Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8733
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by wjfox »

User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by caltrek »

Indian Opposition Leader to Avoid Prison During Appeal
April 3, 2023

Introduction:
NEW DELHI (AP via Courthouse News) — An Indian court on Monday suspended a two-year prison sentence for Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi as he appeals his criminal conviction for mocking the prime minister’s surname which resulted in his expulsion from Parliament, dealing a huge blow to his Congress party ahead of general elections next year.

Gandhi, a fierce critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his main challenger in the 2024 polls, was ousted after a court sentenced him to two years in prison for defamation for a comment made in a 2019 election speech.

The prosecution of Gandhi, the great-grandson of India's first prime minister and scion of the dynastic Congress party, was widely condemned by opponents of Modi as the latest assault against democracy and free speech by a government seeking to crush dissent. The speed of his removal from Parliament shocked Indian politics.

Gandhi appeared in a court in the western state of Gujarat on Monday to file an appeal and was granted bail for the duration of the appeal process. He was granted bail for 30 days to file an appeal when he was convicted last month. The court set the next hearing for April 13.

“In this struggle, truth is my weapon and truth is my support,” Gandhi tweeted after Monday's hearing. He waved to supporters and Congress party members who gathered outside the court.

Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/indian- ... g-appeal/
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by caltrek »

India Opts Against AI Regulation
by Manish Singh
April 5 , 2023

Introduction:
(TechCrunch) India does not plan to regulate the growth of AI within the South Asian market, identifying the sector as a “significant and strategic” area for the nation. This stance arrives at a time when numerous voices are calling for increased scrutiny of the rapidly advancing technology.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT said in a long written response on Wednesday that it has assessed the ethical concerns and risks of bias and discrimination associated with AI. The ministry said it’s implementing necessary policies and infrastructure measures to cultivate a robust AI sector in the country, but does not intend to introduce legislation to regulate its growth.

The expansion of AI will have a “kinetic effect” on entrepreneurship and business development in India, the ministry asserted. “AI is a kinetic enabler of the digital economy and innovation ecosystem. Government is harnessing the potential of AI to provide personalized and interactive citizen-centric services through digital public platforms.”

In spite of the burgeoning interest in artificial intelligence in the U.S. and many developed markets, India has seen a limited number of startups entering the field. A strategic initiative from New Delhi could potentially encourage talented individuals to explore opportunities.

Read more of the TechCrunch article here: https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/05/indi ... gulation/

For the response referred to from the Ministry of Electronics and IT : https://loksabha.nic.in/Questions/QRes ... &lsno=17
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
weatheriscool
Posts: 12973
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by weatheriscool »

caltrek wrote: Wed Apr 05, 2023 6:44 pm India Opts Against AI Regulation
by Manish Singh
April 5 , 2023

Introduction:
(TechCrunch) India does not plan to regulate the growth of AI within the South Asian market, identifying the sector as a “significant and strategic” area for the nation. This stance arrives at a time when numerous voices are calling for increased scrutiny of the rapidly advancing technology.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT said in a long written response on Wednesday that it has assessed the ethical concerns and risks of bias and discrimination associated with AI. The ministry said it’s implementing necessary policies and infrastructure measures to cultivate a robust AI sector in the country, but does not intend to introduce legislation to regulate its growth.

The expansion of AI will have a “kinetic effect” on entrepreneurship and business development in India, the ministry asserted. “AI is a kinetic enabler of the digital economy and innovation ecosystem. Government is harnessing the potential of AI to provide personalized and interactive citizen-centric services through digital public platforms.”

In spite of the burgeoning interest in artificial intelligence in the U.S. and many developed markets, India has seen a limited number of startups entering the field. A strategic initiative from New Delhi could potentially encourage talented individuals to explore opportunities.

Read more of the TechCrunch article here: https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/05/indi ... gulation/

For the response referred to from the Ministry of Electronics and IT : https://loksabha.nic.in/Questions/QRes ... &lsno=17

Countries that invest and take leadership in A.i will be world powers with a great deal of power and advantages of nations that don't. That is reality.
weatheriscool
Posts: 12973
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by weatheriscool »

India's Population Surpasses China's, Shifting the World's 'Center of Gravity'
Source: Wall Street Journal
China’s population has reigned as the largest in the world for more than two centuries. Now India is taking its place, heralding a major shift in the global order.

The United Nations has said India’s population is projected to surpass China’s sometime this year. Many demographers estimate it could happen this month, if it hasn’t already. India’s population is expected to reach 1.429 billion by the end of the year, according to the U.N. China will fall to second place, with 1.426 billion people. Both dwarf the U.S. at a projected 340 million.

India’s rising population means it’s likely to keep its economy growing, buy more of the world’s goods and play a bigger role in global affairs, even as it grapples with poverty and a lack of jobs.

China’s demographic headwinds will make it harder for the country to achieve its economic ambitions, or to supplant the U.S. as the world’s biggest economy, despite its rising wealth and military power.
Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/india-chin ... y-9dd7bf27
weatheriscool
Posts: 12973
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by weatheriscool »


India cuts periodic table and evolution from school textbooks -- experts are baffled

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01770-y
In India, children under 16 returning to school this month at the start of the school year will no longer be taught about evolution, the periodic table of elements, or sources of energy.



The news that evolution would be cut from the curriculum for students aged 15–16 was widely reported last month, when thousands of people signed a petition in protest. But official guidance has revealed that a chapter on the periodic table will be cut, too, along with other foundational topics such as sources of energy and environmental sustainability. Younger learners will no longer be taught certain pollution- and climate-related topics, and there are cuts to biology, chemistry, geography, mathematics and physics subjects for older school students.

Mythili Ramchand, a science-teacher trainer at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, India, says that “everything related to water, air pollution, resource management has been removed. “I don’t see how conservation of water, and air [pollution], is not relevant for us. It’s all the more so currently,” she adds. A chapter on different sources of energy — from fossil fuels to renewables — has also been removed. “That’s a bit strange, quite honestly, given the relevance in today’s world,” says Osborne. ...

Aditya Mukherjee, a historian at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Dehli, says that changes to the curriculum are being driven by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a mass-membership volunteer organization that has close ties to India’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party. The RSS feels that Hinduism is under threat from India’s other religions and cultures.

“There is a movement away from rational thinking, against the enlightenment and Western ideas” in India, adds Sucheta Mahajan, a historian at Jawaharlal Nehru University who collaborates with Mukherjee on studies of RSS influence on school texts. Evolution conflicts with creation stories, adds Mukherjee. History is the main target, but “science is one of the victims”, she adds.
wtf?
User avatar
Powers
Posts: 682
Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2023 7:32 pm

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by Powers »

weatheriscool wrote: Wed May 31, 2023 4:08 pm wtf?
Simplify the curriculum
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by caltrek »

Modi’s U.S. Visit
by Rahul Singh; and Pravin Sawhney
July 9, 2023

Introduction:
(Janata Weekly) The architects of the joint statement of June 22, 2023 and of Prime Minister Modi’s address to the joint session of US Congress conveyed the message that India was not willing to deviate publicly from its path of friendship with Russia.

On China, there were blips visible in the labyrinths of the joint statement, despite India’s otherwise conciliatory approach. While significant arms transfers were agreed to, the repeated references in the joint statement to technology cooperation and transfer were more in the domain of optics than substance. The Biden administration agreed to work with Congress to loosen export controls on high performance computers.

Modi suffered a setback in his attempts to calm US concerns over his government’s commitments to democracy and human rights. The Biden administration succeeded in breaching Modi’s eight year resistance to face a press conference, even if he took just two questions. While economic cooperation was writ large in the joint statement which stated that bilateral trade had nearly doubled since 2014, the Biden administration did not yield on the crucial issue of recognising India as a Trade Agreement Act designated country.

Furore over human rights

The US media was angry at the red carpet being rolled out for Modi. Alyssa Ayres’s article in TIME magazine accused Modi of breaking ‘with India’s past, most notably in his emphasis on India’s Hindu, rather than syncretic and secular, cultural heritage’. Knox Thames accused Modi of ‘scapegoating religious minorities’. While the New York Times accused Biden of downsizing democracy concerns, an article in the Washington Post opined that Modi’s India ‘increasingly resembled an autocracy in which religious minorities are under attack’.

Not just the entire US media, Democratic Party heavyweights too attacked Modi’s human rights record. Just before Modi landed in the US, a letter by over 70 Congressmen, all Democrats, urged Biden to discuss with Modi the need to protect human rights and democratic values in India.
Read more here: https://janataweekly.org/modis-us-visi ... row-about
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by caltrek »

The Khalistan Movement: Recent Activities and Indian Response
by Abhishek Verma
July 27, 2023

Introduction:
(Eurasia Review) Khalistani separatist activities in Western countries have been on the rise. On 2 July 2023, the Indian Consulate in San Francisco was set on fire (causing minor damage) by a group of pro-Khalistani separatists. In another incident, ‘Sikhs for Justice’, a separatist organisation, put out posters instigating the radical elements to kill Indian top diplomats in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

The advertising poster of the rally featured a tagline ‘Kill India’. These posters were in response to the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023 in British Columbia, Canada, with separatists charging Indian agencies as responsible for the killing. In addition to these two incidents, Khalistani supporters in Brampton, Canada carried out a 5-km long parade which displayed a float depicting the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by Khalistani militants.

Intensification of Khalistani Activities Overseas

Although such incidents have taken place intermittently in the last two decades, the Khalistani activities overseas have intensified in last couple of years. Besides the attacks on state symbols, the separatists’ activities across major Western countries broadly include attacks on temples and consulates, and coordinating referendums for a separate State of Khalistan in multiple countries.

Attacks on Religious Symbols

In October 2022, Khalistan separatists and Indian supporters, approx. 400–500 in numbers clashed in Mississauga, Ontario, on the eve of Diwali. While one group waved the Indian flag, the other carried the Khalistan flag and shouted anti-India slogans.

In January 2023, in a series of incidents, three Hindu temples (ISKCON, BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir and Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple) in Australia were defaced and anti-India slogans were sprayed on the walls. Similar incidents have been reported intermittently in Australia, with the most recent incident happening just before Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited that country in May 2023. Similarly, Canada has witnessed several incidents related to the defacement of Hindu temples, often with the slogan ‘Khalistan Zindabad, Hindustan Murdabad’ sprayed on the walls.
Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/27072023 ... nalysis/
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Indian Subcontinent Watch Thread

Post by caltrek »

India’s Top Court Temporarily Halts Conviction of Opposition Leader for Mocking Modi’s Surname
by Ashok Sharma
August 4, 2023

Introduction:
NEW DELHI (AP via Courthouse News) — India’s top court on Friday temporarily halted the criminal defamation conviction of opposition leader Rahul Gandhi for mocking the prime minister’s surname. His party said it would now seek to have Gandhi reinstated as a member of parliament.

A fierce critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his main challenger in the 2024 polls, Gandhi was ousted from Parliament after his conviction by a magistrate’s court in March.

The Supreme Court stayed the conviction, which means it is temporarily halted while the court goes into Gandhi’s appeal in detail before issuing a final ruling.

Gandhi’s disqualification as a lawmaker also now remains in abeyance, said Live Law, an online portal for Indian legal news. Congress party leader K.C. Venugopal said the party would approach the Parliament speaker to restore his seat.

The court’s order also means that Gandhi will be able to contest next year’s general elections unless a final court decision goes against him.
Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/indias- ... -surname/
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
Post Reply