20.06.2024 Editorial
20.06.2024 Editorial
4 ஒரு பழங்காலத் தளத்தில் எழும்பும் ஒரு புதிய வளாகம் : நாளந்தாவின் கதை Indian 27
-சந்தோஷ் சிங், அர்ஜுன் சென்குப்தா Express
What does the report by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development
highlight? How important is snow persistence? How much of a role does climate change
play in river basins receiving low levels of snowmelt this year?
The Ganga river basin — India’s largest — reached a record low snow persistence in 2024,
the Hindu Kush Himalaya snow update of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain
Development (ICIMOD) has reported. The Brahmaputra and the Indus basins have suffered
similarly, threatening water supply to millions of people. “Tragically this is yet another
postcard from the frontlines of a climate crisis that is accelerating even beyond
scientists’ projections and causing huge challenges in one of the most populated regions
of the world,” Miriam Jackson, Cryosphere Lead at ICIMOD and a contributor to reports of
the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, told The Hindu.
Snow persistence is the fraction of time snow is on the ground. When this snow melts, it
provides water to people and ecosystems. In the river basins of the Hindu Kush Himalaya
(HKH), snowmelt is the biggest source of water in the streams. Overall, it contributes 23%
of the runoff to the region’s 12 major river basins every year. The HKH mountains extend
around 3,500 km over eight countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India,
Nepal, Myanmar, and Pakistan. These mountains are also called the “water towers of
Asia” because they are the origins of 10 crucial river systems on the continent — Amu
Darya, Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, Mekong, Yangtse, Yellow river,
and Tarim. These river basins provide water to almost one-fourth of the world’s
population and are a significant freshwater source for 240 million people in the HKH
region.
The authors of the 2024 HKH snow update analysed data from 2003 to 2024 and found
significant fluctuations in snow persistence between November and April every year,
when snow accumulates above ground. Based on this, they made grim predictions of
lasting impact on the people in the region as well as those downstream of the river
basins.
In India, snow persistence in the Ganga, the Brahmaputra, and the Indus river basins
dropped significantly in 2024. The Ganga river basin noted its lowest snow persistence in
22 years, 17% below the long-term historical average (also known as ‘normal’). The
previous holder of this dubious distinction was 2018, when it was 15.2% below normal. In
2015, on the other hand, snow persistence was 25.6% above normal.
Similarly, snow persistence in the Brahmaputra basin was 14.6% below normal in 2024. It
was worse in 2021, when the average persistence was 15.5% below normal. In the Indus
river basin, snow persistence fell 23.3% below normal this year although this was offset
by excesses in parts of the lower altitudes.
Outside India, the basin of the Amu Darya river — which flows through Central Asia —
recorded its lowest snow persistence in 2024: 28.2% below normal. The figure for the
Helmand river, an important source of drinking water for Iran and Afghanistan, was
almost 32% below normal in 2024, beating a record set in 2018. Persistence in the part
where the Mekong river originates in the Himalaya was only slightly below normal this
time. (This river’s delta is Vietnam’s “rice bowl”.)
The primary reason for the lower persistence in 2024 was weak western disturbances,
ICIMOD remote sensing specialist and author of the report Sher Muhammad told The
Hindu.
Western disturbances are low-pressure systems that originate over the Mediterranean
Sea, the Caspian, and the Black Seas and bring rain and snow to the HKH region in winter.
“The region where these storms originate experienced persistently high sea-surface
temperatures,” Mr. Muhammad explained. “This disruption weakened and delayed the
arrival of the western disturbance, resulting in reduced winter precipitation and snowfall
in the HKH region. The pattern of high temperatures and altered weather systems
explains both the record low snow persistence in 2024 and similar historical records.”
“We have warned for years that the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit that governments signed up
to in the Paris Agreement is not ambitious enough to protect the snow and ice, people
and nature of the Hindu Kush Himalayas because the target is a global average, and the
real temperature increase will be far higher here,” Ms. Jackson added.
The persistence of snow in China’s Yellow River basin exceeded the normal value by
20.2% in 2024. “The Yellow river basin is an area where the East Asian winter monsoon
brings cold, dry air from Siberia and Mongolia,” Mr. Muhammad said. “When this cold air
mass interacts with moist air from other regions, particularly the Pacific Ocean, it can
result in snowfall over the higher altitudes of the upper Yellow River basin.”
“When the cold air from the east Asian winter monsoon systems interacts with moist air
masses from the Pacific Ocean, it can result in snowfall at higher elevations in the
eastern Himalaya,” Mr. Muhammad added.
Snow persisting on the ground is important for the Ganga river basin because its melt
contributes to 10.3% of the latter’s water, versus 3.1% from glacier melts. In the
“Lower snow in 2024 may affect water availability, particularly and most importantly in
the Indus basin, if there is less rainfall in the early season,” Mr. Muhammad said.
In the long term, experts say, reforestation with native tree species can help the ground
retain more snow. Better weather forecasting and early warning systems can also help
local communities prepare for impending water stress. “Improving water infrastructure
and developing policies for protecting areas receiving snowfall are important for
long-term change,” according to Mr. Muhammad. “Communities’ involvement in local,
national level decision-making and promoting regional cooperation are vital for
comprehensive solutions for the sustainability of snow.”
Ms. Jackson also stressed on the need to reduce emissions, which would mitigate
increasing sea-surface and ground temperatures, both of which lower the persistence of
snow. “The key work for all of us concerned about a liveable future on the earth is to
build the political will for our government representatives and business leaders to cut the
cord on dirty fossil energy consumption and production, especially among G-20 countries,
which account for 81% of all emissions,” she said.
கங்கை நதிப் படுகையில் தரைப் பனி முக்கியமானது. இது கங்கை நீரில் 10.3%
பங்களிக்கிறது. இதற்கு மாறாக, பனிப்பாறை உருகுதல் 3.1% பங்களிக்கிறது.
பிரம்மபுத்திரா மற்றும் சிந்து படுகைகளும் பனி உருகுவதால் பயனடைகின்றன.
பிரம்மபுத்திராவின் நீரில் 13.2% மற்றும் சிந்து நதியின் நீரில் 40% பனி உருகுதல்
வழங்குகிறது. பனிப்பாறை உருகுதல் இந்த வடிநிலங்களில் முறையே 1.8% மற்றும் 5%
பங்களிக்கிறது.
The problems of refugees demand international cooperation and India needs to live up to
its image of serving ‘the still larger cause of humanity’.
Today, the world has over 43.4 million refugees, and with conflicts raging in different
parts of the world, this number is only increasing. But as it rises, we also run the risk of
treating these people as figures in a statistical compilation, and not human beings with
needs, fears, hopes and wants. Yet this, precisely, is what they are. And World Refugee
Day (June 20) is a sombre occasion to think of all those human beings — a ceaseless
succession of families with dreams and desires, laughter and joy — whose lives have
been uprooted, all those homes that have been destroyed, and all those futures that have
been jeopardised. But this is also an occasion to think of safe havens granted, asylum
ensured, refugees protected, and solutions found.
India is well-poised to commemorate this poignant day. History, after all, is on our side.
Our record of granting asylum goes back millennia, from the Jews who fled to India
centuries before Christ after the demolition of their Jerusalem Temple by the Babylonians
and then the Romans, to the Zoroastrians fleeing Islamic persecution in Persia, to the East
Bengalis — for the cause of whose nationhood we waged war with Pakistan in 1971,
liberating what became Bangladesh — Tibetans and Sri Lankan Tamils in more recent
years, alongside streams of Nepalis, Afghans and Rohingyas. As a nation that attained
independence against the backdrop of one of the most horrific refugee crises in history,
when 13 million to 15 million people crossed the freshly created borders between India and
Despite our glorious history of affording solace and shelter to refugees from the world
over, it is ironic that India is neither a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention (which
outlines the rights of asylum seekers and refugees, alongside the obligations of host
states) nor to its 1967 Protocol. Nor does our country have a domestic asylum
framework. Whereas, with our history, we ought to lead the global march on the question
of refugee rights, our present actions and lack of a legal framework does our heritage no
credit, shames us in the eyes of the world, and fails to match up to our stellar past track
record.
It was to address these gaping lacunae that I introduced, in February 2022, a Private
Member’s Bill in the Lok Sabha, seeking the enactment of a Refugee and Asylum law. My
Bill laid down comprehensive criteria for recognising asylum seekers and refugees, and
prescribed specific rights and duties accruing from such status. This legislation was
proposed because of our government’s failure to honour the international legal principle
of non-refoulement — the cornerstone of refugee law, which states that no country
should send a person to a place where they may suffer persecution — and even more, its
betrayal of India’s impeccable tradition of granting asylum to strangers.
Titled the Asylum Bill, 2021, it followed close on the heels of our government expelling to
Myanmar two batches of Rohingya refugees despite the grave risk of persecution in the
country they had fled. In conducting this act of “refoulement” in violation of international
law, our government revealed both religious bigotry (the refugees were Muslim) and
intolerance. In fact, in 2017, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a circular classifying
Rohingyas as “illegal migrants”, leading to their being callously flung into detention centres
across India, where they languish in deplorable conditions — unable to communicate with
their families and without any access to medical facilities, food, sanitation and water
supply — until they are deported. As of August 2023, over 700 Rohingyas were in
detention throughout India.
In a state of suspense
In the absence of a consistent and comprehensive law to deal with asylum seekers, we
lack a clear perspective on refugee management. We have a flurry of such laws as the
Foreigners Act, 1946, the Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939, the Passports Act (1967),
the Extradition Act, 1962, the Citizenship Act, 1955 (including its ominous 2019
amendment) and the Foreigners Order, 1948, all of which club all foreign individuals
together as “aliens”. Because India has neither subscribed to international conventions on
the topic nor set up a domestic legislative framework to deal with refugees, their
problems are dealt with in an ad hoc manner, and like other foreigners, they always face
the possibility of being deported. While speaking of refugee protection, we must not limit
ourselves just to providing asylum. We need a rigorous mechanism to ensure that
refugees can access basic public services — chief among them medical facilities and
educational institutions — and legally seek jobs to get back on their feet.
We can, and must, do better. India should enact a National Asylum Law, such as the one I
have presented to Parliament. We currently host more than two lakh refugees, but the
Bharatiya Janata Party government’s churlish attitude to the Rohingya and other
“inconvenient” refugees risks putting us in the global doghouse. Had it been enacted, my
Bill would have placed India at the forefront of asylum management in the world. It would
have vindicated our steadfast and immemorial commitment to humanitarian and
democratic values while dealing with refugees.
In 1996, the Supreme Court of India held that not just Indians but everybody living in India,
irrespective of nationality, enjoys the inviolable rights guaranteed by Articles 14, 20 and
21 of the Constitution of India. On these grounds, the apex court, in the landmark case of
National Human Rights Commission vs State Of Arunachal Pradesh & Anr., stopped the
forcible eviction of Chakma refugees who had entered Arunachal Pradesh in 1995.
The Court held that an application for asylum must be properly processed, and till a
decision is made whether to grant or refuse asylum, the state cannot forcibly evict an
asylum seeker. Our judiciary, therefore, has already pointed us towards the golden path:
now we must scrupulously tread it. Yet, at times, different judges have taken radically
different approaches, which we saw aplenty in the Rohingya case. The enactment and
enumeration of refugee rights will reduce our reliance on judge-centric approaches — or,
even worse, the whims of Home Ministry bureaucrats, police officers and politicians.
The problems of refugees worldwide are problems that demand international cooperation.
India, as a pillar of the world community and as a significant pole in the emerging
multipolar world, must play its own part — on its own soil as well as on the global stage —
in this noble task, devising solutions for refugees that offer blueprints beyond borders. In
so doing, we would uphold our own finest traditions and the highest standards of our
democracy, alongside demonstrating that we truly are what we have forever claimed to
be: a vishwaguru, striving inexorably to serve, in the words of Jawaharlal Nehru, “the still
larger cause of humanity”. This is a worthwhile aspiration for all of us who care about
what India stands for, both at home and in the world.
Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament , spent 11 years (1978-89) working for the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees, including three and a half years as head of its Singapore
office at the peak of the Vietnamese ‘boat people’ crisis. He is also an author and
columnist who has long advocated the passage of a refugee/asylum law in India
© The Hindu, First published on: - June 20, 2024 12:16 am IST
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/blueprints-beyond-borders-for-solace-and-shelte
r/article68308819.ece
ஆவலுடன் காத்திருக்கிறேன்
The Sri Lankan Tamils who arrived on the shores of Tamil Nadu, India, for the first time in
1983 had lost everything. Their only objective was to save their lives from the hate-filled
ethnocentric violence which caused their displacement. Most vulnerable Sri Lankan Tamils
chose India due to its proximity, accessibility and linguistic commonality of Tamil. Though
aware of all the hardships, they were sure of leading a threat-free life in Tamil Nadu.
Since 1983, 3,34,797 Sri Lankan Tamils have sought refuge in Tamil Nadu. They came in
four phases that coincided with the escalation of conflict in Sri Lanka since 1983: 1,34,054
New beginnings
The lifestyle of these populations underwent a drastic change — from one of an individual
family living with basic facilities in hand to that of a sharing of basic facilities. They had to
get attuned to a new life — of living in isolated camps in different locations and also from
their own home set up to life in huts. Often, these looked like temporary sheds or a
common building and entailed the use of public toilets, common water resources for daily
usage and dealing with limited potable water.
Every person in the camp is registered. And every person receives a monthly dole after
a bimonthly roll call that ensures the presence of the person in the camp. In addition to
the cash dole, there are several benefits such as free housing, electricity, water and
monthly food rations. They also have access to all the welfare schemes available to the
people of Tamil Nadu including the latest women’s rights scheme of ₹1,000 per month. In
terms of education, the refugees have access to government schools, and receive the
additional benefit of ₹1,000 a month if they progress to higher education. There are also
specific one-time education support programmes that are available to refugees — arts
and science college students get ₹12,000 and students of engineering courses get
₹50,000. Most recently, the Government of Tamil Nadu has handed over brand new
homes to about 5,000 Sri Lankan Tamils. A costing study that was completed in
end-2023 documented that the government spent about ₹262 crore on refugees (₹170
crore directly and ₹92 crore indirectly) annually.
The welfare schemes form a large part of the protection of the Sri Lankan Tamils to
restore their dignity and empower them to build a sustainable future. This has resulted in
100% enrolment in schools and over 4,500 graduates from the camps. They have been
The treatment of the Sri Lankan refugee manifests a clear concern of every arm of the
state especially in the context of India not being a signatory to the Refugee Convention
of 1951 and in the absence of domestic laws to govern refugees. In a positive turn, the
government of Tamil Nadu went ahead and issued a government order (764) dated
October 28, 2021 renaming the refugee camps as Sri Lankan Tamil Rehabilitation Camps.
This is a clear step in destigmatising the refugee population of the refugee tag.
Henceforth, Sri Lankan refugees are addressed as Displaced Tamil, from Sri Lankan
Tamils in India. This is not merely a shift in nomenclature but a firm stand on restoring the
dignity of the population.
Having lived in India for over two generations, the refugees have constantly empowered
themselves with experience and education. This has happened as a result of advocacy by
OfERR and other well-wishers, donors and political parties that has facilitated the
patronage extended by the Government of Tamil Nadu and the Government of India. The
refugees are now seeking a durable solution to their current situation.
Since the end of the war in Sri Lanka in 2009, a total of 16,641 refugees have returned to
Sri Lanka according to the OfERR database and the UNHCR. While the momentum to
return was picking up at a steady pace, the COVID-19 pandemic, and thereafter the
economic crisis in Sri Lanka, paused and later slowed down the process.
Currently, Indian laws are unable to permit local integration by granting citizenship to the
refugees from Sri Lanka. The option of third country resettlement also remains very slim.
Also, other international crises have taken priority. Given this context, Sri Lankan Tamils
continue to live in uncertainty about their future, dealing with day-to-day challenges.
The story of the Sri Lankan refugee living in the welfare centres of Tamil Nadu is one of a
refugee-care model that is to be emulated. The concern of the Government of Tamil Nadu
and the Government of India towards the Sri Lankan Tamils living in the welfare centres
has resulted in a transformation — of hapless refugees turning into resource persons who
புதிய தொடக்கங்கள்
Spread across 455 acres, it is located in Rajgir, roughly 100 km from Patna, and merely
12 km away from the ruins of the eponymous ancient Buddhist monastery, considered to
be among the greatest centres of learning in all of Antiquity.
The campus of Nalanda University was formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Wednesday.
It was then President APJ Abdul Kalam who officially proposed ‘reviving’ Nalanda in 2006.
Addressing the Bihar Assembly, he said: “To recapture [Nalanda’s] past glory… it has been
proposed to establish a Bodhgaya Nalanda Indo-Asian Institute of Learning in partnership
with select Asian countries”.
In 2007, the proposal to re-establish Nalanda was endorsed at the East Asia Summit in
Mandaue, Philipines. This endorsement was re-iterated in the East Asia Summit of 2009,
in Hua Hin, Thailand.
In total, 17 countries other than India — Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam,
Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore,
South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam — have helped set up of the university.
Ambassadors of these countries attended Wednesday’s inauguration ceremony.The
University is a no-vehicle zone, with visitors, students and faculty having to walk or use
bicycles within the campus. (Photo: X/@narendramodi)
The Bihar Assembly, in 2007, passed the University of Nalanda Bill to facilitate the
creation of a new, international university near the site of the ancient learning centre in
Rajgir. In 2010, Parliament replaced this Act with the Nalanda University Bill, which
deemed the proposed university to be one of “national importance”, and laid down rules
regarding how it would be governed.
In 2013, the masterplan for the campus, proposed by renowned architect B V Doshi’s
Vastu Shilpa Consultants, was chosen after an international competion.
Nalanda University admitted its very first batch of fifteen students in 2014, to the School
of Historical Studies, and the School of Ecology and Environmental studies. Classes were
Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, who had been associated with the project
since 2007, became the University’s first Chancellor, and then-President Pranab
Mukherjee became the first Visitor.
Since 2014, four more schools have been established — the School of Buddhist Studies,
Philosophy and Comparative Religion, the School of Languages and Literature, the School
of Management Studies, and the School of International Relations and Peace Studies. The
university currently offers two-year Master’s courses, PhD programmes, and a few
diploma and certificate courses.
The University has open rooms as study centres, “bottle-shaped” bazaars, and consists
of a shopping arcades for students. (Photo: X/@narendramodi) Campus to behold
By 2022, 90% of the campus’s construction was completed. At the time, the university
boasted 800 students, including 150 international students from 31 countries. At full
capacity, the campus can accommodate as many as 7,500 students and teachers.
With a built area of only 8%, university officials say that the campus attempts to “match
the architectural and geographical setting the ancient Nalanda University would have
provided”. In fact, the administrative block specifically recreates the exposed brick
architecture, and elevated staircase that is the signature image of the Nalanda ruins.
That being said, the campus is a mix of the modern and the traditional. Natural light
streams into classrooms’ smart wideboards and electronic podiums. While air-conditioned,
it utilises various methods, such as hollow walls, to provide natural cooling.
Water bodies — Kamal Sagar ponds — cover over 100 acres of the campus’s area.
Another 100 acres are covered in greenery. The campus boasts a drinking water
treatment plant, and a water recycling plant, as well as a yoga centre, a state-of -the-art
Mahavira in Sanskrit/Pali means ‘great monastery’. Nalanda Mahavira was active from the
fifth to thirteenth century CE.
The chronicles of seventh century Chinese traveller Hsuan Tsang provide the most
detailed description of ancient Nalanda. Hsuan Tsang estimated that at the time of his
visit, the monastery housed 10,000 students, 2,000 teachers, and a gargantuan retinue of
servants.
Multiple scholars, however, have disputed this figure based on archaeological evidence
from the ancient university’s ruins. That being said, Nalanda was definitely not an average
Buddhist vihara.
“Under its aged and saintly abbot, Silabhadra, Nalanda also taught the Vedas, Hindu
philosophy, logic, grammar and medicine. It would seem that the student population was
not not confined to the Buddhist order, but that candidates of other faiths who
succeeded in passing a strict oral examination were admitted,” historian A L Basham
wrote in his classic The Wonder that was India (1954).
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd, First published on:June 20, 2024 07:23 IST
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/as-a-new-campus-rises-at-an-ancient-site-th
e-story-of-nalanda-9403090/
In the grip of high temperatures during the day, where seven heatwave days have been
recorded in June alone (so far), a rise in night temperatures is a new worry.
On Tuesday, Delhi recorded its highest minimum temperature since 1969 — a sweltering
35.2 degree Celsius.
In the grip of high temperatures during the day, where seven heatwave days have been
recorded in June alone (so far), a rise in night temperatures is a new worry.
This month, so far, the city has seen six consecutive warm nights — temperatures
surging during the day have not fallen below the 40 degree Celsius mark at night since
May 12.
The highest minimum temperature between 1969 and 2024 was 34.9 degree Celsius
recorded on May 23, 1972. India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials said records
before 1969 have not been analysed yet and there is no clarity whether the temperature
recorded on Tuesday is the highest ever for Delhi.
Two stations in Haryana — Fatehabad and Mahendragarh — recorded warmer mornings
than Delhi at 35.4 degree Celsius and 35.3 degree Celsius.
According to IMD, a warm night is one in which the night’s minimum temperature is above
normal by a difference of 4.5 to 6.4 degree Celsius. A severe warm night is observed
when the departure from normal is more than 6.4 degree Celsius. The precondition for
both is that the temperature during the day must be 40 degree Celsius or more.
In a 24-hour cycle, the temperature falls to its lowest point in the early hours of the day,
most commonly between 3 am and 5 am, an IMD official told The Indian Express.
Any respite from the heat is expected only during this time, especially given that Delhi
and several parts of northwest India are facing a rain deficit of more than 90%, and
maximum temperatures have consistently been over the 40 degree mark.
“The reason that more heat stroke cases are being reported now, despite the maximum
temperature hitting its peak in the last week of May, is the rise in night temperatures.
There is no respite at all” a doctor at a Delhi government hospital told The Indian Express
on the condition of anonymity.
“Moreover, homes are also warmer than the outdoors at night. So people are out in the
open when it is the hottest outside [during the day] and indoors when the dip in
temperature is not very much,” the doctor said.
The IMD is yet to do a detailed study of temperature extremes in June. However, publicly
available statistics on temperatures in June in Delhi show that this is the first time since
2011, when 12 days between June 1 and June 19 have seen a minimum temperature of
more than 30 degree Celsius. 2018, which also saw an exceptionally warm June, saw 10
such days. The normal minimum temperature for this time of the month is 27.5 degree
Celsius.
Several studies have cited the ‘urban heat island’ effect as one of the causes of the
increase in temperature in cities. The effect is a local phenomenon, seen when highly
In Delhi, for several decades, areas that lie alongside the Ridge and the greener Lutyens’
Delhi have recorded a lower maximum and minimum temperature as compared to more
urbanised pockets.
Studies say that because of the concretised nature of these pockets, heat gets trapped
and the variation in the temperature can range from 2 degree to 4 degree within a few
kilometres.
A recent study by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) also says that the rate of
cooling down in cities is now slower than it was in between 2001 and 2010 — contributing
to warmer nights, overall. The study, ‘Decoding the Urban Heat Stress among Indian
cities’, looked at data from Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bengaluru
from January 2001 to April 2024.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd, First published on: June 20, 2024 07:06 IST
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-climate/highest-minimum-temperat
ure-why-delhis-warm-nights-are-cause-of-worry-9403105/
The monsoon arrived over Kerala on time, and progressed well until June 10. But it has
been dry and hot over the Southern peninsula thereafter. The Bay of Bengal branch of
the monsoon too, has not progressed.
On almost all days in June so far, North and Northwest India have experienced ‘heatwave’
to ‘severe heatwave’ conditions. The southwest monsoon that made an early onset over
Kerala has advanced until Maharashtra, but maximum temperatures in the plains of North
India have sustained around 45-47 degrees Celsius.
The June-September southwest monsoon brings more than 70% of India’s annual rainfall.
Climatologically, the monsoon arrives over the Andaman Sea in the third week of May
and advances into the mainland through Kerala, June 1 being the normal date of onset.
Cumulative rainfall over the country from June to September depends on multiple factors.
It also shows natural inter-annual variability, which makes every monsoon different.
Alongside the quantum of rainfall, its distribution is also vital.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast ‘above normal’ rainfall this
season. Quantitatively, it is expected to be 106% of the Long Period Average of 880 mm
(1971-2020 data).
The ‘above normal’ rainfall is being attributed mainly to the soon-to-emerge La Niña
conditions, which are known to positively influence the Indian monsoon, and a positive
phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD).
The monsoon arrived over the Andaman Sea and Nicobar Islands on May 19, and hit the
Kerala coast on May 30, two days ahead of its normal date. It reached over Nagaland,
Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, and parts of Tripura six days early — marking a
rare but not-unheard-of simultaneous onset over Kerala and large parts of Eastern India.
After May 30, the monsoon progressed every day, and it had covered Andaman &
Nicobar Islands, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Mahé, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karnataka,
Telangana, and large parts of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra by June 10.
This kept the all-India rainfall positive at 36.5 mm, or 3% surplus as on June 10. Over all
these states and UTs, the monsoon arrived three to five days early.
From June 11 onward, the monsoon has remained stagnant, and dry and hot conditions
have returned to the Southern peninsula. Over the past week, all-India rainfall has been
“Initially, the monsoon came in as a big current but did not bring much rain. This is not a
typical monsoon flow, compared to what was expected,” M Rajeevan, former secretary,
Ministry of Earth Sciences, said.
On Tuesday, the Northern Limit of Monsoon — the imaginary line indicating the monsoon’s
progress — passed through Navsari, Jalgaon, Amravati, Chandrapur, Bijapur, Sukma,
Malkangiri, Vizianagaram and Islampur.
The overall deficit is mainly due to states where the onset of the monsoon has been
delayed. These include Odisha (minus 47%), West Bengal (minus 11%), Bihar (minus 72%)
and Jharkhand (minus 68%) as on Tuesday.
The return of dry conditions over Manipur, Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Nagaland, Kerala,
Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar islands, too, has contributed to the deficient
all-India rainfall.
The IMD declared onset over Kerala on May 30, and the monsoon advanced over large
parts of eastern India on the same day, mainly due to Cyclone Remal, which made landfall
over the West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts on May 26, and its remnants travelled
further inland. Heavy to very heavy rain lashed Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Sikkim,
leading to floods, mudslides, and landslides in early June.
Strong westerly/ southwesterly winds from the Arabian Sea propelled the monsoon over
the Southern peninsula in early June. Multiple cyclonic circulations along the western
coast also provided conducive conditions until June 10, after which the absence of
synoptic systems led to the southwesterly winds losing steam and the monsoon
weakening.
The monsoon is currently active over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim,
Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and sub-Himalayan West Bengal. Rainfall activity will
pick up along Konkan and northern Karnataka during the latter half of this week. But all
other regions of the country will remain dry.
Towards the end of this week, the monsoon could advance into the remaining areas of
Maharashtra, some areas of West Bengal, Odisha, some areas of Chhattisgarh and Bihar,
and coastal Andhra Pradesh.
“We expect the monsoon to revive towards the end of June,” Pai said. However, it
remains uncertain when the monsoon could set in over northern India.
The IMD has said that some respite in the heatwave is likely over Jammu and Kashmir and
Himachal Pradesh during this week. Warm nights and hot conditions shall persist over
Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, and Chandigarh until Wednesday, but will abate thereafter.
The June rainfall may end up below normal over the country.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd, First published on: June 19, 2024 23:27 IST
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-climate/india-monsoon-rainfall-fore
cast-weather-rains-9400641/
இது ஜூன் 10-ம் தேதி நிலவரப்படி அகில இந்திய அளவில் 36.5 மிமீ அல்லது
3% உபரி மழையை நேர்மறையாக வைத்திருந்தது. இந்த அனைத்து மாநிலங்கள்
மற்றும் யூனியன் பிரதேசங்களிலும், பருவமழை மூன்று முதல் ஐந்து நாட்கள்
முன்னதாகவே வரத் தொடங்கிவிட்டது.
An MP has complained that CISF personnel misbehaved with him in the Parliament
complex, resurrecting concerns that the force, which took over the duties of Parliament
Security in May, is unsuitable for the job.
DMK Rajya Sabha MP M Mohamed Abdulla has complained to Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar
about “unprecedented misbehaviour” by personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force
(CISF) who allegedly “questioned [him] on the purpose of [his] visit” to the Parliament
complex on June 18. Abdulla has said the incident has “deeply affected” him and left him
“in a state of shock”, and asked Dhankhar “to take action on the erring personnel and
uphold the dignity of Rajya Sabha and its members”.
Opposition MPs amplified Abdulla’s grievance on Wednesday. There has been disquiet
among MPs ever since the Parliament complex was brought under a new security regime
in May, and the Parliament Security Service (PSS) was replaced by CISF, a Central Armed
Police Force under the Union Home Ministry.
Several MPs had expressed apprehension when this job passed to an armed force that
was originally raised “for the better protection and security of industrial undertakings”.
The change was prompted by an extraordinary breach of security at Parliament House
on December 13 last year, when two men jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the
visitors’ gallery and set off smoke canisters.
This April, CISF personnel replaced the 150 personnel of the Delhi Police who were
deployed at the complex alongside the PSS.
On May 13, the office of the Joint Secretary (Security), who heads the PSS, issued an
order saying that a letter had been received from the DIG, CISF, that certain duties and
facilities “may be handed over to the CISF” by specified dates up to May 20.
This included the checking of passes at the flap gates of all buildings in the complex and
anti-sabotage checks; handing over of the dogs of the Dog Squad and control of CCTV
control rooms; and control of vehicular access through Parliament’s gates.
The CISF’s letter came days after the Home Ministry had appointed a seven-member
panel to assess whether the CISF should take over all aspects of security at the complex
— from managing security arrangements to issuing passes to regulating the movement of
MPs, VIPs, officials, and the media. This committee, headed by CISF DIG Ajay Kumar, was
asked to submit its view “at the earliest”.
The list of duties that were to be taken over by the CISF include:
* Maintenance of order in the complex, access control in the lobbies and movement
regulation and discipline in the public galleries and press gallery;
* Reception office, issue of temporary passes, and operation of gadgets in the complex;
* Coordination with other security agencies, security arrangements during meetings and
conferences, rehearsal of drills, security arrangements during presidential addresses;
* Presidential and vice presidential elections; assistance and protection to the Chair.
Sources said that Parliament Security is currently in charge of lobbies, which include the
chambers of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and the main reception.
The Watch and Ward Committee was set up on the initiative of Vithalbhai Patel, who was
then president (equivalent to today’s Speaker) of the Central Legislative Assembly, the
lower house of legislature of British India. This followed the incident of April 8, 1929, when
revolutionaries Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw two feeble bombs and
pamphlets in the Central Assembly and raised slogans “to make the deaf hear”.
According to an official document of Parliament, “this incident underlined the need for an
exclusive and effective security arrangement for the Assembly” and, on September 3
that year, Patel constituted a committee “to formulate a scheme for creating a security
service exclusively for the Central Legislative Assembly”.
According to the Sectional Manual of Office Procedure published by the Rajya Sabha
Secretariat, “the main responsibility of Parliament Security Service is to provide and
maintain Pro-active, Preventive and Protective Security measures within the Parliament
House Complex, for safeguarding Members of Parliament, visitors and employees”.
The approach of the PSS “revolves around the principles of Access Control based on
proper authorization, verification, identification and authentication of human and material
resources entering the Parliament House Complex with the help of modern security
gadgets”.
PSS personnel were credited with foiling the December 13, 2001 attack on Parliament.
Two PSS personnel — Matbar Singh Negi and Jagdish Prasad Yadav — were killed, along
with six Delhi Police personnel and a gardener.
But what was the need to create a separate cadre of personnel for this job?
Officials in Parliament House pointed out that it is important for Parliament to have
control over its precincts through a specially trained cadre of its own, which is
independent from the control of the executive.
“This is essential to ensure that the government of the day does not limit the access of
lawmakers to Parliament, impose its security on Parliament, or put limits on the potential
for Parliament to use its own precincts,” a senior Parliament official said.
PSS personnel are specially trained to identify MPs and other VIPs. The Manual mentioned
above says that with time, the PSS has “acquired specialization in the field of
Identification of Members of Parliament and VIPs”.
According to Achary, the PSS “is under the control of the Speaker, and if at all there
arises a need to change the composition of the security system, it has to be done under
the direction of the Speaker, not by any Ministry”.
Om Birla, Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha, has said that the security of the Parliament
House complex would remain under the control of the Lok Sabha. According to Birla,
instead of the multiple agencies that were involved earlier — Delhi Police, CRPF, Lok
Sabha’s own security — there would now be a single agency, CISF, which would be
accountable to Lok Sabha through the Joint Secretary (Security).
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd, First published on:June 20, 2024 10:06 IST
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/security-in-parliament-tamil-nadu-mp-abdulla
-complaint-cisf-9403097/
Sullivan’s visit was proof that India and the US remain focused on the foremost strategic
challenges, notwithstanding other irritants.
This week, US national security adviser (NSA) Jake Sullivan and deputy secretary of state
Kurt Campbell met India’s NSA Ajit Doval for the annual meeting of the initiative on critical
and emerging technologies (iCET). Sullivan also held talks with foreign minister S
Jaishankar and called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As HT anticipated in January
2023 during iCET’s launch, this has been a game-changer in the relationship. It is clearly
driven by the need to counter China’s growing edge and capabilities in the tech domain.
But the mechanism is also driven by a positive agenda that’s based on India and the US
leveraging each other’s comparative advantages and building capabilities.
Sullivan’s visit is also an important signal of the political commitment to the India-US
relationship. Controversies such as the allegations of an Indian government official being
involved in an assassination plot of an American citizen in New York — a man India
considers a terrorist — have affected ties; indeed, just this week, American law
enforcement officials made it clear they won’t tolerate any attempt to silence or harm
their citizens, and an accused, Nikhil Gupta, was extradited to the US from the Czech
Republic. Both governments, to their credit, have compartmentalised the issue and not let
it affect the wider strategic relationship. It’s important to retain that focus.
© Hindustan Times, First Published on: Jun 19, 2024 09:28 PM IST
https://www.hindustantimes.com/editorials/indiaus-ties-get-an-icet-injection-10171881268
5802.html
Rural revival
-Editorial
The key finding of the HCES is that the share of food in monthly per capita consumption
expenditure (MPCE) in rural households has fallen below the 50 cent cent mark, for the
first time ever. It is 46 per cent of the average MPCE of ₹3,773 (current prices) for the
rural individual. This raises the issue of whether the consumer price index (rural), which
ascribes a weight of 54 per cent to food items, should be adjusted accordingly.
It perhaps should, but the question is by how much. Since the average MPCE value for
rural India falls in the 60th percentile, there is likely to be a large variation in consumption
patterns across income spectrum, with the upper end of the distribution dominating the
shift away from food items. However, the impact of free foodgrain has probably blunted
the edge of deprivation, lifting discretionary spending. It is remarkable that share of
conveyance, medical expenses, consumer services in rural MPCE, exceeds that of
cereals at 4.91 per cent. The HCES shows that within the food basket the share of cereals
There are signs of convergence in the rural-urban gap. The difference between rural and
urban MPCE as a percentage of the former is 71.2 per cent now, against 83.9 per cent in
2011-12. In urban India, too there has been a shift away from food items, and within that
away from cereals. The expenditure on conveyance, durable goods and milk and milk
products stands out. Here too, there are disparities across the income distribution, for an
average MPCE of ₹6,459 (current prices). The lower share of medical expenses in urban
India compared to rural, points to the availability of better health facilities.
Analysts have observed that it is important to arrive at a measure of rural and urban GDP
to place consumption data in perspective. The HCES data gives rise to basic policy
questions. For example, cereals inflation looks a puzzle in view of a growing consumer
shift away from it. A better understanding of how incomes, debt and inflation are driving
consumption is called for by conflating different data sets. This could lead to precise
framing of welfare and other policies.
© The Hindu Business Line (P) Ltd, First published on: June 19, 2024 at 09:16 PM.
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/editorial/rural-revival/article68308035.ec
e
கிராமப்புற மறுமலர்ச்சி
-தலையங்கம்
While the minor in the Pune case might eventually be granted a shot at a fresh start,
erasure of Vimukta childhood by State institutions begs to be underscored.
There was an uproar recently over the accident in Pune caused by a minor allegedly
drinking and driving a high-end vehicle, which resulted in the death of two individuals. The
aftermath of the accident elicited scrutiny over the role of the Juvenile Justice Board
(JJB) — comprising a judicial magistrate first class (JFMC) or metropolitan magistrate and
two social workers, constituted under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act,
Compare this with the case of a young boy from the Kanjar community, the same age as
the minor in the Pune case, who was presumed to be an adult, and remanded to judicial
custody for a week. Subsequently, he was shifted to an observation home for nearly two
weeks for allegedly transporting mahua, a liquor traditionally brewed by his community.
At the heart of this schism lies the “best interest” principle governing the bail framework
under JJA. In analysing this, we want to underscore the caste-based framing of childhood
that finds its way into the interpretation of the principle of “best interest” by JJB. This is
especially so for those belonging to Vimukta communities or Denotified Tribes, formerly
deemed as “born criminals” under the repealed Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) of 1871. CTA was
swiftly replaced with the nebulous habitual offender (HO) laws and provisions formulated
in various states that embodied the logic of CTA albeit in an administratively neutral form.
A central tenet of both CTA and HO laws/provisions has been the criminalisation of
families, including children. It is crucial to locate a law like JJA within the socio-legal
history of the criminalisation of Vimukta children.
JJA seeks to consolidate the law relating to two kinds of children: CCL and children in
need of care and protection. The principle of “rehabilitation” not “punishment” is the ethos
of JJA. Therefore, the Act outlines that all the decisions shall be based on the primary
consideration of the “best interest” of the child. This is coupled with the principle of “fresh
start”, which entails no criminal records of any child under the Act being maintained
except in “special circumstances” that remain undefined in the Act.
The provision in Section 12 of JJA with respect to bail for juveniles is also subjected to
the above principles. It does not differentiate between bailable and non-bailable offences.
The Supreme Court in Exploitation of children in orphanages in the State of Tamil Nadu vs
Union of India has observed that a CCL should be released on bail with or without surety.
The bail can only be denied if the release is likely to bring the juvenile into an association
with any known criminal or expose him to moral, physical, or physiological danger, or if
The above adjudication of the bail is corroborated by a social investigation report (SIR)
prepared by a probation officer who visits the residence of the child to collect
information about their “social background”. The format of SIR includes recording a child’s
caste and religion along with detailed information about the socio-economic conditions of
his/her family. This assessment invariably becomes a determination of “honourable,
respectable” families fit to raise children in accordance with caste and religious norms.
There is a special focus on recording the criminal history of family members in SIR, which
immediately excludes Vimukta communities from the aforementioned framework of
Brahminical respectability. In such situations, the probation officer recommends that it is
in the “best interest” of the child to be kept away from their family in an observation
home. Such recommendations are taken into account by JJB in deciding bail.
Under CTA, as sociologist Meena Radhakrishna notes, (Vimukta) children were separated
from their parents to be raised in a “more wholesome atmosphere”. This legacy is
reproduced through HO laws such as the Rajasthan HO Act that requires children whose
“parents are hardened criminals” to be sent to residential schools to segregate them from
society. Everyday policing of habitual offenders (HOs) involving data-driven surveillance
through the maintenance of criminal registers/history sheets also extends to children.
When a child is found to be in conflict with the law, JJA is applied but in breach of the
aforementioned principle of “fresh start”. The branding of the children of the Vimukta
community as HOs makes them susceptible to being implicated in other cases including
being subjected to violence in custody akin to an adult offender.
Despite the non-punitive ethos of the Act, Vimukta children are treated as “criminal
adults” for all intents and purposes. The adultification of children from marginalised
communities is a well-documented phenomenon where teenage/adolescent mistakes are
Tasveer Parmar, Nikita Sonavane and Sagar Soni are members of the Criminal Justice and
Police Accountability Project.
© Hindustan Times, First Published on: Jun 19, 2024 09:32 PM IST
https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/juvenile-justice-and-children-of-lesser-gods-101
718812921612.html
இந்த வேறுபாடு சிறார் நீதி சட்டத்தின் (Juvenile Justice Act (JJA)) ஜாமீன்
அமைப்பில் உள்ள "சிறந்த நலன்" விதியை மையமாகக் கொண்டுள்ளது. இதை நாம்
ஆராயும்போது, "சிறந்த ஆர்வம்" கொள்கையை சிறார் நீதி வாரியம் (JJB) எவ்வாறு
விளக்குகிறது என்பதை குழந்தைப் பருவத்தின் சாதி தொடர்பான பார்வை எவ்வாறு
பாதிக்கிறது என்பதை எடுத்துக்காட்டுகிறோம். இந்த வடிவமைப்பு சிறார் நீதி
வாரியத்தின் (JJB) "சிறந்த ஆர்வம்" கொள்கையின் விளக்கத்தை பாதிக்கிறது. இது
குறிப்பாக விமுக்தா சமூகங்கள் (Vimukta communities) அல்லது சீர்மரபினர்
பழங்குடியினர் விசயத்தில் உண்மை. இந்தக் குழுக்கள் ஒரு காலத்தில் 1871-ம்
ஆண்டின் ரத்து செய்யப்பட்ட குற்றவியல் பழங்குடியினர் சட்டத்தின் (Criminal Tribes
Act (CTA)) கீழ் "பிறவி குற்றவாளிகள்" (born criminals) என்று கருதப்பட்டன.
குற்றவியல் பழங்குடியினர் சட்டம் (CTA) விரைவாக பல்வேறு மாநிலங்களில்
பழக்கமான குற்றவாளி (habitual offender (HO)) சட்டங்கள் மற்றும் விதிகளால்
மாற்றப்பட்டது. இந்த சட்டங்கள் குற்றவியல் பழங்குடியினர் சட்டத்தின் (CTA)
உண்மையை உள்ளடக்கியது. ஆனால், நடுநிலை நிர்வாக வடிவத்தில், குற்றவியல்
பழங்குடியினர் சட்டம் (CTA) மற்றும் பழக்கமான குற்றவாளி (HO) சட்டங்கள்
இரண்டின் மையக் கோட்பாடு குழந்தைகள் உட்பட குடும்பங்களை
குற்றமயமாக்குவதாகும். விமுக்தா சமுகத்தின் குழந்தைகளை குற்றவாளிகளாக்கிய
சமூக-சட்ட வரலாற்றில் சிறார் நீதி சட்டம்(JJA) போன்ற ஒரு சட்டத்தை வைப்பது
முக்கியம்.
*******