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Showing posts from June, 2020

Setting dangerous precedent: Allowing projects to start without an eco-clearance

Submission by independent researchers Meenakshi Kapoor and Krithika A Dinesh , independent researchers, working on environmental regulation and policy matters for years, to Rameshwar Prasad Gupta, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, on the Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Notification 2020: ***

Systemic racism in Canada: Relationship of Indigenous people to justice system

Reproduced below is an article published in "The Globe and Mail" by Jody Wilson-Raybould , independent member of Parliament for the British Columbia riding of Vancouver Granvill, and. author of” From Where I Stand: Rebuilding Indigenous Nations for a Stronger Canada”:  ***  There are few periods in my life where I have felt such intense emotions as in recent weeks. The murder of George Floyd, along with the killing of six Indigenous people by Canadian police since April, has left me outraged and incredibly sad. At the same time, I am not despondent. I have been heartened by the activists and protesters who have taken to streets around the world in a push for systemic change. I have lately wondered: Are we at a tipping point in the fight against systemic racism and injustice? Is long-overdue transformative change, including in Canada’s justice system, finally upon us? I believe we are in such a moment, and I am hopeful for our future – I have to be. Actions and protests in su

Why this rushed attempt to get the Vishwamitri river project through?

A concerned citizens’ letter to the Municipal Commissioner, Vadodara Municipal Corporation, with copies to the Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change; Chief Secretary, Government of Gujarat; Additional Chief Secretary, Forests & Environment Department, Gujarat; Principal Secretary, Urban Development and Urban Housing Department, Gujarat; and Chairman, Gujarat Pollution Control Board: *** We, the Concerned Citizens of Vadodara, would like to reiterate our key concerns regarding the Tender for the consultancy for preparation of Detail Project Report for Master Planning of Rejuvenation and Flood Mitigation for the Vishwamitri River (Vadodara) from the origin of the river (Pavagadh) to end point of the river (Gulf of Khambhat), which was introduced on March 6, 2020 with a closing date of May 7, 2020, further extended till June 30, 2020. Our previous letter dated April 17, 2020, we have explicitly stated our concerns and have demanded that the aim, content, and p

A Sudra’s Story: Belated review, with IITs and OBC reservations in mind

Book Review: “Memoirs of: A.N. Sattanathan”; Edited by: Dr. Uttara Natarajan; Published by: Permanent Black 2007 *** By Raju Rajagopal* I grew up in a privileged upper caste family where caste prejudices were on display every day. But a class reading of Basavanna’s vachanagalu on caste and class had left a deep impression on me as a middle-schooler. And I vaguely remember promising myself that I too would be an anti-caste crusader. But in the real world, I wasn’t able to summon the courage even to call out the worst forms of caste discrimination within my own family. At one time, I was determined to marry outside ‘my community’ just to make a statement. But I ended up doing what most Hindus did: Marry within my birth caste. Thankfully, my life partner had similar thoughts on caste discrimination and had walked the talk in her interactions with people around her. I was privileged to study at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) in the sixties. With little presence of Dalit

Democratic governance, central to the idea of India, undermined: Covid governance

Rahul Mukherji, Jai Prasad and Seyed Hossein Zarhani of Heidelberg University, Germany, argue in this article, published in Identities Journal, that COVID-19 management has undermined democratic governance central to the idea of India and close to the heart of founders of modern India. These values were undermined in a number of ways. First, sub-national states and politicians were not adequately consulted before the lockdown on 24 March 2020, even though Kerala’s spectacular performance was well known.

Shadow pandemic: How women’s empowerment can have catalytic effect on human development

By Moin Qazi* There’s the pandemic you know about all too well. It is taking a heavy toll on lives and livelihoods. Then, there’s the shadow pandemic, which is rapidly unraveling the limited but precious progress the world has made toward gender equality in the past few decades. This shadow pandemic can be seen in the rolling background of this progress with the loss of employment for women who hold the majority of insecure, informal and lower-paying jobs and the rapid increase in unpaid care work for women and girls. Across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impact of COVID-19 has been exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their gender. It is time that apart from the search for a vaccine and medicines for handling the virus and its disease, we focus on strengthening institutions and mechanisms that can help in combating the shadow pandemic. Self-help groups (SHGs) are India’s most powerful conduit for incubating and empowering wo

Combating pandemic: Janvikas-CSJ response mechanism, support to vulnerable sections

A note on Covid-19 response mechanism and support to the vulnerable communities by the civil society organization (CSO) Janvikas, Ahmedabad, with its associates, Institute for Development Education and Learning-Centre for Social Justice ( IDEAL-CSJ) and Institute for Studies and Transformations (IST): *** Relief provided by CSOs included food, ration kits and safety kits to 45,804 individuals in Gujarat and Delhi; support to 42,596 migrants in Gujarat, including travel support to 14,000 migrants; legal support to 6,428 persons in Gujarat, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh; capacity building to 1,600 community leaders of Gujarat, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh; cash transfer to 416 individuals; five sanitization tunnel built in Gujarat and Rajasthan; and dissemination of information to three lakh individuals in Ahmedabad. It all began with advocacy efforts by engaging government with the aim of activating the Public Distribution System (PDS), mid-day meal and ICDS system through state, city and lo

India contributed immensely to British culture, requires documentation

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* “In the dark times Will there also be singing? Yes, there will also be singing. About the dark times.” – Bertolt Brecht These historic lines are prophetically relevant today as we witness the forward march of the right wing in India and United Kingdom. These forces are destroying the multicultural mosaic of our society and all other progressive achievements of the century. The British colonialism not only siphoned out $45 trillion from the undivided India but also continue to benefit from the contemporary India. Indian diaspora and Indian companies contribute nearly £87 billion pounds to the British economy in 2020. Politically speaking, the anti-colonial struggles for independent India have made enormous contributions for the deepening of democracy and in the making of welfare state in the United Kingdom. The boiled British food tastes better with Indian spices. Indian contribution to British economy, politics, society, and culture in past and present is well

Sanction for prosecution under J&KAFSPA: CIC rejects detailed information

By Venkatesh Nayak*  Readers may remember reading a previous despatch sent in April 2018 , about an RTI intervention, regarding certain data tabled in Parliament that year, about cases involving allegations of custodial deaths and disappearances of civilians, alleged fake encounters, alleged instances of rape, and allegations of kidnapping, torture and extortion in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). The Government of J&K had sought sanction from the Central Government for prosecuting the accused in 50 such alleged cases that had occurred between 2001 and 2016. This is an essential requirement under the The Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act,1990 (J&K AFSPA) under which armed forces of the Union operate in J&K. The Government had informed the Rajya Sabha that request for sanctioning prosecution was refused in 47 cases due to lack of sufficient evidence, prima facie . Subsequently, an application was submitted to the Union Ministry of Defence (MoD) under The Rig

Living sustainably: Time to rethink the way we live, what we must forego

By Prem Verma*  In India since March 2020 we are experiencing unusual events that have shaken our faith in ourselves and made us wonder whether a new chapter is opening for humanity. The sudden spread of Corona Virus all across the world has also engulfed India and challenged our notion of invincibility. We have suddenly been made to feel helpless in spite of all the technological advances we may be proud of. We were taught in childhood that man is a social animal but today we are asked to closet ourselves behind closed doors so that human contact is avoided. Is nature sending us a message? On top of Corona the frequency of cyclones both on the eastern and western fronts is also telling us that climate variations with impending destruction is going to be the reality due to our own stupidity. The destruction of forests and the unlimited pollution that we throw in our surroundings and spread in the air we breathe are finally catching on us and doomsday is not that far unless we wake up f

CIC advisory to Health Ministry to publish list of designated COVID facilities

By Venkatesh Nayak* Even as I draft this despatch, States and Union Territories (UTs) which are reporting very high numbers of COVID-19 infections are allegedly running out of beds for infected people who need urgent medical attention. The media is reporting case after case of ailing individuals breathing their last waiting for admission to a designated COVID treatment hospital. The family of the deceased allege, the hospitals refuse admission, whereas the hospitals counter them claiming, the patient was found dead on arrival or that they did not admit the patient because the infection was not detected by their own testing centre. There are media reports of COVID designated hospitals refusing treatment for non-COVID ailments resulting in the death of the patient. Similarly, there are other reports of deaths caused by the novel Corona virus because the patient was taken to a hospital that was not officially designated as a COVID treatment centre. Amidst all of this confusion, India