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This is what ‘Peak Brahminism’ and ‘Accomplishment’ looks like

It is understandable that after seeing various responses to tweets of one ‘writer-activist’ self-praising her credentials, you might be left wondering who this huge celebrity is. Calm down, it is perfectly normal because several others too, were scratching their heads wondering who this great personality was, leave alone her credentials.

She is apparently an ‘accomplished poet and writer’ but a warning before hand, you will be called a “sanghi sombu” if you point out errors or criticize the statements of her like how ‘neutral’ political commentator Sumanth Raman was called by this ‘international writer’ for pointing out factual errors in an article in which she was quoted.

Perhaps local readers like us must get accustomed to her ‘international style’ of rebuttal.

Of course, terms like ‘sanghi sombu’, ‘mama’ (a term to poke fun at his Brahmin Origins) and addressing in singular are easy-to-tweet rebuttals in a short time span and seem to be the celebrity’s style of answering. But, Sumanth Raman’s questions to the statements made in The News Minute article remain unanswered. Considering the highly busy schedule of the ‘writer-activist’ dividing her time between Chennai and London, it is doubtful whether it would get answered.

Another piece of warning – you may have several reasons for putting ‘writer-activist’ designation of this personality in quotes but beware, you might be called an upholder of peak Brahminism and might be referred to as a ‘Brahmin dick’ by this ‘accomplished writer’.

For long, this particular community has been demonized and victimized by the followers of a rabid demagogue named E.V. Ramasamy from whom they draw inspiration to spew venom against this community but not anymore. This rabid hatred and Nazism will be called out and be thrown back at them with force on their face.

“Find me a Brahmin woman who’s done a half of what I’ve done at 36. We can talk about my credentials later” was the challenge that was given out by this ‘accomplished writer’. As funny and bizarre it may sound, it is also essential that we empathize with this ‘writer-poet-activist’ because at times, basking too much in one’s own credentials can make a person lose touch with reality, which many people believe is the cause behind such a weird comical tweet. It is very unfortunate that despite Meena Kandasamy’s Tamil upbringing, she has not heard of the Tamil ‘Brahmin woman’ Vai.Mu.Kothainayaki who was only 25 years old  when she wrote and published a play “Indra Mohana” and took over as the editor of a magazine, way back in the year 1925. Vai.Mu.Kothainayaki, born in 1901, was a Tamil writer, Novelist, and journalist who was the first woman to occupy the editorial board of a Tamil Magazine. She wrote 115 books and published a monthly Tamil magazine, Jaganmohini. She was the first female writer in Tamil to write a detective novel. She excelled in various fields like public speaking, social service, music composition and fiction writing. She was a Freedom Fighter and was hailed as the “Queen of Fictions”. Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha, who hailed from the Brahmin community was a very accomplished person in the Film Industry at a young age even before she entered politics and it is still not comprehensible as to how this celebrity ‘writer’ forgot an ex-CM from a ‘Dravidian party’ who was alive till 2016! The current Finance Minster of India, Nirmala Sitharaman, is a Tamil Brahmin woman.

There is a high chance that this “highly celebrated” poet must have had at least one glass of Pepsi in her lifetime, if not, at least as a matter of Current affairs be knowing Indra Nooyi, former chairperson and chief executive officer (CEO) of PepsiCo, who has been consistently ranked among the world’s 100 most powerful women. In 2014, she was ranked at number 13 on the Forbes list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women and was ranked the 2nd most powerful woman on the Fortune list in 2015. In 2017, she was ranked the 2nd most powerful woman once more on the Forbes list of The 19 Most Powerful Women in Business. Indra Nooyi comes from a Tamil Brahmin Household. Not sure if Pepsi would become a Brahminical drink hereafter.

There is no doubt the ‘accomplished poet and writer’ passed her schooling, and definitely should have read a bit of history at school, and it is still an amusement to many as to how she forgot Jhansi Lakshmi Bai, a Brahmin woman who sacrificed her life fighting for the Motherland at a young age of 29. Either it has to do with poor history teaching at school or insomnia that one can forget Rani Lakshmi Bai. Perhaps, sacrificing live for this country is not considered an achievement by followers of a secessionist rabid demagogue.

Brahmin woman Sarojini Naidu, was an Indian Freedom fighter, poet, proponent of women emancipation and has several other credits to her name. She was dearly called as Nightingale of India and despite having done so much for the country; she was an embodiment of humility. It is a matter of amusement that the ‘accomplished writer’ doesn’t remember even Sarojini Naidu from her school textbooks!

India’s first female physician and first Indian woman to complete her studies in western medicine from United States was Anandibai Joshi, a Brahmin woman. Shakuntala Devi, internationally acclaimed mathematician, writer, speaker, Genius was born to family of Brahmin priests and has her feats recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. Not sure, if  the ‘accomplished poet and writer’ has a distaste for Mathematics that she does not know/ remember Shakuntala Devi, commonly known as Human Computer. Āvani Chaturvedi, India’s first woman fighter pilot was also a Brahmin woman.

Leave alone historical figures, there are several contemporary examples to destroy the challenge posed by ‘writer-activist’. From the Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund Gita Gopinath, to the Chairperson of Infosys Foundation and a philanthropist, Sudha Murthy, there are various contemporary examples.

The real point of the matter is not about proving whether the ‘accomplished poet and writer’  has a poor hold over current affairs or has insomnia, because it makes less difference to people who are not her students or readers thankfully. The actual problem is the extreme hate spewed against particular community and fuelling of caste and communal tensions, all under the brigade of an Activist. The very fact that this ‘writer-poet’ wants to start a caste debate speaks volumes about her activism against caste. Degrading women of one community as losers is an indicator of what the writer’s ‘feminism’ emanating from E V Ramasamy’s philosophy looks like.

This reaction to her casteist and disgusting tweet is of her own making. – On December 25th she tweeted, “Sanghi trolls, come on, I am great at this game” and on 29th December she tweeted that she has made her account protected due to trolling after her challenge was taken head on by netizens making #Brahmin trend nationwide.

A piece of advice to the ‘accomplished poet and writer’ – think twice or thrice before throwing open a challenge and once you do, have the stomach to face it.

Arrogance and pride is a personal choice but not at the cost of demeaning someone else. There are several unsung women in the world who seek no laurels or credits for their service.

Delhi: Air Quality Commission calls for strict implementation of RFID system at 13 toll plazas

The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system has been set-up at thirteen toll plazas in Delhi to control vehicular air-pollution from commercial vehicles entering the capital. These thirteen toll plazas contribute to about 70% commercial vehicles’ entering into the national capital.

It had earlier been brought to the notice of the Commission for Air Quality Management for Delhi NCR and adjoining areas that RFID was not being fully implemented at these thirteen toll plazas in Delhi from August 14 of this year and that waiver was being given to commercial vehicles without such RFID tags or inadequate balance in the tags.

Considering the air pollution in Delhi and the fact that commercial vehicles are important contributors to vehicular air-pollution, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has been instructed to ensure RFID compliance at all the thirteen toll plazas with effect from January 1, 2021. Vehicles without RFID tags or inadequate balance in the tags will not be allowed entry at the toll plazas.

SDMC has also been directed to give adequate publicity and advance intimation to minimize inconvenience to the drivers of commercial vehicles entering Delhi.

(Published from PIB)

Income Tax Department conducts raids in Delhi

The Income Tax Department on Tuesday carried out search and seizure actions on a number of hawala operators engaged in the activity of routing and handling unaccounted cash in the Delhi region.

The search action has resulted in unearthing of incriminating evidences revealing various shell entities being used for raising bogus purchase/sale bills, and routing of unaccounted funds through several layers of bank accounts. Such shell entities are closed after two months, and new ones are formed.

Further, incriminating documents indicating the suppression of sales and bogus purchases in excess of ₹300 crore has been detected.

The search action has resulted in seizure of unaccounted cash of ₹14 crore and bullion worth ₹2 crore.

Further investigations are ongoing.

(Published from PIB)

Dry run for COVID-19 vaccination successfully conducted in four states

On December 29, the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare concluded a two-day dry run for activities entailed in Covid-19 vaccination in the four states of Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Gujarat.

Backed with the experience of rolling out Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) and conducting nationwide multiple wide-range injectable vaccination campaigns such as the measles-rubella (MR) and adult Japanese Encephalitis (JE) campaign, the required steps are being undertaken to vaccinate priority population groups like healthcare workers, frontline workers and people aged above 50 years for Covid-19.

The dry run exercise is aimed at end-to-end testing of COVID-19 vaccination process and will include planning & preparations as per the Operational Guidelines: creation of facilities & users on Co-WIN application, session site creation & mapping of sites, Health Care Workers (HCW) data upload, receipt of vaccines and vaccine allocation by the district, session planning, deployment of vaccination team, logistics mobilization at session site, mock drill of conducting vaccination and reporting and review meetings at the block, district and state level. The objective of the dry run is also to undertake and confirm field implementation of the IT platform Co-WIN and guide the way forward prior to actual implementation.

District Collectors with engagement of district and block task force were made responsible for conducting the dry run. It was expected to provide insights on any gaps or bottle-necks during actual conduct of vaccination.

The two-day end-to-end dry run was undertaken in Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh, Rajkot and Gandhinagar in Gujarat, Ludhiana and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshahr) in Punjab, and Sonitpur and Nalbari districts in Assam.

Specific teams were formed for various tasks by the district administration and activities like uploading of dummy beneficiary’s data, session site creation, vaccine allocation, communication of vaccination details to vaccinators and beneficiaries, beneficiary mobilization were carried out.

Field feedback on the first day of dry run was also reviewed on December 29 through video-conferencing with State & District Programme officers by Joint Secretary (Public Health). All states expressed satisfaction in terms of the operational approach and also in the use of the IT platform to ensure transparency and effective monitoring of vaccination processes which are expected to cover a large number of people across the country. Additional suggestions on the IT platform were also noted for further enhancement of the Co-WIN platform.

Detailed insights and feedback so obtained will help enrich the operational guidelines and IT platform and will strengthen the Covid-19 vaccination roll out plan.

(Published from PIB)

India economy ‘most resilient’ in the subregion of South and South-West Asia: UN Report

Amid global economic crisies due to Covid-19, a report published by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) has stated that the Indian economy could prove to be the “most resilient” in the subregion of South and South-West Asia over the long term, reports Economic Times.

“India’s economy could prove the most resilient in the subregion over the long term. FDI inflows have been steadily increasing and positive, albeit lower, economic growth after the pandemic and India’s large market will continue to attract market-seeking investment,” the report said.

Titled “Foreign Direct Investment Trends And Outlook In Asia And The Pacific 2020/2021”, the report states that in the first three quarters of 2020, greenfield FDI inflows declined in South and South-West Asia by 43 per cent, however, India alone accounted for 77 per cent ($51 billion) of the total inflows (66 billion), up 20 per cent from the previous year.  

The report also noted that the outward FDI flow from the sub-region saw a modest increase in 2019, rising from $14.8 billion in the previous year to $15.1 billion which means a 10 per cent increase in outward FDI flow from India over 2018. 

“Turn challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic into opportunities”: Vice President tells youth

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Monday advised the youth of the country to turn the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic into opportunities.

Addressing the gathering after presenting certificates to the trainees at Swarna Bharat Trust, Vijayawada, the Vice President underlined that while the pandemic has impacted many sectors, it has also opened avenues in many others.

Noting that more than 65 percent of the population is under the age of 35, VP Naidu reiterated that if we could utilize these human resources, youth and women could become key partners in furthering our nation’s growth. With these great human resources, we can shape the future world, he added. In this regard, he recalled the various efforts of the State and Central governments to up-skill the youth and called for intensification of these programmes. Emphasising that skilling must be in tune with the 21st century needs, the Vice President called for private participation in this field.

Stressing that the GDP growth is not the sole indicator for a country’s progress, the Vice President said that people’s empowerment is the real progress. He also emphasised that we must invest and formulate policies with long-term benefits rather than focusing on short term gains. Talking about the ongoing pandemic, VP Naidu observed that health was much more important than wealth and that the pandemic has proved this once again. Noting that the death rate in India was far less compared to other countries, he called upon the people to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

While distributing the certificates to trainees on the completion of their courses, VP Naidu appreciated the students for having utilised the online learning tools well during the lockdown period. He also commended the efforts of the Swarna Bharat Trust for empowering women and youth through skill development programmes and helping the needy during the lockdown period. The event was attended by trainees and staff of Swarna Bharat Trust, Vijayawada.

(Published from PIB)

“Accomplished poet and writer” busted: Accused of extorting money from husband

A new twist has come to light in the controversial saga surrounding “accomplished writer-activist” Meena Kandasamy. Earlier, The Commune had published a report titled TNM’s eulogy on anti-Hindu bigot ‘Periyar’ ends as propaganda piece for DMK+, ‘poet’ quoted in article launches personal attack on those calling out fallaciesThe report had pointed out how the anti-Brahmin and anti-Hindu rhetoric being peddled in The News Minute‘s article was actually full of Dravidian propaganda with no basis in reality.

It was then that Meena Kandasamy, in typical Periyarite fashion, went on a vitriolic rant against Brahmins, “Brahminism” and The Commune. Meena Kandasamy’s incitement of hatred against a particular Hindu community did not set well with several Twitter users. It must be noted here that Meena Kandasamy’s continued endorsement of “Periyar” is extremely dangerous, as there is ample evidence of EV Ramasamy’s hate for the Brahmin community and the Hindu community at large. In fact, in a speech in 1973, EV Ramasamy called for a genocide of Brahmins, saying that all Brahmins must be killed and all temples and murtis destroyed’.

Meena Kandasamy soon got sucked into a maelstrom of her own making when she belittled and engaged in blusterous diatribes against those who critiqued and responded to her foul-mouthed outbursts.

In a latest development, noted journalist, documentary filmmaker and Men’s Rights activist Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj revealed in a series of tweets that in 2014, Meena Kandasamy filed a case against her former husband under IPC sections 498(A) and 506(ii). Section 498(A) of the Indian Penal Code is the dreaded “anti-dowry law”, which has been frequently misused and has been weaponized by a section of people especially those well-to-do. Data from the NCRB also shows that cases under 498(A) have acquittal rates of more than 80 percent and have the lowest conviction rate among all cases of crimes against women.

After filing a case against her former husband under section 498(A) in February of 2014, Meena Kandasamy has never appeared in The XVIII Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court at Saidapet, Chennai, for a period of more than six years! This is despite the fact that her case still in the evidentiary stage.  The hearings were postponed by the Court every time and the first hearing of Meena Kandasamy’s case was in July 2014. Perhaps Meena Kandasamy, who currently “divides her time between Tamil Nadu and East London” according to a bio on her website, cannot find the time to appear in Court.

Deepika Bhardwaj has also alleged that Meena Kandasamy, in what can only be called extortion, demanded money from her husband to drop the case.

Furthermore, in her submissions to the Court through her lawyers, the ‘firebrand feminist’ follower of EVR has admitted that her parents promised to give her then-husband ₹50 lakhs, 100 sovereigns (about 800 grams) of gold, and household electrical appliances like refrigerator, washing machine, mixie, etc.

It is noteworthy that Meena Kandasamy, who often kicks up a fuss against “Brahminical patriarchy” on Twitter and in her seminars, has admitted to her father promising dowry to his son-in-law.

With Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj exposing this record of Meena Kandasamy, the ‘accomplished poet and writer’, who otherwise lectures on freedom of speech and expression has blocked the former on Twitter.

Amid gloom Indian startups received funding of over $9 billion

According to data from consultancy firm Tracxn, even under the adverse challenges of Covid-19, Indian startups received investments nearly $9.3 billion in 2020.

In 2019, a record $14.5 billion raised by Indian startups. However, compared to the investment that Indian startups received in 2020, it is a much lower figure but still under such economic conditions. 

As per reports, there were 20 funding rounds with deal size $100 million or larger in 2020 compared to 26 in 2019. The figures, however, exclude the funds raised by Jio Platforms which was 20 billion dollars, which dwarfs other investments.

The report also reveals that fortunes for the Indian startups turned significantly in the second half of the year and startups raised just 4.2 billion dollars in the first half of the year from about 461 deals, said Tracxn.

The year saw 11 Indian startups including RazorPay, Glance and Unacademy becoming a unicorn.

One of the most important takeaways from the report published by Tracxn is that global tech giants Google, Microsoft and Facebook have invested more in Indian startups compared to Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Tencent amid border tensions with India.

(Image Credits: Inc42)

Grand temple for Lord Ram to cost ₹1,100 crore, funds to be raised by reaching out to 11 crore Hindu families

Sri Ram temple Christians Ram Mandir Ayodhya Karnataka

As the time nears for the construction of the grand temple of Lord Ram at the holy ancient city of Ayodhya, the cost of construction is estimated at around ₹1,100 crore, of which around ₹300-400 crore will be the cost of building the main temple structure, as per a report  by Times of India.

Treasurer of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, Swami Govind Dev Giriji Maharaj, said that the structural engineers are drawing up a plan for the foundation of the temple. The entire temple will be completed in three-and-a-half years.

The Ram temple trust has already received nearly ₹100 crore in online donations and the trust has a grandiose plan to reach out to four lakh villages and 11 crore Hindu families to make a contribution no matter how small it is.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad will soon launch a movement that will ensure maximum participation of devotees to raise funds for the grand temple by a mass contact and fund contribution campaign.

Experts from Roorkee based Central Building Research Institute and IITs at Mumbai, Delhi, Madras and Guwahati are working along with special engineers from Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Tata Group to prepare the plan for a strong foundation of the temple.

Mutated Wuhan Virus strain reaches India, 6 UK returnees test positive

As the number of coronavirus cases has come down in India, in a new development six UK returnees in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune have been found to be positive with the new variant genome, the central government said on Tuesday (29 December).

As of now, they have been kept in a single-room-isolation in designated healthcare facilities after the British government had recently announced that the newly identified strain of the virus found in their population is up to 70 per cent more transmissible.

After this announcement, Indian authorities decided to suspend flights to and from the UK till 31 December. So far the government found that about 33,000 passengers had disembarked at various Indian airports from the UK from between 25 November to 23 December midnight.

To prevent the spread of this new variant of the virus, all these passengers were tracked and subjected by the states and UTs to the RT-PCR tests.

The good news so is that only 114 have been found positive and the positive samples were then sent to 10 labs.

“A total of six samples of six UK returnee persons have been found to be positive with the new UK variant genome. Three in NIMHANS, Bengaluru, two in CCMB, Hyderabad and one in NIV, Pune. All these persons have been kept in single room isolation in designated Healthcare facilities by the respective state governments. Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine,” the health ministry said.

At the same time, a comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others.

However, the threat of the spread of this newly mutated virus looms large, as its presence has already been reported by Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore.

In the last few weeks, there was a sudden spike in Covid-19 cases in South East England. This led to enhanced epidemiological and virological investigations and from these analyses, viral genome sequence data was identified that a large proportion of cases belonged to a new single phylogenetic cluster.