The Parliament of India has passed laws which break up the state of Jammu & Kashmir into two Union Territories (UTs) and removed two laws that gave special rights to the state and its permanent residents.
The state of J&K has also been reorganized into two UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. As UTs, the two regions will be directly overseen by Modi’s government in Delhi. While the UT of J&K will have an assembly of elected members, Ladakh will be run by an official selected by Modi.
The government’s surprising move comes after days of panic in the Kashmir valley-a religious pilgrimage called the Amarnath Yatra was cancelled, tourists were flown out of the state and massive numbers of soldiers of the Indian Army brought in. More disturbingly, on Sunday night, leaders of political parties in Kashmir were placed under house arrest, which means they cannot move out of the homes and are under guard all the time. Some have since been moved to a government guest house.
Article 370 gave Jammu & Kashmir state its own constitution and decision-making rights for all matters other than defence, communications and foreign affairs.Article 370 also made it necessary for the central government to get the state’s approval for introducing new rules/laws in the state.
It was under this condition that the state, then ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh, became a part of India in 1947. Since then J&K has enjoyed much more independence than other states.
Story since then
Since the 1980s, Kashmir has been a troubled region. Some of its people, who never felt comfortable with being part of India, started demanding full independence. They were supported by Pakistan which has been eyeing Kashmir for itself. As a result, for over 30 years, Kashmir’s beautiful countryside has been scarred by fights and battles and even a war-the Kargil conflict of 1999 fought by India and Pakistan.
The reaction
Kashmir’s leaders are furious over the government’s move. Omar Abdullah, a former Chief Minister of the state, said that the government's decisions on Jammu and Kashmir are "a total betrayal of the trust" of the people of the state. Mehbooba Mufti, who was the CM until recently, warned of terrible consequences for India following this decision. On the other hand, the government says that it will be able to implement all its welfare and developmental schemes in the state.
The people of Ladakh celebrated the news. Until now Ladakh was a part of J&K state. For some years, the people of Ladakh have been demanding greater independence from the J&K government. Srinagar has been accused of ignoring the development of the Ladakh region. Now, under the new structure, Ladakh will be run as a UT directly controlled by the central government in Delhi. It will not have any elected representatives.
The people of Ladakh hope that with Article 370 and its restrictions being lifted, it will help the tourism industry which is a big source of revenue for the people of Ladakh. They also expect that New Delhi will give the Himalayan region more attention and build new facilities such as roads, hospitals, schools in Ladakh.
CROCS ALIVE!
Western India has been pounded with heavy rain this past week but the scenes in Baroda were the most unusual and scary. Flood waters that have taken over the streets have brought with them a bunch of crocodiles that have frightened the city’s citizens and canines. Flood waters have swollen the Vishamitri river that flows through the city. The river is home to crocodiles and over 260 of them were counted a few years ago. When the river rose due to heavy rain, the crocodiles found their way into the streets which resembled canals after the downpour. Videos of them swimming through streets and attacking a stray dog have been shared on the internet. The government is trying to rescue the crocs but the best bet may be prayers for the water to drain out.
KAZIRANGA UNDER WATER
The Kaziranga National Park in Assam was covered with flood water last week as rains brought the waters of the mighty Brahamaputra into the sanctuary. At its peak, the flood swamped 90% of Kaziranga’s area, forcing animals to move to higher and safer ground.
But floods are important to Kaziranga. Environment writer Ananda Banerjee writing in ‘The Print’ points out, “Floods are usually associated with loss of life and business, yet they are also part of a natural process that creates fertile lands for agriculture, replenishes wetlands and riverine grassland ecosystem. Floodwaters of the river Brahmaputra are key to the ecology of Kaziranga. Annual flooding revitalises the famed grasslands, which shelter keystone species such as rhinos, tigers and elephants.”
The real problem is the difficulty that animals face in getting to higher ground. Usually Kaziranga’s wildlife moves from the grasslands of the sanctuary to the nearby Karbi-Anglong hills. But their passage is obstructed by national highway 37 which is seeing more and more traffic and is being widened as well to permit more vehicles to travel. Hotels along the road and illegal mines in the hills aren’t helping either.
The issue, say experts, is that the government has been slow to create safe passages for the annual migration of wild animals during the floods. Kaziranga’s wildlife can deal with the floods. It is the humans that they have issues with.
INDIAN DUO WIN HISTORIC BADMINTON DOUBLES
It’s the toughest event in the game with four world class players capable of moving the shuttle at supersonic speed on a court that seems to be on fastforward mode all the time. So, it was indeed special when the Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated the Chinese pair of Li Jun Hui and Liu Yu Chen to lift the doubles trophy of the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament recently in Bangkok. What made it more special was that the Chinese pair are the reigning world champions. It was also the biggest win so far for the Indian players, who are first from the country to win a Super 500 doubles title. Super 500s are highly ranked international badminton tournaments organized by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) in which top ranked players compete. Satwiksairaj and Chirag took the Chinese world champions by surprise with their approach and won the final 21-19, 18-21, 21-18 in an hour and two minutes. The 16th-ranked Indian men's doubles pair had beaten former world champions Ko Sung Hyun and Shin Baek Cheol in the semi-final on Saturday.With the win, Satwiksairaj and Chirag will enter the top 10 of BWF men's doubles rankings for the first time in their careers.
CHENNAI’S WATER TRAIN
The southern city of Chennai is facing a water crisis so bad that a ‘water train’ now brings 2.5 million litres of the precious liquid all the way from Jolarpet, 215 kilometres away every single day.
It is quite a long journey for the water. Cauvery river water is pumped from Mettur Dam through a pipeline to Jolarpet which is around 150 kilometres away. At Jolarpet, the water is pumped into the tanks on the train, a process which takes four hours. Then it’s a four journey to Chennai where it is pumped to the local water works. It takes 12 hours for the water to travel from Jolarpet to Chennai, plus the additional time taken to transport the water by pipeline from Mettur.
That is a fairly long process to bring water to Chennai but the city needs it. Poor rains over the past few years have seen the city’s own water sources dry up. Buildings have come up over wetlands and lakes, which means that what little rain that falls runs off as waste water instead of collecting in lakes or as ground water for future use.
The water trains are bringing 10 million litres of water each day to Chennai but that is a small part of what the city needs. Until the north-east monsoon, which starts in October, brings rain to the city, and fills up its water reservoirs (large tanks for storing water), Chennai may have to keep those trains running.
HONG KONG DROPS LAW AFTER PEOPLE PROTEST
Over the past few weeks, thousands of Hong Kong residents have taken to the streets to protest a law that would allow those accused of crimes to be sent to China for judgment and punishment. Hong Kongers see this law as one that curtails (cuts) their freedom. Thanks to the massive protests, the law has now been dropped. Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997 when it was returned to the Chinese. However as part of the transfer deal, HongKongers enjoy special freedoms including the right to free speech. The live a life quite different from China where no one dares speak up against the all-powerful government. Given the difference in personal freedom available in Hong Kong and China, one can understand why the Hong Kongers don’t believe in the Chinese legal system.
The move by the Hong Kong government, (which is controlled by Beijing) to bring in the law brought many citizens of Hong Kong out into the streets to protest and defend their freedom. At least for now their voice has been heard and the law has been dropped.
TAX THE RICH AND FEED THE POOR
The first budget presented by the Narendra Modi government after it was re-elected this summer, promises to build new roads and railway lines as well as deliver new jobs for the millions of young Indians who are unemployed. Money to do all this will come from taxes on oil, selling companies owned by the government, and bigger taxes to be paid by rich people.
The budget was presented by Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s first full time female finance minister. In addition to improving the country’s infrastructure (a broad word that covers road, rail and phone networks), the budget also promised to spend more money on improving the life of the less wealthy. Farmers will get direct payments of `6000 a year from the government. Targeting 2022, India's 75th year of independence, Sitharaman announced that all houses would have electricity and cooking gas. She also said that all rural households would have clean water supply by 2024.
Doing all this is going to cost a great deal of money. That is why petrol and diesel will cost `2 more per litre. And that is why people earning over `2 crore a year will pay 3% per cent more tax overall. More taxes on certain goods also means that things like gold and split air conditioners are going to cost more. On the other hand, mobile phone chargers and set-top boxes could get cheaper.
SHEILA DIXIT PASSES AWAY
Delhi’s longest serving Chief Minister, Sheila Dixit died last Sunday due to an illness. She was CM of Delhi for three terms continuously between 1998 and 2013 and belonged to the Indian National Congress political party. As CM, Dixit helped expand the metro, build new roads and flyovers, as well as create a transport network based on the more environmentally friendly CNG fuel. She also organized the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, although the poor management of the event got her more criticism than praise.
ENGLAND LIFT WORLD CUP, BUT QUESTIONS REMAIN
In what was the closest ever finish in a World Cup final, England won the World Cup but questions remain over the nature of the victory. England may have lifted the Cup but the fans were rooting for the New Zealand team that was graceful in defeat, shocking as it was.
The match ended in a tie but that was because umpire Kumar Dharmsena wrongly allowed six runs to be awarded to England during a freak overthrow during which the fielder’s ball bounced off the gloves of English batsman Joe Root and reached the boundary. The umpire awarded four runs plus the two runs that the batsmen at the crease had run. He later admitted it should have been four plus one as the second run between the wickets had not been completed when the overthrow ball was thrown. Cricket rules state that batsmen are awarded one run extra only if they have crossed when the fielder releases the ball. English batsmen Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid had not crossed when New Zealand’s Martin Guptill threw the ball and hence should have only been awarded five runs, including four overthrows.
This happened in the last over. By the time the final over was completed, the teams were tied at 241. A Super Over was played which again ended in a tie and the match was finally awarded to England because they had scored more boundaries.
Grace in the face of defeat
It was New Zealand’s match to win but after the shock defeat the Kiwis showed the stuff they were made of. No anger, no blaming of the umpire, just acceptance of what happened in the true spirit of sportsmanship. Bravo Kiwis!
HELLO EARTH!
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has shared the first photos taken by the Chandrayaan II spacecraft that is on its way to the Moon. These were taken using the craft’s on-board camera.
Since it was launched on July 22, Chandrayaan II has been in orbit around Earth. Its orbit height (the height at which it is circling Earth) has been raised five times. 15 such orbit raising manoeuvres will be performed by ISRO to bring the space craft close to the Moon. Moon landing is scheduled for September 7.
India’s tiger population rises to 2987
India now has 2987 tigers in the wild, the government’s latest tiger population count released last week, says. More than half of them live in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. The population has jumped by 33% from 2226 tigers counted in 2014. The exercise was carried out by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NCTA). Madhya Pradesh showed the highest increase of 218 tigers, reaching an estimated 526, followed by Karnataka with 524.The two states have the highest population of the predator. The numbers have also increased in Uttarakhand (442), Maharashtra (312) and Tamil Nadu (264).
Survival of the tiger globally depends on India. That is because India contains 80% of the world’s tigers. Fortunately, the population has been growing for more than ten years now, giving us a reason to celebrate.
The not so good news
However not all the news is good. The count has dropped sharply from 46 to 19 in Chhattisgarh while in Odisha, it stands at just 28. No tigers were found in Buxa (West Bengal), Dampa (Mizoram) and Palamau (Jharkhand), reserves that had very low numbers in earlier assessments. In another piece of bad news, tigers in the north-east have overall reduced by half.
Problems of poaching remain and this is one of the biggest causes of tiger deaths. “We have 50 tiger reserves. Not all are doing well. We admit that poaching is a concern. There is a lack of protection and management measures in some areas," Anup Kumar Naik, NTCA chief told journalists. Plus, as cities, towns and villages expand and forests shrink, humans and tigers come up against each other and the result is not very good sometimes for the animal.
Counting it right
Tiger populations may be on the rise, but experts have questioned the way in which the big cat was counted. India uses a dual method which involves both surveys of the habitat (how big the forest is, the amount of prey available etc.) as well as camera trap images (photos of tigers taken by cameras installed within a forest) to work out tiger population for a reserve. Experts say that the count may be over-estimating the population, meaning that there actually may be fewer tigers.
The other issue is that new count fails to mention how many of the big cats are living outside protected areas and tiger reserves. In 2014, one-fourth of India’s tigers lived outside reserves. This data is crucial to understand if tigers are still able to move in areas between reserves through linking forests. The health of these links is important to preserve tiger numbers in the future.