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“Why not disclose details of trustees and administrators of TN HR&CE temples?” Madras HC asks HRCE dept

By
The Commune
-

The Madras High Court on Thursday (September 3) while hearing a petition that sought the release of the names of the trustees of temples under the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department, asked various questions to the Tamil Nadu government.

It raised a question as to why not the government publish the names of the trustees in the temples controlled by the HR&CE department?”

“What is wrong with the public knowing the details of those in charge? Why not publish the details of the administrators on the temple notice board?”, the Court asked.

The Court has the HR&CE department to file its response by September 17.

India ranked in “Top 50 Nations” in the Global Innovation Index

By
Balaji Subramanian
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For the first time, India finds itself in the list of top 50 countries in the Global Innovation Index, moving up four places to the 48th rank.

India retains its top position among the nations in central and southern Asia. The report states, India is the third most innovative lower-middle-income economy in the world.

According to the Global Innovation Index (GII) list, 2020 released jointly by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Cornell University and INSEAD Business School on Wednesday (September 3), the rankings show stability at the top but a gradual “eastward shift in the locus of innovation”.

Other than India, Asian economies like China, the Philippines and Vietnam have made considerable progress in the innovation ranking over the years.

India ranks in the top 15 in indicators such as ICT (Information and Communication Technology) services exports, government online services, graduates in science and engineering, and R&D-intensive global companies.

“Thanks to universities such as the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay and Delhi and the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, and its top scientific publications, India is the lower-middle-income economy with the highest innovation quality,” it said.

Pakistan’s move to ban gay dating apps like Grindr seen as crackdown against sexual minorities

By
The Commune
-

Pakistan has blocked five dating apps including gay dating apps like Grindr stating that they hosted ‘immoral and indecent content’.

This move has drawn the ire of LGBTQIA activists in Pakistan who see this as a crackdown against the already oppressed and marginalized LGBTQIA communities.

Salman Khan, an LGBT activist from Pakistan slammed the Pakistani government calling it a fascist, Islamist and homophobic move.

 

 

 

He said that these apps served the marginalized and criminalized LGBTQ community of Pakistan by providing a much needed platform to socialize and connect with their kind.

“For a lot of LGBTQ+ folks, they were a platform where we were able to exist despite our state, society & families [working] against our very existence.”

He also questioned the silence of Pakistan’s “Digital Rights Activists” in Pakistan not discussing the disastrous and authoritative effects of ban of these apps especially Grindr on the oppressed and marginalized LGBTQIA communities but instead were busy sharing humour about how cheating husbands in Pakistan would feel deprived.

Salman Khan also stated that instead of the government banning child abuse and pornography and the abuse of LGBTQ+ and religious minorities, the Pakistani government is busy banning Tinder and Grindr.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority had stated that it had blocked the services as it did not receive a reply to the notices issues to the companies advising them to remove dating services and moderate live streaming content on their apps.

It added that it can “reconsider” the block if the apps adhere to local laws and moderate indecent and immoral content.

According to CNN, Tinder and Grindr were downloaded 440,000 and 300,000 times respectively in the last 12 months. Tagged and SayHi had each been downloaded about 300,000 times in Pakistan, and Skout 100,000 times in the past 12 months, the CNN report said quoting Sensor Towers data.

It is to be noted that homosexuality is criminalized in Pakistan. The Hudood Ordinances – enacted in 1979 by the Zia-ul-Haq administration – as part of the Islamisation/Sharization of Pakistan, criminalize adultery, fornication, consuming alcohol and same-sex sexual acts. These laws mandate primitive forms of penalization like whipping, amputation and death by stoning.

Homosexuals in Pakistan may face secular or Islamic punishments, or both.

Thus along with the non-Muslim minorities like Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Christians, etc., the LGBTQIA are among the persecuted communities in Pakistan. All LGBTQIA rights discourse happen under the banner of transgender rights.

Pentagon report: China seeks to set up military logistic facilities in countries surrounding India

By
Balaji Subramanian
-

In serious threat to India’s national security, China under the guise of its One Belt One Road (OBOR) is trying to build logistics facilities in three neighbouring countries of India.

If this happens, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will have access to logistics and will be able to sustain military power at greater distances, according to a Pentagon report.

The Pentagon report has also said besides the three countries that border India other countries where China is considering to base its military logistics and infrastructure facilities are Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Seychelles, Tanzania, Angola and Tajikistan.

In its annual report “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2020” that was submitted to the US Congress, the Pentagon said these potential Chinese military logistics facilities are aimed at supporting naval, air and ground forces projection.

“A global PLA (People’s Liberation Army) military logistics network could both interfere with US military operations and support offensive operations against the United States as the PRC’s global military objectives evolve,” the Pentagon said in the report.

For a while now, China has been trying to build infrastructures to turn its military into an expeditionary force like the United States that has military bases all over the world.

China using its economic might is trying to get Namibia, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The PLA is planning are along the Seal Lines of Communication from China to the Strait of Hormuz, Africa, and the Pacific Islands.

Bureaucracy set for a major overhaul, Modi Govt launches ‘Mission Karmayogi’

By
Balaji Subramanian
-

In a major bureaucratic reform initiative, the Modi government on Wednesday (July 3) approved ‘Mission Karmayogi’, a new capacity-building scheme for civil servants aimed at upgrading the post-recruitment training mechanism of the officers and employees at all levels.

Called the National Programme for Civil Service Capacity Building (NPCSCB) it aims to transform the role of civil services from ‘rule-based’ to ‘role-based’ and from working in silos to a multi-disciplinary approach.

The programme will also bring in a scientifically devised, objective and real time assessment of employees.

There will also be a state-of-the-art infrastructure to augment the capacity of civil servants and make them future ready.

Back in November 2019, Modi had famously said, “Apne mere paanch saal barbad kiye hain, main apko agle paanch saal barbad nahin karne doonga” (You had spoiled my first 5 years.. I won’t let you spoil the second).  These remarks were aimed directly at the civil service when Modi addressed trainee IAS officers.

Going by his pledge of ‘Na Khaunga, Na Khane Dunga’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said this exercise will “radically” improve the government’s human resource management practices.

Announcing the scheme, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said, “Mission Karmayogi aims to prepare Indian civil servants for the future by making them more creative, constructive, imaginative, innovative, proactive, professional, progressive, energetic, enabling, transparent and technology-enabled,”.

In a tweet sent out by the PM, Modi said, “iGOT platform will enable the transition to a role-based HR management & continuous learning. Mission Karmayogi aims to prepare Civil Servants for the future by making them more creative, constructive & innovative through transparency and technology.”

The purpose of Mission Karmayogi is to radically improve the Human Resource Management in the Government and the iGOT platform will enable the transition to a role-based HR management & continuous learning.

 

Complaint lodged against DMK MLA for trying to grab land illegally

By
The Commune
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Locals have lodged a complaint with the District Collector against the Anaikattu DMK MLA A.P. Nandakumar for trying to usurp the land near the new bus stand in Vellore district.

Workers from the electricity department had arrived to shift an electrical transformer located at the backside of the restaurant located opposite to the new bus stand.

At that time, the people of the area had told the workers that the transformer posed no hindrance to them. But the electrical workers told that the restaurant management has already paid to get the transformer shifted.

Later, it was found that the restaurant was run by none other than Anaikattu DMK MLA Nandakumar.

Following this, the people of the area lodged a complaint with the District Collector saying that the DMK MLA was trying to illegally grab the land.

Asteroid bigger than the Great Pyramid of Giza to hit Earth’s orbit this week

By
The Commune
-

NASA scientists have said that an asteroid twice the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza is set to hit the Earth’s orbit on Sunday (September 6).

The asteroid called the 465824 (2010 FR) will be crossing the Earth’s orbit on September 6 2020.

The asteroid is reportedly travelling at a speed of 31,400 mph. The scientists have been tracking it since 2010. It was found by Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) on March 18, 2010.

The asteroid, dubbed 4, would be 4.6 million miles away from the Earth and would not pose a threat to the planet, however, it has been classified as “Near Earth Object” and a “Potentially Hazardous Asteroid” by NASA.

The asteroid is reported to be 120-270 metres in diameter which is twice as big as the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

Pakistan blocks dating apps like Tinder, Grindr citing ‘immoral and indecent content’

By
The Commune
-

Pakistan has blocked five dating apps including Tinder and Grindr (for gay, lesbian, bi, trans, and queer people) stating that  they hosted ‘immoral and indecent content’.

The other blocked apps include Tagged, Skout and SayHi.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority had stated that it had blocked the services as it did not receive a reply to the notices issues to the companies advising them to remove dating services and moderate live streaming content on their apps.

It added that it can “reconsider” the block if the apps adhere to local laws and moderate indecent and immoral content.

According to CNN, Tinder and Grindr were downloaded 440,000 and 300,000 times respectively in the last 12 months. Tagged and SayHi had each been downloaded about 300,000 times in Pakistan, and Skout 100,000 times in the past 12 months, the CNN report said quoting Sensor Towers data.

Indian Army along with SFF, captures Finger 4 Ridgeline along LAC

By
Balaji Subramanian
-

In a rapid mission to capture the North Finger 4 Ridgeline at Pangong Tso along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), units of the Indian Army along with the formidable Special Frontier Force (SFF) has mounted a mission that has left the PLA in total disarray, India Today has reported.

The Indian Army and the SFF which mostly comprises of Tibetans have now taken control of the Finger 4 feature on the north bank of Pangong Tso Lake. This is a strategic location and it is only a few hundred metres away from the Chinese posts.

This position has now given the Indian Army the all-important dominating heights on the ridgelines along Finger 4.

The report adds that the Indian Army has carried out a readjustment of deployment this week and established its posts on the Indian side of the LAC.

Whenever the Indian Army has gone on the offensive, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had to move back. Earlier the army had gained a big advantage over the PLA by successfully beating it to occupy a strategic height at the southern region of the Pangong Tso Lake.

118 Chinese Apps including PUBG banned after Chinese escalate tensions in Ladakh

By
Balaji Subramanian
-

As India intensifies its resolve at the Line of Actual Control, the government at the centre has banned 118 additional Chinese apps including the popular multiplayer game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

This action was initiated by India’s Ministry of Information and Technology. The ban was implemented after the IT Ministry, had received various complaints of the apps stealing user data.

This could, in turn, can be mined by countries hostile to India’s national security. Also, the recommendation for the banning of the apps came from the Home Ministry.

The decision to ban 118 Chinese apps comes at the heel just days after the Chinese People Liberation Army (PLA) carried out another unprovoked military aggression at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

India had banned 59 Chinese apps in the month of June including the popular short video sharing app TikTok, data sharing app ShareIt, UC Browser and scanning app CamScanner.

In a press release by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had said “In the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India and security of the State. And using the sovereign powers, the Government of India has decided to block the usage of certain Apps, used in both mobile and non-mobile Internet-enabled devices.”

The ministry also found all these apps were engaged in activities “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India”.

Here is a list of the 118 Chinese apps which have been banned in India.

 

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TheCommune
The Commune is a news and views portal focusing on social and political issues of the southern part of India with a focus on Tamil Nadu.
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