New Delhi: Prime time debates were all over the place Sunday. Zee News celebrated actor Sonu Sood’s philanthropy, Republic assessed the Modi government’s first year report card and India Today had far too many questions on the India-China ‘standoff’.
China was also on the mind of News18 India’s Gayatri Sharma who spoke about the ‘kadwahat’ (bitterness) between China and the US, “Dono mahashakityon mein tanaav iss kadar badd chuke hai ki maamla hathiyaron ki azmaish tak jaa pahuncha hai,” (The tensions between the two nations have reached the point of taking up arms).
Sharma explained, “Corona ko lekar China ko kada jawaab dene ke liye bekaraar, America ne China ki sabse kamzor nass daba di hai…America ki nau sena ne dakshin China sagar mein ek mahashaktishali laser gun ka pariskshan kiya hai,” (In order to teach China a lesson on coronavirus… America’s navy has launched a very powerful laser gun in the South China Sea). Oh wow.
Aaj Tak anchor Sahil Joshi was worried about India’s financial capital, “14,600 cases ab tak theek ho chukein hai aur ghar jaa chukein hai. Lekin doosri taraf Mumbai jaise shehar… uski ab tulna kahin na kahin New York se hoti jaa rahi hai,” (Over 14,600 cases have recovered and have gone back home. But Mumbai is now being compared to New York).
Joshi explained his comparison, “America mein sabse zyaada cases New York se aa rahein hai, aur India mein Mumbai se,” (The highest number of cases in America are coming from New York, and similarly most number of cases in India are coming from Mumbai).
Zee News’ Aditi Tyagi was all praise for actor Sonu Sood and his efforts to aid migrant workers reach home, “Aapko mein kuch logon ke tweets suna deti hoon jo aapki tareef kar rahe hai…list itni lambi hai, mujhe ek ghanta ho jaye ga.” (I am going to tell you some tweets that people have written praising you… the list is so long, it’s going to take me an hour to read them all).
Sood was modest and almost coy about the attention, “Mera lakshya, mera karm, mera dharam sab kuch hai inki madat karna, mujhe inhe ghar pohunchana hai,” (My aim, my work and my religion is to help them, I have to help them reach home).
“Aap mein ek sanjeedgi dikhti hai….Agar yehi samvedanshilta humare policy makers mein hoti toh yeh haalat nahi hote,” (There is some humbleness in you…If our policymakers exercised the same kind of sensitivity then we wouldn’t be in this position) said Tyagi. True that.
NDTV 24×7 anchor Nidhi Razdan was in conversation with Maharashtra Minister of Tourism Aaditya Thackeray on the subject of air travel. Razdan asked, “So, people would have to arrange their own transport to and fro from the airport right now?”
He replied, “No, we’re working on that. Probably there will be clarity on that in a few hours.” Razdan then asked, “Also, would you be increasing the number of domestic flights? Would you review this in the coming days?”
Thackeray seemed optimistic, “Yes, we will. By 31st of May, after that we get into staggered opening up and then we resume many services as and when medical buffers increase.”
Republic anchor Arnab Goswami decided to look back on Modi government’s first year since the 2019 General Elections, “One year ago at this time we were rolling live with the general election results and the Narendra Modi government returned with an even bigger majority. A majority that was unprecedented, even the psephologists didn’t get it.”
Of course, he took this opportunity to lament the fate of the Opposition. “ I believe that the Opposition has missed yet another opportunity, it could have reinvented itself, it could have tried to a more coherent agenda, the Congress leadership could have gone through a change because the Vadra family is well past its prime.”
On India Today, Shiv Aroor had many questions regarding the India-China ‘standoff’ in Ladakh, “The questions that I am asking today: Will the India-China standoff in Ladakh escalate beyond where it is right now? What are China’s intentions with this constant force build-up that has happened day on day? Why is the Indian Army silent on the ground situation…? It’s 20 days and counting, how much more will this standoff stretch on for? Can India-China talks de-escalate the Ladakh standoff, or is there something we are all missing?”
Phew. Anyone with answers?