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Is development for south India anti-India?

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Development for South? Anti-India! Understanding the diverse aspirations and interests of the states in south India and their separate needs is a must for policy-making in India. However, calls for equitable distribution of resources and political empathy have been termed divisive and anti-national.

‘Old friend’ Imran bats for Sidhu: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has expressed support for old friend Navjot Singh Sidhu in light of the controversy over his hug with Pakistan army chief General Bajwa, The Indian Express reports. Khan referred to Sidhu as an “ambassador of peace” and said the people targeting him in India were “doing great disservice to peace in the subcontinent”.

Meanwhile, Sidhu defended his actions, stating that his visit was not political and the hug was an emotional response to General Bajwa’s statement on the possibility of Pakistan opening up a corridor to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib.

‘Rockstar Rajan’ called to help the government deal with NPAs: A parliamentary committee headed by Murli Manohar Joshi has asked former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan to appear before it and explain the “issue of mounting non-performing assets (NPAs)”, The Financial Express reports. The move came after Arvind Subramanian, former chief economic adviser, praised Rajan for identifying the issue and attempting to solve it. While a few welcomed the decision…

…The reports drew criticism as well:


‘Atal’ legacy becomes a tool for BJP: The party has been making a push to cement Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s legacy across the nation, Hindustan Times reports. Different schemes are in the works to celebrate the life of the former Prime Minister — from renaming policies to putting his life in school textbooks. One of them will involve state party chiefs being given his ashes in an urn. The party chiefs will expected to carry out yatras across their states before immersing the ashes in various rivers, the report adds.

War horse back to manage Congress coffers: Congress president Rahul Gandhi has replaced its treasurer, Motilal Vora (89), with Ahmed Patel (69), The Indian Express reports. “With the elevation, which incidentally comes on his birthday, Patel returns to the post he held till July 2000, when he resigned after some Gujarat Congress leaders ran campaigns against him,” Kumar Anshuman reported for ThePrint. Patel, one of former party chief Sonia Gandhi’s most trusted aides, has his task cut out with the Congress facing a severe cash crunch on the threshold of a crucial election season, ThePrint report adds.

Meerut boy strikes gold: Saurabh Chaudhary won a gold — India’s fifth for shooting at the Asian tournament — by acing the men’s 10m air pistol event at the Asian Games, the Times of India reports. The 16-year-old is the youngest Indian to win a gold at Asiad.

News it’s just kinda cool to know

Frozen water deposits found on the Moon by spacecraft India launched 10 years ago. Chandrayaan-1 has reportedly found ice in the coldest and darkest parts of the moon’s polar region. According to a report in The Hindu, “Most of the new-found water ice lies in the shadows of craters near the poles, where the warmest temperatures never reach above minus 156 degrees Celsius.”

A new fibre can trap drinkable water from air. You read that right. This stuff of dreams is a nanofibre made of electrospun polymers that provide a large surface area for drops to condense. It can produce up to 180 litres of drinkable water per square metre every day, and possibly quench the thirst of thousands in drought-hit areas.

Business Class

The finance ministry has turned down a proposal for a Rs 300 billion fund infusion in Air India, reports Business Standard. The report adds, “The civil aviation ministry had sought the package to wipe out the debt obligation of the state-owned airline, defaulting on salary disbursements and payments to vendors.”

The government is getting tough with messaging service WhatsAppreports The Economic Times. According to the report, the government “has directed messaging platform WhatsApp to comply with local laws and establish a corporate entity in the country in an unequivocal message delivered to the American company’s chief executive on Tuesday”.

Point of View

The Congress and the BJP are locked in a war of words on who handled the economy better. The Indian Express writes in its editorial, “On the economy, both regimes frittered away advantages of a good start. Going ahead, there are lessons to learn.”

Pakistan’s new PM, Imran Khan, has assured improvement in ties with India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Khan in a phone call. The Hindu writes in its editorial, “Well-chosen words, however, will not be enough. To begin with, there appears to be very little trust in any quarter of both capitals. Both leaders face political realities that could inhibit them from taking any major risks.”

Armed forces personnel have moved the Supreme Court against any bid dilute AFSPA. Former Navy chief Arun Prakash writes in his column in The Indian Express,  “The very notion of proud Indian soldiers, ranging in rank from serving brigadier to rifleman, seeking the protection of the courts in the discharge of their duties represents a national shame.”

It seems like a global trade war is in the offing, led by US President Donald Trump. Columbia University economics professor Arvind Panagariya writes in a column in The Times of India, “…If US actions are allowed to stand without a review, it will signal to (World Trade Organisation) member countries that anything is fair game so long as it is played under the national security clause. In either case, the multilateral trading system will be seriously damaged.”

Prime Time

CNN News18 debated the bigotry and misogyny of certain reactions to the Kerala floods. Some fringe elements have put forth the “divine revenge theory” to claim the Kerala floods were a result of attempts to change tradition and allow women in the sanctum sanctorum of the Sabarimala Temple. Activist Rahul Easwar said “although one shouldn’t link the Sabarimala row with the floods, ordinary believers like myself are displaying such sentiments over the injustice meted out to the sacred temple”.

Khushbu Sundar of the Congress and Sanju Verma of the BJP, meanwhile, carried out a ‘secular vs communal’ shouting match. Brinda Adige of Global Concerns Trust asked: “Which God or Goddess was angry when the floods in Uttaranchal happened? There is a need for leaders to talk about scientific temperament and rational consciousness in the country.”

On Times Now, Navika Kumar discussed the alleged lynching of two priests in Auraiya, UP. The managing editor of the channel asked why the “candle light brigade” was silent when “Hindus” were being killed or lynched for stopping cow smuggling and illegal cow slaughter.

The hashtag #Indiawhythesilence ran on the screen, with BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra saying the “selective outrage” was nauseating. He went on to add that the highest number of lynchings happened in Kerala, and the “ingrained appeasement” tactics of a few was the reason the “community responsible was not called out”. Tehseen  Poonawalla of the Congress condemned the killings, and said the charges of selective outburst were based on “whataboutery and not facts”.

(With inputs from Simrin Sirur)

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