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Chronic kidney disease is now recognized as a major medical problem worldwide. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2015 ranked chronic kidney disease 17th among the causes of deaths globally (age-standardized annual death rate of 19.2 deaths per 100 000 population). In many countries, chronic kidney disease is now among the top five causes of death. In India, GBD 2015 ranks chronic kidney disease as the eighth leading cause of death.

In the Lancet Global Health, Dare and colleagues present data on the number of deaths due to renal failure in India. These figures come from the Million Deaths Study (MDS), which ascribed cause to all deaths in a nationally representative sample of 1.1 million households using an enhanced verbal autopsy tool between 2001 and 2013. Deaths due to renal failure constituted 2.9% of all deaths in 2010–13 among 15–69-year-olds, an increase of 50% from 2001–03. Diabetes was the largest contributor to renal failure deaths. Substantial regional differences were noted in renal failure death rates. The reported proportion of renal failure deaths is close to the GBD 2015 estimate of 3.04%, up from 1.94% in 2000.

These data provide strong evidence of the rising contribution of kidney failure to premature deaths in India, which has one sixth of the world’s population, accounts for about 19% of all global deaths, but has dismal cause of death reporting systems. The GBD 2013 report specifically highlighted this situation by observing that “Important gaps exist in empirical data for cause of death estimates for some countries; for example, no national data for India is available for the past decade.” Because of the large population and ongoing demographic transitions, data from India are important to understand health-care dynamics for the world at large. Absence of such information creates a void in global estimates.

The strengths of the MDS are the ability to provide population-based, disease-specific death data from a nationally representative sample, the large number of deaths profiled, and the use of a validated tool administered by trained personnel.

The reported regional differences in renal failure deaths are intriguing, because regional differences have not been established for the prevalence of known kidney disease risk factors, including diabetes. Kidney disease hot spots have been reported in some parts of India, especially in Andhra Pradesh, central Odisha, Puducherry and Maharashtra, but these have not yet been substantiated by systematic studies. The distinction between acute and chronic kidney diseases is relevant for India because the two conditions require different public health responses. This distinction was not possible in the current study.

Similar to most emerging economies, a majority of deaths in India occur at home, and about half are not assigned a certified cause. Although verbal autopsy is valuable in such an environment, it can be problematic for conditions with non-specific symptoms, and for the elderly with multiple morbidities, both of which apply to kidney failure. Verbal autopsy is also not suited to teasing out the role that kidney disease plays in initiating, accelerating, and multiplying pathophysiologic processes that culminate in mortality. For example, sudden cardiac death, which is common in patients with kidney disease, can get classified as non-renal death. Finally, verbal autopsy is constrained by the primary filtering question used for a disease condition. Reduction in urine output for 24 h might not be sensitive enough, leading to an underestimate of kidney failure deaths.

The analysis of dialysis facilities and transplant numbers in this study are impacted by the poor quality of source data. One hopes that the Indian government will mandate establishment of dialysis and transplant registries alongside the existing National Dialysis Service to allow a more accurate estimate of kidney disease burden.

Despite its growing importance, kidney disease lacks visibility. Knowledge of renal failure deaths and their correlates are crucial for development of appropriate public health responses.

A vast proportion of kidney failure patients in the developing world, including India, die without receiving renal replacement therapy. The increasing demand for renal replacement therapy is visible throughout the country. Health-economic analysis of the consequences of untreated chronic kidney disease is needed. The answer for the population at large should be prevention, rather than resource intensive tertiary care. For this, the study by Dare and colleagues has both good and bad news. That diabetes is the main cause of kidney failure is in a way a relief, because how to prevent and slow the progression of diabetes and its complications is already known. The high rates of renal failure deaths in those with diabetes born in the 1970s, when they have barely entered their forties, suggests missed opportunities for prevention that can be fixed through implementation of guideline-based care. The bad news is that a sizeable proportion of kidney failure is not due to diabetes, which needs more work for identification and prevention, indicating an unfinished research agenda.”

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that cleaning the system of black money and corruption is presently “”very high”” on his agenda. He was speaking on Wednesday after jointly inaugurating via video conferencing the Economic Times Asian Business Leaders Conclave in Kuala Lumpur along with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Prime Minister said the country is moving towards a digital and cashless economy. He said India is currently witnessing an economic transformation and the outcomes are visible from India’s global rankings on various indicators. He expressed happiness that the constitutional amendment for Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been passed and it is expected to be implemented from next year.Mr Modi said concerted efforts continued on major FDI policy reforms and conditions for investments have been simplified.

He said total FDI inflows in the last two and a half years have touched 130 billion dollars. Mr Modi also said, licensing regime has been rationalised greatly and investor facilitation cells have been set up to guide prospective investors. He said, India has now become the 6th largest manufacturing country in the world.

Prime Minister Modi said India is not only one of the fastest growing large economies in the world. It is also marked by initiatives centered around ease of doing business, making governance transparent and efficient and reducing regulatory overburden.”

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images”” alt=””images”” />The late M G Ramachandran who was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for eleven years from 1977-87 was a modern day political myth. He was eulogised as the undisputed patron saint of the poor in the southern state and lampooned by his opponents. MGR as he was popularly known was not merely a political personality but also a film star at the same time. His early popularity rested substantially on his successful roles in films. 

Author M S S Pandian, Professor at the School of Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, draws attention to his book — THE IMAGE TRAP:M G Ramachandran in films and Politics — being an essay written primarily as an exercise in self clarification. He has been puzzled and pained by MGR’s unparalleled success. 

Under his dispensation profiteers of different kinds like liquor barons, real estate magnates and ubiquitous ruling party politicians prospered greatly. On the other hand the poor who constituted the mainstay of MGR’s support suffered unbearable misery. The well honed police machinery in Tamil Nadu with its characteristic ruthlessness and MGR’s open blessings snuffed out even the mildest of dissent from subalterns whether they were workers, poor peasants or professionals, such as school teachers and government servants. 

His rule also witnessed a considerable dilution of the cultural gains due to the relentless struggles waged by the Dravidian movement during its early progressive phase. In place of the earlier rationalism, religious revivalism now reigned supreme. Only his death in 1987 could dislodge him from the centrestage of Tamil politics and give a fresh lease of life to his political rivals. 

Even death could not undo him fully. This book seeks to unravel the complex terrain of Tamil politics. The politics of hegemony thrived in the wake of proliferating body of literature on MGR’s hegemonic sway. This has proved an important source of data to explore how MGR was popularly represented among the common people. 

These constructed biographies are carefully constituted popular narratives which dovetail his real life with his screen image, as if there were no difference between the two. Finally it traces the relationship between the material/economic conditions of the subaltern classes and the rise of the MGR phenomenon. 

When he died on October 24, 1987 Madras city witnessed one of the world’s largest funerals. No less than two million people travelled long distances from villages formed the funeral procession. 

In other places those who could not attend the actual funeral organised mock funerals in which images of MGR were taken out and buried with full rituals. Thousands of young men even tonsured their heads, 31 of his desolate followers, unable to contain their grief committed suicide. 

The political devotion of the subaltern classes was not because he had pursued radical economic policies during his rule. There were no major structural changes in the economy which only increased the suffering of the poor. The AIADMK government of MGR thrived on taxing the poor and the middle classes to profit the rich, especially the rural rich. The wealthier classes remained more or less untaxed. 

The lopsided economic interventions were glaring. There was economic misery all round in Tamil Nadu. Well over 40 per cent of the people in the state continued to languish below the officially defined poverty line and over time the situation did not improve. 

In short MGR’s regime was one which enjoyed massive support from the poor but served the interests of the rich. His government was also a brutal police raj. In the late 1980s the press throughout the country carried reports of how the police were combing the North Arcot and Dharmapuri districts in northern Tamil Nadu and hunting down activists of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninists). Nearly 15 activists were killed in cold blood for taking up the cause of farm labourers in these dry and backward districts, and for defying a few unruly and violent landlords. 

MGR defended his policemen in public without any compunction. When the Madras High Court passed strictures against the policemen for taking law into their own hands and killing CPI (ML) activists, MGR decorated the police officials with medals for ‘valour and distinguished service.’ 

Police brutality became part of everyday life  in Tamil Nadu. The data from 1977 to 1981 shows that once every ten days one undertrial died behind bars. MGR also constantly tried to browbeat the media which exposed the corruption, administrative lapses and police oppression that had come to characterise his rule. 

A few months before his death, the AIADMK government passed a bill to curb the screening of films critical of legislators and ministers. The bill was introduced in haste on the morning of 11 May 1987, the last day of assembly session, and was adopted that same evening relaxing the rules of notice. The Act armed the MGR government with powers to ban films which had been certified by the Central Board of Film Certification. 

The film scripted by M Karunanidhi was quite critical of the MGR rule. In actuality, however, MGR enjoyed a stable, if not growing, popularity among the poor in Tamil Nadu throughout his tenure in office and earlier as well. 

The party founded by him polled a third of the total votes in every election and his followers exhibited almost a personal bond with him. MGR successful film career spanned four decades and 136 films, earned him one of the largest fan following in the world. There has always been a symbiotic relationship between the medium of cinema and politics in the state. 

Driven by poverty MGR began his acting career as a child theatre artist. He acted during the late 1920s in nationalist plays. It was only in the 1950s that he was seen in social roles on the screen achieving recognition. A characteristic MGR role was that of a working man attempting to combat everyday oppression. 

Power is seen as all pervasive and undifferentiated while its victims are always meek, beaten and share their common suffering. MGR’s role as an independent dispenser of justice unfolds with regularity with emphasis on stunt sequences. This gives his starrers the flavour of action films which is an expression of his struggle against social evil, oppression. 

The authority that MGR appropriates on the screen relates to women. In MGR’s films the hero often starts off as a poor man but ends up marrying a rich woman, or as a lower caste man marrying an upper caste woman. If powerful villains come in his way it is the subaltern MGR who invariably succeeds. 

The language that MGR uses is not one of submission but of authority. At least with regard to three aspects he brings it to the fore in films encompassing his right to dispense justice, exercise control, education and access to women thereby appropriating the authority of the elite. 

The ubiquitous and overarching structure of patriarchy in Tamil Nadu is reaffirmed, time and again, through MGR films. Moments of freedom that these films offer women spectators are necessarily contained within this structure of patriarchy. While MGR was as successful in politics as in films, Sivaji Ganesan failed as a politician despite his political ambitions and indisputable star status. 

MGR’s supposed real life invincibility and eternal youth were, time and again, constructed by various kinds of media; so much so that a degree of immortality was conferred on him in real life as well as the screen. 

The DMK repeatedly brought charges of corruption against MGR but failed to gain any substantial political mileage. MGR thrived on unaccounted money and at one point admitted that he had disclosed Rs 80 lakhs of black money under the voluntary disclosure scheme. Pandian provides rare insight of MGR the actor and the crowd puller as a larger than life regional politicians.

TR

(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator.)
“

“

The winter session of Parliament is washed out thanks to the November 8`historic announcement by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on withdrawal of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 denomination notes from circulation and the adverse impact it triggered. 

The Government appears least bothered about how it has impacted the lives a billion plus Indians. Unmindful of all of it, it has given the dose of better days ahead to the common citizens in the medium and long terms.

Friday was the last day of the winter session but only on paper. It started on a stormy note and ended up on a stormy note. The last one day that is on Thursday, both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha continued to witness deadlock that began with the start of the session on November 16 over the manner in which a debate should be held on demonetisation and related aspects.

The Rajya Sabha saw sharp exchanges between Treasury and Opposition members as they tried to outshout each other over different issues, throwing the House into pandemonium.

The Opposition, led by Congress, said demonetisation along with vagaries of weather had hit the farmers and demanded farm loan waiver to give relief to them.

On the other hand, Bharatiya Janata Party members shouted slogans while displaying copies of a news report which claimed that some people in the erstwhile United Progressive Alliance regime had allegedly received money in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal. They wanted to know who was behind the chopper scam.

Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said the ruling side was not allowing Parliament to function, which was”unprecedented”.

”It is the ruling party which is disrupting the House… in both Houses (of Parliament), it is the ruling party which is not allowing the Parliament to function. It is for the first time in the history of independent India that the ruling party is not allowing the House to function,” he said.

Azad, who had given a notice to raise the issue of distress among farmers after demonetisation, was called by the Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien to speak but he could hardly make his submission as ruling party members created uproar.

”I have given the floor to the Leader of the Opposition. It is the convention of the House that when Leader of the Opposition or Leader of the House wish to speak, they are heard in silence,” Kurien said but BJP members did not heed.

Union ministers too interjected as Azad rose to speak with Information & Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu wanting to know what he wanted to say and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi saying the members of the ruling side want a discussion on the corruption issue.

Kurien told Naidu that Azad had given a notice to raise farmers distress and even without a notice the Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the House are allowed to speak whenever they wish to speak.

To Naqvi, he said the ruling side can give a notice to raise a discussion on the issue they want, and asked Azad to make his submission.

Alleging that the Centre was anti-farmer and its policies were ruining crops, Azad said farmers are dying, their vegetables rotting and crops welting and they are not sowing seeds. Farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and other states are facing grave distress and the Centre should waive off their loan, he demanded.  

Later on Friday, a Congress delegation, led by Vice President Rahul Gandhi, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and expressed concern over the plight of farmers in Punjab and U.P., demanding waiver of loans given to farmers. 

For the record, the tenth session of the Lok Sabha held 21 sittings over 19 hours before being adjourned sine die on Friday. Nearly 92 hours were lost due to disruptions and just four government bills were passed during the winter session.”

“

Is a new trend being established in this country’s Parliamentary democracy with the government blocking the proceedings in the country’s highest legislature for the first time since independence. This has never happened before, claimed senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Dissent is vital in a democratic system which is sought to be stifled, allege opposition leaders. Parliament is essentially meant for political parties to debate and discuss aimed at finding solutions to issues of urgent national importance rather wasting time on petty quibbling and indulging in one-upmanship.

The frustration of seasoned leaders particularly like former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani says it all “”being saddened and feeling like resigning.”” Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi grabbed the opportunity thanking Advani fighting for democratic values. Union minister Venkaiah Naidu sought to underplay the issue maintaining the entire BJP was upset with repeated adjournments and disruptions in Parliament. 

Having expressed disgust last week about the logjam in Parliament, Advani observed in a resigned manner that Parliament should at least discuss demonetisation for a day. That was not to be as both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adjourned sine die yesterday without a debate on demonetisation. He wanted the health of the Lok Sabha to be restored quickly so that important and pending business can be transacted. 

In the prevailing confusion Advani wondered aloud if he should resign from the Lok Sabha. While the opposition pressed for a debate on demonetisation, the treasury benches carrying placards demanded a discussion on the Agusta Westland chopper deal. Be that as it may, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s determination to introduce the GST from April Fools Day next year appears to be a non-starter. 

This winter session was the worst of all since the BJP-led NDA came to power in May 2014. Last week President Pranab Mukherjee took strong exception to the continuing logjam in Parliament. Being critical of the MPs he appealed to them “”For God’s sake, do your job. You are meant to transact business in Parliament. Disruption of Parliament is not acceptable at all.”” Impartial observers believe the President should have advised the government that it was their duty to listen to Parliament and be its part. The government is a creature of Parliament and is accountable to the Head of State. 

What is perturbing is that the Modi government remains nonchalant about the tremendous suffering of the people of this country since demonetisation last month which has so far claimed more than 70 lives. The President blamed the opposition for the deadlock. In all this the question doing the rounds in the country’s highest legislature is “”who is responsible for running Parliament”” as the Prime Minister claims he is not being allowed to speak in the House and is compelled to speak outside. 

Rahul Gandhi countered he is also not being allowed to speak in Parliament where he wants to expose the Modi government. Agitation and disturbances by the opposition are not new to Parliament as they feel this is their legitimate right to attract the government’s attention to the problems being faced by the people. 

Congress has learnt from the BJP the methods of agitation crippling the functioning of Parliament as evidenced during the winter session in 2013 and the budget session in 2014 before the April-May general elections. It is high time the BJP finds effective means of countering the disturbances and tries to bring order in the two Houses of Parliament. 

It is apparent the failure to run Parliament smoothly must squarely lie at the door of the Modi government. The BJP-led NDA only wants to bash on regardless seeking to brush aside the opposition by blocking any meaningful discussions with them in Parliament. Congress leaders insist the Modi government considers the strength of the main opposition as inconsequential in their scheme of things. The trust deficit between the ruling party and the opposition is at an all time low and must be addressed especially after the demonetisation on the eighth of November. 

On her part, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan has failed to bridge the gap. The damage has been considerable. Out of the ten bills listed for discussion and passage only four were approved. The critical GST legislation continues to remain in limbo and will inevitably get delayed though union Finance minister Arun Jaitley wanted it implemented from All Fools Day or Apirl first next year.  

The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha has also suffered because of the upcoming assembly in five states including the critical Uttar Pradesh. The government cannot afford disruptions continuously dealing a severe blow to the institution of Parliament. Debate is the only democratic way of making the government accountable for its actions. That is eluding the opposition and the ruling coalition at the centre which does not seem to be unduly worried with the reputation of Parliament being eroded systematically.

( T R Ramachandran is senior journalist and commentator. Views are personal.)”

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The Reserve Bank of India, violating the basic norms of the Right to Information (RTI) Act is against supply of any information, even if it comes under the Section 4 of the RTI Act.

If you go to most of the websites of public authorities, you will find suo motu disclosures under Section 4 of the RTI Act, hardly being adhered too. This, despite, repeated directives from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), over the last few years.

The Reserve Bank of India, has audaciously declared on its website, that it cannot disclose most of its information, even that which comes under Section 4, explaining that, “being the Central Bank of the country, in its role as banker to the Government and banker to the banks, the RBI receives and holds a lot of sensitive information, the disclosure of which may not, at all times, be in the interest of the nation or serve public interest.’’

Giving a list of 26 areas where it cannot provide information, the preamble in the link, https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/bs_viewcontent.aspx?Id=2347, states, “A list of such information which cannot be disclosed either wholly or partially is furnished…While compiling the list, it has been the Bank’s endeavour to attain the objectives of the RTI Act, without jeopardizing the financial stability and economic interests of the State. It may also be noted that the list is only indicative and not exhaustive and is subject to review / revision. Each application received under the Act would be examined in the light of the provisions of the Act and any decision with respect to non-disclosure by the Bank will be supported by the relevant exemption provisions…”

The fact is, that even that information which is not in any way sensitive nor would it “jeopardize the financial interest of the State” and which in fact, is mandatory for public disclosure under Section 4 of the RTI Act has been put under arrest of Section 8 of the RTI Act by the supercilious Reserve Bank. A few examples being:

Transfer Request letters / representations / records and connected notings and correspondence received from officers

 List of employees of doubtful integrity

 Vigilance Audit Report

 Property statement and particulars of properties of employees

 Information regarding merger/ amalgamation proposal of banks.

 Information about annual branch expansion plan of banks during the currency of plan

 Correspondence with Government relating to proposed amendments to various Acts

 Information relating to appointment of directors on the boards of banks/ financial institutions, if it involves third party personal information

 Details of Superannuation benefits like Provident Fund, Gratuity, Encashment of leave, commuted value of pension paid to individuals (except to legal heirs in case of death). Also, information on compassionate package paid on behalf of individuals.

The 26 areas include even those ‘general’ areas where information comes under RT Act. For example, the Human Resources Management Department; Department of Banking Regulation and Department of Banking Supervision.

 This has prompted RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar and this author to file a complaint with the Central Information Commission (CIC). Kumbhar says, “Banks deal with public funds even if they are private ones. Reserve Bank of India is at the head of them all and it is scandalous that it should bring in information under Section 4, into Section 8 category. It has thus left no work for the Public Information Officer (PIO) who needs to just keep denying every kind of information.”

 In addition, under Section 8 of the RTI Act, a public authority is bound to provide partial information, even if the remaining comes under information that can be denied.

About the author: PCI Babai is a Delhi based practicing hack, a cynic to core.”

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The Modi government on Saturday appointed Rajiv Jain, a 1980 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Jharkhand cadre, as the new Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB). He succeeds Dineshwar Sharma who is scheduled to retire on December 31. 

The government also appointed Anil Dhasmana as the new Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) chief. He is an IPS officer of 1981 batch from Madhya Pradesh cadre. Mr. Dhasmana is an old hand in India’s external intelligence agency and is an expert on Afghanistan and Pakistan matters. He will take over from Rajinder Khanna whose term ends this month-end. 

In clearing Mr. Jain and Mr. Dhasmana’s names as head of the two apex intelligence agencies the government has adhered to the criteria of seniority and has not jumped the queue. Both the officers will have two year fixed tenure. 

Rajiv Jain had joined the IB in 1989 as Assistant Director and has been posted as Joint Director of the Delhi unit of the IB, considered to be a key assignment in the agency. As Deputy Director, he was instrumental in shaping the then NDA government’s policy on Kashmir as he was handling Kashmir matters with the then Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission K. C. Pant who had been appointed as the government’s pointsperson on exploring the possibility of starting dialogue with different sections in Jammu and Kashmir and help usher in peace in the troubled border State.

Mr. Jain also served in Gujarat as Joint Director, based in Ahmedabad between 2005 and 2008 and later shifted to Delhi to head the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB) till 2012. At present, he is the senior most Special Director in the IB. 

On the front of the armed forces, the government announced appointment of Lieutenant General Bipin Rawat—currently the Vice Chief of Army Staff—as the 27th Chief of Indian Army. It also named Air Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa who had commanded a fighter squadron during the 1999 Kargil conflict, as the new chief of the Indian Air Force. Both the Army Chief General Dalbir Singh and Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha are retiring on December 31.”

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Former Supreme Court judge Markandeya Katju faced another embarrassing situation in the apex court which earlier this week refused to quash the March 2015 resolution  by both houses of Parliament against him for describing Gandhi as a British agent and Netaji as a Japanese agent in a blog. 

“We reject the preliminary objection regarding the maintainability of the petition. Petition is maintainable.But we dismiss the petition on merits”, a bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur ruled. The operative portion was read out by Justice U U Lalit who wrote the judgment. Katju, also the former chairman of the Press Council of India had contended that the resolutions curtailed his freedom of speech and expression and also dent his reputation. 

His counsel Gopal Subramaniam had told the court that his client could not have been condemned by Parliament without being given an opportunity to be heard. During the hearing itself the court had said that prima facie the unanimous condemnation by both the houses of the parliament did not violate his right to free speech and expression or in any way dent his reputation. Senior counsel Fali Nariman who was appointed as the amicus curiae by the court had said: “the resolution is only an expression of strong disagreement and was not even in the nature of censure. But the statement , remember is coming from a retired judge of the supreme court and not an ordinary citizen. People take it seriously… they get interested. If somebody like me says such things people will only say it is his own opinion. That is not the case with a former judge of the highest court of the land” CJI Thakur had also repeatedly told Katju that “he should be mentally prepared for his own criticism if he criticises others”. 

“If this article is defamatory, everyone has a right to condemn him. Justice Katju is entitled to his view but the Parliament and others may disagree. If there is one action, it must be against Justice Katju for writing this article. What he said about Mahatma and Bose may amount to defamation. Once you (Justice Katju) have chosen to expose yourself to public life, you will have to accept criticism,”, CJI Thakur had said during one of the hearing. 

This order comes close on the heels of the apex court initiating contempt proceedings against Katju for his blogs denigrating acting some of the SC judges. Katju has however filed an application carrying a detailed ‘unconditional apology’ which the court will consider later this week. 

About the author: PCI Babai is a Delhi based practicing hack, a cynic to core.”

“Recent bombings at the Egyptian capital Cairo’s largest Coptic cathedral and outside an Istanbul football stadium in Turkey have underscored the need for stronger international cooperation and efforts to combat terrorism, an issue India has been pressing for since long.The atrocious attack that targeted Sunday mass at St. Mark Church complex is yet to be claimed, but the sick-minded Daesh (ISIS Jehadists) supporters celebrated it on social media, raising the suspicion of their involvement in the dastardly act.There is no race, religion or rationale that could ever justify, let alone cheer, snuffing the lives of 25 innocent people — of which the majority were women and children — in their sacred place of worship.The deliberately provocative act of barbarism was designed to inflame inter-religious hatred. At least 25 people were killed and 49 were wounded when a 12 kilogram bomb went off in the chapel beside the main entrance to Egypt’s main Coptic cathedral in central Cairo, with the majority of the dead being women and children. This was the deadliest attack on the Christian minority in the country this year.Coptic Christians in Egypt are a minority group, representing 10 per cent of the total population, and for years have been bearing the brunt of growing sectarianism.The attack on the Cairo Cathederal comes as President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi fights battles on several fronts. The economic reforms undertaken by him has angered the poor while insurgency, led by the Egyptian branch of Islamic State rages in Northern Sinai and a bloody crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.The Egyptian interior ministry subsequently released a picture of the bomber it identified as Mahmoud Shafik Mohamed Mostafa, 22, whose nom de guerre was Abu Dajjana Al Kanani. It also released an image of what it said was the battered head of the dead bomber, who hailed from the town of Fayyoum south of Cairo.State news agency MENA reported that three of those arrested are also from Fayyoum while a fourth is from the Cairo suburb of Matariya. Both are areas typically associated with strong support for the Muslim BrotherhoodThe attack outside a football stadium in Istanbul, the sixth on its soil this year, left 38 people dead and over 150 injured. The twin bombs were intended to create maximum casualties, just like it did in June, when three suicide bombers attacked Ataturk airport in the capital. Forty-five people had lost their lives and hundreds were wounded then.The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), an offshoot of the militant Kurdistan Worker Party (PKK), has claimed the responsibility for the twin bombings outside the stadium on the night of December 10. PKK has carried out a violent three-decade insurgency mainly in Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast.In a statement on its website, TAK said Turkish people were not its direct target, and added that two of its members died during the attack outside the stadium.Defeating terrorism requires a united front and it is a decision that the international community will have to take together. It is also necessary to find out what radicalizes people and inspires them to heed the call of violence and cause bloodshed.India, which is a victim of terrorism has been calling for concerted regional and international cooperation to eliminate terrorism in all its form and manifestations. It has urged for the dismantling of terrorist sanctuaries and safe havens as also disrupting all financial, tactical and logistical support for terror networks. (M. Shakeel Ahmed is a former Editor of PTI news agency. He had a long stint as PTI’s West Asia correspondent based in Bahrain. Views are personal.)”

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Bharulata Kamble, the first Indian woman who drove solo through from the United Kingdom to India through the Arctic Circle, will be in India from December 19. She will meet several political leaders including the Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi. Indian-born British national, Bharulata Kamble (43) had covered 35,000 kms in 57 days covering 32 countries, 9 mountain ranges and 3 major deserts and 9 time zones spreading the message of “”save girls, educate girls”” and promoted woman empowerment.

Born in Navsari district of Gujarat, Bharulata is the first Indian woman who hoisted the Indian flag in the Arctic Circle. In India she travelled across 12 States entering from the Imphal border and completing her journey in Maharashtra via Gujarat. The journey included 5,500 kms of mountain desert areas, driving reaching the altitude of 3,700-4000 metres above sea level, and driving 2,500 kms through desert areas. This journey will be recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records authorities.  She drove on an average of 700 km every day, and 400 km per day in mountainous areas. On certain days she had driven around 1400 kms in one day and 20-22 hours if driving. She drove from Patna to Delhi 1100 kms in one day in her way to Delhi.

“”I have done my schooling in a village school in Navsari and rose to do a degree in Law. But, it was an incident in childhood that deeply impacted me,’’ Bharulata told Theindiasaga.com over phone. A fatherless child, Bharulata had once overheard an argument between her mother and her maternal family during which the family described girls “”as stones on the path who can be kicked by anyone.”” Therefore, she dedicated my journey to girls and raise funds to build healthcare facilities in India for poor women.

“”I could never forget this and decided at that moment to prove my worth. I got a degree in law. My husband is a doctor in UK. Driving was a passion with me and I always wanted to drive to India but my dream suffered a setback when I met a bad accident in 2007. More than the physical injury, the accident resulted in trauma which lasted for more than four-and-a-half-years,”” she said.

It was in 2013 when her therapist asked her about her dream. Bharulata had then shared her dream of driving down to India but added that keeping in mind her condition she would never be able to fulfill it. The therapist encouraged her to pursue her dream which took several years to fulfill. “”Initially, my family was not too keen on my taking up the trip because of the accident but I had made up my mind and eventually got their full support. I began my journey on September 13, 2016.””

Upon reaching New Delhi, Bharulata Kamble was personally welcomed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and on reaching her final destination Maharashtra she was personally welcomed by the Chief Minister Mr Devender Fadnavis.

Bharulata began her solo car journey on 13th September 2016 from the United Kingdon to India via the Arctic Circle. She completed her first record on 28th September 2016 to become the first woman in the world to undertake and completely solo car driving expedition in the Arctic Circle. This expedition was without any back up team, crew or back up vehicle. She drove 2,792 km in Arctic Circle and became the first woman in the world to drive longest distance in the Arctic Circle.

She also became the first woman driver in the world to complete a transcontinental and the Arctic Circle car journey alone and the first woman in the world to visit most countries in only 57 days. She had managed to secure support of the then Prime Minister David Cameroon, many peers from the House of Lords, Members of the Commons, many British-Asian organizations, faith leaders and members of general public in UK.

“”I could overcome the difficulties such as hostile weather conditions, lonely roads, rules and regulations in different countries due to my will power. My husband, too, encouraged and backed me in this endeavour,”” she said. The journey would be compiled in the form of a book “”My Transcontinental Odyssey””, documenting the epic journey.”