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India’s Regional Navigation Satellite System now part of World Wide Radio Navigation System

By
The Commune
-

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) has been accepted as a component of the World Wide Radio Navigation System (WWRNS) for operation in the Indian Ocean Region by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

This inclusion will enable merchant vessels to use IRNSS for obtaining position information similar to USA’s GPS and Russia’s GLONASS to assist in the navigation of ships in ocean waters within the area approximately up to 1500 km from Indian boundary.

The Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) of IMO during its recent meeting (102nd session) held from November 4 to 11, 2020 approved the recognition of the IRNSS as a component of the World-Wide Radio Navigation System.

This is considered as a significant achievement by Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) towards the vision of “Atmanirbhar Bharat”.

Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) under Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has initiated matter with the International Maritime Organization. Details of the tests carried out on merchant ships with regard to the accuracy of the system have been included in the report prepared by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) which was submitted to IMO for consideration.

After detailed analysis, the sub-committee on Navigation, Communications and Search and Rescue (NCSR) of IMO, during the 7th session held in January 2020, recommended for accepting the IRNSS as a component of the World-Wide Radio Navigation System to the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) of IMO .

IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system developed by India. It is designed to provide accurate position information service to assist in the navigation of ships in Indian Ocean waters.

(Source: PIB)

Kollywood actors and directors call for release of terrorist Perarivalan convicted of killing former PM Rajiv Gandhi

By
The Commune
-

The demand for the release of A.G. Perarivalan, one of the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case has gained some chorus with some prominent actors and directors coming out and voicing their support.

Actor Vijay Sethupathi who recently backed out from doing the biopic of Sri Lankan cricketer Muthiah Muralitharan, in a video message, called for the release of the terrorist responsible for killing India’s former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Vijay Sethupathi in a video said that the Governor should take into cognizance the judgement of the Supreme Court and release Perarivalan.

“…[This is] Arputhammal’s 29 years struggle.. We are asking for the freedom for someone who is innocent.. Please respect the Supreme Court judgement and release Perarivalan ‘Anna’ soon.. Thank you thank you..”, Vijay Sethupathi said.

 

Director Pa. Ranjith who made Kabali and Kaala tweeted “It is injustice to prevent his release for political reasons, despite the Courts having cleared the way #ReleasePerarivalan”.

National Award winning film director Vetrimaaran said that the officer who recorded Perarivalan’s confession had accepted that he made a mistake and that Perarivalan was innocent.

“All political parties of Tamil Nadu have asked for Perarivalan’s release. The Tamil Nadu government has passed a resolution. Supreme Court has said that MDMA probe should not have any impact on the Governor’s decision to pardon. Even after this, the Governor should without delay sign in the clemency petition. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister exert pressure on the Governor to fulfil the resolution passed. The fact that an innocent has been punished for 30 years has put a blackmark on India and the Indian judiciary.

Claiming to speak on behalf of all Tamils, he said “Perarivalan liberation is the wish of all Tamils”.

Actor Arya in a tweet said that it was not just Perarivalan who was suffering incarceration for over quarter a century but also his mother.

Prakash Raj tweeting the video of the officer’s interview said “justice delayed is justice denied”.

Film directors Karthik Subbaraj, Lokesh Kanakaraj too tweeted asking for the release of Perarivalan.

Perarivalan was convicted by the special TADA court in 1991 for having provided two 9-volt batteries which were used in the bomb that killed Rajiv Gandhi on May 21st by an LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) suicide bomber during an election rally in Sriperumbudur, in the outskirts of Chennai.

France snubs Pakistan, will not help upgrade its Mirage fighters and submarines

By
The Commune
-

In a blow to Pakistan military, the French government has decided against helping Pakistan upgrade its fleet of old Mirage fighter jets, air defence system and Agosta 90B class submarines.

This decision is a direct fallout of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Niazi criticism of French President Emmanuel Macron who had spoken for the French peoples right to freedom of speech and expression after the brutal beheading of a French school teacher who showed cartoons of Prophet Mohammad to his students.

Macron had said that the French citizens have the right to blaspheme which led to calling for a boycott of French products, particularly by Turkey, the new love interest for Pakistan.

France has also given strict instruction to Qatar, which has also purchased the Rafale fighters, not to allow Pakistan-origin technicians to work with the plane as they could leak technical information about the fighter to Islamabad and compromise the omni-role jet functions as it is the front-line fighter of India.

Also, Pakistan is known to share vital defence data, such as signal-intelligence and technical specs of western weapons system with China in the past.

Pakistan has a large fleet of Mirage jets and has decades of operational experience of flying these fighters, however, the French government’s decision not to upgrade the Mirage III and Mirage 5 fighter jets will be a serious blow to the operational efficiency of Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

PAF has around 150 Mirage fighter jets and as per reports only half of them are serviceable. If these fighters are out of commission, PAF will lose nearly four fighter squardens.

Many of the jets were purchased from other countries so their parts could be used and for a long time Islamabad had has been requesting Paris for upgrades, however, the request has been declined.

The second blow is to Pakistan Navy which operates Agosta submarines and Pakistan has again sought to upgrade its Agosta 90B class submarines with air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems which have also been rejected. At present Pakistan has three Agosta 90B submarines: Khalid, Saad and Hamza.

AIP is a system that allows submarines to remain submerged for a longer period of time. Just recently has also been rejected by France. In October 2019, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel had turned down a similar request for supply of the AIP systems.

The reason for not providing this technology to Pakistan was due to its role in promoting terror and Islamabad’s lack of cooperation in identifying the terrorists who carried out a truck bomb attack on the Germany Embassy in Kabul in May 2017.

Relationship between Paris and Islamabad has been under a lot of stress Paris li Hassan, an 18-year-old of Pakistani origin, stabbed two persons with a meat cleaver outside the office of Charlie Hibdo magazine’s previous office, unaware that the magazine had shifted out.

The jihadi’s father, who lives in Pakistan, showered praises on his son and said his had “done a great job” and he is “very happy” about the attack.

The French government’s decisions not to upgrade Mirage fighters and the submarines came after Niazi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, called for a total boycott of French products by Muslim countries for the depection of Prophet Mohammad, considered blasphemous by Muslims.

Niazi called on Muslim-majority countries andasked them to unite against “growing Islamophobia in non-Muslim states”.

However, Pakistan did not receive any support from Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. In fact now it is an open secret that Saudi Arabia wants Pakistan to recognise the Jewish state of Israel. 

Delhi HC seeks response from Centre over petition filed to recognize non-heterosexual marriages under Hindu Marriage Act

By
The Commune
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On Thursday (November 19), the Delhi High Court issued notice to the Centre regarding a petition seeking a direction to the government to recognise non-heterosexual marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA) and the Special Marriage Act (SMA).

Delhi High Court Bench of Justices Rajiv Sahai Endlaw and Asha Menon have asked the Centre to submit its response within four weeks. 

In September, a PIL was filed by Advocate Raghav Awasthi and Mukesh Sharma on behalf of the petitioners – defence and strategic affairs expert Abhijit Iyer Mitra, intersex activist Gopi Shankar Madurai, transgender activist G Oorvasi and senior women rights and lesbian activist Giti Thadani – seeking the registration of non-heterosexual marriages under Hindu Marriage Act.

As per the argument made by the petitioners, the Supreme Court in 2018 decriminalised consensual homosexual sex in India and there was nothing in the HMA that mandated that marriage should take place only between a Hindu man and a Hindu woman.

“Section 5 of the [HMA] Act clearly lays down that marriage can be performed between ‘any two Hindus’ under the Act,”. As a result of the same, there are many benefits that would otherwise be available to heterosexual married couples that are not available to them,” the plea said.

The plea argued that the prohibition of the marriage of LGBT is an absolute discrimination towards them and also violative of the right to equality as granted by the Constitution.

In the petition various countries were named where non-heterosexual marriage is allowed such as the U.S., Australia, Germany, Canada, Spain, South Africa, Brazil, and England, where same-sex marriages are legal, the plea said, “right to marry is a part of ‘right to life’ under Article 21 of the Constitution”.

There are also two other petitions, one where two women have been cohabitating for eight years and the couple sought a direction to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate Kalkaji, New Delhi to register their marriage under the SMA.　

The other plea has been moved by two men, who got married in the U.S., where non-heterosexual marriage is legal, however, could not register their marriage under the Foreign Marriage Act (FMA) as it did not have provisions to register same-sex marriages.

More than 50,000 Ayushman Bharat Health & Wellness Centres operationalized across country

By
The Commune
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India has crossed a landmark milestone on the journey of universal healthcare with more than 50,000 (50,025) Ayushman Bharat – Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) now operational across the country.

The 50,025 operational AB-HWCs are now spread across 678 districts, and include 27,890 Sub Health Centres, 18,536 Primary Health Centres and 3,599 Urban Primary Health Centres.

Aiming at providing Comprehensive Primary Health Care (CPHC) services to the communities closer to their homes, an ambitious target of establishing 1.5 lakh AB-HWCs by December 2022 has been set.

With more than 50,000 being established, 1/3 of the target has now been met, the press release issued by the Press Information Bureau said. This has led to improved access to affordable primary healthcare services for more than 25 crore people.

Together, these AB-HWC have had over 28.10 crore footfalls of which over 53% are women.

Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan congratulated the States/UTs for their efforts in operationalizing the HWCs despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. “This has been possible due to the joint efforts of the Center and the States/UTs in planning, monitoring at all levels, standardization of processes, the flexibility for adaptation provided to the States/UTs, and building on the health systems created thus far”, he stated.

The Minister specially thanked the frontline health workers, the Medical Officers, the Community Health Officers and ASHAs for their dedication to the cause of providing Comprehensive Primary Health Care services and for supporting millions of people with necessary services in these difficult times.

Ayushman Bharat was launched in 2018 with its twin pillars of Health & Wellness Centers (HWCs) and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) with bidirectional linkages between the two for providing the full range of services across the continuum of care. The first AB-HWC was launched by Hon. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on the 14th of April 2018 at Jhangla in Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh.

The Health & Wellness Centers provide CPHC services to people and sustain the efforts for provision of reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child, adolescent and nutrition (RMNCHA+N) services and control of communicable diseases. They also focus on disease prevention, especially for chronic and non-communicable diseases, wellness through community engagement and creating awareness about health lifestyles, appropriate nutrition and physical activities such as Yoga. The HWC team consists of a trained Community Health Officer, one or two Health Workers and 5-8 ASHAs. This team has well defined tasks which intend to deliver public health functions and primary health care by bringing health-care services closer to the community.

Women’s Football League (WFL) in Saudi Arabia finally kicks off

By
The Commune
-

The Islamic Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has finally allowed women football and on Tuesday (November 17) the first matches were played. However, the game was not broadcasted or televised.

The Saudi Sports for All Federation (SFA) said that through the WFL it was striving “to empower women and to encourage them to become active and to participate in sports at the community level”.

This development is seen as a step forward for women’s participation in sport and emancipation of women in Saudi Arabia. In 2018, under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman women were first allowed to watch football matches in stadiums in the kingdom that is home to the two most holy sites in Islam.

For decades, women in Saudi Arabia had been confined to there homes because Saudi Arabia is home to the Wahabi school of Islam. Under the strict Sunni Islam norms, many rights were denied to women such as the right to participate in sporting activities and driving.

Conservative Islamic clerics who advise the ruling Saud family had even warned that opening sports to women would lead to immorality.

The Women’s Football League (WFL) in Saudi Arabia was supposed to start in the month of March, however, due to Covid-19, it was postponed. On Tuesday,  seven matches were played in the capital Riyadh and the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

This week in November 2020, seems to be quite momentous as the oil-rich nation played host to the first international women’s golf tournament also.

Devotee offers ₹700 crores for renovation of Chottanikkara Devi Temple, also to build a 500-bed super specialty hospital

By
The Commune
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A Bangalore based gold merchant has offered ₹700 crore as ‘thanksgiving for the bountiful blessings’ he received from the deity of Kerala’s famous Chottanikkara Devi Temple.

Gaanasravan, along with his family members and top officials of the ‘Swamiji Group of Companies’, have offered to cover the sanctum sanctorum of the temple with gold plates and build a 500-bed super specialty hospital which will provide free treatment to all.

This will be the biggest hospital endowment to build a hospital that offers free treatment in South India.

“A 500-bed super speciality hospital will be established at Chottanikkara and offer free treatment to all irrespective of religion, caste or creed. We are planning to build 7 guest houses with 300 rooms each apart from a VIP guest house. An old age home with a capacity to accommodate 200 people will be established as part of the development. There will be an orphanage and an auditorium with seating capacity for 5,000 people. We will be developing Chottanikkara as an international pilgrimage centre on the lines of Tirupati,” he was quoted saying in a report by The New Indian Express.

The gold merchant will allocate ₹300 crores towards temple renovation and ₹400 crore will be spent on infrastructure development including the hospital, guest houses, auditorium, sewage treatment plant, water supply scheme and ring roads.

There will be two massive gopurams at the eastern and western entrance which will be built using laterite stones. The temple pond in front of the Keezhkavu temple will be renovated and a dining hall will be built for annadanam (free food distribution) at an expense of ₹3 crore.

Gaanasravan has also promised to help with widening the roads in the town and two ring roads will be developed to ease the traffic.

The work is to be executed by the construction wing of Gaanasravan’s company under the supervision of Cochin Devaswom Board (CDB). A joint account in the name of Swamiji Group and the CDB will be opened into which the entire amount for each phase of the work will be transferred.

The CDB will appoint a chief engineer to monitor the works, if needed. The company has agreed to pay ₹5 crore to the CDB after signing the MoU for preparatory work as per CDB member M K Sivarajan.

Gaanasravan was born in a family of musicians at a village around 80 km from Bengaluru. His Guru had told him to offer prayers at Chottanikkara temple five years ago, which is supposed to have changed his destiny. He was quoted saying that his gold business flourished and could extend trade across the globe after he visited the temple.

“I believe it is the blessings of Amma that brought me good fortune. So I decided to spend part of my earnings for the development of this temple,”  he told The New Indian Express.

“We have approached the Devaswom bench of the Kerala High Court for sanction and once the court gives the nod, we will start the work within a month. We expect to start the work in January 2021 and the project will be completed within six years,” he said.

Pakistan under intense pressure from Saudi and US to recognize the Jewish State of Israel

By
The Commune
-

The government of Imran Khan Niazi is under intense pressure, presumably from Saudi Arabia towards establishing diplomatic relations with Israel.

Pakistan has never recognized the legitimacy of the Jewish state and is very vocal in its support towards the Palestinians and their cause.

In an interview given by Pakistan‘s Prime Minister Imran Khan he publicly admitted that Islamabad was being pressured by the US and Gulf countries especially Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel and normalize relations.

https://twitter.com/LifeRacer_1/status/1327330663851307009

Khan said that the American ‘pressure’ was due to “Israel’s deep influence in the U.S. This [influence] was, in fact, extraordinary during President Trump’s stint at the office.

However, when the interviewer prodded Niazi if a “brotherly Muslim country” had been the driving force to push Pakistan to acknowledge Israel, Khan told him: “Leave this, let’s move on.”

Khan continued with his response stating “There are certain things that we cannot say, because our relations with them [the Muslim countries pressuring Pakistan] are good. We don’t want to upset them. Inshallah, let our country stand up on its feet, then ask me such questions.”

Niazi’s interview caused a massive uproar in Pakistan and every local publication pushed the story of Niazi’s revelation of the pressure being exerted by a powerful Arab nation on Pakistan to move closer to Israel.

To douse the fire, Pakistani government itself tweeted and the Foreign Ministry spokesman kept denying that Pakistan was under any U.S. pressure to recognise Israel, and calling media reports that directly quoted from the Khan interview a “fabrication.”

https://twitter.com/GovtofPakistan/status/1328630056407724033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1328630056407724033%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.haaretz.com%2Fworld-news%2F.premium-how-saudi-arabia-is-pressuring-pakistan-to-recognize-israel-1.9315768

 

DMK MLA Poongothai attempted suicide allegedly over Stalin’s men harassing her

By
The Commune
-

DMK MLA Poongothai Aladi Aruna’s alleged suicide attempt has caused a jolt in the party with several senior leaders rushing to visit her in the hospital.

The DMK MLA from Alangudi constituency in Tenkasi, was admitted to a private hospital in Tirunelveli on Thursday morning under mysterious circumstances.

She is said to have taken a high dosage of sleeping pills allegedly over the harassment meted out to her during the booth committee meeting held in Tenkasi district.

Poongothai Aladi Aruna, has been one of the key figures of the DMK in Tirunelveli-Tenkasi region since the Karunanidhi era. She is close to the party’s women’s wing secretary and Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi as well as Rajathi Ammal (later former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s concubine).

But of late, Poongothai was not to be seen in many of the events in which Kanimozhi was a participant.

For the past few years, a cold war has been brewing between Poongothai and Siva Padmanabhan who was in charge of the integrated Tirunelveli west. His recent appointment as district in-charge of Tirunelveli south had upset Poongothai and her supporters. He is said to be a supporter of MK Stalin.

In light of this, Poongothai who had gone to participate in the DMK booth committee meeting held at Thirumalaiyappapuram near Kadayam in Tenkasi district was given an unwelcoming reception. She was not given a chair to sit on the dais. DMK Kadayam Union Secretary Kumar had a war of words with her stating that she neither participated in party meetings nor took part in joys and sorrows of DMK cadres of the region.

Later, Poongothai sat on the ground in protest, the video of which became viral. The DMK men present in the meeting had asked her if she was here to foment trouble. She fell at the feet of the men present there and asked them to go on with their meeting. Not able to bear the insult meted out to her, she left the meeting before it ended.

The next day, she was admitted to the hospital in an unconscious state. Media reports stated that she had tried to commit suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills due to the internal squabbles that had happened earlier.

Following this, Tirunelveli East District DMK Secretary Avudaiappan, former MLA
Mana M. Appavu and other officials visited the hospital and inquired about her health. Appavu had stated that reports about her attempt to suicide were not true and that Poongothai fell unconscious suddenly while doing exercise in the morning.

DMK Rajya Sabha MP R.S. Bharathi too visited the hospital to inquire about her health. He too dismissed reports of Poongothai attempting suicide due to the internal rift in the party. He said that she had a long-standing feud with one of her brothers who was present on the stage that day in the meeting and noted it as a ‘family dispute’.

Currently she is being treated in the ICU with her vitals remaining satisfactory.

(Inputs taken from The Hindu Tamil, Kathir News and The New Minute)

DMK’s internal brawl comes out in the open, party MLA allegedly attempts suicide

By
The Commune
-

Poongothai Aladi Aruna, the DMK MLA from Alangudi constituency in Tenkasi, was admitted to a private hospital in Tirunelveli on Thursday morning under mysterious circumstances.

According to a few media reports, she had consumed a high dosage of sleeping pills. In a bulletin issued by the hospital, it was stated that her vitals were satisfactory but is being treated in Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

On Wednesday, Poongothai Aladi Aruna reportedly had altercations with some cadres of the DMK during a booth committee meeting held in Kadayam.

The supporters of the union secretary of the Kadayam region had allegedly abused her following which Poongothai Aladi Aruna is said to have walked out.

Later she was called back inside but was insulted by the same group when they switched off the microphone while she was addressing.

It is said that she had resorted to the extreme step following this internal squabbles in the party.

Poongothai, a qualified gynaecologist  is the daughter of the late Aladi Aruna or Aladipatti V Arunachalam, who was the law minister in DMK’s regime during 1996-2001.

After her father was murdered in 2004, she was given the MLA ticket in 2006, and was the Social Welfare and Nutritious Meal Programme Minister from 2006 to 2008. She quit in May 2008 after the release of a telephone conversation between her and Director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption about a corruption case with regard to her relative was leaked. However,  she was made as the Minister of Information and Technology in February 2009.

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