Front Page
After a long time, sports hits the headlines on page 1 with happy news for India: P.V. Sindhu’s victory at the World Badminton Championships (WBC) in Switzeralnd, was splashed across mainstream front pages Monday as newspapers narrate a rather heartening account of her victory. This is the first time an Indian has won gold at WBC.
The other big story of the day is the Narendra Modi-Donald Trump meet with discussioins on the topics of conversations between the two the Indian prime minister and the US president.
P.V. Sindhu: Hindustan Times writes that it was supposed to be the “hardest match of her life”, but P.V. Sindhu, 24, “shuttler, warrior, Olympic silver medalist decided” that she was going to “make it look very simple as she added ‘world champion’ to that sterling list of sobriquets”. In Basel, Sindhu “brushed aside Okuhara 21-7, 21-7 in 38 minutes displaying jaw-dropping control” and “killer instinct”, mentions HT.
The Indian Express is poetic in `She’s World Champion’: in Switzerland, a “country obsessed with time”, P.V. Sindhu “raced to render the past redundant”. Sindhu’s “smashes had struck and chimed like the precise rumbling of the big clocks”, leaving “no doubts about the power she exuded”, says Express.
The Times of India recalls, “even as it was sinking in”, Sindhu “was waking up to a dream”. TOI quotes Sindhu as saying, “‘Finally, I have become a national champion’”, and adds, “…suddenly, she and with her, the rest of India was wide awake. ‘Sorry, sorry, world champion!’ she laughed, as she repeated the words, slowly and deliberately, lest it slip away.”
Straitlaced The Hindu does not go into paroxysms of pleasure: it confines itself to a picture of Sindhu.
Modi-Trump meet: “Modi, Trump to meet today: Kashmir and trade will be on table,” headlines Express. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “scheduled to address sessions on environment, climate, oceans and digital transformation” at the G7 Summit, reports In its ‘Explained’ box, Express features writes, “After an initial uncertain reaction to the Indian government’s August 5 move on Jammu and Kashmir, the US has been more unequivocal in its support, calling the issue an ‘internal matter’ of India – something that New Delhi has always underlined.”
TOI has a different angle. France has “done much to Trump-proof the G7 summit, under way in its picturesque town poetically described by locals as a ‘pearl’ in Basque country in southwestern France”. TOI poses questions to the readers, “Will it work? Or so US President Trump tweet out more disruption in what used to be a virtually unassailable western alliance?”
Jammu and Kashmir: Marking 20 days of unprecedented lockdown, Kashmir makes it back to the front page. “3 weeks on, politics vacuum in Valley, little sympathy on street”, headlines Express claiming that “political vacuum is deepening on the ground”.
The Hindu highlights Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s comments: “It’s been 20 days since the people of J&K had their freedom and civil liberties curtailed. Leaders of the Opposition and the Press got a taste of the draconian administration and brute force unleashed on the people when we tried to visit Srinagar.” Gandhi and others were turned back at Srinagar airport, Saturday.
HT highlights J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik’s remarks, denying the shortage of medicines and essential supplies: “There were no casualties due to violence in J&K”, adding “if blockade of communication helps save lives, what’s the harm?”
NRC: With “just five days left” for the National Register of Citizens to be released, the BJP’s Assam “unit is increasingly anxious over speculation that a large number of illegal foreigners will enter the final list” while a “considerable number of Hindus will be excluded”, reports Express.
Arun Jaitley: Newspapers Monday feature photographs of former Union minister Arun Jaitley’s final rites. TOI is emotional in its reportage headlining, “Wet eyes and pouring rain at Arun Jaitley’s cremation”.
The Hindu’s breaking news is that the Modi government is “likely to withdraw special protection group (SPG) from Former PM Manmohan Singh’s security detail shortly”.
Opinion
TOI: In “Giant Of Democracy”, TOI pays tribute to former finance minister Arun Jaitley. It remembers him as “a liberal within BJP” who was admired across party divides. It also credits him in playing a “major role” in the rise of BJP from the 1984 Lok Sabha election. Having served as a young minister in the Vajpayee administration, Jaitley became a valuable party veteran for the Modi government, holding “critical portfolios” like finance and defence and introducing “two big … economic reforms” — GST and the Bankruptcy Code. The newspaper also lauds his advocacy for media freedom, especially in the Express Newspapers vs Union of India case in 1985.
Express: In “Mr Jaitley”, Express refers to the ex-FM as Modi’s number two who had to step aside due to ill health and make way for Amit Shah. The party often turned to Jaitley during important elections and difficult times, writes Express, and he was more than comfortable entering public debates in defense of the party’s ideologies, as seen with his latest blog post on the BJP’s abrogation of Article 370. His death, however, is critical for the party, which has lost many senior members in recent months, including Sushma Swaraj, all of whom were “groomed” to the take the party forward. Like TOI, it credits him with transforming the BJP from a politically “untouchable” party to a more acceptable one.
Prime Time
Sunday afternoon was devoted to the last rites of Arun Jaitley. As evening crept in, news channels like Republic TV, replayed old interviews with Jaitley.
Later, news flashed of P.V. Sindhu’s stunning victory at the WBC. NDTV 24×7 was the first to speak to her mother, P. Vijaya — Sindhu had dedicated the award to her — who said, “This is the best gift she’s given to me in my lifetime.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bahrain trip to receive its highest honour also made headlines — and made News X proud: “Never ever forget,” proclaimed the anchor, “…izzat… the respect to this great country…” through this award.
Times Now and Republic TV, simultaneously, gained access to the Enforcement Directorate’s chargesheet against Congress’s P. Chidambaram.
The G-7 summit in France, where Modi is present, made an appearance on prime debates and Kashmir reappeared.
Times Now: Anchor Navika Kumar, in ‘The Newshour’ from New York asked, “Are global ‘naysayers’ now exposed?” on Kashmir.
Walter Andersen, associate director of the South Asia Program, Johns Hopkins University, said, “Abrogation of Article 370 was not a sudden decision. It’s one of the great myths that is being perpetuated by the press, particularly those that are anti-India. Kashmir is increasingly becoming like a regular Indian state.”
On foreign media reactions to Modi’s Kashmir move, Ravi Agrawal, managing editor of Foreign Policy, said, “The media here has certainly been critical… But I don’t think all media here has said that the move is surprising.”
“Colonialism is the cause of the Kashmir issue. We want Pakistanis as well as Indians to do well,” added columnist Ravi Batra.
India Today: The G7 Summit was the focus here. “…all eyes will be on the Modi-Trump meeting,” observed anchor Ankit Tyagi, in light of US President’s repeated attempts to play mediator in the Kashmir issue.
Ashok Sajjanhar, former diplomat, thought little of Trump’s “mediation” offer. Whenever Trump mentioned it, US State Department quickly denied it. “While meeting PM Modi, Donald Trump is not going to push on (Kashmir),” he added.
Trump “is a transactional person… he is trying to arm-twist India on the Kashmir issue”, thought strategic affairs expert Pathikrit Payne.
Hindi channels looked at the economy.
Aaj Tak: Anchor Chitra Tripathi on ‘Halla Bol’ discussed the economic measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Friday.
Economist Arun Kumar pointed to the declining growth rate: “Initially the unorganized sector was experiencing a slowdown. Now it has shifted to the organized sector as well. It’s good that the government is finally accepting its faults.”
BJP’s Syed Zafar Alam vehemently disagreed: “The global GDP has decreased to 2.9 percent. The slowdown in the global economy is negatively affecting India’s economy to some extent. In India, maximum jobs were created in July.”
CPI’s Mohammed Saleem was scornful of this: “If there’s no problem at all, then why are the changes being introduced (by Sitharaman)? If there’s no disease, why do we need the treatment?”
NDTV India: On ‘Hum Log’, Praveen Jha, economics professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, said, “The government was aware of data indicating the economic slowdown. But now due to increasing pressure from different sectors they are bound to accept their failure.”
Chamber of Indian Micro Small & Medium Enterprises (CIMSME) president Mukesh Mohan felt the “debt trap” which allowed easy loans was a “major reason for the slowdown”.
Praveen Khandelwal, general secretary of Confederation of All India Trade (CAIT) said, “Stagnant real estate investment and money kept in the form of gold in our households are responsible for the current situation.”
Also read: Zee News asks if Gandhis are next after Chidambaram, Rajdeep sees it as a perception war