Prime Time
Karnataka Congress MLA D.K. Shivakumar’s arrest continues to arouse interest across TV channels and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia also got coverage, especially during the day.
CNN-News 18: With Shivakumar’s arrest, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa said he would be “more happy than everyone” if he is cleared of the charges. Why is Yediyurappa sympathetic to Shivakumar, asked anchor Bhupendra Chaubey on ‘Viewpoint’.
BJP’s Sambit Patra said, “It is high time that we come to the merits of the case and leave the ‘hamam’ of politics apart.”
Dhanya Rajendran, editor-in-chief of The News Minute, said, “D.K. Shivakumar is a businessman. He has friends cutting across party lines.”
JD(S) leaded Tanveer Ahmed was sarcastic: “…the Gangotri of corruption always starts from Congress, but I think it has changed the direction — it is starting from BJP.”
Yashovardhan Azad, retired IPS officer, said, “It’s not a question of vendetta versus substance (in the case). It’s a question of the merits of the case…”
Times Now: ‘The Newshour’ with Navika Kumar addressed the economic slowdown as Maruti halted production for two days and market sentiment dipped. “Is Modinomics waning?” asked Kumar.
Economist Yoginder K. Alagh said, “There is no question that for 12 quarters, public investments have been falling, so have private investments.” “The budget did not address the slowdown in investment and rural distress at all,” he added.
“I don’t think the recession has bottomed out. The likelihood of this continuing will be higher for the simple reason that this is essentially a demand side problem,” thought economist Dr Rohit Azad.
BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi said, “The situation is not good. It is a slowdown but not a recession.”
Political analyst Garga Chatterjee was harsher: “It is shocking that the BJP is still trying to conduct a war against reality…hard decisions have to be taken, the party cannot continue doing a PR campaign.”
Zee News: ‘Taal Thok Ke’ with Sachin Arora recalled the 1971 war — #1971YaadRakhoPakistan was its hashtag.
BJP’s Amit Malviya recited the dialogue from the movie Uri: “Ye naya India hai, ye ghar mein ghusega bhi aur maarega bhi”.
Major General (retired) K.K. Sinha said, “The Army has been showing its valor since 1947 but we always got defeated during table talks.”
Kashmiri activist Rameez Makhdoomi was angered by the debate: “(The) Army is not the answer for everything,” he said referring to Kashmir and walked out.
India TV: On ‘Kurukshetra’, war, Pakistan and protests outside the Indian High Commission in London were discussed.
Muslim Political Council of India’s chairman Tasleem Rahmani felt, “Pakistan doesn’t have the audacity to go for war so they are mobilising people to throw eggs on our embassy.”
Ahmed Ayaz, secretary of the Muslim Personal Law Board, J&K, said that human rights violations in Kashmir not Pakistan, had attracted international attention.
Major General (retired) S.P. Sinha was bombastic as he observed that the world bows down before the mighty: “Now we are powerful.”
Front Page
Modi’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his two-day visit to Russia is making news Thursday. Also, the Home Ministry’s decision to designate JeM chief Masood Azhar and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim as terrorists hit the headlines.
Mainstream newspapers feature photographs of Modi and Putin in deep discussion during the former’s visit to Russia. The Indian Express headlines, “Putin listening, Modi says no room for outside role in internal matters”. Hindustan Times writes, “Modi thanks Putin for support on J&K stand”. For The Times of India, the story finds itself on one of its front-page flaps.
The Hindu quotes Prime Minister Modi, “India and Russia are against outside influence in the internal matters of any nation.” It notes that the talks were “aimed at finding new horizons of bilateral cooperation in areas like trade, defence, space, oil and gas, nuclear energy and maritime connectivity.”
Express hints at the PM’s references to Kashmir, “on a day when Indian and Russia signed 15 MoUs across a range of sectors, from space to deep-sea exploration, PM Modi made a veiled reference in Vladivostok to J&K and Pakistan and said that India and Russia are against outside influence in internal matters”. In its ‘Explained’ box, it writes, the PM’s visit is “aimed at shoring up cooperation with Moscow in the Far East, which ties in with India’s approach towards the Indo-Pacific and the Arctic”.
Dawood, Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed designated as terrorists: HT says that “a month after Parliament amended an anti-terror law to enable individuals to be designated as terrorists,” the NDA government “declared four of the most wanted men in India as terrorists, arming investigating agencies with additional powers to act against them.”
Hindu adds, “Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, his deputy Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, who planned and executed the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, are the first four persons designated as terrorists under the terror law”.
“Announcing the arrest of two Pakistani nationals affiliated to banned militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba,” Express quotes General Officer Commanding Army’s 15 Corps Lt General K.J.S Dhillon, saying “desperate Pakistan was pushing infiltrators into the Valley to carry out terrorist activities.”
Express also notes that “in the 30 days since the removal of special status” of J&K, “at least 290 people have been booked under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act.”
Hindu reports that the “agreement on Kartarpur Corridor project, which will open the famed pilgrimage centre to Indians could not be signed” after “Pakistan declared that it would charge fees from visitors.”
Home loans: TOI’s choice of lead story headlines: “Rate cuts for new home loans to be passed on automatically”. It writes that all banks “are now mandatorily required to link floating rate loans extended to retail and small business to the repo rate — the rate at which lenders borrow from the RBI.”
TOI reminds that this move comes after “public sector banks announced a slew of repo-linked loans after a nudge” from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Opinion
HT: In ‘Rebalancing India-Russia ties’, HT describes Modi’s third bilateral visit to Russia as a chance for the two countries to “adjust to new realities even while drawing on old friendships”. Energy will be the focus. Russia has already purchased Essar Oil and in return, Indian petrochemical firms have invested $7 billion in Russia, explains HT.
Though India’s relations with the former Soviet Union were something special, it must lay down “a new foundation” for its relationship with Moscow, especially after the latter has been an international pillar of support for India on the Kashmir issue.
The two diverge on certain geopolitical issues, however, like the Taliban peace talks in Afghanistan and the rise of China. Modi must address these concerns and maintain “goodwill” with Moscow.
TOI: In ‘Restore Credibility’, TOI discusses the lack of transparency in political funding as a “regression” of Indian democracy. The “insidious” electoral bonds scheme have allowed parties to source political funds with little accountability, and the loosening of restrictions on foreign funding have only complicated matters.
TOI finds the arrest of Congress MLA D.K. Shivakumar for alleged money laundering “curious”, since it came just days after P. Chidambaram was booked by the CBI on similar charges. The newspaper asks why agencies only have their eyes on opposition members. The ED and CBI should be more “even-handed”, it writes, and continue investigations even if the suspect indulges in “party-hopping”.