Lighthouse Cafe

Five common myths and misconceptions about history.

2020-05-22T18:14:00.000+05:30

We know surprisingly little about the past of humankind. In many cases, the lack of written records, or perhaps the annihilation of them, contribute to this. Oftentimes old kings would rewrite history so that they would grow in fame. However, even from what we do know of history, we have many misconceptions, because we were either taught wrong, or perhaps did not try to clear it up. Most of these myths are created by garbled facts, misconceptions, and often propaganda. In this article are a few 'facts' that are widely believed, but in fact false.

Columbus was the first European to discover America

We have all heard about Christopher Columbus, the 15th century Spanish explorer, and his voyage to America, which he thought was India. This much is true, but he is not, however, the first European to set foot there. That honour goes to an 11th century Viking mariner known as Leif Eriksen. Under the command of King Olaf of Norway, Eriksen was sent on a voyage to Greenland to convert the locals to Christianity, which was gaining momentum in Scandinavia at that time. However, a storm blew him off course and he ended up in a place he called Vinland, which is thought to be somewhere around modern-day Newfoundland in Canada. He was excited to note that there were farms with fields of crop, although presumably the person whose fields he tramped through was not as enthused. He left there soon, but returned a few years later, with the express purpose of finding Vinland. This time he spent the winter there, returning to Greenland in the spring with timber and grapes from there.

While this was the first recorded foray of Vikings to the new world, it is thought that many Viking seamen blown off course would have ended up in North America before this. In fact, Leif himself returned to Vinland because he heard the story of land west of Greenland from a merchant named Bjarni Herjolffson, whose ship had also been blown off course.

The gladiators of Rome fought to the death

The picture of gladiators we get from movies and books were that they were bloody free-for-alls where many people entered the ring, but only one man left. In fact, most fights did not culminate in death. Gladiators were, for the most part, slaves, sponsored by wealthy Roman traders and merchants, and trained in the ways of different weapons. The cost incurred by training them, feeding them and housing them was great, and it would not have been prudent to have them killed in one match. In fact, gladiators were more like WWE wrestlers of today, as they were immensely popular among the common citizens of the Roman Empire, for whom they held a romantic fascination. After their careers, they were allowed to retire, and many of them formed schools to train youths in the arts of war.

All this is not to say that there was no killing going on in the arenas. Slaves, criminals and traitors to the state were put into the rings against hardened fighters, or wild animals to be torn apart. However, these people were not gladiators.

India has never conquered a foreign country

We all must have heard this one from a hundred Republic Day speeches, where the chief guest drones on about how we should be proud because, while others may have attacked us, we were always respectful of the freedom of other countries. This 'fact' is wrong on so many levels.
For one thing, ancient India was the collection of all the lands beyond the Indus river. So it included present day Pakistan, Bangladesh, and parts of Myanmar. Already this goes beyond our present borders. However, Indian kings invaded lands beyond those borders too. An example is the Gupta kings, whose territories ranged into Afghanistan.
Perhaps the best exception to this is the Chola dynasty. The naval Tamil kingdom pushed it's territories to encompass the whole of Sri Lanka, and had great influence over trade in the Indian Ocean, once even destabilizing the friendly Srivijaya empire of Indonesia because they charged too high a tax on Tamil traders.

Ninjas wore only black

Despite the popular image of cool people in black robes running on the roofs of Japan, actual ninjas never wore a costume. They were trained as spies and assassins, so they would more likely dress as someone suited to the situation such as a commoner, or a samurai guard. Dressing in a uniform would actually give their identity away. Even if they had to attack at night, they wore dark blue clothes as it would blend better. In at least one incident, ninjas dressed up in the same uniform of the guards of a nobleman who was to be assassinated in order to cause confusion. Incidentally, the stereotypical black ninja costume we know of was actually the costume of stage workers in Japanese plays who moved props around. The black helped them go unseen against the backdrop of the stage. So next time you watch a Hollywood ninja flick, keep in mind that the assassins are all wearing costumes of stagehands.

Vikings wore horned helmets

This is yet another misconception which is spread due to mass media. Whenever we think of Vikings, we think of large men with beards, battleaxes, and helmets with horns on top. This was actually an 18th century idea, popularized by composer Richard Wagner in his opera, the Ring of Nibelungen, where the berserker warriors wore horned helmets to make them seem more fearsome. In fact, Vikings looked nothing like those terrible warriors. Their helmets did not have horns because they would be a liability in battle, as an enemy could easily remove the helmet. Besides, most Vikings were not the savage warriors we think of. Outside battle, they were very careful of their appearance, wearing silk clothes, rings, armbands and necklaces, and also braided their hair and beards.

Impact of COVID-19 on Indian economy; Is it a matter of worry?

2020-05-01T18:23:00.000+05:30

This question is bothering everyone right now. With schools and colleges shut, malls and cinema theatres closed, transportation and production at halt and lockdown extended it is obvious for all to show concern towards the economy since we directly or indirectly depend on it. From a small farmer to a Multi-National Company everybody depend on it. The world economy is hard hit with the biggest economies like the US and the United Kingdom going under recession. But with correct strategies and tactics the affect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy can be minimized and a bounce back is also possible.

Now let’s look at the economic situation of India. Is the government doing enough? Is the economy going into recession? Is the economy in safe hands? Instead of raising debates over such questions and causing distress among people, it is better we change our way of looking at things. It would be better if oppositions, media and intellectuals suggest sensible methods to tackle such negativity.

Yes, the COVID-19 has a negative impact on the Indian economy. What really does a negative impact mean? A fall in GDP means a decline in retail and wholesale sales, lower industrial production, higher unemployment and lower levels of per capita incomes. For a company it may be a stock market crash or a reduction in amount of sales for a business, both have negative impacts to the economy as there is a decrease in output.

Let’s look at some of the sectors which are going to undergo dramatic changes

Agriculture: agriculture contributes to nearly 17% of the GDP and employs 60% of the Indian population. The rural economy is mainly dependent on the agricultural sector. As per sources food grain production estimate in India is at a record high of 295.91 million tones which is 6.74 million tones more than the previous year production estimates (285.21). Though we have increased production why do we witness stores running out of stock? The reason behind this is that supply chain is at a standstill. Zero demand from restaurants and hotels has reduced bulk orders and thereby sales have significantly dropped. Farmers who grow perishables like fruits and vegetables are now in crisis. Since production is hit, prices of essentials have sky rocketed. But this can be temporary and a recovery is also possible. What next? Is there any hope? The lockdown has made people shift to vegetable and pulses as a source of protein. With the Rabi harvest on its way farmers can hope for better earnings.

Indian economy is also dependent on agricultural exports. In order to protect exporters and indigenous producers in the country the Union Ministry of Agriculture, has allowed export of major consumer products like rice, wheat, groundnut, processed food, meat poultry etc to needy countries like Afghanistan and Lebanon keeping enough quantities for Indian consumption. This was done on specific demands from countries to which the government agreed on humanitarian grounds. Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has put in a lot of effort to solve issues related to transportation, curfew passes and packaging units due to the ongoing lockdown scenario. As said earlier, agriculture related exports has a major contribution to the Indian economy, the Indian government is doing very well with respect to it.

Companies, Investors and FDI: It has really been a tough time for investors since the outbreak. The stock market crash often leads to a drop in the face value of the share and thus they receive lower dividends. What has the government done? Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Recovery is possible but it shall surely take time. Patience is key and intelligent decisions need to be taken by the investors. Meanwhile the government has made an excellent amendment to protect domestic companies from being taken over. FDI or Foreign Direct Investment is a type of investment in which an entity from one country controls business ownership of another country. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has amended the Foreign Direct Investment policy to protect businesses from getting taken over by foreign companies due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The amendment states that any investor willing to invest in an Indian company must get approval from the government whereas earlier an interested investor could automatically invest and making use of opportunities like these can easily takeover Indian companies.

China is the only country which shares border with India having the financial capacity to takeover Indian companies. China is said to be an opportunistic country which wants to have full control and influence over the world economy. China has invested huge amounts in share markets of different countries. Eventually when such pandemics strike, the share market collapses making it easy for the Chinese to takeover hard hit companies. Let’s see how this works with a simple demonstration. Let’s say, Company A making an investment of 500$ has subscribed 100 shares of 5$ each from Company B who has kept 600 shares for subscription. Production is at halt due to pandemic which led to a collapse in the share market and the price of the share dropped to 1$ each. Making use of the opportunity, Company A invests the excess 400$ and buys 400 new shares making a total subscription of 500 shares. Owning majority number of shares or in other words having a major stake, Company A easily takes over Company B.

But what the new amendment does is that such additional investments must take approval from the government and thereby ensuring companies aren’t taken over by other countries which indirectly allow them to control economies. This amendment denies the liberalization policy and is hence a reason for criticism by countries like China. This criticism is mainly of the fact that the purpose for which China has invested in India is not served i.e having an influence and control over Indian economy. In case such an amendment was not made then no longer would Indian companies remain Indian, they would all be foreign owned.

Health sector and Pharmaceuticals: hospitals are very crucial in such testing times. A country must have well equipped health care facilities to treat the infected whose numbers rise day by day. For a country like India with a population of 1.3 billion it is a must. And sadly India is not equipped to treat a large number of people for e.g. Shortage in ventilators. Then what is going to happen when numbers rise? Instead of thinking of this it would be better if we ask ourselves, what can we do to flatten the curve? It is very simple; just follow the precautions given in the government website. Private health sector which is much more versatile and equipped is offering help to the government by providing equipments, beds and some converting into dedicated COVID hospital and care centres. Is the government doing enough? Development of health infrastructure has begun as early as January 2020, even before the virus made its way to India. Since then screening is being done in airports and they are insisted to get into isolation for 14 days and are being monitored. When no other country bothered to bring back citizens from abroad, the Indian government took a step ahead to safely bring Indians working or studying abroad.

Dedicated COVID health care will have the needed equipments like ventilators, Intensive Care Units and isolation beds. Solely dedicated hospitals are capable to treat hundreds of patients. At present there are nearly 1919 dedicated COVID care centre of which 672 are dedicated hospitals. 173,746 isolation beds and 21,806 ICU beds have been arranged to treat patients. This is enough to treat the number of positive cases in the country. Indian scientists are relentlessly carrying out research. Indian engineers have built a low cost ventilator which only costs about 400$ where as the current ones cost nearly 30000$. India had imported 500,000 testing kits from China which unfortunately appear to be faulty do not give accurate results and hence of no use. So it is better testing kits production take place within the country by indigenous manufacturers which surely will boost the ‘Make in India’ project. And this is exactly what the ICMR is doing the exact same thing. Once production begins with the approval from the ICMR India will be ready to conduct 100,000 tests per day by May 31^st, the health ministry said. If cases reduce and India has excess kits it can export to countries like the US and the UK who are in very much need of them.

If we take the case of Pharmaceuticals, nearly 70% of API is imported from China. But due to this pandemic production and consumption of pharmaceuticals is not going hand in hand. The decrease in the production rates due to lack of import of API has led to a mount in the prices.

But on a positive note India has emerged as a new hub of medicine production. On humanitarian grounds, the Indian government agreed to export Hydroxychloroquine and paracetamol tablets to countries like the US, Brazil and Israel by lifting a few trade restrictions after keeping enough quantities for domestic consumption. Till date nearly $5 million dollar worth medicines have been exported. This was done to enhance the bilateral trade between the two countries as well as making the bonds between them stronger.

Small Scale Industries or MSME’s: Micro, small and medium enterprises employs 120 million people, which is the second largest employment generating sector after agriculture. Small businesses are one of the most vulnerable set of business organizations during such situations as they are young and new in the market. With production and sales (the major revenue generating activities) at halt it is only the savings it has made earlier which can help. The other option these entities have is that they have to plan and reshape their expenses. Sources say that growth may come down to 2% from an earlier 4.7-5.2%. Can they regain their position? As stated earlier only transparent tactics and strategies from the Government helps. Making the best use of this situation small business like tailoring are manufacturing masks and have made a fortune of it. When countries like USA have run out of PPE like masks, these small businesses have made it possible for a country with 1.3 billion people self sufficient in masks. But what about other enterprises? The government has initiated landlords to waive rentals till the lockdown is lifted as a measure of protection. Similarly banks have been asked to conditionally relax interest on borrowings for the time being. Yet such businesses may have to face difficulties and further borrow loans which increase liability and debt. Businesses have been urged not to cut salaries or wages for their employees. An accurate MSME census has not been carried out since 2006-07 by the government due to which wage relief package cannot be delivered to targeted enterprises. If online loan sanction is made available by commercial banks and SIDBI on certain conditions like correct filing of taxes and required documents have been presented then a large number of MSME’s will be benefitted. It is also true that small business have a major role in export. But, lockdowns and restrictions have adversely affected small businesses as well as exporters.

Food Services: lockdowns don’t allow hotels, restaurants and malls to function since large number of people gather and thereby increase the possibility of transmission of the disease. And ever since the closed doors haven’t opened which has resulted in zero sales and unemployment. But you cannot deny the fact that India is unequipped with the required healthcare facilities to treat a large number of people which is a result of public gathering. The food services sector in India is estimated to be around 4,23,685 crore rupees and is a source of employment to more than 7,00,000 people. Though home delivery may be an attractive option the chance of getting infected is also very high. And as a result Swiggy, Zomato orders have dropped by 60%. What is going to happen when the lockdown is lifted? What sources say is that if lockdowns are extended further, nearly 50% of food services may become victim to the deadly virus in terms of sales. The impact of the virus, not only has impacted the food services industry, but also human behavior. Lockdowns have forced people to cook at home and posting the delicacy on social media has become a new trend. And thereby in the latter half of the year there may be a significant decrease in people going out to have food.

This is not the end of the list. There are many other sectors which have been affected by this pandemic. What is going to happen in the near future is however unpredictable. It all lies in how the government takes decisions and how the people abide by it. We hope that there is equal cooperation between us.

~THANK YOU~

S Sanjeev Bhagath

source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

7 Bizzare Incidents That Took Place This Week During The Pandemic

2020-04-28T17:23:00.002+05:30

The Onion is a famous satire website that makes up fake news stories, all based on current events, and all completely bizarre, and more than a bit surreal. You can read their articles at their website here. However strange they may be-and they are- it turns out that real life has equally strange things on offer. So I have found 7 news items, all from the last week, which feel like they couldn't possibly have occurred. Each of these incidents are taken from reputable news sources, which I will link.

Taiwanese Baseball League resumes with cardboard cutouts as fans

The tiny island nation of Taiwan has been lightly lit by the coronavirus outbreak, with about 420 people infected in a population of 23 million, with all large gatherings being banned. Yet the Chinese Professional Baseball League continues their matches without any spectators, or rather without any living spectators. Cardboard cutouts, mannequins and robots with drums fill the seats of the Taipei ballpark in the capital. To make it seem even more like a real match, the players cheer for each other, and speakers placed in the bleachers blast rock'n'roll music. The players themselves find it easier to concentrate without the roar of fans in the background. Of course, to set an example, all the cutouts follow social distancing and wear masks. Read further here.

American woman treated for rabies after wrestling a fox

Eliza Watson, from the state of Maine, was gardening at her home when she noticed a fox on her property. She lived in a rural area, where foxes often came to steal chickens. Generally, they are shy creatures who flee at a human's approach. To this end, she approached the fox, making loud noises. However, the fox did not run, but instead charged at her. After a long struggle, involving some kicking on her part, and lots of biting and scratching of the fox, Eliza managed to get a chokehold on the animal, and stuff it in a large pot. She then called 911, and was treated for rabies. The entire story sounds like a folktale gone wrong.

Canada man files lawsuit over 'defective parrot'

Michael Davy of British Columbia paid a dealer, Akhtar Kidwai $1200 for the parrot, named Tiberius. The bird was said to have a life expectancy of 40 years. However, after a few months, Davy noticed the parrot shedding feathers rapidly. On examination by a vet, he was told that the bird had a lethal disease called 'psitaccine beak and feather virus', and would likely not survive another year. Davy took Kidwai to court, and charged him of fraudulent misrepresentation, or false advertising, but

there was no proof Kidwai was aware of the disease. Davy's lawyer found out, however, that a sale of goods act was violated. The law carries an "implied warranty" that a "good will be durable for a reasonable period having regard to the use to which it would normally be put and to all the surrounding circumstances", the lawyer said. The full story here.

Zimbabwe minister blames 'lack of beef' for Chinese wet markets

Energy Mutodi, the African country's Deputy Minister of Information said that the consumption of wildlife in East Asia causes diseases like the coronavirus, and offered to export beef to them to stop this. In his own words, "The consumption of dogs, cats , snakes, bats, monkeys , baboons & other wildlife in Asia & some parts of Africa has left us all at risk of contracting the COVID-19 & Ebola viruses. We hope to up our game on beef exports to China, Indonesia & others soon."
This naturally led to great backlash, with Zimbabweans telling him not to insult China, their 'all weather friend', but he did not retract his statements or apologize for them. Read the whole thing here.

Youths ride from Hyderabad to Chhattisgarh for ganja

Now, a story from a bit closer to home. Hyderabad resident Yashwanth Kumar and his friend Ganesh cycled the nearly 600 kilometers to the neighbouring state solely to buy ganja. The youths were drug addicts, who couldn't source them due to the lockdown. However, they got the idea that it would be easily procured in Chhattisgarh. So the duo did, in fact reach the border, bypassing 100 police checkpoints and crossing a river. There, they procured two kilograms of the drug, and made it all the way back to Hyderabad, where they were caught, because pillion riding was not allowed. Yashwant told the police that he avoided them by travelling through villages. Read it here.

Belgians told to double potato consumption

Governments all around the world are telling their citizens to practise social distancing and wear masks. However, Belgium's national association of potato producers, Belgapom, requested the people of the country to double their consumption of potatoes in order to help deplete to 750,000 tonne stockpile of potatoes. The association's director encouraged people to eat more, saying that eating an extra helping could help a farmer. More on this here.

Spaniards seen taking pet fish, hens and stuffed animals for walks

Spain has been overrun with COVID-19 infections in the past weeks, and so, not surprisingly, the government's lockdown measures are among the world's strictest. However, they allowed people to take pets for short walks so that they (the pets, not the people) could relieve themselves. This inspired restless Spaniards to stretch the definition of 'pet'. Many people had been seen walking stuffed animals across the streets. In the city of Lanzarote, a man walking a hen was accused of violating movement restrictions. In another incident, a man in the city of Logroño was penalized for taking his pet fish out for a walk in its bowl. However, the best incident by far has to be a man in Murcia, who dressed up in an inflatable Tyrannosaurus costume, and stalked the streets. Read more about such incidents here.

Series Review: Never Have I Ever

2020-04-27T22:34:00.000+05:30

Never Have I Ever a dramedy created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher and is now streaming on Netflix. It is basically a coming of age story about a teenager in America and how she deals with it. The twist? She is Indian-American (that's dots, not feathers). The show doesnt stereotype Indians much. Devi and her family are from India, well Tamil Nadu to be precise. The show, even though it is a dramedy, can be seen as a case study on how an Indian teenager (although born in America) deals with all the normal habits of teenage, including relationships, mood swings and wanting to have a feeling of privacy.
The show also shows how no matter where we are, the Indian mindset doesn't change. The aunties they meet at the Ganesh Puja are as nosy as in India. They meddle in others' business, gossip all the time and socially exclude a woman who has been divorced. The show defines them perfectly. "Aunties are older Indian women who have no blood relationship to you, but are allowed to have opinions about your life and all your shortcomings, and you have to be nice to them, because you're Indian".
Devi sees many of her friends being independent and being allowed to go out and have fun and enter into relationships, while she is under the control of her typical Indian mother who has a say in each and every aspect of her life, and this troubles her. She feels like she has no sense of privacy, compared to her other friends who are allowed to throw parties, while she isn't allowed to even attend one.
Netflix in this scenario also takes advantage and uses a lot of self branding. For instance, the boy wearing a Stranger Things tshirt and Kamala and Devi watching Riverdale together, or the pun used by the chemistry teacher (breaking good, a pun on Breaking Bad which is streaming on Netflix) and Ben Gross being a fan of Rick and Morty (another show on Netflix).
There are a few stereotypes in this show, but nothing to be taken as an offence. Almost every actor who has potrayed someone with Indian lineage in an American sitcom has been called for a part in this.
Let me tell a bit about the characters. There is Devi Vishwakumar, an Indian-American teenager, her mother Nalini, her father Mohan, who is now dead, her cousin Kamala who has a boyfriend named Steve but is instead forced to get into an arranged marriage with a man named Prashanth, who turns out to be nicer than expect and not, in their words, an "uggo". Devi has two friends Eleanor, who is very much into theatre and pursues acting because her mom, who left her at a young age, was an actor, and Fabiola, an Afrian-American, who (surprise surprise!) finds out that she is a lesbian. Almost every show does this! Have the writers run out of ideas for the supporting characters? Devi has, in her words, a "nemesis" named Ben Gross who is a rich white kid, and is the only one who is at par, and sometimes better, with the intellectual abilities of Devi. And finally, Devi's crush Paxton Hall-Yoshida, who is a swimmer and is Japanese-American.
Later in the show, an uncle arrives (or as they call him, Periyappa because they are Tamilians) who also seems to have a say in the family's decisions. His name is Aravind. He tells one of my favourite lines in the show "You cant run at night in Los Angeles! This is the city of Charles Manson and Harvey Weinstein".
The show consists of ten episodes, out of which nine episodes are narrated by famous tennis personality John McEnroe, and one episode is narrated by Andy Samberg, or as he introduces himself, "an American actor, producer, writer, and fake rapper".
Now let me talk about the finale. The last ten minutes of the finale can be divided into two parts. Part one, Devi's situation with her family, and part two, Devi's situation with her love life.
Devi's situation with her family becomes better. After she ran out of the house and said to her mom "I wish you were the one who had died that night", she goes and stays in Ben's house. But now, after much thinking, she goes to Malibu to meet up with her mom and cousin to scatter her dad's ashes in the beach, and Ben drives her to Malibu. The ending of this part is a very Bollywood-y ending with everyone crying and hugging while Beautiful Day by U2 plays in the background (which was her dad's favourite song). But then again, I guess that was theme of the show. Devi, after all the crying, agrees to return home and live with her family again.
Devi's situation with her love life takes unexpected turns after she and Paxton have a fight (after Devi's mom tells Paxton that he isn't intelligent). While agreeing with her family that she will return home, she glances at Ben who is still waiting for her in the car (although he dozed off). She tells her family to wait a minute and gets inside Ben's car and kisses him, while Paxton, who is waiting outside her house, tries reaching her. A very Sex Education type ending, I would say.
All in all, Never Have I Ever is an excellent show with a wonderful cast who can actually pronounce half the words without using a fake accent, and amazing writing. In the end, all I wanted to say was, "This is such a Mylapore behaviour da dei".
-Tejaswi S J Rao

THE JOURNEY OF THE MEN IN BLUE: THE EVOLUTION

2020-04-22T12:23:00.001+05:30

Being the most loved and played sport in India, Indian cricket has evolved to a great extent since it was introduced. It’s a sport that requires immense level of dedication and sportsmanship. We have good everlasting memories associated with cricket; it may be the first cricket bat with which we played or a silly quarrel with the opponent. I bet, we all once dreamt of being a cricketer playing in a stadium with thousands of fans chanting our names. But today virtual games have replaced our so called ‘gully cricket’. Instead of playing outdoors children have confined their minds to a cell phone. Those good old days……….

The official Indian jersey

India- A cricketing nation

The European sailors introduced cricket in India. Since then India has smashed several records to become the best in the world. India is home to many cricketing legends like Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar to present day legends Virat Kohli, M.S Dhoni and the list goes on. Sachin Tendulkar also known as ‘the god of cricket’ and the ‘master blaster’holds the record of scoring hundred hundreds in international cricket.

A glance at the Indian Cricket History

Queen Elizabeth II greeting the Indian team during its tour to England in 1952

The Parsi community of Bombay established the first cricket club- The Oriental Cricket Club. Some of the budding Indian cricketers were sent to play for the British where they earned great appreciation and recognition. For eg: Ranjithsinjhi and K S Duleepsinjhi after whom tournaments namely the Ranji trophy and Duleep trophy have been respectively named.

The Imperial Cricket council invited the Indian cricket team in 1926 and made their debut in 1932 against England. The side was captained by C K Nayudu one of the best Indian batsman at that time. Indian batsmen did not do great and ultimately lost by 158 runs. India hosted England in its first ever home match in Bombay and Calcutta in the year 1933. However the same result followed and India lost the series 2-0

India as an independent nation did not have an impressive start to its cricketing campaign. The first match India played as an independent nation was against Australia also known as Sir Donald Bradman’s invincibles, a name given to the Australian side at that time. Yet, it faced defeat in the hands of the invincible Aussies. Later it also faced defeat against the mighty Windies. And it was after 20 long years, the moment millions of Indians were waiting for, the Indian team registered its first ever victory on 24^th March 1952 in Madras against England. A moment of pride for all Indians........

Indian cricket began to improve during the end of the 20^th century under the lights of Gavaskar, Vishvanath, Kapil Dev, Bishen Singh Bedi, Erpalli Prasanna, Srinivas Venkataraghavan and Bhagwat Chandrashekar the latter four popularly known as Indian spin quartet. Since then India has had the most successful captains like Kapil Dev, Mohammed Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli

INDIA’S GOLDEN MOMENTS:

India has now claimed an eminent position in world cricket. The men in blue have won several series at home and away. Now let’s look at some of the glories of Indian cricket which are on the top of the list:

1. THE 1983 WORLD CUP (KD-83)

This was the third edition of the world cup and was held in England and Wales. Teams which were not playing well earlier had begun to improvise their gameplay. Teams like India and Zimbabwe scored victories against the then cricket giants West Indies and Australia. India was captained by the all rounder Kapil Dev and for the first time in history India entered the finals to face the mighty Windies. India was first to bat and gave the Windies a target of 183. India emerged victorious as they made use of the wicket and weather conditions very well and bold the Windies out for 140 runs, one of the biggest upsets in the history of cricket. Amarnath was awarded the man of the match for his excellent all round performance.

The victorious Indian Cricket Team of 1983

2. THE 2011 CRICKET WORLD CUP

The 10^th edition of the world cup was jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The young Indian side was captained by M S Dhoni who used well planned strategies throughout the tournament to take India to the ultimate glory. The final match between Sri Lanka and India was a thriller of a contest. India won, with full credits going to Gautam Gambhir and M S Dhoni (MOTM) for their outstanding knocks. Yuvarj Singh was awarded the man of the tournament for his fantastic performance and the key role he played to take India to the finals. All though he had ill health and was unknowingly fighting an outrageous cancer, he never lost hope and gave his best and considered it as his service to the nation.

The 2011 world cup- a tribute to the god of cricket who was playing his last World Cup

Other than the two world cups India has also won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 and the 2007 ICC T-20 world cup. Since then the men in blue have achieved great success by achieving number one position in all formats. Several series at home and away have been bagged by the Indian team. Indian cricket surely has a bright future.

Naari Shakthi

India's Naari Shakthi

The Indian women’s team is also making its name in international cricket and making the nation proud. It is also a symbol of gender equality. Today the women’s team has reached new heights by qualifying for the Women’s World Cup finals twice. The team is ranked 2^nd in the world after Australia. Many cricketers like Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma have made it to the top 10 in the ICC rankings. Shafali Verma was has also held the title of No.1 batsman in ODI, T-20 and first class cricket, just at the age of 16!! This tells us that with encouragement and appreciation women too are very much capable of making the nation proud. They have set a wonderful example and have become an inspiration to the women in India.

Why is the Indian cricket team so successful today?

It wouldn’t be wrong if I say India is the most successful team. This is because of the sheer dedication and determination of the players. Some of the factors which have played a prominent role in developing Indian cricket are as follows:

The IPL

The grandest t-20 league- the IPL

IPL (Indian Premier League) is a t-20 league held in the Indian subcontinent since 2008. Today IPL has also become a platform for youngsters to showcase their talent. It invites foreign players and senior players who mentor youngsters from which they improve their gameplay. When such players improve their game they become liable to play for their respective national side. Players like Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya are a few who have made their spots in the national side through their excellent performance in the IPL.

In other words IPL ensures regular supply of young players ready to play International cricket.

Training

Children passionate about making cricket their career take up cricket coaching at a very young age. As and when they learn they also play tournament in their schools or locality. Seeing this selectors select those players who have potential to play for the district, state, zones and then they can have a chance to play for the nation by attending the camps conducted by the government. Also the IPL teams recruits emerging cricketers from the Ranji Trophy. If they play good cricket in the IPL, national selectors will be keen in giving them an opportunity to play for the nation. However it is not as easy as it sounds, only players with dedication and determination will excel. Other than this, several former cricketers like Rahul Dravid conduct coaching through their own cricket academies.Such academies have often opened the doors to success for many promising youngsters. As the saying goes 'practice makes man perfect' it is impossible to become a good cricketer without hard work and practice.

It's more than just a team

The Indian cricket team is more like a family then just a team. The captain being the eldest sibling and the coaching staff the parent who guides the team in the right direction. When one fails the other will be ready to lift the team to a winning position. Cricket is a game in which there is a winner as well as a looser. When the team loose they take the blame as one family instead of blaming one single player making him feel depressed. They all stand united and try to learn from their mistakes.

The Fans

People behind India's success- the fans

Indian cricket would be incomplete without its huge fan followers. The Indian cricket team has the biggest fan base in the world. May it be social media or supporters in the stands, India stands first. Several fans worship cricket and hence cricket has also become a religion. Cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli have become inspirations, idols and mentors to millions. We have also seen fans dash through the security just to touch the feet of their idols who have claimed special position in their hearts. It is not only in India, but also when the team goes on an international tour, the energy of the fans is the same i.e at its highest, making the Indian players feel they are playing at home.

The Indian cricket team has never disappointed the nation. It has always made the nation proud and always will.

I would like to end by saying:

“Cricket is a sport like no other”

~THANK YOU~

-S Sanjeev Bhagath

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_national_cricket_team

Is India Testing Enough? Statistical Mathematics of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Testing Bayes' Theorem

2020-04-16T20:14:00.000+05:30

"Is India testing enough?" It seems to be the question on everybody's mind. With the opposition, media, and intellectuals alike hammering the government for not testing enough, let's look into the statistical mathematics of medical testing.

A medical test, like the one we use to detect COVID-19 virus (Swab tests, RT-PCR) should ideally give us a 'Yes or No' answer, but is that the case? No. In reality, no test is 100% accurate. Broadly speaking there are 4 different outcomes of a particular test concerning an individual.

TRUE POSITIVE- You are infected and the test says that too. (TP)
FALSE POSITIVE- You are not infected but the test says that you are. (FP)
TRUE NEGATIVE- You are not infected and the test says that too. (TN)
FALSE NEGATIVE- You are infected but the test says that you aren't. (FN)

Now the term 'accuracy' has a different connotation in medical testing, it generally implies how well the test is doing in relation to the sum of TP and TN as a percentage of the total tests. But this metric disregards the two other important outcomes FP and FN. To understand why FP and FN numbers are so important, let us look at the varying degree of risk associated with each of the four outcomes in the context of the COVID-19 disease.
TRUE POSITIVE(TP)
In this case, you have been accurately detected as a COVID-19 positive patient and now the ordeal begins. Depending on your underlying health condition, and severity of your symptoms, you will either be asked to self-isolate or be admitted into a hospital. The costs ascribed to this depend on the situation you find yourself in. But at least you have been assessed correctly.

TRUE NEGATIVE(TN)
In this case, you have been accurately detected as a COVID-19 negative patient I.e. you do not have COVID-19 and can go back home and keep following the Social Distancing Guidelines.

FALSE POSITIVE(FP)
In this case, you have been wrongly detected as a COVID-19 positive patient. As with TP, you'd have two scenarios depending on whether you are asked to self-isolate or be admitted. The only loss you'll have is the emotional turmoil for nothing. Though if you are admitted to a hospital, it'll greatly increase the burden on the healthcare system.

FALSE NEGATIVE(FN)
In this case, you have been wrongly detected as a COVID-19 negative patient I.e. even though you have the virus the test says otherwise. This mostly happens to asymptomatic patients. This is the worst situation as even though you have the virus, you'll probably go untreated and also become a huge threat to society in the form of an 'Asymptomatic Spreader'.

Now that we have a rough idea of the qualms of medical testing, let's understand the application of Bayes' Theorem on COVID-19 testing. To understand Bayes' Theorem in-depth read "The Theory That Would Not Die: How Bayes' Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines, and Emerged Triumphant from Two Centuries of Controversy"

The two fundamentals behind Bayes' Theorem are that first, no test is a 100% accurate or perfect (as explained above) and second is the concept of "prior probability" or "base rate" I.e. the probability of an event computed before the collection of new data based on intuition or belief. Let's look at an example to understand it better.

Let's assume that we have a highly accurate test with 99.99% accuracy (1 in 1000 chance of an FP or FN) with a prior probability rate of 1%. Now let's take 100,000 people, statistically, 1000 of them have the disease. This test will accurately denote 999 of them as TP and 1 as FN. Among the remaining 99000 people, 99 are denoted as 'Yes' as in have the disease and the rest 98,901 people are denoted as 'No' as in don't have the disease. So, of the people marked Yes, how many have the disease? Its 999/ (999+99) *100= 90.98% which amounts to about 10/11 people. So, using a highly accurate test when you test people 'randomly' you find that 1 in 10 people you find positive are not actually.

Now let's apply the principle of 'prior probability' I.e. in the context of COVID-19 those people who have travel history to affected countries, respiratory infections, or show symptoms. Let's assume the prior probability rate as 10% under the above conditions. Thus, 10,000 of the total 100,000 have the disease. The test denotes 9990 people as Yes and 10 people as No. Now of the remaining 90,000, 90 are denoted as Yes, and the other 89,910 as No. Now, the percentage of people who have the disease of those who were denoted as Yes is 9990/ (9990+90) *100= 99.10% way more accurate than the 90.98% from earlier albeit highly sensitive to the prior probability rate.

The data presented here is based on a highly accurate hypothetical test, in reality, the test for the COVID-19 virus could be, or most definitely is significantly less accurate. Hence, an effective way of testing for the virus would be to test when the prior probability is high I.e. individuals with travel history, those who were in contact with infected people, those with respiratory issues, those who show heavy symptoms, those who attended the Nizamuddin congregation, etc. Which is what the Indian model seems to be.

In no way does this article or data imply that testing shouldn't happen, only that individuals with lesser prior probability needn't be tested as vehemently as those with a substantially higher prior probability considering India is in lockdown and also the financial constraints of testing a population of 1.3 billion people

Sources- https://twitter.com/karthiks/status/1250362089585033216

https://towardsdatascience.com/false-positives-negatives-and-bayes-rule-for-covid-19-testing-750eaba84acd

5 Best Single Player Games To Keep you Busy During The Lockdown

2020-04-15T18:01:00.000+05:30

Look, we all know how boring it can get just sitting in our homes, waiting for this lockdown to end so we can all finally get out and have fun. You know, the occasional hanging out, going to parties and stuff. While unfortunately we cant do that anymore what we can do is stay in our homes, avoid social contact and wait for this pandemic to end.

Well, some people have acquitted themselves quiet well throughout this lockdown. The internet has been a blessing for us in this case in such a way that all of us can still be in contact with each other through social media apps such as Instagram, Facebook etc. And also kept us entertained through global giants such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. What about the gaming community though? Well for some gamers such as myself, this has actually been a huge excuse for us to stay glued to our screens since no one will force us to go out and get a life( that will show’em eh?) Terrible jokes aside, a lot of multiplayer games are thriving right now since we can play with our friends, and hang out in-game as we cant in real life right now. But what about the single player games, the games which made up most of our childhood? The games which let you immerse yourself into their world and offered an escape from reality? Such games which offered a thrilling story where you can be the saviour of the galaxy, hero of the empire or just a simple man having a bad day? For being a single player fan such as myself, to see companies straying far away from single player stories and more into having a multiplayer suite really is disappointing.

That’s not a rip on multiplayer games though, for they’re fantastic. Its just that single player are not that common as they used to be. So, by being a single player fan, this writer has made a list of single player games to keep you busy when you have run out of internet by watching Netflix or just are bored of losing all the time on Ludo King. So, shall we?

5- Vampire: The Masquerade-Bloodlines

Vampire: The Masquerade- Bloodlines is an action rpg which is as long and complicated as its name. This underrated gem was released in 2004 to PC platforms. While it divided critics at its release, who praised its story, writing, replayability and its numerous amount of choices, all which impacted the story in a meaningful manner, it came under fire due to it being unfinished at the time of release, with tons of bugs, glitches and so on. While it was a failure in its release, selling fewer than 80,000 copies, it has gathered a huge cult following with many unofficial patches and mods which has largely improved the game and has earned recognition as a flawed masterpiece. You can play as 7 different vampire races in this game, all having their own unique powers and abilities, and also change the way people react to you. You can do whatever you want in this pseudo-open world, like going to bars, dancing, or just wreaking havoc on the streets as a vampire. What makes this game special is that every race you pick will impact the story and the way NPCs react to you differently. Even being a failure at launch, due to the huge cult gathering this game has followed, a sequel is on the way this year! And it looks better than ever.

4- The Metal Gear Solid Series

Hmm, where to start with this one? The mgs series has always been acclaimed for its story, gameplay and its ridiculousness. (seriously, there’s a boss fight in mgs3 you can finish by just not playing the game for a week. The boss will just die of old age) These games have always been praised for being way ahead of their time, with many entries receiving multiple goty awards and has been expanded into toy lines, comics and novels. The series has basically been credited for pioneering stealth games and cinematic cutscenes. (Yes you heard that right. The first game in the series actually invented inengine cutscenes) And, for added benefit, you can use a psp emulator and can play one of its best games, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker on your phone! Trust me, its worth it. That game is regarded as one of the best games ever released on the psp platform, with its 25 hour campaign rivalling some of the best campaigns released on much bigger consoles.

3- Fallout: New Vegas

Wildly regarded as one of the best games in the fallout series, Fallout: New Vegas took the series back to its old roots with meaningful choices, myriad of quests and the freedom to do whatever you want. In New Vegas, Players take control of a character known as the Courier. While transporting a package across the Mojave Desert to the city of New Vegas, the Courier is ambushed, robbed of the package, shot, and left for dead. After surviving, the Courier begins a journey to find their wouldbe killer and recover the package, makes friends and enemies among various warring factions, and ultimately becomes caught up in a conflict that will determine who controls New Vegas and the Mojave Wasteland. But what happens after that its up to you. If you want to follow the story lead your faction to victory or if you just want to roam around the wasteland doing petty work, the game allows you the freedom to do so. This level of freedom and sophistications is what made players love fallout so much. Well, until Fallout 76 came along.

2-The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Of course, how can we make a list of best single player games without including one of THE best video games of all time? Critically lauded for its gameplay, story, size and scale, the game was such a cultural phenomenon that it basically spawned its own Netflix series, with Henry Cavill of Man Of Steel and Mission Impossible fame playing the role of the titular character. The game’s main campaign is 70 HOURS LONG, and that’s not even accounting for the 200+ plus hours of unique side quests you can find in this game. The game is so large that some still haven’t finished the game even though they picked it up in 2015, when the game released. Even speedrunners took 20+ hours to finish 100% of this masterpiece. But better have a beefy PC to play this though, for the game is a technical beast. Even playing at the lowest possible settings made my game run at 6 frames per second. That probably means I have a shitty PC but anyways, this is one of them games you HAVE to play atleast once in your lifetime, for it will be worth it.

1-The Elder Scrolls Series

The elder scrolls series WILL ruin your life. You will stop making friends, eating, drinking and sleeping because you will be busy making friends, eating, drinking and sleeping in these games. The series have widely been acclaimed for its large content of 200+ hours of gameplay, attention to detail and freedom in allowing us to do whatever we want. Want to be a werewolf or a vampire who hunts and eat people at night to stay alive, or want to be an allpowerful mage who can destroy entire ecosystem with just one spell, or just a normal commoner who makes livings ends by harvesting crops in his farmhouse, the game will allow you to be whoever you want and do whatever you want. You can even suspend the main quest completely and just focus on side quest your entire gameplay by directly beating the main boss the minute you start playing. This level of freeform gameplay has made the elder scrolls series so beloved that the latest game, Skyrim sold more than 30 million copies and has been ported to almost every console in existence, even Nintendo Switch. However, it has not been released on mobile yet. The good news is you can play one of the best games in the series, Morrowind on your phone with an unofficial emulator app known as OpenMicrowave, and it is damn fun to play, as I am still playing it in my phone!

India and COVID-19

2020-04-09T20:03:00.000+05:30

Something that is making the headlines today is the infamous COVID-19 which was detected in Wuhan, China. This virus has ever since has spread like a wildfire thereby taking thousands of lives across the globe. The worst affected countries are surprisingly the ones having the best resources and health care facilities such as the USA, Italy, and the United Kingdom amongst others. This reveals that the wealth of any country does not have any bearing on the impact of the deadly disease, but it is the precaution and smart measures that make the difference in effectively dealing with the crisis on hand.

“THE DEADLY COVID-19”

THE CO-OPERATION

The government alone is unable to stop the deadly virus from spreading unless the citizens co-operate and positively respond to the measures set up by the government rising beyond the religious barriers ranging from the poorest to the richest.

THE INFODEMIC

A substantive factor that has played a major role in spreading the fear of COVID-19 has been the unregulated and/or unconfirmed and/or ill-guided news. The need of the hour is to analyze and verify the credibility of the information with the verified government data. A single misconception or a selfish act can put the entire nation into jeopardy. For instance, when the 21-day lockdown was announced, people began hoarding groceries and other essential commodities in anticipation of shortage, in light of the unconfirmed news spread across social media platforms despite the government having assured the people of regular supply of essential commodities.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

Even though the lockdown has confined us between four walls for 3 weeks, it is the right time to explore ourselves and foster new skills, which may include but not be restricted to the following.

We could learn to play a musical instrument through online courses or YouTube channels.
Read books on subjects as per individual preferences
Learn cooking
Clean your house and surprise your parents
·Try a hand in painting
Read our articles

SMALL STEPS TO SUCCESS

At present, there is no remedy to COVID-19. But let us keep in mind the age-old saying ‘prevention is better than cure’, It means we need to take the right measures to keep us safe from the deadly virus. These are some of the easiest steps which we can follow :

1. Do not Panic:

The first and foremost thing we have to do is not panic. It is not going to help in any way other than making the situation worse.We need to have faith in ourselves.

2. Social distancing:

Avoid stepping out of your house unnecessarily. While you are out to buy essential commodities ensure maintaining distance with the person near you.‘The only alternative we have now’Also, ensure you are covered through a mask or anything to cover your mouth.

Social distancing - the current alternative

3.Good Hygiene:

The most important of all is to maintain good hygiene. It’s very simple; just wash your hand properly with soap. Why? Soap or alcohol is very effective against dissolving that greasy liquid coating of the virus.

THE INDIAN TOUCH

It wouldn’t be wrong if I say that the colonial empire destroyed the Indian traditions. They forcefully made us accept their culture leading to the destruction of our traditions. But today the world has been forced to follow India’s footsteps. Today India has emerged as global leader. The following are a few examples:

1. Namasthe world:

‘Namasthe’ is the original Indian way of greeting people by joining hands. This was replaced by ‘handshakes’ during the colonial rule.

But today people are avoiding handshakes as it involves physical contact thereby it increases the transmission of the virus.

2. Removing footwear before entering:

Shoes can be a breeding ground for bacteria and viruses as it comes in direct contact with dirt and germs. Virus and bacteria can breed on the sole of the shoe and might even get carried to your home.

INDIA'S PROGRESS:

The Indian Government has taken certain measures that are being praised by international organizations such as the WHO and many other countries like USA and many SAARC nations as well:

· 1. A 21-day lockdown:

A 21-day lockdown was announced on 25^th March. The entire country would go to a state of lockdown with all the shops, malls, theatres, educational institutions etc being shut down except for grocery stores and medical shops.

A scene of lockdown in the capital

2. The ‘Thaali’ and the Janata Curfew:

On 22^nd March the Prime Minister of India announced a nationwide lockdown for a day. On

22^nd March at 5 pm the Prime Minister also asked the citizens to clap as a mark of respect for the brave doctors, medics, army and police officials who risk their lives to treat the patients. The same is being followed by countries such as The United Kingdom, The USA, Australia and many more

· 3. Prakash

On the 9^th of April, the prime minister urged Indians to light diyas, candles, flashlights or any other source of light or ‘prakash’to show solidarity that we all are united in this fight against COVID-19. This was very successful, from a beggar to Mukesh Ambani almost everyone participated in it.

'Candle-a source of prakash'

· 4. Railway coaches into isolation wards:

India is planning to use train coaches as COVID-19 isolation wards in response to the growing number of cases in the country. The concept is approved and each of the railway zones will be ordered to transform ten coaches into such isolation wards every week. Maruti and Mahindra are also changing their production units to build ventilators and masks.

THE POSITIVE SIDE

Let’s wrap up this article on a positive note. Though this pandemic has caused worries and anxiety among people there is a positive side too. The amount of pollution has gradually decreased due to reduced human activities. This pandemic has also taught us that we are not the masters of this planet. We need to live in harmony with other animals as well. Or else such pandemics like this can cause the entire humanity to suffer badly. The pandemic has also helped many people their selves better.

This is going to be a huge and lengthy war, till then we have to be patient and wise.

May the world emerge victoriously!!

~THANK YOU~

-Written by: S Sanjeev Bhagath

Museum of Broken Relationships

2020-04-08T12:09:00.000+05:30

Everyone at least once in their life goes through heartbreak. Different people cope with it differently; some wreck their lives while others see it as a new beginning. But a few people do something extraordinary and today we're looking at one such extraordinary innovation resulting from a breakup.

The story of the Museum of Broken Relationships at Ćirilometodska 2, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia; the brainchild of two star-crossed lovers, Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić.

The Idea

Dražen and Olinka were going through what many people go through. It was an amicable breakup, but they found it very hard to say good-bye. They wanted to keep alive some of the great memories they had. Olinka had written an essay titled The Museum of Broken Relationships which at the time was just a metaphor until Dražen convinced Olinka to convert the metaphor into a reality.

After their love affair ended, the estranged couple began collecting the relics of other failed relationships, mostly everyday items such as watches, shoes, shirts, etc. The idea was that the objects need to be presented in a very simple manner, with a plaque underneath explaining the person's story. It could be a few words or lines, or it could be something longer and more elaborate.

How It All Started

The museum had humble beginnings; the first exhibition was given in a shipping container in a museum garden in Zagreb in 2006. And in October 2010 the first Museum of Broken Relationships opened for business.

Over 7,000 objects, ranging from shades of dark humor to tragedy, have since been submitted from anonymous donors across the world. These include an axe that was used to chop all of an ex-boyfriend's furniture; a letter written by a 13-year-old boy fleeing Sarajevo in Bosnia Herzegovina; and a jar of "love incense," simply labeled: "doesn't work."

There's a special sort of magic and anonymity to these items. They are mundane in themselves but the stories they tell are like windows into the souls of those strangers. The exhibitions are never the same because they always include local donations. For example, a project in Dunedin, New Zealand, in mid-2018 had lots of localized stories which people there could relate to.

What Next

In addition to the physical museum, registered visitors can become donors by uploading their images and documents through the Virtual Web Museum. Here, donors can decide if they want to allow other registered users to view their collections or not. They also provide a service called Confessional where visitors can store their objects, messages or their confessions in an intimate space.

So far, Olinka and Dražen have orchestrated temporary exhibitions in more than sixty different locations, including London, Tokyo, Shanghai, New York, and LA. In November 2018, a newly remodeled exhibition was unveiled at the museum in Zagreb.

They plan to expand even further to a few more countries shortly. It's truly incredible how a simple joke between ex-lovers turned into such a revelation and has truly become a symbol for our collective emotion of heartbreak.

Image Sources- 1. https://assets.atlasobscura.com/media/W1siZiIsInVwbG9hZHMvcGxhY2VfaW1hZ2VzLzZiMWJlOGI5ZDRhMzM1YTQ5ZGRhZGQzNTdiNTFmNjJiRFNDXzAyMTYuSlBHIl0sWyJwIiwidGh1bWIiLCJ4MzkwPiJdLFsicCIsImNvbnZlcnQiLCItcXVhbGl0eSA4MSAtYXV0by1vcmllbnQiXV0/DSC_0216.JPG
2. https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/olinka-vistica-and-drazen-grubisic-attend- the-museum-of-broken-on-picture-id537783154
3. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/Museum_of_Broken_Relationships_-_Ex-axe.jpg/170px-Museum_of_Broken_Relationships_-_Ex-axe.jpg
4. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/99/d3/9d/99d39d41ea4182850c188a60fe35d21d.jpg
5. https://cdn.telanganatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/museum.jpg

Cricket and Nepotism

2020-04-05T20:57:00.000+05:30

Nepotism or favouritism is something when a person in power or has a good influence uses it to favour their close ones.

Nepotism exists in all fields. Its outcome could be either negative (Tiger shroff or Arjun Kapoor?) or positive (Alia Bhat or Ranbir Kapoor?) in Bollywood.

Nepotism has made its mark in cricket as well.

The following players are a product of nepotism.

1- Rohan Gavaskar

“Rohan Gavaskar commentating with his father Sunil Gavaskar”

Son of the legendary Indian opening Batsman Rohan Gavaskar, He made his ODI debut for the Indian cricket team at 2004, he also played his last match for the Indian cricket team in the same year.

He made 11 appearances during his short career scoring a measly 151 runs at an average of18.88. His performances weren’t up to the mark and did not ensure his stay at the team. His father’s name helped him get a spot at the team but could not ensure his stay.

He later went on to become a commentator.

2 -Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi

“Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi during his early years”

Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi was the son of Ifthikar Ali Khan, The captain of the Indian cricket team of the 1946 England tour.

Ifthikar had ably passed on his cricketing ability to his son.

Mansoor captained India at the age of 21 and ended his career scoring 2793 runs, with his highest score being 203*.

He is also the husband of the legendary Bollywood actress Sharmila Tagore and the father of Saif Ali Khan.

He met his end in 2011.

3 - Mohinder Amarnath

“ Lala Amarnath (L), Mohinder Amarnath (R) ”

Mohinder Amarnath was part of the legendary Indian cricket team that won the 1983 World Cup in England. He is the son of the legendary Lala Amarnath, who was the first captain of the Indian team in the post-independence era. He was an allrounder who played 69 Tests and 85 ODIs for the country with healthy statistics.

4 - Ashok Mankad

Son of arguably the greatest allrounder of all time Vinoo Mankad, Ashok Mankad represented India in 22 matches scoring 99, though domestically he had a great career scoring 12980 runs in 218 matches. The pressure of being the son of Vinoo Mankad was a bit too much I guess.

5 - Sanjay Manjrekar

The ex Mumbai team captain and Indian batsman was the son of the former Indian cricket player Vijay Manjrekar.

Sanjay was a mainstay at the middle order scoring 2043 runs in 61 innings at a healthy average of 38.67.

He was a legendary first-class player scoring 10252 runs at an astounding average of 55.11, he also captained the Mumbai team to the trophy.

He later went on to become a cricket pundit.

6 - Stuart Binny

“Stuart Binny (L), Roger Binny (R)”

Son of the former Indian allrounder Roger Binny, Stuart Binny made himself a name as an allrounder. He still holds the record for the best bowling figures by an Indian in an ODI.

6 wickets taken and only 4 runs given against Bangladesh in 2016. But his performances were inconsistent and soon faded away from the spotlight with the arrival of Hardik Pandya.

His performances were regularly irregular and his inconsistency cost him a place at whichever teams he represented.

At 34 years a comeback to Indian side seems unlikely to add to that he went unsold during this year IPL auction

7 - Jay Shah

“BCCI president Sourav Ganguly with the secretary Jay Shah"

Being the son of India’s home minister has its perks, Jay shah son of Amit Shah has risen the ranks and is now the secretary of the BCCI.

When there was a change in the administration of BCCI at 2019 everyone was happy with the Bengal tiger ‘Sourav Ganguly’ being the president but eyebrows were raised while the secretary was Jay Shah.

Though he has the experience of administering the Gujurat cricket board the allegations of nepotism has been raised.

Recently ex Indian chief selector Dileep Vengsarkar also accused that the infamous ex BCCI treasurer of nepotism. N Srinivasan was unhappy with Vengsarkar as he picked Virat Kohli over a fellow Tamilian S. Badrinath to the side.

“ N Srinivasan (top left), Virat Kohli (Right), Dilip Vengsarkar (bottom left) ”

He was very much annoyed at this and a few weeks after this incident Vengsarkar was shown the door.

There are few more example of nepotism such as Anirudha S son of the former Indian opener

K. Srikanth, to an extent maybe even Yuvraj Singh son of Yograj Singh.

Some of the above mentioned cricketers went on to be successful products of nepotism while others failed miserably and could not handle the pressure.

- G R AASHUTHOSH

Relationship Between COVID-19 And Religion- Case Study(Tablibhi Jamaat and Shincheonji)

2020-04-02T19:22:00.001+05:30

May it be Baldev Singh a Sikh preacher’s reluctance to quarantine or Swami Chakrapani the FAKE Hindu Mahasabha President’s ‘Gaumutra Party’ religion and religious leaders seem to have played a huge role in spreading both "fake news" about the virus and the deadly coronavirus, COVID-19, itself. Today we try to establish the relationship between religions and the pandemic using the examples of the Tablighi Jamaat and the Shincheoji Cult.

Tablighi Jamaat

The Tablighi Jamaat translates to "an outreach society" or "a society to spread the faith". It was set up nearly a hundred years ago by a Sunni Deobandi Islamic scholar Maulana Muhammed Ilyaas Khandhalawi. The Jamaat aims at propagating the basic principles of Islam pledged by Prophet Mohammed. It is estimated that Jamaat has between 150-250 million members primarily in South Asia. At the Jamaat congregations, various small groups of preachers are created with a senior among them being their leader. These groups visit various destinations through mosques to spread Islamic practices among Muslims.

The congregation in question took place in early March in Banglawali Masjid in the Nizamuddin area where the Markaz or the headquarters of the Jamaat is located. It is believed that over 800 foreigners from Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Nepal, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka had attended the event. According to the government, over 2,000 foreigners from almost 70 countries had arrived in India since January 1 to participate in Jamaat activities where over 1,000 of them got stuck at Nizamuddin due to the lockdown. Many of them had a six-month tourist visa. The authorities were alerted due to the death of an Indonesian citizen who had participated in the congregation and was traveling in Telangana. He was found COVID-19(coronavirus) positive on 18th March. The Home Ministry alarmed all state governments about the preachers of the Tablighi Jamaat on 21st March. The Jamaat claims that about 2,500 of its members were at the Nizamuddin Markaz. After the unexpected announcement of the 'Janata Curfew' on 22nd March and eventually the 21-day lockdown, a huge number of Jamaat members were left stranded at the Markaz while about 1,500 of them had left. According to the stats from various states and union territories, almost 400 positive cases and around 20 deaths have been directly attributed to the Jamaat.

Initially, Maulana Saad the head of the Nizamuddin Markaz refused to co-operate with Delhi Police and the security agencies who asked them to vacate Banglawali mosque, Thus, Home Minister Amit Shah requested National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to do the needful. According to various sources, Doval reached Nizamuddin at around 2.00 am on 29th March and convinced Maulana Saad to get the occupants to be tested for the COVID-19(coronavirus) infection and be quarantined. There have also been extensive reports of the Jamaat members refusing treatment and allegedly misbehaving with the medical staff equipped to help them. It's going to be interesting to see the extent of damage this is going to cause India.

Shincheonji Cult

The Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony was founded in 1984 by a man named Lee Man-hee, now 88, who has proclaimed himself as the "Promised Pastor" sent by Jesus Christ who is incredibly capable of deciphering the Bible's Book of Revelation. Shincheonji claims that it has more than 250,000 followers. Most mainstream Protestant Christian groups reject Lee's teachings and call Shincheonji a cult. The Presbyterian Church of Korea claims that Mr. Lee's views are "heretical" and "anti-Christian."

Some of Shincheonji's practices such as extreme secrecy, the banning of health masks, praying closeby etc. are said to have helped the spread of the disease among congregation attendees. The church's leaders have been accused of deliberately withholding information about its membership, cramping the health authorities' efforts to track and test every person who might have come into contact with someone infected with the virus (COVID-19). The suspicions on Shincheonji began after officials identified a 61-year-old member (patient 31) as a "super-spreader", responsible for the big outbreak of the coronavirus in the city of Daegu, the source of three-quarters of South Korea's cases. Investigators are still trying to determine exactly when the infamous "Patient 31" contracted the disease. Officials said she came into contact with hundreds of fellow devotees and attended two full congregations after she started showing symptoms. Testing has revealed startlingly high infection rates among church members, who make up a large sum of South Korea's cases.

The church though continues to refute all allegations. In a "letter of appeal" posted on its website on March 4, it claims that "some 4,000 cases of injustice against Shincheonji congregants" had been reported since the beginning of the outbreak. Some members were allegedly fired by their employers for belonging to the Shincheonji cult; it also claims that others were abused and assaulted by their spouses. Some members vouch that the church is being turned into a scapegoat so that the government could wash their hands off of their initial negligence. Interestingly the South Korean government recently declared that they would charge Lee Man Hee the leader of the church with homicide. It's going to be intriguing to see if the government will go ahead with the trial or is it just another political stunt to put the angry common Korean on the government's side.

EA SPORTS AND LICENSING

2020-03-31T22:21:00.000+05:30

The legendary video game developers EA SPORTS have been constantly providing great gaming content.

“The legendary EA SPORTS CRICKET 07”

The legendary football video game ‘FIFA’ developed by them is one of the most played video games in the world. They are also the makers of many other legendary games such as Need for speed (car racing game), UFC, Battlefield, SIMS and many other such legendary video games.

Recently they lost the licensing rights of Juventus, a famous football club from Turin, Italy, this could be shocking to some FIFA fans but the cricket fans are quite used to it thanks to the cricket game released by EA previously.

“Juventus? No, it’s Piemonte Calcio”

What we Indians will fondly remember is the legendary EA SPORTS CRICKET 07.

Many of us would have had a truckload of memories with the game.

From the legendary songs in the game to the pathetic umpiring and of course the ever legendary names.

“One among the two legendary umpires in the game”

Now let us look at some of the funniest names in EA SPORTS CRICKET 07 all thanks to the licensing issues.

Sourav Ganguly the Indian captain is named S.Gungly.
(OK, not bad.)

Sachin Tendulkar is hilariously named as S.TENDEHAR. (Suddenly Donald Trump’s pronunciation seems so much better.)

The hard-hitting Indian opener Virendra Sehwag was renamed as V.Seway. (Seriously?)

The legendary Rahul Dravid is named as R.Dravia.
(Not as bad as Tendulkar’s I guess)

The legendry leg spinner Anil Kumble was renamed J.KRUMBLE.

(I mean seriously? What is the connection? At least the initial should be ‘A’ right?)

MS Dhoni was named as D.DHENIER.

( not going to comment on this one, DUH!)

Dinesh Mongia was also hilariously renamed D.Monika. (The only female in the Indian team)

Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi was renamed Shara Aphred. (why not make it shepherd the next time?)

His teammate, Saqlain Mushtaq was named Sarja Muchte. (NO COMMENTS)

“A Game in progress”

Pakistani pacer Umar Gul was renamed Umhar Gel.

(Yes, Gel!)

The legendary West Indian Brain Lara was renamed B. Lawrence. (Pretty decent you know)

His counterpart Shivnarine Chanderpaul was named as S. Chowdapull. (Seriously?)

And Dwayne Bravo was renamed D.Brasco. (Not as bad as the others to be honest).

Zimbabwean batsman Hamilton Masakadza was named as H.Masacket.

(The difference is uncanny EA)

His teammate Brendon Taylor was named as B.Teacher! (Are you serious EA?)

Heath Streak was named as H.Struck (Decent enough)

The then Bangladesh opener Hannan Sarkar was named Harman Sakir.

(I don’t know about this one but it sure is better than the next one)

Rajin Saleh was renamed as Raizin Saleb. (DUH!)

The then captain of Bangladesh Khaled Mahmud was named Khalid Mamed.

(Hey, this is pretty decent you know)

And their wicket-keeper Khaled Mashud was renamed Khalid Mased.

(EA must really like Bangladeshi players).

Despite certain flaws and inability to get the adequate licensing EA SPORTS CRICKET 07 was a revolutionary cricketing game which people still play.

The game was so ahead of its time and had loads of exciting features such as creating our own players, the different stadiums, lots of teams (they also had the USA team). There were also mission modes in the name of ‘THE ASHES’ in which you had to complete various batting or bowling objectives which had actually occurred in the Ashes.

“The features available in EA SPORTS CRICKET 07”

The fact that it is still the best cricket game should speak volumes.

Thank you EA sports for giving us such a legendary game.

-G R AASHUTHOSH

Best TV Shows To Binge During The Coronavirus(Covid-19) Lockdown/Quarantine

2020-03-31T19:01:00.001+05:30

It is a bad time. Many people across the globe are sick with coronavirus(Covid-19). Those who aren’t are being encouraged to stay away from public spaces.Schools, museums, movie theaters, bars, restaurants: all closed. You’re home, and you need a distraction. Let us help. Below are some suggestions for what T.V Shows to Binge on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, Voot, ZEE5 etc.during this horrible period of Self-Isolation/Quarantine/Lockdown. We’ll try and update it every week with a few suggestions. Be safe. The list consists of limited series that have between 8-12 episodes.

1. Asur

Streaming on- Voot

Cast: Arshad Warsi, Barun Sobti, Anupria Goenka, Sharib Hashmi, Ridhi Dogra
Creator: Ding Entertainment

Asur, according to myths, is a human who has lost their humanity. The show, titled Asur, arrives at a dark time with bodies still being fished out of drains in Delhi and a divided world seems to be tearing itself apart in the name of religion. The Voot Select original flirts with interesting themes -- religion and science, and where conscience and humanity fit in.

2. The Alienist

Streaming on- Netflix

Cast: Daniel Bruhl, Luke Evan, Dakota Fanning, Douglas Smith

Creator: Jakob Verbruggen

When a 13-year-old boy is found disemboweled on the Williamsburg Bridge, his eyes gouged out and his genitalia mutilated, Kreisler is tasked by police commissioner Teddy Roosevelt with investigating the murder. He’ll soon find out that the boy, who’d been a prostitute at a brothel housing young men dressed up as women, is one of several victims, and the ruthless killer is on the loose.
3. The People vs OJ Simpson

Streaming on: Netflix
Cast: John Travolta, David Schwimmer, Cuba Gooding
Creators: Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski

The conclusion of The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story played out in real life nearly 21 years ago. The strange thing is that after 10 hours of the drama, the event seems more credible now than it did after a year of watching it unfold did back then – mostly thanks to the decision by creators of the series, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, not to retry the man but to offer a detailed and panoramic view of the forces, the people and the decisions that allowed him to go free.
4. Breathe

Streaming on: Amazon Prime
Cast: R Madhavan, Amit Sadh
Creator: Mayank Sharma

Madhavan plays a loving single dad named Danny, whose 6-year-old son is suffering from a congenital lung disease. The sight of young Josh with pipes and tubes sticking out of him is a source of tremendous pain for Danny, whose steadfast belief in doing things by the book seems to be crumbling by the day. Josh is number four on the list to get a new lung, which means that four recipients would have to die before it’s his turn to be saved.
5. The Haunting of Hill House

Streaming on: Netflix
Cast: Victoria Pedretti, Oliver Jackson, Kate Siegel, Henry Thomas
Creator: Mike Flanagan, Jeff Howard

This bingeable iteration of Shirley Jackson’s Gothic horror tale, which debuts Friday, is a non-literal adaptation of its source material. Though it borrows some names and very basic plot details — Hill House: still a super-messed-up mansion where you definitely do not want to live! — the Netflix version is as much a family drama as a work of fright.
6. Kota Factory

Streaming on: TVF Play/YouTube
Cast: Mayur More, Jeetendra Kumar, Ahsaas Channa, Revathi Pillai
Creator: Raghav Subbu

Kota Factory is an unorthodox addition to the conveyor belt of campus shows, comes from TVF (The Viral Fever), one of India’s first Youtube content channels, but more famously a collective of accidental creators.“Unorthodox” because, ironically, Kota Factory dares to be about the orthodox Indian student. The majority. The workers.

Coronavirus- Is it Contagious? Coronavirus symptom Covid-19

2020-03-31T11:15:00.001+05:30

Preface: The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the corona virus as a pandemic. Corona virus is a very subtle but effective virus. The corona virus is 900 times smaller than human hair, but its infection is spreading rapidly around the world.

What is corona virus?
Corona virus (Covid-19) belongs to a family of viruses whose infection can cause problems ranging from a cold to breathlessness. This virus has never been seen before. The virus infection started in December in Wuhan, China. According to WHO, fever, cough, shortness of breath are its symptoms. So far no vaccine has been made to stop the virus from spreading.

Coronavirus Symptoms

According to the WHO, the most common symptoms of coronavirus (Covid-19) are fever, tiredness and a dry cough. Some patients may also have a running nose, sore throat, nasal congestion and aches and pains or diarrhoea. Some people report losing their sense of taste and/or smell. About 80% of people who get Covid-19 experience a mild case and recover without needing any special treatment.

The WHO says about one in six people, become seriously ill. The elderly and people with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, or chronic respiratory conditions, are at a greater risk of serious illness from coronavirus (Covid-19).

As this is viral pneumonia, antibiotics are of no use. The antiviral drugs we have against flu will not work, and there is currently no vaccine. Recovery depends on the strength of the immune system.

How Covid-19 spreads? Is Coronavirus contagious?
The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person.

Between people who are in close contact with each other
Through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

These droplets can enter the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or can be inhaled into the lungs.

Can someone spread the virus without being sick?

People are thought to be most contagious when they are most symptomatic
It may also spread before people show symptoms; there have been reports of this occurring with this new coronavirus, but this is not the main way the virus spreads.

Spread from contact with contaminated surfaces or objects

It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.

How easily the virus spreads

How easily a virus spreads from person-to-person can vary. Some viruses are highly contagious (spread easily), like measles, while other viruses do not spread as easily. Another factor is whether the spread is sustained, spreading continually without stopping.

The virus that causes COVID-19 seems to be spreading easily and sustainably in the community (“community spread”) in some affected geographic loacations.

How many people have been affected?

As of 30 March, more than 720,000 people have been infected in more than 150 countries, according to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

There have been over 34,000 deaths globally. Just over 3,000 of those deaths have occurred in mainland China, where the coronavirus was first recorded in the city of Wuhan. Italy has been hardest hit, though, with over 10,000 fatalities, and Spain has seen more than 6,800 deaths. The US now has more confirmed cases than any other country. Many of those who have died had underlying health conditions, which the coronavirus complicated. More than 150,000 people are recorded as having recovered from the coronavirus.

Kashmir- Article 370

2020-03-29T21:22:00.001+05:30

What was Article 370?

Article 370 in Part XXI of the Indian constitution grants a

special status to Jammu and Kashmir. It is the only Indian

state which has its own separate state constitution. Article

370 came into force since November 17,

1952. To understand what is meant by the “special status”

here

are the key provisions of the Article 370:

1. Jammu & Kashmir; is an integral part of the Indian Union. But its area, name

and boundary can’t be altered without the consent of the state assembly.

2. According to this article, the central government has to get approval from the state government to implement all other laws except defence, foreign affairs and communication in the state.

3. Jammu and Kashmir has its own constitution because of article 370 and its administration is run accordingly not according to the Constitution of India.

4. J & K has 2 flags; One of Kashmir and another is India's Tricolour flag.

5. The citizens of other Indian states cannot buy any property or kind of any property in this state. It means, the fundamental right to property is still in force in this state.

6. The people of Jammu and Kashmir have two types of citizenship. One is Indian citizenship and another is Kashmiri citizenship. Worth to mention that no other Indian can have two citizenships simultaneously.

7. If a Kashmiri woman marries an Indian, then her Kashmiri citizenship terminates, but if she marries a Pakistani, it does not affect her citizenship status.

8. If a Pakistani boy marries a Kashmiri girl, he gets Indian citizenship too while

Indians don’t have this privilege.

9. Part 4 of the Indian Constitution (Directive Principal of State Policy) and Part 4A (Fundamental Duties) are not applicable in this State.

It means the citizens of Kashmir are not bound to save the cow, maintain the dignity of the women and respect the National Flag of India.

10. One of the most shocking right is that Insulting National Symbols of India (National Anthem, National Flag etc.) in J & K does not fall under the category of crime.

11. The President of India does not have power to declare financial emergency in the state.

12. Any amendment in the Constitution of India does not apply automatically to J & K unless a special order of President is not passed.

13. The Central government can impose National Emergency in the state in two conditions only; war and external invasion.

14. The President has no power to suspend the constitution of the state on the ground of failure to comply with the directions given by him.

15. If the national emergency is imposed in the country on the basis of internal disturbance; this emergency is not applicable in the Jammu and Kashmir until it is approved by the state government.

16. The Central Government cannot impose National Emergency in the state on the basis of internal disturbance in the state. The central government must take the permission of state government before doing so.

17. Only the resident of the Kashmir can take selection in the jobs of the state government.

Why did such an article come to existence?

Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) also got Independence from the British rule. But then king of Jammu and Kashmir Raja Hari Singh, a Hindu ruler of a Muslim majority state, decided not to join the Indian union and wanted to keep his principality as independent state.

Kashmir was invaded by the Pakistan-backed Azad Kashmir Army on October 20, 1947 and confiscated a part of Kashmir region which is now known

as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK).

In this situation, Maharaja Hari Singh, signed the "Instruments of Accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India" with then PM of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on October 26, 1947.

Under this agreement the state surrendered three subjects (defence, communication and external affairs) to the dominion of India.

The Article 306A was enshrined as Article 370 in the constitution as a “temporary provision”. Sheikh Abdullah did not want that temporary provision and insisted for guarantee of autonomy but India did not accept that.

What is article 35A?

In 1952 "Delhi Agreement" was signed between the then Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Sheikh Abdullah and the Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. The agreement extended Indian citizenship to the 'State subjects' of Jammu and Kashmir. After the Delhi agitation of 1952, the

famous ’Article 35A' was added to the Constitution in 1954. The constitution of

Jammu and Kashmir was adopted on 17 November, 1956. According to this constitution, Permanent Resident (PR) of the state of Jammu and Kashmir is a person who has a state subject on 14 May, 1954 or who has been a resident of the state for 10 years and has lawfully acquired immovable property in the state.

Article 35A of the constitution provide Jammu and Kashmir Legislature a carte blanche to decide who all are 'permanent residents' of the State and confer on them special rights and privileges in public sector jobs, acquisition of property in the State, scholarships and other public aid and welfare. It is mandatory according to the provision that no act of the legislature coming under it can be challenged for violating the Constitution or any law of the land.

The main provisions in Article 35A are:

1. A person who is not a Permanent Resident of Jammu and Kashmir can't own property there.

2. Resident of any other state of India cannot become a Permanent Resident of Jammu and Kashmir and therefore cannot cast vote there.

3. It forbids Indian citizens from acquiring immovable properties and can't seek employment in the state.

4. If a girl of Jammu and Kashmir marries to a person who does not hold a permanent resident certificate of J&K, then she would lose her property right and their children also become ineligible to claim the property of their mother.

Why is there a need scrap them?

In the backdrop of the Pulwama Attack, once again the justified rage of the public turns to the “special” status on the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Before proceeding to the crux of why this timid stop-gap has been deleterious for the country, it must be pointed out that radicalisation of Kashmiris is a disparate

issue, best dealt with through the Vajpayee doctrine of “Insaniyat”, combined

with no countenance of separatists.

However, the provision empowering the State with ‘special’ status has always been the elephant in the room. Jammu & Kashmir has, along with its sensitive topography, appears like a foreign policy issue, instead of a domestic one due to its status in our Constitution. There exists an unnecessary chasm between citizens of Kashmir and the rest of India. It borders on being trite, but nonetheless, sadly, must be reiterated – Article 370 and Article 35-A must go.

Article 370 details the relationship Kashmir will share with the rest of the country; Article 35-A grants permanent residents of Kashmir some special rights. From the get-go, the Constitutional relationship of India with this state has been adversely lopsided. India has already ensured the states with the Mizos and the Naga population with constitutional safeguards (special provisions) such as protecting their social practices India has an assortment of examples where it has performed positive discrimination for groups (Articles 15 and 16) and as mentioned – states.

The problem, to put it succinctly, is that with Kashmir the positive discrimination has tended to be insidious. Instead of taking a legislative route, Article 35-A was passed through a Presidential order. It subverted the law- making powers of the legislature, granted by the Constitution. They cannot amend the Constitution. Even an ordinance, which this was most decidedly not, has to be passed by Parliament. The order, passed in 1954 by the President, was due to fulfilling Article 370 (1) (d). Article 370 itself was supposed to be temporary; the first word of the Article is temporary. It still sits under Part XXI which is titled “Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions “.

The state of J&K itself has done phenomenally well on its indicators as an Indian state should. It has grown by almost 7% last year, ensured a greater number of schools per household and even health and connectivity outcomes have outperformed expectations. A big reason is that it is also heavily subsidized by the Centre. A study showed that it has received, from 2000-2016, 10% of all Central funds despite having 1% of the population. It is an economic powerhouse waiting to be unleashed. Article 370, very obviously, however, is still an impediment in restricting private or global investment into the state.

If Indians (non-Kashmiris) cannot invest in land or property, how can manufacturing firms or multinational corporations? These might have provided jobs to the young people of Kashmir. It also stops public colleges such as medical colleges from adequately fulfilling vacancies. Professors cannot be hired from outside the state except in extremely low quotas. These and many more ensure that unemployment increases, which make the advent of radicalization, more viable. Hence, Article 370, the pernicious basis of Article 35-A must go.

Article 370 itself is gender neutral, but the way permanent residents are defined in the state constitution based on the notifications issued in April 1927 and June 1932 during the Maharaja’s rule — seems biased against women. The 1927 notification included an explanatory note which said: “The wife or a

widow of the state subject … shall acquire the status of her husband as state

subject of the same class as her husband, so long as she resides in the state and does not leave the state for permanent residence outside the state.” This was widely interpreted as also suggesting that a woman from the state who marries outside the state would lose her status as a state subject.

The only way to repeal Article 370 would be by the President through a notification but not without the concurrence of the Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir. The Constituent Assembly, of course, disbanded in 1956 and almost all members are presumably dead. Before dissolution, the Constituent Assembly neither recommended abolishing Article 370 neither, did they advocate for it to be permanent. As for Article 370, 45 Presidential Orders have been used to extend components of India’s Constitution into J&K. Almost all Union List subjects are applicable, most of the Concurrent List ones, a handful of Schedules and 260 of 395 Articles. Article 370, via orders, has been modified so many times, it can be expelled from the Constitution as well without taking ‘concurrence’ of the now-defunct Constituent Assembly. The Constitution has been recognised as a living document, after all.

Valmikis (Dalits) were brought to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in 1957 by the State Government. From that time, the present and future generations are compelled to become sweeper and that too only in the Municipality of Jammu. Valmikis are not given the Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) and they are eligible only for the post of 'sweeper'. This leaves them with only one option that is to take the broom and clear the dirty streets of Jammu. The youth of this community in J&K may be qualified to become teachers, lawyers, doctors, engineers yet they are eligible for the post of sweeper only. There are West Pakistan Refugees and Gorkhas, and the PRC is not conferred on them, as a result, they are not entitled to property rights; employment in state government; participation in Panchayat, municipalities and legislative assembly elections; admission to government-run technical education institutions; scholarships and other social benefits, voting rights, right to join central services. Women in J&K cannot choose her life partner outside the state. All of this is happening due to the implementation of Article 35A in the state of J&K. This article is unconstitutional, discriminatory and biased.

Removal of article 370 – the importance

As the matter of point, Article 370 should be removed from Constitution of India, as Jammu and Kashmir is also a part of our country. It also has many other cons as, because of Article 370, there are very less industries, which is directly related to employment. This means that because of this provision, people have to migrate to other states in search of jobs. Also, it has become a

terrorist prone region because of this Article. Due to Article 370, RTE, RTI, CAG and many Indian laws aren’t applicable in Kashmir which has a situation of corruption.

Some more reasons as to why the Article should be removed are:

1. The state, upon removal, will prosper economically and socially.

2. Social amalgamation will reduce the threat of militancy.

3. Kashmir could be one of the top tourist destinations after complete development.

4. It will also prove to be good diplomacy to deal with Pakistan over territorial disputes.

5. It will politically give chance to all parties to rule the state and allow its development.

There could be many other minor or major advantages of abolishing Article 370 and give full course to J&K to prosper.

What were the changes made in article 370?

Article 370 has not been removed from the constitution of India, which is becoming the general perception of people. Article 370 had 3 sub-sections:

Temporary provisions with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir
(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution-
(a) the provisions of article 238 shall not apply in relation to the State of Jammu and Kashmir;
(b) the power of Parliament to make laws for the said State shall be limited to-
(i) those matters in the Union List and the Concurrent List which, in consultation with the Government of the State, are declared by the President to correspond to matters specified in the Instrument of Accession governing the accession of the State to the Dominion of India as the matters with respect to which the Dominion Legislature may make laws for that State; and
(ii) such other matters in the said Lists as, with the concurrence of the Government of the State, the President may by order specify.
Explanation.--For the purposes of this article, the Government of the State means the person for the time being recognised by the President as the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers for the time being in office under the Maharaja's Proclamation dated the fifth day of March, 1948;

(d) such of the other provisions of this Constitution shall apply in relation to that State subject to such exceptions and modifications as the President may by order specify:

Provided that no such order which relates to the matters specified in the Instrument of Accession of the State referred to in paragraph

(i) of sub-clause (b) shall be issued except in consultation with the Government of the State:

Provided further that no such order which relates to matters other than those referred to in the last preceding proviso shall be issued except with the concurrence of that Government.

(2) If the concurrence of the Government of the State referred to in paragraph (ii) of sub-clause (b) of clause (1) or in the second proviso to sub-clause (d) of that clause be given before the Constituent Assembly for the purpose of framing the Constitution of the State is convened, it shall be placed before such Assembly for such decision as it may take thereon.

(3) Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this article, the President may, by public notification, declare that this article shall cease to be operative or shall be operative only with such exceptions and modifications and from such date as he may specify:

Provided that the recommendation of the Constituent Assembly of the State referred to in clause (2) shall be necessary before the President issues such a notification.

After the abrogation of this article only its first section now exists.

How was article 370 abrogated?

Article 370(3) gives the President the power to modify or

remove this article but only on the recommendation of the

Constituent Assembly of Jammu & Kashmir. On

November 17 1956 the constituent assembly of Jammu &

Kashmir adopted and ratified Mir Qasim’s resolution to

dissolve itself. According to that resolution the constituent

assembly of Jammu and Kashmir ceased to exist on

January 26 1957. As the Constituent Assembly of J & K

didn’t exist anymore, the President couldn’t exercise this power.

But the BJP led government brought a change in it

through a constitutional order.

Which meant that the instead of the Constituent Assembly’s recommendation

now the president required the permission of the Legislative Assembly.

As Jammu & Kashmir was already under Presidential

Rule under Article 356 which also says that power of the

Legislative Assembly transfers to Parliament. And

therefore the current government was able to bring the

current changes in Article 370.

Security Situation prior to the 370 fiasco

The security situation in the State witnessed an improvement in the first half of this year over the corresponding period of 2018. Net infiltration reduced by 43% and local recruitment declined by 40%. Terrorist initiated incidents declined by 28%. Actions initiated by the security forces witnessed an increase of 59% and resulted in 22% increase in neutralization of terrorists.

The security forces started to take proactive action against terrorists. Due to concerted and synergized efforts of security forces, 126 terrorists were neutralized in the state of Jammu and Kashmir since January, 2019 till 14th July, 2019. However, during these operations, 75 security forces personnel have been martyred that includes 40 security forces personnel martyred in Pulwama Attack.

Government took various measures, such as strengthening of security apparatus, strict enforcement of law against anti-national elements, intensified cordon and search operations to effectively deal with the challenges posed by the terrorist organizations. Forces keep a close watch on persons who attempt to provide support to terrorists and initiate action against them.

In preparation for this move, the state witnessed increased security deployment over the course of time while top political leaders were placed under house arrest that night and curfew was imposed on subsequent morning. Modi government's decision will have a big impact on the lives of Kashmir residents.

In order to bring about overall development for the benefit of people of Jammu and Kashmir and to bring the Kashmiri youth in the mainstream the Prime Minister announced a package of Rs. 80,068 crores. This package consisted of 63 major development projects in Road sector, Power generation and transmission, health infrastructure, establishment of 2 AIIMS, IITs,

IIMs and tourism related projects etc. Training and employment opportunities for the youth of Jammu and Kashmir are also provided under many schemes such as HIMAYAT and PMKVY. In order to mainstream the youth, special emphasis is being given to Watan Ko Jano program, student exchange program, sports as well as civic action program of CAPFs.

Internal Security

Prime Minister Modi’s recent decision to scrap Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian Constitution, which gave Jammu and Kashmir special status, has stirred controversy across the political spectrum. While supporters of the initiative emphasise that the move fulfils a campaign promise of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which was returned for a second term with an increased vote share of six per cent, critics see it as the prelude to a shift to majoritarianism. On

the external front, the move is being commended for taking advantage of Pakistan’s focus on its western flank and the end game in Afghanistan, and for changing the issue of Kashmir from being a dispute with Pakistan to an internal matter. To critics, however, the reduction of the state of Jammu and Kashmir to the status of a union territory – truncated by the slicing off of Ladakh – does not end the issue of Kashmir being the source of an international dispute and that it is only a matter of time before Pakistan makes its presence felt, possibly through renewed conflict, either directly or through proxies.

Pakistan which has underplayed the changes effected by India, will, over time, reactivate the proxy war and upset India’s calculation that its move will end the problem of Kashmir. Since this is a somewhat obvious conclusion, the sources of India’s action are not to be found in strategic calculus as much as in the current administration’s ideological underpinnings. The BJP’s strategy, informed as it is by Hindutva ideology, is not about restoring stability to

Kashmir as it claims, but to heighten the instability inherent in the situation, thereby inducing Pakistan into a proxy war. If that were to happen, it could pay an internal political dividend by allowing the BJP to reshape secular India into its aspirational Hindutva-based form and, externally, place Pakistan in a corner, forcing it, once again, to prosecute a war.

A Situational Update

Kashmir is in lockdown at this time, with around fifty thousand additional paramilitary troops deployed to the union territory to prevent unrest.

Communication networks have been disabled in order to mute anticipated adverse reactions of Kashmiris. The centrally-appointed authorities, in office since central rule began over a year ago, have correctly assessed that some Kashmiris are liable to revolt after being deprived of the limited autonomy they enjoyed until now. This is particularly the case as they were neither consulted on nor endorsed the political re-engineering

of their relationship with the rest of India. Sensibly, the authorities have taken around five hundred mainstream political leaders and separatists into preventive custody, including three former chief ministers, who are being held incommunicado and without charge.

that resulted in a further clamp-down during the Eid festival, with the traditional prayers at the historic Jamia Mosque in Srinagar being disallowed in favour of prayers at smaller, local mosques. While information is scarce, there are reports of dozens of people being injured by pellet guns fired to put down incidents after prayers on both days.

The state has had a public run-in with international media, initially disputing its reporting on such incidents, but admitting later to one that involved around two thousand protestors at Soura, Srinagar. In a video of the incident, automatic gunfire can be heard in the background, indicating ham-handed, if not high-handed, crowd control measures being enacted. The government correctly anticipated the delicate situation would last until the end of the week, with the independence days of Pakistan, which Islamabad is observing as one of solidarity with Kashmiris, and India being observed on 14 and 15 August, respectively.

The India-Pak strategic tryst

Pakistan has initiated diplomatic moves to counter India’s actions. It has written to the UN Secretary- General and drawn the attention of the Security Council to the events in Kashmir. It has downgraded its diplomatic ties to India, reduced bilateral trade and terminated train and bus services between the two countries. However, stowing away it’s tried and tested proxy war option now would be untimely.

Its Foreign Minister, returning from his trip to China, visited Pakistan- administered Kashmir, where he dampened expectations of any more vigorous Pakistani action, thereby hinting that the international environment was averse to harsher steps by Pakistan. Since Pakistan is compelled to be restrained in its reaction, it needs to divert the energy of anti-India proxy groups towards Kashmir. Pakistan cannot risk inaction, since the anger of the jihadi proxies, who are otherwise good terrorists, being anti-India, would likely be turned inwards. Pakistan would not like to reprise its operations against the “bad terrorists” since 2014. It would prefer to direct such energy outwards.

While Indian troops are on the alert for now, how this situation will play out will be known by the onset of the Northern winter.

Since the insurgency has been waning lately owing to India’s suppressive template, Pakistan would have to infuse it with both fighters and materiel soon if it is to be kept going. That may entail the creation of a crisis along the LoC,

under cover of which Pakistan could infiltrate reinforcements. That manner of infiltration will likely prove expensive, if not altogether disastrous, since Indian counter-infiltration measures have been strengthened. The paramilitary forces that have been re-located to Kashmir have likely removed the protective tasks that were imposed on the Indian military, enabling its own redeployment forward. Therefore, an attempt to cast a lifeline to the insurgency may be in the offing.

Such a crisis could likely be created after the annual face-off between the two countries at the UN General Assembly meeting, that this year is being

addressed by India’s Prime Minister. By then the financial action task force meeting would be behind it. Pakistan would also by then have the alibi of having tried the diplomatic route and found it wanting. In case the prospects of a return to peace in Afghanistan brighten, some of the jihadists released in anticipation of the return to peace could be redirected towards the worsening situation in Kashmir.

India’s Internal Security Challenge in Kashmir

The intervening period could well see outbreaks of unrest in Kashmir rival the period at the onset of the insurgency in the early 1990s. Such levels of disaffection were witnessed most recently in late 2016, when close to 100 rioters were killed. That figure was just short of the lower estimate reached in 2010, when Kashmiris agitated over the killings of three of their people by security forces at Machhil on the LoC. This time round the angst may be higher. The firmer the clamp-down by the state, the more anger would likely be visible on the street. The current curfews will have to be partially lifted some day and those held in preventive detention will have to be progressively released, whereupon it would be clearer as to whether India has bargained sensibly.

India has incentivised stability by promising a reversion to statehood in the future. The levels of distrust its action has generated will unlikely be placated by its promises of development and security. Although the Modi Administration was expected to trifurcate the state if it did anything at all in that regard, Kashmir has been yoked yet again with Jammu region, but without the autonomy it previously enjoyed. This has enabled the government to use the Jammu region and its Hindu majority to offset the political clout of the majority Kashmiris. The government is also looking to progress a delimitation of constituencies in order to rejig the assembly of the union territory in such a

manner as to whittle the political power of the Kashmiris that derives from their numerical majority.

Anticipating the political fallout brought about by the setback to their political clout, Kashmiris are unlikely to acquiesce to New Delhi’s moves and would use agitation and insurgency against it. India would be hard put to organise elections, as announced by the Prime Minister. The resulting assembly would be dominated by Hindus from Jammu, with Kashmiris likely boycotting the vote. It is difficult to visualise how such an outcome could be described as a

‘political solution’. In other words, the ‘permanent solution’ – as the Defence Minister described it – foisted by the Indian Government on the Kashmiri people will hardly gain traction, and any new local government would lack legitimacy. The assumption that, as a union territory, better governance could replace the will of the people is questionable.

Even so, the attractiveness of the move would depend on development being successful. An investor summit has been announced for October. India’s largest corporate house has stepped up, offering to invest in Kashmir. An increase in investment in Kashmir is envisaged now that the land ownership, previously restricted to state subjects, has been thrown open. This is yet again wishful thinking, since no investment is likely in an insecure setting. Besides, India’s economic climate is deteriorating. The unrest and insurgency would need to be tackled first. Absent meaningful political action, development is no substitute. What has transpired so far in Kashmir cannot constitute a political solution since it serves more to aggravate than assuage.

Conclusion and Way Forward

It’s not that the Kashmir issue is the only internal security concern of India. In the past, India has successfully neutralised the Khalistan movement and has also contained the Maoist rebellion to few regions.

These successes give us valuable insight into how internal security should be approached. An analysis of these movements reveals the state police plays a major leadership role in tackling such problems.

The Khalistan movement was crushed by the state police by neutralising armed separatists in the inner cordons during operations under the leadership of KPS Gill, the then deputy general of police, Punjab, while the Army and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) operated in the outer cordon.

The Andhra-Odisha border area is one of India’s worst-hit areas as far as

Maoism is concerned. But last five years’ data from the most-affected districts of this region show that Naxalism is at its lowest ebb.

There were 16 civilian killings in Malkangiri district of Odisha in 2015 that came down to six in 2018 and three in 2019 till June 30. Similarly, the number of police personnel killed in 2015 in Malkangiri was three which is reduced to zero in 2018. There have been zero fatalities this year till now.

In Vishakhapatnam, civilian killings in 2010 was 11 which reduced to two in 2018 and one in 2019 till June 30. In Odisha’s Koraput district, civilian killings have been reduced from nine in 2014 to zero in 2018. No such deaths have been registered this year, till now.

Simultaneously, in the last five years, 44 Maoists were neutralised in Malkangiri and 14 in Koraput. The above figures clearly show that the movement has been hit hard in its hotbed. These details also reveal how state police forces like Greyhounds of Andhra Pradesh and Special Operations Group (SOG) of Odisha have been successful in countering the Maoist menace, while Punjab police could do the same against the Khalistan movement.

An analysis of data of the last 10 years in the Andhra-Odisha border shows that 99% of successful encounters and arrests of Maoists have been done by the specialised units of state police forces like Grey Hounds, SOG or District Voluntary Force.

Central Paramilitary Forces conduct mostly area domination exercise and ground-holding activities. The same is true for Punjab where Khalistan Separatist movement was curbed mostly by Punjab Police, while the CAPF or Army operated in the outer cordon.

The second-best reason for success in curbing the Red rebellion in the area is the strategy adopted by the Andhra Pradesh and Odisha governments of putting young IPS officers in the frontline of combat. Most of them were appointed as officers on special duties and superintendents of police in the Maoist-affected areas.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police is one of the most professional combative police forces in the country that operates mostly in the inner cordon during anti- terrorism operations and most of the success stories of eliminating terrorists in the Valley may be attributable to their intelligence and valour. Now, with the repeal of Article 370 and creation of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the subject of police and public order falls exclusively within the domain of the Centre and this provides the Modi government with an opportunity to set up an administrative structure that gives prominent role

to the state police in tackling internal security/terrorism issues of the region which may be like this.

(i) State police should play prominent role in managing the situation.

(ii) Co-ordination among various security forces in the region should be done by the state police.

(iii) It should be the lead agency in intelligence sharing.

(iv) Further strengthening and modernising of Jammu and Kashmir Police.

(v) Creation or upgrade of specialised trained units within Jammu and Kashmir Police on the lines of Greyhounds and SOG, though the former has its own SOG unit. These elite units would be better placed to deal tactically with terrorism.

(vi) CAPF may be initially put in area domination and in support system to frontline state police forces so that specialised teams can sustain the operations for a longer period.

(vii) In the long run, after their academy training, young IPS officers may be deputed in the frontline team of CAPF for two-three years as assistant commandants or deputy commandants and lead the operations. The success of state police forces in combat activities in Maoist areas are mainly attributable to the age profile of the state police personnel and young IPS officers of district police or specialised state forces.

(viii) Capacity building of the state police personnel in social media monitoring via which young minds are radicalised and attracted towards ideology of terrorism. Every district should have a well-equipped and active social media cell under the supervision of District Superintendents of Police.

(ix) State police should play pro-active role in educating people on the role played by the Union of India in combating terrorism and bring in good governance to the region. Further, the youth should be made aware of the atrocities committed by terrorists in the region and their modus operandi.

(x) On the border front, the Army needs to enhance its dependence on technology-based solutions, finding the hotspots and working on them, fixing the pores wherever they are and work on innovative intelligence strategies like social media monitoring, wide CCTV coverage and penetration into their cadres.