New Delhi: On Tuesday, Jay Shah was elected unopposed as the chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Current Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and son of Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, Jay Shah will succeed Greg Barclay, who chose not to seek a third term, on 1 December.
Taking note of Shah’s appointment, a South China Morning Post report reflects on India’s increasing influence in global cricket administration, with the sport already enjoying immense popularity and profitability in the country. Shah aims to further globalise cricket and enhance its inclusivity, leveraging his experience and India’s significant cricket fan base, which constitutes over 90 percent of the sport’s global audience, it notes.
In Kolkata, protests over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital continue. On 21 August, thousands of doctors and medical students took to the streets, criticising the hospital’s initial mishandling of the case and demanding increased safety in medical institutions, journalist Monideepa Banerjie highlights in her report for Al Jazeera. A civic volunteer was arrested for the crime, and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing the case. Some government responses, like avoiding night shifts for female staff, have faced backlash. The Supreme Court has formed a task force to address workplace safety. The protesting doctors, Banerjie finds, aren’t just scared, they’re angry.
Another South China Morning Post report looks into how, since October, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has detained nearly $43 million in electronics shipments from India under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which bans goods linked to forced labour in China’s Xinjiang region.
While CBP has not specified the types of detained electronics, polysilicon for solar panels is a high-priority sector under the UFLPA, and such panels have been frequently stopped. The report highlights how increased scrutiny of Indian shipments reflects broader enforcement efforts by CBP. Solar imports from India surged to $2.3 billion last year. Waaree Technologies and Adani Enterprises are the top Indian suppliers to the US market, the report notes.
Pakistan and Ukraine have maintained a robust relationship, particularly in defence, with Ukraine having supplied Pakistan with T-80UD tanks in the late 1990s and having completed arms deals totaling nearly $1.6 billion by 2020. Despite the Russia-Ukraine war, Pakistan has continued to support Ukraine’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity”, a phrase used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he bestowed a hug on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in August 2024, writes Jawed Naqwi in an opinion piece for the Dawn.
This display of solidarity, however, contrasts with India’s and Pakistan’s consistent neutrality on UN resolutions concerning Russia. PM Modi’s embrace of Zelenskyy might have been a strategic move to bolster India’s defence ties with the US, given the subsequent defence talks in New Delhi. Meanwhile, Modi’s previous diplomatic trips, including a less impactful visit to Rome and his efforts to link his image with past leaders’ successes, have drawn both domestic and international scrutiny, he discusses.
Meanwhile in southeastern Bangladesh, water has inundated 11 districts, leaving large areas submerged. The city of Feni is experiencing one of its worst floods. As water levels rise, so does the anger among locals over the cause of the floods. Locals blame India, accusing it of releasing water from the Dumbur dam in Tripura without warning, discusses a latest CNN report.
India had denied that the dam release was deliberate and said that heavy rainfall was a factor. However, “it conceded that a power outage and communications breakdown meant they failed to issue the usual warning to neighbors downstream” the report adds.
Nearly 5 million people are affected in Bangladesh, with at least 18 dead.
Also read: Global media on Modi’s ‘wait-and-see’ Ukraine strategy & transformation into ‘expert on U-turns’
In other news, a BBC report highlights a trend of old Indian films gaining renewed interest.
She writes about 26-year-old Zakia Rafiqi watching Bollywood film Laila Majnu during its re-release in August 2024 and being struck by the emotional connection it evoked, particularly since it is set in her native Kashmir. Originally a box office disappointment in 2018, the film performed well on its second run. BBC journalists Meryl Sebastian and Sharanya Hrishikesh discuss this trend in their report.
One of the major reasons for this surge has been Bollywood’s struggles post-pandemic and the shift in viewing habits towards streaming services. Films from the 1990s and early 2000s, such as Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, are also seeing re-releases, driven by nostalgia.
Biggest raid on Palestinians in West Bank, Telegram CEO arrested
Israel is carrying out its biggest raid in close to two decades in the occupied West Bank. At least nine Palestinians have been killed as air attacks continue in the cities of Jenin and Tulkarem. For more information, follow live updates by Al Jazeera.
The CEO of messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, has been arrested in France. On Monday evening, the Paris prosecutor said in a statement that Durov was being held in custody as part of a cyber-crime investigation. Read the latest BBC report to know more.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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