Bengaluru resonates with #IAmGauri as protesters throng Central College grounds

coastaldigest.com news network
September 12, 2017

Bengaluru, Sept 12: Thousands of fans of slain journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh including progressive thinkers, writers and rights activists came together on Tuesday to protest the coldblooded murder of one of the most fearless journalists the country has ever produced.

Sporting black badges that read - #IAmGauri - the protesters took out a rally from the Sangolli Rayanna Railway Station to the Central College grounds, where a protest meeting was held. Over 300 policemen were deployed in and around the Central College.

Choking with emotion, Gauri’s mother Indira Lankesh said: “She [Gauri] fought with every fibre of her body. For me, all of you are my Gauris.”

Social activist Teesta Setalvad recalled her association with Gauri. “Though we are of the same age, she called me her little sister, as I had a lot to learn from her. The only thing bearable in the death is the support that has come now. We can't let cohesion resistance go in vain,” she said.

She also said Gauri believed that the youth were the real opposition. “She had a rational outlook and believed in the freedom of questioning. No majoritarian fascist can take it away from us. We can't afford to be sectarian under individual flags. We can't let the death go in vain.”

Chandrashekar Patil, writer, read out a poem as a tribute to Gauri. “A few years ago, I was Dabholkar... then, Pansare. And, two years ago, when my classmate, colleague and comrade M.M. Kalburgi was assassinated, I became Kalburgi. Now, I’m Gauri,” he said.

CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury said, “I'm here as a foot soldier of Indian democracy and idea of India. It isn't abstract. It's concrete and alive. It can coexist only if there is opportunity to discuss and debate without bullets to kill. That's the spirit to kill caste, religious minorities. The battle of ideas is the idea of India. My India doesn't remain if it is killed through bullets.”

He added that the country had lost a person who disagreed verbally, who was an active participant and who never eliminated ideas.

“What has happened with Gauri is unacceptable and is not an isolated incident. We're here because we're now realising that we are in the path of a movement where those in authority and power are creating a totalitarian state. It is the antithesis of India,” he said.

While referring to the RSS and the BJP filing cases, he said that one cannot be cowed down. “Remember, Mahatma Gandhi was a victim of the Hindu Rashtra and those against diversity.”

Acclaimed Kannada writer and Dalit activist Devanur Mahadeva said that when India got Independence, there were dreams of an ideal Indian society, of how it should be in the future. “What has happened now? Our mentality is going backwards. The dream has become a nightmare. Now, the majority is ‘Indianness’. And Kalburgi, Gauri are being killed as the majority marches on.”

It is not just intellectuals, even religious heads are facing threats, claimed Shivamurthy Swamiji of Chitradurga Muruga Mutt.

Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar said that the coming together of so many voices on one stage was reason for optimism. “Those who want to crush, not just the Constitution, but aspirations of equality are in power today,” she remarked.

A special edition of Gauri Lankesh weekly was released. The protest meeting is likely to go on till evening.


Comments

Rameez
 - 
Tuesday, 12 Sep 2017

Good gather. Good to see pfi and sdpi

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News Network
June 26,2020

Washington, Jun 26: The US is reviewing its global deployment of forces to ensure it is postured appropriately to counter the People's Liberation Army, given the increasing threat posed by China to Asian countries like India, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday.

Mr Pompeo made those remarks in response to a question during the virtual Brussels Forum 2020 of the German Marshall Fund.

"We're going to make sure we're postured appropriately to counter the PLA. We think that the challenge of our times, and we're going to make sure we have resources in place to do that," Mr Pompeo said.
 
The force posture review is being done at the direction of President Donald Trump, as part of which the US is reducing the number of its troops in Germany from about 52,000 to 25,000, he said.

Mike Pompeo said that the force posture would be dictated by the ground realities.

"In certain places there will be fewer American resources. There'll be other places - I just talked about the threat from the Chinese Communist Party, so now threats to India, threats to Vietnam, threats to Malaysia, Indonesia, South China Sea challenges, the Philippines," he said.

"To the extent that that changed, the difference in what the US decided to do impacts adversely a threat some place, it may be that other nations need to step up and take responsibility for their own defense in ways that they hadn't done previously. So, we want to do this in full consultation with all of our partners all around the world, and certainly our friends in Europe," Mr Pompeo said.

President Trump is being criticised for reducing troops from Germany. His critics say that this will increase the threat from Russia to Europe.

Mike Pompeo, however, did not agree with that argument.

It has been a long time since there has been a strategic review of our force posture all across the world. The US undertook that starting about 2.5 years ago, whether that was our forces in Africa, our forces in Asia, the force we have in the Middle East and in Europe, he said.

"We began to say these are often decisions that were made in a different time. Should we reallocate those a different way? Should we have a different composition of those forces? Everyone always wants to talk about ground troops. I get it. I was a young tank officer. You described that. There's nothing I like as much as a good M1 tank.

"But it's often the case that the capacity to deter Russia or other adversaries isn''t determined any longer by just having a bunch of folks garrisoned someplace. So, we really went to back fundamentally relook, what is the nature of the conflict, what''s the nature of the threat, and how should we allocate our resources, whether that''s our resources in the intelligence community, our resources from the Air Force or the Marines and Army," Mr Pompeo said.

Last week, Mike Pompeo criticised the Chinese Army for "escalating" the border tension with India and militarising the strategic South China Sea. He also described the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) as a "rogue actor".

"Our broad set of allocation of security apparatus, our ability to counter cyber threats, how do we allocate them? What''s the best way to do this? And the decision that you see the president made with respect to Germany is an outcome from a collective set of decisions about how we''re going to posture our resources around the world," said the top American diplomat on Thursday.

Changes in force posture is being taken in consultations with allies and friends, Mr Pompeo said.

"President Trump has spoken to this. (Defense) Secretary (Mark) Esper will be in London today and in Brussels tomorrow. We''ll talk about our plan and how we''re thinking about delivering it," he said.

"But you should understand this, and I hope our European partners will understand this as well. When you see what we ultimately conclude, how we ultimately deliver on the statements of the president made, that they''re aimed squarely at what we believe to be democracies'' fundamental interest and certainly America's most fundamental interest," Mr Pompeo said.

Earlier this month, Mike Pompeo had said that China's actions, be it on the India border, or in Hong Kong or in the South China Sea, were part of the behaviour of the ruling Communist Party in Beijing in the recent past.

China has been fast expanding military and economic influence in the Indo-Pacific region, triggering concern in various countries of the region and beyond.

China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources and are vital to global trade.

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News Network
April 14,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 14: The Karnataka government has decided to adopt “remote monitoring” of COVID-19 positive patients in order to ensure the safety of healthcare professionals - the frontline warriors against the pandemic.

Two doctors treating COVID-19 patients tested positive recently and in to check such instances in future, the Department of Medical Education is planning remote monitoring, which reduces doctors’ exposure to patients.

Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar has consulted some of the doctors in the United States who are already using this technology to treat the COVID-19 positive cases. The minister is also having a meeting with representatives of some of the companies which provide such technology.

“I spoke to a team of epidemiologists and heads of certain departments at the United States to know about the remote monitoring technology they are using. I am also meeting the representatives of a few such companies which can provide us with the technology at our hospitals,”  Dr Sudhakar said.

Track state-wise coronavirus cases here

The minister added, “We have heard reports of many doctors and other health professionals succumbing to COVID-19. We don’t want to take risk.” Explaining the technology, Dr Sachidanand, Vice Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences said that remote monitoring uses a software with which specialist doctors can monitor health condition of patients and treat them by not getting exposed directly.

The presence of all the doctors in COVID-19 is not necessary when patients are monitored remotely. 

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News Network
April 12,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 12: Cheif Minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday paid homage to Legendary Kannada actor Dr. Rajkumar on his 14th death anniversary.

Yediyurappa shared a poster of Dr Rajkumar on his Twitter with a caption, “We pay homage to Karnataka Ratna Dr. Rajlumar on his death anniversary. Let us keep the unique service rendered by Dr. Rajkumar through Theater and movies. ”

Let us keep the unique service rendered by Dr. Rajkumar through theater and movies. ”

Dr Rajkumar is one of the greatest actors in the history of Kannada film industry and is known as a legendary actor in Sandalwood. He has acted in more than 200 movies and has a huge fan base even after his demise.

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