Latest news with #SFRC
Time of India
31-07-2025
- Time of India
HC takes suo motu cognizance of 10,000 open manholes across city
Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Wednesday took suo motu cognizance of a disturbing media report highlighting over 10,000 open or broken manholes across the city, directing the filing of a public interest litigation within two weeks. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The bench, comprising Justices Anil Kilor and Vrushali Joshi, expressed concern over the civic body's failure to act despite the serious threat to public safety, particularly during the monsoon. "Such widespread neglect by the municipal authorities cannot be ignored. It directly endangers human lives," the court observed, appointing Shilpa Giratkar as amicus curiae to draft and submit the PIL. The trigger was a July 30 report that detailed how thousands of sewer and drainage chamber lids across roads and footpaths are either missing or damaged. Many are submerged under stagnant rainwater, making them invisible and turning regular commutes into high-risk journeys for pedestrians, motorists, and animals. The issue cropped up during the hearing of a petition by a woman, Asha Bhagat, filed through Giratkar, whose son died after falling into an uncovered well between Automotive Square and Kamptee Road. The bench directed to club this case along with the suo motu PIL on manhole safety. As per the report, despite sanctioning Rs15 crore — Rs1.5 crore per zone across 10 city zones — for installing 10,000 new covers, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation has not initiated a single repair. The tender process was completed in April, but no actual work followed. Most of the older cast-iron lids were reportedly stolen for scrap. Even temporary cement covers were stripped of embedded metal rods. While the NMC proposed switching to SFRC (Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete) covers, the plan never left the paper stage. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "Tenders were floated and police complaints were filed, yet the chambers remain open," the report noted. The absence of covers has also led to a spike in accident cases, with both people and animals falling into open manholes. The condition is especially dangerous on flooded roads and submerged footpaths. Several internal city roads routinely turn into mini-lakes during the monsoon, worsening the hazard, the report mentioned.
Mail & Guardian
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Mail & Guardian
Understanding the first 160 days of Senate Foreign Relations Committee on African affairs and global health policy
Is there partisan agreement on the strategic priorities for African affairs and global health policy among the majority members? A rapid review suggests that there has been a significant shift in the strategic priorities on African affairs and global health policy that have been pursued in formal engagements by the majority members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC). Over the first 160 days, the formal engagements of the majority members were not as strongly aligned with the strategic priorities of countering global health threats and strengthening democratic institutions as they were with the strategic priorities of ending regional conflicts, realigning US foreign policy, promoting human rights, countering the diplomatic engagement of malign actors and countering the predatory practices of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). That is a curious finding. It means that those formal engagements were not perfectly aligned with the strategic priorities for SFRC engagement on African affairs and global health policy that were declared by the relevant subcommittee chair during the first 160 days of either the last session or the current one. In turn, that raises a number of follow-on questions of policy relevance. One is whether there is partisan agreement on the strategic priorities for African affairs and global health policy among the majority members. Another is whether there is bipartisan agreement that the promotion of human rights should be a strategic priority among the majority and minority members. Media outlets and think tanks should seek to provide answers to those questions. Strategic priorities A rapid review shows that there were significant changes in the strategic priorities for African affairs and global health policy that were declared by the respective chair of the SFRC Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy within the first 160 days of the current session versus the last one. Current session At the start of this session, the current subcommittee chair articulated six strategic priorities for engagement. In the press release following his appointment, Senator Ted Cruz A few weeks later, Cruz held Last session In the prior session, the former subcommittee chair articulated a very different set of strategic priorities for engagement. In the press release following his appointment, Senator Corey Booker Committee engagement A rapid review of the hearings, chair press releases and subcommittee chair press releases shows that there was a similar level of SFRC majority engagement on African affairs and global health policy over the first 160 days of the current session versus the last one. Committee hearings In the current session, the SFRC held two committee hearings that were specifically focused on African affairs and global health policy. The first took place on 13 May 2025. It was a In the last session, the SFRC held two committee hearings on African affairs and global health policy over the same period. The first took place on 19 April 2023. It was a Committee majority press In the current session, the SFRC majority press featured six official statements on African affairs and global health policy. The first was an official statement on the In the last session, the SFRC majority press also featured six official statements on African affairs and global health policy. The first was an official statement on Subcommittee chair press In the current session, the press for the subcommittee chair featured three official statements on African affairs and global health policy. The first was an In the last session, the press for the subcommittee chair featured five official statements on African affairs and global health policy. The first was on Analytic synthesis A synthesis of the research findings suggests that there has not been a perfect match between the formal engagements of majority members and the strategic priorities declared by the current subcommittee chair over the first 160 days of the current session. Generally speaking, those formal engagements have not been strongly aligned with at least two of the strategic priorities declared by Booker during the first 160 days of the last session (that is, countering global health threats; strengthening democratic institutions). They have been more aligned with: One of the strategic priorities declared by Booker during the first 160 days of the last session (protecting human rights). Two of the strategic priorities declared by Senator Cruz during the first 160 days of the current session (countering the diplomatic engagement of malign actors; countering the predatory practices of the CCP). Two issues that were not declared to be strategic priorities by either Senators Booker or Cruz during the first 160 days of their respective sessions (realigning US foreign policy; ending regional conflicts). That raises follow-on questions of policy relevance. One is whether the historic pursuit of nomination approvals significantly impacted the strategic priorities that were pursued on African affairs and global health policy during the first 160 days of the current session. Another is whether there was partisan collective agreement on the strategic objectives for African affairs and global health policy among the majority members during the first 160 days of the current session. Yet another is whether there was bipartisan agreement that the promotion of human rights should be a strategic priority for African affairs and global health policy among the majority and minority committee members during the first 160 days of the current session. If so, then that raises the question of why the current subcommittee chair did not declare the promotion of human rights to be a strategic priority in response to domestic political concerns. Of course, there are many others. For example, why did the current subcommittee chair not declare Beyond the synthesis, the rapid review suggests that the current organisational structures of the SFRC subcommittees and State Department bureaus may not be optimised for the achievement of the current strategic priorities for African affairs. Like last session, there are hard jurisdictional boundaries drawn between North Africa affairs and sub-Saharan Africa affairs. Those probably impede the bridging of the artificial divide that exists between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa in African affairs. Moreover, there are blurred jurisdictional boundaries drawn between African affairs and global health policy. That may have made sense when countering global health threats was one of the strategic priorities for African affairs. However, it makes less sense now that countering global health threats has been downgraded as a strategic priority for African affairs. Research limitations The scope of the rapid review was exploratory in nature. As one would expect, it follows that there are several important limitations that merit consideration. First, the rapid review only critically examined a subset of the formal engagements on African affairs and global health policy by the majority members. Missing formal engagements include draft legislation and staff delegations. Their inclusion could have a significant impact on the research findings. There was draft legislation on African affairs and staff delegations to African countries during the first 160 days of the current session. Second, the rapid review did not critically examine informal engagements on African affairs and global health policy by the majority members. Missing informal engagements included social media posts. Their inclusion could have a significant impact on the research findings. There were majority leadership posts on African affairs on social media during the first 160 days of the current session. Moreover, social media was a major platform for engagement. As evidence, the SFRC Chairman's recent Third, the rapid review only critically examined one period of time. That could have had a significant impact on the research findings. There were intervening events that took place over the first 160 days of the current session. One was a There is therefore a clear and present opportunity to improve the general knowledge about the engagement of the SFRC on African affairs and global health policy by way of future research that is designed to address these research limitations. Michael Walsh is a visiting scholar at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Ambassador (Ret) Charles Ray is a member of the Board of Trustees and chair of the Africa Programme at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
United News of India
05-06-2025
- Politics
- United News of India
All-Party Delegation led by Shashi Tharoor briefs key interlocutors in US about cross-border terrorism
Washington/New Delhi, June 5 (UN) The All-Party Parliamentary Delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor briefed the leadership of the House Congressional Caucus on India, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, media and the Indian diaspora on the cross-border terrorism faced by India. The Congressmen, including Rep. Ro Khanna and Rep. Rich McCormick, expressed unequivocal and bipartisan condemnation for the terror attack in Pahalgam, a statement by the Indian Embassy in the US said. The All-Party team is visiting USA to brief key interlocutors about the threat of Pakistan backed terrorism faced by India and India's strong stand against terrorism. On Wednesday, in the US Congress, the delegation met the leadership of the House Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans in the 119th Congress, the co-chairs Rep. Ro Khanna and Rep. Rich McCormick and the two vice co-chairs Rep. Andy Barr and Rep. Marc Veasey. The parliamentary delegation briefed the Caucus members on the cross-border terrorism faced by India. The Congressmen expressed unequivocal and bipartisan condemnation for the terror attack in Pahalgam. They also expressed their support for India's right to respond to terrorism in the spirit of zero tolerance against terrorism. The Caucus members also hailed the strong strategic partnership between India and USA. Thereafter the delegation met the leadership of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) in a special high-power meeting hosted by Committee Chairman Rep. Brian Mast and Ranking Member Rep. Gregory Meeks. Also, in attendance were HFAC's South and Central Asia Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Bill Huizenga, Ranking Member Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, and HFAC's East Asia & Pacific Subcommittee Chairperson Rep. Young Kim and Ranking Member Rep. Ami Bera. The interaction saw a constructive exchange of views on the developments relating to the attack in Pahalgam and India's stand on dealing with such attacks in the future. The Committee Leadership condemned the Pahalgam attack unequivocally. The All Party Parliamentary Delegation was received at the United States Capitol by a bipartisan group of senior U.S. Senators, including leading members from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Senate India Caucus. Senator James Risch, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Leaders of the SFRC subcommittee dealing with South Asia and Counterterrorism Senator Dave McCormick and Senator Jacky Rosen, Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Senator Mark Warner, Member of SFRC and Intelligence Committee Senator John Cornyn and Member of Homeland Security Committee Senator Elissa Slotkin were in attendance. The parliamentary delegation discussed the success of Operation Sindoor, laid out details of Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism, and outlined India's firm resolve to appropriately deal with any such future incidents. In a separate interaction, members of the delegation also met with Rep. Lisa McClain, Chairwoman of the House Republican Conference for the 119th Congress- the highest-ranking woman in Congress. In media interactions, a panel comprising of Shashi Tharoor, Milind Deora, Tejasvi Surya and Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu spoke at the historic National Press Club Newsmakers event on Operation Sindoor, regional security and India's diplomatic outreach to the United States. In another media briefing, hosted at the Embassy of India, the delegation interacted with the American and Indian press corps and conveyed India's resolute stance in dealing with cross-border terrorism. At the close of the day, the All Party delegation met with prominent members of the Indian diaspora wherein they highlighted India's resolute and united stand against terrorism. The Indian diaspora members shared their message of solidarity with the victims of terrorism and support for India's fight against terrorism. UNI RN
