Front Page
Yeddyurappa set for return as CM, but can’t form government: Amid intense jockeying for power and allegations of horse-trading, Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala Wednesday invited the BJP’s B.S. Yeddyurappa to form the government in Karnataka, prompting the Congress to move the Supreme Court. After a four-hour late-night hearing, the case will now be taken up at 10.30 am Friday, Apurva Vishwanath reports for ThePrint.
Supreme Court rejects Karnataka’s plea to stall the Cauvery management scheme: It also said the Centre could not have the final say in dispute among states over the Cauvery’s water as it had proposed, reports The Hindu.
SC collegium defers decision on Justice Joseph: The Supreme Court collegium failed to reiterate Justice K M Joseph’s elevation at its much-awaited meeting Wednesday “despite having pre-arranged to meet to do precisely that last week, apart from suggesting other names for the Supreme Court”, reports The Indian Express.
The Pakistan army ‘is ready to formally inject itself into any dialogue process with India’, the country’s military spokesman indicated in a rare on-the-record conversation with journalists Sunday, reports The Hindu.
Omar warns militants about being ‘exposed as people’s enemies’: Former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah has welcomed the Centre’s Ramzan ceasefire and warned militants that if they didn’t respond to the government’s olive branch, they would be exposed as “enemies of the people”, reports The Times of India.
UP bridge agency had ignored warnings about traffic risks posed by flyover construction: A day after 18 people were killed when a section of an under-construction flyover fell in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh police said they had “sent at least five letters to the UP State Bridge Corporation (UPSBC) since November last year and registered an FIR in February this year for not following traffic safety regulations during construction”, reports The Indian Express.
Karnataka elections In The Print
Kumaraswamy dares BJP, says he will fight back if his party’s MLAs are poached: Earlier in the day, BSY had said he was confident of forming the government, adding that independent MLA Shankar had offered his support to the BJP, reports Rohini Swamy.
‘Moral cop’ Muthalik & Sri Ram Sene make political debut but Karnataka says no thanks: The Right-wing fringe group contested 40 seats under the Shiv Sena’s banner but managed to cross 500 votes in just about 10 constituencies, reports Ruhi Tiwari.
Narendra Modi’s campaign-to-seats won ratio trumps Rahul Gandhi’s in Karnataka: Despite a late start to the campaign, the PM touched 21 constituencies, and the BJP ended up winning 12 of them, reports Pragya Kaushik.
Business Class
Japanese internet and investment giant SoftBank is exploring the option of investment in restaurant cataloguing and food delivery website Zomato, reports The Economic Times.
Experts caution India as Malaysia scraps GST three years after rollout, reports Business Standard.
News it’s just kinda cool to know
You can now talk on the phone while driving in Kerela: The Kerala High Court ruled Wednesday that talking on a mobile phone while driving was not illegal, reports The News Minute.
Fastest-growing black hole discovered: Scientists have discovered the “fastest-growing black hole in the universe”, describing it as a monster that devours a mass equivalent to the Sun’s every two days, reports The Economic Times.
No laughing matter: The Wodehouse prize for comic fiction has been withheld this year after judges failed to laugh, The Guardian reports. According to the report, the judges of the UK’s only prize for comic fiction have taken the unprecedented decision after failing to be sufficiently amused by the books submitted.
Point of View
The Karnataka governor has invited BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa to form the government and prove the majority in 15 days. Business Standard, in its editorial, terms the decision an “open invitation to poaching”.
In light of the fractured mandate in Karnataka, the call for opposition unity is gaining ground. In its editorial, The Indian Express points out, “The BJP has successfully captured the constituency for change. Adding up numbers can’t be opposition’s only answer to that.”
PM Modi’s trip to Nepal last week was his third since he assumed office. Former diplomat Rakesh Sood writes in his column in The Hindu, “The visit was high on symbolism, less so on substance.”
The Walmart-Flipkart deal: Former CEO of Procter & Gamble India, Gurcharan Das, writes in his column in The Times Of India that nobody captured the “full significance” of the deal, saying it has the potential to provide huge gains to vegetable farmers in India by eliminating middlemen.
The Centre has announced a conditional ceasefire in J&K during Ramzan. PDP MLC Firdous Tak writes in his column in The Indian Express, “The cycle of violence in the Valley needs to be broken. The ceasefire could be a precious beginning.”
COMMENTS