Tag: India Parliament

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-51

About: the world this week, 17 December to 23 December 2023; Israel and Hamas; Shooting in Prague, Czechia; Earthquake in China; the Pope and LGBTQIA; Parliament shakes in India; Floods in Southern India; and the Coronavirus and Kerala.

Everywhere

Israel-Hamas War

Late last week, in a tragic accident, Israel admitted mistakenly killing three hostages during a search and rescue operation.

An Israeli soldier stationed in a building in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighbourhood, identified three suspicious people exiting the building several dozen meters away. All three were shirtless, with one of them carrying a stick with a makeshift white flag. The soldier, who believed the men moving toward him was an attempt by Hamas to lure Israeli soldiers into a trap, immediately opened fire and shouted “terrorists!” to the other forces. The hostages either managed to escape Hamas captivity or were abandoned, before they were mistakenly shot dead.

This is in the tense background of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) having encountered several, seemingly unarmed civilians in the area, who turned out to be Hamas suicide bombers. There have also been countess attempts by Hamas to trick soldiers into an ambush. This is an awfully difficult and unforgiving war.

Over the week, Israel offered the Terrorist Hamas a deal, “Release 40 hostages – the old, woman, and children – and we stop bombing for a week”. Hamas did not take it.

Shooting in the Czech Republic

This week on the 21st December, in the deadliest attack in modern Czech history a gunman shot dead 14 people and injured another 25 at Prague’s Charles University.

The shooting started at the Faculty of Arts building, on Jan Palach Square. The gunman, who was studying Polish history at Charles University, murdered his father before shooting his classmates in a killing spree, and in the end possibly killed himself, after being shot-at by the Police. The motives were not immediately known.

The Police, who discovered a large arsenal of weapons at the building where the shooting took place, were tipped off earlier in the day that the suspect was likely heading to Prague from his town in the Kladno region, outside the capital, with intentions of taking his own life.

The gunman later identified as David Kozak had a gun permit and owned several weapons. He is also suspected of killing a man and his four-month-old daughter in Prague, a week ago. Police are also probing any connection between Kozak and a series of Russian-language messages posted on Telegram. One of the messages indicated that the attack may have been influenced by two previous mass shootings in Russia: one this month at a school in Bryansk near the Ukraine border, and the other in 2021 in Kazan. David Kozak was an excellent student and had not criminal history.

The Czech Republic has relatively liberal gun laws compared to the rest of Europe. To obtain a gun legally, a person needs an official licence, which requires a medical examination, a weapon proficiency exam, and no previous criminal record.

Charles University in Prague, founded in 1347 is the oldest and largest University in the Czech Republic -Czechia – and one of the oldest institutions in Europe.

Bless LGBTQIA

This week, Pope Francis relaxed controls, making the Church a little more LGBTQIA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual) friendly. He is allowing Priests to bless same-sex couples. This is a forward-looking step, and a walk back on a 2021 Vatican Ruling that banned blessing Gay couples, because ‘God cannot bless sin’. However, reading the fine print, the new rule clarifies that a blessing, which is typically, a prayer, should not be given at a Gay Wedding or Civil Ceremony. It also reaffirmed that marriage is between man and woman.

China’s Earthquake

A powerful 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck a mountainous region in northwestern China, resulting in at least 127 deaths and over 700 injuries, making it the deadliest earthquake in the area in nine years. Gansu province is severely affected, along with the neighbouring Qinghai province.

The affected area in Qinghai province is adjacent to the Tibet Himalayan region, prone to frequent earthquakes because of continental plate shifts.

Preliminary analysis shows that the quake was a thrust-type rupture, one of three above magnitude 6 to have struck within 200 km of the epicentre since 1900. At least 32 aftershocks were reported in the hour after the quake hit.

Infrastructure was severely impacted, leading to power and water supply disruptions, damage to rural roads, railway lines, and the cracking of a bridge across the Yellow River.

India’s Parliament: A Tumultuous Week

This week India’s Opposition Parties created a ruckus in Parliament, displaying placards, shouting, disruption the proceedings, and not allowing Parliament to function – all against the rules. They were demanding a statement from the Home Minister on last week’s ‘Smoke in The Eyes’ security breach, which was not forthcoming. This forced the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, respectively, to take punitive action on the errant Members of Parliament (MP) by suspending them.

The string of suspension of Opposition MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha grew to a mammoth total of 146 – a first-time record. That’s almost two-third of the Opposition kicked-out of Parliament, for bad behaviour.

To make matters worse, the suspended MPs sitting on the steps of the Parliament premises got into a ‘College-Times Strike’ mode. They were entertained by one of the MPs mimicking and mocking the Vice-President (VP) of India, who is also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. The VP called it an insult on his background as a farmer and Chairman. Another MP was seen nonchalantly filming the episode on his mobile. This created a huge social-media storm that drowned other news, for days.

Meanwhile, the Government cooly went about its law-making business, slipping in path-breaking new Laws to replace the British-era colonial laws. And got them passed, ‘without breaking into a sweat’, in both Houses.

New criminal law reforms, replacing the old are: The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill (BNSS) replaces the Indian Penal Code,1860; the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill (BSS) replaces the Indian Evidence Act, 1872; and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill (BNSSS) replaces the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.

With these changes, the criminal justice system of India is significantly reframed, finally growing out of a colonial mindset. The old laws were centred around punishment and deterrence: the new bills shift the emphasis to justice and reformation, in keeping with the changes of modern-day India.

Some highlights of the new Laws:

Twenty new offences have been included in the BNSS. These include organised crime, terrorist acts, hit-and-run, mob lynching, sexual exploitation of a woman by deceitful means, snatching, abetment outside India, acts endangering the sovereignty, integrity, and unity of India, and publication of false or fake news.

In a first, the government has included ‘community service’ as a punishment for theft of less than INR 5,000 and five other petty offences. Adultery and homosexual sex are not listed as crimes. Attempting to commit suicide will no longer be considered a criminal offence.

The sedition law has been repealed, and the sedition provision has been redefined to contain actions against India-deshdroh– instead of actions against the Government-rajdroh. One is free to criticise the Government, but not say anything to demean the nation.

Police will have to register a First Information Report (FIR) within 3 days of the complaint and in cases involving a punishment of 3 to 7 years, the FIR is to be registered after preliminary investigation. Chargesheets will have to be filed in 180 days and the Magistrate will have to take cognisance within 14 days. Forensic science has been given a lot of importance in evidenced gathering, as is electronic evidence.

The Government said that it had received a total of 3200 suggestions from 18 States, 6 Union Territories, the Supreme Court of India, 16 High Courts, 27 Judicial academics, several MPs, and bureaucrats, in the mammoth exercise to make the new laws. And 158 meetings were held to consider the suggestions.

Also passed was the Telecommunication Bill 2023, replacing the 138-year-old colonial-era Telegraph Act, 1885, and other allied laws.

The Govt will allocate spectrum for telecommunications through the Auction Method and for Satellite communications through an Administrative Method. Companies will require an authorisation to start services instead of Licences that are issued at present. It is mandatory to issue SIMs after capturing verifiable biometric data of the applicant to prevent misuse. Obtaining a SIM or any other telecom resource through fraud, cheating, personation will entail a jail term up to three years or a fine upto INR 50 Lakhs per person.

India’s Down South Floods

The South Indian State of Tamil Nadu is having a tough time. Cyclone Michaung had unleashed mayhem in Chennai more than a week ago and just when the State was limping back to normalcy it was hit by the rains again – this time in the southern districts.

Unprecedented rains caused by a cyclonic circulation in the Bay of Bengal battered the districts of Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, Tenkasi, and Kanyakumari, inundating roads, flooding houses, affecting train services, and leaving authorities scrambling to rescue those stranded. Helicopters in the air, and boats on the water were pressed into service.

Tamil Nadu received almost 50 mm of rainfall between this Sunday and Monday, compared with the 2.50 mm that would be normal at this time of year. Kayalpattinam in Tuticorin received more than 95 cm in 24 hours, which sank the Town. Tuticorin City grappled with about 5 feet of water. More than 10,000 people had to be rescued. About 150 people have died, succumbing to the fury of the floods.

Entire neighbourhoods remained submerged, with houses appearing like lonely islands surrounded by murky, brown water. Lakes were overflowing and rivers were in spate. Towards the end of the week, the waters began receding, slowly.

There is this heart-warming story of a Train, which left Tiruchendur Station on Sunday at about 8.30 pm bound for Chennai. About 34 km into the journey it was stopped at Srivaikuntam Station by alert Railway Staff, when it began raining heavily, following a cloud burst. The Railways decided not to allow the train to go any further, which proved to be a wise decision. The rains then intensified and subsequently it was found that about 12 km of track was washed-away due to land eroded by the rains, in the route ahead of the Station. The Station itself was completely isolated as a water island after about 300 passengers had been evacuated. The remaining had to stay put in the Train as the escape route was cut-off. And the Railway Station staff did their darnest until help came, only after the waters receded. Food was dropped-in by Helicopters. Imagine, about 1000 lives would have been lost that day, if it weren’t for the Railway Men. Cheers to them.

Questions on better preparedness and early warning are being asked and hope to see a flood of improvements next time around.

COVID-19 Again, and Kerala

The SARS.CoV-2 coronavirus is on the prowl again, growing its family and trying to spike our lives. Reminds us that the virus continues to evolve in different ways.

This week, what is called the JN.1 variant of the coronavirus was detected in India for the first time.

The JN.1 is a descendant sub-lineage of BA.2.86 or Pirola sub-variant of Omicron, and carries an additional mutation on its spike protein. After Kerala, the JN.1 was found in Goa, then Maharashtra, Karnataka, and in some other States. A total of over 595 Covid-19 cases have been reported.

The JN.1 was first detected in Luxembourg in August this year and later reported in The United Kingdom, Iceland, France, and the United States.

JN.1 was previously classified a Variant of Interest as part of its parent lineage BA.2.86, but the World Health Organization (WHO) has now classified it as a separate Variant of Interest. Talk about a grown-up leaving the parents’ home, fully armed to take-on the World?

WHO said current vaccines will continue to protect against severe disease and death from JN.1 and other circulating variants of the COVID-19 virus. And it is best to continue to hold on to the masking and hand-washing techniques, learnt and executed so well.

Often, the State of Kerala is the first to detect a disease outbreak, wondered why?

Kerala recorded India’s first JN.1 Covid sub-variant in a 79 years old woman at the beginning of this month. Earlier, the State also recorded the first cases of Nipah virus, Monkeypox, and other diseases. There are many other reasons as to why Kerala is the first to record diseases and subsequently becoming a hotbed of them.

Kerala’s geography contributes to the frequency with its sizeable forest cover and intense monsoon pattern making it prone to outbreaks. The State has witnessed several zoonotic outbreaks owing to the shrinkage of natural habitats and proximity to human settlements, in a densely populated region. Take for example, the Nipah virus: a special investigation found that humanity’s drive for resources is destroying the wildlife habitat of bats – which carry tens of thousands of viruses – and creating conditions ripe for a bat-borne disease to spill over to humanity. Civet cats have almost become urban animals as their natural habitats have been wiped out. These animals are believed to be the mediators for the pathogen that caused Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Bats, which lost their natural habitats, moved into human habitations. These animals are now considered as the reservoirs of Nipah and Ebola virus.

Another reason for Kerala being the home of such diseases is the State’s population. People of Kerala are spread across the globe, with a large number of students studying medicine and many expatriates working as doctors or nurses around the world. They face the occupational hazard of viral attacks and may unwittingly spread undiagnosed diseases to others when they return to India.

There’s also the State’s management and health system. The State has rigourous testing and its population is also highly aware. For e.g., when the first case of monkeypox was reported from Kollam in Kerala, the concerned person who returned from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) underwent a test. This, after he learnt that his contact abroad had tested positive, even though he was asymptomatic.

Many a time, Kerala has been criticised for reporting an outbreak. Experts say that should not be done. Its active surveillance mechanism, capacity-building exercises for healthcare workers, frontline staff, community engagement and strategic interventions have not just been helpful in detecting viruses, but also in keeping the disease outbreaks in control.

It is left to be seen if COVID-19 does make a strong comeback in the State, but Kerala is known for handling outbreaks and, in fact, virologists and epidemiologists have hailed its robust surveillance.

More stories will rain in the weeks ahead. Hold on to World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-32

About: the world this week 6 August to 12 August 2023; Selling Gifts in Pakistan; Bangladesh’s Dengue Outbreak; Hawaii’s Wild-Fires; Moon Missions; India’s Parliament; Women’s Football; and Steps to Healthy Living.

Everywhere

Pakistan’s Gifts

Former Prime Minister (PM) of Pakistan, Imran Khan, 70, was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison, in the ’Toshakhana’ case. And he has been barred from Politics for five years. The case is that Imran Khan misused his office, during his tenure as PM from 2018 to 2022, to buy and sell gifts in the State’s possession that were received during visits abroad and worth more than 140 million Pakistani rupees. Protocol requires PM’s to store all gifts in the State’s ‘safe house’, while Khan is accused of having sold them at a profit. The objects include watches, perfumes, diamond jewellery, and dinner sets. Imran Khan said he legally purchased the items.

He now sits in jail -on the bench- waiting for some magic decision by the Higher Courts where he has made a third-umpire kind of appeal. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Parliament has been dissolved and the Elections are pitched ahead at a convenient distance.

Bangladesh’s Dengue Outbreak

Dengue, also called ‘break-bone fever’, is a mosquito-borne viral infection disease that is common in warm, tropical and subtropical regions of the World.

The dengue causing virus (DENV – single strand RNA of the Flaviviridae family) spreads to people through the bite of an infected Aedes species (Aegypti or Albopictus) female mosquito. Almost half of the world’s population live in areas with a risk of dengue and is often a leading cause of illness in these areas. These mosquitoes also spread Zika, Chikungunya, and other viruses.

Mosquitoes become carriers of the disease when they bite a person infected with the virus. Such infected mosquitoes can then spread the virus to other people. Bites from infected mosquitoes are the only mode of transmission. Infected mosquitoes continue to transmit the dengue virus with each blood meal for the rest of their lives.

But then, where did the Dengue Virus first come from?

Scientists hypothesise that the dengue viruses evolved in non-human primates and jumped from these primates to humans in Africa or Southeast Asia between 500 and 1000 years ago. They probably originated in monkeys and spilled over to humans.

Mosquitoes acquire the virus when they feed on a viraemic (virus present in the blood) host, after which the virus infects many tissues, in a susceptible species, including the salivary glands. The incubation period of the dengue virus is 3–14 days, with an average of 4–7 days. Humans are the main amplifying host of the virus. In tropical and sub-tropical urban areas, the viruses are maintained in a seemingly never-ending human-mosquito cycle.

Dengue is endemic in at least 100 countries in Asia. i.e., the infection is constantly present; and the disease occurs regularly in the community.

Mosquitoes typically lay eggs near stagnant water in containers that hold water, like buckets, bowls, animal dishes, flower pots, and vases, which serve as breeding grounds for further spread of mosquitoes bites, and the disease.

Symptoms of dengue include high fever, headache, rash, and muscle and joint pain. In severe cases there is serious bleeding and shock, which can be life-threatening and require hospital care. Treatment includes fluids and pain relievers.

Those who become infected with the virus a second time are significantly at a greater risk of developing a severe disease condition. A person can be infected with dengue multiple times in their life.

There is no treatment for the infection itself, but the symptoms that a patient experiences can be managed. There is no vaccine or drug that specifically treats dengue.

Now, over to Bangladesh where dengue is spreading like wild-fire.

Urbanisation, migration, and climatic changes are spurring a surge in dengue virus infections and Bangladesh is facing the effects. It registered record numbers of dengue cases and deaths amid an accelerating outbreak. The country has reported 61,500 cases of dengue so far in 2023, 85% of which date from July, as well as about 290 deaths. Reports have emerged of health-care facilities being overwhelmed. Moreover, although the risk of dengue is present throughout the year in Bangladesh infections typically peak in August and September.

The El-Nino phenomenon, which is associated with increased temperatures in Southeast Asia, started this year in June 2023. And has been linked to major dengue epidemics. A hot and wet climate is perfect for dengue. Countries like Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand are currently seeing a lot of transmission.

Dengue became established in Bangladesh sometime around the year 2000. Cases have historically been concentrated in the three largest cities: the capital Dhaka, Chittagong, and Khulna. Infection rates were far lower for people living outside urban areas. However, as Bangladeshis become increasingly mobile, they experienced a greater spread of dengue. People bring the mosquitoes back to their communities as well as the viruses that can be transmitted by the mosquitoes.

Dhaka has been particularly badly hit by the current outbreak. It is one of the most densely populated cities in the world and is rapidly growing. Dengue thrives in conditions of unplanned urbanisation.

Says a Professor in the Department of Zoology at Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka, “There is a water supply problem in Dhaka, so people keep water in buckets and plastic containers in their bathrooms or elsewhere in the home. Mosquitoes can live there all year round. Our waste management system is not well planned. Garbage piles up on the street; you see a lot of little plastic containers with pools of water in them. We also have multi-storey buildings with car parks in the basements. People wash their vehicles down there, which is ideal for the mosquitoes”.

Construction sites abound in Dhaka, with plenty of water lying around. Vector control is the responsibility of the city authorities who are doing their best with the spraying and fogging.

The Aedes Aegypti mosquito has now developed resistance to malathion, the insecticide used in Dhaka. The mosquito has already shown resistance to pyrethroid in Bangladesh. The use of mass spraying is not very convincing and there is not much evidence that removing breeding spots and applying insecticide reduces dengue. A mosquito bites during the day, which limits the effectiveness of bed-nets; it is excellent at hiding and needs little more than a thimble-full of standing water to proliferate. Once it is inside a residence, it is extremely difficult to eradicate.

With the evolution of the dengue virus, it does not cause critical symptoms in many instances. Because of this, people often ignore it, but the disease must be diagnosed early so that it can be treated before it gets complicated.

Perhaps the best hope for Bangladesh is a cost-effective vaccine. Presently, clinical trials are underway in a promising single-dose vaccine developed by the US National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD, USA) in collaboration with the University of Vermont Vaccine Testing Center (Burlington, VT, USA) and Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD, USA). Bangladesh has immediate no plans to roll out either the Sanofi Pasteur dengue vaccine – made by French multinational company Sanofi – which is only recommended for individuals previously infected with dengue, or the newer product developed by Takeda – a Japanese Company.

And these mosquitoes have been around for ages!

Hawaii’s Wild-Fires

Hawaii is an island state of the United States (US) – one of the 50 States – about 3200 km from the US mainland, in the Pacific Ocean. It is the only US state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state in the tropics. Hawaii is known for its beautiful beaches, its laid-back lifestyle, and its delicious food.

The idyllic Hawaii is besieged by unprecedented, apocalyptic wildfires that are raging across Hawaii’s Big Island and Maui. Lahaina, the historic seaside town that was once the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii has been largely reduced to ash. Lahaina being a touristic and economic hub of about 9,000 people, hundreds of families have been displaced. “We have no more Lahaina. It’s gone,” said a resident.

Over 60 people have died and hundreds of structures have been destroyed as fires continue to rage the island. This is the worst natural disaster in the history of Hawaii.

The fires first began this Tuesday, and have since grown and spread in destruction, forcing hundreds of evacuations and leaving thousands without power. Most of the fires on Maui – fuelled in part by violent winds from Hurricane Dora, churning more than 800 miles away – have not yet been contained. New brush fires also erupted on Hawaii Island as officials work to extinguish the ongoing deadly wildfires.

The exact cause of the fires is unknown, although some experts believe human development on the island is at least partly to blame; including non-native grass planted by plantation owners unfamiliar with the native ecosystem, which is dry and prone to fires.

A NASA Satellite imagery showed that dry conditions and strong winds helped fuel destructive wild-fires in Maui.

When a lush Hawaii, caressed by the sea, can turn into a hot-bed furnace, no spot in the World can be considered safe from the effects of Climate Change.

Moon Missions

Last weekend, India’s Chandrayaan-3 was successfully manoeuvred into the lunar orbit. Now the spacecraft is being gradually pulled into the gravity of the Moon with ‘regular, controlled orbit lowering manoeuvres’ by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). A soft landing on the unexplored South Pole of the Moon is scheduled on 23rd August. ISRO is confident that the mission will be a success.

While India is slowly inching to the moon, this week Russia launched it’s first moon-landing spacecraft in 47 years. A Soyuz 2.1 rocket carrying the Luna-25 spacecraft blasted off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, 5550 km East of Moscow, this Friday. The landed was boosted out of Earth’s orbit towards the Moon over an hour later and the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos is now commanding Luna-25. The lander is expected to touch down on the Moon’s South Pole, on 21st August. Russia’s stated goal is to land where no-one else has landed and to find water on the Moon.

India has company out there. And there is a brewing ‘soft competition’ – no country has made a soft landing on the South Pole of the Moon.

India’s Parliament

Perhaps for the first time in a very long time, people were suddenly watching speeches by Members of Parliament (MP) in India’s two Houses of Parliament – the lower, Lok Sabha and the upper, Rajya Sabha.

This season was perhaps one of the noisiest ever and bedlam all the way through. Even a final parting ‘Flying Kiss’ by a ‘recently re-installed MP’ failed to spill love and only generated uproar and more heat. India’s Dairy King, Amul, said it best in a cheeky, delicious advertisement, ‘Frying Kiss. Amul – Wins Everyone’s Confidence’

The Opposition, like a deer caught in the headlights, brought a ‘No Confidence Motion’ on the Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hoping to put the Government on the mat ahead of Parliament Elections in 2024. The focus was on the ethnic violence in the State of Manipur. However, it gave the Government a fabulous opportunity to talk about its achievements and instead wrestle down the Opposition to the mat. Plus, the Government had the numbers in Parliament.

The government easily defeated the no confidence motion after a fiery speech by the PM at the climax of a three-day debate.

The motion was defeated in a voice vote called by the speaker of the Lok Sabha shortly after opposition MPs staged a walk-out.

Women’s Football

Four-time World Cup winners United States of America were knocked-out by Sweden in penalties 5-4 following a goal-less play-time in the knock-out stage.

Colombia are through to the FIFA Women’s World Cup quarter-finals, the last Eight, for the first time, beating Jamaica 1-0.

The Quarter final line-up is: Spain versus (vs) Netherlands; Japan vs Sweden, Colombia vs England, and France vs Australia happening on 11th and 12th August.

Spain beat Netherlands 2-1, to advance to the semi-finals as did Sweden likewise beating Japan 2-1.

The race for the Golden Boot, has Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa at 5 Goals, France’s Kadidiatou Diani at 4 goals, and others with three or two goals, on the field.

Steps to Healthy Living

It’s generally believed that walking at least 10,000 steps per day is one of the best ways for maintaining an active lifestyle: enough to extend your life due to ‘good health’. This is in keeping with the fundamental truth of any physical activity: any movement is better than no movement at all.

Now it’s been found that walking just 4,000 steps per day may be enough to help extend your life, according to a new research review published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. The researchers found that more movement is better, with each additional 1,000 steps per day associated with a roughly 15% lower risk of premature death. But research suggests that workouts don’t need to be all that gruelling or lengthy to improve your health. Everything from walking to housework to dancing can contribute to well-being, studies have shown.

More burning stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Stay in-step with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-27

About: stories of weeks gone by 21 to 26, the end of May and the whole of June, and this week, 2nd to 8th July. I was travelling to the United Kingdom and Europe for a first-hand touch of places. And, often a well-deserved hiatus sharpens your thoughts. Here I go, for the cut.

Everywhere

Gone Weeks

India inaugurated a brand new Parliament Building on 28th May, built in a record time of over two years. This was much needed, to get rid of the old colonial-minded building, and to accommodate India’s ever growing population: meaning more Members of Parliament -for a deeper representation – who will fill-in the seats, in the years ahead. Sound-proof, with undetachable seats and objects, and an in-built ruckus prevention system, I hope!

India’s new Parliament certainly rocks and most of the Opposition Parties cited sudden, mysterious reasons to stay away. They created a problem where none existed, for one, that the President of India must inaugurate and not the Prime Minister. They were deeply jealous that the Prime Minister got the new building plan executed to perfection when they tried to prevent its construction-as wasteful-in the first place.

Diving deeper, the Government came up with a stunner: installing the ‘Sengol’ in the New Parliament. A Sengol is a ‘dharma (righteousness) sceptre’ which symbolizes authority, sovereignty, virtual and ethical rule, and is highly spoken of in the ancient Tamil texts of Southern India. The sceptre bears a ‘Nandi’ (bull) and an image of Goddess Lakshmi, both of which mean wealth and prosperity. The Sengol was made under the directions of a 500 years old Saivaite monastery- the Thiruvaduthurai Atheenam- in Tamil Nadu, and given to Jawaharlal Nehru as a way of blessing his role as the first Prime Minister of India. This when the country obtained independence from the British in 1947 and was taking its first baby democratic steps. It symbolically represented the transfer of power from the British, and was later packed-off to a museum in Allahabad and its significance conveniently forgotten.

The wrestling on action against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is in a corner, ahead of the next bout. The WFI President insisted that he is not guilty, and to hang him if indeed any one of the allegations against him is found true. The Police are investigating, and the Courts are waiting to judge. Despite a tenacious, muscular match on the streets seeking dismissal of Brij Bhushan, the Govt stood firm on the mat, and finally the Wrestlers called off the protests agreeing to continue grappling in the Courts.

India’s Northeastern State of Manipur is burning with riots, arson, and attacks becoming the order of the day with two warring ethnic communities, the Meitei and the Kuki going after each other.

The Manipur issue is a complex one going back over many decades. Two communities-actually three-locked in a conflict over space, on the land, and in the mind.

The Meities who are about 53% of Manipur’s population are traditional owners and rulers of the land living in 10% of the area, in the valleys and plains, while the Kukis and allied tribes who came if from Myanmar -thanks to the British- are about 28% of the population occupying the hills, which is about 90% of the area. They share the hills with the another traditional land owner, the Nagas who once used to invade the Meities in the plains beating the living daylights out of them. All of these ethnic groups, at different points of history, wanted an independent country of Manipur or an independent state and formed insurgency groups to achieve this before and after Manipur joined the Indian Union. On account of this, Manipur was for long called a ‘disturbed’ State and the Indian Army given special powers under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) 1958 to maintain law & order.

The present conflict is mainly between the Meities and the Kukis, and began when the Meities demanded that they be included in the Scheduled Tribe Status List and petitioned the Manipur High Court to sent a recommendation to this effect to the Central Government. A fault line opened-up: even past rulers of the land wanted to be called a ‘Schedule Tribe (ST)’ to enjoy reservations in the Government, amongst other ‘green’ benefits. But there is a catch as not being a ST the Meities cannot buy land in the Hills whereas the Nagas & Kukis holding ST status can buy land in the hills, and also the valleys. Basic instincts of survival and progression of the clan rose to the surface. And the communities went berserk with the ‘spaces belonging to them’ being threatened.

The 2023 Archery World Cup, also known as the Hyundai Archery World Cup-for sponsorship reasons-is the 17th edition of the international archery circuit organised annually by World Archery. The 2023 World Cup consist of four events, and will run from 19th April to August, followed by a Grand Finale in which all finalists of the four events will participate. The first event was held in Antalya, Turkey. And the second, the Stage 2 was held in China’s Shanghai during the month of May. Upcoming are competitions is Colombia’s Medellin, and France’s Paris, and a grand finale in Mexico’s Hermosillo.

The end of Stage 2 was a proud moment for India, when 19 year old Prathamesh Samadhan Jawkar won Gold. He pulled off a major upset defeating world Number 1 Mike Schloesser. Technically, Prathamesh Samadhan is the new Archery World Champion. On another lane, 18 years old Kaur Avneet Kaur won the bronze medal in the Women’s event.

India is the land of fictional archery greats from Ekalavya, Arjuna, and Karna of the Mahabharata, to Lord Rama and Lakshmana of the Ramayana. Recall that Guru Dronacharya realising that Ekalavya was superior to Arjuna in archery, demanded his thumb as Guru Dakshana (offering), as Drona had promised Arjuna that he would make Arjuna the greatest archer in the world!

Outside India, Robin Hood and Horace Ford were famous with the bow in England; William Tell -shooting an apple off his son’s head fame-is an archery folk hero of Switzerland; Minamoto no Tametomo a Japanese samurai who sank an entire Taira ship with a single arrow – his left hand was 15cm longer than his right, which allowed him to draw the bow longer and make more powerful shots. Then there is Artemis in Greek mythology often seen hunting with a bow & arrow. Archery has a quiver-full of history and stories worth exploring.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a Yoga Show at the United Nations and got the world to twist and turn to the ancient magic of India. He followed it up with a brilliant visit to the United States to strengthen ties between the world’s largest democracies. Despite being a superb orator in Hindi and Gujarati he chose to speak in clear English and the Opposition in India wasted our time in finding pronunciation faults.

Russia’s seemingly invincible President Vladimir Putin suddenly seemed fragile – exposing a chink in his armour-when a crisis unfolded in Russia in the last week of June. Putin faced an insurrection from an ally, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, and the Russian mercenary fighters – the Wagner Group- he leads when they began marching to ‘take’ Moscow.

For the moment, the situation appears to have de-escalated. The forces answering to Prigozhin, the Wagner Group chief, halted their march toward Moscow and turned around, as Prigozhin was offered safe passage to Belarus. President Alexander Lukashenko brokered an agreement between Prigozhin and Putin. Criminal charges against Prigozhin were dropped, and preparations were made for Wagner to hand over its heavy military equipment to the Russian military. The deal appears to be holding.

Since its founding nearly a decade ago, the Wagner Group has typically operated in the shadows in Ukraine, Africa and elsewhere in the world. It is not a single, traditional company, but a network of organizations providing fighters for hire-with the approval of Russia, though details remain shrouded in secrecy. Russian President said that the Wagner was ‘fully funded by the state’ though he did not say whether that cash flow would continue.

The group’s lightning blitz toward the capital-and seizure of military sites along the way-stunned the world and prompted Russian authorities to scramble to build defenses on the outskirts of Moscow and other cities. Putin had pledged to crush the revolt and portrayed its participants as traitors to the nation.

That pledge quickly went up in smoke! For a moment Ukraine caught the wind of a victory. And the Russia-Ukraine war mercilessly continues.

This Week

France is burning.

The killing of a 17 years old driver, a boy, named Nahel of Algerian descent, driving a Mercedes Benz Car, has led to unprecedented anger, violent protests, and rioting across France. Violence has gripped the European nation for the more than a week. Thousands have been arrested after 40,000 police were deployed, as there was mass rioting across France.

Buildings, including schools, town halls and the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics in nearby Seine-Saint-Denis, were also torched. The historic Alcazar library, the largest public library in Marseille, was set on fire. Attackers stormed the home of suburban Paris Mayor’s home and fired rockets at his fleeing wife and children. They used a car to ram through the gates before setting it on fire.

Definitely a line has been crossed.

Nahel was an only child brought up by single-parent mother and lived in Nanterre in the western suburbs of Paris. He had been working as a takeaway delivery driver, and on the sidelines played rugby league. At 17 he was too young for a Driver’s Licence (18 being the age required). He has been the subject of many as five police checks since 2021-refusing to comply with an order to stop. Most of the trouble he got into involved cars: driving without a licence or insurance and using false number plates.

On the fateful day he was driving a yellow Mercedes with Polish number plates with two passengers – and no licence. He was stopped by the police, obviously for checks, who had the car covered with a gun. He then attempted to drive away, after which a police officer fired at the car and a bullet hit Nahel, pierced his arm and chest, killing him. And the fleeing car crashed into a near by post. One passenger was taken into custody while the other one is believed to have fled the scene.

The mother said she was angry at the accused officer rather than at police in general. “He saw a little, Arab-looking kid, he wanted to take his life,” were her words.

The ‘Police overreach’ ignited a fuse of simmering radical discrimination resulting in never before seen riots in France questing immigration policies and people being absorbed into the French mainstream. What about good parenting and following the rules?

The Israel-Palestine conflict is forever a burning, boiling cauldron. Over the past 18 months, Israel has intensified its military search, arrest and home demolition raids into Palestinian cities in the occupied West Bank, amid a sharp rise in Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis: with casualty rates on both sides reaching levels not seen in many years. Since the start of this year, at least 162 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, while 21 Israelis have been killed.

This week, Israeli troops entered a neighbourhood on the edge of the West Bank city of Jenin’s packed urban refugee camp, targeting the family home of a militant jailed by Israel. It launched one of its biggest assaults on the occupied West Bank in decades killing at least 12 Palestinians.

The Jenin camp has long been a hotbed for militants with an army of weapons and growing arsenal of explosive devices. Israel accuses militant groups of basing fighters within densely populated urban areas such as refugee camps that date back to 1948. Many militants live in these camps, often with their families.

It’s about 654 days since the Taliban banned teenage schools from schools. Afghanistan is the only country in the world preventing girls and women from getting an education as a part of state policy. Now taking another cruel step, the

Taliban have ordered beauty salons in Afghanistan to be shut down. There is no end to the misery women face in this country. What next, break all mirrors?

This Tuesday the Indian football team won its ninth South Asian Football Federation Championship (SAFF) title after beating Kuwait on penalties. At the centre of the triumph was one man -Indian captain Sunil Chhetri, 38 years old. He has served Indian football for close to two decades, inspiring a generation of players. And led India to a modest Inter-continental Cup and SAFF Championship over the last three weeks, and is currently the third highest scorer of international goals among active footballers. That brings Sunil Chhetri on the same league of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Unbeleivable, for an Indian Player.

Sunil Chhetri has 93 strikes from 142 matches – the top two positions belonging to Cristiano Ronaldo (123 goals from 200) and Lionel Messi (103 from 175).

Take a look at the all-time list and Chhetri is ranked fourth with Iranian legend Ali Daei ahead of him with 109 goals from 148 matches. What makes his story all the more exceptional is that the list of all-time best 10 footballers is populated by stars from countries with an impeccable football lineage – where Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskas holds the sixth position (84 goals) and Robert Lewandowski of Poland is ranked eighth (79 goals).

Compare that to the footballing credentials of India! The last time India had a podium finish in a major championship was a bronze more than 50 years back in the 1970 Asian Games, while their FIFA ranking has hovered around the 100-mark for as long as one can remember.

His achievements have not gone entirely unrecognised – FIFA produced a documentary on him called ‘Captain Fantastic’, last year, playing on their website. And we thought Indian cricket’s, now-retired, Mahendra Singh Dhoni was India’s only Captain Fantastic?

This week Wimbledon Tennis began playing. And for the first time in recent history, the world’s oldest tennis tournament is relaxing its Victorian-era, all-white dress code, which includes headbands, wristbands, even medical tape. Now, female players will be allowed to wear dark-colored undershorts beneath their skirts or shorts. The change, which was first announced in November, is intended to relieve ‘a potential source of anxiety,’ so athletes can focus solely on their performance. It comes after players opened up about the stress of having to wear all-white ensembles while on their period and after protests at last year’s Grand Slam.

This week’s Tuesday was the hottest day on Earth since at least 1979, with the Global Average Temperature reaching 17.18 Degrees Centigrade (62.92F). The previous record was set in August 2016 at 16.92 Degrees C (62.46F). Some scientists believe 4th July may have been one of the hottest days on Earth in around 125,000 years. Watch out. The Earth is warming for sure

More colourful stories coming up in the weeks ahead. Get that driver’s licence, follow the rules, and stay warm with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-12

About-the world this week, 19 March to 25 March 2023: Sikhism and Khalistan, an Indian Member of Parliament is disqualified, and it’s not all right to be Gay in Uganda.

Everywhere

India: Sikhism and Khalistan

Sikhism is a religion, which developed from the spiritual teachings of Guru Nanak who lived between the years 1469 and 1539. He is the founder, the faith’s first Guru, and was followed by nine Sikh Gurus. Guru means a spiritual and intellectual Teacher. The Tenth Guru, Gobind Singh who steered Sikhism between the years 1666 and 1708 named the Sikh Scripture called the ‘Guru Granth Sahib’ as his successor. This brought to an end the line of human gurus and established the Scripture as the Eleventh and the last eternally living Guru-a religious, life-guide for Sikhs.

Guru Nanak preached a new concept of God as, supreme, all powerful, truthful, formless, fearless, without hate, the sole, the self-existent, the incomprehensible and everlasting creator of all things. He taught people that the ‘One God’ dwells in every one of his creations, and that all human beings can have direct access to God without the need of any rituals or priests. Setting up a unique spiritual, social and political platform based on equality and fraternal love. He rejected the path of renunciation, laying emphasis on family life.

The Guru Granth Sahib opens with the ‘Mul Mantar’, a fundamental prayer about one God. The core beliefs of Sikhism, articulated in the Scriptures, include faith and meditation in the name of the one creator; divine unity and equality of all humankind; engaging in selfless service; striving for justice for the benefit and prosperity of all; and honest conduct and livelihood while living a householder’s (family) life. Sikhism rejects claims that any particular religious tradition has a monopoly on absolute truth. Sikhism also emphasises the remembrance of the teachings of the Gurus, which can be expressed musically through ‘kirtan’, or internally through ‘naam japna’ -meditation on God’s name- as a means to feel God’s presence. It teaches followers to transform the ‘five thieves’, lust, rage, greed, attachment, and ego to achieve ‘wealth’ in life.

The Tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, initiated the ‘Khalsa’ (pure) tradition, which refers to the community that considers Sikhism as its faith, as well as a special group of initiated Sikhs. Upon initiation, a Khalsa Sikh is given the titles of Singh (male), meaning lion, and Kaur (female), meaning princess, and is sworn to a behavioural code of conduct of the Sikh faith.

Guru Gobind also introduced the ‘Five Ks’ in Sikhism, which he commanded Khalsa Sikhs to wear at all times. They are: Kesh – unshorn hair and beard as a respect for the perfection of God’s creation; Kangha – a comb for the Kesh, usually wooden, to comb the Kesh twice a day; Kara – a bracelet, usually made of iron or steel as a constant reminder that whatever a person does with their hands has to be in keeping with the advice of the Gurus and to symbolise God as never-ending; Kachera -an undergarment, short breeches, with a tie-knot, to be quickly ready for defence or battle; and Kirpan- a small curved sword of any size, shape or metal, used to defend others. The Kesh was to be contained in a Turban, to clearly and quickly identify Sikhs, among other symbols.

The City of Amritsar in Punjab occupies a significant position in Sikhism, with it being, not only home to hundreds of thousands of Sikhs but also the chief pilgrimage destination for Sikhs living elsewhere in India and abroad. The principal focus for pilgrims is the Golden Temple and its complex of several adjacent buildings located around a central tank. Situated on the west side, facing the causeway to the temple, is the Akal Takht, the chief centre of authority of Sikhism and the headquarters of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Supreme Akali Party), the main political party of the Sikhs in Punjab.

Sikhs have been living predominantly in the Punjab region of India. Before its conquest by the British, the region around Punjab had been ruled by a confederacy of Sikh Misls – Cavalry based armies – founded by Banda Bahadur. The Misls ruled over the entire Punjab from 1767 to 1799, until their confederacy was unified into the Sikh Empire by Maharajah Ranjit Singh from 1799 to 1849.

At the end of the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849, the Sikh Empire dissolved into separate princely states and the British province of Punjab. ‘Religion-nationalist’ movements emerged in response to British ‘divide and rule’ administrative policies to counter religious conversions and a general belief that the solution to the downfall among India’s religious communities was a grassroots religious revival.

The Akali movement was started in 1920 by the Central Sikh League’s political wing, the Akali Dal, which was founded in Amritsar in December 1920. The term Akali derives from the word Akal (timeless or immortal) used in the Sikh scriptures. The movement was named after the Akalis, a Khalsa militant order from the time of Guru Gobind Singh which had risen to prominence under Akali Phula Singh, one of the commanders of the Sikh Empire.

The Akali movement, also called the Gurdwara Reform Movement, was a campaign to bring reform in the Gurdwaras (the Sikh places of worship) in India during the early 1920s. It led to the introduction of the Sikh Gurdwara Bill in 1925, which placed all the historical Sikh shrines in India under the control of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). The Akali Dal assists the SGPC.

As the British Empire began to weaken in the 1930s, Sikhs made their first call for a Sikh homeland, called Khalistan (land of the pure). The Khalistan movement was started as a separatist movement seeking to establish a sovereign state of Khalistan in the Punjab region. The proposed state would consist of the territory which currently encompasses Punjab in India, and Punjab in Pakistan, with Lahore as its capital.

Meanwhile India was set to be partitioned on religious lines as Hindu and Muslim States.

During the pre-partition talks in the Lahore Resolution of the Muslim League one of the demands was that Punjab be made into a Muslim state, which the Akalis viewed as an attempt to usurp a historically Sikh territory. In response, the Sikh party Shiromani Akali Dal argued for a community that was separate from Hindus and Muslims. The Akali Dal imagined Khalistan as a theocratic state led by the Maharaja of Patiala with the aid of a cabinet consisting of the representatives of other units.

Following the independence of India from British Rule in 1947, the Punjabi Suba movement, led by the Akali Dal, sought the creation of a province (Suba) for Punjabi people. The Akali Dal’s maximal position of demands was a sovereign state-Khalistan-while its minimal position was to have an autonomous state within India.

As the religion-based partition of India led to much bloodshed, the Indian government initially rejected the demand, concerned that creating a Punjabi-majority state would effectively mean yet again creating a state based on religious grounds. However, later India was divided into States, for administrative purposes, mostly on a linguistic basis. And Punjab (as partitioned between India and Pakistan) became a State in India.

Ever since the movement gathered force in the 1980s, the territorial ambitions of Khalistan have at times included Chandigarh; sections of North India, including the whole of Indian Punjab; and some parts of the western states of India.

In 1940, the first explicit call for Khalistan was made in a pamphlet titled ‘Khalistan’. With financial and political support of the Sikh diaspora, the movement flourished in the India’s Punjab, continuing through the 1970s and 1980s, and reaching its zenith in the late 1980s. This period also saw the rise of militant-minded Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale as a leading figure of the Khalistan movement.

With the Shiromani Akali Dal failing to win respectable seats in Elections to the State and Central Legislatures it came up with a list of demands called, ‘The Anandpur Sahib Resolution’ in 1973 to improve its prospects and galvanise the Sikhs. The resolution declared its goal was to establish a State for Sikhs with quasi-independent status, leaving only the powers of Foreign Relations, Defense, Currency and General Communications subject to the jurisdiction of the Central Government. The then Prime Minister (PM) of India, Indira Gandhi, viewed the Anandpur Sahib Resolution as a secessionist document and refused to accept it.

The Anandpur Sahib Resolution reached prominence in the 1980s when the Akali Dal and Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale joined hands to launch the Dharam Yudh Morcha in 1982 in order to implement the Resolution. Thousands of people joined the movement, feeling that it represented a real solution to demands. This included a larger share of water for irrigation, the return of Chandigarh to Punjab, which was shared with Haryana State, and of course, the idea of a Sikh Homeland. The movement turned militant and Punjab went into turmoil with terrorism becoming the order of the day.

In 1982, Bhindranwale and his militant cadres occupied the Golden Temple complex and made it his headquarters and later fortified the Akal Takht. During this time Bhindranwale ruthlessly killed many of this opponents including a former Jathedar of Akal Takht, Giani Pratap Singh. The killings were brutal to inspire terror such as chopping off the breasts of a female opponent named Baljit Kaur. Bhindranwale went on to establish what amounted to a ‘parallel government’ in Punjab settling cases and resolving disputes, while conducting his campaign for Khalistan.

With Bhindranwale growing to become a menace, in June 1984, PM Indira Gandhi ordered Operation Blue Star, which was carried out by the Indian Army to flush out Bhindranwale and his armed followers from the Golden Temple Complex. This resulted in hundreds to thousands of deaths including that of Bhindranwale. And the crackdown on militancy in Punjab brought back a semblance of peace in the State.

Then in 1984 PM Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh Bodyguards in a revenge action, which led to riots targeting Sikhs in northern India for being responsible for the killing.

In the 1990s, the insurgency petered out, and the movement failed to reach its objective for multiple reasons including a heavy police crackdown on separatists, factional infighting, and disillusionment from the Sikh population.

Now enter the year 2022 and 2023.

Amritpal Singh, 30 a self-styled Sikh preacher and separatist began reviving the idea of Khalistan in Punjab state, which has stoked fears of violence and brought back painful memories of a bloody insurgency that killed thousands. He was relatively unknown until the death of actor and activist Deep Sidhu in 2022.

Sidhu backed the country’s year-long farmer’s movement and founded Waris Punjab De-a group established to protect Sikh rights.

Waris Punjab De mobilised farmers and activists – many of whom were Sikh – against the Government of India’s attempt to modernize the country’s agricultural sector with the introduction of new Farm Laws, Farmers feared the changes would push prices lower. In a rare retreat, the laws were repealed in November 2021. But the Waris Punjab De continued its campaign to protect the Sikh religion and Punjab’s culture.

Sidhu was killed in a car crash in February 2022 and Amritpal Singh took over the reins, leading marches and giving impassioned – often provocative – speeches, building a large following and gaining popularity.

The popularity proabably went to his head and about a month ago he stormed a police station in Punjab along with his gun and sword-wielding gang of supporters to release an imprisoned fellow follower. They shouted pro-Khalistan separitist slogans and Amritpal Singh said he does not accept India as a nation. He likened himself to Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. The police quietly watched him whisk away his devotee.

Then the Police ‘found their guns’ and piled up charges on him for attempted murder, obstruction of law enforcement and creating disharmony in society.

Early this week, Punjab Police and central agencies launched a massive crackdown on Amritpal Singh and over 110 of his associates were arrested. However, he is still on the run. Internet was suspended in Punjab for a few days. Police say that Singh was in contact with the Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence(ISI) and received funds from Pakistan. Furthermore, Singh was creating a private army in the guise of an anti-drug drive and de-addiction centre.

Following the crackdown, official Indian Government establishments in London and San Francisco were attacked. Singh’s supporters vandalised the Embassies, tearing down the Indian flag and replacing it with the Khalistan Flag.

The Khalistan movement is outlawed in India and considered a grave national security threat by the government – a number of groups associated with the movement are listed as ‘terrorist organizations’ under India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. But it continues to evoke a level of sympathy from some Sikhs, particularly in Canada, United Kingdom and Australia, which is home to sizeable Sikh communities, many of whom fled Punjab following independence in search of better economic opportunities. A small but influential number of those Sikhs support the idea of Khalistan, with referendums periodically held to reach a consensus to establish a separate homeland within India.

Rahul Gandhi

Late this week a Court in India’s Gujarat State, convicted Rahul Gandhi, a Member of Parliament representing Wayanad in the state of Kerala, and a leader of India’s grand old party – The Congress- for his comments in an Election Rally about PM Narendra Modi’s surname. He was found guilty of criminal defamation and handed down a two-year jail sentence. However, the same Court allowed him a 30-days bail, suspending ‘only the jail sentence’, to allow him to make an appeal. Rahul was present in Court to ‘receive the award’!

In the year 2019, during an Election rally in Karnataka State’s Kolar, Rahul Gandhi said, “Why do all thieves have Modi as their surname?” In his speech, he went on to name fugitive Indian diamond tycoon Nirav Modi, banned Indian Premier League boss Lalit Modi, and PM Narendra Modi.

The case against Rahul Gandhi was brought by Purnesh Modi a former Bharatiya Janata Party Minister in Gujarat State, on the premise that ‘Modi’ being an Other Backward Class (OBC) Community, Rahul has insulted and defamed the entire community by comparing them with thieves. Modi is a common last name for many in Gujarat.

Following the conviction Rahul Gandhi was (automatically) disqualified from his Lok Sabha membership. This was based on a 2013 Supreme Court order, which decreed that a lawmaker convicted in a crime and sentenced to two or more years in jail stands disqualified from the Parliament with immediate effect.

This is a fabulous case of democracy working in India and the Law of the Land taking its course.

Uganda

People who identify as gay in Uganda risk life in prison after parliament passed a new bill to crack down on homosexual activities. It also includes the death penalty in certain cases.

The debate around the bill had led to fear of more attacks on gay people and blackmail. People were receiving calls on the lines of, “if you don’t give me money, I will report that you are gay”.

The bill is one of the toughest pieces of anti-gay legislation in Africa. Homosexual acts are already illegal in Uganda but this bill introduces many new criminal offences.

Amnesty International has called the bill, which criminalises same-sex between consenting adults, appalling, ambiguous, and vaguely worded. It has also been condemned by both United States and the United Kingdom.

The bill will now go to President Yoweri Museveni who can choose to use his veto to overturn the bill or sign it into law. He has himself made several anti-gay comments, in recent weeks, and also criticised Western countries for putting pressure on Uganda over the issue.

Same-sex relations are banned in about 30 African countries, where many people uphold conservative religious and social values.

More homeland stories coming up in the weeks ahead. Stay with World Inthavaaram. Fight another day.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-27

About: the world this week, 3July to 9 July 2022. Shoot, Kill, Quit, Fight, Sing, Sprint, Pray, and Eat.

Everywhere

This week started with a bang…and ended with a bang, literally.

Denmark’s capital Copenhagen witnessed a mindless shooting spree at a Shopping Centre, which shocked Danes to the core. Three people were killed and four injured. The deadly attack began at the Field’s Shopping Mall – a multi-storey building and one of the biggest in Denmark: it has about 140 shops and restaurants and is located on the outskirts of Copenhagen.

Police arrested the suspect, an ethnic Dane, thirteen minutes after being alerted to the attack. The killer had mental health issues; there is no indication of a terror motive. And the shooting appears to be a lone wolf act – with no other conspirators.

English singer, songwriter, and Actor, Harry Edward Styles was to perform in a concert nearby. And it was cancelled at short notice. Fans were impressed with the manner police and organisers ensured young concertgoers were safely carted away, by way of informing parents and providing a police escort to the nearest safe train station.

The last time Denmark saw a major terror event was in 2015 when two people were killed and six police officers injured during an attack on a a cultural centre and a Synagogue in Copenhagen. The gunman was later killed in a shoot out.

Denmark has some of the strictest gun laws in Europe with licences to own firearms usually available for hunting or sport shooting, following background checks, and with almost a total ban on automatic weapons. Carrying a firearm in public is strictly prohibited.

Now, to the cowboys of the West.

The shootings in the United States of America (US) is only shooting up, and there seems to be no sign of it loosing its spirit, at the moment.

This week, six people were killed in a shooting in downtown Highland Park, Illinois during the 4th July Independence Day Parade. Parade-goers were enjoying a sunny parade along Central Avenue when a gunman began firing indiscriminately and randomly from the roof-top of a Business building, which he had scaled using a ladder.

The suspect, Robert E Crimo III, was spotted by a North Chicago Officer who attempted a traffic stop. Crimo led the Officers to a brief chase before being stopped and taken into custody.

This marks at least the 308th mass shooting in the US this year and the carnage adds to an already bloody American Spring and Summer.

Just look at this statistic: Denmark had 3 mass shootings in the last 28 years. The US had 17 mass shootings in the last 5 days. The difference and what needs to be done is crystal clear. Got it America?

In another finding, The US found itself to be the serial killer capital of the World. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) complied information about 4743 known serial killers worldwide between 1900 and 2016 and discovered that 3204 of them were from the US. Is that why guns are required? Is America setting a bloody infectious example?

Shots in Japan

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, 67, is Japan’s longest serving Prime Minister until he resigned in 2020. He was known for his ‘Abenomics’ policy to lift Japan’s economy – the world’s third biggest – out of deflation and wanting a more prominent role for Japan’s military, to counter growing threats from North Korea and a more assertive China. He was responsible for Japan winning the bid to host the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, cherishing a wish to preside over the Games. He even appeared as the Nintendo video game character Mario during the Olympic handover at Rio 2016.

During his tenure as PM, he considered it a failure in being unable to revise Japan’s pacifist constitution, which prohibits the country from using force to resolve international disputes.

Late this week, Shinzo Abe was in the western city of Nara to make a campaign speech ahead of this Sunday’s upper house elections. While giving the speech he was shot twice from behind, by a man using what looked like a shotgun or a home-made gun . The first shot appears to have missed, but the second shot hit Abe in the back. Security Personnel then quickly overpowered and detained the shooter, who made no attempt to run. Abe was in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest and airlifted to the Nara City Hospital where he succumbed and died due to the shooting. A suspect, an Army Veteran, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, of Nara City was arrested.

Abe’s shooting has shocked Japan: gun violence is rare and Japan has one of the lowest rates of gun crime in the world due to its extremely strict gun control laws.

The last time a current or former Japanese PM was shot was 90 years ago. There has never been a political assassination in Japan since the 1930’s, The only shootings ever heard of in Japan involve the Yakuza – Japan’s famously violent organised crime gangs – arguing over territory. Even those were rare. But most people never come in to contact with the Yakuza. Even they shy away from guns because the penalties for illegal possession are just not worth it.

There were 10 gun incidents last year, leaving one person dead and four wounded. In the year 2014 six gun deaths were reported, and the number rarely exceeds 10, in a country of 126 million people. In 2018, Japan only reported nine deaths from firearms, compared with 39,740 that year in the USA.

Under Japan’s firearms laws, the only guns permitted for sale are shotguns and air rifles. Handguns are outlawed. But getting them is a long and complicated process.

Japan has close to ‘zero-tolerance’ of gun ownership – an approach that contributes to its extremely low rate of gun crime.

Later, a video of the shooting showed that Shinzo Abe’s Security did a horrible job of protecting him when compared to the tight heavy security in other parts of the world. Understandable, given Japan’s safe record? Maybe there is a lesson here.

This week’s assassination of Shinzo Abe could change Japan forever.

Herd moves: Losing the Best Job in the World

This week Boris Johnson resigned as leader of his Conservative Party and is on the way out as Prime Minister (PM) of the United Kingdom (UK).

He has been in a quagmire of scandal after scandal, in recent months. The list includes everything from ‘Partygate’, surviving a no-confidence vote, to corruption allegations to the latest ‘Pincher’ scandal. It was acknowledged that Johnson knew about sexual misconduct allegations against a fellow Conservative Party member before appointing him to a senior position. But he says he ‘forgot’ about it. A ‘wind rush’ of ministers resigned since Tuesday and nudged him to do the same. And after initial resistance Johnson has agreed to step down. In his exit speech he said a Herd moves by instinct and when the Herd moves, it moves. And he was sure ‘Darwin’s evolution’ would find the next PM, and that he is sad to leave the Best Job In the World.

Boris Johnson squandered one of the strongest political positions held by a PM of the UK, in record time. The authoritative mandate gained after winning an eighty seat majority in December 2019 dissipated at extraordinary speed as he dealt with a series of scandals with a ham-fisted mixture of denial, disorganisation, and even outright lying.

Johnson secured the Election Victory riding on the back of the ’Get Brexit Done’ pledge. After securing an exit from the European Union (EU), he struggled with the coronavirus pandemic – got it himself- was late in imposing the first lockdown in March 2020, and thereafter went too fast in loosening restrictions the following Christmas, which he was forced to cancel at the eleventh hour.

But UK’s PM was ultimately undone not by policy disagreements but by character failings. He presided over a lax culture at Downing Street during the pandemic, in which he, advisers and officials attended a string of booze-filled parties (imbibing the spirits of Scotland & Ireland?) while people all over the country were locked down at home.

I reckon, the seriousness of governance evaporated and it could not be condensed into a workable drink, any longer. Mind the herd!

Just Begun

Russian President, Vladimir Putin, continued his ranting and warned that Russia has barely started its campaign in Ukraine and dared the west to try to defeat it on the battlefield. “Everyone should know that, by and large, we haven’t started anything yet in earnest,” Putin said during a speech to Russian lawmakers this week. He added, “The further it goes, the harder it will be, for them to negotiate with us”.

Methinks, this is the beginning of the end, and Ukraine will stay the course, gradually ‘managing’ the bullying of Russia.

India’s Upper House

The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally called the Council of States, is the Upper House of the bicameral Parliament of India – the Lower House or the House of the People, being the Lok Sabha.

While people of India directly vote to elect the Members of Parliament (MP) of the Lok Sabha, the MP’s of the Rajya Sabha are indirectly elected by the legislatures of the States and Union territories. Further, for the Rajya Sabha, the President of India nominates 12 members who have special domain knowledge or practical experience in art, literature, science, and social service. This is on the advice of the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister – the Leader of the majority/ruling party in the Lok Sabha. The intent being to enrich Parliamentary proceedings, which otherwise may be hijacked by political party musings.

The nominated members have a six-year term and the Rajya Sabha is a permanent House, not subject to dissolution. However, one-third members of Rajya Sabha retire after every second year: opening the gates for elections and nominations.

The Rajya Sabha being a representation of the States of India serves to protect the rights of States. And all laws passed by the Lok Sabha – affecting the states -have to be approved by a two—thirds majority in the Rajya Sabha.

This year the President of India dipping into his 12 MP rights, nominated legendary music director Ilaiyaraaja, from Tamil Nadu State, celebrated athlete P T Usha, from Kerala, blockbuster film screenwriter V Vijayendra Prasad from Andhra Pradesh, and spiritual leader Veerendra Heggade from Karnataka.

Rajayya Gnanathesikan, R Gananthesikan, went by the name of ‘Rajaiya’ on joining school, Raaja on learning music from his Master, and became Ilaiyaraaja after the stupendous success of his virgin music scores in the Tamil movie ‘Annakkili’(Parrot). Ilaiyaraaja then went on to become famous as a film composer, conductor, singer and lyricist, working predominantly in Tamil cinema. Ilayaraja is credited with introducing western music concepts in South Indian music and synthesising western and Indian music instruments. He has composed more than 7,000 songs, provided film scores for more than 1,400 movies and performed in more than 20,000 concerts.

Ilaiyaraaja is also called ‘Isaignani’ (musical genius) and is often referred to as ‘Maestro’, by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London, amongst others.

The journey from Gnanathesikan to Isaignani has indeed been an awfully long one. Names changed along with the heavenly music!

Pilavullakandi Thekkeraparambil Usha, P T Usha the sprinter, and India’s most famous woman track & field athlete, known as the Payyoli Express and the Golden Girl, has won over 100 medals at national and international events, including four golds at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games. She hit the headlines with her performance at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, where she reached the final but missed out on a medal by a 1/100th of a second. And a billion India hearts skipped a beat. She was born in Payyoli, Kozhikode district of Kerala hence the Payyoli Express tag.

In 1986 Seoul Asian Games, India won 5 Gold Medals where she alone won 4 Gold Medals in 200 metres (m), 400m, 400m hurdles & 4×400 relay and 1 Silver Medal in 100m. She is the first Indian woman to reach the final of an Olympic event.

P T Usha is married to V Srinivasan an inspector with the Central Industrial Security Force. The couple have a son, Ujjwal Srinivasan, who is a Doctor and holds an International Olympic Committee Diploma in Sports Medicine.

She is currently the committee head of Indian Talent Organization, which conducts National level talent Olympiad examinations in schools across India. And runs the Usha School of Athletics (USHA) at Koyilandi, near Kozhikode.

Koduri Vishwa Vijayendra Prasad,V Vijayendra Prasad is a film screenwriter and director known for his works primarily in Telugu cinema, in addition to Kannada, Tamil, and Hindi cinema. He has done more than twenty-five films as a screenwriter, most of which were commercially successful.

He is best known for screenwriting blockbusters such as ‘RRR’, the ‘Baahubali’ series and ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ in addition to Manikarnika: the Queen of Jhansi, Magadheera, and Mersal (Tamil). His film-maker son, S S Rajamouli directed the Baahubali series of movies, to wide acclaim.

Veerendra Heggade is a Jain Philanthropist and the hereditary administrator or Dharmadhikari of the Dharmasthala Temple. He has been at the forefront of outstanding community service, social work, and communal harmony, doing great work in health, education, and culture.

He succeeded his father as Dharmadhikari at the age of nineteen in October 1968, the 21st in his line, of the Pergade Dynasty belonging to the Digambara Jain group. He administers the temple and its properties, which are held in a Trust, for the benefit of devotees and worshippers.

Veerendra Heggade married Hemavathi, in a match arranged by their parents and the couple have an only child, a daughter, Shraddha. His heir and the person to succeed him will be his younger brother, Harshendra – as traditionally, sons get the charge.

Dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade has been conducting a Free Mass Marriage every year in Shri Kshethra Dharmasthala since 1972. Over 10,000 couples have been married under this scheme.

The Annapoorna kitchen at the Lord Manjunatheshwara temple at Dharmasthala is one among the five biggest kitchens in India, which feeds thousands of people. The others big kitchens of the country are Shirdi, Chennai’s Taj kitchen, main kitchen of Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) at Noida, Uttar Pradesh, and Akshaya Patra Foundation’s kitchen at Hubli, Karnataka.

Lots to eat, with more stories coming out of my small Kitchen in the weeks ahead. Stay safe, stay with the herd, and move with World Inthavaaram.