The
Indian Premier League 2020 (IPL 2020) is all set to start in UAE on 19th Sept
2020. The international cricket boards have started giving no objection
certificates (NOC’s) to its cricketers for participating in the Indian league.
The New Zealand Cricket and Cricket South Africa both have announced NOC’s for
its cricketers. But despite of that 10 cricketers from South Africa including AB
de Villiers (RCB), Quinton De Kock (MI) stands doubtful for IPL 2020.
Reason
– due to Covid19, currently South Africa is under strict lockdown and no
international take-offs are allowed since the last few months. As the
Coronavirus cases are constantly growing in the African nation, no one knows
when the flight operations can start. Already the Caribbean Premier League
(CPL), starting August 18, is faced with a few tricky issues on this account.
With South African borders closed, there is no way the Proteas cricketers –
Imran Tahir, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Rilee Rossouw, Anrich
Nortje and Colin Ingram, can reach Caribbean.
Three
members of the South African women's cricket squad have tested positive for
coronavirus ahead of their training camp for a proposed tour of England. The three members, including one support
staff, have been withdrawn from the camp by Cricket South Africa (CSA).
Moving away, ‘Republic
of Stellaland’ was created on this
day 138 years ago ! under the leadership of its elected president
Gerrit Jacobus van Niekerk. Any faint
idea of where this Country was ? – and what is its present position ??
Boers are the descendants of the
proto-Afrikaans-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th and much of
the 19th century. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled
this area, but the United Kingdom incorporated it into the British Empire in
1806. Boers emigrated from the Cape
colony primarily to escape British rule
and to get away from the constant border wars between the British imperial
government and the indigenous peoples on the eastern frontier.
Popular
organisations and the government both moved rapidly in mid-March to respond as
the coronavirus pandemic hit South Africa. However, the country today has the
fifth highest number of COVID-19 cases in the world – over 420,000 on July 24 –
and the virus continues to spread, posing a challenge to the fragile,
technocratic and neoliberal government on the one hand and social movements on
the other. Governmental shifts in South Africa seem to have taken the opposite
trajectory to much of the global pattern, following changes in the former
liberation movement, the African National Congress, at the end of 2017. This
saw the replacement of the profoundly corrupt, constitution-flouting and
incipiently populist regime of Jacob Zuma by the suave former businessman Cyril
Ramaphosa, promising to end corruption, restore ‘good governance’ and attract
massive foreign investment. The change was welcomed by many in the middle
classes, business and internationally, but Ramaphosa’s position in the ANC
remained precarious, with the Zuma network retaining many positions of power.
With the coming of the pandemic, Ramaphosa moved decisively to take charge, and
the government adopted a science-driven approach, gaining high approval in the
media and opposition parties, as well as internationally from the WHO and
others.
SA President in India with Indian President and PM
South Africa, (RSA),
is the southernmost country in Africa. With over 59 million people, it is the
world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of 1,221,037 square
kilometres (471,445 sq mi). South Africa has three capital cities: executive
Pretoria, judicial Bloemfontein and legislative Cape Town. The largest city is
Johannesburg. It is bounded by coastline of Southern Africa stretching along
the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; countries of Namibia, Botswana, and
Zimbabwe; Mozambique, Eswatini (former Swaziland); and Lesotho. The two most spoken first languages are Zulu
(22.7%) and Xhosa (16.0%). The two next
ones are of European origin: Afrikaans (13.5%) developed from Dutch and serves
as the first language of most coloured and white South Africans; English (9.6%)
reflects the legacy of British colonialism, and is commonly used in public and
commercial life. The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a
coup d'état, and regular elections have been held for almost a century.
However, the vast majority of black South Africans were not enfranchised until
1994.
British,
French, Dutch and other European States established colonies in most parts of
the World and exploited natural wealth and crushing local residents. There were many wars in which the colonisers
by their military might, subjudication and divisive rule crushed the uprising,
held the locals as criminals in prisons.
The
Second Boer War (11 October 1899 – 31 May 1902) was fought between the British
Empire and two independent Boer states, the South African Republic (Republic of
Transvaal) and the Orange Free State, over the Empire's influence in South
Africa. The trigger of the war was the discovery of
diamonds and gold in the Boer states.
Initial
Boer attacks were successful, and although British reinforcements later
reversed these, the war continued for years with Boer guerrilla warfare, until
harsh British counter-measures including a scorched earth policy brought the
Boers to terms. The British army seized
control of all of the Orange Free State and Transvaal, as the civilian
leadership went into hiding or exile. In conventional terms, the war was over.
The British officially annexed the two countries in 1900. Back home, Britain's
Conservative government wanted to capitalize on this success and use it to
maneuver an early general election, dubbed a "khaki election", to
give the government another six years of power in London. British military efforts were aided by Cape
Colony, the Colony of Natal, Rhodesia, and some native African allies, and
further supported by volunteers from the British Empire, including southern
Africa, the Australian colonies, Canada, India and New Zealand.
The Boers
refused to surrender. They reverted to guerrilla warfare under new generals
Louis Botha, Jan Smuts, Christiaan de Wet and Koos de la Rey. Two years of
surprise attacks and quick escapes followed. As guerrillas without uniforms,
the Boer fighters easily blended into the farmlands, which provided hiding
places, supplies, and horses. The British response to guerrilla warfare was to
set up complex nets of blockhouses, strongpoints, and barbed wire fences,
partitioning off the entire conquered territory. In addition, civilian farms
and livestock were destroyed as part of a scorched earth policy. Survivors were
forced into concentration camps. Very large proportions of these civilians died
of hunger and disease, especially the children.
The Republic
of Stellaland was, from 1882 to 1883, a Boer republic located in an area of
British Bechuanaland (now in South Africa's North West Province), west of the
Transvaal. During its short history, the
small state became a focal point for conflict between the British Empire and
the South African Republic, the two major players vying for control of the
territory. The Republic of Stellaland
was created on 26 July 1882, under the leadership of its elected president
Gerrit Jacobus van Niekerk, a farmer from Transvaal, and was given the name
Stellaland (Star Land) in reference to a comet that was visible in the skies at
the time. The town of Vryburg was founded and declared its capital
Stellaland’s laws and
constitution were practically identical to those of the South African Republic.
It never issued an independent currency, but instead—like all the surrounding
states—used the South African pound; it did, however, print its own postage
stamps beginning in 1884. In Dec 1884, British sent in a force under Sir Charles
Warren, who invaded the country and abolished the republic in August of the
following year before it was incorporated into British Bechuanaland.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
26.7.2020
No comments:
Post a Comment