The country recorded 100,000 deaths in roughly a month.
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Wednesday, January 20, 2021
Outgoing FDA chief: The agency fought 'substantial' pressure under Trump
“With time, particularly over mid- to last summer and then into fall, there was a substantial amount of pressure,” Hahn told POLITICO.
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Tuesday, January 19, 2021
'Brahmin brides fund', state enforced endogamy and the criminalisation of love
The ‘Hindutva’ project that seeks to bring back the law of Manu is premised on the control of women and their sexuality, othering non-Hindus and perpetuating the caste system.
Image for representation
Three months ago, in October, 2020, in Ramanagara, about 44 km from Bengaluru, a 19-year-old girl was killed, allegedly by her own father, for having fallen in love with a man from another community. In early December, 2020, a young interfaith couple was forcibly separated. The man was arrested and the woman was forcibly placed in a shelter home despite repeated pleas from her that the marriage was consensual and that she loved him. The woman was then forced into a miscarriage. Last month, the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh brought in an ordinance that effectively attacked such interfaith marriages. Last week, the Karnataka State Brahmin Development Board, under a BJP state government, launched a scheme for “Brahmin brides”, which assured a payment of Rs 3 lakh to poor Brahmin women who marry Brahmin priests in the state. According to the Chairman of the Board, the “bride” should fulfil other conditions that include requirements that it should be her first marriage and that the married couple will have to give an undertaking that they would remain married for a specified period of time. This is coming about in the context of the BJP government announcing that they would bring in a law that would curb “love jihad”, which is in fact a law to curb love itself. Last week, Tejasvi Surya, the BJP MP from Bengaluru South while defending such a law said, "If a non-Muslim woman marries a Muslim man, they lose a lot of rights. Should we not speak for them and ensure that if in case they chose to marry, they are given legal protection?" The pattern is obvious and intended. The ‘Hindutva’ project that seeks to bring back the law of Manu is premised on the control of women and their sexuality, othering non-Hindus and perpetuating the caste system. In the words of Tejasvi Surya, it is based on the need to “speak for” Hindu women who are seen as incapable of being able to speak for themselves or of making their own choices on who to love or partner with. It is in furtherance of this project that the government criminalises love itself, incarcerates Muslim men and refuses to acknowledge the choices of women. It is this ‘Hindutva’ project that reinforces the caste system by using taxpayers' money as an inducement for endogamy and the perpeteration of caste by incentivising the marriage of a Brahmin woman within her own community, trapping and imprisoning women by draconian specifications that require that she remain married “for a specified period of time”. The act of using public funds to enforce endogamy is not only an attack on women but an attack on society itself by seeking to preserve the wretched caste system. These actions of the BJP in enforcing endogamy and criminalising love, have to be seen as two sides of the same coin. It seeks to perpetuate the patriarchy, control the sexuality and choices of women for the preservation of the caste system and objectifies women as “brides”, an appendix to ‘man’. The Manusmriti, which has a lot to say about the need to keep women in control, says among other things “Day and night women must be kept in dependence by the males (of) their (families), and if they attach themselves to sensual enjoyments, they must be kept under one’s control.” And further, “Her father protects (her) in childhood, her husband protects (her) in youth, and her sons protect (her) in old age; a woman is never for independence.” Dr Ambedkar in his book Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development establishes that endogamy, i.e. enforcing marriage only within their own caste, is the chief characteristic of caste and traces the origin of caste to the origin of the mechanism of endogamy. He finds that it was with the intent to maintain endogamy that customs such as Sati, enforced widowhood and child marriage were brought in, and the control of the sexuality of the woman was necessary for the preservation of the caste-system. Uma Chakravarthi in Gendering Caste notes how women are regarded as “… gateways – literally points of entry into the caste system”. That is, that a woman’s sexuality and sexual choices would have to be controlled to maintain endogamy, resulting in an “obsessive concern with controlling female sexuality and ensuring the reproduction of pure blood”. The biggest threats to the caste-system and the Hindutva agenda is love as the premise for marriage and the choices articulated by women over their own sexualities. In fact, Dr Ambedkar while calling for the annihilation of caste, saw inter-caste marriage as one of means towards the same. And thus they respond by criminalising love, reducing women from citizens who can make independent informed choices who speak for themselves to reproductive machines designed to preserve caste and bringing about state sponsored endogamy. This is an assault on women, an assault on the Constitution and must be resisted. Views expressed are the author's own. Maitreyi Krishnan is an advocate practicing with Manthan Law in Bengaluru.
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Contractor pulled up for illegally dumping waste on Udupi riverbank
Fishermen, local residents and members of a kayaking club brought the issue to the Panchayat’s notice, following which action was taken.
Waste dumped near the Shambhavi River
Sushant Mehta, who runs a flatwater kayaking club in Udupi district of Karnataka, regularly traverses through the Shambhavi River. He spends his days exploring mangroves and spotting birds in the backwaters of the river. But in the last few months, Sushant has been worried about the increasing amount of waste he was observing in the river. "For some time after the monsoon, we used to observe waste like plastic in the river. If we went kayaking in the morning, we saw that in some places, the river had a layer of dirt," Sushant told TNM. Alarmed by this, Sushant's kayaking club 'Kayakboy' organised a river clean-up project in October 2020, during which they collected over 500 kg of trash in the Shambhavi river. But a month ago, a few local fishermen reported that it was not just households along the river who were dumping waste. When Sushant and others pursued this, they found that a large amount of waste—almost a truckload a day-- was illegally dumped at a spot in Thaggumane, a village on the banks of the river near Hejamadi in Udupi. "It was not just plastic waste but also semi-solid waste which was turning the water black and attracting many birds there," Sushant said. The issue was reported to the Padubidri Gram Panchayat. It then emerged that the waste management of around 6,500 households in the Panchayat was outsourced to a contractor named Bhujanga Shetty through a tender process. This was because the Panchayat did not have enough space to manage the waste. Bhujanga Shetty is paid around Rs 5 lakh per annum by the Panchayat for the waste disposal. "The contractor was segregating the waste and dealing with it in a scientific manner in some places but in this particular area near Hejamadi, where there are 500-1000 households, he picked up unsegregated waste and dumped it in a private place. I was aghast to observe this," said Udupi Chief Executive Officer Dr Naveen Bhat. The officer visited the spot where the waste was dumped on January 16. He said that Bhujanga Shetty was asked to remove the waste dumped there scientifically or risk the cancellation of his tender. "We have asked him to give it in writing that the waste dumped near the river in Hejamadi should be removed. The organic waste should be converted into a compost pit and the dry waste should be segregated and disposed of in a scientific manner. Failing this, the tender will be cancelled," Dr Naveen said. The contractor has been given three days to clear the waste or face action from the Gram Panchayat. "We have also informed the Panchayat officer to hold training sessions with households in this area, to segregate the waste and ensure that the contractor collects only the segregated waste," Dr Naveen added. Sushant hopes that this will resolve the issue of waste polluting the Shambhavi river, and said that he will follow up with the Gram Panchayat about disposing of the waste dumped near Hejamadi.
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BJP's major commitment fulfilled: CM Yediyurappa on beef ban
Governor Vajubhai Vala on January 5 had promulgated the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Ordinance.
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Tuesday said that he has achieved a sense of contentment after the enactment of anti-cow slaughter Act which was achieved by the BJP nearly after 70 years of independence of this country. After visiting Uchila Shree Mahalakshmi temple in Udupi district which is the chief deity of Mogaveera (fishermen) community in the coastal region in Udupi, Yediyurappa said that the country is in transition from being seen as weak or poor country to a self-reliant one. It may be recalled that Governor Vajubhai Vala on January 5 had promulgated the ordinance based on the Bill which is yet to be passed by the legislative council. "The main reason for this is that the BJP accomplished two of its major commitments: One, building a grand and biggest Ram Temple at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh as a symbol of peaceful co-existence at the national level and in Karnataka, I've achieved a rare accomplishment of enacting stringent, anti-Cow slaughter Act," he said. According to him, the BJP is fulfilling Mahatma Gandhi's concept of the Rama Rajya by enacting such a stringent law. Yediyurappa who is on a two-day temple tour in parts of Udupi district where popular temples exist, said that he wanted a 'peace' and 'contentment' in order to give himself a break from political hectic activities. "If we can be in peace and contentment then only we can properly think about people's welfare. Sometime I feel, we should cut off from worldly affairs in order to reboot ourselves," he said. The CM visited Udupi Krishna Matha, Sri Venkatramana temple in Karamballi on Monday, and is scheduled to visit Uchila Mahalakshmi temple, Shree Mahalingeshwara Mahaganapathi temple besides going for foundation stone laying programme of Kaup-Hejamadi port works in Udupi as well. "I visited Uchila Mahalakshmi temple, which is the chief deity of Mogaveera (Fishermen) community. I will also discuss with Mogaveera community leaders, to know their problems as well," he said. Yediyurappa is also visiting Aanegudde Kumbahshi Maha Ganapati temple in Udupi, where he has organised - 1008 Gana Yajna - to win over his enemies and for overall good for the state. According to a close aide of Yediyurappa, the importance of organising major Yagna here is because of the importance of Kumbhasi as it is said to be derived from Kumbhasura, who was slain here. Kumbhasi is located about 400 km from the tech hub Bengaluru.
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After one-year delay, Smart City work commences in Bengaluru’s Cubbon Park
The park is expected to get new walkways and jogging tracks as a part of the Smart City initiative.
AUGUSTUS BINU/WIKIMEDIA/CC 3.0
Smart City work began in Cubbon Park on Sunday after a year of delay due the pandemic. The first leg of this redevelopment project includes building a new four-kilometre walking path that will course through the entire park, upgraded jogging tracks, and a lotus pond, a Times of India report said. The first phase of the project costs Rs 17 crores and the second phase, Rs. 17.8 crores. The Deputy Director of Horticulture (Cubbon Park), J Gunavantha said, “We are planning to bring more varieties of lotuses to the pond so it adds value to the park.” He also stated that the planning of this project had been underway since 2018 but was not implemented due to multiple reasons. The director mentioned that the cement of the paths has worn off because they were constructed 20 years ago and had to be fixed. However, seeking assistance from the government for renovations had not been effective, he added. A survey of the park was undertaken in October 2020 and J Gunavantha was optimistic about the number of projects that would be taken up under the Smart City initiative. When the project was taken up, it was not without concerns. At a public consultation meeting held on February 2, 2020, citizens raised issues like “increasing concretisation of the park, heavy vehicular movement and the noise and air pollution.” Their concerns were addressed by the Managing Director of Bengaluru Smart City Limited (BSCL) Hephsiba R Korlapati, who said their goals are sustainability, accessibility and inclusivity and will “redevelop the park without disturbing nature in any way.” Neelam Manjunath, the chairperson of Bamboo Society of India (Karnataka Chapter), stated that a bamboo park will be developed, which will also act as an oxygen park. The park authorities are hopeful that the Smart City Project will be completed by mid-2021.
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'A small step into the future': IAS officer Gaurav Gupta on Tesla entering Bengaluru
The officer was involved in discussions with Tesla and says that the timeframe for venturing into R&D and manufacturing will be up to the US-based company.
Gaurav Gupta
A week ago, residents of Bengaluru celebrated the announcement of Tesla registering its corporate office in the state, confirming its first move into India. Tesla is reported to be in talks with five state governments in the country, including Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra to set up operations in the country. In the first signal of its intent, the Palo Alto-based company registered its corporate office in Bengaluru. Gaurav Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary, Commerce and Industries in Karnataka said Tesla’s decision followed months of correspondence between the state government and the electric car manufacturer. “It did not happen by chance nor did it fall into our laps. We worked hard behind the scenes and were in touch with the company for over four months. We responded to them with the information they asked for. I am certain other states also corresponded with them but it was up to the company to decide what its strategic interest was,” he said. According to Gaurav, there were a number of factors that worked in Bengaluru’s favour during the discussions. “Bengaluru is a technology hub and a place for innovation, not only for electric vehicles but also in the field of space because of the presence of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Besides this, we have a number of startups, a talent pool and a consumer market of people who have lived abroad and returned. This is also the place with the highest number of electric vehicles among cities in India. The state is also where the first electric vehicle policy in the country was announced in 2017,” says Gaurav Gupta. Companies such as Bosch, Mahindra Electric, Ather and Ola Electric currently operate in the electric vehicle mobility space in Bengaluru. Tesla’s decision to register a corporate office in Bengaluru comes at a time the Karnataka government has battled a series of challenges, and has been trying to maintain its industry-friendly image. In December 2020, thousands of workers at an iPhone manufacturing plant in Kolar district vandalised the plant in anger over unpaid dues and delayed payments. The company — Wistron Corp — based in Taiwan admitted to lapses and apologised for the incident. In another instance, a lockout at a Toyota Kirloskar Motors plant in Ramanagar ended last week, nearly two months after the workers union alleged that the company wanted to raise the number of cars produced in a day from 300 to 360 without any increase in manpower or timings. The employees’ strike continues, with workers stating that their grievances have not been addressed. Gupta sought to play down the impact of the two cases. “It is a simplistic view that the Toyota and Wistron cases are connected like a string of pearls that goes together to say Karnataka is a bad place for companies. In the Toyota issue, the employees were paid and it was a small matter where certain people did not want to conform to the requirements placed by the company. It should have been settled across the table but it wasn't to be,” he said. “Wistron was another issue that ramped up quickly. Overtime systems were faulty, payments were not made in time even though people were working for 12 hours and the company has acknowledged these lapses. These are intensely local issues and do not affect the city which has great potential for investment and is one of the largest technology clusters in the world. Our competition is not just with other states in India but also with cities like Singapore and Manila because ours is a city with a million technology professionals,” he explained. Now, Tesla's expected entry has sparked a sense of optimism about the company venturing into sales and research in Bengaluru. In December, India’s transport minister Nitin Gadkari had said that Tesla would start with sales early this year and then might look at assembly and manufacturing after entering the country. However, officials in Karnataka say that this timeframe is still being discussed with Tesla. “It is a positive step but it is also a small step in the journey into the future. We are still in talks with them about what comes next and it is left to their judgement and discretion. I am trying to paint a picture of the reality of the process involved before we get to R&D and manufacturing. Any company will wait till there is critical mass before stepping into manufacturing," he added. "What we can say is the future is exciting because Bengaluru has a lot of startups in the solar, electric vehicle and satellite design field and with Tesla coming in, it can also work with the startups here and improve the ecosystem,” he said.
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