How women voters ‘were mobilised’ for BJP’s win this poll season & many surprises of an Indian highway

Global media also looks at how an Eastern Himalayan community is protecting mithuns, a cattle considered sacred, and India's need for higher GDP growth to address job gap.

Graphic by Prajna Ghosh, ThePrint

New Delhi: In April 2024, Sapiens Research founder Rimjhim Gour formed a team in New Delhi and tasked them with mobilising 12.5 million women voters to help Bharatiya Janata Party win big, and all of this happened through an advanced election “war room”, highlights a report, ‘How a Secret BJP War Room Mobilized Female Voters to Win the Indian Elections’, published in Wired.

The report, written by Nilesh Christopher and Varsha Bansal, describes this as a “sophisticated effort” using technology to identify women “who could bring other women out to vote, and offered a glimpse of the future of campaigning in India”. During this task, the team utilised data analytics, WhatsApp, call centres, and a specialised app SARAL to organise and engage women voters.

This campaign underscores the ever-changing role of technology in election campaigning, while highlighting that there is still a continued need for traditional campaigning. Experts told Wired that other likely reasons for women coming out to vote might be things like religious polarisation and welfare programmes, such as free food and cash handouts.

“Should restrictions on Chinese investment be relaxed immediately to boost export levels?” This debate in India has intensified following the 2023-24 Economic Survey, which highlights the detrimental impact of stringent measures on India’s manufacturing sector, says the latest Global Times editorial, ‘Fixing Chinese investment curbs won’t cause India to lose face’.

In 2020, strict limits on Chinese investments and visa issuances were imposed by New Delhi with an aim to “protect domestic industries”. However, these measures, which include the ban on Chinese apps and which restricted flights, have failed to bolster India’s manufacturing, resulting in a GDP share decline from 16 percent in 2015 to around 13 percent in 2023, says the Global Times article. Moreover, this has caused $15 billion in production losses and 100,000 job cuts, particularly affecting the electronics sector.

Despite this, some Indian government officials are resisting to change this policy, says the article, urging New Delhi to face up to the growing domestic voices with a more positive and open attitude toward bilateral cooperation in the economic and trade fields. “New Delhi should know that a timely correction of wrong policies will not lead it to “lose face,” but will demonstrate India’s maturity and confidence,” it concluded.

‘Riding With a Trucker, Witnessing India’s Past and Potential’, a report published in The New York Times, written by Peter S. Goodman and Hari Kumar, dives deep into the journey of an Indian truck driver, Ragib Khan. Through him, it explores the different obstacles faced on highways.

Khan, 49, a truck driver for Chetak Logistics, remains patient during his week-long journey from Haryana to Bengaluru as he transports Suzuki cars. He avoids driving over about 50-60 km per hour, reflecting a cautious approach towards the myriad hazards of Indian highways — animals, potholes, and erratic traffic.

Despite India’s significant infrastructure improvements, including expanded highways and dedicated freight corridors, challenges remain. The government is working to enhance logistics, but India’s infrastructure still lags behind other major Asian economies. “Indian roads are full of surprises,” Khan tells NYT. “You have to be very careful.” While improvements in digital payments and reduced toll wait times have eased his job, he and others in the industry continue to face obstacles.

In eastern Himalayas of India, a cattle considered sacred is currently threatened due to intense deforestation and climate change, says a BBC report, ‘The indigenous community protecting Himalayan sacred cattle in India’ written by Aatreyee Dhar.

To protect these cattle — mithuns — the Adi community has built “living fences” made of barbed-wire and orchid tree stumps. Dhar spoke to Yang Ering Moyong, a widowed Adi herder, who has faced significant challenges managing her herd due to crop damage and financial strain. The fences help people like her to keep mithuns from straying and damaging crops. This also results in reduction of cost of trespassing incidents. This initiative has also led to a curb in deforestation and hence an increase in mithun population.

A latest Financial Times opinion piece, ‘Citi feels the heat over India’s job numbers’ written by FT journalist Chris Kay discusses a recent analysis by Citigroup that has highlighted the disparity in India’s economy, noting that despite a 7 percent GDP growth, only 9 million jobs can be created annually instead of the 12 million needed to employ its young workforce.

Citigroup’s report emphasised that higher GDP growth is necessary to address this job gap. The Ministry of Labour and Employment and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have countered these claims, with the latter reporting 46.7 million new jobs in the last fiscal year. Critics argue that the official unemployment rate of 3.2 percent masks significant underemployment and that the government’s response to critical analysis indicates a reluctance to accept unfavourable assessments.

Hamas leader assassinated, Hugo Chávez’s statues burnt 

Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in Iran’s capital Tehran. The Palestinian group running the Gaza Strip and Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, confirmed the news in separate statements. To know more, read the latest report by Al Jazeera. 

At least seven statues of president Nicolás Maduro’s predecessor and political mentor, Hugo Chávez, have been attacked by opposition supporters, beheaded and some completely torn down, as protests over Venezuela’s disputed presidential elections spread across the country. For more information, read the report by the The Guardian.