Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Kalyan Singh birth anniversary: Rajnath Singh, Yogi Adityanath pay tribute to former Uttar Pradesh chief minister

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh paid tribute to late Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh on his birth anniversary. Rajnath Singh called the late CM a stalwart of Indian politics and added that he worked ceaselessly throughout his life for the benefit of farmers, backward castes and the poor.

The defence minister also shared a picture with Singh, during his days as the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Uttar Pradesh unit.

Several other leaders took to social media to pay tribute to Kalyan Singh on his birth anniversary.

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal:


Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath tweeted in Hindi, calling him a popular mass leader, conscientious member of the BJP family who made an incomparable contribution to the Ram Mandir movement. Tributes to the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Kalyan Singhji, on his birth anniversary. Respected Babu ji will always be remembered."

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma:

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Manoj Singh:

Born on 5 January, 1932, Singh first joined politics as a member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. He first took oath as a legislator in 1967.

Singh was the first BJP chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. He held the position from June 1991 to December 1992 and from September 1997 to November 1999.

It was during his tenure that the Babri Masjid was demolished in Ayodhya. He was also accused of criminal conspiracy in the demolition of the 16th century mosque. Along with 32 other people, including veteran BJP leaders MM Josh and LK Advani, Singh was acquitted in the case in September 2020.

He had also held various organisational posts in the BJP at the central and state level. Singh was the governor of Rajasthan from 2014-19.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister passed away due to sepsis and multi-organ failure on 21 August last year. He had been admitted to Lucknow’s Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in July last year.

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Mamata Banerjee turns 67 today; here's some interesting facts about TMC supremo

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee turns 67 today, 5 January. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader was born in Kolkata in 1955.

Wishes poured in from across the political spectrum for Didi, as Banerjee is popularly called.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari wished the West Bengal Chief Minister on her birthday.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also sent his best wishes to the TMC supremo.

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar wished Banerjee and prayed for her good health and long life, adding that he hoped she would “continue to serve societal causes”.

DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran also wished Banerjee on the occasion.

Actor Riteish Deshmukh also took to Twitter to wish the West Bengal Chief Minister.

Banerjee led her party to a phenomenal win in the 2021 Assembly polls and began her third consecutive term as the Chief Minister of the state. Also called Bengal tigress by many, the politician has created a name for herself across the nation. On her birthday, here are some lesser-known facts about Mamata Banerjee:

  • She became politically active when she was only 15 years old. Banerjee began her political career with the Congress party in the 1970s.
  • She graduated in History from Jogamaya Devi College. She also has a Master’s in Islamic History as well as degrees in Law and Education.
  • She once danced on the bonnet of Jayprakash Narayan's car as a mark of protest against the socialist leader.
  • She defeated late Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Somnath Chatterjee in the Jadavpur constituency in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections. This was the only time that Chatterjee was ever defeated in Lok Sabha polls.
  • Banerjee formed the Trinamool Congress in 1998, after splitting from the INC.
  • She once dragged Samajwadi Party MP Daroga Prasad Saroj out of the Lok Sabha by his collar to prevent him from opposing the Women’s Reservation Bill.
  • She went on a 26-day hunger strike in 2006 to protest against the Singur land acquisition deal.
  • In 2011, she broke the CPI(M)’s record 34-year rule in West Bengal to become the Chief Minister of the state.
  • She was featured in the 100 Most Influential People in the World list by Time Magazine.


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Jharkhand: Man beaten to death, set on fire for felling trees, weeks after state passed anti-lynching bill

Only two weeks since the Jharkhand Assembly passed the Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021, a 32-year-old man was on Tuesday stoned to death, and his body set on fire allegedly by a group of people in Simdega district on the suspicion that he felled trees to steal wood.

The incident

The victim, Sanju Pradhan, was lynched barely 100 metres from his home near Besrajara Bazar area after a mob, at least 100 to 150, according to ANI, called him out and stoned him to death.

They then gathered a pile of wood and set fire to his body, Kolebira police station in-charge Rameshwar Bhagat said.
Pradhan's charred body was later taken away by the police.

Superintendent of Police, Simdega, Shams Tabrez rushed to the spot with his team and is camping there.

Hundreds of villagers who gathered at the spot insisted that the man was involved in the illegal felling of trees for stealing and smuggling wood, which was against the traditional tribal system.

Village head Suban Budh, who claimed to be an eyewitness, said Pradhan was involved in illegal felling of trees, and the forest department was informed about it. But no action was taken, Budh added.

Pradhan's denial of his involvement in the felling of trees had infuriated the people who had called him out to grill him about it, the village head said.

But the mob then stoned him to death and set his body on fire, the police said.

Eyewitnesses said Pradhan's wife tried to stop the villagers from taking the drastic action but her husband was lynched before her eyes.

Police teams from Kolebira, Thethaitangar, and Bano were prevented to reach the spot and the locals initially refused to hand over Pradhan's body to the law enforcers.

Fire tenders rushed to the spot and doused the pyre and the police then took away the charred body after much persuasion.

Festering problem

According to an Indian Express report, Bhagat said the villagers had earlier objected to Pradhan cutting trees in the area. “They did not want the tree felling to continue so a meeting was held with the district’s forest department in July last year. A gram sabha was held and it was decided that Pradhan won’t cut trees in the area as it was a important place for them,” he said.

Pradhan, however, again cut trees there recently, which angered the villagers. “A meeting was called again, but Pradhan did not turn up,” Bhagat said. “An angry mob of villagers brought him to Besrajara area and beat him to death."

These trees have religious importance for the Munda community and they are very sentimental about it,  said Simdega police.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren reacts

Chief Minister Hemant Soren in a tweet in Hindi asked deputy commissioner of Simdega to investigate the matter and inform him after taking legal action:

Mob Lynching in Jharkhand

The Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021 was passed in the Assembly following the 2019 killing of a young Muslim man, Tabrez Ansari.

In a video, which went viral and sparked nationwide outrage, the 24-year-old was shown tied to an electric pole in the village Dhatkidih, near Kadamdih. He was beaten up for the next eight hours and forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jai Hanuman".

Tabrez was then arrested for suspected theft, and taken to a doctor at a primary healthcare centre. The doctor administered some first-aid and discharged Tabrez. On 22 June, Tabrez died.

There have also been innumerable incidents of mob lynching of those suspected of practising witchcraft, consumption and trading in beef and child theft among other reasons.

In 2019, four people in their 60s, including two women, were killed by a mob for alleged “witchcraft” at Siskari in Gumla district.

According to a report by The Hindu, "29 persons belonging to tribal, tribal Christian and Muslim communities have either been lynched or beaten up by mob on suspicion of cow slaughter, sale and consumption of beef and religious hatred in Jharkhand between the year 2016 and 2020. At least 10 of them have faced mob violence under current JMM-Congress government rule", according to Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha.

Even state parliamentary affairs minister Alamgir Alam, who tabled the bill in the House, had said without specifying the dates, 'that about 53 incidents of mob lynching took place in Jharkhand out of which 33 had died'.

Interestingly, the incident comes only a day after a Supreme Court bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MM Sundresh on Tuesday said, "We can’t permit these things to go on. We are very sure about it. We can’t permit lynching at all." The remark was made while the bench was hearing the case of a Bajrang Dal leader who had allegedly led a mob that killed a police officer in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district in December 2018.

With inputs from agencies

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Kerala lottery 2022: Akshaya AK-531 results to release at 3pm, first prize at Rs 70 lakh

The results for the Akshaya AK-531 lottery will be announced by the Kerala State Lottery Department today, 5 January. Lottery holders must note that the live results will be announced at 3 pm and the entire result will be declared at 4 pm on Kerala State Lottery Department’s official website - https://www.keralalotteryresult.net.

The first prize of the Akshaya AK-531 lottery is Rs 70 lakh. The second prize winner will take home Rs 5 lakh and the third prize of Akshaya AK-531 is a sum of Rs 1 lakh.

The Kerala State Lottery Department will also distribute a consolation prize of Rs 8,000 to some of the lucky ticket holders. The price of the Akshaya AK-531 lottery ticket was just Rs 40.

The Akshaya AK-531 lottery will be held at the Gorky Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram. The AK-531 lottery results will also be published in the Kerala Government Gazette.

Once the result is declared by the authorities, winning tickets holders are advised to check and verify their Akshaya AK-531 lottery numbers with the results published in the Kerala Government Gazette.

The winners of Akshaya AK-531 lottery have to surrender their lottery tickets and also report at office of Kerala lottery department. They have to carry a valid photo identity proof with them while visiting the office in order to claim their prize money.

It is to be noted that the verification and other formalities must be completed within 30 days from the Akshaya AK-531 lottery result declaration. The lottery ticket holder cannot claim the prize money without proper verification.

Akshaya AK-531 lottery winners who win a sum of less than Rs 5,000 can collect their prize money from any authorised shop in Kerala. Those who win prize money of more than Rs 5,000 have to surrender their Akshaya AK-531 lottery tickets in the lottery office and proper verification will be done by the officials handing over the prize money.

 



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‘Bulli Bai’ app case: Mumbai Police arrest one more student; Centre blocks Telegram channel targeting Hindu women

After arresting a woman, believed to be the mastermind of the ‘Bulli Bai’ app, from Uttarakhand and another 21-year-old engineering student from Bengaluru, the Mumbai Police has arrested one more student from Uttarakhand.

The arrest comes at the same time as the Centre blocked a Telegram channel that allegedly targeted Hindu women and circulated obscene photos and abused them online.

Here are all the latest developments in the ‘Bulli Bai’ app case.

Third arrest

According to news agency PTI, authorities from Mumbai's cyber wing arrested one more person from Uttarakhand on Wednesday.

The student, identified as Mayank Rawal (21), was nabbed from the northern state in the early hours of Wednesday, an official said.

His arrest comes a day after the cops nabbed 18-year-old Shweta Singh from Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar.

The police have said that Shweta is the mastermind behind the crime. She had allegedly uploaded pictures of Muslim women on the app hosted on GitHub, using three different accounts.

According to an IndiaToday report, Shweta lost her father to COVID-19 last year and lost her mother to cancer before this. The report further stated that she was using a fake Twitter handle with the name JattKhalsa07 to upload hate posts and objectionable photos and comments.

The Mumbai Police had registered a First Information Report (FIR) against unidentified persons following complaints that doctored photographs of hundreds of Muslim women were uploaded for auction' on the app called `Bulli Bai', hosted on the open-source software platform GitHub.

While there was no actual `auction' or `sale', the purpose of the app seemed to be to humiliate and intimidate the targeted women, many of whom are active social media users.

The Mumbai cyber police station has also registered a case against the app's unidentified developers and Twitter handles which promoted it.

Telegram channel blocked

Amid the ongoing ‘Bulli Bai’ controversy, another channel on Telegram came to light on Tuesday that allegedly targeted Hindu women.

The channel was created on the cross-platform Telegram in which photos of Hindu women were allegedly shared.

After a series of viral tweets on Twitter, the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology blocked the channel.

IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Twitter, “Channel blocked. Government of India coordinating with police authorities of states for action.”

Reminiscent of ‘Sulli Deals’

The ‘Bulli Bai’ app and the new channel on Telegram are very similar to the 'Sulli Deals' incident.

In July 2021, a website called ‘Sulli Deals’ had surfaced, carrying photographs of around 90 women 'on sale'.

The Delhi Police had registered a case against unknown persons days after the incident, and said that it had sent notices to GitHub — which had hosted the website — seeking details.

However, no arrests were made in the case.

With inputs from agencies

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Explained: Western Disturbances come to India, bringing rainfall to north and central parts of the country

First, it was the shivers and now it’s the rains. After a shivering cold wave, two consecutive western disturbances are likely to bring rainfall to parts of North India and central parts of India in the days to come.

Confused about what this means? Here's a break-down:

Western disturbances explained

A western disturbance is an extratropical storm originating in the Mediterranean region that brings sudden winter rain to the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent.

Dr RM Saxena, a professional meteorologist at Skymet Weather defines a Western Disturbance as "a low-pressure area or a trough over the surface or the upper-air in the westerly winds regime, north of 20 degrees north, causing changes in pressure, wind pattern and temperature fields. It is accompanied by cloudiness, with or without precipitation."

Indian meteorologists coined this term to describe the systems moving from the west to the east direction.

Skymet, a private Indian company, states that Western Disturbances originate in the Caspian Sea or the Mediterranean Sea as extra-tropical cyclones. They gradually travel across the middle-east from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan to enter the Indian sub-continent.

Western Disturbances are at their peak in January and February and are considered important for the development of rabi crops in the Northern subcontinent.

The Western Disturbances are not always the harbingers of good weather. Sometimes, they can cause extreme weather events like floods, flash floods, landslides, dust storms, hail storms and cold waves killing people, destroying infrastructure and impacting livelihoods.

How will the two Western Disturbances affect India?

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday reported that two Western Disturbances would affect the weather, bringing rainfall to parts of India.

Meteorologists noted on Monday that the year’s first Western Disturbance over the Arabian Peninsula would most likely trigger widespread rainfall across the Western Himalayan Region until 7 January. It is also expected to produce scattered to fairly widespread rain over Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, north Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh from Wednesday onwards.

Accordingly, the IMD kept Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, and Himachal Pradesh under an orange alert for Tuesday and Wednesday as forecasts suggest isolated heavy rains.

Further, an intense Western Disturbance is set to affect the region later this week, from 7 January onwards. Under its influence, rain and snowfall are expected to increase across the Western Himalayan Region from Friday to Sunday, with isolated heavy falls on Saturday.

Weather experts stated that isolated hailstorms may hit Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and over Uttarakhand.
“We are expecting widespread rains over northwest India and parts of central India till 9 January with chances of heavy rain on 5 and 6 January and 8-9 January. Due to two intense western disturbances back to back, day temperatures may be lower than normal and there is likely to be an overcast sky. Night temperatures are likely to be above normal.

There is likely to be widespread rain over Delhi also on 5 January and 7 January. Due to the effect of the second disturbance, there will be rainfall and hailstorm in Telangana, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand also,” RK Jenamani, senior scientist, national weather forecasting centre at IMD, was quoted as saying.

With inputs from agencies

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Watch: Flamingoes’ nesting area in Rann of Kutch amazes social media users, see viral video here

A stunning drone visual of flamingos' nesting area has recently gone viral. In the video, a vast deserted area of countless flamingo nests with eggs on top is captured by the drone. As the drone hovers over the vast area, social media users are amazed to see the visual treat.

The video has been retweeted by Dev Choudhary, District Development Officer (DDO) and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Rajkot.

“Beautiful pictures have emerged from Rann of Kutch," the tweet in Hindi read. " Thousands of migratory birds flock this area in winter season,” the tweet further added. The post also mentioned that the area where the eggs were laid was known as Gudhkar national park and the pictures were interesting.

Watch the video here:

So far, the video has collected more than 21,000 views and the number is increasing. A few people expressed their love and excitement on the interesting video while other users became wary of drone movement that could affect the flamingo’s life.

Among the many users, one commented stating that the drone is disturbing the birds. He also pointed out that due to drones, there are no flamingos near the eggs. The social media user requested not to promote such videos again and demanded strict action on the one recording it.

However, Rajkumar Yadav, Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer commented on the post saying it was lovely.

According to an Indian Express report, there were around 60,000 hatchlings last year that emerged from a nesting ground of the Great Rann of Kutch (GRK) in Kuda stretch. Furthermore, from August to September 2020, there were around 1,00,000 nests which were found by forest officials during their visits to the Kuda area in eastern Kutch.

After inspecting the site, the experts called the breeding attempt by the birds a successful one. Also, it was for the second consecutive year, officials claimed.

For the unversed, Flamingos are very sensitive birds, they can abandon their eggs if their nests are disturbed. Additionally, it takes around four weeks for the eggs to hatch.

 



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Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Opinion | No dearth of privatisation critics but Centre must go ahead with PSU sale in 2022

Since 2011-12, the government has always missed the disinvestment target every year, except during 2017-18 and 2018-19. This fiscal is unlikely to be any different, as just about five percent of the Rs 1.75-lakh crore target has been achieved. Quantitatively, 2021-22 doesn’t stand out in the history of disinvestment in India, but in qualitative terms, it will be remembered as the year when the privatisation process restarted after almost a couple of decades.

For Air India was privatised this fiscal. This will have a major effect on the sale of public sector undertakings (PSUs) in 2022-23. Just like the strategic sale of Balco in 2001, when the government sold its 51 percent equity in the aluminum major, galvanised privatisation in the country, Air India sale has the potential of accelerating the pace of disinvestment.

Privatisation was practically banned in 2004 when the Left-supported and dominated United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power. Such is the intellectual hegemony of the Left and the influence of the deep pink state—the socialism-infected decision and policymakers in the system—that even after they parted ways with the Congress-led UPA, the aversion to privatisation persisted. So it took the government of Narendra Modi, generally regarded as pro-business, over seven years to sell a terminally sick PSU.

Also read: Air India returns to founder after 68 years; real work for Tata Group to begin post-acquisition

From Air India privatisation and other minority stake sales, the government has mopped up Rs 9,240 crore, according to the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM). If the shortfall is not abridged in the next three months, it will adversely impact the fiscal deficit target—pegged at 6.8 percent of the gross domestic product or GDP for the current fiscal. In 2020-21, the fiscal deficit was 9.5 percent, primarily because of the mayhem and lockdowns induced by the coronavirus.

The government sold its entire equity in Air India to the Tata Group in October for Rs 18,000 crore. Of this, however, only Rs 2,700 crore will accrue to the public exchequer, the rest will go in repaying the erstwhile PSU’s debt.

Also read: Government may be third time lucky to say ‘Tata’ to Air India

The government had planned various kinds of major disinvestment for this fiscal, including initial public offering (IPO) of the largest insurer Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), and privatisation of IDBI Bank Ltd, oil refining and marketing major Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), and helicopter services operator Pawan Hans Ltd.

The biggest disinvestment, if and when it happens, will be the LIC IPO. The insurer is expected to be valued anywhere between Rs 8 lakh crore to Rs 10 lakh crore, so if the government offloads even 10 percent, it can garner anywhere between Rs 80,000 crore to Rs 100,000 crore.

Actual valuation is, however, taking a lot of time. This is the reason that, according to a PTI report, the IPO is unlikely to happen till March 31, 2022. The report said, “There are still some issues that need to be addressed with regard to the valuation of LIC, a senior official of one of the merchant bankers said. Even after the valuation, there are several regulatory processes that have concluded, the official said.”

The IPO will be vetted by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). To make the matter worse, the latter has been without a chief for seven months.

It needs to be mentioned here that the sale of much smaller PSUs had occasioned controversies and court cases. For instance, the government had sold an ITDC hotel in Udaipur for Rs 7.5 crore in 2002; criminal cases were filed against then disinvestment minister Arun Shourie and others till 2020 on the ground that the sale resulted in a loss of Rs 244 crore to the exchequer. It was the Rajasthan High Court that came to Shourie’s relief.

In July, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had cleared the listing of LIC. Soon after, 10 merchant bankers were appointed. The government also amended the Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956 for this purpose. The amendment stipulates that the government will have to hold at least 75 percent in the insurer for the first five years after the IPO, and later at least 51 percent.

BPCL is another big company on the block. The government holds around 54 percent equity in the refiner-marketer whose market capitalisation is about Rs 87,000 crore. It wants to sell almost the entire stake. At the current value, the stake sale can get about Rs 45,000 crore. But the government can get more, for when the market knows that the character of a company is about to change, from public to private, it is willing to pay more.

“Expression of interests have been received (for BPCL),” the government said in Parliament on December 13. “The shortlisted bidders have been allowed to conduct due diligence. The timeline is dependent on the successful outcome of different stages of transaction.”

It is unlikely, however, that BPCL could be privatised in 2021-22. Without LIC IPO and BPCL sale, it will not be possible to attain the disinvestment target.

In 2020-21 too, the government failed to get anywhere near the Budgetary estimate of Rs 2.1-lakh crore disinvestment target. It just garnered Rs 32,835 crore.

Yet, this fiscal is important for the simple reason that major privatisation did happen—that of Air India. Though small in terms of the revenue is generated for the government, and much smaller than the proposed LIC IPO, it is more important in terms of a policy shift. The IPO and minority stake sales can enrich the exchequer, but they don’t signify the government’s reduced intervention in the economy; privatisation does that.

Privatisation often lets a company realise its potential. Balco, for example, was valued at about Rs 1,100 crore in 2001 as a PSU. A couple of decades later, its net asset value is in the region of Rs 5,000 crore and profits at Rs 1,050 crore approx. If and when the government decides to offload its residual 49 per cent equity in the company, it can garner much more than Rs 551.5 crore it got in 2001 when it sold it is 51 per stake to the Anil Agarwal-owned Sterlite.

Therefore, thanks to Air India privatisation, 2021-22 will be remembered as the year when the government made big progress in its disinvestment programme, even though it missed the Budgetary target. As is its wont, the government is likely to fix a high disinvestment target for 2022-23 too. If the government keeps its focus on privatisation, it would also succeed in achieving the target.

This, however, will not be easy, for there are still a lot of people, including within the saffron brotherhood, who are firmly opposed to the concept of privatisation. Public discourse is also not compatible with such bold liberalising policies. The government has to show considerable courage and tact going ahead on the PSU sale.

The author is a freelance journalist. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.



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Indo-Pak 1971 war veteran Vice Admiral SH Sarma dies at 100: All you need to know about the Indian Navy officer

The Indian Navy’s Indo-Pakistan war veteran Vice Admiral SH Sarma passed away on Monday, 3 January. During the 1971 war, he was the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet in which India had defeated Pakistan to form Bangladesh.

According to The Hindu, Vice Admiral Sarma breathed his last at 6:20 pm at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar. His mortal remains will be taken to his residence in the city on Tuesday for people to pay their last respect. The cremation for Vice Admiral Sarma will be performed on 5 January.

On 1 December last year, Vice Admiral Sarma had celebrated his 100th birthday. Apart from being the Flag Officer of Commanding Eastern Fleet, Sarma also served as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC in C) of the Eastern Naval Command.

Taking to Twitter, the Indian Navy paid tribute to Vice Admiral Sarma by offering heartfelt condolences to the family:

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik expressed his grief over the passing away of Vice Admiral Sarma. Through his tweet, he informed that the veteran soldier (Sarma) always led from the front during many battles that India has fought. Patnaik also sent his thoughts and prayers for the bereaved family.

Captain Sanjeev Verma, Station Headquarters, 120 Battalion, Bhubaneswar also condoled Vice Admiral Sarma’s death stating that he was a big source of inspiration to them all. Highlighting about Sarma’s role in India's win in the Bay of Bengal, Captain Verma spoke about his vital role as FOC in C of Eastern Naval Command.

Sarma had also taken part in Azadi ka Amrut Mahostav celebration that took place in New Delhi recently.



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Monday, January 3, 2022

China’s new border laws implemented amid Galwan video: All you need to know about the legislation and why is it a concern for India

India may face more troubles along the northern border as China’s new border laws came into effect from 1 January, Saturday.

We examine these new laws implemented by China and how they may affect our security situation.

Beijing’s new border laws

On 23 October, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislative body, passed a new law citing "protection and exploitation of the country's land border areas". The committee had stated that the new law will come into effect from 1 January.

The new border law has 62 articles and seven chapters. As per the law, the People's Republic of China shall set up boundary markers on all its land borders to clearly mark the border.

Incidentally, the new border law is not specific to India. China shares its 22,457-km land boundary with 14 countries including India, the third longest after the borders with Mongolia and Russia.

The law stipulates that “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the People’s Republic of China are sacred and inviolable”.

The state shall take measures to safeguard territorial integrity and land boundaries and guard against and combat any act that undermines territorial sovereignty and land boundaries.

The law also stipulates that the state shall take measures to strengthen border defence, support economic and social development as well as opening-up in border areas, improve public services and infrastructure in such areas, encourage and support people’s life and work there, and promote coordination between border defence and social, economic development in border areas.

The new law also says that the state shall follow the principle of equality, mutual trust and friendly consultation to handle land border-related affairs with neighbouring countries through negotiations to properly resolve disputes and longstanding border issues.

How does this affect India?

The new border laws are bound to have an effect on India. These laws come into effect as India continues to attempt to resolve its long-standing conflict with the Dragon.

First off, this legislation could become an issue as it prohibits construction of permanent infrastructure close to the border without China’s permission. India and China have in the recent times stepped up their construction activities — roads, bridges and housing units for troops are being built at breakneck speed on both sides of the border.

Moreover, the new map of China shows the entire Arunachal Pradesh, Barahoti Plains in Uttarakhand and areas up to the 1959 Claim Line in Ladakh as part of its territory. As per the new laws, these areas are now considered China's sovereign territory. Also, the new law states that China will have absolute control over its internal rivers disregarding the interests of neighbouring states.

The new law also lays the path for the development of the border region. It states that People's Republic of China will take up education and propaganda to "solidify the sense of community of China, to promote the spirit of China, to defend the unity and territorial integrity of the country, strengthen citizens' sense of the country and homeland security, and build a common spiritual home for the Chinese nation" amongst citizens in the border region.

Please read: China builds 'xiaokang border defence village' in Arunachal: Implications for India's security

This means that the small villages, which China has been building along the border, will only increase in numbers, potentially affecting the security situation for India.

In effect, this suggests a push to settle civilians in the border areas.

Explaining why this could spell trouble for India, Former Northern Army Commander Lt Gen D S Hooda told Indian Express: "If you [China] start having settled population on the other side, creeping across what we [India] feel is our border, at some stage later, whenever, when you start discussing the border between the two sides, they will say we [China] have settled population in this area."

The Galwan video

It is interesting to note that on the same day that the new laws came into effect, China also released a propaganda video, showing the Chinese flag at Galwan.

Videos of the event were put out by various Chinese government mouthpieces.

Global Times tweeted, “In the Galwan Valley near the border with #India, under the characters “Never yield an inch of land,” PLA soldiers send new year greetings to Chinese people on January 1, 2022.”

Reacting to the video, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "break the silence" over Chinese "incursions" in the Galwan region of eastern Ladakh.

"Our tricolour looks good at Galwan. There should be a response to China. Modi ji, break the silence," Gandhi said on Twitter.

The provocation at the border came days after China 'renamed' 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh.

The government had then put out a sharp reaction, reiterating that the state of Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a statement had said on 30 December, "We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has attempted such a renaming of places in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. China had also sought to assign such names in April 2017. Arunachal Pradesh has always been, and will always be an integral part of India. Assigning invented names to places in Arunachal Pradesh does not alter this fact."

With inputs from agencies



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Savitribai Phule birth anniversary: All you need to know about India's first female teacher

The nation remembers Savitribai Phule, one of India’s foremost social reformers, on her 190th birth anniversary today, 3 January 2022. Savitribai Phule is known for her contribution to the field of women’s education.

Phule raised her voice for women’s rights, way before it became a norm in India. She faced a social boycott and had to encounter countless hardships for advocating women’s education. In 1848, Savitribai Phule and her husband Jyotirao Phule started the first-ever school for women in Pune.

History

Savitribai Phule was born on 3 January, 1831 in Satara district of Maharashtra. In a country where women rights were non-existent, she fought for their education and raised her voice against casteism and patriarchy.

Savitribai Phule was nine years old when she was married to 13-year-old Jyotirao Phule. The latter, who was well-educated, trained Savitribai Phule to become a teacher. She is considered the country’s first woman teacher and also the first woman to become a headmistress.

Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule opened 18 schools for girls in Pune. They introduced several innovative methods like stipend to motivate students to attend school. Later, the couple became social activists and fought for the rights of women.

Some facts about Savitribai Phule

  • Savitribai Phule was born in a farmer family in the backward Mali community
  • She was illiterate when she got married to Jyotirao Phule
  • The couple was asked to leave their ancestral house as her father-in-law was upset with their revolutionary activities
  • Savitribai Phule started ‘Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha’, a care centre for pregnant rape victims
  • In 1874, Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule adopted a son born to a widowed Brahmin woman
  • Savitribai Phule was also a good poet; she used her poetry to spread awareness about women’s education and eradication of untouchability
  • Savitribai Phule’s famous poems include Kavya Phule published in 1854 and Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar published in 1892
  • She was also considered India’s first female poetess

In her honor, Pune University was renamed Savitribai Phule University in 2014.
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Tata's COVID-19 test kit to detect Omicron variant gets IMCR nod: All you need to know about 'OmiSure'

The Indian Council of Medical Research on Wednesday announced that it has approved a kit designed to detect the Omicron variant of coronavir...