(1) Justice Hema Commission reveals the dark side of Malayalam film industry
The Justice K. Hema Committee report on the issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry, published on Monday (Aug 19, 2024), five years after it was submitted to the Kerala government, revealed horrid tales of sexual exploitation, illegal bans, discrimination, drug and alcohol abuse, wage disparity and in some cases, inhuman working conditions.
The 235-page report, published after redacting the names of the witnesses as well as the accused, notes that the Malayalam film industry is under the clutches of certain male producers, directors and actors, whom a prominent actor referred to as a “mafia”, as they could ban anyone from the industry.
The committee confirms the rumoured existence of the practice of “casting couch” in the industry. Contrary to the other fields, sexual harassment starts even before a woman starts working in the film industry as demands for sexual favours are made by very well-known people in the industry in lieu of offering them roles. Some of the witnesses provided video clips, audio clips and screenshots of WhatsApp messages as proof of casting couch attempts.
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The report has triggered a political storm that appeared to have caught the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala in its dead centre.
The ruling front on Monday scrambled to stave off strident criticism that it had pussyfooted around the 2019 Hema Committee report that chronicled scores of instances of brazen sexual abuse, human rights violation, intimidation, discrimination and wage inequality in Mollywood.
The Justice Hema Committee was formed by the Kerala Government in 2017 based on a petition by the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) to study the challenges faced by women in the industry. Here is a timeline of the events that followed the incident leading up to the submission of the Justice Hema Committee report.
(2) ECI issues notification for first phase of J&K poll
The Election Commission of India on August 20, 2024 issued a notification for the first phase of voting for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election, being held after a decade.
The notification kickstarts the process of filing nominations for the 24 constituencies — 16 in the Valley and eight in Jammu region — which will go to the polls on September 18.
The Assembly election, the first to be held in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, will be held in three phases on September 18, September 25, and October 1.
The Union Territory of J&K has around 87.09 lakh voters, of which 44.46 lakh are men, 42.62 lakh are women, and 3.71 lakh are first-timers. Apart from the 24 seats voting in the first phase, 26 seats will go to the polls in the second, and 40 seats in the third phase.
(3) 17 killed in reactor blast at Andhra Pradesh pharma company
At least 17 workers were killed and 20 others sustained burns in a major fire that broke out reportedly after a reactor blast in Escientia Advanced Sciences Private Ltd. in the Special Economic Zone at Atchutapuram in Anakapalli of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday (August 21, 2024). The company manufactures intermediate chemicals and pharmaceutical ingredients.
The impact of the blast was so strong that the severed body parts of some workers were thrown to some distance on the company premises. Thick flames and smoke engulfed the area.
As many as 381 workers have been working in two shifts in the company. The accident occurred around 2.15 p.m., during shift change. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident.
Spread across 40 acres, Escientia Advanced Sciences Private Limited was set up at Atchutapuram SEZ in 2019 with a budget of around ₹200 crore. The company manufactures Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API).
According to State Home Minister V. Anitha, the blast at the pharma company occurred when workers at the factory tried to stop the leak of a solvent MTBE (Methy Tertiary Butyl Ether).
(4) Modi visits Kyiv after Moscow in diplomatic balancing act
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Kyiv on Friday (August 22) after visiting Moscow last month in the backdrop of more than two years of war between Russia and Ukraine. As part of the discussions, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy touched on India’s imports of Russian oil. He said India’s money was funding the war effort.
To put this in context, India’s imports of Russian oil increased to 44% of total oil imports in July. This was 12% more than a year ago, surpassing China’s imports. Similarly, Russian imports are mostly made up of imports of petroleum crude oil.
India’s position on the war has disappointed the West for its failure to explicitly back Ukraine in the war. India, on the other hand, has only called for peace, without supporting either country. It has abstained on all the resolutions in the United Nations General Assembly that criticised Russia.
This visit to Ukraine has also raised questions about the possibility of India getting a bigger role in resolving the conflict.
Also read:Not taking sides: On Prime Minister Modi’s Ukraine visit
(5) Taliban celebrates three years of return to power in Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s Taliban has celebrated three years in power with a military parade, paying homage to its homemade bombs, fighter aircraft and goose-stepping security forces.
The Taliban’s supreme spiritual leader said the group had transformed Afghanistan into an Islamic sharia-based country, as the former insurgents marked three years of rule with a huge military parade at the Bagram Air Base near Kabul.
“The system is Islamic and sharia-based, sharia is being implemented,” said supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, in a speech shared by the administration spokesman late on Wednesday.
Foreign diplomats, advocates and many Afghans have blamed Akhundzada’s strict interpretation of sharia law for a slew of restrictions on women’s education, attire and travel that have steadily been introduced in the last three years.
After a lightning offensive as U.S.-led foreign forces were withdrawing following 20 years of inconclusive war, the Taliban entered Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021, as Afghan security forces, set up with years of Western support, disintegrated and U.S.-backed President Ashraf Ghani fled.
Despite three years of improved security following the end of the Taliban’s insurgency, Afghanistan’s economy remains stagnant and its population is in the grips of a worsening humanitarian crisis.
A third of Afghanistan’s roughly 40 million people live on bread and tea, according to the United Nations, there is massive unemployment, and the World Bank warns of zero growth over the next three years.
