Tag: Hindutva

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2024-38

About: the world this week, 15 September to 21 September 2024: Pager Bombing; SpaceX Mission returns home; Trump trumps another attack; floods in Central Europe; India-Asian Hockey Champions; and an animal assault on the Hindu faith.

Everywhere

Pager Bombing: Beepers are Here

A war being fought in the smallest, most-densely populated, and tightest regions of Earth seems to be having the loudest, widest, and largest boundaries anywhere in the world. And expanding at an exponential rate. Years ago we thought Carpet Bombing-in another Desert War-was amazing technology. This week we learnt about ‘Pager Beeper-bombing’. This is the kind of jaw-dropping action we would expect to see only in the movies – James Bond for one, with those fancy throw-away gadgets. Is war shifting to a completely new battle-ground: cyber and remote attacks designed to cripple the capacities and capabilities of a persistent adversary?

Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have been engaged in cross-border warfare in parallel with the Hamas-Israel Gaza war, with Hezbollah pumping rockets into Israel at will. This caused a different kind of hostage situation with Israel being forced to evacuate its citizens in the regions bordering Lebanon leaving many homes and start-up offices empty. Perhaps, Israel decided enough was enough and wanted to take warfare to the next level. But then, Israel has never admitted to its stealth warfare techniques. Is seeing believing?

This Tuesday, hundreds of Hezbollah operators’ communication devices exploded in a synchronised detonation across Lebanon. At least 37 people were killed and more than 3,500 Hezbollah fighters, medics and Iran’s envoy to Beirut were wounded when the Pagers they use to communicate, simultaneously exploded. Many lost their eyes or had their fingers blow off. The ‘hacking’ of the Pagers is the biggest security breach Hezbollah has experienced in nearly a year of conflict with Israel. Ambulances could be heard rushing through the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, amid widespread panic. Pager devices also exploded in the south of Lebanon. And a deadly ‘electronics device’ fear gripped Lebanon.

The Pagers that detonated were the latest model brought-in by Hezbollah about 5 months ago. Hezbollah’s leadership had ordered its fighters not to use mobile phones, fearing that they could be easily tacked and precision attacks launched to eliminate them. Hence, the conscious ‘switch’ and downslide to a ‘previous era’ Pagers.

The Pagers, in the news, detonated within 4 seconds after receiving a written message-either in front of the person who unlocked them or in front of someone who did not. It appears that explosives were planted next to the battery in each Pager with a switch embedded to detonate them remotely. How was this done?

The Pagers were made by an European Distributor, BAC Consulting, for manufacturer Gold Apollo of Taiwan. Obviously, the supply chain of a batch of pagers destined for Hezbollah was infiltrated and the implants made. Or, as some reports suggest, Israel itself was secretly involved in the manufacture through a front-end Company. Given that this was done about 5 months ago, the Pagers were allowed to be quietly distributed among the militant cadre of Hezbollah and used without causing any kind of suspicion. Multiple images from Lebanon, shared on social media, showed damaged Gold Apollo Pager model AR924.

Gold Apollo founder Hsu Ching-kuang said that his firm had signed a contract with BAC to use the Gold Apollo brand after a relationship was established about three years ago. At first, BAC only imported Gold Apollo’s Pager and other communication products. Later, the company told Gold Apollo they wanted to make their own Pagers and asked for the rights to use the Golf Apollo brand. Hsu said that Gold Apollo had encountered at least one anomaly in its dealings with the distributor, citing a wire transfer that took a long time to clear. Taiwan has no record of Gold Apollo Pagers being shipped to Lebanon or the Middle East. Gold Apollo shipped about 260,000 Pagers from Taiwan, mostly to the United States and Australia.

After the first day of Pager explosions, walkie-talkies began exploding in a similar manner, the next day. And then laptops, radio systems, houses, cars, motorcycles, and home solar systems followed suit.

It is assumed that Israel was behind the attack: a joint operation between Israel’s intelligence service, the Mossad, and the Israeli military. The Lebanese government condemned the attack as ‘criminal Israeli aggression’.

Later in the week, Israel went more physical, destroying probable rocket launch stations in Lebanon. And in a precision strike in Beirut, killed Ibrahmin Aqil, Hezbollah’s armed forces’ second-in-command.

Apparently, with means of electronic communication being made ‘beepingly dangerous’, militants need to meet in person to make plans. And then it becomes easier to take them down. The war just got deadlier.

SpaceX Polaris Dawn Returns Home

This week, SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn crew returned home, capping off a five-day mission to orbit the farthest from Earth -which included the world’s first commercial spacewalk-by splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico. The Crew Dragon capsule carrying the four astronauts landed off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida. This return marks the conclusion of the third trip to space for the specific Crew Dragon capsule powering the Polaris Dawn mission.

After the Spacewalk, the remainder of the crew’s time in orbit was spent carrying out nearly 40 scientific experiments, including some that sought to better understand space adaptation syndrome-a type of microgravity-specific motion sickness.

Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis, a trained violinist, who had brought her violin along, delivered a rendition of ‘Rey’s Theme’ from ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens.’ Gillis’ music was sent back to Earth using SpaceX’s Starlink as a test of the satellite network’s potential to provide in-space connectivity. Mission Specialist & Medical Officer Anna Menon also took time to read a book she coauthored-called ‘Kisses From Space’-to her family as well as a group of patients from St. Jude Children’s Hospital, as part of a fundraiser.

Trump trumps Another Attack

Former United States (US) President Donald Trump survived another attempt at knocking him off, physically – call it an assassination attempt.

Trump had gone golfing in his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, when a Secret Service Agent sweeping the area saw a rifle barrel poking out of the bushes, about hundred metres away from Trump who was on the fairway of the fifth hole. At that point the suspect never had Trump in his line of sight and did not attempt to fire any shots. The Agent opened fire and the suspect fled the scene. Police quickly caught and arrested the gunman, who was later identified as a 58-year-old man, Ryan Wesley Routh from Hawaii. Authorities recovered an AK-47-style rifle with a scope, a camera, and two backpacks from the bushes where Ryan Wesley had been hiding for nearly 12 hours in an apparent attempt to assassinate Trump. He was promptly charged with two gun-related crimes this Monday.

Questions were raised about how an armed man was able to get so close to Trump, just two months after another gunman grazed his ear with a bullet during a 13 July Rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump’s visit to West Palm Beach was not on his public schedule and it was not clear whether Ryan Wesley knew Trump would be there.

“All of a sudden we heard shots being fired in the air. I guess probably four or five,” Trump said. “Secret Service knew immediately it was bullets, and they grabbed me… We got into the carts and we moved along pretty, pretty good. I was with an Agent, and the Agent did a fantastic job.” Praising the Secret Service Agents, he added: “We do need more people on my detail.”Perhaps the best way to keep Trump safe is to get him elected as President, again – with the full force of the security service around him?

Central Europe Floods

This year floods in Central Europe caused by record heavy rainfall generated by ‘Storm Boris’ and an extremely humid Cyclone, ‘Genoa Low’, began in Austria and the Czech Republic; then spread to Poland, Romania and Slovakia, and then onwards to Germany, Hungary, and Italy.

In southwestern Poland, Boris dropped almost half a year’s worth of rain in just three days. Residents and emergency workers raced to secure river banks in the historic Polish city of Wroclaw on Tuesday, as they prepared for flood waters to reach them.

The Czech-Polish border areas are among the worst-hit since the weekend, as gushing, debris-filled rivers devastated historic towns, collapsing bridges and destroying houses.

Flooding killed seven people in Romania, six in Poland, five in Austria, and three in the Czech Republic. Tens of thousands of Czech and Polish households were without power or fresh water. Wroclaw, the third largest city in Poland, prepared for peaking water along the Oder and Bystrzyca rivers.

Polish authorities have filled 80% of a giant reservoir near the Czech border, aimed at cutting water levels and preventing flood peaks from coinciding on the Oder and Nysa Klodzka rivers, as happened in the disastrous 1997 floods in Wroclaw.

Asian Champions Trophy Hockey: India

India retained its Asian Champions Trophy crown with a 1-0 win over China in the final held in Moqi, China, on Tuesday evening. Jugraj Singh scored the only goal of the match in the 51st minute, after a frustrating game for India, as they came up against a well-organised, stubborn ‘China Wall’ defence.

The first quarter saw an inspired performance from Chinese goalkeeper Wang Weihao, who was the sole reason the contest remained goalless for a greater part of the game. He made a couple of excellent saves from Sukhjeet Singh, thwarted Manpreet Singh from close range, and also made excellent saves off shots from Raj Kumar Pal and Nilakanta Sharma.

India could not win ‘goal-scoring chance providing’ penalty corners: they won only a couple in the first half, and none at all in the second. As the game ploughed-on and they were unable to break the China Wall, India began to show some frustration at umpiring decisions. And that began to tell on their hockey too, as passes were beginning to be rushed, and also basic skills were not executed well enough.

Eventually, the decisive moment came with nine minutes to go, and it was a moment of some scintillating hockey from start to finish. It began with Captain and ‘drag-flick specialist’ Harmanpreet Singh advancing deep into Chinese territory down the left flank. He didn’t stop his run halfway through, and fully went through to the baseline. From there, he found Jugraj around the penalty spot, and his finish to Wang’s left was unerring into the bottom corner.

This was India’s fifth Asian Champions Trophy title, and once again reaffirmed their status as the foremost hockey nation of the continent. That gulf between them and China- the lowest-ranked side at this competition-didn’t really show that much during the game, even though the hosts were content to sit back and defend in numbers.

India’s captain Harmanpreet delivered once again: seven matches, seven goals from penalty corners -second most in the tournament behind South Korea’s Jihun Yang. By his high standards, finishing second-best goalscorer in the tournament might feel a bit underwhelming but in terms of his tactical moves and how big a role he played in tough moments shows he’s clearly India’s best.

Overall, the Olympic bronze medallists were the deserving winners-they were the only team to win all seven matches they played, they conceded the least number of goals, and they scored the most. It was a dominating performance by India that underlined their no. 1 status in Asia.

India has won the Asian Champions Trophy five times, Pakistan three times, and South Korea one time.

Hindu Faith Under Attack

In an atrocious assault on the Hindu faith it has come to light, through Laboratory Test Results, that Pig Fat, Beef Tallow and Fish Oil are being used in making the sacred Tirupati Laddu Prasadam (a vegetarian religious offering-divine grace of God). Tirupati, in India’s Andhra Pradesh State, one of the most religious places for Hindus, is visited annually by crores of devotees to seek blessings of Lord Venkateshwara – the presiding deity. And most of them take home the Laddus to distribute to loved ones. Serving prasadam made from animal fat instead of pure vegetable ghee is an absolute insult to the Hindu faith where cows are considered holy and worshipped. This is a developing story: more, next week.

More stories sticking out in the weeks ahead. Live and keep the faith with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2024-34

About: the world this week, 18 August to 24 August 2024: Wars; America’s Presidents; India grapples with sexual assault, India’s PM visits Poland and Ukraine; Bangladesh crisis; and Antimicrobial resistance.

Everywhere

The Wars

The wars of the world seem to be adding up every week, without end in sight. Ukraine is basking in its counter-offensive against Russia, wading into Russian territory, holding on, and shouting out loud that the famous Russian retaliation is after all a, cry-wolf!

In the Gaza War, this week, Israel retrieved bodies of six hostages from the Khan Younis area in southern Gaza. They were found dead in a tunnel. And are part of the Israeli civilians that Hamas had kidnapped alive on 7th October 2023, held hostage, tortured in underground tunnels, and obviously executed.

Cease-fire talks are going on furiously with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken flying around. Israel appears close to accepting a proposal, keeping the release of the remaining hostages in mind, but Hamas remains the bad boy, thinking about the ‘day after’. Unconfirmed reports say that the Hamas Chief, Yahya Sinwar insists on guarantees for his own safety-that he should not be assassinated-as part of any agreement to release hostages. He once roared that it would be an honour to die fighting Israel.

America

This week, ahead of the United States Presidential Elections, the Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago City to uphold the candidatures of Vice President Kamala Harris for President, and her running-mate Minnesota State Governor Tim Walz for Vice President(VP). And a formal acceptance of the nominations by respective candidates happening during the Convention.

President Biden gave an emotional speech as he made the case for ‘President Kamala Harris’. He praised his choice of Harris as his VP, saying it was the best decision of his career. The Obamas spoke about why Kamala Harris should win. While the former President gave his speech in a generic uplifting manner, the former First Lady talked black & white.

Meanwhile, outside the Convention hall, thousands of protesters gathered to show dissatisfaction over Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

India

The outrage in India continues over the rape and murder of a 31-year-old Post Graduate trainee Doctor while on night-duty at the RG Kar Medical College, Kolkatta. Protests continued this week and the streets are screaming for justice.

India’s Supreme Court stepped in on a ‘suo motu’ basis, slamming the events after the murder: the Hospital immediately calling it a suicide, speedily cremating the body as if to bury the crime, and lodging a First Information Report (FIR) well after the post-mortem of the unnatural death.

The Supreme Court constituted a 10-member National Task Force to formulate a protocol for ensuring safety of doctors and healthcare professionals. And appealed to the striking Doctors to ‘trust the SC’ and resume their duties. Later, the Doctors agreed and called-off the strike, but protests by others continue.

Then in another incident in the State of Maharashtra massive protests broke out in Badlapur when two four-year old girls were sexually abused by a school, house-keeping staff, sweeper, a 23-year-old male, who was subsequently arrested on a complaint by the parents. The assault occurred in the girls’ toilet, which lacked female staff supervision. The incident came to light when one of the girls visibly frightened, told her parents that an older male at school, whom she referred to as ‘dada’ (Marathi for elder brother), had undressed her and touched her inappropriately. The parent then went on to make a complaint. The school suspended the Principal and three staff members as the protests escalated. Parents of the children and local citizens blocked the railway tracks at Badlapur Railway Station and also ransacked a local Police Station demanding strict punishment – a death penalty for the accused.

Stepping back, the cases of rape and sexual assaults in India have been astoundingly high. Blame it on India being an underdeveloped country or our hardwired genetics playing its part? And, we now have social media and democratised data access to report incidents. Will a death penalty work as a deterrent? Solid studies show that, without doubt, it is the ‘fear of getting caught’ that reduces criminality. Taking a higher view, India must sort out investigation of crime and enforcement – separating them. India is crying for Police and Judicial reforms: delivery of justice should be quick -on the double. Recall the Ajmer sex scandal which came to light in the year 1992. More than 100 girls aged between 11 and 20 years were victimised by a gang, whose members befriended them and shot their photographs in compromising situations, and later raped them. This week, 6 of the 18 accused were sentenced to life imprisonment – after a whopping 32 years!

Four years ago, I wrote about Police Reforms in India. Here is a link for any further reading:

https://kumargovindan.com/2020/08/15/shake-well-before-use-indian-police-reimagined/

This week, India’s Prime Minister (PM) set out on a visit to Poland and Ukraine to improve bilateral ties and discuss global issues. The Poland visit was the first by an Indian PM in 45 years. Amazing that it took so long for an Indian PM to reach Poland. And it is the first trip by an Indian PM to Ukraine since the country gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

India and Poland share a social relationship going back to World War II when Maharaja of Nawanagar, Jamnagar, Gujarat, Digvijaysinghji Ranjitsinji Jadeja – called the Dobry Maharaja (the Good Maharaja)- provided shelter and homes for Polish refugees escaping the wrath of Hitler’s invasion of Poland. You can read that story here:

https://kumargovindan.com/2021/08/28/world-inthavaaram-2021-35/

Naturally, India’s PM paid homage at a memorial of the Dobry Maharaja in Warsaw and recalled the special relationship. He also touched upon the Kabaddi Connection between the countries. The game of Kabaddi had reached Poland, and they have taken it to great heights, with the country becoming the European Kabaddi Champion for two consecutive years. And Poland is all set to host the World Kabaddi Championships, for the first time, this 24th August. Kabaddi is quite popular in Poland as it resembles the European game of Tag, and Wrestling.

Tag is a playground game involving one or more players, who is ‘it’ chasing other players in an attempt to ‘tag’ or mark them out of play, typically by touching with a hand, thereby making that person ‘it’.

India’s PM said he will ‘share perspectives’ on the peaceful resolution of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia during his visit to Ukraine, which comes more than a month after he travelled to Russia. The PM added that for decades India’s foreign policy was to maintain a distance from all countries. The situation has changed. Today India wants to maintain close ties with all countries. Hence, the many firsts coming up…and the list may get longer.

India’s support for Ukraine has been patchy and may be this is an opportunity to show substance and explain why India does what it does – a Bharat first approach.Could India have an ace up its sleeve – balancing Russia and Ukraine?

Towards the end of the visit, India’s PM listened to Ukrainians speak Hindi – being taught in the country. And presented four BHISHM (Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita & Maitri) Cubes to Ukraine. The BHISHM cubes are an easy-to-use, mobile medical facility that can be swiftly deployed to save lives in the most challenging circumstances.Each BHISHM Cube is self-contained consisting of medicines and equipment for the first line of care in emergency situations. It also includes surgical equipment for a basic Operation Room that can manage 10-15 basic surgeries per day. The Cube has the capacity to handle about 200 cases of diverse nature such as trauma, bleeding, burns, fractures, etc. It can also generate its own power and oxygen in limited amounts. A team of experts from India have been deployed to provide initial training to the Ukrainian side to operate the Cube.

And of course, to match the Russian bear-hug, Indian and Ukrainian leaders hugged each other, awfully close.

Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, with the new Interim Government in place, normalcy appears to be only limping-back, but Islamist violence against Hindus continues. And the situation is as if hanging in some kind of a balance. Wonder what comes up next!

On 20th August in the district of Thakurgaon mobs set fire to Hindu homes, leaving devastation and fear in their wake. This incident is not an isolated one, but a continuation of a sinister pattern of persecution that has gripped the Hindu community in Bangladesh for decades. Just days before, Bangladesh was rocked by the murder of Haradhan Roy, a Hindu councillor, and his driver. The senseless killing is believed to be motivated by Roy’s religious identity and his position of influence within the community. This was soon flooded by another disturbing incident where Gautam Chandra Paul, a respected Hindu Teacher was forced to resign from his position solely because of his faith.

The systematic erasure of Hindus from the social, political, and cultural fabric of Bangladesh appears to a work in progress. The numbers tell a story of their own. In 1941, Hindus constituted approximately 28% of the population in what is now Bangladesh. Today, that figure has plummeted to less than 9%. This sharp decline is the result of a calculated campaign of violence, intimidation, and forced conversions aimed at driving out the Hindu population. It highlights a disturbing trend of religious persecution. Despite the gravity of the situation, there is a deafening silence from certain media and political quarters who have sought to downplay these incidents; dismissing them as sporadic acts of violence rather than acknowledging them as part of a broader, systematic issue.

AMR

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a term used to describe micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites evolving over time and becoming resistant to antimicrobials-drugs used to treat infections caused by such micro-organisms. As a result existing medicines become ineffective and infections persist in the body, increasing the risk of spread to others, and making it harder to treat and contain diseases.

Antimicrobials include antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasites. Micro-organisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are also called ‘superbugs’. The misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in humans, plants, and animals are the main drivers in the development of drug-resistant pathogens.

AMR is considered as a ‘silent pandemic’ and according to a study published by ‘The Lancet’ in January 2022, it was directly responsible for 1.27 million global deaths in 2019 and contributed to 4.95 million deaths.

India is the largest consumer of antibiotics globally in terms of absolute volume. Studies have reported poor prescription quality, including un-indicated prescription of broad-spectrum antibiotics without evidence of bacterial infection. These findings are of particular public health relevance considering India reports high antibiotic resistance in bacteria that cause certain common infections.

Under the guidelines of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Global Action Plan, India launched its National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (NAP-AMR): a five-year plan (2017–2021) that outlines strategies to curb AMR in the country. The plan aims to tackle AMR in both human and non-human sectors, including agriculture, fisheries, animal husbandry, and the environment. The plan’s first five strategic priorities align with the Global Action Plan while the sixth priority highlights India’s role in containing AMR internationally. The plan also includes state-level action plans to ensure action at the ground level.

The States that have launched their State specific Plans are Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi. The State of Kerala stands-out in making pioneering progress in AMR.

The Kerala Drug Control Department launched tests in the first week of January 2024 called Operation Amrith (AMRITH – Antimicrobial Resistance Intervention For Total Health) to prevent the overuse of antibiotics in the State. Pharmacies must keep accurate records of antibiotic sales as per this initiative. Additionally, a poster mentioning ‘antibiotics not sold without a Doctor’s prescription’ should be displayed. If not complied, strict action would be taken against pharmacies and medical stores that supply antibiotics without a Doctor’s prescription. Operation Amrith is aimed at conducting surprise raids in retail medical shops for detecting Over-The- Counter(OTC) sale of antibiotics and also a Toll Free Number is provided for lodging complaints against medical shops. Once a complaint is received, it will be transferred to the corresponding zonal office for verification and immediate departmental actions will be taken, if violation is detected.

The Government of Kerala was the first state in India that came up with the state action plan on AMR, KARSAP, in 2018. Aligned with India’s National Action Plan, Kerala’s plan reflects a multi-sectoral approach. Besides human health aspects, it aims to address animal and environmental dimensions of the AMR problem, which is crucial for effective containment of AMR. Delhi-based think tank, Centre for Science and Environment, had actively contributed to the Kerala action plan and has been an implementation partner in the state’s AMR containment efforts.

It’s time other States hear Kerala’s clarion call and get their act together.

More viral stories coming up in the weeks ahead. Stay safe with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-48

About: the world this week, 26 November to 2 December 2023; back to war; trouble in Ireland; artificial intelligence; rat-hole mining; Hindutva; and The Railway Men – TV series.

Everywhere

Farewell to Truce

The temporary pause in the Israel-Hamas war saw a steady stream of hostages, held by the terrorist Hamas, being releasing in painfully slow bursts, every day. In exchange, Israel also released Palestine prisoners held in its prisons. There cannot be a comparison between innocent civilians kidnapped, held in captivity and exchanged for convicted criminals locked-up in jails under the law. But then the terms are negotiated.

One of the released hostages revealed that he was held for nearly 50 days in an attic by a teacher from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees. The teacher who held him captive was a father of 10 children. He had barely been provided food or medical attention, and was locked away by the teacher. There is another story of a girl who was injured while being kidnapped on 7th October and was operated upon by a Veterinary Doctor, while in captivity. Then there is the story of two boys being branded on the leg by the heat of a motorcycle exhaust pipe so that they could be identified in case they escaped.

The hostages held in captivity has come down from 240 to about 140. And most of the women, children, and elderly have been released.

Meanwhile, Businessman, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, and owner of X, Elon Musk toured Israel with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to see a Hamas attack site, first-hand. The visit was also probably to set-right antisemitism accusations on Musk.

Musk agreed with Netanyahu that the only way for peace was to destroy Hamas, re-educate the people of Gaza, and bring prosperity. An awfully tough call.

In a horrific incident of terror in Jerusalem this Thursday, two heavily armed Palestinian terrorists opened fire on Israeli civilians waiting at a Bus Stop, killing three people – a 24 year old woman and two elderly persons – and wounding several others. However, the terrorists were quickly neutralised, shot-dead, by off-duty Israel Army personnel in the vicinity. Later, Hamas claimed responsibility.

The temporary pause in the war between Israel and Hamas, which was originally for 4 days was extended by 2 days and then by 1 more to its seventh day. And before anybody could think about further extension, Hamas violated the terms of truce and fired a rocket into Israel. Now it’s back to war and Israel has started its next stage of the fight with the objectives of getting back the remaining hostages, wiping out Hamas, and preventing a recurrence of such terror acts from the Gaza Strip.

Dublin

There is trouble brewing in Ireland’s capital, Dublin.

Three young children and two other people were injured in a knife attack in Dublin, last Thursday, which sparked unprecedented riots in the city centre. The stabbing incident happened outside a primary school, on Parnell Square, a busy thoroughfare that connects to Dublin’s main boulevard, O’Connell Street. A five-year-old girl and a female creche worker in her 30’s were critically injured. A five-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl were treated for less severe injuries.

Bystanders disarmed the suspect, who wielded a large knife, and pinned him to the ground until police arrived. He is being treated in hospital. Police said the motive remained unclear but ruled out any terrorist link.

As speculation about the suspect’s nationality spread online, anti-immigrant activists flocked to the city centre.

The suspect is originally from Algeria and has been an Irish citizen for many years. And the man who intervened and stopped the attack was a foreigner, from Brazil. Despite this, the anti-immigration rhetoric became high and grew violent. Bolstered by youth gangs, they breached the police cordon around the crime scene and roamed O’Connell Street, smashing windows, setting vehicles on fire and targeting some of the 400 police officers who tried to restore order.

“These are scenes that we have not seen in decades. But what is clear is that people have been radicalised through social media”, said an Official, who further described the rioters as, ‘a complete lunatic hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology.’

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The company called OpenAI was founded in the year 2015 by American Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and others, as a non-profit research lab, prioritising principles over profit. It wanted to develop safe and beneficial AI tools, for the benefit of humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to create financial return.

But in 2018, Elon Musk quit the Board of OpenAI after he said he had already invested USD 50 million. Then AI’s leaders realised that developing and maintaining advanced AI models required an immense amount of computing power, which was incredibly expensive.

A year after Musk’s exit, OpenAI created a ‘for-profit arm’, technically known as a ‘capped profit’ entity, which means Investors’ possible profits are capped at a certain amount. Any the remaining money is re-invested in the Company.

The Company created two contrasting tribes within OpenAI: ‘the serve-humanity and not-shareholders credo’, and the traditional Silicon Valley modus operandi of ‘using investor money to release consumer products as rapidly as possible hoping to corner or create a new market and becoming an industry pace setter’.

Sam Altman struck a middle ground by unveiling new OpenAI tools gradually, first to smaller groups, then to large ones, to fine-tune and refine before making them public.

Then, OpenAI launched ChatGPT last year, creating a seismic shift in the tech industry. The Company’s most prominent investor Microsoft greatly increased its financial stake to the tune of USD 13 billion. And despite its sizeable investment it did not have a seat on OpenAI’s Board.

This probably set the stage for Sam Altman’s exit as CEO as he was seen as becoming bigger than the Company. On 17th November the Board sacked him on vague reasons. This saw Microsoft and others flare up as they believed that Sam Altman was crucial and called upon the Board to re-examine its decision.

At first the Board refused to buckle, but then 702 of the 770 employees of OpenAI signed a letter addressed to the Board threatening to quit en masse unless Altman were reinstated -a move that must be followed by the Board itself stepping down.

After 5 days Sam Altman was restored as CEO and was back in control, with most of the Board sent packing.

Turns out some Open AI researches had been concerned by the capability of a new AI model being worked on, before Altman was fired. Called ‘Q-Star’ which was able to solve maths problems it had not seen before, representing a potential break through in technology. This and other reasons of the famous ‘Facebook’ kind could be the reasons for the company Board trying to grow out of its skin and get ‘really intelligent’.

Extraction: the Rat-Hole Technique

With the best of technology machines brought from all over the world to rescue the 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara Tunnel on the Yamunotri-Gangotri Highway of the Char Dham, in Uttarakhand since 12th November having failed, it was finally left to simple ‘rat-hole miners’ to finish the job. Of course they rode on the shoulders of machines and technology that drilled before them.

A team of 12 rat-hole mining experts began manual drilling, on 27th November, to reach the trapped miners through the debris. And they did it the next day by horizontally drilling through the final 10 to 12 metre stretch of debris in the collapsed section of the tunnel. It was a stunning display of local ingenuity. This became necessary as the large Auger Drilling machine got stuck at about 40% of the necessary 86 metres of vertical drilling required to get to the trapped workers.

The rescue team then successfully pushed a series of 900 mm steel pipes through the 60 metres of debris and extracted the workers one-by-one. All the 41 workers were rescued on the night of 28th November, promptly given necessary medical attention, and driven off in waiting Ambulances.

We had these tricks up our sleeves, in India, all the time and wonder why we never used them the first instance. Interestingly, Rat-Hole Mining was outlawed by India’s National Green Tribunal in 2014 for being unscientific and unsafe.

What is Rat-Hole Mining?

Rat-Hole mining-as applied in coal mining-is a method of extracting coal by digging very small pits not more than 4-feet wide. Once the miners reach a coal seam, tunnels are made sideways to extract the coal, which is dumped nearby and later transported out. In rat-hole mining workers enter the mines and use hand held tools to dig. This is a common method abundantly used in India’s north eastern State of Meghalaya, where the coal seam is very thin and any other method risks being economically unviable. One man does the drilling while another collects the rubble and a third places it on a trolley to be pulled out. They use shovels and other specialist tools. And for oxygen, they simply use a blower.

Australian tunnel rescue expert Arnold Dix, who had rushed to the scene in the early stages, won praise for his optimistic, level-headed, and articulate approach to the rescue situation. And so did India’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) – headed by the Prime Minister. India’s former Chief of Army Staff, General V K Singh, now a Minister of State in the Government, was on the scene bringing out the best of his soldier training. And standing shoulder to shoulder was the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand State, Pushkar Singh Dhami.

Arnold Dix, a lawyer and engineering professor is also the President of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association. He said he did not hesitate when authorities got on the phone with him after the collapse 17 days ago.

Overall, the Uttarakhand Tunnel Rescue has been an outstandingly well-coordinated rescue operation. Clarity of leadership ensured many agencies with overlapping capabilities worked seamlessly to rescue the trapped workers. Well done Team India.

Move over Hinduism, it’s now Hindutva

The World Hindu Congress (WHC) is a global platform for Hindus to connect, share ideas, inspire one another, and impact the common good. It is held once every four years. The inaugural WHC 2014 was held in New Delhi, followed by the second WHC 2018 in Chicago. The third WHC 2023 was held this year in Bangkok,Thailand between 24th and 26th November, with the theme ‘Jayasya Aayatnam Dharmah’, meaning, ‘Dharma, the abode of victory’.

The WHC 2023 adopted a resolution embracing ‘Hindutva’, or ‘Hindu Dharma’, over ‘Hinduism’, stressing that these terms should be used while referring to the faith in English. Consequently, it renounced the word ‘Hinduism’.

The word Hindutva is more accurate as it includes the spectrum of all that the word Hindu encompasses. In contrast, Hinduism misrepresents the global Hindu community and its inherent goodness; ‘ism’ is a suffix used with terms to define an oppressive and discriminatory attitude or belief. In the mid-nineteenth century, in the United States of America, the phrase, ‘the isms’, was used to collectively refer to radical social reform movements and various non-mainstream spiritual or religious movements in a derogatory manner. The term Hinduism should be understood in such a context.

In the term ‘Hindu Dharma’, the first word, ‘Hindu’ is an unbounded word. It signifies all that is ‘Sanatan’ or Eternal. And then there is Dharma, which means ‘That, which sustains’. Hindu Dharma, thus, signifies all that, which eternally upholds everything; an individual, a family, a community, a society, and even nature–both animate and inanimate.

The word Hindutva it is not a complicated word and it simply means Hindu-ness. And Hindutva has been wrongly portrayed as the antithesis of Hindu Dharma, because of hatred and biases against the Hindu community or for political agendas.

The term Hinduism was introduced in the popular lexicon by Sir Monier Monier-Williams, a British Scholar and Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford University, in his book ‘Hinduism’ published in 1877 by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. It is said that this intellectually dishonest terminology is the seed behind the vicious anti-Hindu narratives over the last 150 years. And it is for such reasons that the term Hindutva is now preferred over Hinduism. Others have used the alternative ‘Sanatan Dharma’, often abbreviated as ‘Sanatan’. Here, the term ‘Sanatan’ works as an adjective indicating Hindu Dharma’s eternal nature.

On behalf of the global Hindu community the World Hindu Congress declared that malicious criticism of Hindutva, or Sanatan Dharma, or Sanatan, or Hindu Dharma actually targets Hindu society and all that is beautiful, just, good, and noble in it. In reality, these are attacks against goodness itself. It strongly condemned such attacks and urged Hindus worldwide for the manifestation of Hindutva through organised global efforts, and overcome those who are engaging in such anti-Hindu attacks and bigotry.

News Flashes

In India’s troubled State of Manipur, the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) the oldest valley-based militant group of Manipur, has signed a peace agreement with the Centre. And there are signs that the State will return to normally following months of violent unrest.

This week, Charles Munger, American businessman, investment genius, philanthropist and Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway passed away at the age of 99. He is a close friend and right-hand business-partner of ace-investor Warren Buffet. He has timeless investing advice and wisdom to offer, and is considered a legend.

After 99 it is 100, and Henry Kissinger the former United States Secretary of State and Nobel Peace Prize winner died at the age of 100. His was a polarising legacy.

Please Yourself

The Railway Men: The Untold Story of Bhopal 1984

Over last weekend, I sat down to watch the eminently watchable and brilliantly made 4-Episode mini TV Series, The Railway Men, on Netflix. It is a compelling saga and an incredibly moving tale of ordinary heroism.

The story is inspired by true events that happened on 3 December 1984 when a deadly gas called Methyl Isocyanide (MIC) leaked from Union Carbide’s Chemical Plant in Bhopal in India’s central State of Madhya Pradesh. The gas killed more than 15,000 people, in one of the worst chemical disasters in the world.

The story unfolds in the background of the assassination of the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 31 October 1984, and the horrific Sikh riots that followed in which over 8,000 Sikhs were killed in a revenge act. Rajiv Gandhi had just taken over as Prime Minister and recall that he said, “when a mighty tree falls, it is only natural that the earth around it shakes a little”.

After the deadly gas leak, brave Railway Workers risked their lives to save others in the face of the epic chemical disaster that engulfed the city of Bhopal.

The story serves to tell us how people in Industry deliberately overlook safety, how the Government failed in its paramount duty of safeguarding precious human lives, and failing to act with speed and common sense. And it’s left to simple ordinary people who steadfastedly and heroically do their jobs in the face of unbelievable Himalayan odds, to save lives. And how Indian lives were treated as if they did not matter at all.

The Series stars, Kay Kay Menon- the Station Master at Bhopal; R Madhavan – the General Manager (GM) of the West Central Railway; Divyenndu – the dacoit; and Babil Khan as the trainee locomotive driver, among others. It is created & directed by Shiv Rawali, written by Aayush Gupta, and produced by Yash Raj Films (YRF) Entertainment.

The story is inspired by heroics of real-time Bhopal Station Master Ghulam Dastagir, Rajkumar Keswani – Journalist, and Gauri Sankar- GM of Northern Railway at that time.

More stories will be rat-hole mined in the weeks ahead. Breathe the fresh air with World Inthavaaram.