Front Page
The bid for mahagatbandhan continues: NCP president Sharad Pawar, who has been at the forefront of efforts to forge an opposition coalition for 2019, is likely to meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi Tuesday, reports The Pioneer. “I would be happy to be instrumental in bringing together like-minded parties before the Lok Sabha elections,” Pawar had said after the BJP fared badly in recent bypolls.
Meanwhile, the Congress is also in touch with the SP and the BSP, while Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, too, is reportedly being wooed to join the anti-BJP bandwagon. The SP’s Akhilesh Yadav has said he was okay with “playing second fiddle to the BSP” in a bid to form a strong anti-BJP alliance.
Will campaign for the BJP in 2019 if Delhi is given full statehood, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has vowed, reports The Indian Express. He repeatedly referred to lieutenant governor Anil Baijal as “maharaj (emperor)” and “viceroy”, claiming that the current arrangement was akin to the one under British rule.
Kejriwal and three of his ministers are currently on a sit-in outside Raj Niwas, saying they would not leave till the LG intervened to end the ongoing agitation of officers and approved the AAP government’s proposal for the doorstep delivery of rations, reports The Hindu.
Yes, Nirav Modi is in UK: UK minister for countering extremism Susan Williams has confirmed reports that scam-accused diamantaire Nirav Modi was in the country and assured Delhi of full cooperation for his extradition, reports The Indian Express.
Quota cloud over lateral entry: Opposition parties have said lateral entry into the civil services undermines the reservation policy, reports The Hindustan Times. The controversy comes as the NDA fights discontent over the perceived dilution of the the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act by the Supreme Court, and after the social justice and empowerment ministry wrote to the DoPT to ensure the reservation policy is followed for the appointments of consultants and contract employees.
No plans to privatise railways: Railway minister Piyush Goyal has said the department has no plans to privatise railways, after unions voiced concerns about reports suggesting such a proposal, reports The Hindu. The railways has lately been inviting private participation in station development and infrastructure creation, among other areas.
A national-level test to become a judge? Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has pitched for an all-India entrance test for ‘talent infusion’ in the lower judiciary, reports Hindustan Times. He stressed that “neither the government of India nor the state governments have a role to play in these vacancies”.
All is well in the NDA: CM Nitish Kumar, Monday, dismissed rumours of a rift in the NDA, reports Telegraph. The statement follows buzz of differences between the JD(U) and the BJP over who the face of the coalition’s 2019 campaign should be: Nitish or Narendra Modi.
Business Class
The CBI has approached Interpol with a request to issue a red corner notice against diamond merchants Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, accused in the alleged Rs 12,000 crore PNB fraud, reports Business Standard.
India to get its first ever lithium ion cell factory. Munoth Industries Ltd is setting up the plant in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, with an investment of Rs 799 crore, reports The Economic Times.
News it’s just kinda cool to know
Rahul Gandhi claims the founder of Coca Cola was a ‘shikanji wala’: At a rally Monday, the Congress president also said the founder of McDonald’s was a “dhaba wala (food vendor)”, provoking several online jibes. ThePrint fact-checked his claims and realised that the sentiment may have been right but not the analogies.
Now, a robo-fish to protect marine life: Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab have developed ‘SoFi (pronounced: Sophie)’, a soft robotic fish, reports The Telegraph. According to scientists, robotic fishes like SoFi could be essential to understanding and protecting marine life in danger of disappearing.
Point of View
The government notification inviting applications for lateral entry to the senior levels of bureaucracy has created a storm. The Indian Express writes in its editorial, “The Centre’s decision to make possible ‘lateral entry’ of ‘talented and motivated Indian nationals’ into the senior levels of the bureaucracy is a much-needed reform.”
The countdown to 2019 has already begun. Journalist Saubhik Chakrabarti, in his column in The Economic Times, writes that Modi has many advantages over his political rivals and the electorate understands this. However, he says that the PM needs to find a more convincing story to sell in 2019 for a comfortable majority.
Has there been a significant shift in the tone and tenor of the BJP towards Kashmir and Pakistan? JNU professor Happymon Jacob thinks so. In his column in The Hindu, he writes, “While the BJP has traditionally benefited from a hardline policy in Kashmir, and towards Pakistan, the diminishing returns of such a policy have started kicking in. Not only has government not delivered on its hardline promises (such as the abolition of Article 370, or keeping infiltration and terror attacks under check), but the use of force has failed to achieve its objectives.”
Media Watch
Hindustan Times landed in the eye of a storm Monday due to a classified ad that “slipped under the editorial eye”. The advertisement, posted under their ‘best bargains’ section, offered the services of a gentleman who “cures gayness”. Harish Iyer, a noted equal rights activist, took to social media to question the marketing team at HT, stating that they had refused to place a gay matrimonial ad for him in the past.
However, the executive editor of Hindustan Times, Sachin Kalbag, later clarified their stance and apologised for the mistake. Curiously, no media outlet in the country has covered the incident.
The picture is of a classified advertisement, and we will find out how this slipped in. The official editorial position of @htTweets on homosexuality is clear in our reportage as well as our editorials: there should be zero discrimination and absolute equality. @hiyer
— Sachin Kalbag (@SachinKalbag) June 11, 2018
Prime Time
Lateral entry in bureaucracy
Nidhi Razdan of NDTV 24×7 discussed on her show, Left, Right and Centre, the government’s decision to allow lateral entry to bureaucracy.
Amitabh Kant, CEO of the government thinktank NITI Aayog, said they had been experimenting with outside experts for some time and it had proved a rewarding experience. “We have a lot of good people with dynamic ideas. This was long overdue,” said Kant. Razdan then asked what the minimum qualification for such posts would be. “There has to be a lot of flexibility. People with PhD degrees, field experience, let them all apply. Let the shortlisting be done. Selection must be merit-wise. We should not be rigid about it,” replied Kant.
Destroying property, defending ‘allies’
Aaj Tak’s Rohit Sardana, on his show Dangal, raised the issue of Akhilesh Yadav allegedly damaging the CM’s house before vacating it. Congress’ Akhilesh Pratap Singh called the rumours a conspiracy against the former UP CM, and sought to change the subject to the bribery allegations against the current UP chief secretary.
A visibly agitated Sardana said, “The entire nation is watching you defend Akhilesh Yadav.” Mohsin Raza, a minister in Yogi Adityanath’s government, said in his reply to Sardana that the SP must provide an inventory of things “they took away”, insisting that “the larger issue is the destruction of property”.
With inputs from Prateek Gupta