South Asia Times June July 2020

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South Asia Times

Vol.17 I No. 11-12 I junE-july 2020 I FREE s o u t hasiatim es.com .au Editor: Neeraj Nanda

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Six Months of Pandemic: What Science Still Thrives to Solve PHOTO : tricontinental

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EDITORIAL page

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Six Months of Pandemic: What Science Still Thrives to Solve

Whether there are any genetic links with the severity of the disease, the involvement of an intermediate species as the source of origin, the nature of antibodies formed due to the disease and the nature of mutations, are some of the questions which are yet unresolved.

By Sandipan Talukdar

is expected to be generic, meaning it should show effectiveness against different strains. But how exactly the mutations are influencing the disease spread and its virulence is still debated despite large efforts being underway to catalogue it.

I

t has been six months since the world has been reeling under the COVID-19 pandemic.

In many parts of the globe cases are surging up on a daily basis. Six months have gone past and with more than 1 crore cases and over 5 lakh deaths, the pandemic is the worst crisis in public health the world has seen in a century.

But, the pandemic has also led to research initiatives across the globe, which have proceeded with unprecedented speed to understand both the disease and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes it. Many aspects have been unfolded, starting with the genomic sequences which were found in China, to the way the virus enters into the human cell and hijack it, or the huge drug trials undergoing in different parts of the world.

However, for every new finding, a next set of questions emerge which need answers.

THE RESPONSE VARIABILITY OF PEOPLE TO THE DISEASE One hallmark of COVID-19 is that people respond differently to it—some will not have any symptom at all, while some display mild symptoms and there are some, who otherwise healthy, develop critical pneumonia that could be fatal.

Can genetic variation play a role? Or is it the kind of viral strain that hit a particular area? Surely, viral strains are known to show varied responses among people of different areas. But how genetics could play a trick as far as COVID-19 is concerned, still remains a matter of research.

The first strong evidence of genetic link to the disease response came out last month. An international team of many researchers reported that people showing critical respiratory response are likely to have one of two gene variants. The study extensively done on 4,000 people from Italy and Spain is available in medrxiv.

One gene variant, as reported in the study is in the region of the genome that determines the blood type—the ABO blood groups.

The other gene variant could be the one encoding

Image for representational use only. Image Courtesy : indiaBioScience a protein that interacts with the receptor that the SARSCoV-2 uses to get an entry to the human cell, or it could be one that encodes immune proteins linked to pathogen response.

The team of researchers are part of the global consortium to find genetic linkages to the disease, known as the COVID-19 host genetic initiative.

These gene variants, however, have a modest part in disease response. To search for gene mutation that have more profound role, Rockefeller University immunologist Jean Lorent Casanova and his team are looking for full genomes of people otherwise healthy and are under 50 years of age that have acquired severe form of COVID-19.

Another effort was made

by Kari Stefanson, the chief executive of DeCODE genetics. His team has been busy in searching for human gene variant and the difference in response towards COVID-19. But, a significant result from this team is hampered pertaining to the less number of cases in Iceland. The team is based in Reykjavik.

NATURE OF IMMUNITY AND HOW LONG IT CAN SUSTAIN For any kind of pathogenic attack that we experience, antibodies are developed by the immune system.

These antibodies against a particular antigen help fighting further attack by that pathogen.

As far searching the nature of immunity against

SARS-CoV-2 are concerned, efforts mainly have pointed towards finding neutralising antibodies that bind to viral proteins directly and thus prevent infection. It is found that neutralising antibodies are high for few weeks after the infection, but start to decrease afterwards.

However, the antibodies can stay longer in the body in case of people who suffered severe infection. This was the case for the earlier SARS infection as well, some severely infected patients had the antibodies active even after 12 years of the infection, while some with less infection had lost the antibodies within few years.

Researchers still don’t have enough knowledge about the exact amount of antibody needed to prevent a second infection or at least attain lesser symptoms.

Immunity against SARSCoV-2, very likely is to extend beyond antibodies. Studies have shown that T cells, an important arm of the immune system are also involved in providing immunity.

A clearer picture will emerge when different aspects of immune responses would be pieced together to see how durable is the immunity that these responses could provide.

of the virus. But mutation studies are important for scientists as well, but with some different interests, that is to study whether certain mutations are linked to more lethality while others are less virulent.

Recently, a Cell publication said that a new strain of the virus has emerged and has now become dominant worldwide. While this new strain is more infectious in nature it is not linked to more virulence. The strain is a result of a point mutation, that is a single change, in the spike protein that was observed around February in Europe.

Mutations are also important for vaccine development. A vaccine

HOW WORRYING ARE THE MUTATIONS? Mutations are common in viruses. They can go on mutating as they go on infecting. Tracking mutations in SARS-CoV-2 has come out as a way the epidemiologists are tracing the global spread

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WHAT ABOUT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A VACCINE? The most important discovery that the world awaits is that of a vaccine against COVID-19. Probably, it is the most effective way to overcome the pandemic.

Currently, there are almost 200 candidate vaccines that are being developed and near about 20 that are under various stages of clinical trials.

But the first large scale trials to look into the efficacy are yet to begin.

These studies will assess the infection rates among people that get vaccine in comparison to those who receive a placebo.

But from the animal testing results some hints have already been revealed. The Oxford University vaccine candidate when administered to macaque monkeys showed that it could prevent the animal from developing more serious lung infections or pneumonia, but may not be able to prevent infection in other parts such as the nose.

The vaccinated monkeys showed virus level in the nose similar to those unvaccinated.

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Six Months of Pandemic...

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Results of this kind raises the question whether the vaccine would be able to stop the spread of the virus even if it prevents severe illness.

Scant data on humans showed that human body could produce neutralising antibodies that can directly block the virus from infecting, but how long those antibodies are available in the body is not yet known clearly.

ORIGIN OF THE VIRUS Despite heavy conspiracy theories, scientists now agree that SARS-CoV-2 originated in bats, specifically the horse

shoe bats. A study conducted on 1,200 coronaviruses from bats in China also inferred that horseshoe bats in Yunnan are the origin from where the novel coronavirus emerged. Nevertheless, the chance the virus originating from horseshoe bats of neighboring countries like Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam was also not ruled out in the study.

Genetic analysis also suggested that the virus could have come to humans from bats via an intermediate species and in this case the most likely species is the pangolin. There are studies that show that coronaviruses

in Malayan pangolins have 92% genomic similarities with the novel one. These studies suggest that the pangolins could have hosted an ancestor of the SARS-CoV-2.

While the bat origin of the virus is confirmed, there still remains a space, even though small, about confirming the involvement of the intermediate species.

WHETHER THE VIRUS IS AIRBORNE: In a recent letter to the WHO and world medical community, 239 scientists from 32 countries have urged to consider that the virus could be airborne. The

letter reads—“We appeal to the medical community and to the relevant national and international bodies to recognise the potential for airborne spread of COVID-19.

There is significant potential for inhalation exposure to viruses in microscopic respiratory droplets (micro droplets) at short to medium distances (up to several meters, or room scale), and we are advocating for the use of preventive measures to mitigate this route of airborne transmission. Studies by the signatories and other scientists have demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that viruses are released

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during exhalation, talking, and coughing in micro droplets small enough to remain aloft in air and pose a risk of exposure at distances beyond 1 to 2 m from an infected individual. For example, at typical indoor air velocities, a 5 μm droplet will travel tens of meters, much greater than the scale of a typical room, while settling from a height of 1.5 m to the floor”.

WHO also has considered the probability of airborne transmission and aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2, according to Maria Van Kerkhove, a technical lead on COVID-19 pandemic at WHO. Source- newsclick.in

Is the airborne route a major source of coronavirus transmission?

By Hassan Vally*

A

s the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, one question that keeps coming up is whether COVID-19 can be transmitted through the air.

In fact, 239 scientists in 32 countries have written an open letter to the World Health Organisation (WHO) arguing there is mounting evidence the airborne route plays a role in the transmission of COVID-19.

Like a lot of issues to do with the pandemic, what seems to be a relatively straightforward question is deceptively complex.

We actually don’t know the answer for sure.

Why do we need to understand the modes of transmission?

Understanding how COVID-19 is transmitted

from one person to the next enables us to design effective public health interventions to minimise the risk of transmission.

For instance, we’re advised to keep 1.5 metres away from others because there’s consensus one of the main ways the virus spreads is via large droplets.

These “large” droplets are usually greater than 5 micrometres in size and are propelled from an infected person’s nose or mouth in their mucus and saliva when they sneeze, cough or talk.

Thanks to gravity, these large droplets don’t generally travel far before landing. If you position yourself more than 1.5 metres from someone who is infected, the expectation is you’ll be clear of the droplets’ path.

Similarly, understanding

these large droplets can land on surfaces and that the virus can survive on these surfaces means we know we need to wash our hands to avoid transferring the virus to our mouth, nose or eyes.

Until now, the WHO has maintained these large droplets are the major source of COVID-19 transmission. But the authors of the open letter suggest they are underplaying the role of airborne transmission.

Airborne transmission and COVID-19 In its simplest interpretation, airborne transmission refers to the ability of a virus to be spread by droplets small enough to be suspended in the air. These droplets are less than 5 micrometres in size and generally called aerosols.

Whereas large droplets can only travel short distances, these smaller droplets, in theory, can be spread further, or can linger in a room even after an infected person has left.

Evidence supporting the notion that transmission of COVID-19 can occur via the airborne route takes several forms.

First, laboratory studies have demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, can be aerosolised, and can survive for up to four hours in this form.

Second, genetic material from SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in aerosols sampled at hospitals, including two hospitals in Wuhan, the Chinese city from which the pandemic emerged. But it’s important to note the presence of this

genetic material doesn’t necessarily mean the virus is infectious in this form.

Perhaps the strongest evidence, however, comes through the various case reports of super spreading events. These are situations in which many people appear to have been infected with coronavirus in the absence of close contact.

One notable early example was from a choir practice in the United States where almost 50 people were infected even though they maintained physical distance. Two died.

Another example is an outbreak in Guangzhou, China, where ten people from three families contracted COVID-19 after dining in a restaurant. Noninfected people were not in close contact with any infected person, but those who became infected were in the direct line of one air conditioning unit.

The study of this outbreak is not yet peerreviewed but is part of the evidence the authors of the open letter draw on.

What are the implications of airborne transmission?

Airborne transmission of this novel coronavirus is potentially a worry, because if it occurs often, it means the virus may be commonly transmitted in the absence of close contact.

It also raises the possibility the virus may travel on air currents, and even be transmitted through air conditioning.

This means social distancing may not always be effective, and in particular, crowded indoor

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areas with poor ventilation pose a major threat.

So where does this leave us?

The key question is not whether airborne transmission is theoretically possible; it certainly is. But rather, how significant is its role in the transmission of COVID-19?

If, for example, most transmission of SARSCoV-2 happens via large droplets and the airborne route plays a role only occasionally, this has very different implications to a scenario where the airborne route is a significant mode of transmission.

Reassuringly, the interventions that have been implemented to limit spread of the virus, such as social distancing, have been largely successful so far in most of Australia.

This suggests even if the virus can be spread by the airborne route, it’s not likely to be a major route of transmission.

Given what we know, the dilemma is whether to employ the precautionary principle and assume the airborne route plays an important role in disease transmission — and adjust infection control measures accordingly. This may take the form of encouraging wider use of masks and looking at increasing ventilation in enclosed spaces.

The other approach is to wait for more definitive evidence before changing the public health advice. * Associate Professor, La Trobe University Source- The Conversation, 7 July 2020 (Published under the Creative Commons Licence).

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AUSTRALIA/ECONOMY

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The spending splurge matters, regardless of what modern monetary theory says

By Ross Guest*

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he Australian government is planning to spend A$190 billion to support the economy in response to COVID-19, according to the latest Parliamentary Budget Office estimate.

The total impact of COVID-19 on the government’s net debt, including both revenue impacts (down, because of less activity) and spending impacts (up because of spending to support the economy) amounts to between 11% and 18% of gross domestic product, or A$500 billion to A$620 billion.

The estimates are based on the three possible scenarios developed by the Reserve Bank: “downside”, “baseline” and “upside”. Each differ in their assumed timing of the relaxation of social

distancing and other restrictions, and for how long uncertainty and diminished confidence weigh on households and business activity.

With similar blowouts around the world, a view gaining ascendancy, including amongst commentators such as Alan Kohler, is that government debt doesn’t matter – provided the government owes the money to its central bank (in Australia’s case, the Reserve Bank) or the bank is prepared to buy the debt from the party the government borrowed the money from.

The view is an application of so-called modern monetary theory and the argument goes like this: 1. when the government runs a budget deficit, it borrows from the private sector (mainly financial institutions) by selling government bonds which

are effectively IOUs offering to repay in a certain number of years and offering interest at a low bond rate until then 2. the Reserve Bank (along with other central banks) has been buying bonds from the private sector with money it creates, and says it is prepared to buy as many as are needed to keep the

We know that governments with high debt face interest rate premiums from lenders.

bond yield low, so that if it looks as if the bond rate will rise, much of the debt will ultimately be owed to the bank 3. when the bonds expire and it is time to repay the debt, the government can simply issue more bonds which the bank will ultimately buy if it has to in order to keep the bond rate low 4. if down the track all of the extra money in the banking system causes inflation, the process would be thrown into reverse: the government can the deficit, repay the Reserve Bank and others when loans fall due and cut the supply of money, slowing down inflation.

It sounds too good to be true, because it is.

There are a number of reasons why deficits and debt do matter, even if the debt is effectively owed to the central bank and even if it has been

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The idea that, if and when inflation arrives, the Australian government could easily throw its spending and tax engines into reverse is fanciful. created in a recession, or in anticipation of one – as is the case for the COVID-19 response.

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community

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The spending splurge matters...

CONTD. FROM PG 5 Creating money carries risks We know that governments with high debt face interest rate premiums from lenders.

A European Union study found that a 10 percentage point increase in the government debt to GDP ratio increased the sovereign bond rate by 0.47 percentage points.

These higher risk premia flow on to private sector borrowers whose interest rates are set in relation to sovereign interest rates, so all households and businesses face higher rates. The result will be less investment and household spending than there would otherwise be.

An attempt by the central bank to negate the risk premium by buying more bonds would allow the government to issue even more bonds, increasing the risk of inflation which would itself put upward pressure on interest rates.

The experience of Latin American countries that relied on their central banks to create money is frightening. Argentina and Venezuela in particular experienced inflation rates of up to 50% and plummeting exchange rates.

The idea that, if and when inflation arrives, the Australian government could easily throw its spending and tax engines

into reverse is fanciful. It is politically difficult to wind back government spending and raise taxes. To do so on a large scale might be impossible.

Modern Monetary theorists respond by pointing out that we have not yet seen inflation in Western countries that have pumped up their money supplies.

That’s true, but while the government has been running up debt, we have seen inflation of a sort in big increases in asset prices in housing and stock markets.

It has made us more vulnerable to financial shocks and priced many first home buyers out of the market.

Markets aren’t forgiving Markets aren’t always forgiving.

And what if the foreign exchange market does not buy the modern monetary theory story?

Even the expectation of future inflation by the market, before it arrives, could lead to a depreciation of the Australian dollar which could itself create inflation which would make Australians poorer.

A final point: the Reserve Bank of Australia is independent from the government.

If confidence in this independence was eroded, we could see an increase in perceived risk of holding Australian financial assets.

This in turn would cause higher interest rates and a lower Australian dollar.

In any case, the Reserve Bank might decide at some point that the risk of inflation or asset price inflation is unacceptable and refuse to buy more government bonds, or sell back to the private sector the bonds it’s bought.

This would mean the government debt was owed to the private sector once again. Financial markets might view it as more risky than debt owed to the bank, with negative consequences for interest rates and the exchange rate.

I am inclined to agree with the International Monetary Fund’s chief economist who said

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in relation to modern monetary theory before the COVID crisis that there was “no free lunch”.

Martin Wolf of the Financial Times said during the crisis that modern monetary theory was both right and wrong.

It was right, because there is no simple budget constraint. It was wrong, because it would prove impossible to manage the economy sensibly once politicians believed there was no simple budget constraint. *Professor of Economics and National Senior Teaching Fellow, Griffith University.

Source- The Conversation, July 3, 2020 (Under Creative Commons Licence)

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community

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Australia’s defence boost to counter rising Chinese power in the Indo-Pacific region

By SAT News Desk

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ELBOURNE, 1 July 2020: The reason behind Australia’s decision to strengthen its defence spending,with $ 270 billion includingacquiring $ 800 m worth AGM158C Long Range AntiShip Missiles from the United States, Dr Pradeep Taneja, Deputy Head of Social & Political Sciences, Melbourne University says

is to counter, “The shifting balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region because of the rising power of China and it asserting it. And being the second biggest military power in the world.”

Another factor, Pradeep feels, “is Australia asserting independence by being selfreliant in defence matters, while maintaining its strategic alliance with the United States.”

In the 2020 Defence

Strategic Update, announced today, the Morrison Government signals a key change in Australia's defence posture, as it prioritises the IndoPacific region.

The update provides a new plan to tackle Australia’s defence challenges while increasing investment and personnel across the entire Australian Defence Force.

The announcement comes amidst the recent

tensions between Australia and China, its largest trading partner. Australia’s COVID-19 international inquiry support, China increasing tariffs on imports of Australian Barley and the recent hacking alert

by Canberra seem to have tightened up relations between the two countries.

Plus, Beijing’s troubles with the Trump administration, and Australia being a US ally, does not cut ice with China.

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In his media update, PM Scott Morrison when talking about “country’s interests in a changing global environment”, did not mention China, but it was obvious to which country he was referring to.

Minister for Defence, Linda Reynolds said, “Defence thinking, strategy and planning have shifted gears to respond to our constantly changing and deteriorating strategic and defence environment.”

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INTERNET

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Low global internet access driving inequality amidst the pandemic, says IMF expert

By SAT News Desk

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ELBOURNE, 30 June 2020: There is a myth among many people that everyone in the world is connected to the internet.

More and more people globally are shifting from analog to digital amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the web’s importance as a tool of socioeconomic tool increasing. Internet users per hundred persons in the US, Australia, France, Germany, the UK, Canada etc. is 80 to 100 users, while the world’s two most populated countries the penetration in China is 40 to 60 users and in India it is 20 to 40 users (See map for global users).

An article in in the IMF Blog by Mercedes GarcíaEscribano, deputy division chief in the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department, reveals “Still, Internet usage remains

a luxury: half of the world’s population does not have access to the Internet, either through a mobile device or through fixed line broadband.”

The following map shows, “the digital divide—the gap between those who have Internet access and those who don’t—is more like a chasm, both within and between countries.”

developing economies in Asia, are among those with the lowest access to the Internet despite being world leaders in mobile money transactions. There is also a large variation in Internet connectivity by firms in subSaharan Africa—only about 60 percent of businesses use email for business compared to about 85 percent in Europe and Central Asia.

THE REST OF THE ARTICLE AS IT IS: Advanced economies like the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada have the highest access rates.

Big emerging economies show large disparities in the proportion of Internet users in their populations, which range from about two-thirds in Brazil and Mexico to about one-third in India.

Countries in subSaharan Africa, followed by many in emerging and

Wider inequality The lack of universal and affordable access to the Internet may widen income inequality within and between countries.

Within countries.

Income inequality and inequality of opportunity may worsen—even in advanced economies— because disadvantaged groups and people who live in rural areas have more limited Internet access. The disparity between men and women in their labor force

participation, wages, and access to financial services may increase where there is a gender gap in access to the Internet. This could be the case in many emerging and developing countries where fewer women than men own a mobile phone.

Between countries. The relatively low Internet access might depress productivity in emerging and developing countries.

IMF staff research (PDF) finds that a one percentage point increase in the share of Internet users in the population raises per capita growth by 0.1-0.4 percentage points in sub-Saharan Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates that having reliable Internet allows some businesses to continue operations amidst lockdowns, which keep economies running.

So, how can policymakers support affordable and universal access to the

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The following map shows, “the digital divide—the gap between those who have Internet access and those who don’t—is more like a chasm, both within and between countries.”

Internet?

Governments can foster a digital-friendly business and regulatory environment for the

INTERNET

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Low global internet access driving... private sector. This can be instrumental to accelerate and finance investments in infrastructure.

Government support, for instance by ensuring the Internet investment is complemented with universal electricity access, is essential. In addition, subsidies may be needed so that all households— including disadvantaged groups and those in rural and remote areas—have access to quality Internet, and to ensure there is no digital gender gap. For example, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the governments of El Salvador, Malaysia and Nepal have introduced Internet fee discounts or waivers (PDF).

Policies should also be geared to closing the Internet gap for firms. Broadening small businesses’ access to financial products such as loans will allow these firms to undertake productive investments in information and communications technology. Governments could also see fiscal savings from digitalization. They can lower the public cost of tax compliance through

Governments can foster a digitalfriendly business and regulatory environment for the private sector. This can be instrumental to accelerate and finance investments in infrastructure. greater access to taxpayer data and improved spending efficiency, which in turn, may help financing these policies.

Given the increasing role of the Internet for the economy and for accessing public services, policies to foster an inclusive recovery must aim to tackle the digital divide within and between countries.

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VIEWPOINT

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Gandhiji's statue in Washington DC.

'Warped understanding' of Gandhi's views on caste, race comes from his early writings

By Ram Puniyani*

t

he #BlackLivesMatter protest saw a strange incident in the United States: Unknown miscreants vandalised the statue of Mahatma Gandhi outside the Indian embassy in Washington DC with graffiti and spray paint. The incident took place on June 2 night amidst nationwide protests that erupted the country against the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.

This happened even as a section of people, writers and intellectuals continue to label him as racist and casteist, one who harmed the cause of Dalits in India.

Nothing can be farther from truth. These elements fail to see the whole journey of the man, but cherry pick from his early writings, when he had just initiated his struggle against the prevailing

injustices.

What is not taken into account is, Gandhiji, father of the Indian nation, has the unique distinction of leading the biggest ever mass movement in the world, and leading the strong anti-colonial movement. He contributed two major tools as the basis of the mass movements, non-violence and satyagraha. He also stated that while making the policies what one should keep in mind is the last, weakest person in the society.

His life, which he called as his message, became an inspiration to many anti-colonial, anti-racial struggles in different parts of the world. He strongly supported the concept of equality in India, where eradication of caste also became one of the aims of his life.

Earlier, Gandhiji’s statue

was uprooted in Ghana, where protesters, calling him racist, said, ‘Gandhi Must Fall’ – on the lines of ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ movement. Gandhi in no way can be put in the category of the likes of Rhodes and others whose central work revolved around enslaving the blacks.

The warped understanding of Gandhiji comes from focussing only on Gandhiji’s early writings. Gandhi who began his campaign for the rights of Indians in South Africa, at times used derogatory terms against blacks. These terms were the ones which were prevalent, introduced by colonial masters, words like ‘African savages’.

Gandhi while raising the voice for Indian working people in South Africa said that the colonialists are treating Indians like African

savages.

But once Gandhiji realized the plight of the blacks there, he started travelling in the third class to experience the hardships being faced by them and much later he stated that they deserve to be treated in a just manner.

His overcoming of racial beliefs were best expressed in his sentence, “If we look into the future, is it not a heritage we have to leave to posterity, that all the different races commingle and produce a civilization that perhaps the world has not yet seen?” (1908).

Nelson Mandela wrote: All in all, Gandhi must be forgiven those prejudices and judged in the context of the time and the circumstances His beliefs kept evolving, and in 1942, in a letter to Roosevelt, he wrote, “I venture to think that the CONTD. ON PG 11

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His life, which he called as his message, became an inspiration to many anti-colonial, anti-racial struggles in different parts of the world. He strongly supported the concept of equality in India, where eradication of caste also became one of the aims of his life.

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VIEWPOINT

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'Warped understanding' of Gandhi's views on caste, race...

Gandhiji's statue being pulled down in Ghana.

CONTD. FROM PG 10 Allied declaration that the Allies are fighting to make the world safe for freedom of the individual and for democracy sounds hollow so long as India and, for that matter, Africa are exploited by Great Britain and America has the Negro problem in her own home.”

The best response to accusations of Gandhiji being a racist came from Nelson Mandela, who wrote, “All in all, Gandhi must be forgiven those prejudices and judged in the context of the time and the circumstances.” Mandela recognized the crucial point that Gandhiji’s views changed as he matured. He wrote, “We are looking here at the young Gandhi, still to become Mahatma.” One has to only add how Martin Luther King (Jr) was inspired by Gandhiji for his anti-racial struggles.

As for caste, during his early periods of life, Gandhiji talked of varnashramdharma. He glorified the work of scavenging and also called Dalits as Harijans. Many a Dalit intellectual and leader hold Gandhi responsible for opposing ‘separate electorate’, offered to the scheduled castes (SCs) by the McDonald Award. Gandhiji saw this as a move to fragment the electorate on narrow lines as being against Indian nationalism and went on hunger strike. Due to this hunger strike, Dr BR Ambedkar agreed for the concept of reserved constituencies for SCs. While many leaders-intellectuals see this as a betrayal by Gandhiji, Ambedkar himself actually thanked Gandhi for giving a satisfactory solution by giving higher reservation to SCs in reserved constituency. And stated, “I am grateful to Mahatma: He came to my rescue.” Bhagwan Das, a close follower of Ambedkar,

independently quotes Ambedkar’s speech: “I think in all these negotiations, a large part of the credit must be attributed to Mahatma Gandhi himself. I must confess that I was surprised, immensely surprised, when I met Mahatma, that there was so much in common between him and me.” As such, race and caste are akin and United Nations debated it in 2009 on these lines.

In both the cases Gandhiji, a humanitarian par excellence, begins with terminologies and notions about caste and race which were prevalent during those times.

With his deeper engagement with the issues of society, he gave a totally different meaning to the same. In matters of caste, he was deeply influenced by and empathetic to Dr Ambedkar, to the extent that he recommended that Dr Ambedkar’s ‘Annihilation of Caste’ be read by all.

While he dealt with race issue from the margins, in case of caste he went miles. His campaign for eradication of untouchability had farreaching back up effect to Dr Ambedkar’s initiatives. It was Gandhiji’s disciple Jawaharlal Nehru, who brought Dr Ambedkar to the forefront of policy making by including him in the Cabinet.

Nehru also entrusted Dr Ambedkar with the task of drafting the Uniform Civil Code and it was Gandhihi who suggested that Dr Ambedkar be made the chief of the drafting committee of the Indian Constitution.

Only those who focus on early Gandhi, Gandhi in the formative phase of his values and ideas, accuse him of being a casteist or racist. He overcame these narrow, parochial social norms

and policies as time passed, and dreamed of Indian and global fraternity where caste and race are relegated to the backyard of

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human history. *Political commentator Source- counterview.net, 5 July, 2020.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS

JUNE - JULY 2020

Revocation, 'misinterpretation' of Article 370 led to lot of turmoil in Beijing: Webinar told By counterview.net

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aking a major intervention at a webinar organized

by Impact and Policy Research Institute (IMPRI), New Delhi, Ambassador Nirupama Rao, former Foreign Secretary of India, who has served as Indian Ambassador to China, the US and Sri Lanka, has said that China has used India’s infrastructure development and excuse of India violating the border commitments along the borders as an interpretation to stir up tensions, though they themselves have engaged in expansion of their own infrastructure along the borders.

According to her, the Galwan situation has not been witnessed on Line of Actual control for 45 years before June 15. Since 1993, we have been using terms such as mutual and equal security, peace along the borders but these principles have been violated by China recently.

She belived, in 1996, Article 10 of the Agreement of Confidence Building Measures posed by China talking about speeding up the clarification and confirmation on the Line of Actual Control still remains unclarified from China as was evident by the meeting that took place in 2003 to decide the line of actual control between China and India, China jinxed up the meet and deliberations never come to fruition.

Rao asserted, India-China is one is the longest land border in the world that remains unsettled till date. The attitude of the Chinese towards border disputes has always displayed negligence. They have a bloated sense of self that China has, is hurting the interests of India and India needs resistance to the advances made by China.

She underscored that a war with China is not the solution but internal and external peace is to be maintained.

She insisted, Ladakh comes is under the close vicinity of the areas under the activities of China. The wrong interpretation of revocation of Article 370 by the Government of India has led them to create ruckus on the borders. China has improved relations with Pakistan as its ‘iron brother’ and converged their interests in targeting India.

Rao suggested that India should continue to stand up to China as was evident by the Doklam incident in 2017.

Mutual adjustments and mutual negotiations would definitely improve the situation on the border, but it might remain a dream during Xi Jinping’s rule,

Indian PM Narendra Modi visits troops in Ladakh. Photo: PIB, New Delhi.

as China is unrelenting and does not play by any rule. This certainly remains a cause of worry for India.

The webinar was organised in collaboration with the SigurCenter for Asian Studies, The George Washington University, Washington, DC. Taking part in the webinar, Dr Kyle Gardner, a top scholar attached with the Sigur Centre for Asian Studies, explained the historical context of SinoIndia borders and highlighted two important points- missing borders and the complications brought by the claims of the other states. He believed that Sino-India border is not the mutually agreed demarcated line which caused the tragic violence on June 15 in Galwan Valley of Ladakh.

Dr Gardner pointed to how the Britishers spent an entire century in Indian subcontinent developing mapping principles and building roads due to the fear of Russian encroachment.

They tried to insulate India from Russia and Ladakh being at crossroads lacked front role while mapping. They used limits of watersheds to map Ladakh but the process was tedious thus, historically Ladakh never had defined borders.

According to him, the need for a borderline emerged when encroaching empires started

demanding maps. These phenomena of historically missing borders continue till date and gave rise to second problem of continuity of claims by prior states over the territory of Ladakh. He also pointed out that India has carried the British legacy with itself as evident from the practices of road making, restrictive access to borders and surveying.

Dr. Deep Pal, a senior scholar with the National Bureau of Asian Research, USA, said that President of China has a couple of centenary goals to deliver to the people of China to realise the Chinese Dream.

The first centenary envisages that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as emerging as a prosperous democratic society by 2021 and also the 100th anniversary of Chinese Communist Party.

He said, by 2049, they are determined to be strong democratic, civilised, harmonious and modern socialist country under the leadership of Xi Jinping. He highlighted due to pandemic, China is being cornered by large number of countries making the achievement of China dream questionable. China wanted to be the unquestionable leader in the current scenario. He also highlighted the strained relations between China and

USA. On one hand USA has retreated from WHO and China is advancing for multilateral arrangement of Silk Road and Belt and Roads Initiative.

Dr Pal warned that China is spreading itself far across from its neighbourhoods and developing relations with Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives which enclosed the Indian subcontinent. In future incidence, it is possible that China may be present in all the problems India may have with its neighbours, which may not in line with Indian interests.

After the Galwan incident, India and China relations have been changed.

He questioned the talks taking place between China and India to settle the border disputes and said India must make strong decisions. He called for policymakers to look around the world to strengthen the partnerships as evidenced by Australia in the Malabar Coast exercise. He highlighted that China had no interest in solving border issues with India and they will try to solve it in a way which works to their advantage.

Dr Anit Mukherjee, assistant professor, South Asia Programme, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, asserted that the revocation of Article 370 had created a lot of turmoil in

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Beijing. He opined that China wanted to create fuss on the borders to deal with its domestic turmoil going post Covid-19. He wondered whether there should a military response to the Galwan attack to restore status quo and have tit-for-tat operations.

According to him, while these could be plausible options, escalation of the conflict remains a consistent risk. The strategic and diplomatic costs must be weighed it. India must work with the countries who share apprehensions with China. India must utilise this crisis and address the system deficiencies on the borders and also speculated that India’s infrastructure development along the borders may have led China to deploy the troops on a large scale on Chinese borders. Perhaps setting up of a comprehensive Committee of Inquiry to address the nuances of the border conflict is the best way forward.

In her introductory remarks, Dr Simi Mehta, CEO, IMPRI, said that the border disputes between India and China are not new, and in the postindependent India, the two countries have fought a major war and had engaged in several skirmishes. Both countries are bound by a mutual agreement to not use firearms in the inhospitable and contested Himalayan region along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), she added.

Pointing that India received a jolt when 20 Indian personnel were killed at the hands of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at the Galwan valley, she said, no Indian soldier was killed at the hands of the PLA since 1975. As a result, the hardening of Chinese positions in the region since April this year and the causalities in the Ladakh territory of the Indian subcontinent have raised several questions on the political relations between India and China in the context of strengthened the spirit of nationalism in India.

In his concluding remarks, Dr Arjun Kumar, director of IMPRI, who is also China-India visiting scholar fellow, Ashoka University and Tongji University, wondered how could India match up to the infrastructure and economic expansion.

He added, India needs to be less subtle and less hesitant in proclaiming where India’s interests lie. It can definitely afford multiple alignments to establish its rightful place in the world.

Source- counterview.net, 3 July 2020.

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INTERVIEW

JUNE - JULY 2020

One can imagine history but history is not that: Audrey Truschke

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elbourne, 25 October: Labour leader and leader of opposition in Victoria, Hon. Daniel Andrews, today announced Labour will build an, ‘Indian Precinct’ in Melbourne, if elected to govern Victoria on 29 October, when Victoria goes to polls to elect a new government. The surprise Diwali gift was announced

by Hon. Daniel Andrews at the Federation Square Diwali event, organised by the Celebrate India.

Manbir Singh Kohli of Sydney Radio Station KehteSunte 89.3 FM interviewed US-based South Asian historian Audrey Truschke recently.

In her book ‘AURANGZEB: THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF INDIA’S MOST CONTROVERSIAL KING’ she reassesses Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir, widely reviled as a religious fanatic. The book an overview of his reign has ignited intense debates. Manbir asks Andrey simple questions

about Aurangzeb and history writing often emerging in the minds of common people.

Melbourne based Neeraj Nanda, Editor of South Asia Times (SAT) has transcribed the audio interview. Attempt has been made to get the gist of this rather informative and revealing interview.

Excerpts from the interview: Q; What do you think about Aurangzeb?

A: He was a premodern Indian. Some non-historians prefer not to understand him historically but by judging him. A curtail figure in South Asian history he changed the state of Hindustan forever.

Q: Being from the US, how did you develop an interest in studying Sanskrit, Persian, a bit of Braj, and South Asian history?

A: It started in college and I discovered the vast depth of Sanskrit literature and poetry, I was absolutely blown away. It is not understood in the West, like Shakespeare. I made a career out of it and now a qualified professor of South Asian history. I came to Aurangzeb a bit later. I was interviewed by ‘The Hindu’ and my views about Akbar were controversial and edgy.

As no one had presented Aurangzeb for a wider audience, I decided to try my hand at it. The book was a result of it.

Q: I read the book – Aurangzeb – The Life and Legacy of India’s Most Controversial King.

The demonization of Aurangzeb started with the British and they projected him as a villain. What was the British motivation behind it?

A: The British started setting up shop in India

and they had a hard job. Colonialism was a horrific enterprise. It was exploitation and horrible. The British were never in India in large numbers so they needed the cooperation of a large number of Indians. How do you sell something horrible? So, they said we are better than the guys before us and demonized the Mughals and Aurangzeb. There was anti- Mughal sentiment, Aurangzeb was pious and more a practicing Muslim.

We the British are your saviors, they said. It was colonial propaganda.

These biases continue to this day and serve political purposes. Not for the Bengalis, but Hindunationalists.

Q: These views are considered biased and DinanathBatra says RomilaThapar is not a true historian.

As a layperson how do we distinguish between a biased or a

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non-biased historian?

Or, which historian to follow?

A: Who is this person?

What are his qualifications?

Just because a historian has biases does not invalidate his writing.

Training in history, discipline, and getting a Ph.D. is important.

Q: In India, there are historians who are shaping the way people read history. They are not historians but have an interest in history.

Hindutva historians do not like you and you get a lot of flak on Twitter. How do we shape our view? He killed his brothers, imprisoned his father, went about killing the Sikh Gurus and his conversion plans. The narratives we grew on. He imposed the ‘Jazia’ on non-Muslims and destroyed temples. contd. on pg 14

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INTERVIEW

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One can imagine history but history...

CONTD. FROM PG 13

A: I offer one way of seeing the past. But some do not want to listen. For those who want to listen: there is no evidence he wanted to convert everyone to Islam; Yes, there is small scale evidence of conversion; He broke a dozen or so temples is true; He imprisoned his father, yes. Shahjahan also killed many and I explain it.

Q: He destroyed a handful of temples.

What was the reason.

You say Hindu kings started this tradition of destroying temples of enemy kings.

A: Temples were places of political authority in premodern India. It is difficult to conceptualise this because these are today places of faith. In those days if you hit such a place actually you were hitting a place of authority. That explains why Aurangzeb destroyed this and not that. Look at Banaras today, why he did not destroy all the temples there.

Q: He wanted to convert the whole of

India. Many did that for jobs?

A: Aurangzeb had no problem employing Hindus.

He employed more Hindus compared to Shahjahan, Jahangir and Akbar. It was not because he loved Hindus, but because he incorporated more Hindu-majority lands in his empire. It wasn’t about religion but power. He did not object conversion to Islam.

He basically wanted them to recognise Mughal authority. He was collecting taxes from them.

Q: Aurangzeb increased Hindu nobility to 50 % and Raja Raghunath was his finance head. He thought more of merit, than religion. This is different from what perceive of Aurangzeb.

A: Aurangzeb was exceptional for his time.

In Sivaji’s army a major commander was a Muslim.

Religion is a problem in the 21st century, it was not so in the 17th century.

Q: You write about Sanskrit poets recognising and praising Aurangzeb.

Did they respect him or were bribed to do that?

A: It was something inbetween. Many Sanskrit scholars were because of court patronage and my first book is about that.

Q: Why would Aurangzeb have translation of Ramayana and Mahabharata into Persian?

A: There were four translations of Mahabharata.

Ramayana is a different story.

It was done into Persian in 1580 and it became wild. A pre-modern best seller. The poets kept redoing it and we end up with about two dozen Persian Ramayana’s in 200 years. One in the early 18th century is dedicated to Aurangzeb (his final year of reign).

Q: Attempts are being made in India to remove Mogul history from the textbooks. Do you think future generations will be devoid of access to this period of history?

A: Historians are better for the past, not the future. I do not have a prediction or a crystal ball here. Yes, it is possible to ignite a population about their own history.

Now, the Hindu nationalists will never be able to erase Mogul’s history. It will elevate its importance outside India.

It’s unfortunate to see history politicized for terrible things.

And because of this history is the looser.

Q: I heard, you say, whenever you fear history, you seek to distort it. The British did that with Indian history. The present dispensation is trying to change it. They say the Aryan invasion theory is not true. Why? A: The problem with Hindu nationalists is that they depend on the past and completely mythologized.

They are a house of cards.

That is why they go after historians like me so hard.

Early migration theory has to do with ethnic nationalism. The evidence is insurmountable. We are open to new discoveries. Hindu nationalists are not bringing new evidence but screaming louder and louder.

Regarding Mogul’s history, as I see it, it is digging up antiMuslim sentiment, dog-whistle, we hate Aurangzeb, and hate present-day Muslims, and

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deadly violence. If you hate Muslims for hundreds of years, it normalizes that grammar.

And false stories of oppression for so long. It becomes justifiable and violence in the present day.

The outcomes were different in British colonialism but the grammar is the same.

Q: Being proud of a 5,000 years’ glorious history, rather than of what actually we have. Is this unique to India?

A: Indians who want to be proud of their history don’t have to say it is glorious. It goes back to the Indus Valley history, the centre of the ancient world. It’s incredible stuff. Sanskrit literature produced in pre modernity was spread across much of Asia. You don’t have to make this stuff up. You do not have to bastardise your history.

One can imagine history but history is not that. What you have in India is history for so long, so diverse, and so glorious.

Why I have become so interested in it. Look for the facts, you don’t have to go to the Hindu nationalists. You will find incredible stuff. And, you should be proud of it.

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SOUTH ASIA

JUNE - JULY 2020

Responding to COVID-19 Learnings from Kerala

By WHO South-East Asia/India

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eneva, 2 July 2020: Five months on since the country’s first positive case of Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) was reported in Kerala, the state with over a population of 35 million, has reported 4189 cases of COVID-19 as on 30 June 2020 and 23 deaths with an impressive recovery rate of 51.7%.

The state government’s prompt response to COVID-19 can be attributed to its experience and investment made in emergency preparedness and outbreak response in the past during Kerala floods in 2018 and especially, the NIPAH outbreak in 2019. The state used innovative approaches and its experience in disaster management planning came in handy to quickly deploy resources and put up a timely and comprehensive response in collaboration with key stakeholders. Active surveillance, setting up of district control rooms for monitoring, capacitybuilding of frontline health workers, risk communication and strong community engagement, and addressing the psychosocial needs of the vulnerable population are some of the key strategic interventions implemented by the state government that kept the disease in control.

A high-level committee led by the Chief Minister, Health Minister, Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary (Health) has been set up to monitor, coordinate and guide actions in the field. The State Control room led by the Principal Secretary, Mission Director, National Health Mission, Directorate of Health Services, and Directorate of Medical Education; and its various sub-committees are closely monitoring the various aspects of COVID-19 response. Early release of technical guidelines on contact tracing, quarantine, isolation, hospitalization, infection prevention and control, and extensive capacity-building for all

cadres of health and other interlinked departments played a critical role in managing the situation.

Early preparation was the key The leadership helmed a robust response to the novel coronavirus disease very early, following the news of outbreak in China in January 2020. As the state registered India’s first COVID-19 case on 30 January 2020, the Government declared a health emergency in the state, after two more cases were confirmed on February 2 and 3, 2020. The initial response focused on surveillance and screening of all incoming passengers from China and others who had come in close contact with these travelers.

The State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) and the office of Kerala State Disaster Management Authority provided support to the Health Department for response and mitigation efforts. Response to an outbreak of this severity and seriousness requires a collaborative and participative approach.

The enabling environment owing to the high literacy rate in the state and high-level political and administrative commitment provided the much-needed impetus in the fight against this pandemic.

Systemic investment in strengthening health infrastructure The government has been systematically investing in strengthening its health infrastructure. During the pandemic, the state government set-up at least two COVID-19 dedicated hospitals in each district to treat the positive cases with well-trained staff and team from all specialities. State and District Medical Boards were constituted to bring out treatment and discharge protocols and assess each positive case.

Early screening of all the incoming passengers was put in place at all the airports and sea ports in the state. When the cases started rising in the country, incoming passengers from other states at Inter State Bus and train terminals were also screened.

Testing and containment strategy Considering the increase in the number of cases, the state strengthened the surveillance and control measures against the disease. Intense contact tracing and testing are the mainstay of the state’s COVID-19 response. The state adapted WHO’s guidance by tracing, testing and isolating as many as possible.

As on 30 June 2020, Kerala had sent 1 71 846 samples for testing. In addition, more than 46 689 samples were taken from high-risk groups like health care workers as part of the sentinel surveillance carried out in all 14 districts in the state to check the prevalence of a disease in a community or population. Further, 1193 samples have been tested from three districts, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Palakkad by ICMR in Kerala as part of ICMR Sero-surveillance study.

True NAAT and CB NAAT (Xpert-SARS-CoV testing)

has been initiated in eight government institutions and nine private institutions for testing samples for patients undergoing an emergency surgery, symptomatic health workers, sick patients or COVID suspected death.

Isolation of high-risk contacts The government instituted a longer quarantine of 28 days initially and built thousands of shelters for migrant workers stranded by the nationwide shutdown. Further, COVID Care Centers have been established in all districts to accommodate non-residents such as tourists, people in transit etc. Adequate infrastructure has been provided at all designated isolation facilities for accommodating residents returning from other states. As on 29 June 2020, 180 617 people are under surveillance out of which, 177 955 are under home and institutional quarantine, and 2662 are in designated isolation facilities. Regular monitoring, a mix of phone

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calls and home visits, is being undertaken to ensure strict adherence.

Providing psychosocial support: Tele medicine portal e-sanjeevani for Tele consultation across the State and Ottakallaoppamundu for providing psychosocial support are in place and 1143 mental health professionals, including psychiatrists, psychiatric social workers, clinical psychologists and counsellors have been deployed to provide support to people in quarantine.

Counselling service is also provided to frontline workers working in corona outbreak control activities.

The government has adopted an inclusive approach and addressed the special needs of mentally-ill patients, children with special needs, migrant labourers and elderly people living alone.

Till date, the psychosocial services have reached out to 11 68 950 people in the state by providing them an enabling environment to deal with stress related to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

CONTD. ON PG 17

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south asia

JUNE - JULY 2020

The quiet survivors of a global pandemic

By Saima W. Hossain*

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HAKA, Bangladesh, Jul 8 2020 (IPS) - The issue of women’s rights, feminism and gender is complex and ongoing in most countries including Bangladesh. When I was asked to write about impact of COVID-19 on women and girls, I found myself drawn towards writing about women’s situation in general as that automatically impacts COVID-19 response as well.

Since I am a woman who has been a part of many different cultures, yet a Bangali at heart, I am not only a survivor within its ranks but also responsible for being a part of the solution to the problems we face.

At the heart of it is the question: Are women in Bangladesh truly equal in all social, economic, cultural and legal practices in our country, as stated in our Constitution, as our Founding Father intended for us to be?

A decade and a half ago, findings from my graduate thesis (unpublished) exploring psychological well-being of women in Bangladesh showed that interestingly women reported valuing education above employment, and those who were employed did not exercise any control over their income. Also, they perceived the ‘purdah’ as a tool that enabled them to access greater social freedom, for which they were still required to garner permission.

In his chronicles as a young adult, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Founding Father of Bangladesh, wrote about the need for equal rights for men and women. He stayed true to his vision by giving them equal voice in the political process of the country as an equal citizen.

As a President he went to tremendous lengths to rehabilitate and support the survivors of the genocide committed by the Pakistani military on Bengali civilians in 1971.

Since independence, much progress has been made to ensure that women from childhood have every opportunity to participate in educational and economic opportunities in the country. We not only have a woman as the Head of Government, but women holding positions in the justice system, as Speaker of the House of Parliament, as ministers, in academia, armed forces, and the corporate sector, among others. New laws addressing age of marriage, gender violence, domestic abuse and others have also been adopted.

Cornerstones of the transition of the role of women in Bangladesh are the growth in the RMG (ready-made garments) sector, and the opportunities created by small cottage industries.

In the 1980’s, Bangladeshi society experienced a major shift due to the demand by the growing RMG sector for large number of cheap labor who would work under practically any

circumstances.

Despite the many questionable labor practices and human rights issues, for the young women living in abject poverty and treated as a burden on their families, it was an opportunity for financial freedom, and to be valued within their families. Up until that time, the only other income opportunity for women with minimal education was domestic work. The same time that women began to be employed in the RMG sector, women were simultaneously also making incremental earnings through small cottage industries. Looking at these notable and impactful changes, it is undeniable that the most significant reason behind Bangladesh’s dramatic economic development is the role and function women have played, be it as a leader or as a daily wage earner.

Nevertheless, the question remains, has economic participation, opportunities for education,

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At the heart of it is the question: Are women in Bangladesh truly equal in all social, economic, cultural and legal practices in our country, as stated in our Constitution, as our Founding Father intended for us to be? and employment truly impacted how women are treated in society on a daily basis?

CONTD. ON PG 17

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south asia

JUNE - JULY 2020

Responding to COVID-19 - Learnings...

CONTD. FROM PG 15 Risk communication and community engagement An awareness campaign ‘Break the Chain’ was successful in promoting the importance of hand hygiene, physical distancing and cough etiquette. Hand washing stations were installed in strategic locations, including exit and entry points of railway stations etc. to instill a behaviour change. The Kerala Arogyam portal was launched by the Department of Health and Family Welfare with comprehensive information on COVID-19.

CovidJagratha portal and Directorate of Health Services website was launched by the Department of Health and Family Welfare with comprehensive information on COVID-19.

The high literacy rate in the state and the empowered women self-help groups -Kudumbashree helped the cause in a big way.

Kudumbashree formed close to 1.9 lakh WhatsApp groups with 22 lakh neighbourhood groups (NHGs) to educate on key safety measures as advocated by the government

during lockdown.

Community Kitchen initiative through the Local Self Government Department (LSGD) with the support of Kudumbasree has provided more than 8 651 627 free meals to the labourers, those who are in quarantine, isolation, destitute and other needy persons. Distribution of millions of cooked meals and provision of free ration under the Public Distribution Scheme to those in need is reflective of a well-thought and a caring response and relief strategy.

“Kerala’s model of controlling epidemic has its roots in the strong health system we built over the years. Our Hon’ble CM and Health Minister led from the front and facilitated intersectoral coordination as well as community participation.

We focused on the strategy of trace, test and contain with extensive screening and quarantine of all the incoming travelers. The State and the District Control Rooms played a key role in formulating advisories and guidelines; and guiding the early interventions focused on saving lives. WHO has

An awareness campaign ‘Break the Chain’ was successful in promoting the importance of hand hygiene, physical distancing and cough etiquette. been a long-standing partner in the field of public health and the WHO officials are part of this response at the state and the district level.

The battle is far from over; we would continue to remain vigilant and keep innovating to make sure that Kerala lives up to the high expectations of our people and the Country”, shared Dr Rathan

U Kelkar IAS State Mission Director National Health Mission, Kerala.

“The WHO field officials of National Public Health Surveillance project, National Tuberculosis Elimination programme, and India Hypertension Control Initiative supported the Government in strengthening disease surveillance in the private sector during Kerala Floods in 2018. The experience and learnings have proved very useful as the same team continues to support the COVID-19 response. We are committed to work with the Government of Kerala in its fight against the disease”, shared Dr AsishSatapathy, Regional Team Lead, South Region, WHO Country Office for India.

Ms Payden, Acting WHO Representative to India attributes Kerala’s success in effectively responding to the COVID-19 to its experience and systematic investment in health systems strengthening along with measures such as surveillance, risk communication and community engagement, early detection and broad

The quiet survivors of a global pandemic CONTD. FROM PG 16

Women have always struggled and continue to struggle to find balance between what is expected of them by their families and society, and what they wish to do for themselves.

For many, the choice may appear easy to make and they happily do what is expected and needed, but for many it can lead to a lifetime of emotional turmoil. The choice women face between motherhood and a successful career cannot simply be addressed by changing laws without also addressing social expectations and attitudinal pressures to be the primary carer of children and dependents.

The societal imbalance that exists between men, women, and those we identify as third gender in Bangladesh, are in almost every country but manifests themselves differently. Thus, a one- size-fitsall solution does not work because of this very reason. The Covid 19 pandemic we are all trying to survive, demonstrates that no issue or solution is as simple as it appears.

Ensuring women are protected during this global crisis needs a solution which is based significantly on an understanding of the culture where the woman belongs; and importantly that the biased ocial and economic structure ensures they are impacted even more adversely. In order to effectively address the

issue we need to be willing to take the ‘bull by the horn’ i.e. rather than reaching for the lowest hanging fruit, work at solutions that are mindful of its impact to all including women, and the diverse communities that make our country.

We need to acknowledge that we have not sufficiently delved into legal, social and economic protections that are necessary.

Despite many female political leaders, the everyday woman still suffers in silence because she does not have the voice or the agency to speak her mind or pursue her dreams independently. Addressing these issues become even more important when we are faced with a global pandemic, making this gap starkly apparent. In the past few months, women across the globe have been victims of a rising number of domestic violence situations, which have escalated.

In addition, women who hitherto worked in the informal sector, have been left particularly vulnerable; essentially unaccounted for and unsupported, significantly impacting their financial and emotional well-being. *Saima W. Hossain, a licensed School Psychologist, is currently Advisor to the Director General of WHO on Autism and Mental Health, Member of WHO’s Expert Advisory Panel on Mental Health, Chairperson of the National Advisory Committee on Autism and NDDs in Bangladesh, and Chairperson of Shuchona Foundation. www.southasiatimes.com.au - 0421 677 082

The WHO field officials of National Public Health Surveillance project, National Tuberculosis Elimination programme, and India Hypertension Control Initiative supported the Government in strengthening disease surveillance in the private sector during Kerala Floods in 2018. social support. “This template could serve as a great example for other states to emulate,” she adds.

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JUNE - JULY 2020

Emergency and Dystopia

By Pushkar Raj*

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ELBOURNE: As we commemorate suspension of democracy during emergency in 1975, it is disturbing to note that police are on spree to arrest and detainpeople and send them to jail as arbitrarily as then.

Police knock at the door of journalists and social activists; one can be charged for airing views on television, or postingcomments on social media. A first information report (FIR), that named four people, subsequently bailed for those offences, continues to swell adding more people to it, who cannot hope to get released before at least seven years, as sections under the unlawful activities prevention act (UAPA) have been added to the original FIR later on.

A chief justice of the supreme court, accused of sexual harassment, becomes a law maker on his retirement.

The attorney general calls journalists’ vultures while two prominent human rights activists are sent to jail because they are said to be linked with another caserelating to conspiracy to kill the prime minister, straight from the plot of novel Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler. Is it a normal functioning of law in a society?

Is it not worse than emergency, perhaps close to dystopia?

For one, emergency was a short-term abuse of power that even the rulers of the time were certain, would come to an end, but

presently the rulers consider themselves to be mandated (not withstanding statistical absolute that show they represent below eighteen per cent of Indian electorate) for at least another three years, if not more. Secondly, emergency represented political repression, but present is riddled with social aggression and economic depression as well. Thirdly, after the emergency, judiciary emerged as a strident watch dog of rights and freedoms of a citizen with public interest litigation becoming a norm, but lately, it has let citizens down failing to come to their rescue and, at times, showing apparent hostility against human rights defenders.

Apparently, it is not a normal state of affair in a democracy, but how have we arrived at this scary state? Do as people, we lack in reason and intellect and therefore prone to a controlled society? Or, we fell prey to doublespeak and subsequent self-destructive amnesia?

Doublespeak Perhaps later is true, as signified in the novel Nineteen Eighty -Four (1949) by George Orwell. Doublespeak is a powerful weapon for changing thought of individual,

effectively practiced to steer social narrative, for the objective of gaining and remaining in power by a ruling group. It just needs an enemy ‘other’ like brotherhood in the novel, as urban naxals or Muslims in India today.

Orwell’s Oceania is a state where doublethink is the norm, which Orwell defined as ‘the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously and accepting both of them, for example, Gandhi is father of nation, NathuramGodse is true Hindu and a Nationalist; Gandhiji was a great soul, Gandhi was a chaturbania (smart businessman); Savarkar was a great patriot, he apologised to British for release as a tactical move.

As Orwell puts it, in Oceania, the ruling party’s ideology is socialism that, “rejects and vilifies every principle for which the socialist movement originally stood, and it does so in the name of socialism." By stigmatising Muslims, Hindutva proponents reject foundational principle of Hinduism, VasudhaivaKutumbakam meaning "the world is one family”, in the name of Hinduism.

While at play doublethink becomes doublespeak, that Orwell describes as, “to tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just as long as it is needed.

For instance, the government

denies that CAA is anti-Muslim and anti-human but defends building more detention camps where Muslim families are not permitted to leave, even in case of a death in the family, and children are separated from their mothers.

Propaganda and Mass Surveillance In Oceania, the government manipulates statistics, stigmatises opposition and arouses hate. Recent media coverage of ShaheenBaghcomes close to, how Emmanuel Goldstein, the opposition leader in the novel, is portrayed as traitor and even dedicated a daily ‘two minutes’ hate” session, sameas some news channels have their prime hour devoted to hate, branding human right defenders anti-national before they could be imprisoned.

This is further buttressed with millions of volunteers, led by I T wing of the ruling party, like “ministry of truth” that lace the social media news with hate to distort the reality, accomplishing the belief, “one who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”

The police while filing FIR against CAA protestors is relying on conjectures as in Oceania where Thinkpol (thought police), on suspicion detect, torture and kill thought criminals, citizens whose intellectual, mental, and moral independence challenges the political orthodoxy of Ingsoc. They spy upon the people through ubiquitous two-way telescreens. Indian

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government’s National Intelligence Grid and facial recognition system is capable of doing the same. So, when the police would raid people’s house, seizing cell phones and computers, they have already established guilt by thought and association as they know, with whom the seditious citizen has spoken and when, inventing and inserting ‘why’ part of it themselves.

In the country today, the ruling group seems to be demanding doublethink from its citizens, and those who do not agree with or resist this state of ‘cognitive dissonance’ are beaten, jailed or killed as per their hierarchy in society. In this nightmare, GautamNavlakha and AnandTeltumbe may not be the last yet, as ever unfolding events demonstrate.

So where does this leave us as a nation today? What do citizens do? Who do they look up to? What do the writers, intellectuals and artists of the country do? Think, resist, exhort and prevail or capitulate to doublethink and lose their humanity? These are interesting questions that each society answers for itself in its own way.

Another version of article was published in outlook. The views in the article are the author’s own. *Pushkar Raj is a Melbourne based researcher and author.

Earlier, he taught in Delhi University and was the national general secretary of People’s Union for Civil Liberties.

Pushkar Raj.

iffm - 2020

JUNE - JULY 2020

southSouth asia times 19 Asia Times

IFFM-2020 from October 30 to November 7

By SAT News Desk

M

onday 29 June 2020: The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne today announced that this year’s festival will go ahead with dates rescheduled from August to late 2020 due to the ongoing COVID -19 pandemic.

IFFM 2020’s program will be devised in line with public health guidance with plans for a compact schedule taking place over a week from October 30 to November 7. The festival is retaining the Short Film Competition and the popular dance competition (to be held on October 31, pending easing of restrictions) but the muchanticipated IFFM Awards Gala will be postponed until 2021. More details of festival highlights will be announced shortly.

An exciting new innovation to the festival this year, in response to current challenges and opportunities, is the IFFM Film Club where fans of Indian movies can enroll for a virtual masterclass

with leading filmmakers discussing their works in detail. This exciting new event is facilitated by noted journalist Rajeev Masand. Functioning like a book club, the festival asks participants to watch a classic film, and they then have an opportunity to discuss the film at the virtual film club with the filmmaker. The virtual talks are open for registration to festival-goers and accommodate 100 early bird users.

Previously, the festival has hosted masterclasses with acclaimed filmmakers including Raju Hirani, Rani Mukherjee, Karan Johar, Rima Das, Zoya Akhtar, Onir, Vijay Sethupathi, Nag Ashwin, Kabir Khan, and many others. With the launch of this year’s Film Club, IFFM continues to celebrate the spirit of diversity through cinema.

IFFM Festival Director MituBhowmick Lange says, “This is a uniquely intimate way for film lovers to stay engaged, entertained and educated while at home in these unprecedented times.

CONTD. ON PG 20

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south asia 20 South Asia Timestimes

iffm - 2020

JUNE - JULY 2020

IFFM-2020 from October 30 to November 7 CONTD. FROM PG 19

We already have a strong line up of filmmakers from various parts of India. Wellknown film journalist Rajeev Masand will moderate the session as he opens the film and its maker to a world of questions from curious fans.”

The Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley says: “Social distancing doesn’t mean social disconnection and through the screen, we can continue

where Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan awarded the 4-year scholarship named after him to GopikaKottantharayilBhasi from Thrissur (Kerala), as a part of the festival’s long association with Melbourne’s La Trobe University. Now faced with restrictions and new opportunities the IFFM team is working hard to develop new exciting elements to the year’s festival while ensuring the safety of festival attendees.

to be inspired by stories and perspectives from across the globe. I applaud the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne team for its commitment to continuing to bring the IFFM spirit to film lovers and for pivoting to a new model for 2020 in response to these challenging times.”

In 2019 the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne celebrated its tenth anniversary. In February this year pre-COVID, IFFM hosted an event in Mumbai

Cinema needs to reflect the truth of the times: Aparna Sen

By Neeraj Nanda

M

ELBOURNE, 5 July 2020: Cinema needs to reflect the truth of the times, says Aparna Sen India’s leading cinema actress and director. She was answering questions

by Rajeev Masand during a zoom interview, for the IFFM Film Club, Melbourne.

Aparna’s 2019 Bengali movie ‘GhewreBareyAaj’ (Home and the World) is loosely based on slain journalist Gauri Lankesh, a triangle story of a Hindu nationalist professor, a Dalit girl and her liberal editor husband. The background is India’s current political climate.

Answering to Rajeev Masand’s questions, Aparna detailed her story writing in school and development as an actor, writer, and director over the years. ”Times have now changed and I feel worried about the lack of harmony in India. Hindus, Muslims,

Times have now changed and I feel worried about the lack of harmony in India. Hindus, Muslims, and others fought together for the independence of the country.

and others fought together for the independence of the country.

My idea of India is under threat and telling the

story of an individual in the context of the times is important,” she says.

On a question by SAT about the role of a film

person when the idea of India is under threat, she says, actually, it is up to the filmmaker and their conscience. There are

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people who are afraid to speak. It’s important to reflect the times.”

IFFM-2020 Director MituBhowmick Lange appreciated all participants and Aparana Sen’s participation in the web interaction conducted by Rajeev Masand and hoped Aparna will be in Australia for the next International Film Festival of Melbourne.

southSouth asia times 21 Asia Times

iffm - 2020

JUNE - JULY 2020

India’s top four filmmaker’s to create short films in Victoria on themes of diversity

By SAT News Desk

M

ELBOURNE, 8 July 2020: The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) has announced four of India’s most popularand prolific filmmakers will work with selected Victorian filmmaking teams to mentor and thenshoot short films on the themes of race, disability, sexuality and gender. The shorts will becompiled into one film entitled ‘My Melbourne’ which will premiere at IFFM 2021 before travellingon the international film circuit.

The four film makers are Kabir Khan (Kabul Express, BajrangiBhaijaan, Tiger Zinda Hai, 83), RimaDas (Bulbul Can Sing, Village Rockstars), Onir (My Brother Nikhil, I am) and Imtiaz Ali (Jab We Met,Rockstar, Jab Harry Met Sejal).

IFFM Festival Director MituBhowmick Lange says: “This exciting initiative gives Victorian screenpractitioners a once in a lifetime opportunity to work with some of the world’s best film makersand also develop relationships with them. I am delighted and thrilled that IFFM has secured four ofIndia’s most diverse voices of independent cinema for these workshops and the creation of fourshort films on the core values of IFFM – diversity and inclusivity.”

The Festival is now calling for authentic migrant experience story ideas. Each of the four selectedteams will be assigned a budget to create an original script, striving for creativity, originality andpure storytelling. Kabir Khan, Imtiaz Ali, Rima Das and Onir will workshop and develop the

selectedstories and oversee pre-production with the teams via zoom.

Should travel restrictions be lifted,the four filmmakers will travel to Melbourne to shoot the films. For this exciting short filminitiative, IFFM has partnered with Blackmagic Design.

Rima Das said, “It’s an honour to receive this invitation. It’s essential for filmmakers to examinethe world around them from the prism of its socio-political context. The short film will allow us tobring in authentic lived-in stories that often get lost in popular culture.”

Kabir Khan says, “Celebration of our diversity is a dialogue that should be fostered in current times. In the post-pandemic world, being one with each other in a community should be the singlemost important takeaway. The virus has shown us the futility of everything else. I am excited atthe opportunity presented by IFFM and looking forward to the experience.”

Imtiaz Ali adds, “The last few months have been full of life lessons for all of us.

Viewing stories ofidentity in the context of the diverse society that we are all a part of is quintessential for us tochart our path ahead. I am looking forward to meeting a new set of people and understandingtheir life stories for the screen.”

Onir says: “The role of a filmmaker I believe is to trigger a dialogue. The world we are living in callsfor fresh discussions on inclusivity and diversity to reiterate strong value systems for ouraudiences. I am glad for the

opportunity and hope it’s a step in the right direction.”

Film Victoria CEO Caroline Pitcher says, “We’re pleased that through our support of the Indian FilmFestival of Melbourne, Victorian filmmakers will have the opportunity to collaborate with fourtitans of Indian cinema and share their diverse stories with Melbourne audiences in 2021.”

“Blackmagic Design applauds the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne and the bridges it builds

between the Australian and Indian film communities.

This festival is a wonderful celebration ofinternational storytelling and filmcraft”.

Blackmagic DesignDespite the unprecedented situation created by coronavirus (COVID-19) across the globe, theIndian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) is working to ensure that cinephiles across Victoriacontinue to have an opportunity to celebrate great stories and storytellers. This year IFFM will beheld in the

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last week of October instead of the usual August celebrations and in June launched the IFFM Film Club, collaborating with wellknown filmmakers for virtual masterclasses.

Expressions of interest: info@iffm.com.au Facebook - @ IndianFilmFestivalOfMelbourne @FilmVic @MBFWorld Twitter: @iffmelbourne@ FilmVictoria @MBFWorld Instagram: @IFFMelb @ FilmVic

south asia 22 South Asia Timestimes

JUNE - JULY 2020

‘Business as usual’ as wage theft and exploitation remain rampant for international students in Australia

M

ELBOURNE, 30 June 2020:Despite commitments to improve conditions, international students are still subject to wage theft and poor employment conditions, a new report finds.

A nationwide study involving 5,000 international students has found the majority are experiencing serious wage theft with three in four students earning below the minimum casual wage and one in four earning less than half the minimum.

‘International Students and Wage Theft in Australia’ is the latest report from UTS Law Associate Professor Laurie Berg and UNSW Associate Professor Bassina Farbenblum who co-direct the Migrant Worker Justice Initiative.

It builds on their 2016 national survey of temporary migrant workers. This new study finds that, despite efforts from the Fair Work Ombudsman over the last three years and stronger penalties against employers, it is still ‘business as usual’ in terms of the exploitation of international students.

A/Prof Farbenblum says the proportion of international students who are egregiously underpaid has remained essentially unchanged: Our findings show that tinkering around the edges of the problem isn’t working. Wage theft is endemic for migrant workers and indeed many Australian workers in certain industries. To seriously disrupt wage theft in Australia, we need urgent reforms to labour enforcement and student visa conditions, as well as a new wage recovery tribunal.”

A/Prof Berg says almost two thirds of international students didn’t seek information or help for problems at work.

“They suffered in silence, often

because of visa concerns or fear of job loss. Our findings confirm many who complained were in fact sacked. Their visa concerns are also valid – there’s nothing to stop the labour regulator sharing information with immigration authorities if a student has worked more hours than her visa allows.”

The report forms part of the Information for Impact project, funded by StudyNSW, to better understand the problems international students encounter in work and housing, and to determine effective interventions.

Since this study, the impact of COVID-19 has seen many international students lose their casual jobs. Excluded from JobKeeper and JobSeeker assistance, many are left with no income to meet their basic living expenses.

“The COVID-19 shutdown has created a humanitarian crisis among international students and other migrant workers in Australia,” A/Prof Farbenblum says. “Many have been unable to pay their rent and joined foodbank queues.”

With the easing of restrictions, international students are in danger

of becoming even more vulnerable to exploitation because of their highly precarious financial status and desperation for work in the tightly constrained labour market.

To document the extent of this crisis, the academics have just launched a world-leading COVIDfocused nationwide survey of temporary migrants in Australia.

The new survey will gauge levels of financial insecurity, workplace exploitation and homelessness among international students and other temporary migrants who have remained here during the pandemic.

A/Prof Berg says we have moral and human rights responsibilities: “The Federal Government cannot treat international students and their labour as a utilitarian commodity. During COVID-19, many international students were essential workers in aged care, supermarkets, food delivery and cleaning, keeping Australians safe, fed and cared for. Yet the Government turned its back on those who lost jobs and has failed to seriously address exploitation among those who are working.”

Source: medianet

news, views, analysis

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southSouth asia times 23 Asia Times

BUSINESS

JUNE - JULY 2020

Can India wean off its economic reliance on China?

T

he recent clashes between Chinese and Indian troops along the two nations' disputed border have heightened anti-China sentiment in India and triggered calls for a total ban on trade with that country.

Twenty Indian troops were killed in the fighting. China also reportedly suffered casualties but has so far released no information.

On Indian streets and media, people have been urging Indian consumers to "teach China a lesson" by boycotting Chinese goods.

On Monday, India said it had banned 59 Chinese-owned apps, including TikTok, while Chinese companies are being blocked from participating in highway projects and are banned from investing in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

Reports suggest that goods from China are being delayed at Indian ports, and authorities are planning to impose higher tariffs and stringent quality controls on shipments. A report published by The Indian Express, an Englishlanguage newspaper, stated that Indian exporters have started facing similar issues with their consignments at the Chinese ports.

"Trade frictions, even symbolic ones, are obviously bad for business," Pravin Krishna, professor of International Economics and Business at Johns Hopkins University, told DW. "As of now, it is not quite clear which goods are being held up at the ports and what the extent of the delay is. The exact impact on businesses will clearly depend on their inventory positions and so on and this will vary quite widely across sectors and firms," he said.

"I imagine most businesses can manage delays, but perhaps not complete blockades."

Disrupting supply chains Despite popular demand for a blanket ban on Chinese goods, experts say it's not feasible given the close commercial ties between the two nations. Bilateral trade was worth $88 billion (₏78.3 billion) in the 2018-19 fiscal year, but India recorded a huge $53.5 billion deficit with China — the biggest trade deficit India has with any country.

China is also India's biggest source of imports.

China exports more than

economic fallout from the coronavirus health crisis and boost growth, Indian PM Narendra Modi launched "Atmanirbhar Bharat," a campaign for a self-reliant India that encourages firms to make goods in the country instead of relying on imports. This is in addition to the refrain of "Make in India" that has been coined since Modi came to power in 2014.

"Frankly, I think it amounts to foolish, anachronistic and pointless sloganeering," Ganguly said, adding that this is a "populist cry" and "will amount to little or nothing."

"The initial emphasis on self-reliance was coupled with rampant protectionism and had terrible consequences for Indian industry not to mention the hapless consumer," he argued.

3,000 products to India, including toys, cosmetics, makeup and handbags to home appliances, key pharma ingredients, auto components and steel.

Furthermore, India has become a major destination for Chinese investment.

Major Indian startups like delivery app Zomato and payments app Paytm have received millions of dollars' worth of investment from China. The total planned and current Chinese investments in India are estimated to be about $26 billion, according to US think tank Brookings.

Some Indian firms also import raw materials from China that go into making their goods, and banning them could hurt Indian manufacturers and disrupt supply chains.

Customs hurdles for Chinese products at Indian ports "are bound to have an adverse impact on Indian manufacturing because of the existence of supply chains and the dependence of a host of Indian firms on Chinesemade components and materials," SumitGanguly, an India expert and professor of Political Science at the Indiana University Bloomington, told DW. "There is no easy or swift

pathway for India to reduce its current dependence on the PRC [People's Republic of China], the rants of various Indian television hosts and commentators aside," Ganguly said.

"Decoupling from the PRC will be a slow, patient process."

'Pointless sloganeering' Observers say a trade conflict will likely be costly for both sides, particularly given the timing of the current flare-up. Both India and China have already been hit hard by the COVID-19 disease, which has created massive health, economic and humanitarian

challenges.

Their economies are experiencing a sharp deceleration in growth. In India's case, the stringent lockdown the government imposed in late March to curb the spread of the virus led to severe economic costs. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) now expects India's GDP to shrink 4.5% this year, which would be its first contraction in decades.

Even before the pandemic, India was experiencing an economic slowdown, with growth dropping to an 11-year low of just 3.1% in the quarter ending March 2020.

To counter the

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Return to protectionism?

In the initial decades after India gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947, import substitution industrialization, a policy focusing on replacing imported goods with domestically produced ones, was the guiding principle of economic policymaking in New Delhi.

Successive Indian governments from 1947 to 1991 followed this inward-looking model of economic development, but it shackled private enterprise and ultimately proved unsuccessful in transforming India into an industrial and economic power.

As a balance of payments crisis in 1991 pushed the country to the verge of bankruptcy, the government of the day was forced to introduce major reforms and liberalize the economy.

"If 'self-reliance' is merely an exhortation to firms to become more productive — that is fine," Krishna said, referring to Modi's latest campaign. "On the other hand, if it is a coded/ euphemistic call for import substitution, I would be worried: India's experience with this in the past has been truly disastrous," he added.

"Regarding the dispute with China, I sincerely hope it is not used as a pretext for a generalized return to protectionism."

SOURCE: DW News, July 06 2020.

The original story appeared at --- dw.com

south asia 24 South Asia Timestimes

media

JUNE - JULY 2020

Australia’s media has been too white for too long. This is how to bring more diversity to newsrooms

By Janak Rogers*

T

he case for a more diverse and representative media should be clear by now - it’s been made time and time again.

But it’s instructive to take stock every now and then. Over the last month alone, we’ve seen a number of clear examples of why greater diversity in media matters: the allwhite, 20-seat Melbourne Press Club board failing to elect a single person of colour in recent elections ABC’s Insiders being criticised for having no people of colour on the program for the last ten years (something it finally rectified by inviting on Triple J’s political reporter ShalailahMedhora and the ABC’s first-ever Indigenous foreign correspondent, Bridget Brennan) The Age being called out for having only one Indigenous reporter in its 166-year history Sky News host Peta Credlin falsely blaming South-Sudanese Australians for the recent rise in Victoria’s COVID-19 cases (Sky News later apologised) the decision by four arts critics at the Nine newspapers to quit or reduce their hours to make room for more diverse writers to take their place and Channel 9’s hamfisted interview with a protestor at a Black Lives Matter protest in Los Angeles.

At the heart of the issue – and why it remains recurrent – is an unresolved contradiction: Australia is a multicultural society, but our media tells a very different story.

Australian diversity not represented in media One in four of Australia’s 25 million people were born overseas, 46% have at least one parent who was born overseas and nearly 20% speak a language other than English at home.

Yet, in 2016, PriceWaterhouseCoopers released a now much-cited report that found 82.7%

of the Australia’s media workers are monolingual and speak only English at home. Broadcast radio was even more homogeneous, with onair talent being 75% male, white and over 35.

Because of the prevalence of media workers living in Sydney’s inner suburbs, PwC, an organisation not known for hyperbole (or, indeed, pop culture references), even compared them to those millennial stoners, the Bondi Hipsters.

The report concluded that a lack of diversity – in ethnicity, gender and age – is slowing the media industry’s growth.

Views on race have a long history Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised: it’s not that long ago that Australia was an openly racist country. The last vestiges of the White Australia policy remained in place until the 1970s.

For many Australians, the memory of a largely white, monocultural country (which necessarily excludes Indigenous experience) forms part of the nostalgic fabric of their childhoods.

It’s arguably only natural – even understandable – those ideas and structures would manifest in our media, both in the makeup of the workforce and in the ways otherness is depicted.

In the book Racism, Ethnicity and the Media, published by UTS academics in 1994 but clearly still relevant today,

the authors write: From the perennial all-white suburban streets of Neighbours, to the marginalised and threatening images of urban Aborigines, to the eroticised representation of ‘foreign women’, the media ‘work’ on reality, constructing narratives which play a vital role in how we see ourselves and others.

In short, Australia’s racism is wired in.

Diversity at ABC, by the numbers These days, Australian media organisations are beginning to take the challenge of diversity and representation seriously – some more than others.

The ABC and SBS publish regular diversity reports, and arguably, the very existence of these reports shows some progress is being made.

In the ABC’s Diversity and Inclusion Plan 20192022, Managing Director David Anderson writes, If we want our content to authentically reflect and appeal to all Australians, we need to ensure our people – both on-air and behind the scenes – are as diverse as the Australian community we serve.

The report highlights a range of initiatives at the ABC – including targeted hiring, working groups, mentoring and better auditing – that demonstrate its commitment to diversity.

It’s a cheery-looking document with, apparently, as many photos of the ABC’s diverse stars as could

fit into 31 pages. (An unfortunate side-effect of concentrating so much diversity in one place is it inadvertently highlights how white the ABC normally is. It just doesn’t look like the ABC.) Still, it’s good to have some stated values and accompanying statistics. In 2019, the report shows 2.7% of the ABC’s employees were Indigenous, 13.7% were from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds and 5.3% had disabilities.

Among CALD employees, 9.8% were in executive roles and 9.2% were in content-maker roles.

Are things then improving? In 2018, the ABC reported it had 13.5% employees from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB, as they were called back then - a 0.2% improvement this year); 2.8% Indigenous employees (0.1% worse off this year), 8.7% NESB employees in executive roles (a 1.1% improvement this year) and 9.4% NESB employees in contentmaker roles (a 0.2% slide this year).

The recent $84 million in cuts to the ABC, which resulted in 250 job losses and the gutting of ABC Life, an outlet that housed many CALD journalists and celebrated their stories, is a further setback in the wider push for greater diversity.

So, on balance, some things have improved a little, some are a little worse, but basically not much has changed. (And more cuts may be on the way.)

But it’s unfair to single out the ABC; they are at least making an effort.

Commercial networks seem to simply ignore the problem – or, often, compound it by fear mongering, peddling stereotypes and targeting prominent CALD voices.

Ways to bring more diversity to newsrooms Diversity and inclusion are long-standing challenges in Australia, and there is admittedly

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no quick fix. It requires sustained, multi-pronged initiatives that provide practical pathways for diverse journalists and storytellers to get into the industry and, once in, to get ahead.

These are some steps media organisations can take, though, to start to change their cultures: provide media training for CALD journalists, storytellers and communities to enable them greater ownership and agency to tell their own stories, and greater employment opportunities in the industry establish better networks between the media industry and CALD representative bodies to better represent CALD experience and to facilitate opportunities for emerging CALD journalists expand support for emerging CALD student journalists with scholarships, mentorships, cadetships, internships and other opportunities to help them get a foot in the door and gain experience hold more events to bring CALD students together with media industry practitioners to recruit more of them into the profession and provide pathways into employment improve cultural literacy training programs and audits for diversity to better understand the gaps in institutional knowledge and the make-up of staff research best practices for amplifying CALD voices, both in Australia and overseas actively seek out and hire CALD journalists and storytellers and, perhaps most importantly, listen to culturally and linguistically diverse people on what the problems are and take seriously their ideas on how to fix them. Media executives, if you are reading this, you can start here. *Associate Lecturer, Broadcast Journalism, RMIT University.

Source- The Conversation, 7 July 2020. (Published under the Creative Commons Licence)

southSouth asia times 25 Asia Times

FOCUS

JUNE - JULY 2020

Teleworking is not working for the poor, the young, and the women

By Mariya Brussevich, Era Dabla-Norris, and Salma Khalid*

T

he COVID-19 pandemic is devastating labor markets across the world. Tens of millions of workers lost their jobs, millions more out of the labor force altogether, and many occupations face an uncertain future.

Social distancing measures threaten jobs requiring physical presence at the workplace or face-to-face interactions. Those unable to work remotely, unless deemed essential, face a significantly higher risk of reductions in hours or pay, temporary furloughs, or permanent layoffs.

What types of jobs and workers are most at risk?

Not surprisingly, the costs have fallen most heavily on those who are least able to bear them: the poor and the young in the lowest-paid jobs.

In a new paper, we investigate the feasibility to work from home in a large sample of advanced and emerging market economies.

We estimate that nearly 100 million workers in 35 advanced and emerging countries (out of 189 IMF members) could be at high risk because they are unable to do their jobs remotely.

This is equivalent to 15 percent of their workforce, on average. But there are important differences across countries and workers.

The nature of jobs in each country Most studies measuring the feasibility of working from home follow job definitions used in the United States. But the same occupations in other countries may differ in the face-to-face interactions required, the technology intensity of the production process, or even access to digital infrastructure.

To reflect that, the workfrom-home feasibility index that we built uses the tasks actually performed within each country, according to surveys compiled by the OECD for 35 countries.

We found significant differences across countries even for the same occupations. It is much easier to telework in Norway and Singapore than

in Turkey, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru, simply because more than half the households in most emerging and developing countries don’t even have a computer at home.

Who is most vulnerable?

Overall, workers in food and accommodation, and wholesale and retail trade, are the hardest hit for having the least “teleworkable” jobs at all.

That means more than 20 million people in our sample who work in these sectors are at the highest risk of

losing their jobs. Yet some are more vulnerable than others: Young workers and those without university education are significantly less likely to work remotely. This higher risk is consistent with the age profiles of workers in the sectors hardest hit by lockdowns and social distancing policies.

Worryingly, this suggests that the crisis could amplify intergenerational inequality.

Women could be particularly hit hard, threatening to undo some of the gains in gender equality made in recent decades.

This is because women are disproportionately concentrated in the hardesthit sectors like food service and accommodation. In addition, women carry a heavier burden of child care and domestic chores, while market provision of these services has been disrupted.

Part-time workers and employees of small and medium-sized firms face greater risk of job loss.

Workers in part-time work are often the first to be let go when economic conditions deteriorate, and the last to be hired when conditions improve. They are also less likely to have access to health care and the formal insurance channels that can help them weather the crisis.

In developing economies, in particular, part-time workers and those in informal work face a dramatically higher risk of falling into poverty.

The impact on lowincome and precariouslyemployed workers could be particularly severe, amplifying long-standing inequities in societies. Our finding—that workers at the bottom of the earnings distribution are least able to work remotely— is corroborated by recent unemployment data from the United States and other countries. The COVID-19 crisis will exacerbate income inequality.

To compound the effect, workers at the bottom of the income distribution are already disproportionately concentrated in the hardesthit sectors like food and accommodation services, which are among those sectors least amenable to teleworking. Low-income

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workers are also more likely to live hand-to-mouth and have little financial buffers like savings and access to credit.

How to protect the most vulnerable?

The pandemic is likely to change how work is done in many sectors.

Consumers may rely more on e-commerce, to the detriment of retail jobs; and may order more takeout, reducing the labor market for restaurant workers.

What can governments do? They can focus on assisting the affected workers and their families by broadening social insurance and safety nets to cushion against income and employment loss. Wage subsidies and public-works programs can help them regain their livelihoods during the recovery.

To reduce inequality and give people better prospects, governments need to strengthen education and training to better prepare workers for the jobs of the future.

Lifelong learning also means bolstering access to schooling and skills training to help workers displaced by economic shocks like COVID-19.

This crisis has clearly shown that being able to get online was a crucial determinant to people’s ability to continue engaging in the workplace. Investing in digital infrastructure and closing the digital divide will allow disadvantaged groups to participate meaningfully in the future economy.

Source- IMF Blog, 7 July 2020.

south asia 26 South Asia Timestimes

CINEMA

JUNE - JULY 2020

The Indian film industry needs mental health awareness, support and solutions for those who work on the ground

By Mridula Kakkad*

M

elbourne: The Hindi film industry, known as Bollywood, is a competitive billiondollar industry. There are many countries in Asia, Middle-East, Europe and other parts of the world where Hindi and other Indian language movies are popular. These days Bollywood is seen all over the world through You Tube and streaming services because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, though the closure of cinema halls and the stoppage of production has hit the industry badly, the streaming services have given it a new lease of life.

Many of its artists are highly respected internationally, and some of them also work in Hollywood films.

Bollywood plays a major role in popularising Hindi language worldwide, its songs and dances are adored all over. Despite all this glamour and glitter, it has a long history of neglecting those who work in it often leading to people taking their own lives. There are a number of cases amongst its artists and other workers with basic mental health issues in the one hundred plus years of evolution.

Interestingly, there is no charter or any set of regulations in the world’s biggest film industry for the welfare of its artists and their families. The families of the Bollywood artists do not get support if the artist dies at workplace, unlike in some other industries, where the families get reasonably good support from the workplace.

I have firsthand experience about this.

My father-in-law, Mr. A. R. Kakkad(AnoopKakkad) wasafamous art director in the 60s & 70s and worked hard& long hours to secure a respectable place in the industry. Hewas recognised for his talents and won many trophies, including theFilmfareAward for the Best Art Director in the movie ‘Tamanna’ (1969)

In India:

(If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist.)

Helplines: AASRA: 91-22-27546669 (24 hours) Sneha Foundation: 91-44-24640050 (24 hours) Vandrevala Foundation for Mental Health: 1860-2662-345 and 1800-2333-330 (24 hours) iCall: 022-25521111 (Available from Monday to Saturday: 8:00am to 10:00pm) Connecting NGO: 18002094353 (Available from 12 pm - 8 pm)

In Australia:

Kids Help Line Phone: 1800 55 18 00 http://www.kidshelp.com.au/(link is external) LIfeline Phone: 13 11 14 http://www.lifeline.org.au/(link is external) beyondblue Support Service - Support. Advice. Action Information and referral to relevant services for depression and anxiety related matters Phone: 1300 22 46 36 http://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/get-immediatesupport(link is external) starring Biswajit and Mala Sinha.

Some other popular movies for which he gave the Art Direction include Kashmakash, Rampur KaLaxman, DilKa Raja, BaharonPhoolBarsao, Apradh, Kismat, Aa Gale Lag Jaa, AnjaanRaahen,Upassna, Dil Ne Pukara, Nartakee, and many more.

He died of cardiac arrest during the outdoor shooting of the movie Roti in Khandala,starring Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz in 1972. The movie was directed by the famous Manmohan Desai. In fact, , it is dedicated to Mr. A. R. Kakkad in the casting.

After his death there was no support available for the family.It was tough managing through those difficult days in the 70s.His family suffered and many such artists and families continue to suffer. After many decades now, there is still not enough support available to those working in the film industry who face a difficult situation or have mental health issues.

The film industry is inherently a challenging workplace even now due to uncertainty of work contracts, distressing & intensive storylines, irregular & long working hours, rejection, long period of time away from family and friends, just to name a few. Hindi films are abig and influential part of the culturein the Indian society. The artists are role models for a big population of younggenerationand when young artists take their own lives, the impactonwider community is really huge.

Sometimes, some artists acknowledge the pressure of work, butthey do not find themselves in aposition to say ‘no’ to certain work or to the reduction in work. The dilemma oftheartistsis to balance the financial need to work against the mental need to take breaks. Most artists cannot afford to say ‘no’ to their role or work. Their career could be on line, fall apart and eventually they may find themselves in an unknown

dark corner where there is no way out. In this respect too, the artists lack support from their industry.

That is why industry experts are now calling for more mental health awareness, support and solutions throughout the Hindi and other film industries in India.

Mental health problems, drug and alcohol abusein stressful mental conditions, suicidal tendencies are prominent features of this industry. Recognition, acknowledgment and dealing with issues such as sexual harassment, mental health issues or other similar issues are the biggest of challenges in Indian society. A deep rooted culture of nepotism is a big part of this challenge, and the film industry is no different.

The recent death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput reignited the debate of the responsibility of the industry and a call for action. The first step is to treat artists (male & female) equally and with

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respect, minimising the effects of nepotism by giving chance to them based on their talents rather than just looks, family connections, external recommendations or wealth. The film industry in itself is a lonely place and times like ‘lockdown’ compound the negative effect many folds. The attitude of ‘outsiders’ is prevalent and has serious consequences for somewho findnowhere to turn to. A culture of openness should be created where artists can talk about their issues and get support from experts or professionals without any judgment or compromise to their work.

In general, talking about mental health issues is a difficult subject-matter and also a social stigma because if someone talks about it then the career may start goingdownhill, they may be treated differently and people may start avoiding or ignoring them. A lot of negative comments, opinions, judgements, stereotypingcould lead one to become the victim of violence or bullying.

The stigma exists because there is very little or no information available about mental health. The people, in general, do not understand mental health issues or perhaps sometimes they stick to their own beliefs rather than understanding person’s mental state of mind.

There are far too many cases occurring in the industry and to change the community perception as well as the distress situation, it needs to have total overhaul in its system. It urgently requires a program for early detection, intervention and prevention to reduce the impacts to those with mental health and wellbeing issues. This is a community based industry whichhassocial and moral responsibility to care for its members in particular and the community in general. *MridulaKakkad is the Editor of Hindi Pushp, Hindi segment of the South Asia Times.

southSouth asia times 27 Asia Times

CINEMA

JUNE - JULY 2020

Aussie Indian actress, dancer, writer Ria Patel bats for diversity

By SAT News Desk

M

ELBOURNE, 31 May 2020: The template of Australian multicultural ethos is found in its people, especially those who have made this country their home coming from every corner of the world.

Their different cultures, languages and thoughts have become the social layers of multicultural Victoria and Australia.

Aussie Indian actress, dancer and writer Ria Patel is one who is firmly embedded in this diverse cultural pot puree.

“People always tell me how much they love chicken tikka and I say I’m from a different part of India and our cuisine is completely different, they look at me baffled”, says Ria. She says people here are unaware of how diverse India is and that is where I show my expertise.

Ria’s film Shilpi, releasing this year, shows the conflict of her character reconnecting with her heritage. The visuals look stunning. Ria plays a Kathakali dancer, this dance form originates from Kerala. Many people are projecting Bollywood dancing, she says, but there are numerous dance forms in India which she wants to showcase in the West.

‘Varta re Varta’ is a Gujarati web-series, with Ria as the lead in Season Two. The story is the journey of a girl coming out of the closet and accepting who she is. It also shows a different culture in India.

Ria being Gujarati herself feels proud to be a part of this series. Season two was filmed in Los Angeles (LA) and encompasses both the LA and Gujarati cultures.

Another successful film of Ria is ‘Two Paper Nightingales’, currently part the festival circuit.

“People always tell me how much they love chicken tikka and I say I’m from a different part of India and our cuisine is completely different, they look at me baffled”, says Ria. She says people here are unaware of how diverse India is and that is where I show my expertise.

The film was a finalist at the Student Academy Awards and was screened at the Directors Guild of America. It also won the best jury and audience choice award at Temple University Japan Film Festival. The film depicts the story of three different cultures; French, Indian

and Japanese and how they are pitted against each other. Two Paper Nightingales, strives to create a film about recognizing how the things which make us all different are less important than the things which make us all the same.

The recently released,

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‘Nice’ also speaks volumes on culture. The film tells the story of a girl having to give up her beliefs and adapt new ones of her soon to be husband’s family.

The film sheds light on women in India still having to give up part of their identity. The film won an award for the Best Short at the Calcutta Cult International Film Festival and has been nominated at various other festivals.

Ria is committed to enhance her acting career.

She is getting roles which are not ethnic specific.

“It is so encouraging and wonderful when I see casting notices say: open to all ethnicities.

I firmly believe in unity through diversity”, says Ria. About her career Ria says confidently, “it’s been a long fight but we’re here, and we still have a long way, but it’s happening.

And the only way from here is up”, she smiles.

South Asia Times south asia community 30 South Asia Timestimes

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Why do we Still Believe Myths around Solar Eclipses?

Our past is littered with stories of those who paid a heavy price for advocating for rationality over myths. We need to choose the right path.

By Sandipan Talukdar

bend twice as much as the Newtonian theory had earlier predicted. The testing of Einstein’s theory also took the help of a total solar eclipse in the year 1919. Astronomer Edmund Ellington and his team assessed data obtained from the solar eclipse and the results were published in The New York Times. Einstein’s general theory of relativity got primary validation, and was followed by worldwide fame.

D

ays and nights, full moons and new moons, summers and winters—everything we witness pertains to the movement of the Earth, the Moon and other celestial bodies. Solar and Lunar Eclipses also arise out of the same celestial phenomenon, with humans not having any control over it.

Even before history was penned down, humans witnessed eclipses and had obsolete ideas about them.

Unfortunately, many of them are still pervasive, even when detailed explanations arising out of the scientific understanding of the physical world are readily available.

‘BATTLE OF ECLIPSE’ AND BUSTING OF THE MYTH: The first ever recorded prediction of a Solar Eclipse can be traced back to the sixth century, when Thales of Miletus, the pre-Socratic Greek mathematician and philosopher, predicted a solar eclipse. The eclipse became the reason for the end of a 15-year long war which eventually came to be known as the “Battle of the Eclipse”.

On May 28, 585 BC, the battle fought between the Medes of Central Asia and the Lydians, on the bank of the river Halys, now in Central Turkey, was

abruptly brought to an end when day suddenly turned into night. It was thought that Gods had grown angry due to their fight. The two sides stopped fighting and peace was thus restored in the troubled area.

Greek historian Herodotus wrote about the incident and claimed that Thales could have predicted the solar eclipse. Unfortunately, the method that Thales of Miletus used for his calculations is not known till date. However, the Greeks celebrate it as one of their scientific and mathematical advancements of ancient times.

What is important is that Thales broke obsolete mythological ideas associated with eclipses. Thales’s calculation and predictions are now thought to have heralded a new beginning,

the beginning of a belief that nature can be unpacked by human intellect.

Edmund Halley, the astronomer who predicted the periodicity of the comet Halley, which was then named after him, used Newton’s laws of gravity for the precise prediction of the return of the comet in 1758. He could not live to see it again. Halley predicted a solar eclipse in 1715, using the same laws.

Einstein’s theory of gravity – in which he stated that gravity is not merely the pulling of the objects by the sun, as theorised in Newtonian philosophy, but that the sun bends the curvature of space in the same fashion that a heavy object does a trampoline.

Going by his theory, light emerging from other stars that passes by the sun would

STILL-PERVASIVE MYTHS AND THEIR REALITIES: Even school text books taught us how a solar eclipse occurs. A quick recollection of those texts will help us remember that a solar eclipse happens, when, in their course of continuous motion, the moon comes in between the Sun and Earth.

One of fervent beliefs is that a total solar eclipse brings harmful rays with it.

The sun emits light due to the nuclear fusion in it. At the time of a solar eclipse, the moon comes in between the sun and the earth, thus obstructing light from the sun. Neither the moon nor the Earth undergoes any fundamental change as a result. According to NASA— “During a total solar eclipse when the disk of the moon fully covers the sun, the brilliant corona emits only electromagnetic radiation,

www.southasiatimes.com.au - 0421 677 082

though sometimes with a greenish hue. Scientists have studied this radiation for centuries. Being a million times fainter than the light from the sun itself, there is nothing in the coronal light that could cross 150 million kilometres of space, penetrate our dense atmosphere, and cause blindness. However, if you watched the sun before totality, you will catch a glimpse of the brilliant solar surface and this can cause retinal damage, though the typical human instinctual response is to quickly look away before any severe damage has actually occurred.”

Similarly, the idea that a solar eclipse will poison food and cause harm to a pregnant woman and her fetus are also widespread myths without scientific basis of any kind.

Since time immemorial, humans have attributed a natural phenomenon to either be deadly, or linked it to a mythical ghost story.

There were attempts made in ancient times to bust these myths and thus lay a solid foundation for the future.

Many had to pay dearly in their quest for rationality.

We need to choose between claims made by obsolete mythical beliefs or the path of rationality.

Source- Newsclick, 22 June 2020

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