Tag: Sudan

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, 2024-46

About: the world this week, 10 November to 16 November 2024: Wars I to III; US President-elect in transition; India’s Supreme Chief Justice; the Taj Mahal hides; stability returns to Sri Lanka; and ‘Delhi’ Ganesh – no comebacks.

Everywhere

War -I

The Russia-Ukraine War meanders on with each side tearing down some part of the other side every week. Edging to some kind of a pyrrhic victory? This week, on Sunday, Ukraine attacked Moscow with at least 32 drones, the biggest drone strike on the Russian capital since the start of the war in 2022, forcing flights to be diverted from three of the city’s major airports. Not many casualties were reported, though.

War -II

Israel pounded Lebanon’s Beirut’s southern suburbs with airstrikes on Tuesday, mounting one of its heaviest daytime attacks yet on the Hezbollah-controlled area.

Ignited by the Gaza War, the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah is rumbling on for over a year.

Hezbollah’s rocket and drone attacks have killed about 100 civilians and soldiers in northern Israel, the Golan Heights, and southern Lebanon, over the last year.

War -III

Then there is another ongoing war-an internal one-which does not seem to be nearing an end, anytime soon.

More than 61,000 people are estimated to have died in Khartoum State during the first 14 months of Sudan’s War. Evidence suggests that the toll from the devastating conflict is significantly higher than previously recorded, according to a new report by researchers in Britain and Sudan. The estimate includes some 26,000 people who suffered violent deaths, a higher figure than one currently used by the United Nations for the entire country.

The UN says the conflict has driven 11 million people from their homes and unleashed the world’s biggest hunger crisis. Nearly 25 million people-half of Sudan’s population-need aid as famine has taken hold in at least one displacement camp.

For the genesis of the Sudan War read:

https://kumargovindan.com/2024/05/18/world-inthavaaram-2024-20/

The Shape of Things to Come

Donald Trump, the President-elect of the United States is in the process of stitching together his dream team to get to work on the double, when he is formally inaugurated on 20 January 2025. And the sounds of formation seem to be exactly what is required to Make America Great Again (MAGA)-his version.

The first appointment was ‘Ice Maiden’, Susie Wiles for Chief of Staff, who along with campaign co-chair Chris LaCivita were the masterminds behind Trump’s Election victory. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, 53, who holds a hawkish view of China will be Secretary of State. Army veteran Pete Hegseth will be the next Defence Secretary. Matt Gaetz will be Attorney General. Florida congressman Michael Waltz will be National Security Adviser. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem will play the key role of overseeing US security, including its borders, cyber-threats, terrorism and emergency response. The tough talking, no-nonsense, Tom Homan is Border Czar – no better person to get illegal immigrants off the land. US Army Reserve Tulsi Gabbard was picked for the powerful post of Director of National Intelligence. In regard to India, Tulsi has spoken forcefully for exiled Kashmiri pandits, backed abrogation of Art 370 & says the West can learn from India’s Vedic wisdom.

New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik will serve as the US Ambassador to the United Nations. She made national headlines with her sharp questioning in congressional committees, first at Trump’s 2019 impeachment hearings and again this year quizzing college leaders about anti-semitism on campus.

A worrisome appointment seems to be environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist Robert F Kennedy Jr as Secretary of Health and Human Services. He is the son of Robert Kennedy and nephew of former US President John F Kennedy and senator Ted Kennedy. Have the Kennedys arrived, again?

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, the world’s richest man will lead what Trump has termed a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside one-time presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy. DOGE which will function outside of the cabinet but in close coordination with it. Their goal is to shake-up the bureaucracy – removing deadwood and unnecessary departments to make the Government work with terrific efficiency. Said Vivek, “America’s 250th anniversary is on 4 July 2026. DOGE will deliver our nation the birthday gift of a government that’s actually accountable to its people, rather than the other way around”.

Meanwhile, the President and the President-elect met in the White House to ‘firmly’ shake-hands and show snow-white teeth to ensure a smooth transition and transfer of power.

A New Chief Justice

This week, Justice Sanjiv Khanna was sworn in as the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court(SC) by the President of India. He is the 51st judge to reach this level, and succeeds Justice D Y Chandrachud.

Sanjiv Khanna has been serving as SC Judge since January 2019 before being elevated to the top-most portion in the land. He is the nephew of renowned former SC Judge H R Khanna. Sanjiv Khanna’s noteworthy rulings are his support for Electronic Voting Machines in Indian Elections, saying they prevent booth capturing and bogus voting. He was part of the SC bench that struck down Electoral Bonds as unconstitutional, and upheld the government’s decision in 2019, to abrogate the contentious Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir. His tenure will be up to 13 May 2025. And he better make use of the time to deliver some ‘fresh’ justice.

Obscured Love

The story goes that Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, who built India’s Taj Mahal as a monument of love to his beautiful wife Mumtaz Mahal, spent the last years of life gazing at the Taj Mahal, as a prisoner (his son put him in jail and stole the Crown) at Agra Fort – near the Taj. This week the Air Quality in Delhi and its neighbourhood was so horrific that it obscured the Taj Mahal: one could not see the ‘outpouring of love’ even standing right in front of it. Shah Jahan must be turning in his grave-and blinded!

New Delhi had a severe air quality level of 424 (AQI), according to live rankings kept by Swiss group IQAir, the worst amongst global capitals. And the Taj Mahal is about 220 km from New Delhi!

To bring some meaning into the air: an AQI up to 33 is Very Good; and between 34 and 66 is Good. Above 200 plus is hazardous.

New Delhi battles smog every winter as cold air traps dust, emissions, and smoke from illegal farm fires. Around 38% of the pollution in New Delhi this year has been caused by stubble burning in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana. Even Sikhism’s holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar was not spared – it vanished in the thick air!

Stable Sri Lanka

Surely, stability is returning to Sri Lanka with its new President Anura Kumar Dissanayake’s party securing a majority in Parliament in the just concluded Parliamentary Elections. His National People’s Party has won at least 123 of the 225 seats in Parliament. The opposition, United People’s Power Party, was left far behind with 31 seats. President Dissanayake was elected in September this year, and this result gives him a thumbs-up, strong mandate to plan and execute his economic revival agenda.

In a significant shift in Sri Lanka’s electoral landscape Dissanayake’s Party won the Jaffna District, the heart of the ethnic Tamil community, along with many other minority strongholds. Probably for the first time Tamils have shifted their loyalties to Sinhalese majority leaders instead of the traditional Tamil parties.

I guess Sri Lankans have spoken clearly and strongly.

We Cannot Use Him Again

Late last week, on 9th November, in the dead of night-almost into the next day- versatile supporting Actor, comedian, and sometimes villain, ‘Delhi Ganesh’ passed away at the age of 80 due to age related problems, at his home in Chennai. His domain was mostly Tamil films and TV serials. He had acted in over 400 films, about 50 TV serials, and in the early years in about 20 plays(each staged 100 times). Delhi Ganesh supported the leading superstars of the time in Tamil cinema and particularly had an enduring act with Actor Kamal Hassan, to who he attributed all his fame and glory.

Delhi Ganesh was born ‘M Ganesan’, between two siblings-an elder sister and a younger brother, in Keezhapavur, a town in Tenkasi District of Tamil Nadu. He grew up in the town of Tirunelveli in a family deeply in love with the arts, which environment stimulated him in the stage direction, in the wonder years.

Most successful careers are not straight lines. Ganesan joined the India Air Force (IAF) in the ground services department as a Clerk in 1964, in Chennai and when he left in 1974, he has risen to the position of Corporal. During his tenure in the IAF he was deployed in the auxiliary personnel team, in Jammu & Kashmir during the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pakistani wars.

While posted in New Delhi he was an active member of the Delhi-based theatre troupe, Dakshina Bharata Nataka Sabha, acting in dramas, playing various roles, and making a name for himself in Tamil theatre in India’s capital.

He quit the IAF in 1974 and returned to Chennai as he found his calling in acting – on the stage, and in the film world. While hunting for acting jobs he worked for a brief period as a stenographer in the Food Corporation of India in Chennai.

He joined ‘Kathadi’ Ramamurthi’s Drama troupe, and during his stay with the troupe, received a breakthrough portraying the role of Kuselar in the play ‘Dowry Kalyanam’, which caught the eye of Tamil film Director K Balachander.

Those days, celebrities and members of other troupes would ensure that they get to view the final dress rehearsal and the first show of a new Drama. That was how his first film chance came about: through Director Balachander who saw him in the Drama ‘Pattina Pravesam’ written and staged by Director & Actor Visu. Balachander promptly offered him a role in the movie version.

The movie ‘Pattina Pravesam’ (entering a City) was written and directed by Balachander based on the play of the same name by Director Visu. It was released in the year 1976, introducing Ganesan to the Tamil Film World as ‘Delhi Ganesh’. During that time, there were two other famous Ganesans ruling the Tamil Film world: ‘Gemini’ Ganesan and ‘Shivaji’ Ganesan, who had also acquired stage names based on the circumstances of their first act.

Whatever, the name stuck and ‘Delhi Ganesh’ flourished as a character artist, a comedian, villain, or a family man, of lasting legacy. He also carved out a name for himself in several TV serials.

Among many awards, Delhi Ganesh received the Kalaimamani Award- the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu – in 1994.

One of Ganesh’s most iconic roles is in the 1990 Tamil comedy film ‘Michael Madana Kama Rajan’, where he plays a short-tempered cook serving one of Kamal Haasan’s four characters in the film. Kamal and Delhi Ganesh have acted together in many other films, which went on to become memorable super hits, including ‘Nayakan’ (1987), ‘Apoorva Sagodharagal’ (1989), ‘Avvai Shanmugi’ (1996), and ‘Thenali’ (2001).

Delhi Ganesh married his cousin, Thankom, in the early days of his career, and the couple have one son and two daughters. His son, Mahadevan Ganesh, is also an actor. Delhi Ganesh was an affable, outright family person and easily came across as your next-door neighbourhood man.

My last memory of Delhi Ganesh is in the family jingle advertisement for Aswin Sweets – a local brand of sweets – where he convincingly declares that the oil once used (in cooking the sweets) is never used again. Will there be someone like Delhi Ganesh, again?

More love and drama stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Stay with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-17

About-the world this week, 23 April to 29 April 2023: gunfires and standing your ground; news broadcasters crossing a line; flight out of a fighting Sudan; India’s Naxalites blast again; and snakes in Indian politics.

Everywhere

In America the gunfire refuses to subside. Early this week nine people were injured after gunfire erupted at a teenagers’ party in Jasper County, Texas. The shooting took place at a private residence where some 250 Jasper High School students had gathered after their annual prom dance.

The reason known at this point of time is that some kids ganged up after prom to have a night they could remember the rest of their lives, and somehow it got twisted, a bunch of children got shot. The victims ranged in age between 15 and 19. A motive for the shooting had not yet been identified.

Just last weekend, four people were killed and 28 others were injured in a shooting at a ‘Sweet 16’ birthday party in Alabama.

Firearm incidents are now the leading cause of death for American children and teenagers, according to the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

Meanwhile, there is a burst of another kind of fire: shootings sparked by everyday mistakes.

There was this teenage boy in Missouri who rang the wrong doorbell. He had gone to pick up his two younger brother from a friend’s house. However, he went to the wrong home. An eighty years old homeowner answered the door and promptly shot the teen in the head and arm. The boy who was hospitalised in critical condition, is now recovering at home.

Then this 20 years old woman in rural upstate New York whose boyfriend accidentally turned into the wrong driveway -while looking for a friend’s house- resulting in her being shot and killed by a man shooting from his front porch in a Wild West mode.

Firing on, about two cheerleaders in Texas whose group approached the wrong car to find a man sitting in the back seat. The girls backtracked and went back to their car, but the man in the wrong car approached them and when they rolled down the windows to maybe apologise, he shot them.

And the family in North Carolina, who were shot at after a basketball rolled into the suspect’s yard. And after children jumped-in and went to retrieve the ball.

Though believed to be the ‘rarest of the rare, wrong place, wrong time’ shootings seem more common than ever before. The trend may be due to a number of factors, such as increased distrust or a sometimes-racist fear of crime, marketing by the gun lobby, and self-defense laws in states that protect shooters. Those laws generally fall into two categories, though the way they’re used state-to-state is different. One is the ‘Castle Doctrine’ which says while someone is on their property, they can use deadly force in defense without retreating. The other includes ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws, which extend that to public places, or anywhere someone with a gun has the legal right to be.

In other America news, two of the biggest names in broadcast news were showed the door by their respective Bosses.

In February, Don Lemon of ‘CNN This Morning’ came under fire after he said former UN ambassador Nikki Haley “isn’t in her prime” to run for president. He later apologised for his misogynistic on-air remarks, but the damage had been done.

Close behind was Fox News, which announced that its prime-time host is leaving the network after 14 years. ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ was one of the most successful shows on the network, with an average nightly audience of 3.2 million viewers. Over the years, the show increasingly became a platform for former President Trump and conservative commentators. Carlson has come under fire for pushing theories that the 2020 election was stolen and for misleading viewers about the 6th January Capitol Riots.

Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon are both out of the roles they’ve held for years. The shifts in the industry — from firings to layoffs — show that media outlets appear to be facing a reckoning.

Fierce fighting continues in Sudan and countries are busy evacuating their people from the crazy war-zone.

American forces evacuated US embassy personnel from the country’s capital. India worked round the clock to herd their flock together in ‘Operation Kaveri’. And India has become something of an ‘evacuation expert’- what with many Countries approaching India for help. Say Sri Lanka.

The Naxalite issue is a stranglehold that refuses to leave India in peace. This week at least 10 personnel of the District Reserve Guards and their civilian driver were killed when Maoists detonated a powerful (Improvised Explosive Device) IED on a un-metalled road and fired on the wounded jawans near Aranpur, Dantewada District, Bastar, about 400 kilometres south of Raipur, on Wednesday.

Around 200 jawans were returning in a convoy when the blast was triggered. Police believe about 50 kilograms of explosives were used.

The IED was so powerful that it blasted a crater 12 feet deep and around 25 feet across, spanning the entire width of the village road. The vehicle was blown to smithereens and some of the rifles were bent out of shape by the shockwaves.

India’s Railway infrastructure is on an awesome track roll, the Prime Minster (PM) of India is busy snaking around the country to inaugurate the New Vande Bharat Trains. These ‘non-poisonous’ Made In India trains feature a GPS-based passenger information system, bio-vacuum toilets, and rotational seats that can be aligned in the direction of travel in the executive class, and employs a regenerative braking system. The Vande Bharat can reach a maximum speed of 180 km.

During an Election campaign in the State of Karnataka the Congress President called the PM a poisonous snake, and you could die by licking it. A longtime ago, another Congress President called the PM ‘The Merchant of Death’ during another Election campaign – the results were there for all to see. Lots of poison being thrown around this week.

More stories snaking-up in the weeks ahead. Stay away from poison stay with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-16

About-the world this week, 16 April to 22 April 2023: Revenge arrests; a stampede for food; lots of gunfire; a rapid unscheduled disassembly; and a ‘kota’ beauty.

Everywhere

Tit-for-Tat

This week a Russian Judge ruled that American Journalist Evan Gershkovich, 32, must remain in jail-at least till 29th May-on espionage charges, in a case that is part of Russia’s crackdown on dissent and press freedom. This is happening in the background of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting war. If convicted, it would be 20 years in a cold Russian jail.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed that Evan Gershkovich, who is based in the capital Moscow, had been trying to steal State secrets. This is the first time, since the Cold War, that a United States (US) news correspondent has been detained in Russia.

Evan works for the Wall Street Journal, which is published by US company, Dow Jones. He was born in a jewish family, to parents who fled the then Soviet Union during a period of mass emigration amidst rumours that Jews would be exiled in Serbia. His parents ended up in the US in 1979. And Russian is a language spoken at home.

The arrest of Evan Gershkovich comes on the heels of the US announcing charges, about a week ago, against a Russian national, Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov accusing him of being a Russian spy.

Tit-for-tat?

Dying for Food

This week, a stampede in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, left over 80 people dead and dozens seriously injured. Hundreds of people crowded at a School in Sanaa to receive alms, which amounted to 5,000 Yemeni Riyals or about USD 9 per person of people, waiting to receive donations during the last days of the Muslim Festival Eid al-Fitr, Ramadan. Houthi fighters- who’ve been running the city since 2015- had shot into the air to disperse and control the crowd, striking an electrical wire that sparked an explosion. The series of events spooked the crowd, leading to a deadly stampede. Two organisers of the event have been arrested, and it seems there wasn’t any coordination with local authorities. Now, there’s an investigation underway. The stampede happened right before the Muslim Festival holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan.

Yemen has been stuck in the deep pit of an eight-year conflict that pits a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia against the Iran-aligned Houthi group. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 against the Houthis, months after the group ousted the internationally recognised government from Sanaa. The conflict is seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people, wrecked the economy and pushed millions into hunger. The United Nation’s World Food Programme feeds 13 million in Yemen, but funding shortfalls have curtailed its activities.

The stampede shows the plight of the people in a war-torn country, fighting (and dying) for food, in Yemen.

The Guns of Africa

Late last week clashes broke out across Sudan, mainly in the capital city of Khartoum and the Darfur region, between rival factions of the country’s military government. Into this week, almost 330 people have been killed and about 3,200 injured. The clashes erupted amid an apparent power struggle between the two main factions of Sudan’s military regime.

The Sudanese armed forces are broadly loyal to Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the country’s de facto ruler, while the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a collection of militia, follow the former warlord Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.

The power struggle has its roots in the years before a 2019 uprising that ousted the dictatorial ruler Omar al-Bashir, who built up formidable security forces that he deliberately set against one another.

When an effort to transition to a democratic civilian-led government faltered after Bashir’s fall, an eventual showdown appeared inevitable, with diplomats warning, in early 2022, that they feared such an outbreak of violence. In recent weeks, tensions have risen further.

Sudan is in a volatile region bordering the Red Sea, the Sahel region and the Horn of Africa. Its strategic location and agricultural wealth have attracted regional power plays, complicating the chances of a successful transition to a civilian-led government.

Several of Sudan’s neighbours – including Ethiopia, Chad, and South Sudan – have been affected by political upheavals and conflict, and Sudan’s relationship with Ethiopia, in particular, has been strained over issues including disputed farmland along their border.

The history of conflicts in Sudan has consisted of ethnic tensions, religious disputes, and competition over resources. In its modern history, two civil wars between the central government and the southern regions killed 1.5 million people, and a continuing conflict in the western region of Darfur has displaced 2 million people and killed more than 200,000 people. Since independence in 1956, Sudan has had more than fifteen military coups and has been ruled by the military for the majority of the republic’s existence, with only brief periods of democratic civilian parliamentary rule. That’s a tinderbox situation in Africa.

The Guns of India

One of India’s rowdiest states fires into the news, this week too, with gangster Atiq Ahmed and his brother being shot dead while being escorted by the police for a medical check-up. In a brazen act, the killers, seemingly unmindful of the police being everywhere, ‘gate-crashed the party’, simply pulled out a gun and shot dead the gangsters. And then promptly surrendered to the Police.

Just last week, the gangster’s son had been killed by the Police in an encounter, while trying to escape and making deadly plans to rescue his father from jail. Now they are together in another place.

He who lives by the Gun dies by the Gun?

The Name is Gandhi

One of India’s Member of Parliament (MP), Rahul Gandhi, who was found guilty, convicted by India’s Courts, and disqualified as an MP lost an appeal to stay the conviction on criminal defamation – on the ‘Modi surname issue’. The Court said he failed to show the ‘exceptional circumstances’ to grant a stay on the conviction. Jail beckons, and the wait outside Parliament’s Gates stays.

This is only the second time since 1860 that someone has been punished with two years for jail for criminal defamation. That’s ‘rarest of rare circumstance’ – perhaps good enough reason to hand out a jail term!

A Successful Failure

The United States’ Space Agency NASA has long been in the game of Space and appears to have wisely outsourced all risk-taking to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, who grabs them by the tail-for the lessons to learn. I admire the man for such daring.

This week, SpaceX’s Starship Spacecraft and Super Heavy Rocket – collectively referred to as Starship – the largest and most powerful rocket ever built- blasted off from a SpaceX Starbase on the Gulf of Mexico in Boca Chica, Texas. However, after a successful launch, Starship blew up within minutes into the test flight that SpaceX, hoped will be the first step on a human journey to Mars.

After a cancelled launch earlier this week because of a pressurisation issue, the 120 metre Starship finally kicked off its base. It gathered speed, but then started to spin at altitude before exploding about four minutes after leaving the ground. It appeared that the two sections of the rocket system-the booster and cruise vessel -were unable to separate properly after takeoff, possibly causing the spacecraft to fail. It was not immediately clear whether the rocket exploded spontaneously or if the Flight Termination System was activated – a failsafe that destroys the spacecraft to prevent it from veering too far off course.

Starship is a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond. It is capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable fuel. Starship leverages tanker vehicles (essentially the Starship spacecraft minus the windows) to refill the Starship spacecraft in low-Earth orbit prior to departing for Mars. Refilling on-orbit enables the transport of up to 100 tons all the way to Mars. And if the tanker ship has high reuse capability, the primary cost is just that of the oxygen and methane, which is extremely low. The Starship is designed to carry 100 people on long duration interplanetary flights.

SpaceX had cautioned that the chances of success were low and that the aim of the test flight was to gather data, regardless of whether the full mission was achieved. Employees at SpaceX cheered even after the rocket disintegrated. “As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation,” SpaceX said in a statement, referring to the explosion. Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly-that’s Space equivocating at its best spin!

Indian Beauty

Miss India, or Femina Miss India, is a national beauty pageant in India that annually selects women beauties to represent India to compete in the Miss World Contest, one of the Big Four major international beauty pageants. It is organised by Femina, a women’s magazine published by The Times Group. Since 2013 to 2022, Femina also organised Miss Diva as a separate competition, with participants competing at Miss Universe.

This week India chose its Miss India-to represent India in the upcoming 71st Miss World Contest 2023, to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) later this year. Rajasthan’s 19 years old Nandhini Gupta was crowned Miss India in the pageant held on 15th April, followed by Delhi’s Shreya Poonja as the first runner-up and Manipur’s Thounaojam Strela Luwang as second runner-up.

Manipur hosted the grand finale of Femina Miss India 2023, a first in the pageant’s history where it was held outside Mumbai. One contestant from 29 states (including Delhi) and a collective representative for all Union Territories adding up to 30 participants competed for the title.

Sini Shetty was Femina Miss India World 2022 from whom the crown passes to Nandhini Gupta.

Miss India’s official Instagram page said of Nandini Gupta, ‘magnetism, charm, endurance, and beauty’.

Nandini Gupta is 19 years old and hails from Kota, one of the biggest coaching hubs in the country for engineering and medical aspirants. Could perhaps become a coaching hub for beauty and brains too? The new Miss World India holds a Business Management degree. The Tata Group’s Ratan Tata is the most influential person in Nandini’s life. International Actor and Miss World 2000, Priyanka Chopra is one beauty queen who inspires Nandini the most.

Kota Doriya is a fabric famous for its quality manufactured in the region. And the new Miss India wants to help the artisans by promoting it on a national and international level. Time to get our quota of Kota?

Melange

In other news, India became the most populous country in the World with a head count of 1.428 billion, about 17.8% of the World’s Population. Quickly behind is China with 1.425 billion.

Meanwhile, a debate is underway in the India’s Supreme Court on same-sex marriages.

In India’s Jammu & Kashmir, five Indian soldiers were martyred when a vehicle in which they were travelling was fired upon by terrorists in the Poonch area, on Thursday. The unidentified attackers took advantage of heavy rains and low visibility, and the army truck probably caught fire due to a grenade attack. I’m sure, India will give a befitting reply in time to come.

In the Russia-Ukraine war, trigger-happy Russia accidentally bombed one of its own cities-the city of Belgorod, close to the Ukrainian border. A Russian Sukhoi-34 fighter-jet was involved in the ‘special operation’. Maybe Russia itself is an accident over the past year(s)?

More cat-walking stories coming up in the weeks ahead. Make-up and stay beautiful with World Inthavaaram.