Front page
With no big newsbreak, leads differ across newspapers this morning: The impending trust vote in Karnataka, the NBFC crisis, and the Assam floods all make it big. Common to all except The Hindu, however, is the launch of Chandrayaan-2, scheduled for Monday afternoon.
The Indian Express makes it the lead, with a hopeful headline, “Narrow window for second Moon shot”. It reiterates in its report that ISRO will “try to make use of an extremely narrow window of opportunity” to “make another attempt at sending India’s first lander mission to the Moon”.
Hindustan Times runs it as its second lead, explaining “How Chandrayaan-2 will keep its date with the moon”.
The Times of India is less excited (“Glitch fixed, Chandrayaan-2 will be a success: ISRO chief) and gives it lower billing, quoting chief Kailasavadivoo Sivan as saying that the “mission will be a success and the agency expects Chandrayaan-2 to discover several new things on the Moon”.
The Hindu drops it entirely, but does mention on its front page, “Little room for SC/ST scientists in biotech bodies.”
Karnataka, NBFC, Assam
HT leads with “Karnataka govt on the line as House reconvenes today”. With the vote missing two previous deadlines, other papers don’t so much as give it a mention on page 1. HT writes that the “beleaguered coalition held emergency meetings to corral legislators” to make a “last-ditch attempt to win back rebel lawmakers” in preparation for today’s trust vote.
TOI leads with its exclusive interview with RBI governor Shaktikanta Das, where he calls for “‘Tougher regulation, liquidity support to ease NBFC crisis’”. Now that the RBI is “armed with new powers”, it will “subject non-banking finance companies to more intense regulation with firms that face governance issues being treated differently”, Das told TOI.
He also says that the RBI’s proposed regulations “coupled with liquidity support for finance companies are expected to address the crisis of confidence faced by the sector”. According to the report, “The governor’s statement comes at a time when a number of large finance companies have come under stress, raising questions on the level of governance in the sector.”
Meanwhile, The Hindu is the only paper to look eastwards, at the floods in Assam, with a special feature, “Solar panel vendors cash in on power demand during Assam floods”, as its lead.
It begins by saying. “The sun has created a flood of business opportunities… in monsoon-mauled Assam”, referring to the rise in demand for solar equipment, which is being used to “charge batteries, mobile phones and torches for a fee”.
The deluge, it reminds readers, “has so far killed 55 people… and washed away 521 domestic animals and fowl as 38.37 lakh people across 18 of the 33 districts continue to be affected”.
Satya Pal Malik, witchcraft
Also making headlines in TOI and Express is J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik’s comment “that terrorists, instead of targeting security force personnel, should kill the “corrupt who have robbed their state”. The Indian Express prefers the term “militants” over “terrorists”.
TOI says “his remarks came while addressing local residents at a tourism event in Kargil”, while Express reports he was “speaking in the context of alleged corruption among politicians and bureaucrats”.
Making column space in TOI and HT is the report, “4 branded witches, lynched in Jharkhand”.
“Four people in their 60s, including two women, were killed after around a dozen angry villagers dragged them out of their houses and attacked them with sticks and sharp weapons while accusing them of practising ‘witchcraft’,” reports HT.
Opinion
The Indian Express
In “The Sonbhadra test”, Express highlights how the massacre in village Umbha reinforces the impression that the Uttar Pradesh government “presides over a climate of impunity for atrocities against the poor and the weak, the minorities and the disadvantaged”.
It raises pertinent questions about the incident, including the fact that police reached the village only after the “hour-long gruesome battle” was over.
While police have arrested several people, including the main accused, the Yogi government’s initial response of shifting blame to the administrations of the 1950s and 1980s, reinforces this idea that “the rule of law and due process being flouted by the powerful and the privileged”.
Express argues that “the Yogi Adityanath government needs to visibly pierce the perceived cycle of impunity for crime and atrocity by the powerful in the state”.
The Times of India
In “Capital Loss”, TOI pays tribute to former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and her many achievements. Under her tenure, many infrastructural developments were undertaken in Delhi, including the Delhi Metro, the switch to the cleaner CNG fuel, and privatisation of electricity. According to TOI, perhaps her biggest achievement was the “the Bhagidari movement steered by residents’ welfare associations”.
Even politically, she was extremely astute in handling relations with a different ruling party at the Centre, TOI writes. However, it notes that the 2010 Commonwealth Games and corruption charges coupled with the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case “dented Dikshit’s reputation”. Despite this, her passing will be a “big blow to Congress”, and many can learn “from her effective and consensual style of developmental politics”.
Prime Time
Prime-time debate took a backseat on NDTV and CNN as they celebrated ‘Kargil Vijay Diwas’ on its 20th anniversary. Other channels discussed political turmoil in West Bengal and the rise in mob lynchings.
Aaj Tak
Aaj Tak discussed the ongoing battle between the BJP and the TMC in West Bengal, on a day the TMC held its annual rally. TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has accused the BJP of buying her party members for Rs 2 crore.
BJP spokesperson Rajeev Jaitly said, “It is shocking to hear this… There are 8,000 villages in West Bengal where there are no Hindus left. She is the one who has become a danger for the state. She is the one who keeps bringing bhagwan Ram’s name in her speeches.”
Political analyst Tauseef Khan hit back, saying, “She gave her speech in Bengali, which is probably why Mr Rajiv didn’t understand anything.”
Sunit Chopra of the CPI(M) was critical of the TMC. “This trend of buying politicians first began when the TMC bought them from the Congress, and now BJP is doing the same with the TMC,” he added.
Zee News Hindi
On ‘Taal Thok Ke’, Shia cleric Kalbe Jawad made a controvercial statement, saying “Muslims should buy weapons” to counter incidents of mob lynching.
Supreme Court advocate Dr Farooq Khan disagreed. “…The whole concept of ‘an eye for an eye’ will not work here,” he said.
Kapil Azad of the Bhim Army defended chief Chandra Shekhar Azad’s statement about giving weapons licences to Dalits, Muslims and OBCs. “The Constitution says that, under self-defence, one can get a licence for weapons. We are saying that just get a licence, as a precaution. This is not called taking the law in your own hands,” he said.
Times Now: Anchor Navika Kumar interviewed BJP general secretary Ram Madhav on ‘FranklySpeaking’, where she asked, “Can we say that India has become a superpower and that every country in the West and Southeast is looking at India?”
“India is seen with utmost respect today, we are taken very seriously,” he replied, adding that India has “become an important player. I am deliberately not using the phrase superpower because we have always felt that that is not the right way to look at the relationships in the world”.
On the BJP’s rise, he said, almost sternly, “This trust in Modi shall never be defeated. It must be subtly upheld. Because people see the BJP is doing good for the country, they come to the BJP. And whoever does come to the BJP must be disciplined.”
“I pray to God that the people believe what you are saying,” said Kumar.
Mirror Now: On Mirror now, journalists and politicians paid homage to Sheila Dikshit, who passed away Saturday.
“Even in a small gathering, you could see the quality of her mind & the way she undertook a relationship with non-Congress groups,” said political analyst Kamal Mitra Chinoy.
Puducherry Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy said, “Congress has lost the tallest leader. It is also a massive loss for the people of Delhi. She elected me as the CM & that’s my fondest memory of her.”
“The loss of Sheila Dikshit is not just the loss of any political party. It is a loss for the entire country,” said Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
With inputs from Kairvy Grewal and Taran Deol