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Rajapaksas strengthen their positions: SLPP secures ‘super majority’ in parliamentary elections

By
The Commune
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Sri Lankan opposition leader and former president Mahinda Rajapaksa (L) acknowledges supporters with his brother, Sri Lanka's newly elected presidential candidate of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the annual general convention of the party at Colombo, Sri Lanka. 11 August 2019. (Photo by Tharaka Basnayaka/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The ruling party of Rajapaksa brothers Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna dashed towards a landslide victory securing 146 out of 225 seats in the parliamentary elections held recently amidst the Wuhan virus pandemic. The party can count on atleast 5 other allies in the legislature.

The opposition party of Ranil Wickremesinghe was reduced to just 1 seat from 106 with the former Prime Minister losing his constituency. Sajith Premadesa’s party which was split from Wickremesinghe’s party came a distant second with 53 seats. The Tamil National Alliance walked away with just 10 seats from the earlier 16. A left party which earlier had 6 seats was reduced to 3.

The ‘super majority’ is required to carry out the promised constitutional changes. The Rajapaksas had promised to roll back the limit on President’s powers introduced by the previous administration.

Even as results were coming, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi called Mahinda Rajapaksa to congratulate for the landslide victory. PM Modi said that he looks forward to advance all areas of bilateral cooperation and take the relationship between the two countries newer heights.

 

The parliamentary elections were twice postponed due to the Wuhan virus pandemic.

The Rajapaksas rode on the nationalistic wave that took over the island following the Easter bombings by radical Muslim terrorists that killed 279 people.

Concerns raised over chemical storage facility in Chennai warehouse after Beirut explosion

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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Days after a humongous explosion shook Beirut, a similar chemical storage facility has been identified 40 kilometres north of Chennai, causing alarm. Over 700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate is said to be stored in a private facility.

These are reportedly in the custody of officials having been seized in 2015. They had been due to import policy restrictions and had apparently been imported for making fireworks in Sivakasi.

A statement issued by the Joint Commissioner of Customs said that the seized cargo is securely stored and that the safety of the cargo and public is ensured considering its hazardous nature.

It also noted that the there are no residential facilities for 2 kms from the Container Freight Station (CFS). It also added that steps are being taken to ensure its safe disposal and that an e-auction has already been completed for the same by the Customs.

“The disposal of the said cargo will be done within a short period following all safety measures.”, the statement said.

 

PMK founder S Ramadoss on Thursday urged the government to take immediate steps to safely dispose of 740 tonnes of ammonium nitrate reportedly stocked in Chennai harbour for years, saying a possible Beirut-like incident should be avoided.

It raises alarm because 700 tonnes of this chemical has been stored for over five years, only 20 km north of Chennai port. This is the same chemical that caused massive destruction in Beirut.

‘Arogaraa’ for Murugan, pin drop silence for Ram

By
The Commune
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The Bhoomi Poojan ceremony for the construction of the grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya was conducted yesterday (August 5) with Prime Minister Narendra Modi presiding and performing the Bhoomi Poojan amidst the chant of Vedas.

While a few who could not stomach the construction of the Ram Temple at Ram Janmabhoomi fumed through op-eds and articles, many leaders across political parties and religions wished well for the Bhoomi Poojan.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi took to their social media to express their wishes for the construction of the temple.

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Congress General Secretary organized a Hanuman Chalisa chanting session and donated silver bricks to the temple.

 

In Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami too extended his congratulations on behalf of the people of Tamil Nadu for the Bhoomi Poojan event.

Even Khushbu Sundar belonging to the Tamil Nadu Congress extended her wishes and went one step ahead by saying “Bolo Siya Ramchandra ji Jai”.

As expected, the DMK and its allies VCK and Communist parties had a meltdown as the foundation stone was laid for the temple. They had trended #TamilPrideRaavanaa and #LandOfRavana without realizing that the hero they were celebrating was a north Indian Brahmin.

On the other hand, popular stars of Tamil cinema – Kamal Hasan, Vijay, Surya, Karthi, who otherwise resort to virtue signalling by commenting on issues that they have no expertise on, have kept mum. While it was expected that Kamal Hasan would speak against the construction of the temple to appease Muslims, he hasn’t said anything so far.

However, one man’s silence has raised eyebrows. The man who has promised to usher in ‘spiritual politics’ in Tamil Nadu as an alternative to the Dravidian politics has not said anything on the occasion of Bhoomi Pookan. Rajinikanth, had earlier condemned the abuse of Hindu God Murugan and Kandha Sashti Kavasam through a tweet, several days after widespread public outrage against Karuppar Koottam, that led to the trending of the hashtag #கந்தனுக்கு அரோகரா (Victory be to Lord Muruga!)

His silence has puzzled both his fans and political observers. Probably, Rajini is gauging the mood of the Tamil populace so that he could play it safe.

Grenade attack in Pakistan injures 30

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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A grenade attack that happened in Karachi on Wednesday injured 30.

The injured were rushed to the hospital, and it was reported that one of the victims was in a critical condition. “A grenade was lobbed in the rally, causing several casualties,” Karachi police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon told Reuters.

The Sindhu Desh Revolutionary Army claimed responsibility for the attack. They are a separatist force that had reportedly been active since the last few months. They are an outfit that wants the Sindh province of Pakistan to break free from the country as a separate sovereign state. Four people were killed including two soldiers in three consecutive explosions in June by the same group. The Karachi rally, organised by Jamaat-e-Islami was called off after the attack.

India will go with government-to-government deals to meet $5 billion military export target

By
The Commune
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The Modi government is going full steam to meet an ambitious target of $5 billion worth of military exports annually by 2025, reported the Economic Times.

The Indian government wants to encourage government-to-government deals, using lines of credit to friendly foreign nations.

It also has plans to brand the home developed weapons at international shows. In the draft Defence Promotion and Export Promotion Policy, the Defence Ministry has set a target for Defence PSUs and the Ordnance Factory Board to achieve 25% of their revenues from exports within the next five years.

To achieve this target, a more proactive role for Indian missions abroad has been planned along with an aggressive marketing campaign.

The draft policy reads, “Subject to strategic considerations, domestically manufactured defence products will be promoted through government-to-government agreements and lines of credit or funding”.

Some of the PSUs will be projected as export promotion agencies for specific nations. The earnings from such sale will directly be linked to the business generated, incentivising performance.

Right now the government is offering through direct the lethal Brahmos cruise missile system and the Akash air defence system. In the running are also the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft and a range of choppers manufactured indigenously.

Other products include torpedoes, fast attack craft and a range of naval systems.

Madras HC grants bail to ‘deer hunt’ famous DMK MLA Idhayavarman

By
The Commune
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Chennai High Court has granted conditional bail to DMK MLA Ithayavarman, who was arrested in the Tiruporur shooting incident case.

The DMK MLA of Thiruporur constituency was arrested for opening fire in broad day light in the middle of a road using an unlicensed pistol. One of the bullets fired hit a passer-by.

The police had registered a case and raids conducted at his premises led to the seizure of several guns and ammunitions.

Following the dismissal of the bail pleas of by the Kanchipuram court, the 11 accused including Idhayavarman had filed a petition at the Chennai High Court seeking bail.

When the case came up for hearing before Judge Satish Kumar yesterday, public prosecutor Natarajan appearing for the police, said that Idhayavarman shot with a gun for which the license had expired.

He also said that more than 50 rounds of ammunition had been recovered from Idhayavarman’s possession and that an investigation was underway into whether the DMK MLA had links with extremist organizations.

However, when the petition came up for hearing again today, 11 accused along with the Thiruporur DMK MLA were granted conditional bail.

The DMK MLA has been asked to donate ₹ 3 lakh to the Adayar Cancer Institute, Chennai. The 11 arrested persons have been granted personal bail of Rs 10,000 each.

Another deadly virus breaks out in China

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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A new-tick borne virus has hit China, causing the death of seven people so far. Virologists believe that the infection may have been passed on to humans by ticks and that the virus can be transmitted between humans. Doctors detected a decline of leukocyte and blood platelets in a woman from Nanjing, who had suffered from symptoms of this virus, like coughing and fever. More than 37 people in East China’s Jiangsu province contracted this virus in the first half of the year.

The Chinese government has warned the possibility of human-to-human transmission for this virus that has affected more than 70 people so far. A tick bite is the major transmission route, but this virus can be passed to others via the blood or mucous of infected patients. It has been dubbed as the Bunyavirus and goes by SFTS (expanded as Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Bunyavirus) virologically. Notably, this is not a new virus since the Chinese government had isolated its pathogen back in 2011.

A previous US study has stated that in case of an unmonitored outbreak, this virus may lead to an epidemic of irreversible status in both humans and animals.

As the world is already grappling with the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, the news of this new virus has started striking fear in the minds of people worldwide.

AltNews becomes a laughing stock, once again

By
The Commune
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AltNews, a propaganda vehicle masquerading as fact-check website failed miserably yet again for wrongly “fact-checking”. This ‘Tablighis apologist’ website is known for branding media that do not confirm to its ideology as ‘fake news’. Sometimes, they fall into their own trap and end up getting schooled by actual experts. At other times, their ‘fake news busting’ attempts themselves end up as fake news.

In a recent article, it had tried to debunk an image of Lord Ram getting displayed on Times Square billboards that was getting widely shared as false.

It had put to use such amazing investigative skills that would make Ethan Hunt and James Bond envious.

This is how they deconstructed the truth behind the image:

Pictures of Hindu deity Ram were photoshopped into the original picture and subsequently flipped horizontally. The similarities are pointed out below.

    1. Green billboard on top of a white building (highlighted in red).
    2. Corona beer billboard close to the green billboard (highlighted in yellow).
    3. An identical number of cabs in the front most row on each side of the street (highlighted in green and orange).
    4. A picture of Ram has been superimposed on a poster of the musical Wicked(marked in blue). A portion of the green poster can be spotted behind Ram’s image.

Furthermore, a keyword search “times square billboard generator” on Google leads to makesweet.com where a temple of the same image is available.

Thus, a picture showing images of Hindu deity Ram splashed all over New York’s Times Square billboards was manufactured then flipped horizontally to escape reverse-image search attempts.

Many on social media shared the image thinking that it was original. It would have been good had AltNews stopped there. However, AltNews for its ‘fake news busting’ purposes pulled up a Tamil online news portal in an unwarranted manner.

In the days leading up to the Ram Janmabhoomi Bhoomi Poojan event, media reports emerged that images of Lord Ram and the Ram Mandir would be displayed on the billboards in Times Square in New York to commemorate the Ram Mandir Bhoomi Pujan.

Excited by the news, these media houses carried a feature image (a representative image) of Lord Ram being shown on the billboards of Times Square.

Kathir News, a prominent Tamil news outlet identified as ‘right wing portal’ too carried an article about the news with a representative feature image. It was conspicuous that the feature image in the portal was not an actual picture but a representative one. The headline of the article in Tamil – டைம்ஸ் ஸ்கொயரில் ஸ்ரீ ராமர் – பூமி பூஜை அன்று ஒலிக்க இருக்கும் ‘ஜெய் ஸ்ரீராம்’ கோஷங்கள்.! (Shri Ram in Times Square – Jai Shriram slogans to be played on Bhoomi Poojan day) too made it obvious that it is nothing but a representative image.

But in order to satiate its itch to defame news portals that does not confirm to its values, it went on say that the Kathir News carried a fake image in order to brand it as a ‘fake news’ portal.

However, AltNews became a laughing stock when images of Lord Ram and the Ram Mandir beamed on the billboards of Times Square.

Kathir News has strongly condemned AltNews’ nefarious attempts to slander it and has asked for a public apology.

Eiffel tower goes ‘lights-out’ to pay homage to Beirut explosion victims

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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Iconic Eiffel Tower went dark for one hour on Wednesday to pay homage to the victims of the Beirut warehouse explosion. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo tweeted, saying, “In solidarity with #Beirut and #Lebanon, the city of @Paris will unlock an exceptional emergency aid of 100,000 Euros. This Wednesday night from midnight, we will turn off @LaTourEiffel to pay tribute to all the victims.” Similarly, pyramids in Giza and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai were lit up with a display of Lebanon’s flag to pay tribute and display their solidarity in the wake of the victims of the blast.

On Tuesday, an enormous explosion tore through the Lebanese capital and destroyed several hundred metres of the area around. This was the most powerful blast in many years in the city, which is already suffering from the global pandemic and an economic crisis. The explosion killed nearly a hundred people and injured 4000.

Heart-wrenching visuals emerged on social media following the blast and showed the aftermath of the disaster, causing an outpouring of support and solidarity for Lebanon from across the world.

Notably, ammonium nitrate, the chemical that was responsible for the blast, has a dark past in terms of causing industrial accidents all over in the history of the world.

Lebanese bride’s wedding video captures the powerful explosions that rocked Beirut

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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28-year-old Israa Seblani had no idea about the impending doom that was about to shake her city when she had stood radiant in a long white gown, posing and smiling for her wedding video. But, her almost perfect wedding video was interrupted when a shattering deafening roar had shaken the ground, and a powerful shockwave enveloped Beirut, cutting her wedding celebrations short. This video footage was captured at that moment when a massive explosion had resulted in killing 135 people and injuring more than 5000.

Seblani is a doctor who is working in the United States and had arrived three weeks ago in Beirut for her wedding. Right after the explosion happened, she had helped to check on injured nearby, while in her wedding dress, before leaving the place.

Seblani and her husband Ahmad Subeih were still struggling to process what had happened when Reuters had spoken to them. “I have been preparing for my big day for two weeks, and I was so happy like all the other girls, ‘I am getting married’. My parents are going to be happy seeing me in a white dress; I will be looking like a princess.” After the blast, she and her husband tried to compose themselves and carry on with their celebrations. She added that she was happy to be alive after the blast.

Subeih has been waiting for a visa to the United States to join his wife. Seblani loves Lebanon but feels that after Tuesday’s blast, living there is not an option.

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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.
Contact us: thecommune.news@gmail.com
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