About: the world this week, 22 September to 28 September 2024: A new war front; Sri Lanka’s new President; India sparkles; and sweeps the Chess Olympiad.

Everywhere

A New War Front

A new front has certainly opened, in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, with Hamas’ partner-in-crime, the Iran-backed Hezbollah, operating out of Lebanon, being surgically attacked by Israel. This, takes off from last week’s Pager-attack on Hezbollah, when over 1500 militants were severely impaired – blinded, or body parts severely damaged.

Israel destroyed hundreds of Hezbollah targets on Monday in airstrikes, which killed at least 300 people in Lebanon’s deadliest day in decades. After some of the heaviest cross-border exchanges of fire since the hostilities began, Israel warned people in Lebanon to evacuate areas where it said the militant Hezbollah was storing weapons. After almost a year of war against Hamas in Gaza on its southern border, Israel is shifting its focus to its northern frontier, from where Hezbollah has been relentlessly firing rockets into Israel, in support of Hamas, since 8th October 2024. And towards the end of the week, Israel called for its Reserves to join the fighting.

Over the week, every day you read about some Hezbollah Commander being taken down in a precision strike-somewhere in Beirut. On Friday, Israeli hit the main headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut: remains to be seen if its head is alive or at least scratched!

Sri Lanka: Recovering

Two years ago, in the year 2022, Sri Lanka’s economy collapsed plunging the country into its worst financial crisis in decades, and causing unprecedented upheaval. What followed was lethal unrest, with unruly crowds going on a mass rampage across the country. This eventually led to the ruling Rajapaksa family giving-up power-fleeing the country-and Ranil Wickremesinghe hurriedly being sworn in as acting President, to bring the economy back on track. He then went on to being formally elected, by Parliament, in a secret ballot-winning 134 to 82-to serve the remainder of the Rajapaksa Presidential term, which was to end this November 2024.

In the two years that followed, Sri Lanka’s economy made an unexpectedly rapid recovery under Wickremesinghe’s astute management and belt-tightening measures. After securing an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the currency stabilised, the central bank rebuilt foreign-exchange reserves, and inflation fell to singled digits. By the first half of 2024, the economy had grown by 5%. The government successfully restructured its domestic debt, followed by a restructuring of its bilateral debt, i.e., government-to-government loans mostly from China, but also from India and Western counties, including the United States. Just days before the current election, an agreement was reached with international bondholders to re-configure the remaining sovereign debt.

The hard and ‘dirty’ work done, in August 2024, President Wickremesinghe called for Elections to the Presidency, announcing that he himself would run for re-election as an independent candidate. Despite the stupendous achievements in the most trying of times, Wickremesinghe was eliminated at the end of the first phase of vote counting in the Presidential Elections held late last week. He finished third with only 17.26% of the vote. And was overtaken by both Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the opposition leader Sajith Premadasa. Wickremesinghe’s unpopularity stemmed largely from the harsh, but necessary, austerity measures implemented under the IMF-backed stabilisation program.

As no candidate could secure a majority in the polls, the elections moved to the second phase of preferential vote counting, where only two leading candidates remain in the competition. Under the electoral system, voters cast three preferential votes for their chosen candidates. If no candidate wins 50% in the first count, a second tally determines the winner between the top two candidates, using the preferential votes cast.

This week, on Sunday, Sri Lankans finally elected Marxist-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake,55 – popularly known by his initials, AKD – as the new President, putting faith in his pledge to fight corruption and bolster a fragile economic recovery. He was sworn-in as Sri Lanka’s ninth President, by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, early this week. And he quickly named party colleague, College Professor and first-time lawmaker Harini Amarasuriya as the new Prime Minister. Sri Lanka has an ‘executive Presidency’ with the President being in-charge of running the country.

AKD heads both the National People’s Power (NPP) alliance, and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and won the run-off in the second round of counting of preferential votes. It was the first time in Sri Lanka’s history that the presidential race was decided by a second tally of votes.

Dissanayake led from start to finish during the counting, knocking out incumbent President Wickremesinghe and opposition leader Sajith Premadasa. At the end of the first round, AKD had 42.31 % of the vote, and Premadasa 32.76%. A count of the second preference votes took Dissanayake past the required 50% plus, for a clear victory.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s rise to the presidency in Sri Lanka as a candidate of the NPP coalition is nothing short of unalloyed magic. Dissanayake has been JVP’s leader since 2014, and the party has participated in two parliamentary elections under his leadership. In 2015 it secured 4.8% of the vote share, and in 2020, the JVP alliance secured 3.8% of the vote. In the 2019 presidential election he had secured a mere 3.2%.

AKD’s popularity probably has an oblique explanation: the COVID19 pandemic and the poor management of resources by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after 2019 pushed an unprecedented number of Sri Lankans into poverty. AKD, as the head of the JVP presented himself to the people as a politician who spoke their lingo, understood their problems, and empathised with them. With his pro-working class stance and sharp critique of the political elite he captivated the hearts and minds of Sri Lankan masses, more so after the important role the JVP played in the 2022 protests that toppled the Rajapaksa regime.

However, for Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority, AKD’s election offers little hope. During the campaign AKD rejected devolving more power to the Tamils living in the North and East. And investigating incidents during the civil war- which saw the elimination of the Tamil Tigers-that United Nations investigators said could amount to war crimes. Tens of thousands of Tamil civilians had died during the final months of the defeat of the LTTE – Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

But AKD’s coalition, the NPP, has just 3 of 225 seats in the current Parliament, prompting him to dissolve Parliament to seek a fresh mandate-this week the new President did just that- and cleared the way for a snap general election. The parliamentary election will be held on 14th November 2024, and the new Parliament is scheduled to convene on 21st November. The last general election in Sri Lanka was held in August 2020. Lawmakers are elected for a five-year term.

Rooted in Marxist ideology, the JVP was founded in the 1960s with the aim of seizing power through a socialist revolution. But after two failed armed and bloody attempts in 1971 and 1987-89, which resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of lives- a dark phase-the party shifted toward democratic politics and has remained so, for over three decades. The election results is the first major win for the JVP. It also heralds a new era for the party, which has radically transformed itself and let go of its extreme left ideologies such as the abolition of private property.

Until this election, the JVP remained a minor third party in Sri Lanka’s political landscape. While power alternated between the alliances led by the two traditional political parties – the United National Party and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party – or their descendant parties.

Unlike most of Sri Lanka’s past Presidents, Dissanayake was not born into a political family. Instead, his is an agricultural background; while his father was a low-level office worker. Dissanayake was the first student in his school to go to university. But AKD is no outsider. He was first elected to parliament in 2001 and has remained an MP since then. He even had a stint as Agriculture Minister between February 2004 and June 2005, besides other positions in Parliament. I reckon he has enough experience to count upon.

AKD is married to Mallika Dissanayake and has one son.

India: Hugs, Chips, Cuts, and Washes

India’s Prime Minister returned from a trip to the United States where he hugged President Biden, among others, and participated in the QUAD Summit: the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue- a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States that is maintained by talks between member countries.

US President Joe Biden hosted the QUAD leaders in his hometown of Wilmington for what could be the final meeting of the Indo-Pacific partnership established during his presidency.

True to call, Biden went blank immediately after his speech as he couldn’t remember who to call next for the address. “So I want to thank you all for being here. And now, who am I introducing next?” Biden asked after completing his speech. After a brief and awkward pause, Biden asked again, “Who’s next?” clearly snapping at one of the staff.

Meanwhile, in one of the most consequential outcomes of the Indian PM’s US visit, was the agreement between the US Space Force and two Indian startups Bharat Semi and 3rdiTech to manufacture semiconductors in India for the US and Indian armed forces. That’s a landmark achievement.

3rdiTech is India’s pioneer and exclusive Imaging Sensor Fabless Company. It’s India’s solution for specialised chips that power camera systems, from mobile phone cameras to rearview cameras in automobiles; from Earth observation satellites and fighter aircraft observation systems to specific advanced missiles. Essentially, every camera worldwide relies on these image sensor chips. Much like semiconductor giants, Qualcomm and ARM, 3rdiTech operates as a fabless company, focusing on chip design while not manufacturing them. 3rdiTech excels in crafting custom chips, also known as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), tailored for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) purposes. 3rdiTech has now emerged as a significant player in the aerospace sector.

Vrinda Kapoor the CEO of 3rdiTech put it this way, contrary to popular belief that semiconductor manufacturing is the most valuable sector, the real power lies in owning the intellectual property for chip design.

A fabless company is a semiconductor company that designs and markets semiconductors, but outsources their fabrication to a third party. The term ‘fabless’ is a combination of the words ‘fab’ (fabrication) and ‘less’.

In shocking, unsettling news in India, a 29-year-old woman was found murdered in her home in Bengaluru, with her body dismembered into close to 50 pieces and stored in a refrigerator. The case has parallels to the gruesome murder of 27-year-old Shraddha Walkar in Delhi in 2022. Investigations are ongoing.

The Lord Venkateshwara Tirupathi Laddu Prasadam controversy continued to dominate headlines with some celebrities shooting their mouths off with unwarranted, insensitive comments. And believers rushing to call them out. This week, the Temple was literally washed-off the effects of animal fat being used in making the Laddus, and ‘purity restored’.

Chess Olympiad: India Triumphs

In a golden moment for India, its men and women’s teams won Gold Medals in the 45th Chess Olympiad organised by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), for the first time, in Budapest, Hungary, from 10 to 23 September. A record-breaking 188 teams in the Open Section and 169 in the Women’s competition gathered in the Hungarian capital to do battle on the Chess Board.

India took home all 3 trophies: the Hamilton-Russell Cup, for winning the Open Chess Olympiad; the Vera Menchik Cup for winning the Women’s Olympiad; and the Gaprindashvili Cup, a special trophy awarded for the best combined result in the Open and Women’s sections.

The men’s team of Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi, and Harikrishna Pentala, with Srinath Narayanan as the captain, consistently led throughout the tournament, winning 10 matches and drawing just one. Before the last round, India was 2 points ahead of China: and in the final round, India just needed a draw to clinch the gold medal, or for China not to win their match. However, India bulldozed the Chess Board with a win, defeating Slovenia.

Gukesh played outstanding chess and had a phenomenal tournament, scoring 9 points in 10 games and earning the individual gold medal on the Top Board. Arjun Erigaisi was another hero scoring 10 points in 11 games and winning individual gold on Board Three. Both significantly improved their FIDE ratings and are close to clearing the 2800 bar – a notable achievement in Chess.

Not to be left behind, India’s women’s team had a very strong start, leading the event after 7 rounds, having won all their matches. They stumbled in round 8, losing to Poland and then drawing with Team USA, but made a strong finish. Going into the final round, India was tied for the first position with Kazakhstan, and the race for the Gold medal was down to the wire

The team of Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali (sister of the Praggnanandhaa – of the men’s team), Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, and Tania Sachdev, with Abhijit Kunte as the captain, demonstrated excellent composure and delivered, winning the final match against Azerbaijan At the same time, Kazakhstan drew with the USA, 2-2, making India the sole winners of the event.

18-year-old Divya Deshmukh, a new addition to the team, was unstoppable throughout the event. She played all games, scored 9.5 points, and secured the crucial victory in the final match. The Individual gold on Board Three was a well-deserved award for her.

The fight for silver and bronze medals was fierce in both sections. Five teams tied for second place. In the Open Section, Team USA, the event’s rating favourite, defeated China in a hard-fought final round to join them at 17 points. Defending champions Uzbekistan narrowly beat France, Serbia triumphed over Ukraine, and Armenia narrowly defeated Iran, all to join the pack at 17 points. The tiebreaks favoured the USA, which claimed silver, and Uzbekistan, took home the bronze.

In the women’s section, Kazakhstan delivered a strong performance throughout the event, fighting for gold until the very end, and ultimately claimed silver. Four teams – USA, Spain, Armenia, and Georgia – tied for third place, but the tiebreaks favoured USA, which claimed the bronze medal.

In the end there was one Super Mom, ‘filled with teeth’ and smiling from ear-to-ear, Nagalakshmi: the mother of superstars Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali. She was the cynosure of all eyes! When asked how she wishes to celebrate the ‘twin victory’ she said, “I’m going to the Temple”. There is a God waiting.

Chess great, Garry Kasparov called Team India, ‘Vishy’s Children’ referring to India’s Chess Superstar, Vishwanathan Anand, who has been a mighty inspiration in Indian Chess.

More winning stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Celebrate with World Inthavaaram.