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By Simi Mehta Indo-Pacific today represents the reality that the dynamics of the Indian and Pacific oceans have merged and are becoming part of a whole. The IMPRI Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies (CIRSS) organised a special lecture on ‘India and the Emerging Competition in Indo-Pacific’. The discussion was organized under #WebPolicyTalk series The State of International Affairs-#DiplomacyDialogue. The discussion had an esteemed panel of eminent professors and scholars consisting of Dhruva Jaishankar, Executive Director of the Observer Research Foundation America, Graeme Dobell, Journalist Fellow, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Dr Li Mingjiang, Associate Professor and Provost Chair in International Relations, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Jack Detsch, Pentagon and national security correspondent, Foreign Policy magazine, and Dr Felix Heiduk, Senior Associate, Asia Division, German Instit

A note by Bachpan Bachao Andolan on the contributions of Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi in 2021: *** Today, more than half of the world’s poorest citizens are children and they are entering poverty and child labour at an unprecedented rate. COVID-19 has exposed and exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in our world and the worst sufferers remained children in the past year, especially during the second wave of COVID-19. Kailash Satyarthi, one of the tallest leaders and the loudest voice in the global fight against exploitation of children, made efforts to highlight the plight of children on biggest and significant platforms during this time. 1. Marking the UN International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, amid fears of rise in child labour due to social and economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, Kailash Satyarthi along with other Nobel Laureates, business leaders, UN agencies and other world leaders joined hands to launch the Fair Share to End Child Lab

By Sudhansu R Das The majority of the Indians will overcome their sufferings if the social, educational, cultural and political institutions in India groom children to become morally and physically strong youth with finer human emotions like love, fellow feelings, kindness, courage and conviction. Those youth will be capable of reducing people’s sufferings through innovations, commitment and patriotism. The large scale sufferings of people attribute to the poor performance of those institutions. If our youth lack proper education, intellectual prowess, wisdom and do not experience the problems of the common man, they cannot give good governance. If they lack the human sensitivity they could convert the nation into a torture chamber. Over decades more than 10,000 lakes, ponds and water bodies have been wiped out in Mumbai, Pune, Calcutta, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and in New Delhi. Tens of thousands of water bodies have disappeared from many small cities and towns across the coun

By  Prof CK Raju*   Truth presupposes knowledge, which depends on the education system. During colonialism the church captured the education system worldwide. Church power comes from myths and superstitions. Through its capture of the education system, the church is able to instil those myths and superstitions in the minds of children worldwide. This enables it to indoctrinate impressionable young children for 15 to 20 years. People expected only religious propaganda from the church. But the unexpected trick was that the church captured our education system by using a false history of science, which it initially erected during the Crusades. For example, in India, Macaulay used this false history of science in his Minute. The colonised never expected that the church propaganda could use a false history of science, to teach them to worship false gods of science. (Most of the colonised still believe the 19th century story that science and the church are at war.) In some two centuries, nob

By Rumi Aijaz The state of the Peri-Urban is evolving by the day in India. Multiple large cities in the country are experiencing a gradual or sudden influx of migrants into their cities or state. This increases the demand for more land to create accommodation for the new inhabitants of the city. In such a situation, the market forces drive up the prices for land in primary areas within the city. This forces people to find space in the “peripherals” of the city. They mostly come under the city’s geographical limits and are the concern of the city administration. With the growing occupation of these areas, there is a large pressure on the development of these places. The rise of the Peri-Urban has been observed in cities such as Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, etc. The expansion of the Peri-Urban has created many issues and challenges for the city administration. To further discuss the topic, IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi hosted a #WebPolicyTalk conducted by the Centr

By Arjun Kumar The job market scenario in India for the last few? years has been quite shaky, to say the least. The Pandemic has further complicated that shaky scenario more intensely. Today, the country remains in a critical position, where on the one hand it is trying to mitigate the risks added by the pandemic in its economy and on the other trying to bounce back. On that line of thought, #IMPRI Center for Work and Welfare (CWW), IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi, Indian Social Institute (ISI), New Delhi, and Counterview, organized a #webpolicytalk on Employment and Unemployment Scenario: Where Are We and Where Are We Going? COVID 19 and the toll of job loss The session was opened by the Moderator Prof K R Shyam Sundar, Professor, HRM Area, XLRI – Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur. He reiterated the concerns that the pandemic has brought, in the employment-unemployment scenario of the country. The PLFS 2019-2020, reported a substantial rise of 3.5 % in wor

“The SHRC order came just after the film Jai Bhim” By Henri Tiphagne* People’s Watch has the greatest pleasure to welcome and acknowledge the Tamil Nadu State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) for its order dated 21.12.2021 upholding the version of victims Lakshmi, Rathika, Vaigeswari and Karthika, members of the Irular community, about acts of molestation, assault, torture, unlawful detention and false implication in theft cases that was made out totally against 15 victims by the then Inspector of Police, Thirukovilur, R Srinivasan, along with four other policemen. It is appreciated that not only compensation was recommended but the Hon’ble Commission has also directed speedy departmental action against the police officials in three months and the immediate filing of a final report in the criminal case registered against the policemen in the Thirukovilur Police Station under several provisions of the IPC including 376 and the provisions of the SC/ST PoA Act, 2016, ten years ago. It is pe

The Open Forum, with the participation of migrant workers, organisations and individuals working among them, provided an opportunity to collectively reflect on what needs to be done to secure a life of dignity for the migrant workers, their children and families. A note: *** In solidarity with migrant workers, “Open Forum: Accompanying Distress Migrants” was held in Delhi to bring to public consciousness their plight, experiences and challenges. It was organised in commemoration of the adoption of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families by UN General Assembly on 18 December, 1990. Dr Rashmi Singh, Special Secretary cum Director, Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare, Government of National Capital Territory Delhi (GNCTD) in her address shared that “Migrants, who are involved in various sectors of the economy, make significant contribution to the life in our cities. This day reminds ourselve

Consumer organisations unanimously demanded for immediate notification of FoPL Regulations in the interest of public health. A note: *** In a bid to allow consumers to correctly, quickly, and easily identify products that contain excessive amount of sugars, fats, and sodium, consumer organisations across the country unanimously adopted an eight point Charter of Demands in the National Consumer Convention (CCC), held at Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi on December 19, 2021. The Charter will be submitted to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). National Consumer Convention was organised by Consumer Protection Association Agartala in partnership with Consumer Coordination Council (CCC) of India, an apex body of consumer organisations in the country. CUTS facilitated a session on FoPL. 30 Consumer organisations from 20 States attended th convention. This charter highlighted immediate steps to be taken for the earliest notification of Front of Package Labelling (FoPL)

Reproduced below is an open letter to jailed former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt by his daughter and son Aakashi and Shantanu Sanjiv Bhatt. Bhatt is in Palanpur Jail after being awarded life imprisonment by a Jamnagar sessions court in 2019 for a custodial death way back in November 1990. Known to have said, Narendra Modi as chief minister directed Gujarat cops to allow Hindus to vent their anger, Bhatt was suspended in 2011 for allegedly remaining absent without permission and misuse of official vehicles, and thereafter sacked in August 2015. *** Dearest Dad, Today, as you complete 58 glorious years of your life, we wish we could hug you to never let go and smother you with wishes and love, while you celebrated your birthday surrounded by friends and family. There was a time, not too long ago, when each birthday was celebrated as a wonderful year gone by, and an open armed welcome to the new exciting year ahead; however, today as we stand here, staring into the abyss of the last 3 years,

Joint statement by Jay Sheth, Dr Nishith Shah, Rupa Chinai and Brijesh Chinai, Board Members, Chinai Maternity and Sarabhai General Hospitals, Ahmedabad: *** We, the independent and permanent members of the Board of Management, Chinai Maternity and Sarabhai General Hospitals (VSH), Ahmedabad, representing the donor families, wish to place the following concerns to the public and media of Ahmedabad on account of our holding these positions on a public Board: The 1155 bed VSH was a fully functioning institution providing quality and affordable medical care to the poorest citizens of Ahmedabad. The hospitals had well equipped multi-speciality departments and was manned by a trained, permanent staff that had a strong commitment to patient care and a sense of belonging to this institution. In combine, the staff and the independent VSH Board — a partnership between AMC Corporators and citizen representatives — worked to provide a unique model of quality and affordable health services that p

By Dr David Leffler* President Vladimir Putin! You are amassing (soon perhaps) up to 175,000 Russian military personnel on Ukraine's border. Are you afraid that Ukraine and Georgia will become NATO members, threatening Russia's sovereignty? The presence of these Russian troops is triggering a response within the international community that could easily become volatile. Tensions are also simultaneously rising between the US and other countries such as China, North Korea and Iran. These hotspots could quickly escalate into global catastrophe. The Russian people have long been leaders in great military achievements and scientific innovation; now is the time for Russia to utilize the latest, most advanced military brain-based technology to defuse these dangerous rising tensions. We bring to the attention of your people a field-tested, scientifically-verified means to not only alleviate Russia's fears, and protect Russian soil and its people, but, mostly importantly, to replace

By Harsh Thakor* On December 14th we commemorated the 35th death anniversary of Smita Patil. No Indian actress has as intensely explored the nature of oppression of women or done as much justice to the role of woman’s rebellion against male subjugation as Smita Patil. Tragically her illustrious career was abrupted with her sudden death in late 1986, due to a miscarriage. The film industry lost a genius. Few artists in film world were as down to earth as Smita Patil. Smita Patil portrayed justice to social reality prevailing like no other actress of her day, apart from Shabana Azmi. Smita was so natural that one virtually felt she was the very character herself.. The magnitude of her intensity in her roles confronting injustice was unmatched. She could express the rage of a thunderstorm bursting, the sweetness of river water or the beauty of a lotus in full bloom. Her facial expressions in different roles varied like the colours of a rainbow, taking malleability to depths rarely transce

By Simi Mehta, Sakshi Sharda, Swati Solanki, Mahima Kapoor, Arjun Kumar The need to address the vaccination gap through a gendered lens is imperative. COVID-19 is an issue that is being tackled globally, however, the need to address discrepancies in the same has been absolutely pivotal. IMPRI Gender Impact Studies Center (GISC), IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi hosted a special talk on The Gender Gap in Vaccination with Prof Vina Vaswani as a part of The State of Gender Equality – #GenderGaps series. Professor Vina Vaswani, Director, Centre for Ethics, and Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Yenepoya (Deemed to be) University, Mangalore was the eminent speaker of the session. Professor Vibhuti Patel, Former Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai chaired the session. Dr. Mala Ramanathan, Working Editor, Indian Journal of Medical Ethics (IJME) and Dr. Medha Rajappa, Professor of Biochemistry and Associate Dean (Research), J