1. Amarnath Yatra Attack: Politics After Protests as Kashmir Hunts for Killers
A political blame game broke out on Wednesday over this week’s militant attack on Amarnath pilgrims, even as government forces launched a hunt for Pakistani national Abu Ismail, the alleged mastermind of the deadly assault.
Using the hashtag #AmarnathTerrorAttack, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi unleashed a series of strongly worded tweets that accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of pursuing policies that had “created space for terrorists in Kashmir”.
He also attacked the BJP’s ruling alliance with the Peoples Democratic Party in Kashmir, saying the association forged for “short term political gain” has cost India massively.
In response, BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi asked the Congress vice president to read the history of his family, saying they were responsible for the problems in Kashmir.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. Tejashwi Shaves Off Charges
The CBI charges against him date back to when he didn't even have facial hair, Tejashwi Yadav said on Wednesday - a day after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar sent a signal that the deputy chief minister should come clean on the allegations against him in the land-for-hotels case.
Tejashwi's defence - laced with the kind of wit his father Lalu Prasad is famous for - came after he attended a cabinet meeting that Nitish chaired this morning.
“Nobody can allege that I have done anything wrong,” he said. “My tenure has been for the people of Bihar who are oppressed and suppressed. As road construction minister I have done excellent work in Bihar. I have done so much work at the age of 28. The FIR which has been filed against me is political vendetta and a conspiracy by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.”
(Source: The Telegraph)
3. China Digs in Heels
China on Wednesday suggested it disagreed with Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar's suggestion that the two countries could resolve their ongoing border spat the way they had settled past differences, indicating unwillingness to climb down from potentially deal-breaking demands.
Jaishankar had on Tuesday tried to calm tensions, suggesting in a public address in Singapore that he saw "no reason having handled so many situations in the past, that we will not handle this".
But China insists the current tensions are unlike previous instances because they involve a stretch of the border with India - where Sikkim meets Tibet - that Beijing claims is long settled.
Asked about Jaishankar's comments today, China's foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang argued there was a "fundamental difference" between the current spat and past border tensions.
“There is a fundamental difference,” Geng said. “The border of Sikkim has a special historical background and is the only Sino-Indian border that has been delineated at present. It is completely different from the east, middle and western boundaries that have never been formally delineated.”
(Source: The Telegraph)
4. Team to Avoid Media Slip-Ups
The communication blunder on Rahul Gandhi's meeting with the Chinese envoy has prompted Sonia Gandhi to set up a high-level committee to decide the party line on vital issues.
The party had initially tried to project the media reports about the meeting as fake, forcing Rahul to intervene as the confusion had embarrassed the party. Senior leaders were said to be livid as they felt that the unnecessary denial could create suspicion and legitimise the BJP's insinuations.
Although Rahul too had for long felt the need for a proper mechanism involving experienced leaders to analyse contemporary issues and decide the party line, the latest misstep hastened the process.
Sonia has constituted a communications strategy group with veterans who have knowledge of politics, economics, strategic affairs and diplomacy to assist the party’s communications department, which is run mostly by inexperienced people.
The group will meet daily to discuss burning issues and formulate the Congress's strategy on them.
(Source: The Telegraph)
5. Irom Sharmila Set to Marry British Citizen
Human rights activist Irom Sharmila submitted papers for her marriage with her long-time partner Desmond Coutinho at the sub-registrar’s office in Kodaikanal here on Wednesday morning.
Irom and Coutinho (who is a British citizen) spent two hours at the office completing the formalities to register their marriage.
However, Sub-Registrar Rajesh said that he could not grant permission for their marriage immediately as per the Hindu Marriage Act. As the marriage was inter-religious, they would need to register it under the Special Marriage Act, which requires a 30-day notice period.
(Source: The Hindu)
6. Don’t Use ‘Cow’, ‘Gujarat’ in Amartya Sen Documentary: Censor Board
A documentary on Amartya Sen has run into trouble with the Censor Board, which is learnt to have asked filmmaker Suman Ghosh to bleep out the words “Gujarat”, “cow”, “Hindu India” and “Hindutva view of India”, spoken by the Nobel laureate.
The hour-long documentary, The Argumentative Indian, shot in two parts in 2002 and in 2017, was scheduled to be released on Friday. But after the screening at the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) regional office here on Tuesday, Ghosh was reportedly told that he would have to bleep out these words.
“It (CBFC) asked me to bleep out the word ‘Gujarat’ as Sen was speaking on the Gujarat riots in the documentary. Then it asked me to bleep out the word ‘cow’, which, in my opinion, was very funny. We were also asked to bleep out words like Hindu and Hindutva. We objected to this,” said Ghosh.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. Army Gets Powers to Buy Ammunition and Spares on Emergency
The Centre is understood to have bestowed sweeping financial powers on the army to meet critical deficiencies in ammunition, spares and different types of armament following a security review conducted after last year’s Uri terror strike.
Sources said that the financial powers conferred by the government would facilitate the emergency procurement of ammunition and spares worth an estimated ₹40,000 crore over the next few years, subject to availability of budgetary support. Buying ammunition and spares for in-service equipment is less complicated than making a purchase from scratch, army officers said.
In 2015, a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on ammunition management pointed out that the army faced severe ammunition shortage with reserves that would last barely 20 days of intense fighting. The army needs to build up its war wastage reserves for 40 days of intense fighting.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. EC’s Silence on Barring Convicted MPs, MLAs for Life Draws SC Ire
The Election Commission drew the Supreme Court's ire on Wednesday due to its silence on the critical issue of decriminalisation of politics — whether convicted MPs and MLAs should be barred from contesting elections for life?
The court also wondered whether the EC's reluctance to give its "free view" was influenced by the Centre's stand against life ban on convicts from contesting polls.
A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Naveen Sinha read out a portion of the EC's fresh affidavit that said it supported "the cause espoused by" petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay, who has sought setting up of special courts for speedy trial of criminal cases faced by elected representatives. He also said those convicted should be "uniformly barred from the legislature, the executive and the judiciary".
(Source: Times of India)
9. Noida Society Bans ‘Bangladeshi’ Maids After Mob Violence
In the backdrop of the mob violence on Wednesday morning, the residents of the Mahagun Moderne in Sector 78 have decided not to allow ‘Bangladeshi’ domestic helps in the society.
Residents said that the society has 2,750 flats in its 16 high-rise and four low-rise buildings. Ninety percent of them are occupied. Almost every house has a Bangladeshi domestic help.
“Every individual in the society is scared after Wednesday’s incident. There is no way they can trust the Bangladeshi domestic helps anymore. We will clear their dues and take the help of an agency that provides domestic helps. Children were frightened to see the ugly situation,” said Dr Amit Sachdeva.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
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