Civic News

After ED arrest, TN minister Senthil Balaji breaks down, hospitalised
The Indian Express | 10 hours ago | |
The Indian Express
10 hours ago | |

Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday in connection with an alleged money laundering case related to a job racket, according to Enforcement Directorate (ED) sources. The arrest followed an 18-hour interrogation at a dozen places in Chennai and Karur, including the Balaji’s official residence in Chennai, his official chamber at the State Secretariat at Fort St. George, and his brother Ashok’s house in Chennai.The case is linked to a job-for-cash scam in the state’s transport department, which allegedly occurred during Balaji’s tenure as Transport minister in the AIADMK regime from 2011-16. The case was booked in March 2021, on the eve of the Assembly elections, when Chennai police filed a chargesheet against Balaji and 46 others, which included senior retired and serving officers of various transport corporations. The charges related to a recruitment scam that shook the state in 2014-15.Last month, the Supreme Court cleared the way for an investigation, overriding a previous decision by the Madras High Court on September 1, 2022, dismissing ED summons sent to Balaji and others concerning a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case.#WATCH | Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji breaks down as ED officials took him into custody in connection with a money laundering case and brought him to Omandurar Government in Chennai for medical examination pic.twitter.com/aATSM9DQpu— ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2023Balaji, who currently holds Electricity, Excise, and Prohibition porfolios was arrested under the provisions of the PMLA. This came after extensive searches held on Tuesday. The ED searches at the minister’s chamber at the State Secretariat were the first of their kind.Following his arrest, Balaji complained of chest discomfort, and was taken to the Government Multi Super Specialty Hospital in Chennai at around 2.30 am for a medical checkup.Express Investigation | Since 2014, 4-fold jump in ED cases against politicians; 95% are from OppositionSenior DMK ministers, including Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, Health Minister M Subramanian and Public Welfare Department (PWD) Minister E V Velu, Law Minister S Regupathy were among those who rushed to the hospital but were reportedly not allowed to meet the arrested minister.Regupathy expressed doubts about the adherence to basic procedures (of arrest) by the ED. He criticised the method of operation as “unwarranted and inhuman,” causing unnecessary stress and strain on Balaji. He also condemned the withholding of information about the minister’s current health condition and the circumstances of his arrest from family and friends, noting, “people behind this arrest will be accountable before the law.”“If they are doing it with power in Delhi, let’s not forget the fact that their power is not permanent,” he said.Minister Udhayanidhi, who visited the hospital, said that the DMK would be taking legal action against any violations involved in Balaji’s arrest.Minister Sekar Babu said Balaji was unconscious, exhibiting a swelling near his ears, and had variations in his ECG. Balaji is being closely monitored by doctors in the ICU, Babu said.Despite the outcry, the ED is yet to release any official statement regarding the arrest or searches. Top ED sources said they were yet to complete the arrest procedures as Balaji had variations in blood pressure and ECG.The probe against Balaji is in connection with the allegations of conspiring with transport corporation officials to issue appointment orders for candidates recommended by his aides, and for alleged bribery involving appointments in various transport corporations, including MTC, Chennai.

After ED arrest, TN minister Senthil Balaji breaks down, hospitalised
A former Jayalalithaa loyalist who had a quick rise in DMK: Who is Tamil Nadu minister Senthil Balaji, now arrested by ED?
The Indian Express | 10 hours ago | |
The Indian Express
10 hours ago | |

After an 18-hour interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister Senthil Balaji was arrested early Wednesday morning in a case linked to a job-for-cash scam in the state’s transport department, which allegedly occurred during Balaji’s tenure as Transport minister in the AIADMK regime from 2011-16.Balaji complained of chest pain after the arrest and discomfort and was taken to the Government Multi Super Specialty Hospital in Chennai at around 2.30 am for a medical checkup.Senior DMK ministers, including Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, Health Minister M Subramanian and Public Welfare Department (PWD) Minister E V Velu, Law Minister S Regupathy rushed to the hospital but were reportedly not allowed to meet the arrested minister.#WATCH | Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji breaks down as ED officials took him into custody in connection with a money laundering case and brought him to Omandurar Government in Chennai for medical examination pic.twitter.com/aATSM9DQpu— ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2023Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said Wednesday that the ED’s purpose was to “torture Balaji”.In a Tamil tweet, he said: “What was the purpose of the ED to torture Senthil Balaji so that he would get chest pain even after he said he would fully cooperate with the investigation?”He added, “Is it necessary for the ED to act in such a dehumanising manner in violation of legal procedures of the case? The DMK won’t be afraid of the BJP’S threats. People will learn a lesson in 2024.”On May 27, Income Tax (IT) department officials who were conducting raids on 40 properties belonging to DMK minister Senthil Balaji and his associates across Chennai and Coimbatore faced resistance from the leader’s supporters. Official vehicles were attacked and searches were also aborted in some locations.This outpouring of support then – about 200 DMK workers confronted the I-T officials in his constituency Karur – gives a sense of the heft that Balaji has established over the years in western Tamil Nadu and the influence he commands in the politically-significant OBC Goundar community that he belongs to.Balaji, 47, who was born into a poor farming community, holds the electricity and excise portfolios in Chief Minister M K Stalin’s Cabinet. A four-time MLA, he made his electoral debut in 2006 on an AIADMK ticket. He was also in former CM J Jayalalithaa’s Cabinet between 2011 and 2015. He joined the DMK three years later.His stint as an AIADMK leader was marked by his allegiance to Jayalalithaa. In that period, he had made news for holding special pujas, lighting lakhs of lamps, wearing headgear denoting the party symbol, and breaking coconuts to honour his leader and the party. Balaji was the strategist behind 2013’s Amma water initiative which was aimed at providing affordable drinking water. He had even shaved his head in support of the former CM after she was acquitted in a disproportionate assets case in 2017.But the two had a falling out subsequently and he lost his Cabinet post and his responsibility as the party’s Karur district secretary in 2015. During the rumblings in the party after Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016, he supported the V K Sasikala-TTV Dhinakaran faction.Balaji switched to the DMK in 2018. He also managed to quickly make his way up the DMK’s ladder, becoming a key face in the Stalin government now.But it is his home turf of Karur where he exercises real control. Local leaders say that the job fairs and blood donation camps he organises have amassed him a significant following. In 2021, he had told The Indian Express that the projects were important to keep supporters by his side. “People should be able to contact me directly,” he had said.Balaji is also credited with setting up e-Seva centres in Karur through which the public can access free government services. Many youngsters in the district’s party circle carry his picture on their cell phone screens, cases and shirts.The arrest has also been condemned by the Opposition, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar.

A former Jayalalithaa loyalist who had a quick rise in DMK: Who is Tamil Nadu minister Senthil Balaji, now arrested by ED?
Gurnam Singh Chaduni, Rakesh Bains among 9 farmer leaders likely to be released today
The Indian Express | 10 hours ago | |
The Indian Express
10 hours ago | |

A week after they were arrested for blocking National Highway 44 (Delhi-Chandigarh) in protest, several farmer leaders, including Bharatiya Kisan Union’s (BKU’s) Gurnam Singh Chaduni and others, are likely to be released from prison on Wednesday.The farmers’ protest ended on Tuesday night after the district administration in Haryana’s Kurukshetra assured them that the government had accepted their demands with respect to the minimum support price of sunflower and the release of the arrested leaders.Apart from Chaduni, the other prominent farmer leaders likely to be released are Rakesh Bains, Jasbir Singh Mamumajra, Prince Waraich, Jarnail Singh, Jairam, Gulab Singh, Surjit Singh and Pankaj.The protest ended after the government agreed to purchase the sunflower crop at Rs 5,000 per quintal and pay an additional Rs 1,400 as ‘Bhavantar Bharpai’ (price difference payment), which would add up to Rs 6,400 per quintal.The farmers had blocked NH-44 since Monday afternoon and traffic on the busy Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar highway had been disrupted for over 33 hours till the blockades were removed late Tuesday night.Police continue to remain deployed at the protest site to smoothen the traffic flow and ensure that the protesters have dispersed.Call for Haryana bandh demanding Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s arrestSeveral farmer unions and khaps in Haryana have called for a state-wide bandh on Wednesday, demanding the arrest of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been facing sexual harassment allegations.The bandh is likely to impact the supply of essential commodities like milk, vegetables and fruits to Delhi.The bandh call comes at a time when the Centre has assured protesting wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vignesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik that the Delhi Police will submit its investigation report into the two FIRs registered against Singh and others by June 15.In the wake of the bandh call, Congress MP from Rajasthan and senior Haryana Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala cancelled his tour of Kaithal and nearby areas that was scheduled to be held on Wednesday.The tour will now be held on another date.

Gurnam Singh Chaduni, Rakesh Bains among 9 farmer leaders likely to be released today
Europe’s city schools, hospitals at risk from extreme heat, EU agency says
The Indian Express | 10 hours ago | |
The Indian Express
10 hours ago | |

Nearly half of schools and hospitals in European cities are located in urban “heat islands”, exposing vulnerable populations to health-threatening temperatures as climate change impacts worsen, the European Union’s environment agency has said.Around 46% of hospitals and 43% of schools are in areas at least 2 degrees Celsius warmer than the regional average — fuelling fiercer heatwave impacts than in rural areas, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said Wednesday, in an analysis of how Europe can adapt to climate change.The reason is the urban heat island effect, where dense clusters of buildings and infrastructure like roads absorb and retain more heat than green areas. “This is something which will have severe consequences for human health,” said Blaz Kurnik, head of the EEA’s climate adaptation department.Climate change, caused by industry continuing to burn fossil fuels, is making heatwaves hotter and more frequent — a trend that, when combined with urban heat islands, poses risks including increased deaths from heat stress to vulnerable populations like the elderly.“Vulnerability in Europe is also increasing due to the aging population, due to the more condensed cities. This is something that, with the combination of the heat waves, will become quite a risk for society in the future,” Kurnik said.The phenomenon has already been observed during temperature extremes. During an August 2003 heatwave, heat-related mortality in cities in the West Midlands area of Britain was twice as high as in local rural areas.The EEA urged governments to introduce measures to lessen the heat island effect in cities, such as introducing more cooling green spaces and water. Some already are — such as the City of Paris’s programme to transform 10 pilot schools’ grounds into cooler, greener spaces, with fountains and drought-resistant plants.Kurnik said other measures could include bringing forward the start of school holidays to avoid teaching in intense heat — but that in general, while all EU countries now have some form of climate adaptation strategy, most have yet to turn them into concrete actions.

Europe’s city schools, hospitals at risk from extreme heat, EU agency says
'Makes it clear how democracy is strangulated': Oppn on Jack Dorsey's allegations
The Indian Express | 1 day ago | |
The Indian Express
1 day ago | |

After Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey alleged that the Narendra Modi-led government threatened the social media app with shut-downs and raids during the farmer’s protest, a score of Opposition leaders rallied behind the former CEO, saying “this makes it clear how democracy is strigulated” and urged the Centre to answer.“I have seen how the democracy of the country and freedom are under threat and how democracy is being strangulated behind the curtain. This makes it clear,” said Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut.Hitting out at the Modi govt, senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala wrote:Modi Govt. forced twitter to👇▪️Shut down accounts of Farmers & Farmer’s movement,▪️Shut down accounts of journalists critical of Govt,ORTwitter and its employees would be raided.This is what Twitter Co Founder and Ex CEO Jack Dorsey admits in a TV… pic.twitter.com/OmpSHl8RlI— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) June 13, 2023Dorsey, in an interview with the Youtube channel Breaking Points, reiterated that the platform received “many requests” from the Indian government to block accounts covering farmers’ protests and those critical of the government. He also said that the platform was threatened with “a shutdown” and raids at its employees’ homes in the country.Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar responded to Dorsey’s claims, saying that under him, Twitter was in “repeated and continuous violations of India law”.To this, Shiv Sena (UBT)  MP Priyanka Chaturvedi replied, “Lol! Yeah the law they broke was to allow hate speech and rabid BJP agenda. But there was no crackdown or compliance issues since it supported their agenda. The minute people and opposition started to fight back using the platform, the government started to crackdown! So please, spare this little sermon.”“Twitter under Dorsey n his team were in repeated n continuous violations of India law.”Say MoS IT. Lol! Yeah the law they broke was to allow hate speech and rabid BJP agenda. But there was no crackdown or compliance issues since it supported their agenda. The minute people and…— Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) June 13, 2023Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait also chimed in, saying “We had information that the kind of reach on Facebook and Twitter that was expected on farmers’ protest, was not coming. They used to try to stop it at their level. The head has said this clearly now. But such companies don’t come under anyone’s pressure. Govt of India must have made such attempts…What he said is correct,” quoted ANI.Congress leader DK Shivakumar added that Dorsey’s “revelations show the alarming state of free speech and democracy in India.”At the height of the farmers’ protest in the country in 2021, the Centre had asked Twitter to take down nearly 1,200 accounts for alleged “Khalistan” links. Before that, it had asked the platform to take down more than 250 accounts.

'Makes it clear how democracy is strangulated': Oppn on Jack Dorsey's allegations
  • Oppn on Jack Dorsey’s allegations: ‘Will Modi govt answer?’, ‘makes it clear how democracy is strangulated’
  • The Indian Express

    After Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey alleged that the Narendra Modi-led government threatened the social media app with shut-downs and raids during the farmer’s protest, a score of Opposition leaders rallied behind the former CEO, saying “this makes it clear how democracy is strigulated” and urged the Centre to answer.“I have seen how the democracy of the country and freedom are under threat and how democracy is being strangulated behind the curtain. This makes it clear,” said Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut.Hitting out at the Modi govt, senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala wrote:Modi Govt. forced twitter to👇▪️Shut down accounts of Farmers & Farmer’s movement,▪️Shut down accounts of journalists critical of Govt,ORTwitter and its employees would be raided.This is what Twitter Co Founder and Ex CEO Jack Dorsey admits in a TV… pic.twitter.com/OmpSHl8RlI— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) June 13, 2023Dorsey, in an interview with the Youtube channel Breaking Points, reiterated that the platform received “many requests” from the Indian government to block accounts covering farmers’ protests and those critical of the government. He also said that the platform was threatened with “a shutdown” and raids at its employees’ homes in the country.Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar responded to Dorsey’s claims, saying that under him, Twitter was in “repeated and continuous violations of India law”.To this, Shiv Sena (UBT)  MP Priyanka Chaturvedi replied, “Lol! Yeah the law they broke was to allow hate speech and rabid BJP agenda. But there was no crackdown or compliance issues since it supported their agenda. The minute people and opposition started to fight back using the platform, the government started to crackdown! So please, spare this little sermon.”“Twitter under Dorsey n his team were in repeated n continuous violations of India law.”Say MoS IT. Lol! Yeah the law they broke was to allow hate speech and rabid BJP agenda. But there was no crackdown or compliance issues since it supported their agenda. The minute people and…— Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) June 13, 2023Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait also chimed in, saying “We had information that the kind of reach on Facebook and Twitter that was expected on farmers’ protest, was not coming. They used to try to stop it at their level. The head has said this clearly now. But such companies don’t come under anyone’s pressure. Govt of India must have made such attempts…What he said is correct,” quoted ANI.Congress leader DK Shivakumar added that Dorsey’s “revelations show the alarming state of free speech and democracy in India.”At the height of the farmers’ protest in the country in 2021, the Centre had asked Twitter to take down nearly 1,200 accounts for alleged “Khalistan” links. Before that, it had asked the platform to take down more than 250 accounts.

ED searches 12 locations linked to Tamil Nadu minister Senthil Balaji
The Indian Express | 1 day ago | |
The Indian Express
1 day ago | |

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted searches at several premises linked to Tamil Nadu Power and Excise Minister Senthil Balaji, including his official residence. The searches are related to a job scam allegation against the minister, top-ranking sources in the ED revealed.The searches are taking place at 12 locations, including 10 in Karur and a couple in Chennai, and include the minister’s official residence on Greenways Road and his brother Ashok’s house in the vicinity. The ED is also investigating Balaji’s auditor, a few relatives, and several associates in Karur.The ED searches follow a Supreme Court order three weeks ago that overruled the Madras High Court’s September 1, 2022, order. The high court had previously dismissed the summons sent by the ED to Balaji and others concerning a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case.The minister was out for a morning walk when the ED initiated the searches. “I was on a morning walk with friends. As soon as I was notified about the searches, I immediately called a taxi and rushed back. I am unsure of what they are looking for. But let them carry out their investigation. Be it the income tax department or the ED, we are prepared to fully cooperate with them,” he said.Over 40 premises linked to Balaji were searched by the income tax department two weeks ago.Balaji was in the news two days ago after he was blamed for the sudden power outages near Chennai International Airport that coincided with Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s convoy movement. BJP cadres protested near the airport, alleging that the power outages were pre-planned by the DMK.

ED searches 12 locations linked to Tamil Nadu minister Senthil Balaji
Indigo aircraft grounded after suffering tail strike during landing at IGI airport
The Indian Express | 1 day ago | |
The Indian Express
1 day ago | |

An IndiGo aircraft has been grounded after it suffered a tail strike while landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said on Tuesday. According to an official statement by the DGCA, IndiGo A321-252NX (Neo) aircraft VT-IMG, while operating Kolkata-Delhi 6E-6183 flight, was involved in a tail strike during landing at Delhi on Sunday (June 11). Aircraft VT-IMG of IndiGo has been grounded after it suffered a tail strike during landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on 11th June: DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) pic.twitter.com/w5P3q524Wl— ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2023“The flight was uneventful till approach to land at Delhi. During approach on runway 27, the crew felt that they floated longer than normal and initiated a go-around. During the go-around manoeuvre, probably the bottom of the tail portion of the aircraft touched the runway surface and sustained damages. The operating crew have been off-rostered pending investigation,” the airlines regulatory body said in its statement.

Indigo aircraft grounded after suffering tail strike during landing at IGI airport
  • Indigo aircraft grounded after suffering tail strike while landing at IGI airport
  • The Indian Express

    An IndiGo aircraft has been grounded after it suffered a tail strike while landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said on Tuesday. According to an official statement by the DGCA, IndiGo A321-252NX (Neo) aircraft VT-IMG, while operating Kolkata-Delhi 6E-6183 flight, was involved in a tail strike during landing at Delhi on Sunday (June 11). Aircraft VT-IMG of IndiGo has been grounded after it suffered a tail strike during landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on 11th June: DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) pic.twitter.com/w5P3q524Wl— ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2023“The flight was uneventful till approach to land at Delhi. During approach on runway 27, the crew felt that they floated longer than normal and initiated a go-around. During the go-around manoeuvre, probably the bottom of the tail portion of the aircraft touched the runway surface and sustained damages. The operating crew have been off-rostered pending investigation,” the airlines regulatory body said in its statement.

Irregularities in micro irrigation scheme: Centre seeks report from Jharkhand govt
The Indian Express | 1 day ago | |
The Indian Express
1 day ago | |

Stating that the per drop more crop – micro irrigation is a “priority scheme” of the Agriculture Department, the Union government has sought a report from the Jharkhand government citing a report by The Indian Express on irregularities in its implementation.Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, Government of India, wrote to the Jharkhand Chief Secretary on June 9 – the day the report was published – that the “reported irregularities in the implementation of this important scheme is a matter of serious concern and requires immediate and strict action”.In an investigation spanning a month and a half and tracking 94 farmers in three blocks in Hazaribagh, The Indian Express found that for most, benefits were only on paper. Among the findings of the investigation were misuse of Aadhaar cards to create beneficiaries and some farmers not even aware that money had been collected by private companies in their name.“I request for your intervention in this matter for taking action against the persons found responsible for such irregularities, including initiation of criminal proceedings. I would also like to request you to get it enquired by a sufficiently senior officer who is not in the reporting channel of the PDMC scheme. A report in this regard may also be sent to this department at the earliest,” Ahuja wrote.The Indian Express had also reported how the four-step verification process to ensure that the scheme is implemented on the ground fell flat under the watch of the state agriculture department, and was rigged by middlemen, who acting on behalf of companies, enrolled farmers as beneficiaries.The Jharkhand government is also conducting an inquiry into the irregularities, while the state’s Agriculture Director has asked the Hazaribagh Agriculture Office to register FIRs against any erring Nabcons employees and private companies.

Irregularities in micro irrigation scheme: Centre seeks report from Jharkhand govt
  • Micro-irrigation scheme: Jharkhand seeks FIRs against private firms, verifying agency
  • The Indian Express

    The Jharkhand agriculture department’s director has ordered registration of FIRs against any Nabcons employees as well companies or vendors that may allegedly be responsible for irregularities in implementation of “Per Drop More Crop” — a key element of the Centre’s ambitious Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana — in the state.The letter, dated June 9, comes almost three weeks after the department ordered reverification of 12 beneficiaries, and on the same day an investigation by The Indian Express exposed how the scheme’s benefits were not reaching farmers.Nabcons, a subsidiary of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), is responsible for verifying whether drip irrigation has indeed been installed at the farms of listed beneficiaries. However, in an investigation spanning a month-and-a-half and tracking 94 farmers in three blocks in Hazaribagh, The Indian Express found that for most, benefits were only on paper. Among the findings of the investigation were misuse of Aadhaar cards to create beneficiaries and some farmers not even aware that money had been collected by private companies in their name.In a letter to the Hazaribagh District Agriculture Officer on Friday, Agriculture Director Chandan Kumar wrote that “gross negligence” has been committed by Nabcons in “verification or authentication work”, and that the installation companies, local vendors or distributors have also “committed irregularities”.“Therefore, it is directed that according to the rules… identify all involved and register FIRs against the Nabcons field monitor as well as supplier company and local distributor (vendor, etc),” the director wrote Friday.On May 22, the agriculture director had received a complaint by a farmers’ collective, the Jharkhand Chamber of Farmers, on alleged irregularities in the micro irrigation scheme. Based on this information, the agriculture department directed Nabcons to reverify 12 beneficiaries in Bhusai village of Ichak block.After the reverification exercise, Nabcons, in its report dated May 31, said it had found that 11 of the 12 listed beneficiaries were not doing any drip irrigation in Bhusai, but had rather claimed they were practicing it in Tepsa village, which falls under a different panchayat. It further stated: “Verification has been done repeatedly by both the vendors – Irrilink Industries and Dev Polymers – in the same field in the name of different farmers by different field monitors on different dates.”The report also cited the example of a listed beneficiary who never received any drip irrigation system, and whose Aadhaar card was used by a middleman who looks after the work of Irrilink Industries and Dev Polymers. It stated that when the Nabcons field monitor asked him why his Aadhaar photo in their records did not match what he looked like in real life, he replied that he had got his hair cut due to his father’s death.The findings of the reverification exercise are in line with The Indian Express investigation on how a seemingly robust four-step verification process fell flat.In its report, Nabcons also sought to explain that “without access to the Aadhaar portal”, it conducts verification simply by viewing the Aadhaar card, which can easily be forged.“Also, NABCONS does not have any information whether the farm is in the name of the beneficiary or not. Field verification is the job of the (agriculture) department before application acceptance. Nabcons has video and photographs of all verification available,” the report said.In response, the Agriculture Department came down heavily on Nabcons, with the director writing in his June 9 letter: “… even though irregularities have been reported by Nabcons in their re-verification exercise, it is Nabcons which has been named as the company for third party evaluation. Thus, Nabcons has been grossly negligent in monitoring/verification work under the scheme.”

  • Express impact: Jharkhand govt forms panel to probe irrigation scheme irregularities
  • The Indian Express

    Taking cognizance of an investigation by The Indian Express, the Jharkhand government Friday formed a four-member panel to conduct a “high-level investigation” into “widespread irregularities” in the implementation of “Per Drop More Crop” – a key element of the Centre’s ambitious Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana – in the state.“Aapke report ka hawala dete hue ek samiti ka gathan kiya gaya hai. Samiti ke log vibhaag se hatt ke hain aur jaanch karne ka aadesh diya hai (I have ordered the formation of a committee based on your report. The panel members are not part of the [agriculture] department, and they have been told to inquire into the issue),” the state’s Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperatives Minister Badal Patralekh told The Indian Express. The panel has been told to revert with its findings in a week.In an investigation spanning a month-and-a-half, The Indian Express had visited 94 farmers in one of Jharkhand’s largest blocks — Chouparan in Hazaribagh — and two neighbouring blocks Churchu and Ichak, and found that for most, benefits of the scheme were only on paper. Among the findings of the investigation were misuse of Aadhaar cards to create beneficiaries, new equipment gathering dust, and some farmers not even aware that money had been collected by private companies in their name.Referring to the investigation, the BJP MP from Hazaribagh and former Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha tweeted: “We have been continuously highlighting the despicable corruption and the administrative decay in Jharkhand under the Hemant Soren government.” He further wrote that the Hazaribagh Deputy Commissioner must take “strict action”.In a letter to the Hazaribagh Deputy Commissioner Friday, Jharkhand Agriculture Secretary Abu Bakr Siddiqui wrote: “… attaching the photocopy of the edition of The Indian Express newspaper dated June 8, 2023… The news published in the newspaper seems to be of very serious nature… there are widespread irregularities reported in the newspaper in the implementation of drip irrigation system under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichai Yojna. It has been mentioned that in several blocks of Hazaribagh district – Chauparan, Churchu and Ichak – Aadhaar card and government funds are being misused in the implementation of this scheme… By not installing drip irrigation equipment by the implementing agency, it has been dumped at the beneficiary’s house. In such a situation, high-level investigation is necessary.”The four-member panel is headed by a sub-divisional officer and three members of the horticulture, sugarcane and agriculture departments.Agriculture Director Chandan Kumar, when contacted, said: “We have initiated an inquiry into the granular details. We will file FIRs against erring officials, and on the fudging of Aadhaar data. We will inquire if the companies are also responsible for wrongdoing, and if found guilty, we will blacklist them and also send data to the central government for further action.”In the course of its investigation, The Indian Express had found that only 17 of the 94 farmers listed as beneficiaries of the scheme were actually using drip irrigation. As many as 60 said they were “misled” into signing up for the scheme or had micro-irrigation equipment just dumped in their farms, and 17 said they did not know how their name made it to the list of beneficiaries. The investigation also focused on how the four-step verification process to ensure the scheme’s implementation had fallen flat under the watch of the state agriculture department, and was rigged by middlemen, who acting on behalf of companies, enrolled farmers as beneficiaries.

Why Carlos Alcaraz should try the pickle juice next time he suffers from cramps
The Indian Express | 1 day ago | |
The Indian Express
1 day ago | |

In the backdrop of Novak Djokovic’s 23rd Grand Slam victory lay the ruins of what could have been a match of epic proportions between the Serbian and Carlos Alcaraz. Alcaraz, Spain’s latest sensation on clay, was geared to be Djokovic’s biggest test on his run to Roland Garros’ summit. But what followed was two sets of intense action followed by cramps faced by Alcaraz, who then had to lower his gears down and play the rest of the match at a lower level. With that magical ability to chase down impossible balls lost, he eventually gave way in the last two sets and succumbed to Djokovic 3-6, 7-5, 1-6, 1-6.While Alcaraz clutched at different parts of his body in pain, at one point being comforted by Djokovic himself, commentators spoke off the magic of unconventional treatments like pickle juice that help athletes combat cramps. While sport science has taken leaps and strides in helping athletes unlock more and more out of the human body, the talk of pickle juice as a supplement to avoid cramps may have seemed a tad flippant, but the actual usage is rooted in scientific fact.Why do cramps happen at an elite level of sport?There is no exact science that points out why cramps happen but the prevailing theories centre around two possibilities – Firstly, the disturbance of balance between salt and water levels in the body brings about cramps. Secondly, continued activity despite muscles being fatigued leads to the onset of cramps.“Most athletes walk around in a dehydrated state,” said Randy Bird, director of sports nutrition at the University of Virginia to the Washington Post in 2016. “It’s not an acute problem; it’s a gradual problem throughout the week. Monday they practice and don’t properly hydrate, and Tuesday they do it again. And then, bam, it’s Saturday, and they’re very dehydrated.”How did the cramps affect Alcaraz?Two gruelling sets against one of the greatest returners in the game of tennis under hot, sweltering conditions – Alcaraz’s game stepped up and then some over the first two sets. But the combination of nerves along with the acute physical toll his body was taking, couldn’t handle it any longer.“I would say the first set and the second set were really, really intense and I started to cramp in my arm. At the beginning of the third set I started to cramp every part of my body, not only the legs. The arms, as well, every part of the legs,” said Alcaraz to reporters after the match. “The tension. The tension of the match. I started the match really nervous. The tension of the first set, the second set, it was a really intense two sets.”Alcaraz has had to deal with the cramps issue earlier as well. It was the third round of the 2021 US Open where he beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in a fifth-round tiebreaker. But the situation then was, according to him, ‘not this magnitude’.What kind of supplements help athletes in these situations?Liquids and electrolytes are key in the recovery of an athlete from cramps. Electrolytes contain potassium, sodium, magnesium and calcium – essential nutrients that are necessary to correct the imbalance that the body feels and reacts to in the form of cramps.Oftentimes, athletes are seen eating bananas, a key provider of potassium as well as magnesium and calcium – an effective method of helping against cramps.But another variant of quickly dispersing electrolytes through the body is pickle juice.How pickle juice is a wonder ingredient for the modern athlete?What’s common between American tennis player Francis Tiafoe, Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, the Indian women’s hockey team and Arsenal midfielder Lucas Torreira? All these athletes at some point or the other have trusted pickle juice as an effective method to reduce cramping during extreme physical activity.Dr Mayur Ranchordas – a senior lecturer in sport nutrition and exercise metabolism at Sheffield Hallam University spoke to BBC Sport and explained why the peculiar drink works on athletes.“Pickle juice contains sodium, potassium and vinegar and the obvious conclusion would be that it replaces sodium and salts lost when playing sport in a hot and humid environment like the Australian Open thus preventing cramping,” said Dr Ranchordas. “However, how it really works is that it triggers a reflex in the mouth which sends a signal to stop muscles from cramping. That’s why it is drunk at the onset of cramps. It stops cramping 40% faster than drinking water.”How the Indian women’s hockey team used pickle juice at the Tokyo Olympics?The use of pickle juice is so prevalent across top level sport that the Indian women’s hockey team used it extensively during the Tokyo 2021 Olympics – a tournament where they finished fourth. The proponent of it was India’s strength and conditioning coach at the time, Wayne Lombard. Lombard has worked with some of India’s best athletes, including two-time World Championship bronze medallist Vinesh Phogat.For the Tokyo Olympics, he told The Indian Express that he had prepared 100 shots of pickle juice to be consumed as a drink or to be gargled and spat out. “When it was back-to-back games, the girls would drink that after breakfast, or depending on when the game was. And then, at the onset of cramps they would have additional shots if required,” he said.In the hot conditions of Tokyo, where the women’s team was supposed to mostly play during day time, not a single incident of cramps took place through the entire tournament.

Why Carlos Alcaraz should try the pickle juice next time he suffers from cramps
From toys to LED screens, thieves strip bare Punjab’s govt schoolsPremium Story
The Indian Express | 2 days ago | |
The Indian Express
2 days ago | |

As students of the Government Primary School in Ferozepur’s Rukna Mungla bid goodbye to the school for summer on May 31, so did the school’s fans and utensils.“Nothing is safe from thieves,” rued school incharge Surinder Kaur, adding that the fans and utensils have been sent to the sarpanch’s house for safekeeping till the school reopens after summer vacation.Government schools, especially primary schools, across Punjab — from the border districts of Ferozepur and Fazilka to the centrally located Ludhiana, Moga and even Hoshiarpur in Doaba belt — have been suffering from a spate of brazen thefts. According to data compiled by the Ferozepur District Education Office (DEO), 123 incidents of thefts have been reported by the district’s government schools over the past 1.5 years.Teachers say the burglaries have exacerbated over the past four years since government schools were turned into “smart schools”, thanks to the previous Congress government and donations from the local community. All smart schools were equipped with projectors, LED screens, CCTV cameras, desktops, listening labs, etc. The upgrades, the teachers add, did not extend to safety measures. Damaged or missing boundary walls and the lack of security guards make these schools ripe for the picking, especially by local drug addicts, they say.“From toys (from the pre-primary area), teddy bears, gas cylinders and mid-day meal rations (besan, pulses, rajma, cooking oil), to the swivel chair in the principal’s office, three CCTV cameras, amplifiers, desktops and even floor mats — everything has been stolen. There’s hardly anything left in the school now, save for one projector. I got the locks replaced in all seven rooms here, spending around Rs 5,000 from my pocket after each theft. Our school has been targeted by thieves at least nine times. While the previous attempts were relatively minor, the recent ones nearly stripped the school bare,” added Surinder, who joined the school almost seven years ago.After the third theft in the month of May, an exasperated Surinder simply pasted a note in Punjabi on the main gate: “Hatth jod ke benti hai ki tussi school da saara samaan chori kar leya hai… Kirpa karke hun taaley na todey jaan, chor ji (We make this request with folded hands. You have already stolen everything that was inside the school. Please don’t break our locks again, Mr Thief).”Ensuring the security of government schools remains a challenge for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, which promised to “revolutionise” education in Punjab. A proposal passed by the Cabinet in January to hire security guards for these schools remains a reality only on paper. Though the teachers get FIRs registered at local police stations, most can’t recall a case being solved by the police recently.At Government Primary School in Fazilka district’s Kala Tibba, thieves broke into the school on December 25. They stole three CPUs, two LEDs screens, CCTV DVRs, headphones, coins totalling Rs 700 and even official records of mid-day meals. School incharge Sajjan Kumar said, “We got an FIR registered but have not received any update on the probe so far.”A teacher added, “Gadgets or equipment brought using government funds are usually never replaced after these thefts. Most equipment is not insured. Even if it is, it is a cumbersome process to get a replacement from the state education department. Teachers simply replace it with their own money or ask for donations.”The teachers in Garhshankar block of Hoshiarpur district submitted a letter to the local SSP after nine schools were robbed within days of each other in April.“CCTVs, LEDs screens, gas cylinders, inverter batteries and even wheat and rice meant for mid-day meals — everything was stolen. Even if an FIR is registered, there’s no arrest or recovery of stolen goods. We submitted an application to the SSP to take these school thefts seriously. How long can teachers keep paying for these losses?” said Mukesh Kumar, the general secretary of the Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF), Hoshiarpur.Geetanjali, the school incharge at Government Primary School in Hoshiarpur’s Mohanwal village, said thieves targeted their school in April and fled with 70 kg of rice and inverter batteries.Vasudha Goswami, the school incharge at Government Primary School in Hoshiarpur’s Gogan village, said their school lost all equipment, including LED screens, smart TVs, DVRs, etc., in a theft on May 24. “There was a burglary attempt earlier too but the thieves failed to break the locks,” she said.Mohinder Korianwala, a teacher from Fazilka, added, “Till some years ago, thieves would only take away gas cylinders, iron rods, benches, taps and food grains. Their focus has shifted to electronic equipment in schools now. This problem is perennial in the border districts due to drug addiction among the youth, who resort to petty thefts.”State Health Minister Balbir Singh had informed the Vidhan Sabha in March, “There 2.62 lakh addicts in government-run centres and 6.12 lakh addicts in privately run centres…”Stating that the police “can’t be omnipresent”, Ferozepur SSP Bhupinder Singh Sidhu said, “The police conduct regular patrols but government schools are located in far-flung villages and don’t have guards or any security arrangements. Most youths who steal things from schools do it for easy money and, in some cases, for drugs.”Stating that the police had solved some cases, he added, “We have managed to solve theft cases connected to 14 schools and five accused were arrested in May. We have recovered eighteen LED screens, fourteen DVRs, five projectors, three inverters and several other things from them.”While the state education department does not have data on thefts reported by government schools, the figure compiled by the Ferozepur DEO paints an alarming picture. According to data by Ferozepur DEO, among other things, thieves did not even spare podiums, submersible water pumps, water coolers, sugar, taps, electricity meters, cordless microphones, solar panels, plates, spoons, cooking stoves, cookers, swings, harmoniums, fire extinguishers, ladders, library books, sports kits, blankets, mattresses, electrical fittings, wiring, water bottles, attendance registers and stationery. The data also includes remarks by teachers, which say that schools will continue to remain vulnerable without a boundary wall or security guards.Of 836 government schools in Ferozepur district, only 14 have watchmen. According to data accessed by The Indian Express, only 30 of 2,042 government senior secondary schools in Punjab currently have night security. While there is no post for guards in primary schools, the spots lying vacant in upper primary schools are yet to be filled.A note prepared by the education department states, “There is a severe shortfall of personnel for watchmen/chowkidars — in government schools and regular recruitments have not been made. At present, 31 chowkidars-cum-sweepers are working in 30 government senior secondary schools … of a total of 2,042 government senior secondary schools…”According to the Punjab Education Department’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) wing, which only keeps a record of gadgets and IT equipment stolen from schools, 44 incidents of theft were reported by schools from January 2022 to March 2023. Of these, a majority happened in Ferozepur, Fazilka and Ludhiana districts and in most cases, the thieves took away LEDs screens, inverter batteries and computers.An official added that since most stolen equipment was uninsured, it has not been replaced.The AAP government had last September proposed providing Rs 33.07 crore to school management committees (SMCs) to hire security guards for daytime (in schools with over 500 students) and watchmen for night hours in all senior secondary schools. It suggested hiring daytime guards for 652 senior secondary schools and 37 high schools at a salary of Rs 19,787 each per month, and watchmen for night hours at all senior secondary schools at a salary of Rs 5,000 per month. The total budget for this was estimated at Rs 12.07 crore. However, there was no provision for watchmen for primary schools, where most thefts are happening. Though the proposal was approved by the Cabinet in January, it hasn’t been implemented yet.Seema Jain, the Additional Chief Secretary, Punjab School Education, said, “The department does not have consolidated data of thefts across the state’s government schools. Some districts have collected it at their own level. The department is aware of the problem and is in the process of implementing the Cabinet’s proposal (to hire security guards). We are planning to hire ex-servicemen for the job via the Punjab Ex-Servicemen Corporation (PESCO).”She added, “The stolen equipment under warranty will be replaced but it will take time. We are trying to accelerate the process.”Ahead of the reopening of schools in July, Surinder added optimistically, “When our schools were just ‘schools’ and not ‘smart’, we taught students using books and blackboards. We will do the same once the school reopens. The schools became ‘smart’ only 3-4 years ago but we have teaching experiences of over 20 years. Computers or not, the children won’t suffer.”

From toys to LED screens, thieves strip bare Punjab’s govt schoolsPremium Story
War of words continues: After ruckus at campus opening, Atishi invites Delhi L-G to ‘take credit’ at school inauguration
The Indian Express | 2 days ago | |
The Indian Express
2 days ago | |

Days after the tussle between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena during the inauguration of a college campus, Education Minister Atishi trained her guns at both the L-G and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as she subtly renewed the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) “fourth class pass King” rhetoric against Modi.Taking to Twitter on Monday to share an invite to the inauguration of a school that the chief minister is scheduled to inaugurate in West Delhi’s Uttam Nagar, Atishi said Saxena was welcome to the event to “take credit.”.@ArvindKejriwal जी के सामने नारेबाज़ी करने वाले चौथी पास राजा के नुमाइंदों को केजरीवाल जी का जवाब।आज उत्तम नगर में केजरीवाल जी एक और विश्वस्तरीय स्कूल का उद्घाटन करेंगे।LG साहब, आप चाहे तो इसका क्रेडिट लेने भी पहुँच सकते हैं। 🙏 pic.twitter.com/W3qJYStCgq— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) June 12, 2023“Kejriwal ji’s reply to the representatives of Fourth Pass Raja who raised slogans in front of him. Kejriwal ji will inaugurate another world class school in Uttam Nagar today. Mr. LG, if you want, you can also reach to take credit for it,” she tweeted.Sloganeering and booing filled the new auditorium of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University’s East Delhi campus in Surajmal Vihar last Thursday as AAP and BJP workers disrupted speeches by the L-G and Kejriwal during the inauguration ceremony.The repeated disruptions came in the backdrop of Atishi and the L-G’s office trading barbs over who will inaugurate the campus. This came even as both sides, over the weekend, also sought to claim credit for a relatively cleaner Yamuna. Water Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj even challenged Saxena to present any new projects he had initiated for the river’s cleanliness and “claim credit” for the AAP government’s work.The war of words between the Delhi Government and the Centre has intensified since the latter promulgated an ordinance which essentially took away the former’s control over Delhi’s services and gave more teeth to the L-G.An official with the L-G’s House termed the allegations “petty, self-defeating, and laughable” and sought to argue that had the Delhi government done a “single concrete thing” with regard to cleaning the Yamuna in the last eight years, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) would not have constituted a special high-level committee and requested the L-G to chair it.

War of words continues: After ruckus at campus opening, Atishi invites Delhi L-G to ‘take credit’ at school inauguration
Blinded by pellets in 2016, J&K student learns Braille, clears her Class 12 examPremium Story
The Indian Express | 3 days ago | |
The Indian Express
3 days ago | |

ON THE first floor of her sparsely furnished house, Insha Mushtaq, 22, sits by the window, receiving guests who trickle in to congratulate her for clearing the Class 12 exams. In Seddow, Shopian, the evenings are still chilly and Insha sits wearing a maroon phiran with her head covered, dabbing her moist eyes with her scarf. “They water all the time,” she says, smiling.In 2016, as unrest boiled over in Kashmir, Insha was among seven people who were blinded in both eyes as a result of pellet injuries. Over 1,000 people who had sustained injuries to their eyes as security forces had used pellet guns to quell the protests.After seven years, during which she had to fight back some of her deepest doubts, Insha has now scored a big, personal win: she cleared her Class 12 exams, the results of which were declared by the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education on June 9.That day, on July 11, 2016, as protests broke out in the lane outside her house, Insha, then a Class 9 student, had barely opened her window to peer out when a volley of pellets hit her, leaving her screaming in pain.Insha spent the next year making multiple rounds of cities and hospitals — AIIMS in Delhi and Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital in Mumbai — before doctors declared that there was little chance that her eyesight would be restored.Insha says she decided she had to get on with her studies. In November 2017, she took her Class 10 exam with the help of a ‘writer’.As the wounds gradually healed, Insha, a student of Government Higher Secondary School in Seddow, temporarily moved to Srinagar, where she enrolled in DPS School’s Learning Resource Centre. It’s here that she spent three years learning Braille.“My education was disrupted by all that happened and I was only able to sit for my Class 12 exam this year,” she says.Two employees of Srinagar-based NGO J&K Centre for Peace and Justice (J&K CPJ) helped Insha study for the exams. “I kept audio recordings of their lectures and then took notes in Braille,” she says.Insha, who says she dreams of becoming an IAS officer, plans to pursue her graduation through the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) so that she can also prepare for the civil services exam.Insha’s mother Afroza is proud of what her first-born has achieved. “If it was a limb (that she had lost), she could have found a way around it, but this was just so hard her. As much as it pains me that Insha had to go through all this, I am very happy. She isn’t too happy with her 73 per cent score, though,” laughs Afroza, a homemaker, whose younger son is in school. Insha’s father Mushtaq Ahmad Lone is a government employee with the state transport department.As a relative offers to help Insha move downstairs, Afroza says, “Let it be. She can do it herself.”Nadir Ali, head of the NGO CPJ that helped Insha with her Braille and school lessons, says his team spent a lot of time devising a teaching method. “Since Insha was not visually challenged at birth, she had to learn Braille and mobility all over again.” The NGO also helped her get some Braille equipment and a laptop that has text-to-speech software for reading.Insha says she now prefers her laptop to her books in Braille — “they are too tedious”.Though the results have eased the pain of the last few years, Insha says she can still feel the pellets in her forehead and her face. “The doctors have told me they will stay under my skin but unless they come in contact with an organ, they are largely harmless. I guess I have to learn to live with them,” she says.

Blinded by pellets in 2016, J&K student learns Braille, clears her Class 12 examPremium Story
The burden of Shastri’s ‘moral responsibility’ Premium Story
The Indian Express | 3 days ago | |
The Indian Express
3 days ago | |

The trains are back on track in Balasore, Odisha, where an accident involving two passenger trains and one goods train claimed 288 lives and left hundreds injured. As rescue work started immediately after the accident, so did the demand by the Opposition for the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.Each time there is a demand for the resignation of the Railway Minister on grounds of “moral responsibility” after an accident, the example of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri is always quoted. Shastri stepped down after the second of two major accidents that happened in a space of three months — between September and November — in 1956.Shastri was sworn in as Minister of Railways and Transport on May 13, 1952, in Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s first Cabinet. A May 1956 report on his ministry by the Estimates Committee of the Lok Sabha had more or less lauded the government’s efforts on issues related to accidents.But the good run did not last long. Early on September 2, 1956, the Secunderabad-Dronachalam passenger train met with an accident between Jadcherla and Mahabubnagar, both in today’s Telangana.Shastri visited the accident site. On September 5, 1956, he tabled a report in the Lok Sabha containing instructions issued to Railways on inspection of bridges. On September 13, 1956, Shastri said in the House, “Needless to say, this accident has grieved me most and I feel sadder after having seen the things on site. The memory of the unfortunate persons who were killed will haunt me, perhaps, for a long time to come. The death toll, I am now advised, has reached the figure of 117.”The government — Shastri in particular — was criticised in the House by the Opposition over the accident and the handling of the situation. K Ananda Nambiar, an MP from the Communist Party of India, said, “The (Railway) Board and the Ministry are responsible for it (the accident). They must explain, they must quit.”Shastri offered his resignation to Prime Minister Nehru, but he did not accept it. Shastri continued as Railway Minister. Things were back on track but not for long.Barely three months later, another tragedy struck. Early on November 23, 1956, the Tuticorin Express plunged into the Marudaiyar River. Over 150 died and more than 100 were injured.K Muthuswamy Vallatharasu, MP from Pudukottai, from Acharya J B Kriplani’s Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party (KMPP), moved an adjournment motion on the accident in the Lok Sabha. Challenging the official toll, he said, “In yesterday’s paper, The Indian Express, I saw a report that there were still about 200 or more (people) lying buried below, and they have yet to be lifted. I seek some clarification about this. Whether the number is 200 or 300 or more, is not the question now.”As the Opposition stepped up its attack, on November 26, 1956, Pandit Nehru announced Shastri’s resignation. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, the PM said, “I do feel that in a matter of this kind, no excuse is good enough. And the thing that has moved all of us, I am sure, is that the same type of disaster should occur, broadly speaking in the same area or nearby twice within a short period, and three times in the course of a year or two. A greater warning no one can have and, as I said, every possible step should be taken to run our Railways so as to produce a sense of confidence and security.”The PM then proceeded to read Shastri’s resignation letter in the House, “The number of casualties is already much higher than in the former, and I do not know what figure it will touch, as it has not been possible to remove all the debris so far. And then there are many who are grievously injured. I can very well realise the concern of the people and of Parliament about this very sad and shocking disaster. You were generous enough not to accept my resignation when I tendered it last time and I do not wish to embarrass you again. But I do feel that it would be good for me and for the government as a whole if I quietly quit the office I hold. It would, to a great extent, ease the peoples’ minds.”Nehru told the House, “On receipt of this letter, I talked to him also last night and I saw the great distress in his mind and the burden that he was carrying. Afterwards, I thought of it again and I came to the conclusion that it would be better for me to accept his resignation.”Shastri’s resignation was accepted with effect from December 7, 1956, and he was replaced by Jagjivan Ram. With that, Shastri ceased to be part of the Nehru Cabinet during the first Lok Sabha. Until his demise in 1966, this marked the only period when Shastri was out of the Union Cabinet.Following demands raised after these two train accidents, Nehru decided to split the Ministry of Railway and Transport into two — Railways and Transport — when his new Cabinet was formed in the second Lok Sabha, on April 17, 1957. The Ministry of Transport and Communication was given to Shastri. He never returned as Railway Minister again.The “moral responsibility” of the accident that he owned up to may not have been Shastri’s alone, but it was the first case of its kind in independent India. And his resignation returns to haunt each and every Railway Minister. Every time a big train tragedy happens, Shastri’s “moral responsibility” is quoted by the Opposition, not by the ruling party.

The burden of Shastri’s ‘moral responsibility’ Premium Story
  • After every railway tragedy, the burden of Shastri’s ‘moral responsibilityPremium Story
  • The Indian Express

    The trains are back on track in Balasore, Odisha, where an accident involving two passenger trains and one goods train claimed 288 lives and left hundreds injured. As rescue work started immediately after the accident, so did the demand by the Opposition for the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.Each time there is a demand for the resignation of the Railway Minister on grounds of “moral responsibility” after an accident, the example of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri is always quoted. Shastri stepped down after the second of two major accidents that happened in a space of three months — between September and November — in 1956.Shastri was sworn in as Minister of Railways and Transport on May 13, 1952, in Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s first Cabinet. A May 1956 report on his ministry by the Estimates Committee of the Lok Sabha had more or less lauded the government’s efforts on issues related to accidents.But the good run did not last long. Early on September 2, 1956, the Secunderabad-Dronachalam passenger train met with an accident between Jadcherla and Mahabubnagar, both in today’s Telangana.Shastri visited the accident site. On September 5, 1956, he tabled a report in the Lok Sabha containing instructions issued to Railways on inspection of bridges. On September 13, 1956, Shastri said in the House, “Needless to say, this accident has grieved me most and I feel sadder after having seen the things on site. The memory of the unfortunate persons who were killed will haunt me, perhaps, for a long time to come. The death toll, I am now advised, has reached the figure of 117.”The government — Shastri in particular — was criticised in the House by the Opposition over the accident and the handling of the situation. K Ananda Nambiar, an MP from the Communist Party of India, said, “The (Railway) Board and the Ministry are responsible for it (the accident). They must explain, they must quit.”Shastri offered his resignation to Prime Minister Nehru, but he did not accept it. Shastri continued as Railway Minister. Things were back on track but not for long.Barely three months later, another tragedy struck. Early on November 23, 1956, the Tuticorin Express plunged into the Marudaiyar River. Over 150 died and more than 100 were injured.K Muthuswamy Vallatharasu, MP from Pudukottai, from Acharya J B Kriplani’s Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party (KMPP), moved an adjournment motion on the accident in the Lok Sabha. Challenging the official toll, he said, “In yesterday’s paper, The Indian Express, I saw a report that there were still about 200 or more (people) lying buried below, and they have yet to be lifted. I seek some clarification about this. Whether the number is 200 or 300 or more, is not the question now.”As the Opposition stepped up its attack, on November 26, 1956, Pandit Nehru announced Shastri’s resignation. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, the PM said, “I do feel that in a matter of this kind, no excuse is good enough. And the thing that has moved all of us, I am sure, is that the same type of disaster should occur, broadly speaking in the same area or nearby twice within a short period, and three times in the course of a year or two. A greater warning no one can have and, as I said, every possible step should be taken to run our Railways so as to produce a sense of confidence and security.”The PM then proceeded to read Shastri’s resignation letter in the House, “The number of casualties is already much higher than in the former, and I do not know what figure it will touch, as it has not been possible to remove all the debris so far. And then there are many who are grievously injured. I can very well realise the concern of the people and of Parliament about this very sad and shocking disaster. You were generous enough not to accept my resignation when I tendered it last time and I do not wish to embarrass you again. But I do feel that it would be good for me and for the government as a whole if I quietly quit the office I hold. It would, to a great extent, ease the peoples’ minds.”Nehru told the House, “On receipt of this letter, I talked to him also last night and I saw the great distress in his mind and the burden that he was carrying. Afterwards, I thought of it again and I came to the conclusion that it would be better for me to accept his resignation.”Shastri’s resignation was accepted with effect from December 7, 1956, and he was replaced by Jagjivan Ram. With that, Shastri ceased to be part of the Nehru Cabinet during the first Lok Sabha. Until his demise in 1966, this marked the only period when Shastri was out of the Union Cabinet.Following demands raised after these two train accidents, Nehru decided to split the Ministry of Railway and Transport into two — Railways and Transport — when his new Cabinet was formed in the second Lok Sabha, on April 17, 1957. The Ministry of Transport and Communication was given to Shastri. He never returned as Railway Minister again.The “moral responsibility” of the accident that he owned up to may not have been Shastri’s alone, but it was the first case of its kind in independent India. And his resignation returns to haunt each and every Railway Minister. Every time a big train tragedy happens, Shastri’s “moral responsibility” is quoted by the Opposition, not by the ruling party.

Sandeep Dwivedi writes: How govt failed to read resilience, stubbornness of wrestlers
The Indian Express | 4 days ago | |
The Indian Express
4 days ago | |

Why did the government take close to five months to warm up to the protesting wrestlers? How come in a matter of days the Sports Minister Anurag Thakur changed his stand from “we have done everything the wrestlers asked for” and “now the law will take its course” to “we are willing to have a discussion” and “chargesheet will be filed by June 15”?Hidden in this spectacular climbdown is the failure of the government to understand the gravity of sexual harassment allegations against the erstwhile WFI chief BJP MP Brij Bhushan Saran Singh and also the resolve of the Olympians—Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia—at the helm of the protest. The wrestlers have shown that they aren’t some seasonal sloganeers. This realisation has dawned late on the government negotiators.For months now, there has been an attempt to dismiss the Jantar Mantar sit-in as a politically backed move by opportunists to take over WFI. In their frantic search for the layers of intrigue, the authorities remained blind to the crystal clear core of the case—the seven police complaints with graphic details of repeated abuse by Singh. On the eve of the new parliament opening, with the wrestlers planning a march to the capital, there were late night talks to pressurise the protestors. The wrestlers didn’t relent. They took to the streets and got detained. The pictures of Delhi Police’s high-handedness went viral, the International Olympic Council (IOC) found them disturbing and the global media put them on their front pages. The Sports Ministry should have known the country’s top wrestlers better. Vinesh, Sakshi and Bajrang are masters of a sport that gives an athlete just three-minutes to showcase the skills they have sharpened for years. Their minds don’t freeze under duress, they can’t be hustled into making rushed decisions. The ticking clock is their bio-rhythm, they know how to stretch seconds. Their aggression isn’t about bravado, it is a calculated computation of rewards and risk.The backstories of wrestlers, all from modest families from rural areas, have long periods of hopelessness. They haven’t got anything easy. They fight, they fall, they stand, they win—that’s been their life story.World Championship medalist Vinesh has been the face of the protest. A self-proclaimed “moofat” (straight talker), she by her own wish, mostly keeps away from the high-profile negotiations. She is the Stubborn One, the hard nut that doesn’t crack easily. It’s the time and place that shapes a person’s character and Vinesh had no option but to be strong-willed and stubborn.Vinesh was 9 when her father was shot dead by, what the family says, a mentally unstable relative at the front gate of their home. In their neck of the woods, Vinesh says, the life of a young widow was a curse. On the day her father died, mother Premlata lost the right to smile. It could be wrongly interpreted by the village’s men folk.Within a year of her father’s death, Premlata’s scans showed cancer. For the housewife, unaccustomed to the world outside home, this was a bolt from the blue. For chemotherapy she had to travel by bus to Rohtak. Illiterate and alone, she had to embrace the unknown, familiarise the unexplored. Circumstances would give Premlata a crash course in being worldly wise and be the single mother of a sporting icon.Last month at Jantar Mantar, on a sultry May evening, Vinesh had agreed for an Idea Exchange with The Indian Express sports team. During the interaction that went on for more than an hour, Vinesh got emotional when asked about mother. Hidden in the answer was the reason behind the stubbornness of the tough nut.“No one supported my mother. We grew up seeing her struggle. If a single woman, who was illiterate, could fight society on her own and make us big wrestlers, then we can do it too. If we don’t speak out today, then all the struggles of my mother would have gone to waste. I won medals, that’s all right, but if we win this battle, she will proudly say, ‘I gave birth to them’,” she would say.Sakshi too was an outlier in society where wrestling wasn’t a common career choice for young girls. Unlike the Phogats, she wasn’t from a wrestling family. Her father was a Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) driver and mother an anganwadi worker. Back in the day, girls didn’t train with boys. Sakshi’s coach Ishwar Dahiya once told this paper the taunts he had to hear when his academy turned gender neutral. “I was told that I was mad to have boys and girls wrestle together. Kya sher aur bakri ek ghat se peete hain? (Can a lion and a goat drink water from the bank?)” he says. The male as predator, the female as prey – it was a sickening, but apt, stereotype for a society where gender disparity had been normalised. Once again it was the mother’s push that put an Indian wrestler on the world stage. It was she who forced the family to sell their old home and move closer to the stadium where she trained. They were driven, they didn’t want their sacrifice to go to waste. .In the medal bout at Olympics, Sakshi was trailing 1-5 with two minutes to go. Lesser wrestlers would have given up but Sakshi was patient. She knew she had to pounce but the timing of the killer move had to be perfect. Her trademark ‘double leg’ attack gave her an 8-5 lead and a historic bronze. “Even when I trailed I knew I could win. I had to win,” she would say. At Jantar Mantar, for these past few months, that same ‘I had to win’ belief prevails.Bajrang, the engine behind the protest, epitomises this positivity. Known as the comeback man, he is at the head of the table at all negotations. Stories of his endurance are part of Indian wrestling circuit. It is said that once the Olympic bronze medalist did more than 1000 squats. It’s his strength and stamina that make him the last man standing at most bouts. Most of his famous wins are because of his final flourish. He tires his opponents, waits for an opening and drives in like a truck. Just when the world thinks he has sunk, he unties the ropes and surfacing triumphantly over the waters like Houdini.At the post Tokyo Olympics Express Adda in 2021, the two medalists Bajrang and Neeraj Chopra had come together to share their success stories. Here, he dwelled on a trait that makes them world beaters. It was after Bajrang gave the behind-the-scenes story of the bronze medal bout which he won with an injured knee. “The doctor had said you are responsible if you play because your injury can become worse and you might need surgery. I said even if it breaks, it doesn’t matter…. An Olympic medal comes first,” he had said.Nodding his head all through Bajrang’s answer, Chopra would intervene. “In Haryana, we have a saying, ke karegi tayari jab ladegi jidd aari, meaning sometimes our preparation may not be as good, but it’s our stubbornness that helps us win”. At least, the Sports Ministry should have known the jidd of our wrestlers.Send your feedback to [email protected]

Sandeep Dwivedi writes: How govt failed to read resilience, stubbornness of wrestlers
  • How the government failed to read the resilience, stubbornness and jidd of the wrestlers
  • The Indian Express

    Why did the government take close to five months to warm up to the protesting wrestlers? How come in a matter of days the Sports Minister Anurag Thakur changed his stand from “we have done everything the wrestlers asked for” and “now the law will take its course” to “we are willing to have a discussion” and “chargesheet will be filed by June 15”?Hidden in this spectacular climbdown is the failure of the government to understand the gravity of sexual harassment allegations against the erstwhile WFI chief BJP MP Brij Bhushan Saran Singh and also the resolve of the Olympians—Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia—at the helm of the protest. The wrestlers have shown that they aren’t some seasonal sloganeers. This realisation has dawned late on the government negotiators.For months now, there has been an attempt to dismiss the Jantar Mantar sit-in as a politically backed move by opportunists to take over WFI. In their frantic search for the layers of intrigue, the authorities remained blind to the crystal clear core of the case—the seven police complaints with graphic details of repeated abuse by Singh. On the eve of the new parliament opening, with the wrestlers planning a march to the capital, there were late night talks to pressurise the protestors. The wrestlers didn’t relent. They took to the streets and got detained. The pictures of Delhi Police’s high-handedness went viral, the International Olympic Council (IOC) found them disturbing and the global media put them on their front pages. The Sports Ministry should have known the country’s top wrestlers better. Vinesh, Sakshi and Bajrang are masters of a sport that gives an athlete just three-minutes to showcase the skills they have sharpened for years. Their minds don’t freeze under duress, they can’t be hustled into making rushed decisions. The ticking clock is their bio-rhythm, they know how to stretch seconds. Their aggression isn’t about bravado, it is a calculated computation of rewards and risk.The backstories of wrestlers, all from modest families from rural areas, have long periods of hopelessness. They haven’t got anything easy. They fight, they fall, they stand, they win—that’s been their life story.World Championship medalist Vinesh has been the face of the protest. A self-proclaimed “moofat” (straight talker), she by her own wish, mostly keeps away from the high-profile negotiations. She is the Stubborn One, the hard nut that doesn’t crack easily. It’s the time and place that shapes a person’s character and Vinesh had no option but to be strong-willed and stubborn.Vinesh was 9 when her father was shot dead by, what the family says, a mentally unstable relative at the front gate of their home. In their neck of the woods, Vinesh says, the life of a young widow was a curse. On the day her father died, mother Premlata lost the right to smile. It could be wrongly interpreted by the village’s men folk.Within a year of her father’s death, Premlata’s scans showed cancer. For the housewife, unaccustomed to the world outside home, this was a bolt from the blue. For chemotherapy she had to travel by bus to Rohtak. Illiterate and alone, she had to embrace the unknown, familiarise the unexplored. Circumstances would give Premlata a crash course in being worldly wise and be the single mother of a sporting icon.Last month at Jantar Mantar, on a sultry May evening, Vinesh had agreed for an Idea Exchange with The Indian Express sports team. During the interaction that went on for more than an hour, Vinesh got emotional when asked about mother. Hidden in the answer was the reason behind the stubbornness of the tough nut.“No one supported my mother. We grew up seeing her struggle. If a single woman, who was illiterate, could fight society on her own and make us big wrestlers, then we can do it too. If we don’t speak out today, then all the struggles of my mother would have gone to waste. I won medals, that’s all right, but if we win this battle, she will proudly say, ‘I gave birth to them’,” she would say.Sakshi too was an outlier in society where wrestling wasn’t a common career choice for young girls. Unlike the Phogats, she wasn’t from a wrestling family. Her father was a Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) driver and mother an anganwadi worker. Back in the day, girls didn’t train with boys. Sakshi’s coach Ishwar Dahiya once told this paper the taunts he had to hear when his academy turned gender neutral. “I was told that I was mad to have boys and girls wrestle together. Kya sher aur bakri ek ghat se peete hain? (Can a lion and a goat drink water from the bank?)” he says. The male as predator, the female as prey – it was a sickening, but apt, stereotype for a society where gender disparity had been normalised. Once again it was the mother’s push that put an Indian wrestler on the world stage. It was she who forced the family to sell their old home and move closer to the stadium where she trained. They were driven, they didn’t want their sacrifice to go to waste. .In the medal bout at Olympics, Sakshi was trailing 1-5 with two minutes to go. Lesser wrestlers would have given up but Sakshi was patient. She knew she had to pounce but the timing of the killer move had to be perfect. Her trademark ‘double leg’ attack gave her an 8-5 lead and a historic bronze. “Even when I trailed I knew I could win. I had to win,” she would say. At Jantar Mantar, for these past few months, that same ‘I had to win’ belief prevails.Bajrang, the engine behind the protest, epitomises this positivity. Known as the comeback man, he is at the head of the table at all negotations. Stories of his endurance are part of Indian wrestling circuit. It is said that once the Olympic bronze medalist did more than 1000 squats. It’s his strength and stamina that make him the last man standing at most bouts. Most of his famous wins are because of his final flourish. He tires his opponents, waits for an opening and drives in like a truck. Just when the world thinks he has sunk, he unties the ropes and surfacing triumphantly over the waters like Houdini.At the post Tokyo Olympics Express Adda in 2021, the two medalists Bajrang and Neeraj Chopra had come together to share their success stories. Here, he dwelled on a trait that makes them world beaters. It was after Bajrang gave the behind-the-scenes story of the bronze medal bout which he won with an injured knee. “The doctor had said you are responsible if you play because your injury can become worse and you might need surgery. I said even if it breaks, it doesn’t matter…. An Olympic medal comes first,” he had said.Nodding his head all through Bajrang’s answer, Chopra would intervene. “In Haryana, we have a saying, ke karegi tayari jab ladegi jidd aari, meaning sometimes our preparation may not be as good, but it’s our stubbornness that helps us win”. At least, the Sports Ministry should have known the jidd of our wrestlers.Send your feedback to [email protected]

Pernod Ricard India: Nurturing, empowering and transforming communities through sustainable development
The Indian Express | 4 days ago | |
The Indian Express
4 days ago | |

With communities at the core of all its interventions, Pernod Ricard India – a sustainable and responsible organization focused on transforming lives – is creating shared value for all of its stakeholders and has become their partner of choice for building resilient and empowered communities through sustainable development projects. Working relentlessly on its aim to institutionalize socio-economic benefits, the organization has been empowering communities spanning the length and breadth of the country through transformative initiatives, including the WAL program that involves 12,449 members’ active participation.Through the five integrated development projects of the WAL program – with its focus on water, agriculture and livelihoods – Pernod Ricard India has been fervently engaged with rural communities in Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra. The program meant to promote community-driven innovations in the agricultural sector while spearheading water conservation and stimulating sustainable agriculture has a special focus on women stakeholders.The commitment of Pernod Ricard India to transform lives reflects in the words of the company’s Executive Vice President for Corporate Affairs, Communication and Sustainability & Responsibility, Yashika Singh, “With over 30 years of rich legacy and operations in India, Pernod Ricard continues work towards accelerating the Government of India’s vision towards sustainable development and UNSDG priorities through concerted efforts in water, agriculture, community, and environment.“WAL’s development projects are empowering local communities and fostering tangible socio-economic transformations through sustainable agri-practices, water resource creation and by facilitating the businesses of non-timber forest produce, which have led to increased disposable incomes for small and marginal farmers of the areas.In the realm of water resource creation and conservation, the initiative has witnessed tremendous success in safeguarding year-round access to water through community participation and ownership. To date, the WAL program has been credited with the creation of 3,392 million liters of water potential with 1,391 water storage and recharge structures. Moreover, by augmenting government schemes, the program has been able to provide livelihood opportunities to rural communities.The WAL program is committed to promoting the best community practices for improved production, drought resilience, resource optimization and creating local value chains to support agri-based livelihood. The project’s Package of Practices (PoP) entails a unique set of resources, inputs, livelihood training and field demonstrations alongside the much-needed exposure to communities that motivate a shift towards the best agricultural practices. The interventions aimed at creating locally feasible, climate-resilient and low-cost approaches provide overarching support to over 7,000 small and marginal farmers every year.  Additionally, in a bid to reach out to the most underprivileged cohorts, 134 high-density nano-orchard horticulture bio diversity plots have been developed on ancestral plots owned by tribal women farmers. Moreover, by integrating pioneering approaches to its developmental projects, Pernod Ricard India has revived two sustainable value chains of non-timber forest products with people-centered innovations.In light of the significance of agri-allied livelihoods in India – an agricultural country – Pernod Ricard India is furthering regenerative and restorative approaches for the sustainable use of resources. It has been successfully encouraging farming communities to institutionalize Natural Resource Management, wherein silt application, soil health and nutrition fortification along with the promotion of low-cost organic farming and vermicomposting have taken centre stage. With nearly 7,532 farmers engaged in regenerative agriculture, the interventions have resulted in bringing down input costs, increasing yields and generating additional sources of income for the farmers.Recognizing the pivotal role of women empowerment in rural development, the WAL program encompasses their participation in greater numbers in shaping the rural landscape. Pernod Ricard India has created 77  Women Producer Groups in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri to tap the entrepreneurial acumen of women farmers. The program reached its pinnacle of success with the formation of a Farmer Producer Organization comprising all women board members and shareholders from the country’s rural communities.

Pernod Ricard India: Nurturing, empowering and transforming communities through sustainable development
Decoding the Reddit protests: Why subreddits are set to go private on June 12
The Indian Express | 4 days ago | |
The Indian Express
4 days ago | |

Thousands of “subreddits,” or communities, on the social network Reddit are set to become inaccessible on Monday, June 12 as moderators protest how the company is running the site and making it difficult for third party applications by charging for access to the Reddit API. Here is what you need to know about the meltdown happening at the major social media platform.Unlike most other social networks, users follow subreddits on Reddit instead of following other users. A “subreddit” refers to a particular community on Reddit where users gather to create posts and comments to discuss a particular topic or subject. There are a wide variety of subreddits, everything from r/aww, where users post cute things like puppies, kittens and babies to r/BuyItForLife, where users discuss practical and durable goods to buy.A week ago, Christian Selig, the developer of the popular Apollo app on iOS for Reddit posted on r/apolloapp that he had a discussion with Reddit where he found out that the app will have to pay Reddit $20 million dollars a year to keep running the way it does.“Apollo made 7 billion requests last month, which would put it at about 1.7 million dollars per month, or 20 million US dollars per year. Even if I only kept subscription users, the average Apollo user uses 344 requests per day, which would cost $2.50 per month, which is over double what the subscription currently costs, so I’d be in the red every month,” wrote Selig in the post.Selig compared this to Twitter’s outrageous pricing for its API, even though, interestingly, Reddit’s new pricing means it will only charge a quarter of what Twitter will cost per request. But that goes to highlight how much more outrageous Twitter’s new API pricing is rather than pointing towards how reasonable Reddit is. It isn’t.📣 Had a call with Reddit to discuss pricing. Bad news for third-party apps, their announced pricing is close to Twitter’s pricing, and Apollo would have to pay Reddit $20 million per year to keep running as-is.by u/iamthatis in apolloapphttps://embed.reddit.com/widgets.jsSelig also compared the $12,000 per 50 million requests pricing to the image and media hosting site Imgur. He said that he pays Imgur only $166 for the same 50 million API calls.Its community and anonymity-centred user experience means that Reddit is more dependent on community moderators than any other platform. Known on the site as “mods,” these moderators voluntarily spend a part of their day making sure that irrelevant, illegal and offensive content does not make its way to different subreddits.In a way, they are rewarded for this time they spend by Reddit hosting a community space for them for free, where they can discuss and inform themselves about the subjects that interest them.But many of these moderators who manage the subreddits have been rubbed wrong by Reddit’s actions, which many of them find greedy. To protest the social network’s actions, the moderators of nearly 3,500 subreddits plan to take those subs private between June 12 and June 14, meaning that they will not be accessible to users who are not members. This includes subs like r/pics and r/aww, both of which have over 30 million members each.“If it was a single subreddit going private, Reddit may intervene. This is a completely volunteer position, we don’t receive any financial compensation, and despite that, we do like to take it quite seriously.If it’s almost the entire website, would they destroy what they’ve built up in all these communities, just to push through this highly unpopular change that both the mods and users of Reddit are overwhelmingly against?,” said a moderator of a major subreddit to BBC.More than a week after Selig’s post about the outrageous Reddit API pricing, he made another post on the Apollo app subreddit where he announced that the app would be shutting down permanently on June 30.📣 Apollo will close down on June 30th. Reddit’s recent decisions and actions have unfortunately made it impossible for Apollo to continue. Thank you so, so much for all the support over the years. ❤️by u/iamthatis in apolloapp Reddit CEO Steve Huffman made allegations that Selig was blackmailing the company, according to the latest post by Selig. Based on Selig’s interpretation of the situation, this was a misinterpretation by a Reddit executive when Selig asked them why Reddit doesn’t just outright buy Apollo if they think it is costing Reddit $20 million a year.In an AMA (Ask me Anything) on the Reddit subreddit, Huffman doubled down the API pricing and even doubled down on the accusations against Selig, according to TechCrunch.Addressing the community about changes to our APIby u/spez in reddit Of course, these developments are coming as the company is cutting about 5 per cent of its workforce and reducing its hiring plans as Bloomberg reports. This means that the forum operator will eliminate more than 90 full-time roles from its total 2,000 employees. Its hiring plans will reduce from 300 previously down to 100 new roles.

Decoding the Reddit protests: Why subreddits are set to go private on June 12
The forgotten art of Poonah Painting that kept women busy in Victorian England
The Indian Express | 4 days ago | |
The Indian Express
4 days ago | |

It’s unlikely that anyone in Pune today would have heard of an art form called ‘Poonah Painting’, although this art which flourished in Victorian England was named after the city. The craft was extremely popular in 19th-century England but later declined into oblivion.Poonah Painting was a kind of stencilling that involved the imitation of oriental artwork, particularly in the depiction of flowers, birds, and other natural subjects. The craft was popular among women and, for a considerable period, considered an essential part of a girl’s education in elite English society. The style was also called Theorem Painting or Oriental Tinting.The popularity of Poonah painting in England during the era could be attributed to its ability to mimic the aesthetics of oriental art, which was highly sought after at the time. This artistic technique provided a way for artists to create visually striking and intricate designs on various surfaces, including paper, silk, velvet, crepe and light-coloured wood.To create a Poonah Painting, one required what was called Poonah Paper, a kind of tracing paper, and a Poonah Brush, a stompy round-headed brush. Many establishments trained young girls in the craft and advertisements to this effect can be found in newspapers and magazines of that era.The process involved the meticulous tracing of objects, cutting and layering to achieve a visually striking effect.As per The Lady’s Book (1831), the process began with laying a piece of Poonah Paper over the original subject, such as flowers, fruit, or butterflies, and the outlines of each colour were marked using a steel point. These outlines were then cut out, either with a sharp-pointed penknife or specialised tools designed for this purpose.Another piece of tracing paper was then used to mark and cut out the compartments for each colour. This process was repeated until a series of frames with openings through which a specific colour can be applied to the paper were created.The main template was then placed on a drawing board and the colour was applied using a flat Poonah brush held perpendicularly. Then, one after the other, all the frames were placed and colours were applied using separate brushes. Shading was achieved by gradually reducing the amount of colour on the brush and applying it from the edges as needed.Women from rich households would often embellish the paintings by giving touches of gold or ruby bronze to the wings or bodies of insects. A mixture of gum water and the desired metallic powder is brushed onto the paper, followed by the application of dry gold or bronze powder, which was rubbed until smooth and polished.Since Poonah Painting was not drawing and painting in the truest sense and it was exclusively seen as a women’s activity, it was often looked down upon. It was also linked to vanity among women. Evidence of this can be found in 19th-century literature.William Makepeace Thackeray, the author of Vanity Fair, wrote to his would-be wife Miss Isabella Shawe in July 1836, justifying calling her “frivolous” in an earlier letter. He described a “frivolous lady” as one who “occupies herself all day with the house and servants” or “someone who does nothing but Poonah Painting and piano forte”.In a short story titled ‘Madame Gerald’, published in the magazine All The Year Round, edited by Charles Dickens, the author describes the Poonah works as “hideous daubs” of paint.Edward Fitzgerald, the Victorian poet known for translating Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, lists qualities of a girl that he takes a romantic interest in a poem titled ‘Because’.“Because you don’t object to walk,And are not given to fainting;Because you have not learnt to talkOf flowers and Poonah-painting.”In the second half of the 19th century, the craft was in decline in England and by the late 1860s, it was almost forgotten. Hints of this can be found in a short story published in Tinsley’s Magazine in 1868, in which the author, while describing the heroine writes:“…Also, she touched harp with grace, if not with accuracy; and she was adept at a fearful art of torturing flowers which has happily survived in our days only as a name, as a mystery, still darkly whispered of as ‘Poonah painting’”.

The forgotten art of Poonah Painting that kept women busy in Victorian England
  • Forgotten art of Poonah Painting that kept women busy in Victorian England
  • The Indian Express

    It’s unlikely that anyone in Pune today would have heard of an art form called ‘Poonah Painting’, although this art which flourished in Victorian England was named after the city. The craft was extremely popular in 19th-century England but later declined into oblivion.Poonah Painting was a kind of stencilling that involved the imitation of oriental artwork, particularly in the depiction of flowers, birds, and other natural subjects. The craft was popular among women and, for a considerable period, considered an essential part of a girl’s education in elite English society. The style was also called Theorem Painting or Oriental Tinting.The popularity of Poonah painting in England during the era could be attributed to its ability to mimic the aesthetics of oriental art, which was highly sought after at the time. This artistic technique provided a way for artists to create visually striking and intricate designs on various surfaces, including paper, silk, velvet, crepe and light-coloured wood.To create a Poonah Painting, one required what was called Poonah Paper, a kind of tracing paper, and a Poonah Brush, a stompy round-headed brush. Many establishments trained young girls in the craft and advertisements to this effect can be found in newspapers and magazines of that era.The process involved the meticulous tracing of objects, cutting and layering to achieve a visually striking effect.As per The Lady’s Book (1831), the process began with laying a piece of Poonah Paper over the original subject, such as flowers, fruit, or butterflies, and the outlines of each colour were marked using a steel point. These outlines were then cut out, either with a sharp-pointed penknife or specialised tools designed for this purpose.Another piece of tracing paper was then used to mark and cut out the compartments for each colour. This process was repeated until a series of frames with openings through which a specific colour can be applied to the paper were created.The main template was then placed on a drawing board and the colour was applied using a flat Poonah brush held perpendicularly. Then, one after the other, all the frames were placed and colours were applied using separate brushes. Shading was achieved by gradually reducing the amount of colour on the brush and applying it from the edges as needed.Women from rich households would often embellish the paintings by giving touches of gold or ruby bronze to the wings or bodies of insects. A mixture of gum water and the desired metallic powder is brushed onto the paper, followed by the application of dry gold or bronze powder, which was rubbed until smooth and polished.Since Poonah Painting was not drawing and painting in the truest sense and it was exclusively seen as a women’s activity, it was often looked down upon. It was also linked to vanity among women. Evidence of this can be found in 19th-century literature.William Makepeace Thackeray, the author of Vanity Fair, wrote to his would-be wife Miss Isabella Shawe in July 1836, justifying calling her “frivolous” in an earlier letter. He described a “frivolous lady” as one who “occupies herself all day with the house and servants” or “someone who does nothing but Poonah Painting and piano forte”.In a short story titled ‘Madame Gerald’, published in the magazine All The Year Round, edited by Charles Dickens, the author describes the Poonah works as “hideous daubs” of paint.Edward Fitzgerald, the Victorian poet known for translating Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, lists qualities of a girl that he takes a romantic interest in a poem titled ‘Because’.“Because you don’t object to walk,And are not given to fainting;Because you have not learnt to talkOf flowers and Poonah-painting.”In the second half of the 19th century, the craft was in decline in England and by the late 1860s, it was almost forgotten. Hints of this can be found in a short story published in Tinsley’s Magazine in 1868, in which the author, while describing the heroine writes:“…Also, she touched harp with grace, if not with accuracy; and she was adept at a fearful art of torturing flowers which has happily survived in our days only as a name, as a mystery, still darkly whispered of as ‘Poonah painting’”.

Whenever you feel overwhelmed, tell yourself better me than other women who can't speak upPremium Story
The Indian Express | 4 days ago | |
The Indian Express
4 days ago | |

Vinesh, I’m remembering how you defeated reigning European champion Emma Malmgren 8-0 last year. By then, you were already a veteran member of that elite “first Indian woman to…” club. Sakshi, you entered that club at 23. Now both of you, along with your colleagues, are fighting for a different kind of “first” in the history of Indian sport.Sometimes the weight of such fights that we undertake can feel too much to carry. Expectations of our strength and resilience; women’s unspoken “counting on yous” and tightly-crossed fingers that hide their hope that we will be able to get justice in a way that we haven’t before can be overwhelming. Drink lots of water.The backlash when you undertake such fights is instant, brutal. As you know by now, Indian social media sees everything through the black-and-white lens of pro-Bharatiya Janata Party or anti-BJP. Outing a Member of Parliament is seen as a direct attack on the government.I know this because it happened to me. When a Union minister — also my first boss in journalism — filed a criminal defamation suit against me in 2018 after I called him out during the #MeToo movement, it changed my relationships, my life and my Google history.Many women, most of whom I had never met, spoke up alongside me. Ghazala Wahab said she hadn’t planned to tell her story but something snapped in her when she read other women’s accounts. So one night, she wrote hers and signed her name. “Everything has changed since I wrote it,” she said.Even though the experiences we shared occurred long before the man in question even looked in the direction of the political party in power, our “motives” were probed. Others said that companies would think twice before hiring women after #MeToo. Some successful, smart women said they disbelieved us. Key voices such as M C Mary Kom and P T Usha have let you down similarly.People said we had unleashed a social media “mob” against respectable men; that our stories were not legitimate because we had not spoken up when the incidents occurred. When I won the defamation case in 2021, albeit as an accused, the judge set right the record on the last point: “The woman has a right to put her grievance at any platform of her choice and even after decades.”Dear wrestlers, I’ve tracked your historic protest since day one, and I can see it’s at a stage where you’re unsure what will happen next. Those who wield power could easily ensure that your sporting careers are over. I’m sure you’ve considered the possibility that you may not make it to the Paris Olympics in July 2024. By now you’ve gotten a proper taste of the cost of speaking up.It’s great to see that you are being supported by your male colleagues who grew up in one of India’s most patriarchal states — men across the country are getting a new lesson in masculinity thanks to them. Most men have no idea how to deal with the collective rage of women and who has the time to spoon-feed them the recipe? We are too busy healing each other.With the stress of outing someone comes the burden of silence. People will call you and offer support privately, but say nothing out loud. Some will stop responding when you reach out to them. Others will support those you are speaking up against.Many mainstream newspapers and television channels will ignore or distort your fight. By the end of it you’ll have a list in your head of “friends” who didn’t “show up” when you needed them the most.I can’t imagine what you’re going through. You’ve already faced an avalanche of fake news; your training is in shambles; you have been manhandled by the police, and lost access to a space where people have dissented publicly since 1993. There are more challenges coming your way.Remember, not everyone can speak up as loudly and clearly as you. Some survivors may backtrack because of family pressure or the inability to complete this endurance test. It’s okay, don’t judge them.Whenever you feel overwhelmed, tell yourself this: “Better me than other women who aren’t as well-placed in their careers and lives.” You’ll feel a frisson of relief when you think of it like this. Speaking up is a privilege in a country where sharing what happened to you can mean certain death. You’re a target of course, but a tougher one than most Indian women.This country knows you live for sport and you have devoted your entire life to it. It knows that there will be no personal gain for you in this fight — in fact you could lose everything. It knows that you were going about minding your own business, until it became too much.A good lawyer, one who understands what you are up against and puts your interests first, will help you carry this weight. If you have someone you trust on your side, like I did my lawyer Rebecca John, redirect all well-meaning advice and advisors to her. Don’t listen to anyone. Have a core group you can trust.I know you’ve been using social media to share your story directly, but don’t read your Twitter mentions, especially on key days of your protest. It’s soul-sapping to see how everyone is an expert on what will happen to you next.#MeToo laid bare the extent and prevalence of sexual harassment in every industry across the world. You’ve already lined up an impactful group of allies who have spoken up alongside you. I wish the country’s biggest sports stars would pull their weight in this fight too. They need to do more than just tweet. I’m still hoping some of them will stand alongside you as you demand justice.The writer is a Bengaluru-based writer and co-founder of India Love Project on Instagram

Whenever you feel overwhelmed, tell yourself better me than other women who can't speak upPremium Story
India's approach to G20 presidency is extension of its domestic focus on progress and development
The Indian Express | 4 days ago | |
The Indian Express
4 days ago | |

“Inclusive, ambitious, and action-oriented” were the words Prime Minister Narendra Modi used to define India’s G20 presidency in Bali last year. Six months into our presidency, there is no doubt that India has delivered on its promise of inclusivity.Indian democracy derives its strength from the spirit and ethos of the country’s citizens and people-centric development is its defining feature. India’s inclusive approach to the G20 presidency is, therefore, an extension of its domestic approach to development and progress, which focuses on engaging all sections of society. Providing every citizen with the basic necessities of life is the highest priority for the government and it has consistently ensured that there is enough social security support for all citizens.Take our digital public infrastructure, for instance. It has enabled the government to deliver the benefits of development directly to citizens in all parts of the country in a transparent, smooth and corruption-free manner. Another example of India’s commitment towards inclusive development is that under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, about 110 million rural households have been provided access to drinking water at their homes. More than 110 million sanitation facilities have been created across the country.Furthermore, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana benefits women immensely. Fifty-six per cent of Jan Dhan account holders are women with 67 per cent of these accounts based in rural and semi-urban areas. It is not surprising, therefore, that “women-led development” is a major priority under India’s G20 presidency.Prime Minister Modi’s call for a “pro-planet people’s movement” to fight climate change is an exercise in inclusivity in its most fundamental sense and reflects this year’s G20 theme — Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or One Earth One Family One Future. This portrays India’s holistic view of the world and emphasises that a collective effort is essential for global good. Drawn from the ancient Sanskrit text, the Maha Upanishad, the theme reaffirms the value of all life — human, animal, plant, and microorganisms — and their interconnectedness on planet Earth and the wider universe.Working for the global public good has been an important objective of India’s foreign policy as was evident during the Covid pandemic. India shared essential medical supplies with over 190 countries in the world. We also shared the Made in India vaccines with over 150 countries through the Vaccine Maitri programme.Inclusivity has been at the heart of every major decision under India’s presidency. From the decision to hold G20 meetings in every state and Union Territory of India rather than confining them to the capital, to invitees to the summit and key priorities discussed, every aspect has been carefully crafted to ensure this. So far, 131 G20 meetings have been held in 48 different locations in our country covering all but two states and all Union Territories.Africa will be strongly represented under India’s G20 presidency with the participation of South Africa, Comoros (African Union Chair), Nigeria, Egypt and Mauritius. In a bid to enrich and broaden the base of discussions, non-G20 member countries as well as regional and international organisations have been invited to specific G20 meetings. For example, Norway, which has expertise in the blue economy, has been invited to the G20 meeting on ocean health.At its core, India’s G20 presidency is a people-oriented event. The Jan Bhagidhari or people’s participation approach has evoked a great deal of enthusiasm within the country. G20-related events including seminars, conferences and festivals are designed to make people stakeholders in India’s presidency.As Prime Minister Modi underlined in his remarks in February to G20 Finance Ministers and G20 Central Bank Governors, the G20 must focus on “discussions on the most vulnerable citizens of the world”. It was with this human-centric development mindset that he convened the Voice of Global South Summit, attended by heads of state, governments and ministers from 125 countries, soon after India took over the G20 presidency.India firmly believes in inclusivity and taking everyone on board the path to growth and prosperity. At a time when multiple crises of global magnitude affect us all, the importance of keeping Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’s sentiment alive has never been more critical.The writer is Chief Coordinator of India’s G20 presidency. Views expressed are his own

India's approach to G20 presidency is extension of its domestic focus on progress and development
Mumbai’s Masque is number 16 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list. What makes it stand apart?Premium Story
The Indian Express | 5 days ago | |
The Indian Express
5 days ago | |

A starter made using three kinds of corn greets us soon after we take our seats: its crunchy base is a purple corn cracker, topped with a creamy mousse of sweet corn and surrounded by charred baby corn cut into delicate circles to form a flower on the plate. Paired with this is a dish featuring two fried water chestnuts — known popularly as singhara and consumed in northern India as a summer fruit — seasoned with mild red paprika and served whole.We are at Masque, an ingredient-forward restaurant founded by Aditi Dugar in 2016 that recently ranked number 16 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list – a smooth climb upwards from 2020, when it received the ‘One to Watch’ Award. It subsequently made it to spot number 32 and number 21 in 2021 and 2022. At a ceremony held in Singapore on March 28 this year, Asia’s 50 also bestowed upon it the title of ‘Best Restaurant in India’.Parked inside Shakti Mill in Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi, the restaurant serves a 10-course tasting menu that changes with the seasons. The latest one boasts summer ingredients. Expect familiar elements like jackfruit, passion fruit, and lychee to relatively lesser explored tadgola, celtuce, and ponkh millet. Hidden regional gems like ratambe, a tangy summer fruit native to Konkan, and kachampuli, a unique dark vinegar found in Coorg, find their place in the desserts. Unusual pairings such as the seaweed ponkh bhel served with raw mango, and the citrusy tadgola momo paired with a passion fruit thukpa left us wanting more.“As head chef, I have to dig deeper and not just go with the obvious choice,” says Varun Totlani, head chef at Masque, “For instance, summer is synonymous with aamras puri in Mumbai, but to put a twist on it, I decided to offer it as separate elements and let diners figure out how they want to enjoy it.” Instead of traditional puris, the dish comprised golgappas, two types of mango sorbet, and mango chunks. One could either have a mango pani puri or make a chaat out of it.Totlani has been a part of Masque’s team since inception, but he took over the reins of the restaurant in March last year after chef Prateek Sadhu hung up his apron. The biggest challenge with this transition, he says, was managing his time. “While cooking is still my priority, my role has expanded beyond the kitchen. But Masque has never been about one person and it will never be. It is all about the team,” he says.Given his stature in the culinary world, Sadhu is a tough act to follow, but Totlani says he was ready to step into his mentor’s shoes. “Pressure is always going to be there but it pushes you, makes you work harder. It is only a problem if it stops you from doing something out of worry. When this opportunity arrived, I asked myself: Am I ready? Am I good enough? All that I have been doing now is proving to myself that I deserve it and I think I have done it,” he says.He finds validation in founder Dugar. “Masque needed to be led by someone who has young ideas and can be a risk taker. Varun is a Bombay boy, he has been there since day one of the restaurant and we needed someone who understands the ethos of what the brand stands for. He was always the obvious choice,” she says.The last two months saw Masque having a moment in the spotlight, from making it to Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants to preparing lunch for luxury fashion giant Christian Dior’s team during their pre-Fall fashion show in Mumbai, to joining hands with Relais and Châteaux. The latter, an association of individually owned and operated luxury hotels and restaurants, is known for its strict admission standards, and Masque, the only restaurant from India on their map, has been added for its focus on sustainability and the overall experience it offers.The recognition has been great for business. “It adds credibility and brings a lot of newcomers into the restaurant,” says Dugar. “Awards like these open doors to immense possibilities. There have been so many chefs I grew up watching, wanting to cook for them or in their kitchen. This award lets me stand with them as an equal. And when they say, ‘we have been following your work’, it is just surreal,” says Totlani, adding, “We want to look at the next year and focus on how to get better at what we do. We are happy at number 16 but we won’t be pleased getting the same rank next year. We don’t mind if it is only to number 15, but we want to climb up.”

Mumbai’s Masque is number 16 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list. What makes it stand apart?Premium Story
El Niño is here: NOAA flags dramatic warming in Pacific Ocean after 7 years, what does this mean?
The Indian Express | 5 days ago | |
The Indian Express
5 days ago | |

Seven years after 2016, El Niño is back in the Pacific Ocean, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States federal administration, announced on Thursday (June 8). Though expected, this confirmation by NOAA is of significant concern to India. Here’s why.El Niño, which in Spanish means “little boy”, is a climate pattern that develops along the equatorial Pacific Ocean after intervals of a few years ranging between 2 and 7 years.Essentially, water on the surface of the ocean sees an unusual warming in a band straddling the equator in the central and east-central pacific — broadly extending from the International Date line and 120°W longitude, i.e., off the Pacific coast of South America, west of the Galapagos islands.When the so-called El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is in its neutral phase, the trade winds blow west along the equator and take the warm water from South America towards Asia. However, during an event of El Niño, these trade winds weaken (or may even reverse) — and instead of blowing from the east (South America) to the west (Indonesia), they could turn into westerlies.In this situation, as the winds blow from the west to east, they cause masses of warm water to move into the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, and reach the coast of western America. During such years, there prevails warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures along the equatorial Pacific Ocean.Globally, El Niño has been associated with severe heatwaves, floods, and droughts in the past.“Depending on its strength, El Niño can cause a range of impacts such as increasing the risk of heavy rainfall and droughts in certain locations around the world,” Michelle L’Heureux, climate scientist at the Climate Prediction Center, NOAA, said in a press statement.The 2023 event is the fifth since 2000 — which means they develop every 4-5 years on average. At the start of this year, an El Niño was predicted to emerge by August, which would have meant it would coincide with the second half of the June-September southwest monsoon season in India.This, however, did not happen as predicted. Sea surface temperatures along the equatorial Pacific Ocean, especially along the various Niño regions, have been showing signs of much more rapid warming than had been predicted by the weather models.The Niño 3.4 index value — the vital indicator confirming an event of El Niño — jumped from minus 0.2 degrees Celsius to 0.8 degrees Celsius between March and June this year. Whereas, the threshold value of this index is 0.5 degrees Celsius.Meteorologists have noted that such accelerated rates of warming, following three years of La Niña (the opposite phase of ENSO) that ended in February this year, was unusual.How worried should India be about this development?In the Indian context, over the last hundred years, there have been 18 drought years. Of these, 13 years were associated with El Niño. Thus, there seems to be a correlation between an El Niño event and a year of poor rainfall in India.Also, between 1900 and 1950, there were 7 El Niño years but during the 1951-2021 period, there were 15 El Niño years ( 2015, 2009, 2004, 2002, 1997, 1991, 1987, 1982, 1972, 1969, 1965, 1963, 1957, 1953 and 1951). This suggests that the frequency of El Niño events has been increasing over time.Of the 15 El Niño years in the 1951-2021 period, nine summer monsoon seasons over the country recorded deficient rain by more than 90 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA).“Climate change can exacerbate or mitigate certain impacts related to El Niño. It could lead to new records for temperatures, particularly in areas that already experience above-average temperatures,” the NOAA scientist said.(Anjali Marar works at the Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru.)

El Niño is here: NOAA flags dramatic warming in Pacific Ocean after 7 years, what does this mean?
  • El Niño is here: NOAA flags dramatic warming in Pacific Ocean after 7 yrs, what does this mean?
  • The Indian Express

    Seven years after 2016, El Niño is back in the Pacific Ocean, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States federal administration, announced on Thursday (June 8). Though expected, this confirmation by NOAA is of significant concern to India. Here’s why.El Niño, which in Spanish means “little boy”, is a climate pattern that develops along the equatorial Pacific Ocean after intervals of a few years ranging between 2 and 7 years.Essentially, water on the surface of the ocean sees an unusual warming in a band straddling the equator in the central and east-central pacific — broadly extending from the International Date line and 120°W longitude, i.e., off the Pacific coast of South America, west of the Galapagos islands.When the so-called El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is in its neutral phase, the trade winds blow west along the equator and take the warm water from South America towards Asia. However, during an event of El Niño, these trade winds weaken (or may even reverse) — and instead of blowing from the east (South America) to the west (Indonesia), they could turn into westerlies.In this situation, as the winds blow from the west to east, they cause masses of warm water to move into the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, and reach the coast of western America. During such years, there prevails warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures along the equatorial Pacific Ocean.Globally, El Niño has been associated with severe heatwaves, floods, and droughts in the past.“Depending on its strength, El Niño can cause a range of impacts such as increasing the risk of heavy rainfall and droughts in certain locations around the world,” Michelle L’Heureux, climate scientist at the Climate Prediction Center, NOAA, said in a press statement.The 2023 event is the fifth since 2000 — which means they develop every 4-5 years on average. At the start of this year, an El Niño was predicted to emerge by August, which would have meant it would coincide with the second half of the June-September southwest monsoon season in India.This, however, did not happen as predicted. Sea surface temperatures along the equatorial Pacific Ocean, especially along the various Niño regions, have been showing signs of much more rapid warming than had been predicted by the weather models.The Niño 3.4 index value — the vital indicator confirming an event of El Niño — jumped from minus 0.2 degrees Celsius to 0.8 degrees Celsius between March and June this year. Whereas, the threshold value of this index is 0.5 degrees Celsius.Meteorologists have noted that such accelerated rates of warming, following three years of La Niña (the opposite phase of ENSO) that ended in February this year, was unusual.How worried should India be about this development?In the Indian context, over the last hundred years, there have been 18 drought years. Of these, 13 years were associated with El Niño. Thus, there seems to be a correlation between an El Niño event and a year of poor rainfall in India.Also, between 1900 and 1950, there were 7 El Niño years but during the 1951-2021 period, there were 15 El Niño years ( 2015, 2009, 2004, 2002, 1997, 1991, 1987, 1982, 1972, 1969, 1965, 1963, 1957, 1953 and 1951). This suggests that the frequency of El Niño events has been increasing over time.Of the 15 El Niño years in the 1951-2021 period, nine summer monsoon seasons over the country recorded deficient rain by more than 90 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA).“Climate change can exacerbate or mitigate certain impacts related to El Niño. It could lead to new records for temperatures, particularly in areas that already experience above-average temperatures,” the NOAA scientist said.(Anjali Marar works at the Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru.)

List of 70 projects ready, Chandigarh departments told to speed up execution before Lok Sabha polls
The Indian Express | 5 days ago | |
The Indian Express
5 days ago | |

Ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections, different departments of the Chandigarh Administration have been given a list of 70 major projects worth over Rs 655 crore and told to rush with execution so that they are ready for inaugurations, beginning November this year.Early this week, UT Adviser Dharam Pal convened a meeting of all heads of departments and directed them to finish the key projects as early as possible.According to the list prepared, the majority of the projects have been given a deadline of October 31 so that they are ready for inaugurations.An innovative project, Pathshala Rath, is on the anvil which means “Creating Safe Space for Children in Street Situations and other Vulnerable Children residing in Community” under Mission Vatsalya which the Child Protection Society has been directed to complete by October 2023.This project will run in collaboration with the Department of Education, SCERT, and District Child Protection Unit where it will reach out to chidren across Chandigarh and provide them informal education along with co-curricular activities.In this regard, funds of Rs 14,51,962 have been demanded under Mission Vatsalya for travel, stationery management of hobby class and funds amounting to Rs 17,00,000 have been demanded for the purchase of a vehicle along with modification from state budget in the present financial year.Then, the rehabilitation, upgradation of existing sewage treatment plant on design, build and operate basis, one year DLP plus 15 years O and M at Raipur Kalan and Raipur Khurd, Chandigarh, under Smart City project at a cost of Rs 90.96 crore is underway and the officers have been directed to complete it as soon as possible.The Chandigarh Police too has been directed to work to a deadline of October 31, 2023 to complete its ambitious project of CENCOP- Centre for Cyber Operations and Security coming up at a cost of Rs 88.95 crore. Officials said that to date only Rs 22.35 crore has been released and further approvals are awaited. Construction of 240 type-2 houses in CAP complex, Dhanas and construction of 216 type-2 houses in CAP, Dhanas at Rs 65 crore and Rs 55 crore, respectively, has also been directed to speed up.Meanwhile, the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking has been asked to push the implementation of intelligent transport system on long routes and national common mobility cards, purchase of 60 ordinary buses for long route operations with CMC for 10 years worth Rs 90 crore, passenger information screens on all bus queue shelters around the city, retrofitting of diesel buses with CNG kits in around 100 buses so that they are completed by October 2023.The construction of mini-sports infrastructure for billiards and snookers in the sports complex 42 and 400 metre synthetic athletic track in Sector 7 all have been given the deadline of October 25.The construction of group home for mentally ill persons, Sector 31, Chandigarh at a cost of Rs 24 crore, constructionof remaining portion of Block B in Govt Regional Institutefor Intellectual Disabilities in Sector 31 at a cost of Rs 7.17 crore are the two main projects that the GRIID Government Rehabilitation Institute for Intellectual Disabilities (GRIID) has been directed to complete by October 31.The engineering department has said that work of revitalisation of Sector 17, Chandigarh, construction of table top and other related works between Neelam Cinema and Urban Park, construction of amphitheatre in northern plaza, redevelopment of South Plaza, Sector 17, Chandigarh worth Rs 8 crore, synthetic tracks, a community centre in Sector 45 and a PR road from Dhanas to UT boundary at a cost of Rs 9 crore are in the last stage of execution and all will be completed by August-end.

List of 70 projects ready, Chandigarh departments told to speed up execution before Lok Sabha polls
What Manoj Mishra got right about Yamuna restoration
The Indian Express | 5 days ago | |
The Indian Express
5 days ago | |

On Sunday, hundreds of volunteers from all walks of life formed a human chain along the banks of the Yamuna to raise awareness about the pollution in the river. In a city where people do not always take ownership of environmental problems, the gathering was a heartening development. The AAP and BJP leaders put aside their bitterness to amplify the call for more sewage treatment plants and cleaning up the waste in “one of the most polluted rivers in the world”. Organised by a voluntary body, the Mata Lalita Devi Seva Shram Trust — a programme with the theme of Yamuna Sansad — saw the participation of Delhi ministers Gopal Rai and Saurabh Bharadwaj, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva and the leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri.Yet, one cannot help but avoid feeling that the gathering is not much of a change. And that’s not just because the BJP members could not resist taking potshots at the AAP government — Sachdeva reportedly blamed the Kejriwal government for not paying attention to Yamuna cleaning. The trouble is that there does not seem to be a paradigm shift in the approach to rejuvenating rivers in more than 40 years. More than Rs 1,800 crore was spent by the various avatars of the Ganga Action Plan that had an STP-centred approach. The current government’s Namami Gange plan has an outlay of more than 10 times that of GAP — Delhi has been allotted more than 2,000 crore. The project is an improvement on its predecessor in several respects, especially in its emphasis on taking people along while cleaning up rivers. But in assigning a dominant role to STPs, the Namami Gange seems to be a replica of the GAP.This state of affairs is not for the lack of creative thinking. For nearly 20 years, the Indian Forest Service officer turned scholar-activist Manoj Mishra had cautioned against the pitfalls of the cleaning the river approach. Mishra, who passed away on Sunday after a month-long battle with Covid, did not underestimate the importance of pollution abatement. But he also underlined that the river needs to have enough water and its floodplains shouldn’t be obstructed from recharging groundwater. The Yamuna, as he wrote in several places, was not just about the water body that flows through Delhi — for rejuvenating it, attention should be given to what happens upstream and care should be taken of the needs of the people who depend on it downstream.A river has its own capacity to tackle pollution. But these are contingent on its flow, which, in turn, depends on upstream aquifers. Besides, there are seasonal variations in the amount of water. Aquatic plants also help the river assimilate pollution. The problem with the current paradigm of pollution control, as Mishra pointed out, was that it “aimed to control quality of the ‘effluent’ at the source of the pollution without really bothering about the river’s assimilative capacity”. Tackling industrial pollutants had a place in his scheme of things — after all no river has the capacity to cleanse inorganic pollutants. Mishra argued that a better approach would be one that accounts for both effluent standards and the ability of the river to tackle pollution.The master plans of Delhi paid little attention to the relationship of the city’s people with the Yamuna. Urban planning in the country very rarely takes into account the idiosyncrasies and the geomorphology of water bodies. And, Delhi’s master plans have been no different in not assessing the changes in the assimilative capacity of the river. As Mishra would often point out, there are two Yamunas in Delhi, “one upstream of the barrage at Wazirabad that supplies drinking water and the other that’s often lamented as a sewage canal”. He pushed for setting drinking water standards in the 220-km stretch of the river from Hathnikund in Haryana to Okhla in Delhi — it’s currently only fit for bathing purposes. But he also felt that diverting water by building barrages does injustice to the river: “Lift not divert water” was his solution.At the same time, the scholar-activist contested the Delhi Jal Board’s calculation that the city needs 220 litres of water per person per day. He talked of both supply and demand-side efficiencies. The industrial and drinking water needs of Haryana on the west of the river and UP on the east are predominantly met by groundwater. However, the Delhi Jal Board is somewhat unique in the area in getting nearly 90 per cent of its needs from surface water.For much of its pre-colonial history, Delhi did not depend on the Yamuna for potable water. The fortress cities of the past relied on step wells, water tanks and canals. Things began to change in the late 19th century when the Delhi Water Works was built at Chandrawal and water was extracted using a row of wells along the river. Thirty years later, a pumping station was constructed at Wazirabad — it could extract nearly eight times the water compared to the Chandrawal facility. In the 1950s, Delhi took water from the river only at Wazirabad and Okhla.Mishra wanted Delhi to look at alternate sources for its drinking water — rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharging among them. “Delhi needs to take tough calls if it wants the Yamuna flowing”, he would say.The absence of a statutory provision to safeguard floodplains that recharge groundwater worried him. During the UPA regime, along with the late Brij Gopal, professor of environmental sciences at JNU, Mishra worked on a draft River Regulation Zone, along the lines of the Coastal Regulation. The plan was taken up in the early days of the current regime, only to be shelved.A day after Mishra’s demise, Delhi’s Lt Governor launched the Yamuna Vatika project to “restore the ecological character of the floodplains.” Very often, such initiatives end up as nothing more than beautification projects. It would be a dishonour to the memory of Manoj Mishra if the Yamuna Vatika project too goes this [email protected]

What Manoj Mishra got right about Yamuna restoration
Farm labourers’ demands: Mazdoor morcha protests outside CM’s Dreamland colony
The Indian Express | 6 days ago | |
The Indian Express
6 days ago | |

A massive protest was organised by Sanjha Mazdoor Morcha on Wednesday outside Dreamland colony in Sangrur over lack of implementation of demands of farm labourers.Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has a rented accommodation in Dreamland colony in Sangrur. The colony is located on Sangrur-Patiala road in Sangrur district.The dharna organised by the morcha – comprising eight mazdoor unions of Punjab – was held for about five hours blocking the main road outside the colony which is always teeming with heavy security personnel.Bikar Singh Hathoa, general secretary of Zamin Prapti Sangharsh Committee (ZPSC), said, “After a long wait, on December 22 we had a meeting with the Punjab CM. But he didn’t show up. We were told that he was out of Punjab. In his absence a panel of ministers – Aman Arora, Harpal Cheema and Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal – came to meet us. But, till date, we haven’t been provided anything in writing by the government on what all demands were discussed in that meeting, let alone implementing them.”Krishan Chauhan of Punjab Khet Mazdoor Sabha said, “In the past Dalits were beaten up by people belonging to the upper caste in Kheri Bheema village of Patiala and Namol village of Sangrur, but not a single upper caste person has been booked under SC/ST Act till date. Not only this, on Wednesday, an auction of panchayati land to be given for annual lease for agriculture purposes was organised in Khokhar village (Muktsar district), but it was held in a gurdwara in which a dummy Dalit candidate was present for giving the bid of land reserved for Dalits. One-third of panchayati land is reserved for Dalits for agriculture purposes and dummy candidates are fielded by landlords at most places. We faced this problem during the tenure of previous governments and there is no change on the ground even today.”

Farm labourers’ demands: Mazdoor morcha protests outside CM’s Dreamland colony
Air India flight diverted to Russia's Magadan after glitch: Top points
The Indian Express | 1 week ago | |
The Indian Express
1 week ago | |

A San Francisco-bound Air India flight from Delhi was diverted to Russia’s Magadan Tuesday due to a mid-air glitch in one of the aircraft engines.In a statement, the Tata Group-owned private carrier informed that the flight with 216 passengers and 16 crew onboard was diverted and landed safely at Magadan Airport in Russia. A relief aircraft will depart from Mumbai at 1 pm for Russia’s Magadan to take stranded Air India passengers to San Francisco.Important Update regarding AI 173 Delhi to SFO pic.twitter.com/DibzwCoGU4— Air India (@airindia) June 7, 2023Here are the top points we know so farAir India said that the aircraft was undergoing the mandatory checks, adding the passengers are being provided all support on the ground.The private carrier said it will operate an alternate aircraft on Wednesday to fly its passengers from Russia's Magadan Airport. All the passengers and crew are accommodated in local hotels in Magadan.In its latest statement, Air India said that a ferry flight is scheduled to operate from Mumbai at 1:00 pm, which would take passengers and crew to San Franciso. "The ferry flight would be carrying food and other essentials for our passengers," it said.Soon after the incident, the United States said it is closely monitoring the situation. Speaking to reporters, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said, "We are aware of a US-bound flight that had to make an emergency landing in Russia and are continuing to monitor that situation closely. I'm not able to confirm how many US citizens were aboard the flight at this time".The Associated Press reported the account of a passenger who was stranded in Madagan. Girvaan Kaahma, 16, was traveling on the flight with his uncle and brother. He said they are barred from leaving the hostel where they are staying in Magadan and can’t use their credit cards to buy items from the vending machine because of sanctions over Russia's war on Ukraine, AP reported.

Air India flight diverted to Russia's Magadan after glitch: Top points