1. Archaeologist finds Mesolithic-era rock painting in Andhra’s Guntur
Painting of a man tilling land found at cave shelters at Orvakallu village in Guntur district.
A Mesolithic period rock painting depicting a person tilling a piece of land has been found by D. Kanna Babu, former Superintending Archaeologist of the Temple Survey Project (Southern Region) of the Archaeological Survey of India, Chennai, in Orvakallu village in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh.
Mr. Kanna Babu told The Hindu that while surveying the lower River Krishna Valley to ascertain the architectural features of shrines, he identified a new prehistoric rock painting on the walls and ceiling of natural rock shelters on a hillock at Orvakallu.
“After an intensive exploration, it was noticed that these were shelters for prehistoric humans who lived at this place. Among these five naturally formed caves, two are embellished with distinguished depictions of rock paintings on the back walls and ceilings executed by people of Mesolithic Age, roughly [from] 5000 BC,” he said.
Mr. Babu added that the paintings were made with “natural white kaolin and red ochre pigments”, as well as that most of them had been “badly damaged” due to exposure to “air and wind”. “However, some of the sketches and outlines are still intact for the visitors,” he said.
Ochre is a pigment composed of clay, sand, and ferric oxide. Kaolinite is a soft, earthy, and usually white mineral produced by the chemical weathering of aluminium silicate minerals like feldspar.
Culture of people
According to Mr. Babu, the find throws light on aspects of the social life and culture of the people who lived in the area.
One of the paintings depicted a man catching wild goat with his left hand while wielding a hook-like implement to control it. Another showed two couple standing with their hands raised while a child stood behind them.
Mr. Babu also singled out a painted figure of a man holding a plough and appearing to be tilling land — an indication, in his telling, “of a semi-settled life pattern” in which members of this community cultivated crops.
2. Safety first
India’s regulators must ensure quality and safety of drugs
Reports of drugs manufactured in India causing severe harm and dozens of patient deaths from across the world continue to trickle in, the latest being the deaths of two patients in Sri Lanka who were administered Indian-made anaesthetic drugs. Just last month, eye drops manufactured in India had caused eye infection in about 30 patients and blindness in 10 in Sri Lanka. While anaesthetic drugs made in India causing deaths are a first in the recent past, eye drops causing infections, blindness and even deaths were reported a few months ago in the United States, with the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finding a highly drug-resistant bacteria in them. The series of adverse reports against drugs produced in India began last year when the World Health Organization (WHO) linked the deaths of at least 70 children in Gambia from acute kidney injury, to cough syrups. The culprit ingredient in the syrups was diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol — deadly chemicals used as a cheaper substitute for propylene glycol — that should never have been found in any medicine. Soon after the deaths in Gambia, cough syrups made in India and containing the two deadly chemicals killed 18 children in Uzbekistan in December 2022. In end-April this year, Indian-made cough syrup was again in the news when WHO flagged the contaminated drugs found in the Marshall Islands and Micronesia; the contamination was identified by the Australian regulator. Diethylene glycol-contaminated drugs have led to at least five incidents of poisoning in Chennai, Mumbai, Bihar, Gurugram and Jammu between 1972 and 2020.
The conduct of the Indian drug regulator ever since WHO first raised a red flag in October last year has been on predictable lines. Even after serious violations, it gave a clean chit to the company that had supplied the drugs to Gambia and then went on the offensive to fault the global health body. While WHO held its ground, the drug regulator’s stand was exposed — test results from Switzerland and Ghana confirmed the presence of toxic chemicals in the cough syrup sample from Gambia. Also, a detailed causality assessment by Gambia and independent investigations by the Gambian Parliamentary Committee and CDC Atlanta found a link between the deaths and the toxic chemicals. Except for some customary inspections, the Indian drug regulator has so far failed to institute measures to make sure drugs produced in India for export and domestic use are safe. India can continue to be the pharmacy of the global south only if the regulator begins to behave like a watchdog to ensure drug safety, and not as a facilitator for the pharma industry.
3. India gifts INS Kirpan to Vietnam, focuses on enhancing defence relations, security
Fresh ties: Rajnath Singh and Vietnam Defence Minister General Phan Van Giang in New Delhi on Monday.
India gifted the indigenously-built in-service missile corvette INS Kirpan to Vietnam to enhance its naval capabilities. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced this on Monday after bilateral talks with his visiting Vietnamese counterpart General Phan Van Gang.
“Progress on various bilateral defence cooperation initiatives was reviewed during the meeting, with both sides expressing satisfaction at the ongoing engagements,” a Defence Ministry statement said on the talks while stating that the two Ministers focused on enhancing cooperation between defence industries of both countries and maritime security.
Both Ministers identified means to enhance existing areas of collaboration, especially in the field of defence industry cooperation, maritime security and multinational cooperation, the Ministry said. Gen. Phan also visited headquarters of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and discussed ways to enhance “defence industrial capabilities by cooperation in defence research and joint production”.
Earlier in the day, Gen. Phan laid a wreath at the National War Memorial and was later given a triservice guard of honour. He arrived in India on Sunday on a two-day visit.
INS Kirpan is a Khukri class missile corvette displacing 1,350 tonnes and was commissioned into the Navy on January 12, 1991. It has a displacement of close to 1,400 tonnes, a length of 91 metres, a beam of 11 metres and is capable of speed in excess of 25 knots. The ship is fitted with a medium range gun, 30 mm close range guns, chaff launchers and surface-to-surface missiles, according to the Navy.
In June 2022, India and Vietnam signed an MoU on mutual logistics support in presence of the two Defence Ministers during Mr. Singh’s visit to the South East Asian nation. The two Defence Ministers also signed the ‘Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam defence partnership towards 2030’.
Hanoi has procured 12 high speed patrol boats for the Vietnamese border guard force under a $100mn Line of Credit (LoC) extended in 2014.
4. Uniform Civil Code part of Directive Principles of State Policy, says Rajnath Singh
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday questioned the controversy being created over Uniform Civil Code, saying it was part of the Directive Principles of State Policy laid down in the Constitution.
“Is Uniform Civil Code not in the Directive Principles of the Constitution of India? Why is then controversy being created over this?” Mr. Singh said.
“If the government does something by deviating from the Constitution, going beyond its limits, then it should be considered wrong. But here, it is not the BJP which made the Constitution, it was Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar who made the Constitution and Jawaharlal Nehru was also part of the team.”
Mr. Singh was speaking at an event in Uttarakhand to mark the completion of nine years of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.
The Minister said the Law Commission was collecting opinion about the UCC from across the country.
“Is there no UCC in Goa? Why are there objections? Is there no UCC in M.P.?” Mr. Singh said.
He added that all objections against the UCC was part of vote-bank politics.
5. ‘President’s Rule is the last option in Manipur; govt. will wait and watch’
Taking guard: Indian Army soldiers patrol a violence-hit area at Irengbam in Bishnupur of Manipur on Monday.
The BJP is in a dilemma regarding the continuance of Biren Singh as Manipur CM as violence continues; his removal could alienate Meitei community more, the party fears; President’s Rule could push back normalcy in State as AFSPA may return
As ethnic violence and protests continue in Manipur for more than 45 days, multiple sources in the government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that imposing President’s Rule in the State was the “last option” and the idea was to exhaust the other available measures first.
Several organisations have demanded the imposition of President’s Rule in the State owing to perceived and known biases in the State administration and security forces. While MLAs from the Kuki tribe, including those from the BJP, have blamed the State police for planning attacks against the community, the dominant Meitei community has accused the Assam Rifles of helping the Kuki insurgent groups.
The BJP is in a dilemma regarding the continuance of Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh in the post. Removing him at this juncture could alienate the Meitei community more, and also lead to President’s Rule.
“Biren Singh’s removal will lead to alienation among the Meitei community, but President’s Rule will also mean takeover by Central forces, and a return of instruments like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act [AFSPA] that the Centre had worked so hard to withdraw from various districts of northeastern States, including Manipur,” said a senior source in the BJP.
Political processes would have to take a back seat, as would civil administration, a situation that would push back normalcy as well, said the source. And yet, the attacks on even residences of BJP MLAs are still on, with Union Minister Rajkumar Ranjan Singh’s house being torched recently.
Protests in U.S.
There are reports that Meitei organisations in the U.S. have planned to organise protests in Washington DC during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the U.S. this week. The Association of Meitei in the Americas has announced a demonstration at Lafayette Park in the U.S. capital on June 22.
A senior government official said they were not expecting the situation to become better anytime soon. “We are taking all kinds of measures, which include outreach as well as combing operations. It is wait and watch for now, we are mindful that it may take months also. When the Kuki-Naga conflict happened in the 1990s, more than 700 people were killed and it took years to bring in normalcy,” the official said.
To add to this, the unified command, headed by retired Central Reserve Police Force Director-General Kuldiep Singh, is also facing teething issues with multiple reporting channels. The command was announced by Home Minister Amit Shah during his visit to the State from May 29 to June 1.
More than 40,000 Army and Central Armed Police Force personnel have been deployed in the State. There are three verticals at present operating in the State under the Inter-Agency Unified Command, the Combined Headquarter, Strategy and Operations Group and the Operational Intelligence Wing. An official said though regular meetings were held among the agencies, “coordination” was a problem.
The Home Ministry had in the past two years rolled back AFSPA from certain areas in Manipur owing to improved security situation, till the ethnic violence erupted on May 3. Out of the 92 police stations in Manipur, AFSPA was removed from the limits of 19 police stations. All of them are in the Valley.
“If the Army has to conduct an operation where AFSPA is not there, the civil staff such as the Executive Magistrates have to be requisitioned, which leads to loss of precious time,” said the official.
Internet restoration
Another government official said that Internet was unlikely to be restored in the State immediately. “There are hundreds of videos of violence inflicted on both the communities. We do not want any fresh flare-up as emotions are high,” said the official.
Pointing to the difficulties in maintaining law and order, the official said the police was deeply divided on ethnic lines and they were seeking the help of the Central forces. As reported, the Central forces are being deployed in buffer zones — the areas where the hills and valley, occupied by the Kukis and non-tribal Meitei, merge.
More than 50,000 people have been displaced in the ongoing violence.
6. Ladakh leaders meet Union Minister, demand statehood
Persistent demand: Home Ministry officials feel the scope of talks should be all encompassing and not be limited to statehood.ani
The delegation objects to the composition of a high-powered committee in its interaction with Nityanand Rai; they also seek protections under the Constitution provided to tribal areas
Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai on Monday met a delegation from Ladakh. The delegation comprising leaders from Kargil and Leh reiterated the demand for statehood and constitutional safeguards for the Union Territory.
The meeting comes amid persistent demands and protests in the Union Territory for inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution that provides protection to tribal areas.
Detailed talks
Mr. Rai held detailed deliberations with the delegation who were promised that dialogues would continue. “We discussed our demands and raised our objection to the composition of the high-powered committee,” social-political activist Sajjad Hussain, a member of the delegation said.
The delegation included former Ladakh MP Thupstan Chhewang and former MLAs Chering Dorjey and Nawang Rigzin Jora from the Leh Apex Body. Qamar Ali Akhoon and Haji Asgar Ali Karbalaie — both former MLAs — and Mr. Hussain represented the Kargil Democratic Alliance.
On January 2, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) constituted a high-powered committee to “ensure protection of land and employment” for the people of Ladakh but the committee was rejected by Apex Body Leh and Kargil Democratic Alliance.
According to a committee member, Home Ministry officials felt the scope of talks should not be limited to statehood and the three other demands but should be all encompassing.
Other demands
The other demands are separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts and filling of existing vacancies. Ladakh has shut down multiple times and protested on several occasions in the past three years over these demands.
The special status of the former State of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution has been repealed and it was bifurcated into two Union Territories — J&K and Ladakh, the latter without a legislative Assembly.
7. FM calls for efforts to push farmers to cultivate millets
Promoting millets: Finance Minister stresses that farmers need to shift to more remunerative crops like millets.
Nirmala Sitharaman urges NABARD to increase the land area cultivated with millets; the FM also advises improving rural income and protecting the returns of farmers already growing millets
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday called for concerted efforts to sensitise farmers to shift towards more remunerative but less water-guzzling crops like millets, pulses and oilseeds, and enhance the digital capabilities of rural financial institutions.
Ms. Sitharaman, who was chairing a review of India’s apex rural development financial institution National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development or NABARD along with top officials from the Department of Financial Services, advised it to work towards ensuring efficiency and outcomes at the ground level with improvement in rural income as top priority.
“With production and marketing of ShreeAnna as a national priority in the ongoing International Year of Millets, the Finance Minister directed NABARD to encourage farmers to enhance the area covered under Millets, and to protect the returns of farmers who are already growing millets,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement after the meeting.
Ms. Sitharaman stressed the need to boost the digital capabilities of rural financial institutions including regional rural banks “on priority” for augmenting financial inclusion.
