Tag: Myanmar

FREEWHEELING

About: A break free commentary on events on our Planet, anchored on the headline news of the world. Any comments beyond the storyline, are entirely mine, without prejudice -take it or leave it. This is a run of events from 30 November to 31 December 2025: War & peace; turmoil in Iran; humanitarian crisis in Sudan; cost of living crisis in Nigeria; and India news – especially about Thiruparankundram Temple in Tamil Nadu.

THE WORLD

December 2025 saw heightened geopolitical tensions, diplomatic efforts towards peace in ongoing conflicts, and military escalations, particularly in Europe and Asia. Many hostilities just meandered on, with probably the sole winners being the arms manufacturers and suppliers.

United States (US) President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Mar-a-Lago Resort, Palm Beach, Florida, on 28th December, for talks on a potential peace deal. It appears that progress was made on 15-year US security guarantees for Ukraine, though territorial issues (with Russia) remained unresolved. Ukrainian negotiators agreed to 90% of a 20-point peace plan cooked by Ukraine, US negotiators, and European countries. A deal seems close at hand?

In Russia, President Putin’s residence came under a drone attack and Ukraine was accused of orchestrating it. This, amid ongoing Russian missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities. Meanwhile, the European Union approved a Euro 90 billion loan to Ukraine for defense funding.

In the Israel-Hamas conflict, Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 29th December, to discuss the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire (including international peacekeeping forces) and warned Iran of potential strikes.

Israel approved new West Bank settlements-pushing for more ‘Israel’.

The US military along with Jordan launched airstrikes on multiple sites, targeted ISIS in Syria, following attacks.

Iran is witnessing its largest unrest in three years. And the Government grapples with its most serious challenge in years. Chants of ‘mullahs must leave’ and ‘death to the dictator’ echoed across major Iranian cities as protesters clashed with security forces of the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei-led theocratic regime. The eruption of anger and turmoil has been fuelled by a collapsing Rial, record inflation, and years of sanctions, amid renewed American pressure.

The country’s currency, Rial, plummeted to a record low against the US dollar, and the head of the Central Bank resigned. While traders and shopkeepers rallied in Saadi Street in downtown Tehran as well as in the Shush neighbourhood near Tehran’s main Grand Bazaar. Recall, merchants at the market played a crucial role in the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted the monarchy and brought the present crop of Islamists to power.

Turkey and Armenia agreed to simplify visa procedures as a step toward normalising ties between the countries.

China conducted its largest military drills to date, Justice Mission 2025, encircling Taiwan with live-fire exercises, simulated strikes, and port blockades starting late December. This followed a major US arms package to Taiwan and came amid broader regional frictions.

Thailand and Cambodia held talks, mediated by China, to address border clashes. The Southeast Asian neighbours agreed on a ceasefire that took effect at noon on 27th December, stopping 20 days of fighting that killed at least 101 people and displaced more than half a million on both sides. The ceasefire included a halt to fighter-jet sorties, exchanges of rocket fire, and artillery barrages. The Thailand-Cambodia conflict was sparked by a skirmish in late May 2025, that left one Cambodian soldier dead. The incident stemmed from a long-running dispute over ownership of ancient temples and their surrounding land, and contributed to a broader escalation of tensions that later developed into sustained fighting.

The ongoing, seemingly, never-ending humanitarian crises in Sudan persisted with limited international attention (need someone to pay ‘attention to the matter’?) Over 30 million people, almost two thirds of Sudan’s population, are in need of humanitarian assistance. Almost 25 million people, are facing acute hunger, with 637,000 of these classified as on the brink of famine. The civil war erupted amid tensions over the integration of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)-a Sudanese paramilitary force formerly operated by the Sudanese Government- into the Sudanese Army following the 2021 coup. It started with RSF attacks on government sites in Khartoum and other cities. The capital region was soon divided between the two factions.

Nigeria is experiencing severe security challenges, including a sharp rise in mass abductions of schoolchildren in the north, and ongoing insurgencies by groups like Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). This instability, along with other factors, has led to a major hunger crisis, particularly in the northeast, and displacement of millions of people. Economically, the country faces its worst cost of living crisis in 30 years due to 2023 reforms, and has also seen issues like inflation and social unrest.

In late November, armed bandits kidnapped 303 children and 12 teachers from the St. Mary’s Private Catholic school in the country’s north-central Niger State. The students are both male and female, some as young as ten. About 50 managed to escape-soon after the abduction- and during December all students and teachers were released from captivity, first 100, then the remaining. Nigeria is home to some of the world’s largest Muslim and Christian populations with the northern region predominantly Muslim and the southern region largely Christian. Indigenous religions, such as those native to the Igbo and Yoruba ethnicities, are in the minority. The country’s Constitution guarantees freedom of religion.

Myanmar’s civil war intensified in late 2025, with the military junta facing significant setbacks against a unified resistance of Ethnic Armed Groups and People’s Defence Forces, losing control over vast territories, particularly in border areas, leading to major displacement, increased humanitarian needs, and the junta attempting to legitimise its rule through contested elections amidst escalating violence, airstrikes, and ground offensives. Over 3 million people have been displaced, and nearly half the population needs aid, with ongoing conflict disrupting lives and essential services. Triggered by the 2021 military coup, the war is a culmination of long-standing ethnic tensions and resistance to military rule. In essence, Myanmar is in a full-blown civil war where the military is losing ground and struggling to maintain control against a determined, though often fragmented opposition.

INDIA

India came up with a new Rural Employment Law: The Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act, 2025, was enacted to replace MGNREGA (The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), guaranteeing 125 days of wage employment per rural household. The Rural Development Ministry began coordinating with States to prevent fake demands during the transition.

The Election Commission extended the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in multiple states, amid opposition demands for discussions on voter lists and national security during the Winter Session of Parliament. The SIR is doing the job of weeding-out very well. For e.g., in Tamil Nadu, the Chief Electoral Officer said that 97.37 lakh names have been dropped from the electoral rolls under the categories of Absent, Shifted, and Dead.

India’s Supreme Court stayed the suspension of Kuldeep Singh Sengar’s (a former BJP MLA) life sentence in the Unnao Rape Case. The case is about the gang rape of a 17 year old girl in Unnao Uttar Pradesh State in June 2017. Kuldeep Singh was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in December 2019.

The Supreme Court also put its earlier Aravalli Hills definition on hold amid environmental concerns and sought the opinion of an expert committee under the Union Environment Ministry for a fuller, comprehensive, definition. The aim is to prevent unregulated mining in ecologically sensitive areas. The criteria defined ‘Aravalli Hills’ as a landform with an elevation of 100 metres or above the local relief. Two or more such hills within 500 metres of each other constitute an ‘Aravalli Range’. The Aravalli Hills and Ranges are among India’s oldest geological formations stretching from Delhi through Haryana, Rajasthan, and into Gujarat, in a span of about 650-800km.

In business news, the Index of Industrial Production rose 6.7% in November 2025, a 25-month high, driven by manufacturing and capital goods. Australia announced duty-free access for all Indian exports from January 2026 under the ECTA’s (India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement) third anniversary. India’s Lok Sabha passed a bill raising Foreign Direct Investment FDI in insurance to 100%. New Free Trade Agreement, including with New Zealand, were concluded amid global tariff challenges. The Reserve Bank of India stepped in with reductions in the repo rate to 5.25% in December, part of multiple cuts in 2025 supporting economic recovery. New Labour Codes were notified; Digital Personal Data Protection Act implemented.

People in India’s capital ‘continued to see pillar-mounted water tanks as UFOs’, as Delhi vanished under severe Air Pollution, recording its worst December Air Quality Index (AQI) since 2018 (average 349), with ‘severe’ levels persisting.

India’s largest (by passenger traffic and market share) Airline IndiGo faced massive disruptions in early December due to new flight duty rules, and fog, cancelling over 1,600 flights in a day. The Government promptly rolled back the new rules, and looking through the eyes of a stranded passenger in a Terminal Building, the Airline clearly showed the middle finger to the Government.

The Subramaniya Swamy Temple in Thiruparankundram Hill located in a suburb of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, is a Hindu temple dedicated to Hindu God Lord Murugan. It is one of the six abodes (Arupadai Veedu) of Lord Murugan, a set of foremost and sacred Hindu temples, dedicated to the Lord. The original temple was built by the Pandyas during the 6th century CE. It is a rock-cut temple carved into the side of a large monolithic hill. The temple is under the control of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HRCE) Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu. According to Hindu mythology, Lord Murugan killed the asura Surapadman at Tiruchendur and later married Deivanai, the daughter of Indra, at Thiruparankundram.

It is customary during the Festival of Karthigai Deepam– a ceremonial holy lamp-to light a lamp (and Diyas) at the Temple. For over a century, the lamp had been lit at a lower elevation near the Uchipillaiyar Temple to avoid the upper peak, which houses a Dargah (Sufi Shrine) containing the grave of Sultan Sikandhar Badushah. The temple’s hilltop includes an ancient Deepathoon pillar, and a year 1923 decree (upheld by the then Privy Council – now abolished, in 1949) confirmed the temple’s ownership of unoccupied portions of the hill.

In early December a petitioner approached the Madras High Court (Madurai Bench) seeking permission to light the lamp at the hilltop Deepathoon pillar, arguing that periodic rituals at the spot assert ownership rights. Justice GR Swaminathan issued an order directing the temple’s executive officer (under the HRCE) to light the lamp at the hilltop by 6pm that day, with Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) protection to ensure safety, emphasising that this would not infringe on the Dargah’s rights and that failure to act could lead to loss of temple claims. The judge stressed the importance of upholding Hindu devotees’ religious rights under the Indian Constitution.

The Tamil Nadu Government under the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), disobeyed the ruling by lighting the lamp only at the traditional lower spot, claiming no historical evidence supported hilltop lighting and that over 100 years of practice justified the lower location. Authorities failed to make arrangements for the hilltop ritual, blocked devotees from accessing the site, imposed prohibitory orders to prevent gatherings, which led to clashes between police and devotees attempting to comply with the order.

The temple administration filed an appeal against the directive on the same day, which the court viewed as a deliberate tactic to evade implementation, noting that the Dargah (the potentially affected party) did not appeal.

Later the High Court accepted contempt petitions against Madurai district authorities, including the District Collector, Superintendent of Police, and temple executive officer, for ‘wilful disobedience’. Justice Swaminathan sharply criticised the state for ‘cocking a snook’ at the court’s authority, stating that the breach was ‘deliberate’ and that defying judicial orders ‘sounds the death knell of democracy itself.’ He warned that no one is above the law, ordered the officials to appear personally to explain the violation, and permitted the petitioner and 10 associates to symbolically light the lamp at the hilltop under CISF escort to affirm the order. The court reiterated that administrative excuses like law and order concerns cannot override judicial directives unless stayed by a higher court, and condemned the actions as a gross infringement on Hindus’ fundamental rights.

Perhaps, taking a cue from IndiGo the Govt of Tamil Nadu looked at its fingers and showed the middle to the Courts. And did not implement the Court Order, a second time.

The worst part is India’s Opposition Members of Parliament moved to impeach Justice Swaminathan. The impeachment will fail because the Opposition does not have the numbers, but the attempt is to browbeat anyone who dares back Hindu rights. However, a group of 56 judges joined together to slam the ill-thought out move. Hope, a better sense of justice prevails in the new year.

I think the Govt at the Centre needs to find its backbone: it should unflinchingly dismiss a State Government that fails to honour a Court Order – not once but twice. Would not this lead to an anarchy stand where one says, “Why should I follow the Laws, Rules and Orders? I’ll appeal to God – wherever he is. Until then, wait”.

Normally, the rowdies on the street are the ‘traditional’ Rule-Breakers. Now, how can we allow a State Govt to become rowdyish? How can a Rule-Maker become a Rule-Breaker?

Lots to think about as we close down the year 2025. Mankind should solve more problems that it creates.

I’ll be transitioning to a newer way of spreading the news of the world in 2026. A forged-on-iron format is in the works. It will be worth the wait.

Happy New Year 2026. Take full responsibility for your life on Earth.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2024-6

About: the world this week, 4 February 2024 to 10 February 2024; Israel hunting in Gaza; Russia & Ukraine; Myanmar; El Salvador’s Coolest Dictator; Pakistan’s Elections; India’s Bharat Ratna Awards; and the Grammys.

Everywhere

Israel is still hunting vigorously in the Gaza and there is no safe update on the ‘taken’ hostages. This week Israel seized control of much of the Hamas tunnel system in the city of Khan Younis and is said to be closer than ever to capturing the elusive Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar. War cries could be heard of the end -of the war-being near. Is Israel on the brink of victory?

Russia is, as usual, busy firing between 1,500 and 2,500 shells and rockets at Ukraine’s war-ravaged Donetsk region every day, and is targeting critical infrastructure making life miserable for Ukrainians. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky sacked the Commander-in-Chief (CIC) of the country’s armed forces, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi. There appears to be a rift between the President and his CIC, who has led Ukraine’s war effort since the war with Russia began. Battle-hardened General Oleksandr Syrskyi was announced as his replacement. Perhaps it’s just a change of strategy. One started it; the other could finish it?

In Myanmar, Army Chief Min Aung Hlaing has pledged to crush all opposition to military rule, as the state of emergency was further extended. He said that he would ‘do whatever it takes’ to return Myanmar to stability, amid unprecedented advances by an alliance of anti-coup forces and ethnic armed groups.

Over the past three months, the Army has been losing troops, territory and towns to determined opponents across multiple parts of the country. But it is determined to fight on, and retains an enormous capacity for violence, attacking civilian populations and infrastructure in areas it has lost, using air power and long-range artillery. Three years on, from the coup of February 2021, Myanmar military’s hold on power is more uncertain than at any time in the last 60 years. More than two million people have been displaced by Myanmar’s internal conflict, according to the United Nations.

Meanwhile, citing internal security reasons, neighbouring India has decided to suspend the India-Myanmar Free Movement Regime. This allows citizens from either nation to cross the border and travel up to 16 kilometres (km) into the other without documents such as passports or visas. India also plans to fence the entire 1,643 km Myanmar border – as part of its plan for creating ‘impenetrable borders’ – and build a patrolling track alongside the fence. A 10-km stretch in Manipur’s Moreh has already been fenced, and two pilot projects that involve a ‘hybrid surveillance system’ – each covering one kilometre – are in operation.

This week, El Salvador, the smallest and most densely populated of the seven Central American countries made headlines. Lying in the Isthmus of Central America, El Salvador is bordered by Honduras, Guatemala, and the Pacific Ocean. Its capital and largest city is San Salvador.

El Salvador is known as the Land of Volcanoes with ‘with a population of 100 volcanos’, and around 20 of them being potentially active. And of course, the Volcanoes have ‘erupted into’ the National Flag, which features five volcanoes, representing the five states. El Salvador grows great coffee beans and coffee export is a major business. The country is also know as the ‘Mecca for Surfers’ as it gets some of the biggest ‘swells’ offered by the Pacific Ocean and due to the many right-hand ‘point breaks’ that grace most of its over 300 kilometres long coastline.

In Surfing, a ‘swell’ is a series of mechanical or surface gravity waves generated by weather phenomenon that propagate thousands of miles across the ocean. Swell is used to designate a set of waves that separate and move away from a storm or weather condition that develops in the ocean. ‘Point Breaks’ occur when a wave swell strikes a point of land, whether it’s a section of jutting rock or a headland.

Let’s break here, and surf in to El Salvador’s politics.

From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, El Salvador was mired in civil war and internal strife. Since the early 21st century, the country has experienced high crime rates, including gang-related crimes and juvenile delinquency. El Salvador had the highest murder rate in the world in 2012, but experienced a sharp decline in 2019 when a new centrist government took charge. It was also considered an epicentre of a gang crisis, along with Guatemala and Honduras.

Enter Nayib Bukele, called the ‘Coolest Dictator’ in the World.

In June 2019, Nayib Bukele became the new President of El Salvador, winning the February 2019 presidential election. A firebrand politician who often spars with foreign leaders and critics on social media, Bukele came to power trouncing traditional parties with a vow to eliminate gang violence and rejuvenate a stagnant economy. His New Ideas Party with its allies won around 63% of the vote in the February 2021 legislative elections, giving them 61 seats, well over the coveted supermajority of 56 seats in the 84-seat Parliament. This opened the gates for uncontested decisions at the legislative level. The absolute majority permits President Bukele’s party to appoint judiciary members and pass laws with little to no opposition, for instance, to remove presidential term limits.

In June 2021, at the initiative of President Bukele, pro-government deputies in the Legislative Assembly voted legislation to make Bitcoin legal tender in the country. In September 2021, El Salvador’s Supreme Court ruled to allow Bukele to run for a second term in 2024, despite the fact that the constitution prohibits the President to serve two consecutive terms in office.

Under a ‘state of emergency’, approved in March 2022, under which authorities suspended civil liberties, the Bukele’s government arrested more than 76,000 people – about 1% of El Salvador’s population – without charges. The assault on the gangs – not entirely democratic – has spurred accusations of widespread human rights abuses and a lack of due process. But violence plummeted along with a sharp decline in nationwide murder rates and fundamentally altered a country known just a few years ago as one of the most dangerous places in the world.

This Sunday, President Nayib Bukele secured a thumping victory in El Salvador’s 2024 elections after voters cast aside concerns about erosion of democracy, to reward him for a fierce gang crackdown that transformed safety and security in El Salvador. Provisional results on Monday show Bukele winning 83% support with just over 70% of the ballots counted. Bukele declared himself the winner before official results were announced, claiming to have attained more than 85% of the vote. “All together the opposition was pulverised,” said Bukele. And added “El Salvador went from being the most unsafe (country) to the safest. Now, in these next five years, wait to see what we are going to do”.

New Ideas’ electoral success means Bukele will wield unprecedented power and be able to overhaul El Salvador’s constitution. Wildly popular, Bukele had campaigned on the success of his security strategy.

El Salvador’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal last year permitted him to run for a second term even though the country’s constitution prohibits it. Opponents fear Bukele will seek to rule for life, following the example of President Daniel Ortega of ‘across-the-sea’ Nicaragua.

Nayib Bukele is the son of Palestinians from Jerusalem and Bethlehem. He discontinued studying law at the Central American University to join his father in the family Business. Entering politics he went on to be elected as Mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlan – a small Municipality – and later San Salvador- the capital. He then established a political party called Nuevas Ideas (New Ideas) to make a presidential bid, which did not help his cause. Hence he joined the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA) to mount his bid and won the Presidential Elections, with ease in 2019, becoming President.

Bukele went on to become a highly popular leader and only more so since the government began its crackdown on the country’s feared gangs. “We are not substituting democracy, because El Salvador never had democracy,” he said. “This is the first time in history that El Salvador has democracy. And I’m not saying it, the people say it.”

Nayib Bukele is married to Gabriela Roberta Rodriguez, a Salvadoran educator, and prenatal psychologist, holding a doctorate in prenatal psychology. She is also a professional ballet dancer and is part of a dance company. Nayib and Gabriela began dating in 2004 and married in December 2014. They have two children.

Pakistan went to the polls this Thursday. This against the backdrop of jailing of popular former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, the winner of the last national election, dominating headlines despite an economic crisis and other woes threatening the country.

Pakistan, a nation of 241 million people is reeling from decades-high inflation and an economy that has come to a grinding halt as it navigates a tough International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme. Islamist militancy is on the rise and relations with neighbouring countries of India, Afghanistan and Iran are frayed. But these matters have been mostly absent as ‘election issues’, in which the parties of Imran Khan and former PM Nawaz Sharif are the main rivals. Instead the campaign is dominated by personalities. Pakistan’s National Assembly consists of 336 seats, of which, 265 are decided through direct voting on polling day.

Thousands of troops were deployed on the streets and at polling stations across the country on voting day. Borders with Iran and Afghanistan were temporarily closed as security was stepped up. Despite the heightened security, 12 people were killed in 51 bomb blasts, grenade attacks and shootings by militants, mostly in the western provinces.

Counting of votes began this Friday after unusual delays, which was ascribed to a suspension of mobile phone services. Candidates linked to jailed Imran Khan’s political party are in the lead, ahead of the two dynastic parties of Nawaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, believed to be favoured by the military. Counting has entered its final leg, and interesting times are ahead!

Britain’s 75 years old King Charles was diagnosed with cancer and the Royal Medical team has been clever in catching it early. He had checked into hospital for a benign prostate enlargement problem when a separate ‘issue of concern’ was detected leading to diagnostic tests, which identified a form of cancer. Now the United Kingdom is hoping His Highness can make a full recovery given the swift detection.

In India, it’s suddenly raining ‘Bharat Ratna Awards’ – the highest civilian award for outstanding service to the people of India. First it was the late Karpoori Thakur, a politician who served two terms as the Chief Minister of Bihar, then it was the living 96 year old L K Advani, former Home Minister and one of the architect’s of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s success. And this week, the Government announced more. Former PMs, P V Narasimha Rao – who rolled out the landmark 1991 economic reforms, which transformed India forever – and Chaudhary Charan Singh; and agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan as recipients of the country’s highest award – all of them get it posthumously.

The 66th Grammys Awards 2024 were handed out this Sunday night in the Crypto.com Arena in Downtown Los Angeles.

Singer, songwriter Taylor Swift made history on winning Album of the Year, for Midnights. She became the first person to win ‘Album of the Year’ four times, more than any other artist in history. The closest is three wins – a tie of Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, and Frank Sinatra. Taylor Swift also won an award for best pop vocal album, and it was during the acceptance speech that she swiftly announced her upcoming album – The Tortured Poets Department.

The Record of the Year, and Best Pop Solo went to Miley Cyrus, Flowers – the first of her career; Song of the year went to Billie Ellish and Finneas O’Connell for What Was I made for – from Barbie, the movie; and Best New Artist went to Victoria Monet. A previous Best New Artist, Olivia Rodrigo had 6 nominations but could not carry home any award.

Indian music struck many right notes this year: Fusion Group, Shakti consisting of singer Shankar Mahadevan, tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, percussionist Vinayakram Selvaganesh, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan, and British guitarist and founding member John McLoughlin winning the Best Global Music Album for This Moment. This is the Group’s first studio album in more than 45 years.

Sakthi’s band members John McLoughlin and Zakir Hussain have been pioneers in bridging two oceans of music – the harmonic complexity of Jazz and the melodic and rhythmic intensity of Indian Music. The talk goes that, had there been no Sakthi there would have been no Global Music Album Category at the Grammys.

Pandit Ravi Shankar introduced Indian music to the world. But it was Sakthi, which took shape in the 1970s that permanently built a bridge between the two streams – any many more – of music. And after many ups and downs over decades, This Moment arrived. The Album’s cover was designed by a group in Kolkata and Bengaluru, inspired by a label founded by an Indo-American.

Ustad Zakir Hussain picked up two other Grammys along with flautist Rakesh Chaurasia for Best Global Music Performance, Pashto, and Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for, As We Speak as part of the ensemble of American banjo player Bela Fleck and American bassist Edgar Meyer. Rakesh Chaurasia is the nephew of legendary Indian flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia. India’s Ricky Kej, a two-time Grammy winner, called 2024 the Year of India at the Grammys.

Beyonce’s husband Jay-Z won the Dr Dre Global Impact Award, but called out the Grammys for snubbing Beyonce by not giving her an Album of the Year Award, despite her winning more Grammys than any other artist. Remember, Beyonce who won 32 Grammys across her remarkable career, has never won the most prestigious prize of all: Album of the Year!

More music albums coming-up in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned to World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-43

About –the stories of the world this week, 23 October to 29 October 2022: unpredictable Britain, deadly Myanmar, unusual China, surgical ISRO, spectacular Indian Cricket.

Everywhere

Unpredictable Britain

In recent times British politics as become unpredictable and in keeping with the trend, the United Kingdom (UK) inaugurated its first British-Asian Prime Minister (PM), which is a truly significant historical moment. And we thought only the weather is unpredictable in London. Talent, if used wisely has a way of climbing to the top, no matter what race one belongs to, or religion one follows, or country one originated from. For the moment, it has stopped at No. 10.

Speaking outside 10, Downing Street, Britain’s newly-appointed PM, Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday that he has been elected (as the leader of his Party) to fix some of the mistakes made by his predecessor. He promised to place economic stability and confidence at the heart of his government’s agenda; he would confront the profound economic crisis-that the country is facing-with compassion; and lead a government of integrity, professionalism, and accountability. And the work begins immediately.

The 42 years old devout Hindu, formally took charge as Britain’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister, after an audience with the freshly minted King Charles III, this Tuesday, a day after he was elected the leader of the Conservative Party. The investment banker-turned politician is the youngest British PM in 210 years.

Rishi Sunak was born in Southampton, UK, to Indian-origin parents who migrated to the UK from East Africa in the 1960s, and before that from India. Sunak’s grandparents were born in the Punjab Province, British India. He is the eldest of three siblings: brother Sanjay is a psychologist and sister Raakhi Williams works in New York, as Chief of Strategy and Planning at the United Nations Global Fund for Education in Emergencies. Sunak’s father Yashvir Sunak was a General Practitioner with the National Health Service and his mother Usha Sunak runs a local Pharmacy. Yashvir and Usha Sunak were born in Kenya and Tanzania respectively. That’s a whole lot of countries in the bag!

Sunak was educated at Winchester College, studied philosophy, politics and economics at Lincoln College, Oxford, and earned an MBA from Stanford University as a Fulbright Scholar. While at Stanford, he met his future wife Akshata Murty, the daughter of Narayana Murthy – Indian billionaire and founder of the Indian software Company, Infosys – Fortune had listed Narayana Murthy among the ‘12 Greatest Entrepreneurs of Our Time’ in 2012.

After graduating, Sunak worked for Goldman Sachs and later as a partner at the hedge fund firms, The Children’s Investment Fund Management and Theleme Partners.

Sunak was first elected as an MP in 2015 – for Richmond in North Yorkshire – but rose quickly, and was made Finance Minister /Chancellor of the Exchequer, in February 2020, under former PM Boris Johnson.

Wife Akshata did a fashion designing diploma from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, which followed a short work stint at Deloitte and Unilever. Thereafter, she went on to pursue her MBA at Stanford where apparently ‘Rishi Sunak was waiting to meet’ her!

Sunak and his wife are one of the richest people in Britain, with a combined fortune of GBP 730 million as of 2022. The couple have two teenage daughters, Krisna and Anoushka; and a family dog, Nova – a fox red Labrador Retriever. The story goes that the daughters met Boris Johnson’s dog Dillyn and immediately fell in love with it, and begged their father for a pup of their own.

“British Indian is what I tick on the census, we have a category for it. I am thoroughly British, this is my home and my country, but my religious and cultural heritage is Indian, my wife is Indian. I am open about being a Hindu,” Sunak said in an interview in 2015.

I’m sure the United Kingdom is in a good pair of brown hands.

Deadly Myanmar

Myanmar has been under draconian military rule since February 2021, when an elected government was overthrown in a bloody coup.

This Sunday, over 60 people were killed in military airstrikes at a celebratory event in Myanmar’s mountainous Kachin State drawing international condemnation of the ruling military junta’s actions.

The victims were attending an event organised by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) to mark the 62nd anniversary of the armed ethnic rebel group’s political wing, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). KIO personnel were in attendance, not as military personnel, but as entertainers helping welcome guests and performing.

The military junta said it was hunting down the KIA and was not deliberately targeting civilians. Hard to believe, but that’s the word!

Unusual China

This week the President of China, Xi Jinping was re-elected as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party for a norm-breaking third term of paramount leader, which is unusual.

This Sunday, a day after the close of the five-yearly Communist Party Congress, Xi announced a new leadership team of six men loyal to him: Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi, to stand alongside him as members of the Politburo Standing Committee- China’s top ruling body.

Events of the day were briefly interrupted by an unexpected scene when Xi’s immediate predecessor Hu Jintao, who is 79 years old and has been in frail health in recent years, was escorted out of the Great Hall of the People from his seat next to Xi, for reasons that were not immediately clear, though Hu appeared initially reluctant to leave. Of course, the Chinese Press came out with a statement that he was unwell and ‘needed to be lifted-up and shown the way out’.

The sweeping reshuffle of the Standing Committee came after the departure of key party leaders not in Xi’s inner circle – Premier Li Keqiang and Wang Yang, head of China’s top advisory body. Both have been retired despite being one year below the party’s unofficial retirement age of 68 and eligible to serve another term. Xi, at 69, is one year above that informal limit. That’s again unusual.

Also absent is a clear successor to Xi Jinping.

Standing Committee lineups prior to the Xi era have included younger members as potential successors. But with the youngest member now 60 years old, there’s no stand-out name in the mix – a potential sign Xi is not planning to step down anytime soon.

That’s again unusual.

With neighbour Russia already having a President for life, is China following suit? The signs are out there for all to read.

Surgical ISRO

Early this week, precisely on Sunday, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) kicked-off the Diwali celebrations in India with a faultless, efficient launch of its heaviest payload ever of 5,796 kilograms in a maiden commercial mission of its launch vehicle LVM3-M2. The 43.5 metre rocket lifted-off from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh State. Its payload consisted of 36 broadband communication satellites belonging to OneWeb. And ISRO perfectly placed all satellites in Low Earth Orbits (LEO) – about 600km above the Earth’s surface – four at a time. Imagine injecting 36 Satellites into LEO without allowing them to come too close together in the crucial 48 hours from injection. The satellites will be slowly pushed up to a final LEO of about 1000 km.

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)-Mark III developed and built by ISRO has been renamed as Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3). It is designed to carry 8,000 kgs of payloads into LEO (and 4,000 kg of satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit – that’s about 35,000 km above the Earth). ‘M2’ refers to the fact that this is the second operational launch of LVM3.

The mission was undertaken as part of a commercial arrangement between New Space India Limited (NSIL) and OneWeb.

NSIL is the commercial area of ISRO which owns and builds satellites, provides launch vehicles and launch services, space-based services, satellite building and technology transfer to Indian Industries. Since inception in 2019, this is NSIL’s first commercial mission.

OneWeb (legally called Network Access Associates Ltd), is a communications company that builds and offers broadband satellite Internet services. It is building an advanced satellite constellation, consisting of 648 satellites, moving around Earth, in the LEO, to connect businesses, telecoms, and government partners with high-speed, low-latency, internet connectivity.

This is OneWeb’s 14th launch, bringing the constellation to 462 satellites representing more than 70% of its planned 648 satellite fleet. And has only four more launches to go. While 36 satellites were launched on Sunday, another batch of satellites was expected to be placed in the orbit by early 2023. And ISRO will be doing one more 36 satellite launch, as per its contract with OneWeb.

OneWeb is the world’s second biggest satellite operator – after Elon Musk’s Starlink, operated by SpaceX. OneWeb is headquartered in London, and has offices in Virginia, US and a satellite manufacturing facility in Florida – OneWeb Satellites – that is a joint venture with Airbus Defence and Space. In 2020, OneWeb was acquired by the UK Government and India’s Bharti Global, and has since welcomed leading satellite communications operator Eutelsat on board, as well as additional investment from SoftBank, Hughes Network Group, and Hanwha. That’s a lot of spin. With also those satellites hugging dear Earth, will it not be hard to find gaps for future rockets to fire?

Spectacular Indian Cricket

Though I like cricket, I had given up watching tournaments a long time ago except for crossing the boundary when someone comes over to pitch-in and watch a match at home. This Sunday I did just that when a cousin whose monsoon-rain leaking house was under renovation came over to watch the India-Pakistan ICC T20 Cricket match playing at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) Australia. Little did I know there would be a fireworks display of cricket to announce Diwali being celebrated across India and the World, the next day. An India-Pakistan cricket match is always pregnant with possibilities of fierce competition and wild sensationalism. And I was not disappointed.

I lazily got into the match with India winning the toss and electing to bowl. Pakistan started badly, losing wickets, but gradually lit the first sparks, fired-up the stadium, and smoked-out with 159 runs on the board at the end of 20 overs.

India then entered the arena, with 160 runs to fire in 20 overs: expectations, as always, were as high as the Himalayas. A few quick wickets falling and the run rate going below that required for India to win on a trot brought the usual sighs: oohs, aayes, and aahs! With the score at 31 with 4 wickets down in 6 overs, India was in tatters and my cousin was crestfallen and gave-up, but I said I’m an incorrigible optimist and believed India can always hit six sixes – if required- in the last over to win a match.

Former Indian Cricket Captain and awfully out-of-form Virat Kholi was at the crease with Hardik Pandya – known for sending rockets to the spectator stands. And today it was packed with more than 90,000 of them.

Once upon a time, Kohli was a mean run-machine and arguably peaked in 2016, the year in which he scored a masterclass 82 runs of 52 balls again Australia in Mohali in the 2016 T20 World Cup. As the Covid pandemic hit the world, the crowds vanished, and so too Kholi’s form with cheap dismals becoming the norm. Kholi could not find a vaccine to boost his performance until this Sunday. Maybe he held on to self-belief and talked to all those tattoos on his body.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man, goes the tired old saying. Virat Kohli smashed an unbeaten 82 off 53 balls including four massive sixes, and in what could be called the innings of a lifetime to put India within reach of a stunning victory off the final ball. The winning runs were hit by the just-arrived-at-the-crease Ashwin Ravichandran.

Going back to how it all unfolded: after 15 overs, India had a score of 100 runs with the loss of 4 wickets; Virat Kohli was on 42 and Hardik Pandya on 32. And after the 18th over India needed 31 runs off 12 balls, to win; and well into the 19th over it became 28 runs to win off 8 balls. When poised at this stage, Virat hit two bold sixes in succession to bring the score to 144, with 16 runs to win in the last over off 6 balls.

Let me try to bring the intensity and the edge-of-the-seat twist & turns of the thrilling last over – the 20th.

In the first ball, Hardik mistimes a shot and it rises up for any easy catch. Now, it’s 16 runs off 5 balls. In walks wicket-keeper batsman, old warhorse, Dinesh Karthik who has been in this ‘India situation’ many times before. He manages to needle the ball and takes a single run to bring Kohli to bat. Now it’s 15 runs off 4 balls. Kohli hits the next ball and takes two quick singles to bring it to 13 runs off 3 balls. After gathering his breath and surveying a possible Kingdom to capture, Kohli whacks the next waist-high ball for a super six and it is called a No-Ball with a free-hit (add one run and an extra ball). Now it’s 6 runs required off 3 balls. The free-hit ball is bowled and ricochets off the stumps for three runs behind the stumps making it 3 runs off 3 balls and bringing Karthik to face the bowling. Karthik is stumped when he tries to go after the next ball and misses, and it becomes 2 runs off 2 balls. He leaves the field to send spin-bowler Ashwin Ravichandran, who cooly and cleverly leaves alone the last but one ball – judging it to be a wide. It becomes 1 run required of just 1 ball. And a watchful Ashwin hits the last ball to the boundary to win a thriller of a match for India. King Kohli looks on from the other end, sitting on a Throne. A commentator thought he saw a tear in the corner of the King’s eyes. Take a bow, Virat Kohli.

More free-hitting stories will be surgically launched in the weeks ahead. Connect with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2021-50

About: the world this week, 5 December to 11 December 2021, the Russia-India Love Story, German chemistry produces a new Leader, Myanmar sentences a civilian Leader, and India loses its first Chief of Defence Staff in a tragedy.

Everywhere

From Russia With Love

India and Russia have been best friends for many decades, and they keep the friendship warm with Annual ‘Tea & Coffee’ Summits. And exchanging powerful gifts on the sidelines. This year, President Vladimir Putin came over to visit Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday in New Delhi with a bear-hug and a missile defence system tucked under his arm. The swagger of the two leaders ‘walking down up and down’ was a sight to behold!

I almost expected President Putin to rip off his shirt-with some tips from our own Bollywood Hero, Salman Khan- grab a horse, don a cowboy hat, and dive into Delhi’s nearing ice-cold water for a brief escape from the polluted air; while PM Modi had his hands full, on the drums of India!

At a time when people are thinking booster doses against COVID19, India received a booster dose for the country’s military with the leaders agreeing to take a new missile defence system deal forward: the S-400 surface-to-air missile defence system. It is one of the world’s most sophisticated, with the ability to reach multiple targets at a maximum distance of about 400km. It is also a more affordable option, for India, costing reportedly half of that of a similar United States’ Patriot missile defence system.

PM Modi beamed that the ties between the Nations have remained unchanged, ‘and hot’ even during the pandemic (when hugging each other could be infectious) and that the special, privileged strategic partnership continues unabated. And that 2021 is a significant year in relations between the countries with Putin playing a very important role in strengthening ties over the past two decades.

Putin took home -as a Return Gift from India -some exquisite Agate bowls hand-made by tribal artisans in the Khambat region of Gujarat: one set of brown bowls with an intricate pattern of mineral work; another bowl, rich yellow in colour, with one section showing off an interesting black and white pattern.

Agate -primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks – is a rock formed mainly of chalcedony and quartz, with various minerals suffusing it with a variety of hues and patterns. So beautiful are these patterns that agate is a natural choice for semi-precious jewellery and ornaments.

Agates, in India, are found in the Rajpipla hills of Gujarat State. In nearby town of Khambat, these agates are moulded into a variety of ornaments, from multi-stringed necklaces to massive bowls and sculptures. It takes the eye of an artist to look at a lump of rock, see the patterns within and carve and polish in such a way that these natural patterns are brought forth with stunning beauty. One of the most fascinating agates is the moss agate, which looks like ancient moss embedded in translucent rock. It is not fossilised moss, however, the network of green fronds is created with iron ore.

Gift a Missile and receive Agate history, fused in rock.

German Chemistry

She’s a Chemist holding a Doctorate (PhD) in Quantum Chemistry. Her husband is also a Chemist and researches at Berlin’s Humboldt University. That’s Angela Merkel, the 67 years old German Chancellor, who making good on her pledge, stepped down on 8 December 2021, after 16 years as Chancellor, to make way for a coalition Government led by her successor Olaf Scholz.

Her chemistry background was a good formula to make and solve coalition equations, keeping the different chemicals physically together; it also brought a calm demeanour in handling the COVID19 pandemic. She has a mixed record as Chancellor, but her exit from power has been a model of grace and restraint.

Merkel was the first woman to be elected as Chancellor, and the first Chancellor since German reunification to have been raised in the former East Germany.

In 1977, at the age of 23, Merkel, then Angela Kasner, married physics student Ulrich Merkel and took his surname. The marriage ended in divorce in 1982. Her second and current husband is quantum chemist and professor Joachim Sauer, who has largely remained out of the media spotlight. They first met in 1981, became a couple later, and married privately on 30 December 1998. She has no children, but Sauer has two adult sons from a previous marriage.

She lived the life of a normal next-door neighbour and brought no Office airs to her neighbourhood.

Angela Merkel once said she wanted to leave politics before she became a ‘half-dead wreck’. Glad, she’s fully alive to that!

Her’s will be a tough act to follow, but the incumbent Chancellor seems up to the task, reading from the chemistry of his background.

Myanmar’s Sentences

In troubled Myanmar after ousting a democratically elected Government about 10 months ago in a coup, the Military Junta piled up about a dozen ‘not so noble charges’ on Nobel Peace Laureate and former civilian Leader Aung San Suu Kyi that add to combined maximum possible sentences of more than 100 years. The kaleidoscope of charges include violating COVID19 protocols, the mandatory corruption (of course), illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies…and the kind. This week in a first verdict, she was sentenced to four years in jail, which was then shot down to half.

More than 1300 people have been killed by the Myanmar Security Forces, since the coup, and more than 10,000 arrested. Oh, Myanmar, when will your sentence end?

Tragedy in the Hills

The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the three divisions of India’s defence forces: the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. The President can declare War or Peace on the advice of the Union Council of Ministers (includes the defence Minister) headed by the Prime Minister (PM).

India never had a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) since independence in 1947 and the separate Chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force advised the Defence Minister, on matters related to India’s defence and territorial integrity.

After the Kargil War of 1999, when India fought Pakistan and successfully pushed-back infiltrators along the Line of Control, a Kargil Review Committee suggested the creation of a CDS post with the aim of improving coordination, tri-service effectiveness, and overall integration of the combat capabilities of the Indian armed forces. Though the idea was previously proposed, it never saw the light of the day until PM Narendra Modi announced the decision during his Independence Day speech on 15 August 2019 at the Red Fort, New Delhi.

On 24 December 2019, the Cabinet Committee on Security formally announced creation of the position; a four-star general, a tri-service chief, selected from among the serving officers of the Indian Armed Forces who shall lead the defence forces. While being ‘first among equals’ among the service chiefs, the CDS is a single-point military advisor to the Defence Minister of the Government of India.

On 31 December 2019, Army Chief, General Bipin Rawat was appointed as India’s first CDS and he took office on 1 January 2020. He was named CDS just a day before he was to retire from service, after completing a full three-year term as Chief of Army Staff.

Gen Rawat completed his schooling at Cambrian Hall School, Dehradun, and St.Edward’s School, Shimla before joining the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, and then the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. He also graduated from the Defense Services Staff College, Wellington, Coonoor, India, and the Senior Command Course of the United States Army Staff College, Fort Leavenworth Kansas, United States.

He was commissioned into the Indian Army in December 1978 in the fifth battalion of 11 Gorkha Rifles and rose up the Army ranks to become the 27th Chief of Army Staff, taking over from his predecessor, General Dalbir Singh Suhag, on December 17, 2016.

Gen Rawat became a highly decorated Officer, a veteran of counterinsurgency warfare and has served in some of the most difficult terrains of India, including the northern and eastern commands. Gen Rawat is known to be forthright, fearless, and blunt at times. He considered China as India’s arch enemy and was boldly outspoken about it. In the role of CDS he brought energy and purpose to military reforms and built up a momentum.

During his 43 years of service, Gen Rawat served on various responsible positions on the rungs of the Army ladder. He was also a part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force and has commanded a multinational brigade in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

General Bipin Rawat has been at the centre of hot pursuits and surgical strikes that we have now become familiar with – especially the Balakot Surgical Strikes of 2019.

Let me tell you a story of his command.

In June 2015, eighteen Indian soldiers of the Dogra Regiment were killed in an ambush by militants of National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang or NSCN (K) belonging to the United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia (UNLFW) in Manipur. The Indian Army swiftly responded with a cross-border strike. A crack team of 70 commandos of the 21st battalion of the Parachute Regiment entered Myanmar and struck a terrorist base, completely destroying militant Group’s camps. They returned within 40 minutes leaving at least 38 Naga insurgents dead and several injured. The operation was overseen by General Officer Commanding, Bipin Rawat, at that time.

Now, back to the Chief of Defence Staff.

On 8 December 2021 General Bipin Rawat along with his wife, Madhulika Rawat– President of the Army Wives Welfare Association – was on an official visit to the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Coonoor, Tamilnadu – a homecoming to his Alma Mater. He was scheduled to address the faculty and student officers of the Staff Course.

He arrived at the Indian Air Force (IAF) Sulur base, near Coimbatore, by plane from New Delhi and hopped onto to an IAF Mi-17V5 Helicopter to make the, about 30 minutes, journey to Wellington. With him on the helicopter was his wife and twelve other Army and Air Force Officers. The helicopter was piloted by Wing Commander P S Chauhan and Squadron Leader Kuldeep. Seemed like an ordinary day in the peace-time work-life of the Army, but it wasn’t to be.

Almost at the end of the flight, about 10 minutes before landing, around 12.30pm, the helicopter unexpectedly crash-landed, bursting into flames in the Katteri Park area of Nanjappanchathiram of the Nilgiris Hills, near Coonoor.

The Mi-17V5 helicopter was last seen flying in the Nilgiris valley from East to West at a low altitude, in thick mist, when it suddenly did a U-turn, turned North, flew about 100 meters, caught fire, and rammed a tree before crashing into a hill.

The intense flames burnt and martyred General Bipin Rawat, 63 years old, and all on board with the exception of Group Captain Varun Singh, who as seriously injured, and is the lone survivor of the crash. He is fighting for his life in hospital, with over 80% burn injuries. Recently, in August this year, Group Captain Varun had been awarded the Shaurya Chakra one of India’s highest Gallantry Awards for showing exemplary courage in handling of his Tejas Fighter Jet after it faced major technical issues during a sortie in October 2020. He successfully landed the aircraft despite losing control due to multiple technical failures.

Gen Bipin Rawat himself survived a helicopter crash in February 2015, when he had a miraculous escape when the single-engine Cheetah copter in which he was travelling crashed in Nagaland. At that time he was a Lt. General and heading the 3 Corps, headquartered at Dimapur, Nagaland. The pilot had lost control of the helicopter, which dropped like a brick from a height of 20 metres. General Rawat had suffered minor injuries in the accident.

The other Officers who were martyred in the present crash are: Brigadier LS Lidder, Lt Col Harjinder Singh, Wing Commander PS Chauhan, Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh, Junior Warrant Officers Das and Pradeep A, Havaldar Satpal, Naik Jitendra Kumar, Naik Gursewak Singh, Lance Naik Vivek Kumar and Lance Naik B Sai Teja. It was a Herculean task to identify the bodies.

Let’s delve into the technicals of the helicopter of the crash.

The Mi-17V5 helicopter, the work-horse of the Indian Military-is Russian made and built like a battle Tank, with twin engines of 2700 HP engine power, capable of transporting 36 armed soldiers, or 4500 kilogrammes of load on a sling. It is probably the only Helicopter in IAF’s inventory with full-authority digital control system, which basically makes the engine inherently safe, efficient, and reliable. The Mi-17V5 is equipped with four swappable multifunction displays: weather, radar, radio altimeter readings giving accurate measurement, night vision equipment to fly in pitch-dark conditions, and an exceptional autopilot which has the capability to auto-hover.

The Mi-17V5 has infrared suppressors to protect against heat-seeking missiles, chaff and flare dispensers to provide passive electronic warfare capability, and noise and deception jammers to evade radar-guide missiles. It has a wire cutter in the front to cut wires if it inadvertently encounters cables. The helicopter is heavily protected with armoured plates. It has self-sealing fuel tanks made of material called Hycatrol and is also covered with polyurethane fire retardant foam giving it protections against explosions. Simply put, it is nearly impossible to shoot down this helicopter.

Diving deeper into the basic working of helicopters: They fly purely by the thrust generated by the engines which is transferred to the rotors. The main rotor produces the thrust which is equivalent to the weight of the helicopter when in hovering condition. If the engine fails, the helicopter needs to trade height to maintain main rotor rotation and the pilot has to quickly find a place to land. In this condition, the fall is almost vertical and survival depends on the terrain below, weather, and crew training. Helicopters have another peculiar design aspect: to counter the torque of the main rotor, so that the body does not rotate in the opposite direction, a tail rotor is provided to act as a counter-balance. Failure of the tail rotor can be catastrophic.

I’m beyond grief and disbelief on this Himalayan loss of soldiers who tirelessly work to protect the country. Their lives are precious and irreplaceable. How did the accident happen against the might of such mind-boggling technology, with strenuously trained pilots, battle-ready Defence Officers inside the helicopter, and fantastic equipment, in familiar terrain, in a peaceful civilian environment? Blame it on the weather, or equipment failure? What are we missing? The reasons have to be unravelled and India should resolve never to lose its finest Officers in such a manner. We need to hold a mirror to ourselves while we start hunting for clues in the debris of the burnt and mangled remains.

General Bipin Rawat, a people’s General, is survived by two daughters, Kritika and Tarini. They lit the funeral pyre of their parents, watched over by the General’s young grandchild. May his soul, and all of those who joined him on this last flight, rest in peace. Travel well, brothers in arms: you live in our hearts forever.

More stories coming up in the weeks ahead, live with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2021-16

About: The story of the world this week; of one at war with itself, and attempts to fly in other Planets.

Everywhere

The Guns of the United States of America (USA)

This Sunday, in Brooklyn Centre, Minnesota, USA, Afro-American Daunte Wright, 20 years old, was pulled over for a traffic violation by a woman Police Officer, but there was a struggle when Wright tried getting back into his car while officers were trying to handcuff him. Wright does get back into his car and drives away, but not before been shot by a Police Office who shouted out, ‘Taser, Taser, Taser… ‘(an electric gun which incapacitates a person with a high voltage electric shock), but instead pulls out a gun and fires a bullet. Fatally wounded, Wright driving his car, crashed a few streets away. The Officer mistook the Gun for a Taser, pulling out the wrong one, but nevertheless the damage was done and the shooting sparked wild protests leading to declaration of a curfew and a local state of emergency.

The Police have admitted that the shooting was accidental, but the incident shoots many questions:How can an Officer mistake a Pistol for a Taser when they look and feel different and there are protocols to prevent a mix-up? But before that, why guns for a traffic violation? This is not the case of a criminal running away from a ‘deadly’ crime scene to warrant drawing a weapon!

On the other hand, why did Wright run away, precipitating Police action? He should have allowed himself to be arrested and faced the music. In a deeply divided America these are tough questions to find answers. Meanwhile, the Police Officer and her Chief have resigned-owning up.

While we are on the last legs of this week, there is yet another mass shooting, late Thursday, in the US City of Indianapolis, at a FedEx Facility near the main Airport. Eight people have been killed and many injured, when a man, seemingly without any kind of provocation, started firing an automatic weapon. The gunman, said to be acting alone, killed himself soon after the shooting. The motive is unclear.

What the hell has become of US? This is a never-ending story!

Look up at India: imagine a gun in the hand of every citizen and every policeman too? They get the job done with the fiery bamboo lathi, and the guns are reserved, while people go about their chores with hands in their pockets.

A Full-Blown Conflict: A Failed State?

The United Nations is seeing the big picture, and has warned that Myanmar is heading towards a full-blown conflict with clear echos of Syria in 2011, unless the International Community steps in with immediate, decisive and impactful measures to push Myanmar’s military leadership into halting its campaign of repression and heart-wrenching slaughter of its own people.

The World is standing by and watching Myanmar become a failed State. Time to cross some boundaries and stop being a by-stander?

Jallianwala Bagh and Ram Mohammad Singh Azad

This week brought back piercing memories of the brutal Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, which happened 102 years ago, this month.

On 13th April 1919, when India was under British Rule, Brigadier General Reginald Dyer, the acting military commander of Punjab ordered his troops to fire into a peaceful unarmed crowd, which had assembled in an open ground, in Jallianwala Bagh, Amristar, Punjab, to celebrate the Festival of Baishaki, New Year’s Day, and protest the Rowlatt Act and arrest of two freedom fighters from Amristar. It was a bloody slaughter and one of the most blood-chilling events in India’s fight for freedom from the British. Over 350 ordinary civilians were mercilessly butchered and over a thousand injured that deadly day. Firing continued uninterrupted for about 10 minutes and stopped only when they ran out of ammunition-about 1,650 rounds were spent.

The impact it had on 19 years old Udham Singh, a revolutionary freedom fighter was unimaginable. He was driven by a burning rage to avenge the death of innocent Indians, and taking a handful of the blood-soaked soil he vowed that no matter how long it took or how far he had to go, he would hunt down the persons who did this to his people, and kill them. He swore revenge for every man, woman, and child killed that day.

Twenty-one years later on 13th March 1940, Udham Singh shot and killed Sir Michael O’Dwyer-who was the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab at the time of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre-point-blank, in faraway London, in a crowded Caxton Hall, where O’Dwyer arrived to make a speech. Udham Singh had hidden the pistol in a book with pages cut-out to accommodate the gun.

Two days later after a quick trial Udham Singh was sentenced and later hanged to death on 31st July 1940 at the Pentonville Prison, United Kingdom.

There are two British responsible, with similar sounding names: Dwyer and Dyer. The latter, General Dyer, was discharged from the Army, never punished for his crimes, and died unrepentant in 1927. The former, Sir Michael O’Dwyer, had approved of General Dyer’s actions and is believed to be the main planner-to teach Indians a lesson.

Udham Singh surrendered after assassinating O’Dwyer and during his incarceration until his hanging, said his name was Ram Mohammad Singh Azad-signifying the major religions in India, and freedom.

The Udham Singh story was kept under strict wraps by the British, being in a delicate phase of the Indian Independence movement. However, it’s hard to hide such a story of martyrdom, and eventually it surfaced. And following an outcry, in 1974 his remains was brought back to India and buried in his home town of Sunam, Sangrur District, Punjab.

Today, a ten-foot high statue of Udham Singh stands at the entrance of Jallianwala Bagh with his outstretched right hand holding blood-soaked soil in his palm. Many statues have been erected in his hometown to commemorate his memory.

They say, if we forget the lessons of History we are bound to repeat them. Let’s read and learn our History well. Such spine-chilling killing of unarmed people cannot be forgotten, ever.

Freebies

India, and Tamil Nadu in particular, is famous for showering freebies on ‘the ever hungry electorate’ to win over their minds, through their stomachs, into voting for them. We have seen a mind-boggling array of goodies such as table fans, mixies, grinders, cycles, scooters, buffaloes, cows, laptops… being offered free with the intention of uplifting the poor. Most of us think that this makes people lazy and that we are creating a useless, skill-dropping workforce. We better rethink!

Economist and Nobel laureate, Abjijit Vinayak Banerjee has trashed this ideology saying there is no evidence whatsoever that such ‘Government injections’ make people lazy-putting them to sleep. He said that his own research on the subject across diverse economies in Asia, Africa and Latin America in the past decade and more, shows no evidence of this effect anywhere, not even in India; instead what he has seen everywhere is only improvements. The Nobel laureate says that when the poor become better off, they become more creative in generating more wealth and leading better lives including by sending their kids to competitive schools far away from their villages.

Economists are always challenging us with their peculiar data-based findings. And they may not always be right. I reckon we can increase our wealth-and probably the Wealth of Nations-by cogitating over how best to deploy whatever we receive from the Government, not necessarily free.

Ingenuity: Still Trying to Fly

America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had its Mars Rover, Perseverance, drop the mini-helicopter, Ingenuity, on the Martian surface on 4th April to get charged and prepare of its first ever flight in Mars. Last Thursday Ingenuity unlocked its blades and did a slow spin test to get the feel of rotation (yesterday they did a full-spin-test). And this Sunday we expected history to be made, but it did not happen as the superbly cautious NASA decided that Ingenuity needs a software update, much like our mobile phones do all the time.

Ingenuity’s guidance, navigation, and control systems will do the piloting for the almost autonomous flight attempt, mostly because radio signals will take 15 minutes and 27 seconds to bridge the 278 million kilometre gap between Mars and Earth.

The Martian atmosphere is 99% less dense than Earth’s, which makes it difficult to achieve enough lift. Successful flights of Ingenuity could provide an ambitious aerial dimension to future Mars exploration.

Meanwhile, the Wright Brothers are waiting and watching, from somewhere close by.

The Pandemic’s Second Wave in India

India is presently ‘doing lines’ instead of curves, with every new day edging past the previous day’s record of the number of positive coronavirus cases-it’s frightening, this almost vertical, a straight line.

The number of cases has gone up from about 11,794 in the first week of February 2021 to over 2 lakhs cases this week, spiking all records. Forget bending the curve we need to first bend the line into a curve.

The term lockdown being overused, Authorities are clamping down with measures to break the chain of infections, with lookalikes of Lockdowns and curfew like restrictions, well almost. Maharashtra is doing it and other States are hoping to follow soon. If the coronavirus can mutate so can the Lockdown. In Mumbai you just cannot go everywhere and anywhere-as you please-and it isn’t called a lockdown!

The Vaccination drive is gathering speed-about 12 crore vaccinations done in India-but it cannot do much in a surging state of infection spread. We need to hold on to the basics of what we have learnt over the past year: masking-up, physical distancing, and hand-washing. Experts say we should avoid public gatherings of over 10 people and limit the unavoidable Events such as Weddings and Funerals to under 50 people, and avoid travel as best as we can. I suggest we keep at it until the cases crawl down to zero and stay grounded for at least a month.

Over the week, India approved Russia’s, Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology developed Vaccine, Sputnik V (It’s the letter V, not the Roman Letter for 5) for emergency use. With this India has three vaccines at hand: Covishield, Covaxin, and now the Sputnik V.

In other Vaccine news, Johnson & Johnson’s single shot vaccine has been temporarily paused in America as ‘abundance of caution’, following concerns that the vaccine may be linked to a rare but severe type of blood clotting-reported as after-effects, in a few cases.

India, after a reasonable success in keeping coronavirus infections at bay has definitely been caught napping and complacency has crept-in. And has mentally declared a victory over the pandemic, when cases were cleverly and stealthily climbing up a rusty ladder. The Assembly Elections in five States saw large gatherings kick up a lot of dust; Weddings and Family get-togethers almost returned to the normal attendance level, religious festivals were back with a bang and too many things were simply ‘left in the hands of God’. The triennial Hindu Festival Kumbh Mela, when devotees take a holy dip in the Holy River Ganges, in Haridwar, is a huge draw and should have been avoided. Sins apart, the waters may find it hard to wash away the virus.

Stealing Giant Rabbits

Darius, a continental giant rabbit, which holds the Guinness World Record for being the world’s longest rabbit at 4 feet and 23 inches, was stolen last Saturday from its owner, Annette Edwards’ garden in Stoulton, Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom. The bunny is Edwards’ fourth record-breaking rabbit and took the title from its mom.

Annette Edwards has offered a £1,000 reward for finding Darius, which she claims is too old to breed-if that was the intent of the theft.

Growing Brains at Will

Imagine being able to shrink the size of your brain, and re-grow it at will? Brainy?

Researchers have found that a certain species of Indian Jumping Ants are able to do exactly that.

Unlike other kinds of ants, colonies of Jumping Ants do not perish once their Queen dies. Instead chosen worker-ants, which have expanded ovaries and shrunken brains take the Queen’s place to produce offspring. The Queen’s job being, to only reproduce-and hardly think, her ovaries are large and the brain is small. On the other hand, worker ants need large brains to think and get work done and not waste energy in reproduction, hence small ovaries. Now, if at some point, the Queen status is revoked their bodies can bounce back to the state of small ovaries and large brains-Researchers have found.

Typically, in all Ant Colonies, an ant becoming a worker or a queen is decided at the larval stage. If fed generously and given the right hormones, the ant has the chance to become a queen. If not, then it is stuck with a career as a sterile worker deprived of the opportunity to switch-unless it’s part of a species such as the Indian Jumping Ant.

I can’t help jump every time a new mystery of nature is unravelled, and grow my brain in the process. Amazing!

Please Yourself: Dynamite

South Korean Band Group, BTS (Bangtan Boys) is a seven-member group of men, Suga, Jin, RM, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook – names, which to me appear to be splinters of Dynamite- who write and produce much of their own output. Originally a hip-hop group, their musical style has evolved to include a wide range of genres.

BTS’s global smash hit ‘Dynamite’, which is the group’s first song made entirely in English, just crossed one billion views on YouTube, in less than eight months since its debut, making it the newest entry in YouTube’s Billion Views Club.

The ‘Dynamite’ video on YouTube premiered in August 2020. It garnered over 101.1 million views in its first 24 hours, making it the biggest music video debut on the video platform to date. The video also set a record for the biggest YouTube Premiere with over three million peak concurrent views. It opened at No. 1 on the YouTube Global Top Songs chart, and has remained on the chart for 32 straight weeks

I listened to ‘Dynamite’ before writing this piece and I was blasted by its beauty. However, here I’m alive, and in one piece, to tell this story.

More dynamite and jumping stories coming up in the weeks ahead.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2021-15

About: The story of the world this week, new forces in the making, and old ones becoming more forceful and bullying too.

Everywhere

Move on: A new Force of Nature is here

Scientists say that all of the forces of nature we experience every day can be simply skinned-down to four categories of fundamental forces: Gravity, Electromagnetism, the Strong Nuclear Force, and the Weak Nuclear Force. The last two dominate only at the level of the sub-atomic particle and are effective over close ranges.

Now, Physicists say they have found possible signs of a fifth fundamental force.

While the four ‘grand old forces’ govern how all the objects and particles in the Universe interact with each other, this new fifth, is trying to squeeze-in, and force its (rightful?) place in the scheme of things in the Universe.

The findings come from research carried out at a laboratory near Chicago, United States (US), which is the latest in a string of promising results from particle physics experiments in the US, Japan, and most recently from the Large Hadron-Collider on the Swiss-French border.

Results provide strong evidence for the existence of an undiscovered sub-atomic particle or new force while studying particles, which are the building blocks of our world. Some of these smaller-than-the-atom-particles are made up of even smaller constituents, while others cannot be broken down into anything else, called fundamental particles. The muon is one of these fundamental particles. It is similar to the electron, but more than 200 times heavier. Some call it a ‘fat electron’.

The current experiment involved sending the particles around a 14 metre ring and then applying a magnetic field. Under the current laws of physics, of the Standard Model, this should make the muons wobble at a certain rate. Instead, the scientists found that muons wobbled at a faster rate than expected. This might be caused by a force of nature that is completely new to science.

One of the Scientists commented on the finding, ‘It is quite mind-boggling. It has the potential to turn physics on its head. We have a number of mysteries that remain unsolved. And this could give us the key answers to solve these mysteries’

The Universe is indeed a force to reckon with…and we humans are unravelling one mystery after another, for sure.

Belfast, Belfast

Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom (UK), is burning with violence-rioting-in areas of Derry, Belfast, and other towns in County Antrim over six successive nights-a level of unrest not seen in years.

The reason for the unrest seems to be the exploding anger over the UK’s post-Brexit trading Agreements with the European Union (EU)-known as the Northern Ireland Protocol-which loyalists believe has created barriers between the region and the rest of Britain. Under this protocol a de-facto border was created in the Irish Sea with goods entering Northern Ireland from mainland Britain subject to EU checks, which angered the Loyalists. I smell a rotten fish here-movement between parts of a United Kingdom subject to external checks by an outsider?

Loyalists, or Unionists as they are called, are part of a political movement that wishes to keep Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom and attached to the British monarchy.

Unrest first broke out over anger on the decision by the Northern Ireland Police not to prosecute leaders of the Irish Nationalist Party, Sinn Fein, for breaking coronavirus restrictions, during the funeral of a former Irish Republican Army (IRA) figure.

Looks like people are forever looking for a reason to get violent and release pent-up feelings. Easy to get angry on one’s nose?

To me, Belfast, the Capital of Northern Ireland brings back memories of the Titanic, which considered to be an unsinkable ship, famously stuck an iceberg and sank on its maiden journey, in 1912. The Titanic was constructed in Belfast, which they say, is perfectly situated for ship building.

Belfast also brings to the air, yesteryear Music Group, Boney M’s, hit song ‘Belfast, Belfast’, which was inspired by previous violent incidents in Northern Ireland. It is a significant reminder that when people utterly fail to live in peace together, such conflicts reverberate far and wide.

A Pillar Falls

Prince Philip, aged 99, The Duke of Edinburg, and the husband for 73 years, of Britain’s reigning Queen Elizabeth-II, passed away peacefully on Friday morning at Windsor Castle. He was the longest serving consort in British History.

When the Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, married her third cousin, the Duke of Edinburgh in November 1947, Winston Churchill said it was like a ‘flash of colour’ in the grey post-war Britain.

Prince Philip remained a die-hard supporter of his wife, the Queen, throughout their long life together, which saw many turbulent events in the shifting sands of time, causing the Queen to remark, ‘he was my strength & stay’.

Prince Philip had to grudgingly give up many things, including his Mountbatten name to fit into the harness of Royal Life. And to stay and be a pillar of strength to the Queen.

The BBC said of him, ‘He outlived nearly everyone who knew him and might explain him. This is why Prince Philip lived an extraordinary life’

Beauty and the Beast

If the beast was the marauding Myanmar Junta, the beauty was, Han Lay, Miss Grand Myanmar, who spoke out last week against atrocities committed by her country’s military beast. Her speech turned heads.

“Today in my country Myanmar, there are so many people dying,” she said at the Miss Grand International 2020 event in Thailand. “Please help Myanmar. We need your urgent international help right now.”

A little over a month ago, Han Lay, 22 years old, was on the streets of Yangon, Myanmar, protesting against the military. She is now concerned that her two-minute speech could possibly put her on the cross-hairs of the military’s many targets. She has decided to stay put in Thailand for at least the next three months. I guess that’s the most beautiful thing to do in these ugly times.

Meanwhile, model and Actor, Paing Takhon, one of Myanmar’s most popular celebrities was arrested on Thursday for being active in online and offline protests. And in the United Kingdom (UK) Myanmar’s Ambassador to the UK, was locked out the Embassy after a Military Attache ‘forcefully’ occupied his place and stole all his powers. He spent the night in his car outside the Embassy and felt bullied for being supportive of Democracy in Myanmar.

More than 500 civilians have been killed since the Military Coup of 1st February and the world cannot stand by watching.

It’s time countries ratchet-up sanctions on Myanmar’s Military to bring them to heel and restrain them from murdering their own people. They ought to be locked up inside their barracks and keys thrown into the sea?

India’s Naxalite Challenge

Former Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, once described Naxalism as India’s greatest internal security challenge. In hindsight looks like he had great foresight.

This Sunday, Naxalites killed at least 22 State Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in the Bijapur region of Chattisgarh State. This is the second highest, since 6th April 2010, when 76 security personnel were gunned down in nearby Dantewada. All this, since India first started its Naxalite counter-insurgency operations in the year 1947.

What is Naxalism, and what do they want?

The term Naxal comes from the name of the village, Naxalbari, in West Bengal, which was the epicentre of a tribal uprising against land-owning Landlords in the year 1967. Naxalites are considered far-left communists, supportive of Maoism, described as militant insurgents, and living with separatist ambitions.

The rise of Naxalism corresponded to the growth of militant communism in India, particularly the creation of the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML) and the emergence of rebel groups such as the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and the People’s War Group (PWG). The MCC and the PWG merged to form the CPI-M(Maoist), which is designated as a terrorist organisation and banned by the Government of India. We need to draw a boundary here: while the CPI-M(Maoist) is the banned party, the parent CPI and CPI-M(Marxist) are ‘accepted’ political parties working within the political system in India.

Naxalites claim to represent the poorest and most socially marginalised members of Indian society-the tribals and outcasts, and adopt the Maoist doctrine of sustained peasant-led revolution against the State: waging guerrilla warfare against Landlords, Businessmen, Politicians and Security Forces, who they consider a threat to their native land and livelihood. They aspire to get back land, which they think, belongs to them, as a right.

Since the beginning of the history of humankind, natives of a particular region of land have always wanted an unfettered hold on them, for the bountiful natural resources they yield-as a possessive right- and their unspoilt nature and beauty. Invaders, on the other hand, had sought to grab as much of rich and fertile land as possible and exploit the wealth of resources including beneath-the-earth minerals for commercial purposes and the progress of themselves and mankind. Over centuries, this ever-present tussle set man against man and has changed the course of history and fractured the geography of the land we live in.

In India, tribals expected the Indian Constitution to deliver to them a certain degree of autonomy in the land they have lived in from birth, and restrain ‘invading’ Landlords from grabbing huge swathes of ‘their land’. Historically, the original mission of Naxalites was to seize land from Oppressors-who had taken over their lands, during India’s Independence struggle and soon after Independence-and redistribute it among the peasants. They took it upon themselves to disrupt infrastructure, communication, and modernisation. And ensured they remain in splendid isolation, away from civilisation-staying marginalised, to exercise their kind of power in a Kingdom of their making.

When did such a movement begin in India?

In July of the year 1948, almost a year after India gained independence from the British, the first spikes of communist activity began to manifest in the State of Telengana (then part of the state of Andhra Pradesh). A major event known as the Telangana Struggle occurred in which the lower-classes and peasants of 2,500 villages of the former Hyderabad State started an armed revolt under the leadership of the Communist Party of India (formed in 1925,India), against oppressive landlordism, patronised by the autocratic rule of the Nizam of Hyderabad.

By the 1970’s Naxalism spread to almost all of India’s States except Western India. In the 1980’s when Naxalism was rearing its head in Tamil Nadu, in the region of Vellore, Tiruppathur, and Dharmapuri, it took the sagacity of the then Chief Minister M G Ramachandran (MGR) to give a free hand to then Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police, Walter Devaram to deal with the growing insurgency. Devaram was an Army soldier and had cracked the Indian Police Service (IPS) exams with flying colours to slide in the role of a lifetime.

MGR named the task, ‘Operation Ajanta’, after Police Inspector Palanisamy’s six years old daughter, Ajanta. Inspector Palanisamy and two head constables of Tamil Nadu Special Police were killed in a Naxal bomb attack in August 1980, setting the stage for decisive action against Naxalism. Walter Devaram is hugely responsible for having successfully exterminated the menace and driven any remnants out of the State. Many movies have been made on his heroics… and he is Legend!

The idea of Naxalism is a lost cause, with rapid development, industrialisation, progress happening all across India, and citizens fortified with better laws. However, sensitive regions endowed with natural resources have to be tackled in a meaningful manner, with least possible disruption and dislocation of native people living in these regions. Attacking the State and the Indian Republic-its Law-keepers and makers-is unacceptable and must be dealt with an iron hand.

A Helicopter in Mars

America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had successfully landed its Perseverance Rover on Planet Mars, on 18th February, with the mini-helicopter, Ingenuity, neatly tucked underneath its belly. It has been sight-seeing in Mars all these days, and finally on 4th April, it gently dropped Ingenuity on the surface of Mars to prepare for the first ever man-made helicopter flight on Mars. Ingenuity is carrying a small piece of cloth that once covered one of the wings of the Wright Brothers’ aircraft which achieved the first powered flight on Earth at Kitty Hawk in 1903, to pay tribute to that milestone.

Like a butterfly would dry its wings, soon after emerging from the cocoon, and shake-it up to allow the blood run, before taking its first flight, Ingenuity is following in these small butterfly steps to take the giant leap of its first flight. Ingenuity’s solar panels and systems would also be cranked-up in the coming days, besides getting used to the Martian atmosphere, and NASA is planning the helicopter show before 11th April. The Wright Brothers are on standby, watching closely, somewhere nearby.

Voting in India’s State Assembly Elections

Elections in the States of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Kerala, to elect respective Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) saw a single phase one-day voting happen on the 6th April. Once elected, the majority MLA’s in turn elect one of their own as the Chief Minister of their State.

The door on Election campaigning was slammed at 7pm, on 4th April, and I breathed a sigh of relief over the hum-drum of 36 days of election cacophony. However, this time a lot many issues were brought-up by candidates, in thundering speeches, in their inimitable styles, in addition to the mandatory bursts of emotions with tears wetting cheeks and towels, and some even watering the ground.

I thoroughly enjoyed the voting process, in my place of work, Attur, Tamil Nadu. The Polling Station, a Government Middle-level Municipality School, spotlessly clean, was about 100 steps away from home and I walked over, proudly showing-off my new Voters Identification Card, which arrived only about a week ago – culmination of an online Change-of-Address request. A small crowd had gathered, and Party Workers stationed at a distance were furiously looking to mine mind votes, while an armed Police Guard looked-on, guarding the entrance and sending eye signals to other troops inside.

My wife and I got our fingers inked and casted our votes early at 7.45am following separate Ladies and Gentlemen queues. My queue was miniskirt short and I quickly punched the button of my choice on the Electronic Voting Machine, while my wife’s queue was longer than a sari, and she took time to find and hook that button.

The central, open-to-the-atmosphere courtyard of the school had an umbrella of flame-of-the forest trees shading us from the cruel summer, with a gentle breeze singing a lullaby. And I lingered a while longer allowing Wordsworthian beauty to sink-in. I wished I could vote more often: even become an Election Poet.

Maybe, 105 years old Marappa Gounder, a farmer from Karupparayanpalayam in Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, heard me-he had about the same thoughts walking through his mind. He has voted without-break in all State Assembly elections since the creation of Tamil Nadu State. On voting day he walks down to the Polling Booth, which is near his Home and casts his vote, urging people to vote for those who do good for the people. What a fine example he is setting, of exercising one’s democratic rights through the voting process!

Considering the pandemic times, voting was thrown open between 7am and 7pm.

It is a dampener that the results will be known only on 2nd May with counting to be taken up on that day. I wish they could count sooner. But with Elections being simultaneously held in many States, the thinking was that the results of one could influence the outcome of another.

COVID-19 to 22?

India is in the throes of a second wave of coronavirus infections and looking back at the same month of the year 2020 it appears worser, with over 1,40,000 cases per day and climbing steeply-almost vertical.

The rate of increase in cases is the worst India has seen and it’s not even peaked, as yet. This is concerning, as more variants could develop and further affect the trajectory of this pandemic.

Tracking the vaccination campaign across the world, more than 726 million shots have been given across 154 countries at a rate of about 17 million doses per day.

India has administered near about 94.3 million vaccine doses till date.

I had my first vaccine shot last Saturday and through Sunday I could feel my body rising-up to the challenge of a possible invader!

More of ‘less frightening’ and hopefully less forceful stories coming up in the weeks ahead.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2021-14

About: The story of how we shipped ourselves and got stung this week, in our World

Everywhere

Delhi Heat

The heat is on India’s capital New Delhi and the surrounding National Capital Region (NCR). Temperatures touched 40.1 degrees celsius on the day of Holi, this week making it the hottest day in March in over 76 years. Delhi had previously hit 40.5 degrees celsius on 31st March 1945.

Counting on a few more degrees to better the record? Blame it on that climate-change fellow?

I can recall other Delhi months having reported even hotter days, but this is the highest in March and this may well be a bellwether of how hot the other months are going to be: more record breaking, for sure!

I lived in the NCR for over six years and the extreme weather conditions, running between severely hot summers to freezing cold winters, makes you crack-up once in a while. Layered living, during cold times-with room heaters on, and un-layered living during the hot times-with the air-conditioning on, was the overall climate of things. And my electricity bills always stayed on a high, hitting different uneven peaks during both seasons!

Myanmar’s Reign of Terror – Continues

I’m trying my best to shoot this story off my headlines but it refuses to go away.

Last Saturday saw one of the deadliest killings by the Military that took control of Myanmar in a coup in early February this year. The world was horrified by the killing of over 100 protestors in a single day – the deadliest since the coup.

The lethal crackdown against all kinds of civilians came as protesters defied warnings and took to the streets in towns and cities across the country.

What was the provocation, on that day?

Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing, in a show-of-strength-parade by the military on Army Day, made a speech about safeguarding democracy and warned against violent acts. Anti-coup activists had called for peaceful protests but they soon turned violent as the security forces opened fire in more than 40 locations. The commercial centre, Yangon, saw dozens of deaths, but killings were recorded from Kachin in the North to Taninthartharyi in the far South.

A resident remarked, ‘they are killing us like birds and chickens, even in our homes’.

The birds are watching. And something needs to be done here!

India’s Slippery State Elections

The five Indian States of West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are in the Election mode doing the dance of democracy. And the multi-day, phased ones have already begun in West Bengal and Assam. The others are the one-day affair Sates and people in them, including me, come out to vote on 6th April.

The campaigning is at its loudest decibel level in Tamil Nadu, with comparisons to prices of slippers, illicit relationships & premature deliveries by dead Moms, size of women’s hips in relation to ‘foreign cows’ milk, and past stories of hair-pulling and ‘tugging at saris’…abuses being thrown about liberally. Wonder, on whose feet the slippers are, and who wears them saris? In the melee, an ex-supercop popularly known as singham (Lion) in his policing days threatened to smash the teeth of an opponent. The Election Commission is finding it tough listening to the music and conducting the proceedings.

Tamil Nadu once famous for awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping oratory by its leaders, has now changed course and re-wired the soundbox. People find that they can finally make some sense of the talk and relate to what is being said. With two head-strong parties hogging the headlines, and endlessly charging at each other, it remains to be seen who leaves the battlefield with tail between the legs and who rises to shine. It’s been an unalloyed ‘entertainment’ thus far.

The Seized Canal

Last week, a sky-scraper Container Ship fooled by tough high winds and a sandstorm found itself loosing sight and got nicely wedged in the Suez Canal blocking traffic both ways. However, experts weighed-in that the reasons may not be as easy as, ‘simple and main’, as that touted: tugging at possibilities of technical and human errors. Another investigation on yet another mishap in our world could tilt the balance, off the forces of nature.

Meanwhile, the world-from children to the oldies-went overboard in trying to offer solutions to unblock the canal. Some kids suggested using ‘hundreds of helicopters’ to lift the ship out its misery, while another said, pour buckets of water and raise the water lever to float the ship. If that was the kids, an oldie-that’s me- said, call Superman or Hanuman to simply pick it up and place it in the right direction on the water. Wonder where the kids meet the oldies?

Finally, the giant Ship was able to float straight again on Monday, six days since it found a sand bank to deposit its hull. And all other ships horned a sign of relief.

On another dimension, advertisers were quick to seize the moment and I particularly liked a Durex advertisement-widely circulated on WhatsApp-showing a Durex pill wedged across the canal and ‘sperm boats’ frantically looking for an opening. There is no limit to man’s imagination, is there? We can always find a way – sperms included!

Lockdown

We have rubbed the word ‘Lockdown’ to such a degree that a new bone had to be found.

Late this week America’s Capitol Hill area went into a quick lockdown over fears of a security breach. A lone-star ranger rammed his vehicle into a police barricade at a Vehicle Access Point, then got out brandishing a knife and ran towards the Officers. One Police Officer was killed and another injured in the incident.

The suspect was quickly neutralised-shot down and killed. That sure is super-quick action. Later it was revealed that the suspect had lost his job, had medical ailments and feared that the Government was using ‘mind control’ on him.

Weird thoughts!

Sports

The Indian cricket team is on a colourful swing. After dark brown-washing England 3-1 in the Test Series and light brown-washing it in the Twenty-20’s (T-20), India dealt a ‘trinity blow’ by clear brown-washing the English in the One-Day Internationals (ODI), 2-1. Multiple colourful catches were spilled, maybe due to the rains in Australia and that ship-wedge stuck (now released) in the Suez Canal, Ha!

This during a time when India celebrated Holi – the festival of colours.

The COVID-19 Pandemic

We heard about the World Health Organization (WHO) flying to China to discover the origin of the coronavirus that stayed famous throughout 2020 and maybe well into 2021. WHO says the wildlife trade in China is the most likely path that the coronavirus took to spread from the original animal source, possibly bats, to humans, through an intermediary animal. However, the possible ways in which the novel coronavirus could have emerged in Wuhan is still unclear. And WHO ruled out a laboratory leak. There’s nothing novel about this, right? At best, they confirm what most of us already know, thanks to the tons of reading and seeing we have done during the lockdowns. Many ‘wished’ it was a Laboratory Leak. China is still in the cross-hairs.

Let’s remember that Covid-19 has killed more than 2.7 million people worldwide in the 15 months, since it emerged.

Tracking the vaccination campaign across the world, more than 628 million shots have been given across 150 countries at a rate of about 16.3 million doses per day.

India has administered near about 73 million vaccine doses till date. I hope to join the vaccinated ranks and have scheduled mine, this Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, a rapid growth of positive cases is waving at India; and is having Authorities worried. Signs of micro-lockdowns are being put up!

The Hand of the Octopus

Australia just let go of the stranglehold that rains and floods had on them over the past weeks, which saw swarms of animals find newer ground.

Back in the water, an Octopus peacefully living on one of Australia’s Western Beaches in Geographe Bay decided to test the power of its mighty tentacles. A Geologist wanting to take a dip near the Resort where he was staying with his family, was taking a stroll on the beach when he thought he saw what looked like the tail of a string-ray striking at a seagull. On taking a closer look, along with his 2 years old daughter, and while filming a video, an Octopus suddenly lashed out in their direction and vanished into the deep waters. Stung by the suddenness he left the spot, and later when he returned to go into the water alone, the Octopus found and hunted him down. It stuck him on the arm, and then whipped him on the neck and upper arm. It did leave a mighty impression and I reckon Octopuses have strong emotions, can get angry, when someone enters their territory.

The preferred treatment for sea animal attacks is applying vinegar and since the Geologist did not have anything on him at that time he tried used Coca-Cola ‘Turns out, it worked’.

I guess we need to stretch out on our beaches with lots of vinegar or cola, within the reach of our own tentacles. Welcome to the beach!

Please Yourself

While we wait for the Academy of Motion Pictures to reveal the Oscars Winners at the fag end of April, India went ahead and announced its highest honour for cinema artists-the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. The 51st recipient was named as South Indian Superstar Rajinikanth, all of seventy years. I’ll flip a cigarette to that!

Rajinikant, the humble and God-fearing person that he is, thanked bus driver Raj Bahadur, his partner, in the Bus Conductor days in the city of Bengaluru, who discovered hidden acting and style talent in him and pushed him into the head-lights of a movie career. And, of course he mentioned his elder brother who provided the foundation-keeping food on the table- and late Film Director K Balachander who gave him his first break in the movies.

Rajinikant has acted in about 167 films in many Indian languages, but mostly in Tamil. He was hurrying-up the shooting for his 168th film ‘Annaatthe’ (Elder Brother) hampered by the pandemic, when he fell ill, spending quality time in Hospital. God must have talked to him during that time as he decided against entering politics-on God’s sign: he had announced starting a brand new Political outfit last December but gave it up. We sorely miss a style quotient and the famous punch dialogue one-liners in the Tamil Nadu Election Circuit.

More real acting stories coming up in the weeks ahead.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2021-06

About: This is the news cooked this week, in our World. I’ve dug out some old dishes and flavoured it with present day spices.

Well Said

“There should be no boundaries to human endeavour. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there’s life, there is hope.” – Stephen Hawking, The Theory of Everything

Everywhere

Oh Myanmar, The Military, Suui Kyi, and the Rohingya!

I can clearly recall the many times a proud House Owner, on showing-off his newly built house, would proclaim on touching wood, ‘that’s made from original Burma Teak’. I heard the sound!

Teak grows throughout much of Burma and due to its natural water resistance is sought out for a variety of uses, especially furniture-making and shipbuilding. And it is an important part of Burma’s economy.

Burma was renamed as Myanmar in 1989 by the then ruling Military Government. Both names can be traced to the majority ‘Bamar’ ethnic group living in the region. Some say the names are derived from ‘Brahma Desha’, after Lord Brahma (one of the Hindu Trinity Gods).

Myanmar has a population of about 54 million. The biggest city is Yangon (Rangoon) and the capital is Nay Pyi Taw. The main religion is Buddhism.

These days, Myanmar is in the news for reasons other than its trustworthy hard teak. Let’s do a flashback.

Myanmar gained independence from the British (who else was a better coloniser?) on 4th January 1948 largely due to the efforts of Aung Sung who founded the Myanmar Armed Forces and headed the Transition to the country’s Independence. He is considered the Father of the Nation, of modern-day Myanmar. Unfortunately, he was assassinated just six months before Myanmar officially gained its independence. His surviving children are, a daughter, Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was two years old at the time of his death, and a son, Aung San Oo, now an US citizen and estranged from his famous sister.

Following Aung Sung’s assassination, his colleague, U Nu, took over as Burma’s first Prime Minister. And the wife of Aung Sung was appointed the Burmese Ambassador to India, which led to Aung San Suu Kyi studying in the Convent of Jesus & Mary School, New Delhi, and graduating from Delhi University’s Lady Sri Ram College. She married a British historian Dr Michael Ari who later died of cancer in 1999.

In March 1962 the military led by General Ne Win took control of Burma through a coup d’état following internal ethnic strife and civilian unrest. And the government has been in direct or indirect military control ever since.

Entering active politics, Suu Kyi formed and headed the democratic, National League for Democracy (NLD) Party during the uprising of 8th August 1988 (called the 8888 uprising) in the country. In all the instances – mostly on international pressure – when the military woke up and allowed General Elections, and when Suu Kyi’s NLD participated, it invariably swept the Elections, often winning in a landslide. And also invariably the military government would ignore the election results, refuse to hand over power and instead detain Suu Kyi and place her under house arrest. She spent a total of 15 of the 21 years from 1989 to 2010 in this manner of a cat & mouse game until the time of her final release from ‘house arrest’ on 13th November 2010.

In between all of this, she won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for, ‘her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights’. And for ‘being involved in the second struggle for national independence employing non-violent means to resist a regime characterised by brutality’. The Nobel Committee as also said that Suu Kyi ‘emphasizes the need for conciliation between the sharply divided regions and ethnic groups in her country’.

In the General elections of November 2015 Suu Kyi led the NLD to yet another landslide victory in Myanmar’s first openly contested election of 25 years.

Meanwhile, the clever Army Generals, had made statute changes, and were prepared to gun her down with new Laws. Under the current Constitution, which came into effect from 2008, she was barred from becoming President, being the widow of a foreigner (her husband was British) and the mother of foreigners (her two children are not citizens of Myanmar ). A post called ‘State Counsellor’, akin to Prime Minister, was created for her, alongside the President, from the NLD.

But since becoming Myanmar’s State Counsellor, her leadership has been defined by the treatment of the country’s mostly Muslim Rohingya minority.

In 2017 hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to the neighbouring Bangladesh due to an Army crackdown sparked by deadly attacks on police stations in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.

The Rohingya, who numbered around one million at the start of 2017, are one of the many ethnic minorities in the country. Rohingya Muslims represent the largest percentage of Muslims in Myanmar, with the majority living in Rakhine state. They have their own language and culture and are said to be descendants of Arab traders and other groups who have lived in the region for generations.

But the government of Myanmar, predominantly Buddhist, has denied the Rohingya citizenship and even excluded them from the 2014 census, refusing to recognise them as a people. It sees them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Since the 1970s, Rohingya have migrated across the region in significant numbers.

In the last few years, thousands of Rohingya made perilous journeys out of Myanmar to escape communal violence or alleged abuses by the armed forces.

The exodus began on 25th August 2017 after Rohingya Arsa militants launched deadly attacks on more than 30 police posts. Rohingyas arriving in Bangladesh said they fled after troops, backed by local Buddhist mobs, burnt their villages and attacked and killed civilians. At least 6,700 Rohingya, including about 730 children under the age of five, were killed in the month after the violence broke out. And – according to reports – the Myanmar military raped and abused Rohingya women.

Suu Kyi’s is accused her of doing nothing to stop the mayhem, possible genocide, or ethnic cleansing, by refusing to condemn the powerful military or acknowledge accounts of atrocities. The Nobel Peace Prize hung upon her. Maybe, she was a pragmatic politician, trying to govern a multi-ethnic country with a complex history and trying to find an opportune moment to shoot the goal she wanted, playing ball with the military? Could be that the military did the Rohingya Act to besmirch Suu Kyi and show that a civilian government cannot rule? I wish I knew, only time will tell. I would place my trust in Suu Kyi – she having endured so much.

Her personal defence of the Army’s actions at the International Court of Justice hearing in 2019 in the Hague was seen as a new turning point that obliterated what little remained of her international reputation.

At home, however, ‘the Lady’, as Suu Kyi is known, remains hugely popular among the Buddhist majority who hold little sympathy for the Rohingya.

Trooping over to the present, in the General Elections of 8th November 2020, the NLD again won by a landslide securing 83% of available seats in what many saw as a referendum on Suu Kyi’s civilian government. It was just the second election since the end of military rule in 2011.

But the military, true to its nature, has disputed the result, filing complaints at the Supreme Court against the President and the Chair of the Electoral Commission demanding a rerun of the vote, claiming widespread fraud. The Election Commission, in turn, has said there was no evidence to support the claims.

The New Parliament was set to convene on 1st February 2021 to acknowledge the Elections, swear-in new members and open-up for business, when yet another coup was staged by the military. And power was handed over to the Commander-in-Chief, Min Aung Hlaing. Back to Military Rule. Here we are.

Suui Kyi is again under House Arrest and several charges have been filed against her such as, breaching import and export laws and possessing unlawful communication devices – aka walkie talkies!

Fascinating to learn that this is happening right next-door and there is nothing much we can do about it. What next? Another round of Elections? Another round of House Arrests? Another merry-go-round? And a timeless drift for Myanmar to become the seasoned wood of a Burma Teak?

I think the United Nations and all right-thinking Nations ought to put some sense into the Army Generals and fire them to return to their barracks; live and let live.

Russia

Meanwhile, last week’s Person in the Russian News, Opposition Leader, Alexei Navalny, was handed a three years jail sentence, by the Courts, on parole violations; charges which appear specially cooked-up and politically motivated. As more pro-Navalny protesters across more than ten cities were detained many Western Nations including the US, Germany, and France condemned the violence against the protestors and called for Navalny’s immediate release.

Changes in Russia do not happen quickly or easily. However, Alexei Navalny has at best galvanised a movement, and the direction it takes will be worth a watch over the coming months… and years.

It’s an uphill task fighting for a cause and finding the momentum. Someone in some part of the world is fighting for Freedom. And it always comes at a price?

India’s Promised ‘Never Before Budget’?

It was a fantastic effort in book-keeping and was neatly written on a foundation of six defined pillars: health & well being, physical & financial capital & infrastructure, inclusive development, human Capital, Innovation and R&D, and Minimum Govt & Maximum Governance. And read out from a paperless ‘made in India’ Tablet. Wow! However, it presses the growth accelerator after a pandemic year of continuously topping up the fuel tank and guzzling fuel – running the engine standstill at seemingly endless red signals and not covering ground. The Government is still spending more than it earns – this is estimated as 9.5% for this year and 6.8% for the next.

Broadly, the Government is tirelessly focussing on infrastructure: roads, airports, ports, urban transportation, power, etc., ‘creating assets to catalyse future growth’- as someone put it aptly. Also targeting to sell off inefficient Public Sector Companies to realise money for its various operations. And creating a ‘Bad Bank’ – a Sink for non-performing assets, which can be cleaned up by selling the collected dirt that has some value. All this is happening keeping the sights on much needed healthcare – for the wellness of the nation, and education – hoping it leads to greater wisdom. There are plans to set up a National Language Translation Mission (NLTM) to enable the wealth of governance, policy information, and knowledge on the internet being made available in major Indian languages, so that people can understand each other better in addition to what’s happening around the world. Namaste – Vanakkam.

Having been stirred and shaken in battling the coronavirus pandemic, the Government has pledged to fund four new National Virology Institutes, nine new High-Containment Laboratories for studies on highly infectious pathogens and a National Institution for ‘One Health’ to coordinate research and surveillance on animal and human infections. Viruses living on Bats & Friends beware, India will hunt you down.

Meanwhile, the citizen has not been loaded with any new taxes and tax compliance has been encouraged with easing of some complex rules. In a first, Income Tax has been done away for pension & interest dependant Senior Citizens over 75 years old (No Time To Die?)With the average Indian Life expectancy near about 71 years, I wish the Government had climbed down to 65years to keep us alive. I’m hitting sixty next year and wish the cool definition of senior citizen – 60 plus – is lent real meaning. Proud to be a Senior Citizen, I must say?

Growing COVID-19 Vaccinations

More than 119 million doses have been administered across 67 countries, averaging 4.54 million doses a day.

India has vaccinated near about 5 million people (Source: Ministry of Health), about 0.33 doses per 100 people, and it’s an awfully long drive to reach the ’70% to 75% vaccinated’ herd-immunity milestone.

I continue my story on the vaccination effort in Israel, which is by far the first country where vaccinations are starting to curb the pandemic and experts claim with caution, ‘the magic has started’.

Israel has been able to rapidly rollout its vaccination drive due to a well-laid out healthcare system that requires every citizen to be a member of one of four non-profit, Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)s, which collectively operate clinics throughout the country. A resident connects with his HMO to make appointments, manage prescriptions, and get test results.

Having secured vaccine supplies from both Pfizer and Moderna, Israel was able to use this solid healthcare infrastructure to push ahead with vaccination faster than any other country. The HMOs send alerts to all people over 60 years old, to say they are eligible, and outlines who could self-book via Phone, Website or App. At the vaccine centre – ranging from stadiums to drive-throughs – A nurse confirms the medical history including allergies on an iPad in less than 30 seconds to clear the person for a jab. People can book an appointment for the second dose while waiting for the first.

As of Friday, Israel had given roughly 59 shots per 100 people in the country, while the United Kingdom has given 16 doses per 100, and United States, almost 11.

New Vaccines such as Johnson & Johnson’s one shot Vaccine are expected to reach our arms in the coming weeks and months, and it would surely accelerate the vaccination drive. Get that arm ready!

Please Yourself

A Steven Spielberg movie is always a delight to watch. Who can forget the dramatic jaw-dropping scenes of the 1975 movie, Jaws? We never get to see the deadly shark until about half-time into the movie, where the music, the sound effects, and the images do all the talking. Isn’t that what a motion picture should do?

This week, I finally got to see the ‘greatest war movie ever made, one of the finest movies of our time, nominated for eleven Academy Awards and winning five, including Best Director for Steven Spielberg’s 1998 movie, Saving Private Ryan.

This is the story of eight marines tasked with saving the life of an ordinary solider, Private James Ryan, who no one knew before, and bringing him back home, safely from behind enemy lines. This is because Private Ryan lost three brothers, killed in the same war he was fighting. And his mother was to receive three telegrams, at the same time, informing their deaths and the US Army General deciding this was more than anyone could possibly bear.

The story is set in 1944 during Word War-II when American soldiers land at Omaha Beach as part of the Normandy Invasion and the opening scene presents one of the bloodiest battles of the war. I could feel the thud of the bullets, ‘hear the smell of blood’, and see the images as if I was in that battle, in a fantastic, riveting 20 minutes of the incident.

Hollywood stars, Tom Hanks, Matt Damon (Ryan) and Vin Diesel form part of the awesome cast. Watch it to see the very best of film-making and feel what war can do to human civilisations.

There’s nothing like a good song, a good book, or a good movie to inspire the best in us, isn’t it?

There’s a new story hatching every day in some part of the World. I’ll make sense of them and bring them to you every week.