Letters to the Editor: 16 June, 2019

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June 16, 2019

Major relief for senior citizens

Central Board of direct Taxes CBDT has given relief to senior citizens with age above 60 years and having annual income upto rupees five lakhs by exempting them from provisions of Tax deducted at source TDS on interest paid by banks and post-offices in case those requiring such exemption file form 15-H with banks or post-offices.

But it requires senior citizens to remember annual filing of form 15-H and to visit banks or post-offices every year to file 15-H. CBDT should provide filing one-time declaration in this regard by senior citizens with annual income less than rupees five lakhs rather than filing form 15-H every year. Declaration submitted by the desiring senior citizens should have commitment that in case income in some year exceeds rupees five lakhs, the assessee will inform concerned bank or post-office for deducting tax at source as per rules. Annual income of most senior citizens remains unchanged, and filing form 15-H is troublesome for them.

Madhu Agrawal

Provide drinking water facilities to bus passengers

The Kempegowda International Airport now witnesses huge footfalls of both bonafide passengers and visitors through the facility of inter-city shuttle bus services. The airport’s waiting area at the bus terminal has seating facility for the bus passengers and also has space allotted for bus ticketing offices.

However an adequate arrangement for a free drinking water facility needs to be urgently made available for the benefit of the bus passengers within the airport’s shuttle passenger waiting area. The lack of availability of adequate free drinking water facility at bus terminal thus causes a lot of inconvenience to many visitors and passengers who travel by both shuttle buses to the Bengaluru airport.

As the Bengaluru city is witnessing soaring high temperatures during this summer season, it is high time now to ensure necessary arrangements for drinking water is made for the benefit of airport bus passengers at the airport bus terminal.

Hence this is a kind request to the airport authorities at Bengaluru to urgently arrange for free drinking water facility at the airport’s bus terminal for the benefit of shuttle bus passengers arriving at the airport.

Varun Dambal

Monsoon musings

As predicted monsoon hit Mumbai in time and saving the maximum city from hot weather. Now it is flooding time with people dying in the floods and other mishaps. The BMC should be able to tackle the flood situation with disaster management system working in full swing and that 24X7 hours, helping out the affected people with relief measures. Monsoon misery in Mumbai is common, but we would like to see pothole free roads.

Nikhil Krishnan

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Ensure industrial safety and security of building workers

By

C K Subramaniam

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June 16, 2019

building workers safety — Image Courtesy: safetyandconstruction.com

With monsoon rains starting in the right time and high-speed wind blowing across, the security of the working class in buildings is under high risk. At present, the National Building Code (NBC) regulates safety in construction activity and if any structure fails to comply with the codes, its builder will be penalised and in certain cases, the approval can get cancelled or the building may get demolished.

Public bodies like municipal councils are responsible to control the rapid development with limited resources, which brings in the need for technologies and ensure safety and security of the workers’ employed in the construction sector. The enforcement of welfare facilities for workers as per BOWC norms are not followed and Employees State Insurance (ESI) is often not considered too.

A large proportion of the Indian workforce remains outside the existing health and safety laws. There is no requirement to report accidents and ill health in many construction sectors. Hence, there are serious concerns that official statistics are seriously under-reported. Serious issues such as a blatant disregard of laws and workers unaware of their rights aside, the rise of unauthorised and illegal structures across the country can’t be ignored. The absence of sensible urban planning and lack of space have led to the continued spurt of such constructions.

Systematic hazard identification process through workplace inspection, incident reporting, consultation, and feedback from employees should be in place in industries. Risk management is a fundamental principle that should not be ignored. Health records of all the workers should be maintained and periodical screening of workers should be done by qualified and experienced medical professionals must be taken care of. Industrial safety and security of building workers must be ensured at all cost.

Employing migrant workers in hazardous conditions without proper equipment and protective gear continues in the city despite the stringent rules put in place by the local bodies and the Labour Department. Fall protection accessories while working in high-rises are still a dream for manual labourers as they manage with just a pair of ropes or some ladders. In the slippery ground during the rainy season, accidents are bound to happen. Contract labourers are made to work hard and take up highly risky jobs. Fall protection accessories while working in high-rises are still a dream for manual labourers as they manage with just a pair of ropes or some ladders.

Facilities such as bolt-on cable systems with cable fall arrester, track systems with a climbing trolley or top-mounted self-retracting lifelines are seemingly luxury items for even big companies. Cleaning of deep dug wells and the repairing of broken water pipelines in deep trenches still top the lists of risky jobs given to manual labourers without taking proper safety measures. If they agree to such works at the lowest labour cost, they will get more such opportunities. The question about personal security is just the last option then.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

BMC promises Mumbai is monsoon-ready

By

Vaidehi Taman

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June 14, 2019

The administration of Mumbai, the city which comes in crises during every monsoon, has geared up towards safety this time. The city that has learned to live with it except that the media hyper aerates on it, and then waits for the next breaking news.

Every Mumbaikar knows it well why this unpleasant experience visits upon the city in monsoon. The BMC failed in its efforts to prevent waterlogging across the city. One, the city has a drainage problem. Every time it rains when the high tide is on, the rainwater does not flow out of the city. It backs up and inundates every low-lying part. Among the low-lying parts are the railway tracks, said to be a few feet below the mean sea level (MSL) and that explains their submersion.

The bureaucracy of the civic bodies is culpable too. They approve the poor work done by the contractors and are responsible for the delayed contracts because the standing committee takes its own time for venal reasons. Settling cuts is more important than getting the work done speedily. With Praveen Pardeshi appointed as the new Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner, the civic body has geared up to tackle the monsoon of Mumbai.

The BMC authorities would be paying special attention to dilapidated buildings, road, and rail traffic, removing encroachments and security. The BMC has claimed that they would be clearing 2.44 lakh tonnes of 3.49 tonnes of the silt from the major nullahs and 2.13 tonnes of the 3.09 tonnes from the minor nullahs this month.

The BMC has also listed 398 buildings in the C1 category, dilapidated condition, which need to be vacated. Of these, 64 are in N ward (Ghatkopar), 51 in Andheri and Jogeshwari (K West ward) and 47 in Mulund (T ward), with 193 cases sub-judice and 46 with the technical advisory committee (TAC).

The compounding is by the garbage that chokes the escape paths. The storm water drains, over a century old in the island part, have not been completely renewed though a big-ticket project, the Brihanmumbai Stormwater Disposal System (BRIMSTOWAD), is underway at snail’s pace – the costs have escalated, and the pace is not improving.

However, the poor drainage system is not the only reason. It’s the intensity of the sleet and its timing coinciding with the high tides. It has a lot to do with the way solid waste is managed. Though it is a routine requirement to be routinely attended to, contracts for clearance of drains – nullahs as we call them – are issued late. The work starts after a lag and the contractor hopes the muck not cleared would somehow get washed away and he saves the expenditure of having to clean them up.

The contractors who failed and hold the city to ransom are not punished. They, in fact, continue to be bidders for the work year upon year, and no one bats an eye. In fact, it is routine. So live with it.

The city has a habit of calculating the loss of business or the impact on the economy. It may make sense to impose an equivalent as fine on the contractors. The elected ward representatives, who are there because they chose to be in civic politics, do not give a damn about the management of solid waste management in their bailiwicks. They do not inspect the drains, except when a bigwig of their respective party stirs out for a photo-op, oops, inspection. The biggie issues instructions; the officials nod their heads, and then wait for the next year for the theatre of the absurd. It gives the impression that the politicians are hand-in-glove with the contractors mainly because the city residents are not of the go-lynch mindset.

So, what are heavy rain and a disruption? It is not understood that solid waste management is not only a piece of work to be taken up before the monsoon. They need to be kept constantly clean because there are health hazards of not attending to them.

The 10 per cent of the city’s garbage is plastic, which means 650 metric tonnes per day. Each plastic bag weighs a few grams, even a plastic bottle. Imagine the abandon with which plastic is thrown. It is possible that the weight estimated is of only the garbage collected. The plastic bags are the real culprits while the other solid wastes, including construction material and thermocol too add to the crisis.

The cities, like others, have banned plastic bags under 30 microns. Stores are asked to charge customers for plastic carry bags to dissuade the use of plastic and encourage a return to the cloth bag. However, small stores use plastic of all dimensions with impunity and big stores have made a racket of it.

Above all, the city residents are the culprit too. They throw the garbage anywhere, but they are helpless as they are careless. Helpless because there are no convenient garbage bins and even if the claim is of 7,500 tonnes of garbage per day, it is the collected garbage.

The quantity of the uncollected garbage is anyone’s guess but they are what choke the drains. Walk through the slums, which accommodate half the city’s population and the picture about the solid waste management practices emerge – no bins and careless flicking of the garbage as far away from one’s dwelling.

However, the well-heeled are not innocent. They run shops and throw the garbage out on the sidewalk. They throw them out of the window. They are nonchalant about it, till the city is disrupted. But, this time, you may see some positive changes and very prompt resolutions to make Mumbai sage during monsoon.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

Lives at Risk: Doctors choose Boycott over Duty

By

Rajesh Choudhary

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June 14, 2019

Around 4,500 resident doctors in Maharashtra boycotted work on Friday (all the 26 government hospitals) in solidarity with doctors protesting across the country against the assault on two doctors from NRS College in Kolkata by the kin of a patient. The doctors’ agitation that started in Kolkata early this week has now spread across India. AIIMS Delhi along with the other centres in Patna, Raipur, Rajasthan, and Punjab joined the agitation in solidarity with their colleagues in Bengal. Medical services in some places were badly hit. The entire healthcare system in West Bengal has been affected for the past four days. Over 70 doctors have resigned in the state so far. Meanwhile, the Calcutta High Court on PIL of Kunal Saha of People for Better Treatment, who seeks that the doctors’ strike be declared illegal, sought details of what steps had been taken by the West Bengal government on the attack on doctors and doctors’ strike, by next Friday.

On being asked about the effect of the doctor’s strike, Dean of state-run JJ hospital Dr. Ajay Chandanwale said, “Majority of resident doctors were on strike. Medical services were hit in the hospital. But we managed all essential services. Only planned surgeries are differed.”

According to reports, Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) observed a one-day strike in the state. People faced a lot of problems as medical services were hit in the entire state, including Mumbai. Patients and their relatives were seen wandering to and fro. Doctors from Mumbai’s J.J. Hospital, KEM Hospital, and Nair Hospital, among others, struck work on Friday. Doctors from government medical colleges and hospitals in Maharashtra and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in Mumbai participated in the agitation. A similar attack on three resident doctors in Mumbai’s J.J. Hospital last year had affected medical services in the city after a strike was called till the government looked into the matter of doctor’s security at government hospitals.

Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) central president Kalyani Dongre said that over 4,500 resident doctors, as well as 5,000 interns, participated in the strike. Dr. Dongre said, “We shut down Out Patient Department (OPD), wards and academic services from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. We expressed our protest on our campuses with black ribbons, slogans, and street plays. Emergency services, such as casualty wards and operation theatres, were not hampered.”

The Association of State Medical Interns (ASMI) that represents over 5,000 medical interns in the State from government medical colleges, and the Municipal Medical Teachers Association, all MCGM Medical, Dental, OT and PT institutions also participated in the strike. The doctors have demanded deployment of strong and trained security personnel in hospitals for controlling crowds.

ASMI president Hrushikesh Mankar said, “Security at government hospitals across the country needs to be strengthened. The current Central government, including the Health Minister and Defence Minister, should look into the fraternity’s needs. Courts should enforce strong punishment against the culprits so that there will be no incidents like this henceforth”.

On the other hand, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee warned striking doctors. She said that doctors who don’t return to work must leave the hostel. They are outsiders. The government will not support them in any way. She said, “I condemn doctors who have gone on strike. Policemen die in the line of duty but the police don’t go on a strike.” She has accused the BJP and the CPM of engineering the strike and playing “Hindu-Muslim politics.” Meanwhile, condemning the violence against doctors in Kolkata, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan urged patients and their attendants to exercise restraint and said he will take up the matter of doctors’ security with Chief Ministers of all states and Union Territories.

TMC MP Sajda Ahmed said, “The Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee is very grieved for the patients and common man of the state. They are suffering due to strike. That is why she warned resident doctors to call off the strike. Attack on doctors is wrong. Actually, doctors are like god and people should respect them.”

Doctors at Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) were seen wearing helmets and bandages as they attended to patients. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) directed members of its state branches to stage protests and wear black badges in solidarity with West Bengal doctors on Friday. It will also ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to bring out a central law against such violence. The Delhi Medical Association too has called for a statewide medical shutdown. In Hyderabad, doctors staged a protest at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences. Instances of medical personnel being assaulted by relatives of patients are common across the country. In April, authorities of the RML Hospital in Delhi filed a police complaint against a patient’s relative after he allegedly slapped a woman doctor. Earlier this month, a case was registered against a 17-year-old boy and his friend for allegedly assaulting a doctor at a Maharashtra hospital after his father died during treatment.

It is notable that Medical services have been widely affected. The relative of a patient at AIIMS said, “My mother’s dialysis was scheduled for today, we were told to go and get it done from somewhere else.” Emergency wards, outpatient facilities, and pathological units of many state-run medical colleges and hospitals and a large number of private medical facilities in West Bengal were not functioning. NRS Medical College and Hospital Principal Saibal Mukherjee and medical Superintendent cum Vice Principal Prof. Saurabh Chattopadhyaya have resigned for failing to overcome the crisis at the institution. A delegation of the protesting doctors met Bengal Governor KN Tripathi and presented their demands.

Meanwhile, opposition parties slammed Mamata Banerjee for her threats to agitating doctors and sought her immediate resignation as the health minister. BJP leader Mukul Roy alleged that Mamata Banerjee has become authoritarian and is behaving like “Hitler”. According to reports, doctors’ strike has hit medical services in the entire country and patients had to face a lot of difficulties.

Ashok Gehlot govt removes Veer prefix from Savarkar’s name in History textbooks

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Web Team

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June 14, 2019

The Rajasthan government has made changes in the text books and removed the prefix ‘Veer’ from freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s name from class 12 History text books. The Ashok Gehlot led Congress government has taken this decision within six months after coming to power. The Rajasthan Board of secondary education has made several changes in the newly printed text books.

A committee was formed by the government to make amendments in text books. The changes has been made as per the recommendation made by the committee on February 13 to study if the earlier changes to school text books were made to fulfill political interest and to distort history.

The text books which were printed earlier had the prefix ‘Veer’ before Savarkar’s name. There were also references made about his contribution towards freedom struggle. However, the prefix has been removed from the newly printed text books. The freshly printed books for the Rajasthan Board for Secondary Education (RBSE) have been distributed in the market by the Rajasthan State Textbook Board (RSTB).

Balasaheb Thorat the new Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly

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Web Team

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June 14, 2019

The Congress party on Friday appointed former revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat as the leader of Congress Legislature Party in Maharashtra. He will be the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra Assembly. Balasaheb Thorat is supposed to be very close to the Congress President Rahul Gandhi. Congress MLA from Vidarbha Vijay Wadettiwar has been appointed Leader of Lower House.

It is worth mentioning that the monsoon session of the Maharashtra legislature is going to begin from June 17. The Congress party fought the Lok Sabha election without Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the state. The party was in immense pressure to appoint the Leader of Opposition before the monsoon session begins.

In a letter addressed to Congress General Secretary (Maharashtra) Mallikarjuna Kharge, the All India Congress Committee General Secretary K.C. Venugopal has approved the list of members appointed to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and Council, after mega-exodus of Maharashtra Congress MLAs due to the Lok Sabha defeat in the state.

Senior Congress’s Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil has quit as Maharashtra Leader of Opposition days after his son joined BJP in March this year. Later on, he quit the Congress party and joined BJP. The expansion of Fadnavis cabinet is due in near future and Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil is likely to be included in the cabinet.

The senior Congress MLA and former revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat who is also arch-rival of former LoP Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil in Ahmednagar district was being referred to as ‘the dark horse’ for this post. Balasaheb Thorat proved media speculations true. His close proximity with Congress president Rahul Gandhi made his claim to the post strong. A day after Sujay Vikhe Patil joined the BJP, Balasaheb Thorat asked Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil to make his stand clear on his son joining the BJP. Sujay Vikhe Patil joined the BJP on March 12.

On June 4, Patil had officially resigned as Congress MLA from Maharashtra’s Shirdi constituency. He had submitted his resignation to Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha. Along with him, other Congress leaders namely Abdul Sattar, Kalidas Kolambkar and Jaykumar Gore also resigned from their posts as MLA.

Congress MLA from Vidarbha Vijay Wadettiwar was also tipped off as the front runner the Leader of Opposition. Sources in the Congress had said that the party is expected to fare well in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls, particularly Vidarbha region. “In Vidarbha, the Dalit, Muslim and Kumbi (DMK) consolidation are likely to spell good poll prospects for the crumbling Congress party in the region. Apart from that, Wadettiwar’s contribution and dedication to the party made him a front runner for the post. Wadettiwar played a vital role in bringing Kunbi leader and Shiv Sena MLA Suresh Dhanorkar into the Congress. He also ensured that the ticket for Chandrapur Lok Sabha constituency goes to Dhanorkar who fight an election against former Union Minister of State, Home Affairs, Hansraj Ahir. Dhanorkar won the election and he is lone MP of the Congress in Maharashtra.

But 57-years-old Wadettiwar could not succeed in his endeavour. He is a firebrand leader of Congress and has been a vocal critic of the BJP government’s performance in the state. His proximity with state Congress president Ashok Chavan and NCP chief Sharad Pawar proved in vain.

More Blood, More Life

By

Vinod Dixit

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June 14, 2019

June 14 is celebrated as the World Blood Donor Day. It is celebrated every year on the day of the birthday anniversary of Karl Landsteiner on June 14 in 1868. It is rightly said that “The future can be anything we want it to be, providing we have the faith and that we realise that peace, no less than war, required “blood and sweat and tears.” Blood donation is a big contribution to the whole life of people. Blood donation is one of the most significant contributions by the human being.

This event celebration was first started in the year 2004 aiming to raise public awareness about the need for safe blood donation (including its products) voluntarily and unpaid by the healthy person. Blood donors are the key role player on this day as they donate life-saving gifts of blood to the needed person.

Blood donation has many benefits for the blood donor. It gives certain facilities to the people while the blood was donating. It is a good thing for everyone. It is safe for blood giving people. According to the statistics, it has been noted that only 62 countries are getting sufficient blood supplies from the voluntary and unpaid blood donors whereas 40 countries are still dependent for the blood donations on the patient’s family member or paid donors. It is celebrated to motivate voluntary blood donors in the rest of the countries worldwide. It is celebrated to fulfill the need of blood transfusion and blood products transfusion to the needed person anywhere in the world. This campaign saves more than millions of lives annually and gives a natural smile on the face of blood receiver.

Blood donation is one of the most significant contributions that a person can make towards society. It is not harmful to an adult person to donate blood. The body of the donor can regenerate the blood within a few days. It poses no threat to the metabolism of the body. It is nice that health care organisations like “the World Health Organisation, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the International Federation of Blood Donor Organizations (IFBDO) and the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT)” work jointly to organise international level programs to promote people globally.

Nowadays, public awareness is noticed to donate blood. Many clubs, colleges, societies, offices, etc. organise blood donation camps on different occasions. It is a healthy gesture. We must keep this aptitude up at any cost. Our blood banks are running short of required blood. By organising such blood donation camps we may help them to enrich their capacity.

However, carefulness has to be observed while donating blood. First of all the hygiene has to be very strictly demanded to the blood donation camps regarding the needles they use. Otherwise, infections are assured to happen as well as some other harmful effects.

Blood donation is our human duty. Our body does not get affected if we donate blood. The body can repair the loss within a few days. So, we must come forward to donate blood as it can make sure the return of a dying man again into the light of life.

It brings the proud feeling in the mind that we are the reason to save the life of someone. Its consequences, we are giving blood, so we can certainly give life to people. Everyone has to give the blood for better health and save someone life. During the giving of blood as it is painless and will take about an hour only. So, whenever we have spare time, we can visit the hospital and donate the blood. We will surely feel happy as people will shower their blessings on us for giving ourselves blood and saving their life.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Letters to the Editor: 14 June, 2019

By

Web Team

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June 14, 2019

BJP government should focus on governance

As the nation has now given a clear mandate to BJP ruled NDA and its allies, it is high time now that the majority party in power puts the country’s focus quickly back on track. The governance and development issues which had taken a back seat for over two months, owing to enforcement of Model Code of Conduct, now need an immediate attention. The pomp and glory of victory should immediately subside by giving due importance to further necessary steps to quickly form the government.

The steps related to mammoth cabinet formation, ministries berth allocation, appointment of key officers to various ministries to spearhead the departments and also to fast-tack various on-going development programmes/ welfare schemes should be done fast. The nation now has no time to patiently wait for ceremonies and celebrations, apart from expecting a delay through routine transfers within the government machinery, that happens post the declaration of an every election result. Such a delay further jeopardizes a common voter’s morale on the ground w.r.t. day to day functioning of the machinery.

The incumbent government should now set an example of moving to business as usual quickly, which is now an easy task to NDA upon its second successive win. Many core issues now need an immediate attention including working out a strategy on oil import with Iran and sanctions imposed by US, clarifying the stand on distorted unemployment data, impeding agrarian crisis and much more. The quick government formation move will only help to keep the voters highly informed without anticipating much delay and ensure that the nation limps back to normalcy in a quick succession.

Varun Dambal

Govt should probe role of rating agencies

The role of rating agencies should come under the scanner of the government and the regulator. Most of the ‘downgrades’ by this agencies are made after the event when stock prices have already fallen and bottomed out leaving shareholders no room to exit. These very agencies upgrade stocks at their own whims and fancies without any reason which fools the public into a world of Ethiopia which suddenly comes crashing down overnight as events of corporate mismanagement unfolds over a period of time.

Even Corporate governance has become a big issue. CEO of companies do very well as far as their personal investments are concerned but companies they head bleed and they exit those companies one fine morning. Reliance Capital is in the doldrums but their executive who were at the helm and now exited are doing very well. The roles of CEO’s and MD’s along with top management team too should be monitored by the regulator.

S.N. Kabra

Why human rights activists are silent on rape incident?

It refers to horrible rape-cum-murder of a little 3-year old girl-child by some persons last week. Only a few days ago, a young businessman was murdered with help of his family-members in Delhi only because the victim went to house of killers to request for not being involved in eve-teasing of his daughter. A dog-owner and his associates in South-West Delhi killed a youth when the victims refused to apologies to pet dog of the killer.

Surprisingly those making Apex Court sit in mid-night in advocacy of death-sentence accused or those having candle-light march or returning awards in name of human-rights observe are silent on such brutal killings of innocent ones. Activities of all such self-acclaimed human-rights activists should be under surveillance in a manner so that they may not even think of making any kind of protests in name of human-rights for self-publicity and encouraging lawlessness including rapes and murders.

Uniform Civil Code should be implemented where Islamic law may be adopted for instant and severe-most punishment at least for crimes attracting death-sentence. Presently all cases attracting death-sentence must be finished in most supersonic manner from trial-court till disposal of mercy-petition by President of India including all in-between stages at High Court and Supreme Court to ensure that final execution of death-sentence may be done maximum within six-months of committing crime. Only such a system can create much-desired fear-psychology to drastically reduce crimes attracting death-sentence.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Rohingya crisis may ultimately jeopardise regional and global security

By

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury

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June 14, 2019

rohingya1 — Image Courtesy: theconversation.com

In 2017, as Myanmar military began a crackdown on the Rohingya ethnic minority group, over one million fled the Rakhine state and took refuge in Bangladesh. In today’s world, Rohingya refugee is the highest size of refugees in the world. A developing nation like Bangladesh has to bear the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars each year towards food, housing, medical and other basic needs of these unfortunate people. Ever since the emergence of this crisis, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government have been relentlessly trying to mobilize global communities in putting pressure on Myanmar in immediately resolving the crisis. Unfortunately, until now, none of the mighty nations in the world, including the United States, China, Russia, and India, in particular, are showing real interest in this issue, except for some mere lip-service, while China and India in particular, as well as Russia, are extending silently siding towards Myanmar.

Why world powers are silent on Myanmar issue

According to Myanmar’s own Department of Geological Survey and Mineral Exploration (DGSE), there is a huge stock of mineral resources such as gold, copper, tin, and zinc, within the Rakhine state, which are yet to be explored. In addition to this, there are potential gas and oil reserves. It may be mentioned here that, several nations are already competing – either openly or discreetly in deepening relations with Myanmar with the hope of getting a stake in the huge stock of mineral resources within the Rakhine state as well as other parts of the country. For this particular reason, many of the nations, particularly China and India even are shy in uttering the word ‘Rohingya’ thinking it may hurt their Burmese counterpart.

Every nation is actually eyeing on Myanmar’s natural resources and that is one of the key reasons that stop them from speaking out loud enough on the Rohingya issue. In this case, China and India already have greatly succeeded in deepening relations with Myanmar, and most definitely, for this reason, both the nations are unwilling to annoy Myanmar by helping Bangladesh in a real sense in resolving the crisis.

Rohingya a crisis is not a lone burden for Bangladesh and Myanmar

Until now, everyone in the world may think, Rohingya refugee the issue is a lone burden on Bangladesh and Myanmar and it is the responsibility of Dhaka and Naypyitaw to resolve the matter through “mutual dialogues”. What some of the countries do not realize is, for Myanmar, it is actually a priority in keeping the Rohingyas out of the land for the sake of ensuring a favorable atmosphere in the Rakhine state, which would enable Naypyitaw in having foreign investors in larger number for investing billions of dollars in the exploration of mineral resources.

Why Myanmar wants Rohingyas out of the land

The 1.5 million Muslim population in the Rakhine state in Myanmar actually is considered as a liability than human resources by the policymakers in Naypyitaw. The main reason behind such perception is –the majority of these Rohingyas are uneducated, unskilled and to some extent radicalized Muslims. Rohingyas have tried in 1947 and again in 1971 for making Rakhine state a part of the then East Pakistan and then Bangladesh. It means they are not loyal to Naypyitaw. The reason behind such sentiment is decade-old persecution and hostilities these Rohingyas have been enduring mostly from the Buddhist majority populace as well as Myanmar’s military junta. Myanmar’s military and the Buddhists see Islam as a threat to country’s peace, stability, and even integrity because the next-door neighbors of Myanmar are Bangladesh, a Muslim majority country and India, a country with over 180 million Muslim population. Myanmar does not want the Rohingyas to attain legitimacy as a citizen of the country and ultimate form any type of nexus under the garb of solidarity of the Muslim ummah.

The ultimate price of driving out the Rohingyas

Neither Myanmar nor China and India are realizing the potential risk posed by the Rohingya refugee crisis, which would definitely jeopardize regional and even global security within the next few years unless it is resolved immediately without wasting further time.

We are aware of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a terrorist outfit that came into existence since 2013 under the leadership of Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi, born in Karachi, Pakistan and grown and educated in the Islamic school in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. He is of Myanmar origin. In his later years in Saudi Arabia, Ataullah served as an imam, (similarly as Islamic State (ISIS) kingpin Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi) and served as an imam to the Rohingya diaspora community of around 150,000.

According to the International Crisis Group (ICG), a report released in December 2016 states that he left Saudi Arabia in 2012, shortly after religiously motivated violence erupted in Rakhine State. A Myanmar government press release claims Ataullah spent six months of training in modern guerrilla warfare under the Taliban in Pakistan. The ICG report stated that though not confirmed, there are indications he went to Pakistan, and possibly elsewhere and that he received practical training in modern guerrilla warfare. Several members of the group also stated to ICG that he may have received additional training in Libya.

Ataullah has been an active supporter of Islamic State ever since its emergence in 2014 and according to several documents, he maintains deeper connections with Pakistani spy agency Inter-Service Intelligence.

Since 2012, Ataullah began recruiting members under the banner of Harakah al-Yaqin after the 2012 riots in Myanmar. HaY, which would become ARSA in 2017, was comprised of seething, angry young men whose lives had been destroyed by the Myanmar armed forces.

The most important point to note here is – Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi promotes Caliphate, which is a prototype of Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi’s concept of Islamic State. Each of his directives is issued after cross-checking with the Quran and Hadith, meaning we can for granted take ARSA as the next ISIS – if not even much dangerous and mighty.

Ataullah’s confidants in ARSA, his devoted followers among the Rohingya, and his acquaintances from Saudi Arabia all unanimously describe him as one of the politest and softest-spoken people they have ever known. He even is described of his mesmeric personality, who calls upon his fellowmen to die or kill the “enemies”.

The next ISIS

Let us remember, the size of the “armies” of ARSA would be millions, as there are 1.5 million Rohingyas only now in Bangladesh [over one million Rohingya refugees] and Myanmar, while there are thousands of Rohingyas in Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, in addition to an unknown number of Rohingyas in the western nations. There is a sharp possibility of ARSA joining hands with ISIS and may even expand up to those Islamists in Chechens and Uyghurs. There are over 110 million Uyghurs in China and thousands in Turkey, Russia, and Canada. And let us not forget those hundreds of thousands of Chechens, who are spread within Chechnya, Russia, Turkey, Middle East, United States, Canada, and the European nations. Can we realize the ultimate consequence if there is a nexus of jihadists formed in between ISIS, ARSA and beyond? Can we really afford to keep the Rohingya refugee crisis alive and open the door to the formation of a gigantic jihadist force under the theme of Caliphate?

(The author is the editor of Blitz.)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)

Why did BJP never utter a word on KG scam?

By

Vaidehi Taman

-

June 13, 2019

The UPA government came under attack when the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) tabled two high-profile audit reports that could bring attention back to political corruption and misdeeds at the highest levels. The audit reports on Air India and oil exploration contracts, including the one for Reliance’s KG Basin, were tabled in the Parliament. It was in 1983 that Gas was first struck in Rajole Well No.1 when ONGC had a small office in Rajahmundry and Narsapur that was headed by Iqbal Farooqi. Since that discovery, there had been no looking back. Reliance and others are late players in that area, 14 trillion cubic feet of gas by Reliance Industries in KG-DWN-98/l (KG-D6) in 2002.

The CAG report on the performance of oil and gas blocks operated by firms including Reliance Industries and Cairn India was tabled in the Lok Sabha. The CAG in its report has asked the Oil Ministry to review the decision to allow Reliance Industries to retain entire KG-D6 block. It has also called for an in-depth review of 10 contracts, including eight awarded to Aker Group, by Reliance for developing KG-D6 finds.

According to the CAG report, RIL did not Relinquish 25 per cent of total Contract Area and violated Production Sharing Pact on KG D6. The CAG report also slammed the Directorate General Hydrocarbons (DGH) for having failed to pursue technical aspects of KG DWL Block. DGH should have stopped RIL from proceeding on D6 Phase 2. In its report on RIL’s KGD6 contract, the CAG stated that the company notified discoveries without details and declared entire contract area as discovery area.

There was a lot of noise by the rival parties on former prime minister Manmohan’s role in the 2G scam, KG Basin contract, but as the new government came to power, the scam getting diluted due to the involvement of corporate firms which are close to BJP. The role of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in both the 2G scam and the allocation of the KG Basin gas contracts can be questionable.

However, if we look at another aspect, even present PM Narendra Modi too comes under the scanner, On June 26, 2005, the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC), a State government public sector corporation, had discovered India’s biggest gas reserves in the deep waters of the Krishna Godavari (KG) river basin. He said that the discovery was 20 trillion cubic feet worth Rs 2,20,000 crore. It caught the entire nation by surprise.

Officials in the Ministry of Petroleum were flummoxed by this bold claim. Modi further, in his characteristic flamboyance, promised the nation that GSPC would start production in December 2007 and make our nation energy independent. It is 2019 now, nearly 13 years since that grandiose announcement by Modi. There has been zero gas recovered from the KG basin because there is no gas there.

GSPC spent Rs 19,700 crore during this period, ostensibly looking for the missing gas, but recovered nothing. The Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) of India has rapped the Gujarat government’s blue-chip Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) for its KG basin project, which is yet to see any production of gas, a decade after then CM Narendra Modi declared that it had struck “20 TCF gas in the KG basin block” in 2005.

The CAG noted that without any experience and expertise in exploration and production, the company acquired the blocks and then surrendered them, leading to Rs 2,514.65 crore being written off. The company went ahead acquiring overseas blocks during 2006-10 mainly as an operator with considerably high participating interests without any experience overseas,” the report said, recommending, “risks associated with cost, technology and price realization be properly considered while venturing into exploration and development activities.”

“Out of the 64 blocks on hand as on April 1, 2011, the company surrendered 37 in 2011-2015 and wrote off exploration expenditure worth Rs 2514.65 crore for 29 surrendered blocks. The CAG has slammed the company for “not recovering Rs 2,329.52 crore in dues from joint venture partners.”

The two joint venture partners are Geo Global Resources Inc and Jubilant Group. On the KG basin block, where the GSPC has invested Rs 12,249.06 crore between 2011 and 2015, has seen a huge delay in commissioning the project which was supposed to go for commercial production in 2011-12. However, the GSPC and top officials of the Gujarat government have defended the investment in the KG basin on the ground that its “high-temperature high pressure (HTHP) area where even British Petroleum (BP) in partnership with Reliance Industries (RIL) is struggling to produce the gas.

In spite of such a big scam, the Bharatiya Janata Party kept mum on the Reliance gas issue in which Mukesh Ambani is among others named in a First Information Report filed by the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Delhi government. Ambani’s KG basin scam is one of the biggest scams in the country’s history and much bigger than any other scams.

It is shocking that Modi and the BJP have remained tight-lipped on the issue. When the UPA was in power, BJP and CPI (M) made all allegations against Manmohan Singh and the UPA, however, when it’s BJP in power, all of a sudden, the KG scam became negligible? Why?

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