About: the world this week, 3 December to 9 December 2023; Depends on context antisemitism; Ukrainian Sniper; new Woman Chess Grandmaster; India State Election results; Chennai underwater; TIME’s person, athlete, and CEO of the year.

Everywhere

Last week, the temporary halt in the Hamas-Israel War was just that and Israel got back to raining its fire-power on Gaza. There are still 138 hostages – including men, woman, and children in the captivity of Hamas.

Meanwhile, every day, new heart-wrenching details of the savagery of Hamas was made public by Israel based on reports of the released hostages. And the stories of barbarism is blood-curling and horrific. Can humans ever do this to another of their kind?

Israel is now expanding its military operations to the South of Gaza and has also come up with a plan to flood the Hamas’ underground tunnels with sea-water pumped from the Mediterranean Sea, so that the Hamas rats would emerge from their holes.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have stormed into the City of Khan Younis and are now operating in the heart of the City. It’s mostly house-to-house combat at this stage. The IDF has surrounded the house of Yahya Sinwar – the Leader of Hamas in Gaza – believed to the mastermind behind the 7th October attack on Israel. It’s a matter of time that they flush him out.

On Thursday the sea-water did its work and about 100 terrorist rats were caught, stripped down to their briefs (to prevent a show of any suicide vests) and taken way for ‘grilling’ and imprisonment.

Over 1200 people have been killed since the resumption of fighting.

‘Depends on the Context’

This week, the Presidents of America’s Ivy League Universities, Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Pennsylvania (Upenn) spoke before America’s Congress. They were given one simple question to answer, “Does calling for genocide of Jews break the University code of conduct, and is it considered harassment?” It should have been a simple ‘Yes’. Instead, they said it ‘Depends on the Context’ and it depends on whether the speech turns into conduct. This damning reply caused a huge uproar and brought forth outright condemnation from America’s Leaders, across fields. Their failed moral leadership has led to moral decay of University campus culture. And these antisemitic incidents are seen as not just a mere anomaly.

There is a severe call for President Claudine Gay(Harvard), President Sally Kornbluth (MIT), and President Elizabeth Magill (Upenn) to resign, or be fired from their positions. Or does it depend on the context?

Ukrainian Sniper

The Ukrainian Sniper had lain still for hours in near freezing temperatures when the command came to take the shot at a Russian soldier almost 4 kilometres away. ‘You can’, his Spotter said, and Vyacheslav Kovalskiy, 58, pulled the trigger. The rest, they say, is history.

The bullet took about nine seconds to reach its target – the Russian soldier doubled down and fell. Ukraine said the shot set a new sniping distance record, breaking the previously acknowledged mark by more than 850 feet.

The record was also a shot heard around the world of snipers, group of highly skilled shooters who have long pushed the boundaries of just how far a bullet can travel with accuracy.

This is also a morale boost shot for Ukrainian forces, fighting to hold their ground against the invading Russians. Distances can kill.

Chess Grandmaster (GM)

The young Indian Chess prodigy, GM, Rameshbabu Praggnanaandhaa,18, has been all over the news in recent times and his elder sister was feeling left out. Then she must have decided ‘enough is enough’ and late last week, the sister – Vaishali Rameshbabu – became India’s third woman Chess Grandmaster. She achieved this with two consecutive victories at the Ellobregat Open Chess Tournament in Spain, which made her ride past the 2500 mark ‘Elo rating’ to become GM.

She said, “For many years I was living as Prag’s (Praggnanaandhaa) sister. Now slowly, I think it’s getting to Vaishali. I am very proud of being Prag’s sister, but I also want my name. I think I would like to be remembered as one of India’s greatest Woman Chess Players”. Prag became GM in 2018 at the age of 12 – the second youngest at the time to achieve this.

Vaishali’s inspiration has been the first and second Indian Woman GM’s before her, Humpy and Harika. Koneru Humpy is the world’s youngest female player to become GM, in 2002, at the age of just 15. Harika Dronavalli became GM in 2011. And there are about 80 Indian players, in total, who became GM’s, and are in the same league.

Vaishali and Prag also become the first-ever brother-sister duo in the history of chess to be GMs. Also the first time that we will see a brother and sister playing together as candidates. This will happen in April 2024.

What is the ‘Elo rating’?

The Elo rating system measures the relative strength of a player in games such as Chess compared to other players. Its creator Arpad Elo was a Physics Professor in the United States (US) and a Chess Master who worked to improve the way the US Chess Federation measured player’s skill levels. Each player’s Elo rating is represented by a number that reflects that person’s results in the previous rated games. After each game, their ratings are adjusted accordingly to the outcome of the encounter. As a general rule of thumb a player who is rated 100 points higher than his opponent is expected to win roughly five out of eight (64%) games. A player with a 200 point advantage will presumably win 3 out of 4 (75%) games. Most Grandmasters have a Elo rating of between 2500 and 2700. International Masters have between 2499 and 2400.

The Elo rating system was officially adopted by the US Chess Federation in 1960 and by FIDE (The International Chess Federation) in 1970. World Champion, GM Magnus Carlesn holds the record for the highest Elo rating ever achieved by a human player. He reached an impressive 2882 in the year 2014.

India Election Results

Counting of votes for seats in the Elections to the State Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh (MP), Chhatissgarh, and Telangana took place on Sunday, and it was a cool, thumping win for the Bharatia Janata Party (BJP). Most of the Exit Polls were off-target and at best they could sense the direction the wind was blowing. India’s grand old party, The Congress, won in the State of Telangana where the BJP, which was not expected to win, put up a good show, made inroads, and improved its seats from 1 to 8. The emphatic wins were also an affirmation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hold on the electorate. And he is hoping to see his party, the BJP, win a third consecutive term in the parliamentary Elections coming-up in 2024.

In Chhattisgarh out of the 90 seats, the BJP won 54 and the Congress 35; in MP out of 230, the BJP won a historic never-before 163 against the Congress’ 66; In Rajasthan out of 199 the BJP won 115 to the Congress’ 69. In Telangana the Congress won 64 out of 119 with the local Party Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) winning 39 and the BJP 8. The BRS was in power for a decade, since the formation of the new State of Telangana, and had grown arrogant and corrupt – shown the door by the people.

The counting in the State of Mizoram happen on Monday and a local party Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) won a spectacular mandate of 27 out of 40 seats becoming a party other than the Congress (1) or the BJP (2) set to form the Government. Its Leader Lalduhoma is an ex-Indian Police Force (IPS) officer and served as security-in-charge of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1982.

He then quit the IPS and became a Congress Party Member of Parliament (MP) in 1984. He later, resigned from Congress and became the first MP to be disqualified under the anti-defection law in November 1988. Lalduhoma played an active role in ending the insurgency in Mizoram, which paved the way for the signing of the Mizoram Peace Accord in 1986. He later formed the Mizo National Front (Nationalist) which was renamed Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP) in 1997. In 2003, he won the assembly polls as a ZNP candidate. And later went on to form the ZPM as an alternative to the Congress and the Mizo National Front (MNF), which between them, always ruled the State of Mizoram.

Congress’ Revanth Reddy took oath as Chief Minister(CM) of Telangana on the 7th December and so did Lalduhoma in Mizoram. The other States are still to produce their CMs.

The Chennai Deluge

Cyclone Michaung originated as a low-pressure area in the Gulf of Thailand and crossed into the Bay of Bengal becoming a deep depression on 2nd December. It then developed into a cyclonic storm and was named Michaung (pronounced ‘Migjaum), which means ‘strength and resilience’. The name was suggested by Myanmar and named by the World Meteorological Organization.

This week, Cyclone Michaung found its strength and resilience wrecking havoc in Chennai, floating the city and challenging the storm water drain works done to prevent such kind of flooding. Areas were inundated with water and the wrath of the Cyclone knew no bounds, submerging homes, and drowning cars.

As heavy rains brought the city of Chennai to a crying halt, ahead of Cyclone Michaung’s landfall the rainfall was called historic and unprecedented, a 47-year high. This is said almost every year, with the previous one being left behind in all aspects. The rainfall, surpassed the figures of 2015, when intense floods had claimed 199 lives. This time Chennai received 44 centimetres (cm) of rain in Perungudi area and 43 cm at Meenambakkam in just 36 hours.

Chennai’s Southern suburbs were most affected with more than 1000 people evacuated from their homes in Pallikaranai, Perungudi, Thoraipakkam, and Sholinganallur. They struggled under 5 feet of water on day 3.

India’s Prime Minister, who is the head of the National Disaster Management Authority (NMDA), was quick to sanction INR 561.29 crore under the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) for India’s first urban mitigation project focussing on Chennai. And represents a proactive measure to address challenges posed by urban flooding and enhance Chennai’s resilience to natural disasters.

Meanwhile, boats were playing on the roads with food and essentials being delivered to people caught in the waters. It would take a few days for the flood-water to recede and then the State Government is expected to be taken to task and face tough questions.

TIME Magazine’s Athlete, Person, and CEO of the Year

This week, Argentina’s Football Captain, Lionel Messi, 36, was named as TIME’s 2023 Athlete of the Year. Messi played a star role in Argentina winning their first World Cup title in 36 years when they beat defending champions France in the final in December last year. Messi also won the Ballon d’Or for a record-extending eighth time.

Messi wins the TIME award for the football influence he has brought over to the United State (US) since joining Inter Miami and elevating the profile of the sport in the US

Lionel Messi had no shortage of offers when he left Paris St Germain earlier this year, choosing to sign for Major League Soccer (MLS) Inter Miami despite being linked with his former team Barcelona and a big-money move to Saudi Arabia’s side Al-Hilal. Messi shocked the globe by turning down a contract from a Saudi club reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year and announcing in June that he was signing with Inter Miami.

It wasn’t just the move that was stunning, but the size and scope of the deal. In addition to the more than USD 20 million a year Inter Miami would pay him, he would be granted an ownership stake in the team upon retirement and an unprecedented cut of revenues earned by a league media partner—in this case, Apple. It was a deal that not only reflected Messi’s undiminished talent on the field but also set a new standard for athlete leverage and empowerment.

Messi wearing a pink Inter Miami jersey made an instant impact at Miami, scoring 10 goals in seven Leagues Cup appearances as he spurred them to victory in the tournament which features MLS teams as well as sides from Mexico.

Messi’s arrival in the US also made waves off the pitch, causing a massive spike in searches for match dates and tickets to see him in action, with fans also buying up his official pink Inter Miami shirt. The price of tickets to Inter Miami games skyrocketed, while Apple TV, which has a 10-year partnership with the MLS, saw a significant increase in subscriptions.

TIME said, “Messi managed to do what once seemed impossible: turning the US into a soccer country.”

His games took on the feel of a religious revival. After Messi scored a goal against the New York Red Bulls in August, rapper Fat Joe posted on Instagram a video of himself, nearly in tears, shouting “Messi! Messi! Messi!”

TIME has chosen American Singer-Songwriter, Taylor Swift as Person of the Year, and OpenAI CEO since 2019, Sam Altman as CEO of the Year.

Taylor Swift’s, The Eras Tour – now made into a film – occupied much of this year 2023. It began in Glendale, Arizona in March 2023, and is set to conclude in 2024. Each show spans three and a half hours, with a set list of 44 songs divided into 10 distinct acts that conceptually portray Swift’s ten studio albums. The tour was a commercial success and received critical acclaim. It became a cultural and economic phenomenon, bolstered by globally unprecedented ticket demand and fan frenzy.

TIME has this to write , “While her popularity has grown across the decades, this is the year that Swift,33, achieved a kind of nuclear fusion: shooting art and commerce together to release an energy of historic force”.

Taylor Swift beat Barbie and King Charles-III to the title.

I have written about Sam Altman in last week’s post World Inthavaaram – 48.

https://kumargovindan.com/2023/12/02/world-inthavaaram-2023-48/

The Person of the Year, Athlete of the year, and CEO of the year, reflects TIME’s assessment of the individuals who most shaped the headlines over the previous twelve months, for better or for worse.

More timely stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Lift yourself with World Inthavaaram.