POLITICO NIGHTLY: Twin exhaustions: inflation and Covid

 

BY RENUKA RAYASAM Presented by THAT ’70S SHOW — “I don’t think the administration is on top of it at all,” the CEO of one of the U.S.’s largest companies, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern over angering the administration, tells Ben White, who’s back with a new piece on the thing that seems to come up wherever you are in the country: inflation. Also, the rent is too damn high: New tonight, from Katy O’Donnell and Victoria Guida: “Surging gas and grocery prices are constant reminders of inflation, but another creeping trend spells more trouble for people’s wallets and Democrats’ political fate: rising rents.” Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at rrayasam@politico.com, or on Twitter at @RenuRayasam. Signs on a door warn people about Covid-19 in Manhattan. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images WRITE YOUR OWN ENDING — I dream of the day I can burn all of my masks. It will be a day when I don’t have to check, “wallet, keys and oh yeah mask,” before I leave the house. A day when I can put on big dangly earrings without struggling to pull the loops over my ears. A day when I finally know what my writing students at the University of Texas at El Paso actually look like. A day when I can see my kids’ faces in their class pictures. To me, that will be the day that signals the end of the pandemic, the moment when the crisis has passed and Covid-19 no longer figures into our daily cost-benefit analysis. It will be the moment when I can start saying “post-pandemic.” It’s also a day that seems ever elusive. Nearly 60 percent of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated, but 46,000 people are being hospitalized and 1,200 people are still dying every single day, according to the New York Times . Even those who personally feel the pandemic is over — or was never that much of a threat — still have to contend with the minor inconveniences and major disruptions of Covid. They still have to wear masks in planes and other public spaces and quarantine after getting a positive test. Back in February, I asked a group of Nightly experts how we would know if the pandemic was over. They gave me specific answers: case numbers, vaccination rates, positive test ratios. No one predicted a #CovidZero scenario, but it seemed like we would soon hit a threshold and declare victory. We thought, back then, that we would all be back in the office by now. That was before the Delta variant, evidence of waning vaccine immunity and growing concerns over Covid in kids. So I reached out to the same group of experts this week to re-ask my question about the pandemic’s end. Nine months later, they were far less sure about what it would look like and how we would get there. “I don’t know what equilibrium will be,” said Jeffrey Shaman, a professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University, who correctly predicted a period of premature exuberance last time around. “I would prefer you would not quote me on a number.” The critical numbers to watch, Shaman said, are hospitalizations and infection fatality ratios — the proportion of people who die after being infected. Right now the vaccinated are far better protected than the unvaccinated: a Texas study showed that unvaccinated people made up 85 percent of the state’s total Covid deaths from mid-January to October this year. “Covid-19 is a different threat than it was before vaccines,” said Abraar Karan, an infectious disease doctor at Stanford University. But, he said, the biggest open question is whether the Covid vaccine’s efficacy will wane over time and whether a booster is the last shot in a three-shot series or an annual necessity. A variant that renders the vaccine less effective could emerge, too. Overall, Karan said he’s looking to see daily deaths fall below 200 a day — a marker we hit briefly during the summer — and stay there. Worthy goals, according to Saskia Popescu, an epidemiologist with George Mason University and the University of Arizona, would be: 5 new cases per 100,000 people over seven days; transmission rates below 0.9; vaccination rates above 75 percent; and a percentage of hospital patients with Covid of between 1 and 10 percent. In the U.S., only Puerto Rico is close to all those numbers, according to Covid Act Now. Nearly two years after the first detected cases in China, we are still early in the trajectory of a novel virus, Popescu said. At some point in the future — after vaccination rates are high globally and after community transmission levels are low — the challenge will shift to monitoring and addressing small regional outbreaks. But not yet. Declaring the end of the pandemic is more a question of values and politics than of science, Arthur Caplan, a bioethics professor at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine, said when I reached him, repeating what he told me in February. Maybe a better vaccine will come along or deaths will fall dramatically. Therapeutics to better treat Covid are already on the way. But ultimately we — individuals, parents, states, school boards, businesses — will have to keep deciding how much Covid we are willing to tolerate in exchange for living without masks and testing and quarantine requirements, Caplan said. It’s what we have done all along. Before the pandemic, immunocompromised people were told to mask up during flu season, Caplan points out. Post-pandemic, whenever that is, even if Covid becomes less deadly and virus levels fall, some people may decide that a trip to the movie theater isn’t worth the risk or hassle of getting Covid, but a family visit is. Shaman had another non-numerical post-pandemic marker in mind, one I think about a lot too: “When you guys don’t have to write about it that often,” he said, “that will be the benchmark.”   A message from Bank of America: Transitioning public transportation to clean energy could reduce global CO₂ emissions by 20%. Proterra is developing safer, cleaner, more reliable transportation — with the support of partners like Bank of America.   WHAT'D I MISS? — Biden and Xi set for Zoom summit: A virtual summit between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping is tentatively scheduled for Monday evening, a U.S. official told POLITICO today . A second, non-administration source familiar with the summit’s planning confirmed the date. The two leaders telegraphed their intent Tuesday to establish a positive tone for the summit via letters of congratulations both leaders sent to the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations to mark its 55th anniversary. Xi’s letter, read by China’s ambassador, Qin Gang, at Tuesday’s committee black-tie gala dinner, stated that “China stands ready to work with the United States to enhance exchanges and cooperation across the board ... so as to bring China-U.S. relations back to the right track of sound and steady development.” — Rittenhouse murder case thrown into jeopardy by mistrial bid: The murder case against Kyle Rittenhouse was thrown into jeopardy today when his lawyers asked for a mistrial over what appeared to be out-of-bounds questions asked of Rittenhouse by the chief prosecutor. The judge did not immediately rule on the request. The startling turn came after Rittenhouse, in a high-stakes gamble, took the stand and testified that he was under attack when he shot three men, two fatally, during a night of turbulent protests against racial injustice in Kenosha in the summer of 2020.   DON’T MISS POLITICO’S SUSTAINABILITY SUMMIT: Join POLITICO's Sustainability Summit on Tuesday, Nov. 16 and hear leading voices from Washington, state houses, city halls, civil society and corporate America discuss the most viable policy and political solutions that balance economic, environmental and social interests. REGISTER HERE.     — Nevada Democrat seeks to become nation’s first openly transgender statewide elected official: Democrat Kimi Cole announced today her bid to become Nevada’s lieutenant governor — and break barriers in the process. Cole, the chair of the Nevada Democratic Rural Caucus, would be the first openly transgender statewide elected official in the country if she won, according to her campaign. — Cuomo to investigators: ‘I don’t have regrets’: Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo conceded to investigators that he made many of the comments that led to sexual harassment accusations against him, but he downplayed their significance and said some of them were taken out of context. “I don’t have regrets,” Cuomo told investigators, according to transcripts from the probe released today by state Attorney General Tish James. “Look, if you could always state everything over, I’m sure I would state things — if I could restate everything I’ve ever said to a woman or a man, I’d say it differently. But generally, no.” The 512-page transcript was from an interview conducted in July as part of James’ probe into the numerous allegations of sexual harassment against Cuomo. — Study: Fox viewers more likely to believe Covid falsehoods: People who trust Fox News Channel and other media outlets that appeal to conservatives are more likely to believe falsehoods about Covid-19 and vaccines than those who primarily go elsewhere for news, a study has found. While the Kaiser Family Foundation study released this week found the clear ties between news outlets that people trusted and the amount of misinformation they believe, it took no stand on whether those attitudes specifically came from what they saw there.   A message from Bank of America:     AROUND THE WORLD ANOTHER CRISIS, THIS TIME IN EUROPE — European defense leaders are fretting that the surging migration crisis at the Belarus-Poland border could spark another crisis — violent conflict, Jacopo Barigazzi writes. “The potential for escalation is extremely high,” Estonian Defense Minister Kalle Laanet said today at a press conference during the Annual Baltic Conference on Defense, a regular event that gathers the defense community in Estonia. A truck carrying Polish soldiers drives towards the border with Belarus near Kuznica, Poland. | Sean Gallup/Getty Images His comments were echoed at the same press conference by senior defense officials from Greece, Lithuania and the U.K., who all shared the fear of escalation. Currently, at least 2,000 migrants are camped in freezing temperatures at the Belarus border with Poland, unable to enter the country, but not allowed to turn back — part of a Belarusian scheme EU officials have termed a “hybrid attack” against the bloc, combining political and military elements. Adding to the tensions, the crisis comes shortly after satellite photos confirmed reports Russia is once again massing troops and military equipment on its border with Ukraine. Estonian officials said it is easy to connect the dots between the two events. And on Tuesday, Poland directly accused Moscow of helping orchestrate the plot to lure migrants from Middle Eastern countries to Belarus before sending them to the EU’s borders. When asked by POLITICO, Laanet did not rule out the possibility of a full-blown war at the border, although he was exceedingly cautious in his remarks. “Of course we can’t say that there is no risk,” he said. “But we don’t know yet how high this [risk] is at the moment. … We have to monitor very deeply every day the situation.”   BECOME A GLOBAL INSIDER: The world is more connected than ever. It has never been more essential to identify, unpack and analyze important news, trends and decisions shaping our future — and we’ve got you covered! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Global Insider author Ryan Heath navigates the global news maze and connects you to power players and events changing our world. Don’t miss out on this influential global community. Subscribe now.     NIGHTLY NUMBER 41 months The length of the prison sentence a federal judge imposed today on Scott Fairlamb of New Jersey, a former MMA fighter and gym owner, for punching a police officer in the face during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The sentence was the longest yet connected to the Jan. 6 events, and Fairlamb was the first defendant charged with assaulting an officer during the attack to face sentencing. PARTING WORDS SCAM PAC BRUSHBACK — For the last five years or more, Matt Tunstall has used the name and likeness of Donald Trump and other politicians to ostensibly raise money for a network of political action committees. But he’s been accused of pocketing most of the money himself and now, his so-called scam PAC operation finally caught up to him, Caitlin Oprysko writes. In an indictment unsealed today, federal prosecutors charged Tunstall and Robert Reyes with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to lie to the Federal Election Committee. They allege that of the roughly $3.5 million raised by the PACs they ran during the 2016 election, “only approximately $19 were distributed to any candidate’s authorized campaign committee or to any political cause, while a total of more than $1.5 million was used to benefit” the PAC operators themselves. Prosecutors also charged Tunstall with multiple counts of wire fraud and money laundering. The indictment charges a third associate and cousin of Tunstall, Kyle Davies, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to lie to the FEC and multiple counts of wire fraud. Tunstall, 34, has been linked to a number of political action committees — including as recently as this spring — using Trump’s name in order to raise money. Campaign finance disclosures showed that those PACs contributed little or none of that money to Trump’s campaign or causes. And Tunstall has reportedly used the returns to fund a lavish lifestyle for himself, or one portrayed as such online.   A message from Bank of America: The EPA estimates that the transportation sector accounts for more than one-quarter of energy-related CO₂ emissions worldwide. While much attention has been paid to lessening these emissions by transforming light-duty passenger vehicles, there’s also ample opportunity to innovate heavy-duty commercial vehicles used for public transportation — especially diesel buses. To counter these emissions, Proterra is developing innovative solutions that drive sustainability, with the support of partners like Bank of America. Proterra is a leader in the transition to zero-emission, electric commercial vehicles, including electric transit buses, school buses, delivery trucks and more. To help companies like Proterra achieve their business goals, Bank of America has committed $1.5 trillion towards sustainable finance by 2030. This funding will help society transition to a low-carbon future. Watch to learn more.     Follow us on Twitter Chris Suellentrop @suellentrop Tyler Weyant @tweyant Renuka Rayasam @renurayasam Myah Ward @myahward   FOLLOW US

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The annual 3,000-mile monarch migration is heading toward Chicago: ‘It’s like a Disney movie, except better.’

By NARA SCHOENBERG

CHICAGO TRIBUNE |

SEP 02, 2021

Breanna Seibel was riding a four-wheeler alongside her alfalfa field in northern Wisconsin when she started seeing monarch butterflies. The bright orange visitors were swooping, fluttering and dancing in pairs, quartets and trios. They were landing in the trees that line the field, with up to 100 clustered on a single branch.

Seibel called her parents out to see the butterflies: thousands, by her count.

She posted videos on Facebook, and strangers started showing up at her doorstep, asking for a tour.

“It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before,” said Seibel, 28, of New Richmond. “It’s like a Disney movie, except better.”

The fall monarch migration, in which millions of butterflies travel up to 3,000 miles south to California and Mexico, is already underway in Wisconsin and Canada, with reports of the intrepid insects gathering in large groups to rest in trees or refuel in nectar-rich fields. And the spectacle will likely reach Chicago next week, according to Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum chief curator Doug Taron.

Samantha Goodman, 40, releases a monarch butterfly with her 6-year-old son Torben Goodman outside their home on Sept. 1, 2021, in Chicago. Four weeks ago Samantha collected the egg in a parkway in her neighborhood. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

Expect more monarchs in gardens, parks, forests and fields. And if you’re exploring green areas along Lake Michigan, keep an eye out for “roosts” where dozens — or even hundreds — of monarchs spend the night in a single tree.

Those who prefer monarchs-on-demand can attend butterfly festivals such as Flutter Into Fall on Sept. 12 at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, which will include a chance to see monarch tagging, in which tiny stickers are attached to the insects’ wings before release.

Local monarch fests include the Forest Preserves of Cook County’s Migrating Monarchs Celebration in River Forest on Sept. 12, and Oak Lawn Park District’s Monarch Festival on Sept. 18.

The monarch population has been in decline for the past 20 years, spurring conservation efforts by both scientists and everyday people, who grow milkweed in gardens, fields and parkways. The butterflies, while not yet officially recognized as an endangered or threatened species, meet the criteria for inclusion, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

But millions of monarchs still make the annual trip south across the U.S. and Canada to California and Mexico, with thousands flying from Illinois to Michoacán, Mexico, a journey of abut 2,000 miles.

Scientists know the butterflies navigate south using their internal circadian clocks and the sun’s position in the sky, Taron said, but that doesn’t explain how the tiny travelers wind up year after year in the same small reserves northwest of Mexico City.

“This is really one of the big mysteries of the world,” he said. “The most recent butterflies that have been in the areas where they’re going are their great-great-great-grandparents.”

The monarchs winter on trees high up in the mountains of the Transvolcanic Belt mountain range. Temperatures often dip below freezing at night, and it’s not unusual to see snow on the butterflies, Taron said. The same butterflies start flying north again in spring, reaching the Rio Grande Valley in Texas before laying eggs and dying.

Subsequent generations fly north, making their way through the United States, and into Canada, before the next generation of long-distance flyers emerge in late summer and early fall.

While the nonmigratory generations of monarchs are in the Chicago area all summer, the monarchs of the fall migration are only beginning to emerge. The monarchs from the north will likely start arriving next week, Taron said, at about the same time that local migrating monarchs are emerging.

The peak of monarch migration in the Chicago area typically occurs around the second week of September, Taron said.

A monarch butterfly sits in a clear plastic container before being released by Samantha Goodman, 40, and her son Torben Goodman, 6, outside their home on Sept. 1, 2021, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

Among those who are getting an early taste of the migration are the growing number of monarch fans who are raising the butterflies from wild eggs in their homes. Scientists discourage raising large numbers of monarchs in your home — a practice promoted on some social media pages. But experts say that raising a small number of the butterflies can be rewarding and educational.

Samantha Goodman, a former science teacher living in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village, raises small numbers of monarchs under carefully controlled conditions. Earlier this week, she was preparing to release 10 monarchs that were still in their chrysalises. The date of their expected emergence makes it likely that they will join the migration to Mexico, she said.

She planned to tag her butterflies with little lightweight stickers that are sometimes recovered at the end of the migration route, providing evidence that a specific monarch has reached Mexico.

“The chance of the tag being found is pretty low,” said Goodman, 40. “But I’m definitely going to watch the lists next year, to see if any of my tags made it.”

Those who want to see migratory monarchs for themselves may want to check out the grounds of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, where Taron expects to see many butterflies early next week.

Monarchs, which tend to migrate along the shores of Lake Michigan, clustered on trees at the Shedd Aquarium last year, but there’s no way to know whether they will make a return appearance.

Seibel, who owns farmland in an area where her father has spent his entire life, said that monarchs never gathered on her property before. She suspects the influx, which began about two weeks ago and lasted until late August, may have been due in part to the alfalfa field, which had been allowed to bloom and emanated a strong, honey-sweet scent.

The butterflies would feed on the alfalfa nectar by day and huddle in the nearby trees at night.

The experience was particularly meaningful, Seibel said, because her mother’s beloved oldest sister, Karen M. Nelson, who died of breast cancer in 2010, said she would come back as a butterfly.

Seibel was also touched that people responded so strongly to her social media posts, with some even using her monarch photos as their profile pictures.

“Some people reached out and they’re like, ‘There is so much discrepancy, hate, arguing, left versus right — just anything that people can argue about, it seems we’re arguing about it today, (and) this is so refreshing,’” she said.

“So many people have said, ‘This just gives me hope that the world isn’t entirely falling apart.’”

LINK

CC News Letter 05 July - A Prophet is a Threat to the Powerful: A Tribute to Stan Swamy

Dear Friend,

Stan Swamy has laid down his life for the cause of the tribal communities struggling for their rights. Let this sacrifice of Stan and others paying the price in jail not go in vain. It is time the human rights activists and all people of good will including the media came together to demand an inclusive India in which all people are equal. Together they should demand a legal system that holds people who perpetrate such injustice in the name of the law responsible for their actions. That would be a good way of paying tribute to Stan Swamy.

Kindly support honest journalism to survive. https://countercurrents.org/subscription/

If you think the contents of this news letter are critical for the dignified living and survival of humanity and other species on earth, please forward it to your friends and spread the word. It's time for humanity to come together as one family! You can subscribe to our news letter here http://www.countercurrents.org/news-letter/.

In Solidarity

Binu Mathew

Editor

Countercurrents.org

A Prophet is a Threat to the Powerful: A Tribute to Stan Swamy

by Dr Walter Fernandes

https://countercurrents.org/2021/07/a-prophet-is-a-threat-to-the-powerful-a-tribute-to-stan-swamy/

Stan Swamy has laid down his life for the cause of the tribal communities struggling for their rights. Let this sacrifice of Stan and others paying the price in jail not go in vain. It is time the human rights activists and all people of good will including the media came together to demand an inclusive India in which all people are equal. Together they should demand a legal system that holds people who perpetrate such injustice in the name of the law responsible for their actions. That would be a good way of paying tribute to Stan Swamy.

Two articles we published seeking urgent help as Stan Swamy was sinking

Urgent need for bail and specialised medical treatment for critical Stan Swamy

by Jharkhand Jan Adhikar Mahasabha

https://countercurrents.org/2021/07/urgent-need-for-bail-and-specialised-medical-treatment-for-critical-stan-swamy/

84-year old Priest Stan Swamy’s health has deteriorated and he has been put on a ventilator at the Holy Family hospital. His situation is said to be critical. The NIA and central government are solely responsible for the sufferings of this elderly person and the current state of affair. The NIA court also played its role by denying him a bail on both medical grounds and merit. Assurances of the Maharashtra government regarding support for Stan Swamy are yet to be seen.

Stan Swamy’s Health: Open Letter To Chief Justice Of Bombay High Court

Press Release

https://countercurrents.org/2021/07/stan-swamys-health-open-letter-to-chief-justice-of-bombay-high-court/

A petition was filed at the Bombay High Court on 26 April, seeking interim bail on medical grounds where Father Stan Swamy informed in one of the hearings that his health had taken a dangerous turn. Before

his arrest nine months ago, he was physically independent and could eat, walk and take a bath on his own, but since his judicial custody, “all that is disappearing one after the other,” he informed. He has been requesting bail to return to the care at his home at Ranchi.

Global Warming, Climate Refugees, Migrations – And Beyond: Need for national-level planning

by S G Vombatkere

https://countercurrents.org/2021/07/global-warming-climate-refugees-migrations-and-beyond-need-for-national-level-planning/

According to a December 2020 report by Climate Action Network South Asia & Action Aid, an estimated 14-million people may have already migrated internally due to slow-onset impacts, such as sea-level rise, water stress, crop-yield reduction, ecosystem degradation and habitat loss, and drought.

India’s Stance on Net Zero: Act with Rationale

by Dr Kuheli Mukhopadhyay

https://countercurrents.org/2021/07/indias-stance-on-net-zero-act-with-rationale/

ny response of India

should be in conformity with the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities as set forth in the UNFCCC before making any over ambitious statement in the forthcoming COP26 event.  Last but not the least, India should adopt a pragmatic view and spare rational thoughts for striking an appropriate balance between growth vis a vis clean energy evolution. Aspiring for an overnight radical metamorphosis may prove to be pernicious to the economy as a whole.

Scrap the Bunder Diamond Mine Project

by National Alliance of People’s Movements

https://countercurrents.org/2021/07/scrap-the-bunder-diamond-mine-project/

NAPM strongly opposes the destruction of Buxwaha protected forest region in Madhya Pradesh,  for proposed Bunder diamond mining project. Government must immediately withdraw all projects which threaten the ecological and socio-cultural significance of Buxwaha

Only 2% of Urban Poor Residents Fully Vaccinated and only 16%

Received First Dose: Survey Study

by Adrian Dcruz

https://countercurrents.org/2021/07/only-2-of-urban-poor-residents-fully-vaccinated-and-only-16-received-first-dose-survey-study/

A survey study conducted by the Indo Global Social Service Society has found that only 2% of slum/basti dwellers have been fully vaccinated (with 2 doses) and that a little over 16% of them have received their first dose since the vaccination was made available for all above 18.

1,100 Children Graves in Canada found, Queen Elizabeth II and Victoria statues toppled, 7 Churches lighted

by Countercurrents Collective

https://countercurrents.org/2021/07/1100-children-graves-in-canada-found-queen-elizabeth-ii-and-victoria-statues-toppled-7-churches-lighted/

Statues of Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Victoria were torn down by protesters in Winnipeg, Canada. The latest acts of protests followed a spree of attacks on Catholic churches built on First Nation lands. At least seven churches have caught fire in

recent weeks, since the grim discovery of more than 1,100 unmarked graves at sites where Catholic-run residential schools used to operate.

People above Profit: Thousands Demonstrate in Brazil in New Wave of Protests in 350 Cities

by Countercurrents Collective

https://countercurrents.org/2021/07/people-above-profit-thousands-demonstrate-in-brazil-in-new-wave-of-protests-in-350-cities/

In Brazil, social movements, trade unions, and human rights activists on Saturday demonstrated in at least 350 cities to condemn the recent corruption scandal linking President Jair Bolsonaro with the purchase at inflated prices of Indian-produced Covaxin COVID-19 vaccines.

Thordarson’s Fabrications: Another Hole in the Julian Assange Prosecution

by Dr Binoy Kampmark

https://countercurrents.org/2021/07/thordarsons-fabrications-another-hole-in-the-julian-assange-prosecution/

The tyrannical, brutal cynicism of keeping Julian Assange in Belmarsh prison remains one of the more inglorious marks

of the British legal system and, it should be said, its sponsors and colluders. Having won his case against extradition to the US, if only in deeply qualified terms, the UK keeps the WikiLeaks publisher banged up as the appeals process stutters.

Biden Acknowledges “Over The Horizon” Air Attacks Planned Against Taliban

by Nick Mottern

https://countercurrents.org/2021/07/biden-acknowledges-over-the-horizon-air-attacks-planned-against-taliban/

“Over-the-horizon” air operations, possibly directed at the Taliban, may rely very heavily on drone assassination and drone targeting for manned aircraft.

Data Sharing and Transparency in Covid Times Will Help Better Decentralized Response

by Bharat Dogra

https://countercurrents.org/2021/07/data-sharing-and-transparency-in-covid-times-will-help-better-decentralized-response/

It can be very helpful for improving overall response by taking steps to improve transparency and data-sharing in such ways that whatever important

information in this context is available with the government can be shared very quickly with people, health personnel and organizations, scientists and institutions of decentralization

CCTV could have prevented custodial murder

by Dr Madabhushi Sridhar

https://countercurrents.org/2021/07/cctv-could-have-prevented-custodial-murder/

For the first time, the Telangana High Court asked Telangana Government why it has not installed CCTV cameras in police station, where an alleged custodial murder of Dalit woman took place recently. In a PUCL’s PIL the High Court asked the police department why it had not installed CCTV cameras in the station despite a Supreme Court order to this effect.

Conspicuous silence of political parties on OBC reservation issues in the North

by Vidya Bhushan Rawat

https://countercurrents.org/2021/07/conspicuous-silence-of-political-parties-on-obc-reservation-issues-in-the-north/

June 25th,  2021 marked 90th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister V

P Singh but went unnoticed for the majority of the leaders who benefitted from his politics and good will generated by him. Except for Tejasvi Yadav who remembered Singh mentioning his bold initiative to implement Mandal Commission Report, there was no other north Indian leader particularly from OBCs to remember Singh. Unlike north India, Tamilnadu’s politicians across party lines respected Singh. The first tweet came in the morning from Chief Minister of Tamilnadu Mr M K Stalin writing a tweet in Tamil language and putting a photograph of V P Singh along with Dr M Karunanidhi, former chief minister of Tamilnadu.