Editorial & Analyses

Ms Vini Mahajan* 
Our country is standing at the cusp of transformative change and we have a huge opportunity to transform rural India. We are certainly heading in the right direction, with all the right moves, given that today the IMIS of the Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBM-G), the flagship programme of the Government of India, recorded another milestone – of 101462villages declaring themselves as ODF (open defecation free) Plus.

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/mahmudakash177/image/upload/v1662039159/xsobtuynu39367k7uncl.jpg" alt="swach bharat" style="height: auto;width: auto"/>
These villages are sustaining their ODF status and have systems in place for managing solid and/or liquid waste and they would continue on their sanitation journey as they work towards making their villages cleaner, greener and healthier.
Almost eight years ago, Hon’ble Prime Minister Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Mission from the ramparts of the Red Fort, with a vision to make the country open defecation free as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary. Under his visionary leadership, the country came together in the world’s largest behaviour change campaign and achieved its aim,and on 2nd October 2019, 11 years ahead of the SDG-6 target set by the United Nations, rural India became open defecation free. However, this was not the end of the mission, it laid the foundation to take on a much more challenging, yet necessary task; the need to ensure sampoornswachhata or complete cleanliness, to make the country’s villages ODF Plus.&nbsp;&nbsp;
One lakh ODF Plus villages is no small achievement, given that the process of solid and liquid waste management is technical in nature, is relatively new to rural India and is a second-generation issue. Provision of toilets has led to the need to manage faecal waste. Also, with potable water supply, more greywater is being generated that needs to be treated and reused; and with lifestyle changes and the use of packaged food products, the menace of plastic waste is rearing its ugly head in rural areas and that needs to be managed effectively.
And this is what the second Phase of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen (SBM-G) is about – to appropriately manage all types of waste that will not only make our villages clean, but also creating avenues for generating incomes for rural households and creating new livelihood opportunities, while fulfilling the requirements of the Sustainable Development Goals. The SBM-G reinforces the Government’s commitment to promote hygiene and safe sanitation and thereby improve the quality of life of its citizens.
At the outset, DDWS had introduced intermediate stages in the process of declaring a village as ODF Plus, given that all villages may not fulfil all criteria under the verticals of biodegradable waste management (BWM), plastic waste management (PWM), greywater management (GWM) and faecal sludge management (FSM) before declaring a village as ODF Plus. In the ODF Plus - Aspiringcategorytoday are 54734villages in which all households and institutions besides having access to sanitation through individual household latrines, have arrangements for either SWM or LWM; those in ODF Plus – Rising are 17121 villages which have arrangements for both LWM and SWM in addition to the criteria in Aspiring. Those that are declared ODF Plus - Model are 29607 villages which have all the above and where IEC messages are prominently disseminated and displayed.&nbsp;
This also translates into 99640 villages across the country having arrangements for solid waste management; 78937having liquid waste management facilities; and 57312villages having both functional solid and liquid waste management plants. The top five performing states are Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradeshwhere maximum number of villages have been declared as ODF Plus.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
All possible assistance is being given to States in the form of funding, technical and capacity building support.
Availability of adequate funding: The Government of India, in February 2020, approved Phase-II of the SBM (G) with a total outlay of Rs. 1,40,881 crores to focus on the sustainability of Open Defecation Free (ODF) status and Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM). SBM (G) Phase-II is planned to be a unique model of convergence between different verticals of financing and various schemes of Central and State Governments. Funds are also available through the 15th Finance Commission and through convergence with MGNREGA.
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Technical Support: Extensive focus is being given to strengthening the capacities of a range of key stakeholders at State, district, block and panchayat levels to ensure effective and expedited implementation. DDWS has made available reference materials pertaining to the programme’s approach and processes, with technical specifications, technology options, cost estimates, technical drawings etc., for various elements of ODF Plus in the form of technical manuals and toolkits which States have been translating into their vernacular languages. The manuals would go a long way towards building capacities of functionaries and rural local bodies.
Capacity building: Management of solid and liquid waste and related infrastructure is technical in nature and for building capacities of the GP level stakeholders, a large pool of trainers is required. As a part of this initiative, 5-day Training of Trainers (ToTs) on the implementation of SBM (G) II in the states is being carried out by the DDWS with the support of development partner UNICEF. Under this, Master Trainers (MTs) from each district,are being trained and they in turn are trainingSarpanchs/Pradhans, village secretaries and Swachhagrahisin the various ODF Plus verticals.
SBM-G continues to be a people’s movement: All along, SBM (G) Phase-II had been uniquely designed to leverage the capacity of individuals and communities in rural India to create a people’s movement to ensure that the ODF status of rural areas is sustained, people continue to practice safe hygienic behaviour and that all villages have solid and liquid waste management arrangements.&nbsp;
In this regard, the contributions of both men and women in the village communities have been immense. Either as Swachhagrahis, Mistries, drivers or Green Ambassadors, they continue to work for ODF Plus. We have our share of unsung heroes too:
Saying NO to stubble burning, Ajmer Singh, afarmer of Sehbajpur villagein Raikot block of Ludhiana district in Punjab has successfully installed a biogas plant which utilizes crop residue and cow dung as feed to generate biogas, within his household premises. The family of 3 now avails of 3-4 cum per day of clean cooking fuel and organic compost for their fields, free of cost.
&nbsp;Meanwhile, when Smt. Richhawati, an active community leader and SHG member heard that the community biogas plant sanctioned for their Gram Panchayat (GP) in 2021-22 was being shelved owing to non-availability of community land and inadequate finance, she donated 2500 square feet of land that she owned for the project that would cater to the clean fuel needs of the community.The woman’s magnanimous gesture has set the wheels in motion for the construction of the Gobardhan plant that is now located in Salmatta GP in Sitarganj Block of Udham Singh Nagar district in Uttarakhand.&nbsp;
I also salute the Swachhagrahis – the frontline workers who go by different names in each State, who are versatile enough to take on responsibilities to promote awareness and get people to participate in waste management.
Lots more to be done in the next three years…but I’m confident that the great people of this country will join hands to make a Swachh and Swasth Bharat a reality.
—The Hawk
* Secretary, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India

Our country is standing at the cusp of transformative change and we have a huge opportunity to transform rural India. 

India Clocks In Over One Lakh ODF Plus Villages

Feature Post

Dr Krishna Ella* For me, the most inspiring story of our nation is the way our government pushed the start-up culture strongly, every policy and governance initiative have a huge in-built innovation factor. &nbsp;I deeply missed this culture when I returned to India way back in 1996, with a dream to build a self-reliant vaccine business with several roadblocks, we were a startup then.&nbsp;The most notable difference I have observed in recent times is the NITI Aayog's comprehensive national strategy for new India, which took a unique approach to inclusivity. There was a paradigm shift in the policy climate, with private investors and other stakeholders being encouraged and helped to achieve its goals, and to propel India to a USD 5 trillion GDP by 2030.&nbsp;Besides developing scientific and technological capabilities, our nation had the foresight to redefine the roles of CSIR laboratories, Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs), the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), a host of universities, and scientific institutions, which laid the foundation for the nation to accomplish many first in the advancement of science and technology.&nbsp;The Unicorn India &nbsp;India has produced more unicorns in the last 8 years than any other country, and stands second in the world after the United States for the largest number of start-ups being created.&nbsp;When the Prime Minister of the Nation announced that 44 of our 100 unicorns were formed in 2021, and 14 more unicorns were formed in quick succession in the same year this year, it was a source of pride for every Indian, and for me as a first-generation start-up entrepreneur, this demonstrated our nation's strength to remain strong and sustainable even during the global pandemic, as start-ups created wealth and value for the country.&nbsp;This amazing boom in the entrepreneurial ecosystem shows that India can inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs, and the government has done an outstanding effort&nbsp;of encouraging it year after year through strategic implementation of an ecosystem and fundamentals that would support Indian start-ups and businesses to remain globally competitive, while allowing the dreams of an aspiring, confident and young India to take flight.&nbsp;The government's implementation of the Start-Up-India programme, which offers tax benefits and creates a fund of funds, the Invest India programme, and NITI Ayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) to help start-ups develop and prosper, has been a major contributor to the rise of start-ups. &nbsp;Atal Innovation Mission, a flagship initiative to create and promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in our country, and giving that extra push to women entrepreneurs, a new ecosystem was exemplary.&nbsp;Pharmacy of the world&nbsp;India continues to play a growing role in global drug security and strengthen its position as the world's pharmacy, thanks to a low-cost qualified work force and a well-established manufacturing base.&nbsp;Our country has also become a leading source of ground-breaking innovation, particularly when it comes to giving affordable life-saving vaccinations and medication to the most underserved populations around the world who need them the most.&nbsp;What began as a startup journey, Bharat Biotech is today a testament of how a startup grew to provide timely solutions to global problems. &nbsp;Bharat Biotech’s own efforts are a demonstration on how innovation aimed at key healthcare challenges not only saved countless lives but also demonstrated India’s indigenous vaccine development capabilities.&nbsp;In the global race to find solutions to contain and provide succour against SARSCoV2, India became the 3rd country in the world after the United States and United Kingdom to take it from clone to vial, and conducted all the clinical trials including for efficacy.&nbsp;The world’s 1st Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine, vaccines against Rotavirus, etc., and major pipeline innovations for vaccines against Zika virus, Chikungunya virus, Non-Typhoidal Salmonella, a key healthcare challenge in Africa, etc., are standing examples of India leading innovation for global problems.&nbsp;Push to Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for the promotion of domestic manufacturing of Key Starting Materials (KSMs)/Drug Intermediates (DIs) and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) in India was one of the ground-breaking initiatives.&nbsp;As an entrepreneur and scientist, the visit of our Prime Minister to the Bharat Biotech production site was a defining moment for me.&nbsp;It reaffirmed the trust and commitment of the Government of India to the country and the world, while also further strengthening our commitment and invigorating the scientists and employees to meet the extraordinary challenge. &nbsp;It is a proud moment to be able to meet 97 percent of the country's vaccination needs for the COVID-19 vaccine from our homegrown companies. This achievement would not have been attainable without the assistance of our government during the Pandemic – A series of policy changes, quick approvals, and, most crucially, Government officials working around the clock was a game-changer, and it was a welcome development for any entrepreneur like me.&nbsp;Digitization &amp; Inclusivity – A pathbreaker &nbsp;Another important aspect of India's quick growth was the country's strong drive for digitalization and the digital economy, which included the introduction of the most disruptive digital payment mechanism, UPI. UPI is, without a doubt, one of the most impressive fintech breakthroughs the world has seen in recent years.&nbsp;It boosted eCommerce and made it easier for solopreneurs, small businesses, and medium-sized businesses to contribute to and participate in economic growth.&nbsp;Internet penetration in rural areas was another significant feature of New India. The CoWIN app, which was established during the Pandemic and connected over 100 crore citizens and their data, is perhaps the most incredible example for a&nbsp;country in the world with a digitised population of over&nbsp;85 percent. &nbsp;This has aided the nation's pandemic preparedness. The application and database are unlike any other solution deployed at scale anywhere around the world. The unique scientific data and insights should be leveraged for progress of research, and to create templates for managing future healthcare challenges and initiatives.&nbsp;With the data from CoWIN, the government can now&nbsp;easily combat a future pandemic or even track any outbreak of infection in a single location. The application has also made it easier to track, trace, and cure infections using epidemiology data.&nbsp;Public-Private Partnership &nbsp;For the nation to grow, Public-Private Partnership plays a tremendous role. It is a model to follow to succeed in the future in every field, especially in science, defence, medicine, and research.&nbsp;The success of Rotavac, Typhoid, and COVAXIN is a brilliant example of how the PPP model can create an impact.&nbsp;India's achievement with public-private partnerships is also a success story. With its Vaccine Development capabilities, the country has provided the globe with Rotavirus Vaccine, Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine, and the universal, world-class, affordable Covid-19 vaccine, COVAXIN.&nbsp;The government's most notable endeavour has been the development of the Innovation Cell and the appointment of a "Chief Innovation Officer" to boost innovation and the entrepreneurial ecosystem within our educational institutions.&nbsp;Today, academic institutions and Universities have their own Incubation Centres and are free to partner and collaborate with Government and Industry. COVAXIN, the result of a partnership between Bharat Biotech and ICMR-NIV during the pandemic clearly spells out what can be accomplished.&nbsp;India needs to further strengthen academic-industry collaboration, enable Indian universities to incubate more start-ups, and increase the confidence of venture capital firms to participate in high-risk science enterprises. &nbsp;Moreover, SBIRA -BIRAC Grants and Niti Ayog aid to further foster scientific advancement and vaccine development will pave the way for greater participation of entrepreneurship in the sector.&nbsp;This initiative helped create incubators across many Universities in India to tap young India to Innovate, backed by new programs and policies for fostering innovation in different sectors effectively.&nbsp;Unifying India&nbsp;For a nation to succeed, the biggest motivator is a unifying spirit between people and its leaders. &nbsp;The goal of a great nation would be to ensure adequate access to clean energy and safe water, where the best health care is available to all, where the governance is responsive, transparent and entrepreneurship is nurtured, and where poverty and illiteracy have been eradicated – a healthful nation that is one of the best places to live in. &nbsp;Thanks to various initiatives of the Government, start-ups, enterprises, risk capital funds, and enabling environment for freedom and ease of doing business, India has succeeded in witnessing increased disruption in the healthcare sector, where start-ups registered breakthrough innovations in products and services. &nbsp;These are all set to help the country further enhance the quality and reach of healthcare products and services to a larger section of the population not just within India but extend those benefits to nations across the globe to contribute to the wellbeing of the global population. &nbsp;I am sure India will witness an increased number of scalable enterprises from the now thriving start-ups in the years to come, enabling enterprises to further disrupt the medical and healthcare, science and technology fields to make healthcare much more affordable and reachable to masses across the globe.&nbsp;India has made great moves in its public health programs, which have been lauded by developed nations, and leaders across the globe. We have set the foundation for our nation to be even greater. &nbsp;This India is inspiring!! —The Hawk *Chairman &amp; Managing Director, Bharat Biotech

For me, the most inspiring story of our nation is the way our government pushed the start-up culture strongly, every policy and governance initiative have a huge in-built innovation factor. 

From a Start-up Nation to a Nation of Innovation 

Dr Alon Ben-Meir* Last Thursday’s hearing by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol was nothing but shocking. If we were watching a movie based on a fictitious story portraying an American president who had done what Trump attempted to do it would have still been simply so far-fetched beyond what anyone could possibly fathom Righting the Wrong New York (The Hawk): The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol held another hearing yesterday which was, no less than all the previous hearings, of historic significance. These are among the most important hearings in our nation’s history, for they detail the unprecedented depravity and dishonor of an American president, and they are crucial to exposing the existential danger that his political presence still represents.Thursday’s hearing focused on what must be the darkest and most morally outrageous three hours in the annals of the American presidency: the 187 minutes in which Trump refused to take any action whatsoever to quell a violent insurrectionary mob as it stormed the Capitol building, thwarting the peaceful transfer of power and seeking to kill the Vice President of the United States, who took shelter just feet away from his would-be assassins. The Committee revealed that Pence’s security detail believed that the mob was likely to discover their location and that they were not going to survive its violent onslaught – so much so that some were making calls to say goodbye to family members in the event they did not make it home alive.For three hours Trump watched the television as violence consumed the Capitol; and in all that time he did not make a single call to the Secretary of Defense, to the Attorney General, to the Secretary of Homeland Security, or to the Vice President for that matter. For three hours, against the unequivocal advice of his counsel, friends, and family, Trump purposefully and steadfastly declined to give the mob he had summoned any signal to disperse, to exit the building peacefully, or to simply cease threatening the life of his vice president or other members of Congress. The president knew full well, and better than anyone, that his mob of supporters were hanging on every word he said or tweeted; he knew beyond any doubt that had he told them to leave the Capitol they would have complied – but he would not do so for the simple reason that he wanted the attack to continue.Trump would not take any action to halt the insurrection because the attack served his unscrupulous designs: for while the mob held the Capitol, the Senate could not reconvene to certify the election result, and had the vice president been maimed or murdered then he would no longer be in a position to preside over the proceedings as specified in the Constitution. Indeed, after Trump knew the Capitol had been breached, he sent out a tweet at 2:24pm which served only to pour gasoline over the conflagration he had already ignited, describing Mike Pence as lacking the courage to do Trump’s bidding; immediately following that disgraceful message to his fanatical followers the mob swelled in size, and grew more enraged and emboldened.Trump’s inaction during those three pivotal hours was not merely a dereliction of duty: it was a deliberate, indefensible decision on his part to allow the mob to continue its desecration of the Capitol, its assault on our democracy, and its unbridled effort to impede the transfer of executive authority, all so that Trump could maintain power. Only after it became clear that the insurrectionists would not be successful did the president finally stand before the TV cameras and tell the mob to leave the Capitol and return home. He did not condemn the violence, he did not issue any reprimand to those who had defiled the Capitol, he did not express a single word of support for those who valiantly fought against the insurrection and sought to protect this Republic from being overthrown by a violent swarm of his deluded supporters. Instead, he praised the mob as patriots and told them how much he loves them.The former President of the United States, Donald Trump, betrayed this country and the American people – both Republicans and Democrats – in a manner so despicable and outrageous that the misdeeds of all his forty-four predecessors pale by comparison. He is the very embodiment of demagoguery: his lies are poisonous and his hollow vanity boundless. He has brought this Republic to the brink of dissolution with his contempt for the rule of law and the institutions of democracy. He forfeited the public trust when he determined that his hold on power was more important than the oath he took before the country and before God to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, more important than honoring the sacrifice of countless Americans who gave their life so that the Republic could survive, more important than the very continuation of this noble experiment in popular government.If he should ever hold office again, then the shame will be on our heads – for no one can say now that they did not know what this man was, or what he was capable of doing. Trump’s lust for power is insatiable and as we have witnessed, he resorted to any means, however illegal, to stay in power regardless of the unimaginable damage he inflicts on the country.Trump is corrupt to the core, a traitor who deserves nothing but contempt and to spend the rest of his life behind bars because he remains a menace to this country and an existential threat to our democratic institutions.____________*Dr Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies for over 20 years.

Last Thursday’s hearing by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol was nothing but shocking. If we were watching a movie based on a fictitious story portraying an American president who had done what Trump attempted to do it would have still been simply so far-fetched beyond what anyone could possibly fathom

The Most Damning Hearing Yet

Droupadi Murmu, a tribal leader from Odisha has now become the first tribal President and second female President of India. As a tribal woman from remote Mayurbhanj district, she had never thought about becoming the President of India. Murmu comes from a discreet tribal community of Santhals. Santhals, also known as Manjhis, are an ethnic group largely concentrated in the states of Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar and West Bengal. According to Britannica, there are over 5 million Santhals in India alone. She is the first tribal woman from the East to hold such a top position. Modi’s government choosing a leader from an Odisha Adivasi community seems to be its best bet currently. BJP’s choice of DraupadiMurmu for president is an important signalling for India’s historically prideful and underserved tribal communities.Murmu has a clean track record and as an Adivasi can challenge, at least in perception, the upper caste dominance in Odisha’s politics and consolidate a large section of the Adivasi population in western Odisha.During the BJP- BJD coalition government that came to power in 2000, she held the Commerce and Transport, and, subsequently, the Fisheries and Animal Husbandry portfolios.She managed to win in 2009 even as the BJP paled against the challenge put up by the by-then estranged BJD. Murmu entered State politics in 1997 and was conferred with the Nilkantha Award in 2007. BJP President JP Nadda, has rightly said that “Millions of people, especially those who have experienced poverty and faced hardships, derive great strength from the life of Droupadi Murmu Her understanding of policy matters and compassionate nature will greatly benefit our country”. When she assumed office as the governor of Jharkhand on May 18, 2015, not only was she the first woman to have done so but also the first tribal leader and woman from Odisha to be a governor in any Indian state. When she was born in 1958, in the district of Mayurbhanj in Odisha, there was nothing to foretell that she was headed to the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Living in one of the state&amp;#39;s most underdeveloped regions, her family struggled with poverty.&nbsp;Despite her family&amp;#39;s difficult situation, she went on to graduate from the Ramadevi Women’s College in Bhubaneswar. Her father, who comes from a tribal family, made her stand on her feet by educating her. She struggled to reach the first job of a clerk in the irrigation department from a village in Orissa. She took her baby steps struggling with poverty in one of the most remote and underdeveloped districts of the country. Draupadi Murmu is a devotee of Shiva. She is the only woman to have travelled from the Santhal tribal section to the post of President. She is recognized as a woman living with simplicity and taking strong decisions. But her life can inspire many of us who start thinking small difficulties as the end of life. The 64-year- old Murmu was twice elected as a BJP legislator from Odisha and was a minister in the Naveen Patnaik cabinet when the saffron party supported the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). Born in Odisha&amp;#39;s Mayurbhanj district, Murmu belongs to a Santhal family - a tribal ethnic group. She began her career as an assistant teacher at the Shri Aurobindo integral Education Centre in Rairangpur. Thereafter, she had working with the Odisha government as part of the irrigation and power department.In 2015 she was sworn in as the first woman Governor of Jharkhand. She was also the first woman and tribal leader from Odisha to be appointed as Governor of an Indian state.S he has come a long way in making her way till here, on her own, breaking all social stigma. When she had gone to study in Bhubaneshwar before the nineties, there were no roads, no Google Maps to help people. She has always maintained a very stoic appearance in her public and personal life. She figured everything out on her own. She has devoted her life to serving society and empowering the poor, downtrodden as well as the marginalised. Her life has been marked with personal tragedies as she lost her husband and two sons. Over the next decade or so she held several leading roles within the BJP, serving as the state president of the ST Morcha and as the BJP district president of Mayurbhan. She has diverse administrative experience having handled ministries such as transport, commerce, fisheries and animal husbandry in the Odisha government. She is a source of inspiration for us. As Murmu’s contributions to our nation are immense and she possesses a lot of expertise in different areas which will be certainly of great benefit to our country.—The Hawk Features

Droupadi Murmu, a tribal leader from Odisha has now become the first tribal President and second female President of India. As a tribal woman from remote Mayurbhanj district, she had never thought about becoming the President of India. Murmu comes from a discreet tribal community of  Santhals. 

Droupadi Murmu will be a 'Great' President of India

Dr Alon Ben-Meir* Perhaps nothing has changed Turkey’s domestic and international trajectory since the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923 than the failed military coup of July 2016, which gave Erdogan an unprecedented opportunity to satisfy his insatiable lust for power. Righting the Wrong New York (The Hawk): On July 15, Turkey’s President Erdogan “celebrated” the sixth anniversary of a failed military coup—’a major victory’ that presumably protected the Turkish constitution and its democracy. Erdogan himself characterized the coup as a “gift from God” because it provided him with the ‘justification’ to declare a national emergency; less than a year after the coup attempt, he held a referendum to transform Turkey’s parliamentary democracy into an executive presidency, which he had been seeking for more than two decades. He mercilessly used his newly-acquired, near-absolute power to ‘cleanse’ the country of its domestic enemies and rule largely by decree, with little or no opposition to stop him. One of Erdogan’s biggest shortcomings is his sense of insecurity which led him to embark on the greatest purge in Turkey’s modern history, while promoting Islam in order to cement his power without being challenged. Although he projects himself as self-assured and publicly exhibits confidence and assertiveness, his insecurity emanates from five different concerns: He believed the military, which was assigned at the time the new Republic was created to safeguard Turkey’s democracy, was a threat to his unrestrained rule. The military toppled three governments before Erdogan’s rise to power—in 1960, 1971, and 1980—because they deviated from the constitution, and Erdogan was determined to emasculate the military and subordinate it to his whims. It is no wonder then that following the coup, he prosecuted over 23,000 military personnel for their presumed part in the insurrection. Political rivals have always been a major concern, and his chosen opponent is Fetullah Gülen, whom he accused of being behind the coup. He stopped short of nothing to dismiss more than 100,000 public sector workers, including nearly 4,000 judges and prosecutors, from their jobs; over 321,000 have been detained since 2016 on suspicion of being followers of Gülen. To this day, Erdogan is trying to extradite Fetullah Gülen from the US but to no avail, as he repeatedly failed to produce evidence to prove Gülen’s culpability in the coup. Gülen sternly denies the charges against him and insists his Islamic Hizmet movement promotes peace and education. The press was and still is one of Erdogan’s main targets. He shut down just about every single newspaper that dared to question any of his policies. As a part of his purge, he arrested more than 300 journalists, accusing them of bogus offenses. Nearly 180 of them continue to languish in jail, not knowing when or if they will ever be released. Thousands of academics and lawyers who likewise had nothing to do with the coup attempt were also imprisoned. The Kurdish community is another source of deep concern to Erdogan, which he has and continues to persecute while denying them much of their inherent right to live in accordance with their tradition. The failed coup only deepened Erdogan’s concerns over the Kurdish community, as he remained fearful that the Kurds have never given up on their drive to seek autonomy, and incarcerated thousands of them as a part of his sweeping purge. To this day he continues to wage a merciless war against the PKK, which he considers a terrorist organization, and vows to hunt every PKK member until the last one is captured or killed. He even invaded Syria in 2016 in an effort to prevent the Syrian Kurds from establishing their autonomous rule, killing hundreds of YPG militia members whom he accused of being supportive of the PKK. Since the failed coup six years ago, Turkey continues to suffer greatly on a number of fronts: Turkey suffers persistently from high inflation and the Turkish lira lost nearly two-thirds of its value against the US dollar in the first five years after the coup attempt. As a result, millions have joined the ranks of the very poor and the forecast for economic recovery in the foreseeable future remains dim at best. The Turkish public remains extremely skeptical and deeply concerned about the future of the country as there seems to be no relief in sight from the pressure and the oppression that have become routine. The people are living in fear as they are being constantly watched and listened to by his intelligence and security apparatus. The relationships between Turkey and the US and EU have not recovered as yet as the US in particular remains deeply concerned about Erdogan’s conduct, especially his unabated human right abuses and violation of the sanctions imposed on Iran. Furthermore, his purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system remains a bone of contention between Tukey and NATO. The public’s trust in the government, the courts, the execution of the laws, the absence of justice, the rampant corruption of top officials, the Islamic AK Party’s devolution to being simply a rubber stamp for Erdogan’s every whim, and the government’s inability to address the people’s needs, have reached its nadir. Tens of thousands of young Turkish citizens, especially from the academia, who feel robbed of their dignity and unable to freely engage in scholarly discourse about domestic and foreign policy, are leaving the country in search of a better future. And finally, Erdogan’s stated objective to have zero problems with neighbors ended up with Turkey having problems with just about every neighbor—from Greece and Cyprus to Israel, Armenia, Iraq, Iran, and even Georgia. He is now desperately trying to improve relations with many countries that he has alienated with very limited success, as he remains reviled for his ruthlessness at home and untrustworthiness abroad. To be sure, given how much power Erdogan has been able to amass, it also leaves him vulnerable because much of what is going wrong now is attributed to him, as by centralizing control he has no one else to blame for the public’s suffering. Next year, Erdogan will be presiding over the hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the Turkish Republic. He is desperately trying to portray himself as a new Atatürk (father of Turkey)—who founded the Turkish Republic in 1923 with significant Western orientation. In fact, Erdogan did not create a “new Turkey” and a sound democracy as he claims, but an autocracy that does nothing but continue to suppress the people and rob them of their dignity and future. This is the legacy of the failed coup. Erdogan may still believe that the failed coup was a “gift from God.” I wonder how many of his countrymen share his wickedness and self-deceit. This article was originally published in KOHA Ditore as “Për Erdoganin, dështimi i puçit ishte një “dhuratë nga Zoti””. ____________*Dr Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies for over 20 years. <a href="mailto:alon@alonben-meir.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">alon@alonben-meir.com</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Web:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.alonben-meir.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">www.alonben-meir.com</a>

Perhaps nothing has changed Turkey’s domestic and international trajectory since the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923 than the failed military coup of July 2016, which gave Erdogan an unprecedented opportunity to satisfy his insatiable lust for power.

For Erdogan The Failed Coup Was A 'Gift From God'

I am at a loss for words to express my horror as I watched the first segment of the public hearing of the Congressional committee investigating the January 6 insurrection. As long as the Republican Party denies what happened that infamous day and Trump remains free, this country faces unprecedented peril. Righting the Wrong Alon Ben-Meir* New York (The Hawk): The Congressional committee investigating the January 6 insurrection began the first of its public hearings yesterday. Each of these is of the highest importance to the country, even if many Americans are unlikely to be swayed by them. Last Thursday’s hearing revealed never-before-seen footage of the violence that erupted in the nation’s capital, and testimony from officials and advisors close to Trump (including Attorney General Barr and Ivanka Trump) made it clear that they did not believe Trump’s fabrication of a stolen election and told him so.These hearings are crucial to our Republic, to maintaining the integrity of our democratic norms and institutions, and to preventing not simply another violent mob outbreak, but another attack on our democracy orchestrated, as this was, by the highest office in the land. Indeed, what happened on January 6, 2021, was unprecedented in our history. It was the culmination of a concerted months-long effort by the President of the United States to halt the transfer of power and stage a coup that would have meant the end of this country as we know it, had he been successful.The rule of law hung in the balance that day. Trump knowingly lied and continues to lie about the results of the 2020 election, and he summoned a mob to the capital promising that January 6 would be “Wild” – a last ditch effort to prevent the certification of Biden’s election victory. Every president in our nation’s history has honored the constitutional duty to relinquish power and allow the peaceful transfer of executive authority – every president that is, until Donald Trump.This is what many Americans still fail to grasp or acknowledge: Trump struck at the very heart of our democracy, he broke a solemn oath and in doing so he has made it easier for this to happen again. If presidents are unwilling to honor the results of free and fair elections, then the future of this Republic in the gravest of danger. As it is, Trump has forever stained the office of the president: in breaking his oath to the constitution he has irrevocably broken the sacred trust between the American people and their chief executive.Nothing will ever change the fact that a sitting president attempted an illegal, unconstitutional, and profoundly immoral coup to remain in power; that is a cause not only for the gravest concern but for the deepest sadness. These hearings then are among the most important ever conducted in the 246 years since this nation was born, for they bear on nothing less than the very survival of this country as a constitutional democracy.The existential danger that burst into deadly mob violence on January 6 has not been laid to rest, it is ongoing. It is still poisoning our country and casting a shadow over the next presidential election. Trump continues to lie to the public; Republican lawmakers continue to parrot those lies and downplay what happened on January 6 or excuse and even justify it as “legitimate political discourse.” If a mob attack on the Capitol is “legitimate political discourse” then our fate is already sealed – it is, then only a matter of time until the next violent insurrection; and the next one may well make January 6 look like a mere rehearsal.If Trump had his way, then Vice-President Pence would have also broken his oath to the constitution and derailed the certification of electoral votes. Our continued existence as a Republic might very well have hung on Pence’s actions that day. The mob’s response was to call for Pence to be hanged, and a noose and scaffold was erected apparently for that very purpose. What was Trump’s reaction when he was told that the mob was calling for Pence’s summary execution? His words were: “Maybe our supporters have the right idea.” Mike Pence “deserves” it.Trump did not want the attack to stop, responded angrily to advisors that begged him to call off the mob, and supported their aim to see Mike Pence, one of his most loyal followers, hanged. The country as a whole must reckon with and acknowledge what a sitting president perpetrated and the existential harm he brought on this country with his reckless, abhorrent, and illegal actions. To be sure, Trump was personally and directly responsible for the worst attack on the Capitol since 1814, and as long as he is at the helm of the Republican Party, he remains a very serious threat to the United States.The Republican Party has been irredeemably hijacked by Trump’s autocratic ambitions. In following him they are bringing this country ever closer to another existential precipice. Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming – effectively excommunicated from the Republican Party simply for performing her sworn duty as a member of Congress – said what every Republican lawmaker “defending the indefensible” must hear and take to heart: “There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.”Indeed, if these hearings assure us of anything it is that history will not be able to forget or deny the peril in which the nation was placed by a violent mob deployed by the President of the United States to overturn the result of a legitimate elections.It is now clear, even before we hear more testimony, that Trump and his co-conspirators engineered a coup to prevent the peaceful transfer of power even though he handedly lost the election. Trump knowingly violated the constitution that he swore to uphold and protect. Thus, there should be no doubt in anybody’s mind that he has committed treason against the United States, for which he must be charged and face his day in court. *Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies for over 20 years.

The Congressional committee investigating the January 6 insurrection began the first of its public hearings yesterday. Each of these is of the highest importance to the country, even if many Americans are unlikely to be swayed by them. 

A Treasonous President And A Nation In Peril

M R Lalu Mohan Bhagwat, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief has always been viewed as a media-savvy person, a perspective that I personally disagree with. The RSS chiefs, according to my understanding and study, meet the media rarely and when they do, their views capture headlines. This is because not only Mohan Bhagwat, but also his predecessors maintained the norm of not making media-centric remarks for popularity, which I think; the outfit has been strictly following. Bhagwat is known for his highly influential and intellectual deliberations. In the RSS, what I understand is its cadre swallows the ideology that its hierarchy pedals, without questioning it. There are genuine reasons to put the philosophy that the Sangh propagates to critical examination. The Sangh’s pursuit to identify India as one cultural entity with diversity sprouting from across the span of its existence is mutually accepted by many in the country. Probably, nobody contradicts that view but when it calls that diversity, the basic structure, on which the idea of India exists as Hindutva, disagreements pour in from all directions. But its outreach for dialogues with its ideological opponents needs to be seen as a remarkable faculty that the RSS holds. The interpretations that Mohan Bhagwat made on the Gyanvapi row must have, to some extent, doused the temperature that the BJP and some units in the Sangh Parivar have been gearing up with. The BJP must have had a plan to keep the heat building up until the state and national elections are over-a well calibrated move before 2024. But now, the siblings in the ‘parivar’ under the umbrella of the Sangh need to hold their tongue before they step out with aggressive bad-mouthing on issues that are under dispute.The Muslim community in India should have welcomed the statement of Bhagwat at Nagpur. While addressing the delegates of the third year Officers Training Camp (OTC), the Sangh chief made the opinion of the RSS public, on the disputes that the media and the courts are extensively exploring. He said it was futile and unnecessary to look for shivling in every mosque. This indeed has come as an acceptance by the Sangh on the volatility that such disputes could push this country into, especially, when it realises that radical changes with long standing effect can happen only if it manages to grab power at the centre again. Its political tool the BJP, that the RSS devised to capture the country politically, has been prospering successfully breaking the brittle bones of major parties including that of the Congress. We need to understand the success the Sangh was capable of making through the BJP in India. Everybody at the power centres including the President and the Prime Minister of the country, walk along with the Sangh ideology. The RSS, for that matter, stays behind with a steady silence when controversies erupt, while its organisational arms such as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and many more organisations under its umbrella are planted to speak for its cause. While the RSS presents its views amicably without damaging its stature, it keeps the radical and most inflictive and aggressive Bajrang Dal or VHP in the front row to respond to issues that can rake up outrage in the country for its cause and also to frame counter narratives. This needs to be seen as a diplomatic somersault of the Sangh.The RSS, in a way, is happy and complacent to have made a larger section of the country accept the Hindutva ideology that it was vocal about. Leaders in the opposition parties were also forced to publicly admit their Hindu identity despite their efforts to woo the minorities. Rahul Gandhi’s temple visits and Mamata Banerjee’s proclamation on her Hindu identity in public was an ideological victory for the RSS that it kept on hammering since 1925. It was also capable of expanding its presence in the civil society and the state institutions tremendously. Eight years of Modi Raj in India has intensified the ecosystem that the RSS was struggling to build. The ambiance that the Modi rule could generate for the Sangh’s growth in India was remarkable. The Sangh could not have achieved the stature and status that it did, had the BJP under the persona of Modi been not in power. The common mistake that every critique of RSS is prone to make is his ignorance on the depth into which the RSS has managed to send its roots. To fathom the space into which it has stretched its reach can be a subject of academic research. Whatever, the RSS has always managed to distance itself from maximum controversial issues, intelligently playing from behind the curtain- a strategy it has been playing out for years. Most of the controversial issues that the RSS is blamed for were not directly fuelled by the outfit. Now, the difficulty is with the BJP. After Bhagwat’s views on the Gyanvapi controversy, the party needs to cautiously inch in the direction of moulding the issues that it identified as political game-changers. Issues similar to Gyanvapi have been set to boil in the poll bound states of Karnataka and Gujarat and the RSS chief has probably sprayed water on the prospects that the party has been dreaming about.The BJP leadership is fully aware of the potentiality of the RSS on the ground to toil the party to victory. That was the reason the top leaders of the party were cautious before they expressed their views on Mohan Bhagwat’s statements and also urged its rank and file to refrain from making comments in public. The Sangh had been vocal on its stance on three important spiritual places Ayodhya, Mathura and Kashi. It always maintained its stand on the spiritual importance of these places to the Hindus. Though the Sangh chief was critical about the frequent sweltering of controversies on every worship place under dispute, Bhagwat was firm on the faith that was attached to Gyanvapi by the Hindus. Essentially, his remarks on the fresh controversy on Gyanvapi should be seen as an attempt to nullify the damage, the blot, that it strongly believes a particular section of the media in India and abroad have been trying to cause to its image. Its outreach to the Muslims by incorporating a new wing to the Parivar, the&nbsp;Muslim Rashtriya Manch&nbsp;has been an endeavour to entice the Muslims to recognise the cultural ancestry that the RSS believes both the Hindus and the Muslims share in common. The Sangh first passed a resolution on Kashi in its Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), its highest decision making body, in 1959 and its resolution on Ayodhya came much later in 1987. Kashi was on its cards from the beginning itself, Mathura and Ayodhya were subsequent attachments. Many resolutions on disputed sites were passed in its meetings again and again but the organisation abstained from taking any controversial issue except Ayodhya into the streets. Mohan Bhagwat’s call for restraint and adherence to the court ruling is an approach that everybody in India can embrace with a sigh of relief.—The Hawk Features

Mohan Bhagwat, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief has always been viewed as a media-savvy person, a perspective that I personally disagree with. The RSS chiefs, according to my understanding and study, meet the media rarely and when they do, their views capture headlines.

RSS &  Its  Unburdening of  the  Commnual  Trap

Chandan Sharma*Are we sitting on terror bomb and waiting to happen something bigger? The recent killing, mostly targeted, although discussed in the details during the high level meeting on last Friday in New Delhi. The meeting was attended by top brass of government and security officials including Home Minister, National Security Advisor, Army Chief, Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha and several other top security officials. Reports say that restructure of the security forces in the state is obvious considering the sudden surge in the killings and upcoming Amarnath pilgrimage. Moreover, it is interesting to see that the US releases report on religious freedom on the same day criticising status of religious freedom in the country. It may be another co-incident that Tehrik-e-Taliban, the outlawed Pakistani Taliban announces indefinite ceasefire with the Pakistan’s government a day ahead of meeting. Although, India has strongly criticised the US report and said that it is biased but thesituation in Kashmir certainly speaks a lot about it after the recent spurt in the killings of Hindus in the valley. But what is being ignored consistently, apprehension of resurgence of IS in Asia. Thelong span of pandemic outbreak and the unprecedented outbreak of conflict in the Eurasian region did not leave much scope for discussion about terror or IS. Several sympathisers of IS has been arrested earlier in the country and in the sub- continent. But the recent report about the rise of IS in the East Asian region is certainly a matter of concern. The report says that several East Asian nations including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand too are facing the situation due to the rise of the IS. According to the report, published in The Diplomat, “Not much was known about the Islamic State’s new leader for its so-called East Asia province, which encompasses Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and, according to a terrorism monitor, also Thailand. The Diplomat has recently learned the background and source of radicalization of the leader, best known by his nom de guerre Abu Zacharia, the chief of an IS-supporting terror outfit in the the southern Philippines known as the Maute group.”“On March 2, 2022, the Armed Forces of the Philippines announced that Abu Zacharia, whose real name is Jer Mimbantas, is the new Southeast Asian emir of the Islamic State. He is also known as Faharudin Hadji Satar”, the report says. Then-Southeast Asian emir of the Islamic State, Isnilon Hapilon, who was also a leader of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group (ASG), and a Maute group leader, Omar Maute, were the siege leaders. They were killed during a historic ambush toward the end of the siege in October 2017.&nbsp;The online magazine also says quoting an Indonesian government-affiliated terrorism researcher, Ulta Levenia Nababan, that Abu Zacharia was a nephew of the late Alim Abdul Aziz Mimbantas, the vice chairman for military affairs of the Moro IslamicLiberation Front (MILF), a former insurgent group that is now friendly with the Philippine government.Now those are aware of the ultra radical IS know well that it does not take much time to spread in the region. As Kashmir is still a vulnerable place for such terror activities. The recent killings must be investigated in the light of these developments apart from other security concerns as well as security threats from neighbourhood. And, East Asia is not far away; especially when ‘budding ground of terror’ Pakistan is our neighbour.—The Hawk Features*Chandan Sharma has been visiting faculty with Delhi University and writes on various global issues.

Are we sitting on terror bomb and waiting to happen something bigger? The recent killing, mostly targeted, although discussed in the details during the high level meeting on last Friday in New Delhi. 

Kashmir killings: Is it an indication of IS resurgence!

New Delhi: As a celebration of the recognition given to noted Hindi author Geetanjali Shree and Translations by the International Booker Prize 2022, Niyogi Books has re-introduced her debut novel ‘Mai’, translated to English as ‘Mai: Silently Mother’ by Nita Kumar. The novel offers an insight to the three generations of women and men around them set in a North Indian middle-class family. The events revolve around the protagonist Mai or the mother, giving the readers a glimpse of the dynamics of relationships, patriarchy, societal prejudices, struggle, survival, and much more. Since childhood, Sunaina, the narrator and also the daughter of the household, aspires to be different than her mother or Mai whom she perceives as weak, imprisoned, abused and suppressed by her husband and in-laws.The story begins with: We always knew mother had a weak spine. But, Rajjo, the mother, was not inherently a spineless creature as the author seemed to have suggested. Rajjo is what she is because she is part of a certain kind of middle class, patriarchal family. Hers is not the problem of Indian women or of mothers, and certainly not of ‘women’. Yet, Mai presents us with a mother-heroine, like Sethe in Toni Morrison’s ‘Beloved’ (1987), who can leave us questioning the joys of motherhood and at many places of that of womanhood as well.Is the always self-sacrificing mother as weak as we perceive her to be? Are women really caged or do they want themselves to be caged? The author poses several relevant questions against the social stereotypes during the course of this simple yet sly novel. The novel will provoke contradicting thoughts about social perception, family, relationships, or hierarchy and give you a perspective you may have never imagined of. ‘Mai: Silently Mother’ received the Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize in 2002. It was also shortlisted for the Crossword Book Award 2001.—IANS

As a celebration of the recognition given to noted Hindi author Geetanjali Shree and Translations by the International Booker Prize 2022, Niyogi Books has re-introduced her debut novel ‘Mai’, translated to English as ‘Mai: Silently Mother’ by Nita Kumar.

Niyogi Re-Introduces 2022 International Booker Prize Winner Geetanjali Shree’s Debut Novel ‘Mai: Silently Mother’

Many UN agencies were created that have and continue to provide critically important assistance in many fields, saving the lives and wellbeing of millions of people. Meanwhile, the UNSC has failed to maintain international peace and security which was its intended purpose. What it needs now is comprehensive reforms to make it relevant again. Alon Ben-Meir* Righting the Wrong New York (The Hawk): Any fair analysis of the United Nations strongly suggests that the UN of today is not the same UN that was established in 1945. The United Nations Security Council in particular, which was intended to maintain international peace and security, has sadly outlived its usefulness in its current makeup. It has, for all intents and purposes, been paralyzed due to its own structural fault line that provides the five permanent member states—the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and France—veto power. Whereas political consideration and self-interest understandably influenced their respective decisions, their veto power has often been used to meet one state or another’s narrow political interest regardless of its impact on international peace and security.The composition of the UNWhen the UN was established, 51 countries were member states of the General Assembly (GA). Presently, there are 193 member states, along with two Permanent Observer states (the Holy See and Palestine). The GA can pass resolutions by a simple majority that expresses only a general consensus but without any enforcement powers. The problem here is that although the number of states in the GA has quadrupled and represents the entire international community, the Security Council’s size and permanent makeup has not changed, granting decision-making powers over binding resolutions to an increasing disproportionately small number of nations.The United Nations Security CouncilThe UNSC (the Council) is composed of 5 permanent states: The United States, Russia (the successor nation of founding member USSR), China, the United Kingdom, and France. These countries were accorded veto power because of their status as both great powers and the victors in World War II. They continue to exercise that power even though they do not represent the changing global demographic composition or realities of current geopolitical power.Moreover, whereas the Council was bestowed with the powers to maintain peace and international security with enforceable mechanisms, it has generally failed to reach consensus on enforcing its own resolutions. Thus, many countries who committed even egregious violations of the UN Charter have not generally been punished, which in many ways signaled that any country can violate the Charter and do so with impunity.The creation of UN agenciesAlthough the UN has lagged greatly in its intended purpose to maintain international peace and security, it has over the years established many agencies that provide significant humanitarian assistance in many fields. Among the most important agencies are the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, World Food Program, International Monetary Fund, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Health Organization, High Commissioner for Refugees, and UN Women. In this respect, the UN has become a massive relief organization.UN Peacekeeping ForcesAnother important branch of the UN is its peacekeeping forces. In many cases the peacekeepers rendered important services to keep the peace in different areas of conflict and in different times; currently, peacekeeping missions are ongoing in the Golan, Cyprus, Kosovo, Lebanon, Mali, Central African Republic, Western Sahara, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, and India and Pakistan, to maintain ceasefires, prevent outbreaks of violence in contentious areas, promote human rights, support humanitarian services, and support stabilization efforts as each individual mission requires.On the whole, however, UN peacekeeping forces have become basically an afterthought to the global community as an increasing number of states no longer view UN forces as effective in their missions, and as the UN fails to hold accountable peacekeepers who commit human rights abuses, particularly sexual abuse and exploitation. Nevertheless, as the World Bank notes, “every study that looked at diverse types of peacekeeping missions found that the UN was more effective in preventing and reducing violence than non-UN missions, and that stronger mandates and larger missions increased the likelihood of any mission’s success.”In recent years, however, there has been a decrease in funding for UN peacekeeping forces, particularly due to the Trump administration’s withholding of full funding, which may eventually lead to dispatching of fewer and fewer peacekeepers, especially if more countries refuse to provide their share of funds.Reforming the Security CouncilRegardless of the importance of the humanitarian agencies, given the increasing violent conflicts around the world, the importance of the Security Council’s task to maintain international peace and security must become again central to the functioning of the UN. Due to the present makeup of the Council, however, it cannot operate in that capacity unless significant reforms are undertaken. As a case in point, one must only look at the behavior of Russia at the onset of its invasion of Ukraine, where Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia denied in the midst of the invasion that it was not a war but only a “special military operation.” He also vetoed numerous resolutions condemning Russia’s actions, a move that Norwegian Ambassador Mona Juul criticized, stating “A veto cast by the aggressor undermines the purpose of the council. It’s a violation of the very foundation of the U.N. Charter.”It will be presumptuous on my part to provide the kind of reforms necessary to make the council relevant to international peace and security. Many have tried before me and sadly to no avail. One thing though is clear. For the Security Council to meet its obligation and responsibility and be effective in maintaining peace and security, it must first and foremost represent the demographic makeup of the international community. In addition, given the fact that the current countries on the Security Council will not relinquish their veto power voluntarily or by any provision in the UN Charter, the following partial reforms stand at least a small chance of being adopted. To that end, the following should be considered: -The Security Council should expand from 15 to 21 member states.-Nine states or regional unions will be granted permanent membership with veto power: the EU, the US, Russia, China, India, Indonesia to represent Asian countries, Brazil to represent the Latin American countries, the Arab League, and the African Union. Naturally the UK could present a major obstacle in this format, as it is no longer a member of the EU and would thus lose representation on the Council.-Twelve other countries in the Security Council would rotate every two years based on the current format.-A resolution can only be vetoed if two countries exercise their veto power.-The Security Council will establish an enforcement mechanism to ensure that its resolutions are carried out.-The Security Council will be empowered to resolve current violent conflicts and mediate other conflicts before they become violent.-The General Assembly will have the power to override any veto by a two-thirds majority.-The current global population is approximately 7.9 billion, and the total population of the above states or unions is 5.8 billion.As such, the Security Council would represent 73 percent of the global population, instead of the current Council makeup which only represents a paltry 25 percent, lower even than the 35 percent of the global population that the permanent UNSC members represented at its creation.As I indicated above, this may well be a farfetched idea, but then again, we must begin to think seriously about reforming the Security Council if we want the UN to perform the way it was intended to. Indeed, violent conflicts are on the rise, countries are infringing on the sovereignty of other weaker countries, and still many old conflicts remained unsolved. Together we are witnessing a far greater global volatility.To stem these tides, we need a renewed effort to reform the UN Security Council and give it the power to resolve conflict peacefully. *Dr Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies for over 20 years.

Any fair analysis of the United Nations strongly suggests that the UN of today is not the same UN that was established in 1945. The United Nations Security Council in particular, which was intended to maintain international peace and security, has sadly outlived its usefulness in its current makeup.

The UNSC Is In Desperate Need Of Comprehensive Reforms

Bhupender Yadav*The India of Amrit Kaal that PM Narendra Modi has envisioned and the work on which is underway honours its ‘wealth creators’ and works tirelessly for its ‘Shram Yogis’ because the welfare and prosperity of the two are intrinsically linked. And together their welfare lays the foundation of a New India. The PM’s 2021 Independence Day speech made lowering regulatory cholesterol a policy priority. He said, “We want such an India where the government doesn’t interfere with the lives of citizens. Every rule, every process that has stood before the people of the country as a hindrance, as a burden, we have to remove it.”The new labour laws are thus designed in a way to ensure that interests of both businesses and people who work for the businesses are protected. The new laws are in tune with the changing labour market trends and at the same time accommodate the minimum wage requirement and welfare needs of the unorganised sector workers, including the self-employed and migrant workers. Labour reforms have been completed by subsuming multiple laws into four Labour Codes which have addressed existing central labour laws, encompassing a plethora of authorities, burdensome compliances, registrations, inspections, licenses, and registers/forms. The reforms will strengthen workers’ social security in both the organised and unorganised sectors. Transformative and game-changing aspects of the Labour Codes include freeing India’s entrepreneurs from the burden of unnecessary and excessive compliances and imprisonment provisions under old labour laws. Consider some of the clauses in the old regulatory laws: Imprisonment between 3 months and 1 year for not maintaining records of colour washing, varnishing/painting of canteens under Factories Act and related rules Imprisonment between 1 and 3 years for not furnishing annual return of holidays to Inspector, under Factories Act and related Rules Imprisonment between 3 months and 1 year for not-displaying Notice showing date of payment of wages under the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 and similarly for several other minor omissions which emanate from various laws framed in the past 100 years. Considering the old laws to be a hindrance in India’s growth story, Parliament passed the four Codes in 2020 viz, the Code on Wages, 2019; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; the Code on Social Security, 2020; the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020. In doing so, the government addressed the issues of excessive criminal provisions in labour laws. The root cause of such excessive regulatory cholesterol of criminalisingminor offences stems from a particular section in almost all Acts and referred to as ‘General Penalty for Offences’. For instance, the Factories Act provides in section 92, under General Penalty for Offences: “if in, or in respect of, any factory there is any contravention of any of the provision of this Act or any rules made thereunder or of any order in writing giving thereunder, the occupier and the manager of the factory shall each be guilty of an offence and punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend up to 2 years or with fine which may extend to 1 lakh rupee or with both….” Similar ‘General Penalty’ clauses exist in most Acts in the country including Environment Protection Act, 1986 and Inter-State Migrant Workmener Act. Imprisonment provisions under such General Penalty Clauses have been removed under the new the new Labour Codes. At the same time, to ensure that an employer has a functioning and well-oiled internal organisational and operational mechanism to check non-compliance, monetary fines have been increased multifold. The reason why this has been done is that imprisonment is too severe a consequence for economic offences that do not involve mala fide intent. These reforms will significantly contribute to India’s ease of doing business index. On the other hand, there were concerns that the Labour Codes would not adequately provide for the prosecution of employers, and it may be lenient towards employers committing offences. However, appropriate safeguards have been incorporated in all the Labour Codes to ensure that there is no leniency in dealing with the malafide intent of employers where ever it exists. It is relevant to note that prosecution for certain offences such as insurance and provident fund contributions which have been deducted by the employer but not paid are construed as intentional and willful default and have been strictly dealt with under the law. The Codes do not allow employers&amp;#39; grave and intentional contraventions to go unpunished. The grounds for prosecutions have however been restructured to ensure that an unintentionally errant employer or a one- time offence committed by an employer does not lead to unnecessary and undue harsh consequences.A statutory provision has also been introduced in the Labour Codes which states that an inspector may give an “Improvement Notice” to an establishment or to a delinquent employer to amend mistakes and make good the losses suffered by the worker or improve the situation/default which the inspector/assessing officer has noticed. Such an approach not only promotes principles of natural justice but also strengthens the relationship between an employer and the worker as the aim and objective of the improvement notice is to redress the grievance of the workers, be it non-payment of wages or not providing certain information to the Government, rather than invoking the prosecution procedure. It also unburdens courts from the pressure of handling minor issues. For the first time, compounding of offences, except for offences grievous innature, has also been introduced in all Labour Codes. If punishable with imprisonment of up to one year, crimes committed for the first time can be compounded by an authorised officer. Compounding of repeat offences is also possible after a 3-5 years gap. Procedures for compounding the crimes have been made simple. Money collected from the composition of violations shall be credited to the social security fund maintained by State Governments and Central governments. Such funds can be utilised for the welfare of the unorganised workers.Labour being on the Concurrent List, decriminalisation of offences in Central labour laws will automatically apply to the areas falling within the jurisdiction of the State Governments and Central governments. The four Labour Codes have reduced the number of sections from 1,228 to 480, a 61% cut. On the initial assessment of imprisonment, there will be only 22 Sections in Labour Codes which will contain imprisonment as a penalty for a first-time offence. The Government has demonstrated its seriousness in reducing criminalisation for non-serious offences and allowed it to focus on universalising various benefits such as minimum wages and social security forall the country&amp;#39;s workers. Criminal penalties, especially the risk of imprisonment for minor and often unintentional offences, are a significant deterrent for today’s youngentrepreneurs. The decriminalisation of certain unintentional corporate crimes is desirable as far as possible because they deter both domestic and international investors. It is expected that decriminalisation of labour laws to will remove the fear of criminal prosecution from the minds of entrepreneurs, which would unleash the entrepreneurial spirits of our youth and will encourage them to set up more businesses; paving the way for a generation of employment which is the top-most priority of the Government. A trust-based approach towards employers will encourage them to align their business practices with Labour Codes and incentivise companies to ensure better compliance with our laws while promoting better human resource practices. Once in force, the Labour Codes will ensure that India moves confidently towards Atmanibharta as envisioned by PM Modi, by removing all obstacles from its way.—The Hawk*Union Minister of Labour &amp; Employment

The India of Amrit Kaal that PM Narendra Modi has envisioned and the work on which is underway honours its ‘wealth creators’ and works tirelessly for its ‘Shram Yogis’ because the welfare and prosperity of the two are intrinsically linked.

Decriminalisation of existing Labour Laws, securing Shram Yogis

M.R.LALUGruesome, horrific and bone-chilling- I know, the vocabulary to describe the massacres in schools across America cannot be limited to these three words. But the level of animosity that the young generation in this country is growing with is harrowing and I really believe that this gut-wrenching killing spree cannot be addressed with gun control alone. Much more needs to be done with respect to bring the young minds to sensitize the gravity of chaos their brains are enmeshed in. It should be unbelievable to know that America has more guns than the actual population of the state. The richest and the most developed country in the world has more than 400 million guns circulating among a population of nearly 332 million. Despite making economic affluence, America is largely a society stooping towards a complete moral decline. This appears to be a crude observation but on ground the situation is worsening with every passing day. The children who walked into the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde in Texas on 24 May 2022 would not have thought that the morning leisure time in their school would witness a bloodbath killing at least 19 of them and two adults in their lovely campus. Before taking his assault rifle to the school campus, the young killer Salvador Ramos checked the efficacy of the weapon that he procured a few days before his 18th birthday on his grandmother, shooting in her face. The reason behind this barbarity is yet to be uncovered but this is not the first of its kind the U.S witnessed - a mass shooting in a school. There have been such horrific massacres across the country and the one that happened in Stockton, California in 1989 was the first which killed five children. On December 14, 2012 in the Sandy Hook School of Newtown, Connecticut, the young shooter Adam Lanza was 20 years old and fearless when he pointed his assault rifle taking the lives of 20 children and 6 adults. 17 children were mercilessly gunned down by the young shooter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and the list continues. Imagine the trauma of the parents who, on that day, sent their children off to the school by the school bus and waited for their homecoming with jubilant faces. Shockingly, statistics reveal that hundreds of children were killed in mass shootings in the state of America in between 1989 to 2022.As per the studies carried out by different agencies, most of the cases of mass murder by the youngsters in the schools had a common feature which is staggering. Almost everywhere, before the mass killing, the shooters attempted to either kill someone at their homes or attempted at least an assault. It is indeed distressing to notice that most of the school shooters were either current or former students of those schools where they tested the precision of their weapons. There may be various reasons that provoked these young minds to carry out such terrible atrocities. A child, from his formative days would be influenced by various factors. The depth of influence that his parents are capable of having on him matters the most at this stage. As a society, America has been witnessing a rise of non-marital cohabitation and frequent divorce and the family life that a child is forced to grow through would find him totally distressing and wobbly. What we experience in India is totally different. In India, we have been focussing on strengthening family relationships from all possible dimensions. The values that we cherish as a family surely reinforce the bond among its members. We value the atmosphere in a family, respecting and recognising its effect on the children as they grow. From two parents to one parent to no parent, life of many children in America is actually inconsolable. Reasons to this level of mishmash in childhood must be enough for the young minds to become muddleheaded and satisfy the silent rebellion forced by the circumstances that they have been growing in. Children, with a childhood lost of its tenderness, love and care in broken families are bound to develop a rebellious itch against all who enjoy such faculties.&nbsp;The Pew Research Center, in its study reports share some interesting facts which probably can substantiate focusing on the reasons that push the young Americans to become atrocious at a young age. It reveals the speed with which the American families are breaking from two-parent households to single parent households or children growing without parents. The country is witnessing a rapid rise in divorce, remarriage and cohabitation, forcing the families to shrink. In a tumultuous family atmosphere, parenting is challenging and the children trapped in this volatility live in fear, horror and uncertainty and mostly with hatred for their parents. According to the Pew Research Report, 16% of children are living in “blended families” with a stepparent, step siblings or half sibling. A new estimate states that about one in five children born within a marriage will experience the breakup of the parents by age 9 and half of the children born within a cohabiting union will experience the breakup of their parents at the same age. This data is evident enough to unearth the reason, which is mainly the lack of moral values that the families are sailing with. A family without parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents at the family table and the whole family organ trimmed to an atom size, devoid of the beauty and the lovely mischief that a family, a replica of a society would have; would mostly be a volcano inside. The loneliness and the squabbles that the child finds as part of the family’s parental discourse and the absence of mutual respect amid affluence and a morality in decline contribute to his volatile behaviour.&nbsp;Broken families are mushrooming in India too; but of course, the trend is yet to gain momentum.A satisfactory assessment is that India has the lowest divorce in the world. It is almost lower than 1% in India. This may not be an awesome achievement, as many families are silent with the atmosphere inside them terribly obnoxious, and many of the upsetting issues never break open the walls or are concealed tight. In comparison to America’s 50% marriage breakups, India’s 1% is really praiseworthy. With Sweden ranking the highest in divorce rates followed by America, India is still in a better position. It is quite unlikely for India to face the situation that America does. But families should become more resourceful and centers of magnanimity and care where children can grow with self-respect and generosity.&nbsp;Violent family atmosphere ignites self-hate and despair among children as it did in the case of most of the school shooters in America. The solution to what we call an epidemic of gun violence in America is basically a course correction that every family needs to get ready to go for. A ban on assault rifles will be an initial administrative step that the country can take but it is for the people of the country to set their houses alright. To a large extent, India is a good example for value based families and happy parenting.—The Hawk Features

Gruesome, horrific and bone-chilling- I know, the vocabulary to describe the massacres in schools across America cannot be limited to these three words. But the level of animosity that the young generation in this country is growing with is harrowing and I really believe that this gut-wrenching killing spree cannot be addressed with gun control alone.

Fragile Family Atmosphere And The School Shootings In America

Girls have secured top three positions in the results of Union Public Service Commission's 2021 Civil Service Examination. Women have achieved the first position after seven years. The results are encouraging because the privileged elite as well as the youth belonging to ordinary backgrounds have been successful.

Girls Thrive in civil service exam results

Alon Ben-Meir*I am at a loss for words to describe my utter outrage, my excruciating pain, and my revulsion at yet another massacre in what has become an unending cycle of carnage wrought by guns. The perpetrators are not only the murderers themselves but the Republican members of Congress who enable them to commit such heinous crimes and thus become complicit in this unfathomable American tragedy. Righting the Wrong New York (The Hawk): Yet another elementary school shooting massacre has left 19 children and two teachers dead – this time in Uvalde, Texas. The gunman was an 18-year-old who is also dead. The victims in this case were mostly 8, 9, and 10-year-olds. The bloodletting that this country is experiencing daily due to gun violence is inflicting such suffering that it cannot be measured or grasped. Suffering that leaves every parent choked in anguish that cannot be assuaged, that cannot be compensated for, explained, or given some greater meaning. This is absolute, unfathomable loss. These parents who have lost children to inexplicable, murderous rage have been plunged into a nightmare from which they will never wake. This is a horror which defies any and all explanation, a horror which any decent society would prevent by any means necessary. Are we really willing to live in a country where a parent taking their 4-year-old to school must wonder whether their child will be alive at the end of the day, whether their child will be subjected to unspeakable terror? Just to grasp how epidemic mass shootings have become in this country, consider the fact that since the May 14 massacre in Buffalo NY that left ten people dead, sixteen mass shootings have occurred. Five mass shootings occurred the very next day on Sunday, May 15, claiming four lives and injuring twenty-three. How on earth can we as a country pretend that this is in any way normal, acceptable, or anything less than an indictment of our society which has become so desensitized to gun violence? Every American should be standing up and crying out for an end to this awful and shameful epidemic which is permitted to continue because we apparently regard the right to have easy access to lethal firearms as of greater merit and legitimacy than the right to live free from violence, mayhem, and senseless killing.President Biden said in the aftermath of yesterday’s shooting, “I am sick and tired of it. We have to act.” The New York Times reports today that Texas has seen eight mass shootings in the last 13 years – but it is important to note that the Times is defining a mass shooting as an incident in which a lone shooter has killed at least four people. That is not how it is defined by the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as an incident in which “a minimum of four victims [are] shot, either injured or killed, not including any shooter who may also have been killed or injured in the incident.”Under that definition there have been 179 mass shootings in Texas, since January 1, 2017. We have had literally decades to say enough is enough, now we must act. Yet no action or meaningful legislation is forthcoming – no action will be taken to strengthen background checks for gun buyers, no action will be taken to ban the sale of assault rifles which were used in Uvalde and in over 165 mass shootings in this country since the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre on December 14, 2012.The heartbroken parents who have had to endure unspeakable pain are told by political leaders that they have the prayers of the country; that they and the children they have lost will be remembered in the prayers of concerned Americans all across the nation. Prayers? Parents who lost a child do not need anybody’s prayers, good wishes, or social media self-displays of condolence and commiseration. They want their child to come back from school alive, to be held again, kissed again, and loved again. Offering prayers sounds disgustingly irrelevant to the nature of the crisis at hand.What the parents and every American that has lost a loved one to senseless shooting needs now is serious action—actual legislation that will curb the spate of gun violence which is consuming this country from within. The whole world is watching as America continues to destroy itself, its social bonds of trust, its duty to its children, through its obsession with protecting gun rights at all costs.We have fetishized the Second Amendment; we have turned it into an idol, an altar on which to sacrifice our children – as if we exist to serve and protect this single right. Do we truly need to protect at all costs whatever the right for people to have unimpeded access to firearms that belong nowhere but on the battlefield?Is this what any serious person could think the Second Amendment is about? Is anyone supposed to believe that the Founding Fathers were so concerned that an 18-year-old should be able to purchase an assault rifle for his birthday that they would safeguard that right above the right of an 8-year-old not to be gunned down in the middle of school?Senator Ted Cruz is scheduled to speak at the NRA’s annual meeting on Friday. What is he going to say, given that he claimed to be “sickened” by what occurred in Uvalde? Is he going to rise to the moment and tell the NRA that the country can no longer bear to watch this horror unfolding day by day?Is he going to say that the right to guns can be protected while enacting basic common-sense laws which will prevent this needless, and unimaginably cruel killing of society’s most innocent and vulnerable members? Is he going to say that enough is enough, that we must all, Democrats and Republicans alike, wake up and together pass legislation to end this American tragedy?Or will he simply repeat the same platitudes and refuse to lay any responsibility at the door of an organization whose overriding concern has been to protect America’s right to deadly firearms for profit? For politicians to seek the support of a corrupted organization to be elected, and close their eyes and numb their hearts to the bloodletting of thousands of innocent men, women, and children – if this is not an American tragedy, then what is?No, we can no longer settle for prayers, we can no longer settle for platitudes, we can no longer settle for promises. We need action and we need it now. Any Republican who refuses to pass sensible legislation that at a minimum reduces the frequency and the scope of these mass shootings has the blood of the dead on their hands. They must be held responsible for failing to act because they know full well that their inaction will certainly lead to the next mass shooting, and by refusing to act, they become complicit to the killings.The American tragedy is not limited to the carnage that is daily sweeping the nation. Our real tragedy is when the lives of our citizens become fair play and those who refuse to act are still in power. *Dr Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies for over 20 years.

Yet another elementary school shooting massacre has left 19 children and two teachers dead – this time in Uvalde, Texas. The gunman was an 18-year-old who is also dead. The victims in this case were mostly 8, 9, and 10-year-olds.

The American Tragedy

I only echo the voices of thousands who sounded the alarm before me, but then again it cannot be said enough. America is facing unprecedented social and political peril. We must mobilize every resource humanly possible to prevent a catastrophe from happening before it is too late.Righting the Wrong New York (The Hawk): Since Trump rose to power in 2016, my concerns about the future of America have only been gravely compounded. It never occurred to me that after 240 years of a successful experiment in democracy and the development of solid democratic institutions based on the will of the people, we would face such unimaginable social and political peril. President Biden has made significant progress in addressing some of these issues that have plagued us, especially in restoring America’s global leadership. That said, the prognosis for the mid-term elections suggests that the Republicans may well take back both the House and the Senate, and the possibility that Trump may run again and even win in 2024 should send shivers down the spine of every concerned American.Beware AmericaIt is not that I want to rehash the past, but what happened to America during Trump’s presidency continues to have horrifying implications as to where America is heading. Was it even conceivable that a thoroughly corrupt racist, who failed to win the popular vote, was impeached twice, lost reelection, conspired to reverse the result of a legitimate and fair election, and instigated an insurrection to seize power, would still unfathomably remain in command of his party? If this is not a terrifying prospect, what is?To be sure, the Republican party has slipped into a bottomless pit of political sewage. What does it say about the party that chose him? This is a party that has long since lost its moral bearing, a party that put its own interest above that of the nation, and a party that blindly followed an imposter and a liar only because he is shameless, bold, and crude, and served the party’s racist agenda. This is a party whose members seek the endorsement of a charlatan, a party that will stop short of nothing to regain power, including violence that will make the January 6 resurrection look like a mere rehearsal, which could lead to civil war.The shortcomings of the Republican party are numerous, but it suffices to mention only a few to demonstrate how dangerous the party has become to the future of this nation.Bigotry runs rampantThe Republican party is a bigoted party that embraces white supremacy, and being the minority party, it is terrified of the prospect that people of color will replace white America. Thus, bent on recapturing power, the party is enacting in every Republican state hundreds of electoral laws designed to deprive Black and Hispanic Americans of their right to vote through gerrymandering, voter ID laws, and other nefarious schemes that defy democracy. Racism is consuming America from within, and white supremacy, which has been allowed to run rampant, is poisoning America’s soul.Carnage of Americans by gun violenceThe Republican party refuses to pass gun control laws regardless of how many Americans are shot to death. Gun violence is destroying our youth, decimating families, and literally robbing this country of its future. Yet, knowing all this, the Republican party refuses to do anything to stem the tide of violence. Gun violence is now the number one cause of death for all children and teens between 1-19 years of age.More than 120 Americans are killed every day by firearms. How many more mass shootings must we endure before the Republican party comes to its senses? At a minimum, we must move to ban assault weapons and implement universal background checks. The recent racially-motivated shooting in Buffalo where 10 innocent people were shot to death should shock the conscience of any decent American. Yet Republicans seem to be numb to this American tragedy; even when 20 children—six and seven-year-olds—were gunned down in their school in 2012, Republicans still refused to act.Defying climate change to our perilAnother catastrophic failure of the Republican party is its refusal to acknowledge that climate change is real. The plethora of scientific evidence is indisputable and overwhelming, and denying climate change, which is already upon us, is tragic. As a result, we are now witnessing massive fires, hurricanes, an unprecedented rise in sea levels, droughts, and the destruction of coral reefs. Moreover, climate-related migration is rising due to increased flooding, storms, extreme weather events, and higher temperatures, while precipitating geopolitical instability.Erin Pettit, a glaciologist from Oregon State University, is alarmed at how fast ice is cracking up in Antarctic. “It was hugely surprising to see things changing that fast,” said Pettit. According to the Washington Post, satellite imagery revealed long, parallel fissures in the frozen expanse. This is a calamity in the making, but the Republican party couldn’t care less.Denying healthcare as a rightAnother vile attitude of the Republican party is its position regarding universal healthcare. The Republican party never understood that healthcare is a human right. Everyone has the right to receive the healthcare they need. It is simply inconceivable that the richest country in the world provides no basic access to healthcare, which is central to the wellbeing of society, especially to children whose health directly impacts their mental development.According to CEOWorld Magazine’s 2021 Health Care Index, the ten countries with the best health care are: South Korea, Taiwan, Denmark, Austria, Japan, Australia, France, Spain, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. It is disgraceful that the United States comes in 30th on the Index – behind Mexico, Greece, and Ecuador. One of the strongest arguments for universal health care is that it will foster a healthier population overall; a healthy population will be less prone to disease, and hence more productive and competitive, not to speak of the moral obligation that a responsible government must be guided by.Usurping women’s right to chooseOne more manifestation of the Republican party’s moral bottom is its treatment of women, especially denying them the right to abortion. Here we have white haired reactionary Republican men, controlling red states from governor’s mansions or legislative bodies, deciding what women can or cannot do with their bodies. How dare they? For 50 years they have been trying to reverse the landmark law Roe v. Wade ruling, and the Supreme Court, with a majority of conservative justices, is now poised to do just that.This conservative-dominated Supreme Court is thoroughly politicized and the justices’ assumed impartiality gives in to dogma on hot-button issues, and lately they have been putting ideology above remaining faithful to the letter and the spirit of the rule of law. The Court, which is tasked to uphold the sacred right of every American, is becoming an instrument in the hands of the Republican party, which has manipulated the nomination and confirmation process in recent years to ensure as many conservatives on the Court as possible. The overturning of Roe v. Wade will not be the end of the conservative assault on women’s rights but only the beginning. We can be sure that laws limiting access to contraception, prohibiting same sex marriage, and denying the rights of the LGBTQ+ community will be next.To understand how debased the Republican party has become, all we have to do is see who most of the party’s leadership follows. Trump represents a new moral bottom, a new definition of sleaziness, a new standard of sheer loathsomeness. Trump is not only a traitorous, lying, narcissistic con man — he is literally the embodiment of the rot and moral decay that is consuming America’s spirit. Trump is a cancer on the body politic and the longer the Republican party allows him and all that he represents to remain and fester, the closer this Republic will inch to suicide.Trump’s grip on the Republican Party is a sad testament to the spinelessness of its leadership, the majority of whom still subscribe to his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen; in recent primaries, those who backed his claim were predominantly rewarded. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that even if Trump is not the Republican nominee in 2024, whoever is will in all likelihood be aligned with Trumpism and even transcend it by their extremely twisted conservatism, which rivals even the most backward extremists such as the Taliban.A victory for Trumpism in 2024 will mean that this country will continue to see its democratic institutions and processes attacked and gradually eroded; toxic white supremacy will thrive and anti-immigration policies will be the order of the day; environmental deregulation will continue apace, and economic inequality will keep soaring to new and unprecedented heights. America’s global leadership will evaporate and spell the end of the country as we know it. Trumpism is literally poison that will destroy this country from within if it is permitted to grow.There are thousands of loyal and dedicated Republican officials who are just as concerned as I am about the future of this country but remain silent, fearing the wrath of their fellow party members. They must remember that their allegiance is to the country and to the constitution, which they took an oath to defend and protect. Their solemn duty is to raise the alarm now and save America before the extreme right destroys what this country has stood for, fought for, and sacrificed for over two and a half centuries.If the Republican party in its current ideological makeup ends up in control of both Congress and the presidency, it will be to America’s everlasting shame. It will be a confession that we have lost faith in our Constitution and in this Republic. The noble principle of electing a government of the people, by the people, and for the people will tragically vanish.I am only adding my voice to the thousands who preceded me. No one can say we were not warned. Beware America; time is running out. If we do not act now, it will be us who wrote the obituary of the American dream. *Dr Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies for over 20 years.

Since Trump rose to power in 2016, my concerns about the future of America have only been gravely compounded. It never occurred to me that after 240 years of a successful experiment in democracy and the development of solid democratic institutions based on the will of the people, we would face such unimaginable social and political peril. President Biden has made significant progress in addressing some of these issues that have plagued us, especially in restoring America’s global leadership.

Beware America

Narvijay Yadav*When I bought a packet of sandwich bread in the morning, the vendor said that the ‘price has increased’. Then I saw news in my newspaper that wheat is in short supply in many countries of the world.&nbsp;India&nbsp;has already banned the export of wheat.&nbsp;Russia&nbsp;and&nbsp;Ukraine&nbsp;have been two leading exporters of wheat in the past, who are locking horns for the time being affecting global affairs. In such a situation, there has been a shortage of wheat everywhere. This shortfall will go on in the coming days. People are criticizing&nbsp;Russia's stubborn leader Putin for aggravating troubles. After&nbsp;Corona, the absurd and protracted war between&nbsp;Russia&nbsp;and&nbsp;Ukraine&nbsp;has increased problems in the world. Prices of packaged ‘namkeens’, bread, chips and biscuits are increasing due to shortage of wheat and edible oils, but clever brands are playing a trick. Instead of increasing the printed price, they are reducing the size of the packets. The customer does not doubt due to the same price, although there is some confusion after getting the smaller packets. It is also happening that some products are being sold expensive in the cities, but the weight has been reduced in rural markets instead of increasing price.Summer is in full swing. Banda - a small town in UP, is melting. The temperature there reached 49 degrees the other day, highest in the world. If not for anything else, it flashed on the international weather map at least for scorching heat. Who grabs the headlines and for what, nobody knows exactly. So one should always be ready for every situation. As actor Anupam Kher says in one of his shows – ‘Kuchh Bhi Ho Sakta Hai’! Monsoon is expected to reach Kerala on May 27, slightly ahead of its scheduled time. Although the state is getting rains daily, even though it’s not monsoon rain. When the tempreture goes up, people travel to higher places. If the element of religion is added to the mountains, things get better. Perhaps that’s why there is a rush to go for Chardham Yatra. Over 34 pilgrims died on the way. From May 3 to May 16, more than 1.3 million pilgrims have registered for the Yatra. Most of those who died on the way had got Covid infection affecting their lungs. There is a lack of Oxygen at high altitudes and weak lungs do not support, hence death occurs. Those whose lungs have weakened due to Covid should avoid going to high places like Chardham or Ladakh, or they should go only after getting a medical consultation. The mantras of worship are often in Sanskrit and there is good news for Sanskrit lovers. Google has included Sanskrit in the list of 133 languages in its translation app. Apart from Sanskrit, 23 other languages of&nbsp;India&nbsp;including Bhojpuri, Dogri are part of Google Translate. Translation is of great importance in the exchange of knowledge and culture in the world. It is only after translation that the literature of one language is read among those who know the other language. If there is no translation, then the literature of different languages of&nbsp;India&nbsp;and languages of other countries of the world could not see the light.—The Hawk Features*The writer is a senior journalist &amp; columnist.

When I bought a packet of sandwich bread in the morning, the vendor said that the ‘price has increased’. Then I saw news in my newspaper that wheat is in short supply in many countries of the world.

Growing heat, vanishing wheat, shrinking size

The silent shores of the french riviera are all set to host the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. As the focus country at the Opening Night of ‘Marche Du Films’ this year, India intends to give the global audience a flavour of the country’s cinematic excellence, technological prowess, rich culture and illustrious heritage of storytelling.

India: Content Hub of the World is ‘Country of Honour’ at Cannes

Narvijay Yadav*The 15th Census of India was held in 2011. This process is repeated every ten years, hence the 16th census was scheduled in 2021, which was postponed due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has announced that the next census of the country will be done digitally, and no citizen will be left out. Be it this year or next, the e-Census may be final. It is quite possible that after this the census will never be conducted again. All the data from the birth of infants to the death of adults will continue to be collected in digital form and the government will automatically send the information to the eligible citizens for various public welfare schemes, which will remove all the discrepancies. For this, the central government is going to amend the Birth-Death Registration Act. The draft of the amended law is in its final stages. It is estimated that the new law may come into force in the country before the start of the census in 2022. To make e-Census more scientific, modern technologies will be added to it.&nbsp;After the amendment of the law, the account of birth and death of citizens will reach the central government. Every birth and death will be registered by 2024. The birth and death register will also be linked to the census. This means that the census will be updated automatically after every birth and death in the country. This step of the government will actually reinforce the concept of 'One Nation One Data'. At present, this data reaches the center after a long wait through the states. At present, many cards are being used like Aadhar, Driving License, Voter ID, Passport and Ration Card, which people get made, but often these cards are not closed after their death. Because of this, unnecessary data keeps getting collected and there is a risk of misuse of these documents, while the benefits of facilities are not accessible to the eligible persons. After the amendment of the law, the wait of ten years for the census will end. The complete picture of the country's population will continue to reach the center every month, which will help in making new schemes.&nbsp;The next census will be the e-Census and based on this, the development plan of the country for the next 25 years will be prepared. After birth, the details will be added to the census register and after s/he turns 18, the name will be included in the voter list and after death, the name will be deleted. This will make it easier to change the name and address. Earlier this year, the central government had talked about some amendments in the rules to allow online self-counting in the upcoming census and the National Population Register (NPR). The announcement was made in 2020, but was postponed in view of the pandemic. The Center recently extended the deadline for change of jurisdiction for all states to June 30, 2022. Earlier this deadline was December 31, 2021. For the first time in the 140-year history of Census in&nbsp;India, it is proposed to collect data through a mobile app. Census provides invaluable socio-economic data, which form a reliable basis for policy making.—The Hawk Features*The writer is a senior journalist &amp; columnist.

The 15th Census of India was held in 2011. This process is repeated every ten years, hence the 16th census was scheduled in 2021, which was postponed due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has announced that the next census of the country will be done digitally, and no citizen will be left out. Be it this year or next, the e-Census may be final.

The next Census will be Digital and the final

Vijay Garg* A team of scientists has mapped a&nbsp;huge, actively circulating ground-water system in deep sediments&nbsp;in West Antarctica. The team at&nbsp;Columbia University estimated&nbsp;that if all of it were extracted, it&nbsp;would form a water column from&nbsp;220 to 820 metres high -- at least&nbsp;10 times more than in the shallow&nbsp;hydrologic systems within and at&nbsp;the base of the ice -- maybe much&nbsp;more even than that. However, they noted that said such systems, prob-ably common in Antarctica, may&nbsp;have as-yet unknown implications&nbsp;for how the frozen continent reacts&nbsp;to, or possibly even contributes to,&nbsp;climate change.“People have hypothesised that&nbsp;there could be deep groundwa-ter in these sediments, but up to&nbsp;now, no one has done any detailed&nbsp;imaging,” said lead author Chloe&nbsp;Gustafson, who did the research&nbsp;as a graduate student at Columbia&nbsp;University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth&nbsp;Observatory. Scientists have, for&nbsp;decades, flown radars and other&nbsp;instruments over the Antarctic ice&nbsp;sheet to image subsurface features.&nbsp;Among many other things, these&nbsp;missions have revealed sedimen-tary basins sandwiched between&nbsp;ice and bedrock.But airborne&nbsp;geophysics can generally reveal&nbsp;only the rough outlines of such&nbsp;features, not water content or&nbsp;other characteristics. In the re-search appearing in the journal&nbsp;Science, the team concentrated&nbsp;on the 60-mile-wide Whillans Ice&nbsp;Stream, one of a half-dozen fast-moving streams feeding the Ross&nbsp;Ice Shelf, the world’s largest.To&nbsp;better map the sediments and their&nbsp;properties, they used geophysical&nbsp;instruments placed directly on&nbsp;the surface.Their analysis showed that, de-pending on location, the sediments&nbsp;extend below the base of the ice&nbsp;from a half kilometre to nearly two&nbsp;kilometres before hitting bedrock.&nbsp;And they confirmed that the sedi-ments are loaded with liquid water&nbsp;all the way down. They were also&nbsp;able to show that the groundwater&nbsp;becomes more saline with depth.However, the researchers said,&nbsp;if the ice surface were to thin --&nbsp;a distinct possibility as climate&nbsp;warms -- the direction of water flow&nbsp;could be reversed. Overlying pres-sures would decrease, and deeper&nbsp;groundwater could begin welling&nbsp;up toward the ice base. This could&nbsp;further lubricate the base of the ice&nbsp;and increase its forward motion.—The Hawk Features*Retired Principal, Malout, Punjab

A team of scientists has mapped a huge, actively circulating ground-water system in deep sediments in West Antarctica.

Groundwater below Antarctica

&nbsp;Vijay Garg* &nbsp;It is a matter of childhood days.&nbsp;She studied in first grade.&nbsp;Father was in Kannauj in those days.&nbsp;Nearby was Unnao, through which the Ganges flowed.&nbsp;One day the parents thought that bathing in the Ganges should be done.&nbsp;Went early in the morning.&nbsp;Get off the station and walk.&nbsp;There were brothers as well.&nbsp;long road.&nbsp;Trees laden with mangoes on both sides.&nbsp;Just brothers would pick up the pebbles from the road and toss them towards the trees and many mangoes would fall down.&nbsp;Thus by the time they reached the banks of the Ganges, the whole bag was filled with mangoes.&nbsp;Father immersed the bag full of mangoes in the cold water of the Ganges, so that the mangoes become cold.&nbsp;Later fresh aromatic indigenous mangoes were eaten with great taste.&nbsp;Then even in the villages, the fruits lying on the ground seemed like a boon to the children.&nbsp;While passing by the fruit trees, picking Amiya, Jamun, Tamarind etc. was his favorite hobby.&nbsp;He used to collect a lot of such fruits on his way to and from school.&nbsp;The children who did not get the fortune of getting the fruits were disappointed.&nbsp;Sometimes the children who got fruits, shared them with other children and ate them too.&nbsp;Then there was no sense how to eat the fruit lying on the ground.&nbsp;This is seen a lot in cities.&nbsp;There are many Jamun trees on Tolstoy Road in Connaught Place.&nbsp;During the rainy season so many berries fall there that after being crushed by the feet of passers-by, the road turns purple.&nbsp;But it is fun that someone can be seen picking them up.&nbsp;To do so people may feel against their pride.&nbsp;Nowadays, fruit trees are not visible on the side of the roads.&nbsp;In the olden days, those shady trees were planted on the side of the road, where when the passers-by walked, the shade of the trees could protect them from the sun and heat.&nbsp;Not only this, people can also eat fruits when needed.&nbsp;Trees were usually planted along the roads, which have a long life.&nbsp;But these days when roads are being constructed, there is no thought of planting trees on their sides.&nbsp;Even if some trees and plants are planted, they are for decoration.&nbsp;If you look at the highways running for hundreds of kilometers, then there is no tree anywhere.&nbsp;Unfortunately, if a bus, car or two wheeler breaks down on the way, then there is no place where you can stand peacefully for two moments.&nbsp;After all, how was the relationship between the road and the trees, that too shady and fruit trees, broken.&nbsp;Even today, tamarind, jamun trees are seen in abundance in New Delhi, which were planted by an Englishman, not us, but these days like no one cares.&nbsp;What's more, no care is taken for the convenience of the pedestrians.&nbsp;Many years ago I saw an old man on the banks of Yamuna Expressway.&nbsp;They tried to cross the road again and again, but at the sight of the swaying vehicles, they turned away in fear.&nbsp;Who were they, where they had to go, why were they there alone at this age, it is also a matter to think about.&nbsp;But he must not have been the only one who wanted to cross the road.&nbsp;Do not know how many women, children, even animals would be in such trouble.&nbsp;And if the road cannot be crossed, then there is no tree to wait, nor anything else to breathe for two moments.&nbsp;Was reading recently that the Delhi government has announced that trees will be planted on the roads where there are no trees.&nbsp;If so, that would be a good start.&nbsp;Big highway builders and governments will pay attention that the roads are not made treeless.&nbsp;Such trees should be planted, which give shade and fruits to the passers-by.&nbsp;At the same time, they should be such, which are compatible with the Indian ecology.&nbsp;Not only this, planting these trees should not be considered as the end of the responsibility.&nbsp;Until they flourish, they should also be taken care of, so that they can help people for decades.&nbsp;Don't destroy them even if they pass by.&nbsp;This will also increase greenery.&nbsp;There will also be protection from sun and rain.&nbsp;It is said that when Sher Shah Suri had built the road from Peshawar to Calcutta, which is called GT Road these days, similar trees were planted there for the convenience of the passers-by.&nbsp;When it could have happened on such a long road at that time, then why not today.&nbsp;Whereas today technology is so advanced—The Hawk Feature. * Retired Principal Malout

 It is a matter of childhood days. She studied in first grade. Father was in Kannauj in those days. Nearby was Unnao, through which the Ganges flowed. One day the parents thought that bathing in the Ganges should be done. Went early in the morning. Get off the station and walk. There were brothers as well. long road.