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India’s first Lithium reserve located in Karnataka’s Mandya

By
The Commune
-

India joins the global lithium value chain after a lithium reserve was discovered in the igneous rocks found in Karnataka’s Mandya. According to reports released by Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD), an arm of the Department of Atomic Energy, about 1200 tonnes of the mineral is said to be present in the said reserve.

Lithium is a vital resource that is necessary for lithium-ion rechargeable batteries that power electric vehicles (EVs), laptops and mobile phones. It is also used in medicine to treat schizophrenic disorders and other psychiatric disabilities.

Despite the fact that this is a relatively small reserve, it marks a significant milestone in the country’s need for domestically mining the silver-white metal by way of hard-rock extraction of the ore. There are also attempts going on to explore the potential of extracting lithium from the brine pools of Rajasthan and Gujarat and the mica belts of Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

It is to be noted that all of India’s Lithium requirements are currently met through imports. The country recently joined hands with an Argentinian firm to jointly prospect lithium in the South American nation which has 17 million tonnes of lithium metal reserves. The agreement was signed by India through a newly instituted state-owned company, Khanij Bidesh India Limited.

PM Modi paves way for free movement of skilled labour between India and Japan

By
The Commune
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As Japan is facing labour force shortage of 6.44 million people by 2030, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved a memorandum of cooperation between India and Japan that would allow the movement of skilled workers between both Asian allies, reports The Economic Times.

This agreement would allow Indian workers a new status of residence under ‘Specified Skilled Worker’ by the Japanese government. It must also be noted that Tokyo, capital of Japan, alone will be short of 1.33 million workers.

“The idea is to enhance people-to-people contacts, foster mobility of workers and skilled professionals from India to Japan. Under this MOC, a joint working group will be set up to follow up the implementation of the memorandum of cooperation,” the cabinet statement said.

The Indian government has listed the 14 sectors that will benefit both nations from this agreement. They are nursing care, building cleaning, material processing, industrial machinery manufacturing, electric and electronic information related industry, construction, shipbuilding and ship-related industry, automobile maintenance, aviation, lodging, agriculture, fisheries, food and beverages manufacturing, and foodservice industry.

This will be a blessing for both nations as the skilled workers from India will help Japan meet its labour shortages, support the local economy and at the same boost India’s remittance economy.

According to the World Bank, India is the largest recipient of remittances followed by China, Mexico, the Philippines and Egypt.

The Modi government has plans to turn India into a leading supplier of skilled workers to the global market through its domestic skill training programmes like Skill India.

“Writer-activist” Meena Kandasamy targets ace cricketer Sachin Tendulkar for wearing sacred thread, calls it ‘rarefied undergarment’

By
The Commune
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The “accomplished poet, writer and activist” Meena Kandasamy has once again courted controversy by making an undignified comment about cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar.

In December of 2020, Meena Kandasamy had gone on a hateful tirade against Brahmins on the social media platform Twitter, where she had called Brahmins ‘di*ks’. She had also invoked ‘Periyar’ EV Ramasamy Naicker, the anti-Brahmin Dravidian leader who had called for a genocide of all Brahmins, in her hateful rant and had gone on to  say that Naicker was ‘needed’.

Now, the “accomplished writer-activist” is doing more activism by targeting the beloved Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar over a photograph where he is wearing the sacred thread. In a tweet, the activist called the sacred thread a ‘rarefied undergarment’.

Image source: Twitter

In her tweet, Meena Kandasamy said, “Is this a real picture, isn’t the poonool (sacred thread) some sort of rarefied undergarment which you wear inside your clothes??” She was quote-tweeting another tweet where the Twitter user was derogatorily referring to the sacred thread as a ‘string bra’.

The picture had been posted by Sachin Tendulkar on his Instagram handle on August 22, 2020 to mark the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi .

Meena Kandasamy went after Sachin Tendulkar for a photo he shared on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi

Image source: Instagram

Earlier, it was revealed that the “poet and writer”, who has allowed herself to be portrayed as Dalit on several occasions is a non-Dalit allegedly masquerading as a Dalit. She had also allegedly tried to extort money from her ex-husband, in order to settle the pending legal cases she has lodged against him under sections 498A & 506(ii) of the IPC.

Shocking: Kerala Govt has a separate organization that promotes SC/STs to convert to Christianity

By
The Commune
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In 2019, the Kerala government issued a curious gazette notification which received a lot of attention on social media.

The Pinarayi Vijayan led Communist government in a clear case of appeasement, invited applications through “One Time Registration Scheme for Assistant Surgeon and Casualty Medical Officers with a caveat – the notification had a specific mention that only Scheduled Caste Converts to Christianity (SCCC) could apply.

In India, there is caste-based reservation however, there is no provision under the law which allows reservation under religion. By giving reservation to Hindu converts to Christianity, the Kerala government violated the law.

The decision to reserve seats for SCCC community was due to the failure of the Kerala government’s inability to fill the vacancy even after the third NCA notification, due to paucity of candidates from the SCCC category, or formally Hindus.

After the Kerala government issued the gazette notification, there was a protest on how a government can discriminate on the basis of religion and only allow converts to Christianity who can apply which also limits the loss of qualified individuals.

However, this should not come as a surprise because an entire department in Kerala has been dedicated to the ‘welfare’ of people who have left Hinduism to convert to Christianity which is called Kerala State Development Corporation for Christian Converts from Scheduled Castes and the Recommended Communities Ltd.

About KSDC for CC&RC

In its stated goal, the department, which is a government undertaking mentions:

Kerala State Development Corporation for Christian Converts and the Recommended Communities (KSDC for CC & RC) has been created with the aim of enhancing the social and financial needs of the scheduled castes converted to Christianity and the other Recommended communities to the scheduled castes from other backward communities(OBC) of Kerala.

The website notes that the company was formed in came into existence on 1980 ‘for those who have been converted from SC to Christianity and those recommended communities of the SC, with the objective of implementing various loan schemes to uplift their social, educational, economic and cultural developments’.

As per records from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), its balance sheet was last filed on 31 March 2014.

The directors of these companies are also present as directors in other government organizations like Kerala State Pottery Manufacturing Marketing and Welfare Development Corporation Limited, Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation Limited, etc. 

Schemes provided for SC/ST converts to Christianity

The Kerala government website could not be more clear that this department was created specifically for SC Hindus who convert to Christianity and one can easily view a host of schemes offered to them from Agricultural Land Purchase Scheme to Foreign Employment Scheme, Marriage Loans to Personal Loans etc.

There are 53 communities which includes Adi Dravidar, Adi Andhra, Adi Karnataka, Arunthathiyar, Chakkiliyan, Chandala, Kalladi, Kudumban, Kuravar, Malayan, Pallar, Paraiyar, Valluvan, listed under the heading ‘Converted Castes’ to which the various loan schemes are benefited.

The following Scheduled Tribes are listed as ‘Recommended Castes’ – Chakkamar, Chemman/Chemmar, Deevara/Deevaran, Kudumbi, Kusavan, Kulalan, Kumbharan, Velaan, Odan, Andhra Nair, Andhuru Nair, Madiga, Pulayan Vettuvan and Scheduled Caste Converted to Christianity. 

According to the their website of the Backward Classes Development Department of Kerala, people who became Christians after leaving Hinduism (SC Converts to Christianity) is a separate class recognized as a Backward Class and is given reservation in State Government Services. This reservation is in addition to the reservation given to Latin Catholics and Anglo Indians. The ‘SC Converts to Christianity’ is recognised in the State OBC list as well.

It is noteworthy to mention here that none of the regional managers of this organization have a Christian name. 

In 2010, the Kerala government waived off ₹159 crores that were given to the people belonging to the SCCC category and this decision was hailed by Archbishop Vattappara of the Anglican Church of India.

According to a report in The Hindu, “In his address at the inauguration of the loan waiver scheme, undertaken by the Kerala State Development Corporation for Christian Converts from Scheduled Castes and the Recommended Communities Ltd. here on Thursday, Mr. Balan said the current loan waiver scheme would write off ₹159 crore and this would benefit nearly one lakh people, mostly belonging to the poorest sections of the society, he said”.

In 2010 for individuals who left Hinduism to convert to Christianity, loans up to ₹25,000 maturing on 31 March 2006 were to be written off fully. 

The presence of this body under the Kerala government raises serious concerns as a government body, which is supposed to be secular in nature seems to be blatantly promoting Scheduled Caste Communities to convert to Christianity so that they can avail these benefits. 

Not just that, some of the posts in the different department of the state government are only filled by SCCC community members.

 

This is in direct violation of Article 16 of the Indian Constitution that states that no citizen shall be discriminated in matters of employment under the state, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them. 

None of the mainstream media or activists seem to have flagged this problematic organization under the government. It remains to be seen whether any action will be taken on this body which on the face of it seems unconstitutional. 

(With inputs from OpIndia) 

Now you can Arattai instead of WhatsApp, Chennai based Zoho comes out with indigenous msging app

By
The Commune
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With growing concerns and discussion on the recent privacy policy changes in WhatsApp, Chennai based firm, Zoho Corporation is developing a messaging app called Arattai.

Arattai in Tamil literally means chit-chat and Zoho Corporation which is a multinational technology company specialized in software development headquartered in Chennai will be releasing the new chat app for users in the coming weeks. 

On Sunday, company’s founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sridhar Vembu had tweeted, “Our Arattai team asked me to not talk about our instant messaging app yet but since it is already being talked about, I guess I can talk too. This is a friends-and-family trial release. We will do a formal launch in a few weeks. We have a lot more in store. Stay tuned! 

Vembu said he was compelled to tweet about the new app Arattai after it received a lot of attention in social media.

“As a company, we value our users’ privacy and do not share any data with third parties and do not have an ad-revenue model too. The data will also be stored in India as a homegrown company,” Zoho’s Vice President of marketing Praval Singh told The Times of India.

As per Arattai’s privacy policy, the app collects data including profile name, phone number, country code, address, profile picture (optional) and contacts (optional), and data is not shared or disclosed without the user’s prior specific consent.

In India, many users are upset with some of the unilateral decisions taken by major social media companies like Twitter and Facebook and have welcomed the move, as another achievement under ‘Made In India’ alternative to messaging app Whatsapp.

After Twitter permanently suspended President Donald Trump many in India are of the strong opinion that the time has come for India to come up with indigenous alternatives to Twitter and Facebook to decrease the risk of control by foreign-based big tech corporations.

Trump to visit US-Mexico border on Tuesday to highlight the border wall

By
The Commune
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US President Donald Trump is expected to travel to to the town of Alamo, Texas near the United States-Mexico border on Tuesday to highlight his administration’s work on the border wall, the White House said on Saturday.

President Trump will mark the completion of 400 miles of border wall and his administration’s efforts to reform the nation’s broken immigration system.

Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign focussed extensively on the need to construct a border wall along the US-Mexico border. He also promised his voters that Mexico would pay for the wall, but it has been paid for by US taxpayers.

Most of the border wall went up in areas that had smaller barriers. The US government has this year built hundreds of miles of fencing as high as 30 feet (9 meters) in a short amount of time.

The visit will likely be the President’s first public appearance after he addressed supporters on Wednesday, riling up a crowd that later stormed the U.S. Capitol. He is anxious to highlight his achievements as his presidency winds down.

Meanwhile, Democrats in the House are pushing for an impeachment vote this week and are looking to formally introduce the second impeachment proposal on Monday, with a vote possible by Wednesday.

Breaking: SC wants stay on farm laws, wants to stall implementation till amicable solution is found

By
The Commune
-

The Supreme Court which is hearing a petition on the three farm laws that were recently passed by the Parliament has signalled that it wants a stay on the farm laws and hold off implementation till an amicable solution is found.

The bench led by CJI SA Bobde is hearing a bunch of petitions seeking the removal of farmer protesters and petitions challenging the Constitutional validity of the three farmer empowerment laws. 

CJI Bobde expressed disappointment with the way Centre was dealing with this episode. “What consultative process has been followed for farm bills that entire states are up in rebellion?”, the CJI asked. 

The CJI added that the intention is to see there can be an amicable resolution to the problem. “That is why we asked you why don’t you put the farm bills on hold. You want time for negotiation. If there is some sense of responsibility showing that you will not implement the laws then we can form a committee with ICAR members to look into this. Till then you can continue to put the law on hold. Why will you insist on continuing the law anyhow”, the CJI said.

The Solicitor General submitted to the bench that many farmer organizations have extended support to the laws saying it was progressive to which the CJI observed that they may express their views before the committee.

“But you have to tell us whether you stay the Farm Acts or we do it. Keep it in abeyance. What is the issue?? We are not in favour of easily staying a law but we want to say don’t implement law”, the CJI said. 

The CJI observed that people are committing suicides, suffering cold and went on to raise questions about why are old people and women present in the protest. “We don’t want to comment on the agitation”, the CJI said.

“We propose to form a committee and if government does not then we will stay the implementation of the farm acts.”, the CJI added.

Senior Advocate Harish Salve submitted that consensus has been achieved on MSP and that all other areas that farmers are not agreeing with the Centre can be resolved through judicial orders adding that the objectionable parts of law can be stayed. In the course of his submissions, he also highlighted how Sikhs for Justice, a Vancouver based organization has put up posters that 10,000 will be paid to anyone who joins the protest.

“Talks are breaking down because Centre wants to discuss point by point of law and farmers want the entire laws to be repealed. We will stay the implementation of the Farm Acts.”, the CJI observed.

The Supreme Court expressed concerns that there will be some incident which may breach the peace. “We don’t want anybodys injury or blood on our hands!” the CJI said.

The Attorney General submitted to the court that a law cannot be stayed unless its beyond legislative competence or violative of Fundamental rights of against any constitutional provision. “None of the petitioners have argued on this. Each one of this in support of farmers and Farm Acts are in their benefit.”, the AG argued. 

The AG also pointed out that farmers in the southern part of India are not protesting as they have understood that these laws are of their benefit.

The CJI said that their actions should not be understood that they are protecting any law breaker. “If someone breaks the law they will face the consequences sequences. We are not encouraging breaking of law. We propose to pass this order to prevent loss of life and property”, the CJI observed.

The CJI also noted that the Centre was not handling the issue properly. “We have to take some action today. We don’t think you are being effective.”, the CJI said.

“We will make the atmosphere comfortable and conducive for talks. Till then the farm laws can be put on hold. Who is going to be responsible for blood shed? We need to uphold Article 21 as a constitutional court. What if some conflagration takes place.”, the CJI said.

 

Won’t apologize for remarks on EPS and Sasikala, DMK youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin says

By
The Commune
-

DMK chief M.K. Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi Stalin who made vulgar remarks on Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Sasikala, the confidante of late AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa, has said that he will not be apologizing for the comments he made.

Speaking at a party event organized by the DMK legal wing at the YMCA Grounds in Royapettah, Chennai, the party’s youth wing secretary said: “I did not speak with the intention of hurting women. I won’t be apologizing for the comment I made. The comment has been wrongly understood by people. If some women feel hurt because of it, I apologize. Kalaignar [Karunanidhi] and Thalaivar [M.K. Stalin] did not raise me like that. I have been facing defamation cases wherever I go on the campaign trail. I have boldly given out challenges in many places believing that the party’s legal wing will save me.”

These statements come in the light of the recent crass remark made by Udhayanidhi Stalin at CM Palaniswami while speaking at a party event in Chennai.

Addressing the party cadres at the Chepauk-Tiruvallikeni Assembly constituency, the son of DMK chief M.K. Stalin was trying to take a dig at Chief Minister Palaniswami rise to power. He had said that CM Palaniswami went under the table, chair to fall at Sasikala’s feet and that given the chance, he would have gone inside her legs as well.

This crass comment has come under severe condemnation lashing out at Udhayanidhi Stalin for plunging the political discourse in the state to abyss.

WHO distorts India’s map: Separates J&K and Ladakh from India, shows Ladakh as China’s territory

By
The Commune
-

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been facing the flak for separating  Jammu and Kashmir as well as Ladakh from its colour-coded COVID dashboard map. Times of India reported that the newly created union territories have been separately marked in the organisation’s new map. They have been depicted in grey colour, while the rest of India is marked in navy blue.

Another cause of this conflict is the fact that the disputed border between India and China has been marked with the identical shade of China despite there being no solid conclusion on the ownership of the territory between the two countries. This has been demarcated in grey with blue stripes that are of the shade marked by China.

This map was released on WHO’s COVID scenario dashboard, showing the coronavirus statistics for each country. It soon became viral, causing widespread outrage after being shared across WhatsApp groups.

Strong reactions were registered especially amongst the diaspora. Nandini Singh, who heads social media at Reach India (UK), a diaspora group, lashed out at the WHO saying that depicting Indian territory in different colours demonstrates it is in a nexus with China.”Instead of thanking India for what it has done to fight Covid-19, including supplying PPE and vaccine to the world, this is a deliberate attempt to hurt India. WHO needs to apologise to India and correct the error,” she said.

Many observers say that WHO which has failed to make China accountable for unleashing the pandemic on the world, could have been pressurized by the Communist Party of China into distorting the map.

13 year old boy from Hyderabad makes world record by playing 20 songs on the keyboard blindfolded

By
The Commune
-

Hariharan, a 13-year-old student from Hyderabad has made it to the Wonder Book of Records by playing 20 songs in three different languages on the keyboard for 30 minutes blindfolded. He was awarded by renowned music directors Venugopalachari and Anup Rubens.

Speaking to IANS, South India Chief Coordinator of the Wonder Book of Records named Dr G. Swarna Sree, said, “he played 20 songs in 30 minutes and that too with a blindfold. In fact, he completed this in 29 minutes and 19 seconds.

Hariharan’s mother Aruna Tumma said in an interview that she was extremely proud of her child’s achievement, “Every child will have some hidden talent. It’s for parents to identify the talent and encourage them.” Former minister and special representative of Telangana in Delhi, S. Venugopala Chary, who presented the certificate to Hariharan, was all praise for the boy and said he has made Telangana proud.

He studies at the Gitanjali Devshala and has been learning the keyboard for the past 5 years. He started a YouTube channel during the lockdown called “Chill with Hariharan” which now has 3000 + subscribers and over 50,000 views. He had recently posted a tribute to the late Sushant Singh Rajput. He also plays chess in his free time.

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TheCommune
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