WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-46

About: the world this week, 12 November to 18 November 2023; Israel searching for the hostages; Ukraine-Russia stalemate; British Politics; a Dictator; Trapped in a Tunnel; World Cup Cricket.

Everywhere

Where Are The Hostages?

It’s over 40 days, and 240 Hostages-Men, Women, Children, Babies- of Israel and various other countries are being held by the terrorist Hamas following the barbaric invasion of Israel’s civilian territory on 7th October. And there is no safe word on the hostages, as yet. The number might have even gone up with a hostage who was heavily pregnant probably delivering her baby! The humanitarian cry simply isn’t loud enough. ‘

Israel’s Defence Forces are out on foot in North Gaza in the second phase of Operation Iron Swords-the all out war to eliminate Hamas.

This week, Israeli soldiers surrounded and stormed the Dar Al-Shifa (House of Healing) Hospital in Gaza City and are carrying out a precise, targeted operation to uncover Hamas and its infrastructure. Tanks have entered the premises and troops are inside Hospital rooms. Israel maintains the action is a must, as Hamas has made the hospital facility their base and has a command centre in tunnels underneath it, used to conceal military operations and possibly the hostages.

The Al-Shifa hospital is the leading medical centre in the Gaza Strip. The hospital comprises a group of six-storey buildings. It had between 600 and 900 beds and thousands of staff, and before the war, provided a range of services such as MRI scans, and dialysis that almost no other hospital in Gaza offered.

This Monday, Israel’s chief military spokesman showed footage of a Hamas weapons cache found in the basement of Gaza’s Rantisi Hospital for Children, another hospital in the enclave.

The United States (US) also reiterated Israel’s findings, saying that Hamas was storing weapons and operating a command node from the Al-Shifa hospital.

Under the laws of war, mandated by the Geneva Conventions, hospitals get special protections during war. However, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), they lose protection if combatants are using the premises to hide fighters or store weapons – exactly what Israel is accusing Hamas of doing at Al-Shifa.

International Law experts say that Israel carries the burden to produce evidence and prove its claim that the hospital has been used by Hamas as a base. ‘The object of the attack is a civilian object. Until such time that the Israelis provide proof that it has been converted into a military object, the civilian nature of the object does not change’.

Meanwhile, Israel is struggling to keep its side of the law allowing medical supplies, and food and essentials inside Gaza and the Hospital – in a controlled manner. The biggest challenge is keeping civilians out of the way.

What next? When will the hostages return home? People in Israel are on the streets demanding they be brought home.

Ukraine-Russia Stalemate?

Did Israel steal Ukraine’s thunder? Ukraine’s fight-back against the invasion of Russia seems to be entering a stalemate with both sides apparently not knowing which direction to take. Russia will benefit from a protracted war while Ukraine fights to keep its tail up.

The Commander in Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said this week that “there will most likely be no deep and beautiful breakthrough” and each day that passes gives the Russians an advantage. This sombre assessment of the battlefield is not a surprise. It’s what Ukrainians have been hearing in conversations with friends, seeing on social media, and experiencing personally on the front lines, as Russia’s mindless war against their country drags on.

The Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russia is stalled as a hard winter looms. Russia still occupies nearly a fifth of Ukraine and front lines are static for the most part while both sides continue to churn through soldiers. Russia will have superiority in weapons, equipment, missiles and ammunition for a considerable time and Ukraine needs new, innovative approaches.

Ukraine launched a counteroffensive against Russia’s invasion in June this year, but it has so far failed to gain the momentum needed to turn the tide of the war in its favour.

British Politics: Like the British Weather

Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak carried out a dramatic Cabinet Reshuffle early this week, firing his Home Secretary and bringing back former Prime Minister, David Cameron, to the heart of government after a seven-year absence from politics. David Cameron’s own premiership set the course of 13 years of Conservative rule, but the self-inflicted chaos of the Brexit referendum and its aftermath threw his party into years of instability from which it is still struggling to emerge.

The hardline Home Secretary, Suella Braverman was fired after making inflammatory comments about the policing of pro-Palestinian protests in central London over the weekend. She had accused London’s police force of applying ‘double standards’ in the way they manage protests in an Op-Ed in the Times of London newspaper condemning a pro-Palestinian march. The Government said the Op-Ed was not cleared by the PM’s Office.

Her tenure was wrought with scandals and divisive remarks, which had long caused fractures in the government. Braverman has served as Sunak’s interior minister throughout his tenure, but her confrontational rhetoric towards migrants, protesters, the police, and even the homeless had caused rifts in the government and sparked speculation that she was plotting a future leadership bid.

On the homeless, Braverman said, “The British people are compassionate. We will always support those who are genuinely homeless. But we cannot allow our streets to be taken over by rows of tents occupied by people, many of them from abroad, living on the streets as a ‘lifestyle choice’. Unless we step in now to stop this, British cities will go the way of places in the US like San Francisco and Los Angeles where weak policies have led to an explosion of crime, drug taking, and squalor. Nobody in Britain should be living in a tent on our streets”.

In the Braverman rain, Sunak put out an umbrella – then announced he was bringing David Cameron back to frontline politics as Foreign Secretary, in a stunning move that has few parallels in recent British political history. Cameron served as Prime Minister from 2010 to 2016, resigning after Britain voted to leave the European Union in a referendum that he had called.

It was later confirmed that James Cleverly, formerly the Foreign Secretary, will take over from Braverman, a ‘clever shift’ that made space for Cameron’s remarkable return to the Cabinet.

The Dictator

This week US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet for a summit meeting in Filoli Estate, San Francisco, USA – their first in a year – primarily to restore military communications, which had gone cold, between the two countries. They agreed, among other things, that China would crack down on the production of ingredients for fentanyl- responsible for a deadly epidemic of opioid abuse in the United States. Last year alone more than 72,000 people in the US died from overdoses involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

Jinping on his part, warned Biden to stop arming Taiwan, adding that China’s reunification with the island nation was ‘unstoppable’.

After his meeting with Jinping, Biden told journalists he still considers the Chinese President a ‘Dictator’. “Well look he is, I mean he’s a Dictator in the sense that he’s a guy who’s running a country, a Communist country, that’s based on a form of government totally different than ours,” Biden said.

Biden’s post-summit ‘Dictator’ comment, expectedly sparked outrage and drew ‘dragon fire and fury’ from China.

Trapped in a Tunnel

The Char Dham Highway is an ambitious project of the National Highways Authority of India, aiming to connect four ancient Hindu Pilgrimage Sites through 890 kilometres (km) of two-lane roads. The project will connect the pilgrim towns of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri, in India’s northern State of Uttarakhand.

This week, 40 workers found themselves trapped in the 4.5 km stretch between Silkyara and Barkot on the Yamunotri-Gangotri highway of the Char Dham, following a collapse of a section of the under-construction tunnel, on 12th November.

The reasons for the tunnel caving-in, is not know as yet, but the region is prone to landslides, earthquakes, and floods. The project has faced criticism from environmental experts and some work was halted in January after hundreds of houses along the routes were damaged by subsidence. The Government on its part has said it is employing environmentally friendly techniques, in the design, to make geologically unstable stretches safer.

Since the tunnel collapsed, the trapped men have been supplied with food, water and oxygen via a pipe, and they are in contact with rescuers through walkie-talkies.

A six-bed medical facility has been put in place near the tunnel and hospitals nearby are on standby.

The rescue plan consists of using an ‘American auger’ machine to drill through the rubble of the tunnel’s collapsed portion and insert 800 mm and 900mm diameter sections of mild steel pipes — one after the other. Once this happens, the workers trapped on the other side of the rubble can crawl out to safety.

An auger is a spiral-shaped tool used for boring holes in different surfaces such as soil rock, stone, etc.

Rescue efforts are ongoing at a frenetic pace with experts from Norway and Thailand roped-in for consultation.

Cricket Tons

The Cricket World Cup – One Day International (ODI) – being played in India is coming to a close and its raining tons of centuries.

Last week, India’s Virat Kohli hit his 49th ODI century equalling the great Sachin Tendulkar’s record feat of most ODI centuries. And give the roaring form he was in, Sachin must have given-up any dreams of holding on to that record, which he achieved in 452 innings. And Virat Kohli did not disappoint, or keep us waiting any longer.

This week he slammed one more century in the semi- final match against New Zealand to climb to 50 centuries (in 279 innings) -the highest in the history of the ODI game. In the match, India made 397 runs for the loss of four wickets in 50 overs and beat New Zealand by 70 runs to march into the finals. Kohli made 117 runs and team-mate Shreyas Iyer made 105 of just 70 balls to give India a solid winning chance. Fast bowler Mohammad Shami took a magnificent seven wicket haul to send the Kiwis packing despite a brilliant fighting innings of 134 by Daryl Mitchell.

India look invincible thus far in the Tournament, having won all nine of the round-robin matches.

In the other semi-finals, Australia beat South Africa by three wickets, at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens, to set-up a final clash with India, to be held on Sunday at Ahmedabad.

South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first. But they could only set a modest target of 213. While David Miller scored a century and Heinrich Klaasen scored 47, others failed to cross a score of 20. The second innings turned into a nail-biting affair after Australia lost three wickets between the 22nd and 34th overs, still 49 runs short of the target. But they achieved the target within 48 overs, losing seven wickets.

This is the eighth time that Australia will play a World Cup final match. Of the seven played so far, they won five – the highest in the world.

This is the fourth time India qualified for the World Cup final. Of the three played so far, India won two.

On Sunday, 19th November, the Giants of Cricket will face each other again for the final match of a World Cup, after 20 years.

More battling stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Tunnel-out with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-31

About: the world this week 30 July to 5 August 2023; Ukraine’s drones; Niger’s uranium; Permafrost’s secrets; India’s violence; Women’s football; and Music’s spill.

Everywhere

Ukraine

Ukraine is on the counter-offensive, taking the war into Russia striking deep inside their territory, reaching Moscow and threatening more attacks. A skyscraper in Moscow was attacked by an ‘unidentified’ drone for the second time in two days.

Ukraine says there will be ‘more unidentified drones, more collapse, more civil conflicts’. Of course, Russia keeps fumbling with tacit threats of the nuclear option.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia-the new growing-up kid in the world of peacemaking – is trying to get people together for talks in finding a solution to the Russia-Ukraine war, a forum that excludes Russia. The meeting is to be held in Jeddah, with national security advisers and other senior officials from some 40 countries meeting to agree on key principles for a future peace settlement to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Niger

Following last week’s coup in Niger, the military regime of General Abdourahamane Tchiani has banned, with immediate effect, the export of Uranium to France. Over 50% of the uranium extracted from Niger is used for fuelling France’s nuclear power plants. And the about 24% of Uranium imports by the European Union come from Niger.

Niger hosts a French military base and is the world’s seventh-biggest producer of uranium.

Niger has warned of foreign interference and is garnering support for its actions among neighbouring countries.

Back To Life

Permafrost is a permanently frozen layer below the Earth’s surface. It consists of soil, gravel, and sand, usually bound together by ice. Permafrost can be found on land and below the ocean floor in thickness ranging from one meter to more than 1,000 meters. It is found in areas where temperatures rarely rise above freezing. This means permafrost is mostly found in Arctic regions such as Greenland, the US State of Alaska, Russia, China, and Eastern Europe.

Permafrost does not always form in one solid-sheet and there are two major ways in which it forms and distributes itself: continuous and discontinuous. Continuous permafrost is a continuous sheet of frozen material that extends under all surfaces except large bodies of water. Russia’s Serbia has continuous permafrost. Discontinuous permafrost is broken up into separate areas. Some permafrost, in the shadow of a mountain or thick vegetation, stays all year. In other areas the summer sun thaws the permafrost for several weeks or months. The land near the southern shore of Hudson Bay, Canada, has discontinuous permafrost.

What’s all this about?

Scientists have ‘brought to life’ a worm that was frozen 46,000 years ago – at a time when woolly mammoths, sabre-toothed tigers and giant elks roamed the Earth. The roundworm, of a previously unknown species, survived 40 meters below the surface in the Siberian permafrost in a dormant state known as cryptobiosis. Organisms in a cryptobiotic state can endure the complete absence of water or oxygen and withstand high temperatures, as well as freezing or extremely salty conditions. They remain in a state ‘between death and life’, in which their metabolic rates decrease to an undetectable level. Organisms previously revived from this state had survived for decades.

Five years ago, scientists from the Institute of Physicochemical and Biological

Problems in Soil Science in Russia found two roundworm species in the Siberian permafrost. But still, they did not know whether the worm was a known species. Eventually, genetic analysis conducted by scientists in Dresden and Cologne showed that these worms belonged to a novel species, which researchers named Panagrolaimus kolymaenis. Researchers also found that the P. kolymaenis shared with C. elegans — another organism often used in scientific studies — ‘a molecular toolkit’ that could allow it to survive cryptobiosis. Both organisms produce a sugar called trehalose, possibly enabling them to endure freezing and dehydration.

’Toolkit’ is fast becoming the word of the year – freeze it?

Violence in India

This week, a Railway Protection Force (RPF) Constable shot dead 4 people on a moving train – Jaipur Express – near Mumbai. The RPF constable had an altercation with his boss as he was feeling unwell and wanted to get off the train. His boss wanted him to continue up to Mumbai. The Constable then shot his boss first and 3 other people. The incident is being investigated on the lines of mental imbalance, hate crime, besides other angles.

Another story stayed in the news much of this week and ran riot on the headlines. But, first a flash-back to get a handle on the situation.

Nuh is one of the 22 districts in the Indian state of Haryana, previously known as Mewat District, and renamed in the year 2016. The Town of Nuh is the District headquarters and lies on the National Highway – the Gurugram-Sohna-Alwar Highway – about 45 kilometres from the city of Gurugram of the National Capital Region. Mewat is a historical region spanning areas of the States of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, hence the name change to a more specific area of Haryana.

Nuh is predominantly populated by the Meos- an ethnic group of the region who are agriculturists – and Muslims; with about 79% being Muslims and about 20% being Hindus.

In the year 2018, the Government of India’s premier policy think-tank, Niti Aayog named Nuh District as the most underdeveloped of India’s 739 districts. Despite bordering Gurgaon District, Haryana’s rich industrial and financial heartland, Nuh had the worst health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion, skill development, and basic infrastructure.

Nuh is also the epicentre of cattle smuggling, illegal animal slaughter, and illegal mining, with mafias that run the business often clashing with police and ‘Gau Rakshaks’ (Cow Vigilantes). The mafia operates from the interiors of Nuh District and in the neighbouring Alwar District of Rajasthan, which is also infamous for being a cattle smuggling and illegal slaughter hub. The business is highly lucrative, with cattle stolen from farmsteads worth between INR 25,000 and 35,000 per head. Additional income ’smuggles-in’ from the illicit sale of older animals and capture of stray animals.

The cattle smugglers and vigilantes are engaged in a dangerous ‘cat-and-mouse’ game: the vigilantes, acting on tip-offs, chase vehicles suspected of carrying smuggled cattle; the well-armed cattle smugglers often throw the animals off their vehicles and hurl stones when chased. The police have set up special anti-cattle smuggling cells but have been ‘unable to lasso’ the Gau Rakshaks or the criminal gangs. Confronting cattle smugglers and illegal slaughter is a hazardous job in Nuh, that puts police personnel at tremendous risk. The poor conviction rate under the state’s Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act (Cow Protection Law) has often seen the Courts pull-up the police on more than one occasion.

The region is testimony to stubborn inter-generational development deficits and has bred criminal activities that are part of the reason why Nuh is a communal tinderbox. As an example, Nuh’s Singar village has a total literacy rate of around 30% and a female literacy under 9% according to Census 2011. A large village with more than 3,000 houses, it seems to typify the lack of opportunity. And absence of government attention and exclusion has perhaps led people in Nuh to take to crime in a big way. A report in 2014 highlighted a high incidence of power theft, and government initiatives to electrify villages have faced shocking resistance with people refusing to pay for electricity and attacking Government staff on the job. It required sustained outreach to complete delivery of a power connection to willing households under the Saubhagya Scheme launched by the Central Govt in September 2017.

It was a year ago, in July 2022, that a Deputy Superintendent of Police was run over by a truck driven by illegal miners after he took them by surprise near Tauru. In recent times, Nuh ‘has progressed’ to report cyber and call-centre frauds.

Now coming closer to the present situation.

Three years ago, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) started a Yatra (journey) called the Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra- to revive holy Hindu sites and Hindu religious tourism in Meo-Muslim dominated Nuh. The district is home to three ancient Mahabharata period Shiva temples. The Aravallis are also popularised as once being the grazing grounds of Lord Krishna’s cows. The temples have long existed undisturbed and even conserved but aiming to save them from ‘potential threat of being encroached by mosques’ like Kashi Vishwanath or Krishna Janambhoomi, VHP started the Yatra insisting pilgrims would keep the temples relevant.

Typically, the Yatra enters Nuh District from Sohna, begins from Nalhar Mahadev Temple in Nuh, goes to Jhirakeshwar Mahadev and Radha Krishna Temple at Shrangar village. And concludes at the Shringeshwar Mahadev Temple.

The annual Yatra, which was started as a pilgrimage has long been converted into a power show where not just VHP or Bajrang Dal members, but even cow vigilantes participated. Over the past two years, the Yatra was preceded by online ‘war of throwing challenges between participants and local men’. There was always tension surrounding the Yatra which escalated this year. However, all communities have long coexisted in Nuh, peacefully.

This year too, the police called the communities -especially the Muslim and Hindu Groups – in the region to talk to them to maintain peace while according permission for the Yatra.

This Monday the Yatra started like it did in the other two years, but violence began 10 minutes after the procession, of around 200 people, began to walk from Edward Chowk in Nuh town. As the group walked down the main road they were confronted by a group of young men who tried to stop the procession. And they were pelted with stones, rocks sticks, bottles, and illegal firearms by a large Muslim mob, which had gathered at the scene. The Hindu side initially fled, but then they regrouped and retaliated. As the mob tried to disrupt the procession, the two sides came to loggerheads. Stones were pelted and cars were set on fire, and when the Home Guards intervened, they were shot at.

More than 100 vehicles were burnt and people sort refuge in the Nalkeshwar Temple from where the procession was scheduled to begin. Over 150 new motorcycles were looted from a showroom in the area and a cyber police station was attacked. Central paramilitary forces were rushed in to get a grip on the situation in Nuh and a curfew was imposed.

It appears that the violence was carefully organised with a large number of stones and bricks stocked in parks, along roadsides and on roofs, while a number of illegal firearms were used. The police investigation reveals a familiar pattern of WhatsApp groups being formed and ‘tasks’ being allocated and directions issued about where rioters were to gather. In the videos that went viral, minors can also be seen to be part of the mobs that roamed the streets of Nuh on 31 July.

The violence was reportedly triggered after Bajrang Dal activist Monu Manesar – a cow vigilante accused of lynching two Muslim men – circulated a video on Sunday, announcing that he would be part of the procession. He along with one Bittu Bajrangi, urged people to join in large numbers. The murder-accused has been absconding since February this year, after the killings. While Manesar did not attend the Yatra his message appears to have incited locals in Nuh. They have been long demanding that the cow vigilante be arrested.

Tension has been simmering in Nuh since Sunday, a day before the Yatra was scheduled. The procession was attacked soon after it kick-started with stones being pelted from rooftops by members of another community, indicating that the violence was pre-planned.

The situation seems to be in control, and investigations have begun on the reasons, and those responsible. And how to prevent a relapse.

India to the Moon

India’s Chandrayaan-3 was put a path to the Moon with the Trans Lunar Insertion manoeuvre operation successfully completed on 1st August. The spacecraft has now left Earth’s Orbit and is expected to enter Moon’s Orbit in a few days time. Injection into the lunar orbit, so that the spacecraft is pulled into the gravity of the Moon, is a critical phase of the operation and is expected to happen over the weekend.

The next, and the final destination, is the Moon. And a 23rd August Moon Landing is in the cross-hairs of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

Women’s Football

The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 – the ninth edition of the quadrennial international women’s football championship- contested by women’s national teams and organised by FIFA in underway from 20 July to 20 August 2023 in the two hosting countries of Australia and New Zealand.

This is the first tournament to have more than one host nation and the first to feature the expanded format of 32 teams from the previous 24, replicating the same format used for the Men’s World Cup from 1998 to 2022.

The final is scheduled on 20 August at the Sydney Olympic Stadium, Sydney, Australia. The United States are the defending champions, having won the World Cup in 2015 and 2019.

Some of the women’s stars to look-out for are: Germany’s Jule Brand and Lena Oberdorf; USA’s Alyssa Thompson; Colombia’s Linda Caicedo; Japan’s Maika Hamano; England’s Lauren James and Denmark’s Kathrine Kuhl.

This week thhe Tournament entered the knock-out stage of the last sixteen. The teams that made it are: USA, England, France, Spain, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Jamaica, Colombia, South Africa, Nigeria, Morocco, Australia, and Japan

World Cup tournaments tend to be defined by an emerging star and, this year, it’s Colombia’s 18 years old sensation Linda Caicedo who is shining brightest.

At just 14, Caicedo made her professional debut for the Colombian side, America de Cali, and finished her first season as the league’s top scorer in her side’s title win. And a few months later she earned her international call-up to the Colombian national side.

Things were progressing quickly for Caicedo, but all was about to come to a halt. At 15, Caicedo was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, shortly after making her senior debut for the national side. She underwent surgery and chemotherapy treatment. And as if it was not enough, it all happened during the Covid19 pandemic. Now she’s fought her way back and is shining like the brightest star in this World Cup.

Please Yourself

Music Throws

Last week, America felt the seismic effects of ‘Swift Quake’. And late last week, singer Cardi B exploded, hurling her microphone at a concertgoer, during a concert at Drai’s Beachclub in Las Vegas, United States.

A concertgoer standing at the edge of the stage tossed up the contents of a large white cup, splashing her face and soaking her orange swimsuit cover-up as she performed her No. 1 hit ‘Bodak Yellow’. She shouted at the person, as security retrieved her microphone and appeared to remove the fan from the outdoor show.

The violence comes amid a wave of recent attacks against performers, including one last week in which a crowd member threw a purse at Canadian rapper, Drake. Last month, a man was charged with assault after hitting pop singer Bebe Rexha with a phone.

More thawing stories coming-up from the cold, in the weeks ahead. Sing with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-29

About: the world this week 16 July to 22 July 2023. The grains of Ukraine; Manipur situation; the new largest office building in the World; Wimbledon Tennis; and AIDS.

Everywhere

Russia and Ukraine

This week, Russia announced that it would no longer allow Ukraine to export its grain by sea. Last year, the United Nations brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative so that Ukraine’s ships could safely bypass Russia’s blockade and get grain to the rest of the world. Now, Russia says it’s pulling out of the deal because of the crippling Western sanctions. This could destabilise global food prices and push 47 million people worldwide into famine or hunger. The European Union is scrambling to find alternative routes, by rail, through Eastern Europe.

Now, one day after the announcement, Russia attacked a Ukrainian grain Port. And launched a series of missile attacks on other cities.

There was a commotion over the United State’s decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine after Ukraine warned that it was running out of ammunition in its counter-offensive against Russia. The cluster bombs have arrived and said to be used ‘wisely’ by Ukraine. And the war continues.

Manipur

India’s State of Manipur is in the deadly grip of ethnic violence, and this week pictures of women of one community being paraded naked by another community shook and stirred the conscience of India. The incident happened on 4th May, but the videos were released only on 19th July – one reason mentioned is that the internet was shut-down in Manipur.

The situation in Manipur is not a one-dimensional one. Read World Inthavaarm 2027 https://kumargovindan.com/2023/07/08/world-inthavaaram-2023-27/on early history of the conflict. About the Meities, the Kuki’s, and the Naga communities, and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). Adding more this week.

Women bear the brunt of violence during communal and ethnic riots and we rarely see the perpetrators brought to justice. And if at all arrested, they promptly get bail. In Manipur, violence against women has been a particularly resonant issue ever since the remarkable grass-roots movement for civil rights, Meira Paibi – Women Torch Bearers- in the 1970s. The Meria Paibi fought human rights violations by the paramilitary and armed forces against innocent people. It’s now run by five women leaders, known as ‘imas’ or mothers.

Going back in time, on 15 July 2004, it was that radical protest by 12 Manipuri women, who disrobed themselves and stood in protest at the historic Kangla Fort in Imphal-then the headquarters of the Assam Rifles-carrying banners with messages painted in red. ‘Indian Army Rape Us’, read one. ‘Indian Army Take Our Flesh’, said another. The women were protesting against the brutal killing of Manorama Thangjam, a 32 years old woman who had been picked up by the Assam Rifles under suspicious circumstances. Manorama’s bullet-riddled body was found near a paddy field, hours later. The case was a flashpoint in Manipur and forced the administration to address human rights violations by the Central Forces during the peak of the insurgency-when the various communities of the Hills and Valleys in Manipur were fighting each other.

Recall that a woman, Irom Chanu Sharmila’s 16 year long hunger strike for the repeal of AFSPA contributed towards changing the discourse on insurgency in the State.

The Assam Rifles is a central paramilitary force responsible for border security, counter-insurgency, and maintaining law and order in Northeast India. It primarily guards the Indo-Myanmar border. And is one of the Central Armed Police Forces administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The AFSPA was used sporadically in the hill districts of Manipur to tackle insurgency before being imposed across the whole state in 1980. Resentment against the security forces’ alleged excesses began as early as 1974, when a local woman committed suicide after she was allegedly raped by a Border Security Force officer, who faced no action for the suspected crime.

In March this year, in a significant move, the Central Government had withdrawn AFSPA from certain areas in Manipur, citing ‘significant improvement in the law and order situation’.

There is another angle to the Manipur situation, a destabilising factor: armed insurgents from Myanmar-many of whom have kinship ties with transnational ethnic communities straddling India and its immediate neighbours-slipping into the northeastern states through the porous border and adding to the complexity of Kuki-Meitei clashes and exacerbating the ongoing conflict in Manipur.

To escape the crackdown by neighbouring Myanmar’s military regime, ethnic Kuki-Chin (the Chin are an ethnic community native of the Chin state of Myanmar) people have entered India by thousands since the Myanmar coup in 2021. According to figures from UNHCR -the refugee agency of the United Nations- the ongoing civil war in Myanmar has displaced 1,827,000 people since February 2021, among which over 53000, mostly from the conflict-ridden Chin state and Sagaing region of Myanmar-the hotbed of armed resistance against the junta-have entered India’s northeastern states of Mizoram and Manipur till the month of May 2023.

In the last week of April this year, a random identification drive by the Manipur Government as part of the population commission’s work -which was was set up last year to track illegal immigration- identified about 2180 undocumented Myanmar nationals in the districts of Chandel, Churachandpu, andTengnoupal. These are Kuki-dominated districts along the Myanmar border.

During the recent All-Party meet in Manipur, India’s Home Minister said biometrics of people coming from across the border are being recorded and “for a permanent solution” to the instability in Manipur, “we have set up wired fencing across 10 kilometres (km) of the Manipur-Myanmar border on a trial basis, work tender has been invited for fencing on another 80 km, and a survey for fencing the rest of the Manipur-Myanmar border is being initiated.”

Now to the last angle – the drug angle- without which the complex web of issues behind the ethnic clashes in Manipur will remain incomplete; a reference that has repeatedly cropped up during high-level interactions between India and Myanmar.

Myanmar has become the ‘largest producer of illegal drugs within the infamous Golden Triangle—a tri-junction at the Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand borders that makes its way to India through the porous border.

Supply of drugs from the Golden Triangle remains a persisting problem. In recent times, however, poppy cultivation has proliferated in the hilly areas of Manipur and the Narcotics trade is playing a significant role in the Manipur violence. And drug cartels are utilising large chunks of the hilly districts for ‘quality poppy cultivation’.

While Kuki-Chin ingress has happened in Manipur over decades, what has happened over the past few years is an explosion in poppy cultivation in Manipur’s Kuki-dominated districts backed by drug cartels and insurgent groups with a cross-border network, resulting in huge loss of forest cover: a problem that aggravated since the Myanmar 2021 military coup when the influx of the persecuted Kuki-Chin community intensified. It is believed that a section of these illegal immigrants is being used by the drug and weapon cartels in Manipur.

As Manipur shifts its status from a transit route for drugs to a major producer, fuelled by armed refugees from Myanmar, observers say opium cultivation in Manipur seems to be more integrated within the regional drug economy and connected to other actors, notably from Myanmar.

The present Government of Manipur has tackled the drug menace to a great extent and about INR 1500 crore of drugs were busted in the past few years.

It is evident that a knotty vortex of issues has contributed to instability in Manipur besides the said majoritarianism of one community.

Yet, even though women have led the political discourse on rights, they continue to be prime targets for mobs in times of strife.

Surat

For 80 long years, The Pentagon of the United States of America was the world’s largest office building with about 6.6 million square feet of floor space. Now a new building in India just whacked-off that title: the Surat Diamond Bourse, built in India’s gem capital, Surat, Gujarat, India – about 240km north of Mumbai.

The Belgian city of Antwerp may be known as the world’s diamond trading hub, while most rough stones are mined in Russia or Africa. But it is in Surat, where around 90% of all the planet’s diamonds are cut.

Spanning over 35 acres of land, the sprawling 15-storey Surat Diamond Bourse complex with 7.1 million square feet of floor space accommodates 4,700 offices and 131 elevators. It has been constructed to house the diamond industry – to serve as a one stop shop for over 65,000 diamond professionals, including cutters, polishers and traders. It features a series of nine interconnected rectangular structures emanating from a central ‘spine’, resembling the layout of an airport terminal.

The state-of-the-art building has features designed to consume up to 50% less energy, qualifying it for a ‘platinum’ rating from the Indian Green Building Council. It incorporates a radiant cooling system that circulates chilled water beneath its floors, which will reduce indoor temperatures. Further, solar energy powers the common areas within the building.

The mammoth office space will save people’s time and resources: especially those who travel to Mumbai, with some people have to spend up to four hours, daily, to come from their homes to their offices and back home again.

The project took about four years to complete, including two years of COVID19 pandemic related delay. The building will be officially opened later this year by India’s Prime Minister, and host its first occupants in November.

The Surat Diamond Bourse is designed by Indian architecture firm Morphogenesis, based in New Delhi, following an international design competition. The project’s size was dictated by demand with all offices purchased by diamond companies prior to construction.

The design was also influenced by Morphogenesis’ research into how the Indian diamond trade operates. The series of nine 1.5-acre courtyards, complete with seating and water features, serve as casual meeting places for traders; the landscaped area becomes the ‘traditional bazaar’ where any informal transactions take place outside the office environment. Email orders are probably taken inside, but human-to-human transactions are almost all outside. The courtyards are described a public parks where it is assumed all these activities will take place.

The Moon

India’s Moon-mission spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 is enjoying the ‘space sights’ on its way to the Moon and is in superb health, since its launch last week. India’s ISRO Scientists have been manoeuvring it gradually to longer orbits around the Earth and a 4th such manoeuvre was also completed this week. The last will be on 25 July after which it will be nudged into the lunar transfer trajectory to the Moon. Likewise, it will dance around the Moon before deciding to land.

Wondered why is takes more than 40 days to cover the nearly 3,84,000 km distance between the Earth and Moon when the USA, Russia and China do it under a week’s time?

India does not, as yet, have a powerful enough launcher to take it directly to the lunar transfer trajectory, hence this less costly means of cleverly using the Earth’s gravity to slingshot out of the Earth’s pull and then get into the lunar orbit. And again squeezing every bit of the Moon’s low gravity to make a soft landing.

Tennis

This year’s Wimbledon Tennis Championship in London, which ended this Sunday, served us two brand new winners in the Women’s Singles, and the Men’s Singles.

Czechoslovakia’s ‘much-tattooed’ 24 years old Marketa Vondrousova beat Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur in straight-sets 6-4, 6-4 to clinch her maiden Wimbledon Women’s Singles Title. Vondrousova is also a silver medallist at the 2020/2021 Tokyo Olympics. And she is the first unseeded player to win the Wimbledon Women’s Singles.

She got the first of many tattoos on her arms at the age of sixteen. And some have special significance, such as her lucky number 13, the Olympic Rings, and the quote, ‘No rain, no flowers’ (success does not come easily) above her right elbow. After winning Wimbledon, she and her coach Jan Hernych plan to get a matching tattoo in celebration-they pledged to so do if she won. A tattoo parlour in Prague, Czechoslovakia is their next destination!

But, the best was in the Men’s Singles.

Spain’s 20 years old Carlos Alcaraz beat Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals and went on to stun and end Serbia’s Novak Djokovic’s reign with a classic and enthralling 1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 match. It was a four hours and forty-two minute battle on the Centre Court of the All England Club. Last year, Alcaraz became the youngest player to earn the year-end World No. 1 honour. And this is his first Wimbledon Title – keeping the World No.1 ranking.

Djokovic holds this year’s Australian Open and French Open Titles and was aiming to equal Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles and match Margaret Court’s all time record of 24 Grand Slam victories.

Margaret Court is an Australian former World No 1 women’s tennis player and considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Her 24 major singles titles and overall 64 major titles (doubles and mixed-doubles) is the most by anyone in Tennis history. She dominated women’s tennis in the 1960s with a powerful serve and volley game, and retired in 1972.

About, the new Wimbledon Champion, the best comment from Djokovic himself, “People have been talking about his game consisting of certain elements from Roger, Rafa, and myself. I’d agree with that, He’s basically got the best of all three worlds…I haven’t played a player like him ever”.

AIDS

Long before the COVID19 pandemic stole our breath away another not so contagious but nevertheless deadly pandemic ruled the world: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). And we still do not have an effective cure for it since it first came to light in the 1980s.

A new report says that the end may be in sight for AIDS. The Joint United Nations (UN) Program on HIV and AIDS says that Botswana, Eswatini, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe have all reached ’95-95-95’ targets, meaning 95% of the people who are living with HIV know their status, 95% of those people are on lifesaving antiretroviral treatment, and 95% of people in treatment are virally suppressed.

Across eastern and Southern Africa, new HIV infections have been reduced by 57% since 2010. Also since 2010, the percentage of pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV who have access to antiretroviral treatment has nearly doubled, and new infections among children have more than halved.

There’s more work to be done, but the UN said the world could end AIDS by 2030 if we stay the course keep-up the investment from World leaders.

More clusters of stories will be fired in the weeks ahead. Stay safe with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-51

About –the stories of the world this week, 18 December to 24 December: return of the mask – a country overwhelmed; a warship sinks; a President visits a President – Europe to America; no education for girls; Football World Cup; and Christmas – the gift of the magi.

Everywhere

While the world is gradually stepping-out of the pandemic, China finds itself locked in a terrific battle with the Covid19 causing coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 variants. Cases of infection have been recorded in 31 of its provinces and there is an explosion of people struck by the virus.

Meanwhile, it’s tails-up for the world, as we brace for another possible virus invasion from China. The masks are out again, and all the colourful terms we learnt during the pandemic could be put to use one more time. Call it a deja vu? Return of the Mask?

China lifted its most severe Covid policies attributed to the Zero Covid Policy – including forcing people into quarantine camps – just a week after landmark protests against the strict controls. People with Covid can now isolate at home rather than in state facilities if they have mild or no symptoms. They also no longer need to show tests for most venues, and can travel more freely inside the country.

But, the country is currently experiencing a surge in cases, and recorded its highest number of daily Covid numbers since the pandemic began in the year 2020. Several major cities including the capital Beijing and the southern trade hub Guangzhou are experiencing outbreaks. And there are serious concerns about a fresh Covid19 wave hitting the country.

The abrupt shift in China’s stringent Covid policy has left its people and health facilities ill-prepared to deal with the huge wave of infections, leading to widespread shortages of common drugs, and other essentials.

One of the reasons for the present outbreak is that vaccination levels are lower – though China claims 90% of its population has been fully vaccinated – than in other countries and only half of people aged over 80 have received three doses of vaccination. China has refused to import vaccines despite evidence that its homemade vaccines have been proved to be less effective in protecting people against serious Covid illness and death.

Experts predict that 60% of China is likely to be infected over the next 90 days, with deaths likely in millions.

China should get its act together and do everything possible to contain this wave of Covid19 and prevent its spread. For a start it should be more open about the data of infections and death, which, at the moment, only fuels scepticism about the real impact.

Thailand’s warship HTMS Sukhothai, a 76 metres long corvette (small warship) had been on Day Two of a routine patrol, east off South-Eastern Thailand when it got caught in a storm, this week’s Sunday night. The waves were as high as 3 metre and caused the water to climb the decks, flood the hull and then the electricity room, cutting off power, and ultimately sinking the ship with a crew of 105 on board.

Other naval ships were immediately alerted and sent to help, but only the HTMS Kraburi frigate reached the vessel before it sank, about 32km east of Bang Saphan in the Prachuap Khiri Khan province, off the Gulf of Thailand.

Rescuers have saved about 75 people so far, scouring the rough seas with boats and helicopters. Survivors have been found after floating for hours, some in an unconscious state.

The warship was commissioned in 1987 and built in the United States of America.

The two events that occupied this year’s headlines and refused to go away are, one – the Russia-Ukraine War, and two the fact that it’s over 455 days since the Taliban banned teenage girls from school in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan remains the only country on the planet banning children from getting an education. It only got worser this week when in another devastative, regressive action, the Taliban imposed a ban on university education for women: they cannot enrol themselves in public and private universities in Afghanistan. This comes three months after thousands of girls and women across the country took university entrance exams. The universities are currently closed for the winter and were to reopen in March 2023.

Before Afghanistan reached this stage, following the Taliban’s takeover of the country, universities were compelled to implement new rules, such as gender-segregated classrooms and entrances. Women were only permitted to be educated by women professors or old men.

Being rich in knowledge, full of dreams, no matter where they live, women of Afghanistan feel empty as the world has betrayed them.

Denying women the right to education is soul-crushing. A murder of the mind?

This week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky flew to the United States, his first visit outside the country since the war began. He addressed the US Congress and in a well-crafted speech said, “Your money is not charity. It is an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”

The extraordinary measures taken to transport President Zelensky from Ukraine to the US capital are a sign of just how crucial the two countries’ relationship is for both sides. After visiting the front line in Eastern Ukraine this Tuesday, Zelensky’s journey to Washington DC began with an overnight train journey to Poland before boarding a US Air Force plane, reportedly supported by a NATO spy-plane and an F-15 fighter jet. Hands-off Russia? Finally they are veering around from calling the ongoing invasion of Ukraine a special operation, and admitting it is indeed a war. And they want to end it!

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Ends

The football World Cup finals were played this Sunday, and we witnessed one of the best-ever football final matches, in a long time. It was a slow-start thriller, building up the momentum to a nail-biting climax, which kept one on the edge. And rolling memories, long after it was over.

Argentina stepped in confidently and the ball seemed stuck to their legs for most of the first half of play and the beginning of the second – in about 75 minutes of probably the most dominated finals ever. Superstar Lionel Messi shot the first goal on a penalty and assisted another – a deft pass to Di Maria- to give Argentina a solid 2-0 lead before half-time. We could not see any vibrant signs of France – appeared drugged out, but just when we were beginning to give up on them, emerging superstar Kylian Mbappe copied Messi, scoring in a penalty and then a field-goal himself. Suddenly the game seem to be anybody’s after the second half scoring by France to equalise.

The game went in to extra time and Messi again delivered in a field goal scramble, making in 3-2. But the spirit of France had woken-up and Mbappe scored yet another goal – a hattrick- on a penalty shot making it 3-3 and driving the game to a penalty-shot decider.

Both stars, Mbappe and Messi got the first kicks inside, but Argentina’s goal-keeper stopped the next from France and the third shot from France missed the goal completely. The fourth went home. But Argentina kept their cool scoring all their shots making it 4-2. Argentina won, taking the Cup home after 36 years.

Team Argentina, moulded by coach Lionel Scaloni, has delivered to expectations and it is a well-deserved victory.

The jubilant homecoming of team Argentina was beyond measure with millions turning up to welcome their heroes. And Argentina declared a national holiday for people to watch the nation team ride an open bus during a parade in Buenos Aires centred around the iconic Obelisk that was built in 1936 to commemorative the quadricentennial of the first foundation of the city. It was sight to behold: looked like a huge beehive filled with honey from up above.

Indian Women’s Hockey Strikes Gold

The inaugural International Federation of Hockey (FIH) Hockey Nations Cup 2022 held in Spain saw India’s Women’s Team beat Spain 1-0, at Valencia, on 17th December, to win Gold.

The competing teams were Chile, Italy, South Africa, Indian, Japan, Spain, Ireland, and Korea.

This wonderful win was drowned in the drum-beats of the Football World Cup, but it is something to cheer about and ‘sticks out’ in journey of women’s hockey in India. Way to go!

Beware: a Warning

In Qatar two mass gathering events were held simultaneously, one, the FIFA World Cup 2022 and two, the Camel Mzayen Club’s Camel Beauty Pageant Festival. These attracted hundreds of thousands of people from within the Middle East and across the world. Many are attending both events, interacting closely with each other and with camels, creating ideal conditions for the transmission of camel-associated zoonotic pathogens with epidemic potential. These pathogens include the highly lethal MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus). Dromedary camels in the Middle East are a major reservoir of MERS-CoV. Humans sporadically become infected through direct or indirect contact with MERS-CoV-infected camels or camel dairy products. People need to stay alert and watchful: we started the year trying to get off riding the coronavirus ride and need to shake it of least we take a Camel ride and drive ourselves into another pandemic.

Please Yourself

Christmas is upon us and it’s a wonderful time of the year to spend time with family, loved ones, give and receive dream gifts – especially from Santa Claus and to un-wind and crank-up our engines to travel the new year ahead. Children would be looking in excitement at the stockings on the Christmas trees to see if Santa indeed came down the chimney in the middle of the night and made good promises sought .

There’s no better season to just curl-up on your favourite sofa, probably with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand, and read the day away. And what’s nicer to read during the holidays than stories about Christmas itself?

One of my all-time favourite Christmas stories has been O’Henry’s, ‘The Gift of the Magi’, a beautiful short story about the personal sacrifices we are willing to make for the ones we love with the might of our heart.

It’s Christmas Eve, and the young very much in love couple, Mrs & Mr James Dillingham Young – Jim and Della – find that despite their best efforts over the past months they could not save enough to buy each other a Christmas Gift.

O’Henry begins the story with Della counting her savings to one dollar and eighty-seven cents and fretting on how to buy Jim a gift – a worthy platinum chain for his gold watch to replace the present ‘unworthy leather strap’.

There were two possessions that Jim and Della took mighty pride. One was Jim’s gold watch – a family heirloom handed down from Grandfather to Father to him. Two, Della’s beautiful hair, which fell about her rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters, reaching below her knee. King Solomon (despite all his treasures) and Queen Sheba (despite all her beauty) would have burnt with envy on the respective possessions of Jim and Della.

In an awkward moment, Della decides to cut and sell her hair to buy Jim a watch chain. On returning home- with her head covered with a scarf- Jim is stunned when he finds out that she had cut her hair to buy him a watch chain. Della wonders whether Jim will love her the same despite the hair? On his turn, Jim had sold the gold watch to buy her the most beautiful set of combs: pure tortoise shell, with jewelled rims, which she had secretly worshipped for long on a Broadway window (and Jim had noticed).

Despite losing their most valued possessions, the husband and wife in this story realize that their mutual sacrifice signifies a much greater gift: their eternal love and devotion to one another. Jim asks Della to keep aside the gifts and celebrate Christmas – “they’re too nice to use at present. And now suppose you put the chops on”.

Wrote O’Henry in the Story – I quote- “The magi, as you know, were wise men-wonderfully wise men-who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were doubtless wise ones, possibly bearing on privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were wise. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi”.

Merry Christmas: Be wise, be a magi when you give or receive a gift. And cherish your love.

More soulful stories coming up in the weeks ahead. Watch the watch and keep the hair. Celebrate with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-44

About –the stories of the world this week, 30 October to 5 November: endless war, un-covering women, not educating girls, a shooting, firing missiles, political comebacks – left & right, crowding tragedies, and a marriage of beauties.

Everywhere

The Russia-Ukraine War fires-on, with Russia pounding the Ukraine capital Kyiv and mostly hitting civilian targets, perhaps to break the steely resolve of the people. And Ukraine continues fighting back, in a war that seems to be ‘marching slowly into an unclear future’.

The protests in Iran, against the severe, restrictive Islamic Dress Code for Women, continue. Is it possible for Iran return to the more uncovered times of the Rule of the Shah of Iran when, some say, a woman was much more respected if she was not covered from head to toe? In the United States (US) more than 2,000 academics from universities across the country wrote to President Joe Biden urging him to do more to support the anti-government protesters. Many of these protesters are coming out of Iranian universities and schools, as young Iranians take to the streets and face off against Iran’s brutal security services.

In next-door Afghanistan, it’s 410 days since the Taliban banned teenage girls from school and continues to remain the only country in the world preventing girls from getting an education – for the singular reason that they are of the female gender. That’s outrageous: clothes can cover the body, but if your mind is clouded and cloaks your thinking, how do you uncover that? Meanwhile, Opium cultivation in Afghanistan has jumped 32% during this year 2022 despite the ruling Taliban’s ban on narcotics, according to an annual report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. What does one make of this?

Moving into Pakistan, ousted Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan survived a gun attack on his convoy while holding an anti-government protest in the eastern city of Wazirabad, Pakistan. He was shot in the leg, and seven other people were also hurt, and one killed, when a burst of gunfire hit the container-mounted platform-towed by a lorry- from which he was making a speech. Moments later the suspected shooter was wrestled to the ground by a bystander. And the shooter made a confession saying he acted alone and intended to kill Imran Khan. Khan was rushed to a hospital in Lahore and was declared to be safe and not in any life-threatening condition.

Recall former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated at a public rally in 2007. The chaos continues, but after a very long time Pakistan is seeing the emergence of a popular leader in Imran Khan. Could the powerful Pakistan Army, who fire the shots from behind, finally be tamed?

Swinging across to East Asia, North Korea thinks only missiles and nothing much else. And this week they went about launching a dozen of them – including an Intercontinental Missile that apparently failed. This comes at a time when the United States and South Korea are staging their largest-ever joint air drills, which North Korea has strongly criticised as ‘aggressive and provocative’. North Korea launched a ballistic missile over Japan – the first time it has done so in five years. And it fired some into the seas bordering South Korea, which actually crossed the delicate Northern Limit Line (NLL), a disputed maritime border between the Koreas. This time South Korea got its tail up and returned in kind, firing three missiles about the NLL. There is a slow fire brewing there.

Brazil: Lula’s Comeback – Left

Presidential Elections held in Brazil early this October were bitterly divisive and saw one of the most abrasive campaigns in recent times. And without an outright victory for any of the contesting candidates, it led to a run-off on 30th October to decide the winner.

Recall, Ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Lula) secured 48.4% of the vote to incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro’s 43.2% and a third candidate Simone Tebet obtained 4.2%, in the Elections. The run-off became necessary as no candidate crossed the threshold of the mandatory ‘at least 50%’ of the vote.

This Sunday the run-off Election was held and Lula beat Bolsonaro by a razor-thin margin winning 50.90% of the votes, while the latter won 49.10%. This marks Brazil returned to left-wing politics.

It’s a stunning comeback for the lathe-machine-metal-worker-turned-politician Lula, who could not run in the last presidential election in 2018 because he was in jail and banned from standing for office. Lula was President of Brazil for two terms, from 2003 to 2006, and 2007 to 2011, where he led the country through a commodities boom that helped fund huge social welfare programs and lift millions out of poverty. Those were the times when BRICS was a famous term used for the five emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Lula left office with a 90% approval rating, but this record was tarnished by Brazil’s largest corruption probe, dubbed ‘Operation Car Wash’, which led to charges against hundreds of high-ranking politicians and businessmen across Latin America. Lula himself was convicted for corruption and money laundering in 2017, but a court threw out his conviction in March 2021, clearing the way for his political rebound. By the time, Lula had spent 580 days in jail.

“They tried to bury me alive, and here I am,” said the 77 years old Lula, kicking off his victory celebrations. He made the right noises of the importance of unity and moving Brazil upwards. However, his rival, Bolsonaro, has not unambiguously conceded defeat and could dampen Lula’s victory.

Israel: Bibi’s Comeback – Right

This week, if Brazil swung to the Left, balance in the World was restored by Israel swinging to the Right!

Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition headed to victory in Israel’s parliamentary elections-the 5th in less than 4 years. With his ongoing bribery and corruption trial running in the background the win may provide Netanyahu a means of staying out of jail. But he is not the Election’s biggest winner. That honour goes to Israel’s Religious Zionism party led by neo-Kahanist Itamar Ben-Gvir, who have moved from the fringes to the mainstream, winning 14 seats in the 120 member Knesset. He achieved what his hero, Meir Kahane – the assassinated extremist rabbi who was banned from Israeli electoral politics – only dreamed about. Ben-Gvir may become the minister of public security, in charge of the country’s police – as already demanded of Netanyahu. That means the hard right would have a guiding hand on the country’s internal security apparatus. “It’s time to be the landlords of this country again”, said Ben-Gvir when he sighted victory.

The coalition of Netanyahu’s Likud, the Jewish nationalist Religious Zionism/Jewish Power Bloc, Shas and United Torah Judaism would, on paper, be the most right-wing government in Israel’s history, winning 64 seats – a comfortable majority.

Current Prime Minister Yair Lapid and his allies won 51 seats. An Arab alliance called Hadash-Taal won 5 seats, and is unlikely to support either Netanyahu or Lapid to lead the country.

The final election results confirm that Bibi can now build a stable majority government with his ultra-nationalist and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies, this will also end nearly four years of an unprecedented political stalemate.

Tragedy, Tragedy

South Korea: a Street too Narrow

Late last week and early this week we saw two absurd and avoidable man-made disasters which killed over 300 people who were just going about their lives in South Korea and in India.

In South Korea, during most weekends the narrow alleys of Itaewon, the neon-lit nightlife district in the capital Seoul, are busy with partygoers and tourists. Now it’s the site of one of the country’s worst disasters.

Last Saturday night, tens of thousands of people flooded into the area in central Seoul to celebrate Halloween, but panic erupted as the crowds swelled and surged into a narrow alley. It became hard to breathe in the crowd, which precipitated a stampede in which mostly young people became trapped and crushed, killing at least 151 people and injuring over 80 others. The casualties were young, mostly in their teens and early 20s. Among the 151 dead were 19 foreign nationals, with victims from Iran, Norway, China, Thailand, and Uzbekistan.

Saturday night marked the first Halloween since the country lifted various restrictions including that related to the pandemic – lending it particular significance for many eager participants in Seoul, as well as international visitors, foreign residents, and tourists.

Hotels and ticketed events in the neighbourhood had been booked solid in advance, and large crowds were expected. Itaewon in particular is popular among backpackers and international students.

It’s hard to pinpoint what might have triggered the crush, but authorities would have anticipated high numbers, before Saturday night. There is a responsibility on the part of the authorities to be monitoring crowd volume in real time, so they can sense the need to get people out. Standing out, is the failure by the Police to manage and control the surging crowds.

India: a Bridge too Old

In the 1600’s Morbi, in India’s present day Gujarat State, was founded as a princely state and rule by the Jadeja clan of Rajputs who bore the title ‘Thakur Sahib’ until the last ruler, Sir Waghji, gave himself the title ‘Maharaja’. It became a British protectorate in 1807, during British rule in India.

To reflect the progressive and scientific nature of the rulers of Morbi, Sir Waghji built a 1.25 metre wide 230 metre span suspension bridge across the Machchu River, which is similar to the Ram and Lakshman Jhulas across the Ganga in Uttarakhand. It used the latest technology available in Europe in those days, and material for the construction of the bridge was sourced from England.

The bridge served to connect the Darbargadh Palace and the Nazarbag Palace, which were the residences of the royal families. It was first inaugurated in 1879, by then British Governor of Mumbai. And was ‘kept alive’ as a heritage bridge, all these years, becoming a tourist spot to hang-out on.

The bridge was entrusted to a company called Oreva for operation and maintenance under a 15 years contract. In March, this year, it was closed to the public for renovation and reopened on the Gujarati New Year Day, celebrated on October 26.

A tragedy occurred late this Sunday when the heritage bridge collapsed packed with tourists and city residents at around 6.30 pm, killing about 135 people. Prima facie, the bridge gave away as too many people in the mid-section were trying to sway it from one side to the other. About 200 people were on the bridge, at the time of collapse. And it was actually meant to hold about 125 people at a time.

The Oreva Group is a company which once described itself as the ‘world’s largest clock manufacturing company’, before foraying into making lighting products, battery-operated bikes, home appliances and TV sets. With no background in ‘maintaining heritage bridges’ one wonders how they won the contract in the first place.

It’s also learnt that the bridge had not received a thumbs-up Fitness Certificate from the local Municipality, after completion of the renovation work.

One can see a clear failure to ‘understand the bridge’ and carefully regulate the people on the bridge, given its heritage nature. The investigation should be able to reveal the actual reasons.

Going back in time, in 1979 the Machchu-2 Dam across the same river collapsed sending a wall of water through the town of Morbi, killing more than 2000 people is one of the greatest dam-burst tragedies of all time.

The Machchu-2 Dam is an earthfill dam meant to serve as an irrigation scheme. Considering the long history of drought in Saurashtra region, the primary consideration at the time of design was water supply, not flood control. It consisted of a masonry spillway of 206 metres with 18 sluice gates across the river section and long earthen embankments on both sides. The failure was caused by excessive rain and massive flooding, leading to the disintegration of the earthen walls of the four kilometre long dam. The actual observed flow following the intense rainfall reached about three times above the flow the dam was designed for, resulting in its collapse. 762 metres of the left and 365 metres of the right embankment of the dam collapsed. Within 20 minutes the floods of 3.7 to 9.1 m height inundated the low-lying areas of Morbi industrial town located 5 km below the dam.

The Machchu-2 Dam failure is listed as one of the worst dam bursts in the Guinness Book of Records

Please Yourself

There is a new power couple in Town: a tale of picture perfect love – literally.

A former Miss Argentina and a former Miss Puerto Rico shocked and awed fans by announcing their surprise marriage on Instagram. Mariana Varela and Fabiola Valentin met at the 2020 Miss Grand International Competition in Thailand, where they represented Argentina and Puerto Rico, respectively. After making it to the pageant Top 10, the two beauty queens remained close friends on social media and secretly dated.

The pair posted matching Instagram Reels showing moments from their relationship, including romantic walks on the beach, candid cuddles, champagne toasts, and a proposal with gold and silver balloons saying, “Marry me?”

The pair did just that and married on 28 October at the City Courthouse in San Juan, Puerto Rico. “After deciding to keep our relationship private, we opened the doors on a special day”, said the two beauties – in one frame!

More delightful and beautiful stories coming up in the weeks ahead. It’s alright to stay married to World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-37

About –the stories of the world this week, 11 September to 17 September 2022: mourning a Queen’s passing; maybe the end of a special operation, of a pandemic; end of a deluge, of a tennis career; getting ready for the Moon; Tube Awards; and the return of a whip wielding adventurer.

Everywhere

The United Kingdom spent the week mourning the passing of it longest serving monarch The Queen and watched brothers William and Harry – armed with their respective wives – get back together, with others of the Royal Family. They shared the sorrow with the subjects of the Kingdom in a poignant re-union walk. The Queen’s coffin lies in state in Westminster Hall, having been flown over from Scotland, Edinburgh, following the drive from Balmoral Castle, and after spending a night at Buckingham Palace. The Funeral is on Monday of the upcoming week. And I’m sure the late Prince Philip cannot wait any longer for HM The Queen, in Heaven. He’s been up there since April 2021, and on Earth he was the longest serving royal consort in history. I’m sure he is looking forward to continue the relationship.

In war-torn Ukraine, the rot in the Russian Army is being exposed by a patient, methodical Ukraine Army and victories are accelerating by the week. Remember that 64 km convoy that stalled on the way to the capital of Kyiv at the beginning of the war, and was surgically shredded by Ukrainian defenders? That was the spark and the sign of things to come. Sad, Russia was partially blind and did not read that well enough – beyond the ‘Z’.

The World Health Organization (WHO) stuck its head out and finally said that the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is ‘in sight’. This comes as deaths fell to lowest level since March 2020, but – as if the Virus would hear and consider coming back – adds, it’s ‘not the time to relax’. Surely not, when was the last time we fully relaxed? In the South Indian cities of Chennai and Coimbatore it is compulsory to wear masks, again.

I reckon, we are better placed than before 2020 with an arsenal of weapons – distances, shields, masks, gloves, soaps, sanitisers, vaccines, and the kind – to kick the sneaky guy out of our lives. Meanwhile, monkey-pox and other unheard of small-time fellas with weird names are prowling around waiting for that big break?

It’s been more than two months since the Deluge in Pakistan where floods submerged thousands of villages, leaving countless families displaced, many of who ended up living near stagnant water.

Following the rapid rise of water and its slow fall, there is another rise -Dengue Fever – with cases increasing by the day and claiming lives. About 3,830 cases of dengue fever have been reported in southern Sindh province, with at least nine deaths, but this may be a conservative estimate. In the laboratories, the suspected cases are around 80% of tests done.

Meanwhile, this week, a 41 year old, Rolex-watch wearing, Tennis Legend, who played 1500 matches over 24 years in 40 countries, growing up from being a Ball-Kid, from Basel, Switzerland – Roger Federer – announced his retirement from competitive tennis. He had won 20 Grand Slam Titles during his memorable career.

Roger’s body had fought injury and surgery over the past years and the message it served to him was crystal clear. And Roger listened. The ATP’s Laver Cup in London, next week, will be his last.

He thanked his amazing wife Mirka for standing by him all these years and cheering him from the stands. Also his sister and loving parents. Remember, on the sidelines Mirka aced the production department with a pair of twins – two girls and two boys. Roger went on to thank everybody else including the fans, his coaches, and Tennis itself. And attributed all to his tennis talent, which he understood and used to evolve and grow into Roger Federer-The Legend.

Roger has had an outstandingly successful tennis career and perhaps one of the few who built a sound financial empire as well – from his Tennis career. By this he has inspired generations of players and has made an immeasurable impact on the wider world of sport.

I would always remember him for superb style and technique, his breathtaking science defying shots, and his humanness, and of course that calm smile. He was once a hot-headed racquet-throwing kid, but made the transition to a cooler, in-control, graceful Champion.

While Roger Federer vacates tennis space, NASA’s Moon Launch Artemis project, which aims to get Man and Woman back to the Moon was stalled by a technical issue, while on the launch pads, is looking good, to play. The leaky issue has since been resolved (Greek God Artemis stepped-in to apply a healing balm?) and NASA is gearing up for a return ticket launch, by the end of September 2022.

Please Yourself

Emmys 2022

The Primetime Emmy Awards – or simply called, Emmys – is one of the four major American awards for performing arts and entertainment in Television, along with the Grammy for music, the Oscar for film, and the Tony for stage theatre. The Emmy statuette, depicting a winged woman holding an atom, is named after ‘immy’, an informal term for the image orthicon tube that was common in early television cameras.

The 74th Emmys Award Ceremony was held this Monday at the Microsoft Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California. It honoured the best in American prime time television programming from 1 June 2021, until 31 May 2022, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. This year’s ceremony was hosted by American actor and comedian Kenan Thompson.

I’m running through the key winners.

The White Lotus – that’s also the symbol of India’s ruling Party– the limited drama comedy picked up 5 major awards and overall 10; The Drama series Succession succeeded in getting the most nominations – 12 major and in all 25 with 3 overall wins.

The best Comedy Series was won by Ted Lasso; the Best Drama Series by Succession and the Best Limited or Anthology Series by The White Lotus.

The Best Actress in a Drama Series went to Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman for Euphoria which is the second time she is winning the Award for playing a teenage drug addict, following her win in 2020. Zendaya is an American actress and singer. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in its annual list in 2022.

The Best Actor, Drama Series went to Lee Jung-jae for the Squid Game becoming the first Asian star to win the Emmy award for best male actor in a drama. He won for playing the main role of the increasingly desperate game player aiming to take home the prize money.

HBO’s ‘The White Lotus’ is a sharp social satire following the exploits of various employees and guests at an exclusive Hawaiian resort over the span of one highly transformative week. As darker dynamics emerge with each passing day the six-episode series gradually reveals the complex truths of the seemingly picture-perfect travellers, cheerful hotel employees, and idyllic locale itself. It is created, written, and directed by Mike White.

HBO’s ‘Succession’ is an satirical black comedy-drama television series created by Jesse Armstrong. The series centres on the Roy family, the dysfunctional owners of Waystar RoyCo, a global media and entertainment conglomerate, who are fighting for control of the company amid uncertainty about the health of the family’s patriarch, Logan Roy.

Apple TV’s ‘Ted Lasso’ is a sports comedy-drama television series developed by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly. The series follows Ted Lasso, an American college football coach who is hired to coach an English soccer team in an attempt by its owner to spite her ex-husband. Lasso tries to win over the skeptical English market with his folksy, optimistic demeanour while dealing with his inexperience in the sport.

HBO’s ‘Euphoria’ is an American teen drama television series created and principally written by Sam Levinson based on the Israeli miniseries of the same name created by Ron Leshem and Daphna Levin. The series’ main character is Rue Bennett (Zendaya), a recovering teenage drug addict who struggles to find her place in the world.

Netflix’s Squid Game is a South Korean survival drama television series created by Hwang Dong-hyuk .The series revolves around a contest where 456 players, all of whom are in deep financial hardship, risk their lives to play a series of deadly children’s games for the chance to win a US$35 million prize. The title of the series draws from a similarly named Korean children’s game.

I’ve set up the main course for your TV watching, but there are many other side dishes, which you need to find, and taste.

Indy is Curling Back

Indiana Jones, the world’s most famous archeologist- of the movies- is back for his next adventure. Harrison Ford makes a return to the Indiana Jones franchise. The film, which has Ford act the role of Dr. Henry Walton Indiana Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, more than 40 years after he first donned the hat and the whip in 1981’s ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark,’ rolls into theatres on 30 June 2023. Mark that date.

Indian Jones began his adventures in 1981 with the film Raiders of the Lost Ark. In 1984, a prequel, The Temple of Doom, was released, and in 1989, a sequel, The Last Crusade. A fourth film followed in 2008, titled The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The series was created by George Lucas and stared Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in all the films. The first four films were directed by Steven Spielberg, who worked closely with Lucas during their production.

There’s been a lot of news regarding the next Indiana Jones films since it’s been in ‘the works’ for years. But late last week was the first time fans got an idea of what the next film could be about and what the intrepid archeologist may be after. However, any details about what adventure Indy will be on this time is being kept so hidden even he might not be able to find it.

The latest film will be the fifth for the series, and likely Ford’s last in the role. After the audience reacted to the mention of this being his last film in the role, he joked, “This is it. I will not fall down for you again.”

It also stars Phoebe Waller-Bridges and Mads Mikkelsen and is directed by James Mangold. John Williams, who composed the iconic ‘Raiders March’ is also returning to score the film.

“Indiana Jones movies are about mystery and adventure but they’re also about heart,” said Ford. “I had the time of my life making this movie…keeping up with this guy is exhausting,” said Waller-Bridges.

Avoiding poison darts, outrunning rolling boulders and all the time trying to keep that hat on and slashing that bull whip, is tough for an 80 years old actor, after all.

More whipping, real adventure stories will be uncovered in the weeks ahead. Face the world and play with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-26

About: the world this week, 26 June to 2 July 2022, lots of legal stuff- brace yourselves for the supreme, a killing in India, fuel less in Sri Lanka, scorching hot in Japan, and dining underground.

Everywhere

Russia is cold, unrelenting, and pushing its forces awfully hard ever since it illegally invaded Ukraine four months ago. They have eliminated most of Ukrainian defences in the Luhansk region, consolidated control of a belt of territory in the south and have blunted the effectiveness of Ukrainian attack drones. And now, they have complete control of the Luhansk region, after Ukrainian forces finally gave up the city of Severodonetsk.

This week Russia showed a murderous streak when it fired a missile into a mall in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk. More than 1,000 people were inside at that time and the number of victims is unknown – could be deadly.

It’s worrisome that Russia appears to be gaining ground in this war, but Ukraine has a clear, genuine motive to win. And win it must. Remember Snake Island, captured by Russia, at the start of the war? It’s now back with Ukraine!

Courts Rule…and Rule: Supreme, in the US, and India

Late last week the Supreme Court of the United States (US), in a 5-4 ruling, struck down the ‘Roe versus Wade’ decision that federally protected a woman’s right to have an abortion. It leaves abortion rights to be determined at the State level. And several Republican Party-led states have already moved to enact statewide bans.

In 1973, in the landmark ‘Roe versus Wade’ case, the Supreme Court had ruled that unduly restrictive state of regulation of abortion is unconstitutional and that criminalising abortion, in most instances, violated a woman’s constitutional right to privacy, which it found to be implicit in the liberty guarantee of the due process clause of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution.

It was a stinging decision that left the US gasping for breath, obliterating a woman’s right to choose. Hard to imagine that a country known for its freedom can suddenly cage women’s rights and become so cruel.

US President Joe Biden wasn’t happy with the Supreme Court’s decision and vowed to find a way out. He inherited a Supreme Court, which benches were packed with conservative judges during the previous Presidency, the results of which are there for all to see.

A woman has a fundamental right to choose what is best for her body over religious diktats and interpretations. People are entitled to hold their own convictions on the issue, but they should not dictate or rob another from making their own decisions. This is a regressive decision moving woman’s rights backwards and kills the freedom enjoyed over near about half a century.

I sometimes wonder whether, like an active Gun Lobby in the US, could there be a slippery Condom Lobby too?

In another ruling, the US Supreme Court struck down a New York gun law, enacted more than a century ago that placed restrictions on carrying a concealed handgun outside the home. In a 6-3 majority it ruled that the Constitution protects the right to carry a gun outside the home. That’s a ‘Yes’ to guns. Now to some kind of a ‘No’…

However, this week in what seems a sincere attempt in controlling the reckless gun-fire, one of the most significant US gun control bills in nearly 30 years was signed into law by President Joe Biden. It imposes tougher background checks on buyers younger than 21 years and encourages states to remove guns from people considered a threat. The reforms include: better funding for mental health programs and school security upgrades. It also closes the so-called ‘boyfriend loophole’ by banning those convicted of domestic abuse from owning a gun – not just those who are married to their victims or live with them.

Keeping-up with the supreme, not to be left behind, India’s Supreme Court (SC) upheld and threw-out a ‘devoid of merit attempt’ to challenge the clean chit given by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to 64 people, including Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi – who was then the Chief Minister of Gujarat- in the 2002 Gujarat Godhra Riots. The Courts said that the plea to challenge was an attempt ‘to keep the pot boiling for ulterior design’ when there was no credible evidence to suggest that the then Chief Minister or his administration was involved.

The protest petition was filed by Zakia Jafri, wife of a Member of Parliament, Ehsan Jafri, who was killed in the riots.

The SC held there was no reason to question the merits of the SIT, which was specifically set-up by the SC itself, and that her submissions were far-fetched and sought to undermine the integrity of the SIT. “On such false claims the structure of a larger criminal conspiracy at the highest level has been erected . The same stands collapsed like a house of cards following the thorough investigation by the SIT. Those involved in such abuse need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with the law” it said.

This comes as a huge relief to PM Modi who was accused and hounded by the media and the opposition for near about 16 years as being complicit or turning the other eye, or failing to do enough to prevent or bring the riots under control.

It all started on 27 February 2002 when 59 Hindu pilgrims returning from the Ram Janmabhoomi site in Ayodhya, by the Sabarmathi Express was attacked by a Muslim mob and their Coach, S-6 of the train, set ablaze at the Godhra Station, where it had stopped. All 59 passengers in the Coach including 27 women and 10 children were burnt to death.

In what is described as a spontaneous outbreak, violence broke-out out in Gujarat State, where hundreds of Muslims and Hindus were killed triggering one of the worst post-independence riots in India.

Returning to the verdict, the SC said the co-petitoner and activist Teesta Setalvad exploited the emotions of petitioner Zakia Jafri. And antecedents of Teesta Setalvad need to be reckoned with and also because she has been vindictively persecuting this dispute for ulterior motives.

That hint was enough, I reckon, as the Gujarat Place immediately swung into action and arrested Teesta Setalvad from her Mumbai home, to dig deeper into the case while the earth is pliant and soft. The charges were criminal conspiracy, forgery, and placing false evidence in court to frame innocent people.

Also arrested and ‘put in the dock’ were former State Director General of Police Sreekumar, and former IPS Office Sanjiv Bhatt -partners in perjury crime!

Following the stream of arresting action this week, Mohammad Zubair co-founder of fact checking website called Alt News was arrested. Earlier he had called out the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Leader and spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s remarks against the Prophet, only after he had deleted or edited portions- equally whiplashing against Hinduism, which trigged Nupur Sharma in the first place, and ended in her being sacked. A well-laid trap? And it’s minefield out there on religious provocation.

Mohammad Zubair is alleged to have routinely put tweets and posts, which were anti-Hindu, spawned Hindu-hatred, and mocked Hindu gods. He was arrested for blasphemy, a law he advocated until very recently. Most of these tweets were deleted once Nupur Sharma was shown the door by her party for hate-mongering.

Investigations are on to ascertain ‘the real’.

A Horrific Killing in India

This week, on a Tuesday afternoon, Kanhaiya Lal, a Hindu Tailor was working in his shop in the busy Dhan Mandi area of Udaipur in India’s Rajasthan State when two Muslim men walked-in, posing as customers. While Kanhaiya Lal was taking measurements on one of them, the other brandished a cleaver and tried to behead him, failing which he slit his throat, killing the Tailor (Police later said the head was not severed or beheaded). The other person took a video recording the incident on his phone and posted it on Social Media. In the video they were seen gloating over the murder and issued similar threats to India’s PM Narendra Modi, brandishing their cleavers. All of this was apparently over Kanhaiya Lal sharing a post in support of Nupur Sharma and thereby insulting Islam-they claimed, in their rant.

Previously, Kanhaiya Lal had been arrested by the Police, for the same post and let-out on bail with a warning. Since then, he had been receiving death threats, which he had reported to the Police. And appears to have been taken lightly by them.

After the killing, the Police, for once, were quick on their heels, identified and caught the killers, Gos Mohammad and Riyaz Akhtari, residents of Surajpole, Udaipur. They were trying to escape from the area when the Police locked onto them.

The macabre incident sparked outrage across the Country and India is treating it as a terror incident, and investigations are on a roll.

The Trial and punishment should be swift and effective so that it acts a deterrent to such uncivilised brutal acts in the name of religion: an unforgivable act of Islamist radicalisation and terrorism. I’m sure this does not represent the sane, mainstream Islam.

Late in the week, an Indian Supreme Court Order stood out as egregious when it appeared to blame Nupur Sharma for the killing. ‘Loose tongue…sets the country on fire…’ were some remarks made, which brought and outcry of disgust and calls for withdrawing the comments made. Noises of impeachment and reforming the judiciary could be heard.

Should not the Supreme set an example?

Clueless and Fuel Less in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is in talks with Lenders over a bailout deal to rejuvenate its economy and climb out of its worst economic crisis in decades: an economy crushed and hit hard by the pandemic, rising energy prices, populist tax cuts, among many other reasons.

Meanwhile, it continues to struggle, and this week, Sri Lanka suspended sales of fuel for non-essential vehicles. For the next two weeks, only buses, trains, and vehicles used for medical services and transporting food will be allowed to fuel-up. Schools in urban areas have shut and officials have told the country’s 22 million residents to work from home.

Gosh! Has this ‘work from home’ thing become a solution to every crisis?

Scorching Hot in Japan

While Sri Lanka battles it out with shortage of food, fuel and electricity, Japan is asking some 37 million people living in and around Tokyo to use less electricity and ration air-conditioning even amid a record heat wave that has seen temperatures in some parts of the country cross 40 degrees Celsius. The government urged citizens in the capital to turn off lights and power switches for three hours in the afternoon and to use air-conditioning ‘appropriately’; as the country struggles with growing electricity shortages.

Japan’s power supply has been tight since March, when an earthquake in the northeast forced some nuclear power plants to suspend operations. Demand is also at its highest since 2011, when Japan was hit by the strongest earthquake in its recorded history. The mismatch between supply and demand is becoming ‘severe’. But with recent temperatures soaring to dangerous levels, rationing electricity will not be easy.

This week Tokyo experienced scorching heat for a fourth successive day after setting records for the month of June at the weekend.

Temperatures in the capital soared over 35 degrees Celsius, while the city of Isesaki northwest of Tokyo hit 40.2 degrees Celsius – the country’s highest in June since record keeping began in 1875.

Dining Underground

This week Scientists discovered a carnivorous plant that grows prey-trapping contraptions underground, feeding of subterranean creatures such as worms, larvae, ants, mites, and beetles.

The newly found species of pitcher plant was unearthed in the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo. Like other pitcher plants, ‘Nepenthes pudica’ has modified leaves, known as pitfall traps or pitchers, that its prey fall into before being eaten – dissolved. One species is so large it can trap rats.

This plant places its – about 11 cm – long pitchers underground, where they are formed in cavities or directly in the soil, and trap animals living underground. No other species of pitcher plant, known to science, catches its prey in such a place.

More hot and cold stories coming up in the weeks ahead. Stay cool and above ground with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-23

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

Everywhere

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Melange

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

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

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

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

Please Yourself

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-22

About: the world this week, 29 May to 4 June 2022, music is strained, a celebrity defamation hearing, a plane crash, ruthless fighting, and a Manhattan seaweed.

Everywhere

We Rapped: Moose Wala

This Sunday, 28 years old Moose Wala an Indian singer, rapper, actor, and politician primarily associated with Punjabi music and cinema was shot dead by unidentified attackers while driving near his village in Punjab State. A Canada-based person, Goldy Brar said to belong to the Lawrence Bishnoi Gang, took responsibility for the killing, in a Facebook account. Reasons unknown. The Police are investigating.

Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu was born in Moosa Village, Mansa District, Punjab. He studied Electrical Engineering in Ludhiana and after graduation moved to Canada, in 2016. Sidhu began listening to hip-hop music from the Class 6, and learnt music from Ustad Harvinder Bittu in Ludhiana, before starting to rap. He was heavily influenced by American rapper and actor Tupac Shakur, considered one of the most influential rappers of all-time, with more than 75 million records worldwide to his name.

Sidhu started his career writing music for Ninja (Amit Bhalla-Indian playback singer) and then got his singing career going with a duet song titled ‘G Wagon’.

One year after moving to Canada, Sidhu released his first track, ‘So High’, under the name Moose Wala-a tribute to his village-and gained wide attention.

In 2018, he released his debut Album PBX 1, which peaked at No. 66 on the Billboard Canadian Albums Chart. Following the Album’s success, he started releasing his songs independently. His 2019 single ’47’ was ranked on the UK Singles Chart. In 2020, Moose Wala was named by The Guardian among 50 ‘up and coming artists’. Ten of his songs have peaked on UK Asian Chart with two of them topping. His song ‘Bambiha Bole’ was among the top five on Global You Tube music chart. In 2021, he released Moosetape, tracks from which charted globally including Canadian Hot 100, UK Asian, and New Zealand Hot charts. I’m breathless, that’s an awesome Chart line-up!

Since then, he has released three albums and more than 60 singles. At one time-the story goes-he was churning out a song a week. And became a household name in Punjab and among Sikhs living abroad. In a career spanning just four years, the rapper had become one of the most ubiquitous faces of Punjab’s fertile hip-hop scene. His voice blares from DJ turntables at Delhi’s flamboyant parties, rickety stereos at tea stalls in rural India and every possible radio channel in Punjab. His very distinctive rapping style enthralled and captured the nuances of life in Punjab.

Drawing heavily from the genre of gangster rap, his music was a jumble of gritty opulence showing-off guns and fancy sports cars, as he tried to make sense of life around him. His songs offered unvarnished commentary on the dark underbelly of the rural heartland, where drugs, crime, and corruption often make headlines.

Rap music is a genre that often has lyrical expressions of revenge. And Moose Wala was no exception to this trend. Jealousy of his rivals was also an overarching theme in his music, which was best captured in the smash hit, Jatt da Mukabla: ‘Don’t flutter so high, you birds, for if I want, I can buy the sky.’

Moose Wala had his brushes with the Law. In May 2020, he was booked for firing an AK-47 rifle at a shooting range during the Covid19 Lockdown. He also had a police case against him for seemingly promoting violence and gun culture through his song, ‘Sanju’. Though never convicted, he was accused of trying to normalise violence.

In politics, Moose Wala was a member of India’s Grand Old Party, The Indian National Congress, and unsuccessfully contested in the 2022 Punjab Assembly Elections, from Mansa.

Unbelievable that Moose Wala had bewitched so many people in such a short period. Wonder who (all) got jealous?

We Sang: KK

This week, Indian Music suffered another hit. Singer Krishnakumar Kunnath, aged 53 years, popularly known as ‘KK’ died of a cardiac arrest hours after performing in a concert at Nazrul Mancha for Gurudas College’s Fest in Kolkatta, after which he fell ill and returned to his hotel. When his condition deteriorated, he was rushed to the hospital where the doctors declared him dead on arrival.

KK sang hundreds of songs during his career which began in the 1990s with advertisement jingles. He made his film debut with an A R Rahman soundtrack called ‘Kallooori Salai’ (College Road) in the Tamil movie, Kadhal Desam.

In 1999, he launched his debut album titled ‘Pal’. The songs ‘Pal’ and ‘Yaaron’ from the album became very popular and are commonly used in school farewells.

His biggest hits and most popular Hindi songs include, Tadap Tadap from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Dola Re Dola from Devdas (2002), the Tamil song, Apadi Podu, from Ghilli (2004), Kya Mujhe Pyaar Hai from Woh Lamhe …(2006), Aankhon Mein Teri from Om Shanti Om (2007), Khuda Jane from Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), Piya Aaye Na from Aashiqui 2 (2013), Mat Aazma Re from Murder 3 (2013), India Wale from Happy New Year (2014), Tu Jo Mila from Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015).

KK’s other famous songs were, ‘Annanoda Pattu’ (elder brother’s song) in superstar Rajinikanth’s Chandramukhi. And by far, his most popular song in Tamil is Uyirin Uyire in the movie Kaakha Kaakha.

The romance of his songs had strings tied to his real life too. KK fell in love when he was in Class 10 and decided he would marry the girl who stole his heart: he proposed to Jyothy Krishna and eventually married her in 1999 when he was on a firm footing in his career. When asked, wasn’t it too early in life to propose, a confident KK said, “It is not about too early, when you feel something here (gesturing towards his heart), just say it.”

KK is survived by his wife, Jyothy Krishna, and his two children, Nakul Krishna Kunnath and Tamara Kunnath.

Wordsworth floods through that inward eye: ‘The music is my heart I bore long after it was no more’.

We Crashed

This Sunday, a Tara Air plane, with 22 people onboard crashed in Nepal. The plane was on a 20 minute flight when it lost contact with air traffic control, five minutes before it was due to land. The plane, made by the Canadian Aircraft firm, de Havilland, had departed from the tourist town of Pokhara early on Sunday, bound for Jomsom a popular pilgrimage site, and never made it.

Four Indians, two Germans and sixteen Nepali passengers were on board the plane. Search teams first located the crash site, one day after the crash. The remains of all 22 people onboard have been found since, after being awfully frustrated by bad weather and the treacherous mountainous terrain.

The four Indian nationals were identified as a family of two divorced parents and their two children, who were travelling together on a family vacation. They hailed from the city of Thane in Maharashtra State. Post-divorce, the family had been spending 10 days together, as per the court order, during which time they go for holidays, every year. Little did they know this would be their last.

“We are sitting on the plane. We will call you when we reach there”. Those were the last words of one of the parents.

Nepal has had a record fraught with aviation accidents, partly due to its finicky weather changes and airstrips located in hard-to-access rocky terrains. Insufficient training and shoddy maintenance have also plagued its air safety record, prompting the European Union (EU) to ban the flights of all Nepalese airlines in its airspace.

In early 2018, a US-Bangla flight carrying 71 people from Dhaka in Bangladesh caught fire as it landed in Kathmandu, killing 51 people.

More recently, three people died in a plane crash in April 2019 when the aircraft veered off the runway and hit a stationary helicopter at Lukla Airport – considered one of the most tricky runways to navigate due to its strong winds and high altitude of 2845 metres.

Nepal has a mountain of work to do, to ensure flight safety. Here’s hoping this is the last such disaster.

We Stopped at Amber, and Heard

In a blockbuster case that was running live on United States (US) Television for the past six weeks, Jurors in the US state of Virginia found that Actor Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean sequels) and Actress Amber Heard (Rum Diary, Pineapple Express) both defamed each other in public statements following their divorce.

Depp actually won his defamation trial against Heard, and Heard lost most of her countersuit, in a stunning finish to the celebrity trial that has riveted America.

Johnny Depp sued Amber Heard for defamation because of an Op-Ed she published in The Washington Post in 2018. In the Op-Ed, headlined, “I spoke up against sexual violence-and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change,” Heard never mentions Depp, but she refers to herself as ‘a public figure representing domestic abuse.’ Depp said the article sullied his reputation, and thwarted his career.

Depp, 58, won all three of the claims he had made and was awarded USD 10.4 million in damages. Heard, 36, who had counter-sued for USD 100 million won only one of her three claims against Depp and was awarded USD 2 million.

In its verdict, the seven-member panel said Heard had defamed her ex-husband with false statements about their relationship. They also said the statements were made with actual malice, i.e., with reckless disregard or negligence.

Last heard, Amber Heard was ‘disappointed beyond words’ and ‘heartbroken’ by the verdict.

Depp has been nominated for three Oscars and been named People’s Sexiest Man Alive, twice. And Heard was not much heard of during the time Depp was at the peak of his popularity.

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard got engaged in 2014 and married in 2015. Then, in 2016, Heard filed for divorce. Do marriages ever run green in Hollywood? It’s amber or red!

We are Still Fighting Russia

This Friday marks the 100th day of war in Ukraine, and Russia is closing-in on the city of Severodonetsk. Russia now occupies almost of Luhansk and neighbouring Donetsk. And in total, about 20% of Ukraine. The Donbas region is almost entirely destroyed and the destruction in Ukraine defies comprehension. Meanwhile Russian President Vladimir Putin is banking on the world’s indifference to see him through this horrific disaster he created in the first place. And maybe is looking for an opportunity to declare some kind of a victory?

We are Australia

One keeps finding the weirdest things in Australia: be it animal or plant life – on land or under the sea.

The largest known plant on Earth, a seagrass (ribbon weed) roughly three times the size of Manhattan (about 59 sq.km) has been discovered off the coast of Australia.

Scientists have determined that a large underwater meadow in Western Australia is in fact one plant, believed to have spread from a single seed over at least 4500 years. The seagrass covers 200 square kilometres in Shark Bay, about 800 kilometres north of Perth.

The seagrass was discovered to be growing at the rate of 35 centimetres per year. Remarkable for its hardiness having grown in locations across the Bay with widely varying conditions.

More grown stories will be measured in the weeks to come. Rap and sing with World Inthavaaram.

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

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We Rapped: Moose Wala

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