Netherlands Burqa ban: Netherlands imposes ban on burqa and niqab in public places:

Netherlands imposed a ban on face-covering clothing on August 1. The ban covers burqa and niqab worn by conservative Muslim women.

The new Dutch law bans Muslim women from wearing a burqa and niqab that covers their face in any public place including public transport, government buildings and at health and education institutions. However, it doesn’t apply to public streets.

Besides burqa, niqab or veil, the law also bans motor helmets and ski masks. It does not, however, include headscarves, as they cover only the head and not the face. The Netherlands has imposed a fine of 150 euros for breaking the law.

How will the Netherlands burqa ban be implemented?

While the Netherlands government has imposed the law banning face-covering, it is unclear on how strictly the law will be enforced.

As per Netherlands police, the staff at government institutions or public transport will be responsible for enforcing the law by requesting those who violate it to either remove the face covering or leave the premises. However, the representatives and spokespersons of the affected sectors such as transport and health stated that they will not be able to take the responsibility of the law’s enforcement.

Burqa ban in countries:

The Netherlands is the latest European country to introduce the ban on face covering. A similar ban was imposed previously by other European nations including Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland and Denmark.

Denmark had imposed a ban on face-covering cloth in all public places in August 2018. France had also banned the wearing of burqa or niqab in public places in 2011 and imposed a fine of up to 150 euros for breaking the law.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee had condemned the ban in October 2018, saying that it violated the human rights of Muslim women, risking their confinement to their homes. The committee had called on France to review its ban.

Netherlands Burqa ban opposition

The Netherlands burqa ban was opposed by the Muslim and rights groups in the country and an Islamic political party in the nation stated that it will pay the 150-euro fine for anybody caught breaking it. Other critics warned that the law could discourage Muslim women from going to public places including schools.

The Netherlands was earlier seen as a bastion of religious freedom and tolerance. However, very few women wear burqa or niqab in the Netherlands. As per official estimates, roughly 200-400 people wear burqa or niqab in the Netherlands, among a population of roughly 17 million.

While a niqab covers the head and the face with just the eyes being visible, a burqa comes in different styles, some that only cover till the head and others that have a mesh covering over the eyes.

Pakistan downgrades diplomatic ties and suspends trade with India:

• Pakistan has diplomatic ties with India. They decided to suspend bilateral trade with India to withdraw its envoy to Pakistan in retaliation against the reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir and revocation of its special status.
• The National Security Committee told to withdraw its High Commissioner to Pakistan. Indian Government informed that Pakistan High Commissioner-designate to India in a statement made available by the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.
• The decisions taken after a meeting of the Pakistan National Security Committee chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
• The meeting decided to review all bilateral arrangements between the two countries. 
• Islamabad announced its current envoy to Paris would be moving to New Delhi after the departure of the then high commissioner Sohail Mehmood. 
• Mehmood was promoted as Pakistan’s foreign secretary.

Pakistan:

New Delhi will not worry about the Pakistani moves. The international reaction to India’s move to revoke Article 370 granting Jammu and Kashmir special status is muted. The US, UAE and some other countries have backed India’s position that the move to designate Kashmir as a Union territory was an internal matter. Criticism has mainly come from Pakistan and China.

Pakistan resorted to these actions as it has not been able to find an adequate way.

One- fourth of the world’s population is facing extreme water crisis:

The World Resources Institute’s (WRI) President and CEO(Chief Executive Officer) Andrew Steer released a report on Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas stating that 17 countries in the world which hold a quarter of the earth’s population is facing extremely high water crisis.

i. India is one among those 17 countries facing extremely high water stress.

ii. All these countries are close to “Day Zero”.

This water crisis if not taken immediate actions has high possibilities of food insecurity, conflict and migration, and financial instability.

WRI’s rankings

The WRI ranked 189 countries and their respective states and union territories based on water stress, drought risk and riverine flood risk.

It is expected that by 2030 the number of cities in the extremely high stress category will increase to 45 with nearly 470million people.

India’s rank: India is ranked at13th place among the top 17 countries. India has a population thrice more than that of the other 16 countries.

India’s current scenario:

For the first time, Northern India was included in the calculation for water stress, as the groundwater in Northern India has been severely depleted.

Many places in India are experiencing chronic water stress especially the Chennai region of Tamilnadu gained global attention this year as it was severely hit by the water crisis.

About day zero

Day zero does not mean that there is no water in our dams. it means however that the dams are at a crucial low level. The crucial low means that dam storage will be at 13.5%.This is when the city will turn off most taps leaving only vital services with access to water.