Monday 21 December 2015

Maharashtra reports highest ever farmer suicides in 2015



Last week, a day after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced Rs 10,512 crore package for Maharashtra’s farmers while refusing to declare a complete loan waiver, Vishal Pawar, a farmer in Vidarbha’s Yavatmal district ended his life on Thursday.
Pawar left a suicide note addressed to the district’s guardian minister, Sanjay Rathod, in which he mentioned the burden of crop failure and expressed his last wish: a loan waiver.
About 2,590 farmers from across Maharashtra have committed suicide from January to October 2015, the highest number of suicides since 2001. Data of last two months is yet to be compiled. In 2006, 2,376 farmers had ended their lives.

Source:- The Hindu, 21-Dec-2015

‘This time, democracy itself is supporting intolerance’

The two-day Jananudi that culminated(reach a climax or point of highest development) here on Sunday has resolved to fight communal forces that disturb peaceful coexistence, which has been nurtured(care for and protect) by the common man, saints and revolutionists for centuries in the country.
Organised by Abhimata Mangaluru, Jananudi resolved to protect land, water and natural resources of the country, which belong to one and all, and to protect everyone’s freedom of expression. Jananudi is also committed to bringing in humane practices and denouncing blind beliefs.
Speaking at the valedictory function, writer Rahmath Tarikere said that communal forces do not have any right to speak about the cultural heritage of the country, as they are the ones who are completely ignorant about the vastness of India’s culture.
Everyone has to protest against attempts by communal forces to bring in monoculture in all religions. Those who are attempting to derive pure Islam and pure Hinduism are the intolerant ones against whom voices have to be raised, Mr. Tarikere said.
Brahminical values
He also regretted that attempts were being made to enforce Brahminical values through textbooks, and create hatred against Muslims and Dalits.
Mr. Tarikere said that on the one hand, people of North Karnataka, who have excelled in human relations, are working as migrant workers and on the other, those in Dakshina Kannada, who have excelled in education and finance, have been living bereft(deprived of or lacking) of human values.
Mr. Tarikere said that fundamentalists who claimed that Sufism is not Islam are “cultural illiterates”. Coexistence has largely been prevalent in the State and Islam has long been Indianised in the State, he said.
Destroying the multi-culture fabric of the country is the biggest cultural attack, he said.
‘Intolerance not new’
Chief Minister’s Media Adviser Dinesh Amin Mattu said that the fight against intolerance is not new; Buddha, Basaveshwara, Ambedkar, Periyar and others like them too fought intolerance.
While intolerance against the lower classes among the majority community has always been present in the country, the only difference this time is that democracy itself is supporting intolerance, he said.
Mr. Amin Mattu alleged that the cultural and educational policies of the country are not being framed by the elected government; but in Nagpur [RSS headquarters].
Also, Mr. Amin Mattu further urged writers to write more with a view to exercising their right to expression.

Data that may be helpful:
Meanings:-
  • Culminated:- reach a climax or point of highest development
  • Nurtured :- care for and protect
  • Bereft:-deprived of or lacking 
 Source:- The Hindu, 21-Dec-2015

Sunday 20 December 2015

Sri Lanka desires strong defence ties with China, India

Colombo, Dec 20: Sri Lanka needs to have strong defence ties with countries like China and India, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Sunday, Dec 20 Addressing an event to mark the recruitment of a new batch of soldiers to the military, he said the army needs to modernize to be on par with the developing world, reports said a news agency.

He said that in order to improve the standards of the army, Sri Lanka needed to maintain good ties with China, India and Pakistan as well as the US and Britain. "It is because of the relationship that we have with these countries that the army was able to develop." The prime minister said Sri Lanka hoped to launch a programme through the defence ministry on future warfare to ensure the army was geared to face any situation in future. The military crushed the Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009 after 30 years of war which killed thousands on both sides. Wickremesinghe said the situation had now changed in the world and that the Sri Lankan military must adapt to face those changes. He added that with the end of the war, the wounds from the conflict must heal and efforts must be taken in that regard. "When you have a wound, it is not easy to heal." IANS



Source- One India