Front page
Guess who just got married: Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden’s son Hamza, 29, has married the daughter of Mohammad Atta, the leader of the 9/11 hijackers, The Times of India reports. The marriage, the report adds, was confirmed by two of bin Laden’s half-brothers in an interview with the British daily The Guardian. ToI carries the exclusive interview on an inside page. The brothers were quoted as saying that they believed Hamza was aiming to avenge his father’s 2011 killing by the US Navy Seals.
Government justifies Supreme Court seniority ‘mishap’: According to a report in Hindustan Times, a government functionary said “it would have been ‘completely improper, unreasonable and unfair’ to have made Justice K.M. Joseph senior to justices Indira Banerjee and Vineet Saran because they are both two-and-a-half years his senior as high court judges”. The statement came after a row erupted over the notification of the three judicial appointments, as questions were raised about Justice Joseph’s placement at the third seniority slot despite having been the first of the three to be recommended for elevation by the Supreme Court collegium.
The Hindu reports that Supreme Court judges upset with the seniority saga were assured by the CJI that he would take up the matter with attorney general K.K. Venugopal. Later in the day, the CJI met Venugopal over the issue, but the outcome was not mentioned in the report. The three judges take oath today at 10.30 am.
Days after inmates at a Bihar shelter were found to have been sexually abused, a similar racket has been exposed at another shelter for women in Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria town, The Times of India reports. The ordeal came to light when a girl aged 10 managed to escape the premises and reach a police station. Twenty-four girls have been rescued by police, and the couple who ran the shelter — illegally since their licence was suspended in 2017 — have been arrested.
Union women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi says we should expect more such cases to come out, as “many… government-run shelter homes are in a state of neglect”, Hindustan Times reports.
DMK chief Karunanidhi’s health declined in the hospital Monday, and maintaining his vitals became a challenge, according to a statement issued by the Kauvery hospital late at night. DMK cadres, on edge since the former chief minister was reported ill, flocked to the premises in large numbers.
Indian intelligence officers suspect the brain behind “Referendum 2020” — an overseas campaign for a referendum on a separate Sikh state — may be Pakistan army’s Lt Col Shahid Mehmood Malhi, also referred to as “Chaudhary sahib”, The Times of India reports. While Sikhs For Justice, the US-based rights group behind the referendum, has consistently denied any international conspiracy, the daily claims to have accessed documents that suggest otherwise.
Fifteen Maoists were killed in an encounter with the security forces in the Naxalism epicentre of Sukma, Chhattisgarh, Monday morning. The Indian Express informs us that the operation was based on intelligence received by officials Sunday night, and that, according to sources, this action was part of a “larger operation” in the Sukma district. So far in 2018, 86 Maoists have been killed in Chhattisgarh.
The Supreme Court hearing on Article 35A, which defines J&K’s permanent residents, was adjourned for two weeks Monday as one of the judges was on leave.
News it’s just kinda cool to know
A belated happy birthday to the Mars Curiosity Rover! The exploration vehicle landed on the Red Planet six years ago on 5 August 2012. The next year, in 2013, NASA programmed Curiosity to vibrate to the tune of ‘Happy Birthday’, which it sang for itself. However, the song was heard on Mars only that year, as it depletes the rover’s finite battery life, Quartz reported.
The last scene of Mission Impossible Fallout is supposed to be in Kashmir, but was actually shot at Norway’s iconic Preikestolen, also known as Pulpit Rock, as director Christopher McQuarrie couldn’t get the necessary clearances to shoot in India. A screening of the film was subsequently held at the rock earlier this month — as Hollywood star Tom Cruise tweeted, at “2,000 feet, 2,000 people, 4 hours of hiking” — and drew several fans.
2,000 feet, 2,000 people, 4 hours of hiking. The most impossible screening of #MissionImpossible Fallout. Thank you all for coming! I wish I could have been there. pic.twitter.com/ufi1FkP6KI
— Tom Cruise (@TomCruise) August 2, 2018
Business Class
Indra Nooyi has announced her plan to step down as CEO of PepsiCo Inc after being at the helm for 12 years, reports Business Standard. It writes, “Nooyi, who is from India, is the first foreign-born CEO of Pepsi and the first woman to lead the chips-and-soda behemoth, whose revenue topped $63 billion last year.”
The department of telecommunications wrote a letter to operators and internet service providers on 18 July, requesting information on how to block Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram etc on the internet, reports The Economic Times. “According to a PTI report, the department has sought the views in situations where national security and public order are under threat,” the report adds.
Point of View
With 2019 around the corner, much is being read into Prime Minister Modi’s meeting with the Telangana chief minister twice in as many months. The Times of India writes in an editorial, “News reports indicate that KCR is open to a post-poll alliance, a sign that regional parties not facing existential concerns because of a strong BJP will be amenable to post-poll adjustments.”
There is so much political noise around the NRC draft that the real issue seems lost somewhere, The Hindu suggests in an editorial, writing, “In the week since the final draft of the National Register of Citizens in Assam was completed, the political rhetoric has got irresponsibly away from the issue at hand.” It asks the political parties to “stop feasting on the complexities of Assam’s demography”.
Is JNU being deliberately harmed in the name of ideology? Political commentator Sanjaya Baru writes in his column in The Indian Express, “Ideological intolerance and a bureaucratic strait-jacket are damaging JNU. Don’t let a mediocre leadership denigrate one of our finest institutions.”
Are just bad things happening to everybody around us? Writer Amish Tripathi writes in his column in The Times of India, “A hard election year is coming up. Things will get ugly and competitive. Everyone will fight. Many will start believing that we are overwhelmed with problems. Do not deny those problems. For life will never be without problems. But do celebrate the good aspects too.”
Prime Time
‘Encounter Pradesh’
Following a special investigation by India Today TV that purportedly exposed UP police personnel taking money for staging a fake encounter, anchor Rahul Kanwal invited a panel comprising former UP DGP Vikram Singh, Supreme Court advocate Sanjay Hegde, the BJP’s Narendra Taneja, and journalist Sharat Pradhan to discuss the issue.
Reacting to the sting, Singh said, “A fake encounter allegation is the worst nightmare any police force in India can face.” Taneja, meanwhile, found the sting videos “shocking” and said “an inquiry will be conducted against these policemen”.
According to Pradhan, when the Yogi government started earning a bad name for the state’s worsening law and order situation, “one of his key advisers gave him the idea of going for encounters”.
The job question
On Times Now’s #JobPeCharcha debate, anchors Athar Khan and Madhavdas G. discussed union minister Nitin Gadkari’s recent question — “Where are the jobs?”
How you define jobs is the most important thing, said the BJP’s Gopal Agarwal. “The demand for MGNREGA has shot up,” pointed out economist Arun Kumar, “Investment in the economy is not going up substantially and without investment, you don’t create jobs.”
(Inputs from Prateek Gupta)