Front Page
Narendra Modi isn’t scared of meeting industrialists in public. Speaking in Lucknow on Sunday, the PM said that industrialists, like farmers, artisans, bankers etc, also play a vital role in the development of the nation, the Indian Express reports. With the BJP often being accused by the Opposition of being a ‘suit-boot ki sarkar,’ the speech was characteristic of the PM’s ability to spin narratives to his advantage.
Last night had everyone holding their breath, as DMK chief M Karunanidhi suffered a temporary health setback in Kauvery Hospital in Alwarpet, Chennai. DMK members and Karunanidhi supporters assembled in large numbers outside the hospital and his residence. Karunanidhi’s son and party working president M.K. Stalin appealed to them to remain calm and disperse, The Hindu reports. With medical support, his vital signs began normalising again towards the end of the night.
The final draft of Assam’s National Register of Citizens will be released today, and the government is anticipating that things could get messy. The list, which is a part of a massive controversial attempt to identify and deport illegal immigrants in Assam, especially from Bangladesh, requires citizens to prove they have family ties to people whose names appeared in the 1951 NRC or subsequent electoral rolls till March 25, 1971. Hindustan Times reports 22,000 central paramilitary forces have been sent to Assam by the Centre in anticipation of unrest.
Forget job interviews, now a Facebook picture might determine if you get a US visa or not. Immigration and border security officials across several countries are proactively scanning social media profiles to spot suspicious activity for visa applicants, Times of India reports. So much so, that certain US officials even have the authority to go through your electronic devices — your phone, laptop, tablet etc. TOI tells us that US checks of these devices have gone up 250% in two years.
The Bihar shelter home rapes case has been transferred to the CBI, and the team arrived at the scene of the crime on Sunday to begin investigation. Testimonies of the girls rescued from the government-funded shelter home in Muzaffarpur earlier this month revealed that 34 of 42 of them had suffered sexual abuse. Hindustan Times reports that a police official on the case said Sunday “that the girls were raped after sedatives were given to them under the garb of deworming medication almost every night”.
A mile of closed pubs: MG road’s famous mall area is witnessing a massive crackdown as Gurgaon police have withdrawn no-objection certificates (NoCs) from 10 of the 15 nightclubs there, Times of India reports. Widely accused of becoming a prostitution hub at night, malls in the area had also previously started barring single women from entering clubs.
Three thousand people were evacuated from low-lying areas in Delhi to makeshift camps as the water level in the Yamuna continued to rise on Sunday. Traffic on the Old Yamuna Bridge was also suspended, Hindustan Times reports. The water level reached its highest mark in the last five years, breaching the danger mark on Saturday, government officials said. The level is likely to rise to 206.6 metres in the next 48 hours.
Business Class
Now, a new policy to make India a defense manufacturing hub. Business Standard reports that the government is likely to unveil a major policy next month which outlines the roadmap to build a robust defence production industry. Significant focus will be on investment in critical technology upgradation.
Tech giants may see a fall in earnings with India’s new data policy draft. Companies such as Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are likely to be hit if Justice Srikrishna Committee’s recommendations to curb data tracking of and advertising targeted at users under the age of 18 are accepted reports The Economic Times.
News it’s just kinda cool to know
Women’s Hockey World Cup: India progressed to the knockout stages of the tournament Sunday, after coming back from a goal down to draw with the US 1-1 in their final Pool B match. Margaux Paolino (11th minute) broke the deadlock for world no.7 USA before India skipper Rani Rampal equalised for 10th ranked India in the 31st minute,’ NDTV Sports reports.
NASA turns 60 today, and in commemoration of the event, the space agency has released a video tracing their history.
Point of View
Disability rights activist Satendra Singh, in his column for The Indian Express, writes about how the guidelines by the Medical Council of India are unfair to people with disabilities. He says, “Policymakers and doctors without the lived experience of having a disability must not assume and declare what we can and cannot achieve. The relevant committees and ministries must re-evaluate their guidelines and reconstitute their committees with the inclusion of doctors with disabilities.”
An editorial in Livemint speaks about the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018, put forward by the Justice Srikrishna Committee last week. Looking at the pro’s and con’s of the draft, it concludes that, “The report and the bill that is built upon it lay down some sound principles. The committee’s work is not without merit. But it is far from a finished product.”
Sundar Sarukkai, a professor of philosophy, in his column for The Hindu, examines the implications of the observation in the Sabarimala case that ‘there is no concept of private mandirs’. He says “My argument that the temple is not a private space because of its dependence on the idea of god as the supreme ‘public entity’ has an important corollary. Other such public entities that are present within the confines of a private space also have the ‘right’ to dismantle the privacy of that place.”
A Times of India editorial on West Bengal changing its name to Bangla, speaks about why dropping the ‘West’ was a welcome idea for the state, but is still only a ‘handy trick to boost one’s self esteem’ in reality. “Apparently Mamata didi was sick and tired of speaking last at state governments’ meetings. The Bangla switch catapults her to the front benches of the class,” it observes.
Prime Time
Debating Lutyens’ Delhi
Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami began his debate with an 8-minute long prologue criticising and bombarding the Lutyens’ Club. “If there is one group of people who are detested in the country it is only those who are part of Lutyens’ club. They all deny being a part, but enjoy all the benefits,” he said, “They want Modi to go so that the old system of power could be brought back.”
Senior journalist Kanchan Gupta said that it will take many more terms for NDA to completely destroy the Lutyens’ mafia. Meanwhile, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri categorised Lutyens’ club into three: L3 – so-called Liberals who don’t know that Indian civilisation is the most liberal and tolerant. L2 – direct beneficiaries from UPA. L1 – which is the most dangerous – Urban Naxals.
Free, fair and transparent primetime
On Times Now, anchor Athar Khan questioned the statement made by former Chief Election Commissioner of India SY Quraishi calling the Pakistan elections free, fair and transparent. Starting the discussion on #WhyBackTerroristan, Khan said the statement legitimises the terrorist apologists in Pakistan.
Former MEA spokesperson Vivek Katju said the elections were manipulated and that the army and judiciary made sure that Nawaz Sharif’s PML(N) is out. BJP’s Tuhin Sinha believed that Quraishi could have avoided the controversial statement.
With inputs from Prateek Gupta