The Good Word

THE GOOD WORD

Sep 27, 2021 - Week 41

Volume 7S-20| Pages 1

At UNGA, PM Modi questions UN and

UNSC efficacy and reiterates reforms

Sep 24, addressing the

76

th

UNGA, prime

minister (PM) Modi said

to maintain its

relevance the UN must

increase its

effectiveness. The

world body must be

strengthened to

preserve global order,

laws and values.

The prime minister had

pressed for reforms UN

in earlier assemblies

too. Friday, he quoted

Acharya Chanakya,

saying if the right time

to perform right action

lapses then time itself

becomes an adversary

of the action.

In 2014, PM Modi had

asked for UN reforms

reasoning that

institutions which

reflect the compulsions

of the twentieth-

century risk

irrelevance. He had

said, ‘distance is no

insulation from

challenges. They can

rise from the shadows

of conflict and

privations from distant

lands. We must reform

the United Nations,

including its Security

Council.’ He had urged

that the UNGA’s 70

th

gathering in 2015

would have been a

good opportunity to

reflect on what has

been achieved and

prepare a roadmap for

Bharat First

humanity to ensure

prosperity and peace in

the Indo-Pacific and in

the world.

The Japanese PM Suga

said the summit upheld

the need for a

free and open Indo-

Pacific region.

‘We wish (the Indo-

Pacific region) to be

always free from

coercion, where the

sovereign rights of all

nations are respected

and where disputes are

settled peacefully in

accordance with

international law.’

Australian PM Morrison

added.

Though the leaders

Sep 25, Mamata Banerjee

has claimed that the

Centre has denied her

permission to attend a

world event on global

peace in Rome, to which

the German Chancellor

Angela Merkel and Pope

Francis were also invited.

Beleaguered by

accusations of post poll

violence the timing of the

invitation raised

eyebrows. An OpIndia

investigation suggests

the event itself may be a

hoax. The event is

supposedly organized by

the Community of

Sant’Egidio which omits

any mention of it on its

website and did not

respond to OpIndia’s

emails checking its

authenticity. Western

media and Twitter seem

to have missed reporting

this event despite its

draw of prominent

leaders. TMC had been

mistaken earlier too

when a hoax claimed a

UN linked group lauded

the state for Covid

management. The arrival

of Oct 6 will finally settle

if does occur or was a

hoax. At: OpIndia

Visit IndiaWiki.org

Speaking on the 100

th

anniversary of the 1921

Malabar Hindu

genocide by Moplah

Muslims, Yogi

Adityanath said that

over 10,000 Hindus

were brutally

slaughtered in one of

the worst communal

genocides in Indian

history. Worse, left

historians whitewashed

the incident fashioning

it as a ‘Moplah

Rebellion’ or a

repercussion of the

anger in Muslims for a

failed Khilafat

movement or a peasant

uprising against

zamidars. Why were

thousands of Hindu’s

slaughtered then, Yogi

asked. Both Savarkar

and Ambedkar wrote

about the genocide and

strongly condemned it.

Such jihadi ideology has

shamed mankind and

must be rooted out of

India, Yogi said.

At: OpIndia

the future. He had

raised UN reforms in

the 2019 and 2020 too.

He had said that

people in India question

whether the UN

reforms will ever occur.

He had pointed out that

the body`s formation

envisioned a UN to

maintain peace and

harmony among

nations and stem out

war.

After the PM’s current

UNGA address, foreign

secretary Shringla

stated that a

permanent seat at the

UNSC remains India's

top priority.

At: ZeeNews, Image-Reuters

Sep 24, prime minister

Modi and US president

Joe Biden held their first

in-person bilateral talks at

the White House’s Oval

office to strengthen ties

between the two

countries under the

Comprehensive Global

Strategic Partnership.

President Biden

remarked, ‘Back in 2006, I

had said that by 2020

India and the US will be

among the closest nations

in the world’. He said the

US-India relationship ‘is

destined to be stronger,

closer and tighter, and I

believe it can benefit the

whole world.’. The

meeting comes in the

backdrop of the Taliban

takeover of Afghanistan

and the need for

increased stability in the

Indo-Pacific. PM Modi

said, ‘Seeds have been

sown for the Indo-US

relations to expand and

for all democracies in the

world this is going to be a

transformative period.’.

At: VOANews, TOI

didn't explicitly

mention China the

issue of Indo-Pacific

security in the

backdrop of China's

growing influence in

the region was

expected to figure

extensively during off-

camera discussions,

according to the White

House.

When the group met

virtually in March, they

said they wanted a free

and open Indo-Pacific

something they believe

was threatened by the

growing influence of

China.

China has criticized the

summit. At: VOANews, UPI

There is no reliable

caste based census

data available which

can be the basis of any

statutory exercise like

creating reservations in

admission, promotion

or local body elections,

the affidavit said.

The Centre said that

enumeration of

OBCs/BCCs (Backward

Class of Citizens) has

always been adjudged

to be extremely

complex

administratively and

even when census of

castes were taken in

the pre-independence

period, the data

suffered from lack of

completeness and

accuracy. The issue has

been examined at

length in the past at

different points of time.

Each time, the view has

consistently been that

the caste census of

backward classes is

infeasible.

The bench headed by

justice AM Khanwilkar

has posted the matter

for hearing next on Oct

26.

At: FirstPost

Lahiri Mahashay’s birth anniversary, Sep 30, image – BanmaliLahiri; Bhagat Singh-birthday, Sep 28, image-ObituaryToday; Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, Oct 2, image – NNDB

Chancellor Merkel

steps down after

16 years at helm

Biden hosts an in-person QUAD leaders summit

to safeguard democracy in the Indo-Pacific

Biden-Modi hold

bilateral talks to

strengthen ties

Centre rejects call for caste-based

census; tells SC, it’s a policy decision

Mamata prevented

from going abroad

for a spurious meet?

Sep 21, a recent clash

during the Taliban

government formation

talks between the

Baradar and Haqqani

factions saw furniture

as well as large thermos

flasks full of hot green

thrown around, reports

the UK-based magazine,

The Spectator. At one

point during the

meeting, Haqqani

network leader Khalil-

ul-Rahman Haqqani

Baradar held hostage as Taliban

factions fight; Akhundzada dead?

Sep 27, after a historic

16 years as German

Chancellor Angela

Merkel voluntarily

declined a firth term,

even as the elections

failed to produce a clear

winner, with the centre-

left Social Democrats

just ahead of Merkel’s

centre-right

conservative alliance. An

ally described her stint

at the helm of Europe’s

largest economy as an

anchor of stability in

stormy times. Merkel

will be specially

remembered for ending

military conscription,

pursuing energy sans

nuclear and fossil-fuel,

introducing a national

minimum wage, steering

Germany past the global

financial, Euro zone debt

and corona virus crises.

At: TheGuardian, FreePressJournal

Sep 15, acting on a

specific intelligence tip-

off the Directorate of

Revenue Intelligence

(DRI) seized about 3,000

kgs of high quality

heroin at Gujarat’s

Mundra Port, worth

₹21,000 crore, making it

DRI’s largest catch ever.

The drugs were found in

two containers shipped

from Iran’s Bandar

Abbas port. Originating

from Afghanistan the

consignment claimed it

contained talcum

powder. Pakistani drug

smugglers are suspected

to have been involved.

Seven Iranian nationals

have been arrested.

Their satellite phones

and other devices are

being investigated. A

Vijaywada, AP, based

firm ‘Aashi Trading’ was

the intended recipient.

It had also imported

similar consignments

earlier this year. Its

proprietor and her

spouse are in DRI

custody now as DRI

conducts investigations

in other cities too.

At: OpIndia, MSN, ANI

3000 kgs of heroin

from Afghanistan

seized in Gujarat

rose from his chair and

began punching Baradar.

Akhundzada has not

been seen or heard from

for some time and

rumours are that he is

dead. Baradar was

forced to flee to

Kandahar from where he

released a video that

looked like he was being

held hostage and forced

to read a statement that

government formation is

going well. At: HindustanTimes

Sep 24, the four QUAD

leaders held a first-

ever in-person summit

at the White House.

The leaders of

Australia, Japan, India

and the US reaffirmed

their commitment

safeguard democracy

in the Indo-Pacific

region as they

discussed other

pressing challenges

the world faces

including Covid 19 and

climate change.

Prime minister (PM)

Modi said when world

is grappling with the

COVID-19 pandemic,

Quad was working in

the interest of

Akshaya Patra

Eliminating malnutrition and hunger

Donate at https://www.akshayapatra.org

Sep 24, two civilians

were killed and about

20 others including cops

were injured when the

Assam police had to

resort to firing to

disperse a violent mob

gathered to protest

eviction from

encroached land.

The state has initiated

eviction of illegal

settlements over

government and temple

lands. An area of 7,000

bhigas was cleared by

the state cabinet for

community farming. A

week ago the state had

evicted 800 households

from it without incident.

Violence broke out

during the eviction of

next 500 households.

An enquiry has been

constituted to look into

the incident. BJP

leaders allege the PFI,

which is banned in

several states had

instigated the violence.

At: TimesOfIndia, FPJ

Sep 24, replying to the

Supreme Court (SC) on

a plea by Maharashtra

seeking a direction to

the Centre to disclose to

the state the SECC 2011

raw caste data of Other

Backward Classes

(OBCs), the Centre said

it was a conscious policy

decision to avoid

categorization of OBCs

in a census since 1951.

Castes other than the

Scheduled Castes and

Scheduled Tribes have

not been enumerated in

any of the censuses

since 1951.

In 2010, after demands

from some quarters for

an a caste-denominated

census the Union

Cabinet directed the

conduct of the SECC

2011 where data on

castes based on social-

economic parameters

was to be collected.

However, its data was

fraught with errors and

infirmities. So the

Cabinet decided to

constitute an expert

committee to examine

it, but the committee

never materialized.

Yogi: Left historians

whitewashed the

1921 Hindu genocide

PFI hand suspected

in Assam anti-

eviction violence