Prime Time
Rains and Pakistan continue to deluge news channels.
The rains in Patna found reporters from Times Now, Aaj Tak, Republic, India TV etc. wading through the flooded streets. They found Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on a boat inspection and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi being rescued – “(Sirf) Aam log nahin, khaas log… bhi pareshan..’’ DD said (Not just the public but VIPs also suffered’).
DD News and India TV said “posh areas” were also flooded. India TV found a state minister’s home in Patna waterlogged. “If the water has not receded from a minister’s home what chance is there for the public?’’ it asked. “The minister is relaxing at home…” it added.
CNN News 18 claimed it had rescued singer Sharda Sinha, who burst into song to express her feelings.
Hindi news channels like India TV, Zee News, ABP and News 18 India gunned for Imran Khan and Pakistan
ABP News: After Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent comment that RSS is an extremist organization involved in ethnic cleansing of Muslims in India, anchor Rubika Liyaquat held the prime time debate the Nagpur RSS headquarters on the question – “Is RSS and India one and the same?”
Yes, responded 90 per cent of the audience.
NCP’s Shabbir Ahmed disagreed, “RSS is an organisation and India is a country. Everyone has the right to live in this country while disagreeing with a particular organisation’s ideology.”
Congress’ Ashish Deshmukh said: “I and approximately 80 percent of India’s population do not agree with RSS’ ideology.”
RSS member Ashutosh said, “We simply believe in Hindutva which says that if you think of this country as your motherland… We do not hate Muslims….”
Zee News: Anchor Aman Chopra asked, “Is India preparing to change the geography of Pakistan after the diplomatic speech at UNGA?”
Col (Dr) Tej Kumar Tikoo (Retd.) said, “Pakistan had only one asset – nuclear weapons. But the way Imran Khan has threatened nuclear war against India on an international platform, the chances are that these international bodies might snatch those weapons away from him.”
Kashmiri activist Lalit Ambardar said, “It is shameful for an organisation like United Nations…to allow a leader to openly talk about nuclear war from its platform.”
CNN News 18: On`Viewpoint’, anchor Marya Shakil discussed the collapse of the Punjab Maharashtra Co-operative Bank – “Is PMC bank loot bigger than Nirav Modi’s PNB scam?”
Abha Singh, lawyer, raised some serious questions: “Why were the guidelines ignored…Why the bank did not declare its NPAs? Why did RBI not come back to check on the bank?”
Vishwas Utagi, ex-gen secretary, MSC bank said: “RBI should have put their foot down and demanded a provision after inspecting the balance sheet- but instead they certified the bank with an A grade.”
Front Page
Front pages of mainstream newspapers, Tuesday, are divided on their choice of lead stories. Indian Express’ lead says, “As SC deadline nears, Ramlalla council says no to mediation;” The Hindu’s lead reports, “Kerala tops education ranking.” Hindustan Times reports on Bihar floods – “Late deluge brings Bihar to knees, floods east UP;” and The Times of India speculates, “Govt mulls exiting BPCL, SCI, cutting Concor stake to 25%.”
Oddly, the front pages give minimal space to the core sector output decline. Economic Times and Business Standard give it a box item.
TOI does report it saying, “core sector output declined 0.5% in August” with five of eight industries that “make up the infrastructure index reporting a lower production.” It quotes CARE chief economist Madan Sabnavis, “The negative growth in August 2019 does indicate stagnation in infrastructure spending there by meaning the government’s efforts to prop up investment has been limited.”
Hindu adds, “eight core sectors that form the bellwether for the Indian economy slumped in August to their lowest growth in four years and four months.” Express also reports on the “dip in growth”, but HT ignores this on Page 1.
Ayodhya Mediation: Express reports that “hopes of arriving at a negotiated settlement” to the Ayodhya dispute “via a parallel mediation process faded after Ramlalla Virajman, one of the three main parties to the suit said no to further mediation.” In its Explained box, it recalls, “the three-member mediation committee, formed by the SC, had given another shot at a negotiated settlement after is first effort failed.”
Education ranking: Hindu’s lead is NITI Aayog’s rankings released on Monday – “Kerala and Rajasthan have emerged as States with the best quality of school education in the country, with scores of 76.6% and 72.9% respectively.”
It states that the rankings “reflected huge differences in quality across the country, Uttar Pradesh scored the lowest among 20 large states with just 36.4%”
Chidambaram: The newspapers report Delhi High Court’s decision ‘to dismiss the bail petition’ of Chidambaram in the INX Media case. HC praises him, he had “been a strong Finance Minister and Home Minister and presently, Member of Parliament however, “the fact that he will not influence the witnesses directly or indirectly cannot be ruled out in view of the above facts.” (Hindu)
Bihar Floods: The alarming flood situation particularly in Bihar is also page 1 news. HT writes, “A late September torrential deluge pummeled large swathes of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar over the past 72 hours as flood waters swamped government offices, inundated hospital wards and marooned the houses of senior politicians.” It notes that the death toll rose to 138 as of Monday. Both Express and TOI carry a photograph of Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi and his family stranded and “awaiting rescue from the flooded Rajendra Nagar in Patna.”
Others: Hindu’s second lead is on juvenile detention in Kashmir and, “only four boys below the age of 18 were detained by the police,” in Srinagar’s Harwan.
Express writes, “flooded with over 250 writs of habeas corpus seeking quashing of preventive detention,” the two wings of J&K High Court are “overburdened with litigation,” and are functioning with “just nine judges.”
Express also observes an ‘NRC fallout’, a month after the final NRC list in Assam was published – Assam’s neighbouring states “have intensified checks on people crossing state borders without proper papers, and have turned back scores of people back to Assam.”
Opinion
HT: The newspaper describes how urban planning needs to be aligned with extreme climatic conditions like droughts and floods. In “Extreme weather is the new norm,” HT identifies the new monsoon trend as long dry spells followed by excessive rainfall over a few days. For example, Patna was facing a “rain deficit of up to 20%” due to monsoon delay but is now submerged with its rain deficit standing at 2%. This is made worse by poor urban planning, bad drainage and urban water bodies which are “rarely recorded under municipal laws” despite being important groundwater recharge sources, explains HT. “Planners see only land, not water, and the builder lobby just encroaches on them” but a detailed survey of water bodies by states can help them “wake up to the emerging threats” of climate change, the newspaper writes.
TOI: As China marks its 70thnational day, TOI discusses its rise as a superpower in the last three decades, in “China at seventy.” China is “inspirational” to the rest of the developing world, including in India, for lifting more than “700 million people out of poverty” and becoming the world’s largest manufacturer, writes TOI. Yet, its “newfound economic and military might” to create a hyper nationalist Chinese order is a threat to other countries. TOI predicts that the US-China trade war will breed a “new Cold War between the liberal camp led by the West and the techno-authoritarian camp led by China.” The recent democracy protests in Hong Kong indicate that a “clash of values is well underway”.