program, and a decrease in the budget of the National Health Mission.The government introduced stricter packaging laws for tobacco which requires 85% of the packet size to be covered by pictorial warnings.An article in the medical journal Lancet stated that the country "might have taken a few steps back in public health" under Modi.In 2018 Modi launched the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, a government health insurance scheme intended to insure 500 million people. 1 lakh people had signed up by October 2018.Modi emphasised his government's efforts at sanitation as a means of ensuring good health.On 2 October 2014, Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan ("Clean India") campaign. The stated goals of the campaign included eliminating open defecationand manual scavenging within five years.As part of the programme, the Indian government began constructing millions of toilets in rural areas and encouraging people to use them.The government also announced plans to build new sewage treatment plants.The administration plans to construct 60 million toilets by 2019. The construction projects have faced allegations of corruption, and have faced severe difficulty in getting people to use the toilets constructed for them.In 2018, the World Health Organization stated that at least 180,000 diarrhoeal deaths were averted in rural India after the launch of the sanitation effort.HindutvaFurther information: HindutvaModi pays obeisance at Tirumala Temple in Andhra PradeshDuring the 2014 election campaign, the BJP sought to identify itself with political leaders known to have opposed Hindu nationalism, including B. R. Ambedkar, Subhas Chandra Bose, and Ram Manohar Lohia.A proposal for the controversial Uniform Civil Code was a part of the BJP's election manifesto.These activities included a Hindu religious conversion programme, a campaign against the alleged Islamic practice of "Love Jihad", and attempts to celebrate Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, by members of the right wing Hindu Mahasabha.Between 2015 and 2018, Human Rights Watch estimated that 44 people, most of them Muslim, were killed by vigilantes; the killings were described by commentators as related to attempts by BJP state governments to ban the slaughter of cows.Foreign policyFurther information: Foreign policy of Narendra Modi and List of prime ministerial trips made by Narendra ModiModi and US President Donald Trump giving a joint statement.Foreign policy played a relatively small role in Modi's election campaign, and did not feature prominently in the BJP's election manifesto.Modi invited all the other leaders of SAARC countries to his swearing in ceremony as prime minister.He was the first Indian prime minister to do so.Modi meeting Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi in New Delhi in January 2018Modi's foreign policy, similarly to that of the preceding INC government, focused on improving economic ties, security, and regional relations.Modi continued Manmohan Singh's policy of "multi-alignment."The Modi administration tried to attract foreign investment in the Indian economy from several sources, especially in East Asia, with the use of slogans such as "Make in India" and "Digital India".The government also tried to improve relations with Islamic nations in the Middle East, such as Bahrain, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as with Israel.During the first few months after the election, Modi made trips to a number of different countries to further the goals of his policy, and attended the BRICS, ASEAN, and G20 summits.One of Modi's first visits as prime minister was to Nepal, during which he promised a billion USD in aid.Modi also made several overtures to the United States, including multiple visits to that country.While this was described as an unexpected development, due to the US having previously denied Modi a travel visa over his role during the 2002 Gujarat riots, it was also expected to strengthen diplomatic and trade relations between the two countries.In 2015, the Indian parliament ratified a land exchange deal with Bangladesh about the India–Bangladesh enclaves, which had been initiated by the government of Manmohan Singh.Modi's administration gave renewed attention to India's "Look East Policy", instituted in 1991. The policy was renamed the "Act East Policy", and involved directing Indian foreign policy towards East Asia and Southeast Asia.The government signed agreements to improve land connectivity with Myanmar, through the state of Manipur. This represented a break with India's historic engagement with Myanmar, which prioritised border security over trade.Defence policyThe President of Israel Reuven Rivlin and Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Gadi Eizenkotwith Modi.India's nominal military spending increased steadily under Modi.The military budget declined over Modi's tenure both as a fraction of GDP and when adjusted for inflation.A substantial portion of the military budget was devoted to personnel costs, leading commentators to write that the budget was constraining Indian military modernization.The BJP election manifesto had also promised to deal with illegal immigration into India in the Northeast, as well as to be more firm in its handling of insurgent groups. The Modi government issued a notification allowing Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist illegal immigrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh to legalise their residency in India. The government described the measure as being taken for humanitarian reasons but it drew criticism from several Assamese organisations.The Modi administration negotiated a peace agreement with the largest faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCM), which was announced in August 2015. The Naga insurgency in northeast India had begun in the 1950s.The NSCM and the government had agreed to a ceasefire in 1997, but a peace accord had not previously been signed.In 2015 the government abrogated a 15-year ceasefire with the Khaplang faction of the NSCM (NSCM-K). The NSCM-K responded with a series of attacks, which killed 18 people.The Modi government carried out a raid across the border with Myanmar as a result, and labelled the NSCM-K a terrorist organisation.Modi promised to be "tough on Pakistan" during his election campaign, and repeatedly stated that Pakistan was an exporter of terrorism.On 29 September 2016, the Indian Army stated that it had conducted a surgical strike on terror launchpads in Azad Kashmir. The Indian media claimed that up to 50 terrorists and Pakistani soldiers had been killed in the strike.Pakistan initially denied that any strikes had taken place.Subsequent reports suggested that Indian claim about the scope of the strike and the number of casualties had been exaggerated, although cross-border strikes had been carried out.In February 2019 India carried out airstrikes in Pakistan against a supposed terrorist camp. Further military skirmishes followed, including cross-border shelling and the loss of an Indian aircraft.Approval ratingsModi interacting with the school children after delivering his address on Independence Day in New Delhi, 15 August 2017As a Prime Minister, Modi has received consistently high approval ratings; at the end of his first year in office, he received an overall approval rating of 87% in a Pew Research poll, with 68% of people rating him "very favorably" and 93% approving of his government.His approval rating remained largely consistent at around 74% through his second year in office, according to a nationwide poll conducted by instaVaani.At the end of his second year in office, an updated Pew Research poll showed Modi continued to receive high overall approval ratings of 81%, with 57% of those polled rating him "very favorably."At the end of his third year in office, a further Pew Research poll showed Modi with an overall approval rating of 88%, his highest yet, with 69% of people polled rating him "very favorably."In 2014, 2015 and 2017, he was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World.He was also declared winner of the Time magazine reader's poll for Person of the Year in 2014 and 2016.Forbes Magazine ranked him the 15th-Most-Powerful Person in the World in 2014 and the 9th-Most-Powerful Person in the World in 2015, 2016 and 2018.In 2015, Modi was ranked the 13th-Most-Influential Person in the World by Bloomberg Markets Magazine.Modi was ranked fifth on Fortune Magazine's first annual list of the "World's Greatest Leaders" in 2015.In 2017, Gallup International Association (GIA) conducted a poll and ranked Modi as third top leader of the world.In 2016, a wax statue of Modi was unveiled at Madame Tussaud Wax Museum in London.In 2015 he was named one of Time's "30 Most Influential People on the Internet" as the second-most-followed politician on Twitter and Facebook.In 2018 he was the third most followed head of the state on Twitter,and the most followed world leader on Facebook and Instagram.In October 2018, Modi received UN's highest environmental award, the 'Champions of the Earth', for policy leadership by “pioneering work in championing” the International Solar Alliance and “new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action”.He was conferred the 2018 Seoul Peace Prize in recognition of his dedication to improving international cooperation, raising global economic growth, accelerating the Human Development of the people of India by fostering economic growth and furthering the development of democracy through anti-corruption and social integration efforts. He is the first Indian to win the award.In January 2019, PM Narendra Modi, a biographic film starring Vivek Oberoi as Modi, was announced.State honoursOrder of Abdulaziz Al SaudSaudi Arabia3 April 2016Member Special Class, The highest civilian honour of Saudi ArabiaState Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah KhanAfghanistan4 June 2016The highest civilian honour of AfghanistanGrand Collar of the State of PalestinePalestine10 February 2018The highest honour granted to foreigners by PalestineOrder of ZayedUnited Arab Emirates4 April 2019The highest civilian honour of the United Arab EmiratesOrder of St. AndrewRussia12 April 2019The highest civilian honour of RussiaMaximum Modi, minimum opportunityNo leader could have achieved what Modi hasThis month, Narendra Modi completes three years as India’s prime minister. It is a long enough period for anyone to get a sense of his leadership style. What is clear by now is that Mr Modi is completely different from his predecessor, Manmohan Singh, and indeed almost all his predecessors.Indira Gandhi, who served as prime minister for almost 15 years in two different stints, is perhaps the only one whose operational style is a little closer to that of Mr Modi. Both were strong leaders. Both had a connect with the ordinary people of India. And both understood power and authority -- and knew how to use them.Mr Modi, however, is different in many ways. Here are five key aspects of Mr Modi’s leadership style. Some of these may be similar to those of Indira Gandhi, but they acquire a new dimension and colour under Mr Modi.One, Mr Modi’s command over the bureaucracy is total. He entered the Prime Minister’s Office as a complete outsider, but took very little time to understand how he needs to take charge of the bureaucracy. Disintermediation was his primary instrument to keep civil servants under control. In sharp contrast to his immediate predecessor, Mr Modi made sure that he had a role and the final say in deciding on the appointment of senior civil servants in all important ministries. Thus, many central ministers realised that their top bureaucrats also had a direct connect with the prime minister and the PMO.What is clear by now is that Mr Modi is completely different from his predecessor, Manmohan Singh, and indeed almost all his predecessors.In line with this strategy, Modi developed a relationship of accountability with top civil servants across the central ministries. Periodic meetings were held with top secretaries in different ministries where the prime minister would be directly briefed on the progress of policy actions decided upon by the government. Yes, the ministers concerned would often be there in such meetings, but every bureaucrat present there would know who the boss was and whose writ ran at the end of the day.Even when the issues to be decided pertained to the Budget, the architecture of the goods and services tax or demonetisation, the prime minister made sure that he had a direct involvement with the bureaucrats concerned and played a role in the formulation of policies or their execution. This was again completely different from the way Manmohan Singh ran the government for 10 years, when he would operate through the PMO officials, through the central ministers or through file notes.A different ModiExpecting de-escalation of tensions from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, if he is voted back to power, would be different though. Mr. Modi made a surprise visit to Lahore in December 2015 to wish his then-Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, on his birthday. Will he be inclined to do the same on Mr. Khan’s birthday this year? If Mr. Modi returns to power after this election campaign, which has been filled with invocations of Pulwama and Balakot, then it would be on the anti-Pakistan plank. In 2014, Mr. Modi wanted to be the leader who gave an opportunity to a recalcitrant neighbour. A re-elected Mr. Modi might not be in the need for such gestures. His ideological predilections will dissuade him as well. Besides, at the core of the Modi phenomenon has been his uncompromising persona. His appeal is to a core base that is of his own making and not necessarily that of the RSS-BJP combine. The base he appeals to believes in bravado and machismo.Modi has also reinforced his leadership quality by being a good communicator round the year, and not just during election times. He has an active Twitter account. Citizens are encouraged to go directly to his website. He has a monthly radio talk show Mann ki Baat(What Is on My Mind). He travels around the country and takes a lead role in every election campaign. People see him and hear him all the time. That is a lot different from previous prime ministers.