000-tobecategorised

In new criminal codes, a missed opportunity https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/in-new-criminal-codes-a-missed-opportunity-9536700/ 
The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal of the Government of India recognises new-age crimes such as cyberbullying, stalking, email hacking etc. Yet, the BNS does not address these aspects.

It is important that the effort and energies of the forest department are devoted more towards the pressing challenges and threats to India's biodiversity rather than to arbitrarily and illegally acting against wildlife researchers. https://thewire.in/environment/of-red-carpets-and-green-tape 

 Across India, wildlife researchers today are being harassed by forest officers for not taking prior permission for photographing and conducting research on wildlife.

At a recent conference in Bengaluru – the Indian Wildlife Ecology Conference 2024 – one common concern among wildlife researchers was the bureaucratic red-tapeism (or more appropriately, ‘green-tapeism’) that leads to severe delays and restrictions in undertaking research on wildlife.

In a country where wildlife researchers are a rarity and funding for research miniscule, scared and traumatised researchers run pillar to post to secure research permits. For them, it is not the tiger that rules the jungle, but the ‘permit raj’ of the forest department, which is the law of the jungle.

by Ritwick Dutta and Tiasa Adhya

28/08/2024

At least 91 Indians have been forced to be fight alongside the Russian army on the frontlines, and so far, eight Indian nationals have been killed. Many families have been waiting agonisingly long for their loved ones to return home.

It all began with an online job scam and the dream of a better future in a foreign country. The victims told The Wire they were duped by YouTube job scamsters, with many pointing fingers at Faisal Khan, a Dubai-based YouTuber who runs the Baba Vlogs channel. They were allegedly convinced that they would work as non-combatant workers and helpers in the Russian army, far away from the frontlines. 

Hemil’s father, Ashwin, told The Wire that his son was seeking better work opportunities in India when he came across a YouTube channel, Baba Vlogs, that promised unemployed Indians like him a job as a helper in the Russian Army. Despite constant reassurances from the channel clarifying that the particular post didn’t demand deployment, it ultimately did lead to Hemil’s forced deployment and his tragic death in a Ukrainian drone strike.https://thewire.in/rights/dead-trapped-and-waiting-to-escape-meet-the-indians-forced-to-fight-russias-war-against-ukraineAshwin Mangukiya travelled to Russia again seeking compensation for the loss of his son. He stayed in Russia for nearly two weeks at his own expense. He denied any kind of help from the Indian Embassy in Russia and the Indian government. According to him, the Russian government promised a compensation of Rs 1.3 crore within three months

The issue of Indians fighting the Russian war as soldiers also assumes significant political relevance as in the BJP’s campaigning for the general elections, it also pushed a narrative of Prime Minister Modi single-handedly putting a halt to the war to ensure the rescue of trapped Indian students in Ukraine.

The people from the Indian subcontinent were forced to fight a war without their consent, using fraudulent means. While some people have lost their lives as their families mourn for the dead, others are still going through an antagonising wait for their loved ones to return. The bureaucratic hurdles, the thousands of kilometres, and the uncharted territory only aggravate this incomprehensible situation. .

by Vipul Kumar and Neel Madhav

26/08/2024