ICJ delivers an unambiguous order on states’ responsibilities to halt climate change https://scroll.in/article/1084853/icj-delivers-an-unambiguous-order-on-states-responsibilities-to-halt-climate-change  Meena Menon  The United Nations’ judicial organ paved the way for states to be held accountable for fossil fuel emissions and the resultant climate harm. failure of states to take measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by continuing fossil fuel production, granting exploration licences or fossil fuel subsidies constituted an internationally wrongful act. States also have an obligation to regulate private actors as a matter of due diligence. in the event that restitution should prove to be materially impossible, responsible states have an obligation to compensate.  

the court held that it was scientifically possible to determine the emissions contribution of each state in both current and historical terms.... states were obliged to adhere to both customary and international laws as well the climate treaties: the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement and other United Nations conventions on biodiversity, desertification as well as human rights and the Law of the Sea.

Two books that reflect life In Mumbai
Former police officer Madhukar Zende’s ‘Mumbai’s Most Wanted’ and journalist Anil Singh’s ‘The Fault with Reality’ reveal life under the surface of the city.

Anil Singh’s collection of his articles is a veritable judgment on the quality of governance by successive governments.  he delves also on the city’s vanishing trees, pavements and the quality of its roads, encroachment on wetlands which leads to flooding during heavy rains. 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMfLsWKPF_Y/ ndtv Insta 24.7.25

Another man has been beaten up in Maharashtra by MNS workers for not speaking in Marathi and saying, “I will not speak in the language. What will you do?”.

A video which has gone viral shows a man confronting a worker at a public toilet in a bus stop in Nanded, alleging that women were being charged Rs 5 to use the facilities.

Why India-UK FTA may push medicines out of ordinary Indians’ reach https://thefederal.com/category/business/why-india-uk-fta-may-push-medicines-out-of-ordinary-indians-reach-198364 

India is set to sign an FTA with the UK on July 24; most details are public except the IPR chapter, The IPR chapter may include provisions like evergreening of patents, extended patent terms, and data exclusivity, potentially raising medicine costs and limiting access for ordinary Indians.

Big Pharma advantage: Leaked drafts suggest the deal could weaken safeguards, block public objections to patents, and protect pharmaceutical monopolies far beyond global norms (TRIPS), benefitting multinational drug companies. 

“The module ‘Pratibimb’ maps locations of criminals and crime infrastructure on a map to give visibility to jurisdictional officers. The module also facilitates seeking and receiving of techno-legal assistance by Law Enforcement Agencies from I4C and other SMEs. It has lead to arrest of 10,599 accused, 26,096 linkages and 63,019 Cyber Investigation assistance request,” the MHA said in its reply.

Cyber Crime Cases See Annual Increase by At Least 40%, Rs. 30,000 Crore Lost to Fraud Since 2023: Govt - The Wire

23/07/2025

While the high court does not explicitly call the 12 men “innocent,” the opening remarks strongly suggest their innocence. The judgment, while dismantling the prosecution’s case point by point, places extra emphasis on the various torture techniques used to extract confessions from these 12 men. 7/11 Judgment Fails to Hold Police Accountable For Custodial Torture, Lost Time of Those Acquitted - The Wire

Abdul Wahid Shaikh, one of the first persons to be acquitted by the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court in 2015, names nearly 100 policemen and medical officers who wronged him and the other 12 incarcerated individuals. In his book Begunah Qaidi, he details the extent of the brutality and exposes how confessions have traditionally been extracted, particularly in cases involving torture.

India has had a poor track record on custodial torture and has compounded the issue by refusing to take responsibility for correcting police behavior or holding officers accountable. India has long evaded its responsibility and failed to ratify the United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT).

by Sukanya Shantha

23/07/2025

questions about criminal justice system  https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/in-mumbai-train-blast-case-acquittal-19-years-later-raises-questions-about-criminal-justice-system-10140964/ by Meeran Chadha Borwankar The High Court acquitting all of them after 10 years shows that something is terribly amiss in the criminal justice system. If they were innocent, how do we justify their incarceration for nearly 19 years? And if they were part of the terror gang responsible for the mass killing, why are they allowed to go scot-free?  Comment: Every recording/confession must be date and time stamped. And a comprehensive list of all interviews and interaction in police custody must be provided to the defense.  And we as public have to be shown the process, rather than get byte to assuage public outcry..

A Remarkable Judgement Mumbai Mirror  MIHIR DESAI

(courtesy: Mumbai Mirror - awaiting a link of the above)

SSen - on Whats app 22-7-25: The gaps in this sort of path breaking judgement:
--  No compensation ordered either on the ground of torture or ruination of lives.
--  No fixing of accountability of the concerned officials of the investigating agency which took the easy and cruel path of showing up a rabbit as a tiger in order to claim solving the case and botched up the investigation.

 The real culprits of the heinous crime, hence, have gone scott free and, most likely, are roaming free.

Freny M on Whatsapp Am quite shocked with this lazy regurgitation of the police versions. At the very least the reporter could have tried to speak to families to get more info.. The role of the media when covering such important cases also needs to come under scrutiny...
Do they exhibit healthy skepticism or then just toe in with police narrative which is so much easier.

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/who-12-men-acquitted-7-11-mumbai-train-blasts-case-10139460/ Written by Zeeshan Shaikh

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-editorials/terror-of-omissions/ judges have revealed about the shoddy investigation and prosecution’s negligence. HC said prosecution had “utterly failed to prove the case” beyond reasonable doubt. That such “deceptive closure undermines public trust while the true threat remains at large.” Trial court’s conviction was junked on several points that included 1) confessions were a product of torture, 2) it was ‘very odd’ that witnesses identified the accused after four years, 3) witnesses were ‘stock witnesses’, rolled out frequently, 4) it took three months before one witness claimed to have seen bombs ‘assembled’, 5) prosecution’s evidence was simply ‘not safe’ to base convictions on.

In the last set of arguments, advocate Muralidhar, who appeared for Muzzamil Ataur Rahman Shaikh, and Zameer Ahmed Latifur Rehman Shaikh looked in detail at the lapses in investigation and how the confession statements of the defendants were extracted forcefully. Under the stringent MCOCA law, confessions made before a police officer are admissible in a court, making the situation even more precarious for accused.

https://thewire.in/law/mumbai-train-blasts-all-twelve-men-acquitted-wrongful-jailed 

He also had called the entire investigation a “media trial”. His entire submission focused on bringing out the biased nature of the investigation.

Murlidhar, in his written submission had argued: “Innocent people are sent to jail and then years later when they are released from jail there is no possibility for reconstruction of their lives… From last 17 years (now 19) these accused are in jail. They haven’t stepped out even for a day. The majority of their prime life is gone. In such cases where there is a public outcry, the approach by police is always to first assume guilt and then go from there.”

On the behaviour of the police, Muralidhar had said: “Police officers take press conferences in such cases, and the way the media covers the case, it kind of decides the guilt of a person. In many such terror cases, investigating agencies have failed us miserably.” 

by Sukanya Shantha

21/07/2025

Extract from  Alexander Beiner -  
The end of Postmodernism and the promise of Theosis  https://beiner.substack.com/p/welcome-to-peak-fragmentation   We are living through Peak Fragmentation. Across the Western world, there is a resurgence of traditionalism and authoritarianism in response. A ‘quiet revival’ of Christianity is getting louder every day. Others are looking to new horizons, building AI religions or retreating to ‘conscious communities’ to try and sow the seeds of a new society. 

death of a cultural aesthetic : postmodernism

people also tend to be more prosocial and conscientious when they’re embedded in a coherent social network.

people’s commitment to values like love, honour and justice is often viewed as independent of culture...economic pressures often force people to trade those ‘sacred values’ in what he calls ‘taboo trade-offs,

desire to reconnect to these authentic values.

We could revert to a more authoritarian, closed-minded traditionalism, or beat the dead horse of progressive politics

we have an opportunity to re-craft culture in a way that takes the best of postmodernism and combines it with traditionalism to create something new.

 Exhausted trying to figure out what it actually means to be progressive, or conservative. Political homelessness 

 idea that human beings can become like God through grace... It’s also found in the Hindu concept of Tat Tvam Asi, or “thou art that” which teaches that Self (Atman) is not separate from ultimate reality (Brahman). Threads of this non-dual awareness are also found in Integral Theory, Nora Bateson’s Warm Data, Trish Blain’s Four Forces, Iain McGilchrist’s work, and countless other people we’ve had on Kainos recently.

Many of these perspectives see reality as made up not of distinct things, but of relationships. In a relational view on reality, truth can’t be boiled down to a single polarity or story. Instead, all things, all paradoxes, all truths and contradictions are contained in a whole which is neither part nor whole.

We can combat pre-rational forces of authoritarianism by growing a culture that embraces multiculturalism, but doesn’t shy away from celebrating white identity and history. Education that recognises everyone learns differently, but doesn’t do away with rote learning and discipline when it’s required. Sexual politics that recognise the unfair power dynamics at play around gender identity, without shying away from biological reality in the process.

Embedding trans-rational perspectives into mainstream culture is one route toward the cultural aesthetic that comes after postmodernism,