Ecologist and community organiser interested in grasslands, environmental justice and education. Father. Learning to advance justice in a complex world.
Bengaluru, India
Joined September 2014
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Siddharth Bharath retweeted
Event will be live streamed @IISERPune official YouTube channel youtube.com/@IISERPuneSMC
A reminder of the Public lectures on Friday on black holes @IISERPune. No registration required. All members of the public are welcome. 1/n
Siddharth Bharath retweeted
Wonderful to see. The old India still survives...
#WATCH | Rajasthan: Members of the Hindu community, under the aegis of Hindu-Muslim Ekta Samiti, shower flower petals on members of the Muslim community who offered namaz at Eidgah in Jaipur, on Eid ul-Fitr.
Siddharth Bharath retweeted
> 70 years ago, Iran looked just like any Western country.
> Short skirts, rock’n’roll, open universities.
> It’s 1953. Iran elects a secular socialist: Mohammad Mossadegh.
> He nationalizes oil. That pisses off BP.
> Cold War excuse.
> CIA and MI6 stage a coup. Operation Ajax.
> Mossadegh is overthrown.
> They install the Shah, a brutal US-backed dictator.
> Secret police. Torture chambers.
> Iran turns into a puppet state.
> People are that desperate, they turn to Khomeini, an exiled cleric, promising independence and dignity.
> 1979: Islamic Revolution.
> The Shah flees.
> US embassy stormed. Hostage crisis.
> America never forgives.
> Arms Saddam Hussein.
> Iraq invades Iran.
> US provides chemical weapons, satellite intel, logistics.
> 1 million Iranians die.
> Iranian kids sent into minefields with plastic keys around their necks.
> US shoots down Iran Air Flight 655
> 290 civilians dead.
> No apology.
> Fast forward today, Israel attacks Iran.
> The U.S. immediately says “we stand with Israel.”
> They talk about “regime change.”
> They say that Iranians “deserve freedom.”
> No mention of the coup they started.
> No mention of the dictator they installed.
> No mention of the war they fueled.
> No mention of the decades of sanctions and sabotage.
> They created the monster, and now they attacked it because it was still breathing.
> Watch who they try to put on the throne next.
> The son of the Shah is already being presented as the “alternative.”
> The same dynasty.
> The same foreign backing.
>The same promises of stability.
> History will repeats itself.
> And it’s not gonna end well.
Siddharth Bharath retweeted
Benjamin Netanyahu says: Tehran targets civilians, and Israel only target tyrants
In the last two years, Israel has killed more than 50 thousand children in the Gaza strip.
Siddharth Bharath retweeted
Modi gov't has 'temporarily suspended' the forced feeding of Fortified Rice to 80 cr poor Indians.
Context:
In May 2023 my @reporters_co colleague @shreegireesh unearthed the scam called Modi govt's Fortified Rice Scheme.
Based on spurious science and failed pilot projects, against warnings by its own experts, Modi gov't had pressed ahead to force feed fortified rice to all of 80 crore poor in India. The orders to do so had come from the top.
There were foreign business interests backing the scheme. They stood to earn thousands of crores annually from this move. Modi gov't, which otherwise makes such a hue and cry over 'foreign interests', had played into their hands to force the poor in India to consume something untested.
Across the country, Shreegireesh found, the poor were complaining of this 'plastic rice' making it to their plates.
He brought out a complete set of internal gov't documents to demolish the governments propaganda around the scheme. And showed who the real beneficiaries of the scheme were - Corporates backed by dubious NGOs working for the corporate interests.
Now, the government has 'temporarily suspended' the scheme claiming its now learnt that fortified rice is not doing any good.
We still don't know the real reasons why it has done so. We will dig those out too.
Shreegireesh's reports and evidence was used in the courts.
It was picked up, plagiarised, copy pasted and replicated by others in media, sometimes with and sometimes without due credit.
Our reports were shortlisted for the world's biggest award for investigative journalism, the Fetisov award.
We were grateful for the straight and the backhanded compliments. But, most of all, we were happy that our work had put the truth out bluntly and with hard evidence.
I write this to explain, why investigative journalism is central to keeping those in power accountable. It is the essential form of journalism. It is effective, even if the wheels take time to turn.
We don't know why yet the government has finally stopped the distribution of the spurious artificial rice grain. We are glad it has.
Such journalism requires immense courage and resources. When you support it, you empower yourselves as citizens, to defend your rights and that of the poorest who have the least ability t hold the powerful to account.
Democracies need public-funded journalism to be better democracies.
Read Shreegireesh's work, if you had missed it then.
reporters-collective.in/proj…
Siddharth Bharath retweeted
Isn't it interesting how quickly the citizens of Israel reach for their European/US passports and flee the country "God gave them," while Palestinians continue to live and rebuild their land, water their olive trees, no matter the scale of destruction.
Siddharth Bharath retweeted
We warned you: the wholesale destruction of Gaza was not an exception, it was a blueprint to crush anyone who opposes the plutocratic imperialism embodied by US/Israel and their global allies.
Act now: defend int'l law from lawlessness, before the rupture becomes irreversible.
Siddharth Bharath retweeted
It's interesting to hear a state that exalts Judaism to the exclusion of all other faiths, that has 65 separate laws that, by design, benefit Israeli Jews alone, talk about the theocracy of Iran.
Siddharth Bharath retweeted
Any middle/high school teachers here? I'm teaching an online course on use of Gen AI in teaching; 5 online sessions, once a week, starting next week. (Also open for parents who're home-schooling or are involved in their child's education.)
cc: @giftedworld_ @GenWise_
Siddharth Bharath retweeted
met these grandmothers in Komkar yesterday during the protest rally against the #Siang Upper Multipurpose Project. We can’t even imagine the anxiety and heartbreak they are experiencing right now, having to defend their land from their own state.
Siddharth Bharath retweeted
Could I ask all television channels streaming #Wayanad non-stop to also cover environmental governance processes? Not once have I seen any of these channels question environment, forest and wildlife clearances granted to the most destructive projects
Siddharth Bharath retweeted
What’s the best school in Bengaluru?
The one that leases @BMTC_BENGALURU buses
Why?
It costs lot less for students.
No need to maintain fleet.
Great for environment as the bus becomes regular city bus - doesn't sit idle & occupy public space
Does your child’s school use BMTC?
Siddharth Bharath retweeted
Our big story today:
A year since its launch, how has @siddaramaiah govt's #Shakti scheme that provides free bus rides to women & transgender persons has fared.
It's an absolute game changer for poor women but has challenges that needs addressing.
youtu.be/lwxgWuG-FBQ
Siddharth Bharath retweeted
Here's a video of stray dogs hunting chinkara & blackbuck antelope in Thar, Rajasthan. Note the wolf formation technique. When the lead dog gets tired another takes its place. SHOOT THESE DOGS as per global precedent. @moefcc @byadavbjp @wii_india @manishchandi @BNHSIndia @RajCMO
Siddharth Bharath retweeted
Who manages Chinnaswamy Stadium?
KSCA?
Why are you not harvesting rain water within the stadium & letting it go waste and worse, flood the roads?
Please fix it!
@kscaofficial1 @chairmanbwssb @BBMPCOMM @DKShivakumar @anilkumble1074 @doddaganesha @dp_satish @VedamJaishankar
Siddharth Bharath retweeted
We are looking for PhD students!
Do you want to study evolution?
Do microbes fascinate you?
Do you want to use microbial genetics to understand evolution?
If yes, please apply by 22 April:
admissions.iisertvm.ac.in/ph…
@joshiamitabhevo @SutirthDey @vishuguttal @_KarishmaK @AthaleLab
Siddharth Bharath retweeted
Really glad to see that our advocacy has made some difference - The government has tweaked the GCP to focus on restoration of ecosystems, and recognised that Open Natural Ecosystems will require a different approach!
thehindu.com/news/national/c…
We urge the @moefcc to reconsider this decision. The Prime Minister and MoEFCC Minister have made strong commitments to save India's savannas and other Open Natural Ecosystems. This tree plantation program will be a death knell #NotWastelands
frontline.thehindu.com/envir…
Siddharth Bharath retweeted
For this to happen in ANY city in India, we need our city governments to be empowered.
That means
1. political power to Mayor & Council
2. fair share & control over Funds
3. ability to recruit & train staff
Functions. Funds. Functionaries.
Our score? 0/3
#WhereIsMyMayor
Anne Hidalgo became Mayor of Paris 10-years ago. In that time the City has;
🚲 built 1,300km of bike lanes
🌳 planted 145,000 new trees
💨 reduced air pollution by 40%
🌳added 45km of new parks
📚 converted 180 streets to “school streets”
📍 Paris 🇫🇷
politico.eu/newsletter/globa…
Siddharth Bharath retweeted
Delhi liquor policy case linked Aurobindo Pharma gave Rs 25 crore #ElectoralBonds to BJP two days after it was selected to receive financial subsidy from the Union gov't to top up its profits. @reporters_co follows the money trail in this report.
reporters-collective.in/trc/…
