This isn’t the first protest and it won’t be the last either. But it would define the way growers resolve their issues
The deadlock between the protesting farmers and the Government shows no sign of ending even after six rounds of deliberations and concerted efforts to reach an amicable solution. Consequently, the protracted protest against the farm laws will drag on. The sit-in of growers from Punjab and Haryana at the Singhu Border was not by choice since they were stopped from entering Delhi. But it would not be accurate to call it a sit-in dharna anymore. It is more of a live-in one. The tractor trolleys the farmers came in have become their home, with canopies of polythene sheets and blankets protecting them from the biting cold. From Singhu Border to Panipat, National Highway NH44 wears the look of a makeshift township. Community kitchens are busy dishing out food and beverages while medical camps are distributing medicines and giving first-aid. And yes, pizza distribution is going on at Singhu Border, much to the amusement of the social and national media. Milling about in the largely rural crowd of growers and Nihangs are people in western outfits as support pours in from people who do not have any connection with agriculture. A group of young girls from Ludhiana is lending support by performing “sewa.”
The sit-in so far is peaceful even though more than 30 of them are said to have died during the protest so far. The farmers want nothing less than the repeal of the three farm laws and legal status for the Minimum Support Price (MSP). The Government insists that it has no intention of withdrawing MSP and the new laws would help achieve the target of doubling the income of farmers by 2022, the target set by the Prime Minister.
The “godi media” is abuzz with stories that the people protesting at the Singhu Border are anything but farmers. They maintain that the growers of the country are happy with the Government. How else would you explain the recent victories of the BJP in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Goa? Meanwhile, the two sides seem to be digging in their heels. The farmers are in for a long haul as the Government wants this agitation to fizzle out like others before it. To be honest, both sides are not helping their cause. The farmers asking for total repeal and not negotiating would not get what they want. The Government says the three laws will end the free run of middlemen and give growers the choice to sell their produce anywhere. In this situation, the Government must take the initiative to ease the situation, as discrediting the protesters doesn’t help in mitigating it.
One thing is for sure, all is not well with Indian agriculture. It provides a livelihood to 70 per cent of the country’s 1.3 billion people, with 82 per cent of farmers being small and marginal. Most farmers in such a scenario are as good as meagre wage earners. Parties may be winning elections but it does not mean that farmers are happy. At least 10,281 people involved in the farm sector ended their lives in 2019, accounting for 7.4 per cent of the total number of suicides in India, says the National Crime Records Bureau’s Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India report for 2019. People commit suicide out of utter helplessness and despair looms large over Indian agriculture, big time.
If one looks at the price structure, it becomes very clear where the problem lies. Everything which comes from the farm sells at a good price to the end consumer. But the farmer gets just 10 to 40 per cent of the price that the consumer pays. The reason being that farm produce changes hands four to five times before it is purchased by the end consumer for use.
“It is pathetic that the producer gets a pittance while the middlemen make money,” says Sahajdeep Singh, a young farmer from Rajasthan. “Things might not work out for the farmer even if middlemen are eliminated. It would then be monopolised by corporates. The farmer would have no negotiating status vis-à-vis the corporates,” he adds.
He fears that corporates might monopolise the distribution chain and reap more profits than all the middlemen put together as they would have better resources to hold and release the stock when the price suits them. Prices for farmers are almost static but inflation is rising and so is the cost of agriculture inputs. The margins are thin and if you are a small or marginal farmer you don’t have a choice but to take a loan. According to the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development data, about 52 per cent of the agricultural households in the country were estimated to be indebted. At the all-India level, about 60 per cent of the outstanding loans were taken from institutional sources which included Government (2.1 per cent), co-operative society (14.8 per cent) and banks (42.9 per cent).
True, the MSP may not be a panacea but it certainly helps them negotiate a better price. Punjab farmers can afford smartphones as their landholding size is more and yield per acre is above average.
According to an estimate, the average Indian agricultural household income is Rs 77,124 in a year. Punjab farmers earn Rs 2,16,708 per annum and that of Bihar Rs 42,684 or roughly Rs 3,500 per month. So forget doubling, even quadrupling their income would not be enough. The farmers would still be dangling below the poverty line.
Indian agriculture sector needs funds. It needs investments in cold storage, an efficient transportation system, irrigation facilities, research and facilities for scientific practices. Despite big talk about the farmers’ income, the actual investment in the sector is going down. So the powers that be provide short-term succour that people can remember when they go to vote. The UPA did it and the NDA is doing it now.
The biggest problem with Indian agriculture is that by the time it is harvest season, farmers are neck-deep in debt as they take loans from banks or a local moneylenders-cum-middlemen to purchase, seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and diesel. So when the harvest comes, they have no option but to sell the whole crop immediately. They cannot wait for prices to swing in their favour.
Sadly, real issues are swept under the carpet and farmers become a pawn in the games political parties play. So far the protest is free from any political influence, consciously or otherwise. It is also non-violent even though farmers are dying of cold. In a protest of this size, things could change instantly. It would, therefore, be in everyone’s interest to resolve the impasse soon. Both must talk with an open mind, keeping the arrogance of power aside. History tells us that farmers’ protests have always been turning points in a nation’s life. This isn’t the first protest and it won’t be the last either. But this would define the way farmers resolve their issues.
(The writer is a columnist and documentary film-maker. The views expressed are personal.)
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are trying to stitch together an inclusive Administration to represent the real face of the US
The Joe Biden Administration is trying to heal the wounds inflicted by the Trump Administration which had split America right down the middle on racial lines. The veteran politician, who is known to be sharp but down to earth, had promised Americans a Cabinet that would be “the most diverse in history” while he was on the campaign trail. This is no surprise given that Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris is the first woman to be elected Vice-President of the US. What makes this feat even more significant is that she is also the first Black and South Asian person to be elected to the key post and might be on her way to becoming the President if Biden chooses not to run for another term at the White House. Now that the two of them have got down to the business of choosing their Cabinet, Biden is keeping his word to a highly polarised nation in the hope that he will be able to undo some of the damage to the social fabric of the country which is already reeling under the impact of the Trump Administration and the Coronavirus outbreak. So far, the President-elect seems to be living up to the vow of an administration that would reflect the “real face of America”. A significant 54 per cent of the White House appointees are people of colour and 61 per cent are women, while Asian-American and Pacific Islander appointees represent more than twice their share of the US’ population and LGBTQ+ appointees have been given a 11 per cent representation. Some of the trailblazing nominees to the Cabinet are Janet Yellen, who will be the first woman to be the Secretary of Treasury, while Neera Tanden will be the first woman of colour and first South Asian to head the Office of Management and Budget. Then there is Lloyd Austin, the first African American to be the Secretary of Defence, followed by Alejandro Mayorkas, who will go down in US history as the first immigrant to lead the Department of Homeland Security. Xavier Becerra will be the first Latino to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
To his credit, the President-elect also appointed the first all-women senior White House communications team, which made headlines globally and sent out the message of gender parity. In 2020-2021, the US seems to have come a long way from the time when in 1791 George Washington sanctified the idea of promoting divergent views in the US Government, even though at that time, ironically, all his appointees were White men. Significantly, since 1933, only 11 US Presidents have named women to Cabinet-level positions even though each successive President, save for the outgoing one, has tried to ensure greater representation of all sections. However, there is a growing demand for an administration that reflects the true America and the Biden-Harris team seems to be trying to achieve that. One of the reasons why it has taken the leader of the supposed “free world” so long to include women and minorities in the decision-making process (even as a developing country like India had a woman Prime Minister way back in 1966, a woman President, Pratibha Patil, in 2007 and numerous women as Chief Ministers) is because in the US, there is a scarcity of women, especially those from the minority base, in elective office. Now as Biden and Harris try to make history and undo the wrongs of the past, one can only hope that the nation will heal itself.
The social commitment to rebuilding systems in stressed times may deliver bigger gains than divisive politics
The Government may have hit the pause button because of the pandemic, sweeping every other crisis under the carpet but it is likely to find its hands full with unresolved issues in 2021. And though he may have beaten many world leaders in actually winning the war of perception — Modi’s political stock continues to be high despite what we may consider as flaws in COVID management, his economic packages or the migrant workers’ pain — the Prime Minister has got to do a lot more than just rely on his party’s electoral victories. First and foremost, he will be tested on the successful rollout of the vaccination programme, a logistical challenge of unimaginable proportions and attendant investments. With the shroud of COVID-19 likely to cast dark shadows over the first half of the year and our public health infrastructure still in a shambles in the countryside, the budgetary allocation for healthcare is likely to stretch the seams. Besides, a tanking economy has its own side-effects and though forecasts project a recovery by the year-end for India, pivoted around a strong base effect, the stressed banking sector and recessionary trends would but naturally contract the GDP growth in the first half when funding for vaccination would be the pressing concern. Besides, joblessness is still a reality and a resultant weak demand arising out of low consumer spends means recovery will be a stutter. Resource mobilisation, too, will be an unprecedented challenge. Politically, the turbulence that has been simmering under the blanket shutdowns, which did encourage a Centrist and absolutist approach to problem-solving, is expected to surface with full force. In fact, the farmers, protesting against the new farm Acts in a depoliticised and pointed manner, have shown that dissent can indeed win the day and bring even the toughest Government to its knees. Will this largely people-driven movement also make the Opposition further irrelevant? Would a leaderless movement emerge as the alternative to the leader-driven politics of our times? Would this revive the dissent against the ruling BJP’s divisive politics, which has reared its ugly head again amid the legislation on love jihad — more an exercise in “otherisation” of minorities than on conversion? If anything, it has reignited the latent anger that was visible in the protests against a religion-based citizenship law and the National Register for Citizens (NRC) and it remains to be seen whether the muffled voices take to the streets again with the Union Ministers spelling out their agenda in no uncertain terms.
The Modi Government must realise that it has a brute majority, it has achieved its core agenda of the Ram temple and mainstreaming Jammu and Kashmir and it has the heft to get things done in Parliament. It doesn’t need to fan the flames but should go back to its core development platforms to redeem itself as a stabiliser of hard times, not a destabiliser. The BJP’s drumroll on its divisive policies is understandable, considering that the polarisation of votes continues to reap it rich electoral dividends. So the party is deploying its proven formula with the Assembly polls scheduled in five States around the middle of the year, by which time the vaccine politics and related controversies are expected to take the centre stage. No matter how much of a prestige fight the States might be for the BJP, it would be wise to respect the imperatives of a post-pandemic world and appear as a transformative party, not a destructive one, under these circumstances. Of course, the only accelerator for Modi’s vaunted appeal is a slipshod Opposition. It cannot read into trends at the right time and, instead of making an issue, waits for the civil protesters to react. Little wonder then that the Opposition parties have been marginalised from the discourse on the farmers or minorities. If the local body polls in States are any indication, there is an undercurrent against the BJP from the high of 2019. It also proves that the grassroots matrix of traditional parties is still intact. But somehow, the Opposition is not being able to coalesce as a national alternative. And the main party that should have been the initiator of such an effort, the Congress, is still sailing rudderless. Both the ruling party and the Opposition must realise that the pandemic has changed socio-political and economic anxieties. Respecting that will change India.
China’s attempt to alter the status quo along the LAC should not be taken lightly as the PLA will have many options available once the snow starts melting
As we see off a rather turbulent and difficult year, it would be worthwhile to review how well the military faced up to the nation’s security challenges and, more importantly, where it goes from here. As has been the case with the vast majority of peoples and countries around the world, the COVID-19 impact has been quite disruptive and debilitating for our military as well. A situation no doubt further compounded by the unprovoked aggression by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which undoubtedly caught the military by surprise.
The year had started on an excellent note with the Government finally biting the bullet and announcing the appointment of General Bipin Rawat as the first Chief of Defence Staff, two decades after it was first officially mooted following the Kargil conflict. It went a step further by carving out a Department of Military Affairs, to be headed by the CDS as its ex officio secretary, to deal with issues pertaining exclusively to military matters. While a year is insufficient to comment on the efficacy of these changes, suffice it to say that General Rawat has not distinguished himself in his new role.
However, the unilateral and partially successful attempt by China to alter the status quo along the LAC thrust a wholly unprepared military into the deep end, pushing all other concerns out of the window. Till the commencement of this imbroglio, the substantial tract of disputed territory that we claim was regularly patrolled by our security forces as per the mutually accepted protocols that have been in place for over two decades. Also, make no mistake, despite all the talk of mutual withdrawal and easing of tensions, there is little doubt that the Chinese have no intention of withdrawing from the occupied areas, especially in the Depsang and Galwan sub-sectors, without making us pay a heavy price.
The PLA now poses a clear and present danger to our positions at Daulat Beg Oldi. Its loss in any future conflict would adversely impact our ability to continue holding on to the Saltoro Ridge, west of the Siachen Glacier. That would be a serious strategic setback as currently our occupation of the Saltoro Ridge allows us to dominate the entire region up to the Karakoram Pass, including the Shaksgam Valley that has been illegally ceded to China by Pakistan. Our existing posture threatens the security of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passing through this region as it is vulnerable to interdiction. Its importance to both China and Pakistan cannot be overestimated given the massive investments made, which could be motivation enough for collusive or collaborative action by the two neighbours.
Despite the Army having been caught napping in the initial stages, its speedy and robust response — especially after the horrendous loss of lives at Galwan — was commendable. Subsequently, under the ambit of “Operation Snow Leopard”, it raised the stakes considerably by occupying dominating heights along the Kailash Range in the Chushul and Pangong Tso sub-sectors which has negated some of the PLA’s earlier advantages. While these heights are well in depth within our territory and have never been claimed by the Chinese, they do dominate both banks of the Pangong Tso as well as the important Chinese administrative base at Moldo. Most importantly, it allows us to choke off the Spanggur Gap, the area through which the PLA’s mechanised elements could otherwise have advanced towards our positions at Chushul, thereby opening up an approach to Leh. However, the shoe is now on the other foot, as it provides us a suitable launch pad for a riposte towards Moldo and the Chinese depth areas, if the situation so warrants.
However, we should not be misled by the selective rhetoric which suggests that the Chinese are on the back foot, the PLA is demoraled and their leadership floundering for a way out of the impasse without loss of face. While our action does give us a tactical advantage and has stabilised the situation, it has by no means robbed the PLA of the inherent advantages it enjoys, given the superior economic strength and its military size. However, they may be in for an unpleasant surprise, given the extended lines of communication and difficulties of combat at such high altitudes, apart, of course, from the fact that they face an extremely tough and battle-hardened opposition with ample experience in mountain warfare.
On our part, we have to accept that our Government has always had a very defensive mindset when it comes to China. In fact, the Modi Government has shown excessive restraint at the present time, not only refusing to name China but going so far as to try and delink the Depsang intrusion from the transgressions elsewhere in an attempt to justify the ongoing negotiations, which appear to be restricted to troop withdrawals from the Chushul-Pangong Tso sub-sector. Even our occupation of the Kailash Range was only in response to the PLA’s transgressions in the vain hope that it would deter further attempts at ingress or escalation. On that occasion, the PLA probably miscalculated our willingness to stand up to their provocative behaviour and was thus caught off guard by our robust response. At that time, they just did not have the requisite force levels in place to react before the onset of winter.
In similar circumstances, a more determined Government would probably have responded to such aggression by mirroring the Chinese and resorted to “salami slicing” actions along the LAC by occupying disputed areas along our claim line where the PLA has no permanent presence. This could have then been used as a bargaining chip during negotiations to ensure an equitable delineation of the LAC which, in time, would have allowed the Prime Minister to negotiate and resolve the border issue to our advantage.
The Government’s unwillingness to take the initiative is partly explained by its fear of Chinese reaction as well as driven by the fact that it has no illusion as to the poor state our military is in; something that cannot be rectified in short order by loosening the purse strings. Unfortunately, misperceptions, lack of clarity and sheer disinterest in strategic affairs have been the hallmark of our political leadership, which finds little time for anything other than domestic politics. This has resulted in a superficial understanding of the geopolitical complexities surrounding the issue of national security at the institutional level.
The Armed Forces have borne the brunt of this ignorance, being subjected to neglect by successive Governments over the years. In all likelihood, it has been premised on the belief, however misconceived, that a powerful military poses an existential threat to the political dispensation in power. It must, therefore, be kept in check and out of decision making. However, far more damaging has been the political leadership’s belief that the military’s utility has been severely constrained, if not rendered irrelevant, as chances of a conventional conflict have greatly diminished with the advent of nuclear weapons in the region. A belief which has been given considerable boost by the Army leadership’s almost single-minded focus on counter-insurgency operations; even to the extent of accepting a gradual degradation of our conventional capabilities without protest.
As to the future, there is little scope for optimism as a few months from now will herald the start of a new campaigning season along the LAC as the snow melts. Given our defensive mindset, our choices will be wholly limited to dancing to the PLA’s tune. Their options are many; they could, for example, play a waiting game and do nothing at all for now, having already forced us to concede territory. On the other hand, they could exert pressure elsewhere along the LAC to ensure that we respond in much the same manner we did this year. In fact, their biggest error would be to escalate the situation to teach us a lesson as then Modi would be forced to respond in kind, to avoid his reputation being tarnished.
However, if President Jinping does not cross that Rubicon, the Modi Government will continue to do what it does best, focus on increasing its footprint by winning the forthcoming Bengal elections. Undoubtedly, it will resort to dissimulation regarding the LAC situation, using every means at its disposal to push the narrative that our borders are quiet, safe and inviolate. It will then be back to business as usual and the CDS could then return to the onerous task of simplifying military uniforms and badges of rank.
(The writer is a military veteran, who is a consultant with the Observer Research Foundation and Senior Visiting Fellow with The Peninsula Foundation, Chennai. The views expressed are personal.)
United Nations, Jan 1 (IANS) India became a non-permanent member of the Security Council on Friday taking a seat at the UN's highest decision-making body at a time of changing reality even as it presses ahead with its quest for a permanent seat.
As a member, India will be able to push its agenda of promoting the ethos of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" -- the world is one family -- while being the leading voice on combating terrorism, and also confronting China's attempts to bring up Kashmir. During the crucial phase of the world emerging from the trauma and chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic to face change realities, New Delhi can help shape the new order.
With T.S. Tirumurti as the permanent representative, India will formally take its seat on Monday morning when the Council meets for its first meeting of the year in a closed session presided over by Tunisia's Permanent Representative Tarek Ladeb, the president for the month of January.
India's flag will go up in front of the Council chamber at a televised ceremony at noon local time (10.30 p.m. in India) proclaiming its membership. India was elected for the eighth time to the Council polling 184 votes of the 192 votes cast for the non-permanent seat to represent Asia.
Indonesia retired at the end of 2020, leaving India to succeed it on the Council. Vietnam is the other Asian country holding a non-permanent seat on the 15-member Council.
As historically the biggest contributor of troops to UN peace-keeping, India will have an input into determining how the operations are mandated. India has complained that the process driven by the permanent members does not adequately consult with the troop-contributors or take their experiences into account.
India has warned about the Council's mission-creep a" taking on issues like climate change for which it does not have a mandate under the UN Charter. Now, India can voice its reservations in the Council.
During the past two years, China has tried to bring up the Kashmir issue in the Council as a favour to its client Pakistan. Because of the opposition of the other members, Beijing has not been able to hold an open session and has had to settle for informal consultations without any statement or record.
If Beijing tries again to bring up Kashmir, India will be able to directly deal with the attempts and should informal sessions be held, it can answer right there. Being on the Council will mean taking positions and setting out its stand almost daily on global issues, sometimes in real-time.
The Indian mission has been reinforced with at least four more diplomats to take care of the increased workload. The hot spots confronting the Council right now are Yemen, Syria, North Korea, Ethiopia, Iran, Myanmar, Afghanistan and the Central African Republic. When it was out of the Council, India did not have to take a stand, for example, on issues like the Ethiopian crisis or expound it to the world, but it will now have to react.
There are also confrontations involving permanent members a" Russia with Ukraine, and China with India and several Indo-Pacific countries. At the Council, India will find its emerging foreign policy outlook of assertive independence with primacy to its perceived interests tested as its diplomacy is stretched while balancing its strategic interests amid competing pulls.
For instance in Yemen, where there has been a fresh round of violence this week, India will have to deal with the seepage of Middle Eastern rivalries into the conflict with Saudi Arabia as a key player of interest to India. In Syria, there is the line up of Russia versus the western nations and that is the case also with Moscow's dispute with Kyiv.
The degree of polarisation at the Council is likely to lessen on one front with the change in the United States presidency and India will not face the same degree on pressures on issues like Iran and Venezuela. The distinctive division in the Council is between the western countries and Russia, with China being on the side of Russia most of the time, although often not as assertively.
While India has drifted closer to Western European positions on some issues like Israel, on others like Syria, it is closer to Russia's. And on the Rohingya refugee crisis, New Delhi's stance is closer to Beijing's, rather than the West's.
India first served on the Council in 1950 and 16 years elapsed before its next turn in 1967. Since then, it has been been on the Council six more times with increasing frequency, the last one in 2011.
A year after setting in motion Kicking Gender Boundaries, an initiative to promote the inclusivity of trans athletes in sports, Arjun Pandey (founder of Kicking Gender Boundaries and winner of Prime Minister’s National Child Award 2020) has expanded his work to support para-athletes as well. In the last few months, after having many conversations with athletes with disabilities, he realized that they aren’t given the right resources and opportunities to succeed. He believes that India’s recent success at the Para-Olympics is indicative of the talent that para-athletes have and he wants to raise awareness about the struggles of such sportspersons. Arjun said “Sports has always been my passion and I want to share that joy with everyone. I hope that such events can spark a bigger change in the Indian Community, and make it more accepting of all kinds of people.”
Learning of Arjun’s initiative, Shri Pramod Chandurkar, Secretary-General, Archery Association of India, said “Arjun is a risk taker who is trying to bring about a positive change in Indian Sports and we support him in this mission.” Along the same lines, Dr. Deepa Malik, a Paralympic medalist and the recipient of the Khel Ratna (2019) and Padmashri (2017) awards alongside being the President of the Paralympic Committee of India, also had words of encouragement for Arjun, saying “I am delighted to know that the youth in this country are so sensitive and are willing to go out of their comfort zone to help our society. Arjun’s initiative will go a long way in making Indian Sports more inclusive.”
To spread awareness, Arjun organized an online webinar and brought 5 para-athletes as well as the renowned Dr. Deepa Malik to educate teenagers and adults across the country. Along with sensitizing the masses about the struggles of para-athletes, the webinar also focused on encouraging people to celebrate para-athletes in the same manner that athletes without disabilities are celebrated. Thousands of people attended and appreciated the webinar, some even saying that they would want this to become a regular event. Ekta Bhyan, a shotput athlete, mentioned “We hope to continue working to spread awareness with Arjun and ScoutMe. In the long run, this could be a game-changer for all of us.” Mithali Gaikwad, an archer, echoed the sentiments of Ekta “We are very happy to be part of an initiative that we think can be the catalyst for change in the Indian society.”
Along with the webinar, Arjun has modified his platform, ScoutMe, to facilitate players with disabilities. He wants to use this as a medium for para-athletes to connect with potential organizations that can help them in their careers. The goal behind this is to get people to sponsor para-athletes in whatever capacity they can so that the athletes have better equipment as well as more opportunities to advance their careers. Harvinder Singh, another archer, was delighted when she heard this, saying “This is a great way to bridge the opportunity gap that exists between different athletes in India, and will help our country succeed in all sports in the future.” Along with the help of corporate houses, Arjun plans to continue selling t-shirts signed by famous sports personalities from India to have another source of raising funds, which he hopes can again be used to support para-athletes. Shyam Sundar and Vivek Chikara, both archers, commended Arjun, saying that “Young trailblazers like Arjun are making the real change in this country and we fully support his mission.”
Arjun hopes to keep scaling his actions in the future and wants to see sports become a source of joy for all human beings.
New Delhi, Dec 26 (IANS) The Indian government is planning to revamp its federal drug law enforcement and intelligence agency - Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) -- with creation of 3,689 new posts, canine squads, cyber and intelligence units and creation of a dedicated prosecution wing for the organisation.
The proposal aims at redesigning the governance architecture of NCB, its capacity of investigation and intelligence and making it more professional and effective. The bureau comes under Ministry of Home Affairs and is currently headed by 1984-batch IPS officer Rakesh Asthana.
The government has planned to create 3,689 posts in various grades up to level-15, thereby raising the strength of NCB from existing 1,107 to 4,751. There is also plan to create four new regional offices, thus raising the number of regional offices from existing three to seven. Creation of 17 new zonal offices and upgrading all existing 12 sub-zonal offices into zonal offices thereby raising the number of field offices to 42, including 13 existing regional offices, has also been planned.
There are plans to set up a dedicated prosecution wing to provide for in-house expertise for legal advice and taking up all cases filed under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, a Canine Wing to identify drugs and Drug Intelligence Unit. Setting up of a Cyber Technical Cell is also planned to tackle the challenges arising out of modern technological methods used by drug traffickers. The decision to revamp was taken after government found that the drug traffickers are increasingly using the Dark Net for trafficking and crypto-currencies for payment.
This was disclosed in a report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs headed by Congress Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma, on the Demands for Grants of Ministry of Home Affairs placed in Parliament on December 21.The report stated: "The drug traffickers are increasingly using the Dark Net for trafficking in drugs. The medium offers complete anonymity because of the use of onion routing, use of Crypto Currency for payment and Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encryption."
The committee stressed upon that NCB's expertise and capacity to deal with this "need to be augmented". "Nonetheless, with available resources the NCB arrested a Dark Net vendor who was operating as an active vendor of Psychotropic Drugs in Dark Net markets. This network had international linkages spread across India, Singapore and USA. During the operation, approximately 135 kgs of different psychotropic tablets were seized and four persons were arrested," the report stated.
Keeping in view the constant changing pattern of drug trafficking and its abuse and the need to develop skills of officers to respond to the challenges arising out of the same, the Ministry of Home Affairs has, in December, 2019 set up a Training Centre on drug law enforcement within the campus of the Central Academy of Police Training, Bhopal. This institute is mandated to impart domain training to the officers of NCB and those of other Central and State Agencies involved in drug law enforcement.
For the purpose of Coordination among all states and central agencies in drug-related issues, a Narco Coordination mechanism was set up by MHA in 2016. This mechanism provides a common platform for all drug-related issues in India. Further for cooperation and information-sharing at international level, the NCB has entered into agreements with 42 countries. In addition, the NCB liaises with the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and UNODC regulary.
New Delhi, Dec 25 (IANS) The Indian government has given its domestic intelligence, internal security and counter-intelligence agency -- the Intelligence Bureau (IB) -- a bigger role to play in the two neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Mayanmar. Accordingly, the government has designated IB's Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) as the nodal point for sharing intelligence inputs with Bangladesh and Myanmar.
This was disclosed in a report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs headed by Congress' Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma, on the 'Demands for Grants' of the Ministry of Home Affairs placed in the Parliament on December 21.
"In this capacity, inputs on terrorism are regularly shared with the counterparts in these countries," the report stated. The IB is currently headed by 1984-batch IPS Officer Arvind Kumar. Generally, India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), deals with intelligence affairs in foreign nations.
The MAC was created in December 2001 in the aftermath of the Kargil conflict as a platform to share, collate and analyse all intelligence relating to terrorism. It was strengthened in December 2008 following the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. The forum, along with its Subsidiary MAC (SMAC) units in all the states, has emerged as the nationally recognised coordinating agency for intelligence on terrorism and insurgency.
A dedicated, secure electronic network for real-time information sharing has been extended across the country. "The MAC has established a comprehensive system of communication and connectivity to share/disseminate terrorism related formation/data," the report stated.
On an average, every day the MAC gathers, collates, stores, shares and disseminates about 150 inputs to the concerned agencies. Special alerts are also issued as and when called for. The inputs are broadly divided under four heads - Jammu and Kashmir, Northeast, Left Wing Extremism (LWE) and rest of India. The LWE related inputs form the largest proportion of the total inputs received by the MAC currently, reflecting the spread of the problem across several states.
Various meetings are held regularly across the country to bring together all the concerned agencies. A meeting of the nodal officers from each member agency of the MAC is held every day at the MAC headquarters to review the inputs. The MAC also conducts some specialised meetings, monthly meeting on cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and monthly meeting on insurgent camps, FICN and other anti-India activities in Bangladesh and Myanmar.
The fortnightly meeting on LWE was introduced in 2012 and the monthly meeting on Sikh militancy in Punjab started in 2015. "24x7 control rooms have been set up at the MAC headquarters in New Delhi and at the SMACs at the state level and at the headquarters of the intelligence wings of other agencies to ensure timely sharing of information and better coordination between intelligence agencies," the report stated.
The People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) has been restricted to only 110 seats and has failed to cross the halfway mark of 140 during the recent District Development Council elections, whereas the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged as the single largest party, winning 75 seats alone.
While dominating the electorate in Kashmir division, PAGD has only managed to grab three seats in Srinagar, with independent candidates winning seven seats, and BJP winning one seat from Srinagar.
BJP's Aijaz Hussain, who won from Srinagar's Balhama constituency is Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha's national Vice President.
The PAGD's poor performance in Srinagar is being seen as the people's disappointment with the older order and their willingness to go with the independent leaders in the valley. Independent candidates emerged victorious in 49 DDC seats, way more than Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party, which only managed to grab 27 seats.
Among the PAGD allies, the National Conference won the highest number of 67 seats, followed by PDP with 27 seats, People's Conference took 8 seats, CPI(M) won 5 seats and J&K Peoples Movement only 3 seats.
The BJP on the other hand, won 74 seats, including three in the Kashmir division. However, it only managed to get a clear majority in six districts of the Jammu division, including Jammu, Udhampur, Kathua, Doda, Reasi and Samba.
Congress's Nasir Ahmed Mir, son of Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president Ghulam Ahmad Mir, lost the elections from Anantnag's Verinag constituency. Mir was defeated by Independent candidate Peer Shahbaz Ahmad.
The Congress party was restricted to only 26 DDC seats.
The DDC elections were the first democratic exercise after the abrogation of Article 370 last year. Besides the DDC election, polling was held for the Panchayat bypolls in 50 vacant Sarpanch seats and 216 vacant Panch seats falling within the DDC constituencies.
The voting was conducted in eight phases and the counting of the ballots started on Tuesday.
The overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 77.9 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 1.71 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
In its latest update on Wednesday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 77,958,369 and 1,715,945, respectively.
The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 18,217,390 and 322,589, respectively, according to the CSSE.
India comes in second place in terms of cases at 10,075,116, while the country's death toll soared to 146,111.
The other countries with more than a million confirmed cases are Brazil (7,318,821), Russia (2,878,382), France (2,547,577), the UK (2,116,608), Turkey (2,062,960), Italy (1,977,370), Spain (1,829,903), Argentina (1,555,279), Germany (1,556,708), Colombia (1,530,593), Mexico (1,338,426), Poland (1,214,525) and Iran (1,170,743), the CSSE figures showed.
Brazil currently accounts for the second highest number of fatalities at 188,259.
The countries with a death toll above 20,000 are Mexico (119,495), Italy (69,842), the UK (68,409), France (61,821), Iran (54,003), Russia (51,274), Spain (49,520), Argentina (42,254), Colombia (40,931), Peru (37,173), Germany (27,590), Poland (25,783), South Africa (25,246) and Indonesia (20,257).
(Courtesy: IANS)
US President Donald Trump has urged the Congress to amend a $900 billion coronavirus relief bill to more than triple its stimulus payments to Americans.
In a video message posted on Twitter, he said the package "really is a disgrace", full of "wasteful" items, the BBC reported on Wednesday.
"It's called the Covid relief bill, but it has almost nothing to do with Covid," he said.
The $900 billion bill includes one-off $600 payments to most Americans but Trump said the figure should be $2,000.
The Republican president, who leaves office on January 20, had been expected to sign the sprawling legislation into law following its passage through Congress on Monday night.
But in Tuesday night's message from the White House, Trump baulked at spending in the bill on other countries, arguing that this money should go to struggling Americans.
He said: "This bill contains $85.5 million for assistance to Cambodia, $134 million to Burma, $1.3 billion for Egypt and the Egyptian military, which will go out and buy almost exclusively Russian military equipment, $25 million for democracy and gender programmes in Pakistan, $505 million to Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama."
The president questioned why the Kennedy Center, a performing arts complex in Washington DC, was set to receive $40 million when it is not open, and more than $1 billion has been allocated to museums and galleries in the capital.
Trump concluded: "Congress found plenty of money for foreign countries, lobbyists and special interests, while sending the bare minimum to the American people who need it. It wasn't their fault. It was China's fault."
"I am asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000 or $4,000 for a couple.
"I'm also asking Congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill, or else the next administration will have to deliver a Covid relief package."
Trump's statement stunned Capitol Hill, plunging the long-awaited aid bill into turmoil.
If the president vetoes the legislation the US government could shut down on December 29 because the package was attached to a $1.4 trillion spending measure to fund federal agencies for the next nine months.
Republicans and Democrats have been negotiating a coronavirus stimulus rescue since July. Trump largely stayed out of the talks.
On Monday afternoon, congressional leaders unveiled a 5,593-page package and voted on it several hours later.
Several lawmakers protested that they had not been given an opportunity to read the contents.
Nevertheless the bill sailed through the House of Representatives by 359-53 and the Senate by 92-6.
(Courtesy: IANS)
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