Front Page
Two Border Security Force (BSF) jawans were killed and 10 civilians injured when Pakistan troops resumed shelling and firing on the International Border (IB) in Jammu Sunday. The Hindu tells us that this comes six days after a phone call between India and Pakistan’s directors general of military operations led to a decision to restore the 2003 ceasefire.
On the same day, J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti urged separatists in Kashmir to join the Ramzan ceasefire and respond to the central government’s offer of dialogue. The Indian Express adds that the Centre was planning further measures to “reintegrate misguided youths” in the Valley, and according to sources, a draft policy, focused on sports, tourism and employment was with the union home ministry.
The Centre has asked states to confine illegal Rohingya settlers to pre-identified locations, record their personal details, including biometrics, and not issue them an Aadhaar card or any other identity proof. The Times of India reports that the steps are being taken “so that these details can eventually be shared with Myanmar for likely repatriation”. According to the report, this indicates the government intends to prevent the diffusion of Rohingya Muslims beyond refugee camps, and also fears the “possible presence of radical elements among them and their involvement in crime”.
Curfew was finally relaxed in parts of riot-hit Shillong for seven hours Sunday. The Hindu tells us that this allowed several stranded tourists to leave the city, which had been under lock-down for the past two days. Ten people were injured when clashes reportedly escalated to a battle between the Khasi community and Punjabi settlers. Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma said this was a local issue and not a communal one.
You may now have less time to study last-minute for your board exams as a committee formed by the human resource development ministry after the recent CBSE papers leak incident is likely to suggest shortening the board exam season from seven weeks to around a month, Hindustan Times reports.
Sushma Swaraj was missing for 14 minutes Saturday evening, as Mauritian air traffic control couldn’t make contact with the crew of her aircraft after it entered the nation’s airspace. This prompted Mauritius to declare an “INCERFA” alarm at 4.44 pm, which in aviation parlance means an uncertainty phase where it’s not known if the aircraft is safe, The Times of India explains. At 4.58 pm, however, the pilots finally contacted ATC.
The Centre has made it clear — it will not interfere in the functioning of ICICI Bank, India’s largest private lender, which currently faces allegations of conflict of interest and code-of-conduct violations by MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar, The Indian Express tells us. For context, the government controls Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India, which commands a stake of around 9.4 per cent in the bank and also has a member on the board.
The body of Mohammad Zaid, who was abducted 18 months ago when he was four years old, was found inside a wooden box Sunday on the rooftop of their next door neighbour’s first-floor ‘barsati’. The Times of India tells us he was found in the same clothes he was last seen wearing on 1 December, 2016.
Media Watch
On Sunday, the Editors Guild of India took cognisance of two issues the media is grappling with — paid news and the safety of journalists. The body expressed concern over the claims made by news portal Cobrapost, saying, “Editorial freedoms must be fully respected. Paid news, even a suggestion of it, is ruinous for the media’s image.” In another statement, the guild took note of the online threats of physical violence directed at journalists across the country, saying that “the government must initiate quick action on complaints by these victims and bring the guilty to book. There is no room for laxity here”.
Zee Media Corporation Limited, whose news channel was among those caught in the alleged Cobrapost ‘sting op’ issued legal notices to the news portal, as well as The Wire, The Quint and Bhadas4media on 1 June for defamation, citing their coverage of the episode.
A moment of silence: Leela Menon, an esteemed journalist and the chief editor of Malayalam newspaper ‘Janmabhumi’, died at the age of 86 in Kochi Sunday.
Business Class
ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar has proceeded on leave amid the ongoing turmoil at the bank following the Videocon controversy. Meanwhile, the bank has started its search for a new chairman as the term of incumbent M.K. Sharma comes to an end this month, reports The Economic Times.
The sale of Air India has hit a roadblock. But it’s not the only one. The Modi government has given clearance to about 30 companies for “strategic disinvestment” but the acquisition of only one, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation’s by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, has been completed, reports Business Standard.
News it’s just kinda cool to know
Train delays may cost officials their promotions. The Times of India reports that railway minister Piyush Goyal has given the heads of zonal railways one month to improve punctuality, warning them that delays in train services would proportionately delay their appraisal.
Turns out Mumbaikars put in the longest hours among 77 major cities of the world, according to a report by Swiss Bank UBS. “The average Mumbaikar works 3,314.7 hours a year as against an average of 1,987 hours and more than twice as much as major European cities like Rome (1,581 hours) or Paris (1,662 hours),” The Times of India reports.
Point of View
There has been some good news for the Indian economy lately. The Indian Express writes in its editorial, “India’s economy is stabilising and growing again. Government must not disturb the process by succumbing to populism on oil.” It also reminds the Modi government that “the UPA’s ultimate nemesis wasn’t oil, but runaway inflation from fiscal profligacy”.
The final day came and went but nobody showed interest in buying a share in Air India. Business Standard writes in its editorial that it was a foregone conclusion and the only people surprised were government officials. It adds, “It was clear to everybody that some of the conditions mentioned in the PIM (preliminary information memorandum) were a big put-off for any serious bidders.” It asks the government to resume the process with the necessary changes.
Despite trying its best, the ruling BJP lost the Kairana Lok Sabha bypoll in Uttar Pradesh to the combined opposition candidate. Political scientist Sudha Pai and Sajjan Kumar, co-authors of the book Everyday Communalism: Riots in Contemporary Uttar Pradesh, write in their column that the “important lesson… regional opposition parties can take away from the victory in Kairana is that formation of similar, smaller alliances by regional/state parties at the level of individual states/regions might be more possible, and a far more effective method to keep the BJP in check”.
Today is 4 June and very few people would remember that it’s the anniversary of the Swantantra Party, founded by C. Rajagopalchari in 1959. Former governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, in his column in The Hindu, recalls how the party was announced at a meeting in a college in then Madras. He writes, “And if that leader of leaders, Mandela, could find it necessary to team up with South Africa’s communists to fight the racist oppression of apartheid, then, in India today all democratic parties must see the criticality of reaching out to that time-tested challenger of sectarianism — namely, the Left.”
On his recent Singapore visit, PM Narendra Modi presented a vision of India’s national security interests in a keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue. The vice-president of Observer Research Foundation, Samir Saran, writes in his column in The Times Of India, “It is critical that all of them, and more particularly India and the US, imagine an arrangement beyond the Indo-Pacific, into the heart of Eurasia. China’s continental-sized poser requires a supercontinental answer. It is for the liberal world to stand up and be counted, or step aside and let Pax Sinica unfold.”
Prime Time
A ‘lethal activity’
Athar Khan, on his prime-time show on Times Now, moderated a debate on the FIR against two CRPF men who reportedly ran over three stone-pelters, one of whom died. Retired Major General G.D. Bakshi termed stone-pelting a “lethal activity” that entails jail for life in in some countries. Fellow panelist, political analyst Inam Un Nabi, said, “Whosoever is killed, the onus is on the government of India.” Responding to the news, BJP MLA from Udhampur, R.S. Pathiana, said the FIR is “legally, morally and ethically incorrect”.
‘Pakistan has shown restraint’
On her show, India Today TV’s Pooja Shali questioned Pakistan on Sunday’s ceasefire violation. Joining the debate from the other side of the border, defence analyst Qamar Cheema defended Pakistan, claiming that it had shown restraint.
“Not at all,” remarked Shali.
Modi or mahagatbandhan?
Republic TV ran its prime time show with the hashtag #GrandAllianceVsModi, where Arnab Goswami deliberated on the question, “Can the grand alliance work?” The BJP’s Zafar Islam responded with a clear “no”, and went on to say, “We are not worried about the alliance.”
Swarajya magazine columnist Surabhi Hodigere said the opposition parties were coming together not because they “care for India but because they have no other option”.
Tanveer Ahmed of the JD(S) replied, “You don’t have any idea of India. Is Modi India? NO.”