01-11-2020 The Asian Independent

www.theasianindependent.co.uk
NEWS
01-11-2020 to 15-11-2020
21
Former SOLDIERS on mission to map
Ganga pollution face cash crunch
New Delhi : Ex-Armymen, who
are slated to embark on a 5,000-km
Ganga parikrama next month in a bid
to map the pollution of the nation's
third largest river, are now facing cash
shortage and could have to cancel the
seven-month-long walkathon if the
funds do not start trickling-in.
These daring veterans were to start
their journey on November 25 from
the holy river's genesis 'Gomukh' to
'Gangasagar', the point at which it
merges into the sea in the Bay of
Bengal, and then return to the starting
point.
"While we were doing fine up until
the pandemic started; post the reopening,
we are finding it increasingly difficult
to sustain it. Many have come
forward from different religions and
countries but the response from within
India has been tepid," said Colonel
Manoj Keshwar, Founder of Atulya
Ganga told IANS.
He added, "We will try to manage it
for few weeks, if the funds do not start
trickling in even by then, we may be
forced to cancel the parikrama. We do
not want to give up or stop until we
have covered 5,000 km track up and
down the Ganges, but we cannot do
that without financial support."
Colonel Manoj Keshwar further
said that the team has approached the
Tourism Ministry, Jal Shakti Ministry,
Central Pollution Control Board and
met with various ministers and stakeholders
to seek help. 'Mundaman
Parikrama' will take around seven
months to complete, during which the
veterans plan to hold public meetings
to mobilise participation of more people
living along the river towards the
cause that has both environmental and
religious significance.
The team plans to hold public meetings
and visit schools along the river
course for creating mass awareness.
A tracker will be developed to keep
a tab on an increase or decrease in pollution
in and around the river. A report
in this regard will be handed over to
the Prime Minister's Office and other
ministries concerned.
As per the rules of 'Mundaman
Parikrama', the person engaged in the
exercise is not allowed to cross the
river at any point, except at Gomukh
and Gangasagar. The person can move
away from the banks for only a maximum
of one yojan or 13 km and must
see the holy river once in 24 hours.
The team will undertake the
Parikrama for at least 10 years.
Records will be maintained to cross
check on progress in pollution reduction
in and around the river.
"Even when we were in Army, we
always thought of Ganga as a saviour,
the source of nourishment for millions
living on its banks. It was perhaps this
strong sentiment towards the river that
motivated us to organise the first ever
Mundaman Parikrama. The aim was to
make ganga cleaning a fun activity,
while making it a great learning experience
as well," Keshwar added.
What's in a name? Everything, Kamala Harris tells America
New York : Democratic Vice
Presidential nominee Kamala Harris is
turning the final stretch of her campaign
to the threshold of American
political history into a teaching
moment on accurate pronunciation as
an expression of common courtesy
and a nod to respecting world cultures.
Harris' first name Kamala has long
been mispronounced in US political
circles. The maximum mangling has
happened in the last few weeks, as
Republicans have repeatedly poked
fun at Harris' first name, during an
ongoing national reckoning on racial
politics. Fox News' Tucker Carlson
and more recently Georgia Senator
David Perdue do more than mispronounce
Kamala Harris' first name.
They jump off the deep end. "KAHmah-lah?
Kah-MAH-lah? Kamalamala-mala?
I don't know.
Whatever," Perdue, who has
worked across the aisle with Harris for
three years in the US Senate, said in
his speech at a recent campaign rally
for President Donald Trump. "I think
that the name that your parents give
you, whoever you are, meaning whatever
your gender or race or background
or language your grandmother
speaks, is a very special thing," Harris,
56, told the latest edition of PEOPLE
magazine in an interview with her husband.
"Many cultures have naming ceremonies.
It is a gift that is an incredible,
familial gift. The family gives the
child a name and so I come at it from
that: not about myself, but for everyone...
Respect the names that people
are given and use those names with
respect," Harris said. Kamala means
'lotus' in many Indian languages and it
is a well loved name for girl children.
"It's about respect," Harris told
PEOPLE, "and it's about respect for
all that comes with a name".
Apart from the now du jour storyboard
on how to say 'Kamala' the right
way, a fresh burst of Kamala Harris
content is washing over media coverage
the weekend before the big night
on November 3.
If reporters aren't scrambling to
Harris' mother's hometown Chennai,
they're tracking down online groups
devoted to 'Chittis' (aunt in Tamil,
Harris' mother tongue) and crunching
data on how online narratives related
to Harris have zeroed in much more on
personal identity, compared with the
men in the presidential race. "Family,"
Harris had said during her nomination
speech, "is my uncles, my aunts, and
my Chittis".
WNYC has a report out on 'Chitthi
Brigade', a political sisterhood of 150-
200 members stretching across 20
states, including Ohio, Arizona, Texas,
Georgia, and Pennsylvania. "It brings
together women of three generations,
from their 20s to their 70s, all of
whom are committed to helping elect
the Biden-Harris ticket and to inspiring
one another during the chaos of the
presidential campaign."
A Washington Post "perspective"
piece is headlined "Kamala Harris
knows things no vice president has
ever known". The author writes about
the "profoundly moving" nature of
Kamala Harris simply doing the paces
as a woman. "That she has thought,
talked, purchased, exercised, sought
medical care, sought justice, laughed
and bitten her tongue as a woman."