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Supermarkets remove coconut goods off shelves after discovering they had used ‘monkey labourers’

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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A number of supermarkets in the UK removed coconuts and related goods from their shelves, after getting to know that they had been picked by ‘monkey labourers’ who had been exploited for this purpose. The monkeys had allegedly been ‘snatched’ from the wild and trained to pick coconuts, by a company in Thailand.

In a tweet earlier on Friday, the British Prime Minister’s fiancée Carrie Symonds, a conservationist, called on all supermarkets to boycott the products. Waitrose, Ocado, Co-op and Boots vowed to stop selling some goods following this revelation.

Over 100 pig-tailed macaques that had been held captive were released after the discovery of them having been used as  ‘coconut picking machines’. While male monkeys could pick over 1,100 coconuts in a day, the female ones’ count was relatively less.

PETA had discovered over 8 farms in Thailand that had bred monkeys for this purpose. It said it also discovered “monkey schools”, where the animals were trained to pick fruit, as well as ride bikes or play basketball for the entertainment of tourists. “The animals at these facilities – many of whom are illegally captured as babies – displayed stereotypic behaviour indicative of extreme stress,” PETA said in a statement.

It was also revealed that Thailand has reportedly started sterilising hundreds of monkeys in Lopburi province, which is famous for the macaque population, as the animals have been turning aggressive and hungry amid COVID-19 lockdown.

 

Massive flood kills in Japan

By
Preetika Parashuraman
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14 people are feared dead after heavy rains triggered massive floods in Japan on 5 July, 2020. It is said that a nursing home was flooded causing death. 

The massive floods were centered in Kagoshima and Kumamoto of Kyushu island. Authorities have issued evacuation advisories for over 200,000 residents.

Also, at least 10 were presumed to be missing and several were stranded on rooftops waiting to be rescued.

The Governor Ikuo Kabashima says that victims were in “cardio-respiratory arrest” which is a state before doctors officially certify a person dead.

He also said that a nearby river broke its banks causing a gush of water flooding into the nursing home.

“The Self-Defence Forces have launched rescue operations,” Kabashima said.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stepped in ordering 10,000 troops to engage in rescue and recovery operations. He assured the people that they would prioritise the lives of the people and do their best to take emergency measures.

Earlier, the Japan Meteorological Agency  issued warnings of  tremendous rain in parts of Kumamoto, about 1,000km  southwest of Tokyo. It later devalued them to rainfall about 100mm.

 

Source: AFP

The Dharma Chakra Day and its Significance

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
-

The Dharma Chakra Day is an occasion that falls on the auspicious day of Aashada Purnima. The nationwide celebrations of this Buddhist holiday were officially inaugurated by Ramnath Kovind, the President of India, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and the International Buddhist Confederation.

The Minister of Culture Prahlad Patel and Minister of State for Minorities Affairs, Kiren Rijiju also addressed the opening ceremony.

What is Dharma Chakra Day?

The Dharma Chakra Day is an occasion commemorative of the Aashada Purnima. The auspicious day of Asadha Poornima falls on the first full moon day of the month of Asadha as per the Indian sun calendar. It marks the Buddha’s First Sermon to his first five ascetic disciples at the Deer Park, Rsipatana in the present-day Sarnath near Varanasi, UP.

Following the celebrations of this day, the Monks and Nuns would partake their Varsha Vassa, or the Monsoon Retreat, which takes place between July and September. In this period, they would remain confined to their monasteries and undergo intense meditation in isolation.

Why is this significant?

As the name suggests the Buddhists believe that this day was the day of “Turning of the Wheel of Dharma”, and Mahaparinirvana. This is also observed as Guru Purnima in several parts of the country and all over the world. It is also known as Esala Poya in Sri Lanka and Asanha Bucha in Thailand.

This day is the second most important religious holiday for Buddhists after the Vesak Purnima or Buddha Purnima. Vaishak Purnima marks the birthday of Lord Buddha. This also signifies his day of enlightenment and death. It is celebrated as the harvest festival in Punjab, and memorializes the day of creation of the Khalsa.

Also keeping in mind, the fact that India has been revered as the land of Buddha’s enlightenment, the inauguration of this day by the Indian government helps to keep this historical legacy intact.

Events commemorating Dharma Chakra Day

An address by the Mongolian President was read out, and a Buddhist manuscript which is several centuries old has been presented to President Kovind from their side. This was seen as an attempt by both the countries to strengthen their ties.

The rest of the events of the day are scheduled to happen from different parts of the world and will be streamed from Sarnath in Bodhgaya. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, all the events are being held online.

This decision is the result of a very successful broadcast of events in connection with Vaishakh Purnima, which happened on May 7th this year.

Prime Minister’s Address on Dharma Chakra Day

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the country on Saturday on account of Aashada Purnima, and said that we need to follow the eight-fold path of Lord Buddha for the well-being of society and nation.

He added that India had to focus on the connectivity of this sites and that the tourism industry could use a huge boost of revenue if this was done. “We want to focus on connectivity to Buddhist sites. A few days back the Indian cabinet announced that Kushinagar airport will be an international one. This will bring people, pilgrims and tourists,” he said.

He further mentioned that the day also signified Guru Purnima, and that one should never forget the sacrifices that our gurus had done and that we should always respect the knowledge that they have imparted to us. He left a message to the youngsters of the country, saying, “I would urge my young friends, to also stay connected with the thoughts of Lord Buddha. They will motivate and show the way ahead,” Modi said.

He concluded his message with the hope that Lord Buddha’s blessings inspire us to do good.

Political Significance

At a time when China is seeking to unilaterally change the status quo in its shared border with India, this has been considered as a power move by the Indian government. This is because, most Buddhism prevalent countries would take part in these celebrations except China. This is also seen as a display of a united front against China by its Asian neighbours. The Central Tibetan Administration has asked Tibetan Buddhists to participate in the online event in large numbers to “support and appreciate” the effort. Tibet has been locking horns with China after it tried to illegitimately occupy their territory.

Meanwhile, China’s World Buddhist Forum (WBF) has been hosting Buddhism related events since 2005, in its attempt to reclaim supremacy in the religious front.

Communists from Kerala oppose domicile for Dalits in Jammu and Kashmir

By
The Commune
-

The mouthpiece of Communist Party of India (Marxist) Kerala, Deshabhimani, carried an article on June 29, opposing the move to grant domicile to Dalits in Kashmir. They even went on to use the term ‘outsiders’ and ‘sweepers’ to address the Valmikis.

“The Valmiki community who were brought in from Punjab years ago as sweepers started receiving the certificates.” the article reads in Malayalam.

It said “Of the 33000 applications, only 720 were received from Kashmir while the rest came from Jammu. This move will upset the demography of J&K.”

The article also goes on to claim that the new domicile rules is a move by the RSS ‘to end the Muslim population majority in the state’.

Islamists as well as communist circles in Jammu and Kashmir have opposed issuing domicile certificates claiming that it will bring demographic change. Domicile certificates are issued under Jammu and Kashmir Grant Domicile Certificate (Production) Rules, 2020, to the residents who are living there for more than 15 years. It also allows religiously persecuted people from POK and Pakistan after 1947 and settled in J&K  to obtain domicile.

August 5, 2019, when the articles 370 and 35A were removed from the constitution, the air is being created that Hindus from other parts of India will migrate and surpass the number of Kashmiri Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir. With the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A, the provisions that prevented Dalits from accessing equal opportunities and Kashmiri woman to hold property are gone. Many Gorkhas and Dalit community people suffered due to inequalities by the earlier provisions. They were not eligible for government jobs or college admissions. \

Now refugees from Pakistan and PoK who have settled in J & K are also eligible for getting domicile certificate that will give them equal treatment.

In 2008, 100 acres of land was sought by the Government of India for building temporary shelters and facilities for Hindu Pilgrims going to Amarnath. The Kashmiri separatists started a big stir against this step, citing the articles 370 and 35A. Thus the atmosphere of separatism that was constantly created and nurtured had became a hurdle in integrating Kashmir with the rest of the county.

As of 27th June 2020, around 25000 thousand, out of 33157 who had applied for domicile in Jammu and Kashmir, were granted domicile in the Union Territory.

Punjab teen exhausts parents’ life savings of 16 lakhs on ‘in-app’ purchases in PUBG

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
-

A teenager from Punjab has spent a whopping ₹16,00,000 on in-app purchases on the Battle Royale game PUBG. This bizarre incident came to light when his father had noticed a sudden deduction in his bank account. When questioned about it, he had revealed that the purchases had been made on the game for various virtual accessories and for passes to tournaments in the game. It was reported that the parents had set aside that money as savings for the father’s medical expenses.

The 17-year-old had been hooked to his phone ever since the lock down, and when asked about it, he had replied that he was taking online classes. Reportedly, the boy used to delete the messages of these transactions from their phones as and when they happened, and often used to shuffle between the accounts of either parent in order to avoid suspicion.

In an attempt to teach him a lesson his father has now made him work at a scooter repair shop saying that he doesn’t want his son to sit idly at home with his phone. “After we received details from the bank, I found that on several occasions, he shuffled amount from one bank to another to avoid nil balance. He was using his mother’s phone for quite some time and she was not much vigilant to notice this. I am hopeless now as the money was saved for my son’s future,” the father said.

PUBG earns most of its revenue from these in-app purchases, and has faced strong contempt consistently owing to this reason.

Congress and DMK mouthpieces peddle fake news about PM’s Leh hospital visit

By
The Commune
-

A Twitter handle by the name Rofl Republic tweeted a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that a conference hall was converted into a ward with Army men “to facilitate PM’s photoshoot”.  It even said that the Army men “posed like injured patients”.

https://twitter.com/i_theindian/status/1279136203141378049

This tweet was retweeted by Sumanth Raman, former quiz master of BSNL sports quiz and currently a TV panellist and Twitter personality with more than 251K followers.  Mr. ‘Know-all’ Sumanth Raman is known for being an expert on everything under the sun.

Frontline Associate Editor RK Radhakrishnan too retweeted a similar tweet in Tamil.

Savukku Shankar another prominent Twitter handle too retweeted the tweet by Rofl Republic.

As this became viral, the Ministry of Defence had to issue a clarification on the same.

The clarification said that there have been unsubstantiated and malicious accusations from certain quarters regarding the Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the General Hospital on July 3.

“It is clarified that the said facility is part of the Crisis Expansion capacity of 100 beds and is very much part of the General Hospital complex.”, the release read.

It stated that the COVID19 situation necessitated the conversion of some wards of the GH into isolation facilities.

“Hence, this hall which otherwise was normally used as a Training Audio Video Hall was converted into a ward ever since the hospital was also designated as COVID treatment hospital”, it said.

The Jawans injured in the Galwan Valley are being treated since their arrival in this hall.

It is to be noted that Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane and the Army Commander to visited the same facility before the Prime Minister’s visit.

“It is unfortunate that aspersions are being cast on how our brave Armed Forces are treated”, it added.

19 lakh tap connections provided in just 3 months under Jal Jeevan Mission

By
The Commune
-

Providing for water through a direct piped water connection still remain the wishes of many across India. A piped water connection gives dignity and empowers them, especially women as they don’t have to walk long distances to fetch water and thereby improving their standard of life.

Keeping this in mind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Jal Jeevan Mission on August 15, 2019 (73rd Independence day). Work on this mission is being jointly implemented with the states.

The main purpose of this mission is to provide piped water connect to every home. It aims to provide functional household tap connection (FHTC) to every household by 2024 and ensure adequate drinking water supply at the rate of 55 litres per capita per day (lpcd). The year 2019-20 saw more than 84 lakh households getting provided with piped water connections, just 7 months after the launch. In the first quarter of 2020-21, 19 lakh tap connections have been provided in villages across the country.

Even amidst the pandemic, the government has been able to pull of this feat due to the concerted efforts of the state government. The Centre has been working on war footing to ensure piped water connection for all households so that people don’t gather in public spots to fetch water. This will also provide employment opportunities to local workers and boost the rural economy.

Rajdeep Sardesai tries to defame BJP, ends up exposing Congress

By
The Commune
-

Rajdeep Sardesai, of India Today group had on July 1 put out a tweet claiming that a hospital in Davanagere in Karnataka had not paid salaries to its doctors for 16 months in apparently pointing fingers at the BJP government in the state. He took a dig at the Prime Minister’s call for Junta Curfew who had asked the people of India to show solidarity to frontliners fighting the virus by clapping, ringing bells, etc and said that “There is no point in saluting corona warriors, beating Thalis if basic stipends/salaries are not paid on time”.

 

However, it has emerged that the said hospital named JJM Medical College belongs to Congress man Sri. Shamanur Shivashankarappa, who is also the MLA of Davanagere South Assembly Constituency.

Dr. Shamanur Shivashankarappa is also the Hon. Secretary of the hospital.

Pattabiram Tidel Park construction underway

By
The Commune
-

The Tamil Nadu government under AIADMK has begun construction work for its first Tidel Park at Pattabiram near Avadi and is expected to be completed by 2022.

The first phase of the project has an estimated cost of ₹235 crore and comprises of ground plus 21 floors with 5.57 lakh sq.ft. floor space.

Taamesek Engineering Consortium was the engineering consultant selected through the tender process under the Engineering-Procurument-Construction mode.

Minister Ma Foi K. Pandiarajan who is also the MLA of Avadi constituency said that work began month ago when the state government announced relaxation for the real estate sector.

The Pattabiram Tidel Park would be the first integrated project on the northern side of the city.

Currently most of the software parks and companies are located along the Old Mahabalipuram Road, the southern part of the city. The traffic congestion has been a consistent problem for residents and those commuting along this road.

The Tidel Park at Pattabiram would help in reducing the commuting distance for office goers who otherwise have to travel to the other end thereby resulting in easing of traffic congestion in OMR which will also help in enhancing the productivity and profitability for companies.

The Minister was quoted saying in The Hindu that close to 5,000 software professionals from this region were taking buses to various IT belts.

Man wears gold mask to prevent COVID-19

By
Preetika Parashuraman
-

Shankar Kurade, who now goes by the name Gold Man is a resident of Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune. In order to prevent himself from contracting COVID-19, he got himself a mask that is made of gold.

The gold mask has minute holes for him to breathe easily. The mask costs ₹. 2.89 lakhs but he is not sure if it is effective.

He said he would love to arrange for gold masks for his family. However, he believes if social distancing norms and other precautionary measures are followed, we can be safe.

He loved gold since he was a child. When asked about the source of inspiration for his gold mask he said that he saw a man on television wearing a gold mask and it sparked this idea. He then spoke to his goldsmith who made the mask within a week.

To reduce the spread of COVID-19, Centre for Disease Control and Prevention recommends  cloth face coverings in public settings when around people outside of their household, especially when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.

Pune currently records over a 5000 cases of COVID-19 with more than 2000 recovered and 274 deaths.

Source: ANI

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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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