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He was the man who introduced a new sensibility to many slowly and steadily cultivating a serious film culture. He had mapped Indian cinema with utmost precision. Paramesh Krishnan Nair, India’s film archivist and founder-director of the National Film Archive of India (NFAI),  who passed away on March 4 at Pune aged 83,  single-handedly salvaged and restored several films, including nine from Indian silent era, which would have never seen the light of the day. For Nair, films were dear to his heart. It was as if he was haunted by the sight of the negatives. He acquired over 12,000 films, including 8,000 Indian movies, and the rest foreign and began a task of preserving them, reel by reel. Nair, who won the epithet ‘celluloid man’  for his impressive work as founder of NFAI, always remained an eager student who visited and revisited the black and white reels of cinema history. The year was 1969. Nair traveled in pre-dawn in a tempo from Pune to Nashik that was to deliver newspapers to the mofussil region.

Nair hardly knew he was going to encounter history, He reached Nashik after midnight. Dadashaeb Phalke, the father of Indian cinema, showed him some print kept by the family in memory of the legend. Those were the prints of  Kaliya Mardan, a  1919  Marathi film, of Indian silent era. Back in the NFAI in Pune, Nair opened the can to find the print cut in several parts. Fortunately for him, the box also contained a worn notebook with sequence of the reels. Nair then began piecing the six reels together with the help of the notes. The rest was history in Indian cinema. Nair was determined to preserve some of India’s rich but totally ignored and lost film heritage that existed across the country with producers, distributors, the kabadi wallahs. Many stories are abound how, the archivist, collected rare films. A cow-shed in Kolkata, a kabadi-wallah in ‘chor bazaar’ at Mumbai, the family of a producer in Chennai– there was no place that was not visited by Nair if it could yield a fragment of the country’s film heritage. Nair was closely associated with critics and film luminaries like Marie Scton, Vijaya Mulay and Satish Bahadur.

The nine Indian slient films now extinct were salvaged by Nair. In a country, where 1.700 silents movies were made in 31 years, from 1899 to 1930, nine may seem like nothing but without Nair, the country might not have even those. Nair is the man responsible for managing the NFAI. Having joined the Films and Television Institute in Pune as Research Assistant in 1961, from 1965, when he was appointed Assistant Curator till 1991, when he retired nearly a decade as its Director, Nair acquired 12,000 films. The movies included, the works of legendary film maker, such as Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mirnal Sen, V Shantaram, Raj Kapoor and Guru Dutt. Then there were films of international stalwarts like Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosava and Miklos Janeso.

Nair stood on top of the pyramid of the cinema of the country which produces the largest number of films in the world. Nair, who lived his work, legendarily, screened and watched films from the late to the wee hours. He was never found in the theater without his small torch and a notebook, in which he meticulously recorded reel by reel the content and condition of every single film print.”

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jsa-logoThe Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) has described as disappointing Rajasthan’s budgetary allocations for health sector in the State Budget for 2016-17 presented last week. The Budget has few things to be happy about and more things to be worried about. The CM in her opening statement about health budget stated “”Healthcare to all at affordable rates”” and if this is true then it is highly problematic and diametrically opposite to what the Union Finance Minister said, the health activists have said.

The Union Finance Minister talked of “”Health Protection”” which is completely missing from the budget speech of the CM Rajasthan. It is the sovereign duty of the government to provide health protection to all the citizens through several measures including free health care services as a measure to reduce out of pocket expenditure on health care, therefore, an emphasis on “health care at affordable rates” means that the government does not intend to provide health protection to people and patients would be forced to shell out money and continue to be trapped into poverty, a statement issued by the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan said.

“”The Chief Minister laid good deal of emphasis on Bhamashah Swasthya Bima Yojana and there’s a whopping amount of fund which has been allotted to the scheme this year, almost double as compared to last year. Such great emphasis on health insurance is a clear sign that the government is only going to upscale its strategy of insurance/PPP in health care by bringing about more and more private hospitals at State’s expenses. This is quite unfortunate that the funds which could have been used to strengthen the public health  system, are being diverted to strengthen private public health institutions. It should be noted that already 60% of the inpatients and 80% of the outpatients are seeking care from the private health facilities and these schemes would further enhance this trend much to the discomfort of the majority of the citizens. There is also an issue of the capacity of the private health system which has very haphazard growth. In reality, private health system does not exist in areas where it is required most which are remote and difficult areas,”” Chayya Pachauli of JSA said.

The very crucial free medicines and free diagnostics schemes already operational in the state hardly had any mention in the budget speech. While the budget for free medicines scheme remains almost the same as last year (Budget estimate 2015-16 – 367 Crores, 2016-17 – 360 crores), there’s a slight reduction noted in budget allotted for free diagnostics scheme (Budget estimate 2015-16- 117 crores, 2016-17 – 105 crores). But, it seems the focus of the government is to push health insurance as a vehicle of health care delivery which has been an issue under intense debate among public health experts and the government.

The budget of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has also been marginally slashed this year (from an budget estimation of 1810 crores in 2015-16 to 1598 crores for 2016-17). This essentially means that all the community based health processes including strengthening of Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committees (VHSNC), Village Health and Nutrition Days (VHNDs) etc are going to be affected. Overall there is hardly any increase in health budget this year as compared to last year (from a budget estimate of 9416 crores in 2015-16 to 9537 crores for 2016-17). The per capita expenditure on health care remains the same and reduced in real terms after adjusting for inflation, the statement further said. Increasing reliance of the government on private health care sector and health insurance model as saviours of public health system is a dangerous sign. In a nutshell, an analysis of the health budget clearly indicates that the health care in the state would continue to function with the same dearth of resources and an increasing dependency on private providers to meet all the health care needs of the 7 crore population.”

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thelostgeneration.pngStreets in ancient cities are suspended in a time warp. Nostalgia lingers in these old neighbourhoods. The lost generation encompasses Geneologists of Hardwar, ‘bhisti walla’ or water carrier, a mid-wife or dai, the ‘rudalis’ or the professional mourners, the letter writers of Bombay and the  kaboortwallahs Old Delhi among others. Travelling to different parts of the country along with locating and chronicling India’s dying professions is by no means an easy task. Even though there are remnants of an India which might still exist in its old streets and neighbourhoods, author Nidhi Dugar Kundalia narrates the unforgettable stories of eleven professionals from the Geneologists of Hardwar to the letter writers of Bombay, the Kabootarbaaz of Old Delhi, the street dentists of Baroda, the Urdu scribes of Delhi, the Ittar wallahs of Hyderabad and the Rudalis of Rajasthan among others. The streets in the ancient cities of this country are suspended in a time warp — not the lofty, shiny lanes of the city but the old faded, deceived-to-be-pulled-down-any-time-now.

Nostalgia lingers in these old neighbouhoods, a sense of belonging to a time you were not born in. There was the ‘bhisti wallah’ — the water carrier before the corporation taps. Suspended between the old and the modern, waiting to fill his animal-skin bag with water. His ancestors will fill the water from the banks of the Ganga and freshwater springs, serving Mughal troops in the war fields, the Nawabs of Bengal and then the British. They were crucial for machinery as well as ordinary peoples’ everyday lives too – watering the gardens, filling pots of water for nautch girls, offering cool water to worshipers at mosques on the days of Jum’ah (Friday) and filling cups for wary travellers and thirsty lepers. As the century turned, they quickly became mere spare parts, only delivering mashqs to those whom the government pipelines had failed to reach. Like the old, abandoned palatial homes of the noblemen dotted the congested market, this solitary bhisti wallah is a testament to the significant events and feats of importance from decades ago.

The hapless last generation of these ancient professions have been left wondering about the bleakness of their futures. A scribe teaching calligraphy at an academy in Delhi says “”we struggle to make Urdu survive, let alone Urdu calligraphy, in this digitised world.”” In travelling to different parts of the country the author found the new and old worlds intersecting in unpreditable ways even as modernisation spread. In Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, a midwife or dai, provides training to other women in midwifery practices because of her distrust in modern birthing practices at today’s hospitals. She limits her teaching to traditional castes, which were essentially a lower caste. ‘It is to preserve our ancestral professions’ she told the author defiantly. In villages it is not uncommon for affluent families to bestow land grants to a dai’s family and give her the sole rights to deliver babies in their household. India’s professions have also been interlined with caste practices that dictated the professions of caste. In Hardwar priests double up as geneologists. They are incharge of the family register, of updating the family’s geneological tree with details of marriages, births and deaths and so on. Over time these dynastic records have also become a particularly important way of sorting out all the inheritance squabbles that arise for wealth and power in India.

Occupations were meant to be passed on from father to son, and the option of transitioning from one profession to another was generally outlawed. The Kayasth class, who comprised the upper layer of Hindu society, occupied high governmental positions, often serving as administrators or advisers. The lower castes such as the nais or the chamars performed the menial jobs of barbers and tanners respectively, while their wives doubled up as masseuses or pedicurists for the women of the aristrocratic families. The ‘rudalis’, or the professional mourners whom Nidhi interviewed for this book are caste inducted professions too. It is customary in Rajasthan for upper caste women to not mourn in public and so the rudalis — mostly helpless, impoverished women caught in web of caste heirarchy – step in to mourn for them, representing their sorrows for the traditional twelve-day mourning period. But changing times and automation are slowly eliminating these mourning practices, consigning them as some sort of an athropological curiosity.

No caste exists for a call centre employee or a computer operator. Those who belong outside caste bound practices – the calligraphers, the kabootarbaaz, the ittar wallahs – their professions have suffered because they lost their patrons in the kings, noblemen and moneyed zamindars of pre-inpendence India. The author caught up with naxalites, activists,  thugs and ruffians, who rather than obstructing the story in any way helped her understand the complex social fabric of this vast country. Through their conversations she saw that their paradoxes provided for a deeper understanding of issues rather than cause moral obstructions – all contributing to appreciating the frailty of the human condition.

In the early 1970s visiting Calcutta for the first time on an assignment, shocked me. It was very different from Delhi and had a very distinct character because the British imperialists based themselves in Calcutta. The then national capital was more of a enlarged village capturing the myriad culture of this country. People from the north and the hills along with others from different parts the country made Delhi their home. I spotted a lone ‘bhisti wallah’ in the backlanes of Chowringhee and Park street in the Eastern metropolis carrying water hung from his shoulder. A weather beaten, wiry person he supplied water to some of his customers and anyone who hailed him quenching their thirst.

On another occasion as a teenager on a holiday in Hyderabad I met some friends of my cousins much older than me who were animatedly discussing matters which upset them a great deal. They said the poor people in the villages were always being harassed and manhandled by the law and order machinery for no fault of theirs. I learnt later they were angry young men with ultra Left leanings who had decided to fight the establishment for the rights of the peasants. Each of these dying professions has its lessons and poignancy unique to itself. The letter writers of Bombay hailed from different parts of the country and could read and write several Indian languages including English, Hindi, Sanskrit and some even learnt Marathi. Dilip Pandey hailed from Varanasi and came to Bombay because of an ailing father and dwindling finances. “”I was fascinated by this city,”” he told the author “”as Bombay tells you a new tale everyday. The people have learnt to talk its talk but nobody learns to breathe here.”” His friend Gourishankar with whom he stayed in Bombay taught Dilip to “”understand the deep, dark underbelly of Bombay.””

As advised he wrote two lines for one word and never forgot to saying “”missing you”” at the end of the letter. It makes wives and lovers happy and the senders in turn happier. For the letter writers of Bombay things became bad in 2002 with the mobile communications market making incoming calls free. With mobile phones priced at a few hundred Rupees letter writers were pushed out of business. The narration is fascinating and gripping about the professions and professionals left behind.

TR”

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The 60th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will focus firmly on the implementation of the ambitious agreement on Sustainable development Goals (SDGs) for 2030 adopted by UN Member States in September 2015. The SDGs are a universal roadmap for people and planet, addressing the key challenges of the 21st century, such as poverty, inequality and climate change. Gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls is a goal in itself, and recognized as a central means to achieving the SDGs. The high-level meeting from 14-24 March underlines the determination of governments and activists to move the needle on women’s rights and gender equality.

This year over 1,000 NGOs have pre-registered more than 8,100 of their representatives for the meeting. More than 200 side events will be hosted on the UN premises by Member States and UN entities, many of them in collaboration with civil society, about 150 of them in the first week of CSW alone, alongside 450 parallel events by NGOs, in the vicinity of the UN. The Commission is the single largest forum for Member States and other stakeholders to commit to new actions for advancement of women and their empowerment. This year’s CSW is the first after the adoption of the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The session thus will build on the momentum garnered in September 2015 when, in conjunction with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, more than 90 governments answered UN Women’s call for action to “Step It Up for Gender Equality’’. World leaders pledged measurable actions to tackle structural barriers and remaining challenges to the achievement of gender equality in their countries.

Civil society and businesses leaders complemented these pledges committing to combat stereotypes and shift practices towards fostering greater equality and opportunity, a press release issued by the UN Women said. “This gathering of so many of the key partners in the implementation of Agenda 2030 makes this a crucial opportunity to combine our strengths and align decisively around the central issues for action,” said UN Women Executive Director PhumzileMlambo-Ngcuka. The priority theme for the 60th session will be women’s empowerment and its link to sustainable development. Discussions by governments will focus on creating a conducive environment for gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, through actions to ensure enabling laws and policies, solid institutional infrastructures, adequate financial resources, strengthening of participation mechanisms, and investment in sex-disaggregated data, to guide national action. Research underlines the benefit of women’s empowerment and gender equality for societies everywhere: for instance, if women played an identical role to men in labour markets, as much as USD 28 trillion could be added to global annual GDP by 2025. When women are at the peace tables, their participation increases the probability of a peace agreement lasting at least two years by 20 per cent, and 35 per cent over 15 years. And a child born to a mother who can read is 50 per cent more likely to survive.

Yet, global reviews undertaken in 2015, during the 20 years’ commemoration of the historic Beijing Conference, revealed while there has been progress on women’s rights and gender equality, it has not been enough. Today, only one in five parliamentarians is a woman and women continue to earn less, have fewer assets and bear the burden of unpaid work and care, the press release said. Violence against women continues to affect one in three women, making it one of the most widespread human rights violations. The Commission will evaluate progress in the implementation of its agreed conclusions of 2013, on ending violence against women and girls, a pandemic that also comes with enormous economic costs to society.”

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As Kerala braces up for assembly elections on May 16, the stage is set for what many are calling the electoral exercise a “game changer” election in the Southern state. Not only the two traditional alliances­ –­ the ruling Congress­-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist)­led Left Democratic Front (LDF)­­ have dominated the political landscape in this state since the 1970s but the BJP­ led-National Democratic Alliance is gearing up to set its foot in the electoral arena this time. The coming assembly polls in Kerala are crucial for the BJP as it comes after a severe drubbing of the saffron party at the hustings in Bihar in November last year. Will the lotus finally bloom in Kerala? That is the question many are asking. The BJP has been a cipher in electoral politics in “”God’s Own Country””‘ so far. However, the winds of change appear to be finally blowing in Kerala.

The performance of the BJP in the Aruvikkara by elections held in June last year, where the party finished third behind the Congress and CPI (M), did give a jolt to its rivals by increasing its vote share Also, it was the performance of the BJP that became a topic of discussion among the political observers as well as the public. The party also managed to make inroads into the UDF and the LDF bastions in the elections to the local self institutions held in November 2015. BJP won about 1,100 of the 21,871 seats across the three­-tier local body structure in Kerala. The BJP is now the main opposition in the Thiruvanthapuram Corporation beating the traditional Congress party to the third place.

The saffron party shocked the Congress and CPI (M) in Palakkad municipality winning 24 seats to become the largest party there. In what is being seen as tough elections owing to the history of Kerala of not voting back the incumbent, an imponderable in BJP has raised expectations of a turnaround. A pre-­election survey conducted by C­Fore for Asianet News has predicted that the BJP would open its account for the first time in the May 16 assembly elections. The survey, conducted between February 1­12, said the BJP may get its highest ever­ vote share of 18 per cent in Kerala and is likely to get 3 to 5 seats. In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the party was close to winning a seat when veteran leader O Rajagopal narrowly lost to Congress’ Shashi Tharoor in the Thiruvanthapuram The party has now made plans to coming assembly elections and it involves weaning the voters from both the principal blocs especially the Ezhva section aligned with the Left.

The BJP joined hands with Vellapally Natesan, General Secretary of the Sree Naryana Dharma Paripala Yogam (SNDP) on March 10, a powerful organization of backward Ezhava community. After the stupendous mass support it gathered in the Kerala Panchayat elections, there is a kind of confidence in the BJP and its immediate task is to make the assembly tally from zero in 2011 to double digit in the coming assembly elections. Going all out, the state BJP unit has complied a list of 100 candidates which indicates the party could be contesting all or most of the 140 seats. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP seems to have been successful in what the Marxists in Kerala have been desperately trying in vain, wooing the influential Syrian Christians clergy which always stood by the Congress-­led UDF. What began as a trickle few years ago seems to have gained considerable momentum of late with heads of different sects of the Syrian Christians either praising Modi or refusing to criticise him. BJP is also egging on the Muslims. Despite the Opposition accusations of scams, the Oommen Chandy­-led government is expecting to create history by retaining power in the state and if it does that, it would be the first time the incumbents retain power in Kerala.

On the other hand, the Left Opposition is equally determined to ensure that power in the state alternates between the Congress and the Left. Chandy is going to face the heat during the elections for his controversial steps of shutting down more than 700 bars with permission to sell liquor accorded only to five star hotels, which has led to the loss of revenue and his alleged involvement in multi­-crore solar scam. Chandy is likely to fight from Puthupally, his home town in Kottayam district. The state Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, will be looking to get re-­elected from Harippad, a largely rural constituency in Aleppy district. Among the giants to watch for are VM Sudheeran, the state Congress President, known for his staunch endorsement of Kerala liquor policy that aimed to bring down phase wise prohibition of alcoholism in the state, he will contest from Manalur in Thrissur district. In the event of CPI (M) coming to power in Kerala, the state CPI (M) Secretary, could very well end up as the Chief Minister. But there are hurdles in the way most prominently in the form of VS Achuthanandan, the fiery former Chief Minister. KM Mani, Congress (Mani) leader, who resigned as Finance Minister from the Chandy-­led UDF in November last year, in the wake of charges that he pocketed bribe from bar owners, will contest from Pala seat, from where he has fought elections since 1965. Former Union Minister O Rajagopal, 86, seniormost BJP elder in the State, is pitching from Nemom seat. Kummanan Rajasekharan newly­appointed Kerala BJP president is most likely to contest from the Vattiyoorkavu seat in Thiruvanthapuram, Former Chief Minister and CPM veteran V S Achuthanandan, 93 is raring to contest from Malampuzha in Palakkad district. (ENDS)”

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The global community is legitimately worried about the rising influence of what appears to be one of the world’s most impactful terrorist outfits- the Islamic State (IS). The influence of IS is increasing rapidly in the region, with Afghanistan, Pakistan having become the main bastions of this terrorist outfit in South Asia. While Indian Muslims, who have been moderate in their views are least likely to be ensnared by radical passions, but misguidance of the Muslim youth in the name of religion by the IS has been witnessed, nevertheless. Having arrived on the western flank of South Asia almost a year ago, the IS is now trying to make inroads into the other parts of this volatile region, with Bangladesh appearing to be its recent catch. The influence of IS is accelerating rapidly in Bangladesh, which as a country is composed of 160 million Muslims, with majority of them belonging to the Sunni sect.

While Bangladeshi Muslims are certainly less fundamentalists than their Pakistani counterparts, but several Islamic terrorist organisations including Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B), Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) have either joined IS or are ready to accept its allegiance. Not a long ago, the United States had claimed that IS is looking to penetrate into Bangladesh and is intensifying its presence in the country through various means and measures. Bangladesh, which has the third largest Muslim population in the world, had dismissed the information and proclaimed that few terror incidents here and there do not indicate strong presence of IS.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed who has been ruling the country for more than 7 years now, rejected these claims and observed that all the allegations about the presence of IS are nothing but a part of a smear campaign which has been launched against her by those in the opposition. Nonetheless, it is important to note that despite these dismissals by the government of Bangladesh, the IS had taken the responsibility of several terrorist attacks, including murder of an Italian aid worker, attack on a Japanese agriculturist, murder of a few bloggers and the attack on a large gathering of Shias, as its doings. Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) which was established in 2007 as a unit of al-Qaida changed its allegiance to IS and Muhammad Aminul Islam Baig, an important IS operative who has recruited more than 25 Bangladeshis for IS, was arrested in Dhaka in May 2015. JMB, ABT and a few other terrorist outfits aspire to establish an Islamic State based on the Sharia law.

There are reports that JMB is running training camps and owe their loyalty to IS, indicating that the influence of the terror outfit is widening rapidly in Bangladesh. JMB has the capacity of carrying out terrorist activities and it may again indulge in terrorist activities on the behest of IS if not stopped at this stage itself. IS which uses social sights vigorously for recruitment and propagation of Islamic extremism, has put jihadist literature and training manuals on the internet to pollute the minds of young Bangladeshis. The radical ideology, the desire of establishing the Islamic Caliphate, its strong financial status, powerful network and brutal acts have managed to sway educated, semi-literate and deprived Muslim youths towards this terror outfit alike. Large numbers of Bangladeshis are working in the Middle East and people of Bangladeshi origin are residing in the United Kingdom, France, Australia and several other developed countries.

There are reports that few of these people of Bangladeshi origin have joined the IS and have gone to Syria to join its ranks. People of Bangladeshi origin settled in European countries also allure Bangladeshis to join IS. In the view of increasing fundamentalism in Bangladesh, the prevailing acute animosity among various political rivals, rampant corruption, polarization of security personnel, apathy towards law and order, weak judicial system, presence of several terror outfits and their splinter groups, Bangladesh looks like an ideal country for the IS to take its fight to. The execution of a few Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leaders for their offenses committed during the 1971 war of independence has also united extremists against the present regime, making it all the more possible that their vendetta becomes a medium for the IS and its sympathizers to penetrate further into the country. A newly constituted terrorist outfit, Jund al-Tawheed wal Khilafah (JTK) that has launched a recruitment drive in Bangladesh, has announced that it will help in establishing the Islamic Caliphate in the South Asian region, with Bangladesh being integral to that territorial expanse. The formation of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) is also significant as it will enhance the terrorist activities in the region, especially in Bangladesh.

Ansar al Islam Bangladesh which is an associate of al-Qaeda has also threatened to carry out terrorist activities. In the view of above, Bangladesh must accept the reality and should adopt measures to counter increasing influence of IS before it becomes late. IS has already issued its expansion plan for the South Asian region and while the plan excludes Bangladesh, according to the analysts however, it is only a deception and that Bangladesh is a perfect country where IS can find for itself a secure ground. Sheikh Hasina has launched a de-radicalization campaign under which the security agencies have closed training camps run by terrorist outfits, arrested the probable extremists and prohibited access of foreign terrorists to them by putting them under detention. The administration has also removed IS page and IS literature from internet, including Facebook and You Tube.

These mechanisms of defense should also be supplemented by proactive measures such as those that can enable the Bangladesh security agencies to counter the malicious propaganda of the IS with active advocacy for de-radicalization. After all, in the time and age for soft power, biting the bullet would not do much. The government should chalk out a detailed plan to counter the terrorist organisations, especially the IS. The IS is an international terrorist outfit hence, Bangladesh should seek help from other countries especially neighbouring countries, including India. Signing a counter terrorism initiative with United States in 2013 is a good beginning. The security forces should also be strengthened and should be equipped with latest electronic gadgets. The capability and accessibility of intelligence organisations should also be enhanced so that they can provide prior and actionable intelligence. The plan should include mass awareness drives, prompt investigation and early punishment to real culprits. The counter terrorism plan should also incorporate the rehabilitation of reformed misguided youths. Bangladesh is progressing well economically and the government should strive to maintain and even enhance its growth and expand employment opportunities so that they can keep its youth from getting misdirected and exploited at the hands of a terror outfit that has been barbarous to say the least.

This article first appeared in South Asia Monitor on March 9. Being reproduced here with the permission of the author

Jai Kumar Verma is a Delhi-based strategic analyst”

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Globally, 12.6 million people die every year from diseases and injuries attributable to the environments in which they live and work. Simply put, 1 in every 4 persons die of unhealthy work environment. These deaths, including from air, water and soil pollution, radiation, chemical exposure and unsafe workplaces, make up 23% of the total number of fatalities each year, and 26% of deaths in children below five years of age, a new report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. These conditions are responsible for 100 diseases and injuries reported from work place. The report “”Preventing Diseases Through Health Environments: A Global assessment of the Burden of Disease from Environmantal Risk’’ estimates that in the WHO South-East Asia Region 3.8 million deaths can be attributed to diseases linked to the environment. While there has been progress in increasing access to improved drinking water, a large burden of diarrheal disease remains due to issues related to safety of drinking water, poor sanitation and waste management.

It is vital that we continue with efforts to ensure safer water and sanitation for all. At the same time, deaths from infectious diseases, such as diarrhoea and malaria, often related to poor water, sanitation and waste management have declined. Increases in access to safe water and sanitation have been key contributors to this decline, alongside better access to immunization, insecticide-treated mosquito nets and essential medicines, the report says. Environmental risks take their greatest toll on young children and older people, the report finds, with children under 5 and adults aged 50 to 75 years most impacted. Yearly, the deaths of 1.7 million children under 5 and 4.9 million adults aged 50 to 75 could be prevented through better environmental management. Lower respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases mostly impact children under 5, while older people are most impacted by NCDs.

Everyone is aware of the growing Region-wide burden of non-communicable diseases that are being caused by the environment. Last year the Region was reported to be home to 14 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities, with air pollution leading to increases in cardiovascular diseases such as strokes and ischaemic heart disease, as well as cancer. Household air pollution from the burning of solid fuels such as wood, animal dung and crop waste for cooking purposes, meanwhile, results in 1.69 million premature deaths in the Region annually and is responsible for half of the pneumonia deaths in children under 5 years of age. Unsafe environments, the report says, are taking their toll in many other ways, and affect the elderly and the young disproportionately. Road accidents and related injuries are a major cause of death every year while unsafe working conditions contribute to an unnecessary burden of ill-health, injury and disease, with occupational cancer and unintentional poisonings a distinctive feature for the South-East Asian region. Armed with this data and a better understanding of the interactions between the environment and our health we can do much to save lives and reduce pain and suffering. Effective and simple interventions exist to help us do this.

Effective planning, the report says, can better organize towns and cities to manage the pressures of urbanization and facilitate positive health outcomes. Air pollution from vehicles and industry can be better managed through multi-sector planning and commitment, while exposure to household air pollution can be mitigated by increasing access to cleaner fuels. Some of these measures are already being rolled-out across the Region. Further, raising the living standards of the poor and marginalized and enhancing access to clean water and adequate sanitation will also diminish the prevalence of infectious diseases and contribute greatly to a community’s health.

“”Similarly, strong legislation can dis-incentivize the cutting of corners with regards to workplace safety and instead promote the highest attainable standard of health as an imperative that bows to no interests. Labor must be protected from hazards in the work environment such as harmful chemicals or inadequately maintained machinery that can result in fatal diseases and injuries. Labor must also be afforded the personal protective equipment necessary to stay safe and healthy at work,”” Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, South-East Asia Region of WHO says. Creating healthy environments is something that is beyond an individual’s responsibility. With informed planning and firm commitment at multiple levels in society we can create healthy environments in our communities, workplaces and cities and avoid unnecessary deaths and ill-health. This is an outcome that must be pursued, Dr Singh says.”

Famous artisan Babbu Khan gives final touches to “gulal gotas” ahead of Holi in Jaipur. “Gulal gota” is a thin layered lac container which is filled with ‘gulal’ or scented colored powder. On Holi this is thrown on people standing at a distance and when it breaks, the ‘gulal’ spreads all over the other person’s body without causing any harm to him. During earlier days, it was extensively used by the royals who would ride on their horses and meander through the streets tossing ‘gulal gotas’ on the masses to mark Holi. Interestingly ‘gulal gotas’ are used by Hindus but have always been prepared by Muslim artisans.

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Which of the Dravidian parties will rule Tamil Nadu when the state goes to polls on May 16 for the 234-member Assembly? The election which will witness a high decibel battle, will essentially be between the two powerful Dravidian duos, the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Will AIADMK supremo and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa return to power and script a history in Tamil Nadu or will the people vote for the DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi at the ballot royale is the question on every mind. Tamil Nadu has been two party state ever since the DMK came to power in 1967 and elections have been about these two powerful parties.

With the actor-turned- politician Vijayakanth’s announcement on March 10 that his party Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) would go alone in the May 16 Tamil Nadu polls, the entire equation has changed in the state. The current situation is that six smaller outfits which have traditionally been allies by alternating between AIADMK and DMK have chosen to stay clear and fight on their own. At the moment, a multi-cornered contest appears to at the moment among AIADMK, DMK-Congress combine, BJP, People’s Welfare Front comprising CPI (M), CPI, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK). The logical question that emerges is who would reap the benefit of such a multi-cornered contest? In a shot to the AIADMK, seven outfits including the existing allies of Jayalalithaa on March 13 extended their support to the ruling party.

Kongu Laignar Peravai, Tamizhaga Vazhurimai Katchi, Tamil Maanila Muslim League, Indian Thoueed Jamaath and Samathuva Makkal Kazgagam reaffirmed their support to Jayalalithaa. According to poll pundits, AIADMK has a slight edge at this year’s elections because of its higher percentage of vote share in the last assembly polls with the party securing over 41 per cent while DMK a little over 22 percent votes. In the 2011 assembly elections, AIADMK bagged 150 of the 234 seats and the DMK only 23 seats. The AIADMK had won in 1977, 1980 and 1984. After M.G. Ramachandran’s death in 1987, no political parties has won two consecutive terms in the state. Alliances have also been crucial in Tamil Nadu politics. The DMK in February cobbled up an alliance with the Congress, reviving a partnership three years after they parted ways in 2013 protesting UPA government’s stand on the Sri Lankan human rights issue at the United Nations.

The party was part of the UPA for nine years. In order to boost its morale after it suffered a major bolt during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls–where DMK drew a blank– the party has also patched up an alliance with minor players to take on its rival Jayalalithaa. But the DMK has been plagued by infighting and accused by many party members of trying to promote nepotism and start a political dynasty. The DMK leaders are also critical of the rise of M K Stalin and Karunanidhi has been criticised for allowing his other son Azhagiri to function as an extra constitutional authority in Mudurai. Anger is simmering among the Tamil Nadu people over the AIADMK-led government’s apathy towards revamping the economic performance and the way the administration poorly organised relief and rehabilitations during the December floods in Chennai, Kanchipuram, Cuddalore, Tuticorin and Thiruvallur, which killed over 400 people and displaced thousands.

The burgeoning problems of liquor, what was once considered as an “ignominy” among the populace has also been a source of many ills with the middle class people in the state. The DMK will cash on these issues during the campaign. Jayalalithaa will be looking to hold on the power in the state while Karunanidhi will desperately try to stage a comeback after his party’s defeat at the last assembly elections and poor showing in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The election is especially important for DMK as its leader is seen to be readying for a generational change to hand over the affairs of the party to Stalin. Of course, there is no similar change in the case of AIADMK with Jayalalitha going strong despite corruption charges in the court. Jayalalithaa was acquitted by the Karnataka High Court in the disproportionate assets case on May 11, 2015 and she was subsequently disqualified as the Chief Minister. She was on May 23 last year re-instated as the Chief Minister after her acquittal.

The arithmetic will decide who will retain the Fort Saint George (the seat of power in Tamil Nadu).“

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Parliament has passed The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016 with the Lok Sabha rejecting all five amendments made by the Rajya Sabha. The Bill was certified a money bill by the Speaker and passed in the Lok Sabha. The Bill will provide for “”good governance, efficient, transparent, and targeted delivery of subsidies, benefits and services””, the expenditure of which is incurred from the Consolidated Fund of India to individuals residing in India through assigning of unique identity numbers to such individuals. The bill seeks to make the use of aadhaar mandatory for availing government subsidies but at the same time tries to address concerns regarding privacy and protection of personal information.

Violation of privacy and protection of biometric data has been one of the main criticism of the Adhaar programme. The proposed legislation will also address the uncertainty surrounding the project after the Supreme Court restricted the use of the Aadhaar number until a constitution bench delivers its verdict on a number of case challenging the mandatory use of Aadhaar in government schemes systems and rules on the issue of privacy violation. In the absence of a credible system to authenticate identity of beneficiaries, it is difficult to ensure that the subsidies, benefits and services reach to the intended beneficiaries, the bill says while seeking to address many provisions related to privacy and security of the biometric information provided.

Earlier, the Rajya Sabha had returned it to the Lok Sabha with five amendments. The amendments were moved by the Congress and included the one to make Aadhaar voluntary and barring its use for purposes other than subsidies. Trinamool Congress, BSP and BJD had walked out of the House in protest. The Opposition had also demanded that the Bill be referred to the Select Committee of Rajya Sabha. Finance Minister Arun Jaitely explained that since money is being spent from consolidated fund for providing subsidies, it makes it a money bill. He claimed, the present bill is an improvement over the one drafted by UPA government in 2010 and have strict provisions to protect individual privacy. The only ground on which personal information can be shared with any authority is national security.”