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- Denis Giles
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- Amina Bibi
In the indo- pacific region, where in Bay of Bengal the chain of Andaman and Nicobar (A &N) Islands is situated. The Andaman Sea has its prominence of joining the Bay of Bengal with the vast indo- pacific waters through the Strait of Malacca. The Indian government’s policy in Indian Ocean and its outreach in the indo – pacific have significant importance of A & N Islands. It is a key pillar to counter China’s outreach into the indo-Pacific region.
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- Denis Giles
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Pratnashree Basu and Sohini Bose
Great Nicobar in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is set to be developed into a transhipment port as part of making the islands a hub for the government’s Port Led development plans. The announcement came during the launch of the submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) connecting Andaman & Nicobar Islands to the mainland on August 10th, 2020. Transhipment involves off-loading cargo from one ship and loading it onto another to carry it to its destination. The proposal for establishing a transhipment port at Great Nicobar has been in the works for a while with opinion being divided on the advantages of such a port, its practical implications and the general gulf between estimations which favour development of the ANI and views which are against the same. An assessment of the implications of a transhipment port at Great Nicobar must be understood keeping these fundamental aspects in consideration.
Read more: The Merits of a Transhipment Port at Great Nicobar: A Brief Assessment
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- Denis Giles
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You are aware an island journalist named Mr Zubair Ahmed has been taken into police custody yesterday night reportedly for a tweet that read as below :
Can someone explain why families are placed under home quarantine for speaking over phone with Covid patients?
In my wildest dreams, I can’t imagine Corona Virus could spread through phone calls. But when news of persons put on quarantine for speaking over phone with covid positive patient comes, what would anyone do? Seek clarity. This is exactly what the journalist did.
In fact he was not the only one. A local daily reported a family of four from Haddo, a town near Port Blair was put in home quarantine after a member from the family spoke over phone with a corona positive relative. Since physical movement is not allowed in lockdown, it is obvious for relatives and friends to call each other over phone. That is how one keeps in touch and motivates each other at the hour of crisis. Everyone does that.
Also protocol doesn’t allow identifying a Covid-19 patient, then how will anyone know the one he/she is calling is covid positive. It is logic defying insanity to make phone calls the basis for putting someone under quarantine. At the most it could be a tool for contact tracing, but to make phone calls the basis for putting someone under quarantine is unprecedented.
For the first time in this lockdown, I had sleepless night thinking if one can be arrested for putting out such a simple tweet in a civilized manner, what lies ahead?
In a free country, questions are asked for larger good, concerned authority answers them and issues are laid to rest. That is how democracy is known to function. But in this instant, without answering the question, the journalist has been arrested. It appears, an attempt is being made to trample democracy, muzzle citizen’s right to freedom of speech and create a chilling effect. I condemn such police action and demand all charges against Mr Zubair Ahmed be withdrawn.
(From someone who does not want to be identified.
No, not because he/she is covid positive, you know why?)