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Hans India
4 days ago
- Business
- Hans India
Chennai Corpn appoints independent consultant to monitor solid waste management in PPP zones
In a bid to strengthen the monitoring of solid waste management operations in the city, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has appointed a private agency to supervise the collection and transportation of solid waste in selected zones under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. While 14 of the city's 15 zones have already been entrusted to private agencies for waste collection and transport, the GCC has now initiated the appointment of Independent Engineers (IE) — private consultants tasked with overseeing the proper implementation of waste management services in specific areas. The new arrangement is currently being rolled out in Zones 5 and 6, which cover Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, comprising 28 wards and spanning an area of 38.92 sq km. According to the latest proposal, the private concessionaire responsible for waste handling will manage the collection and transportation of solid waste, street sweepings, silt removed from drains and canals, horticultural waste, and domestic hazardous waste within the designated zones. To ensure effective service delivery, the project includes a performance-linked payment model. 'Under the new system, 50 per cent of the monthly payment to the concessionaire is fixed, while the remaining 50 per cent is tied to performance. This performance is evaluated through a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs),' a senior GCC official explained. The Independent Engineer will be responsible for monitoring and supervising all aspects of the concession agreement, including physical and financial progress, adherence to KPIs, and service delivery parameters. 'The IE can appoint personnel for daily monitoring and must verify the reports submitted by the concessionaire, generate independent assessments, and submit these to the authorities,' the official added. The project is being implemented under the Design, Build, Finance, Operate, and Transfer (DBFOT) model in accordance with the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Board (TNIDB) Act and the Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tenders (PPP Procurement) Rules, 2012. GCC officials believe that deploying independent oversight will ensure accountability and consistent service delivery, ultimately improving sanitation standards across the city.
News18
6 days ago
- Politics
- News18
Reframing The Nationalism Debate: Who Is ‘Othering' Whom?
What is particularly troubling is that the expositions of Hindutva, or Hindu Nationalism, are often one-sided Free speech and the free exchange of ideas are the hallmarks of a democracy. Newspapers in a democracy serve as revered platforms that should facilitate the expression of diverse viewpoints within the bounds of civility, even if the establishment does not endorse those opinions. A major newspaper is currently hosting a heated debate on the prevailing nationalism in India. However, what is particularly troubling is that the expositions of Hindutva, or Hindu Nationalism, are often one-sided. These pieces are typically written not by its proponents or even objective critics, but by its adversaries who openly display their counter-ideologies. These essays often suffer from a lack of knowledge, distort facts, and rely on biased logical analyses. The result is a flawed but convenient conclusion that satisfies the preconceived notions of Hindutva's detractors. Three articles that recently appeared in that newspaper fall into this category: Yogendra Yadav's 'The nationalism we forgot" (Indian Express, May 27), Suhas Palshikar's 'Who stole my nationalism?" (IE, May 31), and Akeel Bilgrami's 'The nation, the state and the other: Hindutva's imprint on nationalism in India" (June 16, IE). Thus, I feel compelled to present a rejoinder that is both historically accurate and rationally robust. How valid is the charge of 'othering' levelled against Hindutva or Hindu Nationalism? Yogendra Yadav writes: 'The nationalism we inherited from our freedom struggle was very different. To borrow an expression from John A Powell, Indian nationalism was about 'belonging without othering.' It sought to build the nation by creating a deep sense of national belonging without inventing external or internal enemies. This Indian nationalism is under assault today. The newfangled nationalism cannot think about fostering a sense of belonging without an aggressive campaign of othering." Akeel Bilgrami adds: 'Yogendra Yadav (IE, May 27) stresses a familiar distinction between two nationalisms. He invokes a vivid label — 'belonging without othering' — to characterise the distinction. The nationalism pursued in the freedom struggle exemplified this label. The nationalism in Europe precisely did not, neither does the nationalism in currency in India today." This inference about 'othering' in the context of current nationalism is not only conceptually dishonest but also historically inaccurate. 'Othering' as a phenomenon did not originate with the advent of Hindutva, nor was it, as these writers claim, the core strategy guiding the rise of Hindu Nationalism. The notion of othering can be traced back much earlier in the subcontinent, starting with Muslim rulers who introduced the derogatory term 'kafir' to define others. Jizya tax imposed solely on Hindus during the regime of Islamic kings was a systematic act of othering. Moreover, the 'othering' of Hindus was a state-sanctioned policy endorsed by Muslim clerics and scholars, making it a systemic policy. When the Mughal Emperor Akbar tried to introduce a more syncretic culture, he was hounded by Muslim clerics, and the ideology of 'othering' resurfaced with a vengeance. MJ Akbar, in his book 'Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan," writes: 'The vision, however, was determined by an idea with lasting power, the search for 'Islamic space' on the Indian subcontinent. The search began during the ebb of the Mughal Empire, and its formative ideology was shaped by the powerful mind of Shah Waliullah." Shah Waliullah was a Sunni scholar born in 1703, four years before the death of Aurangzeb. Waliullah succeeded Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi, who had charged Emperor Akbar with apostasy for seeking to create a shared Muslim-Hindu culture. Waliullah built upon Sirhindi's idea of reform and fashioned a compelling argument for a jihad to establish a post-Mughal Islamic state in India. Waliullah's prescription was radical and intellectually rigorous. He proposed that Indian Muslims needed to be purged of Hindu influences to recover their pristine, victorious self, as contact with the infidel undermined the faith. This was essential for a true jihad against the rising Hindu powers, which had usurped space from the Mughals, Marathas, and Jats. MJ Akbar further explains that Shah Waliullah elaborated on achieving this end: 'Faith had to be pure, and separation was the antidote to pollution. This is what might be called the 'theory of distance.' The difference between believer and infidel had been blurred in India and could be corrected only through forms of alienation. He told Muslims to live at such a distance from Hindus that they would not be able to see the light of fires in Hindu homes." Inherent to this jihad to re-establish Muslim hegemony in India was the notion that Muslims were a superior people, separate from the local natives. The 'theory of distance' dictated maintaining a safe distance to prevent 'pollution.' 'Othering' was and remains the sine qua non of Muslim presence in the subcontinent. The ghettoization of the Muslim community seen today cannot be blamed on the so-called 'othering' by the Hindu majority; it is the direct outcome of this 'theory of distance,' a script for insular exclusivity. The establishment of Pakistan was the direct result of the crystallisation of Shah Waliullah's ideas or the 'theory of distance.' This idea of separateness, or the quest for 'Muslim space' in the subcontinent, did not fade with Shah Waliullah's death in 1762; it persisted in the writings of Muslim scholars and clerics. In the 1800s, Syed Ahmad bin Syed Muhammad Muttaqi (1817-1898), commonly known as Sir Syed and the founder of Aligarh Muslim University, picked up the baton. Building on Shah Waliullah's 'theory of distance,' Sir Syed was one of the first to invoke the 'two-nation' theory. He consistently referred to Muslims as a nation. In his famous speech at Meerut in 1888, he stated: 'Now, suppose that all English and the whole English army were to leave India, taking with them all their cannon and their splendid weapons and everything, then who would be the rulers of India? Is it possible that under these circumstances two nations — the Mahomedans and the Hindus — could sit on the same throne and remain equal in power? Most certainly not. It is necessary that one of them should conquer the other." MJ Akbar describes how Sir Syed laid the foundation for the establishment of the Muslim League and eventually Pakistan: 'In October 1906, a group of Aligarh alumni initiated a chain of events that culminated in the creation of Pakistan when they helped draft a charter of demands to the viceroy that asked for separate electorates for Muslims, dividing politics along communal lines. In December that year, the annual education conference established by Sir Syed reconstituted itself as a political party, the All-India Muslim League. Within four decades, the Muslim League converted the politics of distance into a separate nation." 'Othering' was a concept formally emphasized by Shah Waliullah in the 1700s and practically executed by Sir Syed in the 1800s, leading to the formation of separate electorates for Muslims and ultimately the creation of Pakistan in 1947. The ethnic cleansing of more than a quarter million Kashmiri Hindus from Kashmir is another manifestation of this inherent 'othering' that persists even today. This othering is systemic and strategic, unlike the isolated, knee-jerk reactions of Hindu outbursts or cow vigilantism. It is also important to note the timeline of these events. By the time VD Savarkar propounded his theory of Hindutva in 1923, Hindus had already been 'othered' into a community with fewer electoral rights than Muslims in 1906, and the 'two-nation' theory had been floated by Sir Syed in 1888. Despite the uproar regarding the 'othering' of Muslims under the BJP, an objective perspective does not lend credibility to these accusations. Unlike Pakistan and Bangladesh, where non-Muslims are systematically 'othered' and constitutionally relegated to second-class status, the Indian Constitution under the BJP still ensures equal rights to all citizens. Courts are not swayed by religion in their verdicts, computerized entrance exams to colleges make discrimination along religious lines almost impossible, and an analysis of UPSC results in recent years shows an increasing number of Muslims making the grade. Yogendra Yadav's and Akeel Bilgrami's views of the so-called 'othering' stem from a narrow, selective, and self-serving snapshot of events in the subcontinent. Their perspective is neither comprehensive, accurate, nor cogent in its scope. top videos View all The so-called othering of Muslims in current times is merely noise and not the reality on the street. The writer is a US-based author. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views. view comments Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: July 10, 2025, 12:14 IST News opinion Opinion | Reframing The Nationalism Debate: Who Is 'Othering' Whom? Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
News18
15-07-2025
- Politics
- News18
Nimisha Priya's Execution Deferred: Not Blood Money, This Is How Kerala Nurse Got Temporary Reprieve
Last Updated: Nimisha Priya, hailing from Kollengode in Kerala's Palakkad district, was found guilty of murdering a Yemeni citizen and her business partner, Talal Abdo Mahdi, in July 2017 The execution of Nimisha Priya, an Indian nurse on death row in Yemen, has been deferred from Wednesday, government sources said on Tuesday. However, the fresh date for her execution was not immediately known. Priya, hailing from Kollengode in Kerala's Palakkad district, was found guilty of murdering a Yemeni citizen and her business partner, Talal Abdo Mahdi, in July 2017. In 2020, a Yemeni court handed her the death sentence and the country's Supreme Judicial Council dismissed her appeal in November 2023. The government of India has made concerted efforts in recent days to seek more time for Priya's family to reach a 'mutually agreeable" solution with the other party, they said. The 38-year-old nurse is presently lodged in a jail in Sana'a, the Yemeni capital city that is under the control of Iran-backed Houthis. Airline consultant and social worker Samuel Jerome Baskaran, who has been leading the negotiations in Yemen to secure Priya's release, said the decision did not involve the family of Talal Abdo Mahdi. Baskaran told The Indian Express that the decision came after Abdul Malik Al Nehaya, ruler of the Al Wasab region, met Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi on Friday. A day later, al-Alimi consented to defer the execution. 'The Indian government also got involved in this mission. There was a directive from the Yemen authorities not to disclose the details," he told IE. Baskaran said the President's order reached the prosecutor on Monday. Subsequently, the public prosecutor of the Republic of Yemen on July 14 issued an order to the director of the central correctional facility, saying that based on the direction of the attorney general, the execution of the retaliation sentence against Priya is postponed. Blood money option Under Sharia law, which is followed in Yemen, a murder conviction doesn't always result in a mandatory execution. Instead, the law allows for a provision known as Diyah, or blood money. It enables the victim's heirs to pardon the murderer if they choose to accept monetary compensation. The amount is negotiable and varies depending on the nature of the crime, local customs, and the family's stance. In Nimisha's case, a staggering offer of $1 million (approximately Rs 8.5 crore) has reportedly been made to Mahdi's family by the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council. So far, there has been no official response. 'The final step to stop the execution is the consent from the Talal family. The key to Nimisha's life rests with the family of Talal. They have to forgive her and our job is to convince the family to forgive her," Baskaran told IE. Doing whatever is possible: Centre to SC The government on Monday informed the Supreme Court that it was doing whatever was 'utmost possible" to save the Indian nurse from execution. It also informed the top court that 'nothing much" could be done keeping in view the status of Yemen. 'There is a point up to which the Government of India can go and we have reached that point," attorney general R Venkataramani informed a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta. The top law officer said the government was keen to save its citizens and was doing 'utmost possible" in the matter. Samuel, who had also helped evacuate Indians from Yemen in 2015, is in Yemen to resume the negotiations. With Inputs from PTI First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Mint
08-07-2025
- Mint
Indian nurse Nimisha Priya, on death row in Yemen, to be executed on July 16: Report
Indian nurse Nimisha Priya, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in Yemen, will be executed on July 16. According to an Indian Express report, Priya was convicted of murdering Yemeni citizen Talal Abdo Mehdi, with whom she ran a clinic. Samuel Jerome Baskaran, a social worker who is currently involved in negotiations with government officials in Yemen and Talal's family, confirmed the development. 'The public prosecutor had issued the letter of prosecution to the jail authorities. The execution is scheduled for July 16. Options are still open. The Government of India can intervene in the matter to save her life,' the IE report quoted the social worker as saying. (This is a developing story. Please check back for updates)
The Wire
06-07-2025
- Business
- The Wire
No Interim Trade Deal Yet, Indian Negotiators Return From Washington DC: Report
New Delhi: There is no interim trade deal in sight between India and the United States yet, and Indian negotiators returned from week-long talks in Washington D.C. on Friday (July 4), as per a report by the Indian Express. A deal is therefore not likely by July 9, the day from which 'reciprocal' tariffs imposed by the US on several goods will be applicable to India. Taking a firm stand, India said that it will not bow down to pressure from deadlines. 'India never makes a trade deal on a deadline or under a time limit,' Union minister for commerce and industry Piyush Goyal told the media on Friday when asked about July 9. 'We will accept the deal when it is good, fully mature and in the national interest,' he added. On April 2, US President Donald Trump announced 'reciprocal' tariffs for many of its trading partners based on their trade surpluses with America, in order to tackle the 'large and persistent goods trade deficits' that his country was facing. According to a statement announcing this move, annual US goods trade deficits have grown by over 40% in the past five years, reaching $1.2 trillion in 2024. The US also announced a 10% universal tariff on all imports effective from April 5. However, the US on April 9 temporarily suspended all rates above this 10% baseline until July 9 so as to allow opportunities for negotiations between countries. For India, the US imposed a 26% levy as a 'reciprocal' tariff, and this is what will be applicable on certain goods being imported into the US from India from July 9. However, the baseline 10% duty on Indian exports is already applicable. Trump has repeatedly expressed his displeasure with India's import tariffs, calling the country a 'tariff king' and a 'very big abuser' of Indo-US trade ties. India and the US in February agreed to start negotiations over a trade deal and implement its first tranche by autumn this year. The two sides have been in talks over an interim deal in exchange for relief from Washington's 'reciprocal' tariff. India's trade negotiators had gone to the US to iron out the interim trade deal, which would aim to focus on US imports of steel, agriculture and dairy products, automobiles and more. However, despite no deal, Indian negotiators returned on July 4. But the talks are still ongoing, and the deal 'is not contingent on any date', the Indian Express quoted a government official as saying. 'India's key interests are sustained access for labour-intensive goods such as textiles and footwear. Auto component exports are also a key interest,' the official told IE. Per the official, the US is not willing to give concessions on steel to any country and India has imposed safeguard duties to protect its domestic industry. The official told the newspaper that 'all possibilities are open' and that the trade deal would be signed only when it is mutually beneficial for both countries. Meanwhile, on Friday, Trump said he had signed letters to 12 countries listing the various tariff rates they would face on goods they export to the US, reported Reuters. According to the US president, these 'take it or leave it' offers would be sent out on Monday. He did not, however, name which countries these were. Reuters also reported that Trump said early on Friday that the 'reciprocal' tariffs that Washington plans to 'offer' vary – some being even higher, ranging up to 70% – and that most would become effective from August 1.
