Tag: India

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2021-42

About: the world this week, 10 October to 16 October 2021, education in Afghanistan, wide-eyed America, a quiver full of arrows, a stabbing, lots of India, a Nobel Prize, star trekking, and a stunning Sinhala song.

Everywhere

World

Afghanistan was becoming quite silent when a suicide bomb blast in a mosque in Kandahar late this week, and another one, the week before, rocked the country. The former was deadly, killing at least 37 people, in a place of worship. I was beginning to think that the silence was a time to reflect and get the country back on track. And maybe Afghanistan was growing a beard and looking to cover-up as many things as it could (One of my favourite, worn-thin expressions is, ‘it’s so silent I can hear my beard growing’).

The Taliban’s Religious Police have been instructed to be more moderate-wonder what that means in Taliban land-but vulnerable Afghans say brutal justice is still being meted out and blood flows easily. It’s almost a month since the Taliban ban on girls returning to secondary school in Afghanistan took effect and millions of teenage girls across the country are unable to return to their classrooms. In what is a tragic exclusion, they continue to be deprived of an education. Is not right to education a fundamental human right?

America appears to be getting crazier by the week. To give an example: the Governor of Texas – of the Republican Party opposed to the ruling Democratic Party – on Monday, issued an executive order banning all state entities from enforcing vaccine mandates, the latest escalation in resistance to public health measures during the pandemic. The order also included private employers. The Governor’s argument is that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and the best defence against the virus, but should remain voluntary and never forced. This is using a lousy definition of freedom, and deploying politics, to fight a pandemic, instead of science.

Keeping up the act in America, removing a condom without consent – called stealthing – is now illegal, and signed into law, in the State of California. This brings attention to nonconsensual condom removal during sex. This is the first law of its kind in the United States and gives victims a legal avenue to sue perpetrators in a civil court for damages. Advocates of the law said it highlights ‘the importance of consent’, and sex-workers, who are most impacted by stealthing, applauded the measure. Wow, that’s a new word that has been rubbed-in this week: keep the word in mind, when you have the rubber in your hands or in the right place!

The winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics – not really called a Nobel- was announced on Sunday. They are, David Card, ‘for his empirical contributions to labour economics’ – he played his cards well: gets one half of the prize amount; and Joshua D Angrist and Guido W Imbens, ‘for their methodological contributions to the analysis of causal relationships’ – they share the second half of the prize money, in a casual relationship building exercise. Lots of economics out there! I’m but a David in a Goliath of Economics:do these head-spinning equations actually work!

China’s renewed assertiveness at the Himalayan border with India is getting worrisome. Thirteen rounds of high-level military talks aimed at easing tensions has achieved little and with the deadly winter looming ahead it’s becoming increasingly frosty on both sides. The standoff, which at times has exploded into deadly clashes along the about 3,490 km Border – the Line of Actual Control (LAC) – is now in its 17th month. India has moved more troops into the area and so has China. And the relationship between the world’s two most populated countries is at its nadir. Can it sink further? It’s a wait and watch ‘shifting’ border at the moment.

Norway

This Wednesday, a man with a bow and a quiver full of arrows, slung on his shoulder, moved about, over a period of half an hour, in several locations in the Norwegian Town of Kongsberg shooting at people. He killed four women and one man, all aged 50 to 70 years and seriously injured two, including an off-duty policeman.

Police were quick to arrest the suspect, a 37 year old Danish citizen, who lives in the town of about 28,000 people. The suspect appears to have been acting alone and the reasons behind the bow and arrow shooting are being investigated. His actions are suspected to be an outcome of some kind of religious radicalisation. It is also being talked about as an act of terrorism.

This is the first such incident in a long time in Norway. In August 2019, a man stormed an Oslo mosque armed with guns before being overpowered. That year, the country’s intelligence service reported that right-wing terrorism was on the rise globally, and warned that the country would likely be targeted in the near future. Going further back, in July 2011, Norwegian far-right extremist Anders Behring Brevik killed 77 people, many of them teenagers, in a bomb attack and gun rampage. He was sentenced to 21 years in prison, the maximum possible term in Norway.

Mass killings are rare in low-crime Norway and the incident arrowed back almost forgotten memories.

United Kingdom

A ‘political surgery’ or constituency surgery, in British politics, is a series of one-to-one meetings that a Member of Parliament (MP) holds with his constituents to give people an opportunity to meet him and discuss matters of concern – to find solutions.

This Friday, Conservative Party MP, Sir David Amess, 69, representing Southend West, was holding one such surgery at the Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex when he was attacked and stabbed several times. He was treated by emergency services but died at the scene. A 25 years old man was quickly arrested after Police arrived at the scene on suspicion of murder.

Sir David served as an MP for 38 years and was knighted in the 2015 New Year’s Honours List for political and public service. He was known politically as a social conservative, a prominent campaigner against abortion, a committed campaigner on animal welfare issues, and supported a ban on fox hunting. He was a Brexit supporter and vocal champion for the town he represented, particularly in his long-running campaign to make Southend a city.

Every week brings a new kind of violence and law enforcement across the World is becoming on helluva challenging job. We need to get better with it – there is no other way. Or, do we need to get back to school and re-educate ourselves?

India

One of India’s movie superstars Shah Rukh Khan is spending sleepless nights in his vast mansion, in Mumbai. This follows the arrest of his son by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), on 3 October, after drugs were seized from a rave Party on a Goa bound cruise, where the son was an invitee. The Courts have denied him bail after the NCB established sufficient evidence for the arrest. The superstar will require all the ‘Mannat’ and superpowers to get his son back home – to the safety of his room.

Meanwhile, this Monday, India’s indefatigable Prime Minister (PM) launched the Indian Space Association (ISpA) with the objective of making India a global leader in commercial space-based excursions… and milking the Milky Way. The Virgins, the Musks, and the Amazons, beware!

The stakeholders in the Association include Government bodies such as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Bharat Electronics Limited, and private business heavyweights such as Bharti Airtel, the Tata’s, Larson & Toubro, MapMyIndia, OneWeb, Walchandnagar Industries, Ananth Technology Limited, Azista-BST Aerospace Private Limited, Alpha Design Technologies, Godrej, Huges India, Centum Electronics, and Maxar India. Get ready for a ride to Space?

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected India becoming the fasting growing, post-pandemic Economy, in the World, with GDP(Gross Domestic Product) growth expected to be 8.3% in 2021 and 9.6% in 2022 – readjusted to the calendar year. Perhaps, with this in mind the Prime Minister launched the PM’s Gati (Speed) Shakti (Power) Scheme – a National Masterplan for Infrastructure, for multi-modal connectivity – on 13 October. It aims to bring together sixteen Ministries and seven core infrastructure sectors, on a single platform to synergise project planning across ministries to avoid duplication, plug gaps, and expedite clearances. It will act a multi-modal connectivity platform and will ensure seamless movement of goods and people, cutting logistic costs, increasing cargo handling capacity and reducing the turnaround time. This way, the infrastructure schemes of various ministries and state governments will be designed and executed with a common vision. Further, the tax-payers money will be put to better use, which in the past was ‘insulted’ through a lethargic approach to development work, with departments working in silos and there being no coordination between projects.

The way I see it: Someone lays the road, someone else digs it up for laying power cables; someone else digs it up again for laying telecom cables; someone digs it up yet again for laying internet cables; someone digs it up again for laying water supply lines; someone digs it up yet again for laying sewage and drainage lines, all staggered with yawning gaps for obtaining permissions. Finally, you have everything but a road. I hope, all this is done at one time by ‘one someone’, and this is what the Gati Sakthi means!

Please Yourself

Most of us must have watched, or heard about ‘Star Trek’, the TV Series and the movie series, as well. Many must have grown up with it. It follows the voyages of the starship USS Enterprise built by the United Federation of Planets, in the 23rd century, with a mission ‘to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before’. Commander Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy and Captain James T. Kirk played by William Shatner are memorable characters in the original series.

After all the years of reel acting and living in a dream space craft, Actor William Shatner, now 90 years old, finally got his real chance to actually fly into Space – well, almost. This week he endured a 10 minute, rocket-powered ride to the edge of space in a suborbital space tourism rocket built by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin. And became the oldest person ever to travel to space withstanding those g-forces and experiencing weightlessness. Anybody can become an Astronaut. Age is only a number, ask Captain Kirk!

I’ve always liked William Shatner’s role as the ‘becoming-eccentric-and-senile’ Denny Crane in the TV Series Boston Legal and enjoyed his ‘Balcony musings’ sitting with protégée Alan Shore over many drinks, overlooking the City of Boston.

Now, over to some kind of music.

Ever since I heard Yohani & Satheeshan’s adorable, bewitching, and hummable Sinhala song, Manike Mage Hithe… which broke the internet after its re-launch in May 2021, I have asked many, during start-up conversations, whether they’ve heard the song. While the oldies threw a blank white-screen look, the young ones lighted up in technicolour: caught the tune and came out grooving to the song. And a six year old girl even reeled out the lyrics with amazing ease.

The song is a ballad about a man’s admiration for a woman: her character and beauty, and how close she is to his heart. Yohani’s soprano tone, Satheeshan’s rap, and the engaging music, are highlights of the infectious song, which leaves an indelible impression on the mind.Music knows no boundaries…and there are no China Walls or borders! Mind it!

More star treks coming up in the weeks ahead. Stay with World Inthavaaram: I’ve been telling my stories -without a break-for over a year, with this post!

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2021-33

About: the world this week, 8 August to 14 August 2021, irreversible changes, running out of Greek letters, the end of the Tokyo Olympics, New York, and India’s stuck Parliament.

Everywhere

My maid who helps with the cooking and house-keeping returned after a month long hiatus babysitting her just-born second grandson. After a few days with the pots and pans, she took a quick break to attend the Baby Shower of her close relative. It’s gonna be a boy she beamed, on returning. A customer dropped in to our store yesterday. Her daughter had married early this year-we had done the bridal dresses-and she is already in the family way. It’s gonna be a boy – I can guess from the ‘dark look’ of her face, she said, with bright knowledge lines written all over her own face.

A doctor friend dropped by for an evening chat, and we discussed, among other things, the booming baby boy-boom and wondered what could be the reason. Perhaps, Climate Change is to blame – easy? Wow! That’s my next story.

Irreversible

Over the past few months we have witnessed weird weather stories bursting around the world: the Americas, North Africa, and Europe saw deadly heat waves and wildfires – America met with a lot of hurricanes; Asia saw pluvial floods and landslides caused by extreme rainfall; Australia too saw lots of water and we read stories of snakes, mice, and spiders spreading all over dry land.

We have become clever enough to acknowledge that climate change is widespread, rapid, and intensifying. That’s exactly the key finding of the latest scientific report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It finds changes in the Earth’s climate in every region and across the whole climate system. Many changes are unprecedented in thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years. Some, such as a continued sea-level rise, are irreversible. That’s a great word pregnant with meaning. More boys tumbling out?

What do we do? The only way is to do whatever is required for sustained reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Benefits for air quality would come quickly, while global temperatures would take 20 to 30 years to stabilize.

The IPCC was created in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as an organization of Governments that are members of the United Nations or WMO. It currently has 195 members. The IPCC has the objective of providing Governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies. It’s reports are also a key input into international climate change negotiations.

That’s a code red alert on climate change. And ‘it promises’ that things will only get worse unless nations of the Earth get their heads out of the clouds and start on an action plan at the soonest.

More Greek

The Coronavirus is still as bold as ever and surging in the United States, especially in the Sunshine State of Florida. That thing called the Delta Variant is shining the most, but other variants are on the prowl and looking to grab a throat-hold on defenceless passers-by. Please Get Vaccinated.

India is doing good bringing down the cases to around 30,000 per day, but the State of Kerala is an outlier owning more than the 50% cases of all India. Once it was was on a different league altogether, a Model worth emulating across the country, but then they have swing to the other extreme end – not worth liking or sharing, at all!

Following up on his announcement, last month, to get people into the vaccination mode, French President Emmanuel Macron introduced a Health Pass in France. Starting on 9 August 2021, French citizens will have to show proof of vaccination, immunity, or negative COVID-19 test for outdoor activities such as, riding on trains, dining in restaurants, and going to various kinds of venues. While post-announcement the vaccination rates did rise up considerably, it in turn brought more than 230,000 people – anarchists, far-right activists, and anti-vaxxers – across France on to the streets to protest the Health Pass. It is now a fourth straight weekend of demonstrations. Many have decried the Health Pass as a violation of freedom and Government overreach.

France is not alone, with Italy and Germany also having faced similar protests. While health experts are driving themselves to bring the virus under control, many others are finding fault lines, to nudge open.

In these weekly posts, I often worried that variants of the coronavirus could outnumber the 24 letters of the Green Alphabet. Well, The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Technical Chief of COVID-19, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, seems to have heard me. The WHO is already looking at new names for mutations amid fears there will be more variants trying to get past out steadily improving defences. Star Constellations are the front runners to take over the baton in what is turning out to be a relay race. And we could see variants known as Aries, Gemini… Greeks Gods and Goddesses have also been lined-up, but they are being discussed with the Gods themselves – copyright issues!

Thus far, 11 mutations have been named: four ‘variants of concern’, including the infamous Delta, and Beta; four ‘variants of interest’, such as Eta and Lambda; some which have since been downgraded, on losing the spike momentum and fizzling out, such as Epsilon, Zeta, and Theta.

I reckon that by the time the pandemic turns endemic we could all be full of the Greek Alphabet and the Stars in our heads! And surely we don’t want to think beyond the Greek, should we?

Curtains on The Tokyo Olympics 2020

The Olympic Fire is out in the cauldron, with the Games coming to an end on 8 August 2021. The United States (US) won the most number of medals, 113 (and most gold, 39), followed by China, Britain, Japan.

Tokyo 2020 saw world records broken in 24 events, with swimmers and rowers making the most breakthroughs, shattering six world records each. Four world records were broken in weightlifting and three in athletics and cycling track events.

With no spectators being allowed in the vast majority of the venues, the Organisers resorted to digital engagement to create an atmosphere which made athletes feel they were not alone. A cheer wall was established in the stadiums with more than 250 million videos coming from different corners of the world, supporting athletes from their National Olympic Committees.

Tokyo 2020 social posts have generated more than 4.7 billion engagements, with the majority of them happening during the Games time.

Twenty-seven year old Australian swimmer Emma McKeon’s seven medals (4 gold and 3 bronze) win, stood-up as the most among all athletes in the Tokyo Olympics.

Some US highlights are: track star Allyson Felix is now the most decorated US track and field athlete in Olympic history; Caeleb Dressel took home the most gold medals with five victories from men’s 50m and 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle and medley relay. He is the most successful male swimmer in the pool in Tokyo; the US women’s basketball team won its seventh gold medal in a row.

After decades of trying, India finally won a Gold medal in Athletics with Neeraj Chopra throwing a winning distance of 87.58 metres, in the Javelin event. Neeraj is only the second Indian athlete ever to win individual Olympic gold. Indians are traditional javelin/spear throwers and finally it’s showing, why not?

India ended the Olympics with its best ever haul of 7 medals and while Indians were enthralled, it rained cash and goodies on the medal winners.

On COVID-19, it’s not clear that the Games served as the super-spreader event as many in Japan had feared.

The Summer Paralympics will be held between 24 August and 5 September 2021, 16 days after the completion of the Olympics.

Up next: The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, kicking off in February.

I would give a huge Gold Medal to Japan for fearlessly conducting the Games. Keep it up Japan.

See you in Paris 2024.

New York and America

With the Olympics having concluded and the weightlifting events having different winners, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo gave up lifting weights on the sexual harassment charges. Of course, he thought about this three daughters and their future and said he will resign in two weeks. A new Governor – in a first, a woman – New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, is getting ready to pick-up the broom and clean-up the toxic environment. Good luck to her.

Keeping the story running on the United States, its decision to quit Afghanistan is turning out to be disastrous, as the very Taliban they sought to annihilate are making a ferocious comeback. The Afghanistan Army that America nurtured and trained for over a decade is unable to offer resistance and Towns and Cities are being flooded with the Taliban. Another Climate Change effect?

India’s Parliament

While climate change induced fires engulfed many countries, India’s Upper House-Rajya Sabha, and Lower House-Lok Sabha, of Parliament, saw Opposition Party fire freeze serious business leading to a lock-jam for most of this Monsoon season. This was to protest alleged snooping by the Government on its citizens and a demand to repeal already passed laws. The Chairman of the Upper House tried to douse the fire with his tears – but such clouded thinking didn’t work. He should have called for Hercules to divert River Yamuna to fight the fires – and clean-up as well.

More herculean and fighting stories coming up in the weeks ahead. Stay locked to World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2021-07

About: This is the news ‘boxed in the ring’ this week, in our World. And it’s a week loaded with looks. Look inside.

Everywhere

Everywhere I see lots of unrest and turmoil. Humans are perhaps becoming impatient and trying to grow in various dimensions at the same time. Is it the age of impunity? It seems to be spreading and non-accountability is going viral. Authoritarianism is the new normal. According to the latest, The Economist Survey, only 8.4% of the world’s population live in a fully functioning democracy, while more than a third live under authoritarian rule – and it is getting worse. Look at Russia’s Putin – the Underpants Poisoner, look at Myanmar – the House Arrestor, look at Afghanistan – the Home of Taliban, look at the oldest of them all, North Korea – the Lost Kingdom. Look at China, where the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has been banned this week over said to be spreading ‘fake news’, look at various African Regimes, and look at the Desert Countries. Why, look at what happened in America’s Capitol Hill, the trial of the second impeachment of the ex-President is underway. And we are looking to colonise the Moon! Somebody must be waiting for us, over there, with a lasso?

Once in a while, some fresh breezes do blow especially in deserts, maybe a fragrance. I talked about Saudi Arabia’s Activist Loujain al-Hathloul, in World Inthavaaram, 2020-45

https://kumargovindan.wordpress.com/2020/11/07/world-inthavaaram-2020-45/

This week she was finally freed, after spending 1,000 days in jail. Welcome back, hope to see her driving soon – she was responsible for women in Saudi Arabia being given the steering wheel, to drive a car! Something anywhere in the world women would take for granted.

Going back to Afghanistan, I liked this quote by Afghanistan Vice President Saleh, ‘We welcome the decision of the Biden administration to review US policy on Afghanistan with wide eyes and open ears.

Wow, we ought to look at this World this week, with wide eyes and open ears. And closed mouths?

Boxing Champions

Remember Boxing Champion Leon Spinks? He died last Friday, aged 67, in Las Vegas, USA. He beat the great Mohammad Ali in a stunning split-decision verdict to win the undisputed Boxing Heavyweight Title, in a 15 round fight, in 1978, at the age of 25. After the win, he famously said, “I’m not the greatest, just the latest.” Of course, later, the greatest beat the latest, again – Mohammad Ali beat Spinks in a rematch.

Spinks won the light heavyweight division gold at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. His brother, Michael Spinks, who would later become heavyweight champion himself, won the middleweight gold.

I can recall Leon Spinks with that big grin, often showing off his gap-front teeth. He had an easygoing personality, with a ‘well-developed, muscular’ drinking habit, and naturally, drank all his earnings. And for a time after retirement, cleaned locker rooms in YMCA, Nebraska.

Leon Spinks had been married thrice. He married his current wife, Brenda Glur, in 2011. He lived in Las Vegas and had three sons – one shot to death in 1990 and another son, Cory, becoming a Boxing Champion.

Spinks was part of a group of ex-fighters who had their brains studied for Brain Health. And was found to have brain damage and shrinkage, caused by a combination of taking punches to the head and heavy drinking.

’Boxing, and Drinking is a dangerous combination – inside the ring, and outside the ring!

Sighting an Outbreak: Dr. Li Wenliang

While we are surely climbing out of the coronavirus epidemic – at least in India – that locked down our lives, physically distanced, and masked us over the past one year, there’s one person we should remember and be ever thankful to: Dr. Li Wenliang, an eye doctor working at a hospital in Wuhan, Central China, where the first case of the coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, was detected at the end of the year 2019. Did he have a special sight, I wonder?

Right now there is a United Nations team ‘looking around’ the Wuhan area trying to find out how it all began.

Dr. Li was the first to raise the alarm on the outbreak and had tried to warn fellow medics of a disease that looked like SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which is another deadly coronavirus. But he was told by the Police to stop making false comments and was even investigated for spreading rumours. Eventually, Dr. Li himself succumbed to COVID-19 on 7th February 2019, after contracting it while treating patients in Wuhan. And this week we are at his first death Anniversary. A year gone by looking-out for the virus.

Dr. Li’s death prompted a rare wave of grief and public anger over the Chinese Government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak – downplaying the severity and concealing the extent of its spread. Later, in another rare instance, the Chinese Government, looked, listened, felt the anger, exonerated and honoured Dr. Li as a hero.

Public anger over a ‘clearly visible poor sight’ by the Government can always make corrections happen. And we should always be on the look-out of vital-signs of a disease outbreak – never take a myopic view of infectious diseases. Long sight is the answer. Lesson to learn. Looking helps!

The Glaciers Are Coming

Over many years, we’ve been hearing about the possible effects of Antarctica Glaciers melting, and raising sea levels. Without having to go that far, this week near Chamoli, in the North Indian State of Uttarakhand Himalayan Glaciers broke away from the bonding forces of nature – maybe due to mankind’s climate change needling – named itself a deluge, became a devastating avalanche of water. It bursted into the nearest valley river stream, effortlessly smashing its way through a hydro-electric Dam, flooding villages and small Towns, downstream. Dozens of people are missing and many feared dead.

The exact cause of the ‘burst’ is unclear and Scientists are trying to ascertain what triggered the Glacier to break-away. A 2019 study found that Himalayan Glaciers are melting twice as fast as the last century, losing almost half a metre of ice each year.

However small, our actions do influence something large somewhere in the world? Here we are talking about Glaciers and Avalanches.

India’s Prime Minister (PM): when he speaks you better listen.

India’s Parliament Houses, the Upper, Rajya Sabha and the Lower, Lok Sabha witnessed one of the best performances by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who made lucid and absolutely stirring speeches.

In the Rajya Sabha he defended the Government’s progressive Policies and clearly explained the Farm Laws to dissuade Farmers from continuing with their Protests of the past two months. He also shed tears for an outgoing Opposition Member, who was retiring, praising his work done over the many years of slogging in Parliament.

In the Lok Sabha, replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Speech, he pitched for the private sector asserting that the culture of abusing it for votes is no longer acceptable. If the public sector is important the private sector is vital. I liked him using the word ‘Wealth Creators’, who he said are required to redistribute wealth among the poor. What can be achieved by handing over the nation to the ‘babus’ (Government Officials)?

I read this on Twitter and it pretty much sums it up, ’In our country a young man of 25 years of age gets more respect and recognition, just because he has got into IAS (Indian Administrative Service) or IPS (Indian Police Service), than a 60 years old Entrepreneur, who has created wealth of crores along with hundreds of jobs. This needs to change’. I am a nearing 60 Entrepreneur and you need to start looking-up at me. The PM just made me look majestic!

When the PM is at his convincing and talking best, there is none to equal him. No wonder the Opposition walked out to avoid being burnt and fried in the Parliament dish.

Kanaka Raju’s Gussadi Dance

The Padma Awards are one of India’s highest civilian honours, announced annually, every January, on the eve of India’s Republic Day. The Awards are given in three categories: Padma Vibhushan – for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan – for distinguished service of higher order, and Padma Shri – for distinguished service. The intent of the awards it to recognize achievements in all fields of activities where an element of public service is involved.

The Padma Awards are conferred on the recommendations made by the Padma Awards Committee, which is constituted by the Prime Minister every year. The nomination process is open to the public. And self-nomination can also be made.

This year, a not-much heard of person, a Senior Citizen, an Adivasi from the Gond Tribe of Marlavai Village of Telangana’s Kumarambheem-Asifabad District, Kanaka Raju was awarded the Padma Shri. He won the award for his efforts to popularise the dying art, Gussadi, an ethnic tribal dance form of the Raj Gonds from the Telangana-Maharashtra border.

The Gussadi dance is performed during the harvesting season when Gonds wear a Gussadi Topi – a large header made of many peacock feathers, locally known as Mal Boora – and animal skin tied around their waists.

The 63 years old Kanaka Raju struggles to make ends meet, living in a thatched house with his eleven member family, relying on his 6 acre land for a livelihood. He teaches dance to the local children, who pay a small honorarium. To supplement his income, he works as a cook, on a daily wages basis, in a tribal welfare hostel in the village.

Kanaka Raju has said that while he is extremely happy to have won the award, he would be happier if shelter and food could be arranged for the rest of his life. For such an art form to survive, the artist has to survive. As simple as that!

With the Padma Shri Award, the Government has surely noticed Kanaka Raju, and I’m sure they are listening to his plight. I hope they dance to his tunes to keep him alive so that Gussadi dance lingers in our minds and hearts for years to come. There are many other dying arts around there India which need to fished out and stored in our tanks of knowledge.

Miss India for Miss World

We need to set our beauty sights on the Miss World Pageant to be held in December 2021 where India’s Manasa Varanasi from Telangana’s Hyderabad, will showing us all the beauty within and about her, in trying to win the Miss World Title. On 10th February, the 23 years old Financial Information Exchange Analyst was crowned Miss India 2020.

It’s been a long time since India won a Miss World Title. The last was in 2017 by Manushi Chhillar and before that, in 2000, by Priyanka Chopra, 1999-Yukta Mookhey, 1997-Diana Hayden. Aishwarya Rai won the title in 1994. This was 28 years after Reita Faria became the first-ever Indian to win an International Beauty Title, way back in 1996.

India surely misses the Miss World Title. Bring it Home, Miss Manasa.

The Nano of Reptiles

Talking of small things, Scientists believe they may have discovered the smallest reptile on Earth, a male Brookesia Nana, or nano-chameleon, in the montane rainforest region of Northern Madagascar.

The chameleon subspecies reptile is about the size of a seed with a top-to-tail length of just 22 millimetre (mm); the body alone is just 13.5mm. While the males are so awfully tiny, the females are only slightly bigger at 29mm.

You mention the word ‘Reptile’, and what springs to mind is something huge, which can make you feel nano size. Well, now it’s the other way around. The growth of mankind?

Scientists are in huge demand these days, across boundaries and of various colours. And in these times, everything appears to be at a ‘nano-level’! Hollywood Director Steven Spielberg’s next movie might well be ‘Nano-Jurassic Park – minus 1’.

Australian Open Opens – the 109th Edition

After being COVID-19 postponed many times Tennis’s first Grand Slam of the year, The Australian Open finally got started this Monday at the Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and the balls started flying over the net, on to the net while all the time trying to stay inside marked lines.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic is a clear favourite having won a record eight times at the Melbourne Park grounds. France’s Dominic Thiem, the reigning US Open Champion and a last year’s losing finalist at the Australian Open will be playing to open his account at this ground. Spain’s Rafael Nadal is also playing, eyeing his 21st Grand Slam. Meanwhile, ace veteran Switzerland’s Roger Federer, is recovering from knee surgery and should be watching from home, caressing his knees.

Among the Ladies, World No.1 and home favourite Ashleigh Barty hopes to serve and make a return. American Serena Williams will be wearing a one-legged, Nike made catsuit, purring for her 24th Grand Slam Title, while defending champion, also American, Sofia Kenin, and the current leading lady of Tennis, Japan’s Naomi Osaka, are the other top players hoping to ace here.

At the time of publishing World Inthavaarm 2021-07, Sofia Kenin’s bid to defend her title ended in disappointment on Thursday, after she was knocked out of the tournament by world No. 65, Kaia Kanepi, of Estonia. She lost 6-3, 6-2 in straight sets in over an hour and drowned herself in tears. Blame the pandemic?

Speeding-Up COVID-19 Vaccinations

Carrying-on from the previous weeks, more than 168 million doses have been shot across 77 countries, i.e., roughly 5.84 million doses per day.

Israel continues to ruthlessly dominate with 68 doses given per 100 people. About 41.8% of the population has received at least one shot and 26.7% are fully vaccinated. That’s amazing, look at what a small country can do?

India has administered about 7.5 million doses till date, at 0.55 doses per 100. But India has not been stingy, sending out its vaccine production to many other countries as well.

Please Yourself, e-bikes.

I saw this coming and was wondering why e-bikes weren’t happening in Tamilnadu. Finally, somebody heard me.

This Wednesday, a company called Pi Beam, an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Chennai-incubated startup launched an electric two-wheeler called PiMo, that can charge faster than a smartphone and can run 50 kilometres until the next charge.

Priced at Rs 30,000 it comes with battery swapping features and a top speed of 25 kilometres per hour (km/hr). Owning this two-wheeler doesn’t require registration or a driving licence. Pi Beam hopes to sell about 10,000 two-wheelers by end March 2021.

I wish they had given it a more dashing name.

That reminds of Ather an electric Scooter which also got its spark and wheels from IIT Chennai, and has been launched in eleven cities across India. Chennai, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Kochi, Hyderabad, to mention a few.

The Ather is priced at over Rs 1 lakh and has a top speed to 80km/hr, and requires a driving licence.

The future indeed looks electric. I promised a lot of ‘looking’ this week. Hope you looked and noticed! More coming up.