WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-38

About: the world this week, 17 September to 23 September 2023; Ukraine grain grind in Poland; Designated Terrorist in Canada; Antarctica’s Ice; Women’s Reservation; and Asia Cup Cricket.

Everywhere

Ukraine Grain and Poland

Poland has been a firm supporter of Ukraine from the beginning of Russia’s invasion. It often led the way in sending military aid and equipment, and argued passionately that such support is essential to protect Poland itself from Russian aggression. Now suddenly it feels like the political knives are out for Ukraine. There’s talk of how Ukraine should be grateful for Polish support.

This week, Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned about scaling down or even ending weapons transfers to Ukraine. Poland’s President Andrzej Duda compared Ukraine to a drowning man who risks dragging his rescuers down with him.

The sharp downturn in relations between the neighbouring countries began with a dispute over grain imports that remains unresolved. Ukraine needs to export its grain harvest, and land routes are now critical because Russia is deliberately attacking ports on both the Black Sea and the Danube River. But in an effort to protect its own farmers, Poland does not wish to allow cheaper Ukrainian grain to hit its domestic market, only to pass through to the rest of the European Union in transit.

Later in the week, Ukraine’s Agriculture Minister said that he and his Polish counterpart have agreed to “find a solution that takes into account the interests of both countries”, after a phone conversation.

Designated Terrorist

This week, the already frosty ties between India and Canada plunged to a new low, almost reaching freezing point.

Canada’s Prime Minister (PM) Justin Trudeau accused India of being involved in the killing of a Sikh Separatist Khalistani leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, on his country’s soil, based on what he called ‘credible information’. PM Trudeau announced this in Parliament and said that any involvement of a foreign government in killing a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an “unacceptable violation of our sovereignty”. And almost immediately, Canada expelled one of India’s diplomats at the Indian Embassy in Canada.

India promptly described the Canadian PM’s allegations as absurd and motivated. That the frozen approach and inaction of the Canadian government on Sikh Separatist activity, inside Canada, aims to undermine India, is long-standing, and of continuing concern. And in a tit-for-tat move, India expelled a senior Canadian diplomat – to leave Indian soil within 5 days- citing interference of Canadian diplomats in India’s internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities.

Later, in a deeper step, India suspended all Visa services in Canada with immediate effect and until further notice. And sought downsizing of Canada’s diplomatic presence in India.

Earlier this year, India reprimanded Canada for allowing a float in a parade depicting the assassination of former Indian PM, Indira Gandhi-by her Sikh bodyguards-perceiving this to be a glorification of Sikh separatist-Khalistani-violence. India has also been upset about frequent demonstrations and vandalism by Sikh separatists and their supporters at Indian diplomatic missions in Canada, Britain, the United States, and Australia. And has sought better security from local governments.

India counted that at least nine separatist organisations, supporting terror groups, have their bases in Canada. And despite multiple deportation requests, Canada has taken no action against those involved in heinous crimes, including the killing of popular Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala. India added that pro-Khalistani outfits such as the World Sikh Organization (WSO), Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), and Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), have been operating freely from Canadian soil. Multiple dossiers have been handed over to Canada, but India’s deportation requests have gone unaddressed.

The latest spat deals a fresh blow to diplomatic ties that have been fraying for years.

Who is Hardeep Singh Nijjar?

Nijjar is a prominent Khalistani leader who was trying to organize an unofficial referendum among the Sikh diaspora in Canada- for a Khalistan State in India – with the organization muscle of Sikhs for Justice.

Nijjar hailing from a village in Jalandhar, Punjab, migrated to Canada in the mid 1990s. He arrived in Canada in 1997, using a fraudulent passport making a refugee claim. Nijjar then married a woman who sponsored his immigration and became a Canadian citizen in 2007. He works as a plumber. Nijjar became president of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia in 2018, and was a leader of the Canadian branch of SFJ.

According to India, Nijjar is also the leader of the pro-Khalistan group KTF and a warrant for his arrest was issued in November 2014, accusing him of conspiring in the bombing of Shingar Cinema in Punjab’s Ludhiana, in 2007, in which 6 people were killed. India issued another Interpol warrant in 2016 claiming Nijjar was involved in a plot to transport illegal ammunition, by paragliders, into India.

In 2018 Nijjar was accused of multiple targeted killings in India. In February that year, Amarinder Singh, then Chief Minister of Punjab, handed over to PM Justin Trudeau a list of most wanted persons that included Nijjar’s name.

In July 2020, India designated Hardeep Singh Nijjar a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and, in September 2020, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) seized his assets in the country. The NIA has accused him of plotting the murder of a Hindu priest in Punjab and hatching a conspiracy to disturb peace and disrupt communal harmony. In 2022, the NIA offered a reward of INR 10 lakhs for any information that could help apprehend him.

What is the separatist Khalistan Movement? Get to the bottom, and history here:

https://kumargovindan.com/2023/03/25/world-inthavaaram-2023-12/

Briefly, the Khalistan Movement was started for an independent homeland for the Sikhs and dates back to India and Pakistan’s independence in 1947, preceding the partition of the Punjab region between the two new countries. Sikh separatists demand that their own homeland, Khalistan, meaning ‘the land of the pure’ be carved out of Punjab. Later, India reorganised its States mostly on linguistic basis and Punjab became a Sikh-majority State. The demand for Khalistan resurfaced many times, most prominently during a violent insurgency in the 1970s and 1980s, which paralysed Punjab for over a decade.

The Khalistan movement is considered a security threat by India. The bloodiest episode in the conflict occurred in 1984 when the then PM of India, Indira Gandhi, sent the Army into the Golden Temple – Operation Blue Star- the holiest shrine for Sikhs, to evict armed separatist leader Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his supporters. The operation culminated with the killing of Bhindranwale, among other terrorists. This infuriated Sikhs around the world. A few months later, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards at her home in New Delhi, in retaliation. The army launched operations in 1986 and 1988 to flush-out Sikh militants from Punjab.

But by then the Khalistan movement found roots in Canada.

Immigration of the Sikh population to Canada had begun in the early 20th Century. It started when Sikh soldiers in the British Army passing through British Columbia were attracted by its fertile land. By 1970, the Sikhs numbers in Canada rose and they became a visible face among the communities in the region.

The Khalistan-centric militancy climbed higher, when Sikh militants were found responsible for the 1985 bombing of an Air-India Boeing 747 flying from Canada to India: Air-India Flight 182, Kanishka, operating on the Montreal–London–New Delhi–Mumbai route. On 23 June 1985 it disintegrated in mid-air en route from Montreal to London, at an altitude of 9,400 metres over the Atlantic Ocean, as a result of a bomb explosion from inside the aircraft. The remnants of the aircraft fell into the ocean about 190 kilometres (km) off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people aboard, including 268 Canadian citizens, 27 British citizens, and 24 Indian citizens.

The bombing of Kanishka is the worst terrorist attack in Canadian history; the deadliest aviation incident in the history of Air-India; and was the world’s most outrageous act of aviation terrorism until the 11 September 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers in the United States.

According to investigators, the bombing of Kanishka was part of a larger transnational terrorist plot against India, which included a plan to bomb two Air-India planes. The first bomb was meant to explode aboard Air India Flight 301, which was scheduled to take off from Japan’s Narita International Airport, but it detonated early, before it could be loaded onto the plane, killing two baggage-handlers. The planners had failed to take into account that Japan does not observe ‘Daylight Saving Time (a practice of setting the clocks forward one hour from standard time during the summer months, and back again in the Fall).

The second bomb planted aboard Kanishka in Canada was successful. It was later revealed that both the conspiracy and the bombs, which were stashed inside luggage, originated in Canada. The Sikh militant and Khalistani separatist group BKI was implicated in the bombings.

Although a handful of people were arrested and tried for the Kanishka bombing, the only person convicted was Inderjit Singh Reyat, a dual British-Canadian national, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2003. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for assembling the bombs that exploded on board Kanishka and at Narita.

The subsequent investigation and prosecution lasted almost twenty years. The two accused Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were both acquitted, due to lack of evidence.

In 2010, a Justice John Major-led commission of inquiry submitted a report in which Canadian police and spy agencies were blamed for grave negligence and hampering the investigation. In the report, Justice Major said that the authorities should have known that the Indian aircraft was a terrorist’s target. His report concluded that a ‘cascading series of errors’ by the Government of Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had allowed the terrorist attack to take place. And their failure to prevent the bombing ‘inexcusable’.

Canada has blood on its hands.

PM Justin Trudeau’s family has a history of being warm towards Sikhs and siding with Khalistani terrorists. In 1982 his father, Pierre Trudeau, had refused the extradition request of Khalistani terrorist Talwinder Singh Parmar, wanted for the murder of police officers in India.

Pierre Trudeau’s Government refused the Indian request on the quaint grounds that India was ‘insufficiently deferential’ to the Queen of England. Canadian diplomats had to tell their Indian counterparts that the extradition protocols between Commonwealth countries would not apply because India only recognized Her Majesty as Head of the Commonwealth and not as Head of State. Case closed!

Parmar was the head of the Khalistani terrorist organization BKI, which in 1985, bombed Kanishka. And Pierre Trudeau is largely blamed for the Kanishka bombing, as it was only after his government ‘saved Parmar’ that he started preparing for the bombing. In 1984, Parmar told his fellow Khalistanis that, “Indian planes will fall from the sky”. In the same year, Ajaib Singh Bagri, a close associate of Parmar, pledged to kill Hindus. He said at the founding convention of the World Sikh Organization, “Until we kill 50,000 Hindus, we will not rest!”

Reports suggest that Canadian authorities were aware of what Parmar was planning. One of the Canadian police informers had told police that Parmar promised him to pay a suitcase full of money if he agreed to plant a bomb on the plane. Parmar and his aide Inderjit Reyat were in the radar of the secret agency officials of Canada. They witnessed them testing a bomb on Vancouver Island. However, the police and spy agencies did not take the information about the bombing seriously and considered the informers unreliable. The Canadian authorities even lost or destroyed some of the key evidence. As a result, a trial in the case of the Kanishka bombing ended in acquittal of the accused due to lack of evidence.

In 1992, Parmar was killed by the Indian police when he sneaked into Punjab from Pakistan.

Today, Justin Trudeau’s is a coalition Government, following the September 2021 snap Elections he had called, hoping to win a majority on his own. He wasn’t successful as his Liberal Party won 157 seats in the 338 member Parliament and is backed by the ‘Khalistan-Friendly’ Jagmeet Singh’s New Democratic Party with 24 seats.

In August this year Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire announced that they are separating after 18 years of marriage.

India’s suffering has been Himalayan on account of Khalistan related terrorism, and Canada is only rubbing salt into the wounds of many decades.

Meanwhile, the ice is melting in Antarctica.

Antarctica’s Ice

Antarctica’s huge ice expanse regulates the planet’s temperature, as the white surface reflects the Sun’s energy back into the atmosphere and also cools the water beneath and near it.

Sea-ice acts as a protective sleeve for the ice covering the land and prevents the ocean from heating up. As more sea-ice disappears, it exposes dark areas of ocean, which absorb sunlight instead of reflecting it, meaning that the heat energy is added into the water, which in turn melts more ice. Scientists call this the ice-albedo effect.

The sea-ice surrounding Antarctica is well below any previous recorded winter level a worrying new benchmark for a region that once seemed resistant to global warming. The ice that floats on the Antarctic Ocean’s surface now measures less than 17 million square km, i.e., 1.5 million square km of sea-ice less than the September average, and well below previous winter record lows.

An unstable Antarctica could have far-reaching consequences, polar experts warn. Without its ice cooling the planet, Antarctica could transform from being Earth’s Refrigerator to becoming Earth’s Radiator.

Scientists are still trying to identify all the factors that led to this year’s low sea-ice – but studying trends in Antarctica has historically been challenging.

In a year when several global heat and ocean temperature records have been broken, some scientists insist the low sea-ice is the measure to pay attention to.

Sea-ice forms in the continent’s winter (March to October) before largely melting in summer. And is part of an interconnected system that also consists of icebergs, land ice and huge ice shelves – floating extensions of land ice jutting out from the coast.

That could add a lot more heat to the planet, disrupting Antarctica’s usual role as a regulator of global temperatures.

Since the 1990s, the loss of land ice from Antarctica has contributed 7.2mm to sea-level rise.

Even modest increases in sea levels can result in dangerously high storm surges that could wipe out coastal communities. If significant amounts of land ice were to start melting, the impacts would be catastrophic for millions of people around the world.

Women’s Reservation

This week, India’s Parliament, which shifted operations from the old ‘colonial era’ Building to the spanking new ,vibrant Parliament Building passed a historic Women’s Reservation Bill -providing 33% reservation in the Lok Sabha (Member of Parliament) and State Assemblies Member of Legislative Assembly). This with a two-third’s majority in the Lok Sabha -only two voted against-and an unanimous vote-without dissent- in the Rajya Sabha. It will be made into law on the assent of the President of India, which is a mere formality. The Bill had been languishing in the corridors of Parliament for over 27 years. And this time has made it, but implementation would not be immediate.

The Reservation will come into effect after the national census and delimitation exercise is completed by the year 2029.

Asia Cup Cricket

India were crowned Asia Cup Champions for an eighth time after crushing defending Champions Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in the final in Colombo this Sunday. India literally steam-rolled Sri Lanka, to win the Cup.

Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat. In a fiery spell of bowling, India’s Mohammed Siraj grabbed four wickets in his second over, removing two batsmen in successive balls, to break the backbone of the Sri Lankan batting order.

Mohammed Siraj’s 6 wickets for 21 runs helped bundle Sri Lanka out for 50 runs before India’s opening batsmen chased the target down in 6.1 overs, pulling off its biggest-ever One Day International victory in terms of balls remaining.

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

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-46

About –the stories of the world this week, 13 November to 19 November: The United States counts, Iran protests fester, India bleeds, G20 meets, mission to the moon, India’s private sector enters Space, and a sequel to a blockbuster movie.

Everywhere

After the counting in the United States (US) Midterm Elections cantered along -on horseback -over the darkness of last week, the results are finally seeing cracks of dawn and spilling over to this week. With all its advancement, the US takes an awful lot of time to draw its guns and get the votes counted. I reckon Americans can sling a rocket to the Moon and back before ‘em votes are shot down.

The Blue Democrats retained control of the Senate (total 100 seats) with 50 seats to the Red Republicans’ 49. This was made possible by Senator Catherine Cortez Masto who was re-elected in the State of Nevada with a ‘hour-glass margin’ of over 6000 votes. A win is a win. A run-off in the State of Georgia December later this year could take the tally to 51-49.

In the House (total 435 seats), the Republicans gained control, just managing to obtain a majority -218 seats against the Democrats’ 210 seats. President Joe Biden may stumble to get Bills passed over the remaining two years of his Presidency.

The nationwide protests in Iran, against the draconian Islamic Dress Code for woman fires on. Iran is facing one of its biggest and most unprecedented shows of dissent and defiance following the death-in-custody of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish Iranian woman detained by the morality police for not wearing her hijab properly.

A Norway-based Iran Human Rights NGO (IHRNGO) group claims that Iranian security forces have killed at least 326 people since the protests erupted two months ago. It includes 43 children and 25 women, and the number is an ‘absolute minimum’.

Meanwhile, an Iranian court has issued the first death sentence linked to recent protests, convicting an unnamed person of ‘enmity against God’ and ‘spreading corruption on Earth’. Iran’s Revolutionary Court issued the sentence to a protester who set fire to a government building. Now, some fear that more than 1000 others who have been arrested could face similar charges, potentially carrying the death sentence.

It was a bloody week in India, bleeding with news on two counts.

One, the killers of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi were ordered to be released by the Supreme Court of India. This after being found guilty, sentenced to death, then commuted to life, and now freed.I guess you can just about do anything in India and get away with it?

Recall, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in May 1991 by a suicide bomber belonging to the Tamil separatist organisation, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during an Election meeting in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. 16 other people died and about 43 were injured in the bombing on that fateful day. In one of the best known manhunts in India’s history and successful tracking-down of the perpetrators, those involved were either killed or caught, arrested, and successfully convicted.

The release of the convicts followed unbelievable, hyperactive rallying by Political Parties in the State of Tamilnadu-mainly the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). They competed with one another in getting them released, on the ground of being Tamilians and unconscionably pandering to Tamil sentiment. And of course, the Court garnishes the reasons with the ‘mandatory’ good-behaviour in Jail.

I was devastated by the release of convicts who killed a Prime Minister of the Country in a carefully executed macabre plot. And consider it a global disgrace. The Supreme Courts in all its sagacity has probably weakened the country. The guilt of the released convicts in the brutal assassination Rajiv Gandhi and many others who were killed, for no fault of theirs, was beyond doubt. Commuting the death sentence to make it a life sentence is mercy. Freeing them is mockery. Worse still giving them airtime, celebrating their release, extracting sympathy bites, is horrific. Why does a ‘bad man’ get all the ‘honour’ a good man should get by default?

Two, the story that hogged the headlines for the greater part of the week was about the gruesome murder of a woman, Shraddha Walkar, by her live-in partner Aftab Poonawala, who after killing her, chopped her body to pieces, bought a refrigerator to store it and slowly disposed off the body parts over a period of five or more months. Shraddha had eloped from her Home in Mumbai, to New Delhi, breaking all daughter ties with her parents, but a concerned father happened to check her out and unable to find her filed a Police complaint, leading to the investigation. The murderer has been arrested and there are no visible traces of remorse on him.

Shraddha has asked Aftab to marry her and one disagreement led to another resulting in the killing.

What are we turning into, savages in the bygone days?

The Group of 20

The Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum consisting of 19 of the World’s major economies and the European Union which meets annually to tackle major issues related to the global economy. This year they met on 15 and 16 November, in picturesque Bali under the Presidency of Indonesia. Last year it was Italy. And the Presidency passes to India for the year 2023 with Prime Minister(PM) Narendra Modi taking over from Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, not the best of friends, had some tough talk going between them and sparks flying, over PM Trudeau being a leaking sieve by passing on everything discussed, to the Media. Xi told him it’s no appropriate and that’s not the way a conversation is conducted.

One of the outcomes of G20 Bali-Indonesia was that ‘most’ members condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and came close to using the word ‘war’ to describe what we all know simply as the ‘Russian-Ukraine War’. Wow!There were some murmurs of ‘eschewing’ use of nuclear weapons. And the European Union, Denmark and Norway announced a USD 20 million deal to decarbonise Indonesia’s coal-powered economy.

Return Ticket To The Moon

In ancient Greek mythology, Artemis is the daughter Greek God Zeus- the Sky and Weather God- and the twin sister of Apollo. US’ NASA first put man on the Moon with the Apollo 11 mission on 29 July 1969 and is returning to the Moon with… you guessed it, the Artemis Mission. And, naturally a woman to the Moon.

Artemis is the goddess of hunting, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She preferred to remain a maiden goddess and was sworn never to marry, and was thus one of the three Greek virgin goddesses-the others being Athena and Hestia.

Tracing the history of man on the moon, a total of 12 men have walked on the moon in six moon landings. This was accomplished with two US pilot-astronauts flying a Lunar Module on each of six NASA missions across a 41-month period starting 29 July 1969, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on Apollo 11, and ending on 14 December 1972 with Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt on Apollo 17. Gene Cernan was the last man to step off the lunar surface.

In summary, twenty-four US astronauts have traveled to the Moon; three have made the trip twice, and twelve have walked on its surface. Here are the names.

Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin (Apollo 11), Charles Conrad, Alan Bean (Apollo 12) , Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell (Apollo 14), David Scott, James Irwin (Apollo 15) John Young, Charles Duke (Apollo 16), Eugene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17). Four of America’s moonwalkers are still alive: Aldrin, David Scott, Charles Duke, and Harrison Schmitt.

Moving forward from Apollo, Artemis I is an uncrewed test flight that will provide a foundation for deep space exploration and demonstrate the capability to return humans to the Moon. It will demonstrate the performance of the new Orion Spacecraft and Space Launch System (SLS), and test capabilities to orbit the Moon and return safely to Earth.

The primary objective is to thoroughly test integrated systems before crewed missions, operating Orion in a deep space, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after re-entry, descent, and splashdown. The flight will pave the way for future missions, including landing the first woman and first person of colour on the surface of the Moon.

The mission team encountered a number of setbacks in the lead-up to this week Wednesday morning’s launch, including technical issues with the mega moon rocket and two hurricanes that have rolled through the launch site. But then, count Artemis to self-heal and comeback.

The SLS carrying Orion blasted off from NASA’s modernised spaceport at the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, this 16 November. Propelled by a pair of five-segment boosters and four RS-25 (Aerojet Rocketdyne, Liquid-fuel cryogenic) engines, the rocket reached the period of greatest atmospheric force in 90 seconds. The solid rocket boosters then burnt through their propellant and separated after about two minutes, and the core stage and RS-25s depleted propellant after eight minutes. After jettisoning the boosters, service module panels, and launch abort system, the core stage engines were shut down and the core stage separated from the spacecraft, leaving Orion attached to the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) in orbit. As the spacecraft made an orbit of Earth deploying its solar arrays in the process – to build its muscles- the ICPS gave Orion the big push it needed to leave Earth’s orbit and travel towards the Moon. This manoeuvre, called the trans-lunar injection, precisely targets a point about the Moon that will guide Orion close enough to be captured by the Moon’s gravity.

Orion separated from the ICPS about two hours after launch, after which ICPS deployed ten small satellites, known as CubeSats, along the way to study the Moon or head farther out to deep space destinations.

As Orion continues on its path from Earth orbit to the Moon, it will be propelled by a service module provided by ESA (European Space Agency) that will course-correct as needed along the way. The service module supplies the spacecraft’s main propulsion system and power.

The outbound trip to the Moon will take several days, during which time engineers will evaluate the spacecraft’s systems. Orion will fly about 97 kilometres (km) above the surface of the Moon at its closest approach, and then use the Moon’s gravitational force to propel Orion into a Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO), traveling about 64,000 km past the Moon. This distance is 48,000 km farther than the previous record set during Apollo 13 and the farthest in space any spacecraft built for humans has flown. Orion will also stay in space longer than any human spacecraft has without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.

For its return trip to Earth, Orion will get another gravity assist from the Moon as it does a second close flyby, firing engines at precisely the right time to harness the Moon’s gravity. And accelerate back toward Earth, setting itself on a trajectory to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere.

Once the spacecraft has passed this extreme heating phase of flight, the forward bay cover that protects its parachutes will be jettisoned-crew module separates from service module- Orion’s two drogue parachutes deploy first, at 7600 m, and within a minute slow Orion to about 160 kph (kilometres per hour) before being released. They are followed by three pilot parachutes that pull out the three main parachutes which will slow Orion’s descent to less than 32 kph. The spacecraft will make a precise landing within eyesight of the Recovery Ship off the coast of San Diego in the Pacific Ocean.

Three ‘passengers’ will fly aboard Orion to test the spacecraft’s systems and collect data for future missions with real astronauts.

A suited manikin (model of the human body) named Commander Moonikin Campos occupies the commander’s seat inside Orion to provide data on what crew members may experience in flight. Two additional seats in Orion will be occupied by manikin torsos, called phantoms, manufactured from materials that mimic human bones, soft tissues, and organs of an adult female. Named Zohar and Helga, the torsos will be fitted with more than 5600 passive sensors and 34 active radiation detectors to measure radiation exposure as part of the Matroshka AstroRad Radiation Experiment (MARE), an international effort including the German Aerospace Center, the Israel Space Agency, and NASA.

Zohar will wear a radiation protection vest, called AstroRad, while Helga will not. The study will provide valuable data on radiation levels astronauts may encounter on lunar missions. It will evaluate the effectiveness of the protective vest that could allow crew to exit the storm shelter and continue working on critical mission activities inspite of a solar storm.

The Artemis I Mission duration is about 25 days, 11 hours, 36 minutes. Total distance travelled 1.3million miles. Splashdown will be on 11 December 2022.

Absolutely exciting, what ‘flies ahead’ in the weeks to come.

The Prarambh of India’s Private Space Adventure

India’s Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) wasn’t making any friends to chill out with and was shamelessly engrossed in effortlessly launching Satellites into space. Could get lonely at times. The Government noticed and in June 2020 arranged to open the Space sector to private players so that ISRO could find some partners and have a relationship, Live-in? Maybe? Private players were allowed to use various ISRO resources to make the cut, use, and study Space.

This Friday, India’s first privately built rocket, Vikram-S (named after India’s pioneering Space Scientist Vikram Sarabhai), developed by Hyderabad based startup Skyroot Aerospace successfully blasted off from ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, creating history. The mission was called Prarambh (the beginning) and Vikram-S will help test and validate 80 % technologies for future suborbital missions especially the upcoming Vikram-I in 2023.

Suborbital? What’s that? Suborbital launch refers to vehicles that travel high enough to travel to the edge of outer space, but do not have the energy to achieve orbit around the Earth. Typically, they reach speeds of 2 to 6 times the speed of sound and curve back to kiss dear Earth. In comparison, an orbital spacecraft has to travel fast enough to orbit the Earth without falling back due to gravity, which involves speeds of about 25 times the speed of sound.

The 6m tall rocket, Vikram-S, is a single-stage solid fuelled, suborbital test launch vehicle, which took about two years to develop. It weighs about 545 kg and, in its maiden flight carried three customer payloads belonging to SpaceKidz India, and BazoomQ Armenia and N-Space Tech India – who all reported that they are happy with the outcome.

The launch also served as a technology demonstration to showcase the capabilities of Skyroot which has used its propulsion system, Kalam 80, and spin stabilisation system for the rocket.

Skyroot eventually plans to pitch itself as a company offering one of the quickest and most affordable rides to Space, and could become part of ISRO’s journey to evolve into a preferred destination for cost-effective launch of satellites. Skyroot expects more than 20,000 small satellites to be kicked into Space in the coming decade and aims to position itself as a serious player through mass producibility and affordability. They are hoping that launching satellites into Space will soon become as easy as booking a cab-quick, precise, and affordable!

Root for the skies, it’s for the asking!

Please Yourself

When the movie Black Panther hit theatres in February 2018, it opened to a stellar USD 202 million weekend. It then went on to make USD 1.3 billion worldwide and garnered multiple Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. The film is considered to be one of the best and biggest blockbusters from the comic book genre and from the Marvel Studios- the most lucrative brand in all of Hollywood, United States.

With this in black and white and in the background screen, the sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever released this week, opened to an estimated USD 180 million in North America – that’s sizeable. This time the film had to do with without star Chadwick Boseman, who passed away in 2020.

The opening is one of the best premieres of the year and makes the superhero film the highest-grossing debut ever for the month of November. The original record belonged to ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,’ which made USD 158 million in November 2013.

Black Panther: Wakanda, stars Letitia Wright and Angela Bassett as the princess and queen of the fictional African country of Wakanda. And appears to be a fitting sequel to one of the most popular films of all time.

More thrilling stories coming up in the weeks ahead. Launch yourself into the Space of World Inthavaaram, forever.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-41

About –the stories of the world this week, 9 October to 15 October 2022, a bridge gets attention, uncovering head-covering, trying to get to the moon, multiple news in India, and dwindling wildlife on Earth.

Everywhere

Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Long before the present round of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia had ‘captured Ukraine’s Crimea’ in 2014 and officially annexed it in 2015. The Russians then quickly got to work and built what’s called the Crimean bridge, or Kerch Bridge, across the Kerch Strait linking Crimea’s Kerch to Russia’s Taman Krasnodar Krai. It is a 19 kilometres long bridge with a pair of parallel bridges, one for a four-lane road and one for a double-track railway. The bridge became one of the longest in Europe.

President Vladimir Putin himself personally opened the Kerch bridge by driving a truck across it in 2018, hailing it as the ‘construction of the century’. The Rail part was inaugurated in 2019 – and there were no reports of Putin having driven a train this time. The bridge connecting Russia to the Ukraine mainland, through Crimea, is an easy means of moving military equipment, ammunition, and troops during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

Late last week -early Saturday- an explosion severely damaged parts of the road and rail bridge. The explosion originated at the road bridge, and the blast started a fire on a fuel train on the overhead rail bridge: it is not clear whether it originated above the bridge deck, or below. The blast caused one span to rupture at its middle. The adjacent span on the Crimean side remained intact, but was pulled off and also collapsed into the sea. A third span on the Russian side remains standing, while the next span fell off. But the Russians recovered, got cracking, and brought the bridge back to safe mode in double-quick time.

The bridge plays a strategic role in the ongoing war, and Ukraine has said it is a legitimate target, as they vow to retake the peninsula. They responded with a thinly veiled approval to the explosion, but have not indicated that their forces were behind the attack.

Meanwhile, Putin in a display of brutality and vengeance unleashed a streak of missile attacks on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, blaming Ukraine for the attack on the bridge, calling it an ‘act of terrorism’, Wow!

In this modern era it is unbelievable that we allow a rouge county to effortlessly pull-off attacking another sovereign country and seemingly get-away with it. And we are all reduced to ‘rubble spectators’. The Ukrainians are trying their best to go about their business as usual, and one has to admire their tenacious spirit in building bridges to a normal life.

Uncovering Iran

The protests in Iran over the Islamic Dress Code continues. Dozens of protesters have been killed since the unrest began last month following the death of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, in custody when she was detained by the morality police for not covering her hair properly. Another incident uncovered the hijab further, when 16 years old Nika Shakarami, last seen standing on a dumpster and burning her headscarf, as others chant slogans against the Islamic Republic, disappeared after telling a friend she was being chased by police. She was found dead ten days later.

“Under authoritarianism it’s not easy to voice your opinion. Even though their courage is extraordinary, their demands are not. They’re asking for equality, to be able to have dignity, justice, not to be judged on what they wear” said award-winning British-Turkish Novelist & Activist Elif Shafak.

School students participating in street protests are being detained and taken to mental health institutions. And referred to what are called ‘psychological institutions’, where the students are reformed and re-educated to prevent ‘anti-social’ behaviour. They are then released into the education stream, after they’ve been reformed!

That’s another revolution happening in Iran.

NASA’s Honey Moon

After many forces, technical and natural, challenged America’s NASA’s Artemis Moon Mission and succeeded in keeping it grounded, NASA is finally breaking free. The target for the next launch attempt for the Artemis-I Mission is 14th November 2022. And I look forward to seeing Artemis-I ‘honey the moon’ and comeback with sweet stories for launching the Man & Woman Mission, Artemis-II – I hope.

India Melange

In a gruesome and shocking suspected incidence of human sacrifice in Elanthoor, Pathanamthitta District, Kerala State, two women, Rosly and Padman were killed in a horrific manner. And it is believed that cooked body parts were eaten that would enable ‘the sacrificers’ to preserve their youth, besides achieving financial prosperity.

The prime accused is a history-sheeter, sexual pervert and psychopath, Muhammad Safi, 52, who along with Laila, 59, and her husband Bhagaval Singh, 68 – a traditional healer and masseur – carried out the brutal act that stunned India this week. Safi had befriended the couple through a Facebook profile in the name of ‘Sreedevi’, and later masquerading as Godman Rasheed influenced them to do his bidding. Police cracked the case while probing the missing Padman – based on a complaint by her son- and the three suspects were arrested. One of the victims was lured with money for acting in a pornographic video while the other was promised sex work. The bodies of the victims were cut into pieces and thrown away, and Police recovered 61 packets of body parts.

Absoultely disgusting that such cannibalism and antediluvian beliefs exist in these modern times.

Elections are always happening in India, throughout the year, and the end of season announcements were made this week: the State of Himachal Pradesh with 68 Assembly seats will go the polls in a single phase on 12th November. The counting will be on 8th December. The elections in the Prime Minister’s home State of Gujarat, which is always seen as test of his grip on the voters-is expected to be announced soon.

A former Delhi University Professor, Saibaba – in Jail for about 7 years – was acquitted and ordered to be released by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. This was following his conviction in March 2017 for links to the banned Maoists and indulging in activities amounting to waging war against the country. ‘Urban Naxalism’ is the modern term used to describe such behaviour. It springs from the Naxalbari uprising in India where tribals fought landlords as well as the Government to protect their rights over land ownership, means and way of living.

India’s highly entertaining, fitness-minded, scion and Prince of the Grand Old Party of India -The Indian National Congress- Rahul Gandhi pounced upon an idea to boost the dwindling popularity of his Party, in the tempest of Election set-back after setback. And while still searching for that elusive President of the Congress Party of which his Mom is the acting President. The election of a real President is finally in progress after a very long time, with two candidates in the fray, trying to show which ‘hand’ is the best.

On 7th September, Rahul embarked on a Bharat Jodo Yatra (Unite India March) – a padayatra (walk by foot)- that began in the southern-most tip of India, Kanyakumari in Tamilnadu State, and is scheduled to end in Srinagar in the northern State of Jammu & Kashmir. It covers 12 States in a distance of nearly 3500 kilometres over a duration of about 150 days. This weekend it will be day 37. And while Rahul is trying to make people to ‘overcome hatred’ and come together to strengthen India, he is certainly strengthening his muscles: doing push-ups on the road; tying his Mom’s shoe laces; marching his old Party colleagues to young fitness levels; and growing a beard.

Hope to see a strong and united India to match the 56-inch chest of India’s Prime Minister.

Please Yourself

The World’s leading conservation organisation, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) released its Living Planet Report 2022 and the situation is deadly alarming.

According to the report, wildlife populations – mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish – have seen a devastating 69% drop on average since 1970. The report highlights the stark outlook of the state of nature and urgently warns governments, businesses, and the general public to take transformative action to reverse the destruction of biodiversity.

“We face the double emergencies of human-induced climate change and biodiversity loss, threatening the well-being of current and future generations. WWF is extremely worried by this new data showing a devastating fall in wildlife populations, in particular in tropical regions that are home to some of the most biodiverse landscapes in the world,” said the Director General of WWF International.

More wild and natural stories coming up in the weeks ahead. Wake-up to the task of conserving Planet Earth and all that it holds. Stay with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-39

About –the stories of the world this week, 25 September to 1 October 2022: All kinds of tensions – religious, nature blowing, stealing land, a country making a right-turn, homeland surgical operations, and a classic Tamil novel becomes a movie and hits the cinema screen.

Everywhere

The protests in Iran on the killing of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, while in Detention by the Morality Police, over improper wearing of the hijab-headscarf continues. Over 70 people have been killed in the unrest and thousands arrested. Women cutting off their hair and burning the hijab has become the signature of the protests against the stringent Islamic Dress Code. Iranian Authorities are struggling to put-down this bold defiance, uncovering after quite a long time, in Iran. And the excessive force being used probably unveils how things went wrong in the first place.

In the United States, a force of nature, Hurricane Ian made landfall along the southwestern coast of Florida as a powerful Category-4 storm. It’s one of the strongest hurricanes in recent times to hit the west coast of the Florida Peninsula. The extremely dangerous conditions unleashed by the Hurricane including catastrophic floods, and life-threatening storm surges continued as the storm advanced inland. In a second landfall it battered South Carolina after leaving a trail of destruction across Florida.

Religious Tensions

Leicester is a city in England’s East Midlands region close to the River Soar, where the National Forest area ends. And it is one of its oldest cities with a deep history. Leicester Cathedral, which has stood for over 900 years in the heart of the city is where Britain’s King Richard III was reinterred in 2015.

Leicester has a population over 4.5 Lakhs with a demography of Whites being the largest ethnic group at over 50%, followed by Asians at about 37%.

Recent Hindu-Muslim violence in Leicester caused shock and outrage, and was alarming as the city is known for its diversity, its multiculturisim roots, and has been a model of cohesion for decades. And such unrest is extremely rare. Some tensions in Leicester had been brewing for a while, but it had never got to the point of confrontation before.

The recent disturbances in Leicester first began last month after an India-Pakistan cricket match. On 28 August, cricket fans from Hindu and Muslim communities clashed after India beat Pakistan in the Asia Cup T20 tournament in Dubai. Eight people were arrested on suspicion of assault and violent disorder.

In the weeks following the incident, several disturbances in East Leicester led to more arrests. The tensions reached boiling point on 17th September when a group of Hindus peacefully marched through Green Lane Road, which has predominantly Muslim-owned businesses, chanting, “Jai Shri Ram (Hail Lord Ram)”. Then fights broke out, bottles were thrown, property was smashed and a religious flag was pulled off a Hindu temple in the area. There were even roars that this is a ‘Muslim only area’ and how dare others enter. Over last weekend, multiple retaliatory marches and protests further escalated tensions.

However, this may not be as straightforward as a sporting feud that has got out of hand: It seems like there were simmering tensions before this cricket match. A pointer is an incident which occurred before the 28th August incident in which a young Muslim man said that he was assaulted by a Hindu gang. No one has been charged, but the allegations alone appear to have been enough to stoke further tensions. It is learnt that particular pieces of misinformation such as this fuelled tension in the run-up to the worst of the disorder on the weekend of 17-18 September. One false story was referenced several times.

“Today my 15 years daughter was nearly kidnapped,” read a post uploaded on Facebook, supposedly by a concerned father. “Three Indian boys got out and asked her if she was Muslim. She said yes and one guy tried to grab her.” The post was liked hundreds of times, not on Facebook but on Twitter after a community activist, tweeted the family’s story on 13 September. He also shared a message from the police, which he said was “confirming the incident which took place on 12 September”. But there had been no kidnap attempt. A day later, Leicestershire Police issued a statement after investigating and stated that the incident did not take place at all. The community activist deleted his posts and said the attempted abduction had not happened and that his initial version had been based on conversation with the family making the allegation. But damage had already been done and this false kidnap claim kept being regurgitated on other social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Instagram. Messages forwarded many times over were initially taken by some as the truth. On Instagram, profiles – some with hundreds of thousands of followers – shared screenshots of the original post and allegedly accused a Hindu man of being behind the ‘failed abduction’.

Days later a mob of more than 200 people, mostly Muslims, attacked Durga Bhawan Hindu Centre in Smethwick, Birmingham, and shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ slogans. And following this an Islamist group shared posts calling for a demonstration outside the Shree Sanatan Hindu Mandir in Wembley. This is the latest in a series of incidents targeting Hindus in the United Kingdom in recent days.

In a video posted on Twitter, an Islamist could be seen provoking Muslims in the city, calling Hindus gangsters, and mocking the religion.

Hindu-hatred and Hindu-phobia seem to be the new words in Town.

Russian Tensions

Tensions are rising in Russia. Last week, Russia kicked off a five-day referendum in the occupied Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine. The question on the ballot: “Do you wish to secede from Ukraine?” It comes as Russia announced a troop surge of 300,000 and its first draft since World War II amid mounting nuclear concerns. Meanwhile, thousands fled the country to escape the draft.

Ukrainians report that Russian soldiers are going door-to-door, coercing people ‘under a gun barrel’ to vote in favour of annexation. When ‘The Results’ were announced there was no surprise – all four occupied regions of Ukraine voted to join Russia.

Ukraine and Western countries including the US have condemned the vote as a sham. The United Nations Security Council said it will never accept the results and the four regions will remain part of Ukraine.

That’s a sham referendum for sure, but late this week Russia went ahead and declared these territories as Annexed to Russia, and henceforth people living in them are Russian citizens. That’s cold-blooded land-grabbing.

Italy: Right Turn

Italy is turning in the ‘right’ direction. The ultra-conservative Brothers of Italy Party led by Giorgia Meloni won 26% of the vote and along with coalition partners, The League – led by Matteo Salvini (8.8%) and Forza Italia – led by Silvio Berlusconi (8.1%) secured a clear majority in Parliament. Together with a smaller party representing less than 1% of the vote their right-wing coalition obtained 43.8% of the total votes. All this translates into 237 seats in the 400 seat Chamber of Deputies-called the Lower House, and 115 seats in the 200 seat Senate of the Republic – called the Upper House. Their main rival, the centre-left Democratic Party won 19% of the vote with 84 seats in the Chamber and 44 seats in the Senate.

Giorgia Meloni, 45, is all set to become Italy’s first female Prime Minister leading the most far-right government since the fascist era of the Second World War. It’s expected to take weeks for a new government to be formed. And President, Sergio Mattarella will have to nominate her, which is expected to happen during the month of October.

Meloni entered Italy’s crowded political scene in 2006 and co-founded the Brothers of Italy in 2012, a party whose agenda is rooted in Euroskepticism and anti-immigration policies. In the last election, in 2018, the party won just 4.5% of the vote, but its popularity has soared in recent years.

Meloni differs from coalition partner leaders on the issue of Ukraine. Whereas Berlusconi and Salvini have both said they would like to review sanctions against Russia because of their impact on the Italian economy, Meloni has been steadfast in her support for defending Ukraine. She is deeply conservative, openly anti-LBGT, and has threatened to place same sex unions, which were legalised in Italy in 2016, under review. She has also called abortion a ‘tragedy’ raising fears for the future of women’s rights in the country.

Meloni has a daughter with her partner Andrea Giambruno, a journalist who works for Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset TV channel.

A Cool Homeland Surgical Operation

The Popular Front of India (PFI) is an Indian Political Organization founded in 2006 with the merger of the Karnataka Forum of Dignity (KFD), the National Development Front (NDF) of Kerala- established in Kerala two years after the demolition of the Babri Masjid to protect the interests of the Muslim community – and the Manitha Neethi Pasarai of Tamilnadu. It was formed to counter Hindu groups and engages in radical and exclusivist style of Muslim minority politics. It is said to be a resurrection of the banned, terrorist Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), and affiliate of the Indian Mujahideen and also has links to the Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangalesh (JMB)- another proscribed organisation. That’s danger written all over. The PFI has various wings such as National Women’s Front and the Campus Front of India.

The PFI’s stated purpose is to establish Islamic rule in India.

Last week in a superbly planned surgical operation called ‘Operation Octopus’, India’s National Investigative Agency conducted large-scale raids in the ‘tentacle premises’ of PFI and its affiliates across the country on charges of terror funding and money laundering. And at the end of which about 100 PFI leaders and activists suddenly found themselves behind bars.

The raids had the stamp of good homework and not many had an inkling of what was coming up. It was conducted in a flawless manner with the entire PFI top leadership caught unawares and picked up in single swoop – meticulous planning by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and ‘India’s James Bond’, National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval.

This week, the Indian Government, loaded with solid evidence used the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) to declare that the PFI and its associates as an unlawful organisation and banned it with immediate effect, for a period of five years. PFI and its associates have been indulging in unlawful activities, which are against the integrity, sovereignty, and security of the country. And have the potential of disturbing public peace and communal harmony of the country, as well as support militancy in the country.

A notification to the effect was issued by MHA, on 27 September. Eight associate organisations of PFI have been declared unlawful associations: Rehab India Foundation(RIF), Campus Front of India(CFI), All India Imams Council(AIIC), National Confederation of Human Rights Org (NCHRO), National Women’s Front, Jr. Front, Empower India Foundation and Rehab Foundation, Kerala.

The MHA has also revealed that some of the PFI’s founding members are the leaders of Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and had connections with ‘Global Terrorist Groups like Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)” and that the PFI and its associates have been working ‘covertly to increase radicalisation of the Muslim community’ by promoting a sense of insecurity.

Investigations showed that the PFI and its cadres have been consistently engaging in violent, subversive, and terrorist acts, including chopping off the limb of a Malayalam college professor, and murder of several persons in the States of Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu; cold-blooded killings of people associated with organisations espousing other faiths; obtaining explosives to target prominent people and places and destruction of public property.

Looks like the Octopus has got itself a prize catch!

Tears Play

Perhaps it was the music that stirred emotions, with British singer Ellie Goulding bringing a memorable night in London to a conclusion, or maybe it was the volley of memories or the replays in the mind, and there are plenty of those shared between these tennis greats, being brought to the fore.

As Nadal sat alongside his friend and great rival at the O2 Arena in London last friday night, the pair cried. Fans chanted Federer’s name, the pair hugged and Federer received one last standing ovation. There was no doubt that this was it, the Swiss great’s final professional match in the ATP’s Laver Cup. He retires in a rally of tears – a genius who made tennis look effortless.

Please Yourself: Relieve Tension

Ace Indian filmmaker and director Mani Rathinam’s magnum-opus Ponniyin Selvan (son of River Ponni – Cauvery) based on the eponymous literary masterpiece by Tamil writer Kalki Krishnamurthy released this week, on 30 September, in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi languages.

Its Trailer became the first of a Tamil Film to be screened in Las Vegas, USA.

The film is directed by Mani Rathinam with Music scored by Academy Award winner A R Rahman, Lyrics by Vairamuthu and others, Art Direction by Thota Tharani, cinematography by Ravi Varma.

The casting includes most of the brightest stars of South Indian cinema and includes former Miss World Aishwarya Rai in a beautiful role. And the promotions have created a never before seen anticipation of a movie release.

The movie is about one of the greatest Kingdoms the world has seen, the Cholas of South India and the story is being told in two parts in a budget of over 450 crores. It is produced by Mani Rathinam’s own Madras Talkies and Subaskaran Allirajah’s Lyca Productions, which is a sub group of Lycamobiles.

Ponniyin Selvam is a historical fiction novel, first serialised in the weekly editions of the the popular Tamil magazine Kalki from 29 October 1950 to 16 May 1954, and later integrated and released as a novel in five volumes of about 2210 pages in 1955. It tells the story of early days of Arulmozhivarman who later became the great Chola Emperor Rajaraja Chola I (947 CE – 1014 CE).

Ponniyin Selvan is widely considered to be the greatest novel ever written in Tamil. The craze for the series which was published weekly was such that it elevated the magazine circulation to reach a staggering figure of 71,366 copies – no mean achievement in India of the early days. Even today, the novel has a cult following and and enduring fan base, across generations for its well-etched characters, tightly woven plot, vivid narration, wit of dialogue, and sketches/drawings of the Chola period brought alive by famous artist and painter Maniyam Selvam.

For those who have read the story and are also familiar with Indian movie stars, the star cast is a galaxy: Karthi as Vallavarayan Vandiathevan, Vikram as Aditya Karikalan, Jayam Ravi as Arulmozhi Varman, Trisha Krishnan as Kundavai, Aishwarya Rai as Nandhini, Shobitha Dhulipala as Vaanathi, Aishwarya Lakshmi as Poonguzhali, Jayaram as Azhwarkadiyaan Nambi, among many others

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-23

About: the world this week, 5 June to 11 June 2022, the American phenomenon, an unjust war rambles on, a debt ridden country thinks loans, faith matters and blasphemy, military justice, road-building, getting high, and sologamy.

Everywhere

Sometimes, a week sounds all too familiar, eerily similar to the previous one, at least in a few aspects. Maybe this is one such.

The United States of America (USA) continues with that unique American Phenomenon of shooting itself. And we have lost count of the shootings, the guns, the ammunition, the candles, and the songs.

Late last week, a man shot and killed two women in a Church Parking Lot near the City of Ames, Iowa, before turning the gun on himself. This was close on the heels of the Uvalde Elementary School shooting in Texas. There was at least 11 mass shootings over the first weekend in June this year, some of which are: Tulsa, Oklahoma-Warren Clinic Shooting; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Chattanooga, Tennessee. Leaving Schools, the shootings permeated graduation parties, nightclubs, and strip malls. What next?

A mass shooting is an incident in which four or more people are shot or killed, excluding the shooter. According to the Gun Violence Archives on mass shootings, 246 shootings have been reported thus far in this year, 2022. The USA recorded 693 mass shootings in 2021, 611 in 2020, and 417 incidents in 2019.

That’s definitely a fearful rising trend. Does statistics help? Will the shootings stop only when America runs out of ammunition?

The Ukraine war continues taking its own flight path and the World has seemingly gone into a shell with each country looking to strengthen its own walled boundaries and become self-sufficient, knocking globalisation hard on its head. Dependence on Russian oil & gas, among other things, across borders has woken us up to new realities, new risks, which need to be mitigated.

The fate of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region may be decided in the battle of Severodonetsk where fighting continues to be tough. Ukraine is suffering losses, but is also inflicting heavy casualties on the Russians. And Ukrainian forces have been pushed back from the city and control only its outskirts.

Russia refuses to call the Russia-Ukraine War a war or an invasion, still calling it a special military operation-a ‘war’ against Ukraine nationalists, radicals, and the Kyiv Regime. Nevermind they are doing this inside another independent democratic country, which integrity and boundaries Russia itself agreed to respect when Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal! Calling a spade a spade seems to be awfully difficult for Russia.

Meanwhile, The United Nations wants to find a deal with Russia that allows safe export of Ukrainian produced food through the Black Sea. And we have a fighting Sri Lanka, on stand-by, which can use all that food?

The decibel level of noises of economic ruin in Sri Lanka have come down and perhaps the only way Sri Lanka can rise again and recalibrate the life of its citizens is by the existing loans being written off, so that a fresh, handsome set can kick-in.

The 22 million Sri Lankan population requires USD 3.3 billion for fuel imports, USD 900 million(m) for food, USD 600m for fertiliser, and USD 250m for cooking gas. How do you cook all that money?

Sri Lanka accepted a USD 55m loan for fertilisers from India’s Exim Bank, and the United Nations has pledged USD 48m for food agriculture, and healthcare. Negotiations are on to renegotiate a USD 1.5 billion financial support deal from China.

Internally, Sri Lanka announced an immediate increase in Value Added Tax from 8% to 12%. Corporate tax is expected to rise from 24% to 30% this October.

Finally the mistakes of the past seem to be getting corrected.

In India, during a loud Television Debate about a month ago, ruling Party spokespersons, infuriated by incessant attacks on Hindu religious beliefs spoke that, since people are mocking the Hindu faith repeatedly, they can also mock other religions – referring to Islamic beliefs and also the marriage of Prophet Mohammad. And set off-a chain reaction with Muslim countries all over the world voicing concerns of ‘insult to the Prophet’. The Government stepped in a fire-fighting mode by reprimanding and suspending the spokespersons.

I recall a historic verdict by the Madras High Court in 2019, which clearly distinguished between Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression saying, ‘having an opinion on Prophet Mohammad is not derogatory, and Freedom of Expression is not blasphemy’. This was in the backdrop of allegations against a Political leader in Tamilnadu in 2019, for supposedly speaking against the Prophet.

Blasphemy-making reckless and derogatory remarks agent religious beliefs- is one thing and expressing religious opinion based on one’s knowledge of the subject is another and there is a fine balance between the two. Freedom of expression always gets challenged when touching upon religious beliefs. Not every expression will qualify itself to bring disharmony between various sects, groups, and religions.

Narrow-mindedness only seems to be growing more narrow instead of tolerance growing taller and wider.

The religious freedom in India is beyond imagination applying the muslim standards in other Countries. And this is so, for all other religions in India. Hinduism, being the majority religion seems to be taken for granted in the name of minority appeasement.

I think we need to watch our tongues and refrain from making fun, criticising, or mocking any religious faith, including our own. Remember the three monkeys parable: see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil! And someone said, ‘Your freedom ends where my nose begins’.

In Myanmar the elected government was ousted more than a year ago by its military, which ever since has unleashed waves of brutal crackdown on the opposition, democracy and freedom activists, and critics.

Late last week, Myanmar’s junta made its next move, announcing that that appeals by two prominent democracy activists against their death sentences has been rejected, paving the way for the country’s first executions in decades.

Kyaw Min Yu, a veteran democracy activist, and Phyo Zeyar Thaw, a lawmaker for the former ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party, were sentenced to death by a military tribunal in January on charges of treason and terrorism.

The outcry from a watching world is deafening but then who will bell the cat?

Melange

This week, on a completely different front- actually a road- India has created a Guinness World Record by constructing 75 km of continuous bituminous concrete in a single lane on National Highway (NH) 53 in 105 hours and 33 minutes breaking the world record previously held by Qatar.

This Week Thailand became the first country in South Air to decriminalise marijuana: It’s legal to grow and sell it. However, smoking for fun is still banned.

People can now grow marijuana at home, provided they register and ensure it’s used only for medical purposes. Restaurants and cafes can also serve cannabis-infused foods but have a 0.2% THC limit. THC-TetraHydroCannabinol-is the substance that is primarily responsible for the effects of marijuana on a person’s mental state.

The objective seems to be to boost the economy through agriculture and foreign trade. Call that kicking-up the spirits!

Please Yourself

Over the past few years Sologamy, a wedding ceremony where people marry themselves, has been a growing trend in the West. It has now touched India’s Vadodara City in Gujarat State.

Kshama Bindu, 24, a sociology student and blogger, has a traditional Hindu ceremony due to take place on 11th June. Decked up in her red bridal outfit, with henna on her hands and vermilion powder in her hair parting, the bride will do the customary seven rounds around the sacred fire.

Pre-wedding rituals such as Haldi – turmeric mixed with oil is applied on the bride- and sangeet -music & dance-will be held earlier in the day. After the wedding, she plans to visit Goa for a two-week honeymoon.

The only ‘non-essential/missing part’ from all the celebrations will be ‘a Bridegroom’, as Bindu plans to ‘marry’ herself in what is perhaps going to be India’s first case of sologamy.

“Many people tell me I’m a great catch. I tell them, I caught myself”, says Bindu. By marrying herself, Bindu would be dedicating her life to self-love. “It’s my way of showing that I’m accepting all the different parts of me, especially the parts of myself that I have tried to deny or disown such as my weaknesses – be they physical, mental or emotional. For me, this marriage is really a deep act of self-acceptance. What I’m trying to say is that I accept myself – all of me, even the parts that don’t look pretty.”

Bindu’s family signalled the green light, have given their blessings, and will be attending the ceremony along with her friends. She claims that her parents, who are very open-minded, took it in their stride. They said, “As long as it makes you happy, we’re fine with it”.

The idea of marrying oneself first made news about 20 years ago when Carrie Bradshaw, a character in the hugely popular American Comedy Drama series Sex and the City, raised it.

Since then, there have been hundreds of such marriages, mostly by single women. Brides have walked down the aisle dressed in pristine wedding gowns, carrying a bouquet, sometimes with families and friends cheering them on. And in one highly unusual case, a Brazilian model, 33, ‘divorced’ herself, three months after her marrying herself. Wonder which part, or was it all of it?

More love stories coming up in the weeks to come. Love yourself, but stay married to World Inthavaaram. And mind that tongue!

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-18

About: the world this week, 1 May to 7 May 2022, heat of the weather and the dust of war, Glamour girls, unwanted babies, and WHO statistics on who died.

Everywhere

Heat & Dust

This week rolled by with temperatures flaring up across India with a blistering heat wave frying people in the country. In a way, to escape the heat, India’s Prime Minister made his first overseas visit of the year, starting with Germany, then Denmark and finally France. He drummed up support for India to wild cheers by the Indian diaspora, bear-hugged leaders, made sweet-soft, one-to-one conversations, dined with royalty on fine cutlery, and went on an Agreement signing spree to do better business and improve India’s beat in the World. The Indian head is high in the clouds, for sure!

Meanwhile, India’s favourite, entertainment-filled Congress Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi slipped in to nearby Nepal to attend a Friend’s Wedding and shake a leg. He was seen in a Pub with a Nepali woman- a friend of the bride- looking in his typical empty wild-eyed manner at the ceiling and wondering where the disco lights came from. Initially, there was some speculation that the woman was a Chinese diplomat, maybe an Ambassador.Is there something he can do right, after all? Pappu can dance!

The Russia-Ukraine War now concentrated on the Eastern part of the Ukraine is tanking on and this week Russia could not get its iron hands fully on the throats of Ukrainians, resisting-refusing to rust-from inside the Azovstal Steel and Iron Works. Russia had asked them to surrender, but the steely resolve is still under production.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke of Hitler the Dictator, as having some jewish blood in him. And attracted quick-fire condemnation from Israel (they are always on an unmatched alertness), and later in the week an apology – yes an expression of regret-from the Russian President Vladimir Putin himself. He apologized for comments that his Foreign Minister made about Hitler and Jews, in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Israel, in turn promptly accepted the apology and thanked the President for clarifying Russia’s stance towards the Jewish people and the memory of the Holocaust.

Glamour at its Weirdest Best

I spoke about what the Met Gala is about, last year in September, https://kumargovindan.wordpress.com/2021/09/18/world-inthavaaram-2021-38/

This year the notoriously exclusive Met Gala red carpet happened on Monday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

This year’s theme was ‘Glided Glamour and White Tie’ centering around the lavish era of American fashion in the last decades of the 19th century when industrialisation rapidly amplified the country’s wealth gap. During this age you were what your wore and it was a period when branding dished out from fashion houses was a novel concept.

The glamorous Reality TV star Kim Kardashian appeared in a sparkling skin-tight, body shaping gown -adorned with over 6000 hand sewn crystals-once worn by Marlyn Monroe when she famously sang, ‘Happy Birthday to President John F Kennedy, in 1962’. The iconic dress was loaned to Kardashian by ‘Ripley’s Believe it or Not’, a museum and events franchise that purchased the gown in an auction in 2016. And believe it or not, Kardashian had to lose about 7 kg to get her hour glass-curves et all- into the dress. Alterations were not allowed and it was almost impossible to walk with such as tight-fitting dress, but she was kept about upright by her holding partner. And of course Kim Kardashian later changed in to a replica of the original dress, for an easier cat walk…breathe easy!

Another sensation was Winter Olympian Eileen Gu, Skier and Model, who attended wearing a figure hugging Louis Vuitton mini-dress. Born and raised in California, 18 years old Gu switched her sporting allegiance to her mother’s home country China ahead of this year’s Beijing Winter Olympics. She became the youngest Olympic champion in freestyle skiing after winning gold in ‘big air’ and ‘halfpipe’, and a sliver medal in ‘slope style’ events.

American model Kaia Gerber -the daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford- appeared in a gilded and gorgeous vintage Alexander McQueen outfit. Kaia’s gown featured cutouts on her torso, a slight sheer skirt, and silvers jewels dripping from top to bottom. That had the men’s saliva dripping all over the red carpet!

Rapper Cardi B came in a Versace dress – chain embellished, which was made from a mile of golden chains. American Actress and singer Vanessa Hudgens wore an elegant black sheer Moschino gown and looked like she would take a butterfly flight any moment. Ex-US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton turned up with all her wrinkles on display, in a custom Jospeh Altuzarra design featuring the embroidered names of 60 women who inspire her.

What about India?

The Executive Director of the Serum Institute of India (SII), entrepreneur-philanthropist, Natasha Poonawalla 40, wife of Head of SII, Adar Poonawalla, was the sole Indian presence at the Gala. She made a stunning appearance, wearing a gold handcrafted printed tulle sari and trail by celebrity Indian designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee. The trail was embroidered with silk floss thread and embellished with bevel beads, semi-precious stones, crystals, sequins and applique printed velvet.

The World’s richest man Elon Musk, who continues to hog the news, arrived in Tom Ford with his mother, the model Maye Musk who was wearing Doir.

Stars Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, who are two of this year’s co-chairs, totally ruled the red carpet. Blake Lively turned heads in a metallic, colourful Versace gown that truly embodied the ‘Gilded Glamour’ theme.

The gala was a riot of imagination running footloose and beauty spiked and flowed in many dimensions.

To Keep or Not to Keep

The United States of America is struggling to keep some parts of its freedom, especially on women’s rights. India for one, is far ahead – for more you can read my post,

https://kumargovindan.wordpress.com/2021/01/02/world-inthavaaram-2021-01/.

Decades ago, in 1973, in a path breaking landmark decision, in what is called the Roe vs Wade case, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled that women have a constitutional right to an abortion – a pregnant woman can choose to have an abortion without excessive government intervention: in the 1 to 12 weeks (1st trimester) the Govt cannot prohibit abortions; in 13 to 26 weeks (2nd trimester) the Govt might impose health regulations; and after 27 weeks the Govt can step-in and entirely prohibit an abortion.

But, in an unprecedented leak of a draft ruling, the SCOTUS appears to be veering around to overturning the Roe vs Wade decision and also another, called the Planned Parenthood vs Casey: the 1992 decision that affirmed the right to an abortion and protected women from dealing with undue burdens trying to get them.

The final ruling in expected in June or July this year, and could it be that this rare leak is a test, to study the reaction?

Wonder what’s being impregnated in the US?

Who Died?

The World Health Organization (WHO) says the the pandemic wiped off nearly 15 million people worldwide. The total deaths officially reported across the World is 5.4 million and WHO believes that the extra 9.5 million deaths were direct deaths caused by the virus rather than indirect deaths. The WHO says many countries, including India, undercounted the numbers who died from Covid.

India countered that the WHO’s calculating methodology and modelling was horribly wrong for India. WHO’s estimate of 47.4 Lakh Covid related deaths in India in 2020 and 2021 is not in keeping with overall death data, historical trends in death reporting, and Covid death compensation (an incentive to report) from States. On an average about 83.5 Lakh people died every year in the last decade and a half (without the pandemic). And India’s death toll for a year has never been below 80 Lakh since 2007. WHO’s calculations put the non-covid deaths at 73 Lakh!

The measure used by the WHO is called excess deaths – how many more people died than would normally be expected based on mortality in the same area before the pandemic hit. These calculations also take into account deaths which were not directly because of Covid but instead caused by its knock-on effects, like people being unable to access hospitals. It also accounts for poor record-keeping in some regions, and sparse testing at the start of the crisis.

A Statistician from Seattle’s University of Washington says, “We urgently need better data collection systems. It is a disgrace that people can be born, and die – and we have no record of their passing”.

I wish the United Nations can measure up and show the same WHO calculated intensity in bringing around Russia to stop this horrific war in Ukraine. How about it counting itself in, networking with World Leaders and modelling a ‘satyagraha’ to stop the war?

More gilded, glamorous stories will cat-walk in the weeks to come. Dress-up with World Inthavaaram. And keep the count.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-17

About: the world this week, 24 April to 30 April 2022, War down a rabbit hole, Love in France, the musk is on Twitter, and India surround stories.

Everywhere

The War in Ukraine

We know that Russia has quietly retreated from the Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, three weeks ago, with its tail firmly between its legs-with only limited scope for wagging. And now it seems ferociously focussed, showing teeth, on capturing Eastern Ukraine-the whole of the Donbas region. Goals keep changing everyday- as do the goal posts-and I wonder where this dog-war is headed.

Reminds me of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ when Alice comes to a no-signs cross-road at which is perched, a Rabbit. Alice asks the Rabbit, “where do these roads go?” The Rabbit replies with a question, “where do you want to go?” Alice says, “I don’t know”. Then, any road will take you there – says the wise Rabbit.

Russia has fallen down a rabbit hole and Putin is in the Wonderland of War – any guesses on which road he is taking? Ask the rabbit, or the Russian bear, if you can find one?

Ukrainian forces have been holding the line in Donbas since 2014, against Russian-backed separatists. Now they are struggling and still holding a 500 km front, but what was sporadic fighting then has now turned into a full-blown war. They’ve already lost ground to the Russians and are likely to lose more in the days ahead.

Has Russia learnt from, what war-experts called, its early mistakes? It is a fact that they’re now fighting on fewer fronts, and under a more seemingly unified command.

Meanwhile, Russia claims to have conquered the port city of Mariupol, but The Azovstal Steel and Iron Works has become the scene of a desperate last stand against Russia’s invading forces.

Azovstal was a major player on the global stage, producing 4 million tons of steel annually and exporting the majority across the globe. Now, its residents are showing they too are made of steel. And for weeks now, the world has been gripped by the battle raging over the steelworks on the coast of the Sea of Azov. A pocket of Ukrainian fighters entrenched at the plant has become a symbol of the country’s unwavering resistance in the face of an enemy that far outnumbers them.

Germany had come under severe criticism, that despite making the right sounds in the beginning it has failed to follow through with measurable action in helping Ukraine. Over the previous weeks the drumbeats had grown louder. And this week, Germany made two big announcements: First, Germany is sending about 50 Gepard Air-Defense Tanks to help Ukraine repel Russian attacks. Second, they’ll be training Ukrainian soldiers on German soil.

The Gepard Tank is a favourite among military experts due to the ease of use of the two-cannon flak setup, mounted on a Leopard tank chassis. And especially when one is looking for a no-frills defence against drones.

Russia is breathing out fire and fury with endless ‘will attack’ threats to those supplying arms and other assistance to Ukraine. To show it means business, this week Russia turned off the gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria. Russian energy giant Gazprom did it. In turn the European Union (EU) accused Russia of using energy to try to blackmail countries supporting Ukraine.

While this crazy war is being fought, ever thought about what’s happening to the refugees leaving Ukraine? The UN says that as of 25 April, more than 5.2 million people have left Ukraine. Refugees are also crossing to neighbouring countries to the west, mostly Poland which has taken in 2,922,978 refugees. Romania did 782,598 refugees, Hungary 496,914, Moldova 435,275, Slovakia 357,560, and the war-monger Russia itself has taken 614,318 refugees with its side-kick, Belarus doing 24,578.

At the end of the week, Putin had a ‘so-near, yet so far, ridiculously long table meeting’ with the United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, where he continued to rationalise his actions and ‘showed the wrong way to a place you cannot go’. The UN Chief returned with little hope of any imminent end to the war. Later in the week he also visited Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, to see first-hand the destruction caused by Russia. In the background Russian missiles whizzed past in a fresh attack. Is that a sign of belligerence?Wonder what the impotent UN will do: can it ever find its Cannon Balls?

The Sound of Macron

This Sunday, France voted to elect a new President and it wisely decided to love-back the incumbent President, Emmanuel Macron. Five years ago, Macron, a Centrist beat Marine Le Pen, a far-rightist, with 66% of the vote. Then at 39, he became France’s youngest leader, since Napoleon.

This time Macron beat the same Le Pen with a narrower margin of 58.5 to 41.5% and became the first French leader to get re-elected in two decades. But over 13 million people in France still voted for the far-right. And 28% of voters decided to stay home, the highest percent to abstain in over 50 years. That’s not something to sing about.

Macron has been trying to attract foreign businesses, set up carbon taxes, and reform France’s social programs. But, hundreds of thousands of protesters disagreed. To compound France’s problems COVID19 and inflation wrecked havoc on the economy and it seemed that the French were prepared to do what they do best: kick out incumbents to the sidewalk. But, this time, for a change, it did not.

Le Pen’s party’s previous leader (Le Pen’s father) infamously dismissed the Holocaust as a ‘detail’ of history. Le Pen pitched voters on a platform that was, anti-immigrant, pro-tax cuts, targets Muslims, and weakens the EU. She has also cozied up to Russian President Vladimir Putin. With her loss, the EU is breathing a sigh of relief. Le Pen conceded but is calling her gains, a ‘shining victory.’ Meanwhile, Macron acknowledged the anger of those who voted against him: needs to write better music!

Let’s recall the stuff that Macron is made-up of.

Emmanuel Macron is married to Brigitte Trogneux, 24 years his senior, and his former High School teacher. They met during a theatre workshop that she was conducting when he was a 15 years old student and she a 39 years old teacher. And he was also a classmate of Brigitte’s daughter, sharing a bench with her. The student and Teacher fell in love with each other, but they only became a couple once Macron turned 18- as the law would allow. His parents initially attempted to separate the couple by sending him away to Paris to finish the final year of his schooling, considering the inappropriateness of the relationship. However, the couple reunited after Macron graduated, and were married in 2007. Brigitte has three children from a previous marriage to a Banker, who she divorced. Macron has no children of his own and has lovingly taken up the role of being a step-father to Brigitte’s three children. One of his sons is older than Macron himself.

Macron is 44 going on 45 and Brigette is 68 going on 69 standing firm and rock solid behind her husband: needs someone older and wiser to tell him what to do for things beyond his ken… and to take care of him! That’s The Sound of Macron.

Tesla to Twitter

Elon Musk is one of the World’s best known Entrepreneur, investor, and business magnate. Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Company, Neuralink, and OpenAI are some of the remarkable, innovative companies he has founded, or co-founded. He is almost always flying on the headlines. Perhaps reason why he decided to build a nest by buying micro-blogging site,Twitter. Oh, I tweet a lot!

This week, Elon Musk clinched a deal to buy Twitter Inc. for USD 44 billion in a transaction that will shift control of the social media platform populated by millions of users and global leaders to the world’s richest person.

Welcome to a not so boring Twitter SpaceT?

India: Harmony, Squirrels, and Troubled Neighbours

Last week India’s Jahangirpuri, in Delhi, saw violence break out between Muslims and Hindus during a procession on the occasion of Hindu God, Hanuman’s Birthday. At the beginning of the week, in a bid to set things right and spread a message of peace and communal harmony, around 200 residents of Jahangirpuri took out a ‘Tiranga Yatra’ (National Flag march) in the area, with shops and houses in the locality hoisting the tricolour to commemorate the event. India has a knack of getting back together in accordance with the hues of the national flag. And it always works!

In the South of India in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur district, Kalimedu, eleven people including three children were electrocuted when a Temple Chariot-Car procession touched the overhead high-voltage power supply lines. Appears that the temple car -also carrying a mobile Electricity Generator-was negotiating a turn when it lost balance and touched the wires. The Temple car procession is an annual event and Authorities should know what’s ‘up ahead’. One of the reasons doing the rounds is the that the Temple car height always remaining the same, the height of the road was increased without scrapping the old one – a corrupt contractor at his worst. I call this gross negligence of the highest degree. Unforgivable.

Tamilnadu State is already reeling under unannounced power-cuts, when the Minister Incharge of Electricity spends time, wasting taxpayers money, singing hosannas to the Chief Minister’s Actor and Film Producer son in the Assembly. And at other times he blames ‘nutty’ Squirrels for eating the wires leading to power-cuts! Wow – it all depends on a Squirrel!

In Myanmar, the thuggish Military Junta is still busy plastering cases on deposed leader and Nobel laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi . Recall, she had led Myanmar for five years before being forced out of power in a military coup, in early 2021. This week a court sentenced Aung San Suu Kyi to five years in jail after finding her guilty in the first of 11 corruption cases against her. She has been charged with at least 18 offenses, which carry combined maximum jail terms of nearly 190 years, if found guilty.

In Sri Lanka people are on the streets calling for the Government to quit over the poor handling of the economy leading to the unprecedented crisis they are now facing. Trade Unions went on a strike asking the President to resign. However, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and brother Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa will go on, with 117 Members of Parliament pledging support to the Rajapaksa brothers. Last heard, the World Bank has agreed to provide Sri Lanka with USD 600 million to meet payment requirements for essential imports – with USD 400 million coming-in shortly!

More elected love stories will be squirrelled in the weeks to come. Teach well, vote for World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-15

About: the world this week, 10 April to 16 April 2022, of course Ukraine, a shooting in the USA, the virus in China, India flies a new plane and shows off its foreign policy, and the festivals we celebrate.

Everywhere

Ukraine

Surely, the hunger for Ukraine to survive and chase out the invader is much more than Russia trying to find nazis in Ukraine or blindly obey the orders of its maniac Boss. Whoever has the best reason and the passion to win the war will ultimately prevail. But the damage and destruction to man and material is monstrous. Will it be possible to resettle and rebuild again?

Russia has probably discovered that it is better to search for nazis in Russia itself. Russian troops seem to be gradually vacating areas cleverly made impregnable by a rock-solid and determined Ukraine. Russia is moving to the Eastern part where they think the chances of hatching some kind of a victory, besides finding hidden nazis, is better than an egg on the face!

Towards the end of the week one of Russia’s most important warships – the guided missile cruiser Moskva- the flag ship of its Black Sea Fleet was abandoned, and sank to settle down at the bottom of the Black Sea. It was destroyed by a cruise missile attack by Ukraine. This is a massive blow to Russia, which will be hard for it to accept. Ukraine said it effectively used the Neptune cruise missiles to attack Moskva and destroy the ship. And of course, Russia says an on-board ammunition explosion caused a fire, which ‘killed the ship’. Either way Russia has a serious problem.

Ukraine is trying to get control of the skies and believes it may decide the outcome of the war. History tells us that in the David versus Goliath Battle, David won. And there is nothing more powerful on Earth than a group of determined people fighting to stay alive. Every day, the stories of strength, heroism, and conviction coming out of Ukraine is overwhelming.

Despite all the noises the war rages on, and maybe it will stop when Russia decides – after being whacked by Ukraine, on land, sea, and the air. And never capable of admitting it.

United States of America

The shootings are back with a bang. At least 16 people were injured – five in critical condition- in a shooting at a subway station in Brooklyn, New York. The shooting happened this Tuesday during the morning rush hour. The attacker showed a clean pair of heels, fleeing the crime scene immediately after the attack.

Police say, the incident is not being investigated as an act of terrorism. And a motive is yet to be established.

Later in the week, Police arrested a Frank R James, 62, accused of the shooting carnage. James had set off smoke grenades in a commuter packed sub-way car and then fired 33 shots with a 9 mm handgun.

Police found him – on a tip-off – at a McDonald’s outlet in Manhattan’s East Village neighbourhood. James was gone when police arrived, but they soon spotted him at a busy corner nearby, when Police cars zoomed-in, Officers leapt out, and soon had him ‘peacefully’ handcuffed.

In recent months, James has railed in online videos about racism and violence in the US and about his experience with mental health care in New York City. Some pointers there, and the reasons need to be unravelled.

Pakistan

This week, Pakistan’s Parliament elected Shehbaz Sharif as its new Prime Minister (PM) following the ouster of PM Imran Khan, in a vote of no confidence. Earlier Imran Khan fended-off every kind of fast, swing, and spin bowling before being declared out due to a decision by the Third Umpire who went strictly by the Rule Book aka The Constitution. Team Imran – Members of Parliament of Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Party – resigned en masse, boycotting the election of the new PM.

Shebaz Sharif is the younger brother of three-time PM Nawaz Sharif. He is the president of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) – ’N’ for Nawaz Sherif the founder- party. Previously, he served as the Chief Minister of Punjab three times, making him the longest-serving Chief Minister of Punjab.

The Government will hopefully stay in place until August 2023, when general elections are due. Until then, anything can happen. And no PM had ever completed a full five-year term in Pakistan’s 75 years history. Maybe a handful more of PMs lying up ahead?

China

The strangulating lockdown in China’s City of Shanghai continues from the beginning of last week. Shanghai is battling one of China’s biggest outbreaks since the coronavirus first came into being in the city of Wuhan about 800 km to the west. This week, on Thursday, cases touched a new high of 27,000 nos.

With the strictest ever curbs, millions in the city are increasingly frustrated, confined inside their homes, struggling to get daily supplies, with reports of shortage of essential items including medical supplies, doing the rounds. For many, their patience has worn thin and is likely to burst, spilling contents all over China.

Meanwhile, the World better keep a watch on what China eats for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

India

India Flies

This week, the first ever ‘Made in India’ civil Dornier aircraft took to the air and successfully kept its flight path: the plan is that it will provide connectivity to remote towns of northeast India. This is being described as a significant landmark in India’s aviation history.

The 17 seat, Dornier 228 Aircraft undertook the commercial flight from Assam’s Dibugarh to Arunachal Pradesh’s Pasighat on 12th April, taking the Ministers in the Government for a safe ride in the path-breaking flight.

The Dornier is manufactured by India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited with technology transfer from Germany, which owns the original Dornier.

India’s New James Bond

India’s External Affairs Minister (EAM) is doing his Job with flying colours taking India’s Foreign Policy to new independent heights and connectivity. He even earned praise from Pakistan’s now ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan who said that India has a strong, independent Foreign Policy. And nobody can dictate to India.

On India’s ‘warm energy’ relationship with Russia, EAM Jaishankar said that those who are looking at India’s energy purchases from Russia would be better served if they turned their attention to Europe. He said, “We do buy energy that is necessary of your energy security. But I suspect, looking at the figures, probably our total purchases for the month would be less than what Europe does in an afternoon. So, you may want to think about that”.

With that kind of energy levels, later in the week, though a wee bit slow on the draw, Jaishankar came out with all guns firing. When United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said that the US is worried about India’s Human Rights Record, Jaishankar slightly lifted-up his cowboy hat and said that India too is concerned about US’s human rights record. ‘I would tell you that we also take our views on other people’s human rights situation, including that of the United States”.

In the South of India, in the dirt trails of the olden days, when movie Superstars such as M G Ramachandaran (MGR) and Shivaji Ganesan ruled the silver screen of Tamil Nadu cinema, there was another contemporary, a handsome actor called Jaishankar, who, though could not compete with the two big stars, did soft romantic and action movies and earned his badge as the ‘James Bond of Tamil cinema’. Jaishankar even did Western type cowboy-horse-gun movies and grew his spurs.

Now, I know the name Jaishankar can make a big punch and fire a gun –It has a history, mind it!

Please Yourself

This week a cornucopia of Festivals are being celebrated or were celebrated in India and across the World, and as a friend of mine who works in NASA said in a forwarded message, listing the many festivals: ‘divided by race / religion, but let’s stay united as one mankind’.

We have: Ramadan fasting underway; Ram Navami – Lord Rama’s Birthday, Good Friday – commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the ultimate sacrifice for our sins; Cheti Chand- arrival of spring and harvest and new year for Sindhi Hindus; Vaisakhi/Baisakhi – harvest, again; Puthandu-Tamil New Year’s Day; Chaitra Navratri Parana-the day following which new beginnings can be undertaken…Festivals remind us of the goodness in each one of us: let’s put it to great use by shrinking our differences and expanding our agreements.

More festivals and tales shooting up in the weeks ahead. Shield yourself with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-14

About: the world this week,3 April 2022 to 9 April 2022, India all the way-beginning to the end, a massacre in Ukraine, the Genetic Code, the virus-again, and the Grammy Awards.

Everywhere

India Musings

It suddenly dawns upon you that India is living in a mighty dangerous neighbourhood – in an ocean infested with sharks of every kind, as if it were, but with ‘one pod of happy dolphins’ in one small corner. And thanks to the great Himalayas in the north and the oceans in the south, India has some height and depth of protection, at least in some dimensions.

Pakistan split decades ago into the present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh, and they predominantly occupy the west and the east of India. While Pakistan tries its best to constantly be at war with India, Bangladesh is only slightly better -almost a friend- but both countries have shaky Governments of various degrees and leaders who rarely last an elected term.

Look at the present political turmoil spinning in Pakistan: the Deputy Speaker threw out a non-confidence motion, brought up by the opposition parties, as illegal, and the Prime Minister rushed to advise the President to dissolve the National Assembly and quickly announce fresh elections. It almost worked, but Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled the Deputy Speaker’s action as a no-ball -unconstitutional-and restored the status quo. And now the sitting Prime Minister, Imran Khan, will have to face a no-confidence motion; may be sent back to the pavilion and replaced with a new one, until the next twist, at the next bend. I was awfully surprised that rules are being applied in Pakistan. And the Courts are beginning to see and read them well. Hail the Constitution!

In the Himalayan north, years ago, Nepal took a painful, tumultuous, tortuous path to its present Federal Democratic Republic status. This was after the massacre in the Royal family which killed King Birendra and the Crown Prince leading to his ‘unfit’ brother Gyanendra inheriting the throne in the 2000’s. During the 1990s dozens of short-lived governments walked in and out. And Nepal is infamous for perennial instability primarily- a signature tune- because of personal disputes among its leaders rather than policy disputes. ‘Nepali Politics is disgusting’ said a Nepali.

Nearby Bhutan looks steady, having changed from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. King Jigme Singye Wangchuck transferred most of his administrative powers to a Council of Ministers and allowed impeachment of the King himself by a two-thirds majority vote in parliament. In recent times, Bhutan has been continually ranked as the happiest country in all of Asia.

Myanmar is under bloody military rule, for over a year now, with the Junta having over-thrown a democratically elected government. It generated and fuelled the Rohingya crisis and seems to have forgotten how to hand back power to the people. It keeps piling up cases on its famous Nobel Peace Prize winning prisoner-who failed to make best of an opportunity, when it mattered.

Nearby Sri Lanka is falling apart economically. Years ago it was devastated by a fight for freedom by the minority Tamil population, with a ‘militant beast division’ hijacking the cause and having to be militarily eliminated. This time it’s bad governance and ‘militant’ mismanagement of the economy.

Maldives, in the Indian Ocean, appears to be riding a good wave ever since the current President, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was sworn into Office in November 2018, for a five-year term, on the strength of a massive election victory. And it looks like he is upto the task of holding and keeping the Government afloat.

For many years Maldives surfed in political turmoil with everybody trying to overthrow everybody else, including mercenaries from far away lands. And even the water is trying to overthrow the Government.India was called to help flush out the dirt many a time-talk about draining the sump! A paradise lost: a paradise regained?

In contrast to all its neighbours India is standing tall, splendidly, with a thriving noisy democracy, despite parochial State Chieftains (trumpeting their stock origins) looking for every opportunity to widen fault lines for their selfish gains. Ever wondered how India does it? Staying fit with yoga?

Ukraine: The Bucha Massacre

This week the gruesome killings in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha traumatised the world to the very depth of its soul. The murder of scores of civilians, as much as 300, was uncovered after Russian troops withdrew from the Kyiv suburb.

On the grounds of a church was an open mass grave with the dead still inside and some in body bags, poking out in the loose graveyard sand. Houses have been bombed and found caved in by Russian shelling with the driveways ploughed over by tanks. The streets were littered with bodies with hands tied behind and obviously tortured and shot dead. It was a horrific sight.

The Pope stepped in, condemning the massacre in Bucha. He kissed a Ukrainian flag and cried for the war to be stopped, the weapons to fall silent and to stop the sowing of death and destruction. He also called the helpless situation as ‘Impotency of the United Nations’. Rightfully so.

After the failure of the League of Nations in preventing World War II, the United Nations (UN) came into being with the sole lofty aim of ‘preventing wars’. Sadly wars have only been increasing while various other arms of the UN are winning Nobel Prizes and awards in doing many other jobs extremely well-except preventing war! A snake which never had fangs at all? What next, we disband the UN and start a brand new ‘Union of Countries’ with super poisonous fangs and an ability to act as true deterrent to war?

Whatever, late this week, finally, in a small step, Russia was suspended from the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) due to its unjust invasion of Ukraine and colossal human rights violations. This happened with a two-thirds majority voting and the usual countries, including India, abstaining.

The only other country suspended from the HRC was Libya in March 2011.

Towards the end of the week, a Russian strike in Kramatorsk Railway station killed many civilians including children: thousands of people were waiting for evacuation at the railway station when the Russians attacked. The Russian barbarism continues and something has to be done about it. What about the millions of refugees fleeing war-torn areas? How and where will they be accommodated? That’s a gargantuan challenge in itself (a friend of mine-a monk on a Parikrama, who bought a Maruthi Suzuki Baleno car to ride-called me a few days ago, from Shimla, to remind me).

The capital Kyiv is gathering its feet after the exit of the Russians. And that brings some hope.

The Genetic Code

This week, Scientists announced they have finally finished mapping the human genome – what is called, the genetic code. Mapping first started in 1990, and by the early 2000s researching scientists had sequenced a whopping 92%. Now, the last bit of 8% is done. With such an in-depth look into our very insides, we should be able to better understand human biology. It could also pave the way to greater medical discoveries. And even ‘leave the door to be pushed open’ to individualised medicine.

‘We are’ the World!

The Circulating Virus

This week America’s Centre of Disease Control (CDC) announced that ‘BA.2’, the highly transmissible Omicron variant is now dominant in the United States, making up nearly 55% of new cases. Globally too, this is the dominant variant in circulation. The announcement came as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized an optional second booster shot for people 50 years and above. The CDC is yet to officially recommend it, but is telling anyone who qualifies for such a dose, to consider getting shot with it.

Back to the country where it all started. This week Chinese authorities enforced a lockdown in China’s largest city, Shanghai: the partial lockdown of the previous week was extended to cover all areas of the financial centre. This despite growing anger over quarantine rules where latest test results show only about 268 symptomatic daily COVID19 cases. The broader lockdown came after testing saw asymptomatic COVID19 cases surge to more than 13,000.

This means more than 26 million residents will stay put indoors. Chinese officials described the outbreak as ‘extremely grim’ and sent tens of thousands of healthcare workers to help contain infections in the city, including military personnel.

Overall, some 23 Chinese cities are under total or partial lockdown. And we thought we saw the end of COVID19? Hang on!

Sri Lanka Woes

This week, the island country’s economic crisis only got worse and an emergency was declared to curtail violent protests against the hapless condition. The entire cabinet of the Government resigned, and a newly appointed Finance Minister quit after just one day in office. I reckon he had no food for thought? And perhaps he wisely decided he is incapable of finding food for others. This was just ahead of crucial talks with the International Monetary Fund for a loan programme.

Towards the end of the week President Gotabaya Rajapaksa revoked the emergency but the real emergency of life continues. The Government is working on patching together a crack team-good with the finance numbers-to find a way out. Better late than never?

The Grammys Song

Time for some music, to shake a leg, at the end of a barbaric week.

The 64th Grammy Awards Function was held on 3rd April, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, United States, hosted by Trevor Noah-the South African Comedian, Television Host, Actor, and Political Commentator.

The Grammy for the Best Album was won by Jon Batiste for ‘We Are’. The best Pop Duo/ Group Performance was won by Deja Cat for ‘Kiss Me More’ – go ahead and kiss the cat more!

The Grammy for the Best New Artiste went to Olivia Rodrigo who had a ‘good 4 u’ music start this year. She also won Grammys for Best Pop Solo performance for her song, ‘Drivers License’, and Best Pop Vocal Album for ‘Sour’. Her on-stage driving was put to a real test, when racing about she dropped a Grammy Gramophone causing it to break, but before the incident could ‘sour’, it was tinkered and repaired – hope she’s ok?

Silk Sonic won Record of the Year and Best Song of the Year for ‘Leave the Door Open’. Yes, it’s better we do that, otherwise who gets to hear the song if the doors are closed.

The Grammy for the Best Country Song went to Chris Stapleton for ‘Cold’ and also best Album for ‘Starting Over’. The Best Rock Song, and Album went to Foo Fighters for ‘Waiting on a War’-I wonder whether they meant the Russia-Ukraine war was coming. Best rap song went to Kanye West for ‘Jail’-most of us know who to ‘put-in jail’ don’t we?

Indian-American singer Falguni Shah, aka Falu, won best Children’s Music Album for ‘A Colourful World’. A Child’s world is indeed colourful – including the black & white!

Falu is known for her modern inventive style with a formidable Indian classical shaped vocal talent. She had trained in Hindustani Classical in the Jaipur Gharana musical tradition and in the Benares style of Thumri under Kaumudi Munshi and semi-classical from Uday Mazumdar. She also studied under the legendary Indian classical vocalist, Kishori Amonkar and must have rubbed off a lot from her. It showed!

More musical stories coming up in the weeks ahead. Play the Gramophone with World Inthavaaram. And don’t break it.

This is my Blog where I essay stories on life about and around me, on subjects that stir and shake me up, as I turn, and make life's pages count: hoping to inspire you to live your own story!

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The Grammys Song

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