Western side of Loop Road cleared, fish vendors dump catch on road

Fishers hold meeting, may refrain from venturing into sea in support of affected vendors

Fish dumped on the road by the vendors in protest

CHENNAI: Years of uncertainty over the fate of the fish vendors on the Loop Road once again came to a head on Wednesday morning when officials of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and police arrived on the scene to clear encroachments, based on a Madras High Court order.

While authorities asked only those on the Western side to vacate, the fisherfolk protested by dumping fresh catch on the road. “If the sight and smell of us and the fish bothers them so much, let their vehicles run over the very thing that disgusts them,” said Neelavathi, a vendor who has been doing business on the road for over a decade. While most customers stayed away due to the chaos, the vendors were seen trying to sell the fish at whatever price was on offer.

“As long as the catch is fresh, I get up to Rs 100 for half a kg but if it doesn’t sell today we will have to dry the fish and the price drop by less than half. So, we are giving it away for any price we get,” said Kalyani P, who is the sole breadwinner of her family and lives with her son. “I make around Rs 500-600 a day and most of it is spent on my son’s education. Without this, I have no way of financing his education and managing other expenses,” she said. We stand to lose anywhere between Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 a day if the business is ruined, said the fish vendors.

Corporation officials said they were asking only those doing business on one side of the road to shift while those on the other side could continue to do business until August when the construction of the modern fish complex would be completed.

A history of violence

“In 1985, the then government wanted to beautify the beachfront and asked us to vacate. We protested for a month which culminated in the police opening fire and killing seven fishermen. Now, after almost 40 years, they have come for us again,” said K Bharathi, president of the South Indian Fishermen Association.

“We will support any development as long as it carries us with it,” he added.

Fishermen here registered with the Fisheries Co-operative Societies as early as 1945. The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, states that natural markets where street vendors have conducted business for over 50 years shall be declared as heritage markets, and street vendors in such markets shall not be relocated.

On Wednesday, some food stalls along the stretch were removed. When contacted, a senior corporation official said they have scheduled a stakeholders’ meeting after which the next course of action will be decided. The fishing hamlets, on their part, have scheduled a meeting where the organisers said the fishers will be urged to refrain from going to the sea and join hands in protest until the issue is resolved.

Brazil's Lula visits China, seeking ties and Ukraine support

China and Brazil are expected to sign at least 20 bilateral agreements during Lula's two-day stay, according to the Brazilian government.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva flew off to China on Tuesday to strengthen ties with his nation's biggest trade partner and win support for his long-shot push for peace in Ukraine.

Lula wants Brazil, China and other nations to help mediate the war as part of his nation's return to the world stage, but his proposals to end the conflict have irked Ukraine and some in the West. Less controversial is the Brazilian and Chinese mutual interest in trade after a rocky period under Lula's predecessor.

China and Brazil are expected to sign at least 20 bilateral agreements during Lula's two-day stay, according to the Brazilian government. Lula plans to visit Shanghai and Beijing, and meet with his counterpart, Xi Jinping, on Friday.

The two leaders are expected to discuss trade, investment, reindustrialization, energy transition, climate change and peace agreements, the Brazilian government said.

China is Brazil's biggest export market, each year buying tens of billions of dollars worth of soybeans, beef, iron ore, poultry, pulp, sugar cane, cotton and crude oil. Brazil is the biggest recipient of Chinese investment in Latin America, according to Chinese state media.

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and members of his family at times caused friction with Chinese authorities during his 2019-2022 term.

In 2020, when Bolsonaro's lawmaker son Eduardo blamed the COVID-19 pandemic on the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese ambassador to Brazil called his words "an evil insult against China and the Chinese people." Later that year, Eduardo referred to the giant Chinese technology company Huawei as "Chinese espionage," prompting a sharp rebuke from China's embassy. Last year, China did not have an ambassador in Brasilia for eight months.

The rift stoked criticism in Brazil, even among sectors that supported Bolsonaro, like agribusiness.

"I want the Chinese to understand that their investment here will be wonderfully welcome, but not to buy our companies. To build new things, which we need," Lula told journalists in Brasilia on April 6.

Chinese companies are involved in public works projects in Brazil, including a metro line in Sao Paulo, the country's business capital. One of the agreements Lula will sign in China will be for the construction of the sixth satellite built under a binational program, a satellite that would monitor biomes such as the Amazon rainforest.

"Brazil can't afford to turn its back on the benefits China brings. The U.S. doesn't have the capacity to absorb Brazil's exports as China does, nor occupy the same space in investment and infrastructure," said Pedro Brites, an expert on China at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university and think tank in Sao Paulo. And China is encouraging its companies to find new markets and foreign partners to reduce reliance on the U.S.

"Lula knows you have to treat your clients well. Even more so when it is your best client," said Charles Tang, who chairs the Brazil-China Chamber of Commerce. In what Tang suggested was the result of a renewed partnership, China ended restrictions on Brazilian beef just before Lula was initially scheduled to make his trip. Sales of Brazilian beef to China were banned in February following the discovery of an atypical case of mad cow disease.

Lula's visit to China, initially scheduled for March but canceled after he fell sick, is also an attempt by the leftist leader to reaffirm Brazil's role on the global stage following Bolsonaro's term, who admired right-wing nationalists and showed little interest in international affairs or travel abroad.

Lula visited Argentina and Uruguay in January and the U.S. in February, signaling the importance he gives to international affairs, experts said. He toured the world during his first presidency, particularly in his second term, when he visited dozens of countries and has visited China twice before. "Lula is implementing the promise he made that Brazil is back," said Oliver Stuenkel, a political scientist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation.

China and Brazil are members of the BRICS group of developing countries and have pushed for changes in what they say is a U.S.-dominated system of managing global political affairs.

Russia is also a BRICS member, and a key piece of Lula's outreach abroad is his proposal that Brazil and other developing countries, including China, mediate peace.

Lula has irritated Ukraine and some in the West with his position on the war, most recently by suggesting during a meeting with journalists in Brasilia last week that Ukraine cede Crimea as a means to forge peace. Xi met with Putin last month, sending a message to U.S. and European leaders that their condemnation of Russia's invasion is not unanimous.

Earlier this month, a Lula adviser, former foreign affairs minister Celso Amorim, took a discreet trip to Moscow, where he met with President Vladimir Putin.

Amorim "went to listen and to say the time has come to talk," Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira told reporters in the capital, Brasilia, on April 5.

There is at least some common ground. Vieira noted that the Chinese peace proposal presented in February contains aspects in common with Lula's, such as ceasing hostilities and starting negotiations.

"These are completely plausible and may be stimulus for talks," he said.

Ukraine to allow Indian med students to sit for exam from India

This was announced during the recent visit of Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova to Delhi.

Image used for representation.(File Photo)

NEW DELHI: Over 20,000 Indian medical students who were studying in Ukraine before the outbreak of conflict with Russia on February 24, 2022, will be allowed to take the Unified Qualification Exam in the country of their domicile.

This was announced during the recent visit of Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova to Delhi. “Many students like me who were studying in Ukraine moved out to various universities — in Georgia, Russia and in countries closer to Ukraine. But for those who haven’t yet decided how to complete their degree, this would be great news,’’ said Arman, who was in his third year of Medicine in Kharkhiv. He is moving to Georgia.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is seeking India’s support in humanitarian assistance. “During the interaction that Dzhaparova had with Secretary (West) Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), there were discussions on extending more humanitarian aid, among other issues,’’ according to the MEA.

India has already provided humanitarian assistance in the form of medicines and medical equipment and has spoken about providing school buses. Ukraine is seeking India’s help in rebuilding infrastructure.

During her interaction with MoS for External Affairs and Culture, Meenakshi Lekhi, Dzhaparova handed over a letter from President Zelenskyy addressed to PM Narendra Modi.

The Ukrainian minister said the main objective of her visit was to re-establish ties and further cooperation with India. She also said that she hoped India would take a fair view of the war as Ukraine was a victim.