1. What’s the story? |
India and the US are in the middle of a full-blown tariff war. Following weeks of simmering tension, US President Donald Trump tweeted out the following statement on Tuesday: “India has long had a field day putting Tariffs on American products. No longer acceptable!” (Quick recap: A tariff is a tax paid on a particular class of imports or exports.) |
2. Who else should I be looking at? |
Pandu Mandavi, that’s who. Back in 2010, this Adivasi man found himself wrongfully accused of carrying out a Maoist attack. For nine years, he lived in constant fear. He was, after all, just another casualty of a profitable, new Bastar industry. “… a lucrative industry exists in Bastar, which thrives on the detentions, arrests, surrenders and murders of Adivasis in dubious Maoist-related cases. Its chief beneficiaries are the police, but it also supplies lawyers with hefty fees and journalists with an endless stream of photo-ops.” This is his story. |
3. What more? |
The United Nations (UN) is not happy with India. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has issued a strongly worded report (13 months after issuing the first one) warning India about an increase in state-sanctioned human rights violation in Kashmir. 160 civilians were killed in political violence in Kashmir last year – the highest such number in a decade. 1253 people have reported being blinded by pellet guns between 2016 and 2018. The troubled state seems to be on a downward spiral, and the government’s refusal to investigate civilian deaths is not helping. |
4. Anything else? |
The Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha feels bad for Muslim women. A few months ago, it had appealed to the Supreme Court of India, asking for “permission for Muslim women to enter and pray in mosques.” The Supreme Court, however, was having none of it. It outright dismissed the petition earlier this week, summing everything up in the following sentence: “Let a Muslim woman come and challenge it. Then we will consider.” |
5. Is that all? |
It took Europe a couple of World Wars to form the European Union. It took Africa just about four years. In a landmark statement, African leaders have announced the creation of a 55-nation trade zone. The sheer numbers are staggering. The proposed trade zone is expected to cover 1.3 billion people, create trillions of dollars of trade, and bring about dramatic economic changes in the continent. We will keep you posted. |
6. Before you leave… |
The Philippines is not known for its lenient drug laws. Ironically, though, cocaine bricks keep washing up on its beaches. |