India has successfully launched its second mission to the moon, the Chandrayaan-2. The GSLV-MkIII, carrying the Chandrayaan-2, was launched at 2:43 PM from the second launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota. This will make India the fourth country in the world to land on the moon.
On 18th July 2019, an hour before the historic Chandrayaan 2 launch, a technical snag was observed in the launch vehicle system. Following that, as a measure of ‘abundant precaution,’ the launch was called off. The launch date was then set to be 22nd July 2019. Earlier, the ISRO chief had confidently said that today’s launch would be successful.
The Chandrayaan-2 comprises of three parts namely: the Orbiter, the Lander (Vikram) and the Rover (Pragyan). The Rover is housed within the Lander. The Orbiter and the Lander are an integrated module weighing about 3.8 tonnes. This module was launched using a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV MK III) designed to launch satellites into geostationary orbit.
Once launched the integrated module would propel towards the moon after which the Lander will detach and land on the South Pole on 6th September as per schedule. The Rover would then conduct experiments on the lunar surface.
Indian Chandrayaan-2 is cheaper than several Hollywood movies like Avengers Infinity War and even the Bandra Worli Sea Link. The mission is touted to be accomplished within a budget of Rs 960 crores, which is approximately $143 million, significantly cheaper than the budget of several Hollywood movies.
The United States has so far invested about $100 billion (in current prices) in 15 Apollo missions to the Moon. China’s first expedition to Moon in 2007 cost about $180 million. In fact, the Chandrayaan-2 mission is cheaper than even the construction of Bandra Worli Sea link which took about $340 million.
The launch of Chandrayaan-2, however, was not untouched by controversies. Former ISRO chairman had startlingly revealed that the then UPA government had delayed Chandrayaan 2. Several people also made a brouhaha over the current ISRO chief ‘praying’ before the launch of the mission and called it ‘unscientific’.
After abusive actor Ajaz Khan’s police custody was extended by 14 days, his wife Andrea has come out in his support. She has claimed that her husband did nothing wrong and was being deliberately framed in the matter. She also demanded justice for her husband.
Ajaz Khan’s wife speaks up on the actor’s arrest. She says that people are framing him wrongly pic.twitter.com/TpIM4tfMAw
Ajaz’s wife Andrea said, “I want justice for my husband because people are going against him when my husband is the only one raising his voice not only for Muslims, for Hindus, for Christians, for all the criminal activities happening in India. My husband is lone in his fight. I just want justice for my husband, what you guys are doing is injustice. You guys are not considering that he has a family also. I have told him so many times to avoid raising his concerns publicly, but he always goes against my advice for the people of India. So my brothers and sisters in India, please I want justice for my husband. He is being framed.”
Khan was arrested by the Cyber Crime Unit of the Mumbai Police on Wednesday for posting incendiary videos on the social media app TikTok. In the first one, he urged members of a religious community to take ‘revenge’ over Tabrez Ansari’s death in Jharkhand. In the second video, he featured alongside a group of TikTok ‘stars’, whose account was suspended after Mumbai Police lodged a case against them. They mocked Mumbai Police in the video.
Before this, the hardcore Islamist Ajaz Khan, known for making hatemongering controversial statements menacingly threatened actor Payal Rohatgi in a video asserting that one day, the entire world will become Muslim. In a misogynist attack against Payal, Ajaz Khan had referred Payal Rohatgi as a C grade actor. Payal Rohatgi, who was recently in news for getting blocked by the Mumbai Police on Twitter lodged a complaint against Ajaz Khan for blatantly inciting communal passions and his misogynist attack on Payal.
Today, J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik issued a clarification over the statements he had made during a speech. On Sunday he had said the terrorists should kill the ‘corrupt politicians’ instead of killing the security forces. However, Malik has now clarified that he made those statements in a fit of anger. He said that he was frustrated with the rampant corruption in Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu&Kashmir Governor,SP Malik to ANI on his statement over corruption in Kashmir & asking terrorists to gun down those who looted their state& country rather than attacking the security forces: Whatever I said was in a fit of anger and frustration due to rampant corruption here pic.twitter.com/ZCvLu9x12p
He also said, “As Governor, I should have not made such a comment, but my personal feeling is the same as I said. Many political leaders & big bureaucrats are steeped in corruption in Jammu and Kashmir”.
J&K Governor, Satya Pal Malik to ANI: As Governor, I should have not made such a comment, but my personal feeling is the same as I said. Many political leaders & big bureaucrats are steeped in corruption here. https://t.co/HBdWVaQRHb
The Governer had sparked a row yesterday after he had stated that terrorists should kill corrupt politicians and bureaucrats who have robbed their state instead of killing Policemen and SPOs. The Governor had said this while addressing the locals at Kargil.
He had said, “These youth with guns, they are killing PSOs and SPOs, why are you killing them? You should kill those who have looted Kashmir, have you killed anyone from them? They lose their lives for nothing. In India, nobody can bend the government with guns.”
Responding to his statements, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said that if any politician or bureaucrat is killed in the state, then it must be considered as the execution of Governor’s order.
Save this tweet – after today any mainstream politician or serving/retired bureaucrat killed in J&K has been murdered on the express orders of the Governor of J&K Satyapal Malik.
Satya Palik Malik while responding to Abdullah called him a “political juvenile”.
#WATCH J&K Governor, SP Malik to ANI on National Conference leader Omar Abdullah’s tweet over his statement: He is a political juvenile tweeting on everything, see the reaction to his tweets and you will find out. pic.twitter.com/3rLMwN1jpv
Just a few days ago, a Personal Security Officer (PSO) of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Sajad Mufti was shot dead in Bijbehara area of South Kashmir in Anantnag district. About a week ago 3 CRPF jawans were martyred and several others were injured when a patrol team of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) came under terrorist attack in Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir.
Four days after the horrific Sonbhadra massacre which claimed lives of 10 people, videos from the incident have emerged.
The videos seem to have been taken by a local villager who perhaps had no inkling that he/she was about to record brutal killings of ten people.
In the above video, tractors can be seen making a move towards the site of violence.
The second video, which appears to have been taken by someone on the move shows some men beating up other people with lathis. One can hear terrified voices of people as the scenes unfolded before them. One can also hear two gunshots.
On July 17, 10 people were shot dead and many more were injured when henchmen of a village head opened fire on local tribal people who were protesting against the occupation of what they claim is their land.
According to reports, around 200 people in 32 tractor-trailers were brought to occupy a piece of land in Ubhha village that was bought by Gram Pradhan Yagya Dutt two years ago. After arriving at the site to take over the land on Wednesday, they had surrounded the plot and started ploughing it. As the locals claim that the land was sold illegally, they arrived at the site and protested against this. This led to an altercation, which quickly turned violent when the goons of the Dutt, who had come prepared with guns, rifles, spears and lathis, started attacking them with lathis. But unable to chase them with that, they took out their firearms and opened fire on the villagers. According to survivors, the firing went for half an hour. 10 people were killed in the attack, and 29 were injured. 7 persons died on the spot, 2 died while taking to hospital, while 1 died in hospital. The injured are being treated at the BHU hospital in Varanasi.
The piece of land that led to this violence has been the centre of dispute for a long time. The local people belonging to Gonda tribe has been farming on the land, but its ownership has remained disputed for more than 60 years.
Yagya Dutt and several members of his family had purchased 145 bighas of from the wife and daughter of a retired IAS officer from Bihar cadre in 2017. Since then, they were trying to take possession of the property from Gond farmers, who were resisting the move. The Gond people had complained against the sale with revenue authorities and later filed a case in civil court earlier this year.
On the other hand, Dutt and his family have lodged three FIRs against members of the Gond community at the Ghorawal police station. People who are pursuing the case against the Gram Pradhan and his family as named in the FIRs. The FIRs alleged that several people from the Gond community had come with seven tractors and ploughed the land that they had purchased. FIRs were filed under sections 506 (criminal intimidation), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 447 (criminal trespass), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 144 (joining unlawful assembly armed with deadly weapon), 352 (assault or criminal force otherwise than on grave provocation ), and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) against the Gond community.
The dispute over the land dates back more than five decades, which started in 1950s. Local tribal people were cultivating the land for decades before the independence of India. After the implementation of UP Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950, around 600 bighas of land owned by a local estate was recorded as infertile in the revenue records, and it was registered in the name of Gram Sabha. The local residents, mostly belonging to Gond tribe, continued tilling the land for cultivating after that.
But in 1955, 463 bighas of land was transferred in the name of Adarsh Cooperative Society. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath says that it was done illegally by the Tehsildar, which planted the seed of the dispute. In 1989 when the president of the society passed away, 145 bighas from the plot were transferred in the names of a Patna based IAS officer’s wife and daughter, the daughter is also married to an IAS officer. The UP CM has pointed out that Congress was in power in the state when both this transfer of land had happened.
The Mishra family from Patna who had purchased that land had started collecting Lagaan (rent) from the farmers who were cultivating on the land. It is reported that every year one person used to come from Patna to collect Lagaan. The Tribals continued to do farming on the land by making the payment.
But in 2017 when it became to be known that the land has been sold to Dutt, the farmers stopped paying the Lagaan. Advocate Nityanand Dwivedi, who is representing the Gond farmers, said that the land was bought for Rs 2 crores. Since then Dutt’s family has been trying to take control of the land, which the villagers are opposing. The dispute intensified when Dutt filed cases against the community members, and it resulted in the tragedy on 17th July.
More details about the murky dealings that led to this incident will be known after the investigation ordered by the UP government is completed.
During a meeting with Donald Trump, Bangladeshi minority rights activist Priya Saha had informed the US President that minorities faced extreme persecution in her country. She said that over the years 37 million minorities have disappeared from Bangladesh. Priya Saha is the organising secretary of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (HBCUC)
Her comments attracted the wrath of many of her countrymen including those in the government. Road Transport Minister and ruling Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader told reporters on Saturday that Saha had made “false, purposeful and treasonous remarks” and a sedition case will be filed against her. However, it appears that Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina disapproved of any legal action against the activist and let her opinions known on the matter.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrates have dismissed two separate cases of sedition filed against Saha in the matter. They asserted that legal action for sedition could only be pursued with permission from the government, a criterion that the cases did not fulfil.
Saha has now issued a clarification over the remarks she made during her meeting with Donald Trump. In a YouTube video shared through the channel of her rights organization Sharee on Sunday, she has defended her comments in light of available facts.
Saha asserted that over 600 people ‘go missing’ in Bangladesh every day. She based her claim on a study by Dhaka University professor Abul Barkat. She further stated the she had worked with the professor on the study and that’s how she was familiar with the details.
“All I meant is that the number of minority people has gradually declined. I didn’t mean to comment on the government. I just mentioned what happened in my village in Pirojpur,” she explained. “There were 40 families in my village in 2004. That number is now 13.” She emphasized that it was for the state to look into the matter.
Saha also accused the Bangladesh Nationalist Party of attacking the minority community. And asserted that Sheikh Hasina has battled against fundamentalism and fought for the welfare of the minority community and secularism.
Hindus in Bangladesh have been facing great persecution in recent years. Mob violence against Hindus is a regular feature and they have to live under the constant fear of Islamic intolerance.
The holy month of Shravan is here. Kanwariyas from all over the country will be flocking together, carrying holy water on their shoulders, to make long journeys and offer it to Mahadev in various famous Shivalayas in India. As it happens with any Hindu festival and religious practice, there is a certain section of so-called ‘intellectuals’ who rush demonise the Kanwar Yatras.
For them, the Kanwar Yatras spread plastic pollution, create a nuisance and promote hooliganism. It happens every year. The Kanwar Yatris are termed as jobless, hooligans, Hindutva terrorists and whatnot. The self-proclaimed intelligentsia pretends that the Kanwar Yatris are the sole reason behind all their traffic woes and are responsible for all the pollution and law and order situations in their cities.
Business Standard article vilifying Kanwar Yatras last year
This year, there are some news ideas floating on social media. Apparently, some self-proclaimed intellectuals in Odisha have arrived at the conclusion that the Kanwar Yatras are an alien phenomenon that has been introduced by ‘Northern tradesmen’ and have nothing to do with Odisha’s Hindu culture.
Tweet by former BJD MP
Former Lok Sabha MP from BJD Tathagatha Satpathy has shared a tweet stating that the onset of Shravan is the “Start of another season of filth, dirt and road fights”. He claims further that the Kanwar Yatras have never been a part of ‘his state’s’ Hindoo culture and have picked up only in the last 15-18 years when ‘Northen tradesmen’ started selling plastic Kamandals and sticks.
Satpathy is not alone to have this argument either. There are many who share his views. Thankfully, an overwhelming number of Odias neither endorse this view nor consider that certain people have the monopoly over what can be called as ‘Odia culture’.
Via Twitter
I am a native of Odisha too. And I believe that in calling the Shravan festivities and Kanwar Yatra as alien to ‘Odia culture’, Satpathy and others like him seem to forget that Odisha is a state with 30 districts and maybe a million flavours of Hinduism, just like the rest of India.
First of all, half of the argument against Kanwar Yatra seems to be on the lines of the anti-Diwali, anti-Holi liberal view. The claims of plastic pollution, traffic woes and law and order situations are administrative and law and order issues that are present all throughout the year. These issues require stronger state machinery to enforce laws and organise smooth traffic movements. It has nothing to do with faith.
Uttar Pradesh organised a Kumbh Mela where over 22 crore people took dips in the Ganga over a period of 49 days. The state machinery ensured that there are smooth traffic movements, effective cleanliness measures and no violence or law and order issue.
The western part of Odisha speaks a different language, celebrates some festivals that are unique to the western region and that does not make them any less Odia than Sathpathy and others who think like him.
I belong to this part of Odisha that worships hill-gods, forest-gods and tree-gods. We worship the first grains of the harvest on Nuakhai, and we organise the wedding of Lord Mahadev and Maa Parvati as per Vedic rituals every year on Shital Shasthi. We dance on Lord Mahadev’s Baraat and we weep when Maa Parvati is sent on her ‘Bidai’ with all the jewellery, silk sarees and adornments meant for a Hindu bride. Nuakhai is a festival of western Odisha. A large part of Odisha does not celebrate Shital Shasthi either. Does that mean that these festivals are not a part of this so-called ‘Odia culture’?
People from western Odisha have been following the strict abstinence of the Shravan month and taking on long, arduous journies to Baba Baidyanath Dham in Jharkhand for generations. Many of us who do not go on a Kanwar Yatra still follow the Shravan rituals anyway. Every Monday throughout the month of Shravan, every single Shivalaya is thronged by thousands of shiv bhakts who keep a day’s fast and walk to the temple to offer water to their lord.
Economically affluent people all throughout small towns and villages open ‘annachhatras’ and ‘jalachhatras’ where they attempt to share some of the Punya of the Kanwariyas by offering them free food and shelter. I have seen family members, neighbours, friends, irrespective of caste, class and social status don the Bhagwa and carry the Kanwar of holy water from all over to Babadham in Jharkhand, chanting “Bhola baba paar karega, Bol Bam”. How can someone claim that these thousands of people who have been working, living and earning and spending in Odisha for generations are not a part of ‘Odia culture’?
India and the Sanatan dharma have evolved through a massive churning of diverse ideas and hundreds of paths, sects, and practices that represent our civilisational journey. Just because some people claim that a certain practice was not a part of their local ‘culture’ in a 100km or so radius does not make the faiths and beliefs of thousands suddenly alien to a state.
A considerable number of Odias follow the Mahima sect. They believe in a ‘Nirakaar Brahma’ and shun idol worship. Will these self-proclaimed custodians of ‘Odia culture’ declare that Santha Kabi Bhima Bhoi is not a part of their version of Odisha’s culture?
In the famous Dhanu Yatra festival in Bargarh, that is regarded as the world’s largest ‘open theatre’, an entire village becomes Nanda Raja’s Gopapura. The Jeera river becomes the Yamuna and Bargarh city becomes Maharaj Kansa’s Mathura. Throughout the time the festivities last, the local administrators and even the collector of the district come to pay homage to ‘Kansa Maharaj’.
After the festival is over, when the young Krishna finally ‘kills’ Kansa, the actor who plays Kansa goes to Puri, takes a dip in the Bay of Bengal and goes to the Jagannath temple to seek ‘forgiveness’ from god, because, while playing the role of Kansa he had to speak dialogues that insulted Lord Krisha and this, as per the simple, pure faith of the people of my state, amounts to ‘Adharma’.
The point behind giving these examples is, Hinduism has always been a celebration of simple, pure faithfulness regardless of narrow confines of regionalism. Thousands of Odias travel to Tirupati each year. Thousands go to Vaishno Devi, and thousands go to visit the 12 Jyotirlingas of India. So, how can some individuals with a tunnel vision are going to decide what is the Odia identity and what is not?
That being said, even if one argues that the wide popularisation of Kanwar Yatra all over Odisha has been a rather ‘recent’ phenomenon, who are we to dictate the time period threshold that makes a certain practice Odia and alienates certain others as ‘imported’ from other states?
The entire Odisha is full of ancient Buddhist sites. Odisha’s emperor Kharabela, who established the mighty Kalinga empire defeating the Satavhanas in the South and conquered Magadh in the north, was a follower of Jainism. Are these so-called custodians of ‘Odia culture’ lamenting the absence of Jainism as the mainstream faith of Odia people now? If not, what is the exact definition and acceptable time frame for a ritual or practice to be called as ‘Odia culture’ as per them?
Confining the vast, diverse and multifaceted hues of the Hindu dharma and Indic civilisation to narrow fiefdoms of imaginary zones is the greatest disrespect of our millennia-old civilisational identity. I have used the word ‘churning’ earlier, borrowed from Sanjeev Sanyal’s book The Ocean Of Churn. In the same book, Sanyal recollects an incident when he had met a person from a small Hindu community in Vietnam, which believes that when their people die, the great spirit of the Nandi bull comes and guides their souls to the land of river Ganga in India, their spiritual homeland.
The Hindus of south-eastern Asian nations trace their lineage back to the sea voyagers from the Bay of Bengal. So why should the natives of the spiritual homeland of Hindus think that their faith has to be confined inside petty walls of regionalism?
It is perhaps a sad irony that the myopic, politically inspired views of some individuals in India claim that Ram is alien to Bengal, Kanwar Yatra is alien to Odisha and Tamil Nadu does not recognise ‘Hindi gods’. Thousands of Hindus, from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra had marched to Pandharpur recently to celebrate the Ashadhi Ekadashi. Thousands of Hindus from all over the nation had taken the holy dip at Prayagraj during Kumbh. They have never let their faith of thousands of years to be limited by post-1947 administrative divisions called states.
Hindus have never been confined to narrow regional identities and they never will be. So Bengal will keep saying Jai Shriram and Odias will keep on going to Vaidyanath Dham during Shravan, whether some individuals with acute civilisational amnesia accept it or not. Bol Bam.
On the first Monday of Saawan, two Kanwariyas were beaten up by men of the Muslim community for chanting ‘Bol-Bam’ in the Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh. Communal tension flared up as angry Kanwariyas blocked roads protesting against the incident.
Reportedly, the incident happened at 12:30 in the night, while the Kanwariyas were walking towards a Shiv temple carrying the holy water. As they were walking by two Muslim youth approached the Kanwariyas. They objected to them chanting ‘Bol-Bum’ and asked them to be quite. The Kanwariyas refused to do so. It was then when they started to beat up two Kanwariyas. Both of them have been admitted to a government hospital. One of them, Vikas Gupta, was seriously injured as he was hit in the head.
Angry at the incident, the rest of the Kanwariyas soon gathered and blocked the Mariahu-Jaunpur road, raising slogans against the attack. The police had to call in a large force to calm down the angry Kanwariyas. The group finally stopped protesting after they were assured of action against the accused.
The police have now filed FIRs against Arif and Riyaz under various sections including for Dalit oppression. One of the accused has also been arrested. The Kanwariyas have been assured that the case would be investigated and strict action would be taken against the accused.
A few days ago, in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, a Dalit man named Harish Jatav died on Thursday after battling for his life for two days. Harish was allegedly beaten mercilessly by a mob after his bike hurt a Muslim woman in the Fasla village
Earlier this month, in Gauria village Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh a mob of Muslims attacked a Mahadev Mandir and damaged the structure.
On July 5, a Muslim mob had attacked a peaceful protest march against the temple vandalism organised by Hindu organisations in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
Why is it that we find NGOs in India constantly fighting the government asking it to choose between development projects and the environment?
Wearing environmentalism on the sleeve is a new urban pastime. People, usually, those who have returned to India, after a stint in the US, are found to be more and more spending their free time in fighting for the cause of the environment. Most of the time, this environmentalism is not only misplaced, but it is also downright wrong and myopic. It is just wrong and unfair when we make our government choose between building infrastructure and environmental conservation.
Development cycle
Typically, every nation, state and city undergo a cycle of development. As economic opportunities open up, people shift to a higher consumption lifestyle. Higher consumption leads to higher demand for goods and services, including roads, water, sanitation, health and so on. As this demand rises, governments have to step up and provide these services to the aspiring middle-class population.
The aspirations vary but are typically found to be wanting good schools, colleges, hospitals, better road connectivity, regular electricity and water supply etc. In order to cater to this new population and also service the earlier ones efficiently, governments have to augment existing infrastructure. Good and efficient infrastructure further fuels economic opportunities and the cycle thus continues. This, in itself, is a self-feeding mechanism that nations have used to bring out a multitude of people out of poverty. This same process is seen in emerging economies like China and South Korea in the past 2-3 decades. They have done a concerted superfast phase of infrastructure development which has increased their per capita income, reduced poverty and brought development.
Indian scenario
In India, the pace of adding this infrastructure is dismally low and delayed. The delays are due to many causes, including democratic processes, that tend to slow down decision making. However, one of the most disturbing causes of this delay is environmental activism. The already existing urban middle and higher income groups are driving this environmental movement from a very misplaced ideological perspective.
This elite urban middle and upper-middle class has been at the forefront of the cycle of development, having made their economic fortunes in the early part of the country’s economic development. Most of this urban elite live in areas that were forests about 50 years ago, have built factories in areas that were considered pristine and they have already enjoyed the aspirational needs such as good education, good healthcare services etc. Now, under the garb of environmentalism, this urban elite class, in a systematic manner, is keeping the rest of India’s aspiring population away from making their fortunes and enjoying a lifestyle that is by any standards basic and decent, today. In the name of environmental conservation, this elite class is, probably, unintentionally, ensuring that many people are excluded from the development cycle.
Environmental activism
Environmental activism has caught on because people love its emotional argument. But, often, people fail to link their actions and decisions to environmental degradation. Hence, when infrastructure threatens to cut hundreds of trees, people protest against the infrastructure – the most visible villain. However, most of the times, people don’t realise that they are directly degrading the environment by choices and lifestyles that they lead every day. The number of kilometres of use of car is more damaging to the environment than saving a tree from getting cut. Treated water consumption for cleaning of cars and not treating our wastewater is more harmful to the environment over a long period of time than the short term impacts on the environment due to the construction of powerplant for energy.
Environmental conservation is a multifaceted goal. Generally, environmental experts who work in this sector will agree that it is not just difficult, but often impossible to have any human activity that does not directly or indirectly impact the environment. Environmental conservation, often, looks at balancing the impacts with the benefits to society. In no case, can an environmental expert expect to have no impact on the environment.
When infrastructure is provided and is adequate, it offers environmental services to reach more number of people. Without it, more people will remain outside the access to basic services like water supply, sanitation, education, healthcare and mobility. Even in cities that are relatively well developed, the addition of roads, public utility lines etc. adds value to the citizens’ lives. When more infrastructure is added to cities, more people have the potential to access a city’s economic opportunity and thereby economic well being of a nation improves. And conversely, every time a citizen stops or delays a public infrastructure, there is a considerable loss to the economy as a whole.
The tough choice
The pace of infrastructure addition will change according to a particular nation’s stage of development. For a developing country, the pace has to be fast and cost-efficient. It is with this background that we can now appreciate Minister Nitin Gadkari’s comment in the Parliament, where he puts forth an important question for us as a country – “Environment or Economy?”
It is also important to know that all nations in their respective development stages have chosen ‘Economy’. As they moved forward from this stage that ‘Environment’ gained priority. Considering that India may not have the privilege of considering ‘environment’ later, India is doing tremendous efforts in environmental compensation. Afforestation lists high in the government’s priority today. Investments in renewable energy, electric vehicles, low carbon technologies, green buildings are all compensatory efforts of the government towards environmental conservation. However, when it comes to infrastructure development, these are often not linked, while ecological impacts are highlighted to show the potential of degradation.
‘No Action’ scenario
‘No Action’ is often considered as one of the most impacting human action. Delays in building infrastructure leads to a ‘no action’ scenario and often ends up causing more harm to the environment. Take the example of a road. A new road promises to cut down travel distance, increase speed of travel and provide access to more people. All these aspects directly benefit economic well being. A road will cause environmental impact such as cutting down of trees, cutting of land etc. But these will be over a short term and can be mitigated through a well operationalized Environmental Management Plan. The benefits to the environment, in the long term, are lower fuel consumption per capita, less air pollution and higher access to services. These are often unaccounted for, while the cutting of trees, as an impact gets highlighted amongst people and the media. Delay in road capacity augmentation leads to the existing road being congested, causing tremendous air pollution, loss of human productivity and lesser economic opportunities.
We have to stop saying no to infrastructure projects in India. We admire the early efforts of developed countries in setting up their infrastructure. We admire the way their cities function. We admire the state of the transport facilities that they offer. Yet, In India, we question the need for infrastructure. We have to change our approach towards building infrastructure. Infrastructure should be built when it is not needed. Infrastructure, necessarily, should be aimed at the future needs of our population.
India needs to develop its infrastructure for a focused period of 20 years to be able to fill the gap that has been caused since Independence. Governments need to invest and people need to support this infrastructure-building spree in the country, till the last person gets access to a basic, decent life. While doing this, we have to be conscious of environmental impacts, have processes to mitigate them, invest in environmental compensation efforts and rejuvenation as well. But the more delay we cause in this basic infrastructure building stage, more and more environmental degradation will be caused. And in the long run, it will cause irreparable damage to India’s economic opportunities potential. The question of ‘Environment or Economy’ will loom even larger if the Economy takes a backseat during this crucial period for India.
About the author: Anagha is an Architect and Environmental Planner, with a practice in Pune. She designs Green Buildings and consults projects on Environmental Assessments, Environmental Planning & Management. Anagha writes a blog www.mazepune.com which regularly highlights urban environmental issues.
In what appears to be an attempt to provoke Muslims and the Dalits to take up arms, prominent Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad has announced to set up a camp in Lucknow on July 26 to teach them about the ‘right to self-defence’ and how to apply for a firearm licence.
According to the reports, lawyer Mahmood Pracha along with Maulana Syed Kalbe Jawad Naqvi addressing a press conference said that they would conduct camps to assist people from the Muslim and Dalit communities to procure firearms. The camp will be held inside the historic Bada Imambara in Old Lucknow.
In a press brief, both the lawyer and Shia Muslim cleric said that the camps would be held in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow on July 26. They further accused the RSS of puppeteering mob lynching against the minority communities.
“We will tell you the legal method of how to fill-up the form and how do we apply for the license,” said Maulana Kalbe.
“The camp becomes all the more necessary in the light of the recent mob lynchings in different parts of the country and the Sonbhadra massacre…,” said senior lawyer Mahmood Pracha, who has been invited to oversee the camp.
Lawyer Pracha claimed that the Sonbhadra incident would not have occurred if those killed also had legal firearms to defend themselves.
“Sonbhadra is a glaring example of this inequality and discrimination in granting firearms licences by our system. While the oppressors or influential class can easily obtain weapons licence, the underprivileged section like the tribals in the Sonbhadra case, don’t even know how to apply for one,” said Pracha.
Reportedly, a similar camp will take place in Kolkata after Lucknow. Pracha said that similar camps would be held all over the country to teach Muslims and Dalits about the right to self-defence and the procedure to avail a firearm licence.
However, after facing severe outrage over arming Muslims, Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawed has taken a u-turn saying that he has asked his lawyer Pracha to postpone the training camp. He added that there will not be any training on how to use the firearms in the camps.
Blaming the media, Jawed said that media quoted him wrong. “We have asked Pracha to postpone the programme to see whether the government acts against mob lynching incidents or not. We will meet the leaders to demand a law against lynching,” said Jawed on Sunday.
In a video that has gone viral on social media, Samajwadi Party MLA Nahid Hasan can be heard asking his supporters in communally sensitive Kairana to economically boycott BJP supporters.
In the video, Hasan can be heard urging his supporters to not buy anything from the shops of people who support the BJP. “I urge everyone in Kairana and in nearby villages who buy things from Kairana, I request you with folded hands stop buying anything from the BJP supporters. For ten days, one month. Go elsewhere, to other villages but for solidarity with your brothers, face some hardships. But boycott these BJP people in the market. Only then things will improve. Their homes run because we buy things from them. And because of that, we are suffering,” he said.
Kairana in Uttar Pradesh is a communally sensitive area which witnessed an exodus of Hindus during the Samajwadi Party government led by Akhilesh Yadav. Kairana town is pegged to have about 85% Muslims, and the rest being mostly Hindus. In 2001 the figure was 52% Hindus and the rest were Muslims.
