India commits to 30 per cent protected areas in updated biodiversity plan https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-commits-to-30-per-cent-protected-areas-in-updated-biodiversity-plan/articleshow/114836446.cms   

The updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), unveiled at the 16th UN Biodiversity Conference in Cali, Colombia, outlines 23 national targets aligned with the 23 global goals set under t he Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF),  adopted at the 15th UN Biodiversity Conference in Canada in 2022

http://www.nbaindia.org/nbsap/ 

A Carnival of Hope: Trump, Harris and the Death of Liberalism  https://beiner.substack.com/p/a-carnival-of-hope-trump-harris-and    For progressives, the MAGA insurgency heralds the end of democracy. As a consumer, it doesn’t matter which you choose, as long as you choose.  Capitalism will happily take your rejection and sell it back to you. Don’t like extractive consumerism? No worries! We have a shampoo just for you.

Modern elections are no different. They are consumer culture’s attempt to sell the most sacred gift in the human soul back to us: hope. At the heart of every election is the promise that things will be new. In a polarised society like the US, this newness looks radically different depending on the tribe you belong to.

These tribes are no longer defined by ‘left’ or ‘right’, but by pro or anti-institutional. For those in the Trump insurgency, the political establishment represented by Kamala Harris is an existential threat. For progressives, the MAGA insurgency heralds the end of democracy. As a consumer, it doesn’t matter which you choose, as long as you choose.

Can democracy survive now the world’s richest man has it in his sights? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/02/elon-musk-donald-trump-us-presidential-elections George Monbiot ..  Democracy is the problem capital keeps trying to solve. Why? Because it ensures that workers have rights and fair wages; that the living world has some (though never enough) protections; that we cannot be ripped off, poisoned and robbed without restraint.

Capitalism has used two powerful tools to try to solve its problem: fascism and neoliberalism.  For decades now, the centrist pact with capital has worked as follows: we might seek half-heartedly to improve the lives of people at the bottom, but we will do almost nothing to hold down those at the top. As a short-term tactic it worked: .. appeasement makes your opponents more powerful. But our governments claimed they were simply being “pragmatic”: it didn’t matter how rich some people became, as long as the lot of the poor improved..... “pragmatism” prevailed, and turned out not to be pragmatic at all. The slippage from democracy to oligarchy should surprise no one.

In Hindu Nationalism in the Indian Diaspora, historian Edward Anderson traces the rise and proliferation of right-wing fervour in Indian communities abroad https://indianexpress.com/article/books-and-literature/in-hindu-nationalism-in-the-indian-diaspora-historian-edward-anderson-traces-the-rise-and-proliferation-of-right-wing-fervour-in-indian-communities-abroad-9640005/ 

Hindu Nationalism in the Indian Diaspora: Transnational Politics and British Multiculturalism https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/hindu-nationalism-indian-diaspora-transnational-politics-and-british-multiculturalism  By Edward T. G. Anderson Hurst, 2023, 504 pp.  Thousands of expatriates are actively involved in its promotion, whether through funding, campaign work, or public advocacy. New media powers their connection to the ideology: the Indian diaspora is digitally adept, identity is increasingly divorced from geography, and disinformation is rampant. Institutional links to business interests may also play a role. 

Trump’s greatest feat has been convincing ordinary Americans that he’s on their side. He is not
George Monbiot  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/29/donald-trump-greatest-feat-ordinary-americans-capitalism-republican   Men like Trump, damaged, frightened, pathologically insecure, resistant to love and therapy, can relieve their pain only by inflicting pain on others. Compassion is a foreign concept to him. There is no curiosity, no wonder, no kindness, no connection with the hearts of others, no lightness of spirit. In their place are ego, rage, resentment, impulsiveness and cruelty. Those who are not at peace with themselves destroy other people’s peace.

We need to build a world in which one can gain without another losing, a world in which kindness, decency and community prevail, where the fortunate help the less fortunate to avoid disaster

BBC FINALLY acknowledge vaccine harms... but it's three years too LATE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxRXvOo5XW8  | Bev Turner

Indian politics is going back to the pre-2014 era. What this means to Brand Modi and BJP  https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/opinion/indian-politics-is-going-back-to-the-pre-2014-era-what-this-means-to-brand-modi-and-bjp/ar-AA1t4E2y?ocid=anaheim-ntp-feeds&pc=ACTS&cvid=5f7334f6598c4dfdae71b47b8780fe82&ei=11 Opinion by D.K. Singh 

Freebees:  since every party was doing it now, the freebies could no longer be a game-changing strategy, especially for Opposition parties. He was of the view that when it came to competitive populism, ruling parties had the advantage. I couldn’t agree more. The Congress promised Rs 6,000 a month under its NYAY scheme in the 2019 poll manifesto, 12 times more than what the people got under the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi. It didn’t work. There were, of course, other factors at play in the 2019 polls.

The conversation about freebies becoming election slogans also includes the ruling party.

Freebies, dynasts, elections
By mid-2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was talking about the dangers of ‘revdi culture’. The success of the Congress’ doles in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka assembly elections might have a role in it. By November 2023, the BJP far outmatched the Congress in revdi distribution and promises in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh even as the PM looked the other way

politics has come full circle since 2014. It’s back to the politics of the old days when it was all about caste, religion, freebies and so on. Not that these factors were not at play earlier but they used to be all subsumed in the larger image of Narendra Modi, the deliverer. He represented the big idea, the big dreams of an aspirational nation.  Even when people saw the bringing down of governments through defections, Opposition-centric corruption investigations, and communal agendas, Modi remained an idea that they voted for. He was beyond follies or reproach. He remained the BJP’s central proposition, the differentiator. Intermittent electoral setbacks in states aside, Modi, the idea, remained vibrant.

https://x.com/rahulgandhi/status/1850854571289264259?s=46&t=hESum4YjHKI44jh5Am0eQQ  Adani Bachao Syndicate

How Modi has supported Adani’s global ambitions https://www.adaniwatch.org/how_modi_supported_adani_s_global_ambitions_at_india_s_expense
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Ayush Joshi Oct 29, 2024 The growth of the Adani Group outside India over the past decade or so has been closely aligned with the diplomatic efforts of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Many of Adani’s international deals were struck soon after Modi’s official visits to certain countries or after heads of government visited India. Some of these interventions have backfired badly.,,

The airport deal was exposed by whistleblower Nelson Amenya who claimed in a tweet that the Adani Group had been cited for alleged ‘corruption, tax evasion and money laundering’ in several jurisdictions, including Switzerland, India and Sri Lanka. He has subsequently claimed that his actions as a whistleblower have resulted in death threats. Amenya, who currently resides in France, believes his disclosure has earned him powerful enemies.

A spokesperson for the Adani Group has refuted Amenya’s allegations