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Pakistan is going to choose its new Prime Minister today, in a general election marking just the second democratic transition of power in the country. The main contenders for power are Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), cricket-star-turned-politician Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and the Bilawal Bhutto Zardari-led Pakistan Peoples Party. In this tense election, independent candidates could also swing the result either way. Hindustan Times tells us why Imran Khan is likely to win.
Meanwhile, Nawaz Sharif, who is currently in Adiala jail, sent an audio message to Pakistani citizens, urging them to vote for change.
The rumoured plans to advance the 2019 general election in India may not be so easy to pull off. The Election Commission (EC), which committed to the Supreme Court that it would acquire 16 lakh voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines for the Lok Sabha election, had only acquired 3.48 lakh by 19 June this year, more than a year after it placed the order, The Indian Express reports.
The Supreme Court has asked the Centre a question that has crossed everyone’s mind at least once — what happened to the Lokpal? The apex said Tuesday that the government’s stand on completing the appointment of a Lokpal, i.e. an anti-corruption body, was “wholly unsatisfactory”, The Hindu reports. The SC wanted a specific time-frame for the appointment, but the government replied that it was a “complicated” process.’
Looks like the JD(S) and Congress, partners in the Karnataka state government, are likely to contest September’s municipal polls separately, Rohini Swamy reports for ThePrint.
Of the 9,111 Class XII CBSE papers sent for re-evaluation, checking mistakes were found in 4,632, The Times of India reports. This means that 50 per cent of Class XII students who felt they had been marked unfairly were right. The CBSE has also initiated action against at least 214 teachers for significant oversight. Common mistakes while checking included giving no marks for correct answers, and skipping large sections of answers altogether.
The government is taking lynchings ‘very seriously’, and will bring a law if needed, home minister Rajnath Singh said Tuesday. However, he reiterated that the “biggest mob lynching happened in 1984″. Singh was responding to an outcry in Parliament regarding the Alwar lynching.
The Rajasthan government said ‘evidence suggested’ that lynching victim Rakbar Khan died in police custody, while an inquiry panel set up by state police concluded that the “incident (Rakbar’s death) could have been avoided if police had responded more efficiently”, Hindustan Times reports.
This is what MP Shashi Tharoor had to say about the Alwar lynching and the BJP government’s response:
Farmer suicides fell to 6,351 in 2016 from 8,007 in 2015 — a drop of 21 per cent. The Indian Express reports, however, that, according to data released by the government for 2016, suicides among agricultural labourers “have gone up by about 10% — from 4,595 farm labour suicides in 2015 up to 5,019 in 2016”.
Business Class
The IMF wants India to be independent, not rely on global markets. Amid expectations that India’s current account deficit will rise to 2.5 per cent of the GDP in the first quarter of 2018-19, the IMF has asked India to not rely on global financial markets but look towards FDI as a more stable source of investments, reports Business Standard.
Vijay Mallya in talks to return home voluntarily. According to The Economic Times, Vijay Mallya is in negotiations with the government to return to India and settle his debt. However, the ED says they are making no promises to Mallya, who will face charges and possible jail time if he comes home.
News it’s just kinda cool to know:
Love can be blind, especially a mother’s: A study published in the journal Obesity says love often blinds mothers to obesity in their children. Of the 1,680 children studied in India, 377 were found to be overweight, as per BMI standards. However, the mother of 277 thought their child was in the ‘healthy weight’ category, The New Indian Express reports.
PM Narendra Modi is currently in Rwanda as part of his three-nation tour of Africa, and Twitter users cannot wrap their heads around the fact that he has promised to gift the country 200 cows. The clincher? Rwandans eat beef. The Quint reports on the social media frenzy.
Point of View
Outgoing chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian, in a column for The Indian Express, explains what the office means for him. Calling it the “best job he’s ever had”, he pens down his journey and charts the path to the chair, stressing the importance of innovation and adaptability. Summing up, he says, “So, as the lights go out, the exit door beckons, and the succession gets underway, it is worth reflecting on this unique Indian institution of the chief economic adviser. It seems worthy of preservation and nurturing.”
In an editorial, Hindustan Times speaks of the importance of PM Modi’s trip to Africa, and the need for greater engagement with the continent. “It is not that India has done badly in Africa. But given the historic ties between many African countries and India, a more robust engagement would have paid much higher dividends,” it adds.
In his column for Livemint, lawyer Rahul Matthan comments on the expansion of Trai’s authority and the telecom sector. “There is a principle in law which states that you cannot do indirectly that which you are prohibited from doing directly. The government, it appears, is exempt from its application,” he writes.
The Hindu, in an editorial, talks about Mesut Özil’s withdrawal from the German football team. Speaking of the intersection between politics and sports, it says, “When Özil said he had ‘two hearts, one German, one Turkish’, he was attempting a delicate balancing act, favouring integration — a cherished modern-day value — over assimilation. Little did he expect that it would be so rough a ride”.
Prime Time
‘Politics over dead bodies’
India Today TV’s Rajdeep Sardesai questioned both the government and the opposition over the recent Alwar lynching.
The BJP’s Gaurav Bhatia said, “The politics that the Congress is playing over dead bodies, first trying to determine the religion of the victim and only then taking a stand, is disappointing.” The Congress’ Pawan Khera responded: The BJP is trying to “polarise the narrative so that it doesn’t have to answer on Rafale, farmers and unemployment”.
How to deviate 101
On his show Tuesday evening, AajTak’s Rohit Sardana asked BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra why he was unable to condemn RSS member Indresh Kumar’s statement that “lynchings will stop if people don’t eat beef”. Patra avoided giving an answer, only saying that no one had the right to kill someone, whether Hindu, Muslim or Sikh.
Cows aplenty
Sudhir Chaudhary of Zee News talked about PM Narendra Modi’s gift of 200 cows to a village in Rwanda. Chaudhary said Modi had gifted the cows in pursuance of Rwanda’s programme GIRINKA, where milk is used to alleviate poverty.