6 years on, NOTA vote share declines. Reserved seats still poll a higher NOTA share
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 4, 2020
It’s been 6 years since the introduction of NOTA on the EVM. Data from 46 elections and thousands of constituencies indicates that NOTA is being preferred by a fewer percentage of voters than 6 years ago. Another trend worth noting is that NOTA vote share is higher in reserved constituencies than in General constituencies.
Oneof the common reasons cited by the electorate regarding not voting in anelection is that none of the candidates in the fray deserve to be theirrepresentative. With the introduction of NOTA  in 2013, an option was provided tothe electorate, who usually stay away from voting because of a lack of choice,to come forward and participate in the election process. Voting for NOTA isseen as an expression of dissent against parties and their choice ofcandidates.
Tobolster the choice of NOTA, a dedicated
symbol for NOTA was also introduced in 2015 to aid thevoters who intend to use NOTA option.  Asobserved in an earlier story on Factly, the share of votes for NOTA has been on
the decline since its inception. In an another story, it wasobserved that while there is a decline in NOTA vote share even in the reservedseats, the vote share of NOTA in reserved seats is still substantially
higher than the General category seats.
Inthis story, we look at the NOTA trends after the recently concluded electionsfor Jharkhand assembly in reserved & general constituencies. It has to benoted that only general election results are considered for this analysis.
Share
of NOTA votes higher among ST reserved seats in both Assembly and Lok Sabha
elections
Atotal of 46 elections were conducted since NOTA was introduced in 2013, ofwhich 44 elections were Assembly general elections and 2 were for the Lok Sabha( 2014 & 2019 ).
Ofthe 44 Assembly elections, the 13 states of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh,Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Delhi,Odisha, Rajasthan, Sikkim and Telangana had two assembly general electionsduring this period (2013- 2019).
Electionswere conducted to 5671 assembly constituencies of which, 3980 seats wereGeneral category seats, 822 were SC Reserved seats and 869 were ST reservedseats.
Inthe two Lok Sabha general elections since 2013, 1086 constituencies went topolls of which 820 were General category seats, 168 were SC reserved and 98 STreserved seats.
Greatest
NOTA vote share in ST reserved seats
Amongthe elections held for various State assemblies, ST reserved seats have polledthe highest share of NOTA votes with 2.31%. Out of 8.49 crores votes polled inST reserved assembly constituencies between 2013-2019, around 19.65 lakh voteswere polled for NOTA.
Onthe other hand, SC reserved seats polled 17.49 lakh votes for NOTA whichaccounts to 1.31%  of 13.34 crore totalvotes. The least share of NOTA votes in assembly elections is among thenon-reserved General Seats with only 1.1% votes going for NOTA.
Similarly,even in  Lok Sabha elections, ST reservedseats have the highest share for NOTA with 1.9% of total votes polled. It isfollowed by SC reserved seats with 1.1% and General Seats with 0.9% for boththe Lok Sabha elections held during 2014 and 2019.
Meanwhile,NOTA has a higher share in Assembly elections compared to that of Lok Sabhaelections across all types of constituencies – General, SC & ST reserved.
Slight
fall in the percentage of NOTA in reserved seats for 2019
Postthe Lok Sabha elections in 2019, Factly highlighted the continued fall in the share of NOTA votes year on year, albeit the reservedconstituencies  reporting a higher share.
Post2019 Lok Sabha elections, there were assembly general elections in the statesof Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand.  Priorto the elections in these three states, the share of NOTA votes in the assemblyelections in 2019 (for the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim& Odisha) was 1.01%, 1.17% and 2.1% in General, SC and ST reserved constituenciesrespectively.
Postthe assembly elections for these three states, the NOTA vote share in SC and STseats in 2019 was down to 1.16% and 1.99% respectively. Meanwhile, there is aslight increase in the share of NOTA votes in General constituencies, i.e. 1.08%
Specificto these three states, the share of NOTA votes was 1.13%, 1.15% and 1.91% forGeneral, SC and ST reserved seats respectively.
Theoverall NOTA vote share in SC reserved seats in 2019 decreased despite a higherNOTA vote share in  Jharkhand’s SC reserved seats (2.04%). The higher share in Jharkhand was offset by only 0.47%NOTA votes in SC reserved seats of Haryana.
Meanwhile,the slight increase in the NOTA share within General seats can be attributed tothe 1.3% NOTA vote share in Maharashtra assembly elections. It may be notedthat Latur -Rural which is a General Seat, polled the highest
ever NOTA share of 13.78% in the 2019 Maharashtra Assemblyelections.
Asfor the Lok
Sabha elections, the reserved seats have a greater share of NOTA ,even though the numbers have fallen in 2019 Lok Sabha elections compared to2014.
‘NOTA
votes higher than victory margin’ happens more in  reserved seats
Forthe year 2019, in 38 Assembly constituencies and 27 Lok Sabha constituencies,the NOTA votes were higher than that of the margin of victory.
Inthe 2014 Lok Sabha elections, there were 23 such constituencies, with anincrease in SC & ST reserved seats in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
While,the number of assembly seats being contested every year varies depending on thesize of the states where assembly elections are being conducted, the share ofseats in which NOTA polled more than the victory margin has been on thedecline.
In2013, 9% of the total assembly seats contested had NOTA polling more thanvictory margin. The share of such seats in the subsequent years is 5.8%, 6.7% ,7.6%, 6.4%, 6.5% between 2014 -2018. This share is only 4.3% in 2019.
Amongthe various categories of seats, ST reserved seats have a higher share of seatswhere NOTA votes are more than the victory margin. In the case of Assembly elections,the trends have been inconsistent over the years.
In2013, 15.71%  of the ST reservedconstituencies had NOTA polling more than the victory margin while in 2019 itwas down to 10.91%.  Although during theinitial years, the share of these seats among SC reserved constituencies washigher than that of General seats, over the past few years, the numbers are beeninconsistent.
Inthe case of 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the share of theseconstituencies has gone up among the ST reserved seats from 10.2% to 14.29%.The share of such constituencies among SC reserved seats has gone up sincethere were four such SC reserved constituencies in 2019 compared to only one in2014.
Despite
the decline in NOTA as a choice, reserved seats still poll a higher NOTA share
Theone stand out trend of the last 6 years is that NOTA is being chosen by fewerpercentage of voters today compared to 2013. This is true both in the case ofassembly as well as lok sabha elections.
Evenamong the SC and ST reserved seats, the NOTA share has fallen. Despite thisfall, the NOTA vote share in reserved seats is substantially higher than in thegeneral seats.
Withthe exception of 2019 Lok Sabha  elections,  the proportion of seats where NOTA polled morethan the victory margin has also declined over the years. This is also atestament to fewer percentage of voters choosing NOTA.
Thereasons for a higher NOTA share in SC and ST constituencies are not clearlyknown but as observed in an earlier
story on Factly, based on various news reports , there areinstances where there have been open calls by caste based groups not to votefor the reserved candidates and in cases of ST reserved constituencies, non-tribalsnot preferring to vote for tribal candidates.


Georgia: Blogger reportedly targetted by Facebook, Twitter attack · Global Voices
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CNET's blog carries a podcast report on the denial of service attacks on Facebook and Twitter which apparently targeted Georgian blogger Cyxymu as the first anniversary of the Russia-Georgia war approached.


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Pestiside.hu reviews (unfavorably) the recent coverage of Hungary in the San Francisco Chronicle and the Smithsonian: “Because as it turns out, even when an editor sends a consummate professional with exquisite taste and cultural sensitivities to Hungary to write a feature about the place, it still ends up being illustrated with pictures of dried paprika […].”


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A manifesto for the respect of international law in Cote d’Ivoire: “In the name of intellectual honesty, justice, democracy, peace and the dignity of Africa and the Africans, of whom we choose to be the mouthpieces, and against any geopolitical or financial calculations and anthropological prejudice, we declare that…”


Reporter of the month (November 2022) - New Canadian Media
Rhea Lisondra
December 15, 2022 at 10:52 am
Home › Forums › Announcements › Reporter of the month (November 2022)
CONGRATULATIONS Fernando Arce and Kaitlyn Smith — Winners of NCM’s top story November 2022! Check out their story here: Hamiltonians split over elected officials’ feud with local newspaper (https://newcanadianmedia.ca/hamiltonians-concerned-over-elected-officials-feud-with-local-newspaper-the-spectator/)
Join us in congratulating them on our Collective Connect or our Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn pages.
Here’s how they approached their story: “Working on a joint byline isn’t always easy, but we were able to seamlessly tackle different elements of this story.” While Kaitlyn focused on corroborating a timeline to find a fresh news angle, Fernando was able to investigate on the ground and engage with the wider community. Keep an eye out for further reporting from this dynamic duo.


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Colombia Prepares for Nationwide Pot-Banging Protests · Global Voices
Cati Restrepo

Colombians have planned a national “cacerolazo” for 6 p.m. Colombian time today, September 4, 2013. A cacerolazo is a form of popular protest in which people express their agreement with an issue by making noise and banging pots (cacerolas), pans and kitchen utensils, or other items that can be used to create sound.
Using the Twitter hashtag #CacerolazoPor users express their reasons to take to the streets.
Paola Ochoa Rivera invites the protest to move from the virtual to the physical:
#CacerolazoPor más protestas en la calle y menos twitter
— Paola Ochoa Rivera (@VisosVioleta) September 4, 2013
#CacerolazoPor more protests in the street and fewer on Twitter
Tefy expresses her hope for a more fair nation:
#CacerolazoPor un país mas justo
— tefy (@teffypuentes) September 4, 2013
#CacerolazoPor a more just country
Meanwhile, Tatu García discusses the dignity of Colombian society:
#CacerolazoPor la dignidad de mi Pueblo
— Tatu Garcia (@tatugarcia17) September 4, 2013
#CacerolazoPor the dignity of my society
Santiago mentions his disagreement with the national government's efforts and strategies:
#CacerolazoPor el mal gobierno de Santos y por arrodillado al imperio y sus multinacionales
— santiago (@santilandia0102) September 4, 2013
#CacerolazoPor Santos's bad government and for kneeling in front of the empire and multinationals
And Stephanie states that participation in the “cacerolazo” is an act of solidarity with the nation's farmers, who have been on strike since August 19:
#CacerolazoPor #YaEsHora de solidarizarse con los campesinos y sus justas luchas salir de las pantallas a la realidad VIVA EL PARO AGRARIO
— stephanie (@stephanieconh) September 4, 2013
It is time to act in solidarity with the farmers and their justified struggles, get away from the screens and into reality LONG LIVE THE AGRARIAN STRIKE
For Camila Andrea, the protest serves as a call to work toward a better country:
#CacerolazoPor Tener un mejor país para todos y para las personas de un futuro !!
— Camila Andrea (@CamiAndreDiaz) September 4, 2013
#CacerolazoPor To have a better country for everyone and people in the future!!
And in Catalina Gualdron's opinion, the protest is justified by the complex reality of life in Colombia:
#CacerolazoPor Un pueblo lleno de malos servicios, en salud, educación, agro… #YaEsHora del cambio! @JuanManSantos @marchapatriota
— Cata Gualdron † (@Cata_G95) September 4, 2013
#CacerolazoPor A country filled with terrible services, in health, education, agriculture… #YaEsHora It's time for a change!
However, Juan Sebastián believes that many people simply tweet about the cacerolazo to get favorites for their tweets:
#CacerolazoPor Falta de Fav's (?).
— Juɑn Sebɑstiɑn. (@JuanSebastiann_) September 4, 2013
#CacerolazoPor Lack of Favorites (?).
Finally, the Fuerza Común account shares this poster:
#CacerolazoPor las calles, por veredas. Vamos con toda contra las políticas que han despojado a Colombia @PaisComun pic.twitter.com/VPDZuoE3gM
— Fuerza Común (@fuerzacomun) September 4, 2013
#CacerolazoPor the streets, through side walks. We go all-out against the policies that have stripped Colombia of everything @PaisComun pic.twitter.com/VPDZuoE3gM
Stay tuned for further posts about Colombia's agricultural strike, which has already been in effect for 17 days.


Kazakhstan: Khalfin Exhibit · Global Voices
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Review: SC Rules That Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Fall in a Core Zone of Privacy of an Individual
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 27, 2024
In this week’s review of important court judgments, we look at the SC ruling that sexual orientation and gender identity fall in a core zone of privacy of an individual, and the directions issued to lower courts while dealing with similar cases, SC ruling that exemption of extraction, sourcing or borrowing of ordinary Earth for linear projects from environmental clearance is arbitrary.
SC: Sexual orientation and gender identity fall in a core zone of privacy of an individual
In the case of Devu G Nair vs. State of Kerala and Ors, the Supreme Court (SC) was dealing with a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed against the interim direction of the Kerala High Court in a Habeas Corpus case. The facts of the case were that the Appellant has filed the petition with the claim that the corpus person (x), a female person, and she are in an intimate relationship. The parents of person “x” have kept her forcefully with them though she wished to remain with the Appellant. The SC noted that during the processes of investigation and counselling, the person “x” has already deposed before the court stating that she is staying with her parents voluntarily and without any coercion. Though it is true that the Appellant is an intimate friend to her, she however does not wish to marry or live with any person for the time being. Accordingly, the Court dismissed the SLP as non-maintainable.
In the same case, the SC has noted that the High Courts have been issuing orders for counselling in similar cases and in a similar position as that of person X in the matter before it. In order that the process of counselling and the pertinent orders passed by the lower courts do not affect sexual orientation of the persons involved, the SC held that judges must avoid a tendency to substitute their own subjective values for the values which are protected by the Constitution.
Accordingly, the SC has issued guidelines to the lower courts dealing with similar cases and directed following them in letter and spirit:
SC: Refuses to Stay Election Commissioners’ Act, citing that it would disrupt the 18th Lok Sabha Elections
In the case of Dr. Jaya Thakur and Ors vs Union of India & Ors, the SC refused to stay the operation of the recently passed Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Other Election Commissioners (OEC) Act, 2023 (Act). The facts of the case were that the Parliament had passed CEC & OEC Act which modified the operation of the previous position of law on the appointment of Chief Election Commissioners and Other Election Commissioners (CEC & ECs). By virtue of this Act, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) is replaced by the Union Cabinet Minister, appointed by the Prime Minister (PM), in the selection committee involved in the appointment of CEC and ECs. The petition was filed challenging the Act on various grounds such as removal of CJI in the selection process, violation of SC’s judgment in Anoop Baranwal vs. Union of India, etc., among others, which would affect the fairness and transparency in the appointment of CEC and ECs.
The SC refused to stay the operation of the Act by stating that any such order for the time being would affect the upcoming 18th Lok Sabha elections. That apart, the judgment passed by SC in the Anoop Baranwal case was when there was an absence of Specific Law in the appointment of CEC and ECs, though it was mandated by the Constitution of India. Further, when entertaining any petition relating to the constitutionality of a law, the courts are cautious and follow the judicial restraint in giving the interim orders. With these reasons, the court refused to grant a stay on the operation of the Act. However, the court has also held that it does not wish to go into depth of details of the challenge to the Act, considering that the elections are going to be held in the coming months and that any contrary order would disrupt the election process.
SC: Exemption of Extraction, Sourcing or Borrowing of Ordinary Earth for linear projects from the Environmental Clearance is Arbitrary.
In the case of Noble M. Paikada vs. Union of India, the SC was dealing with a challenge to the judgment of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), where it had upheld the amendment of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, a sub-legislation passed under Environment Protection Act (EPA), by Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC). The facts of the case were that by amendments dated 28 March 2020 and 30 August 2023 to the EIA Notification, the MoEF&CC exempted the prior environmental impact assessment and obtainment of Environmental Clearance (EC) for extraction, sourcing or borrowing of Ordinary Earth for linear projects. This was challenged before the NGT, which had upheld the operation of the same notification. Hence, an Appeal against the notification and the judgment of the NGT was filed by the petitioners before the SC with the grounds such as permitting the extraction of earth without any limitation is arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India – The Right to Equality. Further, it is also in violation of the SC’s judgment in Deepak Kumar & Ors vs. State of Haryana & Ors, wherein it was held that mining or minor minerals even below the 5 hectares require the prior EC from the statutory authorities.
The SC noted that the impugned notification was issued a few days before the lockdown was announced in India, as such there was no hurry in passing the modification. Further, the EIA Notification does not define a list of activities which are constituted as “linear projects”. In addition, it also does not define the quantum of the earth which when extracted, sourced, or borrowed is considered to not have an environmental impact. Hence, it was struck down as being held as arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.
SC: Corporate Bodies are covered in the definition of ‘Person’ under Consumer Protection Act
In the case of M/s Kozyflex Mattresses Private Limited vs. SBI General Insurance Company & Anr, the SC held that corporate bodies are entitled to file complaints and claim relief under the Consumer Protection Act (CPA). The facts of the case were that in March 2013, the M/s Kozyflex Mattresses Private Limited (Appellant) had bought an insurance policy ‘Standard Fire and Special Perils Policy (Material Damage)’ to the tune of 1.25 crores on the plant and machinery and a sum of Rs. 30,00,000 on stock from SBI general insurance company (Respondent). Subsequently, it was enhanced to Rs. 1.55 crores, and for the building the sum insured was enhanced to Rs. 20,00,000. Thereafter, as per the Appellant, a massive fire accident took place in the manufacturing unit which has caused him financial damages. Therefore, he claimed relief of Rs. 3.31 crores; Rs. 40,11,152/- for building, Rs.1,08,47,435/- for plant and machinery and Rs.1,87,72,489/- for stock, from the Respondent. Upon the inspection, the Respondent found the claim as fraudulent and based on fabricated documents and hence was repudiated. The Appellant approached the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), which upheld the rejection of the claim by SBI. This order of NCDRM was then challenged by the Appellant in SC.
When the matter was taken up by SC, the counsel for the Appellant argued that they were not given sufficient opportunity by the NCDRC to produce documentary evidence to substantiate their grievance and financial claim. The counsel for Respondent submitted that the Appellant being a body corporate does not get covered under the definition of ‘person’ under the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), as amended in 2019. However, the SC held that the definition of a person covered in CPA is inclusive and not exhaustive. The same amended act in 2019 stipulates body corporate as a person by including the word ‘company’. Therefore, the Appellant being considered as ‘Person’, though a corporate body, is entitled to complain and claim grievance redressal under CPA.
As regards the merits of the case, the SC agreed with the contention of the Appellant and remanded the matter back to NCDRC for re-hearing and to decide afresh
Delhi HC: Students should not suffer examiner’s remarks of Handwriting as not intelligible.
In the case of Madhav Chaudhary (Appellant) vs. University of Delhi & Anr (Respondent), the Delhi High Court (HC) held that the students should not be allowed to suffer from improper evaluation of examination papers, due to the not intelligible handwriting remarks made by the examiners. The facts of the case were that the Appellant had filed a Writ Petition (WP) against the Respondent seeking the direction for re-evaluation of his answer sheet in the supplementary examination held by the Respondent. The grievance of the Appellant was that the examiner, who corrected his answer sheet, had remarked in it stating, “very poor handwriting, hardly could read anything” and therefore, it had affected the marks secured by him in the exam. In defence, the respondent had stated that in portions where such remarks were made, the examiner had given marks to the Appellant. Further, the respondent has also submitted that there is no provision in the rules which provides re-evaluation of the examination paper.
When the matter was taken up, the Delhi HC held that the matter pertains to the proper evaluation, not a re-evaluation, since it was the examiner’s deposition that he could not properly read what was written in the paper. Accordingly, the marks given in the paper cannot be treated in law as evaluation at all. Further, the court held those words that were not intelligible were readable and thus it also shows the improper evaluation being done. However, the Court had clarified that it is not in any way finding fault with the examiner, as examiners like him undertake the arduous task of correcting answer sheets, especially in higher education institutions. If the handwriting is abysmal, the examiners should be excused. But, in the present case, the handwriting of the Appellant is readable and as such he should not be allowed to suffer for the same reason.
Therefore, the court allowed the petitioner to provide a typed transcript to the university and the examiner was requested to evaluate the same.


Kaduna State and education of the girl-child | EduCeleb
Contributor
29th September 2018
EMMANUEL ADO highlights the gains of promoting girl-child education drawing inspiration from the Kaduna State experience.
“No country can ever truly flourish, if it stifles the potentials of its women and deprives itself of their contribution of half of its citizens.” — Michelle Obama.
The impact of the Kaduna State Government’s decision to abolish fees for female students in post-primary schools can best be appreciated against the effects of lack of education. The policy will gulp about N500 million in the first year and, subsequently, about N50 million more, with the expected increase in enrollment of more females. But it’s worth every naira and kobo invested, considering the ripple effects of the decision.
In Malawi, 45 per cent of adolescent girls with no education became pregnant, but once school enrollment improved, the number drastically reduced to below 4 per cent. This clearly shows the power and benefits of education. In Nigeria and, especially in the north, the story is not any different. Because the potential of this significant portion of the population has been stifled, the country is not only deprived of their full potentials, but pays a huge price for neglecting them. The price of the neglect stares Nigeria in the face: the number of maternal and infant mortality, water-borne diseases like cholera, and in increasing rate of poverty.
Governor Nasir el-Rufai has, since assumption of office, clearly demonstrated a commitment that is so deep and passionate towards uplifting women by words and by deeds. His first chief of staff was Hadiza Bala Usman, who is now heading the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). His Commissioner for Works and Housing is Balaraba Inuwa Aliyu.
And there are several other women holding key positions of responsibility in his administration, including the Head of Service: the driving force behind the reform and revitalisation programmes of the state public service. The governor’s trust in the capacity of women to deliver can never be questioned or doubted. Under him, Kaduna State women and youths have never had it this good. This is because he understands that the duty of a leader is to produce more leaders.
Education is not only transformational, it also literarily changes lives: not that of the female only but, indeed, that of a community. Despite this reality, most parents will never invest in the future of the girl-child. These deep-rooted obstacles, both cultural and financial, have continued to conspire against females in attaining their full potential.
The free education programme for the girl-child is the single most important investment the Kaduna State Government has made, as part of an overall strategy to wage a hostile war against pervasive poverty. Kaduna State stands to reap abundantly from a pool of well-educated women and from improved hygienic practices, which will lead to improved quality of life.
Because Kaduna State has dared to interrogate, to question its objective reality using statistics, it has a huge body of facts which, though inconvenient, has nevertheless placed it in a great position to address very fundamental issues like the outrageous number of girls that are out of school and the shortage of heath institutions. If the state government hadn’t acted swiftly in declaring free education for girls, then the figures at its disposal would have been wasted efforts. In reaching these decisions, Kaduna State has greatly relied on the State Bureau of Statistics, which has been tasked with the “overall responsibility of data collation, collection, data analysis, interpretation, research and coordination of statistical activities; which will aid the state government in policy formulation, development planning and evaluation of accomplishment.”
The Kaduna State Development Plan, 2016-2020, which reflects the policy priorities that outlines the government aspirations of being the investment destination and food basket of Northern Nigeria, is unequivocally clear that economic development of Kaduna State will be anchored on agriculture, due to its capacity to provide employment to its teeming unemployed population, address food security and a source of raw materials for agro-processing industries is a product of a survey. The agricultural survey showed that about 80-85 per cent of its N15 billion GDP is accounted for by agriculture, which also accounts for 42.7 per cent of total employment of its people.
The 2017 Kaduna State School Census Report is very uncomfortable in every material respect: from enrollment to completion, especially of the girl-child. Out of 317,012 students in public junior secondary schools, only 142,839 were girls. In Soba Local Government Area, for instance, boys predictably have the highest number in enrollment.
The net enrollment for girls is about 70 per cent, while for boys it is about 86 per cent. But the real cause for worry is the very high percentage of drop-outs, the number of girl-child who in a given school year that fail to return the following year – leaving school without completion.
The statistics has only confirmed common knowledge, the real issue was the political will to confront the challenges like early marriage, crushing poverty, etc., which makes it difficult for parents to buy books, pay school fees, and make uniforms. Many families are just too poor to afford uniforms for their children. Faced with such daunting challenges, they opt to educate the boys over the girls. By introducing free education, free uniforms, school feeding the Kaduna State government has tackled headlong the barriers that have long kept girls out of school and ensured that early marriage is their lot.
The romance between el-Rufai and Kaduna State women began from the outset of his administration, and looks like a marriage made in heaven. The first major gift to Kaduna State women was the abolishment of the enrollment levy of N200, which the clueless Ramallan Yero administration had introduced. Governor el-Rufai followed this up with the appointment of many women into positions of authority, the impact of which can’t be quantified in terms of role models. The various policies have definitely increased enrollment of pupils and students, but the killer-punches were the free uniform, books and the school feeding programme which skyrocketed enrollment at the primary and secondary levels. The full impact of the recently introduced free education for female students in all state schools will be a bomb, as the state government has lifted a huge burden off the shoulder of parents.
By deeds and actions, the Kaduna State government has through concerted policies (carrot and stick), made the necessary efforts to stop the discrimination against the girl-child. The state stands to benefit from the deliberate policy of empowering its women – as acquired knowledge will be by implication lead to economic power – which will eventually translate into improved quality of life for the entire society. And when in the fullness of time they are unleashed on the state, they will become a force that must be reckoned with. Nigerians take note, Kaduna State women are coming.
Emmanuel Ado is a Kaduna-based journalist. He can be reached via mayad497@yahoo.com


New Mongols: China: the 800lb Gorilla · Global Voices
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New Mongols comments on an interesting article from Transitions Online about Mongolia's “path forward”; one key point is that the Sino-Mongolian relationship will play a huge role in the country's future.


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‘Conservation or community rights’? Bangladesh bans fishing for 65 days · Global Voices
Rezwan

Traditional fishing in Bangladesh. Image via Wikipedia by Michael Foley, World Bank. CC BY 3.0
The government of Bangladesh has imposed a ban on all types of fishing off its coastal region from 20 May to 23 July 2019 to ensure the safe and sustainable accumulation of fish reserves. The coast guard and navy will be patrolling the Bay of Bengal to enforce the ban. However, for the fishing communities, most of whom depend on fishing for their daily subsistence, the decision is a big blow. Although the government has promised to provide monthly rations to affected fishers, the latter are voicing out their frustrations and the challenges they will be facing for the next two months.
Traditionally, Bangladesh relies on fishing to feed its estimated population of 163 million. More than 60 percent of the animal protein intake in the Bangladeshi diet comes from fish. The country has an exclusive economic zone of 41,000 square miles in the Bay of Bengal which is 73% of the country's total land and maritime areas. There are approximately 475 species of fish, 36 species of shrimp, 15 species of crab, and 301 species of snail and oyster in the Bay of Bengal among others; and around 100 species are fished commercially. There is an estimated two million fisherfolk across the country and around 18.2 million people are employed in fisheries and aquaculture industries. Around half a million fisherfolk earn their livelihood from the coastal region.
The fish market in central Sylhet, Bangladesh. Image from Flickr by David Stanley. CC BY 2.0
In recent years fish stocks worldwide have started declining because of overfishing and due to the effects of climate change. This is also the case in Bangladesh. Short-term bans on commercial fishing in limited areas had been enforced in the past few years, but this is the first time that all fishing boats have been banned for a lengthy period. This includes local fisherfolk who work in the rivers and in the seas. Authorities said that this ban will be continually enforced in the succeeding years during the breeding season to boost fish stocks.
The State Minister For Fisheries and Livestock Ashraf Ali Khan Khasru told the media:
These resources will deplete one day if we do not use them sustainably. We should let fish grow and breed. Otherwise, we will have to suffer in the future.
Last October 2018, the government banned the fishing of the national fish Hilsa (Ilish) for 22 days to allow the fish to lay their eggs and migrate from the Bay of Bengal to the Meghna and other river systems. Data collected by WorldFish from Hilsa sanctuaries showed that the total Hilsa catch increased by 28 percent, from 387,211 metric tons to 496,417 metric tons in the 2015 and 2016 harvest seasons due to similar bans.
Last March 2019, the government has imposed a 60-day ban on the fishing of all sorts of fish in Padma, Meghna and their tributary rivers adjacent to different areas of Chandpur, Bhola and Lakshmipur. The government also banned fishing in Kaptai lake, the largest man-made lake in Bangladesh for three months.
The old dilemma of #conservation rules vs community rights: Fishermen & #fish traders bring out a boat procession on #Khakdhon #River in the coastal district Barguna, #Bangladesh, demanding cancellation of the 65-day blanket ban on #Hilsa netting. Photo: Daily Star, April 29th. pic.twitter.com/D4WLEPHpRJ
— Sheikh Rokon (@skrokon) April 29, 2019
The local fishing communities have long been protesting these bans. They also protested the current ban carrying out angry demonstrations and street protests in the coastal region. According to the Bangladesh Fishing Boat Owners Association (BFBOA), many small-scale fisherfolk are day laborers who need to borrow money or their families will face starvation if no compensation is provided by the government.
The government has earmarked 36,000 metric tons of rice for distribution to affected communities. It plans to ration 40 kilograms of rice per month to 414,784 fishers and their families in 12 districts, However, the fishers reminded authorities that allotting only one type of food subsistence is not enough to sustain their families adequately.
Anwar Hossain Sikder, a member secretary of BFBOA, added that the ban will give undue advantage to the fishing companies of Bangladesh's neighbors:
The ban on fishing in 200 nautical miles of the sea is only benefiting Indian and Myanmar traders and fishermen.
On social media, some netizens favored the conservation of fish resources while others highlighted the need to save the livelihood of struggling fisherfolk. IT professional Asif Saif Uddin called for the creation of alternative jobs for displaced fishers:
ভাল উদ্যোগ …। তবে জেলেদের বিকল্প আয়ের বাবস্থা করা উচিৎ… https://t.co/u91QlYQT9D
— Asif Saif Uddin (@auvipy) May 20, 2019
It's a good move. But there should be efforts to create alternative job opportunities for the affected fishermen
Expat Bangladeshi Md Osman Ghani writes on Facebook about the issue of compensation for fishers:
সরকারের দাবী, এই সময় মাছ ধরা বন্ধ রাখলে মাছের সংখ্যা বাড়ে।
কিন্তু কথা হলো, যদি মাছের সংখ্যা না বাড়ে তখন কি হবে ?
তখন কি সরকার দরিদ্র জেলেদের এর জন্য ভতুর্কি দেবে ?
আপনি একটা গরিব মানুষের কাজ বন্ধ রাখলেন, বললেন- এর মাধ্যমে আপনার বাকি সময় আয় বাড়বে।
কিন্তু যদি না বাড়ে, তখন এর দায় কে নেবে ?
The government says that the fishing ban (during breeding season) increases fish stock.
But what if that does not turn out to be true?
Will the poor fishermen receive any compensation?
You enforce a ban on the work of poor people saying your future earnings will increase.
If that doesn't happen who will take the responsibility?
Many comments shared a similar concern about implementing measures to assist the fisherfolk:
Not endorsing Bangladesh’s temporary fishing ban b/c only the poor will suffer.
Still, it’s never those who cause global market collapse/systemic failure who seek solutions, whether the solutions are good/bad. It’s only ever those at risk who make change. https://t.co/itO9s79eaW
— Khal Khanté (@uhreeb) May 20, 2019
The issue is how will the government sustain the people who rely on fishing during the ban. You cannot save one without saving the other or both will ultimately fail. And one ban will not save either.
Bangladesh bans fishing for 65 days to save fish https://t.co/v1LcUfP3vE
— TheTraceTaylor (@TheOneTrace) May 20, 2019


Art Walk along Hank Aaron trail focuses on Open Housing marches of 1967-68 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Lydia Slattery
October 5, 2017
Brightly colored paintings with doves, blue skies and silhouettes of people decorate an ugly, gray chain link fence enclosing an industrial lot. The murals, which feature messages of hope from Chief Joseph, a prominent leader of a Nez Perce tribe, and Mexican hero Benito Juárez contrast with the barbed wire on the fence.
The recent Public Art Walk on the Hank Aaron State Trail gave visitors a chance to learn about the murals and other artwork along the Menomonee River Loop section of the trail, which runs parallel to West Canal Street from North 13th Street to North 25th Street. The event was organized by Menomonee Valley Partners for Valley Week and 200 Nights of Freedom, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the marches. About 20 people participated.
The vibrant murals were painted by students from 10 different schools near the Menomonee River Valley in 2007, the 40th anniversary of the Milwaukee Open Housing Marches. They created the Civil Rights River Loop Murals along a portion of the Hank Aaron State Trail to commemorate the marches.
The students came up with the designs themselves, said Melissa Cook, who manages the Hank Aaron trail for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, but they were inspired by a mural created by artist Katrina Motley and students at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD). Motley’s “March On” murals, created in 2006, depict black silhouettes marching against orange and yellow sunsets.
The River Loop is not the most scenic portion of the trail, with bridges and warehouses dominating the Menomonee River Valley, so the art provides a way to engage people, said Cook.
“It’s important we relay that history; you can relay it in a more interesting and engaging fashion through art,” she added.
The trail goes directly underneath the 16th Street Viaduct, also known as the James E. Groppi Unity Bridge. The Menomonee River Valley was known as the Mason-Dixon Line of Milwaukee, separating the predominantly black North Side from the mostly white South Side, Cook explained. The Rev. James E. Groppi, a white Catholic priest, marched with thousands of people, mostly African-Americans, for 200 nights in a row in 1967-1968 demanding open housing and racial equality. A sign directly underneath the bridge explains its history.
“Sometimes it’s best not to forget about our past even with things we’re not proud of,” Cook said, referring to the white counter-protesters’ reaction to the marchers. “It’s the high point and low point in our history all in the same event,” Cook said.
Then-Milwaukee Mayor Henry Maier imposed a voluntary curfew during the marches and called up the National Guard at one point.
“I’m old enough to remember the events discussed,” said Karen Watson, an attendee who grew up in the Milwaukee suburbs. Watson said she remembers the National Guard and a 9 p.m. curfew during the marches.
Watson said she appreciates the city’s efforts to develop the Menomonee River Valley and to remember the marches.
“I appreciated the art work and I enjoyed learning more about my city,” Watson said.
In addition to the murals, the group saw Katie Martin’s “A Place to Sit,” the gateway sculpture to the River Loop. The three high-back chairs are engraved with the names of Milwaukee Native American nations, including the Oneida Nation, the Sokaogon Chippewa and the Forest County Potawatomi.
Martin was inspired by the writings of local historian John Gurda, who described European settlers playing a game of musical chairs that left Native Americans with nowhere to sit, Cook explained.
“Art on this part of the trail should follow at least the history, culture or environment of the Menomonee River Valley,” said Cook. “We want the art to tell our stories.”


Ghana: We will be back · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sarpong reacts to Ghana team's elimination from the World Cup: “I will make this as short as possible. Ghana is sad. Africa is sad. Football lovers are sad!…But we leave with one bold message: WE WILL BE BACK TO PUSH HISTORY ONCE AGAIN”


Botswana: Country Begins Deporting 800 Namibian Refugees - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Publisher (F.BA)
September 18, 2019
Botswana has deportedthe first group of more than 800 Namibian refugees who have been living in thecountry for two decades.
On Tuesday, 94refugees were transported back to their home country from a camp in the villageof Dukwi.
The group fled Namibiain 1999 following a failed secessionist uprising. Many of the refugees arereported to be members of a banned secessionist political party in Namibia.
They were declaredillegal immigrants last month after they refused to register for voluntaryrepatriation, citing fears of persecution if they returned home.
Namibia’s ImmigrationMinister Frans Kapofi said the country was “ready to receive ourcitizens”.


Netizen Report: Censorship Spikes in India, Subsides in Cameroon · Global Voices
Netizen Report Team

Banner for a 2010 Barcamp tech workshop in Kashmir. Photo by Ehsan Quddusi via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir have blocked 22 social media applications, including Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter.
An official state circular issued on April 26 said the social media services were “being misused by anti-national and anti-social elements” in the Kashmir Valley to disturb “peace and tranquility” and could be blocked for up to 30 days. Other banned sites include QQ, Baidu, WeChat, Google Plus, Skype, Pinterest, Snapchat, YouTube and Flickr.
The move comes in the face of increasing unrest in Kashmir. Student protests, both in person and on social media, have intensified in recent days, in opposition to the heavy-handed tactics deployed under India's Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which significantly expands military power in regions considered to be “disturbed”.
Writing for EZine Dailyo.in, Angshukanta Chakraborty suspected that social media was targeted in Kashmir because it showed a different narrative than that portrayed by Indian authorities:
By presenting the other side to the Kashmir storyline, the locals once again were able to own for a while what constitutes the highly complex and conflicted Kashmir narrative, something that made the government extremely uncomfortable, and it was left without a moral high ground.
The blocking has also hit businesses hard, leaving the local IT sector of approximately 15,000 workers with little capacity to do their jobs, and putting e-commerce and Internet-dependent businesses in limbo.
Meanwhile, in the Indian city of Kendrapara, provincial officials blocked Internet connectivity for 48 hours to prevent the circulation of an “objectionable” video that witnesses said was insulting to the Prophet Mohammad. With the suspension, it appears authorities were seeking to preclude the level of public unrest that broke out in early April, when a social media posting that contained derogatory messages about Hindu gods sparked an outcry in the nearby city of Bhadrak.
In better news, Cameroon’s government finally restored Internet access in the country’s English-speaking regions after shutting it down for 94 days. The blackout followed protests by North est and South est regions over the imposition of the French language in schools and courts and other disparities between francophone and anglophone populations in the provision of public services. Anglophone Cameroon makes up about 20% of the total population. The government accompanied the restoration of access with  a threat to reinstate the shutdown if they felt the Internet was becoming “a tool to stoke hatred and division among Cameroonians.”
Maldives blogger and activist Yameen Rasheed was stabbed to death in the early morning hours of April 23, 2017. An outspoken critic of the government and radical religion-based politics, Rasheed had previously reported to police that he received death threats via text message and social media. Maldivians are demanding an international probe into the cause of his death. The Stock Exchange office where Rasheed worked as an IT technician closed for a day in his honor.
Saudi internet activist Naima Al-Matrood is facing trial one year after being arrested on accusations that she participated in anti-state demonstrations and had violated public order by creating two social media accounts to demand the release of other human rights defenders who had been detained in the kingdom. The Gulf Center for Human Rights is demanding the immediate release of Al-Matrood and all other detained human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia.
Indonesian military chief General Gatot Nurmantyo reported independent news website Tirto.id to Indonesia’s Press Council for translating and publishing an investigative report by another news website. The report alleged that certain army officers were involved in a plot to oust President Joko Widodo, and suggested that the officers had ties to ISIS.
Originally published by the US-based cyber security and civil liberties-focused news site The Intercept, the report stated that General Nurmantyo was involved in the plot.
House Commission III member Ahmad Sahroni praised the move by the General Nurmantyo, saying “The TNI chief has taken a good step as I believe he would not like to be trapped into a cycle that could lead to destruction.”
According to a report on the VICE media tech blog Motherboard, a London police officer purchased the targeted surveillance software FlexiSpy, which enables the user to install malware on mobile phones and computers, allowing them to intercept phone calls, remotely turn on microphones and take photos with the infected device’s camera. It is unclear whether the officer purchased the software for personal or official use.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CTRC) issued a new regulatory framework that strongly favors net neutrality, which is the principle that telecommunications providers should treat all content and materials on the Internet equally, rather than giving certain materials faster delivery to customers. It also issued a decision against the practice of zero-rating, or providing free access to selected Internet services. Zero-rating schemes represent an unequal treatment of internet content, as they allow service providers to hand-pick which content their customers can most easily access.
Mahsa Alimardani, Ellery Roberts Biddle, Vishal Manve, Inji Pennu, Carolina Rumuat, Nevin Thompson, Laura Vidal  and Sarah Myers West contributed to this report.


Old video from Bangladesh shared as visuals of Muslims blocking an army ambulance in West Bengal - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 20, 2023
A video is being shared on social media claiming that the video shows Muslims blocking an army vehicle that is taking an injured army soldier to a hospital in West Bengal. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of Muslims attacking an army vehicle which is taking an injured soldier to a hospital in West Bengal.
Fact: The video shared in the post shows old visuals of Muslims attacking an army ambulance in Bangladesh. The video shared in the post is old and from Bangladesh, not from the West Bengal state in India. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
On observing the video carefully, we noticed that the logos with crossed swords seen on the army vehicle and on the uniforms worn by soldiers represent the official army logo of the Bangladesh army.
When we searched for further sources of the video using relevant keywords on the internet, a video with similar visuals was found published by a YouTube channel ‘The Bangladesh Defence Analyst’ on 29 March 2021. This YouTube channel published the video with the title, “Islamic extremists in Bangladesh fail to stop Bangladesh Army ambulance.” A few other Facebook users have also shared the video mentioning that the incident had taken place on Hathazari Road in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Another video showing the riots that took place on Hathazari Road in March 2021 can be seen here. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that the video shared in the post is old and from Bangladesh, not from West Bengal state in India.
To sum it up, an old video from Bangladesh is shared as the visuals of Muslims blocking an army ambulance in West Bengal.


5 things to know and do the weekend of April 22 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sam Woods
April 22, 2022
Girls on the Growth participated in the MKE Entrepreneur Incubator Program. (Photo provided by the MKE Entrepreneur Incubator Program via Raphael Gray)
It’s Friday in Milwaukee, and here are some things we think you should know about. If you would like your event to be considered for this column, please submit your news by clicking here at least two weeks in advance.
1. Adams Garden Park Art Gallery Night: Friday, April 22
“Rain Chains,” an exhibition by artist and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee sculpture professor Glenn Williams with artworks from Milwaukee-born artist William Nolen, Jr. (born 1939,) will be unveiled as part of Gallery Night MKE. The unveiling event runs from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, April 22 at Adams Garden Park, located at 1836 W. Fond du Lac Ave.
2. ArtWalk on Vliet Street: Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23
This part pop-up, part brick-and-mortar celebration of Vliet Street’s art and retail community covers two days of food trucks, art and shopping. Stop by between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Friday, April 22 or 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 23 to take part. More information and locations here. The walk Friday takes place on W. Vliet Street from 40 Street to 60 Street. The walk Saturday takes place on 47 Street to 60 Street.
3. Student entrepreneur pop-up market: Saturday, April 23
Support student businesses that are BIPOC, LGBTQ+, or woman-owned at this pop-up event organized by the MKE Entrepreneur Incubation Program, Newline Cafe and the Urban Ecology Center. Businesses in this popup are part of the MKE Entrepreneur Incubation Program, which offers “Marquette students that come from majority low-income, first-generation, or underrepresented backgrounds entrepreneurial skills to host pop-up events through a community-minded lens.”
The pop-up will run from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 23 at 3628 W. Pierce St.
4. Book Signing: Wisconsin African-Americans in the Civil War: Saturday, April 23
Jeff Kannel, author of “Make Way for Liberty: Wisconsin African-Americans in the Civil War,” will be available to talk about his research and sign books from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 23 at Sherman Perk Coffee Shop, located at 4924 W. Roosevelt Drive.
5. Family Gathering at Rooted MKE: Sunday, April 24
Rooted MKE, a new bookstore and makerspace in Washington Heights, is hosting the first of its monthly family gatherings from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, April 24 at Rooted MKE, located at 5312 W. Vliet St. All ages are welcome to join in reading a BIPOC children’s book and creating a piece of art based on the book. Tickets are $10 and include food. More information here.
BONUS: Earth Day Neighborhood Gatherings and Cleanups
Many neighborhoods have gatherings and cleanups going on this weekend, primarily on Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23. Check out what is going on in or near your neighborhood here.


Ontario Land Tribunals to Merge into One Body – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

February 17, 2021
The Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, Environmental Review Tribunal, Board of Negotiation, Conservation Review Board and the Mining and Lands Tribunal will be merged into a new single tribunal know as the Ontario Land Tribunal.
At present, the various quasi-judicial adjudicative tribunals share an Executive Vice-Chair and administrative support.
Bill 245, introduced in the Ontario Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, includes numerous changes to the administration of justice in Ontario. I will focus upon the Land Tribunals portion.
The short is significance of the change is that any member of the existing tribunals will be able to hear matters which had previously been the purview of the other tribunals. Presently, many of the Vice-Chairs and above of the various tribunals are cross appointed and conduct hearings across the tribunals.
The changes in the legislation are primarily housekeeping.


Video of Muslim man's memorial being razed in Andhra Pradesh viral with communal spin - Alt News
Kalim Ahmed
17th October 2022 / 9:35 pm
A 25-second-long video clip of a group of men, who appear to be Muslims, breaking the gates of a structure is widely circulating on social media. This viral clip is being shared on social media with the claim that Muslims in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur demolished an ancient Hindu temple.
Twitter user @yogeshDharmSena shared the clip with a caption in Hindi that can be translated as, “Jihadis demolish ancient temple in Andhra Pradesh 😡 Wake up Hindus, wake up this is happening in independent India…”
आंंधप्रदेश में जिहादियों ने प्राचीन मंदिर को तोड़ा😡जागो हिंदुओ जागो यह स्वतंत्र भारत में हो रहा है… pic.twitter.com/BIIedtjQIz
— योगी योगेश अग्रवाल (धर्मसेना) (@yogeshDharmSena) October 15, 2022
Author and freelance columnist Anshul Pandey also shared the clip on Twitter with similar claims. The user later alleged that Twitter forcibly deleted his tweets. (Archive.)
Columnist Tarek Fatah quote-tweeted Anshul Pandey’s original tweet which was apparently ‘forcibly’ deleted by Twitter. Tarek wrote, “Smashing a 40-year-old Hindu Temple in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.” Tarek Fatah has a history of spreading communally charged misinformation.
Like Fatah, another Twitter user, @MrSinha_, who also has a history of sharing misinformation, tweeted about the incident. Sinha did not share the viral clip in his tweet.
Users @arpispeaks, @IVijay_Pathak, @sudhirshiv567, @Chitransh57, @FltLtAnoopVerma and @TriShool_Achukamong others have shared the viral clip with similar captions.
This clip is also viral on Facebook with similar claims.
We performed several searches in Telugu using relevant keywords and came across multiple videos related to the incident on Facebook. Shaik Nagul Meera, whose bio says that he is the zonal in-charge of BJP’s minority in Andhra Pradesh, had shared a series of updates related to the matter.
In a video he shared on his Facebook page on October 13, he referred to the religious structure as Dargah ‘Hazrat bajibaba Nishan’. The Facebook post does not identify the structure as a temple. However, it does say that Hindu-Muslim sentiments are attached to the place.
Alt News reached out to Shaik Nagul Meera who told us over phone that there were several symbols in the place that signified the existence of a Dargah. He said, “some anti-social elements came here and demolished these structures with the intention to build a mosque there. The news spread all over the locality and the police were informed.”
Explaining further, he said, “The land belonged to a man who died of Covid. The people who demolished the structure claim that it was the man’s wish to build a mosque there and his daughter had handed over the land to them for the purpose,” added Shaik Nagul Meera.
We found another video on Facebook where some women speaking to the camera have shared their grievances over the incident. The women in the video say that they have been going to the LR colony Third Line Ward 17 Dargah for the last 40 years and caste or religion have never been an issue. They also allege that some of the men who tried to bring down the structure had misbehaved with them.
Alt News spoke to a local of L R Colony named Shahin. He explained the origin of the structure in question: “There was an ailing man called Esu Ratnam who was cured by Baji Baba. Once he got better, Baji Baba instructed him to build a shrine on his land in the name of the Baba. Hindus and Muslims visited the place and presented their offerings to the shrine for 40 years. The old man recently passed away in Covid. After his death, some people claimed that he had sold his land to them and a mosque would be built. These people came on October 7 and told us that all the objects associated with the Baba should be removed. They claimed that Esu Ratnam asked them to build a mosque here. They got into an argument with us.”
Shahin added that Ratnam’s niece took care of him in his old age. She and all the locals objected to this takeover-bid. “We went to the administration to complain about the harassment. Later, a representative from the Waqf Board visited the site.”
A video of the Waqf Board inspector’s visit is also available on Facebook.
గుంటూరు నగరంలో ఉన్న నాయకులకు, ప్రజా ప్రతినిధులకు, ముఖ్యంగా గుంటూరు తూర్పు ఎమ్మెల్యే గారికి, 17 వ వార్డు కార్పొరేటర్ గారికి ఈ విషయంలో జోక్యం చేసుకుని స్థానికులు, భక్తుల మనోభావాలను పరిగణనలోకి తీసుకుని న్యాయం చేయాలని కోరుకుంటున్నాను….
ఎవరి రాజకీయ స్వలాభం కోసం ఇలా గ్రూపులు కడుతున్నారు.
40 ఏళ్ల నుంచి ఇక్కడ బాజీ బాబా దర్గా నిషాని ఉన్నది అని స్థానికులు చెబుతున్నారు, నిషాని అంటే తెలియదా వీరికి… పెదకాకాని దర్గాలో కసుమురు దర్గా యొక్క నిషాని, అజ్మీర్ దర్గా యొక్క నిషాని, గుంటూరులో కడప దర్గా నిషాని లు ఉన్నాయి… నేడు ఇవి రేపు ….
ఎవడో రాజకీయ క్రీడకు గ్రూపులు కట్టి వేరు చేసి సునకానందం పొందవద్దని మా మనవి….
(గుంటూరు జిల్లా వక్ఫ్ బోర్డు ఇన్స్పెక్టర్ గారు స్పాట్ కు వెళ్లి ఇన్స్పెక్షన్ చేసినప్పుడు చిత్రించిన వీడియో)
Posted by Shaik Nagul Meera on Wednesday, 12 October 2022
Alt News spoke with Shaik Mukthar Basha, who had inspected the site and reported it to the police. He told us, “People who demolished the shrine did not have any permission and they did it without consulting the administration.” Mukhtar confirmed to Alt News that the structure was not a temple.
A report in The New Indian Express  published on October 17 refers to the place of worship as ‘Bhaji Bhasha Nishani Dargah’. It also mentions that people of all faiths have been offering prayers at the Dargah for the past 40 years.
We also found a news report about a press conference held by police inspector Prabhakar at Lalapet police station regarding the incident. He confirmed that this was not a communal issue and strict action would be taken against those who attempted to instigate religious unrest through social media posts.
Translation:
Lalapet CI Prabhakar, Patnam Bazar, — in LR Colony Third Lane, some people are trying to spread the news that Baji Bapu Dargah has been demolished to hurt religious sentiments. Whoever is spreading this news to instigate unrest, CI Prabhakar intends to take action against them. On Sunday, at Lalapet PS, there was a meeting where CI Prabhakar spoke on this issue. He said there was a chance of inciting conflict between two parties and disrupting the peace in the area. On inquiry, it was found that Jadha Esu Ratnam and his wife Naga Ratnam belonged to LR Colony Third Lane and owned 105 square yards of land and had been living there for 40 years. 20 years back, they converted to Islam upon which Jadha Esu Ratnam changed his name to Rahmaan. A few years later, his wife Naga Ratnam passed away. Years after her passing, Rahmaan built a grave on his land and hoisted flags on it and started performing religious activities there. The offerings he received from running that grave helped him sustain himself. He used to tell those around him that after his death, they must build a Masjid on that site. In 2020, he passed away. A few days ago, Rahman’s daughter, Satyavati, as per her father’s wishes to build a Masjid on the site, gave away the house keys to the Muslim elders of the area. On the 12th of this month, the Muslim elders gathered to demolish the existing site and start the process of building a Masjid as per Rahman’s wishes. But Rahman’s niece, along with a few others, gathered and objected to the demolition. She insisted that the grave site should continue to operate as before. In the midst of this discussion, the demolition has already begun. Police were called to the scene and by that time a part of the site was already demolished. The police informed the matter to the Waqf Board inspector, who instructed the parties to stop any further work on the site. Now, CI Prabhakar insists that this is not a religious conflict and to preserve the peace, a picket has been placed.
He also insists that no one should try to instigate religious unrest through social media posts and anyone trying to do so will face action.”
In a tweet, BJP national secretary in-charge of Andaman & Nicobar Y. Satya Kumar referred to the place as a Dargah, and not a temple.
The upper caste Ashraf Muslims in AP’s Guntur have demolished with full impunity the dargah revered by BC Nagoor Meera & Dudekula Pasmanda Muslims.
I strongly condemn the act of snatching away the religious rights of BC Muslims & demand strict action against the perpetrators. pic.twitter.com/Wx99dgGmWS
— Y. Satya Kumar (సత్యకుమార్) (@satyakumar_y) October 14, 2022
Alt News spoke with Guntur Urban SP Arif Hafeez, who said, “It is not a temple. It is a small Dargah, in fact, it is not even a Dargah because there is no one buried there. It is a small memorial of a Muslim mentor. This is not a communal incident. This is an issue of the Muslim community of that particular neighbourhood over whether a mosque should be built there or the memorial should remain as it is.”
To sum it up, a conflict between two groups within the Muslim community on whether a mosque should be built in place of an existing memorial was shared widely on social media with a communal twist that the Muslim community had demolished a Hindu temple. While it is unclear what exactly transpired before the demolition, there is no doubt over the fact that the structure was not a temple.
Kalim is a journalist with a keen interest in tech, misinformation, culture, etc
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As China legalizes Xinjiang ‘re-education camps’, Weibo netizens cheer on · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

“Graduates” would receive a certificate after they finished the “vocational training”. Screen capture from CCTV.
As international media and human rights organizations unveil details about re-education camps in Xinjiang, where Chinese authorities may have imprisoned up to a million Muslim citizens without charge, the Chinese government has switched its public relations tactics from denying to defending the camps.
China's government has been under fire in the past year over allegations that it was forcibly detaining Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang for “extremist behaviour”, a language often invoked to describe any vaguely religious conduct, from growing a beard to wearing a headscarf.
What happens at the camps is not widely known, but testimonies from ex-internees reveal that they were forced to convert their beliefs and pledge loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and made to criticize their own culture and religion, as well as adopt diets against their own will. They have also reported that the camps are secured with barbed wire, surveillance systems and armed police.
Initially, China's approach was to deny the existence of such camps. As recently as August 2018, shortly after a UN human rights panel brought attention to the matter, a Chinese delegation said that “there is no such thing as re-education centres in Xinjiang”.
Less than two months later, the camps were made official. On October 9, the local Xinjiang government revised its “Regulation on Anti-Extremism” to empower local authorities to operate “vocational training centres” for the purpose of education and ideological conversion. In other words, the new regulation has legalized the existence of the “re-education camps”.
The new strategy was almost immediately reflected on Chinese media and social networks, where many have applauded the policy.
On October 16, the China Central Television aired a feature report and interviewed some “graduates” from such centre in Hotan, Xinjiang. One of them said:
我如果不來這裏的話可能我就會跟隨那些宗教極端分子走上犯罪道路。
If I had not come here, I would follow the religious extremist and become a criminal.
Also on October 16, party-affiliated media outlet Global Times published an editorial stating that Xinjiang's anti-extremism measures were actually a “humanitarian move” to prevent an ethnic cleansing disaster, and should be regarded as a successful model by the rest of the world:
新疆通过加强治理避免了世界其他地方上演的各种极端情况，应被视为化解高风险局势的难得正面范例。[…]从波黑到科索沃，再到利比亚、叙利亚，悲剧故事的类型既有区别又很相似。那些地区都死了很多人，输出了大量难民。西方对那些地区的动荡过程实施了大量干预，但曾经的或者正在付出的代价却如此沉重。难道西方真的愿意新疆也出现震动世界的人道主义灾难、对外输出几十万甚至上百万难民吗？
Xinjiang has strengthened its governance to prevent extremism from happening like in other parts of the world. It should be considered a good model for resolving high-risk conflict situations. […] From Bosnia and Herzegovina to Kosovo, and from Liberia to Syria, the tragedies are distinctive but also similar. Many people in these regions have died, many more became refugees. The West has had great influence in the unrests and have paid and are still paying the price. Does the West really want to see another humanitarian disaster that shocks the world and exports tens of thousands or even millions of refugees?
A day earlier, on Twitter, Global Times’ editor-in-chief Hu Xijin claimed that the one million Muslims detainees figure was pure speculation:
Chinese officials didn’t reveal the true number to avoid falling into the stats trap, giving Western media another excuse to hype up the issue.
— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) October 15, 2018
The one million figure is an estimation by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, who say they have received many credible reports by international human rights organizations. Further reports have pointed to the scale of the camps as shown by satellite images, which hints at a capacity of up to a million detainees or more.
A lot of people rebuffed Xijin's claim and drew attention to the fact that China doesn't allow journalists to visit the camps and objectively report on what happens in them.
On the next day, Hu wrote three more tweets defending Xinjiang’s security measures:
Situation in Xinjiang was out of control before. Over 1,000 violent attacks occurred in a year. But local government held back the media coverage at the time. As a result, outside world cannot understand the following measures. This is the price of insufficient press freedom. 1/3
— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) October 16, 2018
There had been such a horrific story in XJ. A road was blocked by mobs from nearby villages.They stopped all the vehicles and killed all the Han people inside. It is hoped the outside world can understand the measures XJ is taking.They are taken as a last and necessary resort.2/3
— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) October 16, 2018
The most pressing task for XJ is to stabilize the situation, preventing civilians from being killed by young Uyghur people brainwashed by extremism and the latter not being killed by police at crime scene. Vocational training centers may not be the ideal solution, but it works.3/3
— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) October 16, 2018
Hu’s argument received no echo but a number of mockeries, particularly in respect to his claim about the 1,000 violent attacks and the mob incident. A commenter said:
believe me , if that really happened, your government will not wast any chance to show it in public and in your fake 新闻联播 [CCTV news program].
On October 15, on a talk show that he hosts, he said:
【新疆设立职业技能教育培训中心，取得好的效果】围绕新疆治理，中国人与西方的干涉势力完全不在一个对话频道上。我们要的是新疆的和平稳定，要的是那里各族人民的幸福安宁生活，这是最大的人权。而西方那些势力是要找中国的茬，扰乱新疆，牵制中国发展。
[Vocational training centres in Xinjiang has good effect.] Regarding the governance of Xinjiang, China and Western interfering forces are not on the same channel. What we want is Xinjiang’s stability and peace, and different ethnic groups could enjoy a happy life there. This is the most important human right. Western forces want to find fault with China and create chaos in Xinjiang so as to confine China’s development.
In contrast to comments on Twitter, which is blocked but accessible via VPN in China, Hu has attracted many positive responses on Weibo, where political speech is much more heavily controlled. The most popular comments under Hu’s Weibo post were:
有吃有喝不乱是对人权的最大尊重！
food, drink and no chaos is the utmost respect to human rights.
对于新疆来讲，确实稳定压倒一切。没有新疆的稳定，就没有全国的稳定，没有全国的稳定，中国就会出大问题，就会正中某些国家、某些人的下怀。
In Xinjiang, stability is most important. If Xinjiang is unstable, the whole country would be unstable. If the country is unstable, China will have big problem and we will fall into the same trap that some countries did.
Global Times’ official Weibo account has also promoted Hu’s view. It said:
今年以来，西方的一些舆论机构和政客不断对新疆为帮助受极端思想影响的人员而开展教育培训工作进行恶毒攻击，指责新疆“侵犯人权”。学员们在那些中心里学习国家通用语言、法律知识和工作技能，却被西方势力指责为“宗教迫害”。
This year, western opinion organizations and politicians keep attacking the vocational training centers in Xinjiang. These centers are to help those who had been affected by extremism but they accused Xinjiang for violating human rights. The trainees are learning common language [Putonghua], legal knowledge and vocational skills inside the center, but Western forces condemned the measure as “religion persecution”.
Again, there are many echoes under the thread:
作为一个新疆人表示如果没有暴恐新疆这些年经济早腾飞了，新疆财政大都拿来慰问了，出门身上啥也不敢装到处检查，快递限制app限制网络限制，都是那帮孙子害的！站着说话不腰疼的西方人，明里暗里支持那帮人的，都是坏蛋！
As someone from Xinjiang, I would like to say that if there weren't any acts of terrorism, the economy would be flying. Now, a large part of Xinjiang revenue has been allocated for the victims of attacks. We dare not bring anything out in the street for fear of inspection, door to door delivery, internet and mobile applications all have restriction thanks to the terrorists. The Westerners bare no pain. Those who support or sympathize with those [terrorists] are villains.
绝大多数情况，大多数情况下，西方越是对我们的某项政策或事物进行恶意攻击时，就越证明我们这政策的是对的正确的，反之亦然，他们越是吹捧的，我们就越要小心提高警惕了，因为他们见不得我们好，只会希望我们越糟越好。
In most cases, when the West starts to attack a particular policy or issue, it usually implies the policy is right, on the contrary, if they praise something, we have to be careful. They don’t hope for our best but for our worse.
Of course, as is always the case within the great Chinese firewall, it is impossible to appraise real public sentiment from the social media commentariat.


Uganda: Travels In · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Arjen Westra's African blog writes about his arrival in Kampala, Uganda.………..For the first time I didn't experience the 12,5 hour bustrip on the bumpy Kenyan roads. I flew in: 50 minutes from Nairobi to Entebbe. From there an less than an hour to Kampala


China: Guangdong sweatshops · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

China Herald highlights Chinese media reports that the Guangdong provincial authorities have compiled a blacklist of 20 sweatshops which force workers into excessive unpaid overtime, underpay workers or use child labor.


Region’s Security: Nigeria Urges Gulf Of Guinea Member States To Collaborate And Combat Challenges - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Publisher (F.BA)
November 21, 2019
Nigeriahas urged member states of the Gulf of Guinea Commission to work closely andcome up with measures to combat the insecurity in the region.
TheFederal Government also urged the Member States to show commitment to theirfinancial obligation toward the commission.
Ministerof State for Foreign Affairs, Zubairu Dada made the call in Abuja at the 11thOrdinary Session of the Council of Ministers of the Gulf of Guinea Commission,GGC.
Hesaid that the collective quest to address the security challenges in the regionrequired member countries to put in place measures to check the violation ofdomestic and international treaties in the region.
TheMinister recalled that in November 2017, while taking the mantle of leadershipof the organisation, Nigeria called for renewed commitments on the part ofmember states to make the Gulf of Guinea Region a zone of peace and security.
Alsospeaking, Executive Secretary, Gulf of Guinea Commission, Florentina Ukongasaid that the experts had worked very hard to come up with recommendations toencourage participation of member states in the Commission’s activities.


Africa: Mountain Gorilla Conservation Data · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Over 5,000 days of Mountain Gorilla conservation data in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo:
Fifteen years ago, ranger-based monitoring (or RBM for short) was initiated as a tool in the conservation of mountain gorillas. Whether patrolling the park for law enforcement or tracking mountain gorillas for health assessments or to facilitate visits by tourists or researchers, data is being collected and recorded on data sheets. Every day. That’s over 5,000 days of valuable data collected.


Rats invade Myanmar fields · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Adding to the woes of Myanmar farmers are rats which are invading fields in West Myanmar


Bangladesh: Denying Genocide · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Mash has a post on genocide denial. “Following up on her 2005 paper denying the extent of the 1971 genocide published in the Economic and Political Weekly, Sarmila Bose has now published a paper denying the extent of the rapes of Bangladeshi women “


What we’re aiming to achieve with our fundraising bicycle ride—and the details of the route · Global Voices
natematias

Photos (clockwise from top left): J. Nathan Matias by Cameron Campbell; April 1966 edition of The Movement, the magazine of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee of California, showing supporters gathered at the Azteca Theater in Fresno, California to greet the members of the Farmworkers March, by Gerhard Gscheidle; Ivan Sigal by John Trotter; National Park Service map of California's Central Valley; Kern River Oil Field by Steve Boland (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0); Nathan and Ivan after a 170-mile, two-day ride through Maryland and Pennsylvania in 2021; mosaic commemorating the 1966 Farmworkers March by J. Nathan Matias
This article is part of a series by J. Nathan Matias for a 500+ mile bicycle ride in June 2023 that is raising funds for Rising Voices, Global Voices’ endangered/Indigenous language program, and the Central California Environmental Justice Network. Donate to the initiative here.
In the previous post in this series, I wrote about the special challenge posed by the fact that the bicycle ride Ivan Sigal and I will be doing in June retraces a historical act—the 1966 California Farmworkers March—whose story is still incomplete. To explore and understand the unfinished dream of the Farmworkers March and what it represents, we'll be interweaving history with the stories of people who are shaping the future of California's Central Valley today. That's why Ivan and I are prioritizing three things on our route:
You can see how we balance these factors in our decision to start in Bakersfield rather than Delano, and our decision to end the ride not in Sacramento, California's state capital, but rather in Oakland, with a celebration along the San Francisco Bay. The path to the ocean is a constant part of debates about farming, water, and the health of the Central Valley, and we decided it would be impossible to understand those stories without also following the Sacramento-Joaquin Delta out to the ocean.
May 31: We'll arrive in Bakersfield and meet in Arvin, a town that continues to be defined by climate, labor, and migration. We'll be meeting with community leaders at the Central California Environmental Justice Network. Arvin was made famous by Weedpatch Camp, a refugee camp John Steinbeck wrote about during the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s. In the last year, leaders in Arvin have successfully advocated for state-wide buffer zones between oil wells and people's homes.
June 1: On our first day, we will ride from Bakersfield to Delano, learning more about the history of oil and agriculture that still defines the region's local economy. We'll also visit Forty Acres, the former national headquarters of the United Farm Workers of America and one of the proposed locations of the Historical Park the US Senate will be voting on establishing this year.
June 2: The second day’s ride will start along the route of the Farmworkers March and then turn south to visit two communities defined by access to water. At Allensworth State Historic Park, we'll learn more about the Black leaders and former enslaved people who established an independent community in 1908. The town was condemned in the 1970s due to problems with the water supply. We also plan to visit the Matheny Tract, an unincorporated community of 300 households that successfully advocated for water access in 2016. We also plan to meet with community leaders before rejoining the farmworkers’ route in Visalia on our way to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
June 3: Water and air will also be the themes of our third day, where we will follow the snowmelt from Sequoia National Park into Fresno. While there, we plan to meet with groups who are working to improve air quality near schools, and people organizing religious communities around climate, labor, and health issues.
June 4: On the fourth day of our ride, a Sunday, we will learn more about Mexican-American cultural heritage in the Central Valley, visiting the legendary Azteca Theater in Fresno, established in 1948 as the first Spanish-language cinema in the Central Valley. The theater played an important role in the Golden age of Mexican Cinema (more here), and in 1966 hosted a rally for the marching farmworkers. On our way out of Fresno, we will visit the Friant Dam, a still-debated infrastructure project completed in 1942 that provides water across the San Joaquin Valley. We'll continue in parallel to the San Joaquin River to Madera, Chowchilla, and end a long day of riding in Merced.
June 5: By the time the 1966 Farmworkers March reached Merced it had grown to more than 200 people. On the fifth day, we will follow their route through Turlock, Modesto, Stockton, and other towns where the march grew in numbers and developed into an international media sensation that inspired gatherings around the world. We will visit churches and community centers where labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta grew up and gained early experience as an organizer—communities that embraced her and the other marchers on their pilgrimage to Sacramento, where a welcoming crowd of ten to fifteen thousand people awaited them.
June 6: Our sixth and final day will start in Sacramento at the steps of the state Capitol where the marchers held an Easter mass and celebrated their success at gaining a union contract that let them engagine in collective bargaining on behalf of grape industry workers. From there, we will turn south, following the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which was designated a National Heritage Area in 2019.
Riding our bicycles for 100 miles along winding levee roads with a small group of friends and supporters (contact us if you're interested in joining the ride), we will reflect on the millennia-old conversation between humans and the land that shapes our climate, our livelihoods, and our shared future. People who want to join us for a shorter ride can meet up with us at the RockRidge BART station to roll through town for the last few miles.
The ride will end with a picnic for friends and supporters in Oakland on the shores of the San Francisco Bay.
References


Israel: Pro-Israeli Blogs · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Aussie Dave from Israel is looking for pro-Israeli blogs. “I would be interested in hearing from you – in the comments – as to which are your favorite pro-Israel blogs, the blogs you turn to for the latest on the Middle East,” he writes.


Armenia: Youth & HIV · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian reports on youth and the potential for an explosion of HIV infections in Armenia.


Argentina: Music: Nicolás A. Alonso · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Fernando Casale introduces readers to the “brief but intense album of experimental music composed and interpreted by Nicolás A. Alonso, guitarist and pianist of Turpentine. The album was released under a Creative Commons BY 2.5 AR license so you can remix and republish it without restrictions as long as Alonso is given attribution.


Kazakhstan: Medvedev-Kazakhstan Diplomacy · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Patrick Frost analyzes the background and perspectives of the Kazakhstan-Russia relations against the background of change of president in Russia and amidst the new leaders visit to Kazakhstan.


Brunei: e-Darussalam Government Portal · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

e-Darussalam is Brunei's official web portal which aims to facilitate government transactions and delivery of services. The website also offers the contact details of the country's major government agencies.


Nepal: Tea anyone? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A hot cup of tea is more than just that. Photo-ops, and sharing the cup with political allies. United We Blog! on the tradition of tea parties.


Puerto Rican Little League team visits Milwaukee in cultural exchange | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Keith Schubert
August 19, 2017
Johan Corchado, visiting from Puerto Rico, presents Felix Mantilla with a poem and a portrait, drawn by her son Sebastian Eliel “Seba” Rodriguez (holding portrait). (Photo by Keith Schubert)
Fourteen Little Leaguers from Isabela, Puerto Rico, accompanied by about 20 parents and staff members, recently visited Milwaukee as part of an exchange program facilitated by Journey House, a South Side community organization. Members of the Felix Mantilla Little League team visited Puerto Rico last year.
“It’s emotional, seeing how excited the kids were to see each other again,” said Pedro Cubero, head coach of the Puerto Rican team.
From Aug. 10-14 the Puerto Rican visitors participated in educational activities and baseball. They toured Discovery World, the Harley Davidson Museum, the Pettit Center and the Milwaukee County Zoo. Other activities included going to a Brewers game and a community service project. The main event was when the teams faced off against each other at Helfaer Field next to Miller Park.
“This is important not only for my family but my hometown of Isabela,” said Felix “El Gato” Mantilla, former second baseman for the 1957 World Series Champion Milwaukee Braves. The Little League named after Felix Mantilla was founded in 1972 and adopted by Journey House in 2014.
“It’s incredibly important for the kids to come here, and see Milwaukee where Felix Mantilla made his home outside of Isabela,” said Cubero.
Felix Mantilla poses with his team at a ceremony held on Aug. 10. (Photo by Keith Schubert)
Solo Acosta, who has been part of the Felix Mantilla team for three years said his favorite part, besides baseball, is hanging out with the players from Puerto Rico and meeting new people. Acosta went to Puerto Rico last year with his team.
“He gets to learn a lot of things from a lot of different cultures, which a lot of people don’t get to do,” said Acosta’s mother, Naomi Acosta.
A coffee-table book, titled “Changing Lives in 5 Days,” documented the trip the team took to Puerto Rico last year.
Mantilla’s sons, Jose Mantilla and Tony Mantilla, started the Felix Mantilla Cultural and Educational Exchange Program two years ago. “The program goes beyond baseball; it’s an educational exchange. [It] goes along with what our parents have always taught us — that education is a big part of who you are,” said Jose Mantilla.
Tony Mantilla explained that for low-income youth, when the school year ends so does their education. “Folks with a little bit more money can afford to take their kids traveling during the summer and by doing that they are learning. We wanted to give our kids those same opportunities and to leverage travel as an educational tool,” he said.
Education is the root of everything on and off the field for Michele Bria, executive director of Journey House.
Bria has implemented a study hall program for Journey House athletes based on programs used by Division I college athletic teams. All athletes must participate in a two-hour study session focused on reading, writing and math.
“It’s not homework help; it’s a college-intensive study hall,” pointed out Bria. “If you don’t go to study hall, you don’t practice; and if you don’t practice, you don’t play in the game,” she said.
“Most Little Leagues around the country are just sports, but we thought it was vital to include that educational component,” said Tony Mantilla.
To participate in the exchange program, the students from Journey House and Isabela had to research one of the places they were going to visit in Milwaukee, write a paper and do an oral presentation.
Tony Mantilla wants to show the athletes that there are ways to be successful other than sports.
“In the last 60 years, two players have made it to the [major leagues] from Isabela. One of them was my father,” he said. When the kids see that so few players from their hometown make it to the major leagues, they realize they need to have back-up career plans outside of baseball, explained Tony Mantilla.
Added Bria, “Two years ago, if you would have asked these kids what they wanted to be when they were older, they all would have said they want to be in the [major leagues].” Now, the youth recognize career opportunities other than being professional sports players, she said.


Old stock photo of chopper on fire widely shared as ill-fated Kedarnath helicopter - Alt News
Mahaprajna Nayak
20th October 2022 / 8:42 pm / Last updated: 21st October 2022
On October 18, 2022, seven people on board a helicopter to Kedarnath were killed in a crash. The rescue and search operation was conducted by the state disaster response force (SDRF), which mentioned that the mishap seemed to have been caused by low visibility due to fog. Soon after the incident, news of it and condolence messages became viral on social media. Most of the tweets carried three pictures. One of the widely-shared images was that of a helicopter exploding mid-air.
Hastinapur MLA Dinesh Karthik‘s tweet carried the photos along with the message, which can be translated to English as: The news of pilgrim casualties in the helicopter crash en-route Baba Kedarnath Dham is very distressing. I express my deepest condolences to the families of all those who lost their lives in this accident. May God give strength to all. #Kedarnath #HelicopterCrash
बाबा केदारनाथ धाम में श्रद्धालुओं को लेकर जा रहे हेलीकॉप्टर क्रैश में कई लोगों के हताहत होने की खबर बेहद कष्टदायी है।
इस हादसे में जान गंवाने वाले सभी लोगों के परिवारजनों के प्रति गहरी संवेदना व्यक्त करता हूं। ईश्वर सभी को संबल प्रदान करे। #Kedarnath #HelicopterCrash pic.twitter.com/4iBbzlsqPf
— Dinesh Khatik (@MLADineshKhatik) October 18, 2022
Aam Aadmi Party MLA Mukesh Ahlawat expressed his grief over the casualties in a tweet.
Journalist Suhrid Tiwari also expressed grief over the death of the passengers on board the helicopter. He tweeted the same pictures along with the condolence message:
Similarly, BJP MLA PN Pathak, former Uttar Pradesh PWD minister Chandrika Prasad Upadhyay, advocate Jitendra Baghel, BJP member of parliament Anil Firojiya, Congress MLA Indraj Gurjar, national social media in-charge of BJP OBC morcha Rahul Gurjar, national vice-president BJP OBC morcha Nayab Saini, BJP MLA Kedar Hazra, and many others shared the picture of a helicopter exploding mid-air.
A reverse image search of the picture with the burning helicopter showed that the same picture had been used as a representational image for several stories reporting on helicopter crashes for several years. The Google image search result showed that a story from Kashmir had used the same image in March 2022, but with the disclaimer that it was a representational image. The reverse image search also showed two results, one each from Microsoft Bing and Yandex, which referred to a report on a helicopter crash in Alaska in 2021 which carried the same image of the burning helicopter.
The Google search result also showed the photo was uploaded on istock and credited to user Giocalde. However, on Alamy, the image of the same helicopter in undamaged condition was uploaded in 2012, and the photo credit carried the full name of the photographer, Giorgio Calderato. Below is a comparison of the pictures uploaded on Alamy and used in various news reports:
A set of characteristics can be noticed which distinguish the two images:
The two observations noted above point towards the fact that the viral image could be manipulated.
Also, if one looks closely at the other pictures of the Kedarnath crash in the tweets where remains of the chopper can be seen, one can see that the body of the ill-fated chopper is blue in colour with white bands. In the explosion photo, however, the chopper is of metallic colour with a few saffron bands. Moreover, the tail of the helicopter seen in the crashed remains does not contain a rotor but the viral image does. Here is a comparison:
In order to go to the bottom of the story, Alt News reached out to Giorgio Calderato, the photographer mentioned on Alamy. He confirmed having created the photo of the exploding helicopter using photoshop. “The photo is not real. It was created by me. It’s on sale for commercial purposes,” he told Alt News.
Hence, it can be said that the image of the helicopter ablaze mid-air is not that of the crashed chopper carrying pilgrims to Kedarnath. It is an old stock photo used multiple times for representational purposes.
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Estonia: Security police report hits documentary filmer · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Gedanken über Estland reports [GER] that the Estonian documentary filmer, Oleg Besedin, is accused of anti-Estonian propaganda in the 2010 annual report of Estonia's security police, KaPo.


Hungary: Hungarian-Roma Tensions Result in Clash in Gyöngyöspata · Global Voices
Marietta Le

Last night four people were injured in a clash between ethnic Hungarian members of the far-right group Véderő and members of the Roma community in Gyöngyöspata. Tensions have been escalating in this northern Hungarian village since March. By last Friday, Véderő‘s show-off military training tipped the scales of the conflict against making peace between the local Roma and Hungarian communities.
Contradictory accounts have been published in the Hungarian media about how exactly the fight started – and neither of the communities has taken responsibility for the clash.
A Roma girl cries after arriving back home following her evacuation from the Hungarian village of Gyöngyöspata. Image by David Ferenczy, copyright Demotix (24/04/2011).
Gyöngyöspata Solidarity blog shared a translation of the index.hu news report [hu]. János Ladó of the Roma Civil Rights Foundation told index.hu the Hungarians had been provoking the Roma community all day and this topped with the clash:
[…] By the evening, in the middle of a birthday celebration, the provocation increased, and more and more gathered on both sides. The Roma called the police, first one patrol arrived, then more policemen.
While the crowd was gathering in the central areas of the town, some threw stones at the windows of one of the houses in the Roma neighbourhood, some 10 minutes walk from there, then assaulted a 14-year-old local Roma boy. A serious fight in the Roma neighbourhood followed; according to Ladó, some were seriously injured, he saw three. Police called for more police backup. This was also confirmed by representative of TASZ [HCLU- Hungarian Civil Liberties Union] who saw a group of police cars on the highway, on their way to Gyöngyöspata. […]
Gábor Vona, the leader of the far-right Jobbik party in the Hungarian Parliament, criticized the way in which the Minister of the Interior, Sándor Pintér, responded to the situation in northern Hungary, calling for the minister's resignation because he hadn't been able to protect the Hungarian citizens from the Roma who “keep the whole village, mostly the elderly, in constant terror.”
Egyenlítő blog reported that Mr. Vona also invited PM Viktor Orbán for a dialogue about the Hungarian-Roma relations. The blogger drew quite a radical conclusion in his post [hu]:
[…] The problem is just that along with verbal slaps there are more and more real conflicts [happening]. In the meantime, the government makes some constitution, some media law, [and] educates Europe. […] Nicely [getting] back to the [1930s]. And, sadly, every sign says the [1940s] will be following them again.
Or there's another opportunity: in two weeks from now, the security of our country could highly increase if Mr. Orbán and Mr. Pintér resigned.


Peru: New Bills for a New Congress · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Miguel Morachimo in Blawyer [es] comments on two bills currently being discussed by Peru's new Congress. One is “another attempt to change the Penal Code to establish the dissemination of private conversations through the media as a crime”, and the other seeks to create a “Computer crime law” which adds new crimes related to the violation of personal data, child pornography, etc. to the the Penal Code.


Japan: Official Profiles of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

From Roy Berman: “Some bad info regarding Fukushima plants is going around so I translated the official profiles of BOTH plants.”