About: the world this week, 13 August to 19 August 2023; a charged Trump; the Taliban; rain fury in India; caste problems; Inflation; Moon mission; brainwave music; Women’s Football, and Men’s Hockey.

Everywhere

United States

Former United States (US) President Donald Trump ‘refuses to quit’- the headlines, for the wrong reasons. He and 18 others were indicted in the State of Georgia for trying to overturn the Presidential Election Results in 2020, which culminated in his supporters storming the US Capitol Hill in January 2020. This week, the jury laid out a 41-count indictment against Trump and others.

Trump was charged with 13 counts, including violating Georgia’s RICO Act, (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations) soliciting a public officer, and conspiring to file false documents. Some of the others indicted include former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former chief of staff Mark Meadows, and former White House lawyer John Eastman.

The RICO Act enables prosecutors to target people in positions of authority within a criminal organisation, not just lower-level people doing the dirty work. But its use was never meant to be limited exclusively to organised ‘Gangster’ crime.

On expected lines, Team Trump called the prosecutors in the case ‘rabid partisan’ and called the indictment ‘bogus.’ It’s the fourth time he’s been criminally charged in four months. Trump has maintained that the other indictments are politically motivated.

Educating The Taliban

It’s close to 700 days since the Taliban banned teenage girls and women from schools and they continue to be denied the right to an education in Afghanistan. Now, in another onslaught on women, a Taliban Official said this week, “Women ‘lose value’ if men glimpse their faces in public”. Hence the necessity for them to cover-up!

India’s Rain Fury

Intense rain and cloudbursts wreaked havoc in India’s northern State of Himachal Pradesh for the second time since July, resulting in multiple landslides that claimed more than 50 lives across the hill state.

The devastation in the Hill Station of Shimla was Biblical with buildings collapsing like the proverbial ‘house of cards’ washed away by the avalanche-like gush of water down the hill sides.

The situation was grim in the neighbouring State of Uttarakhand too, as a continuous spell of torrential rain caused three deaths and left five people missing. The fatalities have pushed the state’s rain-related death toll this monsoon to over 63, with many unaccounted for.

The extreme rain spells came during a break in the monsoon over India, when the monsoon trough runs close to the Western Himalayas, making the hill states vulnerable to heavy showers.

India’s Inflation

India’s retail inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which was relaxing around 4.81% in June for quite a while, surged to a 15-month high of 7.44% in July. Vegetable prices, notably tomatoes, and other food items are major contributors to the spike. This marks the highest figure since April 2022, when inflation was at 7.79%.

The two indices that are used to measure inflation in India are the CPI and the WPI (Wholesale Price Index). These two measure inflation on a monthly basis taking into account different approaches to calculate the change in prices of goods and services. The study helps the Government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to understand the price change in the market and thus keep an eye on inflation.

The CPI analyses the retail inflation of goods and services in the economy across 260 commodities. The CPI-based retail inflation considers the change in prices at which the consumers buy goods. The data is collected separately by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation and the Ministry of Labour.

The WPI analyses the inflation of only goods across 697 commodities. The WPI-based wholesale inflation considers the change in prices at which consumers buy goods at a wholesale price or in bulk from the Manufacturer/Producer’s Factory, Mandis, etc.

India’s CPI rose, the WPI continues to remain in the negative territory for four straight months and was (-)1.36% in July 2023.

Tamil Nadu’s Caste Problems

In a shocking, brutal incident, a 17 years old student, Chinnadurai and his 14 years old sister Chandraselvi, studying in a Government-aided School, were attacked with sickles by six of his classmates at his house in Nanguneri, in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli District, late last week.

Chinnadurai is a Class 12 student of the School in Valliyur on the National Highway, near Nanguneri and belongs to a lower caste. His attackers-classmates from his own school- belonged to dominant upper castes. When the attackers barged into their house, Chandraselvi who had come to Chinnadurai’s rescue was also hacked. The neighbours gathered on hearing the commotion, the students fled the scene.

The brother suffered about fifteen cuts on his body while the sister had about five cuts, primarily on her hands. Both were treated at the Nanguneri Government Hospital and later at the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital. And are out of danger.

A 60 years old relative of the victims, who was among those holding a protest demanding police action against the suspects, fainted and died.

Chinnadurai was subjected to casteist harassment and bullied at school by students of Class 11 and Class 12 who forced him to run errands for them such as buying cigarettes and snacks. Unable to bear the harassment the boy complained to his parents-who are daily wage labourers-and stopped going to School.

Chinnadurai’s mother had taken him to school to complain, whereupon the students involved were called by the Headmaster and let off with a stiff warning. This seems of have angered the boys who confronted Chinnadurai on his way home and threatened him with severe consequences if he complained. And on the same night, the students gathered and entered Chinnadurai’s house and attacked him.

Tirunelveli has been infamous for caste clashes in schools in the past too and the Government had taken measures such as banning the use of coloured wristbands and other symbols that identify caste in schools. Like wristbands, students would sport tilaks and bindis in different colours – for instance, red and green for Dalits, yellow and red for Thevars. Such wristbands and also colourful T-shirts and trousers are banned in Schools in the region.

Moon Mission

India’s Chandrayaan-3 is flying like a butterfly and is getting closer to the Moon and this week it successfully completed all Moon-bound manoeuvres. The next step of the separation of the Lunar Landing Module-Vikram-from the Propulsion Module happened on 17 Aug 23. And subsequently, the de-boosting operations to slow down the spacecraft was also completed. Vikram is now as close as about 113 km away from the Moon, looking for a spot… to land.

And it’s over to the soft-kiss touch-down landing on the Moon…and of course the strolling when Vikram ‘opens up’ to reveal the Rover – Pragyan – tucked inside.

Land like a Butterfly! Sting the Moon like a Bee!

Music From Another Brick In The Wall

Scientists have reconstructed Pink Floyd’s iconic song, ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ by eavesdropping on people’s brainwaves- the first time a recognisable song has been decoded from recordings of electrical brain activity.

Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, published a study explaining how they reconstructed ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ by decoding electrical brain activity. Scientists placed electrodes on 29 epilepsy patients’ brain surfaces as they listened to three minutes of the song. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and computer models used the brain-activity patterns in each patient’s brain to help recreate the song’s lyrics, rhythm, and melody. The scientists said they decided to use music instead of voice because ‘music is universal’. Now, the success of the study could be used to help paralysed patients with neurological conditions.

Researchers found an increased reaction in part of the temporal lobe (which processes sound and memory) when playing certain notes. The scientists hope the study could help answer why some patients who struggle with speech can sing but not speak. They also believe the research could help develop devices that can do more than just rely on speech-but can instead interpret sounds and emotions as well.

The breakthrough could help tens of thousands of people who have difficulty with speech including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) patients and those with non-verbal apraxia.

ALS is a form of motor neuron disease, where the muscles are left ‘without nourishment’ and thereby loss of signals that nerve cells normally send to muscle cells.

The hope is that doing so could ultimately help to restore the musicality of natural speech in patients who struggle to communicate because of disabling neurological conditions such as stroke or ALS – the neurodegenerative disease that famous Scientist Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with.

Women’s Football

The FIFA Women’s World Cup is on its last legs in the joint-hosting countries of Australia and New Zealand.

Joining Spain and Sweden – last week’s Semi Finalists – were England and Australia. England beat Colombia 2-1 in regular time, and Australia beat France 7-6 on penalties, to get to the last Four. This is Australia’s first ever entry into the Semi-Finals.

In the first semi-finals Spain beat Sweden, 2-1, and in the second, England beat Australia, 3-1, to kick into their first ever final. Australia’s Sam Kerr scored a spectacular goal from around the mid-half – easily one of the best in the tournament – to level after the English scored. But Australia fumbled during an English raid, at the goal-post allowing England to slip in a goal.

The Spain versus England Final is set for 20 August 23 at ‘Stadium Australia’- Accor Stadium – Sydney, Australia. Neither have the Spanish ‘La Roja’ or the English ‘Lionesses’ reached this stage previously, and either way it will be truly be a ‘maiden win’.

The key players capable of determining the final outcome are: England’s defender Alex Greenwood, considered one of the best ball-playing centre backs in the World and along with her impeccable passing she can roar in the attacks. She will have to fend off Spain’s Jennifer Hermoso, who has a ran a total of 67.43 km in the Tournament thus far, chasing down every ball and brushing over every blade of grass to help her team win. Then there is the Ona Batlle -Lauren Hemp and Teresa Abelleria – Keria Walsh battles to look forward to.

The other stars are Spain’s Alexia Putellas and Salma Paralluelo, especially the latter. After giving up an athletics career the 19 years old has gone on to establish herself in the Spanish squad. Able to play wide or through the middle, her pace is a nightmare for opposition defenders, plus she has an eye for goals. She has scored three times in Spain’s last two games before the World Cup. Another lioness to look out for is the ‘poised for breakout’ 21 years old English star Lauren James.

England are favourites to win the Cup. The Queen of Spain is expected to watch the Finals, and maybe wave a magic wand?

The race for the Golden Boot, has Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa, at 5 goals, in the lead followed by France’s Kadidiatou Diani, at 4 goals.

Hockey

The Indian men’s hockey team won its fourth Asian Champions Trophy title, cheered on by a capacity crowd in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. They defeated Malaysia 4-3 in the finals. Now the expectations are huge for winning Gold in upcoming The Asian Games – about a month away. With this victory, India becomes the most successful team in the Asian Champions Trophy, ahead of three-time champions and arch rivals, Pakistan.

India was down 1-3, at half-time, but clawed-back into the game to secure a 4-3 win. Jugraj Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh, and Akashdeep Singh scored the goals for India.

Japan beat Korea 5-3 for to finish third, while Pakistan beat China 6-1 to finish fifth.

More sticking stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Play with World Inthavaaram.