Prime Time
Times Now: The channel discussed who is to be blamed for the deaths of over 100 children in Bihar — poor infrastructure, shoddy governance or unhygienic conditions.
Author Shobhaa De said, “Litchis should not be blamed for the children’s deaths; it is malnutrition that is killing children.”
“There is callousness across the board. It’s a shame that ministers are feasting, while children are dying,” she said.
Political analyst Vishal V. Sharma blamed failure of the administration for the tragedy. He asked, “Who would make them accountable. What about the ‘administrative babu’ who sits in the same department?”
Former central information commissioner Sailesh Gandhi said: “It is not death, it is killing (of the children).”
Defending the state government, JD(U) leader Syed Afzal Abaas said as he has done in previous debates, “It is our commitment that this will not be repeated in the future.”
Republic TV: Republic was short and crisp in asking for Nitish Kumar’s resignation over the issue.
Along with anchor Arnab Goswami, Rashtriya Lok Samata Party Spokesperson Madhav Anand was quick to blame Kumar for the children deaths.
Arnab said, “Medicines at double rates and patients being fleeced. Could there be more cruel exploitation of the poor?”
BJP national spokesperson Zafar Islam defended the central government saying, “Centre has already stepped in and we are providing all the assistance needed.”
Political analyst Nighat Abbas was the lone defender of the Bihar government and said, “Government has taken all necessary steps; they will find a solution as soon as possible.”
Aaj Tak: The channel debates on – “Will simultaneous polls affect the opposition parties’ existing coalition chemistry in regional states? Is that the reason why the opposition is ignoring the PM’s requests?”
PM Modi and the BJP have been claiming that ‘one nation one poll’ will significantly reduce election expenditure.
Anchor Chitra Tripathi said, “This year around Rs 60,000 crore was spent on elections, which is worldwide the most expensive election. If we are able to save this money and utilise it in a better way, why is there a problem in the opposition?”
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, “This idea was presented by Election Commission and we have just given them support. Also, PM Modi wanted that ‘One Nation, One Poll’ should be implemented with the consensus of all the political parties.”
Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy said, “Mamata Banerjee has sent a letter to parliamentary affairs minister stating that we cannot reach a common ground on this issue in just one day.”
News 24: In ‘Rashtra ki Baat’, the channel asked why is the Hindu-Muslim issue going on everywhere — from Parliament to roads?
It started with slogan-shouting in Lok Sabha during the oath-taking ceremony of new MPs. Later, the issue snowballed after West Delhi BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma wrote a letter to Lt Governor (LG) Anil Baijal, claiming mushrooming of mosques on roads in the national capital, which he said “hamper” traffic and causes “inconvenience” to the public.
Prem Shukla, a BJP spokesperson, said, “People have become blind due to secularism”.
Moulana Syed Athar Hussain Dehlavi of Anjuman Minhaj-e-Rasool said, “Anything that is being constructed illegally or is creating problems for the common man should not be supported. But there are other ways to do it.”
AAP leader Durgesh Pathak argued, “BJP completely failed in Delhi. They have no answer to our hospitals, mohalla clinic. Hindu-Muslim is something which they play with all the time. But, I don’t understand who they are actually accusing – because all the land comes under LG and land-grabbing complaints are handled by police, and both the LG and police come under the central government.”
Tiranga TV: Karan Thapar on his show ‘Up Front’ asked if the ‘one nation, one election’ move is really worth saving the cost?
S.Y. Quraishi, former chief election commissioner, said, “It’s absolutely true, it’s normally cheaper and more convenient. The voter is the same, machine is the same, as is everything else…it makes sense.”
Senior journalist Neerja Chowdhury said, “There are two things. First, simultaneous elections could possibly bring down the costs. But, the cost essentially depends on what parties decide to do and how much they decide to spend, and that is contingent on political will.”
Front Page
The biggest news break of Wednesday was “PM will form panel to look into simultaneous polls in the country” (The Indian Express) as the issue of ‘one nation one poll’ is again back in focus with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fresh pitch for it.
The Express reports the committee will study the concept of simultaneous polls “threadbare” and “come up with suggestions in a time-bound manner.”
Even though “PM said a decision would be taken by consensus” (The Times of India), The Hindu writes the committee will “prepare a road map” for one nation, one election.
Hindustan Times notes it is “one of his first political initiatives after taking over for a second term”, stressing how important it is to the PM. Even as “the issue has starkly divided India’s political actors”, however, several opposition party leaders, including from the Congress and Trinamool Congress, skipped the first meeting on the issue.
The Express and Hindu say that CPM and CPI “opposed it (simultaneous polls) only on the question of how it can be done”. But, TOI writes “CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said the party felt the move was anti-federal and it went against accountability of government.”
The Hindu notes that “Among the NDA allies, the Shiv Sena was missing”. TOI gives the reason why: “Wednesday was the Foundation Day of the party.”
Among the attendees was Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whose state is back on front pages this morning owing to death of over 100 children due to encephalitis.
“No Muzaffarpur med centre has a rating better than zero” is the lead in TOI. It writes the “shocking state of the public health infrastructure in the district” has come to light now that the state and union government are “scrambling” to contain the AES outbreak.
“The 103 primary health centres (PHC) and the only community health centre in the district were not considered even fit for evaluation or were rated 0 out of 5, as per the health management information system (HMIS),” TOI finds.
Other papers report the death toll, but with different figures. While The Hindu says its 115, Express reports 114 and HT an astonishing 128. HT explains its number in its report — “fresh cases were reported from some districts that had not been affected so far.”
Express finds that “the Bihar government has ordered a socio-economic survey of over 450 people whose children have either been affected by or died of the disease.”
The families, however, see this of no use. It carries a distressing quote from a father dealing with the loss of his son: “we cannot blame the government. We have fate and god to blame for making us poor.”
TOI is unsparing. “What makes this situation particularly shocking is that the district has been witnessing deaths of scores of little children at this time of the year every year for the last two decades or more. And yet, successive governments have not bothered to beef up the public health infrastructure to cope with even routine health needs, leave alone a medical emergency they know will hit unfailingly each year,” it writes.
PM panel on CEA report: “PM’s panel rejects former CEA’s paper on GDP growth” (Hindu) is a common report in the papers Thursday.
TOI reports that government panel made a “point-by-point rebuttal” to former chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian’s claims that the GDP has been overestimated by 2.5 percentage points since 2011. HT says it “conceded GDP calculation has always been an imperfect art which involves extrapolation, estimation and sometimes guestimates based on past trends.”
Other news
TOI is alone in reporting “US mulling 15% cap on H-1B visa for Indians” on its front page. It writes the move is “widening the two countries’ row over tariffs and trade”, and notes that India is “largest recipient of these temporary visas.”
Express is the only one to follow up on the case of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. In “Police reinstate husband, kin of CJI complainant”, it writes after more than 4 months of suspension, the two have been reinstated as head constables.
Opinion
HT: In ‘J&K needs a policy review’, the paper says the recent spate in violence in the Valley means the security status is ‘fragile’. Both the security and political situation need to be reviewed and the Centre needs to focus on a “twin strategy”. While cross-border terrorism is a problem, the spurt in local radicalisation is a “worrying trend”. The state needs to maintain a strong “security vigil” and improve intelligence collection. While the Army should look after the borders with Pakistan, the paramilitary forces and states should tackle “internal turmoil”.
HT also urges holding state polls as soon as possible to fill the political vacuum since President’s rule was imposed last year. And the BJP needs to keep on hold its agenda on Article 35A and Article 370 as this will add to further alienation.
Hindu: In ‘Beyond Mayday’, it says Jet Airways “may have finally run out of runway” after lenders decided to refer it to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and initiate insolvency proceedings, once efforts to bail it out, failed.
It says while the Insolvency Bankruptcy Code was meant to help protect and revive a running business, it is unlikely to be of any use in this instance. The lenders are partly to blame for “the delay in initiating the insolvency process” that drastically eroded the airlines’ key assets —from its fleet and crew to routes and landing slots.
Policy makers now need to review issues that affect viability: from aviation turbine fuel taxation to airport charges while airlines need to reappraise their pricing and competitive strategies.
Tweet of the day:
Why I think India will win the cricket World Cup !@satishacharya pic.twitter.com/EwZtiN5Jz4
— Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) June 19, 2019
(With inputs from Shailaja Bajpai, Triya Gulati, Harshit Mansukhani and Taran Deol)