1. I Was Content I Did All I Could: Areeb Majeed
Majeed was one of the first Indian youths to leave Mumbai so that he could fight alongside the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. And ever since his return, investigators have been questioning him. The report runs into 76 pages at the moment. According to The Indian Express, Majeed has reportedly spoken about what drove him towards ISIS, how he funded his travel to Syria and his life as a suicide bomber.
By then, Majeed had already been drawn to IS propaganda sites and expressed interest in travelling to Syria while chatting with contacts in Australia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and America. Majeed told officials controversial AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi was one of the 10 speakers whose videos and lectures he would see. “I used to listen to every speech of his.”
Read the full story here.
2. Maximum Rainfall in 10 Years Washes Away Chennai’s Expensive Drainage, Desilting Projects
A low-pressure system that formed near Sri Lanka has wreaked havoc in Tamil Nadu, especially Chennai. According to The Indian Express, Chennai has seen a record-breaking 246 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours alone. And the MeT department has predicted that there will be heavy rainfall across the state for the next two days.
Read the full story here.
3. Fresh Faces Abound on Bihar’s Political Horizon
As many as 99 fresh faces will be entering the Bihar legislative assembly this time around. According to Hindustan Times, almost half of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD comprises first-time legislators.
While the first-timers account for 41% of the total 243-member strong state assembly, the percentage of members belonging to the 25-50 year bracket also recorded a jump — going up to 127 — to cross the halfway mark at 52%.
Read the full story here.
4. BJP Woos Muslims in ‘Hindutva Lab’
After the poll debacle in Delhi and Bihar, the BJP is now leaving no stone unturned for the upcoming Gujarat municipality election. Part of that preparation is to field a record 500 plus Muslim candidates. The Times of India report suggests that the party has fielded 40 percent more Muslim candidates compared to the last time as it helped build a bridge between the community and the BJP in the past.
In a first, BJP has fielded four Muslim candidates in Ahmedabad, six in Jamnagar and two in Rajkot for municipal corporation elections. Former IPS officer AI Sayyed and Wasim Ansari were the first Muslims to contest on a BJP ticket in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation polls in 2010. Mehboob Ali Chisti, BJP minority morcha president said, “Of the record 500 candidates across Gujarat, 350 to 400 candidates are likely to win.” “Minorities trust BJP due to development in their areas in past five years. They got nothing during five decades of Congress rule“, added Chisti.
Read the full report here.
5. Click and Upload: How Govt App Will Help Clear Up Garbage
In the run up to an extensive cleanliness drive, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has launched the Swachh Delhi App. Now, all you need to do when you spot garbage on the streets of the national capital is take a picture and upload it.
The Indian Express reports that the cleanliness drive will be held in Delhi from November 22 - November 30 and will be launched by union minister Venkaiah Naidu.
Once the user uploads a photo of a garbage heap, the information will be forwarded to a control room in the urban development department, along with coordinates of its location. It will then be forwarded to the municipal corporation concerned.
Read the full story here.
6. 13/11, Unlike 26/11
The night after terror struck Paris, discussions across experts and media have included one comparison very crucial to India: The 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Former Maharashtra DGP Sanjeev Sayal writes in The Indian Express that while the comparison is natural, it’s time for India to come up and execute a well-planned strategy to combat terror. Dayal writes that things have changed for the better in India too but in comparison, we still lag when it comes to looking at the bigger picture. And bringing perpetrators of the past attacks is a very important aspect of that strategy.
The US enacted an important piece of legislation after the 9/11 attacks. The Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (Patriot) Act laid down a comprehensive plan for securing various places and fixed responsibility on authorities for ensuring implementation, even in the private sphere. Some effort is being made in Maharashtra, where a new act has been recommended to the government. However, security plans for certain places like the plaza at the Gateway of India, which has been the scene of at least two terror attacks and for which a security plan was recommended as far back as in 2010, need to be put in place.
Read the full piece here.
7. BJP’s Nightmare Scenario: Will Mulayam and Mayawati Form a Mahagathbandhan in UP?
Neerja Chowdhary writes in The Times of India that after the Grand Alliance’s victory in Bihar, the BJP’s next nightmare could be a similar scenario in Uttar Pradesh. The UP assembly elections are in 2017 and Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati’s relations, she writes, are much more bitter than that of Lalu and Nitish.
Given the arithmetic of western UP, which could be in Mayawati’s favour and anti-incumbency in the state, could a possible alliance between the two parties be a reality? And if it does, what are the BJP’s chances?
Read her analysis here.
8. Selfie Militancy, a Developing Crisis
In an opinion piece in The Hindu, Radha Kumar talks about the dangers of the revival of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and what the state and Central governments should do to keep a tab on the situation.
The writer also talks about Prime Minister Modi’s recent rally in the state and explains how his speech has relevance in the present scenario.
The announcement of the aid has not only been a damp squib, but also seems to have underlined the absence of a strong political message. Mr Modi did make a reference to Mr Vajpayee’s initiative and pledged to build on his slogan of “Kashmiriyat, Jamhooriyat, Insaniyat”, saying that India was incomplete without the Sufi tradition of Kashmiriyat. He also talked of the pain of the Kashmiri youth and the scourge of unemployment, saying that New Delhi’s treasury and heart were alike open to Kashmir. In a surprising reference to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s speech at Jammu University, he further spoke about building a “New Kashmir”, which was Sheikh Abdullah’s slogan 50 years ago.
Read the full piece here.
9. India Doesn’t Require Dream Merchants, but a Leadership With Vision
In an opinion piece in Hindustan Times, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury writes that Prime Minister Modi keeps Indians across the world busy with one event after the other, never giving them the required time to think about the “burdens being imposed on them”.
Mouthing unrealisable promises to the people and sharpening of communal polarisation and the spread of intolerance bordering on terror. The relentless efforts to replace Indian history with Hindu mythology and Indian philosophy with Hindu theology. The anniversary of Nathuram Godse’s hanging is being celebrated as balidaan divas while Modi waxes eloquent on Gandhi while in London. Another schizophrenic duality: Godse in India, Gandhi in London!
Read the full piece here.
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