1. Nuclear to Finance, Cities to Skills: Modi and Cameron Draw out £9-billion Roadmap
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Day 1 in the UK was extremely eventful, and one that led to agreements worth £9 billion being signed. On the first day of his three day trip, Modi addressed the British Parliament where he spoke about various government schemes like the Jan Dhan Yojna and Digital India. Later on, he spoke with industry leaders at Guildhall in London where he spoke about making India a hub for manufacturing and investing.
Read about the agreements signed by British PM David Cameron and Modi in The Indian Express here.
Also read The Quint’s Modi in UK, Day 1: Addressing the British Parliament, Speaking with Industry Leaders and More Highlights
2. PM Modi has Big Ambitions for India, Britain Can Help Him Fulfil Them
British Prime Minister David Cameron wrote an opinion piece for the Times of India, right after Prime Minister Narendra Modi finished his first day of business in the UK.
In the piece, Cameron lists out three areas where he thinks India and the United Kingdom can strengthen their relationship. He speaks of prosperity in terms of investment, progress in terms of infrastructure, and fighting together to make the world a more secure place. In his concluding remarks, Cameron observes, “this is not just a historic visit, it’s a historic opportunity”.
So we are launching new partnerships on energy reform and healthcare – bringing together the best of Britain with the brightest of India. And we are working together on providing the roads, railways, energy and broadband people need in the 21st century. So we are getting right behind Prime Minister Modi’s plans for 100 new Smart Cities and for a Digital India.
Read the full piece here.
3. Meetings on Record, Mani Dilutes Denial: Law Says you can Collect Cash for Polls
In the part three of its investigative stories on the Kerala bar bribery scandal, The Indian Express claims to have obtained documents that prove KM Mani took bribe. The report claims that documents with the Vigilance department prove that members of the Kerala Bar Hotel Owners Association (KBHA) had given a bribe of Rs 1 crore to KM Mani during April-May last year. The report reads:
It’s during these meetings, KBHA members told investigators, that a bribe of Rs 1 crore was allegedly handed over to Mani to reopen over 400 bar-hotels that were declared “substandard” by the government. For the record to the Vigilance Bureau, Mani denied these meetings although when asked about the witness statements, he was ambivalent to The Indian Express.
Read the full report here.
4. Anti-cracker Drives Fail, City Chokes on Diwali Air Again
According to a report in the Times of India, the Diwali crackers have brought New Delhi’s air into the category of “severely” polluted. Although Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP government has released a statement saying the levels were much better this year, but the figures could not help mask reality. The report says:
Real time data showed levels of coarse pollution particles (PM 10) peak up to 19 times the national safe standard for 24 hours and levels of fine, respirable particles (PM 2.5) peak to over 10 times the safe standard at some spots. Even sulphur dioxide level were high, at least twice the standard, during the peak hours (9 pm to midnight) in many parts of the city. This indicates that the crackers that were used had very high sulphur content. This, despite traders claiming a serious slowdown in cracker sales this year.
Read the full report here.
5. Wife is Absolute Owner of Property Given as ‘Maintenance’ in Will: SC
Hearing a case of property dispute, the Supreme Court has held that a woman becomes the absolute owner of an asset, movable or immovable, if it is willed to her. The court also clarified that it does not go to the male heirs of the deceased for as long as the wife, to whom the property was willed to for maintenance is alive. The report observes:
A bench headed by justice MY Eqbal said simply because a will stipulated that the wife would own the property in her lifetime doesn’t mean the rights would go back to the male heirs of her deceased husband.
Read the full Hindustan Times story here.
6. RSS Affiliate Questions Easing of FDI Norms
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced Foreign Direct Investment in 15 sectors just before Modi left for his UK trip. But that announcement, it appears, has not gone down too well with the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), an RSS affiliate.
FDI study reports pertaining to 2011-12 prove that eight times the money that came in as FDI has gone out as foreign direct outflows in many ways like royalty payments made, professional and consultancy charges paid, etc.Virjesh Upadhyay, General Secretary, BMS
According to The Hindu, the organisation has demanded that the government come out with a white paper on the issue.
Read the full report here.
7. Nehru, Ambedkar’s Legacies Shadowed by Political Partisanship
A day before Jawaharlal Nehru’s 125th birth anniversary, senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai writes about the towering figure the former prime minister was . He also makes a fascinating comparison between Nehru and Dr Ambedkar and tries to explain how their legacies are being subjected to political partisanship.
The most obvious reason would be that Nehru, unlike Ambedkar, is seen to offer a sharp ideological challenge to the Sangh parivar, the rising force of Indian politics. Nehru had a visceral hatred towards the brotherhood in saffron, who he was convinced would create a ‘Hindu Pakistan’.
Read the full piece here.
8. Aftermath of the Sarbat Khalsa: What the Crisis in Punjab Means for SAD
The Indian Express answers six questions that explain what the disturbances in Punjab could mean for the Shiromani Akali Dal. The questions include the importance of Sarbat Khalsa, the significance of Havana being named the jathedar of the Akal Takht, and the background of Sarbat Khalsa and the repercussions that its decisions could have on the politics of the state.
For a radical section of the Sikh community, Hawara is an icon. By naming him to the exalted position of the head of the Akal Takht, the organisers of the Sarbat Khalsa have scored a political point with the SAD, which has been claiming credit for the transfer of militants Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar and Gurdeep Singh Khera to jails in Punjab from Delhi and Karnataka respectively. In order to keep its core panthic constituency intact, SAD has been doing a balancing act over the years – with its proxies SGPC and the Akal Takht honouring members of the families of the assassins of Indira Gandhi and Gen (retd) AS Vaidya at the Golden Temple.
Read the full piece here.
Also read The Quint’s Sarbat Khalsa’s Outcome Points to Worrying Signs for Punjab.
9. Towards Peace in the Northeast
An edit piece in The Hindu underlines the importance of Bangladesh handing over ULFA leader Anup Chetia to India. The piece also goes on to explain how such acts “demonstrate the potential of nation-states cooperating to fight non-state actors”.
Chetia, who repeatedly sought political asylum in Bangladesh, has since declared his support for the peace talks too. So the return to India of one of the founders of ULFA adds symbolic strength to the pro-talks faction.
Read the entire piece here.
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