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Arun Jaitley’s freedom heroes, and those who aren’t: In his message to the nation on Independence Day, union minister Arun Jaitley created a flutter on social media with a post seeking to celebrate India’s heroes. Sardar Patel, the Congressman and home minister who banned the RSS after Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, is right at the centre in Jaitley’s hero lineup. Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, is to Patel’s left. Jawaharlal Nehru is completely missing, in keeping with the Modi government’s decision to downplay the importance of the first Prime Minister. But what is interesting is that even B.R. Ambedkar, the father of the Constitution and Modi’s new Dalit icon — the PM has made it a point to co-opt him in most speeches he makes, even the BJP national executive later this week is taking place in the spanking new Ambedkar Bhavan in the capital — is missing.
While several users piped in with their comments, no political party has so far: Not @RahulGandhi’s Congress, or the Samajwadi party or the pro-Dalit Bahujan Samajwadi Party.
सभी देशवासियों को स्वतंत्रता दिवस की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं। #IndependenceDayIndia pic.twitter.com/7jTMTjCSnR
— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) August 15, 2018
Twitter had cheeky responses to Jaitley’s political faux pas, like the following one:
?? Done pic.twitter.com/EWBi43PubI
— ♛♚????? ♚♛ (@Popat_Patra) August 15, 2018
Former Prime Minister and veteran BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee is in a critical condition. “Unfortunately his condition has worsened over the last 24 hours,” AIIMS, where he has been admitted for nine weeks, said in a statement late Wednesday.
India’s Independence through the eyes of Google doodle and Amul: Known for their cheeky art and wonderful depictions, Google and Amul celebrated India’s Independence in their own unique ways. While the Amul girl had something very special up her sleeve, the Google doodle was a celebration of different aspects of the Indian experience.
In his Independence Day speech, the Prime Minister sought to highlight his government’s performance and commitment to the development of each and every section of Indian society. In the over-80-minute-long speech, the Prime Minister charted his election pitch for 2019, The Indian Express reports.
Mega announcements marked the PM’s speech, as has been the trend of his Independence Day speeches. The Prime Minister announced that his government’s ambitious Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme will be launched on 25 September, the birth anniversary of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay. He also said India aimed to send a human to space by 2022.
Kerala is facing one of its worst floods in history, and nearly 70 people have died. The Kochi airport will remain closed till Saturday and, for the first time, shutters at 35 of the state’s 39 dams have been opened. Over one lakh people have been affected and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor is not pleased with how the Centre and media have (not) reacted.
The flood situation here in Kerala is really bad. The national media coverage has been grossly inadequate compared to the gravity of the situation here. It is a sad reflection of the truism that the farther you are from Delhi, the less you matter in today's India. pic.twitter.com/bohOK9jpda
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 15, 2018
First followers, early deserters: AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal found himself in another crisis as senior leader Ashutosh announced his resignation from the party Tuesday citing “very very personal reasons”, according to The Indian Express. Party insiders say Ashutosh, a member of the party’s ‘all-powerful’ political affairs committee, was unhappy about not being given a Rajya Sabha ticket by the AAP leadership. This is not the first high-profile exit from a party that was built on the success of a grassroots movement and sought to promote democracy in its functioning. Kejriwal rejected the resignation.
How can we ever accept ur resignation?
ना, इस जनम में तो नहीं। https://t.co/r7Y3tTcIOZ
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) August 15, 2018
Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra made his own little speech to the Supreme Court on Independence Day. Hindustan Times quoted him as saying that “it was easy to criticise, attack and destroy a system but difficult and challenging to transform it into a performing one”. Okay then.
When Misra said “it’s essential that one should work hard in silence and utmost sincerity and his words shall make the noise”, it is hard not to recall the press conference the four most senior judges of the court held in January. At the unprecedented press meet, Justices J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M.B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph alleged that democracy was in danger, and that things within the Supreme Court were “not in order”.
The speech seems to be the first public reaction to the press conference. “There may be some elements who try to weaken the institution… refuse to succumb to them,” Misra reportedly said.
News it’s just kinda cool to know
Chennai airport has introduced humanoid robots that can “decipher variances in accents”, as well as greet passengers and respond to queries. This is what the Chennai airport Twitter handle had to say:
Humanoid Robots introduced on trail basis at Chennai Airport.The robot will provide info on Chennai Airport and it's amenities.This autonomous bots can navigate on its own, identify& greet passengers and respond to queries deciphering variances in accent,converse with wit&fun!! pic.twitter.com/f5i6Wb6KJc
— Chennai (MAA) Airport (@aaichnairport) August 15, 2018
Eat your greens! A study has found that cabbage and broccoli can prevent colon cancer. The study revealed “indole-3-carbinol”, which is a product of vegetable digestion, is a cancer-preventing agent.
Business Class
Vodafone India and Idea Cellular are gearing up to fight the telecom battle with Airtel and Reliance Jio, reports The Economic Times. The two companies, which will merge by the end of the month, have raised the incentive offered to retailers to Rs 180-250 for every customer they add.
The prospect of a showdown between Kotak Mahindra Bank and the RBI looms large, with “the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rejecting the means by which Uday Kotak diluted his promoter stake in Kotak Mahindra Bank”, reports The Economic Times.
Point of View
PM Narendra Modi made his last I-Day address of this term Wednesday. The Indian Express writes in its editorial, “PM Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech was bound by the exigencies of a government in its final year before an election. But it still had some soaring moments, and omissions.”
The Election Commission has rejected the prospect of simultaneous elections anytime soon. The Times of India writes in its editorial, “Election Commission has done well to scotch idle speculation in recent days on the possibility of clubbing Lok Sabha elections with 11 assembly polls… Recognising the unconstitutionality of not conducting elections on time, EC is going ahead with preparations”.
PM Modi’s Independence Day speech talked about the achievements of his government and the promises to be fulfilled. Columnist Pratap Bhanu Mehta writes in his column in The Indian Express, “How did this fantasy of hope, painted in the colours of a nation marching to one tune and one purpose, completely blanket out the actual republic of fear, the lurking sense of dread that cannot be disguised by throwing some effective government schemes?”
Is the idea of a theatre command an exercise in futility for Indian forces? Military historian Arjun Subramaniam in his column writes in The Hindu, “This has unfortunately pitted the three services against one another in a series of turf wars that have ranged from control over space to control over cyber and special forces.”
Prime Time
On India Today TV, Rajdeep Sardesai covered the Kerala floods, with reporters from across the state presenting a ground report on the grave crisis. Pictures from Vandiperiyar, Aluva, Kollam and Kozhikode show the exigent conditions in the state, which is reeling under its worst floods in over a century. As many as 12 of its 14 districts are under red alert.
The second half of the show analysed the Prime Minister’s I-Day speech, with the theme being whether the PM set a narrative for the 2019 elections. While politicians from both the BJP and the Congress sparred over their respective achievements while in office, the president of Swaraj India, Yogendra Yadav, said he was disappointed with the PM’s speech. He highlighted the omissions of demonetisation, farmer suicides, unemployment, rupee’s value and lynchings, among others in the speech. According to him, the Prime Minister was more “like a magician on stage who knows that the spell has been broken and there is nervousness”.