In the U.S., we refer to the months of November and December as “the holiday season” because of the major holidays celebrated from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. The United States is a nation of many cultures that has adopted holiday customs from across the world, and we’ve developed a few of our own that stand out. Here’s a handy guide to those traditions for international students in the U.S.
BLACK FRIDAY
You may have seen it on TV – the day after Thanksgiving in the U.S., crowds gather at stores across the country in the early hours of the morning in search of the best discounts on presents for the holidays. The event got its name from a phrase used in business – “in the black” – which means that a company has made a profit.
DRINKING EGGNOG
Eggnog is a sweet seasonal drink that has been popular around the holidays in the U.S. since its colonial days. The drink consists of milk, cream, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and can be made with or without egg whites and rum/whiskey. While the drink originated in England, it’s a treat reserved just for the holidays in the States.
DECORATING HOUSES WITH LIGHTS
It’s common to see houses decorated with everything from white lights to blow-up decorations across the country. Going beyond public parks and city squares, American families and neighbors (like this city block in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) often see their impressive house decorations as a point of pride and cause for bragging rights.
EATING PUMPKIN DESSERTS
You may have heard the phrase, “as American as apple pie.” It may be even more appropriate to say so for pumpkin pie. Every autumn in the U.S., farmers harvest pumpkins that bakeries and families turn into a variety of holiday treats between Halloween and Christmas. The most famous of these is pumpkin pie, a sweet and hearty dessert typically enjoyed with family after Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. Try a slice this year!
WATCHING THE BALL DROP ON NEW YEAR’S EVE IN NEW YORK
For over 100 years every New Year’s Eve, thousands of tourists flock to Times Square in New York City to witness “the Ball drop.” A 12-foot ball of Waterford crystals that weighs over 5,000 kg descends from the top of One Times Square as people in the U.S. count down to the new year. If you can’t make it to New York to see it yourself, you can watch it on TV.
THE MUMMERS PARADE
The Mummers Parade is thought to be the oldest folk festival in the U.S. The parade is a unique celebration on New Year’s Day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and consists of a number of string bands who play music and wear homemade elaborate costumes to ring in the new year.
TIME OFF IN DECEMBER AND JANUARY
Most U.S. schools and many businesses are closed between Christmas and New Year’s Day so families can spend time together. For college students in the U.S., the holidays mean it’s time for winter break, which usually lasts from mid-December to mid-January. Here’s how you can spend your month off.
MIXING CULTURAL TRADITIONS
The U.S. is home to people from all over the world, and holiday celebrations are no different.
Happy Holidays!
(The author is the Marketing Coordinator for International Affairs at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
RAJAHMUNDRY, INDIA / NEW YORK (TIP): “Sarvendriyanaam Nayanam Pradhanam”: with this objective, Dr. V.K. Raju, a world renowned Ophthalmologist – Cornea Specialist, Chairman of EFA (Eye Foundation of America) & GEI (Goutami Eye Institute) and Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology, West Virginia University, USA., has planned “Green Goutami Eye Institute” with the divine blessings of Sri Sri Bharathi Tirtha Mahaswami and Sri Sri Sri Vidhushekara Bharathi Swami of Sri Sringeri Sarada Peetham, in the premises of Sri Sringeri Sharada Peetham at Rajahmundry, as a Unit of the Peetham, with the help and involvement of many people. Sri V.R. Gowrishankar, Administrator and GPA Holder Of His Holiness Jagadguru Shankaracharya Mahasamsthnam Dakshinamnaya Sri Sharada Peetham, Sringeri played a key role in making this dream project a reality. Bhoomi puja for construction of this premise of approximately one lakh square feet area was done on 10th December 2020.
Dr. V.K. Raju, world renowned Ophthalmologist – Cornea Specialist, Chairman of EFA (Eye Foundation of America) & GEI (Goutami Eye Institute) and Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology, West Virginia University, USA.
This will be a Super Speciality Eye Hospital with world class equipment and facilities, to serve the needy, irrespective of socio-economic status. The Institute will have DNB Ophthalmology Course, School of Optometry and Vision Care Technician Course. The Institute will also take up research to find new therapies for age old eye diseases hitherto not curable and also introduce Gene therapy in Retinal diseases, in coordination with the other Institutions from USA, who already have on-going projects on Gene therapy in devastating eye diseases in children, for a “World without Childhood Blindness”. The Bhoomi puja ceremony was conducted by Sri V.V. Kumar, M.D and Dr. Y. Srinivas Reddy, C.M.O along with five children who were treated and presented with vision by Goutami Eye Institute. Sri Mamidanna Seshagiri Rao, Dharmadikari of Sri Sringeri Sarada Peetham and Mahamahopadhyaya Sri Viswanadha Gopalakrishna Sastry graced the occasion. Dr. Ganni Bhaskar Rao, Chairman, GSL Medical College, Sri Madduri Siva Subba Rao and Sri Chundru Prasad, Governing Board Members of Goutami Eye Institute, Sri V. Bhaskar Ram, Managing Trustee of Virinchi Vanaprastha Ashramam, Sri Hota Sreeramachandra Murthy, Philanthropist and Sri P. Srinivasa Rao, renowned advocate and other staff of Goutami Eye Institute par ticipated in the event.
Triplets – Prasanth, Susanth and Nisanth, who were treated by GEI three years ago and gifted vision for life, as ROP babies under GEMROP (Goutami Eye tele Medicine Retinopathy Of Prematurity).
New Delhi (TIP): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, Dec 10, laid the foundation stone of the new Parliament building here at an event that was attended by leaders from various political parties, cabinet ministers and ambassadors of different countries.
Describing the laying of foundation stone of the new Parliament building as a “milestone in India’s democratic history”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said if the old Parliament house gave direction to the country post-independence, the new one would be a witness to the making of a self-reliant India.
Addressing the gathering after laying the foundation stone of the new building and performing the ground-breaking ceremony, Modi said many new things were being done in the new Parliament House, which will increase the efficiency of the MPs as modern methods will be incorporated in the work culture.
“It is a very historic day. Today is a milestone in India’s democratic history,” he said.
“We, the people of India, will together build this new building of Parliament. This new building will be an inspiration when India will celebrate its 75 years of independence,” Modi said.
“I can never forget the moment in my life when I had the opportunity to come to Parliament House for the first time in 2014 as an MP. Before stepping in, I bowed and saluted this temple of democracy,” he said.
If the old Parliament House gave direction to India post-independence, the new building would be a witness to the creation of a self-reliant India, Modi said.
“If work was done to fulfil the needs of the country in the old Parliament building, then the aspirations of 21st century India will be fulfilled in the new building,” the prime minister said.
Priests from the Sringeri Math Karnataka did the rituals for the ‘bhoomi pujan’ at the new Parliament building site and it was followed by a ‘sarva dharma prarthana’ (inter-faith prayer).
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh also offered prayers during the ceremony.
The new building will have an area of 64,500 square metres.
The existing Parliament House building will be suitably retro-fitted to provide more functional spaces for parliamentary events, to ensure its usage along with the new building.
Modi also performed the ground-breaking ceremony for the building, which is expected to be completed by 2022.
The new building will also have a grand Constitution Hall to showcase India’s democratic heritage, a lounge for members of Parliament, a library, multiple committee rooms, dining areas and ample parking space.In the new building, the Lok Sabha chamber will have a seating capacity for 888 members, while the Rajya Sabha will have 384 seats for members. The Lok Sabha chamber will have an option to increase its sitting capacity to 1,224 members during joint sessions.
New Delhi (TIP): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has, without naming China, emphasised India’s call for an open and inclusive order in the Indo-Pacific, based on respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations.
Rajnath was addressing the 14th Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM Plus) organised online at Hanoi, Vietnam, when he stressed on peaceful resolution of disputes through dialogue and adherence to international laws.
The minister reiterated India’s support to freedom of navigation and overflight for all in international waters in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Though Rajnath did not name China, it was evident he was referring to Beijing, which has lost a case in the UNCLOS about the demarcation of the South China Sea boundary.
He underlined the importance of mutual trust and confidence based on restraint in activities and actions that may further complicate the situation in the region.
The ADMM Plus is an annual meeting of the defence ministers of 10 Asean countries and eight partner nations.
Rajnath underlined the key role of Asean-centric forum in promoting dialogue and engagement towards a pluralistic, cooperative security order in Asia. He said terrorism remained a major scourge for the region and the world. Calling for stronger commitment to fight terrorism jointly and vigorously, he said the structures that supported and sustained terrorism continued to exist, including in India’s neighbourhood.
Common efforts must for good ties, says Beijing
Underlining that common efforts were needed to maintain good relations between China and India, a senior Chinese official on Thursday said Beijing was committed to resolving the border standoff through dialogue, but was also determined to safeguard its territorial sovereignty.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said this while reacting to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s remarks that China had given India “five differing explanations” for deploying large forces at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the violation of bilateral pacts had “very significantly damaged” their relationship.
The rail route between Haldibari in West Bengal and Chilahati in neighbouring Bangladesh is all set to reopen after a gap of 55 years on December 17 and prime ministers of the two countries will inaugurate the programme, an official of the Northeast Frontier Railway said on Thursday, Dec 10.
The railway line from Haldibari in Cooch Behar to Chilahati in northern Bangladesh has been defunct after rail links between India and then East Pakistan had snapped in 1965.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate Haldibari-Chilahati rail route on December 17,” NFR Chief Public Relations Officer Subhanan Chanda said.
A goods train will run from Chilahati to Haldibari, which is under the Katihar division of the NRF, to mark the opening of the route, Chanda said. The Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday informed the authorities of the decision to reopen the rail route, said Katihar Divisional Railway Manager Ravinder Kumar Verma.
The distance between Haldibari railway station till the international border is 4.5 kilometres while that from Chilahati in Bangladesh till the zero point is around 7.5 kilometres, sources in the NFR said.
New Delhi (TIP): Several farmers’ groups which did not join the ‘Dilli Chalo’ protest that began from November 26 began their journey towards Delhi on Friday, Dec 11, ahead of the farmers’ announced programme of blocking highways by December 12 and a massive nationwide protest on December 14. The protesters are coming to Delhi primarily by tractors. However, vigilance has been upped in the border areas to check whether farmers are using public transport.
“Around 700 tractor trolleys are moving towards Delhi’s Kundli border,” Kishan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee leader SS Pandher said on Friday. The members of this farmers’ group were protesting in Amritsar. On Friday, they started mobilising towards Delhi. So far, there have been five rounds of talks between the Centre and the farmer unions. The Centre has agreed to amend the farm acts according to the concerns raised by the farmers, but the unions are demanding a complete withdrawal of the laws. Though door for further talks are open from both sides — as Centre said it is willing to further talks and farmers said they will consider if Centre invites them for another meeting — the ongoing protest to lay siege to the Capital is on. The protesters announced that they would block highways to Delhi by December 12 and on December 14, there will be a nationwide protest. After that, they will block railway tracks across the country to intensify the protest. The massive gathering has triggered Covid-19 fear as two IPS officer posted at the Singhu border have tested Covid-19 positive. Public interest litigations (PIL) against the gathering in view of the Covid-19 situation have also been submitted. One PIL, filed by advocate Om Prakash Parihar, urges the Supreme Court to pass an order shifting the protesters to somewhere else. Another Delhi-based lawyer, Reepak Kansal, filed a plea seeking the framing of guidelines to balance citizens’ right to protest with right to free access and movement. (Source: HT)
New Delhi (TIP): India on Friday, Dec 11, registered 29,398 new cases and 414 deaths in the last 24 hours, which pushed the overall tally and death toll to 9,796,769 and 142,186, respectively. The total active cases continued to remain below 400,000 for a sixth consecutive day while the total number of people recovering from the disease reached nearly 9.3 million, according to the Union health ministry’s dashboard.
This is the second time in three days that the country’s daily coronavirus tally went below the 30,000-mark. As many as 26,567 people tested positive for the infection on December 8. On November 17, the daily cases were less than 30,000 for the first time in four months. Over 15 million samples have been tested till now with 922,959 samples tested on Wednesday. Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala continue to add the most number of infections to the total caseload. Maharashtra on Thursday logged 3,824 coronavirus cases with health officials stating that the state is not seeing a potential second wave till now. From the last seven days, Maharashtra has reported 25,585 cases and 373 deaths with a daily average of 3,655 cases and 53 deaths.
Delhi’s total caseload is nearing the 600,000-mark with 2,463 cases added in the last 24 hours. The active cases have climbed to 20,546 and 569,216 have recovered so far. Health minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday had said that the third wave of the disease was not over yet but it was definitely on the wane. The positivity rate further dropped to 2.46 per cent and has been below 5 per cent for nine consecutive days.
Meanwhile, the global Covid-19 caseload has climbed over 70 million with 1,588,437 deaths and 49,148,338 recoveries. The United States, which is the worst-hit nation, added record 3,253 deaths on Wednesday which pushed the toll to nearly 300,000. More than half of the states in the country have recently introduced or resumed restrictions to try to curtail the rampant spread of the disease.
Survey identifies most vulnerable for Covid shot
Data collected during the currently underway door-to-door survey in hot spots and containment zones will be used to identify those above the age of 50 years and those with comorbidities as both categories of people will be next in line, after the health care and front-line workers, to receive a Covid-19 vaccine, sources in the health department said.
The government has already asked all hospitals, nursing homes, and stand-alone clinics in the city to get their employees registered for the vaccine shots. “More than 2 lakh registrations have come for the first trial of the Covid-19 vaccine in Delhi. The priority is health care and front-line workers. After which the focus will be on the aged, and subsequently, the entire population of Delhi, said health minister Satyendar Jain.
According to the recommendations of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC), 10 million health care workers, 20 million front-line workers, and 270 million people over the age of 50 years and those with comorbidities will be the priority groups to receive the vaccine.
The vaccination drives could be conducted simultaneously for all three priority groups, depending on availability of the shots. Currently, India’s regulator is looking at emergency use authorisation for three vaccines – one, developed by Pfizer and BioNtech; second, by Oxford and AstraZeneca which will be manufactured and distributed in India by the Serum Institute of India; and the third, the indigenously developed Covaxin by Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research.
HelpAge India on Thursday , Dec 10,became the first Indian NGO to be awarded the prestigious 2020 UN Population Award in the institutional category. The selection of HelpAge is in recognition of its work on population issues and efforts in the realisation of rights of older persons in India since 1978. The award was presented during a virtual event held at UN headquarters in New York to mark Human Rights Day. The award brings focus to the issue of ageing with India housing an estimated 140 million elderly. HelpAge, with 42 years of fieldwork, has presence in 125 districts across 25 states.
The Delhi High Court on Friday stayed the Central Information Commission order directing the Indian Air Force to disclose the details regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s entourage, which accompanied him on the foreign visits.
The Air Force had filed a petition before high court challenging the CIC direction to provide information regarding Special Flight Returns (SRF)-II, saying it relates to details of the Prime Minister’s security apparatus and cannot be provided. The IAF plea has claimed that the “information so sought includes details related to the entire entourage, names of Special Protection Group (SPG) personnel accompanying the Prime Minister of India on foreign tours for his personal safety, and the same, if disclosed, can potentially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State”.
India and Japan have discussed how to further enhance cooperation and interoperability between the air forces of the two countries. They also discussed the scope for enhancement of joint exercises and training. A broader cooperation for strengthening collective response to contingencies was also discussed.
The two sides held wide-ranging discussions during the visit of General Izutsu Shunji, Chief of Staff, Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF), who arrived on Wednesday and met his Indian counterpart Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria.Gen Izutsu Shunji called on Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and held meetings with Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Bipin Rawat, Chief of Navy Admiral Karambir Singh and Vice Chief of the Army Lt Gen SK Saini. On his arrival at the air headquarters, the Japanese official was presented with a Guard of Honour.
New Delhi (TIP): Farmers on Wednesday, Dec 9, rejected government’s proposal over the farm laws and called for a nationwide sit-in protest on December 14.
In a press conference, farmer leaders announced a ‘Delhi gherao’ plan saying that Delhi-Jaipur and Delhi-Agra highways will be blocked by the protesters by December 12 and all tolls across the country will be freed.
A representative group of farmer unions on Wednesday received a draft proposal from the government on some key concerns raised by the protesters.
Top sources in the government said the key amendments being proposed in the bills are an attempt to provide a tangible proposal to a number of unions along with the protestors who are not adamant on repealing the bills and have been pursuing reasonable demands.
The Centre’s proposals came after a four-hour meeting between 13 farm unions and the Government side led by Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday night.
‘Old proposal dressed up as new’
The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) released a statement on government’s proposal on Wednesday and termed them “old proposals dressed up as new”.
“Modi govt insincere & arrogant about resolving farmers demands; all farmers bodies rightly reject old proposals dressed up as new. AIKSCC and all farmer organisations reiterate their demand to repeal 3 farm acts and EB 2020 . Protest to continue, more farmers to join in, in Delhi. District level dharnas to start in all states [sic], ” the release stated. The release further mentioned that the National Working Group of AIKCC met on Wednesday morning and took some decisions. “AIKSCC joins farmers organisations in denouncing & rejecting the so-called insincere and arrogant so-called ‘new’ proposal of Central govt [sic],” it said.
“AIKSCC calls upon farmers organizations to organize continuous sit-ins in all districts and state capitals, jointly with other supporting organizations at public places [sic],” it added
It further said, “Bharat Bandh on 8 December has proven beyond doubt all-India footprint of the popular farmers protests; AIKSCC congratulates all sections of society for support. AIKSCC notes mass participation in Bharat Bandh and calls upon all organizations and political parties to mobilize Farmers March in to Delhi to intensify protest [sic]”.
Call for nationwide protests
Farmer leader Prahalad Singh Bharukheda said that there is nothing new in government’s proposal and added that farmers will continue their protest against three agri-marketing laws.
Another farmer leader, Shiv Kumar Kakka, said that that protesting farmers might take a call on crossing Singhu border to enter Delhi in coming days.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha also issued a press release and said that the farmer leaders have rejected the written proposal of the Central government, adding that all farmer leaders are adamant that the government repeals the three farm laws and brings the MSP Guarantee Act.
Why are farmers sticking to their stand?
Farm unions have stuck to their demand of scrapping three pro-market agricultural laws they say will hurt their livelihoods, dealing a blow to the Union government’s offer to bring changes to the laws to end weeks of agitation by farmers.
On Wednesday, the farm ministry sent out a lengthy set of proposal to farm unions protesting at Delhi’s borders to address their concerns. Farmers fear losing out to big corporations if private traders get a free in deregulated markets. The government says the changes will give farmers greater market access and spur investments.
The agriculture sector employs half of all Indians, but adds only 16% to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), meaning far too many people are engaged in agriculture than is required to generate the same levels of farm incomes. The new laws allow businesses to freely trade farm produce outside, permit private traders to stockpile large quantities of essential commodities for future sales and set new rules for contract farming.
Concessions offered by the government provide for more oversight of private markets. Farmers, however, say they want nothing short of a full repeal of the laws. Farmers have come to trust decades-old regulated markets despite studies that show these markets are run by trader cartels who rig prices and lend money to farmers, limiting their bargaining power.
Yet, these markets also offer farmers assured minimum prices for staples, providing a sense of security. The new reforms allow corporations to operate with minimal regulations.
“The core concerns [are] about removing regulation on traders and companies and thereby removing all protections to farmers offered by the regulation system,” said Kirankumar Vissa of the Rythu Swarajya Vedika, a farm activist.
The government on Wednesday said its concessions will protect farmers’ bargaining power. Farmers say the very objective of the laws is wrong. “The crux of the matter is that the government’s laws are centered around large corporations which are against the interest of farmers and consumers. Why can’t markets be farmer-led?” said Kavitha Kuruganti of the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture, a farm activist who took part in the recent talks with the government.
Economists attribute India’s impressive economic growth over the years to reforms in industry, currency markets and manufacturing. The burst of reforms initiated in 1991 sidestepped the farm sector altogether.
The resolute, determined, dignified, and peaceful protests by farmers at the borders of Delhi have captured headlines around the world. “The uncomfortable truth, however, is that while the new laws are not perfect, they represent a necessary direction for agricultural policy,” writes Bharat Ramaswami, professor of economics at Ashoka University. “Without developing new markets for the more dynamic lines of activity, agriculture, farmers and the economy will be stuck with a slow-moving cereal economy. This requires enabling policies and investments,” he states in his opinion piece in The Indian Express.
To be sure, government policy has moved that way since the early 2000s aided by a remarkable consensus shared across political parties, state governments and the Centre. Different central governments drafted model Acts in 2003, 2007 and 2017, each of which successively enlarged the scope of private markets and reduced the monopoly of the regulated mandi. In 2013, similar recommendations were made by a committee of 10 state agriculture ministers constituted by the ministry of agriculture. These included state ministers from Haryana and Punjab.
But with the farmers rejecting offers from the government to amend the contentious laws, the situation has reached a perilous impasse.
How can the BJP government concede without losing the argument?
Ramaswami states that the first element is for the central government to withdraw these laws — especially the one that allows private markets.
In return, farmers should drop their demand for minimum support price (MSP) to be a legal guarantee. After all, with the Acts gone, we are back to square one.
Is this then the end of all reforms?
“No, it does not have to be,” states Ramaswami. “A constituency for reforms has to be built elsewhere — with growers who will benefit from the opening up of new markets. These will primarily be producers of crops other than wheat and paddy. They gain when they access large markets — both domestic and foreign. This needs investment in markets and supply chains, whether from producer collectives or corporates”.
It is the entry of the latter that is controversial. However, concentration can be thwarted as long as policy is sensitive to it. The world over, it is the concentration in retail that allows corporates to extend backwards.
“The BJP governs many states where it can demonstrate the power of liberating markets and literally allow a thousand flowers to bloom. That gives it the chance to disprove the narrative that these reforms are a corporate plot and provide concrete proof of the gains. Without doubt, economic success will melt opposition in Punjab as well,” he writes.
Sydney (TIP): Australia on Dec 9 finalised plans to make Facebook Inc and Google pay its media outlets for news content, a world-first move aimed at protecting independent journalism that has been strongly opposed by the internet giants. Under laws to go to Parliament this week, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the Big Tech firms must negotiate payments for content that appears on their platforms with local publishers and broadcasters. If they can’t strike a deal, a government-appointed arbitrator will decide for them.
“This is a huge reform, this is a world first, and the world is watching what happens here in Australia,” Frydenberg told reporters in the capital Canberra. He added: “Our legislation will help ensure that the rules of the digital world mirror the rules of the physical world … and ultimately sustain our media landscape.”
The law amounts to the strongest check of the tech giants’ market power globally and follows three years of inquiry and consultation, ultimately spilling into a public row in August when the US companies warned it may stop them offering their services in Australia.
Facebook Australia managing director Will Easton said the company would review the legislation and “engage through the upcoming parliamentary process with the goal of landing on a workable framework to support Australia’s news ecosystem”.
A representative for Google declined to comment, saying the company had yet to see the final version of the proposed law.
Until recently, most countries have stood by as advertisers redirect spending to the world’s biggest social media website and search engine, starving newsrooms of their main revenue source and bringing widespread shutdowns and job losses.
But regulators are starting to test their power to rein in the two mega-corporations, which take more than four-fifths of Australian online advertising spending between them, according to Frydenberg.
Google said in October that it planned to pay $1 billion to publishers globally for their news over the next three years.
The new product called Google News Showcase will launch first in Germany, where it has signed up German newspapers including Der Spiegel, Stern, Die Zeit, and in Brazil with Folha de S Paulo, Band and Infobae.
Google said last month that it had also signed copyright agreements with six French newspapers and magazines, including national dailies Le Monde and Le Figaro. “It’s both very ambitious and very necessary,” said Denis Muller, an Honorary Fellow at University of Melbourne’s Centre for Advancing Journalism, referring to the Australian law. “Taking their news content without paying for it, in exchange for a very questionable reward of ‘reach’, seems to be a very unfair and uneven and ultimately democratically damaging arrangement,” Muller added.
News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller said the law was “a significant step forward in the decade-long campaign to achieve fairness in the relationship between Australian news media companies and the global tech giants”. In May, News Corp stopped printing more than 100 Australian newspapers, citing declining advertising.
In changes to draft legislation announced earlier this year that might favour the tech companies, the final version of the law would not affect news content distributed on Facebook’s Instagram subsidiary or Google’s Youtube. Facebook and Google would also be allowed to include in the negotiations the value of clicks their platforms directed to news websites.
But Frydenberg added to the list of media companies with whom the tech giants must negotiate, saying public broadcaster the Australian Broadcasting Corp and specialist public broadcaster SBS would be included, along with dominant private sector outlets like News Corp and Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Limited. Reuters
Kabul (TIP): Gunmen shot and killed a female TV anchor in eastern Afghanistan early Thursday, officials said. The attackers opened fire on Malala Maiwand’s car soon after she left her house in the eastern Nangarhar province, said Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor. No one has claimed responsibility, but an Islamic State affiliate is headquartered in eastern Afghanistan and has claimed most of the recent attacks on civilians in Afghanistan. The Taliban also operate in the area. In addition to working as a TV and radio presenter, Maiwand was also an activist who advocated for the rights of Afghan women and children. Two Afghan journalists were killed in separate bombings in Afghanistan last month. AP
Kathmandu (TIP): A joint sitting of both houses of Bhutan’s parliament approved a Bill on Thursday to legalize gay sex, making the tiny Himalayan kingdom the latest Asian nation to take steps towards easing restrictions on same-sex relationships.
Sections 213 and 214 of the penal code had criminalized “unnatural sex”, widely interpreted as homosexuality.
Lawmaker Ugyen Wangdi, the vice chairperson of a joint panel considering the changes, said 63 of the total 69 members of both houses of parliament had voted in favour of amending the code to scrap the provision. Six members were absent.
“Homosexuality will not be considered as unnatural sex now,” Wangdi told Reuters by phone from the Bhutanese capital of Thimphu, without giving details.
The changes still need to be approved by the King of Bhutan to become a law.
Rights activist Tashi Tsheten said he was “thrilled and really happy” over the parliamentary move, calling it a “victory” for the LGBT+ community.
“I think the Bill being passed on Human Rights Day itself is a momentous day for everyone in Bhutan,” Tsheten, the director of LGBT+ group, Rainbow Bhutan, told Reuters.
“I believe everyone who has stood up for the LGBT+ community in Bhutan is going to celebrate today as this is our victory”. The move by the majority-Buddhist nation of 800,000 people comes after other Asian countries relaxed restrictions on the rights of the LGBT+ people. Neighbouring India removed a centuries-old colonial prohibition on gay sex in 2018, triggering celebration across the country. In Nepal, authorities will count LGBT+ people for the first time in the national census next year to help sexual minorities gain better access to education and health schemes.
Bhutan is famous for its “gross national happiness” index as an alternative to gross domestic product to indicate real economic progress or development. — Reuters
Kathmandu (TIP): Nepal has reported 1,024 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of infections in the nation to 239,885, the health ministry said on Saturday.
Ministry of Health and Population said that the cases were detected after conducting 6,074 tests across the country.
“The total number of new cases in the last 24 hours stand at 1,024. With this the total number of cases in the country has reached 239,885,” according to a statement from the health ministry.
So far, 2,206 people have recovered from the disease on Saturday. With this a total of 224,053 people, who earlier tested corona positive, have recovered from the infection. So far, swab samples of 1,778,024 people have been tested in the country to detect coronavirus. There are currently 14,255 corona active people undergoing treatment at different laboratories across the country, the ministry said. The health ministry said confirmed death of 10 people due to corona infection on Saturday, the country’s corona tally has reached 1,577. — PTI
Islamabad (TIP): Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has dared the Opposition alliance to table a no-confidence motion in Parliament to oust him, as he criticised its call to lawmakers for mass resignations to force him to call snap polls.
Khan said he did not backtrack from holding a national dialogue to steer the country out of multiple crises.
An 11-party Opposition alliance announced on Tuesday that their lawmakers will resign en masse by the end of this month from Parliament to paralyse the government and force Prime Minister Khan to call snap polls.
The decision was taken after the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an alliance of 11 Opposition parties formed in September this year to overthrow Prime Minister Khan’s government, held a marathon meeting in Islamabad.
Khan said the Constitutional way to send a government packing is to table a no-confidence motion in Parliament.
“If the Opposition wants to move a no-confidence motion, they should come and do so in the assemblies,” he said.
He also criticised the PDM’s call for en masse resignations. “Parliament is the best place for political dialogues and I’m ready to respond to all questions [in Parliament]. Democracy will only work when there is a debate,” he said while talking to the media on Wednesday in Sialkot city in Punjab province.
Khan said the Opposition wanted quashing of corruption cases.
“We have no problem and the government is ready to hold talks on any issue but the NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance) like concession will not be discussed,” he said, adding that the graft cases would not be closed.
Addressing a ceremony after inaugurating a private airline company, Khan slammed the Opposition parties, saying those who had criticised the government for not imposing a complete lockdown, were now holding public gatherings.
The Opposition alliance has alleged that Khan was supported in the 2018 elections by the ‘establishment’ and also failed to run the country and address chronic issues. — PTI
“Despite the global pandemic, young musicians of Wharton Arts never stopped making music. At our Virtual Winter Celebration, you will see and hear performances from over 450 young people, sharing messages of hope through their gifts of music.” – Helen H. Cha-Pyo, Artistic Director & Principal Conductor
The Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts (WIPA) welcomes everyone to ring in the winter solstice by enjoying classical, pops, and holiday favorites with a weekend of virtual events December 18-20. Free online streaming for the Holiday Cabaret for the Arts, ‘Messengers of Hope Virtual Festival’, and ‘Salon Series’ is available at WhartonArts.tv. In the absence of live event experiences, audience members are invited to watch from the comfort of home and enjoy the gift of music from Wharton’s talented young artists. For full concert details, see schedule below or visit WhartonArts.org. “The Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts is continuing to make every effort in bringing the music from our students to your homes during these challenging times,” said Peter H. Gistelinck, Executive Director. “We are very appreciative and grateful for all of your support during this month of giving. Please do consider us for a donation by visiting WhartonArtsDonate.org so that we can continue the mission and vision of our educational programs.”
Wharton Arts Winter Celebration
All events take place at 7:00 p.m. EST on WhartonArts.tv unless otherwise indicated.
Friday, December 18 @ 6:00 p.m. EST on Facebook Live!
Holiday Cabaret for the Arts: The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey will join Performing Arts School students for an evening of art and pops favorites followed by a virtual holiday sing along.
NJSO (Photo / Courtesy NJSO)
Saturday, December 19
Messengers of Hope Virtual Festival: Young musicians of the New Jersey Youth Symphony present a virtual compilation of works featuring nearly two dozen ensembles and orchestras
Sunday, December 20
Salon Series: Violinist Mikhail Kuchuk presents works for solo violin by J.S. Bach, Prokofiev, and Ysaÿe
The Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts’ mission is to provide the highest quality performing arts education to a wide range of students in a supportive and inclusive environment, where striving for personal excellence inspires and connects those we teach to the communities we serve. To learn more, visit www.WhartonArts.org
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NJSO – @ Home for the Holidays
Holiday videos premiere daily! New videos premiere daily at 5 pm!
NJSO musicians share festive favorites and holiday traditions, from ‘our homes to yours’.
Enjoy daily musician videos featuring performances, family recipes, holiday memories and more, starting December 9 (videos premiere at 5 pm). And tune in for a pair of can’t-miss features: a fun holiday special hosted by Mark Timmerman (Dec 17 at 7:30 pm) and performances of “And the Glory of the Lord” and “Hallelujah” Chorus from Handel’s “Messiah”, featuring friends in the Montclair State University Singers (Dec 18 at 7:30 pm).
Dec 17 at 7:30 pm: Holiday Special
Enjoy an evening of holiday music and fun, featuring solo and chamber performances by NJSO musicians, plus fun surprises, hosted by Mark Timmerman.
MARK TIMMERMAN host
Dec 18 at 7:30 pm:
The New Jersey Symphony Chamber Orchestra and Montclair State University Singers present “And the Glory of the Lord” and “Hallelujah” Chorus from Handel’s Messiah.MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY SINGERS
Heather J. Buchanan, director
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
These FREE virtual events are available:
NJSYMPHONY.org
NJSO YouTube channel—subscribe and enable notifications for the latest videos.
NJSO social media channels on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Follow the NJSO to get notifications to your feed!
To learn more about how to watch NJSO events, visit njsymphony.org/concerts-and-events/njso-virtual-20-21/how-to-watch
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NJPAC COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
YOUTH EMPOWERMENT – “Where Do We Go From Here”
Film Screening FREE on Zoom – Mon Dec 14 @ 7PM
After everything that has happened in 2020, where do we go from here?
NJPAC True Diversity Film Series looks at the tumultuous events of this past year, and talks about what the way forward looks like — and what it ought to look like.
A screening of the film “Where Do We Go From Here,” will take place, a two-part series on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), which explores the extraordinary events of 2020 with a range of Black leaders, artists and journalists, including: Stacey Abrams, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Academy award-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay, journalist and Pulitzer prize-winning founder of the “1619 Project” Nikole Hannah-Jones, historian and author Ibram Kendi (“How to be an Anti-Racist”) and actor David Oyelowo (“Selma”), among many others.
This season, the films NJPAC will present through the True Diversity Film Series will focus on social and racial justice, in response to the uprisings against systemic racism that have spread around the globe in 2020. To continue these presentations safely during the pandemic, NJPAC has redesigned this series to work like a book club. After watching the selected films at home virtually, we come together on a Zoom video conference to discuss the film with panelists who can offer context and insight.
Everyone is encouraged to view “Where Do We Go From Here” and then join the teams for two virtual panel discussions.
Program – 1st Panel Discussion
The first panel discussion, at 7PM on Monday, December 14, will focus on the youth perspective on social justice, and what progress that has been made — and not made — over the past year. Moderated by hip hop artist and NJPAC faculty lead Sheikia “Purple Haze” Norris, this panel will bring together high school and university students who are leaders in their communities to discuss the future of the Black Lives Matter movement, the push to defund the police, reparations and what role they believe governments can play in promoting equity.
To RSVP to Part 1, visit njpac.org/event/pseg-true-diversity-film-series-presents-where-do-we-go-from-here-part-1
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ARTS AND CULTURE
Free on Zoom – Wed, Dec 16 @ 7PM
Program – 2nd Panel Discussion
The second of these panels, at 7PM on Wednesday, December 16, will focus on how 2020 has affected artists and the arts. NJPAC’s own Donna Walker-Kuhne, the Arts Center’s Senior Advisor for Community Engagement — as well as the president of Walker International Communication Group, and an adjunct Professor at New York University, Columbia University and Bank Street College — will moderate the discussion with a panel of artists and arts administrators, exploring how artists will continue to produce new work and examine themes of social justice in the new year, and how the arts can be made sustainable in a country upended by a pandemic and economic instability. To RSVP to Part 2, visit
Kwanzaa Festival & Marketplace: Celebrate culture, community and creative expression at NJPAC’s annual event!
This year’s virtual Kwanzaa Festival runs through December 31, featuring online programs inspired by the seven principles of Kwanzaa (Umoja, Kujichagulia, Ujima, Ujamaa, Nia, Kuumba and Imani). Don’t miss out on any of the fun!
Tune in for a panel discussion about storytelling with the elders, social justice and Black theater. Take an online class to explore West African dance, stepping, Zumba, drumming, capoeira, or Afrobeats. Watch a performance by Step Afrika! or a virtual arts and crafts lesson on-demand at njpac.org. Or stop by the community marketplace for some online shopping.
Get Social! Follow NJPAC Online:
Website: njpac.org
Twitter: @NJPAC
Hashtag: #NJPAC
Facebook: facebook.com/NJPAC
YouTube: NJPACtv
(Mabel Pais writes on The Arts and Entertainment, Social Issues, Spirituality, and Health & Wellness)
The pardon clause’s language is broad indeed, unambiguously allowing the president to pardon seemingly any other person convicted for any federal criminal offense. But its language does not unambiguously include the president himself. Had the Framers intended to give the president such broad power, we would expect them to have clearly said so. After all, the new nation was in the process of rejecting a monarchical government in favor of a democratic republic. In June 2018, in the throes of the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible obstruction of justice by President Trump, the president claimed “the absolute right to PARDON myself,” citing “numerous legal scholars.”
The president was correct that some scholars have reached that conclusion. But those scholars are wrong. The president has no right under the Constitution to pardon himself.
Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution provides that the president “shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”
There is next to nothing from the constitutional convention, state ratification debates or 229 years of Supreme Court decisions that sheds light on whether this language empowers a president to pardon himself for federal crimes.
An acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel tentatively said in August 1974, four days before President Richard M. Nixon resigned, that there is no power to self-pardon. This opinion, a single conclusory sentence, can hardly be regarded as authority on the subject.
The argument often made for the presidential self-pardon is that the authority is absolute, and that the pardon clause does not expressly prevent self-pardons. The argument often made against self-pardons is that they would be inconsistent with the president’s responsibility in Article II, Section 3 to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”
Neither of these arguments is sufficient to prove its respective point. The pardon clause’s language is broad indeed, unambiguously allowing the president to pardon seemingly any other person convicted for any federal criminal offense. But its language does not unambiguously include the president himself. Had the Framers intended to give the president such broad power, we would expect them to have clearly said so. After all, the new nation was in the process of rejecting a monarchical government in favor of a democratic republic.
Instead, the words they chose to confer the pardon power on the president contemplate his granting of reprieves and pardons only to persons other than himself. The word “grant” connotes a gift, bestowal, conferral or transfer by one person to another — not to himself. That would have been the understanding of this word at the time of the Constitution’s drafting, and it is how the term “grant” was understood and is used elsewhere in the Constitution.
At the same time, the “take care” argument against the power to self-pardon merely assumes the very conclusion it reaches: that the pardon clause does not empower the president to pardon himself, and therefore that his self-pardon would be irreconcilable with his responsibility to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. This begs the question just as much as the textual argument made for self-pardons. If the Constitution allows a president to pardon himself, there could be no argument that in pardoning himself the president was not faithfully executing the laws.
So why is it clear that the president lacks the power to pardon himself? There are three reasons. The language of the pardon power itself is ambiguous in the face of a constitutional expectation of clarity if the Framers intended to invest the president with such extraordinary power — a power in the sovereign that was little known to the Framers, if known at all.
Second, the Framers clearly contemplated in the impeachment provisions of the Constitution that the president would not be able to violate the criminal laws with impunity. There, without so much as a hint of a president’s power to avoid criminal liability through self-pardon, they provided that even “in Cases of Impeachment,” for which the president can only be removed and disqualified from holding high federal office, “the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.”
And last, but not least, a power in the president to pardon himself for any and all crimes against the United States he committed would grievously offend the animating constitutional principle that no man, not even the president, is above and beyond the law.
In contemporary constitutional parlance, the Framers more likely would have regarded a self-pardon not as an act of justice, grace, mercy and forgiveness, as they did presidential pardons of others. They would have viewed a self-pardon as a presidential act more akin to an obstruction of justice for criminal offenses against the United States by a president, the prosecution for which can be brought, at least according to the Justice Department, only after a president leaves office.
The current president, never shy about violating norms, may well be tempted to challenge the Constitution by pardoning himself for any possible crimes he may have committed during his presidency. If he does, he may discover that neither the Constitution nor the Supreme Court will allow him to forever escape liability for any crimes he may have committed against the nation he served.
((J. Michael Luttig served as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals (1991-2006) and as assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department (1990-1991).
DIR: Shalini Kantayya l 2020 l USA l Doc Feature l 1h 30m
‘THE RESEARCHER WHO TOOK ON BIG TECH AND WON’ – ‘Fast Company’ Story Title
“10 BEST FILMS OF 2020” – The New York Times
“Thought-provoking. ‘Coded Bias’ serves as both a wake-up call (to invasive practices the public doesn’t yet realize are being implemented) and a call to action.” – (Valerie Complex) VARIETY
“CODED BIAS,” Shalini Kantayya’s feature documentary, premiered at the 2020Sundance Film Festival
The film explores the fallout of MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini’s startling discovery that facial recognition software does not see dark-skinned faces and faces of women accurately, she delves into an investigation of widespread bias in algorithms. As it turns out, artificial intelligence is not neutral, and women are leading the charge to ensure our civil rights are protected. Buolamwini starts her journey to push for the first-ever legislation in the U.S. to govern against bias in the algorithms that impact us all. Modern society sits at the intersection of two crucial questions: What does it mean when artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly governs our liberties? And what are the consequences for the people Al is biased against?
“Coded Bias” weaves a history of the small homogeneous group of men who defined artificial intelligence and forged the culture of Silicon Valley – a culture rapidly reshaping the world. As humans increasingly outsource decision-making to machines, algorithms already decide who gets hired, who gets health care, and who gets undue police scrutiny. Automated decision making has the unprecedented power to disseminate bias at scale. “Coded Bias” tells the uncharted story of rebels and misfits, women mathematicians and data scientists leading the fight for ethical use of the technologies of the future.
Watch the trailer vimeo.com/video/414917737
To learn about virtual screenings, visit codedbias.com/virtualcinema
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THROUGH THE NIGHT
– WHO CARES FOR THE CAREGIVER?
DIR: Loira Limbal l 2020 l USA l Doc Feature l 1h 12m
“‘THROUGH THE NIGHT is both celebration and indictment.”- The Hollywood Reporter
“a gripping peek into the economic and emotional challenges of Americans.”-The Root
IN VIRTUAL CINEMAS NATIONWIDE, DECEMBER 11TH
Caregiver in “Through The Night.” (Photo Credit/ThroughTheNight.com
“THROUGH THE NIGHT,” directed and produced by Loira Limbal, is an intimate cinema verité portrait of three working mothers whose lives all intersect at a 24-hour daycare center: a mother working the overnight shift as an essential worker at a hospital; another holding down three jobs just to support her family; and a woman who for over two decades has cared for the children of parents with nowhere else to turn. A tender portrait of titanic strength, love, and selflessness, “Through The Night” showcases the multiplicity of “women’s work” — paid, underpaid, and unpaid; emotional and physical; domestic and career-oriented – all while negotiating the terms of a dignified existence under the three arrows of racism, sexism, and capitalism in America.
Website: throughthenightfilm.com
Facebook: throughthenightdocumentary
Instagram: throughthenightdoc
Twitter: thruthenightdoc
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BREAKING SURFACE
DIR: Joachim Heden l 2020 l Sweden,Belgium,Norway l Swedish & Norwegian w/Eng subs l 1h 22m l NR
“All the diving we see in the film is done by Moa and Madeleine themselves without stunt doubles.” – Joachim Heden
In “Breaking Surface,” Swedish filmmaker Joachim Heden (“New York Waiting”) returns with an intense thriller starring Moa Gammel and Madeleine Martin as half-sisters clamoring against time on the ocean floor.
A few days after Christmas, half-sisters Ida and Tuva set out on a winter dive in a remote part of the Norwegian coastline. Towards the end of the dive, a rockslide traps Tuva under water. As Ida surfaces to call for help, she discovers that the rockslide has struck above water as well, burying their equipment, phones and car keys–they are completely cut off from any chance of outside rescue. As the frantic race for survival unfolds, Ida is put to the ultimate test of character and forcefulness. During Ida’s fight to save Tuva, a fractured sisterhood is exposed, and when all seems lost, the stakes rise beyond simple survival. To learn more, visit musicboxfilms.com/film/breaking-surface
Release: On VOD December 15 on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Vudu, and YouTube by Doppelganger Releasing.
DOCU SHORTS
THE WAY HOME – Docu Short Series
DIRS: Don Hardy, Camille Servan-Schreiber, Shawn Dailey l 2020 l USA l Doc Short l 44m
“THE WAY HOME” is the launch of Season One of a new short-form documentary series from acclaimed filmmakers Don Hardy, Camille Servan-Schreiber and Shawn Dailey. This inspiring and insightful non-fiction short film series takes a deep dive into the ongoing increasing issues of homelessness in America – specifically in California.
This remarkable series not only focuses on the growing problem impacting our nation, but highlights solution makers and game changers, as they dedicate their lives making a difference in addressing this issue.
DESCRIPTIONS
Episode 1: 14m
How Did We Get Here?
In the first episode of THE WAY HOME we examine the origins of the homelessness crisis in the US and how it has grown to an epidemic in California.
Episode 2: 9m
The Most Vulnerable
More than half of homeless people in California are seniors. One pilot program in Northern California is focused on getting them off the street.
Episode 3: 10m
The Invisible
In one California community volunteers, non-profit organizations, and the local government are working together to find creative ways to get people into sustainable housing … and it’s working.
Episode 4: 11m
The California Dream
California is in the midst of a housing crisis, and the lack of affordable housing is why so many become homeless.
To learn more, visit TheWayHome.com
www.Facebook.com/TheWayHomeDocSeries
The Film is available on iTunes, Amazon & Google Play.
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NO CRYING AT THE DINNER TABLE
DIR: Carol Nguyen l USA l 2020 l Doc Short l 15m
WINNER: SXSWFF & LAAPFF
In this cathartic documentary about things left unsaid, filmmaker Carol Nguyen interviews her own family to craft an emotionally complex and meticulously composed portrait of intergenerational trauma, grief, and secrets. Her films often explore the subjects of cultural identity, family and memory. To learn more about the film, please visit: Carolnguyenfilms.com/no-crying-at-the-dinner-table
Facebook: @ncatdt Instagram: @ncatdt
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TO CALM THE PIG INSIDE (Ang Pagpakalma Sa Unos)
DIR: Joanna Vasquez Arong l Doc Short l 19m
BEST DOC SHORT: HSDFF, SDFF
In a small town, myths are woven to try to understand how the people cope with devastation and trauma in the aftermath of a typhoon. A girl’s voice divulges bits and pieces of her own memory of her grandmother and mother to tie in the experiences she felt visiting this ravaged town.
Facebook: @ToCalmThePigInside
Instagram: @ronganna
(Mabel Pais writes on Social Issues, The Arts and Entertainment, Spirituality, and Health & Wellness)
Once again, the government of India has failed to respect democratic temper. Continuing with their tactics of delaying ac
By Prof. Indrajit S Saluja
ceptance of the genuine demands of far
mers to repeal the farm laws enacted in June 2020, government of India has, once again, engaged the agitating farmers in an exercise in futility.
It reminds me of a famous dialogue from a Hindi movie where a lawyer blasts the judicial system in the country which instead of judging a case, goes on giving adjournments. The dialogue “Tareekh pe tareekh” appropriately describes the policy of the present central government in India who, instead of clinching the issue, keep on prolonging “dialogue”.
Government of India is not bothered how much suffering its intransigence is causing, not only to agitating farmers, but also to a vast majority of people of India. Not only the government is endangering the lives of protesting farmers who are exposed to cold, and worse still, the monster COVID-19, but also causing severe hardship to the common people whohave to suffer because of the bandhs.
It is quite clear that government, as usual, believes the agitators will get tired and will turn against their leaders spearheading the struggle for securing justice for the farming community, and also for the consumers of farm products across the country. It is well known how government of India is well versed in the art of dividing people. One can discern it in their characterization of the struggle as a Sikh or Punjabi struggle which is so untrue. It is a struggle of all farmers regardless of their faith. Again, government is trying to project it as a struggle of a people of a region- Punjab. A blatant lie. It is a struggle of farmers of all regions in India.
We know the farmers’ leaders leading the struggle are a mature people. But they must be reminded that they must not fall to the machinations of the government, which is hell bent on failing the people’s movement , the like of which no government has witnessed in more than half a century, since the movement under Jai Prakash Narayan during Indira Gandhi’s emergency days. It is a test of democracy in India.
It should remind this government which is so insensitive to the people of the country that no government is strong enough to face the onslaught of the collective power of a united people.
Hope, better sense will prevail with the government of India before it is too late.
Some BJP leaders went as far as to call the protesting farmers anti-nationals. It is quite bizarre to hear folks who have abstained during the Independence struggle against the British calling the people of Punjab who shed more per capita blood than anyone else defending India’s soil as anti-national!
This is the mechanism that has been removed in favor of the Ambanis of the world, who have already taken over all other Industry and Business sectors and demanded that the Government must cow down to do the same in the agricultural sector. It is tragic, to say the least, that a democratic government that is supposed to serve all the people ramming through legislation with minimal discussion and no input from farmers. It is reported that 45 farmers commit suicide each day in India. These new laws may only aggravate that situation and increase their plights. Moreover, without the farming community’s active cooperation and support, India would never succeed in shifting to a more efficient, sustainable, and productive farming.
What has motivated hundreds of thousands of farmers to leave their homes braving harsh winter and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic to travel to New Delhi to protest the newly enacted Farm laws? This unrelenting protest is not like any other as they have come to the capital’s perimeter with their tractors and food supplies for a long-haul wait. The farmers are protesting these new laws because they honestly believe that it would do irreparable harm to their livelihood, and in the end, they might be sacrificed at the altar of corporate interests. On the other hand, the BJP government remains adamant in sustaining the laws in their current form. Some BJP leaders went as far as to call the protesting farmers anti-nationals. It is quite bizarre to hear folks who have abstained during the Independence struggle against the British calling the people of Punjab who shed more per capita blood than anyone else defending India’s soil as anti-national!
Obviously, the farmers simply do not trust this Government as it has repeatedly failed to keep their promises. Unlike the United States, India does not provide any subsidies to the farmers. However, the current system guarantees farmers a set price for their products, which is known as Minimum Support Pricing (MSP). Although nowhere in the bills is there any mention of removing the MSP, the farmers fear that their worst nightmares might come true. The Modi government continues to assure them that it will preserve the existing mechanism. However, nobody can blame the farmers for their skepticism and uneasiness as they have not forgotten the broken promises from the past.
Prior to the 2014 elections, Narendra Modi had campaigned on the promise that if voted to power, his Government would implement M.S. Swaminathan’s recommendations according to which farmers were to be paid 50% over and above the cost of the crop as the MSP. In the words of Modi, “We will change Minimum Support Price. There will be a new formula – the entire cost of production and a 50% profit.” However, they have not only reneged on that promise but went about filing an affidavit in February 2015 opposing it in the Supreme Court. It was a cruel joke played on the farmers and exposed the Modi Government’s anti-farmer policies at the Centre and Khattar-led BJP Government’s in Haryana. Besides, farmers have not forgotten the police firing and killings in Madhya Pradesh that took place in 2017.
Thanks to the Nehruvian vision and the successive Congress governments’ policies that led to the green revolution, India’s food storage facilities are overflowing with food grains today; however, some would argue that India is not keeping up with changing times. The nation has just witnessed the distribution of free food grains during these pandemic times to those poor laborers walking back to their home villages due to the Government’s draconian lockdown. Lest we forget the great famine in the 1940s, an empty granary would have led to another disastrous famine and social unrest in India. Suppose the current enacted provisions of the farm laws are fully implemented, it may eventually dry up the storage of foods in Government facilities and may even do away with ‘Food Corporation of India’ in favor of the corporate interests.
The existing Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) system may need reforming, but 425 of them plus 1400 or so purchasing centers are doing their job of buying, storing, and forwarding those food grains to buyers across India. These APMCs include farmers, Traders, Agricultural experts, and others, contributing to purchasing decisions. If they fail to meet a threshold in pricing, farmers currently have the option to sell that to the Government for the Minimum Support Price.
This is the mechanism that has been removed in favor of the Ambanis of the world, who have already taken over all other Industry and Business sectors and demanded that the Government must cow down to do the same in the agricultural sector. Therefore, it would be difficult to argue that these laws are enacted primarily for the benefit of the farmers other than serving the interests of these crony capitalists with little or no social concern or moral compass to accumulate more wealth at any cost to the society-at-large. It is to be noted as well that in these pandemic times when other sectors are showing a downward trend, they are casting their eye on the food grains to make up for the losses.
There is no empirical evidence to prove that getting rid of the Essential Commodity Act will help farmers with more income or stabilize the prices for consumers. Under the new laws, corporates will stock any amount and dispense it entirely at their discretion without any accountability to the public, allowing outlets like Reliance or Amazon to exploit the supply and demand situation to engage in price gouging. These changes will significantly impact small farmers because of their low output that may disallow any bargaining power.
Through this amended law, the Government gives up its power to prevent hoarding and controlling price inflation. Mr. P. Sainath, journalist, and founder of People’s archive of Rural India, said that Businesses tend to undertake buying only when it is profitable in explaining why privatization of Bihar’s agricultural markets has not increased farmer’s income or improved infrastructure. The recent pandemic in the U.S. also showed how the prices were manipulated to maximize these online entities’ profits. There will also be a massive shift in power in favor of Corporates regarding what type of crops the farmers are supposed to plant. One of the other provisions in the law had also limited the farmer’s ability to seek justice before the courts but instead empowered a District collector for providing relief.
Sudan, a country in East-Central Africa, has been beset with civil war and famine for quite an extended period. It has been in deep distress with accumulating debt from borrowings for development programs and poverty reduction. Sudan needed to raise foreign exchange to pay back their mushrooming debt. What were the expert solutions from the reputed world bodies like the IMF and World Bank? Grow cotton on their Nile Delta where they could have grown wheat or Rice to feed the nation. When the cotton was ripe for picking, the prices in the world market plummeted, and they neither had food nor foreign exchange but was placed under the mercy of agencies like WFP. To the rest of the world, it is a lesson hard-learned.
Economists generally agree that India’s agricultural sector needs reforms, and their food storage facilities do require better upkeep to limit unnecessary losses of the food crops due to degradation and rot. However, the need of the hour for the Government is to hear the grievances of the protesting farmers and address their concerns. It is tragic, to say the least, that a democratic government that is supposed to serve all the people ramming through legislation with minimal discussion and no input from farmers. It is reported that 45 farmers commit suicide each day in India. These new laws may only aggravate that situation and increase their plights. Moreover, without the farming community’s active cooperation and support, India would never succeed in shifting to a more efficient, sustainable, and productive farming.
(The author is a former Chief Technology Officer of the United Nations and the Vice-Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, USA)
By Pritam Singh
The government’s effort to portray these laws as empowering the farmers have failed not because of any fault of the public relations campaigns but because of the inherent content of these laws
The democratic mode of governance requires that the Central government should either issue an ordinance repealing these laws or convene a session of Parliament straight away for the purpose. The government has the option to introduce laws later after a due consultation process with all stakeholders.
Despite the deadlock between the farmers and the Central government on the farming laws, there is some perceptible progress. The government’s recognition of flaws in the laws needing amendments is a notable development. Such an acknowledgement must be viewed positively not as an end in itself but as a movement in the right direction. The farmers’ organizations have gone through a massive educational experience through discussions between themselves, with the government, the media and academics. One admirable example of this mass public education is the work of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee from the Amritsar region in translating the three contentious farm laws into Punjabi and distributing one lakh copies among the farmers and workers. It is through such initiatives that the farmers’ organizations have moved on from asking just for the provision of minimum support price (MSP) and public procurement through Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) mandis to an understanding that such piecemeal changes cannot work without changing the whole structure of the three farm laws.
The government’s effort to portray these laws as empowering the farmers have failed not because of any fault of the public relations campaigns but because of the inherent content of these laws. There are limits to PR efforts in converting something to just the opposite of what it is. The spread of mass literacy in India and the development of multiple forms of mass media have certainly enabled a very large section of the Indian population to differentiate between truth and falsehood presented as truth. This deserves to be celebrated as deepening of democracy in Indian institutions and practices.
Effective and truthful communication between the government and the farmers’ representatives is central to strengthening the process of understanding the merits of the farmers’ plea that all the three farm laws should be repealed. The farmers’ argument that the mere provision of MSP and APMC public procurement is not acceptable is based on a slowly emerging iterative and mature understanding that these two issues cannot be delinked from the other key features of the interconnected web of the farm laws.
Let us look at the contradiction between inserting the MSP provision in the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act and retaining the existing provision of ‘remunerative price’ to be agreed upon by a farmer in a contract with “agri-business firms, processors, wholesalers, exporters and large retailers”. If an agri-business entity were to agree to a ‘remunerative price’ with a farmer, such an entity will not allow him under the agreement to sell his/her crop under the MSP provision in the APMC marketing yard. Such an entity will be legally entitled to take a non-compliant farmer through the litigation process. According to the agriculture census of 2015-16, the overwhelming majority of farmers in India — 86 per cent — are marginal (with holdings below one hectare) and small (with holdings between one and two hectares). The remaining 14 per cent are described as semi-medium (2-4 hectares), medium (4-10 hectares), and large holdings of over 10 hectares. Though in Punjab where 33.1 per cent of land holdings are small and marginal and 33.6 per cent are semi-medium, and in Haryana where 68.5 per cent of the holdings are small or medium, the situation appears slightly better than the all-India average one, the overall picture remains one of low bargaining power of marginal and small farmers. Leave aside the marginal and small holders, even the so-called medium and large landholders will not be in a position to match the legal resources of ‘large retailers’ and agro-business entities. Therefore, keeping the provision for the so-called remunerative price negates the purpose of having the MSP in the APMC mandi.
A similar contradiction emerges regarding the dispute resolution provision in the Farming Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act. The threat of penalty ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 10 lakh if a contract is contravened and a further penalty of Rs 5,000-10,000 per day if the contravention continues makes the provision of availing of MSP in the APMC mandi redundant.
There are examples in contemporary history of the governments taking back laws they had passed. The Poll Tax decision taken by the Margaret Thatcher government in the UK in 1990 is well known. This was a tax on everyone on the voting list. It had led to riots and was eventually withdrawn.
The democratic mode of governance requires that the Central government should either issue an ordinance repealing these laws or convene a session of Parliament straight away for the purpose. The government has the option to introduce laws later after a due consultation process with all stakeholders.
Future agricultural reforms ought to deal with making small-scale farming sustainable economically and ecologically. The old development paradigm premised on the demise of agriculture is fundamentally flawed in the era of global climate change where sustainable agriculture is central to a new development paradigm.
(The author is Professor Emeritus, Oxford Brookes Business School)
NEW YORK (TIP): Indian-origin global health expert Anil Soni has been appointed as the first Chief Executive Officer of the newly launched The WHO Foundation, which works alongside the World Health Organization to address most pressing health challenges across the world. Mr Soni will assume his role as The WHO Foundation’s inaugural Chief Executive Officer on January 1 next year. In his new role, Mr Soni will accelerate the Foundation’s “work to invest in innovative, evidence-based initiatives that support WHO in delivering on its mission to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all,” the Foundation said in a press statement on Monday.
The WHO Foundation, an independent grant-making agency headquartered in Geneva, was launched in May 2020 to work alongside the World Health Organization (WHO) and the global health community to address the world’s most pressing global health challenges.
Mr Soni joins the Foundation from Viatris, a global healthcare company, where he served as Head of Global Infectious Diseases.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described Mr Soni as a “proven innovator” in global health who has spent two decades in service of communities affected by HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases.
“He earned my trust when he and his team at the Clinton Health Access Initiative worked side-by-side with the Ministry of Health in Ethiopia to expand access to treatment and strengthen the management of our health centers,” Mr Ghebreyesus said, adding that Soni has a “unique” set of skills that spans the public and private sectors, and his leadership of the Foundation will provide invaluable support to the mission of the WHO and the billions of people who depend on it. On his appointment, Mr Soni said the world is at a “critical juncture” for global public health.
“After months of combating the COVID-19 pandemic, there is hope for several successful vaccine candidates. Beyond this crucial step, the path to recovery necessitates expanded investment in the many health priorities that have been compromised in recent months – from drops in vaccine coverage and HIV treatment to delays in cancer treatment,” he said, adding that The WHO Foundation represents a unique new opportunity for everyone in the world to play their part in tackling these challenges and in promoting global health, through a strong and vibrant WHO.
Founder and Chairman of the Board of the WHO Foundation Professor Thomas Zeltner said Mr Soni is a “dynamic leader” with deep experience across all aspects of global public health.
“From his work at Viatris where he has led the development and introduction of medicines to treat HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, to his leadership of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and his time at the Global Fund (to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria), he has demonstrated his ability to work across public, private, and nonprofit sectors and build successful new organizations from the ground up,” Mr Zeltner said.
The WHO Foundation said Mr Soni is a “seasoned global health expert”, bringing over two decades of experience working across public, private, and nonprofit sectors to expand healthcare access in low and middle-income countries.
“In addition to advisory roles with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the MDG Health Alliance, Soni joins the WHO Foundation with a strong track record of mobilizing resources and advocating for global health priorities, as demonstrated through his leadership of the Friends of the Global Fight in the United States,” the Foundation said.
Mr Soni was closely involved in the early years of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, serving as the Advisor to the Executive Director from 2002-2004 and then as the Founding Executive Director of Friends of the Global Fight from 2004-2005.
He served as the CEO of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, where he worked from 2005-2010, and oversaw the rapid expansion of the organization.
He has been a senior advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the MDG Health Alliance. He is an alumnus of McKinsey and Harvard College and serves on the board of The Marshall Project.
As a separate legal entity, the WHO Foundation seeks to complement and strengthen the WHO”s efforts to address global health. It acts as a platform for new types of public-private engagement, while protecting the WHO”s neutrality and independence as the world’s leading international health authority.
The Foundation said the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO, which WHO and the UN Foundation launched earlier in 2020, together with the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation, helped test the potential for broader support to WHO by raising USD 238 million in corporate and individual pledges for its and partners” COVID-19 response efforts.
WASHINGTON (TIP): Indian American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal has been elected as the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), making her one of the most powerful US lawmakers for the 117th Congress.
Ms Jayapal, 55, who was elected on Wednesday, said that the caucus is going to advance racial justice, tackle poverty and inequality and help transform the country.
“As a lifelong organizer, I am honored that my colleagues have elected me to lead the Congressional Progressive Caucus at this pivotal moment,” Ms Jayapal said soon after her election to this most powerful Congressional Caucus, which is slated to play an influential role during the next Biden Administration.
Joe Biden, 78, is due to take over as the 46th president of the US on January 20.
We have massive crises knocking at our nation’s door, and the work of the Progressive Caucus has never been more important. The American people need Congress to lead with vision, conviction, empathy, and dedication to people and families in every community who are struggling right now, said Ms Jayapal.
The incoming Executive Board of Congressional Progressive Caucus is made up of 26 members one Chair, one Deputy Chair, one Whip, two Chair Emeriti, two Special Order Hour Conveners, ten Vice Chairs, one Executive Board Member At-Large and eight Deputy Whips.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus Executive Board is representative of the diversity within the caucus more than half of Executive Board members are people of color and more than half are women.
Incoming CPC Deputy Chair Congresswoman Katie Porter said that in 2018, many of her Democratic colleagues and she successfully ran campaigns rooted in progressive values.
Rather than shying away from our core principles, we embraced them making it clear that a progressive agenda is not only the right policy for America, but also a winning political message, she said.
CPC Whip Congresswoman Ilhan Omar said, we have a unique opportunity to fight for transformative change in the 117th Congress whether that is addressing the coronavirus pandemic, passing universal healthcare, tackling the climate crisis or reorienting our foreign policy.
I look forward to continuing to represent my colleagues in building an effect progressive voting bloc in Congress alongside fearless leaders like Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Katie, she said.
Among others, Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna has been elected as Deputy Whip, while Congresswoman Rashida Talib as vice chair for member services.
We have massive crises knocking at our nation’s door and our work has never been more important. It’s time for Congress to act boldly and restore power to where it belongs: with the people, Ms Jayapal said in a tweet.
Together, our caucus is going to deliver real relief to families, advance racial justice, tackle poverty and inequality, champion climate justice, and help transform this country so working people can finally get ahead. Let’s get to work, Ms Jayapal said.
FLORIDA (TIP): Indian American Raja Chari is one of 18 astronauts chosen by NASA to form the Artemis Team and help pave the way for the next lunar missions including landing the first woman and next man on the Moon in 2024.
Vice President Mike Pence introduced the members of the Artemis Team Wednesday during the eighth National Space Council meeting at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
“I give you the heroes who will carry us to the Moon and beyond – the Artemis Generation,” said Pence.
“It is amazing to think that the next man and first woman on the Moon are among the names that we just read. The Artemis Team astronauts are the future of American space exploration – and that future is bright.”
The astronauts on the Artemis Team come from a diverse range of backgrounds, expertise, and experience.
Besides landing the first woman and next man on the Moon in 2024, US space agency’s modern lunar exploration program will establish a sustainable human lunar presence by the end of the decade.
NASA will announce flight assignments for astronauts later, pulling from the Artemis Team. Additional Artemis Team members, including international partner astronauts, will join this group, as needed. Chari, a colonel in the US Air Force, joined the astronaut corps in 2017. Raised in Cedar Falls, Iowa, he graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1999 with bachelor’s degrees in Astronautical Engineering and Engineering Science.
Chari went on to earn a master’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The US Naval Test Pilot School graduate worked on F-15E upgrades and then the F-35 development program, before coming to NASA.
Currently awaiting flight assignment, Chari’s honors include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Aerial Achievement Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Air Force Achievement Medal, an Iraq Campaign Medal, a Korean Defense Service Medal and the Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal.
Married to Holly Schaffter Chari, also a Cedar Falls native, the couple has three children. His mother, Peggy Chari, lives in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The astronauts of the Artemis Team will help NASA prepare for the coming Artemis missions, which begin next year working with the agency’s commercial partners as they develop human landing systems, NASA said.
They would also help in the development of training, defining hardware requirements and consulting on technical development besides engaging the public and industry on the Artemis program and NASA’s exploration plans.
“There is so much exciting work ahead of us as we return to the moon, and it will take the entire astronaut corps to make that happen,” Chief Astronaut Pat Forrester said.
“Walking on the lunar surface would be a dream come true for any one of us, and any part we can play in making that happen is an honor.
“I am proud of this particular group of men and women and know that any of them would do an outstanding job representing NASA and the United States on a future Artemis mission,” Forrester said.
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It’s common to see houses decorated with everything from white lights to blow-up decorations across the country. Going beyond public parks and city squares, American families and neighbors (like this city block in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) often see their impressive house decorations as a point of pride and cause for bragging rights.
