Boxer Lovlina Borgohain reserved India its second medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 today. She won her quarter-finals match by defeating Chinese Taipei’s Nien-Chin Chen. All the boxers in the semi-finals will get a medal but its color will be decided after the match.
Lovlina defeated Chinese Taipei’s Chen Nien-chin 4-1 in the last eight bouts by split decision. It is a great news for team India, as we will now receive our second medal in Tokyo Olympics. Mirabai charu had won the first medal on day 1 of Olympics.
Lovlina Borgohain (born 2 October 1997) is an Indian amateur woman boxer. She has won a bronze medal at the 2018 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships and the 2019 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. Further she won a gold at the 1st India Open International Boxing Tournament and a silver at the 2nd India Open International Boxing Tournament. Borgohain secured the 3rd rank in the 69 kg Welterweight category. She became the first woman from Assam to qualify for the Olympics and the second boxer from the state to represent the country after Shiva Thapa. In 2020, she became the sixth person from Assam to receive Arjuna Award.
After Mary Kom, Lovlina is the second woman from India who will win the medal in Olympics. Lovlina will now face Turkey’s Busenaz Surmeneli in the semis on 4 August which will decide the medal for India.
National Highway NH 10 blocked at Mamley due to landslide, Sikkim- Siliguri connection since yesterday night and again from today morning which had triggered a landslide on the National Highway-10 at Mamley, Siliguri, West Bengal, which is also a strategic link road connecting Rangpo and Melli.
Today Morning it has been reported that Landslide at Mamley, which is between Melli and Rangpo road, the landslide caused the missing of 6 people.
According to the sources, three people have been found and sent to Singtam District Hospital for emergency treatment. According to the police sources, the search operation of another 3 people is still going on in Mamley.
The NH-10 connects Sikkim’s Rangpo to Kalimpong district, Darjeeling, and Siliguri town. An orange alert has also been sounded by the MeT department in the Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts of West Bengal and in neighboring Sikkim as the region is likely to experience heavy rainfall over the next few days.
According to reports, the incessant rainfall, starting on Saturday evening, led to several landslides in a large part of NH-10 Highway disrupting vehicular movement on the connecting stretch.
For the last 24 hours, the region had witnessed torrential rainfall in North Bengal and Sikkim. The torrent rain has triggered a slide in the Melli area also damaging Govt School.
At 8 AM, today, Sunday morning the Bengal administration rushed into the landslide spot Mamley and is currently working out clearing up operations using 2 JCBs at work to clear the road, local sources said.
“After the landslide was reported nearby we arrived at around 5 am to clear it. The road was already closed, the landslide was reported in other places as well. Mud, rocks, and debris had accumulated on the road” said the local administration who was seen reaching on the spot to clear the road.
Since the first day,India has been waiting for its second medal in Tokyo 2020 Olympics. It was a good start for team India on day 6. Indian rowers Arjun and Arvind finished 11th. Our Indian shuttler PV Sindhu beats Mia Blichfeldt in straight games to advance quarters. Indian men hockey team defeated the reigning champion Argentina by 3-1 and advance to the quarterfinals. Indian boxer Satish Kumar won his first match to advance to the quarterfinals. In addition, archer Atanu Das also stunned London Olympics gold medalist Oh Jin-Hyek to enter the pre-quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Indian shooter Manu Bhaker finished 5th with a score of 292, while Rahi Sarnobat stands at 18th spot with a score of 287 in 25m women’s pistol qualification precision stage. A setback for Indians as Mary Kom lost by a 3-2 margin in her round of 16 clashes to bow out. Indian golfers Anirban Lahiri and Udayan Mane are also in golf action for India. Sajan Prakash finished 46th out of 55 swimmers in his 100m fly event thus ending the swimming campaign for India.
-ABOUT THE MATCHES
– DOUBLE SCULLS: Indian rowers Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh ended their Tokyo Games campaign in 11th position in the men’s lightweight double sculls event. The best ever result for the country in the Olympics here on Thursday. The Indian pair clocked 6:29.66 to finish fifth in the Final B. It wasn’t a medal round and came 11th overall at the Sea Forest Waterway. Ireland, Germany, and Italy won gold, silver, and bronze respectively after the Final A race later in the day.
-BADMINTON: Reigning badminton world champion P V Sindhu sailed into the women’s singles quarterfinals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. She held a straight-game triumph over Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt here on Thursday. The 26-year-old Indian, silver medalist in the 2016 Rio Olympics, completed a 21-15 21-13 win over Blichfeldt in a 41-minute match. Sindhu will next face Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, who defeated Korea’s Kim Gaeun 21-17 21-18 in another pre-quarterfinals. The sixth-seeded Indian has a 11-7 head-to-head count against the Japanese world no 5. She had beaten her at the All England Championship in March this year.
-MEN’S HOCKEY: The Indian men’s hockey team stepped into the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games. They secured a comprehensive 3-1 win over the defending champions Argentina. India scored two goals in the final minutes of its penultimate pool. After goalless first two quarters, India broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute through Varun Kumar. Vivek Sagar Prasad (58th) and Harmanpreet Singh (59th) struck in the closing minutes of the match to seal the contest. It was India’s third win in Pool A at the Oi Hockey Stadium. Argentina’s lone goal came from a penalty corner conversion by Schuth Casella in the 48th minute.
-BOXING: India’s first super heavyweight (+91kg) boxer to compete in the Olympics, Satish Kumar, eased into the quarterfinals. He defeated Jamaica’s Ricardo Brown in his opening bout here on Thursday. In the battle of the debutants, the 32-year-old Satish prevailed 4-1, a comfortable win for him despite the split verdict.
-ARCHERY: Bulls eye from Atanu Das! It came down to a single arrow shootdown. Oh Jin Hyek, South Korean former gold medalist and absolute favorite, fired a 9. Atanu Das needed 10. Deepika Kumari had quietened down after shouting words of encouragement from the stands. Das steadied and gazed. Still head. Stiller body. Boooom. A perfect 10…!
It was close right through the match. The stodgy Korean has a slightly unique way. He bends his left shoulder a bit outwards as he feels it suits his body. “What matters how you control the shoulders,” he once said. What also matters is how you control the mind. The Indian was better on the day in Tokyo 2020.
–SHOOTING: Indian shooters Manu Bhaker and Rahi Sarnobat were placed 5th and 25th respectively in the women’s 25m pistol qualification (precision) at the Tokyo Olympics here on Thursday. In a field of 44 shooters, Bhaker scored 292 after 30 shots on target in the precision round. While compatriot Sarnobat aggregated 287 in the qualifications at the Asaka Shooting Range. The second stage of the qualification — the rapid round — will take place on Friday. The top-8 shooters in the qualification will enter the final. Serbia’s Zorana Arunovic led the pack with 296 points, followed by Greece’s Anna Korakaki who has 294.
-BOXING: In the flyweight quarterfinals at Tokyo Olympics, Ingrit Valencia of Colombia beat Mary by a 3-2 split decision. The 38-year-old Indian lost the battle of the bronze-medalists by a razor-thin verdict, despite winning the last two rounds. With the Olympics having an age cap of 40, Thursday’s outing proved to be her last bout at the event.
The Cricket match was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in R Premadasa Stadium today. SL won the toss and opted to bowl first. It was a tough going pitch and the ball was not coming nicely on the bat. Shikhar Dhawan the Indian captain played very well scored 40 runs in 42 balls. Devdutt Padikkal scored 29 runs in 23 balls with two boundaries, while Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 21 runs in 18 balls. The rest of them didn’t even make up to more runs. This shows that Sri Lanka bowled exceptionally today to team India. Earlier, India started off nicely with the blade, but once the opening stand fell, they could not really bounce back. Their run-scoring was at a slower rate and the inexperienced batting line-up kept losing wickets and ended on 132. It was a brilliant day for the Lankans with the ball, their spinners rode the challenge and restricted the total.
In the second innings, SL didn’t put its best foot forward, Avishka Fernando lost his wicket in the third over. India bowled very well, for a side, that had too much imbalance, but couldn’t do enough to win the game. Sadeera Samarawickrama and Minod Bhanuka started looking comfortable, but the former did not last long. Though Bhanuka kept his bails secured, his partners kept losing their wickets regularly. Eventually Bhanuka also lost his wicket and with that the momentum shifted to India’s way.
Wanindu Hasaranga and Dhananjaya de Silva scored a few boundaries and pulled the game their way again. When Hasaranga and Mendis lost their wickets, it seemed that India would romp home, but de Silva and Karunaratne played until the last over and took their team over the line. De Silva scored 40 runs in 34 balls, Bhanuka scored 36 runs in 31 balls and Hasaranga scored 15 runs. Star player Bhuvneshwar Kumar was not able to show his magic today. In this game he took only 1 wicket, Kuldeep Yadav took 2 wickets and Varun Chakravarthy took 1 wicket.
India:- 132/5 in 20 overs
Sri Lanka:- 133/6 in 19.4 overs
The match got critical in the last few overs but Sri Lanka performed and added feathers to its cap. They have successfully leveled the series and now, the final play of the 3-game T20 Cricket series will be the decider. Towards the end, it looked like India would do enough to close the game but the hosts held on and won this game by 4 wickets!
After winning the medal on day-1 team India was still struggling for a medal on day-5. The day started on a bad note when Rani Rampal led India women’s hockey team lost continuously against Great Britain now by 4-1. It was a huge disappointment for India. PV Sindhu earned one more win her in the list to the round of 16 with a second straight win in badminton women’s singles group J. In archery, Pravin Jadhav stunned the world No.2 Galsan Bazarzhapov in his first round but then lost to world no.1 Brady Ellison.
While Tarundeep Raj won his first contest but lost to Israel’s Itay Shanny by 5-6 in the round of 32 of the men’s individual event. Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh ended sixth in semi-finals A of lightweight men’s double sculls in rowing with timing of 6:24:41, creating history in Olympics. Some more positive results were: Pooja Rani won her round of 16 and now is one step away from the medal. Deepika Kumari won her first round in straight sets. She lost any early lead to take us on 5th which she also won to go into the last 16.
-ABOUT THE MATCHES
-WOMEN’S HOCKEY: The third continuous loss of team India in this event. Now by defending champions by 1-4. Now Indians need to win both their remaining two matches to have any chance of qualifying for the knockout stage.
-BADMINTON: Reigning world champion PV Sindhu stepped into the pre-quarterfinals of women’s singles badminton event in Tokyo today by beating Hong Kong’s NY Cheung in a group J. She prevailed the world no.34 Cheung by 21-9 21-6 in 35 minutes match in the event. Now, she will face Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt who topped group I.
-ARCHERY: Pravin Jadhav defeated Galsan Bazarzhapov in archery in the first round in straight sets. Stormy weather conditions at Yumenoshima Park troubled the Russian who struggles with two 7s and an 8. While, Pravin was very calm, focused, and finished it up by 6-0.
On the other hand, Tarundeep Rai exits from the Olympics, loses to Shanny in a shoot-off in the second round. Both players were on 5-5 on but Shanny twisted the game and defeated him by 10-9 with a perfect score in the shoot-off.
-MEN’S DOUBLE SCULLS: Indian rowers Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh clocked 6:24:41 minutes to be placed sixth in the semifinals 2 of the sculls in this event. The two had finished in their heats by giving their best performance. In the six-team final B on Thursday morning, to decide the positions from 7 to 12, India who got the first lane will fight it out with Poland (6:12.79), Canada( 6:18.29), Norway (12:16.25) from semifinal A while from B, Ukraine (6:14.57) and Spain (6:15.49) qualified
Pooja rani also won her first round of 16 and now very closed to win a medal in the Tokyo Olympic 2020 in boxing. She defeated Ichrak Chaib of Algeria with a unanimous decision (5-0). Also, Deepika Kumari has won her round of 16 and has stepped into quarters. She defeated Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez 6-4 in 1\16 eliminations round. She won the 5th set 26-25.
Digital Marketing is the promotion and marketing through digital sources and as well as it also means that it’s an approach of pull marketing instead of push marketing.
There are many specialization areas of Digital Marketing:
SEO
SEO means Search Engine Optimization and its basic function is to increase the traffic on the website. The company with an effective SEO ranks at the top of search results.
Advantages and Disadvantages of SEO Career.
Though implementing SEO takes a lot of time and research but once it is done your website ranks at the top. This helps us to easily sustain in a competitive market.
The SEO’s result mainly depends on the quality of content they are presenting to the audience as it is the only source that can attract the audience. No SEO expert can rank irrelevant content in SERPs in the search engines such as Google, Yahoo.
SEO has to keep an eye on everything. The SEO has to maintain the website and update new things to maintain the rank of a webpage and also be in sync with the updates by the search engine like Google.
What are the requirements for SEO?
People who want to grow their career in SEO should have some technical knowledge because the work of SEO is to keep focus on the technicalities of a website such as the website architecture, errors and user experience.
If the SEO has patience and invests time, s/he can be successful because this field requires time and patience and one has to learn all these aspects to stand in the market.
An SEO doesn’t require good communication skills but has to manipulate the data and can do good research and with an analytical mind
Why choose SEO as Digital Marketing Specialization?
Every business requires an SEO who can maintain the website and increase the traffic, so there is a lot of requirement for SEO services
Consequently, there are a lot of requirements for SEO job opportunities as well.
At the beginners level, an SEO receives decent pay. Soon after a year or two year s/he gets their salary hike of around 60 to 80%.
If you are successful in many projects and have mediocre experience, then also no one can dare to take your job. You can’t be replaced easily and your position will be secured.
SMM
SMM means Social Media Marketing is another area to grow in digital marketing specialization. Everyone has different interests in their career, some of them want to spend their whole day and night on social media.
Social Media when used for marketing by enterprises, then it comes to a different level. SMM can be used to increase the traffic on the website or on social media account.
Companies that use different social platforms have few goals in mind:
Improve communication with users
Increase brand visibility
Reach out to more customers
Having a social media presence also increase the credibility of the company.
Advantages and Disadvantages of an SMM career.
Sometimes the demand of the clients is so tricky that it becomes difficult to meet the same.
You can analyze client behavior and demands, according to which the SMM expert will plan the services that should be provided to the audience.
There is no time bound work as working hours are flexible. You can work from anywhere, but we have to make sure that you are available 24*7 and keep updating on the client’s pages.
What is expected?
Great communication skills
Creative bend of mind
Keeping up with the trend
Able to handle, address users and queries.
Be creative and think about something different.
Why choose SMM as digital Marketing Specialization?
The first thing is that you work on social media and your work should be creative.
You will get an opportunity to handle the company’s brand even at the beginner level
This work can is done in flexible hours and has no time bound limit.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is simply engaging, retaining and eventually converting the ideal consumers via mail. People think email marketing is an old concept but it is an efficient process to do marketing.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Email Marketing Career
Everything should be effectively planned and consistency is a must.
Connections are build up with corporate houses.
No matter how good your content is but there will be always a pressure of sales
What is expected at the beginner’s level?
Strong language skills, understanding each concept and trying to convey a message in the least possible words.
Must be aware of the leading capturing cycle.
Technical knowledge of the tools
Content Development
Analytical Skills to understand reports and figures.
Why choose Email marketing as an area of digital marketing specialization?
It’s a deep and vast field in itself
Part of digital and who has basic knowledge of sales and marketing
Good income after some experience
Content Marketing
Content marketing is done through creativeness in writing, it usually depends on the words one is using. Creativeness in words sometimes attracts the audience and they start showing interest.
Advantages and Disadvantages as a Content Marketing career
This requires a high level of creativity in work, should have a good knowledge of each and everything.
Developing content that is relevant but sometimes it’s tricky.
Research, planning and scheduling of the content are done in advance to assure ease.
Why choose Content marketing as a Specialization in Digital Marketing?
If you’re creative with your mindset or you get brainstorming ideas
You like writing and creative work
Good pay at beginner level.
In my opinion, I would suggest that SMM marketing is best because it has flexible timings and we can work from anywhere and as well as it is an online platform, so we don’t have to carry papers or any physical documents.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has turned out to be an extensive topic. With Google bringing new changes there are many different things that are affecting SEO. Here are some SEO trends that will definitely help you improve your website ranking.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE:
Firstly, we need to understand what Artificial Intelligence (AI) is. Artificial Intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processed by machines or the intelligence that’s shown by machines. This approach changed the way people were interacting with online content. In the last few years, Engine Optimisation underwent many changes, the drastic one was after Google introduced Rank Brain. Rank Brain is a machine-based learning search algorithm that helps Google to process the search result. Now artificial intelligence will help in improving the keyword search method and look after the fields like AI search, AI content writing, and AI technical on-page analysis.
VOICE SEARCH:
Voice search has become the new engagement in the field of SEO. As the number of mobile users increases, the voice search also reflects a massive growth. Google Home, Siri, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa, exemplify this phenomenon. We can optimise our content to make it voice search-friendly by using the natural language with concise answers to satisfy the users. We can also include long-tail keywords and practice writing longer content as it is observed that voice search queries are longer than typed queries. It is noted that from the last year the voice search of near me has rapidly increased. Hence, it is preferable to include the correct address or location so that your data looks more correct and structured.
MOBILE SEO:
Mobile SEO is again becoming a priority and Google had started a full mobile index in March 2021. The website owners should be prioritizing mobile SEO keeping in mind that the content site performs well from a mobile perspective. Some of the mobile SEO best practices are optimizing your page to increase your mobile page speed score by reducing the redirect Browser caching and implementing Mini fight quotes. We can also add a special effect mobile page with the use of HTML5 instead of using plugins because they are not supported by small screen pages. Further, simplicity should be the key to designing and your website should be designed for responsive pages by using better UI/UX on mobiles.
VIDEO EDITING:
Including video content has become a new trend in Search Engine Optimisation. It gives a better engagement for customers and also gives a better look to your product and to the visitor’s content. It is not the cheapest form of content but it is highly engaging. Using it we can design creative content and give a good picture of your product in the minds of customers. You can effectively use social media for video content, for instance: Facebook Live, Instagram TV, and reads. Moreover, you can even create your own YouTube channel and take the advantage of YouTube SEO through YouTube videos. One can also attach the web link to the video but while making a YouTube video we should add a good title thumbnail and Metadata to it.
INTERLINKING:
Interlinking is new to SEO, it is time-saving as compared to external link building, so interlink is better. It is rather quick and free and helps to improve the ranking of the page. While using the internal link you should confirm that your link is on the correct and relevant anchor text and should decide the page on to which the internal links will be placed. Finally, the quality of the content on the linking page should also be checked properly.
These trends are on the list of SEO trend 2021 that should be kept in mind. Trends help up in the building and updating the website and to improve its ranking. The trends should be followed accordingly, the website should have proper voice-friendly searching & supporting functions like video content. It should also have a long-term localised search goal to facilitate the ranking of your website.
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is the informal strategic dialogue between India, the USA, Japan, and Australia with a shared objective to ensure and support a “free, open and prosperous” Indo-Pacific region.
China’s unilateral claim on the Nine-Dash Line within the South China Sea; rapid warship building its first overseas base in Djibouti; and its surface and subsurface activities in the Indian Ocean beyond the Malacca Straits have alarmed regional countries like India and Japan about increasing Chinese ambition. In this context, the thought of Quad was first mooted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007. However, the idea couldn’t move ahead with Australia’s continuous interruptions, apparently thanks to Chinese pressure.
In December 2012, Shinzo Abe again floated the concept of Asia’s “Democratic Security Diamond” involving Australia, India, Japan, and therefore the US to safeguard the maritime commons from the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific. In November 2017, India, the US, Australia, and Japan gave shape to the long-pending “Quad” Coalition to develop a replacement strategy to keep the critical sea routes within the Indo-Pacific free of any influence (especially Chinese). Quad is criticized by China as an Asian version of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
The Quad: the United States, Japan, India, and Australia
Quad Nations and China
The USA had followed a policy to contain China’s increasing influence in East Asia. Therefore, it views the coalition as a chance to regain its influence within the Indo-Pacific region. The US has described China, along with Russia, as a strategic rival in its National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy and the Pentagon’s report on Indo-Pacific Strategy.
Australia is concerned about China’s growing interest in its land, infrastructure, politics, and influence over its universities.
Within the last decade, Japan has expressed concerns associated with China’s territorial transgression within the region. Trade volume with China remains the key lifeline to the Japanese economy, where net exports contributed exactly one-third of Japan’s economic growth since the start of 2017. Therefore, considering its importance, Japan is balancing its economic needs and territorial concerns with China. Japan has also agreed to get involved in the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI) by participating in infrastructure programs in third country. In this way, Japan can mitigate Chinese influence in those countries while improving relations with China.
Opportunities for India under Quad Arrangement
CHECKMATING CHINA:
An enormous chunk of Chinese trade happens via the Indian Oceanic routes that undergo maritime chokepoints. In the event of any Chinese aggression on borders, India by cooperation with Quad countries can potentially disrupt Chinese trade. Hence, unlike within the continental sphere where India seems facing a ‘nutcracker-like situation’ thanks to China-Pakistan collusion, the maritime sphere is wide hospitable India to undertake coalition building, rule sets, and other sorts of strategic exploration.
EMERGING AS A NET SECURITY PROVIDER:
There’s a growing world power interest within the maritime sphere, especially with the arrival of the concept of Indo-Pacific. For instance, many European countries have recently released their Indo-Pacific strategies. With India, located right at the center of the Indo-Pacific, geopolitical imagination can realize the vision of a ‘broader Asia’ that can extend its influence away from geographical boundaries. Moreover, India can build around collective action in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, monitoring shipping for search and rescue or anti-piracy operations, infrastructure assistance to climatically vulnerable states, connectivity initiatives and similar activities. Further, India with Quad countries can check imperialist policies of China in the Indian Ocean region and ensure Security and growth for beat the region.
Challenges for Quad
CHINA’S TERRITORIAL CLAIMS: China claims that its historical ownership over nearly the whole region of the South China Sea, which provides it the proper to manufacture islands. However, the International Court of Arbitration rejected the claim in 2016.
CHINA’S CLOSENESS TO ASEAN: The ASEAN countries even have a well-knit relationship with China. The Regional Cooperation Economic Partnership (RCEP) may be a recent example of China’s increasing influence over ASEAN nations.
ECONOMIC POWER OF CHINA: Considering the economic might of China and therefore the dependence of Quad nations like Japan and Australia on China, the Quad nations cannot afford to have strained relations with it.
CONVERGENCE AMONG QUAD NATIONS: The nations within the Quad grouping have different aspirations, aims at balancing their own interest. Therefore, coherence within the vision of Quad nation as a grouping is absent.
Way Forward
NEED FOR CLEAR VISION: The Quad nations got to better explain the Indo-Pacific vision in an overarching framework with the target of advancing everyone’s economic and security interests. This will reassure the littoral States that the Quad will be a factor for regional benefit, and a far cry from Chinese allegations that it is some sort of a military alliance. The forthcoming Ministerial meetings can be an opportunity to define the idea and chart a future path.
EXPANDING QUAD: India has many other partners within the Indo-Pacific, therefore India should pitch for countries like Indonesia, Singapore to be invited to hitch within the future.
NEED FOR A MARITIME DOCTRINE: India should develop a comprehensive vision on the Indo Pacific which might ideate on the present and future maritime challenges, consolidate its military and non-military tools, and engage its strategic partners. In order to secure national and regional interests, India should now specialize in the maritime sphere also. In this context establishing a replacement division under the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to affect the Indo-Pacific may be a step in the right direction.
The day-4 didn’t start on a good note, as it was a big disappointment continuously by Indian players by their performances at the international level. Team India had a heartbreaking day in badminton and shooting today. Indian shooters Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary topped their mixed team air pistol qualification stage 1, but finished at 7th in stage 2, and eventually missed the medals. Afterward, the day grew worse for Indian shooters as neither Divyansh\Elavenil nor Anjum\Deepak duo made it to the rifle finals.
Still, some good news awaited the Indian followers, as the men in blue gave a superb performance in hockey and defeated Spain by 3-0. A relief after a long time. Meanwhile, boxer Lovlina Borgohain stepped into the quarter-finals and is a step closer to the medal in Tokyo 2020. She will face Chen-Nien-chin on Friday. This going to be a huge match for team India. Our shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won on Tuesday, they finished 3rd in group A, but failed to make it to the quarters. The 39-years old Achanta Sharath Kamal ended India’s table tennis campaign by losing from the reigning champion Ma Long.
-ABOUT THE MATCHES:
-AIR PISTOL: The Indian pair of Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker caved in under pressure and failed to qualify for the final of the 10m air pistol mixed team events at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The duo finished seventh in Qualification 2 after topping the first phase with 582 at the Asaka Range. They lost the plot completely when the top eight teams battled it out in the second phase. The duo totaled 380 across two series each in the second phase of the qualification.
-AIR RIFLE: India’s Elavenil Valarivan and Divyansh Singh Panwar compete in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team shooting event today. The Indian duo failed to qualify for the 2nd stage. The two Indian pairs participating in the 10m air rifle mixed team event crashed out in the first qualifications stage, missing out on yet another final after an outing that left a lot to be desired in the Tokyo Olympics.
The duo Elavenil Valarivan and Divyansh Singh Panwar finished 12th with a total of 626.5 across three series each, while Anjum Moudgil and Deepak Kumar ended 18th out of 29 pairs with an aggregate score of 623.8 at the Asaka Range. The mixed events are making their Olympic debut.
-BOXING: Lovlina Borgohain became the first Indian boxer to enter the quarterfinals with a 3-2 win over German welterweight Nadine Apetz. Both boxers, two-time World Championship bronze medallists, had received byes into the last 16. Borgohain can now secure a bronze medal with a win over Chen-Nien-chin of Chinese Taipei.
The 69kg contest was the first Olympic bout for both the 23-year-old Borgohain and Apetz, 12 years her senior. The German took up boxing out of curiosity at 21; Borgohain had a bronze each at the Asian Championships and World Championships by that age.
-BADMINTON: Indian shuttlers Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy emerged victorious against the England pair of Ben Lane and Sean Vendy in their final Group A match but still missed out on qualifying for the quarterfinals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Ranked 10th in the world, the Indians beat the world number 18 team 21-17 21-19 in a 44-minute Group A men’s doubles match at the Musashino Forest Plaza.
-TENNIS PLAYER: Ma Long, the World No. 3 men’s singles table tennis player. The three-time Olympic gold medalist then walked towards his coach. He looked worried, an expression he usually forces opponents into. But after 19 minutes, when Sharath drew level to make it 1-1, Long had been given reason to worry in Tokyo 2020.
A short while later, Long called for a time-out at a serious moment of the match. He was leading 12-11 in the third game and Sharath was about to serve, then he started to turn the screws in what became a 4-1 (11-7, 8-11, 13-11, 11-4, 11-4) win for the World No.3.
Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) established in early 2004, has been at the forefront when coming to opposing and raising voices against the destructive developmental programs, especially dams. ACT is an organisation consisting especially indigenous people of Sikkim, Lepchas, formed after coming up of dams in Dzongu. ( Dzongu is a reserved place for Lepchas declared by the 11th chogyal of Sikkim, Tashi Namgyal, as per notification of 1956. People from outside Dzongu has to obtain a permit to get inside Dzongu from the administration.)
Since its inception, the organisation has been very vocal about raising issues of dams and their impact around.
The movement gained momentum after 2007 when ACT decided to go for the hunger strike, led by both from the side of young and old generations; Dawa Lepcha, Tenzing Gyatso Lepcha, and many others, for 915 days (June 22nd, 2007- September 27th, 2009). After which ACT was able to scrap four dams in the state. This was one of the successful movements by the indigenous people counted around the world. The movement continued even after 2009 in a soft way voicing concerns but yet again it was reinstated in the ground after 2016 under the guidance of ACT’s co-founding members, NGOs, Women’s SHG groups, elected Village Councils, and Civil society groups.
The movement was renewed after the state government decided to reintroduce Teesta Stage IV dams in Dzongu built and operated by the state-owned corporate, NHPC, one of the most controversial companies.
In early 2020, just a few months after coming up of new government under the direction of Shri Prem Singh Tamang, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha(SKM) party had led a massive campaign promising to stop building dams in the Holy land of Lepchas, was seen by many as going back to their promises made during the election. In March 2020, CM Tamang met with the chairman of NHPC after which the company had released a press statement stating ‘CM has given full assurance in completion of Teesta Stage IV’. But as soon as this statement came to light ACT flagged off the campaign on social media under the name “SaveTeesta” whereby people from different backgrounds and different parts of the state-supported the organisation. Social media was flooded with counterattacks filled with handles like #saveteesta, #stopstageiv, etc…
Such was the pressure that CM Office had to come out in the open to clarify the statement and said, ‘fabricated one’. To get clarification openly from the CMO isn’t an easy task.
Teesta Stage IV project is in itself a very controversial project in many ways, it is going to be a dual tunnel project each of 6km and 5.6km, the first of its kind in the country or you can even say the experimental project of the dual tunnel. Why this dual tunneling is problematic and controversial is because the Himalayas are made out of the young fold Mountain and consists of a very fragile ecosystem, full of rich biodiversity moreover region falls under seismic zone stage IV.
Teesta Stage IV comes under a radius of 10km within Kanchendzonga National Park, a UNESCO recognised biosphere reserve in July 2017, this violates the code of national park reserves. Besides, such environmental and ecological perspectives this Teesta River is extremely important to the indigenous community, Lepchas and it holds a religious significance too.
It is considered to be a very sacred river, they believe that once Lepcha dies their soul is taken back to the lap of their ancestors in the Kanchendzonga, Lepchas doesn’t believe in the concept of hell and heaven, and at that time this very River Teesta, which Lepcha called it as Ronggyong, will guide the soul to its place.
In the same way, Mutanchi Yuntandokpun (MYDP), a community club, one of its infamous quoted quotes reads “Teesta is our asylum, tranquillity, identity & pride. She proudly presents the distinctiveness of us who resides in the land where she flows.” This reveals how sacred the River Teesta is not just for the Lepchas but also for the whole Sikkimese.
ACT in the fight is advocated by many international communities and organisations like; UNESCO, International Rivers, International Peoples Movement for Self Determination and Liberation(Philipines, United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Fridays for Future and various other local, regional groups like Sikkim Progressive Youth Forum (SPYF), DLYA and people living in the downstream of River Teesta, Rafting association…etc
Picture coursey: Karma Lepcha (Darjeeling Lepcha Youth Association was among the very first organisation to join the save river Teesta campaign)
Mr. Shanker Sharma, Sikkim Progressive Youth Forum’s CEC wrote on his personal Facebook handle on the backdrop of ACT completing its 14 years of environmental activism; “I feel they have not received the support they deserve from the rest of the people. Their representatives have betrayed them time and again. There have been attempts to divide people, create proxy conflict among the people. The leaders have been detained, tortured, and harassed. Unfortunately, we see their struggle as only theirs. But their fight is not just for themselves but for the entire Sikkim and the global at large. Man’s exploitation of nature is a burning international issue, recklessness may lead to the extinction of life on earth.”
ACT hopes to come over this stage iv dam ( and stop the fifth dam in the way) and remains optimistic. Recently, state Forest minister’s latest interview with The Hindu, he was caught stating “The widening of roads to Nathu La, which is of strategic interest to us (bordering China), and the hydel power plants in north Sikkim, should also take into account the environmental concerns of locals. We are not against such activities, but it should not come at the cost of our biodiversity, ACT has warmly welcomed his statement.
ACT General Secretary, Gyatso Lepcha, on his Facebook handle has wrote “ACT welcomes the Forest Minister’s statement !!! tiny Sikkim is home to 27% of India’s flowering plants revealed by the Botanical Survey of India !!! the most interesting and fantastic piece of news is that on the occasion Forest Minister of the State (Shri Karma Loday) made a very interesting and deeply measured statement this validates the protest that ACT has been doing against the construction of a dam in Teesta River Basin, particularly North Sikkim… we thank the minister for keeping the facts surrounding the challenges to our fragile state’s ecology. We look forward to better ecology of the state !”
‘SaveTeesta’ campaign has been launched with the massive involvement of youths. A new team of ACT has been formed led by Mr Sandup Lepcha as president and many youth-oriented wings have been created too; social media wings, Cultural & artist wings, student wings…etc On the sideline of the SaveTeesta campaign, I interacted with the young minds of ACT and tried to know about their thoughts on the ongoing campaign.
‘Since I have taken birth in this land, Dzongu, it’s my utmost duty or I must say it’s my love for my motherland and secondly, I have seen the sufferings of my elders my parents struggling for our land so I feel as a second-generation I should give my shoulders to them now..’ Says Kingchum Lepcha, a college student hailing from Hee Gyathong, one of the many places which are going to get affected by the Teesta Stage IV.
An interesting fact is that Hee-Gyathong GPU has rejected Stage IV by not allowing the FRA to get passed in the village council meeting.
Picture courtesy: Gyatso Lepcha on Save River Teesta
If this Teesta Stage IV is actually constructed then it endangers the River Teesta, the very last free-flowing stretch of Teesta will be damaged too. Similar concerns were expressed by Rungnyuu Lepcha, another youth involved in the movement, ‘No one would want to witness their motherland being sold, nor I. We do not want to live every day, in fear of the consequences which might be brought by the dam. Most importantly, the last stretch of Teesta which flows freely right now will not flow as it does, which eventually may lead River Teesta to perish in the future.’
Rungnyuu Further added “River Teesta is an identity to the whole State and not just of cultural importance to the Lepcha tribe”
It’s a sad fact that we are really out here trying to convince the people of our own state to join us in the movement for our Teesta which has given us, the people of Sikkim so much. We should be coexisting with nature.
“We should look up sustainable development.’ One of the youth said.
‘Teesta is not just a river but emotions and if Teesta remains our identity sustains. River Teesta is equally important as Mt.Kanchenjunga and as holy as the river Ganga as considered by Hindus. When the Kanchenjunga expedition was allowed people stood up to protect our Kanchenjunga but shouldn’t we people come forward and protect our Rivers as we did to protect our mountains?’ Sangay Chopel, a college student, hailing from an affected valley due to coming up of Teesta stage III at Chungthang quoted and questioned. Sangay also feels strongly against the Teesta Stage Iv because he says, ‘… its the last stretch of Free-flowing portion of river Teesta and geographically when we look into our mountains and landforms it’s not that strong enough to hold such water capacity (referring to reservoir). But what it does is, it destroys the ecosystem and submerges the main fertile land where people mostly grow their cash crops.’
The same kind of issue of the reservoir, Mr. Wangchuk Bhutia, a feature writer of Talk Sikkim had pointed out in his November 2015 article. He wrote “But the people affected by the Teesta Stage V reservoir are experiencing it in real, with their safety and durability of life and property threatened. There seems to be no sincere and concerted effort, either from the state authorities or from the NHPC officials, to find a long-lasting and effective solution to the challenges and risks to life and property being experienced, almost daily, by the people living by the NHPC Teesta Stage V.’ On being asked about, how ACT’s activism is different from the past Kingchum replies, ‘well I would say ACT during past years have done a very commendable work nevertheless they have done with the fullest of their capacity and their limits .so now it’s our time what I have seen is that there is a mixture of many young innovative minds giving creative ideas for the protest.
Like we are going through every aspect, right from legal matters to educating individuals from every nooks and corner of State. and I also would like to add we should not forget the leaders of past though we are advancing even then youths can walk faster but elders know the road. Coming off more youth is like adding up another finest upgradations in the spaceships.
Mingmar Ongkit, a student of NBBG College from L. Dzongu residing near Tung Kyong Dhu [lake] mentions ‘My commitment towards this movement is 100% and ready to bear any consequences if tomorrow government pushes this dam.
Tung Kyong Dhu is a very sacred lake for the Lepcha clan called Hee-Youngmingmoo. Lake accommodates a very unique kind of fish, it is believed that the population of the Hee-Youngmingmoo clan plunges or expands according to the number of fishes present in the lake. Stage IV endangers this very lake because tunnels run below this lake and people fear that the lake will get dry up because of the seepage.
Tung Kyung Dhu, Picture coursey: Dr Sonam Rinchen Lepcha on Save River Teesta
Many have questioned, especially the pro-government party, about ACT activism and not providing an alternative to the government but it has been a long-known fact that ACT has been trying to convince the government to declare the last free-flowing stretch of Teesta as “river sanctuary and its peripheries as butterfly hotspot area” one of a kind in the country.
Courtesy-22 November 2020, Sikkim Express edition on Save River Teesta.
Today, ACT isn’t just an organisation fighting to save our rivers and fragile ecosystem from disastrous development but has become an institution and people from outside are willing to hear and learn from the struggles of ACT. “Dzongu, Sikkim in Northeast India. The land of the Lepcha (Indigenous Peoples) – beautiful and rich in biodiversity. All are under threat with the construction of the Teesta IV hydropower dam. The Lepcha are leading the fight to stop the project under the Affected Citizens of Teesta and Save Dzongu. If successful, this would be the 5th dam the communities have stopped since 2010. The IPMSDL was privileged to have visited and met with some of the affected villages. The Lepcha and their oneness and struggle are inspiring for other people in struggle.” _Beverley Sakongan L. Longid, Global Coordinator, IPMSDL (Philippines), wrote after visiting Dzongu.
