Front Page
Air India was flying across page 1 today: “2nd time’s the charm?” asks Hindustan Times after the government announced that it is all set to sell its entire 100 per cent stake in the national airline. This is the second time it will attempt this sale, earlier it was just selling 75 per cent of its stakes, which failed to attract any bidders.
The deadly coronavirus figured prominently on HT and The Times of India as three people have been isolated in Delhi, while those stuck in Wuhan in China will be flown back soon—HT was the only newspaper to report that on Page 1.
Looks like the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is not leaving front pages anytime soon. The Hinduand The Indian Express say the upcoming rules of the Act are “expected to seek ‘proof of religion’ as mentioned in government records” (Hindu).
Interestingly, the big news story on TV news Monday only makes it to headlines news in TOI: theEnforcement Directorate is probing “suspicious” flow into the accounts of Muslim organisation, Popular Front of India (PFI) and claimed that it was funding the protests across the country. HTgives the news a tiny mention on the flap, almost as an afterthought. Express and Hindu bury it inside.
Air India: Even Hindu gets a little adventurous with its headline, “Govt. sweetens Air India offer, puts 100% stake at the table”. An accompanying table details how the government has “eased the conditions for prospective buyers compared to its proposal in 2018”.
TOI’s headline reads, “Govt puts 100% of AI on sale, will absorb 2/3rd of liabilities”. Noting a deadline in sight, the report adds, “It targets to complete the disinvestment process in the next five to six months.” Elaborating on the “sweetened” offer, Express notes, “the government will also sell Air India’s 100 per cent holding in Air India Express, a low cost carrier, and 50 per cent share in Air India-SATS, a joint venture in which Singapore Airport Terminals Services holds the balance 50 per cent.”
Coronavirus: HT writes, “3 isolated in Delhi over coronavirus suspicion”, and notes that it is “the first time anyone has been quarantined in India’s national capital over the coronavirus outbreak that has infected nearly 3,000 people across the world in less than a month.” TOI focuses on the “Special AI plane ready to fly out Indians trapped in Wuhan”. It reports, “Ministries of civil aviation and health will make arrangements for transport and quarantine facilities, respectively.” Expressand Hindu seem less alarmed by the deadly virus at our doorstep and carry no stories related to it on their front pages.
CAA and religious proof: Express writes, “CAA rules: Applicants to be asked to submit proof of religion too” besides proving that they came to India “from Pakistan, Afghanistan or Bangaldesh before December 21, 2014.
Hindu notes, “CAA rules expected to seek ‘proof of religion’”, with a section titled “On the anvil” which details “some of the aspects of the Citizenship Amendment Act which came into force on January 10”. HTand TOI bury the news in the inside pages.
Others: In some positive news about the economy, an exclusive report in HT notes, “GST collections for Jan may hit record ₹1.15L cr”. It adds, “Both direct and indirect tax collections are on track despite a slowdown in the economy, mainly because of efficient tax administration”.
Opinion
The Indian Express: In “Poised for takeoff”, Express comments on the disinvestment of Air India. Calling it a welcome move, it writes that the contentious issues which dampened investor interest previously seem to be taken care of this time.
Unlike last time, the government has offered to offload its entire stake to encourage prospective bidders, implying complete freedom to run the carrier. The government has also taken measures to address the airline’s massive debt by transferring part of the debt to a special purpose vehicle. Apart from these, the eligibility norms have also been tweaked and net worth criteria for potential bidders has also been reduced.
Express says that repeated delays in the government’s stake sale underline the need for a better disinvestment strategy. The government could draw up a list of companies for disinvestment and release an advance calendar for the same, the daily suggests.
The Hindu: The abolition or revival of the Legislative Council without any consensus or policy has become a matter of political expediency, writes Hindu. The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s “drastic step” to agree to abolish the Legislative Council comes after the assumption that the Council is working with a political agenda to block his three-capital proposal.
The daily suggests that the CM should bear the possible delay that the Council’s opinion may cause and seek to build legislative consensus instead of “pushing their agenda through”.
The recent experiences suggest that the states without a Legislative Council favour its revival, notes Hindu. It asks whether the councils are serving their intended purpose to take considered views on matters without being influenced by electoral considerations.
Prime Time
The Union Budget is just days away but most news channels seem least concerned, beyond running promos for their live coverage of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presenting the Budget Saturday.
Nearly all news channels were preoccupied with other matters of grave national concern. India Today’s Rahul Kanwal debated Adnan Sami’s Padma Shri award; Times Now, Republic and Zee News devoted most of the afternoon and then prime time debates to ‘exclusive’ details of an Enforcement Directorate report on the PFI and its alleged funding of the anti-CAA protests.
They targeted ‘Lutyens lobby’ (Times Now) for its collusion with PFI — ‘Tukde Funded CAA Stir’ (Times Now), ‘ED finds PFI link’ to CAA protests (CNN News 18), ‘Break India Conspiracy’ (Republic), ‘PFI funding CAA Stir’ (Zee News).
However the spectacle of the day was the presence of Zee’s Sudhir Chaudhary and NewsNation’s Deepak Chaurasia at Shaheen Bagh with full police protection. The two Hindi anchors visited the protest site Monday afternoon and were turned away by the women who also sang the national anthem, leaving them nonplussed. Zee News’ #370 inShaheenBagh special was trending on Twitter last night.
India Today: The other highlights of the evening was an ill-tempered clash between BJP’s IT cell head, Amit Malviya, and India Today’s Rajdeep Sardesai on PFI, and Minister of State Anurag Thakur’s campaign speech where he exhorted the audience with “desh ke gardaaron ko…” and they replied “goli maaro”.
At one stage, Sardesai was so angry he went red in the face. He accused the BJP of playing the communal card to polarise the Delhi electorate and demonising the anti-CAA protests.
Malviya attacked Sardesai and said the journalist was “running fake news”. The BJP leader also warned Sardesai “don’t threaten me”. To this, Sardesai replied: “You know more about fake news than I will ever know.’’
Republic: Arnab Goswami said that there was now “so much evidence to show that there was…a plan to break India’’. He referred to the ED’s PFI report and said Rs 120 crore was being used to fund the anti-CAA protests. “Don’t let them burn India,” he pleaded.
Zee News: Sudhir Chaudhary asked if Kashmir’s recently removed Article 370 had moved to New Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh — “Dilli Ka Kashmir’’, after his visit to the arear— ordinary citizens were “foreigners” there, he claimed.
He said Shaheen Bagh was a law unto itself. “Tukde tukde gang ka naya mukhalaya ban gaya hain” (it’s become the capital of the tukde-tukde gang). He also added that if one doesn’t belong to the ‘tukde tukde’ gang one will not be allowed in there. Chaudhary felt he had entered “another country’’ when he visited Shaheen Bagh with Deepak Chaurasia.
Chaurasia said they were only there to witness people’s “dard” (pain). Upon attempting to enter with their cameras, residents of Shaheen Bagh simply said if they wished to record they would have to shoot live, as they were scared of their words being edited and misconstrued.
what words are used for shaheenbagh by this bious journalist.Indians recognized every anchors,journalist.when journalist like Raveesh kr have no problems than why problems for deepak n sudhir,they should retrospect.