(Perspective: Women and Child Safety Vulnerable Sections of the Society)
In November, the parents of a Class XII student in Coimbatore found her dead at home. With the help of her suicide note and other evidence, the parents registered a complaint with the police alleging that she had been sexually assaulted multiple times by a teacher at the school where she was studying. Protests soon followed demanding the teacher’s arrest and the incident left the city shocked by what had allegedly happened on the campus of a well-known school.
This case had an unfortunate ending, but was only one among several such cases involving allegations of sexual harassment of and misconduct against children that had emerged last year, both on and off campuses.
Hardly a week later, a Class XII student in Karur was found dead at her home and in a suicide note she alleged that she had been sexually harassed and was scared of saying anything more about the persons involved. A third such incident followed in December when notes left behind by a 17-year-old girl who died by suicide at Mangadu at her home alleged that she was sexually harassed by a teacher and a relative.
Additionally, the pandemic which took children willy nilly into the online world has also had a profound impact on children in terms of exposure to online content. This has further added to the need for robust mechanisms encompassing various aspects of child protection at a time when children are among the most vulnerable.
State policy
To mark Children’s Day in November, the Tamil Nadu government unveiled theState Policy for Children 2021.
The policy stated that the government would “endeavor to ensure that every child is protected from all forms of violence, abuse and exploitation, shall have access to quality healthcare _amp; education, will be able to freely express his/her views on any issue concerning him/her and to ensure the principle of leave no one behind”.
While a policy which encompasses four priority areas — health, education, protection and participation — was welcomed as a step in the right direction, all eyes are now on how this will be taken forward by the government.
Rome was not built in a day, nor will the safety of children be ensured with a mere policy; sustained and comprehensive interventions are required, activists say.
Sexual abuse and schools
Schools in particular are a point of focus, given the number of changes that the pandemic has brought about in the way education systems work. Despite the prolonged closure of campuses over the last two years, several institutions were rocked by allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment last year after students took to online platforms to air their grievances.
What followed was a flurry of activity — child rights bodies took up several complaints, the police encouraged survivors to come forward, and the Tamil Nadu School Education Department called for the constitution of Student Safeguarding Advisory Committees (SSACs) on all campuses, among other measures. However, with schools once again closing for primary and middle-class students, there is a need for a continuous review and monitoring of what these institutions have implemented so far.
Given the vastness of sexual violence related to educational institutions, Vidya Reddy, co-founder of Tulir-Centre for Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse, said a special officer should be appointed to ensure adherence to the order issued by the School Education Department, which sets forth guidelines for the safety and protection of students from sexual violence and protocols for online classes.
“It is high time that we came up with a comprehensive and institutionalized way of preventing and addressing sexual violence against children, instead of being reactionary and fragmented. The focus is also largely on children, and adults are missing from the narrative about prevention. We need to reorient adults to be able to identify behaviours in other adults which are worrying and seem like violation of boundaries, and call them out,” she adds. Aspects related to child-on-child abuse, excluding teenage romances which is an indication of healthy development, remains unacknowledged too, Ms. Vidya said.
The child policy has, however, made no mention of the POCSO Act and has instead called for the formation of an internal complaints committee under the POSH Act at all schools, which activists have questioned. For long, the need for schools to compulsorily have a child protection policy in place has been put forth. The Tamil Nadu Child Rights Watch, a collective working for child protection, has further recommended that child protection policies be extended not just to schools but any place that children have access to — crèches, sports classes and tuition centres — as well as programmes run by NGOs.
Digital divide
Reducing dropouts, encouraging inclusivity for students with disabilities through infrastructure and other interventions, fostering safe spaces, ensuring access to digital tools and quality education for all children, especially during situations like a pandemic, are some of the issues that the State policy addresses.
Following the second wave of the pandemic, the School Education Department identified nearly 5 lakh students as potential dropouts, and was trying to trace over 1 lakh students who were yet to return to schools. “Issues like students dropping out of schools which have been exacerbated by the pandemic is especially why any policy should take a bottom-up approach. Most policies now look at the top of the pyramid; we need to come to the base and look at the quality of education and the socio-economic gaps which, in turn, lead to an increase in the incidence of child labour and criminal behaviour.
Make their voices heard
Among the key aspects of the policy is the move to include children themselves in the democratic process through the creation of Bala Sabhas, which is similar to those in Kerala. “The State plan of action needs to go into details of their participation and encourage children to regularly share their grievances at gram sabha meetings. From transport facilities to lack of infrastructure and child safety, there are several issues that can be put forth by them,” said R. Vidyasagar, child rights activist. Stating that the policy was extremely important at a time like now when children were reeling under the impact of the pandemic, he said the participation of urban children in democratic processes had to be included in the plan, something that the policy had ignored.
“Forming a committee alone to put any policy into action will not work. Most social policies tend to ignore the needs of the local constituencies or understand issues with regard to last-mile populations before a plan is framed. Effectively mapping this and matching it with programmes in the plan at every step is what will take the policy to children,” said Mr. Vidyasagar.
GI tag sought for Kumbakonam Vetrilai, Thovalai Manikka Malai
Geographical Indications Registry in Chennai has received applications seeking GI tag for two famous products from Tamil Nadu — Kumbakonam Vetrilai and Thovalai Manikka Malai.
The application for Kumbakonam Vetrilai was filed by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore while the application for Thovalai Manikka Malai was given by the Thovalai Manikkamaalai Kaivinai Kalaingargal Nalasangam, Kanniyakumari.
P. Sanjai Gandhi, IP Attorney and Advocate, Nodal Officer, Geographical Indication Registration of Products, Government of Tamil Nadu, who submitted both the applications, said the Kumbakonam betel leaves were heart shaped and grown in the Cauvery delta region by small and marginal farmers. It is particularly grown in Ayyampettai, Rajagiri, Pandaravadai and Swamimalai in Thanjavur district.
On an average, about 60-80 lakh betel leaves were harvested annually from a one-hectare plot. A betel leaf cultivator spends ?10,000 to ?50,000 to grow these leaves on a one-acre land. Harvested leaves are washed, cleaned, and graded according to their size and quality. They were traditionally packed in bamboo baskets but now there are several options such as plantain leaves and cloth bags.
Thovalai Manikka Malai is a special type of garland that is made only in Thovalai, a small village in Kanniyakumari. The flowers used in this particular garland are positioned in a way that when folded they look like a gem. The flowers are generally arranged in five rows, but at times for other decorations, 20 rows are used. The height ranges from one foot to 24 feet and above. Chamba fibre, nochi leaves, oleander and rose flowers are the key materials used for making this garland. Thovalai is famous for its abundance of flowers and most of flowers are procured locally.
When Chinese President Xi Jinping came to Mamallapuram in 2019 and saw these garlands, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described Thovalai Manikka Malai as one of the Tamil cultural arts to him. The garland was used for decoration during a wedding ceremony at the house of industrialist Mukesh Ambani. A group of women from Thovalai went to Mumbai for the decoration work. According to details provided in the GI application, Palani Pandaram invented the technique of Manikka Malai.
China said on Saturday it would begin implementing a strategic agreement with Iran, strengthening economic and political cooperation between the two countries as Beijing blasted Washington’s sanctions on Tehran.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian announced the start of the partnership’s implementation at a meeting in east China’s Wuxi on Friday, Beijing’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
China is Iran’s leading trade partner and was one of the biggest buyers of the country’s oil before then-U.S. president Donald Trump reimposed sweeping unilateral sanctions in 2018.
China has officially stopped importing oil from Iran, but analysts say Iranian crude is continuing to enter the country disguised as imports from other countries.
Vienna talks under way
Beijing has long sought to boost ties with Tehran, with Chinese president Xi Jinping describing Iran as “China’s major partner in the Middle East” on a rare visit to the country in 2016.
Mr. Wang and Mr. Amir-Abdollahian’s meeting comes as talks continue in Vienna over a potential deal to halt Tehran’s development of nuclear weapons.
‘Russian invasion of Ukraine likely’
U.S. intelligence officials have determined a Russian effort is underway to create a pretext for its troops to further invade Ukraine, and Moscow has already prepositioned operatives to conduct “a false-flag operation” in eastern Ukraine, according to the White House.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on January 14 the intelligence findings show Russia is also laying the groundwork through a social media disinformation campaign that frames Ukraine as an aggressor that has been preparing an imminent attack against Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine.
Ms. Psaki charged that Russia has already dispatched operatives trained in urban warfare who could use explosives to carry out acts of sabotage against Russia’s own proxy forces — blaming the acts on Ukraine — if Russian President Vladimir Putin decides he wants to move forward with an invasion.
He said this is similar to what the Kremlin did in the lead-up to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that had been under Ukraine’s jurisdiction since 1954.
The Crimea crisis came at moment when Ukraine was looking to strengthen ties with the West. Russia had stepped up propaganda that Ukraine’s ethnic Russians were being oppressed in eastern Ukraine.
Background
Russia has long been accused of using disinformation as a tactic against adversaries in conjunction with military operations and cyberattacks. In 2014, Russian state media tried to discredit pro-Western protests in Kyiv as “fomented by the U.S. in cooperation with fascist Ukrainian nationalists” and promoted narratives about Crimea’s historical ties to Moscow, according to a report by Stanford University’s Internet Observatory.
Efforts to directly influence Ukrainians appear to have continued during the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, in which at least 14,000 people have died. The Associated Press reported in 2017 that Ukrainian forces in the east were constantly receiving text messages warning that they would be killed and their children would be made orphans.
Russian Stance
The Russians, while maintaining they don’t plan to invade Ukraine, are demanding that the U.S. and NATO provide written guarantees that the alliance will not expand eastward.
The U.S. has called such demands nonstarters but said that it’s willing to negotiate with Moscow about possible future deployments of offensive missiles in Ukraine and putting limits on U.S. and NATO military exercises in Eastern Europe.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned on January 14 that Moscow wouldn’t wait indefinitely for the Western response, saying he expects the U.S. and NATO to provide a written answer next week.
Mr. Lavrov described Moscow’s demands for binding guarantees that NATO will not embrace Ukraine or any other former Soviet nations, or station its forces and weapons there, as essential for the progress of diplomatic efforts to defuse soaring tensions over Ukraine.
SilverLine details in public domain
Even as K-Rail officials have been maintaining that the complete detailed project report (DPR) of the 530-km SilverLine will be published only after the ?63,941-crore project got all sanctions (citing industry norm), its executive summary and other pertinent details have made it to the public domain.
Note: Silverline Project has been in News for a while, because of the ecological threat it poses to the Environment and Land, Sustainable use practices etc. Keeping in line with Char dham project and some other case studies, it can be used in Mains Answers.
It can also be used in State-Centre relations questions.
Silver line Project
The project entails building a semi high-speed railway corridor through the state linking its southern end and state capital Thiruvananthapuram with its northern end of Kasaragod. The line is proposed to be 529.45 kms long, covering 11 districts through 11 stations.
When the project is realised, one can travel from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram in less than four hours on trains travelling at 200 km/hr. The current travel time on the existing Indian Railways network is 12 hours. The deadline for the project, being executed by the Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL), is 2025. KRDCL, or K-Rail, is a joint venture between the Kerala government and the Union Ministry of Railways.
Issues with Silverline Project
While the Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment (REIA) report of the SilverLine published a year ago states that the project does not pass through any notified area, it notes that “the alignment is somewhat parallel to the Western Ghats—a global biodiversity hotspot—and hence, impacts relating to biodiversity need to be carefully assessed.” To be specific, the project will pass through delicate landforms such as wetlands, forest areas, rice fields, and backwater regions.
Not to mention the displacement of several households and establishments, including shops, schools, temples, and mosques, the rehabilitation of which is sure going to be another hurdle.
According to an RTI reply from K-Rail, 9,314 buildings will have to be razed to the ground for the project, while 10,000 families will need to be relocated. However, according to Metroman E. Sreedharan, the number could go as high as 20,000.
Kerala is a land defined by its water bodies, and hence, the integrity of the landscape is crucial. A lesson learned from the 2018 deluge was to give Room for River wherein the idea is to not obstruct rivers and give water enough space to flow so that it does not invade residential areas. According to the REIA, of the total 530 kms of the project, 80 per cent would include embankments (a fully fenced large bund) and cutting—structures that will obstruct water flow and movement of people. Further, the report adds that the project passes through 164 spots declared hydrological environmental impact zones.
“It’s a classical recipe for a disaster. The project design has not taken into consideration the ecological and hydrological design of the area. One can build bridges to solve the issue of mobility for people, but that is not the solution for water bodies. Embankments, with a height of 1 to 8 metres above the maximum flood line (MFL) as proposed, would end up inundating the eastern side of the rail line, which may prove disastrous.
Further, the REIA report itself predicts changes to land use within 500m of the line. Experts, however, warn that this could be more than 500m in reality.
The state was already feeling the pinch of a slowdown induced by falling remittances from the Gulf when the pandemic wreaked havoc across global economies. The public debt of the state is expected to touch Rs 3.27 lakh crore in the current fiscal, almost half of the Rs 8.76 lakh crore GSDP. Add to it the fact that the project cost of Rs 64,941 crore is grossly understated and could go up as high as Rs 1.3 lakh crore, estimates by the NITI Aayog said.
Philippines approves deal for BrahMos missile
In the first export order for the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system, Philippines has approved a $374.96 million contract for the purchase of shore based anti-ship variant of the missile from India, while discussions are ongoing with few other South East Asian counties. Secretary of National Defence of Philippines, Delfin Lorenzana has signed the ‘Notice of award’ for the purchase, the contract for which is expected to be signed very soon.
“This is to inform you that the proposal of BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd. For the shore based anti-ship missile system acquisition project for the Philippine Navy, with a corresponding price proposal in the amount of $374,962,800 is hereby accepted,” the letter stated. “You are hereby directed to provide, within 10 calendar days from receipt of this notice, the performance security in the form and amount stipulated in the terms of reference,” it added.
There is interest for acquiring BrahMos missiles from several countries and negotiations are in advanced stages with Indonesia and Thailand.
Discussions with Indonesia are in fairly advanced stage, a defence official said. The sale of BrahMos was also on top of the agenda during the visit of the Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto to New Delhi in July 2020, another official stated.
BrahMos System
BrahMos is a joint collaboration between India and Russia and is capable of being launched from land, sea, sub-sea and air against surface and sea-based targets and has been long inducted by the Indian armed forces.
The range of the missile was originally capped at 290 kms as per obligations of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). Following India’s entry into the club in June 2016, officials said the range would be extended to 450 kms and to 600 kms at a later stage. An extended range missile has already been tested, the latest on January 11 from indigenous guided stealth missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam.
