1. Rein in Hafiz Saeed: India to Pakistan
As Hafiz Saeed warns of more attacks on India, the External Affairs Ministry has asked Pakistan to rein in the Jamaat-ud-Dawa founder. Saeed had warned India of more Pathankot-style attacks.
Hafiz Saeed is an international terrorist. His claim that the several front organisations he heads are carrying out charitable work is not even a fig leaf. He indulges in terrorist activities and terrorist financing. It should be a matter of grave concern to everyone that terrorists like Saeed and his associates continue to enjoy the freedom to indulge in their activities (in Pakistan).Vikas Swarup, MEA Spokesperson
Also read: Hafiz Saeed Praises Pathankot Attack, Encourages Further Violence
Read the full report by The Indian Express here.
2. N-Plant Parts to Be Made in India
According to The Hindu, India and Russia have started working on manufacturing components of nuclear power plants of Russian design in India. This move, the report says, is based on the Action Program signed between the two nations during PM Modi’s visit to Moscow last year.
Based on the decision signed in December 2015, a fourth working group on the localization of production in India has already been established and is operating successfully.Evgeni Griva, Director General of Rosatom South Asia to Russian agency TASS
Read the full report here.
3. How We Treat Those Who Show Faith in the System
The Telegraph publishes the story of the ordeal of a mother, who claims that she faced “the full might of red tape in Bengal” after she went to complain about a suspected incident of sexual assault on her five-year-old daughter.
The sequence of events, if entirely true, tell the tragic tale of what happens to victims of sexual harassment in India.
First stop: Emergency ward. Next: Reference to gynaecologist in the outpatients department. The doctor asks the police to get a written instruction from the hospital superintendent. But the superintendent is on leave. Acting superintendent T Banerjee is not in his chamber. The family waits.
Read the full report here.
4. One Year of Arvind Kejriwal Govt: Here’s What Happened so Far
The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government is all set to complete one year in office. The Indian Express looks at what the party has managed to do in these 12 months. Turns out, AAP has had quite a ride.
There was a lot of pressure on Arvind Kejriwal, by his own admission, after winning 67/70 seats in the Assembly election. This is a timeline of the highlights.
Read the full report here.
5. Nehru Awarded Man Who Stole INA’s Treasure
According to The Times of India, the recently declassified files on Netaji show that the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru was aware of the treasures of Bose’s Indian National Army being stolen. Not just that, the report claims that the Nehru government decided to look the other way and reward one of them.
Top secret files at National Archives shows government officials suspected two ex-aides of Netaji Subhash Bose. One of the aides was awarded and made publicity adviser of PM Nehru’s flagship Five Year Plans. The treasure was estimated to be worth $700,000. The treasure “scam” was first detailed by author Anuj Dhar in his 2012 book “India’s biggest cover-up”.
Read the full report here.
6. PM Modi in Assam to Showcase and Connect
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to land in Assam for a day, The Indian Express takes a look at his hectic schedule and what the programmes could accomplish for the BJP.
Assam is one of the states that will go for polls this year. The BJP has declared Sarbananda Sonowal as its chief ministerial candidate.
Modi’s address in Moran is significant to party morale — workers from 36 constituencies will form the audience. Equally significant for Modi will be the 85th session of the Srimanta Sankaradeva Sangha at Rupohipathar near Sivasagar, where over three lakh Vaishnavite devotees from across the state have already assembled. The Sangha has over 30 lakh followers across the state, and spending time with them will be a major investment.
Read the full report here.
7. India Has Much to Gain from Africa, but We Need to Behave First
In the backdrop of the attack on the Tanzanian woman in Bengaluru, Hindustan Times explores the benefits of a healthy partnership between India and the African continent. Of course, there is one condition. India needs to end such attacks hinting at “mob rule and racism”.
India has to do things differently in Africa. And helping Africa in capacity building has remained a crucial aspect of this strategy. Ensuring the goodwill of Africans is something India cannot do away with in succeeding in this objective.
Read the full analysis here.
8. Order of Nature - the Grotesque Logic of Laws Like Section 377
With the Supreme Court ready to take another look at decriminalising gay sex in India, Mukul Kesavan presents an argument in favour of the idea.
In an opinion piece for The Telegraph, he writes,
A simple way of testing the moral force of the arguments offered by supporters of this law is to ask if these arguments could be reasonably made by a gay citizen of the republic. It isn’t hard to conceive of a contrite murderer or a contrite rapist recognizing the enormity of his crime and accepting the justness of his punishment, but it is impossible to imagine a penitent homosexual persuaded of the criminal error of his way.
Read the full opinion piece here.
Also read:
Get It Straight: The ABCD Of LGBT #FreeYourMind
Global Homophobia Index: Over 80 Countries Say Disguise or Die
9. To Deal with a Small Team, Send a Small Team: DM Awasthi
Chhattisgarh has a new Special DG for anti-Naxal operations: DM Awasthi. And he, has a new vision to tackle the Naxal menace in the state. The Indian Express caught up with him to discuss some of his strategies. While he refused to state his plan clearly, he did talk about the current state of affairs and how he wishes to deal with it.
One, it’s a military problem. But it generated because of lack of development and so many other things. Now our government, as well as the central government, both have a focus on development. And we have seen… I was in the police housing department, we worked in Naxal areas. We found that once the buildings start coming up, the roads come up, Naxals are going back into the jungles. Development is most important… but without security and without providing safe areas to the forces and the environment, development cannot go fast.
Read the full interview here.
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