October 2019 Archives

AP Government Issues Order to Take Legal Action Against ‘False News’

The controversial order grants the information minister and the secretaries of departments the power to issue rejoinders, file complaints and lodge cases against ‘defamatory news’.

Amaravati: The Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday issued an order for taking legal action against “false, baseless and defamatory news”, restoring a controversial government order (GO) kept in abeyance during his late father’s regime 12 years ago.

While the 2007 order issued during late Rajasekhara Reddy’s tenure as chief minister was limited to print and electronic media, Wednesday’s GO made social media posts also liable for legal action.

The old order delegated the power to the special commissioner in the information and public relations (I&PR) department for filing defamation cases against publishers and editors, but the latest order empowered the secretaries of the respective departments as well to proceed legally and initiate action following the due process of law.

On October 16, the state cabinet had given its nod to revive the GO (No.938) issued on February 20, 2007.

The latest GO says, “Instances have come to the notice of the government that certain print, electronic and social media are deliberately trying to tarnish the image of government and government officials by spreading false, baseless and defamatory news with malafide interest.”

Also Read: In Jagan’s Andhra Pradesh, Media and Journalists In Line of Fire

“The government hereby accords permission to delegate powers to the secretaries of respective departments to issue rejoinders, file complaints and lodge appropriate cases, if need be, through public prosecutor against defamatory news items published/telecast/posted in print/electronic/social media pertaining to their respective departments after following due process of law,” the order said.

Justifying the cabinet decision, information minister Perni Venkataramaiah had on October 16 said adverse news would bring down the morale of the implementing agency, department and officer, which ultimately would lead to sub-optimal performance and can hamper the progress of the state.

Opposition parties and media associations have strongly opposed the move to revive the controversial GO.

(PTI)

Syrian Government and Opposition Meet to Draft ‘Historic’ Constitution

The talks were brokered by the United Nations and only Syrian delegates were present.

For the first time since the civil war began nearly a decade ago, Syrian opposition and government representatives met to draft a new constitution for the country. UN mediator Geir Pederson called it a “historic moment.”

Opposing sides in the Syrian civil war met on Wednesday for the first time in eight and a half years in an attempt to put together a new constitution for the war-torn country.

Some 150 Syrian delegates sat down together in Geneva, Switzerland: 50 represent the government; 50 the opposition and 50 represent civil society.

UN Syria envoy Geir Pederson called the so-called “constitution convention” a “historic moment.”

“I know it’s not easy for you to be together in this room,” the Norwegian diplomat told the assembled delegates. “But this is a powerful sign of hope for Syrians everywhere.”

“We affirm that we will work sincerely on all that can improve the reality of our people,” said Ahmed Kuzbari, the most senior government official present and representative of President Bashar Assad. Yet he also stressed that the Syrian army would continue fighting “terrorists” in Syria during the convention.

“We continue this fight during our meeting and we will keep up the fight after our meeting until the liberation of the last precious inch of our precious homeland,” he told the convention.

Also Read: Pence, Erdogan, Kurdish SDF Agree to 120-Hour Ceasefire in Syria

Top opposition leader Hadi Bahra pleaded for mutual understanding.

“We must go beyond our wounds, pain and suffering. We must start listening to each other.”

Attempt to reach a consensus

Following the opening ceremony, 45 of the delegates began working on a draft constitution with the aim of reaching consensus. A 75%-majority voting system will be used to make major changes if a consensus is impossible.

The talks were brokered by the United Nations and only Syrian delegates were present.

Previous UN-mediated talks failed to engage both the opposition and government sides. These talks will mark the first real attempt to engage in dialogue since civil war broke out in 2011.

Russia and Iran, which support Assad’s government, and Turkey, which supports the opposition, expressed hope that this so-called constitutional committee could lead to the end of the conflict.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said “We urge the sides to reach an agreement.” Although the three main powers in the region will not be represented at the talks, Lavrov met his Turkish and Iranian counterparts at the UN seat in Geneva on Tuesday to discuss the constitution.

Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif pledged that the three countries would not intervene in the Syria. His Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu made no such promise, but said he remained optimistic.

This article was originally published in DW. You can read it here.

Ayodhya Dispute ‘One of the Most Important Cases in the World’: CJI-Designate Bobde

The apex court’s judgment in the case is expected to be delivered soon.

Jaipur: In an interview to NDTV, Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde, who is all set to be the next chief justice of India on November 17, has termed the century-old, politically and communally sensitive Ayodhya title dispute case as one of the ‘most important’ in the world.

When the interviewer asked Bobde which case is a milestone in his career and if Ayodhya case could be the one, he replied, “Ayodhya is definitely important. It is one of the most important cases in the world today.”

This statement by the CJI-designate has led to a spate of reactions on social media. It must be noted that after Hindu militants (kar sevaks) of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) demolished the Babri masjid in 1992, communal violence took the lives of several hundred people across India, mostly Muslims.

Bobde is part of the five-judge constitution bench that heard the appeals over 40 days against the 2010 verdict of the Allahabad high court in the case regarding ownership of 2.77 acres of disputed land in Ayodhya. In 2010, the Allahabad HC ordered a three-way division of the disputed land between the Nirmohi Akhara sect, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board and ‘Ram Lalla Virajman’, the deity represented by individuals close to the VHP.

The Supreme Court constitution bench reserved its order on October 16 and is set to pronounce the judgment before the incumbent CJI, Ranjan Gogoi, retires on November 17.

Also Read: New CJI, Old Concerns of Judicial Independence

Speculation was already rife that a significant judgment could be in the offing. Now, the CJI-designate calling the dispute as “most important case in the world,” has added to those speculations.

The Hindu parties to the dispute have argued that the entire land is the birthplace of Lord Ram and hence should be given to them to build a temple. Contradicting their claims, the Muslim parties have said mere belief doesn’t confer ownership rights on a place.

During the hearing, both parties to the dispute referred to the reports of historians and the Archaeological Survey of India, land documents prepared under the British rule and other evidence to corroborate their claims.

On the other hand, the criminal case against those who demolished the Babri masjid on December 6, 1992 has been extended to April 2020. Apart from lakhs of kar sevaks accused in the case, the prominent politicians indicted are senior BJP leaders L.K. Advani, Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar, Murli Manohar Joshi and Kalyan Singh (former governor of Rajasthan); VHP leaders Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, Vishnu Hari Dalmia and Champat Rai Bansal; Shiv Sena leaders Bar Thackeray, Moreshwar Save, Satish Pradhan; Hindu Mahasabha’s Mahant Avaidhyanath; Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas president Mahant Nritya Gopal Das; and Sadhvi Ritambhara.

Indian Activists, Lawyers Were ‘Targeted’ Using Israeli Spyware Pegasus

Most of the potential victims, who were contacted by CitizenLab researchers and WhatsApp, are people who are connected with Bhima Khoregaon controversy and other Dalit issues.

Mumbai: Over the last two years, Nagpur-based human rights lawyer Nihalsing Rathod has received calls on WhatsApp from unknown numbers. These calls would be made from international numbers, and would invariably turn out to be a group call.

The moment Rathod answered them, the call would disconnect. He assumed these were innocuous calls made to his number but as a safety measure, reported each of the “suspicious calls” to WhatsApp.

On October 7, 2019, Rathod, however, was contacted by a senior researcher, John Scot-Railton, from the Toronto University’s ‘Citizen Lab’ informing him that he faced a “specific digital risk”.

“The senior researcher told me that his lab had followed my work and during their research had found out that my profile was under a surveillance attack. All those calls made to me for two years suddenly began to make sense,” Rathod told The Wire.

Also Read: Israeli Spyware Was Used to Spy on Indian Activists, Journalists, Says WhatsApp

The Citizen Lab was one of the first research organisations to examine how a piece of malicious software called ‘Pegasus’, operated. This spyware is produced by an Israeli surveillance firm called the NSO Group. In September 2018, The Citizen Lab published a comprehensive study identifying 45 countries, including India, in which operators of the spyware may be conducting operations.

The NSO Group has been in the spotlight this week after WhatsApp filed a lawsuit against them, alleging that they exploited a vulnerability in its video-calling feature to specifically target and snoop on over 1,400 users including activists and journalists.

In its response to the legal suit, the NSO Group however has claimed that its Pegasus spyware is mainly sold only to government agencies.

After speaking to Citizen Lab, Rathod wrote to WhatsApp once again with newer information and this time he says he received a response on the same platform.

“In May we stopped an attack where an advanced cyber actor exploited our video calling to install malware on user devices. There’s a possibility this phone number was impacted, and we want to make sure you know how to keep your phone secure,” the message from WhatsApp read, along with further steps to be taken to ensure security protections on his phone.

While WhatsApp’s message, which was sent on a verified business channel, didn’t specifically mention Pegasus or the NSO group, Rathod says the possibility of it is very high.

The Wire however has separately confirmed that this is indeed the message that was sent by WhatsApp to people it detected were targeted by Pegasus.

The message that Rathod received from WhatsApp. Credit: The Wire.

On Thursday, the Indian Express reported that the Facebook-owned platform said journalists and human rights activists in India have been targets of surveillance by operators using Pegasus.

WhatsApp recently made details of this clear in a broader disclosure before a US federal court in San Francisco.

Bhima Koregaon pattern?

Rathod is one of the lawyers handling the Bhima Koregaon case in which nine activists and lawyers have been arrested since June 2018. His senior legal mentor Surendra Gadling is among those arrested and was booked under several sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code.

Rathod says that he is not the only one in his human rights activists circle who has complained of such calls. At least two other lawyers, both connected with the ongoing Bhima Koregaon trial and Gadling’s wife Minal Gadling have received similar calls.

One of them has confirmed having received a call and series of messages from CitizenLab informing her about a possible threat. She has, however, not received any email or message from WhatsApp.

Going by the testimonies of several activists and lawyers, a clear pattern of an attack on the anti-caste activists across India has emerged.

Rupali Jadhav, a 33-year-old cultural and anti-caste activist from Pune shared screenshots of messages that she had received from both WhatsApp and Citizen Lab two days ago. Jadhav however says she had not received any WhatsApp call from an “unknown number” or had seen any suspicious activity on the application.

Rupali Jadhav. Credit: Facebook

Jadhav, who has been associated with an anti-caste cultural group Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) for over a decade has been handling the social media handles of several social movements in the state. She says that may have been one of the primary reasons why her profile has got compromised.

“I am the official administrator of the WhatsApp and Facebook pages of Kabir Kala Manch, Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Din Prerana Abhiyan, Elgaar Parishad, and the political party Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. These spaces have been actively involved in confronting the state and have been asking uneasy questions. This is more to do with the organizations than me particularly,” Jadhav says.

Most persons associated with the KKM has had cases of UAPA registered against them and have been released on bail bond after having been incarcerated for several years.

Degree Prasad Chouhan, a Dalit rights activist and lawyer from Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district confirmed to The Wire that he too has received a call and chain of messages from both the Citizen Lab and WhatsApp informing him about the spyware attack.

Chouhan, a 37- year old, first-generation learner, and a school teacher- turned-activist belonging to a Dalit community has been at the forefront fighting caste atrocity and land-grab cases in Raigarh district. In his over 15 years of public life, Chouhan has focused his work on forceful displacement and indigenous communities’ land rights.

Chouhan, talking to The Wire said, although he was concerned that his phone was compromised, he was not surprised at all. “Since Una uprising, the Dalit rights movement in the country has been growing. Most of us have been involved in several anti-caste and land rights movement and we have been running both social and political movements on a large scale. The state is clearly feeling threatened,” Chouhan claimed. He also pointed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Israel and the nature of this attack. “As far as I know, no PM has made such a visit to Israel. These attacks have a much deeper link. It needs to be probed,” he alleged.

Bela Bhatia, Anand Teltumbde and Saroj Giri

Human rights lawyer Bela Bhatia also confirmed to The Wire that she had received the same message that Rathod got from Citizen Lab, with their researchers claiming that the Indian government was behind the surveillance.

“We fixed a time and I had a long chat with the researcher about Pegasus. He explained the spyware to me and said that WhatsApp had reached out to Citizen Lab a few months back and gave them a list of people who were affected. He said that most of those targeted were human rights activists and human rights lawyers. While explaining everything to me, he said it very clearly that their studies and analysis made it very clear that it was our own government that has done it,” she said.

“He mentioned this very clearly. As far as the nature of the spying is concerned, he said that it’s like carrying a spy in your pocket. Even in the room where you are sitting, they can know exactly what’s happening in the room through this. He said that it can access my camera and microphone without me knowing. He offered me some safeguards like changing my phone. He has been calling me from time to time and offering similar advice. He told me WhatsApp would contact me two weeks later. WhatsApp did contact me three weeks after that call with the same message everyone else got.”

Anand Teltumbde, academic and activist, told The Wire that he got a call from Citizen Lab around 8-10 days ago.

“[The researcher] explained to me what the spyware is all about. He sent me a text message first. Then I enquired about Citizen Lab’s credibility and spoke to its representative. The NSO group has said that it has given Pegasus licenses only to governments across the world. So, it is clear that the India’s government used the spyware against us, citizens.”

“[The researcher] said that from his research he found that my phone was hacked. Anybody in this country are now unsure. The government can do anything to you. Hacking phones of citizens is now a new normal.”

“My phone was being tapped even when I was in IIT. I was told by IIT authorities that my phone was being tapped. If you get to know this, what can you do. You just accept it. Now Citizen Lab told me that I am being targeted. What do I do to now. There is no method you can stop it.”

“This is not my problem alone. It is now everyone’s problem. Every Indian is under threat,” he said.

Other people reportedly affected include human rights lawyer Shalini Gera.

Ajmal Khan, a 29- year old Delhi- based research scholar is also one of the many persons who was approached by Citizen Lab and WhatsApp regarding his potentially compromised phone. Khan, who recently completed his PhD from Mumbai’s Tata Institute of Social Sciences said that he had been receiving “strange calls” on WhatsApp sometime last year. “I did not pay attention to them. Also, when a person from Citizen Lab contacted me last week, I took it for a spam message and did not respond. Only when I came across the news today, I realized what had really happened to my WhatsApp application,” Khan told The Wire.

Khan also said that he received a message from the WhatsApp only today. “It was the same standard message sent out to others that an attack was averted on my phone sometime this year,” he added.

Khan is a well- known name among the students’ group in Mumbai and has been active in students’ struggles including the agitation following Ph.D. scholar Rohith Vemula’s death in 2016. Khan, a poet, who is originally from Kerala, has written three different collections of poems and is currently working in Delhi. He has been a part of several anti-caste and civil rights movements in Maharashtra.

Saroj Giri, who teaches political science at Delhi University, told The Wire that Citizen Lab reached out to him almost a month ago. “He told me that my phone is compromised by an advanced actor Pegasus, and that he wanted to give me a tip-off about it.”

Giri said that he didn’t take it too seriously as he was busy with other things. “But upon enquiry, I realised its full implications. I googled and looked up the NSO group. It hardly reveals any information about itself in its website. It does not mention its proper address or its shareholders.”

He said Citizen Lab told him that there is no way one can get rid of this spyware — no re-booting of the phone to factory settings or reinstalling Whatsapp would help. “Citizen Lab advised me to throw away my phone or switch it off and keep it a corner,” Giri said, adding that the cyber-security group told him that Pegasus can self-destruct itself.

“I asked Citizen Lab whether it could write me an official email requesting to have a conversation with me. They immediately did that, and I spoke with them after. John told me that I would soon receive a report from Whatsapp. It is unclear who exactly is responsible for this but it is clear that this is not just surveillance alone but a case of phone hack, the implications of which are dire. Both the Indian government and Whatsapp are answerable.”

Chhattisgarh based lawyer Shalini Gera, who has had experience of surveillance and police attack in the past said she too was informed by Citizen Lab and then, by WhatsApp, about the possible malware attack.

Gera could be one of the first persons to be approached by the Citizen Lab’s John Scot-Railton on October 4. Scot-Railton informed her about the specific time frame when her WhatsApp had been compromised — between February to May this year.

“And over subsequent conversations, John mentioned to me about Jamal Khashoggi’s case and the extent to which NSO Group was used,” Gera says.

Gera, who has been a part of the lawyers collective JagLag, has faced a severe backlash from several right-wing organisations and Chhattisgarh police for the work she and her colleagues had been doing in the state. She, however, was surprised when she first found out about the attack. “I was not sure why the government would go after someone like me who is barely active in the cases of Adivasi rights in Chhattisgarh. But the pattern slowly became clearer when I heard that several other activists and lawyers related to Bhima Koregaon case have been targeted too.”

Gera is representing Sudha Bharadwaj in the Bhima Koregaon case and says there are several colleagues and friends in rights activism who have been informed by WhatsApp about the possible malicious malware but have not been contacted by Citizen Lab yet.

According to the Indian Express report, at least two dozen academics, lawyers, Dalit activists and journalists in India were contacted and alerted by WhatsApp that their phones had been under state-of-the-art surveillance for a two-week period until May 2019.

The WhatsApp calls that Rathod used to get. Credit: The Wire.

An example of the mysterious WhatsApp calls that Rathod used to get. Credit: The Wire.

Rathod, however, says that he had been receiving these calls much before – and after – this two-week window period as mentioned by WhatsApp.

The Nagpur-based lawyer also adds that he looks at the attack on his profile as a serious attempt to victimise and possibly target more human rights lawyers. “My WhatsApp profile was not chosen randomly but by design. We are a handful of human rights lawyers who are confronting the current dispensation and are in the process of exposing the different strategies used to arrest human rights activists in the country.”

“I have reason to believe that the Bhima Koregaon case is based on the letters which were planted through this route or some other route by government agencies itself. The ridiculous contents of those letters make it more apparent,” he told The Wire.

Expressing concern over the development, Amnesty International India, in a statement, said, “This is a grave violation of the activists’ fundamental right to privacy enshrined in both national and international law.”

The human rights organisation has sought the NSO group’s license to be revoked. “On November 7, the Tel Aviv’s District Court is due to hear a legal case arguing that Israel’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) should revoke NSO Groups export license. The company’s Pegasus software has been used to target journalists and activists across the globe – including in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates. An Amnesty International staff member was also targeted using NSO malware,” the statement read.

Responding to the threat faced by activists and journalist globally, Danna Ingleton, deputy director of Amnesty Tech said, “NSO says its spyware is solely intended to ‘prevent crime and terrorism’, but instead the firm’s invasive surveillance tools are being used to commit human rights abuses. The safest way to stop NSO’s spyware products reaching governments who plan to misuse them is to revoke the company’s export license.”

Amnesty International has announced its legal support in the case in Tel Aviv District Court to force the Israeli Ministry of Defence to stop NSO’s spyware products.

(With inputs from Akhil Kumar)

Stubble Burning in Punjab Peaks, 3,105 Instances Reported on Monday

The resultant spike in Delhi’s air pollution saw Amarinder Singh and Arvind Kejriwal exchanging blame.

New Delhi: As air pollution levels in the national capital soar to ‘severe’ levels, reports say that a day after Diwali, on October 28, farm fires in Punjab peaked, with 3,105 instances reported across the state. The effect of burning paddy crop residue and firecrackers, mixed with low wind speeds in Delhi, resulted in the air quality index (AQI) reaching 999 in some areas, the maximum measurable level, around Diwali. While pollution gradually receded, it still stood at 401 (severe) on Thursday.

According to the Indian Express, 3,105 instances of farm fires were reported on October 28, while the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre’s data shows that “between September 23 and October 28, 15,132 active fire events pertaining to stubble burning were recorded”. This number is a slight increase over the 12,762 fires reported in 2018 during the same period, but is lower than incidents reported in 2016 (24,593) and 2017 (16,533).

In Haryana, another state which faces the stubble burning problem, the number of farm fires reported was much lower. Between September 23 and October 27, over 3,700 farm fires were recorded, according to the Indian Express.

As The Wire has previously reported, crop burning is a common practice across Haryana and Punjab. Farmers set fire to the stubble that remains after paddy has been harvested to ready their fields for the rabi crop. It is known to worsen air pollution, especially in the National Capital Region. The trend picks up in late September, peaking towards the end of October.

According to reports, the share of pollutants in Delhi from farm fires in Punjab and Haryana peaked at 35% on On Wednesday. This started a war of words between the Delhi and Punjab chief ministers. Arvind Kejriwal said that people of Delhi were doing “what they can do to control pollution” and asked the Punjab, Haryana and UP governments to provide farmers with alternate methods to dispose of stubble.

Also Read: What Is the Solution to Punjab’s Paddy Stubble Burning Problem?

Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, meanwhile, called Kejriwal a “liar” and blamed the national capital’s region on “rampant construction activity, widespread industrialisation and total mismanagement of the city traffic”.

However, the Centre’s System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) attributed the spike in Delhi’s air pollution on Wednesday to pollution from stubble burning.

An AQI below 50 is considered good, while a reading between 50 and 100 is considered moderate, according to SAFAR’s index. Delhi’s AQI first touched the ‘severe’ category (above 400) for the first time on Monday, a day after Diwali, and has remained in the same category since. SAFAR has predicted that the condition would slightly improve over the next few days.

Agriculture expert Devinder Sharma told the Indian Express that the issue of stubble burning cannot be resolved “until farmers are provided with an economic stimulus package”. He said if farmers are provided Rs 3,000 per acre as labour cost, they would be ready to dispose of the paddy stubble without burning it.

According to reports, the Punjab government has dispatched nodal officers to nearly 8,000 paddy growing villages to spread awareness about stubble burning and monitor post-harvest operations. The Punjab and Haryana governments have also been providing 50-80% subsidy to farmers and cooperative societies to “buy modern farm equipment for in-situ management of paddy straw”, according to the Indian Express.

A recent study found that laws meant to conserve groundwater may inadvertently have resulted in a rise in air pollution. The Punjab and Haryana state governments introduced legislation to limit the use of groundwater during the sowing of paddy in May and June. This, in turn, had the domino effect of farmers delaying the sowing process to wait for monsoon rains and therefore, a delayed harvest. This left farmers with a narrow period between harvesting rice harvest and planting the rabi crop. Therefore, farmers choose to burn the residue in the fields to prepare it for the next crop.

Hong Kong Braces for Halloween Protest March to Famous Party Zone

It is the first time protestors have targeted the party district.

Hong Kong: Authorities in Hong Kong tightened security and braced for potential evening clashes between masked “Halloween” pro-democracy protestors and fancy-dressed clubbers in a popular party district in the heart of the city.

Protestors, many of whom still wear now-banned face-masks, are planning to march from Victoria Park in the Causeway Bay shopping district to the Lan Kwai Fong bar and entertainment area near Central.

The area is popular with office workers and party-goers including expatriates.

Police have banned the march and said they would close roads including the sloping Lan Kwai Fong strip itself, from early afternoon until Friday morning to “facilitate the public celebrating.” It was not immediately clear how that would work.

It is the first time protestors have targeted the party district.

Typically weekends and special events like Halloween see hordes of revellers spill out of the bars and clubs.

Some protestors have thrown petrol bombs at police, lit fires across the Asian financial hub and trashed buildings during five months of unrest.

Riot police detain a protestor during an anti-government rally in Hong Kong, China October 30, 2019. Photo: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton

During previous protests, police typically fire at protestors with tear gas and water cannon. Bar owners told Reuters that the police pledged to take a low profile on the fringes of the celebrations and to protect them.

Paulo Estaban, manager of Ciao Chow, a restaurant in the heart of the strip, said the protests were not a “big concern” and that they would be “running the business as usual”. Many others agreed.

But one manager of a top-end, high-rise bar, who did not want to be identified, said it would be “madness” not to be worried.

A stampede at midnight on New Year’s Eve in 1992, when thousands had gathered, killed at least 20 and wounded scores.

Hong Kong‘s subway operator MTR Corp <0066.HK> said it would shut some stations earlier than usual after conducting a ‘joint risk assessment’ with the government. Central station, a few minutes walk from the thronging district, will shut by 9 pm (1300 GMT).

Prince Edward station, on the bustling Kowloon peninsula, would be shut from 2 pm as protestors planned a vigil to mark two months since large clashes between police and protestors.

Also read: Hong Kong Bars Pro-Democracy Activist Joshua Wong From Contesting Elections

The city’s local theme park, Ocean Park, said it was cancelling its annual Halloween fest to prioritise the safety of visitors and staff.

Staff at the park, which is located on the southern part of Hong Kong island and away from the teeming bars, expressed disappointment at the last minute cancellation.

This month Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam banned protestors from wearing face masks under a British colonial-era emergency law, but the measure has been largely ignored.

Halloween masks have not been banned, which would make it difficult for police to differentiate protestors from the plethora of revellers in fancy dress.

Police have warned members of the public that unauthorised assembly poses a serious threat to public order and safety.

Protestors are angry at what they see as Beijing’s increasing interference in Hong Kong, which returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula intended to guarantee freedoms not seen on the mainland.

China denies meddling and has accused foreign governments, including the United States and Britain, of stirring up trouble.

Economic figures for the third quarter of this year, to be announced later on Thursday, are set to show that Hong Kong has slid into its first recession since the global financial crisis of 2008 as the protests, trade tensions and global economic pressures weigh.

Munich Study Confirms Severe Decline in Insect Populations in Germany

A new study on three protected regions in Germany confirms the fears raised by volunteer insectologists two years ago.

In October 2017, a long-term study by the Entomological Society Krefeld hit like a bomb: Within thirty years, the number of flying insects in Germany was said to have decreased by three quarters.

Now a research team led by Sebastian Seibold and Wolfgang Weisser, who teach terrestrial ecology at the Technical University of Munich, is confirming the reported decline. The biologists published their results on October 30 in the journal Nature.

“Previous studies have concentrated either exclusively on biomass, i.e. the total weight of all insects, or on individual species or groups of species,” said Seibold, head of the research group, highlighting the special nature of his new research work. His group combined both approaches.

Forests and meadows

Between 2008 and 2017, the scientists regularly counted flying insects as well as other arthropods such as spiders and millipedes in three regions of the country. The study looked at 290 sites with forests and grasslands on the Swabian Alb in southern Germany, in Hainich – a wooded ridge in Thuringia – and in Schorfheide in the northern state of Brandenburg.

The scientists examined 150 sites in grasslands twice a year. They collected the animals from the grassland with nets. Of the 140 forest sites, 30 were examined each year, the remaining locations were investigated three times within a decade. The biologists caught the insects there with traps.

In total, the scientists analysed data from more than one million insects and other arthropods belonging to more than 2,700 species. They also took fluctuations in the weather into account in order to exclude measurement errors as far as possible.

Decline by up to two thirds in ten years

Both on meadows and in forests, the number of species decreased by about one third during the study period. Their total mass also decreased, especially in grasslands, by 67%. In the forests, it shrank by about 40%. According to the researchers, the decline is presumably related to agriculture. “We did not expect such a decline to be observed over only a decade,” Weisser said. “This is frightening, but it fits into the picture that more and more studies are drawing.”

In a commentary on the study biology professor William Kunin of the University of Leeds came to the conclusion that the verdict is clear and at least in Germany the insect shrinkage is real and as bad as previous studies suggested. The study provides the strongest evidence of insect mortality available to date, he pointed out.

Butterflies, however, beat the trend. Credit: Boris Smokrovic/Unsplash

The number of species decreased by about one third during the study period. Photo: Boris Smokrovic/Unsplash

It has something to do with agriculture

The researchers were able to establish a connection with land use at the individual sites. This ranged from meadows where sheep grazed only a few days a year and which otherwise remained largely untouched, to heavily farmed areas which were fertilised and mown several times a year. Cattle grazed on some areas for about a third of the year.

They also divided the forests into three categories, from little to heavily farmed. Insect shrinkage was particularly pronounced on grasslands surrounded by arable land. There, the biomass of species that did not cover long distances shrank in particular. Possibly these insects would have worse chances if their habitat was surrounded by a lot of arable land.

Also Read: Why India’s Insects Are Disappearing

In the forests, it was mainly species that were disappearing that travelled long distances. “We still have to find out whether more mobile species from the forest come into stronger contact with agriculture during their migration or whether the causes are also related to the living conditions in the forests,” said Martin Gossner, another TUM researcher involved.

What to do?

Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) expressed her alarm to the German Press Agency: The study once again demonstrates how serious the situation is, she acknowledged. “The way in which insects are used in agriculture plays a decisive role in determining whether they can survive in their environment,” she said.

Author Seibold emphasised that it was not enough just to maintain individual areas and retreats to combat insect decline. “To stop the decline, we need […] greater coordination and coordination at regional and national levels,” he said.

“The study shows us that agriculture must be part of the solution,” Joachim Rukwied, president of the Farmers’ Association, argued. “Hardly any other sector is as dependent on the pollination performance of bees and insects as we are.” He added that the Farmers’ Association was backing “cooperative nature conservation.” As an example he gave an initiative to give some arable areas back to nature: “This year we [voluntarily] created flower strips nationwide as a habitat for insects with a length of over 230,000 kilometres – a five-metre-wide strip that extends almost six times around the world.”

Nature conservationists, however, are calling above all for a ban on insecticides – such as neonicotinoids, which France has already banned, or the herbicide glyphosate. Glyphosate has been criticized for harming biodiversity. Meanwhile, experts are debating whether such bans are really effective. There is also a danger that, after a ban, farmers will resort to other pesticides that are no less dangerous.

This article was originally published in DW. You can read it here.

Is Narendra Modi the New Indira Gandhi? Not Really

What set her apart was her genuine compassion and empathy for the poorest citizens of India.

This article was originally published on December 5, 2016.It is being republished on October 31, 2019 to mark Indira Gandhi’s assassination 35 years ago.

From the time he became the prime minister of India, many pundits and analysts have compared Narendra Modi to Indira Gandhi. For the critics, Modi has the same disregard for institutions and a similar tendency to over-centralise, while some supporters and even ‘neutral’ analysts tend to point to his alleged resoluteness when it comes to taking difficult decisions. These were the hallmarks of the late Indian prime minister, who is now recalled as someone who imposed her will not just on her own party colleagues but also a hapless country, and not often for the best reasons.

It is not a comparison Modi would particularly mind. Much as he and his party dislike – detest is a more accurate word – the Nehru-Gandhi family and would like to obliterate them from the nation’s memory, they have a deep admiration for Gandhi. They see her as tough and no-nonsense, with no time for self-doubt or wishy-washy concerns for democratic niceties. They admire her nationalism and at a pinch will even claim she was a true Hindu. And of course, they remember how she dismembered Pakistan, something that every Sanghi yearns to do. The BJP has a declared policy of making India a “Congress-mukt” country and the government has done its utmost to wipe out Jawaharlal Nehru from institutions if not from public consciousness, but they have been less aggressive in downgrading the woman whom their tallest leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee called Durga.

Yet, any attempt to equate the two is glib and facile. It is also self-serving. Cherry picking a few attributes to build a case is fine as it goes, but runs the danger of reducing a great leader to no more than a caricature. Gandhi made many mistakes, including some horrendous ones with far-reaching consequences, and was a deeply flawed personality, but there were sides to her as a person and a politician which are sorely missing today.

For all her imperiousness and ruthlessness, Gandhi was totally secular and she also showed great compassion for the poor and the downtrodden. She had personal connect with them, of the kind barely visible in the current leadership. She reached out to the poor not just for votes, but because she felt for them and they reciprocated. She was at her best not in chambers of commerce but with the old, the weak and the indigent in the vast hinterlands of India. Her father, though very good with the masses, still retained a patrician air; Indira Gandhi immediately established a bond with them at an individual level. That kind of intimate relationship cannot be learnt or cultivated; it is inherent, stemming from a genuine empathy. Nor can simplicity – in thought, deed and even clothes – be faked; the people can see through it.

As we cope with the harrowing aftermath of an ill-thought out, ill-planned decision that has left this country reeling, it is also important to recall that bank nationalisation – an economic big bang policy of Gandhi’s – did not strike at the poor but at the rich, who had turned banks into their private treasuries. No ordinary citizen was harmed by it; if anything, it benefited the small businessman and also resulted in the expansion of the banking system to reach out to the remotest corners of the country. That these same banks have been milked by businessmen, with the active connivance of politicians, is a bitter irony. The nationalisation of banks and oil companies and the withdrawal of privy purses were steps that rattled the elites and pleased the ordinary citizens; it is the other way round as far as demonetisation is concerned.

Those measures and Gandhi’s slogan of ‘garibi hatao’ have often been referred to as blatant political exercises, part of the leftward turn that she took to move away from the Syndicate and establish herself and her party as the true representatives of the masses. But all politicians tend to look for maximisation of political impact – the question is what they do to achieve it. In the current climate, the effort is to reach out to the growing and very vocal cohort of the middle-classes whose own aspirations have drowned out the needs of all others, especially the huddled masses. The continued emphasis on how it is imperative that every citizen immediately gets himself or herself a smartphone and an internet connection and join the cashless economy, rather than sympathise with the difficulties millions of people are going through, reflects a delusionary attitude that can only come from complete alienation with ground realities and disinterest in the lives of the poor.

Gandhi too came a cropper when she lost touch with the country. Self-protection became her primary concern and she took the ultimate step of imposing emergency and curtailing fundamental rights. The people, rightly, punished her. Hubris and a cavalier disregard for citizens and their welfare always ends badly.

Anyone wanting to emulate her should know that her legacy is not just about the headline-grabbing events, such as the Emergency or the Indo-Pak war, but also includes her love for her fellow citizens, especially the voiceless and the powerless. If she is remembered by the people of India, it is because they know that she felt their pain and hurt and genuinely wanted to do something to alleviate it. Anyone wanting to emulate her would do well to remember that.

How Sabotage By Indira Gandhi’s Advisors Paved the Way for Operation Blue Star

Thanks to Zail Singh, Arun Nehru and M.L. Fotedar, the Centre lost two opportunities to defuse the Punjab crisis. The rest is history.

This article was originally published on June 5, 2017. It is being republished on October 31, 2019 to mark Indira Gandhi’s assassination 35 years ago.

On the eve of the anniversary of Operation Blue Star – the army’s attack on Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his heavily armed militants holed up inside the Golden Temple in Amritsar on June 5-6, 1984 – it is worth remembering how some leaders of the Congress party sabotaged the attempts that were being made to resolve the deteriorating situation in Punjab. Had they not done so, there would have been no need for military action in the Golden Temple – and terrorism in Punjab, fuelled by the Pakistani exploitation of Sikh sentiment, would not have spread like fire the way it did from June 1984 onwards.

Indeed, the events leading up to Blue Star are reminder of how even shrewd leaders like Indira Gandhi can become victim of the undesirable elements around them. As I explained in my book, Bloodshed in Punjab, she was surrounded by undesirable elements who lead her to the path of destruction. There were many forces working on these lines who succeeded in their mission but caused enormous damage to the country.

First act of sabotage

In the first week of April 1982, Bhindranwale visited the capital on the invitation of Jathedar Santokh Singh, who was close to Indira Gandhi and also Zail Singh, who was president at the time. Bhindranwale was moving around the capital with his armed supporters, who sat on the roof top of a bus with Bhindranwale inside, and this was a very embarrassing situation for the central government. The then home secretary, T.N. Chaturvedi and Lt. Governor of Delhi, S.L. Khurana, felt very concerned over the situation. They were in touch with the Intelligence Bureau director, T.V. Rajeshwar.

Khurana was planning to have Bhindranwale arrested in Delhi itself. Chaturvedi discussed the entire situation and its consequences with Indira Gandhi and then sent Khurana to convince her that they would be able to face the situation. Indira Gandhi asked him many questions – how would they handle the situation and what would happen if Bhindranwale died in the process. Khurana told her that Bhindranwale was always sitting inside the bus and he would not be hurt. But even if some unfortunate situation develops, we should face it, he said. Indira Gandhi consented and authorised the police to arrest Bhindranwale. Unfortunately, information about this plan leaked. Bhindranwale received a message – that he should leave Delhi as there were plans to arrest him. Intelligence reports of the time hinted at the leak originating from persons close to Zail Singh. Whatever the truth, Bhindranwale immediately shifted to the Majnu ka Tila gurudwara on the outskirts of Delhi and left the next morning for Punjab, foiling the plan to have him arrested.

Second sabotage

The second act of sabotage took place in November 1982. Indira Gandhi had appointed a cabinet committee on Punjab, and she had asked Sardar Swaran Singh to persuade the Akalis to come for talks. Swaran Singh had a reputation as an excellent negotiator. After the Chinese aggression in 1962, talks were started with Pakistan under US pressure. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, as Pakistan’s foreign minister, was leading his country’s delegation. Jawaharlal Nehru deputed Swaran Singh to lead the Indian delegation – and prolong the talks as long as possible. Swaran Singh had seven rounds of dialogue with Bhutto and after the seventh, a hassled Bhutto held a press conference in Delhi which I also attended, and attacked the Indian delegation. That was the end of the talks.

Whether for his filibustering skills or his ability to actually produce a compromise, Indira Gandhi asked Swaran Singh to take up the task of talking to Akalis who were lodged in different jails.

The veteran negotiator succeeded in bringing them to the table, so to speak. The Akalis’ first agitation had failed and they were to announce their next programme on November 4, 1982 at Amritsar. Swaran Singh had pleaded with the cabinet committee on November 3, 1982, in Pranab Mukherjee’s room in parliament house, that a situation should be created in which the Akalis are persuaded to postpone their plans as once they announce any programme from the Golden Temple, they would not be able to go back on that.

He spoke to various Akali leaders from Pranab Mukherjee’s room and a way out was found – that the government should make a statement in parliament the next day making certain assurances. A brief statement was prepared in which the government appreciated the sacrifices made by the Sikhs in the freedom struggle and assured sympathetic consideration of their demands. As for their political demands, the government said it needed some time for consultations with other states. The Akalis agreed to accept this statement.

A copy of the draft was sent to Indira Gandhi. It was at this stage, late at night, that she succumbed to pressure from Arun Nehru and M.L. Fotedar, who supported the argument put forward by Bhajan Lal of Haryana that if this statement was made, the Congress would lose the Haryana assembly elections which were due in next few months.

At their urging, the statement was changed and the next day, Union home minister P.C. Sethi made a statement on Punjab that was different from the one that had been read out to the Akalis. I know this because I had seen a copy of the original statement. Swaran Singh himself had come to parliament to listen to the home minister. After Sethi’s statement, Swaran Singh told me: “This is neither the same statement nor the same spirit’, and I am going to withdraw from negotiations.”

So it was that on November 4, 1982, the Akalis announced their next programme – declaring a boycott of the Asian games, which led to a further cleavage between them and the government. It was during this period that Bhajan Lal, who was Haryana chief minister, played the dirtiest role and prevented the entry of Sikhs – including high court judges and army officers – coming to Delhi. News of this humiliation spread like a fire not only in India but in the Sikh diaspora in the United States, Canada and many other countries and there were protests against Indira Gandhi at many places.

There is a lesson here which leaders must learn – that if they keep undesirable elements around them, they will be misled completely and this will result in great damage to the country. Between Zail Singh on one side and the Arun Nehru-Fotedar group on the other, the people advising Indira Gandhi played a very destructive role in exacerbating the Punjab crisis. If these two acts of sabotage had not taken place, I am sure there would have been no need for Operation Blue Star, and perhaps Indira Gandhi might still have been alive.

The current Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre and its leaders have not learnt any lessons from the events in Punjab; my fear is that the open Hindutva agenda of the Saffron parivar may harm the country more than the tragic events in Punjab did three decades ago.

G.S. Chawla is a journalist based in Delhi.

Pakistan: 13 Killed as Fire Breaks out in Train

The train, Tezgam, was on its way from Karachi from Rawalpindi when the fire broke out after a cooking cylinder exploded.

Lahore: At least 13 people were killed and 30 others injured as a fire broke out on a train in Pakistan on Thursday after a gas canister carried by a passenger exploded.

The train, Tezgam, was on its way to Rawalpindi from Karachi when the fire broke out, destroying three of the train’s carriages at Liaquatpur near Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab province, the Geo News reported.

A Pakistan Railways official said that the fire was caused by the explosion in a gas cylinder. Some passengers were cooking breakfast when the gas cylinder exploded, the report said.

After the blast, the raging fire engulfed two other coaches as well.

Railways minister Sheikh Rasheed said thirteen people were killed in the fire. Rasheed said the fire had been extinguished and cooling efforts were underway.

Earlier, Baqir Husain, the head of the district rescue service, told Geo News some of the passengers were killed when they jumped from the moving train to escape the flames.

Prime Minister Imran Khan while expressing his condolences directed the authorities to ensure the provision of best medical treatment for the injured.

(PTI)